Trip Day 5 to 6 - now to Christchurch

Monday - I didn't do very good taking photos today. No idea why. May be it didn't look like a very friendly day weatherwise. 

We had to set the alarm clock for this morning. We had to get ourselves ready and pack everything up. And we had to say good-bye to our host Linda. Her "apartment for rent" was just perfect for us. She is so nice and helpful. If you would like to know more about it, feel free to contact me.

Well, as you know Stephen had helped us buy our tickets for the train ride and he brought us this morning to the station so we didn't have to pull our suitcases all the way to it. Thank you, Stephen!

Jane had come too and we marvelled at all the fancy shop windows around there. 

The train came soon though and everything was very easy. Good-bye, Jane, thank you for a lovely time ... like always!

When you change trains you could be lucky to just go from one side of the platform to the other. Most of the time though you have to go down steps, across to another platform and up again. We looked for a lift because of the suitcases. Much easier.

This was the second train. Totally different inside.

The third train, and longest ride, had Free WiFi. I took advantage of it.

But then I neglected to look out of the window. This is Southampton. It has an airport and a harbor. Do you see the large cruise ship? I almost missed it.

When I had seen the water I was wondering and had to look on the map on my phone. Windsor is between Reading and London. 

When we arrived in Bournemouth I looked out of the window and yes, there are Kate and David to pick us up. The train was still moving. Ha-ha, can't believe I really managed to take that photo.

The drive to Christchurch wasn't far and soon they had lunch on the table. The perfect lunch with a delicious hot soup. 

The afternoon went very fast. Of course we had to do a lot of catching up. There son James (Jimmo) came by after work and we had a very nice dinner. Mmh, the selfie is not my best ever. My arm was too short.

David is the pie maker. And this pie has a rhubarb and strawberry filling. Of course the rhubarb is from their own garden. They know how much we like it.

Of course there was custard and cream too.

Tuesday - We had a very good sleep. And there was no hurry in the morning as it was so cold. But the plan had been to just walk about some in the town. There is the old City Hall of Christchurch. 

James and I were succesful making a few purchases and then we walked towards the church they are attending. It was a lovely walk.

This was once a castle and I think that is the River Avon.

We even spied a beautiful heron on the other side.

The walk was purposely to Priory Church, a beautiful building more than 900 years old. This is Kate and David's church and we were fortunate enough to be here too for their two daughter's weddings. 

First we were treated to a coffee in the cafe and I made a purchase at the gift store. Of course we had a look around and I took some photos.

The organ was being tuned while we were there.

At the Side Chapel was a new addition of a small organ which David had helped to place.

The backside looked very interesting. 

The main altar has a very impressive reredos but I could not find out how old it is.

Back at the house we had lunch and warmed up again. Of course we played cards too. 

But before dinner we had to get on the computer and buy the tickets for Thursday's bus ride to Heathrow. This time I managed a bit better. The "foreign request" to pay was a bit of an issue again but after requesting a code from our bank all was good. To be honest, I think there is good in this security. We all know what can happen.

Gosh, ha-ha, late out of bed and late in too. But when you don't see each other that often you have to make the most of it. And we certainly have a lot of memories to talk (and laugh) about.

Trip Day 4 - Windsor on Sunday

It seems to be winter here. In the morning the temperature was only 41’ degrees or so and it is not supposed to get higher than 50. In the sun and out of the wind I took this photo of these siblings. Jane is #1, James is # 2 and Stephen is #5. 

Stephen had to go to work but Jane lead us to the 10 am service in good time. The 4 churches in Windsor have joined together and Sunday services are rotated. Today it is in the Parish Church up the town. Next week it would have been in “our church .

Music came from a real pipe organ. But this church does not have “holy smoke” every Sunday like St Stephen’s. 

When the service had ended I had to ask myself one question “to take or not to take” a certain photo. In the pews where individual kneelers. When I had pulled mine towards me to kneel I must have pulled a dead mouse with it too because when I pushed the kneeler back there it was. Jane asked what that was at my feet. Yuck! Dried bones and fur. 

On the way too church I had seen this pink t-shirt and really liked the message. Funny. But I had neither card nor cash with me. 

Continuing walking I spotted a future Chrismon (note to myself).

Back at Jane’s we enjoyed some coffee and waited for Bec, Jane and James’ niece. We were so happy to see her because she lives about 2 hours by car to the east and made the special ride to see us. 

So the four of us went to the Bexley Arms for lunch. 

It was a feast. Family style. Veggies for all came first. 

Lamb for Bec and me, beef for Jane and James. With Yorkshire pudding.  My plate before adding the veggies. Jane remembered to ask for mint sauce. 

Yes, such a feast. I always liked English food. 

Bec asked the waitress to take the photo. Good job. 

But don’t forget “pudding” (dessert). We all had something different. 

Finally we left the restaurant and Bec offered to go with me to get that t-shirt, which we did. I had hoped I could get it in a different color but it would have taken a couple of days. I didn’t realize that it was a printing shop. 

Bec had to leave soon. She wanted to be home before dark. The rest of us just chilled, read, played cards, watched some tv. 

When Stephen came back from work he helped us to get the train tickets for tomorrow. It was first another one of those little nightmares. I downloaded the trainline app on my phone and could do everything nicely until it was time to pay. I knew the German card would not work (I think I had talked about that in an earlier blog = new security) but it also did not work with my US card or with Jane’s card. It was my foreign phone. Stephen ended up buying the train ticket on his phone with my credit card and emailed confirmation and e-tickets to me. Goodness, the internet is getting more complicated. But we are all set for tomorrow.

Time to walk 3 doors down to our little apartment and have a good nights sleep. It was a great day again being with family. Thank the Lord.

Trip Day 3 - England/Windsor

Wow, did we have a good sleep! We woke up after 8am and first injoyed some tea. Electrical plugs, appliencies, some things needed to be figured out. 

But finally we made it to Jane again. We could chat a little bit before he had to go to work. 

We chatted but suddenly Jane said "we have to go" and we hurried to the barracks where the soldiers appear to march to the castle for the changing of the guards. First appears the band and behind them the soldiers which do the guarding. 

Jane said, hearing the music without having seen the band, that it will be gurkha guards. The music is always fast because they march fast. 

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It is quite cold at the moment here, so the plan was that once the soldiers disappeared into the castle we would do a little shopping. I was looking for a woolly hat. Opposite the castle entry is the shops with tartan things. I hoped to find a hat with the Wallace tartan. That was James' mother's maidenname.

No luck, but this one fitted nicely and was lovely warm. Did I mention that I had forgotten to pack my hat from home? 

And when the guard changing (inside the castle we could not see) was complete, we listened to the beginning but did not go back to the barracks with them. 

VIDEO

It was interesting though because the guards were from a different regiment and were marching must slower. Amazing, Jane knew all the names and details down to the difference in the uniforms and names of the parts. 

As we were at the top of Peascod Street we walked down. This is a photo I should have taken yesterday, but it doesn't really show the spirit of anticipation. 

Before getting to Jane's house we stopped at the air&b, to be exact to meet the host Linda. She and Jane are very good neighbors. We also met two daughters and one grand-daughter. It was a lovely meeting and we could tell Linda honestly how nice the apartment was. 

Back at Jane's house, we had lunch, played cards, and had coffee. Then we decided to have a walk along the Thames before it would get too cold.

On the way to the river we stopped at St. Stephen's, the church the family has been part off forever. 

I liked the colorful banners. 

The church was empty so we could enjoy it in peace. I had never noticed that the ceiling above the altar area was painted. 

Jane told me that the stained glass windows in the back told the story what the duty of deacons were. 

The statue next to the altar is St. Stephen. Jane told us that the golden stripe on the bottom of his dress shows that he was a deacon.

Jane had to take care of something and we went into a workroom. Looking around I thought these signs were funny. 

We continued to the Thames. There were more water birds, Swans, and Canada geese than people. 

We went to the Eton Bridge and then turned around. See the castle way in the back?

We walked back via the temporary ice ring with some other amusement things. The entry looked fun. It was set up in the Alexandra Gardens.  

We had a peak into the large tent, the ice ring. We enjoyed very much watching the little children pushing around the "penguins". 

After the walk it felt almost like evening already. We just relaxed, had tea and chatted. Later Jane gave us a nice dinner again and we watched some TV about the Royal Family. Stephen had come back from work and joined us too. Nice time.

And now it is time to say "night, night".