Albert Dock Approximately 9 million immigrants from the UK and Europe embarked for the United States from Liverpool. A majority of those left from the Albert Dock. The dock and the surrounding area were predominately used for this purpose from the 1820s though 1970. The docks were closed in 1972. Between 1972 and the mid 1980s, the docks were left in disrepair. Which negatively effected the economy. Liverpool was not the best place to live during that time. In 1984, renovation of the dock began, with completion in 1988. Since then millions of people visit the dock each year. During that time several cruise lines also used Liverpool as port, including the RMS Lusitania, which on May 7, 1915,was sunk by a German U-boat on its way from New York City to Liverpool. Over 1,190 passengers were killed. A majority of the crew were from Liverpool. Only 600 people survived. The tragedy led to the United States eventually entering World
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Day 10 – Stirling & Eglington Castles
Stirling Castle Even though we were staying in Stirling, Tiff and I debated whether or not to visit the castle. In the end we decided to take the beautiful walk from Castlecroft B&B to the Castle. I am glad we stopped, because Stirling Castle was probably favorite castle we visited. The first mention of Stirling Castle was in 1110 AD when Alexander I dedicated a chapel there. Stirling Castle was the Royal Castle of the Scottish kings and queens until the death of Alexander III in 1286. A year later King Edward I of England claimed Scotland to be under English rule. Ten years later, Edward invaded Scotland beginning the first war of Scottish Independence. In 1297, the Scots abandoned Stirling Castle in anticipation of the English. Later that year, Andrew de Moray and William Wallace defeated the English at the Battle at Stirling Bridge. The interior of the castle has been renovated, and the staff is interactive. Several rooms
Day 9 – Stirling & Glasgow
Holyroodhouse Palace This morning we returned to the Royal Mile for some more shopping. The amount of wool and kilt shops is impressive. We almost bought some bagpipes but thought better of it. I can only imagine Gavin and Michael playing (or attempting to play) into the night while we were trying to sleep. Another side note, and pardon me for my social commentary, is the number of young people here who smoke. I couldn’t believe it. Do people know smoking causes heart disease and cancer. Anyway I digress. Our last stop in Edinburgh was Holyroodhouse Palace. We didn’t actually go inside, similar to us visiting Buckingham Palace, we just took a few pictures from outside. The Palace is impressive though, and has some interesting stories about how Mary Queen of Scott’s third husband was killed in front of her there. (Again try to avoid being Queen Mary). As mentioned in my prior posts, it is the Royal residence of
Day 8 – Edinburgh
City Hotel – Edinburgh In deciding where to stay for this trip, I tried to select hotels based upon convenience or historical significance. In Edinburgh I chose both. The City Hotel in Edinburgh is now located in a former maternity hospital. The hospital has some significance in that James Young Simpson, used the anesthetic qualities of chloroform on a human, two guests at his dinner party. This was done as an entertainment and not as a medical procedure. This was followed, three days later, by the first use of chloroform on an actual patient, for a dental procedure, by Francis Brodie Imlach (1819-1891), also in Edinburgh. Edinburgh Castle From the hotel we walked the short 1 mile to the castle. About 5 minutes into the walk we turned into a path in a park which led us straight into Edinburgh. The walk was gorgeous. The hillside was covered with yellow wild flowers. The contrast between the yellow and green was quite striking.
Day 7 – York & Driving to Edinburgh Scottland
Day 7 – York Day 2 and Drive to Edinburgh Church in York Today is Sunday. The day started with us getting up and going to church at the 9:30 am meetings of the York Ward. The church which was only 2 miles away from our hotel took us about 11 minutes to drive there as we had to weave in and out of the city to finally make it to church. We stayed for Sacrament and Gospel doctrine. I felt as if we were in a movie listening to the young men bless the sacrament, their fine English accents made the words sound majestic. I am amazed at the conformity of the church. Same meetings anywhere in the world, with saints who have deep testimonies of the Gospel. The congregation there is about a 1/3 of ours at home. They sing about 10 times louder. And you had to fight to participate in class. It was great! York Day
Day 6 – Chatsworth House & York
Chatsworth House This morning we left the Cambridge for Chatsworth House. The house is located in Derbyshire, England. England is divided into several districts based on geographical regions. Derbyshire is in the Peak District, which includes the southern end of the Pennies mountain range. The drive to Chatsworth House was one of the highlights of the trip for us. The fields are full of sheep and cows and are divided by hedge rows. It is some of the most picturesque landscapes we have ever seen. My pictures don’t do the scenery justice. We drove in a single “carriage” lane from the “carriage way” (“highway”) to the great house. It was such a rural road, that I had to verify the way several times with Tiff to make sure I was still heading in the right direction. Crossing over a one way cobble stone bridge and heading down a long lane surrounded by trees, sheep, and fields we glimpsed the house
Day 5 – Cambridge
Drive The morning started for us around 7:30 AM. We arose, got dressed and ate a traditional English breakfast at the Castle Inn. A traditional English breakfast consists of eggs, toast, fried potatoes, tomatoes, baked beans, bacon (which looks more like fried ham), and “bangers” (sausage). I really like the eggs, bacon, toast, and baked beans. The sausage is an acquired taste, I don’t much care for. After breakfast we packed up and drove through the Cotswolds to A4 (the highway) and drove to Cambridge. The drive took us about 2 1/2 hours. It probably would have taken us less time if I knew where we were going. Cambridge – Shops & Restaurants Cambridge is a very old city. As the travel guides appropriately state, its a university in the midst of a town. Apartments, dormitories, shops, and restaurants surround the University. The streets are the most picturesque cobble stone I’ve seen. We spent a couple of hours walking through
Day 4 – Bath
Rental Car Pick Up Ready to go in our Rental (“Hired Car”) The first part of our day today involved us picking up our Europcar at the Hyde Park Station. A quick and easy taxi ride got us there about 10:00 am this morning. I have to admit, I was a little nervous about driving a car on the wrong side of the road with a wheel on the wrong side of the car, and shifting with my left hand. (Yes, we rented a manual transmission). The English don’t call it a car rental, they call it a “Car for Hire.” After figuring out the parking brake was still on after the first block, and becoming comfortable with the clutch and distinguishing between the location between the first and third gears, I was ready to go. Driving in traffic and on the narrow country roads are the hardest. The freeways are pretty easy. I just follow the car in front
Day 3
Windsor Castle We woke up early this morning (7:50 am) and headed out to Windsor Castle. It was a little adventure to get there. We took the Tube from Kensington to Paddington Station. Then from Paddington we took the Train to Slough, and caught a connection to Eton/Windsor. Windsor is a quite and quaint little town. The Castle is extraordinary. Using our London Pass we entered the “fast pass” line and quickly entered the castle area. The Castle is over 800 years old and is the oldest actively used castle in the world. Queen Elizabeth splits time between there and Buckingham Palace in London. At the mouth of the Thames river, the Castle originally was a fortification built by William the Conquerer. In 1165, King Henry II started construction of the residential buildings. The castle remained under construction for several hundreds of years. One of the Castle’s most notable features is the Round tower called the “Keep”. The Keep is
London Day 2
Cheerio Mates! Today we were up and at it early. We were ready to go by 10:00 . . . ok, so we slept in. We ate breakfast at a quaint cafe call the MuffinMan, walking distance to from our Hotel.It was Lovely. Tea and crumpets, english toast, bangers and beans. And because it was a chilly day, hot chocolate. One thing we are liking about London are the prices. Everywhere we go, things are decently priced. Today was a chilly day. Although summer, it was definitely warm jacket weather. The Tower of London After breakfast we took the underground to the Tower of London. This large castle was built in 1066 AD by William the Conqueror. A part of the castle holds the armory of kings and soldiers that are hundreds of years old. It is also where you can see the Crowned Jewels – Crowns, orbs and staffs from royalty past and present covered in Gold and Jewels.
Christiansen Travel 