Oxford and the Cotswolds

We met the group with Back Roads tours on Tuesday - bright and early at the hotel and headed out in the rain - thankfully, just as we arrived in Oxford, the sky cleared and the sun came out.   We walked around Oxford - the buildings are amazing

I did not see any students running with their scholarly gowns on but we did make are way to Christ Church College - where 13 UK Prime Ministers attended and more recently the dining hall was the inspiration for the Harry Potter films.  Christ Church Chapel has been the cathedral for Oxford since the time of Henry the VIII

(sorry I am trying to upload more photos but having technical difficulities - I will try another day to see if I can post more photos)

We then headed to the grave of Sir Winston Churchill in Bladon - it is quite an unassuming resting place amongst his family members.  We then crossed the road and visited a pub for lunch.  We then headed off to visit Blenheim Palace - the birthplace of Churchill and the current residence (one of) of the Duke and Duchess of Marlborough - they have private apartments within the palace separate from the public state rooms.  The palace and grounds are quite grandiose and include more than 2000 acres, a maze, water features, formal gardens and more.  Kathleen and I had tea on the patio overlooking the formal gardens - we enjoyed our tea with chocolates from Harrods - yum!!

We then wandered the back roads of the Cotswolds and came upon the Kings Men Stone Circle - a circle of stones older than Stonehedge - legend has it that a witch cursed a king and his men and turned them into stones.  The stones are obviously very old and worn and are just is a field a very short walk from the road - there are no concessions or fanfare other than a simple sign. 

We then headed to Chipping Campden and our hotel for a couple of nights The Noel Arms Hotel - getting to our rooms is a bit of a trek and a maze - up and then down steps - through this door, across a sitting room and then through another 2 or 3 doors - it is a test each time we head back to the room to ensure we don't take a wrong turn.



London!

Monday we travelled to London on the train and even took the tube to our hotel - only had to back track once. As we had most of the afternoon and the evening free - we decided to wander. We found a place for lunch in Notting Hill and then slowly made our way to Harrods in Knightsbridge - a great walk through neighbourhoods.

London bus or a double decker

gorgeous blossoms

We made our way to Harrods and bought the most delicious chocolate - yum!! Then we slowly made our way back to the hotel through Hyde Park - lots of people out - some even having a picnic at 7:00 p.m. on a cool evening.   For dinner we went to a pub down the road called The Swan - a old coach inn - possibly one of the oldest in the city.  The sayings "one for the road" and "he's on the wagon" started in this pub - just down the road used to be the gallows and the story goes that the goaler would bring his wagon by with the prisoners and go into the pub and request a last pint for the prisoners, they would take a pint out to them in the wagon - hence 'one for the road'  Once the wagon moved on, the other pub patrons would comment that the prisoners were on the wagon and had drunk their last drink. 

Brighton Marathon - April 15

Today Kathleen ran the Brighton Marathon - all 26.2 miles... We were up early and we walked up to Preston Park for the start - a bit of a warm up for Kathleen - about 5 miles.  It was exciting to see all the runners, friends and families making their way through the Brighton streets to the start and really impressive once we arrived at the park to see all the people - approx. 15000 people ran the marathon and to see them all queue up at the start is so very inspiring. 

Here are some photos from the start of the marathon:

the corrals

Kathleen at the Brighton Marathon 2012

waiting for the start

on the move but not at the start yet

just steps from the start line

The people of Brighton really embraced the runners - there were so many people out cheering, shops, pubs, cafes opened their doors and windows, played loud music and all the staff and patrons cheered.  It was reported that more than 100,000 spectators cheered along the course.   This one gent enthusiastically dance and cheered and the runners loved him and cheered and danced as they run by.

Kathleen ran the race in 5 hours and 20 minutes and had a smile on her face when we met at the meeting place.  We then walked to the flat for a well deserved bath then out for pint and Sunday roast dinner.

aaahhh - finished and steps away from a hot bath!



Brighton in the UK

I am now in Brighton in the UK with my friend Kathleen and we rented a flat near the sea in Brighton. We arrived here on Thursday in the rain but today was lovely, sunny and about 12 degrees Celsius

Our flat is the one in the first building on the second floor with the balcony on the right of the photo

Kathleen plans to run the Brighton marathon on Sunday so we are here a few days early to acclimatize.  Today we walked along the waterfront, saw the Brighton Pier, Brighton Wheel, the Carousel, had a great lunch near the Pier with a jug of Pimm's in the sunshine.

Brighton Wheel

the beach and Brighton Pier

Brighton Pier

Kathleen and the jug of Pimm's

We went to the Brighton Centre for Kathleen to pick up her runner's number - 2874 and we toured the marathon exhibit hall.  I found the softest socks made from bamboo - they feel great!

On the beach we saw this group of people and we figure they are a group of 'Find Waldo' aficionados  - here is a photo...

can you find Waldo?

Curacao - Bon Bini!

I have returned from a week in Curacao - aaahhh - the lovely warmth of the sun, island breeze and ocean water...

We had a grand time, explored beaches, toured the island, did a bit of shopping in Willemstead and more importantly spent time under an umbrella either watching the waves or listening to the kids in the pool.  My travelling companion - Lesley loves the sun so Curacao was great as it was sunny every day with a wonderful breeze to cool us off. 

the views from our room

We stayed at the Hyatt Regency on the Santa Barbara plantation - a lovely hotel on the ocean about a 30 minute drive from Willemstead the main city on the island.  While it was mainly a beach or pool holiday, we did take a tour of the island where we explored Willemstead - a UNESCO World Heritage site, went to Boka Tabla where the waves crash into the limestone cliffs and you walk over lava fields.

Lesley at Boka Tabla

We also went on a beach tour where we visited three beaches - the prettiest is Grote Knip but we also visited Porto Maria and Cas Abou.

both photos are of Grote Knip beach

I am off again... another adventure

Hi there,  I am off again - to Curacao this time.  I head out on Saturday for a week of sun, sand and sea.
Curacao is one of the ABC islands - Aruba, Bonaire and Curacao and is a transcontinental island, geographically of South America - off the coast of Venezuela and also considered part of the West Indies.  Curacao is a country within the Kingdom of the Netherlands.  Curacao is a multilingual society where four main languages are widely spoken - Papiamentu, Dutch, English and Spanish. 

Curacao is known for its beaches, scuba diving, a semiarid climate that is fairly consistently lovely with  temperatures between 25 degrees and 31 degrees celsius - aaahhhh...   I am travelling with a good friend who needs a break so we are both looking forward to a grand time.  Hopefully if I have access to wifi so I will be able to post some of our adventures.

In preparation - I had my toes done and selected blue in honour of the Curacao blue liqueur which we will have to try.  Here is a pic...

Jamaica - Yeh Mon!!!

Hi there - sorry for the long delay in posts - winter doldrums's and internet issues to blame. I am back in Toronto after a week in Jamaica with three friends. We had a great time - beautiful weather - sunny and warm with a wonderful breeze off the ocean, lovely resort, great food (way too much!) and fabulous friends. We had lots of laughs. We flew into Montego Bay and hopped on the bus to Runaway Bay to the Gran Bahia Principle -

the view from the lobby bar

another view of the resort

the view from our room just before sunset

We mostly spent our days - at the beach, Ellen swimming in the ocean, Eva walking the beach and Dianne and I under the palapas reading  - a grand vacation.  We took a couple day trips - one to Ocho Rios for shopping - well we did not really find anything we wanted in the tourist shops so we headed to the grocery store where we found lots to buy - coffee, jerk seasoning, rum cake, sorrel jam... all yummy items - we had a great time - asking local shoppers for recommendations - everyone was very helpful.

the beach and the resort

yep - those are my toes - the view from my chair in the shade...

We took a catamaran trip and visit to Dunn's Falls which we all climbed - it was easier than I thought though they had us all hold hands all the way up the falls - we thought it was like team building exercise - we were all successful making it to the top.

Overall - the trip was great - they Jamaican people were lovely, beautiful scenery - very green even though they have not had much rain, fabulous food - love that jerk chicken. I would go back.