Museum of London

I picked this one because bits of the ancient London Wall go near it, and because it’s all about London, unlike say the British Museum, which Caroline described as <where to go see all the things Brits stole>.

The Tate Modern

The Novelty Automation place

Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre

Sir John Soane’s Museum

Architect Sir John Soane rebuilt these to house his work, home and massive collection of art, many of which are castings of Italian originals. We weren’t allowed to take photos, but their website shows much of the collection. It’s as if he was displaying samples that is customers may want to incorporate into their designs. We were struck by the clever things Soane did to get natural light to shine from various skylights down all the way to the ground floor. Remarkable!

Shepherd’s Bookbinders Shop

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The city of Lyme is on the River Lim and added the Regis suffix after a Royal Charter was granted by King Edward I in 1284. To us, it looked and felt like a bigger city than the previous towns we saw in Devon. People were moving faster, less polite. It’s just across the border in Dorset, but I’m not sure if that’s the explanation, or if it’s just a bigger town.

We walked from our hotel down the hill into the village, bought coffee beans from a friendly micro roaster, and searched side streets and alley ways for something interesting. We found a 700 year old flour mill that had recently been refurbished. Water powered the mill and it was working when we visited.

We took a foot path back that had the creek on one side and water flowing to the mill (leat) on the other. We got pretty turned around and had to employ GPS to recover.

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After the serious hike into Beer, we had to turn around and start again first thing in the morning. Our host told us the route from Beer to Seaton, just a couple of miles along, had washed out years ago, and recommended we take the road rather than the circuitous route the detour takes. We don’t like walking on road, we’re not fans of detours, and we’re not completists, so we took a taxi to Seaton and started from there.

The first mile was along the esplanade (all the towns have an esplanade or marine parade), and the second mile was through a golf course and grain fields. So it wasn’t until the third mile that we felt the trail had really started (just think if we’d also walked the 2-3 miles of road first). The trail has a warning that for the next 4 miles there are no routes inland or to the beach, once you started you were committed, and described the trap as “arduous”. The trail goes along the subsided coast, well above the shore and well below the cliff-top, and is mostly rainforest. While interesting, there was little variation. We would even describe it as tedious, as there were many steps, roots, and mud patches to navigate.

The foliage was lush with trees, vines and shrub. So much so that it took us a while to find picnic spots. But we did (and were rewarded with wet bottoms) and chowed on leftover curry, carrots, hummus, and yummy sheep cheese. Somehow, food tastes really good when we’ve been walking for miles.

When we got to Lyme Regis, we stopped to watch some lawn bowling by the harbor, and then had to walk another 3/4 mile straight uphill to get to our final hotel. Oy! We were tired of the hills and ready to soak our feet. Alas, no tub.

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As the day progressed, the cliffs changed from the reds of the Jurassic stone we’d been walking with for two days, to yellows and then whites like the Cliffs of Dover.†

One of the hills took us all the way down to Weston Beach, at Weston Mouth (I assume it’s on the River Weston; they’re pretty redundant with the naming ;), which was pebbled and lovely. We were only on the beach for about 30 feet before the trail took us back up the other side. Here’s the trickle of the Weston River:

It was a long walk with a LOT of views.

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Liza slipped into an art shop and bought a colorful ceramic torso of a woman. It really is quite impressive. The shopkeeper boxed it up carefully and we walked it down to the post office. Fingers crossed it arrives in one piece.

Tonight we ate at an Indian restaurant that is renowned for its curry and was yumbly! Then we took a stroll through the beautiful Byes Riverside Park along the river Sid that had great big trees, lots of benches and a community apple orchard!

Tomorrow we’re back on the trail to Beer (the town).

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Immediately upon descending into Budleigh Salterton, it’s clear why the B&B is named that: the beach is entirely pebble.

The town is a couple of blocks long, full of stores and restaurants. It’s a real fishing beach. Nicki told us that we might hear the loud noise of winches pulling the boats back up on shore, and we were disappointed that we didn’t. We did see the winches, and the steel cables, as we walked along the shore in the evening. Budleigh comes up to the River Otter, but not beyond, and our next day’s walk took us half a mile up the Otter, across a bridge, and back down. It didn’t take us all the way to the point of the beach, though, so we walked that route the night before, and got a great view of Otter Head and the estuary.

We never did see any otters.

As we headed out past the beach of fist sized pebbles the next morning, our trail took us up the river, over the bridge and back to the coast again. We impressed ourselves with the great variety of clothes we were packing, but we never knew what the weather would do. We were prepared for wind, and we got wind.

And we came across sheep!

We have two nights in Sidmouth, so we’ll tell you more about it in the next post…

P.S. At this point we’re writing the posts together, with photos from both of us. If you know us well, you might be able to tell who wrote which sentences. 🙂

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The town was having some kind of festival with music in the park with things for families, beer, a neverending stream of friend groups, and beer. Some dressed as pirates… and we never did get the full explanation. It was a small, hokey town, but everyone looked happy. I’m not sure if I’d like to see the place late at night after the drinking really kicked in, though.

The next morning we got going on our first day of walking the coast trail. As always, for the first hour we had to stop every ten minutes to adjust our clothes. Jackets and hats going on or coming off. Later, we met English walkers who confessed they were just as confused by the weather as we were.

The area from Exmouth to Lyme Regis is an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty, the Jurassic Coast. At this west end, we could see the oldest sandstone, and we’re told that the stone will get younger as we walk east.

As we walked east along the top of the cliffs, we could hear gun fire ahead. It sounded like it was coming from the water, which didn’t make any sense. What would they be shooting on a boat? Another mile and it became clear: it was more commando training at the Straight Point Rifle Range. This sound punctuated our walk all the way to Budleigh Salterton, where we spent the night.

We saw cows:

Budleigh was charming, but that’s probably another post.

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Going on. We went to the Roman Baths which are fed by five well-flowing springs. It’s been there for a loooong time, and the Romans did a heck of a job dressing it up. Praise be upon Sulis Minerva! We also stepped inside the Jane Austin Museum. Her family lived in Bath for 5 or so years, and the town is quite proud. She invented romantic satire in the 1800s so she’s worthy of the praise and museum. We ate at several vegetarian restaurants, some casual, one fancy place that was very creative. Our favorite was the Lebanese place near the train station. Eating at restaurants can be challenging for a gluten-sensitive vegetarian who avoids cow dairy, but all of the places we went were prepared and happy to help. What the heck, US?!

Next up: walking along the Devon coast.

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It’s funny, because going to visit we feel like we’re going back in time to see how it was, but there are paved roads, cars (including a Lotus!), public toilets, electricity, and modern tourists. All we’re really seeing is how people built, as long ago as 1197. And it’s neat, no doubt. And beautiful.

But there are real people living there, and making a living is a serious issue. They can’t modernize. It’s like by living there you’re signing up to be a Disney character for the rest of your life. It’s weird.

I had a little of the same mental conflict when my mom and I visited Jerusalem. I really wanted to see the Jewish parts of the city, and wasn’t interested in the Christian and Muslim sights we were taken to. But they’re all interleaved. You can’t separate the three parts of history, because they’re all living there together now, and they’ve been intertwined for millenia.

The Cotswolds capture a period of history, but they’re part of the modern world. They’re not separate, they’re not old. They’re present now, and we have to work at it to show just the old, picturesque parts and exclude the cars, modern people, and lines in the road.

Here’s the toilets in Castle Combe:

Here’s Ben and me taking photos of each other with our modern phones (there’s cell service in both towns):

(I really love that pair of photos, for so many reasons.)

And here’s some gorgeous old buildings:

Ben posted other lovely photos, and if you haven’t looked closely, please do. They’re all full of subtle interesting details. The grain of wood, the angles, the textures.

Another thing we lost by only spending an hour in each place was that each house has its own story. Its people had stories. We learned one or two stories of one or two buildings, but here are dozens of buildings that have stood for hundreds of years each. “Hundreds” doesn’t even do it justice, when we’re talking about 800+ years. And this was only two villages out of dozens that have been captured in time.

P.S. I just learned that the main (and almost only) street in Castle Combe is called The Street. 😆💖

The post Day 4: Old Houses appeared first on Liza & Ben's Travels.

It’s funny, because going to visit we feel like we’re going back in time to see how it was, but there are paved roads, cars (including a Lotus!), public toilets, electricity, and modern tourists. All we’re really seeing is how people built, as long ago as 1197. And it’s neat, no doubt. And beautiful.

But there are real people living there, and making a living is a serious issue. They can’t modernize. It’s like by living there you’re signing up to be a Disney character for the rest of your life. It’s weird.

I had a little of the same mental conflict when my mom and I visited Jerusalem. I really wanted to see the Jewish parts of the city, and wasn’t interested in the Christian and Muslim sights we were taken to. But they’re all interleaved. You can’t separate the three parts of history, because they’re all living there together now, and they’ve been intertwined for millenia.

The Cotswolds capture a period of history, but they’re part of the modern world. They’re not separate, they’re not old. They’re present now, and we have to work at it to show just the old, picturesque parts and exclude the cars, modern people, and lines in the road.

Here’s the toilets in Castle Combe:

Here’s Ben and me taking photos of each other with our modern phones (there’s cell service in both towns):

(I really love that pair of photos, for so many reasons.)

And here’s some gorgeous old buildings:

Ben posted other lovely photos, and if you haven’t looked closely, please do. They’re all full of subtle interesting details. The grain of wood, the angles, the textures.

Another thing we lost by only spending an hour in each place was that each house has its own story. Its people had stories. We learned one or two stories of one or two buildings, but here are dozens of buildings that have stood for hundreds of years each. “Hundreds” doesn’t even do it justice, when we’re talking about 800+ years. And this was only two villages out of dozens that have been captured in time.

P.S. I just learned that the main (and almost only) street in Castle Combe is called The Street. 😆💖

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These houses are old and exhibit the gorgeous texture of weathered oak and limestone, floors worn down by centuries of occupants and stone shingled roofs that still keep the water out.  They’re wonderfully maintained and I can’t help but imagine how people lived.

 Castle Combe

Lacock

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Day 3: in fields in Somerset

Day 2: from the train to Bath

Arrival day: none

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The town of Cheddar is where the cheese comes from. We opted not to stop for cheese and cider, because we’d all eaten at both Wells and Glastonbury.

What surprised me about this part of the tour was how much cooperation is required between drivers going in opposite directions. It was worse when one of them is a wide tour bus, but there were a number of places where the lane was just too narrow for two cars to pass quickly, and there was one town where they deliberately added single-lane sections in order to slow down traffic, so you’d have to take turns to go through. (A lateral speed bump, you might say.) Cars would blink their lights to indicate the other person should go first, and the person who got to go would wave in thanks, and then the first person would wave back to say you’re welcome. It was charming.

Somerset as a whole is quite pretty, and I loved all the old stone houses, and the stone walls with moss growing on them. There’s something amazing about how moss grows on solid rocks.

I didn’t get any photos that do it justice because we were driving, so here’s a google image search.

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They were all in New Age / Goddess / Green Man / faery / hippy wear, because it’s Beltane. Many had matted hair, swishy skirts, there was a guy in a leafy mask, and a woman with elf ears. There were literally hundreds of people marching from the middle of town to the top of the tor together. Before we got to town, we had decided we wanted to hike the tor … right up until we got stuck in traffic behind a pack of people.

We weren’t going to be able to get the bus through the crowd to where we wanted to walk from, and we weren’t up for walking with a gigantic crowd, so we quickly ditched the hiking idea.

We did get a couple of glimpses of the tor, with the remains of St. Michael’s Church rising above it (14th century). My photos are pretty grainy:

Instead, we visited a 700-year-old (or more?) chapel, St. Margaret’s Chapel, where I lit a candle and felt a connection to the unknown numbers of other humans who have prayed there before me and will pray after me.

The we walked through the town. It looks just like Santa Cruz / Sebastopol / Mt. Shasta / Berkeley, but on steroids. (I now know where they got the idea.) There were neverending new-agey shops. It was great fun (although I take issue with the home of the Druids selling Native American dreamcatchers in every shop 🧐).

Our tour guide recommended a cafe called Rainbow’s End, and rightly so. With the town so packed, I was worried there wouldn’t be tables, but enough people were on that hike that we had no trouble getting a table, though it was quite a crowd. I had a gluten free orange chocolate bar that was delicious, and a coffee because we’re still not over the jet lag¹.

Because there were just three of us on this tour, the four of us sat around a table and talked while we ate. The third tourist was an older woman from Melbourne who gives tours of cricket grounds, and our tour guide was British. We were all pleased to discover how much we had in common, and how our struggles are the same across such far-flung countries (I’m lookin’ at you, autocorrect). Sure, we’re all white, and we’re all English speakers. But I feel so disconnected from so many of my fellow Americans that connecting with foreigners seemed remarkable.

With the fire at Notre-Dame just a few weeks ago, seeing the damaged and restored Wells Cathedral and the tiny chapel in Glastonbury, I wondered if the people who built those buildings were imagining us coming behind them hundreds of years later. I wonder what they imagined we would be like. To have built beautiful structures in honor of God, they knew that art and beauty are not optional, they’re not extra. Art is central to human existence.

¹ After dinner tonight, I napped on the couch for two hours, and now it’s almost 2am and I’m writing blog posts. 🙄

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Wells is a city I’d never heard of. Wikipedia tells me it’s only a city because it’s been called a city since medieval times, largely because it has a cathedral. (I didn’t learn why the cathedral was built there in the first place.) It’s only about 3 km², and has a population of less than 10k. It’s named Wells because of three springs on the property of the Bishop’s Palace, from a time when the words spring and well could be used interchangeably (and yes, the bus driver and I went on a tangent about the words ;), which they used to make a moat around his fortified palace.

We lucked out that the tour was on a Wednesday, which is market day. They block off the center of this medieval town and it’s filled with booths. We saw at least three booths selling falafel, and ate at one of them (it was delish), and bought a wedge of sheep cheese from a local farmer who was proud as could be of his cheeses¹.

The Cathedral was damaged during the Reformation, when Henry VIII stripped the Church (i.e. the Catholic Church) of its wealth and possessions. This cathedral wasn’t destroyed like the one in Glastonbury, apparently because the Bishop was willing to accede to the king’s demands. Nevertheless, it was missing statues on the outside, from vandalism and apparently they were used for target practice (I missed the whole story there), and many of the stained glass windows were destroyed by Cromwell during the the revolution. (Near as I can tell, the cathedral was damaged several times.)

Ben discovered the library, where they keep the old books chained up, and the librarian told us about how researchers have found sheet music used as end-papers when some of the books were bound, which is the only reason we have those pieces anymore.

Like all cathedrals, there’s a lot going on inside. Tombs and obscure rooms. This one had interior and exterior clocks that moved and chimed every quarter hour. Here’s the interior one:

¹ And when we mentioned it to our tour guide, he knew exactly which farmer we were talking about.

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We did make it to Bath. Our airbnb flat is lovely, with tall ceilings and huge windows, overlooking a park. Other than going to the Sainsbury’s for groceries and to an Indian restaurant for dinner, we haven’t seen much of the town. What we have seen seems to be charming, if touristy.

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So we had to visit, while we were in walking distance.

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I learned that one side of the Serpentine is Hyde Park, and the other side is Kensington Gardens, where Kensington Palace is, which you can almost see in the background of one of the photos. We didn’t get close to the palace, we were just out for a little walk.

On our way there, a couple on the street asked us where Lancaster Station was. They were Finnish, and had been in London about as long as we had. We had no idea…until we were walking back from the park, when we spotted it just a block from where they’d been standing. I hope they found it.

We also saw the Diana, Princess of Wales Memorial Fountain, which is a big uneven round thing that looks much nicer than it sounds, but is hard to capture on film. (I notice that the official site doesn’t have an image of the whole thing.)

And also the Peter Pan statue, which is having the grounds around it redone to be more accessible and have a fairy garden around it.

And Queen Caroline’s Temple, an early-1700s folly which was completely unlabeled, and we were puzzled. But apparently some of the graffiti dates to 1821, when Kensington Park was first open to the public on a daily basis.

And then it was too cold and we had to leave.

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What we learned:

• Dixons, which sells cheap SIM cards, was on the wrong side of security.
• Vodafone has a SIM card as cheap as the O2 one, with more data.
• You can get cheap passport photos in a booth at Paddington Station. (You need them for the rail pass.)
• Economy Delight was well worth the price: we lucked out with three seats for ourselves, and weren’t as cramped while we waited on the tarmac for an hour and a half while they figured out an issue with a gauge.

What we didn’t learn:

• Whether Paddington Bear is at Paddington Station.
• Whether we can get gluten free food at the falafel place next door.
• How long it’ll take to acclimate to the time change.

The post We made it! appeared first on Liza & Ben's Travels.

Bath

Bath originated as a Roman spa, and was popular during the Regency period. Jane Austen set much of Persuasion there, and there’s a Jane Austen museum (we’re going to go).

We picked Bath because there’s plenty to see, it’s easy to get to from London, and it’s more calm than London. We like having somewhere not-so-overwhelming while we’re getting over jet lag. In Scotland, we started in Oban for the same reason.

We’re staying in an Airbnb, and we’re taking a couple of day tours, to Avebury Circle and to Glastonbury. I’m excited about both. The Cotswolds are supposed to be beautiful and quaint, so we’ll head in there a bit, too, though we’re worried it’ll be too much Disney and not enough real people.

Devon

In Devon, we’re doing a four-day walking tour along the South West Coast Path, which goes through Devon, Cornwall, Devon again, and Dorset. The section we’ll be walking is called the Jurassic Coast, because the bare cliffs are from the Jurassic Era or older, and it’s well known for fossils. The views of the cliffs and the sea should be gorgeous. (And part of Persuasion is set in one of the villages we’ll be walking through. I didn’t know that when I chose it!)

We picked it because I like doing walking tours. I like getting to see a place up close, and I like seeing the terrain pass just under my own power. When we hiked the High Sierra Camps in Yosemite, one day we started on the east side of Cathedral Peak and 8 miles later we were on the west side of it, and we’d seen it from many vantage points. Usually you go see a site, you don’t see it from many angles.

It was a challenge to find a tour where we can walk from town to town (I’m not in good enough shape to carry camping gear), where the walking takes half a day instead of the whole day. Our longest day walking the Great Glen Way was 15 miles, which doesn’t leave time to see what’s in the village. We happened upon this one, where the days are 6-10 miles–much more doable!

We’re still looking for somewhere to recover that has a bath or hot tub and massages available, for a soft landing after all our walking. In Scotland, we ended at a lovely hotel that had a private hot tub on our own balcony. It was lovely.

London

We’re ending our trip in London. Once we’ve seen some of the countryside and met people we’ll be ready for the impersonal big city. There’s so much to see, I’m not sure yet how we’ll prioritize it. When I travel, I visit sights as though I’m going to come back again. I don’t need to see everything, I just need to see the things I want to see this trip. I’d like to visit medieval sites, places where old history are visible. In Paris, one of my favorite visits was to the crypte archéologique, the archaeological dig under Notre-Dame, where we could see the remains of Roman walls.

Fortunately, I have a cousin living in London, and by chance my aunt is visiting her at the same time we’ll be there, so we’ll have friends.

I’m stoked.

The post England trip itinerary appeared first on Liza & Ben's Travels.

The weather started out perfect: cool and overcast, with a 20% chance of rain. By the end, the sun was coming out and we were hot and tired.

But it was beautiful along the way, and we encountered a pair of wild turkeys.

You don’t see that just anywhere!

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So I made up a hiking ramp up schedule:

• 3/17 (that’s today): 4 mile loop around our town.
• 3/23-24: 4 mile loop with hills, probably through Quarry Park
• 3/30-31: 5 mile hike
• 4/6-7: 6 mile hike, probably from home into Half Moon Bay, stop for lunch, and back
• 4/13-14: 8 mile hike, maybe in San Pedro Park? With full packs.
• 4/20-21: We’ll be packing, so we might not get in a long walk this weekend.
• 4/28: We fly

Then we’ll go for 1-2 mile walks most days, or 3 mile walks on the days I’m WFH. Of course, if we’re unwell, we may curtail the walks.

Why haven’t we been ramping up already? Because we’re not that smart.

Here’s a derelict boat from today’s 3.8 mile walk:

P.S. We do live somewhere beautiful.

* Ben suggests this post should be called Preparation H. I spared us all.

¹ The shortest day on the GGW was 8 miles with steep hills, and the longest was 15 miles with steep hills. The longest day on our South West Coast Path walk will be less than 10 miles, and none of the days has steep hills. Hills, yes. Not like the Highlands.

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It’s an easier trip, with the long days being less than 10 miles. I think we’ll cover 30 miles over 4 days. We opted for an extra day in Sidmouth, so we can bop around the village or go for a shorter loop walk.

I’m really looking forward to this walk. It’s supposed to be gorgeous.

Though I’m a little concerned that one of the reviews said the trail was 75% mud…

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Our last trip, to Scotland, was fun and beautiful. We hiked the Great Glen Way, met new people, traveled by train, and discovered the nearly-empty Isle of Kererra just off the coast of Oban (excellent whiskey, I’m sure you know), which used to be a major thoroughfare for the port.

Meanwhile at home…

The post We’re still home appeared first on Liza & Ben's Travels.

(Also, I’m trying out galleries.)

Hope you enjoyed the random photos! I hope I’ve figured out which gallery settings I like best. 🤔

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