Exploring Bristol - hidden treasures

Oh, the bliss of a quiet January! I am just loving staying home, eating vegetables, staying off alcahol (mostly) and getting a bit more exercise. We had a lovely quiet weekend.

On Sunday afternoon we headed off walking along the stunning Avon Gorge path toward the village of Pill. (Yes, there's a place called 'Pill'. Don't ask me why!)

I've been along that path several times. It starts off in some slightly rough-looking areas with derilect old industrial buildings, bridges and lots of grafitti but soon gets onto a pretty river-side walk.

(See Andrew Withers' blog for more photos like the one here.)

So beautiful but not interested in cuddles

It then passes by the Avon and Somerset mounted police base. I love police horses so I had a friendly chat through the fence to a couple of completely un-interested horsies.

After trekking along the slightly muddy path for a while, I was surprised to discover an entry to Leigh Woods.

I'd only ever strayed briefly into Leigh Woods from the top near the Clifton Suspension Bridge. I had no idea it was so extensive. There are miles and miles of paths all up and down along beside the river Avon.






 The path up from the riverside was super-pretty but quite steep and very muddy. We sloshed up for about 15 minutes then gave up, promising to come back in dryer weather.

So now I'm looking forward to lots more walking up and down and around the lovely woodlands in the months to come. What a treat to discover all that nearly on our doorstep!

Top travel destinations of the last year

So I worked out that during 2014 I managed to go to nine countries (including England where I live). In order, I went to:

New Zealand
Singapore
Italy (specifically Venice)
Scotland (twice)
The Republic of Ireland
Northern Ireland
Wales (several times as it's just over the bridge from Bristol)
Hungary  (specifically Budapest)

That's pretty good going, I think. Of that list Italy, Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Hungary were new to me.

Singapore is a perennial favourite. If only it were closer, I'd probably make an annual pilgrimage, I love it so much. I'd just love to be basking in the warmth and swimming in a hotel pool right now!

Budapest is a new favourite - I expect we'll be back there at some point to have a better look around. Possibly in Spring for a change.

I love Scotland with my heart and will be back there whenever I can make an excuse. I'm still keen on seeing the real Shetland ponies and exploring some remote whiskey distilleries in the north.

So what about travel for next year? Well, we're off to Bruge and Ghent in Belgium for a few days just after New Year's. I've been to (and loved) Bruge and am looking forward to Ghent.

Easter will probably be somewhere a bit warmer and sunnier like Spain or Portugal. We loved Alicante in Spain so are keen to see some more of that country.

Due to getting my visa renewed, I'll probably be grounded for months during the middle of the year so summer holidays might need to be a road trip around Scotland. What a shame! (Kidding!).

Just clicking on the EasyJet 'where do we fly' tool opens up a world of possibility (literally). There's Greece, Croatia, Iceland and we need to get to Prague at some point... I guess we'll see how things go.

Happy travels to you!

Castles and Abbeys - Scotland in Autumn

 Last week I had to pop up to Angus in Scotland for work. I happened to see that Glamis Castle was nearby so thought I'd take an extra day and look around.

I chose Arbroath as a place to stay pretty much at random. I didn't realise that the lovely ruined Arbroath Abbey was quite so significant in Scottish history.

In 1320, the Declaration of Arbroath was written (probably) by the Abbot of Arbroath Abbey and sent to the Pope to entreat him to recognise Scotland as an independent country. In those days the Pope was the top international authority in the western world.

The declaration includes the moving words, "… it is in truth not for glory, nor riches, nor honours that we are fighting, but for  freedom – for that alone, which no honest man gives up but with life itself."

 In the 1950s four students stole the Stone of Scone from Westminster Abbey (where the English had rather provocatively stored it under the seat of the throne), they brought it to Arbroath Abbey and left it there, wrapped in the Scottish flag.

 The abbot's house is still intact as it had been used as various things over the years including a school and a factory. The fan vaults above are from the undercroft under the house.

 While I was there, a small school group came for a visit. They got dressed in little monk's robes and had a guide in a robe showing them over the place and telling stories. So there were cute mini-monks shadowing me around during my visit, adding to the atmosphere.

 The grounds around the abbey had been the town graveyard for years. Very atmospheric, especially on a grey day.

















After a couple of pleasant hours at Arbroath Abbey I took the pretty drive over to Glamis. I was mostly interested in Glamis Castle because I recognised the name from Shakespeare's "Macbeth". However Glamis Castle is nothing like the blasted ruin that I expected from seeing the play. It's been a plush country escape for very rich people for centuries.

The building started in the 1300s as a hunting lodge. The fairytale castle look was achieved in the late 1700s and early 1800s. Most of the outside of the building and grounds have barely changed since then.

The Strathmore family still live part-time in the castle and they also do a roaring trade as a venue for weddings and corporate hospitality.

 The castle is made of the reddish local stone - you can see it's the same stuff as Arbroath Abbey.

 We had an expert and friendly tour guide take us around 10 rooms inside, but photos weren't allowed so I can't show you details.

They were very grand rooms with all sorts of interesting curiosities. One of my favourite things were the embroidered bed hangings that took 14 years for the lady of the house to complete. They were made in the 1600s and are still in pretty good nick today. There was incredible detail and creativity in all the different animals, plants and decorations she embroidered.

 I do have to mention that Glamis Castle is the late Queen Mother's childhood home - there were lots of interesting royal connections and stories.







Beautiful autumn views from the bridge heading into the walled garden.

A touch of autumn colour in the trees. I saw signs warning me to be careful driving because there might be a red squirrel on the road, but of course I saw no sign of squirrels.

 Cute Highland Cows grazing in a field behind the car park.

 Cornflowers outside the walled garden - there were two large banks of mingled cornflowers and dandelions.

The Italian garden - a view from under one of the two aisles of overhanging trees. There were roses in the beds but they weren't at their best in autumn, of course.

They have been working for the past couple of years on restoring the walled garden. It's a huge space - it seemed to cover about an acre. They have planted lots of roses which will make it an ideal wedding venue when they're a bit more mature.
















There are three big amazing castles within a short drive around that part of the country (and it's only about an hour and a half north of Edinburgh). I'm definitely going back for another look around as the countryside is stunning and I do love a good castle!

One woman diplomatic tour - Northern Ireland

So, in my last post, we'd left Dublin and were driving up to Belfast, taking the Mourne coastal scenic route. Gosh, it was mighty scenic! Miles of gorgeous wild rocky coastline with big arching bays and wide views of the sea. It's only a few hours' drive, even going by the coast instead of the inland motorway.

We stopped for cherry scones with jam and cream at a stately home and also to wander about a historic look out point on the site of a bloody battle from the 1600s. If the weather had been better there were walking trails to take, but we just looked about a bit then got on with our drive.










I worked on Monday while my husband enjoyed the only sunny day of our trip wandering around Belfast. Word to the wise - if you're visiting try not to go over Sunday and Monday 'cos lots of things are closed. He managed to see the Botanic Gardens and Ormeau Park.

On Tuesday we headed further north up the Causeway Coastal Route to the Carrick-a-Rede rope bridge and the Giant's Causeway. Of the two, I prefered the Carrick-a-Rede area as there was spectacular coastal views over cliffs into clear blue water. It was fairly busy with tourists, but we managed to get some photos on the bridge and spend a good while admiring the views. The water was so clear you could see jellyfish the sea from the cliffs about 20 meters above.

The Giant's Causeway is a short drive from Carrick-a-Rede so we pushed on to take that in too. We hadn't had lunch yet, but wanted to try and get to the Bushmills distillery too. I'd learned that you didn't have to pay the National Trust's exhorbitant parking rates for the Causeway, so we parked on the road and walked in for free. There was quite a long walk to get there and clouds of flying ants didn't help our enjoyment of the situation. The place was heaving with people as the National Trust ran regular buses down to the bottom of the bay and back. I sort of expected something a bit bigger, but actually it's just cliffs of hexagonal rocks. It was not really that exciting and by that time I was developing a blister.

We slogged up the hill and drove off to Bushmills Whiskey Distillery only to find that we'd missed the last tour and the only food left in their cafe was cake. Oh well, cake it was and they were actually delicious homemade cakes. The whiskey cheesecake was particularly delicious. We bought some whiskey samplers and made our way back to Belfast. If Bushmills is anything to go by, I prefer Scotch whisky. Bushmills was just a bit bland - it didn't have the complexity of flavours from fruits to honey to smokey peatiness that Scottish single malts can have.

In case you didn't know, Irish whiskey has an 'e' and Scotch whisky doesn't. There you go, don't say I never give you anything. Anyway...

Belfast was a surprisingly grand city - I guess British rule gets you pretty public buildings. It was decidedly odd going through suburbs bedecked with Union Flags and the flags of local groups who were presumably pro-English. There were also murals around our hotel and a local church which looked like it had been bombed. At hotel down the road from ours boasted that it was the most-bombed hotel in Belfast with 40 attacks. Weird.

Though things have calmed down a lot, reading the local paper it seems that arson is still what people resort to when they're upset. There is still tension over things like parades by groups on either side. Personally, I think they should take down all the flags and murals and not have parades so they can focus on trying to make their tiny country a success. But I am an almost completely ignorant outsider.

On our second day in Northern Ireland, we drove up to Belfast Castle (which is more like a stately home built in the 1800s), had a picnic lunch in the very pretty grounds.  The garden had a cat theme with sculptures, mosaics and other cat things dotted about to be found. There were also lovely views over Belfast city and out to sea. There are lots of walking paths but we weren't feeling that energetic so we drove off to see Dunluce castle a bit further around the coast.

Dunluce is a proper old castle, situated on a headland overlooking a couple of bays. There has been quite a bit of modern adaptation but there was plenty of to see and it was easy to imagine what it must have been like as a working fortress. Dunluce has had a active history of warfare over the centuries.

The town around the castle was a bit rubbish, but we eventually found a cafe for a snack then took a leisurely drive back to Dublin to catch our plane.

It was good to have finally visited all of the nations that make up the United Kingdom. Dublin was very touristy and the rural areas around it weren't as pretty as the scenery in Northern Ireland. But Northern Ireland is kind of marred by its troubled history. I'd put them both about halfway up my list of top places to visit. 

As if Christmas wasn't busy enough!

I don't know about you, but December madness has struck early for me this year - super-busy at work, lots of travel, getting presents and cards sorted in time for postal deadlines... it's all go and I'm getting a bit stressed.

That said, I also want to enjoy the lovely festive-ness of December in England. The run up to Christmas is so lovely with lights, Christmas markets, roasted chesnuts and mulled wine and holly wreaths and robins etc.

We've got a Christmas market tomorrow so that should be useful for presents. I like to get lovely crafted things instead of mass produced plastic stuff from the mall.

There are also several other lovely festive thing that I really want to try and squeeze into December like outdoor iceskating. They have some plastic-y waxy fake ice 'cos it's really not cold enough to keep ice frozen, but still, it seems like fun. I used to enjoy indoor iceskating as a child and teenager in New Zealand.

There's a big rink out at the mall in Cribbs Causeway or there's a smaller one in the town centre. Hopefully I'll manage to get out on one of them for a bit of a blat one evening in December.

There are lots of lovely plays, pantos, musicals, concerts and general performance things on, but the one I really want to go to involves Moomins. I've loved the Tove Jansson books since I was a child and still love them now. The Bath Theatre Royal have a puppet performance called "Moominland Midwinter". You can see a bit more about it in this article. The performance seems mainly aimed at children, but I'm going to be there with bells on! (Well, not literally, that might get a bit distracting!)

The last thing that I'd really like to go to is Westonbirt Aboretum's Christmas Lights trail. It looks absolutely beautiful and I do love a good tree. We went to Westonbirt last autumn to enjoy the leaves. Though we were slightly late for the peak colour, we still had a lovely day out tromping around the forest trails. The only thing I worry about is how crowded it might be. Noisy crowds would really spoil the atmosphere. Still, I think I'll give it a go.

 I'll let you know how my ambitious December plans pan out... wish me luck and especially sanity between now and the 25th!

England's not the mythical land

Sinead O’Connor’s line “England’s not the mythical land of Madame George and roses, it’s the home of police who kill black boys on mopeds” has been running through my head lately. In thinking about living in England, I’d say that actually the country has got elements of both. 

On the ‘police who kill black boys in mopeds’ side there is a real thread of nastiness in England. At the moment, there is horrific rhetoric about anyone unfortunate enough to be on a benefit suggesting that they’re lazy, not trying to get a job, bringing England down etc. Disabled people are being questioned and criticised about how disabled they really are. There is overt and covert racism, homophobia, class prejudice and sexism. 

As an immigrant myself, I wince at the harsh words against ‘uncontrolled immigration’ supposedly leading to a shortage of housing and jobs and a drain on the welfare state. I know as a white, middle class, English speaking immigrant, I’m privileged. The hate isn’t really directed at me, but I still feel the sting of it.

But still... with the angst of the welfare cuts and nastiness popping out here and there, England seduces me back into seeing the ‘Madame George and roses’ side.

I spent several hours driving around rural Dorset and Somerset yesterday. The countryside was like a cat or a supermodel; effortlessly beautiful from any angle. There were rolling hills, little clumps of big old oak trees, sheep and lambs in the fields, villages with thatched stone cottages, old churches, pubs and little windy roads because they were built in horse and cart times. I saw three does grazing by the side of the road, a large white heron, pheasants in the fields and several little brown raptors.

People often ask in an amazed tone why on earth I moved from New Zealand. I think they see it as a dreamy Hobbiton-type place. I tell them that New Zealand is beautiful, but England is beautiful too. There is a lot of that mythical land left. The place where the books I read as a child were set: Wind in the Willows and the Famous Five. Then there were Shakespeare, Keats, Jane Austen, Dorothy L Sayers all writing love letters to this beautiful country. They have a point. England is still undeniably gorgeous and I feel very lucky to be able to be here experiencing it. 

If you’re English – what do you think about my outsider’s view? If you’re not, do you think there’s a dark underbelly in your country? What form does it take?