Back in time II

The previous update took me WAY TOO LONG to load up the pictures within the posting, so I have decided to also put some pictures at the end of the written postings.
So, please be sure to scroll all the way down to the photo section for more visuals of our adventures and some fun pix.

Once again, going back in time, we continued to keep busy with friends arriving to visit and trying to see local Dorset sights.

After having discovered the ¨Explorer¨ bus pass for the all the Wilts & Dorset buses, we took advantage of the deal and went to Salisbury the following weekend. We walked around and enjoyed the quaint little town, had a feast of a home-made roast at a local pub and then wandered over to the famous Salisbury Cathedral. As is typical of most tourist sights, there was a large section under repair and a whole wall covered with scaffolding. Luckily, we managed to still get some great pictures of this massive cathedral inside and out. Like most ancient churches, this one being the second largest in England and celebrating its 750th anniversary this year, there were gorgeous stained-glass windows all around. Needless to say, Adam and I both took a million pictures, trying to capture all the various angles. But not to worry, we will only bore you with a few shots! :P



From Salisbury, it was only another 15 minutes to get to the famous Stonehenge! We had been previously warned that Stonehenge is rather disappointing, so we were fully prepared for the REAL Stonehenge and not just the myth and glamour propagated internationally. The general reaction is " Is that it?!?!" Indeed, it was not as they would have you believe - there is a full fence surrounding these ancient stones and visitors are not to go near or touch them. However, I have heard that there is an amazing Solstice party at the site, at which time, you are permitted to lay your hands on these giant rocks. On the other hand, the history and background of Stonehenge is deserving of its fame. Supposedly, it took over 30 million hours of labour to construct Stonehenge over three phases. Also, they have been estimated to be from 3100 BC and these huge stones originated from Wales. Somehow, they were dragged all the way to England and to this day, there is still only speculation for its reason to be.



(For a look at the REAL Stonehenge, be sure to scroll down to the new pix!)

A few months prior, we had made a quick trip to London and got to have a short visit
with our dear friend Abi, whom we had met in the great land of Oz. We pressed her hard to come visit us and since we were to leave Bournemouth shortly, Abi hopped the train and came for the weekend. It must have been her sunny disposition, because we not only had a fabulously fun weekend together, but we also had fantastic weather! (for a change!) We had great walks along the beach, where Adam stopped for a quick surf (he is so good, he can even surf backwards!) and we had a few stops at terraces for refreshments in the sun. A great day was followed by a full night of catching up and laughs. During her stay, Abi also introduced to us the fun times of 2 pence games! Heeh! Thanks for the visit, Abi! We look forward to meeting up again - hopefully soon!





We might have started feeling a bit lonely with so many visits coming to an end, but luckily, we did not have long to wait for our next visitor! This time, our guest came all the way from good ol' Cannuckland! (For those that do not know, Canadians are known as "Cannucks" for fun!) Mark had come to visit some family in the UK and managed to make enough time during his whirlwind tour of Europe to have a few pints and laughs with us too. It was great to introduce him to our local friends and share some more good times together! Thanks for making the effort to come see us, Mark!
Hope you enjoyed the rest of your trip!



Suddenly, Adam and I were very quickly approaching our last days of teaching and living in Bournemouth. The final week was pretty much filled with goodbye gatherings with both students and friends. Although we knew we would be returning to Bournemouth after our holidays, it would be for only a short while. So, we made the most of it!

Thanks to everyone that made the time to come out and have a laugh with us.
We hope to meet up again once we return!





Well, that pretty much catches you up on our first stint in England! There is still our holiday portion of pix and stories to come...so once, again, do check in again!

xoxo

Back in time

Autumn has fully kicked in around the northern hemisphere...and we have much to share with you! Last time you checked in, we had just had our first trip to London and summer was still hopeful. As it turned out, Summer decided to skip the UK and we had to wait to see the sun and warmth awhile longer.

The last couple of months have been rather busy with many friends coming to visit and us getting off our bottoms and seeing a few nearby towns.

Twelve years can fly by pretty quick - but old friendships sometimes never change. Makiko made a quick visit over to Bournemouth while she was down on the south coast, doing some sailing! We tried our best to catch up the last dozen years whilst doing our very own Scotch tastings. Maki gave us some great tips for our upcoming Scotch tours! Arigato gozaimasu, Maki-san!! It was really great to see you!



Soon after, we had Marie fly in for a weekend from Dublin. We spent one day touring around town and getting drenched to the bone and then managed to eek out a rainless day to visit the lovely town of Swanage. Around Swanage, we got a traditional feel of old England, with thatched rooves, old buildings and quaint surroundings.



A few bus rides on the top deck of open double-decker buses kept us wide awake after a big English breakfast and gave us great views as we meandered from one small town to another. We stopped a while in the small town of Corfe to see the ruins of its castle, passed a beautiful old pub called Scott Arms - which was covered in red foliage and then walked along the cliffs and water of Swanage itself.



In the above picture, you can see me in the orange hat with Marie, snuggling up to stay warm as we made our way towards Corfe Castle. We only got up to the gates of the National Trust (like a Heritage site or National Park) since you had to pay a pretty penny to see the 1000 year-old ruins.



For anyone making a visit to these places, I would recommend getting an all-day pass for the Wilts and Dorset bus company for about 7GBP, so you can get on and off all the red or blue buses as often as you like. Unfortunately, we learned the hard way that day so we could not make a stop at this picturesque pub on the way back from Corfe.



We were a bit short on time since Marie had to catch a flight out that evening, so we walked around Swanage and enjoyed the views from along the coastline. Interestingly enough, we saw Marie almost exactly a year ago but in the sweltering heat of Japan. Slightly different this year!!



From our coastline walk, we could see the unique chalk stack formations called Old Harry Rocks out in the distance at Handfast Point. Although it was a mostly cloudy day, the sun happened to burst through just long enough for Adam to get some great pictures of them, along with a few little fishing boats to finish the shot!



Seeing Marie in England made it our third continent together! Our random meeting in Northwest Australia 4 years ago has led to a great fun friendship - and works super well since Marie loves to travel too! Thanks for coming to see us, Marie!
We will hopefully get to visit Marie in Dublin and check out the Guinness Brewery together sometime soon. Matane, Marie-san!



Well, that´s it for now. We actually have a ton more to share - so check in again soon and I will do my best to put more pix and stories online. In case anyone happens to be in the vicinity, we are in Spain at the moment and are heading to Morocco for a week! So, write us if you care to join us!

Take good care!
oxxo