We were dreading coming back in the reclining seats on the sleeper, but got lucky (in a way). A train derailed in Edinburgh (empty, no one hurt) causing delays. They had to send us through Glasgow and then on to Edinburgh, and in doing so upgraded everyone to get a sleeper berth. It is wonderful. When traveling by train overnight, always go with the sleeper car. Get your tickets early, and the expense is completely worth it.
Today we made use of a deal that let us see the big sites for a discount. It is called the London Pass, and at first glance it seems like it is an unlimited 24 hour pass that gets you into the sites included. We learned that instead you have a money limit, and so paying for a £55 24 hour pass, you can see up to £80 worth of the sites listed. They advertise it sneakily, and we would have liked to have gotten a bit more use out of it, but it still saved some money and would recommend it to anyone who wants to see the big, expensive sites in London.
Started the day by walking through regents and green park (passing through the Wellington Arch) to see Buckingham Palace and the guards. Unbelievable gates, absolutely gorgeous. We then hopped over to the thames, took a peek around Parliament and Big Ben, and went inside Westminster Abbey.
Unbelievable. It is massive, and every inch of it is ornate. There are also many more people buried there than I had previously know; lots of royalty such a Elizabeth the 1st, Henry the 7th, Mary Queen of Scots etc. as is expected. But there is also a poets corner where famous literary figures like Lewis Carol and Chaucer rest, and in a farther corner, in a simple marker, we also found Charles Darwin. The coronation chair is also housed there.
Walking back to the Thames we caught a ferry next to the London Eye (which would have been cool, but it is unbelievably expensive. £20 is way to much, we did not go up).
We took the ferry down to the Tower of London. The stories are very sinister, but in reality the building is actually very inviting. It is beautiful with light colored stone, and is not as imposing as some of the other structures in London. We ran around the bloody tower and torture museum; and through the main towers where they house armoury. The only thing we did not make it to see were the royal jewels. The line was far to long, we did not want to waste several hours to see them.
We wandered over Tower Bridge (the pass got us onto the upper portion for a spectacular view) and made our way up to the globe. We were a bit disappointed; because we got there when a show was starting, they had stopped given tours and we did not get to go out to see the stage. But we were inside, and did stop by a little museum exhibition they had. Next we ran across Millennium bridge, which took us directly up to St. Pauls Cathedral. Again, stunning and massive. We only took a peek inside because it was at St. Pauls we learned about the money limit on the pass.
After a quick peek in St. Pauls, we went to the London Zoo. Marc and I were very impressed; with the exception of a handful of old exhibits which have plans for renovation all of the animals have great exhibits and seemed extremely well cared for. For example the African Wild dogs had a huge exhibit that spanned along the river, and gave them a large space to run on. And it wasn't just the mammals; the insect exhibits were equally large and showed a lot of care. The leaf cutter ant exhibit used a rope that came up out of there enclosure, which the ants followed up, out, then back down. Really nifty!
To finish up the day, and the few remaining pounds on our pass, we went to a art house to see Tree of Life. On the way we passed through Kings Cross Station, and of course had to visit Platform 9 3/4 :) . As far as the film itself, it had some big names, Sean Penn, Brad Pitt. Some of the messages and topics addressed in the film where wonderful and had a lot of truth, but overall it was blogged down by long sequences of intense music and blunt imagery.
After a couple day rush through Edinburgh, we hopped onto a sleeper train to London. We opted for the cheaper reclining seats rather than a berth. Mistake! My dad was the only one able to sleep. But the sleeper train does get us down there without having to worry about a hotel, and ensured we got a bright and early start on our day.
As we ran around London we made extensive use of the tubes. They are phenomenally well done; you never wait more than a minute or two to hop on. We did catch it at rush hour a few times, where you are packed in with no room to move much, but it is only for a short time. They are well placed, and you can get everywhere really easily for cheap (a day pass is £8; in some of the towns around Scotland you can pay £4 for a single bus ride)
After picking up some discount theatre tickets first thing, we took advantage of some of the free things to do in London. We ran by the National Gallery, which has a phenomenal collection; all the museums we went to are large and you could spend a week in each of them. We kind of blew through the highlights like a cartoon by Da Vinci, Raphael, Michelangelo, Vermeer, and Rembrandts. The British museum was astounding; the building itself is an awesome dome supported by roman-esk pillars. We only spent time in the Egyptain exhibit, but notably saw the Rosetta Stone, some remarkably preserved statues and wall carvings that are 2500 years old, and fascinating mummies (including a section on animals; cats, birds, and fish). After a quick rest at our hotel, we took a walk through Regents park into Kensinton gardens, grabbed a lovely dinner and hit the Theatre District. We went to see a production of the 39 steps, which was a 1912 movie that Hitchcock adapted into a film. It is a farce of the Hitchcock, and was wonderful physical comedy. Very well done and enjoyable.
Sorry the picture isn't amazing. It was raining all the time I was there... it is Scotland after all.
They will be here for a few weeks. They arrived on Tueday, and to rest up after there jet lag we spent a relaxing day in Balloch, at the base of Loch Lomond. Very pretty views, a castle, and lots of beautiful hiking trails along the Loch. Next they are headed off to enjoy a day running around Oban, and seeing the Hebrides, while Marc and I take care of errands in Edinburgh before running off and exploring London. Lots of fun!
This is an image of the dairy milking parlor. Each side holds up to 8 cows. They are fed during milking so several reasons: 1, to distract them, 2, to see who is sick (sick cows wont eat the pellets), and 3, so that you can feed specific amounts to specific cows.
This is a view from where I worked for about 2.5 hours. Spoiler... if you like milk but would be put off by gross stuff, don't read the rest of this paragraph. Cows poop... and pee... while milking. It is a mess. There is poop and urine flying everywhere. Yes some of it lands in the milk... Not much though, these levels are regulated closely. And being at this level made me an easy target for poop and pee... Yes, I was covered. But I wore protective clothing (waterproofs that were hosed off daily).
When the cow's group were done milking they were let off into this holding area. They were here until I could bring in the other groups of cows. So when most of the group was here, I would go out on a quad bike (ATV) to a field and wrangle in the next group (about 35 cows) while the farmer continued to milk the rest of the first group.
This is an image of me bring in the herd, well the last of the herd on the quad. You can see some of the fields of the farm and the surrounding area. It was beautiful, especially when it wasn't raining.
This is an image of the breed show. This farmer is waiting to show his cow. The farmer has a uniform to wear, which changes for what breed of cattle they are showing. The cow is prettied up. They clean them, put paint on them, put oil on the utters to make them shine, and millions of other things to get the judges attention. My friend's farmer's cow won best in her class and came in second for her breed (which is amazing if you consider this is the major breed show in Scotland).
