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Farewell Sedbergh, hello Blackpool

So its our last morning in Sedbergh.  One last never ending breakfast ,  then back to finish packing and checking out of our room.  A fond farewell to our new friends,  and Nancy and I are off to pick up her new jacket.  Stores don't open till 10 which we have forgotten so we arrive about 45 minutes early, fortunately there are benches in front of the store and so we just sit and wait.  The owner shows up about 15 minutes after us and opens the shop for us.  Such nice people in England.  Nancy's jacket fits perfect and looks great, we are just checking around for possible gifts to take home to her sisters when in walks one of our fellow walkers wondering if we'd care for one last tea before we go....so off we go,. we see another walker who also joins us, then its back to the hotel to wait for our cab,  by the time we get back pretty much everyone has left so its much quieter than its been.  Our cab arrives with the same lady who brought us, which seems right somehow. We are now seasoned train travellers but when we get off at Preston to make our connections for Blackpool we make several trips back and forth trying to figure out which rail we are to be at to catch our next train.  The train to Blackpool is so different,  sort of like moving from 1st class to economy. lol.  we are on a train that doesn't have the nice spots for our luggage, and is crowded so we end up sitting in different spots surrounded by our luggage and people.  I look over at Nancy and think what the hell have we gotten ourselves into.....she appears to be thinking the same thing.  Just as the train is pulling into Blackpool the guy beside me asks me something, I know he's speaking English but have no idea what the hell he is saying lol,  After a couple attempts I figure out he's just asking if this is the Blackpool station,  he's a tourist from Manchester with yet another English accent. I explain that I'm from Canada so I'm the bigger tourist.  We are then off the train thru the much smaller station, one of the first things we see is a bunch of young guys with tee shirts that say so and so's stag do.  Yep they really do up tee shirts.  We then catch our first Black Cab, which is pretty cool, after a 5-10 minute cab ride we are at our hotel on the board walk.  I'm sitting in the lobby waiting for Nancy to return from the loo and a guy in a bright yellow and blue super hero costume walks by with a guy dressed as a banana,  then 3 people walk by dressed as Where's Waldo.  This is definitely going to be an interesting place. We get checked in to our room and the first thing we see is the tv is on with a Welcome Nancy Milhousen across the screen. cool.  We then head out down the board walk,  on the light posts we see some pretty tacky mermaids,  as we continue to walk they turn into different art work signs which are kinda nice.  The board walk is a mixture of many things, there are rides for kids young and old, souvenir shops, restaurants, bars,  then on a  side street we find a shopping mall with more high end stores.  This place has everything.  The beach goes for miles as the tide is out,  there are steps going down to the beach that double as seats.  We see some women dressed  in feather boas and tiara's apparently on a hen night.  there is another group dressed as crayons apparently celebrating someone's birthday.  there are also several men walking around in animal costumes not unlike you would see on little kids at Halloween, never did figure out what that was all about.  We find out that the illuminations are on and start at 7:30 and you can catch a tram at the end of the boardwalk.  These are a light show that I've been hearing about since I first mention that I was going.  We make our way down and just manage to catch the first tram, which is decked out like a kids toy train in bright yellow green and red, covered in lights.  The boardwalk  comes to life with lights, those tack mermaids  look very pretty lit up,  as do the wall art signs,  there is what looks like chandeliers and crowns floating above us. People are stopping to look at the train and wave,  ya kinda feel like a celebrate.  We get down past our hotel and to the other side and there are moving light pictures along one side.  The trip is very pretty, much like a Chirstmas light tour.   It was a lot of fun.  We finally finish our tour and make our way back to our hotel and call it a night.  Its been a fun day with a lot packed in but well worth it.

our hotel welcome tv

view from our hotel window

Nancy on the beach

the Blackpool tour .. we were to cheap to pay the 12lbs 50 to go to the top to see the view

part if the boardwalk.  probably a block square with all sorts of funny things written on it

a birthday party

our light tour tram

one of the light displays

and another

and yet another

double decker carousel on one of the piers

 

 

Thoughts on the walking tour

For anyone out there thinking of their next holiday and want to try something different I would strongly recommend a walking tour.  Its a  great way to see a country.  Rather than fly by in a bus, train or plane, this allows you to see it up close and personal in a way you wouldn't otherwise get to. For those of you who are all about the food , let me tell you you won't go hungry, this tour was rated very high for the food and not just by me.  The people are also a special part of the tour.  We had a group of approximately 30 people plus guides, the majority are usually from the country your visiting, although ours had a high number of Canadians (about 1/3).  You will meet people of all backgrounds, couples and single people, retired working, people like me on their first trip and seasoned travellers.   All interesting and special.  Friends will be made and there is lot and lots of laughter and fun.  So that's my thoughts on the walking part of the tour.  oh and I almost forgot, as a bonus you can pretty much eat whatever you want and not put on weight lol

Day 6. Potholes, Limestone Scars and Waterfalls

Well Nancy has proven she can do the hard walk and has rejoined us easier walkers for her final day.  Today we are dropped of at the Ribblehead Station.   We start our day at the a small rail station that now is a museum gift shop and yep a small tea shop.  We then head down to see the Ribblehead Viaduct.  This is something I find totally fascinating.  For those of you who don't know a viaduct is a stone train bridge.  Details on this one:
"Ribblehead viaduct is 440 yards (400 m) long, and 104 feet (32 m) above the valley floor at its highest point.^[2] It is made up of twenty-four arches of 45 feet (14 m) span, with foundations 25 feet (7.6 m) deep. The north end of the viaduct is 13 feet (4.0 m) higher in elevation than the south end.^[3] 1.5 million bricks were used in the construction and some of the limestone blocks weighed 8 tons each" 
This viaduct took 4 years to make and 220 people died in the making of it.  It is only used for freight trains now.  After checking this our we hopped back on the bus and headed to Ingleton to see the waterfalls.  They are on private property in a park.  We climbed stone steps for an hour to get to the top thru one of the most beautiful areas we've been in.  There is waterfall after waterfall.  Once you get to the top you look one way and see beautiful green hills and valleys, you look the otherway and see the limestone scars.  drastic changes between the different views.  both beautiful in their own way.  At the top of this huge hill in the middle of nowhere is a van which is selling ice cream.  We then start our decent down and again we follow along waterfalls.  Once at the bottom we have about an hour to kill so were are off to check out the town of Ingelton and have a tea break.  After getting back and having supper its time once again for entertainment.  As its our last night the entertainment is provided by anyone who wants to do something.  Nancy Eleanor and I  do our version of "I will follow you"  Nancy and I were more the shebop girls in the background.  We also had Katy lead us in a Inuit hunting song,  we had some folk dancing....not unlike square dancing,  one of the guys from Alure ON recited a poem about Alure, Eleanor sang a Rita McNiel song and one of our leaders read the poem about Petey the snake.  After several of us stayed up and we had a sing a long as one of the leaders played the piano.  It was then followed by what turned out to be a joke off.  Don one of the English walkers  is one of the funniest guys I have met,  he was just rattling off silly funny things, and for every two he came up with Katy had one to match.   A perfect ending to a great week. 
total miles today was only about 5 miles

Ribblehead Viaduct

close up of the viaduct

walking along the waterfall

more waterfall

more water falls

 

and yet more waterfalls.....fabulous, wish you could hear the sound of the water

view from the top, the limestone at the top

Petey the snake needs to be shared, so here it is,  I would suggest reading it our loud to get the full effect of the story
Petey was a snake, only so big. Petey lived in a pit with his mother. One day Petey was hissing in the pit when his mother said, "Petey, don't hiss in the pit, go outside the pit to hiss." So Petey went outside of the pit to hiss. Petey was hissing all around when he finally leaned over and hissed in the pit. Petey's mother heard Petey hissing in the pit and said, "Petey, if you must hiss in a pit, go over to Mrs. Pott's pit and hiss in her pit. Petey went over to Mrs. Pott's pit to hiss in her pit, but Mrs. Pott was not at home so he hissed in her pit anyway. While Petey was hissing in Mrs. Pott's pit Mrs. Pott came home and found Petey hissing in her pit. She said, "Petey, if you must hiss in a pit, don't hiss in my pit; go to your own pit and hiss." This made Petey very sad, and he cried all the way home. When Petey got home, his mother saw him crying and said, "Petey, what's the matter?" Petey said, "I went over to Mrs. Pott's to hiss in her pit but Mrs. Pott was not at home, so I hissed in her pit anyway. Mrs. Pott came home and found me hissing in her pit and said, "Petey, if you must hiss in a pit go to your own pit and hiss, don't hiss in my pit." This made Petey's mother very angry and she said, "Why that mean old Lady! I knew Mrs. Pott when she didn't have a pit to hiss in."

Day 5 Smardale adn Green Bell from Ravenstonedale

so its looking like a nice day, Nancy has her new boots so has decided to go for the hard walk ....great way to break them in....perhaps to great, she came home hobbling with blisters, but smiling just the same.  I on the other hand know my limits and so stayed on the easy walk.  Today we did a figure 8.  we started at a place called Ravenstonedale and off we went,  I was as usual decked out in my layers of plastic.  at coffee time we stopped on this pretty little bridge for our break.  I decided at this point it was time to shed the plastic which was a good thing, no sense going home soaked another day especially since it wasn't raining.  it was like walking in a sauna.  Again a hill appeared which took what seemed like forever to climb, at the top it was a little windy and cool but nothing to drastic.  A short while later we walked thru a farm yard.  From there it was down a path that use to be a railroad line. A little after 1 we gave up looking for a nice spot to have lunch and just sat down in the middle of the path and ate.  The rail line lead us past some old Lime Kilns they are huge and I think I have a picture to give you the idea.  I'm not total sure how these things worked but lime stone and coal were burnt and they ended up with some lime stuff that was spread on the fields.  Our guide gave us lots of details but it was actual to much so my mind was wandering,  We eventually came back to our coffee break bridge, then crossed over and went the other way...like in a figure 8 .  thru more fields past some cows that were giving us strange looks past what might have been a putting green and into another town and a pub which is where we waited for our ride home.  A pretty uneventful day but I did get in trouble for taking pictures when I was suppose to be paying attention to what seemed like another history lesson that was to much details.  The evening entertainment was a couple of folk singers who were awesome.  Beautiful voices,  some of the songs were nice but most were funny. Along with the songs they did a couple monologs too.  A good night

some of the limestone that was used in the kilns

a beautiful rainbow over the field. Note the stone walls

this is a sign at the farm that warns thief's that this yard is protected. 

Maria and I standing in front of the lime kiln, it only shows half the opening and then there is another layer of stone as tall as the piece you see us standing in front of

 



Day 4 Free Day

So Wednesday is our free day, no planned walks.  Those with cars went for a drive to see other areas and those of us without stayed close.  The Fairfield Mill and old weaving mill that is now a museum, and artisan craft place and a place where they have demonstrations and of course tea room is about a half hour walk down the road so Nancy, Eleanor and I decided we'd start our day there.  We were walking down the road trying to find the path when a car pulled up with Barbara a fellow walker, she was off to another town to visit a cousin but stopped to see if we wanted a ride....hell yes,  did I mention my feet were sore.  We got to the mill and went for coffee/tea and a visit, then Barbara was off and we went to check out things.  They has some old weaving machines that are pretty amazing...wonder how long it takes to set them up.  then up to the craft area, which is full of quilting pottery, knitting, jewellery, felting and on and on.  Yep did find a couple things to buy. We then went to the top floor and found some ladies weaving also an area where we could play around with some weaving if we wanted to.  They also had something called French knitting which if you have ever done spool knitting its like that only on a much bigger scale..  We then headed back to Sedbergh and to the hotel to get rid of a few things.  We ran into a couple from our group and they had found a wonderful store in town that had a sale on fleece type coats so now we had a mission for our travels in town. After checking out several neat little stores, a walking store... Nancy was looking for boots as she has been walking in sneakers, not at all appropriate for the harder walks. we checked out some crafty stores, a book store and a few others finally found the store we were looking for.  They make these jackets upstairs in the store and apparently they are a special fabric made just for them.  So we get in and start trying on jackets, of course the ones on sale are what we like.  Eleanor finds hers right away, mine takes a little longer but I find a matching hat, Nancy has trouble, can't find one in the right size but we find 2 that looks good, one is definitely out of her comfort zone but is nice and then she finds a more conservative one that she really likes.  Neither is in her size but not a problem the lady who owns the place says she can have one made and it will be ready by Friday.  After about an hour Eleanor and I go outside so Nancy can make up her mind.  Of course she picks the conservative one, which I must admit looks very nice.   We then head back to the hotel for a nap.  Entertainment that night is the games I mentioned we did last night. and last night we had a guy in who is an environmentalist who use to build the stone walls, I left part way thru because I was too tired, so heard about the building of the stone walls but missed the part on Wennsleydale cheese and the local wool makers.  A nice relaxing day off and now ready to hit the trails again... no pictures today

Day 3 Dales' villages, moorland and waterfalls

So today is looking fairly warm and no rain.  I'm still in my rain gear including the plastic bags on my feet which one of my wonderful co walkers picked up yesterday while out shopping.  Todays walk seems to be all up hill and the hills are steeper than we've done so far so needless to say I'm at the back of the group along with this marvelous older lady named Lavinia.  She is also having a bit of trouble with the hills which is unusual for her, she thinks I'm being nice and staying behind with her which is only partly true,  I really am that slow lol.   The hills and the plastic are causing the first signs of blisters and sore feet, but nothing compared to what I dealt with in my running days.  For coffee today we stop by this stone fence and as we are enjoying our snacks and the view we are visited by a curious horse.  He is big and beautiful and so I share my grapes with him,  another in our group has an apple for him and he's seems very happy.  Next thing I know he's trying to nibble at my Sowester,  must have looked like the top of a banana.  Off again and more hills and  some amazing waterfalls.  Did I mention that the water has a golden color to it, apparently the water is very clear and its the color of the rock below,  absolutely beautiful.  We finally arrive at Bolton Castle.  this is apparently where Marry Queen of Scots was held prisoner.  Its a huge castle and apparently people live in part of it.  On the ground floor is a tea room and gift shop.  You can also take a tour of the castle for a price.  By this time I'm pooped and my feet hurt so I opt for a tea and a visit to the gift shop. A couple people have done the tour and said it was pretty good.  This castle also has falcon demonstrations, a wild boar area and from the brochure looks like a lovely place to hold a wedding. It was a wonderful place to visit just wish I had more time and energy.  From there we hit the trail again this time through a pretty wooded area and another couple waterfalls,  the country is full of waterfalls and castles....if that isn't enough of a reason to visit I don't know what is.  we end up going up one last nasty hill at which point one of my fellow walkers takes pity on me and basically pushes me up the hill.  At the top is a pub where we meet the other groups for a beer or tea,  I had ice cream.  I'm sitting on this step and one of the biggest dogs I've ever seen comes up behind me, she is absolutely beautiful.  I think she's an Ikeda (not to be confused with Ikea) She didn't get to visit long as her owners sent her back to the living quarters..  We then took our bus ride back to our home.  Tonight the boot room wasn't near as busy but I would think the showers were.  Another G&T and supper then our evening entertainment.  Tonight was a game I call bullshit,  not sure what they called it.  We were given a weird word with its definition and we had to make up 3 other definitions and then we took turns telling the rest of the group the meaning, while trying to make the truth sound like BS.  I took the truth the first time and must have done OK cause no one guessed it as the truth.  It was a lot of fun and the definitions that some came up with and their delivery made it a fun evening.  Its surprising how everyone had got to know each other by then and were just right into it. 
traveled  about 7 1/2 miles

Nancy and I at one of the waterfalls

Lunch break, the lady in front was my walking partner Lavinia, and that's Nancy in the background

The rest of the group lined up along the wall chowing down on lunch

Bolton Castle

My new friend Leah, isn't she a beauty. She kept putting her paw up for me to hold, looks a little bashful in this pic

Day 2 Mallerstang - myths adn legends

Another day of rain, but only light rain with long periods of no rain. we do have some wind, much better than yesterday.  so the guide book says we did Mallerstang.  Its surprising how much more you can see if the rain isn't falling.  More green hills and valleys and in the distant what looks like small mountains which Richard our guide tells us is where the group doing the hard walk is.  Today is a day of Castle ruins.  the first one we come upon is Pendragon Castle.   This is the ruins of the castle which apparently build by King Arthurs father,  and had something to do with the fighting between the Scots and the English.  Today it is on private property and there is a sign saying no trespassing so of course we did,  just a quick look to see it up close, not inside as it looks to unstable.  Just as we are heading back to the road a couple of helicopters fly overhead.....do they take this no trespassing thing that serious?  nope just some training for a near by airforce base.  We are then off to Lammerside Castle which is our stop for lunch.  This is again a castle that is falling apart but safe enough to go inside and sit on a rock for lunch. Its really pretty interesting to see how its built and how there are separate rooms.  The area I'm in has had the roof cave in so we have sunlight streaming down on us.  Its really kinda of a neat place to stop for lunch and it keeps out the wind.  We then carry on past Wharton Hall which is some medieval house.  We just walk past not stopping to investigate.   We then arrive in Kirkby Stephen a little market town where we will meet up with the others and catch the bus home.  We are told where to be at 5 and left on our own.  Nancy Eleanor (a new friend from Toronto ) and I are off to check out the sights, there is a lovely old church which is now being used for both the Catholics and Anglicans that we check out, while looking around Eleanor who was a music teacher starts to sing a hymn, which is pretty incredible, her voice is beautiful and the acustics are amazing.  Then off to a few store and a stop for tea at one of the tea shops which appears to be the stopping point for many of our groups.  We had just received our tea and cake (always a snack involved) and a couple ladies from the hard walk blew in.  they looked like they had been thru hell lol, apparently the wind was really bad on the top of the dell (hill).  She looked like she needed a beer more than a tea but it did revive her.  It was then back on the bus and home again.   same routine as yesterday, boot room, hot shower, gin and tonic (a drink I picked up on from Coronation Street) then  our walk and weather for tomorrow and off to supper.  Tonight's entertainment was another game followed by a kids jigsaw puzzle.  Again we were in groups and each group was given pieces to a puzzle but not all the ones we needed so we had to go around negotiating to get the pieces we wanted.  My competitive nature took over so I was busy trying to trade for the pieces we needed we ended up with everyone needing pieces and no one willing to give them up so there were 4 of us sitting on the floor in the middle of the room with all our extra pieces taking what we needed to finish, this way no one lost and no one won.   Apparently my negotiating skills amazed my team as they just sat back and let me do my thing and laughed at me .  Have I mentioned I can be competitive lol.  Another great day and we walked about 7 1/4 miles

the view when we stopped for our coffee break, the top of the distant hill is where the other groups were walking......silly buggers

Pendragon Castle ....or whats left of it

Lunch in Lammerside Castle, that's Nancy with the pink toque

A split oak tree, apparently there is many of these in Sherwood Forest and Robin Hood would hide in them

a little bench (a double headed ram) outside the tourist office in Kirkby Stephen

Day 1 The Howgill Fells and the Lune Valley

so here we are on our first day and its pouring rain....oh yiphee.  Nancy and I get ready.....2 running shirts, a yoga type jacket, and over jacket, walking pants, tights, my hiking boots with wool socks and plastic bags (my attempt to waterproof).  I figure if I can't be dry I might as well have lots of layers to soak up that lovely rain.  We head into the main building and no one is around so we wait for others to arrive for breakfast (can't remember when its suppose to start) we finally give up waiting and head up to the dining area for breakfast.  There we find everyone else who are almost done breakfast.  Breakfast goes on and on. we start at a side table that has a choice of porridge and 5 types of cereal, plus 3 or 4 types of fruit, we go sit down and on the table is toast, coffee, tea. Once we finish our cereal they come ask us if we want anything hot.  you can have bacon (our back bacon) sausage, blood sausage, eggs, beans, grilled tomato, smoked haddock. and who knows what else.  I skipped the hot breakfast the first day, then its pick up your lunch which consists of a sandwich which was pre ordered the night before, then you can add, veggies, fruit, nuts, choc bars, granola bars, crisps, and probably a few more things I've forgotten.  At 930 we are then off to catch the bus which takes everyone off to their various starting points. We get off at the side of the road in the middle of no were and off we go,  over hill and dell as they say.   The country side is beautiful, everything is so green, there are sheep everywhere and the fields are separated with stone walls.  one of the first things we see is a viaduct (stone train bridge) they are amazing. Unfortunately its raining so much there wasn't a lot of pictures being taken.  We walk along the River Lune which is amazing and running full force due to the rain.  The walk along the river is tricky, we are on a path through the trees, which is slippery and narrow, I am also soaked to the skin within the first hour.  About 11 we wander into a farmers yard and settle in his machinery Quonset for our coffee break.  I found a piece of equipment to lean against pull out my coffee and a snack.  I notice I have a poncho left from our bus tour in the bottom of my pack so I pull it out and put it on under my jacket.....keeps it from blowing around but also keeps the wind out.  The next part of the walk is better in that even thought the top half of me is still wet the rest isnt' to bad and the wind isn't making me cold.  Did I mention my Sowester,  my hat which Barb brought back as a gag gift from Nova Scotia,  the best thing ever, kept the rain off my head and with a toque under kept me nice and warm.  Anyway off we went again more hills more rivers and the nice stone walls every where had things called stiles which we had to climb over.  they are basically stones sticking out the walls that are used as steps to climb over  the walls.  between them and gates we must have climbed and wedged ourselves thru about 20 during that first day.  About 1 we came along a little barn which was were lunch was.  It was dark, with the floor covered with straw and some sort of poop,  sheep or cow I assume. so it was stand in the dark, do not put your pack down and try not to drop you lunch on the ground.  Then we are off again we are now taking a road as it is shorter.  Our next stop is a Quaker house which is kinda like their version of a church.  We get to go inside take off a wet layer and have the best cup of coffee I may have ever had.  There is a guy who sits with us and gives us the history of the place.  The best part of the day so far.  After a quick trip to a nice dry loo, (beats peeing in the rain) we are off again the rain is letting up a bit and I've starting chatting with some of my fellow walkers and next thing you know we come over a hill and are back at the hotel.  The ritual is then to take your wet boots and clothes to the boot room, which is a room set up with heaters specifically to dry out the boots and wet clothing.  Even the experienced English people with their water proof over trousers, waterproof coats and leather boots are soaked thru.  It them back to the room for a nice hot shower and rest.  About 6:15 its back to the main building for drinks and a visit.  About 7 we get a review of what the walks are for the following day, and the weather forcast (still rain but not as heavy, and gayle force winds).  Supper is then served.  choice of appetizer, main course and dessert all which are amazing.  then back downstairs for coffee/tea and a bit of chocolate.  The evening entertainment  is a couple games which are designed to get us to work in groups and get to know each other. Then its off to bed.  Looking back a pretty dam good first day. get the worst over with and the rest will be awesome lol
traveled about 7 squishy miles

one of many stone bridges we seen and crossed

view thru the rain of the bigger hills some of the others are walking on, also a few of the thousands of sheep we seen

Another little bridge we used to get across

where am I

well to the one or 2 of you who have been checking and wondering where I am arrived back in Canada on Monday.  Due to lack of internet or me being to dumb to figure things out, I arrived home without telling you anything about the actual walking part of the holiday or about Blackpool.  So as soon as I figure out how to go back in and see what I have written I will attempt to fill you in on what else happened on my fabulous holiday
 sorry for the delay decided to download some pictures and it took several hours

bye bye London hello Sedbergh

So after a good nights sleep and our complimentary breakfast... did you know bread is thinner in the UK? , we checked out stored our luggage and went on a last look around our neighbourhood. First we went to the train station to make sure we knew were we were going and we picked up our tickets then we were off checking out the stores.  Found some clothing stores, knick nack stores, wandered through a grocery store, which was collecting for their local food bank so we picked up a couple things for them, then a quick tea break and off to the station. Finding our way around was pretty easy and soon we were off thru the country side about 15 minutes we were both sound asleep, the conductor came thru about half an hour later putting an end to that. The country side is pretty amazing, everything is so green with lots of hills and rivers and oh yes sheep, lots and lots of sheep.  We arrived at Oxenholme station to find our cab  waiting for us.  The lady driving was very nice and chatted away with us as she manuevered the curves and hills they call roads. Actually their roads are well maintained but they drive on the wrong side of the road. We came over one hill and the sun was shinning and it was like driving into a postcard. Stunning... we got dropped off at this stone  building that was to becomes our home for he next week, we were greeted by one of the organizers who showed us to our room which is in another building. The rooms are much bigger  than they were in London.  We then went to join the rest foe welcome tea and scones. We walked into the room and it seemed like everyone knew each other, kind of awkward, but we got through it. We then went on a tour of he town, which had some interesting looking shops. Sedbergh also has a private school which apparently Tony Blair went to. On our tour we  got to know some of he people and they are all very nice and have a great sense of humour. We found that out of the 30 or so people that a out a 3rd were from Canada. One couple from Nova Scotia, and the rest from Toronto or within an hour or so from their. For meals you sign up what you want each morning you have a choice of 3 appetizers 3 main courses and 3 desserts. For lunch you sign up for your sandwich from a choice of about 5 different things, breakfast you load up on your cereal, then they bring out toast, and after you can order a hot breakfast with all his food you have to go walking.  Anyway back to our first night, we finished our supper, then back downstairs for our review of what the 3 (easy,medium and hard walks) are the next day, was then sign up for our walk play a few games and the  its off to bed.  On our way to our room we got talking to one of the experienced walkers who showed us the boot room and explained how at the end of each  night you clean your boots, and put them along with your wet clothes in a room to dry. She also gave us some helpful tips on what to expect. I was wide awake for a while after we got to our room, not sure if it was excitement or fear for what was to come, and that's all folks

Inside the train station 

wholly crap which train is ours

 

Courtyard at the back of the hotel

me standing outside our room 

shot of inside our room

those are rocks sticking out of the wall which worked well for hanging scarves on

London continued

So after getting lost and not seeing what we set out to see we decided to take the hop on hop off tour bus, which we could get tickets for at the hotel. We also got tickets for the London eye and the Dungeon's tour. The bus stopped right outside our which was great considering our track record. So off we go on our double decker tour bus with the open top, which was great in the rain. Actually it wasn't to bad, they supply rain ponchos.
 We passed St. Paul's Cathedral, Trafalgar Square and some very narrow side streets. We got off at the tower of London, and we hoped  on a river cruise on the river Thames, it was great even though it was still raining. We got off at the London Eye. It was amazing, you could see for mile and mile and well you get he picture.  Fabulous if you ever get the opportunity take it. After that it was a short jaunt over to the dungeon tour which took us thru the time of the plague, Sweeny Todd, Jack the Ripper, just to name a few, lots of dark musty tunnels at one point I was thrown in a cell and yelled at while they told about mid evil type tortures. At the end we were all found guilty of treason and sentenced to hang. We got strapped in these seats and the floor dropped out, then we lifted back up and dropped again. Of course like Disney they had cameras taking picture. Of course we bought them and I can honestly say I don't think I've ever taken a worse picture, and those of you who know me know I can take some pretty awful pictures. After we went across  the bridge to check out
Westminster Abbey, line up was huge so we just took pictures from outside.  We then hopped back on the bus and checked out Downing Street, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, and the list goes on. All from the bud, by this time it was time to go home so we headed back to our pub for another round of warm beer and fish and chips. We tried to use our tablets to share our adventure but again sitting  in the crowded lobby with crappy wifi turned out to be useless. So called it a day.  I fell into a wonderful sleep that no amount of pub noise could bother.  At about 12:30 I woke up checked my watch jumped out of bed and yelled at Nancy to get up we were going to be late for our train, she calmly said go back to bed its the middle of the night, apparently I was worried about missing our  train the next day.  She then grumbled about the pub noise keeping her up, guess it was her turn.  And now its time to say good night. Here are some pictures from our day

Big Ben from our boat

 me modeling one of the fashionable  ponchos

 some guy posing as a Guard for people like me to take pictures

 Westminster Abbey, lineups to long and weather to wet to check out the inside

 Parliament Buildings .... I think

 Tower of London

Nancy and I self portrait waiting on the pier, don't we look like we are photo shopped in

London Eye

1st day in London

So we arrived safe and sound in London and caught our bus to the hotel . They stopped at 4 different hotels ours being the last, the driver said it was about 18 miles but with rush hour traffic and lots of ins and outs it took about an hour and  a half to get where we were going.  London streets are not on the square 'like we are use to, so it was very confusing. Also all the buildings are about 5 or 6 stories, homes on the top floors and stores on the ground  floors very cool bust oh so confusing. The hotel wasn't ready for us so we left our baggage and went in search of Picadiily Circus, not knowing that a circus in London means circular road we really didn't know what we were looking for. We got some directions from the hotel but we still had no idea where we were going. On our way through a park we had a nice young man as if we'd like tea, there was a Royal Albert tea party, going on. Very nice people who did  their best in helping us on our way.

We did find Chinatown and must have been in the right    general area but I don't think we actually got their. Coming back I had the general idea how to get back  but it wasn't right, so after stopping a few very nice people and checking a few "you are here" maps we finally got back to the hotel found our rooms which are incredibly tiny, comfortable. We then met up with Nancy's cousins for supper in the pub...an ale on tap and fish and chips.

 The food was delish, the beer tastee and Nancy's cousins were very nice fun people.  It was an early evening ending our 30 plus hours of being awake. I crashed for about 2 hours and then the sound of the pub woke me up, after 20 minutes of tossing and turning I got up took my pillow and blanket and went and slept in the tub which was surprisingly comfy.  Once the pub closed I moved back to bed and had a pretty good sleep, speaking of which its that time again so good night for now