England, thus far.
Reporting from Lincolnshire, England. A quick blow by blow of the show so far. The convention wound down yesterday and we began our trek north east to stay with TIm and Annie Walker for a day or two. We arrived in England last Wednesday morning and were greeted at the airport by Lissa and off we went to her place. We spent a relaxed kind of day settling in there and the following day we hopped the train into London. Getting off the train at Wterloo station, we met Mary Bertke for a day od sight seeing. We got to Madam Tousaude's and the London Eye. Both of which are run by the Merlin enteratainment group,which happens to own the Sealife aquarium where I am employed. Madam Tousaud's was interesting. It was a lot of glitz and glitter and rather kistchy entertainment for the first bit. I sort of expected that, being that I work for this company. When you got out of the fun and excitement, you turn a corner and come face to face with a few bits of real history that were to say the least fascinating as well as a little disturbing. You come face to face with wax molds of the heads of Marie Antoinette and Louise XVI. Also the guillotine blade that severed the neck of Marie Antoinette. Beyond that was a bit of the history of Madam Toussaud herself. It seemed all very macabre. I have passes to both places so we got on free of charge. On the London Eye, we had a bit of fun looking down the River Thames and seeing all the famous landmarks that have been there forever. The parliment buildings, Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, Charring Cross Station etc. We also poked our heads nto the National Gallery and looked at some history preserved in art. We sampled the local cuisine, fish and chips, bangers and mash, and then some rather nice Indian food for dinner. Toodled around Trafalgar Square for a bit before getting on the train back to Grave's End where we helped fold programs for the upcoming convention.
The convention itself was a blast. All in all, it was relatively small, but what a great time. Before heading for the hotel, we made a stop and looked around the East Anglian Railway Museum, just outside of Colchester. It is interesting to see how very different the railway equipment is in Britain. In NA, there is a lot more distance and more rugged terrain to deal with so trains are much, MUCH larger. They have a refurbished frieght shed, (or 'goods shed') as they call them over here. The carrying capacity of freight cars is considerably less than what we see here. This was one of the smaller railway museums in the country, but the work they are doing there is not to be sneezed at. They are doing some wonderful restoration work there.
We arrived at the hotel intome for 'Cream Tea'. This consisted of six different varieties of tea, and an "Amuse Bouche", which contained an assormtent of local crustaceans in an egg mayonaise. Followed by scones, cakes, tarts, eclairs, and rounded out with a small trifle. My "bouche" was quite "amused".
Then we got to the convention itself which was wonderful. Annie and Lissa really outdid themselves in making this a wonderful time for everyone. I our travels, we have met some of the people out of the UK and it was great to see them on their own turf. We got to see some folks we haven't seen in a very long time. Tim and Annie Walker, Phil and Lissa Alcock, and the ever delightful Talis Kimberly. We also made some new friends as well. My Tape Brother, Steve Macdonald was also attending. We caught up on a whole lot of stuff there. Our first concert on Saturday night was a hit. We certainly had fun performing for them. The following day, we did a finger picking workshop and then did our closing concert just before the UK Guest of honour, Clare Goodal, closed out the con with her wonderful stories and brought in an entire army of musicians and dancers in period Renaissance garb for a tour de force preformance. The weekend rounded out with reluctant good-byes and then we caught a lift with Chris Malme who brought us all the way up to Loncolnshire where we are now. More England to see before we return home on the 17th. We will be heading up to York to see the BIG railway museum in the next day or two.
The convention itself was a blast. All in all, it was relatively small, but what a great time. Before heading for the hotel, we made a stop and looked around the East Anglian Railway Museum, just outside of Colchester. It is interesting to see how very different the railway equipment is in Britain. In NA, there is a lot more distance and more rugged terrain to deal with so trains are much, MUCH larger. They have a refurbished frieght shed, (or 'goods shed') as they call them over here. The carrying capacity of freight cars is considerably less than what we see here. This was one of the smaller railway museums in the country, but the work they are doing there is not to be sneezed at. They are doing some wonderful restoration work there.
We arrived at the hotel intome for 'Cream Tea'. This consisted of six different varieties of tea, and an "Amuse Bouche", which contained an assormtent of local crustaceans in an egg mayonaise. Followed by scones, cakes, tarts, eclairs, and rounded out with a small trifle. My "bouche" was quite "amused".
Then we got to the convention itself which was wonderful. Annie and Lissa really outdid themselves in making this a wonderful time for everyone. I our travels, we have met some of the people out of the UK and it was great to see them on their own turf. We got to see some folks we haven't seen in a very long time. Tim and Annie Walker, Phil and Lissa Alcock, and the ever delightful Talis Kimberly. We also made some new friends as well. My Tape Brother, Steve Macdonald was also attending. We caught up on a whole lot of stuff there. Our first concert on Saturday night was a hit. We certainly had fun performing for them. The following day, we did a finger picking workshop and then did our closing concert just before the UK Guest of honour, Clare Goodal, closed out the con with her wonderful stories and brought in an entire army of musicians and dancers in period Renaissance garb for a tour de force preformance. The weekend rounded out with reluctant good-byes and then we caught a lift with Chris Malme who brought us all the way up to Loncolnshire where we are now. More England to see before we return home on the 17th. We will be heading up to York to see the BIG railway museum in the next day or two.