Hi all PMC members
Our PMC group have just finished a wonderful 10 days touring the UK. We journeyed from London through the pretty Cotswolds to visit Shakespeare’s birthplace in Stratford upon Avon, the first of many small towns featuring wonderful buildings with cobblestone roads and alleys throughout.
On to York and strolled through the narrow lanes of the Tudor Shambles and saw York Minster which is England’s largest Medieval cathedral. Crossing the border into Scotland we saw part of Hadrian’s Wall which used to be a 70 miles fence built by small rocks and now only small sections still exist.
We spent a night in Edinburgh and the dominating feature being the magnificent Edinburgh Castle perched high up over-looking the city. Who can visit Scotland and not experience a cultural dinner with performances by the Scots themselves. And yes we all ate Haggis which does have quite a unique taste. We spent some free time and walked part of the Royal Mile, an area with much local activity, shops and small cafes. The visit to the Royal Britannia ship which is now permanently moored in Edinburgh as a tourist attraction. Great to see how the Royals sailed and really quite a simple ship.
Driving onto Glasgow via historic Bannockburn and enjoyed the lovely scenery along the banks of Loch Lomond when we joined a small boat for a cruise. The English Lakes district is certainly beautiful with lush green fields as far as your eyes can see. Over 20 varieties of sheep throughout the fields. We stopped for lunch in Grasmere the home of the famous writer William Wadsworth. One of the stunning features on the drive where the narrow winding roads with the trees extending right across the roads forming unique canopies to drive through. I certainly would not like to be the
person keeping these trees trimmed!!
We then continued onto Wales and stopped overnight in the capital Cardiff. The Cardiff castle is certainly a well-kept attraction which is used today for head of state dinners etc. Walking around the castle on the narrow cobblestone walkways at night would give one quite an experience. The furniture, paintings are quite wonderful.
Finally we crossed the Severn Bridge back into England and drove to the Georgian city of Bath and what fabulous place this is. So much to see and take in during our stop here : The famous Roman Baths, the 15 th century Abbey which was holding the graduations for the university students the day we visited. Luckily we managed to actually get up close and personal to Prince Edward who was the guest of honour for the graduation ceremony. I mean it is not every day one can get within 3 metres of Royalty!
As we journeyed to our destination of Cornwell through the Cornish countryside , with an amazing mist over all the rolling hills, with wild ponies and so many sheep grazing on lush green fields with no fences between them and the roads. It was simply beautiful. In Plymouth we saw the Mayflower Steps, Barbican area with so many small shops including numerous antiques shops, the Citadel and Plymouth Hoe.
Finally we headed back to reality of London on the motorway with a stop at the famous Stonehenge prehistoric monument. Meeting up at our London hotel with other PMC members for the Princess Cruise to the Baltic States.
Cheers
Sharyn Bojczenko
PMC Club Travel Tour Director.
