April 23 - Exploring St. Albans, new, old and the very old

We awoke to a gorgeous morning in Ellis fields; the garden at the rear of the building was lush and the small green common across from the front entrance was, well, green. The four us had a leisurely morning; Susie and I slept in until 8:30 before showering, dressing and coming to table for breakfast.  Though a group favorite, I steered clear of the porridge and honed in on fruit and cereal.

breakfast with Richard and Pauline, Ellis Fields

Richard and Pauline

back garden, Ellis Fields

common green, Ellis Fields

The original plan was to explore St. Albans and, if the weather held, to take the train into London and visit Kew Gardens. We were having such a wonderful time visiting this part of the greater London area that we decided to just relax and spend our time in and around St. Albans, leaving London to fend for itself.

We started off with a tour of the weekly open air market on the main street of St. Albans. It reminded both Susie and I of those many city markets we found so handy in Siena, Florence and Paris. Not just fresh fruits and vegetables but kitchen wares, clothing, and all sorts of bric-a-brac was available, much of it sold by vendors yelling out to no one in particular but hoping to get your attention. Unique marketing ploy indeed. 

Wednesday market, downtown St. Albans

memorial to the men from nearby streets who died in the First World War

Along the way I stopped into a Vodaphone store and picked put the cheapest unlocked phone they had (Samsung) along with a pay-as-you-go SIM card, both of which cost me less than £30. (We’re now set for future trips to Europe.) I then found a nearby Jessops camera shop and bought an extra battery for my camera. I was set. 

After a quick tour of the town center we scooted over to the abbey in time for their 11:30 tour. A fascinating architectural structure, representing a wide variety of church building styles over the centuries, the abbey consists of but a fraction of the original layout — many of the adjoining outlying buildings are long gone. And of course the fascinating thing, for me at any rate, is the abbey is built as well as a portion of St. Albans itself is built over the the ancient Roman town of Verulamium.

St. Albans cathedral, interior

Jeremy Newton, our guide, accurately described by one of our group as "irritatingly hesitant" 

stain glass at one end of the cathedral I believe this was a memorial to those countries that fought in the First World War - note the US flag on the far left

there is no crypt, we were told; the bodies are buried directly beneath the floor

"In memory of 

 Mrs. Martha Wildbore 

who died July 2nd, 1823 

Aged 58 years 

Also of Mr. Samuel Wildbore 

Husband of the above 

who died March 31st 1843 

Aged 78 years"

ceiling

tomb of Duke Humphrey

grate over Humphrey's tomb

After our tour of the abbey we drove to nearby Verlamium park (Verulamium was the Roman name for St. Albans) where we could stroll on a lush lawn now covering the ancient Roman city.  We walked through St.Michael’s church graveyard (built over a Roman temple) and across Watling Street to the Roman amphitheater; one of the few excavated portions of the old city.

Verulamium park

St. Albans abbey across Verulamium park

St. Michael's burial ground 

dressing room off the stage of the amphitheater

amphitheater

Some 15 minutes of strolling around the theater's ruins, we had pretty seen everything so we recrossed Watling street, skirted St, Michael’s and popped into the Verulamium Museum, at the edge of the park. We opted to forgo the museum and headed back out into the park park proper making our way to the Hypercaust, an enclosed bit of Roman mosaics on display (more are to be seen in the museum I’m told).

enclosure of the hypercaust

Roman mosaic inside the enclosure --  not the tunnel for floor heating in the upper left

After returning to the car we drove back into the town center, parked on the street and had a light lunch at a Jamie Oliver deli (connected to his Italian restaurant). The sandwiches were tasty and reasonably priced; we were duly impressed that 100% of the profits from the bottled water sold went to Water Aid.

The rest of the afternoon was spent relaxing at Ellis Fields broken only by tea at 4pm. That evening we ate at a local restaurant Chez Mumtaj, a fusion of French and Indian food. The service was good and food deliciously different.

We soon found ourselves adjusting to life in England and easing into our journey.

22 April - Departure and Arrival

Following our 4:15 wake up call  we showered, dressed, grabbed our bags and by 5am were down in the lobby where we found our shuttle waiting to load us and take us to the airport. (Our driver seemed none to happy, though, and when he wasn't throwing the bags in the bag was focusing on developing his grunt.)

A half later we were pushing through the doors of Terminal E, found our way to the BA check-in, went right up tot he counter (no waiting). Made our way to security and since we were flying business class (a great way to use air miles) a few minutes later were were through the line and heading to the BA lounge for breakfast.

About half-past seven we made our way to gate 7 to board flight 238 to London Heathrow. We settled into our seats, and after taking off on time turned to letting time slip by as we enjoyed one of the smoothest flights in a very long time. After a light brunch I put on the (noise-cancelling) headphones, tuned the entertainment system to "True Detective" and watched episodes 1-3 (and hoping on the return flight more episodes would be available). I then watched "Despicable Me 2," and found myself frequently laughing out loud much to the occasional discomfort a at least one neighbor. As I finished the movie the seat belt light came back on and we glided ever so peacefully down to the tarmac at Heathrow; touching down at about 7:20pm, a half hour ahead of schedule (or “shed-yule” as they say here).

We quickly made our way off the plane and headed for passport control. With our Fast Track coupons in hand we thought this was going to be more smooth sailing — but we were very wrong. There were two agents handling Fast Track and the one seemed to have struck up a permanent relationship with a family of four while the other agent was primarily occupied with assisting all the disabled passengers on the flight. Our line moved nary a meter in 10 minutes. so, like many others, we made our way to the Not-so-fast-track line which had some 15 agents processing travelers.

A few minutes later found ourselves standing before a member of the Border Force who pointed out that we had failed to add Richard and Pauline’s street address. We claimed ignorance, a claim we felt was easily substantiated. Anyway he asked "Well how are young to get there?” We replied, “They’re here to pick us up.” “Well, next time you come into this country you’ll need to provide a specific address.” He also seemed keenly interested in what I did for a living. He wasn’t quite sure what a digital photo librarian does (a question many people ask). When I explained it to him he seemed unimpressed and rather bored by it all.

Aside form the somewhat inhospitable welcome from Border Force, the important thing was, we were in England; not just passing through mind you on to some other destination but here to stay -- for a week at least.

After being permitted to enter the Land of United Kingdoms we scooted through customs (“nothing to declare,” except my undying love for freedom) and as we exited the doors found ourselves face-to-face with several dozen drivers holding signs looking for passengers to take somewhere other than the airport. Most importantly for us, there was Pauline standing right there with Richard hovering close by. After hugs, kisses and handshakes all round the four of us made our way to the short-term “car park,” and we were soon on the M1 heading to Ellis Fields in St. Albans. Traffic was light and we made it to their home just as dark was falling.

What we could sense of their village (of about 65,000 souls) from inside the car was lots of green, roadways that curved every which way and a peace in the cozy architecture of the homes we passed along the way.

After unloading our bags in our room the four of us gathered in their living room for a celebratory toast of champagne (brought back from Champagne Richard informed us). We were soon ensconced around their dinner table for a delicious “spring fish pie": salmon in a white sauce topped by a layer of mashed potatoes mixed with creme fraiche and spring onions, baked to a golden brown crust, accompanied by a side of green beans.

The food was wonderful (each of us had two helpings, cleaning the casserole dish thank you very much), the wine was crisp and clean, and the conversation lively and warm. We sat, chatted sipped and ate until it was nearly midnight.

What a way to spend a Tuesday!