London: Day 2

Thursday, May 29

We were supposed to leave the flat at 6:00 a.m. My alarm was certainly going off in time for that to happen, but I felt rebellious and very tired. Furthermore, I consoled myself with the thought that I didn't hear anyone else getting up and around yet, either. So as the completely responsible adult that I am, I stayed in bed.

I finally roused myself around a quarter til. It seemed that suddenly  the whole flat came to life around me. It became apparent that among incorrectly set alarms, oversleeping, and rebellion (me), our whole group had failed to get up on time.

In spite of the rough beginning, we still managed to catch the tube on time and arrive at Paddington Station in time to catch the train to our tour of the Cotswolds.

As near as we could figure out the train was traveling around 123 mph. The countryside was absolutely stunning. Parts of it reminded me a little bit of a mix between Ohio and Louisiana. OK, I know that sounds odd, but just go with it. We passed a lot of Holsteins on the way. When we arrived at Kembel station, we had a while to wander around until our driver picked us up. 

Our driver, Nick, was a great guy that had longsuffering patience with our questions and liked to give us all a hard time. He informed us that the thing the Cotswolds are actually known for are their sheep. We saw a couple flocks, but honestly not that many.

We first visited the town of Cirencester. Nick dropped us off by the St. John Baptist Cathedral. It was built in the normal medeival style, at least as far as my small amount of architectural knowledge could tell. There was a graveyard behind it with some surprisingly modern graves. I think the latest date we found was 2017. Nick told us that Gordon Ramsey's daughter was married there.

After that we all sort of split up a bit. I was overcome with the beautiful loaves of bread available in the market, so I purchased a loaf along with a couple of pastries and Katie, Lindsay, and I tore chunks out of it with our bare hands like savages.

While the rest of the group was shopping, I guess, Lindsay and I found our way to the Corinium Museum. To our dismay, we had only thirty minutes to spend there. The displays were very well done, with a fair amount of Roman artifacts and even several ancient mosaic floors. 

One display talked about how workers were paid and showed a scale of teacher wages which illustrate which subjects the Romans considered most important. The highest paid teachers were those who earned 200-250 Denarii per pupil per month for instruction in the disciplines of Rhetoric and Geometry. The lowest paid teachers were those who were involved in teaching gymnastics.

I was also fascinated with the display that explained the system wealthy Romans used to heat their floors. The floor was supported with small pillars, which left an empty space between the flooring and the foundation. A fireplace was built into one side, and heat was funneled into the empty space. Of course, it was important to have someone to tend the fire at all times if such a heating tactic was used.

We just barely got into the medeival time period when we had to leave to meet back up with our group. I, of course, was heartbroken.

The entire area we were in was absolutely picturesque. I had a flashback to my time in Jamaica when I was shocked that the pictures I'd seen actually weren't photoshopped like I'd always supposed. There were classic stone fences and rustic stone cottages everywhere. Sometimes we caught a glimpse of manor houses among the rolling hills.

As we headed to the village of Tetbury, Nick told us that the Boys in the Boat movie had been filmed in the Cotswolds. He also mentioned that there is an American airbase located in the area, and military planes have been taking off for the Iranian conflict from there in recent days.

In Tetbury, we walked through an old market building built in 1655 and still in use. There were a lot of pelts and chamois available there. We then wandered the streets, poking our noses into little shops and admiring the buildings. I was delighted to venture into  a couple antique stores, but the prices were outrageous, so nothing came out with me.

Lindsay and I also found another museum that was free to go into, so of course we did. the Tetbury Police Museum and Courtroom. Probably my favorite thing there was the display of billy clubs and the true stories you could read of crimes actually comitted in the area.

We stopped in at Highgrove, a little shop owned by King Charles, on our way back to meet the group, then we went for lunch to the Cat and Custard Pot Inn, a traditional English pub. It was, again, one of the most adorable little buildings you can imagine. The atmosphere was friendly and laid back. The food was delicious. Most ordered Steak and Ale Pie, but Kari Jo and I wanted to taste more than one thing, so I ordered the Sausage and Mash with peas. 

Nick gave us anoter interesting tidbit after lunch as we drove to Castle Combe. We were talking about the hedges, and he informed us it is illegal to cut them except at a certain time of year because there is so much of the wildlife that depends on them, damaging the hedges would unbalance the ecosystem.

Castle Combe is full of rustic charm. There was an inn you could stay at, but the only building we went into was St. Andrews Church. There wasn't a lot that stood out about the church to me, but I was thrilled to see what is considered one of the earliest working clocks in England. It was made in the 1400's. If you refer to the image below, the white piece is where the numbers were located.

We also followed the little winding trails up into the beautiful gardens. They were truly my dream garden spots, with stone walls and little doorways and steps and meandering paths with untamed flowers creeping out over the edges of everything. We had fun giving Nedra a hard time about being the last one to the vehicle.

In Lacock, I was completely delighted with the aesthetics of the place. The newest building had been constructed in the 1600's. To live there, you have to have generational ties. A number of films have been partly produced there. 

On the grounds was an Abbey that we were only able to see through a fence that was used in the Harry Potter movies. There was also a house that represented the home of Harry's parents. Pride and Prejudice was also partly filmed there in the Red Lion Pub. 

We poked our noses into the little shops throughout the town, ending in The Chocolate Barn which Nick informed us supplies chocolate to some of the higher class hotels. 

Most of us ordered some sort of delicacy, although we paid prices we certainly wouldn't have paid back in the dear old States. Don't ask how Leann and I nearly got lost walking back to the ride when it was literally the easiest thing ever. As in, start at the van, take four left-hand turns, and you should end up back at the van, right? Yup, that's how it's supposed to work. I shall continue to cling like a leach to people with better directions than myself.

We took the van back to Chippenham where we wandered the streets a bit. Some got supper at a Thai takeaway, and we lingered in a little park by the river before going to catch our train back to London.

And so ends day two.

Some Random Observations:

• So far we've been super impressed with how gentlemanly a lot of these men have been, offering to carry suitcases up and down steps and whatnot. In spite of the sterotypes of quiet Londoners, they are very friendly and helpful if you ask them a question.
• The current exchange rate is about 1 pound to $1..40 USD.
• The ice is lacking.
• Loud Americans really are a thing.
• The bathrooms don't have door gaps and there has been a hook on the door for purses in every single one I've been in so far. A little thing, but sometimes those details are important!
• We're supposed to remove our shoes at the front door of our flat. Somehow we're having a hard time remembering. Also, our flat is spread out over three levels, so we have stairs and more stairs.
• We walked a little over 16000 steps today.
• So many women wearing pretty flowing dresses and skirts!
• People make little hobby crafts or goods and leave them out on their doorstep or a table and leave mobile payment information or a cash box and use the trust system. It delights me.

London: Arrival and Day 1

Tuesday, May 26

I wasn't even angry about spending hours in the Atlanta airport. Occasionally I wandered around the terminal, but always circulated back to the my gate. By the end of the day even the cleaners were commenting on how long I'd been there.

Gloria had a delay in Pensacola and showed up only about three minutes before her zone was called for the London flight. I didn't see her again until we landed at Heathrow.

Wednesday, May 27

I hadn't managed to connect to in-flight Wifi for some reason, so we were on the ground before I found out the rest of our group had their flight canceled in Chicago. Luckily they were still able to catch a later flight, but they didn't get in until about midnight.

Meanwhile, Gloria and I found the flat we had rented, about an hour and a half away from the airport between the tube and walking, and I took a shower. A blissful, blissful shower.

 Impressions of the tube, by the way? Hot, stuffy, crowded. Not a super fun thing in my opinio, except for the people watching. After getting cleaned up we walked over to the Sunflower Cafe.

After enjoying a light meal, we headed back to the flat. We stopped at some type of international grocery market on the way back and admired all the fresh produce. Then we walked back to where we were staying and explored the little grocery right next door.

Once back at the flat I took a nap. It was supposedly going to be just a short nap, an hour or so, but I completely sacked out, having not had a proper night of sleep since Sunday night. Don't ask too many questions about how long I slept. Suffice it to say Gloria and I walked down to the tube station to meet the rest when they came in around midnight, and I hadn't been awake too long. The problem came when I actually tried to go back to sleep. My times were so twisted and my sleep schedule so far off it was ridiculous.

Thankfully the rooms had cooled off at least as London is experiencing a heat wave that is breaking records from the 1920's or so. Unfortunately there isn't an air conditioner, so we have to rely on drafts from the windows and fans.

Day 1

Thursday, May 28

We were up and leaving the flat around 7:20 or so to head to the tube. First on the list was the Tower of London, but we stopped at a little coffee shop first to eat something and make sure those in the group who apparently can't survive without coffee would be fit for the day.

We had about two hours in the Tower of London. Just to be clear, the entire compound of buildings is referred to collectively by that name. While some thought that was plenty of time, Lindsay and I didn't even get through everything. She is a fantastic museum companion. 

We first visited the crown jewels, as the line to get in there wasn't too long and I've heard horror stories of hours-long waits just to get in. It was very crowded already in my opinion, but at least there were no guards yelling at us to hurry or tour guides telling us to get out. Honestly I'm glad I've been through the Crown Jewels display once, but I don't need to go again. I guess I'm not super impressed by flaunted wealth, and it just seemed a bit superfluous.

That being said, the things that impressed me just as much as all the crowns and scepters were the large gold dishes used for communion services and other special occasions. Among the most impressive was the Grand Punch Bowl, measuring about three feet wide and big enough to hold 240 bottles of wine. I kept trying to imagine being the people in charge of serving out of these massive, unweildy looking dishes.

We next visited the White Tower where the famous ravens seem to hang out a lot. Basically, it's a display of weaponry and suits of armor from the past, along with a few odds and ends.

It was impressive to see the Parade of Kings which consists of suits of armor displayed on wooden horses. 

One interesting piece was a parade lance that was positively massive but supposedly only weighed twenty pounds. I also noticed a circular object called the collar of torment and tried to read the plaque. I finally figured out it said it was used as a punishment for scolding wives. Hint to crowded museums: Display the information toward the top of the glass cases so people can read it from the back of the crowd rather than putting everything at floor level. Thank you.

There was also an executioner's ax and block on display. The block was unusual because after use they were generally burnt.

Somehow by that time Lindsay and I were far behind the rest of the group. We went into the Bloody Tower, then visited the place where Sir Walter Raleigh was held. I didn't realize he had cultivated his own herb garden there. Another feature was a display about the two lost princes. If you don't know the story, look it up for yourself. It seems clear that they were likely murdered, but of course I suppose the evidence could be circumstantial. Gloria was informing me on the chat somewhere in there that I didn't need to read everything, but it gets a little hard to pick and choose.

We were heaaded out when we passed the Torture Chalmber. Of course we had to stop there! Looking at the rack used for "stretching" victims made me think of the persecution of the martyrs.

The real facts are, though, that the number of people who were actually tortured in the Tower of London is very small. The number killed there is also not as large as one would think.

We went next to the Borough Market, There is lots of food there: whole booths of cheese and fruit and cuts of meat. There were also bread shops and pastries and other equally unhealthy things. Most of us ended up getting fish and chips for lunch because we were ready for protein and just took the first option that came along. Some of the group wandered about for a while in the Market while others of us went to explore the Southwark Cathedral.

It was a comfortable little cathedral. I was, of course, impressed by the ceiling. I'm not sure what it is about elegant wooden ceilings that enthuse me every time. 

It was soon time to catch the tube again and head to Westminster. We waited around on the sidewalk for a while for our tour time to start, but finally got in. 

I'm not sure what all you know about Westminster Abbey, but it is a functioning church. However, to enter you get to pay a fee unless you attend the Sunday morning service. There are also a lot of people burried there. The ones that made us question how they came to be buried in a place of worship were Charles Darwin and Stephen Hawking.

Sir Isaac Newton is also interred there, which seemed more appropriate.

My favorite place was probably the Poets Corner, where I found the Bronte sisters, Rudyard Kipling, Charles Dickinson, and of course my all-time favorite, Jane Austen.

We were all a little weary from walking, and as we had a little extra time, some of us just sat around a while. We finally exited and found drinks and things while we waited in line for Evensong.

We were lucky enough to get ushered in some of the very first ones, getting front row seats to the spectacle of the service.

We sat on wooden pews right near the choir as pictured above. The service was very full of ceremony, as one would expect. It began with organ music while the clergy and choir walked in, singing a song in Latin while we all stood.

Next, there was a short introduction and then the entire congregation was expected to stand and read the words of a prayer, I guess it was, confessing sins and asking forgiveness. Then the officiant gave the Absolution after which everyone said the Lord's Prayer together.

Next, the officiant and choir sang the responses. The officiant would sing something, and then the choir would respond. I was curious if they chose the officiants according to singing voices or how the practicality of that worked out for them.

The choir did a bit more singing, then there was a reading from Genesis 22:1-18. The choir sang again, then another reading from Hebrews 11:8-19. The choir sang again, then the congregation was supposed to say the Apostles Prayer. I coul not in good conscience say with them that "I believe in the Catholic Church." 

Then there was more singing by the choir and the officiant. It was another call and response type of situation, but the officiant had massive solo parts. I was a little amazed how someone could sing staying on one note for so long.

Finally, prayers were said and there was a final song by the choir. The last one was genuinely beautiful. It was acapella with perfectly lovely harmonies. We all said one more little something together, then the choir and officiants walked out and we were dismissed, too. It was an interesting event. We were expected to stand during the parts where we participated and also during some of the singing parts.

We were all feeling a bit hungry, so we were delighted to find supper at Prezzo, an Italian restaurant.

After Prezzo, it was soon time for our bus tour of London. We rode a vintage double decker bus from the 1960's while our guide, who claimed his name was Oliver Twist, gave us bits and pieces of information about the city mixed with slightly cynical dry humor. I was very tired at the time and am afraid I was unable to retain a lot of what he said.

We did see Cleopatra's needle and drove across a bridge built during WWII, which he claimed was the only bridge built on time and under budget in the whole history of London, this because it had been built entirely by women.

We also saw the monument for those who lost their lives in the fire of London. The thing that struck me was that he claimed more people had died by jumping off the monument than actually died in the disaster it memorializes. 

A high point was seeing a piece of sculpture by the artist Banksy, who always intrigues me.

We were all very weary after the bus ride. It was around 9:00 by the time we started back to the flat. It was close to 10:00 by the time we arrived. Some stopped at the grocery next door to grab some things for breakfast in the morning. 

Gloria said to plan on walking around 20,000 steps a day, which, according to Google, comes out to around 8 miles. The app on my phone claims I logged a little under that, just a shade over 19,000, but there were some who did hit that mark.

It is currently 12:27 a.m., but I wanted to get this written up and not have a massive amount of stuff to write later. I think everyone else is probably in bed, with the exception of the one person who is up doing laundry.

So there you have it. Congratulations if you survived to the end here. I'm refusing to even go back and proofread this, so please forgive all mistakes. Thank you.

Cheers til next time!

Dear DFW and American Airlines: A Break-Up Letter

 Dear DFW and American Airlines:

It is 1:10 a.m. I am in Terminal D, the same terminal where we girls all met to fly to Egypt over a year ago. About twenty minutes ago I was privileged to meet some sisters in the faith from Guatemala. I don't know their names, but I know their smiles. They were visiting in Mississippi or Missouri, I'm not sure which, for a granddaughter's graduation. This is one of the things I love about you, the way you provide me with opportunities to meet people I never would have otherwise. 

While I've been here I've chatted with people who've traveled from Bangkok and New Jersey. Both foreign places to some degree. I have rejoiced with the guys standing in line at the service desk who kept letting people go ahead of them while they waited an hour for their buddy to join them. I smiled when a grandmotherly lady brought them chocolate chip cookies as a thank you. I've reveled in the homey, familiar sound of accents from my old stomping grounds near Mobile. Not that you would let me fly there, of course.

I thought we were going to get along forever. I never envisioned this day would come so swiftly and brutally. It's not that I quit loving you, exactly, because Texas will always hold a bit of my heart, but we have grown apart. There's no point in pretending things will ever be quite the same again. Once you have broken a person's trust to this degree, it's only natural that there would be some caution in any type of relationship going forward.

It wasn't long ago I told someone that I had never had a flight canceled. At least, not one that I had booked for myself. "Don't jinx it," they said. And I only laughed, because I believed in you. I really did.

The first hints of trouble brewing made their appearance on Sunday. I was relaxing at my gate when the announcement was made. So sorry, but the flight was canceled. Canceled! There was no gentle let-down, no subtle delays to warn me. DFW did not want my presence. It was quick and brutal and unforgiving. And we were only ten minutes from departure.

And so I tried to make peace. I rebooked, as you, American Airlines, suggested. I understood that sometimes people have their own personal storms to work through before they can make amends. So I tried to do my part, go the extra mile. I really thought it would work.

Monday arrived. Security was a breeze. I waited across from a bookstore where there was a section of books displaying Theo of Golden prominently, which reminded me that the same is waiting for me to continue listening to on Audible. I enjoyed watching people make selections. My first flight of the day carried me in a state of bliss toward your welcoming land. Again, there was little warning until the announcement. We were in a holding pattern, we were told. We might be holding for an hour. 

Storms were brewing, they said, on every side. But when I talked to the kindergarten teacher seated beside me, she said her friends in Dallas said the storms only lasted fifteen minutes. Nonetheless, since you had started the awkward miscommunications, things soon spiraled out of control. Our pilot came back on to say that we had been diverted. 

Rejection! Any relationship guru can tell you how harmful rejection is. Instead of the Lone Star State, we were being shuttled off to Oklahoma City. I don't personally have anything against Oklahoma (except disagreeing with a certain co-teacher that it's the best state ever), but that wasn't where I wanted to be. We waited there for around two and a half hours, amidst reassurances that DFW was closed completely down, all flights delayed, and we'd probably still reach ours on time. 

Unfortunately, by the time the fuel truck finally showed up (What's up with only one fuel truck, OKC?), my flight had departed from DFW. In vain I tried to communicate. I was met with a brick wall of silence. Well, mostly. The agent I communicated with told me that he couldn't see any updates and I'd have to wait until I landed in DFW to figure out my next move. Seems you need to be a bit more in touch with your own emotion, or motions, or whatever it is, American.

So I tried to relax, tried to tell myself everything would work out between us. Because I'm a hopeless optimist sometimes. But you had more pain in store.

When I finally felt the good solid linoleum of DFW under my  feet, I didn't know where to start because everything had disappeared from my app. I took some time to gaze at the flight schedules and determined there were two flights heading out yet that could get me where I wanted to go: one to Mobile and one to Pensacola. Both were located in Terminal E. I decided I may as well go to that terminal for help.

Once there, I joined a line of people at the customer service counter. I also dialed you, American, on the phone and placed a callback order, not sure which would be faster. I was told the callback wait was ninety minutes. The line only took thirty to forty-five, so that was nice. 

But here's what they say about relationships, American: The relationships that fail can be determined by watching whether or not the partners respond to bids for attention. I should have guess ours was doomed when the agent mumbled at me through her mask and barely made eye contact. I was being as gracious and agreeable as possible under the circumstances, and although she did not respond to my bids for friendliness, I made excuses for her when she printed off a nice new boarding pass and shoved it across the counter to me.

The sad thing is that the flight was delayed before I even made it to the gate which was all of a one minute walk away, thanks to my strategy of figuring out which terminal held the likely flights. After an hour's wait or so, the plane arrived. Everything looked to still be on schedule. Even then we might have been able to salvage our relationship, but it was not to be.

I noticed a sad absence of crew members around the gate. The flight was delayed again. And then? I almost expected it by now, because how many flights actually depart at 12:20 a.m.? Canceled. Again. 

I stood by the wall, trying to see what options your app would give me. I was starting to wonder if that's all I had left of you.

Another passenger said loudly that if they let him on he could fly that plane. He might not land it perfectly, but he could get us there. A woman standing near me gave a metaphorical snort. "I'm a pilot," she said, "there's no way he could fly that plane."

I asked her if she flew commercial or private. She said private. I would have talked to her more, but I was really getting concerned about our relationship by that point, so I again took measures to fix things. All the disappointments and rejections I have ever experienced came flooding back as I stood waiting in line at Customer Service once again. That might be an exageration, but you get the point.

I was in line with a lot of people trying to reach Mobile. The man behind me showed me screenshots of why the flight had been canceled and seemed to want to chat. So did the woman ahead of me. That is one thing to be said for you, DFW. Perhaps you don't do too well with relationships, but you have apparently learned that humans bond quickly in adverse circumstances. Thankfully the line moved fairly quickly. 

The agent I met with this time genuinely did her best to help me. I explained my predicament. All flights available in the morning would get in too late for me to catch my London flight out of Pensacola. She said she could route me straight to Pensacola if she sent me on a detour through Houston. That sounded OK, until I found out that I'd get into Pensacola at 4:00, have to deplane, collect my bag, check it back in, go through security, and get on my next flight. It would not give a lot of extra time, and no extra time at all if there were to be more delays. 

Your motto is, apparently, "Let Good Take Flight." By several minutes after midnight I was starting to think all your good really had taken flight. I will hand it to your agents. They did their best, but you've got to come up with some way to help them out. They were clearly over-worked and exhausted. They worked on figuring out arrangements for me to fly straight to Atlanta for forty-five minutes or an hour. And part of that time the poor agent was battling against your own system. She would put in flight details, and someone or something working from the opposite end kept changing them back.

She did not seem disappointed to abandon me (Do you see a pattern here? betrayal, no communication, abandonment, etc., etc.) {That was for you, Sadie.} and go run something down to crew on the ground or something. Her manager took over and within an astonishingly short time had found me a flight to Atlanta, which departs at 9:35 a.m. and arrives around half past 12. I do think second chances are in place, but I'm not sure how many chances to give after that. 

Currently, I am exhausted, but unable to sleep. I have removed my contacts and am remembering why I don't like glasses; they always slide down my nose. I feel like an absolute ball of grease and unsavory smells. I am slightly ravenous. And I am slowly becoming a bit unhinged. Your emotional manipulations have worn me down. 

Maybe I will regret this, but I think it's over between us. I know everyone goes through difficult seasons in life, but your season of spring and summer storms is too much for me, DFW. I need something a little more calm and stable. And American, your traffic control was a mess. There were planes piled all over the place just waiting to have some direction. This won't do, you know. 

The only hope of salvaging this relationship is if you can find me some cheesecake somewhere. Then, maybe, I'll consider letting the past be the past. But for now? You've done too little too late. I shall always remember you with fondness, but there comes a time to let things go. 

Bittersweet memories and all that, I shall always love you, but it's best if I go, to loosely quote.

The end.

P.S. I wasn't kidding about the cheesecake, although I know nothing is as dramatic as it seems at this hour in the morning.