Wed 6 to Tues 12 July - Berwick, Lindisfarne, Ednam, Craven Arms, Gloucester and SURPRISE! and on to Oban

Wednesday 6 July:  Highlights – Hadrian’s Wall, Vindolanda, Roman Museum, dinner with Berwick supporters club!

We awoke reasonably early and were on the road before breakfastime (well early for us!).  Our first thoughts were to go straight to Berwick and explore this wonderful old walled city – it is steeped in history and there is so much to explore.

And the WE HIT THE WALL! Hadrian’s Wall that is! Renoir had never explored it and it has been nearly 20 years since I was fascinated by its charm so as we had the time we thought we would enjoy just a brief waylay. Huh! Try and briefly waylay anything when you start exploring such a rich history!

Firstly we explored Housesteads – the best preserved site of a Roman garrison along the Wall. Naturally it was on the top of a hill – I mean where else would you position a fort! Checkout FB for the pix of my beserker husband climbing over the fort! The remains of this fort are truly amazing – it was used nearly 2000 years ago and you can still see the lavatory flushing system, the granary for their foodstuffs, and the remains of the barracks. Naturally the place was crawling with school kids who, of course, have absolutely NO IDEA how fortunate they are – but then I guess none of us did either when we were at museums and stuff.

Anyway, as we were on top of a hill with a fabulous view we had advance warning on the oncoming weather, and it looked nasty. So back to the car and on to Vindolanda.

How to describe Vindolanda? It was both a Roman fort and a township. The township was a vicus – which meant it was self-governed. The site itself is incredibly rich in archeological artifacts because apparently the buildings were built with untreated timber (even the bark was still on it) so the timber only lasted about 8 years – when it came time to repair them, the logs were just sawn off at ground level, then bracken and other vegetation was put down over the existing floor and more timber erected on top of that. This created an anaerobic (no air) environment which protected everything really well, hence the shoes and fabrics, and other artefacts being in such a good condition.  

The most exiting discovery to date are the documents that have been unearthed. These are tablets and a provide a wonderful day to day guide as to how the garrison and villages were run, for instance how many soldiers on a particular day were in the garrison, how many were sick, absent or travelling; the food stores; soldiers’ pay records. But one of the most treasured finds was an invitions from one high-born lady to another – although a scribe had written the original invitation, the birthday girl had added something in her own handwriting to the bottom on the invitation – and is the only example of a women’s handwriting from that period in Western Europe! Even though the weather was inclement, we still walked around the excavations  - being on site is open to anyone – I don’t mean you can just turn up and dig, but you can register and be part of the crew that gets all muddy and filthy and excited about finding a piece of glass, or something more special! That is certainly on the cards for our next visit.

After Vindolanda we travelled down the road a bit to the Roman Museum, also run by the Vindolanda trust. We didn’t have a lot of time to enjoy the exhibits, but did get to enjoy the main reason  for our visit, which was to see a 30min film about life in a Roman town and garrison such as Vindolanda. It was called “An Eagles’ Eye View” and has won a swathe of awards – not surprising as the graphics were excellent. Using actors and following a short story line it recreated what life would have been like for a solider, duty, food, sleeping, training and fighting.  We were in the middle of a bunch of school kids (with much harrumping going on from Renoir!) but they quietened down when the film started and stayed quiet throughout, so that gives you an idea of how gripping it was!

After the Roman Museum it was a lickety-split trip to Berwick and dinner with the  Berwick Rangers supporters club. We were due to be collected at 650pm and got to the hotel at 6pm – enough time for a bit of quiet before dinner. Alan collected us right on time, and took us to The Salmon for dinner. A couple of drinks first so Renoir and the club could catch up on the gossip, then at 730pm Rodelle, husband Derek, son Warren, ,Alan, Renoir and I moved into the restaurant section for dinner.

What can I say – Scottish salmon is just delicious! Lemony cream sauce, lots of veggies, and fab chips (only had about four, and believe me, I was really using willpower for that!) Renoir had camembert, wrapped in parma ham, dipped in tempura batter and fried – it smelt fabulous and tasted even better!  Pub food here is truly outstanding, and I haven’t been disappointed yet, but am usually delighted by the choice, and innovation of the menu.

We left at closing and crashed from a great height, ready to explore Berwick the next day.      

Thursday 7 July – Lindisfarne to Ednam

It wasn’t the best of weather, but we weren’t going to let that stop us so ever-onward to Lindisfarne, the Holy Island which is just off the coast of Berwick – well of the coast when the tide is in, but a 20min drive when the tide is out!

The car park is down the road from the village – the village population is only 150, the streets are narrow and not really geared for a massive number of cars that visit every year. But it’s a quick walk, or an even quicker shuttle bus ride (and the weather was foul so bus it was!) Straight to the castle, and entered a different world. The furnishing were a mixed bag and gave an idea of what the mediaeval life would have been like for the soldiers (on the bottom coupleo floors) and then what life would have been like for more recent inhabitants (early 20^th century).  It was run really well, and full of historical explanations in all the rooms.

By the time we reached the battlements on top, the weather had cleared a bit and we were able to take some ok pix which give an idea of the spectacular view - Henry VIII really chose a brilliant location for a castle as you would have had loads of warning if any marauders were on the way. Then we explored the lime kilns and the walled garden, the weather staying fine for all our outdoor meanderings.

We then cruised into town for a cup of tea and, bliss, a really yummy cheese scone! Then a look at the shops, but amazingly for us, no purchases! The shuttle bus ended up being about 3minutes early and we missed the return journey (for which we had already paid!) but the walk was quiet short and gave us the chance to buy some farm fresh raspberries for dinner with Jeff and Jacqueline.   The drive back could not have been more different than the drive in, and if anyone had told me the afternoon would become as beautiful and fine as it was – well I would never have believed it possible after the driving rain we’d had coming over!

Thursday 8 July: Dnner with Jeff’n’Jax

We had met Jeff and Jacqui at Spirit House in Yandina on the Sunshine Coast when we did the Thai cooking course Jenny B gave us for a wedding gift. Thanks Jen, who would ever have thought we would be enjoying more outcomes from that course on the other side of the world!

The drive over to join Jeff and Jacqui was along gorgeous country lanes alongside beautiful farms and meadows – and the weirdest weather – the sky was overcast, yet the sun was blaring and we needed to wear sunnies, but the rain was beating onto the windscreen. The as soon as we crossed the border into Scotland, it was fine! This country is just like one big Melbourne!

Jeff and Jacqui own Edenwater, a boutique guest house with four uniquely different rooms, all with magnificent views onto their garden and the surrounding countryside. Edenwater is an old sandstone two story building, lovingly lived in and renovated to capture both the traditional beauty of bygone days and the comfort of contemporary needs. Jeff and Jacqui are such wonderful hosts, and as they had no guests we were able to enjoy a magnificent meal (cooked by Jacqui), some wonderful wine (provided by Jeff) and fabulous conversation (from all of us!) We arrived about 715pm, and wandered the garden, as the it was still so light.

Dinner was about 830pm, and Jacqui had done a wonderful Scottish/Thai fusion – beef marinated in palm sugar and other spices, with a dipping sauce, a wonderfully light potato rosti, and a selection of greens – truly delicious. A cheese platter, with a washed rind soft cheese, a Shropshire blue and a hard sheep’s cheese and a beautiful bunch of grapes was next on the menu, then ice cream and fresh raspberries for desert, with a late harvest wine followed by coffee.  We finally staggered to be about 115am – and had chatted and laughed all night.

We fell into bed and I swear, it felt like we were sleeping on a cloud – and we slept very soundly until it was time for breakfast the next morning.  So spoilt!

Friday 10 July: Edenwater to Gloucester

We knew today would be a big driving day – Edenwater in Ednam is 30mins southwest from Berwick which is on the coast. Gloucester is almost on the Welsh border, so we were up and gone by about 930am (after a good cooked breakfast – thanks again Jacqui!)

We travelled down past some  of Hadrian’s Wall, and then turned southwest to travel across the Pennines – a beautiful mountain range that I remember reading about in Enid Blyton books like the Secret Seven and Famous Five when I was younger! We stopped at a lovely little pub for a bit to eat about 1230pm, it was by a river and I can’t quite remember the township’s name but the pub was The Elk’s Head, and there we caught up on the latest news on the News Of the World scandal. You may have heard about it – it is alleged that some reporters on Rupert Murdoch’s News of the World (NoW – and the biggest selling newspaper in the world apparently) has been accused of hacking into the mobile and land line phones of a number of people. This of course has happened before – you may remember a very intimate and personal conversation between Prince Charles and Camilla Parker-Bowles as she was then, being broadcast, but a blind eye has been turned to the practice since then. Well a young 14 year old girl disappeared in about 2002, and apparently a private investigator hacked into her phone and deleted messages during the police investigation into her disappearance, giving her family, and the police, hope that she was alive (apparently they deleted messages because the voicemail  was full and they were trying to get a copy of the any of the personal messages being left by her family). A truly heinous activity and one that has blown up completely now that it has been discovered that thousands of phone numbers have been discovered, from the McCanns (whose daughter Madelaine disappeared in Portugal); to the royal family; to the families of soldiers killed on duty in Afganhistan and Iraq; to the families of those killed in the London terrorist bombings of 7/7/05 – and of course a number of so called celebrities.

Murdoch closed the paper and  the last issue was last Sunday 10 July , but the bigger piece of pie he is interested in is full control of BSkyB – and this looks like it might have put the kybosh on that. Yay I say!!!

Anyway, we were in The Elk’s’ Head weren’t we? A nice light lunch and then we set out and heard on the radio that the M6, and then later the M5, were turning into car parks due to some serious accidents. No problem we thought, we’ll just take an A road rather than an M road. Well I swear this added another three hours to our trip – not helped that we missed a sign in Wigan (because a bus was parked across it) that directed us to the correct road and ended up circumnavigating Wigan twice – and you know what? Wigan is just not that interesting!

So back on the A49, but it was Friday afternoon, and traffic was horrendous wherever we went, so we just coped really!  We aimed for Shrewesbury, and thought a quiet investigation of Brother Cadfael land would be fun the next morning, but Shrewesbury was just booked out – no-one could tell us why, so on we ploughed until we found a little place called Craven Arms,  and a lovely little pub called Stokesay Castle Hotel.

The first thing we noticed was the smile Harriet gave us on arriving. After 11+ hours travelling we really welcomed that greeting! They had rooms available – even better! And food was still on and the bar was open – it just couldn’t get any better could it?

Well, how about a French chef in the kitchen, who made the best croque monsieur that Renoir has ever had – in or out of France! And the French Onion soup – I have never had anything like it, real  farmhouse style with great lumps of bread and melted cheese on top (my pills are working a treat!)

It was just wonderful to stop – we took over a table that could seat 6, and read the paper, had a drink, enjoyed dinner and just generally relaxed until time to sleep, a quiet room and a comfy bed.

Saturday 9 July – Craven Arms to Gloucester

We awoke and were downstairs for breakfast about 730am. Steve, host and hotelier, prepared brekkiw and we both had something light, and spent the morning updating various travelogues and downloading pictures etc..  He was also kind enough to let us use his laundry – it was only one load but it makes all the difference to be able to keep on top of the washing when travelling the way we are – there is nothing appealing about spending a half or most of a day in a Laundromat in some little city or town when there is exploring to be done!  

We weren’t able to check into the Travelodge in Gloucester until 3pm, and were reluctant to get to Gloucester to look around because we didn’t want to accidently come across Christine, Renoir’s cousin and the reason we were in Gloucester at this point in our trip.

We checked in and I crashed for about an hour and a half, while Renoir went to check out the local area. We stayed at Gloucester Quays, which is where the long boats (like canal boats) are all kept and is an old docks area that has been reinvigorated with high density house and outlet shops, and they’ve done a beautiful job, utilizing all the old warehouses to maintain the history, but make the area more contemporary.

We were due on the King Arthur about 7pm, and were a tiny bit late but not enough to spoil the surprise. Jim had organized this wonderful two level long boat, complete with bar and dining downstairs, and music and dancing upstairs – and the weather stayed fine!  

We travelled up the river Severn (pron seven) starting in the loch. The River Severn is tidal, and is the site of the longest surfboard ride on record!  Much dancing and drinking and fun was had, and Christine and Jim’s family and friends were very welcoming, so a good time was had by all (and mostly Christine who was very surprised – always nice when a surprise works isn’t it!)

We docked about 1015-ish and all made our way home, with many of us catching up for the ‘official’ bbq the next afternoon.

Sunday 10 July: Gloucester

Ok, ok, I admit it, I am unable to stay next to an outlet complex without having to go shopping. In my defence I will say that I deliberately didn’t pack things that I would  need in warmer weather because a) we knew our bags were over-weight when we left Brisbane,  b) I knew I wouldn’t need warmer things until later in the trip (and when you consider we got snowed on in Stockholm I wasn’t far wrong!) and c) I know I buy new things! But I was reasonably restrained, and bought either things I don’t already have at home or things that will be replacements. That is my story and I am sticking to it!

We did have ‘the great glasses hunt’ first thing tho. Renoir realised on Saturday night when we got home that his reading glasses must have falled out of his jacket pocket on the boat – so first thing he went to the docks to find the boat and see if any one was aboard. No such luck. Then I looked for his spare pair in the car – no luck. Then he looked in the suitcases – no luck. Eventually the spare pair was found in the car – and this was after we had both searched – so both of us were suffering from domestic blindness! Any even better, his new pair were found the previous  night and were returned to him when we arrived at the bbq later that day.

We got to Christine and Jim’s new home about 3pm and gave Chrissy her birthday gift. We had wanted to get her something very Australian, and on our way back from the Discworld Convention had found a really pretty opal. As well, unfortunately all her jewellery had been stolen earlier this year, so we had a ring that had belonged to Flora, as well as the opal, for her gift. And then Renoir did something that only he could think of – he bought her a title – she is now a Lady of Lochabar! (He is a laird, and I am also a lady!).

Lochabar is a Scottish land holding that, some years ago fell on hard times. It is a massive tract of land that holds custody of the most ancient forests in the UK, and some amazing wildlife. So to help preserve its heritage, the owners sell off small plots of land – these are about 3metres square. You get a title – and its official, you can change all your official documents if you want to, and fishing rights to certain parts of the river. She was delighted!

Given the drive the next day (Gloucester to Oban) we thought a reasonably early night a good idea and returned to the hotel about 630pm for a good sleep and a reorganization of packing.

We do this regularly – go through what clothes we might need every few days and pack these into a small carry bag, and leave the large suitcases in the car. This saves lugging the big stuff in and out of the car all the time and is working a treat!

Monday 11 January – Gloucester to Oban

There’s not a long you can say about a long drive up the M5 then M6 other than, mercifully, it was accident free and we didn’t need to explore any A roads. The trip was about the same distance as the previous Friday, but only took us two thirds the time!  We didn’t drive all the way to Oban, as we passed Glasgow late in the day and, even though driving that far was possible, it may have proved difficult a) finding accommodation and b) we wanted to make sure we got to eat dinner.

We finally pulled over the night in a gorgeous little town called Lochearn Head – the villageof Loch Earn, and the head of the loch! The pub was right across the road, and the hills soar up on the other side, with houses nestled in the glens at the bottom. It was green, green, green and the clouds were settling on the top of the hills an drifting in and out of them – it was just divine.  

The pub folk were friendly and the food wholesome. Salmon again for me (I miss my fish’n’chips nights!!!) and chips (again, just a few but pubs over here do the BEST chips!) and Renoir went native straightaway – chicken breast stuffed with black pudding, wrapped in bacon and baked. The gravy was so good he even ate a vegetable so as not to miss it! The only downside was a group comprising two families who felt the need to spread themselves variously across three different tables throughout the evening and despite the place being nearly empty they boisterously sat next to us, disturbing our quietude.

Still, the room was comfy, Renoir was able to have black pudding (which I tried – it’s like a coarse pate) and potato cakes for brekkie the next morning, before we headed off to Oban.

Fri 1 July at Jax's place to Wed 5 July in Washington

Friday, 1 July: I won’t bore you all with the drama about collecting the car a day late (regardless of letting the agency know this would be the case) – all I will say is I will never use the broker CarTrawler again!

We finally got on the road and the three of us motored off to our dear friend Jacqueline’s place in the south east in a lovely little place called Lindfield. We arrived mid-afternoon and did a lot of catch up. Later that evening we went to the Witch – and the food was fabulous (do you see a theme here!). Jax, Renoir and I all had the scallops for starters, and we all had a burger in various stages of burger-ness (ie I didn’t eat the bread and Renoir eschewed all the salad-y things!) A couple bottles of a really lovely Temperanillo  and spent a fun evening swapping mad travel stories! And then, something I love about England, we were able to walk home, so no-one got stuck with driving.

Saturday 2 July: and an early start to the Sainsburys (the local supermarket) to buy the food for the evening’s dinner party. With eight for dinner we stocked up, 3 chickens to roast, pumpkin for soup, loads of veggies, and desert. Our menu was simple: curried pumpkin soup (prepared by Steve); roast chicken (2 of which were stuffed by yours truly), loads of veggies, an original style toad in the hole by Renoir; and a cheats version of lemon meringue-pie by me, all  accompanied by fab wine. It was one of those nights where the conversation flowed effortless, there was loads of laughing and storytelling, and multiple conversations happening at once. We were all amazed when the guests  said they were leaving and it was after 1am – they’d arrived at 730pm and the time had absolutely flown!

At this point I have to say a VERY BIG THANK YOU to Jax from both Renoir and myself for putting us up (or putting up with us!) twice – before and after our cruise.

Sunday 3 July: off on the UK part of our adventure! We were on our way to York, which is on the east coast of England. Renoir figured it would be a 5 hour drive so leaving about 10am gave us plenty of time to get there.

We allowed ourselves to get waylaid by the Cambridge University Botanic Gardens (there is that garden theme again!) They were featured in a magazine I had bought for their winter foliage, but they were just beautiful in the summer too. We even found a Wollemi Pine! We wandered through their gardens, around the lake, into the greenhouse (where we had a  little bit of Brisbane humidity to remind us what summer at home is like!).

We only intended to spend about 45 mins  there but we enjoyed that glorious garden for over an hour before we moseyed back to the car to resume our journey.

We arrived in York about 530pm and easily found the Travelodge. Now the Travelodge is no Hilton, but it is clean, has tea making facilities, and is in the middle of town.  Although they didn’t offer parking, we could use the parking station nearby and get a discount, so after unloading the car we parked the car and wandered this wonderful old town.

York is another of the walled cities of England. It was overrun by Vikings many times, and its history is alive in every street and even in almost every building in the old town.  The sun doesn’t set until after 930pm, and everyone was out promenading on the bridge across the Ouse (pron Ooze!) river, around the town and enjoying the weather – apparently it can get bitterly cold in winter.

About 7pm we wandered into a bottle shop that was the downstairs component of the House of the Trembling Madness, purportedly the oldest mediaeval banquet hall in York. It was all whitewashed and dark beams, everything at a weird angle because of its age, and loads of stuffed animal heads on the wall (which neither of us like particularly but it is all part of the history). We enjoyed a drink, then ordered dinner; an ale & beef pie for Renoir (which was a bit spoiled by being very peppery) and a ham and cheese ploughman’s plate style dinner for me.   It was a tiny, and very lively place, with many students (some of them American); and families as well as young couples on dates – a lovely microcosm of the town!

We continued our walk – fortunately the shops were of course all closed or we could have done some serious damage in the second hand book store! A brief stop in a pub Renoir had visited before – the Yorkshire Terrier – saw him have 4 one third pints of a choice of the beers they had on top, me a sparkling water – and some live music helped us while away some time, very relaxing, before moseying back to the hotel.

Monday 4 July: York: A quick brunch and a visit to the Jorvick Viking musem. All I can say is WOW! We kept expecting to see evidence or references to Vikings when in Scandinavia and saw very little – but now we were totally in Viking territory. The Jorvick museum has marvelous exhibits. You started by walking over Perspex that protects an existing excavation. Then we moved into a ride of sorts, where we sat in a capsule, and listened through headphones set into the back of the seat tell us the story of what we were seeing. The exhibit was set up as though we were passing through a Viking village in York – complete with the street names like Copper Gate where we had walked that morning (Copper Gate was where they made cups/mugs etc). There were human, not puppet, more like animatronics, where they had facial expressions, and moved a bit, like they were real. We travelled through their homes, their markets, saw and heard them argue and trade – we even saw an example of a chap on the loo – and he wasn’t happy! Everyone, including the kids, drank beer because the well was very close to the loo in their backyards so the water was unclean.

Other exhibits included a skeletons that had been unearthed – and these had been assessed by osteo-archeologists who were able to give a summary of their bone health. One of the female skeletons had been suspended in a display case, and this was overlaid by a laser description of their bone health, and the overlaid was an example of her clothes – the fabric, the colour and dyes, the ornaments such as glass beads. More exhibits included specific trades, such as leather making, or an example of a home –and both these had a video where an actor played the part of the leather maker or home maker – all these really brought to life how the Vikings lived.

After the Jorvick we wandered through to the markets – yes I do love markets – it always gives me a great way of getting an idea of the fabric of a town. Then off to fill in some time before a Viking walking tour where we came across the prettiest little 13 century church called Holy Trinity. It was incredibly beautiful, with recreated stained glass windows, and a fabulous history. 

Then off to our tour hosted by SP Grey – a children’s author who does many tours a week depending on the time of year. We were very lucky there were fewer than a dozen people – many of these tours have up to 50 people and of course you can’t hear a thing! And his knowledge of the Vikings was phenomenal – rather than just give us facts he structured things in story form and really made they Viking invastions and Saxon defence come alive.  

After the tour, we explored the city further, some of the burbs to enjoy the mixture of local architecture; and then visited Lendals Cellars – a wonderful old pub set up on the site of one of the original priories of the city, and the main part of the bar in a beautiful cellar complete with brick arched ceilings. One drink and off again, this time to enjoy the sunset off the bridge over the river Ouse (where I got a couple of lovely pix of Renoir).  We explored the option of a drink in the local Russian bar/restaurant (called Revolution) but the inside was too much loud techno, and the outside was full of smokers – so we moseyed on and came upon a lovely little church called St Martins, which we had to ourselves.

St Martins has had a tumultuous history, it’s been a Catholic, Protestant, and Catholic again, and was nearly destroyed by bombing in WWII, but there has been some amazing restoration work done and it is now  church open to all Christians no matter their faith. One of the things I loved about this church was the new organ which had been donated by a German city – which kind of closes the loop quite nicely. We really enjoyed the quietude and investigating the decorations (always on the look out for a Green Man – which I have managed to find) we were finally hounded out by three vodka-fuelled women who were giggling and loud and totally spoiled the peacefulness of our visit.

By this stage the sun had set, so even though the city was still alive it was time to head back to the hotel, as we were off to Washington the next day (yes Washington -George Washington’s family took their name from this town – and you can visit his ancestor’s home), and meeting some of Renoir’s extended family – Gill’s aunt and cousin – for afternoon tea.

Tuesday 5 July: Such a shame we missed being in Washington yesterday, as being the 4^th of July there were celebrations to be had. Still, I wouldn’t’ have missed York for anything, and am really looking forward to returning and seeing so much more of the town.

We headed up the road to Washington. Taking a comfort stop ‘Scotch Corner Services’ (‘The Services’ very regular along the M roads) we fancied a bite to eat, but thought we could do better than a packaged sandwich we moseyed into the little town of Middleton Tyas (pron Tie-as). Ah, English pubs – I just love ’em.  The Shoulder of Mutton personified all the best things about an English pub - the welcome, the warmth of spirit, the chat, the food! We shared three entrees – a herbed baked Camembert, scallops cooked in butter and parsley and pate – it’s been a long time since I had tasted pub food that good. And the bar maid described the ghosts that were in the pub and curiously how she used to live upstairs and never saw ghosts but started seeing them when she moved out! A truly delightful break in very easy journey.

Then off to Lumley Castle – a magnificent mediaeval castle that now operates as a hotel and guest house. We met Gill’s aunt Carol, her partner Ian, daughter Vicki and Vicki’s two littlies Eddie (3) and Josie (nearly 2) for afternoon tea in the garden. What a delightful  afternoon – chatting non-stop catching up on news, sharing stories, watching the kids climb over and under things. The weather eventually sent us indoors for a little while to finish our tea, and then the rain stopped long enough for us to enjoy a walk along the golf course adjacent to the castle with Carol’s much loved Boris (Labrador/Rottweiler cross and Ruby, newly rescued greyhound). Thanks to Carol, Ian and Vicki for being such gracious and friendly hosts and giving us a shot of family love and support

We stayed in another Travelodge on the motorway – a cruisey evening allowing us time to catch up on travel diaries and planning the route to take us to Berwick the next day.

Link for pix - even if you're not on facebook!

Here is the link for our photos, even if you're not on facebook you can still access them.
They are slightly out of sync with the blog at the moment - the pix are more up-to-date, but they will soon reflect each other! Enjoy!

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.10150373679733266.440408.781423265&l=955b53b7cc

Helsinki to Southampton

Post Day 6 to 12 on Cunard

Day 5: Helsinki:  Started off overcast and about 12 degrees, but nowhere near as cold as Stockholm.  We didn’t have much time in Helsinki, and discovered that due to the time of year –that is Midsummer – Helsinki was basically on holiday and very little was open. 

We took the shuttle bus to town – the architecture was really interesting – a mixture of eastern European rather than Scandinavian, and Russian. The language Finnish has more in common with Hungarian than any of the Scandinavian languages according to our expert, Monsieur Renoir (who jus loves languages and has a wonderful habit of writing down the basics in a little book – things like hello, goodbye, yes, no, please, thanks, I am allergic to… just enough for the locals to appreciate you making the effort).

We visited the markets and by the time we had finished, the sun was out and it had warmed up considerably. We bought a couple of gifts in the markets, enjoyed looking at the fresh fruit and veggies (all the berries were out and they were so brilliant in their reds and purples!) and the truly beautiful silver jewelry with semi precious stones – took a great deal of willpower not to treat myself!  The markets are at the river mouth which is such a lovely location, and to the left was Helsinki’s answer to Flinders Street station – seriously, the railway station was exactly the same, if on a smaller scale, as the Flinders street building with it’s striped brick.

After the markets we wandered up to St Nicholas’ cathedral, then around to the library which is a stunning building and considered the most beautiful in the city.

We wandered back to the shuttle through the lovely gardens which create a wonderful avenue full of brilliantly coloured flowers through the middle of town, and back to the boat for a spa.

It became so warm we all got burned in the sun!  And while I was sunning myself on the deck chair, a young lady joined Renoir and Stevie in the spa – and it turned out she was the girlfriend of the second doctor,  and had been a performer in the shows that had appeared on the Pacific Dawn around New Zealand in February – the exact same boat at the exact same time that we travelled! Talk about a small world!

Later another superb meal and another trivia game and crashed.

Days 6 & 7: St Petersburg: Well this was what we have been waiting for – the chance to see the Hermitage, Catherine Palace and the Peterhof Palace. Two days in St Petersburg and the first start was 830am and spending an age waiting to the go through Russian customs – of course we got the slow queue.

First was a tour of the city and some of the highlights. The weather was cool but fine, so the pictures came out well – you can see some of these on Facebook.  The church of the Spilt Blood was a traditional Russian bridge – just stunning, and still used as a church. Many others have been deconsecrated after the Revolution, and have been turned into other things such as swimming pools, diving pools and ice rinks!

After touring the city in the morning, we lunched in a building that had been the old law school – and where Tchaikovsky had trained as a lawyer before he turned to music composition full time.  I am a firm believer in doing what I call the ‘cheesy touristy dinner and show’ everywhere I go, and this was our chance in St Petersburg! We had a singing group dressed in traditional costume with traditional musical instruments – it was great fun. Lunch was a starter which comprised egg, mayonnaise, peas, carrots, and small bread circles with salmon roe (it was fabulous!). Then a beef stroganoff (fortunately without mushrooms), rice and cabbage, followed by a sponge with cream and chocolate. This was accompanied by a glass of bubbles which was so palatable that the three of us requested another glass, for which they wanted payment – no problems. They agreed on a price in Euros, brought the sparkles and we had already  started drinking when the waiter came back saying he couldn’t accept it so there we were, free drinks!

Then it was off to the Hermitage – an old Palace that had been turned into a museum. It was mind blowing – the entry was all gold and opulence – once again, photos are on Facebook. There was so much to see, and we only had a couple of hours we ended up called it the hundred yard dash through the Hermitage!  Picture giant malachite and crystal and lapis lazuli vases as tall as a man, a silver funerary construction for Princess Elizabeth’s architect that took an entire year’s   supply of silver to create, and was the size of a small car.  An impressive array of old Masters paintings – Rembrandt, Da Vinci, Matisse, Picasso, Renoir (yes, I got a picture of the two of them!) Next time we come we’ll do a private tour and have more time – there is just so much to take in and we were literally running to keep up on more than one occasion.

After the Hermitage we went to a church (St Peters) that had been reconsecrated from a swimming pool back into a church for a choral performance. The bleachers were still around three sides, and you could still smell the chlorine!  The choral performance was so beautiful, 6 women and 6 men singing acapella, and the acoustics in the church were perfect for it. By the time we left the performance, which was only about 40 minutes, the weather had turned from quite warm to raining and cold (perhaps the Melbourne of the north!) and we had to wait in the street for the bus to return – much to Renoir’s disgust just two doors away from an Irish pub which he had to try and ignore!

Dinner that night featured, of course, Russian food including borsch (mmm delicious!)

Second day in St Petersburg: and an even earlier start. No huge queues at customs though so we got moving much more quickly.

We made directly for the Catherine Palace – you’ll see some of the photos on Facebook – and it was awe-inspiring. Completely restored it was a study in gold and opulence that almost left the Hermitage in the shade.  We had to put on little booties over our shoes – the sort that are worn in operating theatres – to protect the parquetry floors, and moved slowly through each of the rooms. Each room seemed to feature more richness than the one before – and if this is how the aristocracy lived, then it’s no surprise why there was a revolution! Catherine was a poor German woman who had been chosen by the existing empress to marry the king-apparent (sorry memory bad here and can’t remember who) –and bit off more than she could chew when Catherine’s true colours showed. She never wore the same dress twice, and changed her dress three times a day. They called her the Diamond Queen because she was so fond of both diamonds and gambline – and apparently she never lost a game she played.  She also had voracious sexual appetites and her bed was big enough for six people – and apparently this was not unusual.

The Catherine Palace is the home of the famous reconstructed Amber Room – if you’ve seen the film The Ark you’ll have just some idea of what it looks like. Imagine a room which on three sides, is COMPLETELY covered in amber which makes pictures. I think one would look very nice in Prior Street, but bringing it home might make our luggage a bit heavy! (No photos as we weren’t allowed to take any – and believe me, you don’t want to  mess with those Russian ladies who guard each and every room in the Palace!)

After visiting the Palace, we wandered the gardens, which were really lovely – incredibly green and, like everywhere else we had visited, awash with brightly coloured flowers.

Off to lunch in a former summer palace belonging to a duke (long since dead). This place was beautiful, decorated in a classic style.  The place is often used for functions, and was being set up for a wedding. You could imagine how elegant a wedding would be – although, as Renoir observed, if the bridge chose to wear a white dress, she might well disappear into the decorations which were white on white!

Lunch was a lettuce, tomato and cucumber salad; Borsch with sour cream; bread rolls; sparkling wine (not a patch on what we had the day before); an unusual chicken dish which was chicken mince, rolled into an ellipse shape and covered in bread, not crumbs but imagine the size of small crouton then baked; mushroom sauce which I am assured was delicious, and mashed potato. This was followed by a small ricotta cheesecake on a lightweight sponge with coffee. I spied that the restaurant had a bar and pointed out to Renoir that it appeared beer was available – he was started to fear he would never enjoy a Russian beer! But a nice young waiter (complete with mullet!) brought him a beer and he was most content!

The next stop was the Peterhof – and first to the gardens (which gave us the chance to walk off lunch thought the Catherine Palace was opulent – Peterhof just set a completely new standard.  I look back on my diary and see I was struggling for words to describe more and more richness and opulence. 

It took 2o years to restore after the Nazis trashed it and the result is truly spectacular. First was the most stunning fountain – all gold statues cascading with the water (once again, see FB for pix).  Peterhof is right on the coast and was much enjoyed by those who had the privilege of escaping the heat of the city. It was incredibly crowded for two reasons – firstly it is one of the premier tourist attractions for the locals as well as tourists from overseas; and secondly it was a Sunday, and the gardens offer a fabulous place to have a family picnic.

2.30pm was our turn to enter the palace – so we fought our way through the queues to get in – if you miss your time you miss out completely – as half our bus discovered poor things. I wouldn’t have missed Peterhof for anything. If Catherine Palace put the Hermitage in the shade – Peterhof  kicked it out of the park! No photos as we weren’t allowed to take any inside (the cynical side of me thinks this is because it forces you to purchase one of their books). But each room was unbelievable in its beauty; reproductions of dinner settings, art painted directly onto the walls and ceilings, silks, velvets in rich golds and reds and blues. I just can’t do it justice!

We were running a bit late back to the boat because we were all so gobsmacked with the Palace we took a bit longer than the time allotted, but our driver got us back in time and we prepared for our regular 8pm quiz and dinner.

This was a formal night’s dinner (which required a tie and if you don’t know Renoir’s attitude to ties, let me describe the three he brought with him in case they insisted he wear one – what he calls his obseni-ties  – a Celtic football club – bright green; San Francisco 49ers – red and white and my particular favourite – Marvin the Martian). Fortunately,  while in Kuala Lumpur we  had found a couple of chinese silk jackets – one reversible, black on one side and gold on the other; and a black one with a gold dragon appliquéd across the front – absolutely gorgeous and a wonderful way to get out of wearing a tie!

An early night (a bit of a mistake after such a rich dinner!) while the midnight sun glowed in the sky.

Day 8: Tallinn (capital of Estonia). Poor Estonia has been invaded almost as much as Korea! We took the shuttle into town and explored the old city. Estonia is a walled city, and fortunately treasures its mediaeval past. We had only a few hours here so did a lot of walking and just absorbing the old city. The people are just lovely, friendly and open and most of them speak very good English (which is wonderful as our Estonian is pretty poor!) 

The central square in the old city has the odd distinction of having more cafes in one place than anywhere else in Europe and it was a wonderful place to sit in an Irish pub and have a drinks and a snack of cheese balls. Many of the cafes played on the mediaeval theme by dressing in costume, and it looked wonderful to have a square full of these wonderfully colourful  costume. The architecture of the buildings was just lovely, and amazing that so much had escaped being bombed in WWII.  We wandered back to the shuttle bus via the Pushkin café/restaurant, where we sat outside and Renoir enjoyed a local beer, Saku, and I had a sweet red wine. Alright, I had two – it was delicious. We had to be back on the boat early, so caught the 330pm bus back, and then wandered down a small set of markets which had set up next to the wharf.  Estonia is known for its knitwear (beautiful thick jumpers not much use to us in Brisbane),linen, leather and jewellery.

We didn’t eat in the restaurant for dinner, but tried the buffet, which ended up being  a Mexican night, which was ok. Then photos of the midnight sunset on the deck, before enjoying late night trivia (which we won in a tie breaker) and then off to bed.

Days 9&10; At Sea. At sea days are lovely, but they do tend to disappear as there is much laying on deck chairs, or sitting in pubs watching Wimbledon if the weather is inclement.

Day 11: Zeebrugge, Belgium:  Another quick visit to a port city, this one was Blakenburg. We could have rushed into Bruges, but really just wanted to enjoy our last day rather than rush around. Blakenburg is a pretty little coastal town, and we took the shuttle bus into town. We spent a bit of time trying to locate a handibank, as we had taken a wrong turn and missed a strip of them! Once we were cashed up it was off to the beach so Renoir could have a dip in the North Sea.  It  was a lovely day, so he wasn’t the only one, and joined a bunch of kids and other adults in the water (although no-one else managed to body surf! Then a well-earned thirst quenching fruit beer in a bar on the beach before wandering through the town (where you’ll see pictures on Facebook of Renoir standing in front of an Australian ice cream bar, and enjoying another ale in a little Belgium bar). We didn’t have enough time to enjoy a bowl of mussels so will just have to do something about that when back in Brisbane (or maybe Paris!).

Back to the boat for a final trivia and a total of our little golden cards – the prizes for which we claimed later that evening (things like key rings, glasses cases, baseball caps etc..)

Day 12: Disembark at Southampton: Couldn’t believe how easy it was to leave the boat – just collected our bags which had been collectd the night before and walked out of the terminal.

And there ends our Cunard adventure!