So those aren't real people?

 Liverpool - sabbatical 2, week 7

Back to work for Craig in Liverpool, with a couple last sites to see on the weekend.

A short train ride up the Mersey estuary to where it turns into actual coast is Crosby Beach.  When the tide is out, the mud flats stretch literally for mile(s) out to sea, but are pretty treacherous - Craig sank down almost to his knee at one point (still close to shore).  Most notable is the art installation on the beach.  Dozens of human-sized iron sculptures  have been erected across the 3 miles of beach, facing out to sea (or to the wind farm offshore).  Called "Another Place", it is the brainchild of artist Antony Gormley and was originally meant to be temporary, but proved popular enough to made permanent.  Incidentally, if you are taking the train there, a convenient method is to go from Liverpool Central up the Northern line to Crosby (actually Blundellsands and Crosby).  Head north up the beach (water on your left) to the northern end, where you'll find ice cream and porta-potties (if necessary) and Hall Road station, which will take you back to Central.  Don't expect to be able to swim - the signs strongly advise against it (and, if it's low tide, there's no water anyway!).

More traditional art can be found at the Walker Art Gallery, with various rooms dedicated to various periods (impressionists, pre-Raphaelite, etc.) there are pieces by Rodin, Matisse, Pissaro, Turner, etc.  Craig spent a few hours going through the manageably-sized collection of mostly paintings and classical-style sculptures.

Splitting up

Styrsö Island (a little windy!)

 Göteborg - sabbatical 2, week 5

Now at the end of two weeks in Europe, it's time for Yolanda, Andrew and David to head back to Thunder Bay.  Craig is carrying on to Gothenburg, better known to the Swedes by its real name of Göteborg, to visit his cousin Scott.  So he boarded the train in Uppsala after seeing the car off with the other three.  (they made it home safe and sound.... 20+ hours later)

Craig stayed the first night in a hotel but then moved in with Scott, his partner Monika, and their 11-year-old chihuahua Maya (sp?).  The next couple days were spent with Scott (and sometimes Monika) playing tour guide on various walking tours around town.  Craig doesn't remember half of what he was told, but it was a good way to be introduced to the city.  Some highlights of mention:

Skansen Kronan (Crown Redoubt)

- Monika's real honest-to-goodness homemade Swedish meatballs (with lingonberry jam!)

- a ferry ride out into the archipelago and a walk around one of the islands (Styrsö) with a picnic lunch

- up a hill to an old defensive tower, defending a corset factory at the bottom of the hill (and, incidentally, the river and the town....)

- the old town of cobbled streets and the largest cinnamon buns known to humankind

- and the various gardens and green spaces along the river and elsewhere 

- a free Princess Cake from the grocery store where they have a loyalty card..... because it was Scott's birthday

After celebrating Scott's birthday with BBQ steaks and the aforementioned cake, they went above and beyond, getting up at 3 am to take Craig to the airport in time for his flight back to England.

Yet another pagan burial site

The Bishop-controller battery

 Uppsala - sabbatical 2, week 5

We primarily rented a car in order to be able to go see Yolanda's Aunt Saara, who still lives on her farm outside Uppsala.  One day was mostly taken up with this visit; Yolanda's cousin Kristine and her daughter Josephine were also able to attend.

The rest of the time was spent touring some of the sites of this old Swedish city.  Its fortunes have ebbed and flowed, sometimes in conjunction with the religious upheavals of the country as Uppsala (both versions - see below) was an important ecclesiastical town.  Its university, for example, is the oldest in Sweden, but the city suffered decline during the Swedish Reformation when the crown confiscated Roman Catholic lands and funds (and naturally sent the wealth to Stockholm).  Thus, we have the curious site of a bastion in the city castle's fortifications built to command the cathedral - the Bastion Styrbiskop - literally the "Bishop-Controller".

Moving back in time are the iron-age burial mounds (the "Royal Mounds") in Gamla Uppsala ("Old" Uppsala).  Once the largest town in the region and a pagan religious centre before it was a Christian religious centre, its people (and bishop) largely migrated to Östra Aros when the river became unnavigable.  The Pope, perhaps finding it too inconvenient to change his address book, ordered that the town of Östra Aros be renamed Uppsala, and thus we have "Gamla Uppsala" a few kilometres down the road from plain "Uppsala".  Interestingly, the church in Gamla Uppsala contains a runestone incorporated into the wall commemorating the locals' conversion to Christianity.  Another interesting tidbit: the church is literally half a cathedral - half was torn down when the bishop moved to Östra Aros; the part that wasn't torn down was re-enclosed to become the parish church.

One of the Royal Mounds

And of course, being scientists, we had to pay homage to Carl Linnaeus, popularizer and formalizer of the binomial Latin names for organisms still used today.  This excellent specimen of H. sapiens is interred in Uppsala Cathedral (near the entrance, on the left side facing the alter). His "estate" is also preserved as a park/tourist attraction, about half-way between Aunt Saara's and Uppsala.

 

On to Sweden

 Stockholm - sabbatical 2, week 5

And so we parted ways with Great Britain (for now!) and hopped across the North Sea to Sweden.  Since the Swedes (a) drive on the right and (b) charge a reasonable price for a car rental, we picked up our Volvo XC90 at Arlanda.  We didn't book so large a vehicle, but no one else wanted it either so it was a free upgrade (and we also got GPS with it, a nice bonus!).  We tootled into Stockholm for a quick look around, eventually stopping on Djurgården Island where we were serenaded by an ABBA tribute band across the water from the ABBA museum.  We made our way around the grounds of the Waldermarsudde and took in the sites over the water, including a cruise ship departing the city.  We returned to a parking ticket (because we couldn't figure out how to pay in the parking lot) and made our way up to Uppsala to our hotel.

"Tam tint his reason a’ thegither, / And roars out, ‘Weel done, Cutty-sark!’"

Greenwich - sabbatical 2, week 5

Coming back to England, we chose to visit the Greenwich Observatory for our last full day in London.  We first boarded the Cutty Sark, a preserved tea fast-clipper named for a character in Robbie Burns's poem "Tam o'Shanter."  It is out of the water and has no sails, but otherwise complete, with a paint job that emphasizes the original braces in the hull and what was later added in restoration.  Craig chatted with the guide on deck, a grizzled old sailor who knew all about the Bluenose and her exploits - another ship renowned for her speed. (If you're interested, Cutty Sark means "short skirt", which is what the witch was wearing when she chased Tam o'Shanter.  The reason the boat is named for this witch is because she could run as fast as a horse, almost catching Tam and his trusty steed before they got to the bridge - like the Headless Horseman, Cutty Sark cannot cross running water.)

On the Prime Meridian

We then made our way through the very yellow grass up the hill to the Greenwich Observatory to stand on the Prime Meridian and to tour through the historical buildings.  They include the Royal Astronomer's residence and the observatory itself, which still contains the largest visible light telescope in the U.K.  The Royal Astronomer does not still live in the residence.

For the information of future travelers - it takes a long time to get out to the Observatory, with multiple train changes.  We also talked to 3 or 4 employees of the underground who all gave us different advice on how to travel.  As a result, the trip from our Heathrow hotel to Greenwich cost us £60 and took over 2.5 hours.  The trip back was £22 and took 90 minutes.  And we took all the same lines, just changed at different stations.

Scotland wrap-up

Inverness Castle

 Inverness - sabbatical 2, week 5

Some other miscellany about Inverness.  On one night Yolanda and Craig, and on the next night all 4 of us, took a stroll along the River Ness.  It has a very nice river walk, with a variety of sites like Inverness Castle, churches, pubs, guest houses, etc. in the downtown area.  Further down (which we saw on the bus tour) is the sport complex (pool, skating rink, etc. - yes, a skating rink!) and eventually the point where the River Ness joins Loch Ness, but we didn't get down that far.  Incidentally, in Gaelic the city's name is Inbhir Ness, which means "mouth of the Ness", i.e. where the river opens into the sea.  Thus, it has a sturdy population of ducks and seagulls (they grow them big here!) who appear to stay up all night yapping at each other.  There are boat tours for whale watching (bottlenose dolphins), and our landlady said she often sees otters at the estuary zone (just north of town) where the sea water and river water meet.

Andrew on bus, along the River Ness

We did not get the chance to see Inverness castle because it is closed for extensive restoration.  We also
did not see any otters.  Lots of ducks and seagulls though.

"All hail, Macbeth, hail to thee, thane of Cawdor"

 Cawdor - sabbatical 2, week 4

Although Shakespearean Macbeth is awarded the title "Thane of Cawdor", the first recorded person with that title was a couple hundred years after Macbeth, and this castle wasn't built until 1454.  It was expanded through the 17th century to the structure that currently exists, with various improvements continuing on the inside and the grounds.  For example, a modern kitchen was installed in the 1990s, and there is a cabinet in the sitting room containing a television set.

One recent "famous" Thane of Cawdor was John Campbell, 1st Baron Cawdor, who led the British defense in the so-called Battle of Fishguard, when French revolutionary troops and their American commander landed an invasion force.  After a few days of maneuvering, Campbell demanded and received the French troops' unconditional surrender, without having to fight an actual battle.  Therefore, the last invasion of Britain occurred in 1797, over 50 years after the last battle in Britain at Culloden Moor.

The taxi from Inverness was a convenient way to get there.  The ticket price includes a tour of the castle (where the current dowager Lady Cawdor still lives 6 months of the year), multiple large gardens, picnic areas, and even a playground.  Green fees for the golf course are extra.

The '45

 Culloden - sabbatical 2, week 4

Another train ride took us to Inverness.  The hop-on-hop-off bus has two loops, the first out to Culloden Moor, site of the last "land battle" to take place on the island of Great Britain (but not, oddly, the last invasion of Britain - more on that next post!).  It took place in 1746, between the Jacobite forces of Bonnie Prince Charlie and the English forces under the Duke of Cumberland (and featuring a young officer named James Wolfe, who later won the Plains of Abraham).  It resulted in a rout of the Jacobite Highlanders and the start of years of oppression of Highland culture.  Craig had already visited (with brother Paul in 1993), but the visitor's centre is much expanded and improved since then.  There are plenty of artifacts and interpretive signs, and of course the moor/battlefield itself, with flags demarking the starting positions of the two armies.

Just down the road (or a 30-minute walk, which is what we did) from the moor are the Clava Cairns, 4000-year-old bronze age burial chambers.  There are also a number of standing stones on the site, which will look familiar to fans of the Outlander series (as Yolanda is), as the site of Claire Randall's time-traveling.

"I was feeling part of the scenery"

 Edinburgh - sabbatical 2, week 4

A 5-hour train ride took us from King's Cross (platform 5, not 9¾) to Edinburgh.  The train was packed because of a "problem elsewhere on the line", so only Andrew got to sit the whole way.  We were happy to get into the hotel (close to the station) and eat at the Conan Doyle pub.  Unfortunately the statue of Sherlock Holmes was removed for roadwork.

That's Edinburgh Castle in the background

We took a walk in the evening, wandering down to the pier where the Royal Yacht Britannia is on "permanent" display.

The next morning we took a walk through the Royal Mile in the old city then a hike up the Salisbury Crags (not the Solsbury Hill Peter Gabriel was singing about, but I still like the quote).  The day was clear and sunny, and the views out over the Palace of Holyroodhouse and the rest of Edinburgh were very fine.

THE Championships

 Wimbledon - Sabbatical 2, week 4

While the boys were enjoying the big air of the Eye, Yolanda attended quarterfinal Tuesday at Wimbledon.  She lucked out because the biggest match of the day - local boy Graham Norrie vs. David Goffin - was not at Centre Court but rather Court 1, for which she had tickets.  The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge were in attendance, having to sit with the unwashed commoners since there is no Royal Box at Court 1 (unlike Centre Court or, incidentally, the Eye).

Niemeier

She also saw Tatiana Marie defeat Jule Niemeier in one of the women's quarterfinals.

The lineup to get strawberries and cream was too long, so Yolanda settled for strawberry ice cream instead.

Reefie 2022

 London - sabbatical 2, week 4

No trip to a new city would be complete without a visit to the aquarium.  The Sea Life Centre is next to the London Eye (and Shrek's Adventure!) and is laid out similar to Toronto and Barcelona.  There are large tanks of reef sharks, clownfish, etc. etc.  In this case, the highlights were the especially large sea turtles and penguins.  Sorry, I mean penguins!  (how can you not put an exclamation mark there?)

From Andrew and David's point of view, though, the aquarium was merely to pass time before our appointment with the London Eye.  It is always busy but the operators still saw fit to prepare a Royal Pod for the Jubilee, which was full of flowers and royal bunting, but no passengers (perhaps because they were at Wimbledon - more on that later).  The view from the apex of the wheel was, of course, spectacular.

The Thamesmen

 London - sabbatical 2, week 4

We are now all together in London.  Arriving mid-afternoon was convenient for checking in to the apartment (found on AirBNB), not so much for sightseeing right away, so we put Wimbledon on and slept (various amounts) before venturing out for sustenance.  So let's skip right to today, the 4th of July, with nary a creepy stilt-wearing Uncle Sam to be seen anywhere.

The men spent the day in and around the Thames (Craig hesitates to call themselves "the Thamesmen" because, as a drummer, he is the most likely to be found exploded).  A 25-minute walk from their AirBNB in Shoreditch, through the financial district (using the Gherkin building as their guide) brought them to London Bridge (not the one in Arizona).  They made their way along the bank where they took the Tower Bridge tour, which includes access to the upper level and a museum/tour of the drawbridge-lifting mechanism.  They then boarded the HMS Belfast, the largest remaining British ship that served in WWII.  Another engine room (somehow more complex than the one in Tower Bridge) gave them their steam engine fix for the vacation, along with exploring the various messes, gun turrets, bridge, etc. of a fighting ship.

Lunch followed then a tube trip back to Shoreditch for continued acclimatization (naps!) for a couple hours.  The whole family then repeated the walk back to the City for a boat tour.  We picked up the boat at the Tower docks, which meandered its way down to Westminster Bridge, with an entertaining audio commentary from the tour guide of course.  As always, the corner around the statue of Boudicca under Big Ben's tower was teeming with tourists.