England Travels

Thursday 25 March to Tuesday 13 April 2004

25 March 2004 Baltimore Here I am at BWI airport, boarding pass in hand and checked through security, waiting for the 8:50PM departure for London. It looks like a fairly large crowd of passengers for this flight. Yes, I'm a little nervous. An adventure is ahead for a guy who is quite inexperienced in foreign travel. It's comforting that I'll be in Great Britain first. Unlike Italy four years ago, I won't have to find my way around in another language. I can get adjusted to travel outside the US in English before I make my way to France, Belgium, Switzerland and Italy. Those are my tentative plans anyway. Thanks to all who are thinking of and praying for me as I make my way.

27 March 2004 Oxford/London A little more than 48 hours ago I left BWI for Great Britain. The flight over wasn't very restful; the plane was sold out, which meant no room to stretch out. But after an uneventful flight, arrival was right on time. Customs was a fairly quick affair and then to find a bus to Oxford, where I am staying. The Capuchin Friars have welcomed me well. Their house, known as Greyfriars, is one of many houses of study connected to Oxford University. And Oxford, the city and university are quite lovely.

After arriving at Oxford, I walked for awhile, got settled in and slept until the wee hours of Saturday. When I got up I organized my stuff, read up on what I should see today, and then got on the first bus out of Oxford at 6AM. We arrived at Victoria Station at 7:30AM.

Because it is to be foggy and a bit wet, I may spend most of tomorrow at the British Museum and other indoor attractions.

2:15PM Ouch, my feet! Well, at least I'm a bit comfortable with downtown London. Although the tourists, including myself, were out in force, it was nice being part of a crowd that was searching and fumbling along with me. My experience today will make Monday and all the workaday crowd tolerable. I saw alot but very quickly. Quite impressive. Yes, Westminster Cathedral, Westminster Abbey, Parliament, 10 Downing Street, Big Ben, Trafalgar Square and the British Museum. I took a ride on a doubledeckerbus! Folks were helpful. But now its back to Oxford and putting my feet up for awhile.

28 March 2004 Oxford/London It's another misty morning so I'll spend most of the day at the British Museum. I stopped there yesterday just to size it up; it is very impressive. Hopefully, I will spare my feet just a bit in the process. I returned to Oxford yesterday afternoon, barely able to take another step, the blister on the sole of my foot was painfully apparent with every step. But I went to bed early and got up at 3AM. The 5:40AM bus into London arrived right on time, 7:15AM. Well, I am feeling immensely more confident in my traveling abilities in London. It will be just fine. I'm also a bit more comfortable with the future weeks, having heard from Rome that I am able to stay at the General headquarters of the Capuchins.

I will certainly make a point of recapping the day before I leave for Oxford in late afternoon.

28 March 2004 (again) PM I spent most of the day at the British Museum, an incredible collection of artifacts. I just need to mention that I saw with my own eyes the Rosetta Stone. Just wonderful. The museum hosts sessions called "Eyeopeners," and I attended two of them. The first was on Britain in Roman Times and the other Medieval Europe. The first was better than the second. Each lasted about an hour, so it is quite a long time on your feet, but it was worth it. The hosts were quite good. The only and slightly disturbing event of the day was over-hearing two Europeans laughing as they guessed what could possibly be in the America Gallery of the museum. They can laugh the next time the USA bails them out of another fix like World War One or Hitler. So many American lives lost to be snickered at some decades later by an arrogant pair of Brits. Oh well. I am planning to do the tour bus thing on Monday. It's highly recommended, and it will give my aching feet a rest. I am once again thankful for this wonderful opportunity. The guilt is fading as I realize that I must make the most of it. So far I think I have chosen well for my sabbatical.

29 March 2004 Oxford/London What a great day! It could not have turned out any better. I arrived in London about 6:30AM and made my way around before the 7AM Mass at the cathedral. Rick Steves (of PBS and travel advice fame) is my totally reliable friend. He points out the wonderful tour buses in this city, and he sure got that right. I boarded a tour bus (open-air upper deck and quite chilly), and it was just me and a totally delightful tour guide for the first forty-five minutes. We had a great time of it. I doubt that I will remember much of the famous sites, but I will always remember a very entertaining and informative guide. I jumped off the bus as too many tourists got on. Onto another bus with a very good guide (you'll hear this a lot in this posting!) I stopped at St. Paul's Cathedral and was not particularly impressed. (For future reference, it is skippable.) Boarded yet another bus for the Tower of London, and I was totally taken. The Beefeater guide was way too good. I skipped the crown jewels and just admired the castle constructed by William the Conqueror (almost 1,000 years ago) and the Roman walls (built 2,000 years ago). It was touching to be at the spot where Thomas More was beheaded and in the chapel where his and John Fisher's remains are kept. I am a long time admirer of More. We headed back towards Westminster with grand views of Parliament and the Abbey.

I must admit to being smitten by London. What a great city with so many surprises in its details. I love the over-sized statue of Oliver Cromwell at the Parliament staring straight into the diminutive face of King Charles across the street. I have also decided (oh, please spare me the rolling eyes) that London, across the board, is much more civil than the big cities of the US. Just two typical London details would never work in a US city: double-decker buses and illuminated, ground-level, plastic street markers. Without a supervising eye on the top deck, American kids would tear them apart. As for the plastic, illuminated markers, they would be kicked and torn to pieces in a week's time. Well, enough of that.

I think I have decided to stay several more days in England. I will try to make arrangments to go north to York, take a bus tour of Bath or Canterbury, and then make my way to France. But today I want to see the British Library, Brompton Oratory, the inside of Westminster Abbey and possibly view the House of Commons.

30 March 2004 Oxford/London A very enjoyable and eventful day, not considering the waiting in line. But the waits were worth it. I made it into London before 6AM and made a quick visit to Buckingham Palace. Nice. Then onto 7AM Mass at the cathedral. After that breakfast, internet cafe and a hop onto the Underground (subway) to Westminster Abbey. It's a bit pricey to get in. It was a very impressive building, crowded with tombs. The architecture is absolutely stunning. But for me the biggest event was standing at the tomb of Geoffrey Chaucer, whom I've been fascinated with since high school and reading the Canterbury Tales. Too cool. After that I made my way to the Chapter Hall and commented to the rather stuffy warden that this was quite a place to confess one's faults. He was decidely cool to my comment and said that it wasn't used for that. Well, he's wrong. In part it was used for the monastic practice of confessing faults. Someone tell me I'm wrong!

When I left the abbey I noticed that the flag was flying over Parliament and a line only beginning to form to be admitted to the House of Commons. I thought this was a nice break, so I got in line. It turned out to be a two hour wait. But I did indeed get a gallery seat in the House of Commons for a spirited debate about a scandal now raging in the press. The wait was worth it. Having watched Prime Ministers Questions on CSPAN often, I imagined a much bigger room. Very small and somewhat frumpy, but it was a thrill to be sitting right there.

The final event of the day was as I departed the Parliament building through Parliament Hall, I think. I happened to glance on the floor to notice a plaque indicating that Thomas More had been condemned to beheading in this very place. Wow!

Well, after that I was used up, spent, drained and in a weakened state (how's that for drama?). I decided to return to Oxford. A pleasant bus ride back to the friary ended a memorable day.

31 March 2004 London. I intentionally got a late start, wanting to stay into the evening in London. I'm not sure I made a good choice. The rat-race is a bit too much for me. (Have you noticed that I use 'actually' and 'bit' way too much...no, it's not the London thing; actually, I've been using those words a bit too much for years.) Well, I made it into London around noon and attended Mass at the cathedral with a complete fool for a celebrant. After messing up with my reservations for York and incurring a night's penalty, I decided, in a not-too-good-disposition, to head for the Brompton Oratory. For those who enjoyed watching 'Two Fat Ladies' on PBS (it was a great cooking program), one of the Fat Ladies was a member of the Oratory Church on Brompton Road. Very nice; much more beautiful than Westminster Cathedral. The Oratory is the second most important Catholic Church in the city. It was right next to the Victoria and Albert Museum. I'm glad I stopped in there, very much worth it. It had a great Medieval Europe display, and I saw things I've read about lately. After that, I passed up the Science and Natural History Museum, making my way back to the area of the British Museum to visit the British Library. The problem was that my map is out of date. The Library now is more than several blocks from the museum. Once again, I was not disappointed. My goodness, not only did I see the Magna Carta, which was the reason for going there, I saw so much in a very small space. From the notes of Handel's 'Messiah' to John Lennon's scribbling of 'Yesterday,' from the Codex Siniaticus (the earliest complete manuscript of the New Testament) to a Guttenburg Bible. It was wonderful seeing a few notes from a wide variety of scientists, musical geniuses, literary giants, religious and historical greats. With these two eyes I saw them! What an honor.

It's after 6PM; perhaps I'll take a look at the city in lights. I'm a little tired and probably should take a day for resting up. I'll see.

01 April 2004 London Took the day much slower, after a very good night's rest, finally. I spent most of the day on Trafalgar Square, after a rather lengthy walk around Parliament and the Thames River. The highlight of the day was the National Gallery on Trafalgar Square. I spent alot of time in there. Obviously some great art and a good place to slow down. I think I'm getting the Underground (subway) down. There can be a lot of walking through tunnels, though. Sometimes I wondered whether it wouldn't have been better to walk it above ground to the place I wanted to go. But it was good to see the throngs of people making there way. The weather started somewhat overcast but is ending on a partly cloudy note. In fact, as I departed the National Gallery, overlooking Traflagar Square, it was a great sight over the square and beyond to Parliament Tower and other neat cityscape features.

I think I'm just about done with London for awhile and probably need to move
on. Tom Weinandy, a friar from the Pennsylvania Province, lives at Greyfriars and will be returning this evening after a week or so in Naples, Florida, on work. It will be good to see him and get some advice about my journeys ahead. I imagine he will be somewhat surprised that I'm still around, having originally scheduled myself to be gone from here a few days ago.

I think I'll probably leave the UK on Monday.

02 April 2004 Oxford/London It rained last night, not heavy, but enough to make it unpleasant. I thought that today would be a wash out, but it has turned into a nice weather day. I arrived in London early and attended Mass at the cathedral. After that I stopped for breakfast and time with a newspaper to catch up on things. After the morning rush I boarded the Underground and got off at Blackfriars stop. I crossed the Thames to a very spectacular view of St. Paul's and London proper. On the agenda today was the Globe Theater and Tate Britain, a museum of British artists. First to the Globe. The walk to the theater was very nice, along the river and a pleasant morning crowd of tourists. After paying the entrance fee for the Globe I was suddenly surrounded by what sounded like German youth; yes, another field trip. Do the German kids ever stay in school.? I dreaded doing the tour with this bunch, but as it turned out they were on another, specially guided tour. Thank goodness. The Globe Theater is a replica of the theater that showed the plays of Shakespeare. Although this one was built in 1997, it was a neat thing to see. The guide was all right. She was pleasant and informed but appeared that someone had taken her from her desk job to conduct this tour. After this stop I decided to go to Tate Britain: mistake. After giving the requested donation, I discovered that a fee was required for virtually every gallery. I nixed that and made my way back to Victoria Station.

Perhaps I've stated this previously, but I think I'm done with London. It is an amazing city with more than anyone can possibly visit in just a few days. But it is tiring: the crowds, the tourists, and the daily commute. It is time to move on. I plan to attend Palm Sunday Mass here in the city at the cathedral. Tentative plans are to use Saturday for laundry and organizing. But you never know; all that may change.

3 April 2004 Oxford/London The bus ride back to Oxford yesterday was somewhat eventful. The main highway was at a stand still, and our bus driver was informed to take an alternate, more rural route. It didn't slow him down at all. Most of the way it parallelled the highway, and we saw for ourselves the backup. We finally noticed that a truck (here they call them 'lorries') had turned over on one of the circles. We made it back to Oxford in time for dinner. It was to be my first since arriving. Father Ambrose, a Capuchin pastor of the parish here, and I had a good and humorous conversation. His rather stinging sense of humor reminded me of someone...me! We also had a chance to talk about crime in the Oxford neighborhood. I found it hard to believe that any crime problem existed. He showed me the fence they had to construct to keep out the drug addicts. Sound familiar? He warned me about break-ins and muggers. After dinner I took a short walk and noticed a police heliocopter circling a specific area for about fifteen minutes. Sound familiar? The walk was further shortened.

This morning I made my way into London somewhat early, but not early enough to catch the bus to Canterbury as I had hoped. There was a delay of some sort at the Park and Ride station, a mother doting on her spoiled child. The kid couldn't make up his mind which seat he wanted. If it had been my mother ....!

After breakfast I went to the cathedral for Mass. The fiddleback is back! I wasn't expecting much of a crowd for Saturday morning, 10:30AM. I noticed on the marquee that it was a 'solemn sung mass.' I was shocked to find the church nearly filled, Latin being chanted, and priests wearing fiddleback chasuables. Oh my. If you don't know what a fiddleback is, I don't have the time to explain it; suffice it to say, they are from the old Mass, pre-Vatican II. It was a sea of gray hair. There were some young folks as well. To my surprise it was a crowd of many races and many men. Needless to say, I was more than a little confused by the experience. It was obvious that they took great care in planning and executing the liturgy, trying as much to capture the pre-Vatican II experience. My upshot is that if they would take as much time and energy planning and executing the 'new' liturgy they would have a winner on their hands as well. I'll have to think more about this experience.

I'll be back later.

Second Entry on 03 April 2004 London Before I leave for Oxford, I'm taking time to recap the afternoon's events and offer a few thoughts. After my morning e-mail and website session, I was bound and determined to see the house of Charles Dickens. It is in a neighborhood that is in the news alot lately, Finsbury. It appears to be the breeding ground of British Islamic terrorism. I must admit I didn't wander into it too much; of course I wasn't wearing my habit or clerical garb nor was I waving an American flag. It did make me somewhat nervous. So much so that I decided to leave Charles Dickens behind and get into more amicable areas. So I jumped back on the Underground and wound up in the busy heart of London's Chinatown. Perhaps not quite as big as New York's Chinatown, from the looks of it, but substantial and fascinating. I almost went into a Chinese boutique to purchase some ancient cure for my aching feet.

I am today a witness to my own foolishness. I thought Saturday would be somewhat slower than the weekdays. Man, was I wrong. Oxford Street, which has the most shops (a mile and a half worth) in Europe, was wall to wall people. I searched desperately for a bookstore, just to get out of the rat race. I finally found a Borders; went to the DVD section and picked up 'White Men Can't Jump.' I need to see something American, for crying out loud. I'll watch it tonight on my computer.

Well, that told me that I am homesick. I miss my car, but I don't miss Super Big Gulps. That surprises even me. And I missed St. Ambrose Church and its great people alot today. Perhaps I am on overload and need to let it all sink in.

Well, tomorrow is Palm Sunday. I hope to join the worshippers at the Cathedral in the morning. I'll fill you in on how that turns out.

Third Entry on 03 April 2004 London Okay, I ran out of time on this metered internet connection. It gave me chance to think about a couple of other things that have struck me about British life. I am amazed at the newspapers, many of which have photos of bare-breasted women plastered all over the front pages. I guess it is a catchy gimmick to sell papers. But no one seems to be bothered by it. On the other hand, they are quite willing and able to get into each other's business. I was on the Underground today; it was fairly jammed with people, and three young teenagers, maybe 12 years-old, jumped on with their skateboards and scooters. The doors closed, and the train operator announced that the 'youth with skateboards and scooters should behave themselves.' Well, they're standing right in front of me, and one lady says, 'He means you, boys. Now, you must behave yourselves.' Yesterday, some tourist lit up on the Underground platform, waiting for the next train. Another woman scolded her saying, 'Put that out right now.' The smoking violator did as she was told. Lastly, there was a group of teenagers near one of the museums yesterday eating their McDonald's meals. They appeared to try very hard at being American-style gangsters: caps on sideways, lots of 'ice,' jerseys, and pants almost allowing boxers to be seen. As hard as they tried to be gangsters, as soon as the wind blew their paper bags, they rushed to capture them. Having finally grabbed the bags, the two gangsters dutifully placed the rubbish in litter cans. I had to laugh. They failed miserably in being gangsters, but I admired their sense of responsibility. .

Palm Sunday - 04 April 2004 Oxford/London An easy day of it. Got up a little later than I had hoped, after watching 'White Men Can't Jump.' I missed the main Mass at the Cathedral for Palm Sunday. More on that later. As we were coming into London it reminded me that I had not yet commented on the rural countryside. It is just as I had imagined: very green fields, old English farm houses, lots of sheep in the pastures, rolling hills. But the clouds seem to be bigger here. Don't ask me why I think that, they just appear that way to me. The weather changed frequently today. Rain, drizzle, overcast, partly sunny, all sunny, windy, calm. I'm glad I brought my umbrella.

For most of the day I mainly watched people. The unseemly or seedy characters appear to be out in force today. These guys are rough looking characters, what I could best describe as the type of men who were frequently seen on TV during the Northern Ireland violence. I would not want to come up against one of these guys. I also noticed a lot of smiling faces today; I'm sure they were there before, but I've never noticed until today. Victoria Station is a great place to people-watch; they come in and go out in herds. I did walk past Buckingham Palace again. Someone asked me to take a photo of them; so I asked the favor in return. When I get to a spot where I can download photos you'll see me at the gates just before I go in for tea with the Queen. She was still in her pajamas when we had tea; such an air-head. But she did have her crown on. All right, now I'm getting silly.

I finally did get to Mass at 5:30PM in the cathedral. Oh, Lord. It just isn't the same as being at St. Ambrose. The priest began at the front door -- couldn't hear him. You would think a cathedral would have a better sound system! The cantor, I am sure well-intentioned and a good heart, really did not know her pieces. The priest was more concerned ... oh, let me stop. The experience tells me once again that I am not a cathedral-type guy. It's so impersonal, so distant and reserved. But there were at this Mass many young people, which was good to see. And for those back at St. Ambrose who thought I didn't provide enough palm on Palm Sunday, you would think I was downright extravagant compared to the blade of grass called a palm we got here. All in all, I was not impressed; of course, I am spoiled, thanks to good ole St. Ambrose Church in Baltimore!

Hopefully I will do my laundry tomorrow, and may not get into London until Tuesday. Maybe you've noticed that I make plans that sometimes don't come through. I think I was headed for York, Canterbury or Bath last week. I have not been there yet! Be patient with me.

05 April 2004 Oxford I stayed in Oxford today, hoping to do my laundry and take care of future travel. Laundry took way too long. One load of wash took two fricking hours. These British washing machines are maddening. I had two loads and it took a big chunk of the day. The dryer wasn't that great either.

In late afternoon I decided to visit a travel agent and discuss future travel; they were not particularly helpful, except to send me to the Oxford Rail Station. Although I arrived there about two minutes after closing, they saw me but also were only able to send me to another place for help. So I'll take care of alll this in London tomorrow. The train connections to Paris seem to be a little booked up. Beyond that to Rome is still to be decided.

Between periods of rain and full sun, the weather completely confused me. At one point the sun was brightly shining, but I needed an umbrella to stay dry. Go figure. Which reminds me, back in the fourth or fifth grade there was a question on a test about the possibility of rain and sunshine at the same time. Having experienced that a couple of times, I answered that it was. The question was marked wrong. Well, Mrs. Clark should have been with me today for sure. (Do you think I have issues?)

I also met a young man, Ryan, who is at Greyfriars on a year's study from our seminary in Cleveland. He is a student for the Capuchins and the Mid- America Province. He and I know many of the same people. Oh, yes, and I finally had a chance to speak with Tom Weinandy, a friar from the USA whom I have known for many years. It was great speaking with him as well.

I plan to leave Oxford next Wednesday, after Easter. In the meantime I want to see a number of places yet. You have to check back to see where I go; at this point there are a number of possibilities, and I don't even know yet.

06 April 2004 Oxford/London I was one bus too late, I think. I made the 5:45AM bus to London, but it quickly filled and ground to a halt as we made our way into London. Once here I went to Waterloo Station, a major train station on the south bank of the River Thames: the primary station for routes to France and beyond. I was intent on firming up plans for the next leg of the journey. I have decided to go to Brussels and stay there several days, with side trips to Bruge and perhaps Antwerp. Well, I did indeed get the ticket for Wednesday, April 14th at 12:39PM. Now I have to find a place to stay! I was rather apprehensive about Waterloo Station; it seems like everything major moves out of there -- even the Queen went to Paris from there yesterday! But once I got there, it doesn't seem to be any bigger, in fact may be smaller than Victoria Station where I am quite comfortable.

After Waterloo I went to the Cathedral for 12:30PM Mass. Went in and the organ was blaring; the church filled to standing room only! I should have known it was the Chrism Mass. Cardinal Cormack Murphy-O'Connor (yes, Cormack) was the head honcho for the Mass. It was nice. I was amazed by the crowd, though. If it weren't for the immigrants, I doubt there would be much youth at all in the London Catholic Church. There were alot of Africans, Carribeans, Asians...and many, many young folks among them. The European (okay, white) crowd was fairly elderly; almost no young people among them.

I have uncertain plans for tomorrow and the rest of Holy Week. I probably want to come back into London, though for Holy Thursday and Good Friday. Easter will be with the friars in Oxford, for sure.

It was nice speaking with my two sisters, Joanne and Kayleen, on Sunday. They were very encouraging and thrilled.

I may head back to Oxford right now and call it a day; it's 2:30PM, and the day started very early.

07 April 2004 Oxford I have slowed way down! I decided not to go into London today. My feet are on the mend, along with the rest of my body. I came into Oxford in the morning, just to check things out and stop by the internet cafe. It was quite crowded. I even was able to give two separate tourists directions to different sites in town! I awoke around 8 this morning, came into Oxford, picked up a couple of cheap DVD movies and went back to watch them. I fell fast asleep for two hours! I have no idea what the movie was about. I'll try it again this evening. It's been a restful day, without the aches and pains I've had each evening after visiting London. Hopefully I will have a much-rested body for the days ahead: back to London for Holy Thursday Mass and Good Friday Services at the Cathedral.

I heard by e-mail from my cousin, Scott Samuelson, a physician in Colorado. He was following this website. We haven't seen one another for years. His Mother (my mother's sister) and Father, alerted him to the website. Thanks, Laverna and Sam! By the way, they lived here in England in the 1960's.

08 April 2004 Holy Thursday Oxford/London I stayed in Oxford in the morning to see if I could download photos to the website. I haven't done it yet, obviously. However, I think I have a way to do it. I'll try during the next two days. There may be a new look to the front page, so don't panic if you see some new graphics.

As I said yesterday, I wanted to come to London for the Holy Thursday Mass at Westminster Cathedral. The place was filled: 2,000+ in attendance, but it was a disappointment to me. Beautiful music, fit for a classical concert, but hardly my idea of worship. It was somewehat sad, with all the people in attendance, I would have hoped for more participation. The choir did all the singing, and almost all of that in Latin. The choir and all the ministers, except for one lector, were male. Cathedral worship is not my cup of tea, even in England. In some ways I guess it is cultural. I've noticed that there is a lot of a "spectator" attitude rather than participation and engagement when it comes to worship in these parts. Well, I'll make my way back to Oxford, somewhat disappointed. I need to decide what to do about Good Friday services; perhaps I can find a local parish, rather than the cathedral, in which to particpate. I cannot imagine that local parishes will not be more engaging.

About the weather: it has been cold for last two days. Occasionally it rains with a lot of wind. As quickly as the rain comes, it goes. But it remains unusually cold for early to mid-April, so I am told. I hear that it is also cold in Baltimore.

09 April 2004 Good Friday Oxford After a formal affair at the Cathedral last evening I decided to search out something a bit smaller and intimate for Good Friday Services. I went to Blackfriars, a Church operated by the Dominican Friars. Before I got there, though, I met a very kindly elderly woman. I was somewhat lost in Oxford - the streets often change names in mid-block. As I crossed a street I noticed a woman sitting on a bench, and I quickly decided to ask her if she knew where Blackfriars was. (You need to understand that this is not a very Catholic country; it's not even religious; the vast majority of people belong to no religion, so it seems) Anyway, she asks me, "Are you going for the 3PM service?" That surprised me, and I said yes. To which she said that she was also going to be there. She then instructed me to sit next to her, and she would give clear directions. We had a pleasant conversation about many things. A very nice woman. I soon left for church, and, yes, I got lost again. I somehow eventually wound up right in front of Blackfriars. It was indeed a much less formal setting. The participation was very good, and the sermon was good. The singing was not particularly good, and I think that's what I liked. It wasn't a perfect production. It was somewhat chaotic at times. I thought it could have been about 30 minutes shorter. All in all, though it was closer to what I had been looking for.

The weather here today is spectacular. Clear skies but still a little on the chilly side. The crowds on the streets of Oxford are large, wandering from shop to shop.

Before closing I need to say Happy Birthday to my sister-in-law, Mindy. I won't tell her age.

I'll probably not get to London before Monday, sticking near to home base for a couple more days. As you know, I am leaving Great Britain for Belgium on Wednesday. It is time to move on.

Easter Sunday, 11 April 2004 Oxford The Easter Vigil last evening was not terribly remarkable; nothing like the St. Ambrose Easter Vigils I loved. It lasted about two hours. After Mass at the local church this morning, I took a brief walk and uploaded the new graphics for the website. I notice a few problems, and I will straighten them out before I leave hopefully.

I joined the friars for Easter dinner at about 1PM. Very nice and good company. I sat next a non-friar who is the world's leading expert on Irish history. He's also an American who has lived here for 40 years. Nice man. Later in the afternoon my fellow friar from the USA who is in charge of Greyfriars, Tom Weinandy, took me on a behind-the-scenes tour of Oxford. Wow! I stood at the very spot where three people were burned at the stake 450 years ago. That was kind of spooky. I was in a 14th century chapel; quite beautiful. I also visited the pub where the author of the Lord of the Rings and others met almost daily to talk about their writings. Yes, I had an "ale" there. The whole afternoon was quite nice, and the weather held up beautifully.

Tomorrow I am going punting. No, I am not kicking footballs; rather the Irish history expert is taking me on the river in a boat. Should be a wonderful experience. I'll try to take pictures and post them tomorrow evening.

12 April 2004 Oxford Yes, still in Oxford and a very pleasant day. That Irish history expert I spoke of yesterday took me out for morning tea and afternoon punting. Since he is an historian, it was great picking his mind to understand Europe a little more. And because he has roots in the US (he's been here in England for 40 years now) and often visits the US, he had some interesting insights into the US and European relationship. Then we went punting on the Cherwell River. A punt is a flat-bottom boat that is propelled by a long pole, and with that pole you push the boat. He is a real pro at it, but found himself in some fixes with people who were out for the first time. It was a gorgeous boat ride. The flowers are in full bloom, trees are budding, the swans, ducks and geese were out in great numbers. Of course, the scenery from the punt was spectacular. Although he did all the punting I was fairly bushed by the time we pulled into dock. I'll send some photos tomorrow of the punting.

I'm gearing up for my Belgium excursion. I'm a little nervous about using the train system for the first time, but I'm sure I'll learn it, even bymaking mistakes. I have a Eurail pass which give sme 15 days of train travel in a two month period. But I hear there are some strings atatched. I guess I'll discover what those are as the days unfold.

I can't believe I have been here for almost three weeks. I realize that only about seven weeks remain, and there is a lot of territory to cover in that time.

13 April 2004 Oxford I am making final preparations for travels to continental Europe, specifically Belgium. I am leaving Waterloo Station at about 12:30PM on Wednesday, and will be traveling through the Chunnel, the tunnel that connects Great Britain and France and runs under the English Channel. I have made arrangements to stay in Brussels for several days and am looking forward to a couple of days of sight-seeing in various parts of Belgium, a very small country. On Saturday or Sunday, I'll take off for Frankfurt, Germany. All the travel is by train, which should prove to be very interesting and a little adventurous.

I did hear from my cousins, Janet and Gary Burns, who live in the Kansas City area. It was great hearing from them, and I send my best to the entire Burns family, especially Aunt Viola.

I probably will not make any more postings from England. The first from Belgium should appear Wednesday evening, Europe time. Which reminds me, the rest of Europe is one hour ahead of Great Britain. So, for the folks in the Eastern Time Zone, I will be six hours ahead; for the folks in the Central, seven hours ahead.