London
We start our journey in England with a few days’ stay in London. What an amazingly diverse and international city! Walking down the street or sitting in a coffee shop is like being present at the Tower of Babel. There are fashion statements being made representing the globe and restaurants of different ethnic background coexisting side-by-side, like a beautiful patchwork quilt. It is a really amazing experience.
As wonderful as the global feel is, the traffic may be the worst I have ever experienced – and I spent 3 years in Southern California! We went on a Hop-On/Hop-Off tour bus that lasted 6+ hours and 5 of those hours were spent sitting in traffic that resembled a cattle call. Just awful. I don’t recommend a Hop On tour in London. Better you should walk.
So, speaking of walking tours….we went on one of the more fun walking tours I have had the pleasure of doing. It was called London in the Swinging 60’s. It combined the music scene in London in the 60’s with the political environment of the 60’s. It was a real trip (pun intended)! We visited the flat where Keith Richard’s wrote “Gimme Shelter” (the inspiration was a torrential downpour from which he had to seek shelter, but somehow turned into a song about murder and rape – Keith being his creative booze/drug induced self!;
we took a picture with Twiggie,
and another of me sharing state secrets with Roosevelt and Churchill
We also visited the Handel/Hendrix House. Yes, Handel and Hendrix in the same sentence, in the same House. No, it is not a musical oxymoron. Turns out, a flat that the iconic Jimmy Hendrix rented in London is the same “flat” that was occupied by the great composer, Handel (not simultaneously!). Of course it has been turned into a “museum” and is appropriately named the Handel-Hendrix House. We did not spend the 30 pounds per person to visit the inside of the museum – One can google the story for free. There are more important things on which to spend our hard-earned pounds, like a pint and a burger in a proper English pub! Which we promptly did following the arduous walk (lol).
Before heading out to the English countryside, a bit more on London city living. There is building going on everywhere – huge cranes dot the skyline every where you look. Of course with building comes road construction and traffic that is bloody awful. What I find so appealing about something as god-awful as road construction is the way the Brits have of describing everyday life that is makes something like road construction anything but god-awful. For example, consider the word “Detour”. Doesn’t this word elicit frustration and exclamations sounding something like “dammit”?? Or a quick pounding on the steering wheel as we look at the new ETA showing on the GPS? OMG I’m going to now be 30 minutes LATE!!!
Well, the British have found a way to make “detour” sound really quite, well, lovely. Road signs do not scream “DETOUR” (in all capital letters). No, British road signs boast “Diversion” (NOT in all capital letters!). Now, when I see the word “diversion”, I think happy things – like seeing an adorable puppy while I am outside gardening in the Florida summer heat That’s a diversion and certainly not a “detour”! So, when I return to the US, I am going to petition Congress to do something worthwhile for a change. I would like for us to mandate that all alternate routes to road construction be renamed as “Diversion”, forever banning the word “detour” from the US dictionary. Imagine the positive impact on blood pressure statistics in the US!
Ah, the calming sound of “aloha” fills the highways and city by-ways. Now that’s what I call Aloha on the move! ❤️🌺
Next stop, Chipping Norton, England. (Another fabulous British naming convention) – in The Cotswolds.The 2 days passed so quickly and there is so much to do in this amazing city, that 2 short days just doesn’t do it justice. So, we are returning for 4 days at the end of this journey, before heading back to the US. We have booked theater tickets to see Tina! The Story of Tina Turner, a tour of Big Ben, Parliament and Westminster and a few highly-recommended restaurant visits. Then, we will probably return next year for Part 3, as there is so much more to see!
Chipping Norton: The Cotswolds, Part 1
I have no idea how it is we ended up traveling to Chipping Norton and booking a 2-week stay. My friend, Tara, who lived in London for several years, suggested that the Cotswolds is a beautiful place to visit in the UK and is only a few hours drive west of London. So, I did some research on VRBO and somehow decided on Chipping Norton. Well, Jupiter aligned with Mars and the travel gods and goddesses smiled with favor on us because here we are, and so far, Chipping Norton is absolutely delightful.
Chippy, as it is affectionately referred to by the locals, is an old medieval town laid out on a hillside. Its roots go further back to 1000 but little is known about the town that far back. Most of the town’s known history dates only as far back as 1700. It has always been an industrial success based on its location, fertile lands and hillsides allowing it to effectively defend itself. The medieval town was a “wool town”, producing some of the highest grade and most sought-after wool in the countryside. Fast forward a few hundred years and you find evidence of a highly successful woolen mill, locomotives to carry the wool to markets far and wide, development of other goods like copper and iron and the start of a brewing business founded to “fuel” all the mill and railroad workers. These were all key ingredients in Chippy’s success story.
Which brings us to the name, Chipping Norton. Chipping in this case has nothing to do with golf. Chipping means “market” and Norton means “north settlement” to indicate its location in the area’s royal geographic boundaries. Indeed, Chipping Norton was a very important marketplace in the north settlement of the area’s gentry.
The area is rich in history and there is evidence throughout of history living in harmony with modern-day technology. For example, today we visited a local brewery that has been in existence for 175+ years. The beer is still brewed in the same building as it was in 1879. Some of the same equipment is still being used and the finished product is still hauled by horse-drawn lorries and carried to the 32 pubs owned by the brewery! It is family run and in its 6th generation. The family is very hands-on (we saw the son of the current owner in a vat washing down the insides with a hose and hand-held rubber shovel) and they brew beer 7 days, 365 days a year. It is an amazing operation and a fine example of old school and new school co-existing for the benefit of everyone.
After the tour, Jim and I walked out to the fields where the Shire horses were hanging out. You know how much I LOVE horses. Well, to my absolute delight, a handsome boy sauntered over to the fence and spent time hanging out with us and “snuggling”. I was in absolute heaven. Sadly, I quickly discovered that the pureness of this love affair was tainted by the young stud’s true intentions; that being to gain access to the contents of my shopping bag. In the shopping bag was my “doggie bag” from lunch containing the remnants of a delicious pulled pork sandwich. C’est la vie as they say in the stables!
Thankfully, I did not lose sight of the true object of my affection, Jimmy Flynn!
Speaking of the devil….earlier this week, we spent a very rainy and chilly day walking around one of the most beautiful English gardens I have ever seen. The gardens surround a beautiful old English manor, still lived in today by descendants of its original owner. The gardens are maintained and lovingly cared for by just 3 full-time gardeners. Jim said he never imagined enjoying walking around looking at a bunch of flowers in the pouring rain. Now who says that you can’t teach an old horse new tricks!??! Enjoy the beautiful flowers and be sure to take time to smell the roses!
Well, Dear Diary, there are 11 days left here and we have much planned, including visits to Oxford, the famous Diddly Squat Farm and Blenheim Castle and catching a movie and dinner at the latest version of the town’s old cinema. So, stay tuned for more Chippy adventures!
Chipping Norton: The Cotswolds, Part 2
Chipping Norton continues to not disappoint. The last week has been just a blast. I managed to catch a mother of a cold, which is certainly not ideal. However, as they say here, “CHEERIO, CARRY-ON! So, carry on, I will!
Back to Chippy: This is a fairly small town – about 7,300 as of 2021 and yet, for a small town there is no shortage of things to do, and the people are just lovely! Talk about “aloha spirit”, it is certainly present here. We have been here 9 days and while out-and-about we have been greeted as though long time friends, by a local chef, the clerk at the Coop grocery store, Father Clive, the parish priest who we met at Mass, and the movie theater manager. The surroundings are beautiful and the people who live here are even more lovely. The whole place just makes you feel happy. Except for when you are freezing because the low is 48 degrees F!
Since we arrived here, we have stayed local, with Oxford being the furthest we have traveled, which is about 20 miles from Chipping Norton. Some of the fun things we have done include:
- visited and toured a magnificent old brewery (described above),
- spent the (wet and cold) afternoon strolling through the incredible English gardens of a very old manor house (also described above),
- toured the colleges of Oxford University (including the site of some famous scenes from the Harry Potter movies),
- attended a car show boasting hundreds of vintage Ferrari’s, Lamborghinis, Porsche’s, Asten Martin’s, Rolls, Bentleys, a DeLorean, a Lotus and a few MG Triumphs, Jaguars, an antique Lincoln Continental and an antique California Highway Patrol Dodge Fury! I was in gear head HEAVEN!
- visited the Wildlife Farm, which is an animal sanctuary housing hundreds of species, and where they try to mimic their natural environment as close as possible.
For example, they have large anteaters. These animals consume an average of 35,000 ants/termites a day. Obviously, the Farm cannot replicate this food supply so what they do instead is mash up avocados and bananas, fill up long tubes with this yummy food and then bury in the ground for the anteaters to munch on. In this way, they simulate the way in which the anteater would normally consume its prey. I say, we need to get a boatload of anteaters delivered to Florida and let them go to town on our termites! No more “tenting” required!
The entire property incorporates many beautiful gardens and walking paths throughout, which are so calming and pleasant. The best part of this experience is seeing the focus be all about the animals and ensuring their surroundings come as close to their natural habitat as possible. Can you feel the aloha??
We have also:
- checked out Diddly Squat Farm, which is the farm owned by Jeremy Clarkson, a local celebrity. Mr. Clarkson and his farm are featured in the Netflix series, “Clarkson Farm”, which just happens to be THE most popular Netflix streaming series in all of England. The “Farm” consists mainly of a barn where they serve hamburgers and beer and that’s it. People wait in line for hours to get into the barn to order and eat said burgers and no one is crabby about it!! We did not do wait in this line; however, trust me, Mr. Clarkson is not going to miss the 50 pounds or so that we did not spend on a hamburger and beer in his fine establishment/barn!
- seen a movie at The Living Room, a movie theater in the center of town. It occupies the space where once stood a large, local hardware store. It has been completely renovated and is beautiful! All mid-century modern furnishings, including sofas and very comfortable seats, where you kick back watching a movie while drinking really fine wine that they bring to your seat, and you can have dinner served as well, if you wish! It is a truly fantastic way to see the latest in the Mad Max franchise, “Furiousa”, which we did on Saturday night, Date night!
And there is no shortage of coffee houses, pubs and restaurants. In fact, one of the best Italian meals we have eaten we ate at Alberto’s in the center of town. This is a 10-table restaurant owned by a young couple, Claire and Val. She is from England; he is from Rome. She told us that she fell in love with him the first time she tasted his Risotto! OMG, how sweet is that!?! Oh, and the wine list is very worthy! Aloha everywhere! So much so, we ate there 3 times during our visit! We fell head over heels and hope to stay in touch with Claire & Val for years to come. PS if you get to Chipping Norton, have the risotto and the pizza – both are stellar!
We have 5 days left in Chipping Norton and the last place we intend to visit is Blenheim Palace. This is the seat of the Dukes of Marlborough, built in the very early 1700s. It is one of England’s largest houses and a UNESCO World Heritage Site. It is also the birthplace and ancestral home of none other than Winston Churchill. Another interesting fact is, it is the ONLY house in England designated as a Palace in which the royals do not, nor have not, lived. I didn’t realize that only a house lived in by the monarchy can technically be named a Palace. I’m not sure why Blenheim has been allowed this status, but I hope to find out when we take the tour.
So, all this prattling to say that within a 20-mile radius, one can find fun and entertaining things to do while living in Chipping Norton, where it stays light from 4:19AM until 10:00PM during late Spring and throughout Summer and where one can see the Aurora Borealis on occasion.
Just a few more comments…I have become obsessed (not possessed!) by the road signs in England. So, I must memorialize a few more doozies which we have seen since leaving London’s “diversion” signs and arriving in Chippy.
So, you know how when you drive down a road and there is a robot looking device on the side of the road that flashes neon lights at you that read: ‘YOUR SPEED” and then in neon lights bright enough for every policeman within a 10-mile radius to see, is posted your actual speed. Right below this visual is the actual speed limit in the area.
Well, here you get a green happy face emoji 😊 if you are at or under the speed limit or a red sad face emoji ☹ if you are over the speed limit. If you are at or under, you also get a “thank you” light that flashes. I mean, seriously, happy face emoji and a “thank you” for obeying the law. That is one of the finest examples of positive reinforcement that I have yet to see. Aloha on the move!
Next, riddle me this, what does it mean when the sign reads, “Zebra humps in the area”? Answer: the sign is warning that you are approaching a speed bump. I Love It.
Finally, “20 is plenty when People are about”. This is the street sign telling you that the speed limit is 20mph because there are “people about” and really, one needn’t go faster than 20 when others are about! And then there is the sign to let people know that you are home!!! This might just be my all time favorite (at least for now!)
Ok, no more street sign drivel, I promise!
We will leave Chipping Norton on June 15th and head for Killorglin, Ireland. Jim recently received his Irish citizenship and an EU passport. Quite cool. So, we are going to hang out in Ireland for 2 weeks and see what else we can learn about the clan from which Jimmy hails and spread some aloha while we are at it!
Finally, my absolute-stamped-in-concrete goal is to figure out how to post photos in this damn blog. If anything will destroy my aloha spirit, it is figuring out the many nuances of blog writing.
Cheerio, Tata, Toodles, Aloha! ❤️🌺
WAIT!!!
I cannot believe I am taking you on the road to Ireland without telling you about a famous Chippy Norton landowner!! For all of you old rock & rollers (and young rock & rollers who love old rock & roll), the infamous Keith Moon actually bought a hotel in Chipping Norton. Just a short history lesson on Keith Moon. Keith was the drummer in the band “The Who” and thought to be one of the best drummers of his time. Unfortunately, his time was short on this earth because Keith was a raging alcoholic and in fact, he unfortunately died at the very young age of 32 from an overdose of a medicine used to treat alcoholism. Well, the story goes that while in the US on tour, Keith decided one night to buy himself a hotel because he spent most of his time in them and felt he knew what was important in a good hotel. He saw it as a good investment to be enjoyed in his old age. Anyway, somehow, he comes across this 14th Century hotel in Chipping Norton called The Crown & Cushion. He went in on it with a retired bull fighter buddy of his for 25,000 GBP. He came to stay at the hotel whenever he wasn’t touring and sometimes, would help out cleaning the place, for example. The Who, when not touring, would sometimes meet up at The Hotel because they knew the bar would be open all night! wow, my kinda of joint! Jim & I had a drink at the Crown & Cushion and had a great time looking at all of the many pictures of Keith and crew enjoying Keith’s “old age” investment. It’s really a tragedy that he didn’t live to enjoy it until his old age.
Ok, seriously, next stop Ireland! However, before we turn the page, I just have to show off my new skill – adding pictures. In particular, these are shots taken at the car show we attended in Chipping Norton – just brilliant, indeed!
Toodles, England!
Now just turn the page for a wee bit of Irish Aloha!