STRATFORD ON AVON

We decided to get an early start on Sunday and go across to Stratford on Avon which is 93 miles west of here. AS usual Carol navigated with consummate skill and we made the trip in just 2 hours. With lots of good signage we soon found Anne Hathaway's cottage and paid 26 quid for a ticket which gave us access to the five major sites celebrating William Shakespeare.

The cottage (picture top right) was in incredible condition for a 16th century building, and a guide their gave an interesting account of the lives if Bill and Anne. Bill was only 18 when he married Anne (who was 26 and 3 months pregnant!) so he was not just a good writer!. The two storey cottage contained several original items of furniture and was set in a superb garden.

Next stop was in the City centre, with plenty of parking available. We visited Shakespeare's birthplace and the exhibition of his liffe and works, all very well presented and most interesting.

The city itself was picturesque and very tourist orientated. We went down to the River Avon and watched a canal boat go through the lock which reminded us of our Murray River houseboat adventure some years ago. The wind was very cold here and we wandered about trying to decide where to have lunch,but finally got the car and drov e to the Arden cottage and farm which was about 4 miles from Stratford. We had a light lunch here and then went to see the very old house that Shakespeares mother had lived in until she moved to Stratford and married Bill's father.Until five years ago it had been assumed that the larger cottage (pictured bottom right above) had been their home, but an investigation turned up evidence that the actual cottage was a little further away on the farm property. The cottage had been inhabited by one family (not Ardens) for many years and was lived in until the 1970's!!

The larger cottage is, as can be seen, in a pretty decrepit condition, but can be inspected inside and one casn only goggle at the massive old wooden beams that supported the roof.The floors are very unevendue to sagging here and there, but again quite remarkable for being 500 years old. The farm itself is interesting and includes a falconry. We were lucky enough to be in time for a flying displpay by a European Owl (photo above). This was one of several owls,falcons,hawks and kestrels which are kept there. The young lady who was running the show was full of interesting infomation and told us that most of the birds had been bred in captivity.

The other fascinating building was a dovecote, a large rotunda shaped building inside which the walls contained hundreds of recessess in which the doves lived. Apart from suppplementing the diet, these birds droppings were regularly scraped up and used as fertilizer.

And so we turned for home,this time managing to geta bit lost and ending up going through Warwick and almost into Leicester due to missing an exit on the Motorway - it didn't make much differencce however. It was still daylight when we stopped at the Admiral's Arms at Holme for a much needed pint for me a mulled wine for the navigator. A great day.

PRAGUE 2

Despite still feeling less than human, but a bit stimulated by the great shower in the hotel, we both fronted for breakfast, and thus reinforced decided that we would take up our pre booked afternoon tour to .

As this didn't start until 1pm we decided to go and visit the Prague Museum in the Wencelas Square. Carol did her usual navigating and we took a different bus and then onto the underground for the first time, and despite the difficulty of reading nameplaces in a totally confusing language we arrived exactly where planned!

the public transport system is the same as in V ienna, buy a ticket from wherever, validate it on the machine in the first vehicle used, and then no one bothers you therreafter!

Prague Museum was a purpose built magnificent building created in the late 19th century, and has to be one the best in the world. It is so comprehensive that a week would be about the sort of time one would need to fully explore it's offerings. We spent more than an hour going through the "Evolution of Life" exhibition with the most extraordinary illustration of the developement of our beginnings which would Gobsmack the Creationists! And the detailed information on each stage of age from pre BC to the modern times was supported with an incredible array of artifacts and relics.

A quick visit to the adjoining Maccas (no more Czech food thank you) and we joined up with our tour. There were a couple from Melbourne,two teachers from London, a Spanish couple who spoke French, and a another young couple from?

The tour took us some 70 kilometres into the country which was completely snow bound, and during the drive our guide gave an excellent commentary on the development of the Czech Republic.The destination was Kutna Hora which was a very wealthy tin mining town in the 16 th century. First we stopped at a shrine (ossary) where some old monk had used the bones dug up from a cemetry which was being replaced, to create all sorts of adornments. It was bitterly cold and the whole thing reminded me only of the Pol Pot scene - not my cup pf tea.
It was here that the young lady on the bus came up to me with a pair of ear muffs and a scarf and said I would like to borrow. God Bless her - as at this stage I was frozen stiff.
The visit to the cathedral (another one) although very much dedicated to the mining community of the time, was OK. Then on to the Mint where the various vintages of coins minted there were on display. Then into a cafe and a glass of hot wine which felt to me to be the highlight of the whole trip!!! Sounds like I was still not well does it not.
Home to Prague - another early night - a prepaid taxi to the airport and then home thank God.

PRAGUE

Above - the detail above the entrance to the Prague Castle Cathedral, and a view of the City froom the Castle. To the right is a shot of the Presidential Palace which is also part of the Castle.

Things didn't work out very well for us in Prague.Carol had a cold when we left and this got rapidly worse. We had arranged for a car to take us from the Airport to the hotel as we were arriving late evening. Sure enough there was this young man with a sign "Carol James" and he took us out to the car park where he had his two door Skoda of unkown vintage. But it bumped and rattled it's way into the city and we found the Seifert Hotel with no trouble. Then he gave us a bill for 750 czech krowns about $60!! At least we were helping a poor Uni student!!

The hotel was excellent and we crashed ,only to wake up in the morning suffering from the virus that we had brought with us. After brekky we headed to the Old City which was about half and hours walk away. Very interesting because of the spray can graffiti which adorned evry spare piece of wall. We discovered the beautiful Old City which is absolutely original. During WW2 the Germans occupied Czechoslavakia (as it was then known) without any resistance so there was no war damage that so afflicted other European cities.

We decided to become good tourists by having a "traditional Czech lunch". In Len's case this was Roast Hares legs in red wine sauce served with dumplings. Not a success - the hare's legs were like 10 year old Biltong and the dumplings?Once cut into edible portions and consumed they took little time in joining up again in his gut and forming a cannon ball type feeling. After lunch we walked up to the Prague Castle which is not really a Castle in the traditional sense, but a collection of churches/residences/palaces over an extensive area, all overlooking the city. After an hour the pain in Len's guts was becoming unbearable and we quickly started to make our way back towards the town where we intedded to bus back to the hotel. I knew I would'nt make so we jumped into taxi waiting at the kirbside.The driver quoted 400czech krown for the trip. At the hotel he changed this to 475 - wrote an illegible receipt out and then promptly said he had no change from the 500 offered!!

While Carol argued the toss with him Len raced into the hotel, threw himself at the loo and evacuated his bursting stomach in forceful fashion. Several hours later we both had thoughts only of lying down and dying!

Needless to say we did not venture out into the Prague night deciding to have a totally good sleep in. Woke in the morning still feeling like hell but as we had a wallking tour paid for with a tourist agency, we bravely staggered into the Old Town and found our guide who was absolutely delightful. We were the only two on the tour, and drove in a bus up to the C astle (thank heavens I could not have stood anbother climb up all those steps). So we learnt a lot of the history of C zech Republic and the time during WW2 with the Germans and then subsequently the communist regime.

End of part 1.

OXFORD

Today we decided to take off for Oxford which is almost 100 miles away. We made to mistake of being lazy about getting away and were sorry when we realised that we were spending more time driving than we had to sightsee in Oxford!

So after finding a car park ($13 for 3 hours) we walked into the city centre and there was just so much to goggle at. It is a bit like Cambridge but with much wider streets to accomodate the hundreds of bicycles. The other significant thing was the continual procession of coaches and buses - there is a coach service to London with a coach departing every 10 minutes!

We headed for the University college area and spent quite some time in Christ Church which is both a college and a cathedral. It dates back to the 12th century and is awe inspiring. The tower at the entrance (photo above) was designed by Christopher Wren who I am sure every one knows designed St Pauls Cathedral in London.

Both John and Charles Wesley studied here and were ordained in the cathedral - going on to found the Wesleyan faith. Bob Hawke also spent time here drinking yards of beer although there does not seem to be memento of his incumbency!!

Walking away from this College you are immediately amidst many of the other colleges and the Bodlian Library -sadly all off limits to visitors. Hunger struck and we had an excellent lunch of fish and chips (how do they do it so well) and then we had to hurry off to the carpark before our time expired. We really haveto go back to Oxford and spend a lot more time there.

The drive home was one of Carol's map reading specials avoiding the motor ways! We passed the Woburn Safari Park. This is part of the magnificent Woburn Abbey estate which is the home of the Duke of Bedford who's family have lived there for over 400 years. The estate comprises some 3000 acres of parkland stocked with many types of deer, and there is a brick wall around the whole thing! It seems t o go on forever. The safari park was an initiative of the current duke's parents who decided post WWII to underake extensive renovations rather than pass the property over to the National Trust to settle enormous death duties. We are certainly going to return there for a visit

SPALDING AND STAMFORD

It was a beautiful Spring like day - just ignore the fact that it was only 5 degrees and the clear blue skies provided a sun which failed to project any warmth!
We took our new neighbour Zel with us on another tour of the nearby market towns. Zel is an IT Teacher from New Zealand on a 6 months contract.
We drove to Spalding and wandered around the market place, which was fairly ordinary but SWMBO managed to find some things to buy. Had a look at the parish church which is part 12th century and, like many of the churches here, contains quite a lot of history of past parishioners and patrons.
We took off for Stamford to seek somewhere for lunch and passed a 17th Centruy pub (pictures above) 17th century and very quaint so we pulled in and had an excellent meal and a decent pint of London Pride. I have developed a real liking for English Beer and much prefer it to Fosters!
We had been to Stamford before. It is one of the prettiest market towns with a river winding through the town.
On Sunday I decided to put the car through the car wash but when I had paid my 3 quid for the pleasure I found that the wash was frozen and had to get a refund.Went back a couple of hours later but it was still the same so came home and handwashed the bloody thing with a bucket as we don't have an outside tap or hose. Looks good though!

CASTLE RISING

We took advantage of our recently joined membership of British Heritage to visit Castle Rising and later that day Castle Acrea. We were lucky in that when we went into the reception to get our tickets, the custodian became very intertested in the fact that we were from Ramsey. Turns out he is an Archaeologist and has an intense interest in St Felix who was an original Monk associated with Castle Rising back in the 7th Century - before the current stucture was built.
He regaled us for about an hour on the history of the area, and his work in tracing the activities of St Felix. In the nearby church is the original font that graced the original church on this site, and carvings on the front of the font illustrate three faces - each with cats ears! It was a joke by Felix the cat.He told us that Felix's bones were originally buried in Ramsay but later removed, and as we had never heard of St Felix in Ramsey he was intrigued and asked if we could make some enquiries for him.
The Castle was built around 1140 and although the roof has fallen in there are still some rooms in perfect condition.This together with the massive earthworks which are some 12o feet high in places makes the site of great national interest.The castle passed to the Howard family in 1544 and remains in their hands today, the current owner being a descendant of William D'Albini 11 who pioneered the building!! No relation of Johnnie I suspect!
We then drove some 20 miles to Castle Acres a magnificent village near a 13th century Abbey.The abbey is in ruins but incredibly major parts remain intact and there are still some rooms which are habitable.
The top picture left is the ramains of the original front of the abbey. The other three being Castle Rising.
Had a lovely lunch in a pub there (lambs fry and mash(!) a pint and a glass of excellent red and then home to Ramsey.
Spent Sunday on the web researching Cornish Cottages and have booked a five night stay in The Cobblers Cottage at Charlestown and 18th century fishiing harbour.
Two (!) photos of the cottage abov e!

KIRBY HOUSE

Yesterday was a pretty quiet day - it actually started to snow in the morning so we had a day at home.Did some washing and took it to the laundromat in St Ives for drying and then came home for a crib tournament. So this morning we decided we had better get out and find an English Heritage property to visit and settled on Kirby which is about 38 miles away.
This old Mnsion dates back to 1570 in the reign of Elizabeth the 1st.It is a truly magnificent structure and although technically "a ruin" is still a substantial building and able to be walked through.The gardens are remarkable and a tribute to English Heritage who maintain them.
This is an unusual history because "The beauty of Kirby's decline is that it was private and without violence.The house was never burnt, ravaged, used as a quarry or assaulted by mobs.It simply lapsed". A fitting tribute paid by a 20th century architectural historian

On the way home we called into Oundle a pretty market village of great antiquity. We went into a wonderful old Pub where Len had a pint and Carol regretted having a glass of Merlot which, being French was bloody awful!!

ISLE OF WIGHT

Back from Vienna courtesy of British Airways who had excelled themselves in the catering department. On the flight over to Vienna we were given "supper" which consisted of two white bread cheese and pickle sandwiches. On the flight from Vienna to Heathrow we were given afternoon tea - Yep - two white bread cheese and pickle sandwiches. Wowee.Took the ferry from Southampton to East Cowes - a trip of just under an hour and calm as a millpond. Drove down to Freshwater Bay where we found the Hotel Albion perched on the sea front and our room leading onto a walkway on the seafront - very comfortable with magnificent views. The Island is not very large of course, and we visited every area. Osborne House at Cowes was built in the 19th century by Albert the consort to Queen Victoria. He must have been a remarkable man because the substantial house had central heating and insulation incorporated in it's construction.It was used by the royal family as a Summer residence - Queen Victoria had 9 children and the place had the feel of a family home (albeit very substantial) Albert died when he was 45 and the Queen went into mourning and dressed in black from that day until her death some forty years later when she instructed that she be buried in a white funeral to appear as a bride for her re-union with Albert.We also visited Carisbrook Castle a 12th century construction high on a hill (aren't all castles?) and used originally for the defence of the island. Later it was famed for housing the imprisonment of Charles 1st who was taken from there to London to have his head chopped off.The Hotel Albion gave an impression of Faulty Towers in its layout (but much more efficient) and most of the guests were elderly and genteel! We played scrabble in the lounge while waiting fofr the dinner gong. The weather was great - although one morning was minus 4 degrees and it took some time to de-ice the car! On the morning that we were leaving, we woke to hear the waves crashing on the walkway, and heard spray splashing heavily on the windows -so we were pleased that we were going.
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ISLE OF WIGHT PHOTOS

From the top -The Needles and a shot of the coast next to the hotel.
Len sitting on the walkway outside our bedroom. Carol at Carisbrooke Castle and an early morning sunrise.

A BIT MORE VIENNA

On Christmas Eve we went on a coach tour of the Danube Valley. Only 12 of us on board with an excellent guide who did his commentary in English,French and Spanish!

The main feature was a visit to a Benedictine Monastery set hign on a hill top overlooking the pictureque town of Melk. The monastery was enormous - with guest wing Used by royalty)treasure house, library and a most ornate Baroque chapel. There are still 12 monks living in the place which by any standards was an over the top demonstration of what religion produces. Photos above are of the facade of the monastery and the town of Melk taken from the balcony of the monastery.

After a detailed guided tour of the monastery we went on to a village on the banks of the Danube for lunch, following which we went to an ancient village Durnstein which is built into the side of a hill on top of which are the remains of a 10th century castle. Narrow streets with vintage cottages. As it was Christmas Eve everything closed down at lunchtime in Austria as the Christmas celebrations are held that evening - so no shopping (Hurray). The tour gave us a good look at the Austrian countryside and the V ienna Woods - all very beautiful.

VIENNA ON CHRISTMAS DAY

As we had booked seats for a Mass at the Imperial Palace Chapel ( the only time I have ever PAID to go to church) we were up early and off on the underground to the Old City and took our place with the crowd of other Mass goer. The chapel was quite beautiful, and although the Mass was in German it was easily followed. The orchestra with choir provided a Mozart Mass which was absolutely magic. At the end of the mass, the Vienna Boys choir assembled at the front of the church and sang three Christmas Carols -just beautiful - and I was not suprised when there was a prolonged applause.

Back to the hotel where we had lunch with a nice bottle of Austrian wine which induced a welcome snooze in the afternoon. In the evening we attended a Mozart and Strauss concert in the salon of the Austerlitz Palace. It was a most intimate setting with only about 250 people. The Chamber Orchestra was superb, and a baritone and a soprano sang beautifully.

VIENNA PHOTOS

This is the Imperial Palace where the Hapsberg's live for hundreds of year. Then Carol posing with Fiacres in the background, and the one on the right is of the Empress's chambers in the palace.

The top pictures are of Len getting stuck into a much needed Gluhwein, St Stephens church and Schoonbrun Palace which was the Hapsburg summer residence about 6 miles from the Impreial Palace itself!!

VIENNA FOR CHRISTMAS

Wednesday, December 22

Arrived at 9.45 after a flight with BA, and having had our Christmas celebration with Peter and Mary. We’re staying at the Tourotel Mariahilf which is comfortable – large room and large bathroom and very good heating! It’s good that you can open the windows when it gets too hot!

Thursday, December 23

Started off the day with a buffet breakfast that set us up for lots of cold and sightseeing! We decided to walk into town to get our bearings, and on the way it started to snow! By the time we got to the Staatsoper (Opera House) I had the perfect excuse to buy an umbrella! Lots of artists (musical type) there who try to flog you tickets for evening performances – all quite legitimate and it seems to be an expected part of their craft/art. We decided to take a city tour to get ourselves oriented as the walk in hadn’t solved a lot of problems. That was great in giving the idea of the Ring Roads around the old city, and the major landmarks. After the tour it was snowing quite consistently, though it wasn’t cold enough for it to settle on the ground – anyway gave the perfect excuse to drop into the Sacher Hotel which is a major Viennese landmark and the origins of the famous Sacher Tortr. There we had a lovely lunch (though Len’s sausage/Frankfurt was a bit sparse!). Of course had to have some Sacher Torte – and it was truly delicious. Snow stopped during lunch so then we walked up through the Inner City to St Peter’s Church (a very gilded Baroque Church) and St Stephen’s, probably the best known place in Vienna. Wandering through the old streets was magic, but by 4 we needed a refreshing gluhwein and punch to warm up the inner and outer self. By the time we were set to head home, all the Christmas lights were on, making the streets a veritable wonderland, so instead of going home we went to the Christmas market in the Town Hall Square. What a great family atmosphere, and so colourful. Right next door is the Kunsthistorisches Museum, a wonderful museum of art and artistic objects that also is staging an exhibition of Goya paintings. between Goya, Titian and velasquez etc we were very cultured by the end of nearly two hours – and very warm, too. A very pleasant meal back at the hotel, with a very nice Austrian white wine was the end to a very white Christmassy day.

Friday, December 23

First thing on the agenda was to go to the Practice Session of the Lippizaner Horses at the Imperial Palace, so it was an early start and breakfast across the road at a delightful bakery that has been operating there since 1885. It’s a real Viennese place – great coffee, great bakery and the paper supplied for you to linger over – pity about the German type! After 90 minutes of the horses (and how they train and love them was easy to see) we picked up our tickets for Christmas day mass at the palace, where we’ll also hear the Vienna Boys Choir. The Imperial Palace is a huge complex with so much to see and do there. We saw the Treasury and the Imperial Apartments where they’ve made the assassinated Empress Elizabeth into something of a cult figure. The most unexpected and most moving parts of the day, though, were two impromptu choral performances, one by a tenor and one by a group of 30 or so young people, outside the Imperial Apartments. The sound was truly glorious and quite moving.

We’d anticipated getting to Schonnbrun, the Summer Palace, too, but by the time we arrived (spent too much time with the Empress) it was almost closing time for the palace. What we hadn’t known about, though, was the very upmarket Christmas Market in the Palace, and the wonderful setting of the market, the lights, and the giant Christams tree. What a fairlyland, wonderful setting, and it gave a wonderful sense of the ‘wonder’ of the Christmas pageant. having seen snow and seen the Schoonbrun with its lights and tasted the warming gluhwein again, we really feel we’ve experienced a European Christmas.

ICKWORTH HOUSE -A TOTAL FOLLY

On the way home from Bury St Edmunds we saw a sign for a National Trust property - Ickworth House, so we decided to make a small detour to pay a visit. As with most NT properties this time of the year, only the gardens and souvenir shop are open so we were not able to tour the house itself. It is a monstrous property with an incredi ble history.In 1795 the eccentric Earl of Bristol created this equally eccentric house to display his collection of paintings by Titian/Gainsborough and Velazquez and a magnificent collection of Georgian silver. Unfortunately Napoleon nicked his collection before he could bring it over from Europe!Successive members of the family (all oddballs and philanders)gradually completed the building and had a magnificent garden conpleted by the famous 'Capability'Brown.

Shortly after the end of World War 2, the current Earl, who was a London playboy and spending the family fortune as fast as he could, joined a gang of professional jewel thieves and was subsequently caught and jailed.

Then in the 1990's the incumbent was convicted of trafficking heroin, and had in the meantime finished of the millions left in the family coffers supporting his own drug and high lifestyle. And so the National Trust became the owners. The central rotunda is ornately decorated with carvings, and the two generous curved wings joining the rotunda contained dozens of rooms. One of the wings is now used as a high class hotel.

Inside the main entrance is a placard on which is displayed a comment by Queen Vicoria " Ickworth House is the ultimate folly" V ery true my dear, very true.

BURY ST EDMUNDS

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We heard on the radio that there was to be a Christmas Market at Bury St Edmunds, and as it is only 50 miles away we took off yesterday at 8.30 and duly arrived an hour later. It was scarf/gloves and topcoat weather!

We parked on the edge of the centre of town, and walked into a market square which we discovered was the normal Saturday market. The produce stalls were exceptional - fresh raspberries at 2pound for 2 punnets was irresistable.

A short walk through beautiful old narrow lanes brought us to the site of the Christmas Market where there was entertainment laid on as well as a French market providing lots of food options. Cassoulet/croque monsieur/fish soup -all very yummy. Morris Dancers performed non stop -and a female choir sang carols and popular songs beautifully.

We tore ourselves away from all this to see the remains of the 7th Century abbey. Remains is the right word as the photos show. The top ones show a reconstruction of the original south transept of the abbey and the next one the present remains. The window at the rear is clearly identifiable.

The town's name comes from the fact that King Edmund died and was buried here in Medeival times. The town is also famous for being the centre where 25 Barons met and swore to make King John sign the famous Magna Carta the birth of democracy.

WISBECH AND SWAFFHAM

It was quite warm this morning (8 degrees) and we took off for a visit to Wisbech a lovely market town about 30 miles away.It was once only 4 miles from the sea, but land reclamation means it is now 11 miles, but the River Nene still accomodates ships up to 2000 tons. In the town, there is a row of beautiful Georgian houses on each side of the river.One of thembeing the birthplace of Octavia Hill founder of the National Trust. Wisbech has a fine museum which contains (amongst other things) the manuscript of Charles Dickens Great Expectations donated by his lifelong friend Chauncey Townsend, a resident. The market square had the usual stalls with meat/fish/vegetables and fruit plus the bric a bac stuff. Carol was in her element!

It was first mentioned in the charter of the Saxon King Wulphere in the year 664, when it was called Visebec. The first Wisbech Castle was erected by William I in 1086. King John slept there when he visited Wisbech, and who's treasure is still being searched for - lost in The Wash in 1216.

Next stop was Swaffham, another market town of much charm. As it raining we avoided the market (poor Carol) and opted for a Pub Lunch at the Norfolk Hero. We ordered Ploughmans which duly arrived with great cheese and salad. The Publican's wife chatted to us and we found out that her daughter was backpacking thru Oz and was currently in Cairns. Photo at top ( for some reason I am not able to get photos included with text!!)

Starting of homewards we came across a National Trust site Oxburgh Hall. As with most NT Places the house was not open for visitors during Dec/Jan, but the gardens were there to be seen and the NT shop which is a paradise for Christmas presents. The rain stopped and managed to get a couple of photos , one of the glorious colours of the trees which are still shedding their leaves - very late this year as it has ben so warm!

Carol has become a very competent navigator and loves using the back roads as an alternative to major ones - and so we successfully drove home with hardly a missed turn!