All Good Things Come to an End

Sunday December 23, 2007

A foggy morning with a bit of weak sunlight filtering down saw us heading out for one last walk with Guinness before our departure. There is a manor house, Gorhambury, on a private estate just a couple of blocks from the house. The locals are permitted to walk the roadway and thus we were able to wander near the grazing sheep, free from traffic, with just the sounds of the church bells ringing on a Sunday morn.





Now it was time to head to the rail station one last time. Goodbye to St. Albans.



Cora and CW accompanied us into London and left us as we entered the tube system for our hour ride to Heathrow airport. As always, tears on my part as we had to bid them farewell. How can we thank you both enough for the fantastic week we had with you and for all the wonderful places you went with us?

For quite awhile, the tube runs underground as it wends its way through London, but once in the suburbs, the tracks come above ground. We were less than thrilled to see how foggy it had become! The day seemed to be improving weatherwise in St Albans as we were leaving. What happened?! The usual airport security measures (alot more thorough in England) were followed after unloading our luggage at the ticket counter. As always, there is alot of time to spend awaiting flights, but I indulged in a Chanel purchase and Michael finally got his fish and chips!

Since this whole area is windowless, we only got to see how dense the fog had become once we were at the gate. Now I understand the term, pea-soup fog! We could barely see the plane housed at the next gate and after awhile that visibilty disappeared too! Our plane was not even at the gate, but standing somewhere in the nether regions of the tarmac! A motorcoach was brought for the over 300 people awaiting to board and thus began the slow process of loading a few at a time, driving out to the plane and then returning for the next group. Our departure was delayed 2 hours because of this. I really do not know how the pilot managed to take off. CW said that later the airport was closed down because of the severe fog.

It was an uneventful flight home, with another palatable meal. This time I watched the latest Harry Potter flick. As we approached Newark airport I realized that we were not attempting to land. The pilot announced that it was 60 degrees and a severe thunderstorm was occuring! Oh indeed it was! We jounced around the sky as lighting flashed all around us! Finally we were able to land, but obviously much later than expected. So, we experienced every kind of weather there is on our two flights!

Once on the ground, life improved. We again were quite tired, but our luggage popped out early; no one wanted to inspect anything; the passport control officer did a quick look and then greeted us with, "Welcome home"! So, we retrieved our car and proceeded to drive 3 hours home to our own bed!! Again we owe sincere thanks to our friends, the Northups, for shoveling away the results of 2 big snowfalls--a dry driveway awaited us. The end, fini, that's all she wrote, folks!

Sights, Sounds and Smells of St Albans

Saturday December 22, 2007

It was a cloudy, damp start to the day and indeed as we four made our way through the cathedral parklands on our way to the weekly market at St Peters St, it began to drizzle. This was the first percipitation encountered all week and it really did not amount to much, just droplets clinging to our outerwear.

The market is an outdoor affair offering everything one could possibly want and/or need and then some! We were greeted by a group of carolers under the ancient town clock tower offering up seasonal hymns.



After obtaining the neccesary produce for the feast to follow, we returned home.
The turkey dinner was started and then we took Guinness to the local park for a good romp. This would be the extent of his exercise this Saturday--no walking all over former stomping grounds were in the plans for today.





From the park, we could see St Albans cathedral through the mist.



In the park there is a building housing the remains of a roman floor from the ancient days when this area was known as Verulamium.



Upon entering the house after our walk, we were assailed with the delicious aromas wafting from the kitchen! We then settled in with mulled cider and snacks and enjoyed our early Christmas celebration. Merry Christmas, one and all!!





The turkey dinner tasted as good as it had smelled! We then did a web-cam with Sharon and Conrad. The eight hour time difference had precluded this happening earlier in the week. What a wonderful ending to a fabulous week! Just too bad that it had to end!

All Around the Town

Friday December 21, 2007

A cloudy, chilly day today, but undaunted, Mike and I set out at our usual time, a little before 9 a.m. for our walk to the rail station. I took pictures today of the route so as to later recall the charming look and feel to the streets.



Our first stop upon arriving in London, was to return to Harrods department store. On Monday it had been later in the day and the store was quite crowded. We wanted to really see the famous Food Halls where just about everything from the mundane to the ultra exotic can be purchased. It was a fun place to poke around without the jostling shoppers. We picked up a bit of lunch for later while there. The Egyptian escalator and enclosed hall are really fascinating to see, with elaborately carved and embossed ceilings, walls, flooring etc. Unfortunately no picture taking is permitted in Harrods, so no chance for a photo op. While there, we looked around a couple of the seasonal sections of the store as well.

Realizing that the time was right to try for another chance at viewing the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham, we hied back to the appropriate tube stop, walked through Green Park and fortuitiously found places along the side fence of the palace grounds! Thus we were able to see what we had missed transpiring when there on Monday.





Thrilled to have had the opportunity to see the whole ritual, we walked back through Green Park, munching on our baguettes as we went along. Today Green Park tube station was the site for the random display of Metropolitan Police security with sniffing dogs and heavily armed personnel. Our next destination was Covent Garden.
This was our first encounter with having to use lifts to return to street level, as the tube station is 15 stories below ground level! Exiting, we found the streets abuzz with holiday shoppers and yes, more of the "living statues" and street entertainers. Gone are the flower marts of Eliza Doolittle's day, now covered arcades contain vendors selling from tables as well as lovely shops and restaurants along the walls.





After a quick look at this fascinating scene (no lingering to buy anything--Harrods had done us in!), we returned to the tube and the lift, heading for Russell Square.
Not doing the British Museum justice (one could spend days exploring it all), we made our way to some of the highlights offered for viewing, including the Rosetta Stone.





Continuing on our marathon day, we returned to the tube and headed for Leicester Square, a bit like New York City's Time Square, with the bustle of theater ticket sellers. We walked down Charing Cross Rd for a couple of blocks and then into the National Gallery. Not having alot of time left, we chose to view the 18th-early 20th century paintings. Took a late day shot of Trafalgar Square from the perspective of the portico of the Gallery.



Still had one more place to get to for a possible photo op and so from the Gallery, we headed up Haymarket St, past some theaters, to Piccadilly Circus. Mike succeeded in capturing the famous Eros statue in the center of the circle, but unfortunately some blue construction wall obscured the full effect.



By 7 p.m. we had arrived home, having walked through the fog (cool), only to discover that we were unable to get the front door lock to work! Knowing that Cora and CW were not too far behind us (whatever did we do before mobiles!), with packages from the day in hand, we proceeded to the Six Bells pub, the one close pub we had not frequented yet. As always, the place was packed with local citizenry.
Once CW came for us, we settled into an evening of dinner and conversation--lovely!