Friday, August 31, 2012

Our trip to London with friends. 

Derek could not make it, but Ruth came and also David Hutton. 

David made arrangements for cheaper tickets.  

David is a retired postman and has a "determined" gait.

David also used to live in London so he knew his way around.
Ruth is a history buff and knew a lot about the sights.

 We were able to see a lot of places because of these two wonderful guides. 

I am not sure if you can find Waldo in this picture of Where's Waldo.

 I am not sure I like being called Waldo.

This is, of course, on the train to London (first time for Lynn).

In the next picture you will see the second mode of transportation we enjoyed--

 the tube--again, first time for Lynn. 

Something interesting happened on the tube. A young girl looked at me and offered me her seat. I politely refused, finding it odd that she would offer me a seat. Then, I realized I looked considerably older than her.  I had to contemplate, and reflected on a conversation I had with my dad when he was 90.  I asked him how it felt to be 90 years old. 

He said that he was a 20-year-old in a 90-year-old body.  

How true it is. This girl was being polite to let an "older" person have her seat.

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Our first stop on the tube was Buck House ( Buckingham Palace) to see the changing of the guards.  This picture was in front of the Palace.  Note the flag on the pole.  This indicates that the Queen was in the Palace.  If she had not been there (for instance at her alternate residence in Scotland), the flag would have been hanging on the side of the building.  I wondered, if she had known we were there, if she would have invited us in for tea.  I would have had to disappoint her and ask for squash (punch) instead.  
It is always nice to have a ready response in the likelihood that she would notice. 

The Royal Marching Band marching to the Palace. Notice the Bobby (police) on the horse. There were armed guards all around the Palace grounds.

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Next stop was Trafalgar Square.  Trafalgar Square is part of the heart of London.  

There was a huge screen showing the Paralympics. 

It was fun to see the English people get quite excited for the Paralympics, also.

All right, Andrew.  Here are two people that remind me of you on Halloween.  Can you imagine these guys jumping?  They did!  A little off balanced, yet they did not fall.  Lots of girls wanted pictures with them.  What some people will do to get pictures with girls!

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Have you ever created such a commotion that people around you suck in air with such surprising effort that it is audible throughout the whole room?  Then with a flurry, and I mean flurry, the curator rushes towards you and says, "You can't take pictures in here!"  They were supposed to say it quietly, but they just couldn't do that.  I suppose the shocked audience exacerbated the scene. 

So what do I do?  Just what any other coward would do.  Handed the camera to Lynn and looked around in mock reproof.

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Okay, now you have a chance to find Waldo.  Actually, can you see me and David Hutton?

 Lynn is there but I haven't found her, yet.  By the way, this is Piccadilly Circus.

If you think you're pretty good at spotting us now, find Lynn, Brent and David.

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Tired feet means a ride on a double-decker bus--also a first for Lynn.  Another thing that has changed since I was on my mission is that the bus companies do not allow smoking on the bus at all.  In my younger days the top deck was the only place they (the English people) could smoke while riding on a double-decker bus.

It's kinda freaky how closely the buses pass one another!
Just another side note:  pedestrians do not have the right-of-way.


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As we were walking to Covent Gardens, we came upon a hat vender.  Lynn was concerned about my head, so we looked at some hats and I found one I liked.  The next picture is not me, but I did buy a hat from this place.  It was kind of interesting.  While the others were trying on hats, I took a picture of David Hutton.  I can't quite put my finger on who he looks like.  (If you say it's me, then you are in deeeep trouble).  He does look like a typical old-fashioned English bloke.  I suppose you want to see one of me.  Ha! Maybe later.

Doesn't Lynn look sooo stylish. Notice how she picked out a hat to match her blue outfit.  
That is sooo Mom.

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All day when they said we were going to Covent Gardens, we thought we were going to some "gardens."  
I guess they don't have to have a "garden" because the whole countryside is basically a garden.


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 Covent Gardens is actually an open air mall, you might say.  Again, there are lots of entertainers, each with their "hat" or "donation box" to make a little money.
If you look closely you can notice that the gold man does not have a chair under him.  A bystander waved his hands under him proving there was nothing there.  So how do you suppose he is sitting?  It looks like he is defying the laws of gravity.  What do you think, Kailyn? Hudson? Kelcie? Jordan? Alan? James? Kyla? Boyce? Breven? Caden?

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So you wanted a picture of me and my hat with my girl.  Am I a lucky guy or what!  We are just about to walk along the river front.  There you will see three main scenes.

The London Bridge. 
 We were looking at the bridge and a ship was headed for it, so Lynn moved forward with the hopes the bridge would lift so she could get a picture.  The small ship sailed right under the bridge, so she had to settle for just us three.  Brent, Lynn and David.  Notice the Paralympics design in the middle of the bridge, which had been the Olympic rings, earlier. 

I did not want to get to close to this next place.  This place called the Tower of London is well known for lopping heads off of people. That was a very long time ago. Yes, even before my time. Truthfully it would have been nice to tour the place but time didn't permit it.

Yep the third scene was a ship.  Bet you are wondering what the name is.  Can't remember. If I do remember I will add it on later.  I do remember the HMS something.  So you may be wondering why I even put it on the blog.  Because it is cool looking.

So we realize that we need to get back to Waterloo Station to catch the train back to Winchester.  When we get there we realize that the train isn't due for another half an hour.  So David said to Lynn, "Come on," and we all followed.  Pretty soon Ruth said, "I will wait here for you to come back."  That was the first drop off. We went a little further and I said, "I will wait for you on this foot bridge."  Lynn and David went on ahead and took the following pictures of the Eye of London and Big Ben.  
I went a ways to see the Eye of London but not Big Ben. 
I'd already seen it and I was tired.

Nice picture of Lynn.

So after Lynn and David got back we caught the train to Winchester.  There was literally no room to sit.   Yes another young mother asked if I wanted her seat.  Oh I am such a proud man, and I politely said no and sat on the floor.  About 45 minutes later I was getting humbled, and by the time we got to the Winchester train station I was very humble with two legs that were asleep and a tired bottom. But oh what a time we had in London. I am soo glad I had the opportunity to come to London with Lynn.  I really enjoyed watching her get excited about the scenery.  She was smiling from ear to ear.  Just look above. Happy, very happy. Thanks everyone for the help to get there.

Thursday, Aug 30

In the stockades at Cardiff Castle (Lynn got us into trouble).  
A man offered to throw tomahtoes at us.
 I looked to see if he had any and then laughed and said sure.

The background is a castle within a castle. Later you will see what I mean.
I liked this picture because you can see me with a lovely double chin and 
my massive guns of muscular arms.  
Ready for battle.

This lovely lady in distress, waiting for her knight in shining armor, is getting tired, as you can see--her chin in her hands.  (She saw her knight and wondered how in the heck he was going to climb the stairs, since her hair was not long enough.)

It is later now.   You can see the castle within a castle.

A couple from Bolivia took this picture. The man took our picture and ran with the camera up to castle in the background. I had to climb the stairs after him and took my sword and swung it around with such accuracy that he dropped the camera and laughed so hard that I retrieved the camera and left, wounded to the heart. 

The inner castle was actually destroyed with fire and never restored.  It had holes in the wall for big wooden beams to support other floors.  Lynn actually climbed to the top using some stairs. She forgot to take the camera so we don't have a birds eye view of the castle grounds. Actually, when it comes to bird watching, I was watching her pretty closely. 

Wednesday, Aug 29

 

Ate breakfast at the B&B.  Here is the lovely family who "saved" our trip,

and fed us breakfast.

A "full English breakfast," consists of chips (fat french fries) or hash browns (usually patties), sausage and bacon, egg (not turned, but the whites were done), fried tomatoes, and beans.  And you could have toast if you wanted.  All English food is greasy.  The first time I (Lynn) ate the full English breakfast (well, I didn't even eat all of it) I had an upset stomach from all the grease.

I was afraid I'd be two sizes bigger when I came home, but I got used to it and we walked it all off, I guess.

They also often have fruit compote and yogurt as well as chutney or preserves for the toast.  Everyone was shocked when we didn't order coffee or tea!

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When we left the B&B it was raining, but when we reached Teignmouth, on the coast, 

it was absolutely pouring, so we didn't stay long.

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This picture of the sea and coastline was taken from a pullout on the drive between 

Paighnton and Cockington.

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Cockington is one of my favorite places in England.  I really love the quaint atmosphere in this setting.  Lynn feels the same.  The thatched roof homes, the manor surrounded with spacious lawn, the gardens, blacksmith shop, just everything.  It's a tourist area, but it doesn't seem as busy. 

  

If you drive through the other end of Cockington, you come to a very narrow road up a hill.  If you happen to be the first going up, then the other car coming down has to wait.  

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Close to Cockington is the flat (apartment) where I lived while serving in my second area on my mission.  We walked around to find it and I think we found it.  This is the front of the place.  Elders actually had to walk to the back of the building to gain access to our flat.  

Next, Lynn and I went to where I had lived in my first flat.  We lived on the second floor facing the back yard.  We were able to see the train track and beyond that a short way was the beach.  My trainers were district leaders.   My first companion was trunky and went home a month later.  Shortly afterward I was moved to the place above

(not because I was naughty--I was needed to help with a companionship).

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Some of my children may remember me telling them this story:

When I was in Paighnton we had a couple of elders stay with us overnight in preparation for P-day the next day.  Since Elders are not to swim, we decided to run from one set of stairs to the next set of stairs to see if we could make it before the waves hit us.  Well, this is the very place we did it and I had Lynn demonstrate the fun.  My voice is thanking a passerby for picking up Lynn's jacket because it was windy.  Lynn got wet just about as much as I did. The next morning our slacks had a ring of white sea salt on them.

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From there we headed to Dartmouth Castle.  The castle was actually closed for touring, but we took pictures of the castle and coastline.  It is a beautiful inlet.

  

This castle was constructed to protect the villages upstream.  Ships coming up the river would be met with canons that could easily demolish them.  Also on this site is a church.

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It was getting late in the afternoon.  We wanted to go back across the ferry and see Stoke Gabriel, but because of festivities in Dartmouth they had closed the ferry and we didn't want to wait until morning.  We wanted to be on our way to Wales so we wouldn't have such a big day the next day.  We found this motel in Exeter after stopping at three motels and finding them booked or costly.  Once again we had the humorous experience (well, now it's humorous) of going around in a 3 block circle trying to find a location.  MapQuest lets you try it a few times and then says, "Would you prefer walking instructions?  Your destination is within walking distance."

Our apartment was on the "first floor," yet we had to walk up two sets of stairs.  Explain that one to me.  It was the same at every motel we stayed in England.

Tuesday, Aug 28

Awoke early and went back to Southampton so I could show Lynn around my old

mission stomping grounds.

Found the apartment where I lived on Darwin Road.
I am not pointing up just for the exercise, I actually lived on the second floor.
Had to pay for the electricity a schilling at a time in a coin op thing.
This is where I had an English companion that would not go out to work.  David Hutton came with me tracting when he finished his postal job for the day.  Yes, probably was not a good idea to leave my companion in the apartment alone.  It was a lonely time for me. 

This is the same post box where I used to mail letters. Not telling to who. Don't want to get Lynn jealous. (yeah, right)

We also walked through the memorable "Common,"

which is a large and lovely park I used to walk through 

and where I also played soccer on P-days.  
Lynn loved the trees. 
 See if you can see me in the tree.

Can't see me? Probably because I am not there. :)

The park is quite large and so pretty, but not as pretty as the Temple grounds,
 which you will see later.

Please notice that all the paths are paved.  It rains so much that if the paths were not paved they would be a muddy mess, making them unusable.

We stopped at the famous Bargate in Southampton before heading toward the coast.

 





It started to rain as we left Southampton.
It's been the wettest year on record for England, and the countryside showed it.

Notice how, instead of weeds alongside the road, they have bushes or trees.

The 500 year old B&B , Southern Cross, made of cob and sod 
where we stayed Tuesday night in Sidmouth.

Andrew, the owner, was very friendly and didn't run our credit card that night when we arrived.  He told us of a place up the road, an Italian restaurant, that served gluten free food.  We went there to eat and when we finished our yummy Spaghetti Bolognese we gave them our credit card and it wouldn't work.  It had worked previously so we had them try it again, but to no avail.  Several of the places we had been accepted American Express, but not this place.  Luckily, we had literally just enough cash to pay for the meal and a tip.  We went back to the B&B and told them we were having trouble with our credit card and would they please run it so we could see if it was going to work.  It wouldn't.  They were so nice that they trusted us to call Visa, and then our credit union (Visa said they couldn't help us because our credit union serviced their own cards).  Another of God's tender mercies--the credit union was open and resolved the issue within minutes.  
What a blessing we discovered it that night and not the next morning when we went to pay.  
The credit union would have been closed!