November 16 - 30, 2001

Friday, November 16, 2001                                                  Callander, Scotland

We packed up and left our room for the past two nights.  We’d had a great stay on the Isle of Skye.  We crossed the same bridge back over to the mainland and found our way to the southern end of Loch Ness.  In Fort Williams we stopped to visit Neptune’s Staircase, an old set of eight contiguous locks on the Caledonia Canal.  These locks are very busy during the summer moving pleasure craft along the canal into Loch Ness.  The locks only rise a total of 75 feet, but they’re an impressive sight nonetheless. 

We had another scenic drive back across the highlands leaving behind Ben Nevis, Britain’s highest mountain at 4,406 feet, though we couldn’t see it through the low clouds that accompanied us all day.  We drove into the Trossachs region around Callander and paid a visit to the Rob Roy center.  The center did a good job of withholding judgment of whether Rob Roy was a villain or a hero.  His adventures around 1700 were more of a personal matter than a political one.

We found a very quiet B&B for the evening and walked into town for a fine pub meal.  Christine spent much of the evening working at her school studies in anticipation of some computer time tomorrow.

These are all different views of the locks Joe described called Neptune's Staircase. 1) This is a postcard showing the locks in summer.  You can see lots of boats in the locks.  2) This is a view we had from the top of the locks.  3) This is a side view from near the bottom of the locks.

Saturday, November 17, 2001                                                    Glasgow, Scotland

We got an early start on our drive through the Trossachs today.  We stopped at Loch Katrine for a very quiet walk along the lake.  The scenery has been so spectacular, but the lack of sunshine has kept the landscape in dark shade, and the cloud cover has kept the hilltops hidden.  This inhibited any photographic efforts, but did not really diminish our appreciation of the surroundings. 

Leaving the Trossachs, we stopped in Aberfoyle to visit the Scottish Wool Centre.  Mostly a retail outlet for fine woolen materials, the center also has varying live exhibits regarding the wool industry during the summer season.  I learned that there are over 60 distinct pure breeds of sheep in Great Britain, and many more cross breeds.  There is a large number of rare sheep breeds that are surviving under protections that were instated in the 1970’s.  Christine made some opportunistic purchases before we continued south to Glasgow.

In Glasgow we found a new Days Inn on the River Clyde and checked in.  We spent much time walking several miles around the City Centre area of Glasgow.  I was very impressed with the amount of people that were in downtown Glasgow on a Saturday.  There were masses of pedestrians crowding into an expansive retail area of shops and restaurants.  I was convinced that that this must have been some special day, so as to explain all the people.  Christine suggested that this might be the day that kicks off their Xmas holiday shopping season.  We later learned that this was a fairly normal Saturday.  Glasgow is Scotland’s largest city and has quite successfully preserved its city center as an attractive shopping destination.  An effective subway and bus service bring many Glaswegians into town to access a plethora of retail businesses.  The city layout has even been altered by having several streets converted to pedestrian-only use.  We enjoyed a fine meal at a busy pizzeria and then walked around another hour before returning to our hotel.

This is a small picture of Loche Katrine and it does not do justice to how pretty it was this morning.

Sunday, November 18, 2001                                                                Preston, England

We had a rough morning today, being awoken by the fire alarm sounding off in our room.  The alarm rang throughout the hotel annoyingly for about a minute, as a result of some burnt toast down in the lobby.  We didn’t even try to return to sleep after that trauma.  Later we learned that the fire alarm had automatically shut down the water boiler, so Christine had no hot water when she went to take a shower.  This was another injustice to what we had hoped would be a peaceful Sunday morning.  We got over the travesty and ate a continental breakfast before finally leaving town.

We crossed back over into England around Carlisle and then took a detour to explore Hadrian’s Wall.  Emperor Hadrian visited England in 122 AD and determined that the Roman Empire was now large enough; expansion now gave way to protection and defense.  Hadrian spent his reign traveling through the empire and specifying where defensible borders should be established.  From Arabia to North Africa to England he demanded the construction of barriers.  The most substantial and enduring of the borders was the wall in Northern England that came to bear his name.

Hadrian’s Wall stretched 75 miles from coast to coast across England, Carlisle on the west end and Newcastle on the east end.  The wall was built of stone and stood 15-20 feet high and 12 feet wide.  There were forts every mile and turret towers every third of a mile.  The construction took about fifteen years and the wall was occupied and maintained for better than 300 years, with occasional periods of absence.  Hadrian was one of the last of Rome’s greater emperors, and the Roman Empire began its slow decline and fall under subsequent weak leadership until the fourth century when the empire is recognized to have subsided.

The ruins of Hadrian’s Wall are only a suggestion of what they once were.  The precisely cut stones became valuable building blocks for the future castles of the north.  Much of the wall was disassembled for this purpose and eventually all but disappeared.  The remaining sections still offer cause for awe.

We continued south on the main motorway and stopped near Manchester for the night.  We intend to be back in London tomorrow night after almost two weeks on the road.  We have both truly enjoyed our exploration of this country.

By Christine: I have really enjoyed our visits to and drives through the English countryside, Wales, and Scotland, but I am very happy to be returning to London tomorrow.  These travels only 12 nights and 13 days have shown me that we really chose the right form of travel in North America.  I miss the RV it’s cozy space that is all ours and allows us to be comfortable and make our own meals.  I am ready to be back in one bed for a week.  A different bed every night and all meals out really wear on me.

This is a section of what is remaining of Hadrian's Wall.  The second picture shows the wall with sheep.  The numbers of sheep in this country are amazing and I find them quite entertaining.

Monday, November 19, 2001                                                    London, England

We got an early start this morning and jumped on the motorway south toward London.  We stopped near Birmingham at Warwick Castle for a three-hour visit.  We were getting some of our first sunshine today following nearly a week of gray skies.  Warwick Castle was originally commissioned by William the Conqueror in 1066A.D. and has seen many changes since.  The castle sits on well-landscaped grounds and has seen a lot of restoration.  It had been lived in through the turn of the 20^th century.

The castle is currently in an exhibit state with different areas representing different eras in its history.  There is an excellent display of medieval torture equipment in the dungeon exhibit.  Half the residence is preserved in its Elizabethan grandeur and the other half is set in the Victorian age.  We climbed the towers and walked along the top of the perimeter wall taking in all the views.  Warwick really was a fine exhibit.

We continued on into London with the feeling of returning home.  Our thirteen days of exploring the country had worn us out.  We were ready to sit in one place for a bit.  We were greeted with the familiar chaos of a family of five as we joined my sister’s family for dinner.  It felt good to be back.

Both of these pictures were taken at Warwick Castle.  You can see a picture of the whole castle on our spotlight picture page.  The first picture was meant to show the detail of these castles.  Note how all the crosses along the top of the castle.  Some of the crosses have deteriorated over time.  The garden of the castle was full of peacocks, similar to those in the second picture.

Tuesday, November 20, 2001                                                    London, England

Christine went shopping with Scott for a Thanksgiving turkey as I stayed behind and piddled.  I spent the afternoon in bed feeling unwell.  It was a very uneventful day for me.

Wednesday, November 21, 2001                                                  London, England

I felt well enough today to venture out with Christine.  We took the subway across London to Greenwich where we saw many sites.  First we visited the Cutty Sark and Gipsy Moth IV in dry dock along the River Thames.  The Cutty Sark was a high speed clipper ship that carried tea from China, and later wool from Australia as it followed the trade winds around the world.  The Cutty Sark is the last of many such clippers built in the mid 1800’s, and has been well preserved for public display.  It contained an excellent exhibition on that era of sailing.

The Gipsy Moth IV is a small single-manned sailboat built expressly for Sir Francis Chichester in his modern effort to retrace the trade wind route of the cutters in his 1967 solo circumnavigation.  His was the first recorded successful solo sailing trip around the world, and he was knighted by Queen Elizabeth for his accomplishment.  He made one stop in Australia, as did the clippers.  Remarkably, Sir Francis celebrated his 65^th birthday during the voyage.  I particularly enjoyed this exhibit since I read Sir Francis’ book a couple years ago about this adventure: “The Gipsy Moth Circles the World.”

We walked a couple blocks over to the National Maritime Museum and were overwhelmed by the exhibits there.  We spent several hours there including a break for lunch, and still only took in a little more than half of the displays.  It is an excellent museum and warrants a full day (or perhaps two half-days) to take it all in.  We especially enjoyed the temporary exhibit entitled “The Race to the Pole” about the efforts to reach the South Pole. 

After nearly twenty years of failed attempts to reach the South Pole, two competing parties finally succeeded only 34 days apart from each other.  The Norwegian, Roald Amundsen reached the goal in December of 1911 and lived to tell about it.  The Brit, Robert Scott arrived from a different direction only to discover that he had not been first.  And to add injury to the insult, Scott’s entire polar party of five perished on their return trip to their ship.

We left the museum and passed through “The Queen’s House” in Greenwich, now used to display paintings, and climbed the hill to the Old National Royal Observatory.  This is the home of 0 degrees longitude, the Greenwich Meridian.  I had recently watched a series on the A&E cable network last year titled: “Longitude.”  This well produced program was all about the effort in the 1700’s to finally solve the navigational problem of exactly determining a ship’s longitude.  Latitude had long been easy to calculate by measuring the angle between the sun and the horizon.  The inability to compute longitude so easily resulted in many lives being lost at see.  The solution came in the form of a highly accurate wristwatch (within 2-3 seconds error per month).  The effort to achieve such an accurate timepiece that could endure the motions at sea and changes in temperature and humidity proved to be considerable.  The reward however, was considerable.  This leadership in the keeping of time has earned Greenwich the right to the Prime Meridian.  The entire observatory was an excellent museum.

1) The Cutty Sark; 2) The Gipsy Moth IV; 3) The Old National Royal Observatory; and 4) Joe straddling 0 degrees longitude.

Thursday, November 22, 2001                                                    London, England

Today Christine and I separated and went our own ways for the day.  I ended up going for a seven-mile walk through the neighborhoods around Maria’s house.  Christine took the tube toward town to do some shopping and catch a movie.

Friday, November 23, 2001                                                           London, England

The house was busy with preparations for tomorrow’s celebration of Thanksgiving.  Christine and Scott divided assignments in the kitchen.  I spent the afternoon out at a movie with Benjamin and his friend Alex.  We went down to Leicester Square to see “Apocalypse Now Redux,” the new cut of Coppola’s epic interpretation of Joseph Conrad’s book: “Hearts of Darkness.”  With nearly another hour of film added to the original, the three and a half hour movie was tiring to sit through.  I was glad I saw it, but I won’t need to see it again.

We all went out to a casual Indian dinner of shish kabobs to give Scott and Christine a break from the kitchen.

Saturday, November 24, 2001                                                    London, England

Today we celebrated Thanksgiving in a grand American way with lots of food.  Scott and Christine managed to put all the American classics on the table, even in a foreign country.  Maria invited several people over from her office to join in the event.  We ended up seating 22 people for dinner.  It was a great meal with good company.  We even had a videotape of an American football game to play for authenticity.

Sunday, November 25, 2001                                                          London, England

Today we all relaxed between intermittent cleanup efforts.  We all looked forward to the reheated dinner of leftovers.

Monday, November 26, 2001                                                    London, England

We used today as our last day to explore London, and we got a beautiful sunny day to do it.  We tubed down to the Chelsea area and did some shopping there. We walked over to the Tate Modern Art Museum to take in the progressive exhibits there.  As much a fan of art that I am, I often struggle with achieving a broad appreciation for modern art.  We made the most of it however.

It was dark out by the time we left the museum.  We walked around the Globe Theatre right next to the museum.  This is a full-scale faithful reproduction of the original theatre where many of Shakespeare’s original plays were performed.  We worked our way back to the shopping districts of Regent and Oxford Streets to take in all the Christmas lights on display.  It was quite impressive.  It was a good way to cap off our last day in downtown London.

1) Here you can see what a gorgeous day we had for our last day in downtown London.  This was our view of St. Paul's Cathedral from across the Thames River.  2) A view of Hamley's toy store and their Christmas lights. 

Tuesday, November 27, 2001                                                    London, England

Today was all about preparing for our return trip to the states.  Christine caught up on some laundry and we got most of our packing finished.  We walked around the neighborhood and did a little last minute shopping.

Wednesday, November 28, 2001                                                Francis Creek, WI

Today was all about travel.  We were out of bed at 5:45AM and down out Victoria Station by 7:00AM to catch the train back to Gatwick Airport for our 11:00AM flight.  We killed a couple hours in the duty free shopping area before catching our flight.  We scored some comfortable bulkhead seats for the 8-hour flight back to Newark.  We made our connection and arrived in Milwaukee at 6:30PM where my in-laws were awaiting us.  I passed out in the car ride back to Francis Creek.

Thursday, November 29, 2001                                                    Francis Creek, WI

I was up at 5:00AM due to the time-change.  I spent the day working on a project.

Friday, November 30, 2001                                                       Francis Creek, WI

After a quiet day we visited Christine’s grandparents and went out for a traditional Friday night Fish Fry at a local pub.