Where Old meets New...at World's End

Ahhh.....Edinburgh. My favorite city on earth. Granted, I don't have the biggest sample size to draw on, but each time I go somewhere new, no place can compare. The feeling of peace, the mighty castle, the bustling Prince's Street, the perfect marriage of Old Town and New Town, and the friendliness of the people. Well....there is nothing better! And it seems that this trip was just meant to be, with a warm spring day ready to greet us as we stepped off the train, ready to start my birthday weekend!

No sign of the volcanic ash in the sky, as we dropped our bags off at the hotel, and hit the city headed straight to get some Aqua Vitea (as the Scots refer to their national drink). Scotch is more James' thing then mine, but I am always up for trying to find one I like :). And I have to admit, the Scotch Whiskey Heritage Center has quite the collection of ones to try. From there, we took a stroll down the misnamed Royal Mile (its longer then a mile, and contains more history of murder and deceit then royalty...wait, now maybe that is appropriate) and came upon Deacon Brodies Tavern. Now, this is my kind of place! The day went fast, and we enjoyed a late dinner on the Leith Docks at a place called Skippers....what great fish!! And add a bottle of wine to the beverages of the day, and well, we were all set for a long, restful night......expect for the bagpipes. We should have known better then to stay at a place called the Royal Scots Club, which caters to members of the Royal Scots, the most senior regiment of infantry in the British Army. Obviously the hotel part of the club is open to the public, but members of the Royal Scots still hold gatherings, and when they do....out come the bagpipes. Right outside our room....at 11pm. Not exactly a lullaby......

Amazingly the nighttime entertainment did not hamper our spirits, and Day 2 began with a stroll up to the Castle. Now, we were very quickly noticing that Edinburgh is a city of steep hills and therefore is a city of stairs. Definitely had no guilt for skipping the hotel gym this weekend! The castle is quite magnificent, and seeing the various additions over the years all the way from Medieval days really makes you appreciate the history. And the views of the city from the top of the castle...WOW! We spent the rest of the day exploring the portion of the Royal Mile situated in Old Town (the original part of the city contained within the medieval city walls). Edinburgh once had hundreds of narrow alleys (called Closes) that ran through the cities, where the wealthier merchants living closer to the High Street and the less fortunate living closer to the river. In some areas, the buildings creating the alleys were up to 8 (very rickety) stories tall, making for very dark and dodgy areas. Most of closes were leveled when more "modern" buildings (18th/19th century) were built, but we took a tour of some of the underground areas of Edinburgh where some of the original closes were still intact. Highly recommend if you are in the area, and taking the tour at night simply adds to the atmosphere!

Our third day was a bit damp and cool....much more typical Scottish weather, but we headed out to the Palace of Holyroodhouse....the Queen's official residence in Scotland. The Palace is built on the grounds of the Abbey Church of Holyrood, and the ruins of the Abbey still remain in the back of the Palace. The Palace does not have the grandeur of Windsor, but the gardens on the grounds are simply stunning! And the Palace does have the best view of Arthur's Seat, the highest point in Edinburgh which was formed by an extinct volcano. We had plans to hike to the top, but the rainy weather caused us to postpone until the next visit, and we made our way up the New Town section of the Royal Mile to World's End...the pub that marks the border between Old and New Town. Quite a fitting place to grab a pint before heading back to catch our train to Reading!

What I have learned after 6 weeks

It seems hard to believe I have only been here for 6 weeks, yet some days it feels like I just got here. However, I do have some things that I have learned about life in the UK:

**The best clothes shopping is in Italy and Spain...the prices are cheaper and the quality is better. Now I just have to find out for myself....

**The best place to be on a sunny Saturday afternoon is the town center. There you will find the weekly produce stands, fish and butcher markets. No better fresh foods around! Now that its spring, there are flower stands set up every 100 ft or so. The center is lively, and all the shoppes have their doors open and inviting.

**Having a milk delivery service from the local organic dairy farm makes all the difference

**Waitrose is the best grocery store around (yes, Meagan, you were right!)

**A 2 mile walk to get to a store, pub, or park is not really that far

**When a sandwich comes with pickle, its not the cucumber soaked in vinegar kind...its a relish made of red onions and spices. Very tasty, but a little puzzling at first.

**Eventually, you barely even notice walking in the rain. As long as its not a monsoon, rain is not a reason to stay indoors.

**Once you get away from imitations of a country's food, the difference is amazing. There is nothing like sausage from a Polish shop, Guiness in Ireland, and hand-pumped English Ale.

I wonder what else I will learn in the next 6 weeks!

Life is Like a Box of Chocolates...

Ok....so I could not think of a better way to open a blog devoted all to chocolate! Cadbury chocolate to be more precise. What a way to celebrate mom's birthday then at Cadbury World in Bourneville, UK (about 4 miles outside of Birmingham). What was originally thought to be the basic factory tour, we quickly realized that the story of Cadbury is a more then expected. We got to see exhibits detailing the history of cocoa bean, from being used as Aztec currency to the fall of Montezuma, to the introduction of drinking chocolate to Europe by Cortez. Then onto the history of the company. Cadbury was started by John Cadbury over 170 years ago in a tea shop on Bull Street in Birmingham. With his sons, George and Richard, they introduced eating chocolate. With more and more products, they grew the company, and drawing on their Quaker background, looked to move to a more country location where the factory workers would have a better quality of life. Bourneville was planned and developed as a community around the Cadbury factory, with an emphasis on community, to include housing for all the workers, recreation clubs, swimming pools, meeting houses, churches, and schools for all ages of children. The Cadbury's introduce
d bonuses, a 5.5 day work week, and shares in the company (these being unheard of in Victorian England). Even today, Cadbury is invested heavily in the communities where it has plants.

After the history, we got to learn how chocolate is made, including Cadbury's best selling product
Dairy Milk. We also got to see how the infamous Cream Eggs are made! A limited tour of the manufacturing and packing areas followed, and then onto the advertising area. We even got to design our own Cadbury ad. And in true tourist trap style, the tour ended in the worlds largest Cadbury shop. All in all, a good day. Of course, the 3 chocolate bars we got as part of admission just sweetened the deal :)

Roman and Norman and Gothic, oh my!!!

My first visitor has finally arrived, and mom and I lost no time in getting out and about in south west England to see some of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites. First stop was Bath Spa, about 100 miles west of London. Bath is known for its hot mineral spring, which was converted into a bath by the Romans in about 70 AD. While remains of Roman baths can be seen in multiple places in England, the one in Bath Spa is the best preserved and is also unique that is was a sacred area, with the grounds including a temple to Minerva. The hot spring is still present and flowing, however it is no longer open for use...except for the ducks that were enjoying a nice hot-tub experience!

Next stop was Bath Abbey, which has been built, torn down, rebuilt, fallen into ruins, and rebuilt again since the 8th century. The cathedral is notable for the stain glass windows, the beautiful stonework of the ceiling, and for being the spot of the coronation of Edgar, the first English king, in 973.

We took some time to wander away from the tourist area and enjoy some of Bath's quaint shops and cozy pubs. Most buildings in Bath are built using a local, golden-coloured "Bath Stone", and were constructed in the 17th and 18th centuries, giving the area a much different look then that of Reading or London.

The next day we were out again, this time heading into Salisbury to visit what is likely the most widely recognized grouping of earthworks in the world. We caught an early train, and the first bus through the Wiltshire countryside to the site of Stonehenge. The massive stone structures, unique in that they are the only ones to include the lintels (horizontal stones on top of the vertical pillars), rise off the Salisbury plain to give the first breathtaking view. I found the actual viewing of the site almost surreal, with the crowds and the tourist stands detracting from the mystic of the area. But once able to get to the inside of the walkway, then it was possible to tune out the people and commerce, and take in the incredible monuments.

Stonehenge was constructed in three phases, of which only the first phase is believed to have been completed. Phase 1 involved no actual stones, as it was the digging of a large circular ditch and bank. In the middle of the area is where the stones were erected, with the second phase being the henge in the interior of the current site. It is thought that these stones were brought here from Wales, approx 240 miles away, and were constructed in about 2600 BC. The outer circle of stones were the last to be put up, and were thought to come from Marborough Downs, about 20 miles away. This was thought to have been done between 2600 and 2500 BC.

Our trip back into Salisbury, we passed by Old Sarum, which was the original settlement in the area. Old Sarum was once a residence of William the Conqueror, and was a flourishing city with a cathedral, castle, and royal palace. The lack of immediate access to water (along with other politicals) led to the construction of New Sarum at the intersection of 5 rivers, about a mile away. This new city would become Salisbury. We skipped the tour of the ruins of Old Sarum, mostly due to the downpour that hit at the bus stop.

Back in Salisbury, we took time to visit the medieval city, now known as Cathedral Close. The Close was a walled off area that keep the riffraff of New Serum out and the contained the cathedral and residence of the clergy and well-to-do of Salisbury. The cathedral itself is magnificent, and the only cathedral to be built in 100% Gothic style. This is because it took less then 40 years to construct the cathedral! The spire on the cathedral was not part of the original construction, but was added about 70 years later, around 1330. The spire is the tallest in England, at 404 ft, and is now the 4th tallest in the world. You can take a tour of the tower and spire, which we would have done, but due to the Easter holidays, the tours were not being conducted. We did get to see the one of the 4 remaining copies of the Magna Carta, which is housed in the Charter Room in the church.

An interesting side note on the Cathedral. During the bombings of Britain during WWII, the Salisbury Cathedral and surrounding area seemed immune to the devastation. It was later discovered that the Germans were under strict instruction to spare the cathedral, as the spire was used as a landmark and navigation point to the surrounding rivers.