Missing Pieces #1

England: Slobro met me at Heathrow at the improbable hour of stupid o´clock. He told me that our Aunt couldn´t put us up for two days as she was ill. So instead of heading west to Dorset we headed North to Suffolk, in the mighty Peugot 407 6 cylinder turbo diesel. I offered to take first driving shift as it was the sensible option, (1) Slobro would be all confused being from wrong-side of the road Canada, (2) I really really really wanted to drive that car right away.
So, trusting in the kindness of friends (whom we hadn´t called yet) we vroomed off north stalling 18times.
In Colchester we had a snack, a walk around the castle, and got Pip´n´Susan´s phone number from teh email.
"Hello Pip, it´s Harry from Australia."
"Hallo!"
"I was wondering...."
He gave us directions to Stowmarket, a bit north of Ipswich with instructions to call once we got there.
We had a drive and did some brotherly catching up, and got to Stowmarket.
No worries. Except that we didn´t have any more small change.
Slobro trooped off to a bakery.
"Eat this," he instructed. It looked horrible.
If you dropped it, someone would compare a really ugly girl´s face to it.
"What is it?"
"It´s an Eccles cake. haha!" (joke due to SCA name of Harry of Eccles)
We called Pip and were able to convey bugger all appart from our location before we were cut off. I didn´t know if he was going to come and meet us, or not. So we waited.
Evidently we had to call him again.
Through tears of laughter Slobro announced there was no option but to buy me another Eccles cake.
A two pound conversation later and we had half the directions before being cut off. I have nothing to offer by laughter, tears and Eccles cakes.
Then, the public phone rang. It was probably someone from the phone company wondering what was so funny.
No! It was Pip using the wonder of technology.
We only got lost once.
Anyway, Suffolk is a beautiful part of the world.
Photo´s are at Pip´n´Susan´s website here
Thorpeness is a gorgeous seaside heath which is so pristine and remote that they put a nuclear power station on it. The pubs and villages are all beautiful, and it Pip is an awesome guide.
Considering that in my week in England I didn´t expect to see them, it was simply a fantastic time.

Toronto: (puts on Joanie Mitchell hairstyle)
They took all the shoes and put ém in a shoe museum.
And charged everyone eight dollars Canadian to see ém.
(Interestingly, that week she´d been inducted into the Canadian hall of fame.)

My flight to Halifax was delayed, so we took it as a sign from god that we really should go to the Bata Shoe Museum. BigRob, Lyen, boyfriend Chris and I spent about 2 hours there. I was very impressed. It was the museum with the best display to information ratio I found in Canada. The other museums always left me wanting more info.
The bottom floor is a history of shoes and it was fascinating.
Of particular note was an Egyptian story from 2000BC of a rich man who had servants and slaves. The daughter of one of his slaves was so beautiful and graceful that he gave her a pair of ornate gold sandles. The daughters of one of his servants were extremely jealous that someone socially inferior to them should be so favoured, and hated her guts. Pharoah came to town and all non-slaves went to a grand banquet/celebration. Horus, in the form of a hawk, fly through a window of the rich man´s house, picked up one of the gold sandles of the slave girl and fly to the banquet where he dropped it in Pharoah´s lap. Understanding that such a fine sandal meant it was owned by the best of women Pharoah stood up and announced he would marry the owner. A search ensued and the slavegirl marries the Pharoah.

Toronto2:
"Life is not a problem to be solved.
It is a mystery to be lived.
And it takes courage to make life a celebration,
a dance."
I found this randomly on a white board the day Aveline died.