Mauri and Sherry

Every trip needs some drama and we had ours this morning. We had a hint last night when we bought the petrol and our credit card was rejected. Rejected! Thankfully we had enough currency to pay for it. We decided to think optimistic thoughts until we needed to buy train tickets to London. Here’s the scene.

Sherry, the blond under the green arrow, looked at our card, puzzled, as it was rejected. She was so nice to try to help us figure out what to do, even letting us use her cell phone for assistance. That only led to an automated message. Keeping our cool, we tried to think about what to do. The BlackBerry turned out to be our hero. And my dear man’s thumbs that got us to the Chase Bank website, where he found the international number, which dialed automatically with another click. Disaster averted (again) and we caught the next train out of Northampton. Whew.

Getting to our hotel was no small feat. The London tube system offers newbies like us considerable challenges, but we found that people are more than ready to help us figure things out. One businessman went way out of his way to help us find the right connector. A woman offered to help me carry my luggage up a flight of stairs. (I declined, with cheers.) Here we are in the tube.

Regrouping.

We could hardly believe we ended up with another third-floor hotel room (and of course these places have no elevators).

Here’s the view from our window, which we think is very cool.

We settled in, cleaned up a bit, then headed toward the bus line to see what we could see. Our day in Edinburgh taught us a lot about getting around a big city, so we quickly had our route strategized, beginning with bus 390. Here’s a little travelogue of our day.

The London Eye, snapped through a bus window.

London Tower Bridge, next to the London tower (of all things).

You’ve seen one monstrous abbey, you’ve seen ‘em all? This one’s Westminster. We missed attending an evensong by 40 minutes.

We’ve found some pretty good food on this trip. Oops, it looks like I haven’t climbed back on the wagon yet.

I waited until the plane had passed the tower to snap this picture. Some images never fade from our memories.

You might think this is all I do. You might be right.

This one photo represents the many auto pics my dear man took. He’s a guy, what more do I need to say? He was quite impressed when he saw two Bentleys in the span of one minute while we waited for a bus.

I’m sure you’ll want to see that we did ride on one of London’s icons—this double-decker relic.

Once again a video I wanted to post didn’t upload in time. You might have to imagine instead the sound of Big Ben striking six. It was really cool.

We both love the movie “Notting Hill,” so we couldn’t pass this opportunity to get a look at it. From the bus window I snapped this pic, even though the book store in the movie is a travel book shop. Close enough!

And after another delicious meal, we stopped to buy, no, not alcohol, even though this picture looks like that was our purchase. The reason I include this wonderful shot is because that other customer was helping Mauri figure out what coins he needed to pay for it. People are so good!

And now it’s time to repack our steadily expanding luggage to get ready to fly back to our own beloved USA.

We altered our plan a bit and took a scenic drive through the Peak District. The guidebook I’ve been hauling around finally became useful by providing the route that led to roads like this.

And towns like this.

Note the satellite dishes!

Along the way we gazed upward to watch a flock of hang gliders overhead.

The goal for the day was to land in Northampton, where we will return the rental car tomorrow morning. Tonight we filled the tank. Ouch!

This topped off what was already nearly half a tank of diesel fuel. (The easiest way to figure pounds to dollars is to double the pounds. So you’re looking at a $100 half talk of petrol.)

We’ve been wonderfully blessed so far with very nice accommodations, all booked online. The Langham Hotel broke our lucky streak. I don’t think we’ll take home any strange diseases from the environment, but I must admit I’ll be glad when tomorrow comes.

A No Vacancies sign was on the door when we arrived, so I guess we will be grateful for a place to rest our weary bones for the night. There’s a plus side—they gave us a plug-in router, which allows me to check our bank balance, post!, and play a 106-point word on a game of Facebook Scrabulous. Life is good.

I’m happy to report I didn’t kill us on the road today as I drove us from Windermere to York via the Yorkshire Dales. We hoped to make good enough time that we could settle in our hotel room and catch a bus to town. So we didn’t dawdle, while still enjoying scenery like this along the way.

Here’s our hotel and the car we’re driving. The goal is to return it to Avis with no scrapes on this side (we drive within inches of the rock walls and hedges).

Before heading toward the bus stop, we found this nice park bench to let the folks back home at NFC see that we are remembering the fast.

I’ve probably already admitted that we are not slick travelers. But we finally got on a bus headed in the right direction. The driver “warned” us we’d be taking the scenic route and he was right! Once we arrived, we wanted to make sure we knew where to catch the right bus back to the hotel, which was out of town to the east. Not only did our driver get out and leave his bus to look at the schedules (we were the only passengers), he ended up driving us through the city centre to our exact place for pickup. Talk about service! And on the way, he acted as our tour guide, giving us historic information on the sights along the way.

York is a walled city and parts of the wall are walkable.

We were headed toward York Minster, northern Europe’s largest Gothic cathedral. Its foundations were laid by the Normans in the 12th century. That was even before I was born!

More than one person recommended Betty’s Tea Room, and now, after having eaten there, we recommend it to you!

We enjoyed walking around the town…

…but decided enough was enough and headed back toward our bus stop. Lo and behold, the bus was already there (a half hour early)! So we boarded and enjoyed the comforts of a place to put up our feet.

And now it’s time to get rested up for tomorrow’s adventures.

We are SO NOT slick travelers. We manage to get by, but we just feel our way along. This morning we bought day bus passes again rather than try to figure out transfers that require exact change—on a Sunday morning. While dragging our luggage down Princes Street toward the bus stop, I snapped this final view of Edinburgh Castle.

Here’s where we were headed.

Mauri did great as driver. I wish I had done as well as navigator. Yikes! The streets go every which way and then there are those roundabouts and who knew we were going east when I was so sure we were going west. We had to backtrack and that’s no small matter when gas prices are over-the-top ridiculous. Stormy mildly describes the weather today—not the best day to be driving anywhere, but Mauri got us to Windermere, our destination for the night.

Here’s a sampler of that journey. Take a deep breath…

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Tomorrow I’ll give it a go. Pray!

We’d planned all along to attend the Royal Highland Show (similar to the state fair) today but at the last minute decided to just see what we could see of the city. We concur that was the right choice (but, then, whoever knows what kind of adventures we miss with our choices). We bought day-long bus passes and caught the first one right in front of our guest house that took us downtown. We walked the streets near the castle and saw lots of dirt and ancient buildings and people, the latter being the most interesting (speaking for myself here).

Pretty quick we happened upon the Saturday market, which seemed a little bit like Costco, with all the sampling opportunities.


Yes, that’s Edinburgh Castle, built on top of a big slab of volcanic rock, where Bronze Age people first settled around 850BC. By the Middle Ages it was a fortified site and royal residence. Can you see Mauri in the crowd?

This might be my favorite picture of the day.

This is as close as we got to paying the $40 to go inside the castle. We’re not the best tourists, I’m afraid.

Why pay money when some of the best sights are free?

After some serious walking, we were ready for a cup of something comforting.


Nothing like the comforts of home!

For our afternoon adventure we used our day bus passes and enjoyed the front-row, top-level view of the entire #27 busline, which took us all the way south and then all the way north before dropping us at our hotel. What a great (and cheap and stress-free) way to see the city!

We snapped pictures along the way, of course, but I had to post this one because of the theater’s name (Newberg has a funky little theater named The Cameo).

We hope our view of the road on this sightseeing trip also helped prepare us to sit behind the wheel when we pick up our rental car tomorrow. At least we won’t be driving one of these!

This morning we bid farewell to the Iona Community. But not before Mauri had one more early-morning crack at spotting a corncrake. He was the talk of the community after he not only saw but photographed one in the field by the Abbey. Just in case he doesn’t post his picture, I will.

Can you see it? Here’s a hint. It looks like this:

You might have guessed, corncrakes are very shy.

For a while I held up this wind-protected wall to lend my support to the venture, but it didn’t help him spot another.

This is how the entire staff lined up at the jetty to cheer us on our way. Pretty cool.

We traveled ferry/coach/ferry/train/train to Edinburgh today. Along the way we saw scenery that looked about like this:
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You’ll notice the trees that grow along the train rails drastically inhibit the passengers’ view. Which also means decent pictures are nearly impossible to get. In one tree gap Mauri caught a glimpse of a deserted castle. Curious, he pulled out his Blackberry and googled “loch awe castle” and up popped all this information about Kilchurn Castle. So even though we got only a glimpse of the castle, I can share its image with you, compliments of Google.

Further down the track, I spotted an unusual bird and tapped Mauri’s shoulder just in time for him to catch a glimpse. What was that? Blackberry/Google to the rescue again! It was a red-billed chough. Well, of course!

We love our gadgets!

On our long walk, hauling our luggage through downtown Edinburgh toward our resting place, we stopped to listen to some Scottish “musicians.” I’m doing one of my panorama videos.

We’re in a guest house that’s really quite nice (and should be, given its tariff), and the bathroom features “that extra fixture” we’re not quite sure what to do with. And a towel warmer. But here’s what we see from the window.

Doesn’t quite measure up to the other window views I’ve posted.

A walk in the neighborhood makes me wonder about the security around here.

Not to worry, we’re down the street enjoying some pasta with bacon and cream.

Not much time for stories today. The pictures will have to talk for me.

A ground-level view of the cloister. Our second-floor room looks down on the center.

Not everyone was totally engaged in the topic…but for the most part we were. [I type this at a computer next to the instructor, with whom I shared this picture. She took it well.]

Mauri’s camera is always ready to shoot critter sightings.

I’ve always been a grave reader. Family stories are full of loss and I think someone should appreciate that loss from time to time. Last evening after worship (which meant 10 p.m.) we attended a Taize service in the small chapel there in the cemetery.

You might imagine our rooms allow little room for “changing our minds,” but Mauri made the window alcove into a reading (and nodding-off) nook.

Here Mauri rehearses the small part he played in last evening’s worship service. He’s up in the music loft of the Abbey.

Always up for a game of hacky-sack! Bonnie, the sister of two Basset hounds, willingly gave it a try.

The brother is Badger. We enjoyed chatting with their owner, who vacations on the Isle of Iona every summer from the south end of England.

We’re a little shutter happy, as you can see. We’re shooting St. Martin’s cross, which has been standing in that particular place for more than a thousand years. Imagine!

That’s our photo essay for the day. Cheerio!

People! We set aside our introverted tendencies to take opportunity for chats with people such as Sister Ann, who has come to Iona every summer since 1973. Back then the ferry was a little boat, and there were no cars (only tractors) on the island. She’ll soon be 85, yet she continues to meet the needs of parishes without clergy in the land of northern Wales.

Steve, from Holland, described his church of 400 members with one pastor to serve the entire congregation—along with much volunteer help. He told how the government gave them a school built during the baby boom and no longer needed. The people of their church gradually restored it and built on it to the place big enough to hold 300 people in one service.

In a discussion on Sabbath observance traditions, we heard from Eva, of Czech descent, whose family never went to church. As a result, she started attending church as part of her late-teen rebellion. Cherie, from Oregon, remembers her Syrian grandmother told of laboring with her family in the field, and the pastor took church to them wherever they worked. When she grew older she never could acclimate to traditional church because to her church was held outdoors.

Eva

Cherie

Music! For choir rehearsal we crammed ourselves in the tiny music loft in the Abbey, room for at most ten singers standing off the edges of one side of the grand piano. Mary, the Abbey musician, helped us learn a couple of songs we would lead out in the evening worship meeting. One chorus remains stuck in my head: Unless a single grain of wheat fall on the ground and die, it remains but a single grain, nothing more. Faith, a young Scot, sang the solos. Her high, straight-toned voice, reminiscent of a boy soprano, soared into every corner of the Abbey, even from the loft. Beautiful!

Extras! We’re served simple food, by design, but simple would not describe dessert. Close your eyes and try to imagine Sticky Toffee Pudding. I promise, you haven’t even come close. We will carry home the recipe!

After evening worship, we watched (with envy) Ceilidh dancing at the village hall. After a while we re-donned our rain gear for the stroll back. [I’ve been uploading a video of the dancing to YouTube for a half hour now and the wheel is still spinning. At $4 an hour for Internet, this might have to wait for another time.]

Here are a few miscellaneous shots:

Just like at home, a man’s work is never done!

Mauri has to “mind his head” much of the time.

A sight we caught at the entrance gate to the Abbey. In the first picture you see the Iona bookstore; we’ll be spending some pounds there today!

I found myself musing over these two pictures. Maybe you can too.

That’s all for now!

We’ve settled in now and are meeting interesting people from all over, but mostly Britain. Twelve people from Traverse City, Michigan, make up the biggest group. The rest of us came in ones and twos. There’s a mother/son here from Salem, Oregon! Before we arrived I had mused the possible irony of traveling all the way to Scotland to live in community with a bunch of Americans. But it turns out to be a nice mix. Our days are structured and we are each part of a task team. I’m a Puffin; Mauri’s an Otter. The work is minimal, since it spreads over the 50 or so of us, and has a wonderful camaraderie feel to it. Yesterday as I dried scalding-hot dishes (what was the point; they would dry on their own in a moment?) I realized how silly I must look with that broad grin on my face. I stopped myself short of whistling.

One highlight will remain the “Big Sing.” Three women taught us new songs by lah-ing the melody line by line and part by part, then putting it together with the words. It was quite wonderful! I’ve tried to stop regretting I didn’t take my camera, but a whole day later I haven’t succeeded.

Worship services are meaningful and also very structured. The acoustics in the Abbey chapel are exceptional, as one might imagine with all those hard surfaces, so the singing is also exceptional, as one might imagine with all those uninhibited voices. Sunday’s sermon was memorable in enough ways that Mauri has already started quoting from it. After morning worship we took a walk toward town. You can hardly take an outdoor picture without sheep or rock walls in it, they’re both so prevalent. And the obvious: water, since we’re on a tiny island. Oh, and something else is in every picture: wind! We’re finally learning to prepare ourselves for the blast to avoid the shock of it. We’re near the summer solstice so daylight lasts until after 10 and comes back by around 5. I can’t vouch for the return time, since I’m not looking outside at that ungodly hour.

I’ll save more stories for another time. Here are some pictures we took on our walk yesterday.

An ancient nunnery.

Posed, of course, though we’re doing our share of resting and remembering (squint at the carving on the bench for that to make sense).

Former somethings everywhere you look.

The long view of the Abbey chapel where worship services are held.

A little closer view.

Mauri thinks this bench doesn’t look very comfortable. We might be tempted to post more pictures of this remarkable space.

Coming to you from a coffee shop in Oban, Scotland! We’re waiting for our ferry to the isle of Mull. After that we’ll take a bus across the island and then another ferry to Iona. Here are a couple of visuals from the past few days:

I wanted Mauri to take a picture of the sweet couple behind us on the train from Glasgow to Oban and somehow we got in it.

The language is the same here, but sometimes we need to think about what’s meant by the words they use.

Room #2 at the Old Manse Guest House in Oban

And here’s the shot I was taking from the window. Kinda nice, huh?

Though it looks unassuming from the front.

And across the street—lawn bowling. I’m sure we’da tried it if we hadn’t spent the night before on an airplane. Maybe next time…

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From our destination! I ran out of time at the coffee shop, so I have a couple more views of our journey to Iona.

Just part of the scenery on the ferry from Fionnphort.

My dear man on our arrival…a beautiful windy and sunny day. We’re enjoying it while it lasts.

We arrived just in time for tea and shortbread. We met the other attendees and got the instructions for the week. After a tour we were able to unpack. While most are living dorm style, Mauri and I get a room to ourselves. We need to get back for supper (we’re buying Internet time at a nearby hotel) so will say so long for now.