Travels With Em - First Full Day in London

Just a quick post from Pax Lodge which is next door to Olave House, one of the 4 Girl Scout World Centers. Em and I are staying here for the first 6 days we are in London. Maybe I can catch up with the previous part of the trip later. Getting computer time is difficult for various reasons.
We are having a hard time getting oriented since I am so directionally challenged. Em is a big help, but not always right so I can't really rely on her. Before we left I bought a London Pass which covers entry fees to almost all the London attractions. I am trying to get everything I can, done before it expires after 6 days. The smartest thing I did , was to buy a London travel pass which allows us unlimited travel on all conveyances in zones 1-6. That just about covers everything. Today we spent a couple of hours looking for a Bicycle Tour Company. Finally found it and they told me they only have one tour a day for card holders and it had already left. That is not quite what the card led me to believe.
Nevertheless, we pressed on. We went to St. Martin's in the Field, did brass rubbings, and toured the National Theater where we were actually on stage for a short while. We sat in the Victoria Embankment Gardens for a band and choir concert by students from Virginia. It was a BIG group.They played and sang right on through the light rain we had. I grabbed a lunch from a nearby shop to eat while Em and I sat in sling-type lawn chairs and enjoyed the rest and the concert. Unfortunately, Em ended up on the ground when the seat of her chair tore. After the Theater tour, we stayed for a while to take in the program put on by an Argentine group. There were some wild dancers and it appeared that things could get a little lovey, so we headed home. We walked over eight miles today, according to my pedometer. No mean feat with a backpack and fanny pack. I felt like the proverbial "bag lady."
Not sure yet what is on the agenda for tomorrow, but we having a good time!

Travels With Em - "Friday 11 July"

"We are holding our Garden Fete and I am looking for some minor celebrity to open it. Would you be available?"

Thus began Colin Dexter's presentation to our group. He called it the "worst letter I ever received."

Colin is a wizened little man who admits to a profound hearing loss. The loss had a pronounced effect on his life, leading him to give up teaching and, eventually, become a writer. He has been quite successful with his "Inspector Morse" novels.A couple of days later, we happened on a filming of one of the Inspector Morse episodes.... right downtown....right in the bookstore where we we were searching. Truth be known, I had never heard of the series before. I believe the man in the pink shirt, on the far right, is the "star."Colin delighted us for an hour with his dry, self-deprecating, British humor and left us wanting more. He willingly answered questions, posed for photographs, and signed books, He admits to being "well past my 'Sell By' date," but exudes a wonderful sense of humor that surpasses age.

After lunch, we boarded the "coach" for an afternoon at the Roald Dahl Museum in Great Missenden. The gates at the Museum are from the film, "Willie Wonka and the Chocolate Factory,"and were donated by the film company.The doors inside, leading to the Museum area, looked, and smelled like a bar of chocolate. It is a delightful, almost magical place where there is a lot of information and encouragement for young writers. The museum told about Dahl's life and there were dozens of interactive displays and informative tips for encouraging young writers. One of the children tries the hands-on exhibit which showed how Dahl set everything up every morning in preparation for his day's work.Dahl's method of designing unique characters was explained and interested participants designed to their heart's content.A short video could be made using ordinary toy animals.
The children had an evening workshop with Helen, leaving the adults free for a couple of hours. Four of us banded together for a brief exploration of downtown Oxford. All the Pubs / Taverns were crowded so it was easy for us to pop in and have a look around. A plaque inside tells the story. Sinclair Lewis, his brother W.H. Lewis, J.R. Tolkien, Charles Williams, and other friends met at "The Eagle & The Child" every Tuesday morning between the years 1930 - 1962 in the back room of this, their favorite, pub. They commonly changed the names of the pubs where they met, calling this one "The Bird and the Babe." These men, popularly known as "The Inklings," met to drink Beer and to discuss, among other things, the books they were writing.This unassuming house was the home of Edmund Halley, a Savilian professor of Geometry 1703 - 1742. He live here and had his observatory in this house. Don't recognize the name? Think, Halley's Comet. The Turf Tavern was built within the old canditch (moat outside the city wall). The town wall was initially raised as part of Alfred the Great's defences against the Danes in the later 9th Century, but was continued in the Middle Ages and would have stretched along the line of New College Lane fronting on the Turf towards Smithgate, at the corner of Castle St. There are very few sections of Oxford's town wall left standing, but the Turf is blessed to have one of the prime examples literally in its back garden. The oldest part of the buildings standing today is the 17th Century, low-beamed, front bar area.

Travels With Em - "Table Service"

Thus far we have only had meals in the hotel - buffet for breakfast and dinner and sandwiches for lunch. The display of silverware at dinner is particularly British, even the children have remarked on it: 3-4 knives, 3 forks, one man-sized spoon, and 1-2 small spoons for dessert and / or coffee. We laughingly told the servers we only needed a knife, fork, and spoon.They just smiled.
I was longing for some iced tea, which the Brits never have so I did just what DH taught me several years ago. I asked for a cup of hot tea poured over ice. The server was astounded.
"You really drink this?" he questioned laughingly.
Em is ordering coffee. I admonished her for it but she told me it was o.k.
"Mommy lets me drink some of hers at breakfast and I drink half of it." That's news to me since I didn't know her Mom even drank coffee.
"Besides that, she drinks two Red Bulls every day!"
I hate to be the big bad monster, but I don't think coffee is healthy for a 10 year old child. Sometimes I can have her substitute hot chocolate. Sometimes she will ask for tea if she can't have coffee. Sometimes I just let her have a half cup of coffee, and fill it with milk. Then she adds 2-3 sugar cubes. Woe is me.....what would you do? I think she is enjoying her freedom and trying to be more mature....in some ways.

Travels With Em - "A Visit to Jericho"

The children stayed behind for an activity and the adults had a field trip to Jericho. Joshua may have "fit the battle of Jericho," but Mark Davies has brought it to life.
Mark, our EH speaker, lives on the Oxford Canal in a "narrow boat." He says he didn't start out to write a book, but became intrigued by the area called Jericho and has spent a great deal of time researching it, interviewing people who have lived in the area a long time and, this year, trying to make a living telling the world about it. He now gives tours and has just released his 3rd book on the area. Check out Oxford Towpath Press.
Mark led us on a tour of Jericho, which was originally an unsavory, red light district, but has been renovated and currently consists mostly of living spaces and shops. You will also find Jericho listed in Colin Dexter's novels.

We meandered along the paths by the Isis (known as the Thames elsewhere in England)., where long, narrow boats lined one side of the Oxford Canal.

Some of the occupants of these boats were at home, while other boats were dark and quiet.

The boat owners pay one fee for plying the waterways and another, depending on the town or area, for mooring. They have coal and fresh water delivered, and sump tanks emptied, by other boats who service the area. It is all very picturesque.

On this particular day, police were, quietly, everywhere and a police tape cordoned off an area where divers were searching the dark, murky waters. One of the boat people was missing.

Travels with Em - Em Update

Helen, the EH staffer in charge of the children, sometimes keeps the children for activities while the adults pursue other avenues. I am not quite sure who benefits more. The children love her, they are bonding, having a great time, and Em couldn't care less where I am. In other words, Em is having a great time and is being very independent. She has become quite friendly with 1-2 other girls and has someone to pal around with. I gave her a key the very first day and she has felt like she is older and ready to take on the world. I have to bring her back to earth occasionally, like when she plays with the ketchup bottle and (accidentally) squirts it into the air and a plop of it lands in my hair.......or when she sticks the bowl of a spoon into her mouth sideways and leaves the handle hanging out on one side, and turns around to show everyone......or when she orders coffee.....

I got her up for a walk the first morning we were here. She did not want to go...dragged her feet....refused...until I suggested we go to take photos of the Dragon School. That is actually the name of the school where the girl who played Hermione, in the Harry Potter film, went to school. That got her out and we managed pretty well except I couldn't keep up with her. Either I am slowing down or she just doesn't want to be seen with me, or both. We managed alright until we headed back to the hotel and she was more anxious to get there than I. She kept running ahead and I kept calling her back. As we got closer to our destination, she got faster, until I saw her heels disappear around a corner. Unfortunately, she was going the wrong way....and going fast. Calling out someone's name on the street with other people around, is not a safe practice, but when I finally got within calling distance, I called her. It took three tries before she heard me. She was standing by a very busy street.
"Well, I wasn't going to cross it," she told me.
I gave her a lecture and we headed back.
There is a fine line between guarding Em's safety and squashing her independence. I hope we can get it resolved here, where the streets are mostly quiet and life is slower.

Travels With Em - "The Sorting"

Our ElderHostel (EH) program is a literary tour of Oxford, England, focusing on the Harry Potter novels. Helen, the EH staff member who works with the children's part of our program, was in charge of "The Sorting." Fortunately, I saw the Harry Potter movie that included "The Sorting," so I knew what was going on.

In the movie, each new student at Hogwartz school, takes a turn sitting in a special chair at the front of the room. A witch-looking hat is placed on the student's head, the Sorting Hat. The talking hat divines the student's attributes and sorts them into different groups, called Houses, at the school. By the light of votive candles sitting on a white-clothed table, our children each took a turn sitting in the chair placed at the front of the room in front of their peers and grandparents. A witch-like hat was placed on their heads in turn, and a voice from the depths of the darkened room announced the group the child would be in. Em is in Fwooper group. Well, it could have been Billywigs or Puffskins.

Travels with Em - "We Arrive"

We arrived at Heathrow Airport in London safely, but not quite uneventfully. With the landing gear lowered and just about to touch down, the pilot suddenly gave a thrust to the engines and we were again ascending at an acute angle. A minute later, with everything under control, the pilot calmly explained that the plane in front of us, on the runway, failed to negotiate the turn off the landing path. Our pilot had to abort the landing.

It was all done so smoothly, that I am sure many did not immediately realize there had even been a problem. I made sure the flight attendant would convey my respects for the pilot's expertise and handling of the plane. I can remember DH's words when there was a discussion about an airline pilot's pay, "I don't ever want my pilot worrying about the cost of his child's shoes while he is flying."