Training Log Archive: JanetT

Back to class in Chatham. Aerobics, strength, stretching.

Added Garmin tracks to my Scottish 6 Day writeups, and a few more details.

South "block" clockwise. Gorgeous weather with temps in the low 70s and low humidity. It was nice even at midday. Noted all the August wildflowers in bloom.

Trying to understand ISIS but not succeeding.

Anti-woman societies are not my cup of tea. I see nothing pro-woman in this article, nor anything else I've read about the group or its religious source text.

C • ISIS 1

We stayed overnight in NJ after arriving mid afternoon and hanging out with the kids and grandkid for awhile. Good thing because I wouldn't have been able to stay awake for the drive home...we were in bed before 9pm.

A bit later to bed tonight, and we hope to get our bodies back on EDT soon. Weather should be cooler the next few days too.

Wrestled bags to Heathrow and got checked in there. I saw Windsor Castle as we took off, but then it became cloudy and didn't see much more countryside until we landed in Edinburgh from which we'll leave tomorrow morning to head home. Overcast and showering now but we made it to our motel with only a small hiccup, now fixed.

Added some notes from our first few days in Edinburgh (July28-31) which I couldn't do at the time because of lousy Internet at the hotel there, not that the access in Nairn was much better.

http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/m/?r=6690435&rf=1
3.66
http://www.gmap-pedometer.com/m/?r=6690438&rf=1
1.14

City of London Museum, which I enjoyed more than the British Museum as it told the history of the city (where the British Museum is just a collection of objects) with stories as well as objects. Walked to the Monument designed by Christopher Wren to recognize the great fire of 1666 (mere years after the end of the Black Death in 1661). Then towards London Bridge from which we watched the Tower Bridge be raised for a barge-with-crane to pass by (drawbridge opens twice a day at scheduled times for large vessels; we missed the 5:00 raising which apparently let in a cruise ship!). Lunch then to the Tower Bridge to walk across it and back, deciding not to wait in line (and pay £7+) to go up and across the pedestrian walkway connecting the two towers.

Through the business district past Lloyd's with its utilities on the outside of the buildng and towards 30 St Mary Axe, aka The Gherkin (London has a number of odd shaped skyscrapers with nicknames, like the Gherkin, Cheese Grater, Walkie Talkie--which to me looks more like an electric shaver--and the Shard on the south shore). Tube to Blackfriars to have one last meal at the Founders Arms, then tube back to Baker Street.

Tomorrow we navigate ourselves and our bags back to Heathrow. We've figured out how to do it without steps, which we didn't know on the way here.

Good summary of London's history, from the History Channel.

Today we visited the British Museum (crowded, especially around the Rosetta Stone, for some reason), the National Gallery (saw a Van Gogh sunflower painting, Monet's Water Lilies, and at least one painting each from Leonardo, Michelangelo, and Raphel, but not Donatello), and the Portrait Gallery for a quick run-through. The lighting for the descriptive signs in some of these museums is insufficient in places.

Then another luscious lemon/raspberry cake with coffee at the Caffe Nero over Waterstone Bookshop on Trafalgar Square.

North to Bloomsbury for a store, then to dinner at the Ship Tavern near Holburn tube station which was fairly highly recommended by folks on Trip Advisor. I wasn't as impressed with the offerings there as at last night's pub (The Swan near Hyde Park) but the food was good, ambience excellent, and there was a live Jazz band downstairs that we could hear just fine upstairs.

I think I do better when I'm moving more and standing less...the museums with their hard floors are hard on my knees. Tomorrow's plan may include the Monument to the Great Fire and the City of London Museum plus Tower Bridge in the not-rain.

Route

More miles than before, but broken up into segments. Tube to Lancaster Gate at Hyde Park, then through the park to Victoria and Albert Museum which was right across from the Natural History and Science Museums. All were free, but the N.H. Museum was more popular and had more crowds. G went there and I looked around the V/A museum at neat things (to me).

After leaving there (and avoiding a £2.85 cup of coffee when Starbucks charges £1.55) we strolled through a bit of Harrods (the food shops are astounding) until we couldn't stand it anymore, then found a Starbucks just down the road. :-)

Back into Hyde Park, and I wanted to go by Kensington Palace at the far west end. We didn't go in (except to the gift shop) but did see the lovely, publicly accessible "hidden garden" there, then saw the outside of the Princess Diana Memorial children's playground which was in the process of being emptied because it was almost 6:00 pm. There's a fascinating Elfin Oak there which is a stump of an old (900 years!) oak tree (stump is a relative term; it's probably 8-10' high, anyway) which was carved 85 years ago to include small figures of elves and animals which were then painted to highlight them. It has a fence around it to keep out those who mght add to or subtract from it, but is maintained (repainted) as needed.

The Swan was our dining pub tonight (good ratings on trip advisor and it was very good food); then we headed back to the hotel following a wild goose chase to find a grocery store that doesn't appear to exist except in its website's imagination.

Event: 2015 Canadian Orienteering Championships
 

Spent most of the day at Tower of London (NOT the Tower of Terror). Maybe I'll write more later, but it was worth spending most of the day here. Got there early enough (packed like sardines in a rush hour tube car) to have no line for the Crown Jewels (unlike later arrivals who had up to 40 minutes to stand in line).

Showers held off until almost 3:00 and they're more like misting than rain.

Laundry day today. We found a nice little launderette not too far away and did enough wash to keep us til we're home. It started showering when we were on the way to the Abbey Road zebra crossing and there were others trying to photograph themselves in the crosswalk while dodging traffic. The pics are what they are.

Tube to British Library which was fascinating (to me, anyway) with its display of printed items from antiquity including a Gutenberg bible and written lyrics from the Beatles; music, maps, book art, etc. A lazy afternoon. The Tower is planned for tomorrow. The only rain we had today was in the morning but tomorrow's supposed to be a rainy day. I won't bother to figure our route for today.