January 8-11 - London & Birthday Celebrations

Greetings All,

We are all off to London via the train for Amy to hook up with friends and for us to explore new sites and celebrate my birthday.  We take the bus into town as the Mersey rail is on strike and Amy discovers how friendly and chatty Scousers are. Our train ride is non eventful and we take up the tube up to our hotel and wait for Karen as Amy is spending her last 5 days with her and her hubby who have recently moved to the UK from Vancouver. Fred and I arranged to meet up with Amy and Karen   tomorrow and they head off. We spend  the evening in the hotel taking full advantage of the hospitality suite that they have for Marriott members which has free wine ,food and other snacks.

We are up and out relatively early as we head up to Leicester Square to see what shows are available for the evening . We purchase tickets for Dream Girls which is at the Savoy. From here we walk to the Sky Garden. Better know as the Walkie Talkie building given its distinctive shape. Located in the City of London's Financial district, it is a sky scraper , 34 storey building that was designed by architect Rafael Vinoly , it cost over 200 million pounds to build. It was designed to be much taller but concerns over the visual impact on the nearby Tower of London and St Pauls Cathedral lead it to be scaled back. Completed in 2014 and the Garden opened in 2015.Viewing for the garden on the 34th floor is free though you need to book. The day we went is was very overcast and foggy so the views were not that great. Pictured on the left is the misty Tower bridge and the gardens that have been planted inside . It was awarded the Carbuncle Award in 2015 as the worst new build in London in the previous 12 months. We spend a good hour there taking pictures and checking out the gardens before saying our good byes to Amy and Karen.

Fred and I head down Fleet Street and then to the Strand . Pictured on the right is the clock ringers in the Law Courts. We stop for a late lunch at a pub before heading into The National Portrait Gallery. It was the first portrait gallery in the world when it opened in 1856. It now houses the portraits of Britain's historically important and famous people. Fred and I are most interested in the portraits from the Tudor Era done by the old masters like Hogarth.
Sadly pictures are not allowed. The portraits are amazing and in extremely good condition especially when you consider how long ago they were painted  and the products they used in the late 15th Century between 1485 and 1603.

We head back to the hotel to freshen up before heading back to the Savoy to see Dreamgirls.  Fred orders us drinks and they bring them right to our seat before the show and at the break. The picture on the left is of the Savoy  box seat taken from our seat 10 rows from the stage and right in the middle.
We really enjoy the show and once back at the hotel we enjoy a nightcap. It has been a full day of exploring and we walked just over eight miles.



January 10th my Birthday and we head off to St James Park on of my favorite parks in London. On our way to
The National Gallery we are lucky to see the changing of the Horse Guard

as pictured on the right. We visit the National Gallery a art museum in Trafalgar Square founded in 1824 and houses over 2300 paintings dating from the mid 13th century to 1900. We visit the old masters before checking out a building in the area which turns out to be The National Ballet building then heading off to Covent Gardens.We then go back to old walking grounds and the Cask for my first birthday drink of the day.
I enjoy a Pheasant Plucker Cider and we split a burger and fries to tie us over till Supper.  We head back to the hotel to freshen up as we have booked into The Shard for cocktails .

The lounge is on the 52nd floor and offers spectacular views of the city. When you first arrive you are seated at a wall seat then after about 20 minutes you are moved to a window seat. While we are enjoying our drink when we first arrive we are entertained by a young man who is full of himself very loud entertaining a young lady who it appears he is trying to do some type of investment with.
When we are moved to our window seat we are sat beside the guy we have been entertained by.  It turns out he is a diamond merchant and introduces himself to us. Wahid asked to buy us a drink which Fred refuses. I say thanks buy we are going out for dinner for my Birthday and have a place booked. Wrong thing as he insists he must buy us a drink. So we have a free drink and learn a bit about him.
His family is in the restaurant business while he went into the diamond business because of his interest in gemmology . We are invited to his country home in the fall . We finally say our goodbyes as its seems he is happy to buy more drinks but we lie and say we have to get to our reservation. To me it seems he is just a very lonely guy especially when he wants to chat up to old farts like us. We know well enough it was a chance meeting and we will never see him again but he did make the evening entertaining. The picture on the left is of the Tower Bridge taken from our window seat at the Shard. We decide to have dinner at the hotel as it has been a full day. We have only walked 5 ½ miles today but it feels like so much more. I have really enjoyed this visit to London as we have explored new places and seen new things. The City never fails to offer up new things to see and do.

Our trip home we take the train First Class. Great way to travel and I think how we should go in the future. I hope you have enjoyed this segment of our travels.

Ta rah for now,
Sandy & Fred

January 4-6,2018 - Williamson Tunnels,The Game & York

 Greetings All,

We are up and out relatively early as we want to explore The Williamson Tunnels. The tunnels were built between 1810 and 1840 by a eccentric business man Joseph Williamson. There have been many theories on why the tunnels were built but the most prevailing one was to give the poorer residents a paying job with the quarrying of the sandstone and building of his home and gardens. The work on the tunnels continued until his death in 1840. We have not been to the tunnels in at least 7 years and there has been a lot of major development in the area and we have a bit of difficulty finding the entrance. Once parked it seems we have perfectly timed our entrance as they are about to start a tour. We hook up with 2 older couples.The tour takes about 45 minutes in the areas that have been excavated. Pictured on the left part of the tunnel that shows upper tunnels space and well as the curved sandstone ceilings.. Once done we head into Liverpool City Centre  for Amy to shop.

January 5th is Game Day for us . Fred has managed to get tickets for Amy and me in the main stands. We are quite high up and have a very good view of the game. The first half is rather boring but thankfully the second half picks up and we win. Great result for Amy as the standing order from the guys is if L'Pool lose the visitors are not allowed to return .




 January 6th we are all up and out early as we head to York. Thankfully the weather has cooperated and though it is cool it is dry. Our first stop is York Castle Museum. The buildings in which the museum is located were once a Georgian prison. The museum is quite quirky as you travel back in time . With a complete Victorian street  with its shops and residents, to toys, clothes, appliances , chocolate , the First World War and the sixties.  Fred and I recognise may things we grew up with. Check out my Facebook  wall to see pictures from the museum.

Next Stop is Clifford's Tower  pictured on the left. The tower  or keep is all that remains of the medieval Norman castle . Built originally on the orders of William I to dominate the former Viking City of York. It had a tumultuous  early history before developing into a major fortification with extensive water defences. A major explosion in 1684 rendered the remaining military defensive uninhabitable. The castle continued to be used as a prison and jail until 1929. By the 20th Century it became a well know tourist attraction and national monument and is owned by the English Heritage .  Once our exploring is done we head into the Shambles a part of the city that has over hanging timber-frmaber building dating back to the 14th century. Check out my Facebook wall for pictures.

Amy and I head into the York Minster the largest medieval Gothic cathedral in Northern Europe. The current building is around 800 years old and is at least the second minster to stand on this location.

History on this site dates back 2000 years as the remains of a Roman barracks were uncovered beneath the Minster in the 1960-70's with the excavation and the reinforcement of the undercroft due to structural damage and the threat of collapse .
Pictured on the right is a 1000 year book. The Gospel of York that tells the story of Jesus. It has survived fires, uprisings and the ravages of time. It is still used in the Minster today and is a powerful symbol of continuity .

While Amy and I explored the Minster Fred stayed outside to sort a way home that would take us to the Assheton Arms a Inn in Lancashire on the way home. It is very busy but they do seat us and we have a enjoyable supper. We have had a full day and are all looking forward to our trip to London on the 8th.

Ta rah for now

Sandy & Fred

Dec 30,2017 -Jan 2,1018- Amy Arrives & A None Existent Castle

Greetings All,

Our daughter -in-law Amy arrives from Vancouver around 10:30 AM at Manchester and we pick her up and head back to our place to get her settled in for a week with us before heading down to London for her to visit with friends. We spend the balance of the day relaxing catching up on news and planning the balance of the time she will be with us.  The 31st we take down the Christmas decorations and prepare for our New Years Eve dinner as the weather is wet and miserable.

We have a meat fondue of beef,pork,chicken and shrimp with veggies for our New Years Eve Celebration with Prosecco and copious amounts of red wine. Dessert is odds and ends from Christmas as our meal takes a relaxing 3 hours or so. We manage to stay up for the fireworks from London and there is also a decent display by someone in the neighbourhood.

January 1st find us chilling as nothing is open  and again the weather is wet and miserable. Lunch is various cheeses, smoked salmon,fruit, sausage rolls and Italian salami's.   Dinner is a Parkins standard for the New Year. Virginia baked ham , scalloped potatoes and peas, again with a fair share of red wine. We are all off to bed at a decent time as we head into Cheshire to explore  Congleton Castle tomorrow.

We are up and out by 10:00 AM as we want to explore Congleton Castle which Amy has found in Trip Advisor. We drive to Congleton and arrive at the address which Fred has put into the Nav chick which takes us to somebody's home . We stop in a Tesco parking lot so Fred can see if he can find further instructions and I go into the store to use the facilities. While coming out  I ask a gentlemen if he has heard of Congleton Castle and he informs me there is no such a castle in Congleton. There is a Folly which is a attraction in the area which he gives me directions to. A Folly in case you are interested is a building built primarily for decoration but its appearance suggests its use was for something else. We never to find the Folly so we head into Chester stopping for lunch at a pub along the way. Just turns out that the trip to Congleton was a folly itself .

We have a explore around Chester and then head to the Cathedral . The picture on the right is of Fred and Amy in front of a star at the Cathedral. Inside the cathedral is still very Christmassy and we spend a good ¾'s of a hour exploring. So the day has not been a total loss as we head back home after a disappointing start.


Cheers,
Sandy & Fred