Monday April 10

April 10

We are in Cheltenham. Mike and Sheila are looking after us very well, but Mike has to do his work on the computer and send it to New York every day, since his boss thinks he is still in New York, designing subway stations. We have to keep out of Mike's work-room, where we sleep, in the day-time, so that he can work. Except that he is so jet-lagged (he only got back on Sunday) that he falls asleep over his computer.

Anyway, we were encouraged to go to Gloucester (Gloster) today and went there on the bus. At the cathedral we joined a tour of old people (you know - over 70's) and got in with the rector, or....oh, I don't know what he was.....says he carries this bloody big cross at the services....looks like a heavy thing. He said someone carried it at the last coronation. He knows everything about this cathedral and unlocked some tiny doors and took us down underneath where it is damp and smelly. There are huge Norman arches and pillars down there supporting the rest of the cathedral. Back upstairs we were told about the stained glass windows (there are about a million of them) and who made them and who told them to make them and who paid for them, etc, etc, etc.
Then we got to the good part. That is the Harry Potter part. Apparently, they made a lot of the movies in this cathedral. We saw where Harry and Ron hid from the monster troll.....I got a picture of Kathy washing her hand in the lavatoire (no, you naughty people, that's a long stone trough whre the monks used to wash their hands), then another picture of Kathy peeping around a big wooden door with a gargoyle on the other side ( if you look carefully, it is in 5 seconds of one of the movies.....minus Kathy. I can't remember which movie ). I took a photo along one of the cloisters where Harry and his friends were escaping from.....someone? Anyway, you won't recognize it because they flooded it in the movie. Just go see the movies, Nick. I'm sure you will recognize all the places.

After that we went and ate genuine Cornish pasties for lunch. Naturally, since we were in Gloucestershire (Glostershire) many miles from Cornwall they were a bit stale, but nice, though, since they were half-price.

We went back to Cheltenham on a double-decker bus. It took a while to convey to the Italian driver tht we were new to the area and wanted to know the fare, but in sign language we finally got it straight and we paid and went up to the top. We sat in the front seats, which we soon regretted since he drove that double-decker like he was still in Rome. Whoa, those roundabouts can really make those buses sway.

Back in Cheltenham we woke Mike up from work and he took us to rescue his daughter from her place of work in a place called Stroud. Rosie, you will like the next part: Mary had to be rescued because she had lost her car keys in her parents house the day before. They searched everywhere for those keys. It was a great ride through the Cotswold Hills, along narrow lanes and through tiny sandstone villages. When we got back we all searched the house from top to bottom (all four stories - the place is only about fifteen feet wide, but very tall - one mother-in-law lives in the attic, another in the basement). Mike finally suggested that she try the car, only to be ridiculed. "Dad," she said, "don't be silly. The car's still here. Someone would have nicked it by now if I had left the keys in it." He persisted. She reluctantly relented and found the keys in the ignition. She then boldly phoned her boyfriend (who had given her the car) and told him that the keys were found under the cushions in her parents' couch. We will see if he swallowed that story when we see him at the partee at Gibside on Saturday. I can see Kathy blurting out the truth after a couple of ciders and alienating herself from the family forever.

Off to bed, now. We have to go out again tomorrow so that Mike can snooze through some more subway station plans. We might go to Oxford or Stratford for some more culture. Or I'll get a few bitters in and see if there is any footie on the telly. Kathy might not go for that, though.

On Wednesday it is off we go to Newcastle, home of the Geordies and the Newcastle Browns.....some sort of relatives, I understand.

Kathy's back is still acting up a bit, but I think it is just an act, because I am still carrying all the bags

Cheers

Phil and Kathy