Leaving Romsey for Yorkshire

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Sunday, June 8, 2008
Romsey, England
The sun rises early in England in the summer. At about 5:30am, I rolled over in bed to a bright sky and assumed that I had overslept. Jackie was still asleep so I eased myself up to find my watch. That’s when I realized that Pete wasn’t kidding when he told us the night before that we’d have daylight by 3:30am.
I jumped back in bed and returned to sleep. About 7:00am I was up again and went downstairs for coffee.
Pete has fast internet service and Wi-Fi. But like most of us, he forgot his wireless password. It is fixed in his pc so he doesn’t need it when he logs on. I could connect to his signal but could not log in because of the security. So, we solved this problem by connecting direct using the Ethernet cable in his office. Before breakfast, we did several computer tasks, like checking our email, bank accounts, etc. I also uploaded the last blog.
Then we joined Pete and Hilary for a nice breakfast. The plan for the day was to attend church with Peter and Hilary at their church, the Romsey Abbey, the Parish Church of St Mary and St Ethelflaeda.
Some of you will remember Queen Elizabeth’s uncle, Earl Mountbatten (grandson of Queen Victoria). He was assassinated by the IRA in 1979. This was his church and where he is buried. A church was first built on this site in 907AD and was rebuilt in 1120AD. Long before Columbus, or even the Vikings, sailed the ‘ocean blue.’
Jackie and I agreed that this was a wonderful and quite spiritual service. It was communion week so that was an added treat for us.
After church, we went to lunch at the Mayfly Restaurant, in Leckford. It was along the Test River with outdoor seating. You could see large trout in the stream. It was a wonderful lunch and obvious that we would never have found this restaurant without the help of the Morgan’s. After church, we returned home to relax.
That evening, we went to dinner at Prezzo, an Italian restaurant in an old manor house in Romsey, built in the 15th century (just about the time old Christopher was sailing west). The waiter had a strong accent which I assumed to be Italian. So, when we paid the bill, I asked if he was. He said no, he was Portuguese. So, I had a chance to practice my Brazilian Portuguese on him. It must have been good enough because he immediately set in on a long dialog in rapid-fire Portuguese. I understood enough to get by and impress our friends. I’m glad they did not ask for a translation, however.
We returned home and readied for bed. I finished the evening with a nice Glenfiddich. That’s my new sleeping medicine. Remembering how I awoke to a bright sunlit sky, I found the eye mask that was included in our package given us on the airplane flying over to Munich. I pulled it on and went fast asleep. I slept so good, that when I awoke in the morning, Jackie was sitting on the bed reading her book, fully dressed. I slept right through her dressing. No doubt I will be using the mask for the remainder of our trip this far north. As we travel north the days will get longer and longer.

Monday, June 9, 2008
Romsey, England
Our plan for the day was golf. Peter, Hilary and I were to play and Jackie was going to be our scorekeeper and cheerleader. As there were several groups playing early, we picked about 12:30pm as the best time to play. We went early and had lunch in the clubhouse.
Before flying out of Atlanta, I struggled with how to bring my golf equipment. I even checked with UPS to see if I could ship ahead. In the end, I decided not to bring my clubs. I also decided not to bring my golf shoes, since we were packing light. But I did pack my golf glove, some tees, a repair tool, and a ball mark.
Now it was time to find all this for my first round in England. Of course, if you know me well, you know that I could not find any of this stuff. So, when I entered the club house, there were some nice looking Foot Joy shoes. I paid the small sum of 69 pounds sterling (about $140). But, any golfer will tell you that you can always use a new pair of shoes.
Peter loaned me a golf glove, and his neighbor allowed me to play with his Taylor Made clubs. I would like to blame the clubs for how I played but that wouldn’t be fair. So, I’ll just blame the shoes.
After golf, we had drinks in the club house and then headed back home. Since I was a little sore, I found the Glenfiddich again. Now I feel much better.
It was great to play another round of golf with Pete and Hilary. We played in Freeport, Bahamas before many years ago. I know that Jack and Debbie Harris will be interested in our visit with the Morgan’s. Jack worked together with Peter at Uniroyal, one of the Power Company’s largest customers while I was CEO there. We have talked a lot about them and have decided to meet them for Mardi Gras next year in New Orleans.
On the way home, we decided to have fish and chips for dinner. It was a great idea. We were in two cars, so Peter and I went for the fish as the girls went home to shower.
The name of the fish and chips place was Goodys. It is a local favorite. For me, however, it was a treat to see firsthand how the efficiency of a fast food place can go bad.
There were five workers behind the counter. All had this incredibly sad look on their faces. They moved in slow motion. The man that took our order was either stoned, or a zombie. He had his arms crossed the entire time. At first, I thought he was doing well, because he arranged four paper sacks for the four orders of codfish and chips. He obtained for each a nice piece of fish. Then he eased over to pick up four sacks of chips. But, there were only three available. So, he walked back to the four sacks, pondered a while, and then queued up in front of the others to get fresh chips. Only, he forgot the empty sack that he needed. Then he drifted back to the counter where the four bags were, picked up an empty sack and moved back to the end of the queue. Finally, after he got the fourth sack of chips, he walked back to the counter, added each in its separate bag, and found a large bag for the whole lot. Peter and I found the whole thing sad but funny.
Even with that episode, the fish was good and tasty. We had some nice Australian chardonnay with it.
After dinner, we began organizing for our departure tomorrow. I am on the porch writing this blog and Jackie is reading. We plan to leave early tomorrow for the ride north.
We want to thank our hosts, Pete and Hilary. There cannot be nicer people on this earth. We have laughed together for hours on this short trip. They have fed us, provided everything we needed and mapped out our itinerary for the remainder of our trip in the UK. If you plan a long trip to Europe one day, try to find a great friend like we did to get the most out of your trip.

Thanks, Hilary and Peter.

That’s it for now, Tom & Jackie

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Photos

The Abbey
I can't help but wonder how they could engineer and construct these wonderful churches.

Inside the Abbey
We were allowed to take some photos after the service

The Resting Place
Here's the tomb of Mountbatten

Hilary and Jackie
Outside the church

Jackie
Lunch by the Test River

Friends
If you want to have great trip in Europe, make great friends like we did. Thanks, Pete and Hilary

Golfers
Jackie was scorekeeper. Hilary played great

Golfers
Having fun on the course.

Tom
Suck it in Tom. You've had too much fine food on this trip.

The Team
Here we are in the clubhouse after playing. Peter was the victor.

Comments

[Andrea and Rich]

We are enjoying all the updates!
You folks must be exhausted. We miss you both and have toasted to you all probably a few too many times........... I have been forwarded your blogs on to Hank as well. Cheers, Rich and Andrea

[Dianne]

Perfect timing!
Being with your friends in their beautiful home and great area was perfect for you guys! Time to enjoy friends and rest... I know you will love Scotland - Edenburgh is super! Hope to hear from you soon! Di