Traveling

Tuesday: Bordeaux

Posted on by Susan

We had an early flight to Paris this morning, so were on the hotel shuttle to the airport at 4:30. The shuttle runs 24/7, about every 25 minutes. I was glad we just had a five- minute wait.

The Dublin airport was wide awake even if we weren’t, and we got to our flight and on to Charles de Gaulle airport quickly (or maybe it seemed that way since we mostly slept for the 90-minutes).

Once through French immigration, customs and baggage claim, we figured out how to get the leased car from Citroen we will use to drive around France and beyond. We set off for Bordeaux, six hours from the airport, during a rainstorm.

We finally made it to our destination. After our hosts greeted us, I took a quick picture of our castle lodging before we set off for dinner. Long day and we are very hungry.

photos: dinner in Bordeaux

the castle where we are staying.

vineyards as we drove

Monday: Dublin

Posted on by Susan

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It is a rainy day in Dublin but we still made the most of it. First, I was happy to see a 24-hour gym directly across the street from where we are staying. I was there at 6am and on the rower for 45 minutes, my first good exercise (aside from a ton of walking) in a week. It’s a nice place and well used. Tomorrow I’ll remember a towel!

I sat in a nearby coffee shop after that and was happy to read my book before going back to the hotel for breakfast. It’s always interesting to see what Breakfast Included ends up meaning, and this was a fine selection of coffee, tea, and cold food.

We walked to Trinity College after that, where my traveling companion/husband saw the Book of Kels (I had been there before) and the very impressive library there. I walked around the city and popped into some shops before meeting up with him again an hour later.

We walked to the river and checked out some places near there, then had lunch as it poured outside. We went back to the hotel where he left me so I could do some work.

photos: above – a pigeon staying warm on a light. below – breakfast; gym rower is perfectly positioned under a nice cool open window

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Thursday: Edinburgh

Posted on by Susan

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We set out exploring the city at 10 this morning after breakfast in the hotel. We wanted to Mary King’s Close, an underground alleyway where Mary King and her family lived in the 17th century. She was a “merchant burgess,” someone who represented her borough in the House of Commons.

We took a tour, going down 38 narrow steps and it was certainly interesting despite the young tour guide’s theatrics. (Unfortunately, we couldn’t take photos.)

We also visited St. Giles Cathedral, built in 1124 under the direction of King David l. The huge beautiful cathedral has a rich history that I won’t go into here.

Next we walked to Bennet’s Bar,  one of the oldest pubs in Scotland. It is notable also because it had a separate room (now used for small groups) for women to hang out and not be bothered by the men there. The room has a small window to pass drinks from the bar through. It was fascinating to see.

We stopped at Blackwell’s Bookstore, where I picked up a few books by Scottish writers.

Tomorrow we will go to St. Andrew’s by train, an hour from here.

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[photos – above are some pretty steps before we got to Mary King’s Close – not the 38 I refer to.

Below is the coffee house where JKRowling created Harry Potter. We didn’t go in and it was near impossible to get a photo with people milling around. First photo was taken in St. Giles Cathedral)

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Wednesday: Edinburgh

Posted on by Susan

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[the toast trolley on the train]

We left London on a 10am train an to Edinburgh. The ride was a little over four hours, past fields and fields of grazing horses, sheep, and cows, plus quite a few perfectly rectangular farms.

We had lunch on board the train (cannelloni for me, fish cakes for husband) and I spent most of my time reading. It was very pleasant.

We checked into our hotel and then walked around the neighborhood a bit before having dinner at a small Italian restaurant. It was a good choice. Tomorrow we will see what we can discover here in this very old city.

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Tuesday: London

Posted on by Susan

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[squirrel lady in the park]

What a nice day it was to be walking around the city. It rained in the morning when we first set out, but cleared and the sun came through.

We dropped husband at the Churchill War Room (I had been there once before) and my friend and I went for tea and talk. It was a relaxing few hours – what a treat.

We picked up husband at the appointed time and by now the line for the War Room/Bunker was quite long so we were glad we had gotten there early. The three of us walked around St. James Park before grabbing a snack at Oree bakery and going back to the apartment for some reading and relaxing.

Sushi later.

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[protestors by the Cabinet Offices]

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Monday: London

Posted on by Susan

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The next leg of my travel adventure begins today. My rowing is finished, I said goodbye to my rowing friends, and spent the night at Heathrow airport where my traveling companion will arrive in a few hours.

We will visit friends in the city later on today and tomorrow before heading to Scotland. For now, some coffee after a workout.

20190922_232423Got to keep on keeping on now that I’m not rowing eight hours a day.

Day 7: Weybridge

Posted on by Susan

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Today was the last day of our Thames River row and we ended our trip in Weybridge. This is where the River Wey joins the Thames.

It was an unseasonably warm day with lots of wind and many boats out enjoying the weather. It seemed as though everyone was outdoors, swimming, paddleboarding, kayaking, and rowing. We spent two hours total, we calculated, waiting to get into and through the 3 locks. Boats were lined up in both directions. When we finally arrived at the boathouse to wash the boats and put them away, it was close to 6pm.

We finished with a farewell dinner at a restaurant in Windsor, and agreed that our week was just about perfect.

On to London tomorrow as my trip continues.

[photos: above – packed up boats, Windsor Castle

below- black and white cows]

 

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Days 3 and 4: Henley

Posted on by Susan

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We had two fabulous days of rowing the Thames.

Tuesday we traveled from Abington to Wallingford. I rowed in the double for the morning row and it was fantastic – cows wading in the water, beautiful birds, lush green trees.

We stopped at a pub for lunch and I was in stroke seat in the quad for the afternoon row. Dinner was at Brown’s Restaurant in Oxford. It was a long day and late night, but wonderful.

Wednesday we moved from our rooms at Wadham College in Oxford, after three perfect nights on the old Oxford campus. I lived it and was sad to leave. But leave we did, and we put our boats back in the water at the Brooke’s University Oxford boathouse where we had pulled them out last night. I had a nice morning row in the double, in bow seat. We passed by some collegiate rowers, miscellaneous other boats, some beautiful homes, and of course wonderful scenery. We pulled the boats out at Henley and checked into our hotel, where we will be for two nights.

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Day 2: Oxford

Posted on by Susan

20190915_122359-1We checked out Blenheim Palace today. Maurizio Cattelan’s contemporary art was displayed at random places around the place where Winston Churchill was born.

I didn’t like it. A taxidermied horse hung from a ceiling, a boy sat up high and banged a drum, other odd displays were around the historical building. We weren’t able to see the $4.5million 18-carat gold toilet bowl because it was stolen yesterday – yanked out of the wall, causing massive flooding, and tossed in the back of a van.

I tried punting later in the day. This old English sport is difficult – pushing a flat-bottomed boat along with a long steel stick.

Tomorrow we start our row on the Thames.

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Day 1: Oxford

Posted on by Susan

20190914_073849We arrived in London this morning and almost immediately jumped on a bus to Oxford, where our week begins. The ride was about 1.5 hours and the cab ride to our bnb was another 10 minutes. We had too much luggage to walk.

We checked in at the Marlborough House, then left right away to walk into the center of the city. It was about a 45- minute walk, but we stopped along the way.  The university was having an Open Doors day to begin their semester, so we lucked into that and saw some old, old buildings.

We checked out the Thames River, where we will be rowing this week, although we aren’t sure where we will start.

We had dinner (paella👍) at a food festival, where there were at least 25 vendors.

We ended our day on the back deck of the Red Lion, where we enjoyed a cocktail before walking back to our hotel.

20190914_082356Thames River20190914_084827Learning to open the lock so a boat can pass through