Day 6

Monday May 30, 2022

Today was a day of travel again. I can't remember whether I mentioned that James had gone (either Saturday or Sunday) up town to Windsor & Eton Central Station and bought train tickets to Bournemouth. He also got a printout of the timetable. We were supposed to start at 10:05 am but our connection in Slough was only 3 minutes and James was worried that this might be tight not knowing to which platform we had to hurry.

We were ready in good time so decided to go early and see whether we could take an earlier train. We only had one suitcase to drag up this time and were in good timing. Time to say good-bye to Jane. See you in a week. The train just arrived, we got in and were on our way. I tried to take a photo of the castle but was not successful from the moving train. If you know the area you know where it is in this picture. But ... not good. I find it always exciting being on the train and seeing it ... coming or going.

About 6 minutes to Slough. Ha-ha, we didn't know that the connection was on the same platform but on the other side. It would have been no problem. Again we caught an earlier train. No long wait but enough time to discover this special waiting room. Very special wall paper. So unexpected.

About 25 minutes to Reading. We had now accumulated about an 1hour. Our next train left at 10:52 am. We had a good walk-about. The train was quite fancy with WiFi. People around us were very friendly and chatty. Punctual at 12:13 pm we arrived in Bournemouth and David waited to pick us up. 

Lunch time, discussion about our arrangements for tomorrow, family chat. At 2:30 Kate suggested though a walk at the beach. We had not been to this beach before and of course it was interesting and fun. Their son Jim came too. He works for the school system and they have spring break right now. 

A surprising number of people was there and some even in the ocean. Children digging in the sand. Some of the huts were open and fun to look into while walking past. Those huts have incredible value, some as much as a little house for us in the US. 

Jim pointed out the goats on the slopes which are the living lawn mowers. 

A part of the path went through lots of these yellow blooming bushes. So pretty.

That walk was just great and what we needed. So much sitting today.

Back at the house we worked on arrangements for our vacation again. Tomorrow Kate, David, James and I are flying to Ireland for a week. All sounded so simple in the beginning. They booked the flight to Dublin and back for the 4 of us at a very reasonable price with Ryan Air. Unfortunately since then there were stumbling blocks several times. 

James and I were supposed to find the house to rent which turned out a bit more difficult too. All airbnb seemed to be already taken. Finally we got lucky and are looking forward to it. Realizing that we can't use our smart phone GPS in Ireland without wifi I take photos of the route description because we can look at the photos while driving. Ha-ha, there is always a plan B. 

Then it was dinner time. David had cooked a most delicious meal on the grill for 8.

Their daughter Jo with her girls Catherine and Olivia had come to visit with us. It was so nice to see all. We had lively talks and a lot of fun.

We even did a little bit of facetime with William because he had just texted to me.

This is the "original" Tuffy and I sent the photo to Caleb.

When they needed to leave we had to see them off. Catherine had just received her drivers license and was driving home.

 Ah, I hope this beautiful sky is a good omen for tomorrow.

Day 5

Sunday May 29

A cold and dreary day. Service was at 10 am and this time at All Saints. Windsor has 4 churches in short distance to each other who take turns hosting the activities with the same priest. 

James and I had never been in this church and it was very good for us. After the service I took some photos. Of course there was also coffee time in the parish hall. 

On the way home we saw people decorating their street. Lots of people all over England are having street parties in their neighborhoods for the Queen's Platinum Jubilee. The mood in the country is amazing. When we passed the people we all laughed because the bunting was just a little too short. They tried to figure out from where to where to tie it. 

Jane's house. We always enjoy strolling through her garden.

Jane had just come back from a trip herself so we didn't want her to cook. It seems also to be a tradition by now to go to Bexley Arms for Sunday lunch. We also had invited a long time family friend who is now a widower. 

The others all had beef roast with Yorkshire pudding. I had lamb roast. Don't really care for the Yorkshire pudding. The veggies and roast potatoes are family style. And Jane always asks for extra gravy. It was very nice.

Ha-ha, when (ordering) I asked what the soup of the day was, Jane announced that she was having dessert. Yes, better choice. Three Knickerbocker Glory and one Treacle sponge.

We spent a little more time in the garden but it was a cold day.

Nevertheless we needed some walking. James and I went up the town. Couldn't resist these flowers.

And look at the efforts of this baker.

All the way to Eton Bridge and than back along the river. 

Got our steps for the day which felt good. We watched a program narrated by the queen about private photos and movies. James and Jane were remembering going to London for the coronation. 

We also had to spend time sorting our luggage because tomorrow we leave with only 1 suitcase (Ryan Air rules). Stay tuned.

Day 4

Saturday May 28

About our accommodations : Ruby Lucy Hotel is located in a very convenient place for us.  It has been great to just walk about.  The manager and staff are very friendly and helpful. A pleasure. The decor is cute. Our room looks modern, especially the glass box shower/bathroom  (I should have taken a photo). The only complaint: not a single drawer or even shelves in the room.  Got to live out of the suitcase. The best thing: this coffee/tea station across from the elevator along the hallway with instant boiling hot water and recyclable cups which you can hold without burning your hands. We used the same the whole time before throwing them away when we left. Super!

When we were basically done packing we wondered about breakfast. Yes, on weekends they seem to have a breakfast buffet. Not cheap but very nice.

And off we go to Waterloo Station around the corner.

We bought tickets at a ticket office not from a machine. Electronicly we could see which train we should take. We had to wait a little until it showed which platform to go to.

Every where around us were young people dressed up. With us waited a group of young men in roman togas, gold olive head bands etc.

Opposite in the train this couple was a meermaid and a deep sea diver. They told us that they were all going to a special rugby game in Twickenham. There were a several stops and the train ended up crammed full especially just at the doors. 

The train ended were we wanted to go: Windsor & Eton Riverside Station, perfectly on time at 12:13 pm. Public transport is so easy here.

It was easy to pull the suitcases to Jane's house but as expected she wasn't there yet. We couldn't make the door lock key box work so we left a note saying: in one of the two pubs. 

Anybody in the family would know what that means. We decided to take the suit cases with us as it wasn't far and just around the corner. 

Vansittart Arms has improved their garden setting very much since we were here last. James has gone inside to get us a beer. 

We had just sat down when two young men arrived. One took a photo of the other at the tree next to us with Union Jack buntings and I asked whether they would like a photo of both of them. Well, that started a long chat. They pulled chairs to our table and we laughed a lot. Another friend of theirs arrived. They insisted of buying another drink for us and we all had fun. 

Time went fast until Jane arrived and sat down with us. More friends of theirs arrived and they gathered at another table. When we left we said good-bye and well-wishes and took a group photo. The young man on the right they called Ari had a birthday today and said he was starting chapter 43. 

Ben next to him (39) said life was about meeting people like us. He was worried about the world at the moment. He could be pulled into millitary service if worst comes to worst.

Jane had to make a stop so gave us the key. Arrived!

Jane told us about her walk in Wales with all the steep ups and downs. Like magic she produced lunch and dinner. Most important: she knows how much we like rhubarb which she had just plucked in her garden while we watched. 

Rhubarb compote with hot custard. We have arrived in England! Thank you, Jane! You know me.

Day 3

Friday May 27

We slept very soundly and couldn't believe that it was already 8 am when we woke up. I went to the tea/coffee station down the hall opposite the elevator and made our first cup of tea we usually have. That station was excellent with instant hot water and excellent throw-away cups which were so good that we used them again the whole time. You didn't burn yourself carrying them.

We had to hurry a little and went without breakfast because we were not really hungry.

We had those tickets for the British Museum for 10:30 am and set off to make our way across the Waterloo Bridge. More lovely views from there.

When we finally reached the museum we could not believe the queue all along the fence to the gate and more inside to the tent to search bags. We thought we could just go to the gate since we had tickets and the website had said to better get them because there could be a line but were told it didn't make a difference.

It didn't actually take too long.

The reason why we wanted to go to this museum was a movie we had seen some time ago. I had written about it in this blog HERE!

So room 41 was were we went first. We were not disappointed. Just awesome what was found. So interesting. Really a must see.

Soon we found though that we were still dehydrated and not having had breakfast was catching up with us. We found this cafe (photo taken later from the stairs going up) and got a sandwich we shared and 2 bottles of water which we kept when empty and kept refilling them. A couple sat opposite of us on the long table and we started chatting. It was a very lively discussion and very funny. But finally it was time to continue.

We were back to room 41 but oh, there was so much to see on the way to it.

Like this Royal Game of Ur from 2600-2300 BC.

Or this little bronze figure (about 2 or 3 inches) from AD 100-200.

I took a lot of photos and had a difficult time to decide which ones to include here. I think whatever I do will not explain it anyway.

Of course a lot of the items found had partly decayed and several items were replicas. It was very impressive how archiologists can figure out how something used to be. In this photo fragments on the wall show parts of the chain which was found from which they recreated the item.

As with many items in the museum it is so impressive what people used to make with the tools they used to have at their time.

When we decided we were on 'brain overload' we still had to stop and marvel at things while on the way out. This is a medieval chess set which was carved walrus ivory and whale teeth (I don't know when). I was happy to read that the ivory used was from collected tusks from long dead anymals. 

It was after 1 pm when we finally had left and felt very dehydrated, something we did about across the street.

When we walked further we couldn't pass a pub which advertised real British cooking. And yes, it was. James' fish and chips was how I remembered it should be and my beef ragout pie was piping hot as it should be and delicious.

Picadilly Circle

The way to Buckingham Palace was being decorated for the Platinum Jubilee Celebration.

This is how far we were allowed to walk to it.

The walk back through St. James's Park was lovely. But an icecream from a little hut and a bench next to the pond was just the thing.

At the edge of the Park we came to .....

Honestly, we had walked a lot and were a bit tired. A good thing to do was to take a boat ride on the Thames. We were so lucky with the weather all this time. Westminster Pier!

We went further than Tower bridge and stopped at another pier to let passengers off/on.

We saw that some buses, cars and pedestrians had stopped on the bridge before the towers on each side. That means that the bridge was going to open for a bigger ship to go through. 

But there was no big (high) ship and the bridge only opened a little and then closed right away. I thought there must have been a malfunction. Ha-ha, quite entertaining though.

When we were off the boat we changed our plans. Too early to go back to the hotel. More liquid. And may be a little something to eat. We wandered about. This pub was promising. We found something on the menu we would have liked to order ... but they were out of it.

We wandered a little more. It is just so lovely to walk through the streets with lots of pedestrian areas and tables outside. This was an italian restaurant but the people were so nice. A fun place.

James had Pappardelle with wild boar ragout. I had tagliolini crab chili (Devon crab). It was very tasty.

And very unusual for us: we also had dessert. James had tiramisu. 

I could not resist the cannoli I had never had. 

I asked the Italian young server girl how it should be eaten because the spoon just didn't look practical. She said she would use fingers. I think the spoon would have made it hop off the plate. And yes, it was excellent. We discussed our dessert and their dessert with the people on the next table. So much fun.

Yes, it was good.

We made our way back over a different bridge. The Jubilee Bridge.

A lovely view from that bridge. 

It didn't take us long to fall into bed when we had reached to hotel. 22,756 steps!