Adventures - Antony Simpson - Author, Blogger, Nurse & Witch.

Adventure: The Metropolitan City of Wroclaw, Poland

By AntonyAdventures, Friends & Family, Thinking, TravelNo Comments

I recently visited Wroclaw in Poland with my brother and his friends for his stag do and his birthday. It was the first time I had met many of my brother’s friends and they are a great bunch of lads. In this post I’ll be discussing my experience of being in Wroclaw.

The first thing to write is that the architecture is aesthetically pleasing. There are many buildings with a Georgian style and many churches that are exquisitely designed. Here is an example of one such church:

A Church in Wroclaw, Poland.

Here are two photos of fountains I took:

Fountain (1).

Fountain (2).

Wroclaw is vibrant, youthful and has an upbeat feel. It is a clean city, only being let down by graffiti that is everywhere. There are plenty of places to eat and drink, with some even having English menus upon request. The cost of living is cheap with roughly 10 slotty (about £2) buying a double vodka and diet coke. I did have difficulties getting zero sugar drinks in a number of places, which was a bit of an issue with me being diabetic.

The only Polish word I managed to learn was Kawa, which means coffee. The main square is huge and has flower market stalls that appear to be open 24/7. I found myself listening to Polish conversations as I walked around and appreciating the beautiful sound of the language. Some Polish spoke English exceptionally well whereas others didn’t speak any English at all. I found the Google Translate App really useful.

Without doubt it is people that make a city. All appeared happy, content and liberal. Polish people had less inhibitions when it came to dancing than we English have. Polish people will quite happily bump into anyone in their way in pubs and clubs. This is normal to the Polish, but being British I found it a little rude.

As Poland is known for being Roman Catholic and as such conservative when it comes to gay people and their rights. I decided to test the waters with a Polish man who I had been talking to and getting on with whilst smoking a cigarette. I came out and asked his views on gay people. He said:

“I don’t care, I don’t give a fuck. That’s your choice. We’re all just friends here.”

He described himself as not being religious, male, heterosexual and was in his mid twenties.

Overall Wroclaw is a beautiful city, with wonderful people and a place that I will be visiting again.

Take care,

Antony

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Thursday 31 October 2019

Harry Potter Studio Tour and London with Mum

By AntonyAdventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, LifeNo Comments

This week mum and I went on a coach trip with National Holidays. We went to the Harry Potter Studio Tour and spent some time in London city centre.

Here are some collages of photos from the Harry Potter Studio Tour, click on any photo for full size image:

The Goblet of Fire Photos.	Forbidden Forest Photos.
Hogwarts Express Photos.	Props Photos.
Weasley Shop Props.	Knight Bus Photos.
Inside Privet Drive Photos.	Other Cool Stuff Photos.

Even though mum and I had been before, there were plenty of things we hadn’t seen on our last visit. I’ve only included photos things we didn’t see last time in this blog post. Things we didn’t see last time included: The Goblet of Fire, The Forbidden Forest, The Hogwarts Express and inside Privet Drive.

There were plenty of things that we saw last time. I was great to see that they had significantly increased the interactive activities for visitors.

It was brilliant to see that they are building an extension to include things from the new Fantastic Beasts films series (of which there will be 5 films).

Here’s one final photo of Mum with a Hedwig puppet. We took a similar photo last time, how many times do you have to do something before it becomes a tradition?

Mum with Hedwig Puppet.

The next day mum and I were released into the wild of London city centre. We saw the Houses of Parliament, the scaffolding-covered Big Ben, the High Courts and my favourite St. James Park.

St. James Park is a lovely park that is like a natural oasis within one of the world’s most busy cities. There’s a bit of a family story to St. James Park.

When my mum was a little girl, she lived in London with her mum and dad (my grandma and granddad). Every Sunday, while her mum was making the Sunday dinner, her dad would take her to watch the changing of the Guard and then into St. James Park to feed the ducks.

Here are some photo collages from photos I took in St. James Park:

St. James Park, London. Photo collage by me (1).

St. James Park, London. Photo collage by me (2).

Mum and I had a fantastic time and will no doubt do the trip again in a couple of years.

Mum and I did a similar trip at the end of 2014. You can read and see pictures here: London Trip, Part 1 and London Trip, Part 2.

Write soon,

Antony

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Sunday 20 May 2018

The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 4) – Warkworth Castle & Tynemouth Priory and Castle

By AntonyAdventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, Life, NatureNo Comments

Simon (right) and me (left) at a services stop for dinner.

This is the fourth part in my Hadrian’s Wall Adventure with my good friend Simon. You can read and see the photos from Part 1 here, Part 2 here and Part 3 here.

Yesterday Simon and I set out to do the last leg of our Hadrian’s Wall Adventure. It was my birthday. The day was gorgeous, sunny, around 19°C all day and not a cloud in the beautiful blue sky.

There aren’t many specific Hardrian’s Wall sites near the Newcastle end of where the wall would have been. So we decided to do Castles near Newcastle.

Our first castle was the magnificent impressive Warkworth Castle. Before you see the photos, first let me apologise for any fingerprint marks on them. The lens of my iPhone had fingerprint marks on, but I didn’t realise because of the bright sunshine.

Here is Essential Info and are some photos:

Essential Info:

A castle including remains and a keep with Duke room’s.
Highly recommended.
Admission Fee: Adult £7.50 with gift aid (£6.80 without). Free admission to English Heritage Members.
Opening times: View here.
Parking: Plenty in front of the Castle. However even English Heritage Members are required to pay (rather than the usual free parking with sticker in car). The shop does refund the cost of parking, but this was disappointing and we could seen no reason for this.
Toilets: Available in the carpark.
Has a very small gift shop. Free audible guides available.

Entrance to Walkworth Castle.	Outside of Walkworth Castle.
The most well preserved keep.	Remains of Walkworth Castle (1).
Remains of Walkworth Castle (2).	A selfie of Simon (right) and me (left).
An iron fireplace in the Duke’s rooms inside the keep.	The view from inside the Duke’s rooms.
A view from an archway (1).	A view from an archway (2).
One of the many tunnels to rooms in the remains.

Our next stop was Tynemouth Priory and Castle. Here is Essential Info and are some photos:

Essential Info:

A priory, castle and World War 2 defence station.
Highly recommended.
Admission Fee: Adult £6.50 with gift aid (£5.90 without). Free admission to English Heritage Members.
Opening times: View here.
Parking: Follow signs for free parking.
Has a small gift shop.

The view from the top of the hill near the entrance to Tynemouth (1).	The view from the top of the hill near the entrance to Tynemouth (2).
Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (1).	Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (2).
Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (3).	Stone coffins.
Simon (right) and me (left) in the stone coffins. I couldn’t believe that we both fitted perfectly.	Tynemouth Priory and Castle remains (4).
A carving that looked similar to The Green Man on the entrance to the priory.	Tynemouth Priory.
Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (1).	Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (2).
Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (3).	Tynemouth Priory stained glass window (4).
Inside the Priory, photo of Priory door. Reminded me of the door to heaven.	Tynemouth graveyard and World War 2 defence tower.
Tynemouth World War 2 defence gun.	Shells for the gun in bunker.
Tynemouth Lighthouse.

We had a great time. Next year we are going to visit the fine city of Newcastle including Newcastle’s castle.

Blog soon,

Antony

Edit: 16/05/18 18:30 – Used GIMP to remove some of the finger prints in some of the above photos. If you click on the photos for full size, you will see the updated photos.

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Tuesday 15 May 2018

The Stonehenge Adventure (Part 3) – Stonehenge and Woodhenge

By AntonyAdventures, Friends & Family, Happiness & Joy, PaganismNo Comments

This is the third and final part of my adventure to see Stonehenge and other ancient sites nearby with my good friend Simon. In part 1 I blogged about Avebury Stone Circles. In part 2 I blogged about Glastonbury, The Chalice Well and the city of Wells. In this part I will blog about Stonehenge and Woodhenge.

Stonehenge is perhaps the most well known and one of the oldest stone circles in the world. It is not only a World Heritage Site but also 1 of the 7 Wonders of the World.

Stonehenge is managed by English Heritage and the on-site Visitor Centre includes an exhibition, reconstructed neolithic houses, audio guide handsets, a cafe and gift shop.

Stonehenge its self is a short bus ride away from the visitor centre and busses are provided as part of the admission price (as is access to the exhibition, access to neolithic houses and use of audio guides). The stones themselves are roped off, not allowing the thousands of visitors per day to get too close. Here are some photos:

An illustration of how they think ancient man moved the Stonehenge stones from Wales to England.	A hut ancient man lived in whilst building Stonehenge (1).
A hut ancient man lived in whilst building Stonehenge (2).	Examples of pottery that ancient people would have had.
Examples of tools that ancient people would have had.	Stonehenge (1).
Obligatory Stonehenge Selfie.	Stonehenge (2).
Stonehenge (3).	Stonehenge (4).
Stonehenge (5).	Stonehenge (6).
Stonehenge (7).	Stonehenge (8).
A crow opening its beak and cawing to try and get food from tourists.	Stonehenge Merchandise: Stonehenge as it would have looked in a tin.

Essential Info

Stonehenge is the remains of an ancient stone circle. The site includes a Visitor Centre which includes: exhibition, reconstructed neolithic houses, audio guide handsets, a cafe, toilets and gift shop.
Highly Recommended.
Opening Times: For opening times click here.
Admission Price: £18.20 (with gift aid) and £16.50 (without gift aid).
Parking: Free on-site.

Woodhenge is a series of concrete posts in the ground where the poles of wood that made up Woodhenge would have been. Simon and I both felt that the site, managed by English Heritage, was a missed opportunity to recreate Woodhenge, restoring it to its forma glory. Here are some photos of Woodhenge:

Concrete stones representing where the poles of Woodhenge would have been.

A burial of a baby at the centre of Woodhenge. Nothing is known about the baby or reason for burial.

Essential Info

Woodhenge is a series of concrete posts in the ground where the poles of wood that made up Woodhenge would have been.
Recommended.
Opening Times: Any reasonable time during daylight hours.
Admission Price: Free.
Parking: Plenty of free parking on the street.

Write soon,

Antony

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Saturday 24 June 2017

Adventure: The Metropolitan City of Wroclaw, Poland

Harry Potter Studio Tour and London with Mum

The Hadrian’s Wall Adventure (Part 4) – Warkworth Castle & Tynemouth Priory and Castle

The Stonehenge Adventure (Part 3) – Stonehenge and Woodhenge

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