Some reflections on Europe in the fall - photos of Italy and the UK
 

I've just posted the photos of my November trip to Italy and the UK - http://www.pbase.com/annforcier/uk_a..._november_2010

I visited London, the UK midlands: Liverpool, Chester, Leamington Spa, and Conwy, Wales. Then flew over to Italy: Bologna with day trips to Ravenna and Modena, and last but not at all least, Rome. The photos are in reverse of order of how I actually did the trip.

I had a wonderful time despite the absolutely worst weather of any trip I've ever taken. Hey, it was Europe, I had fun. Some sort of trip report is forthcoming.

Nice photos, where is Conway Castle?

I always love your artistry---November rains or not.
This time I loved # 159, 160, and 275--among others.

Really lovely photos. Looking forward to the TR.

"<i>where is Conway Castle?</i>" Conwy (not Conway) Castle is in Conwy north Wales.

I enjoyed your photos, particularly those of via dei Cappellari, where my sister and I rented an apartment one year when she was still pregnant with my niece (who just turned five)! Lots of happy memories of Rome. Thank you, isabel.

"where is Conway Castle?" Conwy (not Conway) Castle is in Conwy north Wales"

Conway, (not Conwy) Castle is in Conway, north Wales.

If those inhabitants of Conway who speak Welsh as their first language ever have the courtesy to refer to their regional and national capitals as Liverpool and London respectively, the rest of us might think about giving Conway its Welsh name.

They don't. They insist, when speakiong Welsh, on using their dialect terms for English cities. So, unsurprisingly, the English-speaking majority of Greater Merseyside continue to call Conway what it's always been called in English. As, incidentally, do most Welsh speakers in Conway when speaking English.

Conway's what real people in the town call it: Conwy (like Mumbai and Ho Chi Minh) is a silly political stunt, invented as a meaningless sop to an irrelevant local pressure group.

except that every map atlas I've had in the last 20+ years has had it as Conwy . . .

I loved your pictures, especially the night shots. Thanks for letting us see them!

You have no idea how downright giddy I get when you post your artful pictures! Thanks once again.

Absolutely lovely pics! I was in London and Conwy/way in the summer and Rome in November so it was fun to revisit via your photos (and compare pics!) Also looking forward to your TR?

Flanner the all knowing bigot.
Since when has the Conwy National capital been London?

Conwy is in Wales.

That makes Cardiff its National Capitol.

Happy Christmas to my least favourite Englishman.

;-)

Muck

Now that most of Christmas is over I can concentrate on travel again.

For the second year in a row I’ve had a November trip to Europe. I usually travel in July and March so this “off-season” travel is new to me. Last year I went to France (Paris and the Cote d’Azure), this year to the UK and Italy. In both cases the incentive for the trip was that my daughter (KC) is over there, this year as a grad student at the Univ of Warwick. Rather than a day by day report I think some highlights (and lowlights) would be more informative (and less boring).

Pros and Cons of traveling in November: Overall I wouldn’t choose November if I had a choice, I much prefer summer, or even March. But I’m still glad I went, Europe in November is better than not going at all. Last year I felt there were less crowds (at least in the touristy areas), and the prices were cheaper than summer travel. This year I didn’t get that – In London there were long lines at places like the London Eye, lots of people in the museums, etc. Places like Chester, England and Conwy Wales were much less crowded, but also some things closed for the season. Rome was maybe a little less crowded than July but there were still tour groups everywhere, lines at lots of things (Vactican Museum even in the afternoon), bus and metro were jammed. Hotel prices in the smaller towns were low season but in London and Rome not so. In fact in Rome we stayed at the same hotel we stayed at just this past July. It was 70€ in July, 100€ in November. And it is not a business hotel, all the guests I saw were tourists.
There may be fewer people at the main tourist sites but certainly not in the streets – shopping areas, public transportation, etc. Museums, which of course are frequented by locals as much as by tourists, were at least as crowded as they are in the summer. In London, Bologna and Rome there were more crowds on the streets – in Bologna it was university students (which make up 25% of the population), in small towns in Italy it was high school age students (why weren’t they in school?). But it was actually harder to get photographs of lots of places without people in them than it is in July. The trains in Italy were quite empty though. In the UK half the trains were standing room only, others were half empty.

It was pretty dark– doesn’t get light out till 7-8 and dark by 4-5. (About 9 hours of day light versus about 17 in July). Numerous times I would look around and think: it’s dark, dismal, damp and depressing here. But it didn’t rain everyday (there were six days out of nineteen that it didn’t rain), but even on some of the rain days there was also some dry, even sunny spells. Interestingly, five of the six dry days were in the UK. In Italy it rained part of every day (or at least night). Some truly horrid weather – got very soaked, very cold. Can absolutely say the worst weather of my “traveling to Europe career” (20 trips) occurred on this trip. But a few times (can’t call them “days” as they were only “periods”) it was sunny and near 70. Looking at my photos it looks like there was plenty of blue sky. But many of my memories of this trip are of wet boots, broken umbrellas and gray skies. On the plus side though, the clouds were sometimes quite pretty and made for some interesting photos. Also got lots of “reflections in puddles” photos.

Construction – As I discovered on the Cote d’Azure last Nov, this is the time touristy places use to make repairs – streets all chopped up, construction fencing surrounding squares and piazzas and fountains and statues – in places like Chester, Liverpool waterfront, etc. Same for Italy. Also they are putting up Christmas villages everywhere from the embankment along the Thames in London to the main square in Bologna –so really more like construction sites as they are not open and festive yet.

Bookmarking to read and view photos later! :-)

Your photos are way better than ordinary!!! Many thanks for the trip - much better than contemplating the coming storm on the East Coast!

Wow! Fantastic photos!

Thanks for liking the photos. Given the percentage of time that was cloudy/raining I was kind of surprised how decent they came out.

Of course that's one of the "good" things about bad weather - when the sun does come out everything looks that much better. Sun shining on things with dark clouds in the background is so dramatic looking. One day we were in Lincoln's Inn Fields in London and it was almost dark (mid day) the clouds were so thick. But then all of a sudden there was a break and it was like someone had a giant spot light. So beautiful. Five minutes later it was brooding darkness again but even then the gas lights and architecture made us feel like we were in a Victorian film. Then we got wet. Plus its hard to get good shots in low light while holding an umbrella.

Also I think you appreciate things more when the sun comes out after a rain. Things look so clean and bright, and such a contrast to the way they looked, only moments ago, in the clouds.

In London we stayed at two different hotels as we were there on twice, the first weekend for two nights, then a week later for four. And I can actually recommend both of them. Finding reasonably economic lodging in London is so hard, most of places I've stayed on previous trips I wouldn't return to. This is so the opposite of my experience all over the rest of Europe where I can honestly say I'd return to almost every hotel, guesthouse or B&B. So this time in London I went with chain hotels.

We booked the Comfort Inn Buckingham Palace Road the first weekend for 89£ per night double 8-12 St. Georges Drive, London, Phone: (44) 207 834 2988
www.comfortinnbuckinghampalacerd.co.uk/
Email : [email protected]
As inexpensive hotels in London go this one was not bad. A five minute walk from Victoria Station – actually about a one minute walk from Victoria Coach Station, so convenient to the services a traveler might need (lots of fast food, tube connections, stores selling phone cards, train ticket office, etc). And Victoria Station has great people watching. The hotel itself is clean with TV, free wi-fi in the room (and a desktop for guest use in the lobby if you don’t have your own), acceptable breakfast. Room was not large but for cheap London hotel it was better than most I’ve stayed in. They have a locked room for luggage storage. Based on the breakfast crowd it was pretty full. The price for the following weekend was double what we paid this weekend so we booked the Travelodge for that weekend. There is an excellent Thai restaurant right around the corner.

Travelodge Waterloo London 195-203 Waterloo Rd Phone 0871 984 6291 90£ double. Breakfast extra so we just went around the corner to a Nero's Cafe. Ten minute or less walk from Waterloo station so quite convenient. Inside is all brand new, very modern hotel (kiosk check-in). Room is pretty large, queen size comfy bed, new carpet, flat screen TV, good shower, tea & coffee making. Wi-fi is extra, 20£ a week so for the four days we are here works out to 5£ a day. Clean and functional and cheap for London. But No left luggage! This makes it difficult if you arrive early in the day or want to leave luggage after the morning check out times. Other than that it's a pretty good deal.

London – Mostly due to the time of year/weather this became a “markets and museums” trip. The time in London was actually split over two weekends: three days at the start of the trip and four days the following weekend. But some surprisingly dry weather (in between the rain) allowed for lots of walking all over London. As this was my fifth trip to London, and KC has already lived there (study abroad as an undergrad) we had done the main “touristy” things already.

We did the major museums of course, but also a few I had not been to before, in fact had not even hear of till just before this trip.

HUNTERIAN MUSEUM - Definitely our favorite museum of the trip. I had not even heard of it till a couple weeks before the trip when I stumbled upon it online. We got a bus to Lincoln’s Inn Fields and finally found the Hunterian Museum in the Royal College of Surgeons which was also holding a conference on plastic surgery on the first floor the day we were there. It’s fascinating, awe-inspiring and truly gruesome.

Spread over two floors are medical curiosities, stories about early surgical procedures and countless specimens of humans and animals. Babies, fetuses and human body parts are shown in healthy and unhealthy states. There are thousands of jars full of human parts, not to mention frogs, cows, birds, and every other living creature, some whole, some cut into pieces. We also saw intestines, deformed skulls, tumors, tongues, hernias, an 8 foot tall skeleton, a 3 year old skeleton that is the size of a one month old, lungs with TB, heart disease, genetic mutations, brains, teeth, fractures and every other part of the body you can imagine. Normal, and some very abnormal. Instruments from the past several hundred years of surgery. The instruments made even me queasy. It was truly gross and disgusting, and we loved it. But it’s also very educational. I really wanted to take pictures, they could have been so very helpful when lecturing on many subjects (I teach nursing), but no photos were allowed. The museum was full of people drawing the specimens, not sure if they were art or medical students.

For a polar opposite of the Hunterian Museum we did the Museum of Childhood in Bethal Green. I thought this might be a children’s museum but it really is more interesting for adults. All kinds of toys that reminded me of my childhood, as well as of my kids’ childhoods. Plus lots of really old stuff – Victorian doll houses, train sets, old teddy bears, dolls, etc. I thought it might either be stuffy old stuff, or something mainly for kids but it was a really interesting look back on my own childhood and on my motherhood. And it’s in a nice iron and glass building.

Isabel - I love the Museum of Childhood as well - I think you are spot on about it being more for adults as a trip down memory lane.

Your photographs are great - you have a very good eye, I think. And have even made the most of the weather, with all those clever reflections in puddles. I am British and live about 25 miles from London, and whenever I think of the city usually default to autumn, with double-deckers and street lights viewed in the dark, through drizzle or fog. It is not a city that needs sunshine to be beautiful or interesting.

I agree that London can be very atmospheric in the fog or drizzle. In fact I said exactly that to myself - here's an excerpt from my notes.

Some of my Favorite Views of London:

The view from Hungerford Bridge of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament along the river is just like the Monet painting. I’ve always loved that view and in the fog and drizzle it was really like the painting. So if my photos are out of focus I’ll just photoshop them into “watercolor”. One night when we did that walk the London Eye was lit up red! It was so pretty- much better than when it’s white. We thought it must be for the Lord Mayor Celebration that weekend but Friday night it was back to white so I guess it was for Armisist Day. Then on Saturday, which was the Lord Mayor’s Celebration it was lit up blue. Also extremely pretty.

Other favorite views:
- the City and with St Paul’s dome from the Waterford Bridge
- the classic London view from Jubilee Embankment, of the London Eye and Big Ben/Houses of Parliament
- looking down the Strand toward Nelson’s Column in Trafalgar Square
- the view from the steps of the National Gallery of Trafalgar Square with Big Ben in the distance
- any of the streets of London from the front seat on the upper deck of any double decker bus

We did a slew of other museums, but those have been reported on plenty and are in all the guidebooks. We also did a lot of markets. Three which I had not really done before and that were quite interesting were Borough's Market, Spitafields Market and the Cabbages and Frocks Market.

Borought’s Market - It’s partly in an old iron and glass building, partly under the railroad tracks, and partly outside. Right next to Southwark Cathedral. But it’s full of wonderful smells and gorgeous food. We just had breakfast and yet it made my mouth water. We should have planned better and gone at lunch time. They had great looking produce, fish, meats, ethnic (kangaroo meat anyone?), prepared foods, baked goods, everything. Why can’t we have markets like that where we live.

Then, continuing with the market theme, we took the tube to Marlylebone to the ‘Cabbages and Frocks’ market. The market was tiny – no cabbages, and not all that many frocks. Some interesting vintage clothes, jewelry, hats – about a couple dozen craft fair tents in a small church yard. The name was the best part.

Spitafields Market. It’s all under cover – a big iron and glass building, some of it old but some of it more modern (guess they’ve expanded). This was a good thing as it was absolutely pouring when we were there. It’s mostly just a giant craft fair, albeit a nice one. There are a very few second hand /vintage stalls, mostly it’s new crafts, jewelry, etc.

The UK Midlands and Wales: My three days in the midlands was because that’s where my daughter KC is living. Leamington Spa seems like a really nice little Regency Town with a beautiful park. Unfortunately the day I had devoted to exploring the town it rained all day long so I can’t say I really appreciated the town.

The following day I went off on a little vacation within my vacation – an overnight to Liverpool, Chester and Conwy Wales. I originally intended to just do Chester and Conwy but a certain Fodorite convinced me Liverpool was worth a look so I added that also. The Liverpool train station (Lime Street) and the building across the street were impressive. Walking towards the waterfront it almost immediately becomes pedestrianized and is one big shopping area. Not picturesque, or impressive buildings, just shopping - some modern, some older. Lots of newish construction glass mini-skyscrapers scattered all over the city. The town does have a nice vibe to it. The Albert Docks were “OK”, clearly mid 19th C, all renovated and turned into museums and shops. The main large buildings on the waterfront, the Liver Building, etc. are quite pretty and I’m sure the image from across the river, on a nice day, is lovely. There was some “landscaping and renovation” going on so a lot of the walkways were closed till next summer.

Although the sun did come out, and I’m glad I saw Liverpool, it certainly isn’t among my favorite places and although I realize there is the historical aspect, visually it doesn’t compare with most UNESCO sites. I Didn’t feel the need to do the Beatles experience, was going to the much larger Tate Modern in London so didn’t do that, and just wasn’t in the mood for the Nautical Museum so headed to my next destination, Chester, a less than 45 minute, £4 train ride away.

Chester I really liked. And only partly because the sun finally came out and there was some blue sky. The city center is just full of black and white half timbered Tudor buildings, not just a small section but blocks and blocks of them. In the very center are the famous “Rows” – galleried buildings with covered first floor walkways, two floors of shops. Some date to the 15th C and others are obviously more recent. The entire town is circled by 2 miles of walls, begun when Chester was founded by the Romans 2000 years ago. The main entrance is Eastgate, with a beautiful Victorian clock (dates only from the 18th C). There are a few buildings of later architectural style but Chester is unusual in that some of it’s buildings from Georgian and Victorian times are also the black and white timbered facades.

Despite the fact that not all Chester’s buildings are from the same time period, the town has a very medieval feel to it and is visually stunning (even with many of the main streets dug up and covered with construction fencing- the “November syndrome” I’m calling it). Behind the beautiful facades are modern stores, in fact there are a couple of whole “malls” hidden well. It’s definitely a real (small) city and not a just a tourist town. In November anyway, the town did shut down at 6pm. It was nicely lit and I’m sure on a warm summer night it’s lively as well as beautiful.

Many people on Fodors debate “Chester vs York”. So now having been to both (York was several years ago) I will weigh in: Overall Chester’s streets/town center is more visually striking, York has a few streets that are more quaint and feel even older (the Shambles). Shopping is better in Chester. The town gates/walls are more interesting in York. Chester’s walls are more complete but less interesting to walk on. York’s Cathedral (Minster) is way better than Chester’s cathedral. Both are far more pleasant and interesting to the average tourist/visitor than Liverpool but neither are UNESCO sites and Liverpool is.

Obviously a town/site has to apply to get on the UNESCO list so some places that I anyway, feel are more historically as well as visually interesting are not on it. Maybe Chester and York haven’t applied (I don’t know this for a fact, just an observation). In terms of both visual and historical interest both NYC and Boston’s waterfronts are “better” than Liverpool’s, yet neither of them are on the UNESCO list.
Back to the Chester –York debate. Both also make good bases for day trips. York has the heather covered moors, the North Sea side towns of Whitby, etc, and old abbey ruins like Riveaux and Fountains Abbey. But you need a car to see them. From Chester you can visit north Wales – Conwy and it’s castle, the seaside town – and these are doable by train.

In Chester I stayed at the Stafford Hotel 39-43 City Road Chester, 50£ single Phone +441244326052 Booking.com www.staffordhotel.com/index.htm [email protected] Very nice hotel in great location. Rated a two star but I think it’s better than that. Less than five minute walk from Train Station, about 10-15 minutes to center of Chester. Room was huge with king size bed (six pillows, fluffy, comfy, duvet etc). Wallpaper etc a bit dated but they had many extra touches that showed they were keeping up. Very nice lobby, great breakfast. No hesitations in recommending this place.

Your photos are amazing! I think the rain was a blessing in disguise as the photos with reflections in the puddles were such a delight. I haven't been to Italy yet, but the pictures of London, Chester, and Leamington Spa brought back wonderful memories. Thank you for sharing.

the photos are just spectacular....agrees with other posters on your wonderful use of the rain and puddles, you have quite an artistic eye

Thanks drchris and denisea. I do have a new appreciation for clouds and puddles that I didn't have before this trip.