Bad Data

After you get through security at Heathrow Airport, you are met by a machine like the one pictured above, designed to measure public satisfaction with the security process.

Near us, a family with young children struggled to reorganize themselves, post-security screening — reassembling carry-on bags, getting shoes and belts back on, etc.

As they did so, their preschool-age daughter entertained herself by reaching to the limit of her height and repeatedly punching the pink frown-y face button.

Noticing this, the Dad suggested, several times, that she consider punching the smiley face.  But no, she continued to work the frown.

British TSA, how clean is your data?

Leaving the U.K. What’s next?

So, Bill and I have been in the U.K for more than a month, and we are coming home to Baltimore tomorrow.

In the coming week, I’ll be blogging about our reflections on this type of travel. Is it too long to be away? How well did we like apartment rental versus hotel stays? Pros and cons. Center city vs leafier suburbs? Are we or are we not the public transit kings?

Plus, I am going to try to do a little sorting out of the various options for vacation rentals. I really hope other renters (“guests” in the parlance of this cottage industry) will chime in with their “lessons learned.”

Other travel? Next up for us is Canada in August. Then, Spain in October.

And, I am going to initiate the “Catch and Release” photo gallery. Jeanie, do you remember where this comes from? The woman we met in Belize.

Hope you will keep reading and commenting!

Stroller Brigade in Scottish Parliament

 

New Scottish Parliament Building

I had serious déjà vu today! 

We went to see the brand new Parliament building here in Edinburgh. And our guide asked if we would like to see the main chamber, where a proceeding was under way. Of course, we said yes.

Well, as we approached the public gallery, there were all these baby strollers parked outside. And in the gallery were moms and babies. The issue being addressed was support for breast feeding, including mention of home visiting.

This precisely mirrored the scene I have been a part of so many times at the Maryland General Assembly, when Maryland Family Network (or the two predecessor organizations) organized moms with infants and toddlers to go to Annapolis to lobby for services.  Wow!  What a connection!  I  had a strong urge to say, “I’m with you!”

We sat in the session for a few minutes, and the other three participants were ready to go — having admired the architecture of the space. I would have happily waited to hear the other legislators and then the Health Minister for Scotland speak… Oh, well.

Sorry that I have no photos. None allowed inside the chamber.

Anyway, seeing the moms and babies in the parliament just brought back a flood of memories. And reminded me of how much life and politics go on pretty much the same in so many places.

History note: the Scottish Parliament was dissolved in 1707 when Scotland joined in union with England. But in 1997, they voted to have their own Parliament again, although they cannot address national defense, immigration, or national tax issues. Their old Parliament building had long ago been given over to other uses, so they had a contest and commissioned this new parliament bldg. The winning architect was Spanish, which doesn’t seem quite right for creating a statement of national pride and independence, but there you have it.

And in about 98 days, the Scots will vote on whether to secede from the U.K. We have had some interesting conversations about that. The likelihood is that the initiative will fail, but it has already had a significant influence on thinking.

Settled in Edinburgh

View of the Edinburgh Castle from our apartment

 Bill and I are settled into our Airbnb apartment, which turns out to be on a lively old square called Grassmarket in the old town part of Edinburgh.  The photo above of the Edinburgh Castle is the view from our front window.

After the dearth of restaurants in our other locations (notably our location in London), this is nice.  So far, we have experienced a good “neighborhood” French bistro and a good Italian pizzeria right here on the square. 

Best so far, we visited the Scottish National Museum, which is a great museum.  Wonderful old and new building and very thoughtful displays.  Several photos below.

Old building of Scottish National Museum

A queen from a chess set dating back to the 12th century, called the Lewis Chessmen.

 

Distillery equipment in the National Scottish Museum

Church lectern in Scottish National Museum

 

Relief: Rental Car Returned

Narrow roads in Lake District

 

Of our five weeks in the U.K., we only needed a car for the week we spent in the countryside — in the Cotswolds and the Lake District.  

We try to avoid the need for a car on vacation.  And I must say, we were glad to turn our rental back in yesterday when we reached Edinburgh.

Bill did all the driving, while I did the navigating with my new favorite app, MapsWithMe.

Bill did fine driving on the left, although it did require constant concentration and special decoding at intersections and roundabouts.  But the biggest challenge was the very narrow roads in the Lake District lined with stone walls and hedgerows. I took some photos through the windshield to try to show this.

 

Stone wall on right

 

Lake Steamer and Purpose in Life

Bill on Ullswater lake steamer

 

A collection of five vintage steamboats (now converted to diesel) travel the length of Ullswater, the lake we are staying on in the Lake District in northern England.  So, today — in crystal clear weather — we rode around the lake getting off at the far end of the lake for lunch, then catching a later boat and returning home. Very idealic.

So, I said to Bill, “This is what I want the rest of my life to be — riding around a lake at 8 knots on flat water in perfect weather.”

“What about purpose?” He tossed back, referring to my conversation yesterday (based on a NYTimes article) about the importance of PURPOSE in the quality and longevity of senior life.

I feel it is unfair of him to dredge up conversations from 24 hours ago. Don’t you?

Ullwater lake steamer

 

Steep “fells” (glacial mountains) surround the lakes.

 

Stone fences crisscross the hills and must be hundreds of years old.

 

Lake District

Here’s looking at you, kid.

 

We are in the Lake District National Park, in the northwest of England.  Here, finger lakes fill deep valleys carved out by glaciers, surrounded by hills called “fells.”  The fells are steep, rocky, and mostly baren except for low grass and ferns (at least in my limited experience).  Sheep graze on the fells, but I don’t think that is why they are treeless(?).

We are staying in a “country house hotel” called Sharrow Bay situated on the shore of Lake Ullswater.  It is a tad quirky. But the food is very good and we have a huge room– 3 rooms, really.  So, we are happy.

Today, we took a walk on a public pathway that ran parallel to the lake shore, but maybe a quarter mile uphill from the shore.  So, the pathway went along old stone fences through pastures and gave us a somewhat elevated view over the lake.  We had lunch in the next named location down the lake — called Howtown, though we saw no town, just one hotel with a pub.  The only other customer in the pub was a man from London.  We had a nice chat with him, mainly about his recent trip to Cuba.

Very pastoral and laid back.  It was overcast, but never actually rained on us.  

Another good day of very slow travel.

View of Ullswater with old stone wall

 

 

MBW built a great stile over one of our fences, but these stone steps may have it beat.

Bill on the public pathway to Howtown

Walk on Warden’s Way

 

Today, we walked on the public footpath, the Warden’s Way, from Bourton-on-Water to Lower Slaughter to Upper Slaughter and back. I’d love to report that this was a great distance, but it was only 5 miles total. The Way went along a river, through sheep pastures, and through these tiny, lovely villages. A great walk, only diminished by the need to keep looking down, because the sheep had been there before you!

Downtown in Lower Slaughter

Checking our location

Heavy on-coming traffic on the Way between Upper and Lower Slaughter. BTW, those two pinkish trees are huge pink horse chestnut trees in full bloom. Just covered with blooms!

 

In London, we heard about the need to find new purposes for these “listed” (protected as national heritage treasures) phone boxes, now that everyone just uses their cell phone. Apparently, the folks in Upper Slaughter have hit one one good idea.

 

Into the Countryside

 

Blenheim Palace, where Churchill was born, is about an hour northwest of Heathrow Airport, where we picked up a rental car.

Huge old trees at Blenheim, like this Cedar of Lebanon

We have left London and driven west/northwest into the countryside.  Headed for the Cotswolds, we stopped at Blenheim Palace (strong associations with Winston Churchill).  The rather over-the-top palace is surrounded by beautiful, park-like gardens and open spaces with huge trees.  Blenheim was built to serve many purposes, and one of them was supposedly to be a response to Versailles, with the grounds more natural and less formally laid out.

Here in the Cotswolds, we are staying in Moreton-in-Marsh, which is fairly central in the region. Yesterday, we visited the lovely gardens at Hidcote Manor, a National Trust property.  It is a great time to be visiting gardens — so much is in bloom.  So, I am just drooling over all the gorgeous borders overflowing with huge floriferous (!) plants, thanks to the weather and the apparent absence of deer.  I am very envious!

We are still having a good time — still glad to be here doing slow travel.  Since we got a rental car when we left London, Bill has been driving “on the wrong side” and hasn’t hit anything or even been beeped at.  And I have been doing a pretty good job of navigating using MapsWithMe, one of our two new favorite apps.  So, all good on that score.

 

Hidcote Manor House

Hidcote Manor, a National Trust property, has twelve full-time gardeners and lots of volunteers. They create wonderful plant combinations, like this one.

 

…and borders like this one.

 

All in One

Horse Guard practicing on the Mall for the Queen’s birthday.

 

Today, we walked though three parks in Central London — St James Park, The Green Park, and Hyde Park — and saw many aspects of London 2014.  It is really wonderful to see these big, well-tended parks being enjoyed by so many people!  During our walk, we saw events that captured a lot of aspects of contemporary London.

First, although the Queen’s birthday is still 2 weeks off, the Mall (normally a pedestrian way on week-ends) was blocked off so that the horse guards could practice processing down it.  Still, we could walk along the sidewalks under the alle of wonderful London plane trees (cousins of our sycamores). And doing so, we saw one contingent of the horse guards doing their practice, photo above.  

Farther along, we came to a rose garden that had the most gorgeous borders, photos below. So, that covers the seriously traditional London.

Next, as we entered Hyde Park, we encountered a march of people demonstrating about the Kurdish situation.  To be honest, I didn’t get their exact demand as I didn’t want to stare at them.  But they were pro-Kurd, whatever that means…

Then, further into Hyde Park, we came to the Serpentine, a small lake with boats, water fowl, etc.  It seemed like half of London, a very diverse crowd, had come to the park for the day.  Most were having a good family time and mostly ignoring the triathalon taking place in the road surrounding the lake.  People were packed into the tables at the restaurant.  They were lounging and picnicking on the lawns.  And some were using the lawn chairs rented at all the royal parks.  Photos below.

All told, it was delightful to see these large, lovely parks being so joyfully used by everyone.

Delphinium in Hyde Park Rose Garden

Huge flower, unknown to me.

Amazingly huge rose clusters

St James Park with lawn chairs