After the birthday celebrations, things quited down a bit. We had a few days remaining before going to Germany, and this was the bulk of our time with Pat here. One of the days, we spent moslty in Hyde Park. We had been there at Christmastime, when there was a large and noisy Christmas fair in the park. So, for me, it was pleasant to see it in more pastoral times. For those who don't know, it is a large central park in London, just blocks from Buckingham Palace and Westminster, but miles away in temperament. There is a large "Serpentine" lake, with paddleboats and rowboats (and, in a move to modernity, a solar-powered boat). Lots of green space, several coffee stalls as well as a few restaurants, and some wonderful plantings. You could almost forget you were in the middle of a large city. We had a lunch in one of the restaurants, walked a bit, read a bit, and fell asleep on the grass.
Getting home was a challenge. We of course left it late, so were leaving the park at rush hour. and the raffic was terrifying: swift, voluminous, jammed with buses, cars and bicycles—all of which seemed intent on getting as close as possible to the surrounding vehicles. I don't ever want to drive in this city! Lots of discussion and consulting of maps, but eventually we got home with minimal confrontation among us. A very pleasant day with our son.
On the other day, we walked along the Thames, from here at Dan's place to the Tate Modern, which is housed in an old power plant, converted to a vast warehouse of a place to house modern art. Not my cup of tea exactly, but nice to have seen. And the weather was good for a walk along the water.
Thursday was our journey to visit our nephew Ben, his wife Jutta, and their children Jason and Dylan (8 and 6 yrs old). Dan had arranged for a cab to get us to the station. The cab driver was a man in his sixties, still driving because he likes it. And his radio was tuned to classical music. A nice change from the rock we usually get. Then we caught the train to Gatwick, and got onto the plane for the two-hour flight to Munich. We don't have the kind of cheap airlines that they have in Europe: here you can't recline your seats, the headrests are fixed, the legroom is below minimal, and every bit of food or drink is charged for. On top of this, you get asked a few times during the flight if you wish to buy things from their store. Again, not to my liking, but at least it was relatively cheap. And Ben was there at the airport to meet us after going through immigration (a rather perfunctory process). Shortly, we were in the quiet town of Eichenau, where they live in a very nice house mostly in the country.
We got a warm reception from Jutta, and eventually saw the boys as they arrived home from School. Sat outside eating in the forested area behind their house, enjoying the sounds of the birds, but not the buzzing of the mosquitoes.
Our next two days were a wonderful belnd of activity and talks, sitting, walking, eating, playing with the kids (chess and badminton, as well as other board and card games). It was easy, comfortable, friendly. We felt really welcomed and accepted. We spent Saturday on a trip to the Ammersee, a large lake, had a ferry ride to a small town, then walked about five kilometres back to our starting place for a lunch under the trees with water before us.
Then back home to Eichenau. It was a special day also for Ben and Jutta, as this was to be the first time ever that Dylan had slept away from home (in this case, he was on a sleepover to mark the end of the kindergarten school year). So some excitement/anxiety as a result. However, Jason rose to the occasion, and kept us all busy through the evening—a pleasant one in the back yard. Jason took me on at chess and handily beat the pants off me.
Of course, at the other end of Dylan's sleepover, there was also excitement. Dylan came home, dramatically announcing that he had slept only two hours, and being often grumpy (not surprisingly). His natural good humour was still there, and was pretty easily coaxed out of him by Ben or Jutta. And even though he did not sleep, he managed to get through the day—a day where we walked through the enighbouring forest to see the shelters that had been set up, walked over to a stone labyrinth, and then home through a gentle rain. Badminton and trampoline were next. A brief supper, and it was off to the airport, for a return flight. We knew we would be late, but it turned out that we missed our train on the London end, and got into Setchell Road about 1 AM. We wanted to see Pat before he headed back to Victoria (which he was set to do the following day). So we woke as well at 6AM to see him off, then returned to bed for an additional four hours sleep.
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