The Best of Britain and Ireland -- Day Five

The following is my journal entry (with pictures added) for Day 5 of my vacation to Britain and Ireland.

Our typical morning so far on this tour is as follows:

• Wake up at 6:20 am
  
• Get ready for day
• Bags out by 7:00 am (outside our door for porters to pick up and bring down to bus)
  
• Head down to hotel restaurant between 7:00 - 7:15 for English breakfast, which is usually a buffet consisting of a choice of:
  - Scrambled eggs or fried eggs (only one side fried)
  - ham (tastes like 1/2 ham and 1/2 bacon)
  - beans (as in frank and beans minus the franks)
  - fried tomatoes
  - oatmeal
  - cereal (granola mostly)
  - toast or rolls
  - fruit
  - fruit juice
  
• Be on bus by 7:55
• Leave for next destination by 8 am

While in Coventry, we took the opportunity to go down town to see the Coventry Cathedral. This cathedral is made up of the old and new churches. The old cathedral was bombed out during World War II and is now in ruins. The new cathedral is a little more modern and contemporary (it was built in 1962). The two are joined together with a cross between them. This is to represent the death and resurrection of Christ and the death and resurrection of Coventry. (Coventry was about 50% destroyed in WWII.) All nations contributed something to this new cathedral. Israel gave them a big, ancient rock for their baptistery. America gave them an art piece. Another country gave them their crucifix. Etc. Also, hanging from the very tall ceiling all the way to the floor is the largest religious tapestry in the world. We took lots of pictures of the ruined cathedral, but we were not allowed to take pictures inside the new one. But it had a very interesting interior.

New Coventry Cathedral

Old Coventry Cathedral

The Old Cathedral and the link between the two (the part with the cross)

From the old cathedral looking to the new

Next we walked about two minutes to the statue of Lady Godiva.


Across the street was a clock tower where, at the top of the hour, Lady Godiva appears in all her glory; then, Peeping Tom has a peek directly above her. It was pretty hooky, but it was fun to see.


Here is a video of it:

As I said before, Coventry was about 50% destroyed in WWII. There are a lot of modern buildings instead of the typical old-style ones. Many of the old buildings that are left have war damage...bullet holes or bomb damage to the outside walls...and these buildings will be left untouched and not repair these walls. They want to leave these as a reminder of the war. It was very interesting to see.

Modern buildings along side older ones.

Next we boarded the bus to resume our trip to Newcastle. We drove by Sherwood Forest, made famous by Robin Hood. Sherwood Forest is the land outside the control of the king/queen. That is why Robin Hood could hide so well there.

We stopped in York for a tour and for lunch. Our tour guide, Christina, gave us a 45 minutes guided tour around the mazes of the pedestrian area where there were tons of shops and food places. She also pointed out historical sites, like St. Mary's Monastery (destroyed by Henry VIII after he changed the national religion from Catholic), Barley Hall (a typical Viking house and museum, the Shambles (a narrow street used by different butchers. The buildings leaned inward a little to help shield the meat from sun and rain), and York Minster. This chapel is built over the site were King Edward was baptized.

The medieval city of York

York is a walled city. Here is one part of the surrounding wall.

York Minster
(Notice the two people in the street having a "Glee" moment. haha!)

Christina giving us a tour down one of the pedestrian streets.

The Shambles (this angle doesn't show the leaning buildings very well)

Guy Fawkes birthplace

A pretty river and bridge

Merchant Adventurers' Hall, the finest surviving guild hall in Britain.

A tower house on a hill

Barley Hall

Inside Barley Hall. There was a school class there when we
arrived and I had to get a picture of them seated in the dining hall.

Another view of the wall around the city

After the guided tour, we were let loose to explore this medieval city for 3 hours. We walked all over and didn't really have a plan. We thought we did, but once we got to the places we wanted to see, we decided against them for some reason. We saw "York Dungeon" listed on the map and thought it might be a dungeon museum, and both Kelli and I are fascinated by dungeons (morbid, I know, but it is still very interesting). We walked to the other side of town and almost followed a school class inside, but it looked like a play or something, not a museum. It looked too hooky, so we left and headed over to the Castle Museum. It was another long walk, but it was 8 pounds entrance fee and I didn't want to pay that for only about 1 hour of walking through it. So we made our way back to the Shambles, did some shopping, toured the small Barley house, and had our first Cornish Pasty for lunch. There was a famous Cornish Pasty shop in this plaza, so we went in and tried one. I had a beef, potato, and onion one and Kelli tried a cheese, potato, and tomato sauce one. Both were really good. We ate them sitting on benches in a little plaza outside, while people and bird watching. It was funny when a bird pooped on one of the people sitting on the next bench over. Haha!

As we headed back to the bus, I was able to navigate through all the mazes of the quaint streets. We were able to find our way pretty well through the difficult places. It was when we got to the busy part of town with all the traffic that I got completely turned around. We started walking opposite of where we should have, but the surroundings did not look familiar, so we stopped and turned around pretty quickly. Luckily, we did not go too far. We saw a City information office, so we headed tat way. As soon as we got near it, I saw a landmark I recognized and knew we were headed in the right direction, but I still stopped inside to make sure. I don't get lost very often, and it really upsets me when I do, so I had to record it in my journal.

Even with our little detour, we made it to the coach on time. This tour is funny because everyone is about 10 to 15 early for all our departure times. Kelli and I have to be on our toes and pay close attention to the time to make sure we don't make anyone wait. Most of the time, our coach leaves before schedule because everyone is already on board. Kelli and I have not been the last ones yet, but I've had to start carrying my travel alarm in my pocket, since neither of us brought a watch.

On our way north, we passed the famous Angel of the North in Gateshead. I was only able to get a quick drive-by picture, but I'm surprised at how much I was able to get.


But Kelli got a better picture:


We finished the day with arriving in Newcastle.

Newcastle upon Tyne

We got situated in our hotel and had dinner at the hotel restaurant.


And after dinner, Kelli and I decided to walk the 10 minutes to the river. We had to go under a bridge and down a steep road to get to the river walk. We walked along there for a while enjoying the sites and taking pictures. Then it started to get dark, so we headed back to the hotel. Remember the mention of a steep road down? We had to walk back up it! It was long and very steep, but we made it fairly easily. All the hiking, walking, stair climbing, and other training before this trip is really paying off!

On the River Tyne

A neat building along the river Tyne and the beginning of a sunset

Tomorrow we head into Scotland, first stopping near part of Hadrian's Wall, then on to Jedburgh, and finally to Edinburgh.

Interesting Current Event: The British are in the extreme heat of their current election. That is the main news on "Breakfast with BBC" (similar to the Today Show), in newspapers, on billboards, the talk around town, etc. Gordon Brown, the current Prime Minister, is not doing well in the campaigns. When we were in London on the "Taste of London" half day tour, one of the candidates was being interviewed along the Thames. We drove by them, but we didn't get a picture. I am not positive which candidate it was, but the tour guide said he was a new up and comer that might win the whole thing. It is kind of neat to be able to say we saw a possible Prime Minister.

Also, at dinner, we sat by a father/son group who are part of this tour. The son told us he saw Prince Andrew (the second son of the queen) while wandering around York. He took a picture of someone who had a group of people around him. Then he asked a police officer who that was. They told him it was Prince Andrew. The prince has nothing to do with the election, but it's cool he was in York when we were and that someone in our tour saw him. I just wanted to make a note. :o)