Backpacking Bill

Just to mention it again, the purpose of this trip is to have a celebration of Emma’s and James’ marriage. The celebration is tomorrow but today is the day to get the venue prepared. The event will be at a place called “The Blue Ball Inn” in the town of Sidford. Sidford is just a little over a mile inland from Sidmouth. Along the Side river.

On the way we stopped for “Cream Tea”, a tradition in Devon. This consists of tea and a scone with clotted cream and jam. In Devon the clotted cream goes on the scone first, then the jam. In Cornwall the jam goes on the scone first then the clotted cream. In Devon the practice of jam first is considered to be not at all proper.

On the way to the Blue Ball we went across the Ford at Sid Creek. Why build a bridge if it isn’t necessary

Well, we got to the Blue Ball. It is truly a lovely place and the owners are fantastic and accommodating people. We met the Reeves and had a great time decorating the venue.

This evening Tina and I kicked back in the cottage we rented while James, Emma and Jim went out with friends for pizza. The big day is tomorrow.

Today we are taking an excursion to the “Jurassic Coast”, to the town, “Lyme Regis”, known as the “Pearl of Dorset”. It is called the “Jurassic Coast” because it is famous for some significant fossils that have been found here. There are large cliffs formed in the Jurassic on the coast that expose fossils as the shoreline cliffs erode. Also, it is a very picturesque town. The bus trip was interesting, many small villages reminding me of British mysteries I have seen at home. The roads are not wide enough for traffic in both directions in many places. There must be some kind of code as to who backs up when vehicles encounter one another on a particularly narrow section of road. Probably the biggest vehicle dictates who backs up. Also, bikes have the right of way. Bikers can slow traffic for miles.

It was a lot of fun taking a double decker bus to Lyme Regis. I also appreciated the fact that none of us had to drive. We didn’t have to figure out driving on the wrong side of the road and deal with the mystery as to who has to stop and back up on the narrow roads. We met James’ parents in Lyme Regis and spent a great few hours with them and had a great “al fresco” lunch. This is the town where “The French Lieutenants Woman” was filmed. There is a protected harbor with a large sea wall. Lyme Regis is larger than Sidmouth more crowded with tourists and a more “touristy” atmosphere.

We made it back to Sidmouth without incident. It is interesting to me that the shops and restaurants have such limited hours. The earliest coffee shop opens at 8:00 am and at 9:00 pm all the restaurants are closed. The shops are open until 5:00 pm at the latest. I suspect that some of this is due to Covid. The service industry here is having a hard time finding help as is the situation in US. Funny thing, the shop I go to in the morning to pick up coffee (Café Americano they don’t do filter coffee here) is a space converted from a place called “Trump”, he’s everywhere.

One somewhat surprising issue are the Seagulls. I realize that this is a coastal area and that this is their habitat. However, what is with the nocturnal racket. All night long there is a continuous riot among the Seagulls.

As I mentioned in yesterday’s blog, Sidmouth is a gem of a town. The population is about twelve thousand, not including tourists. It seems to me that most of the tourists here are English people on holiday. Unlike London where most appeared to be international. The pace here is definitely slower. The exciting thing about today is that we will be able to meet James’parents. Really looking forward to that, I hope they are as well. Today we are enjoying a kickback day after the hustle of the last couple of days. Plus the weather is cooler.

I am starting to notice a lot of small differences. There are few paper products such as paper towels. A loaf of French Bread is called a “French Stick”; I would call it a “Baguette”. I also found a brand of potato chips (crisps) with my grandmother’s name Tyrell. The family name has gone through several spellings over time in the US.

I previously mentioned that the local specialty in Sidmouth is hard cider. The true local stuff is called “Scrumpy”. Evidently the name comes from the fact that it was originally filtered through straw where it picked up various other particles of stuff. So, it looked “Scrumpy”.

We met James’parents for dinner. They are a truly nice couple. We feel blessed that our daughter has such nice in laws.

Over 100°F today in London. Subway on reduced schedule due to heat. Jim flew in this morning and we met him at Waterloo Station for the trip to Sidmouth. Hope it gets cooler closer to the coast.

Got to Sidmouth with Jim. Sidmouth is truly a gem.

Had fish and chips again. I think that will be my last venture into that particular dish for a while. Not that it isn’t good, but I don’t think my body can take more fried foods.

Stopped in a local specialty wine and craft beer store. Locally, ciders are the thing. They have been brewing hard cider here since the beginning of time. There are as many varieties of cider here as there are of craft beer other places. I tried one that is mid taste. Still too sweet for me.

More photos tomorrow.

Without Emma, Tina and I are on our own today. This will be our last full day to explore London. On the agenda are Harrod’s and Knitting Hill. Emma’s friend, Alex, suggested Knitting Hill and it sounds like a fun area to explore. We also spoke about going to the Tower of London. Looking forward to meeting Jim tomorrow morning. Spoke with him last night; he is ready to go. He will meet us at at our Airbnb upon his arrival. Really hope he will get a better sleep on the plane than I did.

Tina and I seem to be starting a tradition: visiting major European capital cities on days of record high temperatures. We caught Madrid at 104°F and now London at 100°F.

A long hot day today. First we went to Harrod’s. Had a small breakfast and picked up some things for a lunch in Kensington Park. Food was excellent. Should be for the price they charge. We then went to Kensington Park, ate our lunch, visited the Dianna water park and saw where Wills and Kate live.

Heat is beginning to impact the trip in a number of ways. Restaurants and Pubs are closing their kitchens because of the heat; trains are going to be cancelled tomorrow because of the heat. Announcements are being made to restrict travel to necessary only due to transport cancellations. Never a dull moment in the Krueger household.

Did I mention that there is very little air conditioning in London?

We all slept like logs last night. After a great meal at a nearby Lebanese restaurant we all passed out for the night. This morning Emma and I found a nearby French bakery. Yes, I do mostly talk about food.

Tina and Emma indulged me. We went to the National Gallery, London, and saw the three Caravaggio’s that they have here. I believe I should start a list of the Caravaggio’s that I have seen.

Also saw Hogarth’s “Marriage A-la-Mode”, a series of paintings I have wanted to see since college. We also saw a number of impressionists. We met one of Emma’s friends from Vietnam at the gallery cafe and had a great time chatting with her.

We next ventured to the opposite side of the Thames and had a great lunch at the roof cafe of the OXO building.

Emma traveled to Devon to meet her husband this afternoon. Although we were sorry to see her go, it is certainly good to meet James after having been apart for a while.

We finished the day by having a traditional English roast dinner per Emma’s suggestion. We went to a neighborhood pub near our Air B + B.

Last minute haircut but made it to the bus. Emma, Athena and I are on our way.

Peter Pan got us to Boston. And the silver line got us to Logan. Had a small snack and got on the first air leg. Flying to Atlanta to catch a flight to London seems like going the wrong way. Even if you look at the spherical geometry, it’s the wrong way.

Made it to Atlanta and are on the plane to London. As we were leaving the plane inbound to Atlanta, the pilot asked where we were heading. When I said London, he said “I hope you didn’t check any baggage”. I hope he was making a joke regarding the recent baggage problems at Heathrow. Needless to say, I am now in a state of concern about luggage.

Made it to London. Baggage arrived without a hitch. Figured out the tube (subway) to our lodgings.

First day in London we set out to see some sights.

As I had previously posted, our daughter, Emma, got married while in Vietnam. Due to Covid we were not able to celebrate the event with her in Southeast Asia. To correct that, all of us (Tina, Bill, Emma and Jim) will be traveling to England, Emma’s husband, James’ home county. In England we will host a celebration for family and friends. This will be an opportunity for the rest of us to meet James’ family, something Tina and I are looking forward to. The logistics are a Gordian’s Knot of activities. Last week Emma came to the US with their dog, Noodle. Emma could get to the US with Noodle but not to England then to the US with Noodle. The tangled web of travel plans to get everyone to England and back is something I am not going to attempt to describe.

This afternoon, thinking that all was ready, I checked the Delta App on my phone. Flight cancelled. we were rebooked on different flights to England. After three hours on the phone we managed to get on the same flight. Sans Comfort Class and sans direct flight.

As the adventure progresses, I will be posting photos and descriptions of the proceedings.

Today I am completing my seventy fifth year here on planet earth. Frankly, I never anticipated making it this far, considering my family history. But, here I am on the green side of the grass.

Being around for the better part of a century one would suspect that I have gathered some wisdom along the way. So, what wisdom do I have to pass along after three quarters of a Century? Well, please indulge me as I reflect and pass on a few thoughts. They are in no particular order.

Always learn things and be curious. A young person once asked my why I read books that require me to have a dictionary at close hand? I replied that I couldn’t imagine reading something that didn’t require me to have a dictionary. Sometimes I surprise myself with a pearl of wisdom. Of course now we have Google.

Keep moving. One of Newton’s Laws is that an object in motion will stay in motion and a body at rest will stay at rest. I believe that is the case with our bodies as well. The longer we move the longer we stay on the green side of the grass.

Embrace the bad and tough times. Crap happens in every life. It’s not necessarily the end when challenging things happen and it probably isn’t the end. At the times when bad things happened, I thought I was pretty special. I thought I was facing a unique tragedy that others have never faced. I thought that I would be forever crippled, no end or good will come of this. Well, if you muscle through it, if you think through tactics and strategies, if you gather the right support team, there is an end. And you will come to a better place. Going through the tough times and truly has made me a convicted Christian. Again, I am not unique or special; everyone I meet with seventy five or more years has gone through rough times and have come out the other side to a better place.

When I look over the pearls of wisdom that I offered above; I come to the conclusion that they are all pretty lame. So what is the conclusion to be drawn? I would like to offer that life is a path. Take care of yourself the best you can, learn as much as you can to get the most out of life and handle the crappy times because they will come. But, most of all have some fun. After all, we are not here for a test drive.

Last evening Tina gathered a number of our friends here in Bluffton at our place to celebrate my birthday. I did make the observation that I don’t have a great deal of wisdom to offer. I made a toast to the crappy times that got us all to the good times. I have wound up in a good place. As far as I am aware, I am in in descent health, I have a wonderful wife, great kids, I live in a beautiful community and have a wealth of friends.

As I merrily make my random posts about mundain stuff I am doing, my children have been doing some pretty remarkable things. The assessment about remarkable just demonstrates that I am a conventional parent. Here I should make a short reintroduction of my children. My daughter, Emma, lives in Vietnam. Emma went to Vietnam to teach after graduating from UCONN. She now teaches and works for a marketing company in Hanoi. She recently married a guy she met in Vietnam, James. James is an expat from England teaching in Vietnam and is also a semipro soccer player (I guess it is called Football in countries outside the USA). My son, also a James, is a recent graduate of Penn State working in the wine industry and recently got a prestigious certification in that industry. Both offspring sent me something to listen to that they had done independent of their primary line of work. I was blown away by what my children had done. will share these here and will go in order of their birth.

Emma does a radio program in Hanoi. The one I will share with you here is an interview she did with her friend, Pearl. We met Pearl when we visited Vietnam a couple years ago. Pearl is a remarkable and fun young woman.

Please Click on Link below

Jim, has from childhood been interested in the city of Hartford. His interest matured to an exploration of how the city of Hartford went from an historically significant cultural technology and commercial powerhouse to an insignificant wasteland of a city. He researched the issues and developed a podcast of his conclusions. After listening to the first installment of the series, I was completely blown away. This is a truly professional job.

http://theroadthatkilledacity.com/

Now Jim has an article in the local online version of the Hartford Courant, has been asked to do a radio interview and has many people reaching out to him.

Bravo and Brava to my kids.