England - August 1, 2014

Up, not too early, and to the telephone shop in Ely to purchase a mobile phone that I can use while in England and, I hope, on the future foreign trips I’m taking over the next few months.  Supposedly, if I buy a SIM card (whatever that is) when I arrive in a country, I can insert it in this phone and have operating communication.  In any event, I know it will work for this trip.

Marilyn, Vic, and I drove to St. Ives, a village in Cambridgeshire, not the one in Cornwall (which would have been a long trip).  It is a lovely little town along the River Ouse.  We had lunch then went on an hour boat excursion on the river.  The promised commentary didn’t happen, but it was a pleasant ride, mostly in the countryside.  Saw many swans and ducks, a swan family, and a black squirrel.

Had tea (with goodies, of course) at an outdoor table overlooking the river and the bridge.  The bridge, built of stone in the 1420’s to replace a wooden one that in 1100 replaced the ford, is unusual in having a chapel in the middle, one of only a few remaining bridge chapels.  Originally tolls were collected from the church, and services were held.  The round arches of the bridge, at the left, were replacements for the original arches which were pulled down in 1645 by Cromwell and the Roundheads; when the new arches were built in 1716 matching the other arches was apparently not a priority.

In the middle ages St. Ives was an important port and the site of one of the four largest fairs in England.  The fairs declined in the 1300s because of the 100 Years War and the Black Death, and eventually competition from other ports and from the railways reduced the importance of commercial trade for the area.  Holidaymakers and boaters still provide significant income, however.

As we returned to the car park, Marilyn and Vic pointed out the start of a guided busway between St. Ives and Cambridge.  At the beginning and end a driver is necessary for the coach, but during most of the trip the vehicle is guided automatically (I’m not sure how it operates).  As with most such projects it was WAY over budget, and there have been accidents, some serious, as cars and lorries (trucks) got onto the busway by mistake.  Shades of the Green Line light rail in St. Paul and Minneapolis!

Returned to Witchford for some rest, a light supper, and packing for tomorrow’s train journey.  This visit was a delightful start to the holiday, sightseeing at a slow pace and enjoying the company of friends.

England - July 30-31, 2014

I've been writing this as I went along, but am just now, 10 days into the trip, able to begin posting.  Since I have WiFi for another two days, I'll try to get as many entries posted as possible, but my emphasis remains doing things, not dealing with the computer, so we'll see how caught up I can get.

Off to England.  I resent that I don’t feel 100% after my fall but am grateful I’m well enough to do the trip.  And I have learned to ask for help during the past 2+ weeks of dealing with the vertebrae compression fracture, which I continue to do.  Waited at the “old folks” bench in the airport for the cart to take me to the gate.  Asked the Delta gate agent if there might be a better seat, and she put me next to an empty spot (one of only a handful on the plane).  When the call came for early boarding for those needing additional time, I was almost first in line.

The flight wasn’t too bad.  I actually got over 4½ hours sleep and didn’t stiffen up too much.  Realized that I could take the London Underground directly from Heathrow to King’s Cross railway station rather than doing the Heathrow Express to Paddington and having to change to get to King’s Cross, where,  without too long a wait or too much effort, I obtained my senior railway pass and the train ticket to Ely, my first destination.  A nice young woman on the train allowed me to use her mobile (cell phone) to call my friend to tell her what time I was arriving.  Marilyn and Vic were at the station in Ely to pick me up, drive me to their home in Witchford, and provide a lovely supper.  We had some enjoyable conversation, and I was able to get to bed early and sleep reasonably well.  Not a bad start to the trip.

Weaving Camp -- Washington Island, Wisconsin

Just returned from a 5-day class (Monday to Friday) at Sievers School of Fiber Arts located on Washington Island, in Lake Michigan just off the tip of Door County.  This is the fourth year that college friend Linda (from Illinois) and I have met there to take a class and enjoy each other's company.

The weather was not great -- a bit chilly for late June and several rainy days -- but I enjoyed having a second lilac season this spring.  The first few days we were there was peak lilac time, beautiful and great smells.

This bush was right outside our motel room.
















Linda and I had both decided to do overshot weaving patterns.  We were in a beginning weaving class but believed our experience (Linda's far more extensive than mine) would enable us to handle these more difficult projects.  Not quite true. . . .  We took up far more of the instructor's time and energy than any of the beginning students and were very frustrated much of the time. 

The studio facilities and equipment are very nice, and our instructor Nancy and her assistant Susan were both incredibly knowledgeable and PATIENT!  There were a total of eight students, four of whom had done no previous weaving, two of whom had done previous classes and a little weaving, and Linda and I who have been weaving for years.  The beginners were incredibly impressive with their fast learning times and ability to produce.  Four of the students completed two different projects.

Here's Linda diligently working at her loom.

We spent most of the first three days getting the warp on the loom, leaving only a day and a half to finish the table runners we were each making.  But we did finish!  Of course, I still have to do the hemming in order to use the runner, but the weaving was completed by the end of class at 11 a.m. Friday.  I was quite pleased since it was a complicated pattern, and I had been ready to settle for a place mat instead of a table runner.

Rather than rush to the ferry at the end of class on Friday Linda and I had decided to stay on until Saturday morning, giving us some time to explore the island and do some sightseeing.  Unfortunately, it rained all day Friday so not much sightseeing could be done.  We did visit the two lavender shops on the island (the first lavender growing began a few years ago) and the mercantile which indeed had a bit of everything -- furniture, hardware, appliances, paint, cleaning products, etc., etc., and a few tourist souvenirs.  We also had lunch and dinner at two nice restaurants and returned to Fiddler's Green, our lunch location, for some evening music where Cowboy, the dog, continued to be a gracious host greeting all visitors.

Saturday I caught the 9 a.m. ferry for the half hour trip back to mainland Door Co., Wisconsin, and the start of the 6 1/2 hour drive home to Minnesota.  Here's the view from the boat as we pulled away from the Island and a photo of the ferry heading to the Island that we met halfway.  As the pictures show, it was still gray and gloomy.  There was a lot of fog for about the first hour of my drive.

All going well, Linda and I will probably return for another class next year.  Gluttons for punishment, I guess!

Philadelphia - May 20, 2013

Arrived in Philadelphia yesterday afternoon for a Road Scholar class, "National Treasures of Philadelphia," one of the Road Scholar (formerly Elderhostel) Signature Cities courses.  (The same type as the New York City Five Boroughs class I took last fall.)  With help from the RS information, I took the train from the airport to downtown (for seniors costing only $1.00) and walked two blocks to my hotel.  Pretty slick and very cheap!  An organizational meeting was held Sunday evening with the actual touring beginning today.

Some of the sights we visited today I had seen previously -- on the one day of sightseeing I did here at the conclusion of a HUD training course 13 or 14 years ago.  But they were worth seeing again, and there were brand new places as well.  Started at the Liberty Bell which is situated in a building which tells the story of the significance of the Liberty Bell to U.S. history and mythology and then locates the Liberty Bell so that Independence Hall is its background.

 
Because Minnesota has had such a long winter, the gardens outside the building were almost as exciting for me as the patriotic symbol.  Lovely and colorful!










Independence Hall, where both the Declaration of Independence and Constitution were signed, now has more security, and reservations are required.  In the same secure area is Congress Hall where the U.S. Congress met for 10 significant years when the capitol was in Philadelphia (between the times when New York and Washington, D.C. were the U.S. capital city).  The two Park Service rangers who did the tours were quite good, managing to make the history quite interesting.

The only original furniture in the room is the chair on the dais in which the person presiding sat.  This chair has a sun carved onto its top, a sun which Benjamin Franklin, perhaps apocryphally, said he was sure was rising rather than setting.

    

The House Chambers

The Senate Chambers (on the 2nd floor)











From here we walked two blocks to the Bourse Building which remains an office building on upper floors but is a tourist area food court on the ground floor.  Had a Philadelphia Cheese Steak sandwich; it was okay but not great.  May have to eat several more to test them out!

Then continued walking in the historic area stopping at Carpenters Hall, where the Continental Congress met.  Unfortunately, it was closed on Mondays, but I suspect there wasn't a lot to see inside anyway.  Then went to Benjamin Franklin's print shop.  It wasn't the actual location of the print shop but was in buildings owned by Franklin near where his home, now demolished, was located.

Public transport back to the hotel for a couple hours rest (and working on this) before dinner.  We had a small private bus which took us to Joy Tsin Lau, a restaurant in Chinatown for an okay, if not spectacular, Chinese meal.  Unfortunately, for me, several of the dishes featured shrimp.  

We then did a brief bus tour of some neighborhoods in the city, especially Society Hill, a residential area just south of the Old City full of lovely 18th and 19th century townhouses and a number of historic houses of worship.  A brief detour into South Philly was made so we could see the Magic Gardens artwork of Isaiah Zagar.  He created mosaics on many buildings on and near the South Street area.  The largest piece of art he did was the two lots which are now the Magic Gardens.  Here are a few pictures; a youtube video can be seen at           http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oEpXlmdyJ4A

We concluded the bus tour by viewing one of the approximately 3,000 public murals scattered throughout the city.  This is one of the largest and most elaborate.  Originally begun as an anti-graffiti technique utilizing tagging artists, the murals are now done mostly by professional artists.