Around London and a Visit to the Homeland

I have been negligent in my posting lately but I have a good excuse. Some of the family came over the pond for a 10 day visit and we had a great time sightseeing in London and Scotland. [Sorry some of the photos have black bars across them... evidently there were some errors during uploading]

The first order of business was to battle the jet lag with a stroll through Hyde park to Buck House.


Hyde Park


Speaker's Corner

Next, a visit to the V&A museum. The plaster cast rooms were the best part.


Plaster casts of columns at V&A


Of course the ladies had to go check out Harrod's

The next day the fam took a big bus tour while I finished some homework at school. That night we went to Blue Man Group. It was a great experience... I'm thinking of going back and sitting in the 'poncho' area.

The following day we tried to start off with a trip to the British Museum, but it was closed due to a May-day strike. Bummer.


Protecting their future, ruining our plans at the Brit


At Baker Street

Walking around we stumbled on this crazy A-list party. Of course they were happy to invite us in. Wes chatted with Samuel L Jackson about snakes on planes among other things.


Wes chats with SLJ

Then Myra ran into superman. Ok, you probably figured out by now that we were at Madame Tussads.


Super

They had on display the blade that killed Marie Antionette. Interesting bit of history.


Historic Blade

Later we caught the train to Edinburgh


The Flying Scotsman


I had to run fast to snap this photo


The Royal Mile in Edinburgh


Interesting graffiti

Leaving Edinburgh, we swung by St. Andrews (the birthplace of golf) to see if we could get a tee time.


St. Andrews Cathedral

After a long drive we reached Golspie, in 'our' home county of Sutherland


Our hotel. Funny, they didn't give us a discount.

Then we visited Dunrobin Castle, owned by the Countess of Sutherland. We thought she might welcome us with tea and scones in one of the 180 or so rooms in the castle. I guess she must have misplaced our appointment though. We settled for a tour instead.


Dunrobin Castle


The Gardens


A Falconry Demonstration


The Castle from the gardens


The Beach in Golspie. And dang if I didn't forget my swimsuit!


Shin Falls in Lairg


The big attraction is the jumping salmon. Unfortunately they weren't jumping that day.

Driving back southward, we passed Loch Ness.


Urquart Castle on Loch Ness

After driving past Ben Nevis and Loch Lemond, we reached the historic town of Stirling.


William Wallace memorial (the tower in the distance)


Stirling Castle


Argyll and Sutherland highlanders museum

They are currently in the process of restoring the palace in Stirling Castle. They had some interesting exhibits on the investigations that they are conducting in order to determine how the palace looked hundreds of years ago. They will have the palace restored in 5-6 years.


Unfinished Palace


Robert the Bruce

Back in Edinburgh, we took a walking tour around the city at night and heard about some of the horror stories from Edinburgh's seedy past. Then we were escorted to the haunted underground crypts.


Crypt under Edinburgh. Are the 'orbs' ghosts?? Decide for yourself.


Edinburgh at dusk


Where they filmed scenes from Harry Potter

After 10 days it was time to say goodbye, since the fam had to go back to work and I had to go back to my studies. We had a farewell English breakfast before they headed to the airport.


English breakfast

Annette's Visit to London (Part III) - Go West Young Man [and Woman]

On Friday morning, we rented a car and drove west. At first we were considering spending 2 days in the Cotswolds but decided we were feeling a bit more adventurous. So, we just kept driving. We stopped for lunch in Bristol - visited their lovely cathedral and had a nice walk around.



Then, we went on to Wales and decided to stay in Cardiff (Caerdydd). We arrived a little late to see the castle that evening, so we settle for a nice walk around town. We had dinner at a theatre turned pub with a good view of the passers-by on the street below. The prices were so much more reasonable than London! We spent the night at The Big Sleep - an interesting B&B with a hostel feel in a converted office block. Evidently, John Malkovich is a silent partner in the venture. His impact is apparent in the various pictures on the walls, including in our room.











On Saturday morning, we had a lovely breakfast and then headed to Cardiff Castle. We had a good time touring the Victorian living areas and the Norman keep on the grounds.

After the castle, we started the trip back to England. We spent a few hours driving through the Cotswalds to find out what the fuss is all about. They were nice quaint villages and lovely countryside - though we are sure we have seen quainter and lovelier elsewhere. It was a nice time.





We ended the day with a stop at a pub for dinner and then Annette had to be dropped off at the airport for the long ride back home.

Annette's Visit to London (Part II) - The Bloody Tower

After we flew back into London, took the train and the tube back to the apartment, we headed off to see the Tower of London. It is supposed to be one of the best things to see in London and it did not disappoint.

We started with a beefeater-led tour and then were free to explore on our own. There were many exhibits and reenactments to enjoy.













After that was done, we hit the half price ticket booth in Leicester ("lester") Square and decided to see Stomp. London is a fabulous place for seeing shows - because they are plentiful and no one looks at you twice if you show up in jeans and an old navy fleece. Stomp was very entertaining and a nice way to wrap up the day.

Annette's Visit to London (part I)

After sending Wes on to check it out, I (Annette) decided to head over for a visit. When I arrived Thursday morning, Wes met me at Paddington station and we dropped my stuff of at the apartment. Then, I walked with him to his class and headed off for a day to entertain myself while Wes was in class from 9 to 5. I visited the National Gallery in the morning, met Wes for lunch, and then headed to the British Museum in the afternoon. It was a perfectly beautiful spring day in London - you could not ask for better weather.











The next day (Friday), we went to Knightsbridge to see the museums and, of course, visit Harrod's. We spent the morning at the Natural History Museum, stopped at the V&A for a quick look before lunch, and then hit Harrod's in the afternoon. In the evening, we went with Seth and Tisha and some of their friends to Brick Lane, a strip of Indian food restaurants.










Saturday we got a bit of a later start as the jet lag was finally catching up with me. We hit the Tate Modern before lunch as I had heard it was good. Generally we are not fans of modern art, but they did have a very good collection and it was interesting to see all the different styles. Some of it was just stupid (a single pink fluorescent bulb at an angle is not art), but a lot of it was quite good. After that, we walked around the area a bit and then went to the market at Portobello Road. There was an eclectic mix of goods available - many of them the same things we have seen in the markets of Thailand for 1/5 the price. We ended the day with a little TV back at the apartment as we had an early start for the flight on Sunday.