June 27th 2008
Hi there,
Only a five hour flight from New York to Heathrow and we have started our little holiday. The directions from the car rental weren’t stellar, but we did manage to find our hotel.
June 28th 2008
In the morning, with a bit better set of directions we headed off to Wrenbury (The Alvechurch Canal Boat Rentals) and had a peek at our rig. It exceeded our expectations in every way except perhaps the width – these boats are narrow! Then, it was off to get provisions in Nantwich. With the cost of everything in London, we were pleasantly surprised to find that the groceries were so reasonable. And the boat was very well equipped with pots, pans and utensils. By five o’clock we had unpacked everything, had received the boat briefing and were ready to set sail. Three locks later, we were feeling very comfortable about the how to, so we stopp
ed in at the pub beside Willey Moor Lock for a pint. We met a local couple, Raymond and Ilene, who wrote out a list for us of must-see things along our route. We were very pleased with our start and called it a night after just one more lock.
June 29, 2008
Dale got us going in the morning with a big breakfast of eggs, potatoes and toast, juice and coffee. I think he knew what I was in for! We had three very closely spaced locks in a row before we hit the triple at Grindley Brook. Who needs a gym – I was working hard - Dale just had to steer the boat through (albeit a bit of a challenge). The next stop was Whitchurch with only a lift bridge (a hydraulic crank and a huge counter-weight balance). There
we stopped to pick up a couple of
forgotten items. There were plenty of places to stop and shop along
the way, so one never worried about running out of supplies. There were four more lift bridges and many stone bridges that were a little tight to navigate under before getting to Ellesmere. But once the first series of Locks were behind us, we had a fairly long run of just sitting back and enjoying the scenery. An hour of rain didn’t hurt as the boat even supplied full rain gear, and Dale bought a Canvas hat in NY (just in case ;-) ). The country side is magnificent with gently rolling hills, birds, cows, sheep, and quaint English homes scattered along the way. We even traversed a series of small lakes with campsites. One such lake bid us stop and feed the ducks while we enjoyed the views.
June 30, 2008
Ellesmere village. Once tied up, we had a pleasant hike into town and enjoyed supper at The Red Lion Pub - which was on our must-see list. The next morning we awoke to sunshine and a fresh start as we returned to the village to capture the
early splendors of their Bakery. Alas, we were too early, so we decided to press forward. What awaited us was the highlight of the trip.
The Aqueducts at Chirk and the long tunnel amazed and electrified us. We went from tranquil, peaceful, coffee sipping cruising to gulp!!!
The Aqueduct was so narrow. And so High! Then there was the second viaduct rail crossing of old stone, which soared above us to our left. It framed a backdrop of green fields spotted with tiny dots of sheep and luscious rolling hills of meadows, trees and houses beyond. We slowed the boat to a literal crawl - for two reasons: first, apprehension at the sanity of this crossing – and second, the
awe.
The tunnel that followed was equally impressive from an engineering perspective but didn’t hold
a ‘candle’ to the visual experience we just encountered. Nevertheless, at 459 yards, it still was exciting to watch a faint headlight from an oncoming boat approach, before we could take our turn through the single lane tunnel of ‘love’. Careful steering in the dim light was a bit of
a challenge but at least it was straight, unlike most of the rest of the canal that day.
The next aqueduct at Pontcysyllte (pronounced – Pont-ker-sulth-tee) was no less a thrill. It was even higher and the port side had a three inch wide guard rail, scarcely inches above the water. Again, a major thrill of our vacation - to be so high up in a vessel that was part of a long history of transportation in this region. Wales is definitely worth the visit.
Next post will be about the town of Llangollen (pronounced - Than-goth-len) the return journey.
Best wishes, Dale and Laurel
winding Greek roads. The 
countryside is georgeous and the food, 
people
and history exceeds their reputation. Laurel will fill in 
mor
e details, but for now, here are some photos!
Dale's exciting news is his new motorcycle. He traded 
in his Honda CB400 for a Suzuki GSR400. This model is not available in North America, but is perfect for Cyprus. Anything over 600cc's is taxed very heavily here, and you really don't need all that on this small island. Being new, it is much more reliable than his old bike, and he is really enjoying it.
towns of Marion and Arsinoe dating back to around 800BC. The lecture last night was very informative and filled in a lot of detail pertaining to the sites.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marion,_Cyprus
his Mom's (Mary Arden) and his wife's (Anne Hathaway) places. We finished off at a lovely pub for supper while it started to pour then off we went to a B&B in 
Worcestershire which was along our way. Sunday we headed off to Stonehenge and stopped at Woodhenge as well. 
Unfortunately, the weather didn't hold up for us as we had been starting to expect, and had to rush through. I was a bit disappointed with Stonehenge as it has been fenced off and you can't get in to the centre any more. They did supply an audio machine with lots of information, but really nothing new. We spent the night at another B&B in Bracknell with a lovely couple, and were up early in the morning for our flight back to Cyprus.
n idea for the next day.July 1, 2008
Chirk Castle, which was again on our must-see list. It was a couple of kilometers walk, but well worth the effort. Built in 1295 it is still intact with almost all of the furnishings left too – thanks to being taken over by the National Trust. We had a guided tour before it opened, then had lots of time to go back and really take in everything. The rest of the afternoon we just motored along with only two locks between us and our destination of Ellesmere.
July 3, 2008
The big plan was – to spend the morning in Ellesmere to get to the must-smell Vermeulens Bakery for one of their famous cream cakes (and a few other things as well). A few hours later, I got to work it all off as we started with five lift bridges before the triple locks followed immediately by three more separate locks at Grindley Brook. But then I got to gain it all back at the Horse and Jockey pub with a great steak dinner and of course the requisite pint (half pint for me). Good thing we decided to spend the night there. P.S. Thanks for all the emails and good wishes too.
we stopped to pick up a couple of 
forgotten items. There were plenty of places to stop and shop along 
The Aqueducts at Chirk and the long tunnel amazed and electrified us. We went from tranquil, peaceful, coffee sipping cruising to gulp!!!
awe.
