The Quail Trail Part 9 - England -walking tours

Walking tours down Memory Lane

After six delightful weeks in North America and a brief visit to Canada, the Quail Trail made a detour via England before I headed home. In a small town north of London my friend Stuart was waiting to meet me for the first time in real life and I now know we both wondered whether we would find as much in common in real life as we did through so many e-mails – I am more than twice the age of this young man and yet it felt as if we were soul mates from the day I wrote that first message to him.

A short while ago he expressed his curiosity like this when commenting on a few of the first parts of my Quail Trail stories. He wrote: "More, more! This is a really enjoyable read and I look forward to hearing what you have to say about your trip to England. Indeed, be as honest as you like. You might like to say things like: 'I met up with this seemingly boring, really dull Englishman named Stuart and he was really ugly...!' Or you could say: "I met this guy called Stuart. He made me laugh, and I quite fancied him!!!!" Really, it's your book, so the choice is yours!"

Well let me proceed and then you can decide which of the two descriptions fits him best!

Arriving at Heathrow airport, I had a single anxious moment when I did not see him immediately but the next moment my eyes met those of a fine young man with a broad smile! The warmth of a second tighter hug assured me that getting to know him in real life would be as enjoyable as knowing him as a cyber friend. As we drove to Hitchin in Hertfordshire where he lives, he gave me details about a fun-packed itinerary for the next ten days. It would include some time to settle in, trips to London and the immediate English countryside, meeting his family and friends and more important - quality time for chatting and exchanging experiences about our babbleboxes! The Global Quail was ready to entertain me! The drive home took us past ripe wheat fields ready for the harvest and lush green pastures dotted with farm houses – a pretty patchwork quilt of green and gold. 

Then we arrived at Brampton Park Road where he shared a house with his sister Laurie.

The second day found us strolling through the streets of Hitchin where we eventually sat down on a bench overlooking St Mary's Church near the Town Square.

St Mary's Cathedral, Hitchin

 A perfect, glorious, sunny day very much unlike what you would expect on a visit to England. In no time he was telling me about his remarkable progress with his recently hook-ed up babblebox. I can only describe Stuart's hearing as being "miraculously restored". In my book he could hear better than a "normal" hearing person! He was almost hesitant in telling me how he delighted in enjoying sound and particularly music, and talking on the phone again because he felt that it may make me sad since my babblebox mostly only presented me with echoes and gargles. 

Stuart and Laurie 2001

The Town Crier and I in Hitchin 2001

After doing some shopping we went back home and had a delightful evening discussing my visit to America and Canada and looking at my numerous photos. I was amazed at how easily I fitted in with the lifestyle of Stuart and his friendly sister Laurie – again surprised at how well this brother and sister got along and how expertly they divided the household chores between them. Almost an unreal arrangement between siblings!

Stu and the expensive ice cream

Our first trip to London was scheduled for the next day. After a train ride to Kings Cross station we commenced on what he called his, "Private guided tour of London." We took the tube to Knightsbridge and approached Harrods where a sign on the door almost prevented us from going in because the little picture showed that persons dressed in shorts were not really welcome LOL! However he immediately charmed the guard at the door who let us in with a smile. We just did the tourist run since our budgets were not suitable for shopping there! Again the food department got most of my attention and it was interesting to see some people browsing around with shopping baskets only containing a small item depicting them as "tourists" like us!

From Harrods we went through Hyde Park to Kensington palace past the Serpentine where people were already out to enjoy the sunshine on deck chairs watching the ducks, swans and geese preening their feathers. We bought two most expensive ice creams from a vendor near the Serpentine and sat down on the grass overlooking Kensington Palace that was devoid of tourists at the time. 

Kensington Palace

To me it felt as if the palace was deserted because Princess Diana was not home anymore. Stuart also remarked that my photos would be exceptional because I had no one in view when I took a picture of the palace. 

We followed the Diana Memorial Walk back to the Victoria and Albert memorial and then to the Victoria and Albert Museum where I wanted to have a look at some antique textiles and embroidery that I remembered from a visit long ago. I never got the see the textiles but we visited the "Victorian Vision" exhibition commemorating the centenary of Queen Victoria's death. That was quite interesting and well presented.

Moi at Buckingham Palace 2001

The afternoon found us on our way to St James Park and Buckingham Palace – chatting and sitting on a wall consuming the home-mixed cold drinks that we brought along. It was far too expensive to buy cold drinks since even bottled water was more that a GB pound and my budget definitely was too depleted for that sort of "luxuries" at this late stage of my journey. The exchange rate for South African Rand was 12 to one pound at the time!!

Kerry and Wia - London Eye

Stu and I on the tube

A few days later we headed towards London again. We had tickets for a ride on the London Eye and plans to meet Kerry, a young HOH friend that I "introduced" to Stuart via E-mail. Again it was a sizzling hot day with bright sunshine – the fourth in a row so far! My host complained much about the heat and even got sunburnt!! So much for someone who has no respect for the sun with a belief that sun block cream is for sissies!! HAHAHA! Anyway, again a delightful trip that started off with us visiting the tourist shops around Piccadilly Circus to buy trinkets to take home to show that I've been to London as well. Stuart bought me a T-shirt with the tube station map on it - very useful for finding our way – and to remind me about the fun we had going underground...

Me in Hitchin wearing the Tube map T-shirt

Our ride on the London Eye was only scheduled for the afternoon so we walked a lot to bide the time and see the tourist sites again. We bought sandwiches at a Boots chemist – that was a new one to me because I did not know that you could get food at a chemist shop – and very reasonably priced too. That's where my local "tour guide" who knew the ropes came in very handy!

Kerry , Wia and Stu in London

Our walk took us past Whitehall and the Horse Guard parade, which is now open for the public (a first for Stuart also); 10 Downing Street; Parliament Square and Westminster Abbey. We had another rest under the trees at Parliament Square and then across Westminster Bridge to meet Kerry at the London Eye. The London Eye is a huge Ferris wheel 57 storeys high that provides one with more than an eagle's eye view of London. The ride takes about one hour! We had the most perfect day for doing this and could overlook London as far as the eye could see with Stuart and Kerry pointing out famous landmarks. It also gave us enough time to talk to Kerry and I delighted in the ambiance that flowed between these two young people. Their cheerful banter and Stuart's playful interaction with this young girl made me feel 21 years old again. After the ride on the Eye we went to Covent Garden again to have a last look at the street artists before it was time to say goodbye to Kerry and return home.

Stu asleep on the tube

By that time I really felt my age! I was exhausted and only too glad to have the opportunity to sit down in the train. During the train ride back I felt as if I was keeping guard!! Everyone around me was asleep!! Stuart also!! He did not even notice me taking a photo of him as sleeping beauty and only woke up when his cell phone fell from his hand! What however amazed me more was that it seemed as if everyone was asleep but whenever the train stopped, they miraculously woke up at the exact time when they needed to disembark!! I could not figure out how they do that so I just stayed awake to make sure that we got off at the right station LOL!