Many of you have never met my folks. They live I Florida these days so they don’t
make it to Idaho often. They are both
78, very active and travel frequently. But
when they travel these days it’s by car, hotel, and small guided elder hostel
tours. Despite being a Girl Scout and
leader, my Mom is not into camping and roughing it. My dad is game for most things, but hates the
cold and wind. Even so, they have gone yurt
camping with us on the beach in Oregon in December, and tent camping in the
Bitterroots on the Lewis & Clark trail in the heat of summer. So it did not seem like a stretch for the
four of us to bunk in our two room flat for a couple of weeks. In my mind it was the lap of luxury. Our landlords loaned us a great double air
mattress and we gave our bed to Mom & Dad.
My sisters both told my parents they were crazy and probably were taking
bets on how many days the four of us would last together before mom and dad
bailed to a hotel – well we showed them!
The two weeks they visited were the worst sustained bad
weather we have had since arriving in London in January. I don’t think the temperature rose above 40
degrees the entire time. It rained
almost every day. And the wind was
brutal. (And as I mentioned my poor dad
just hates the cold and wind!) Still the
four of us tromped all over the City with my Mom and I charging ahead and Dad
and Tom trying to keep up. We visited
all the museums and maritime sights in Greenwich, went to the Portobello and
Greenwich Markets, visited Parliament and watched the House of Commons and the
House of Lords in session, and walked around Kew Gardens in the pouring
rain. Mom and Dad spent a day at
Westminster Abbey and had a tour by one of the vergers (although they did not
get our wonderful gymnastic verger). I
though Kew would be the highlight of the trip for my Mom. Not.
It was so hard to enjoy in 35 degree, rainy and windy weather.
For me the two highlights of the trip were driving north to
visit friends in Whitley Bay and visiting Hampton Court Palace.
As many of you know, my mother’s parents and my dad’s father
were all born in England. My maternal
grandparents were from the Newcastle-upon-Tyne area and immigrated to the US in
1925. On their own they would likely
have stayed in Newcastle, but my two great uncles and my great grandparents had
decided to emigrate to the US. So my
grandparents followed the family. For
both of my grandparents, England was always a special place where life was
happy, the world was green, the hills were yellow with gorse, the buildings
were ancient and beautiful, the sea was lovely, and the food was luscious! And I have to add that anyone who thinks
British food is bland or boring has not eaten true British food. My grandmother was a fabulous cook and spent
her days serving up the most wonderful food to her family – along with much
love and a good dose of English lore. She
was one of the most important figures in my life and I think of her most when I
am making pastry, gravy and Yorkshire pudding.
Every time I make these traditional English foods I do so in her honor!
My grandmother’s best friend and the maid of honor at her
wedding was Gerald. Even after moving to
the US, grandma maintained a frequent sustained correspondence with
Gerald. My mother was named Geraldine
after her. On a trip with my grandmother
in the 1970’s my mom met Gerald’s daughter Marjorie and her husband Bill. Of course my mom knew all about the details
of Marjorie’s life through Gerald letters to my grandmother – which were always
described, discussed and repeated for the entire family. Even I remember hearing about letters from
Gerald as a young girl. After the visit
mom and Marjorie began to correspond, Marjorie and Bill visited my parents in
the US and over the years a good friendship arose. Marjorie and Bill are now 86 and the main
purpose of our trip north to Whitley Bay (an old beachside resort on the North
Sea just east of Newcastle) was to visit them.
It was wonderful to see them both.
We had tea and biscuits, Marjorie fixed us a wonderful salmon diner with
a Trifle for desert on the first night
we were there, and they treated us to a very posh dinner out the second
night. Dad got a chance to sit and talk
with Bill while Tom rested (he did all the driving which was hair raising) while
Mom, Marjorie and I went shopping. We
walked on the waterfront and just enjoyed the place which also had figured
large in my grandmother’s memories and stories of her girlhood.
On the way back to London mom and I conned Dad and Tom into detouring
to Stoke-on-Trent where we could shop for discount china. For various reasons
this part of the trip was ill fated. The
detour made the drive home very long. Although my mom got what she was looking for
(can’t mention it here as it’s a surprise for another family member), we did
not have good directions and visited only one shop. The traffic was intense through the midlands
and to cap off the long day it poured for the whole second half of the trip
back to London. Still the trip north was
fun and visiting Marjorie and Bill was lovely.
The last day of my parents visit was coincidentally the best
weather. We went to Hampton Court. My mom had visited once in the 70’s with my
grandmother but did not remember much.
The rest of us had not been there.
Henry VIII’s pleasure palace did not disappoint. It was extravagant and loaded with
interesting history that appealed to each of us. The visit was a great conclusion to a
wonderful time with my parents.
I’ve posted lots of pictures of my parent’s visit here: Mom & Dad in London
We only have six more days in London and will be busy
getting re-packed and organized to take off on our Camino. I hope the next post I make is from the
walk.
Liz
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