We are still in Wales at the moment and have being taking day trips out. We went to Swansea yesterday and to Penarth today to visit some of Megan's relitives which was a lot of fun. Everywhere we go in the UK we are getting spoiled by family. Food, accomadation, and some great nights at the pubs. Tomorrow we are heading to the Brecon Beacons and to a place called Hay-on-Wye which is supposed to be a great place for antiques and books. Other than that we have been relaxing and visiting with a lot of Megan's relivtives. We met one of her cousins (that she didn't know she had) the other day outside her great Aunts house and while we talking to him he pointed out another cousin as he drove passed us......oh life in a small Welsh town in the Valley.
A quick update...
Miles Driven - almost a 1000
Miles Walked - To damn much
Cash Spent - uh...no comment (mostly in petrol)
Weight lost - about 15lbs...
Weight gained since being in Wales - About 15lbs (you should see the way they feed us)
Number of arguements with Megan - 1 (about navagational skills)
Number of times it has rained - Only about 5 or 6
Well better run. Another dinner is calling......
Tuesday, July 26, 2005
Saturday, July 23, 2005
Wales
We are currently staying in wales in a place Ogmore Vale which is a beautiful little Welsh village in a valley surrounded by moutians. We crossed over on the old Severn Bridge which cost us £4.80 but luckily you only have to pay crossing one way. We stopped just over the bridge in a place called Chepstow which is a beautiful little town thats actually smaller then Milton. We parked at the castle and just went inside as far as we could without paying, took a bunch of photos, bought a postcard and then went for a walk through the main street up a fairly steep hill looking at all the little Welsh arts and crafts stores. After that it was about an hour drive to get to Ogmore Vale which is 20min north of Bridgend where we are staying with Megan's Aunt Shelia who has been generous to put us up for 10 days.
Yesterday we went into Cardiff by train (£4.70 return) from Bridgend. We walked up the main street looking at all the old buildings that have now been converted into stores, subways, and Mcdonalds. We did the same trick again with Cardiff castle going in as far as we could without paying and taking photos, got the postcard, and left to walk around the outside. Then Megan convinced me to go down Queen street to do a bit of shopping before we headed to the National Gallery and Mueseum which is located right next to the city hall which is an amazing building.
Over the next 8 days we plan on going to Swansea, Bridgend, and visiting with Megans family before we head back to Bristol for a few days to see Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Avery. Hope you all are doing well. Cheers.
Yesterday we went into Cardiff by train (£4.70 return) from Bridgend. We walked up the main street looking at all the old buildings that have now been converted into stores, subways, and Mcdonalds. We did the same trick again with Cardiff castle going in as far as we could without paying and taking photos, got the postcard, and left to walk around the outside. Then Megan convinced me to go down Queen street to do a bit of shopping before we headed to the National Gallery and Mueseum which is located right next to the city hall which is an amazing building.
Over the next 8 days we plan on going to Swansea, Bridgend, and visiting with Megans family before we head back to Bristol for a few days to see Stonehenge, Salisbury, and Avery. Hope you all are doing well. Cheers.
Bristol and daytrips
We spent 3 days in Bristol with some of my relitives who treat us so well. I fell so spoiled staying there. The good thing about Bristol is that it is so central for a lot of day trips. We went into Bath for the day to see the Roman baths and the Bath Abbey (which was closed due to university cerimonies so we will just have to go back). My dad's cousin Ann told us a good bay to see the Roman Baths for free. Usually it is £9.50 each to go in but if you go into the Pump room (which is now a pretty fancy restaurant) you can walk right accross the room and go out the back way and there is a balcony that overlooks one of the baths. It was great advice and saved us a lot of money. The Royal Crescent we didn't get to see either but we are going to be going back soon.
Another trip we did was Cleveden which has a great walk along the beach to a pier where you can dontate money and get your name put on the peir. We found many names from my family who have had there names on there for many years.
We gave stonehenge a miss this time but we will be going back to bristol in a week and doing Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Avery next week. Bill we might even see you there!! It will be pretty close.
Another trip we did was Cleveden which has a great walk along the beach to a pier where you can dontate money and get your name put on the peir. We found many names from my family who have had there names on there for many years.
We gave stonehenge a miss this time but we will be going back to bristol in a week and doing Salisbury, Stonehenge, and Avery next week. Bill we might even see you there!! It will be pretty close.
Monday, July 18, 2005
Devon
Hello Everyone
Well it has been a while since our last entry since internet access is somewhat of a privalige to us. 8 days without the internet must be a new record for us. We are now staying with relatives in Bristol who have been kind enough to take us in for a while. We have just spent 10 days in a place called Harbertonford where my grandmother lives and have been taking many day trips out to places locally. Down to the beaches at Blackpool and to a place called Widecombe in the moors where we had to drive down really (and I mean really) narrow roads to get there. There were wild ponies, cows in the road, and sheep everywhere. Other places we ventured to are Totness, Paignton, and Torquay for some really good shopping and fast food.
Over the next few days we plan on going to a place called Bath and Stonehenge before we head off to Wales to stay with Megan's family for 10 days. We don't have a lot planned out so far but Cardiff and Swansea are on our list of places to visit and probably some trips up to the mountains in north wales as well. After that we are making our way back to London and within a week there we are looking at going to Paris to start our trip on the mainland of Europe. From Paris we are thinking of going to Belgium and then to Holland and then making our way down through Germany going to Colonge, Berlin, and Dresden before we get to Munich and Regansburg to see our good friends Curt and Anna just in time Anna's Birthday on the 20th of August. From there we are not sure but most likley heading off towards Italy. That part will take a little more planning.
In other news the car is running great. Megan and I just put in a new cigerate lighter so we can charge the ipod as the old one wasn't working. I won't tell you how long it took us......hahaha. Driving over here is much more exciting though. The roads are narrow and you never know what is around the next sharp bend so it keeps things interesting.
Well that is all for now. Thanks for all the emails we really do enjoy reading them. Take care.
Well it has been a while since our last entry since internet access is somewhat of a privalige to us. 8 days without the internet must be a new record for us. We are now staying with relatives in Bristol who have been kind enough to take us in for a while. We have just spent 10 days in a place called Harbertonford where my grandmother lives and have been taking many day trips out to places locally. Down to the beaches at Blackpool and to a place called Widecombe in the moors where we had to drive down really (and I mean really) narrow roads to get there. There were wild ponies, cows in the road, and sheep everywhere. Other places we ventured to are Totness, Paignton, and Torquay for some really good shopping and fast food.
Over the next few days we plan on going to a place called Bath and Stonehenge before we head off to Wales to stay with Megan's family for 10 days. We don't have a lot planned out so far but Cardiff and Swansea are on our list of places to visit and probably some trips up to the mountains in north wales as well. After that we are making our way back to London and within a week there we are looking at going to Paris to start our trip on the mainland of Europe. From Paris we are thinking of going to Belgium and then to Holland and then making our way down through Germany going to Colonge, Berlin, and Dresden before we get to Munich and Regansburg to see our good friends Curt and Anna just in time Anna's Birthday on the 20th of August. From there we are not sure but most likley heading off towards Italy. That part will take a little more planning.
In other news the car is running great. Megan and I just put in a new cigerate lighter so we can charge the ipod as the old one wasn't working. I won't tell you how long it took us......hahaha. Driving over here is much more exciting though. The roads are narrow and you never know what is around the next sharp bend so it keeps things interesting.
Well that is all for now. Thanks for all the emails we really do enjoy reading them. Take care.
Saturday, July 09, 2005
Safe From the Attacks
Just wanted to let you all know that we were not in London at the time of the terrorist attacks on London. We were supposed to be crossing london on the tubes on friday (the day after) but we made other arrangements and took a coach down to devon to pick up our car.
We went out driving today for the first time and it went really well. Roundabouts are a little strange at first and the back country roads are a little scary when you meet another car head on but everything worked out fine. We will be down in Devon in a place called HarbetonFord for the next 10 days before we drive off to Cardiff to see Megan's family in Wales. After that it is off to the Continent which we are both really looking forward to. Hopefully we will be in Germany in about a month to see Curt and Anna.
Hope you are all doing well and please sign the comments section. We love to read the posts from everyone. Feels like we aren't so far away from you all when you do. Looking forward to reading your posts EVERYONE. Cheers
We went out driving today for the first time and it went really well. Roundabouts are a little strange at first and the back country roads are a little scary when you meet another car head on but everything worked out fine. We will be down in Devon in a place called HarbetonFord for the next 10 days before we drive off to Cardiff to see Megan's family in Wales. After that it is off to the Continent which we are both really looking forward to. Hopefully we will be in Germany in about a month to see Curt and Anna.
Hope you are all doing well and please sign the comments section. We love to read the posts from everyone. Feels like we aren't so far away from you all when you do. Looking forward to reading your posts EVERYONE. Cheers
Tuesday, July 05, 2005
We have a Car
Good news.....We have a car. Its a 4 door Ford Fiesta Flight. Stereo, Sunroof, and alloy wheels. Good enough for what we need it for. We are picking it up on saturday and then the fun begins. I get to learn how to drive on the left side of the road in a right hand drive car. Good times. It is a 1992 with only one owner and 40000 miles on it. The really good news is that is is going to be really cheap to insure which will save us a lot of money. Well thats it for now.
Cheers
Cheers
9 days of camping in Scotland
This is going to be a long post so I don't expect you all to read it. But for those of you that do enjoy....
Day 1
We started out our trip by heading off to Fort William where we had a amsing view of Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Britan). After setting up camp we drove over to a place called Lochleven which is where a lot of the harry potter movies were filmed. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to and one of these days when I can upload picutres (when I remember to bring my ipod to the internet cafe) I will post some for you all to see. Along Loch Leven is a place called town called Glen Coe where it is said to be one of the most crulest masacures in scottish history. 38 peope from the Macdonads family were slaughtered for refusing to leave their land on order of the king. The town is really small and has a pretty erie feeling around it.
Day 2
After sleeping until around 10 we packed up camp and piled aall 4 of us and our belongings into my sisters 2 door honda civic hatchback (a tight fit with all the sleeping bags and tents and food for 9 days) and drove off to the isle of sky. Driving through the 5 sisters of kintail mountains I can really understand why they call it the highlands of scotland. Absolutley stunning. The mountains just seem to go forever in all directions. I would compare it to the scenery of Hawaii just without the hot sun. Along the way we stopped at the castle of Eilean Donan where a lot of moives have been filmed. The james bond movie The World is not Enough and I think Entrapment as well. We stayed in a really small town called Sligachan which had a campsite a bar and a hotel and not much more. It was really windy so we had to put rocks on our tent for extra weight while we drove around the north coast of the isle of skye. A place I definitley want to return to at some time.
Day 3
Up ealry and a short 2 hour drive to Loch Ness to a place called invermosiston on the south west side of the loch. The loch is about 22 miles long and about 1.5 miles in width at its largest section. We drove up to Drummnadrochit and went to a castle called Urquhart just outside the town. This is apperently where the most sightings of the loch ness monster have being although I couldn't see anything at all......feeling a little ripped off. Moving on we went up to the capitol of the highlands a place called Inverness just past loch ness and the Caledonian Canal. It was one of the larger towns we stopped at along the way but only spent an hour or so there. After that we drove back down the loch to the campsite where are tents were less than 15ft from the water. It was a great site to wake up to in the morning. I managed to get into the water almost to my knees before it got so cold my legs were hurting. It is said to be at least 975ft deep and possibly deeper because of all the silt at the bottom.
Day 4
A 3 hour drive to a place called Ullapol on the west side of scotland went by really quick. We stayed in a campsite just outside the town in a place called Ardmir which had a beach cover in dead jelly fish. We spent the day relaxing at the campsite and walking around Ullapool.
Day 5
My sister and Brad took a Day trip to the isle of Lewis but Megan and I decided to stay back and save some money because the trip was fairly expensive and we were saving money for the orkney islands. So we spent the day reading and hanging out on the beach full of dead jellyfish. Although this time I made it in as far as my thighs before every in my body was aching in pain.
Day 6
On our way to John o Groats which is the most northern settlment in Mainland Britan we decided to cut through on a narrow road which was not a main access road but still a fun drive down a road that was one car width wide and 2 direction traffic. We were driving through a small town called Rogart when there was a sign for a Sir John A Macdonald memorial. Now this town must have had a population of about 100 and it was in the middle of nowhere. So we went off to see the momument almost hitting a horse in the road. When we got there we saw a Canadian Flag and a Statue dedicated to Sir John A Macdonald by Deifenbaker. Apperently our first Prime Minster's Grandparents lived in Rogart. We found it quite strange, took some photos, and drove on. Oh for those that our wondering Sir John A Macdonald was born in Glasgow. When we got to John o Groats it was raining so we set up our camp and drove into a town called Thrso where nothing much was happening so we heading to Dunnet Head and took photos by the sign saying the most northern point of Mainland Britan. We headed back to camp to find that Our tent had blown over and become a swimming pool. Everything was wet. Sleepbags, themarest, and most of my clothes. So we cooked dinner in the camp laundry room and played cards until we went to sleep in the car.
Day 7
The orkney Islands are stunny. A 45 min ferry ride to the island went by fast as we were whale watching. We had 2 sightings of orca whales on the way there and one sighting on the way back. The bus tour of the orkneys took us by the churchill barrers which as there name states are barrier that Winston Churchill place in between some of the islands to block them off form submarins coming in and sinking there battleships during WW2. It happend once were a sub manovered through the sunken boats in the channel and sunk the HMS Royal Oak ship. After that we went ot the capitol of Orkney called Kirkwall and went into St. Magnus Cathedral which is made out of red and yellow sandstone. Worth looking up on the net for those that our interested. Then we were off to Stomness a small little fishing viallage where we had lunch and walked around the dive shops. Just outside is a place called Scapa Flow where the Germans after surrendering during WW1 took there ships out into the bay and sunk all 72 ships so nobody else could use them. Since then a compnay has bought them and salvaged them for scrap metal. Well all except for 7 of them which you can now go scuba diving in which is the reason I will return to the orkeny islands. After that we went to a place to skara brae which is a old ancient town that dates back to 3000 BC. Yes that is older than the pyramids of Giza. Crazy..... I won't go into a lot of detail but I reccomend you at least look it up on the net and I will post photos when I get the chance. Then it was off to the ring of Brodgar which is a circle of stones a bit like stonehenge or cavanish. 28 stones (I think) remain from what used to be 60. Then 2 more hours in Krikwall and 30 at the italian chappel built by P.O.W.'s and back to the ferry and John O Groats.
Day 8
A hour drive to Aberdeen stopping off at a place called Fraserburgh were the first lighthouse in Britan was built....Not as interesting as it might sound.....Spent a few hours looking around cathedrals and churches in Aberdeen and then crashed back at the campsite to watch live aid.
Day 9
Drove back to Edinburgh stopping off at St. Andrews where they are getting ready for the Open in a few weeks for all you gold fans. It is a great town filled with churches, ruins, cobblestone streets, and amasing scenery. Then back to Edinburgh to watch the protests.
Well if you made it all the way through congratulations I hope you somewhat enjoyed it. Hope everyone is doing well and feel free everyone to sign the comments section. Oh yea and I am not going to go back and check for spelling or grammer mistakes either because it is to long for me to read again as well....lol
Day 1
We started out our trip by heading off to Fort William where we had a amsing view of Ben Nevis (the highest mountain in Britan). After setting up camp we drove over to a place called Lochleven which is where a lot of the harry potter movies were filmed. It is one of the most beautiful places I have ever been to and one of these days when I can upload picutres (when I remember to bring my ipod to the internet cafe) I will post some for you all to see. Along Loch Leven is a place called town called Glen Coe where it is said to be one of the most crulest masacures in scottish history. 38 peope from the Macdonads family were slaughtered for refusing to leave their land on order of the king. The town is really small and has a pretty erie feeling around it.
Day 2
After sleeping until around 10 we packed up camp and piled aall 4 of us and our belongings into my sisters 2 door honda civic hatchback (a tight fit with all the sleeping bags and tents and food for 9 days) and drove off to the isle of sky. Driving through the 5 sisters of kintail mountains I can really understand why they call it the highlands of scotland. Absolutley stunning. The mountains just seem to go forever in all directions. I would compare it to the scenery of Hawaii just without the hot sun. Along the way we stopped at the castle of Eilean Donan where a lot of moives have been filmed. The james bond movie The World is not Enough and I think Entrapment as well. We stayed in a really small town called Sligachan which had a campsite a bar and a hotel and not much more. It was really windy so we had to put rocks on our tent for extra weight while we drove around the north coast of the isle of skye. A place I definitley want to return to at some time.
Day 3
Up ealry and a short 2 hour drive to Loch Ness to a place called invermosiston on the south west side of the loch. The loch is about 22 miles long and about 1.5 miles in width at its largest section. We drove up to Drummnadrochit and went to a castle called Urquhart just outside the town. This is apperently where the most sightings of the loch ness monster have being although I couldn't see anything at all......feeling a little ripped off. Moving on we went up to the capitol of the highlands a place called Inverness just past loch ness and the Caledonian Canal. It was one of the larger towns we stopped at along the way but only spent an hour or so there. After that we drove back down the loch to the campsite where are tents were less than 15ft from the water. It was a great site to wake up to in the morning. I managed to get into the water almost to my knees before it got so cold my legs were hurting. It is said to be at least 975ft deep and possibly deeper because of all the silt at the bottom.
Day 4
A 3 hour drive to a place called Ullapol on the west side of scotland went by really quick. We stayed in a campsite just outside the town in a place called Ardmir which had a beach cover in dead jelly fish. We spent the day relaxing at the campsite and walking around Ullapool.
Day 5
My sister and Brad took a Day trip to the isle of Lewis but Megan and I decided to stay back and save some money because the trip was fairly expensive and we were saving money for the orkney islands. So we spent the day reading and hanging out on the beach full of dead jellyfish. Although this time I made it in as far as my thighs before every in my body was aching in pain.
Day 6
On our way to John o Groats which is the most northern settlment in Mainland Britan we decided to cut through on a narrow road which was not a main access road but still a fun drive down a road that was one car width wide and 2 direction traffic. We were driving through a small town called Rogart when there was a sign for a Sir John A Macdonald memorial. Now this town must have had a population of about 100 and it was in the middle of nowhere. So we went off to see the momument almost hitting a horse in the road. When we got there we saw a Canadian Flag and a Statue dedicated to Sir John A Macdonald by Deifenbaker. Apperently our first Prime Minster's Grandparents lived in Rogart. We found it quite strange, took some photos, and drove on. Oh for those that our wondering Sir John A Macdonald was born in Glasgow. When we got to John o Groats it was raining so we set up our camp and drove into a town called Thrso where nothing much was happening so we heading to Dunnet Head and took photos by the sign saying the most northern point of Mainland Britan. We headed back to camp to find that Our tent had blown over and become a swimming pool. Everything was wet. Sleepbags, themarest, and most of my clothes. So we cooked dinner in the camp laundry room and played cards until we went to sleep in the car.
Day 7
The orkney Islands are stunny. A 45 min ferry ride to the island went by fast as we were whale watching. We had 2 sightings of orca whales on the way there and one sighting on the way back. The bus tour of the orkneys took us by the churchill barrers which as there name states are barrier that Winston Churchill place in between some of the islands to block them off form submarins coming in and sinking there battleships during WW2. It happend once were a sub manovered through the sunken boats in the channel and sunk the HMS Royal Oak ship. After that we went ot the capitol of Orkney called Kirkwall and went into St. Magnus Cathedral which is made out of red and yellow sandstone. Worth looking up on the net for those that our interested. Then we were off to Stomness a small little fishing viallage where we had lunch and walked around the dive shops. Just outside is a place called Scapa Flow where the Germans after surrendering during WW1 took there ships out into the bay and sunk all 72 ships so nobody else could use them. Since then a compnay has bought them and salvaged them for scrap metal. Well all except for 7 of them which you can now go scuba diving in which is the reason I will return to the orkeny islands. After that we went to a place to skara brae which is a old ancient town that dates back to 3000 BC. Yes that is older than the pyramids of Giza. Crazy..... I won't go into a lot of detail but I reccomend you at least look it up on the net and I will post photos when I get the chance. Then it was off to the ring of Brodgar which is a circle of stones a bit like stonehenge or cavanish. 28 stones (I think) remain from what used to be 60. Then 2 more hours in Krikwall and 30 at the italian chappel built by P.O.W.'s and back to the ferry and John O Groats.
Day 8
A hour drive to Aberdeen stopping off at a place called Fraserburgh were the first lighthouse in Britan was built....Not as interesting as it might sound.....Spent a few hours looking around cathedrals and churches in Aberdeen and then crashed back at the campsite to watch live aid.
Day 9
Drove back to Edinburgh stopping off at St. Andrews where they are getting ready for the Open in a few weeks for all you gold fans. It is a great town filled with churches, ruins, cobblestone streets, and amasing scenery. Then back to Edinburgh to watch the protests.
Well if you made it all the way through congratulations I hope you somewhat enjoyed it. Hope everyone is doing well and feel free everyone to sign the comments section. Oh yea and I am not going to go back and check for spelling or grammer mistakes either because it is to long for me to read again as well....lol
Anyone following the G8 protests?
Well we made it back from our camping trip up to the Orkney Islands safe and sound. But before I get into it has anyone being watching the protests in Edinburgh regarding the G8 summit that is happening this week at Gleneagles Scotland? We were watching the protests (60 people arrested) yesterday on TV and since we are staying at my sisters house a few blocks away we decided to go and take a look first hand. It was pretty tame when we got there although I did get a few good pics of the police in riot gear standing around and some video of all the police blocking of streets. We were down at Rosalyn Chappel (for those of you that have read the Da Vinci Code the church is stunning) and Stirling Castle most of the dawn yesterday so the majority of the protest happened while we were out. Although one of Brad's friends said that we were on TV during the coverage on BBC later that night. The parliment buildings are barracaded up and a lot of the stores along princess street and the royal mile are all boarded up. Strange to think its all happening right infront of us. The big protest is supposed to happen on wed but we are leaving back to England tonight so I won't be able to get photos of that. Probably for the best....
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
