We are home and here are some final loose ends regarding our travel which I've not reported. The French Air disaster occurred shortly before we were leaving. I felt badly for the people on board and their survivors. It certainly made me a little apprehensive about flying across the ocean from London to Seattle, but the flight on the 747 was without bad weather or incident. On our arrival in Seattle there was a long line to clear immigration as…
Last night we had an early dinner and attended the musical Oliver. It has been running for some long time now with sold out performances. Our seats were in a good location, but like most, if not all of the theaters in London, the seats are worse the coach seats on a cheap commuter airplane because they are very close together and I cannot sit with my knees straight ahead. They had binoculars for rent that are bolted between the seats so that…
We stayed in Glasgow at a delightful hotel, the Hotel du Vin at One Devonshire Gardens. The hotel opened in 1996 along a tree lined street. There were old Victorian town houses in this area and the hotel consists of five of them which have been converted into a single hotel. The interior is true to its history and tastefully done. We exited the train with all of our luggage which has somehow become heavier and larger. The rest of the…
I was able to visit a couple of national art galleries in Edinburgh the morning before we went to the train station. At noon we had a quick meal and then piled into a taxi with all six bags of luggage and a man from the hotel dressed in a kilt. We drove around the corner of the hotel and down into the train station area. It was a very large station with a couple of levels and a glass…
We Caught a three hour Portugal Air flight from Maderia to Gatwick in London. I didn't realize how short the runway is on the island. They have built an extension supported by posts and at the end it drops off with land far below. The plane uses every bit of the runway so it's a little white knuckle experience. After landing it was a travelers endurance experience for us even though we are experienced travelers. We had to go from one terminal…
Our flight from Lisbon to Maderia was easy and the airport is small so that luggage arrived in a short time. However, once more three bags came quickly and the last one did not. After biting my lip and worrying I realized that a black bag that had been circling was actually my red bag. I had been watching for a red bag, but the suitcase was turned over and the back side was totally black so I had missed…
We leave Lisbon this morning for Madeira and the lovely Reid Palace Hotel. Yesterday, Saturday, we explored Lisbon. With a driver we drove the narrow cobblestone roads lined with parked cars bumper to bumper. How they get out with bumper to bumper parking is a mystery. We visited a flea market where I've have never seen so many things I didn't want. Our driver pulled into a parking area where two men tell him it is private and he can't park…
We left Seattle on British Air for London on Wednesday at 10:00 pm. A very late hour for someone who is usually in bed by 9:30. It was a full flight. Who said the airlines are hurting because no one is flying? We then had a four plus hour layover before getting our next flight to Lisbon, Portugal at 8:00 pm and arrive at 10:30 pm. Talk about a long travel day! We will be dead for two days after arrival. We…
I was at Gonzaga a week ago for a class reunion. The Spokane Coeur d’ Alene Living magazine (http://www.spokanecda.com/)had an article by Joe Kamps about James Capone, eldest brother of the notorious Al Capone. In his well written article, Kamps described the life of Chicago’s Al Capone's eldest brother who spent his life in the West under an assumed name. Kamps writes that James Vincenzo Capone was born near Naples, Italy in 1892 as the eldest of the seven boys in…
RBC Ministries publishes a useful daily devotional Our Daily Bread which I enjoy reading each day. On Mother's Day the devotional was entitled "Magnets and Mothers" and described a school teacher who gave her second grade class a test. One of the questions dealt with magnets and read "My name has six letters. The first one is M. I pick up things. What am I?" The teacher was surprised to see that almost fifty percent of the students didn't write "magnet" but, instead…
