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Published: August 29th 2007
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Saying Good-Bye to Victoria
We turned our house in Victoria over to our tennants on June 29 and were on our way. We traveled from Victoria to London on the way to Tanzania anticipating a week or two in England to visit relatives and see the sights before moving on to Tanzania. Bureaucracy being what it is, our teaching certificates and residency permits necessary to enter Tanzania and work there were not approved in time for us to arrive in Dodoma in mid-July as originally planned. As a result, our departure from Britain was delayed until August 30, at which time we will fly to Dar es Salaam and then drive roughly 500 kms west to Dodoma.
Given the length or our stay in London, nearly two months, we did a lot of visiting, sightseeing and travel in England. Our daughter, Karen and her husband Gio live in London so we stayed with them for part of our time here.
In late July Gerry and I took a short break, traveling to the south west of England. We had never been to Salisbury so went there first and had a lovely day visiting Salisbury Cathedral. We then went on to Cornwall and stayed in Penzance for three days. The weather was perfect and we had a wonderful time visiting St Ives
Rooftop Gardeners
Karen and Gerry planting the garden on the rooftop terrace at Karen and Gio's house in Clapham Junction. on the north coast of Cornwall and St Michael’s Mount, not far from Penzance.
For most of the month of August we were house-sitting a flat belonging to a friend of our daughters. The flat is in the community of Leytonstone in east London. Leytonstone, near the end of the Central Line of the London Underground, is an area of the city that few tourists would visit. There is a wonderful mix of people there from Africa, the Caribbean and the Middle East, alongside people whose families have lived there for generations. While in Leytonstone we attended the local church, which was just a block or two from our flat.
One of the high points of our stay in London was having a visit with John McLaren from Victoria. John, a Professor Emeritus in the Law Faculty of UVic was here doing research in the London Archives. Also in London at the time was Charles Wallace an old friend and currently Headmaster of St Thomas’ Choir School of Manhatten, New York City. The choir from Charles’ school was on tour in England and happened to be singing evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral while John was in London. So
Karen at School
We had a nice visit to Karen's learning assistance room at her school in St John's Wood during the last week of school in July. John, our daughter Karen, Gerry and I attended evensong at St Paul’s Cathedral, had a short visit with Charles and then all went for a lovely dinner out.
Our final excursion was to Norwich in East Anglia to visit Liz Pierce a good friend and former schoolmate of Christine Scott’s. We had a wonderful weekend with Liz enjoying great weather of the August Bank Holiday weekend, which for many in England signals the end of the summer break. So, it was back to London and on August 30, on to Dar es Salaam and Dodoma.
Although back in July it felt like our time in London might never end, it has and so we move on to Tanzania, where new friends and fresh adventures await.
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Denise
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Congrats!
Hey there... congratulations to Bruce and Gerry! You are finally on your way. Keep those photos coming....loved the one of you two popping pills! All our prayers are with you for a safe and life affirming experience in the months ahead.... love Denise.