It is Sunday, half way through April and in nine days we jet off to an escorted ten day grand tour of some great castles and historical perspectives in Scotland, all organised by Alison Weir and dubbed “Flowers of Scotland”.
The bags are almost packed, travel insurance, passports and UK power plugs all in order; not much left to do other than let the excitement build.
Monday 22nd April 2024:
In less than 24 hours we will be airborne for our first stop, Singapore, where we’ll change planes for the 13 hour flight into Heathrow, London. Earlier today Google suggested that the temperatures in London will peak at 9 degrees and get as low as 2 degrees. Don’t really care, as we should be warm enough!
Thursday 25th April 2024:
We are here, at the Montague on the Gardens, settled, happy and seemingly over jet-lag. Both flights to London via Singapore were very good with one small exception; we were only a few seats away from an infant who cried and squealed on a regular basis. No real complaint, these things happen, but poor Vicki had crying babies visiting her in her sleep!
Customs and immigration at Heathrow was a breeze, no stopping at all, bags waiting, all good. An Uber service was quick, easy and they had their own pick up area only a minute or so away from the exit.
We tried to keep moving when we got to the hotel, but by 4pm, after a lovely hot shower and cups of tea we both succumbed to sleep on a really comfortable bed. We slept for just under 15 hours, waking all refreshed – no amount of airplane comfort can compare with the horizontal position in a blissfully warm bed.
We are across the road from the British Museum, an old favourite of ours, so at 9:00 this morning we wandered the streets adjacent to the Museum and found a great spot for breakfast of coffee and panini before lining up around the block for our 10:30 entry booking. Entry is free, but bookings must be made. Just loved the museum, such a great place which never seems crowded despite tons of people – the greater majority are not British! Chatted with a father/son combo from Virginia, USA; and had a great laugh with a Frenchman and his family who had come across on the fast train – he said he’ll go back home tonight!
Off to a pub for dinner tonight (they have onion rings!) then back to our hotel for a jazz evening & cocktails at the Leopard Bar. The hotel is owned and operated by a South African company. Good service, delightful people.
Friday 26th April 2024:
Last night, could not get a table at the Museum pub so we wandered the streets in light rain looking for something, anything that was somewhat suitable for a couple of old farts on Oxford Street in London. After fruitless searching we decided on a food court, the Arcade Food Hall which had several different kitchens working – tacos, burgers, Thai, Chinese, American, Indian, and Italian. It was a crowded and as noisy as all get out; food pretty rough, wine terrible and music awful! Never again, we gave it one star, but we were not the target market – it was 50 metres from Tottenham Road Railway Station and at 6pm it seemed like half of London was in there!
But today was magnificent; the National Art Gallery in the morning which featured Caravaggio’s last painting; and the Tate Britain which back in the 1840’s was the Milbank Prison – the holding pen for Sarah Miles (read the story) before she was shipped to Van Diemen’s Land.
The weather was beaut today and the tourists were out in strength! Uber drivers put it down to the sunshine, they said it was one of the busiest days on record (not sure what record, but we took his word for it) and wondered if it was a public holiday. The crowds were in force at Whitehall, maybe something to do with the cavalry horses that bolted yesterday.
Here’s the pics from departure through to today. We’ll give the pub meal and the jazz night a review tomorrow afternoon!
The pics are from both galleries, all the fountains are Trafalgar Square, home of the National. Yes, there is a “where’s Vicki?” shot or two!
And we did get back to the pub just beside the Museum and we did get the specials – a mustard burger, wild boar sausages and onion rings. The place was really full and we shared space with a pair of Canadian sisters, Bonnie & Brittany from Saskatchewan.
Saturday 27th April 2024:
A light breakfast at the Italian cafe over the road from the museum before packing, checking out of the Montague and securing an Uber ride north to Sue and Brian’s house in Welwyn. We met Nessa, their really well behaved brindle pointer who is walked for at least an hour every day. Brian cooked a scrumptious meal of sea bass and rice and we drank, chatted and laughed until well past midnight.
Sunday 28th April 2024:
We all slept in. Nessa who is an ideal dog slept in her own bed and was up about 8:00am. She doesn’t bark, is affectionate without being needy, doesn’t get up on beds and always responds positively to direction.
She would like to catch squirrels but they seem to be a tad quick for her.
Tomorrow is day one of the Alison Weir tour; we meet everyone about 2:30 at the Edinburgh Intercontinental for introductions and some “talks” on Scotland in general, Edinburgh in particular.
But this afternoon we are off into the countryside to have a late lunch to celebrate Brian’s birthday. The village is Cottered, the pub “The Bull”, the food magnificent!
Monday 29th April 2024:
Today we flew on Easyjet from Luton to Edinburgh. There was twice as much time taken up with getting to the departure processing section of the airport, going through baggage drop, boarding pass, security, walking to the gate, finding a toilet and waiting to board than actual fly-time. The bags were out quickly and we did not have to wait for a taxi. After an easy drive into Edinburgh, we were processed into the hotel quickly and then we were there: into the Hanover Suite, laughing with Alison Weir and her fellow historians, Sarah Gristwood, Nicola Tallis, Michael Jones, Julian Humphreys and Tracy Borman ( all are very accomplished, and funny speakers!), drinking magnificent Chilean wines and eating extremely well. The group all are very friendly, lovely folks, many of whom went out of their way to introduce themselves. We are sure we will have a great time with them.
After dinner we all headed off to Holyrood Palace to gush over Charles III’s digs; not a bad little pad that the Royals might use a dozen times a year, bringing about 100 staff with them so that every whim may be catered for. We were also given the obligatory blow by blow, in situ tale of Lord Darnley’s nefarious behaviour and death.
Here are pics of Edinburgh in general, the view out of our window specifically. There are no “Where’s Vicki” photos in this lot.
Tuesday 30th April 2024:
Some delightful surprises! Not only have we been allocated seats on row two of the bus, but breakfast is now included, at least while we are in Edinburgh! This morning over toast, bacon & eggs and all the trimmings we chatted with Erin from Texas, who is no fan of Trump or her state Governor, Abbot. The Australian convention of compulsive voting was an amazing revelation to her!
Roger wandered around the Scottish Museum, unable and unwilling to tackle the stairs at Edinburgh Castle. Vicki had no problem with them and was able to take a bunch of photos. We rejoined after lunch and spent part of the afternoon looking at shops along the street that the hotel is on.
We have two presentations this afternoon: Tracy Borman is doing “Queen Victoria and Scotland”; Michael Jones will give us “Bonnie Prince Charlie in Edinburgh – the Birth of a Legend”.
We have a table booked next door for dinner at the Le Petit Beefbar Edinburgh – one of many steak houses that are abundant in Edinburgh.
Here is part of Edinburgh Castle:
Wednesday 1st May 2024:
A pinch and a punch for the first of a new month.
This was a very busy day; an extremely busy day. It started with a comprehensive, all you can devour, hot & cold, complete with haggis breakfast before we were all loaded on the bus by 8:30am and driven south to Abbotsford House, the home of Walter Scott – well his estate, he’s been dead for a long time. The historians on board were not overly keen on Walter, his manipulation of truth regarding the Jacobite cause, his massaging of the Scottish ‘culture’ and the fact that he is synonymous with Scottish shortbread became the basis for many tongue in cheek jokes about him and his life. His house is south of Edinburgh in the borders district, although in his lifetime he would not have witnessed or participated in any of the violence and theft that characterised this part of Scotland and England for hundreds of years.
The driving time to and from destinations is always filled with well researched and presented talks about some aspect of our tour by the historians, all of whom are very adept at this type of historical comment. The tour group are all so obviously fascinated by the talks that no-one is talking and much applause concludes each presentation. Tracy, Sarah and Julian were on this morning talking about the union of England & Scotland, Scotland and the Windsors, Walter Scott and the invention of Scotland, and the Border Reivers.
We had a very canny Scot, Bruce, as our guide who gave some very colourful insights into the life a times of Scott and his pedantic ways. You’ll see Bruce in the first photo; and there is a “Where’s Vicki?” somewhere in/on Abbotsford House.
We had a delightful lunch at the Ochiltree’s Cafe after our tour, and fully refreshed & refuelled drove about 45 minutes to one of the oldest estate houses in Scotland, Traquair House. The current lady of Traquair helps to brew their own ale and elderberry bubbly, enjoys a chat and is very down to earth. The house doesn’t have a single level floor, many narrow spiral staircases and some really interesting plants for sale. I have to give our coach driver, Andy, a plug here; his skill in manoeuvring and backing this beast of a bus (The Big Brown Bus) is incredible. He is a Rugby man from Leicester and drives coaches across the UK and Europe.
On the drive back Tracy and Nicola gave great talks on the Witch-Hunting King (James VI and I); and The North Berwick Witch Trials. Alison gave an excellent outline on Traquair.
We made it back to the Edinburgh Intercontinental by 5:15pm. Everyone rushed to their rooms to quickly freshen up and don their best for the first really formal dinner of the tour – on board the Royal Yacht Britannia.
We followed the red carpet to the gangplank where a solo bagpiper piped us aboard and into the welcome lounge. Champagne was on tap as the guide gave his welcome address before we were split into two groups to tour the ship’s facilities, which included Queen Elizabeth II’s bedroom and the crews’ bar. We were given an outline of their favourite game – wombat tennis! The Captain’s quarters included a special armchair where the Queen would sit while discussing the day’s sailing. Where’s Vicki? will prove illuminating! The ship’s Captains have traditionally held the rank of Admiral.
Both groups arrived at the dining room which could comfortably hold about 100 people., although our group was less than 50. Food and beverage service was immaculate – four staff to each table of eight and the plates were placed on the table with exact precision. And of course, the staff were all wearing epaulets and gold braid! Quite a performance! The drinks continued all night; we retired to the lounge for port and cognac and stumbled back onto the coach a little before midnight.
Thursday 2nd May 2024:
The alarm went off at 6:00am. Our bags were being picked up outside our rooms at 7:00am. They were not at all packed and clothes, books and all sorts of stuff was strewn across the room. Oh what fun vacations are! We were leaving Edinburgh this morning, just before 9:00am, headed for Scone Palace, home of the Pictish stone which is used to confirm the anointment of Scottish Kings. The drive took about 90 minutes, it felt like six hours. And, here, in Scotland it is pronounced “scoon”, not sconn nor scown. It is a beautiful place with extensive garden, a maze, and a bunch of really annoying, and really loud peacocks!
The talks on the bus this morning were quite varied: Julian took on the Scottish War of Independence; Michael gave us Edward I (Longshanks, who throws people he doesn’t like out of windows); and Nicola covered all things Scone, the honours, the stone and the palace.
A third of our group had opted to go on a whisky experience at Dewars’s Distillery, Aberfeldy. We were both extremely pleased with our decision to sit in the sunshine of Scoon drinking cold water instead of being led through a brewery!
The long drive north to Inverness was quite sunny and afforded us many panoramas of the beautiful landscapes which make up the Highlands. Nicola outlined the “Beaufort Queen of Scots”; and then moved forward to “The King’s Mistresses: The Women of James IV and V”; and continued to hold the microphone with a short piece on Inverness. All masterfully told.
By 5:00pm we were in Inverness, at the Ness Walk Hotel, drinking champagne as the staff delivered our bags to the rooms. Dinner at 7:30pm featured haggis ravioli, venison, chocolate and a magnificent Barossa shiraz.
These photos are all from Scone Palace:
Friday 3rd May 2024:
A great night’s sleep on the best bed we’ve encountered on this odyssey. The military complex built in the 18th century and named Fort George was certainly positioned on a very strategic piece of real estate. Totally suitable for English soldiers and their superiors if they were attacked; and wonderful for training new young soldiers military drill and the use of guns & bayonets. They were never attacked, probably never will be and if they are it will be a very short battle fought by 21st century weapons, something Fort George lacks. The groups level of excitement reached a peak when dolphin(s) were sighted far out in the loch.
The bus talks today were on “The Auld Alliance”, Sarah; all about the Jacobites in two presentations by Julian, then Michael; Alison gave the history of Dunrobin Castle; Sarah displayed her journalist background with a piece on “Highland Journals and Other Diaries”; and Nicola gave a very detailed coverage of Margaret Tudor.
Then a drive north, across two bridges and onto the Dunrobin Castle, a spectacular construction with almost 200 rooms, of which we saw about 50. It is the ancestral home of the Sutherlands and has many very interesting and fascinating bits & pieces dating back to the 14th century, complete with huge portraits of somewhat historical celebrities. Like Queen Victoria. And a dozen Earls of Sutherland. Or is it Earl of Sutherlands? Gardens are sensational, the staff guiding us around both knowledgeable and friendly.
Saturday 4th May 2024:
Today was one of the most anticipated of the whole tour ~ The Battle of Culloden!
It was a drizzly overcast day, but much better than the soldiers from England and the Jacobite army experienced back in 1746. The Miles family connection is this: Vicki’s ancestor, Alexander Grant, the Sixth of Corrimony fought on the Jacobite side despite being warned not to by other clan members.
“he received two severe wounds. Carried off the field by John Garbh Cameron, of Carnoch, one of his tenants, he made his way home to Corrimony, where he hid himself in a cave near of the Fall of Morrell, into which a wooden bed had been carried, the remains of which existed to a recent period. While in hiding, he was unsuccessfully sought for by Ludovick Grant, who, however, plundered his lands, and carried off his, and his tenants’ cattle. A party of troops was despatched to destroy his house, but the officer, whose name was Ogilvie, spared it on account of his clanswoman, Alexander’s wife.”
The Battle of Culloden, the causes of which were one hundred years of Jacobite claims to the thrones of England and Scotland was a short, brutal and dramatic victory for the English. The Jacobites were a hodgepodge of different clans, lacking training and leadership who had marched for hours in the early morning before the battle. They were hungry and ill-equipped to seriously challenge a modern army, which was well supplied and thirsty for revenge. In about an hour of fierce fighting it was all over with the Jacobites in full retreat being hacked to death by the English forces who had been advised to take no prisoners.
The battle gave rise to the Highland clearances where thousands were forced off the land they had farmed for centuries. The slaughter of Highlanders, the theft of their cattle and the destruction of the property went on for some years and is marked by indiscriminate violence. Hundreds of men were shipped to Jamaica as slaves. All war is abhorrent, this war was particularly venal.
Culloden was the last pitched battle fought on British soil – about 1,500 soldiers were buried at the site, 1,250 of them were Jacobites. If anyone would like more information on this battle, I can highly recommend “Culloden” by John Prebble. There is a veritable slew of information both online and in books.
Our talks today were by the military historian, Julian, who went into great detail about the Jacobite Rebellion, The Battle of Culloden and The Battle of Flodden.
The weather improved after we drove to Clansman Harbour, where we had a short cruise on Loch Ness, getting close to the ruins of Urquart Castle.
Dinner tonight was in Inverness. The receptionist at Ness Walk, Kirsten had organised for Vicki and me to go to a favourite restaurant of hers: the “Fig and Thistle”. Not only was the meal scrumptious, but the restaurant was owned by an Australian, Ian who had married a local lass and been here for almost twenty years. He was from Kiama, almost a Wollongong lad!
Sunday 5th May 2024:
Cawdor Castle this morning; and some spirited discussion from the historians Sarah and Michael about Macbeth, Shakespeare and if historical inaccuracies really matter. Later in the day Julian and Michael gave us a History of Scottish Clans, The Border Reivers, and some Myth and Reality of Border Warfare.
Cawdor was gorgeous: it was originally “Calder”; both names roughly mean the woodland stream. It started as a fortified house in the late 1390’s with four storeys and a garret, with one entrance to the outside world set at upper first floor level; the perfect design to keep out tourists. There is no historical connection to Shakespeare’s “Scottish play” other than a name, however the play has enabled the owners of Cawdor Castle to cash in on some great publicity. And the gardens are magnificent – it really struck us as a wonderful, private residence with absolutely no sense of witchcraft or madness through murder. And a maze – with a Minotaur head and horns poking above the greenery. “Where’s Vicki?” is at play.
A lunch at the Cawdor Tavern, just up the road from the Castle was magnificent, very large servings of Yorkshire Pudding and roast beef ensured that dinner would not be required! We also got to see the locals playing an early afternoon of lawn bowls before most of the group travelled in the Big Brown Bus to Ballindalloch Castle. This modern, or recently renovated castle was beautiful in its layout and vistas, a consequence of astute business acumen by some of the 19th and 20th century Earls who established highly prized beef strains and profitable lumber forestry. We had a quick word with the current Earl who lives in the castle with his family.
Monday 6th May 2024:
Departure from the Ness Walk hotel in Inverness and some great historical talks from Alison, Nicola and Sarah (The Fall of Mary, Queen of Scots; Marie de Guise; Great Gardens of Scotland) as we motor south in the Big Brown Bus to Blair Castle. Blair is one the most successful restorations and has a most colourful history. They are very proud to state “Over nineteen generations the Stewart’s and Murray’s of Atholl have been adventurers and politicians, Jacobites and Royalists, entrepreneurs, soldiers and scholars. They have made fortunate marriages and have almost all, in one way or another, made their mark on Blair Castle”.
We wandered about the gardens, specifically the “Hercules Garden”, a spectacular piece of landscaping. The castle itself is a beautiful presentation of a family who made shrewd and successful choices as the politics of the last 750 years swirled around England and Scotland. The 4th Duke of Atholl succeeded to the title in 1774 when the estate stretched for 50 miles north from Perth to the foothills of the Grampian Mountains, and amounted to about 200,000 acres. The Atholl Highlanders are the last “private army” in the UK.
Then an hour’s drive with three talks from Sarah – destination Gleneagles Hotel, one of “the” large hotels of the world, so well known for it’s dedication to a number of playthings, primarily golf, and including catching salmon and shooting deer. Sarah gave three talks on the way; Mary, Queen of Scots – The New Letters; The History of Golf; and The Interwar Age of the Great Hotel.
A magnificent dinner at Gleneagles was followed by a Gala Quiz, hosted by Julian, just to see if we had been absorbing the historical nuances that the historians had been delivering to us.
Tuesday 7th May 2024:
A day of celebration for the glorious Scots, Robert the Brus and William Wallace! Michael was the designated speaker of the day as we braved Stirling Castle and Bannockburn all the while lauding the deep historical research undertaken by our very own Mel Gibson. A day where we revisited Braveheart. Mike’s talks were now getting quite blunt and increasingly funny – Robert the Bruce, Outlaw King; Stirling Castle, From Imposing Fortress to Royal Palace; Bannockburn, How Did the English Get It So Badly Wrong?; and finally on the way back to Gleneagles – Braveheart Revisited. An excellent series of somewhat serious rants about Mel’s historical looseness.
Stirling Castle, the important stronghold built on an imposing outcrop of rock between Edinburgh and the Highlands. Over many years it was a valuable prize to be won in war, a family home and royal nursery for kings and queens, an important military base and in current times, a popular heritage attraction – it was very busy with tons of people when we were there on a wet, cold and windy Tuesday. The who’s who of royal occupants ranges from King David I in the 11th century to King James VI who “united” the two countries after Queen Elizabeth I’s death in 1603.
A quick visit to the Bannockburn centre followed Stirling; it was a very good interactive presentation in part with cartoons, in others a lifelike all surrounding battle all presented by a single guide who was very, very good.
The final dinner, or last supper now loomed large. Glamis Castle, where the Queen Mother spent her childhood was hosting our castle tour and dinner. The perfect venue for the start of the fond farewells with the tour group.
This was a great castle, very homely and was made very special at the end of the evening by the presentation and display of a Highland military band in full colour. Very special.
Wednesday 8th May 2024:
The last day. We skipped Huntingtower Castle to leave Gleneagles a tad later than scheduled and to ensure our Big Brown Bus driver, Andy, had adequate sleep. We went west to Killin, to view the Falls of Dochart. Vicki found the old mill which was now home to some gorgeous jewellery and historical images. We chased down the burial site of Finn McCool!
Our last castle this afternoon – Linlithgow, once home of James IV, the Renaissance Monarch, as well as the place that Mary Queen of Scots was born. It is currently undergoing some serious renovation.
Chaos as we arrived in Edinburgh to hunt down our bags as everyone dispersed after final happy snaps, crudités and more champagne.
Thursday 9th May 2024:
Alarm clocks at 5am as we checked out of Edinburgh and headed for a very full flight to Bristol. Uber presented us with a Romanian mum who navigated the back roads to Bath with a gleeful lead foot. A delightful 3rd floor unit was ready for us overlooking the Abbey of Bath. A visit to Mr. B’s Emporium of Books; a casual wander around this magnificent city, a glass or two of wine, tons of washing and a glorious sunset. It’s so comfortable, almost like arriving home!
Friday 10th May 2024:
Some light crept in about 5:00am, followed by the various noises, clanks & bangs, rattles & scrapes as the street sweepers, garbage collectors and delivery vehicles announced their collective presence.
We were up and moving by 8:30, a little bit exhausted, so spent the day wandering about in 23 degree “heat” and sorting out our things in the unit while we critiqued the competing buskers. Sometimes there are five or six different acts belting out their stuff at the same time – drums and powerful speakers are part the modern buskers’ arsenal!
And tonight we had dinner at “Hall and Woodhouse” with Vicki’s long lost cousin, Frances “yum yum” Nelson and her husband Andy. A beaut night, our poor legs in full wobble mode as we stumbled just a few blocks back to our unit.
Saturday 11th May 2024:
Another awakening with early light, but somehow the morning street cleaning noises didn’t disturb our slumber. More of the same today as Friday, except we did get directions to a spectacular book shop; and yes, we found a few that we needed!
The restaurant of choice tonight is “Square”, and we’ll be eating late – 7:15pm! Frances and Andy picked the venue and it backed onto the Abbey square – duh! Great meal, great atmosphere, light until about 9:30pm! Where is Vicki?
Sunday 12th May 2024:
Roger was up early this morning, chasing photos of an almost deserted Bath. It was a lot cooler and overcast than the previous coupla days, not the bright sunlight he was hoping for. The city of Bath is very focused and to us, very beautiful. It has always felt familiar and comfortable, so these photos, all taken inside a kilometre diameter from our Airb’n’b really signify the inner part of Bath. The part of the city that is on the edges of the river, the parks, the edges of the railway and going up the hills is similar, but still very unique. I didn’t get to those places this time around; maybe in the next year or so?
We organised an Uber (Samena) and headed out to the little village of Wellow with Frances “Yum-Yum” and Andy. Looked around St. Julian, the church where Charles Miles and Mary Weston were married back in the 1830’s. We were able to digitally donate money at the church, which then gave us 30 seconds of bells!
Lunch was at the “Fox and Badger”, the only pub in Wellow; but before settling in there for a country lunch we walked down hill to the ford, about half way between the church and the pub. Beside the ford is a 16th or 17th century stone double arched bridge, obviously built to facilitate foot traffic when the waters had risen.
Our Uber driver, Samena had come back to Wellow just for us and the next stop was Englishcombe and its small church, St. Peter. The rector came out to unlock the doors so we could get inside. He was a most helpful man, interested in Vicki and Frances’s ancestors who had been baptised, married and/or buried at St. Peter. He told us a story about the flag in St. Peter which was donated to the church by Field Marshall “Monty” Montgomery soon after WWII. We were all a bit worn out by this stage so Frances and Andy headed back to Wales and Vicki and I went to the unit to finalise the packing for the drive to Heathrow on Monday.
Monday 13th May 2024:
The last day in England. Our transport to Heathrow was with Carlos, who couldn’t find an alleyway close to our unit, so we dragged four big suitcases, a backpack and a fully loaded handbag about two blocks to his car. At this point we have to say that all Uber drivers, taxi-drivers and coach drivers we encountered on this trip were really good folks, helpful, communicative and both interested and interesting. Despite Brexit some very good people have made it to the UK which will be better off with their presence and input.
We arrived at Heathrow with a few hours to kill before checking in and then flying out. As usual, Singapore Airlines were fabulous: easy check-in, then sent to United Airlines Customer Lounge for some quiet libations and a “Where’s Vicki?”.
Tuesday 14th May 2024:
We flew out of England at 9:00pm Monday 13th May and landed in Singapore at 5:30pm Tuesday 14th May. It was bucketing down, the traffic to the hotel was horrific so we checked in and went to bed.
Wednesday 15th May 2024:
We woke to brilliant sunshine and a very humid 32 degrees – at 10:30am!
Singapore is gorgeous; and very humid. Did I say how humid it was? We navigated our way to the mall which is enormous and is connected to three big hotels ( Park Royal, Mandarin & Pan Pacific), by walkways and underpasses, all wide, clean, modern and so green with tropical trees, flowers and shrubs everywhere.
We walked down to the Asian Civilisation Museum which was fabbo; then came back to take in the activity at the hotel – there was some big award thingy for Tik-Tok complete with ritz, titz and glamour. Rather than spend $130 hard earned for a steak and $85 for a nine dollar bottle of ordinary red, we tried out one of the dinner specials at a place that sounded really slick “Kenny Rogers Roasters”!
It was a great meal!
Vicki said that she just loved the wonderful places I take her to!
Thursday 16th May 2024:
Gardens by the Bay is a trio of nature parks established by Singapore about 20 years ago.
The largest and most popular is the South Garden and that’s where we were headed this morning after breakfasting at “Victoria Breakfast” on level 2 of the big mall complex. We were the only people sitting and eating (about 9:15) although lots of folks came in to take away the buns, croissants, cheese sticks and sweet pastries on offer. A really tasty and filling meal at a terrific value price.
Backpack sorted, hats on, camera loaded and sunglasses at the ready we took a taxi from the hotel to the South Garden (all of 9 minutes away), and strolled into the large greenhouse structure (2.5 acres) named the Cloud Forest. We were absolutely blown away:
As well as an incredible array of tropical plants there was some brilliant artwork interspersed throughout the gardens:
About two hours into the Cloud Forest we noticed that it was raining, heavily. Quite a weird scenario, the rain outside pelting down onto the greenhouse panels, and inside, waterfalls and water spraying from every level. We had some coffee and went into the Flower Dome, a large greenhouse about the same size as the Cloud Forest. It was broken up into gardens from all over the world, but focussed on the tulips from Holland:
We went to the next section, the OCBC Skyway, while it was gently spitting some rain. By the time we got onto the skyway it was raining, very heavily and the staff were ushering all of us off the platform and down the elevators as a safety precaution.
Back to the hotel, someone found a bottle of good Australian Cab Sav, just the thing to ward off any rain chills we may have suffered!
Friday 17th May 2024:
The last packing of this trip. Took our time, wandered down to the lovely bar area, sat amongst the greenery, read some, had a little lunch, then jumped into a taxi (there is no Uber in Singapore) for the short journey to the Airport. It is the best airport in the world, smooth, friendly, efficient, digital and uncrowded. Fluffed around for a bit then patient waited to board the last leg of the trip.
What great fun it has been!
miles of irvings 