"..We are in that part of the world where those James Herriot books were written like Up The Cow's Uterus. "

lol ! Put your hand up a cow's bum and everyone's a vet !

I am not on the UK forum very often but since we will be ther on Monday am reading up. Your comment about taking the bus made me smile. We loved the bus in Paris for that same reason. They have to have nerves of steel.
As for the wife beaters, we actually see people board planes with those on. YUK, who wants to sit next to someone with their hairy armpits showing. We get this one guy that is so hairy and wears one everytime he flys from my airport. Men with tats love to wear them to show off the artwork. It is like a very thin low cut tank top.

Did you not check out the olympic venues?

Adu, thanks for the update. Particularly enjoyed your description of the British Museum (you lasted longer there that I did . Missed the British Museum but hope to visit someday.

Enjoy York. Will you be visiting any stately homes in the area?

Very fun report Adu! Hope you and the Mrs. have better culinary experiences in York.

I have to say, on my last trip to London, Norwich and Exeter, in 2009, the food was outstanding everywhere we went. I took my mom and we joked about how we were eating our way around England.

Thank you all for you encouragment. It is like throwing chum to a shark.

Frezzing our collective arses off. We visited some seaside resorts and thought of the Beatles song When I'm 64 and wondered which of these padding the streets screamed for the Beatles.

Full report in a day or two.

"Thank you all for you encouragment. It is like throwing chum to a shark."

This made me laugh out loud!
Looking forward to more...

Aduchamp1:

We are staying at a new place for us The Stylohotel hotel. Other than the location why did you choose it?

Any change of sharing where you purchased the oblong dish decorated with NYC bridges?

Enjoy your visit with your friends and stay warm.

Sandy

Frezzing our collective arses off. We visited some seaside resorts and thought of the Beatles song When I'm 64 and wondered which of these padding the streets screamed for the Beatles.>>

Adu - this time last year we were in yorkshire for a long weekend and [apart from the day of the Royal Wedding] the weather was glorious. sorry you've got the opposite - but you are perhaps experiencing more typical weather, and therefore enjoying more typical pursuits.

Annhig, sorry I missed your irony before. Sometimes I get it, sometimes one has to slap me on the head with a board. Pardon.

Our host had a problem with a clogged pipe. He poured a teaspoon of Marmite into the drain and it fixed it immediately.

Ann
Whatever our expierences are, that is what they are. They weather is but one factor. This fine May morning was -1 when we awoke, but warmed up quickly.
______
We chose Stylohotel for its location and price. It sounded quirky and different, so we chose it.

We purchased the tray at Fish's Eddy in NYC on Broadway and about 26th street. Fish's Eddy is the name of small town in the Catskill Mountains of NY State.

Annhig, sorry I missed your irony before. Sometimes I get it, sometimes one has to slap me on the head with a board. Pardon.>>

memo to self - be funnier!

Adu - an admirable attitude. perhaps the stiff upper lip is catching, or you were already imbued with sufficient phlegm to withstand even a british summer.

Ann

We have skin that has been thickened by all sorts of weather. (I cannot listen to people's travel stories that are filled with all their problems but without a sense of adventure and fun. We have had to return home from trips because of deaths in the family and have been in and around crime and terrorism. There are things much worse than rain and bad meal.)

We have skin that has been thickened by all sorts of weather. >>

sort of hobbits then?

<<There are things much worse than rain and bad meal>>

indeed there are, but that doesn't mean that you shouldn't want a bit of sunshine and a good meal occasionally.

Just found this report and I'm flabbergasted that you went to an Aberdeen Steak House???

You redeemed yourself a little by questioning the phony cover charge and successfully negotiating the removal.

I do hope you didn't leave a tip!

Treacle Part III

(Sassy Cat, our hosts asked the same question, but he was just the waiter and not the ones who sets the rules.)

It has been days since I last wrote and we are currently now in sunny Edinburgh, the last place you will find a Sunglass Hut. We are in a rental apartment on Spittal Street. We just left York where the river Ouse is pronounced ooze. I guess tomorrow we visit a little town called Flemm. Yes, I know that Spittal has something to do with a hospital.

We visited Castle Howard in Yorkshire. I have decided to rename it Castle Howie because my cousin Howie and the building are both basically useless and many people stare at them. I have been inspired to write a new series for Masterpiece Theatre, “Downtown Abbie.” It is about a wealthy Orthodox Jew who needs a huge place to show off his every day and Passover dishes.

The grounds of Castle Howie are spectacular. They are manicured and pedicured as far as the eye can see. There are magnificent gardens and what the locals call follies. These are structures that have no intrinsic value and are jarring in this most verdant patch of the world. They take the form of pyramids, monuments without attributions, and obelisks, all from the whimsy of the architect. In this modern world where the owners of such estates no longer lead a Jane Austen life without the hope of marriage, some of the land is leased for farming, while the remainder is used as an excuse to charge an exorbitant amount to pad about.

The building itself is crammed with paintings and pieces of sculpture. The current owners live in a segregated wing. They do not have titles, even though their forbearers did. It has been explained to many times something about the ninth Duke of Carlyle was Anne Bolyen’s third uncle who was twice removed from the Earl of Colostome. This explains why they all have extraordinarily thin lips and hemophilia but not why the lost their title.

The rising entrance is impressive with recreations of 18th century figures just below a bell shaped dome. It is where Brideshead Resvisted was filmed. The guides were slightly miffed at the 2008 version.

The day before we visited Whitby, Scarborough, and Robin Hood’s Bay along the Yorkshire coast. These are seaside resorts of different standings. Whitby is a combination of real history tied to Captain Cook, honky-tonk rides and tourist shops, and an out of the way store that smokes its own kippers. Our hosts were not Jewish and did not get the young kipper references. The kippers were placed in the boot of the car and some how forgotten until the smell rose above that of the roadway. Yes, I now use boot, lift, fortnight, pitch, quid, etc and will do so until I get home. Here it is to be understand, at home it is pretentious.

The best meal we have had so far was in Whitby away from the tourisitng crowds in a restaurant called The White Horse and Griffin, which we immediately started calling The Merv and Griffin. The greaseless beer batter crust was crisp and tasty while the cod done to a turn. We also had proper mushy peas. I will never understand the attraction of tortured veggies and assume they are but another comfort food. Nonetheless the meal was truly worthwhile.

We were told that the rock candy in Whitby was not only outstanding but the name Whitby was inscribed in the candy itself. Impressive indeed. We went into one of the more famous rock candy emporiums but I did not see any. Rock candy in the US, looks like quartz and it is jagged and translucent, hence the name rock candy. I asked where the rock candy might be and the woman looked at me as if I was both stupid and blind. It was like entering a pet store and asking which ones were the dogs. It seems in the UK, rock candy could be of any color and is often in the shape of rods. The name was written into the candy. Of course, I dropped mine on the ground and shattered Whitby.

The sea and the cliffs are majestic and magnetic to many, but Whitby was overrun by tourists, Robin Hood’s Bay has limited charm and Scarborough on the day of our visit had tumultuous tides.

We will never conquer the pronunciation of these Yorkshire towns. My rule of thumb is whatever it the name looks like make up an absurd alternative and that is often correct. He did take a hike and ran into a group whom I thought were the Lumbering Lesbians of Sleights. Yes Sleights it is the name of a town.

Our hosts John and Margaret were more than kind and generous. We had only met them once by accident in France but have kept in touch for years. John was overwhelmed to learn that the York City football team must play twice at Wembley in the next 8 days, in order to win something or other. The last night we went to see an amateur production of Annie in which the grand daughter of one their oldest friends was leading a hard knock life. It could have been worse. But we could thank John and Margaret for their hospitality.

To lose your title is like losing your shadow. As you have seen we seldom have shadows in Yorkshire. Glad you enjoyed the trip

funny, funny, funny. You should be hired by Fodors to add a touch of humor to their travel books.

rfbk....by now, don't you know better than to encourage Adu?
This thread will go to the 300-mark, easy.

Hey Tower, you know you liked my young kipper joke.

Okay Andrea (Adu is probably napping now)..I actually guffawed 17 times as I skipped through the report, chuckled 6 times, giggled once and laughed aloud three times. The bestof the bunch...The Merv and the Griffin, the Earl of Colostome and the Lumbering Lesbians of Sleights....maybe you're right rfbk...just maybe.