The hardest part about leaving Calgary was knowing that we wouldn’t likely see baby Drew again. When we found out today that he had passed we were left standing in the middle of London in a quiet cluster with our ridiculous shopping bags. Alexa said, “But I will miss Drew!”
We all will miss Drew, but the impression he left on us is forever. Our thoughts are with you always Jordan, Kari and Peyton.
Love the Closes.
Tuesday, September 30, 2008
Some Pics
The kids feeding the swans by the 600 year old bridge.
The kids helping lauch a boat on the river avon.
The 800 year old church.
England at its finest. Billowing rain clouds surrounding a field dotted with sheep.
The kids on the train.
Wall inscritptions at the Tower of London.
Best sign ever. We all laughed ourselves sick at this one. So great.
Love that butcher
It's 11pm and I just came back from the Bidford Courtyard, the centre of town where all the non action is. I was trying to steal someone’s wireless signal so I could post, email, pay bills etc. I was going to do it in London today but Angie in her brilliance suggested we catch the early train back to Stratford because “we’ll get home earlier and besides, Stratford will have internet for sure.” Thanks Ang, you’re the best. Anyways, me and the butcher have got on as they say and so he let me sit in his shop this morning and use his signal. Lovely chap that butcher.
I said we were in London today and we were. The kids informed us last night that they were all “churched out”, which for a Pastor isn’t splendid but they quickly assured me they meant the touring part, not the God part. Phew right. So, despite our longing to tour Westminster Abbey and St.Paul’s Cathedral we axed those plans and instead had a London kid’s day which meant Hamleys all morning, and the interactive Science Museum in the afternoon.
Hamleys is a 7 story high toy village that boasts “the best toys in the world.” Quite the boast but after going there they might be right. I’ve never seen so many toys. We told the kids they could each pick out a toy and the choosing nearly did them in, especially when I gave the 20 min warning. In my defense, they had already been there for 2 hours. They finally managed to choose something and we all walked out thrilled, for different reasons. Maddie got herself a genuine Paddington Bear, who just celebrated his 50th bday this year. I wondered if we should have bought Mr. Paddington a sports car to cruise around in just so everyone knew he was still young. A Barbie too.
Ethan bought a remote control airplane and Lex bought herself a cute baby. After Hamleys the kids let us take them to Westminster Abbey to have lunch in its park right by the river Thames. It was great. The afternoon was spent at the surprisingly shoddy Natural History Museum, and the much better Science Museum.
Today is our last day in England, time flies faster here, 8 hours faster. Speaking of, we’ve totally adapted to the time here which is fortunate. Our plan is to end England strong so we’re going to the Cotswolds, rural England at its finest and most beautiful. It will undoubtedly make for some amazing pictures. Btw – hope you enjoyed the small selection we. That’s like 10 of 600 so be thankful.
We fly to France Wednesday where we’ll live for 18 days. We’ll be even more rural then we were in Bidford but we’re renting a car so hopefully we can get into town and post a few times a week. Thanks to everyone for your continued interest and comments, each comment makes us feel connected but even more importantly, loved.
Thank you!
John
I said we were in London today and we were. The kids informed us last night that they were all “churched out”, which for a Pastor isn’t splendid but they quickly assured me they meant the touring part, not the God part. Phew right. So, despite our longing to tour Westminster Abbey and St.Paul’s Cathedral we axed those plans and instead had a London kid’s day which meant Hamleys all morning, and the interactive Science Museum in the afternoon.
Hamleys is a 7 story high toy village that boasts “the best toys in the world.” Quite the boast but after going there they might be right. I’ve never seen so many toys. We told the kids they could each pick out a toy and the choosing nearly did them in, especially when I gave the 20 min warning. In my defense, they had already been there for 2 hours. They finally managed to choose something and we all walked out thrilled, for different reasons. Maddie got herself a genuine Paddington Bear, who just celebrated his 50th bday this year. I wondered if we should have bought Mr. Paddington a sports car to cruise around in just so everyone knew he was still young. A Barbie too.
Ethan bought a remote control airplane and Lex bought herself a cute baby. After Hamleys the kids let us take them to Westminster Abbey to have lunch in its park right by the river Thames. It was great. The afternoon was spent at the surprisingly shoddy Natural History Museum, and the much better Science Museum.
Today is our last day in England, time flies faster here, 8 hours faster. Speaking of, we’ve totally adapted to the time here which is fortunate. Our plan is to end England strong so we’re going to the Cotswolds, rural England at its finest and most beautiful. It will undoubtedly make for some amazing pictures. Btw – hope you enjoyed the small selection we. That’s like 10 of 600 so be thankful.
We fly to France Wednesday where we’ll live for 18 days. We’ll be even more rural then we were in Bidford but we’re renting a car so hopefully we can get into town and post a few times a week. Thanks to everyone for your continued interest and comments, each comment makes us feel connected but even more importantly, loved.
Thank you!
John
That Church
The best parts of England are unplanned, the parts where you just live your normal life, but in a different place. Any travel book will say as much, but it seems we had to have that lesson burned into our very being. Today we went to service at Bidford upon Avon Church of England (the 800 year old church across the street from us). Have you seen Mr. Bean trying to partake in a Church of England service? That was us. Well John mostly. I’m a blender, I blend. John recites the church passages at the wrong times and goes up front to take a strange and formal communion he’s totally unfamiliar with. John has more fun.
The congregation is mostly made up of older people, a few young families and, strangely, no one in between. I think that being there has finally warmed us to a few of the residents in Bidford, which is nice. At the end of the service one of the Sunday School teachers (who taught the kids about Fair Trade and Malawi- awesome!) got up and welcomed us, giving the kids each a little postcard of the church signed, “Your friends at the Bidford Church”. We were then invited for tea and biscuits at the adjoining hall where everyone asked us different versions of the same question, “Why are you here?” We tried to assure them that Bidford is absolutely beautiful and, yes, we did mean to make it a part of our trip. On purpose. They told us about distant relatives living in Canada- they all knew about Calgary, but no one was familiar with Alberta. Hm.
We were informed of the Jolly Teapot, a time where people gather for a “good old chat” every Thursday morning and someone invited us to pick apples from their full tree. We were given directions to some “lovely walking paths” past our cottage, but before heading out we had a true English lunch at the Bull’s Head, our local pub. Pretty delicious actually. Lamb, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes- all the healthy stuff. We tried to tell the kids to order bangers and mash, but they disappointingly opted for burgers. I asked them if they knew how to spell boring, but they still ordered burgers. Oh well.
Then we headed out past the sheep, a really old sanatorium, a farm and finally, to the canal. I think it’s called a canal, but I’m sure that there’s some boat expert reading this and shaking their heads in disappointment. Maybe bypass this paragraph, boat expert. Just as we were watching, two canal boats came up and opened the gates (?), asking the kids if they wanted to come and help. Of course they did, who doesn’t want to open huge underwater doors and flood an area the size of a small house? He explained to the kids how it all worked (I should have let them write this blog!) and took them through the whole process before jumping back on his little water home and waving goodbye.
Now we’re back in our cozy cottage, with a fire and some coffee, getting ready for a good night’s sleep before we head out to another London day, our last. Which means less strolling and meeting people and more crazy tours and galloping herds of people. Maybe we didn’t learn that lesson after all…
Angie
The congregation is mostly made up of older people, a few young families and, strangely, no one in between. I think that being there has finally warmed us to a few of the residents in Bidford, which is nice. At the end of the service one of the Sunday School teachers (who taught the kids about Fair Trade and Malawi- awesome!) got up and welcomed us, giving the kids each a little postcard of the church signed, “Your friends at the Bidford Church”. We were then invited for tea and biscuits at the adjoining hall where everyone asked us different versions of the same question, “Why are you here?” We tried to assure them that Bidford is absolutely beautiful and, yes, we did mean to make it a part of our trip. On purpose. They told us about distant relatives living in Canada- they all knew about Calgary, but no one was familiar with Alberta. Hm.
We were informed of the Jolly Teapot, a time where people gather for a “good old chat” every Thursday morning and someone invited us to pick apples from their full tree. We were given directions to some “lovely walking paths” past our cottage, but before heading out we had a true English lunch at the Bull’s Head, our local pub. Pretty delicious actually. Lamb, roast beef, Yorkshire pudding, roast potatoes- all the healthy stuff. We tried to tell the kids to order bangers and mash, but they disappointingly opted for burgers. I asked them if they knew how to spell boring, but they still ordered burgers. Oh well.
Then we headed out past the sheep, a really old sanatorium, a farm and finally, to the canal. I think it’s called a canal, but I’m sure that there’s some boat expert reading this and shaking their heads in disappointment. Maybe bypass this paragraph, boat expert. Just as we were watching, two canal boats came up and opened the gates (?), asking the kids if they wanted to come and help. Of course they did, who doesn’t want to open huge underwater doors and flood an area the size of a small house? He explained to the kids how it all worked (I should have let them write this blog!) and took them through the whole process before jumping back on his little water home and waving goodbye.
Now we’re back in our cozy cottage, with a fire and some coffee, getting ready for a good night’s sleep before we head out to another London day, our last. Which means less strolling and meeting people and more crazy tours and galloping herds of people. Maybe we didn’t learn that lesson after all…
Angie
London
Despite being one of the most travelled cities in the world, London holds a special intrigue. Its origins date back to Julius Caesar and some of the most important figures of history have spent extended time within its city walls, like Wiliam Shakespeare. I just read Bryson’s biography on him and wow, I had no idea so little can actually be known about him. Anyways, this isn’t Wikipedia, so I’ll move right to closesineurope.
After a disappointing and unusually slow double decker tour we finally arrived at the Tower of London. The tower is a thousand years old, built by order of William the Conqueror. One of its main functions was to house prisoners, especially those treasonous wretches in opposition to the crown. Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII’s wives lost her head there, as did Catherine and many others. A fancy plaque marks the exact spot. Lovely. My favorite part of the tower was the inscriptions on the walls. They were from 15th and 16th century prisoners. There is plexiglass over the carvings to prevent “clever” tourists from adding to the inscriptions, which happens way too often believe it or not. Beside each inscription is a typed message of what was originally carved. I felt modern chills as I read their medieval words and imagined what they must have felt.
After the tower we ran to catch another bus, the story of our life, because our play was due to start in 15minutes. We somehow arrived in time and spent the next 3 hours as groundlings. (Wikipedia will help you out here if you’re scratching your head). The play was Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and it was exhilarating. The acting was top notch and further confirmed what I already knew to be true; the best actors are NOT in Hollywood. We had already listened to and read the play as a family so we were able to follow right along despite the old language. That being said, the kids eventually tired from the standing, groundlings stand, and at times they had difficulty seeing but they lasted despite it being 3 hours (we had no idea the length, I had guessed 1hr?, ha. I now know that Shakespeare was notoriously longwinded, Hamlet is his longest at 5 hours.) But seriously, the play was amazing and it’s probably the best live entertainment I’ve seen anywhere, ever, besides my annual grad video of course. Next time you come to London you gotta go to the Globe. Do it.
John
After a disappointing and unusually slow double decker tour we finally arrived at the Tower of London. The tower is a thousand years old, built by order of William the Conqueror. One of its main functions was to house prisoners, especially those treasonous wretches in opposition to the crown. Anne Boleyn, one of Henry VIII’s wives lost her head there, as did Catherine and many others. A fancy plaque marks the exact spot. Lovely. My favorite part of the tower was the inscriptions on the walls. They were from 15th and 16th century prisoners. There is plexiglass over the carvings to prevent “clever” tourists from adding to the inscriptions, which happens way too often believe it or not. Beside each inscription is a typed message of what was originally carved. I felt modern chills as I read their medieval words and imagined what they must have felt.
After the tower we ran to catch another bus, the story of our life, because our play was due to start in 15minutes. We somehow arrived in time and spent the next 3 hours as groundlings. (Wikipedia will help you out here if you’re scratching your head). The play was Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream and it was exhilarating. The acting was top notch and further confirmed what I already knew to be true; the best actors are NOT in Hollywood. We had already listened to and read the play as a family so we were able to follow right along despite the old language. That being said, the kids eventually tired from the standing, groundlings stand, and at times they had difficulty seeing but they lasted despite it being 3 hours (we had no idea the length, I had guessed 1hr?, ha. I now know that Shakespeare was notoriously longwinded, Hamlet is his longest at 5 hours.) But seriously, the play was amazing and it’s probably the best live entertainment I’ve seen anywhere, ever, besides my annual grad video of course. Next time you come to London you gotta go to the Globe. Do it.
John
Friday, September 26, 2008
John - September 23-27.
Bidford on Avon. Sounds like a bloke going on about his new facial cream. Let me assure you, it’s nothing of the sort. For starters it’s our home, for this week anyways. The thing about living in a 350 year old house is it feels wrong to live modern. So you eat healthy, slow down and even steer clear of the television. But mostly you just marvel at the stone slab floor, 5 foot doorways (after hitting my head for the 22nd time my marveling has begun to decrease), and ancient smell. I could just stay here all day but there are sights to see, like Bidford for instance, Stratford on Avon, Warwick (second w is silent so don’t say it illiterate Canadian) the Cotswolds and even a place called London. Today we got out of The Cottage and I’m still trying to pick up my dropped jaw. The buildings, oh the buildings.
I haven’t seen buildings with this much character anywhere, ever. The reason is obvious enough; each one is older than Canada and the US together. Still, it’s difficult to believe that our modern architects actually believe they are moving forward in their designs- especially when it comes to churches. Oh. My. God. Trust me, I’m not speaking in vain here, I’m confident he’s just as impressed. As Angie said, our Cottage is a stone’s throw away from an 800 year old Church. As we walked through its graveyard I wondered many times if we’d get the opportunity to see inside. I inquired with the lady at the Bidford Bakery as I was picking up bread and she was like “oh, the church? Yeah, its pretty old, ain’t it, that’s 2 pounds please.” That’s one thing we’ve found, the residents of Bidford aren’t nearly as impressed with Bidford as we are. Some teenagers I met said “you’ll find many places much nicer then this place, all you’ll find here are people wearing track suits.” Even the cabbie said to us “are you sure it’s Bidford you’re after?” I imagine it’s the same as when people come to Alberta and are all googly eyed over Banff, yawn. Familiarity breeds apathy if you’re not careful.
We went grocery shopping today at Budgens, the local grocery store. It was quaint and had most everything including inexpensive wine, a trademark of Europe/Britain. We bought two bottles for like 7 pounds. After shopping we walked along the 600 year old bridge built by monks. There’s no walking path for pedestrians on this one lane bridge so you pretty much have to walk on the outer edge of your foot clinging to the walls as the cars whiz by. Cars don’t yield for pedestrians here, not even if you’re six with freckles. Once across you find a big meadow, riverside, where dogs run, kids play and people stroll. It’s quite beautiful actually, especially the canopy style trees with enough shade for the members of The Calgary Church of Christ. Angie says you can rent boats on the river for a day or week so we might do that and take the 7 mile journey to Stratford On Avon. As we were discussing such things church bells began to ring, the kind portrayed in movies. Maddie immediately demanded that we head towards, so we did. By the time we arrived it was dark and 8pm so Angie and the girls decided to keep moving and get the stir fry on, told you, we’re healthy now, while Ethan and I decided to high tail it to the church where not only bells were ringing but lights could be seen.
When we reached the big medieval doors I pushed without thinking, they opened so that was good thought me, and we continued to another set of doors that pushed open like the first. Once inside we saw 7 people standing to our right. I thought fast and said “hello.” Pretty slick eh. The people turned out to be very friendly and welcomed us in. Phew. They were the official bell ringers and gathered every Tuesday night to –no word of a lie- practice, for 2 hours. The practice was for Sunday of course, when the bells would call people to Church. Sadly, very few answer these days.
The people were excited that Ethan and I were so ecstatic so they gave us a first rate tour including, a walk up the ancient spiraling stone staircase leading to the bell tower. The tower is 800 years old and completely original. It was magnificent.
Walking up the tower was a cross between Indian Jones and my dreams. I silently cursed for wearing my spider web loving fleece sweater but I got to see the actual bell and stand there as they rang it just for me and my son and I didn’t even cover my ears when they told me too –as if I could, I’m in an 800 year old bell tower. I asked the guy if we could go higher and he said, “yeah allright, never been up that high though.” We walked to the roof where sadly we were met by a locked door. Still, it was amazing just to be in the tower and although Ethan nearly freaked from all the spiders and incredibly steep stairs going down, we’ll both remember it forever – and not just because we didn’t have to fill out liability forms.
We sprinted back and got the girls and tore them away from the cooking (they actually were, I’m not being chauvinistic here) to take them back to the church. Once inside, they had the same bell ringing experience and VIP tower tour. We also toured the Altar area at the front of the church which was also completely original including the stain glass gothic windows, floor tiles and 350 year old tombs buried beneath the floor. We were there for over an hour and to be honest I think our gracious hosts were thrilled. They explained the demise of their church as one might explain a family member dying of cancer. The truth is, the Church of England is nearly dead and all that will be left is its beautiful buildings. A tragedy for many reasons.
Well, that’s day one of 100. If all the rest are the same, we just might die of joy.
Next stop, Stratford On Avon. William Shakespeare’s birthplace, school, grave etc.
John
September 25, 2008
Stratford on Avon is famous for one reason, William Shakespeare. There’s really not much else to it and the whole town knows it which is why the name of Shakespeare is used to sell everything from stationary to Italian cuisine. You’d think the descendants of the Skakester (my affectionate name for Willy, which is my nickname for Will) would take the businesses to task or demand a cut on every clickety pen that is sold in his name. Maybe they do come to think of it and that’s why it’s allowed to go on. Anyways, we steered clear of it all save a fabulous kid friendly book on some of his plays, namely A Mid Summer Night’s Dream, the play we are seeing performed live at the Globe Theatre in London Friday afternoon. We bought groundling tickets for $5 a piece yet they’re supposed to be the best of the lot.
Anyways, back to Big Willy, haha, Big Willy. We toured the house he was born in, the very room in fact. The house was neat and it felt cool when the guide said “the floor you’re walking on is the same floor Sir William walked on growing up.” We also toured The Holy Trinity Church where we saw his grave as well as the actual stone baptismal that he was christened in. They also had his actual baptism and death certificates there. Across from the Willy stash was an original King James Bible from the same year it was first printed. 1616. It was under a glass case and opened to the Psalms. Case bibles are always opened to the Psalms. I think just for kicks someone should open it to the Song of Songs, why not, I doubt anyone would notice but those who did, it would make their day. Absolutely.
Stratford was Wednesday. Yesterday we went to a town called Warwick. It’s also famous for one thing, the Warwick Castle. I’ve never been to a castle before save those that disappear when the tide comes in, but this Castle was eye popping. It’s dubbed by Rick Steves (our travel guru) “the biggest and best Castle in Britain.” I believe him. It had everything , even free access to all its parts including the parts you shouldn’t give stupid tourists free access to. Still, I’m grateful because when you’re standing in a 14th century dungeon with actual writing from a prisoner still visible on the wall, its more than surreal. Its surreal times 10. Another highlight was watching a treboulet (similar to a catapult) shoot an actual 30pound steel fireball into the air. When it landed it was still burning and the medieval host dude was like “yeah, perhaps we should go and put that out.” Haha. Perhaps you should.
This trip continues to amaze me. Each morning I wake up, make the family breakfast and then we discuss our plans for the day. I always have to pinch myself just to make sure I’m still not back in Calgary dreaming. We’re seriously doing that? Today? The Closes? Yes, yes we are. What a gift.
John
P.S. We did the London thing today which is why I was able to finally post all this. We’ll be returning Monday so we’ll post more then. Sorry for the blog backup, for the 4 of you that managed to read through all 8 or 9 pages, congrats. Oh yeah, pics will debut Monday too, some good ones there.
I haven’t seen buildings with this much character anywhere, ever. The reason is obvious enough; each one is older than Canada and the US together. Still, it’s difficult to believe that our modern architects actually believe they are moving forward in their designs- especially when it comes to churches. Oh. My. God. Trust me, I’m not speaking in vain here, I’m confident he’s just as impressed. As Angie said, our Cottage is a stone’s throw away from an 800 year old Church. As we walked through its graveyard I wondered many times if we’d get the opportunity to see inside. I inquired with the lady at the Bidford Bakery as I was picking up bread and she was like “oh, the church? Yeah, its pretty old, ain’t it, that’s 2 pounds please.” That’s one thing we’ve found, the residents of Bidford aren’t nearly as impressed with Bidford as we are. Some teenagers I met said “you’ll find many places much nicer then this place, all you’ll find here are people wearing track suits.” Even the cabbie said to us “are you sure it’s Bidford you’re after?” I imagine it’s the same as when people come to Alberta and are all googly eyed over Banff, yawn. Familiarity breeds apathy if you’re not careful.
We went grocery shopping today at Budgens, the local grocery store. It was quaint and had most everything including inexpensive wine, a trademark of Europe/Britain. We bought two bottles for like 7 pounds. After shopping we walked along the 600 year old bridge built by monks. There’s no walking path for pedestrians on this one lane bridge so you pretty much have to walk on the outer edge of your foot clinging to the walls as the cars whiz by. Cars don’t yield for pedestrians here, not even if you’re six with freckles. Once across you find a big meadow, riverside, where dogs run, kids play and people stroll. It’s quite beautiful actually, especially the canopy style trees with enough shade for the members of The Calgary Church of Christ. Angie says you can rent boats on the river for a day or week so we might do that and take the 7 mile journey to Stratford On Avon. As we were discussing such things church bells began to ring, the kind portrayed in movies. Maddie immediately demanded that we head towards, so we did. By the time we arrived it was dark and 8pm so Angie and the girls decided to keep moving and get the stir fry on, told you, we’re healthy now, while Ethan and I decided to high tail it to the church where not only bells were ringing but lights could be seen.
When we reached the big medieval doors I pushed without thinking, they opened so that was good thought me, and we continued to another set of doors that pushed open like the first. Once inside we saw 7 people standing to our right. I thought fast and said “hello.” Pretty slick eh. The people turned out to be very friendly and welcomed us in. Phew. They were the official bell ringers and gathered every Tuesday night to –no word of a lie- practice, for 2 hours. The practice was for Sunday of course, when the bells would call people to Church. Sadly, very few answer these days.
The people were excited that Ethan and I were so ecstatic so they gave us a first rate tour including, a walk up the ancient spiraling stone staircase leading to the bell tower. The tower is 800 years old and completely original. It was magnificent.
Walking up the tower was a cross between Indian Jones and my dreams. I silently cursed for wearing my spider web loving fleece sweater but I got to see the actual bell and stand there as they rang it just for me and my son and I didn’t even cover my ears when they told me too –as if I could, I’m in an 800 year old bell tower. I asked the guy if we could go higher and he said, “yeah allright, never been up that high though.” We walked to the roof where sadly we were met by a locked door. Still, it was amazing just to be in the tower and although Ethan nearly freaked from all the spiders and incredibly steep stairs going down, we’ll both remember it forever – and not just because we didn’t have to fill out liability forms.
We sprinted back and got the girls and tore them away from the cooking (they actually were, I’m not being chauvinistic here) to take them back to the church. Once inside, they had the same bell ringing experience and VIP tower tour. We also toured the Altar area at the front of the church which was also completely original including the stain glass gothic windows, floor tiles and 350 year old tombs buried beneath the floor. We were there for over an hour and to be honest I think our gracious hosts were thrilled. They explained the demise of their church as one might explain a family member dying of cancer. The truth is, the Church of England is nearly dead and all that will be left is its beautiful buildings. A tragedy for many reasons.
Well, that’s day one of 100. If all the rest are the same, we just might die of joy.
Next stop, Stratford On Avon. William Shakespeare’s birthplace, school, grave etc.
John
September 25, 2008
Stratford on Avon is famous for one reason, William Shakespeare. There’s really not much else to it and the whole town knows it which is why the name of Shakespeare is used to sell everything from stationary to Italian cuisine. You’d think the descendants of the Skakester (my affectionate name for Willy, which is my nickname for Will) would take the businesses to task or demand a cut on every clickety pen that is sold in his name. Maybe they do come to think of it and that’s why it’s allowed to go on. Anyways, we steered clear of it all save a fabulous kid friendly book on some of his plays, namely A Mid Summer Night’s Dream, the play we are seeing performed live at the Globe Theatre in London Friday afternoon. We bought groundling tickets for $5 a piece yet they’re supposed to be the best of the lot.
Anyways, back to Big Willy, haha, Big Willy. We toured the house he was born in, the very room in fact. The house was neat and it felt cool when the guide said “the floor you’re walking on is the same floor Sir William walked on growing up.” We also toured The Holy Trinity Church where we saw his grave as well as the actual stone baptismal that he was christened in. They also had his actual baptism and death certificates there. Across from the Willy stash was an original King James Bible from the same year it was first printed. 1616. It was under a glass case and opened to the Psalms. Case bibles are always opened to the Psalms. I think just for kicks someone should open it to the Song of Songs, why not, I doubt anyone would notice but those who did, it would make their day. Absolutely.
Stratford was Wednesday. Yesterday we went to a town called Warwick. It’s also famous for one thing, the Warwick Castle. I’ve never been to a castle before save those that disappear when the tide comes in, but this Castle was eye popping. It’s dubbed by Rick Steves (our travel guru) “the biggest and best Castle in Britain.” I believe him. It had everything , even free access to all its parts including the parts you shouldn’t give stupid tourists free access to. Still, I’m grateful because when you’re standing in a 14th century dungeon with actual writing from a prisoner still visible on the wall, its more than surreal. Its surreal times 10. Another highlight was watching a treboulet (similar to a catapult) shoot an actual 30pound steel fireball into the air. When it landed it was still burning and the medieval host dude was like “yeah, perhaps we should go and put that out.” Haha. Perhaps you should.
This trip continues to amaze me. Each morning I wake up, make the family breakfast and then we discuss our plans for the day. I always have to pinch myself just to make sure I’m still not back in Calgary dreaming. We’re seriously doing that? Today? The Closes? Yes, yes we are. What a gift.
John
P.S. We did the London thing today which is why I was able to finally post all this. We’ll be returning Monday so we’ll post more then. Sorry for the blog backup, for the 4 of you that managed to read through all 8 or 9 pages, congrats. Oh yeah, pics will debut Monday too, some good ones there.
Angie - September 23-26
We arrived at our cottage after an eight hour flight to Gatwick, half an hour train to London, several tube rides to Marylebone station, a two hour train to Stratford-on-Avon and a fifteen minute taxi to Bidford-on-Avon, not to mention the six hour layover we heard about after arriving at the airport in Calgary. Our whole adrenaline will keep us from being tired plan failed miserably and we found ourselves stumbling blindly around our tiny cottage at 11:00 at night and falling into bed without much exploring. It wasn’t until the next morning that we discovered that we were living in the cutest house in the world for just over a week. Seriously. The view from our bedroom window is of an 800 year old church (that John will tell you all about later, you lucky ducks) and graveyard, back dropped by a sheep dotted pasture. Maybe that sounds creepy (not the sheep- they’re pretty sweet), but it’s not. It’s really very beautiful, I feel like saying to everyone passes, “Have you seen that view?! What the heck!” People here are totally unimpressed with Bidford, though. And oddly suspicious of us. I mean, we may be loud and hard to miss, but suspicious? I guess it’s all part of the un- touristy charm. (I should mention that the butcher and bell ringers have been more than friendly, but John wants to tell you about that, too. He gets all the good stories.)
We had planned on spending our first day skipping around London with our hair blowing in the wind and our backpacks swinging happily over one shoulder, but because of our stinking (grr…) layover, we decided instead to head straight from plane to train (the not so simple excursion I mentioned above). We did not skip. We stood confused and weighted down with our enormous packs, holding up lines in the ticket booths, blocking people’s way on the tube, getting lost, wondering what to do when we lost John, getting stuck in turnstiles; basically annoying those fast moving, no eye contact Londoners wherever we went. Yes, we’ll leave London for another day.
A few tips: It’s really not that expensive if you can live off yogurt and toast
You can walk anywhere, even on private property with the sheep. Really. You’re allowed
Scruffy taxi drivers with British accents can possibly make your head explode
No one’s said cheerio yet, or cheers. That’s mildly disappointing
More to come!
Ang
September 25, 2008
We went to a castle today. Maybe John mentioned it, I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’ll say too much because then this whole blog will start to be like castle, castle, church, sheep, more castles. I do want to say that we loved it and people lived there until after I was born, which is just plain crazy.
After the castle we were hungry and had an hour to wait for the bus. Most people would think, hm, an hour isn’t too long. Let’s be patient and enjoy these aluminum benches for a while. But we were really, really hungry, so we went looking for food. We decided on an Indian restaurant, which we had heard are delicious and affordable in these parts. Sigh. You know those movies where the girl goes to the prom in her homemade dress and her braces (but she wins prom queen because she’s nice)? That was us, without the crown. This place was fancy. As soon as we stepped inside we were very aware of our bad hair (no blow dryers, no hair stuff), heavy duty travellin’ clothes (hiking shoes, cargo pants) and the kids many grass stains (come on, we were just at a fun castle!) We whispered to the kids as we were seated, we’re in a fancy place so talk quietly and no wrestling. Waiters stood over us (yes, we had three) tending to our every need as we pointed to a few items on the menu that we couldn’t read. They were quite nice, and I think they knew from our laughing and our hand waving and our apologizing that we were in a little over our heads, so they explained all the food to us as they brought it out (in three shifts), and what to do with it. This is when we discovered that it wasn’t Indian at all. It was something delicious and perhaps eastern-ish, but it wasn’t Indian. The kids actually did OK and we sat back and enjoyed the service, watching the clock go by as John waved his arm and said “We’ll catch the next bus. Pass me some more of that red stuff…”
We missed the bus (bet you didn’t see that coming). The last bus. I suggested we find a different route that landed us down some old alley and face to face with a nice older gentleman who sent us about twenty minutes (and suspiciously on a whole lot of left turns) until we flagged down a lady with an armful of cookie boxes. She sent us all the way back up the world’s longest street until we talked to a man smoking a pipe, and on and on we went until it was dark and it wasn’t even close to fun anymore. John, sensing my oncoming rant about responsibility and why certain people refuse to wear the watches their wives bought them, ran ahead to figure things out. He came back with the news of a bus stop possibility and we ran for another twenty minutes until we found a little guy hunched over a computer manual under the street light and asked him if this was the bus that went to Stratford. He nodded and said it was coming in six minutes. That’s when we celebrated- Close style. Basically laughing with relief, which is often the state we’re in when we’re celebrating.
We bussed to Stratford, where we discovered that we missed the connecting bus to Bidford. I’m not kidding. That would be way too much story, though, and I’m tired.
Phew.
Ang
We had planned on spending our first day skipping around London with our hair blowing in the wind and our backpacks swinging happily over one shoulder, but because of our stinking (grr…) layover, we decided instead to head straight from plane to train (the not so simple excursion I mentioned above). We did not skip. We stood confused and weighted down with our enormous packs, holding up lines in the ticket booths, blocking people’s way on the tube, getting lost, wondering what to do when we lost John, getting stuck in turnstiles; basically annoying those fast moving, no eye contact Londoners wherever we went. Yes, we’ll leave London for another day.
A few tips: It’s really not that expensive if you can live off yogurt and toast
You can walk anywhere, even on private property with the sheep. Really. You’re allowed
Scruffy taxi drivers with British accents can possibly make your head explode
No one’s said cheerio yet, or cheers. That’s mildly disappointing
More to come!
Ang
September 25, 2008
We went to a castle today. Maybe John mentioned it, I’m not sure, but I don’t think I’ll say too much because then this whole blog will start to be like castle, castle, church, sheep, more castles. I do want to say that we loved it and people lived there until after I was born, which is just plain crazy.
After the castle we were hungry and had an hour to wait for the bus. Most people would think, hm, an hour isn’t too long. Let’s be patient and enjoy these aluminum benches for a while. But we were really, really hungry, so we went looking for food. We decided on an Indian restaurant, which we had heard are delicious and affordable in these parts. Sigh. You know those movies where the girl goes to the prom in her homemade dress and her braces (but she wins prom queen because she’s nice)? That was us, without the crown. This place was fancy. As soon as we stepped inside we were very aware of our bad hair (no blow dryers, no hair stuff), heavy duty travellin’ clothes (hiking shoes, cargo pants) and the kids many grass stains (come on, we were just at a fun castle!) We whispered to the kids as we were seated, we’re in a fancy place so talk quietly and no wrestling. Waiters stood over us (yes, we had three) tending to our every need as we pointed to a few items on the menu that we couldn’t read. They were quite nice, and I think they knew from our laughing and our hand waving and our apologizing that we were in a little over our heads, so they explained all the food to us as they brought it out (in three shifts), and what to do with it. This is when we discovered that it wasn’t Indian at all. It was something delicious and perhaps eastern-ish, but it wasn’t Indian. The kids actually did OK and we sat back and enjoyed the service, watching the clock go by as John waved his arm and said “We’ll catch the next bus. Pass me some more of that red stuff…”
We missed the bus (bet you didn’t see that coming). The last bus. I suggested we find a different route that landed us down some old alley and face to face with a nice older gentleman who sent us about twenty minutes (and suspiciously on a whole lot of left turns) until we flagged down a lady with an armful of cookie boxes. She sent us all the way back up the world’s longest street until we talked to a man smoking a pipe, and on and on we went until it was dark and it wasn’t even close to fun anymore. John, sensing my oncoming rant about responsibility and why certain people refuse to wear the watches their wives bought them, ran ahead to figure things out. He came back with the news of a bus stop possibility and we ran for another twenty minutes until we found a little guy hunched over a computer manual under the street light and asked him if this was the bus that went to Stratford. He nodded and said it was coming in six minutes. That’s when we celebrated- Close style. Basically laughing with relief, which is often the state we’re in when we’re celebrating.
We bussed to Stratford, where we discovered that we missed the connecting bus to Bidford. I’m not kidding. That would be way too much story, though, and I’m tired.
Phew.
Ang
Wednesday, September 24, 2008
We're alive
Hey everyone. So here's the thing. The beautiful village Bidford on Avon, where we're staying in a 350 year old cottage, has absolutely no internet in the entire town. In fact, I tried to pay with a 50 the other day and nearly got run out of town. Today we're visiting Stratford On Avon, the same town where one William Shakespeare began and ended his life. It's remarkable all of it and Angie and I have already written 5 pages on our experiences and taken 175 pictures and a dozen videos. The problem is, we've done it all on our fancy Microsoft 2007 Office version and the library here in Stratford only has 2003 Windows so we can't access and/or post our stuff.
We'll be going into London in the next few days and we promise to post it all then. Please be warned, it'll likely be 4 days worth so. . . make yourself a coffee. Really strong. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait.
On a personal note. Mom, Dad, sister, brother, cousins, friends, everyone is happy, healthy and slowly kicking our jet lag. Hope to post our journals and pictures soon.
John and Ang
We'll be going into London in the next few days and we promise to post it all then. Please be warned, it'll likely be 4 days worth so. . . make yourself a coffee. Really strong. Hopefully it'll be worth the wait.
On a personal note. Mom, Dad, sister, brother, cousins, friends, everyone is happy, healthy and slowly kicking our jet lag. Hope to post our journals and pictures soon.
John and Ang
Sunday, September 21, 2008
FlyCrapSpan
Hi, its John. We're still in Calgary. We got to the airport 3 hours early -because that what responsible people do thats why - only to be greeted with the stark reality that our favourite discount airline FlyCrapSpan had changed our flight for the third time. Yep, THIRD. Thankfully we still fly out tonight but not until 10:15pm, we think, we hope, please God please. Maddie cried all the way as we headed back to Greg and Suneetha's and I may have cursed but probably not because only wicked people do such things.
So. .fingers are crossed. Hopefully next time we write we'll be in the land of Cheerios.
Cheerio.
John
So. .fingers are crossed. Hopefully next time we write we'll be in the land of Cheerios.
Cheerio.
John
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Thankyou and Adieu
By the time most of you read this we'll be enjoying home cooked plane food and censored movies. It's difficult to imagine our dream of travelling the world (and by world I mean Europe) with our kids is about to begin. We fly out in 20 hours. Unbelievable.
Before we left we wanted to give some shout outs to our peeps in Compton. I say we, but Angie would never say things like peeps or Compton and certainly not shout outs and so I guess I mean me. I want to shout out. Especially to those who have gone over and above for us as of late.
First on my list is Hope and Darcy Pawlak. If you don't know them you should and quick. They speak bluntly but its only a cover for their golden hearts. Not only do they work tirelessly to make our church a better place they allowed us to stay in their better place for the past week. Hope said she was excited because "we are so much fun" but the awful truth is most days we could only be found huddled in her basement pounding out our schedule, budget and the joy that is online banking and most evenings we could be found asleep on her couch as "we partied." We apologized each time it happened and I think she's forgiven us because she said we can stay at her house again in the New Year. Bottom Line: Hope and Darcy Pawlak live the life Jesus meant when he said "love one another as I have loved you." We feel honored to be counted as their friends!
Second is Greg and Suneetha Banco. Let me say this once more: if you don't know them you should and quick. They speak softly but its only because of their shrunken voice boxes. *I thought that might be a funny thing to say* The fantastic truth about the Bancos is they are the kind of friends who not only help you move but stay and clean your house after too. Seriously. Who is as wonderful as them? Right now I'm typing from their computer as they've also opened up their house so my rambunctious family could take over their steadiness. Greg and Suneetha live the same servant life as our Pawlak friends and it overwhelms me to think I have not one but TWO sets of friends this Golden. Plus Greg looks like me, says my kids. So. . yay for us.
We'd also like to thank Jeff and Erin for watching our buddy Hugo while we're gone and Chris and Glenda for watching our Speedway Blue Matrix (as well as their son Dan for coming with them so he can say goodbye to us at the airport.) Aww, thanks Dan. Hi Dan (from Angie).
Next time we write it'll be from the land down under, wait that's Australia, the land of a million pieces, nope that's a book I think, the land far far away, shoot that's Shrek. Whatever its called, we'll be writing from there. Soon.
Up Up and away!!
John and Ang.
Before we left we wanted to give some shout outs to our peeps in Compton. I say we, but Angie would never say things like peeps or Compton and certainly not shout outs and so I guess I mean me. I want to shout out. Especially to those who have gone over and above for us as of late.
First on my list is Hope and Darcy Pawlak. If you don't know them you should and quick. They speak bluntly but its only a cover for their golden hearts. Not only do they work tirelessly to make our church a better place they allowed us to stay in their better place for the past week. Hope said she was excited because "we are so much fun" but the awful truth is most days we could only be found huddled in her basement pounding out our schedule, budget and the joy that is online banking and most evenings we could be found asleep on her couch as "we partied." We apologized each time it happened and I think she's forgiven us because she said we can stay at her house again in the New Year. Bottom Line: Hope and Darcy Pawlak live the life Jesus meant when he said "love one another as I have loved you." We feel honored to be counted as their friends!
Second is Greg and Suneetha Banco. Let me say this once more: if you don't know them you should and quick. They speak softly but its only because of their shrunken voice boxes. *I thought that might be a funny thing to say* The fantastic truth about the Bancos is they are the kind of friends who not only help you move but stay and clean your house after too. Seriously. Who is as wonderful as them? Right now I'm typing from their computer as they've also opened up their house so my rambunctious family could take over their steadiness. Greg and Suneetha live the same servant life as our Pawlak friends and it overwhelms me to think I have not one but TWO sets of friends this Golden. Plus Greg looks like me, says my kids. So. . yay for us.
We'd also like to thank Jeff and Erin for watching our buddy Hugo while we're gone and Chris and Glenda for watching our Speedway Blue Matrix (as well as their son Dan for coming with them so he can say goodbye to us at the airport.) Aww, thanks Dan. Hi Dan (from Angie).
Next time we write it'll be from the land down under, wait that's Australia, the land of a million pieces, nope that's a book I think, the land far far away, shoot that's Shrek. Whatever its called, we'll be writing from there. Soon.
Up Up and away!!
John and Ang.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
What are we forgetting?
We finally finished with our house on Sunday, fitting all our earthly possessions into a 14 ft moving truck. I was sick (every time- it's a tradition of mine) and then threw out my neck, making me look like I was hunched over my invisible walker, like I should be shaking my fist at the birds or scowling out my window from behind a curtain. I'm on the mend now, though, thanks to our chiropractor and some pretty heavy duty muscle relaxants (ahhh). Mostly, I think I'm better because we're done moving!!!
Now we're down to three days and we have taken care of almost everything. I think. Really, we won't know until we're in the middle of France and realize we don't have that special France thing that gets you into all the museums for free and keeps you dry in the rain and locates your lost passports. I'm sure there's a thing out there like that that I've missed somehow. Our passports are safe for now, thanks to Hope. She confiscated them when we moved in with her four days ago. She also created a special file for our birth certificates and labled some ziplocks for important things. It's very good to have a well organized friend.
Now we're at the point of figuring out if we were completely out of our minds when we thought we could carry our every need for four months in five backpacks (actually, Alexa's shouldn't count, it would fit Barbie). I'm picturing John with a couple of extra back packs, one on each arm. He won't wear a fanny pack (thank the good Lord), but what about a thigh pack? A top of the foot pack? A forehead pack? That or we'll be travelling Europe without pants.
Here we come Europe!
Angie
Now we're down to three days and we have taken care of almost everything. I think. Really, we won't know until we're in the middle of France and realize we don't have that special France thing that gets you into all the museums for free and keeps you dry in the rain and locates your lost passports. I'm sure there's a thing out there like that that I've missed somehow. Our passports are safe for now, thanks to Hope. She confiscated them when we moved in with her four days ago. She also created a special file for our birth certificates and labled some ziplocks for important things. It's very good to have a well organized friend.
Now we're at the point of figuring out if we were completely out of our minds when we thought we could carry our every need for four months in five backpacks (actually, Alexa's shouldn't count, it would fit Barbie). I'm picturing John with a couple of extra back packs, one on each arm. He won't wear a fanny pack (thank the good Lord), but what about a thigh pack? A top of the foot pack? A forehead pack? That or we'll be travelling Europe without pants.
Here we come Europe!
Angie
Thursday, September 11, 2008
Numbness
People are constantly saying to us "you excited, getting excited, pretty excited?" They're talking about our trip of course and for the record the answer is yeah, yeah we're excited. But to be honest, we've been excited for so long our feeling is more akin to numbness then excitement. I just want to get my trip on already.
We leave in 10 days and let me tell you, those days couldn't come any faster. I say my official goodbyes to Maryvale CofC this Sunday, which is great and will be hard, but after that, I'll be fast tracking towards Europe.
Angie is sick right now which was inevitable. Anyone who spends 4 stressful months planning, sorting, packing and stacking is destined for some hacking and not just because it rhymes. As crappy as she feels the British Doc at Walk-in prescribed her some meds and pro biotic yogurt, strangely. Its like his European and North American Ness are at odds. Either way, I just want my wife back and if that means more smoothies then I'm in support.
I went with Uhaul again. I do everytime and without fail I'm reduced to an anger ball. "I'm sorry sir but unfortunately I don't have a truck for you." Are you SeRIOUS!!. "Please try to calm down sir. What's your name again?" Close. "Spell that please." Spell that, that one always gets me. I said Close not Rumpelstiltskin. C - L - O - S - E. "I see, well there's no booking under that name. Could it be under another name." Yeah, check youramoron. Despite all Uhaul's incompetence I go with their $19.95 every time. Anyways, we load Saturday. Oh Joy!
John
We leave in 10 days and let me tell you, those days couldn't come any faster. I say my official goodbyes to Maryvale CofC this Sunday, which is great and will be hard, but after that, I'll be fast tracking towards Europe.
Angie is sick right now which was inevitable. Anyone who spends 4 stressful months planning, sorting, packing and stacking is destined for some hacking and not just because it rhymes. As crappy as she feels the British Doc at Walk-in prescribed her some meds and pro biotic yogurt, strangely. Its like his European and North American Ness are at odds. Either way, I just want my wife back and if that means more smoothies then I'm in support.
I went with Uhaul again. I do everytime and without fail I'm reduced to an anger ball. "I'm sorry sir but unfortunately I don't have a truck for you." Are you SeRIOUS!!. "Please try to calm down sir. What's your name again?" Close. "Spell that please." Spell that, that one always gets me. I said Close not Rumpelstiltskin. C - L - O - S - E. "I see, well there's no booking under that name. Could it be under another name." Yeah, check youramoron. Despite all Uhaul's incompetence I go with their $19.95 every time. Anyways, we load Saturday. Oh Joy!
John
Saturday, September 6, 2008
I'm...sort of...going...crazy
Our house is missing half it's furniture and yet it looks like the gross back end of Value Village. I can hardly move as I sort things into the BC pile, trip pile, need for the next two weeks pile and throw away pile (this one is shamefully large). On top of that I'm booking, reconfirming, organizing, ordering, routing, reading, memorizing and all the other things you do when you go somewhere farther than Medicine Hat. Plus trying to teach the kids about cool things like Cathedrals and Roman history so they can appreciate a gothic window or a colosseum when they see one for crying out loud. Wow. I'm no fun at all right now! Oh, and then I start thinking about how I don't want to be homeless when we come back, so there's that, and will Rusty's new owners remember how he likes to sleep on his fuzzy brown blanket and should I try to keep that new package of noodles?
But then, on some twisted level, even parts of this crazy pre-trip mess are totally fun. Every morning we do our can't-believe-it dance when we tear off another page of the count down calender. Every few days we get a package in the mail from England or Spain with all their pamphlets and train routes and tons of stuff we'll never be able to read. Today we got our French and Spanish phrase books from Amazon (and Rick Steves, bless his little travellin' heart) and, as always, we opened the door before the mail guy even reached our stairs, way too many kids and too much chipper-ness for 9am. Poor mail guy. And things will just hit me- like how I'll stand in front of actual prehistoric cave paintings and walk where Caesar walked and sleep in a monastery- are you kidding me??? Yeah, it's still very, very fun.
On another note, the kids and I tried the garage sale for the second time and made $53. John said we wouldn't make anything. Ha. We shared a mozza burger and bought travelling shoes for Maddie and Ethan. So accomplishment is a pretty good feeling right now, too.
But if I don't get to the phone (I'm looking at a lot of missed calls on my display right now!) don't take it personally. Just know that I'm buried in a pile of boxes and travel books, probably cross-eyed and with my tongue hanging out. Maybe even drooling, I don't know.
15 DAYS!!!!
Angie
But then, on some twisted level, even parts of this crazy pre-trip mess are totally fun. Every morning we do our can't-believe-it dance when we tear off another page of the count down calender. Every few days we get a package in the mail from England or Spain with all their pamphlets and train routes and tons of stuff we'll never be able to read. Today we got our French and Spanish phrase books from Amazon (and Rick Steves, bless his little travellin' heart) and, as always, we opened the door before the mail guy even reached our stairs, way too many kids and too much chipper-ness for 9am. Poor mail guy. And things will just hit me- like how I'll stand in front of actual prehistoric cave paintings and walk where Caesar walked and sleep in a monastery- are you kidding me??? Yeah, it's still very, very fun.
On another note, the kids and I tried the garage sale for the second time and made $53. John said we wouldn't make anything. Ha. We shared a mozza burger and bought travelling shoes for Maddie and Ethan. So accomplishment is a pretty good feeling right now, too.
But if I don't get to the phone (I'm looking at a lot of missed calls on my display right now!) don't take it personally. Just know that I'm buried in a pile of boxes and travel books, probably cross-eyed and with my tongue hanging out. Maybe even drooling, I don't know.
15 DAYS!!!!
Angie
Wednesday, September 3, 2008
Garage Sale Insurance
I'm used to posting whenever I have a compelling thought, hence the infrequence, but now that our blog is only travel stuff, its harder - especially since we haven't left. Its not as if I can say "Golly, Julius Caesar's tomb was sure smaller then I imagined" or "Ethan peed in the Trevi Fountain this morning, that Ethan, what a pee er." For now, I am reduced to pontificating on itineraries and packing lists or reflecting on my pre trip feelings. Yawn. I suppose I could rant and rave about our budget airline that keeps sending us "due to operational reasons we are forced to cancel blah blah blah email" but I'll save that for the witty wife. Speaking of wife, welcome back wife, we've missed you in blogville.
We tried to have a moving sale last weekend. Our goal was enough to pay for our travel insurance. I woke up early, placed the colourful signs in strategic places, picked up some Tim's and returned determined to sell. The first 2 hours went ok. We sold 104 books to the daycare across the street as well as our Entertainment package (Tv, Dvd/Vcr and stand). The next 8 hours we made $50. That's $6 an hour to barter in the freezing cold with people determined to get a couch for $10, a shelf for $5 and a painting for $2. And don't even get me started on the motha flippin stuffed animals. "How much for this one?" "$2 sir. "What about this one?" They're actually all 2 dollars sir. "uh huh. What about this one?" *Holds up another stuffed animal* That one? $45. Or free, if you die. The next day, the kids lugged everything out again determined to add to our pot. I hate Garage Sales. Besides, who really needs travel insurance? Right?
John
P.S. Right?
We tried to have a moving sale last weekend. Our goal was enough to pay for our travel insurance. I woke up early, placed the colourful signs in strategic places, picked up some Tim's and returned determined to sell. The first 2 hours went ok. We sold 104 books to the daycare across the street as well as our Entertainment package (Tv, Dvd/Vcr and stand). The next 8 hours we made $50. That's $6 an hour to barter in the freezing cold with people determined to get a couch for $10, a shelf for $5 and a painting for $2. And don't even get me started on the motha flippin stuffed animals. "How much for this one?" "$2 sir. "What about this one?" They're actually all 2 dollars sir. "uh huh. What about this one?" *Holds up another stuffed animal* That one? $45. Or free, if you die. The next day, the kids lugged everything out again determined to add to our pot. I hate Garage Sales. Besides, who really needs travel insurance? Right?
John
P.S. Right?
Monday, September 1, 2008
back to 21 days
We thought we were so clever when we discovered this airline and their $300 tickets to London. Shaking our heads at the other airlines, snickering at how they may outsmart the average traveller, but not us. Well now I'm just embarrassed. There's a reason most people fly with British Airways and not So-Ur-Broke Discount Air. It's to avoid faulty and dangerous flight equipment (last month), departure date changes (twice), and horrible food (so I hear). I won't tell you which of those ranked higher on my list of airplane dos and don'ts, but seriously, when you have stuffed chicken breast and tiny salt and pepper shakers on one hand and BBQ bun in a bag on the other... come on.
This morning was departure change #2, which puts us at leaving on the 21st, not the 19th. We told the kids to put their rip off calender on hold for a few days, but we'll wait on any other changes for now. I guess it's not that bad. If we miss something so be it. We're still going (at some point) and we can afford to do this because of the deals we found in the dark alleys of Google Cheap Flights to London. Maybe this just needs to be part of the adventure- Oh look! We're not leaving next week but right now! And we're flying into Constantinople- ha that's funny! And fun!
Anyway, here's me, shaking my finger at Flyglobespan, but after that, I'll hang my head and hop onto their hard seats and pillow-less overnight flight. Because that's how we do things here in the land of budget travel. (From this point on, don't take any travel advice from the Closes).
Angie
This morning was departure change #2, which puts us at leaving on the 21st, not the 19th. We told the kids to put their rip off calender on hold for a few days, but we'll wait on any other changes for now. I guess it's not that bad. If we miss something so be it. We're still going (at some point) and we can afford to do this because of the deals we found in the dark alleys of Google Cheap Flights to London. Maybe this just needs to be part of the adventure- Oh look! We're not leaving next week but right now! And we're flying into Constantinople- ha that's funny! And fun!
Anyway, here's me, shaking my finger at Flyglobespan, but after that, I'll hang my head and hop onto their hard seats and pillow-less overnight flight. Because that's how we do things here in the land of budget travel. (From this point on, don't take any travel advice from the Closes).
Angie
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