Organic consuming vegetarians travel by train through England and Scotland
Jun 14th, 2010, 02:05 PM
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Organic consuming vegetarians travel by train through England and Scotland
I am hoping that this report can help vegetarians find something to eat. I also hope to encourage others to try a couple of the rail journeys that we enjoyed. I also saved some on rail travel by buying tickets in a different way, and I’d like to share that. I have some ideas on how I would do things differently which may help someone. I also hope to re-live the trip as I write it because we had such a great time!
First, a sampling of my impressions of both Scotland and England after (only) three and a half weeks, in no particular order. Do keep in mind these are MY general impressions, I speak for no one else, and also there are always exceptions. In other words, and it shouldn’t be necessary to state this, (but I will): The following list does not necessarily apply to every single person I encountered nor every single situation.
Virgin Atlantic: Best. Airline. Ever. (“upper class” is a dream)
Vegetarians and cheese eaters are apparently synonymous.
British men are big time flirts (in a very endearing way-not a creepy way)
Vegans will die from starvation. (Unless they want to live on dark chocolate and bread....but they'd have to pull the cheese off first.)
People in Britain have to be the most helpful, kind, patient people anywhere.
Vegetarians: be prepared for two choices, cheese and tomato sandwiches or pasta dishes.
Judging from the toilet paper, the Brits must have butts of stone.
Restaurants are expensive.
There are still tons of cigarette smokers. Even though they have to stand outside in the cold to smoke.
Every time I flushed a toilet I thought of “Al Bundy”. I could hear him say, “Woosh!” (California has low water flow everything)
London’s air is pretty dirty when it’s not raining.
My cholesterol is probably around 300 now due to my British diet.
Before I get into the trip, I must tell you that the first day looked like it was going to be an encore of our European vacation from back in 2003-the last time we were in Europe. Anxious to board that Sunday flight, scheduled in September 2003, we arrived bright and early at the Swiss counter to go on our 1st class flight from LAX to Zurich, and then on to Rome. However, upon arrival to LAX we saw that no agent was at the Swiss counter. We had bought our Swiss tickets in June with American Airlines FF miles. We later learned that in August that Swiss had canceled all Sunday flights in September departing from LAX, yet no one told <i>us</i>. We had to have an AA agent rearrange our departure. We were forced to go home and come back to LAX the next day to take a business seat on a flight to NYC with AA, then run to the next terminal to catch the FCO flight. Big difference between Swiss first class and AA biz class, at that time anyway. We barely made it on that occasion and it cut short our vacation by a day and caused us to endure a marathon day of travel due to prior reservations.
Back to May 2010: While driving to L.A. to leave our car with my sister, we were listening to the news when the anchorman announced that London Heathrow was <i>closed</i> due to ash from that dang volcano! I was stunned. They were planning to reopen LHR at 7 am, but of course there were no guarantees. We were scheduled to arrive around 4 pm., so I had hope. I looked on-line at Virgin’s web site using my iPhone as P drove towards Los Angeles. Virgin Atlantic had our flight “delayed” by 40 minutes, but it appeared that we were still scheduled to depart. We hung out at my sister’s house. I checked with Virgin online again, and the flight seemed to be running late, but going to LHR. We got to the check in counter and she said it was going! I was relieved, but still didn’t believe it until we actually took off, which we did. I am really glad we had the pods to sleep in. It really helped me to feel rested upon arrival. It was really easy to get acclimated to the time zone.
Itinerary:
Arrive LHR, take a bus (“coach”) to Bath, England - 3 nights
Train/coach to Keswick, England (Lake District) - 4 nights
Coach/Train to Arisaig, Scotland (West Highland Train route) - 1 night
Train to Mallaig - Ferry to Armadale - Driver met us and drove us to Portree, Scotland (Isle of Skye) - 2 nights
Drive to Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland in order to take this scenic rail route to Inverness. Transfer to a train to Edinburgh, Scotland in order to spend - 4 nights
Train to York - 3 nights
Train to Moreton in Marsh (Cotswolds) - 2 nights
Train to London - 5 nights
<b>We made it!</b>
Despite the ash hole in Iceland, we were able to find our way to Heathrow to start our trip. Upon arrival to LHR, and grabbing P’s suitcase from baggage claim, I wasn’t sure where the Central Bus Terminal was. I knew it was somewhere in LHR, but I didn’t know where. Thus started the “Hi there, would you happen to know where “(fill in the blank)” is?” questions, and the kindness/willingness of the citizens to help a tourist.
<i>Finding the National Express coaches to Bath from Terminal 3</i>: After grabbing your bags and leaving customs, head toward the bus “1-13” signs. I believe they were yellow signs. Instead of exiting terminal 3 through the glass doors, look for a set of stairs that descend. They’re in the middle of the room. Near some shops. Follow the “Central Bus Terminal” signs. I got the tickets there rather than by advance purchase on the internet. (30 £ = about 20£ for adult ticket and about 10£ for senior ticket for “P”) If I had bought them in advance I would have saved a wee bit. I wasn’t sure that if I had purchased them in advance, but were unable to use them due to a flight delay, (for example) what would have happened. I didn't want to risk not being able to use them, so I waited and bought them there. The agent said I could have used them on a later coach if I had missed my bus. The ticket tells you which coach you will be on, and the bus when coming into the bus station will have the coach number illuminated. We enjoyed our ride to Bath. We loved the bright yellow patches of rape seed flowers. We heard some locals do not, but I can’t remember why. You can see acres of them from the sky when flying over England. They almost are neon yellow. We think they are great.
Arrived in Bath. The bus driver pointed us toward the train station so we could find a taxi. We walked the short distance. At that time of night, it didn’t look like a train station at all to me. I might have walked right past it had it not been for Tilly. One of our fellow bus passengers was a young female student of fashion. We had not spoken with her on our journey, but on the bus ride, P was sitting in the window seat behind me and since she was across from P, she may have heard us “Oohing and awe-ing” like tourists. When we walked toward the train station, she offered to help us find our way to our hotel (we booked a studio apt.) She even offered to use her own phone to call our apartment owner who had rented us the flat. I thanked her but I used my phone to call our apt. owner. I told the apartment woman that we knew the flat wasn’t more than 10-15 minutes walk from the station and instead of a taxi, we were ready for the short walk. I asked how we could find it by foot. I repeated aloud the instructions twice so that our young bus companion could hear. She knew the way. Tilly had her bike but she walked with us and her bike to the center of Bath until she was able to point us to our building! She wanted to help us because people had helped her when she had first arrived in Bath, and she had appreciated the help. What an angel!
We arrived and met the woman who rented us the apartment. What a great place. It’s really cute and cozy. The woman is an American, living there over a dozen years. She has the patience of a saint! Adorable apartment right in the very heart of Bath. A view of the Abbey one block away, a block from the famous Roman spa, a block from the Marks and Spencer grocery store! This crib was a Rick Steve’s find and we were very happy! She left us organic coffee, milk, cookies, cereal and bread. We loved this place (Abbey View flat) and would heartily recommend it and would return:
http://www.laurastownhouseapartments.co.uk
More later...
First, a sampling of my impressions of both Scotland and England after (only) three and a half weeks, in no particular order. Do keep in mind these are MY general impressions, I speak for no one else, and also there are always exceptions. In other words, and it shouldn’t be necessary to state this, (but I will): The following list does not necessarily apply to every single person I encountered nor every single situation.
Virgin Atlantic: Best. Airline. Ever. (“upper class” is a dream)
Vegetarians and cheese eaters are apparently synonymous.
British men are big time flirts (in a very endearing way-not a creepy way)
Vegans will die from starvation. (Unless they want to live on dark chocolate and bread....but they'd have to pull the cheese off first.)
People in Britain have to be the most helpful, kind, patient people anywhere.
Vegetarians: be prepared for two choices, cheese and tomato sandwiches or pasta dishes.
Judging from the toilet paper, the Brits must have butts of stone.
Restaurants are expensive.
There are still tons of cigarette smokers. Even though they have to stand outside in the cold to smoke.
Every time I flushed a toilet I thought of “Al Bundy”. I could hear him say, “Woosh!” (California has low water flow everything)
London’s air is pretty dirty when it’s not raining.
My cholesterol is probably around 300 now due to my British diet.
Before I get into the trip, I must tell you that the first day looked like it was going to be an encore of our European vacation from back in 2003-the last time we were in Europe. Anxious to board that Sunday flight, scheduled in September 2003, we arrived bright and early at the Swiss counter to go on our 1st class flight from LAX to Zurich, and then on to Rome. However, upon arrival to LAX we saw that no agent was at the Swiss counter. We had bought our Swiss tickets in June with American Airlines FF miles. We later learned that in August that Swiss had canceled all Sunday flights in September departing from LAX, yet no one told <i>us</i>. We had to have an AA agent rearrange our departure. We were forced to go home and come back to LAX the next day to take a business seat on a flight to NYC with AA, then run to the next terminal to catch the FCO flight. Big difference between Swiss first class and AA biz class, at that time anyway. We barely made it on that occasion and it cut short our vacation by a day and caused us to endure a marathon day of travel due to prior reservations.
Back to May 2010: While driving to L.A. to leave our car with my sister, we were listening to the news when the anchorman announced that London Heathrow was <i>closed</i> due to ash from that dang volcano! I was stunned. They were planning to reopen LHR at 7 am, but of course there were no guarantees. We were scheduled to arrive around 4 pm., so I had hope. I looked on-line at Virgin’s web site using my iPhone as P drove towards Los Angeles. Virgin Atlantic had our flight “delayed” by 40 minutes, but it appeared that we were still scheduled to depart. We hung out at my sister’s house. I checked with Virgin online again, and the flight seemed to be running late, but going to LHR. We got to the check in counter and she said it was going! I was relieved, but still didn’t believe it until we actually took off, which we did. I am really glad we had the pods to sleep in. It really helped me to feel rested upon arrival. It was really easy to get acclimated to the time zone.
Itinerary:
Arrive LHR, take a bus (“coach”) to Bath, England - 3 nights
Train/coach to Keswick, England (Lake District) - 4 nights
Coach/Train to Arisaig, Scotland (West Highland Train route) - 1 night
Train to Mallaig - Ferry to Armadale - Driver met us and drove us to Portree, Scotland (Isle of Skye) - 2 nights
Drive to Kyle of Lochalsh, Scotland in order to take this scenic rail route to Inverness. Transfer to a train to Edinburgh, Scotland in order to spend - 4 nights
Train to York - 3 nights
Train to Moreton in Marsh (Cotswolds) - 2 nights
Train to London - 5 nights
<b>We made it!</b>
Despite the ash hole in Iceland, we were able to find our way to Heathrow to start our trip. Upon arrival to LHR, and grabbing P’s suitcase from baggage claim, I wasn’t sure where the Central Bus Terminal was. I knew it was somewhere in LHR, but I didn’t know where. Thus started the “Hi there, would you happen to know where “(fill in the blank)” is?” questions, and the kindness/willingness of the citizens to help a tourist.
<i>Finding the National Express coaches to Bath from Terminal 3</i>: After grabbing your bags and leaving customs, head toward the bus “1-13” signs. I believe they were yellow signs. Instead of exiting terminal 3 through the glass doors, look for a set of stairs that descend. They’re in the middle of the room. Near some shops. Follow the “Central Bus Terminal” signs. I got the tickets there rather than by advance purchase on the internet. (30 £ = about 20£ for adult ticket and about 10£ for senior ticket for “P”) If I had bought them in advance I would have saved a wee bit. I wasn’t sure that if I had purchased them in advance, but were unable to use them due to a flight delay, (for example) what would have happened. I didn't want to risk not being able to use them, so I waited and bought them there. The agent said I could have used them on a later coach if I had missed my bus. The ticket tells you which coach you will be on, and the bus when coming into the bus station will have the coach number illuminated. We enjoyed our ride to Bath. We loved the bright yellow patches of rape seed flowers. We heard some locals do not, but I can’t remember why. You can see acres of them from the sky when flying over England. They almost are neon yellow. We think they are great.
Arrived in Bath. The bus driver pointed us toward the train station so we could find a taxi. We walked the short distance. At that time of night, it didn’t look like a train station at all to me. I might have walked right past it had it not been for Tilly. One of our fellow bus passengers was a young female student of fashion. We had not spoken with her on our journey, but on the bus ride, P was sitting in the window seat behind me and since she was across from P, she may have heard us “Oohing and awe-ing” like tourists. When we walked toward the train station, she offered to help us find our way to our hotel (we booked a studio apt.) She even offered to use her own phone to call our apartment owner who had rented us the flat. I thanked her but I used my phone to call our apt. owner. I told the apartment woman that we knew the flat wasn’t more than 10-15 minutes walk from the station and instead of a taxi, we were ready for the short walk. I asked how we could find it by foot. I repeated aloud the instructions twice so that our young bus companion could hear. She knew the way. Tilly had her bike but she walked with us and her bike to the center of Bath until she was able to point us to our building! She wanted to help us because people had helped her when she had first arrived in Bath, and she had appreciated the help. What an angel!
We arrived and met the woman who rented us the apartment. What a great place. It’s really cute and cozy. The woman is an American, living there over a dozen years. She has the patience of a saint! Adorable apartment right in the very heart of Bath. A view of the Abbey one block away, a block from the famous Roman spa, a block from the Marks and Spencer grocery store! This crib was a Rick Steve’s find and we were very happy! She left us organic coffee, milk, cookies, cereal and bread. We loved this place (Abbey View flat) and would heartily recommend it and would return:
http://www.laurastownhouseapartments.co.uk
More later...
Jun 14th, 2010, 07:48 PM
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Thanks for the encouragement!!!!
<b>Let’s take a bath in Bath</b> We got a good nights sleep and were up and at ‘em nice and early. We love baths over showers and so we were very happy that our apartment had a nice tub. They had this neat shower above the tub that will give you all the hot water you need because it heats the water directly instead of relying on a hot water heater. We used the shower to fill the tub for a good soak. We made ourselves some coffee in the kitchen and thanks to Laura, I had some hot cereal while P had some of the bread.
We set out to have a look at the Abbey. They have people in blue blazers who are there to answer questions you may have. We learned of a small museum in the back of the abbey and wandered over there to have a look. It was interesting to learn of the Abbey’s history. We left deciding it was time to find a sim card for our unlocked RAZR phone. We popped into an “Orange” store based on a local girls recommendation and put 10£ on one of their free sim cards. We had a choice of plans to choose from. We chose the “Camel” plan: The rates were 20p/minute to British numbers, 20p/text, <b>6p/minute to US phones!</b>. Since we got back I think I saw someone on Fodors make mention of an ever better rate from a different company.
Before leaving on our trip, I did a google search for “vegetarian, organic food” followed by the name of the town. When walking around Bath, we happened upon “Clarke’s” which was on my list. I didn’t write down what I ate, but I remember starting with a delicious salad. This place is not a vegetarian restaurant, but they did have options. The owner, Simon is into organic food though, as are we and I’m really glad we came here. I wanted a beer to drink with my meal and I ordered a Becks. I couldn’t help but notice his reaction. He gave a look which made him appear to have just thrown up a little in his mouth! That’s when I realized that I must have been <i>nuts</i> not to consider local beers first! I told him I like a lighter lager and let him choose. He came up with a good one. (I don’t remember the name, but it was from Bath and came in a brown bottle). We chatted for the longest time with Simon who was really interesting and delightful, not to mention gorgeous. I gathered that he might move on from Clarke’s and start another, different type of restaurant. As a teenager he began working as a Calvin Klein model and fashion model, and then worked as an actor in the US and was a regular on one of the soaps. He's been in the restaurant business for years and has enjoyed that too along with raising his children. He's a nice guy!
After we said our goodbyes, we saw some steps leading down to the river so we followed them and decided to hop on the river boat. It was a nice ride for a couple of semi-weary travelers, but I don’t know if I would recommend it. It’s more relaxing than educational, but if you have time to kill and your feet need a rest, and you want something slightly more stimulating than sitting on a park bench, and you’re not on a tight budget, then I’d say go for it.
Next I want to tell you about what I learned using my iPhone in regards to my AT&T phone plan vs. using a British sim card placed in an old phone of ours.
<b>Let’s take a bath in Bath</b> We got a good nights sleep and were up and at ‘em nice and early. We love baths over showers and so we were very happy that our apartment had a nice tub. They had this neat shower above the tub that will give you all the hot water you need because it heats the water directly instead of relying on a hot water heater. We used the shower to fill the tub for a good soak. We made ourselves some coffee in the kitchen and thanks to Laura, I had some hot cereal while P had some of the bread.
We set out to have a look at the Abbey. They have people in blue blazers who are there to answer questions you may have. We learned of a small museum in the back of the abbey and wandered over there to have a look. It was interesting to learn of the Abbey’s history. We left deciding it was time to find a sim card for our unlocked RAZR phone. We popped into an “Orange” store based on a local girls recommendation and put 10£ on one of their free sim cards. We had a choice of plans to choose from. We chose the “Camel” plan: The rates were 20p/minute to British numbers, 20p/text, <b>6p/minute to US phones!</b>. Since we got back I think I saw someone on Fodors make mention of an ever better rate from a different company.
Before leaving on our trip, I did a google search for “vegetarian, organic food” followed by the name of the town. When walking around Bath, we happened upon “Clarke’s” which was on my list. I didn’t write down what I ate, but I remember starting with a delicious salad. This place is not a vegetarian restaurant, but they did have options. The owner, Simon is into organic food though, as are we and I’m really glad we came here. I wanted a beer to drink with my meal and I ordered a Becks. I couldn’t help but notice his reaction. He gave a look which made him appear to have just thrown up a little in his mouth! That’s when I realized that I must have been <i>nuts</i> not to consider local beers first! I told him I like a lighter lager and let him choose. He came up with a good one. (I don’t remember the name, but it was from Bath and came in a brown bottle). We chatted for the longest time with Simon who was really interesting and delightful, not to mention gorgeous. I gathered that he might move on from Clarke’s and start another, different type of restaurant. As a teenager he began working as a Calvin Klein model and fashion model, and then worked as an actor in the US and was a regular on one of the soaps. He's been in the restaurant business for years and has enjoyed that too along with raising his children. He's a nice guy!
After we said our goodbyes, we saw some steps leading down to the river so we followed them and decided to hop on the river boat. It was a nice ride for a couple of semi-weary travelers, but I don’t know if I would recommend it. It’s more relaxing than educational, but if you have time to kill and your feet need a rest, and you want something slightly more stimulating than sitting on a park bench, and you’re not on a tight budget, then I’d say go for it.
Next I want to tell you about what I learned using my iPhone in regards to my AT&T phone plan vs. using a British sim card placed in an old phone of ours.
Jun 14th, 2010, 10:04 PM
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>>I told him I like a lighter lager and let him choose. He came up with a good one. (I don’t remember the name, but it was from Bath and came in a brown bottle).<<
Bath Gems, maybe? I tried a couple of their ales and they were both excellent.
Lee Ann
Bath Gems, maybe? I tried a couple of their ales and they were both excellent.
Lee Ann
Jun 14th, 2010, 11:48 PM
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There is a wide range produced by Bath Ales and they are worth looking out for. They have a website at www.bathales.com. The company, which is actually located in the eastern suburbs of Bristol, also run a number of pubs and sell their beers through local supermarkets and wine shops. Some places have Bath Ales available on draught, rather than in the bottle.
I think they only use brown bottles, so that is not a way of distinguishing the different types. Some are described as organic, while others are not. They do sometimes sell an organic lager, which comes in a smaller bottle and is actually imported from Holland. It's worth trying if you see it.
I think they only use brown bottles, so that is not a way of distinguishing the different types. Some are described as organic, while others are not. They do sometimes sell an organic lager, which comes in a smaller bottle and is actually imported from Holland. It's worth trying if you see it.
Jun 15th, 2010, 11:41 AM
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Yes, that’s it. Bath Ales! You prompted me to dig a little, so I went to his wine list menu on his website and was able to also see the beers available. I’m 99% sure I had the Bath Ales Golden Hare. It was really good.
<i>A word (OK, a ton of words) about sim cards vs. AT&T rates, and a bit about wi-fi</i> One of the smartest things we did was follow the advice on Fodors by unlocking our old RAZR phone that we stopped using, and buying the British sim. I had already thought about how expensive it would be at a minimum of a dollar a minute to call ahead to book a room or reservation. P wanted to bring his phone to check for messages, but our friend said, why bring it? Just use the British sim card RAZR phone to check for messages and then call back anyone who needs to hear back from you. Brilliant! Duh! Why didn’t I think of calling our own phone for messages?! (That is why she is so good at scrabble and yet I get thrilled when I can think of a five letter word) So instead of paying the $6 monthly fee to reduce the calls from $1.29 a minute to $0.99/minute, we just left his cell phone off completely and called his number with the British sim RAZR phone for his messages.
Mine is an iPhone and we had paid the $24.99 monthly fee for 20 MB of international data roaming for those instances that I didn’t have free wi-fi access. What I would do differently the next time is keep my iPhone on airplane mode the entire vacation, and ONLY use the iPhone when I had access to free wifi. Technology like this is VERY convenient, but I don’t really need to be married to it 24-7, thankfully. I would have still bought the British sim to use too, (obviously) that way I would not have had to pay <b>any</b> phone charges to AT&T-except for that initial phone charge the first night upon arrival in Bath.
What I have learned upon return is that if you dial a number while over there and no one picks up the phone, you will still be charged by AT&T. That first night in Bath, after reaching the apartment and not finding the woman waiting for us, I took the iPhone off of airplane mode to call her again. I wasn’t certain that I was indeed in front of the building (there is no numbered address on the building). Just then, before I could dial my call to the woman, someone from Land’s End called me to tell me about a free shipping offer! I said, <i>“Hang up! Hang up! I’m in England!!”</i> I think I may have scared the poor thing. (It cost me $1.29.) Then I placed the second call to the apartment woman from Bath. It rang once, and she suddenly appeared around the corner so I hung up. That cost me $1.29 too, whereas an unanswered call here in the states would have been free. Nevertheless, I am very happy to report that as far as phone calls were concerned, we saved a bundle off of AT&T rates by using almost exclusively the British sim. Calling a British phone for 5 minutes with our Orange plan cost us 1 £, so time can tick off easily if you’re not paying attention. Shop around. I think I’d do a little more looking around next time to see if I could find the best of both worlds. That 6 pence a minute to the US was phenomenal.
Another way I saved with my iPhone is that I too called my phone for messages using our British sim. Being 97% of the time on airplane mode, it never rang (except for that first night, Lands End call). When I did go online to the internet using AT&T International data, my messages would appear on my iPhone (only the new ones-the ones I did not already retrieve using the British sim) Those apparently only cost me the slightest bit of data time to load on my phone rather than a buck a minute. I did not play the messages because that would have been charged, so I just put it back on airplane mode and called myself to hear the messages.
Instead of hunting down free wi-fi there is another option if you’re in a crunch. It is a wi-fi that people can buy and use in certain areas. It’s called BT Openzone. Our hotel in Edinburgh did not offer wi-fi but said they were part of this other wi-fi program that is used in the UK. You pay 10£ for 24 internet surfing hours (not used in a 24 hour time frame, but instead used up one minute at a time by logging on and off until you have surfed 24 hours) and you can find and use this wi-fi, pay as you go system in some Starbucks, hotels, etc.
I'm still trying to get organized here at home and I'm catching up on some stuff, but I'm going to add some more of our trip later tonight. Thank you for commenting.
<i>A word (OK, a ton of words) about sim cards vs. AT&T rates, and a bit about wi-fi</i> One of the smartest things we did was follow the advice on Fodors by unlocking our old RAZR phone that we stopped using, and buying the British sim. I had already thought about how expensive it would be at a minimum of a dollar a minute to call ahead to book a room or reservation. P wanted to bring his phone to check for messages, but our friend said, why bring it? Just use the British sim card RAZR phone to check for messages and then call back anyone who needs to hear back from you. Brilliant! Duh! Why didn’t I think of calling our own phone for messages?! (That is why she is so good at scrabble and yet I get thrilled when I can think of a five letter word) So instead of paying the $6 monthly fee to reduce the calls from $1.29 a minute to $0.99/minute, we just left his cell phone off completely and called his number with the British sim RAZR phone for his messages.
Mine is an iPhone and we had paid the $24.99 monthly fee for 20 MB of international data roaming for those instances that I didn’t have free wi-fi access. What I would do differently the next time is keep my iPhone on airplane mode the entire vacation, and ONLY use the iPhone when I had access to free wifi. Technology like this is VERY convenient, but I don’t really need to be married to it 24-7, thankfully. I would have still bought the British sim to use too, (obviously) that way I would not have had to pay <b>any</b> phone charges to AT&T-except for that initial phone charge the first night upon arrival in Bath.
What I have learned upon return is that if you dial a number while over there and no one picks up the phone, you will still be charged by AT&T. That first night in Bath, after reaching the apartment and not finding the woman waiting for us, I took the iPhone off of airplane mode to call her again. I wasn’t certain that I was indeed in front of the building (there is no numbered address on the building). Just then, before I could dial my call to the woman, someone from Land’s End called me to tell me about a free shipping offer! I said, <i>“Hang up! Hang up! I’m in England!!”</i> I think I may have scared the poor thing. (It cost me $1.29.) Then I placed the second call to the apartment woman from Bath. It rang once, and she suddenly appeared around the corner so I hung up. That cost me $1.29 too, whereas an unanswered call here in the states would have been free. Nevertheless, I am very happy to report that as far as phone calls were concerned, we saved a bundle off of AT&T rates by using almost exclusively the British sim. Calling a British phone for 5 minutes with our Orange plan cost us 1 £, so time can tick off easily if you’re not paying attention. Shop around. I think I’d do a little more looking around next time to see if I could find the best of both worlds. That 6 pence a minute to the US was phenomenal.
Another way I saved with my iPhone is that I too called my phone for messages using our British sim. Being 97% of the time on airplane mode, it never rang (except for that first night, Lands End call). When I did go online to the internet using AT&T International data, my messages would appear on my iPhone (only the new ones-the ones I did not already retrieve using the British sim) Those apparently only cost me the slightest bit of data time to load on my phone rather than a buck a minute. I did not play the messages because that would have been charged, so I just put it back on airplane mode and called myself to hear the messages.
Instead of hunting down free wi-fi there is another option if you’re in a crunch. It is a wi-fi that people can buy and use in certain areas. It’s called BT Openzone. Our hotel in Edinburgh did not offer wi-fi but said they were part of this other wi-fi program that is used in the UK. You pay 10£ for 24 internet surfing hours (not used in a 24 hour time frame, but instead used up one minute at a time by logging on and off until you have surfed 24 hours) and you can find and use this wi-fi, pay as you go system in some Starbucks, hotels, etc.
I'm still trying to get organized here at home and I'm catching up on some stuff, but I'm going to add some more of our trip later tonight. Thank you for commenting.
Jun 15th, 2010, 05:19 PM
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After the river boat cruise and after wandering around, we went over to Marks and Spencer to pick up a few things. The store part closes at 6 but the grocery stayed open until 7. This store had everything! It was a huge department store, currency exchange, and more. We tried to exchange some old Swiss Francs, but they were too old. We also had an English 20£ note that had expired. When at Heathrow, P had tried to buy our bus tickets with it but he got a strange look. That’s when we learned that their money expires, unlike US currency. This note was from 1978! The lady at M&S suggested we try a bank. At one bank we were told that if we were a customer of the bank they would exchange it. This woman at M&S’s said that when we get to London that we should go to the Bank of England to turn it in. She showed us that it is printed right on the bill, “Payable on demand” so we needed to go to the Bank of England and demand our dough!
Marks & Spencer is also a grocery store with tons of prepackaged “fresh” foods. I like that they have a good labeling system like we do on our prepackaged and processed foods. I was able to avoid foods that had preservatives and phony colorings (the food preservatives begin with an “E” on their nutrition labels) I got a couple different ready-to-eat cold pasta salads like with tomato and basil for just a couple of pounds each, and we picked up some fruit and yogurt.
We decided to do the Bizarre Bath walk. You can see it nightly during the summer. What a crack-up! Totally worth every pence. Very entertaining and very funny. Our guide was JJ. He promises that you won’t learn a thing. We both highly recommend this walk. Oh and they meet one block away from the apartment!
Marks & Spencer is also a grocery store with tons of prepackaged “fresh” foods. I like that they have a good labeling system like we do on our prepackaged and processed foods. I was able to avoid foods that had preservatives and phony colorings (the food preservatives begin with an “E” on their nutrition labels) I got a couple different ready-to-eat cold pasta salads like with tomato and basil for just a couple of pounds each, and we picked up some fruit and yogurt.
We decided to do the Bizarre Bath walk. You can see it nightly during the summer. What a crack-up! Totally worth every pence. Very entertaining and very funny. Our guide was JJ. He promises that you won’t learn a thing. We both highly recommend this walk. Oh and they meet one block away from the apartment!
Jun 16th, 2010, 07:18 AM
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After the Bizarre Bath walk we decided to go into a pub. We popped into the Crystal Palace. It’s the one that was in the same square as our apartment building. We tried an Oxford golden ale on tap and a lager. The lager is kept at a cooler temperature, which we both prefer, but trying the ales was always tempting because they were tasty and they also made up the bulk of the local beer choices.
Our last full day in Bath we learned a valuable lesson. Take the bus FIRST! We happened to fully enjoy the hop on hop off buses with the live guides. Almost every town we visited had one. This bus pass was accepted for TWO days, which would have been nice and handy. We also saved a couple pounds with a “concession rate” ticket. (I can’t remember but I think those in their late 50’s qualify) We did the Bath Central route. The buses are great because it helps you get your bearings straight. While you’re getting a history lesson, you’re best able to see where everything is, sometimes more helpful than a map. It can pique your interests in seeing something that you may not have initially been interested in seeing, or cause you to change your mind about seeing something that you were interested in seeing.
We used the hop on hop off bus ticket receipt to receive a 10% discount on entry to the Roman Spa. Here the self guided tour was EXCELLENT and is included in the admission price. You could easily spend hours here if you love a good museum. I loved looking at the ancient pins, combs, coins and jewelry. After quite a while there, I would notice at an extra set of numbers on a red placard. In other words, one exhibit but two sets of numbers. It seemed that using the numbers on the red signs were kind of a Readers Digest version of the exhibit you were viewing. I never asked for clarification from an employee, just my observation.
We walked a block back to the apartment to eat one of our M&S salads and then headed back, next to the Spa to the Pump Room so we could take one of the popular and free Bath walking tours. Long ago in the 1930’s the mayor of Bath who loved his city took some visitors on a guided tour, and I guess the tradition took hold. These volunteers give a couple of hours of their time and knowledge to guide people through so much history and information. It was wonderful. This emphasized the point that we should do this kind of thing right away and not save it for last! We might have gone back to a small museum at the Royal Crescent had we done this walk earlier.
As you know we had done the bus tour earlier this day, but what surprised me in the walking tour was to realize just how close our flat was to all of the these things we were seeing again (and a little more in depth). Our guide took us to the Crescent, the Circus, the Pump Room and even got us a quick look into a couple of ballrooms at the Fashion Museum. I came to find out that one man who was walking with us was in training to be a guide. When we were walking in between stopping points he took an interest in me (P said he took an interest in my butt) asking where we were from and just general chit chat. As we would walk to our next destination, he would give me little tidbits of information on stuff we were passing. Kind of a personal tour guide within a tour. Nice! (and if I must confess, nice to look at too)
After the walking tour I popped into M&S to grab some grub for our train ride the following day. For dinner we walked a few steps to “Demuths”. From 5:30 to 6:30 pm they offer an early bird special. Choose two courses for £14.50. This is a WONDERFUL organic and vegetarian restaurant which does not scrimp on presentation. I made some notes, but did not write down everything. I had the dumplings which were made from mushrooms, sweet potato, eggplant, chili in sauce (not a spicy dish). The second course was a scrumptious cheese tart served with mixed greens and figs. P had as his main course some rice balls wrapped in polenta, lightly fried sitting on a tomato and pesto sauce. It sounds kind of heavy as I write this, but I can assure you that <i>everything</i> was so light, flavorful, and deliciously creative. All the flavors melding together were amazing so we HAD to try their dessert. We had the fudge cake which was served with soy ice cream. Throw in a couple glasses of wine for P and an organic blond lager for me and we very happily gave them £54. Absolutely delicious. We rolled ourselves back to the flat to rest up for our journey to the lake district the following day.
Our last full day in Bath we learned a valuable lesson. Take the bus FIRST! We happened to fully enjoy the hop on hop off buses with the live guides. Almost every town we visited had one. This bus pass was accepted for TWO days, which would have been nice and handy. We also saved a couple pounds with a “concession rate” ticket. (I can’t remember but I think those in their late 50’s qualify) We did the Bath Central route. The buses are great because it helps you get your bearings straight. While you’re getting a history lesson, you’re best able to see where everything is, sometimes more helpful than a map. It can pique your interests in seeing something that you may not have initially been interested in seeing, or cause you to change your mind about seeing something that you were interested in seeing.
We used the hop on hop off bus ticket receipt to receive a 10% discount on entry to the Roman Spa. Here the self guided tour was EXCELLENT and is included in the admission price. You could easily spend hours here if you love a good museum. I loved looking at the ancient pins, combs, coins and jewelry. After quite a while there, I would notice at an extra set of numbers on a red placard. In other words, one exhibit but two sets of numbers. It seemed that using the numbers on the red signs were kind of a Readers Digest version of the exhibit you were viewing. I never asked for clarification from an employee, just my observation.
We walked a block back to the apartment to eat one of our M&S salads and then headed back, next to the Spa to the Pump Room so we could take one of the popular and free Bath walking tours. Long ago in the 1930’s the mayor of Bath who loved his city took some visitors on a guided tour, and I guess the tradition took hold. These volunteers give a couple of hours of their time and knowledge to guide people through so much history and information. It was wonderful. This emphasized the point that we should do this kind of thing right away and not save it for last! We might have gone back to a small museum at the Royal Crescent had we done this walk earlier.
As you know we had done the bus tour earlier this day, but what surprised me in the walking tour was to realize just how close our flat was to all of the these things we were seeing again (and a little more in depth). Our guide took us to the Crescent, the Circus, the Pump Room and even got us a quick look into a couple of ballrooms at the Fashion Museum. I came to find out that one man who was walking with us was in training to be a guide. When we were walking in between stopping points he took an interest in me (P said he took an interest in my butt) asking where we were from and just general chit chat. As we would walk to our next destination, he would give me little tidbits of information on stuff we were passing. Kind of a personal tour guide within a tour. Nice! (and if I must confess, nice to look at too)
After the walking tour I popped into M&S to grab some grub for our train ride the following day. For dinner we walked a few steps to “Demuths”. From 5:30 to 6:30 pm they offer an early bird special. Choose two courses for £14.50. This is a WONDERFUL organic and vegetarian restaurant which does not scrimp on presentation. I made some notes, but did not write down everything. I had the dumplings which were made from mushrooms, sweet potato, eggplant, chili in sauce (not a spicy dish). The second course was a scrumptious cheese tart served with mixed greens and figs. P had as his main course some rice balls wrapped in polenta, lightly fried sitting on a tomato and pesto sauce. It sounds kind of heavy as I write this, but I can assure you that <i>everything</i> was so light, flavorful, and deliciously creative. All the flavors melding together were amazing so we HAD to try their dessert. We had the fudge cake which was served with soy ice cream. Throw in a couple glasses of wine for P and an organic blond lager for me and we very happily gave them £54. Absolutely delicious. We rolled ourselves back to the flat to rest up for our journey to the lake district the following day.
Jun 16th, 2010, 12:09 PM
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Vegans will die from starvation. (Unless they want to live on dark chocolate and bread....but they'd have to pull the cheese off first.)
Vegetarians: be prepared for two choices, cheese and tomato sandwiches or pasta dishes.
Complete crap...you didn't look very hard
Vegetarians: be prepared for two choices, cheese and tomato sandwiches or pasta dishes.
Complete crap...you didn't look very hard
