Catching up

Monday night we headed into London where Bev's sister Denni had gotten us wonderful seats at a dress rehearsal performance of Private Lives. It has provided us with many tag lines as we ride through the English countryside. It was delightful meeting Bev's sister, about whom we have heard so much. She was as lovely as promised. The next morning, Roger and Chris dutifully showed up and we set out to cycle through the English countryside. Those of us who have been following our blogs for years might remember our account of our trip from Canterbury to Dover. Rain, hail, punctures, tall hedgerows, stinging nettles. This is different. Not every place has hedgerows, so there is actually scenery. Exactly what you might expect for English countryside. Our first destination was Thaxted, a village whose name actually means "thatched rooves." We ride past s windmill, forded a stream, had tea in a place called Finchingfield. We would be hard-pressed to find a more traditional English scene: a duck pond, ancient buildings, a guild hall. Our inn had a marvelous dinner and a full English breakfast, just perfect for cycling. Thursday was Thaxted to Sudbury. We detoured so that we could visit Holders Meadows, a town named after us! We frightened some sheep, travelled cross-country through grassy fields on a bridle trail, and ended up in Sudbury. We opted that night for Prezzo, an Italian chain which serves fabulous food with excellent service. On the way we stopped for lunch in Halsted, where our friend Bev grew up. Their flat and photography shop was just across the street from a church whose bells thoroughly annoyed Bev's father. We paid homage to the places she lived and enjoyed a great meal served by Andrea from Hungary. After lunch we visited a round church, built by the Templars (see the Da Vinci Code) where we were lucky to come upon the church being cleaned and set up for this weekend's service. Traveling with a former Archdeacon of the Anglican Church has its advantages. Chris knows her churches. We spent the night in a beautiful spacious bed and breakfast and set out on a short day. Tea was in Levanham, an incredible Medieval town. We enjoyed tea there, despite the drizzle. It was like stepping back in time. Their church was gorgeous, St. Peter and St. Paul, which we visited. It was one of the "wool churches," a church built from wool money. The day ended in Bury St. Edmunds, where we attended Evensong at the cathedral and then enjoyed an authentic English pub dinner. Shepherd's pie and fish and chips revived us. Tomorrow we head through New Market to Saffron-Walden. We are already planning our trip from DC to Pittsburgh next year. But first: mani and pedis in Stevenage next week.

Arrival

So far, everything we hoped for. John picked all of us up at the airport: Roger and Chris came in from their trip in Maine and near DC and we all arrived about the same time at Heathrow. Without missing a beat, we fell into our "routine." Lots of good conversation, food and wine. Yesterday, after arriving in Stevenage at about 9:00 a.m., we took a short nap and then had lunch got settled in. Roger and Chris joined us for dinner and we all got caught up on recent adventures. Today was devoted to a bike ride around Stevenage, during which we sorted out any difficulties we might have with the bikes on our trip. After a wonderful breakfast of eggs and backn,we walked to Roger and Chris's house, which we hadn't seen yet. They moved to Stevenage in November upon their retirement. We adjusted seat heights, pannier brackets and mirrors (we're in the wrong side of the road here!) and took off for a test ride of the area. It does take some getting used to riding on the left. The method we settled on was a Brit in the front to lead and a Brit in the back to make sure we conformed. We stopped at a local pub for a delicious lunch, and Beverly and John returned home so that Beverly could make an afternoon appointment. We continued riding with Roger and Chris to try to work off some of the fabulous meals that we've already had. Last night's dinner was slow roasted lamb, buttered potatoes and flat beans. Today's lunch was a giant baked potato (known here as a "jacket potato") filled with tuna salad. We rode by their daughter Issy's house and managed to see Steve, Georgina and Danny just as they were leaving for the afternoon swimming lesson. A relaxing couple of hours in the kitchen was followed by venison meatballs and cauliflower rice. (Note to ski trip group: much better than Ruby Tuesday's Creamy Mashed Cauliflower.) Tomorrow is London. Our plan is to go to the British Museum (I want to see the Rosetta Stone. Shawna will get this.) then, Bev's sister has gotten us tickets to see Private Lives at the Gielgud Theatre. Life is good.

Night-before jitters

After an extraordinarily (even for us) busy week, we are in that state where we are waiting for the trip to begin. Do we have everything? Have we thought of everything for those we are leaving behind? Will our flights go smoothly? And most importantly, when will we be getting our nails done? Well, actually that is Maggie's thought and most probably not Bob's. we three Trans-Atlantic pals have our traditions. Looking forward to the visits. Adventures lie ahead. And pubs. Thank God thee will be pubs.