So. I'm finally getting round to writing about our brief visit to the United Kingdom last month. We stayed with dear friends who made us as comfortable and welcome as any guest could ever hope to be, and then some. How can we ever forget our gracious hostess bringing us our morning cup of tea to start each day?
We met their sons, their wives, and their grandchildren, all of whom received us with kindness that we can only hope some day to reciprocate. We met friends whom we had not seen since secondary school days in Hong Kong. We shared reminiscences of the sort that only those who have lived together in a unique place during a unique time are able to do. We also met a dear sweet lady who just celebrated her hundred-and-first birthday, the mother of our hostess.
Our host and hostess took us on whirlwind tours over several full and busy days. Though we had been to England twice before, they now showed us places that we had not seen on previous guided tours. We walked in the heart of the City of London, strolled through Cambridge, where our hostess had been schooled, admired old St Alban's Abbey Cathedral, were stirred in the American hangar at the Duxford Imperial War Museum, enjoyed a leisurely boat ride down the Thames to visit the Royal Naval College and Observatory at Greenwich, sampled a nice cuppa at Harrod's, where we also saw the memorial to Diana and Dodi (crystal pyramid, Egyptian motif, a trifle outré to my way of thinking) and indulged ourselves with some pork pies, rediscovered the Underground, went to the theater for Les Misérables, and shopped at the outdoor market in Covent Garden, half expecting to see Eliza Doolittle there among the columns with her basket of violets.
What a perfect week, and among what perfect friends!
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