[Treasur]

When i was a small child, so late 60s & early 70s, we didn’t do things like Trick or Treating or even Halloween  really. Bonfire night, the 5th of November, was Guy Fawkes Night and the big event. Kids would sometimes make a vaguely human figure and go round asking ‘Penny for the Guy’ and the figures would usuallu be burnt on top of a bonfire. Most people who had gardens would have their own bonfire, your Dad would set off small fireworks bought at the local newsagents (some of which would fail to go off lol) and your Mum would make soup and sausage rolls and toffee apples. Even us kids vaguely knew about the story of Guy Fawkes trying to blow up the Houses of Parliament, if not the details 

As an adult now, it’s remarkable how little we worried about health and safety issues, other than keeping kids back from the fireworks or trying not to set your neighbours fence on fire! And tbh nowadays I find myself wondering if Guy Fawkes was entirely without merit lol....

It comes with global media I suspect but imho it’s rather a shame when any country loses some of its connection with some of those old particular stories and traditions that are passed on from one generation to the next. Having said that, i’m not sure I would want to set off Catherine wheels in my own small garden by nailing them to a stick in the ground as I remember my Dad doing 

If you liked York, Watcher, I am confident that you will love Edinburgh 

[Watcher]

I think initially fireworks were adopted by the English authorities to mock Guy Fawkes failed attempt Treasur. Now they are pretty much just celebratory and some scholars believe the US borrowed that same tradition on the 4th of July.

The gunpowder became too damp I believe as the plot was originally scheduled for the Summer, however there was a plague going around London and Parliament was not in session because of it.

There were also a couple of Catholic conspirators in the Fawkes group and their Catholic guilt led them to tip off the Catholic Parliament member in advance because they did not want him killed, lol.

The tour guide in London pointed out that King George III did claim we would be back one day, lol. I guess he was right about the marathoners at least.

She had also mentioned the naming of Green Park. King Charles II was caught picking flowers for his mistress by his wife Catherine in what is now Green Park. So she ordered all the flowers dug up and removed, hence Green Park.

A lot of the park was closed off for the marathon so I couldn't confirm if flowers grow there or not. Anyway he had a multitude of illegitimate children so picked flowers should have been the least of her concern, lol.

North of Hyde Park their is a plaque marking the site of the embassy of Texas which England recognized as an independent nation.

A lot of sheep farms on the train ride up. The young lady next to me at dinner tried Haggis and she seemed brave about it as she took photos for her dad. However, I think she was really struggling with her choice as each bite was followed with a gulp of her pint.

Arthur's Seat is beyond impressive however I will not attempt to climb it. My walking legs recovered immediately after the marathon and this is the fastest recovery ever but I'm not attempting any climbing or running. I was reading it's a 2 hour hike roundtrip.

Edinburgh Castle is just beyond massive and I will visit it today.

UrsaMajor I don't believe we could even come close to replicating the York Minster or many other of these medieval structures today. They really are pieces of art each one. Edinburgh has St. Giles Cathedral. It also demonstrates the power of religion in the medieval times.

[Watcher]

Yesterday was spent walking 19 miles touring Edinburgh Castle, Calton Hill, Holyrood Palace, Arthur's Seat, Princess and Queen Streets Gardens, etc.

I did decide to climb Arthur's Seat which is an extinct volcano. I probably should have worn shorts because I did feel the climb somewhat. It did begin to rain at the summit.

The weather is a mixed bag. It's cloudy and the sun makes appearances in spurts. Sometimes there is a drizzle however I haven't felt cold in Edinburgh. York has been the coldest stop thus far and the sun was in full bloom that day, lol.

There's beautiful volcanic rock at the summit and I did see my first pheasants. I had to look it up. I saw some runners actually running up Arthur's Seat. That's some workout. I think it's part of Holyrood Park and there are many trails. The summit is just one trail.

Green grass, yellow bushy flowers, and reddish volcanic rock.

Today was an all day organized tour to Loch Ness. We stopped at Callander for coffee however this was also a Roman camp site and there is an archway they built that remains.

Next we stopped at Glencoe and discussed the Glencoe Massacre of 1692 which I'm all too familiar with already. We made a 3rd stop at the Commando Memorial.

We had all types of weather today but I think that's the norm. The Highlands are absolutely breathtaking. The sun came out and the grass is shades of brown and white for the eye to see and mountains everywhere. I thought the grass looked yellow but the tour guide said it's white.

There's absolutely nothing out there but mountains and space There's a bench marking the spot where Ian Fleming used to sit.

Loch Ness was fine. Look they had the sonar working and something was approaching the boat but then the captain decided to turn around because of dense fog, lol. I mean, Nessie is obviously in the fog. The Scots are never going to find her if they keep running away.

We had all types of weather again on the water. We stopped at the Creag Meagaidh Nature Reserve and met a herde of what I thought were hybrid Wooly Mammoth's 🦣. However they were Highlander Cows and they looked gorgeous.

I also saw red deer, 5 billion sheep, and goats just parked on the side of mountains. Amazing how they can climb. We finally stopped in Pitlochry for whisky 🥃 ice cream.

Of course the sun was out in Edinburgh at 8pm when I arrived back and it's really difficult taking good pictures, lol. That Edinburgh Castle was just mocking me as I passed it and the sky was clear. I'll just keep my gray photos.

I have a quick turnaround for Holy Island. I don't believe it should be as long. Loch Ness is some hike however I did think it was worth it.

[Treasur]

Reminds me of that old joke....why don’t Scots complain about the Weather? Bc if you wait 5 minutes, it’ll change  Sounds like you are having a fine time, Watcher.....look forward to hearing about Holy Island!

[Watcher]

Hi Treasur,

Yesterday started off at Alnwick Castle and I did not know it's history. We passed Holy Island in the morning and the North Sea was covering the access road during high tide.

Alnwick Castle was Hogwarts from Harry Potter. It also was featured in Downtown Abbey and Robin Hood Prince of Thieves. So this was not my favorite visit.

There were people attempting to play Quidditch on broomsticks in one of the courtyards. Meanwhile this was also a private residence as the Duke of Northumberland lives here. So there were no access areas.

Alnwick itself was a nice little town as I walked around a bit.

As we crossed the causeway onto Holy Island you could see how much of it was covered by the North Sea during high tide because there was just mud on both sides of it as far as one could see. The causeway was actually a pretty long drive.

It was cold and windy. Lindisfarne Castle was beautiful as it sits on a rock overlooking the sea. This was also another National Trust location so it's on par with the White Cliffs of Dover IMO.

There was a rather large old lime kiln that must have had multiple furnaces in operation. The beach along the North Sea has huge flat rocks in the water and then there were these large smooth "pebble" rocks that people have stacked on top of each other to make designs. I did like these rock formations.

There was a sandy beach in what must be a lagoon. There was a farm adjacent to the castle and it had sheep. It probably is a nice little seaside spot during the Summer as there were small shops with places to eat and shop. There was also an old church ruin.

Today we first stopped at Jedburgh. There was the ruin of the Jedburgh Abbey and there was a home where Mary Queen of Scots visited and it contained her death mask. Some of these stops are made just for a coffee break or to stretch ones legs or use a restroom etc ..

It rained a lot today. Afterwards we went to Hadrian's Wall. We first stopped at Steel Rigg which was a huge rock formation where the wall ran up and over. The rock was impressive because it was surrounded by farmland. So I climbed Steel Rigg and it was just beautiful.

We then stopped at Vindolanda Roman Fort and Museum which is also an active archaeological site. The project started 50 years ago and they believe they will still be digging for another 200 years. They have pulled a lot of artifacts out of the ground and the museum and site were excellent.

I did see a lot of people hiking along the wall which must be a cool adventure. A lot is gone as the Romans did leave in 410 and it wasn't until the early 1900's when some people began to realize that they needed to protect what remained.

We stopped in another nice small town called Moffatt afterwards for a break on the way back.

I would love to explore the wall on my own one day along with checking out the trails along Ben Nevis which also looked amazing.

Traditional Scottish pies at Decon Brodie's afterwards. He was a respectable character during the day and thief at night so he was hung eventually, lol.

Tomorrow I am heading back to London as this trip winds down.

[MadLuv]

So jealous of all your adventures. Sounds great!

[Watcher]

Hi Madluv.

This morning I set out for The Tower of London and that was definitely worth the price of admission. Afterwards I had to have lunch at the Hung, Drawn and Quartered Pub. Time period photos of the execution gatherings are framed on the wall downstairs on the way to the bathrooms.

Inside the Tower of London there was a section of Roman Wall. So it got me thinking about tracing the wall myself. I already knew there was a second section outside the Tower Hill tube. Low and behold I read a marker that states there were 21 locations.

So I found 3, 4, and 5 rather easily. Site #4 is actually in a building that also houses a cafe and it's easily accessible. Marker #6 drove me nuts because I couldn't find it.

I read later on that many of the markers no longer exist. Anyway location 6 was inside a subway at Aldgate that has been permanently closed so that's why I couldn't find it.

Another location was accessible from inside of a parking garage.

I found #7 and then it grew cold until #15 and the author of this article later explained all those markers were gone. Anyway I made it all the way to the London Museum and found many sections of Roman Walls.

Apparently a lot were revealed due to the bombings during WW2.  I couldn't figure out when the wall went south. Later on I read that there are four sections at a financial institution, a historic city jail and the Blackfriars train station as the wall ended at that location.

So I wouldn't have found the southernly route of the wall on my own. I think it starts at Old Bailey from London Wall Street and meanders to Blackfriars train station.

I went south and looked at St Paul's Cathedral where I believe Charles and Diana were married. I found Cleopatra's Needle and walked Whitehall Gardens.

There was a heavy police presence at the Parliament with many road closures as preparations are under way for the Coronation. I saw a military band performing and marching and that would have been a good reason to stay and watch the ceremony in person.

The Greylag Goose is the bird at St. James Park. There is another one that escapes me at the moment. I checked. It's called the Pochard. The Union Jack was flying in abundance along Waterloo and Oxford Streets.

The Ravens make an incredible sound at The Tower of London and they are such an intimidating bird. They used to house wild animals. There was a polar bear that was chained and allowed to swim in the River Thames. Lions, elephants, baboons, etc ...

I think I walked 19 miles today from the Tower of London to Paddington just enjoying the sun and taking in the sites. It was my last day so that's it for me.

[Watcher]

Heathrow Airport was a pleasant experience. The United States is one of eight privileged countries that get to skip the traditional customs line. I posed for facial recognition and I scanned my own passport and I was in. Departing was even easier.

I think the trip home kicked my butt for four days and I'm finally coming out of my malaise. I went to kickboxing on Saturday and everything was sore afterwards, as if, I've never worked out.

Today I kicked off the Marine Corps Marathon campaign with a 10 mile run at the beach. Oh I found the sun and apparently it resides in New Jersey, lol.

For Berlin I had 13 weeks of training at 40+ miles and with London I had 17 weeks of training at 40+ miles. So I will have 20 weeks of training for the Marine Corps Marathon which has roughly 20,000 runners. Theoretically I should be able to improve on my London time.

I did enter the 2024 London Marathon lottery the day before the current one just in case things went bad. It may take me 10 years to get back.

My current marathon priorities are Chicago and Tokyo lotteries and they each can also take me years to win. Dublin also has a lottery system and I think I'm going to enter that one as it would give me an excuse to visit Ireland.

Rome and Paris have open marathons however they both require doctor approval and that seems to be a negative with some runners. I'm not quite sure what that approval entails.

[FaithWalker]

Catching up on your recent trip and it sounds fantastic.  I definitely have the travel bug in me and hope to trace some of that same path someday.

No marathons in my future though.  I hiked a lot in April with my D20 and my niece, but now I am having planter fasciitis so here May is half gone and no hikes.  Bummer.

[Watcher]

Hi FaithWalker.

I've been taking turmeric with curcumin daily for 2 years now because I had both arthritic pain in my ankle and that heel pain associated with plantar fasciitis. No issues since. Knock on wood, lol. Hiking steep uphills and kickboxing are my usual culprits.

Yesterday was absolutely beautiful. This is the weather to get outdoors. I had a 10k race at the beach. I had to get extra miles in prior to the race because 6 miles would be a little short for my training so I parked my car in a different lot and jogged to the package pickup location.

I thought I was 1.5 miles out but actually ended up being 3 miles from the start location. So I ran the 3 miles, picked up my stuff, ran back to the car and then back to the start for 9 miles.

I timed it perfectly with 5 minutes to spare and then proceeded to run within 12 seconds of my best 10k. So I think I just have the running down pat at the moment. I ran through a pine tree section and the smell was just incredible. Plenty of deer as usual along the route.

I have a 15 mile bike tour scheduled for Sunday and a solo hike on Saturday. I don't bike much and I made an appointment in June for kayaking since it's the season. All it takes is one beautiful day to encourage further outdoor activities.

Morgan Wallen canceled his concert so I will ask for a refund. I've never been to a stadium performance and have had my reservations about going to this particular place due to congestion upon leaving. I prefer the smaller Summer outdoor concert venues.

I hope you enjoyed your Mother's Day yesterday, as well as, all the other moms on the forum.