Category: Uncategorized

Bob and I have officially started our South Downs Way walking tour. It will be approximately 100 miles on foot from Winchester to Eastbourne. Day 1 had us arrive at our Winchester Hotel to pick up our information packet for the tour, spend the evening, and then head out for our first day of walking. The information packet was to contain luggage tags for our daily luggage transfer, detailed route notes, and maps.

We had a crazy afternoon in Winchester at the Windsor Royal Hotel, with Bob heading to a launderette when we were curtly told at 2:40 that Check-in starts at 3, and me on the phone to our tour company to let them know that the hotel didn’t have our information packet as I watched multiple other couples check in. We finally received the information packet on our 3rd request. We later got to leave the hotel for a bit when a fire alarm went off.

So, not a great start, and can’t recommend their breakfast either, but we were still able to leave Winchester at about 8 am this morning with all of our materials.

The route was very well marked and pretty busy with foot and bike traffic (likely because it’s Saturday). The trails were in good condition too until after lunch when we ran into a stretch of very muddy and rain covered path that eventually ensured that both our shoes and socks would be wet for the remainder of the walk. But after almost 8 hours over 20 miles, Bob and I are relaxing in our bed and breakfast and about to grab some dinner at the pub next door.

Tomorrow, we’re off to Cocking,which makes us smile. It will be a couple miles longer than today.

Bob and I arrived in Birmingham about 1:20 this afternoon and made our way to the AC Hotel where we will be spending the evening before taking the train to Winchester to begin our 10 day walk to Eastbourne.

Birmingham is a major city in the West Midlands region of England, with a population of about 1.2 million. It is home to a network of canals (one of which you can see above). After dropping our bags in our room, Bob and I set off to explore a bit of Birmingham, starting with the trail along this canal.

We ventured off the canal to explore other areas of the city.

Bob and I traveled from Northern Ireland to Scotland by ferry on Monday, and today we traveled from Scotland to England by train. On Tuesday and Wednesday, we had a lovely visit with our friends, Stan and Mary (and canine friend Otter) in Thornhill, Scotland and were even able to help celebrate Mary’s birthday yesterday. We like to say that they are who we want to be when we get older, but we wouldn’t mind being more like them now. They are the consummate hosts, dear friends, and knowing them will always ensure that Thornhill and the greater Dumfries and Galloway area will hold a special place in our hearts.

They sent us off with another good breakfast and Stan drove us to the train station in Dumfries, Scotland, where we caught a 9:00 am train to Carlisle, England (about 40 minutes) and then changed trains for a 3 hour trip to Birmingham, where we’re spending the evening.

The following are some photos from our train journey to Birmingham.

Bob and I left our Belfast hotel today by Uber for a quick 15 minute ride to the harbor to catch the Stena Line ferry to Scotland. We were very happy that the winds had calmed for our sailing. The voyage was 2.5 hours and was happily very smooth. In fact, it is a mode of travel that we would recommend if you have time. Compared to air travel, the check-in and boarding process is super quick with no security screening to worry about, and the boat has comfortable seating with plenty of leg room and lots of options for snacks or eating as well as shopping and diversions for families.

We arrived into Scotland at Cairnryan where we called a cab to take us just up the road to Stranraer to spend the evening in the North West Castle Hotel.

After we got settled in our hotel room, which is actually in a separate small building behind the hotel, we did a short walk about into town and got to experience school let out traffic (both auto and pedestrian). Stranraer is the 2nd largest town in Dumfries and Galloway with a population of nearly 13,000. Stranraer is a Gaelic place name that means fat stream. It used to be the ferry port for the trip from Belfast but that was transferred to Cairnryan in 2011.

Tomorrow we will take a bus to Dumfries to meet up with friends and celebrate a birthday.

First, some new news from yesterday’s outing. Yesterday’s wind wasn’t just any wind, it was part of Storm Kathleen. And Kathleen damaged part of the roof of the Titanic Museum, luckily after we left. The wind was still pretty blustery today, but much more manageable for our outing.

For our last full day in Belfast, we opted to walk to Cave Hill Country Park to check out views, see Belmont Castle, and do a short hike before walking back into town to do some shopping. The 3.5 mile walk to Cave Hill Country Park took us through North Belfast, and we discovered some maps along our walk.

Cave Hill Country Park gets its name from the five caves located there, which could be early iron mines. The large park is currently used for cattle grazing, hiking and mountain biking, and visiting Belmont Castle for the views, lovely gardens, or events. The current Belfast Castle was built in the Scottish Baronial style for the 3rd Marquis of Donegall. It was completed in 1870. It isn’t much to look at on the inside now but the building itself and the gardens and views were worth the visit.

After touring the castle, we walked the 2.4 mile Estate Trail, one of a number of trails on the property.

We had the wind at our backs for much of the walk to the park/castle, so we had a little tougher go of it on the way back into town. We poked into the lovely Waterworks Park that we had seen on the way.

We finally got to see the Belfast Cathedral (known locally as St. Anne’s). Our cab driver had pointed out its very thin, steel spire on our drive in from the airport. It is known as the Spire of Hope and wasn’t added until 2007.

Finally, we headed to Victoria Square Shopping Center, an open air mall where we were able to climb to the observation deck on the top level (floor 3 here, would be floor 4 in the States) to get another view of Belfast.

Fun fact — Goliath was erected in 1969 and Samson in 1974. Goliath stands 315’ tall, and Samson is 348’ tall. Samson wins again.

We didn’t end up shopping at Victoria Square, but a helpful employee recommended another store to help us and Bob now has his trekking poles for our upcoming walking trip.

Bob and I had an interesting visit to the Titanic Museum and then onto the fun and active St. George’s Market, but the story of the day and maybe tomorrow was the wind. They said on the news last night that it might get as strong as 60 mph. We don’t know yet if it got there, but it was definitely the strongest we have ever felt. We were literally blown around, sideways or flung forward or had to fight to move forward against it. Quite impressive!

But back to today’s events. We started with a walk to the Titanic Museum for our 9:30 am timed-entry. We had to walk away from the museum to a pedestrian crossing over the Lagan River before heading back towards the museum.

The Titanic Museum was completed in March 2012 in time for the centenary of the sailing and sinking. It tells the story of Belfast at the time the Titanic was built, the building of the ship, its sailing, disaster, and aftermath, using multiple-media and even a ride. We had also paid for the audio tour, which provided a great commentary and also allowed for us to learn the information even if we couldn’t get right up to a particular exhibit.

The short story of the Titanic. It was built by Harland and Wolff in Belfast and owned by White Star Line out of Liverpool. It sailed on its maiden voyage on April 10, 1912, out of Southampton, England, and sunk on April 15, 1912, after striking an iceberg. It was the deadliest sinking of a single ship at that time and spurred major changes in maritime safety regulations.

After we completed our tour of the Titanic Museum, we walked a little closer into the city center to check out the St. George’s Market, which had food, crafts, and antiques and other vendors. The market was originally opened in 1890 to sell butter, eggs, and poultry.

One of the places Bob and I knew we wanted to visit in Belfast is Stormont, which is the Northern Ireland Assembly building. The building is the seat of the devolved government for Northern Ireland, and as we just discovered today, lies on a beautiful estate that is well used by the public.

The walk from our hotel to Stormont was 4.5 miles and took about an hour and 45 minutes. It took us over a pedestrian bridge and then through East Belfast and other neighborhoods. As is typical in the UK, we had clouds, sun, rain, and sometimes a mixture. The temperature was great, however, mid to upper 50s, and the rain was never very heavy.

We started our walk on the promenade behind our hotel and had an early opportunity for a mixed species big head shot for Bob.

The parliament building is open to the public during weekdays from 9-4, and tours are conducted at 11 and 2 daily. You have to reserve tickets for the tours. We did not because they were all reserved by the time we checked into it. However, when we entered the helpful guy up front took us to the Assembly Chamber where the 11 am tour was ending so we could see the chamber before doing our own self-guided tour later.

Although the Northern Ireland Parliament was established in 1921, this building wasn’t completed until 1932, when it was officially opened by the Prince of Wales, Edward VIII. The Northern Ireland Parliament was dissolved in 1972 by the Stormont Government as a response to the violence (start of “The Troubles”) enacted by the Republicans (IRA) who felt that their needs were not being equally addressed by the government. It was reinstated under the Northern Ireland Elections Act of 1998 as part of the Good Friday Agreement.

Bob and I endured some very bumpy plane rides and some slow immigration processing in Heathrow but have arrived safely in Belfast. We will be here until Monday morning when we head to Scotland to see some good friends and a sweet dog named Otter. To get here and be able to be out of the country for 4 months, we have gotten/are getting a lot of help from Bob’s sister and her husband for which we are very thankful. Also indebted to Bob’s mom for letting us park our car at her house for the duration of this trip. It takes a village.

After our arrival at the AC hotel about 1:00 pm, via taxi from the airport, we unpacked and then headed to the Visitor’s Center to determine our plans for the rest of the day. It was about a 10 minute walk to the Visitor’s Center.

We decided to do a Black Cab Tour this afternoon. It was recommended by Rick Steve’s as well as by our taxi driver from the airport. It is a 90 minute cab tour that provides a visual and informative description of some of the happenings during “The Troubles” in Northern Ireland (or the North of Ireland as our driver prefers to refer to it.). I’m not even going to begin to try to summarize what we learned (from an admittedly Republican vs. Nationalist or Catholic vs. Protestant perspective) except to say that people have trouble living with other people, people like power, and people can do horrible things to each other. In that regard, it was a sobering tour, and while what we heard was specific to Belfast it has similarities with other conflicts at home and around the world.

Down (South) — Bob and the gang have already said goodbye to Houston after a ballgame last night with the Houston Astros losing to the New York Yankees 7-1. They drove to Dallas this morning.

Up (North) — On my drive into Decorah yesterday, I saw road signs that said Driftless Scenic Byway. Usually, these signs just say Scenic Byway, so I wasn’t sure what this meant. Today I learned that Decorah is in a region in the Midwest called “The Driftless,” which means that it was skipped by the glaciers in the last ice age, so the area lacks glacial drift. The Driftless includes parts of Northeast Iowa, Southeast Minnesota, and Southwest Wisconsin. Due to the lack of glacial drift, the area enjoys bluffs and valleys and other geographical features not found in other parts of these states.

I headed out this morning on a bit of a walking tour of Decorah. I started by heading for the waterfall in Dunning’s Spring Park. That walk took me through town, across the Upper Iowa River, and then into the park. The park was small but had the promised waterfall as well as a scenic overlook of Decorah.

Luther College is relatively close to the park, so I headed there next. Luther College is a private Lutheran liberal arts college. It was originally established near LaCrosse, WI, as a seminary in 1861 by Norwegian immigrants. It was moved to Decorah when it became a college.

After my walk around campus, I crossed back over the Upper Iowa River to walk around the town center, which I just visited briefly yesterday with my visit to the Norwegian-American Museum. The downtown is much more vibrant than many of the other small towns that we have visited in Iowa. It also has a lot of signage around town, if you are interested in learning about the history and architecture of the area.

Up and Down — Bob and I are separately watching the Iowa Hawkeyes Women’s Basketball Team compete in the Elite Eight portion of the NCAA March Madness Basketball Tournament.

Bob and I are currently in separate states. Bob’s in Texas on a baseball trip with his brother-in-law and nephews. They are trying to see games at all of the baseball stadiums in the NBL. This time they are visiting the stadiums in Houston and Arlington, Texas. I left Janesville, Wisconsin, this morning where I had been visiting my mom, and am now in Decorah, Iowa, as I make my way back to Grimes, Iowa, and Bob (post baseball trip).

Decorah, with a population of about 7,500, is the largest community in Winneshiek County Iowa. Decorah has become a center for Norwegian-American culture originating from a number of Norwegian settlements beginning in the 1850s. My mom’s ancestors came from Norway, and I grew up eating Norwegian food during holidays, so I had to check out the Norwegian-American Museum that is here. The local Vesterheim Norwegian-American Museum is the largest museum in America devoted to a single immigrant group.

The first exhibit was about food, and I recognized a lot of the foods mentioned.

Between 1825 and 1930, over 800,000 Norwegiansleft Norway for the New World, a number nearly equal to the population of Norway in 1825. Only Ireland would give up a greater percentage of its population to emigration.

This was new information as well. This battalion was created to liberate Norway from Nazi control. They got to Norway too late to do that but did help restore order to Norway after the war and help welcome back the king.

There was an exhibit on Herbjorn Gausta, apparently the most widely known American painter of Norwegian ancestry. I was not aware of him, but as you can tell by the blog, I am continually learning new things. He was born in Telemark, Norway, but came with his family as a young man to southeastern Minnesota. He was studying in Decorah at Luther College when he was persuaded to pursue his artistic talents.

Another art exhibit at the museum was called Seven Summers by Arna Renan. She was a Norwegian-American who grew up in Duluth, Minnesota, and later studied at the National Academy of Art in Norway. Her paintings were created over 7 summers in Norway.