London- Days 4 and 5

Day four and five.

Moving day so we had to pack up and in doing so lost track of time and were five minutes late for breakfast and missed out-things can only get better but unfortunately they didn’t.

We left our things in a room and went out for the day. We have mastered the underground tube and are getting ourselves all over the place. The Brits complain about it but we think they should spend some time trying to get around Sydney. Think they would have second thoughts. 

First visit for the day was Westminster Abbey were we paid 3 pound extra to tour the Abbey with a guide- well worth doing if you ever decide to visit the Abbey. It is a magnificent building with tonnes of history attached, a very interesting place. It is truly amazing how many people throughout history are buried here.

Westminister Abbey one of the many beautiful buildings throughout London

Big Ben right next to the Abbey

One of the many great pubs in London

View of the Abbey, Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament from the London Eye

After that a trip across town to Harrods famous department store. What an impressive store and the Xmas section was beautiful. Spent time roaming around and being amazed at the cost of things. Came across two Xmas bon bons for the small price of well over 1000 pounds(about $1600)- they must have been lined in gold. Had to buy something but on a much much smaller scale.

Mez eyeing off very expensive bon bons in a locked case

one of the many beautiful displays in the Xmas department of Harrods

Back to the hotel where the fun begins. We moved into a room much bigger than the previous, room 604. This room had three windows but only one opened and the blinds were so thin that you could see straight through them just as well as they didn’t pull up or down- not going to be good in the morning as the room faced the east and the early morning sunrise. No internet access up here so decided to start a word doc for the blog. Next minute the only opening window fell out just missing my head and hand but clipped the corner of the laptop and it instantly went off and the only thing that stopped it from shattering into thousands of pieces was it landed on my bag and the table I was at.

Well that was the last straw, the one that broke the camel – in this case Mez’s and my back.

Mez went down stairs to get the manager as I was in a state of shock and was very upset over the laptop. The owner came up and inspected the mess and we again packed up our things and were going to leave. I sat down in the foyer on the computer trying to find accommodation(yes it started to work again but has a crack in the blue case-very lucky)while Mez ran around Earls Court looking for alternate accommodation and we even had the girl on the desk looking as well. We couldn’t find any unless we wanted to pay thousands for the remaining five days. There was another exhibition on in the area and therefore no accommodation anywhere. We really didn’t want to stay here we were over it.

What did we do?

We had no choice- no rooms anywhere- but to stay in the last remaining room-503 that they had until they fixed the windows and blinds in 604. The owner bought us a bottle of wine and was very apologetic and ordered us cooked breakfasts for the next day as breakfast is cereal and toast-very sufficient. But we did have an incident with that as well when Mez had a boiled egg that was off.

We did have a bit of a laugh at the end of a very upsetting day when the owner bought the wine up to the room and the handyman, who helped us move to 503, was trying to fix the window in this room as it was a push out variety and it would not stay open. I fixed it with a coat hanger when they left. We stayed the night and again moved rooms back to 604 with fixed windows and new blackout blinds. We have noticed things around the hotel have been on the improve so maybe it was all meant to be to get the place into a liveable state.

Next day was another big one as well. Caught the tube to the London Eye- London’s massive ferris wheel that gives you a view over most of London. The weather was great with very clear skies so viewing was perfect. It is a must if you visit London. Next again across town to Madame Tussauds, also a fun place to visit.

A view of the London Eye from Westminister Bridge

A rare occurrence Westminister Bridge with no traffic

Spot the Aussie at Madame Tussauds

Thought you might like this one Sim

Back to the hotel to get ready to see a live English soccer match. We acquired tickets to see Chelsea play a German team at Chelsea’s home ground at Fulham. Just the ride in the tube to the ground was an experience with thousands of fans crammed into the carriages literally like sardines. The pie and mash before the game, the English and German fans chanting and the skilful play from both teams gave us another memorable experience.

London - Days one, two and three

London

Day 1

After a 4 hour drive and our first experience on the London Tube network and a ride in a London cab we arrived at our hotel in Earls Court called My Place Hotel.

Well this was the start of a not very pleasant experience. We were booked in for 8 nights but in two different rooms- one for 3 nights and one for 5 so that meant packing and unpacking leaving our things in a downstairs, unlocked room for the day or wasting a day hanging around the hotel. The rooms were not the cleanest and everything felt really grubby. We were offered a room with no natural air and a small window that did not open and no aircon for the 8 nights or do the change over. Not at all impressed but we had no real choice as we had prepaid and there was nothing else in our price range or a little higher available- London is a very busy city. There was one plus to the first room and that was it had a small balcony but everything in this place looked like it was going to fall down at any time.

That was day one.

View from the above balcony

Day two and three

Not knowing much about London we decided to get a ticket for the hop on hop off bus tour of the city. This had to be used in 24 hrs and included a trip down the river Thames (main river slicing through London) and a walking tour. This bus proved to be of good value as it gave us a very good overview of the city. We hopped off the bus at the Tower of London Bridge and caught the boat up to Greenwich and saw the Greenwich Tower where time is governed. 

If you look closely in the background you will see The Meridian Building, which since 1884 has been the starting point of global measurement for space and time. The red Time Ball rises every day at 13.00 hours

Upon returning we saw the bridge open, an event that hardly ever happens, as a flotilla of ships and boats had a run through for next years celebration of the Queens jubilee.

                                          

The opened Tower of London Bridge

A closeup of one of the towers

A view from the boat tour

Next day we hopped back on the bus to do another section of London.

On the way to the tour we passed Trafalgar Square and of course had to take the usual pics.

About 10am every day 2 eagles are let loose in the square to fly around and scare off the pigeons. It really works as the 4 massive bronze lions that are the corners of the statue of Napoleon are beautifully clean and of course we all know what pigeons can do to a place. Then they are called back in by their keeper until tomorrow.

One of the beautiful massive lions

This cup of coffee was only a medium. We ordered them without knowing but we do now.

 These buses have a number of different routes you can take so you can start one route hop off and join another- good way of getting around as well. Saw the changing of the Horse Guards, very different to the famous changing of the guards. 

This monument to The Women of World War was in the middle of the road next to the Changing of the Horse Guard. It was a very impressive monument.

Changing of the Horse Guards

Also went to the London Dungeon, don’t know how I got convinced to do this, as I am a woose and don’t even watch scary movies. Not as bad as first imagined and did survive to spend the day roaming London’s south bank as we just happened to be there for the River Thames Festival. A very carnival atmosphere with lots of performances, stalls of all variety, food outlets and of course drinks at the many pubs along the bank.

The London dungeon

 Stumbled back into our ‘gorgeous room’ 12 hours after leaving.

Brixham -England

Brixham

Before we could relax and enjoy all the delights of Brixham we had to endure the English road system. Driving around Europe I was constantly reminded how poor our road system is and the condition of our roads but not here in England as their roads are atrocious. We took about seven and a half hours to drive from Dover on the east coast to Brixham, a drive that would have taken about 3 in Germany or France. We encountered narrow windy roads that belong in the countryside along with stretches of two lanes (for only about 200 metres) merging into one where the traffic comes to a complete standstill – the British just don’t know how to merge. And of course the usual accident thrown in, an interesting trip and tiring to say the least.

Main highway across country with overhead canopy of trees

Also encountered on highway no.1- you can understand why it took so long to get to Brixham

Just managed to get this pic of a stone cottage virtually on the highway

After all that Brixham I must say was well worth the wait. We had booked a B&B months ago on line and it met all our expectations and more. It was called Samford House and attached to the main house was a cottage, which we had booked. It consisted of a downstairs lounge and kitchen and upstairs bedroom and large bathroom. The view was magic overlooking the Brixham harbour and the English Channel. And the sound of the sea gulls flying over was a sound that you hear in the movies, very different to our sea gulls and they are much bigger as well. It was a classic English coastal scene.

One of the picturesque views from cottage

Brixham working harbour

Downstairs in cottage and as you can see we have turned it into a drying room

Another of Brixham

Matthew and Rosie, the couple running the B&B were lovely and so helpful but, they did not help the waistline, as each morning they would take your order for a hot breakfast, if desired, as well there were all types of cereal, juices, local jams etc.  Not all of us had the cooked breakfast only some and of course I won’t mention who- not me.

We spent 3 days exploring the countryside and I was very happy and lucky to be able to meet up with Josh and Michelle who came down to Beer, a small town about one and a half hours from Brixham. We met them half way at the St, George and Dragon, a typical English country pub that was recommended by Matthew – very nice. It was so lovely to see them and catch up.

Catching up with Josh and Michelle at pub

We spent one day on Mez’s search for the ‘typical English country thatched roof village’.  We drove around and around the countryside coming across many villages, quaint stone bridges and mostly manicured natural hedged fields- all very interesting and well worth the experience.

manicured hedges prevailed for most of the countryside

some of the locals that we had to wait for as this is their home

typical scene from the Moors on our site seeing adventure

The only slight drawback of this day was the drive through the narrowest of roads with tall hedges bordering the road so close that at times it was hard not to scratch the sides of the car. It was like driving through a natural maze not knowing where you were and were you were going next, as you couldn’t see above or around the hedges.

These 2 pics are typical of the roads that we drove in for most of
 the day-beautiful but when you encountered an
oncoming car things did get tricky.

Another day we walked around the sites and countryside of Brixham had lunch at Brixham ‘beach’ and watched two nutters swimming in the freezing water.

View of the coastline to the north of Berry Head a few ks walk from Brixham

View across the channel from Berry Head to the north

Mez being a typical tourist at Berry Head- an army post and lookout in the past

pics above and below of Brixham Beach- not the most inviting place to swim considering also it was very chilli

The sand at the beach

Mez also had a pedicure where small fish- not sure of the type- eat the rough skin off your feet. You immerse your feet in a clear tank of water and the fish go to dinner. I couldn’t come at having fish eat my feet so I chickened out. This is extremely modern for Brixham.

Mez and the flesh eating fish

look very closely at the fish munching away(have found if you click on the pic it will enlarge, of course, all you tech heads already knew this)

All in all Brixham was a lovely part of the world to visit.

From Brixham we drove to Gatwick airport, just south of London to drop the car off and start our 8 night stay in London.

We passed this pile of rocks on our way to and from Brixham - any ideas!!!!????

love Ann

Brugge in Belgium

Hi Everyone
We spent some of our last days in Europe in a lovely city over near the west coast of Belgium called Brugge. Upon arrival, I must be honest, I thought not another old medieval walled town as we have seen a few over the past 2 months but I was wrong as there is so much more to Brugge than first meets the eye. The entire historic centre is a Unesco World Heritage site.
Our hotel was right on the canal a lovely spot.

View of the room from the other side of the canal. There is no way this room with no protection from the water would be allowed at home.

view from room early in morning down the canal.

The first full day we decided to take a tour of the city by bus just to see what it was all about. This proved to be a very good idea as we had no idea the size of Brugge and the many interesting things to see. We also obtained a book from the tourist info office which advised the reader on 3 different walking tours that explained the history and importance of the various points of interest as it guided you through the streets of Brugge. Walking tours on a couple of days were very much needed as we did indulge in some of the more fattening delights as the area is also famous for its chocolate and waffels.

Evidence of one of the reasons why we had to do a lot of walking tours of Brugge.

One of the many hundreds of chocolate shops throughout Brugge.

Another day saw us take a canal boat tour of the city to get a different perspective of the sites, not as good as the bus tour.

The type of boat used on the canal

Some of the views from the boat tour above and below

Another form of transport, of course for the tourists, are horse drawn carriages. Was not totally wrapped in the poor horses having to walk the roads but did see that they were very well looked after.

It was amazing, as with most of these types of cities, just how much is hidden behind the facades of the buildings. We stopped for a beer as you do-Brugge is also famous for its numerous different beers all of which are drunk out of a special glass made especially for it. On one of our walking tours all of a sudden the doors of a building opened up and hundreds of school kids poured out most on bikes heading home, even a couple of teachers passed us also on their bike in skirts and high heels - a very different world. We also came across a beautiful secluded garden that belongs to the Jesuit College that is also hidden to the outside world but if the door is open you are welcome to visit.

This is a Brugse Zot beer from the De Halve Mann Brewery, the last surviving working brewery in Brugge Not a very nice beer very cloudy and strong tasting.

Brugge is a city of cobble stone streets, medieval buildings, quaint bridges, numerous canals, large and imposing squares and hundreds of shops selling you anything from the touristy magnet to the most expensive rolex watch and of course at every bend loads and loads of history.

One of the lovely bridges that cross the canals

We did venture on the train, a 15 minute ride, to the coast. This was the the west coast of Europe and were hoping to maybe have a swim.
We got there to find that it was low tide and that means, not like we know low tide to be, that you have to walk for about 300m at least to get to water from the sand(shore). It was totally amazing to see the water so far off shore. Also even though it was warm there was hardly a sole on the 'beach' and about 2 in the water.

 

This is a view of the "beach" if you look very closely on the righthand side of pic are the waves and the left is the shore the dark lines in between are small rock breakwalls like speed humps that get submerged in high tide. Not a good pic but it was very hazy on that day.

This is the other view of the beach with row after row of ugly multi story buildings and in front of them the small sheds that you hire out for the day to get changed in-no amenity blocks like we have. 

Didnt venture in as it was just not that inviting but on returning I wished that I had but that is an opportunity missed.

We were very lucky to be in Brugge for the tail end of their summer festivals and were in the main square when one of the two best bands in Brugge came marching down the street. Apparently it is very prestigious to be a member of this band.

Brugge was a lovely way to say goodbye to Europe, except for our one night stay in Calais so that we could drop the car off and catch the ferry to Dover, England.



Calais
A town that, for me, you would only go there if you had to.
We stayed the night and sorted out everything that we had collected over the last 2 months travelling in a car. Boy did we have some stuff.
We crammed what we could into our bags and what we could carry as we had to take it onto the boat and across the Channel and then into a smaller car for our trip to the South West coast of England to a town called Brixham.
We did leave behind a large amount but plenty of time in the next month to collect more.
Trip on the boat was a bit rough, felt a bit squeamish, but seeing the white cliffs of Dover made it all worthwhile- they are beautiful. It has been overcast and wet for a fair bit of Northern Europe and we were heading into the same weather in Dover when the sun shone on the cliffs and gave us a true image of the cliffs in all their glory- just lovely.

Calais at low tide

White cliffs of Dover

Brixham - something totally different..............
love Ann