Cream scones and travel bits

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Remember how fit I felt when we left Italy? Forget it. Gone down the tubes. Italian pasta and pastries have nothing on British scones with strawberry jam and thick, thick cream. I've not had real scones and cream in 6 years and am making up for it this week. I hope my kids have the NordikTrak set up when I get home: I am going to need it very, very badly! Either that or a trip back to bella Siena and another "facile e corte" walk in Chianti.

Travelling from beautiful and friendly PEI to England is actually harder on the system than flying from Calgary, AB to Rome, IT. The flight is long enough to stiffen the back but short enough that sleeping is almost impossible. Jet lag coming here is far, far worse, even with the No Jet-Lag tablets.

Yesterday we made arrangements to get the EuroStar, the under the English Channel train, to France. Good grief but it is an expensive venture! The travel agent very kindly checked for the cheapest prices but, even at that, it costs 169 British pounds ($350 Canadian dollars) return from Waterloo station in London to Lille. I do not want to know the cost from Waterloo to Paris! However, hotel rooms in the Lille area are not terribly expensive, which is good. I'll report on the quality thereof when I get back to England as I won't likely have Internet access where we are going. I confess to looking forward to spending euros rather than British pounds: a pound costs $2.40 or so whereas a euro only costs $1.69.

Present plans include spending one day visiting Ieper (Ypres) and Passchendale in Belgium as they are only a few miles apart, another day visiting Valenciennes and Mons, again only a few miles apart, and day three visiting Amiens and Vimy Ridge. My cousin has found a card my grandfather sent the family at Christmas, 1918, and the card lists the "major 1918 engagements" of his brigade, which is why we going to Valenciennes and Mons. The rental car budget only extends for a few days but, since we have an extra 2 days there, we may hop a bus or train for other sites as well, depending on where they go and how much they cost, of course, all of which we will discover when we get to France.

Visiting monuments, cemeteries and battlefields of Canadian soldiers, seeing the places my grandfather fought, seeing the graves of his comrades and millions of other young men is bound to be an emotional experience. Canadian WWI veteran, Charles Yale Harrison, in his semi-autobiographical "novel" book "Generals Die in Bed," presents the war in a manner that impacts both mind and heart, including the Canadian experience at Amiens, where my grandfather fought. Thus, even though Grandpa said very little about his experience, I have images from Harrison's book, images that will no doubt surface along with memories of photos of Grandpa as a 34 year old soldier who somehow managed to survive the slaughter. Putting flowers on a grave or two of his companions in the Yukon Brigade will be honouring him as well as them. Dr. John Humphrey, from the University of Calgary, has warned me that being present at these sites will have a surprisingly powerful impact. I'm open to that. Being changed by encountering the folding of time is part of being aware of the present as well as the past, a necessary part if we are to grow.

Mind you, knowing my propensity for getting lost and my cousin's map-reading challenges, we shall probably encounter unexpected adventures as well. God remains in the details, for which I am eternally grateful.

Cheerio from England,
Sola Nonna

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Comments

[Nonna Leslie]

keeping fit?
Hey there, mia amica Sounds like that Eurailpass might have been a good idea after all..... Better get walking - I've found some pretty decent Italian pastries and gelato here in Calgary. Awaiting your homecoming - we'll go for caffe as soon as you get over your jet lag. Arriverderci, Les