York ~ A little piece of charm, chivalry, character and whimsy

Posted on August 28, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Wednesday August 27th ~ York, England

Beautiful York along the river

Beautiful York along the river

The last couple of days have been a mishmash of seeing some recommended sites, walking the streets, seeing a play, visiting a museum and eating a couple of decent meals. I think I have lost a little steam recently and as our time here in England is fast coming to an end, I find myself thinking more and more of home. Or at least getting back into the good ol’ US of A.

But even as I write that last sentence I need to pause and reflect on what a charming town York is. It seems that everyone we spoke to before arriving here had nothing but praise about this lovely town, and I can see why.

The top “tourist attractions” have now been crossed off the list, and I’ll try to give you a glimpse into what we have seen – through the lens of my camera… Continue reading →

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York ~ York Minster and Bits About Town

Posted on August 27, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Monday August 25th ~ York, England

Street Fair - Making circle cakes

Street Fair – Making circle cakes

With mixed weather, one minute partly cloudy, and the next raining, we walked about the old town area, including checking out a street fair, but then ducked into the church for an hour when the sky opened up.

Liquid sunshine...

Liquid sunshine…

I know that we have seen more than our share of churches and cathedrals over the past few months, but this one was one we could not pass up.
Continue reading →

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York ~ Hotel evacuation in the middle of the night and a loss.

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Tuesday August 26th ~ York, England

I thought long and hard about sharing this story, but perhaps it will do more good than harm.  At least that is my hope…

Outside of our hotel

Outside of our hotel

We were awakened in the middle of the night (Sunday night/Monday morning) with the fire alarm over our head blaring.  You may recall that this has happened several times already on this journey, and each time it has been a false alarm or prank which has mostly gone ignored by all.

This time was different…   Continue reading →

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Liverpool ~ Contrasts and Contradictions

Posted on August 26, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Sunday August 24th ~ Liverpool, England

Liverpool, along the Mersey Riverside

Liverpool, along the Mersey Riverside

This is really a combination of tidbits from late Friday afternoon, through early Sunday morning before catching our train out-of-town – but look who is getting technical…

While our weather was somewhat decent we got out and covered a lot of ground, seeing some of the sites that we had not gotten to.

Friday – after our Beatles tour finished up, our driver dropped us off at Albert Dock so we could check out the Maritime and Slavery Museum.

Merseyside Maritime Museum

Merseyside Maritime Museum

The International Slavery Museum is housed inside the Maritime Museum.  It highlights the history of the slave trade triangle with ships being loaded with goods to trade sailing from England to Africa.  Goods were exchanged for human slaves which were then shipped off to Brazil, the Caribbean and Southern USA. Cotton, tobacco and other goods were then loaded onto the same ships and sent back to England and other North European ports, completing the triangle.  Continue reading →

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The World’s Number One Beatles Tour

Posted on August 25, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

Friday August 22 ~ Liverpool, England

Promptly at 10:00 in the morning our tour guide/taxi driver Debbie picked us up at our hotel for our Beatles Fab Four Taxi Tour.

Debbie and our Fab Four Taxi "Madonna"

Debbie and our Fab Four Taxi “Lady Madonna”

Debbie explains to us that we will be visiting the childhood homes of all four of the lads, hearing some of the stories behind the lyrics, visiting memorable sites such as Strawberry Fields, the barber shop where their signature mops were sculpted, Penny Lane as well as a few other places significant to their music.

With a medley of Beatles music playing, Tim and I sang our way down the road toward our first stop, the childhood home of Ringo Starr.  Located in a poorer part of town, that had been largely occupied by dock workers in days gone by.  Several blocks in this area are now boarded up and plans are on hold as to whether or not the buildings will be knocked down or rehabbed.   Continue reading →

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The Four Apostles: John, Paul, George and Ringo

Posted on August 22, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

August 20 ~ Liverpool, England

Along the waterfront

Along the waterfront

Our friends Dick and Karen recommended that we check out Liverpool – so, here we are… Once again I find myself in unresearched territory.  I only know that this is home to the Fab Four – The Beatles!

Being a child of the 60’s I can still remember the day as if it was yesterday when they made their US debut on the Ed Sullivan Show.  Mr. Sullivan starting out the evening with his announcement that “Tonight we have a really big shoe”.  At least it always sounded like he was saying shoe instead of show to me.

When those four came on stage with their mop topped hair cuts, tight pants and thick accented singing style, every teen-aged girl in America and the rest of the world fell in love with them.  We each had our favorite.  Mine was the quieter, soft-spoken George.   Continue reading →

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What is an Aparthotel and why I love staying in one

Posted on August 21, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

August 19 ~ Liverpool, England

Near our hotel

Liverpool – Near our hotel

Our Tuesday train ride from Edinburgh to Liverpool was uneventful with only one change required in the village of Preston.  Both Tim and I commented on how much we have come to enjoy traveling throughout various countries via the rail system.  The UK in particular (most familiar with their system now) seems to have it well figured out.  The prices are reasonable (avoid London if you can to save money), the scheduling is frequent, helpful staff on hand at each station should you require assistance, and viewing the scenery along the way in a relaxed environment is just icing on the cake.

I have done most of my booking online using Thetrainline.com.  The site is easy to use and allows you to enter a variety of times to meet your needs or you can search for the best rates.  On longer journeys you can also reserve specific seats choosing from options such as which direction you want to face, sit in a window or aisle seat, a place with a table, near luggage racks, by the toilet, a quiet car, and even a seat with an outlet so you can charge your electronic gear.   Continue reading →

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Are big changes on the horizon for Scotland?

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

August 18 ~ Our last full day in Edinburgh, Scotland

One final lunch together

One final lunch together

Today was Dick’s birthday.  Our three weeks in Scotland was coming to an end, but we had this one day left to enjoy this beautiful stone city.  Dick said that a big bowl of Bolognese pasta sounded good, so we suggested an Italian restaurant where we had eaten a delicious dinner a week earlier.

Unfortunately the menu was limited at lunchtime compared to the dinner offerings and we settled for the special of the day.  It was good, but not the memorable meal we had hoped for.

One of the things that had stood out for me on our previous visit was our waiter, Giovanni. He had questioned us as to where we were from, and hearing that we were from the Los Angeles area he informed us, “I knew it!  I watched Desperate Housewives, and I could tell you were from there”.   Continue reading →

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Another whirlwind day in Edinburgh with great friends

Posted on August 20, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

August 17 ~ Edinburgh, Scotland

Tim, Dick, Karen, Joanne

Tim, Dick, Karen, Joanne

Another busy, whirlwind of a day with Dick and Karen, starting off with a ride on a giant carousel that was installed just for the festival.

Giant carousel

Giant carousel

This was followed up with us climbing up 287 steps to the top of the Scott Monument to capture some amazing views of the city.

“The Scott Monument is a Victorian Gothic monument to Scottish author Sir Walter Scott. It is the largest monument to a writer in the world” ~ Wikipedia

Continue reading →

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Company in Edinburgh!

Posted on August 19, 2014 by Tim and Joanne Joseph

August 16 – Edinburgh Scotland

Fringe Festival

Fringe Festival

Our good friends from Southern California, Dick and Karen, arrived on Friday to spend several days with us here in Edinburgh.  The last time we saw them (along with our other friends, Jan and Gary), was a couple of months ago when we met up on our Gate 1 trip in the Baltic countries of Estonia, Lithuania, Latvia and Poland.

With being so busy, my time on the Internet was limited and my blog entries suffered.  So, in order to get caught up, I will be doing a quick recap primarily told through our pictures.

Truthfully I gladly sacrificed my writing time, to spend quality time with friends! Continue reading →

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