More Peregrinations

Povey Prattle has been out of commission  for a while  as I have been on vacation.   Now I catch up with some reports of my three week vacation in the UK and in Norway. Facebook friends have probably read some of this. 
 
17/18th May
 
Saturday and Sunday: - good and safe flights, SRQ-ATL-LHR. 
Spent Sunday with London friends, then took train to Bristol. 
A quiet day with family today.
 
19th May
1.      The good English weather continues. Yesterday I took a 'bus (remember them?) to have a reunion lunch with three of my seminary classmates and their wives. They each had traveled for more than a few hours so that we could be together. We ate "Italian" and were in the restaurant for four hours as we shared stories and memories, and got caught up on each others' lives, It was a blessed time. Strangely enough we four men each sported a white beard!
  My first cousin Janet drove me to see her Mum, my Aunt Irene. Irene has always been my favourite aunt, and she is the only one who survives. Now aged 89 Aunt Irene has some memory problems, but she was alert and with it today, so we were able to enjoy a cuppa and have a good long chat. Later in the afternoon I had a brief but tender visit with my youngest sister Ruth.
 
May 23rd

(1) MUSINGS AND NEWSINGS:  When I arrived at LHR last
Sunday I had a speedy encounter with the Immigration officers.  It
was just so great to see that most of the U.K.'s ethnic groups were
part of their ranks.
 
 It's cool when immigrants encounter "border enforcement" staff that look just like them.
 
 (2) did a bit of shopping in Bristol's City Centre yesterday and then stopped by a quite nice restaurant to have a Vietnamese Chicken Salad for lunch.  The seating was on approx. 2'6" stools at benches.  I sat down, went "ass over tip" and ended in a state of disarray and indignity on the floor. Three servers immediately rushed to the aid of this sorry old man from the States!
 
Yesterday was my nephew Sam's 18th birthday.  We had a low key celebration at a local pub/restaurant.  (Sam is essentially low key).  I had a "Cajun Veggie Burger" (!)  with an extra topping of guacamole. In this picture you will see Toby (Sam's best pal), Martyn (Sam's dad), Sam and jmp.  This is the quartet which was last together in Sarasota two years ago.
 
May 24th
Today's the day. We embark in about three hours for the cruise to Norway (and back). WiFi will be limited on board ship, so I will be in touch when and if I can. Oh joy!

 
 
 

 
Reunion lunch in Bristol May 20th with Seminary friends and their wives.  We were all at St. John's, Nottingham, UK from 1972 onwards. Now all the men have white beards.
 
My only surviving and greatly beloved Aunt Irene (aged 89). We had a cuppa together.
 
These four blokes were altogether in SRQ back in 2012. Now they get together in 2014 at a pub near Bristol. L-R they are Toby (Sam's  pal) Martyn (my brother), me, and Sam (Martyn's son).  We were celebrating Sam's 18th birthday
 
MV Discovery  our beautiful cruise ship.



 

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