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We started Monday by visiting a pottery manufacturer. Once again, we were determined to buy nothing. Uh-huh! This facility was very impressive. After getting a demonstration on how a teapot is created on the potter's wheel, we watched a plate being made and painted.
We then got on the bus for a long ride to Antalya on the Mediterranean coast. The route took us over the Tauros Mountains, above 6000 feet. The temperature was noticeably colder and we could see snow on the mountain tops. When we finally arrived in Antalya, the weather was very tropical, mild with a slight breeze swaying the palm trees. Surprisingly, we had a hail storm that night.
Bill started the day with a workout in the hotel fitness center. After breakfast, the tour bus took us to the caves at Ozkonak. This area consists of a soft volcanic rock called tufa; it is very easy to dig or carve and it hardens when exposed to air. To protect themselves from raiders, the ancient citizens dug an entire city of caves; as many as 60,000 people lived underground with their cattle in a labyrinth of caves and tunnels as much as twenty-one stories deep. You can see a number of the cave openings as you travel the highways.
We also saw the strange rock formations called "fairy chimneys". These are towers of the soft rock which remain after years of erosion; they are capped with a rock of harder composition. We think they look like giant mushrooms.
We then went to the Open Air Museum. This is another complex of caves but they were used exclusively by the early Christian church. Each cave is a small chapel which have frescoes painted on the walls; they date from the tenth century. There are also a number of these cave complexes still in use today as living quarters and even hotels.
We than went to a "carpet farm" where Turkish carpets are woven and sold. We were determined that we would not buy anything. Yeah, right!
After another delicious dinner, Claire went to a Whirling Dervish ceremony while Bill got a Turkish bath and massage.
Now for some commentary on Turkey. This country is a democracy as established by Ataturk in 1923. While Islam is named in the constitution as the official religion, Turkey is a secular state and there is a strict separation of church and state. However, the current government has been trying to move the country more toward observant Islam and a large majority of the people (around 80% according to our guide) are opposed to this effort. The major political issues are; 1) Secularism vs. Islamism, specifically the ban on headscarves in schools; 2) The admission of Turkey into the European Union; and 3) Globalization. The Turks are friendly, are modern in their outlook, generally resist government involvement in religion, and have a vibrant culture of which they are justifyably proud. So far, we are impressed with the country.
Our day began with a visit to the Anatolia Museum of Antiquities where we saw a number of exhibits from the various cultures that have controlled Anatolia (or Asia Minor). Anatolia is the name of the high plain in central Turkey, although it is often used to denote the entire peninsula. It is often called The Cradle of Civilization and the Crossroads of Civilizations. It is the Cradle of Civilization because ancient Mesopotamia, where civilization started, was comprised of modern day central Anatolia and Iraq. It is the Crossroads of Civilizations because many of the world's early cultures came through this area and stayed to control it for a while (this includes early stone age through iron age cultures, Hittites, Lydians, Persians, Greeks, Romans, Byzantines, Mongols, Arabs, and Ottomans). This museum chronicles them all.
We then went to the tomb of Ataturk. As we previously described, Mustafa Kemal Ataturk created the modern, secular Turkish state out of the ruins of the Ottoman Empire and World War I. The tomb complex contains a complete chronicle of his life and therefore the history of modern Turkey.
Then it was onto the bus for a ride to Cappadocia. While on this ride through the middle of nowhere, we noticed that our tour guide kept getting cell phone calls. It seems that Turkey is very well advanced with modern communications capabilities. If an area like this can have good cell phone coverage, it's strange that Gualala can't get the same.
While on the road, we stopped for lunch at a restaurant on the motorway and had the best food we ever had at this kind of establishment. The Turks love to eat!
Cappadocia is an area of west/central Anatolia where many civilizations have settled. Our first stop was at a thousand-year-old ruin of a caravanserai. The old silk road runs through this area. The silk road is not a single road but a general route that traders followed to trade with China and points west for silk, spices and other luxuries; it often took up to two years to make this journey and the route was fraught with dangers, especially from bandits. Since a camel could travel about thirty kilometers a day, the rulers built way stations at that distance apart. These stations, or caravanserai, were a combination of fort, police station and hotel; the caravan crews stayed there for safety at night. The ruins we visited are the remains of an ancient post for the guards. It is constructed of massive stone walls which have a number of fine carvings.
We arrived at our hotel and had a delicious dinner, We're getting hooked on Turkish food, especially baklava! We then went to a night club to see an exhibition of native folk dancing (including a belly dancer). This club is completely carved out of the soft local rock and is a series of large rooms in caves.
We survived the British public transportation system and actually it went quite well. The buses were both on time and traffic was smooth, so we arrived at Stansted in plenty of time. The flight to Istanbul was standard, although we felt that Turkish Airlines treated us better than what we get on US domestic flights. Getting through Turkish customs, immigration, baggage claim and then to the hotel was a hassle, but we arrived safely.
On Friday morning, we met our tour group at the airport and took a five hour bus ride to Ankara. There was a stop for lunch along the motorway; we were quite impressed with the quality of food available at a roadside restaurant like this.
Dinner at the hotel was also very good. The Turks like to eat and they have a unique cuisine. The dinner was a buffet so we got to sample many different foods. They really like their sweets, so dessert was interesting; many different kinds of very sweet cakes and fruits.
We've been traveling for two days and all we've done is travel, so today starts the real vacation. We'll see some sights in Ankara then ride the bus to Capadoccia.
The modern Turkish state was founded by Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. He is revered in Turkey like George Washington is in the US. His picture is everywhere and it is a serious social faux pas to say anything negative about him.
We woke up to rain, making us fearful that yesterday's sun was an aberration. However, as the day went on the sun came out and the weather was beautiful. A few days ago we had contacted a friend of ours from Gualala, Jane Head, who was born and raised in the Cotswolds (about an hour's drive from Nettlebed) and who is in England visiting her family. Jane is a wonderful Gualala artist and the partner of Randy Burke of the Sea Ranch staff. We decided to meet for lunch in Burford, which is a small town on the edge of the Cotswolds.
So we put eighty-five bucks in the gas tank and took off. The drive took a little more than an hour. This is our longest driving trip to date and we only got messed up in one of the several roundabouts. This is getting easy! We even drove part way on the M4 Motorway (that's a freeway).
We decided to meet at the Burford Garden Center--a huge place with everything you could ever want for your garden (both supplies and plants), plus books, food, clothes, indoor and outdoor furniture & accessories, all beautifully displayed. It was so frustrating not to be able to buy pots, plants, baskets--I guess it's actually a good thing, considering the prices! We did purchase a book on birds of the UK and a bag of seed for our feathered visitors.
We connected with Jane and her sister, Jill, and drove into the center of Burford. We enjoyed a pub lunch at The Cotswold Arms (al frecso--the sun stayed out all afternoon), then walked around town to see the sights. Jane and Jill proved to be knowledgeable guides and filled us in on many aspects of British life and what it was like growing up in the Cotswolds.
In addition to many lovely shops, galleries, gardens and cottages, Burford has a wonderful church (can't believe we have been here for three weeks and this is the first church we've visited) which was a highlight of the day. The architectural detail is beautiful and elaborate (both inside and out), and the churchyard is fascinating with its mossy old tombstones and yew trees.
This evening we had another great dinner at the White Hart and now it's time to pack for our two-week trip to Turkey. We'll fly Turkish airlines to Istanbul, arriving at 8:30 PM; we meet our tour group at the airport on Friday morning as they get off their plane from SFO. It was great to see someone "from home" today, and we are looking forward to spending time with the gang from Sea Ranch and Gualala in Turkey!
Getting to Stansted airport will be interesting. We will be taking a bus from Henley to High Wycombe, then transferring to a National express coach to Stansted. This will be an opportunity to experience the British public transportation system. Hoping the good weather holds.....
Finally! No rain, minimal overcast, and lots of sunshine. The day was warm and sunny and we could have worn short sleeves and shorts.
After working out at the gym this morning we came back and did a bit of gardening, then took our short walk through Crocker End. Most of the trees and brush are sporting green buds, and the blue bells are just starting to cover the floor in the wooded areas along the road. Our neighbor tells us that this blue carpet will reach spectacular proportions very soon--hope it's still here when we return from Turkey in two weeks. We'd hate to miss that special aspect of Spring in the Chilterns.
We discovered an old friend today at the market--Magnums! We have never been able to find these in the US (though they seem to very popular in Europe and the UK), and the last one we had was at the airport in the Galapagos last year. Magnums, in case you have never had this yummiest of treats, are the most delicious chocolate-covered ice cream on a stick (for grown-ups) you can imagine, and we bought two boxes. One more reason to keep working out!
Another observation about traffic in the UK. There is a shortage of parking in even the small towns, so whenever street space is available, people park there. Even though no signs are in evidence, all the parking takes place on one side only. Since there is no shoulder, parked cars block about half of a travel lane. Being a polite society, everyone deals with this just fine, taking turns allowing cars to intrude into the lane going the opposite directions. Imagine this in Boston or New York! We learned another wonderful "British-ism" today--the term for speed bumps here is "sleeping policemen."
Most evenings we've been watching The Daily Show with John Stewart. We get it a day late due to the time difference. I'm amazed it's shown here, since it's so topical to the US. But the Brits do love political satire and they have a show of their own with comedian Rory Bremner that is hilarious. He lampoons the British political establishment mercilessly and has a field day with George Bush as well.
Today's avian offering is a magpie. It's a small black bird with white breast and other markings, very skittish--so much so that when we come to a window it flies away. I really need a telephoto lens to get a good shot of it. I don't know much about it, but it's probably a raider of nests since the other birds chase it away when it gets close to "their" trees.
Another of our guests have been the quail.
After several days of overcast and threatening rain, today we had the real thing. Rain in the morning and early afternoon, then high wind. We did our gym workout in the morning, did a little shopping for non-food supplies, then went home and stayed there. We're spending a lot more time indoors than we anticipated. We leave for two weeks in Turkey on Thursday and maybe the weather will finally be Spring when we return.
Most of the towns and villages are quite old and have very narrow streets. Traffic is tight and parking is at a premium. A lot of the street parking either fills up very early or is restricted to residents of the area. There are public parking lots, but it is often poorly identified and is almost always paid. This poor identification has caused us problems, such as I described in Pangbourne. We have Henley and Wallingford pretty well figured out by now. You pay up front and put the receipt on the dash; this usually results in overpaying. The Brits are flexible and often offer their unexpired tickets to a car just entering the lot. I've been the recipient of this twice and the offerer once. Anything to "put it to the man" (or the Exchequer)!
Among our visitors have been ring necked pheasants. We've seen hunting towers out in the fields and we understand that the local hunters like these birds when in season. Meantime, they visit us occasionally.
We're still learning how to cook with the Aga. This morning Claire made delicious Huevos Rancheros for breakfast.
It was another overcast day with rain threatening, so we settled in with the Sunday London Times. This newspaper is like the NY Times, except that they spread the bulk between Saturday and Sunday. By the time we finished it was the middle of the afternoon and we decided to take a walk. After walking through Crocker End again, we walked into Nettlebed and through some ornate metal gates into the Joyce Grove. This is a beautiful property with a retirement home in a grand old estate (referred to as "quite a pile"). We think it was originally part of the Fleming estate (family of Ian Fleming of James Bond fame). We didn't have a camera, but we will visit it again and take some photos. The grounds are extensive with walking paths, ponds, benches, etc. It will take some exploring.
To get home, we decided to try to walk through Nettlebed Common to Crocker End. unfortunately, we hadn't brought the map and we got "sort of" lost, running into barbed wire fences, so we backtracked. We'll try this again after consulting the Ordinance Survey Map. These maps are invaluable. The government publishes them and the detail is remarkable. They are at a small scale and they show every farm, house, road and trail. If you want to explore an area, you shouldn't be without one of these.
We are regularly visited by partridges. They look like large pigeons.
Another day of drizzles and threats of rain, so we mostly stayed home today.
We went to the gym to work off last nights pig-out and then did some food shopping at Tesco. While in the checkout line, a woman said to me "Is that an American accent I hear?". In the resulting conversation, she told us that she has visited San Francisco a number of times and loves it. She commented on how friendly Americans are. When we told her we thought the same thing about the English, she looked like I had spit up a hairball on her; she thought Brits were way too reserved. We discussed this for a while and the clerk said "I don't understand why anyone would want to live in Britain". I guess you don't value what's familiar to you.
POLITICS
If you're not interested in a political comparison between the US and UK, then stop reading here.
We don't get a lot of US news here, mostly just a few comments about Iraq and a little about the election. We have to get our news about home from the web. So I'm paying a lot of attention to British national politics.
They have a parliamentary system where the people elect their Member of Parliament (MP) and Parliament elects a leader (Prime Minister) who then appoints his cabinet (mostly other MPs). The Prime Minister (PM) will be the leader of the party that has control of Parliament and is chosen by party insiders at a convention held well before the election; the "people" get no direct say in this. If the leading party does not have a majority, then they must 'form a government" by attracting support from one of the minor parties, usually by offering cabinet seats or other concessions. This has not been necessary in recent years. There are two main parties, the Conservatives (or Tories) and Labour. The Liberal Democrats (Liberals) are often a power but of lesser influence than the other two. There are other minor parties (Green, etc.) that make little impact normally. These major parties are usually called centre-left (Labour) and centre-right (Tories); they don't have the extreme left and right like we do. Both of these parties would fit into our Democratic Party.
The UK calls itself a constitutional democracy, but they do not have a constitution. Their laws have been passed by parliament and decided in court cases. By law, there must be an election at least every five years, but the PM can call an election at any time; usually at a time advantageous to his party. Losing a vote of confidence in Parliament can also force an election.
The cabinet is similar to ours, with a number of "ministers" who run the various departments; these ministers are usually MPs, but not always. They have a Chancellor of the Exchequer (Treasury), a Foreign Secretary (State), a Home Secretary, and others.
After World War II, Labour got into solid control and nationalized a bunch of stuff and stifled business and British society for decades. This was broken when Margaret Thatcher got elected and the Tories broke things open and Britain joined the global economy and privatized lots of activities; too many in the opinion of some. After a lot of years, the public got tired of the Tories (as they will toward any party in power for a long time) and elected Labour again, with Tony Blair as PM. Labour campaigned as "New Labour", intending to continue many of the Tories fiscal policies while keeping the social programs (a lot like Bill Clinton's New Democrats). After ten years in office, Blair stepped down and Gordon Brown took over. Brown does not have Blair's charisma and he stepped into a budding recession and the fallout of the bursting housing bubble, just like in the US.
If an election were held today, the Tories would probably win and David Cameron would be PM; so Brown is not about to call an election, hoping to wait out the current economic downturn. There is some dis-satisfaction with him within the party and some possible replacements are lining up. Among them are the Chancellor, Alistair Darling (can you imagine Bush at a conference shouting out "Yo, Darling!"?), and the Minister of Education, Ed Balls (think what fun the tabloids will have with that name).
I see a lot of parallels between happenings here and at home and it's interesting observing this at close range. It is said that the US and UK have a special relationship. I believe this and I hope that will continue.
Today was overcast, very windy, and threatening rain all day. The rain never materialized, but we couldn't be sure. Bill did his usual walk into Nettlebed for a newspaper and we both did our short walk through Crocker End. The wind was consistently high and the overcast was dismal, so we just stayed in and read. We had an electrical problem and had an electrician in--his name was Sparks (how Dickensian). As soon as I opened my mouth, he said "Hey Mate, you Canadian?"
For dinner, we went to The Crown Inn in Pishill. This is a popular restaurant out in the countryside (just fifteen minutes from our house) and it seems a long way from anywhere, not another building in sight. I only made one wrong turn on the way! It's a group of old buildings with several dining rooms and an entertainment barn. It has a thatched roof over a foot thick; I'm told these roofs can last one hundred years if properly done.
This is a great restaurant (or pub). It has a very inviting and comfortable interior and supurb food. Bill had a salad of bacon, mushrooms and Stilton on a bed of greens. Claire passed up the salad because she saw the dessert menu on the way in and wanted to save room. As the main course Bill had salmon crusted with crab and Cheddar on a 
bed of vegetables while Claire had duck breast. The desserts were sticky toffee pudding for Claire and apple/raisin crumble with custard for Bill. Definitely overkill. We certainly want to return to The Crown at Pishill.
Now for some more commentary on living in the UK.
Accents are an issue. There are many accents on this island, so many that often residents can easily identify what town a person is from by their accent-- even towns just a few miles away. Adjacent neighborhoods in London can have different accents. In our neighborhood in Catslip, it's not much of a problem since the people here are mostly upper middle class and it's been easy to get our ears tuned into the accent. That's not always the case, however, and I've had to ask a few people to repeat what they've said. One guy told me I should look for something at the "coffin warehouse". Even though he repeated it, I was still lost. It ended up being the Car Phone Warehouse. I suspect this will continue to be a problem, and it will probably be the same in Ireland next month. As Winston Churchill once observed, "The United States and the UK are two great nations separated by a common language".
In addition to accents, terminology can also be a problem. The Brits simply have different words for things than we do. Their biscuits are our cookies. Their crisps are our chips. Their chips are our fries. Their jumpers are our sweaters. And so on.
We have also found getting directions difficult. Everyone is VERY friendly and always willing to help. But their directions have been "inexact". The guy telling me how to get to Car Phone Warehouse told me "just go down Bell Street a ways and you'll find it" while waving his arm as if it was quite a ways; it was 2 blocks. More than once I've heard "well, you go down X Road aways, then right on Y Lane until you reach the red barn, the left again; but that's the long way, so you might want to go ...; but no, Z Street might be better." ARGH! In addition, sometimes the directions have left out a vital step, such as a turn. It's gotten to the point that Google and Google Maps is all I can depend on. People's intentions are great, but translation into practice needs some work.
Today we intended to try Pangbourne again, specifically Basildon Park, and then hit the museum in Wallingford. The weather was predicted to be much colder today with high winds, then heavy rain tomorrow and showers through the weekend. When the time came to leave for Pangbourne, it was raining and the clouds were black, so we decided to forgo the trip. Around noon, the skies had cleared and it was sunny, but still windy. So we decided to walk to The White Hart for lunch. The rest of the day was beautiful and mostly sunny, but with a LOT of wind.
Since we stayed in today, this is a good time to discuss another subject.
PUBS
I have some emails from friends saying (paraphrased) "you've been spending a lot of time in pubs; that's a lot of beer". Pub is short for "public house". Often, Americans think this is synonymous with "bar". The pub is like our early colonial "tavern", which is based on the English pub. These establishments served meals as well as drinks and also provided sleeping rooms and meeting space. Early U S history is peppered with references to the founding fathers holding meetings in taverns. The same occurred in England. When roads were bad, or non-existent, pubs were an invaluable institution. Today, most pubs no longer provide rooms, sticking solely to food and drink. A pub is basically a restaurant; distinguished from an ordinary restaurant by the type of food served, usually "pub grub", which is basic food, often un-adventuresome but good. Good quality draught beer is also served. A recent phenomenon is the "gastro-pub" which gets away from "pub-grub" and serves high cuisine.
Many people eat in pubs and don't touch alcohol; others, like me, really enjoy the beer.
A great thing about staying in a foreign location for such a long time is the lack of pressure to run around and see everything; we can do this on our own relaxed schedule. And we can take any number of days and just relax.
We joined a gym in Henley which is part of an international chain, LA Fitness. This is a fully equipped and state of the art facility. Even though Henley is a small town, it draws from an area crowded with various villages and hamlets. It doesn't run into competition until you get closer to Reading. Therefore this gym can attract a membership in the thousands and provide services otherwise not possible. It can offer more equipment, better facilities and more classes that our local gym in Gualala. However, it does not have Kenny, Eileen, Denny and the crew; nor does it give you a view of the Pacific Ocean while you work out.
The gym also has a small kitchen and offers a selection of food for breakfast and lunch. They have a full English breakfast for only four pounds; you can't beat that! Let me describe an English breakfast. You get two eggs on toast, bacon, a fried tomato and baked beans, along with a pot of tea. The bacon is more like a piece of ham. The bacon we get at home, the call "streaky rasher" and is considered inferior. At that price, it's hard to turn down, so I don't. Several times a week, we get to the gym at eight o'clock (after the before work crowd leaves), eat breakfast, then work out. Claire does some work on the machines then hits the Body Pump class. Bill does his machine work then weights. Gotta work off those pub lunches and beers!
This afternoon, we did the final planning of our trip to Ireland in May. We'll spend two weeks there and we've been researching our itinerary and various guest houses. More about that another time.
Tomorrow we plan on trying the Pangbourne area again. Since colder weather and heavy rain is forecast, we might have to change that.
Today, Tuesday, April 15, we drove to Pangbourne. Pangbourne is a small town on the Thames just outside Reading about one half-hour from our house. But there is no direct route, so this would be our first cross-country adventure. Last night, I got directions from Google Maps and then plotted it on our map. I've been using the Ordinance Survey map for our local travel and hiking. These maps are great; the detail is remarkable and they are printed at a very large scale. Then, to make sure we didn't get lost and to double check Google, I plugged it into the GPS unit I brought with me.
Traveling by car in the UK has challenges beyond driving on the left. Most of the main roads are well marked with directional signs. But the route numbers are only posted at major and intermediate intersections. And there are no road signs with the road names. Thus, it's very easy to get lost. When Google says "turn right on Uxbridge Road", you have to figure out where that road is; it will not be marked with a sign. That's where the GPS comes in handy. Also, everything is close by; nothing is very far away. Geography here is on a small scale. So if you get onto the wrong road, just keep driving. You'll soon see a sign pointing toward a town, eventually to a town you've heard of. Probably within five miles. But you do need a navigator. When I'm driving fifty miles an hour on a narrow road, on the left, shifting with my left hand, I need help.
We got to Pangbourne within the half-hour allotted with no problems and in spite of the many turns on back roads and lanes. In Pangbourne, we tried to follow the signs to public parking areas. But the signs never said exactly where these areas were hidden so after driving through this small town several times and not finding any place to park, we decided to move on to some attractions outside town.
Last night, we researched the area and found three attractions that looked interesting. Beale Park wild animal refuge and Basildon Park (an impressive old manor house used for filming Pride and Prejudice) were nearby and a National Rainforest Park (rain forest in England?) was a bit further away. So we drove to Lower Basildon to see the old manor house. Closed on Tuesday. On to Beale Park. It was mobbed with mothers and teachers with small children; it seems it was a children's park and petting zoo; for seven pounds apiece we weren't up for that.
So we drove back to Pangbourne and, after some more driving around, we found the parking lot. We walked around town for about half an hour and discovered there's not much there. We then decided to drive to Wallingford and have lunch plus do a little grocery shopping. Of course, this half hour drive took a lot longer because we got lost multiple times, but we found our way there eventually.
Pangbourne itself was disappointing, but we will probably return to the area to see Basildon park.
Today was a gorgeous day, sunny and warm. A few more days of this and England will be green.
Sunday, April 13, was a stay-at-home day to read and research future travel. It was raining intermittently, so we just took a short walk. Monday, we worked out at the gym in Henley, went shopping at Tesco, then came home to plan tomorrow's trip to Pangbourne and begin laying out our Irish holiday. We got in our short walk between rain showers, which were frequent, and even got some hail again! You've probably heard this one, but "if you don't like the weather in England, wait five minutes....." AGA
The kitchen in our cottage is in the old (500 years) section. It has lovely modern conveniences (dishwasher, Aga cooker, various small appliances) but its charm is definitely due to the brick wall behind the cooker, the vintage wallpaper, the low, beamed ceiling, and the wonderful big pine cupboard that looks as though it might have been here since the days of Elizabeth I.
I approached the Aga with some trepidation, particularly after our neighbor told me that most people who have an Aga also have a "proper" cooker as back-up (we don't), and that "..if you get a marmalade going on the top and then try to put a joint in the oven, there's not enough heat to cook the joint." Well, I certainly won't try that!
But, according to "The Aga Book," this is the sort of cooker that has inspired an almost cult-like following of ecstatic owners who go into withdrawal when their Aga is turned off once a year for servicing. So, let's give it a go.
The Aga definitely has its charms. For one thing, it's always "on," so no annoying waiting for things to heat up, and it also functions as the water heater for the the whole cottage. We have the two-oven model, the two being a "roasting oven" and a "simmering oven". On top are two big heating elements with covers, the "boiling plate" and the "simmering plate." When you get down to it, cooking just becomes a matter of figuring out how best to juggle everything back and forth among those four choices until they're done. I will say that the most ambitious "from scratch" meal I've produced so far has been Bangers and Mash with Steamed Broccoli (not exactly a major culinary feat), but it's starting to grow on me and I may get progressively more ambitious. I keep remembering Mary telling me that she had done Christmas dinner for her family here, so I know (at least for Mary) that greater meals are possible!
Today was a lazy day. We intended to do a long walk, but the forecast was for storms and the sky was getting dark, so we decided on a short walk and reading. We did our short walk through Crockers End and then settled in to read. As it ended up, the sun was shining most of the day and we had no rain. The day was gorgeous! And we met some more neighbors. This neighborhood has some really nice and friendly people, even to yanks.
On the days we don't do much, I want to offer some general observations on life in the UK.
BEER
Unlike many of our friends and acquaintances, Bill is not a wine snob; he's a beer snob. He drinks the appropriate wine with meals, but beer is his beverage of choice. He dislikes mass-marketed American beers and is always on the lookout for a quality micro-brew (like Red Tail Ale or Boont Amber).
In general, British beers are very good. The pubs serve beer right from the breweries that you can't readily get in stores. Many of the pubs are "tied" houses, which means they are owned by, or tied to, a brewery. A "free" house has no such association. A lot of the pubs in the Henley area serve Brakespear.
Beer is served in pints. At one time, the British pint was 20 ounces. I haven't measured the glasses, so I'm not sure that is still true, but the glasses are big. The White Hart charges 2.80 pounds a pint.
Every place I've been the beer has been excellent. However, in one place I ordered a Strongbow, having been told it was beer. It was sparkling and sweet; I suspect it was cider (cider over here is alcoholic).
In the stores, I have seen some American beers like Budweiser. These are getting more popular-- go figure! Beer in stores comes in cans of various sizes, so comparing prices is sometimes hard. I've seen 500 ml (17 oz.), 440 ml, and 400 ml (13.5 oz.). Good micro-brews in the US cost from $0.75 a 12-oz. bottle (Costco) to around $1.00. In the UK, it varies from $1.50 to $2.00 a can.
British beers come in ales and lagers. I prefer ales, which are darker and a bit heavier. Most American beers are lagers, as are many continental beers (Becks, Heineken, etc.). Many continental beers are wheat-based, and therefore lighter.
As I write this, I just finished a Newcastle Brown Ale (John Fox's favorite) and started a John Smith Smooth Brown Ale (a Scottish brew). Claire is preparing dinner on the Aga, which she will describe in some detail in another post. Other subjects we will address are money (using foreign currency) and the abundance of local wildlife.
The weather here is so changeable. On Friday morning, we woke to sunshine (it gets light around 6:00 AM) and went into Henley for a workout at the gym. Our muscles seem to be getting accustomed to the new regimen. Upon returning home, we decided to walk to a new pub--but the weather decided otherwise. First we saw very dark clouds, then thunder and lightning. That was followed by hail, then rain, then hail mixed with rain. Finally, after a few minutes of that, the sun returned and alternated with overcast the rest of the day. At first, we thought the walk would be canceled, but we decided to try it anyway. The path to the pub is through woods the entire way. At this time of year, everything is still brown and barren, but we can see the buds coming out and these woods will be spectacular in another month. The path was muddy, and rutted since we had been preceded by horses, hikers and cyclists. After slogging along for about a mile, we arrived at The Dog & Duck. This pub is obviously very old, consisting of a bar and several dining rooms, all with very low ceilings. The ambiance was nice and cozy and the food was good. We need to be careful of these pub lunches or our weight will get out of hand. The walk home was another slog through the mud and we only made one wrong turn. We did see a small herd of
deer running through the woods. We didn't get a good look at them, but they seemed to be gray with black and white tails.
Thursday, April 10, is a relaxing day. We took a short walk through the countryside, then drove into Henley for lunch. We ate at a pub called The Flower Pot, near the Thames
. Bill had a delicious steak and cheddar pie, which was more like a dinner than lunch. Then we walked to another park right in Henley, but still on the Thames, to the Rowing and Maritime Museum, which also contains a Wind-In-The-Willows Museum. After that, it was back to the house for relaxation and reading, and a Skype video visit with our son and granddaughters. We could get used to this!
Here we are on Wednesday, April 9. We've been here a week and it's feeling like home. It's nice being able to settle in and not feel rushed, like we have to see everything right away because we're going home soon.
We both were sore from the workout yesterday, but that's to be expected. We spent the morning at
home (except for the walk to Nettlebed for the newspaper). Claire got started on her sketching. After lunch, we decided to take a long walk, so we did the "Church Walk". This takes about 1-1/2 hours on back roads and trails through woods and fields. It skims along a nature preserve which we will explore another time. We did the minimum as our soreness from the workout became more obvious as we went. It's called the Church Walk because it goes past the ruins of a small stone church. The day was intermittently sunny and cloudy, but cool, so it was great for a walk. The countryside was very quiet, interrupted only by a pilot in a bi-plane directly overhead, practicing his aerobatics (rolls, stalls, steep dives, etc.) which was fun to watch.
We are living in an area called the Chilterns. It's just south of the Cotswolds and consists of rolling hills and open countryside with lots of small towns, villages and hamlets. The rural Brits are inveterate walkers (usually with their dogs, often border collies) and are very protective of their rights. Every year, they have a mass trespass where tens of thousands of people walk every trail in the country, establishing their rights to use the trails, even when they are on private property. If they find a trail obstructed, they "unobstruct" it.
By the time we got to the end of the walk (we were quite sore and tired by then), what do we see? The White Hart! A sight for sore eyes (and muscles). Nothing like a cold one to revive the spirits! Relaxing on a comfortable couch in front of a cozy fire is a fine way to finish a walk.
On getting out of bed this morning (Tuesday, April 8), we were happy to see no snow. There had been a heavy frost, but it started to melt as soon as the sun came out. This countryside is glorious when the sun is shining.
We both are feeling the lack of serious exercise, since we haven't been able to work out. After some research, we found a gym in Henley named, of all things, "LA Fitness". They have all state of the art exercise equipment, a pool with showers, and a number of classes for aerobics and body pump. So we joined and had our first workout.
After lunch, we drove to the small town of Wallingford, about 6 miles from Nettlebed. It is a quaint, old town on the Thames. Some of the streets (including the bridge into town) are so narrow that cars have to take turns. We primarily scoped things out with the intent to return later for exploring in detail. The have a nice museum and a castle with great gardens. The local supermarket, Waitrose, is quite impressive. We'll be back.
On the way home, we realized that the car was thirsty for gas. It was time to bite the bullet. As you can see in the picture, 1.07 doesn't sound bad. But thats POUNDS PER LITRE! about $8 a gallon! I put $120 in the tank. That's enough to make you plan your driving with care.
We brought a web camera with us and installed Skype on the computer. We saw and talked with our son in LA over the Internet, FOR FREE. Cool!
Since the snow discouraged us from taking our walk, we decided a nice relaxing Sunday lunch at a pub would be great. So we walked to The White Hart in Nettlebed. The White Hart is what's known as a Gastro-Pub. Not your ordinary pub with beer and pub grub, these are gourmet restaurants in a pub-like setting. They serve more wine than beer and have quite impressive menus. On Sunday, The White Hart has a fixed-prix menu, the price depends on whether you have one, two or three courses. We had a wonderful appetizer, then roast beef with Yorkshire pudding, but were too full for the dessert. It was wonderful. And the price seemed very reasonable, only 36. Of course, we made the obvious visitor mistake in not calculating the exchange rate. The 36 was POUNDS! We had a $72 lunch! Gotta be more careful. Since it was after 3:00 when we left the pub and we were so full, we just skipped dinner.
As we went to bed, we noticed that is was snowing again, although quite lightly this time. Finally, we both slept through the night without waking up for a few hours at 1:00 AM. Hopefully, the jet lag is done with.
In the morning, everything had a blanket of snow cover. Even though it melted soon, it prevented our walk again. We just aren't equipped for the mud that comes after the melting.
So we drove into Henley for some food shopping. Tesco is a quite impressive "superstore". Fully equipped and with the lowest prices we've found so far. Problem is, the brands are mostly unrecognizable to us, they use metric weights and volumes, and the packaging styles are quite different. This will take some getting used to.
Since we aren't getting our walks in, we decided we needed to find a gym for working out. Most of the gyms want us to join, but our travel schedule doesn't allow that very easily. We found a place in Henley, LA Fitness, that gave us a flexible arrangement. So tomorrow morning, we start getting back into an attempt at keeping fit.
The driving on the left and shifting with the left hand is becoming easier. Hopefully in a few days, it'll be second nature and Bill will be more relaxed and Claire won't be in a constant panic.
We debated about whether to bring warm jackets, but who would have thought to bring snow boots?We awoke this morning to a white world and are happily "snowbound" in our cozy cottage. No walk into Nettlebed this morning for the paper, and for sure no drive anywhere--can't imagine trying to drive on the left and shift with the left hand, on snowy roads. Good thing we hit the supermarket yesterday!
We left Gualala on Monday, March 31, and spent the night at our daughter Cathleen's house in San Jose. She drove us to SFO the next afternoon. Security was amazingly fast and the crowd was sparse. Maybe because our plane was the red-eye, leaving at 4:50 PM. Because we'll be gone for four months, we had maximum luggage. British Air allows 70 lbs per bag maximum and I was a few kilos over (it's amazing what books and electronics weigh!). That caused some quick shifting items between bags to get the balance right. The flight itself was uneventful, but long. We landed at Heathrow in the late morning. Immigration was a bit of a hassle when we told them how long we'd be in the UK. The agent thought that was awfully long and quizzed us extensively. We then breezed right through customs; nobody even looked at us. We were apprehensive about getting our luggage as we came in through the new Terminal 5, which has been open only a week, and has been having horrendous problems. Fortunately, our luck held.
We were met by our driver, Bill Pound, who helped us with our bags and then drove us to our cottage. We stopped in Henley-on-Thames at an ATM to get cash. The half hour ride only cost a paltry 49 pounds!
The house is named Cherry Cottage and we're renting it from our friends Bob & Mary. It is located in Catslip, which is outside the hamlet of Nettlebed, which is a few miles northwest of Henley-on-Thames (of the regatta fame). Henley is about an hours drive west of London.
It is a 500 year old cottage for which an addition was built a few years ago. The old part of the house has very low ceilings (I've banged my head several times and my 6'5" son would really have a problem). The kitchen is small but quite serviceable. The addition has higher ceilings. The setting is very rural. We are on an unpaved lane in a small neighborhood with a few neighbors. The back yard abuts a large field and grazing land with a view of rolling hills (and the cluster of houses called Crocker End).
We are still suffering jet lag, so we're taking it slow and easy. We've driven into Henley several times for some sight seeing and shopping. We also drove to the small town of Watlington for shopping. Driving on the left, with right hand drive, and a manual shift on the left hand, is quite an adventure. I've only had two close calls and I'm getting into the hang of it.
There are a lot of good walking paths available and we plan on exploring all of them. We walk into Nettlebed every morning, about a ten minute walk, for a newspaper (very little US news). Nettlebed also has a pub, the White Hart, where we had lunch once; it's quite good.
Everything is EXPENSIVE! The exchange rate of the pound against the dollar is horrible.
Then it was on to Aspendos where we explored the ruins of a beautifully preserved 12,000 seat Roman amphitheater. The theater is still in use and annually hosts an Opera and Ballet Festival each summer. The nearby aqueduct was built around AD 100 and incorporated a 1 km siphon system. 
Lunch was in a peaceful waterfall park where we had "street food" made by local residents at that site. A large "pancake" is rolled out, filled with a cheese and spinach mixture, cooked on a flat metal surface, rolled and served wrapped in paper. Yum!
