Dear Family and Friends
Since arriving on
the 30th of April, we have pretty much been on the go until today (written May 21st)
We have almost a whole week to rest before we are off again this coming weekend
which is a long weekend here in the UK and I think also most of Europe if I remember
correctly.
On the 2nd
of May, Beckie had us at the Ryanair departure point at Luton airport (a short
distance from here) and off to Dublin. Beckie had been there on business and
was quite taken with it. It was a miserable weekend weather-wise sadly and
probably influenced my opinion of Dublin. What was impressive is the warmth of
the Irish people we met. There was a pub right around the corner from our hotel
which quickly became our ‘local’ and the wait staff greeted us warmly every
time we went in – which was quite often!!
Being a bank
holiday weekend, many businesses and tourist sites were closed so we had to
make do with the ones that were open. Chief among those was ‘Dublinia’ an
interactive museum dating back to Viking times which was fun for Kirei as well
as the adults. I always think of Viking raiders on the east coast of England
but wasn’t aware of what a big part they played in Irish history as well.
The tour of the Guinness Storehouse – which is HUGE – with the obligatory free sample at
the end was on our list of 'to do'. Not my favourite brew – I’m a lager and lime girl.
Various bottles and labels of Guinness beer over the years
Beckie, Kirei, Phil and Lee at Guinness Storehouse
We also did the Old
Jameson Distillery – smaller but more to my taste. That’s also where – in my
hurry – I went in to the men’s washroom in error and had to hide out until it
was safe to leave. Most embarrassing!
We
also did the Hugh Lane gallery which was absolutely superb!! The collection was
donated by Sir Hugh Lane a famous (and obviously successful) art dealer and the
gallery has many masterpieces by Manet, Monet, Renoir and Degas among many
others. Seriously quite impressive – one of our favourite galleries of all time
– small but spectacular.
Also impressive, in
a somber thought-provoking way, was our tour of Kilmainham Gaol (jail). It is a
forbidding building which gave us a realistic insight to what the conditions of
imprisonment were between 1796 and 1924 when it was closed. The tour leader
gave us a brief history lesson of the Irish troubles as the leaders of the
rebellions of 1798, 1803, 1848, 1867 and 1916 were detained here and many of
them executed as well. It spurred our interest to learn more Irish history so
we will look for a book that they recommended to us.
Courtyard where executions took place - very sobering
We were home for
one more night and then we were off to Bournemouth to see Sue and Rob
Brackstone. You may recall them from our cruising blogs. We met them in Dokkum,
Holland in 2009 (our first year) and have kept in touch ever since. They have a
beautiful home in Bournemouth a short distance from the coast and on a good day
a great view of the Isle of Wight.
They were superb
hosts, even making my favourite breakfast – porridge – every morning. Sue and
Rob drove us along the absolutely beautiful Dorset coast and we stopped in a
little stone village for a pub lunch and a walk. In between we got caught up
and chatted for hours – it was like there were only a few months since our last
meeting. I’ve always said that the very best part of spending 4 summers on our
boat cruising was the people we met! Lifelong friends. We will be lucky enough
to meet up with others friends and family in the next few weeks.
Beautiful beach at the end of Rob and Sue's street
Sue and Rob with Phil
Dorset coast is gorgeous
Typical stone village
Then we were off
to London for 4 nights meeting up with my brother Brian for a half day of touring.
Brian lives in Duncan (50 kms down the road from Nanaimo) but we had to come
all the way to London to get together!!! Bizarre. We had a couple of days to
take the tube from Earl’s Court to the city centre (City of Westminster), view
both old and new venues and came away with the view that after all our visits
to London, there isn’t much we haven’t seen. But that won’t stop us from coming
back!!! The best part was that we got to see 2 plays.
The first was “The
Play that Went Wrong” – seriously the funniest play E_V_E_R !!!!!! There were
aspects that reminded me of the Varscona Theatre in Edmonton. We laughed so
hard both my eyes and my nose were running!!! And not a Kleenex in sight! No
stars as such as the production was produced by the Cornley Polytechnic Drama
Society. The comedy is based on the production of a play called ‘Murder at Haversham
Manor’ and from the beginning everything goes wrong! Absolutely hilarious.
The second was “Bombers
Moon” in keeping with the ongoing remembrances of the 70th
anniversary of WWII. It is a two man play about a war veteran in a senior’s home
and his caregiver. The veteran was
played by James Bolam (if you are fans of New Tricks as we are, then you’ll
know his name immediately) and the caregiver was played by the younger Steve
John Shepherd – a former Eastenders character among lots of other credits. We
expected James to be good but were surprised by how very good Steve was. Very
small venue so you were right there at the stage edge – probably not more than
50 people. The best part was that we got talking to a fellow theatre goer after
the production so were late getting to the tube. Who should come along but
James Bolam. Being me, I accosted him to tell him how much we enjoyed the performance.
He was a little startled but once he realized that we weren’t there to mug him,
he graciously said Thank You!
So we are back at
Beckie’s for this week and then on the weekend we are off to the south coast where we will meet up with all Phil’s
family for a pub lunch. Really looking forward to meeting up with the cousins
and their children.
Much love to all –
Sharlene and Phil
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