What does the second turn at round about mean??

4/29/09

Today was primarily a travel day.  Left early Tuesday  morning from SFO and arrived in Heathrow at 9:30 am  on Wednesday.  After retrieving our bags we staggered out to the Hertz car rental to pick up our car.  It was a beautiful sunny day .  Both Daph and I were impressed by the  different models of  Fords that are here.  Just as we were about to drive off in our new Ford Murano rental car we noticed that the driver side mirror was held onto the car with a plastic zip tie.  Definitely not something we wanted to have to deal with.  After talking to the manager we got an Audi A4 for the same price and were off.  Only later did we realize that we had left a computer power charger behind  in the  Ford.

Original Capital of England

But getting out of the car rental agency was only part of our little adventure.  The next part involved circling Heathrow five or six times to the sound of our navigation system saying  “recalculating route” over and over as I missed turn after turn.  So many cars on the wrong side of the road!!  What sort of directions are second turn on the round about??

Eventually we stopped circling around Heathrow and got on the M25 highway and were on our way to Winchester where Michael and live.

Michael and Rachel’s place is really cute with lots of character.  Back garden,  back wall of windows, great colors inside and lots of great pictures. -- all in a great location walking distance to everything in Winchester.

Michael was nice enough to lead us over to our hotel.  Rather than toke a nap right away Daph and I decided that it would be better to tough it out till at least 6 pm before we went to sleep.

Winchester is a cool little town that is well worth a visit.  Apparently it was the capital of England at one time and it has lots of  charm.  There are little local pubs, shops, old buildings and a Cathedral right in town that take you back in time.  After finding the two main historic streets and looking around a  bit we went for some fish and chips and a beer at one of the local pubs.  Nice open place that, as luck would have it, were celebrating the “Real Ale” festival.  Some Real Travel involving some Real Ale what could be better J  The  pub was very friendly.  We picked out our table and then went to the bar tender to get our beer and order some food.  I had noticed a little number stamped on our table and sure enough he asked me what table I was sitting at so  they could deliver the food.  A very efficient system that worked very well.  Unfortunately with only a few hours between us, we didn’t last very long in the pub.  In fact, we didn’t  even finish our beers -- I could hear Michael saying “boo” in the back of my head as we walked out of the pub with two ¾ full beers still on the table -- but it was 6 pm and it was time to sleep!!

4/30/09

Woke up at 7 feeling well rested.  Today is our day for touring Winchester.  Very typical English weather this morning with a drizzle but we came prepared with rain jackets and an umbrella so we are good.

Winchester is a great little town with lots of history.  We started off having coffee and croissants at a small café.  We got a great table on the second floor with a bay window that looked up and down the old town street.  After coffee we headed over to the City Museum.  It is one of the oldest museums outside of London and is dedicated to the history of  Winchester.  Winchester is more than 2000 years old.  It was taken over by the Romans and then later the Saxons.  The museum was worth while and gave us a good sense for Winchester.

After the museum we went to the Cathedral   The crypt in the Cathedral was flooded when we were there and the tower tour wasn’t till Saturday so we spent our time on the main floor.  Nice stained glass and lots of  beautiful stone work   One of the more interesting things was a book with the names of  the soldiers (presumably local people) who died in World War I and II.

Then it was off to the Vine Pub for a beer, soup, fresh bread and some fried sauges and potatoes.  Really nice little pub that you can stay at.  Michael had this place at the top of his recommendation list but I wasn’t able to book the nights we were after so we ended up at our current hotel (which is nice as well)

After lunch we headed up to the Great Hall where King Arthur’s round table is kept.  {Or at least that is what they claim}  The Great Hall is the only remains of what was once a huge castle where the King of England lived .  The table is made of 24 oak pieces and weighs more  than 1 tone.  The names of  the knights are inscribed at their appropriate locations and the stained glass windows for the hall have the various knights shields all around.

Later that night we headed over to Michael and Rachel’s for dinner.  Michael’s work friends Michael, Lee and Desmond came  as well so it was a really fun group.  .  We shared some stories, good food and wine.  Really fun time!!

5/1/09

Up at 7 after a so, so sleep.  Jet lag still giving us a hard time.  We are meeting Lee, Michael and Desmond for breakfast at the pub they are staying at.  No they are not sleeping on the floor of the pub it is more like a B&B with a pub on the main floor.  In fact, the one they are staying at (the Old Vine) is the nicest one in town.  Met Michael, Lee and Desmond and had a great breakfast together.  Really nice people.

After breakfast we went to the free internet library/café and spent a couple of hours catching up on emails etc.  Then we were off to take in some more sights and practice our photography.  Sadly many of my photos from the day did not turn out due to a new glass protective lens  that I put on the camera when we landed.  I guess it is better to find out prior to Rome and Venice though.

(Daph was able to get a new power supply for her lap top -- we are pretty sure it was left behind at Hertz but since they haven’t been answering their phone it is hard to say for sure)

We went on a tour of Winchester College.  It is the oldest boys continually running school  in England.  It has been in operation for more than 700 years and is still in operation today.  It was originally set up to provide poorer children that showed promise an opportunity to be educated and eventually become priests.  there are 70 Scholars’’  and 630 regular students. (boys private high school really)   In the old days if the students did not learn they were whipped.  The college itself is completely self contained.  Since the water from the nearby river Itchen was not safe to drink the boys were allowed to drink 3 ½ pints of beer a day.  In fact, there is a brewery right on the campus.  They also used to have their own crops and live stock within the confines of the campus.  During the famine the college would be attached two or three times a year as people broke in trying to get food.  When you go into the dining hall  you can see the bars that pulled across to lock the heavy wooden doors to protect themselves.  They still use the original wooden tables in the dining hall and even eat diner off the same square wooden blocks (literally a square of wood)  This is where the saying “a good square meal” came from.  Not surprisingly the school is very conservative and boys are required to go to church each morning for half an hour.  Today boys from all over the world attend the school and paying $30k a year to attend.  They still have 70 scholars that are on scholarship.

After the tour we wandered around the side streets around the college.  Beautiful little cottages and town houses in narrow cobblestone streets.  Really like stepping back in time.

After a little shopping and a coffee we headed back to the hotel.  Soup for diner in the room and early to bed.

(sadly many of my photos did not turn out due to a new protective lens that I was trying out - made all the pictures blurry - have taken it off the camera now)

5/2/09

Did a little exploring outside of  Winchester  today.  First we drove down to the new forest and ended up in Southampton  by mistake.  Interesting to see what the place is like - very nice upscale homes in the new forest.

From there we headed north to Alfersdson to take the steam train.  The steam trains (there are two) have been renovated by 100 or so volunteers.  They run on a 10 mile stretch of track with 4 renovated stops along the way.  Each stop is dedicated to a different era.  Pre WWII, post WWII, 19060’s ….. The entire ride takes 1 ½ hours and goes through some really nice stretches of country side.  …..  Great time…..

That night we went  to the Bishop on the Bridge pub.  Really nice little pub with a great outdoor garden (patio) right beside the fast flowing Itchen river.  Michael and several of his close friends joined us.  John, Mark, Gavin, Eric, Matt (Rachels brother).   Desmond, Live and Michael were also there.  Really good group with some really interesting conversations…..From there we went to a pizza place in the old district.  By about 10:30 we were starting to feel jet lagged not to mention the effects of trying to drink with a bunch of Englishmen.

5/3/09

Today is Michael and Rachel’s big day.  At  10:30 we met Michael and the groomsman at Michael’s house to follow them to the wedding location.  All of the guys were great and really working hard to help out.  Since Michael and Rachel had organized their own wedding they had lots of tasks but Michael had it in control with a spread sheet detailing everyone’s duties - even telling them when they should hold his hand

Michael looked great.  He had striped pants, a vest, a rope tie and a flowered shirt on.  He had done some research online to find a place that made cool flowered dress shirts and had found a small shop in London.  He drove into London to get the shirt (roughly 2 hour drive)   His shirt looked great,  suited him perfectly, was very creative and was a clue to things to come.

Once all the cars were loaded up we followed them through some beautiful English country side passing by large fields of yellow rape seed, old English farm houses and hedge lined.  When we arrived at the barn - as they had called it - we were blown away by how beautiful it was.  Apparently a barn has existed at that particular location for more than 700 years since its location makes it an ideal collection point for the area.  While the existing stricture is not 700 years old it has been there for several hundred as Michael put it - very different sense of old versus the States.

Inside Michael and Rachel had a very elegant, country chapel set up on one side of the barn with large flowered tables on the other side.  As we walked in the door we noticed a series of photos of Michael and Rachel in gold wooden frames.  The pictures ranged from each of their child hoods to them as a couple.  Each picture had a unique label on it that suited the picture.  Titles like “Surfer Dude or Rock Star” and “First Kiss”.    In the middle of the photos were hand written table arrangements that were matched to each table.  We were at the “Eligible Bachlor?” table which was a very cute picture of Michael as a child.  Each table had a little binder on it with a the corresponding table photo.  Our table had the same large “Eligible Bachalor?” photo.  Later in the evening when we were seated at our table we opened the binder and discovered that Michael and Rachel had written a small paragraph introducing each person at the table.  Very thoughtful, creative and fun way to introduce everyone at the table while at the same time expressing some very nice feelings about each person at the table.  Really fantastic idea that added to our evening.

The wedding ceremony was charming, simple and loving.  Michael and Rachel had each prepared a love letter for each other that was read aloud to everyone there.  Honest, loving, humorous letters that touched everyone there.  The whole time they had beautiful music echoing through the building.  After the ceremony everyone moved outside for champaign and pims & lemonade.  It was a nice sunny day and we talked to other people there with farm fields one side and a stone barn on the other.  While we were enjoying our drinks they set up the bbq’s and started to grill a variety of meets for everyone.  After a while we made our way over to the bbq and selected our food and we moved inside to eat.  They had moved the chapel style seating out and set up all the tables.  Each table had a gorgous flower arrangement consisting of sunflowers, ivy and a variety of country flowers.  Beautiful, elegant and charming.  Everyone  there had a hand made  envelop that contained several sunflower seeds.  Inside was a note from Michael and Rachel saying that we could choose to eat the seeds or to plant them and let them grow in our gardens.  Again very creative and charming.

In England the best man does more of a roast than a speech.  Michael had two best men, John and Mark.  Both great guys and long time friends of Michael’s.  John was chosen to do the speech - he claims that he lost the coin flip and, therefore, was the one that had to do the speech.  However, after hearing him speak  we suspected that he was choosen for his abilities.  Excellent fun speech that everyone enjoyed.

After dinner was over Rachel and Michael had their first dance.  Michael had changed his shoes to some funky running shows and Rachel came out in a very cute red dress.  They did a fun dance that involved lots of spinning, arm throwing.   I don’t recall ever seeing Michael being able to dance like that in Santa Cruz and Daphne and suspect he had some training from Rachel  It was a lot of fun and kicked off a fun party that lasted till things had to close up at 11pm

Michael and Rachel amazing individuals that are truly in love with each other and make a beautiful couple.  Daphne and I had an amazing time and were really honored to be part of Michael and Rachel’s wedding.

It would have been a great trip if we had headed home after the wedding but tomorrow we are on to the second phase of our little adventure and head off to Rome.