Saturday, June 26 I brought several thematic music programs with me. To express our gratitude to our new Brailes friends for their warm hospitality, we treated them to the ever-popular Jungle Jive party on our last night in the village. Lina drew and individually colored the invitations, which were then hand-delivered. Costumes were encouraged. We decorated Lou’s garden shed with vines, …
Friday, June 25 – only six more shopping months till Xmas After a day of blog catch-up and domesticity, we headed to Tackley, about half an hour east. Here, on the village green, performed the Giffords Circus, a regional-only troupe based in the Cotswolds. He ultimately did five! Just fabulous. A pint afterwards at the …
Thursday, June 24 A relaxing time, excellent for blogging and rest. We headed out in the evening to attend a herb walk some distance into the Cotswolds. On the way, we stopped at a megalithic stone circle. This alignmnent of rocks dates from 2500 BC. The other two groupings are of different ages. The water-eroded chunks reminded …
Wednesday, June 23 This day saw us reunited and heading south together. I got on the iron horse in E-burgh and marveled at the sights my route afforded through the Lowlands of south Scotland. With an emotional farewell to fair Caledonia, I watched the hedgerows reappear as England welcomed me again. By 11:30 a.m., I was off …
While Howie is in Scotland, Linda visited the Lake District in North England with Louisa. Sunday, June 20 Louisa and I arrived in the famous Lake District of Cumbria about 1:00. We enjoyed tea and scones near Dove Cottage, former home of William Wordsworth. It’s no wonder that such romantic poetry was created here. The landscapes are so …
Tuesday, June 22 I got back from Glenshee yester-evening with just enough time to down a half-pint at the Conan Doyle pub before hoofing it over to Waverley Bridge. There I paid 14 Scottish pounds for 24-hours’ worth of hop-on, hop-off touring on four open-top vehicles on four routes through the city. No, I didn’t sign …
Summer Solstice: Monday, June 21 On this longest day, I leaped out of bed, intending to visit ancestral stomping grounds up in the Highlands. First step: find a nearby car to hire. By 10:30 or so, I was behind the wheel of a sleek, black Opal Astra, negotiating my way through Edinburgh traffic. Two adjacent roundabouts …
Sunday, June 20 It was time to break our fellowship. L and L headed south to the Lake District while I rode a bus to Edinburgh, Scotland’s inspiring capital. Ronald was kind enough to motor me down to Dumfries, where I boarded the coach. I had no map, but kept notes of routes and towns. …
Saturday, June 19 One of my all-time favorite movies is The Wicker Man. We fully contribute to its cult status by hosting a festive showing every May first. The film would require several articles on its own, but to connect to this trip, we three travelers visited several locations where shooting happened in 1972. In Lou’s rented car, we drove through Dumfries …
Friday, June 18 Thanks to our hostess, we were able to spend a couple nights in southern Scotland, staying with a co-worker of Lou’s. The trip north in a rented Hyudai gave us a taste of British motorways—way too similar to freeway travel in the States. It took most of the day to crawl past …