Friends Forever

There are days that it strikes me just how unpredictable life can be. Saturday/Sunday would mark some of those.

We met Scott and Susan in Indianapolis, after they transferred from Minneapolis, MN. And we attended the same church for about 6 years. We moved away in Nov. 2005 to Antioch, IL (Scott had transferred to Phoenix earlier that year, I think May) and Susan and their two children joined Scott in Phoenix the following Spring.

I had visited a few times with them in Phoenix: once with a mutual friend, Margaret, once with Evangeline and once with Tim. I miss Susan.

Last year, Scott transferred to Abu Dhabi! With that move, I seriously thought it likely I'd not see them again unless they moved back to the States.

When planning this trip with Tim, Susan contacted me about the possibility of she and Scott meeting up with us. How cool is that!? We'd hoped for a meetup in Edinburgh, but it couldn't happen, so they joined us here in Oxford. We were able to visit for a little over an hour on Saturday night and then enjoyed fellowship, some self-walking tour, a short visit to the Ashmolean Museum and lunch at Eagle & Child.

One of the many things I love about these two is that it truly doesn't matter how long it's been since we've seen one another. Our conversation picks right up, we update each other on our families and where we are in life, we joke and laugh, and it seems as though we haven't been apart. Time is always too short when we do get to see them, but that's ok too. There are few expectations because we're all aware and accepting of it.

Until next time, perhaps in Abu Dhabi? Here are a few pics from our day together.

 

Memorials

Memorials are necessary. They are unique.

Many people look at some memorials as beautiful works of art. Many look at some memorials and wonder why they were even created. And many look at memorials and cry.

These can be tears of joy, remembering the good things invoked by the one being remembered. These can be tears of sorrow for the atrocities others had to endure.

When I say that memorials are necessary, it is to remind us that if we don't look to the past, how can we look to the future? If we don't think on the atrocities others have had to endure, then how can we possibly grasp the significance or desire to help end suffering for those around us now?

And when I say that memorials are unique, it's to say that I believe each one (even if similar in design or construction) has a unique relationship transaction that has caused someone or some group to commission it's creation.

We can look at memorials when we travel or in our own home towns and simply admire (or not) the artfulness of it. But, there are those that you will come across that in some way move you, intellectually, emotionally, religiously, etc. And you might not be prepared for that moment. This latter was my experience on our last morning in Budapest this past Saturday.

Last year, I had hoped to locate and view and take pictures of The Shoes on the Danube Bank memorial. With the tour bus, and with the walking trips I took, I never found it only to realize on our return this year that on two different occasions last year, I was only about 5 minutes away from it.

This year, I was determined to see it. But, I didn't see it until our last day there. This was not an emotional decision, rather purely a physical one. The full day we had to tour together, I was too tired and achy by the time we would have walked to it. And Tim didn't have any more free day time until our last morning, so I waited to go when he could go too.

Along our walk to it, we were talking and laughing, enjoying our time together. As we arrived upon the memorial the crowd along it was large and a bit claustrophobic and all I could think of was sitting for a couple of minutes to gather my energy to "deal" with the large crowd of strangers, all just wanting their chance to get close enough for a tourist picture. Then a small gap opened in front of me and what I saw was nothing spectacular in it's physical form, but something that attacked my emotions in a tangible way. There, just 8 feet away from me where 5 bronze shoes, part of the memorial that lines a 20 foot section of the Danube bank on the Pest side near the Parliament building, with 60 pairs of shoes in total.

Two men shoes, two women shoes and 1 baby shoe. As I stood to join the throng of tourists, I was thinking, "surely not the babies too", but yes, the babies too. As my mind struggles to grasp this, my eyes are telling me it must be true. As I search on my phone to find out, I dread what will show up for me to read and to my dismay, I find that this memorial is just a small representation of the atrocities that occurred in Hungary during World War II.

They estimate 3500 were killed along the Danube, forced to strip naked and remove their shoes before being shot in the back at close range so that their bodies would fall into the river and be washed away so that the soldiers wouldn't have to dig to bury them. They had to strip and especially remove their shoes because they could sell the clothes and shoes and make extra money.

As everyone else, we did take our pictures, but unlike most as we walked away we found the nearest bench (but not the one that is part of the memorial) to sit and reflect. We needed to. I couldn't have continued walking at that moment. Not because of being tired or achy, but rather because my mind couldn't communicate to my feet to carry me any further until it had processed what I'd just seen and read. I think Tim may have been feeling similarly.

In my just-under-50 years, I've experience loss and some of it tragic. But, I've experience nothing like these people just 70 years ago experienced. Mothers and Fathers removing their children's clothing and shoes, then their own, knowing all the while that they and their children and going to be killed for no other reason than their heritage.

This memorial is a reminder to me to be grateful for each day, each freedom I have, my children, my husband, my family and friends whom I have many opportunities to fellowship with, laugh with, cry with and share memories with. This memorial is sobering and thought-provoking. But as I think back on it, I realize it is also a reminder of the promise that the atrocities of this world do not have the final say. This memorial reminds me that we have hope and grace and nothing in this fallen world can take those away.

Better Together

Tim and I arrived in Budapest yesterday (Sunday) afternoon. Our month of travel is more than half finished. And I'm so glad that part of it is here. This city is so beautiful, not full of newer buildings or much of anything newer, but it is beautiful in it's architecture and scenery.

We walked a lot today. It's Tim's only full day to sightsee here, so we made the most of it and still allow him some prep time for work.

I'll try to take you along on our journey:

Step out of the hotel and turn right onto the stone road/walk-ways and stroll to the corner, past the Inner City Parish Church, founded in 1046. Cross the street and turn right to stroll along the Promenade along the Danube. Along the way, we pass the Girl with Dog statue, the Fairy Boy statue, the Sidewalk Painter statue to arrive at the Chain Bridge. 

Turn left and walk across the bridge, being sure to glance (if you're not afraid of bridges) out at the river views (scared or not, they are beautiful) and to the other side to see the Budapest Castle. 

Once across the bridge, we walked to a little food stand and bought a Chimney Cake and sat at the base of the Palace to enjoy it. We then waited in line for about 5 minutes for the opportunity ride the Funicular up to the top level of the Budapest Castle grounds. About 5 minutes after arriving at the top, to our surprise we were witness to Changing of the Guards for the Sandor Palace (next to the Castle). I did capture it on video. 

After taking in the sights of the Castle, it's gardens and gate, we strolled along the rear of the Palace to see the ruins of something behind the Palace. There was a Magpie in the ruins that was squawking up quite a racket because a cat was invading his space. 

We then walked along through Castle Hill, making our way to St. Matthias Church by way of the Statue of Independence War and next to the Holy Trinity Statue. St. Matthias Church is stunning architecture and add to that has a mosaic tiled roof. 

Behind St. Matthias lies Fisherman's Bastion, a fort-like terrace with seven towers providing panoramic views of the Pest side of the city and especially the Parliament building.

After spending some time here, we began our trek back to our hotel. We opted to descend the stairs at the river side of Fisherman's Bastion. Yeah. We descended in total over 100 steps as well as walking down hills to make it to the river. Then continued our journey along the river back to the Chain Bridge to walk back to the Pest side and to the Budapest Marriott and take a break in the Executive lounge there. 

There are perks to being a Marriott Platinum member. Snacks, beverages a nice lounge area with incredible views. After a nice respite, we returned to our hotel (we are staying in a different Marriott, but have use of the Executive lounge of the others). 

I looked it up and our straight path was 4.26 miles. This does not count the walking around at each point of interest. My legs were like jelly a couple of times during our journey, but I made it. 

Throughout our little jaunt today, the one thing that stayed for-front in my mind was this, "I'm so glad that we're together. It seems more beautiful and is more fun because Tim is with me." We are definitely better together. Well, at least I'm better when he's with me. 

"Parting is such sweet sorrow"

Leaving Edinburgh today. I've truly enjoyed spending two weeks here and getting to know this city a bit better. It is dotted with the new amongst all of the old, and the old are my favorite parts. The gothic and victorian architecture are certainly spectacular sights to behold.

Yesterday was my last full day and I opted to use the Hop On, Hop Off tour bus to get to more locations in the city to see more of it before leaving. Even when riding through areas I've already walked in, it would afford a new perspective/view of the area; this I didn't expect.

There was a little rain yesterday afternoon, but it was not a deterrent to exploring (and shopping) yesterday. In a way, it was comforting to finally get the full Scotland experience.

Final note about leaving Edinburgh today: this past week I've spent it alone while Tim traveled to Beijing, China for work. I've enjoyed this time, but I will be so glad to reconnect with him in London today and spend these last two weeks of travel together. Life is just better together. Here are a few pics of yesterday to enjoy if you have an extra minute.

Stirling, Loch Lomond and More

Come along with me to Stirling Castle and Loch Lomond and see what I've seen!

Our journey begins in Edinburgh, winding through the streets of town out to the highway, passing old buildings and new buildings, old chapels and new churches as well as a small castle or two. The drive to Stirling takes about an hour. And while you think it's just a highway drive, let me share with you some highway scenery:

A few minutes past the Kelties Horses, we arrive in Stirling and a short drive up through town to Stirling Castle. Walk with me:

 

 
 

 Stirling Castle was a royal stronghold, a beautiful palace and a regimental garrison. Stirling was once the capital of Scotland until King James III died and King James IV made Edinburgh the Capital of Scotland. The story is the James IV was party to the death of his father and moved to Edinburgh due to his guilty conscious.

From Stirling we traveled on to Loch Lomond, "The bonnie, bonnie banks of Loch Lomond". It is a beautiful area of Scotland. We saw wild goats along the way, listened to some beautiful bagpipe and classical music as we passed other lochs. And arrived at Loch Lomond with an almost an hour to visit:

After some climbing around, a little hike and some time just "taking it all in", we began our return to Edinburgh. This is when the rain started. In Scotland, rain is the "norm", but for Tim and I, on both trips here, it has been rare. Yes, it's been overcast a lot, but we've seen very little rain here. Until now. It rained a nice, steady patter for a little over an hour and then stopped again. No more rain the remainder of the evening.

Our journey for today is done, back to the hotel for some supper and rest. Join me again in a couple of days for another journey?

Legacy

Today was tour day. I paid for a small-group tour of the Scottish Borders, ruins of Melrose Abbey, Village of Melrose and Rosslyn Chapel, and Rosslyn Castle ruins.

To start, Gill (Gillian) was our guide/driver and so much fun! And she knows her history, when to be serious and when and how to be funny in her story-telling.

We started the day with a drive to Melrose, Scotland, which included a couple little stops along the way for a vista point for viewing the Eildon Hills and to see the William Wallace statue.

From there, it was only a 5-minute drive into Melrose where we had about 90 minutes to explore. Melrose Abbey ruins were definitely a must for me and we had just learned the history of Robert the Bruce and that his heart is buried at Melrose Abbey. Look up the story of why only his heart is buried there - it's quite interesting.

The ruins are...exactly that, ruins. However, it is easy to fall into imagination here. While walking around, it was easy to imagine what the entire structure looked like when in it's full glory. The grounds are impeccably maintained, but time has taken it's toll on the building and the cemetery headstones. Even so, I had no difficulty imagining what it looked like hundreds of years ago.

After touring the Abbey, I spent the rest of my allotted time walking through the little town/village. "Quaint" is the term that always comes to mind when in a town/village in Scotland. Even when in Edinburgh itself, I think of it as "quaint". But, I realize now that while this term is appropriate, another is appropriate as well; tranquil. I've mostly associated this term with being alone, but it's not. It means, 'free from disturbance', and these little villages seem to be just that. Oh, don't get me wrong, the people are friendly and warm, but they don't "intrude" or make a nuisance of themselves. They are respectful.

Anyway, on to Roslin! The views along the way are fantastic. The sun has come out, fully, shining on the leaves of the trees and making them almost sparkle! We arrive at Rosslyn Chapel and I'm amazed once again. The foundation was laid in 1446, it's design was supposed to be for a cathedral which would have been on par with St. Giles in Edinburgh, but Sir William (the man who commissioned it to be built) died before it's completion. Upon his death in 1484, his son had it finish at the size it was at that time and it was completed in 1486. This building was a Catholic Church before the reformation, at which time it was illegal to practice Catholicism and the altars were removed and destroyed. Over the years it has been used as a chapel, a prayer house, a stable and simply left abandoned. During all of this time, there had not been any windows added and as you can imagine with the Scottish weather, lots of rain made it to the interior. Long story short, Sir William was part of the St. Clair family and this family is still in ownership today. It has been restored and has also returned to being used as an Episcopalian Chapel with regular service times.

At the end of our journey through this tranquil land, I return to my hotel room thinking, "with all the history there is surrounding us, and all the history that is to come, we are only what we leave behind. Choose wisely what your legacy will be Libby."

Unexpected Walk

I stayed close to our hotel yesterday and didn't take any photos. That changed today.

After a night of little sleep, and a morning nap I headed out this afternoon for a walk, of course taking Minion with me.

Following the GPS to a pre-chosen location (for a specific Christmas gift), the walking commenced. Expecting a little less than a mile each way, there was no concern. After walking for a full mile, I realized...to my leg's dismay...I still had almost 1/2 mile to go. And then to walk back as well. Oh boy.

Found the shop (at this time, can't reveal what it is - for fear of revealing the gift), did a little shopping and had a short rest in the shop's cafe. Time for the trek back to the hotel - certainly not going anywhere else today (my sore legs just wouldn't take it).

On the return, I chose a different route, which turned out to be closer to a mile than the previous one and provided a walk through a lovely residential neighborhood, as well as through the university grounds. I love the architecture here! Here are a few pics of my return walk, enjoy.

Travel - the hard-knock life

Starting from the time we boarded the airplane, our journey began at 6:10pm on Sunday, October 2, 2016.  Seated together, in an exit row with lots of leg room (in very narrow seats), we're ready to go!

The flight was uneventful and smooth (which is high praise from a girl that doesn't like to fly), though uncomfortable. Dinner was tasty and service impeccable. While sleeping on airplanes has always been difficult, this one in particular was tough because of a new pain that I've not had to deal with when flying before. I guess it's sciatic, but not sure. What I am sure of is that it cause sitting to be very painful. Period. But, what do you do on an airplane? You sit. And sit. And sit some more. When I could, I would stand up and walk in place or at least bend enough to get some movement in my hip. Movement seemed to help a bit.

Finally, we arrive in London and then I got all (and more) the movement I could want! We walked, and walked and walked some more only to find out we had more walking to do to get to customs. BTW, London has this customs thing organized! The line was long, but it still only took about 20 minutes to get through it.

We then walked some more to get to baggage and out to locate our driver, ready to take us to the city and train station. This ride is normally about 45 minutes, except during the morning work commute. Monday, it took almost 90 minutes and yes, we did miss our scheduled train. However, in 10 minutes there is another one leaving for Edinburgh. Thinking we'd miss it and have to wait longer, we get in line to exchange our tickets and the agent just asked why we missed our scheduled one, added a statement to our tickets and sent us to get on the one leaving (at this point) in less than 5 minutes. We made it!

Wow. What a day already, right? It gets better. The train departs, on time, and we settle in for the next 5 hours. We'd both like to nap a little, but it proves almost as uncomfortable as the airplane. Though we doze a little, we can't sleep. Then about 2 1/2 hours into the journey, something magical happens: the terrain changes from flat farmland to rolling hills and lakes and then coastline with little villages dotting along and golf courses that reach right to cliff edges. Train bridges that are storybook beautiful and architecture straight out of Robin Hood stories. 

That last 90 minutes of the ride was the best 90 minutes of the entire travel experience to get to Edinburgh! And yes, I'd go through all of the discomfort to see those sights again! 

Here is a little taste of what we had the opportunity to see (which we wouldn't have seen had we taken a puddle-jumper flight from London-Edinburgh).