Glenda Cook

Glenda Cook

traveled in 69 countries Read more🇺🇸Asheboro

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Southwestern Odyssey
Arrival at Bass Lake
October 13, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 55 °F
Back when we were first married, we saved for almost a year so that we could spend a weekend in Yosemite National Park. However, the generator on our eleven-year-old Volkswagen bug broke, and our vacation savings went to repair the car. Today, after twenty-four years, we get our first shot at Yosemite.

We are very grateful to the generosity of a dear couple who bought more time-shares than they could possibly use. Some of them are about to expire, and they are unable to use them, so they offered them to us. So we are able to enjoy these lovely WorldMark resorts.

I think I know why this place is called Bass Lake. I walked out onto the pier and found that against the setting sunlight I saw millions of flying insects over the lake. It was not unpleasant, as though the insects were biting me. Still, they were almost thick enough to inhale. If only a fraction of these bugs die and drop into the water, then the fish in the lake will have a perpetual feast. We unpacked the car, unloaded the groceries we bought in Oakhurst and had our own little feast here in the apartment.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Around the Presidio
October 12, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
Today I had Eggs Valdes burritos for breakfast at the Old Monterey Cafe. Glenda had an upset stomach and returned to the Colton Inn to rest. I took that opportunity to walk to the Presidio, and back, along the route I used to walk to work. Up Franklin Street. Straight up Franklin Street. Steep Franklin Street. Nearly vertical Franklin Street. Every day. I dreaded that daily walk back then. Today it was a trip UP memory lane. Again I was surprised to see the Presidio gate locked up tighter than a tick. The last time we were here I contacted the chaplains office, and the chaplain’s assistant met us at the Franklin Street gate to let us in. Once we were on the Presidio, he told us that there were no restrictions regarding the taking of photographs. DLI is less like an army base than a college campus, so I was a little bit surprised to see how tight security has remained since 9/11/2001. I had to turn around to recapture the view to the east. I remember the view from my desk in the Asian Language classroom building (Nisei Hall) when I was a language student here. I could see the airport with its arrivals and departures flying right over the Presidio. The view still looks exactly the same. We drove to Pacific Grove to watch the otters and to take photographs. We had such a large breakfast that we really did not need lunch. A mother and her little girl were at the beach. It looked as though the mother had been going through some difficult times, but she watched as her little girl, fully decked out in a princess gown, played on the sand. I wonder what their story is. Dropping by the Monterey Plaza Hotel I photographed Glenda in front of the Porpoise Fountain we enjoyed the last time we checked in here on a previous visit. Though much of Cannery Row is very touristy now thanks to John Steinbeck, I took some shots of a couple of old canneries that have not yet been restored. At 4 PM we went for the sunset dinner at the Beach House Restaurant at Lovers Point in Pacific Grove. When we lived here the first time, this building was actually a beach house with little shacks in which bathers changed clothes. We went back to the beach after supper to take photographs of the sunset and then came back to the hotel.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Big Sur
October 11, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
The day began with breakfast at the Old Monterey Cafe. I had some delicious huevos rancheros. We began with a quick visit to the Royal Presidio Chapel of Monterey. The cathedral, also called San Carlos Borromeo de Monterey, was founded by Franciscan Priest Junipero Serra in 1770 as one of the Spanish missions strung out along El Camino Real. Next we completed the scenic Seventeen-Mile Drive. When we were first married we never were able to take this drive. Back then there was a charge of $3.50 to make the scenic drive, and we could not afford the price. The price is a little higher now, but we had no problem coming up with the money. Life is good. We had lunch at the Little Napoli Restaurant in Carmel, one of our favorite restaurants in all the world. Glenda had the Bolognese tagliatelle, and I had the osso bucco ravioli. A leisurely drive down Highway 101 to Big Sur took most of the afternoon. The scenes were as beautiful as ever. When we returned to Monterey we found a street market in progress. We bought some English toffee, some dates, strawberries and salami. We grazed on these things for supper on Tuesday night and had an early bedtime.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Fisherman's Wharf to Point Piños
October 10, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 68 °F
It is strange that when one returns to a location that is very important in one's life, he imagines that it will somehow be magic. Yet when one actually does return, he often simply rehearses the common, ordinary moments he enjoyed when he was there the first time. That's what happened to us today. We started down at Fisherman's Wharf, where we used to take long walks. On a previous visit here, we even boarded a fancy sailboat called the Derek M. Bayliss and went whale watching. But today, we just wanted to be--to be here. And to remember. Just outside the old San Carlos Hotel (now the Marriott) we encountered a young man who had the best-trained dog I have ever seen. His eyes were fixed on his master's. Constantly. And the young man simply whispered a wish, and the dog complied. Instantly. Repeatedly.

We took our hike today in segments, so the trek did not seem long at all. We passed the old historic gate of the Presidio, passed the ancient Army building that used to serve the cavalry unit posted here. Now it is the Museum of the Presidio of Monterey. It is, incidentally, the only building on post that the public can visit. Since Nine-eleven 2001, one needs special clearance to visit any Army base. That holds true for the Presidio as well, although the Defense Language School is more like a college campus than an Army base. Surprisingly, in a recent BRAC (Base Reduction and Closing), the government closed hundreds of military installations deemed no longer necessary. Even Fort Ord and the Presidio of San Francisco were shut down. I was surprised that the feds left little POM open. I heard the decision not to close the Defense Language Institute West Coast (DLIWC) was because of pressure from local Congressional Representative Leon Panetta. That may be true, but it may also be the case that the Army considered language training essential. Although there are differences. When I was here, all of the large classroom buildings house the Asian language departments--Chinese, Vietnamese, Japanese. Other languages were taught in smaller buildings or even mobile classrooms down at the bottom of the hill. Now the Asian language departments are in those smaller buildings, and the big classrooms at the top of the hill are occupied by the Arabic and Pharsee departments. For our last visit here I arranged with the Chaplain's Office to secure a pass, so we were able to go on post. Despite the new heightened security, the officials were quite free about allowing us to take pictures. We stopped for lunch at a quintessential British pub called "The Crown and Anchor." It is operated by a British couple who moved to California several years ago. They were concerned that there was no proper pub here, and they opened one that has everything nautical you would expect in an English pub except Admiral Nelson.

We traveled out as far as Point Piños. I snagged some sea lions, sea otters, and one house I have always admired. I have heard that this house belonged to the singer/producer/TV personality Merv Griffin. I also heard that it was the home of actress Kim Novak. I don't know if either is true. Soon we will leave this place, but it will always be in my heart.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Downtown Monterey
October 10, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 55 °F
We began the morning in the hotel office for a continental breakfast. I met our innkeepers Ellen and Lauren. Glenda and I had a continental breakfast in our room and set out on a walking tour of downtown Monterey. We idled past some of the stores. Glenda was especially interested in seeing a little photography store where on our last visit here she purchased our very first digital camera. I found a Walgreen's pharmacy that, I think, occupies the building formerly housing the J. C. Penny Store. I remember in 1972 I arrived at the Presidio with only my government issue clothing in a dufflebag. I had been told not to take any civilian clothing. However, when I had to wear my fatigue uniform all weekend long, several guys asked me if I had been given extra duty for some infraction. On a Sunday morning at around 6 AM I left the Presidio to wander downtown (still wearing my fatigues) just to get my geographical bearings. I found the J. C. Penny Store and decided that as soon as I got off work on Monday I would come down and buy some civilian clothing. After work on Monday I walked back downtown and purchased one pair of blue jeans and a white sport shirt with a little black pattern printed on it. I kept those clothes for years until the fabric literally wore out. I remember on that first weekend morning passing the San Carlos Hotel, now a refurbished Marriott. It looked massive in the predawn silence on that Sunday morning. I photographed the Wells-Fargo bank we used for our small checking account. On a previous visit I had photographed its interior, but today the bank officials denied me permission. What is remarkable to me now is that the memories of those events that happened so long ago seem so recent. It is as though no time has passed. Monterey still seems like home.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Lovers' Point
October 9, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 70 °F
We drove out to Pacific Grove to retrace some of our old haunts. Poverty kept us very close to home when we were first married, but if you are on the Monterey Peninsula, then such a restriction can be a blessing. I learned that Pacific Grove was begun as a Methodist beachside retreat center in the early days of the last century. Now property values have skyrocketed. I found on the internet a small house on Franklin Street. I remember passing it as I walked to the Presidio each day for classes in Chinese-Mandarin. That little one-bedroom bungalow just sold for 1.4 million dollars. Pacific Grove is still beautiful. We spent some time eating our picnic lunch at Lovers' Point, and I was surprised to find a little makeshift monument to the folk singer John Denver, who died when his airplane crashed in Monterey Bay several years ago.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
At the Colton Inn
October 9, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 73 °F
We chose to stay at the Colton Inn just next door to the Public Library in Monterey. This motel is neither the newest, nor the finest inn in the city, but we chose it for its location. It is not far from our old apartment, and it allowed me access to the library. With little money during our first year together, we would often go to the library to read or peruse the newspapers. We did not have the resources to subscribe to a newspaper, and we could not afford a television. I remember following the publication of the New York Times articles by Daniel Berrigan. Later on, those articles were published in a book called "The Pentagon Papers," showing the duplicity of the U. S. government in selling a war in Southeast Asia that the Army was training me to fight. I remember reading about Richard Nixon as the Watergate accusations emerged. I remember folding up a newspaper, walking over to Glenda in the library and whispering, "The President of the United States is a criminal."

We wandered around downtown and found some of the old buildings we love. We used to dream about one day having a home of our own, even nicer than the huge old Spanish mansions we saw on Alvarado Street, on Calle Principal and on Fremont Street. Now those houses don't appear so large or so grand, but, of course now we have our own lovely home. But these memories are indeed precious.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Honeymoon Apartment
October 9, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 66 °F
Arriving in Monterey about 11 AM, we first went to our first apartment. I had rented it a few weeks before we were married on June 16, 1972, and immediately after our wedding at the Presidio of Monterey Base Chapel, we moved in. I was surprised today to find that we were able to take photos inside. A workman named Joe was refurbishing the apartment in preparation for new renters, and he showed us around. then we took pictures on Franklin Street and in the neighborhood. Troia's grocery store is still there, but it is no longer owned by Mr. Troia. He was a Portuguese gentleman from whom Glenda would buy one-fourth of a pound of ground beef per day so that we could survive on a pre-packaged casserole mix called "Hamburger Helper." Mr. Troia must have known that we were a poor, young Army couple, because I'm sure that he was overly generous in measuring one quarter of a pound. My salary was $288.50 per month, and rent on the apartment was $165 per month. I don't know how we made ends meet. We went down to the Coast Guard Pier and took photos of the sea lions. We had no money for trips or entertainment, so on week ends we would walk down to the pier to sit and watch the sea lions and the sea otters for hours. There are far fewer sea otters here now. Some theories say that the fecal material of cats washed into Monterey Bay in the sewage, and that a virus has killed the sea otters. Whether this is so, I can't say. I only hope that they will return.

We got a pizza from Gianni's brought it back to the room at the Colton Inn next door to the library, and finished the Hartford Pinot Noir. While we were eating our pizza we watched on television the presidential debate between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Dead Soldier City
October 9, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 64 °F
We left our apartment at WorldMark at about 5 am, and had an interesting drive crossing the ridge of the Sierras on Highway 175 to Hopland. I took a quick shot of a gorgeous sunrise as we were halfway up the mountain. The road was gloriously beautiful as it twisted along the mountain passes, but I became a bit concerned when a few speedsters in sports cars rushed up behind me, wanting to pass on the narrow, curvy road. We stopped along the way at McDonald's for a quick breakfast and soon found ourselves traveling south on the east side of Oakland Bay. I had never seen San Francisco from this side, so again I stopped to take some quick photos.

Driving further south toward Monterey, what really got my attention was Fort Ord. When I was a young soldier stationed at the Presidio in Monterey, we referred to Fort Ord as "Soldier City." It was larger than most of our home towns. Glenda and I would go to Fort Ord for groceries at the commissary, for medical and dental care, and for most other services the Army provided us. Most of the military materiel arriving or departing from Vietnam came through Fort Ord. One can imagine my shock as we made the turn into the Army base--it was not there. Almost all of the buildings had been razed. Only a chapel, the police station and the hospital remained. The few billets and warehouses still standing lay derelict with weeds around them, and even a few trees growing up through them. But mostly, they were gone. The few patches of concrete parking lots that had not been carried away were hardly visible, infested with weeds. There used to be miles of billets, training areas, warehouses, and munitions facilities. Now they are all gone.

Few things in my life have ever made me feel so old. The world has changed. This is not the world I knew in 1971. The Stoic philosopher Epictetus is noted for saying, "There is nothing permanent except change." I learned today at an existential level that he was right. Soldier City has changed. It is gone. It is dead.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Lake County Wine Harvest Festival
October 8, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 88 °F
We decided to check out a winery in Kelseyville. I was looking for Steel Winery, and I got an address from my GPS. When we arrived at the location I saw no buildings, only a big open field and some tents. "I must have made a wrong turn," I told Glenda, so I circled back around to make another pass at the address. Only then did I realize that the tents were housing the annual Lake County Wine Harvest Festival. Every wine grower in the region was represented. Amid the dozens of tents we discovered a small building which actually was Steel Winery, so we went inside to see what was going on.

We were told that for five dollars we would get five glasses of wine of our own choosing. Then we could visit the tents of the vendors to buy pulled pork, fried chicken, barbecued beef, and a whole host of other delicious tapas. Glenda and I adored a Filipino dish called a lumpia, a sort of meat filled eggroll. We had never heard of them. We sampled our five different wines along with some wonderful Mexican and Asian food. There was a new white wine called Roussanne that is between a Chardonnay and a Pinot Grigio. We met several local residents and enjoyed learning about their experiences in the winemaking business. Some of the wine growers told us that the wines of Lake County are every bit as good as those of Napa County to the south, but that Lake County has not been discovered yet. So the wines cost a fraction of the price of those grown just a few miles away. Additionally, California law requires that for a wine to claim a vintage, all of its grapes must be grown on a certain hill, using certain techniques in an identifiable location. The wine growers of Lake County generally do not sell their wines individually, but rather bring them to a central winery where a trained vintner blends them into delicious combinations. I thought they were spectacular.

Just before we left Glenda wanted me to go back into the field and pick just a few of the cabernet sauvignon grapes for her to taste. I went back, took a photo, picked the grapes and happened upon a delightful high school student who has lived all her life in Kelseyville. She was friendly and charming and engaged me in a conversation. She told me that since she was a child she had worked as an agricultural worker in her father's vineyard. I asked her where she planned to go to college after graduation. "I'll probably stay here," she said. "The grapes are my life." She seemed very intelligent and articulate, and for a moment I felt a bit of regret that someone so personable and talented would not further her education. Then I looked around at the vineyards surrounding us and I said, "That may not be a bad choice."

Then we headed Vista Point to take some photographs and returned to Worldmark. After relaxing a bit in the room we went outside to enjoy the sunset and then came back to the hooch for bed.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Skunk Train
October 8, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 59 °F
At the town of Willets we boarded the "Skunk Train," an old collection of railway cars that formerly hauled huge redwood logs out of the forest, and were treated to a pulled pork sandwich at Northspur before returning. The redwood forests are majestically beautiful. The folk singer onboard got a bit hokey for my taste, but still looking at the old railroad cars and the beautiful redwood forest had its merits.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Château Montelena
October 7, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 84 °F
We became aware of Château Montelena when we watched a movie entitled “Bottle Shock.” The title is a double entendre referring not only to the accidental spoilage of a bottle of wine, but also to an event that occurred in 1976. An English wine merchant, whose shop was in Paris, was convinced that French wines were superior to all others. Nevertheless, needing to boost his business, he traveled to the United States on the outside chance that he might find an American wine that would sell in Paris. He wandered onto the lovely grounds of Château Montelena. That year the château produced a miraculous Chardonnay. He took back to France a bottle of that Chardonnay and a Cabernet Sauvignon from a neighboring winery called Stag’s Leap. In a blind taste test performed by France’s leading wine experts, both California wines won over several other French wines. The judges were shocked. In another similar competition held in France eleven years later, the California wines won again. Today we had the opportunity to see where it all started, Château Montelena—the vineyard that put Napa Valley on the winemaking map.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Wine From the Barrel
October 7, 2016 in the United States ⋅ ☀️ 79 °F
Castello di Amorosa is a fantasy castle that resembles in every way an Italian fortress from the 15th century. Although it is new, all of the furnishings are antiques imported from Italy. The vineyards produce some of the finest wines in all of Napa Valley, California. We certainly got our share at a wine tasting today in their beautiful wine cellar.Read more
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Southwestern Odyssey
Waking in Clearlake
October 7, 2016 in the United States ⋅ 64 °F
Yesterday we arrived at San Francisco about 11:15 AM, got a rental car, and drove about three hours across the Golden Gate Bridge and up through wine country to get to Nice, California about 5:30 PM. On the way we stopped in Windsor and bought groceries at a Safeway. I bought a $39 bottle of Hartford Pinot Noir from the Russian River Valley. Glenda and I had a dinner of bread, cheese, fruit and that beautiful wine. When we arrived at our apartment at Worldmark we went out on the pier and had a wonderful conversation about wine with a young couple from Oregon as we watched a spectacular sunset. Glenda was very tired so we went to bed about 8 PM and slept like logs until this morning. After a long day of flying and driving yesterday, we are greeted by this sunrise at Clearlake, California. Glenda, the not so much morning person, is sipping coffee and trying to wake up. Chuck, the morning person, has cleaned the condo, made coffee, showered, planned our day in wine country and is now on the pier taking photos of the sunrise. Life is beautiful and we are blessed.Read more
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British Isles
Windsor to Heathrow to Home
September 13, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 50 °F
The sun rose beautifully behind Windsor Castle this morning as we placed our packed luggage in the hallway of the Harte and Garter Hotel in preparation for the bus ride to Heathrow. From there we will take a flight back home. What a wonderful trip this has been! We have seen the places from which our known ancestors came. We have seen the places that cradled the world in which we live. We are forever changed.Read more
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British Isles
Arrival in Windsor
September 12, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 66 °F
5:00 pm Arrive at the Harte and Garter Hotel in Windsor, stow our bags and immediately begin the tour of Windsor Castle. Overwhelmingly magnificent. We stay for Evensong in St. George Chapel, where we are seated right above the graves of Jane Seymour, Henry VIII, Edward and George III. A lovely buffet dinner back at the hotel was the tastiest dinner we have had on this whole trip. I chose not to eat a potato. I enjoyed it with a Cabernet made in Argentina. Our room is magnificent. It has a huge canopy bed, a lovely carved armoire, and a spacious bathroom. After supper we took a walking tour of Windsor with guide Amanda. She was voted the best city guide for Windsor last year, and it is clear why she won this award. She was cheerful and enthusiastic. First we saw the Public Records Office where Prince Charles married Camilla Parker-Bowles, and where Elton John married his male partner. We go Down Park Lane to see the formal entrance to Windsor Castle. Queen Elizabeth can often be seen driving her Jaguar with one bodyguard down the lane to the family cemetery, the home of her son William, or to the Royal Ascot horse track. Amanda says the Queen drives "like a bat out of hell." This week she became the longest reigning British monarch, passing Queen Victoria's record at about 5:00 pm on Tuesday. The wealthiest neighbor of the Queen is now the rock singer Sir Elton John, who owns a 75-acre tract adjacent to the Castle grounds. She mentioned that, unlike the formal rooms of state, the Queen's private residence is rather modest, but quite comfortable. Windsor Castle belongs to the state. The Queen has two private residences which she owns in her own right: Balmoral in Scotland and Sanderingham. For the last two years the Irish regiment has provided the military guard for the Queen. They erected a statue of a modern soldier made of bronze from the statue of Saddam Hussein, which was pulled down when the allies took Baghdad in the Iraq War. The large boulder on which the Irish statue sits came from Helman Province in Afghanistan. We saw the stables. Prince Phillip emerges every day driving a carriage with at least two horses, driving down Park Lane to the Royal road. We saw the King's Head Tavern. Over the door is a facsimile of the warrant for the arrest and execution of King Charles I. The fourth signature on it is that of Oliver Cromwell. We saw a building, formerly a tea house but now up for sale, that was made of unseasoned oak. The wood bent and warped, and now the house leans precariously, and there is not a square corner in it. We came back to the room, got our luggage ready, and prepared for an early departure tomorrow morning at 7:30 am.

11:45 pm There is a celebration for an Indian wedding going on in the dining room adjacent to our quarters. Two Indian children, little girls, are running up and down the hall, making a racket that woke up both Glenda and me. She stood outside the door and gave her English-teacher routine. Then things got noisy again, and I stood outside the room glaring at the girls until a hotel employee came by and asked what was the matter. I told him that the children were running and making too much noise. I don't know if he said anything to the partners, but the revelry broke up shortly afterwards.Read more
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British Isles
Stonehenge
September 12, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
At breakfast this morning at the Duke of Cornwall Hotel in Plymouth we ordered coffee for the six people at our table. In thirty minutes the waitress brought one small coffee pot containing two cups of coffee. Shortly afterwards, she brought a larger coffee pot. It seems that they wait until coffee is ordered to brew it. We never got our breakfast, so we finally left. We are heading for Stonehenge and Windsor Castle today, so we will arrange our luggage so that we will be ready for the tight security at Windsor. We already getting ready for our flight out tomorrow morning.

9:15 am We pass through Otter Valley, where there is an otter nursery for the propagation and protection of the animals.

9:40 am We are on road 303, the old Roman road west to Exeter. Fairly straight.

11:00 - 1:00 at Stonehenge. Last week a henge of 90 subterranean stones was found by radar to encircle the adjacent town of Durrington. Subterranean radar shows nearly 400 dwellings in Durrington and a wooden henge. One theory is that the wooden henge at Durrington was a symbol for life, while the stone henges, made of an eternal medium, were associated with death.Read more
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British Isles
Mevagissy
September 11, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
We planned a rest stop in the charming little fishing village of Mevagissy. Beautiful fishing boats filled the harbor. It was interesting that the small public toilets were filled, so I suggested that I stand guard and allow the women to use the men's restroom as long as no other men needed it. They found this idea shocking, but a few women finally relented, their line was so long. I saw a sign reading "Mevagissy Wet Fish." I asked the woman at the kiosk about "wet fish." Aren't all fish wet? She told me that this is a common phrase in the British Isles to distinguish fresh fish from dried fish.Read more
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British Isles
Marazion
September 11, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
It is strange that I had never heard of this place before, but Marazion has all of the charm of Mont St. Michel in France. Marazion is another fortress built out on a spit of land that is an island at high tide. In fact, several tourists walked out onto the peninsula and were caught by the high tide. Operators manned small boats to go rescue the stranded tourists. Of course, it looked as though this was a rescue operation they were required to repeat daily.Read more
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British Isles
Land's End
September 11, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 61 °F
We arrived at Land's End late in the morning. It is lovely, but no more so than other spots along the coast. I suppose their is some mystical attraction in knowing that one is as close as one can be to America while still on British soil.Read more
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British Isles
Plymouth
September 10, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 68 °F
4:15 pm Arrived in Plymouth. Bus tour of Plymouth Hoe. Lance Boeppel and I had our pictures taken on the pier from which the Mayflower left for the new world. There is now a tablet set up by Ambassador Walter Annenberg at the spot. We saw monuments to Sir Francis Drake, the Defeat of Spanish Armada, WW2 Airmen. Drake's Island is the place where he moored after his circumnavigation of the world. Arrived at Duke of Cornwall Hotel about 5:00 pm. I walked back over to Plymouth Hoe to take photos. I got an especially good one of a little girl cutting cartwheels on the quay. This hotel is the one in which Scott stayed the night before he left on his Antarctic exploration. The dining room at the hotel is lovely, and supper was good. I had spanocopita, which came in a tomato sauce and a rich chocolate brownie. However, the next morning we ordered breakfast and it never arrived. If much of Britain's history took place on the high seas, then Plymouth is the place where the sea meets Britain.Read more
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British Isles
Glastonbury
September 10, 2015 in England ⋅ ⛅ 72 °F
2:45 pm Glastonbury Abbey. Lady's Chapel is oldest part, legendary site of small wooden church supposedly built by Joseph of Arimathea. Thorn bush grew where he stuck his thorn staff into the ground, according to legend. Blooming cutting sent every year to the Queen. Glastonbury now center of Wicca and alternative culture devotees.Read more
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British Isles
Bath
September 10, 2015 in England ⋅ 🌫 54 °F
On to Bath and Plymouth today. We are all still enjoying ourselves, but we're getting tired. At 8:45 am we pass Newport. At 8:55 am cross the Severn Estuary. At 9:10 am we pass close to Bristol. David tells us about S.S. Great Britain, first iron screw propeller ocean going ship. Found in the Falkland Islands in 1970 being used as a coal hopper. Cary Grant, whose real name was Archibald Leish discovered by Mae West, was from Bristol. P\We pass Laycock, owned by national Trust, Harry Potter scenes and Pride and Prejudice filmed there. Camilla lives in Raybridge. She used to turn off at Junction 17 to get to Charles. She had an accident. Pressed panic button, Charles saw it and pressed his panic button, Royal Navy helicopters and gunships appear. Camilla's code name became Junction 17. We pass through little village of Pennsylvania. We do a bus overview of Bath. We tour the Roman Baths, then stop at a little shop for Cornish pasties. We sat at a public plaza adjacent to the abbey while we listened to a street musician sing "American Pie," and ate our lunch. I popped into the Pump Room to take a photo and use the toilet. We took some quick photos of the abbey and then caught the bus. At 1:00 pm we pass through the town of High Littlteton.Read more
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British Isles
Welsh Folk Dinner at Cardiff Castle
September 9, 2015 in Wales ⋅ 🌙 55 °F
Dinner was accompanied by an introduction to Welsh culture, and I was chosen to be the king's food taster. Our hotel, formerly the Maldron Cardiff, was having its name changed to the Clayton as we arrived.Read more
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British Isles
Cardiff Castle
September 9, 2015 in Wales ⋅ ⛅ 63 °F
We toured Cardiff Castle, a nineteenth century fantasy of the Marquis of Bute. Over the top Gothic. The G 7 summit dinner was held here last year. The castle is built over the remains of a Roman fort, whose foundations are exhibited in a museum on the site.Read more
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British Isles
Cardiff
September 9, 2015 in Wales ⋅ ⛅ 64 °F
Arrived at Cardiff at 4:00 pm and took a coach overview and short walking tour of the renovated harbor. Cardiff is an industrial town that is trying hard to re-invent itself, now that coal in the UK has lost its former importance.Read more
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