Written April 1, 2023, at Langley Castle, England.
Yesterday was yesterday, and today is today. Signs on the side of Twice Brewed brought a smile.
Christine captured a shot of me as I made my way back to the Wall, and for five minutes there was sunshine.
It’s a wonder what a good night’s rest, fresh legs, and an energized spirit can do. It doesn’t hurt that it’s my birthday.
There were many people on the trail today, but virtually all were taking a Saturday stroll. There may have been one or two that were through-hiking, but east to west. My track is west to east.
There were periods of rain but never of sufficient intensity to warrant putting on my rain trousers. However, mist on the camera lens may have impacted the quality of the photographs.
Once more the guidebook grossly underestimated the distance and provided less than accurate directions on two occasions. 8+ miles and 22,000 steps with more precipitous up and down terrain was again the order of the day.
Nevertheless, it was a much better day than yesterday.
This spot is known as “Sycamore Gap” and appeared in the Kevin Costner movie, “Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves”.
I ended my day at a preplanned stopping point near Hadrian’s Wall. We arranged for a taxi to pick me up and transport me 7 miles off the route to Langley Castle where we will be lodged for the next two nights. On Monday morning a taxi will return me to that point so that I can continue the full route of Hadrian’s Wall.
Langley Castle is an honest to goodness 14th century fortress and we are booked into its premiere suite.
The small window in the center of the castle is our bedroom.If you look closely at the large window above the entry you will see Christine in the hearth room.
Ours are royal chambers. The bathroom is larger than most hotel rooms and includes a huge tub (it fits two… to which we can attest), and a sauna/steam room.
The door on the right is our private sauna/steam room.
The walls are solid stone, 7 feet thick, and there is a sitting nook with leaded stained glass that looks out upon the courtyard.
Evening drinks at a fire in the hearth room followed by a suitably elegant dinner capped off the day.
We will tour the castle tomorrow and I will take my camera along. I hope to give you a virtual tour.
Peace Everyone. 71 year old Pete
P.S. As I have walked along these remnants of the once mighty Roman Empire it occurred to me that there have been many great empires; Egyptian, Persian, Greek, Mayan, just to name a few. ALL great empires and civilizations have two things in common: Their leaders and citizens believed the reign would be endless… and it wasn’t.
Written March 31, 2023, at the Twice Brewed Inn, England.
Today was not challenging, it was not difficult,… It was HARD. This was one of the hardest hikes (relative to my age) I have undertaken in my 71 years. But more of that in a bit.
We continued to be enthralled with the owners and accommodations at Dacre House. Breakfast was lovely, made all the more pleasant in conversation with Tadeusz and Malgorzata, a delightful couple from Poland who are also sampling the wonders of Hadrian’s Wall.
We met them at dinner last night. Among the topics we discussed was the war in Ukraine. They explained that at the outbreak of the hostilities over 2 million refugees crossed into Poland and were given shelter and more. There was no government edict, no international organization, just 2 million people at the border and hundreds of thousands of Polish families lined up to voluntarily take them in. When international news crews arrived to obtain video footage and interviews of the “refugee camps“ they were amazed and disappointed to find there were none. Just families helping families.
At 9:30 AM I bid farewell to Clare and Stephan.
Christine remained with them till 11am when her text arrived for the next transport.
Initially the weather looked promising and I was able to immediately resume my trek along the wall.
Conditions quickly deteriorated. Temperatures fell, rain began, wind stiffened to over 30mph, and was interspersed with moments of driving sleet. It was a cold and miserable combination.
My rainproof windbreaker and rain pants were up to the task, even if I was less so. Thankfully, I had included gloves in my pack. Unfortunately, the pea soup mist meant that photo opportunities became nonexistent. My camera was relegated to the safety of its case for the last half of the day.
I was on the trail for nearly 6 hours. The guidebook reported a distance of slightly more than 8 miles but that must’ve been “as the crow flies“. My iPhone and steps counter each indicated it was over 10 miles, and 27,500 steps. Even those numbers do not tell the whole story. The topography was a constant up and down on rain slippery rocks and grass. The huge ascents challenged the lungs and the steep descents challenged the knees. There was no respite.
The trail climbed along the edge of cliffs that were hundreds of feet high.
Today I reached the halfway point which was also the highest point on Hadrian’s Wall. This picture is courtesy of Joe.
It is a wonder how the Romans constructed the miles of ditches, berms, and of course the wall with implements amounting to nothing much more than picks, shovels, and human sweat.
Tonight we are lodged at the Twice Brewed Inn.
It is a small working brewery with an excellent pub, dining room, and rooms.
We shared dinner, and gratitude for safely making it through the day’s hike with our Oregon friends, Joe and Julie, who also “weathered the storm”.
Tomorrow is my 71st birthday. I hope that nature will gift me clear skies and pleasant temperatures for my 5th day on the trail.
No lengthy overseas flight is “fun“. About the best one can hope to say is that the flight was uneventful. On that count, ours qualified as “pleasantly uneventful”. Actually, that is a bit unfair. While our ticketing was through Delta Airlines, the actual carrier from Atlanta to Manchester was Virgin Atlantic. Given the option we would definitely choose Virgin Atlantic in the future. The meals were excellent (for airplane food), the staff was very friendly, and the plane was well-maintained.
At 8:30 yesterday morning our neighbor, Mary Murphy, graciously drove us to the new Kansas City International Airport. This was our first experience in the new facility. It was bright, pleasant, and most of all, efficient. Passing through security was a breeze and we found a plethora of dining establishments, most of them local purveyors.
We walked the length and breadth of the entire facility. It is a real step up for Kansas City. Kansas City was once the corporate home of TWA, one of the world’s largest air carriers. In those days KCI was a major international point of departure. Sadly, with the demise of TWA those glory days are over. Perhaps this new facility will see them restored.
With a tailwind of nearly 150 miles an hour our flight to Atlanta took less than an hour and 20 minutes. Ground speed exceeded 650 miles an hour. We were literally flirting with the speed of sound.
Christine and I spent a pleasant few hours in the Atlanta Delta Sky Club lounge as we awaited our evening departure for Manchester England. If you ever get the chance to spend time there, we invite you to look up Francine, a most delightful hostess of “a certain age”. We could’ve easily spent hours exchanging jokes and pleasant barbs with her.
The seven hour flight actually chewed 12 hours off the clock because of the 5 time zones that we crossed. We landed in Manchester England to 50 degrees Fahrenheit, overcast skies, and intermittent showers. We better get used to it because that seems to be the predicted weather for many of the days to come.
A 20 minute train ride into the heart of Manchester saw us off at the Oxford Street Station. This was fortunate as it is from this station that we will depart in two days northwest for Carlisle England. I had previously made reservations for four separate train connections, Manchester to Carlisle, Newcastle to Liverpool, Liverpool to Middlewich, and Middlewich back to Manchester. It was necessary for us to pick up the physical tickets at the Oxford Street Station.
It should have been a relatively easy task but we were travel weary and one station agent proved less than helpful, printing one set of tickets and directing us to figure out how to use a machine to print the remaining ones (no one else was waiting for assistance). An angel of mercy in the form of Susan, a different ticket agent, correctly interpreted our half panicked and fully confused stares as we turned from the counter. She called us over and took the entire task onto her shoulders. Moreover, we spent a delightful 10 minutes visiting as if we were all long lost friends. We have exchanged email addresses and private messages so, barely minutes in the city, we made a new long-term friend in this dear country. Thank you so much Susan, you made our day!
Susan, our “Angel of Mercy”
Our accommodations are in the ultramodern City Suites, located in the heart of the old city.
Our room is more like a studio apartment. It features a wash machine/dryer, dishwasher, and full efficiency kitchen.
There is also a delightful restaurant and indoor pool.
Official check in time was 4 PM but we had arrived at the front desk well before noon. The hotel staff worked to accelerate the readiness of our room for an early check-in. In the meantime we found a cafe around the corner where barista Liz (on the left), later joined by Mila, provided us with hot beverages and a warm/dry place to put up our feet.
After a catch-up nap to stave off the effects of jet lag, we wander the immediate area visiting the 500 year old cathedral (sadly, the stained glass windows fell victim to the Luftwaffe bombings of the Second World War), and an equally ancient pub where we enjoyed “pints”.
In the early evening we found a different pub, The Black Friar, where Christine enjoyed an excellent pork chop dinner and I one of my all-time favorite dishes, a proper English beef and vegetable “pie“.
We have a full day tomorrow to take in more of the central city and then on Saturday we depart by train for Carlisle to begin our trek along Hadrian’s Wall.
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. I’ve said it before, but it is worth repeating: Travel exposes one to new sights and experiences. However, it is in the people that we meet that the real and enduring rewards are to be found.
November 22, 2022. In the South Atlantic, 6.15° S, 32.50° W.
Although Viking Jupiter can accommodate 930 passengers, we are slightly under capacity with about 890. There are a number of ship sponsored small groups, such as the Mah Jong group, Bridge Players, The Friends of Bill W, and the Solo Travelers group.
Christine saw the Solo Travelers one evening and it appeared that they numbed fewer than 20. Except for them virtually all of the other passengers are traveling as companions, and the vast majority of them “romantic”.
We are in continuous close proximity with all the passengers which has provided me with the opportunity to “couples watch”.
They come in all flavors. We find that demographically Christine and I are at the younger side of average, perhaps the longer side of years together, well placed for our experience as travelers, and probably at the more extreme end for “adventures” shared.
Most passengers are from the United States, but Canada is very well represented. It should come as no surprise that given the age of most onboard, Florida as a state of current residence is well represented.
This brings me to some other characteristics of the affection-bonded companions. There are a few interracial couples and quite a few same sex couples. If the demographics were younger I imagine the interracial proportion would be higher. Looking back 20 or 30 years ago I believe that the percentage of obvious same sex couples would have been much smaller as so many back then would have still been “closeted”. I am thankful for the enlightened social evolution that favors a broader acceptance of colorblind and gender-blind love. I hope that it continues to evolve in favor of broad acceptance.
Years ago my dear mother, may she rest in peace, might have scowled in disapproval at couples from both of these groups. As she entered her later years she became more tolerant. There is one group that may have yet received her unspoken ire.
Early in the cruise I observed a couple, clearly dear to each other, but separated by generation. Father and daughter?… niece?… No, husband and wife. Within my thoughts I could feel the specter of my mother’s disapproval. I turned my focus onto my own thoughts and feelings, asking myself “Why?”, not about them, but about myself.
Mindfulness is a wonderful skill to acquire. So many of us never stop to become aware of their thoughts and ask that question of themselves, “Why?”. In examining my thoughts and seeking an answer to the question I concluded that I and perhaps society still have work to do.
When Christine and I married we presumed that we had decades ahead of us together.
Fortunately, that has been the case. Life is a lottery and comes with no guarantees. Most couples bond with the hope of sharing life and love. Sometimes it works out, and sometimes it does not. The ages of the lovers is not the most relevant factor of success.
Back to my mother: I am confident in my assessment of her righteous indignation. Yet she and I lived in the shadow of “uncommon companions” who were very dear to us.
My mother was a first generation American, born to Lebanese immigrants. Her parents’ marriage was arranged by the families. Grandfather fought as an American “Doughboy” in the First World War, returning to Lebanon after the war to meet and marry my grandmother.
That marriage occurred around 1920 or 1921. Their first of 6 children was born in 1923.
My grandparents prospered and became icons in their West Virginia community. They were leaders in commerce and as parishioners in their Catholic Church. All of their children were college educated, my mother receiving her Master’s Degree from the University of Wisconsin where she met my father shortly after the Second World War.
My parents, 1949.
I can scarcely imagine a more successful and loving marriage than the one shared by my grandparents.
Their life together ended with grandfather’s death in 1958. Grandmother continued on as the family matriarch until her passing in 1979.
By the way, my grandfather, Joseph Francis, was born in 1884. My grandmother, Labibi Raad Francis, was born in 1905. I will leave it to you to do the math.
Peace Everyone. Pete
PS. The above photo, taken around 1957, features my grandparents who are the couple on the right. The little boy on the far right would eventually grow up to be the author of these “Thoughts”.
November 14, 2022. At sea off the coast of northwest Africa.
Before I delve into the titled topic here is a brief cruise report:
We spent yesterday in the port of Malaga, Spain.
Christine and I participated in a 3 hour walking tour which sounds more strenuous than it really was.
An excavated Roman Amphitheater
Being a member of a tour group is not my preferred way to explore a destination. However, practicality sometimes takes priority over preference… so, when on a cruise one must often do what the other cruisers do.
The upsides were the pleasant weather and beauty of the compact central city.
The downsides were that it was Sunday with most shops closed. Perhaps that also qualifies as an “upside”! The huge cathedral was open, but only for Mass and prayer.
I entered ostensibly for that purpose, so there are no pictures. I dearly wish that I could have taken one of the priest hearing confessions. Between penitents he was either net-surfing on his mobile phone, or doing video chat absolutions. It reminded me of seeing a priest, one of at least a dozen concelebrating Mass in Santiago, who periodically reached up the sleeve of his robe to surreptitiously pull out his phone to snap a shot or two of the remarkable experience unfolding before him.
Malaga is the birthplace of Pablo Picasso. He spent his youth living on the perimeter of this square.
The city takes pains to highlight the association, however the artist left Spain due to the horrors of its civil war and vowed never to return until democracy was restored. That restoration began in 1975 with the death of the dictator, Francisco Franco. Picasso died two years earlier, never having returned to his homeland.
Another limitation on our visit was that it coincided with the running of a marathon that featured thousands of runners.
Our cruise itinerary had included crossing the Mediterranean last night and spending today in Casablanca, Morocco. Unfortunately that has been canceled.
Part of Viking’s proactive COVID protocol is the requirement that all passengers and crew be fully vaccinated and boosted, also submitting to daily PCR testing. Crew wear masks at all times, but masks are optional for passengers. A positive test results in a mandatory 5 day period of in-room quarantine.
The captain reported that there have been a few (less than 10) positive cases, but even that small number meant that Morocco would not grant the ship permission for passengers to disembark. Therefore, we are rerouting. Today is at-sea, and tomorrow we will spend the day in Madeira on the Portuguese island of Funchal.
In a future post I will present a pictorial tour of the ship. Currently the wifi is not able to upload all of the pictures that I have taken shipboard. What the pictures cannot express is the remarkable service and pleasant disposition of the crew.
Although we are all familiar with the term “common courtesy” I have found that courtesy in daily life can often be in short supply. Aboard this ship and during our prior sailings with Viking we found we were surrounded by service delivered with “uncommon courtesy”. That is not to say that it was rare or infrequent, but that it is so exceptional as to be “uncommon”.
I have approached a number of crew and after thanking them for their cheerful attention to our comforts asked them about this. One remarked it comes from gratitude for this employment opportunity. Another commented that the employment interview process focused significantly upon personality. Yet another said that the attitude is infectious (no pun intended) among staff. A senior staff person with over 15 years in the industry pointed out that one quickly figures out if this type of work is a good fit. At the end of one’s contract that person either continues in the industry or not.
In any case we are experiencing a level of service seldom seen by us onshore. Perhaps another factor is the smaller ship size and the circumstances which result in frequent interactions with the same crew members… which allows for the development of a kind of relationship.
There is unfortunately an “uncommon discourtesy” which we have observed. Most passengers reflect positively the service that they receive. A very few do not. Is it from a sense of privilege, narcissism, lack of gratitude/charity or just having a bad day? I don’t know. What I do know is that having witnessed discourtesy it gives me pause to be mindful in my appreciation for the good people who staff this ship. It is an appreciation which we would all do well to exercise in our daily onshore lives.
