We did, however, go on the 'fortnightly food shop' at a fantastic supermarket called "Waitrose". It's a bit on the upscale side, with a lot of organic produce and specialty items. I just went on their Web site and discovered the company has a Royal Warrant--meaning, they supply food and other items to the Royal Family. In the course of our shopping excursion, I noticed foodstuffs from the Duchy of Cornwall,--and Prince Charles is also, among his other titles, Duke of Cornwall. He's very much into organic farming, so all the food I saw was natural and organic, with no preservatives or artificial stuff.
What was really lovely about Waitrose was it was not very crowded, even on a Sunday morning. And it was blessedly free of any sort of piped-in music! It was just the sound of shopping trolleys and low chatter amongst customers. A wonderful change from the usual annoying Muzak atmosphere in US stores!!
I was fascinated by the sorts of foods available in Waitrose: a lot of regional specialties and British favorites, like 'treacle tart'--which Pat bought for our Sunday lunch. While browsing the shelves, I came across some items with the characters Wallace and Gromit on them; they are very popular in the UK, created by a Brit named Nick Park. Wallace is a Wensleydale cheese-loving aspiring inventor, and Gromit is his dog (and sensible 'silent partner'). I almost squealed with delight, when I saw "Wallace's Double Chocolate-Chip Muffin Kit"--and Nick and Pat bought it for me! I decided to get it for my sister and brother-in-law back home, who are huge Wallace and Gromit fans.
Nick and Pat paid for their purchases, and we trundled off to the car, and put them in the boot. Then we were off for a short trip up into the Malvern Hills: a 'beauty spot' high above Worcester, and not far from the Welsh border. Many of the towns in the Hills have "Malvern" in them: "Little Malvern", "Great Malvern", etc.. A lot of aflluent Brits own second homes in the Malvern Hills, and many of them looked like small Italian villas.
We also saw one lovely old manor house, called Madresfield Court, that Nick and Pat said was author Evelyn Waugh's inspiration for his novel Brideshead Revisited! I wish I'd gotten a photo of it now. The photo of the manor house above isn't mine. It's from Wikipedia.
I did get a glance of how high the Malverns are: I'd say they were about 2000 feet or so, and they tower over the valley to the west. The road is twisting and a bit narrow as you go up to one of the high points, and I still can't get used to the fact the British drive on the left side of the road. It's a little unnerving for the first-time visitor!
The Malvern Hills also have lots of springs, and Her Majesty the Queen gets her bottled water from these Hills, and the locals also take advantage of the spring water too. I had some of this water in my London hotel, and it's very refreshing.
Eventually, we made our way back home to Worcester, where I helped Nick and Pat get the grocery bags out of the boot. Soon it was time for that wonderful British tradition, the Sunday lunch. Pat prepared homemade chicken soup, baked ham with roasted potatoes, and creamed zucchini, with the Waitrose treacle tart with cream for dessert. And again, we chatted away about various and sundry subjects! One subject Nick brought up was the differing proportions of casualties between the two World Wars. In the First, there were more Infantry casualties. But, due to the air war against civilians in the Second, there were more non-military casualties. Something I never considered before!
We then cleared the lunch table (Pat placed most of the dishes in the dishwasher), and then removed ourselves to the front parlor, where the Beechings perused the Sunday Telegraph. I joined them in a few minutes, after gazing through the shelves in their library. LOTS of books to choose from; it was hard to make a decision! Eventually, I settled on a biography of French Marshal Philippe Petain, First World War hero, and Vichy French leader in the Second World War. It was a quiet and peaceful way to spend Sunday afternoon: so quiet, in fact, that I fell asleep in my chair!
As dusk fell, Nick turned on the TV to watch the cricket results (he's a HUGE cricket fan) and the ITN news, before we tuned into the Results Show of Strictly Come Dancing--the UK's version of our Dancing With the Stars. Come to think of it: I believe the US version was inspired by the UK one! Nick and Pat are huge fans of the show; participants this time included actress Felicity Kendal, and a former MP named Ann Widdecombe (who wasn't the least bit svelte at all!). Both ladies made it to the next round. It's a rather campy show, and good for a laugh!
After SCD, we watched Antiques Roadshow, and this week's episode came from the British Museum in London. One of the items being appraised this week was a series of photographs taken at the 1943 Teheran Conference between the Big Three: Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt, and Soviet leader Joseph Stalin--and it included a thank-you note signed by Mr. Churchill. Also appraised were inlaid tables, painted miniatures--and a ring once owned by Hungarian Jews before WW2, which had been buried by the owners before they were taken to Auschwitz and murdered by the Nazis in 1944. It was a beautiful ring inlaid with rubies and diamonds.
The amazing thing about this documentary was the aerial view over the Belgian town of Ypres, site of three separate and lengthy campaigns in the First World War. This aerial footage was shot a year after the Armistice. Ypres itself was completely destroyed by the Germans: its beautiful medieval Cloth Hall, and nearby St Martin's Cathedral, were totally obliterated as landmarks.
Another, very moving, thing was the backstory: the pilot (whose name I can't remember, sadly) joined the French Resistance, along with his wife, in the Second World War. Sadly, he was betrayed, captured, tortured and shot, as was his wife--after being forced to dig their own graves. They left a small daughter, who was hidden away after their deaths. The program's presenter, Fergal Keane, met the now-grown daughter in France, and showed her the film her father had helped create: she saw him turn towards the cameraman and smile. The daughter began to cry, and she felt that her father had come back to life for her. And that smile was for her. It was hard not to be moved by such a story....
Mr Keane also talked with several First World War historians as he walked through a re-created trench line in Belgium, and braved a ride in a vintage wartime biplane over the Western Front. He definitely held on for dear life! He also visited Tyne Cot Cemetery near the Belgian town of Passchendaele (of which more I will write about later), which is the largest British and Commonwealth cemetery in Europe: over 12,000 graves, of which more than 8000 are Unknowns. And that's not counting the names on a massive Memorial Wall in the cemetery's rear!
Soon, it was time to 'head for Bedfordshire' again, and to also pack to get ready to go back to London the next day. It would not be easy leaving Worcester, and Nick and Pat; they were so very generous with their hospitality! And it's something I'll never forget.
No comments:
Post a Comment