Reflections on a Vacation: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part Six

I love the English countryside. For one thing it’s green. We’re back in Berkeley where the hills are brown as they will be until November (if we’e lucky with rain) or more likely December -- January if we’re unlucky. England is not known for its mountains but it has rolling hills aplenty and scattered about are rivers, streams, creeks and brooks. White sheep and multi-colored cows dot the countryside. There are stone walls everywhere and houses and other structures that look like they’ve been there for centuries. Many of them have. As previously mentioned we stayed at a friend’s house whose house was built in the 1700s. Next door is a Quaker meeting hall that was built in the 1600s. 

The days we spent  on trains were days well spent. I love to read on trains but who can take their eyes of the views when riding through England?

Then there is London. Saying it’s a big city is like saying the next galaxy is far away. London left being merely "big" a long time ago and is now massive. The humanity. In our week there we saw — good God how would I even even began to guess how many people we encountered? Let’s simply go with a lot. Mind you we were in places that draw crowds such as the British Museum, Trafalgar Square and Westminster Abbey. London draws people from all over the world both as immigrants and tourists. We  saw group after group of students. We encountered some obnoxious French high schoolers, Spanish middle schoolers and countless British students, some maybe were even from London. I'm not always sure what six and seven-year-olds are doing in museums.

The traffic in downtown London has three speeds: slow, slower and slowest. Less people drive in England than in the states but there are more than enough cars and boy are there are a lot of taxis (they’re quite nice to ride, roomy and comfy) and one helluva lot of double decker busses. The underground is the way to go. It’s fast, efficient and not at all difficult to navigate.

London is similar to New York in a lot of ways one of which is the quality and quantity of excellent museums. We made our third visit to the British Museum, perhaps the granddaddy of them all, on our last day. It’s one of those museums that you need several trips to if you mean to take it all in. I always make a point to see the watches and clocks collections. I love the medieval collections and the ancient civilizations as well.

Highlights of the trip were our visit visits to Scotland and to England’s Lake District, going to see the Arsenal play and win, my first visit to the National Portrait Gallery and all the many excellent meals we enjoyed. We ate like royalty spending freely always adding dessert. I’m going to need to get back to the gym as I will tomorrow.

It was a fun trip and a nice break from the normal routine. Though that being said a good vacation helps you really appreciate the creature comforts of home.

Glad to have gone and glad to be back.

Not Enough But More than Enough to Enjoy: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part Five

The Thames, St. Paul's in the background

Finally. After all these years I had lobster for dinner. It was delicious. But I wish I’d gotten its father. This scrawny little crustacean provided insufficient “meat” for a hungry bloke but that is often the way with lobster. On the other hand the chips (French fries to you Yanks) that accompanied the little fella were the best I’ve had in many moons. The salad sublime, the NA beer — Swiss, had never tried it before — excellent and I enjoyed the ice cream for desert. Of course my wife’s company was, as always, wonderful and we enjoyed friendly banter with the family seated next to us which included a four-year-old who like me is a footie fan, and a baby that was as cute as the Dickens (actually I don’t know that the great author was all that cute). We also were charmed by our waitress who was from Moldova. 

The dinner capped a long day yesterday which featured a visit to the Victoria and Albert Museum. There we took in some of Britain’s plunder from its empire days although I spent a lot of time with British art from the 17th through 20th century. As with many museums there was more to see that one can possibly take in in one day. But I did manage to behold some Renaissance art, Buddhist art, bronze, iron and alabaster art and a smattering of representations from other lands. The gift shop I found wanting (but one substandard bookmark!) But the cafe more than made up for it.

After that we went to Westminster Abbey but it was sold out for the day. Disappointed but undaunted we strolled along the Thames eventually crossing the Millennium Bridge then walking by St. Paul’s before our dinner.

Yesterday I went on a tour of the famed Wembley Stadium. It’s an impressive place seating over 90,000, all seats including good sight lines. It’s clearly a terrific place to watch a match. We got to sit in the royal box, explore the dressing rooms, the post-match interview room, and the edge of the pitch where coaches stand and subs sit. I’d love to see the place when full with a game being played.

Today is the last full day of our journey with the return home scheduled for early tomorrow morning. So far so good.

Yesterday I Yelled, Today I Beheld: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part Four

At the Arsenal match, photo by author

Yesterday I was among 65,000 raucous fans yelling, cheering and singing. Today I was among dozens quietly contemplating the artistic wonders before us. I loved both experiences.

Sunday I went to Emirates Stadium in North London to see my beloved Arsenal play their last home game of the season. When I procured the ticket back in the Fall I had reason to believe that it might be the day that the Gunners clinched the title. Instead the battle was for second place. So it goes.

There’s little I love more in this world than my pilgrimages to see The Arsenal. It’s like heroin, the high is incredible. Merely seeing the team I follow all season long on the telly is cause for jubilation, add to that the incredible atmosphere in the stadium and the sense that I am at home and with my tribe and I have something very special in my life. 

I stopped in the team’s megastore pre-match to add to the collection of clothing and souvenirs I have of the team. Then it was a stop at a concession stand for a vegetable pie (where do you get that in the States?) and a bottle of water.

My seats were excellent and given the king’s ransom I paid that was as it should be.

The game itself was nothing extraordinary but it’s always extraordinary to see some of the best footballers in the world in action. Add to that the fact that the home team notched a 1-0 victory and you couldn’t ask for more (well, besides a title). 

As it was the season finale the team took a lap of appreciation which was preceded by words from both team captain and the gaffer (manager).  The weather was pleasant so most people gladly stuck around for the festivities.

Munch portrait of an anarchist

Today was just a little bit different as the missus and I went to the National Portrait Gallery. Here voices were muted and instead of singing we contemplated great art in the former of portraits. There was a special exhibition of Edvard Munch portraits that we particularly enjoyed. Other than a footie match there’s little I enjoy more than wiling away time in a museum and this is one of the best I’ve ventured in.

In addition to fabulous paintings there were photographic portraits of more recent subjects. There were portraits of kings, artists, intellectuals, poets, rock stars and ordinary folk. As always I found the presence of great works of art inspiring.

Two very different experiences in two very different venues but both rewarding, enjoyable and memorable. Can’t beat that.

I Hate the Bother of Travel But Love Where I Go: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part Three

Phil and I

I love to travel but I hate the traveling part. Heavy luggage. No wifi, spotty wifi, low batteries. Waiting for cabs. Looking for the right train. Hungry again. Need the toilet. Have we got everything? Where's the other bag? Can you hold this? On Friday we had to gather our belongings drag them downstairs catch a cab to the train station and bid adieu to Edinburgh.

The train took us to Oxenholme in England’s Lake District where my longest-serving friend, Phil, was waiting. He lives in the hamlet of Sedbergh nestled in the cold, foggy, rainy climes of Northern England. It was sunny, clear and warm. Atypical just as had been the weather in sunny Scotland. Once there the hassles of travel seemed a small price to pay.

I’ve known Phil since high school though we were out of touch for nearly thirty years until the magic of the internet brought us back together and we’ve seen each on numerous occasions for the last twenty-two or so years. 

Phil has a lovely home in a lovely area. His wife was traveling in Japan with their son so it was up to Phil and his dog Suki to entertain us and they did a wonderful job.

It was grand to have an extended time to catch up and re-live high school days. We were in Berkeley High’s first small school within a school called Community High where we were divided into tribes. It was all very Sixties and the forerunner of many such attempts to make the high school experience more manageable and relatable. It also provided another way for me to think of myself as special. Phil had a copy of our yearbook, mine had been lost or destroyed in a fire many decades ago. It's pictured on the right. It brought back many memories that washed over me like a warm wave. 

We discoursed on other topics far and wide from baseball to the books of Robert Caro to Trumpy. I can number on one hand all the people I've personally known who are Phil's equal in the art of conversation. I can't number any who would be his superior in that category. 

Phil provided both car and walking tours of the area. We saw many more sheep than people and a lot of green hills, trees and stone walls. Phil’s house was built in 1743, the same year, Phil proudly pointed out, that one Thomas Jefferson was born. Next door was a Quaker meeting house that dated back to the 1600s. 

We dined at the golf course where I feasted on fish and chips.

By yesterday afternoon it was time again to schlep our luggage to a train station and struggle onto another train. Three hours later we were back in London and soon thereafter made our way to another cab. We're now staying in the same Air B&B we did last year and the year before.

I’m off to Emirates Stadium this afternoon to see my beloved Arsenal Football Club in action. Hoping that it will be one of the many highlights of the trip. Seeing Phil, Suki and the area in which he resides is already a highlight. I hope to visit again. Indeed there are many parts of the UK that I want to make return visits too and many more that I want to explore for the first time. We'll be making our first-ever trip to Oxford tomorrow. Happily looking forward to what is yet to come as I also look back at what I've enjoyed to date -- such as Phil's warm hospitality.

I'll Have the Cullen Skink, Please: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part Two

One of the many great views from Edinburgh Castle

Here I am in Scotland raving about the cuisine. I’ve had Cullen Skink twice now and I remain very much in love with this delectable fish stew. I’ve also dined on salmon, sea bass, haddock and macaroni and cheese. The latter is served most everywhere here and is part of a hearty meal. Every salad I’ve had so far has been excellent and the desserts are delicious. Who knew?

Yesterday I trekked up and I do mean trekked and I do mean up — way up — from out hotel to the Edinburgh Castle which has been around in one form or another for well over 1,000 years. Many such tourist sites one visits are ultimately kind of meh but with this castle you get a lot of bang for your buck — or pound. The views are spectacular in all directions. One can see why it was such a formidable fortress and safe haven for the royals. Why anyone would even dream of attacking it beggars belief. The castle is well-preserved maintaining a middle ages look and feel while being sturdy with modern conveniences like gift shops, toilets, and mini-museums tucked inside. There’s much to see and I took in as much as I could. But it is the views I’ll remember.

Today the missus and I walked the Royal Mile which is surely longer than the name suggests. We popped into three small museums: children’s, peoples and Edinburgh’s. I was not disappointed by any of them and especially liked the people’s which celebrated the hard lives of common folk who in most of the world for most of history have not had it easy. It was a sobering exhibition.

There were shops and pubs aplenty along the Royal Mile. Plenty of cashmere and tweed being sold. Some places make kilts. Whiskey is also purveyed. You can stock up with scarves, shawls, gloves and hats. We stopped in one of the endless pub/restaurants for another in a series of long, leisurely meals. 

Then we went to Scotland’s National Gallery. This is a serious museum with four floors of great art. We only had enough energy to explore two of said floors but we saw plenty and it ranged from the beautiful to the magisterial, not surprise given the artists included some of the greatest from both Great Britain and other parts of Europe.

When you’re not seeing quaint shops and pubs in Edinburgh you’re taking in views and beautiful ones at that. Sadly the parts of the city we’re exploring are overrun by tourists (yeah, like us). We know how annoying they can be. I imagine it’s far worse in the summer.

I began the previous post with a rant about showers and I nearly repeated it today. This hotel has another overly complicated system to get you either water that is too hot, too cold, coming too fast or too slow, that is if you can figure it all out in the first place. Anyway the food around here makes up for it. Especially the Cullen Skink. Yum.

We're In Edinburgh and it's Love at First Sight: See It, Say It, Sorted, UK Visit 2025 Part One

Edinburgh, photo by author

Why can’t every hotel, bed and breakfast Air B&B, inn, hostelry and motel in the world have a standard, simple shower? One with a high nozzle that sprays water down on a person in a steady flow? That’s the question I pondered yet again this morning after our one-night stay in an otherwise perfectly functional hotel in London. This while wishing I had an engineering degree so I could sort out the various nozzles, handles and switches. Nonetheless I managed to shower and soon the missus and I were at King’s Cross railway station awaiting our train to Edinburgh, Scotland.

We arrived in England’s capital yesterday morning after an overnight flight from San Francisco during which I consumed two typically substandard meals and slept fitfully and uncomfortably. Did manage to get some reading done.

For the third year in a row we had lunch at the Euston Flyer a large and lovely pub/restaurant. I had the fish and chips and an NA beer, again for the third year running.

At another table were three couples in their early sixties from the states and it took me no time at all to determine that they were Mormons. They had gotten to know the proprietor and bombarded him with questions about England that betrayed a woeful ignorance of geography typical of dumb Americans — of which there are far too many. One of their party told the owner that they were from Utah. Duh.

Speaking of dumb….On the tube taking us from the airport to central London there was an American couple who, as the train pulled way realized that they’ve left — it’s unclear how many or of what nature — bag(s) with items important to their journey somewhere they knew not where. I saw the looks on both their faces when they were struck with the realization. It’s a terrible feeling and I felt for them. We’ve all been there in one way or another knowing something valued or critical has been left behind and is likely lost for good. The man kept apologizing to the woman who assured him it was okay despite the fact that it clearly wasn’t. It was obvious to me that they’d been together only a few years -- if that long -- and had doubtless met online. They probably got together a few years after divorces and have found companionship and sexual compatibility. This is likely their first trip together. Bad start.

After settling into our hotel we went for a walk. It was a lovely day the kind that London doesn’t get a lot of. That is.... it had been. Suddenly clouds thick and gray formed and there soon followed the rumbling of thunder, then came a torrential downpour. We took shelter in a store with many others. It didn’t last long and soon we were on our way.

In the evening we stumbled upon a lovely little Italian restaurant where we had a sumptuous dinner and enjoyed  chatting with the waitress who, like the meal, was authentically Italian. One table over was an interesting trio that included a man of about forty who was clearly on the bipolar spectrum (takes one to know one) and was in a bit of a manic phase. He was shuffling, squirming, twitching, getting up to walk. Poor bloke. The older gent at the table was a fellow Gooner (Arsenal fan) and upon chatting with him discovered we’re both going to the match on Sunday.

Today we took the train to Edinburgh (that’s pronounced ED-In-Burr) and it was love at first sight — not the train, Edinburgh. What a grand looking city. Like a lovely older woman who is classy as hell but knows how to have a good time. There’s a gothic look to the city with spires reaching to the heavens, statues, memorials all mixed in with the greens of parks and trees. It's also a surprisingly cosmopolitan city replete with tourists and university students from countries far and wide.

After checking into our newest digs — which feature a view of Edinburg Castle — it was time for dinner. We stopped at the first place we came upon and it was an excellent choice. Fiddler’s Arms was the name of the pub/restaurant. The staff was young and friendly and the food was delish. I started with a fish stew called Cullen Skink that’s popular in these parts. It was the best stew I’ve had in many moons, if not ever. That was followed by pan-seared salmon. It was a healthy piece of fish and assured two great meals in two nights. Almost makes up for the airplane “food.”

We walked around for a bit and now it’s back in the room. Tomorrow I get a tour of the aforementioned castle, the missus is sitting this one out. The vacation is off to a cracking start.