Andy's World Tour of Europe 2000 Diary
Tuesday June 13, 2000
Drove to Stonehenge. On the way stopped for coffee at an inn called the Jolly Farmer. It was cloudy at Stonehenge but loads of tourists there. Later we drove to Torquay, home of that ‘Basil Faulty’ character. Lots of cheap B&B’s here. Walked into the city and had a pub meal.
Wednesday June 14, 2000
This morning we left Torquay (passing a huge truck conference and exhibition in a nearby town) we got slightly lost on the way to Plymouth, the place where the Pilgrims set sail for the ‘New World’. Tony had been told of a place called Fowey, a tiny port on the south coast. We stopped here for an hour before heading to Penzance. Couldn’t see much of Penzance because of the mizzle (that’s mist and drizzle!)
Thursday June 15, 2000
A few Aussies at the B&B we stayed at. To start the day we drove to Lands End with its spectacular coastline. It’s still foggy but it lifted a bit while we were there. Drove via St. Ives to Launceston. Here they have a really cute narrow gauge steam railway (which we just HAD to ride) and the ruins of a Norman castle which was initially build around 850 (I think). Launceston is the gateway to Cornwall, and they make no secret of their "daughter city" in the southern hemisphere. (They don't mention that the daughter is now about 13 times bigger than the parent!). We also went to an Otter Park about 5 minutes drive out of town.
Friday June 16, 2000
From Launceston we headed to Bath. Toured the historic Roman Baths, which gave the place its name, and Pulteney Street Bridge. Very impressive place. From Bath we headed across to Cardiff in Southern Wales. This involved several hours driving on the motorways - a rather stressful experience at the best of times, and initially Tony wasn't too impressed with the place, but now we've found somewhere to stay, and walked the length of the city centre (Cardiff is quite large - being the capital of Wales) and had a bite for dinner (at an Aussie Pub - minted lamb burger - yum!) So after a few drinks we're a little more relaxed now. Actually slightly drunk....
Saturday June 17, 2000
Did a tour of Cardiff Castle, which flys an Australian Flag (amongst others - don't know why). Drove back into England and stopped for lunch at Gloucester. Drove to Oxford and found a B&B and then did a bus tour of Oxford. I knew Oxford as a University town bit that is what it actually is - in the town centre, nearly every second building a part of the University. Back at the B&B we watched the world cup - England v Germany soccer match on TV.
Sunday June 18, 2000
Drove from Oxford to Sherwood Forest. Walked through the forest to Major Oak - the creaky old tree where Maid Marion and Robin Hood are supposed to have “plighted their troth.” Drove on to the city of York. The city centre is surrounded by 13th century stone walls (most of which are still intact) and we were able to walk along the top of. Looked over Clifford’s Tower. Later we had a nice meal in a small pub and filled ourselves up with lager.
Monday June 19, 2000
Today we took a bus tour of York (hosted by a Scotsman!) then visited a Model Railway, the Jorvik Viking Centre, etc. In the afternoon we drove into the North Yorkshire countryside to Wensleydale (location of tv show ‘All Creatures Great And Small’ and home of Wallace and Gromit’s favourite cheese!) Visited Aysgarth Falls and Bolton Castle. Nice countryside, but this was during the 30-degree monster heatwave that they'll be telling the kids about in 20 years time. Then it was back to York for another night.