Tuesday, April 28, 2009

Off to Old Blighty



I'm heading to London for a few days. My brother-in-law is being ordained to the Jesuit deaconate over there. I'll be taking my two oldest teenage daughters with me. They're wonderful girls (bless their hearts), but it's not like they've been going around recently earning the trip and a few days off from school. Arggh. Teenagers... In fact, if a couple of the boys had owned passports already, they may have bumped them. It should be great fun though.

Outside of passing through Heathrow a couple of times, I haven't spent much time in England. Back in 1985 I was passing back through Heathrow on my way home from Spain and my flight was cancelled. I spent a night in a hotel in Gatwick, but I was pretty much out of money so I just stayed in my room and watched Blade Runner on the telly.

20 comments:

Maria said...

Jeff,

That sounds like a jolly, good reason to go to England. I'm sure it will be a wonderful visit. Take lots of pictures.

Jeff said...

Thanks Maria! Will do. Cheers. :)

crystal said...

I hope you have a great trip! Don't forget to visit Hadrian's Wall :)

Jeff said...

I'd LOVE to see Hadrian's Wall! I tHink we'll only have time to stick here in London, though.

victor said...

Jeff, if you get a chance say hello to the Queen for me!

What do you mean by that Victor?

Honestly nothing Jeff, it was just my way of saying have fun.

Gee what a grouch! :)

Jeff said...

Vic,

We stook a spin through the Tower today, where Thomas More took it in the neck (among other people). Had a look at Henry VIII's armor in an exhibit called "Henry VIII - Dressed to Kill." It was very good, you would have enjoyed it.

victor said...

"Dressed to kill" for Henry The VIII sounds like an appropriate title. I'm not much of a history buff but it was made pretty clear to me that what Henry The VIII did to his wives is uncomprehensible. I've never really judged this man because it was always clear to me that God for whatever reason seemed to have found favor with him or was it with England? Anyway, maybe it was because the Pope of that time and others found it clear that they should correct his behavior with violence and God must have thought otherwise.

I'm only guessing all this stuff from a gut feeling as to the way I felt when I heard of this during my short high school years.

I guess it all comes down to what God really thinks of "IT" all.

Oh ya and by the way thanks for replying. :)

Sounds like you are having fun!

Maria said...

Your updates are making me jealous, Jeff.

Sounds like fun. Keep the updates coming. :)

Jeff said...

Greetings from Favre House in Wimbledon.

Vic, it becomes very clear to me, being here, that kings could do just about any damn thing they wanted. I'd say Henry was a complex and gifted man who let his selfishness take control of him.

Maria,

I don't want to jinx us, but it's nothing but bright sunshine again today. Haven't see a drop of rain yet. :)

cowboyangel said...

Jeff, Congratulations to your brother-in-law.

Glad to hear you're having fun in London.

The J.M.W. Turner's in the Tate are pretty cool, if you have time!

And no reports on the beer? That's one of things I remember most from England.

Jeff said...

Hi William. We're staying in Wimbledon Village. We has dinner at a place called Cote Bistro last night and I had a French beer called Meteor which was just awful. Later, we stopped in at a pub called The Swan, and I had an ale called Old Speckled Hen, which was first rate.

After the ordination in Mayfair today we took the girls shopping near Grosvenor Square, Regents Street and Picadilly Circus. The sun was out and it must have been 80 degrees. There were throngs and throngs of people out. Amazing. It was like Times Square for miles and miles. One thing that amazes me about London is the diversity. I always thought my own city and New York were diverse, but I'd say that about 40% of the people in London are people of color. Maybe more.

We capped off the day with a dinner at the Jesuit house. I spent a long time in a fascinating conversation with the theologian Gerald O'Collins SJ. One of the nicest evenings I've spent in a long time.

Maria said...

That sounds like a lovely day. Yes, congrats to your brother-in-law.

And while you're having 80 degrees in Jolly Old London, we're having misty, rain here in the desert.

crystal said...

I'm envious too!

I did go to the Tower on my one trip but don't really remember it. Are you going to go on the Eye?

What's the Jesuit house like? Too bad Fr. Marh is in Liverpool or you could meet him too.

Jeff said...

Maria,

Sunshine here, and rain in the desert? Go figure, eh? Maybe there is something to that global warming... :)

Crys,

Yes, we did the London Eye on Friday! We waited for a bus at Waterloo for about 15 minutes and then we realized it was just on the other side of a tall building. We could have walked there in about 5 minutes, I took some pictures on my phone. I'll post them up after I get home.

shera10 said...

EVVIVA BARCA!!

Jeff said...

Cristina,

San Andres Iniesta!!

Chelsea are acting like thugs, especially Drogba, Ballack and Terry. They are always trying to intimidate referees and other teams. Did you see John Terry spit on Carlos Teves in the final last year? Gus Hiddink is being a bit of a hypocrite too. I'm sure you remember what happened to Italia in Korea in 2002.

shera10 said...

I remembered very well how Korea team was shamefully helped by referees, but I didn’t remember Hiddink’s remarks. Hypocrite indeed.

Did you go to the ground to see the match?

Jeff said...

Actually, I was back in the States when the match took place, and everyone I met in England last week seemed to be an Arsenal fan. :)

victor said...

Kevin,
I once said in the pass on crystal's blog that I understood a little of every language but Greek and I hate to say "IT" but what you wrote is Greek to me! :)

sinner vic would like to say hello to everyone and so do "I" "ME" and "Myself"

I hear ya guys! There's nothing wrong with him, "IT" is the rest of the world!:)

Peace

victor said...

Sounds like you're a little off topic Kevin but then I've been wrong before!:)

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