The Cannon Family's travel blog

[Two posts for the price of one today as we didn’t have internet last night.]

We left the wonderful hospitality of our hosts at the George Hotel in Weymouth (we highly recommend staying with Adrian and Carol – see our review page which will be up soon) and headed north toward Bath to see what those Romans did. As it has done *every* day since we got here – rained…. again… But we are used to it now so after arriving at our hotel, we walked into the old town…. in the rain… and wandered around the shops (to get out of the rain) and the cafes (to get out of the rain) before spending the rest of the afternoon at the famous baths for which the town is named (which coincidently, got us out of the rain!)

Wow! Pretty impressive. I wasn’t sure whether I was more impressed by the structure and engineering that was thousands of years old or by the fact that I was wandering around the same places once haunted by Jane Austen! (I know – spot the geek). The carvings were wonderful and the engineering fantastic. The water in the baths themselves is pretty gross (green and ooey but we could see the steam coming off them…. in the rain). In addition, there was audiocommentary available by another favorite author of mine: Bill Bryson. That was also kinda cool.

After a while we decided to dry off for good so we headed back to the hotel to get some dinner at a local pub that was recommended. That’s when things *really* got interesting. Just as the food arrived, a bar fight broke out! It seems that one of the local lads was slagging off his girlfriend (look it up!) and she tried to tear lumps out of him! Given that she had about 50 pounds on him, it could have gotten interesting. However, things were broken up quite quickly and she was ushered out a side door. (Note: we saw the two of them walking down the street together several hours later…. go figure!) Unfortunately, Frank missed all the excitement as he was outside taking an urgent phone call from his brother. It turns out his dad is very ill and we need to head to Scotland first thing tomorrow morning. No Grand Prix for us! (Know anyone that wants tickets?) We’ve made all the arrangements we can and will hit the road early in the A.M. Say a prayer for the old man – if you are so inclined.

/san/

[Pedometer: 17,833 steps or about 8.5 miles in the rain… although it seems pretty meaningless considering]

I started the day early than the rest of the family getting in a real run outside in Salisbury! No treadmills here – just me, the cobblestones, cathedral and churches (I have never seen so many churches in one place!) I also passed a school where William Golding used to be headmaster – a tidbit most likely not found in the guidebooks. Then we had a lovely breakfast (Frank’s inability to properly operate a french press notwithstanding) and then packed up to be on the move again. We decided against a return trip to Stonehenge even though we knew when it opened (9 a.m.) but mostly because it was going to cost us more than 15 pounds to “get in” – which in this case means that we could get closer to the big rocks. Not that I’m cheap but $30 to move 10 feet closer to large rocks didn’t seem like a good investment so we decided to pass.

A short hour or so later finds us in Weymouth on the Dorset coast in southern England. We find the B&B no problem this time thanks to the detailed map we bought in Salisbury! We checked in and parked the car before doing what all red-blooded Americans do on the 4th of
July – go to the beach! Except this beach is on the English Channel, has more rocks than sand and is bloody cold with temperatures in the mid-60’s and 30 mph winds! But the English will take their seaside holidays so there was an assortment of people “enjoying” the fresh air: from the young couples with babies and small children who were “playing” on the beach to the determined couples wandering around in shorts and tank tops even though their lips were blue to the little old ladies with their anoracks and walking sticks. Quite the assortment! There was even a large bunch of crazy teenage-types swimming in the sea! (Duncan was particularly uninterested in joining them.)

Regardless, we found Weymouth to be a lovely little town. (Although there seems to be an anstounding number of old folks homes. Do they come here on holiday and never leave?) There is a cute harbor where ships come in from the Channel Islands and France and lots of interesting shops and cafes. We wandered around for quite a while before having lunch in a little tea shop with a Winnie-the-Pooh theme (gotta love ham, cheese and pineapple toasties!) then wandered across the harbor bridge to explore the point where there’s an old Army fort. The views were unbelievable – the water was a brilliant aqua similar to what we have seen in the Carribean (but under much better climate conditions) and the Dorset coat is startling. It’s called the Jurassic coast because some of the rock faces are exposing rocks from the Jurassic and Cretaceous period. After much wandering, shopping and sight seeing, we headed out in the car to explore the coast and headed west along a windy two lane road toward Lyme Regis (where Jane Austen used to go on holiday, BTW) to see what we could see. This is apparently Thomas Hardy country as we passed a sign pointing us toward his monument and I saw at least one pub called the “Durbeyfields”. We wound up on the coast beneath soaring cliffs with more spectacular views which we enjoyed in 40-50 mph wind gusts (not kidding!). This made us very hungry so we headed back along the coast to the King’s Arms where we had a lovely bar supper with wonderful real ale and cask cider. Back to the B&B to see what else was new in the world of terrorism before heading to bed.

/san/

[Pedometer: 20,900 steps or about 10 miles. We should get extra credit though for spending most of the time walking into the wind!]

It’s time to trade urban for rural and see some green!  We checked out of our posh American digs and wandered down the street with all our luggage to Paddington Station to catch the Heathrow Express to the airport.  There we picked up our rental car:  a 2007 Saab 93 station wagon with less than 1000 miles on it!  It’s way nicer and bigger than we expected (or paid for!) which is good since we’ll have it for about 3 weeks.

After Frank remembered how to drive on the other side of the road, we headed south west for Salisbury.  It didn’t take long to get there but it did take forever to figure out how to get around.  Salisbury is a lovely cathedral town which is easy to walk around but impossible to drive around.  We eventually got to our B&B (not without a few cross words though!) and from there things improved. We’ve got two rooms next door to each other and our room is about as big as the one the 4 of us shared in London.  (And let me tell you about the bath tub!)

First on the agenda, some lunch since we essentially missed breakfast (a cup of tea at the motorway services doesn’t count) so we wandered down to the market square where the market was on.  A lovely pub lunch and few pints later we were wandering around the market purchasing the local wares.  We wandered around the shops some more before heading to the main sight:  the cathedral.

This was my idea.  I love history and especially British history so a gothic cathedral from the 13th century was too much to pass up. And I was not dissappointed!  The cathedral is beautiful, historical and still actively used for services – although I couldn’t convince my family to stay for evensong!  I lit another candle for my mom (keep score – that’s 2!) and then wandered into the Chapter House where we found a pleasant surprise:  a copy of the Magna Carta!  Apparently there are 4 copies remaining but the Salisbury copy is the best preserved.  I was thrilled since I really didn’t know that we’d get to see this but my know-it-all son pointed out that we’ve already seen a copy at the British Museum last time we were in London so he didn’t see what the big deal was. (Sound of raspberries!)

We took a short break then decided to head out to the other big attraction around here:  Stonehenge!  It’s about 10 miles northwest of Salisbury so we took a drive around dinner time to see what we could see.  And the answer is: nothing!  Because Stongehenge was *closed*!  I confess I was gobsmacked!  Giant stone slabs in the middle of the countryside have a closing time?  Apparently, yes.  So we ogled from afar and determined to come back first thing in the morning – once we find out what time it “opens”!

A light dinner at a local Chinese restaurant – where we swear there was no soy sauce in any of the dishes! – and a soak in the enormous bath tub and  I’m ready for an early night.

/san/

[Pedometer:  15,512 or about 7 miles.  Apparently the car has an effect!]

for me and a low key day for the family. We started out in the gym: me on the treadmill and Gillian in the pool. Then I headed off to the Bank of England where I learned lots more interesting things (to add to the other interesting things I have collected already – I need to better organize stuff!) and the family had a nice big breakfast – unlike the protein bar that I gobbled on my way to the tube. They then got domestic and did a bunch of laundry at the local launderette – it seems that some of the Cannon clan didn’t plan very well in Paris and was left with only one clean T-shirt.

After taking care of the clothing crisis, they headed out to toy heaven known as Hamleys. Frank was actually a bit disappointed: it wasn’t quite as impressive as he remembered. Duncan found things very expensive but that didn’t stop Gillian from buying a T-shirt for her Parisian panda named Pierre. A late snack found them back at the hotel in time to make a cup of tea for me getting home from work.

Next on the agenda: the theatre! Since I had a large lunch – in an executive dining room no less!- and they had a late snack, dinner wasn’t really on the agenda. We stopped by a local pub which was *much* nicer than the one we ventured into last night and had a pint (or two) of real ale (yum!) while we waited for the rain to let up. It let up a enough for us to find another pub with real ales and a better selection of snack type foods so we did grab a bit to eat before heading to the Palace theatre for Spamalot! Two lessons from this theatre experience: first, do your homework and find out what “balcony” really means in the venues you may wind up in! We opted for front balcony tix which turned out to be about 60 feet straight up! Frank was looking for the oxygen masks! Second, just because you buy your tickets at a discount ticket booth, don’t assume that you are actually getting a discount. Not only did we not save any money, we ended up paying a service charge… but at least we got tickets and we did enjoy the show. It’s a late night though and we need to get up early to get pack since we bid farewell to London tomorrow.

/san/

[Pedometer: the family chalked up 19,560 – just less than 10 miles – whereas I only managed about 6,000 but I did manage 4 miles on the treadmill!]

sortof!  We started today with a quick breakfast from a local cafe:  bacon rolls! And then the entire family was shepherded onto the Tube for a trip across town to St. Paul’s Cathedral for the 11:00 service (they still call it mass here!), a sung eucharist with the the St. Paul’s Cathedral Choir and the City of London Sinfonia.  It was absolutely unforgettable: sitting in this amazingly ornate and beautiful cathedral with several hundred other of my closest friends listening to a different version of a service that I pretty much know by heart. A few interesting obeservations:

1. The mass was led by the “President” – a woman – but the choir was entirely male.
2. There was no old Testament reading.
3. Parts of the service that we usually hear spoken – such as the Nicene Creed – were sung by the choir… in Latin!
4. There were about a thousand people in attendance, approximately 10% of which actually had a clue what was going on.
5. The acoustics were great for a solo a capella voice but the Sinfonia and the sermon echoed terribly.

The sermon was on the City of London Festival and the celebration of the 200th anniversary of the formal ending of the slave trade.  It was done by one of the 5 priests in attendance with lots of Deacons, vergers and wardsman helping out as well.  Altogether a moving experience that I felt honored to take part in.  (“Best 5 quid we’ve spent yet” was Frank’s review.)  Because it was Sunday, the Cathedral was only open for worship so there was no looking around and taking pictures – which seemed to confuse many people who wandered in wanting to do just that – so I may have to stop by and play tourist tomorrow when I’m done working.

Then what happens after church in all the historical novels and Agatha Christie stories? The family goes home to the Sunday joint that the kitchen staff has been preparing and the quinticenssial Sunday lunch is served.  Well we didn’t have a manor house to return to so we did the next best thing:  went to a restaurant famous for just that!  Simpson’s-in-the-Strand has been serving the best roast beef and lamb for nearly 200 years.  So we took a table in the Grand Divan room and enjoyed our Sunday lunch.  The carver rolls the roast out to the table and cuts slices exactly how you want it.  Frank, Gillian and I had the beef and Duncan had the lamb.  The beef was exquisite!  Gravy, horseradish, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes and cabbage goes with it… a bottle of beaujolais (which the French sommolier said I pronounced the name of very well!) and of course desert.  My bread pudding was lovely but Frank won for best desert with the treacle sponge with custard.  Yum!

So after we spend 3 hours eating more food than we normally consume in several days, we decided to take a nice walk to aid in the digestion.  But instead of heading to the local park – which would have been nice because the sun was actually trying to come out – we did what any good American consumer does…. went shopping!  The girls had been very successful on Oxford Street yesterday but now it was the boys’ turn.  We hit the shops looking for goodies for Frank and Duncan and were moderately successful.  (I think they were restraining themselves because they are hitting the world’s best toy store tomorrow!)  We got kicked out of Debenham’s when they shut at 6 and then we wandered back to the hotel to be moan the fact that we still weren’t hungry!

Eventually, we headed out for a pint to the local pub.  This would also be stereotypical English thing to do but for one thing:  today England went smoke free!  As of 6 a.m. this morning, there is no smoking in any enclosed workspaces.  This means bars and restaurants.  We ventured into a pub nearby that had real ales and had a seat.  Apparently, this was truly for locals because we were the youngest (and soberest!) people by far.  So the lure of being able to have a pint without fear of an asthma attack was not enough to keep us in that particular establishment and Gillian professed to actually being hungry so to the chippy we go!  Gillian actually got a chicken nuggets meal while Frank had his own packet of chips with a pickled onion and Duncan and I shared some chips with extra salt and vinegar.  I’m going to ignore the fact that the only vegetable I had all day today was three tablespoons of cabbage and just go to bed fat and happy.  And early – I have to work again tomorrow!

/san/

[Pedometer count: 19,886 or just shy of 10 miles.  Definitely not enough to cover all the food I ate today!]

I see by the comments and emails I’ve gotten that news has crossed the pond.  We are fine.  We find ourselves in the midst of terrorist investigations and just heard about the problems at Glasgow Airport.  None of it directly affects us or our family so please don’t worry but thanks for thinking of us.

Our adventures continue, terrorists or no.  We started a bit late this morning – the gym didn’t open until 8 a.m. and I wanted to start there.  I actually did hit the treadmill for 5K (of course I picked the only machine that did the calculations in Kilometers!) and then ushered the family out the door for the start of the day.  We opted for the lazy but expensive option and had breakfast in the hotel:  a huge buffet with everything from fresh fruit to haggis (really!) so we loaded up and waited for the rain to slow down.  Yes, it is raining – and in England no less, who would have thought!  (There’s actually serious flooding in some parts of the country so we’re still lucky.) We headed to the Victoria and Albert to start the day – one of the few museums I never got a chance to visit while I lived here.  It wasn’t as exciting as we had hoped so we headed across the street to the science museum – now the kids were interested.  Gillian liked all the hands on stuff they had for kids, Duncan and I liked the history of computers and mathmatics and Frank loved the exhibit on the Spitfire.

That took us well past lunch time so we headed to a cafe and had some jacket potatoes and tea before heading to Leicester Square to score some discount tickets for Spamalot!  As we wandered into the square, we couldn’t help but notice the colorfully dressed characters everywhere we turn.  There were lots of rainbow flags and many stages with flamboyant performers and banners that read “London Pride 2007” – yup, we were smack in the middle of the gay pride festivities.  They had a huge stage set up in Trafalgar Square which was mobbed with people making it difficult to get to the National Gallery but we made it for a short tour of the Impressionist rooms which we thoroughly enjoyed.

We then wandered up Charing Cross Road (only stopping in a *few* bookstores!) and started the serious shopping: Oxford Street!  We did some major damage at the sales, especially in the Clark’s store and Marks and Spencer’s.  Mostly Gillian and I benefitted so we need to head back out to get the boys something tomorrow.  I’m sure we’ll figure something out.  Of course, there were lots of our new “friends” parading through the shops and we could hear a parade in Soho with lots of drums and whistles.  Once we were all shopped out and more than a little damp, we headed home for a lovely Indian meal down the street from the hotel.  (Gotta feel bad for Duncan cuz he’s in the other half of the bed with the big gas machine named Frank who had chicken madras and a really large beer tonight.)

Tomorrow, mom is dragging everyone to church… it just so happens to be at St. Paul’s cathedral…..

/san/

[FYI:  17,684 steps or about 8.5 miles not counting my 3.1 miles on the treadmill!]