October 29

I believe I closed my last entry in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I’ve put on a few miles since then. I went to the Anglican Cathedral in Oxford for Sunday worship thinking it would be pipe organs, church bells, long robes, pomp, and pageantry. Wrong!  There was a worship band, contemporary music, and no hymn books. There were tv monitors on the 500 year old marble pillars. The homily was presented by a famous author in a Hawaiian shirt and leather vest. Man, it was a rocking place. After touring Oxford, I boarded the train for Cardiff, Wales. The evening was spent watching NFL football in a pub. The brits were in a festive mood after a World Cup Rugby win. On Monday, I did a walking tour of Cardiff where there is a beautiful promenade along the harbour. I was surprised to see Wales has bilingual signs like we do in Canada. Welsh and English. I have to admit French is easier to decipher than Welsh. The train journey from Cardiff to Liverpool was long and arduous. There was flooding in Wales and power outages in Manchester. The trains carried double the passengers because of cancellations. Seeing Liverpool was worth the journey. Liverpool has an incredible vibe. Music everywhere. The clubs don’t close until 4:00 am. I didn’t sleep much. This morning I toured the harbour area before hopping on the Magical Mystery Tour. Very interesting for a guy who grew up in the sixties listening to the Beatles. In the afternoon, I had a relatively pleasant train ride to Edinburgh, but there was one near glitch. I fell asleep during the first leg of the journey. I would have missed my connection; however, two nice young ladies saw me sleeping so they banged on the windows to waken me. Phew!  It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon for a train ride through the hill country of northwestern England and Southern Scotland. Green grass, Sheep on hillsides. Compact little villages. Stone hedges. Oak trees. Wood lots. Loved the journey.