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We traveled to England to visit Natalie, Robert, and Benjamin. We departed on Friday, January 28th, and returned on Tuesday night, February 8th.
Karen and the triplets were good enough to take us to the airport, and we arrived uneventfully and on time. At check-in we learned that we each were allowed one bag, not two. Okay, we thought, no problem: we each actually have one checked bag and the third piece of luggage was the cardboard shipping box that contained a battery-operated, plastic-cloth piano keyboard for Benjamin – the kind that you step on and the sound plays. Only the keyboard box was long and flat – perfect for a plane’s overhead compartment, but not fitting into the specified size for carry-on luggage. We worried about the size but the Delta baggage people didn’t seem to think it was a problem. So to the boarding gate we marched. What did we know? “Nope, you can’t carry it on if it doesn’t fit in the box.” “But the people downstairs said it was okay.” “Okay, so go get someone downstairs to sign off that it’s okay with them and it will be okay with us.” Back downstairs. Nope, no one in an official capacity would okay the box as a carry on. Yikes, what to do? The fee for the third bag was $55 – more than the cost of the keyboard. While I was trying to invoke all my intellect or whatever to figure out what to do (and not coming up with anything) Bonnie proceeded to rip open the cardboard shipping box and throw it away. She then ripped the cardboard container for the keyboard until it was carry-on size, and she bent the exposed keyboard so it fit, too. Back upstairs to the iron maidens blocking the entrance to the boarding trams. “Look!” I jammed the folded box and keyboard into the measuring box. It fit. Then I pulled it out and straightened the box back to its original shape and we carried it uneventfully for the rest of the trip. Our flight out of New York was delayed something like four hours, and we spent most of that time in the plane. Consequently, this resulted in our missing the next connecting flight and the one after that, but we arrived in Birmingham eventually, about eight hours late. Saturday was resting and recovering; Sunday was church, a trip to a local park for touring and lunch, and dinner with some of the Canvas leadership. Monday was Shrewsbury, the home of Charles Darwin and the site of a lot of medieval architecture. We toured the museum at the Visitors Centre. We ate our packed lunch in a nice park overlooking the Severn River and then made our way slightly outside of town to the site of a year 1403 battlefield between the English and Scots. This was one of our obligatory battlefields. We got to the place and Bonnie and Natalie "voted" their excitement by staying in the car. Robert and I toured the Visitors' Center and learned about the battle, which was well-documented. One of the noteworthy? events was the British prince being struck in the face by an arrow and the documentation about how the arrow was removed and with what tools. Evidently, at that time archers outnumbered the other parts of an army by 3:1 or even up to 6:1; the other parts being ordinary infantry, some cavalry, and knights. The knights, according to the information provided, fought in their armor and dismounted. Dismounted to better control their forces and to send the message that the force they controlled would stand and fight. The way a knight would catch an arrow in the face was by lifting his faceplate to give orders or to quickly get a better view of the battle. Interesting fact: They know the battle was there because a prominent church for training monks was built there, but they don’t know the exact site of the battle. Then we drove to the town of Ironbridge, site of England’s first ________ (you guess). We arrived at dusk, timing that would characterize many of site visits in the next eight days or so. It was very nice, and worth another look at some other time. It’s important to note that Robert had bought a Garmin GPS for travel directions. Just program in the local address and a pleasant female voice will let you know when to turn. Invaluable!!!!! Note the number of exclamation points. And when we’d miss a turn by accident or on purpose, we’d hear, “Recalculating.” Sometimes very often as we worked to get ourselves back on track. And it worked in France, also. Note that Robert also did all the driving. That meant going from driving on the left in England to the right in France to back to the left in England. If it were me I’d be going the wrong way in the round-about and that would be it. Tuesday was a visit to new Canvas House (it’s great) and for some shopping in preparation for our trip. It was also the day of the dinner and program at TCs, the public house that’s used for this weekly Canvas program. Beginning at about 3:30, the Canvas staff and interns showed up to completely convert the room, setting up the band instruments and the tables and chairs and other trappings. Also a crew assembled in the kitchen to cook the meal. The program began at 8 p.m. and it was super nice. There were about 65 people there – excellent for a campus ministry event. Then there was a message delivered by Tatum of the Canvas staff, and this was followed by socializing which included Ping Pong and Four-Square. We left early because our trip to France would begin the next day. Wednesday the plan was to travel south through the Cotswold’s to Stonehenge and then to Portsmouth to catch our ferry, which departed at 11 p.m. We planned on some cross country traveling to catch the essence of the Cotswold’s and then to hit Cirencester and Bath before heading towards Stonehenge. We had to get to Stonehenge before 4 p.m. as that was the winter closing time. Our trip through the Cotswald’s was very pleasant. Seeing the distinctive architecture of the area was interesting. And we dove past a pig farm, which required a stop and much picture taking. At Cirencester, we toured the museum there and learned about the large Roman presence in the area. Then it was off the Stonehenge, wondering if we’d make it on time. We did, barely. We were among the very last there and were essentially chased off the site as time and daylight ran out. Very, very interesting. The British park ranger had a wealth of information and he shared it with us in the time available. I guess that seeing Stonehenge must be on bucket lists somewhere, so check that one off. We were all glad to have visited. Then it was on to Portsmouth, and – due to the Stonehenge closing time – we were plenty early for the ferry. We found a waterfront shopping/mall area with a nice restaurant (Nando’s) and had a nice dinner. We then spent some time in an amusement area and it was off to the ferry. We loaded aboard at about 10:30 and checked in to our cabins. Austere but nice. The ferry trip was not completely smooth; the ship rolled a fair amount, but we all got some sleep and arrived in France mostly refreshed. We got behind in loading up the car to be ready when the signal was given to drive off the ship, creating some memorable moments in stress but they were soon forgotten with some good laughs. But, speaking, of forgotten, that described what happened to Benjamin’s travel bed, as it didn’t make the car in our scramble to disembark. For Thursday, we had planned travelling from LeHavre to Bayeux to check in out our hotel, and then driving on the Le Mont St. Michel, but we realized that was too ambitious. We adjusted our schedule to include breakfast at a highway stop on the way to Bayeux and then to check in and rest at the hotel. Le Hotel de Bayeux is a three star accommodation in easy walking distance to the center of town where there is the Cathedral and the Tapestry Museum. After checking in we took a tour of the town and the cathedral, then took a brief rest, then drove to Omaha Beach. We went to the American Cemetery there just as it closed, but did get to view it until politely ushered out by the security crew. All those crosses and Stars of David – powerful. Then it was off to Pointe du Hoc in the fading light of the day. The place still has the concrete emplacements and the numerous bomb craters. Imposing. We returned late and looked for a place to eat. We found an Italian Restaurant that had good food and wasn’t too French-formal for Benjamin and the rest of us. We didn’t have any problem sleeping that night (or the next). Now a bit on the hotel. Le Hotel de Bayeux had something like 30 rooms. It was run by Mereille, and she was nice: very helpful in pointing out things to see and places to go. We had previously communicated by e-mail and had an understanding on price for two double rooms with daily breakfast. When we arrived we were the only guests (as there is very little tourism going on in January and February and many of the museums and hotels are closed during this time. She upgraded our rooms considerably at no extra cost. The hotel had free Wi-Fi and a dining area where we could even bring in our own food to eat. Breakfast was continental: cereal, bread, croissants, jelly, butter, juice, coffee, milk, cheese, and yogurt. During our stay some guests did arrive, but probably no more than eight rooms were occupied at any one time. Friday was Le Mont St Michel. The travel time from the hotel was under 90 minutes; the French roads were very good. Le Mont St. Michel had to be on everyone’s top three of the visit. We climbed to the abbey, paid our admission, and also paid for headsets that provided a narrative for our self-guided tour. The headsets were invaluable, and added a whole lot to our understanding of the layout and functioning of the cathedral and related rooms. While there, we took in another packed lunch. Bonnie’s sandwich-making ability using local breads and cheeses and butter and meats was outstanding. Benjamin had the distinction of being photographed by numerous Japanese tourists. On the way back we visited St. Mere Eglise (the town where American paratrooper John Steele got his parachute caught on the church steeple and he played dead for two hours while hanging there) and the Airborne Museum also there. The artifacts were awesome, the parachutes-and-arms-reaching-to-the-sky metalwork was stirring. There was a good movie that was part of the museum and the museu had a C-47 transport plane and a Waco glider. Both very interesting. Dinner was again at the Italian Restaurant in the main area of Bayeux. Saturday was the Tapestry Museum at Bayeux. It is famous for its embroidery, 70 meters long, made in the 11th century. It celebrates the conquest of England by William, Duke of Normandy. We learned that the linen canvas was probably embroidered by monks in the south of England after the Battle of Hastings on October 14th, 1066. The admission charge included an audio tour that commented on the tapestry, panel by panel, and a movie that reinforced the tapestry message and gave some background on the events of the time. Maybe also a top three of our Tour de France. After a quick shopping stop for souvenirs and some food for our trip, we made a quick visit to Gold Beach at Arromanches, site of one of the Mulberry floating harbors. The remnants are visible today. Then it was off to Le Havre for the ferry ride back. We arrived at the port uneventfully and boarded at 4:30 p.m. The trip would take 5 ½ hours and arrive in Portsmouth at 9:30 p.m. Because of the schedule, we didn’t book cabins for this leg, andf instead ran from the car once it was parked on the ferry deck and established ourselves in some space in the lounge. We found that Benjamin’s travel crib was in the ship’s lost and found, so we retrieved it and set it up. The crossing was a bit rough and some people on board were seasick, but we all did well, and even had a nice dinner aboard. The trip from Portsmouth to Birmingham was 2 ½ hours, and we made it just fine except for a bird or something hitting the windshield, and cracking it. But the car was drivable and we were all in bed at Selly Oak by around 1:15 a.m. Sunday was mostly a rest day Robert gave us a campus tour of UB that included the Student Guild building, the athletic fields where two vigorous games of field hockey were being played, the student Rec Center, and an arts building that housed a very nice collection of paintings, including a Monet. The day concluded with dinner at a local curry restaurant. Monday was the trip to the airport for the flight back. Unfortunately we ended up in ferocious traffic and missed the plan by five minutes. They closed the boarding gate and were unsympathetic to our pleas. Well, that required re-boooking and some more pleading, but gave us a chance to get an insider's tour of the UB campus, which was very interesting. The next morning we departed very, very, very early and made the flight well on time. Our trip back was uneventful and Anne was there to pick us up at the airport. Postscript: Natalie put together a very nice Snapfish album with photos and a narrrative that we treasure - good memories. |