Cheers!

(Tower Bridge in London)

After our visit to Caerphilly Castle, it was sadly time to go back to London and head home. Our flight was at 3:45pm and as had been the case with most of our driving experience in England, it was easier said then done – we missed the entrance to the highway twice and had to go quite a ways in order to turn around. This put us behind on our already tight schedule but Chip said the worst thing that would happen is we would have to spend another night in London!

After stopping for gas and picking up food at Burger King (the fries did taste different and there was no iced tea!) we made it back to the car rental place about an hour and a half before our flight. I’ve always read to give yourself two hours for international flights and Heathrow’s website indicated that if you weren’t through security 35 minutes before your flight they could stop you from getting on the plan. Even though I might now have minded staying another night, I was a little nervous about making it on time.

Fortunately, one of the busiest airports in the world wasn’t busy at all and there were virtually no passengers at the British Airways counter and only about 10 people in front of us at the security checkpoint. Darn our luck! The plane was only about a third of the way full so we were able to stretch out a little but since I didn’t sleep on the way home, the 9 hour flight was really long. I did some reading and watched Young Victoria, which I thought was very good.

At one point during the flight Chip told me to look out the window and I saw a bunch of white stuff below us. I thought maybe it was ice in the ocean, but a check of the flight path (displayed on the little TV screen) showed that we were over Iceland! Very cool! (no pun intended) I had heard about flights in the northwestern United States flying close to the North Pole due to the circumference of the earth being smaller, but it hadn’t crossed my mind that transatlantic flights would do the same thing. But sure enough, after Iceland we flew over Greenland and down through Canada to get to Denver. Unfortunately, Chip’s camera was packed in our luggage and the battery on our digital one was still dead.

Although the trip was originally my idea and Chip just went along because I didn’t want to go by myself, he had a really good time and wants to go back. There is so much history and so many old castles and cathedrals to explore that I think we could easily spend a month there!

Since most of the places we visited were historical in nature, I thought I would share some of my favorite historical fiction books that inspired our trip:

Southeast Wales – English author Elizabeth Chadwick has written some fascinating novels about William Marshall and his family. The Greatest Knight and The Scarlet Lion. In addition, her most recent book, The Time of Singing is about Roger Bigod. Unfortunately, they are currently only available in the UK, but you can order them from The Book Depository (they have free worldwide shipping). The Greatest Knight is being published in the US in September and can be ordered from Amazon.

The Tudor Period – The Lady in the Tower by Jean Plaidy and The Concubine by Norah Lofts are both about Anne Boleyn (Henry VIII’s second wife) and have recently been republished (available from Amazon and in some bookstores). I recently read a great book on Catherine Howard (his fifth wife), The King’s Rose by Alisa Libby, also available via Amazon. Surprisingly, there are few fiction books written from Henry’s point of view, but one that I would suggest is The Autobiography of Henry VIII by Margaret George. I would also recommend Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir (Lady Jane Grey, also executed at the Tower) and for Elizabeth I, the best book is Legacy by Susan Kay (currently out of print but scheduled for reissue this fall).

William the Conqueror – Although told mostly from the viewpoint of Britain’s conquered King, Harold II, Helen Hollick’s novel Harold the King is by far my favorite. Currently only available in the UK.

One of my absolute favorite authors is Sharon Kay Penman: The Sunne in Splendour (Wars of the Roses, Richard III); her Welsh Trilogy set during the reigns of King John, Henry III and Edward I (Here Be Dragons, Falls the Shadow and The Reckoning); and her trilogy on Eleanor of Aquitaine and Henry II (When Christ and His Saints Slept, Time and Chance and Devil’s Brood). All are available from Amazon and in some bookstores.

Well, I hope your enjoyed reading about our trip to London. I recently discovered a site devoted to Anne Boleyn and the gal that runs it has organized a tour built around Anne's life - including staying at Hever Castle (Anne's childhood home which was restored during the early 20th century by William Waldorf Astor). Even though I was just there and have already seen a couple of the places that are included, I would love to go...

I decided to go ahead and keep up the blog so watch this space for pictures from some of our other vacations.

Cheers!

Daphne

Caerphilly Castle

Note: Due to my digital camera battery being dead, these pictures were taken with film (which may have been old) on a cloudy, misty day. As a result, the quality may not be the greatest.




After our quick picture taking visit to Cardiff Tuesday morning, it was off to Caerphilly Castle seven miles to the north. Set partially up on a small hill overlooking the town, Caerphilly Castle is the largest castle in Wales and when built, was an architectural achievement combined with an outstanding defensive structure which included two lakes. It is a prime example of the concentric – or “wall within a wall” construction. Caerphilly was built between 1268 to 1271 by the leading noble of the area – “Red” Gilbert de Clare, earl of Gloucester and Hertford and lord of Glamorgan – in response to the political and military threat posed by Prince Llywelyn ap Gruffudd of Gwynedd. Within 10 years with the Welsh prince defeated, the castle was no longer a front line defense and was shortly remodeled into a lavish venue for entertaining.





After the death of Red Gilbert’s son (another Gilbert) in 1314, Caerphilly and a vast portion of the de Clare estates went to Eleanor de Clare (niece of Edward II) and her husband, Hugh Despenser the younger. Hugh and his father (Hugh the elder) were favorites of then King Edward II. Given favors, land and titles the Despensers quickly became unpopular with the barons and eventually one of the barons (Roger Mortimer) joined up with Queen Isabella to force Hugh and the king out of power. causing them to flee London. For a few days, the pair took refuge within Caerphilly and when forced to move on, left a large part of the royal treasure at the castle. The castle subsequently belonged to Eleanor and Hugh’s son (a third Hugh), Richard Beauchamp and Richard Neville, “the Kingmaker” Earl of Warwick. By the time Henry Tudor (VII) came to throne in 1485, Caerphilly Castle had fallen into partial decay. The deterioration of the castle continued until 1776 when the Bute family acquired the castle and like their work at Cardiff, the family began major restoration during the 1800’s. The castle was turned over to the state in 1950.





The Outer Main Gatehouse is in remarkably good condition and was used as a prison as late as 1539. The gate towers are square at the base but the fronts become half octagons as they rise three floors. Inside are spiral staircases leading to the roof which has a great view of the central “island” (as seen in the below picture).








The south dam platform (which runs to the south of the main gatehouse) and according to the guidebook has been called “one of the most dramatic examples of medieval architecture in Britain.”




At the end of the wall near the south gate tower are four reconstructions of medieval siege weapons (or “engines of war”). The stone structure in the lower right corner of the picture are the remains of a watermill used for grinding corn and was powered by the water from the south lake. One of the small towers contains a guardroom where two stone benches cover latrines that emptied directly into the outer moat. Guess the moat would not be a good place for swimming!

Caerphilly’s most notable feature may be its “leaning tower”, the southeast tower of the inner ward. The three story tower has split, possibly due to ground subsidence and leans at a 10 degree angle. Despite the fact that it looks like it’s about to fall over, the outside of the tower remains undamaged and is original to the castle. The split goes all the way to the ground and you could literally walk right into it and look up. One of the things that really amazed us especially in Wales was the access at the places we visited. Although there were some areas that were closed to the public, those that were open were totally accessible – there were no rope barriers, no bars over the glassless windows, tiny spiral staircases with uneven stone steps (most with no handrails) and very few warning signs. Chip and I commented several times that in the US, OSHA would never allow such a thing! We though it was wonderful that apparently the lawyers in Wales haven’t made such access imprudent and apparently, the government figures that when you are walking around stone ruins that are hundreds of years old most people are smart enough to know to be careful and watch your step. Duh! Come to think of it, I don’t remember seeing any signs in restaurants warning you that your coffee or tea might be hot either.




The East Gatehouse was completed by 1271. This picture is of the back of the gatehouse which is almost all original. The front of the gatehouse was completely rebuilt in the 1930’s. Unfortunately, the inside of the gatehouse is not open to the public.





One of the building within the Inner Ward is the immense Great Hall. Unfortunately our picture didn’t turn out so this one is from the guidebook. The Great hall was constructed in the early 14th century at the time of Hugh Despenser the younger. During the restoration done by the Bute family in the 1870’s, the roof was replaced, and more recently, the windows have been reglazed and the stonework refaced. Looking at the table at the end of the room gives you an idea of its size and scale. At the top of the stone columns along the wall (from which the wooden beams that support the ceiling rise) are three carved heads. Some of the heads have beards and crowns and strongly resemble that on the tomb effigy of Edward II in Gloucester Cathedral. Others depict younger men with longer hair and one column contains three women wearing kerchiefs and jeweled circlets. The hall can be rented out for weddings – how cool would that be!

Some additional pictures:



Closeup of main gate




I’m not exactly sure what part of the castle this is from, but it may be one of the sections that held private apartments.





Drawbridge (built in modern times) over the outer moat, leading to the outer gate

Well, sadly this was the last place we visited. The next post will be a wrap up and some final thoughts of our trip.

Cheers!
Daphne

Cardiff Castle or Dead Camera Batteries at the Worst Time

A couple of weeks before we left for London I realized that I couldn't find the battery charger to our digital camera. A new one from Sony was $60 (!) so I ordered one from ebay. Fortunately it arrived a couple of days before we left and I charged up the battery so it would be fully charged. Or so I thought.

On our last night in London (after visiting Hampton Court), I noticed the battery was getting low and, using the electrical adaptor we had bought, I charged the battery. Or so I thought. During our visits to Tintern Abbey and Chepstow Castle, I realized the battery wasn't charged any more than it had been the night before and was going down fast. I figured I put the battery in the charger backwards since it doesn't indicate which way it goes in (a situation my dad calls "operator error). After Chepstow our plan was to drive to Cardiff, check into our hotel and then visit Cardiff Castle which was conveniently located right across the street from the htoel. I figured I could charge the battery up long enough to last through our visit to the castle. Wrong.

By this time the battery was completely dead and no matter what I tried, it was obvious that the charger I bought was not working. Ordinarily this would have been about the time I was silently thanking Chip for bringing along his SLR film camera (with the super zoom lenses!). Unfortunately, his camera batteries had decided to die the day before. With the castle set to close in an hour and a half and the convenience store two doors down from the hotel closed, we developed a plan B: we would go to the castle as planned and in the morning, try to find a disposable camera and take a few quick pictures before we headed to Caerphilly. The next morning, I could not believe that we could not find a disposable camera! We did however luck out in that the convenience store had batteries for Chip's old camera. Go figure. This is my long way of saying that due to our time schedule that day (our flight left at 3:45 pm), we unfortunately have very few pictures of the impressive Cardiff Castle.





Cardiff Castle is located at the lower point of the Taft River near the mouth of the Bristol Channel. At the time of the Roman invasion in 43 A.D., the area was inhabited by a local tribe known as the Silures. From archaeological excavations during the 1970's, it appears that 4 different Roman forts were built on this site, the last one built of stone rather than wood in the 4th century. With the fall of the Roman Empire, the city that had sprung up around the fort remained and eventually became the capital of Wales.

In 1888, the remains of the Roman fort were discovered when the 3rd Marquess of Bute decided to build a new tower on the east bank and to extend the grounds. Lord Bute abandoned his plans for the new tower and instead decided to reconstruct the Roman walls on their original foundations. Some parts of the original wall are still visible and are outlined in red sandstone.





After the Normans conquered England, their King, William the Conqueror, moved on to south east Wales and founded a castle in Cardiff in 1081. The stone keep that is currently on the site (it is in the first picture) was built in 1135 by Robert the Consul, probably in response to a Welsh uprising. At one point it was the prison of Robert Curthouse after his failed rebellion against his brother, Henry I. Over the next 200 years the castle was owned by the de Clares, the Despensers and the Beauchamps and at some point the keep was linked by a wall to the Black Tower that was constructed at the gate (just to the right of the gate in this picture). The keep is 12 sided and built of blue limestone. There are 100 steps up to the top and once inside, it is much larger than it appears, although it is apparently smaller than it once was. I am really disappointed that we did not have time to go back up into the keep to take pictures.




In 1404 the twon and the castle were attacked by the Welsh hero Owain Glyndwr and both were severely damaged. After the defeat of the Welsh, the castle was repaired and a new residential building was constructed by Richard Beauchamp, Earl of Warwick. For nearly 400 years the castle changed hands numerous times with some owners making improvements and additions to the residential structure. But it was the arrival of the 1st Marquess of Bute in 1766 that completely transformed the castle into much of what is seen today. Over the next 30 years, the family would use their immense fortune from coal mining to radically change its appearance - including demolishing several ancient Roman and Norman structures for which the family was strongly criticized.

During the Victorian era, the 3rd Marquess of Bute, employing the talens fo the architect William Bruges, turned the residential portion of the castle into an extravagant mix of stained glass, painted murals, gilding and sculpture. No pictures were allowed inside the building, so I've included some scanned pictures from the guidebook to give you an idea of what's inside. In my opinion, this is truly an example of sensory overload - every conceivable surface in every room is covered with something. Much of it elicits the "oh-my-god-my-jaw-just-hit-the-floor" response, but I imagine living here would give me a headache!




The book lover in me absolutely LOVED this library! Created from the medieval great hall, there were lots of old books, which included old law books.




In one of the towers is a private sitting room used by Lady Bute. The room is called the Chaucer Room for the murals and stained glass that illustrate his stories. The stained glass windows illustrate The Canterbury Tales and were made around 1880. To the left of this pictures is a close up of one of the windows (click on the picture for a larger image).





The Banqueting Hall is the largest room in the castle and is in the oldest part of the building. Murals on the walls tell the story of the medieval castle



The Clock Tower was built in 1869-74 and was intended to provide a series of rooms for Lord Bute before his marriage.

The castle remained in the Bute family until 1947 when it was presented as a gift to the City of Cardiff. The castle was home to the National College of Music and Drama for 25 years before being opened to the public in 1974. It remains one of Wales' most popular tourist attractions.




When we first came in through the castle gates, I noticed these red Welsh Dragons and told Chip that I wanted a picture of one. As we got closer to it, we saw this:



If you look carefully at the picture above, you can see the duck there. She didn't seem too disturbed by our presence though.

Information is from the castle guidebook. You can find out more information at their website.

Cheers!
Daphne

Chepstow Castle

Once we got to the town of Chepstow, we weren’t really sure where the castle was but I told Chip to go to the center of town and it should be nearby – after all, how hard could it be to find a castle!? There were a few signs pointing us in the general direction and as we drove through the narrow streets we talked about how cool the town was with all the medieval looking buildings. After parking the car, we went in search of the castle. About 100 feet from the parking lot we started going over a bridge. Chip was walking ahead of me and as he got about a quarter of the way over he started laughing. I asked him what was so funny and he said I would see when I got there. This is what we saw:




from the direction we had just come from.




In fact, see this little silver car sitting in front of the big bush? That’s our car. We had gotten out of the car and didn’t even notice the big stone turret right in front of us! Jeez. We had a good laugh though.




Perched on limestone cliffs overlooking the river Wye, Chepstow Castle was first established in the late 11th century, as a castle in this location is referenced in the 1086 Doomesday Book as being built by William fitz Osbern. After a failed rebellion by William’s son, the land was confiscated by the crown who held it until 1115 when Henry I granted it to Walter fitz Richard of Clare (who was also responsible for the founding of Tintern Abbey). Following his death, the lands became the inheritance of his young daughter Isabel who became the wife of the great William Marshal in 1189.




After passing through the hands of Marshal’s sons, in 1245 Chepstow became the property of William’s eldest daughter Maud and her husband, Hugh Bigod, the third earl of Norfolk. Roger Bigod, the fifth earl of Norfolk, used the castle as his main residence and accounts from the period indicate that he made extensive and lavish improvements. When Roger died in 1306, the land again reverted to the crown and over the next several hundred years it belonged to a variety of monarchs and nobles, including the infamous Hugh Despenser the younger (in 1324), and Charles Somerset, first earl of Worcester (in 1507). Subsequent centuries saw the site used as a fortress, barracks, a prison, a storage facility for guns and other weapons in the 17th century; a nail factory and wine bottles were made here in the 18th century. Also during the late 17th century, parts of the castle, including the upper level of the great tower and most of the internal floors were demolished.

During the late 19th century the overgrown interior of the castle was cleared out, paths laid and some conservation efforts were underway by the Beaufort estate. In 1953 the castle was put under the guardianship of the state.




The Main Gatehouse was built by William Marshall in 1189. Its two large round towers built closely together was a revolutionary design for its time. It is thought to be the oldest twin-towered gatehouse in Britain.



The Great Tower is the oldest building in the castle (built in the late 11th century) and sits about two-thirds of the way back on the grounds. It is 120 feet long by 45 feet wide. If you look closely (or click on the image to make it larger) you can see a small horizontal orange band above the doorway. This is mortar made from reused Roman tiles, likely from the ruins of a Roman town 4 miles away (modern day Caerwent).




Within the tower is the great hall. This is the interior and the four arched stone niches contain fragments of their original 11th century decoration – the oldest surviving secular decoration in Britain. It can be seen best in the 2nd arch from the left – the arch would have been filled with white plaster into which was set a band of pinkish orange plaster made from crushed Roman tiles and over this was strips of white plaster in a criss-cross pattern.




The remains of a beautiful pair of arches remain at one end of the room and were likely added by the sons of William Marshall during the 13th century. In its final form, the tower stood 75 feet high.




At the far end of the castle is the upper bailey (the word “bailey” refers to the defensive wall surrounding a courtyard and can also refer to the courtyard itself), highlighted by Marshal’s Tower. This two story rectangular tower was built in the early 13th century by William Marshal probably as private apartments for his family.



Behind Marshal’s Tower is the Upper Barbican. This was added by William Marshal’s sons as an added defense. The three story tower contains a number of arrow slits.



The lower bailey is also from William Marshall’s time but most of the buildings from that era have been lost. What is seen today are domestic building added by Roger Bigod in the last quarter of the 13th century. This part of the castle included a great hall, the earl’s chamber, a kitchen, cellar and several passageways. Later modifications to the structures were made during the Tudor period as well as the late 17th century.




Marten’s Tower was also added by Roger Bigod in 1288. Complete with private lodgings and a small chapel, it may have been intended for important guests. It was renovated during the Tudor period and later served as a prison for Henry Marten (the tower now carries his name), who was one of the individuals to sign the death warrant for Charles I. The interior is very well preserved due to the roof remaining into the 19th century.

Additional pictures:



an arrowloop




exterior of lower bailey domestic buildings




interior chamber of one of the towers




detail of window in the chapel in Marten Tower




view of the town of Chepstow from the castle




view of the Great Tower and part of the wall separating the middle bailey from the lower bailey




one of the bailey doors. Made of two layers of elm and oak boards, they are clenched together with iron nails. Tree-ring dating has dated the doors to the first half of the 16th century. The three triangular holes are believed to be from the English Civil War and were for muskets.



view of the outlying countryside and the river. It is so beautiful and peaceful.



another view of the Great Tower and the cliffs

Information is from the castle’s guidebook.

Cheers!
Daphne

Tintern Abbey

Our first stop in Wales was at Tintern Abbey, or the ruins of what is left of it. As we got close to the Welsh border, we noticed a change in the landscape – from relatively flat farmland and pastures to rolling hills. The Abbey is north of the town of Chepstow on a narrow and winding road, made more nerve-wracking since we were driving on the left!

Even though we had been experiencing nice sunny weather, Monday was cooler, somewhat overcast, and quickly turned grey and misty. As we came around the last curve and saw the Abbey nestled in a beautiful green valley, the mist in the air somehow seemed appropriate and gave it an almost otherworldly look

The Abbey was founded in 1131 by the Lord of Chepstow, Walter fitz Richard of Clare (better known as Strongbow) and its early inhabitants were Cistercian monks from France. As the community of monks grew, so did the Abbey and the great gothic church that dominates the site was begun in 1269, patronized by Roger Bigod, fifth earl of Norfolk. The Abbey was surrendered to the crown during the early period of the dissolution of the monasteries under Henry VIII. At that time many of the Abbey’s valuables – silver, glass, timber and lead (from the roof) was either sent directly to the king’s treasury or sold. After that, Tintern was largely forgotten until it was “rediscovered” during the late 18th century by the “Romantic” poets and artists. In 1901 it was purchased by the crown and a massive conservation effort took place over the next 25 years.

When William Marshall became Lord of Chepstow in 1189, he also became a patron of Tintern. According to the guidebook, several members of the Marshall family were buried at Tintern – his wife Isabel and three of his children, Walter, Anselm and Matilda – however I did not see anything on the grounds that indicated such. But admittedly, with the delay at Heathrow, the rain and approaching lunchtime, there were some parts of the grounds we skipped and we didn’t buy the guidebook until after we were done with our visit (I didn’t want it to get wet!).

The west front of the church is just spectacular. The great window above the door is an example of the English Gothic Decorated style of architecture popular at the time. This style is known for its window “tracery” where windows are subdivided by small vertical bars of stone which then branch out and form elaborate motifs at the top of the window. We could only look up and shake our heads in wonder at how such things were created 700 years ago. And wonder even more how they are still standing!

Closeup of the West doors

Through the west doors is the nave – truly one of the most simply beautiful things I saw during the trip. The missing roof only adds to its beauty and the light mist that was falling gave the place a magical feeling (this picture is at the east end of the nave looking back to the west door/window). As originally built however, the space would not have seemed as immense since it was divided into six sections, separated by pairs of columns along the length of the building. Based on surviving fragments, it is believed that the locally quarried red-green sandstone was not visible during the middle ages and was actually white lime-plastered (I think the sand-stone is much prettier!). The floor was covered with decorated and glazed tiles of a red-brown color. The large arch near the forefront of the picture is one of four that surround the “crossing” - the centre of the church where the two sections of the cross intersect.

The central area was divided from the aisles to the north and south by arcades of pointed arches (view is looking down the aisle from the west – you can make out the arches on the left). These aisles served as passageways connecting the two ends of the church.

Along the outside of the aisles were windows. They are slightly different on the north side than those from the south side, probably reflecting a style change during different phases of construction.

At the east end is the presbytery which was likely elevated at least one step up. The high alter would have been here. Here you can see another of the great arches and the large east window. Most of the tracery inside the window was lost, however the center mullion was recreated in 1904-05 from some smaller pieces. According to contemporary accounts the window featured the arms of Roger Bigod.

The cross arms of the church are the north and south transepts. This is the window in the north transept (a similar one existed on the south end). The roof line below the window is that of the monk’s day room and dormitory.

Just north of the church (on the other side of a small open courtyard) are the remnants of the warming house, the only place besides the kitchen and infirmary where a fire was permitted. Part of the vaulted roof survives.

In this area is also the part of the refectory or dining hall. At 84 feet long by 29 feet wide, it is a large room filled with windows like these.

Here are some additional pictures:

The dining hall wall is on the right of the picture.

Closeup of the north window

I just love all of the arches!

This gives you an idea of how massive the pillars are!

Closeup of how the pillars are constructed

More arches!

Across the street from the Abbey is a restaurant is what looks (and smells) to be a very old building. We had a nice lunch and then hit the road to the next stop - Chepstow Castle.

Information regarding the Abbey is from the guidebook.

Cheers!
Daphne

Off to Wales - or Stay to the Left!

About a week before our trip we made a change to our plans. We really wanted to see some old castles – ones that were still much as they would have been when they were in use and not ones that had been renovated or restored during the last couple of hundred years. It seemed that Wales was the place to go. I investigated taking the train there and using it to get to the places we wanted to go since it appeared there were stations within walking distance of three of the four. Chip thought it would be easier and more flexible to rent a car. (Given our great train adventure to Hampton Court, it was probably good thinking on his part!). So we made arrangements to rent a car at Heathrow (easy to turn back in before our flight) and to stay in Cardiff, the capital.

Monday morning we left the hotel early and took a cab to the airport. Since this was a bank holiday, there was very little traffic. Apparently, cars with a manual transmission are the norm in England and since Chip could drive one he decided not to pay the substantial extra amount for a car that was an automatic. In hindsight, that probably wasn’t the best idea.

Heathrow is the third busiest airport in the world and has 5 terminals and roadways full of roundabout intersections (which had only recently caught on where we live). Fortunately, the car rental place seemed to be at the “edge” of the airport and pretty close to the road we needed to head west towards Wales. Unfortunately, it wasn’t quite that simple.

From the moment we sat in the car everything just felt “wrong”. We were both sitting on the “wrong” side of the car, the rearview mirror was tilted the "wrong" direction and although the gearshift was in the middle like it should have been, it was on the "wrong" side of the driver, meaning Chip would have to use his left hand to change gears (kind of like trying to brush your teeth or eat with a spoon with the "wrong" hand). Even the position of the gears was different and it took a few minutes to get the car into the right gear.

As we left the car lot, we asked the gate attendant how to get to the M4 highway. He made it sound simple – turn right out of the lot and at the roundabout we just had to follow the signs (you can see the junction on the top right hand corner of this map and the car rental place was on Northern Perimeter Road). As soon as we turned out of the lot I reminded Chip to “stay to the left”. It would quickly become our new catch phrase. The feeling of driving on the "wrong" side of the road was somewhat unnerving at first and going into the roundabout from the "wrong" side and in the "wrong" direction was confusing. So we really weren’t that surprised that we missed our turn to the highway and found ourselves headed back into Heathrow (just not in the same direction that we had just come from – that would have been too easy!).

We had hoped to find signs that would lead us back to where we wanted to be. But trying to find and read signs while concentrating on staying on the “right” (left) side of the road made it more difficult. We ended up at a parking garage with only two choices: go into the garage or go through the taxi lane. We picked the taxi lane. What we didn’t know was that taxi lanes at Heathrow are not like the ones we are used to in the states (where you can generally drive around the taxi’s parked in line) and we found ourselves behind two stopped cabs with no way to drive around. The driver in front of us politely explained that there was no way to go through or around them (and any possible way would result in some kind of large fine) and that they could be there for an hour or two. Realizing that there was no one behind us, I quickly got out of the car and ran back down the taxi lane to stop any other cars. Luckily, there were none and Chip was able to back the car all the way back down the lane to the entrance of the garage. One through the garage we spotted signs for the rental car lots and before too long, we had found our way to the M4. We were off to Wales and only about an hour behind schedule!

The drive to our first destination was about two hours. The English countryside along the highway looked much like those in the Midwest United States – fields, cows, some houses and the occasional town. Once on the highway, driving on the “wrong” side of the road was easier and we settled in to enjoy the drive.

Over the course of the next day and a half, I must have said “stay to the left” a hundred times! The four locations we planned to visit were fairly close to each other: Tintern Abbey, Chepstow, Cardiff and Caerphilly castles. But the unfamiliar roads, signage and those blasted roundabouts caused us to invariably end up backtracking because we had missed a turn (or two!) and so it always took longer to get someplace than we had planned.

Fortunately, our adventure of driving in England ended easier than it had begun which was a good thing because we cut it pretty close in returning the car and getting to the terminal for our flight. Once back in Denver, as we turned out of the airport parking lot to head for home, I found myself reminding Chip to “stay to the right!”

Details and pictures of our trip to Wales will be posted over the next several days.

Cheers!
Daphne

London by Night

One evening we decided to take a bus tour of the city on one of the open air double decker buses. It was a two hour loop and a great way to see some other parts of the city. Low-light nighttime pictures are always tricky (and being on a moving bus certainly doesn’t help!) and unfortunately many of them did not turn out.

We were able to pick up the bus down the street from our hotel at 7:00. This picture was taken shortly after we got on the bus while still on Regent Street. The traffic at that time was still ridiculous and since we were sitting on the top level of the bus, it was very noisy as well.

The billboards from Picadilly Circus. Piccadilly Circus is a busy plaza in the heart of London at the junction of major streets Regent street, Shaftesbury Avenue, Piccadilly and Covent Street. The Circus was created in 1819 by John Nash as part of King George IV's plan to connect Carlton House with Regent’s Park. It reminded me a lot of Times Square in New York City.

Her Majesty’s Theatre. A theatre has existed on this West End site in the St. James district since 1705. It was initially known as Queen's Theatre after Queen Anne and was later changed to the King's Theatre. In 1837 with the accession of Queen Victoria, the name was changed again to Her Majesty's Theatre. The current building is the fourth one to occupy the site.

Parliament and Big Ben. Even though the clock face is slightly blurred, I thought this one turned out pretty good. I’ll have to admit to thinking that the Parliament building is too ornate and gaudy. It is certainly very gothic looking and although interesting, this is an example of having too much of a good thing. The result is, in my opinion, a building that is not very attractive. Below is a picture of it during the day.

In the middle of the 11th century, King Edward the Confessor moved his court to the Palace of Westminster, situated near the Thames. In 1265 a parliament was created with two houses: the Lords and the Commons. After King Henry VIII moved his court to Whitehall Palace in 1530, the House of Lords continued to meet in Westminster. In 1547 the House of Commons also moved here, confirming Westminster as the central seat of government, a position it still holds today.

In 1834 a fire destroyed most of the Palace of Westminster. A competition was organized to create a new building for the two houses of parliament. A design by Sir Charles Barry and his assistant Augustus Welby Pugin was chosen from 97 entries. They created a large but balanced complex in neo gothic style and incorporated the buildings that survived the fire. The whole complex was finished in 1870, more than 30 years after construction started. The tower opposite the Big Ben is the Victoria Tower, built in 1860. The tower contains the records of both the House of Lords and the House of Commons since 1497. During the parliamentary year the Union Flag is hoisted on top of the 98m tall tower.

There is a little blurring at the top, but not totally terrible and the moon above it is a nice touch! Although this structure is commonly referred to as “Big Ben”, the proper name is the “Clock Tower”. Big Ben is actually the clock’s hour bell, which weighs 13.5 tons. The clockface is almost 25 feet in diameter, the hour hand is 9 feet long and the minute hand is 14 feet long. The clock rarely fails, even continuing to chime after part of the House of Commons was destroyed by a bomb in World War II. The rate of the clock is adjusted by adding pennies to the pendulum. Constructed between 1843 and 1858, the Clock Tower is 316 feet high.

OK, this one is totally blurred and after I had downloaded all of the pictures from the trip I almost deleted it. But then I decided it was kind of cool looking with the lights from the London Eye, Parliament and Big Ben creating interesting light patterns.

This is the famed Tower Bridge (as we were going over it) and a more detailed look at one of the towers. Named after its two impressive towers, this Victorian Bridge is now more than 100 years old. Designed by Wolfe Barry and Horace Jones, and completed in 1894, the middle of the bridge can be raised to permit large vessels to pass the Tower Bridge. It used to be raised about 50 times a day, but now it is only raised 4 to 5 times a week. The bridge is 60 meter (197 ft) long and its towers rise to a height of 43 meter.

The Tower of London

Cheers!
Daphne