Northern Spain

Monday, July 22, 2019

Our Iberia Airlines flight from Edinburgh to Bilbao included a connection in Madrid. We were slightly late departing Edinburgh which further reduced our connection time that was scheduled to be only 50 minutes. In addition, since we were re-entering the Euro-zone (more formally called ‘The Schengen Region’), we needed to clear through passport control first.

The line at passport control was long and there was only one officer processing passengers. It was looking pretty bleak for us when another agent showed up and suddenly the queue dwindled and we cleared processing and were on our way to our gate which, fortunately, was not too far away.

Last time we flew Iberia on our way to Bilbao with a connection through Madrid was on May 25^th when we left Granada (Spain) to begin our 7-day walk of the Camino de Santiago (“The Way”). On that flight, our connection was only 30 minutes and the gates were far apart. Our OJ Simpson Hertz-race through the airport got us to our plane as the last passengers to board, but our bags were not so lucky. They were on the next plane.

And sure enough, history repeated itself this time too. Upon landing in Bilbao we received a text message informing us that three of our four bags did not make the trip. We waited at baggage claim until all the bags arrived only to find that our fourth bag also didn’t make it. We then proceeded to the Iberian luggage desk – a route we now knew well from our experience only two months before. They acknowledged that the bags would be arriving on the next flight a couple of hours later, but they only had three bags listed. We showed them the four baggage claim stubs and they dutifully updated their records. In addition, due to our last experience, I had taken pictures of each of the bags so I shared the pictures with them. We were pretty sure the missing fourth bag was one of the large duffels, but there was really no way to know.

Anxious to catch up with my sons, Travis and Jordan, who were already in San Sebastián with their families, we jumped in our rental car and drove the 1½ hours east to San Sebastián confident that the airline would deliver our luggage later that evening. This turned out to be a very poor decision on our part. The bags did not arrive that night, nor the next day. By the third day, we had moved from our AirBnB in San Sebastián to a new one near Santander, which is a small coastal town about 45 minutes west of Bilbao and over two hours from San Sebastián.

On our way to Santander, Liz and I stopped by the Bilbao airport and paid a visit to the Iberia luggage desk. They informed us that our bags were with the delivery service and scheduled for delivery later that day to our AirBnB in San Sebastián, a location that we have now left. We managed to get them to instruct the delivery service to not drop the bags in San Sebastián, but rather to hold on to them and we will drive the 1½ hours back to the delivery service’s depot in San Sebastián and pick them up ourselves. Unfortunately, that rendezvous would need to wait until the delivery truck returned to the depot which wouldn’t happen until 6pm later that night. Oh, and the fourth bag, there was still no confirmation that it was among the missing.

It was only 11am, so what to do while waiting for the truck. During our May visit to Bilbao, we had walked around the beautiful new Guggenheim Museum in Blibao, but didn’t have the time to go inside and view the exhibits. This turned out to be a perfect way to kill several hours, although, as a modern art museum, I have to say that I found the building to be far more interesting than the art work. Just sayin.

We then drove back to San Sebastián, found the delivery service depot (no easy feat) and were reunited with our bags. Only three of them and the missing fourth bag was actually my smaller, black suitcase. And although it contained all of the stuff that I put aside to wear while we were visiting our family in Northern Spain, if we were to lose one bag, this would be the best one. And try as they might, Iberia was never able to locate that bag and, as of this writing, it remains lost.

But here’s my takeaway from this experience. If your airline loses your luggage, but confirms that it is on the next flight and that flight is later the same day – DO NOT LEAVE THE AIRPORT. Stay at the airport and pick the bags up yourself. Do not rely on their delivery service as they allow themselves up to 72 hours to reconnect you with your bags. And, if there is the chance, that one or more of your bags are lost, the earlier this is discovered the better the chances of finding it. We weren’t able to confirm that the missing fourth bag was my smaller black suitcase until after three full days had passed and, by then, it was hopeless. Lesson learned. In addition to having everything I had planned to wear while in San Sebastián, the most valuable item in the bag were my two sets of retainers that I wear at night to keep me teeth straight. Replacing these will become a logistical challenge that will need to be addressed soon as, without the retainers, all of the work done to straighten my teeth over the past year will be undone.

San Sebastián

Liz and I arrived in San Sebastián around 8pm just as Travis and Jordan and their families were also arriving, so we all descended upon the AirBnB together. It was a beautiful 4-bedroom unit on the 2^nd floor of a new condo project with an elevator (and wouldn’t you know, we had no luggage!) near the beach. It was great to see everyone: Travis and his wife, Stephanie, and their three kids – Jayden (13), Addison (11) and Riley (7); and Jordan and his wife, Ashley, and their three kids – Beckam (10), Brooks (7) and Mckenzie (5).  They had all met up in Barcelona five days earlier and, after a day of sightseeing in that city, headed to Valle de Tena in the Pyrenees for several days of hiking, biking and adventure. We settled into our lovely new living quarters, borrowed some clothes from the kids and then all headed out for something to eat.

The grandkids (L to R) Beckam, Jayden, Mckenzie, Brooks, Addision and Riley

San Sebastián sits on the northeast coast of Spain on the Bay of Biscay only 12 miles from the French border. This is Basque country and the Basque name for San Sebastián is Donostia. With a population of nearly 200,000 and a total metro area of twice that, San Sebastián is not a large city, but it is very special. With two large beaches on either side of Old Town, reliably good weather, and a renowned food culture (only Kyoto, Japan has more Michelin stars per sq meter), it is no surprise that the main industry here is tourism. In fact, in 2016, it was named the European Capital of Culture.

After quickly settling into our condo, the entire group – all 12 of us – headed into Old Town where we walked the narrow streets lined on both sides with cute shops and lots and lots of places to eat tapas. At the end of Old Town is the beautiful Basílica de Santa María del Coro, built in 1774, with its two towers and gorgeous main entrance including a statue of Saint Sebastian. Immediately behind the church is Mount Urgull rising 123 meters and creating the perfect backdrop for this beautiful cathedral. The streets of Old Town are crowded with tourists this night as I suspect it is every night during the summer. We find a place to enjoy tapas then continue to stroll the streets of Old Town when we happened upon Loco Polo a new ice cream store created in San Sebastián.

Basílica de Santa María del Coro

A ‘polo’ is a popsicle either with a water or milk base that is mixed with either fruits or other flavors like chocolate, vanilla and coffee. After choosing your polo, you then select the toppings which consist of dipping the polo into melted chocolate, either dark or milk, and/or toasted nuts. You also chose between a half dip or a full dip. I select a vanilla polo fully dipped in dark chocolate. It’s incredibly delicious. The next night, it’s a coffee polo, fully dipped in dark chocolate with toasted nuts. Again, ridiculously delicious.  Everyone was completely satisfied with their choices leaving Travis and Jordan to wonder how they could open up Loco Polos in their hometown. If you ever find yourself in San Sebastián, do yourself a huge favor and head over to Loco Polo.

 

Tuesday, July 23, 2019

The heat wave that has settled into Europe has also found its way to San Sebastián. Today it is 101° and, due to our lost luggage, we have no bathing suits. Liz and I head out to a café for coffee and pastries and then return to the condo where we find families preparing to head to the beach. Today, they will be going to the beach on the east side of Old Town which is known for its reliably good surfing waves. Liz elects to stay home and hopes to spend some time shopping for essential stuff until our luggage is delivered while I head to the beach to catch up with the others.

By the time I reach the beach the sand is so hot I can barely walk on it. I spot the family encampment consisting of two umbrellas, several rented surfboards and multiple boogie boards among the hundreds of other beach bathers. After a scamper across the hot sand, by the time I reach the Walter compound, I am so hot that jumping in the ocean is an urgent priority. I take off everything except my shorts and join several of my grandkids who are riding the waves on their boogie boards. The water is a refreshing reprieve from the heat and I catch the first perfect wave that comes by for a bit of body surfing. Eventually, when I surface, the first thing I notice is that one of my hearing aids is dangling from my right ear while the other is entirely gone have sunk to the bottom of the ocean and swept away by the waves.

Yep, in my haste to beat the heat, I had forgotten I was still wearing my hearing aids and now one was lost and the other had been soaked in salt water. And these were brand new hearing aids that I purchased just two weeks before we began our trip and at $5400 for the pair, this was an expensive swim in the ocean. Miraculously, that ocean-soaked hearing aid came back to life three days later. But what about the other? I contacted my audiologist to see if I could get a replacement for the lost (left) device. It was going to be tricky because we are moving around so much, but the best option seemed to be for her to order a new one and then have my son, Jason, bring it with him when we meet up later in Italy in early September. Ugh.

Eventually, we left the beach and headed back to the condo to clean up and head out for dinner. Liz had only minor success purchasing replacement items and was, otherwise, consumed with trying to beat the heat while in the condo as the temperatures were greater than the cooling system was prepared to handle. One of those efforts included redirecting the vents on the in-room air-conditioner and while attempting this maneuver, she managed to tangle her wrist in the ceiling fan that was rotating on high and applied a nasty slice to the back of her wrist. While it wasn’t so bad to require medical attention, she did need a bandage and it has taken weeks to fully heal leaving a ¾ inch scar. Ouch!

Dinner was back in Old Town, same food (tapas), different restaurant, with a repeat of Loco Polo afterwards.

Wednesday, July 24, 2019

Today, we all checked out of the AirBnB in the morning. Liz and I headed to the Bilbao airport in search of our lost luggage described above while the others went to our next AirBnB at Santillana del Mar – a 2.5 hour drive due west.

After the airport, the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, and a trip back to San Sebastián to pick up three of our four missing bags at the delivery service warehouse, Liz and I headed to meet up with the others who are currently walking the streets of Santillana del Mar, a super cute village with a pedestrian-only walkway ringed with shops and restaurants and a square with the requisite old church in the center. We meet up with them just in time to enjoy dinner at an outdoor restaurant and then drive to our AirBnB which is an awesome farm house that was recently renovated by the owners and has room enough for the entire crew.

Thursday, July 25, 2019

Today we drove nearly two hours into the National Park of Los Picos de Europa to the Fuente Dé cable car that whisks you up to nearly 6,000 ft in four minutes. We arrived a bit late and had to wait nearly three hours for the cable car, but once we were at the top, the views were incredible. The Pico Mountains are gorgeous and the cable car takes you right into the heart of them. Lonely Planet lists this as the top attraction in the National Park for good reason.

National Park of Los Picos de Europa view from top of Fuente Dé cable car

From the top of the cable car we then hike down nearly seven miles in just over three hours. It’s a long hike with plenty of cows, horses and sheep, steep in some places, but everyone makes it and the views are spectacular.

On the trail (L to R) Beckam, Brooks, McKenzie, Riley, Travis, Addison, Stephanie and Ashley

We grab dinner on the way home and everyone goes to bed early after a long and vigorous hike.

 

Jordan with Mckenzie who he carried this way for almost the entire seven miles, no wonder she's smiling

Friday, July 26, 2019

The night before and into the early morning included a full on thunder storm with lightening, heavy rain and high winds. We awoke to the sound of chainsaws operating nearby only to discover that a large branch had broken off a tree near where our cars were park and had managed to fall on all three of them. Miraculously, only one – Jordan’s – showed any signs of damage as his rear window wiper had been snapped off. We all felt sorry for him because his car had previously been broken into while they were in Barcelona. Someone had broken his rear window, but, fortunately, there was nothing there to take. Still, you have the aggravation and cost of replacing the window, and now a rear wiper.

It was still raining lightly when we left our AirBnB and headed back to the cute little village of Santillana del Mar for coffee, pastries and window shopping.

After about an hour, we loaded up again and drove 45 minutes west to Cueva El Soplao (Cave of El Soplao).  The caves, known for the quality and quantity of geological formations, runs over 17 miles – six of which are open to the public. We access the caves on a train that takes us over 500 meters into the mountains. From here, we have a guided tour, however, since the tour is in Spanish, we are left to our own imagination as we gawk at these massive caves and the numerous stalactites (hanging from the ceiling) and stalagmites (rising up from the floor) whose creation from dripping limestone began 240 million years ago. The tour lasts an hour and it is well worth it. Really beautiful and something one rarely sees.

Cueva El Soplao

After the caves, we started our drive further west making a stop in Ilanes for lunch. Ilanes is a traditional fishing village with a lovely old town area complete with narrow twisting streets and boutique shops and restaurants. We had stopped for lunch here two months earlier while on our REI hike of the Camino, so for Liz and I this was somewhat familiar territory.

After lunch, we loaded back into the cars and head further west to Ribadesella and our AirBnB. Ribadesella is a seaside town and our condo is right on the beach. This is a small town with a population of less than 6,000 and a perfect family beach vacation spot. There is a nice long boardwalk, a long sandy beach and waves that are perfect for surfing. At least two surf camps are operational here and the beaches and surf are often crowded with young surfers learning to surf for the first time.

Ribadesella Beach with surfers in the water from the hilltop lighthouse

For the next three days, this was our home and it was perfect. Lovely time on the beach each day, a walk into town for a meal or a hike up to the lighthouse perched high on the hill overlooking the inlet from the River Sella. This turned out to be everyone’s favorite place for the week and a surprise to each of us. Super relaxing and super fun.

Ribadesella and the mouth of the River Sella

Beckam on the boogie board

Jayden on the boogie board

Addison and Brooks

Sunday, July 28, 2019

Today, I get an early start as Travis and I have decided to hike the Cares Gorge in Picos National Park. Listed as the top one-day hike in Spain, this hike is stunning. In 1916, a utility - Electra de Viesgo – began building a water canal along side the River Cares in the Cares Gorge. The water canal was used to generate hydro-electric power and the utility had built a narrow trail to allow construction workers to build the canal. Today, the canal is still operative, but the well-built trail is used by thousands of hikers daily to walk deep into the Picos – a distance of seven miles (14 miles round trip).

Travis hiking the Cares Gorge Trail

The hike starts in Poncebos with a steep ascent, but then levels off for the remaining trip to Cain. Most of this time, you are walking a narrow trail several hundred meters above the river, through a narrow gorge with towering mountains on both sides. It is an amazing hike that I would include as among the top five hikes I have ever done. When we arrive in Cain, we stop for lunch at a lovely mountain hut and then back on the trail to retrace our steps back to our car. Travis is a fast hiker and I do my best to keep up. We end up making great time, drive back to our beach front condo and spend the late afternoon swimming. What a spectacular day!

The Cares Gorge with trail to the left

Monday, July 29, 2019

Today, we get an early start for our two-hour drive back to the Bilbao airport for our noon flight to Copenhagen. I check in one more time with the baggage desk, but, alas, my bag remains lost and I am now resigned to the fact that it is lost forever.

Our time in Northern Spain with Travis and Jordan and their families was great fun. The kids were terrific, the places we went to were interesting, the hiking was outstanding and our AirBnB’s were all really good. It was really great to catch up with family after our first 12 weeks on the road.

Sunset at Ribadesella Beach

Next up – Copenhagen.

Musings…

Let me set the stage for you… 2 1/2 days of no luggage, 101 degrees, apartment right on the beach in San Sebastián and I had no bathing suit or even flip flops. As much as I had complained about having too much luggage I am now ready to shoot myself. Total drag. I’m pretty sure I was seconds away from a total meltdown during the second visit to the airport when they informed us the bags were almost 2 hours away in the opposite direction - I think it was an out-of-body experience. But we did recover 3 of 4 bags and I got all mine back, thankfully (sorry Malcolm, but we did buy him a whole new suitcase full of new clothes). And we got to visit the Guggenheim in Bilbao which is an extraordinarily beautiful museum (even though Malcolm isn’t a fan of modern art, I thought it was great). 

Hanging with Travis, Stephanie, Jordan, Ashley and all the kids was a nice change of pace. Ribadesella was a great beach town - so relaxing and exceptionally fun for the little kids (and the surfers in the family). Nice not to feel compelled to be a tourist. And the Picos National Park was delightful. I am now an even bigger fan of Northern Spain and highly recommend visiting the area on one of your future trips to Europe.

I know that many of my friends will vehemently disagree with my next statement, but I am done with Spanish food. Serious lack of veggies had set in for both of us. Not eating meat (ham especially) is a big problem when you’re in Spain. And (now I sound like a true American spoiled tourist) neither of us are big squid, anchovy or sardine fans so you’re kind of screwed. So what’s there to eat…bread & cheese, what else? But of course there was great Spanish wine, I might have had a just a few glasses.

Speaking of eating bread and cheese, when we arrived at our AirBnB in Ribadesella Travis gave Malcolm and I the front facing bedroom overlooking the beach and ocean (thank you, Trav). There was good news and bad news with this gift. The good news...we had a gorgeous view and got to listen to the sound of waves all night. Bad news…there was a scale in the bathroom. As much as I tried not to I finally caved and weighed myself. Let’s just say it wasn't the best moment of the trip. And worse than that, I made Malcolm weigh himself and he didn’t gain a pound. Are you freaking kidding me?!?! How is that humanly possible?

Off to Copenhagen to find ourselves some cooler temps. We’ll catch up on blogging one of these days, right Malcolm?

Caio! 

England and Scotland

Saturday, July 13, 2019

We left London around 10am and drove 4-hours north in our rental car to York where we checked into our hotel, the Grand Hotel York which was actually not so grand. But no worries, as York is a really cute town with roots going back to the 1^st century when the Romans came to the area and built roads, aqueducts and cities.

Like London, the Romans built a wall around the city of York and much of that wall and two of the original towers still exist. Liz and I were able to walk the top of about a third of the wall and noticed that many of the locals use it for strolling and even commuting.

York Minster

We also visited York Minster (listed as the top attraction in York) which is a cathedral dating back to 1080 and truly is a must see. From there we walked to Clifford’s Tower, which is all that remains of York Castle built by William the Conqueror when he came to England and took over in what is commonly called the Norman Invasion in 1066. And no visit to York would be complete if you didn’t walk “The Shambles”, a narrow, winding street dating back to the 14^th century primarily consisting of butcher shops back then, but now a series of local artisan shops. Finally, take a stroll through the ruins of St. Mary’s Abbey. Following Henry VIII’s rebuke of the Catholic Church, as part of the Reformation, he ordered the destruction of all monasteries and abbeys in England. St. Mary’s was not spared, but one can see from a view of the ruins, that it was once a marvelous structure and underscoring that “reformation” doesn’t always mean reforming for the good.

St Mary's Abbey in York

Our stay in York was brief – only a single night and less than 24-hours before we were on to our next destination. We should have planned better as there is much to see and do in York. It was voted European Tourism City of the Year by European Cities Marketing in June 2007, and was also voted safest place to visit in the 2010 Condé Nast Traveller Readers’ Choice Awards. In 2018, The Sunday Times deemed York to be its overall 'Best Place to Live' in Britain. Who knew? Well, now you do.

Sunday, July 14, 2019

From York, we now drive 2 hours north and east to Whitby, a small (population 13,000) seaside town on the east coast of the UK with a harbor on the North Sea. Here we meet up with a mutual friend of ours, Leanda Falcon. Leanda was among the 30 or so fellow travelers who joined us in 2016 on the Pachamama Alliance Founder’s Journey to the Ecuadorian rain forest – the very same journey in which Liz and I met for the first time and culminating in our wedding less than a year later. Leanda was Liz’s roommate in Ecuador and had traveled from the UK to join us at Lake Tahoe for our wedding, which also happens to be the last time we had seen Leanda.

Malcolm & Liz with Leanda (Whitby Abbey in background)

We meet up with Leanda and make our way to Trencher’s who are among the dozen or so restaurants in Whitby proclaiming themselves to be the “Best Fish and Chips in Town”. And they are good, just as you would expect from a quaint little town perched on the North Sea.

After lunch, we make our way over to the hilltop on the east side of the River Esk to Whitby Abbey, another ruin courtesy of the “Reformation”. It is even more spectacular than St. Mary’s in York, both in size and owing to its location high on a hill with fantastic views of the town below, accompanying countryside and the North Sea. 

Whitby Abbey

From the abbey, we headed back over the river and up the opposite hillside to see the Captain Cook Memorial. Captain James Cook began his sailing career in Whitby where he sailed throughout the North Sea delivering and retrieving cargo everywhere. This training led to his epic circumnavigation of the world from 1768-71 a feat he would repeat two more times in 1772-75 and 1776-79. In all, Cook spent nine years sailing around the world – an accomplishment that continues to puzzle today’s members of The Flat Earth Society.

Leanda & Liz at the Captain James Cook Memorial (Whitby Abbey in background)

We followed this with a visit to a pub, because that’s what you do, then we had dinner at our hotel and bid farewell to Leanda. It was a great day in Whitby and a great day with Leanda. She is a very special person and will always be extra special to us. We love you, Leanda!

Monday, July 15, 2019

Today, our destination is Edinburgh in Scotland, a 4-hour drive north along the coast. But first, a few stops the first of which is Whitby Beach- a short distance from our hotel. It is low tide when we arrive and you can literally walk for hundreds and hundreds of yards in any direction which we did. Simply beautiful.

Then we are back in the car and, at Leanda’s suggestion, headed to Bamburgh, a coastal town just over halfway to Edinburgh. Leanda had mentioned a terrific castle in Bamburgh and a hotel in which we would find the best tea and scones ever. We, of course, did both and Leanda’s advice was spot on.

Bamburgh Castle

Originally constructed in the 5^th century during Celtic times, then passing between the Britons and the Anglo-Saxons several times until being destroyed by the Vikings in 993, Bamburgh castle eventually became the property of the English monarch under William the Conqueror. As the years went by, the castle was abandoned and fell into disrepair until it was purchased by William Armstrong in 1895 and the castle is still owned by descendants of the Armstrong family.

Armstrong was an inventor and industrialist who amassed considerable wealth in the production and sale of armaments. When asked if he had any regrets over his chosen field of expertise, he said, "If I thought that war would be fomented, or the interests of humanity suffer, by what I have done, I would greatly regret it. I have no such apprehension." He then further elaborated, "It is our province, as engineers to make the forces of matter obedient to the will of man; those who use the means we supply must be responsible for their legitimate application."

It’s those last several words upon which his conscience rests - those who use the means we supply must be responsible for their legitimate application – and isn’t this the same refrain we hear from every manufacturer of products that have led to the killing of people and the destruction of our planet whether it be AK47’s, cigarettes, RoundUp, fossil fuels, etc.?

With that said, Bamburgh Castle is a spectacular building in an equally spectacular setting set high on a hill overlooking the North Sea. Well worth a visit.

Interior of Bamburgh Castle

And the tea and scones? Well yes, the high tea at the Victoria Hotel is worth the drive alone. Leanda was spot on again.

We are back in the car and headed to Edinburgh arriving in the late afternoon.

Edinburgh and Scotland

Edinburgh is the capital of Scotland and has been since at least the 15^th century. With a population of 520,000, it is second only to Glasgow in size. Edinburgh is located on the southern shore of the Firth of Forth, an estuary that is the combination of several rivers and empties into the North Sea to the east.

The earliest known human inhabitants of Edinburgh dates back to 8500 BC, although things didn’t start to pick up until the Romans arrived in the 1^st century AD and, even then, the Romans didn’t stay long finding the tribes of Scotland to be particularly fierce. In 122 AD, Hadrian ordered the building of a wall (Hadrian’s Wall), that runs from the North Sea on the east to the Irish Sea on the west at roughly the narrowest point of the island landmass that is now the UK – a distance of 84 miles. The wall’s location is a full 100 miles south of Edinburgh and its purpose was to protect what the Romans had built in Britain from the marauding tribes in Scotland.

Hadrian's Wall

And Hadrian was right. For the next millennial, the Scots and the Brits were frequently at war including the First War of Scottish Independence popularized by the movie Braveheart starring Mel Gibson as William Wallace. While Wallace initially had great success against the Brits, he was eventually defeated and in 1308 captured, turned over to the British King, Edward I (“Longshanks”), tried for treason, convicted and gruesomely executed at the Tower of London.

One of the other prominent characters in Braveheart was Robert the Bruce, who, in real life, took over the fight against the British after Wallace’s death. Bruce had even more success against the British driving them out of Scotland and arranging for the Pope to recognize Bruce as King Robert I and Scotland as a country separate and independent of Britain.

But all was not peaceful between the two countries following the Pope’s declaration, not the least of which was Henry VIII’s succession to the British crown in 1509 and his denunciation of the Pope, the Roman Catholic Church and launch of the Reformation Movement which soon brought an abundance of British troops back to Scotland including the burning of Edinburgh in 1544.

And then, in 1603, King James VI of Scotland succeeded to the English throne as James I due to the fact that when Elizabeth I (the Virgin Queen) died, there were no remaining heirs from Henry VIII or from the House of Tudor. James was the son of Mary, Queen of Scots and the great, great grandson of Henry VII which explains how he ascended to the British throne while also being the King of Scotland. And thus began the Stuart dynasty in England which would last for 111 years.

One hundred years after James united the thrones, Scotland and England signed the Treaty of Union effectively uniting the two parliaments which further paved the way toward a United Kingdom as it stands today. With that said, our experience in Scotland suggests a country that still maintains its fierce independence harkening back to the time when Hadrian determined a wall should be built and later when William Wallace declared “they will never take our freedom”. The latest challenge is Brexit which is opposed by most Scotlanders and, if ultimately approved by the UK, is likely to lead to discussion in Scotland about succession. Perhaps we will see descendants of Wallace and Bruce lead that charge.

Tuesday, July 16, 2019

Our stay in Edinburgh was only for one night as we will be returning here before eventually leaving Scotland. While we walked around old town a bit, I spent most of this morning at the Apple Store trying to fix my iPhone. While we were in London, my phone began to act abnormally. It was, as if, the screen was possessed. I could literally lay the phone down and then watch as it opened apps, switched screens, scrolled through text without any human intervention at all.  I had stopped by the Apple Store in London for help at their genius bar. This led to executing a “restore” which effectively wipes out your entire phone, returning it to a state similar to a brand new one. Prior to the restore, we backed the phone up, but I later discovered that the back up did not include my pictures including hundreds of photos documenting our adventures. I’m still trying to get over that.

The restore worked for about a ½ day when the screen became possessed again necessitating another stop at the Apple Store in Edinburgh. Fortunately, they agreed to replace the screen at no charge and the problem is now solved.

St. Andrews

With my phone now properly restored, we headed north and east for the 1½ hour drive to St. Andrews, the site of the university which bears that name and the home of golf. With its location on a bluff over the North Sea, St. Andrews is postcard picturesque.

After checking into our hotel, we took a long walk around town and through the university. The University of St. Andrews is the third-oldest English-speaking university in the world and considered the 2^nd best university in the UK behind only Cambridge. It is also where Prince William attended university and it was there that he met Kate. Not surprisingly, there are university buildings scattered throughout the town. They are old, well preserved and beautiful.

University of St. Andrews

Next, we walked the perimeter of the peninsula that houses the most famous golf courses in the world including the oldest, simply referred to as “The Old Course”. There are six courses in all on the peninsula (five 18-hole and one 9-hole) and the walk is beautiful with the bluff and sea on one side and the perfectly maintained courses on the other. We completed our walk with a stop in the Old Course Hotel, Golf Resort & Spa which is a building fitting for the “home of golf”.

The Old Course 17th Hole, St. Andrews

Wednesday, July 17, 2019

The next morning, we headed south along the Fife Coastal Path. The path or trail runs for 117 miles beginning in the south at Kincardine which sits where the River Forth ends and the Firth of Forth estuary begins (about 50 miles west of Edinburgh), follows the coastline east and north through St. Andrews to Tayport where it then turns to the west and ends at Newburgh where the River Tay meets the Tay estuary.

Our walk would only cover six miles (12 total as an out and back) of this 117 mile trail, but it was beautiful the entire way. We couldn’t help but to dream of taking a family trip someday to walk its entire length. With that said, we ran into other hikers who said, while the Fife Coastal Path is excellent, if you want an epic long-range hike in Scotland, then do the West Highland Way on the west coast. Whichever hike we choose, both of these hikes are reason enough to return to Scotland.

The Fife Coastal Path - south of St. Andrews

Upon returning to St. Andrews from our hike, we then walked through the ruins of The Church of St. Mary on the Rocks, St. Andrews Cathedral and St. Andrews Castle. These three sites are in reasonably close proximity to each other and were built around the same time in the mid-12th century when Scotland was still firmly part of the Roman Catholic Church. St. Mary’s was a monastery and a place of learning, St. Andrews Cathedral was a church and home to the Archdiocese of St. Andrews and the castle, with its fortifications, was home to the wealthy, to kings and, yes, the Catholic bishops.
 

St. Andrews Castle

The castle, in particular, was involved in numerous adventures during the history of St. Andrews including multiple encounters between the British and the Scots. But it was Henry VIII’s Reformation that turned each of these prominent structures into today’s ruins. Skirmishes between the Catholics and Protestants continued with the Protestants taking hold of the castle in the mid-1500’s with their leader John Knox. But then, Jacobites from France, eager to restore Catholic rule in Scotland, bombarded the castle with cannons from their ships at sea, drove the Protestants out and executed John Knox.

St. Andrews Cathedral

By the end of the 16^th century, the Reformation was complete throughout Scotland, the Catholics had been fully suppressed and these three beautiful structures had been abandoned and left to become the ruins that exist today. It’s amazing to see the destruction left in the wake of religion. Its hard to imagine a God that would be pleased with what mankind has done in Her name.

Thursday, July 18, 2019

Today, we drive just over an hour north and west to Blairgowrie. On the way, we stop at Dundee, the 4^th largest city in Scotland with a population of only 150,000. At first blush, it’s a rather nice city with a cool pedestrian walkway with retail shops and old buildings scattered here and there. We visited the McManus Museum which tells the history of Dundee right up to contemporary times. It would seem that Dundee was an industrial town based upon textiles and primarily jute - a long, soft, shiny vegetable fiber that can be spun into coarse, strong threads. In addition, whaling became a large industry primarily to supply the jute mills with whaling oil. But, today, all of that is gone and the economy is largely dependent on the service sector. To our eyes, it felt a bit like a retirement community and a town struggling to find the jobs that will keep its youth staying in town after they graduate from college.

Our next stop, before driving to Blairgowrie was the Scone Palace in Perth. From at least the 9^th century, Scone Palace was the crowning place for the Kings of the Scots and home to the Stone of Scone also known as the Stone of Destiny. In 1296, Edward I (“Longshanks”) while fighting the Scots, removed the Stone and brought it back to London where it was placed in Westminster Abbey where it has been used in coronation ceremonies for English monarchs. The Scots have remained unhappy about the theft of the Stone for centuries. Four college students, on Christmas Day in 1950, broke into Westminster Abbey stole the Stone and returned it to Scotland, breaking it in two along the way by accident. The Stone was repaired and was later retrieved by the London police and returned to Westminster Abbey. In 1996, as a gesture of goodwill, the Stone was returned to the Scots by the Brits and it is now on display at Edinburgh Castle.

Scone Palace in Perth

Other historical points of interest involving Scone Palace include Robert the Bruce’s coronation in 1306, the raid by John Knox and his mob of Protestants in 1559 that severely damaged the palace and a visit by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1842.

The palace is surrounded by nearly 4700 acres of woods, beautiful gardens and walkways. The visit to Scone Palace far exceeded our expectations and we would highly recommend it to anyone who visits Scotland.

By late afternoon, we arrived in Blairgowrie a town that was built on the growing and harvesting of jute and now is a town that time left behind. We took a nice walk along the River Ericht and ate dinner at Little’s, a restaurant that once was a church, but today serves delicious food.

Little's Restaurant - a converted church in Blairgowrie

Friday, July 19, 2019

We spent the night in a lovely B&B named Ivy Bank Lodge and they served a terrific breakfast in the morning. After breakfast, we drove an hour north to Braemar in Cairngorms National Park, part of the renowned Scottish Highlands. In Braemar, we stopped and toured Braemar castle built in 1628. The castle itself was more impressive on the outside than the inside, although we did learn that Robert Louis Stevenson spent time at Braemar and is thought to have written Treasure Island while living in Braemar and based several of his characters on inhabitants of the nearby village.

Braemar Castle

Our next stop was Balmoral Castle, one of the residences of the British Royal family first purchased by Queen Victoria and Prince Albert in 1852 and still used to this day by Queen Elizabeth and family where they spend the month of August each year. Sitting on 50,000 acres, the castle and surrounding estate are absolutely amazing. Having not previously heard about this castle, Balmoral was a complete surprise and not to be missed when traveling through Scotland.

Balmoral Castle in Ballater

From the castle, we next drove a short distance to our B&B in Ballater, a small town within Cairngorms National Park about 40 miles due west of the coastal city of Aberdeen on the North Sea. Tonight, we would be having dinner with John and Freda Nimmo who are the parents of Jacqui Kotula, our dentist back home. Liz and I were introduced to Jacqui and her husband, Clark, by my son, Jordan, with whom they are great friends (and now we are too).  As it turns out, Jacqui and Clark share a similar start to their relationship having met in Peru where Clark was a river raft pilot and Jacqui was visiting from Scotland. Well, once down the river, Jacqui never went home again. They were soon married, continued to work in Peru until, eventually, relocating to the Bay Area.  What a great story and what a great couple. We have grown to love them as family over the years.

Before departing on our trip, we had mentioned to Jacqui that we would be spending some time in Scotland. She immediately put us in touch with her mother (“mum”) with the hopes that we might be able to meet up with her parents and, perhaps, get some advice on what to do and see while we were there. We are grateful that she did, as almost our entire itinerary while in Scotland was scripted by Freda and we had a most excellent time. But the highlight for sure was our dinner. When we entered the Rothesay Room, I quickly scanned the room and when my eyes fell on Freda, I immediately knew this was Jacqui’s “mum” and she, just as quickly, recognized me as “Max”, Jordan’s dad.

We spent over 3-hours enjoying dinner together and talking about most everything. Ballater is a small town of 1500 which closely resembles the town I grew up in – everyone knows everyone and everyone is related. One difference, however, is that Ballater is surrounded mostly by rural farm land and the national park. With very few job opportunities for young folks, they generally do not return to Ballater after graduating from university, and, so, Ballater is rapidly turning into a retirement community. Which suits John and Freda just fine as they are retired and John spends his days playing golf while Freda gardens and plays cards. It was a true pleasure to meet them and we now anxiously await their next visit to California to visit Jacqui, Clark and their two adorable sons.

Malcolm, John, Freda & Liz at the Rothesay Room in Ballater

Saturday, July 20, 2019

After a terrific breakfast at our B&B, we jumped in the car for the 3-hour drive back to Edinburgh. We had planned to stop and take in the Highland Games in Tomintoul on our way back, but it was raining, so we decided to skip those plans and just head directly to Edinburgh.

After checking into our hotel, we did our much-needed laundry (there was actually a washing machine in our room!) and I blogged for several hours having fallen weeks behind on this duty.

Sunday, July 21, 2019

The next day was a busy one. First, we visited Edinburgh Castle which sits on a hill and dominates the skyline of this beautiful city. The castle was first built during the 12^th century and the reign of David I and remained a royal residence until 1633. Over the years, the castle was involved in numerous conflicts. In fact, during its 900-year-old history there were 26 sieges, giving it a claim to having been "the most besieged place in Great Britain and one of the most attacked in the world". Today, the castle – the most visited site in Scotland – is home to the Scottish Crown Jewels as well as the aforementioned Stone of Scone or Stone of Destiny.

Edinburgh Castle

From the castle, we walked the 2.5 miles to Arthur’s Seat which sits high up in the hills just outside of the city. Another one of Edinburgh’s main attractions, Arthur’s Seat is quite busy on this Sunday, but the rigorous hike is well worth it as the views from the summit are spectacular.

The view of Edinburgh from Arthur's Seat

From Arthur’s Seat, our next stop is Holyrood Palace which sits at the west end of Canongate Rd with Edinburgh Castle one mile to the west, also on the same road, which is more commonly referred to as The Royal Mile. Holyrood is the official residence of the British monarch in Scotland and Queen Elizabeth has made a practice of spending one week at the beginning of each summer at Holyrood Palace.

Holyrood Palace

Built in the late 17^th century, Holyrood is another exceptional building with a beautiful interior as well as exceptional gardens and grounds on the exterior. Adjacent to the palace is Holyrood Abbey, first constructed in in 1128 by order of King David I. However, like almost every other abbey and monastery throughout the UK, the abbey was badly damaged during the Reformation and today it stands in ruins as yet another symbol of man’s destructive power in the name of religion.

Holyrood Abbey

We finished the day with a visit to St. Giles’ Cathedral in the center of Edinburgh on the Royal Mile. Our previous attempts to visit this beautiful cathedral were thwarted due to either services or funerals, so we were pleased to be able to get in late on this Sunday. Dating back to the 14^th century, this magnificent cathedral is still in operation. During the 1500’s, John Knox served as pastor at St. Giles – the very same John Knox who raided Scone Palace and, later, St. Andrew’s Castle where his exploits led to his capture and execution.

St Giles' Cathedral, Edinburgh

This was a busy day for us, but also a terrific day. Edinburgh is a great city to visit with a rich history and so many interesting places to see. In fact, that goes for every place we visited on this long road trip through northern Britain and Scotland. We are excited to now be thinking of returning someday.

Tomorrow, we head to the airport for a flight back to Bilbao and Northern Spain where we will meet up with two of my sons, Travis and Jordan, their wives, Stephanie and Ashley, respectively, and their combined six children – four boys and two girls ages 5 to 13. They have planned a week of hiking and beaching along this beautiful stretch of Spain’s coastline.

Musings…

Loved seeing our friend, Leanda! So fun to catch up with her and get the latest news on her life. And her recommendation to visit Bamburgh Castle was the best. Highly recommend everyone visiting this fabulous little village on the coast - great stop (and the best scones!).

We continue to be blessed with perfect weather - great for hiking and touring all the cool sights in Scotland. Similar to Ireland, but has it’s own personality. St. Andrews is where I would spend a year of school abroad if I could do it all over again - such a lovely village on the sea. And for golfers, it’s paradise. Wild flowers graced the areas we drove, friendly faces greeted you everywhere, stone houses dot the landscape, and the food was delicious. Edinburgh is a very old medieval city - a bit crowded for me, but great to feel and see all the history. Hike up to Arthur’s Seat offered magical views.

And we got to meet our friend, Jacqui’s, parents in her hometown. Freda, as Malcolm mentioned, really planned our whole trip for us through Scotland - what a gift that was (one less planning exercise was greatly appreciated). We had such a nice dinner - look forward to another in our neck of the woods when they visit.

Continue to be amazed at how many wars have been fought all over this continent - seems like it was non-stop for hundreds of years. Most in the name of religion or was it power…? History just kept repeating itself, scary thought. It did, however, leave us with amazing castles and relics to admire for years to come.

Well…as of Scotland we were finishing 3 months. Hard to believe that much time has past and really hard to believe how much time we have to go;)! Yikes. Lots of very exciting adventures left so we’re looking forward to more fun. And also looking forward to catching up with some familiar faces in the coming weeks - nice to get a touch of home.

Cheers!

London

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Our Aer Lingus flight from Dublin to London is uneventful and on time (and not all flights are which is why I like to point it out when things go well). We arrive at around 6:30pm, collect our bags and head for the taxi queue. The preferred route from Heathrow to London is the Heathrow Express, a high-speed train that goes directly from the airport to Paddington Station in London in 21 minutes rather than the typical 1-hour ride by taxi. It’s awesome, but it requires a bit of a walk, then you take the tube at Paddington to your ultimate destination in London and that requires more walking, long escalators, etc. With all of our luggage, it’s just not practical to take the train, so we resign ourselves to a taxi. Quick word about that – taxis in London are fantastic. They are old-style, large vehicles where all of your luggage can fit in the seating area with you and the seats are roomy and comfortable. If taxis everywhere were this style, Uber and Lyft would have to revamp their business model.

We are dropped off at our AirBnB, which will be our home for the next week. It is on a quiet street and is a 5-story building. Naturally, our unit is on the top floor, but, thankfully, there is an elevator. Unfortunately, the elevator only goes to the fourth floor requiring us to haul our bags up the 5^th and final flight of stairs. Compared to some of our previous rentals, this is wonderful.

What is not wonderful is the unit itself. Perhaps the smallest one-bedroom in all of London and it is not in very good condition. We struggle to find room for all of our bags and the two of us, but eventually we work out an arrangement that allows for both of us to move around and get done what needs to get done.

And one final point about the AirBnB, it is in the Mayfair district which is central to everything – Hyde Park, Green Park, St. James’s Park, Buckingham Palace, Westminster, the Thames, theatre district, etc. It turns out to be a great home for us for the week.

After dropping off our bags and a quick freshening up, I call my son, Travis. He is in London for three weeks with his wife, Stephanie, and three children – Jayden (13), Addison (11) and Riley (7). Travis runs the retail business for Microsoft and is in town for the grand opening of a massive new store at Oxford Circle, one of the pre-eminent shopping locations in all of London. Liz and I have timed our visit to London to coincide with their time here. We will tour the area with Stephanie and the grandkids while Travis works this week and then, in two weeks, we will catch up with them in Northern Spain while they vacation.

We make our way over to their apartment near St. James’s Park to say hi, give the grandkids a hug, briefly catch up, before they have to settle the kids. Liz and I return to the Mayfair district and eat a late dinner at the bar at Claridge’s, a swanky hotel that we were under-dressed for, but, hey, we were hungry. We finally get to bed around midnight after a day that started in Southwest Ireland, included tours of multiple spots in Kilkenny, a 2-hour drive to the Dublin airport, etc., etc. In spite of our micro-accommodations, we are asleep the moment our heads hit the pillows.

Monday, July 8, 2019

The next morning, we are up early and meet Steph and the kids for breakfast at a mutually convenient place. Our first stop today is the British Museum. This is my favorite museum in the world. When the sun never set on the British Empire, they were busy assembling the most impressive collection of artifacts from all over the world. As the first public national museum in the world (established in 1753), with a collection of over 8 million works, the British Museum seeks to document the story of human culture from its beginnings to the present. At nearly 1 million sq ft, the museum itself is a massive building.

After entering the building, we make a beeline for my favorite item in the museum – the Rosetta Stone. Yes, the Rosetta Stone, and it is the first item you see when you enter the Ancient Egypt section of the museum. The Rosetta Stone was discovered in 1799 in the port city of Rosetta (now called Rashid) in north-east Egypt by Napoleon’s army. Two years later, the British conquered the French at Alexandria and, as part of the treaty of surrender, turned over the stone to the British.

The stone is inscribed with three versions of a decree issued at Memphis, Egypt in 196 BC by King Ptolemy V. The top and middle texts are in Ancient Egyptian using hieroglyphic and demotic scripts, while the bottom is in Ancient Greek. The decree has only minor differences among the three versions, so the Rosetta Stone became key to deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphs, thereby opening a window into ancient Egyptian history. It is one of the most remarkable documents anywhere.

The Rosetta Stone

After examining the Stone, I challenged my three grandchildren to find the oldest item in the museum. While the actual oldest item, the Olduvai stone chopping tool, dates back nearly 2 million years ago, the oldest item in the Egyptian collection is the Mummy of Ginger dating to 3400 BC – over 5 thousand years ago! Jayden, a 7^th grader, had recently studied Ancient Egypt in school, so to be able to actually see real sphinx, statues, mummies, etc. from Egypt was pretty exciting.

Next we went to the Ancient Greece collection to visit the Parthenon collection. Liz and I had visited the Parthenon in Athens on June 16^th and I had previously written about that experience and the dispute between the Greeks and the British Museum over the Elgin (Parthenon) Marbles. In brief, in 1801, Lord Elgin of Scotland had been given permission from the Turks, who were ruling Greece at that time, to remove artifacts from the Acropolis. Elgin removed over half of what remained of the Parthenon, at that time, and they are now beautifully displayed in the British Museum. From the point of view of the British Museum, these artifacts were taken with the approval of the ruling government at that time (the Turks) and from the Greek government, they were stolen and they want them back. There has been no compromise on either side and it wouldn’t appear this will change any time soon.

Elgin Marbles

Elgin Marbles

Following the passing of my first wife, Wendy, due to cancer in March 2011, I spent the summer in London where my company, Bentley, was opening a major new office. While I was there, for three days in August, there were riots and looting which began in the London suburb of Tottenham and then spread throughout London and other parts of England. The initial cause for the riots seemed to be the shooting of police suspect, Mark Duggan, but that didn’t adequately define the scale and ferocity of the riots. Others suggested it was recent government cuts that sparked the anger and there were lots of other theories. I recall one journalist writing at the time, “if you want to understand how so many young people could participate in freely participating in the looting of thousands of stores, go visit the British Museum, we have been doing this for centuries!”

With that said, no visit to London is complete without a visit to the British Museum. It is spectacular even if a bit controversial.

After the museum, we walked to St.Paul’s Cathedral for a visit of this magnificent church designed by Sir Christopher Wren. The Great Fire of London occurred in 1666 gutting the medieval City of London inside the old Roman city wall destroying over 13,000 houses and the original St. Paul’s Cathedral. Wren was commissioned to rebuild St Paul’s and it is a masterpiece.

St Paul's Cathedral

 We next walked across the Millennium Bridge which is a beautiful pedestrian bridge crossing the River Thames and connecting the established city of London with the up-and-coming south side. (Note: the bridge was designed by Foster and Partners using Bentley software.) When I spent three months living in London in 2011, my apartment was next to Tate Modern Museum and I would cross the bridge every morning on my way to work passing by the museum and heading north with a spectacular view of St Paul’s where the bridge terminates. It was a walk I never tired of.

View of St Paul's from Millennium Bridge

We then walked along the Thames, heading east, passing by Shakespeare’s Globe Theatre and the replica of Sir Francis Drake’s ship, the Golden Hinde, in which he circumnavigated the world in the late 16^th century, and eventually reaching Borough Market, a large outdoor farmers market, where we had lunch. After lunch, we walked back over the Thames on London Bridge (yes, that London Bridge and, no, it was not falling down). From here, we caught the tube at Cannon Street and headed back to St James’s Park where we walked the park and fed the parrots.

It had been a long, exhausting day, covering nearly 10 miles of walking. I was impressed that the grandkids held up so well. They were chasing parrots while I was dozing on the grass of St. James’s Park. What a great day.

Tuesday, July 9th

Today, we would be heading to Hever Castle, the ancestral home of Anne Boleyn. In addition to Stephanie and the three grandkids, we were also joined by Travis, who was taking the morning off from his preparation for Thursday’s grand opening of the Microsoft Store. We met at London Bridge Station where we caught a train to Hever, about a 1-hour ride. From Hever Station, we than walked 30 minutes to the castle through the very remote, bucolic countryside.

Originally constructed in the late 13^th century, Hever Castle was owned by the Boleyn family from 1462 to 1539 and is where Anne, who would become King Henry VIII’s 2^nd wife, spent her childhood. Over the centuries, the castle changed hands many times until it was purchased by the American millionaire William Waldorf Astor in 1903.

Hever Castle

Today, Hever Castle is a tourist attraction, drawing on its links to Anne Boleyn and Henry VIII, its mazes, gardens and lake, which are all spectacular. We had expected to spend a couple of hours there, but the kids were having such a great time in the yew maze, the water maze, and the playground, that we stayed almost all day catching the 4pm train back into London.

Stephanie, Travis, Addison, Riley & Jayden at Hever Castle

That evening, Liz and I had dinner with Tarun and Sheela Inuganti. Tarun is a partner at Spencer Stuart where Liz had previously worked and they have known each other for many years. Tarun had relocated from LA to London on a two-year assignment and we had met once before for dinner when Liz and I were in London in December 2017. Sheela had recently completed the Camino with some friends arriving in Santiago de Compostela one day before we did narrowly missing eachother. We had a lovely time discussing the Camino trip, Tarun’s plans after the London assignment comes to a close, and just generally catching up on life. They are a lovely couple and we hope to see much more of them on the future.

King Henry VIII and His Six Wives

The tour of Hever Castle, as well as several other visits in England and Scotland, highlights the impact that Henry VII had on England and the world. He is perhaps best known for his six wives – 2 of them divorced, 2 of them beheaded and 2 of them died.

The first of his wives, Catherine of Aragon, daughter of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella (yes, the same folks who commissioned Christopher Columbus) was first betrothed at the age of only three to Henry’s older brother, Arthur, who she married when they both turned 16. Sadly, Arthur died five months later, and she then married Henry eight years later. Henry had become King of England two years before (1509) at the age of 17. The marriage of Catherine, daughter to the King and Queen of Spain and Henry, King of England, served to consolidate the power of Spain and England, both of whom were firmly part of the Catholic Church.

Now, young Henry was a bit of a philanderer, and shortly after his marriage to Catherine, he began an affair with one of Catherine’s lady-in-waiting, Mary Boleyn. And, can you even believe it, Mary is the older sister of Anne, who when Henry met her, he simply had to have her for his wife. But first, there was this unfortunate circumstance of already being married to Catherine, not to mention he was having an affair with Anne’s sister (and rumored to have fathered two children with Mary).

So what do to? You are married to the daughter of the King and Queen of Spain, you are in love with the younger sister of the lady-in-waiting to your wife and which younger sister you have been conducting and affair for a long time, you are the King of England with a sworn obedience to the Pope and the Catholic Church who frowns on this behavior and refuses to grant you an annulment (divorces are illegal). Indeed, what a pickle.

Enter, the shrewd and devious mind of Oliver Cromwell, who suggests that you reject the Pope and the Catholic Church, you establish a new church – the Church of England, and you put yourself in charge of this new church because, after all, you are the king.

Now all of this didn’t happen quickly. Henry and Catherine were married for 24 years, but she had failed to produce a male heir during all of this time, so what is a king to do, but graze elsewhere. And so, at the age of 41, Henry is married to Anne Boleyn after decrees are signed annulling his marriage to Catherine.

As it turns out, Anne was a strong-willed woman who didn’t care much for the delicate life as the wife of a King. Eventually, this began to grate on Henry, but even more disturbing was the fact that she had failed to produce a male heir, just as Catherine before her. With that said, Catherine’s daughter, Mary, and Anne’s daughter, Elizabeth, each turned out to become rulers of England. Mary spent much of her reign trying to reverse Henry’s formation of the Church of England and return England to the Catholic faith. Elizabeth, the Virgin Queen, succeeded her and re-established the Church of England, died without heir and thus ended the rule of the House of Tudor after 118 years.

After only three short years of marriage, Henry was tired of Anne having taking notice of one her ladies-in-waiting, the beautiful Jane Seymour. And, so, a case was fabricated against five men, including Anne’s brother George, and Anne herself, of having participated in treasonous adultery and incest. The six were found guilty, sentenced to death and, summarily, beheaded in spite of little to no evidence.

One day after Anne’s execution, Henry was engaged to Jane and married ten days later. She was 28 and he was 45 years old. Within a year, Jane succeeded where the two previous wives had failed and produced a male heir, Edward, but the birth was difficult and Jane died shortly after. And Edward, at the age of nine, succeeded his father as King of England. However, at the young age of only 15, he became terminally ill, and named as his successor his first cousin, Lady Jane Grey, who became Queen upon Edward’s death. Within a few days of becoming Queen, she was dethroned by the aforementioned Mary (King Henry’s daughter by Catherine), found guilty of treason and beheaded.

After three years without a wife, it was time for Henry to get married again. Without the benefit of online dating services, Henry was shown a portrait of the young Anne of Cleaves, 24-years his junior. Believing her to be a beauty, he agreed to the marriage and in 1540 they were married. As it turns out, she was not all that beautiful and the King quickly grew wearisome of her and within only a matter of months, the marriage was declared unconsummated, she was given a generous settlement and was, thereafter, referred to as the King’s Beloved Sister. In retrospect, she was the most fortunate of Henry’s six wives, outliving them all and financially secure.

In less than three weeks, Henry was married to his fifth spouse, Catherine Howard, another of Anne Boleyn’s ladies-in-waiting. Catherine, at only 17 year’s old, was 31 years younger than Henry. That age difference proved to be fatal, as Catherine quickly had romantic eyes for others roaming the palace. Apparently, there were two such affairs and when Henry learned of them, he was not pleased. Within 16 months of their marriage, Catherine and the two consorts were beheaded.

And that brings us to Henry’s sixth and final wife and the third Catherine among the group, Catherine Parr, a wealthy widow and only 20 years younger than Henry. Apparently, at the age of 52, Henry had learned that a happy marriage wasn’t all about chasing the next young thing that wandered through the palace. Catherine was practical and pragmatic and helped to reconcile Henry with his two daughters, Mary and Elizabeth, which paved the way for their being placed back in line for succession to the throne. It was Henry who died four years after their marriage. Catherine was married again, this time to Thomas Seymour, the brother of Jane Seymour, Henry’s third wife (I know, crazy). Sadly, Catherine died shortly thereafter as a result of complications in childbirth. She was only 36.

So that’s it. Six wives. Three named Catherine, two named Anne and one named Jane. Two divorces or annulments, two beheaded and two died from complications with childbirth. As for Henry, he died at the age of 55, likely from complications due to obesity (his waist measured 54”) and he was buried in Windsor Castle next to wife #3, Jane Seymour.

English Reformation

Beyond the soap opera that was Henry and his wives, Henry was also a central figure in the English Reformation marking England’s break with the Roman Catholic Church. Prior to Henry, there was growing dissatisfaction in Europe with the Roman Catholic stranglehold on religious thought and political power. A reform movement was brewing based upon a couple of key religious differences.

The Reformation was a clash of two opposed approaches to salvation. The Catholic Church taught that good works was the key to salvation. Catholic worship was centered on the Mass, the church's offering of the sacrifice of Christ's body and blood. The Mass was also an offering of prayer by which the living could help souls in purgatory. Protestants taught that fallen humanity was helpless and under condemnation until given the grace of God through faith, not good works. They believed the Catholic emphasis on purgatory was an obstacle to true faith in God and the identification of the Mass with Christ's sacrifice a blasphemous perversion of the Eucharist. In place of the Mass, Protestant worship was centered on the Bible either read or presented in sermons.

Along comes Henry and his deep desire for a male heir and the need to have his marriage to Catherine of Aragon annulled, so that he could then marry Anne Boleyn. The Pope refused to grant the annulment thereby aligning the interests of Henry and the Reformists. Among Henry’s advisors, including Cromwell, were leaders of the Reform movement and they seized the opportunity. While Henry was delighted with the outcome to then marry Anne and pursue a male heir, he was somewhat conservative in his religious beliefs as compared to the movement leaders.

Nevertheless, the movement picked up momentum due to political reasons rather than religious theology. England’s treasury was in need of additional revenues. Eliminating the need to pay taxes to the Vatican was a good start, but the Catholic Church also owned an estimated 20% to 33% of all of the land in England. Confiscating this land and selling it to the upper class was a convenient way to bolster the treasury while co-opting the wealthy to the movement.

These actions did not go down easily and set neighbor against neighbor as the Catholic Church had been an integral part of community life for centuries. This led to rebellion that needed to be crushed and often this was done in the harshest of forms backed by new laws, trials and executions. Monarchs also waffled, some preferring to return to Catholicism, others with a strong defense of the Church of England while still others, like Henry, fell in the middle. Eventually, in the mid-17^th century, there were the English Civil Wars that ended with James II, a Catholic sympathizer, being deposed and replaced with William and Mary as joint sovereigns and ushering in the English Bill of Rights which, among things, limited the powers of the monarch and established a clearer separation of church and state.

And while it is likely that the English Reformation and Protestant Movement would have progressed without Henry’s political ambitions, it certainly is the case that Henry accelerated the movement and the demise of the Catholic Church in England and elsewhere in Europe.

Wednesday, July 10th

Today was Harry Potter day for us. Several months before arriving in London, we had arranged tickets to see the play Harry Potter and the Cursed Child. The play is in two parts comprised of a matinee performance and an evening performance and, essentially, you must commit an entire day if you plan to see it. Well, we did and we would be going with Stephanie, Jayden, Addison and Riley, each of whom have read all or nearly all of the Harry Potter books. Liz and I, on the other hand, have read none of JK Rowling’s seven Harry Potter books. I started the first book many years ago, read several hundred pages and then had to put the book down. I never returned to it. It just wasn’t my thing. But the opportunity to see this play with my grandkids, who are actual Harry Potter enthusiasts, was too good to pass up.

The story for the play was co-written by Rowling and Jack Thorne, who then wrote the script for the play(s). Without giving anything away to you Potter loyalists, the play is set nineteen years after the conclusion of the final novel Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows, and focuses on Harry’s younger son, Albus, and his unlikely friend, Scorpius Malfor, the son of Harry’s nemesis, Draco Malfoy, as they are now enrolled at Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. (Just writing a sentence like this brings back the memories of why I couldn’t finish reading book #1.)

No surprise the play has been an artistic and commercial success. At the 2017 Laurence Olivier Awards, the London production received a record-breaking eleven nominations and won an again record-breaking nine awards, including Best New Play, Best Actor, Best Actor in a Supporting Role, Best Actress in a Supporting Role and Best Director. At the 2018 Tony Awards, the Broadway production won six awards, including Best Play. And, of course, it has set records at the box office as the highest grossing play ever.

We met Stephanie and the kids in Green Park prior to the start of the matinee for a picnic lunch and then were off to the first play. After the matinee, we headed to Covent Gardens for a little browsing and dinner, then back to the theatre for Part Two. Travis was able to break away from work for the evening performance and met us at the theatre.

Here’s my review of the play. Go see it. It is magical. And to be able to experience this with my grandkids was extra special.

Thursday, July 11th

This day was dedicated to the grand opening of the Microsoft store in the heart of Oxford Circus, the world-famous intersection of Regent Street and Oxford Street, Europe’s busiest shopping street. Travis, who is the General Manager for Microsoft’s retail stores worldwide, along with his extended team, has been working on this store for a couple of years and this opening is a big deal for Microsoft and for him.

We were there for the opening at 10am and the place was mobbed. Travis gave us a personal tour of the space and the kids got lost in the gaming department.

Opening of the Micorsoft Store at Oxford Circle

Here’s how The Verge, a tech publication, described the opening-

“Microsoft has more than 80 retail stores worldwide, but none of them are quite like the company’s new London flagship store. It’s the best demonstration yet of CEO Satya Nadella’s reinvented Microsoft. Set across three floors, Microsoft has laid out everything it has to offer. That includes Surface devices on every floor, HoloLens headsets, a big Xbox gaming lounge, and even a real-life McLaren Senna sports car that’s hooked up to Forza.

Microsoft has spent more than two years developing the Oxford Circus store, and the ground floor serves as a welcoming party to Microsoft’s world. There are giant 4K video walls everywhere you look that are just as striking as those found in Microsoft’s other stores.

Tucked away in the corner is where you’ll find the McLaren Senna. The steering wheel and foot pedals are all connected to Forza Motorsport 7, and visitors will be able to jump in and race around the Silverstone track, just in time for the British Grand Prix this weekend.

The second floor is where things get even more interesting. There’s the regular support Answer Desk (Microsoft’s version of Apple’s Genius Bar) and areas to showcase Xbox hardware, laptops from Asus, HP, and Razer, and Surface accessories.

The real star of the second floor is Microsoft’s gaming area, though. It’s filled with 15 Xbox One stations, fitted out with Xbox-themed gaming chairs, the latest Turtle Beach headsets, and there’s even Acer’s absurd Predator Thronos gaming chair. If you’ve always wanted to sit in a chair that reclines and vibrates in sync with the games you’re playing on three 27-inch monitors, now is your chance.

Microsoft’s third and final floor of this store is where things start to get different. Instead of the usual retail space, it has been transformed into an enterprise floor, complete with meeting rooms and event spaces. Microsoft is using this floor to meet with its business customers to demonstrate new services and hardware like HoloLens 2 or Surface Hub 2. It’s less of a retail space and more of a sales pitch to big businesses that operate in London and across Europe.

The second and third floors really highlight Microsoft’s focus with this new store. At its heart, it’s a retail space, but it’s also a way for the company to let people see this latest hardware and software in action.”

As we left the store, I couldn’t help but be just a tab bit proud of Travis (OK, maybe super proud is more accurate).

Friday, July 12th

For our final day in London, we would be heading out of town to visit Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. I had done this tour years before and it was totally worthwhile. Liz and I met Stephanie and the kids at the tour company’s offices and boarded a bus that would transport us to the two venues and have us back in London by 6pm.

Stonehenge

The bus ride from London to Stonehenge is approximately 2 hours. From the parking lot you can either walk the 1+ mile to the site or take the shuttle. We take the shuttle.

Although I have been there before, the site of Stonehenge takes your breath away. You can’t help feeling that you are standing on holy ground and witnessing something miraculous. While everyone has seen pictures of this iconic landmark, I will briefly describe it here.

Stonehenge

Stonehenge is a prehistoric monument consisting of a ring of standing stones, with each standing stone around 13 feet high, seven feet wide and weighing around 25 tons. The stones are set within earthworks in the middle of the most dense complex of Neolithic and Bronze Age monuments in England, including several hundred burial mounds.

Archaeologists believe it was constructed from 3000 BC to 2000 BC. The surrounding circular earth bank and ditch, the earliest phase of the monument, have been dated to about 3100 BC. Radiocarbon dating suggests that the first stones were erected between 2400 and 2200 BC.

One of the most famous landmarks in England, Stonehenge is regarded as a British cultural icon. The site and its surroundings were added to UNESCO's list of World Heritage Sites in 1986.

Stonehenge was produced by a culture that left no written records. Many aspects of Stonehenge, such as how it was built and which purposes it was used for, remain a mystery. There is little or no direct evidence revealing the construction techniques used by the Stonehenge builders. How the stones could be transported, some as far as 200 miles, by a prehistoric people without the aid of the wheel or a pulley system is not known. The most common theory is that they created a track of logs which the large stones were rolled along with a team of 100 people pushing and pulling the stones. Another theory involves the use of a type of sleigh running on a track greased with animal fat.

Jayden, Riley, Stephanie & Addision

We thoroughly enjoyed our visit to the site and visitor’s center and highly recommend it on your next trip to the UK.

Windsor Castle

The bus ride from Stonehenge to Windsor Castle takes about 1.5 hours. The town of Windsor is adorable and the castle, with its accompanying grounds, is spectacular.

The castle, one of many royal residences, is impressive and we just happen to arrive on a day when the Queen was there which is signaled by the flying of the Queen’s flag above the castle.

Windsor Castle

The original castle was built in the 11th century after the Norman invasion of England by William the Conqueror. Since the time of Henry I (son of William the Conqueror), it has been used by the reigning monarch and is the longest-occupied palace in Europe. The castle's lavish State Apartments, which visitors are allowed to walk through, were described by the art historian Hugh Roberts as "a superb and unrivalled sequence of rooms widely regarded as the finest and most complete expression of later Georgian taste". Inside the castle walls is the 15th-century St George's Chapel, considered by the historian John Martin Robinson to be "one of the supreme achievements of English Perpendicular Gothic" design.

St George's Chapel at Windsor Castle

After our extensive tour, we walked the streets of Windsor, enjoyed a snack – ice cream for the kids and coffee for the adults – and then boarded the bus for the 1.5-hour ride back to London.

That night, our final in London, we were joined by Travis for dinner and enjoyed a lovely Indian meal. The Indian food in London is outstanding – one of the benefits of India once being part of the United Kingdom – and a treat for all who visit because British food, otherwise, is unremarkable.

And that completes our visit to London. Tomorrow, Liz and I will drive north for a week of travels in northeast England and Scotland.

Musings….

London - what’s not to like? One of the coolest cities on the globe. Lively. Intoxicating. Crowded. And it was extra crowded given we visited in mid-July - us and the one million other tourists. And, yes, we did all the touristy things (even though Malcolm and I had done most of them before). I think his grandkids enjoyed the parrots in the park as much as anything else. Fun to be with them and get to experience it through their eyes. We continued to be blessed (there is that Irish thing again) with glorious weather. Warm, sunny, but not too hot to walk the city.

And we got to visit with Tarun & Sheela - so fun to catch up on their lives and hear what’s happening next. Totally impressed with Sheela completing the Camino walk!

We have now completed 1/3 of our trip, and yet we still have 5 months to go (5 more months!). As you can imagine, sometimes it feels like we just got started and other times that we’ve been living out of a suitcase for years. Most days we don’t even think about the process - we just enjoy our fantastic adventure. But, I have to admit, there are other days (you’ll hear more about them so stay tuned) that I want to cry uncle;). Then I remember all the great parts of the adventure still in front of us…smile.

Some curiosities I’ve begun to take note of:

90% of the showers in Europe leak - what’s with that?

8 countries so far and not one has half & half for my coffee - someone needs to import the stuff or just come here and buy a few cows (I’m convinced you could make a fortune, they just don’t know what they’re missing)

No top sheets - they just throw a heavy comforter on the bed - and I know that all the hip Americans who have visited Europe adopted that - we’re just not that cool, so I miss a top sheet.

All tourist places now have you exit through the “shops” - even all the churches have adopted the Duty Free strategy and have you walk by hundreds of rosary beads and bibles on your way out (just in case you converted, I guess).

Spending a week in London you see all the "movers and shakers" bustling about, dressed in their work clothes, cramming into the Tube, gathering for drinks after work, etc., and I realized that I am so glad that’s not me anymore;)

Thanks again for following us - till next time - ciao!