Home at Last

We got home Tuesday night. Katie was there to meet us at the airport. The dog still remembers us. So, unfortunately, does the cat. (Anybody want a used cat?) Sonoma County looks as beautiful as ever. It's great to be home.

We're both feeling a bit stunned that our long journey is over. It had begun to feel like an alternative lifestyle. And it's amazing how much you can forget in five months, like how to connect the modem to the wireless internet router.

Adding to the confusion, I had to make two quick trips to San Francisco to get a visa. I have a surprise trip to Asia next week. The timing isn't great but this is really a chance in a lifetime. Hint: what country in Asia has never been visited by a single person you know? I'll report when I get back.

Wonderful day in Cambridge

Seemed like we hit the trifecta yesterday in Cambridge. We woke up in Silas' room (two houses down from one that J.M. Keynes once occupied, according to a plaque), and after breakfast he went off for some strenuous weightlifting while we strolled up the Cam. Passing through a couple of miles of beautiful river meadow we came to the village of Grantchester and the Orchard Tea House. The poet Rupert Brooke once lived here in rural splendor, paddling his canoe to Cambridge when necessary, and entertaining a group of close, argumentative friends who included Virginia Woolf, E.M. Forster, the aforementioned Keynes, Wittgenstein, and Bertrand Russell. They liked to go on 20 mile walks and hung out at the teahouse, which served and serves tea and scones and other light food from a rustic shack to tables set under the apple trees. It hasn't changed much since the Great War. We sat in the canvas chairs and soaked in the sunshine.

Silas joined us there and we had lunch, then walked back to Cambridge, bought a bottle of wine, and went punting on the Cam. Silas' college has its own boats, and to procure them we had to walk through several college courts--all closed and invoking silence because of exams. The river was lovely and I must say that for atmosphere and beauty it would be very hard to match Cambridge.

Then we docked our boat and hurried to King's College. You may know that the college choir is quite famous--I grew up listening to their records--and we intended to hear them sing evensong. Instead we found ourselves in a Requiem mass for King Henry VI, the founder of the college. It was a lovely service in an extraordinary building, and we were very close to the altar over which hangs Ruben's portrait of the baby Jesus introduced to the magi. The music was astonishing, absolutely the best choral music I have ever heard or ever dreamed of hearing. We came away stunned.

It was an unplanned day that worked out in a leisurely fashion, but what a time we had! I'll never forget it.

Prague

Are we getting old?

We're down to the last week of our mammoth extraordinary, and still very much enjoying ourselves. Prague is as beautiful a city as you can find, and we're with good, old friends. I've been close to Fred Prudek since I was a sophomore in college, and Popie has known him nearly as long. We've known and loved Kelly since they married 25 years ago. (Not long after that blessed event, friends of Fred began to marvel over her with each other.) So we love having this chance to catch up in depth. A lot of our time has been taken up with long, long walks. From their home you can walk into the center of Prague, as well as out into thick forest parkland. We've done both, sometimes on the same walk. Czechs specialize in little snack bars along the way where you can buy a beer or an ice cream and kick back.

We've also been able to see some of the Prudeks' work. Popie has gone with Kelly as she leads ESL classes and, every Friday night, goes into central Prague to meet with and talk to prostitutes. We've met members of the little church they are helping to launch in an outlying town, and we attended there Sunday when Fred was preaching. It's great to get some of the texture of their life and work.

Thursday we fly back England for a last fling with Silas and Coreen Hester, and Tuesday the 26th we fly home. Can't wait to see our daughter, our house, our dog, our church and our friends. (No hierarchy implied.) But will we suffer from post-sabbatical stress?

photos of England

Here's Popie with our friends Steve and Alice. Perhaps you can think of a caption for Popie's expression. Alice, obviously, is gloating about something.

The Thames, at the Iffley lock. In the middle distance you can see the Iffley church tower, 12th century building, where we worshiped on Sunday.
A pub lunch with the Trollopes on the edge of the Wirral. At this very spot travelers once set sail for America; now it is all silted in to a broad marshy meadow.
We went for a climb on this green grassy hill and discovered--golfers! Along with the sheep. Walkers, golfers and sheep all comingled. These fairways went ungroomed, unless the sheep count as groundskeepers.
It doesn't get any greener.
We had wonderful walking with David Okonji, although the weather was chilly.

Lost photo of Bergerac

Here's the lost photo of our bed and breakfast in Bergerac. The place with the ancient beams you can hit your head on. Quite a wonderful quirky place. If you ever go there ask us about it.

Green England

We're now in Cheltenham, which is near Gloucester, which is sort of near Bath in Green, Green England. David Okonji lives and works here in internal medicine. We stayed with his family in Kenya (his brother got married, if you remember) and we really like him a lot. Tomorrow we're going to go walking in the Cotswolds (the country around here)--then back to London where I have an interview to do before we head to the Czech Republic.

Our four days with the Trollopes was wonderful. They are fairly newly retired and it was good to see how they are working out their days--wisely and well, it seemed to us, and seemingly managing to enjoy each other more than ever. That was encouraging. The weather wasn't so nice but we got out for some walks, and mostly talked and ate nonstop. So it is with old friends, at least with OUR old friends.

We goofed

We had a mixup and a posting from our days in Spain and France got lost in the internet. I eventually got it restored but in the meantime a photo of us at our b&b in Bergerac got lost. You don't know what you're missing! Sorry!

On the Thames

We've had some wonderful days here in Oxford with the Lawheads, chiefly because they are wonderful people but also because they have a wonderful house a stone's throw from the Thames. Here the Thames is a modest river, just wide enough for one boat to pass another, with a towpath ideal for walking and gawking. Less than two miles upriver is the heart and soul of the university, and in between all the college boats are out practicing rowing on the river. As it's spring and green and flowery, we have had some lovely walks and runs.

Today we get on the bus to go to Heswall, where our friends the Trollopes live. Another three days of walking and lolling around, I suspect.

Steve Lawhead, in case you don't know, is probably our most famous friend. Just about any bookstore in the world will have half a dozen or more of his books, in the fantasy/science fiction section. He doesn't act famous though--he's modest and quiet, and a lot of fun to talk to.

We got to spend some hours with Silas, too, who came back to Oxford with us after we journeyed to Nottingham to watch him race (and win) the British Universities Rowing Championships. He was in good spirits and appears to be aware that he needs to write a master's thesis between now and August. So far his work has been mainly involved with rowing. BTW he plans to move to Berkeley to continue his rowing with the US team in the fall.

Back in England

Yesterday was pretty hectic. We left our 16th century bed and breakfast in Bergerac, France, at 7:30 and I spent the next two hours worrying that we were going to be late to our plane in Bordeaux. But we made it, of course. We flew to London, got to Coreen's house via train and tube, switched around our suitcases and got a key, then tubed and trained to Oxford, arriving at 6:30. So great to see Steve Lawhead at the station! Steve and Alice are great old friends from Campus Life Magazine days.... they have a beautiful house in Oxford and we thoroughly enjoy visiting them. We'll be here for a few days.

We had nearly two weeks with Dave and Daphne in Spain, and a lot of that time was spent talking about our futures. I think we have a pretty full idea of their work in Spain, and they ours in Santa Rosa. It was very worthwhile to talk. We also got to visit in Madrid, Segovia and Avila. Here are a few pictures.

Then, via expensive rental car (don't try to cross borders in a rental, I would advise) we drove to the north of Spain for a night in Basque country,then northeast into France. It was quite a bit more driving than I had bargained for, but it was worth it in the end. We got some time in the Dordogne, a land of castles and rivers and good food. And we enjoyed having a few days just the two of us. Here we stand in front of our bed and breakfast, which had beams to break your head on and floors set at 20 degree angles, and a lot of character. Betty, our hostess, spoke French so sweetly I could actually carry on a decent conversation with her, and that was fun! Thanks to the Lonely Planet guidebook for helping us find her.

Now we get 10 days with three sets of friends in England.