Gary's Trip to England
We
got back last night (7/7) from a
delightful trip to Western England. (See photos below.)
Our trip started out on a sour note.
We were suppose to fly to Toronto
and
then on to Manchester via Air Canada. Our flight to Toronto was to
leave at
4:30 PM but we were held up by storms in Toronto. The airline said not
to
worry because the airport in Toronto was shut down for two and a half
hours.
All flights were delayed which included connecting flights. When we
finally
arrived in Toronto the connecting flight already left. We then went to
book
another flight and we were a few people behind the head of the line and
the
agent decided to shut down for the night and reopen at 0500. We ended
up
sleeping on the floor but effectively not.
The next morning we got a flight to
London's Heathrow airport but had
to
sleep in chairs over night to catch another connection to Manchester on
Saturday morning. We made it to Manchester Saturday morning but later
found
out our baggage was still in Toronto. The airlines eventually delivered
our
bags Sunday afternoon. From then on we had a delightful time.
Sunday afternoon we went to a
promenade for several churches in the
area
that is held once a year. The highlight of this event was the
Porthywaen
Silver Band. We ended
up buying
two of their CD's. At the end of their concert they dedicated several
patriotic American songs to us. Everyone was so kind and polite.
Friday we took a trip on the Pontcysyllte Aqueduct.
We had dinner on
board these
very narrow vessels that traverse the gorge. Eirlys is 70 feet (21
meters)
long and 7 feet (2 meters) wide. It stands on 18 stone piers and is
1007
feet long, 126 feet high (that's 306 meters long and 38 meters high)
and
contains 360,000 gallons of water. The Pontcysyllte Aqueduct was built
in 10
years, from 1795 to 1805. There is a canal system that allows travel
almost
anywhere in the UK. Surprisingly we were not bothered by mosquitoes.
On Sunday we went to church with our
friends and the first thing the
preacher mentioned was to pass his condolences to the English Soccer
Team.
They were eliminated from the World Cup competition.
We were concerned about whether to
bring warm clothes but didn't have
to
because we brought the warm weather with us. As soon as we left the
weather
retuned to normal.
Jet lag was a problem because getting
to England was such a hassle we
didn't
really sleep for about 48 hours. Today it isn't as bad as going to
England
but we still have time when we want to take a nap. I got up at 0300
hours
this morning which is 0800 in England. Hopefully the tea (sleepy time)
I
bought will help me get some regularity back in my sleep pattern by
Monday.
In time I will work on getting a web
site up with all the pictures.
Our host and hostess were wonderful.
Bill and Chris Cole went beyond
the
call of duty. Carla and I love them for all they have done for us. As
we say
in the South, "I'd go back in a heartbeat." A week did seem like enough
time. Maybe next time I can deliver a package for at&t and take the
trip off
on my income taxes. Better yet maybe at&t can send me over there on
loan.
That's wishful thinking on my part.
Gary Lindemann
