Exploring London

Today was explore London.  So, we hopped on the subway and headed to the tower hill stop.  Once there we walked around the Tower of London.....which to me is misnamed.  I would have named it London Castle, but what do I know.

As you may see we had some nice weather...in the 60's, which is much better than the last few days.  The Tower of London was impressive.

We walked across the Tower Bridge and back to catch the double decker bus.  We wanted to see and hear as much as we could as we only have today and possibly tomorrow to explore London.
It was quite interesting getting the bus.  There were 3 companies and they were all trying for our business.  Once on the bus we traveled all over London seeing monuments, Big Ben, Parliament, The London Eye, etc.

Me in front of the Tower Bridge

The London Eye

The London Eye                              

Memorial for animals in wars.  I thought this was really cool.

                                                                 

Parliament and Big Ben

Paralympic Flag and the city double decker bus.

We ended our day with a stop at one of the Pubs near our flat.  A great day exploring.  Still so much to explore and do.  Having a great time on "holiday" as they would say here.
Have a cracker of a day and be sure to check for more updates on my travels, but more importantly on David's quest for Gold.

Paralympics have begun!!

Today was the first day of the Paralympics.  As I mentioned, David doesn't play, so we explored the park.  We started the day with shopping at the Paralympic/Olympic store.  Didn't really buy much and boy was it packed with people.  We had a chance to go to wheelchair basketball so did.  We were able to see the 2nd half of Canada and Japan.  It was awesome, those guys play pretty rough.  Several times they were knocked out of their chairs, but that certainly didn't slow them down.  They just got right back up on their chairs and off they went.  We tried to get into Goal ball, but it was full and would be an hour wait for the next match.  We will try again another day.

The Orbit and the Stadium.

Velodrome

Water polo and Aquatic Center

Canada vs Japan with Canada winning!!

Basketball Arena

Our with day ended with dinner at a place near our flat.  It was a very busy place, so busy that we were almost done with our drinks and still hadn't gotten our meal.  We found out our waiter forgot to put the order in.  The nice thing is we got our drinks for free!!  Very good fish and chips with mashed peas.....they love their peas here in London and Scotland.  We have had peas with most of our meals.

Tomorrows plans; head into London to see some of the sites.....Westminster, Big Ben, etc.  We will take the double decker buses so we can see as much as we can.
Cherrio!

Paralympic Opening Ceremony

We are settled into our flat and last night went to the Opening Ceremony.  Not going to write much, I will just let you see the pictures and at that it still won't be the same as being here.

David doesn't play for a few days so we will go explore London and the Paralympic venues.  More adventures to come.

Outside the stadium.

Heading to the stadium.

Opening Ceremony

Oscar P. "The Blade Runner" who also competed in the Olympics.

The USA!!!  I tried to get a picture of David, but just as I snapped the
picture someone stood up.

Raising the Paralympic Flag.

The Paralympic Flame!!  Let the games begin!

No more car!! Now in London for Paralympics

Turned in the keys to the car, thank-goodness!!
Got up at 4am, drove to Edinburgh. Crazy you might think, but there was little if any traffic. Hopped on the train at 9:30, we are now at our flat for the next 10 days for the Paralympics. Go David!!!!

Our second B&B last night.  I have to say I enjoyed the last one more.  This one is fine, but not as quaint or as peaceful of a location.  Yesterday we had the choice; back to a church or on to a national park and more castles.  We opted for the castles and park as we heard the Queen, Charles, etc might be attending the church because they were on holiday.  We thought it would be neat to see them, but didn't want to get in all the traffic and people that could be there.

So, off we were to drive.  Some of the roads were a wee bit narrow and scary so narrow we had to stop to let oncoming traffic pass.  People were all very patient and would wave if you stopped to let them by.  Not sure that would happen in the states.  We saw a great deal of motor cycle, and then found out they were having a rally in Grantown on Spey.

Driving in the Cairngorm National Park wasn't bad most of the time you could see miles in front and behind you.  It was quite beautiful with all the heather coving the hills.  We drove up to what they called Ptarmigan Pass.  They views were really nice, we had lunch and hike around a bit.

We saw 2 castles the first, Corgarff Castle, I thought looked more like a fort or army garrison.  The second, Urquhart Castle, was on Loch Ness.  I enjoyed seeing both, but really enjoyed the one on Loch Ness, except it was really crowded.  I was and am very amazed at how big the Loch Ness is.

Inverness, Isle of Skye and Glasgow

Cairngorms National Park

Cairngorms National Park

Well, it has been a few days since I have been on due to limited internet access and I lost a post the other day and didn't have time to redo it.  A bit frustrating, but that is how it goes on the road.  :)

Sunday morning we left our B & B, the Tangley House, in Ballater.  We have decided it was our favorite the location, food, bed, everything was great!!  Brenda our hostess was helpful and gave us ideas for on the way to Inveness.  We had the option to go to Braemar to possibly see the Queen, Prince Charles, etc, as they were on holiday at the Balmoral Castle and would be going to church in Braemar.  We chose the other option.... a couple more castles and The Cairngorms National Park.

Corgarff Castle

We then went by Urquhart Castle which sit on the Loch Ness, on the way to Inveness and our next B&B.  We looked for Nessie, but she was no where to be found.

Julie, tell Dan we went thru Tomintoul, Grandtown-on-Spey and stopped by Aviemore where there was a motor cycle rally going on.
Todays drive was very pretty with a pretty good road all the way.  We arrived at Inverness and found our B&B and went to a pub on the river front.  After dinner we walked the river front.

Monday's destination was Isle of Skye......in the rain.  And I mean rain, it poured and poured.  We had planned to do several things outdoors but instead drove and just looked around from the car.

Road to Isle of Skye

Eilean Donan Castle

The Old Man of Storr

Isle of Skye

Today we drove to Glasgow, around 4 1/2 hours, without stops.  Thank-goodness the roads were pretty nice just a bit curvy at times.  I have a few pictures of Glasgow but it's time for bed....4 am comes early and we don't want to miss our train to London.
If you are enjoying reading this please leave a comment here and there.....otherwise I feel as though I am spending way to much time writing for no one.  Thanks and be well.

Left Edinburgh!!

Well today we rented a car and left the crowds in Edinburgh....enjoyed the stay, but was glad to move on.  Oh, what a stressful drive getting out of town....driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road, not much fun.  Once out of the city it wasn't so bad.  On our way to our B & B we stopped at Stirling Castle.  If you saw Braveheart it would be the castle he defended.  From the castle you can see The Wallace Monument.  Great views and really unbelievable rooms.

Entrance to Stirling Castle

The King & Queens Chambers

Once we left Stirling we drove on to a small castle and gardens called Edzell.  It wasn't a restored castle, but one that is what you would call ruins.  Or at least partial ruins.  The gardens were really cool and well kept.  Other parts were in tack, but many walls were gone.  Enjoyed this one in a different way than the other two.  It is hard to describe, but it had a unique character. 

Not sure what adventures we have in store for us tomorrow, but I know it will be good.  I know the drive won't start as scary as today!!  I hope everyone is well and safe.  

Scotland

We made it to Edinburgh yesterday at 8:00 am their time!  Needless to say we were tired and weren't going to bed.  We had to get our mind and body on Scotland time.  So, we took our luggage to the motel for them to hold while we wandered.  We ended up heading up to the Edinburgh Castle.  We decided it would keep our interest and there would be lots of moving around.  It was very impressive.  Built on top of an old volcano and sheer rock cliffs up to it.  I can see why it would be hard to overtake this castle.  Unfortunately, I left my camera back at the hotel in the storage.  So, no pictures right now of the inside of the castle.  After the castle we found a place to eat, what I wanted they were out of so went with plan b, macaroni and cheese.  When we headed back to the hotel, we weren't lost, but we certainly didn't take the most direct route.  Jet lag and not really knowing the city aren't the best combination!!

Today, after a good night sleep we were feeling a bit better.  We decided we would do the hop on hop off double decker bus tours.  Four different bus tours with a bit of walking.  We climb up to the top of Scott Tower, 287 steps to the top with some awesome views of the city.  We also went to the Royal Botanical Gardens, very peaceful and beautiful.  We tried to check out the Royal Yacht Britannia, but wanting to view the outside, but that isn't allowed so back to the bus.  After all the bus riding it was time for dinner.  Tonight I decided to have bangers and mash and again they were out.....I'm not doing well on my dinner choices I guess.  The last place we visited was the statue of Greyfriars Bobby, interesting story about a dog......google it.  :)

The best thing is we now know a bit more about the lay out of the city and didn't get lost coming back to the motel.

Wow, what a busy 4 days I just finished.  Thursday, Cathy (David Wagner's Mom) gave David a send off party in her neighborhood.  It was a fun time chatting with David and meeting Cathy's neighbors, who were anxious to meet and support him in his quest for gold.

Then over the weekend my niece and her girls were up for a soccer tournament.  So, of course I wanted to see my great niece play.  However, David was in town for The Rose City Wheel Chair Tournament and I wanted to watch his matches as well.  Needless to say, there was a lot of driving back and forth between soccer and tennis.  Busy, but well worth it.  David place 2nd in the open division.  My nieces team placed 3rd at her tournament.  It was a fun weekend.  Now time to get packed and ready to fly tomorrow........Scotland here we come!

Scotland and London here we come!!

It is 10 days until we take off for Scotland and then to London for the Paralympics.  Decided I had better get my blog up and running and work any bugs out before leaving.....so here it is.

Starting the trip in Scotland will be quite the adventure as I will be driving part of the time.  Not sure how I will like driving on the wrong side of the car and the wrong side of the road, but that's part of what makes it an adventure.  From everything I have heard Scotland is beautiful and the people are great.  We will be staying at different Bed and Breakfasts along the way which will allow us experience the culture.  We will do some hiking, exploring of the countryside, castles, as well as look for the Loch Ness monster.  
Don't worry I will post pictures along the way, but that will all depend on if I have internet connections.
Please support David Wagner in his quest for Paralympic Gold in wheelchair Tennis!! Paralympics begin on Aug. 29th and end on Sept. 9.  So far I believe they aren't going to be televised, but I am still looking into that.  They will be online and I will share that information later.

Thanks for sharing my adventures.