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You want to visit?.. The best London Parks Regents Park

Regents Park

Now that the Summer is almost upon us here in the UK, the Beetle thought she would share her favourite London park: Regents Park – an oasis of green and tranquility in the heart of London. Architect John Nash landscaped the park and designed many of the buildings in the area (also worth a stroll around) in the 18th Century. The park is within walking distance of the following tubes: Marylebone, Baker St, Regents Park and Camden Town up in the North. Within Regent’s Park, you have Queen Mary’s Flower Gardens, where there are often band concerts in the Summer months, the Boating Lake, the Zoological Gardens, one of the oldest zoos in the world and the Open Air Theatre which often stages Shakespeare in the Summer months. A nice day out could be to visit the weekend market at Camden Lock then head south to the park, have a picnic and watch a play in the evening. The cafes are surprisingly good and not too expensive either.

Greenwich Park

Greenwich Park is probably most famous for having the Greenwich Meridian passing through it, and being home to Greenwich Meantime (GMT). The Beetle’s favourite scuttling route to get to Greenwich is to take the Docklands Light Railway (DLR) to Island River Gardens, and to walk to the river and take the path that goes under the Thames to the other side. Before you take the footpath, stop to admire the view across the river of Greenwich and the fabulous stately buildings including the Old Royal Observatory, designed by Sir Christopher Wren (he of St Pauls), the National Maritime Museum and the Queens House, and not least the Cutty Sark. A good day out would be to take the DLR to Island River Gardens, cross over to Greenwich, take a picnic lunch, wander around and then take a boat back to West London – to Blackfriars or Embankment or Westminster.

Hyde Park

The convenient thing about Hyde park is that is it close to some of the best shopping areas in London. The park is within walking distance of the following tubes: South Kensington, Knightsbridge, Hyde Park Corner in the South and Marble Arch in the north East and Lancaster Gate in the North West. Henry VIII used Hyde Park for hunting in the 16th Century! In 1851, Prince Albert redesigned it for the Great Exhibition. An absolute must is Speaker’s Corner, especially on a Sunday is an example of freedom of speech, where you can witness impassioned individuals, literally on their soapboxes in some cases, espousing some cause close to their own heart!

For the hardy, there’s the Serpentine Lake where you can hire a boat or even go swimming! There’s also a very good art gallery at the Serpentine. Close by is the Lido, a place to have a drink or snack and in Summer months, there is often a jazz band or a poetry reading. A good day out would be to visit the shops in Knightsbridge, then on to the Victoria and Albert Museum and then over to Hyde park with a picnic lunch.

Next month: Iceland

Please contact Beetle@globetrotters.co.uk for your suggested country itinerary

Did You Know?

That the combined age of our two oldest Globetrotter members is 174 years!

The Age of Discovery: Christopher Columbus

Let’s talk about the first of the really well known explorers: Christopher Columbus, whose name can be seen all around Central and South America as Cristóbal Colón. Although Columbus was born an Italian, in Genoa, he obtained sponsorship from the rulers of both Portugal and Spain and made four trips to the New World. He was amongst those who believed that the world was round – not a widely held view at the time – and he longed to sail west to the Azores and further, to the legendary lands described by Marco Polo.

As every schoolchild in the UK knows, “In fourteen hundred and ninety two, Columbus sailed the ocean blue”. Even though the Scandinavians had reached North America a long time before Columbus, Columbus’ trip was important in that he was amongst the first Europeans to set foot on so many islands in the Caribbean, and land masses in Central and the northern part of South America. The sad thing is that Columbus thought he had reached the East Indies and that the islands of the Caribbean were in islands off mainland China.

Of course, there were commercial motives in all these great ocean-going trips, which often took years to undertake and in dreadful conditions on board. These lay in buying new and exotic spices, although Columbus was not too successful in this – he found capsicums and is also attributed as having bought back tobacco, known locally as a “bewitching vegetable” from the West Indies in 1496. On the one hand, he is believed to have possessed great courage and explored parts of the world that were completely chartered territory – his crew were in constant fear of toppling over the edge of the world. On the other, historians reckon that he was really quite greedy, constantly looking for increased wealth and a terrible administrator (although a fearless explorer) and was cruel to the local people he found in these new territories.

Next month: Vasco da Gama

Annual General Meeting of The Globetrotters Club

For anyone based in or within easy reach of London, the Globetrotters Club is holding its Annual General Meeting. It takes place at 1.15pm. Any Globetrotter member is welcome to attend. The Chair of the Globetrotter Club will be on hand to discuss events from the past year, achievements and what we hope to achieve in the coming year.

London meetings are held at The Church of Scotland, Crown Court, off Russell Street, Covent Garden WC2B 5EZ, (behind the Fortune Theatre) in at 2.30pm the first Saturday of each month.

New York:

Bob Fisher, contributing editor to Arthur Frommer’s Budget Travel online & Magazine had the undivided attention of our New York branch, writes New York Chair, Laurie Blumenfeld. He gave great insights as to how to break into the travel writing industry, as well as what to think about in terms of shaping a story when on the road. He then went on to share some fascinating stories about his life while living in Japan, India and London. The fun really began when a spontaneous round-table chat started about travelling in Asia. Once again, Bob gave some helpful hints: did you know you can buy an air-purifier to wear around your neck? Handy for the polluted roads in Nepal and India! Bob can be contacted on: email:BobHaru@aol.com.

Next month, by popular demand, Laurie will be holding a travel networking session so you can ask and answer each other’s travel questions!

New York meetings are held at The Wings Theater, 154 Christopher Street (btw Greenwich St and Washington St), to the right of Crunch Fitness, in the Archive on the first Saturday of each month at 4pm.

Ontario:

The next meeting will be held on Friday 25th May (the fourth Friday, due to Bank holidays and long weekends). Bruce Weber will be showing his slides on a road trip from California to Toronto and also a visit to Cuba. Sounds pretty good! Vera Blowers, one of the founding members will be holding the annual picnic in her back yard in July ~ all are welcome! For further information about Ontario meetings, please contact: Ontario@globetrotters.co.uk

Meetings are held on the third Friday of January, March, May, September and November. Usually at the Woodsworth Co-op, Penthouse, 133, Wilton Street in downtown Ontario at 8.00 p.m.

You want to visit?….Ireland

By popular demand, here is a circuit of Eire beginning and ending in Dublin. The best time of year to go to Ireland is in June or September as it is less crowded than the peak months of July and August. The best way to get around is by car as this allows you to stop in places that are off the beaten track, plus many places are not connected by public transport.

This itinerary includes towns, castles, bogs, coastal scenery, mountains, valleys, streams, megaliths and remains of monasteries. To do this trip justice, you would at least 10 days, but you could cut it down to say one week. Each destination is not exhaustive ~ en route, you will see many signposts identifying interesting places that are definitely worth a look.

Dublin is a good starting point and you should spend at least two days here. It is a very walkable city and there is a great deal to see and do: museums, art galleries, shopping, a Guinness brewery, the castle etc. For those interested in tracing their ancestry, the Heraldic Museum is a must.

Drive west on the N4 and N6 from Dublin to Athlone, visit the castle there and make this your base for a couple of nights, to explore the Irish Midlands around the River Shannon and Lough Ree. You must visit the remains of Clonmacnoise, Ireland’s most important monastic site. From Athlone continue west on the N6 to Galway City on the west coast, and base yourself here for a couple of nights. Galway is a pretty city with narrow streets and a good nightlife. From here, you should make a day trip north west on the N59 to Connemara, a beautiful area of valleys, mountains, bogs, lakes and streams ~ chill out, relax and savour that fresh country air!

Another day trip or longer visit can be made from Galway City by ferry across to one (or all!) of the Aran Islands – Inishmor, Inishmaan and Inisheer. From Galway, drive south to Burren via Dunguaire Castle and prepare to do some walking. The Buren is an area, 25 miles wide and 15 miles long situated between Kilfenora and Kinvarra. Here you will find an amazing array of ancient walls, megalithic tombs, stone forts and beautiful glacial landscape. To make the most of this, by all means drive around in this area, but you must also get out of your car and have a good wander! You should also make a trip south to the Cliffs of Moher before heading south on the N85 and N18 to Limerick, a historic city (featured in Angela’s Ashes), on the River Shannon.

From Limerick, take the N21 southwest towards Tralee (don’t stay here), and to the Dingle Peninsula, Ireland’s western most point. Choose somewhere to stay so that you can spend time exploring mountains, valleys, streams, windy little roads, deserted beaches etc. This area is one of the Beetle’s favourite parts of Ireland. A trip to the Blasketts is also a pleasant way to spend a day. From the Dingle peninsula, make your way south on the N70 to Killorglin, the start of the Ring of Kerry which is 180 km and takes about 3-4 hours to drive without stopping, and ends at Kenmare. It’s all about the Mountains of Kerry, valleys, dramatic coastal scenery, castles and monasteries and is an absolute must! From Kenmare, continue up the N70, north to Killarney where on a good day you can see Macgillicuddy’s Reeks, Ireland’s highest mountains and stay the night. From Killarney, head east on the N22 to Cork, making a quick stop to kiss the Blarney Stone at Blarney Castle.

From Cork, head north on the N8 to Cashel to see the Rock of Cashel ~ a magnificent stone fort with 200ft high walls. From here, head east on the N24 to Waterford, home of the famous Waterford crystal. From Waterford, take the N11 back north to Dublin via Glendalough, set in the wooded valley of the Two Lakes. If you are a fan of the TV series, Ballykissangel, then you should also stop at Avoca before going to Glendalough.

Please contact Beetle@globetrotters.co.ukfor your suggested country itinerary although the Beetle regrets that she cannot draw up itineraries for individuals.

Nuggets from Evan in California ~ Backpacking in Britain

Evan recommends visitors to Britain to see the intricately carved 15th century ceiling beam (remnant of original rood screen) in the church in Llangattock Lingoed near Abergavenny, Wales. Visit the friendly owners, Alan and Liz Evans at the remote Star Inn, Llansoy, near Raglan, Wales, and to capture the mystique of Avebury, enter the monument along West Kennett Avenue. Evan also just completed a walk following Offa’s Dyke on the Welsh/English border. Despite the foot and mouth scare that is currently blighting our otherwise beautiful country, he says that although he had to keep to the tarmac, it was a small price to pay for a wonderful time.

Cycling Around the World

For all those cyclists out there, the founder of the Globetrotters Club, Norman Ford is an avid cyclist and has a web site: www.ktc.com/~blodwen which urges readers to tour the world by bicycle on their own. To give some ideas, he lists reports on about a dozen bike tours or bike vacations he’s taken in the past 5 years.

But the real heart of the site is the menu link to “Helpful Websites for Bicycle Touring” which links to just about every website for self-reliant bike tourists he could find and covers the world.

Moreover, if you are interested in knowing a little more about the history of the Globetrotters Club, when you go to Norm’s web site, have a look at the link at the bottom called www.globetrotters.co.uk which gives you an idea of what he’s been up to since 1945! It’s great reading!

Norm is happy to answer e-mail queries except during the fourth quarter of the year when he is away travelling the world by bicycle ~ now there’s an offer! Norm’ can be contacted via his web site.

Best Beach in the World

Best beach in the world (3) is Seven Mile Beach in Grand Cayman. Situated (strangely enough) in the west part of the island, about a 15 minute drive from the capital, George Town. Driving is British style, in other words on the left, and it is preferable to hire a car as the local minibus service can be cramped and infrequent, although cheap. It’s a great place to take children as it is a reasonably safe place. The beach itself is golden yellow is flat and gently sloping ~ no rogue waves here. Activities include sunning, swimming, snorkelling and diving. Most of the hotels and timeshare apartments are also in this area. The only downside is that it can be quite expensive to lodge, eat and drink.

Next month: The Beetle’s Top 3 Wreck Diving sites.