UK/Europe trip Day 15-16 - Brussels (14-15Jul)

It's now to Brussels. But what's Brussels known for? We could only think of delicious Belgian chocolates and the land of Tin Tin.

14 July
On reaching Brussels, we decided to recce the place first. It was a warm & sunny day and my cough was aggravated by it. But we still weathered on. Hmm...I don't know why a friend of mine said it's an ugly city. To me, it looked like any of the cities I've visited so far. We ventured to The Grand Place and along the way, shortlisted some places to visit tomorrow, Of course, not forgetting to stop for some ice-cream and belgian waffle. We visited the Manneken Pis (the pissing boy) which turned out to be a rather small fountain on the wall in a corner of a street. The Grand Place was a like plaza square, with many old buildings around and cafes. It reminded us of the St Mark's Square in Venice. After that, we walked around a bit before settling down for dinner at this place called Le Grand Café. The food and service was pretty good, and as with the French/Belgian pomp, delivered with a good display and many steps involved.

15 July
My cough was pretty bad today, but not wanting to waste any time, we set off to visit 2 museums we had picked - the Musical Instrument Museum (MIM) and the Belgian Comic Strip Center.
At MIM, I saw so many instruments that I've never seen before, or rather the antique versions of what we see today. Before the piano, keyboard strings were plucked rather than struck. And the harpsichords were so beautiful, with decorative paintings on them. There were some multi-functional instruments and it was really an eyeopener. Also, there were instruments too from many countries. If only I could try out playing some of them and find out how they are played. I could take photos, but no flash allowed, so quite a no. of photos turned out blurry as it was rather dim. A kind of infrared headphones were also given, which played samples of music from instruments we were viewing when we were in the right spot. The "spot-tracing" was a bit tricky though and I had to try to find the right place, coz just a tiny step out of position would make it out of range.

After that, we went to the Belgian Comic Strip Center, where one could find Tin Tin and smurfs. One could run through the history of Belgian comics, story of the writers and the varying styles. However, it was very warm in the building as there's no aircon and not many open windows, so I was coughing a lot due to the stuffiness and heat.

After that, it was off to somewhere near the Grand Place area to shop for chocolates. There were too many choices! So I ended up buying mainly from 2 shops which were more established/common, like Leonidas and Corne-Port Royal. I would have wanted to go to more shops, but the chocs probably added 1-2kg to my luggage already, and as some packaging were bulky, I wouldn't have been able to pack them into my luggage, which would mean hand-carrying to Paris, which was a little troublesome. Maybe my cough also prevented me from buying too much. I couldn't stay in shops for too long as I was afraid of "polluting" them with my cough. But the chocolates were really cheaper there.
We had dinner at a restaurant called Le Roy D'Espagne at the Grand Place. The fish casserole I had was a tad too salty for me.
After that I really needed to go back to rest...felt bad that my friend accompanied me back instead of exploring more, even though most shops & museums were closed by then.

*****
Well, that's Brussels for me. So french fries originated from Belgium, as proclaimed by many stalls selling that, and brussel sprouts from Brussels, although I don't see many serving it. If I had been better, I would probably have enjoyed myself more and eating more as well. More freshly made Belgian waffles would have been nice and choc samples...and I would have been singing "lalalalalala lalalalala".

UK trip Day 10-14 - back to London (9-13 Jul)

Well, back to London, what else can we do but shop? Just kidding. We had the intention to travel out to visit Stonehenge (which we missed out last time) and Windsor Castle, which I'll touch on later. Then of course, to catch 1 more musical. Anyway, we can't possibly shop for 4 full days!

9 Jul
On arrival after the 5 hour journey, there wasn't much time left. but we popped over to Harrods and it seemed they open till pm today. Just browsed around mainly. After that, we went to find a place for dinner. There were quite a no. of Lebanese/Mediterranean restuarants around, so we popped into 1 of them and had a good meal. The buttered basmati rice was delicious, even on its own!

10 Jul
Booked on a tour to Windsor Castle & Oxford, we were brought to Windsor Castle first, where we viewed this royal residence. Pretty fair weather as we moved around the castle grounds with an audio guide in hand. Following the guide, we visited the main sites like the Queen Mary's Dolls' House, which was a very delicate yet complete model which had working lamps with electricity and we heard, flushable toilets! Following which we visited The Drawings Gallery where we saw some of Leonardo Da Vinci's sketches and also drawings of Henry the VIII and his many wives. Then it was the State Apartments. If you recall, there was a fire some years ago, but much have been restored. There were many paintings. What was amusing was the anecdote as narrated by the audio guide of the levée ceremony held in 1 of the bedchambers in the past. What this meant was that the king didn't actually sleep in that bedchamber but there was a ceremony each morning of him seemingly rising from his bed in the presence of some of his nobles/courtiers/gentlemen. Also, there was a hall with knights' arms displayed. However, the knights whom have been degraded (disgraced) had theirs painted in white/blanked out, to be remembered and shamed forever. Another funny commentary was about Henry the VIII's burgeoning figure in later years. He was actually very atheletic & stout when he was younger. The commentator narrated about this particular suit of armour which he described as "looking perfectly normal from the front" but as one moved to the side view, you could see the expanded girth. Unfortunately, we couldn't take photos in these areas, hence can't show you anything.

With little time left, we quickly proceeded to St George's Chapel (we had missed the changing of guards by then) and here, again no photos. We took a walk through and the ceiling had state of arms displayed again. The chapel was also a tomb for some of the monarchs and I believe we caught a glimpse of that of Henry VIII laid beside his beloved Jane Seymour, his favourite wife.
There were well-tended gardens and lawns as well, which were beautiful.
Of course, there was a bit of difference when exploring this castle as this was the only one that served both as a museum plus as a place that was still being lived in, unlike past palaces/castles that I've visited which were mere museums with no "life" in them. Maybe the English humour too, plus the helpful audio guide.
Being near Heathrow meant that we could also constantly hear & see planes flying out.

Next stop was the university town of Oxford. The guide took us on a short tour round some of the major buildings in the area before bringing us to the main stop, Christ Church College. What's so special about this college? It's where you can find the great dining hall in Harry Potter. Ok, that's not the only special thing. It has a long history from the time of Henry VIII, and also saw many famous people, where Lewis Carroll taught and where 13 British PMs were educated! Unfortunately, we couldn't visit the cathedral as there was a graduation ceremony going on. But the campus made one feel like going back to school again...who wouldn't when it was so historical & beautiful! We didn't see many students around, probably because it was a Saturday.

After Oxford, we went back to London. Still having some time, we went to Greenwich Park to look for the Greenwich Meridian. After which we had dinner at a place called Sol Cafe (Mexican) around the vicinity.

11 July
It was Stonehenge & Bath today.
Of course, I had to take pics of Stonehenge from as many angles as I could, so it was a walk round the mystical stones. After which we went to Bath to visit the Roman baths. They are called the Roman baths, but were re-discovered in the 18th century by the British, who had used it. Now, it's just for viewing. Well, I must admit that I have visited too many Roman baths already, although this one was a bit different as it still had running water in the pools. I shouldn't visit any more of such baths.
After this, we went back to London and grabbed dinner at Gourmet Burger Kitchen (Earl's Court) before heading back to the hotel.

12 July
We didn't do much today. As my flu had worsened yesterday, I slept till late morning, missing the intended visit to Hillsong London, where I was supposed to meet a friend who's working in London. But we still met for lunch and thereafter some shopping, then tea.

13 July
Basically, it was just exploring a bit of London and also a museum today. We went to Trafalgar Square then walked down towards the Big Ben and Parliament House area. I had visited the Big Ben area before, so less photos were taken.
After that, we went to Tate Modern. Along the way, we passed by Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, which we didn't go in. Some of the art pieces were pretty weird and honestly some were rather crappy (to us), especially 1 where the artist just displayed a mirror. It's totally not original. There were quite a no. of Picassos and 1 of Monet's water lilies, and also some Andy Warhol's prints. After that visit, we walked across the Millennium Bridge to walk around a bit more. Initially, I suggested walking to Victoria, where we were going to watch Billy Elliot, but we didn't lah. But we did get quite close.

And now to "Billy Elliot". It was a wonderful production! I really liked it. Very British. Well, the singing wasn't say fantastic, but there were quite a few nice songs and memorable ones. I liked Solidarity and Electricity and the touching Dear Billy. Well, it's by Sir Elton John after all. But what really captivated me was the dance choreography. It was so beautiful. The highlights were the end of Act 1, where Billy did a really angst dramatic tap dancing sequence that was full of fury, the beautiful Swan Lake sequence and Electricity. The boy who played Billy was really great in his dancing despite being so young. It made me want to dance. This was also the first time I watched a musical that had an encore (dance) segment. Another interesting point was that they really made the effort with their accents to differentiate between the classes and districts of people. "Wicked" paled in comparison. As my friend said, we started London with an average show, but ended with a bang, which rounded up our last night in London really well. I must really go and watch the film. It must be something to have inspired Elton John to want to write a musical on it.

Well, it's off to Brussels the next day.

UK trip Day 6-9 - Glasgow (5-8 Jul)

5 July
With Edinburgh behind our backs, we took the 12 o'clock train to Glasgow. I had the fleeting thought that it was like San Francisco (which I liked), with the climbs up & down the street. Ok, the similarity ends there. After a quick bite at Costa Coffee, we strolled down the main street Sauchiehall Street and did some shopping.
Interestingly, We passed a place called "Rumours Kopitiam" from Malaysia and we were like "we will surely not visit it...I don't want to pay a few pounds for a teh/kopi here, which may or may not be authentic".
We didn't do much today and ended our day eating at a Spanish tapas place called la Tasca. Not too bad, but we over-ordered (they had some a-la-carte buffet thing going on). The only thing was that the waiter didn't hear our order right for drinks. We ordered 2 glasses of sangria and he came with a pitcher, which we could hardly finish. And that possibly aggravated my cold as I had a sore throat the next day.

6 July
Wonderful day today, not the weather, but what we did today. The weather was in fact drizzly with a cloudy sky, not to mention a bit cold. All the more so when were taking the open-top bus. We bought the hop on/off citysightseeing bus tickets (valid for 2 consecutive days) and visited 2 galleries (there was only time for 2 as they were only opened from 10am-5pm), besides taking in some of the sights of the city.
1st, we visited the Hunterian Art Gallery (free admission) which was at present exhibiting prints by Edvard Munch, the artist of "The Scream", which of course we saw 1 of the versions, a b&w print he did. He did a lot of work on prints, woodcuts, etchings, lithographs. as he felt that it was a faster way to "distribute" his art. Most were rather dark as he was rather obsessed with the theme of love & death, and the hopelessness of finding love. Many a melancholic theme.
The 2nd place we went was the Kelvingrove Art Gallery & Museum. It's a very good gallery/museum and admission's free (ok, this possibly contributed to the "good" part, although there were some special exhibitions that needed tickets) ! All who go to Glasgow should visit it if you're interested in art. The French gallery was really nice with a good display detailing the styles of the Impressionism (which I love), post/neo-Impressionism works. Famous artists include Monet, Van Gogh, Cezanne, etc.
There was also 1 Rembrandt and an early work by Picasso, before he became part of the cubism movement.Some familiar English/UK names include John Constable and John Whistler.
We also discovered some really good works by Glaswegian artists like the Glasgow Boys, The Four, especially John Quinton Pringle (1865 - 1925), who's good with small-scale oils, and Charles Rennie Mackintosh (1868 – 1928). I'm quite fascinated by Mackintosh's works who was really ahead of his time with his really sleek & modern designs. In fact, his works would still be considered modern now. I just realised that some of the designs we see these days are really modelled after his.
We also viewed Dali's "Christ of St John of the Cross". Couldn't take any pics of the artwork, so you'll have to research on your own.

After a fulfilling time at the museum, we headed back to town centre where against our better judgment, decided to try out the Jap food at 1 of the outlets of this seemingly popular chain Wagamama. Not a single Jap in sight in the kitchen. Ha! It's true that we shouldn't try Asian food in Western cities, unless you're in Chinatown. But maybe London wouldn't be that bad.

7 July
This day saw us venturing out of the city centre to visit a distillery (Glengoyne) about an hour's bus ride away. Learnt quite a few things about whisky (also known as scotch). Like how it started (monks!), the distinct feature of all distilleries and the differences between different whiskies (single vs double malt). Of course what's visiting without some tasting? we paid for the tour package that included a taste of 2 whiskies of different ages. At first was wondering why they poured only a little (about one-third) into a shot glass. Haha! good thing they did coz the moment I took a sip, it was like something "burning" went down my throat. Well, not that serious, but it kept my tummy warm. What do you expect of a 70% alcohol content drink! Bought some minature bottles of whiskey & some whisky fudge to take home.

Thereafter, we headed back to the city. We missed the bus and waited another hour for it, which didn't leave us much time in the afternoon, except for some afternoon tea.
We headed to 1 of the Willow Tea Rooms (Buchanan Street), which was fitted with Mackintosh's interior designs and had our tea with cakes, scones and sandwiches, served on a 3-tier tea set.
That pretty much ended the day, with a last minute shot outside the Gallery of Modern Art, which we didn't have the opportunity to visit, but had a rather amusing statue outside.

8 July
We booked a tour to Loch Ness and pulling ourselves up from bed, we made our way to the meeting point and started our journey. Our first stop was at Loch Lomond, which was huge! We passed through Glencoe, up to Fort Augustus, thereby reaching Loch Ness. Grabbed lunch 1st at The Lock Inn as it started to rain, which served a really good fish & chips, made with really fresh haddock. After that, we took a quick walk to see Loch Ness, which unfortunately didn't turn up Nessie. After that, we took the journey back down to Glasgow, passing by Stirling Castle and stopping by in Pitlochry on the way.
It's a bit difficult to describe the whole journey, so I'll leave it to my photos to detail it later on.
It was interesting to note the differences in the buildings from town/village to town/village.
That marks the end of Glasgow for us before we return to London.

*****
Somehow, I seem to like Glasgow better than Edinburgh, maybe because of the artsy feel to the place. So many more things to cover, but yet so little time. Same for Edinburgh too.

UK trip Day 5 - Borthwick Castle, Edinburgh (4 Jul)

Ok, am back in Singapore so shall continue with "briefs" on my trip, before I forget about them.

As mentioned in my last post, it's my castle stay on Day 5. With our luggage, V & I took a walk to Waterloo Place to take the X95 bus. Good thing the weather wasn't too bad coz it was about a 20 min walk! On arriving at Middleton Town, the said drop-off point, we found we had to walk about 1 mile! Talk about a 10 min walk (by hotel staff). Haha...but we managed with a slow walk, stopping here & there to take in the scenery.

Anyway, on reaching, the place seemed rather cozy. It was a relatively small castle, not many rooms and the doors were rather low (had to stoop down to get through them). You'll see when I upload my photos. Again, it was natural air-conditioning.

We soon discovered there wasn't much to do around here. No network (mobile), no internet, no TV in the room. There was supposed to be a TV room somewhere, but we didn't venture there. The room was super quiet, till our ears rang, so we went for a walk (haha...there goes our hopes of horse riding & the like coz the office closed before we were ready to move out).

A short walk round the surroundings gave the feeling of peace & quiet, with horses grazing and the rolling meadows...it was poetic to a sense. Almost a deafening silience. You find oneself in your own personal space, yet you know there are people around. Had an inspiration to draft down a short poem. A bit raw, but well...(made some slight edits upon this posting)

Meadows roll where horses graze

Solitude in coalition space

Where nature sounds its private call

None seen yet exists

excluded in my solitude space

Probably if I had an instrument in hand I would have written a song. Ha!

Anyway, not wanting to venture too far before dinner, we went back to our room and played music from our mobile to break the silence and rest (after the long walks today). We got changed for pre-dinner cocktail (had a glass of rosé) thereafter and had a short guided tour round the premises and on its history. It's interesting how they defended the castle with only 1 entrance/exit which was a low doorway, where only 1 person could enter at a time and needed to stoop, with head coming in first. So guards on the side of the doors just needed to simply chop off the intruder's head & wait for their next victim. Haha...although I don't believe they had to actually use this tactic before. The guide showed us the trapdoor and also the chapel and state rooms. A part of the castle wall was damaged too when it was attacked by Oliver Cromwell.

Dinner was nice & hot, served in fine dining style in The Great Hall (it seems dining rooms are called "great halls" in general in old establishments). We were pretty full by the time dessert came. Both V & I were pretty amazed at the next table coz they practically cleaned everything off their plates!

With nothing else left to do, we retired for the night. We concluded that maybe we should stay at a bigger castle next time.

UK trip Day 2-4 - Edinburgh city centre (1-3 Jul)

Most of day 2 was spent travelling to Edinburgh. Unfortunately, the train stopped a couple of times due to some damage caused by thunderstorms further down the line, which resulted in a 2-3 hr delay in reaching Edinburgh, like 5 plus 6pm. Weather was fine there, but most of the shops were closed by then. We checked into our hotel and went out for dinner. Well, had a sudden craving for pasta, so we ate at an Italian restaurant called Bar Roma. It felt rather authentic and I had to occasionally remind myself I was in UK, not Italy when I heard people speaking English. Our room was pretty cozy, though it lacked certain amenities, but was generally satisfactory.

Day 3 was a really warm summer day! We were literally getting baked in the scorching 30 degree sun. This day saw us venturing to Edinburgh Castle. That took the whole morning, with a look at the crown jewels. some history, the 1 o'clock gun and a panoramic view of Edinburgh city. After that, we took the Royal Mile walk which took the whole afternoon. Along the way, we stopped by the Museum of Edinburgh. We ended at the Palace of Holyroodhouse at the end but there was a royal visit, so it was closed. But we did visit the Scottish Parliament, which was rather modern. After that, we proceeded to Grassmarket with the intention to sign up for the Edinburgh Literary Pub Tour but we just grabbed a quick meal in the end and went back to the hotel becoz of the heat and leg fatigue. That saw the end of day 3.

What a contrast day 4 was! It rained and was rather cold. Didn't do much today. We went to the National Museum of Scotland which took the whole morning. We dashed down to Princes Street as the rain got heavier and ate lunch. The rest of the afternoon saw us popping in and out of shops trying to avoid the rain and do some shopping. The shops here close really early, so we eventually had to make our way back to the hotel in the drizzle.

That's Edinburgh city centre for me. Regretted not being able to explore the New Town side due to the weather and short opening hours. Also, I started taking less photos halfway through these 2 days as the sights were getting too similar.

Well, tomorrow it's off to the castle and then to Glasgow and then back to London. Think I probably won't get free wifi for the rest of the trip, so further updates would have to wait.

my UK trip so far - Day 1 in London (30 June)

The 1st day saw me touching down in London at about 7am in the morning. Lugging our luggage, we took the tube to our hotel at Lancaster Gate. We were too early to check in, so we went walking around. It was so sunny! It seems London isn't that big on aircon, so we went back to the hotel about 1 plus. To our dismay, we discovered there was a problem with the aircon that day, so we had to ask for a fan.

Anyway, we went to catch "Wicked" that night. Now I understand why a friend of mine didn't really like it. The songs weren't that great and v and I agreed that it was like a high school musical. The sets were quite impressive though.

So that was pretty much our 1st day in UK. Somehow, we haven't got in the holiday mood yet though.