Travel. overseas. England to America

England, Germany, Spain & U.S.A. Bonanza
1987

I boarded an Air N.Z. flight at midnight, bound for England to experience a wonderful two month holiday taking in a variety of countries and customs, first stop Los Angeles for a three hour wait in a transit lounge, a delay with a problem in the hold of the plane meant an extra four hour delay, (the joys of travel), another long haul flight, Gatwick airport in London the destination. My friends Molly and Hubert Beaumont were waiting for me and soon we were motoring south to Hampshire where I will spend the first few days of my holidays. Dolphin Cottage, their delightful home set among beautiful gardens with every fruit tree imaginable, a small stream meandering among the lawns and flower gardens, an ornamental curved bridge completed this lovely peaceful setting.
Awake and refreshed and after a lovely English breakfast my friends took me on a sight seeing drive around the surrounding district, our first stop was the old town of Milford with its many quaint shops and churches, then on to Yarmouth to view the boat marina and rugged seaside with many little changing sheds scattered along the beaches. We carried on to the town of Lymington, lots of lovely exposed timber buildings and cobbled streets, we called into a garden centre, my interest in horticulture was interesting to compare the different plants and shrubs. Next was a visit to a typical country pub for a pint of lager and a yummy ploughman’s lunch. St. Nicholas church at Brockenhurst had the graves of over 100 servicemen from the First World War. , Moving on again we took a walk through the lovely mature trees of the New Forrest, the undergrowth was a blaze of colour with very colourful rhododendrons in full bloom. In a clearing there was a demonstration of local May Day or Terry dancers, a new experience for me and I enjoyed this different culture and action. In the evening I enjoyed a lovely home cooked roast dinner cooked by Molly and complimented with some very nice home made wines
Another interesting day of exploring, with a drive to Beaulieu, (in the heart of the new forest) and the home of Lord Montague, his Motor Museum has perhaps the world’s finest collection of historical cars, along with Malcolm Campbell’s Bluebird racing car. Palace House, the Montague family home was built in the thirteenth century was open to the public and the Lord himself was wandering through the rooms. There was an old Cistercian Abbey, which used to house monks, plus a theme park, amusements and exhibitions. Two miles away was the shipyard of Buckland’s Hard on the banks of the Beaulieu River where Nelson’s fleet was built, also an interesting Maritime Museum with displays of models of Sir Francis Chichester’s yachts. The little eighteenth century village was another delightful place with its old world charm shops and cobbled streets.
The morning arrived with lots of sunshine, Hubert went to work so Molly decided to take me to the diamond shaped Isle of Wight, catching the ferry at Lymington for the thirty minute ride, landing at the quaint little town of Yarmouth which remains unchanged as it was 100 years ago. We caught a bus tour of the Island, having a very humorous driver, he kept us amused with his jokes and lots of history, firstly driving through rural countryside, small villages with quaint churches, then the remains of Carisbrooke Castle, one of the best reserved, some of the inner rooms dated back to 1470, Charles 1st was imprisoned there pending his execution. Newport is the capitol of the Island and Cowes has a real yachty atmosphere, late June is the start of the “round the Island race featuring over a thousand competitors. Unfortunately Queen Victoria’s Osborne House couldn’t be seen from the road but our driver told us it was typical of the Victorian era and was the Queen’s residence for many years. The largest town was Ryde, which faced the mainland and along with many small villages there were fine examples of thatched cottages, one which was very impressive was the post office, the doorway being so low most people needed to duck, The bus continued passing many bays where early smugglers in bygone years brought in mostly Brandy and laces. The tour circled the Island; I enjoyed the very descriptive historical talks the driver gave, a most enjoyable day out, thanks to Molly suggesting it.
Another exciting day was planned with a journey to Southampton, a large city famous for its docks and boat builder’s. Most of the docks have become a container port; few liners use the port now, although Queen Elizabeth 11 still makes her transatlantic crossings from there. The city was badly bombed during world war two so reconstruction has given the city a modern appearance. There were still a lot of beautifully restored old exposed timber buildings. The city has many fine art galleries and museums, which we discovered while doing a walk through the busy streets and waterfront. On leaving we returned via Lyndhurst, very narrow streets and big traffic jams, we were able to view some very lovely old churches. I wandered along a lovely little winding road with primroses growing among the hedges to a local pub while Molly prepared dinner, Hubert had a busy week in his job as a school teacher and couldn’t join me, enjoying a few pints of a nice thirst quenching larger, which is chilled, the darker beers were at room temperature, not my type.
Time to say goodbye to my friends, thanking them for their great hospitality I caught a bus to Bristol, a journey that took four hours, I was meeting an my mate Harry Letch at the railway station to spend a few days touring around Wales. On arrival I was a little disappointed in the city, too modern but then meeting up again with Harry was exciting. We became friends in Hamilton, N.Z. while I was working part time in a pub and he was a lonely schoolteacher, a long was from his home of Birtley near New Castle-on-Tyne, England. We were soon planning an itinerary for our journey through Wales. Taking a motorway, it wasn’t very long before we crossed the graceful suspension bridge over the Severn River and into Chepstow and the mighty Norman Castle. It was probably the first to be built in stone after the conquest, with lines of red Roman tiles robbed from ancient sites nearby. The town still has some of its medieval walls, winding streets with little bow-fronted shops. Following the Wye River we passed lush green meadows and wooded cliffs and the eloquent ruins of Tintern Abbey. We found a bed and breakfast for the night, then more important a nice little pub so Harry and I could enjoy a few celebration beers together, a good remanence talk and a good meal. It was still daylight at 9.30 p.m. so there was time to do some exploring of the village, finally settling for a nightcap in another pub, Harry and I have always enjoyed simular tastes in History, Landscapes, Worldly happenings and most important a desire for a pint or two.
Our first Welsh breakfast was enough to last us till dinner time, now we motored north, keeping to small country roads as much as possible, called in to view the remains of Monmouth Castle where Henry V. was born, enjoyed a stroll around the cobbled streets, found an interesting market, some folk dressed in local costumes. Once more on the road we travelled through some beautiful green fields, mountain streams, crops of brilliant golden Canola, tree lined narrow lanes contrasted with bluebells growing wild. Arriving at the lovely town of Builth Wells, our stop for the night we found another bed and breakfast, then took a long walk around the town and delightful little country lanes, enjoying the beautiful summer with blue skies and trees of many shades of green. A very unusual arched brick; bridge was a focal point for the entrance to the town. Speaking with some locals in a pub that night we learnt that the Walsh language is still spoken by most people, especially in the small towns and villages, hearing it I would think it would have been very difficult to learn.
The first overcast day, but still quite warm, we motored further north through more unspoilt countryside, lovely little villages which always seem to have a pub as a focal point, then a church. We took a detour to Devils Bridge to view some very picturesque waterfalls, which were in full flow after much rain over the winter months; I enjoyed the freshness of the surrounding bush. The next stop was Aberystwyth, the main seaside resort for Cardigan Bay. The bay-windowed Victorian Guesthouse overlooked a shingle beach, hemmed in by the bulky bluff of Constitution Hill; a cliff railway made an effortless ascent for a panorama view of Snowdonia and the Preseli Hills, also some fine photography. Coming back down the rolling countryside and calling into a small town called Dolgellau, I took one look and decided this had to be a place to stop for the night to explore the delights of old unspoilt beauty. One amazing thing about this place, the whole town was built with a grey slate stone, the houses, shops, churches, roads and fences, a sight to enjoy. Even the bed & breakfast Hotel I discovered was until 1745 a prison, the dining room was through an underground passage to what was the cells. I couldn’t wait to set out with my camera and enjoy the stone contrasts against the greenery of the hedgerows and colourful flowers in the gardens of the very old cottages. We enjoyed a very tasty Welsh lamb meal along with a few pints of liquid gold, remembering to duck our heads through the doorways on returning to the main house.
Rain set in but not cold for the start of our next days travel further north, passing some very rugged country with some lovely stands of mature trees lining the road and many small villages in far off valleys. We reached Caernarfon by the sea where we explored the castle, which was very well preserved, inside was a huge Museum, and there was some very interesting Walsh history. The castle was where the Prince of Wales investiture was held in 1969. I noticed most churches around here had turret style steeples, relating back to the great medieval wars that were fought around North Wales. On towards Bangor, the home of a branch of the University of Wales, I found out the impressive Cathedral was deceptive, the result of a restoration in the nineteenth century. A view of Menai Bridge was the first practical heavy-duty suspension bridge built 30 mitres about the water to allow navel ships to pass under. Turning south we called into a small village called Llanberis where a steam engine driven train takes you into the Snowdonia Hills, it was misty rain with low cloud so a trip was not advisable. We found another small bed & breakfast, enjoyed the usual few pints of ale and a lovely steak meal
The weather was still showery as we made our way out of Wales over some very rugged countryside, back on the motorway, bypassing the cities of Manchester and Leeds and onto familiar countryside as we got closer to New Castle-upon-Tyne, finally arriving back to Harry’s hometown of Birtley, a coal mining town. The streets of terraced houses all looked the same so it was important you have the street name and number. Just in time to freshen up and off again to explore the small town, some nice old buildings and churches, the Geordie sing-song accents of the locals was certainly a lot different than the Walsh I have been hearing, it was difficult to follow unless they spoke slowly. A nice pub meal and a few pints of the local brew rounded off another lovely day of sightseeing.
Incredibly darkness doesn’t arrive till after 10pm. and it is daylight again at about 4 am. when the birds start their wake-up calls. A tour around Newcastle-upon-Tyne, a sprawling industrial city, firstly I admired the huge structure of the biggest of six bridges, Robert Stephenson’s Double –Decker road/rail crossing the Tyne River into the city, I enjoyed the medieval quayside buildings, the 17th century Guildhall and a castle, being a port for coal export which has sadly declined leaving thousands of miners out of work, it is still got growth in boat building and heavy industry. The Victorian era made for a fine city centre; an amazing footbridge spans the river and can be drawn up by weights to allow large boats to pass. It was a chance to check out some huge department stores, buying a few necessary things, including a sturdy camera bag for my European part of this holiday.
An overcast start for a drive south to the city of York, first stop was the town museum while we waited for the rain to pass, it housed many Roman artefacts, a large display of mounted animals and birds, plus historical collections. As the rain stopped it was time to explore the warmth and beauty of York Minster, the vast size, (it is the largest medieval castle in Great Britain), was completed in 1475, it’s glory would be the fabulous stained glass windows which has somehow survived civil wars, religious turmoil and the ravages of fires. History is packed into the ancient walls of this jewel of English cities, narrow streets twist and turn like a maze. York was the headquarters of Roman Emperors. There were many rulers over the last two centuries. Today it is a photographers dream strolling along the “Shambles”, having half-timbered buildings, their upper floors overhanging and nearly touching each other along cobbled streets. The medieval wall that surrounds the city is 4.5 klms long and provides some splendid views.
Another exciting day, a trip to the Beamish open air museum, the complex covering 200 acres with tram services to all the sights, a full replica of a 19 century town, including a pub, bakery and many shops of the period. There was a working farm, a drift mine and miner’s cottages street scenes complete with horse-drawn vehicles
Time had come to say goodbye to all my friends and thank Harry for being a top tourist guide to me. I caught a double-decker bus for the five-hour non-stop trip to London, I managed an upstairs seat, which gave me panorama views of the lush countryside, and being the main route motorway the bus bypassed most towns. In London I caught the tube to Kilburn for a brief visit to my brother-in-law Kerry and his wife Angela, who were soon to move back to New Zealand after many years in England. They were about to sell their beautifully restored terraced home which had taken many hours of restoring a 100 years of paint and varnish. We just stayed in for the night to be able to catch up on family news.
Next morning Kerry drove me to Heathrow airport for a flight to Frankfurt in Germany, which only took two hours, my friends Jutta & Maggie were there to greet me, a lovely reunion after two years, were soon on our way to Wiesbaden where they lived. After settling in we all took a walk around this wonderful city, with it’s beautiful Opera house and Casino, Film festivals are held there along with lots of beer and wine festivals.
Next morning Jutta and I visited her travel shop to check on my two week bus tour of Spain which she had kindly organised, received the details and vouches, then we were off to view some more of this lovely city, I will be seeing more after my return from Spain .A drive into the country, then some lovely forest walks along sealed shaded paths was a pleasure after the city, we arrived at the fork of the rivers Rhine and Maine, viewed an old castle and gardens, then a Greek Orthodox temple then returned to the city, enjoying a few lovely German beers .
This is the start of my Spanish bus tour, it will be unusual, it is a German company and it looks like I will be the only English speaking person on board, a challenge but I’m sure I will cope. Back to the Frankfurt airport for my two hour flight on an airbus to Madrid the capitol of Spain. On arrival I met with three other people taking the same tour, it was easy to identify each other by the tags on our luggage, One of the three persons immediately approached me speaking Deutsch (German), “Guten Tag”, he said, then he started a conversation, I cut in smartly with “ Ich spreche kuam Deutsch” (I don’t speak much German. Luckily he spoke English so we discussed how to get to our hotel, I suggested we share a taxi, what a drive at hair raising speed through the busy streets of the city, cars darting everywhere, there seemed to be no traffic rules. Our Hotel Esperador seemed to be very central, so after checking in I decided on a walk around to get my bearings, the buildings seem to be huge, beautiful and ornate, I had been warned about the many thieves that roam the streets pouncing on unsuspecting tourists, I had put my valuables in a safe deposit locker so I could view things with peace of mind. That evening after dinner our tour guide hosted a gathering of those taking the bus tour, luckily there were quite a few who spoke English and seem to be a happy lot, keen on exploring the beauty of Spain. Our guide translated anything of interest to me, she was keen on the practise as her next tour was to be in English
A beautiful day to start out, firstly with a one hour bus drive to Escorial to view the beautiful Monastery of Phillip 11th, the edifice covers eight acres, has 300 rooms full of priceless art, fine tapestries, the library holds 45.000 books and manuscripts, including the 11th century Codici Aereo, whose illumination necessitated 8 kilos of pure gold, the buildings took 1500 workers twenty-one years to build. Moving on, next stop was to the Valley de los Caidos, a fantastic memorial to the dead of the civil war of 1936-9, there was a gigantic black marble cross way up in the hills, the basilica hewn out of solid rock, the main alter bearing a statue of Christ. Looking over the vast valley, I took note of the landscape, which was very poor and barren.
Returning to Madrid the first stop was at the Royal Palace, unfortunately it was closed to the public but references in books stated the huge black and white marble staircase, throne room with vaulted ceilings would have been suburb, as with the museum of royal armoury and carriages .The exterior was very ornate and beautiful. A further tour of the city showing its vastness and beauty, huge buildings along wide Avenues, spacious parks; especially the Ritro with its many rose gardens and a large artificial lake. Time for a little more of the city sights by myself, just so many people it was hard to stop and admire places of beauty, I did find a market which was full of exciting local gifts and food.
Another beautiful morning, our bus took us to the Prado museum, which houses some of the world’s most valuable paintings including 110 of Goyas. Our tour guide was always with me to explain everything in English, I insisted I had read about the churches and museums before viewing them but she did so want to practise English, most of the Germans on the bus were finding it difficult to understand the German speaking Spanish guides, their accents were not very good. Moving out of Madrid, our destination was the city of Toledo, along the way we stopped to view a shop doing gold inlaid “damascening” engraving, very beautiful and professional. Toledo, is built on the curve of the River Tagus. I fell in love with the city as we viewed it from a hill looking down on its grey/light brown buildings that blended into the surrounding barren countryside, my camera got a work out like no other place. We took a walking tour, (as the cobbled streets were too narrow for vehicles), to view the historical beauty and amazing structures. Calling into “The Cathedral”, one of the biggest and loveliest in Spain, built in 1226, it contains 750 beautiful stained glass windows, 22 chapels, a 17 ton bell housed in it’s slender tower, plus some magnificent paintings of the apostles line the walls There were many more churches to see along the way, all with their own piece of history dating back to the 14th century, over the years there had been many changes in design and style according to the artists and builders. Our Hotel was very central in the main but noisy square. it was an old dark place but had lots of character. A nice chance to enjoy a few cold Spanish beers with my new friends, they sure enjoy eating and drinking.
An early start for a journey to Cordoba, took a last look at the fascinating city of Toledo enjoying some wonderful sunrise scenes. A very interesting drive with changing scenes of first lots of wheat fields, then acres of grapes and olive grove, then into the valleys of tobacco and corn, an early break was to view a converted old winery, beautifully decorated and now a restaurant. Arriving at Cordoba we were taken on a walking tour of the main city centre, enjoying the old charm of potted plants, whitewashed courtyards with lots of delicate ironwork balconies and gates .The city is famous for its Moorish mosque, character and beauty. The huge Mosque (la Mezequita) is one of the most beautiful buildings of the world from an architectural point of view; it dates back to the 8th century and has been a Christian Cathedral since the 12th century. Its huge marble, granite and jasper pillars gives it a breath-taking beauty, also intricate wood carving around the alter and walls.
Still some time left to do some exploring around the brilliant narrow cobbles streets worn nearly smooth with years of traffic chose an interesting restaurant and enjoyed a nice meal of (I don’t know what?)
There was heavy rain overnight but dawn has come along with heat and humidity. After a bus tour around the city with its many churches, it was time to move on once more, this time heading towards the city of Sevilla, just a short drive today, this gave us time to tour some of the cities beauty spots, the first being the Hospital de la Caridad, (charity), the brilliance of gold around the alter of the chapel, also gold coloured wall tiles was a treat to see. Our next stop was Moorish Alcazaba, converted to a palace and once the home of King Ferdinand and Queen Isobel, and featured many lovely Moorish architecture, also beautiful gardens.
Sevilla is a university town, spiritual home of bull fighting, pottery, tiles and oranges. Its Barrio de Santa Cruz, a district of cool alleyways, shady patios and wrought iron work, jewellery and ladies fans. After booking into our hotel Nueva Lar it was back on the bus for a visit to the Old Jewish quarters, the Royal Fortress, then on to the 15th century Cathedral, biggest in Spain and third biggest after St. Peters in Rome and St. Paul’s in London. Its size is so immense you could easily loose your way. Our tour guide excelled herself with her expertise of this cathedral, explaining in depth a description in English, pleased with her effort, I commended her.
The evening was spent watching the best Flamenco dancers in Spain, so it was claimed and not being able to compare I truly enjoyed the non-stop entertainment of two hours duration.
Back on the road again, not much time for relaxing but then there is just so many interesting things to see, we now headed for Granada passing simular olive grooves, tobacco and the golden mass of sunflowers, many quaint villages with their tall church steeples. A rest stop high in the mountains was ideal for some wonderful photos of valley serenity. . Granada, I immediately lost my heart to this wonderful city, cobbled narrow streets white washed houses, it would have to be the showplace of Europe. built on twin hills, it thrives on tourism, craftsmanship in carpets, embroidery, tapestry, copper work and leatherwork. A visit to “The Cathedral”, it’s beauty unsurpassed, finally completed in 1703, has many sculptures adorning it’s interior, along with many paintings once belonging to Catholic monarchy. Next was a visit to the Royal Chapel and the Monastery of St.Jerome, both worthy of my admiration. After a nice dinner we did a climb through cobbled stairways to view the Alhambra Castle in all its floodlit glory, a magnificent sight, so huge and draped in ghostly lighting. The tour is staying at Granada another night our first stop next morning was to view Alhambra in daylight, built in 1248-1350, in its heyday there were 30 towers, some of them veritable palaces. The Emperor Charles V destroyed some of them and built himself a beautiful palace, which had outstanding examples of Renaissance architecture. There were some attractive arches of fine lace-like alabaster. Earthquakes damaged took out some more, finally it was restored by Queen Isabel 11 in 1862 and now it is there for all people to admire. The gardens and fountains plus the pool bordering the courtyard were flanked with lovely arches and 12 giant lions among 124 marble pillars. It’s size is so immense one could spend hours there and not see it all.
The afternoon was free to be able to explore the quaint narrow cobbled streets, plus admire the colourful stalls everywhere displaying mostly local crafts, which included grand copper work, leather, embroidery and tapestries. Another place to enjoy street side cafes with a wide range of fish and meats and wonderful beer.
An early start as there is 360 klms to cover, climbing over the hills we got our last glimpse of beautiful Granada, then two hours of rugged mountainous driving to Guadix where the majority of the towns folk live in caves. We were fortunate to be able to visit one of their homes, tunnelled into the soft stone, a beautifully kept dwelling consisting of four bedrooms, kitchen and lovely arched lounge room, the floors were tiled, the walls white washed. The town’s main course of income seemed to be ceramics, vases, ornaments and tiles. Moving on again down from the mountains there were an abundance of orange groves and date palms. The next stop was Elche to visit the Priests gardens, which has the unique palm trees of eight branches. No time to check out the rest of the town, the next stop was the lovely seaside city of Alicante where our hotel, the Sidi San Juan Palace on the waterfront with a lovely beach, I enjoyed a welcome swim in the warm Mediterranean Ocean and some relaxing sunbathing. Would have liked to stay here a while.
Said a fond farewell to this delightful spot and started north again with the destination, Valencia. Following the coastline, the first stop was Calpe, being very warm it was a delight to have time to take another swim in the warm waters again, dominated by a huge rock resembling Gibraltar which was almost surrounded by the sea, a quiet spot which seamed to be enjoyed by English and German people. Moving on again, into orange tree country, they were everywhere, even on steep hills, anywhere that attracted the sun. In the valleys rice had just been planted, quite a contrast to citrus and olives.
Valencia is a city of gardens, it claims to be the most fertile area of Spain, there was still time to explore the Cathedral with it’s abundance of treasures, beautiful paintings by Goya, goldsmith and others, also the home of the holy grail. The interior was a bit bland but I stood in awe at the beauty at the magnificent tabernacle with many jewels and lots of gold. A visit to a ceramic museum was included in a walking tour of the city. A comment I needed to make was of how dirty it looked, plus the unfriendliness of the local people. We stopped in to the 17th century Basilica of the “Madonna of the forsaken” very important to the Spanish people.
Next morning was the start of a 350 klm. Journey to Barcelona, after leaving the untidy streets and buildings we were soon back into orange country on one side, the Mediterranean on the other, lots of fancy beach resorts. We took a three hour break in a delightful resort built mostly on a rock almost surrounded by water, it had a 14th century Castle and was once the home of a Spanish Pope. We were taken by launch on a trip around the rock, nice and relaxing. Our tour took another rest stop at the old city of Tarragona, some unusual cobbled streets led us to yet another huge Cathedral which displayed a beautiful alter, once more with lots of gold and jewels. Leaving there it was grape country again, this time champagne varieties special to the area.
At last the beautiful city of Barcelona with its two thousand years of history, it was late when we arrived so the excitement of exploring needed to wait till morning.
Light rain was falling, the first on this bus tour, I have been trying to keep up with my new German friends with their love of good food and drink, I was not doing a very good job at it. We made a tour of the city visiting many famous streets including Gran Via, Catalunya and the one I was looking forward to see, “ the Ramblas”which has been described by a Spanish poet as the gayest street in the world, I will describe it as an exciting work of art. it forms one continuous promenade, shaded by trees and with traffic and shops on either side and the centre strip for sitting and relaxing with a drink or meal . Next we toured the “church of the Holy Family”, started in 1882 and still unfinished. The church has a massive central tower, three elaborately ornamented facades, each with four slender, tapering belfry towers, and my thoughts were it was quite ugly and drab. The bus took us to the Monastery of Montsterrat, high in the mountains overlooking the city; it was a very winding and narrow road slowly rising to 700 mts. with spectacular views of the villages and valleys below. The monastery is built on solid rock with little greenery. is dedicated to the “Black Virgin”, said to be carved by St. Luke, brought to Spain by St. Peter. It is set in a holy cave, which is open to the public. We were in time to view a Spanish wedding in the monastery and hear the boy’s quoir performing, rather impressive. Back in Barcelona, there was still time to wander the quaint cobbled streets with many beautiful buildings, lots of hanging gardens, geraniums in full flower everywhere. I then enjoyed a few welcome drinks with my friends in the “Ramblas, keeping ourselves amused by watching the waiters dodge traffic to bring drinks and food to people, just wondered how many have an accident, they did look very professional.
Early next morning a group of us were brave enough to adventure on the underground rail system into the city centre, with a bit of study, managed to change trains without any drama and arrived directly to the place we wanted to go, the Museum of Catalan Art where there was some of the worlds most famous gothic arts and murals, then on to view a reconstruction of a Spanish village, built in 1929, also represents the architecture and styles from all over Spain. Then a brisk stroll to the Ramblas once again, exploring the many shops and eating places along it’s length, next we found a wide street full of book stalls, birds and animals, more books, then an abundance of flower stalls, just amazing the immense size and a wonder how everyone made a living.
This was my last evening with the group; I was leaving to go back to Frankfurt, in Germany, the rest travelling onto to France. There was a lovely farewell dinner to celebrate a wonderful bus tour of Spain, I was called someone special being game enough to join a group of big eating and drinking Germans on a bus tour and I seem to pass the test
A further farewell next morning and sadness of leaving this happy group who have helped me enjoy two weeks of sightseeing through some most beautiful scenery throughout Spain, then my two hour flight back to Frankfurt, arriving in pouring rain. My friends Jutta and Maggie were waiting for me, we sheltered in a nice little pub till the worst of the rain was over, then continued onto Wiesbaden, their home town, the rain had stopped so we enjoyed more exploring of this lovely city, the town square was alive with throngs of people joining in a promotional festival of Italian food and wine, the reds were wonderful, entertainment went on for hours with top class singers and bands.
Wiesbaden is the Capitol of the State of Hessen, on the Rhine, a short distance to the city of Mainz, a little further to Frankfurt, my friends lived in the central downtown area so with just a short walk I found the beautiful pink/white Eiebrich Palace, very striking and unusual colours, then the Marktkirche Cathedral with many huge steeples making up the vast buildings. The city also has a huge beautiful casino. There are often film festivals on in the Staatstheater, also lots of concerts and plays.
My friend Jutta took me on a drive into the country to visit an old Roman village, built about 60 B.C. Reconstructed last century, interesting how there was internal central heating supplied by a thermal spring, also a model village displaying many styles of buildings of the past. A drive up a high peak gave us wonderful panoramas of the skyline of Frankfurt and Wiesbaden with an abundance of villages and towns in the valleys below. Folk were giving their falcons some training, they were huge, beautiful and graceful birds, I noted the razor sharp claws with awe
Now that the weather has cleared to nice sunny days we planned a small tour to south Germany for about three days. First stage was on the autobahn bypassing cities like Heidelberg and Stuttgart, quite scary, there seemed to be no speed limits so the 400-klm journey soon passed and we reached the delightful town of Hagnau and found our guest house close to the shores of Lake Constance, with the Swiss border on the other side. Doing some exploring further along the shores we found old Meersburg, there were some delightful old half-timbered buildings with lots of potential for photography. A stroll around the streets, the waterfront and marketplace was a treat, beautiful displays of colour among the many gardens and ceramic pots. A huge surprise was found on our journey on to the stilted houses of Unteruhldingen, ( what a mouthful?) amazing people still live this way , they showed us their craftwork of weaving, ceramics and coins. The houses are built on stilts on the lake with bridges connecting them; this was supposed to protect them from wild animals many centuries ago. It had been a long but wonderful day so arriving back to Hagnau there was still time to enjoy a nice meal and many wines, then found a little bar on the shoreline for a few more drinks and a sample plate of local cheeses.
A beautiful morning for our boat trip to the tropical island of Mainau on the lake, yes I said tropical, they grow bananas, citrus, very colourful masses of bougainvillea, hibiscus and many warm climate flowers, there were also stunning displays of art work creations all done in flowers. The reason I was told for this achievement where snow can be metres deep on the mainland is a warm flow of air crossing continuously over the island. Back on the mainland there was still time to visit Salem/Baden, an old monastery still used for very bright pupils but was originally used for monks who lived their whole lives building this huge complex. Next to see was the Castle Heiligenberg, beautiful ornate interior including delicately carved wooden figures plus a lovely chapel.
We left this lovely little village and travelled along the lakeside, a wonderful view of the snow capped mountains of the Swiss Alps, our first stop was the city of Ravensburg, some of it dating back to the 14th century, and an old tower was part of the original wall that surrounded the city. Now we were leaving this beautiful part of Germany behind us, looking back on my photos I think I must have taken just about every stunning half-timbered building around the lakeside. Climbing into the mountains the next surprise was the city of Sigmaringen and it’s lovely old castle which was still occupied until 1973 by members of a royal household of a Count, the magnificent private chambers have beautiful inlaid marble inlays, also the worlds largest private collection of old firearms and armour. Carrying on through the high country, thick forest, many small towns and villages, some houses still have the stables attached to them to shelter stock over the winter months. A stop at the Bärenhöhle limestone caves were simular to others I have explored, maybe a little lower, they were originally home to bears many years ago.
Our stop for the night was the old University City of Tübingen. The older part of the was full of lovely half-timbered houses, picturesque canals running beside the cobbled streets, a charming old castle was close to the University, again my camera worked overtime. A large market seem to be the centre of activity, selling the produce of the area, a large section was devoted to just about every flower you could imagine. On the outskirts of the city we linked up with the autobahn again, very boring after such pictorial scenery of country lanes and main roads.
Back in Wiesbaden again, there was just time to freshen up as we were going to Juttas mothers country home for dinner, she served lots of fantastic German dishes and lots of first class wine. Poor Jutta was sick of toasting in fruit juices, as she was the driver. It was a happy evening; the feeling of welcome was very strong. After some sad farewells it was time to travel back to Juttas flat, I felt in a happy mood and that’s when I talk a lot, this was soon to end when a car turning in front of us collided with a motor bike, a vision of the rider flying through the air like he had a jet engine attached will never leave me, we narrowly missed him. I dashed out of the car to find the lady passenger of the bike, she was crying out with pain, no wonder her femur was poking through her jeans, I became very sober very fast. Jutta called the police and soon the road was alive with people, a huge mobile hospital arrived and was able to give immediate attention to the lady, sadly the bike rider was passed needing attention. My traffic skills came into being by guiding cars passed the horror scene, if they only new how difficult and confusing it was for me when everything is opposite to what I am used to .An early start to visit Mainz City, Maggie took the car so Jutta and I caught the train. Our first call was to the Museum of Printing which was introduced to the world by Johannes Gutenberg, first prints of the bible dated in the 14th century. The smallest bible was there; it had a prayer written in seven languages. Nest visit was to the Mainz Cathedral, built in Romanesque style, additions over many centuries from various architectural influences, and gave it an interesting skyline. The huge interior had many statues of saints carved in stone, the alter was not as impressive as some in Spain, but still beautiful. A huge market demanded an inspection, mainly fruit and vegetables, plus a blaze of colour from the flower stalls. The River Rhine was a delight to stroll along it’s banks, stopping to watch the many barges and tourist boats travelling up and down the swift flowing river. Time to catch the train back to Wiesbaden, they run strictly on time, fast and efficient.
My holiday in Europe has ended and after many goodbyes and promises of a return visit I caught my flight back to Gatwick, London to connect my 11 hour flight to Los Angeles, America .It all went along smoothly and on arrival I soon was on my way to my Skyways hotel close to the airport.
I had booked a tour the night before, after a good nights sleep I was back in travel mode again, travelling south on a bus tour of the Queen Mary the first stop was a whalers village called Port-o-Call at San Pedro which was very picturesque, lots of souvenir shops and sea food restaurants, next a harbour cruise around the huge container port, ship builders and Navel docks, very interesting. Moving on, the next place on our itinerary was the Queen Mary Liner, now a tourist attraction, spending two hours exploring the huge interior with it’s elegant ballroom, beautiful entrance stairway and dining rooms, it is used as a hotel now. Nearby was the giant Spruce Goose, an eight propeller plane built during W.W.11, made primarily of wood, a savings of critical war materials, It was claimed it would never take off but Howard Hughes proved that was wrong as it did fly for nearly a mile After the war it was not needed as modern aircraft took over and it has become a museum piece, housed in a giant hanger. It was a pleasant bus tour and I covered quite a lot of the L.A. coastline, which I hadn’t seen before.
Next morning I started an inland trip by taking a local bus to downtown L.A. where I checked out a Greyhound bus trip, buying a two week pass so I can get on and off as I please, while checking out a reservation the booking officer shouted to me to duck down which I did as a rein of shotgun pellets embedded in the wall above us, I got one hell of a shock, luckily the person was overpowered by security guards and taken away, I decided on the next bus out of the city. There was some time to fill in which was good for checking out some of the shopping streets of L.A., scores of jewellery and clothing shops around 5th & 6th Ave. Gold chain was sold be the foot, I bought enough for a mans bracelet with a resell price of five time back home, there were lots of small parks in this area but sadly there were many tramps lying around with their wine bottles, also the streets were very untidy with rubbish, perhaps I was in the wrong place, as I noticed many brothels and sex shops, thought I had better move out of there.
My bus departed at 7 pm for an all night journey to Flagstaff in Arizona, there were a few undesirables on the bus for the first few hours, two sitting behind me were talking about what size knives they carried and how mush they paid for their drugs, not a chance for taking a nap! Finally arrived at Flagstaff at 7 am, checked into a motel I had previously stayed in, then decided on a few hours sleep before sightseeing. The town is very much set up for tourists, my last visit was mid-winter with snow, this time it is hot and dry. I checked out a few souvenirs, mostly Indian craft and very colourful
This morning has started with a glorious sunrise and promise of a lovely day, I caught a bus to the Grand Canyon, on my last visit it was snow capped, now you could see the heat rising from it, the colours unbelievable in full sun. An air tour looked interesting so I booked an hours flight into the canyon, what a sight, everywhere I turned there was a different kaleidoscope of brilliant colour, my poor camera worked overtime again. I was told these flights may be stopped as the vibrations was causing damage to the walls of the canyon, I’m sure the plane got fairly close to them. I chickened out of a trek by donkey into the canyon floor, where the Colorado River flows the full length of the canyon, white water rafting is very popular along the swift flowing river maybe my horse riding skills were not that good, anyway there was time to gaze at this spectacular panoramic views staged in front of me, the cheeky little chipmunks were still there causing dust clouds instead of throwing up snow.
On the road again, the greyhound bus left early for my next destination, Albuquerque, this time in daylight, heading east through desert country, many Indian reservations along the way. We travelled on through New Mexico, very rough and barren country, then rocky cliffs of glorious colours. I arrived late afternoon at Albuquerque, the benefit of air condition was soon noticed as the heat was overpowering when I got off the bus. I soon found a hotel close by and enjoyed some very cold beers This is only a rest stop so after a stroll around parts of the city, enjoying some of it’s Indian influence, it was time to eat and get some sleep.
My next section of travel is north towards Denver in Colorado, the bus was new and had more luxury seats and only partly full. The journey took me through the Carson National Forest, into the hills passing Angles Fire Ski resort, the Lake Resort of Eagles Nest, then a most scenic drive through some real rugged countryside, Cimarron Canyon, again a wonderful spectacle, finally arriving at Raton for a lunch stop. The buildings here were mostly of a red sand stone with flat roofs, Indian style windows and doors. Back on the road again, passed Walsenburg, the town looked very old and had some fine buildings. Then into more greener country with large cattle ranches, next was Castle Rock and finally arrived into the sprawling city of Denver, very modern with lots of tree lined streets, will be great to explore, checking into a Quality Inn Hotel feeling a little tired after such a long time on a bus, I phoned Ann. Clarke, an old friend of mine who said she would be around in the morning to take me sightseeing.
Ann was at the hotel early in her huge beautiful red auto Chrysler; we motored back south towards Albert near Colorado Springs to meet another friend Betty who lived in a lovely old farmhouse. I enjoyed walking across the lush pasture, wild flowers of brilliant colours blooming everywhere, animals grazing and a wide selection of birds everywhere. It was hard to imagine all this is covered with deep snow during winter. Betty joined us for a trip into the hills above Colorado Springs; this gave us a great view of the surrounding valleys with the Rockies in the far distance, lots of fresh clear air and rugged beauty.
Our next stop was the old goldmining town of Victor, which recently had a hailstorm and was still covered in a sheet of white simular to snow. The old timbered shops and houses of the town added to the scenic display. Starting back down the hills we passed through Cripple Creek where we stopped at a quaint little restaurant where we enjoyed a lovely meal together, then it was time to say goodbye to my dear old friend Betty and return to Denver after a wonderful sightseeing day.
Next morning I took a two hour bus tour of the city, passing the Golden Domed Civic Centre, the State Capitol, city centre which has a huge delightful Mall, then the old part with it’s stately homes. A stop at the U.S. mint was very interesting, copper and silver coins are minted there, no samples though! I enjoyed a swim in the hotel pool while waiting for Ann and her friend Tony to arrive for some more sight seeing, arriving this time in a huge Mercury car with every luxury. We drove into the Rocky Mountains through many little resort towns and ski villages. Climbing to a peak of 12,000 ft .for a spectacular view of these rugged snow-capped mountains, although it was summer there was still some snow lying in the villages even though it wasn’t cold, just a little crisp. Descending back down into the valley we passed through a two-mile tunnel, quite an experience. Ann bought me a tiny bottle from an antique shop, she said after a few years it would turn a lovely shade of mid-blue. Arriving back at Ann’s place it was just on dusk and time to stoke up the barby for a nice home cooked meal. Another very interesting sight seeing day thanks to the hospitality of these wonderful people
The next leg of my journey was Salt Lake City, again nice green pastures and fields of all sorts of crops, we arrived at the cowboy town of Cheyenne for a lunch stop and were soon into gentle rolling country with lots of wooden barriers on either side of the road, I was told they were to hold back the snow drifts during winter. The Rockies could be seen in the far distance, we crossed the continental divide and into dessert type barren country, the road hardly had any corners, passed many small towns, who knows what they survived on there, Rock Springs had a few motels and not much else. The bus was running late and arrived in S.L.C. after dark, luckily I found a motel close by. It will be interesting to explore the city tomorrow. I had made friends with a German guy, which had helped to pass the time on this long journey.
The morning dawned to lovely blue skies and quite warm. I booked a city tour for the afternoon, this gave me time to check out the huge Mormon Temple, built of white granite which was hauled 20 miles by donkeys, was finally finished in 1897, forty years after it was started by Brigham Young who brought the first Mormons across to Utah. The bus tour started and took us back around the Temple Square explaining all the history, mostly of Mormons, a visit to hear the wonderful acoustics in the Temples choir room where a huge pipe organ gave a recital was very rewarding. The main Temple is out of bounds to visitors so we had to be content in just hearing about it. The tour took us around the city Capitol, University, the streets numbers all start from the Temple Square. The most interesting part was a drive to the Salt lakes which is 26% salt, swimming there is quite a sensation, you just float. There are no hotels or bars except in resorts, some indiscrete liquor shops, I took note of were many people sitting in parks drinking alcohol, not a good example for a 70% Mormon city, I could imagine what it would be like during night time! I needed to enjoy some nice cold beer in the privacy of my motel room.
Back on the road again, today with a journey to Reno. The bus followed the salt lakes for about an hour, then into the Bonneville Salt Flats, a white expanse as far as you could see. The first town on the Nevada border was Wendover, soon we had reached the Casino town of Reno rising out of very flat desert like country, it was hot and humid, I found a motel, freshened up and went to explore the Casinos, on booking into the motel I was given lots of concessions to spend so firstly I cashed in my free chips for betting on the pokies, then had a few free drinks, finally a huge steak meal and still I hadn’t spent a cent, this is great, I think what they expect you to do is attack the gambling with eagerness to make or break a fortune, I was wise and became a spectator, it was like a mini Los Vegas.
I wasn’t leaving till afternoon so this gave me a chance to walk around the Casinos, which looked rather plain without their colourful lighting, taking note of many pawn shops, I wonder why? Leaving the city of gambling the countryside changed to lush green farmland, old towns and forests of pine trees. The city of Sacramento was where I needed to change buses for my journey on to Stockton, which is back in California. On arrival my friends Joe & Alice were there to greet me and take me to their beautiful home on a lakes edge. Stockton is the 13th largest city of California, it is situated along the San Joaquin waterway which connects to the San Francisco Bay, having deep water large overseas boats can come right up to the city. We dined out at a lovely riverside restaurant; the lights of the city reflected the water.
It was nice to stay in a private home for a change, my friends wanted to take me to see some real huge redwood trees, driving first through many vineyards and market gardens, it is very fertile soil but needs constant irrigation. Joe and Alice own a lumber mill so naturally we stopped to view it before entering the forest. Following a very windy road we stopped at some of their friends home for a nice luncheon before carrying on through dense undergrowth, taking a walk we were soon in view of some huge specimens like sequoias and redwoods, some with bark 10 inches thick. Smaller varieties were dogwoods and hazelnuts trees. It was so peaceful, not a sound bar the occasional chirp of a bird. I had built up an appetite, Alice new of a delightful Italian restaurant in the hills, which was most enjoyable.
I was badly in need of a semi rest day so what better than to take a leisure walk around the lake front, then a tour around the city sights, which included the beautiful Memorial Civic Auditorium and the Burns Tower in the University of the Pacific, still not a lot of high rise buildings which meant the old charm of yester year were still there. Joe stoked up the barby for dinner and we all enjoyed his cuisine along with some very nice red wine, it had been a very relaxing day and now I needed to get moving again.
I decided on a day tour to Yosemite National Park, catching the Amtrak rail for a 1 ½ hour trip, there was a bus to take me on the two hour drive into the Valley, the first glimpse was when you come out of a tunnel to see breathtaking views of the bridal veil falls, and the mighty El Capitan. The massive size of the valley walls was just about too much for my wide-angle lenses; my camera got a good workout. A lovely lunch was served at the Ahwahnee Hotel, built of river stones and timber; it was a very impressive building with interior décor of years gone by. My return trip to Stockton was late leaving; finally making it back to my friend’s home
Back on the Greyhound again, first to San José, then to my destination Monterey, it was another sad goodbye to more great friends but my time is running out. The bus passed much very dry countryside, a range of mountains; there were thousands of windmills that are used to generate power, and not many turning, as there just wasn’t any wind. San Jose is a very large city, a banking centre for overseas clients. After a short wait I caught another bus for Monterey, and back on the shores of the Pacific, it is a spectacular coastal city with a temperate climate, rich in history, timbered holiday influence in buildings added character to this seaside town. It was school holidays so I was lucky to find accommodation in the Travel Lodge and was soon out to explore, first place Fisherman’s Wharf with its many craft shops selling hand made copper and tin ornaments, lots of places to eat, seafood their specialty. A huge marina was home to scores of luxury boats. I settled for my favourite dinner, fish and chips.
This morning there is a low mist over the sea and quite cool, locals told me there was quite often a fog over the city also. I found the Monterey Aquarium, the first part was a huge tank with seeing platforms on three levels, with a large variety of seawater fish, a simulated tank held all types of kelp waving to and fro where Sea Otters tumble and dive, these playful animals are the smallest mammals in the world Hundreds of small specialty tanks housed tropical fish, sea urchins and fossils. A visit to the waxworks was very interesting; it covered the history of early Monterey, then a walk around the many unusual buildings with very colourful gardens and potted flowers.
On the road again this morning, following the coast for a while and then acres of market gardens, the soil looked dark and fertile and the crops lush and green. I was on my way to Santa Barbara with a change of bus at Salinas for the southbound link. Moving into mountainous scenery with quite barren countryside but this soon passed as we made our way back to the coastline again, following many small seaside resorts.
Arriving at Santa Barbara, I was fortunate to find a comfy hotel near the middle of the city. The cities Spanish heritage was still there in the lovely buildings, which I plan to view in more detail. Unusually beautiful places like the Museum of Natural History, The mission of Santa Barbara, the Courthouse, are places to admire, as was the Botanical Gardens and Stearns Wharf. Santa Barbara is nestled between Los Angeles and San Francisco, having a pleasant climate it is a wonderful holiday destination. I did lots of walking, the only way to admire the lovely clean streets, tourists all with a relaxed feel about them. This is my last chance to buy some souvenirs to take home. Suddenly I realised that tomorrow I needed to go back to Los Angeles and then catch my plane home. I enjoyed a beautifully cooked New York steak for dinner, most tender and juicy, I called it my farewell dinner to America.
After a very hearty breakfast of pancakes, bacon and eggs, toast and coffee, I caught the last of my Greyhound buses back to L.A. Once again it was coastline most of the way and soon the outskirts of the city appeared, more lanes of fast traffic overbridges and huge roundabouts everywhere. On arrival at the Grey Hound depot I managed a transfer bus to the airport for my long haul Air New Zealand flight home, enjoying the comfort and excellent service of my favourite airline.
To sum up, it has been a most enjoyable and satisfying two month holiday, taking in the wonders of four major countries, wonderful hospitality of old friends, new friends, the genuine help and assistance of many people, now it is time to go home and start dreaming of another wonderful holiday somewhere.