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But is the meal plan included?

Sunday, October 18th, 2009

After we said goodbye to the narrowboat and canals, we headed to Oxford for a quick stop before bidding my folks farewell on their journey back to the US. I didn’t really do much research ahead of time and didn’t know quite what to expect from the town or the university. It turned out to be pretty interesting and we spent a few hours strolling around the colleges. The buildings are beautiful and I can’t imagine living and studying in them (much less paying that tuition). My favorite was Christchurch with it’s very “Hogwarts-ian” style dining room:

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Posted in England, Travel | No Comments »

A Family Afloat

Wednesday, October 14th, 2009

We’ve been offline for a while, but are back and hope to be able to update the blog more regularly. However, we have a good excuse because we were on a narrow boat for the last week with no internet access. “Narrowboat” may need some explanation because I had never heard of them just a year ago. Throughout England, Wales, and Scotland there are hundreds of miles of canals and rivers that were once used for transporting coal and other goods. While those days are long gone, the routes remain and there are thousands of boats that you can rent to cruise them. The boats are fitted out in style with cabins, kitchens, bath, and saloon. They range from about 30 to 70 ft. long, but to fit through the canals are less than 7 ft. wide, hence the name “narrow.”

My parents met us for a vacation in England and we decided this might be a unique way of seeing a different part of country. We opted for a 65 ft boat, which proved to be a challenge around corners, but was otherwise a very comfortable way to travel. You don’t cover much distance in narrow boats – they only go about 4 mph – but it does give you a lot of time to enjoy the views of the countryside, the ducks, the swans, and the other boats. We followed parts of the Ashby, Coventry, and North Oxford canals during the week, stopping most nights near some of the pubs along the way for hearty food and a pint. It was generally a pretty relaxing week, aside from a few moments of excitement each day when one of us would drive the boat a little too close to a bridge or a tree (I swear those scratches were there before!).

Here are a few pictures to help explain our week.  You really can get almost anywhere on the canals…

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This a view of the tight squeeze at one of the locks.  We only had to do four of these each way, but it was a good workout – the gates can be heavy to open.

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A more serene moment along the way.

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Posted in England, Travel | No Comments »

Back in England Again

Tuesday, October 6th, 2009

We arrived in England to meet my parents and find our way to Stratford Upon Avon. The four of us spent the last two days doing a little sightseeing on land before we head off to board our narrow boat. We drove throughout the strangely-named, but incredibly picturesque villages of the Cotswolds. The beautiful old stone buildings and churches made for perfect breaks from the car. The next day we ventured out further to Wales and visited each of the “Three Castles” built in the 1200s – Skenrith, White, and Grosmont – and then finished with a stop at Tintern Abbey (see below). While they are all in ruins, there is more than enough remaining to give you a great mental picture of what they must have been like in their prime. This will be a short post because we haven’t had much internet access, but we’ll be back in about a week with an update from the boat.

　

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Posted in England, Travel | No Comments »

The King and I

Tuesday, September 29th, 2009

For most of our time in Ireland, we’ve been staying in B&Bs, which have generally been pretty nice, clean, and with friendly, helplful owners.  However, the rooms do vary quite a bit between “just big enough for the bed to fit” to something much more comfortable.  Some had small TVs, and some had none.  Some showers were hot, and some were not (don’t get me started about water pressure).   I’m not really complaining about them though because we did enjoy them, and the breakfasts were perfect. 

After 3 weeks though, we decided to splurge and celebrate Eric’s birthday in style.  We spent a night at Ashford Castle – see below – and enjoyed all the amenities and walking the grounds.  As we check out, we are preparing to head to England.  I’ve been spoiled now and if I can’t continue to stay in the castle, I’ll have to leave Ireland.

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Posted in Ireland, Travel | 2 Comments »

Pilgrim’s Progress

Sunday, September 27th, 2009

Back in Dublin a few weeks ago, we saw St. Patrick’s Cathedral. His name conjured up the usual “American” images of parties on March 17th and drinking too much green beer. However as we’ve traveled around Ireland, we keep running into him again and again, and so we’ve learned a little more about him.

He arrived here in the 400s and proceeded to convert the country to Christianity. He visited a lot of sites on the island because there are connections to him everywhere. One of these places is now called Croagh Patrick mountain, where he climbed and spent the 40 days of Lent fasting on top. We followed in his footsteps and made the steep trek ourselves, along with quite a few people making a pilgrimage (there are rules for them to follow and places marked to say Hail Mary’s). I made it to the top with a little encouragement from an old man hiking in dress shoes and slacks tucked into his argyle socks. If he could do it, I had to.

Among all the other things that St. Patrick was busy doing at the time, he is also credited with casting out the snakes from Ireland. This might not be a hard as it sounds because no one is sure that there ever really were snakes here.

Here’s the rocky path to the top.

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Posted in Ireland, Travel | No Comments »

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