Family

Family, or at least the definition there of, has always brought with it a mix of complicated emotions for me. It has never been easy for me to define my place in this space and the many contributing factors simply confounded my anxiety and lack of confidence. So, it was with these shadows of doubt, that Daryl and I made plans to travel to the UK, returning my father to his homeland and enabling us to meet a family we barely knew.

The last five days of our trip we spent immersed in family life as we explored the Welsh countryside and on our last day I found myself grieving to be leaving a group of people, who once were strangers, that have imbedded themselves into my life and heart. I am left wondering what life might have been like if my father had the courage to return to Wales, so many years before and during my childhood and youth; I suspect it would have been better.

Welcomed with open doors and arms we met a collective of family members during lunches, dinners, endless cups of teas, and a variety of alcoholic drinks. We celebrated, grieved, and reminisced together, shared stories and even removed a few skeletons from the closest as we discovered and nurtured a connection that will now remain stronger from the great south land of Australia all the way to Great Britain.

We were blessed to be shown some of the remarkable landmarks of Wales including another steam train journey ( I know, you are shocked at this revelation), this time on the Ffestiniog locomotive with Charles and Karen. Travelling first class, such a treat, I have to say, we enjoyed magnificent views from the observation carriage, plush royal blue seats and service with a smile from a young woman of middle eastern descent. Serving gin and tonic while the steam train chugs its way up the mountain is no easy task. The Ffestiniog travels through the heartland of Wales between Porthmadog, an historic harbour town, and Blaenau Ffestiniog, known as the town that roofed the world, where you can see the remains of the slate mines.
While on the subject of views we were also treated to Harlech castle, built in the 1200’s that looks out over Irish Sea on the edge of the delightful village it is named after. Harlech is also now famous for having the steepest street in the world with a gradient of 37.45% according to the Guinness world records.
Finishing the day we found ourselves dining at Lake Vyrnwy and it is impossible to describe this resplendent location. The lake, with water as still as glass, is vast and couched by the mountains. As the sun set over the water and the restaurant lights reflected in the shadows it was a photographers dream. Unfortunately, the still evening and balmy temperatures also sent an invitation to the midges and they were very friendly. Tiny little creatures, like sand flies, that bite, we quickly returned inside where they could no longer feast on us.
We journeyed through Bala, a picturesque village where many of the Welsh family live, enjoying lunch at the local pub, delicious I must say, before heading up to the farm. Visiting this property is like going to the top of the world, with panoramic views and what seems like endless acres of lush green pastures. Hugh, the patriarch of the family, is the most down to earth, proud farmer, I have met for a long time. A recipient of many awards for his prize winning sheep and cattle, he is passionate about the land, his family legacy and the community he overlooks. Featured on Welsh television, he is indeed quite the star. He took us on a farm tour in the pick-up (ute for the Aussie folk) and we were followed by his wife Lin and daughter, Lowrie driving the quad bike, opening the gates for us along the way. With its own weather pattern, the poor ladies were wet by the end of the tour from the rain that decided to follow us. Comparing our black Angus to his Welsh black cows, it is coincidental that we have such similar stock. He sought after rams watched with interest as we drove through their paddock, but really seemed far too content to be bothered by us at all. Three Collie puppies bounded up to greet us after our trek and I suspect the temptation to take one home was strong for Charles, eagerly encouraged by us all. At eight weeks old, these pups are a bundle of cuteness. I’m not convinced Lowrie is in any hurry to part with them. Returning to their home, some 400 years old, it is amazing to sit in their renovated kitchen, drinking a hot coffee and marvel at the history within its walls.
Of special note was the family gathering organised on the Saturday. This was particularly moving, given it was scheduled simply because we were there and we were delighted this was reason enough for the majority of the clan to get together. Reminiscent of gatherings at home, we ate too much, drank enough and there was even some healthy competition happening over the badminton net. Conversation flowed as fast as the drinks and the children (big and small) were happily entertained by a jumping castle. With the music playing and the sun shining, we relished the chance to be a part of this warm and wonderful family.
Sadly, like all good things, our time quickly ran out, we wonder where the eight weeks have gone as it seems like such a short time ago that we embarked on our big adventure. I have no doubt we will return to this beautiful part of the world. Wales has so much to offer and I hope we will explore more on our next trip.
By some miracle we managed to get all our souvenirs, gifts and even most of our clothes packed and under the baggage weight limit, although a few items of clothing were donated to the local hospice.
Our final journey to the Manchester airport was without delay or incident. Daryl and I were both awake long before the early set alarm, despite a restless night, with my mind already jumping from farm to work and of course the children waiting for us.
From one family, we return to another, eager to see their familiar faces and embrace them. Home will be welcomed and we hope one day we will welcome our British family to our own doors.
Until next time,
N

A Royal day to complete our London adventure

London left us in a state of exhilarated exhaustion by the time we left Euston train station late Thursday afternoon. Returning to our family base at Ellesmere, we were very happy to find our seats and start the three hour journey. We were up before the alarm set for 5.30 am and made our way to the Greenwich ferry for the very last time. This time travelling by cab we arrived in time to get on the early ferry and before we knew it we were leaving our bags in storage and heading towards the Tower of London for the early bird tour, but not before a quick breakfast. The only cafe open was of the chain variety where everything comes pre packaged. The food was quite disappointing and the coffee terrible, the floors still showed the signs of yesterday’s customers, and the toilet was out of order. All was not lost however, as we found the public facilities nearby, costing 50p for the pleasure. Given we only had one suitable coin, we got to share the experience!

Despite our collective aversion to group tours, we booked into the Tower of a London VIP Early Access and Best of Royal London Tour commencing at 8.15am. We started at the Tower of London and enjoyed a tour of the centre and the Crown Jewels long before the masses of tourists engulfed the attraction. We witnessed the opening ceremony conducted by the Beefeaters. The Yeoman (colloquially known as Beefeaters) who did our introduction was a tad on the grouchy side and I suspect he had not yet had his morning coffee. After warning us of the perils of carrying valuables within easy access for skilled pick-pockets who frequent the area, he allowed us to roam free. Curious about the origins of the name Beefeater we were advised it was thought to be because the Yeoman's of the early days were paid in beef! The Tower of London has, like many historic landmarks of this city, an incredibly violent and dark history. After the Tower we hopped on a ferry and cruised the Thames in time to disembark and enjoy a walking tour through the Horse Guards to watch the traditional Changing of the Guard ceremony. Hundreds of people gathered to watch along with numerous police holding semi automatic rifles. The show was quite spectacular, with very disciplined soldiers and horses putting on quite a show. Certainly a very ancient tradition, it seemed a bit out of place in today’s modern world, but it certainly is a tourist attraction worth doing. After watching this display we continued our walk towards the Royal Mall and visited the site of St James’ Palace where Princess Anne currently lives, Clarendon House and finally Buckingham Palace. We were treated to a visit by a band of alleged pick-pocketers strolling though with little travel suitcases as they passed through crowds of distracted tourists, including us. With all our belongings in tact we continued on regardless. Once we arrived at Buckingham Palace four hours later, our official tour ended and as we were already booked in for the Buckingham Palace self guided tour an hour later, we headed towards the nearest cafe for some lunch. Finding a reasonable looking cafe/restaurant we were pleased to find an inviting menu and friendly staff. We were also entertained by another couple on the next table, who struggling with their English, finally managed to get the waitress to understand they wanted to take half their meal away for later. This was clearly not the usual practice and I am not sure the establishment were too pleased.
Buckingham Palace security was like going through the airport and it was a slow process, but I have to say very thorough. You will note there are only external photos from this part of our holiday as no photography is allowed once inside the palace walls. We were fortunate enough to be in town while the palace was open, due to the queen being away at Balmoral, and took the opportunity to look inside an authentic, working palace. Noted as the official residence of the monarchy since Queen Victoria’s time, it houses an extensive collection of art works and period furniture. We visited the 19 state rooms and were in awe of the opulent surroundings we found ourselves in. Her Majesty welcomes over 50,000 guests at state banquets, formal dinners, lunches, receptions and garden parties each year, while a further 500,000 people visit during the summer season. The palace has 775 rooms, which include the 19 state rooms we visited, 52 Royal and guest bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms! Imagine cleaning all of these along with the 760 windows and 1514 doors. The gardens cover 16 hectares. I’m not sure how many staff are employed but I’d suggest, rather a lot. Our tour, with individual headsets took us over two hours, as we marvelled at the size of the palace and the attention to detail in each room. We entered through the Grand Staircase and followed in the footsteps of many famous and distinguished guests who have been invited to the palace. The Green Drawing room was next and this leads into the Throne Room, which we are more familiar with as it is the room where the official Royal photographs are taken for weddings. Walking into the Ballroom it is easy to imagine grand receptions being held in this place. We then went through to the State Dining Room, the White Drawing Room, the Bow Room and many more until we exited into the gardens to enjoy a cup of tea on the back patio with hundreds of our closest friends! The set up for the summer visitors is impressive in itself with marquees set up, including a gift shop, cloak room, cafe, and photo room for guests to relax after their tour. The staff situated along the way are a wealth of knowledge and happy to engage in conversation, so well worth stopping to chat if you have the chance.
Despite our reservations about doing a palace tour, we both left feeling pleased that we spent the money and took advantage of the opportunity. We may never make it back here again.

With our royal visit over, it was time to start our journey away from London towards Wales/England. The underground was hot and crowded but the trains were efficient. We only made one error during our change overs, but quickly managed to rectify the travels plans with minimal delay. Just after 9pm our train arrived in Gobowen and were delighted to see Charles who had come to pick us up. Returning to Ellesmere to the home of Charles and Karen was like coming home with a warm welcome and lots of stories to share.

Until next time,
N

Greenwich, West End, and waiting

Greenwich market was our first stop on Tuesday, a day that presented us with the challenges of holidaying despite the rain. Glad to be undercover we were greeted by a very small market and somewhat surprised by the few stalls displaying their goods. Most vendors were hidden beneath their counters, lowdown on chairs playing on their phone. Not sure this method of customer engagement will achieve many sales. One fellow was especially friendly, Dan, a collector of antiques, was full of morning cheer and he happily chatted about his goods and Instagram account. The aroma of spices mixed with freshly ground coffee beans filled the air and our senses where overwhelmed as we made way for the exit without a single purchase.

Dodging the rain puddles rapidly rising along the footpath, as much as possible, we walked quickly, without an umbrella, towards the ferry. With little shelter available we were relieved when the ferry arrived on time. The rain continued steadily throughout the morning so after finding a luggage storage facility near Tower Bridge, in preparation for our departure on Thursday, we got a little wetter before relenting and buying a dodgy tourist umbrella. There was little choice but to board a bus and tour the city away from the continuous downpour. Our tour guide, Lizzy, was knowledgeable and displayed great patience dealing with the man from Rhode Island, USA who persisted in asking question after question after question, from politics to the state of homelessness and the number of tourists in London on any given day. Our bus journey took us past a range of interesting points including Big Ben, Harrods Department Store, Military of Defence, St. James’s Gardens and Palace and Tower of a London. Of interest was the location of Elton John’s private residence when he stays in London, the top two floors of a rather understated hotel. We learned that staff of Buckingham palace all live there rent free, except for the gardeners who are required to provide fresh flowers to the palace each Monday morning, in return of their board and lodgings. We went as near as possible to the palace however, no buses were able to pass in front of as the Queen is noted to have have said she found them ugly. Currently, Buckingham Palace has the Union Flag flying which indicates that the Queen is not in residence. When she is present the Royal Standard flies high. We didn’t fuss too much about the Royal residence as we will be touring there later.

Travelling along the Thames, it was interesting to learn that it once used the be the city’s toilet and was officially declared biologically dead in 1957 due to pollution level being so bad, that the oxygen levels in the water could not support any life. Now the river is a very different place, and is one of the cleanest city waterways in the world. Thankfully people no longer pass out from the fumes emitted from the river, as they once did, all thanks to a man named Joseph Bazalgette who designed the London sewage system way back in 1866. The same man tried to win the tender for the Tower Bridge but his design was not selected. Interestingly the London sewage system is now undergoing major expansion as it can no longer cope effectively with the nine million residents and the thousands of visitors to the city each day. We have walked many miles within London city and the smell wafting through the drain grates is definitely on the nose. Coupled with the rubbish piling up for collection on the pavement it isn’t the most pleasing sight or smell.

Back to the Thames which is much narrower now, after again Joseph determined that it would be more efficient if it was deeper and narrower, so a large width of land was reclaimed and achieved a number of advantages. One was that the river no longer froze over and boats were able to sail into port and provide Londoners with goods needed right on their doorstep. This made the merchant traders happy and in modern times allowed for the building of better roads and walkways. Our tour took us past a number of schools in the district, notably named after the coats the children wore to school, such as Blue coat and Grey coat. As many of the parents were illiterate the coat colour reference allowed them to know which group to send their children along with as they walked to school. Some of the schools no longer operate as educational premises and are now pubs, retaining the name to give a little extra historical appeal to the thirsty traveller.

At the other end of town we drove past some of the most expensive hotels in London, including the Lanesborough Hotel, the second most expensive establishment in London, where can stay for a princely sum of £26,000 a night and has a three night minimum stay, but breakfast will cost you extra. The most expensive hotel was just up the road and while we did not see it, our guide informed us that Ghandi used to stay there and as he only drank goats milk, the owner of the hotel kept one in the yard, just in case he decided to visit. We drove around Hyde Park, a former hunting ground for the royals and named after an old measurement for land. The ‘hide’ was an English unit of land measurement originally intended to represent the amount of land sufficient to support a household. Hyde park is 0.547 square miles.
Tired of travelling on the bus, which was crowded with fellow tourists, dripping and whiney, we decided to make our way to the famous Madame Tussaud’s and rub shoulders with the rich and famous or infamous in some cases.
Our experience was nothing short of entertaining in a twisted kind of way. Lining up to get our ticket we then had to line up again, around the corner, only to be told it was too early and too come back later. With time now to spare, we went to the nearest eatery and lined up again to eat some decidedly dodgy fare called lasagne and roast, watery hot chocolate and tasteless tea all for a healthy whack of pounds (in fact the only healthy item in the cafe was the cost!) At this stage Daryl was less than impressed with the system for gaining entry, the time wasted waiting and I hoped very much he would at least enjoy the museum, which he was not so excited about going to see, once inside. Finally, the moment arrived and it was hard to distinguish between the humans of flesh and those of wax. Despite the mass of people trying to get their photo we managed to get to all the models and admired the craftsmanship and attention to detail, very much. The highlight of the visit was indeed the The Spirit of London black cab tour, a bit like a very tame roller coaster ride. It was just fantastic and we both marvelled at the displays. We enjoyed the wax replicas for so many iconic shows and people including Star Wars, X-Men, Shrek, The Hulk, Justice League, Alien (me not so much), the Royals (past and present), The Beatles, and the politicians, inventors, peacemakers, artists, Justice League, a range of pop stars and finally her majesty with whom you could sit and have tea, if you so chose to. We really did leave the museum smiling and pleased we made the effort. I even forgave Daryl for tricking me into thinking I was blocking a photo shoot, only to discover the photographer was a little waxy. The history of Madame Tussaud’s is fascinating and now an international icon. First started in the late 1700’s by the history of this establishment is long and dramatic with fires, executed heads and imprisonments part of the story.

Determined to enjoy the West End, while in London, we had purchased tickets to the famous Agatha Christie murder mystery stage show “Mousetrap” which has been performed non stop for 67 years that night. With some time to fill until the opening curtain, we planned to hop back onto the tourist bus and make our way to Leicester Square. After waiting a good 20 minutes, we both got impatient (shocked, I’m sure you are) and decided to walk. Google said it was only a short walk - Google lied.

Contending with the end of day pedestrian traffic, uneven pavements, scaffolding encroaching onto the footpaths and more tourists than you can poke a proverbial stick at, the walk was a little tedious. Intermittent showers of rain, kept us cool, at least physically, but my legs were screaming and we needed to find a spot to rest. About three quarters of the way along we saw a bizarre little cafe/bar/restaurant on the corner of the road called Mr Fogg’s House of Botanicals. With ferns and flowers cascading down the shop walls and windows, it looked like a place we needed to visit. Upon opening the door, it was like stepping back in time onto the set of a peculiar movie with all manner of flora and fauna on display.The overwhelming scent of a spring garden, filled with exotic flowers of all colours assaulted your senses like the wind in a ferocious storm. You really did have to take a moment to catch your breath and take in the surroundings. When you do, you will notice the intriguing displays of fauna collected by Mr Fogg, including foxes, rabbits, roosters and birds. The menu is in-line with the theme of the premises, so when I couldn’t get my usual gin, I decide to try one of their signature drinks - Gully of Ferns. Made up of Bombay sapphire gin, Italicus bergamot liqueur, lemon verbena, Fentimans rose lemonade, and rhubarb bitters it was simply delicious. While we admired and enjoyed our surrounding the rain fell heavily outside, so we were thankful for the rest. I would have had another Gully of Ferns except the cost was a little prohibitive.
On time, we made our way to St Martin’s Theatre and prepared ourselves to be intrigued and entertained. And that we were. We now join the club of thousands of other theatre goers, who know ‘whodunnit’ but I am sworn to secrecy. The theatre at 103 years old, is small by modern standards and the rows are steep, the seats are narrow and everyone is a little cosy but it is charming, especially the sloping toilet floor. By the time we made it back to our hotel, via taxi, it was close to midnight and we were feeling the pains of burning the candle at both ends.

Portobello Road market and some high class window shopping along Oxford Street was on our agenda for Wednesday. We spent a significant amount of time waiting for transport, first on the ferry, then the bus, before walking to the market, eventually arriving around lunchtime. While we enjoyed a stroll, seeing the sites and admiring some of the houses, the market itself was a little underwhelming. I have no doubt it would be bubbling on weekends, but for us it was quite sedate. A highlight however, was the spotting (obsessed groupie style searching more like it) of key locations from the movie Notting Hill. We did locate the shop that inspired the Travel Bookstore, the location of the shop that was turned into the Travel Bookstore and most notably the blue door. Daryl loved every moment of it, be sure to ask him about it, next time you see him.
Going from the junk stalls full of souvenirs to the overpriced, pretentious halls of Oxford Street, we went to Selfridges, whose exterior building is quite magnificent and tea is worth queuing for, apparently. I did find a lovely watch that I considered buying, but when I found the identical item online for a sixth of the price, I figured I’d give it a miss. Early on we decided not to bother with Harrods and when we drove past it the previous day, noticed the chandeliers, and figured it was out of our league.
Clearly department store shopping, no matter how famous, is not our preference so we went in search of more favourable entertainment. Somehow we arrived back in Leicester Square at the ticket booth for last minute tickets. A musical in mind we bought seats to The Tina Turner Musical . Held at the Aldwych Theatre, this lovely centre opened in 1905 and in provided the perfect settings for this incredible show. Three hours of storytelling, through song and dance left us forever grateful to have the opportunity to see this show. The voices, the passion and the energy these actors displayed, were extraordinary. The story of Tina Turner’s musical career is both inspirational and heart wrenching. When we hear her songs in the future we will have a deeper appreciation of the meaning behind the words. Our trip home was via bus this time, and after finally going to the right side of the road ( picture me running across the road!) we travelled on the double decker all the way to Greenwich. Again, it was later than planned, after midnight when we dragged our weary legs up the stairs to our hotel foyer. The alarm was set for 5.30am, Thursday, our last day in London, was jam packed, so an early start was in order. But more of that adventure later.