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Published: August 16th 2022
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The Cardiff Train Station & the BBC Building
our last couple of buildings seen in Cardiff St Albans July 8 - 17
Our next stop in the UK was St. Albans as we had organized to cat sit for a couple that had two cats, Georges and Leon. We traveled there from Cardiff by train, the first leg was 1
st Class which was a great way to start the day with the delivery of beverages and snacks. The rest of the trip was via subway which went seamlessly as well. We sure are enjoying the ability to use public transportation for our travels while here.
I hadn’t mentioned in the last blog posting, but Bob started to have lots of pain in his neck and shoulder while in Cardiff. The Airbnb we were staying at had a listing with a couple of Dr. offices so called and found out that as we weren’t registered in their area, we couldn’t make an appointment. They suggested we call 311 so we did that. After a very long and detailed discussion with complete information on Bob’s medical history and details on his symptoms he was told to take ibuprofen and paracetamol (acetaminophen) as well as alternate hot and cold. He was also
told to be sure to keep moving and “push through the pain”. He started on this plan, but wasn’t getting any relief.
When we got to St. Albans first on the list was to head to the local hospital emergency room in order to see a Dr. for Bob. Surprise, surprise – we got a bus to the hospital to only find out that the St. Alban’s hospital doesn’t have an emergency room anymore -who would have thought that was possible??!! We learned of another hospital in a neighboring town that did have an emergency room so headed there the next day by bus. As in every emergency room, there were plenty of people waiting to be seen, but after about 3 hours Bob got to see a Dr. He checked Bob out and decided that it was a muscular problem and told him to continue the regiment of alternating ibuprofen and Paracetamol (acetaminophen) but this time increasing the dosage. After a few more days of that, decided to make contact with our wonderful physical therapist, Barbara, back in Greenwich. She suggested that Bob see a physical therapist (and gave us tips of the type of therapist
to look for) which we had learned we could do without being a resident here. Fortunately, we were able to make an appointment with a therapist in St. Albans, which did seem to help relieve some of the pain that had gone down his arm. We know it is difficult to have therapy from various offices, but with our moving around, this is what we will have to do if it is a help in reducing Bob’s discomfort. He is finding that if he hangs his head down to his chest it relieves the pain the best, but as he says he is getting tired of looking down at the floor all the time!
With Bob’s pain level we are minimizing the exploring we are doing, but are trying to fit some in. Bob is taking the suggestion of “just push through it” literally.
When we got off the bus in town after going to the hospital that didn’t have an emergency room, we found that there was a large outdoor market going on so needless to say we couldn’t pass that up. It was definitely varied selling everything from fresh bread, fruits and
veggies, to clothing, luggage and even old police and military helmets! We were even offered fresh Turkish Delight to try – when we told her that we just came from Turkey, she definitely had a laugh.
The place we were cat sitting was right in town so handy for grocery shopping. This was especially good as many days I went by myself and without having the extra backpack and as Bob calls himself “packhorse Bob” along I didn’t buy as much each time I went. It gave me a chance to stretch my legs and to give Bob time to rest.
One thing we had made arrangements to do while in St. Albans was to head into London to see some wonderful friends of ours from our days when we were in St. Katherine’s Dock on Tsamaya. We wanted to see them before they left to go out sailing themselves for the season. I wondered about cancelling, but Bob insisted we go in. We were so glad we did as had a great time seeing the marina and all the changes that were made since we were there. We had a lovely walk to
View of Gloucester Cathedral from the Train Window
unfortunately we didn't get there to see it ourselves have lunch together and a real bonus was also getting to meet up with another friend, Chris, that we got to know when we were at St. Katherine’s Dock. It was such a lovely day seeing friends again as well as the “old stomping ground” that we thoroughly enjoyed while in London years ago.
Luckily, I had put up info on FB that we were in St. Albans as Gus informed me that other friends had made a comment. As soon as we got back to the apartment I checked and fortunately, we found out that friends, Jenny and John, from our days on the rally in the Baltic a few years back live not that far away in the village of Tring. They very kindly invited to visit and have lunch with them. It is always so enjoyable to meet up and updated each other on what has been happening since we last met. It really has been wonderful on this trip to the UK to catch up with so many friends already and it is early in our travels.
We were able to find a physical therapist in St. Albans that could
We Thoroughly Enjoy Train Travel and
we got waves from the "duckings" as Bob calls them fit Bob in while we were there. This one did some manipulation but fortunately did reduce some of the pain that was going down his arm. Know it is hard on him and had even suggested that maybe we should have him go back to the US, but he insist that it is better and that we should continue our travels here. Crossing our fingers that it does continue to get better.
We knew there were a few other sights we could take in while in the area, but did not want to push it so tried to curb our excursions so Bob could get some rest. He was definitely a trouper though as we did take the time to visit the St. Albans Cathedral. As the name implies it is named in honor of St. Albans. We learned that he had been sheltering a Christian that was escaping persecution during the days of Roman rule. The Prince heard that Alban was protecting a Christian and ordered that he be caught and beheaded making him the first British Christian martyr. The rose is a symbol of Alban and every June 22
nd, St. Alban pilgrims come to bring
Georges & Leon Were Our Charges In St Albans
interesting dynamics with one auto-feeder for 2 cats! roses to his shrine within the Cathedral.
We were informed that this Cathedral is the oldest site of continuous Christian worship in Britain. The architectural designs are a mixture over the years as it started as a monastic Abbey and is now a Cathedral. Many of the changes over the years can be viewed by the obvious design changes such as the types of arches in the nave. The first Norman Abbot, Paul of Caen, had the church completely rebuilt between 1077 – 1115 with the rounded arches. The Gothic style came in the early 1200’s with its pointed arches. In 1323, some of the earlier Norman arches had collapsed so it was rebuilt in a more elaborate Gothic style. We find it fascinating when viewing Cathedrals that have changed over the many years to see the merging of the various styles. We were very happy that we took the time to see this magnificent structure with its history and beauty.
Our commitment in St. Albans ran from July 7 – 17 and now that it is over, we are headed to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. It isn’t a place we are familiar with but as our
The Top Hospital Has No Emergency Care so
took a bus to the other one to get medical care for Bob next cat sitting commitment is in Aberdeen, Scotland we decided that Newcastle would be a good stopping point on the way north.
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dolores higareda
non-member comment
St.Albans trip
Lovely pics!! Happy to receive your update and see ya out and about again. I really hope Bob is feeling better and hope he almost pain free