The continued adventures of Emily abroad... dished up in a hopefully enjoyable way for you. Hard to believe I'm almost a week into the time here!! Only two and a half weeks left! Amazing (don't we always say it?) how time flies...
But, to continue.
Day 3 -- Thursday, August 26
Since my birthday was the day before, but none of us felt it was a great day for celebrating a birthday (even though... we did celebrate... hmm...), Thursday was the day set aside for a special birthday event. It was a complete secret from me; all I knew was to be ready by a certain time, dressed in comfortable but nice clothes. By the time we left the house, just before noon, I was pretty certain who would be joining us... just didn't know where we were going or what we'd be doing there!
A few minutes later we were at a lovely place called Blunsdon House, formerly a manor house and now a classy hotel with restaurant, golf course, swimming pool, etc. We sat in comfy armchairs waiting for the luncheon room / restaurant to open, and in walked my two sets of closest friends here in England-- Pat and Derek, practically adopted grandparents, and Helen, a combination "auntie" and chum, with her two children (they've grown so much in the last year!). These were the folks I'd guessed-- and devoutly hoped-- would be there. :)
When we felt we'd been at the table long enough (and eaten enough), we moved to some sofas and armchairs near a window and proceeded to chat and drink tea for probably three more hours (we were at Blunsdon a total of five hours... it's an amazing lifestyle, this).
When we all finally went to our own homes, it was, of course, time for more food.. Did I mention it's an amazing lifestyle?
Day 4 -- Friday, August 27
This was a "lazy" day (not that they haven't ALL been lazy). I was still nursing a bit of a cold... not bad at all, just really wanted it to be 100% gone so we could get on with our adventures... so we all felt that having a completely lazy day was a great idea. So, slept in, sat around chatting and drinking tea, and had a lovely cheese/crackers/bits/chocolates dinner (lunch). Then my grandfather and I walked into town (my grandparents live in the city of Swindon, but "town," as in downtown, with shops and such, is a good fifteen minutes walk). He walked me most of the way, then turned off to do his own errands and let me continue to the shopping centre on my own, where I spent the rest of the afternoon. This lone wandering has become a bit of a tradition during my times in Swindon; I figure it's good for us all to have a little time to ourselves (especially when I'm staying almost a month!) and good for me to get my European city feet back.
Have I ever mentioned that I love, love, love Swindon? It's not even particularly a "nice," touristy kind of city. But it's home.
I wandered around some shops and then slipped into a coffee shop to sip an iced vanilla latte and people-watch. Always a good idea in any city. When it was almost time for tea (dinner) I began the walk back, taking lots of pictures on the way.
For tea we had a lovely salmon salad. Banana splits with clotted cream and ice cream for pudding (dessert). In the evening we watched "Doc Martin," a particularly delightful medical drama set in the Cornwall, the southwesternmost county of this lovely country-- the land of amazing ice cream, farms, and pirate accents. Among other things. I won't bore you with the details of the show, but I will say it's funny to me how I can't stand watching much telly (TV) back home, but here in England, watching my grandparents' shows, I always seem to enjoy myself. :)
Day 5 -- Saturday, August 28
This was a special day. Well, they all are special, of course, but this was a special special day. :) This day, we met up with chum Helen (described in Day 3 above) and her two kids (ages 11 and a very old 13) and mum (close chum of my grandmother). We drove out to a nearby village, Bourton-on-the-Water, and enjoyed a lovely day wandering around the oldy-worldy homes, shops, and foot bridges of this town in the Cotswolds (a particularly beautiful, old, rivers-and-fields area north of my grandparents' city, filled with these quaint villages that just make your heart happy).
We also enjoyed a lovely dinner (steak pie; apple & rhubarb crumble for dessert) in the town, and then had tea with biscuits (cookies) and donuts at the end of the day.
Don't know if you're getting the idea or not, but we don't really stop eating and drinking (tea & coffee) EVER over here... :) We also watch a lot on the telly. This evening we watched X-Factor. I can't really stand the American versions of the talent shows, but I do enjoy them here... maybe it's the accents of the performers? :) Remember to ask me someday for my impersonation of the Michael Jackson impersonator...
Day 6 -- Sunday, August 29
Sundays for us in Swindon mean Army. By which I mean Salvation Army. By which I mean not the charity / thrift shops, but rather the church (which owns and runs the charity / thrift shops). My grandparents are second- and third-generation Sally Army goers. They've both been faithful band members, "Songster" (choir) members, etc. over the years, until retirement. Now my grandmother is a faithful cake baker and event coordinator, and my grandfather faithfully gives people rides, does grocery shopping for some, etc. (Sorry to brag a bit... but not really sorry. :))
Since I've been coming to visit my grandparents every couple years for so long, their friends at Army have become my friends... so Army days are always happy for me, because I get to catch up with these folks I haven't seen for too many months. We usually go to two services (morning & evening) and stay long after each one chatting.
Of course, since it was a day mostly involving people and church, I didn't take a lot of pics. Sorry! Nor did I take pics of the Sunday roast (with all necessary vegetables and Yorkshire pudding), blackberry & apple crisp (with clotted cream), or evening sandwiches (with "that nice cheese").
Needless to say, we watched the telly again this evening. "Heartbeat"-- a nice police drama, notably calmer than the majority of our police dramas-- and "Secret Britain"-- the kind of travel show that makes you want to get up out of your chair and go on a hike. Any of you want to plan a trip with me??
Day 7 -- Monday, August 29
This was another "special special" day, on which we got back together with Pat & Derek (see Day 3) and went on a "mystery walk"... mystery because I wasn't told where we would be heading. Derek is well known around here for the great walks he arranges. Around this part of England, there aren't as many hiking spots as we have in Oregon (at, say, Silver Falls or Multnomah Falls), but there are any number of fabulous foot paths for easy, but beautiful, walks. And the great thing (for someone like me) is that you can walk as long or short as you want-- for an hour to the next village, or for a couple days to the opposite end of the country-- the footpaths are that good!
The walk Derek had selected took us through pretty fields along a canal, upon which we watched the canal boats sluggishly sail up and down. We paused in the gorgeous little town of Hungerford for an ice cream before our return trip.
After a nice long walk, we set up for a picnic tea on Hungerford Common. There was a brief moment of concern as to whether the cows would let us stay or not...
But they did. And we had a jolly good time.
After tea, we got back in the car and wound around to another walking spot, this time high up above the valley in which our little Swindon lies. By now it was approaching evening, and some of you know how much I love the sunlight as it begins to settle upon the hills toward dusk...
We got home around 7:15, and (of course) settled in to eat more and watch some telly. Last night I was very, very English and watched "Coronation Street," the longest-running British soap opera. (In answer to that question mark in your heads-- no, I don't watch soaps at home). This one makes me laugh because every single person I know here, above a certain age, seems to watch this show avidly... even though every single time it comes up, someone (or everyone) says "It's silly, really. Don't know why we watch it." I don't, either, but there it is.
We'll stop there for now... more day reports to come in time. A couple extra thoughts before I close:
1. Fashions in England? Highly interesting. There's a definite generational difference in attire; the young mums and up, ages 25ish-50ish, wear very classy, mod kinds of outfits-- stylish jeans, sweaters, etc.-- the kinds of outfits you see in classy clothing catalogues. The 50+ crowd wear very traditional English attire, like my grandparents have been wearing for decades-- skirts and blouses for women, nice trousers, collared shirts, and sweaters for men. Very nice. The younger crowd, my age and younger-- good heavens. It's super-skinny jeans for both genders, almost everyone you see (in fact it's getting a bit difficult telling the genders apart, no thanks to the haircut styles), UNLESS it's a really really short mini skirt and similarly "skimpy" top. Now I'm not judging that set of attire... but I do rather wonder what the 50+ set, in their traditional (modest) long skirts and classy sweaters, think of these young people. As I said, it's an interesting generational shift, much more pronounced than what we tend to see in the U.S.
2. The folks I get to spend time with here have something I don't see much in Oregon. It's this incredible enjoyment of tiny, everyday things. For instance, Helen's 80ish-yr-old mum rode in our car to Bourton-on-the-Water on Saturday. As we were driving along this beautiful, quiet road, the morning sunlight shone gloriously through the trees to make a sort of fawn-spotted effect on the road. This is the kind of thing we do see all the time in Oregon, and I do love it. But I've never thought to particularly comment on it (at least-- not since I was a small child). So as we drove along, it first amused me to hear Helen's mum comment, "That's lovely, isn't it? I've always loved the sun through the trees like that. My mum always loved it, too." Now, there's nothing too surprising in such a speech, but my amusement forced itself with the thought that this 80-year-old has probably seen this same kind of sunlight affect... how many millions of times in her life? And still revels in it. And every other person in the "gang" here makes the same kind of comments, on every day things or scenery or events that they have seen or experienced any number of times in their lives. And after pondering this for a bit, my amusement turned to deep respect as I realized they've got something I really ought to have. How many little, glorious things do we take for granted or miss completely, just because they're "every day"? How do we know they really are "every day"? What if that was the last time I'll ever see that fawn-effect on a tree-shadowed road? If I knew it would be the last, would I appreciate it more? I think there's something for us to learn from here.... Hmm. I'll probably be writing a blog post about it soon.
3. In case you haven't already noticed, I will just say that it's a remarkable and highly humorous change of lifestyles for me-- coming from the packed, stressful, much-fun, many-friends, sixty-things-to-do-each-day life I've been living... to this. With my grandparents. Eating lots and watching lots on the telly and taking nice long scenic walks. Calling 11:00-7:00 a full day. Rather jolly, actually. And I'm NOT gaining weight, in case you were wondering.
And... on that note, I end this segment. Cheers.
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