United Kingdom 2/2013

-->

United Kingdom 2/2013

An incredible day! Our Seattle airport shuttle driver did not subject us to an hour of small talk. Instead,we got a free tutorial on Seattle's traffic patterns. This guy can predict how many cars will cut in front of him, the time spent in each lane, how many will pass him, etc.

How to make a Business Class bed flat…

We are experienced travelers, yes? I was quite sure the seat could be flat, meriting the exorbitant cost of Business Class. Unable to sleep after a couple of hours, I considered awakening others by pushing the call button. Where would that be? I couldn't find it.

I'll get the attendant. Oops, the partially extended bed blocks egress! Too tired to solve this problem, I gave up. I am catatonically sleepless the next day.

We make our way through the Heathrow Airport's Labyrinth and clear Customs.

As instructed, we look for our driver. We march past a dozen signs.  None says 'STRONG'. We travel the gauntlet once more & see a small board with a digital readout "Dou". As it scrolls, it reveals DOUGLAS, then STRONG. Holding the sign is Danny, our affable driver. For over an hour, we hear about his Indian Singh heritage, his post in the transport company, and his future dream trip around the world with his wife, and, finally, his second business selling Apple products. After about an hour, we enter a winding country road and emerge in front of Selsdon Park Hotel in Surrey UK. Originally built in 861 AD, of wood and thatch, it now is a humongous brick building evoking Downton Abbey. Henry VIII put a stop to its use as an abbey, giving it to his financial advisor. The grounds are rolling hills punctuated with huge cedar trees and a lake.

The common areas are small and the corridors narrow so we see staff and other guests many times a day. This golf resort is just the place for a fine wedding. I watched the wedding guests arrive in their fascinator hats and formal coats with tails & top hats. We learned the event precluded our access to the dining room, but we could be flexible! We’re off to the bar for a light dinner. The tables were filled by people with hearing disabilities signing and laughing and having a great time, so we grabbed a couple of stools. We heard a fire alarm blaring. Confusion reigned. Someone from the formal wedding dinner heard an announcement that a guest's hairspray had set off the alarm. The hearing- impaired sensed the problem and evacuated. The bar staff didn't know what to do. We wondered whether to evacuate into the cold winter night or believe the false alarm statement. Then a fire truck arrived. It must be serious! We stood outside by the koi fishpond, and then returned to the club, asking whether we could still order dinner. Told it would take 1-2 hours because the kitchen was overtaxed, we walked down a country lane to the village pub. We had fish & chips, of course.

The wedding parties made for a noisy night, but we did get some much-needed sleep. Too bad I returned from my shower and closed the inside door to our bedroom, for it wouldn't open when we were setting out for breakfast. We were trapped in our overheated room with just a few minutes before the breakfast buffet closed. Nothing would unjam that door! I called Housekeeping which sent a Porter who discovered I had hooked the security latch to our front door. I called again and they sent an assistant who cleverly reached around and undid the latch. Now they had access to our inside door. They asked Mike to pull down on the handle, then step aside so they could kick open the door. It opened. They removed the latch. Phew! We were rewarded with a bottle of champagne and two glasses. Lest you think this story is ended, there is more. Mike explained we prefer red wine, would it be suitable to swap prizes? The young bartender graciously gave us the pick of their wines. I'm enjoying a sip as I write from our room. Outside the old small-paned windows, we see the birds, the valley and the mountains beyond. I love the pre-evening light.

London Town

We walked a ways, took the #33 bus, caught the train from East Croydon to Victoria Station, then took the C1 bus to Victoria & Albert Museum to see the fascinating History of Fashion exhibit. There is a novel furniture exhibit there as well. Beautiful items are arranged by techniques. Learning how a laser can design a modern table was portrayed on video. This was my first look at the 3D printing process. I’m impressed!

Our lunch of roast duck in the Brasserie at Harrods Department Store was superb. We diners were speaking many different languages except for our appreciative “cluck, clucks.” Harrods store window designs are a delight. Mike’s SOHO meeting convenes tonight and ends on 2/20.  A Baroness is the first speaker. Imagine having a cool title like that!

I repeated the bus to train commute to London the next day. Call it a pilgrimage, for my goal was to savor the JMW Turner paintings at the Tate Britain museum. He gifted them with the stipulation that they are kept together and free to the public. Bless his heart! 

My favorite is "Venice". Prints I've seen fail to replicate the lavish mists and subtle image of San Marco's. The temporary exhibit was of interest as it featured works of art depicting a subject viewing a landscape.

I tucked into a cozy pub to taste a blueberry venison burger served on a wooden platter with ginger lemonade to wash it down. I was overly proud of myself for retracing my steps to the underground to the Victoria Station to Euston Station to the bus ramp to Hawthorn Crescent bus stop then down the winding lane to Selsdon Park!

My English cousin, Jan Barber met me in London for a day at the British Museum and gifted me with a recent History of England. I looked forward to seeing the top 25 items in the collection, each fascinatingly displayed with a mockup of where they were found and under what circumstances. Wrong! No one at the museum recognized the exhibit ever existed. Mmmmm-maybe I had forgotten where it was I saw this in 2005? Disappointed, I carried on, deciding to see the temporary display of Ice Age art-sounded interesting. Too bad the tickets sold out while I was pursuing my remembered exhibit of yore.

Oh well, I would enjoy lunch looking down on the gorgeous reading room as I did on my last visit. We climbed lots of steps. My hamstring was barking at me. Things looked different and DISAPPOINTING. We learned the Reading Room had been cleared of its charming elegant library atmosphere and now housed an exhibition. We ate our English Stilton, Lancashire cheddar, green apple medallions, grapes, and crisp wheat triangles without a view, but with excellent camaraderie. My Vanilla Slice (Think Napoleon) was superb.

Mike and I stayed in London at the Thistle Euston in order to enjoy "The Phantom of the Opera" at Her Majesty's Theatre. The production was grand, performed by excellent, powerful singers. We emerged into the excitement and colorful light displays at Piccadilly Circus.What fun!

Wigan

On to Wigan, home of my Grandpa James Freeman. My second cousin once removed, Vince Freeman, has lived in Wigan most of his life. He shared the family history by driving us around the Lancashire countryside. We strolled the grounds of Haigh Hall.  Unlike our countryside, there are single rows of homes abutting the fields. We visited many cemeteries: Pemberton, Ormskirk, Aughton. It is likely I have several relatives buried there, but we could only affirm the Pemberton gravesite of my great, great grandfather, James and his wife Ann Highton plus two to four of their children. It is at St. John's Anglican Church and reads, "Ann wife of James". Ann died in New Town. There is no mention of the fact that James is buried with her. He died in Leigh. We stopped for a panoramic view of my ancestors' territory. It resembles Ireland and Wales, shades of green hills and fields. During the Hundred Year War, the French placed lanterns on each hilltop, using their consecutive lighting to show the direction of the enemy.

Alas, my Grandpa's childhood home at Frog Lane and 11 Field Street is now an empty lot and a littered one at that. Ann Highton lived near a bridge close by. Vince could not locate another address I had for William, 60 Fary Lane. It doesn't exist in Wigan today, unless the spelling is very different. They also lived on Hay Street.

Nevertheless, thanks to Vince, I saw the lovely canals where my great, great, great grandfather, James the Boat plied his trade in Rufford. We couldn’t find James' or his wife Alice Spencer’s graves. We saw buildings which existed in 1889-1892 when James M. Freeman lived there and could imagine him tagging along with his parents to the old market. Happily, Wigan has preserved at least the facades.

My 70th Birthday

Two celebrations: 2/21 Vince plus his two children and their mates for delicious Italian dinner plus my request for a lunch of fabulous,and 2/22, famous Wigan meat pie. Vince took us to a shop where I selected a picture of the old Wigan market as a souvenir birthday present from him. He was so generous to us! That night Mike surprised me with a plateful of chocolate delights: soft ice cream with chocolate sauce, a protiferole, and a brownie. Happy Birthday indeed!

York 2013

Thanks to our knowledgeable hosts at Abbeyfields Bed & Breakfast, our stay in York was enriching. Each room celebrates an aspect of York. Ours was called 'Lamps'. Five color photographs of different lamps around the city decorate the room. The homemade breakfast bread was the draw when I search the Internet, but the guidance is also fantastic. We heard Evensong at the huge York Minster church. It took 250 years to build this mammoth church and is constantly being restored.

The free two-hour York walking tour showed us Roman ruins. Unfortunately, St. Mary's Abbey is ruins now thanks to Henry VIII's destruction orders. That man knew how to hold a grudge! The adjacent fern garden is rimmed with mossy rocks from the ruined abbey. Together with the adorable Snowdrops, it is charming. We walked on top of the city walls just as we'd done in Chester years ago. Tourism is the main source of income here. The old city within the walls is very walkable. Alleyways and ruins abound. York has lots of personality.

This is the week of the York Viking Festival! I stood next to the father of one of the Vikings fighting in a mock battle with the Saxons. It's authentically rough, so I understand this man's apprehension. Throughout the town and at the battleground, we admired Vikings in costumes of metal, leather, and wool. Their homespun shawls looked mighty good on this chilly day. It was ever so cozy, though, to dine at Cafe #8 Bistro on Gillymede Street. Order dark chocolate beetroot brownies with slivered almonds and blood orange sauce, then swoon!

Since Richard III was recently discovered under a parking lot in Leicester, the business at the local Richard III museum has doubled. It's a humble, folksy museum making the case against the Tudor/Shakespeare legends depicting him as a bad king. The Yorkies love him and he returned the love, requesting burial in York. They are not happy that Leicester claims his remains.

The Yorkshire Museum outlines York's history from Roman times to the present. One section shows how it looked long ago with beautiful colored designs on the ancient stone buildings by projecting different colored lights on a mocked up column. In another section of the museum, I enjoyed the description of the various waves of species. Some obliterated 90% of the species! Often this followed a rise and/or fall in the ocean level. This is frighteningly familiar! We enjoyed dinner at Il Concerto in York.

Return to London

Transfers, transfers! From the B & B to the York train station, from there to Kings Cross tube station to Euston train station to "Left Luggage" to store our bags; to meet Jan, my cousin at the coffee shop; to catch the tube to Fleet Street and lunch at the 17th century Ye Old Cheshire Cheese Tavern. We entered from an alley, wound our way to the stairs, then crept through two dark seating areas to the cave-like area where we ate by the old kegs and memorabilia of famous patrons like Charles Dickens over the centuries. This place reeks of history. After a steak pie and drink, we visited Samuel Johnson's home. I learned his famous dictionaries included sample sentences from literary greats, such as Shakespeare and Dryden.

We bid farewell to Jan, then caught a train to Watford where our friend, Stella Knight, picked us up. That evening we were guests of Ruth Warwick Cohen and her husband. A fine dinner served on elegant dishes with excellent conversation. Carrot soup, trout, Brie and cranberries en croute. Delicious.

Harry Potter's World enchanted us for an entire morning. It was fun to hear insider tidbits like the actor for Hagrid getting a bat stuck in his beard. The sets were so detailed and impressive. Commentary from an animal trainer explained now long it took to achieve the results we saw in the movies. This Warner Brothers extravaganza was full of fans of all ages including 3 school classes. Over the 10 years time they were filming 8 movies, the cast & support team became like family. They shed tears when the final shoot was over. Many had grown up on the sets.

Stella drove us through the Watford area countryside during the afternoon past rolling hills, ponds, vast forests, country estates and dozens of deer. Ashridge Estate is beautiful. Much of the area is a National Trust. Stella's Cooper car struggled over each "Sleeping Policeman" (speed bump). We returned to her artful, cozy home for Boeuf d'Olive and apple pie.

The following day we visited St. Alban's. We strolled along a lake, admiring the white, white feathers of the swans. The path led to St. Alban's Cathedral. Also called St. Peter's Church, it was marvelous. Like many churches, this evolved from the early times to the present. Each period from Roman to now is "marked" like a segment of a caterpillar. It's truly a living church, involving all ages in various ministries. Children painted a bright, engaging timeline of the long history. Just inside the entrance, seniors were creating a marsh from reeds and other plants in preparation for the showing of a film that evening. Statues of modern day martyrs, like Martin Luther KIng replace those destroyed when Henry VIII closed the country's abbeys.

Stella took us to her local pub, just a five-minute walk away from her house. She predicted people would stare when we entered, then go back to their conversations. True. She said someone would approach us after a few minutes. True. A Manager greeted us and asked our origins, then chatted about football and neighborhood folks. Stella said he'd return to inform the rest of the pub about us. Presumably done!This was a perfect grand finale to an engaging UK tour!