London weekend

For the past few years we've a weekend in London to see Robin Ince's show, Nine Lessons and Carols for Godless People, but last year he decided it had run its course and would do something new, so we still got our weekend in London. Traveled down on Sunday morning on a very cheap First class Advance ticket, and went for a walk. Ended up at Covent Garden where we had a great lunch of a pint of lager, fish finger sandwiches and chips. Brill!  Then we had a walk round the market, which is always decorated for Christmas


and this year had a Santa, sleigh and reindeers made from Lego!


As it was a Sunday , there weren't many shows on, but we managed to get tickets to an early performance of this:


The story of Franki Valli and the Four Seasons. The only problem was, I'd bought tickets in the balcony by mistake - I thought I'd got circle tickets. We came in at the back, at the top of a very steeply raked balcony, had to walk down it to out seats at the front, and then have what to me looked like a sheer drop to the stage. I don't like heights!! Stuart went and got me a bucket of wine, which did make me feel a bit better. The show was great, and you don't realise how many hits the Four Seasons had until you hear them all.


After the show we wandered up through the west End, through Picadilly Circus and Leicester Square, and ended up back at the same pun where we'd had lunch for a proper pie for supper. One with pastry all round it. It does annoy me when you get a dish of stew with a circle of puff pastry on top and they have the cheek to call it a pie!!


The following morning we set off early to Bethnal Green, to the V and A Museum of Childhood. I'd never been before, and it is well worth a visit. A huge open space inside

with displays on two levels. It brought back so many memories - I even found Tressy dolls.Before the advent of Barby, most little girls had a Sindy doll, but I had a Tressy, who's hair grew if you pushed a button in her tunny!



We'd gone to see a Dolls House Exhibition which was really interesting. Old and new dolls houses, telling a story from the era in which they'd been built or decorated.



Then we got the tube to Tower Bridge, and walked across it to the South Bank - only at road level. My fear of heights wasn't up to me going up to the top deck, especially as part of the floor is now glass!


The walk down the South Bank is really interesting. You pass the Golden Hind


and some converted warehouses which are now posh shopping centres, and have to wind your way under some tunnels, and past old prisons. We got as far as Millenium Bridge, which gave us a lovely view of St Paul's in the sunset.


After a meal at an small Italian place near the hotel, it was our usual short walk to the Bloomsbury Theatre (one of the only theatres I've ever been in where you can get Eduroam...) to see Robin Ince and many friends in his Christmas Special - we saw The Ghost of Christmas Past which was the usual blend of science, comedy and music.



An interesting act was the rapper Baba Brinkman and his wife, neuroscientist Dr Heather Berlin, who talked about creativity, neuroscience and rapping, and Baba freestyle rapped some neuroscience!

Following morning we went to the National Portrait gallery - one of my favourite galleries in London, and saw an exhibition by Grayson Perry called Who Are You. i knew little of him, apart from he has an alternate persona which is a little girl called Claire, but I was bowled over by his exhibition. A huge tapestry about what was Britain - this is only a small part of it


and ceramic figures and his famous vases. All stunning.


Finally we had a walk round Trafalgar Square where living statues, most either Yoda or father Christmas, abounded, and I was glad the see the big blue cock still on the fourth plinth.


Then we picked up our cases and walked back to St Pancras in time for lunch in the Betjeman Arms.

Barcelona

One of the first things we like to do when we get to Barcelona is visit the Placa Reial for lunch - and it's always the same. A large bucket of beer which takes me two hands to hold, Pa Amb Tomaquet (bread and tomato), serrano ham and a tuna salad. And if Stuarts feeling hungry, chips :-)



Then we went across the Ramblas to the market. I love the market, it's usually packed, full of delicious food, beautifully set out and a photographers dream. I've got loads of photos of fruit, vegetables, mushrooms, and pasties!

We then went for a walk round The Gothic Quarter and visited the Cathedral which is magnificent inside


Back to our hotel on the metro, which is a great way of getting round Barcelona - cheap, fast, and not normally busy. Just opposite our nearest Metro station is the Telefonica HQ building, which looked magnificent in the evening sunlight.


A trip to Barcelona isn't complete without visiting the Sagrada Familia. I've been going to it since the early 1990s, and although its come on a lot, it's still no where near finished. There are some huge towers being constructed in the centre, but the inside is complete and amazing.



Last year when we were here we went on a one hour Segway tour which we thoroughly enjoyed.this year we went on a three hour one. Weather was fantastic, and our tour guide was really good. We went round the Gothic quarter, round the harbour, along the beachfront to Barcelonetta, and  into the Parc de la Ciutadella which Ive never been to before. It was lovely - went to the Arc de la Triomphe, and saw this fountain. This photo was taken just after Stuart had fallen off his Segway. You are not supposed to be able to fall off them, but Stu has managed it twice. this time he was trying to take a photo of the fountain, holding his camera in both hands, so no hands on the Segway which slowly rolled backwards into a cycle. So Stu took one foot off. Segways dont like only having one foot on them... Next thing I knew, he was flat on his back with the Segway on top of him, but he didn't drop his camera!

Barcelona is full of Gaudi architecture, and Stuart had never been in Casa Mila before, so we went for a visit. Stunning architecture, but the chimneys on the roof are what most people visit for. I must admit, I didn't like it up there


On our last night we went back to the Placa Reial for a meal, and half way through, the heavens opened and it poured down - we had to move ourselves and our food very quickly under cover!


But it soon stopped, and the next day was lovely again. We went for a walk round a park which is outside our hotel - this is th view of it from our hotel window:

 It's really strange - lots of twisted metal which look like monorail lines, and ceramic structures.

And just as we left for the airport, the hotel staff were putting the final touches to the Christmas Tree, which I still think is odd to see in glorious sunshine!

Last couple of days

Sunday
Last day, and we decided to drive to Pitlochry, a town I first visited many, many years ago when I was a teenager. Went for a walk around Loch Faskally  which is formed by the hydroelectric dam.
Started with a suspension bridge, to which people have attached "love padlocks".

To help the salmon get back to their spawning grounds, there's a salmon ladder at the side of the dam

You can walk right across the top of the dam, and you get a great view along the valley

As we set off round the loch, the sun came out and the colours were fantastic and together with the reflections in the Loch, it was impossible to take a bad picture!

The walk was lovely, and after a couple of hours we were ready for a pint and some lunch, and we found a lovely pub called the Watermill, with a real mill wheel.

Back home for some packing, a couple of drinks (well, we didn't want to take it home), and dinner. Went for a walk after dinner round the site, as the Loch loved lovely in the evening, and there's a old gate from when the site was the gardens to Taymouth Castle.

Monday morning, up early for a long drive back, and it had been snowing on the hills!

Left about 10, and after a stop after a coule of hours, we were doing well. Until we hit stationary traffic at Scotch Corner, and had to do a U turn over the central reservation to find a different way.  Eventually got home just before 6. Tired, but we'd had a fantastic week.

More waterfalls, Birks and Cows

Friday
Rained overnight, but still mild, so decided to walk up the side of the River Tay, on the opposite side to Taymouth Castle. At first we thought it might be a very short walk as the path was flooded

But we soon climbed higher and got away from the bank.

Came across a folly on the way - presumeably from the Castle estate.

Lovely walk, high above the river for a lot of the way, but you could hear it rushing beneath us.

The colours were fantastic, and for a lot of the way we were walking through an avenue of lime trees.

The only problem was the amount of rhododendrons, which I know look pretty when they are in flower, but they are not native, and grow so thick they choke native plants, and also form a barrier so you can't appreciate the views.

The path finishes at "Chinese Bridge" which was designed to take you on a circular walk over the Tay, past the castle and back into Kenmore, but unfortunately it's currently closed for maintenance, although there was no sign of any maintenance actually being carried out!

We took a short detour to see "Rock Lodge" - a deserted dwelling in the rocks, and then walked back the way we came.

Also came across a rather splendid dog called Dougie who delighted in running full pelt into the river to chase the ducks. Especially near the bridge where it was flooded, and children were waiting to feed them..

 Back in the village we popped into the church, which has some rather interesting windows - etched glass rather than stained glass.

After a soup lunch in the cottage we drove up to Fortingall where we saw the Fortingall Yew - estimated at 5000 years old it is probably the oldest living thing in Europe. Protected by a wall it had a diameter of 52 ft a couple of hundred years ago, but then it was damaged by tourists taking parts of it, and locals lighting fires in the trunk. Now it is properly protected.

The nearby church has a barrel vaulted ceiling, and some interesting celtic crosses in the graveyard.

Then we drove along Glen Lyon, apparently the longest glen in Scotland. It was beautiful.

More waterfalls

And cows who were most interested in me and my camera. I don't think they get much entertainment up there!

Back for the early evening ritual of whisky mac and Pointless and then out to the Kenmore Inn  for dinner - the oldest pub in Scotland and there's a poem by Robbie Burns by the fireplace which he apparently wrote whilst staying there.

Saturday

Drive to Aberfledy for a walk round the Birks O Aberfledy. A lovely circular walk up one side of a Gorge and down the other. Again made famous by Robbie Burns who wrote a poem called the Birks O Aberfeldy. Even the parking barriers have his head on them....

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We climbed high on the first part of the walk for some amazing views

and saw many waterfalls and rapids.

Crossed a bridge at the top over an amazing waterfall, and then quite a steep climb down to river level for the walk back.  We saw the stone seat where Robbie Burns had written his poem

And even caught up with the man himself at the bottom!

Into Aberfeldy where there was a little festival on - live music and a market in the town square, and then lunch in the Fountain.

There's a good independent bookshop in a converted watermill which was great to browse around, and we drove to the distillery to buy some more whiskey cake, but they had sold out! Still we did see some pretty good fungi on the walk up there.

Back home, and we picked up some hampers which we had bought for Christmas from a great shop opposite - we had picked out the contents and they had gift wrapped them. My first Christmas presents bought!

Back home, and shock horror, no Pointless. Still there is Strictly and Doctor Who!