Life's a Journey, Aye!: to London and back!

Friday, April 23, 2010

to London and back!

Well, a little while since I sat and wrote... sorry about that! Left for London on Wednesday morning by train from Southampton, a very pleasant journey. The trains here so smooth and nice. Very interesting to see the countryside from the rails, as you see it differently than you would on the highways. Got to London, and as I have been before, completely awed by the station there, and the comings and going of so many people, and yet there does seem to be some sort of chaotic order to it...? Anyway, hopped on the tube (yay!) and found the way to just half a block from the hotel, a nice little bed and breakfast hotel, and handy because it was so close to the tube. Checked in, compained about the room, got another one, and off running to see the south bank of the Thames, gardens, and just general gandering around. Found some wonderful shops in the train station, and bought some cheeses, breads, tomatoes, and some very tasty shortbread for dinner at the hotel, and also visited Covent Garden Market, which was fun to look around. While there, bought a ticket to the live stage show "Grease" for that night. The show was very good, and I totally enjoyed the music! On the way back from the show, stopped to buy some snacks and a bottle of red wine, and headed back to the hotel.

Next morning I got up, was a little home sick (I hate that...) and it took me a little while to get going. Off to the Ace Cafe in London, which is a very cool cafe that caters to bikers and car enthusiasts of all kinds.... this is one you should google.......
http://www.ace-cafe-london.com/default.aspx
It has a very interesting history!!

Then it was off to the British Museum, which was truly extraordinary.... collections from every time period imaginable..... pretty overwhelming!! Wandered through there for a couple hours, then took a leisurely stroll through the big park next to the museum, and had a nap on the grass in the sun. (aye, that is becoming a habit!!)

Did more walking around the town, along the south bank, which is incredible... the London Eye is there (should google that as well!!) and the waterfront is just so busy and there is soooo much to see!!

I was excited to go on the "Jack the Ripper walking tour" of London.... but chickened out in the end.... was a bit worried it would be too scary.... but my legs were too tired by that point in the day. Next time!! So instead, I headed back to Leister Square (beautiful, vibrabt!!) and sat outside at a Mexican cafe and enjoyed natchos and margaritas and people watched. Wandered around Leister Square and Piccadilly Circus areas, took in the sights, and then got back to the hotel to collect the bag and head off on the tube to the train station. Got back in to Southampton around 1130, and back to Hythe by midnight. Tons of fun... slept pretty well..... all worn out!

I am catching up on some laundry and of course some e-mail and downloading pictures to the blog.

I am off to the High Street in Hythe shortly to go to the store to pick up some wine and supplies for the weekend on the Isle of Wight. I am totally enjoying my picnic backpack, and plan to use it again this weekend. Ferry for the Isle of Wight leaves at 6:30 tonight, so that's when I will be on my way. Back Sunday night. There is wireless at the hotel there, so I will update from there.

Our Deepest Fear

Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not our darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel insecure around you. We are meant to shine, as children do. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It's not just in some of us, it's in everyone! And as we let our light shine, we give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.

Get out there, and let your light shine! (and yup, that last bit added by me!)

A quote often attributed to Nelson Mandela, but written by Marianne Williamson. Shared with me by my sister Noelle.

Change in Direction

Have been watching with more and more horror the images which reach us here in our nice, warm, safe home of Haiti, post-earthquake.

Many calls have gone out for help, and many have responded in ways they are able - donations, time, with prayer, and deeds.

The thought of all they are suffering has been niggling at my conscience. So. I asked my sister if she knew of aid agencies taking volunteers She did, and put me in touch with a very large and well known one. One with resources and 'pull' - one which is respected and known around the globe. Seemed snesible to me to volunteer with one which is well known, and has resources to support its activities and its volunteers.

So. Tuesday I sent in my application to go as a paramedic to serve in the field hospitals/clinics of Haiti.

If accepted I will go.

So from you dear readers, I will need a continuous supply of positive thoughts, and encouragement. My stint will be for only 2 weeks but I fully expect it will be a life changing experience.

So this will be a different sort of blog that I usually write. No night shots of the Eiffel Tower, no cathedrals, no castles, no Scottish countryside scenes, no flower gardens. I expect the only monuments I will see are those of human spirit - struggling to make themselves and their country right.

I will start by posting some facts about Haiti, and you shall learn about this country right along with me as I do.

I have always known a certain saying, and have always felt it applies to me, in that I have been quite blessed in life. The way I remembered it is:

"To whom much is given, much is expected".

-Michelle, to whom much has been given - and who is staring into the near future, hoping to be more than adequate to the job ahead.

The History of the Scottish flag - The saltire

From http://www.scotlandsource.com/ -

It has been believed by generations of Scotsmen that the national flag, the white saltire on a blue background, the oldest flag in Europe, originated in a battle fought here in Athelstaneford (and I am going there, wahoo!!) in the Dark Ages between the Picts and Scots on the one side and the Angles of Northumbria on the other. (around 832 AD).

There are many versions of the story but they generally agree that an army of the Picts under their King Angus (or Hungus) aided by a contingent of the Scots was invading Lothian (then and for long afterwards Northumbrian territory), and found themselves surrounded by a massive force of the Angles under their leader Athelstan. King Angus and his host prayed earnestly for deliverance to God and the saints.

That night St. Andrew (the Patron Saint of Scotland) appeared to the king and promised him victory.

On the next day when battle was joined, the vision of a white saltire (the diagonal cross on which the Apostle had been martyred) was seen by all against the blue sky. This so encouraged the Picts and Scots and frightened their adversaries that the former won a signal victory.

In the pursuit, so the tradition goes on, the Northumhbrian leader Athelstan was slain at the crossing of the Peffer or Cogtail Burn, the site of which is marked by Athelstaneford Mains Farm, about half a mile south-east of the village.

The probable site of the battle is at nearby Prora Farm,where there is a field called "The Bloody Field, close by the Peffer Burn, (this burn runs into Aberlady Bay, to the west, whereas the first mentioned Peffer Burn runs east to the sea).

The Saltire is also known as the Saint Andrew' s Cross.

Robbie Burns

Robert Burns (25 January 1759 – 21 July 1796) (also known as Rabbie Burns, Scotland's favourite son, the Ploughman Poet, Robden of Solway Firth, the Bard of Ayrshire and in Scotland as simply The Bard) was a Scottish poet and a lyricist. He is widely regarded as the national poet of Scotland, and is celebrated worldwide. He is the best known of the poets who have written in the Scots language, although much of his writing is also in English and a "light" Scots dialect, accessible to an audience beyond Scotland. He also wrote in standard English, and in these pieces, his political or civil commentary is often at its most blunt.
He is regarded as a pioneer of the Romantic movement and after his death became a great source of inspiration to the founders of both liberalism and socialism. A cultural icon in Scotland and among the Scottish Diaspora around the world, celebration of his life and work became almost a national charismatic cult during the 19th and 20th centuries, and his influence has long been strong on Scottish literature. In 2009 he was voted by the Scottish public as being the Greatest Scot.

Life's a Journey, Aye!

In the words of Ewan MacGregor, "The Long Way Down"

Friday, April 23, 2010

to London and back!

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Lands end in Dorset....... next stop... FRANCE