Alumni & Friends Tour 2008: Itinerary

July 11-23, 2008

July 11 (Friday) Chicago

Take off on our overnight flight from Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport, bound for London.

July 12 (Saturday)  Cotswolds/Gloucestershire

Meeting us at Heathrow Airport, our coach driver will whisk us away west into the green English countryside Allow the delights outside to mingle with your dreams as you sit back and catch a few refreshing winks before arriving in the Cotswold hill country. Our first stop is Bibury, one of the most beautiful villages in England. Here you can stroll by a stream with ducks and trout, view picturesque weavers’ cottages, sit and take in the sight of the village church surrounded by rosebushes, and enjoy a cup of tea. As time allows we will amble through additional villages before arriving at the Hatton Court Hotel for our first overnight in the English countryside!

July 13 (Sunday)  Cotswolds/Shropshire

This morning pack your tweed jacket, walking stick and binoculars for a stroll between another two of the region’s most photogenic villages, Upper and Lower Slaughter. Never to worry! If walking isn’t your choice, the coach will convey you in comfort! Continue on to Warwick Castle (included). Warwick is the quintessential English castle with a moat, drawbridge, and inner bailey. Spend the night near the Welsh border in Shrewsbury, at the 300-year old Albrighton Hall, which is one of the
finest examples of Shropshire’s Great Houses.

July 14 (Monday)  Chester

Enjoy a leisurely circular tour through the most scenic country of north Wales. Lunch in Caernarvon near the harbor side, before continuing your scenic drive southeast through Beddgelert to Penrhyndeuraeth. A short detour to the Trefriw Woollen Mills may be possible before heading to the medieval city center of Chester with its half-timbered buildings. It remains the only completely walled city in Britain, a wall built by the Romans. Tonight you may choose to stroll the popular wall-top promenade before succumbing to the strains of Welsh choral singing in your dreams! Your hotel, Blossoms Hotel, is right inside the old Roman walls.

July 15 (Tuesday)  Edinburgh

After a drive north into Scotland, we will arrive in Edinburgh, that glorious remnant of a medieval hilltop town that imposes on Georgian elegance below. A local tour guide will join the coach for a guided tour up Calton Hill, where many a kilt-clad Sottish laddie has asked of his bonnie lassie, her hand in marriage. Well, that’s romantic lore if it pleases you, but the view out over this world-class city most certainly will. Check in to the Paramount Carlton Hotel (two nights), wonderfully situated just off the Royal Mile, and within easy walking distance of shopping on Princes Street. Don’t miss a view of the castle lit by the late evening sunset. As you enjoy a peaceful night on Scottish soil, reflect on the noble work of William Wallace, Robert Bruce and other Scottish heroes whom you no doubt know through movies such as Rob Roy and Braveheart.

July 16 (Wednesday)  Edinburgh

This morning, tour the mighty Edinburgh Castle (included) on its lofty heights above the city. The rest of the day is free for you to explore Edinburgh. Continue on down the cobbled Royal Mile, stopping at the High Kirk of St. Giles, where you will see a life-size statue of the great Scottish Reformer John Knox, near the pulpit where he preached. The church remains the focal point of the established Presbyterian Church of Scotland.

A little further down the road you may choose to visit Knox’s house, which is now a museum explaining his life and ministry. Browse Royal Mile shops, tour Holyrood Palace along with more of Old Town, or return to Princes Street in New Town and shop for your Scottish tartans and shortbread. The National Gallery of Scotland is well worth a visit, and you can enjoy the adjoining gardens, right beneath the Castle. The energetic might like a climb up Arthur’s Seat, the city’s volcanic hill invoking the legendary King Arthur, from where you enjoy a magnificent view across the city and the Firth of Forth, out toward the Atlantic Ocean.

July 17 (Thursday)  Isle of Skye

Today we will travel west past Stirling with its castle dominating the skyline and then northwest into the Highlands, passing through Glen Coe. It is noted for its exquisite, barren beauty and also for its terrible winter dawn in 1692 when 40 members of Clan MacDonald were massacred in their beds by government soldiers of the Argyll regiment. Continue north through Fort William and hope for an uncommon view of Britain’s highest mountain, Ben Nevis, in its cloudy nest, on your way to the Isle of Skye. As you pass along the shores of Loch Duich, stop for photos of the most photographed castle in Scotland, Eilean Donan, near Dornie. Then continue along Loch Alsh and cross the Skye bridge, which allows direct coach access to this most prominent island of the Inner Hebrides, annexed to Norway in the 8th Century, and returned to Scotland in 1266. Macdonalds, Mackinnons and Macleods fought their clan wars here until the 17th Century. A popular nugget of Skye history concerns how Flora Macdonald helped Bonnie Prince Charlie escape after the Battle of Culloden in 1746, during the Jacobite rebellion. The Dunollie Hotel sits on the old harbor wall in Broadford with magnificent views across the sea to Loch Kishorn and the Applecross Hills. Relax and enjoy your evening!

July 18 (Friday)  Isle of Mull

Enjoy discovering more of the scenic glories of Skye before heading for the Firth of Lorn. You’ll take a small ferry connecting the island to Mallaig. Here you may opt to take a steam train ride through the magnificent heathered countryside from Mallaig to Fort William, where the coach will collect you on the way to the Crerar Isle of Mull Hotel at Craignure. Most of the bedrooms have scenic views across Craignure Bay to Duart Castle, the island of Lismore, the Morven Hills and Ben Cruachan. “From porridge and kippers for breakfast to afternoon tea with scones, the best of Scotland is here to enjoy.” Enjoy two nights in the Crerar Isle of Mull Hotel.

July 19 (Saturday)  Isle of Mull

After your sturdy Scottish breakfast, the coach will take you on a glorious ride across Mull, with its heather, cheeky-looking long-haired Highland cattle munching on their hay, and wooly sheep. A 10-minute ferry shuttle ride will land you on the Holy Island of Iona. It was here on this tiny 3-mile island that Columba and his 12 companions arrived from Ireland in 563 to set up the mission that turned Iona into the Christian center of Europe. The restored Abbey and its tiny cloister, along with copies of 10th century, crosses appear much the same as they did more than a thousand years ago. You can see the original Celtic crosses in a small museum nearby. Next to the Abbey is the cemetery of Relig Oran, where the remains of 48 Scottish kings, including Duncan and Macbeth, are alleged to lie. Walk along the shoreline in silence, marveling in the clarity of the turquoise water which mirrors the pristine dome of sky above, or climb the small hill for a 360 degree view out over the Atlantic Ocean toward Ireland, and back across Mull to Scotland, as you reflect on your Christian heritage. Time permitting, you may get a closer look at the ruins of Duart Castle, near the hotel.

July 20 (Sunday)  Northumberland

Relax as you journey out of the Highlands by a different route, passing through the beautiful little town of Inverary with its castle, and the scenic remains of Kilchurn Castle on Loch Awe. Perhaps you’ll take a break to stretch and skip stones on “Yon bonnie Banks and Braes of Loch Lomond.” Speed past the urban sprawl of Glasgow as you prepare to leave Scotland and travel south along the northeast coast of England.

Enjoy Lindesfarne, the other Holy Island of the Dark Ages, if the tides are right (entrance included.) Missionary Aiden was brought from the Iona community in the late 7th Century to evangelize this rugged region. He and 12 companions built the Lindesfarne Priory, the ruins of which you’ll tour. We know about the effective ministry of Aiden and his successor Cuthbert, through the Venerable Bede, who wrote the first history of the English. Most importantly, around 700 A.D. the community created the illuminated manuscripts known as the Lindesfarne Gospels. Some 250 years later they were translated from Latin into English, and today they are among the greatest national treasures held in London by the British Library.

Since the Island is not accessible for 3-1/2 hours when high tide covers the causeway, and 2008 tide tables are not yet available, your alternate stop will be Bamburgh Castle (included). Standing on an ancient rocky outcrop overlooking miles of beautiful sandy beach, it dominates the Northumbrian landscape, and commands stunning views of the Farne Islands, Holy Island and the Cheviot hills. Settle into another 300 year-old hotel – The White Swan – in the ancient market town of Alnwick (pronounced Annick), which has changed relatively little over the centuries. Fortunately the hotel has!

July 21  (Monday)  York

Head south toward York, stopping in Durham. On a scenic bend in the river Wear amidst the medieval atmosphere of this ancient town, Britain’s (perhaps Europe’s) greatest Norman building is cherished not only for its architecture but also for its incomparable setting. For this reason Durham Cathedral (entrance included) was designated together with the Castle as one of Britain’s first World Heritage Sites. In a nationwide BBC poll held in 2001, Durham Cathedral was voted the nation’s best-loved building. When it was completed in 1189, it was the first major English church to be entirely coved by stone vaulting. Continue on to the old Roman city of York with its marvelous cobblestone streets and shops, and remains of the Roman wall along which you can walk. If the Durham experience inspired you, you can also choose to compare the Gothic features of York Minster with what you’ve learned of Durham’s Norman architecture. You may also prefer afternoon tea in The Shambles! Then enjoy the facilities of the York Marriott Resort, adjacent to the famed York Racecourse and Knavesmire Parkland.

July 22  (Tuesday)  Central London

Stop for lunch and time to enjoy the historic town center of Lincoln, in the shadow of its spectacular Gothic cathedral. The old town rises over the flat fenlands of north Lincolnshire, while the new town spreads out below, in this extended neighborhood of the Robin Hood legend. Have your last prawn sandwich, or a steak pie. Don’t forget to buy your fine English bone china teapot, and a tea strainer so that you’re well prepared to make proper English tea when you return home, always warming the pot first!

Enjoy your last night “on the town.” Maybe you’ll choose a Thames River cruise, and catch sight of landmarks like the Tower and Tower Bridge, St. Paul’s Cathedral, the London Eye, Parliament with St. Stephen’s Tower and Big Ben chiming the hours that are all-too-quickly slipping by. Or you might care to find bargain theater seats in Leicester Squareand take in a musical or a play.

July 23  (Wednesday)

Complete your circular tour of England, Wales, and Scotland by heading for Heathrow Airport, where you started, to your flight across “the Pond” and home. Along with your carefully selected souvenirs, you’ll take your most treasured memories of the beauty of this fair Isle and its many strands of history to which we are all heir, along with new friendships, and hopefully a refreshed spirit.

Optional Two-Night London Add-on
July 23, 24, 25 (Wednesday to Friday)

A two-night London add-on is available, which includes hotel and breakfast.

Professor Lois Fleming will be available to assist those who want to explore London. If you’re interested in day trips from London to destinations such as Windsor, Bath, Cambridge or Oxford, she will also help you plan your excursion.