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Showing posts from November, 2016

Well hello from....Calgary!

Yes I said I would not be posting until London but well what can I say.  I am supposed to be there but the flight was canceled and here I sit at the Clique Hotel at Calgary airport. The day started out great.  My friend Marianne picked me up and we headed off to a restaurant on the way to the airport and had lunch.  I was very sensible and had feta chicken with rice pilaf and vegetables.  Yum and healthy.   The flight to Calgary was uneventful. Our gate was announced 90 minutes before the flight and one hour before the flight was due to take off we were told the flight was canceled due to maintenance issues.  I had read about these "issues" AFTER I booked my (super cheap) flight with WestJet. Cancellations and late flights are not uncommon with the London route. We were told that the flight would go tomorrow but absolutely no details. Due to people yakking I could not hear exactly what we were to do.  I heard the word customs and that was it.  I was sitting beside a woman

All sorts of stuff to talk about...

15 more sleeps!!!  It never gets old...never.  I don't  take traveling for granted and I never stop getting excited and I am so grateful for that.  I know I am lucky to be able to have the life I have.   It's not all luck; I've made it happen but that's a post for another day.  In the meantime,  I AM SO EXCITED!!! Family time  I'm just back from a weekend visit with my cousin and her family in Lethbridge which is a city of about 100,000 in southern Alberta.  I flew there and back on air miles I have accumulated on my credit card.  I still have a few more of those burning a hole in my pocket!  It was wonderful to spend time with family and meet the newest member of our crew - 10 month old Maisie.  My cousin and her husband have a beautiful new home right beside the coulees (valleys).  We went for a walk through a bit of them one morning and then early on my last morning I did a spontaneous short walk up a nearby hill to get a better view.  It was a fab weekend!  

Brompton and Kensal Green Cemeteries - two more of the Magnificent Seven

I have recently discovered I like visiting Victorian cemeteries - the elaborate graves and history intrigue me.  Normal cemeteries...not so much but the Victorian ones are so over the top I love it. The Magnificent Seven cemeteries were created due to parish church yards becoming over crowded.  This was because of London's population boom in the early 1800's.  In the first fifty years of the 19th century, London's population went from 1 million to 2.3 million.  Overcrowding in the cemeteries led to decaying matter getting into the water supply and the grisly sight of children  playing with the bones of the deceased.  Rats defiled the bodies as well.  Yes, I know....gross!!!! Something had to be done so in 1832 the government passed a bill encouraging the establishment of private suburban cemeteries.  Seven cemeteries were established and much later in 1981, were dubbed "The Magnificent Seven" (after the movie) by architectural historian Hugh Meller. Last year