Edinburgh Tattoo

Nope. Not that kind. Are you kidding? They use needles to do that, they jab you repeatedly!

This is a "band" thing. One of my first trips while here in the UK was to Edinburgh. Awesome place. While there I saw lot's of info on the upcoming Tattoo, so I planned on coming back to Scotland for my last weekend.

I'm not if I can describe it adequately. It's a 60 year old event, staged at the Edinburgh Castle. They build stands in front of the castle creating a "stage" area. Watching 100+ bagpipers come out of the drawbridge of a castle in Scotland is an awesome thing. They had bands from all over the world, a large group of Highland Dancers, and more bagpipes than you will ever see in your life.

The event is sold out every performance for almost a month. The term "tattoo" is actually taken from an old evening call to tell the taverns to turn off the beer tap and send the soldiers home.

You can find info on the Tattoo here.

My photos of the Tattoo are here.

A short video of just a few of the groups...

The Stupid Things We Do

First, you need to understand that I don't use the "s" word lightly. At our house the kids weren't allowed to use it and we didn't use it. Sure, there are some stupid things but we try not to ever call people stupid. It's just not very nice.

Second, I am sure that you already thought, "What stupid thing did John do?". Oh no my friend, not me - WE. WE as in people, society as a collective. I say this based on a recent field trip.

We went to Mountfitchet Castle.

It is a recreation of a Norman Village from the year 1066. (Those of you who are behind on your Norman history will need to Google the Norman Invasion and catch up.) It is a wooden fortification similar to the one in the movie Braveheart when William Wallace first attacks the bad guys for messing with his woman. Inside the castle walls are numerous "buildings" that house the different things needed to keep the castle going.

While we were there, the rain started falling so we ducked into various buildings to wait it out. I happened to be in the "Kitchen" building. It showed a lovely scene of cooking methods and ingredients used during those times. The description that really got my attention (and thus prompted this post) was the one talking about them baking bread each day to feed the people. To flavor the bread they used dove and pigeon droppings. Yep, droppings. Not dove, not pigeon - those might actually be somewhat tasty (I'll have a 12" dove-loaf meatball...).

Who came up with that idea? Who did the initial taste testing? What were the focus groups thinking? Did it accidentally happen and the cooks not bother to tell anyone and then everybody raved about the new bread flavor so they had to keep making it to meet the demand? Were they mad at someone and said "Hey, put some of this in that guy's bread"? I can't really imagine the process or motivation.

I guess what really bothers me about this is that it makes me wonder: What we are doing now that will be seen as bizarrely strange a thousand years from now??? Sure, we figured out that smoking was actually not good for us as early Doctors said, but what have we missed?

So, look around and see what it is that you are doing that will be laughed at years from now. I guess if nothing else we will provide humor for those people a thousand years from now who will post about those stupid people that lived in the 2000's.

The people from 1066 also rubbed goose fat on themselves in the winter to keep warm but who am I to judge them for that?

Conwy Wales

With only a few weekends remaining here in the UK (Yea!) I started trying to figure out where to go last weekend. I was talking to a staff member and one of the youth center kids on Thursday and asked them where I should go. They both said that they really liked Conwy. That was enough for me.

I looked it up, saw that it is one of the best examples of a walled medieval city in the world and it had a castle. Plus it was on the coast! Who wouldn't want to go there? So, Saturday morning I headed to the train station at Ely (past the

Drainage Museum once again - I've got to get by there before I leave). Off I go on the train.

Train travel is a great thing but it's not always quite so glamerous as one thinks. To get to Conwy I h

ad to take four trains, stopping at twenty-five stations, with a maximum of nine minutes to spare between train connections. So, as your train comes into the connecting station you get your bag, stand by the door, get off that train, check to see what platform you came in on, start looking for a departure sign showing what platform your next train is leaving from, rush up the stairs (it never works out that you can stay on the same platform...) and then down to the correct platform and get on the train and find a seat. Whew.

To get off the train at Conwy you have to notify the conductor that you want to stop there or else the train won't stop. Then you have to make your way to the front of the train as they only open one door for people that are getting on or off there. I was one of four that got off there.

To get a perspective of the size of the town, from the station I walked two blocks to the hotel, past the hotel another block was the harbour, to the right two blocks was the castle, two blocks the other way from the hotel was the wall on the other side of town, four or five blocks the other side of the station was the wall. We're talking small town.

The castle is just what you think of in the movies. It was the royal castle of the King when he was in Wales.

The scenery was beautiful, the people were friendly. I spent the night an headed back the next afternoon. Overall it is the prettiest thing I have seen in the UK with the exception of Joann!

Castle Pics are here.

Town pics are here.

Perspective...

So, I've been away from home for longer than I have ever been in my life, and I still have about three weeks to go! I'll admit there are times that I get that pitiful feeling of not getting what I want and I tell God that I want to go home!

Then He reminds me of some things. Last week, at the end of a long day I was dreaming of heading home to the states when one of the kids at the Youth Center came running up to me and said "Mr. John, Mr. John, my dad comes home tonight at 10pm, he's on the plane headed here right now!". I asked him how long his dad had been deployed, "A year, and he's coming home today!". Ok God. I get it.

This afternoon I was traveling back to the base from a lovely weekend in Conwy, Wales. I was anxious the hear from Joann, watching the time to see when she might call (remember, she is 6 hours behind me time wise). It seems that when I am waiting for a call that it makes me even more ready to head home. I changed to another train, looked around and found a seat with a nice lady and her two kids. The kids were 6 and 4, blond haired boys that reminded of mine. As we played games on the iPad I visited with the mother. She asked how long I had been in the UK. I told her I got here mid June, she said that it was about that time that her husband died. We were talking about that when Joann called and told me that she loved me.

I get it God, it's about perspective. I'll keep working on it, thanks for the reminder.

London!

Without a doubt the very best attraction in London was Joann! Having been away from the love of my life for 30+ days I was very ready to see her.

She got to the Hotel before me and met me in the Lobby, I think that the Desk Clerks were somewhat embarrassed by our greeting - that's their problem! (Yes, we kept our clothes on...). We stayed at the Hotel Indigo near Paddington Station. It is a part of the Holiday Inn chain. The Hotel was marvelous, the room was great (air conditioned!), and the staff very friendly and helpful. We headed out that evening and wondered in a big circle looking for the place to pick up my London Pass. We found it about 10 minutes after it closed!

We walked through St. James Park which is near Buckingham Palace, we went across the River to the South Bank and rode the London Eye. It is the second largest observation wheel in the world (darn that Singapore). The pods hold around 15 people and give you a great view of London. We found some fresh donuts, wondered around some more and then headed home.

The next day Joann tried to walk me to death. We walked, and walked, and then we walked some more to another place where we could walk more! Due to the lack of oxygen in my system a lot of the timing of things is still fuzzy so I'll just hit some of the things we did in no particular order.

River Cruise...

We took the City Cruise which was really fun. They give a "guided tour" which was interesting and funny. We went all the way to Greenwich, that't where time is measured from (GMT - Greenwich Mean Time). The Cutty Sark was undergoing some remodeling so we didn't get to visit it but we did visit the Painted Hall. It was built as a Sailor's Hospital. An American painted it. It was truly amazing. We also viewed the Chapel there.

The Tube...

We did indeed master the London Underground. It's fast and furious but we got it down. Joann would consult her hard-copy map and I would use an App on the iPad, then synchronize our plans and head out. A few trains were those packed to the gills ones that you see in the movies. It is a very quick and efficient way to get around town. If only we still had the Leonard's Subway in Fort Worth!

The Phantom of the Opera...

As I sign of my true love to my wife I got her tickets to the Phantom of the Opera. We took a cab (the tube was kinda warm at times) and headed to Her Majesty's Theatre. The show was very nice and we had a great time. I can tell you the ending if you want to know it, just let me know.

London At Night...

Sunday night we rode a double-decker tour bus. It was neat to see London all lit up and from a higher level than street. We had to wait at the Tower Bridge as it was raised, that only happens 3-5 times a week these days..

Kew Gardens...

A trip out of the busy city to the beautiful countryside. The gardens were huge and awesome. they have the tallest indoor plant in the world (so they say - I didn't get a chance to measure it and check). You'll be glad to know that the lift (elevator) to the tall tree-walk was broken so I got to walk up about a bijillion stairs! Glad my legs weren't tired or anything like that. It was beautiful.

Overall, we had a great time and the time with the love of my life pretty much saved my life and gave me the ability to make it through the rest of the assignment. Thanks Joann!

If you want to see pictures they are here:

General London

London Eye

Buckingham Palace

Westminster

Greenwich

Tower of London

Kew Gardens

The Good and Bad of Half Way

Wednesday marked a transition in my life here in the UK. I passed the one-half point of my 75 day stay. I have been very thankful lately that I am not here for 90 days as I thought it originally was.

The good is that I am now getting closer each day (sure, I was getting closer before but it feels like progress is being made now). The bad is that I realize I have a long time to go! Having a few days with Joann here has made my life so much happier! Thanks Baby!

I am reminded daily that there are many of our military troops that deploy for a year or more under considerably more harsh and threating conditions than me (although I am dealing with 9 - 13 year olds!). I appreciate their gift of service even more now than before.

So, now I have 5 weeks of Summer camp left. I'll make it, one day at a time...

Carved Walls of Green

Yes, I'm behind on things. I'll try to catch up some today.

I went to Bury St Edmunds today, big shopping trip, I got a TV tray and some dishes that won't melt in the Microwave. (Unlike the plastic plate I have with a hole in the middle of it that evidently wasn't microwavable. I found that out when I finished the pizza and found the hole melted in the middle!)

I had lunch on the TV Tray. Wow, that sure beats holding everything in your lap and reaching down to get your drink over the edge of the seat. The tray came from Argos, you place your order in the store and the items magically come down the conveyor belt to you.

But back to the Wall of Green. I am in a very lush, agricultural area of England. As you drive often the roads are lined with greenery, shrubs / trees / etc. that are quite often very tall. The large trucks keep the greenery "trimmed" back which then gives you a carved wall of green. Well, really sometimes a carved tunnel of green!

The roads are very narrow and you hold your breath when you are meeting a large truck or a large tractor pulling a large trailer. To make things even more exciting people are passing each other left and right. The twenty mile trek to Bury is dotted with about a dozen small towns with beautiful small houses, pubs, and churches. One town has several thatched roofs as well.

I'm looking forward to dinner on the TV tray!