*those written in italic letters are non-english words.
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| detailed map of our tour |
10 October 2011
DAY 4
Start of our British Panorama Tour and we have to be at Kensington Close Hotel(our meeting place) at 7:30am. The taxi ride ended being a Mercedes limo provided by the hotel(what can I say, when we travel… we travel in style… LOL). I sooo love Hotel George… highly recommended.
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| the view from our window |
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| lobby |
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| HotelGeorge FrontDesk |
We stayed in 6 different hotels on this trip and Hotel George is the best… in every department. The only one with a free wi-fi service that i just wish I had taken advantaged of. Unfortunately, I am so IT challenged that I made quite a mess when I logged in to FB using a brand new tablet that you guessed it right, I didn’t know how to use >.< So, instead of trying to discreetly and inconspicuously send a message to Diane so she could inform Nanay that we have arrived safeIy, i ended up posting it on MY WALL, therefore, successfully publicizing and announcing the whole thing to the whole world and her cousin ^^ which is exactly what I was trying to avoid. Worse, I couldn’t for the life of me delete that embarrassing wall post. And just when I thought things couldn’t get anymore awkward, soon enough, “likes” and comments are already being made on my posts …oh jeez, fml! truth of the matter is, I think that the reason why I wanna write this down is because it’s a form of therapy for Miss OC…‘coz im still upset at myself for what to me is a major FB snafu.
Nnylanna said we could have stayed at Kensington Close the night before ‘coz she was sure that it was included in the tour. I did a little research on the web(TripAdvisor) and guess what, Kensington Close was rated 2.5/5 and Hotel George was 4.5/5 !!! I checked out the photos uploaded by former guests and I was appalled at the filthy and cramped toilet/bathroom and the hotel rooms are to put it bluntly… fugly!!! Linawin ko lang ha, my sister and I are not publicists for Hotel George okay, nor do we have stocks in the company that owns it ...hahaha… mabuti na yung maliwanag… haaahaha^^
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Our ride for this tour is a black bus which from hereon we’ll refer to as a “coach” or motorcoach because that’s how the Brits call ‘em^^
Nnylanna and I ended up sitting on the front row of the coach and sitting across the aisle from us are Filipino sisters Rhodora(now a Canadian citizen based in California) and Angie(who lives in Palawan). Both are keen travelers who have been to numerous countries in Asia, the US and Europe. They have so many hilarious family stories to tell, 9 siblings, all professionals. Piberg even recognized one of their brothers. When they told me their surname, the name of a military colonel who is a national figure from the 80’s popped into my head and sure enough, he’s their brother^^ the photo below is me with Tita Angie(left) and Tita Dors/Rodda(beside me) …
First order of the day was to complete a form on which optional side tours we want to join in. we’ve decided to join all that was being offered on the list. Btw, payment for this was not included in the tour. Now, let me introduce to you our Tour Director, Bill and our driver Terry.
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| Bill & Terry |
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| The Basketball Arena |
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| The Olympic Stadium |
I wanna share this photo of our “official” British Panorama Tour Guidebook AND Passport/Travel Documents Case. This is not my first time to join a tour group BUT, its my first time to see something like this ^^ the booklet was so thorough and detailed, sooo professional actually… now, I don’t know if I should be impressed or amused with it… I think I was both ^^ Somehow, I find humor at the thought of all these people *of various ages, gender, nationalities* sitting on that coach, all of us carrying this blue case… why do I feel like we’re a bunch of schoolkids on our way to an educational field trip and at any moment, our teacher will check our blue case to see if we took notes ^^
1st Stop: CAMBRIDGE. Lovely English university town. According to our guide, Cambridge is now the top university in England, beating rival Oxford for the honors. The town was absolutely beautiful. How I wish I was brainy enough to have been able to attend UNI here.
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| The "Mathematical Bridge" |
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| Trinity Lane |
Popular mode of “transpo” is the bicycle. Luv the feel of this place, it was just like being in a different era. I fell in love with the place. I was imagining all these great minds( names we only read in books) that once walked these narrow streets since 1209 AD and I’m like, with the history and legacy of these place, the students here are sooo lucky… haaay inggit ako, suuuperrr!!!
I was in awe of the King’s College Chapel. ME TOO !!! I entered this chapel without any idea what to expect. I didn’t do my research before this trip as I should have, so much so that when we entered the place, my flabbergasted brain was screaming… THIS IS JUST A CHAPEL? GET OUT!!!
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 … the intricately carved stone carvings on the walls …
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…I searched YT and found this video. *stupid me accidentally deleted the video that I’ve taken inside* My dear readers, I STRONGLY URGE YOU to watch the video and let you guys bask in the beauty that is The King’s College Chapel, its really all kinds of amazing^^…
*credit to the uploader: Tomash
…before i forget, i have to say that i have overlooked something very special inside the chapel... above the altar, “The Adoration of the Magi” by the famous Belgian painter Peter Paul Rubens. Originally painted in 1634, the painting was installed in the Chapel in 1968. I wonder if what was on display is the real deal or merely a reproduction with the original being kept somewhere to protect from theft. I was looking at it and I see no visible sign of some high-tech security system.
You have to excuse that huge head in the picture directly above this, it’s mine ^^ i dont know if i should be happy to say this but I just realized that my sister has this penchant for taking pictures of my back, specially on that day... why??? Is it prettier than the front??? {(*.~)}
We got out of the chapel using this door(1st pic below this paragraph) and to my humiliation, I couldn’t open the thing. I don’t know how many times I was alternately pushing and pulling… all this time another tourist was amusedly watching my pathetic efforts and prolly felt sorry for me so to save me from further embarrassment, she showed me how to open it. and because i was only looking at the sign that says "mind the step" my stupid self did not bother to read a very small instruction that say’s to “pull handle” *Orz, facepalm*
This is what will greet you as you come out of that door, The King’s College Courtyard *i love how the English calls this part of the school The Courtyard, in the Philippines we call this The Quadrangle, not as nice right^^* This is where we met a pretty girl from South Korea named Sue(the western version of her Korean name). She’s travelling alone so she asked if we can take her picture and she offered to do the same for us. What a sweet girl^^ We made friends with our Korean tour mate Soo Y*** R**(edited out to protect her privacy) a.k.a. Sue. She reminded us of our cousin Cher back in Melbourne.
...and this is Sue our pretty korean chingu*i just hope i spelled this korean word correctly* ^^
This is me walking outside the King’s College Chapel as seen across the lawn of the courtyard… nagfee-feeling estudyante^^ below the pic is a short video i took of the courtyard^^
We chanced upon several people taking a picture of this “thing” that looked like a gold asian gong with what looks to me as a huge scary-looking grasshopper on top. i asked my sister what it was and why is she taking pictures of the thing and she said, "wala lang". I hate to admit it but as far as this thing is concerned, yeah, we're a pair of ignoramus. At first I thought, are these people seeing something artsy about the thing, hence, all this commotion? Later on I found out that it is actually a popular Cambridge fixture. It is called the Corpus Clock. It is a large sculptural clock at street level on the outside of the Taylor Library at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge University. Dr. Taylor the inventor of the clock calls it “chronophage”, literally “time eater”.
I did some research in “wiki” and this is what I found ---> The clock is entirely accurate only once every five minutes. The rest of the time, the pendulum may seem to catch or stop, and the lights may lag or, then, race to get ahead. According to Taylor, this erratic motion reflects life's "irregularity". It is conceived as a work of public art, the Chronophage reminds viewers in a dramatic way of the inevitable passing of time. Taylor deliberately designed it to be "terrifying": "Basically I view time as not on your side. He'll eat up every minute of your life, and as soon as one has gone he's salivating for the next." Others have described it as "hypnotically beautiful and deeply disturbing" <--- Wow, that was deep ^^ I should have known that for it to be displayed in Cambrige, there should be more to it than what meets the eye. *since it doesn’t come naturally for me, I really need to train myself to “think outside the box”* to see how it actually works mechanically, here’s a video I found in YT narrated by the inventor himself.
*credit to the uploader: CorpusChronophage
Popular mode of “transpo” in this university town is the bicycle. Luv the feel of this place, it was just like being in a different era. Of course the experience won’t be complete if we miss going into a souvenir shop…(OF COURSE!) … bought ourselves Cambridge windcheaters, souvenir teaspoon and fridge magnet(to add to my growing collection). The “goodies” are in that purple bag ^^
2nd Stop: the medieval town of YORK. the narrow cobblestone streets, the little stone houses and stores that reminded me of some scenes from Pride and Prejudice and Harry Potter. According to our guide, we have 3 things to remember when in York: a “gate” is a “street”, a “street” is a “bar”, and a “bar” is a “pub”(does it make sense?). Except for the last, the other 2 doesn’t make any sense, AT ALL ^^
One of the things York is famous for is “The Shambles”. Yes, the word originates from this part of England. When you look it up in the dictionary, shambles means “total mess” and this picture Nnylanna has taken in the area partly explain why…
…apparently, the sanitary and hygienic laws are non-existent at that time *I’m guessing this is around the 13th century* so these butchers just throw their wastes *blood, innards, etc* on the streets. Maaannn, I cannot even imagine how stinky this place must be in the old days. But look at it now…
The history of the word “eavesdropping” has also some sorta connection to this place. What with the limited forms for entertainment available to people in those days that wanting to hear what's going on inside the privacy of another person’s home became a favorite pastime. People just put their ears on the part of the wall where rainwater drops when it drain from the roof, it is called “eave”. So eave + drop = eavesdrop. Here Nnylanna and I were pretending to eavesdrop on a Yorkshire home.
The word “loo” also trace its history here but FORTUNATELY FOR YOU dear readers, I forgot the story of how that came about ^^
Checked out the famous York Minster Cathedral. Another beautiful church with elaborate stained glass windows. This gothic cathedral is a York landmark one cannot easily ignore because of its sheer size alone.
My sister tried numerous times(above pic) to get a picture of the cathedral(exterior) in its entirety but, no can do. This picture that I stole from the web(pic below) captured ALMOST the whole church, as I’ve said… almost but not quite. Still, thanks to the owner of this pic…
If it looks huge from the outside, it couldnt be anything but huge on the inside too. However, the mood indoor is best described as dark and gloomy... well, it is a gothic cathedral after all. thank God for modern cameras and to Microsoft Office Picture Manager, it is still possible to take good pictures despite the lighting inside^^
Inside York Minster Cathedral what stood out to me is the nave(like a divider or an entrance before you can enter an altar of a church)… it is breathtakingly beautiful…
There is something verrry spooky about these huge, relatively dark, quiet and really old buildings specially when there are ancient tombs inside *I think the small hairs on my neck just stoop up^^* AND, i have a feeling my sister thinks there's something pretty weird about me liking these kind of places precisely because of that^^ Check out the pics and tell me if my description of this place is wrong…
And then there’s the York Minster Crypt. Visited the crypt and it was so creepy. Lots of Roman artifacts as they have occupied York. There’s not a lot of people inside the cathedral that day and there’s hardly anybody going down the crypt, as evidenced by the lack of people in the pics Nnylanna took below*well except for the 1st pic, that shadowy figure atop the stairs is me and not a ghost ^^* Nnylanna was not too eager to go and have a look but I insisted so she gave in. Again, the video is not mine and is shakey in some parts. I’m sharing this because the mood from the vid is exactly how it was when we were there. I have a feeling the uploader was also creeped out, hence, the abrupt ending.
*credit to the uploader: TheBestGingerBaws
Wouldn’t it be nice to see a video version of those pics? Unfortunately I didn’t film one. BUT, that is what youtube is for, right? A site where we can lurk and/or steal someone else’s work. NOOOOOO, I’m just kidding people…hehe… its to share the beauty of someone else’s work WITH FULL CREDITS TO THE OWNER OF THE VIDEO ^^ So here’s 2 videos of York Minster from YT : video 1, has a detailed narrative of the place and its history but not the clearest video quality. Video 2, has excellent video quality but no narrative. So if youre a history buff, video 1 is for you and if youre a visual person, I’d recommend video 2. And if youre interested in both, you know what to do ^^ Except for the crypt, all the pictures(and more) that we have taken are in the vids. Please take time out and watch at least one of the two videos ^^
Video 1…
*credit to the uploader: cecilbdemille22
Video 2…
*credit to the uploader: stuartmoss
This is The Catholic Church of St. Wilfrid in York. Again, next(almost literally) to Anglican York Minster… ours looks like …like *Orz* …nvm, the Lord loves humility and simplicity so lets all embrace those values ^^
Before we left York, Nnylanna made me sit on one of those rickety benches and pose for pictures on what looks like an old city wall. At first we thought it was Hadrian’s Wall which is quite famous among the Brits but then our tour director Bill said it is not Hadrian’s Wall ‘coz most of the original Roman walls (began construction 122AD) in this area has been destroyed over time and majority of these remaining walls date from the 12th-14th century. In fact, Bill said that these walls were used during the the "War of the Roses"... no people, not the movie but the conflict/war) between The Houses of Lancaster(with the Red Rose badge) and York(with the White Rose Badge).
On our way to Leeds, where we will be staying the night, our guide informed us that there was a last minute change in our hotel accommodation. From Ramada to Jurys Hotel which according to him is an upgrade as it is a better hotel. The hotel is new but lacking in small things like slippers, toiletries and bathrobe. I guess we have been spoiled in all our previous accommodations. This is my short video of Jurys Inn Leeds Hotel where we stayed the night.
Stayed overnight at Leeds. It used to be a coal mining town, now has been transformed into a "chic" city. Bill said that the government sold a lot of the old miner's houses for less than a pound on the proviso that the new owners will restore/renovate them. at this point i can't find our Leeds picture just yet but i'll try to update this as soon as i get hold of them ^^
BLOGGER'S NOTE : As a result of my over spazzing over Cambridge, this blog became waaay longer than i had intended it to be… sorry folks! I’ll try and limit my spazzing… if I can help it ^^ and because reading overly long posts is not exactly fun for some people, I had ditched the idea of proceeding to Day 5 as I had intended. I was afraid this would no longer qualify as a travel blog post but more like a short novel if I insisted on doing that… so, with your comfort and convenience in mind my dear readers *waaaa, i'm sooo over right? hehehe*, I’ll just see you on my next entry …NORTHUMBERLAND-JEDBURH-MELROSE-EDINBURGH in beautiful Scotland…
