Visit Britain 2003
Date: Dec 13, 2003 - Dec 28, 2003
| This is the first time I travel to Britain since I've grown up and I'd been longing to go for years (some might recall me saying I would go in year 2000). Even after I've decided that Britain would be my 2003 destination, plans changed all the time from Spring Break to Summer and onwards. Finally, I felt I should put priority into myself and go in Christmas. |
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Since I expected the British weather to be not too
different from the Vancouver weather, I brought along my Puffy coat, woollen
sweaters, scarf, hat, gloves, and winter boots. Thank goodness I went well
prepared. It turned out to be much colder and windy than I anticipated.
Seriously, I felt like I was in Ottawa.
I would say weather worked out well because it didn't rain too much. In fact, it was bright and sunny the first couple and last couple of days for the 2-week stay. I think we've been extremely lucky with weather that it would be rainy or snowy in places that we visited, but most of the time not during our visit. We didn't see snow in Scotland at all! |
| We immediately headed north the next day after arriving in England and we were glad we chose to visit Scotland first because few days after we left Scotland, it was snowing there. On our way to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, we passed by this nuclear plant right next to the motorway. I lost track of where exactly it's situated (just know it's south of York). For a split second it did feel dangerous to get to a nuclear plant this close. |  |
| If you studied a bit of British geography, you would know that the Romans built a wall, like China's Great Wall, stretching from Newcastle all the way to the other side of the island in northern England. Given weather permitted, we drove out to the famous Hadrian's Wall, a UNESCO world heritage site. That part of the journey was quite funny. Remains of the Hadrian's Wall is supposed to be close by Newcastle. We just wanted to see some of it and then head to Scotland so as to arrive in Edinburgh for lunch. Somehow we drove on the road right beside the Wall but we couldn't see it and all we saw alongside was sheep and grass and farm walls built from old stones. | |
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So we kept on driving until we were almost outside of Northumberland. That's when we thought we should stop and go on foot. We walked a bit and found out through the map in the park we've always been seeing the right thing. Then we headed back and went to one of the main Hadrian's Wall sites. No wonder it's called a World Heritage Site, it's simply amazing. I wanted to walk further but it was just too windy. I guess it wasn't that cold, but the windchill was powerful. |
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Then we continued according to our original plans and moved north and it started to rain. We stopped at the English-Scottish border and the wind was just blowing hard and rain was falling. At the border, along the 2 sides of the highway, there is a large stone. It's difficult to miss this pair of stones with ENGLAND marked on 1 side and SCOTLAND marked on the other. Yes, I do mean the same piece of stone with writings on both sides! |
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Not long after crossing the border, we arrived at the Jedburgh Abbey at the outskirts of Jedburgh. The abbey has a long Christian history dated back before Christ. The existing building was built mostly in the medieval period. All is left of this great abbey is the outer wall of the main chapel now. The roof collapsed long ago and the outer rooms are left with the foundations. Even looking at the ruins, it's breathtaking; the architecture of the main buildings and craftsmanship can still be traced. A fish and chips lunch at Jedburgh turned out to be quite pleasant. |
| With the extra time spent in looking for the Hadrian's Wall, we arrived in Edinburgh right before sunset. Luckily it wasn't raining there. Instead of visiting a historical attraction, we drove by the seaside and watched over the North Sea which seemed calm. Edinburgh is another hilarious place for driving. Of course I would say hilarious now, but it wasn't that funny back then. The old town and new town, the 2nd UNESCO world heritage site we visited in this trip, are connected by bridges. Somehow, whether day or night, when we want to cross to the other side of the city, we couldn't find the bridge. Then when we want to stay in 1 side of the city, we unknowingly would cross the bridge. When we thought we were still within the city, we would unknowingly drive to the suburbs of the city and get out of downtown. It's an interesting experience for a tourist. I wonder how people living there manage (^o^) |
 Edinburgh is a place full of historic buildings, cars, and holiday shoppers. |
| The main attractions in old town are the Edinburgh
Castle and the Palace of the Holyroodhouse where the Queen lives in the summer
time. An elegant but not extravagant palace, it has been home to many
Scottish monarchs for centuries sitting at one end of the Royal mile. At the other end of the Royal mile is the Edinburgh Castle. Itself sits on a small mountain and thus offers a great view of the city. I couldn't agree more it was a wise choice not to walk that cobbled Royal mile from the palace to the castle. It is not far.. It's the hike the foot of the castle that I'm not supposed to try given my back has been stressed from sitting and walking all day. To our surprises, this Scottish centre of power was never involved in a real battle. |
 The Palace of the Holyroodhouse has a welcoming grand front court. |
 Sitting at the top of the small mountain, it is impossible to climb up to the castle from the side (perhaps possible with modern rock climbing gears, but certainly not in the old times). |
 Facing the river and overlooking the north, these canons were brought up in the Napoleanic wartime to defend the castle but were never fired. (Who knows if they actually worked?!) |
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On our way returning to England, we drove to the other side of Scotland first and visited the Bothwell Castle near Glasgow. Traditionally, most castles were built on a hill top; this one, was built along the Clyde River. For centuries before the 2 lands were united, it had been the guarding castle for Scotland as it is closest to England. When the castle was no longer important to the military, it was left behind. People in the town later on took red bricks from the castle to build their own houses. As a result, the castle now has few walls, few floors, and a big lawn in the centre. |
 The river runs by the cotton mill facilitating cotton weaving in the old days. |
Further south from Bothwell Castle, New Lanark World Heritage Village is the 3rd UNESCO heritage site visited on this trip. The 18th century cotton mill is also situated along the Clyde River and is no longer in use. We happened to visit when children were having their Christmas break, we therefore were able to watch a special presentation about the spirit of Christmas inside the cotton mill with a bunch of primary school kids. Now I get it why not all Christians celebrate Christmas; it's because Christmas is a tradition started by Queen Victoria to please Prince Albert. |  The cotton mill provided accommodation to employees and school to their children. However, children in those days had to help out in the cotton mill and performed jobs like sweeping floors. |
 Hmm.. Let me see how the picture turned out |
Farnham is a very nice place in Surrey with lots of trees and shrubs. You might think that castles were all built by royals. The Farnham Castle was estate of the Bishops of Winchester in the 12th century until a bishop was last in residence in 1955. As the castle was closed on the day we visited, we could only take a shot of the castle gate. |
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Visiting Farnham to me is very personal. I've longed to visit this place without knowing Jonny Wilkinson studied there. I didn't even know who Jonny Wilkinson is until I got there anyway. Unfortunately, the school site is now a Christian centre and is not very well maintained. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the visit very much despite the rain poured heavily. |
| I can always recall that when I visited this well-known monument on Salisbury Plains as a kid, I kept on saying, "The stones are so gigantic, I can't wrap my arms around them." Of course, each big stone weighs up to several tonnes. When I came here 20 years ago, it was not listed as an UNESCO world heritage site yet. Now a rope is lined around the stones so that regular visitors cannot get near. |
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Wind on Salisbury Plains certainly blew hard. It
was so windy and cold that I could only listen to half of the audio guide
presentation and I had to head indoor. Hmm.. Didn't someone said I dressed as if I was going on a winter expedition?! I needed more warmers! |
 Do I look like the "Michelin Snowman"? |
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Visiting Sherborne in Dorset is another personal thing.
Weather in the Saturday afternoon got better. We lost our way and kept on
driving around the town center. That's when we caught the rainbow.
Streets of Sherborne show a medieval, 15th to 16th century touch, very historic indeed. Like most other town centres, the main street was filled with busy Christmas shoppers. |
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| Castle gate:
Sherborne Castle of Sir Walter Raleigh (favourite of QEI) |
Sunset at the Sherborne Abbey was beautiful. I figured afterwards that tombs of 2 Saxon Kings, elder brothers of King Alfred, are inside the abbey. Too bad I wasn't paying attention when I was inside, or was it the stained glass that was too eye-catching? |
 Royal Crescent (See the beautiful blue sky) |
City of Bath is the fifth UNESCO heritage site I visited during this trip. I've wanted to visit Bath so badly that when I was planning this trip, I would rather go to Bath than Scotland if I were to choose between the 2. Setting of a few of Jane Austen's works and home to many famous people, Bath's background dates back to prehistoric Celtic worshipping. The city went through several eras. All the ground buildings are actually 16th to 18th century architecture. And they cost a fortune, up to several million pounds for a 5-storey house in some areas like the Royal Crescent depicted in the picture on the left. |
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The medieval buildings? 99% got demolished.....
The only obvious evidence is the city gate underground seen in the picture on the right here ... ¡@ |
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Bath Abbey |
 Residential buildings are mostly built in 18th century |
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The Roman Baths are magnificent. Built more than 2000 years ago, the pool is still able to hold bubbling hot water without leaking or leaching, thanks to the malleable lead. I don't know whether I was adventurous or stupid, I paid 50p for a glass of the Bath water at the Pump Room, basically a glass of water with an awful metallic taste. How could doctors in the 18th century prescribed this water to patients by gallons per day?! Normally if my water from the tap tasted like that, I would've spitted it out immediately! |
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With 900 years of history, Windsor
Castle is certainly the most interesting of all living castles. Tis the
residence where QEII spends most of her time.
My lucky day - QEII's coronation dress is on display till early 2004. A beautiful dress made for the 1953 coronation, covered with white crystal pieces (I don't think it's diamond) and a cape with fur trim, simply dazzling. A 50-year old dress that looks as good as brand-new. |
| Look at that, even the royal guard
needs to wear gloves! The castle is so huge that I think I only walked half of it in 4 hours or so. The state apartments and doll house are as unforgettable as the outer wall and architecture. |
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| Counting my fingers, London is the city I spent most time in during this trip, 2 days before Christmas and a day after. For the 2 days before Christmas, my old friend Karen served as my private tour guide. I guess 10 years ago when I last visited Hong Kong, we never quite imagined our next meeting would take place in UK. I'm happy for her that she's enjoying her life in London. |
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Lion at the feet of the Nelson's Column |
 Me chase pigeons in Trafalgar Square. No no, I didn't feed them! |
 Canada House at the back and the Christmas tree in Trafalgar Square |
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| Big Ben - those who played Taboo with me, don't laugh! | Need any hint? This is the well-known Buckingham Palace ~ | Behind me is the Piccadilly Circus after dark, certainly looks glamourous. |
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Central London is not only full of cameras monitoring people. There are also cameras taking license plates, even mobile ones like this van. Drivers going into central London now have to pay a congestion zone charge on weekdays. There's no toll booth and these cameras are snapping all the time to make sure everyone entering and leaving the zone are recorded. |
| To me, touring along Thames River is even more important than Boxing Week shopping (yes, you heard me, something is more important than shopping!). So we went to the Tower of London first. The line-up really discouraged me, I mean, I thought no one needs to line up for any attraction in winter. Not that I really minded that relatively reasonable line-up, but I wanted to save some time to shop heehee. Therefore, we walked further to the Tower Bridge and then headed to Oxford Street. |  |
| I could hardly recall when I was the last time I went to such a crowded place. Literally I was being pushed around on the sidewalk, inside department stores, inside tube stations, just anywhere and everywhere. Most of the time, it's either my size is not available at all or it ran out or there is no selection. Good that I did some shopping before Christmas and didn't come home empty-handed heehee. However, I got a bigger souvenir from Oxford Street (*0*). One of the nights I was walking there, with lots of others on the street, we were going to catch a double-decker bus. I can't recall what I was looking at and forgot to look ahead. So I ended up walking into a stone bench, ouch, and got 2 huge bruises on both of my legs. Arh, I could still feel how painful it was ... |  |
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We spent much time in Northampton as we've some friends there. Somehow Northampton is much colder than many parts of Britain even it's in the heart of England. I was amazed to see an open market in town centre. Not that I've never seen a market, but open markets are closed in winter time in Canada. |
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Like Canada, everywhere is closed on Christmas Day in England. The most natural thing for us to do was to walk around (glad it wasn't raining hard), to have multiple meals of turkey, and to watch tv. |
| There really are few attractions open on Boxing Day,
Warwick Castle by the river Avon was opened for us. The rain stopped when we arrived there and
started falling again as we left. Warwick Castle is another huge castle and
again I only walked half of it.
I visited the newer parts of the castle built in 16th century and the dungeon. home to Lady Diana's wax model, Warwick Castle began its history in 11th century. |
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Climbing the narrow stairs towers requires much care. By the time I descend the second tower, I started feeling drowsy. Really wonder, how warriors used to climb up and down so quickly and the stairs probably were too narrow for them too. As seen in the picture, towers of the castle overlook the entire Warwick city. |
| City of Warwick retains many 16th century wooden buildings, carrying the typical look of those in the QEI period. You can see the wooden walls of the houses are deformed. | |
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| At sunset, we drove further to Stratford-upon-Avon in Warwickshire, Shakespeare's hometown. As it was getting dark, it was difficult to take pictures. | ||
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For the rest of Boxing Day, we visited the family of the friend who showed us to Warwick and Stratford-upon-Avon, had very nice western meals and great chit-chats. |
 River Avon as it gets dark, with swans and ducks |
 Street across from the Royal Shakespeare Theatre |
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Caught me in action taking pictures, heehee. I took like 700 pictures during the 2-week stay in Britain. There are many more fine details to the trip but it would take long for me to write. To check out more? Please follow this link: My Visit Britain 2003 Pictures |
