Stratford upon Avon to Oxford

Ann Hathaway's cottage in Stratford.


Naughty Betsy uses the WC on the coach. Horrors,


In the cathedral where Shakespeare is busied. Next week is their autumn festival. We visited with a woman who was decorating the whole church with wild flowers


She is really cuter than this picture shows


Here lies Shakespeare He paid to be buried in this cathedral. May he rest in peace


Another residence in Stratford



Guild Chapel in Stratford. Egyptian figures on the wall. Explanation below.





Bought our pork pies and Scottish eggs from this guy. He was quite proud to have been named the best pie maker in Britian


Delicious



Got in a bit of trouble at Warwick castle


Loved the castle. Looked like a bit of Downtown Abbey inside


Finally found the trebuchet. Unfortunately we had to leave the castle grounds at 4:30 and that was when the demo and firing was scheduled


Amy has worked with the trebuchet for two years. She told us how to battle with the trebuchet. If you had an injured warrior, they could be used as payload. She said poop was also quite effective


The workers get into the wheels and walk to cock the machine



Now in Woodstock. Winston Churchill's grave. Quite plain and unprotected in the church yard















Uniquelyschotz.com

Location:UK

Chester and Liverpool

Sep 22, 2014
If you can read the black and white print line, it is the longest place name in The world. The definition is below the name


We had a stop in Chester which is a city with lots of ancient parts poking out here and there. One of their modern things is the marathon coming up soon.


A view of Chester from the ancient bridge


Cathedral in Chester



The ceiling is made of stone


On to Liverpool. The Beatles played the cavern club in their early days




This picture will be on trip advisor. We had fish n chips here and spent quite a bit of time talking with the young people who worked there. They wanted to know if American teens die of suicide and drugs, what was the minimum wage, and in general about life in America



Sep 23, 2014
Boat cruise on Windermere lake



The grave of William Wordsworth in Grasmere


Recipe for scones as supplied by one of the hotel kitchens. This recipe makes a bit too many.


Scottish country side. All the fences are dry stone. England uses more hedgerows.


Inside the gingerbread house. Extremely good gingerbread according to Betsy and me. Jane, not so much. She prefers Digestives.



Haggis ingredients. We ate it in Edinburgh and found it quite delicious. Swede is our rutabaga.



This pie has haggis, potatoes and turnips





Sometimes you just have to shut it all out


Uniquelyschotz.com

Location:England

Dublin

Traveling to Glendalough we saw much of the 40 shades of green found in Ireland. Johnny Cash wrote his song "40 Shades of Green" after visiting this region.



As we walked into Glendalough we passed a bagpiper. You don't have to blow into it---muscle powered.


Glendalough is an 11th century monastery where monks lived. Women also were allowed so there were children. Lots of convicts came here for refuge & to escape prison. After 2 years they either had to join the order or leave. Most chose to stay.


Light fixtures on Dublin streets. Shamrocks motifs were noted on all the old street lamps.


St Patricks cathedral in Dublin. It is not catholic.


Entryway to Glendalough. Dry stonework all held together by keystone at top


Bell Tower totally of stone at the monastery. 4 floors accessed by ladders inside.



Demonstration in Dublin about new coming water tax. Dubliners have never paid for water, but the water system is very outdated and needs money for much repair. Nearly 40% of their water runs out the cracks.


Remembrance garden in Dublin



Statue in remembrance garden. Swans are lifting up the dead.


Ivy on houses





Sweet, sweet Molly Malone.


Irish stew


Dublin stew. Sausage, bacon, potato and light and dark pudding (blood)


Lamb shank. Note how full my beer is. Now look back at Chirp's.



Galway Hooker beer


Uniquelyschotz.com

Location:Ireland

Galway to Dublin

Stopped a couple hours in Galway Bay. We walked through a pedestrian area to see what was happening and get lunch.


There were many stalls with vegetables, but this one made a shot of green juice from grass. It was a lot of work to get that shot


In the evening we walked to the area known as Temple Bar ( a former sandbar) . This was the one area where we were warned not to go. It is now a pedestrian only area for the most part. This night was the eve of the Irish championship soccer game. Each county has a team and they were now down to two teams. The pub was quite loaded (as were the Irish) with fans. We had a great time there with a pint of Guinness and were quite lucky to have chairs at a table. Next to us was a former soccer player who now lives in New Jersey . He returns every year for this weekend. The game was in a stadium with 80,000 seats and was televised all over Ireland. The players do not get paid. They all have day jobs.


Musicians inside the pub. Great traditional Irish music





A very happy Irishman



Uniquelyschotz.com

Location:Ireland