BRITISH ISLES TRIP Q & A

Some of you have asked where all we went, and others (artist friends) have asked what I'm going to paint. Here's a map of our journey. We rented cars on both islands, and Jamie just did one heckuva job driving; I did pretty darn good at navigating too. We flew from Leeds/Bradford to Dublin, then back from Dublin to London.

To paint? Definitely puffins, Highland cattle, sheep with pastoral landscape -- most amazing greens I've ever seen. So stay tuned.

BRITISH ISLES #20 -- LONDON

Our last 4 days were in London, where we stayed at another lovely B & B in the elite Belgravia neighborhood, just 1/2 mile from Buckingham Palace.  We were within walking distance of many attractions, and we got real proficient at using The Tube (Underground/Subway) which made it real easy to explore the City.  We visited all the 'must-see' tourist attractions as well as many 'local' favorites. 

A surprise highlight was dinner with Granddaughter Rhia Batchelder, who was in London on business with her Manhattan law firm.  What a lovely, gracious, successful young woman -- I'm so very proud of her!

The historic old structures are always fascinating, but I was especially taken with the contrast with some of the most incredible modern architecture I've ever seen!

We took part of a day to ride a long boat from Little Venice to Camden Market.  Like RVers, many people live on their boats.  I consider the Market a 'must-see'!  Ya gotta eat 'street food', although the ethnic cuisine is everywhere at great prices.

PUFFINS, AS PROMISED!

When we were in Scotland, we took a boat from Oban to some islands way out in the Sea of the Hebrides.  Staffa is a tiny island which is home to thousands of Puffins.  We spent a couple hours hiking the cliffs there, up-close-and-personal with these friendly gregarious birds!  I might add, they're real show-offs for the camera!

BRITISH ISLES #19 -- IRELAND

From our last day in Ireland, Dublin City Center. Crazy busy city, way too many people. We rode the city tour bus to get a feel for the place, then wandered through Temple Bar and on to the National Archaeological Museum, which was pretty cool.

BRITISH ISLES #18 -- IRELAND

Yesterday  we  toured  the  Burren ,  a  unique landscape  near Doolin  Ireland  on the Wild  Atlantic  coast. The  stark geology  is intriguing. The  area  was  first  inhabited  by  humans  about  6000  years  ago  and  there  are  hundreds  of  historic  stone  structures  including  dozens  of  Iron  Age  stone  forts. Wildflowers  proliferate  in the crevices  between the limestone  formations.