In the spring of 2000 we had the opportunity to revisit the UK. The information and perceptions we came away with will eventually be incorporated into the main body of this document. For the present, however, they will be recorded in this section to preserve them while they are relatively fresh memories. As a part of this comments and suggestions pertaining to the actual places visited will be included (in contradiction to the basic premise of this document to concentrate on how to go about traveling, not what to see).
What information is presented is the most recent and you may find some of the comments on activities useful too.
As with everything else, it will take a little while to record this information. Check back every now and then to see how it's coming. This material content was last updated on Aug 15, 2000, typos on Aug. 1, 2004.
For those who wish to go directly to a chronological/subject point in this document, the following links will help.
Background
The catalyst for this specific trip to the UK was cheap air fare. We are not yet tuned into some of the web sources for cheap air fare (probably E-bay or similar). For those more into conventionally obtaining tickets and arranging for specific flights far enough in advance to make supporting plans we would suggest keeping an eye on the airline ads in the paper. Usually in mid winter, just after the holidays, there is often a big sale as the airlines attempt to fill seats. Last year we saw the ad while we were in the air on the way to Hawaii (which got us on the Spain trip) which would make it about the middle of January. This year it was earlier by about a week.
When someone offers a sale, most likely other airlines serving the same destinations will match the fare. This gives some flexibility as to who you want to fly with. There are not many non-stops out of Minneapolis to European cities other than Northwest. KLM flies to Amsterdam (and if that's your destination you can book it through Northwest) and that's about it.
This year the ad headlines offered travel to London for $354 or about that. The fine print indicated that that fare was good for travel ending by March 30. The weather in the UK is not generally very good in the winter, but if you are into indoor activities (shopping, museums, cathedrals) that are not shut down in the off season, this is pretty cheap. Way at the bottom of the ad was more fine print indicating the specified period was for the least expensive fare.
I decided to find out what the air fare was for a more desirable time to visit the UK and it came up $430 until May 15. This is still a very good fare compared to over a thousand during the peak months. The crew in the Northwest ticket office in Rosedale have always been helpful and we signed up. Spring in the UK is the time many growing things bloom and gardens in general are a significant national attraction. With the kids still in school the locals are not yet traveling and the daylight hours are long.
Specifically we were traveling from April 24 to May 11. We had some constraints, after Easter and before Mother's day.
Historically we have planned to do too much. This ends up getting frantic and frustrated as plans get out of whack. This time we wanted to be more laid back while still having a number of interesting things to do. And we are not getting any younger. So we did the following:
At the MSP airport we changed some US cash for pounds. This could be done through a bank, but unless you are willing to go to a downtown bank it takes 5 days to get the cash to a suburban office. In this age of instant communications it seems ridiculous that they can't have the cash there the next day (also maddening). So rather than mess with that, we used the airport.
Some of this is a good. If you save your receipt (and do if you use them) they will change back bills for no additional fee (fee was 7.50) and at the same rate you bought them. As it turns out the buy back rate is important as their rate was .5712 (or 1.75 dollars per pound). While rates do change, the first next day credit card transaction rate was .629 (or $1.59 per pound), a much better deal. There may even be a way to make a buck here, like about 16 cents per pound. Cash from a checking account via a debit card came through at about $1.62 per pound a few days later.
If I had to do it again, I think I'd just use the debt card to get cash (with a traveler's check back-up) when I arrived. There is no conversion fee and the rate is better. I'd also like to see if I could make a deposit of all my remaining cash at an ATM at the London airport on the way home and have it translate into dollars properly.
Departure
The departure went OK. We pushed back from the gate about on time but ended up 12 th in line to take off. That seemed to take forever, but we got in only about 5 minutes late, at about 0905 UK time. The trip was normal. We both had the vegetable lasagna for dinner. It's not always wise for both travelers to eat the same meal in case of a problem. While there were other factors, this may have been a problem for the next few days.
Arrival, Gatwick again
The passage from the satellite terminal, through passport control, to the baggage carrousel and through the customs area went as usual with no particular hitches. We passed all the people waiting for individuals and groups, the kiosks for various things and on to leaving the terminal. After riding the moving sidewalk we found they were working on the ramp that takes you down from the upper level of the terminal to ground level where the cars and coaches are. We were routed along the outside of the terminal on the upper level to a newly constructed ramp to the south. As it turns out this ramp and its associated passage to the main terminal area are connected with the departure/check-in areas. Down the ramp and off to the car hire office just to the south of the terminal entrances.
For this trip we had chosen Alamo. We had used them before and had OK luck. We did the rental via the web. Alamo offered a couple of reduced rates including a special rate for cars in the UK. I have generally had bad luck with web based car rental. The process often seems to get bogged down or I end up with several cars reserved. Many of the sites are very clumbersome and difficult to use. I would encourage the managers of the web sites to actually try to rent a car and see if they could come up with better processes. Generally I get frustrated and move on to a more user friendly site.
What I noticed in this case was that if you just went to Alamo and specified the time and place for rental they quickly provided a price. While it takes a bit of time to load the offerings with my slow modem, when the information shows up it presents prices for all the classes of cars available. This is very convenient and helps in making a choice. Much better that sites which require that you back up in the process and specify a different class of car to get the prices (which you must write down for comparison).
I went through another site, I think Yahoo, which also got me to Alamo but attached a discount code which gave a cheaper price. Finally I went through the Alamo "Special Deals" and got the cheapest rate, almost $100 cheaper than the original. The moral is to try several approaches.
We had decided on an automatic transmission. Several years ago while standing, bleary eyed, at the rental counter, somehow the staff got the impression we were after an automatic and indicated that it would be about an extra L6, or about $10, per day. And that's what it turned out to be this time. Note that not all rental companies offer B class cars (sort of reasonable priced) with automatics. This could make their automatic offering considerable more expensive.
I carefully printed out the final page of web information with the pricing on it, and the confirmation that is sent by E-mail. I carried this along. By all means have this information with you. The rental person had no idea what was included in the price they are presented with via their computer. Without this information I'm sure we would have been charged for features that were supposed to be included (like two drivers, VAT tax, etc.).
As it turns out, the computer showed we had reserved 3 cars so that part of the process still needs some work.
The final price was L381.22, or $569.49 for the two weeks. The only charge that was not on the initial estimate was some sort of vehicle tax, and the estimate warned that it might apply. Not all that cheap, but it was the majority of the transportation for two people. They slap a L50 fee on the estimate to cover any refueling charges, but refund it if its not needed.
Another thing of note is that my Chase Platinum VISA card added a 2% fee for foreign transactions. I got the notification for this just before we left. I'm now looking for a card without that additional fee. My US bank NWA card doesn't have a charge. A recently arrived promotion for a no annual fee American Express card which provides insurance coverage looks interesting.
Which leads to another point to note. The additional insurance cost for the car would probably make the whole thing too expensive. The only option is to get a Gold, Platinum, Irridium, etc. card that covers car rental insurance. Even with the 2% premium it's a lot cheaper than the insurance from the car company. Check with the car company to see what liability insurance is included with the basic rental fee. If you carry a personal liability umbrella policy it may well cover you in a foreign country (my Farmer's does).
Now for two more compliments for Alamo. First, they didn't have a group B automatic available. We got upgraded several groups to a car with an automatic. I would sort of expect this, but I don't know what their options are. It was a nice car, but actually a little large physically to get around in places. It even had air conditioning, another rare feature in a UK rental car (and we did use it on a couple of occasions). I'm sure it sucked more gas, not a happy thought at about $5 per gallon.
When you look at the web information on cars Alamo offers, there is only a "Europe" list, not a separate one for the UK. I wonder if they actually ever had a group B automatic in the UK. Anyway that worked out.
One of my pet peeves with Alamo is their agents always try to sell you an upgrade and their insurance. Its always a pain to go through the charade (and in some cases discover that they had to give an upgrade anyway as they were out of the specified car, there is something unethical about that)(or asking how far you will be driving on a Hawaiian island to have the comfort of a larger car (like how far can you drive?)). Well this time the agent didn't bother with that! Miracle. She even said, "I assume you will cover the insurance with your credit card". Another miracle. I hope this will not get her in trouble if anyone ever reads this, but I think it was a real positive from Alamo's perspective.
Day one, too busy. In search of bluebells.
Off we went with our fancy car with the steering wheel on the wrong side. Karen said it was raining, or at least showers, when we arrived. I don't recall any rain when we loaded our stuff into the car, but it certainly wasn't sunny.
We found our way out of the airport, having booked the Travel Inn in the long stay car park for our departure night before leaving home. We headed south on the M23 to the first exit as it leads to a couple of superstores where we could stock up on some necessities. A good thing was that it looked like we could, again, deal successfully with driving on the left in the UK.
We went around the motorway roundabout and headed for Crawley (west) on the A264. At the first roundabout be took the first exit (with a sign indicating a superstore) which leads to a Tesco's. We got the usual crispers, milk chocolate wheatmeal biscuits, drinks, kleenix, paper towels and, betting on the weather and a place to eat them, some sandwiches.
Retracing our steps back to the M23, it was my intention to go a bit further south and then look for Wakehurst Place. This is garden sort of situation, the grounds of a once fancy house now part of the National Trust. Part of the plan and the timing of the trip was to see the bluebells (blue flowers that bloom in the spring) that abound in southern England in the spring. Research showed Wakehurst was a place to do this. At the motorway roundabout we found a sign for Wakehurst in the direction of East Grinstead along the A264. We decided to follow it.
While many places are well sign posted, if you start following them without a basic plan there is the real risk that you will miss a critical one. Having been lead along all sorts of roads with many curves, much traffic and without a sun for directional reference, if you get off the track it can be a bitch to figure out where you are. In this case we were successful and got to the car park.
Wakehurst is a National Trust property. There is an entry fee. You can join the trust, or buy entry into their places for a fixed fee for a period of time (like a month). If you plan on seeing a number of places these approaches may be a good deal, but they are quite pricey. The only way I could justify it would be to do a member for a year and plan two trips within that year. We have found its cheaper to just pay the fees for the individual places (usually it either comes out even at worst). Each place gives you a pitch to join.
Be aware there is also the English Heritage 0rganization. They also have properties of interest (Dover castle for example). They, too, would like you to be a member, etc.
In any case, many of the places, I think, were a bit pricey. Wakehurst cost L5, or about $7.50. These places seemed to range in the L5-7 range. Two can go through a fair amount of change in a day. For $7.50 one wants to have a pretty good show.
We walked around. It's a fairly big place and one should really spend a whole day there. You quickly discover that, although it not very warm outside (like spring jacket weather), the humidity is such that as soon as you put forth any physical effort its sweat city. And Wakehurst has a number of hills. In addition to some bluebells they have azaleas and rhododendrons (and various other growing things, all carefully labeled). Unfortunately their seasons had been like ours (this year) in that it was warm in March and all the plants got going and then a cold April shut them down. Things were mediocre at best. After the spring flowers the place must be quite dull.
We got through there in a couple of hours, found the loo and did our exit. Some sunny breaks had appeared and we ate our lunch on a bench (park style) by the car park.
We made out way to Haywards Heath (sounds like you would find Miss Marple there) via the B2036 and then to the East on the A272. After a bit you come to the A275 heading north. That leads to a place called Heaven Farm. This is a touristy place with a tea room and gift shop (and some land leased by a caravan (trailer) club). Sources said the tea room was good, and there were bluebells. For L3 you can walk their trails.
And were there bluebells. Tons of them. And some dogwoods too. The place is right on the zero longitude too. I'd skip Wakehurst and head straight here from the airport. Very nice place.
By now its getting on toward 5 PM and we head for our Travel Inn in Hastings. I think I'd do it differently next time, but this is workable. The plan is to cut across country on the A272 and a couple of B roads and get to Battle which is just north of Hastings. I drove and Karen navigated and it was not out finest hour. I missed the fairly camouflaged turn to stay on the A272 at about Maresfield and Karen then navigated us to Lewes which is way out of the way. From there we made our way along the A27 and shortcutted to Battle just past Pevensey. None of the distances are very far so this was not a disaster, but it didn't help the attitude and we were getting tired (too much to do on the first day).
I knew where a superstore was by Battle, and the book said the motel was across the car park from Sainsbury's. I found the store, but it was a Tesco's. Plan B took us to the other superstore which was in north Hastings and we found the place. It was sort of on the side of a valley and Sainsbury's was on the other side. It would be quite a walk to the store, and our plan was to find some sort of meal there. And it started raining.
Having come by Lewes at the end of the trip, heading for 7 Sisters Park, we found there was a Travel Inn in New Haven (near a Sainsbury's). Although Hastings was better situated for what we wanted to do the next day, I think I'd give Newhaven a try next time.
Given that we were very tired, pretty wiped (I think it was the lasagna on the plane) and not feeling all that perky, this Travel Inn was probably the low point of our lodging. It was clean and all that but the sheet flooring in the bathroom had bulges in it that could trip one and the floor was obviously crooked (obvious angle with the wall tiles) indicting shoddy construction/maintenance. After a while we drove to Sainsbury's but it was almost closing time and our choice of things to eat was limited (restaurant closed earlier) and made all the more difficult by not feeling too well. We had found earlier that the phones in the motel wouldn't let us call home via a Voicenet card so we used a BT phone in the store. We did manage, but it was not uplifting.
And the bed had a duvet. I can't figure out how to deal with these things. Maybe there is no useful way, they may be just fashion. A duvet is like a sleeping bag laid out flat, sort of a thick , but not so thick as a comforter, polyester filled blanket. It has a cover over it they can change. You have the mattress with a bottom sheet, a pillow, small and thin, and this duvet thing. You generally need something over you, but this duvet thing is way too warm unless its only about 40 degrees inside (which may have been true before the English discovered heat about 10 years ago). So there is an uncomfortable balance of what you leave out to get cold, and what you put under to sweat. Didn't anyone tell them about the layered approach?
Day two, still draggin' some. A bit of rain, a bit of Rye, Sissinghurst garden and tea.
Next morning we ate our prepurchased rolls with tea/coffee from the in-room tea service. It was raining lightly so it was just as well not to go out. They get about L4 for a continental breakfast and L6 for a cooked one. We were both suffering from lower GI distress, not debilitating, just annoying. We packed up and headed off to Rye which is about 6 miles east.
There is a way to park and walk down to the sea at Rye, but with the rain it didn't seem worth the effort. We usually get lost in Rye. Its on a hill (which at one time was right at the sea) and the roads tend to lead you 'round and 'round its base. We drove through the downtown in the off chance of finding street parking but that didn't work out. Finally we parked in a pay-and-display lot with a tow truck lurking around and walked up the hill to the church (which was open, usually we get to Rye late and things are closed) and high street shops. We wandered around for a bit, Karen bought some scented soap.
The rain sort of quit and, although there is an interesting pub, YPRES Castle Inn, near the church about halfway up the hill, for lunch neither of our GI systems were up to that. We ended up at Peggoty's Cafe where we paid L8 for soup and sandwiches. This was also our reintroduction to how much things were going to cost.
We were then off to our B&B near Cranbrook. This wasn't too far and the drive through Kent was quite pleasant with views across the countryside. We got checked in and went to Sissinghurst Gardens. This, too, is a National Trust place and cost L6.50 each to get in. Kent had had lots of rain and the wilder part of the gardens were fenced off as they were too wet. The white garden, one of the famous parts, wasn't too impressive, with only a few things blooming. Herb gardens were the same. There were, however a couple of gardens, especially the spring garden, that were spectacular. The sun even came out. They left even an ambivalent flower looker like me in awe. Literally knock your sox off.
We met out friend Tony for tea in the restaurant. That always too expensive too. It ended up being about 5 PM and we could have re-entered the garden, which would have been nice, but it started to rain again. So we went back to the B&B. In true fashion, the rain was showers and after a bit the sun came out again and produced a magnificent double rainbow over the stonework tower of the garden. Our room provided a view to the south of sheep/lambs in a green field with the sun slanting in and this spectacular rainbow to the east.
We ended up at the Peacock, a country pub, for dinner. We were feeling a bit better by then. The food was OK and they didn't appear to have any no smoking areas. They had an appropriate, and common sign that said "Duck or Grouse". Translated it means, "This place is old and when it was built folks were only about 5 feet tall. Therefore the ceilings are low and the beams are even lower. If you don't Duck under them you will Grouse about hitting your head.
Day three, getting better. Dover Castle and Cantebury
Thursday arrived and we had breakfast in the nice dinning room of the B&B. This house was most likely a country home for someone with money in the past. Now it's related to the National Trust. Country homes used to be where you had guests come to visit for months at a time. They had large common rooms (dinning, sitting, library, etc.), many bedrooms and a kitchen large enough to feed everybody. With little effort these can, and have been, converted to B&B's or country hotels. Now the owners/staff live in what used to be the servants quarters (upstairs), indoor plumbing added and the main rooms rented out.
Some of the conversions are interesting. A classic B&B, where the toilet is down the hall, may convert a closet to a toilet room. A small bedroom can become the bath/shower room. Its a bit strange to shower in a 20x20 room with a fireplace and overstuffed sofa. I don't know what the original people did to wash, if anything.
I think there was some sun shinning in during breakfast, but there was rain later in the day. The breakfast was a complete English cooked breakfast and even included mushrooms.
We headed off with a plan that was too ambitious with the first stop being Dover Castle. We approached via the M20, picked up at Ashford from the A28. This takes you through Folkestone, the Chunnel place, and into Dover from the south. While you have to drive through town, the way to the castle is well marked. The castle is on a hill overlooking Dover and the channel that has been the site of a fortification since the stone age (including Roman times).
There is on-site parking and the cost is L6.90 pr person. Its part of the English Heritage organization (not the National Trust) and they did a good job with it. This is an all day exercise. There is a shuttle tram that takes you around to prominent places which is good as there are lost of steep hills. You can visit fortifications from all periods of history through the present. During WWII a lot of tunneling was done in the hill and a large and complete hospital was housed there along with lots of military communications and administration functions. The Dunkirk evacuation was directed from a bunker here. Later, some parts were converted to be a command center in case of a nuclear war.
It took until after 4 PM to get around to all the places we had energy to visit, and it started to rain toward the end. We headed off to Canterbury on the A2. And we made it to the evening rush hour. We headed in and parked near the downtown (same lot as is years past). We managed to stop by Marks & Spencer to get some soaps just before closing time and headed for the cathedral for the 5:30 evensong. Evensong is a nice way to sit and rest for 40 minutes and enjoy the church. It's especially nice if sung (which this one was). It was still raining when we left and headed back to the Three Chimneys for dinner with our friend Laurie. And finally back to the B&B which is just down the A262.
Day four, off to London. Tea at Fortnum & Mason, evensong at Westminster and Cats.
The next day, Friday, our plan evolved for us to head for London. We did some preplanning to get in all the places we wanted to visit while in the big city. We did a check of web sites to get information on museum and gallery opening times, store opening times and days. We then put together a plan to fit it all in. Part of the plan worked around the fact that the upcoming weekend was a "bank holiday", or three day weekend. The idea was to be in town when many people would be out of town. Overall it worked well. This is how it came out.
We wanted to have afternoon tea at Fortnum and Mason. Checking their web site we found they would be closed on Sunday (and probably Monday), and high tea was served from 3-5 PM. We also wanted to attend an evensong at Westminster Abbey. Their web site indicated that would be at 1700 Friday, but 1500 on the other days. This would be a pain as it is right in the middle of the afternoon and would eliminate other activities. We also wanted to see a show and we chose CATS, and there were only tickets available for Friday.
Before heading into the city we made a stop in Cranbrook. We got some necessities, like stamps and some fruit and rolls for breakfast the next day. I took some pictures and bought a tea pot. One of my shopping goals was to get an inexpensive little metal tea pot like you see in B&B's. Its just big enough to brew about two cups. You can't find them here anyplace. I went to the ironmongers and he had a 12 oz. one for L4.5.
Another of my goals was to take some pictures of specific things to incorporate into my general web information about the UK. Overall I was pretty successful. It became obvious that finding the photo ops at a convenient time was more difficult than I had anticipated. Although you can spot lots of appropriate subjects from the car, finding them when on foot with a camera is a different matter. Try finding a place to take a picture of a semi-articulated HGV, for example.
So it was drive into London, actually Romford, and the Travel Inn. Check in and head for the train station. Off to Liverpool Street Station and tube to Fortnum & Mason for tea. After that tube to Westminster. Somehow that got a bit screwed up as we got there on time but the service was half over (even the local signs said 1700). We then headed for Tottenham Court Road tube station, the area where all the book stores are. Some were closing, but others were open. Karen was browsing, and I was looking (unsuccessful) for some driving books.
After a bit we headed for the New London Theatre for CATS. It appeared to be a short walk, but confusing and it had started to rain. If you walk east along New Oxford St. the road that looks like Drury Lane is called Museum Street, the name change happens a block or so south. None of the staff in the fast food places seemed to know anything. We had it nailed from the map, but the theatre doesn't have a marquee you can see and the main entrance is on a side street, not the Drury Lane side. We finally made it but time was getting a bit tight.
A hint here in getting tickets. We checked some of the web sources and they indicated there were only L20-L30 (big bucks for us) tickets available. We found the phone number of the box office and called them direct (that's relatively cheap). They said they had some nice seats (and they were fine) for L10 so we signed up. When we arrived they were waiting. Don't necessarily buy from the web.
After the show we headed for the Holborn tube station, then to Liverpool Street and back to Romford. It was raining in central London making for a not so nice walk, but it was OK in Romford.
Day five, around London. Globe theatre, Harrod's, candy, Marks & Spencer and dinner.
Saturday we bought a two day weekend train/tube pass and headed for London Bridge tube station to go to the Globe Shakespeare theatre. We did a tour and had a light lunch there. We walked back across the Southwark Bridge to Mansion House tube station and went to Knightsbridge and Harrod's to get some Leonidas candies and general shopping. I found my target book, "The Highway Code" and also found "Know your traffic signs", a book full of the arcane road signs in the UK.
Karen wanted to go back to Fortnum & Mason. I stopped along the way at Hyde Park Corner to take some pictures. We set a definite meeting point where we had both been the previous day (always a risky situation). Form there we went back to the other end of the bookstore area via Oxford Circus tube station. We never did get back to the bookstores, but we came across a Marks & Spencer along the way. After a bit of shopping we headed for a rest at Kensington Gardens (read park) by the Queensway tube station. After a while we headed for Covent Garden and dinner.
To our surprise, the target restaurant, Plummers, had closed. We recovered and found another, the Palms, a few doors down. It was about the same price and did a good job with the food. After, we found some pastries for breakfast and headed home. Romford was jumping. The pubs had entertainment and the bouncers were checking ID's and limiting the numbers of people to what the fire regulation permitted. We bypassed all that and headed directly to our motel and crashed.
Day six, more museums. The V&A, Tate Gallery, Selfridges, Tower Bridge.
Sunday we started off to see the V&A, Victoria and Albert Museum. We trained in and went to the South Kensington tube station. The way is marked from there, about 10 minute walk. I'd been resisting this museum for some time, but Karen was interested and I gave in. It cost L10 to get in. This is a museum of art and design. It is NOT, in my opinion, a place an average tourist or traveler should visit. It's confusing and poorly physically organized (probably done by the artsy folks) and had little of general interest. It is, however, a fantastic archive of period costume, fabric, texture (including stone work) and representative samples of art (statues, carvings, etc). If you have an interest in this sort of thing, or if you have a particular subject to research (like "What would you wear in the 1900's house?"), by all means plan to spend a day (and it may take half that time to find the lunch room)(speaking of which, there is a nice light lunch place behind the Itiallian and costume sections on the main floor in the back).
After the V&A we headed for the Tate Gallery. This is now the old Tate as there is a Tate Modern built in the old Bankside power station. From the Pimlico tube station is about a 15 minute marked walk. As it turns out its right along the Thames. There was a food vendor van out front so lunch was a sort of hot dog, crispers and a Coke. There were a few drops of rain, but not enough to prevent eating lunch on a bench along the river. The Tate proved to be very interesting.
When we finished at the Tate (you just get saturated after a while, and foot sore) there was enough time to get to Sellfridges (Bond Street tube station). We had found they were open on Sunday from their web site. We were able to add to our Leonidas candy selection just as they were closing (1800).
With this closing out our London activities I convinced Karen to spend our last energy at the Tower Bridge. As you would expect, the Tower Hill tube station was the destination. About 15 minutes of walking got us to the bridge for a look at the river and the tower walls. Not too bad a way to finish the visit. We headed back to Romford to find supper and, by now about 1930, found the place again jumping. We slinked off to MacDonalds (Karen was very good about it, although she was too tired to put up much of a fight). We did check on the cafe we had used on a previous trip and it was still there but closed (for the evening/Sunday). Back to the motel and another crash.
Day seven, May day, off to the country. Salisbury cathedral, the George in Norton-St.-Phillip.
The next morning, May 1, we slept in a bit and had a cooked breakfast in the restaurant associated with the motel. We were about the only ones there. It cost L6 ($(9 or so) and while it was a relatively good breakfast the price seemed a bit steep.
We did not think of the significance of May 1 to the European folks. Remember the big military display in Moscow happens on May 1. We learned later there were all sorts of riot conditions in central London, mostly by groups demanding more green (like grass) in the city (sounds silly to me). Statues were defaced, probably mostly hooligans. It would not have been a good day to be there.
For our part using the weekend went well. We got in all we planned and avoided a crowded countryside. We don't really have any comparison data, but we were satisfied.
We headed out into the country after breakfast. Again the plan was to be going out when everyone else was coming in. Back on the A12 to junction 28 on the M25. Then south past the Dartford crossing and around to the Clacket Lane rest area where we paid a lot for lunch materials and changed drivers. We headed down the M3, the A3/A303 with Salisbury as the destination. We ate out lunch under a tree in the green just outside the cathedral, very pleasant.
We walked around the cathedral and I decided to take the "Tower Tour". Fortunately, Karen was happy to have a couple of hours to spend just looking around. There are a lot of steps in the tour and some pretty scary places to walk. Your start out by climbing up and crossing the end of the naive at one end almost up to the ceiling. From there its more up and a walk along a catwalk above the ceiling and below the roof. It's all timbers from the 1500's. The actual tower has more steps in a spiral that is pretty much out in the open (but inside the tower). At the top, and at the base of the spire, you can step outside onto a very narrow place. The view is spectacular. Some of the original hoists used to build the tower are still in place. I'd recommend the tour, but if you are at all claustrophobic or can't deal with high places you may want to reconsider. I find as I get older I am less tolerant of these sorts of places.
Then off to out motel in Warminster. This was a Travelodge and they had sheets and blankets! It later proved to be the only place that had them, it was not a function of the motel chain. We rested for a bit and then headed out to the George in Norton-St.-Phillip. This is an old, restored coaching inn from the 1200's. There is a lovely view from the car park looking over some fields to a church in the valley. Unfortunately there is now a plastic kids play set at the back of the pub grounds that messes up the atmosphere. The really neat room no longer serves meals but was just a pub again. The dinning room, and a new extension, are sort of hokey in their restoration and appear modern rather than old. The food was OK, certainly not stellar. I think the place has become popular, probably for tourists, and that may be its downfall.
Day eight, gardens. Lacock, Castle Comb, Avebury, Bowood Garden.
The next morning it was off to Lacock. This is a quite authentic village. There is an Abbey there to visit. We usually get there before it opens, and the tour busses arrive, and just walk around the streets. We went from there to Castle Comb, another picturest place a bit to the northwest. There wasn't much of a lunch option there so we headed for Avebury.
There is a trick here. As you travel east along the A4, don't follow the signs to Avebury. Continue past Silbury hill (ancient man made, its obvious when you see it) and take the next left. The tiny road also leads to Avebury and it follows the ancient approach as evidences by the two parallel rows of stones imbedded in the ground.
We found the restaurant in the National Trust building closed (as in out of business) so we went to the pub. We got a good, but not cheap, lunch. After we did a bit of hiking in the area, around the stones and across the fields. From there we headed for the Bowood azalea gardens. Skip Bowood house, this is south of the A4 on A342. There are acres of azaleas and rhododendrons along with bluebells. There are many paths. In the back there is a mausoleum on a hill with a lovely views over the fields. I sat for a while and watched the shadow patters of the passing clouds.
Karen and I split up as we look at these things at different paces. On the way back to the car I chose some random routes and found myself among lots of bluebells. Periodically, along the trails, are little benches to sit and I noticed a camera lying on one in the area. It looked like one of ours, so I took it along to find its owner. As it turns out, it was ours, Karen had been there and left it. If I hadn't stumbled on it we might not have missed it until the next day!
We closed that place down and we decided to take dinner back to our motel. I remembered a superstore in Trowbridge from a past trip and we found that out. We got the usual sandwiches and crispers, fruit and something for the next breakfast. The return route went through Steeple Ashton, a pleasant little village, and made a stop atop the Westbury White Horse.
Day nine. Wells, Stourhead, Exeter and he Letterboxers in Bovey Tracey
This all brings us to Wednesday morning. The first stop was Wells and its cathedral. We ended up parking some distance away and walked down the high street to get to the church. It was cloudy with a few drops of rain. The Wells cathedral is unique in that it has scissors arches under the tower. Quite impressive. We had lunch (soup, cheese, roll) in the refectory lunch room. On the way back to the car Karen got some food for the next day's breakfast and we stopped in an ironmongers shop. I bought another tea pot, this one was 16 oz.
Next we went to Stourhead garden. We had been there on a previous trip. It a place full of azaleas and rhododendrons. This year it was a disappointment. Aside from the cloudy day, only a few things were blooming. Some were past and some were still to come so I don't know what a better time would have been. Anyway, it was a bust for the money.
We headed down the A303 toward Exeter. It turned out to be quite a good main road, with 4 lanes in many places. Unfortunately there were a lot of roundabouts so it was hard to maintain a cruising speed. At about Illminster, as I recall, most of the traffic suddenly disappeared. It looks like there is a shortcut to the M5 there. We continued on to Exeter.
We followed the directions to find the Travel Inn which said follow the signs to Topsham and Dawlish. We ended up in the rush hour (of course) and amongst all the traffic we were presented with a huge roundabout by a Shell station. The first exit was sign posted to Topsham and we took it. Which turned out to be the wrong way. We did, however, pass a Laundromat which we would need the next day. After getting lost for a bit we got back on Topsham Road (appropriately named) and headed back to the evil roundabout. From this approach Karen spotted the pub that was referenced in the motel directions and we ducked in.
This place was all on one level with an enclosed walkway between rooms. The room was smaller that the previous ones we had had, almost too small. It was at this point we made the decision to alter our plans a few days hence. We had originally planned to spend three nights in Yeoville which we would use as a base for the Dorset area. Looking at what we wanted to see we decided to chop the last night off Yeoville and stay in Christchurch instead. This change in plan turned out to be a good idea.
This being Wednesday, in the evening at the Dolphin Hotel in Bovey Tracey, the Letterboxers meet. Letterboxing is an activity I had seen documented in Smithsonian Magazine a few years ago. Folks hide boxes containing a log book and a rubber stamp. Directions are provided and the idea is to find the box, log in and stamp you personal log indicating you were there. This all takes place in Dartmoor Park which is adjacent.
We drove over and found them gathering. We had fish and chips and talked with some of the folks. While the socialization was not all one could have hoped for, they were very pleasant and helpful to a couple of strange people who dropped on their doorstep. It was fun to just find them and see them in person after what we had read.
Day ten. Laundry, Torquay and the Dartmoor Park.
The next day, among other things, was wash day. We went back to Topsham, this time on purpose, to the Laundromat. We even found a parking place close by. We took turns watching the machines and shopping. While you hate to spend the time with wash, it's really nice to have clean undies.
After the wash we made for Torquay. This place has been a resort/tourist town for a long time. It also has an area that was supposed to be Agatha Christie's pattern for St.Margartes Mead, the home of the fictional lady sleuth Miss Marpole. We headed off on the A38 and them A380 past Newton Abbot. We didn't really know where to go so we followed the traffic until we came to an intersection that had a sign pointing to a "Model Town". For want of anything better, we followed it. The thought was that it would be near something of interest. Sure enough, after winding through a bunch of streets, we ended up in the car park for a model, as in tiny replica of, town.
That didn't seem all that interesting, but an investigation showed some more signs pointing toward the beaches. We followed these and found ourselves high above the shore and driving along it. Staying with the main road we eventually came to the downtown area of Torquay. Lots of trinket shops and restaurants. The tide was out leaving the pretty bay a muddy flat with boats sitting on it. We had lunch at the Tudor Rose along the shore walk. Nothing fancy, but it was our main meal of the day.
We got some information and found our way to Cockington Village Park. There is a little area with thatched roof houses and some Victorian lodgings and a part with some pretty walks down the road. We walked around for a bit and had a cream tea (it is Devon, after all) at the . It had gotten to be 5 PM.
Upon leaving we were routed different from our trek in from the main road. We followed the signs which were few and finally came on a street that looked like it would have been the ring road we had seen branch off the main coast road on the way to the park. We chanced it and it worked. We eventually got back to the intersection where we had followed the model village sign (as evidenced by a building construction site). This was good as we had passed a Sainsbury's on the way in and that would be a good source for supper sandwiches. And it was.
After that we didn't do too well, kinda backtracking, trying to get west to the Dartmoor Park. And it was evening rush hour. We ended up on the A384 and did pretty well until we got back to the A38. There are lots of hills and valleys around there, and the A38 is limited access and runs in the same valley with smaller roads on the side. And the towns of Buckfastleigh and Ashburton are in there too. There really isn't a classic interchange, but the A384 passes over the A38 and then turns left and parallels it. Then there is a roundabout with two choices. We tried the first one and that got us to Buckfastleigh, a pleasant place but we wanted Ashburton as that was the way into the park.
Back to the roundabout to try the other exit. That, too, got us to Buckfastleigh, this time through the industrial area and downtown pedestrian mall. I was getting short on patience as we wanted to see some of the park and we had a way to go and would loose the daylight before we got there. We had a little tiff there, Karen decided she wanted to go home (!) since I didn't appreciate her navigation efforts. We persevered.
As it turned out, just after the original crossing of the A38, off to the right and down a steep bank is a road with a tiny Ashburton sign. That road parallels the A38 in the opposite direction and eventually gets to Ashburton. The Letterboxers suggested we go to Princeton as its is out in the middle of the moores. The road the sign lead to was so narrow we decided we must have taken a wrong turn so be backtracked and took a larger road which connected with the road we had just come from Buckfastleigh on.
Back to Ashburton and try the other road which lead to the next town. Another retrace. I made a right turn here and ended up on the right side of the road (not good in the UK), so we were getting a bit frazzled. Finally following the tiny road we got to the park. It is a tiny road, even on the map. It would have been more interesting if we weren't tired and it would have been earlier in the day.
Fortunately the evenings are long. It was quite a pretty drive with views over the moors and down into the valleys. There was a little park along the way where we stopped for a minute and watched the traffic cross a narrow, one lane bridge. Princetown, especially by that time, was pretty dead, and no one mentioned its main industry is a prison. We headed up the B3212 to Moretonhampstead and the A382 to the A30 and home. There were lots of lambs with their ewes in the open range areas. Fun to watch. Nice to have your lunch along for a late evening meal in the motel room.
Day eleven. Exeter cathedral, Lyme Regis and the south coast.
The next day, Friday, the first item was to visit the Exeter Cathedral. Getting into the town was easy as the motel exit was onto Topsham Road, or the road to, and most importantly from, Topsham to Exeter. A simple left turn got us going in the right direction. Following along, we got to a place where parking facilities were sign posted and one, a ramp, was marked "Quay and cathedral parking", or words to that effect. It was a left turn into the access road.
The pedestrian way was marked form there. It sort of led into the back of the Cathedral square which is right in the downtown. We found the Royal Clarence Hotel where I remembered it from my previous 1979 trip and that made for a good photo-op. The cathedral was interesting, although not remarkable.
We did some shopping, cards and a map in the tourist office. I did a quick stop in a Clarke's shoe shop and we went into the Marks & Spencer to get some lunch materials. The downtown area is largely a pedestrian mall with only small shuttle busses. Using a local map we found our way to where we could see the House. There is an internet company located in the building and they have a camera overlooking the street. Its not a sharply focused as it once used to be, but I had the goal of finding the place and seeing the actual street scene. Maybe I should have stopped in, but that was not part of the plan; what would you say anyway?
Back to the car and off to Dorset. The first problem was to get out of town. The basic plan was fine, get back on Topsham road and when we got to the big roundabout by the motel, take the first left and from there we knew the way. You come out of the same road you enter ramp on, and almost immediately there is a road on your right that would get you on the planned route. I missed it, and you end up in sort of a big square set of roads intersection with other roads and passing over some water on bridges. It took one pass around to size up the situation, and on the second we were able to find the way to Topsham road and out.
We headed of in the direction of Lyme Regis. This is another of the old time seaside resorts but it had a pretty good reference so we thought it would be worth a look. As I recall we headed back along the A30 to Honiton and then the A35 to Axminster. We took a detour and headed for the coast to find a place to eat our lunch.
We used the A358 to get to Seaton. All along the coast are places where streams enter the sea, or where there are inlets. Either of these provide a place where there is relatively flat land, rather that cliffs or steep hills, for ocean access. Seaton is one of these. We found a large beach with marble sized gravel, a sea wall and some handy parking. We found a sitting bench and had or lunch on a sunny noon time. Judging by the number of parking places along the beach, while very pleasant on the time, would be a good place to avoid in the tourist season.
We then set off on the A3052 to Lyme Regis. This town, too, is in a low area to provide sea access, but it's very narrow. This makes for very steep streets and no parking. Originally this would not have been a problem as train access determined which towns prospered and which ones were backwaters. The route to the parking got us up on one of the hills quite a way from the downtown and seafront. We decided this was not too useful so, with some difficulty, we headed for the town center. At that spot is a tiny pay-and-display lot with room for about 10 cars. It was our good fortune to find one just leaving (the operator was on his was to his vehicle and was nice enough to stop to tells us).
We walked around for a bit and along the road along the sea front and found a restroom. While not too disgusting, this certainly wouldn't be a place to spend much time. Things were being repaired and some seniors sitting on bench perceived out situation and provided directions. Again, very helpful folks around. We checked out a few stores on high street and then headed out.
We took the A35, heading for Bridgeport. Being of a mind to spend some time by the sea we stopped at Charmouth (as in the mouth of the Char river). We basically stopped in the car park and took a nap. It did look like a nice are to visit with a beach and ocean access.
From there we went to Bridgeport and then headed North for our Travelodge in Yeoville, or more specifically Bodimin. We used the A3066, heading north to the A35 just east of Crewkerne. As it turned out we made our way through the industrial areas on the west of Yeoville to the A303. From there, east to the roundabout where the Travelodge lives.
It seems that Travelodge frequently locates on busy road roundabouts. The good part of this is that if you are going to go someplace (by car) its often more convenient than being in a city or town. On the other hand, often being along a road means that you aren't anywhere and without a selection of restaurants nearby.
The problem in Bodimin was that there was only a Burger King and a Little Chef restaurant. The first night, given that rain showers were coming, the Little Chef was the only choice. It seemed like the staff didn't really understand what they were supposed to do. It doesn't seem that basic waiting on tables should pose that large a learning problem, but they didn't have it together. On the other hand, it frequently seems that job functions that are largely obvious often escape the UK person and detailed training is needed for even simple tasks. Anyway, the service was poor and the food below average along with fairly high prices. Very disappointing.
While we should have know better, and if we had the opportunity to prepare for an in-room option we would have, we chose to have breakfast at the Little Chef. Same situation, with a disappointing price.
Something else that we encountered at the Travelodge was the single entrance and long hall phenomenon. In the past, I considered it a strange local situation. But, especially after seeing the situation at the airport Travelinn, I think it may be due to terrorism. They want all the guests to come in past the desk so they can keep an eye on them, and there are no ways to sneak a bomb in the back door and leave without being noticed. The IRA would do things like that.
Day twelve. Dorset. Shereborne, Sturminster Newton, Shaftesbury, Child Okeford, Cerne giant.
Saturday started the tour of the Dorset area. We started from the upper left corner near Yeoville and the plan was to do the places of interest in the north first. Having changed our plan to end up in the lower right corner, this would make some sense.
While it was in a contrary direction, being there, we decided to visit Montacute House. Actually it was the garden we wanted to visit. It's just a bit to the west along the A303 and it is sign posted well. We arrived in late morning just as they were opening. While not cheap, the garden ticket wasn't too bad.
As it turned out, aside from a small greenhouse, there were no flowers in the garden. It was a lot of landscaped area with pruned coniferous trees. There were some pretty scenes of fields and flocks of sheep. Overall, it wasn't worth the time or money.
From there we headed back toward Yeoville on the A3088, picked up some gas and took the A30 to Sherborne. As you approach town the route to the Cathedral sends you to the southwest end of town and then up from the south to a parking area. This was just across from a Sainsbury's which we used to pick up lunch sandwiches. This was a nice sized store but not a superstore.
At this point we noticed the were are an immense number of sandwich varieties available that we don't see in Minnesota. Some of these were egg & cress (cress is some sort of sprout), cucumber, egg and bacon, chicken and bacon (my favorite), and other combinations of meats, fish and vegies.
When we left the car to walk there was a light rain. It was a few block walk to the Cathedral and the route went through downtown where there was a street market. We got there just as a concert was ending (fortunately) and did a walk through.
On the way back to the car the rain had stopped, and we shopped a bit. I got a map. In the car park I recall overhearing a discussion where a woman was concerned and trying to sort out if she should be in the long stay or short stay lot. It was a little silly as the long stay was just the far corner of the same area. But then, it is England.
We mopped the water off a picnic bench next to the lot and ate our Sainsbury's lunch.
Then we headed for Sturminster Newton along the A3030 and A357. It's listed as a scenic town, but we didn't find much. There was a school fund raising fete we looked in on, but nothing in the way of scenic anything came to out attention. It was Saturday afternoon and the place seemed pretty much dead.
We left on the B3092 and headed for Shaftesbury. Shaftesbury is on a hill in an area of hills and valleys. We found a car park near the center of town and did some walking. It was a fairly hot day and we did the Castle walk and the Abbey walk. The first goes along a park at the top of a ridge and provides scenic overlooks. We never did find the abbey.
Then we found Gold hill. This is the picture you always see when Dorset is described in the literature or on calendars. At the top of the hill there was a tea room where we had a cream tea at the end of the day (1730).
Earlier in the trip I had contracted a cold. While now over it, I was left with some nasal drainage and a sensitive cough sensor. Every so often I would get the heavy cough fits. It was a bit embarrassing as folks in a restaurant would think I was choking to death. And it happened in the tea shop. I beat a hasty retreat to the men's room, which was not easy to find, and eventually recovered.
It was a nice day, and we were tired. We moved he car to a shade tree in the car park and took a nap. We then decided to take a drive in the evening, relying on the Burger King by the motel for supper. It's hard to take a leisurely drive in the UK as there is a lot of traffic. The roads are just fine for about 40 mph, but everyone drives 60 or 70. But we chanced it.
The distances are so short the drive time difference between 40 and 60 is only minutes. I can never figure why there is so much hurry. You could make a case for each car taking less road time allowing for more cars to use the road, but that's stretching it.
We headed south along the A350 toward Blandford Forum. Along the way we decided to see what was back along one of those little roads you see heading off across the hills. We ended up in Child Okeford. There was a store and a bunch of what looked like fancy houses back in the hills. Interesting in any case. It would be a good place to stay in a B&B if they did dinners and you wanted to be just laid back for a few days. Along the side road we found a National Trust site which was a hill on top of which were some ruins of ancient fortresses.
From Blandford Forum we went to Puddletown on the A354. Then back north on the B3143. We cut across to Cerne Abbas and the naked giant (figure on a hillside laid out in stones) and back up to the motel mostly along the A352.
The Burger King was as expected, but expensive by our standards. There were some thunder showers in the area so it was an OK call.
Our rooms at the Travelodge were on the back side in a newer section, numbered in the 100's. The older motel sections had a bit of a musty smell, but ours was OK. Being on the side away from the highway made the noise much less, another thing to check on when making reservations (and of importance later in Havant).
Day 13, more Dorset. Minterne Garden, Bovington tank museum, Corfe Castle, Swanage.
Sunday we moved on down south on the A352 after passing Sherborn again. That gave us an opportunity to stop in the Sainsbury's we had come across he previous day and get some lunch fixings. We stopped at Minterne gardens. There is a huge house half of which is divided into flats and being rented. The admission to the gardens was cheap and they were excellent. The path led through a wood with lots of wild looking (but managed) flowers and flowering shrubs. These included azaleas and rhododendrons. There were some man made ponds and a series of carefully designed cascades (falls). Very pretty overall and well worth the time and admission.
Along the way we decided to take another of those tiny roads to see where it would lead. We followed a sign to Upcerne (or Up Cerne on a different sign). It was a tiny road with large hedges along the side. Almost immediately we came upon a group of trekkers. There are a lot of walking paths in the UK, but they are not everywhere. It was a bit embarrassing to slowly pass through them with the car. Over the hill and a bit further on we came to a road junction and there appeared to be a spot to eat out lunch. We went a bit further and decided to return to the main road. As it turns out the road would have looped back on its own, but we didn't know that at the time. And, or course, we met the trekkers again, as they were preparing to eat lunch at the place we had spotted. What would have been their attitude if they found us in the spot they planned, in this out-of-the-way place, to eat there lunch? It was a pretty little side trip.
We stopped at a park just below the Cerne giant and ate, or et in English, our lunch. We pressed on to Bovington and the Tank museum. It's fairly pricey, but this is one I wanted to see. Karen decided to not go in. Fortunately across the car park was a gathering of horse people with jumps and an obstacle course for her to watch. There was also a gathering of vintage sports car folks in the car park. Not to mention the museum gift shop.
The museum was quite well done. There was a history of tank development in WWI and a simulated trench. They had about every kind of tank from Europe, the UK, US, Germany, Russia and Canada you could think of. It was saturating. The latest round of tanks, including a US Main battle tank (a la Gulf war) was missing. An interesting exhibit showed test armor and shell penetration (spooky). Looking at it all I don't know if one should be impressed about the effort to develop and counter weapons of destruction or not. If you are a tank nut, it would be a must.
After that we used the museum loo and headed out for Corfe Castle. This was getting to be late in the day on Sunday. The town is sort of touristy and just starting to quiet down. The town origins, I'm sure, were to support the castle which sits high on the neighbor hill.
We paid our fee and visited the castle ruins. This set of ruins resulted from a conscious effort to dismantle the castle. It was literally broken apart in pieces. Great hunks of it are sticking in the ground upside down where they fell. Still, it's impressive. Its location is impressive and commands a view of the surrounding countryside. We saw a touristy steam train pass below.
As we left there I made a driving mistake. We got away with it, but it was a screw up. As we entered the main road the vehicle ahead of us, a panel van, blocked the view of the oncoming traffic from the left. He turned left and I made the assumption that if he was turning there would not be any traffic coming from the left. Wrong! That assumption would work here, but there he would end up in the left lane and traffic coming from the left would be in the other lane. We could easily have had an accident if there had actually been traffic coming along.
Having survived that we continued on to Swanage. It was by the sea and I got my feet wet. As it was getting later we found some fish and chips (greasy and poor chips) to eat sitting along the beach. Karen enjoyed it in spite of the mediocre food. We got an ice cream and headed for our Travelinn in Christchurch.
The route skirted Bournemouth on the north and eventually, following the signs, along the A31 to the A338. The motel directions gave us the exit and directions which worked fine if you weren't to panicked and give up before the proper roundabout. What we discovered was the motel was right along a rail line. This wasn't as bad as you might think and they used welded rail (no clickety-clack) and electric drive (no noisy diesels). So ended Sunday.
Day fourteen. Christchurch, Compton acres, Winborne Minster, evensong at Winchester Cathedral.
Monday we started by asking for driving directions from the motel to the Cathedral. The manager said it would be easier to walk so we did. We cut through the park and up a pathway and came out near the church. One of the items of interest in the church was a cross built in several separate parts that appeared to be a single piece when viewed from a distance.
We walked through town back to the motel and picked up lunch stuff and some gifts on the way.
Karen wanted to see Compton Acres garden in the southwest corner of Bournemouth. We made out way there, back along the A338 I think. It was pretty well sign posted but a little tricky at the last with its entrance adjacent to a cross street. I decided it wasn't worth the entrance fee to me (at that point). It was pretty much a commercial operation with a garden shop. Karen went in and I looked over the garden shop and rested in the car park. When Karen got back we ate lunch out of the car.
The next stop was Wimborne Minster. We probably used the A349, but I can't be sure; mostly following the signs. We stumbled around to find a parking spot. We went into a car park by a Safeway store. We passed a few cars waiting along the side and got honked at. It appeared to me they were waiting to pick up someone. As it turned out they were waiting for a parking spot to open up, although we had no way to know what the game was. The lot ahead was very busy and very full and there was only one way in/out so those waiting could know when a spot would be open.
We found place in another car park and walked into the main downtown. I got a map at a tourist office and we found the Minster. It was done in two tone gray stone, a bit unique. When done we headed out onto the A31 and eventually the M27. The A road was multilane, but it was full of roundabouts making for lots of slowing down and speeding up which our car was poor at. The route leads around Southampton and at one point intersects with the A33 which goes to Winchester. The time was such that we could make evensong at the Winchester Cathedral, so we headed that way.
We followed the signs and ended up in a multi-story car park not too far from the church. We walked over and found they were having a sung evensong. We looked around the cathedral a bit and did evensong. When that was over we found it was raining out side. On the way back to the car park the only eating place we came across was a MacDonald's. Karen bit her tongue and we ate there. We had a way to go and it was probably the best option even though not the best cuisine.
We followed the M27 to the junction with the M3 by Portsmouth. We found the Havant exit and the Travelinn. It was on a hill along the M3 just by a huge roundabout. It was two stories. What we surmised was that if the building is only two stories there is no elevator. Any higher and its elevated. Our room was on the highway side and it was quite noisy, even through the night. We needed the window open as it was fairly warm and we had a second floor room. The room was also on the small side and part of the ceiling sloped as it was under the roof line. The car park was small and hard to maneuver in.
Day fifteen. Ship and navy museum.
Tuesday was out day in Portsmouth. We had breakfast in the restaurant an asked them to move our room to the other side (which they did) where it was much quieter. Go for the room in the back.
After breakfast we headed in to the Naval and ship Museum for the day. The route was well sign posted and we arrived just after they opened. We went for the whole package which was fairly expensive but included access to all the ships and museums. It proved to be quite interesting. There was a lot of history and a lot of information about the old wooden ships and how they and the navy operated. There was the Victory, a restored wooden ship of the line that was huge and very impressive to tour. There was a display of the skills a shipwright needed to learn to get his papers. Another ship, the , was an iron hulled ship that still depended on sail for part of its propulsion. And you got a tour of the harbor with its complement of present day navy ships. We closed the place down at about 1730.
The desk person at the motel suggested going to Port Solent for dinner. This turns up to be an upscale entertainment development of shops and restaurants associated with a bunch of condos. We ended up at an Italian place, the Sorrento, and had a nice meal with a view of the sun setting over the harbor full of boats that I always wonder who, and in such numbers, can afford.
Day sixteen, down to the end. Weald and downland Museum, Chichester Cathedral, seven sisters.
Wednesday starts the final leg back to the airport. While we are turning into pumpkins, there are still a number of things to do. The first was a visit to the Weald Downland Open Air Museum. We went along the A27 toward Chichester and then up the A286. This is collection of restored farm and village buildings from various ages. Staff demonstrate activities and skills of the various periods. There was a good display on bricks and there was on operating water driven mill grinding flour. Farmhouses of various periods were on display.
Early houses had no chimneys. The central fire filled the place with choking smoke. The guide pointed out that the major technology, and a big deal, development between the 15 th and 16 th century (or one century earlier) was the brick (or perhaps the ability to manufacture them cheaply). The Romans had bricks, after all. This allowed the construction of chimneys, fireplaces, etc and made for a vast improvement in indoor conditions.
It was also pointed out that the farmers used sheep herds as a sort of roaming fertilizer spreader. By regulating where they were grazing they could control the amount and distribution of fertilizer for various crops. No dummies, these guys.
Toward lunch time it rained a bit so we did lunch in the car.
We then headed back to Chichester and the Cathedral. It was a long walk through town and there was some construction at the cathedral, but we found it and had a good look around. We finished in time to catch the start of rush hour.
We again headed east along he A27/M27 to Brighton. This is the decision point to go to the airport or try for seven sister's park. It was showery, but we decided to continue on to Lewes and see. It was only a few miles. Miraculously it started to clear off so we went for it. We went along the A259 and the River Ouse to New Haven and Seaford. We found a Tavelinn in New Haven, a good bet for the first night on future visits. There was also a Sainsbury's superstore where we got fixings for dinner in our airport room and did our final shopping on the return leg.
I also discovered we had covered some of the road on the first day of our trip when we were lost. It showed just how lost we were.
Just beyond Seaford was Seven Sister's park. By now it was getting on toward 6 pm but we decided to walk down to the coast (the bike place being closed). It’s a half hours brisk walk each way, but it was out only chance. We spent about half an hour on the beach. The tide was in and where we could go was restricted. It clouded up again as we walked back and the wind was brisk and in our faces.
Finally we had to head for the airport. When we got there it was raining a bit and we checked into the Travelinn. It’s a busy place and was, as it can be, a zoo. We had along walk down a narrow hall to out room (part of the single entrance phenomena), but a couple of trips eventually got all our stuff in. We did our sandwich supper thing and set about repacking all our stuff for the return flight home.
Day seventeen the return home.
We got out stuff together and headed to the car hire return. That went well, and the amount charged was as expected. We left out car in the hands of a fellow in a classic plaid sport coat. After thinking about it, that could have been anyone, perhaps stealing cars. We used the new entrance to the departure area and were early enough to find no line at the NWA check-in counter. We spent some time at MacDonald's and then went through the big duty free shop area to the satellite terminal. The incoming plane was about an hour and 45 minutes late (I wonder what caused the delay), so we had to wait an extra hour to leave. The rest went as usual, arriving home in mid afternoon.
It went well. We did have some rain, but it didn't interfere with anything important. Perhaps more representative of English weather that we usually experience. We got to most of the places we planned, and the planning went well. We packed a lot of interesting things into the time available and still managed not to be too rushed.
All in all, a good trip.