train to Paris! March 30

After having an appropriate breakfast of scones at Chris and Ken's, Katrina took us to Bromley South where we took an express train to Victoria and then the Victoria tube line to St. Pancras station where  we picked up our Eurostar tickets, our first time riding as seniors.  (Sigh). $62 each.

We woke Georgie M. up from sleep to meet us for a coffee.  We met at the Booking Room, a lovely restaurant lobby of the very posh St Pancras Hotel.  The coffee was expensive, but it was so worth it to be warm, comfortable and able to chat in quiet.  (Thanks to Shirley for her recommendation)
It was so wonderful to meet Georgie who is doing a junior term in England and who recently got her British citizenship.Then, promptly at 2:00, the train left. It was very crowded with the start of the Easter holidays and the British escaping the coldest March in 50 years. We ate hummus and crackers. The train took just about 2.5 hours. We arrived at the Gare du Nord and walked, a little bit crookedly, to the Gare de l'Est where we picked up Metro line 7 to Pyramides. We got turned around trying to find Rue du Marche in the 1st arrondissement, where we have stayed before, but we did manage to find it. It is a funky, rather dingy little studio with a futon, two-burner hot plate and up two rickety, narrow flights of stairs, but the location near the Tuileries and the price of €90 per night cannot be beat. And, it is so nice to feel like we know the neighborhood. We called Nick on Nantucket using Viber, set up by Katrina. And, then we went to the ATM for some euros, shopped in a little market and had a dinner of jambon, Brie and bread and caught up on our email.w

Family Days, March 28 and 29

Mark and Ken returned our car today to Croydon, with a side trip to Ikea and shopping. (We drove just under 1000 miles)  Chris and I walked to the post office and mailed ourselves a small package, mostly brochures and family things for Grandpa White.  Although not too heavy, as we are in only three carry on bags, it is important not to carry anything extraneous.
chips. 

Shirley came over in the afternoon and we went over to Katrina's in the evening.

On Friday, it being Good Friday and a holiday, we had a big family day.  Mark, Annie, Katrina, Lewis, Ewan and I went to Crystal Palace Park and walked around, visited a small  farm and a playground.  Even though there were snow flakes in the air, the kids had ice cream!
Later, Will and Walshie came over and we all had a feast of fish and chips.

"One Man, Two Guvnors" , March 27

A wonderful and fun day in London!  But, it is still really cold!
Ken, Mark and I took the train into Charing Cross and walked to the National Gallery where we focused on the Impressionists.  Then, we ate lunch in the crypt at St Martins in the Fields church.  (Cauliflower and mint soup).

Then, we went to see the very funny commedia dells' arts farce, "One Man, Two Guvnors" starring Rufus Hound at the Haymarket Theatre. It is a rewrite of a Goldini play from the 1700s, updated by Richard Bean.  Mark and I really loved it...music was played beforehand, during intermission and at every set change, often with the actors joining in.  It was very vaudevillian, physical, farcical.  Ken was not wild about it, but, of course we started thinking of how we would love to do it.

Anyway, then, we walked to a Chinese restaurant and had a lovely meal.  Chris joined us after work, a little delayed by heavy traffic.  I had mushrooms and bak Choi which was really good, as well as corn and crab soup.  We then walked back to the train, walked to Goodhart Way, arriving home at 10:15....what a wonderful day.  funny theatre, great art, yummy food and good conversation and friends.     

    

Quiet day, March 26

We had a quiet day today.  Chris went to her golf club and actually played in weather below freezing.  Ken babysat for almost one-year old Adam and Mark and I had a nice day shopping in Bromley.  We just got odds and ends and a birthday present to take home to Henry.  Mark has loaded Viber on his phone and had a nice chat with Nick on Nantucket.  We also called the grandparents back home yesterday. We went over to Katrina and Paul's in late afternoon, played with three-year old Lewis and had a delicious Indian take away dinner.

Snowy family day, March 23

We woke up to see snow falling!  Katrina and Lewis came over in the morning.  Katrina made us all lunch and then Mark and I went with Katrina and Lewis to the Horniman Museum for the afternoon.  Lewis made an Easter egg holder and we viewed the collection of musical instruments, masks, stuffed animals....

 

 

High Tea with Pete and Shirley, March 24

Once again, we woke up to snow and cold.  The northern parts of the U.K. had serious snow fall and drifts which buried cars.
Annie, Will, Ewan and Adam came over in the morning.  Mark and I left at 12:30 to drive a mere 7 miles into Streatham to Pete and Shirley's house to meet up with Pete for the trip into London to have high tea at the County Hall on the Thames across from Parliament.  The satellite navigation estimated a 27 minute journey.  Ha!  It took over an hour with the last two miles taking over half an hour due to the dreaded road works. Four big road works delays.

When we finally arrived, we had two minutes to catch a bus to the train at Clapham Common.  But, all was well and we made it to County Hall only a little late for our 2:30 reservation.  But, it was all worth it.  What a lovely, grand building, once the seat of the city government, but now owned by the Marriott.  And, what a sumptuous meal.....endless tea and champagne, amazing scones with clotted cream, delicate sandwiches featuring smoked salmon, cucumbers, and egg, topped by beautifully decorated tea cakes.      We lingered there chatting away and eating away until past 7 being totally spoiled by attentive staff and watching the world go by on the Thames and Big Ben lit up across the river.  To top it off, we took a taxi back to Streatham, where we continued to chat and to see the redecorating being tackled at Pete and Shirley's.  We arrived back in West Wickham around 9:30, with no traffic at all in about only 20 minutes.  A lovely, rather decadent Sunday.

A cold, but fun day in Greenwich, March 25

It is still bitterly cold here.
Christine had to work today.  Ken, Mark and I took the train to Greenwich, where we met up with Pete, Ken's brother.

We started in the former naval hospital where we had a good tour of the Painted Hall which was a dining hall for old and disabled sailors for a while.  There was a cantankerous old man when the huge paintings by Thornhill were being done.  To keep him quiet and out of the way, they chose him to model for one of the people in it.  Then we went underneath the hall to a chapel where we were lucky to hear a five member choir rehearsing to a piece by Thomas Tallis.  It was beautiful.

  

Then, we went to the old, famous Trafalgar pub, on the Thames where Pete and Sue had their wedding reception.

Fortified, we then walked to the Queen's House where we saw lots of paintings and learned the history of the house which actually had a road though its middle.    We learned that the king, who I think was James 1, had to move his hunting dogs across the river due to their barking.  Hence, there is a section of London called the Isle of Dogs.

Then, we went to the Maritime Museum which was interesting, especially the maritime London exhibit.  The docks were the largest enclosed dock water in the world.

Then, we found a cafe, had some lattes to warm up and took the train home.

Rainy journey to West Wickham, March 22

We said goodbye to the Moorland Hotel, where we really had a wonderful time.

It rained all night and there is serious flooding all over Devon.  We saw many streams way out of their banks. We drove via Taunton where we stopped for a coffee at an ASDA, which brought back memories of shopping in Lancaster.

It poured heavily at times and we did not arrive in West Wickham until around 4.  There were road works on the M25, too.

We had a grand family gathering of the Bryan clan where we got to meet the new baby, Adam, almost age 1 and get reacquainted with 3 year old Lewis and 5 year old Ewan. We had a lovely lasagne dinner and spoke into the evening.

Rainy day in Modbury, Devon. March 21

We had our first totally rainy day today.

We started with our full English breakfast at the hotel and then set off to Plymton to try to do a laundry.  But, it was closed, not to open until later.  Bummer.  Then, we realized we had set off without our family records.  sigh.  So, back up the hill we went.  It should be noted that the Moorland Hotel is up in Dartmoor and quite a drive to get to.  So, back we went.  It was pouring. We stopped out of curiosity as we had been noticing lots of diggers in one of the fields.  We found out it is an archaeological dig of prehistoric sites.  There is a mine going in later so they were documenting the site before it gets destroyed.  It was hard work today, for sure.

With our data in hand, we drove to Modbury, the real ancestral home of the Whites.  We thought there was a historic society, but found it was a group of people who only meets monthly.  It seemed we might have hit a wall, but the postmistress suggested we check out a private foundation, the Rural Devon Archives at an estate called Shirlston.  And, then we were in luck.  After quite a harrowing drive down lanes that cannot possibly qualify as roads, we arrived to find quite a modern converted barn with archives.  And, it is only open on Tuesday and Thursday to the public, so we were in luck, as it isThursday. . 

We were helped to find microfiche of births etc in Modbury.  The microfiche reader was broken, so we struggled to move the fiche manually and focus it by finger pressure, which was challenging.  But, we found evidence taking Cal White's research back two, and maybe three more generations.  It was pretty exciting.  Mark got some nice photos of old photos and maps.  If we come back here we will check there more and try to get an address or two, maybe from a census.

 

Then, we drove back to Plymton, found the laundry, did a wash and had a nice little cafe, Grieg's,
 recommended.  We had homemade soup, which was appropriate for the miserable weather.  There is flooding in the area and another miserable day forecast for tomorrow.
Then, back to our hotel for thce last night, which feels quite sad, as it has been great here.  We are eating in our room from a few things we bought at Tesco's.

Knightshayes and Cousins! March 20

After our English breakfast at our hotel, we drove about 60 miles into north Devon to a National Trust property, Knightshayes Court, where we had arranged to met my second cousin, Sue and her husband, Andre, neither of whom we had seen for over 20 years.

It was a wonderful visit, despite some drizzle and chill.  We sat and chatted in the cafe for hours, catching up on our lives.  Sue has done hours and hours of Geneological research on the Fell family.  My gran was Hilda Fell.  Her gran was Clara Fell.  Sue gave us a pile of documents and family tree things.  Wonderfully, with her expertise and membership in Ancestry UK, she had also done some sleuthing on the Whites which took us back two more generations which will please Grandpa Cal a lot.

We also walked around the huge estate house.  It was a strange mix of eras, having been built in the mid-nineteenth century, but in. Medieval style.  And, it had two designers, quite different from each other after the first one, William Berges, was fired.  So, the result is quite odd...very ornate, overly decorated, very busy.  The grounds were lovely, but the rain prevented us from exploring.

Sue and Andre introduced us to their dogs before we left.  They were going to take them for a woods walk.  We took off to pay a quick visit to Buckfast Abbey, a Benedictine monastery, consecrated in 1932, where my grandfather, Charles Barber, spent months lodging there, working on the stained glass windows.

 

Then, we came back to the hotel, ate and read over the genealogy that Sue gave us.

Following the White family of Devon

We had a hearty English breakfast at the Moorland Hotel and then got quite lost trying to find an easier way out of the moors and down to Plymouth.  We were on narrow roads with hedgerows.  We found a lovely stream, bridge and mossy trees and rocks en route.  In Plymton we asked a policeman for help and he actually provided us with an escort into Plymouth.  After we parked by the "Hoe" which is the high ground of the fortress-dominated harbor, he even came looking for us to give us advice and information.  We walked a bit and decided Plymouth is worth a return visit.

Then we drove to Modbury, a little village that my cousin Susan says is in the White genealogy.  We found St. George's church, built in the early 1300's.  and, we found a book of the headstones with several Whites.  (Jeffrey).

Next we drove to Malborough, another little village en route to Salcombe.  We found All Saints Church, built around 1200.  There were no records, but we found Whites in the graveyard...Agnes and John.
Then, we drove to Salcombe on the water and got coffee and made ham and cheese sandwiches.  The weather was sunny and cloudy, but got to 50 degrees.  I think we had the best weather in the country.

Next, we drove to Kingsbridge where we saw the White family home that we saw 8 years ago.  From there we got rather lost finding the village of Sherford, where the Whites had a farm.  This time, St Martin's church was closes and we could not find the grave we found before,but they had really deteriorated.  We took a short walk and bought a book of the village in Frogmore, nearby.  We found a more straightforward way back to Kingsbridge, stopping to photograph spring lambs in the fields.

It was another adventure to get back here...more roads barely as wide as our Ford Focus.   But, we managed, although it was a full hour.  Poor Mark!  We ate at the hotel.

dartmoor! march 18

We said a said goodbye to Maura who was the perfect host...good food, conversation, including giving up her own bed to us.  We are very grateful.

We drove about 210 miles to Moorland Hotel in Wotter Shaugh in Dartmoor.  We stopped en route to view Stonehenge, which we visited when Nick and Jecca were little and nothing was then fenced off like it is today.  
We stopped at a Waitrose in Exeter to get groceries ans had a hearty chicken soup in their cafe.  The last 8 miles were scary - hedgerows, narrow, narrow roads, turns.  The hotel was booked on Living Social for £158 for FOUR nights, including breakfast.  We are on third floor with balcony and can see Plymouth and the sea.  We are eating on the room, catching up on email and entered March Madness Tournament.  (Go Miami!)
   

A quiet St. Patrick's Day, March 17

We had a needed quiet day.  Maura went to do volunteer work in a stables which teaches handicapped children to ride on Sundays.  Mark and I took the train to Wimbledon and sat at a Starbuck's having coffee and checking email and Facebook etc.  It is almost time for our family March Madness Tournament, so we wanted to be sure we were not too late to enter.  (We weren't.  In fact, it was a day too early.)

We did get on the wrong train and had to turn around, though!  (Different trains on same platform). No harm done.

Then, Mark made another nice dinner of rice, mushrooms, ham....

More theatre in London, March 16

Today was less busy.  We had a slow morning, complete with salmon and scrambled eggs, a la Mark.
Then, off on the train for a matinee of "Quartermaine's Term" by Simon Graywith the incomparable Rowan Atkinson.  This was a gift from Maura, which was incredibly generous     It was set in a rather run down language school in Cambridge in the 60's.  Atkinson played a sad, incompetent, lonely teacher.  Everyone in the staff room had dysfunctional and lonely lives.  We disagreed about the play.  Maura found it rather pedestrian and sad.  Mark quite liked it, especially the acting, and I guess I was in the middle.  It was written in 1987 and Michael Palin had played Quartermaine  earlier in the West End.

We went home after the play.

The weather has been cold, windy, but with just sprinkles, so we have not let it stop us.

Mark made a lovely dinner of rosemary potatoes, chicken, broccoli and garlic.

A full day in London, March 15

We had a busy day in London, which started with Mark getting everyone up at 5:15 instead of 6:15!  We got an early train into Waterloo, walked to the National Theatre to queue up for tickets for the night show of "People" by Alan Bennett.  Success!  And only £12.50.

Then to breakfast at Canteen and a walk across the river to the Churchill War Rooms.  Fascinating tour and Churchill Museum.  We spent hours there. The maps were amazing and left as they were when the war ended.  Churchill was not easy to work for and hard on his staff.  We had a coffee and snack in the cafeteria.

After that, we walked to the National Gallery where we focused on medieval art, including a famous "cartoon" by Leonardo DaVinci, probably a study for another work.

Then, a stroll back over the river, dinner back at Canteen, and to the South Bank.  Our seats were high up and on the side which meant a bit of a neck strain, but couldn't beat the price.  The set was a run down grand house, occupied by two old, eccentric ladies, one of whom was a recluse, former model.  The other, her companion, who turned out to be her half sister, the off spring of the father's affair with a maid.  Another sister, a deacon, wants the house sold to the National Trust.  In the course of the play, an old lover of the former model, now a porn producer shows up.  We all liked the play,but didn't love it.  Lots of food for thought on age, class, keeping up grand homes, jokes on the people who support the National Trust.  Then, train home, after being gone for 15 hours.  Jet lag!

A full, busy, stimulating day...thanks to Maura.

Arrival in London, March 14

We had a very early wake up for a 5:30 a.m. pickup in the dark, but all went smoothly.  There were light snow flurries.  We had an easy three hour flight to Heathrow.   It is so nice to bypass collecting luggage.  We got mini bus to Avis and picked up a Ford Focus diesel car, white.  Mark did a great job driving to New Malden, although we took one moisture and ended up in Malden, then misses the turn to Motspur Park and went through a long delay of roadworks that we had to turn around and go back through!  It probably took about an extra hour, complete with waiting for a train.  Sigh!

It was great to get to Maura's house and relax.  We had a local Indian restaurant deliver some yummy food.  It is good to be in England.

Reykjavik, March 13

It was a tad tricky getting from the airport to Reykjavik.  The airport is 47 kilometers away.  We bought tickets for fly us to get to town.  Luckily, I read in inflight magazine that it would only take us to the central bus terminal and then we would have to switch to a city bus, numb we unknown AND no change is given by bus drivers.  Mind you, it was 6:30 a.m. So, 2:30 to us.  So, fortunately, we realized our error and paid 2000 more Icelandic krona to be dropped closer to our street, Ranargata.  We found the little, one-room studio from the photo from HomeAway and a nice young man, Sebastian, was here to let us in and mercifully make us some coffee and point us to a little grocery store.  I bought some really good local yogurt, which the shopkeepers told us they mix with cream.  As they opened the store for us before it was really open, I took their advice and.....yum!

After a little lie down and a shower, we explored the city.  The sun came out and it was in the mid-forties...not bad at all.  We wandered the main shopping street, Laugavegur and had some fish stew, which we expected to be like soup, but was more like a casserole.  It actually looked like Mac and cheese.  It was good, but rich.  We also strolled the water front, saw eiders and cormorants and one bird we hope our birding friends will identify.  We bought a banquette, cheese and ham for dinner and early to bed because we have a bus to catch at 5:30 a,m.!!!!!