San Francisco & Yosemite - Part III

After a day and a half in the Northern Californian city of San Francisco, we headed out to Yosemite National Park for 2 full days of sightseeing and hiking. I know I've said this several times, but it's worth mention again in this particular post. I'm not a backpacker. I don't "rough" it. And my idea of hiking usually involves a defined path with a clear destination. Camping overnight? Forget it! Give me a shower. Give me electricity. Bugs? No thank you! Soft pillow? Yes please!

Having said that, I'm certainly not opposed to nature. Since San Francisco is so close to Yosemite, I couldn't rationalize NOT taking a few days to go and see it. And to anyone traveling to that same region, I encourage the same thing.

Since the Tenaya Lodge (our hotel) was not actually inside the park borders, we planned a guided tour of Yosemite our first day. We selected the full day tour of the park through Discover Yosemite mostly because they covered all of the main highlights of the park, and they picked us up and dropped us off right at our hotel. This day couldn't have been more perfect. The tour was supposed to go from about 8 or 9AM to about 3 or 4PM. When our driver and tour guide greeted us, the first thing she asked was, "Does anyone have to be back by a certain time?" When no one raised their hand she said, "Great, because I usually run a little bit late." And by a little bit, she meant a lot. We didn't get back to the hotel until well after 6PM. Did this bother us? Not even slightly. She was an amazing tour guide. She was so knowledgeable about the park, the animals, the history, everything. She took her time when we visited things, giving us plenty of time to walk around. She took pictures for us, and stopped when we saw wild animals.

We started out our day in Mariposa Grove: home of the giant sequoia trees. Our guide explained their connected root system and took us to some of the parks most famous trees.

Mariposa Grove

Along the drive we were constantly on the lookout for wild animals and birds. We didn't see any bears, nor did we see any cool birds like bald eagles. We did see a couple of these gentle beasts along the way.



Since our visit to Yosemite was in October, we stopped at the various waterfalls, but they were barely more than a trickle. Spring is the best time for the waterfalls because you get to see all of the snow melt.

For lunch, we stopped at the historic Ahwanhee Hotel for about an hour or so. There was a pricey restaurant, but we just picked up some snacks and sandwiches at the cafe and picnicked on the grounds.

The day was beautiful (a little windy) and we were able to get some great pictures of Half Dome, El Capitan, the Cathedral Spires, etc. This picture below is one of my favorites from the end of the day.

Half Dome reflecting pool

Back at our hotel, we ate dinner at the bar and grill that they have onsite. There aren't many places around the hotel to eat, so we were just as happy to eat on the premises.

The next day, we got a little closer to nature. While our Yosemite tour was absolutely outstanding, we were pretty sheltered in our temperature controlled 15 seater bus. On our second day in the Yosemite area, we didn't venture back into the park; we instead did some local hiking up to the Tenaya Falls followed by some horseback riding in the afternoon.

Hike outside Yosemite to Tenaya Falls

The horseback riding in the afternoon was pretty fantastic. Having only been horseback riding once before (in Ireland), I was excited but unsure what to expect. In Ireland, our horseback riding adventure was less than an hour and was on a pretty calm trail. Having only that to compare to, I simply thought that this horseback riding experience would be the same. I couldn't have been more wrong in the most wonderful way. After we were all saddled up, the guide gave us a few basic instructions and then told us a few very specific things: 1. to lean back if we were going downhill and 2. lean forward if we were going up hill. Little did I realize how valuable that advice would be.

For the next TWO hours, we went riding through the woods of Yosemite. It wasn't only beautiful, but it was terribly exciting. The horses never went faster than a trot, but we went up and down very steep hills (which were exciting and terrifying all at the same time) and through streams. I've never experienced anything like that before. It not only gave me a new found respect for horses but it was also a wonderful way to spend the afternoon.

Knowing that we would be sore and tired from our day of hiking and horseback riding, that night, we splurged and upgraded ourselves to a jacuzzi suite for the night. Yes, we broke our $200/night rule, but just for this one night. Looking back, it was incredibly silly, but we were young. And I must say, it was lovely to relax in a jacuzzi tub after riding horses and hiking through the mountains. 

Our Yosemite journey had come to a close, and the next morning we headed back to San Francisco. Instead of going the same route we took out to Yosemite, we took a very different way back so that we could make a very special stop. About an hour north of San Francisco is a place I've wanted to see for a very long time....The Jelly Belly factory. (Don't judge!) :-)

It was a good 3.5 hour drive from Yosemite, so we left good and early and got to the Jelly Belly factory in time for a late lunch. They have a small cafe, so we were able to get some food before going on the factory tour. The tour itself wasn't terribly exciting although I found it interesting and informative. Plus, they gave you samples along the way. Yum!

After the tour, you end up in the massive jelly belly gift shop which contains a tasting center in the middle where you can request any jelly belly flavor for a sample. They also had belly art prominently displayed throughout the building which I found utterly fascinating. I was slightly disappointed by the "belly flops" that I had heard about. I assumed the belly flops would be flavors that never became popular, but instead, they were giant bags of jelly belly rejects in all of the normal flavors. If a jelly belly came out too big, too small, or melted together with another one, they were rejected and sent with the other belly flops. They also weren't terribly discounted either, so I opted for a bag of my own bulk candy where I could individually pick the flavors I wanted (really just like any other bulk candy store that sells jelly bellies). 

Outside of the Jelly Belly Factory

We spent a good couple of hours there before driving the last hour or so to get back into the city. That evening we drove about an hour south of the city to Santa Cruz where we met an old friend for dinner. Late that night we drove back to the Embassy Suites where we stayed at the beginning of our trip and got ready for the last full day of our vacation. 

We've already done some pretty great things, but our activities on the last day were some of my favorites. Don't forget timid travelers. Save something you're really excited about for the last day of your trip. It will keep you from getting sad that the trip is ending until after it has actually ended. 

Read all about our last day in San Francisco HERE. 

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

San Francisco & Yosemite - Part II

After having skimmed the surface of all San Francisco has to offer, we woke up, ate a hearty breakfast at the Embassy Suites and set out for our first full day in the city. Not wanting to deal with heavy traffic and not rushing to beat any crowds at any sort of tourist attractions, we headed into the city around 10AM. Our first stop: Chinatown. It might seem silly to visit Chinatown as a tourist, but I've always heard that Chinatown in San Fran is the largest and most authentic in the USA maybe with the exception of NYC. (The Chinatown in Washington DC is ok, but not very big.)

Our plan was to browse some shops, take pictures of the iconic things like the gates and the historic bank, and find a place for Dim Sum. Unfortunately, I completely chickened out on the Dim Sum. We ate a huge breakfast at the hotel, and I couldn't muster up the appetite or the courage for anything new. Looking back at my 7 year younger self, I laugh at how timid I was to try this new food. We all have to start somewhere, right?

So, we enjoyed our morning walking the streets, looking at the funny Chinese signs and buying trinkets like a jade necklace and "dirty" fortune cookies. (I say "dirty" because we had the option of normal fortune cookies or fortune cookies with more "adult" themed fortunes. For a laugh, we got the "adult" themed ones. Were they dirty? No. In fact, they were so bizarre, we brought them with us when we visited a friend for a dinner a few nights later. They had fortunes like, "the butterfly will find the lotus blossom." That's some PG-13 stuff right there.) :) We tried to find a fortune cookie "factory" and after much searching down shady alley ways we finally found one, but it wasn't anything significant nor could I even tell you how to find it again if I wanted to.

Gates at the entrance to Chinatown

As we continued walking through Chinatown, I suddenly noticed a big change. No longer were there signs with Chinese characters. Instead we started seeing pizza shops and Italian flags. Without realizing it, we had gone from Chinatown to Little Italy in a matter of blocks. It wasn't that Little Italy was distinctly Italian, but the streets were all decorated as if there was going to be a parade. 

While just minutes earlier I couldn't muster up the appetite for Dim Sum in Chinatown, suddenly I found myself very hungry for some Little Italy pizza. We found a little pizza parlor and sat right by the window so we could enjoy some people watching with our salami pizza. It was almost 1:00 in the afternoon and suddenly we noticed that the streets were filling up with people. Sure enough, before too long, a parade started. A parade?? It was the middle of October? Why would there be a parade? We sat watching from the pizza parlor window in amazement when we then realized that the parade had a distinct theme to it. We were in the middle of Little Italy on Columbus Day, and we had the chance opportunity to catch the San Francisco Columbus Day parade. Talk about a random stroke of strange luck. And it was very strange. The different types of characters that this parade drew out of the woodwork made for some very interesting people-watching to say the least. 

With tummies full of pizza and our minds full of strange parade images we headed out of Little Italy and toward Coit Tower, one of the tallest points in the city. The day was beautiful, so I was excited to see what sort of views we would get from the top of the tower. Getting to the tower was a big of an aerobic exercise.

I've seen many movies set in San Francisco where they show the hilly streets (Mrs. Doubtfire and The Princess Diaries to both date myself and show just how girlie I am). I guess I just didn't think that all of the streets in the city would be like that or that they would all actually be that steep. I was completely wrong. In some cases, the roads were so steep that they added stairs into the sidewalk to make it easier for pedestrians to walk them.

Very steep sidewalk in San Fran

Walking to Coit Tower wasn't just another walk in the city. It was uphill and then uphill again and then again and again and again. We certainly got our workout that day. We thought about driving to the top because there is a small parking lot surrounding the base of the tower, but when we arrived in the late afternoon, the lot was completely full with cars driving around waiting for people to leave. That would have been very frustrating for us, so I'm glad we walked instead of driving. (Despite my calves aching the next day.)

Walking up to Coit Tower

Just as I suspected, the views from Coit Tower were stunning. There were angles from all over the city and the day was clear, so I was able to get some great shots of Alcatraz Island and the Golden Gate Bridge.

The walk up to Coit Tower and the subsequent downhill walk away from Coit Tower helped us work up an appetite for dinner. Our final destination for the day was Ghirardelli Square. Before dinner, however, we took a walk through their gift shop partaking in some delicious free samples. 

We at dinner at a restaurant right near Ghirardelli Square before heading back to our hotel for the evening. Today we saw lots of classic San Francisco sites, but not all of them. The last day of our trip covers some of the rest of them like Pier 39, Fisherman's Warf, Alcatraz Island, etc. But that won't be for a few more days.

The next morning, we got up early, checked out of the hotel and started our drive from San Francisco to Yosemite National Park. On the way, we stopped at the USS Hornet aircraft carrier and museum. It was only about 40 minutes from our hotel to the USS Hornet Museum, and I'm glad we took the time to stop there. This carrier has a pretty amazing history and it gave us something to remember the day other than just a long drive.

USS Hornet Museum

From the USS Hornet, we buckled up for a good 3.5 hour drive out to the Tenaya Lodge. We picked the Tenaya Lodge over a hotel that was actually inside of Yosemite park mostly for ease of access and price. The hotel got great reviews, fit our budget and really ended up working out well for us.

Click HERE for my next blog for our adventures in Yosemite.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

San Francisco & Yosemite - Part I

I thought I would take a break from my international expeditions to spend some time sharing some great tips for travel right within the USA. As exciting as foreign travel can be, it can also be very exhausting. All of the planning, the worry, the jet lag, the stress, etc. can really take its toll. Sometimes, there are adventures to be had in your own backyard.

Having only been to southern California before, I was very amenable when my husband suggested the San Francisco region for a vacation. After planning a two week trip to Europe, planning a week vacation in the USA was a cake-walk. Everything was easier and we spent WAY less money. I've mentioned before that I always budget $10,000 a 2-week international trip. Since we were only going to California for a week, I could easily chop that budget right in half. (And looking back at my trip notes, we spent almost exactly $4,000 on the trip.)

If I haven't already said this before, the best way to get good airfare is to plan early and be flexible with your dates. By flexible, I mean within a few days give or take. This will help you shop around for the best times, airlines, prices, etc. Also, try to watch airfares at different times of the day. Airlines know that people generally book vacations on the weekends or at night. So don't fall into their master trap by booking your tickets during peak (and most expensive) times. And check tickets multiple times (from multiple computers, if possible). Don't just watch them over 2-3 days and freak out if you see ticket prices rising. If you're at least 3-4 months out from your trip and the plane still looks relatively empty, the price will most likely come back down. Check on a random Tuesday at 3:00 in the afternoon or a Thursday at 10AM. You'll see the difference. How do you know if a plane is selling out seats? Don't believe those discount sights that say, "only 2 seats left at this price". They're lying! If you go through the airline's actual website, and keep clicking through the booking process, you'll come to the seat selection page. That's a great way to see how many seats are still open. If the plane looks like it's filling up, then you can expect the prices to go up. If the plane is wide open, don't fall for any lousy price hike tricks.

Why am I going into all of this now? Because tickets within the United States vary so much depending on destination, time of year, and time of booking. At my job I've seen airfares from a major city on the East Coast to a major city near the West Coast range from $400 to $1400. That's a huge range! It just all depends on the specifics.

But back to my San Fran trip.

We really lucked out with our airfare. We were searching around for the best prices on all of the major airlines, and then something wonderful happened. Virgin America started offering nonstop flights from Washington to San Francisco, and we booked TWO nonstop, round trip tickets, for $638.00!! Crazy right?! And the airline was awesome! If you've never flown Virgin before, I highly recommend it. Sadly, this was the only time we've flown them because for future trip we were able to get better rates through other airlines.

With plane tickets booked, I started the major planning. We stayed in 2 different hotels for the week we were there. We started in San Francisco at the Embassy Suites (because it was 4-stars, under $200/night [and San Fran hotels are expensive!], and it included breakfast), stayed for a few nights, then drove out to Yosemite for a couple of days staying at the Tenaya Lodge, before heading back to the Embassy Suites in San Fran for the end of our trip. Also because we were vacationing within the USA, rental cars were a breeze. We used Enterprise because they were the cheapest and had no problems. Now, on to the trip...

**Note: my trip photos are all grainy and strange because my digital pics were all lost. The pictures you see are ones from my photo album that I've taken with my smart phone and uploaded. Huzzah for technology!**

When you travel from the East to the West in the USA, time is on your side. Although the flight took 5-6 hours, the 3 hour time difference still gave us a full day. And we had a full day's worth of activities. The first stop of the day was the Golden Gate Park. Figuring that we would be stiff from the flight and want to walk around a bit, this was a great first stop. I should note that we traveled to San Francisco in October. San Fran is notorious for questionable weather especially in the summertime. What people don't realize is that in October, the days are sunny and lovely. We had great weather the entire week.

Golden Gate park is huge, so we limited our activities to a few specific things. First was the Japanese Tea Garden. Little did we know the foreshadowing that was taking place. We loved the Japanese Tea Garden and our trip to Japan is most certainly one of our favorites to date. If you've never been to Japan before and are curious if you'd enjoy that culture, this is worth a visit. The small temples, koi fish ponds, sculpted trees and bonsai trees are so neat. You don't have to drink tea and the whole garden isn't all that big. We spent a pleasurable hour here, and then moved on.

Japanese Tea Garden

After the tea garden, we enjoyed a nice stroll through the park itself as we made our way to the Conservatory of Flowers (and butterfly garden). Both the tea garden and the conservatory had nominal fees to get in ($5.00/per person). The conservatory, I honestly don't remember too much about. If I hadn't dedicated a page to it in my photo album, I probably would have forgotten we went. That being said, the pictures of the flowers are lovely. If you're into flora (and butterflies), it's worth a visit.

We ate an early lunch on the plane, so after a quick ice cream fix, we were ready to continue our afternoon. We made our way back to the Golden Gate Park parking garage, and set out across the famous bridge itself in our attempt to find Muir Woods. Unfortunately, we never found Muir Woods. We did, however, find Muir Beach. Not that it was warm enough to swim (I said the weather was beautiful, which it was, but it was more like jeans and a light jacket beautiful than beach beautiful) but the water and rocks were still very scenic. We enjoyed strolling along the beach and decided to skip trying to find Muir Woods. It was already late afternoon/early evening and the October sunset was imminent.

Muir Beach

We hopped back in our car and headed toward the city stopping at the Golden Gate lookout for that classic golden gate photo op. It wasn't something we necessarily planned, but when you're driving across the bridge, the pull off is right there to grab this iconic view of the bridge.

The one negative thing I will say about our otherwise pretty perfect hotel (Embassy Suites in case you forgot) was that the location was not central. We were a good 20 minutes outside of the city. This didn't bother us at all because downtown hotels were insanely expensive, and having a rental car allowed us the freedom to explore more things. But just a heads up if you ever consider staying there.

For dinner we found a quirky but delicious Vietnamese restaurant near the hotel and called it a night. You know...jet lag and all. Not because we're 100 years old and have no interest in nightlife. :-)

Tomorrow we explore some famous San Fran sites like Chinatown, Ghirardelli Square, Coit Tower, and I realize now just how timid of a traveler I was back then. Read that blog HERE.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

English Countryside & the Journey of King Arthur

Well, we've finally arrived at our last 2 days of the trip. It's hard to believe that the trip we've been planning for months is nearing its end. From the rainy, dreary days in Paris to the beautiful French countryside to the bustling city streets of London to the peaceful but windy British countryside, we saw such a myriad of castles, cathedrals, lifestyles, and cultures. Overall, it's been a fantastic trip which included an itinerary that I recommend for anyone wanting a good sampling of both countries within a two week time slot. But on to our last two days.

As I mentioned in my last post, the day we left London was spend inadvertently learning about the life and birth of Anne Boleyn. These last two days headed out toward England's West Coast shifted from the historical figure of a British Queen to the mythical figure of a legendary king: King Arthur. But we'll get to that in a minute.

Our first stop of the day was Stonehenge, easily one of England's most famous sights. This isn't the first time we saw standing stones. If you ever visit Scotland, you can see the Ring of Brodgar in the northern most isle of the country called Orkney. Unlike Stonehenge, the Ring of Brodgar is a simple circle of standing stones. I was surprised and impressed to see that Stonehenge was much more sophisticated than a circle of straight stones. Getting to the stone circle was pretty neat. You pull into the parking lot and go through the main ticket counter. Then you actually walk underground across the road to the path that takes you back up and around the stones. For their own protection, they keep tourists a good distance away from the stones and you can't even get within a stone's throw of them. (Pun absolutely intended! Haha!) (This is very different from the Ring of Brodgar where you can literally hug the stones.) It wasn't terribly crowded when we were there. Why? Because we got there when it opened. There was one bus tour there already and the driver of the bus tour graciously took our picture. We walked around the stone circle maybe twice before browsing the gift shop and heading out.

Sunny but windy day at Stonehenge 

From Stonehenge, we drove just over an hour to the town of Glastonbury. (If you've ever driven rt 84 through Connecticut from Boston to New York, you will pass lots of exits for towns with "bury" in them like Danbury, Southbury, Middlebury, Waterbury, etc. Going from Canterbury to Salisbury to Glastonbury, made us chuckle and remember our many drives through Connecticut.)

Glastonbury has the reputation for being the mystical town of King Arthur's later life and burial. We visited the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey which has an ancient grave site that supposedly belongs to King Arthur. Near the abbey is a little tourist trap called the Chalice Well. Not terribly expensive, we were having fun embracing the mythology that surrounded the town and King Arthur. The Chalice Well was a lovely little garden tucked behind the abbey. There was a little spring that they claimed was the Chalice Well with cups for sampling. My husband thought I was nuts for tasting the water. In hindsight, maybe it was stupid, but I didn't get sick. The water tasted very metallic, and I spit most of it out. Even if you're not a fan of the legend of Arthur and his knights of the round table, the Glastonbury Abbey was clearly a very real structure and the ruins are pretty magnificent. If you're headed out to Cornwall, it's definitely worth your time to stop for a few hours and enjoy this place.

Glastonbury Abbey & the burial site of King Arthur

Near the abbey is also the famed Glastonbury Tor. This giant hill is fabled to have mystical powers associated with it. We just saw it as an opportunity to climb a big hill and see the neat ancient tower that stood atop of it. It was already a windy enough day, but we were nearly blown over when we got to the top. The tower was just that: a tower. There was a walkway through the middle with a high ceiling but no stairs or way to reach the top. It evoked lots of curiosity for how and why it was built and what purpose it served as an active tower; those curiosities unfortunately went unsatisfied. 

After making the steep walk back down the Glastonbury Tor, we found our way back to our car (that we just parked on the street) and continued to head west for Cornwall. Only having one day left in the trip we decided to forgo seeing Cornwall itself and instead continued our King Arthur journey. We chose the small town of Tintagel instead of Cornwall so that we could see Tintagel Castle, the legendary birthplace of Arthur Pendragon. What we didn't realize, was just how enchanting this quaint village was, and how much we would fall in love with it.

It was mid-afternoon when we left Glastonbury, and we settled into our car for a good 2.5 hour drive. When doing research of this area, there were a few different choices we considered for lodging. We looked at three different places. 1. The Lewtrenchard Manor, 2. The Camelot Castle Hotel, and 3. the Avalon Bed and Breakfast. The Lewtrenchard Manor really seemed like an amazing place to stay. Unfortunately, it was around $250/night (over budget) and a good 45 min drive from Tintagel Castle where we wanted to go the next morning. Already faced with a very long drive the next day, we decided against a magical night in a 17th Century manor house. The Camelot Castle Hotel reminded me of a bad Vegas hotel. Built like a castle and only $100/night, it had amazing views of the coast and the castle, but there were too many bad reviews for us to consider it too much further. This left us with the Avalon B&B which out of all three options had, by far, the best reviews. Having never stayed at a true B&B before, we were actually a little nervous. The website had rooms with ocean views, though the website stated (at the time at least) that they had a 2-night minimum stay. Owned by a lovely couple, I figured there was no harm in emailing them to see if they could accommodate us for just one night seeing as it was the middle of May and not a very busy time for them. Fortune of fortunes, they graciously offered to let us stay for just one night with a water view for only $125. (Remember this was back in 2009 in case you consider going there and the rates are now higher.)

We got there in the early evening. Tintagel is a lovely, quaint town. We parked in the guesthouse lot, and asked for a recommendation for dinner. A little pub was just a short walk down the street, so we dined and then took a walk around the area. They were just steps from the coast which was breathtaking even if there weren't castle ruins nearby. I think my husband and I were both ready to pack everything we owned and move to this little village. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite figure out the logistics for where we would work and earn money. Maybe someday, we'll find ourselves here again.

Coast of England in Tintagel

The next morning, we had a little trouble with the shower in our room, but the owner came up and fixed it right away. They served us a delicious, homemade breakfast, and we set off for our morning at Tintagel Castle...or what's left of it. Another great thing about the Avalon Bed and Breakfast, was that it was within walking distance of the castle ruins. We walked off our hearty breakfast in no time by walking down to the entrance and then enjoying the ruins.

Tintagel Castle ruins

Before too long, we set off for the very very long drive back to London. Our plane departed early the next morning, so our goal was to drive to the airport and stay in an airport hotel. It was nearly a 6 hour drive from Cornwall back to London. We broke up the drive just a little bit by stopping after about 45 mins at one more destination. Although one might suggest that we've seen enough castles and manor houses to last a lifetime, (especially considering that we're still on the same trip where we saw all of those French chateaus) but it was a lovely day, and it gave us a brief respite where we could stretch our legs.

I don't remember too much about the inside of the Lanhydrock Manor House where we stopped that afternoon, but I do remember that the grounds were lovely. They also had a little snack shop where we were able to get lunch. We walked around the gardens and then set out for another 5 hours in the car.

Entrance to the Lanhydrock Manor House

A 5 hour car ride on the last day of vacation isn't exactly the funnest thing to do, but we had to get back to London for our flight home, and this just seemed to be the best way to do it. Having seen everything we wanted to see, we resigned ourselves to the fact that the trip was over. The 5 hour drive was just the precursor to the 6 hour flight we would take the next morning.

That night we stayed at the Sheraton Skyline Hotel and Conference Center just outside of the London Heathrow Airport. There were lots of airport hotels to choose from, but at $130/night, this one was the cheapest one that fit all of our requirements. Before checking in, we dropped off our rental car, and took a cab to the hotel. With a 6AM flight home the next morning, the last thing we wanted to do was having worry about returning our rental car at 4:00 in the morning.

Alas, our two week extravaganza has finally come to an end. With a $10,000 budget, we spent just under $8,700 for absolutely everything from the flights, cars, and hotels, to our souvenirs, entrance fees, and foreign transaction fees. Even though this trip was almost exactly 6 years ago, I still hold true to my $10k for 2 week budget. In 2013, we traveled for over 2 weeks to Austria, Denmark, and Germany for under $10,000, and I'm currently planning a 2 week trip to Thailand, Cambodia, Malaysia, and Singapore where I have every intention of spending under $10,000.

If you're a timid traveler like me, save your pennies and let my blog help you overcome your fears. France and England are great countries to visit for those of you who are new to traveling especially in Europe. There is little risk, little danger, and amazing adventures to be had.

My next blog segments will spend some time in the United States. I'll cover our trips to the San Francisco area and our cruise to Alaska. Stay tuned for how you can have some incredible experiences right in the grand 'ole US of A. Thanks for reading friends! Until next time....

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

English Countryside & the life of Anne Boleyn

After having spent three pretty terrific days in London (especially great compared to 3 relatively lousy days in Paris) we were still happy to be heading out of the city. Over the next four days we saw some incredible sites both historical and mythical. We also saw some positively lovely countryside that made us want to move here.

Our first mission for the day was the check out of our London hotel, make our way to the London Heathrow airport and pick up our rental car. I'm very sad to say that we had yet another bad rental car experience. If you've read my previous blogs, you know by now that I am a fan of the back-up rental car (and of hertz!). In London, we couldn't rely on hertz to save the day but not for any fault of theirs. I don't recall why exactly, but our main rental car in London was with Avis and our backup car was with Alamo. One thing I always insist on getting is a GPS. Back in 2009 it was easier to rent one at the rental car place (didn't have a smart phone). Unfortunately, Avis gave us quite a stink about letting us rent one. It stated clearly on our reservation that we requested a GPS. They had our automatic car...no problem, but adamantly refused the GPS. If this happens to you friends...don't back down. Don't give in. Ask to speak to a manager. Demand that they help you. It wasn't that they didn't have them. For whatever reason, they just decided they didn't want to honor our reservation. They offered to have us pay for an upgrade which included a GPS (still portable) which we declined. To this day, I still can't figure out why when we said to them, "We don't want an upgrade. We want the GPS that you're holding in your hand with the automatic car we reserved. Why can't we have that??" She was physically holding the GPS. There was no reason why she couldn't just hand it to us, but she didn't. We argued with them for over an hour until they gave us a print out of something and instructed us to proceed to the Avis counter where the cars were located (at this point we were still in the airport terminal). There, they had us go through the Avis preferred line to speak to someone who was expecting us. At that point, the new person gave us the car and GPS just like we reserved without any issues. Needless to say, Avis is WAY down on my preferred list. I don't remember why we didn't go to Alamo (our backup car). I think it was because we knew that Avis had what we wanted (for the price we reserved) so it was silly to walk away.

But rental car issue resolved and only an hour delayed, we spent a couple of minutes (and by we, I mean my husband) driving around the London airport getting used to being on the opposite side of the road. According to him, it's actually easier than you'd think because the car is reversed too. The drivers side is on the right, so the same spacial instincts are still there.

We didn't drive too long (only about 25 mins) before making our first stop. Our first day driving the English Countryside (unbeknownst to us) was spent learning about the life of Anne Boleyn: second wife of Henry VIII and mother of the future Queen Elizabeth I (Good Queen Bess). Although the previous day we saw the Tower of London where Anne spent the last few months of her life before being executed, this day we saw Hampton Court where she spend some of the happier years of her life.

Hampton Court is positively enormous, and we didn't dedicate nearly enough time here. We thought that we would spent about 2 hours here catching the highlights, but the palace and grounds are so extensive, I wish we could have stayed longer. Note to any future London travelers: give yourself plenty of time to see Hampton Court!

The back of Hampton Court from the gardens

From the palace where Anne Boleyn spent her life married to the notorious Henry VIII, we drove about 55 mins outside of London to Anne Boleyn's birthplace: Hever Castle. London may be known for its fog, but as we drove outside the city (just like in Paris), the weather cleared and the skies lightened. Hever Castle was a really neat place to visit and not terribly out of the way of anything. The grounds are lovely (with fun mazes for kids...or kids at heart), and I highly recommend it for anyone headed to the Canterbury region.

Hever Castle where Anne Boleyn was born

We spent most of the afternoon at Hever Castle before driving another hour and 15 mins to Canterbury. By the time we arrived, we were exhausted from a full day of sightseeing. Canterbury was just a short stop on our way to other things like the white cliffs of Dover and Leeds Castle, so we didn't have too much planned for our time here.

Our hotel for the evening was a charming bed and breakfast called the Thanington Hotel of Canterbury. I understand it's now called the Canterbury Hotel.  I hope the new owners have preserved the charm that this B&B had since it now appears to be apart of a string of hotels.

Before heading out of Canterbury the next morning, we did make one quick stop before heading to Dover: The Canterbury cathedral. The United States just doesn't have any remarkable structures like this or if they do, they've only been in existence for the last 200-300 years. One of the things I marveled the most the first time I visited Europe was the sheer age of some of the buildings. The Canterbury Cathedral in Kent was no different. Having been built almost 1,000 years ago, this magnificent structure is a must-see for any fans of religious history or those who simply appreciate a phenomenal example of gothic architecture.

Canterbury Cathedral

From the cathedral we drove for a little under an hour to England's east coast and the famed white cliffs of Dover. We didn't necessarily intend on going to the cliffs; we were headed for Dover Castle, but along the way, we saw signs for the White Cliffs national park, so we decided to take a short detour. We had to pay a minimal entrance fee to get into the park, but it was well worth it. We spent an hour or so walking/hiking around and getting up close and personal with the white cliffs themselves.

White Cliffs of Dover

From the white cliffs, we back tracked a little bit to get back to the complex that housed Dover Castle. Much to our chagrin, the castle was closed for restorations, and we couldn't go in. But instead of just turning around and leaving, we decided to inquire about what else there was to see in this quirky castle village. I can't even tell you how glad I am that we decided to do this. One gem that we found was a guided tour of the British World War II underground communications headquarters. As I've mentioned before, I'm a huge WW2 buff, so the opportunity to learn more about the clandestine operations of the United Kingdom during the war was one I couldn't pass up.

What I enjoyed even more than learning about the history of the types of communications they used and the secrecy surrounding their operations was the human factors element they had on display. In this underground world, real people lived for several years. I thoroughly enjoyed seeing how they lived, where they slept, ate, etc. It was all very fascinating to me. I love being taken back in time and given a small glimpse into a world I never knew existed.

Sadly (like the treasury inside the Tower of London) we were not able to take any photographs in the bunkers, but fortune of fortunes, the gift shop sold postcards with images of what we saw. These will forever be preserved in my trip album.

From Dover, England, we drove about 45 minutes to one of my husband's favorite destinations from his childhood trip to England: Leeds Castle. In addition to the castle itself, Leeds has lots of things to see on its grounds.

Leeds Castle on a sunny, beautiful day!

Watch for wild peacocks and make sure they don't damage your car if you happen to see any pecking at their own reflection in the parking lot like we did. (Fortunately it wasn't pecking at our car.)

Silly Peacock pecking at its own reflection

After seeing the Canterbury Cathedral, the white cliffs of Dover, the underground communications headquarters, and Leeds Castle, we were quite tired. Unfortunately, we still had one more thing to accomplish this day. What's my #1 travel rule? Get up early and beat the crowds. You won't regret it!

The very first thing to do the next morning was to see the single most famous tourist attraction in all of England outside of London: Stonehenge. Not knowing what to expect this item of year (even though we had good luck with few crowds so far), we still wanted to get there right when it opened. The problem was that Leeds Castle was a good 2 hour drive from Stonehenge. So, having seen what we wanted to see for the day (and then some), we played a round of ring around the rental car (because we instinctively went to the wrong sides of the car first), and set out for the town of Salisbury.

In hunting for hotels in this region, we stuck to my ground rules of being at least 4-stars and also being under $200/night, but since we weren't near a major city, parking was essential. Without access to familiar public transportation, we were delighted when we found that the Best Western Red Lion Hotel Salisbury had a small car park behind the hotel. Just a short walk from this historic hotel was the Salisbury Cathedral. It wasn't necessarily something we intended to see, but since we still had some daylight hours left, we decided to stretch our legs after the 2 hour drive and check it out.

Unfortunately for me as a tourist (but fortunately for the future of the building) it was partially covered in scaffolding from the restoration efforts. We also got there just 10 minutes before closing, so we were only able to get a quick glimpse of the inside before the clergy politely shooed us out.

Salisbury Cathedral

As I've often said, when you start seeing too many of the same type of thing, you become saturated and remember them less and less. While castles and cathedrals are (in my opinion) some of the world's most magnificent structures, the interiors definitely blend together after a little while. Especially if you can't take pictures of the inside to help you remember the differences, they all become a faded mix of rose windows, stained glass, golden altars, grand pipe organs, and endless rows of pews. I think that's also what helped to make the underground communications headquarters stand out so much in Dover. We expected to see another castle, but instead, we saw something very unique and therefore memorable.

Our two days near England's east coast came quickly to an end and with it the end of England's royal and religious history. We spent so much time learning about England's past rulers, the wives they divorced, and the castles where they grew up. Our next two days would shift focus from the historical to the mystical. From Stonehenge to King Arthur, our journey continues here.

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler

Cheers Old Chap - London Day 3

Well, we've arrived at our final day in London. Our 3 days in Paris while still part of the same trip seemed like a lifetime ago. Here's my travel tip for the day. When planning a long vacation like this (2 weeks or more) make sure you save some really awesome things for the end of the trip. It's natural as you travel to lose momentum. Your attitude changes completely from the beginning of the trip. You're tired. You're beginning to miss the comforts of home (your own bed, shower, favorite food). And all at the same time, you're sad that this trip that you've been planning and excited for for months is nearly over. That's why it's so very important that the last days of your trip should be filled with things that excite you. In the case of foreign travel, there is definitely something to be said for saving the best for last.

On our last day in London, we definitely saw the coolest thing in the entire city, the infamous Tower of London. I may start sounding like a broken record, but I can't emphasize this enough. Get up early; beat the crowds. We got to the Tower of London right when it opened, and didn't see the slightest hint of a crowd. (Could have been the fact that it was the middle of the week in mid-May.) You could tell that the Tower of London was nothing but prepared for high volumes. The area from the ticket booth to the main platform looked like an amusement park line with poles and ropes designed to keep people organized. Once you get inside the door, you would think that you've made some progress. WRONG. Inside is a giant empty theater with the history of the tower playing on the movie screen while you...what's this....wait in an even longer line than the one outside. At least this time you're out of the elements, and they have a video to watch.

For us, however, not a single other person was around, and we walked through the ropes like we were getting some sort of special VIP treatment. We actually walked slowly through the non-line in the theater so that we got a chance to see some of the movie. Had we wished, we could have skipped it completely. These two lines are for entry into the chamber that houses the British crown jewels. Once you finally get inside the vault, you step onto a conveyor belt that takes you past them. I can only imagine how bad the crowds must be on a busy summer Saturday that they need a conveyor belt to keep people moving. Fortunately for us, we rode the conveyor belt again and again to view these precious gems (because once across is not nearly enough).

Sadly, no photography is permitted almost anywhere inside the Tower of London, so I was delighted when I could buy postcards of them for my albums. Read my blog on London Day 2 for my postcard photograph tip.

After spending way too much time viewing the crown jewels and imagining every fantasy scenario from being crowned queen at a coronation to engaging in a world-class jewel heist (impossible when you see how ridiculously this place is guarded), we exited the treasury and spend the next several hours exploring the rest of the tower.

We learned all about the famous prisoners who had been imprisoned here and where many of them met their fateful demise. For a fortress that houses some of the world's most valuable jewels, it also has a dark and twisted history. The literature that they give you is very informative about the history of the tower and the various superstitions and legends including the story of the tower ravens. I kid you not, as soon as we finished reading about the ravens, we walked down an outdoor flight of stairs only to meet twin ravens hanging out on the railing. We did a double take to make sure we weren't seeing things. Sadly, these ravens belong to the Tower and no longer have the freedom to soar as normal birds.

Tower of London ravens

From the Tower of London we headed back to London's West End but not without first stopping to take a picture of this very famous bridge.

London bridge is falling down....

Our afternoon was spent in a dark theater enjoying the wit and prose of playwright Agatha Christie as we watched The Mousetrap. After the show and with our last few remaining hours in London, we headed to the most famous department store in the entire city for some retail therapy.  We spent a good amount of time in Harrods though we quickly realized the prices were slightly out of our price range. I found a really unique set of flower jewelry that was hand-painted enamel. I loved it and asked to see it out of the case. Not having any precious stones or being made of precious metal, I was shocked when she said that it was over a thousand pounds. Then the lady said, "We have some other Chanel jewelry in this case over here." Suddenly it all became clear to me. Not that I have anything against Chanel, but if I want to buy it, I can buy it just as easily in the USA as I can in England. I smiled politely and we left.

Entrance to Harrods Department store

Having gone to bed late the night before and getting up early that morning, we were tired and eager to pack up and get ready for our next adventure. We called it an early night and made sure we had everything in order to depart London the next morning and head out for the English countryside. 

Check out my blog here on the next part of the trip outside the city. 

Thanks for reading!

- Foxy the Traveler