Another Gallivanting Adventure in the UK

Here we are once again, on the edge of Scotland, beginning yet another adventure as we make our way southwest to Wales. And, to add to the excitement, we are in the midst of the country celebrating the coronation of King Charles III.  There are festive banners hanging in village shops and pubs in preparation of the anticipated event this weekend. The mood of the country is far different than our last trip, and it will certainly be interesting to see what adventures await us.  

In the meantime, we traded very wet, cold weather at home, for cold, cloudy weather here, with a likely chance of showers most days while we are here.  But that won't keep us from having as much fun as we can muster.  We'll be bundling up as we go about gallivanting and, hopefully, we won't get soaked to the bone.

We landed early this morning, picked up the car, and headed to the Scottish Borders to Paxton House.  It is a Palladium mansion which we had never seen, and its location made it just about the perfect distance to drive after just a few hours sleep on our overnight flight. It stands majestically overlooking the River Tweed.

I had scheduled a tour for 11:45 am, and we arrived with minutes to spare, joined by another very entertaining couple who hail from Birmingham.  Graham, our tour guide, was extremely knowledgeable and had an uncanny way of telling the family history in a way that piqued our curiosity as we wanted to learn more. 

But before we even walked through the doors, Graham was sure to mention that this house was the first in Scotland that incorporated a water wheel to aid in pumping water into the house.  John Adam implemented a design that caused the flow of the water to turn the wheel which then activated a pump that pushed the water to a large storage tank at the top of the house. This invention eliminated the need to send servants down to the stream to cart water by hand.  Pretty clever, for sure.

The house, itself,  is considered to be one of the finest preserved homes built in the Palladian style.  Symmetry is one of the key characteristics of this style, and you can easily see how the left and the right extensions to the house mirror each other.

John and James Adams had been commissioned to build the house, as well as decorate the interior. Aside from the fact that these famous men were involved in the design and building of this country home, Paxton house is known for its large collection of Chippendale holdings. 

The interior of the house was quite remarkable.  Photos were not permitted, but we found ourselves admiring countless pieces of unique Chippendale furniture, in addition to linens and wall paper made by the same company.  The exterior pink sandstone came from a quarry that stood right on the ground, supplying large bricks that cost the owner virtually nothing. 

Graham then went on to tell the history of this Palladian villa. Patrick Home built the house in 1758, in hopes of bringing the love of his life, Sophia, here to spend their lives as a married couple.  Patrick had met Sophie at the Court of Frederick the Great in Berlin. He professed his love for her and his desire to marry.  The king stipulated that Patrick's entire fortune be transferred to Prussia in exchange for his marriage to Sophie.

Patrick's mother refused to permit the marriage under these circumstances, and she threatened to disinherit him if he went through with the proposal.  So, Patrick went on a world tour, collecting various artifacts over time, and waited for the opportunity to marry Sophie.  That time stretched well over 21 years. (The marriage never was.)   

In the meantime, by 1768, Patrick couldn't bear the thought of living in the villa without Sophie, so he sold the mansion to his cousin, Ninian Home. It was Ninian who commissioned the famous Adams brothers, along with the Chippendales, to create the stylish home, which included decorative motifs borrowed from ancient Rome.  Many of the collections of Patrick were stored in the basement for safekeeping, and, amazingly, still exist today in remarkable good condition.  There were items of clothing that he wore at court that look as brilliant as the day he wore them in the mid 1700's!

The home passed to Ninian's younger brother, George Home, who commissioned a wing to the house that holds a library filled with 4000 books, and an amazing portrait gallery, complete with glass domes in the ceiling to offer the necessary light to view the paintings in detail.  Only one of the paintings is original to the house as the entire collection was sold at auction to satisfy death taxes.  The art that fills the room today is entirely on loan from the Scotland Museum.  

In the 1980's the house was donated to the country, and a separate Paxton house trust was created to assure that it would be preserved for the future.

The grounds are fairly extensive, and the River Tweed runs alongside.  Cows rest among daffodils across from the entrance, 

and there are some well maintained flower gardens surrounding the house.

Trees were beginning to bloom

and some are awaiting their spurt of green. 

The exterior of one side of a walled garden features several varieties of fruit trees trained to climb.

Across from the trees stands a sundial, with the crossing bridge in the background, making for a lovely scene. 

A window adorns this side of the wall, which had been rescued from an old building in Edinburgh, sometime in the 1800s. 

Rather clever, if I say so myself. 

There are fields and fields of Rapeseed, alive with color, in this area, and if the sun should happen to peek out from behind a cloud, it offers an even brighter glow!

Our adventures at Paxton were nearly at an end

but not before we stopped into the tea house for a cuppa with a scone, complete with clotted cream and home made jam.

Our first meal of the day!  And it was delightful!  At this point, we decided to head over to our B&B, The Walls, located along the walls of the city which stand along the River Tweed. (Interestingly enough, our room is entitled The Tweed.)

We decided to take a less known route, and check out the Union Chain Bridge, which was only just opened after a year long refurbishment.  The original bridge was opened in July of 1820 and was the first suspension bridge in Scotland designed to carry vehicles.  It has the recognition of being the earliest surviving iron suspension bridge in the world that continues to be used for its purpose. 

The bridge is made of eye-bar wrought iron chains that were designed and patented by Samuel Brown. 

The space between the entrance stones is really quite narrow, as is the driving surface itself as you pass along.  Obviously, only one direction can be traveled at a time, and it can be tricky passing through without knocking the mirrors on either side, but Marty managed without issue. 

The original plaque stands at the one end, embedded at the base of a brick wall.

and a life sized statue of Samuel Brown sits adjacent, with his rolled up plans tucked under his arm.

It was really quite an experience crossing over, and we stopped at the other side to get a closer look.  No worries about too much traffic here!

We checked into our B&B, then headed to dinner to Foxton's wine bar. I had made early reservations, knowing that we'd be exhausted from our overnight flight.  We toasted to the beginning of our newest adventure.

and I splurged and ordered the Sticky Toffee Pudding with Scottish Tablet Ice Cream, and a Salted Caramel Sauce, for dessert.  It was delectable!

The weekend is sure to be an interesting one!

I'll be sure to keep you posted!

Sweeney Todd....the demon barber of Fleet Street

For Christmas this year, I was presented with tickets to see Josh Groban, who is once again performing on Broadway.   This year, he is delighting viewers with his role in Sweeney Todd, where he plays the role of the demon barber.  I wasn't quite sure what to expect, having briefly read the storyline, but I enthusiastically booked a hotel months ago, in anticipation of the event, basing my choice on my previous trip last year with the girls.  After all, when you find a place that suits in New York City, you might as well stick with it....right?

So, Marty and I headed out yesterday, bright and early, driving into the city with the hopes of a little exploring prior to the 3:00 pm performance.  We were making great time, exiting the Lincoln Tunnel way before noon, headed on our way to the hotel parking lot.  We did notice that traffic was extremely heavy, but didn't give that much thought.....until......we went to make a turn as directed, and there was a blue barricade blocking us from entering the street.  

We traveled a few more blocks, only to find ourselves in repeat.  A quick google search, and I learned that yesterday the city hosted a half marathon, which began in Brooklyn and finished in Central Park.  As our Gps kept directing us to "turn right",  I located a map for the race online, and quickly determined that the only way to achieve our goal was to drive west, travel down to the middle of Central Park, scoot through the transverse (that part was a breeze), then head back on 5th Avenue, turning on 51st street.  This way, we would be able to enter from the opposite direction, as 7th Avenue was closed.  

It was a clever plan...don't you think? And we were finally making our turn onto 51st street with just a block and a half to go.  And, what do we see?  A blue barricade with a policeman standing behind it.  Our hearts sank. 

As we sat at the light, I decided to pop out of the car, cross the street, and throw myself at the mercy of the policeman manning the barricade.  (Ok, so maybe it wasn't quite that dramatic)....But I did very sweetly ask him if he could help me....and he was actually quite happy to do so.

In the meantime, Marty took advantage of a break in traffic, and worked his way to the spot where the man moved the barrier so that he could squeeze the car by (without hitting any pedestrians....that was key) , and we could finally breathe a sigh of relief.  

The result was that we reached our destination an hour and a half after entering Manhatten.  Obviously, the garage wasn't busy (since no one could get on the street to enter the building), so we had no issues handing over the keys, grabbing our luggage, and making our way to the hotel lobby.   We couldn't check in yet, so we handed over our bags and headed out to find the theater.

It wasn't far from our hotel and there was no one in site when we managed to capture a photo in front of the sign outside. 

We popped inside a nearby restaurant for a quick bite to eat.  (the beer belongs to the photographer). 

The ambiance was quite lovely, and this large mural on the wall was really quite clever, filled with so many familiar faces from films over the years. 

Having recouped from our driving adventure, we headed outside, only to find ourselves in a throng of people who had suddenly appeared out of nowhere....all lining up to see Sweeney Todd. (Good thing we took that photo earlier!)  We  headed in the opposite direction of the theater, because that was where the end of the line could be found.  But the staff at the theater were extremely efficient at getting the people in and seated in relatively short time, all while treating us as valued guests.  How great is that? 

This was a "preview" performance of the musical, and I will admit that at the beginning, I had a bit of difficulty understand the words as the ensemble began singing the lyrics of "The Ballad of Sweeney Todd".  But as the show  progressed, that problem seemed to vanish, and I was able to absorb the content without issue.

Let's face it....the plot is rather macabre,  but the musical performance manages to capture the audience's sense of humor with some extremely entertaining puns thrown in for fun during some of the musical scores.  Annaleigh Ashford plays the role of Mrs. Lovett to perfection, complete with a convincing cockney accent.  She had the audience in stitches numerous times through the performance. 

And as I mentioned, Josh Groban played the role of Sweeney Todd, and there's no doubting his entertainment value.  My eardrums nearly burst at the roar of approval from the audience as they applauded, hooting and hollering, at the end of the performance.   He had missed the prior three shows, due to illness, and I think the audience was eager to show their appreciation at his return.  I know that we were certainly happy to hear him!

The show lasted nearly three hours, and, afterwards, we did a quick check in at our hotel, then headed out to an Italian Restaurant, Azaleas, which was just a block away.

We enjoyed a lovely dinner to end our day.  

About the play......let me just end on this note:

Attend the tale of Sweeney Todd

He served a dark and vengeful god

What happened then, well, that's the play

And he wouldn't want us to give it away....

Guess you'll just have to find out what happens yourself!   

 

Back in Wytheville

When we decided to make this trip, I chose Wytheville as a stopping point along the way.  We enjoyed the town so much, we knew that it would be the perfect place to stop on our continued travels along the way to Pittsburgh.  

Our hotel is the Bolling Wilson hotel located on Main Street, and what makes it a treasure is that one can sleep without highway noise pounding your ears.  

Although I must admit that the heating system in the room does sound like a UFO taking off every few minutes as I write this.  Perhaps we'll be beamed up while we sleep.  Guess we'll find out tomorrow. 

The hotel takes its name from Edith Bolling Wilson, First Lady to Woodrow Wilson, who was actually born across the street in the upstairs apartments across the street.

There is a lot of  history here regarding the First Lady's role during her husband's term as President, and one of the features of which I was completely unaware was the grazing of sheep on the White House Lawn during World War I.   Apparently there were a lot of complaints from the locals at the time, and Wilson was sure to make it publicly known that those very same sheep served their country by contributing wool from which uniforms were made for soldiers. 

And so, the sheep are recognized for their service here at the Bolling Wilson Hotel. 

Honestly, don't we find the most interesting facts on our adventures? 

We began our day in Asheville, once again enjoying a scrumptious breakfast that included a fruit parfait and blueberry puff. 

I decided that it was worth tempting you by showing photos of the delights so that you could see just how delectable our breakfasts were.  Just to backtrack:  fresh fruit salad with a ham/cheese/potato casserole

and black cherry yogurt parfaits with strawberry french toast. 

Is your mouth watering yet?    Believe me.....each were scrumptious!

We then hopped in the car and headed to Tennessee for a quick visit with my cousin, Lenka, and her family

which included Buddy who was an extremely entertaining part of our visit.

Lenka's husband prepared a tasty lunch, and we sat around the table, catching up and enjoying each other's company for well over four hours.  It was a quick, but certainly meaningful trip, and we are so grateful that we had the chance to visit them, even if for just a short time.  

We said our fond farewells and headed back to Wytheville, but not before a quick stop at the Bush's Baked Beans visitor center.  (Did you even know that existed?)

Unfortunately, it had just closed, but that didn't stop us from grabbing a few photos.

Certainly an entertaining ending for another remarkable day.

Until next time.....

Out and About in Asheville

 We started the day with another yummy breakfast, and headed out to explore the wonders of Asheville. 

Our first stop was Biltmore Historic Village, which, unlike what its name implies, is actually a glorified shopping mall, with modern day fashion shops disguised as Shakespearean structures and brick sidewalks to emulate Victorian era streets.  Marty and I aren't really "shoppers," so we found this to be a bit disappointing. So much for "stepping back in time"  as the online description had suggested. 

I did spot this Evangelical Church, built in 1895 by George Vanderbilt.   It is marked as being on the Register of Historic places, and appears to have held up quite well over the years. 

What you can't see is that there are five bells, hanging horizontally under the front peak.  Quite a unique structure, and I felt that it exemplified Vanderbilts' Dutch heritage beautifully. 

From here, we headed to the next venue of interest:  Grove Arcade.  Along the way, we passed this mural that seemed to be calling my husband's name. 

But, we aren't here to fish.  So, we made our way to the Arcade, snagging a parking place right outside the front.  The building brought back memories of Jenkins' arcade in Pittsburgh, which I recall visiting as a kid, but this was much more "sophisticated".

Unique boutique-type stores lined the downstairs, and the middle and top floors were designated as offices and suites.  But, you can see the beauty of the interior.

One of the unique shops was The Woodrow Instrument Company.  A young man was working on the detail of one of these unique instruments.

There are four different styles, each unique to the sound of a different instrument:  guitar, banjo, mandolin and lute. The man who founded the company wanted to design an instrument that would be easy to play for anyone.  He believes: "If you got one finger and you can count to seven, you can play the Woodrow."  Something to keep in mind, as I'd say most of us fit the criteria. 

There was one more shop that caught my attention.  It was bookstore/slash restaurant, which was loaded with shelves bursting with just about any title of book you could want.  But, I was actually amused by what else the place had to offer.  There were loads of bottles of Champagne, as well as lunch options.  As you can see, pastries for dessert, and extremely interesting wall decor.  To top it off, the employees wore white fluffy halos upon their heads.  Definitely not anything you'd be seeing back home!

The outside of the Arcade was guarded by lionlike statues, each with their own given name. 

(I have no idea who named them.)

We took a quick jaunt around the exterior of the building, but there wasn't much more of interest to us, so we decided to head to the Botanical Gardens on the outskirts of town, to see what it had to offer. 

I'll be frank.  It's early March, and there isn't much happening in respect to gardens at this time.  But I did spot a splash of pink growing on a rock formation,

and a beautiful blooming cherry tree adding yet a different shade of pink to admire, 

and a Purple Toadshade which I had actually never seen before.

The grounds are laid out with graveled paths, some lined with rock walls, making it a relatively easy to maneuver and pleasant to view.

At the edge of the gardens, stands the Hayes Memorial Cabin , built in 1893.  

It was donated to the Botanical Gardens in 1965, by Hubert Hayes' widow, Leona, but there is no explanation to the origins of the cabin.  I can only presume that Hayes was born in the cabin in 1901.  Hayes is a local celebrity and is known for being  an author, folklorist and the founder of Asheville's Mountain Jamboree.  

The entire botanical walk took us all of 20 minutes so we obviously had plenty of daytime left for another adventure.  So, we headed towards the Blue Ridge Parkway, and began making our way north to Craggy Pinnacle. 

 

The road was beautiful, well maintained, and offered some incredible vistas as we worked our way up in elevation.

There were designated pull-offs along the way, each one strategically placed to offer an amazing view. 

Here you see the sign for the "Bull Creek Valley" view from an elevation of 3,483 feet:

Upon the sign one reads: 

 THE LAST BUFFALO SEEN IN THIS LOCATION WAS KILLED NEARBY IN 1799 BY JOSEPH RICE AN EARLY SETTLER.  

Does anyone else find this to be extremely interesting?  I have so many questions:  Who would be keeping a record of the number of buffalo killed, with the last being in 1799?  Was a record made every time one was killed?  How would they know when it was the "last" one to be killed?  Why inscribe this upon a plaque for all to remember?  And, do you think that Joseph Rice wants to be remembered as the man who gave up the last buffalo here?  Ok, I'll stop.  Something tells me that you don't know the answers anymore than I. 

Continuing our drive, you can see how the vistas became more and more remarkable, and it's obvious why this is called the "Blue Ridge Parkway." 

Our final stop was at nearly 6000 feet.  The mountains seemed to roll on forever in the distance. 

What an amazing view, don't you agree? 

We certainly did manage to make the most out of this last day in Asheville!  Hope you enjoyed traveling along with me!

Until next time....