Author: davifam

We finally got to take a bath today, just kidding ,we have bathed daily. We drove down to Bath form Oxford, got to tour the Roman Baths and then took one of our own, fed by the same thermal mineral waters that fed the original Roman Baths. See pictures below of the baths and a shot from the roof top modern baths, where we watched the sun set amongst the bubbles. On to London tomorrow, quite a quick pace on this trip! I should note we made a stop in Henley on the River Thames to check in on the Wind In The Willows exhibit. The picture is of the main protagonist, Toad, who needed his fellow furry friend to extricate him from his many capers. The Goddess Minerva, who reigned over the Roman Baths, is represented in the masks in the pictures. The mineral waters in the baths are over 10,000 feet below the surface and flow at over a million gallons a day at a temp of 115 F. They actually have to cool it for use in the modern baths, where we soaked for a while.

 

We did a bike tour of Oxford with our guide, a fellow in Archaeology, with emphasis on the Roman  period. As you might imagine well informed and erudite. This was a fun way to see more of the surrounding area than we would of had on just a walking tour. The weather has been quite unsettled over here, rainy and blustery, at times, but we were fortunate that for this part of our day we had nice sunshine for our tour. Oxford University is the overall organizer of many different affiliated Universities, some with Protestant roots, and others with Catholic origins. This citadel of learning got it start back in 1200 and reflects England turbulent history. You can tell the difference between the University buildings affiliations by the figures carved in the building Pontiffs or Kings! We went through some of the buildings at Trinity College, in particular a beautiful chapel, where the students attend service to this day, although I did not ask if they were well attended. I’m sure it was mandatory back in the day. We could not go into the famous Bodleian Library, where the Hogwarts library in Harry Potter was filmed but we did get to go into the area of one of the Bodleian Library’s, where there is a museum and lecture hall. There is a thriving industry here in Harry Potter customized tours and souvenirs but I did not buy a magic broomstick. Currently, if you are a Jane Austen fan there is an exhibit of her correspondence and original books. We did decide to take in a lecture, they are open to all, on the origins of Parkinson disease and the doctor back in the 18th century, who originally diagnosed the condition. Not a medical recounting but a historical survey, sadly there were attendees, who obviously had the condition, which also took my dear friend Del many years ago. As they say it may impair their nervous system but not there mind, as Del was sharp to the end. Anyhow on to Bath today but first a stop in the Cotswolds to see our old friend Ratty and Mole from Wind in The Willows. The big round building , amongst the pictures below is one of the Bodleian Libraries, the interiors are of Trinity chapel, the ones on the large grass field with me and Amy on the bikes is the field where the inspiration for Alice in Wonderland came from, the waterway is the Thames. The bridge between the two buildings is Bridge of Sighs, most likely due to hungover students heading to lectures!

 

Some funny ones of us trying on knight helmets, an armored horse/car and my favorite a raptor, young Ernie the Owl, who is less than a year old, and already performing in the show.

We did our behind the scenes tour yesterday, along with the other exhibits in the Castle. My actual favorite part was the bird show, where the Falconers, who patiently work with these raptors, show the birds off. We saw American Bald Eagle, some hawks, an owl and a giant Condor. They all perform acrobatic treats that were amazing and show that the bird are highly intelligent hunters but here they get easily fed so will fly for food. The Castle tour itself provide a dizzying survey of English history, pertinent to the Castle’s place it it. It was originally built as a Saxon defense against Dane invaders. Over time the continual struggles between the various Earls and their fluid alliances to the vying  Kings for rule and throne, both of Tudor and Stewart family lines, makes for intriguing and bloody history. Game of Thrones certainly is mining this turbulent history, although I have not seen any dragons flying around. Many a royal spent time in the tower, as a guest or prisoner and ransoms were a way to get the coin to continue to add to the castle, both for prestige and power. Some pictures below of our day more to come. Today we are in Oxford for a bike/walking tour. By the way, those of you who saw my earlier interpretation of the bear chained to a tree the plaque below is the real story. The tour guide is holding the leg armor of Edward The Black prince. Not sure how much fighting was actually done, once they were ensconced in their outfits but the nasty axes and truncheons, swords and other very lethal weapons make it clear that when a blow was effectively landed it was probably a pretty brief affair. Its no surprise that England was at the heart of the industrial revolution, as the metal work done from early in their history, shows incredible facility with fabrication in metals and wood. This fact also goes back to our visit to the National Train Museum in York, where inventions by George Stephenson and others led to the harnessing of steam in transport.  In the picture of a wall below there is some graffiti from a priest, who was held captive in the castle, he is wishing that the Royals reconcile with blessings from God, good luck there!

Random shots walking in rainy Warwick 

1. What is the significance of the muzzled bear chained to a tree? My guess is it represents the civilizing of the territory 

We met a very nice couple at The Four Penny Inn who offered to run us up to the Castle to see a public garden that their friends maintain, The Mill Garden is right on the Avon River at the foot of the castle. The Garden entrance fee is used for charitable causes. The remains of the original bridge to Warwick Castle span the stretch of Avon right by the garden.

We left Edinburgh Sunday heading for Dumfries, where my Dad’s Mom’s family was established. As I have always claimed a background with aristocratic origins, for the most part that was always as pretender to the throne, but now I will be hard to live with, if not so already, as the Maxwell’s were the local reigning family. This castle Caerlaverock was a strategic fortification on the west coast of England, at the time it was right on the river, although now the waterway has receded. It is the only triangular designed Castle, originally as a defensive fortification but later Lord Maxwell built a more luxurious inner sanctum, with receiving rooms, dining hall and other amenities to enjoy those comforts when not under siege by Protestant interlopers. They were, and remain staunch Catholics to this day. Ultimately the English Protestants prevailed and men of the Castle were hung outside the walls, as a demonstration of religious intolerance. The castle had 3 levels and there were large fireplaces in all the rooms where there were sleeping quarters and all the other rooms where the inhabitants would gather. I stoke one modest wood stove,  and may go through a couple of cords in a winter, they must of been almost constantly harvesting wood for the fires. The weather is blustery and this is September. Today we are in Warwick, quite a drive from where we were yesterday. Tomorrow we visit Warwick Castle, then on to Oxford. We are currently staying at the Old Four Penny Inn in Warwick. We spent sometime in the hotel bar, more like a pub and got a chance to chat with some locals, very refreshing to get a chance to engage in conversation. The English are definitely adept at casual, good humored conversation. Heard a pretty funny joke from one of the local lads regarding Trump and Kim Jong Un that I hope I can recount as well as it was told. Kim’s latest astounding announcement, is his country’s new initiative to put a man on the sun. His officers gently reminded him that the sun is extremely hot and probably another noteworthy objective would be in order but the Supreme leader chided their ignorance, as he planned the landing at night when the sun was cool. When Trump heard of this astounding attempted feat, he chuckled and commented the Sun is gone at night. I guess the moral of the story is 2 wing-nuts do not make a right.

Some more pictures of the Castle

His Lordship outside the entrance to his ancestral home:

The Maxwell Coat of Arms:

The Grounds beyond the Castle:

Finally had a quick nap in the park after climbing the hill also great shot back on Edinburgh from Salisbury Crag

 

Hello All back in the hotel resting the feet, as they are not kidding when they say Edinburgh is a walking city. Amy set a new personal fit bit record of 26,000 steps or 10.6 Miles. We did arrange for a walking tour of the Royal Mile which leads down to Hollyrood Castle, which the Queen does use periodically for events. Our guide Sue was very well informed, so very interesting couple of hours with her and our tour companions.

One of the highlights was the grave of the economist Adam Smith and his house undergoing restoration.

The Hollyrood castle got its start with King David’s vision of a stag with a cross glowing between his antlers. No one can certify if the King had a taste for exotic mushrooms but below is the symbol of the King.

Below are pictures of the castle. The original Augustine abbey, which the King founded is the first group of pictures. The Abby was the first structure built the castle was added later.

 

The Castle itself.  We were able to go in on a guided audio tour of the King and Queens residences, including Mary Queen of Scots but no pictures allowed so exterior shots only

After a beer at Brew Dog Gluten free IPA Called Vagabond and very refreshing we made a hike up on one of 2 routes up  dormant cinder cone formations that pass for hills around here we took the lesser of 2 blisters Salisbury crag.

After that leisurely stroll back down to the central park and a look up at Edinburgh Castle too late for us to gain admittance so a longing gaze was all we could muster.

Some random shots below of the Royal Way street and beer they do have many offerings. The city’s architecture really stands out very special place to see. Now its feet up and lights out tomorrow a big drive to Warrickshire.

 

Hello form Edinburgh, can you hear my burr? Its not under my saddle.We decided that another day in York was in order, to go back for the guided tour, provided by very well informed volunteers. The York Minster structure demonstrates that our ancestors were not always killing each other pursuing the more refined pursuits of human accomplishment. In a picture below you will see a model of one of the towers and the intricate wood frame supporting the stone work. The center post tree is three trees joined together that dates from 1200 AD and these large oak tree trunks are still supporting the structure today. Look for the picture of the roof panel on the ceiling of this supported tower. Our guide was very erudite on the history of the cathedral, so well worth going back. After that visit, we went to the National Railroad Museum(NRM) . Train heaven for me and Amy enjoyed it too my only disappointment was that the shop with all the model trains was closed WAH! See pictures below of the notable trains in the museum. In particular the Mallard, which set a steam train record back in the 30’s for a sustained speed of 129 MPH and that is a lot of steam. We were able to catch up to a guided tour of a steam locomotive slice in half so you can see the workings of the train from water, to heat, to steam, to piston. See the cut away pictures, very ingenious invention the steam engine. Well its late in Edinburgh, have a waking tour of Edinburgh tomorrow and we need to hit it. More to come. Oh Suzanne can you guess which picture made us think of you?