The Retirement Project: Winding Down

Harry flew out early Saturday morning, leaving Robert and me a little bit envious that we were not going home with him. Robert was especially anxious to get back after being gone for 3 months, and I was a bit worn down by the pace we were keeping. However, we decided to hang in there and give it our best shot for the the last three days.

Robert was anxious for me to meet Margaret and Keith, the couple he roomed with for the second half of the summer in their flat near the Tower of London, as well as to touch base with them and thank them for their hospitality. They were staying at their summer home at Stratford-Upon-Avon and had asked us to come out and have lunch with them while we were traveling.

We decided go there on Sunday, August 13, and turned out making a full day of it. The train took us to Birmingham, where we had to navigate our way across town from New Street Station to Moor Station to catch a connecting train. We noticed a strong police presence as we deboarded, and guessed it was due to the earlier rioting that had broken out in the city. As we made our way toward Moor Station, which was on the opposite end of the commercial district called the Bullring, we felt a bit unsure of ourselves and quickened our pace as we tried to take in the sites and snap a few pictures along the way. At the only fork along the route, we went right when we should have gone left, and added about 30 minutes to our walk. We finally made the connection and arrived at Stratford-upon- Avon, which is a quaint, picturesque Elizabethan village that gives one the feeling of travelling back 400 years in time.

We shared a delightful lunch with Margaret and Keith, at Carluccio's, their favorite Italian restaurant located on the Avon River, in the shadow of the Shakespeare theater and Holy Trinity Church where Shakespeare is buried. Keith works for the government and is in charge of the public charging stations for electrical cars that are a part of a large grant to reduce oil dependency and provide alternative energy sources in the UK. Margaret is a retired educator who enjoys cooking and entertaining, and volunteering at the church. Both of them are long time and devoted members of Bloomsbury Baptist Church, which they talked about with pride and great enthusiasm. They also appeared to be extremely devoted to Robert, which immediately increased their stock with me.

After lunch and farewells, Robert and I walked around the village before we headed back to catch the 5:00 p.m. train to London, chiding ourselves all the way that we did not get pictures with Margaret and Keith before we said our goodbyes.

The trip back was much easier than the one going over. We caught the express train this time and made the connection from Moor to New Street Station in less than 10 minutes. On the ride out of Birmingham, we sat across from 3 young men who were obviously in a party mood. One was dressed as Elvis Pressly, one as Pancho Villa, and the other was not wearing a discernible costume but was so full of himself that he did not need to.

I stifled my curiosity as long as I could, and finally asked Pancho Villa why they were celebrating. He explained that they had just been to a cricket match where England had beaten India to become the winners in what might be the equivalent of our World Series in baseball. I congratulated them but was still confused about the significance of the Pancho Villa and Elvis costumes. Were these mascots or something of the like? "Oh, no," he replied. "It's just a part of the festivity to dress up for these matches." I settled back in my seat, and closed my eyes, exhausted from the day's travel. Surrounded by the camaraderie and happy noise of fans rejoicing over their victory, I felt the warmth of familiarity and security. Except for the fact that I was 3000 miles from home, I could easily have opened my eyes to find myself in the midst of a bunch of Braves or Panther fans celebrating a win. Cricket, baseball, football, whatever the sport: team spirit is universal.

We ended the day with dinner at a nice British restaurant, recommended by the concierge at the hotel. Robert had invited Shelley Stillerman's brother John to join us, and it was wonderful to see him again and to talk with someone connected to family and home. John, an attorney with Wells Fargo, had arrived about the same Robert arrived at Bloomsbury, to work on a six month project in the company's London office before returning to his home base in Charlotte. We were chatting about the recent events in London and he told us about an eerie experience he had the previous week, while we were in Scotland.

John's attention had pretty much been consumed by the process of getting settled in his new surroundings, and he had not followed the news about the riots in detail. One night, he worked extra late before he took the Tube back to his flat, which is above a restaurant across town from his office. He was surprised to find that several of the Tube stops were temporarily closed due to nearby disturbances, and he had to take a detour from his usual route, which was still somewhat new to him. As he crossed from the station into his neighborhood that was normally brightly lit and teeming with night life, he found the streets deserted and the store fronts dark and abandoned. He hurried on to his flat and was relieved when he got there safely and without incident. Later, he found out that the merchants had taken everything out of their display windows and shut their places of business down before dark, as a precaution against the looting and vandalism that had taken place in other neighborhoods. It was a similar story to the one we heard from John, the volunteer at Bloomsbury several days earlier.

The Selfriges Building in Birmingham--a most unusual piece of architecture which dominates the down town, or Bullring, as it is referred to by locals.