Day 194 - Mount Edgecumbe House

Looking back toward Cawsand and Kingsand

Our visit today to Mount Edgecumbe Park took us east from Cawsand along the Southwest Coastal Path toward Plymouth. The temperature is still quite cool, but I was not going to be stopped from wearing shorts! However, I did put on a very heavy sweater. Along the way, the path rises up and provides a panoramic view of the Plymouth Sound and then it crosses into the park, which now belongs to the city of Plymouth, although for centuries it belonged to the Edgecumbe family who sold it to the city.

In 1553, Richard Edgcumbe completed the construction of a magnificent home and it became the location for grand parties that entertained the wealthy, including foreign diplomats. It's reported that one of those diplomats was a Spanish Duke who would eventually lead the Spanish Armada in 1588.  He liked the house so much he was going to take it as his reward should the Armada succeed in taking this part of England.

In its grander days...

The Edgecumbe family as one would expect were Royalists and during the mid 1600's the house was taken away from them by the Parliamentarians although it eventually ended up back in their hands when the royalty was restored.  The family then expanded the house and it continued to be the center of entertainment for the area.  During the Second World War the house was destroyed by German bombing in 1941 as part of what has been referred to as the "Plymouth Blitz".

... and today.

Edgecumbe Park isn't in Plymouth proper, but unfortunately it was under the flight path of the German Luftwaffe when they first cross over land on their way to bombing the naval base and the docks.  One day some bombers decided to begin dropping their bombs early and they hit the house. After the war, the Edgecumbe family re-built the house although much smaller than its original size.

Nothing like a walk in
the park!

The surrounding park is over 500 acres and it has gardens everywhere. The most amazing is filled with Camellia bushes, and at this time of the year they are full of blossoms. The bushes are not native to England, but the collection at Edgecumbe were donated to the park by collectors who had imported them from the tropics and had experimented with certain varieties to grow some that are hardy enough to survive in this climate.

One of the more than 1,000 Camillia bushes in the park.

There are other remnants of days gone by on the estate with old stables and coachhouses now converted into stores and artist studios. The lawns of the estate lead down to the village of Cremyll where one can catch a foot ferry across to the old navy dockyards in Plymouth. More about Cremyll in another blog post.  Having walked as far as one can (unless one can walk on water), we turned and walked back using an alternative combination of lanes and minor footpaths.

Ale of the Day: Tribute Cornish Pale Ale, St. Austell Brewery, Cornwall

Day 193 - Cawsand and Kingsand

Twin villages of Cawsand (left) and Kingsand (right)

Plymouth harbour lies at the mouth of the Tamar River and is surrounded on both sides by prominent headlands: Wembury Point to the east and Rame Head to the west. The body of water is known as the Plymouth Sound. We have booked a holiday cottage in the seaside village of Cawsand on the Rame Head.  Actually, Cawsand is located in one small embayment and  has a twin village, Kingsand, that lies on another small embayment.

Their history is an interesting one. Originally, the border between Cornwall (Cawsand) and Devon (Kingsand) ran between them. Naturally, their origins are related to fishing, but they also became famous as smuggling ports. Today, the tunnels that were dug into the rocks surrounding the villages have been sealed for safety reasons, but it is still possible to come across old storage cellars for the daily catches.

King George V Clocktower

We're staying in Seamew Cottage, which happens to be just two doors down from the remnant of what was the Ship Inn, a local pub and inn. It had a fire a number of years ago and now only the stone front remains. It's famous for having been a place that Horatio Nelson visited. In the Battle of Trafalgar where Nelson, although victorious over the French Navy, was mortally wounded, one of his midshipman who was from here shot and killed the French sailor who had shot Nelson. Today there is an initiative by the residents to raise funds re-build the Ship Inn as a residence with four apartments.

Don't get your feet wet!

Cawsand Fort

There are a couple of notable landmarks: the first is a clocktower that was built to celebrate the coronation of King George V in 1910. It sits on the beach in Kingsand. The second is Cawsand Fort, which lies above the village. It is now residential apartments, but it was first built in response to a near invasion at this spot by the Spanish in 1596. Soon after, fortifications were begun. but it was not until 1860 that the present structure was built and then abandoned in 1926, which is why it was eventually turned into residences.

The two villages have a number of pubs, a local store, a bakery-cafe, gift shops , post office and a fish and chip/ice cream/cornish pasty shop. To get here we could have taken either the bus from Plymouth (a 90-minute trip) or by a small ferry (30 minutes). We chose the ferry and it made for a delightful trip to our new home for the next three weeks.

Ale of the Day: Atlantic Ale, Sharp Brewery, Rock, Cornwall

Day 192 - A fond farewell to Moreton-in-Marsh

Our home away from home, 14 Old Market Way in Moreton in Marsh --  our base for exploring England. During our stay we've had many memorable moments -- long walks in the surrounding hills, Sunday roasts, some good and not so good films at the Regal in Evesham, visits from both Rebecca and Alex, from my brother Stuart, and our friends Jane and Keith, Jane and Trevor, and Elaine too. We've visited magnificent cathedrals in Worcester, Hereford and Winchester -- the latter during its outstanding Christmas market -- and gone for quick jaunts into Oxford for cinema, or shopping, or hair dressers.

We watched the leaves turn golden and fly away, and then realized how green the ivy remained. Gathered with our neighbours to watch fireworks light up the sky on Guy Fawkes Day, spent Remembrance Day planting poppies and crosses on the graves of Canadian airmen who lost their lives when stationed here during the war, and experienced the Christmas lighting festivities with the community we really felt we had become part of.

Early mornings after two major snowfalls had us running through the snow as the town lay wrapped up against the weather, only to find ourselves later in the local pubs with everyone else and their trusty canine companions. The coming of English spring, the crocuses, daffodils, tulips and lambs in the fields. And throughout our various times here, the last-minute walks to the local Budgens to pick up the BBQ chicken for half price or a quick jog across the High Street to Tesco to get cream for our morning coffee and milk for our cereal.

The local library came to my rescue when I needed to use large amounts of internet bandwidth or needed printed documents. Walker's Butchers provided their exceptional selection of meats and quality service. The Tuesday market and our fruit and veg shopping --  and even the purchase of some minor electrical item or kitchen utensil. The Bell Inn, my pub of choice, and the Black Bear, my other pub of choice. The two service managers at the train station, both of whom handled our online ticket printing needs with patience and humour.

The elevated Stow-in-the-Wold with its centre square and its Huffkins, the bakery extraordinaire. Bourton-on-the-Water with the canal running through it and the stone bridges to walk over. Broadway and its tree-lined High Street with the imposing Cotswold escarpment hovering over the town. Bourton-on-the-Hill and their monthly rural cinema in the old school house with the welcoming group of cinephiles enjoying wine and hot dogs. Kingham and its fine dining pubs and it's neighbour, Churchill and the Chequers Pub with undoubtedly the best Sunday roast I have ever eaten (aside from Angela's). And the Fosseway Garden Centre restaurant I referred to yesterday with their amazing staff.

Finally, our usual walking circuit around town that Angela and I traversed, generally at night, on those days we could not get out for a long hike. All of these memories will last us our lifetime together. They will be cherished.

I know there are other things I have failed to mention here and hopefully we will always have our blog to remind us of all that we have seen, felt and loved.

Today I dedicate this blog to all the people of Moreton in Marsh who made those months so memorable and to bid them a fond farewell. 

But......to paraphrase a famous line by a classic actor? from a classic film...."We'll be back!"

Day 191 - Legend of the Fruit Scone

The morning fruit scone

Our next-to-last day and Ange is planning to spend most of the day tidying up our flat for tomorrow's departure while I am going to continue catching up on various graduate student issues that had emerged during the few days we were travelling in Germany. Now before you think that I might have been shirking my cleaning responsibilities,I want to say that I have planned to make my contributions tomorrow morning! However, before we got to any of the planned activities for the day, I convinced Angela that we needed to visit the local garden centre one more time for morning coffee and a fruit scone.

A cheese scone and the ones at the Garden
Center are massive!

Now you might have gathered over all of these days of blogging that we have a fond spot for the Fosseway Garden Center. Well, we do. Not only does it provide us with a brief walk through town and out along the road leading to Stow on the Wold, as well as the return back, but it also provides a lovely view from where they serve the food. Time and time again, whether it was the golden leaves of autumn, or the light dusting of snow on the top of the wolds, or the emerging leaves of spring, our table by the wall-to-wall windows at the back allowed us the opportunity to soak in the beauty of the Cotswolds, no matter what the season might have been.

With clotted cream and strawberry preserve

We have enjoyed both the cheese scones and the fruit scones, freshly baked each morning. One must arrive around 9:30 in order to get them right out of the oven. For today's blog, in addition to paying tribute one last time to our morning retreat, I wanted to provide a brief history of the scone (thanks go out to thequeenofscones.com for these interesting tidbits).  The scone was said to have originated in Scotland in the 1500s and was made from oats as opposed to today's version which is made from wheat. The word "scone" was either derived from the Dutch "schoonbrot" or from the Stone of Scone which is associated with the crowning of Scottish kings. It could also have come from the Gaelic "sgoon" which meant a "large mouthful." Scones vary by country, but the British scone is generally sweetened and, as was the case this morning, can include raisins and/or currants. Warm with butter and raspberry jam, they cannot be beat. Except if it is afternoon, you are in Devon, and you have it warm with clotted cream and strawberry preserve.  Oh heck, warm scones, butter, clotted cream, any type of jam, anywhere, anyplace, anyhow!

I know it doesn't seem to go together, but why not a 2.8% Ale of the Day: Hooky Mild, Hook Norton Brewery, Hook Norton, Oxfordshire

Day 190 - Driven to distraction

You can only avoid reality for so long, and than it rears up and bites you in the bum. Our time away has meant today is a full-on work day and catching up on all those to-do items.

So, time for some bit of trivia. In an earlier blog, I wrote about how we may speak the same language, but words don't always mean the same thing. Here are a few ways we differ in our mother tongue when it comes to driving terms:

Bad enough that they drive on the left here, which takes getting used to as a pedestrian let alone as a driver (don't even get me started on what it must be like to switch gears with your right hand). Driving words that are different:

• Bonnet: Sounds like you have to wear your Easter Sunday best when driving, but this is just the "hood" of the car.
• Boot: While like Canada, there are many drivers who should be given the boot, this is the trunk of the car.
• MPV (Multi-Purpose Vehicle)/People Carrier: Or, in our more simplified form of speak...a van.
• Lorry: That's a truck. Lorry originates from the word lurry, which means to pull something, while truck comes from the practice of bartering or exchanging. (Are you still awake?)
• Petrol: Gasoline (which, by the way, is often spelled in the UK).
• Tyre: We spell it tire, of course. However, here's where the story gets really interesting. Apparently, the spelling "tire" was used in the UK, until the spelling "tyre" was revived in the 19th Century, some say because academics gave up on everyone spelling it wrong. However, the Americans, who were tired of the Brits, decided they weren't reviving the ancient spelling, so stuck with tire.
• Windscreen: Windshield. Now perhaps that's because the English don't really have screens on their windows, where as we need something a week bit stronger than a mesh net to keep out the winter winds while driving.

And if you're car breaks down, get out your spanner (wrench) or mole wrench (vice grips), give the wing (fender) a tap, check the sump (oil pan) and the silencer (muffler), listen for pinking (engine knock), make sure the accumulator (battery) is charged ... or better yet, just take it to a garage and point (which is also what I do in Canada).

Day 189 - Stadtparks

Our weekend away has been great! The weather has been nothing but sunshine and warm temperatures.  Our flight back to England leaves later this afternoon, so we extended our checkout at the Moxy Munich Airport Hotel to later in the day.


This gave us some time to seek out another nearby town to have breakfast and explore the surrounds. Today that town was Erding and the location we explored was the Stadtpark. For today's blog, words will be kept to a minimum as Angela's photos will tell the real story.



First, a little something about Erding. It's located just to the northeast of Munich and lies among flat farmland -- which explains why the airport is out this way -- and it's been around since the 13th century. Like Freising, it was subjected to Swedish attach during the 30-Year War and was held by the Swedes a couple of times. One thing the town is notorious for is that in 1950 three DC-3 aircraft landed here after being hijacked at the same time from then-communist Czechoslovakia with 85 passengers in total. Of that number, 26 remained in West Germany.


In the centre of Erding is their Stadtpark. Originally an estate belonging to a wealthy family, it became a city park or "stadtpark" in the late 1800s. It has a large playground and a small petting zoo. Our walk took us past the petting zoo and along paths lined by flowering fruit trees, lilac bushes and daffodils of all types -- an escape from the urban jungle.

German Beer of the Day: Erdinger Weissbrau, Privatbrauerei Erdinger Weißbräu Werner Brombach, Erding, Germany

Day 188 - The romantic Neuschwanstein Castle

The hills really are alive ... 

It's really hard to imagine a more perfect day. The sun is shining, the sky is a brilliant blue, we're wearing shorts and have the windows down in the car. It feels like a brilliant June day, when everything is at it's best in terms of unrestrained colour. Here in southern Germany, even the lilacs are in bloom. The air smells like fresh mountain streams mixed with blossoms.

Could this be the perfect spot?

We're driving along what is known as the Deutsche Alpen Strasse (German Alpine Road), which runs some 450 kms from Lindau on Lake Constance to Schönau on Lake Königssee. I can't recommend it enough as something to add to your bucket list. It is one awe-inspiring scene after another. Whatever idea of Bavaria you have in your mind...woodcut shutters and hand-painted scenes on walls ... and you will find it in droves here.

King Ludwig II

Phil has always wanted to take me to Neuschwanstein Castle, a place he visited years ago with his Mom on a road trip in Germany. You may know the castle as the inspiration for Disney's Cinderella Castle.  Like Disney's castle, this one is a huge tourist attraction, a must-see when travelling in the area.

The castle was built under the orders of Ludwig II who became King of Bavaria in 1864 when he was only 18 years old. Known as both the Swan King and Mad King Ludwig, he spent most of his time on artistic and architectural concerns after Bavaria became part of the new German Empire led by Prussia.

Fountain at Hohenschwangau
Castle.

Neuschwanstein (New Swan Stone)
Castle beckons.

Ludwig was a fan beyond compare of the composer Richard Wagner. He took his enthusiasm to the point that he wanted to created a castle that he felt reflected the medieval fortresses evoked in Wagner's works. He decided to rebuild an old castle ruin known as Hohenschwangau into the style of the old German knights' castles (despite the fact that it was already one), where he and his guests could breathe "the air of heaven."

With now limited regal power, Ludwig became increasingly solitary, and continued to try to build settings for himself to live in which he thought were compatible with his status. He was spending money he didn't have and foreign banks threatened to seize his properties. He failed to change his ways, and the government declared him insane and deposed him in 1886. He was interned in Berg Palace in Upper Bavaria. The next day he was found drowned in Lake Starnberg, along with the psychiatrist who had certified him insane. The cause of their deaths remains a mystery.

Time for lunch. Did someone say 'schnitzel'?

On this day, Phil and I drove to the town of Schwangau where we parked the car so that we could walk to the castle. We enjoyed a traditional Bavarian lunch in town first, then walked the 30 minutes to the village of Hohenschwangau below the castle, crossing over level farms fields covered in sunny yellow dandelions.

A view of Hohenschwangau castle from
the grounds of Neuschwanstein.

In the village, we first walked up to Hohenschwangau castle. Dating from the 12th century, it was owned by the Knights of Schwangau until 1535. After being ravaged by many wars over the years, the ruins were purchased in 1832 by Crown Prince Maximilian who reconstructed the castle according to the original plans. It then became a residence of the royal family and, following the death of King Maximilian, the home of King Ludwig II and his mother.

Hohenschwangau castle.

Rapunzel, Rapunzel, let down your
hair!

From here, it was about another 20 minute walk up hill to Neuschwanstein. You have the option of taking a horse-drawn wagon, but we couldn't bring ourselves to put the horses under strain, particularly in this heat. It was actually amazing to see that most of the people partaking of the ride probably could have easily walked. We passed more seniors walking up to the castle than we saw in the wagons.


While we did not go into the castles (saving that for a future family trip), we did wander around the grounds which provide some stunning views of the surrounding landscape. It's a long walk up, but well worth the views.

Day 187 - Lindau

Take a beautiful fresh mountain water lake, surround it by snow-capped mountains and then drop an island into it on which sits a medieval city ... and voila! You have Lindau. Located on Lake Constance (or Bodensee) in Bavaria, Germany, the old town sits on Lindau island. On a pillar at the entrance to its harbour is a statue of a Bavarian Lion on one side and a stone lighthouse on the other.

We stayed on the outskirts of the town in a Best Western Plus that was only a few hundred metres from the sea, and about a 20-minute walk into the town. On our first night here, we walked in just as the sun was setting.

After Jonah's confirmation, we returned to Lindau in time to take a longer walk while the sun was still up and managed to walk our way around the island and through many of its streets. It's a lovely place to visit, with views across to the Alps that make up Austria and Switzerland. You can take boat roads and find yourself visiting three countries in one day.

The coat of arms of Lindau town is a linden tree, (Linde means linden tree in German), which happens to be Phil's favourite tree, so off to a good start. Like many cities, it started out with a Roman settlement, then a religious settlement, before growing into a city. At one point, it was an Imperial Free City, and was transferred to Austria for a time.

Today, the city is famous for hosting the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meetings each year, which bring together Nobel laureates and young scientists to foster scientific exchange between different generations and cultures.

Day 186 - Wangen im Allgäu

Street leading up to
Ravensburg Gate

You know when you are at Disney's Epcot and the centre lagoon is surrounded by a variety of buildings from nations around the world? Well, one of those countries is Germany, and I swear that they modeled their showcase after Wangen im Allgäu, our weekend destination. This historical town is where my cousins live and their flat is located right in the heart of it. When we drove in, it was like we had escaped to a Disney film. The buildings looked so traditional, they were almost too good to be true.

The town has a main street with restaurants and shops within buildings whose looks range from medieval to baroque, and at its centre is St. Martin's Church, a 9th century building that has been renovated a number of times over the centuries. It is within this church that Jonah's confirmation is to take place. There is also the Ravensburg Gate, which was originally built in 1472 and further altered in appearance in the early 17th century.

Our afternoon was taken up with a quick tour of the town starting first with Andrea's parent's house, which is only a stone's throw away from the flat. Her father, Otto, is a third generation commercial painter and lives in the house his grandfather built. It stands, as do many of the houses, on the original wall that protected the town in the middle ages. On the one corner is a wooden statue that was built into an alcove within the wall. 

After visiting the church we stopped for a quick drink and ice cream before finishing our tour at the town's mini-golf course. There an intense competition took place between Ange, myself, Sascha and the two boys -- Canada vs. Germanyv -- and in the end it was our hosts who emerged victorious. We chalked it up to local knowledge -- and we are sticking to that story...
 

German Beer of the Day - Edelstoff, Augustiner Brewery, Munich, Bavaria

Day 185 - Freising

Freising.

This weekend was my first cousin's (twice removed) confirmation. Confused?  Well so was I except that Angela was able to look it up. You see, my mother's brother, Uncle Walter, had a daughter, Marga, my first cousin. Marga had two sons, Sascha and Thorsten, who are also my first cousins but once removed. Sascha and his wife Andrea had Jonah and Lenardt who are my first cousins twice removed.

Now that it's clear, I can go on to explain that when Marga passed away and we attended her funeral in Germany, we made plans to return again to attend Jonah's confirmation in the south of Germany near Munich. We flew out of London Stansted airport to Munich and stayed in the town of Freising, near the Munich Airport. Freising is an old settlement having its origins in the early 8th century where St. Corbinian set up a shrine. Legend had it that he tamed a bear to carry his belongings over the Alps to this location. The town's coat of arms contains a saddled bear for just that reason.

Market Square

We were staying at the Munich Airport Marriott (although I think they changed its name to that because the Marriott Freising just doesn't resonate with anyone looking to stay near the airport) and we had rented a car for the weekend. While it wasn't that close to the airport, it was located in the centre of the town. So before we drove off to visit with my cousins, Angela and I decided to do a walk-about into the town square. The streets were cobble-stoned and the town houses multi-coloured ... it was quite enchanting. Colourful stalls were part of the market going on in the square and overhead rose the a grand cathedral known as the Dom.

Inside the Dom

The Dom is a romanesque basilica with two large spires and it lies upon the original site of a church that was constructed in or about the time St. Corbinian arrived. It was destroyed on Palm Sunday in 1159 and rebuilt. It's look today was due to a renovation of the cathedral in 1724 that marked its 1000 year anniversary. In the 17th century, Peter Paul Rubens, the famous painter, was commissioned to provide a work to be included in the high altar, but it was removed in advance of the Swedish Army who had invaded this part of Germany during the 30 Years War between the Protestants and the Roman Catholic Church. Bavaria has always been the centre of Catholicism in Germany. The interior of this cathedral was truly breathtaking, and is evidence that Freising once held a substantial place in the region.

German Beer of the Day - Original Helles, Weihenstephaner Brewery, Freising, Bavaria

Day 184 - All the way to the Bank

29.1 degrees C in London today. A record breaker! Hasn't been this hot on this day in April since 1949, apparently.

As chance would have it, I had a meeting in London today. It was fabulous to not have to wear a jacket. In fact, it almost got to the point of being too hot, particularly as the subway and buildings aren't ready for the heat ... but I refuse to complain. It was hot and sunny, so all is good.

Source: Dailystar.co.uk

My friend Lorna works near Bank Station. It's a fascinating station that's actually linked to Monument Station. Bank is named after the massive Bank of England which sits above it, and for security and cost reasons, most of the system here is built directly under the roads. As a result, the platforms are so curved that you can't see one end from the other. The squeal of brakes as they come to a stop here and move through the surrounding tracks can be ear-splitting.

Some stats about the Bank/Monument station:

• Used by 44 million passengers per year
• Opened in 1884
• Handles 6 different lines over 10 platforms.

Day 183 - Wake up and smell the coffee

We're officially addicted to the scones and coffee at the Fosseway Garden Centre. If we wake up and the sun is shining at all, we get this urge to walk down there when it's just opening up and the scones are warm out of the oven.  That's how today started, only for the first time, the outside patio was open. The sun was warm, and so we sat outside.

The Snakes Head flower was available at the garden centre.

We both had work today, but it's amazing how after our coffee we just had to meander through the plants and flowers. Every time we go inside, new plants have been added to the mix. You can wander and discover something new and beautiful. This time around, we furnished the planter garden we would have on the patio of our Cotswold cottage ... if we had one!

Well, back to taxes! Blah.

Day 182 - Counting sheep

Work and taxes. Taxes and work. That's been our day today. Well, except for a short break to go do a bit of shopping at the Tuesday market.

So, rather than bore you with those details, today I bring you a special treat. It's lambing season, so fields are filling up fast with cute-as-a-button baby lambs. Across the UK, some 15 million ewes will give birth this season. Most of the time, you see one lamb born to a ewe, but twins are quite common. In fact, a ewe can have up to five at one time. Apparently the number varies by breed. One our trip out yesterday, we saw one ewe with triplets following her. I was tired just looking at her.


So, here for your viewing pleasure, some lamb pictures I took yesterday. I can already hear the oohhs and aahhs...or is that oohhs and baas?!