To Cornwall by Rail

Lee Hausman

I spent an uneventful, but pleasant, day lounging around Reading and visiting my old haunts. A good night’s sleep left me without a trace of jet lag and I was ready for my next destination.I fortified myself with the Novotel’s breakfast buffet, packed my bags and headed for the rail station, where  I boarded a Great Western Railway high-speed train for points West. I bought a “BritRail Pass” while in the U.S. which provides unlimited travel on any 8 days, in 1st Class. I was surprised to see that the 1st Class coaches were full but I’d taken the time to get seat reservations for my longest rides, and all was well.

The train experience is nicer than flying in so many ways (for example, no TSA-style inspection or long lines) but you do have to handle your own luggage. With that in mind, I chose to pack much more lightly this year and hefting my small suitcase to the overhead rack was easy. The train featured conveniences like free snacks and tea, free Wi-Fi, and recharging sockets.

My 3-1/2 hour ride took me west and south via Taunton, Exeter, Newton Abbey, and Plymouth, through the lovely English countryside. The sun deserted me, but the scenery was still lovely. The tracks run right along the coastal areas in places and provide great views of the water, with scores of sailboats at anchor. Cornwall is a beautiful area, lush and green at this time of year, with rolling hills and many large farms. Sheep, cattle, and horses generally ignored us as we rolled by.

I arrived at Bodmin Parkway station in a bit of a downpour but quickly found my pre-booked Parnell’s taxi, and off we went for Port Isaac. On the map above, it’s on the coast directly north of the station at Bugle. I had considered using two buses instead but the Saturday schedule for them wasn’t at all convenient and, given the rain, I’m glad I opted for the pricier taxi (42 pounds one way).

The drive to Port Isaac was exhilarating to say the least. The roads reminded me of Ireland: two narrow lanes with no shoulders and dense vegetation trimmed back right at the edge of the pavement (in Ireland, instead of hedges there are low stone walls). We drove at a pretty good speed and I had to double-check later to see that we still had both side mirrors. However, the driver seemed very competent and I was never alarmed.

An hour later we arrived in tiny Port Isaac and the side mirrors were once again in peril because the lanes down to the waterfront are in places just 6-feet wide. Forget backing up or turning around. However, after arriving at the Slipway Hotel without a scratch, I realized I was suddenly right in the middle of the Doc Martin TV series set. I decided to consider this over a pint of Doom Bar. Tomorrow: Why it all looks so much bigger on TV.

My Visit to Highclere Castle

Lee Hausman

For those of you who’ve spent the last several years under a rock, Downton Abbey was a blockbuster British telly series that took the U.S. by storm. This drama series follows the lives of the Crawley family and their servants, and was set mostly in the family’s classic Georgian country house. The series begins with the 1912 sinking of the Titanic and runs through 1925. The show had a six-year run that ended in early 2016 (though a movie is now being rumored). It was funny and smart, beautifully written, and covered an era that saw huge social changes. The show did a lot for the Full Employment for Costumers campaign – the evolution of clothing and hairstyles during the course of the show was amazing – and reintroduced us to the Edwardian and Art Deco eras.

The show was filmed at Highclere Castle, shown above, about 90 miles west of London. This “country house” that became so familiar to all Downton fans was built more than 300 years ago and is the Carnarvon family home. The 8th Earl and his wife live there now and generously open the house to the public on limited dates.

If the name “Lord Carnarvon” sounds familiar, it was he who bankrolled and joined with Howard Carter in 1922 to discover the Tomb of Tutankhamun. There’s an interesing Egyptian exhibit in the castle basement.

I took the train to Newbury and a taxi to the castle, arriving at 9:00 am just as the ticket office opened. A limited number of “open days” means a limited number of tickets and I got the idea to visit too late in my trip planning months ago to get a ticket online. So it was a gamble but, luckily, there were some tickets set aside for walk-ups and I got one.

The estate covers 5,000 acres and has beautiful grounds and gardens. The Georgian-style house includes 250 rooms, 70 bedrooms, a library with 5,650 books, and is chock full of priceless paintings, tapestries, and furnishings. We were allowed to stroll through most of the first two floors at our own pace and I was amazed at how pleasant and un-museum-like the experience was. Most of the treasures are not behind glass or out of reach (but no touching, of course). The Earl and his wife do live there and their family pictures are everywhere – not the big ones over the fireplace, I mean small 8×10 photos of them and their kids doing normal stuff, in frames on the side tables. Remarkable.

There is a staff of about 80 now but none of them work downstairs or serve dinner. They’re the guides, docents, gardeners, cooks, electricians, etc. who keep the place going as a tourist attraction – a source of the income needed to keep the place up and pay the enormous taxes. There are three tea rooms and a gift shop in the newer (relatively) stables annex out back, but it’s all very tastefully done. The views from around the house are fantastic and I was lucky to be there on a great weather day.

No indoor photography is allowed, so I can only share a few stock photos here. For the tour, in several rooms they had a poster-sized photo of a scene from Downtown Abbey on an easel, so you could immediately compare it with the real room – a nice touch.

After touring the house I spent 30 minutes enjoying the great weather and strolling the gardens and grounds. From what I observed, locals are allowed onto the property to picnic for free. No sightings of Carson, Lord Grantham, or Lady Mary but they were definitely there in spirit. It was an absolutely marvelous way to spend the morning and well worth the trip.

At 1:00, I retraced my steps to Newbury by taxi and had lunch at a local pub before catching the train back to Reading. My drama school classmates from UVA in the era of Minor Hall will take some amusement from the name of the pub:

The Catherine Wheel was an ambitious stage production that nearly broke us.

After returning to Reading and taking a short nap, I headed off to meet colleagues from my company’s local office for pints and dinner. We started off with some excellent Black Lager at the Zero Degrees brewery, then went to The Horn pub, and wound up with dinner at Las Iguanas, a Brazilian restaurant. Very tasty all ’round, and I haven’t laughed so hard in some time – it’s always great to see the lads.

Cheers, England – I’m Back

Lee Hausman

If you’ve read about my past trips, you know I fly Virgin Atlantic whenever possible. Their staff is great, the aircraft is well-outfitted, and the amenities are outstanding. Thank goodness for frequent-flyer mile upgrades! My flight Tuesday night did not disappoint and we arrived at Heathrow airport near London 30 minutes early. There was a huge crowd in the Border-Customs area, but we 1st Classers get a pass to the “Fast Track” lane, significantly easing the pain.

Over the years, almost every arrival here for me has been followed by a connecting flight a few hours later to Paris, Amsterdam, or wherever. So it was very relaxing to know that this time I had no deadline to meet after arriving at Heathrow. The Virgin Revivals Lounge was my home for a few hours and then, when I was ready, I caught the RailAir bus to Reading.

It ride was very smooth, the ticket was inexpensive (17 pounds), and the bus is quite comfortable. Forty-five minutes later I was checking into the Novotel Hotel in Reading.

When I moved to Reading eight years ago, the Novotel was my first home and office for a few weeks. It’s a nice, though not expensive, hotel with some weird European design stuff going on (the toilet’s in a different, tiny room that’s not near the “bathroom”,  funky sink design, etc.). But the staff is great, the location can’t be beat, the bed is comfortable, and the breakfast buffet is first rate.

After decompressing a bit, taking a shower, and ignoring the racoon-like dark circles under my eyes from lack of sleep, I went up to the central train station to get my Rail Pass validated. This pass, available to tourists only, allows unlimited train rides over a certain number of days and is very economical.

While at the station, I stopped into the nearby Three Guineas pub for my first English ale of the trip (Butcombe’s Rare Breed Pale Ale, 3.8%) and wound up in a conversation with two retired railroad guys. Now, before I left the U.S. I’d read that American tourists were being asked during their vacations about Donald Trump. So, I wondered just how long it would be before I had to do some “Trumpsplaining”. Well, it was only 1 hour and 15 minutes after I hit Reading. The two railroad guys and I had a jolly conversation about politics and the Nature of Man for about 30 minutes. They were fun to talk to and the beer was tasty.

I then dashed over to O’Neills pub to meet my former colleague and friend, Mike Mather. We talked business and the politics of both our countries. Mike is a great guy with tons of enthusiasm and he’s always overflowing with get-rich ideas. It was great to see him.

After bidding Mike goodbye, I strolled around Reading and let the nostalgia wash over me. It was great to live here and it’s always nice to come back and see its antique building facades and pedestrianized mall area.Eventurally, I grabbed a small pasta dinner at Ask Italia and returned to the hotel. I managed to keep myself awake until 9 pm before falling into what I hoped would be a deep and rejuvenating sleep. Tomorrow: Highclere Castle.

England-bound Once Again

Lee Hausman

Hills, vales, woods, netted in a silver mist,
Farm, granges, doubled up among the hills,
And cattle grazing in the watered vales
And cottage-chimneys smoking from the woods,
And cottage-gardens smelling everywhere,
Confused with smell of orchards.

Elizabeth Barrett Browning’s description of rural England is certainly idyllic, and I will soon be traipsing across it. Yes, I’m off to Great Britain once again. Adopting my own little austerity plan and fitting into a busy Fall schedule at work, my annual European travels this year will be limited to England. My own personal Brexit, I guess.

I’ll be starting and finishing up in good old London, with a big lap around the Southwest, courtesy of the Great Western Railroad. Along the way, I’ll stop in to visit some fun places, such as Highclere Castle, where Downton Abbey was filmed.

I’ll also visit the beautiful Cornish coast and the tiny beach town where the Doc Martin TV series is filmed. My hotel is visible in the picture above, facing right onto the ramp into the water.

A few other other famous and historic towns are on the itinerary as well. And, as always, there will be theater, art, extreme people-watching, and lots of consideration and consumption of splendid English ales. 

I hope you’ll join me for the next few weeks right here, and tag along. Cheers!

The Last of England

Lee Hausman

My final day in London was to include attending a big Oktoberfest bash that was co-sponsored by two famous Munich breweries. However, the Friday event was cancelled just as I was about to leave for it (thank goodness for text msgs). Apparently the promoters were unprepared and overwhelmed at the event the night before and called it off today. I hope I can get a refund.
 

That’s the Shard skyscraper looming overhead
 
So, I turned instead to one of my favorite places, the Borough Market, a vast open-air market beneath the south end of London Bridge. This is a terrific collection of food stalls and other vendors, and I highly recommend it. 

  
Right at the market is a fine old pub called the Market Porter. No TVs and lots of American Country music on the sound system. Great cask ales available. This is said to be just one of two pubs in the UK allowed to open from 6-9am to serve the early-arriving market workers. They open again at 11am for the rest of us, and it’s a great people-watching venue.

 

The Millenium Bridge and St. Paul’s on the other side
 
After a few pints there and a great organic chicken wrap from a stall in the market, I strolled over to the Riverside Walk, which winds along Thames, passing The Globe Theatre and the Tate Modern museum. The weather was great and everyone was enjoying the sun.

I’m homeward-bound tomorrow and have a feeling this may be my last European trek, for a while at least. It’s been 15 years of this for me and I, and travel, have changed. I’m not really enjoying it in the same way any more. So I’m looking forward to getting back to my house and seeing Fall. Thanks for following along with me and, as always, Safe Home!

London’s Libraries and Museums

Lee Hausman

I spent yesterday riding London’s excellent “tube” system and visiting museums. I got a shock early on, though, when I bought an “one-day off-peak” travel card for the metro and discovered the price had gone from 5.6 pounds to 12 pounds, in just two years! Who’s running this system – the Washington Metropolitan Transport Authority? (that’s an inside joke for D.C. area readers)
 

The Treasures Gallery
 
First stop was King’s Cross to see the British Library with its 1.7 million books and Treasures Gallery. The latter includes things like original scores in Mozart’s hand, a Shakespeare First Folio, a Gutenberg Bible, and more. Really a treat to see these amazing written works in person.

Then it was on to Russell Square and the British Museum. Their Egyptian collection is still superb but, like so many things about this trip, it all seems to have gotten more crowded and crass. For example, the donation boxes that used to suggest a 1-pound donation at the main entrance are now duplicated just about everywhere inside and demand a 5-pound donation. There’s also a lot of signage about the “Sainsbury Gallery” (named after a local food chain) but that kind of sponsorship, an unpleasant if necessary fact, is hardly unique to the British Museum. And there are now food trucks in the outer courtyard – proper, navy blue trucks – but still shocking. I felt the need to pause and consider the massive cultural ramifications over a pint of Trooper in a nearby pub.

 

My new chapeau from M&S
 
Then I went to Oxford Circus and did some shopping at the Marks & Spencer store, before walking through Soho and getting a great burger for lunch at Byron.

  
Finally, I ended up at Trafalgar Square, where the cheap sidewalk entertainments are getting out of hand. Between the eight “living statue” performers, the hip-hop duo, and the ten pavement chalk artists, and the crowds, it was hard to walk through the area right in front of the National Museum. Honestly, how many hovering guys in gold suits do you need to see? 

I won’t use the term “good old days” and I know everything changes over time, but it seems as if it’s so often for the worse. Well, at least the art in the National Museum was still great.

Visiting Oxford and Reading

Lee Hausman

I hopped on a westbound train yesterday and rode out to Oxford for my traditional visit. I got a shock when I found that Far From the Madding Crowd, the CAMRA Pub of the Year a few years ago and one of my favorites, was gone, replaced by a Tesco food mart! Too bad. 

 

The Turf Tavern in a quiet moment
 
I visited the White Horse, King’s Arms, and Turf Tavern and enjoyed several half-pints of different English ales in each. The White Horse is an interesting place: built in 1551, it’s one of only two pubs in Oxford left “untouched” and has no TVs, no jukebox, and no game machines. When they renovated the kitchen after a fire in 1980, a witch’s broom was discovered concealed in a wall. For fear of superstition no one would touch the broom, so they simply left it there and boarded it up again, where it remains to this day. 

After a further hour of amiable wandering around Oxford, taking in the wonderful old architecture and envisioning episodes of the Inspector Morse, Lewis, and Endeavour TV series, it was back on the train to Reading.

 

Unique menu board at the Vaults & Gardens Cafe in Oxford
 
I lived in Reading in 2008 and always get a nostalgic kick out of visiting. I met up with Mike Mather, my colleague when I opened my firm’s first office there, and we talked UK politics and rubgy (the Rugby World Cup competition is currently in progress in London). Mike is always a font of entertaining and exuberant ideas.

  
Then I went to my firm’s new offices, which are very nice, in nearby Green Park. After a brief tour, Steve, Glyn, and Tim took me out to The Swan Inn, a very traditional English pub, for a pint. I enjoyed several pints of Timothy Taylor’s “Landlord”, four-time CAMRA Beer of the Year, and it was delicious! We had a great evening and I thank them for being so entertaining and giving up a few evening hours for me. 

Returning to England

Lee Hausman

I had a relatively nice train ride from Amsterdam yesterday to London. “Relatively” because on the leg to Brussels I had to sit with my back to the direction of travel, which I dislike. On the French Thalys train web site it’s always a roll of the dice for me when trying to select a seat facing the “correct” way. Then there was the lady in the seat behind who hacked and coughed like she had pneumonia all the way – and the car was full so I couldn’t change seats. No ill effects for me, though. At least the service was good, my changeover to Eurostar for the run to London was easy, and Lady Phlegm did not follow me to London.

The “chunnel” train is always nice, the staff is very pleasant, and the food is reasonable. When we got to the tunnel mouth at Calais, I was particularly interested to see the high number of track-side security guards and all the additional new razor-wire fencing. There have been a lot incidents in recent months of illegal immigrants trying to get onto Eurostar trains (under the carriage, on the roof, etc.) to get to England. There’s a squatters’ camp with some 3,000 of them nearby, and some have died in the attempt. I saw none.

On the ride from St. Pancras Station to the Paddington Hilton, my Black Cab driver had some strong opinions about Uber. Mostly along the lines of how unfair it was to regulate the professional cabbies but allow Uber into the market with little or no regulation (and I agree with him). At the moment, there’s a London court case in progress affecting the Uber app but any decision is not expected to seriously impede Uber. 

I was shocked upon arrival to see that Paddington Station is under seriously renovation, with large areas of “The Lawn” blocked off. I also had unprecedented difficulty getting a decent room at the Hilton, which was shocking. Their app for online check-in and room selection is misleading and apparently interferes with getting a Hilton Honors member room upgrade. In the end, I had to go to and reject two rooms before getting a decent one. The second rejectee was on the top floor with a terrace and rock-star amenities, but sadly it came with rock-star damage: stains down the wall, shower stall mold, abused furnishings, and a plastic bag wrapped around the ceiling smoke detector! Thank God for the cell phone camera, as I was able to document all this in pictures when I returned to the lobby to speak with the hotel manager. 

One amusing thing about that room was the 55″ flat screen TV mounted on two columns right at the end of the bed. You could get a suntan from it while sleeping! Too bad if you wanted to watch it without being in the bed. I’m now in a regular, nice Hilton room. 
 

Honey, I’m home!
 

I went upstairs to the Mad Bear and Bishop pub for a pint of good English ale and was not disappointed. The Rugby World Cup was on the TV and it was fun to watch while enjoying my pint. The sign above shows when casks of ale were tapped (opened to allow some air in and start secondary fermentation) and when they were subsequently first served. Nice to see that kind of information and rare, too. I’ve never seen a sign like that before. 

I’m off Oxford and Reading for the day tomorrow.

A Visit to the ‘t IJ Brewery

Lee Hausman

No, I’m not exactly sure how that’s pronounced either, but no visit to Amsterdam is complete without a stop at this great craft brewery.

  
It’s located right beneath the last remaining windmill in Amsterdam, where the original brewer used to live. Take the #22 bus from Centraal Station to get here.

  
Here’s their nice Black IPA. Creamy and not too bitter, with Simcoe and other hops, at 5.4% ABV, a very drinkable beer. I also had their Pilsner and their Amber Ale; both very tasty. 

  
Since my last visit, they’ve updated and expanded their tap room, to very nice effect. Seating space was tripled inside and new glass walls give a view into the brewery. I was the third person through the door when they opened at 2pm on a Monday and by 3pm the inside and outside seating were full – popular place, no? Their bottled beer is available locally, but a visit here should be on any beer lover’s list when visiting Amsterdam. The windmill is pretty dang cool, too.

Venice End Notes

Lee Hausman

It’s a very foggy morning here in Amsterdam and a fine time to finish a few left-over thoughts from my visit to Venice. 
I cannot emphasize enough how difficult it is to get around Venice with a suitcase in tow. Almost all the streets are made with pavers or cobble stones, which are horrible on suitcase wheels. There are a lot of canals, so there are a lot of bridges you may have to carry your suitcase over. Knowing how to get to your hotel and planning a route in advance is essential, and may affect which vaporetto (water bus) you take. Street signs and building numbers are often non-existent. Don’t think that Google will necessarily show you the way, either. I can’t tell you how often I see folks dragging their bags, looking at their cell phones in panicky confusion as darkness nears. Google can be, and often is, highly inaccurate in Venice and the availability of cellular signals can be spotty. If you’re lucky, your hotel has noticed this and worked with Google to correct their information. If not, well… another piece of good advice is plan to get to Venice by midday or early afternoon. Get your hotel to send you exact instructions about finding it. And, unless you’re wealthy and can afford a private motorboat taxi ($100-120 one-way to/from airport) and a stay at a luxury hotel with a canal-side dock ($500+/night) do not even think of bringing more than one wheeled suitcase per person. The crowds on vaporettos and the walkways make this a horrible experience.
 

One of the few remaining gondola works in Venice
 
I saw something interesting the other day: a sign at a shop saying “Stamps and mailbox available here”. Now, this is probably news to the Italian Poste system, because this had nothing to do with them and, I think, borders on fraud. I have always been successful sending postcards and letters via the Poste but perhaps their track record is poor, because private mail systems have appeared. Yes, when I asked in the shop, it turns out they sell special “GPS Mail” stamps (at twice the price of those from Poste) and they have their own private “mailbox” for you to use. The stamps include a bar code and, as their flyer breathlessly informs you, if you get their app you can track your postcard! Now, this sounds to me like a solution looking for a problem, but perhaps there is a demand for it. Or maybe their real goal is to get you to buy/install their app. I saw one other private postal system advertised elsewhere in Venice, too. 

  
Venice has become a bit like Disneyland: way too many tourists and an over abundance of cheap trinket shops and pushy sidewalk vendors. The mental strain of just walking anywhere or riding a vaporetto is very tiresome. There were a few times when I was distinctly aware of how unsafe my situation was due, for example, to complete blockage of aisles by suitcases inside a boat (you’re supposed to leave them in a special area up front but perhaps there was no room there). Tourists pay no mind to conductors, many of whom just stop trying. I’m afraid the lustre has gone off a bit for me, but maybe coming a little later in the year (as I usually do) would help.