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Europe, England & Greece 2023Europe, England & Greece 2023
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Our winter getaway this year will take us to The Netherlands for a cruise around Norway. Next stop will be a few weeks in France before we cross The Channel to visit friends in England. The final stage of our holiday is to explore Greece. Read more
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  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    Day 21

    Honfleur wandering about

    July 5, 2023 in France ⋅ 🌬 17 °C

    Forget the French Riviera or Paris this place blows them away. This would have to be one of the best places we have ever stayed.

    After yesterday’s drive and the emotion of Normandy today we will chill and wander around Honfleur.

    The sun is out and so was Sharon with a pic from our apartment window.

    St Catherine church has a courtyard market, so we checked that out just as it struck midday, and the church bells rang right above us.

    Our host suggested a visit to Tripod Gardens, so we walked there, and it was hidden in amongst some buildings. The entry had a mosaic snail on it.

    The further into the backstreets you go the narrower the roads. I liked the cars that are so small you park them anywhere.

    Bought nougat from a shop that sells it by cutting from wheels as big as the cheese ones you have here in France too.

    Dinner by the port as Honfleur is packed and night market stalls are being set up. Even the Ferris wheel is moving for the first time this week.

    What a great day.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    1
    Day 22

    Mont St Michel

    July 6, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 20 °C

    We have a bit of a drive today across from Honfleur to Mont St Michel.

    This is the 2nd most popular tourist spot after the Eiffel Tower.

    It is basically an island on a sand bar that was first settled in about 708 AD and as time has passed it has been built into this extraordinary abbey.

    You first see it from about 40 kms out and already the tourism factor has kicked in.

    We chose the shuttle and after a lengthy queue we were taken on to the island. This is a wow! How did they build this?

    Mont-Saint-Michel lies approximately one kilometre off France's north-western coast, at the mouth of the Couesnon River near Avranches and is 7 hectares in size.

    Only 33 people are considered permanent residents. While we were here it was packed. The French government is considering limiting the numbers allowed each day on to Mont St Michel. We think this is a good idea.

    Today we were lucky enough to see a magical island topped by a gravity-defying abbey, the Mont-Saint-Michel and its Bay count among France’s most stunning sights. For centuries one of Europe’s major pilgrimage destinations, this holy island is now a UNESCO World Heritage Site, as is its breathtaking bay.

    Mont-Saint-Michel has been prone to silting up over the last couple of centuries. Man-made activities, including farming and building a causeway to the Mont, have added to this problem. However, a major conservation project back in 2015 has helped restore island status to the Mont-Saint-Michel. The main river into the bay, the Couesnon, has now been left to flow more freely so that sediments are washed out to sea, and a bridge has replaced the former causeway, enabling the sea to once again more fully surround the mont at particularly high tides.

    The abbey is quite a climb and then they sting you again to go inside. Quite frankly as an Abbey we thought it was a bit bland. Perhaps we have been spoilt with our previous travels.

    The drive back to Honfleur was quick and we arrived safely in time for sunset cocktails from our apartment outlook. We really have been enchanted by Honfleur but tomorrow we head to Cherbourg really early to return the hire car.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    1
    Day 23

    Cherbourg, France to the UK

    July 7, 2023 in France ⋅ ☀️ 22 °C

    Time to say farewell to France and get on a ferry in Cherbourg which is about 2 hours drive north.

    We had to fuel up the hire car before returning it to an office opposite the train station. We struggled to get close to their office because of roadworks.

    After nearly 10 days of clean incident free driving wouldn’t you know it, someone rubbed the rear bumper last night, so we failed the inspection and got hit with a bill. Damn. Some miserable driver in the carpark last night must have done it. Avis must make a fortune out these things. You could hardly see the scratch.

    The ferry across the English Channel will take 4.5 hours. We have reserved seating, and it is an absolutely beautiful warm day. Plenty of eating options aboard including duty free. Restocked the Bacardi.

    We really did cover some ground since Dunkerque. France has been great with lots of highlights.

    The Brittany Ferry is more like a cruise ship than a ferry. This is the first time we’ve seen a ferry that runs on LPG. You can have a cabin for extra, but we chose reserved seating.

    Time change for UK has happened and we are approaching Portsmouth. We will walk off after the cars exit. There is quite a big naval base here. This was where the command operated from to orchestrate D Day.

    Our coach to London leaves from another terminus called The Hard Interchange. From here we will go for 2 hours to get London almost entirely on the expressway.

    This is a big travel day. It’s great to be in London again.

    Our Uber did his best with the traffic as we passed Big Ben, Westminster Abbey and the London Eye. Every bar and restaurant are brim full.

    We will sleep well tonight.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    Day 24

    Bethany Green, London

    July 8, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    Our Airbnb is terrific. It’s on the 3rd floor of a block of flats and has a lovely Juliet balcony overlooking a park.

    The underground is just a quick 10-minute walk so we are all set to have our first day in London.

    Local Middle Eastern brekkie was awesome. This area is really multicultural and is expected to be rainy and humid. Sharon decided she wants her nails done so I will observe and listen to the Dees game back home.

    The London Underground is so easy to use, and you no longer need an Oyster card, just tap on and off with a debit card now.

    We popped up at Oxford Circus and started with a walk down Carnaby Street. Window shopped right through to Piccadilly Circus, and it was time to meet Steve for lunch. We were a bit early, so we had a pint in a pub, as you do.

    Steve is one of our buddies' cousins. We stayed with him and his partner Ricky last year. He was so excited to see us as we were him. He took us to one of his favourite pubs. The Clachan is a public house and is a Grade II listed building, built in 1898.
    I ate Bangers & Mash washed down with a pint of London Pride.

    After lunch Steve wanted to take us next door to Liberty which is the oldest department store known best for its fabrics and haberdashery.

    Said goodbye to Steve. He had to drive back to Headley Down, so we decided to walk to Buckingham Palace. Even though we have been here quite a few times it still captures your imagination.

    It is very wet and very busy today our favourite moment was a peddle powered bar that seats 14 people and a bar person. The one we watched was a hen's party. So funny watching 10 drunken ladies trying to peddle to move through the intersection.

    Next stroll was through St James Park along the Princess Diana Memorial Walk. All of London’s beauty was on display and we even had a squirrel check us out.

    Our show tonight is Groundhog Day which is a musical adaption from the original movie, but the lyrics and music was written by Tim Minchin. We were early so we enjoyed a mojito at a Cuban bar opposite the Old Vic Theatre.

    The show was outstanding. Lively choreography, singing, stunning set changes and even some illusions. Minchin put his unique way with words into the score and we thought it was one of the best shows we have seen. The cast received a standing ovation.

    What a great day. Our feet are sore.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    1
    Day 25

    Camden Town

    July 9, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 23 °C

    Last full day in London so we took the tube to Paddington where Sharon wanted to find a unique clock.

    The clock is high up on a wall over the footpath and has an image of a man in it busy cleaning and wiping inside the clock. When he wipes the hands disappear and so then he realizes what he has done so he draws them on the face again on the actual time. Very clever and entertaining.

    After this we walk for a few kilometers to Camden Market. We went there with Melissa about 11 years ago.

    It is a hugely popular market with many many pop-up food stalls. Our selection was Vietnamese chicken baguettes which were yummy.

    Amy Winehouse is celebrated here. She must have come from this area. The crowds are massive, and you feel choked after a while.

    At 4:30pm we boarded our canal boat the Jenny Wren. It departs from an active lock that is over 100 years old.

    It took us up the canals past the zoo, Lords cricket ground and to a part of the canals called Little Venice. You get to see some huge mansions with vast gardens. One recently sold for $A160,000,000!

    What is a bit disturbing are the homeless people living in tents along the canal. If fact everywhere we have travelled in London, you see rough sleepers. On the tube it is not unusual to be approached for food or money.

    Back to Camden Market and we have had enough of the crowds, so we headed back to Bethnal Green.

    We enjoyed the summer sunset from our balcony and started packing up. Time to move on tomorrow.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    Day 26

    London to Manchester

    July 10, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Really struggled to get an Uber this morning. Taxis and Ubers are in short supply as London has woken up to a new week for the workers.

    Our train to Manchester is at 10:33am from Euston Station. The train services here are fantastic. There is a train every 30 minutes to Manchester. The trip is about 2.5 hours at quick speed.

    My luck with seating selection is poor. We are facing backwards, and I can’t handle that, so I found an unoccupied seat facing forward. Quirky habit.

    At Manchester we will hook up with Gail & Alan who are part of our British family. We know them through my mum who was a pen pal with Gail’s mum Kath since 1944. Kath passed away last year but we keep in touch with Gail & Sarah (and hubbies). It is a special relationship.

    We saw Gail & Alan briefly last year when they came down to London for the day. This will be fun because we have most of the week with them. We did see them at their home about 11 years ago so it will be great to reacquaint ourselves with Manchester.

    We were greeted at the station and told the weather is not that great, but we do not mind. We will have plenty to catch up no matter what we do.

    Our stay is for three nights so we settled in and then headed out to a midafternoon lunch at a lovely old pub followed by a visit to the Royal Horticultural Society Garden Bridgewater.

    Once visited by Queen Victoria and King Edward VII, Worsley New Hall survived a fire and two World Wars before it was demolished in the 1940s. All that remains is the terraces that overlook the lake which is now reclaimed.

    The RHS master plan for RHS Garden Bridgewater is amazing and beautiful. The gardens have all been reestablished and the gardener's cottage refurbished. There is also the apprenticeship cottage where the boiler was housed, it was their job to keep the coal fire alight. The tunnel at the front was the entrance to an underground passageway to the main mansion. They would use this to take flowers and food to the main kitchen without being seen by the aristocracy.

    The flowerbeds and vegetables growing are stunning. So many blossoms and shrubs to check out.

    Back home and chatted until late. Gayle brought out a box of letters that my mum had written to Kath dating back to the mid 1990s. Got a bit nostalgic. There was also one from grandfather announcing himself when he traveled to the UK in 1945.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    Day 27

    Chatsworth day trip

    July 11, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    We are heading out to drive to Chatsworth. It will be a fairly long drive, maybe an hour or so. The new Kia EV6 is fully charged and off we go.

    The countryside is lush and green, you can’t help but be impressed by all the stonewall fences.

    From the moment you enter the estate grounds it is jaw dropping how beautiful and grand this piece of history is and we couldn’t wait to look inside.

    Chatsworth House was home to the Dukes & Duchess’s Devonshire family and has been passed down through 16 generations. They are all at rest buried in a nearby village at the St Peter’s church. The property came into the family after being purchased by Sir William Cavendish for £600 in 1549, who then began building on the grounds.

    Kings and Queens visited here, and, in that era, it was all about decadence and wealth that was on display to all that visited. It is just an amazing place to visit.

    For the Pride & Prejudice fans this mansion featured in the movie and tv series.

    There are over 25 rooms in the stately home including the Painted Hall, State Rooms, Sculpture Gallery as you walk through discovering its art, history and all about the family.

    The ceiling art defies belief. In every room there are staff to tell you the story of the family.

    Each Duke wanted to make it bigger and grander than the previous generations, leaving their mark on one of Derbyshire’s finest country houses.

    There were just so many stunning pictures to be taken it will be hard to settle in the top 10.

    We spent several hours walking through and then we covered the grounds too. The weather has been a bit unkind today, but it didn’t dampen our experience.

    The emperor water fountain works on gravity and the fountain steps are amazing.

    Before we headed back to Manchester, we had to stop at the Devonshire Arms for a locally brewed pint.

    Gail cooked up a home cooked feast and we settled in watching episodes of Pride & Prejudice so we could say “we were there today”.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    11
    Day 28

    Manchester locally

    July 12, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌙 15 °C

    No trips today just getting out and about in local Manchester.

    The girls went to Elizabeth Gaskell house which is an old Victorian property where Gail volunteers. Elizabeth was the owner and became a famous English writer. Regarded as ‘one of the greatest female novelists of all time’ Elizabeth Gaskell was born in 1810 and lived at 84 Plymouth Grove in Manchester with her family from 1850 until her death in 1865. Elizabeth welcomed guests such as Charles Dickens and Charlotte Bronte to her House and mixed with a cross section of Victorian society from the poor of the workhouse to the likes of Florence Nightingale and Charles Darwin.

    Alan and I visited the Imperial War Museum which had a focus on how Manchester coped during the war.

    Everything is quite local to their house which is on the river. You can see the Manchester United stadium not far away. If you have a lazy US$6 billion, they are for sale.

    Further down from the museum is the Coronation Street set and filming studio. Yes, it is still in production!

    Alan took me to The Britons Protection pub. It was the scene of a violent local political rally in 1904 where 15 demonstrators died. I was pleased to see my ancestor's whiskey on sale although I had a beer.

    We passed the Midland hotel walking back into town. In the entrance was a 1939 Rolls Royce. This was the hotel where monsieur’s Charles Rolls and Henry Royce met for afternoon tea and decided to try their hand at building cars.

    A quick stop at the state library and we then rendezvoused with the girls at Sam’s Chop House for a late lunch.

     We had to back track to find a misplaced umbrella which became another excuse for another drop.

    Home on a tram and relaxed to plan tomorrow. We will be on the move again.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    15
    Day 29

    Manchester to Stratford-Upon-Avon

    July 13, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 20 °C

    Road trip south today to catch up with Sarah & Paul. They visited us earlier this year in Melbourne.

    The EV tyres needed to be adjusted with the four of us plus luggage. I’ve learnt a great deal from Alan about electric vehicles. This Kia is a great car.

    After a delicious lunch with Gail & Alan we headed off to Reading. We will see them again tomorrow.

    The afternoon activity was to firstly visit a historically important manor and gardens that is owned by the National Trust.

    Records of the Hidcote Manor date back to 1539 but the gardens were more recent when they were established by a Lawrence Johnston who bought the 287 acre Hidcote estate in 1907 for £7,200.

    Lawrence moved into Hidcote and began to build his dream, of a world class garden and it is magnificent. The garden has plants from all around the world and is brim full of colour and bees!

    Hidcote was transferred to the National Trust in 1948. We thoroughly enjoyed wandering around admiring the different sections. A truly classic English garden.

    Next stop was to visit one of the areas oldest pubs. On the way we called in to pick up Emily (Sarah & Paul’s daughter).

    Emily and her partner Toby have just bought a brand new 3 story house in an estate that was an airfield during the war. She was very excited to show us through. Emily is a fabulous artisan baker and Toby is becoming a plumber. Cute couple.

    The Fleece Inn is also owned by the National Trust and was originally built in the early 15th century as a farmhouse. It later became a pub and remained in the Byrd family until 1977 when Lola Taplin bequeathed it to the National Trust. The Inn suffered serious fire damage in the thatch roof in February 2004 but survived. The entrance is barely 6 foot high and the bar seats only 4 patrons who didn’t mind posing for a photo. All the other rooms are set up for meals or a quiet place for a pint. The fireplace even has the original white circle markings to ward off witches.

    Back to Sarah & Paul’s for a delicious home cooked meal. Toby joined us, so we got to meet him for the first time. The workers get up early so they took off after dinner.

    At dusk we all took a walk to check out their allotment which are strips of land you rent on which you grow vegetables and flowers. It is a great concept and we checked out the tomatoes, lettuce, beans, rhubarb, squash, and more.

    Then we wandered down into the village and like all of these estates there is a manor. It is a beautiful place here. No wonder Paul & Sarah love living here so much.    Read more

  • Europe, England & Greece 2023
    Day 30

    Stratford-Upon-Avon to Henley on Thames

    July 14, 2023 in England ⋅ 🌧 15 °C

    Our last day with our friends. Bit sad but we have plans to drive to Reading where Gail & Alan will be ready to welcome us aboard their new boat.

    The weather has turned against us so we will have to abandon the boat visit. Instead, we will meet for lunch at Henley on the Thames.

    Before we get to Reading, we stopped very briefly at an iconic shop. Yes, we are going to visit Diddly Squat Farm. The place is jumping. Car park overflowing and a huge queue. Clarkson’s Farm has done two series and they were shooting series three yesterday, but the rain stopped it today. We didn’t really expect to bump into Jeremy Clarkson, but he is around here somewhere. It is absolutely commercial madness to expect customers to stand in the mud and rain but that’s exactly what everyone was doing. Sharon wrote our message on the barn wall just above David Beckham. We made a few purchases and hit the road. The TV series doesn’t really show you how close the shop is to the village. No wonder it causes grief.

    Gail & Alan met us at the train car park in Henley. We went to the The River & Rowing Museum located by the River Thames. It has three main themes represented by major permanent galleries, the non-tidal River Thames, the international sport of rowing and the local town of Henley-on-Thames.

    The museum also celebrates The ‘Wind in the Willows’ has a really good gallery and is based on the 1908 book by Kenneth Grahame. It draws upon the original illustrations by EH Shepard who is from these parts.

    Our farewell lunch at yet another old pub called The Angel on the Bridge. Dating back to 1728 this pub is one of the most photographed and painted pubs in England, because of its architecture and the amazing riverside location on the River Thames.

    After the traditional farewell group photo, we caught a train with Gail and Alan. They wanted to make sure we connected to the right train to Heathrow, so they stayed with us to Twyford. This is a single line that just goes back and forward to the main line.

    All good and we are heading toward London. We changed at Hayes & Harlington then just a short trip to Heathrow.

    Our hotel is The Renaissance only a few miles from Terminal 2. The hotels around Heathrow are not allowed to operate their own shuttle so there is a service called Hotelhoppa. It’s ok but you are squeezed in. Only one door at the front which is dumb.

    By now we are drenched, tired and travelled out.

    We had a great time in England. Tomorrow on to Athens.    Read more

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