MY "ADVENTURES N ENGLAND, SCoTLAND & WALES" TRIP REPORT; AUG '14 (W/ PICS & VIDEO)

[knewton64]

(Edinburgh Castle - one of the many places I will be visiting)



Morning everyone!!




It's me - Kris and it's about that time again that I begin my ever ticking off of the things I wanna see and do off my bucket list -

("Me up and about on the island of Oahu on day two via the "Grand Circle Island Tour Honolulu" tour in Oct 2011)





and -


well.......
England and Scotland was just a callin my name.





So, with a nod to a wonderful tour company called CIE-Tours, I have decided to head off across the pond via their, "8 day English & Scottish Discovery" adventure with the highlights IMO being London, Stratford & Beatles Liverpool,



and will be also seeing
the Cotswolds, followed by Edinburgh Castle & Loch Ness to name a few.





Never been to this side of the pond but am lookin' forward to it.



ANYWHO -


gotta run for now and boogy back on over to my Dec 29th Rose Bowl adventure.
(going to Napa Valley as well)



Gonna be fun!!



Be back soon -


T.T.F.N.


&



Cheers








"MY VERY 1ST TRIP 2 WDW / DISNEY WONDER" 01-07-09 to 01-15-09 (w/pics & video)
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2062857
MY ADVENTURES by Disney "Spirit of America" Sept 2009 trip report ...
www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2201584 - Cached

 

[MandM3]

I don't want to spoil your fun but Scotland's part of Great Britain. Have a wonderful time!

 

[knewton64]

i don't want to spoil your fun but scotland's part of great britain. Have a wonderful time!

That's what I get for quickly blogging!!

Thank u for the kind remark as I have made the correction.






T.T.F.N.

 

[knewton64]

......just booked it!!



The fun begins August 10th.........
but with a twist.



Part of the adventure includes watching the Royal Edinburgh Military Tattoo on the castle Esplanade of Edinburgh Castle.




More details coming up -







T.T.F.N.

&

Cheers

 

[EMom]

The most important thing to know about The Royal Mile in Edinburgh.....Start at the top, by Edinburgh Castle and walk down. Many people start at the opposite end and try to walk up. That's not fun. I loved Edinburgh. But I think I liked York more. There is a lot to see/do in Edinburgh. You'll have a great time.

My friend went shortly after I had visited. (1999) She called to let me know she had seen Prince Charles at Edinburgh Castle that day. She had wondered if he was actually better looking in person than he appeared on TV and in magazines. She was sorry to report that he was indeed, NOT any better looking.

 

[fimac]

Not to be picky but that picture is not Edinburgh Castle. It is probably Holyrood House at the other end of the Royal Mile. Edinburgh Castle sits on the top of a large rock.

 

[wvjules]

Since you are going to be in Edinburgh during the Royal Military Tattoo, I highly suggest you go. It was excellent! And the PP isr right that is not the Castle.

This is:

Also, why is on the CB and not the trip reports board? Actually, why are all of your trips reports on the CB? I thought there was a board for that? Anyway, have fun in England and Scotland.

 

[knewton64]

The most important thing to know about The Royal Mile in Edinburgh.....Start at the top, by Edinburgh Castle and walk down. Many people start at the opposite end and try to walk up. That's not fun. I loved Edinburgh. But I think I liked York more. There is a lot to see/do in Edinburgh. You'll have a great time.








My friend went shortly after I had visited. (1999) She called to let me know she had seen Prince Charles at Edinburgh Castle that day. She had wondered if he was actually better looking in person than he appeared on TV and in magazines. She was sorry to report that he was indeed, NOT any better looking.

The Royal Mile eh? Didn't know that. A huge thank you for pointing that out as yes - this will be my very first adventure into Scotland.

You will see very quickly that yes - I will be filled with lots of questions.

My Mother went there a long time ago and that's where 'that picture' of Edinburgh Castle came from. More on that in a few minutes.







HA!! 2 FUNNY!! Makes ya wonder who I might bump into.


And speaking of that,
I already have a friend I met on my DCL adventure (January 2012) who has kindly agreed to meet me on over in the London part of this 9-day CIE TOURS "Best of Britain" vacation.

(I will also be a first time visitor into London)

Not to be picky but that picture is not Edinburgh Castle. It is probably Holyrood House at the other end of the Royal Mile. Edinburgh Castle sits on the top of a large rock.

OOPSIE!!! Here is WHY I am glad you pointed that out to me.

Well.........

Um..............

Ya see..............



Looks like my Mother was telling me a "fish story" when she visiting there along her way to seeing Lockerbie during the downing of that plane.

Some of the things she was saying was that she had a hard time understanding their accents (and we are from Texas....me?? have an accent??? NEVER!! )

and
that the weather was very tempermental; always changing (I forgot what time of the year she went). She had fun but........

Yes.......


I can tell that yup, she forgot to properly ID her pics!!



Ah well - looks like I am going to have to change that.
Holyrood House eh?? Thank you for this info as I can tell I am going to be spending some time on this internet looking up these points of interest & no doubt other things that are bound to pop up.


Cuz overall, I have chosen this 9-day trek into Great Britain for historical reasons (Strattford-upon Avon, Edingburgh Castle, etc) as well as hey.....ya can't forget the Lake District and Beatles Liverpool (day 5 of this tour).

Since you are going to be in Edinburgh during the Royal Military Tattoo, I highly suggest you go. It was excellent! And the PP isr right that is not the Castle.

This is:

Also, why is on the CB and not the trip reports board? Actually, why are all of your trips reports on the CB? I thought there was a board for that? Anyway, have fun in England and Scotland.

Okokokokokok....... COOL PIC of the castle!!
THANKUTHANKUTHANKU




To all - thank you very very very much for all the input as yes, I do welcome suggestions (as we go along here) as one of my biggest pet peeves about vacationing is running up the heel of people who literally don't have any idea as to what they are doing.


http://i608.photobucket.com/albums/tt165/knewton64/DSC00575.jpg
ANYWHO -
speaking of knowing what he is doing, an unexpected visitor has decided to came along for the ride:

YES -


HIM

So expect Mr McDuck to pop up in a picture or two and he is not camera shy.




Now
things have changed since late May as this adventure has been confirmed as a 9-day tour of Great Britain with all of it just exactly as what I want and desire.



From seeing Cardiff, Windsor & Edingburgh Castles to Tintern Abbey and yes
watching the Royal Edingburgh Military Tattoo, this is one vacation I am DEF looking forward to.



Just gotta get thru my upcoming Rose Bowl adventure first.
(gotta birthday - December 30th - coming up during this time)






So I leave ya with this:


Q; What's the British pound looking like in relation to the US dollar??
Q: smart to pack an umbrella??
Q; Is their Orange Juice as strong as ours???? Reason why I ask is IMHO, Ireland's was weak & I need something like OJ to get me going in the am.
Q: What local foods would you suggest I try??
and......last but not least -


Q: What local wines or beers do you suggest as well I try??






Ok.....thanks 4 listening!!







T.T.F.N.

&

CHEERS

 

[knewton64]

Tho, I do say that she (my 2 yr old female Blue-tick Beagle)
thought someone was 'getting strangled to death' the other day when she heard this (via my home theatre system) for the very first time:




(From Scarborough Faire; April 2013)

** JUST DOUBLE RIGHT CLICK WITH YOUR MOUSE OVER THE ABOVE VIDEO & IT WILL PLAY 4 U **




Gotta go fer now.





T.T.F.N.
& Cheers

 

[knewton64]

What different last 3 weeks it has been for me as I have lost over 26 pounds & have a strong desire to lose more of me as my body gets more and more toned up.


For those of you who wanna follow along in my weight loss journey, it starts on posting #68 on page 5 of my December 2013 Trip report titled, "MY ADVENTURES N SAN FRAN, ROSE BOWL....."
More to that I promise.



ANYWHO -


I am slowly now beginning to ramp up preparing for this adventure as I just bought a cd from the band called ,"Tartanic" as well as I bought Edingburgh Castle's dvd of the 2012 "Military Tattoo"
- (going to watch the dvd on the way back from Heathrow Airport as I have never seen the Military Tattoo) -



Really looking forward hopping across the pond again with this time seeing the sights and sounds of London & Scotland.



Okey dokey .....gotta boggie on back to my Rose Bowl TR.






T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers

 

[knewton64]

Yes - I have lost 68 pounds so far & lovin' every minute of the new me!!
(more specifics on my weight loss can be found in the previous posting)




ANYWHO -


In a few more weeks, expect this trip report to get rolling & underway -




Until then -





T.T.F.N.
& CHeers

 

[bettyann29]

congrats on the weight loss!

 

[Minerva Mouse]

You know what's great about your title. When reading, "My adventures in England and Scotland" my brain, inserts the accent.

Safe travels!

 

[knewton64]

You know what's great about your title. When reading, "My adventures in England and Scotland" my brain, inserts the accent.

Safe travels!

Thanks!!
Just booked my air with British Air -
it's a non stop flight from DFW.


Never had a non stop flight before to across the pond.
Looking forward to it (12 hour flight).


Going now to begin to look for dvds to watch (via my portable dvd player) over these next few weeks to add to my carry on luggage.




IN ANOTHER NEWS -
Been Facebookin' a really cool person that we all met on the Disney Cruise Line cruise (see my Jan 2012 DCL blog for more info, etc) who lives in London and teaches piano over there so be on the lookout for Yours Truly to have some fun seeing an old friend - (He plays piano for DCL also) - in London while our tour group enjoys some 'on your own time."




ANYWHO -

Gotta boggy for now back on over to my SAN FRAN, ROSE BOWL travel /weight loss blog that you c listed below in my signature.





FYI -
I am now at a 90 pound weight loss so if ya want.....feel free to follow along with my weight loss adventures and such via that blog u c listed below.







T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers

 

[knewton64]

The Scarborough Faire's Scottish 'Highland Games & Celtic Weekend' - April 12th & 13th.
(down in Waxachie, Texas)



Here is a short blip on it from last year's festivities:
Highland Games Competition Come to Scarborough Renaissance ...
www.prweb.com/releases/Renaissance-Faire/.../prweb10680423.htm‎Cached
SimilarWaxahachie, TX (PRWEB) May 01, 2013. The sporting competition of the Scottish
Highland Games was held at the Scarborough Renaissance Festival April 19 ...




ANWYHO -
Just got me a weekend pass for this
AND.......
as well as some wine tasting that Saturday at the 'Cat & the Fiddle" Pub.




So be on the lookout for Yours Truely to be in a all Scottish mood a April 10th - 15th area
(trying also to either see a Texas Ranger baseball game as well or possibly attend a DFW food or wine tasting tour).



ALlrightee ----

next time we meet up, I will tell ya the fun I had going out on a little 'social experiment' on mine on of all nights.......


** THANKSGIVING NIGHT **

.....and it involved me buying a container of bleach......


AT A LOCAL WALMART.
(this was the very first time I visited a Walmart on a major holiday)




I will be back n a few weeks - I promise.






T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers

 

[knewton64]

Feels good to be back.


Wrapping up things on my "Adventures n San fran, Rose Bowl" adventure (you see in my below listed signature) & should be officially on this trip report in about 2 weeks or so.


And by then, we can get this puppy up off the ground - I promise.









T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers Y'all

 

[l_mccafferty]

So I leave ya with this:


Q; What's the British pound looking like in relation to the US dollar?? Best looking at this nearer the time as its always changing
Q: smart to pack an umbrella?? Yes and a rain jacket, we tend not to get a warm summer
Q; Is their Orange Juice as strong as ours???? Reason why I ask is IMHO, Ireland's was weak & I need something like OJ to get me going in the am.I haven't noticed a difference between US and UK orange juice, there's always plenty of options in the supermarkets
Q: What local foods would you suggest I try?? Fish and chips from a chippy. Haggis, Irn Bru, Walkers Crisps, Cadbury chocolate, Indian curry, shortbread. If you get the chance in Scotland, try a full Scottish breakfast (with potato scones, square sausage and black pudding).
and......last but not least -


Q: What local wines or beers do you suggest as well I try??Cider! I prefer foreign wines and German beers but I love a cider.

I'm Scottish but from Glasgow. If you have any other questions, let me know

 

[calypso726]

We went to Scotland with Adventures by Disney last year and loved it! We are going back again this year as a pre trip to our Adventures by Disney England/Paris trip. Edinburgh is an amazing city. There is so much going on during August. I am adding the link to my trip report from the Adventures by Disney boards for you.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3150065

Maybe some of things that we did might inspire you as well. We did get lots of advice from DISers who are Scotland residents on what to see and do on our pre trip and on our own time. Trip Advisor was also an excellent resource.

I am looking forward to your trip report!

 

[knewton64]

I'm Scottish but from Glasgow. If you have any other questions, let me know

I was blowing through our work break room when I look up and there was this big ol' table just filled with what looked to be green colored dragon plush dolls......not wanting to leave anything unturned, I asked the guy behind the counter (not realizing he was the sales rep for one of our hotels across the pond) , "What's these purple dragons doing here?"


And with an Scottish accent that would make any Scot proud, he corrected me by saying, "NO LADDIE!! THAT"S NESSIE!!"


So with that, I can tell it's gonna be fun mixing my Texan 'twang' with the locals while checking out the sights, sounds and oh YEA!! - ** THE FOOD **


Rest assured, as my date of departure get nearer and closer, yes - u will c me post ?'s that have me stumped so a huggeeee thank you for that.


T-minus 199 more days.......
ANYWHO -

We went to Scotland with Adventures by Disney last year and loved it! We are going back again this year as a pre trip to our Adventures by Disney England/Paris trip. Edinburgh is an amazing city. There is so much going on during August. I am adding the link to my trip report from the Adventures by Disney boards for you.

http://disboards.com/showthread.php?t=3150065

Maybe some of things that we did might inspire you as well. We did get lots of advice from DISers who are Scotland residents on what to see and do on our pre trip and on our own time. Trip Advisor was also an excellent resource.

I am looking forward to your trip report!

BLIMEY!! - Is it you 2 again?? LOL -
Your TR is so much fun to read as I can tell u 2 really had fun over there -
I am currently re-reading it as it provided me the inspiration to take the plunge and go see this part of the pond and yes - questions are bound to pop up from Yours Truely over these next few weeks -



BUT FIRST -



It's time to think about the HIGHLANDER GAMES; April 12-13 2014 at Scarborough Faire in Waxahachie Texas.
(pics & video I promise from this 1st timer attending the games) -


How do we get there???



It begins with what I have learned these past 2 weeks since coming back from the Rose Bowl and sunny Southern California.







T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers Y'all

 

[knewton64]

** (Pic taken when she was 1 - she will be 3 yrs old this August) **
FYI - backstory on that pic - We were both chilling out one day watching on dvd, 'Star Wars' when I looked over at her & she had her ears flipped back w/"that Princess Leia look" .....so I just had to take a pic of her


ANYWHO -
.....I heard this awfullest of awful gurgling sounds coming from 'somewhere'.



Ladybug -(my Best Bud) -
looked down at herself, then me, then herself again.


I looked at her.


She then looked down at herself again, then me.....then stuck out her 'hand'
onto MY stomach!!


To wit -(as I pointed to her stomach)- I replied back to her, "IT CAME FROM YOU!;"



and so it goes - I stepped her on the weigh scale & saw that she was 23.4 pounds!! (from a high of 34.6 just 6 months ago) = OUCH!! TOO THIN!!


So
I am on the prowl to put a few pounds BACK on her as she is now back up to 23.8 - I would like for her to be about 25 pounds 'ish' so wish me luck on this one.



ME??
I have lost 104 pounds in 4.5 months (weight loss blog part of my travel adventure starts on page 6 of my previous Trip report for those of you who are intererested) -

gained 11 pounds while ON vacation (I knew I was going to gain approx 10 as I factored in it in my 104 I lost)........


now since returning to my home country of "reality-land"......
I have lost 5 pounds in 12 days which is good for me as also for L.B. as we
have recently discovered some pretty neat jogging trails out at a nearby park where we live (Duck Creek park) that is really providing a win-win for both of us:


1) she gets to chase all the critters around while I go a sprinting behind her in a vain attempt to keep up and.......

2) being out in the woods is well.....so dang fun, relaxing and a wonderful way to cleanse the soul of just whatever 'ails' ya. We are now at 90 minute jogging sessions twice a day two days a week.


and yes.....I do carry not one but TWO of those green little plastic bags and three paper towels in each of them....





ANYWHO -



Got my London /Scotland burned cd of car music put together the other day:
(helps me to decompress to & from work & also just puts me n a vacation adventure mood)



1) "Roadtrip" by Gary P. Nunn

While touring Windsor Castle (Aug 10th) -
2) "Enjoy It" By Maurice Chevallie and Hallie Mills
(Hey....ya never now...it just might rain while I am over there)

For when I tour the Cotswolds & Shakespeare's Birthplace (Aug 11 & 12th)
3) "The Masrallasie" By the United States Marine band
4) "Why Can't the English" by Rex Harrison
5) "The James Bond Theme"
6) Le Chansonde Claudine" by Mason Williams & Manhein Steamroller

Next, for when we tour Edinburgh Castle and the Military tattoo -
(August 13th)
7) "Dance of the Ice Weasels" by Tartanic
8) "Jigs" by Tartanic
9) "Le Chateau de Beautfort"

and ya can't forget the Lake District area & Beatles' Liverpool (Aug 14th) -
10) 'Hello Goodbye" by the Beatles
11) "Penny Lane" by the Beatles


Tintern Abbey & Cardiff Castle Banquet day -
12) "Scarborough Faire"

Now
IF I ONLY HAD AN EXTRA DAY.........
13) Prologue" (Theme to Harry Potter)
14) "Harry's Wondorous World" (sounstrack to Harry Potter)
15) "Oom-Pah-Pah" (from the musical "Oliver!")
16) "Me Ol Bam-Boo" by Dick Van Dyke
17) "A British Bank" (sountrack to Mary Poppins)


And hopefully I can meet up with an old friend of mine I met while on my DCL vacation Jan 2012.....
(Aug 16th & Aug 17th in London)
18) "Piano Lessons & if you Don't Mind Me Saying So" (soundtrack to Music Man)
19) "The Entertainer" By Scot Joplin
20) "The Castle of Louie De Lombardi" (soundtrack to Monty Python & the Holy Grail)
21) "Celebration" by Kool & the Gang

I REALLY LOVE THIS ONE.......
22) "Amazing Grace" by Celtic Woman


and to wind up a really nice cd of music that set the mood during all stages of this adventure -

23) "So Long" by the Singing Busts (soundtrack from Haunted Mansion)
24) "Mickey mouse Club Alma Mater" by the Mouseketers, Jimmy Dodd




Allrightee - been fun 4 now. Gotta boogy on off and c what's up w/L.B. as she wants to take me out for a walk.






UP NEXT: My weight loss totals and what vacation plans I have up my sleeve for 2015.
CYA next time around February 15th area -








T.T.F.N.
&
Cheers Y'all