RIP Thorne

 My friend, Thorne, died just after I returned from Kokomo.  There was a celebration of life today at the Pointe.  There was a pretty good turnout, and we heard a few stories. 

Thorne was our WWII vet and had gone to Normandy for the 80th anniversary of D-day.  He was so excited to go and jumped through all the hoops.  When he came back his health started deteriorating.  He caught Covid.  I think the trip took a lot out of him, but I am pretty confident he would say it was worth it. 

Before I left for Kokomo, we had a conversation.  He was 96 years-old.  Joined the merchant marines when he was 16.  Worked military for a lot of years.  Married.  Had children.  Traveled the world.  He had great stories.  Was so proud when he got the congressional medal of honor.  As he said, he had a good life and was ready for the next chapter.   

I will miss him and his iced coffee with two creamers.  Light and love Thorne on your journey.  I hope that Claudia met you and gave you the biggest hug.  RIP

History

 I attended happy hour at the pointe today.  I had some lovely conversations with some of my peeps.  I ended my flitting around to a table in the 'living room' and joined their conversation.  Well, I didn't really add to it, but I asked questions. 

They were discussing the Berlin Wall, how it came to be and after it came down.  It was quite an interesting discussion.  A few of the people at the table had been in Europe and saw firsthand some of the remnants of WW2.  The buildings that were still rubble decades later.  There was a communication tower built on top of a pile of rubble.  The rubble had to go somewhere.  

In the discussion the concentration camps came up.  We were told about one of them that hadn't been 'beautified' for the masses who came to tour.  No new grass.  No nothing.  I'm pretty sure it had that eerie feeling about it.   The consensus was that we are never told most of the story.  There are always so much happening behind the scenes.  Dean is going to put on a presentation at the end of April about the fall of the wall.  It should be very interesting.

As a server, I know these people to the extent that my job allowed.  As a guest I am getting much more in depth conversations.  Because I can.  There is so much history in their stories. I'm glad I ended up sitting with these folks today.  I'm looking forward to the presentation.  And I'm looking forward to many more interesting conversations.  

Belfast and Dublin

 

We could have used more time in Belfast.  On our way to Dublin, we realized there was a titanic thing and a Game of Thrones thing in Belfast.  

We ate dinner in the cellar of the Belfast Castle.  That was cool.  Good food.  We met a couple who chatted with us about the goings on in our country and how things were in their country.  They gave us good advice for our time in Dublin.  

The plan was to take the train to Dublin.  Figured it was okay to wait and buy the tickets at the train station.  Ha.  All sold out for the time we wanted to go and the next one. We would have to wait until late afternoon to catch a train that had tickets available.  So, a bus it was.  Made me a little anxious, but it worked out fine.  This one didn't follow a coastline, so it was a much straighter ride.  And it put us in Dublin not much later than the train would have.  

We spent three nights in a castle in Dublin.  I got great rates.  When we checked in, they had a paper that I had to put information on, and it had their rates.  If I had to pay that we would not have stayed at the castle.  

We spent a good amount of time downtown.  Saw the Dublin Castle (I think we had a theme), Trinity College with the Kells, and a great ruined church in a cemetery.  We ate in the hotel, a pub, and a little hole in the wall place.  Breakfast every day at the hotel where I switched from croissants to scones.  They had the best potatoes on their breakfast buffet.  

And then it was time to head to the airport for our flight home.  We got John for our driver and his claim to fame is as a great conversationalist.  He talked the whole way.  

From Glasgow to Northern Ireland

 

Glasgow wasn't a big thing.  We needed to do some laundry so we looked up where a laundromat might be.  Found a 24 hour one and got an Uber.  He drops us where the address is and goes on his way.  We are looking for a laundromat and don't see one.  Very confused.  And then I spot it out of the corner of my eye.  There is a washing machine in a gas station parking lot washing clothes.  There were two machines, so we got to wash our clothes.  We were amused. 

Glasgow didn't come across as so old.  Yes there were a lot of old buildings, but a lot more new buildings also. We found those kinds of things interesting.

After two nights it was time for our bus to the ferry.  Oy.  I did not do so well on that bus.  Mostly because it was following the coastline which means twisty and turny.  Reminded me of the other trip I took to the UK and how the bus got me. Motion sickness is no fun. But we made it to the ferry and then I could not bring up our tickets on my phone.  That was more frustrating than the ride on the bus.  Finally, we went up to the counter and asked.  No big deal, she took our names and printed us out boarding passes.  

The ride was smooth.  I do all right on bigger boats.  No stalking of Avril Lavigne or U2 this time.

A couple of things I noticed about hotels in the UK.  They use actual glass glasses in the rooms, and they also use real flames in the restaurants.  Candles.  Real ones.  

Up to Scotland

 

Next leg of the journey started with a train.  Loved the Hogwarts stuff at the train station.  It was a little confusing at first, but we figured it out.  We got good at figuring stuff out.  It was about a three-hour ride from London to Edinburgh.  Our seats were facing backwards, and I was in the aisle, so I didn't see much out the window. I was hoping to see the funny sheep I saw last time, but I was denied.  

Edinburgh was one of those quick trips.  Basically, just a stopping point on the journey.  It is where my biggest adventure started though.  We rented a car.  And I drove it.  Yes, wrong side of the car, on the wrong side of the road, going the wrong way on roundabouts.  I am happy to report that I survived it and it was not as bad as I made it out to be in my mind.  It helped having a navigator who helped watch for things.  I only hit two curbs a bit.   

We rented the car so we could do some stops around Stirling.  It is hard to do that when you are on a train or a bus.  So, we saw the Kelpies, saw the Wallace Monument (but not up close as they did not have a shuttle driver that day), and the Stirling Castle.  

Then I finished the drive to Glasgow.  

Whirlwind

 

It was a whirlwind of a trip. Ten days in the UK.  We called it our Ireland trip, but really it was a UK trip.  We spent two nights in London, one night in Edinburgh, two nights in Glasgow, one night in Belfast and three nights in Dublin.  I think if we were to do it again, we would pick two places and just concentrate on all the sights in those places.  When you spend part of the time travelling from each place and only one night some places, you miss a lot. Lucky for us it was a second trip for each.

Our flight over was a red eye, so we slept a bit on the plane.  British Airways is fabulous. We got fed two meals and a snack as well as beverages.  It was a nine-hour flight, but we are so used to how things are done here now.  We would call ourselves lucky if we got a snack and a small bottle of water.  

Customs was a breeze.  Essentially, we scanned our passport and walked out.  It is one big and busy airport.  We figured out how to catch the train into London.  It got us close, but we still needed a ride to our hotel.  

We stayed at the Limehouse Library Hotel, and it was a cute boutique hotel.  Two nights there.  There was a church right next door and sometimes we heard the bell ringing.  We ate breakfast in their dining room the second morning.  The first of many wonderful croissants.  

We made it to the Grapes Pub which is owned by Ian McClellan.  It was small and loud and interesting.  Everything was paid for upfront.  Even food.  That certainly curtails theft.  

Our full day in London included riding the Eye of London, walking around seeing the horse guards, Buckingham Palace and lots of architecture.  We ate some pizza.  

We had one talkative Uber driver who gave us a civics lesson on how they were working on climate control in London. He was fascinating to listen to. His name was Henry, and he did not agree that all the bike lanes would help as it slowed all the cars down waiting for bikes.  His perspective was one of an Uber driver and I certainly got that.  My one day in London said I would never drive there, ever.