Back to the west

Getting off the plane in London is almost like being home.  We understand the English (almost always) and recognize the food.  The coffee is very good, and even though we've gotten used to having tea much of the time, we do still like our coffee in the morning.  So, we are pleased to see some coffee shops and the sane traffic as we exit the plane.

Our friends Terry and Ann have a home a few hours away from London, so they meet us at Stansted Airport (we get there via a very efficient and modern bus system) and bring us home.

living room and fire place--warm and cozy

They have a beautiful cottage that was built in the 1500's and which Terry is to be congratulated on for modernizing the conveniences while keeping the original house in its historical shape.  Ann is an artist, so she is the decorator par excellence.  She has many Persian and Turkish carpets on the hand-made terracotta tile floor and original art pieces on the walls.  Our bedroom is dressed in white with white plaster and old timbers with a delicate sea green trim around the doors and windows.  Black wrought iron fixtures complete the look which would fit in any fancy home magazine.

bedroom door

Terry and Ann's cottage--in the sunshine

They take us to Cambridge one day where we enjoy coffee, visit King's college and some of the colleges their children and grandchildren attended as well as enjoy just strolling the streets of the city.  We also go to Bury St. Edmunds where we visit a farmers' market and see the town with its old and new church and have lunch at The Great House in Levenhan.  The old half-timbered houses-cum-stores, colored with different pastels, lean on each other like tired soldiers.  Such a typical English view-just like a page in a storybook.

King's College, Cambridge

Keys College

downtown Levenhan--pretty cute

We wake up to snow, and because the weather is pretty nasty, we aren't going to the coast as planned.  But we enjoy ourselves visiting nearby sites and indulging in the delicious meals Ann plans and cooks for us.  Their little village is full of cute bungalows and cottages, and the church, circa 1086, is pretty spectacular, especially for a small village.  Mary Tudor, sister of Henry VIII, was a member of this church and her entrails were buried here when she died in 1533 (the rest of her was interred in the abbey of Bury St. Edmunds).  She lived in the manor house, about a block from Terry and Ann's house, and the old bridge and moat are still there.

pork pies at farmers' market

the 700-year-old bridge

We walk in the snow to these historical places, enjoying the fresh, crisp air, but we have a 9 hour flight tomorrow and are looking forward to seeing our US family and friends.  We bid farewell to our English friends and start for home, still thinking about India and all we saw and learned there.  Our reflections will follow (for what they're worth).

Terry & Ann's cottage in snow

    

at farmers' market