I arrived at Heathrow (London) on Delta Airlines from a connection in Detroit, Michigan from Pittsburgh. The flight ‘over the pond’ was quite lovely; sat next to a very nice lady whom had a daughter living in London at the time. We chatted about the pursuit of happiness in life, and after a few quick naps, two in-flight meals and ‘Rush’ (movie) we were already en route to land 30-minutes ahead of schedule. Surprisingly, it takes less than 7-hours to travel from the east coast to England. Purchased a bus ticket, and took the 2-hour trip out of Heathrow to Cheltenham Spa (west coast of England) where Oliver Wilkinson picked me up for the evening to visit with he, his beautiful wife Victoria, their two doggies, Bart and Tazzie, Henry the tortoise and Bob, the adopted cat. They live in the small village of Prestbury, and have a 400+ year-old thatch cottage which was renovated so well. Everything in Europe is much smaller compared to the ‘large lifestyle’ we hold so dear in the States; it is much different than anything back home. The roads, the homes and the cars are much smaller. We took a coffee break, dip at the Girl’s College in Cheltenham then hurried home for a clean-up and arrangements to eat with their friends about 30-minutes’ drive south from Prestbury. Their friends were gracious guests, as I felt I ate them out of house and home. A few glasses of vino, vegan dinner, talked story and then back to Prestbury for a few pints out on the town. We attempted to Facetime just about everyone we both knew in the open water community, however Richard Clifford from NYC was the only chap who answered. Unfortunately, we couldn’t hear each other, as the night club was a little loud. After a pint of bitters and a Guinness, we returned home for a much needed sleep. Woke this morning to two espressos, and a breakfast of mushrooms, vegan sausage, flax seed toast and bananas; very tasty! A round of hugs, good-byes to the animals and Ollie was kind enough to drop me back off at the Cheltenham Spa station for the 2.5-hour train ride north-east to Nottingham to visit with the ‘Ocean Walker’ Adam Walker, and great childhood friend, Abby (Shaw) Peters from Chicago, who is stationed in England with her husband and son, Caleb. I traveled from Cheltenham to Darby, and then to Nottingham where Adam, and his girlfriend, Gemma at the train station. We took a short drive to Sherwood Forrest where we met up with Abby, Andy and Caleb. We took a stroll through the Forrest made famous via Robin Hood, and had an archery contest. I took the victory in the long bow between Adam and I (although neither of us were able to hit the deer from afar as a final target) but needless to say it was quite a close contest! We all took pictures by the ‘Major Oak’ that was over 1,000 years old; just incredible to know something is alive after all those years. We both took to a swim at David Lloyd’s in Lincoln, England – a very nice, upscale club that Adam was privy to get access. We had a dip, a steam room and hot tub before we hit the showers and took the drive to the Mint Leaf Indian restaurant where we met Abby, Andy and Caleb for dinner. We talked story, had a few pints and came back to their homestead where we have been enjoying a nice evening before bed. Gemma has been doing a wonderful job serenading us with guitar and voice. Downtown London, Dover Harbor, White Horse Pub and a dip in the frosty Channel tomorrow – beyond excited to visit Dover after an almost 4 years since I took the leap into marathon swimming!
Miss you all –
Love and respect from England,
Darren