TravelStream™ news feed for member dancejill on TravelPod's free travel blogs service http://www.travelpod.com/syndication/rss/dancejill en-us Copyright ©2009 TravelPod.com Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:45:21 -0400 http://www.travelpod.com http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1254606014/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1254606014/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1254606014/tpod.html Sat, 03 Oct 2009 17:45:21 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Hi,One of our photos from the Roman Ruins at Pamukula, Turkey is featured today on Travel Pod.This picture was taken of the ruins just outside of the Amphitheatre and truly represents how involved in entertainment the Romans were no matter where they settled!  Just go here and you can see it.Congratulations, one of your TravelPod photos has been selected as today's feature on TravelPod! Visit http://www.travelpod.com/besttravelblogphotos/0/48.html or www.travelpod.com today to view our featured photo.Cheers,Jill & Len
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1252641160/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1252641160/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1252641160/tpod.html Tue, 15 Sep 2009 21:37:03 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada

Anisha and Naraj made sure we were up before 5!  We dressed and quietly said our good-byes and began the trip to the car rental return.  For the first 15 minutes the traffic was light and we followed the GPS.  As we got closer to the airport the traffic became busy.  We could have never followed the signs to 'car rental return'!  I caught a glimpse of one sign saying Avis and Hertz with an arrow to the left and National and Europacar with an arrow to the right!  We would have made a mistake here for sure.  Once at the car return we put our bags out on a dolly and then checked in with the staff.  They don't start until 6.  We were ready for the inspection and signed off on the bill and caught the bus to terminal 3 and Air Canada check in.  We had checked in yesterday on line, just needed to print the boarding passes, which a clerk helped us do.  We checked in our 2 large back-packs and headed for securityWe went through security without any problems, found our departure gate way way out one end.  We both had mixed feelings as we are sad to think our travels are now over, but anxious for the long flight to be over and get home to see everyone.The Air Canada crew were great, we were dined and offered lots to drink.  I watched 3 movies and I think Len watched 2 and then listened to the music and tried to sleep.  The flight was just about full.  We were fed a snack and more drinks and just before landing we had a lunch and more liquids.I spoke with a flight attendant about customs and she assured me it would be easy.  I said I have only 5 receipts and have been away for 11.  They all enjoyed hearing about our trip.I completed the customs form and put our print out with the form in the envelope.  We soon landed and made our way with the whole flight to customs.  We eventually got to an agent.  He looked at the CBSA form and asked what we had bought for the amount claims.  I pulled out our print out and he asked where did we get a lap top for $200?  We said in Thailand and he wrote numbers on the back of the form and said good-bye.We then headed down the stairs to get our bags and leave for the connecting flight.  No Canadian money so we couldn't get a cart.  so we put our packs on.  We handed in our papers and went out the door.  That was easy!We got some money, bought a snack and waited for the flight to Winnipeg.  Wow, what a difference on domestic flights, they serve pop, juice, tea, coffee or water free.  You can buy snacks, food, and beer if you like.  They charge for the head sets, blankets and pillows!  All that is free on the international flights.Our flight is early arriving in Winnipeg by almost 20 minutes.  We are so excited and look forward to seeing those who have come to meet us.We go out the doors and look, down the escalator and look.  No one is here!  We laugh!  How exciting is this.  We take our picture at the terminal for the end of the trip and wait for our packs to come around.Soon we hear Grandma, Grandma, it's Aleesha our 14 year old grand daughter.  She is jumping over suitcases pulled off the conveyor belt trying to get to us.  Right behind her was Alex, Cole and Mom and Dad.  Lots of hugs and kisses all the way around.  Alex has grown so tall, it is hard to believe.We met Heather, Mario and their 2 boys Leo and Josh outside the terminal.  Gentle hugs and kisses with the little ones, it has been 11 months and maybe Josh only 2 might not remember us.For diner we had perogies, kolbassa sausage, and holubtsi.  Mmmm, it was very good.On Saturday we went to see Scott, Lisa, Abby, Penny, Zoe and Bryce.  My how they have all changed.  We are all settled in, well, kind of.  It is hard to get used to the new life style.  At times we don't know what we have to do or should be doing.  Now to get up to date on the family, files and our new lifestyle.One more blog to finish us.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1252162663/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1252162663/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1252162663/tpod.html Sun, 06 Sep 2009 22:12:39 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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London, England, United Kingdom

We packed up our bags and took them to the car.  Last night we went through all the bags sorting out all the 'extras' we had collected over the past 11 months and didn't want to carry any more.  I had done a spreadsheet of all our purchases and the costs ready for customs questions should any arise.We go down town and find the Gloucester Cathedral.  It is another very large and old church, it originated with the foundation of an abbey dedicated to St. Peter in 678 or 679 and the current church's foundation in 1072 .  There is a picture of golf in one of the stained glass windows.  It is the earliest images of golf and dates from 1350, over 300 years earlier than the earliest image of golf from Scotland.  King Edward I is buried here and the 1st, 2nd and 6th Harry Potter movies were filmed here.  It is different from Salisbury and Canterbury Cathedrals.Back on the road and we will stop in on Windsor Castle which is the official residence of Queen Elizabeth.  We go through the town of Windsor, where the traffice, shops and tourists are very busy.  We come around a corner and there it is!  Not quite what we thought, we were expecting it to be out in the country with lots of land around it, not right down town with lots of tourist shops and restaurants around it.  McD's is right across the street.It is a huge and beautiful castle, just what we imagined where she would live, a bit more elaborate than Buckingham Palace.  It is over 1,000 years old and most monarchs have lived here over the years.  We walked around the outside, took some pictures, but as it is now after 3 we don't have time to take the tour through it, so we will have to come back another year.  We head off to go to Niraj and Anisha's home in the Middlesex area and about 1/2 an hour from Heathrow Airport.  We met this young couple in Taba, Egypt and have kept in touch over the last months of our travels.  It is a drive through lots of busy traffice.  Anisha is home, we sit and chat with her, her sister and niece.  We get to meet Niraj's parents who have just moved here to enjoy their retirement years.  Soon Niraj is home from work and we get ready to go out for diner.  I said to Anisha that I only have the back packing clothes outside of a pair of black silk pants, she says she would loan me a top.  Anisha then asks if I would like to wear one of her Indian outfits and of course I say yes, as she pulls out a beautiful red top and pants.  Red, my favourite colour!  It fits and I am so happy to look good.The evening was very enjoyable and the food delicious, our last English fish and chip diner.  We are soon back home and in bed as 5 a.m. will come early.    What a beautiful ending to a great trip, sharing the evening with friends was so much nicer that sitting alone in a hotel waiting for the time to tick by.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251795545/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251795545/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251795545/tpod.html Tue, 01 Sep 2009 05:01:20 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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Gloucester, England, United Kingdom

August 31, Monday.After another great full English breakfast, this one had hash browns too we continue south to Chester. We go back to the tourist information and again ask where the Recorder Steps are.  We are told where, and we walk and look and walk and look.  I give up and we walk back towards the car park along the river Dee.  I then see a cement block on the wall, noting these steps were built for the City of Chester's Recorder, Robert Comberbach, in 1700.  This is what I was looking for!  Actually I thought it was several steps with names on them, but it is only his!  We leave very happy.We begin our drive south again, actually we head south east and go into Wales.  Yes, you know this is only for bragging rights to add another country to the list!  It is a beautiful country ride.  So what do you do in Wales?  We stopped to see a sheep auction.  Hundreds of sheep in pens coming and going.  They all have spray on them in their groups and as they are sold they put a number on them for the purchaser.It is a dirty business as the workers have Wellingtons on (boots) and then plastic pants.  There is a young boy of 6 or 7 helping and his shirt and hands are mucky, or maybe it is poo.  His dad says he doesn’t want to go back to school he would rather stay here and help at the auctions.  The aroma is quite strong and having seen it all we leave walking past a semi full of bleating sheep, off to their new green pasture home, we hope.We continue on back into England heading for Gloucester.  We pass Hampton Court Castle and Gardens.  There is a jousting match on today.  It is just about 4, so we have to hurry.It was great fun, there is a good English team and the bad Normandy team.  The commentator encourages lots of cheering and booing for each side.  The presentation of the flights was colourful, entertaining and pretty authentic.  Lots of families are here for the day out.  It was so worth the stop.We are too late to go into the Castle for a tour, oh well, next time.  Back on the road and into Gloucester. We find a Travelodge for the night.  It is cheap, but no free wi-fi.  If they marketed on free wi-fi they would do a booming business.Great night.We are getting excited about the trip home and thinking we will be in one location for at least 6 months!
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251794537/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251794537/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251794537/tpod.html Tue, 01 Sep 2009 04:58:15 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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Gretna Green, Scotland, United Kingdom

We leave after another full English breakfast, this morning I asked for scrambled eggs so there wouldn't be so much fat in the meal. It was good.We head out north to Carlisle Castle.  The country side is hills and dales, lots of farming, cows and plenty of sheep.  There are stone walls or hedges dividing the pastures.  It is very picturesque looking up at the hills.  Another warm sunny day.We find Carlisle Castle in the city of Carlisle.  It is a castle that has been through lots of sieges and changed hands many times since the early 12th century.  It is close to the border of Scotland so has a lot of war history.  The Romans were here before the castle and they had built Hadrian’s wall from the east to the west coast showing their frontier.  The castle didn’t have much in the way of furniture, but lots of reading about the life here over the ages as a military strong hold.We then took a little drive further north and went into Scotland!  Yes, to a small town called Gretna Green.  Actually everyone left the highway here as there had been an accident just further up the road and the police were taking everyone off the highway and down the country side roads.We went to the old blacksmiths shop.  Which was a place that performed run-away weddings in 1785.  Today it still does weddings, but has a variety of shops and restaurants for the tourists.  Outside the Tartan shop was the Glasgow Accordion and Drum Band!  They were excellent!  Lots of toe tapping music, and, yes, we were surprised to hear the accordions.  Down by the gift shop there was a full dressed piper playing his bagpipe.  It was an interesting place with lots of happy atmosphere!We then headed back into England to Lancaster.  We didn’t want to be too far down the road at the end of the day as Monday is a holiday and the roads will be busy.In Lancaster we went to McD’s and used their wi-fi to find and book a room.  We went out to the Slyne Lodge about 3 miles out of the city centre.  It is a busy place with a huge restaurant area.  We eventually found someone to check us in, find our reservation sheet, pay and take us to the room.  There was a call coming in while we were waiting and the manager came to look after the telephone booking call.  We went to the room and when the woman opened the door there were clothes on the bed.  Oops!  The room is already taken.  When we went back to the reception area we are told they do not have a room for us.  We are so upset as now what do we do?  It is late and will we find another place.  The manager is quite rude to us saying I can’t give you a room if we don’t have one.  I was trying to say, well we were here first and paid first so tell the phone reservation you don’t have a room and give us that one.  She got upset with me and told me not to raise my voice.  They gave us a refund and we left.  We went to another hotel whose name we had luckily written down off of the internet.  Yes, they have a room and it included breakfast and only 1 GBP more than the other place.  We had a good nice sleep after a miserable experience.
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251758908/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251758908/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251758908/tpod.html Mon, 31 Aug 2009 19:20:10 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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Chester, England, United Kingdom

I received an email reply from Kevin of Comberbach village last night and we are meeting this morning. Another great English breakfast this morning, we had oranges, banana, cookies and hot chocolate in our room.  We then went back into the village and took some pictures of the town name along the way.  We found Kevin and Francis's home at the end of a cull de sac facing a wide open field.  Great location.I AM THE COMBERBACH (maiden name) BEING MET IN THE VILLAGE OF COMBERBACH!  AND I AM JUST THRILLED.We had tea and cookies, and chatted for over 2 hours about the town, its history, about the Comberbach name, the family book and history.  We talked about travel, both ours and theirs.  It was a great morning, I thought I would be leaving the town never meeting anyone.  We will keep in touch and once settled back at home I will go over my information in the book and send it back to the town historian.  Kevin belongs to the mummers and soul cakers club of the village.  They go around in the fall and perform old tales, stories and happenings of the medieval times.  These performances would have been done by the peasants of the villages, after the harvest was complete, as they had few jobs for the winter.  They would make a bit of money entertaining the 'upper crust’.  The monies raised now a days is donated to local charities. We said our good-byes and went to Great Budsworth to see the church.  It is a quaint old typical English village.  We went through the church which is ornate in it’s own right.  The original church here was mentioned in the Doomesday Book circa 1086.We walked about the village and then went to the pub for lunch.  We asked how old the pub was and were told this part where we were sitting wasn’t old, the main back part is 1758.  When she came back we asked how old was the front part, she replied 1822.  That is before the formation of Canada.  While eating lunch we read a brochure on the church and then went back to see it.  We visited Mrs. Homes house to buy a tea towel (fund raiser of the church). Mr. Homes greeted us and invited us into their home.  It is very old, circa 1700, they have a collection of brass horse head fobs from all over decorating the black wood in the house.  He even showed us down the basement where we could see the house had woven twigs between the outside wall and inner plaster.  We then went back to the church to look at all the things we didn’t know about or notice the first visit.  There is going to be a wedding here today, there are flowers and the organ master is here practicing some of the pieces for the service, we are so lucky to hear the organ being played.  We then head off to Chester.  It is a walled city.  It is very busy with tourists, apparently everyone comes here on the long weekends (Monday is a bankers holiday.)  We see their ancient Roman ruins, their amphitheatre is so small compared to others we have seen in our journeys. We visited the tourist info office to find out where there are some steps with town officials names on them.  The girl told us to go over to the church across the street and there should be some there in the ruins of the old church.  We couldn’t find anything with names carved into them, so we visited the St.John the Baptist Church.  The first church on this site began in 689 with this church being built in 1075 – that’s pretty old!   Their organ was first played in Westminster Abbey at Queen Victoria’s coronation in 1838 then brought here.  It has a small piece of wood on display, it is said that they did have a piece of the cross wood and this was a church for pilgrims.We continued our walk through the city, looking at all the great character wooden and white homes and buildings.  The downtown area has lots of character with the wall, clocks, old buildings and lots of shopping.  There is even a Dinky Donut shop and they taste like the mini donuts back home.  Len really enjoyed them.  We checked out the tourist info downtown looking for a place to stay.  The chap telephoned a place, told us the info, made the reservation for us and then charged us GBP 6 for doing all this.  The first time that happened, no signs posted they charge for their services!  We were disappointed.We found the hotel, our room was way up on the 2nd floor under the eves.  It was cozy, clean and comfy.  Wi-fi was available downstairs.  We had dinner here and it was good.  An early night to bed. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251580836/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251580836/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251580836/tpod.html Sat, 29 Aug 2009 17:59:36 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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Comberbach, England, United Kingdom

Our breakfast is delicious and hot, the plates are very hot. It was good.We go into town to the Tourist Information Office and get information on Nottingham Castle and Sherwood Forest.  We walk to the castle, it is very high on a hill and overlooks the city and surrounding country side.  This is a modern building and not the first castle was built in 1067 by William the Conqueror, the next castle was built by Henry II in 1167 and taken over by Richard the Lion Heart in 1194 the time of Robin Hood.The grounds have lots of very beautiful gardens.  The castle is now a museum and art gallery.  We did enjoy the film segment about the manmade sandstone caves underneath the castle used ever since the first castle was built.The entrance gate is the oldest remaining part of the castle.  Outside of the old castle wall is a statue of Robin Hood.  This was the best part here.  We then went around the wall to the oldest pub in England call the Jerusalem Inn.  Part of it is also dug into the caves.  The doorways were about 5'8" high, lots of ducking as we went from room to room.We drive out of town and north towards Sherwood Forest.  It is sunny and cloudy, rains on and off.  We arrive at the car park and it rains so we have lunch in the car.  It stops raining and we begin our walk in the forest.   There are lots of families here for picnics, walks and workshops by the parkies.The main thing to do here is to go and see the Major Oak.  It is 1,150 years old and very big.  It would be similar to the oak tree that Robin and his Merry men would hide in from the Sheriff on Nottingham.  The write ups on the forest, trees and Robin Hood are well done on a board.  There is also an indoor display on how life was live in Robin Hood’s time and another display on the forest preserve.Back on the road and we are off to the village of Comberbach through Mackelsfield.  I am sure you all recognize these famous names – no!  I will explain, around 1978/9 I began to look into the genealogy of my family name Comberbach.  This was pre-internet, emails, etc. so it was all done on a typewriter and snail mail.  I loved doing this and all the incredible challenges of getting the information.  I was very lucky that the ancestors in 1850 had the family researched and a book was written.  Five copies of the book were published on the family beginnings back to William the Conqueror.  There were 3 young brothers who were on their own and assumed the name of Comberbach.  My great grandfather William Sucker Comberbach lived in Mackelsfield before he immigrated to Canada.  Actually my great grandmother came to the Stonewall area of Manitoba with 2 of the sons and established the homestead.  I guess this is where I inherited some of my spunk from.  My great grandfather then came with the only daughter to the homestead.    I have no addresses of homes in Mackelsfield, but we are here so we go through the town.  It is in a valley and is quite a big city.  We drive on to the village of Comberbach.  Now this is a small place.  Actually last night I found the village has it’s own web site – www.comberbach.com.  There are 2 pubs in the town, a Methodist Church,  a primary school and a few social clubs.  A bed and breakfast was listed on the web site so we will look to stop there.I stop in at the pub, it is fancy and full of lots of people.  I ask the young bar man and he has no idea as he is not from here.  He asks the owner and they tell us to go over to Holly Bush in the next village.  I tell him that my maiden name was 'Comberbach’ and he says oh.  Not impressed.  We go down to the Drum and Monkey pub.  It too is full of people sitting and talking and drinking.  There is a group playing cards, I ask about the B & B and no one knows about it.  I tell them who I am, a couple are interested but it soon falls off.  I take some pictures of the village and we leave.  I was disappointed that no one got too excited that they had an original Comberbach right there.  We leave and go to the Holly Bush in the next village.They have a room and I tell the woman who I am and about our travels.  She is just thrilled and so interested in it all. We have diner in the pub and then to bed.
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Nottingham, England, United Kingdom

August 27, ThursdayOur first stop is Canterbury Cathedral just down the road.  We arrive early, before it is open!  Again, another historic and impressive building.  It is one of the oldest and most famous Christian structures in England.We enter through a gate on the main street, through the big wooden doors.The most important history of the cathedral begins;in 597 when St. Augustine arrived in Kent and established the first Cathedral; 1070-1077 the Cathedral is rebuilt;  in 1130 the Quire (Choir) was built over the present day crypt; 1170 Thomas Becket murdered in the Cathedral;1184 a new Quire was built and the Trinity and Corona Chapels were added;1220 Becket's body was placed ina new Shrine in Trinity Chapel1405 Lanfranc nave rebuilt;1498 Bell Harry Tower completed1538 Becket’s shrine destroyed by Henry VIII1540 Monastery dissolved by royal command1541 New Foundation of Dean and Chapter established It is really a very big cathedral.  We thought it strange that there are chairs not wooden pews as in other churches.We then get back on the road and we are off to Nottingham way north of London.  Yes, we have to go to the ring road and then north.  We get caught in a traffic jam for just about an hour just crawling along.  We watched cars go from one lane to the other, not getting any further along than us.  We stopped in a small town and got some sandwiches at a store.  We visited the pub across the street to us the WC and asked if we could have our lunch out on their picnic benches, yes!  It was a warm sunny day.We continue our drive through the country side and into Nottingham.  Long day of driving, but very enjoyable. 
]]> http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251411483/tpod.html http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251411483/tpod.html#comments Travel Blogs http://www.travelpod.com/travel-blog-entries/dancejill/1/1251411483/tpod.html Fri, 28 Aug 2009 17:42:48 -0400 Jill & Len's World Tour 08/09

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Dover, England, United Kingdom

We go back towards Salisbury to see Old Sarum. This is an old hill with a large mote dug around it.  Only partial walls are left on the site.  The first settlers were here around 3000 BC, remains of rough stone tools suggest people have occupied the hilltop area.   There is evidence that early hunters and, later, farming communities occupied the site. A protective hill fort was constructed by the local inhabitants during the British Iron Age (around 500 BC) by creating enormous banks and ditches surrounding the hill. The Romans, came next AD 43 and AD 410, held the site as a military station, strategically placed near the convergence of five important roads. The hill fort was marked on Roman roadmaps by the name of Sorviodunum. It was a frequent residence of Egbert of Wessex, and in 960 King Edgar assembled a national council here to plan a defence against the Danes. A mote and bailey castle was built and in 1086 for William the Conqueror..  Then King Henry I moved in adding more to the Castle and a cathedral just outside the mote.  Eventually everyone moved on and away leaving the castle to crumble and the furnishings and building blocks to be taken away for other purposes.  The church outside the walls was abandoned for the new and great Salisbury CathedralWe went into the city of Salisbury to see the Cathedral.  It is an Anglican cathedral and considered one of the leading examples of Early English architecture. The main body was completed in only 38 years.The cathedral has the tallest church spire at 123m or 404ft). The cathedral also has the largest cloister and the largest cathedral close in Britain. The Cathedral contains the world's oldest working clock, from AD 1386 and has one of the four surviving original copies of the Magna Carta (all four original copies are in Britain).  We saw a copy of the original.  Although commonly known as Salisbury Cathedral, the official name is the Cathedral of Saint Mary. In 2008, the cathedral celebrated the 750th anniversary of its consecration in 1258. We grabbed a Subway for lunch and then head off to Dover.  To take the main highway there we have to head up towards London where the traffic is heavy.  Thank goodness for the GPS.  Coming into Dover was just beautiful, you come around the corner and see the English Channel and the white cliffs of Dover!  We head up to Dover Castle after we find the parking spot and get a ride to the castle.  We go to information and learn about the secret tunnels.  Since it is late in the day the woman says we should go to the tunnels first to get a tour.  We had to wait but it was well worth it.  We had no idea there were any tunnels here, we went way under ground and seen the operations rooms and hospitals, kitchen and barracks.  In May 1940, Admiral Sir Bertram Ramsey directed the evacuation of French and British soldiers from Dunkirk, code-named Operation Dynamo, from his headquarters in the cliff tunnels.  A military telephone exchange was installed in 1941 and served the underground headquarters. The switchboards were constantly in use and had to have a new tunnel created alongside it to house the batteries and chargers necessary to keep them functioning. The navy used the exchange to enable direct communication with vessels, as well as using it to direct air-sea rescue craft to pick up pilots shot down in the Straits of Dover.  The tour was very interesting especially to find out more about the Dunkirk evacuation and how it happened.  We then went to the castle.  We were only expecting ruins as at the Old Sarum, but there stood a full and complete castle.  We went in and first down to the kitchens that were set up with ovens and breads, meat, fruits and veggies, pots and pans.  This is what we had hoped to see somewhere along the way.  We spoke to a volunteer for this area and he said the castle had been closed from November until August to bring in the display.  Before this was just an empty room as with all the castle.  Up stairs they had done a dining room and a recording played with sounds and laughing as if the room was filled with a crowd of happy feasters.  The little rooms were support food and drink rooms.  There were some with 3-D images talking about their life.  There were bedrooms and knight rooms.  It was very well done, nice décor and fixtures.  The Romans were here – one light house is still standing by the church.  William the Conquer also came here and the Henry's and Queen Elizabeth I.  Dover is know as the 'key to England’, a hard fortress to get control over.  It is now just about 6 and the place is going to close shortly so we catch the bus back to the car and are off to look for a place to stay.  Information told us about Premier Inns and they are 30 pounds.  Oops, not so 62 pounds, no breakfast and no free wi-fi.  We head for McD’s to check emails.We are wondering how you will feel once the trip ends and you don't receive an email from us every couple of days?
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Wiltshire, England, United Kingdom

We pack up and put on our bags and catch the bus into the train station and the train into Victoria Station. People!!! Lots of people are here, coming and going.  We make our way to the circle line via Paddington, where we change somewhere along the way to catch the train out to Heathrow terminals 1, 2, 3, and 5.  It takes us over 1 and ½ hours to get there.  We go into terminal 3 arrivals and find the bus stop to get picked up by the National shuttle to go get the car.  Once we fill all the forms we go out to choose a compact car.  It is a silvery colour, 5 doors, we check it out for damage - none, it has 1,415 miles so it is new.  We take a couple of pictures so we know what we have.  Len tries out the gears, remember, he is now on the other side, it is manual and he will be shifting with the left hand.  All the pedals are still the same.  Len looks for a place to drive and shift, but there isn't any room, they just want you to leave the lot.  We hand in our papers and are now out on the road.We have the GPS plugged in and luckily we go out on the left and down onto the highway.  As the miles go on it gets easier.  We stop for lunch at a service station off the highway.  I remind Len he should always be in the centre and I should be on the curb side.  He keeps saying 'keep left’.  To think Len thought he would like the Economy size car.  He finds this car wide and can’t get a feel for where the curb is on the left side.We make it all the way out to Stonehenge.  It is an exciting, happy feeling place.  The people here seem to be in happy and carefree spirits.Stonehenge is the most outstanding prehistoric monument in the British Isles.  In 3050 BC the circular ditch and bank (or henge) was dug, in 2600 BC a wooden structure was constructed at the centre, between 2500 and 1500 BC the stone monument was constructed, arranged and re-arranged.  The large stones are Sarsen stones brought here from Marlborough Downs 19 miles away, the smaller stones are Bluestones (when cut open they are blue inside) come from Wales, some 240 miles from here.  There are burial mounds on the hills near by where they buried the dead.We listened to the audio guide giving what is thought to be the reason for Stonehenge, how the stones were moved here, how the stones are arranged for summer solstice and the mystical tales associated here.  We hear how people would come with hammers to take souvenirs home, how some of the stones were taken away to be used in other buildings, all before the area became a protected site.  So hard to believe this ever happened or was allowed to happen.We then went for a walk behind the car park up to the mounds.  They are big mounds, couldn’t get close or into them as they are fenced and locked.From here we go down the road to Woodhenge in Wiltshire, across the road there is a huge dug out circle.  Behind us is six concentric rings of concrete markers.  The concrete markers are where the timber posts used to be.  This is from about 2300 BC.  We stop to say hello to the sheep in the field across the road.We now head up to Avebury where there are more stones in circles in a henge enclosing an area of 28 acres.  These were built and altered over many centuries from 2850 BC to 2200 BC.  The stones are associated with pagan devil-worship, people would come to break, burry or destroy them.  One stone fell crushing its destroyer.  We have only a few pictures here, when we came to where the big stones in the circle are we couldn’t find a parking place anywhere (remember this is a small town).We begin looking for a place to stop for the night.  The first home B & B we stop at they want 60 pounds.  We look for another place and find a Pub further down the road.  They want 65 pounds, but it does include a full English breakfast.  We stay the night, no wifi, there is a TV, we look out onto some ducks and sheep.  Good night!
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