A Rich Week in London - by Laurie

We saved the best for last...our earlier travels were always a prelude to visiting my cousin Bonney in London. Bonney and Jeff moved here about 40 years ago after meeting in a youth hostel and hitchhiking through Europe for a couple of years. Their three daughters--Julia, Debbie, and Amy--live in nearby London communities. We don't see the cousins often but there is a strong bond and much pleasure when we get together in person. It is very special to be with family and share fond memories.

We have been staying with Bonney and Jeff now for almost a week (!) with exciting activities planned every day. Although it will probably bore everyone else, I'm going to go into some detail about our time here because this is my record of this trip and I don't want to forget any of it.

The first day in London we went into town (from Loughton) to South Kensington where Dale and I spent a couple of happy hours at the Darwin Centre of the London Museum of Natural History to check it out before our important appointment the next day. We also walked a little in Kew Gardens, thinking it was Hyde Park (getting lost is something we do well). Then we met up with Amy for a long walk along the canal and a look at East London and the changes that had occurred there for the recent Olympic Games. We ended up with a lovely pub dinner next to the Thames.

Then our big day, an opportunity to go behind the scenes at the London Museum of Natural History with Mark Spencer, a curator and college friend of Debbie's. Dale and I had been looking forward to this tour ever since Debbie suggested it but it still surpassed any expectations we could have had.

We started off the day at the Victoria and Albert Museum, just because it was nearby and looked interesting. It was, but we couldn't concentrate because of our big treat coming up. In the afternoon Bonney, Jeff, and Debbie joined us at the Natural History Museum for the tour with Mark. Mark began by apologizing that he was busy so the tour would have to be short, then spent about 2 hours showing us back rooms and answering countless questions. The high point was the Sir Hans Sloane (1660-1773) herbarium collection (watch the video about this remarkable man), with specially made shelves for the entire collection of bound volumes of specimens plus scores of drawers with other plant materials and treasures. I kept hearing Dale gasp as Mark opened botanical books that were incredibly rare. One had pages signed by Linneaus. There were volumes with amazing plant illustrations as well as pressed botanical specimens. Many of these books have not yet been studied and will yield vital information about the world 400 years ago as well as how our present world has changed. Some of these volumes need extensive restoration--one extremely valuable volume was falling apart and needs a benefactor to donate £50,000 to preserve this precious treasure. Any philanthropists out there?

Mark pulled out priceless volumes (carefully) from Sir Hans Sloane's lifetime collection. Each of the shelves was specially made for the volume it held.

This volume had illustrations AND the corresponding specimens.

The rest of our London time should have been an anticlimax to this, but it's continued to be wonderfully rich and exciting. I spent the day after our museum tour with Bonney (Dale went into town to have his own adventures). It was a cake day for us. We walked into Loughton for coffee and cakes, then to the Olympic Park for tea and cakes, then wandered around. We discovered an interesting artist enclave with great graffiti and a pink sewer tank (for the Olympic Games) surrounded by a wall with subtle etchings. Then on to John Lewis for tea and cakes. We ended with a bus ride to Amy's house, then walked to a Moroccan restaurant where we met up with Debbie and Lisa, Jeff, and Dale. More great food! And belly dancing. Altogether full day in every sense.

Bonney with etched sewer walls created for the Olympics.

The next day Julia picked us up to visit Cambridge where she used to work. What an amazing city! I'd love to spend several weeks exploring it. As it was we got just a taste of the many colleges and beautiful streets. Lots of bicycles too. After Cambridge it was on to Saffron Walden, a charming town where we had lunch at Cross Keys, a very old pub. Julia was in the midst of a huge work project but still took the time to show us around--we loved the opportunity to spend the day with her.

Sunday is brunch time at the Gold residence. We slept in and then Amy, Debbie, and Lisa came over for beigels (like bagels but better) and eggs, bacon, and other goodies. After lunch Jeff took Dale and me to nearby Epping Forest, an amazing ancient forest. I'm getting tired of writing so you'll have to follow the link to learn more. It's well worth it.

Pollarded trees and Jeff and Dale at Epping Forest.

Now it's Monday. We got up early and Bonney, Dale, and I took the tube, then the train to the Cotswolds, an area that appears to be the quintessential England. I'll write about that next.