Travel Notes from Taw Hill Village, England
April 15-April 20, 2007

Unfortunately our hostess’ wireless has been out for the past week (the phone company says it’s working on it). So that’s why the delay. BT is supposed to come Monday, but we’ll see.

From the outset, you’ll notice this is a long, long journal. We’re not doing the sites too much. We’ve done the tourist bit years ago. Instead we’re spending time with friends in their homes and immersing ourselves into the local culture. So most of our time is being spent in the local villages, shopping centers, art centers and visiting people we know. Although for some this would probably be a very boring holiday, it’s just what we want. We do plan on going to different places while we’re in England (Bristol, Lake District, York). This journal also is more of a personal account so I won’t forget things in the future. I’m sharing it because it’s fun to do so, however, please do not feel obligated to read it all. I can get a bit wordy at times and I apologize for that.

Sunday April 15/Monday April 16
Losing a day in a matter of hours
I’ve always resented losing that one hour every year when we go into Daylight Savings Time. It’s basically unfair that we lose an hour in order to artificially appreciate more daylight. Thus you can well imagine how I feel when we travel back to England, where we lose an entire day. It’s kind of weird to leave on a Sunday, spend 11 hours in the air, and arrive in London the next day. That’s where the jet lag comes in. It always takes me so long to catch up. In a way, time dances around until you finally grab it as your partner again. Life’s been one big adjustment: to a new country, to new people, new culture and even language (I know they’re speaking English, I just don’t understand them). As difficult as it may be at times, I LOVE every minute of it—part of the adventure. If you want to get away from the dull and mundane, visit another country. You’re forced to cope and try new things.

Our flight to Chicago was uneventful except for the landing—very windy, thus very rocky. I went to my safe place (mental exercise I learned from survivors’ class), but Hal stayed around to experience the anxiety. We had a two over layover and then boarded the jet for London. Off we started for takeoff and then turned about face we went, learning that the windshield wiper didn’t work. One hour and 30 minutes later, we finally took off. Yes, it took that long to replace the wiper; one guy offered to go get one off his car to get us going (joke). Apparently, they had to go back to the hanger and take one off another jet. I didn’t like the false start, made me a bit nervous; but the flight was smooth sailing from that point forward.

Of course, Hal and I tried to sleep, but to no avail. I considered taking a sleeping pill, but they recommend that you have a full eight hours to sleep; so I opted to try watching a movie or two, which didn’t work. It’s just difficult to catch a snooze on a plane, no matter how comfortable it is. BTW, the United flight was far more enjoyable than the British Airways that we took last time. There’s lots of leg and seating room. BA was just awful—we all felt like stuffed beef in miniature containers. On the other hand, United was roomy—in our seats and in the aisles. I had no trouble walking around and exercise my legs.

Upon arrival at 7:30 a.m. (our time 11:30 p.m.—still early enough not to be feeling too weird), we took a bus over to the Sheraton Heathrow to pick up our car at Thrifty. We “hired” a car for the first few weeks here, so that we can visit friends and get to various places without having to worry about taxis, buses and trains like we did in ’04. It’s fairly inexpensive when you compare the cost of public transport and time.

We finally got to Helen’s flat by 12:30 p.m. (our time 4:30 a.m.—now we’re feeling like zombies). Helen popped back to work and we were off to the local pub to get something to eat—yes, we should have tried to sleep but we were more hungry than tired. Helen lives in a fairly new development—about eight years old. It’s called Taw Hill Village. There is a big difference between Chiseldon (a village dating back to 900 a.d. and earlier) were we lived in 2000 to this new village. The basic amenities are here, in fact more than the older one, but everything is new. All the buildings are made of brick (they wonder why we build our homes out of lumber, especially in the hurricane states) and are fashioned after the typical English style of old. Somewhat in the center, in walking distance, is a medical clinic, a small grocer called the Co-Op, cleaners, two take-away establishments, an estate agent (Realtor) office and a primary school. Down the way, there’s also a pub, which was built in ’04, but looks and feels like a typical older pub. Very nice place. We finally settle down for a nap around 2 and did’t wake up until 7 p.m. We are still dead tired.

The hardest part of traveling here is getting on schedule. It’s just bizarre. I don’t know how everyone does it. People from Intel are always flying back and forth and going to meetings the same day they arrive. Helen does it often and she says it’s grueling. I’m impressed.

Tuesday, April 17, 2007
I slept until 10:30 a.m.— over 12 hours. Hal woke up at 4 a.m. and didn’t feel well most of the day. We did go out to a store name ASDA, which is owned by (sad to say) Wal-Mart. The good news is that it’s not like Wal-Mart! The company has been able to maintain it’s own identity. We picked up a few things that we like—me: scones and clotted cream; Hal: Cadbury hot chocolate mix (the Cadbury in the States is made by Hersey). He went back to the car and napped, while I checked out the other stores in the shopping center. I ended up buying a few clothes items, without trying them on.

Back at the flat, I tried on the clothes. Nothing fit. I was devastated. I know I’ve gained some weight of late because of the medication I’m on, but I didn’t think I had gone that far. So I depressingly, folded up the items to return them the next day. To be honest, I was in a blue funk when Helen came home. That is, until she told me that English sizes are numbered two sizes larger than ours. So what I bought were sizes 8/10. Whew. I haven’t been able to squeeze into a size 10 since before I was thirty!

It’s too funny to hear these English accents (and there are lots of them) over the intercom at the supermarket. You know, the “clean up in aisle” such and such. We hear it all the time, but it sure is amusing when you hear it in a different accent. Of course, I can spend several hours in any supermarket here. There are so many product variations and I want to try them all.

Tonight we went back to the pub and had fish and chips. Fried fish with everything on it except the head. We never had it that way before, but it was good. Helen’s sister, Rachael, joined us. She just started working for Expedia in London and is rather excited about the job. Sounds like a fun place to work.

Well, that’s all there is to report for today. Tomorrow we’re going to try to call our local friends and visit them this week. Our plan for the next several days is to get plenty of rest and contact our friends to let them know we’re here.


Wednesday, April 18, 2007
Hal and I got a fairly good night’s sleep, although I woke up at 6 a.m. to watch the sun rise. It’s absolutely beautiful here from Helen’s place. As her flat is on the third floor, you can see most of the red rooftops, and when the sun creeps upward, an orange glow seems to radiate through the morning stillness. In less than three hours time, that stillness is broken with the sound of children walking to school.

St. Francis School (four years to 10 years) is a public school and all the children are in smart uniforms (standard for the schools here). They are fun to watch daily. There’s a good size school yard with areas for basketball, football (soccer), jungle gyms. Near us there are huge truck tires that the kids play in. They are so very typical of all children worldwide, I suppose. I’ve already identified the bully, the rascal, the shy one and so on.

Today Hal and I went to Starbucks and connected to the Internet to get our mail out to everyone. We’re still without any Internet connection here, so it’s been a little frustrating. Service here is a little slower than the States. I remember that from our other visits. But then again, the lifestyle here is more relaxed. While we’ve seen the “A” personalities here and there, most folks seem to take life a lot easier than we do.

We later went shopping for a few items like our “mobile” (phone) and I picked up a couple canvases.
I’m having a hard time finding an arts and crafts store here. Believe it or not, I found the canvases in a store called, Home Base—part hardware, part furniture, part garden center. It was an interesting store, especially the bathroom and kitchen sections. I spied a wonderful bathroom sink configuration: a bowl on top of a wooden shelf. They have the same thing at the local pub.

Later we went home, had lunch and took a much needed nap. I’m telling you, the jet lag is a killer. I still can’t get over how people handle it who have to work flying back and forth!

After tea, we took off for a walk on one of the several walking lanes in this estate. I cannot begin to tell you how many there are and all of them are in good shape—partly I guess because they’re new, but also because there are litter containers all throughout the area. This is one place were litter is not an issue. Oh by the way, you’re also fined £1,000 for leaving your dog’s business behind; thus also the dog litter boxes.

The walking path is just outside our door and takes you into all sorts of interesting areas. We went through a forested area, a neighborhood football field and over several wooden bridges topping off a small spring. I like how they take the time to pour asphalt-walking paths here. Don’t get me wrong, I like our sidewalks, but often they just take you through neighborhoods, where as these walking paths take through the countryside and neighborhoods with a few surprises to boot.

For instance, we were rather surprised to be in this woodland and turn a corner to see a local supermarket, Morrisons, just standing there amongst the trees and such. What a lovely way to get your groceries. Although the co-op is only a short walk from the flat, Hal and I think it would be fun to go to the other place sometime as it is much larger and has a lot more variety.

Friday morning, April 20, 2007
We’ve awakened very late today. Our hostess has a cold—a very bad one. Hal and I think that our bodies are telling us to sleep more to fight off the possible germs. We’re also taking Airborne. We were planning to visit Bristol today but since we woke up near 11 a.m. and have to be back in Swindon by 6:30, we’ve decided to pass on the trip. We’re visiting friends in Marlborough tomorrow and others from Intel on Sunday.

Yesterday was another lovely day—we’ve had pleasant weather all week with warm days and sunshine! Hal and I went down to Swindon and did some shopping in the local mall. I was looking for some canvases and a sweater. It was fun being back in Swindon—while not the most sought-after place to visit when going to London, it is a great place to fill up with local culture.

While on the bus returning from town, we met up with two young boys (around 11 or 12), who had been riding the buses all day. They both got an all-day pass, which entitled them to ride any bus in the area. When we met them, they had been on 12 buses to all sorts of towns/villages, as one said brightly, “We’ve been to places we’ve never heard of. We don’t even know where they are!” They both were having such a great time. They thought the buses were wonderful as they had already visited their grandparents that day and were looking forward to meeting other relatives. It was so cute.

When we first sat down in the double-decker bus(of course Hal went straight to the top just like Alex used to), the two fellows were giving us that look—those people are Americans. It’s amazing how the looks you get. As I’ve said before, if you keep your mouth shut, no one suspects anything, but say something and wow! the heads turn. It’s sort of nice because we’re unique (I haven’t turned heads in years!!!) and people are generally friendly and even interested in talking with us.

Back to the boys, so they’re giving us the look and I turn to them and say, “Yes, we’re Americans.” They both perk up with a smile and ask why we’re in Swindon. Hal says we’re on holiday and they giggle.

One asks, “Why? Who would like to holiday in Swindon.”

Hal’s retorts, “Oh we have lots of friends here to visit.”

That seemed to make sense to them and they went on to tell us about all the places we can visit by bus. Hal later said that he could see Alex and his friend, Matt spending the day in England on such an adventure. But secretly, I think it would be fun for us too—if we had the time. What a way to really see the area.

I’m glad though that we’ve spent our first week in Swindon. There’s nothing like being in a community away from the tourist attractions. We’re not just one of thousands seen each day. The shopkeepers and check-out people have all been accommodating and truly interested in who we are. They’re proud to show you how things are done. It’s very welcoming. One gal even went through a demonstration on how to open their plastic bags (and I thought ours were hard). Very nice indeed.

In the evening, I made a three course meal for Helen and Hal: cream of mushroom soup, followed by meatloaf and mash potatoes with an “ender” of fruit salad in single cream (their single, double and whipping cream—yum). Helen had only had meatloaf once—in Arizona, but never a home-cooked one. The meat was a little different than what we’re used to, but it turned out okay.

That’s all for now folks. I have more to tell you about last night, but I’ll save that for another message in a few days.

Hope you are well. JJ