Walking England - Final Moments with Friends
Part XII: Thursday, June 15, 2007
Special to the Sentinel By Willis P. Whichard

Our final mornings together are always anti-climatic and bittersweet. When the time comes, I'm ready to go home, but parting from such compatible friends, after a period of so much fun, is difficult.

Two of couples had left before we gathered for breakfast. Ron and Roni Culler from California departed early for Scotland, and Clem and Carolyn Patton from Highlands had an early flight home from Heathrow.

Ken and Margaret put the rest of us on the Plymouth to London train for 9 a.m. departure. We arrived at London's Paddington Station at 12:20 p.m. Jim Silkenat went directly to Heathrow for a 4:30 p.m. flight to NY. The Hindsmans and the Clodfelters returned to The Darlington House near Paddington Station, where they would lodge until returning home on Saturday.

Leona and I kept Anna Bryan with us for the afternoon. The three of us took a cab from Paddington Station to The Travel Inn County Hall in Westminster area. The cab driver was quite emphatic about his displeasure with " Mr. Tony Blair" He called him "The Vice President of the United States" and pointed out with considerable disdain the 3.5 million pound ( $ 7 million) flat he said Blair bought recently ( whether it is true, I don't know).

After checking with the TRavel Inn, we headed for St. Stephen's pub across from Westminster Abbey for lunch. We made a brief stop to purchase tickets to an evening performance of " Lord of the Rings". A tour of Westminster Abbey consumed the remainder of the afternoon.

We had done this before, but so much of England's history is depicted there no one can hardly exhaust it.

Leona and I had to pick our play tickets in the theater district by 5:30. With some difficulty, we found a place at 5:20. We then met Michelle Rippon at a previously designated nearby restaurant. After a pleasant dinner, we went directly to the theater, where we had an upstairs box to ourselves.

Not having read " Lord of the Rings" I was limited in what I could follow. The basic point, as I perceived it, was that whoever had the ring had endless life, and that was not a good thing.

One line stood out as almost always being good advice " Speak more gently" The sets, lighting, and sounds were quite spectacular.

The walk from the theater back to the Inn took about half an hour. It was very pleasant but somewhat on the cold side- a pleasant reflection as I write this is the late- August heat wave.

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