What a fabulous report! Enjoying every moment.

So sorry to read about your dear doggie companion, it must have been very distressing. What an awful thing to have happen at any time but more so when you couldn't say goodbye.

Isn't RHB just so pretty, we loved it there. So many little lanes to discover. We nearly went to the Victoria Hotel for lunch but ended up at a little tiny tea shop. Once away from the "Aidensfield Arms" Goathland was also like a ghost town while we were there too.

Hi to Morgana, who also helped me immensely with our planning. You lucky thing living in Wensleydale. You would have to hold me off from going into the cheese shop everyday.

"Do we really know how dogs minds work?

Apparently a great deal more these days than a decade or so ago.

"In Defence of Dogs" by John Bradshaw (published about a month ago) summarises an avalanche of the past few years' dog psychology research. Apparently a substantial minority really are far more distressed when their Boss disappears than we realise - and can be badly damaged (though he cites no cases of it being fatal)

Best £9.99 my Kindle's had spent on it for months.

"<i>Goathland was deserted. It was really strange---just a few sheep.</i>"

Not surprising. Unless the steam train is running (apparently you missed it) there wouldn't be a reason for most folks to go to Goathland. The North Yorkshire Moors railway that runs from Pickering to Whitby. Other than those taking the excursion train, about the only other people one would see are hikers and Harry Potter 'site hunters' since the station was used for Hogsmeade station in the films.

Re the Chilterns . . . I didn't actually <i>recommend</i> them but explained they would fill a nice couple of days. And flanner didn't really mean "sprawl" as you might think of the word. They are very non-sprawlish compared to US Suburbia. If you want honeypot villages -- Suffolk and some other areas have more of that. But for country walking - the Chilterns are right up there.

Morgana--so your new house is in Wensleydale! Lucky lucky lady! Thanks again for all of your help with our planning.

flanner--I'm going to buy that book. I also will have 2 dogs rather than one next time so that there is a companion whenever I'm gone. I've read that if we are to live with 2 dogs, it's best to not get them from the same litter.

Maudie--she's great isn't she? They're all so terrific on this site!

DAY 19(the REAL day 19---made mistake above) YORK

Awoke, ate, and said goodbye to RHB. Off to York and to drop off the car.

We arrived at the train station to drop off the car--and I was kind of dreading having to tell them about the accident(which, if you remember, happened on the first day I got the car---in Rye--plump woman).

Well, I told the lady at the Autoeurope(actually Europecar but arrangements made through autoeurope) desk and she just smiled and said that everything was covered by the insurance. Didn't even check the damage! Whew! What a relief.

So, we walked through York trying to find our hotel which was called The Guy Fawkes Inn. Found it in about 10 minutes--and wow--here we go again---but it was another very olde world English place that Americans believe all of England is like. We had reserved the top floor which is called the Belfry Suite. It had 3 rooms, wasn't very expensive--and view out towards the Minster! We could almost touch the cathedral. Superb location.

Explore York. We were so close to everything, so we ended up in The Shambles right away. So many shops, restaurants, tea rooms, people, and atmosphere. THe city kind of reminded us of Shrewsbury in appearance--though I'm sure they must not have a whole lot in common. Very walkable, with many car free areas.

We then went to York Minster. Inside was very crowded--but awe inspiring. There was to be an evensong service that evening so I told Joey we needed to return for this.

Waited in line at Betty's for the famous Tea. It was great--but was it worth the wait? Probably not. Maybe as Americans we just couldn't taste the subtle differences between Betty's and other tea rooms---same with the famous Fish and Chips in Whitby(have forgotten name). Joey was particularly disappointed in that particular venture.

Then went to the Viking museum. Not a fan at all. Overcrowded and frankly it was kind of childish. We couldn't move in spots--so finally just sort of pushed through the crowd and out the door. Very claustrophobic. Probably saw more Americans there than anywhere else on our holiday. Pushing through obnoxious Americans can be fun!

By now, it was time for the evensong service at York Minster. This is the experience I loved best in York. The first piece they sung was "And I saw a new Heaven" by Bainton. A glorious choral work of so much depth and emotion. Then a Brahms piece, then some much older pieces.

Next---we were to meet for a bloody tour of York. THis was not one of the Haunted tours, but rather a history tour incorporating much of the violence and torture that had occurred in York's history. It was terrific, and our guide took us to parts of York that we would have missed had we been left to our own devices.

Afterwards, we had dinner at an Italian restaurant(Joey is Italian so we thought we'd try something more familiar).

WHen we left, we stumbled upon our guide from the tour--and ended up spending the rest of the evening with him. Name is Damian. He took us on a wonderful insiders tour of many pubs (and there seem to be a LOT of pubs in York). He knew all the best ones. We drank more that night than any other--but hey---this is vacation-this is England--and this is York!

Terrific day all around.

Next: London

I enjoyed this! Fun to read about places we went over 10 years ago, like Bath, Cotswolds, Lake District and somewhere we'd like to go, Yorkshire.

Aha, those slugs on the trail between Slaughters may explain why we met geese on the trail. Do they maybe eat slugs? The geese were large and intimidating. Speaking of odd mating, you might enjoy watching the elephants seals north of Cambria, CA.

I liked the way you could weave an enjoyment of Houseman and Elgar into your Malvern section of trip. We stayed at Cottage in the Woods in the Malvern hills and enjoyed a fall walk through the colored leaves that led to a sort of scenic overlook from the escarpment. Supposedly one of the longest views in England. Not much of a hill when one lives in Alaska!

My Grandmother used a hot water bottle back in the 1940's. I use a cat on my feet. If I know the bed will be cold (DH always opens window) I'll heat one of those neck huggy things in the microwave and put it on my feet.

>> If I know the bed will be cold (DH always opens window) I'll heat one of those neck huggy things in the microwave and put it on my feet.<<

How times change. My mother had, in addition to rubber hot water bottles, a couple of old flat-irons (the pre-electricity kind people heated on the kitchen range) - she'd heat those up in the oven and wrap them in some cloth on very cold nights. You can imagine the thud in the night when they slipped out from under the covers.

AV - glad you liked the music in the Minster. The choir is conducted by our previous organist from Truro Cathedral who moved to York about 3 years ago.

I'm pleased to hear he's keeping up our very high standards!

hopingtotravel---glad you're enjoying it. I'm going to check out those elephant seals! Didn't see any geese on our walk---but they were everywhere around Derwentwater. Looked like Canada Geese.

annhig---You can inform your Truro crowd that a highly critical musician(myself) had nothing but praise for the evensong service at York Minster---however---I seem to remember that the choir itself was a guest choir that particular evening---would a visiting choir have been under the direction of your former organist as well?

I just posted this on another thread but it is more relevant here.

When we told people we were going to shrewsbury, and when we were in shrewsbury, and when we told people we had gone to shrewsbury---we were CONSTANTLY told that the pronunciation was SHROW when we said SHROO--and vice versa. It seemed to be a 50/50 reaction on how to pronounce it. Many were emphatic that SHROW was correct--and just as many insisted it should be SHROO(as in shrew--the little rodent). WHICH IS IT! It turned into a great source of amusement---even amongst the English teachers we met in Shrewsbury. They disputed the pronunciation--citing this and that..Too funny!


one other amusing(to us) thing--when we were in Somerset having tea--Joey was asked if he had just come from Cornwall. The kind elderly lady told him he was putting the clotted cream/preserves on the way the Cornish do it(can't remember which went first)--and she insisted it was a Devonian creation but that the Cornish were making claims that it was originally a Cornish thing. I had always thought it had something to do with Queen Anne? and a hotel in London?

I think "afternoon tea" started in Queen Anne's time (there's a poem by, I think, Pope, which implies that it was something of note about her court), as an occasion for society ladies to meet in semi-private (it might have been important that they rather than servants would do the pouring out and handing round - without servants around they could exchange more secrets, perhaps). It also filled a gap in mealtimes which (I think) had recently started to open up as the normal times for main meals were changing.

But the scone/cream/jam controversy is something else. Don't go there. Or change the subject, by asking whether milk or tea goes in first.

We lived in Shrewsbury for ten years. Both pronounciations were used, but the SHROO variant was probably more common among local people who had lived there all their lives. The SHROW variant was used by those who had been taught how the town name should be said, rather than having learned it from their families.

Some people called the place "Salop", which was the old name for the county, and so for the county town.

Shropshire stretches from the Welsh border in the west to the Black Country in the east, so pronounciations can vary a lot. Some Shropshire placenames are obviously Welsh in origin (Llanymynech, for example) while Shrewsbury is one of a handful of English towns to have a different name in Welsh (Amwythig). Shrewsbury is on a loop of the River Severn (Hafren in Welsh), and has a Welsh Bridge leading to Wales and an English Bridge leading eastwards.

>>When we told people we were going to shrewsbury, and when we were in shrewsbury, and when we told people we had gone to shrewsbury---we were CONSTANTLY told that the pronunciation was SHROW when we said SHROO--and vice versa. It seemed to be a 50/50 reaction on how to pronounce it. Many were emphatic that SHROW was correct--and just as many insisted it should be SHROO(as in shrew--the little rodent). WHICH IS IT! It turned into a great source of amusement---even amongst the English teachers we met in Shrewsbury. They disputed the pronunciation--citing this and that..Too funny!<<

You will NEVER get an agreement on this. I'm from nearby Birmingham and have always pronounced it SHROW, my partner is from nearby Wales, and says SHREW. And yes, we do correct each other

There's a metaphysical point here about what "correct" means. The problem is identical for Derby - and oddly, for my own microtown

Most Salopians call it Shrew. Outsiders typically call it Shrow. Shrow's "correct" because that's what Correct People call it. In their world, the town's inhabitants views are unimportant - which means Salopians get even more shrewish about insisting on Shrew.

Derby is called Dareby in Derby, and Dahby in the south of England. The Earl of Derby's family (the Stanleys) owned most of Northern England in the middle ages (his title goes back to 1100 or so, which is very rare: most peerages are distinctly nouveau riche, dating from Tudor times or later), so wherever he owned, Derby (and the resulting local streets, parks and stadiums) gets called Dareby. An ancestor invented the real Derby horse race, held in the effete south, in 1780- so it's called Dahby in most of Britain, but Dareby in former Stanley possessions.

The fact that the Louisville spinoff's called Dareby implies either that that was the standard British pronunciation in the 18th century, or that the US race was created by Northern English stock.

flanner---were you born with an encyclopedia in your arms? also because of your sardonic style I have spilled coffee all over my keyboard TWICE this week!(and it didn't necessarily spill from my cup).

"Salopians get even more shrewish..." "the effete south"

but around here(Louisville only an hour+ south of cincinnati) people pronounce it DIRBY--as in dirt! No one says Dareby.

Kate--the English teachers we met in Shrewsbury absolutely did not agree with one another on the pronunciation. Both sides presented some historical facts to back up their reasons--but neither would budge.

When I'm so used to hearing tiresome arguments over here between liberals and conservatives ad nauseam--you can imagine how refreshing it was to encounter debates over pronunciations of towns and the legendary "scone/cream/jam controversy"! I'm beginning to see why the English have a longer and healthier life expectancy than the Americans. just please stop trying to catch up with us in the obesity statistics! There is a large gap between us(no 1) and you(no 2--sometimes no 3 after Germany)--do not bridge that gap or you will be very sorry indeed.

DAY 20 LONDON

Need I say that we awoke and ate breakfast? By this point in the report it has become obvious that this is how we began our mornings, and there are only so many ways of trying to make this morning ritual interesting.

We walked through York one last time before boarding the train for London. Pleasant enough ride, I suppose, but I wasn't particularly happy about saying goodbye to the English countryside. Joey was much more excited to get back to a big city for 4 final nights. Ho hum--here we go.

Took a taxi to our hotel(the first 2 nights we stayed at the Swisshotel---and our last 2 nights at The Dukes).

Swisshotel is big, business like, but friendly, clean, and very well located. If anyone reading this has any intentions of ever staying there you'd better hurry because I was told by the Concierge that it will no longer be a hotel come Fall. Being converted into condominiums.

Our room, once again, had a view of everything one would want to view in London. Sweeping view across the river, bridge, landmarks, etc. It rained all day.

Joey will remember these last 4 days better than I do. Not sure about the order of things. We visited the Movie Museum(movies are Joey's passion---aspiring screenwriter)--so this was a real treat. It gave a good history of the studios in London, directors, films, etc.

We then walked aimlessly and ended up at the St Pancras Hotel. WOW!!! What a building! What a place! We had no reservations but they allowed us to have afternoon tea. After all my jibber and jabber about how much I prefer the countryside, villages, small churches, et al---I have to confess that this was by far the best(and most expensive) afternoon tea of the entire trip. Primo! and the surroundings were incredible. Do go and visit, and stop at the Russell Hotel on the way and have a gander as well. Stunning.

We then went to the British Library and spent some time there.

Next--The British Museum---I think. I may have these first 2 days back in London all wrong but does it really matter? Point is that we went.

Long long walk along the river with all of the wonderful views. People watching.

Back to hotel---we were really tired that day.

Went out to Trafalgar Square that night and had dinner. TS was completely different from our first night of the trip. No violence, trash, or screaming people. Just lots of of people having a good time.

Returned to hotel for a long, much needed, night's sleep.

Next: More London

DAY 21 LONDON

This morning and the next were the only 2 mornings where I had to pay for breakfast. All of the others were inclusive. Terrific, though---as usual.

Went to the London Dungeon which I remembered enjoying when I was a kid. Not so anymore. Instead of allowing us to walk at our own pace it was one of those group things which I can't stand. The whole place is completely different than it was years ago. I honestly didn't like it at all and do not recommend it when there are so many more interesting sights to see whilst in London.

Went next door to what we thought(or were led to believe) was the War Museum. Turned out to be another tacky place probably owned by the same company. I had done little to no research for the London part of our trip--and this was a mistake. I stupidly assumed that I'd remember where to go once I arrived---and I knew Joey would want to see the more touristy attractions.

Thankfully The National Gallery made up for the previous 2 places. Any chance I have of seeing a Seurat painting is a thrill--and there were plenty. We spent most of the day in the National Gallery and it certainly doesn't need my recommendation.

We had intended to go to the east end to go on a Jack the Ripper tour/walk--but neither of us felt like going so we walked around Piccadilly that night and just enjoyed the sights and the sounds. Then walked back over to Trafalgar Square. Joey tends to walk a little behind me at times, and I noticed a man just wouldn't leave him alone, and then he put his arm around Joey---so I stopped and told him to go away and stop speaking, and he erupted into a diatribe about how he is a proud Saudi Arabian who comes to London and will speak to anyone he wishes. That didn't sit well with me at all so I, too, exploded and began my own diatribe. The ridiculous battle of diatribes went on and on until I finally had to figure out a way of diffusing it(had we continued walking he would have followed, and continuing the fight was not ending it---plus it felt as though it may have gotten physical--though he would have been easy to handle--rather small) so I suddenly, in the middle of all the shouting, decided to compliment him on his attire(and it wasn't a lie as he was dressed extremely well). He didn't know how to react to this after all the screaming---and so he left. Amazing what a little compliment can do, isn't it?

Had dinner then back to hotel.

Next: London

DAY 22 LONDON

After breakfast we packed and got a taxi to our last hotel--The Dukes. This was a splurge, and we had a suite. Really, this is the best Hotel I've ever stayed in. We were treated like celebrities, the rooms were fab, the staff were attentive and informative, the location cannot be beat for a London Hotel, and the famous martini bar...wow! If nothing else, I would encourage anyone to at least make a reservation at the martini bar before or after a night of theatre. We had vesper martinis(James Bond's fave) and yes, they were the best we've ever had. Even the presentation! But I'm jumping ahead.

So, today we....well...I can't remember. I think this was the day when Joey stayed back in the hotel for awhile and worked on his writing while I went out and explored the immediate area around the Dukes. I was getting sad. I always do towards the end of a long vacation. I hate that they come to an end. Joey had been homesick for the past few days. I was not. Just sad about the trip coming to a close and knowing that I'd be returning home and having to face life without Coda. I knew that 'd feel worse about him once I was in my own house without him there following me everywhere. So, I walked and walked through the city--and tried to soak in as much as I could.

Came back and got Joey and we walked through Hyde Park, then visited all the places we had seen from the outside on our first night(Westminster Abbey et al).

The day went by quickly, and we had gotten tickets to see The 39 Steps for that evening! This play was a doozy! We both enjoyed it tremendously. Just a very few actors playing over something like 70 parts. A terrific score, and a truly enjoyable time. Go and see it!

Dinner at an Italian place and then back to Slumber.

Next: London

DAY 23 LONDON

Today we decided to go to Portobello Market. I really enjoyed this place---which seemed to go on forever. When I tell you what I purchased you will laugh at how boring it is: 2 cricket balls and a tape measure! Why? We don't see cricket balls here in the states, and the tape measure is actually a beautiful little antique---covered in the same beautiful leather that enwraps the cricket balls. Love them!

This was our last day--and we felt we had seen a lot of the country in 23 days--having given us some ideas of where to return someday in the future--and where not to visit again.

After Portobello market(which took up much of the day) we went back to the Dukes and had a late afternoon tea. Wonderful, and homely(as the english would say).

We packed for our morning departure, and then went to the Martini Bar. As I said earlier this is must do for any visitor in London.

Went to see Mousetrap and enjoyed the ambience of the old theatre, but did not enjoy the noise from some fellow Americans who just couldn't stop with their candy wrappers, chewing, and loud whispering. Intermission. As an American, I felt it was my duty to politely tell them to shut up!
I have to confess that there were other instances when Americans kind of embarrassed me. So loud and obnoxious---and they really stand out in a polite English crowd. What you English must REALLY think at times!.. but I commend you on your reserve, and patience.
The Americans did, in fact, stay quiet through the second half. We enjoyed the long running play.

Another final walk through Piccadilly and Trafalgar at night.

Back to Dukes and our final slumber in Merry Olde England.

Next: Departure and summary