So I skipped the London bridge...as Terri has remarked in the past, there will always be opportunities to see London. Plus my feet were killing me, so I got a couple of books for the plane, another couple of souvenirs, a new carry-on bag (bigger, thus enabling me to pack in a few more things). I've ditched my sleeping sheet and my towel to make more space in my pack for the books and such that are coming back with me.

On Sunday, in Edinburgh, I climbed to the top of the inactive volcano in Holyrood Park, called Arthur's Seat. It's 250.5 m high, although all of Edinburgh is either on the top of a hill, or built on some sort of slope. Because of this, people were able to throw refuse (of all shapes, sizes, and substances) out their doors or windows and it would make its merry way down to the man made loch (Nor Loch) that used to be where Princess Gardens are today. When they finally drained the loch, the found a variety of things (it was pretty much a giant cesspool by this time), among them 100 female skeletons, from the witch trials.

Hiking to the peak was really incredible; the park is 260 hectares and includes a bird sanctuary, one natural loch and a couple of man made ones. Great way to see the city and the surrounding Firth (of Foray? maybe..don't remember now). It was definitely a great way to spend Sunday morning.

Overall, I'd have to say that I enjoyed the highlands the best, and would definitely take the time to explore them more fully had I more time (there's always next time!) And stay in more tiny towns, soaking up local culture.

But it was a great trip - can't believe I've been here for as long as I have - and really (honestly?) am not looking forward to going back to work. It's nice just to sit in a cafe and read or hang out and not worry that I have to be somewhere else...like yesterday. Toronto is such a fast paced city. So are the cities here in the UK - you just don't notice it as much when you're on vacation. The mornings or afternoons when I decided to go for a long walk in a park or sit somewhere just a little longer, hanging out, were perhaps my favourite times..I can now see why some travellers settle down in a smaller sized city (like Inverness). It's not just to work; it's as much to recharge your battery as it is to fill up your bank account. Really necessary if you're going to be away from home for months at a time...

More from London!

Have seen Tower of London, Tower Bridge, Westminster Abbey and Buckingham Palace (just missed the Queen by 5 minutes!) - I am all done siteseeing (well, I'll wander by London Bridge in a bit) and have decided to go shopping, even though my feet are killing me (I think I've had blisters for about 10 days now).

Greetings from London.

Well, it was a long night on the train from Edinburgh to London, but I've made it! Checked in to the hostel (had a shower - some things you just don't appreciate enough, like the ability to shower whenever you feel like it...) and had some breakfast.

Found an internet cafe just up the street from the hostel, so I'll be brief and hopefully update again later on today - I've got to hop on the tube and check out London since I've got about 24 hours until I leave for Heathrow.

I'm staying in an area with a proliferation of hostels, still considered central London, which means it's easy to get around on the tube and I can catch the direct underground line to the airport tomorrow morning. The hostel is another gi-normous one, with over 150 beds (thankfully not all in one room, but most of my stuff is in my locker and the door of the room locks, so it can't be that bad...) I really just appreciate the bed since I didn't have one last night. Trust me, when they tell you that you need to pay an extra £33 for a sleeper bed - do it. The chairs aren't bad but the train was packed - if I could have put my feet up on the chair in front of me, all would not have been lost. Needless to say, at 2 am when the last of the passengers boarded the train (I'm not even sure where we were at that point), the extra seats by me were taken up. Felt just like I was on the plane again!

Will update in a few hours (after I've seen some of London, more than just the train station!)

The tour last night was really amazing. Lots of good local history stories about witches, ghosts, murderers, the plague. All good stuff.

Went into the vaults which were really the inside of some of the arches from the orginal south bridge that was built. It had 19 arches - you can only see one (on the street) today. The city grew so rapidly, that tenements sprang up on either side of them. At first, tailors, shoemakers and other tradesmen moved into them & set up shop and then when they moved out, brothels moved in and then squatters.

I'd like to see Mary King's close, which was completely shut up during the plague (with people still inside). If they didn't die of the plague then they either died of dehydration or starvation. The corpses were removed months later in bits and pieces because no one was willing to haul the corpses down several flights of stairs;the two men that were hired to do the job were butchers by trade and hacked and sawed the bodies into pieces and tossed them out the window into waiting carts to be taken off to the pits for burial.

Eventually people moved back in, but the city was still growing and needed some more administrative buildings...not being very happy at what had happened in this particular close, they decided to remove it. They took off the very top levels and left the bottom levels as foundation for the chambers. People were still accessing it through a street level doorway because they still needed the space for houses and shops. There are still many ghost stories about Mary King's close...it would be cool to take that tour.

They've even turned a cemetary into a car park - paved right over top of it.

I'm planning to do a bit more wandering around and have dinner and then head to the train station to catch my train which leaves at 11:14 pm tonight arriving in London at 6:14 or so. Yuck!

I've got to check into the hostel, have some breakfast and then hook up with Terri.

Just a quick little blurb before I take off on my "ghosts & witches" tour of Edinburgh. We go through the bizarre "closes" and "wynds" of the Old Town. Get to see where the witches were tried and executed...tales of the Black Death too! Then we go down into the vaults under the city. Apparently in Edinburgh they built a second level in the Old Town due to overpopulation and the poorest people lived in the underground part until 1900 when it was made illegal...or something like that. I'm going to have to pick up a book because that is really quite bizarre.

Am learning lots about Scottish history..William Wallace, Robert the Bruce...the Pictish kings....

There are lots of weird little tours at night through different parts of the town; there are many places here that are supposed to be haunted.

I saw Edinburgh castle today, but couldn't go to see the current royal residence, Holyroodhouse, as someone from the new Scottish parliament is in residence right now...hoping to walk up to Arthur's seat tomorrow morning which is the peak of an inactive ancient volcano that overlooks the city.

My train leaves Edinburgh at 11:14 pm tomorrow night and I should arrive in London at 7:00 am or so.

Wow! Went on a tour of the Isle of Skye today - it was so incredible. Would love to spend more time in the highlands, but, alas, we must keep moving!

Seriously, I am looking forward to seeing Edinburgh and have decided to spend the weekend there (since I'd much rather see a large Scottish city than a super huge English one). I'm leaving Inverness for Edinburgh tomorrow morning at 6:48 am (ha! that's pretty funny! I think I may sleep in my clothes...) and then leaving Edinburgh Sunday night at 10 pm and arriving in London by 7:00 am on Monday morning and flying out on Tuesday afternoon. Will definitely need to sleep on the train. Both of them, come to think of it.

The journey to Skye was amazing and Skye itself was beautiful; gorgeous mountains, lochs and wildlife. And the weather was changing every 30 minutes all day long it seemed. Took lots of pictures. We took the Skye bridge over and a ferry on the way back. We could only cover the southern most portion of the island, but saw Eileen Donan castle, the 5 sisters, and several lochs (both freshwater and salt). Didn't see any monsters or seals or anything, but did see sheep, my very first Highland cow, some wild deer, and more bunnies.

The tour lasted from 9 this morning until 8 pm tonight, so I am exhausted by now. Either I am too tired to think of the words to describe what I've seen or it's simply not possible. I've decided that I'll take this kind of terrain over cities any day (even though I love big cities) so next time I'm definitely doing a tour of the Scottish highlands. It's simply brilliant.

Headed up to Inverness on the train this morning, having posted a large package home because I couldn't handle carrying it anymore...

So glad that I decided to come up to Inverness - the train ride alone through "the glen" was worth it! Travelled between two mountain ranges which with the misty clouds were just gorgeous. Even through the rain.

Saw sheep, horses, cows and my first British deer. Pretty amazing...

I had thought this morning that the weather was finally going to clear. But it was only sunny and really warm while I was wearing both my coats and hiking through Glasgow with all my gear walking to the train station. Within half an hour it was cloudy and cool again. Inverness is even cooler and it pissed rain again all afternoon. I had wanted to take a 3 hour tour of Loch Ness, but the tour was cancelled due to weather. I took the local bus out to Castle Urquhart and walked back to Drumnadrochit (try it, say drum-na-drocket!) Don't forget to roll the r's. So I saw it all anyway! Really amazing scenery this far north. The loch is quite beautiful even if Nessie was keeping to herself. The castle really is a great place to see a good portion of the loch, which is long and narrow.

During the walk, saw quite a few sheep close up. They didn't say much.

The tiny town is a bit on the cheesy side - many people come to it and say they've "been to Loch Ness" - definitely take the time to walk the 2 mile long footpath down to the castle - totally worth it. Caught the bus to Inverness while in town.

I'm staying on in Inverness so that I can take a bus tour tomorrow of the Isle of Skye - I'm really looking forward to driving through more of this incredible scenery. This decision has required me to give up on seeing York - but what are a bunch of old buildings compared to these mountains and lakes....

Gave Terri's friends in Ireland a call yesterday. Seems Terri hasn't checked her email once since she's been there. So typical. Anyway, she's decided to stay on in Ireland and enjoy her last few days relaxing among friends instead of scurrying around trying to see the rest of the UK. We'll meet up on Monday in London and then fly out on Tuesday.

More later, after Skye...

Did I mention how amazing and beautiful the Highlands are?

Got up a bit late this morning...having heard my watch alarm and ignoring it ;)

Headed off after breakfast for the bus tour of Glasgow and saw the entire east end of the city (the oldest part of Glasgow) including the Cathedral. Didn't get off until we got to the Art Gallery and Museum in Kelingrove. Really amazing buildings in all of Glasgow, and this is one of them. The museum reminds me much of the Royal Ontario Museum, but did have much more 19th and 20th century Scottish artists, and a fairly impressive collection of paintings.

Afterwards, continued on the bus tour to see the remainder of the west end of Glasgow, including the University of Glasgow and then headed back to the centre of the city, George Square. The city itself is quite old, but Victorians being what they were tore down many of the old buildings and built on the sites in their own style. Many of the buildings were erected by "Tobacco Lords", having made their fortunes in the Tobacco fields in the US. Had tea at the Willow Tearoom, designed and furnished by architect Charles Rennie Mackintosh...it is a reconstruction of the orginal (from 1904) as it closed in the 20's. Very art nouveau - lots of patterns, high backed chairs, etc. Had a scone with preserves - why does everyone over here insist on putting raisins in absolutely everything? - I've even seem on pizza - are some things not sacred?

After tea, walked around a bit outside (since it wasn't pissing rain) and walked all the way back to Glasgow cathedral so that I could have a better look. It's a really gorgeous building - sandstone I think, now stained black by the coal that everyone used for fuel. Behind the cathedral, the rich and famous of the city are buried in Necropolis - a huge cemetary with massive tombstones and monuments. Hate to think of having to wander it to find one tombstone!

The city is made up of tiny hills, which were created during the last ice age. They're really not that big but there are lots, so you'll often walk steeply up one to find yourself walking back down and then back up again...

Walked through Merchant city back to George Square - again huge Victorian buildings, even more elaborate than those in Bath with huge statues sitting in niches or jutting out from underneath archways as if holding them. Unfortunately, the city is a maze of construction with new malls going up and lots of the Victorian and Georgian buildings undergoing a facelift, many sponsered by the Millenium fund. Makes for a confusing walk through town.

Still have not heard from Terri (not surprising, because I don't think she checks her email!) but I do have her friends' number in Ireland (many thanks, Heather!) so I'm going to give her a call tonight to see where she's gone. I'm planning to go up to Inverness early tomorrow morning, and then head down to Edinburgh on Friday morning. York is 2.5 hours from Edinburgh by rail, and 2 hours from London, so I think I'll stop on Sunday in York, heading to London on Monday morning. We fly out around 1 pm on Tuesday. Doesn't give me much time in London, but hopefully long enough to see key areas of the city...

I hate to leave Scotland without seeing much of the highlands - I'm hoping that going up to Inverness will give me at least a taste of it.

I have definitely caught a cold (so typical) and this had made this last leg of the tour less exciting than the first. I'm just tired and I'd really like to eat some food that I know isn't clogging my arteries and/or killing my immune system. Apart from the great meal I had last night, that hasn't happened so far. The sun peeked out for about 30 minutes late this afternoon; other than that, it's been raining since yesterday afternoon.

Seem to be having some problems updating on Sunday - hope all is well now...guess I'll have to wait and see.

Anyway, I'm now in Glasgow, having had a really busy day yesterday.

Got up early and got a bus schedule and then headed for the Family Research centre in Dundee to buy some maps, books and to use their reference library. Of course, they didn't have the books I wanted and I had to order them anyway (I was trying to avoid paying postage!)..they library was really good and I could have spent days researching, but as I'd made plans to go and see my grandfather's cousin, May Stewart, I didn't have that much time.

Made it out to Forfar on the bus by 2 pm - May and David were there to meet me at the bus stop. They're in their 80's, but you wouldn't know it - very chipper and active! May was born in Forfar but moved to Windsor when she was only 1; the family moved back to Forfar just before the depression really took hold in Windsor. So she grew up with my grandfather and all the cousins, which is why she knew quite a lot about them. I plan to keep in touch and send lots of questions to her once I get home. I can't even think of what she knows about the Troup's - here is what I found out yesterday.

May's father, David Troup, was Joseph Troup's brother. Almost all their siblings also moved to Canada, David being the only one that moved back. Funny thing is, I never thought to find the tombstones of the other Troups that must be somewhere in Windsor - Nick, John, and then there are the Bells as well. May's uncle Alec was an International football player, having played professionally for teams in Scotland and in England. When he retired, he had a "Hat & Cap shop" in Forfar. Joseph Troup (my great-grandfather) apparently had a really short fuse and quite a temper. His brother, William Duthie Troup, far from dying when he was little (as I had written down), was quite a "rogue" and lived until he was 61. May said he was a "rogue" in a good way though, even if he did drink a lot.

We went up to Forfar cemetary, and saw Benjamin Troup's (father to the lot above) tombstone, which I have an old picture of. However, there have been a couple of additions: Benjamin's wife, Christina McIntosh was added (she died 19th May 1922, age 68 years) as was the above William Duthie.

The tombstone of Mary Troup (Benjamin's sister!) was also there, with her husbands, James McIntosh. According to May, the McIntosh family was quite close to the Troups - I think that there have been a few marriages...) There were a few Adamson's about as well, which is another name in the family, but no one I recognized.

Having purchased a four volume set of inscriptions of tombstones in the Angus area (Dundee, Forfar, Kirriemuir, etc.), which include Forfar cemetary, I'm sure I'll have a better idea of what is there). Benjamin's other brothers and sisters have to be somewhere as well, but no one seems to know who they were. May didn't even know of them, except that when we saw Mary Troup's tombstone, she knew of her (she was her great aunt) but I don't think the name connected on paper.

David went up in to the attic for me to get some old family photos from Windsor and Forfar. I now have photos of May, her brother and her parents, a really funny one of "Uncle Alec" trying to climb a lamppost, one of "Uncle Benny" playing the accordian - tons of pictures.

May did suggest I see Robert Bell again, and thought that his son might know where the Troups are buried in Windsor. Busy busy busy. We went to see Forfar Loch and the house at 54 Queen Street where all the Troups lived - and where May was born.

While I was doing research in the morning, I came across Benjamin's name in the Forfarshire Directory of 1885 under Fishmongers - his store was at 118 East High Street.

Like I said, it was a busy day!

On Sunday, I'd gone to see Verdant Works, which was a museum/exhibit of a Jute mill - really interesting to see how people lived and worked 100 years ago. There were Jute and Linen factories in Forfar too at the time, which is where some of my ancestors worked. They had a special photo exhibit at Verdant works as well, with photographs from the Dundee city archives of Dundee at the turn of the century - the difference between the factory workers and owners was startling.

Today I went to see Tenement House; a National Trust exhibit in one of the "flats" of the building. It was again really interesting to see how people lived, especially those that worked in factories. Sometimes there were several families living together in one "flat" which was only two rooms. Beds were in the closet; sometimes beds were on rollers, stored away during the day and rolled out at night to be slept on.

I've got a bus tour of Glasgow to do tomorrow morning and then I'm going to go to the art museum (did the Museum of Modern Art today)....planning to head to Edinburgh on Thursday morning...

Finally! Made it all the way to Dundee, Angus, Scotland yesterday on the train from Shrewsbury, which took just over 6 hours - yesterday was pretty much a write-off except that I did figure out my way around the city and, of course, the most important - find a place to stay!

Dundee is again an odd combination of old buildings and new industry. I'm hoping to be able to see some of the 7th and 8th century Pictish sites and of course, Glamis Castle (pronounced Glarms, apparently - didn't learn that in English class) from Macbeth, is nearby. The Queen Mum spent a good deal of her childhood here.

I'm staying in the city centre now, and will be heading to Forfar tomorrow (about 12 miles from Dundee) to meet with May Stewart - hopefully she'll be able to fill in some of the missing pieces of the family tree even if she says she knows no more than I do!

I'm not meeting her until Monday afternoon, so I'll spend the morning at the Tay Valley Family History Centre researching - looking forward to picking up some much needed publications and maps, which I can't get from home.

Today I'm off to see Verdant Works, which is a real working Jute mill. The Jute industry at one time employed 50,000 people in this city alone, and is pretty tied to the history of Dundee (and also the family). I'm also going to Discovery Point while I'm here, where they have the ship Discovery docked. The research ship (polar expedition vessel, says my guidebook!) was sailed by Captain Scott, who set sail for the Antarctic in 1901. St. Mary's Church and Tower look like they'd also be worth a visit...and there is quite an old cemetary not to far from where I am now. So I should check that out too.

Still haven't heard from Terri - I plan to hook up with her in Glasgow, where I'll be heading on Tuesday morning, unless I go up to Aberdeen, then Inverness and back down to Glasgow...this will depend on where she is in Ireland.

Was only in Glasgow for about 40 minutes, but the city is huge! Looks like it'll be a lot of fun once I get there.

I also have to pick up some bee pollen today as my allergies are driving me insane...there are about 8 million varieties of flowering tree/bush here in the UK and all of them are out now! Makes for pretty scenery though...

After a long train ride through the absolutely beautiful hillsides of south and central wales, I've made it to Shrewsbury, which is 6 miles outside of the English/Wales border.

The train ride was about 4 hours, but was a great way to see Wales outside of the large cities. I'd like to go on from here to Aberystwyth, but can't really make up my mind. It's also possible to take a day and go over (and through) the Cambrian Mountains, through Northern Wales, which is supposed to be spectacular. Maybe next time!

Shrewsbury is a funny little town, almost completely surrounded by River Severn. Charles Dickens was born here. It is a typical Tudor town, with funny little buildings, narrow curvy streets and very few straight lines. I'm staying at Tudor House, a bed & breakfast about 600 years old, with an absolutely crazy staircase and slanted roof. My room is nice (double bed!) and comfy, so I'll be sure to sleep well. Unlike Swansea, there is a youth hostel here, but at £9.25 per night, it's completely booked up!

I have to make a few phone calls on to Glasgow to see if I'll be able to find accomodations for tomorrow night, otherwise I may have to alter my plans considerably.

Have mailed my first package home (by ship as it's much cheaper) so I should be able to hand out some souvenirs in about 2 months when the package comes in! Maybe next time I'll splurge for airmail.

Off to go check out Shrewsbury castle, some more tudor buildings and some tiny shops.

Still in Swansea! It rained late yesterday afternoon, and is mainly overcast today and muggy.

Went up to Clydach, where my paternal grandfather was born. Didn't get any further with the family history, but it was interesting to walk on the same streets (it's not very big!) as my relatives did.

Took a look at some of the cemetaries, but couldn't find any stones that related; the biggest was beside Clydach Parish (is this Catholic, Protestant? I really should learn a little bit more about Christianity!) and though it had a few new stones, most were from 1880 to 1930. Similar to Greenbank Cemetary outside of Bristol, they were really crammed in there. Trying to walk through the stones to see all the names was slow going, and the ground was not so stable (I had to keep apologizing for stepping on people and I was a little fearful that I was going to go right through in some spots!)

It's interesting that the majority of the stones were in Welsh...made for a lot of squinting as I tried to make out the surname on the stone. Strangely enough, there were a lot of people with the same last and first name. Like Morgan Morgan, father of Margaret Morgan. I know that there's a reason for this, but I can't think of what it is.

The street signs here are both Gaelic and English although when I went out to Clydach, they were mostly in Gaelic. To read the English part, you have to be standing on the correct side of the sign, although I'm starting to recognise key words like 'toiledau' (toilet) and 'bws' (bus) and 'merched' (women)...

Headed back on the bus to Swansea and ate my lunch (which I had picked up from Marks & Spencers earlier in the morning, just so that I could have some fruit!) and headed down to the County Archives.

While I couldn't do research, I did fill out an application for my great great grandfather's death certificate. I don't have it yet (they'll have to mail it to me) but they could confirm that his name was Nunn Nicholas. He died in 1890 and was a Master Tailor. She's not sure, but she didn't think he died in Clydach. I guess the family could have moved after he died, although they didn't go very far (if the archives here in Swansea have the record.) They did a quick search on the computer for me to ensure that they had the record before taking my money. Which was nice of them!

I'm going to do a bit more research here at the library, and then off walk down the 5 mile stretch of pathway along Swansea Bay to Mumbles where there are some interesting Norman ruins.

I'll be leaving Swansea tomorrow morning on the Heart of Wales train to Shrewsbury (4 hours). I'll probably stay in Shrewsbury overnight and then head to Glasgow, where I'll have to decide to head to Stanraer (where I can catch the ferry to Belfast) or head on to Dundee and spend more time there researching. This will depend on a couple of things...like where Terri is in Ireland!

Alive and well in Swansea, Wales.

Landed in Cardiff yesterday from Bath (after we visted the incredible Museum of Costume & National Assembly). Took about an hour to get to Cardiff, which, sadly, is kinda like every other large city. Checked in at Cardiff Backpackers for the night, with the two of us trying to figure out how much time we could spend in Wales (not much!) and how much time we wanted to spend in Ireland & Scotland (mixed opinions).

Once we got to Swansea, I decided to stay on while Terri went on to Fishguard, where she could catch the ferry to Ireland. We'll probably meet up again in Belfast for a couple of days before going on to Scotland for the last leg of our journey.

Swansea is the 2nd largest city in Wales, and right on the water (my room at the bed & breakfast looks right on to a nice stretch of white sand). From here I'm just a short (30 minute) local bus ride from Clydach, where my great-grandmother & my grandfather were born. It's a frequent bus service, leaving every 15 minutes from the bus station.

I'm at Swansea library now, where I've looked at an ordinance map from 1879, which gives me a good idea of where I need to get to tomorrow while in Clydach - should be interesting!

I'll be spending most of tomorrow wandering around Clydach and leaving Swansea the next morning on the "Heart of Wales" train to Shrewsbury, which is back over the English border.

From their I'm hoping to get to Stranraer (?) probably via Glasgow. Once I'm there, it's just a short trip to Belfast, where I'll meet up with Terri for a quick trip to Ireland before heading (officially) to Scotland.

The alternate is to head to Scotland in a few days, spending most of my time in Dundee and Forfar (and meeting up with my relative May Stewart). I can't really decide.

I can tell that I've been bitten by the travel bug quite hard - this is so much fun (and a lot of work actually) so I'm taking my time in Wales (one day for me was just not enough!)

I've gotta run - the library is about to boot me off the computer - bye!

Today was such a busy day, but really fun. We got up early to go on our Mad Max Tour (had to meet the bus beside the Abbey at 8:45 am!) It was a teeny bus, fitting only 16 people really snugly. Our tour guide, John, was really funny, pointing out some interesting landmarks along the way, but since he was driving, he mostly paid attention to the road (since he talks with his hands, this was a good thing!). Once we got closer to each of our destinations, we'd listen to a tape explaining more details about the place we were going.

First stop: Stonehenge, in Salisbury, about an hour outside of Bath city center. It was really incredible, surrounded by a trench (where one of the original circles was). There have been 3 circles there in the site's history, the first two cannot be seen now, only the most recent. All circles were built by different peoples, none of them by Druids, although the Druids did use Stonehenge (as well as several other sites in England) for religious ceremonies. Apparently the Celts (of whom the Druids were the relgious order) never built anything of their own, just used what already existed. The last phase of Stonehenge was built 500-1000 years before the Celts came to Britain.

Next stop: Avebury, where there is another group of stone circles. This set of circles completely surrounds the tiny town. An architect in the 1930's dug up some stones (which had been buried in the 14th century in an effort to dispel pagan beliefs and rituals) and put concrete markers in places where other stones had been. Those stones had been taken during the previous centuries for stone buildings within the town itself. It's a little harder to see what the circles would have looked like, but in a much nicer setting than Stonehenge (which is right beside a highway). It is actually 16 times larger than Stonehenge, with a huge trench surrounding it - at least 9m deep.

On our tour, we also saw one of the Wiltshire horses (horses carved into the side of hills in the chalk beneath the soil), this one carved in the late 1700's and Silbury Hill, a giant 6-tiered chalk pyramid completely covered in soil, the purpose of which is not known even though it has been excavated 3 times. It was built 4,750 years ago!

We then went on to Lacock, another tiny town where my fave - BBC/A&E's Pride & Prejudice - was filmed. Very exciting! We had lunch at the George Inn, built in 1361 and then wandered the town for a bit. The entire town in owned by the National Trust. The Talbot family owned the manor, most of the properties in the town and the surrounding land until WWII, when the family donated it to the National Trust. Now the Trust rents out the properties. To live in Lacock, you must be a descendant of one of the original families or work locally. Rents apparently are reasonable.

Afterwards, we went to "England's prettiest town", Castle Combe. It currently has no castle (it was dismantled in the 16th century to make way for the manor house - now a hotel) but is even smaller than Lacock (just one street) and really quite cute. Small weaver's cottages are extremely expensive to buy, so only the very wealthy (usally commuters to London and Bristol) live here. But there are small B&B's on the street as well.

It was a really busy day (sort of like going to a large art gallery; when you get out you feel like you're head might explode - it's so much imput, no time for analysis!) and surprisingly, really sunny and warm (although earlier in the day at Stonehenge it was really windy and cold!)

But I got quite a bit of sun today, which means my freckles will undoubtedly be appearing any day now; it also means that I'm wiped out! I'm trying to revive myself with oodles of water.

Most of all, I miss lovely salads with goats cheese, sun-dried tomatoes and balsamic; this seems to be a bit hard to find here; other than that, I'm having a great time.

We're going to the Museum of Costume & National Assembly tomorrow morning and then heading off to Cardiff, which we hope to reach by early afternoon.

Wandered back to the hostel last night the wrong way & got completely turned around in the process. After heading back in to the city center here in Bath, we exited passed the cricket grounds (a game which I think looks quite silly) and got back home within 20 minutes. This hostel is noisier, even though there is a curfew. Because the pubs close here so early (11 pm), everyone eats pretty early and then drinks their faces off for hours. By 9:30 pm there are always guys stumbling out of pubs and landing in the gutter.

We visited Bath Abbey today, really beautiful, with different coloured stone than we've seen before. Developed my first roll of pictures, to make sure my camera is working (even though Terri said I was being paranoid!) and all is ok. Went on the Roman Baths Museum, which took forever, but was really gorgeous and interesting. The water of the hot springs is green, with an bright orange tinge to the edges of the bath and the shallower areas, as the stone at the sides and bottom is permanently stained from the minerals in the water. The water, which you aren't supposed to touch (but when did I ever listen to rules?), is quite hot. They are building a new Bath Spa which should be open by the end of next year. I hope that chick on WTN (you know, the spa show?) comes here once it's open. It would be great to see.

Checked out the Pump Rooom (which is a restaurant) but didn't go in for cream tea. We did, however, have a glass of purified water from the hot spring (still hot, though not green in colour). Tasted strange and had an odd smell, but wasn't terrible. Most people didn't finish the whole glass. I didn't think it tasted that bad.

We've signed up to take a bus tour of Avebury, Stonehenge, a small villlage in between (apparently like an English village you would have imagined as a kid) and a castle (can't remember the name of it). It's ¢G15 for the tour (which lasts a whole day), but we thought it was worth it. We're hoping to be able to take a day when we get back to London from Scotland to go to Glastonbury Tor, but we're not sure yet. Unfortunately, the bus tour starts at 8:45 tomorrow morning, so I guess I can't sleep in. We'll have to leave the hostel shortly after 8 to make sure we're not late.

We expect to move on to Cardiff on Tuesday morning and plan to stop in Swansea and Aberystwyth as well before moving on to Ireland.

There is so much to do here, I think we could have taken another two weeks and still not seen it all. I guess this way, I'll have to come back in a few years. Off to have some Thai food for a bit of a change. I had a cheese omelette this morning with chips for breakfast. Definitely not normal cuisine! I'm trying to keep my fish & chip intake down to twice a week.

Sorry I haven't updated in a bit...I tried to yesterday and my post got destroyed in the process, which was a bit of a drag - honestly I was too tired to repeat the whole thing all over again.

Terri and walked all over Bristol, up to Clifton village and Clifton College (the private school where Joseph Waspe used to work as Head Porter in the late 1800's). The grounds of the school are gorgeous as is most of Clifton. It's the "well-off" part of Bristol.

Bristol is surrounded by hills on all sides and is now creeping up the hills. It was
quite a bit hillier than I expected (I'm talking San Francisco hills in some parts!) My legs were still really sore this morning when we went out for breakfast. Bristol is a very young, urban place. Many people in the hostel were Australian and most stay for weeks or months at a time as it's easy to get work in Bristol. (Apparently Britain gives Australians 3 year work visas, so that's why there are so many of them here).

Yesterday, we walked up to Cabot Tower in Clifton, which is a monument of sorts to John Cabot because he sailed The Matthew in 1497 from Bristol, discovering Newfoundland. I should have known that I suppose. (I like to believe that I did and simply forgot). The tower is 334 miles high - you can see the entire city for miles. Inside the tower is a really narrow spiral staircase that goes up and up with really narrow steps. Not made for those with big feet, obviously.

Met up with my cousin, Malcolm and his youngest daughter Stephanie today at the hostel. We went back up to Clifton College to see the house where Joseph Waspe lived. Malcolm also confirmed that there is an archway on the grounds with wasps carved as ornamentation as sort of a play-on-words. Since the grounds are private, we couldn't go and look for it. I've got a contact at Clifton College, so I'll have to try and see if I can get a photograph.

We also went to Greenbank Cemetary earlier today. Some nice folks on my mailing lists said that it's huge - they weren't exaggerating! It's beautiful though, with some really ornate tombstones. The old ones are quite different looking then the ones at home since there's a long flat stone along the ground with a tombstone at the end, so that stone covers the entire plot. And they really pack 'em in there! The stones are side by side (with no space on either side) and there are usually 3 or 4 people in each plot. Apparently 'family plot' has a different meaning here than at home! Really cosy! Greenbank is getting pretty run-down, with a lot of tombstones being tipped over by the groundskeepers as they aren't stable anymore. Malcolm said that it is a typical Victorian era graveyard.

Needless to say, we didn't find any of the Waspe's at Greenbank. Malcolm did say that he would apply to the authorities to find the location of the family plot and let me know.

After taking a quick tour of Bristol (including St. Mary Redcliffe Church - really gorgeous medieval church) we drove to a real English pub in between Bristol and Bath, but we were too late for lunch. Most pubs are open from 11 am - 2 pm and then again from 5 to 11 pm. The pub was built sometime in the 1300's, had a flagstone floor and really low ceilings.

From there we drove down to the White Hart Inn in Bath where Terri and I are staying tonight (and hopefully tomorrow night too!) which is much more like a hostel than an Inn. We had thought of staying at Bath Backpackers, but Martin at the hostel in Bristol and Malcolm both thought that it was a bit on the sketchy side. Malcolm seemed happy with our choice as he came in and took a quick look around.

Malcolm and Stephanie then walked with us into the centre of Bath for another quick tour to get us aquainted with the city. We went to Sally Lunn's, the oldest house in Bath, (built in the 1400's) where Sally Lunn (a refugee from France) lived there in 1680 and baked these strange buns. They've been baking them ever since. I enjoyed a traditional English cream tea: two cups of tea (it isn't proper to have just one!) and a Sally Lunn bun with cinnamon butter and clotted cream. The cream has the consistency of runny honey and very rich. It was, as Stephanie remarked, "Really Lovely!"

Malcolm and Stephanie left shortly afterwards. They're on their way to the Florida on the 17th of May. Malcolm promised to be in touch after his trip and told me to be sure to email him regarding the rest of our trip when we get home.

Terri and I wandered around Bath for a couple of hours and then stopped to have dinner. I cannot get used to how early everyone stops serving food! From now on, we'll have to start thinking about supper about 4:45 pm instead of 6:45 pm - could take some getting used to!

We're planning to go the museum, bath houses, pump room and the Abbey tomorrow. I'd like to find out about tours to Avebury as well (stone circle similar to Stonehenge but not surrounded by highways, so it should be nicer).

Right now, we're planning to move on to Cardiff on Monday morning, spending two or three days in Wales and then on to Ireland.

We haven't gone out at night yet - way too exhausted from our daily wanderings. But we would have been better off doing that in Bristol anyway - which has a really great nightlife - plus our hostel here has a curfew of midnight! Which I guess means we'll have to behave ourselves!

Hi all!

Terri and I landed at Heathrow safely and on time at 10:30 (or so) this morning. Successfully took the tube from the airport to Paddington Station and from their caught the train to Bristol Temple Meads using our Rail passes for the first time. Saw lots of animals on the way (farmland which looks much like Ontario). I was most surprised by the number of rabbits. Perhaps it was a bunny farm?

I slept on the plane, but Terri didn't so we're going to walk about for a bit and grab some food. I think Terri needs a nap really soon.

Just a quick blog to let everyone know we are alive and well. More on my thoughts of the day a bit later.

For now, we're off to get some real fish & chips...

Oh one other thing: even though I'm tired, dehydrated and really hungry - I am so glad I did this. This is so incredible....have written in my journal already.