What to do when it rains - 18 August 2008

Although it was supposed to be summer, the weather was not co-operating and the misty rain set in as we were halfway round the Berwick upon Tweed city wall walk. By the time we got back to the start and could explore the town itself the mist had become proper rain.

We headed down the coast hoping for a change but it was not too be, so we visited Bamburgh Castle in the rain. It houses quite an interesting display of the various things Lord Armstrong got involved with; ranging from experiments with static electricity, through hydraulics, to the production of 285 ton guns mounted on railway carriages.

A little further south is Preston Tower, a remnant of a fortified dwelling from the time when the Scottish-English border was hotly disputed. We just had time to fit in a quick repeat visit to the State Rooms at Alnwick Castle before sitting down to a delicious dinner in the rather quaint Tree-house Restaurant.

Biscuit tins to Chippendale - 17 August 2008

Leaving Edinburgh we set off to explore the area between there and Berwick-upon-Tweed - the most fought over settlement in European history. (Currently in English hands). The A1 takes a more direct route so we set off around the costal route stopping at North Berwick and Dunbar before heading inland to visit Preston Mill.

Back to the coast to see St Abbs then inland once again to visit Manderston, the home of Lord Palmer of Huntly and Palmer biscuit fame. A feature display in the old servants' quarters was a collection of Huntly and Palmer commemorative biscuit tins. The house is also home to the only silver balustraded staircase in the world.

Paxton House was the next stop, and the family story behind this home, now in the care of a charitable trust, is one of lost love, murder (the butler did it - honest!), failed marriage and so forth, all quite depressing, unlike the interiors: Chippendale was the original interior design consultant and the Hall now houses the largest collection of Chippendale furniture in Scotland (63 of the original 100 pieces), and all the pieces are in the rooms that Chippendale originally made them for. Adams was also heavily involved and many rooms have stunning Adams ceilings. The Withdrawing Room is a stunning combination of the work of these two as the marquetry on the side tables reflects the Adams ceiling above.

Edinburgh Tattoo - 16 August 2008

Having watched the Edinburgh Tattoo from the other side of the globe we felt that we could not be in the UK without seeing it live at least once, so this was the year. We had travelled as far as Wakefield on Friday night to break the journey and leaving there this morning we left the A1 and took the A68 towards Edinburgh stopping and enjoying a walk around both Hexham and Jedburgh. The A68 delivered us very nicely to the Sheriffhall Park and Ride so we parked and rode into the throngs that fill the Edinburgh streets at Festival and Fringe time. The Royal Mile leading up to the Castle gates was simply crammed with people wandering or watching the various street entertainers.



After catching up with some Kiwi contacts in Edinburgh it was time to queue for the Tattoo. The weather forecast all week was for rain, then showers, then sprinkles but in spite of the brave and up-beat sentiments on the Tattoo website "[If it rains there] is a feeling of mutual sympathy which forms an even stronger bond [between audience and performers] than usual." we were fortunate to only have to contend with a slightly cool breeze as it stayed quite dry.



We thoroughly enjoyed the experience of being among the crowd at the Tattoo and seeing a touch of home with the performance by the Lochiel Marching Display team.

Cotswold caper - 10 August 2008

Today was the better of the two weekend days, weather wise, so we planned a sightseeing tour of the Cotswolds for John & Linda. We began with a visit to Waddesdon Manor, the jewel in the National Trust crown. After that we spent an hour sitting on the roadside waiting for the AA man to rig up a temporary throttle cable after our one suddenly snapped.

Back on the road again we headed for Chipping Campden and the Badgers Hall to let our guests enjoy the wicked delights of the best cream teas in the UK. Then it was all the usual highlights of Upper and Lower Slaughter, Broadway, Moreton on the Marsh, Bourton on the Water, Burford, Stanton and so forth, with a quick side trip to Hidcote Manor Gardens for a spot of croquet before finding a pub for dinner and heading home, tired but well satisfied after a full day.

A romp through the centuries - 9 August 2008

The weather forecast suggested that the southwest was going to be driest longest, so that was the direction we headed to introduce John and Linda to the delights that the National Trust has to offer.

The day was roughly chronological, more by accident of geography than any other reason, and we started at Ighton Mote, a moated manor house begun in 1320. From there we advanced a few hundred years to the largest collection of Jacobean furniture anywhere and this is found at Knole, a Tudor Palace. A few hundred years on was the Battle of Quebec where General Wolfe found short-lived (he died on the battlefield) but long lasting fame and his home has been preserved due to the generosity of a Canadian benefactor.

Just around the corner is Chartwell, Churchill's home, which brought us up to the 20th century. We just made it with 4 minutes to spare for the last admission of the day.

In the middle of the day, at Ighton Mote, we set out our picnic lunch only to have the promised drizzle arrive a little early. There being a shortage of other picnickers, we commandeered more than our fair share of umbrellas and soldiered on with true Churchillian grit.

The Kremlin, Moscow - 4 August 2008

A tour of the Kremlin was the last scheduled tour of the trip, this morning, with an optional add-on to visit the Armoury Museum. While there is some armour there, the museum has much else to offer - 10 Faberge Eggs, a dozen or so State coaches and sledges, a stunning collection of Ambassadorial gifts and many religious themed treasures like icon covers, jewel encrusted Bible covers and so forth.

The Kremlin tour took in two of the 6 churches that surround a small square inside the Kremlin walls. One of the members of our group was an ex-bombardier with the American air force who had been in charge of 6 nuclear warheads targeted on the Kremlin and one of our other cruise stops. He said that he had always thought that the only way he would ever see the inside of the Kremlin was from a parachute after having been shot down. We could identify with this feeling as for the first 40 years of our lives, the Kremlin had been associated with all that was antithetical to the western ideals and westerners that entered the Kremlin were in for a tough time.

One of the items on display in the Kremlin is the world's largest bell, weighing in at 200 tonnes. Although to call it a 'bell' is stretching the truth just a little as it has never rung, or even had its clapper mounted in it. Shortly after its founding, a fire destroyed the frame holding the bell and it fell to the ground where an eleven tonne chunk broke out of the side of the bell so, in reality, it is the world's largest bell shaped lump of bronze.

Because of flight schedules we had chosen to leave the tour early so, after lunch, we bade farewell to our companions for the last 10 days and set off to try the Moscow Metro; would that London tube trains operated on the same frequency. The Moscow circle line has trains each way every couple of minutes - a far cry from the Circle Line we are more accustomed too. Of course the London Circle Line has to share the rails with the Metropolitan, Hammersmith & City and District lines so the comparison is not all that fair.

There are various Moscow Metro stations that are notable for their platform art or architectural features so we set off on our own tour to see a few of them before taking the Metro to the place where the airport shuttle buses terminate. From the centre of Moscow to Domodedovo Airport is a very simple (Green line to penultimate stop, few metres walk to a 380 bus), reasonably quick (75 minute) and certainly inexpensive (79 Rouble) exercise.

Red Square, Moscow - 3 August 2008

The closer we got to Moscow the more the weather deteriorated until it was raining quite solidly.


It lifted for a time but still was very misty and as we set off for our Moscow city bus tour the rain returned so we walked a grey and dismal Red Square in the rain. Needless to say, it was not damp, grey or dismal in the GUM store, rather it was warm, bright and sparkly but there was insufficient time to explore the many avenues of shops in the GUM.

One of the optional evening activities was the Russian National Dance Show so, after an early dinner, we were taken to the Cosmos Hotel for the show which, as one would expect with a performance by the Russian National Ballet company 'Kostroma', was absolutely wonderful.

Before the intermission the history of Russia was told in dance and after the interval, various folk dances and songs were performed with stunning costumes and terrific choreography.