The Manchester NH airport (MHT) is an absolute gem of a place. Small enough that there's no hassle and no long walks, but large enough that planes actually fly from there to interesting places. It's built on the site of what was originally Grenier Field, an Air Force training base from WW II, and has achieved considerable success as an alternative to Boston’s crowded and inconveniently located Logan. To get the point across to potential customers, it now calls itself Manchester Boston Regional Airport.
The flight to Chicago was on a now familiar Canadair regional jet operated by an affiliate of United Airlines. Small but not tiny. Unfortunately we were in the very back row, which meant that the seats didn't recline. Not comfortable, and noisy. Flight a little bouncy, but not that bad. Elevated shuttle to the international terminal. Aimée and Steve arrived shortly after we did, having taken a bus from Madison, and joined us for the long wait (about 5 hours) till our plane left for the UK. It didn't seem that long, as we had lots to talk about and catch up on.
The international area was really quite minimal once past security. Wish we had realized this before we committed ourselves. No sitdown eating establishments—just a couple of identical counters selling $9 sandwiches or $5 yogurts. We opted for the yogurt. And even worse, there's a big glass wall that lets you look back at the real eating places on the other side of security. It was tempting to go back out, except for the long lines waiting to get back in.
Wide bodied Airbus operated by British Midland Airlines. Quite full, but very roomy. 2-4-2 seating. We were in consecutive rows along the edge and expect a similar arrangement on the flight back. Copies of the Daily Mail tabloid were handed out as we entered—hysterical political commentary, and a picture of Elizabeth Hurley’s dress malfunction. Drat that static electricity! Nice dinner. Tasty and quite ample. Small bottle of wine to aid in sleeping, which we did quite successfully. Watched movies on the TV screens in the back of the headrests. Sue saw Adam Sandler in You Don’t Mess with the Zohan, and Bruce watched Guru Pitka. Both wacky and funny.
It was an easy trip through immigration and customs, though we did watch one young woman get rejected and sent off into a waiting room to hope that things could get sorted. When last seen she was feverishly calling numbers on her cell phone.
The rental car reservation was in fine shape, and we got a free upgrade from a station wagon (‘estate car’) to a Vauxhall Zafira minivan! Plenty of room for suitcases and stretching out. Quite easy to drive, though it’s a bit on the large side by the standards to which the airport garage and various other places were built. A few minor annoyances like a very thick A-pillar that is perfectly positioned to interfere with the sight lines at roundabouts, and electric devices that are controlled by computers with their own idea about things.
Destination York, but with the whole day ahead of us we opted to start with a visit to Halifax, the home area of Bruce’s English grandparents before their emigration to the US in the early 1900s. Halifax was a major textile center at the time of the Industrial Revolution. It dealt with wool, vs. cotton at the two Manchesters. We began with a visit to the late-1700s Piece Hall, which started life as the trading place for manufacturers and buyers of ‘pieces’ of cloth. Large pieces. Piece Hall is large open square, now used for markets and events, surrounded on all sides by two stories of shops and the like, all opening up onto a continuous balcony that faces out onto the square. The event of the day in the square was a gathering of Land Rover owners, which was interesting to know about but didn't capture our attention for long. We walked up to the second floor and spent some time in the tourist office. There was once an industrial history museum there, but it is no longer. It had featured very interesting coverage of the Luddites. With more time we would have tried to find out whether it had moved somewhere else or just went out of business.
So, on to a walk along the High Street and adjacent areas for a quick intro to the varying strata of British retail. The first stop was at the 99 Pence store, a Dollar Store like establishment with a surprisingly good assortment of name brand edibles and other such necessities. Then to Woolworth’s, where we enjoyed a light snack in their café, and finally to Marks and Spencer. We gazed in awe at the displays in the knickers department. Not your grandmother’s knickers any more! Then to the food department. Wonderful! Stocked up on cheese, crackers, crisps, and other snackables.
Then it was time to hit the road toward York, attempting to follow the route that Bruce used to take on business trips through the area that would bring him past the Bottomley’s Arms pub (No known relation—it’s a very common name in this part of Yorkshire. We saw it a few times back in town.) in the nearby neighborhood of Shelf. We had just about given up hope when it appeared to our left. Lunch time! Delicious! We were so anxious to tuck in that we forgot to take pictures of the meal, but we can briefly describe our choices as steak and mushroom pie, mushrooms Stroganoff, lamb marinated in mint, and chicken and mushrooms. Accompanied by assorted brews.
Unfortunately they appear to have set up their Web site at a free service that has now gone away, so we can’t provide a link. But there are lots of listings and reviews in various pub sites on the Web.
Pub lunch - mushrooms, chips, and veg - Halifax
Then to York. GPS brought us nicely into the neighborhood of the Heworth Court Hotel, and we quickly homed in on its precise location. We were greeted by a very cheery young woman at reception and headed upstairs to our nicely appointed rooms. Wireless Internet appeared to connect with the hotel’s network, but we finally concluded that the hotel itself was having problems getting to the outside world. Then we took off for a walk around the city, even as dusk approached. It was nice to wander the small, compact city by gaslight. Absolutely massive cathedral (York Minster) undergoing exterior renovations, pedestrian streets, River Ouse running very high, lots of folks out on the streets enjoying the evening.
Back to the hotel to enjoy our snack purchases of the day, along with a few wee drams from the Scotch that Steve bought at Duty Free in Chicago. The hotel didn't allow ‘food’ in the rooms, but we concluded that this prohibition didn’t include snacks. After all, there was a coffee maker there. Surely they were thinking more about stuff like fish and chips or Indian takeout!
Up the next morning. Our room overlooked a attractive walled garden at the back of the hotel. We enjoyed a ‘Full English Breakfast’ of egg, bacon, sausage, mushrooms, toast, baked beans, grilled tomato, choice of juice or cereal, and coffee.
The view from our hotel window - walled garden - York
Back in to town in the morning. We strolled along the walls, checked out the gift shop at the Minster, and made a brief stop in the Minster’s (free) entry area. It gave us a good impression of the place without expenditure of the £4.50 (senior) admission that would have let us see the whole thing. A visiting choir was rehearsing and the acoustics were amazing. On our next trip we’ll bring a digital recorder with us so we can post audio on our blog.
A plaque on the wall of a house across the street informed us that it was the birthplace of Guy Fawkes, infamous for his attempt to blow up Parliament in 1605. You can catch a glimpse of it about halfway through the video below.
Then we did some more wandering around town, checking out the market place and the nearby ancient streets, including the 14th Century Shambles.
We bought lunch at a bakery (sandwiches, sausage rolls, etc.) and then headed back to our car for the 200+ mile trip to Edinburgh. It was nice that the hotel is happy to allow guests to keep their cars there after they’ve checked out. It was motorway or equivalent road most of the way to Edinburgh. We stopped just short of the border (which has shifted back and forth something like 13 times through history) in Berwick-upon-Tweed. Another walled city. We enjoyed tea and coffee in a shop called “Thistle Do Nicely”; then we walked the city walls and grass-covered battlements, taking in the panoramic vistas of the North Sea. We had to ask the waitress what country we were in, as we were confused by this time since there was so much Scottish influence there.
Folks in the cell phone shop were very helpful in trying out a couple of different SIM cards in Bruce’s ‘world phone,’ but none would allow it to connect with the local networks. Steve and Aimée’s worked fine for incoming calls, as long as we were near built-up areas. But it wouldn’t call out. Technology is so great when it works!
Berwick was an interesting driving challenge, as they had installed mini-roundabouts at just about every intersection in the heart of town. This altered the right-of-way that one might intuitively expect while driving on the main street, providing equal opportunity to all.
About ten miles north of Berwick we crossed the border into Scotland. Rain began immediately, but lasted only a few minutes. It was dark by the time we got to Edinburgh. GPS again did very well in getting us to our neighborhood, though things were complicated by road construction that sent us (legitimately) the wrong way on a one-way street and caused us to miss the final turn. But the Queen (the voice of our GPS) routed us around the block and right to the front door of the Hotel Ceilidh Donia. Parking was very crowded. We double parked, checked in, and finally got a legal parking space with the assistance of the hotel people.
Again, a very friendly staff at the hotel. We enjoyed a wonderful dinner of duck, beef, and chicken and mushroom pie, again accompanied by the local brew. Another couple asked where we were from. They were from Stony Plain, Alberta, pretty darn close to the Masons, and the man’s grandparents came from Wisconsin, just west of Madison. Gauger country. Again, we had snacks and a wee dram in our room. The Internet is working great here, and we succeeded in a nice video chat with Karin (and Edgar the dog) using the free ooVoo video service.
The view from our hotel - the extinct volcano called Arthur's seat, so close to the city center - Edinburgh
Manchester NH to Chicago - October 4
Chicago to Manchester UK - October 4-5
