the life of david volz // a david and tiffany travel blog » england

UK_Travel//9.24.09

david — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 02:11:29 +0000

7:30a. As always, we wake up. Yawn. Stretch. A bit of BBC news. This hotel has been very good. Centrally located in the city. Very close to train station. No to close though. Check-Out. And we’re on the streets. Walking toward the rail station. At station. Breakfast. Cinnamon roll, croissant roll, and orange juice. Train leaves at 9:22.We have to wait for a later train this morning. We are traveling from Bath, England to Cardiff, Wales! Third country in the UK. Awesome! 9a. Smaller station. Train is here. On board. Found a table seat in the middle. Packs are securely stuffed in the luggage racks. Train is off. 1 hour 20 minute ride. Read Doctor Who book. Wait. Getting close. I think. CARDIFF, WALES! Off the train. Medium sized station. This is the Capital city of Wales. hmm. No signs. A bit of an odd station really. Turn right. Past turnstiles. Ask station employee if they have a left luggage. NO! Nice. We’ll be carrying our packs around town today. Exit station. hmm. Kinda lost. We are looking for the bus stop. Need to find the BayCar. It’s a bus system that runs a circle route from the city center to Cardiff Bay. Two pounds per ticket for a return trip. Walking around always helps us get our bearings. Found the bus stop. Wait. Pay. On the bus. Long narrow bus. Super clean. 10 minute ride. And we’re at Cardiff Bay. Got off Bus at the Red Dragon stop. Cardiff Bay is great! Large Pier. Walk. Seaside. Lots of boats. Walk around the docks. Packs are heavy. Found a map! Yes. Information Center is on the Sound side of the bay. Worth a visit. Short film on the history of Wales. Pretty great. Explore. Time passes. Back on Docks. Mermaid Quay. Kinda a food and shopping area. Outdoor mall overlooking the water. Super nice. Rest on bench overlooking the bay. Lovely. Lunch. Pizza. Delicious. Two cokes and cheese and pepperoni pizza. Eat outside. Massive packs are in the corner. Waiter asked us not to setup camp. hehe. Love it. Finished eating. Off for more exploring. There is another Doctor Who exhibit in the Red Dragon building. Awesome. Enter. Dalek. Cybermen. Brilliant. Killer exhibit. Purchase a Doctor figurine. Off to explore a bit more of Cardiff, Wales. Finished our quest. Found a closer BayCar. On bus for return journey to train station. Fast bus ride. At station. Ahh. Nice. We left through the back exit of the station before. There is a nice front entrance with maps. Should have turned left. Tarin leaves at 2:25p. We are heading to Paddington Station in London, England. After this, we will have vistied the three major train stations in London. “Kings Cross”, “Waterloo”, and “Paddington”. Brilliant. Still waiting for train. Train is here. On board. Found some seats near the back of the train. Perfect. Time to read. Train is getting full. And we are moving. Two and one half hours from now we’ll be in London again. This train is super fast. Calling at Bristol, England. Lots of people got off at this station. Getting closer. Scenery is shifting back to the flat green of London. Almost there. Tunnels. And we ahve arrived. Station is big. Grab packs. Off train. Looking for the underground. Found it. On Circle (Yellow) line. Tube is great. Long ride to Tower Hill. This tube is crowded. Standing. Arrive at Tower Hill Stop. This underground is super close to our hotel. Up steps. On streets. Examine map. Found hotel. Check-In. Free wireless. Lovely hotel. Room 503. Rest for a bit. It’s been a busy day sofar. Unpack. Three day stay before we pack up and leave for the states. Time to explore this new area of town. On the streets. Walking toward the Monument commemorating the great fire of 1666. Found a grocery store. Purchased some food for the next few days. More exploring. Walking across London Bridge toward South Bank. Turn East.. Loads of shops and cafes. London City Hall. All sorts of fantastic architecture. Across tower bridge. Photos. Video. Lovely sunset. Now for something to eat. Opted to go back to grocery store and buy some food for a third meal. Bought some pasteries for breakfast tomorrow too. Awesome! It’s dark now. walk back to hotel. Up elevator. Rest after a long day. Read. Write. 11:30p. Good Night! Only a few days left in the UK. Peace.

UK_Travel//9.23.09

david — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 01:33:29 +0000

Today we shall visit Stone Henge. Yes! 6:45a. Shower. Pack. Pack. Pack. I’m stiff from all the walking yesterday. Set to go. Check-Out. This has been a great hotel. We need to find the WestMinster Tube station. Walk. Pack is heavy. Tiffany’s pack makes a clicking noice while she walks. I’ll investigate later. Found station. Down steps. On tube toward Waterloo Train Station. Underground is packed with people. Fortunately, we only have one stop. Arrive. Off tube. Nice station is huge. Largest train station yet, I’d bet. Waiting for the 8:30a train to Salisbury, England. 8:30a now. Breakfast. Bagel, orange juice, and a water to split. Platform 7. Show BritRail pass. On the train. Brilliant. Table seat. Sitting across from each other. Time to journal and read the paper. I hope that their is a left luggage at the Salisbury train station. Into the South-West of England. Time passes. Getting close. Arrive. Salisbury is small. No left luggage! Bummer. We shall carry our packs to Stone Henge. 10:20a. Information center in station. Perfect. Purchase two adult bus tour tickets. As Stone Henge is a bit outside the city. Now we explore/wait until the 11a bus. Small town. A bit rustic. Old time England. Lots of pubs. Pack is getting heavy. Bus is here. Show ticket. On bus. Double decker. This bus tour is great! Found seats on top level. Great commentary. 25 minutes. Through various old towns. Almost there. STONE HENGE! Magic. Druids. This place is great! Bus stopped. Off the bus. Tour guide walked us through the gates. Tickets were 17.50 pounds. A bit pricey. Explore. Photos. Videos. Incredible. Walk in a large circle around the mystery. 12:40p. Time to catch the Bus. On Bus. Interesting fact. Salisbury was one of the few towns not bombed during World War Two. The Germans used the Cathedral in the town as a landmark staging point for other raids. Bus arrived back at the station. Explore. 1:11. Train to Bath, England leaves at 1:43p. Time enough for a quick lunch. Two sandwiches and two cokes and two chocolate muffins. Train is close. Standing up. Train is here. Stopped for just a few minutes. Our stop was mid-route on the way to Cardiff. Found seats in the middle of the train. Time to read and rest. Travel days are great. Waiting. Getting close. I think that I see the city. Yep. Train is stopping. And we’re off. Out of the station. Walking the streets. Pack almost killed me at Stone Henge. Up the street. Found Hotel. Check-In. Hotel is also a Bed and Breakfast. Kinda has that vibe. No room number. Each room has a name. We are in the “Hasset” room. Unpack a bit. Rest. Time to explore the town. Lovely place. Similar to York. Tiffany loves it. Roman Baths should be great. Only natural hot springs in the UK. The Romans built a Bath House around the spring many many years ago. Thus ancient ruins abound. Nice museum around the site. Very cool. Explore. Old statues. People say that the Spring has healing powers. Kings and Queens have come to this site for centuries. Tiff and I drank some of the water. Yuck. Now to explore the city. Know for its architecture. Beautiful indeed. Shops. Jane Austin was influential here. More walking. Getting a tad hungry. Walk/explore for a while longer. We opt for two jacket potatoes with cheese. Delicious. Very good. Eat outside. All the cafes in the UK have a large outdoor section. Finished. More shops. Tiffany wants ice cream. Done. One scoop of chocolate chip from a small shop. Back to hotel. It’s getting super dark. A bit of TV. Doctor Who. And Bed. A grand day.

UK_Travel//9.22.09

david — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:58:59 +0000

8a. Wake up. Well, more like 7:45a I suppose. Get ready. BBC News (as is tradition now). A gorgeous day in London. Leave. Down three floors. On the streets. Now then, whats for breakfast. Long walk to the Square (Trafalgar). Food? The “Pret”. A popular health chain over here. Two rolls. And two orange juices. Eat in cafe. Done. Explore. Walk up to Regent street. A shopping district. Long walk. London is great! Very big. Getting hot. Sun is out. Apple store London! Explore shop. And more shops. Changing of the guard is at 11:30a. We want to get their a tad early. Better catch a tube back that way. No way we’ll make the walk in time. Down three flights of staris. Way. Way Way. Underground. Swipe Oyster card. On tube. Pass is great. Southbound. Bumpy train. Arrive. Off tube. Up lots of stairs. On street. Now to palace. Follow crowd. Yikes. Lots of people. Changing of the guard starts soon. 11a. 11:15a. I can hear some kinda marching band. And it begins. Lovely tradition. 30 minutes later. It’s over. A bunch of people turned up for the event. Explore. Photos. Video. Almost 1p now. Take tube up to Tottenham Court Station. Walking to British Museum. Following signs. And we’re there. Fantastic architecture. The building is great. Free. Awesome. A dome. BTW: we ate a quick lunch at Costa Coffee on the way here. Museum is enormous. Biggest one I’ve ever seen. Rosetta Stone! 90 rooms. Egypt. Greece. Rome. Assyria. Japan. Africa. Europe. Americas. Just to name a few topics. Really an incredible place. Explore. Done. Time to rest. Found a small park. Sit. Rest. The city is so large that we aren’t able to venture back to our hotel for a break in the afternoon. And we’re walking back towards the tube. One Tube. Stop at Leicester Square. Exploring square. Stanfords travel store. This is the theater district. Maybe we’ll see a show. Opted not to tonight. Walk to Little Italy. Again with the Italian for dinner. Loveing it. Brilliant. Eat. Very good. Waiter was very good. Sounded like an Italian accent. Take a couple tube lines back to hotel for the evening. hmm. Something is happening at the Tate Britain. Investigate. A Fashion Show. Kinda High-End. Lots of photographers. Exclusive. Whoa! London is having Fashion week 18th-22nd. Victoria Beckham is at this show. And Emma Watson. And Liv Tyler. Wow. I’m snapping Photos. Paparazzi are everywhere now. Crazy. Event is over. Everyone is one the street. Must be an after party down the street. Walking with crowd, as our Hotel is the same way. Some super fashionable ladies are commenting on my style from behind us. “He looks like a surfer with trainers on.” hahaha. Awesome! Out of the crowd. Back to hotel. It has been a crazy day. 12 hours of non-stop exploration. Bed.

UK_Travel//9.21.09

david — Thu, 24 Sep 2009 21:18:41 +0000

7a. Alarm goes off. I had an odd dream last night. I dreamed that we missed our train. And something else. Amazing how quick you forget your dreams. Train to London today. Yes. Excitement! Pack up my gear. I’m getting quite good at packing this bag. Brush teeth. Drink water. Check-Out. Five minute walk to the train station. York has been brilliant! Two coffees. Two cinnamon rolls. And a bottle of water for the train. Wait. Platform 3. 8:36a. On board. Train is packed. This cart is full. Walking through train. Found two seats. riding backwards. Free internet on National Rail trains. Love it. Stuff our packs above our seats. And we’re off. Lots of business people. I feel a bit out of place. Heading to London’s Kings Cross station. One of many in the city. Two hour ride. This is our 8th rain experience. No, 9th. Beautiful countryside. When we get to London we’ll need to catch the tube to Westminster. Our hotel is near the Tate Britain. Half way there. Almost. Arrive. We are in London!Ahh. Station is massive. biggest yet. Now to find the tube. But first. Platform 9 3/4. Awesome! There is a sign and everything. Gotta love Harry Potter. hmm. Tube. Follow signs. Found it. Oyster card with 7-day pass. Unlimited subway (tube). Zones 1 and 2 only. Beautiful. Press Oyster card to yellow dot. And we’re through the turnstiles. Looking for Blue (Victoria) Line. Found sub. On board. PACKED! Tiff and I are jammed in here with our packs on. Crazy. Tube is moving. More people squeeze on.Nice. We are looking for the 6th stop. Observe the people. And we’re there. Off. Follow signs. Street level. More signs to Tate Britain. Hotel? Found it. Whoa. Lovely. Check-In. Room 334. Great stay. There is an iMac in every room. Doubles as a TV. Unpack a bit. We’ll be here for two days. Time to explore London! Gorgeous. We a rein the business district. Let’s go North. Big Ben (Clock Tower)! WestMinster Abbey! 10 Downing Street! The National Gallery! Stuff everywhere. Incredible. The London Eye. Parliament. What to do first? Westminster Abbey. Purchase tickets. A bit pricey. Free audio tour. Wow. This is a great audio tour. Westminster abbey is remarkable. Truly. 960ad. Coronation chair for the Kings and Queens of Great Britain. Many Kings, Queens, Poets, Authors, and Musicians are buried here. Massive building. Grand. A bit smaller than York Minster. But much more history and content. Sculptures and paintings everywhere. Literally. Hundreds of statues. Back on the streets. Food. Egg sandwich and two sparkling orange juices. And a slice of carrot cake for Tiffany. We ate atop the Lord Nelson Monument in Trafalgar Square. Lovely area. Indeed. Photos. Explore. National Gallery. Free. Big. Real Big. Raphael, Michelangelo, Leonardo, Rembrandt, Picasso, VanGough, Monet, Caravaggio, and many more. Maze. Lots of maps. Done. Back in square. Time to find the British Library. Tube. Black (Northern) Line. From Charing Cross to Euston. Super fast. Tube is great. Off the tube. On the streets. Follow my nose. And we’ve found it. A billion books. Maybe? Either way their are a bunch. Two of four copies of the Magna Carta. Original (Hand written) sheet music from Handel, Beethoven, and Mozart. Gutenberg Bible. Hand written original Alice in Wonderland. And loads more. Explore. Done. Back on Tube. Buckingham palace! Amazing. Stone faced guards. Walk down mall street. Past Big Ben. Explore. Now to find food for dinner. Italian. Delicious. An altogether killer day. Walk back to hotel. A bit dark. Kinda lost. Found it in the end. iMac. TV. Read. Blog. And Bed.

UK_Travel//9.20.09

david — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 21:10:00 +0000

6:30a. Awake. Pack up gear. Loads of things in one pack. Cold. As always. I think its pretty great. The hotel has been perfect. A great hub for Glasgow. It si right next to a serious train station. Queen Street. Love it. Ready to go. Check-out. Walk to the train station. Glasgow to Edinburgh at 8:30a. We are early. Station is a slight empty. Not many travelers on Sunday. Nice. Two coffees from Costa. Platform 2. And we’re on the train. Stuff our packs in the overhead rack. Found a table seat. Tiff is riding forward. I am backward. 80 minute ride. Many people boarding now. 8:30a. And we’re off. Old buildings abound. Still amazes me. Note: Everyone is skinny over here. Possibly related to their diet. Very little fast food. Also, the public transportation is great.. Many people could effectively walk to work with the aid of a Bus, Subway, or Train. Beautiful scenery all around. Read. Travel days are always exciting. Conductor just announced a platform 11 train to London from Edinburgh. Might be the one we’re looking for. Arrive. 10 Minutes early. Sweet. Platform 11 is it. A different part of the station. National Rail. No more ScotRail. Sad. On the train. Brilliant. Train to London calling at York. Awesome. This train is nice. Serious. And we’re off. England here we come. We haven’t seen this side of Edinburgh yet. I think that it’s 4 1/2 hours from Edinburgh to London. Shorter than I would have thought. Time to read. North Sea is to our left. We are on the left side of the train. Best views. Noted. Reading up on York. Getting close to England. I think.

England! We are calling at NewCastle. Fairly large city. England is flat. York is the next stop. Soon. And we’re there. Off the train. York is great. Ahh. Food festival this week. Streets are packed. Crazy. Found hotel. Can’t check-in yet. Left luggage. hotel is above coffee shop. Explore town. Old wall circling entire city. Built in the 1200’s. You can walk along the entire wall. All sorts of food. Time to find York Minster. The largest Gothic Cathedral in northern Europe. Found it. Whoa! Massive. Truly. Incredible. Closed until 1:30p. Perfect. Enough time to find food. Back to food tents in city center. Tiffany purchased a Spanish dish. And strawberry ice cream. Fish and Chips for me. Love them fishes. All finished up. Back to York Minster. 8 Pounds each. Climb the tower. view of the entire city. Photos. Back down to earth. Walk through the minster. Huge. Epic. Ceilings are at least 100 feet high. Many are higher.Old. Done exploring. Church service is starting. Organ and Choir. Back into town. Shops. Walk around. Hotel Check-IN. Room is great. Unpack. Back into town. Really a great town. We’ll need to come back someday. Food tents. I bought a vintage cheese wedge. Love it here. Walking around the wall. Mucho Explore. Time for a break. Found a park. Sit. Rest. Now for third meal. Pizza Express again. Right on the river. Lovely. A long delicious dinner. Sunset. Dark. I love British talk. Back to hotel. Bed. Peace.

Twitter_Update//uk

david — Mon, 21 Sep 2009 09:10:15 +0000

Hello from London, England. Well, almost; we are on a train from York to London at the moment. Tiffany and I have been updating my Twitter MicroBlog with various ongoings throughtout our trip. And I thought that may be of interest to our family. Those updates are located on the lefthand side of the iVolz blog or directly at http://www.twitter.com/dvolz These are a bit more regular as Twitter can be updated via text. Love and Peace.

UK_Travel//9.12.09

david — Sat, 12 Sep 2009 20:05:37 +0000

We are in the United Kingdom (Edinburgh, Scotland)! Yes! I am super stoked! And tired. I’ve resolved to scratch down our various experiences and generally brilliant stories in my moleskine. Thus, many of my blog posts will be select excerpts from that notebook. This includes a wide variety of incomplete and often incoherent thoughts/musings/observations. Their often gaps of time between statements. You have been warned. Peace and Love.

Day 1
(Saint Louis Airport) We are at the Saint Louis Airport. We made it through security super fast. We arrived at 3p and we were sitting at the gate by 3:24p. Tiff and I both have colds. Flight takes off at 5:55p. There is a strange calming effect that comes with traveling. I feel at peace. People watching is great. Most everyone seems out of there element. There is an odd silence. Observe: suits, laptops, army camo, newspaper, coffee, style. I can see a story behind each person. And first class boards. We are in group six. Seats 11a and 11b.

(Plane to Chicago) Captain Joe. Plain just moved. ahh. I’m stoked. Estimated flight time is 45 minutes. Other people keep mentioning September 11th. Seems a popular topic. The engines are getting loud. False alarm. We await our turn on the runway. And we have flight. Our world is incredible. I have the window seat. It makes tiff ill. Almost everything has vanished from sight. Good bye Missouri. Two clous depict an epic battle between a killer giant and an elaphant. Possible outcomes. Likley the giant will be the victor. Untimately, everything resembles cotton candy. I may need sugar at our Chiago stop. And we decend. Back on earth.

(Chicago Airport) O’Hare is massive. It has been 10 years since I traveled via this airport. Did I mention that I love traveling. Airports are really great. Time to find our next flight. It was just a few gates down from where we landed. Awesome! This plane is going to be packed. Everything seems a bit chaotic.

(Plane to London) People and baggage everywhere.Captain Jim will be flying us to England. I am in seat 22c and tiff is in 22d. This plane is great. Each seat has a small 7in display with touch controls and a remote. You can choose from a large selection of films, TV programs, and games. And we’re moving. There was a 15min delay due to baggage issues? hmm. I hope our packs are fine. Seat cushion can be used as a flotation device. Time to take off. This is great. 3,940 miles to London, England. 8:53p. 1000 meters. 2000 meters. 3000 meters. Estimated arrival time is 9:53a. -37 degrees outside. 30,000 feet. 560mph. We have reached our cruising altitude. They are serving drinks and snacks in a cart. I opted for a coke. Tiff had an orange juice. Time for a movie. Or two. We are over Canada. A fews hours have past. I am super tired. We are passing over Greenland. I need sleep. Good night world. 90 minutes of sleep and breakfast is served. The food on this flight has been pretty great. We are over Scotland. It is super bright outside. A short night. 51 miles to London. And we’re in England.

(London Airport) We are in the UK. On a bus from terminal 3 to terminal 1. 7 minute ride. Security is intense. And we’ve located the check-in. Our packs went all the way to Edinburgh, Scotland. Awesome. After a final security check and a biometric scan we are free to roam the terminal. Pounds are great. Exchange rate is a bit higher than I thought. Waiting for our next flight to Edinburgh, Scotland. I love this place.

(Plane to Edinburgh) Seats 11d and 11e. A wide variety of people on board. This should be a short flight. Another packed plane. This is our first BMI flight. Mid-flight. Sleep overwhelms my body. There was 54 minute delay. I suppose there was a bit of plane traffic? The lady next to us seems super nice, though very quiet. And we’re landing now.

(Onward to Our Hotel) After picking up our packs, we searched for a bus ride to the Edinburgh City Center. Double decker! Brilliant! We stayed on the bus till the last stop. Only a few blocks to our Hotel. This city is fantastic. So much heritage and life. I can see two castles from were I’m standing now. Coutless old buildings line the streets. We are checked in. Time to explore. Awake for 24 hours now. I need sleep. A local food joint for a bit of food. A walk down the royal mile. and time for bed! Good night world.

two days remain.

david — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 20:47:06 +0000

Two days remain until our epic voyage across the pond.

Canvas Bag.

david — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 03:22:17 +0000

After waking up a bit late, Tiff and I trekked to @REI for a massive equipment garage sale. Today’s objective was to find a small messenger bag for me to use in the UK. I’d spend the past few weeks looking for a canvas bag with no success. We scavenged almost every store on the planet. I was ready to abandon the cause. Even our favorite equipment resource, the local REI shop, had failed to show results. And then, as fate would have it, I happened into a @Fossil retail store. The smell of leather overwhelmed my senses; and in the corner was ‘beauty’ in bag form. Four days remain until England/Scotland/Wales. Peace on Earth.

Capture the Moment.

david — Mon, 07 Sep 2009 04:39:23 +0000

Photography and Cinematography are two great methods used to capture the essence of a moment. Thus, in addition to a textual journal, Tiffany and I have resolved to record our trip via photo and film. We will be packing the following gear: a Canon EOS 20D, a Canon Powershot D10 (waterproof, freezeproof, shockproof), and a Sanyo Xacti HD1010 (1080p, 1080i). We’ll be posting some media throughout our travels. Five days remain.

-dv