Day 6 of UK Vacation - Cardiff, Wales

Day 6 started out early with a train ride from Bath, England to Cardiff, Wales. I would love to have provided photos from the train but there weren't too many "spectacular views" along the way as the track was surrounded by hillsides much higher than the windows so all you really saw were those with an occasional glimpse of animals in a pasture or something. 

Anyway, we arrived in Cardiff around 11:30 am - just in time for a quick view of Cardiff Castle and lunch in the Castle Cafe. Due to limited time in Wales and all the walking we'd done to date, we opted out of a tour of the Castle, choosing instead to take a boat tour of the bay. 

Our stay at the lovely Hotel Indigo with its luxurious bathroom definitely had us singing a happy tune because it was spacious yet cozy, giving us ample room to reorganize our luggage for the remainder of our trip.

The next morning had us up early and headed out of Wales to Dublin via KLM Royal Dutch Airlines with a 4 hour layover at Schiphol Airport in Amsterdam where the toliets (restrooms) were some of the best we'd experienced to date. They even had toilet seat cleaner! 

Definitely singing a happy tune over that.

My next post will outline our time in Dublin followed by Clare and the Cliffs of Moher.

I hope you'll drop by to enjoy the trip with me.

PamT

Day 5 of UK Vacay - Jane Austen Festivities

I started this blog with the intention of posting regularly. Alas, life gets in the way but I'm back and happy to share day 5 of my UK Vacay with you!

We arrived at the Dorian House B&B the afternoon of Friday, the 13th of September, and walked into town (about 20 minutes all downhill) to get our bracelets for the Jane Austen festivities the next day.

Talk about luxurious rooms and bathrooms with a huge claw-footed tub (my favorite kind of tub!!) as well as a nice, big shower. Probably not as large as some but definitely larger than those in the London House Hotel (see my post for Day1).

This bathroom had me singing a happy tune from first glance. I'd have been doing the Jesus Happy Dance too but my feet were beginning to get sore from all the walking LOL!

Saturday we enjoyed a wonderful breakfast (I had Eggs Florentine) then dressed in our Period Attire and headed down to the festivities. After the Grand Regency Costumed Promenade (which lasted about an hour), we enjoyed a tour of the Jane Austen Centre and Tea with Mr. Darcy in the Tea Room. 

We explored the downtown area for a while, visiting the shops and food establishments (and here you have to pay $1.00 to get in the toilet!) then turned in for the evening to prepare for our next adventure - a train ride to Cardiff, Wales the next day!

Hope you're enjoying my UK Vacay as much as I did and that you'll continue to drop by the blog as I recount the entire trip.

Until next time, happy trails...

PamT

 

Day 4 of Uk Vacay - Chawton, Bath

 

Day 4 of our UK Vacation started out early. After breakfast, my cousin and I met with our driver for the day, Geoff (pronounced Jeff) who picked us up in a Jaguar to take us from London to Chawton and on to Bath. 

Unfortunately my picture of this was "live" which means it's actually a short video - UGH - I've said before, I am NOT a photographer, and I'll apologize again LOL!

Anyway it was a thrill riding in such luxury.

We left shortly after nine and headed out. 

Geoff was a wonderful guide, regaling us with stories and history every mile. 

We arrived in Chawton at Jane Austen's house/museum (upper left pic) and enjoyed a brief tour then on to "the great house" as she described her brother's Chawton House Estate. On stumps throughout the gardens/grounds you could find these little tributes to Jane's work with quotes from her books or poems or prayers. 

The tour guides inside the house were very knowledgeable and also told lots of stories regarding the history of the house and the people who lived and visited there. We also got a tour of the library which houses books that are thought to be rare, one of a kind, and only avialable here.

One thing I loved about this house was the bathroom (toilet) still contained some of the original plumbing and the toilet itself had a pull-chain to flush! I tell you this quaint restroom had me singing a happy tune.

We also stepped back in time when we visited Chawton House's lovely church. 

As much as I enjoyed these two stops on our way to Bath, my greatest thrill of the trip was passing Stonehenge! Y'all had I known we'd be passing this Historical landmark, I would have made sure we had time to stop.

I cropped the picture included in my collage to cut out the people and this photo was taken from the car. 

Can you imagine how majestic these stones must be!?!

I can.

Geoff assured us the magic never dims and he'd been there over 400 times.

Hope you enjoyed today's post outlining my UK vacation and that you'll drop by next and travel along with me into Bath for the Jane Ausetn Festivities.

Until next time, happy trails...

PamT

London Day 3

 

Sorry this post is later than promised but last week, I got a chance to fly to Phoenix, AZ to visit my 2 brothers, nephew. cousins, and Goddaughters!

I'll share that trip with you at some point but for now....Continuing our exploration of London...

On Day 3 we visited Buckingham Palace. Again, pictures or collages don't do this magnificent structure justice. 

Filming and photographs are prohibited inside the palace but we visited many staterooms and ballrooms and other interesting places within the palace where the royal family meets dignitaries or simply entertain friends, collegues and allies.

Of course there is a huge gift shop and cafe at the end of the tour where you walk out along the grounds which are absolutely beautiful.

Next up on Day 3 in London was Westminster Abbey, the royal church where Kings, Queens, Princes and Princesses are wed. Within it's stately walls, this beautiful, holy place houses the Grave of the Unknown Soldier. This is where many royal brides place their wedding bouquet after the ceremony.

After visiting these two sites, we caught another ride on Tootbus, (the hop on/off tourbus) where we enjoyed a ride through the city and saw so much more of Hyde Park and other fascinating places filled with History such as Big Ben - the huge tower clock built in 1834/35.

As with every other tourist fascility we'd visited, bathrooms were few and far between. Usually in the basement, down a long corridor, around a large corner or at the end of the "tour." 

There is so much to see and experience in London, 2 or 3 days is really not enough but all the time we had. Which is why a 2 or 3 day pass on a tourbus is an absolute necessity to enjoy as much as you can.

Next up will be our trip to Chawton and Bath for Jane Austen festivities so stay tuned!

Until later....happy traveling.

PamT

London Day 2

Day 2 in London was every bit as exciting as our first. We set out after enjoying breakfast at our hotel for the 3 or 4 block walk to the tube (subway) where we headed to the Tower of London where the Crown Jewels are housed and where every royal family lived up until Queen Elizabeth I whose mother (Anne Boleyn) was murdered in the tower by Henry VIII.

There is so much History about this place, most of it gruesome (as mentioned above). One fascinating bit of informaton was the many exotic animals... Lions, Tigers, Polar Bears, Elephants, etc. that were housed at the Tower throughout many King's reigns. 

This gigantic property encompases 12 acres of land and believe me if you plan a visit there, get your training in beforehand because you're going to do a lot of walking! In fact all of London is an exercise in fitness. Anyway, with so much ground to cover, the bathrooms are few and far between, but were clean and well maintained.

Next up, we took a hop on/off bus tour where we saw lots of amazing things. The architecture and statues throughout the city are breathtaking. Especially Big Ben the clock that stands over 300' tall with hands 9 & 14 feet long!

Our third excursion of the day was a visit to St. Paul's Cathedral. The grandeur and opulence of this cathedral can not be described. Despite the many tourists present, there was a tangible air of awe and reverance as there are in most holy places.

We finished our day with a lovely Italian dinner and settled in for the night excited about our next day's adventures which I'll share with you next week.

Hope you enjoyed today's memories.

Until next time, happy trails!

PamT

 

Day 1 in London...

After leaving the states at 8pm ET on the 19th, we arrived in London around 8am on the 20th. Luckily our driver had been watching the flight so we weren't waiting too long before heading to our destination, London House Hotel, which would be home for the next few days.

Since it was too early to check into our rooms, the wonderful folks in reception stored our luggage for us and allowed us to use the restrooms to freshen up so we could head out for the first sight-seeing adventure of our trip: Hyde Park and Kensington Palace.

Hyde Park itself is amazing and takes up 350 acres of Westminster, Greater London. There are numerous entrances into the park from any number of locations throughout this area.

But since we'd been flying all night, we stuck to the roughly 2 mile walk to Kengsinton Palace (the birthplace of Queen Victoria) where we toured the palace itself as well as the grounds and had lunch at The Orangery located within the palace next to the gift shop.

Kensington Palace is the official home of the Prince and Princess of Wales along with other members of the Royal family. One thing that really touched my heart was the memorial to Lady Diana her son's had installed near a pond on the grounds of what is formally known as the Sunken Garden (now called The White Garden).

The beauty of Kensington Palace can not truly be described with mere words. The furniture, draperies and artwork are stunning so, please forgive my pitiful depiction - I am not a photographer LOL!

This excursion certainly made for a wonderful day.

Met by a misty rain that afternoon, we ventured out to dinner where we both had fish and chips (what else for your maiden visit, right?!) then on to Selfridges where my cousin shopped till she/we dropped. Well, almost. But that is certainly possible in this 540,000 sq. feet smorgasboard of designer apparel and accessories, beauty and wellness shops, fine dining and all sorts of venues to explore and be inspired. 

As you know from my last post, I am not a shopper to any degree but experiencing my cousin's joy of being there made trouping through the rain worthwhile.

We got an Uber ride back to our hotel and tiny room and even tinier bathroom (which had me humming the blues due to its size) and settled in for the evening. When I say "tinier bathroom" I mean.... S-M-A-L-L. Seriously, you had to back up and turn around to change your mind LOL! 

Alas, it served its purpose.

Not bad for our first day in London, right?

Stay tuned weekly as I continue to share my UK Vacay with you!

Until next time, happy traveling.

PamT

 

Heathrow International Airport, London...

 

In my last post, I mentioned my cousin and I were heading off on vacation to London/Bath and Ireland. 

This will be the first of many blog posts outlining our trip, the places we visited and what we experienced.

We flew out of New Orleans 9/9 on a puddle-jumper (ie: small) plane to Charlotte, NC then connected on a larger flight to Heathrow airport in London.

Since we basically began our trip at Heathrow and ended up there again on our way home ten days later, (and edured a 7 hr. layover!) I thought I'd tell you something about this airport. 

AND, since this blog is about bathroom blues, you'll get a glimpse into the restroom facilities at this    h-u-m-o-n-g-o-u-s  airport that covers nearly 5 square miles of property.

Filled with shops such as Cartier, Chanel, Dior, etc., a layover might be a shoppers dream. You definitely won't go hungry or be bored if you love to browse.

Me? I'm not a browser or shopper so I simply put on my headphones to block out the background noise of thousands of people sitting, walking and talking from every direction and read 2 books LOL!

Although I am not big on shopping malls (and they have one at each of their four passenger terminals), I was very impressed at the availability and cleanliness of the bathrooms.

One feature that made my heart smile was the hand dryers on the same fixture as the water and soap!

You simply washed your hands and then spread them apart a few inches to each side and the dryer would come on.

This avoids so much water on the floor which is wonderful for putting down purses or carry-on luggage.

BRAVO, Heathrow!

Your bathrooms had me singing a happy tune during my ridiculously long layover.

Stay tuned friends for more on my UK trip.

To find out more about this amazing airport visit heathrow.com.

Until next time, happy traveling.

PamT

*image courtesy of pixabay*

Headed out to London and Bath (England) and Dublin, Ireland!

 Good Morning Traveling Friends,

I haven't been as consitent on this blog as I'd originally planned. Got a good reason though. I've been busy, busy, busy these last couple of weeks getting ready for my trip to England & Ireland!

Yep, it's finally here and by the time you read this, I'll be in the UK.

Ireland has been on my bucket list since I first read Nora Roberts' "Born In" trilogy which is set in County Clare - which is where I'll end up after flying into Dublin on the 16th. 

My cousin and I have lot's of adventures planned during our 10 days in the UK and I'll have stories and pics for you then!

For now, enjoy this beautiful picture of the Cliffs of Moher....

Photo from Cliffs of Moher website

We have a boat tour planned and I can't wait to share those pics with you!

Until next time take care and Happy Traveling.

PamT

Not Just RV Parks and Campgrounds....

When I first thought about starting this blog my intention was to focus on RV parks / campgrounds, etc. 

However, the more I travel, the more I realize that cleanliness in any/every restroom is essential!

Therefore, I'll be posting information on restaurants, truckstops, rest areas.... In other words, bathrooms everywhere.

But before we get much furhter into our bathroom blues, let's talk about things you might need to carry when you are going to be using the bathhouse at a RV park or campground...

We know the basics (shampoo, conditioner, soap or body wash, washcloth and towel, brush or comb, hand/body lotion). You'd be surprised at how many times I got to the restroom and realized I forgot something. LOL!

I like to wear cheap flipflops while in the shower. We don't realize how very porous our feet are and, well, I just feel better with something between me and all those germs on the shower stall floor.

Another good idea is to carry a can of disinfectant spray. Especially if the thought of what all might take place in a shower stall gives you the heebeejeebees. I'm not going to get graphic with this but any number and kind of cooties could be lingering on those walls and floors.

Disinfectant wipes are a plus also for wiping the toilet seat down before you use it. These are great to carry in your purse or vehicle and grab a couple when you stop anywhere and use the restroom.

If you implement either of these last two ideas, be a sweetheart and spray/wipe the facilities down after your use for the next person's safety. Or at least their peace of mind.

I know some folks who use baby/flushable wipes instead of or addition to the toilet paper provided (which is usually the thinest, lowest quality, cheapest to be found). Be careful if you choose to do this. Not every restroom has a trashcan in the stalls. Although many of these wipes claim to be biodegradable, they're not always the best option because they don't break down as easily as toilet paper. That could cause problems for the campground's sewer system.

And, of course if you're tent camping at a RV park or campground, you'll want to include toothbrush, tooth paste, floss, etc in your toiletries. Most have electrical outlets so blow dryers can be used if you worry about that while camping.

Just a few travel bathroom tips for you today.

Until next time, remember public/personal safety is your responsibility just as much as the next guy's. 😊

PamT

New York City

 

In a previous post, I shared links to my West Coast vacation in 2017. Although that was the longest roadtrip I've taken to date (7 weeks!) it was/is only one of many wonderful places I've visited.

Back in December 2014, my son treated me with a visit to New York City.

I'm not usually big on large cities but this was a trip of a lifetime.

We visited the 9/11 Memorial, saw the musical Wicked, watched a Rockettes show and generally covered a lot of ground in 2 1/2 days.

One of the most magical things about this trip, (other than being with my son!) were the larger than life Christmas decorations everywhere.

New York is a great place to visit, but as I said, I'm not much on large cities so I definitely would not want to live there LOL!

One day I hope to go back and to go to Niagra Falls.

Although this was my first visit to New York City, it was not my only visit to New York state.

I have a friend who lives in the Finger Lakes region and I've traveled to be with her a time or two. In fact, the setting for my book, The Inheritance (Hammondsport) evolved out of one of those visits.

One thing I've learned in my travels is that we have a great, big, beautiful country here and there is more to see than you can imagine. I hope sharing my travels with you will enourage you to get out there and see some of it.

Until next time, 

Keep it clean.

PamT

Why Bathrooms When You Travel in/with a Motorhome/Fifth-Wheel

 

You might be wondering why public/rv park restrooms would even matter to someone who brings their own with them. Lot's of reasons!

If a park doesn't have full hook-ups which include sewage, you might want to use the bath house. Especially if you're only staying 1 night. Saves you having to dump or carry the extra weight with you to your next stop.

Trust me, we've done both and the smell is awful even using extra toilet tabs.

Reason #2: If you're staying long term at an RV park that does not have sewage hookups, using the public restrooms prevents you from having to carry and dump a portable tank or hooking up the camper to go dump in the middle of your stay.

Reason #3: Sometimes the camper bathroom is just too damn small. Or the hot water doesn't get/stay hot or....there are any number of reasons to worry about the state of public RV park bathrooms.

Until next time, happy trails!

PamT