england 3.06
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Exploring England, March 2006
Mark File & Frank Modica

Here are some highlights from our exploration of England. And don't miss two pages of photos!

day 1
We landed in at London’s Gatwick Airport at 8 AM and picked up our Enterprise rental car. Our first challenge was for Frank (driver) to get into the correct side of the car! Mark pulled out the map and directions to the inn for our first night’s stay. Frank successfully got out of the parking lot on the left side of the road. Mark directed him to the “orbital motorway” and then to the “dual carriageway.” After a few short “queues” on the motorway and successfully negotiating our first few roundabouts, we were off toward Bath. Shortly after we departed the London area, we spotted Windsor Castle at a distance, so we decided to stop for lunch in Windsor. We quickly discovered that finding a parking place in these small towns is quite a challenge. After a nice brunch (and our first introduction to UK’s popular HB sauce), we peeked into the courtyard of impressive Windsor Castle but did not have time to tour.

We arrived at Leigh House bed and breakfast inn on the edge of Bradford-on-Avon, about 10 miles from Bath. We lucked out and got a two bedroom apartment (entire left wing in the photo) in a section of the home that was built around 1400! From the roller coaster floors to the foot thick walls, its old world charm created the perfect first place to stay in England.

After a short nap, we drove a twisty narrow road ( Frank is not happy) to Bath. This World Heritage Site centers around The Roman Baths, built in the 1st century. The stately Bath Abbey begun in 1499. We walked and were especially impressed with The Circus, three cresent buildings arranged in a tight circle, and the Royal Crescent. We had a nice Italian dinner in The Podium by big windows overlooking a bustling street.

That evening, we joined Alan and Peter (owners of Leigh House ) and four other guys in their living room to watch the popular UK “soap opera” Footballer’s Wives. What a hoot! The show is full of high drama (like Dynasty). Joan Collins is even a guest star for this season, and she was as mean as ever. Frank bought a DVD of their third season, so ask him to borrow it sometime to experience some UK TV.

day 2
The traditional English breakfast at the Leigh House included cereal for course one and bacon, sausage, fried bread, potato cake, fried egg and tomato for course two. Third course was toast and jam. Yum!

After checking out of the Leigh House, we took a short drive to the middle of town. Bradford-on-Avon is a picturesque cotswolds-stone village nestled by the river. Frank said it reminded him of the villages in Italy (where he lived at ages 8-10) with little cars buzzing around very narrow streets. After we crossed the 13th century bridge over the river, we strolled through the town. We stopped in the Catholic church and the Father stopped and chatted with us about its history (it was once the town hall).

Frank is happier about driving today. We stopped at the Longleat House for a tour, but it was closed. A very nice local lady was also parked at the gate. She came over to talk with us. Her son lives in New York, so we chatted a bit. Everyone is so nice!

Our next stop is the hilltop town of Arundel, the seat of the dukes of Norfolk for seven centuries. The medieval town is very charming with a huge castle in its center. Our first stop was The Tudor Rose for lunch. It looked like a great “locals” place with traditional British fare. We were greeted by the owner Jackie and got a table by the window to watch the main street. Jackie was a delight, and we had an instant connection since her son lives in Charlotte! Our hearty lunch included steak pie, Yorkshire pudding, boiled and roasted potatoes, peas, carrots and cabbage. After lunch, we walked by the stone walls of the castle to the Church of St. Nicholas built in 1380 and the towering Arundel Cathedral.

We arrived in coastal resort city Brighton and checked into the Boydens Guest House. Since it was March, the beachfront was very quiet. We walked around the surprisingly busy streets, including the popular St. James Street, and out on the mammoth Brighton Pier, built in 1899 with loads of amusements. Since we had such a big lunch, we had a light dinner at Charles Place restaurant and bar.

day 3
Once again, we started the day with a big English breakfast. Frank ordered it all the way with baked beans. After breakfast, we toured the amazing Royal Pavilion, a massive palace with an Indian exterior of domes and pagodas and an elaborate, over-the-top Oriental interior. (See the banqueting room at right.)

From Brighton, we traveled east along the Sussex coast through a few charming coastal towns that were bordered on one side by steep cliffs to the ocean and rolling countryside on the other. The most spectacular of these white cliffs is Beachy Head. We stopped through and walked along the edge of the cliffs, looking down 575 feet to the ocean and a lighthouse in the surf. We hiked up to the original lighthouse on top of a cliff. It is now someone’s home. The scenery was breathtaking. Wow! Wow! Wow! Just as we left, the fog and rain moved in. What good timing!

After making a wrong turn (Mark had map challenges), we happened upon a restaurant (The Lamb) in the country with more British fare. Appropriately, Frank ordered the lamb hamburger.

We had a wet and cold welcome to Tunbridge Wells, the location of our third night’s stay at the Swan Hotel. We walked in the rain in this busy shopping mecca and stopped at the information center to get some new brochures for my buddy Kathryn Kinney. She was such a big help with planning the trip with her many brochures and emails of advice. We had dinner in a Indian restaurant called Kirthon. While the service was very slow, the food was extremely good. I had pickled duck and Frank had a seafood trio. Their most interesting tradition is giving guests a complimentary glass of brandy with the check.

day 4 – Happy Mothering Sunday
As we are enjoying another big English breakfast of bacon, sausage, eggs, mushrooms and tomatoes (along with more beans for Frank), we realized that daylight savings time started in England, and we lost an hour! So we rushed off to Leed’s Castle, taunted as England’s most loveliest castle. Work on the castle began in 1120. It was used as a private residence until the 1970s, so some of the interior unfortunately looks more like 1950s. We had fun getting lost in the yew maze. After we finally reached the center, our reward was entrance into an underground grotto.

We completed our big loop tour of southern England by driving back to Gatwick airport to turn in the rental car ( Frank is happy). We took the train into London and checked into The Gate Hotel in Notting Hill. Frank observed that our rooms kept getting smaller. We certainly finished our trip with a tiny room! We immediately headed to Soho and found a great French bistro, Cafe Boheme, with live jazz music to go with a dinner of coco von and delicious streusel. During dinner, we read about Too 2 Much Cabaret Theatre located a few blocks down. The show was a hoot. Before the show, we had to do impersonations of famous people (I was Anthony Hopkins and Frank was Antonio Banderas) to the lollipop girls. During the show, the MC stopped at our table and drank my Ab Fab drink (but I got another one on the house). The show featured surprisingly great talent, including UK performer Tina C. Tina’s come a long way since her early life growing up in Tennessee. You may know her hit song "Course I Want You For Your Body (I Got A Mind Of My Own)."

day 5
We started the day on the Tube to go to Victoria station to get a guided bus tour. The London Underground Tube was so clean and easy to use. As a matter of fact, all of England was much better kept than the US, with no billboards along the highways, no vinyl siding, and well-kept homes. Our “Original Tour” bus took us by all the major sites, including St. Paul’s Cathedral, Tower of London, Tower Bridge and Trafalgar Square. We hopped off at Buckingham Palace to say hello to the queen, to tour nearby Westminster Abbey and to take a picture of Big Ben and the Houses of Parliament. We also hopped off at Piccadilly Circus so we could get some half price tickets for theatre that night. We were thrilled to get great seats for Les Miserables. For lunch, we stopped in Chinatown for quite an experience. As soon as we sat down, a parade of carts filled with many different types of food rolled by. The person pushing the cart would explain all the items. We selected just a few items from this buffet on wheels, including duck, wonton soup and some sort of barbecue pork turnover.

After the great lunch, we are ready for Harrods, the world’s largest store. What an experience! We toured the seven floors, rode the very elaborate Egyptian escalator, and stopped for milkshakes and cookies at their Chocolate Bar (one of 28 restaurants). Some very helpful ladies helped Frank select a necklace for Sallie. While he was doing that, I looked at their amazing selection of watches. I saw one for 35,000 pounds (around $63,000)!

From Harrods, it was back to Soho to stroll a bit before Les Miserables. The show was amazing with very super talented actors. We understood why it’s been playing for 20 years! After the show, we walked a couple of blocks to Balans Café for dinner. The streets and restaurants were busy, even though it was after 11 PM on a Monday night.

day 6
We depart for the airport and reflect on a great time in England.

Cheers!

photos: go to page one | go to page two