Few days in London visiting Andrew and his family and sight seeing
Day 1
Starting at Westminster Bridge with London Eye in the background.Houses of Parliament with Big Ben over the riverLondon Eye at River Thames bankOne more London EyeGuards at Buckingham palaceSt. James Park fountain (just in front of Buckingham Palace)Hyde parkSome guys playing frisbee in Hyde ParkStreet lights apply for horses, too...Entrance to the museum (it's free and actually pretty interesting)Japanese artBoat made of ivoryPlaster copy of Trajan's Column in Rome. It's too tall so they had to split it in half. They
made the copy in 19th century and actually now it's better legible than the original, which deteriorated
meanwhile due to acid rainsCopy of DavidCopy of me?And wow! They even have a copy of St. George statue at Prague Castle!Japanese warrior's outfitJapanese swordsPassing the Museum of natural history - we will come back!Hyde Park - lakeDinner at Sushi trainFamous mall Harrod'sPicadilly CircusWith cops on Coventry StreetStopping at Haagendazs:-)London Eye at nightBig Ben at nightI know this is bad photo. But you've got to believe us: that guy in the back is a famous
Indonesian pop star!!! And he ate in the same sushi train with us!!!;-)
Day 2
View from Andrew's appartment at Free Trade Wharf - I'm telling you, this is a place to
live;-)All of us in the living roomIt's the official celebration of Queen's 80 birthday today!And there shoe comes (on TV, though. It was too hot, so didn't wanna go there in person, plus
we've passed Buckingham yesterday)Poor guys, it's like 30 degrees and they have to wear all those traditional uniforms...
Time to go to Croydon, to pay visit to Andrews parents - Imel in Andy's convertible;-)
Passing through Tower bridgeIt's FIFA worldcup and the English take it seriously;-) (Czechs are still in too, but we're
gonna lose tonight to Ghana;-)And their laksa has just everything a proper laksa should have! YUMMYThe visit is actually in Andy's father's restaurant...Marketplace at CroydonMarketplace at Croydon
Day 3
Hiding in flowers...First we went to St. Paul's cathedralCrossing bridge over Thames to Tate MuseumI eat rubbish;-)) It didn't seem like it could save the world, but OKDoubledecker, Tower bridgeImelda on the bridge (St Paul's in the background)Shakespeare's Globe Theatre - reconstruction of original Shakespeare's theatre that burnt
down.Lobster telephonePlaster guys on benches, if you stand in the corner they look like laughing at you;-)
Ahem, this is also modern art (though it does look like my kindergarten era paintings)
Ondra trying to understand the hidden meaning...This one was interesting: they just washed blackboard not very carefully and then used the
spots left there and added chalk lines to make these picturesLost in modernity;-)Street performer on the bankIvo;-)))Covent Garden marketMuseum of TheatreStreet performersInside the Covent Garden MarketStreet performersStreet performersStreet performersIn South Africa...Metro is hereDinner with extended Andy's family
Day 4
Victoria Station - checking schedule for tomorrow's train to Gatwickschoolchildren came today tooOne of the royal coachesThis one is the most fabulous one, only for special occasions...SchoolkidsIt's all goldenDinosaurusDinosauress;-)This must have been some strange animalT-Rex section, they don't look so scaryThey even had this moving one;-)One could say they are even cute when they break out from the egg...But they become nasty like this - so you don't wanna have one at home...OK, you look dangerous too... - even-hoofed animalsMassive mammals;-)))Angry thorny fishBaker street - we are going to...The Sherlock Holmes Museum. Too late, it was laready closed:-(Trafalgar Square, National Gallery in the backNow Trafalgar Square with some sun again, that's better...The famous column with admiral Nelson is temporarily under reconstruction (I guess they were
cleaning it from pigeon s... you know...) But the cover was originalAhem... Interesting... Statue at Trafalgar Sq.Walking to Leicester Square and whom is this red carpet for, is it for us?Oh, not for us, it's for Keanu Reeves......and Sandra Bullock. They are opening the movie Lake House here...China TownDinner with AndrewAfter the dinner, people always get happier;-)
Day 5
Tower of LondonTower BridgeImelda and Tower BridgeYeoman giving tourguide of TowerRack for torturing traitors:-)Inside the fortressWhite Tower in the middle of the fortressWho killed the throne successor? Cast your vote! (So far Richard the III is the main
culprit:-)Queen's HouseJewel House - here they store the Crown Jewels (or at least their copies:-)Imprisoned princess waiting for her rescuer. Here I come!Somewhere there should be the ravens...ChapelMan and horse armor in the exhibit in the White TowerExhibit about the famous Gunpowder treason.Remember, remember, the fifth of November...guns and no rosesgate
Skotsko
Scotland is not particularly famous for nice weather, and going there in Easter (early April) might not
seem like the best idea ever... But the ten days we spent there were great, nevertheless.
Day 1
The fabulous vehicle that became our mobile home for following days...It's early April but daffodils bloom everywhere...The cathedral spire in Ashbourne - the first town we passedMarket with lot of good foodHaw can you resist?This hotel is probably slighly out of our budgetPeak District really has something to it, it's a land of beautiful green hillsA village in passing...Lambs playing with each other, they are so cuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuute:-)Picturesque village of Ilam, school in Swiss styleIlam Hall, formerly some rich guy's manor, now property of National Trust with a hostel in it
Our chicks;-)Still Ilam: The Church of the Holy CrossAnother nice town on the way - HartingtonSt. Giles Church in HartingtonEntrance to the church as well as adjoining cemetery - practicalSwitch off the lights when leaving ("Nesviťte pánu Bohu o oken":-)Inside of the churchHartington cheese with blueberriesFrom Peak District we drove till the night all the way to Glasgow and beyond. We slept at a
side of a small road in the middle of nowhere.
Day 2
In the morning......we have some amazing views on snow-capped hillsJirovec packing the tentAlmost ready to goWe're in Scotland, so we need some disguise to merge with the locals:-)Luckily they gave us a car with a big trunk, so we can fit everythingAfter breakfast everyone is a bit happierHeating buns on a crappy stove (from Indonesia:-)Passing a loch (=lake) - that feels cool, but later it will be just ordinary:-)Driving on the left side of the road is not that hard, actuallyInterestingly, although hills in Scotland are quite low, they somehow look like real
mountains:-)Loch and mountains in the background - that's Scotland, only one thing is missing...
Bagpiper! He was standing at a viewpoint and playing for tourists:-)It's cold!Ben Nevis, 1344m, is the highest peak of Scotland. This is not it:-) But it's close. Ben Nevis
was in clouds.It's a good viewpointCommando Memorial about 10 miles from Fort Williams and 4 miles from Ben NevisProof for all Indonesians that Imelda has been there with us:-)Another loch and mountain, we're getting used...An attempt to climb one of the zillion hills randomly picked by JirovecWhile Jirovec is hunting down the deer on the hill, there are dozens grazing in the valley...
Eilean Donan Castle. It's just a ruin, nevertheless impressiveImelda at the portalSunset views on the way to hostel in Uig on the Isle of Skye
Day 3
...cute little houses. We got one:-)Next day morning we drove around the island to Kilt Rock WaterfallA guy was parked there, painting round rocks that looked like...Sign explaining what you can see from a viewpoint, with some gaelicWalk towards Cuilin mountainsIt was cold and ugly weather. Yet, Jirovec and Jana were up for something tougher so they
hiked up to the Cuilin Horseshoe ridgeFind ten differences from the previous picture:-)Ondra and Imelda chickened out and drove around the island instead. This is McLeod's Whisky
DistilleryDunvegan Castle. The fee was to high though, so we didn't go inside...Don't you think it's time to see a hairdresser?...but there were some very cute Scottish Highland cows nearbyThen we drove to a very nice town of Portree. It's supposedly famous for seafood and fish, but
the restaurants were really expensive:-(Curved tree above Portree port - Portree port tree:-)And it was time to drive back to Cuilins to rejoin with J+J. It looks like a volcano from the
bottomHere they are, bit tired from the hike, but happy:-)Perhaps we could pick up some Gaelic here...?What to make of this sign? "Strome Ferry (No ferry)";-)
Day 4
...ahem, except these...We found a nice spot for camping yesterday, hidden among the trees, so nobody could find it...
Heating crappy canned spaghetti on a crappy stove in a crappy weather is somewhat... well,
crappy! But as a quick breakfast it'll doAmazing vistas in the Loch Torridon area. It's early spring, so the water is really wild
Lakeside at Beinn Eighe NP, the starting point for our hike upAt first we are ascending though a forest, hoping to spot some deersThe hike leads around a waterfallReplenishing liquidsThere were some sunny moments. They were short but the more precious to us:-)Messenger has to deliver the package whatever it takesSorry this one only works in czech: "A vidím že oba soupeře bude težké rozeznat, protože
oba mají oranžové kabátce":-))The weather was... well, Scottish. Sun and rain could swap in minutes. This time it created
nice rainbowAlmost there... J+J hiding from windThat's quite amazing, 460 metres elevation is basically like nothing, but somehow in Scotland
it's enough to make a "mountainy" feeling (plus we started close to zero)Sunspot in the valley......Ice on the top, where would you rather be?Descent, J+J waiting for I+OStream from still melting snowMajestic pine. they used to have lots of those in Scotland, esp. here in the Highlands, but
they chopped them all down...Signposts along the roadSo now it's called Lone Pine...
Day 5
Packing in the hostel. You may notice Jira's bag is almost as big as himselfStoer Head Lighthouse. Weather turned really bad - good to test our "rainproof"
clothesJirovec and Ondra decided to walk about 3 km to the cliff called Old Man of StoerThis is the Old Man. Due to the weather we were not willing to go any further...Jirovec risking his life to take picture of a cliff while standing on another cliff himself:-)
This view with the boat was beautiful even in the ugly weather. How stunning it must be in
nice weather, then?The boat is not shipwrecked:-) It's just parked there...Be careful, if you drive too far... Well the sign says it all, doesn't it;-)However, they do have post office here. So if you do dump your car in the sea, you can at
least mail your insurance company...Driving further north, in the middle of nowhere, we were surprised by a sudden traffic jam
The shepherd told us to drive carefully through the sheep stock, so we did...They definitely didn't teach us in driving school what to do in such traffic situation:-)
Surreal wide sandy riverbed just before the northern-most point of our tripDue to too much and too wild water the cave was closed, so we didn't get any deeper
Smoo Cave near Durness.Gigantic mouth of the caveAbove the cave a creek suddenly drops right into itOne of the beaches on the North Coast, must be beautiful in summerWill I take a dip, or not?Did she spot a rat:-)?Telecommunications and postal service are available even at the most unexpected places
Scenic (almost abandouned) route through Highlands, with zillions of deersWe thought they'd be shy, but they obviously didn't really care about usRare and precious sunny momentThis guy looks pretty majestic, probably a leaderThe only building along the way - Dun Dornaigil Broch - hasn't really been taken care of since
it was built (2000 years ago)It would be good place to camp, if the walls still stood and protected us from wind (which
they didn't)"Sheep on the road" in German. Apparently they really care about them:-) We didn't
see it in Czech, though...
Day 6
Paved path to the...waterfall...? Well, in fact it looks more like a big rapids on Shin River...Unfortunately we haven't spotted any salmons:-(Easter eggs sold in the Visitor's CentreAt the whisky distillery, behind teh girls there are hundreds of barrels with matureing
whisky;-)Wanna buy some?
Day 7
Frog eggs were abundant everywhere we lookedTwisted trees, as if in painI+O following the trail that J+J walked yesterdayWith majestic trees and mountains, Cirngorms is a really nice areaFor a while sun went outI wonder, did J+J take bath here yesterday? Probably not, it was almost night and cold...
"According to this map we are standing right on that hill over there:-)"
This kind of forest is called Caledonian forest - the original forest that once covered whole
Scotland. Today only 1% remains;-((Creek with pure waterTrees at the beach of a lakeA bird, sorry I wasn't particularly good at zoology...Meanwhile in a restaurant in the valley I+O are enjoying life in a slightly different way;-)
Approaching Stirling Castle, once the capital of ScotlandWell it looks pretty well fortified...Inside the castleSitting on the castle wall - Don't fall down, OK?King's Knot octagonal mound. I guess they put flowers there in later spring...?The interior of the castle was not so impressive. Instead of giving us background info they
asked our opinion..?But the exterior is really great. The views from Stirling fortifications are just magnificent
The tower in the background is William Wallace's MemorialCannonCastle garden, tree casting a long shadowMedieval costumesWooden clownGateRoof decorationThis here is safer...Memorial of William Wallace - the Scottish hero fighting against English opression (you know
him from Brave Heart by Mel Gibson)This is actually a tombstone on a nearby cemeteryDowntown StirlingWow! Pivo! They have Pilsner here, too bad we don't drink beer;-)
Day 8
Camping on some sheep pasture between Stirling and Edinburgh - let's get out early
Pier near Forth bridgeDoubledeckers in EdinburghScott Monument at Princes Street gardensWhat the heck...? Masaryk in Edinburgh? (no, it's another guy in front of Edinburgh castle)
In the Daffodils 1In the Daffodils 2Oper-air theatre performance: Jesus' story. Here they're taking him to the tombFollowers pray at the crossRoyal Mile is up there just behind these housesCrossing Forth Bridge - going to pick up J+J from their trekCrossing Forth Bridge again on the way back to Edinburgh, after succesfully meeting up
Day 9
Staircase at our hostelCurved street (so beautiful that we parked the car there)View from Royal Mile downtown (literally)Tourist Tartan manufacture. Each clan had their own patternYou can take picture with "authentic" William Wallace;-)Two great intellectuals: one bronze, one still aliveAt the end of Royal Mile (other than the one at the castle) the city suddenly end and this
wilderness starts: Salisbury Crags in Holyrood parkPalace of Holyroodhouse from outsideUnique streetlampsHolyrood Park is a miniature of everything Scotland has to offer: lochs, glens, cliffs, etc...
And it's right in the middle of the city - quite extraordinary. Too bad we already travelled through
Scotland before we came here;-))Nelson's Monument. They have one in London at Trafalgar Square, so let's have one too;-)
Kids playing games in the park - it's Easter SundayLooking for Easter eggsFace paintingBagpipes bandEdinburgh Castle majestically overseeing the cityFootball team.But they actually played footbal on pogo sticks!!!One more view uphillCathedral near the hostel where our car was parked... Time to go back...Concluding photo of the whole team: J + J + I + O
Extra
Ondra eating the crappy spaghetti, while Jirovec is enjoying the delicious peaches
... with quite a bit of snow on them"Hey, Jirovec, do you really intend to climb all the way up there?" ...... "What do you mean, 'all the way'? Once we get on that ridge, it's not gonna be that
much uphill"We even had a little bit of sunshine(pursuing a deer:) I'll get you in the end!OK, I'm not going any further!Hang on, we just want to make a picture!Looks like 2000 metres higher than it really is.It can even look mysticalIt's so awfully romantic......you just can't stop pressing the shutter now, can you:-)... just a little chillier at the top...I want to learn to fly! ...... which might not be that unrealistic in this windBack down in the river's rocky canyonI+O making their way up... and on the mountain sideOnce upon a time ...And here comes his pictureLooking back towards the Fords of AvonWay too much snow in some placesUp towards the pass that will take us to Glen Derry ...... which is still quite a long wayTime to drain the soaked socksMeanwhile, back in the Cairngorms, J+J at a slightly smaller one: Memorial BridgeThis is what we looked like after the "All you can eat" lunch (in fact a curved
mirror near the castle earlier the day)
