Larada Horner-Miller's Blog, page 48

A Break From Our Trip & My New Project

Quiet surrounds me. A canopy of a clear blue Colorado sky covers this warm spring day. I’m in a small ranching community in southeastern Colorado–the home of my childhood.

Since my mom died five years ago, I visit here monthly to check things out. I forgot to bring my Ireland/England travel journal and hard drive that has my pictures, so I’m going to take a break from the travelogue and update you on my current writing project.

I’m writing the authorized biography of Marshall Flippo, the most famous square dance caller in the world. He’s 90 years old and visiting Asilomar, CA this week, the site of his favorite square dance weekend and week that he did for years.

How did this project start? My husband and I remember its inception differently, so I’ll tell you my version.

We were at a square dance festival last year in the early spring–it was Saturday night after a jam-packed two days of dancing. A group of friends enjoyed a leisure time late in the evening and Flippo (that’s what we call him) came up.

Someone said, “Someone needs to write his biography.”

My husband, Lin, leaned my way and stated, “You’re the writer in the group. Why don’t you do it?”

Nothing more was said that night, but the reoccurring thought surfaced regularly. I was coming to the ranch about this time last year alone, so I brought up the idea to Lin and shared my serious consideration of taking on this task. I suggested we both pray about it and when I returned, we would share what had come up.

Again the idea intrigued me–in the last four years, I had self-published four books and three cookbooks, but the topics had been personal for me. I wrote two memoirs, a historical fiction from a story I had heard my childhood and a non-fiction about our family ranch. Could I write about someone else?

When I returned home, Lin and I both agreed it would be a worthwhile project. So Flippo was fulfilling his last contract at the New Mexico Square and Round Dance Festival in mid-May in Albuquerque, so I called him in mid-April to query if he was interested.

His first comment was, “No one would want to read a book about me, but I do have a topic of a book that would sell–all the stories of traveling callers, but it would be X-rated.”

Seriously, Flippo said he would give me his answer at the festival in May. Friday evening during a break, he was surrounded by several local callers and dancers. I didn’t have to bring it up–he did.

“Larada wants to write my biography. Who would want to read it?” He queried. They all raised a hand, and I think it shocked him.

In traditional Flippo flirtatious manner, he said, “OK, come over to my hotel room tonight at 1:30 am and we’ll talk about.” Laughter exploded and then he said, “Yes.”

During the summer, I started gathering resources. I talked to several close caller friends of Flippo’s to start gathering their stories and information about him. In October, I went to Tucson, AZ for a Women Writing the West. Flippo lives in Tucson, so we planned to meet together on Thursday night.

He called and wanted to change nights because the Houston Texans were playing in the World Series and he wanted to watch the baseball game, so we moved it to Friday night. Before interviewing him, I didn’t realize Flippo had a strong connection to baseball–he was so good, that’s what he did in the Navy.

Lin and I met him for dinner, and Lin started him talking immediately. I was going to wait until we moved to his home so I could record it, but he was off and running, so I grabbed my notebook and started writing. He picked a the Texan Steakhouse which had TV multiple screens on every wall, so he could watch the baseball game as we talked.

After dinner, we went to Flippo’s house, turned on the TV and muted it, and he continued our first interview, watching the game. He sent me home with three scrapbooks/photo albums and three photo albums as resources.

Since then we have talked weekly for an hour, and I have recorded each interview. What a delightful experience this has been. The hardest part is transcribing the recordings; we talk for one hour, and that one hour takes three to four hours transcribe.

Flippo’s last calling event was a New Year’s Eve square dance in Green Valley, AZ. Several caller friends encouraged Lin and I to go, so we did. Twenty-five professional callers and friends from all over the United State supported Flippo on this monumental evening of his career. He announced from the stage that I was writing his biography, and the chair-woman of CALLERLAB (the international organization for callers) said to me, “How are you going to edit out the X-rated stuff?”

During the night I watched several of the professional callers’ eyes riveted on their hero on the stage–expressions of respect, love and admiration for their mentor and teacher covered their faces. I also witnessed traces of a deep sadness at the loss of such a great caller and friend. He ended his final dance with the song, “I’m Leaving Here a Better Man.” I’m sure he selected that carefully.

I’ve spent the last six months doing the work: weekly interviews, research online and reading books. Flippo stands pivotal in the history of square dancing, and I have had confirmation from many callers and square dance historians that this book needed to be written–I’m glad the muses chose me!

I’m collecting data to see if a hard back book is a viable option. Here’s your opportunity to pre-order the book, go here Pre-Order Flippo Book

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Visit my web site for information about my other books: Larada’s Web site

Visit my Etsy shop for specials and some great Mother’s Day gift ideas: Larada’s Etsy Shop

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Day 17 Out of London & A Wedding

[image error]Leaving London was hard–neither of us were ready, but the whole reason we did this trip was to attend my cousin, Meghan’s wedding in Bury St. Edmunds. We were excited for that and to meet Mike Edwards, Meghan’s new husband.

Our travel agent had pre-booked a taxi to take us from our hotel to pick up our rental car, but there was some confusion about the name of the car rental, the company name and where we were going to pick it up. I talked to her during the week on one of our tour bus but didn’t understand the name, so I thought she said we were picking it up at the 6th terminal at the airport. The taxi driver didn’t know, but he said there wasn’t a sixth terminal, so we had to call the travel agent.

She got a good laugh out of the mis-communication. I thought she had said to pick up the car at the sixth terminal. She had said the Sixt car rental office near the airport–sometimes speaking English and understanding it are hard! So away we went. The clerk at the car rental office, Susanna, was so helpful and saved us money.

Lin had driven for a couple weeks in Ireland and did enjoyed it–fewer people and cars, more relaxed atmosphere; however, he didn’t want to drive in London so we used the Tube as our connection to London and did great. Here he was faced with driving out of London, and he did fine. There was a lot more traffic than Ireland for sure. We headed north to Bury St. Edmunds.

In fact he did better with driving than I did with the GPS. I’m used to my Garmin here at home. I learned the Tom-Tom quickly in Ireland, but this car had a built in GPS. The display listed the destination from the bottom up showing several turns coming up. We did made it to Bury.

We stayed at the Bushel pub and hotel and they had our room ready, even though we arrived early afternoon. We had to park around back of the pub, and Lin parked the car the best yet!

Quickly we changed into our wedding clothes–I had to do some touch-up ironing because these clothes had been underneath everything else for over two weeks of traveling.

We had trouble driving to Raven Hall where the wedding was–again I had trouble understanding the GPS. We ended up on a closed road. As we came up to a road worker, he shot his hands into the air and screamed, “What are you doing? And how did you get here?” When he realized we were lost Americans, he directed us out of the construction zone, across the highway and to Raven Hall.

Thank God we left the hotel early, but we still arrived with time to spare. We walked into a room full of my cousin’s dad’s family, so we knew we were in the right spot. We met Mike Edwards, the groom before the wedding and some of his Welsh family who were fascinating and so welcoming!

The wedding was outside, simple and beautiful. The minister gave a beautiful wedding message. We set in the third row and I took lots of pictures. Afterwards we took the traditional pictures and some not-so traditional.

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Mike and friends sprinting across the lawn! 

The rest of the afternoon and evening were delightful. There were American traditions observed and English traditions added. For dinner, we sat with my cousins (sisters of the bride) Kirstin and Lisa, Chris and Holly Carr from the USA and Nicole and her partner.

During the meal, someone spoke for Meghan’s parents, then Mike entertained us with stories about Meghan and him. Then Mike’s best man presented a PowerPoint slideshow, helping us get acquainted with Mike.

The evening continued with a dance, individual photos of the guests in a photo booth with a variety of props, cutting the cake and the bouquet toss. The cake was unique–one side for the groom (all Action figure characters celebrated) and the other side for the bride (her lavender colors and gorgeous).

The stereotype I had of British people was so not true. I love how they partied! As a whole, the group would dance like crazy, then they’d go to the bar and drink. The dance floor would be vacant except for a few of us, then the crowd would come back and the routine continued all evening. We danced; we laughed. We enjoyed the mix of people there; they were so friendly.

Later in the evening, a sandwich buffet opened, and they served the cake.

As we were leaving, a hilarious story unfolded. My cousin, Lisa, had been charging her bar tab to Mike’s uncle’s room instead of her parents’ room. Mike’s dad was lamenting with much fanfare that “these Americans were going to break him” because he was paying his brother’s bill for the wedding. The camaraderie between the two families joined as this wedding was delightful. We left about 11:00 pm before the crowd left and got lost on the way home, meandering our way on back roads. Again I read the GPS the wrong way, but we did make it back to our hotel.

Everyone was so friendly and hospitable and next to our wedding, Meghan and Mike’s is my favorite.

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Day 16 – Stonehenge & Bath

Wow! It’s been over a month since I blogged–please forgive me! Life got in the way.

I had been anticipating Stonehenge for the whole trip because it was one of my favorite destinations on our list. So, it was up early again, a walk down the crowded escalator to get to the Tube, on to Victoria Station and breakfast at the Starbuck’s.

Realizing our tour bus was a double-decker, we watched as the first people out the door pushed, shoved and rushed upstairs to the top level. When we approached the bus, Lin and I ducked inside the lower level and landed the front seat on the left side with lots of leg room, a spacious window to see out at eye-level, and our own shelf to put our bags and drinks. We lucked out!

The tour guide, John, noted famous sights as we drove through and out of London. He had a great sense of humor and was knowledgeable. The two hour drive took us out into the English lush countryside again.

Now about Stonehenge:

“Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument in Wiltshire, England, 2 miles (3 km) west of Amesbury. It consists of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around 13 feet (4.0 m) high, 7 feet (2.1 m) wide and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.[1]

Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, which constitute the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first bluestones were raised between 2400 and 2200 BC,[2] although they may have been at the site as early as 3000 BC.[3][4][5]”

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stonehenge

Driving into to the Stonehenge Visitors Center, we passed fields and cattle grazing–not what I’d thought I’d see near Stonehenge. John encouraged us to use the self-guided tour provided. We had limited time, so we used the bathroom, got on the shuttle and dashed to the site.

My first sighting of Stonehenge sent a shiver down my spine–I was standing near one of the wonders of the world. The layout of the self-guided tour and the walkway around Stonehenge was circular, starting at a distance from the back of the stones.

 

Click to view slideshow.

 

I took tons of pictures with my camera and my iPhone. Here’s one of my favorites:

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Me Touching Stonehenge

We enjoyed watching young adults set themselves up so that their photos looked like they were touching Stonehenge so we tried it.

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Front Side Close

We listened to the audio, took more pictures and moved in closer on the front side. The information shared on the audio was informative.

Because we had spent as much time as possible at the stones, we rushed to get back to the tour bus and didn’t have any time to shop for souvenirs–OH, NO! It broke my heart not to have a t-shirt or hat with the Stonehenge logo on it, but the pictures I took became my souvenirs.

From there we drove to Bath, seeing thatched roofs and a patchwork quilt of green  and gold fields.

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Crystal Palace in Bath

We ate lunch at the Crystal Palace.

People congregated in the square in front of the Bath Abbey.

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We did a walking tour at 2:30 pm with John. I had dressed in my rain coat but Lin didn’t, so he left us when the rain started. There was a downpour but we kept touring. My rain coat kept my camera and wool sweater dry, but my capris, socks and shoes were soaked.

Lin and I met back up–me totally soaked and him dry and looking sheepish.

Click to view slideshow.

At 3:30 pm we did a self-guided tour of the Roman Baths. Again we had to rush because of time restraints. On our walk back to the bus, Lin found ice cream and we saw Ann-Marie, our tour guide for Stratford. I gave her a quick hug.

We had a two hour drive back to London–a relaxing drive. I love our drive through the English countryside.

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There were several stops a long the way to let passengers off, and we were the last off the coach at Victoria Station. We rode the Tube back towards our hotel and received a refund from Oyster Card for four pounds. After a leisure walk towards our hotel, we ate dinner at The Swan, a local restaurant and shared Fish and Chips.

I spent that evening repacking my suitcase and surprised Lin that everything fit. This day ended our week in London. The next day we would pick up our rental car and drive to Bury St. Edmunds for my cousin’s wedding.

Have you seen Stonehenge? Bath? the Roman Baths? What was your experience? I would love to hear about your experience.

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See more of my writing at my web site:

https://www.laradasbooks.com

 

 

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Day 15 – Free Day in London – Museum & the West Side

That title sounds like a laid-back day in London, but we packed as much as possible into our free days in London.

On this second free day in London, I woke up jazzed up–Les Miserable on the West End of London. I never thought I would have that privilege!

We savored our big English breakfast and made our way back to the Charles Dickens’ museum via the Tube and a enjoyable walk–another adventure on the Tube enjoying the people and the sights. We had learned the route on Monday when the museum was closed, so this was much easier.

So our first stop of the day was 48 Doughty Street in Holborn, London, Borough of Camden–the Charles Dickens’ museum which is a Victorian house where he lived from 25 March 1837 to December 1839.

To any Charles Dickens’ fan, the museum is a must and full of ah-ha moments on three stories. Memorabilia abounded so I took lots of pictures.

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48 Doughty Street – Charles Dickens’ Museum

The china laid out on the dining room table was so unique. Each plate had a picture and a name you might know: Charles Dickens, Daniel Maclise, William M. Thackeray, Catherine Dickens, and John Forster.

Because I’m a writer too, I loved his desk and chair–the place where he created those memorable characters and places.

Charles Dickens’ Desk and Chair

Each room was filled with personal items of Dickens–the nursery upstairs was the saddest. It housed the grille from the Marshalsea prison where Dickens’ father spent time. Many of Dickens’ books echoed the effect of his father’s imprisonment and the resulting poverty faced as a child.

In the last room on the third floor we saw many of Dickens’ famous quotes artistically displayed.

Up and down the stairs we went. When we finished seeing every display, we relaxed in a quaint cafe in the museum with tea and sweets.

We hated to say good-bye but we had ticketed to “Les Miserables” and needed to move on. We walked back to the Tube, enjoying the sights and sounds of London. We took the Piccadilly line to the West End.

Lots of theaters and lots of people. I had fun taking my picture with 2 Bobbies.

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Two Friendly Bobbies Stop to Take a Picture With Larada!

From here, we headed over to the Queen’s Theater to see “Les Miserables.” I saw the sign a block or so away and the anticipation mounted. I couldn’t believe I was really here in London’s West End to see an amazing play!

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The line was long to get into the theater, but some friendly Londoners let us in up front with them and visited with us. Inside the theater, a young couple seated next to us offered to our pictures.

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Lin and Larada in the Queen’s Theater

The play truly outdid the version I saw here in the States. After a double encore, an Evacuation Alarm went off which was so scary with the terrorist activity that had gone in London a few months before. People moved quickly to get out–no one knew the danger level but all acted as if there was a real threat. A crying little girl next to me got separated from our mother and grandmother and I helped her move up in the line. Doing that, I, myself, got separated from Lin a little, and it was frightening.

When we got outside, someone kiddingly said, “That’s a great way to clear out a theater for the next performance.” I asked several people around if that was usual and they all assured and said no. We never heard an explanation of the alarm.

We headed back to our hotel and walked to street near us that had several eateries. We ate at the Ristorante Italiano because the hocker outside was so entertaining. Inside we enjoyed a personable waitress during our delicious dinner and dessert.

We hadn’t made it to Hyde Park yet but had passed by it every time we went to the Tube, so we dashed over there. It was too dark to stay long and see much of the park, but the grounds were breathtaking with colorful flowers and fountains.

It was a long FREE day in London and we made the most of it for sure, but I fell on the bed when we got back to our room. We needed a good night’s sleep because tomorrow was another fun-filled day out of London to see my most anticipated site–Stonehenge and then on the Bath to see the Roman Baths.

Are you a Charles Dickens’ fan? If so, which is your favorite? Do you like Broadway plays? If so, which is your favorite? I’d love to hear back from you.

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Larada’s website:  https://www.laradasbooks.com

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Day 14 – Tour Day: Stratford-upon-Avon, Warwick Castle & Oxford

When we first started our plans for this trip, I knew in my heart of hearts that I must go to William Shakespeare’s birthplace and home–Stratford-upon-Avon. I was an English major in college and took upper level Shakespeare classes from a world renowned professor at Colorado State University. Some semesters I lived, eat and breathed Shakespeare, so this was a dream come true.

Immediately, I knew our day was off to a right start. After our regular big English breakfast and trip on the Tube to Victoria Station to meet up with our tour bus, we had a fantastic tour guide, Ann- Marie Walker. This was our first tour day out of London and she quickly shared pertinent information about sights and streets in London as we passed–she didn’t waste a moment. We passed Harrod’s and red double-decker tour buses. Her knowledge was amazing.

Soon after leaving London and the city life, we traveled by lush green pastures fenced off with rock walls with cattle grazing and golden wheat fields.

When we arrived in Stratford-upon-Avon, we went straight to the Guild Hall where William attended classes. Emotions overcame me, and I cried–I was standing where William Shakespeare had gone to class. Ann-Marie said she wished more people enjoyed this as much as I did.

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The Guild Hall and Shakespeare’s Classroom in Stratford-upon-Avon

 

At the Guild Hall, we sat in on a classroom with a teacher dressed in full period garb who treated us as Shakespeare would have been treated. The grade levels were mixed and the older students helped the younger students.

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The Teacher in Shakespeare’s Classroom

We walked by where Shakespeare’s last home was, but it had been leveled.

I loved the main street, lined with hanging colorful flowers. Mimes entertained the people as the passed.

From there we went to Shakespeare’s home where he was born.

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Larada in Shakespeare’s Home

We continued our walk through downtown and what a festive atmosphere. I enjoyed one specific mime. We passed him once and then came back by–how amazing they are to stand perfectly still yet communicate with you. He and I had fun playing with each other.

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This Mime Flirted With Me!

We took a break and I had a rhubarb pastry and latte at a Cornish bakery–absolutely delicious! Lin shopped for sweets and our time ended there–my most favorite part of our trip so far!

From there we bussed to Warwick Castle, “a medieval castle developed from an original built by William the Conqueror in 1068.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle)

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Warwick Castle

Lin and I toured the State Rooms together, then Lin went exploring on his own. We had a limited time there and I didn’t want to rush. He towered the tower, the gaol and the dungeon. I leisurely shopped and took pictures of the courtyard and enjoyed the day.

The courtyard was brimming with people dressed in period costumes–Lin found one fair maiden.

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What a fair maiden!

Here I am outside the castle in stocks!

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In stocks for sure!

From Warwick Castle we drove through the Cotswolds to Oxford. The Cotswolds is “an area in south central England containing the Cotswold Hills, a range of rolling hills which rise from the meadows of the upper Thames to an escarpment, known as the Cotswold Edge, above the Severn Valley and Evesham Vale. The area is defined by the bedrock of Jurassic limestone that creates a type of grassland habitat rare in the UK and that is quarried for the golden coloured Cotswold stone.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cotswolds)

We passed by fields of verdant pastures with sheep grazing and wheat fields. We saw thatched roof houses in small villages. Ann-Marie told us that the villages were expensive to live in and that thatched roofs were coming back. It was delightful afternoon’s drive where I reveled in the scenery.

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The Cotswolds

Our final stop for the day was Oxford–the city of bicycles! Ann-Marie warned us to be cautious about the bicyclists, not the drivers.

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Bikes, bikes and more bikes!

Oxford is “known worldwide as the home of the University of Oxford, the oldest university in the English-speaking world.[9] Buildings in Oxford demonstrate notable examples of every English architectural period since the late Saxon period. Oxford is known as the “city of dreaming spires”, a term coined by poet Matthew Arnold.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oxford). There are 38 colleges as a part of the University of Oxford.

We toured around Christ Church, “a constituent college of the University of Oxford in England. Christ Church is a joint foundation of the college and the Cathedral of the Oxford diocese (Christ Church Cathedral and its Cathedral School), which serves as the college chapel and whose dean is ex officio the college head.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Christ_Church,_Oxford)

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Christ Church

After our outside tour of Christ Church, we shopped and enjoyed the downtown area. Our first tour day outside of London was a smashing success. Exhausted and full of travel stories, we traveled back on the Tube to our hotel and relaxed in our room. We thoroughly enjoyed Ann-Marie and sights of the day.

Have you ever been to a place that brought you to tears? Share a comment below.

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Check out my web site at:  https://www.laradasbooks.com

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Day 13 – Free Day in London–Right!

Our travel guide set up a free day every other day for us in London and that was brilliant.

We ate another great breakfast and headed for the Tube. Lin had spent the night before crafting our route on the Tube, so away we went. We had to a couple changes and walked a ways, but we arrived at the Charles Dickens museum in the rain–it was closed! So we were able to spend a longer time at the British museum.

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I definitely had to get used to this!

I had been warned before we left home about the engrained habit of looking left at a traffic light wouldn’t work in England and Ireland. I was so glad the Brits had these warnings at stop lights.

As we walked, I had my picture taken by one of the red phone booths.

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Telephone booth near Russell Park

So we did another long walk by Russell park to the British Museum and spent the afternoon there!

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Front of the British Museum

I finally figured out how to turn the flash off on my Canon Rebel camera, so I took lots of great pictures at the museum.

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Rosetta Stone

We saw the Rosetta Stone and because we only had the rest of the day to see the museum, we followed a self-guided tour provided by the museum and raced through the place. As we were leaving, we saw a banner for the Mummies which we was one exhibit we missed. There’s no way we could see it all!

We did see a famous sarcophagus, the Holy Thrown from Christ’s Crown, an ivory mask, Royal Game of Ur, gold Egyptian cape, Lewis Chessmen Set, The Royal Cup, The Portland Vase, and the Gayer-Anderson Cat (later we visited Laventham and saw their home).

Also around the whole museum, we saw artists drawing different items–what an amazing place!

We had a leisure walk and Tube ride home after a delightful day in London.

Have you ever been to the British museum? What was your favorite part of it? Let me know.

Check out my web site:  https://www.laradasbooks.com

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Day 12 A Tour of London

We woke up early for our first day in London and had breakfast down stairs in our hotel–a full English breakfast.

 

We had to catch The Tube and then walk to Victoria Station to find our tour bus. Lin’s experience on the subway in New York City really helped. The nearest station to us was about a 7 – 10 minute walk. The pre-paid Oyster card provided by our tour guide helped ease us into the routine. The walk down into where we caught The Tube consisted of an elevator and an escalator-down, down, down. When we found our platform, we didn’t wait long. I enjoyed our uneventful trip on The Tube and our pleasant walk to Victoria Station–I worried a little if we were going the right direction but we were–thanks to Lin’s great navigation skills.

When we arrived at Victoria Station, we had time to grab a Starbucks and relax some. I needed the bathroom and I had “to pay to pee.”

The crowded queue area for all the tour buses felt overwhelming, and there were lots of buses lined up ready to take willing tourists all over London and England. We found our line and bus and waited.

The jam-packed tour filled our whole day: we saw Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, 10 Downing Street, and drove down White Hall. We saw the famous Big Ben and Parliament.

Our tour guide timed our visit to Buckingham Palace perfectly so we could see the changing of the guard. The soldiers going off duty were the Irish Guard. Those coming on duty wore the Scottish gear with the big hairy helmets. The huge crowd waited patiently. Our tour guide used a unique flag to find her–a skull and crossbones. She waved it high and was easy to find, but we still lost two women. The sculptured flower gardens took our breath away–bright colors, manicured lawns and decorative pillars and statutes.

Click to view slideshow.

From there we bussed to Tower of London for a lunch of Fish and Chips. We toured the Tower and saw the Crown Jewels–OMG!! Again the crowds were massive.

The next part of the tour was a cruise on the River Thames–what a relaxing jaunt! Seeing London from the river gave us a great vantage spot. Our tour ended with a ride on the London Eye, an over-sized ferris wheel on the edge of the River Thames.

I’m not normally afraid of heights, but that ride was a little daunting. We could easily see the Parliament building and Big Ben from the ride. The individual compartments could hold about 10 – 15 people, so I could walk from side to side and take pictures. We had a clear 360 degree view of London. The river laced in both directions–it was awesome. The scariest part for me hit at the top of the ride and then when we started down the other side–I felt protected when we traveled up, but when we were going down, I felt vulnerable and exposed. It truly is the Daddy of them all for a ferris wheel ride.

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The London Eye behind us & across the River Thames

When we finished the ride, we walked across the bridge near Big Ben for The Tube Westminster station to get back to our hotel–it was more involved than the straight shot to Victoria Station, but Lin handled it masterfully. Again we had to go down into the bowels of London to access The Tube–musicians played at a variety of spots. We made the connection back to Victoria Station and then back to the stop near our hotel.

Before going to our room, we talked to Charlotte, the hotel clerk, about seeing a play in the West End on our next free day on Wednesday. She helped us book tickets for “Les Miserables” at the Queen’s Theater in the West End–I was so excited.

A friend from home suggested we see a play in the famous West End of London before we left–I hadn’t thought of it with all we were going to see, but I knew we had to do it.

We had a leisure dinner in the neighborhood and a restful evening in our room after a busy, busy day. We knew we needed to rest up for tomorrow, our free day in London. Lin studied the map of The Tube and laid out our route to get to our destination for the next day–the Charles Dickens museum and the British Museum.

Have you ever been to London? What was your favorite sight?

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Check out my web site: https://www.laradasbooks.com

 

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Day 11 – Dublin, Leaving on to London

 

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Aparto Binary Hub Hostel in Dublin, Ireland

Our hostel in the downtown area of Dublin, the Aparto Binary Hub, was a short walk up to James street and across it to the Guinness Storehouse, so we planned our tour for this morning because we flew out of Dublin for London at 3:35 pm. We left our bags at the desk for 10 Euros and walked a short trip to the Storehouse.

The Guinness Storehouse tour was fascinating–years ago, I went through the Coors brewery in Golden, CO often, so I knew the brewing story, but the Guinness story is unique for sure. The six story building had something for everyone, and it was obvious that this was a main attraction in Dublin–lots and lots of people.

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9,000 Years Lease in the floor as you enter

“The owner of St. James’s Gate Brewery required 100 pounds as a down payment and 45 pounds per month for rent. On the last day of December 1759, Arthur Guinness somehow managed to get the owner to agree to a lease for up to 9,000 years on these terms. Guinness is still brewed at St. James Gate, and the company still pays 45 pounds in rent each month.” (https://www.thevintagenews.com/2017/01/07/arthur-guinness-signed-a-9000-year-lease-for-an-abandoned-brewery-in-dublin-guinness-is-still-brewed-at-st-james-gate/)

Lin thoroughly enjoyed the tour. He was excited about tasting “Real” Guinness beer because he had been a bartender at the Leprechaun Bar in New York City for many years, and any Irish patrons said the Guinness in the USA didn’t taste the same as the Guinness in Ireland. After his sampling, he agreed.

I’m a recovery alcoholic so there were parts of the tour that were hard, but I kept focussed. While he did his sampling, I roamed the gift shop. We ended our time there up on the top floor with a 360 degree view of Dublin–it was breathtaking.

Afterwards, we retrieved our bags and hailed a taxi for the airport, arriving early, so we ate lunch leisurely. Our flight to London left at 3:35 pm, and both of us regretted leaving Ireland. We added Ireland to our trip more for Lin than me, but Ireland and its people captured my heart, too! It had been a delightful experience.

When we landed at Heathrow and retrieved our bags, we had a hard time finding our taxi driver that our travel agent had pre-arranged, but finally Lin succeeded amidst a sea of drivers waiting for arriving passengers. The driver was talkative and informative on the drive to our hotel, The Mornington Hotel.

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Mornington Hotel – our home in London!

The rest of this day was leisure and low-keyed. The hotel clerk, Charlotte, helped us as we prepared for our week in London. She directed us to where we could exchange dollars to pounds and how to get to “The Tube.”

So off we went on a walking tour. First we exchanged money, then we made our way to the Subway station–easily in walking distance. Our tour guide had sent us two Oyster cards preloaded with 20 pounds to get us started–what a true gift!

We returned to our lovely room and relaxed in the evening, excited about our next day’s adventure in London. Our tour guide had set up a wonderful itinerary for our five days:

First day – Total London Tour – Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, Buckingham Palace, Tour of London, River Cruise on the River Thames, and Ride on the London Eye
Second day – a free day to do as chose – we chose to see the Charles Dickens’ museum but it was closed. The rest of the day we spent at the British museum.
Third day – Tour outside of London – Enjoyed a day-tour to Warwick Castle, probably England’s finest medieval fortress, Shakespeare’s Stratford-upon-Avon, the rolling hills of the Cotswolds and the historic university city of Oxford. Admission to Warwick Castle, Christchurch College and a walking tour of Oxford were included in your tour.
Fourth day – a free day to do as chose – We went back to the Charles Dickens’ museum and “Les Miserables” at the Queen’s Theater in the West End of London
Fifth day – Tour out of London – Enjoyed Bath, Stonehenge and Salisbury Tour

That’s a quick summary of our time in London. I will go in more detail with each day because they were filled to the brim with adventure.

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Share your thoughts and comments below–I would love to hear your reaction to this post! Have you traveled to Ireland? England? Let’s have a conversation.

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Day 10 – Dublin – More Hop On & Off

So sorry for the delay. The holidays hit, but I’m back!

Our full day in Dublin was jam packed from the start! Again we used the services of the Hop On & Off bus system, and it worked well.

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Container Coffee Shop

We stopped off at the Container Coffee shop near our hostel for breakfast. Yes, it was a coffee shop in a small storage container and the coffee and service were great.

Our hostel was off of James Street and right across from the Guiness Storehouse, so we stopped there first and booked tickets for their tour for the next morning.

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Killmainham Gaol

Our first bus stop was the Killmainham Gaol (jail). “Many Irish revolutionaries, including the leaders of the 1916 Easter Rising, were imprisoned and executed in the prison by the British.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kilmainham_Gaol)

The cells of many of the famous men from the 1916 Easter Rising were identified. A taxi driver specifically asked us if we were going to this gaol which was a major part of their history. I understood why he emphasized seeing it after the tour.

The feeling at the jail was somber–the echo throughout the place was pain and suffering. I’m glad we toured and learned about this part of Irish history.

Our next stop was Trinity College and the Book of Kells. We had been warned that the line might be super-long there, but we arrived at a time it wasn’t too bad and certainly the wait was more than worth it.

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Larada in line for the Book of Kells

The Book of Kells “is an illuminated manuscript Gospel book in Latin, containing the four Gospels of the New Testament together with various prefatory texts and tables. It was created in a Columban monastery in either Britain or Ireland and may have had contributions from various Columban institutions from both Britain and Ireland. It is believed to have been created c. 800 AD.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Kells)

The illustrations are gorgeous, extravagant and complex. As we wound our way through the exhibit, we were educated on the Book of Kells. When we finally arrived, people crowded the display, but we had ample time to get a close look at the book and marvel at this ancient document.

Our next stop was St. Patrick’s Cathedral. We did a guided tour and learned a lot. It was founded in 1191 and is the National Cathedral of the Church of Ireland. I thought it was Catholic, but it isn’t. I bought St. Patrick pins for two Catholic friends, and they appreciated them anyway.

“Throughout its long history the cathedral has contributed much to Irish life, and one key aspect of this relates to the writer and satirist Jonathan Swift, author of Gulliver’s Travels, who was Dean of the cathedral from 1713 to 1745. Many of his famous sermons and “Irish tracts” (such as the Drapier’s Letters) were given during his stay as Dean.[11]

His grave and epitaph can be seen in the cathedral, along with those of his friend Stella. Swift took a great interest in the building, its services and music and in what would now be called social welfare, funding an almshouse for poor women and Saint Patrick’s Hospital.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/St_Patrick%27s_Cathedral,_Dublin)

More to come to this full day–we jumped on the bus and toured the city to rest a bit. We had a destination in mine, raced there on foot after hopping off the bus–The Archaeology Museum–before it closed, and made it. It closed at 5:00 pm and we rushed in the door at 4:00–one hour to find the Bog Man.

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Bog Body at the Archaeology Museum of Ireland

The tour guide at Rathcroghan, Daniel Curley, suggested we go to the Archaeology Museum in Dublin to see the “Bog bodies.” “A bog body is a human cadaver that has been naturally mummified in a peat bog.” (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bog_body) He told us that one of the bodies was found on his farm near Rathcroghan. It was eery for sure.

There was so much to see there but we barely skimmed the surface.

The day ended with a strong desire to eat at the oldest pub in Ireland, the Brazen Head, but it was too busy, so we crossed the street and returned to O’Shea’s Merchant Restaurant again for another delicious Irish meal.

The day exhausted us, so we returned to our room early and packed for our flight to England the next day. We still had the next morning to tour the Guiness Storehouse before we were off to the airport. We loved Ireland and were reluctant to leave.

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Day 9 – From Navan to Dublin & Hop On, Hop Off!

In Navan, we got up at 6:00 am, ate a hearty breakfast and left our luxurious hotel. We had to drive to back to Dublin and wanted to get our rental car back early. The traffic wasn’t too bad, so we arrived at the Hertz rental at the airport by 8:30 am.

We rented a taxi to the Aparto Binary Hub, our home for the next two days. We were early but our room was ready. All of our other accommodations in Ireland were booked by a travel agency, Go Irish Tours, and Deborah Feery from that agency did a fantastic job.

I decided to book our room in Dublin because the rates Deborah quoted us were high, and I knew we were going to be going full bore to see the most and wouldn’t be in our room much. The price at Apart Binary Hub was great, and I cleared it with Go Irish Tours and they thought it would be fine.

It turned out to be a hostel with spartan accommodations, but it worked well for us because we were on the run the whole time.

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Aparto Binary Hub Hostel – our Dublin Home

 

Lin and I got settled in our room and started a walking tour, heading to downtown Dublin. We went by Christ’s Church, took pictures and wanted to tour it but decided to wait. The sad part is we never got back to tour it.

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Christ’s Church

 

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100 Year Commemoration to the 1916 Uprising

Walking to downtown Dublin was full of sights and sounds. We went by a tribute to the 1916 Rebellion.

On Easter Monday, April 24, 1916, a group of Irish nationalists proclaimed the establishment of the Irish Republic and, along with some 1,600 followers, staged a rebellion against the British government in Ireland. The rebels seized prominent buildings in Dublin and clashed with British troops. Within a week, the insurrection had been suppressed and more than 2,000 people were dead or injured. The leaders of the rebellion soon were executed. Initially, there was little support from the Irish people for the Easter Rising; however, public opinion later shifted and the executed leaders were hailed as martyrs. In 1921, a treaty was signed that in 1922 established the Irish Free State, which eventually became the modern-day Republic of Ireland. http://www.history.com/topics/british-history/easter-rising

I saw evidence of this rebellion at many of the places we toured. It was a pivotal moment in the history of Ireland.

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Famous Molly Malone Statute

On our trek we found the statute of Molly Malone, made famous in the sing of the same title or some know it as “Cockles and Mussels.” We watched many men take a photograph with Molly touching her voluptuous endowments.

It started to rain so we ducked into a coffee shop and enjoyed some scones with hot coffee and cocoa. At this point, we decided the best way to maximize our time in Dublin was to use the bus, so we purchased the Hop On, Hop Off ticket for two days.

We ended up back in the downtown area we had visited over a week ago and toured the Dublin Castle. The castle was massive. We toured the outside and the inside.

Our first day in Dublin was complete. We ate dinner in the O’Shea’s Merchant pub. Across the street was The Brazen Head, the oldest pub in Dublin, established in 1198. We stuck our heads in the door of this famous pub, but it was packed, so we added it to our list to visit for the next day.

We had a delightful walk home in the early evening and came up to some sort of race with lots of participants.

At this point, we realized that our hostel was right across the street from the Guiness Storehouse, so we decided to tour it in two days, the morning we would be flying back to London.

All in all, our first touring day in Dublin was jam-packed and fun!

Next week will be more of Dublin and the sights there!

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