The first week of my sojourn back to the UK was taken up with seeing friends and family. It is amazing how much time is taken up by visits when you have 4 years to catch up on, and how quickly that you are back on the terms you left on. It was as if I hadn't been away, which made it feel kind of other worldly, as if I was dreaming the entire episode.
On the first Friday we took a trip up to Glastonbury with Jamie, by brother in law, to see his girlfriend and spend a day at hippie central, which was superb. THis is us at the ruins of Glastonbury Abbey. THe monks were slaughtered by Henry VIII, they disagreed with his opinion that he was head of the Church of England
This is in the grounds of Wells Cathedral. Ieuan found a friendly cat to hassle.
Jamie managed to get us back home in time to be picked up by Susan for an overnighter at my mate Leighton's house. His 4 kids we always very close to Ieuan, and nothing had changed there. A real great night.
We stayed over on the Saturday at my parents. My Father had a run in with Prostate Cancer last year, so it was great to have a social occasion with myself, the family and some close childhood friends. Half way through the night we had a phone call, that my Mother in Law had slipped whilst playing Cricket on the beach, and had broken her leg.
THe next day we went up to see my brother Des and his new wife for a BBQ. Ieuan liked Des' dogs, a pair of Mastiffs by the names of Molly and Bailey. Here is Molly with Ieuan, myself and Des are in the background.
Now this was a pain for her, sure, but for us it was almost as irritating. We were all going to go to London for a 4 day trip on the Monday, so I had to cancel her and my Father in Law's rooms. As it was, there was no drama, and we went u[p anyway. The trip was done on the cheap, staying at a travelodge in the City of London (about $160 a night USD) and going to the Museums of Natural History, Science the V&A and the Imperial War Museum, Lambeth.
Each one of these museums you could skim in a day, but to really enjoy the first 3 would take a couple of days each. The Imperial War Museum is on 4 sites in London, so each one would take a good half day each I think. Need less to say we had a great time, if very tiring. Best of all, it was all free! I am a skinflint.
The Natural History Museum itself is one of the most beautiful and impressive bits of Victorian neo-gothic architecture in existence. It was designed as a Cathedral to Nature, and it is awesome. There is so much within it which is both awesome and beautiful, I cant express how wonderful a place it is. This is the Diplodocus that stands in the Great Hall, with myself and Ieuan beneath it.
The Science Museum is a place where a nerd like me can be lost for days. There is a hall of space which contains the actual Apollo 10 capsule, plus a Saturn 5 motor and a load of other cool stuff.
The hall of aviation has a Vickers Vimy WW1 bomber, plus a Hurricane and Spitfire, and a Bf 109 Messerscmidt.
The Victoria & Albert Museum contains basically the best examples of stuff humans have made, be that fine art (there are numerous pieces by Rodain, Turner, Constable and Rembrandt) or wrought ironwork. THere are hall dedicated to Chinese, Islamic, African artifacts (plus many, many more) and it has within it some of the most beautiful examples of just how awesome humans can be when they put their minds to it. I found it quite overwhelming.
Ieuan found that his feet were falling off, so this is him in the central courtyard of the V&A
The Imperial War Museum brings you back to earth with a resounding thud. I have always found it ironic that some of the most ingenious and beautiful things humans have ever made are designed to murder people. The displays of WW1 and 2 are sobering, and the display on the Holocaust and crimes against humanity were enough to chill the soul of any man with an ounce of fellow feeling in him.
THis is Ieuan with a "Tommy Cooker" (That's what the Germans nicknamed the Sherman, because it caught fire a lot, and was hard to get out of), and in the cockpit of a Lancaster heavy bomber, where my cousin Des served as a navigator in WW2
We arrived back on the Thursday, tired but happy. I received a call from my mate Gary telling me that he wasn't well enough to attend the Bruce Springsteen concert on Saturday, which was a bit of bad news. But more of that next time
Be Good
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