California Dreaming...

April 2008

California

No dreaming.....here I am on my Virgin Atlantic flight all the way to San Francisco for a two week ride around to see....whatever there is to see....

But first....some entertainment....

Heres some posing at Moneterey Bay where we visited the fabulous aquariam....though I almost got eaten by this California Gull and Froog. travelling companion (I allowed him to come on this trip)...

...almost absconded with a fisherman....I think he wanted to steal his boat to go and find treasure....

In April theres still plenty of snow on the ground and the high passes in the Sierra Nevada dont open until May.....here I am with some giant Redwoods.....and they are BIG.....dont even think that a big tree in this country is big....its small....even compared to a small tree in Yosemite or Sequoia National Parks.....

Below is the General Sherman Tree....it has the biggest volume of any tree....and believe me...it has volume....

Its reckoned to be 2300 - 2700 years old....!  Its not the oldest tree....thats a Bristlecone Pine...nor the tallest....thats a Coastal Redwood.....but....its impressive....!!

The Sierra Nevada (snowy range)  is mostly found in California though does stretch to Nevada....there are some impressive views to be had.....

In the foothills of the Sierra Nevada the great gold rush occured in the mid 1800's.  It was all over in 7 years though you can visit goldmines today that are still working.....and here I am.....going underground....

....and doing a little panning along the way....just in case....

Full circle....back for a couple of days to ride the street cars and cable cars.....but this has to be one of the iconic views...the Golden Gate Bridge.....

...and a great way to enter the city....

Didnt have time to visit Alcatraz....but here it is....in the bay.....

Ooh-la-la

March 2008

Paris

Off to the Gare du Nord.....

.....on the train.....

A long weekend in the romantic capital of the world....well...for some...me...the history....the galleries...the sites...the....

Chocolate.............!!!!

But first....off to Montmartre...and the Roman Catholic church on the hill....

Sacre-Coeur, or, The Basilica of the Sacred Heart

One has to rest ones feet occasionally....here I am at the hotel-la-la.....

With a fine boulevard view.....

And after a rest...off to see a few things.....Notre Dame de Paris....or

Our Lady of Paris......

Heres something thats been erect since 1889 for the Worlds Fair....

Eiffel Tower

The Eiffel Tower was the tallest man made structure in the world until the Chrysler Building in New York dethroned it.  So....

....better get up it and take a look....

.....at the view...........anyone would think its the tallest 

structure in France....and it is...!

...ooooooooooh.....the viewwwwwww....!!....

oooooh the money....the most paid for monument visited...in the world!!

Winter fun...

December 2007

Skiing in Berwang, Austria

Here I am on the way to a great skiing destination at Berwang in Austria....cool!!  And it was at times....but well worth it....

Most days were spent snow boarding....

Weeeeeeeeeeeeeeee.....!!!

Aaaaaaaaargh....!!!

Oh yes....very funny....!!!!

A trip was made to the Zugspitze....I got a ride....

It was splendidly sunny with fabulous views across the Wetterstein Mountains of Germany and Austria....as this mountain is on the border of these countries....

It is mostly billed as the highest mountain in Germany.....there has been a cross at the top of the mountain since 1851, inspired by the priest Christoph Ott.

Orkneys

May 2007

Time to head north....so we got on a big plane that took us so far....Aberdeen....

.....then we had to get on a smaller plane that took us a bit further....Inverness...

Then things changed a bit.....

...not only an eight seater but the luggage allowance dropped...!  From 20kg to 15kg, which produced the amusing site of some people having to wear lots of clothing from their suitcase to get it down to 15kg having packed for the full initial allowance....ha ha ha!

Here I am assuming the position....if youve never flown on these small planes they are...er...much more interesting....!

We flew in to Kirkwall on the main island.  Mostly a pebble dash affair, grey, bleak....but then it was only a short stopover for the beginning and end of the holiday....the rest would be island hopping!

We picked up the hire car and headed in to Kirkwall itself for a nights rest.  And the next morning instead of heading further north....we headed south!  Across the mainland and on to Burray via the great 4th Churchill Barrier.  This allows plenty of protection for Scapa Flow. 

Scapa Flow is famous for the scuttling of the German fleet after their defeat in World War 1.

Across Burray and on to South Ronaldsey to our first proper destination...The Tomb of the Eagles....here I am at the entrance, the only way in....via this pulley system....

Its a Neolithic chambered tomb....when it was discovered it contained around 16, 000 human bones and nearly 1000 bird bones from White-tailed Sea Eagles.  These birds are being re-introduced to this area.

After this it was back to the airport for a flight on the eight seater....and a few days island hopping and walking the sites on Shapinsay, Westray and Papa Westray.

On one island Dad wanted to watch the birds....Mum wanted to watch Dad...and neither of them watched that post disappear right up my chuff!!

After returning from the trip round a few of the islands we had a day to tour the West of the mainland.....a visit to Stromness was on the schedule....just as soon as we had visited...

Skara Brae

They cant mean me?

Its Europes most complete Neloithic village and was occupied from 3180BC.....its older than the pyramids and Stonehenge....!

Reward is everything.....

Off we go....

Just a quick note...to say I used to have a blog years ago but...someone lost the details...I will not mention names...since then I have been blog-less....but now I have a new blog....so my previous travels an be outed....!

Off we go.......because I am an Educated Monkey.....

April 2007

Having settled in at home I got wind of a potential trip...so I decided it was time I learned to drive...

To be honest I dont know what all you humans make so much fuss about really.  An hour in and here I am at the wheel, Mr Confident, on the motorway heading South West....

Mind you....after all that concentrating I felt somewhat unable to balance....so Mum gave a helping hand....

Stonhenge...construction commenced around 2600BC....and they still havent put the windows in!

More stones....this time...

Avebury

This is the worlds largest prehistoric stone circle...and then a bunch of norberts built a village right in the middle of it....and a pub....so if you should be up for a potentially eerie drink or two...this place offers you the chance....

After a nice kip and full English breakfast...yum!...it was time to visit Silbury Hill....

...the 4500 year old megalithic mystery.  It is the tallest man-made prehistoric mound in Europe....

Onward to the village of Lacock...so unspoilt that it has appeared in many films...and well worth a visit....and if you are lucky enough...

...you will be treated to the annual Scarecrow competition around the village.  And just what I need....something stuck right up me...

ARMPITS!!

Some family situations just arent going to work out...heres a classic one....

As an aside, and as I love history, the definitve publishing of Magna Carta in 1225 by Henry III, had many copies which toured the country....one copy ended up being kept in Lacock Abbey till 1946.

Finally...homeward...but not without stopping at Sutton Benger, near Chippenham for this...

The Green Man

All very Pagan I must say....and usually to be found in churches....this was due to the fact that the poor people who built the churches and then crafted what went in them were not Christians....but Pagans....