Horticultural Olympics in London in May

February 26, 2010

The horticultural Olympics, aka the Chelsea Flower Show, occurs yearly in the last full week of May in London, England. The Chelsea Garden Show is the gardening equivalent of a couture fashion show. You’ll find innovative garden design, gorgeous flowers, superb people watching opportunities and enough inspiration to send you home ripping up your garden to emulate what you’ve just seen.

England gardens05 022 Horticultural Olympics in London in May

Chelsea Garden Show

England gardens05 010 Horticultural Olympics in London in May

Chelsea Garden show - 2005

The show accepts 160,000 visitors over 5 days but the first 2 days are reserved for Royal Horticultural Society (RHS) members only. It’s worth joining so you can see the gardens at their peak. I was there in 2005 and an uncharacteristic heat wave caused the sort of headaches that the lack of snow has caused the winter Olympics organizers. Planning a display garden can take a solid year and forcing plants to bloom out of season is fraught with failure. You’ll see the designers patting their sweaty brows just like the Olympic athletes. They’re in a pressure cooker too - just a different sort but the rabid British press can be just as biting in May as it’s been in February.

England gardens05 024 Horticultural Olympics in London in May

More on the purple theme for a garden

Tickets are available for a whole day (8am-8pm) or part day (3:30pm-8pm). Public whole day tickets are 45 pounds ($Cdn72) and half day tickets are 25 pounds ($Cdn40). There are onsite cafes to rest weary legs where you’ll find traditional scones with clotted cream, tea and other British goodies. I recommend visiting for the full day, especially if this is a once in a lifetime trip. Get there early before the crowds so you can really get close to the popular show gardens. Save the indoor pavilion for last unless you have a  fondness for new flower varieties and best of blooms displays. The outdoor garden displays are far more inspiring.

The Chelsea Garden Show is visited by the Royals in headgear, obsessive, Latin speaking English gardeners but also by the public at large because it is truly a magnificent show. Tickets are for sale online now and they typically sell out by early April. If you have a London trip on the horizon then I highly recommend including the horticultural Olympics in part of your plans.

England gardens05 037 Horticultural Olympics in London in May

Unusual seating places in the garden

Leigh McAdam

HikeBikeTravel

 

Posted by Hike Bike Travel | Filed Under Miscellaneous travel tips | Leave a Comment 

Journey to Jerusalem by Guest Blogger Karen Telleen-Lawton

February 24, 2010

karens 1 300x225 Journey to Jerusalem by Guest Blogger Karen Telleen LawtonWhat do Rabbi Benjamin of Tudela, Theoderic, and Al-Harawi have in common? These men each made a religious pilgrimage to Jerusalem within a twenty year period around 1173, keeping journals which survive in part to this day. All three wrote eloquently about the buildings and monuments, met with the people of their Jewish, Christian, and Muslim faiths, and acknowledged the Holy City as being home to many faiths.

These same impressions await the modern traveler, whether their main purpose is religious, historical, cultural, or just plain curiosity. My own journey was a Christian pilgrimage I organized for my church, as well as a chance to meet with Palestinian Christians in their churches. The “living stones” of Christ, Palestinian Christians have dwindled from 20-30% of the population from the third through the 19th centuries to barely under 1 ½ percent now.

Our itinerary was planned for a group of about twenty ranging in age from 20-somethings to active 70-somethings. I based it on my own two previous journeys plus the advice of our guide, Iyad Qumri, a warm and deeply knowledgeable Palestinian Christian from Jerusalem. I commend this trip to anyone, of any or no faith, who wants to learn more about the religious center of the world, and why it continues to have such an impact on history and politics. Here is an abbreviated version of our itinerary, followed by contacts.

karens 2 300x225 Journey to Jerusalem by Guest Blogger Karen Telleen Lawton

The Wailing Wall, Jerusalem

  • DAY ONE:
    ARRIVE TEL AVIV / TRANSFER TO JERUSALEM 
    Walk to Damascus Gate
  • DAY TWO
    MT. SCOPUS / MT. OF OLIVE’S / CITY OF DAVID /
    ISRAEL MUSEUM
  • DAY THREE   WESTERN WALL / DOME OF THE ROCK / POOLS OF BETHESDA / TAYBEH (The only all-Christian town left and home to Taybeh beer factory, the only beer factory in the Middle East.)
  • DAY FOUR   EIN KEREM / SHEPHERD’S FIELD / PEACE CENTER / BETHLEHEM
  • DAY FIVE   RAMALLAH / SABEEL / CHURCH OF THE HOLY
    SEPULCHER. GUEST SPEAKER ON CONTEMPORARY ISSUES, AN ISRAELI PERSPECTIVE
  • DAY SIX   RAMLA / NAZARETH
  • DAY SEVEN  MT. OF BEATITUDES / CAPERNAUM / TABGHA/BOATRIDE ON THE SEA OF GALILEE
  • DAY EIGHT  SHEFA-AMR / SEPPHORIS
  • DAY NINE  MT. TABOR / NAIN / JERICHO
  • DAY TEN  BETHPHAGE /MT. OF OLIVES GEHTSAMANE / STATIONS OF THE CROSS

  • DAY ELEVEN STATIONS OF THE CROSS / EMMAUS 

Other Information

Food

Middle Eastern food is so savory and delicious I almost didn’t miss my home favorite, Mexican. Breakfast buffets typically include rich coffee, scrambled or hard boiled eggs, sliced tomatoes, cucumber, oranges, olives, breads, humus, a dishes of spices like za’tar. Lunch and dinner included some of the above and added a sumptuous main dish such as Ma’lube, made with various meats and vegetables. It is characterized by cooking the rice on top of the other ingredients and then serving with a flourish by tipping the deep-dished pan upside down to form a tower of rice and savory veggies.

Safety

We felt warmly welcomed by everyone in this mix of cultures. There were some difficulties traveling in an occupied country, but we felt safe the entire trip.
After the main trip, half of us took the public bus down to Egypt to spend time at St. Katherine’s Monastery by Mt. Sinai. I have included contact information for this portion.

Contacts

Iyad Qumri, Licensed Tour Guide
St. George’s College
P.O.Box 1248 Jerusalem 91000
E.Mail: isqumri@bezeqint.net
Home: 972+2+5851210
Cell : 972+505-216280
Fax : 972+2+6569047

Ali Qleibo – anthropology professor at Al Quds University, author of several books including Jerusalem in the Heart and Before the Mountains Disappear

Saint George’s College
Tel: ++972-2-6283302 Fax: ++972-2-6282253
Egypt: Dr. Rabia, Abanoub Travel ‘abanoubt@menanet.net’

karen 4 300x225 Journey to Jerusalem by Guest Blogger Karen Telleen LawtonKaren Telleen-Lawton graduated in engineering from Stanford University and economics and environmental policy from University of Colorado. After a few entrepreneurial ventures and teaching economics, she began writing. Telleen-Lawton publishes articles on environmental, economics and financial planning, travel, and social justice in regional and national publications including Family Fun, Westways, Santa Barbara Seasons, and alumni magazines including Stanford, UCSB, Purdue, and University of Richmond. Her first book, Canyon Voices – the Nature of Rattlesnake Canyon, is available through Amazon.

Posted by Hike Bike Travel | Filed Under Adventure Travel, Guest Post, Miscellaneous travel tips | Leave a Comment 

Traveling to Learn aka Exploritas

February 23, 2010

Elderhostel conjures up images of grey haired, boring, over the hill grannies and grandpas, and is not a group I would in anyway want to be associated with. What a difference a name makes!

Traveling to learn – aka – Exploritas

Exploritas is the new name which offers trips that combines the love of travel with the love of learning. Of course Elderhostel did too but image counts for alot. Trip participants are largely the +50 crowd but in no way are younger people discouraged anymore. The bulk of the particiapants are mostly older but they tend to be involved, fit, interesting, and wise …the sort of older people you wouldn’t mind hanging out with. There are over 8000 trips offered to over 90 countries for very reasonable prices. I typed in the key word ‘birding’ and came up with 90 trips – from 3 day to 15 day adventures that would take you from Canada and the US to Iceland and Uruguay.

IMG 2503 Traveling to Learn aka Exploritas

You'll find cactus wrens if you're birding in Arizona

Look for tours under $600, National Park Tours, outdoor adventures,  women only and grandparent travel, cooking tours, history tours, boat tours…you name it.

I’m not about to give up on my epic and not so epic self guided hiking and biking adventures, but I do appreciate as I get older that adventure travel is not just for the young but also for the young at heart. Learning never goes out of style either! No matter what your age you’re bound to find something to perk your interest and what a great way to travel with an older relative!

Leigh McAdam

HikeBikeTravel

Posted by Hike Bike Travel | Filed Under Adventure Travel, Miscellaneous travel tips | 1 Comment 

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Another Free Guide – Cabot Trail Biking Tour Guide

Palm Springs, a desert resort city of 40,000 plus people, is located 100 miles east of Los Angeles and 130 miles northeast of San Diego. It is one of nine cities that make up the Coachella Valley with mountains surrounding it on all sides.

Inside Cabot Trail Biking Tour Guide you will find the following

1. Fantastic scenery, especially along the western coast of Cape Breton Highlands National Park

2. the climb in the afternoon of North Mountain rewards with excellent scenery too

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