Wednesday, June 29, 2016
Hello everyone,
It's been a wonderful if soggy couple of days. I now know why many of the people have fair skin; you may get 10 minutes of sunshine per day. No, really I understand it's been particularly wet this I guess summer. Many have said if wimbleton is going on, it must be raining.
The first day we were here we were going to visit Leftwich school but the gps failed us, we were totally flummoxed by the round about S, we didn't know where we were going and being on the incorrect side of the road, we decided to stop while we still had our sanity to stop and regroup. we decided to look for a private driver to take us to Northwich but that was economically un feasible so we decided to take the bus the next day (today). We ended up going to the Chester Cathedral for the afternoon instead. We happened in just when a guided tour was starting. The cathedral was in the location of originally a Saxon church in the 900's, then a Norman style Benedictine monastery and then Henry XIII's new cathedral.It fell into disrepair until Queen Victoria put it back together again. one of the pics below is taken of the cloister courtyard and the colors and massive foliage reminded me of a Tiffany window. I'd appreciate it if someone could identify it for me. I have been struck by the ministry and evangelical message the churches have presented when we've visited; not pushy but quietly making their presence known if you need prayer, talking about the love of Christ and welcoming you to their church. They are quite good at it. I met a gentleman who was involved with Billy Graham ministries and knew all about The Cove, one of Graham's retreat places. Very small world.
Today, awakening to rain, Cham and I took the bus to Northwich, the closest big town to Leftwich. The bus was an hour late with no explanation so we became friendly with those waiting for the bus. After an hours drive, we set off to find Leftwich, or its remains. You will see several pics of Cham in Leftwich. Currently there is subsidized housing where Leftwich Hall was located. The American Leftwichs had erected a large granite marker about 10 years ago near a church. We knew the marker had been vandalized and was gone but we couldn't find the church anywhere. We unfortunately realized the concrete slab sitting in the middle of Leftwich Green was all that remained of the torn down church. ". . . and to dust you shall return." As it had started raining again, we decided to catch an earlier bus back. (Northwich is a town that has seen better days and is hopefully making a resurgence. it was founded in the 1200's by the salt industry but it's still pretty woe begotten.) When we got to the bus stop, all of our old friends were there, the bus was there,mouth no one was on. Turns out two drunks had gotten on in Chester when it started to rain, had had a few on the top of the double decker bus and didn't want to leave. They had to call the police to remove them. A discussion then started regarding how the police would have solved the problem years ago Versus today.
We returned to Chester to look for St. Marys church, one of the last places someone buried had the Leftwich coat of arms displayed. Fortunately, the old Norman church wasn't too far from the hotel. when we entered the church, we found a children's group rehearsing for a play. The church had been deconsecrated several years ago and the city hired a young woman to establish a little theater. Because we were strangers and children were there, I know but it gets so old, she said she'd look for the marker and she found it! There are some beautiful pics posted of all of that. An interesting side note, he was a Barrister and Cham is as was his cousin, Bill. Must run in the family.
Finally, we decided to walk the city wall before dinner. The Romans founded Chester and it was probably there biggest, furtherest outposts. It was very interesting to walk through the ruins. Then, when we walked along the wall, we found East Gate where the long ago ancestors of the "Percy" Christians and the "Vernon" Leftwich Lights found themselves on the wrong side of the war and their heads on display by King Henry. And we have found ourselves friends again after 400'years; hmmmm, makes one think.
The day ended with a fantastic meal at a local Italian restaurant. On to Oxford tomorrow for three days. I highly recommend taking the train to Chester. Fantastic food, terrific shopping and lovely sights. More later!
It's been a wonderful if soggy couple of days. I now know why many of the people have fair skin; you may get 10 minutes of sunshine per day. No, really I understand it's been particularly wet this I guess summer. Many have said if wimbleton is going on, it must be raining.
The first day we were here we were going to visit Leftwich school but the gps failed us, we were totally flummoxed by the round about S, we didn't know where we were going and being on the incorrect side of the road, we decided to stop while we still had our sanity to stop and regroup. we decided to look for a private driver to take us to Northwich but that was economically un feasible so we decided to take the bus the next day (today). We ended up going to the Chester Cathedral for the afternoon instead. We happened in just when a guided tour was starting. The cathedral was in the location of originally a Saxon church in the 900's, then a Norman style Benedictine monastery and then Henry XIII's new cathedral.It fell into disrepair until Queen Victoria put it back together again. one of the pics below is taken of the cloister courtyard and the colors and massive foliage reminded me of a Tiffany window. I'd appreciate it if someone could identify it for me. I have been struck by the ministry and evangelical message the churches have presented when we've visited; not pushy but quietly making their presence known if you need prayer, talking about the love of Christ and welcoming you to their church. They are quite good at it. I met a gentleman who was involved with Billy Graham ministries and knew all about The Cove, one of Graham's retreat places. Very small world.
Today, awakening to rain, Cham and I took the bus to Northwich, the closest big town to Leftwich. The bus was an hour late with no explanation so we became friendly with those waiting for the bus. After an hours drive, we set off to find Leftwich, or its remains. You will see several pics of Cham in Leftwich. Currently there is subsidized housing where Leftwich Hall was located. The American Leftwichs had erected a large granite marker about 10 years ago near a church. We knew the marker had been vandalized and was gone but we couldn't find the church anywhere. We unfortunately realized the concrete slab sitting in the middle of Leftwich Green was all that remained of the torn down church. ". . . and to dust you shall return." As it had started raining again, we decided to catch an earlier bus back. (Northwich is a town that has seen better days and is hopefully making a resurgence. it was founded in the 1200's by the salt industry but it's still pretty woe begotten.) When we got to the bus stop, all of our old friends were there, the bus was there,mouth no one was on. Turns out two drunks had gotten on in Chester when it started to rain, had had a few on the top of the double decker bus and didn't want to leave. They had to call the police to remove them. A discussion then started regarding how the police would have solved the problem years ago Versus today.
We returned to Chester to look for St. Marys church, one of the last places someone buried had the Leftwich coat of arms displayed. Fortunately, the old Norman church wasn't too far from the hotel. when we entered the church, we found a children's group rehearsing for a play. The church had been deconsecrated several years ago and the city hired a young woman to establish a little theater. Because we were strangers and children were there, I know but it gets so old, she said she'd look for the marker and she found it! There are some beautiful pics posted of all of that. An interesting side note, he was a Barrister and Cham is as was his cousin, Bill. Must run in the family.
Finally, we decided to walk the city wall before dinner. The Romans founded Chester and it was probably there biggest, furtherest outposts. It was very interesting to walk through the ruins. Then, when we walked along the wall, we found East Gate where the long ago ancestors of the "Percy" Christians and the "Vernon" Leftwich Lights found themselves on the wrong side of the war and their heads on display by King Henry. And we have found ourselves friends again after 400'years; hmmmm, makes one think.
The day ended with a fantastic meal at a local Italian restaurant. On to Oxford tomorrow for three days. I highly recommend taking the train to Chester. Fantastic food, terrific shopping and lovely sights. More later!
Monday, June 27, 2016
hello, all, I had not in tended to do the block tonight, because I'm whipped, but no I'll be way behind if I don't. First of all, thank you so much for all the great comments about the blog site. We're so happy we can share this adventure with you. Second, I can't get the pictures with the text, but that's what happens when you're working with an iPad. So, just know that the pictures go with the commentary. On Saturday we had the great pleasure of meetings Cham 82-year-old cousin George and his daughter Susan Leftwich for lunch at the civil servants club in London . George could run circles around all of us. What a great guy! After we finished our lunch he decided he would take us on a tour of central London, I think purposely knowing that the gay parade was going on. we walked around a bit and then he decided to cross the street against the parade in would not be deterred from crossing the street. Therefore, we found ourselves Martin with the gay parade for several blocks before they would let us off the parade to our cross over. I think his daughter Susan was aghast, but George was enjoying every minute of it. We then found ourselves in the thick of it at the Piccadilly metro stop which was complete chaos. We eventually worked ourselves out in and oasis at his other club the victory Service club which was a very nice respite. We would love it if they would come to Lynchburg because we throw a huge party because all of our friends would love them. on Sunday morning we got up and took the tube to Hampton court palace. I had read about Hampton court for years, but I will tell you I was totally unprepared for help big it is and how well it's presented. The commentary, the extra programs, and the gardens are all exquisite. I think Cham and I intended to spend probably a good part of the day there , But we ended up leaving as it was closing at 6:00 PM. It was a beautiful day and it's certainly put a lot of historical events into perspective. I know as a child we all wish we could be royalty; I'm so glad that passed me by. this morning we packed up from our incredible tube accessible apartment, but also very damp apartment, to pick up a car at Heathrow airport to continue to Chester. It's too complicated to go into, but we decided not to take the cab , $100, versus the tube, perhaps eight dollars per person. It took forever to get to Heathrow and to get to the rental car, and then we wondered if we would ever get out of the airport . Granted, we are not familiar with British roundabouts, only French roundabouts, but we have found the British roundabouts very difficult to use, they are not well marked at all, one point I thought we should stop the car and pay someone to drive us out of the airport . Cham did a terrific job of driving, because there's no way I would've done it. We had anticipated a bucolic, Pastoral Countryside Dr. once we left the airport. We were so wrong. If you went under 80 miles an hour you were run off the road. not to mention we're driving on what we perceive is the incorrect side of the road and cham kept getting over too far to his left, consequently I was white knuckling all the way. However, we eventually arrived in Chester this evening. We are in a beautiful American Crowne Plaza Hotel, Which is very welcome. There's obviously some money here somewhere because the shops in the restaurants are lovely. We have an appointment to visit Cham's ancestral private school tomorrow morning and to also visit some other family sites, but after that, I hope to really relax and explore this area. Also, unfortunately, will have to do some wash at some point. While the London apartment had a washing machine, we would probably have grown mushrooms on our wash while It was trying to dry. We hope all of you are healthy, safe and staying dry. Love to all and continue to send the messages. Love Edie and Cham PS-I have included a picture of Chester I took at 9:33 this evening. It is still so light over here when it's time to start getting ready for bed. It just makes us stay up later.
Saturday, June 25, 2016
Br exit and other thoughts
It's been a wonderful couple of days. On Thursday, the day of the exit vote, we were going to meet a cousin of Cham's for lunch but had to cancel because of the incredible rain they've had here. it was enough to close two lines of the tube, absolutely the best subway system in the world. We decided to go to St. Paul's as it was closed when we were here last year. Like Gilligan, what was going to be a couple of hours ended up being all day by choice. We participated in the 12:30 service, went to lunch, came back, toured and then decided to stay for Evensong, basically an incredible vocal worship concert. While Cham was in the gift shop, the verger made an announcement that there were a few places in the quoire (the choir stalls) if anyone wanted to sit there. I grabbed my stuff and prayed Cham could find me when he got back. Unfortunately I could see him looking for me while I'm leaning out over the stall trying not to look too obvious while I'm waving for him. The family sitting next to me or from Alabama. Johnny and I asked if he wanted me to yell at Cham. I think him very much and said wouldn't that make the Americans look really great. The Verger let me go down and get Cham. what an incredible experience. I can now say that I sung one hymn with the St. Paul's choir.
We were shocked when we woke up Thursday morning to find that the Brits voted to leave the Eu. Truthfully, we have not watched a lot of television while we've been here so we havent heard a lot of the rhetoric. we also hadnt asked a lot of people what they thought about the vote. we were in the Covent Garden area last night and overheard conversations of people saying I'm sure he/she can find a job elsewhere. It appears the liberal party and the financial people are in a state of shock. They're also not the natural group who would be demonstrating if you're unhappy. it appears the ones who wanted out were truly afraid they were losing their sovereignty and national identity. I think it will be a volatile market for a couple of weeks, but it will sort itself out.
Cham and I took the boat down the river to Sam's yesterday to Greenwich. I'd always wanted to see the prime meridian. It was housed in the observatory which is now a museum. The entire museum was basically based on mathematics and astronomy. When Cham and I met in the bookstore, we both started laughing because truly it almost made our heads explode. I felt like I was on the outside of something just getting ready to grasp it but it was still out of my reach. I wonder what the men who solved some of the great time/distance puzzles of their day would be doing if they were alive right now?
we ended the day with an unforgettable meal at rules, a very traditional British restaurant. It truly was like something out of Downton Abbey. It was interesting when we left the restaurant. The Bar in restrooms are upstairs. The windows were open in the bar and you could hear all kinds of commotion on the street. The bar itself was completely empty. It makes you wonder how much longer this establishment will be in existence. It really was a terrific meal.
Cham and I both feel we are so very fortunate to be living this dream of ours. It's been great hearing from you. More to come later. Edie and Cham
Wednesday, June 22, 2016
And the big adventure has begun!
We arrived in London this morning around 9:20 a.m. after. spending three hours on the Tarmac because of thunderstorms around the nova area. Once we were airborne, they couldn't feed us fast enough. I watched two interesting, but long, movies - Hail, Caeser with George Clooney and The Queen of the Desert with Nicole Kidman. It is absolutely astounding to think Gertrude Bell lived with numerous Boudin tribes in the early 1900's. A British citizen, she became known as Queen of the Desert. I can't wait to find out more about her.
We arrived at our apartment in the Kennington (definitely not to be confused with KenSINGton) area. For those of you who know DC, think about the Columbia Heights area, but the area has probably been going through the renovation at least 6 years longer than Columbia Heights. It's truly a neighborhood which is always fun.
The apartment isn't exactly what we anticipated, but it's all a learning experience and this was the first one I had ever booked on AirBnb. So some pointers when looking for your apartment on one of the numerous sites available:
1. When they advertise kitchenette, hopefully pictures will be posted as well because our kitchen is a small refrig., toaster, microwave and one hot plate burner; not exactly what we anticipated, but it will be fine.
2. When they say lower level, that's code for basement. It's not horrible, but if you have allergies and it's been raining for the past week, dampness can be an issue.
3. You have to make sure you're not sharing a room in a house unless that's what you're looking for. It needs to say apartment. Just as if you want a bed, make sure your bed isn't a pull out sofa. That'easily mistaken as well.
After pizza at one of the many local restaurants, we went to the grocery store to look around and pick up cream for coffee. This was a new one on me; I wanted cream for my coffee tomorrow and she said she had never heard of it and used carnation evaporated milk for hers. I was floored! She kindly pointed out the locals short cut to Tesco which is much bigger. They do sell small 3 day use containers of cream. I'll let you know how it tastes.
Tomorrow is the referendum on whether England should leave the EU. Several countries are threatening to do likewise depending on the turn out tomorrow. Our cab driver from the airport this morning was very cagey in his response. All the polls are showing they will stay, but it is a miniscule margin of error so no one is calling it. In the Kennington area, we've seen lots of REMAIN with the EU and nothing in favor of withdrawal.$
$ Good morning. I have to confess this where I started fallen asleep. Cham very wisely suggested we go to a local pub for a libation so we could stretch our legs and enjoy a beverage. We went to the Old Red Lion, truly an old timbered place that looks just like all the pubs you've ever seen in the movies. Because it's a seasonal drink, I had a rhubarb cider. It was a very pretty pale pink and pale gold color and had a great taste. Cham got a glass of chard and we sat out in the beer garden enjoyed some glimpses of sunshine. I do wish I could have taken a picture of this; two young women about 26 years came in. Lone looked like Nicole Kidman - gorgeous, perfect skin, body, blue green eyes, strawberry blonde and the other had a killer body, tatted legs and arms, pierced nose and ears, skin head haircut, hot pants, leather thigh boots and biker jacket and a leather cap that had huge spikes on it. Talk about contrasts! i tried very hard not to stare while trying to figure it out and the came to the realization they were twins! Talk about a great novel or at least a documentary.
We arrived at our apartment in the Kennington (definitely not to be confused with KenSINGton) area. For those of you who know DC, think about the Columbia Heights area, but the area has probably been going through the renovation at least 6 years longer than Columbia Heights. It's truly a neighborhood which is always fun.
The apartment isn't exactly what we anticipated, but it's all a learning experience and this was the first one I had ever booked on AirBnb. So some pointers when looking for your apartment on one of the numerous sites available:
1. When they advertise kitchenette, hopefully pictures will be posted as well because our kitchen is a small refrig., toaster, microwave and one hot plate burner; not exactly what we anticipated, but it will be fine.
2. When they say lower level, that's code for basement. It's not horrible, but if you have allergies and it's been raining for the past week, dampness can be an issue.
3. You have to make sure you're not sharing a room in a house unless that's what you're looking for. It needs to say apartment. Just as if you want a bed, make sure your bed isn't a pull out sofa. That'easily mistaken as well.
After pizza at one of the many local restaurants, we went to the grocery store to look around and pick up cream for coffee. This was a new one on me; I wanted cream for my coffee tomorrow and she said she had never heard of it and used carnation evaporated milk for hers. I was floored! She kindly pointed out the locals short cut to Tesco which is much bigger. They do sell small 3 day use containers of cream. I'll let you know how it tastes.
Tomorrow is the referendum on whether England should leave the EU. Several countries are threatening to do likewise depending on the turn out tomorrow. Our cab driver from the airport this morning was very cagey in his response. All the polls are showing they will stay, but it is a miniscule margin of error so no one is calling it. In the Kennington area, we've seen lots of REMAIN with the EU and nothing in favor of withdrawal.$
$ Good morning. I have to confess this where I started fallen asleep. Cham very wisely suggested we go to a local pub for a libation so we could stretch our legs and enjoy a beverage. We went to the Old Red Lion, truly an old timbered place that looks just like all the pubs you've ever seen in the movies. Because it's a seasonal drink, I had a rhubarb cider. It was a very pretty pale pink and pale gold color and had a great taste. Cham got a glass of chard and we sat out in the beer garden enjoyed some glimpses of sunshine. I do wish I could have taken a picture of this; two young women about 26 years came in. Lone looked like Nicole Kidman - gorgeous, perfect skin, body, blue green eyes, strawberry blonde and the other had a killer body, tatted legs and arms, pierced nose and ears, skin head haircut, hot pants, leather thigh boots and biker jacket and a leather cap that had huge spikes on it. Talk about contrasts! i tried very hard not to stare while trying to figure it out and the came to the realization they were twins! Talk about a great novel or at least a documentary.
Monday, June 20, 2016
Travel Eve!
What an exciting day! We've been wrapping up loose ends, bidding wonderful friends bis spater (until later) and packing and repacking!
Thanks to Tray for getting the blog site more finely tuned. This is a test message so hopefully all the tweaking has worked. Please pass along the new name:
edieandchamsworldtour2016.blogspot.com
to all interested folks. Really and truly, if you decide you want to join us somewhere along the path, we'd love to see you!
xoxo
Edie and Cham
Thanks to Tray for getting the blog site more finely tuned. This is a test message so hopefully all the tweaking has worked. Please pass along the new name:
edieandchamsworldtour2016.blogspot.com
to all interested folks. Really and truly, if you decide you want to join us somewhere along the path, we'd love to see you!
xoxo
Edie and Cham
Chartes Cathedral's light show taken during our trip July, 2015. Absolutely astounding!
Sunday, June 19, 2016
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