On Monday morning, we got ready to go out for a walk. Talbert and Linda had chosen the three halls walk which was 6 miles (or 9½ kms) long and started in the village of Hungarton. After a half hour drive from Stoney Stanton, Talbert parked the car at The Black Boy Pub where we planned to have lunch and we set off on the walk.
We walked up a small lane next to a 14th century church through some gates and up a long winding driveway where we had a view of the beautiful frontage of Quenby Hall – a 17th century Jacobean country house on the top of a hill with views of the surrounding fields. The next hall that we saw was Lowesby Hall – a Georgian red brick manor house next to the former village of Lowesby with its own cricket pitch. Lowesby had been razed during the plague years. After scrambling over some stiles and walking over cattle grids, through fields and parklands we came across Baggrave Hall – a Georgian red brick and granite building set amidst some impressive parklands. We saw many pheasants, sheep, pigs, cattle including long horned cattle, and beautiful horses including one which ate a mint offered by Talbert. We walked back along an avenue lined with horse chestnuts and wild blackberries to The Black Boy Pub for a well earned shandy and lunch.
After breakfast on Tuesday, we packed up the car and set off for Oxford. At Oxford, we parked the car and spent the next couple of hours walking around town. The university colleges, chapels and gardens seemed to be scattered randomly through town. We walked past golden stone buildings, the Bodleian Theatre, the Old Bodleian Library, the University Church of Saint Mary and Lincoln College. We walked along High Street and took a quick detour through the Covered Market which contained permanent stalls and shops. Most of them were food retailers. We walked past the Town Hall and Christ Church College, peeking through the Tom Gate at the quadrangle with the magnificent cathedral in the background. We were sorry when it was time to return to our car before the parking meter expired.
We rescued the car and drove to Avebury. On the way we drove past Silbury Hill – a large manmade grass covered chalk mound. The site at Avebury consisted of a large henge (large circular ridge and ditch), several stone circles and a large barrow. The village of Avebury extended into the heart of the largest stone circle. We spent an hour walking around the village and the stone circles trying to find the "Devil's Seat" and the "Diamond" stones. After that we drove towards Salisbury across the scenic Salisbury Plain, taking a short detour to go and see Stonehenge. The site was closed when we arrived, but we were able to park the car in a nearby lane and view Stonehenge from the road. In the setting sun the stones looked really atmospheric.
It was quite late when we arrived in Salisbury and there were no double rooms available at the hostel. However, we managed to find a room at the nearby Citylodge.
We got off to a late start on Wednesday morning, watching TV and dawdling over a cup of tea in our room. We had a delicious breakfast at Reeve the Baker and then strolled round to the Tourist Office where we found a city walking tour that was just about to leave. We quickly bought tickets and joined the tour.
Helena (the guide) took us along the Fish Row into Cotswold (an outdoor shop). Inside the shop on the second floor were large wooden beams and archways showing traces of woodworm. Our next stop was the vine covered 13th century Red Lion Hotel. It was once a "coach inn" and so had a very high entry into the courtyard. The drive had deep carriage ruts worn into it. Inside the inn was an amazing skeleton organ clock (carved by prisoners from the Spanish Armada), a wooden fireplace with a last supper frieze and some clocks with extremely large faces (Act of Parliament Clocks). We paid a quick visit to the 1220 bar before moving on to the Odeon Cinema. The cinema was closed but we could still admire its half timbered medieval entrance and original stained glass windows from the outside. We were able to walk down the side of the building where we could see that the walls had been constructed with a mix of brick, stone and flint. The flint had been used to extend the stone – stone being scarce in the Salisbury Plains because the area is chalk. We walked along Butcher Row, stopping to admire the 15th century stone Poultry Cross which marked the site of the old poultry market. Then we went to St Thomas' Church which was also constructed from flint and stone (ashlar). Above the altar was a spectacular "Doom Painting" – a fresco depicting judgement day. The ceiling was a Somerset Angel roof – it was made of timber beams with little cherubs on each corner. Finally we walked with Helena behind the church along the trout-filled River Avon and then along High Street into the Cathedral Close – a large enclosure surrounded by walls made from stone harvested from the site of OId Sarum. As well as the cathedral, the close contained a number of residential buildings and museums.
After Helena left us, we walked back into town to Tesco where we bought lunch. We brought this back to the Cathedral Close and had a picnic on a bench opposite the great spire which at 123 metres, is Britain's tallest spire. After lunch we spent a couple of hours wandering around the cathedral. The cathedral was built in English Gothic style and had 68 statues on its west front. Inside we saw a beautiful cloister, a medieval clock, decorative tombs, ornate quire stalls, a stone frieze of scenes from the Old Testament and an original Magna Carta manuscript. We walked back into town to Reeve the Baker for afternoon tea. Then we walked along the river and then on the Town Path to Salisbury's water-meadows to the Mill. Keith was disappointed because we didn't see any water voles but we saw plenty of trout, ducks, swans and even a large hawk that was tethered in a garden adjoining the river.
We walked back into town and as it was still light, we decided to walk to Old Sarum – the site of the original town which was abandoned due to a shortage of water and space. We walked for ages along the river and then across some fields before we arrived at the massive Iron Age hill fort. At the top of the hill, we were rewarded with a view of the surrounding countryside and the stone ruins of a castle and cathedral.
We went to the Coach and Horses Inn for a lovely dinner and then returned to the hotel. It was the end of a fabulous final day in England.
We woke to our alarm at 7.00 am on Thursday and it took us an hour to shower and pack. It was pouring rain as we drove out of Salisbury towards London and Heathrow airport. Luckily the traffic was ok and we found Avis at Heathrow and returned the car. We checked our baggage in and went through security to the BA lounge where we had breakfast. We boarded via a bus which delivered us to the wrong plane! Then there were delays as they had to change the nose wheel! We only ended up taking off at 3.15 pm when the flight was scheduled to leave at 1.15 pm!
We landed in Rio a little after 10.00 pm - only one hour late, which is not bad considering we left London two hours behind schedule. We met Allie from Bristol on the plane and it turned out that she was also staying at the Rio Hostel so we agreed to share a taxi. After we got through customs we found Flavio in "Arrivals" carrying a Rio Hostel sign with the name John Lyons. Flavio agreed to take us to the Rio Hostel as well and while we were waiting for John Lyons to turn up we went to the ATM to take out some Brazilian Reais. John Lyons didn't turn up so Flavio gave up and took us to the hostel. The Rio Hostel was perched on the top of a large hill overlooking Rio and to get to reception we had to climb up a couple of steep flights of stairs. We had a big room with a super view over Rio city centre. John Lyons turned up at reception just after us – he had been detained by customs because he declared his malaria tablets! He was completely cool about us taking his lift because he said he was so long he knew the driver wouldn't be there by the time he got out.
On Friday, we woke up at 7.30 am and lay in bed for a while before a cold shower got us going. We had a continental breakfast which included chocolate cake and some really good coffee. Keith saw a tiny Sagui monkey with a banded tail in the trees next to the hostel. Then we raced off into town on foot to meet Sarah Laird whom we had previously met in India. We got to the Confeitaria Colombo right on time. It was an amazing building on two levels with giant size ornate mirrors all around the walls and marble tables giving the impression it was even grander with all the reflections. It was a belle époque 19th century style cafe with a huge stained glass design in the ceiling and enormous displays of every confection under the sun. We had a great chat and met her husband Julian (a Scot). They invited us to a BBQ on Sunday afternoon. They suggested that we walk around the area of Candelaria church with lots of old architecture and good restaurants. There were many modern buildings in Centro with restored and unrestored old buildings dotted in between. The streets were dirty and lively and the humidity similar to a Brisbane summer. We walked and walked and walked and ended up taking a lot of photos although we did not see other tourists with cameras as we had in other cities on the trip. There is definitely an undercurrent of poverty and a feeling that something could happen to you if you were in the wrong place at the wrong time but overall we liked it. We stopped at a per kilo restaurant in Candelaria for lunch at a very reasonable price. It was just the healthy meal we needed after the flight here and we felt recharged afterwards. We continued walking and enjoying the many plazas, markets and sculptures until we ran out of steam and the sun started to go down at 4.00 pm. We found our way back to Santa Teresa by retracing our steps and using the Arcos de Lapa (a large concrete aqueduct) as a landmark. It was Friday afternoon and many people were around in the bars and on the street. We bumped into Allie at the door to the hostel and compared notes on our day. We did our diary and had dinner and a couple of beers and refreshing Caipirinhas at the hostel with Allie, John and Tiago.
On Saturday, we caught a taxi to Rodoviaria Novo Rio, the Rio long haul bus terminal where we purchased an overnight first class bus ticket for Ouro Preto for Monday night. As we had seen a lot of cloud we decided to change our plan to go to the Corcovador mountain and instead jumped on a bus for Leblon beach. We went through a tunnel carved through a mountain and went past Pao De Acucar mountain on our way down the Copacabana and Ipanema beaches to Leblon beach. We got off and walked for miles up the beach watching the beach sports being played all along the esplanade which was paved in the Portuguese style with small cobbles in off-white and black stone forming a wave like pattern. There was beach volleyball with most games not using hands but feet, chest, knees and head instead which improves the soccer skills. There was also a game of hitting a ball very hard and fast between two players with solid bats shaped like short tennis rackets and with nets running behind each row of players. There were also games of soccer in progress with organised teams playing in bare feet. There were kiosks selling mainly green coconuts to drink and large concrete stands called Postos with their numbers which delineated the beach areas informally – some were for families, some for gays, and some for the beautiful people apparently. A steady stream of joggers, cyclists, skateboarders and roller bladers passed us in both directions in their own special lane. Above us there were flocks of buzzards and Gaviotas (frigate birds) wheeling continuously. The Gaviotas had a very large wingspan and there was something eerie in their pterodactyl silhouette against the sky and their silent circling. Eventually we had lunch at a per kilo restaurant at the headland between Ipanema and Copacabana. The food was beautiful with real beef, pork and fish with numerous vegetable options both cold and warm. After lunch we kept walking up Copacabana beach until we reached the end and then had to walk back a little in order to catch the 511 bus to Pao De Acucar (Sugarloaf Mountain) where we caught the cable car up to the first station half way up. The views were totally awesome and for the first time we could appreciate how huge Rio really was with favelas (shanty towns) spilling down the mountain sides, acres of high rise in the valleys and bays full of boats stretching around to the 13 kilometre Rio-Niteroi bridge connecting Rio de Janeiro to Niteroi. When we went up the last stage to the top there was a cloud over the peak which blocked the view but it did give a surreal effect as the cloud swirled around you and the distant sights below loomed and receded with the clouded visibility. We waited until it got dark but left without any clear views. Luckily when we descended to the first station we were below the cloud again and the carpet of lights was extremely beautiful. After a few photos we descended to the bottom and caught a taxi back to the hostel for a welcome cup of tea and to catch up with John and Allie from the UK.
Later in the evening, we walked to the Lapa neighbourhood next to Santa Teresa famous for its nightlife, colourful restaurants and Samba Clubs. We walked through the busy streets to the Rio Scenarium Samba Club only to find a 100 metre long queue at the front door and a cover charge of R$30. We decided to walk around and find somewhere else. We chose a restaurant with a black musician on the mezzanine floor and R$5 cover charge so that Allie could have some dinner and we could have a drink. We spent a good couple of hours chatting over our drinks and people watching. There were several couples who had no inhibitions about public displays of passion – we didn't know where to look! At about midnight, we decided to walk back to the hostel. The streets were still full of people and if anything busier than before.
After breakfast on Sunday, we walked down through Santa Teresa and saw some more tiny Sagui monkeys on the way to the Arcos de Lapa. At the Arcos de Lapa, we took some photos of the stairs which had been covered in tiles from all over the world by an eccentric Chilean artist. Lapa looked pretty dirty in the morning light and there were lots of people sleeping in the street. Some were still out from the night before looking the worse for wear. We took out some money from an ATM and walked back to the hostel to stash some of it. Then we walked up Rua Joaquim Martinho past Largo Curvelo to Largo Guimaraes. We enjoyed the views over Rio and admired the restored and decaying villas along the way. We got onto an ancient tram and had a great ride down the hill and over the Arcos de Lapa into the city centre. We found a metro station at the terminus and caught the metro to General Osorio station at Ipanema where we cruised around the Hippie Market which was full of interesting Brazilian clothes, gemstones, wood carvings, jewellery, and stalls selling acaraje, a dish of yellow lentil, sticky okra stew, a fried bun, and prawns. This was pretty good and we shared a cob of corn as well as a chicken empanada before dessert of tapioca flan with chunks of coconut and covered in delicious burnt sugar syrup. We bought a couple of bottles of red wine and a box of chocolates and caught the bus to Barra in the rain. We enjoyed the drive down the coast from Leblon with jungle and mountains on one side and the sea on the other. At Barra a huge canal appeared beside the highway for some time. We got off at Ponte Lucio Costa and walked to Julian and Sarah's apartment in a secure condominium. We had a fantastic churrasqueira (BBQ) outside with roast beef, salad and baked potato. We met Julian's colleague Alfie and the children, Oscar and Mica. After dessert, we went upstairs into their apartment for a cup of tea and a chocolate before catching a taxi back to Santa Teresa. A couple of young Germans had had their uncle's car stolen from the front of the hostel which was a bit sobering.
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