Day 10 - Nearing the finish...

Usually the last few days of the trip bring a bunch of emotions, all tangled together. We can't wait to get home, but the realization that something we've waited so long for is almost over is somewhat sad. So we headed into our last day of touring looking forward, but also looking back, while mostly looking up and hoping for the rain to stop.

We headed to St. Andrews, a medieval town famous for golf and its university. What was supposed to be a pleasant day of scattered clouds and a light shower or two became a solid morning of rain. This cut into our explorer mindset, as the feet are tired, we've seen a lot, and a hot chocolate might sound better than a ruined castle. Still, we soldiered on, visiting the ruins of the cathedral and a few brave souls climbing its remaining 186-step tower., then off to the ruins of the castle on the shore, and then getting down to the water to touch the North Sea and collect some shells.

We then spread out through the small town, finding various snacks, lunches, and shops (if there's still some money left). And you can't visit St. Andrews without seeing the Old Course, which as luck would have it, is closed on Sunday so the public can walk around on it! If you've ever watched The Open (not The British Open; they don't feel the need to explain which open it is, you know), you will understand how amazing that was.

We also had two of our group, Noah and Dawson, play a round of golf on the New Course, which is probably a lifetime dream of their dads! They said they each shot a 94, but no one was there to count strokes.

After lunch the sun came out, and as we finished our shopping and had a gelato, it was soon time to head back to Edinburgh for our last supper and to pack up before our 6 am bus tomorrow. From this point on the blog might not happen as my next chance to get on might be in Winnipeg. We're scheduled for an 8:30 pm arrival, but be sure to check the Air Canada website for updates throughout the day.

Day 9 - New Itinerary, Old town.

With our bus debacle and missing our day in York, we decided to forgo our day trip to Stirling and instead stay in Edinburgh. We slept in a bit, and our travellers had to choose between a lovely walk along the river Leith and then visit to the Botanical Gardens, or a hike up Arthur's Seat, a volcanic peak rising in the middle of the city to over 800 feet above sea level. Eight choose the leisurely stroll down the river, while I led 15 up the hill. The river walk got rave reviews, but my comments will be limited to the climb I was on.

By 10 am, we had walked steady slope to get to the beginning of two trails, one gentle but longer, one steep but shorter. Everyone but two people took the steep route (it didn't hurt that some seniors climbed by as we discussed it), following narrow paths and climbing rock stairs until we got to the peak. I compared the climb to one in the Lord of the Rings, with only a little exaggeration. Notice the weather and we're all in t-shirts!

Not that we didn't need a few breaks,

but the views at the top were amazing!

The path down was much easier, and led us past the ruins of an old abbey from the 1400's.

After this it was into town for lunch and free time, followed by a ghost tour and supper. This felt like the last chance to get our souvenir needs taken care of as we're in St. Andrews tomorrow for our last day, but a few more museums and tours were hit as well.

And, as promised, a picture of some of the most "extravagant" souvenirs I've seen purchased:

Day 8 - Ed-in-bur-a

Our first of 4 nights in Edinburgh met with a few hotel issues involving showers and drains and toilets, but the hotel sorted that out and we're headed into our second night with everything in working order. The hotel's in a great spot, right along the Leith river, and a shortish walk to Princes street and all the shopping. Edinburgh's small so you can cover a lot of ground walking, if you can accept that you're usually climbing up or down - we had some thigh-burn going on navigating some of the steps that get you from one street level to the next.

We started our day with a bus tour to orient ourselves around the city, joined by our local guide Ross. He showed up in full kilt, and of course answered all the obvious questions a man gets when wearing a pleated skirt. Apparently the difference between wearing a skirt and a kilt is only one is worn with underwear. Who knew?

Ross showed us the sights from New Town, Holyrood Palace, Arthur's Seat, the Royal Mile, Old Town, Edinburgh Castle, and St. Giles Cathedral. Edinburgh is also the home of many famous authors, scientists, inventors, etc., but probably the best known among our crew is J. K. Rowling. After our tour we headed down to the Grassmarket, and open square that has lots of cafes and restaurants, but also used to be the area where the city held its executions. I guess people felt a bit peckish after watching a hanging? After lunch our groups split up and headed towards the shops, Edinburgh Castle, or the Scottish Museum. Dungeons also seem to be a theme for some, and of course Edinburgh could oblige.

One famous story in Edinburgh is of Greyfriar's Bobby, a dog who sat at his master's grave every day for years after he was buried. The dog has his won statue that people rub for good luck as they walk by, providing they don't need help to reach it (Maddy and Abby).

For supper we headed to the Hard Rock Cafe, on Georges Street in the New Town part of the city (250 years old, mind you), where one of our group celebrated her 17th birthday on top of a chair with dessert and a song.

Tomorrow we split into groups, one headed on a walk down the river Leith, the other planning an assault of the volcanic peak called Arthur's Seat. The wind is supposed to calm down tomorrow so we're looking forward to a nice day.

Day 7 - The long road to Scotland

The same bus all day, what a luxury! We got going with and early start at 7:30 and headed north towards Edinburgh, stopping at Alnwick Castle on the way. We had about 4.5 hours of driving ahead of us, but a stop for snacks and then the castle broke it up nicely, and we arrived in Edinburgh at our restaurant by 5 pm.

Alnwick Castle has a deep and significant history all on its own, but most of our travellers only knew it from its use as a location for some of the Harry Potter movies.

 The castle is owned by by a real Duke, and his family still lives there, only not in the summer when they open it for tourists. In addition to Harry Potter, shows like Downton Abbey and Black Adder have been filmed there, along with movies like Elizabeth and Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. They have lots of activities in addition to the tours you can take, but the favourite was broomstick training on the spot where they filmed the broomstick training scenes in Harry Potter.

Our group might not be the target audience, but lots of them signed up (including Mr. Krahn) and had a blast. The Professor in charge lines the group up, then chooses the volunteer (lucky Ariel), and then proceeds to teach them hot to grab their broomstick, making sure they make plenty of mistakes for plenty of laughs. I think Ariel was ready just to grab the stick out of his hands after all of his confusing instructions.

Students then learned to mount their brooms, make broom engine noises (cows?), and then follow commands, including bunny hops. At the conclusion the class graduates and gets to take some pictures of them flying on their brooms.

The castle was also a significant shopping stop (Aaron and Shawn), which I'm hoping to show you a picture of soon.

After Alnwick we headed to Edinburgh, catching some amazing views of the coast and the North Sea, and then heading into Edinburgh.

A quick supper and then check-in at the hotel left us with enough time for a few of us to head up to Princes Street and some shopping. Tomorrow we have a lazy morning and leave the hotel at 9 for our day of touring this beautiful city.

Day 6 - 3 buses, 5 drivers, and 1 mechanic

What a day! On the bus at 8, off the bus at 8:30, back on again at 3 pm. I have never spent so much time in a hotel lobby. Our students were great at entertaining themselves, and Explorica kept us in pop and coffee and bought us lunch at the hotel. We thought we'd only get away around supper time, so the whole troop headed off for a march to the nearest shopping area, about 2 miles away, only to get a text 40 minutes into the walk to turn around and that a bus was 20 minutes away. The running scene from Chariots of Fire comes to mind as students came flying up the road.

It was then 2 1/2 hours to York, where unfortunately everything was closed by our arrival. We saw enough to know we want to go back - the centre of town is surrounded by a huge medieval wall which you can walk, has tonnes of narrow streets and shopping, and the cathedral was really breathtaking. Some of us even managed to fit in a boat tour.

Being able to just get a taste of it made us extra sad at not being able to stay.

Tomorrow the wake up call is for 5:45 as we head to Scotland. Here's hoping we only need one bus to get there!

Shakespeare and throwing big rocks

Day 5 got us to Shakespeare's hometown, with tours of Anne Hatheway's home, and then Shakespeare's birthplace. Both homes were built in the 1500's, and are mostly in their original state. Shakespeare's house was especially entertaining as some of our students were told they were much past the age of marrying (Maddy S), and getting to watch actors play through some scenes in the courtyard.

Stratford upon Avon is a beautiful town with canals connecting to the river Avon, lots of Tudor buildings, and plenty of shopping, like Poundland.

From Stratford we headed to Warwick castle, built in the 1060's and expanded over the centuries. It's in fantastic condition and has lots of things to do like archery shows, hunting birds, dungeon tours, and historical guides in costume. Many of us toured the castle, climbed the walls and towers, and someone even managed to find candy the size of a child's head (Shawn). And then we saw a real trebuchet fire!

From there it was a stop at a grocery store for snacks, then back to the hotel for another great meal. An early start tomorrow takes us to York and Vikings!

Day 4 - Bathin' and Learnin'

Apparently we dodged a bullet and the lousy weather we had was a blessing as London had wind gusts topping 100 mph, flooding and power outages. After a very cold morning with heavy winds, the sun came out and gave us a reprieve. While we were still very layered, we enjoyed a comfortable afternoon.

On the bus and driving by 7:30, we left Swindon for Bath and an early morning walking tour. Our guide took us though some fancy neighbourhoods with million-dollar townhouses built in the 1700-1800's. Through the shivering and wind we got an appreciation for what the architects were trying to accomplish.

Then we wandered further down into the heart of Bath to see some of the medieval buildings near the river, and the only bridge in England with shops on it, something you see regularly in Italy.

We continued on to the Cathedral and the Roman Baths for our tour. Again, walking through a complex system of rooms and pools used by locals 2000 years ago was amazing. You can really sense how these people were hardly different from us in so many ways.

Lunch and free time in Bath for a little shopping, and then off to Oxford. A university town, the highlight for many was the visit to Christ''s Church to see a few Harry Potter filming locations.

Then we went off to shopping and finding things to tour like other Harry Potter spots,  climbing a tour, or more shopping.

We then ended the day at our hotel for supper, and it's the nicest one yet. Great rooms and our best supper to date. And the bonus is the 7am wake up call! It's castles and Shakespeare tomorrow.