Bringing the Past to Life

To kick off the new year running on what could only have been about 5 hours sleep due to the continuous noise of popping fireworks, we found ourselves again back at the airport preparing for take-off not knowing what adventures these next few days would hold in England.  

Finding John and Julia (the lovely people we were staying with for the week) was an adventure in itself as Layah and I had no idea what they looked like. Thus followed the game of Where’s Wally, not knowing who Wally was. I eventually spotted two people with friendly looking faces and big bright smiles ………. Phew, thank goodness it was them. After a small drive which seemed to involved a small tour of the places we passed (including the house and grounds of Prince Edward and Princess Sophie, Earl and Countess of Wessex!), we arrived at their beautiful cottagey English home. The rest of the day was spent telling each other our stories in the lounge room and marvelling at the fact that we’d made it to England, spending time in each other’s company. We felt at home within half an hour and it feels like we’ve known them forever.  Couldn’t have had a better start to the new year.

A little back information on how we know John and Julia: our Dad and 7 month pregnant Mum came to live in England for two years in 1999 but had nowhere to stay while they found a place of their own. They contacted a few churches around to see if anyone could put them up for a few weeks and Beryl, who lived in Hampton Court, was more than happy to oblige.  Dad got a job in Camberley and Beryl’s friend-from-church’s cousin lived there and said Mum and Dad could stay with them as it was closer to Dad’s work.  And so John and Julia took Mum and Dad in for about 3 months.  During their time in England Layah was born, John and Julia being the first to hold the ‘new baby’ and walking away with the title of Granny and Grandad England. The last time we saw them was in 2002.  They have forever since held a place in our family’s hearts making the significance of this trip to England so incredibly amazing.

Day 2 (2^nd of Jan) of England was an all-round new experience. Never have Layah and I ever been a ‘tourist’ doing touristy things until now. We enjoy getting the full experience of the culture by spending time with people who live there,  eating what they normally eat and doing what they normally do. Hot tea and water was brought to us in bed at 6:30am on the first morning as we were heading to London in the early morning that day…..well, that’s if we could figure out the maze of the train system. We made our way to Waterloo station, only a few minutes walk/ one minute run (yes we ran a lot to catch the trains on time) to the London Eye.
We made our way to the Tower of London, crossing Tower bridge on the way. After the overload of history in the buildings and previous heirs to the throne, we got to see the crown jewels and other fancy ancient crockery.  In the gardens we found a squirrel bouncing around and managed to take a photo with a queens guard who sadly didn’t laugh when we pulled a teddy dog from our bag. He did give us a small nod when we left …….. Success, we made him move!
Onwards we went, walking across London bridge while singing the song…….thank goodness it didn’t fall down, although with the amount Buster’s been eating I’m almost surprised. Back into our childhood we went as we walked around St Paul’s Cathedral. Unfortunately we didn’t have any tuppence to feed the birds (Marry Poppins reference for those who haven’t been educated in the movie). We found ourselves walking over what we thought was Waterloo bridge singing Waterloo from Abba. Most people smiled or laughed when they heard us. Because this wasn’t enough for one day we walked through a British winter market, watched skateboarders do tricks where iconic street art was displayed, walked along the Thames where we found swans which we fed with someone else’s lunch that they gave us to use and came across Sherlock Homes’ bench (‘everyone needs a place to think’). By this point our feet were getting quite sore from all the walking we had done that day so caught a diverted train (making us change our route) back to Camberley Station. From there we attempted to walk home in the dark forgetting the directions, not having the home address and having flat phone batteries. We were walking for about an hour in a big loop before I approached some ladies to ask for some help. We managed to phone John who picked us up at the train station. What a day!
Note: Everywhere we went in London was by foot. We did about 32,000 steps and walked a distance of about 23.5km that day.

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Day 3 (3^rd of Jan) of England was spent at Hampton Court (from personal experience this is a MUST DO). During the day small skits were held at different places throughout the palace telling a story of what it would have been like in those days. It was very engaging and interesting. Between the skits we went and saw Queen Elizabeth I’s lost dress, walked through the art gallery of the portraits of different Queens, Kings, princes, princesses and other significant people, walked through the Kings chambers and enjoyed the enormous gardens that surrounded the castle. Goodness I would hate to be the gardeners, so much weeding.
Just before we left Layah and I completed the first ever built puzzle maze in England. It took us about 3 minutes to complete it together running. On the way out Layah and I competed to see who could get out first without running. I beat her by 30 seconds…..not mentioning that apparently I cheated a little (me, cheating, neeverrrr). Praise the Lord, we had excellent super sunny weather that day when it was meant to rain.We caught the train to Camberley with ease and didn’t get lost, this time finding home.
Note: We did about 21,000 steps, walking about 16km.
Tip: If you are traveling through England by train, National Rail app works a treat.

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Day 4 (4^th of Jan) started with a little celebration in our hearts and on the phone as we got to wish Jordan a spectacular day on his birthday.
Back to London we tramped for another busy, touristy day. Buckingham palace was the first on our list, being a bit of a disappointment because they weren’t doing the changing of the guard ceremony that day. Off we went to find Sherlock’s house at 221B Baker Street walking through some of the most expensive places in London. It almost felt as if we were going around a monopoly board passing Oxford Street, Park Lane and others significant streets. Fortunately we didn’t land on the jail.
On the way we walked past Hyde Park which was the stage on which the most insane encounter occurred.  As we were strolling along I noticed Layah looking at someone, and then she stopped and called out their name.  The Australian-accented reply made me do a double take, and it turned out that we’d just crossed paths with one of the people in Layah’s German class at Uni…from Tasmania…in Hyde Park in London, the opposite side of the word.  Is there anything more Tasmania!  Absolutely gobsmacked!  No one spoke for the first while followed by laughter, standing in shock from what happened.  After a short exchange we went our separate ways again, not quite understanding what had just happened.  We made it to 221B Baker St and were sorely disappointed because it wasn’t actually the film site, which we had sort of expected but forgot to check.  Note for anyone following in our footsteps: the actual address is 187 Gower St.
England is known for its fish and chips and so after seeing Sherlock’s house Layah and I went on a mission to find some for lunch. Our walking became sliding after an hour as our feet dragged behind our desperate motivation for food. This mission was slowly deteriorating as all we could find were ice-cream stalls. Never have I been more disappointed to see ice-cream.  We made it all the way back to Westminster Abbey and across the bridge before we finally set eyes on a sign that stood out like the finish line of a marathon. We found the food!  Sadly it wasn’t very good.
Off we went again to Westminster Abbey to attend the Evensong church service. The choir was absolutely magical.  Would recommend!  We had hoped to get to Kings Cross Station (classic Platform 9 ¾) afterwards but we didn’t make it.
After listening and watching different street performances we made our way home, finally getting to put our feet up after another full day of walking and standing.
Note: We did about 34,000 steps and walked about 26km.

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Day 5 (5^th of Jan) started off by going to the church Mum, Dad and Layah used to go to, meeting people that knew Layah as a baby. I enjoyed watching the reactions of people as they realised that the small baby they used to know was now 20 years old and taller than them. We did a little detour after church to Mum and Dads apartment at Kirby Court where they lived with Layah when they were staying in England and the hospital that Layah was born in. We also visited the shop our parents used to go to, making it seem as if we were living their past.
We got home, had a quick sandwich and left again to walk to the totem pole and obelisk at Virginia Waters with John and Julia.
Back into London Layah and I went that evening, finding a large wrap and delicious hot chocolate (the best I’ve ever tasted) for dinner before wandering along the river to Shakespeare’s Globe to watch Richard III. It was an excellent production with great actors and orchestra and even a non-Shakespearean lover (me) enjoyed it.
As soon as the act finished it was a race to catch the last train for the night. We had to run the whole way to make it in time and with sore feet from previous days and standing for the whole Shakespearian play, it almost seemed impossible. It was made possible thanks to the motivation not to live homeless for a night in the middle of London… it definitely would have been an interesting story to tell.  Do it for the blog?…I don’t think so, sorry.

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Day 6 (6^th of Jan) differed to the others. We got up and lounged around talking, writing and laughing. For lunch we went out (in the convertible to my excitement) to a typical British pub, which is very unlike Tasmanian pubs. Here they’re lovely quaint old buildings with wooden beams and a roaring fireplace; somewhere you would take your family for a nice lunch or where clubs meet up. The meals were incredibly delicious and we even had the new experience of eating chicken wings with our hands having a finger washing bowl placed next to us for the resulting mess. What an experience! Back home as the rain fell, again just enjoying our afternoon in each other’s company reading books and watching TV.

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Oh if only day 7 (7^th of Jan) could wait a little while. It can’t have been a week already. Waking up to the realisation that it was our last day only made me want to go back to sleep and wish it away. What a lovely time we have had together adventuring around the city of London while also spending such great time with John and Julia.  They’re a special example of the people that just make you feel at home, despite having only truly known them for 7 days.
Quick packing and a beautiful drive passed their old house where they lived when our family stayed with them, then straight to the airport we went awaiting our next adventures back in Germany.

Can you believe it, we are over half way now! Time flies when you’re having fun!

L & J & B