Visiting Brighton

One of our first daytrips (our first by car) was to the south coast of the UK. We went to the Brighton Pier.

I've been here before, but I still love it! It is deliciously cheesy and touristy. It is the kind of thing you'd think a native Floridian would avoid like the plague, but I love it. The pier has dodgy food stalls selling fried doughnuts, fried burgers, fried potatoes, fried sugar… if you can fry it and put it on a stick, it is there. They also have extremely overpriced carnival rides, overpriced souvenirs, and overpriced drinks. All of which we wasted our money on.

We drove to the pier (the weather foreboding and drizzly all the way to Hove) and arrived to an afternoon with broken skies and interesting lighting effects on the water. Once there, we lucked into what could almost be called "Rock Star Parking!" We were in the first lot and not a long walk from the actual pier.

My first target at the pier: The Crazy Mouse! I love this roller coaster. The other roller coaster is nice, but The Crazy Mouse is still my favorite.

After a few rides, a few drinks, a few hours looking around, we decided to quit the pier and start a ride cross-country up the coast to the town of battle (where the battle of Hastings - 1066) was fought. We got there, unfortunately, too late in the evening to actually do anything or see anything while we were there, but there it is. After a drink at The Pilgrim, whose sign looks amazingly like the card The Fool from the Ryder Tarot deck, we headed off to Bodiam Castle.

This also being closed, we crossed a style into an adjoining pasture, walked up a stream for a while and took some pictures before heading back to Thames Ditton. (The pictures from Bodiam Castle are a bit dark, but I have a pretty good camera. On a cheaper camera, I would have gotten nothing.)

We didn't get to do everything we wanted to yesterday, but hut hopefully we got enough in that everyone had as good a time as I did. Today, we are off to the west. Oh, and yes! It’s raining even though the weather prediction was for the rain to end some time last night!

Wherever you are today, I hope you're having a great day and doing all the important things on your agenda!

Don Bergquist - 22 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Happy Birthday to my cousin, Erik

The Rains

What horrid weather we're getting for their visit! They may never believe that it is as nice over here as I have told them it can be. After a rainy weekend and a prediction for the rain to stop around midnight Sunday, the promise for better weather was there. Alas! Yesterday it rained all day! It is raining now! It will probably be raining in a few hours when I return home after work. I hope it stops raining before we go down to Brighton!

Janine and Fritz headed into Central London on their own yesterday as I went to the office. The rest of the week, I am taking half-days of vacation each day. Today I have a car coming to the office. I am renting a car so that we can hit a bunch of the outlying areas that they want to see and that I want to show them. I have to get to the office and get to work so I can get home. It is still raining and I think I will walk with an umbrella rather than riding and leaving my bike at the office for the week.

Ah well, at least the rainy morning will be good for them to sleep-in and recuperate after their day of shopping, sightseeing, and pub crawling.

I hope that wherever you are today, the weather is amenable to the activities you have planned.

Don Bergquist - 21 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Tour Of London

After breakfast yesterday, we sat down with the lists of things to see in London and organized a plan of attack. We put the things that they most wanted to do in the order that it made sense to do them. Many of these things were pubs that friends of theirs back at home suggested that they visit. Some were just plain touristy things.

So, after a brief walk, we arrived at the Surbiton Rail Station. Here, I explained to Janine and Fritz how the train system worked and we talked about our itinerary for the day. One of the tips that I gave them was this: Look at the train schedule. Count the stops between you and your destination. If there are two or more options that have a different number of stops, count on each station stop to take about two minutes. If the number of stations (times two) is greater than the difference between difference in the scheduled time of the train, it may be better to take the later train with fewer stops.

Our first target of the day was Abby Road. The plan was to take our picture as the cover of the album showed the beetles. Now, this is not particularly original, in fact, I would hazard the guess that this is perhaps the most photographed zebra crossing in Europe. (At Least it is the most photographed by tourists…)

But some of the more interesting pictures (and the far more interesting pastime) was watching the other tourists at the crossing. Including the family (from New Jersey if my ear for accents hasn’t lost its edge) who took a cab there and had the car wait for them.

We then walked along Abby Road looking for a pub that had been recommended to Janine and by dint of following the directions she had and the clarification of a cabby we asked, we eventually found ourselves not in Westminster, but in Camden.

The afternoon was great! We got to see a number of things on their list and I made sure that they got to visit a few pubs and have a few beers. We even made it to Trafalgar square. The rain, however made it difficult (and unpleasant) to continue. We stopped our activities around 19:30 and headed home to a curry I cooked for dinner.

High Point of the day (for me): Watching the tourists in Abby Road.
Low Point of the day: The rain and the crowds.
Quote of the day: "Did anyone in this car hear anything unusual. A loud 'bang' or unexplained noise?"

The quote was spoken by a London Transit Police officer while the train was being delayed in the Regent's Park tube station. I must say, after he left there were a number of people looking at each other nervously and there were a few nervous chuckles to unheard comments. A couple people actually decided to get up and get off after the comment. We never did understand what the reason for the question was, but after they police had visited every car, and had chatted with the driver on the platform for a while, the train resumed its trip.

Today they will be going it alone as I am at the office (which I should be by now…) I had better post this and get going, in fact. It does not look (as I write this it is misting pretty heavily out back in the garden) like they will get the sunny day that the BBC predicted last night in the weather forecast. Oh well!

Wherever you are today, I hope you're having a great day!

Don Bergquist - 20 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

The First Morning

The guys are still asleep. The house is quiet. Or rather, the house would be quite but for the fact that I have some music playing and was recently making a racket in the kitchen preparing the traditional Full English Breakfast for my friends. It's a beautiful morning.

I awoke a bit late. (We were at the pub until closing last night and then, after taking a cab home, we sat-up telling tales and having beverages until well into the morning.) When I awoke at 07:00 and it was raining, I turned over and went back to sleep. By eight, the rain had stopped and I dressed, went for a short (10 mile) ride and then did a bit of grocery shopping.

I've finished all the prep-work for the fry-up and am ready to cook the eggs when my friends re-join the land of the living. Today we're going to play tourist and see some of the sights of London. They both have lists for the specific things they want to see. I'm pretty sure we won't hit them all today, but as I have to work tomorrow, at least I can show them how to get into London and get around.

Start another pot of coffee and see if they are stirring. We should be getting into Central London.

Wherever you are today, I hope you're having a leisurely day!

Don Bergquist - 19 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Arrival

Who knew! Who knew that they had changed what terminal US arrivals arrive at!? In the three years I have been coming here, every flight I have ever taken (or met) that was coming into Gatwick from the US has landed at Gatwick South Terminal.

My friends arrived from the states on a Continental flight at around seven this morning. I got up early and caught the train out to Gatwick glad that I'd given the pub a miss yesterday and got the extra sleep. (Thank you, yes, I am feeling much better!)

I arrived when their plane was supposed to land and planted myself at the coffee shop at the exit to the international arrivals are of the airport where I told them that I would meet them.

By 08:00, I was beginning to wonder what was going on. Had they missed their connection in Houston? No. They called me from Houston last night and they had made it to the airport in plenty of time to make a stop for food and duty-free shopping. Perhaps the plane was delayed. No. When I checked online a couple hours ago, they were predicting a slightly early arrival. Did I somehow hypnotize myself into thinking they were arriving at Gatwick when they were tight now searching for me at Heathrow? The Pac Man theme and sudden vibration on the table next to my coffee cup pulled my attention from my reveries.

"Hello." I said into my mobile phone.

"Donald!" the cheerful voice on the other end of the line, (Can you call it a line when you are on a wireless phone?) "Where are you?"

"I'm at the coffee shop. Where are you?"

"We're at the Costa coffee right outside the duty free!"

I turned to scan the crowd. Had they somehow made it past me? No! I saw no familiar faces in the crowd. "Really?" I asked. "Where?"

"We're over here below the escalator." He said.

(Escalator? What escalator? There is no escalator here!) "Uh, which escalator would that be, Fritz?"

"I assume it is an escalator. The big blue ramp right over the coffee shop."

(Blue? Gatwick is done-up in a sort-of tired maroon color. Maroon… a strange color to do an airport in.) "Blue?" I asked… "Uh, everything in this area is maroon. Let's try another question. What airport are you in?"

"Gatwick!"

Well, after going on in this vein for a while, it turned-out that some of the US flights are now being shunted over to the NORTH terminal… This morning I made it to the north terminal for the first time. Oh, and it is blue.

They're here, unpacked and taking a quick nap… or chilling, or both… I think I will post this and head up for a nap myself. It's a miserable day out but we're going into Kingston today to look around.

Wherever you are today, I hope you have pleasant weather and a great day!

Don Bergquist - 18 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Feeling A Little Better

Well, not really… but "Hoping To Feel Better" isn’t as positive.

Went to the office today because I was able to get myself out of bed and get going. I left around lunchtime and headed to the doctor. He agreed, what I have is definitely a sinus infection. I'm now on a couple different antibiotics and decongestants. I hope to be feeling better soon… My friends arrive from the states tomorrow. I have to feel better!

Wherever you are today, I hope you're either well, or getting well!

Don Bergquist - 17 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Back Tomorrow (I hope)

Sorry, guys! I am feeling just horrible.

I've been asleep for most of the past day. It is now just after seven o'clock at night and I called-in sick today. My sinuses are killing me. If I am not feeling better tomorrow, I am headed to the doctor.

Wherever you are today, I hope you're feeling better than I am!

Don Bergquist - 16 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

That's Timing!

The morning was great! I awoke to the sound of a rainstorm (actual noisy rain) this morning around 04:00… "Great! I'm going to have to ride to the office in the rain!" I thought before I rolled over, gathered-up the duvet around my shoulders and went back to sleep.

Somehow, I incorporated the news that came onto my radio at 04:45 and the active little tune that my phone plays (that I use as an alarm clock) at 05:00, and then again at 05:20. It was not until half-way through the marine forecast that I realized I was still asleep and working the radio into my dreaming…

Thus being brought back to consciousness, I dragged myself out of bed, took my shower and dressed, and headed down to make breakfast and coffee. Saga had to be coaxed out as it was still sprinkling out. The great thing was that the rain had slacked a bit and the day was looking better.

Now that it is 05:55 and it is time to head out, the rain has stopped leaving a broken sky and a few puddles but nothing serious to contend with on my way to the office. So, I suppose that I should post this and get the bike out and get to the office!

Wherever you are today, I hope your morning comes together for you!

Don Bergquist - 15 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Happy Birthday to my cousin, Nathan

Happy Birthday to my brother, Denis

Return of the Rains

Well, it's been a nice run of beautiful weather, but it has ended. Good thing too! The garden is looking a bit dry and I'd rather have the water fall on it from the sky than to waste treated city water!

The downside is that it makes riding miserable. The rain, more of a heavy mist than a rain really, is constant and light enough that it really doesn't pay to put on my rain gear. The waterproofing is good, but it doesn't breathe so I'd be wetter from sweating if I wore it, than I would by just riding the half-mile to the office.

So, I rode to the office in a mist, I rode home for lunch in the mist. At least during the day it actually rained (what I would call a sprinkle, really) fairly substantially while I was at work. Now that the day is over and that I am sitting here at the villa, the weather has gotten gloomy but at least the rain has stopped falling. The weathercaster said that we had about 2.5mm of rain today, but it really doesn't look like it. Tomorrow is supposed to be even wetter!

Ah, well, it's good for the gardens!

Wherever you are today, I hope that you’re having whatever you consider to be a beautiful day!

Don Bergquist - 14 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Monday, Monday

It is another Monday. The weather report says it will be beautiful today and then we're in for a few days of rain. That's okay. We really need the rain. Besides, it makes it easier to go to work if it isn't perfect outside.

The mornings are getting darker. For the first time in weeks, it was too dark to see clearly in the garden at 04:50 when Saga and I went out this morning. The sun is up now and the road is calling. I am going to take the long way into the office this morning because it is possibly the last time this week that it will be a good day to do so.

Wherever you are this morning, I hope you'll have a great day!

Don Bergquist - 13 August 2007 - Thames Ditton, Surrey, UK

Happy Birthday to my cousin, Greg