bareks journey through life

          We woke up and once again had a very nice buffet breakfast at the hotel. We then checked out of the hotel and drove on the London beltway to Golder's Green. We drove down the street checking out the kosher section of London ,getting a brief glimpse of paths not taken and where Wendy's family may have ended up. However they probably would not be Orthodox, so they may not be correct.            We continue to drive down to Hempstead and I found a parking lot by the Heath. We had gotten used to pay and display but this one was different and you had to do it through the phone and  it took us about a half hour to 45 minutes to figure out how to charge to the parking lot We finally  figured it out and started walking around Hempstead. It was a fun neat little town. We walked around and saw all the old houses. I followed a path more or less through a good part of the town. We ate lunch at an outdoor cafe. We walked down  to Hampstead square to St Mary's Catholic Church a

                 Today was a somewhat easier day. In the morning we drove into Richmond to a parking lot that was not open. However we found out we could park around Richmond Park which made things much easier. We did some shopping. We went to Mark's and Spencer and I actually found some rugby shirts for a very good price. The pound is down against the dollar, so everything is much cheaper than usual.. I also went to Waterstones and loved the selection of history. I limited myself to one book. We went to a couple different shops and walked around Richmond .We both really enjoyed the ambience of he town.                We then walked around Richmond Palace and saw the remnants  of the old palace which is now part  housing and part of the town. We walked along the river and then went back to the car. From there we drove to marble Hill which was closed. We had picked up sandwiches at a sandwich shop and we ate them on the grounds. We then walked along the Thames on the other side of t

          Got up and had the breakfast buffet which was pretty good. It was  very nice buffet with lots of croissants  as well as breakfast yogurt and a variety of other stuff One of the better breakfast buffets.                          Didn't get going to about11:00. We were going to go on drive up and down the Thames. We had difficult with directions. The  traffic was terrible as it was backed up over 25 miles. I made the wrong turn and went down the highway to the southwest rather than to the west. It turned out to be okay because we then cut through backcountry which was relatively nice. A few times I would make a mistake and have to turn around which was a pain in the ass. We were trying to get to pick up the path around Eaton but it'll was getting more and more difficult, and it was hard for the GPS as it was a bunch of change  and it was having difficulty navigating.         So we then cut across country to go to pangbourne which was a nice little town. We then went to

          This was written on 10/25 as already my memory of events are starting to fade. As always I start to do the blog while there ,but then the demands of the trip start taking over and at night I am too tired to write or dictate. It was another great trip and as always I am happy to be traveling. Wendy had more misgiving than I did. It was the longest trip the two of us have taken overseas in a long time. We spend 16 full days over there               We started the day with the buffet breakfast at the Richmond Hill hotel. I was very happy with the choice of the hotel. The bed was very comfortable. The room gave us just enough room to spread out and we had a view of the Thames. We walked out of the hotel to the viewing spot which is where Turner painted his famous picture of the Thames. It was wonderful. We took several pictures. We then went to Syon house. It was a very good and interesting house and had  an excellent audio guide We walked around the house and enjoyed it thorough

                So we start our adventure with the usual anxiety, worry and trepidation. Both Wendy and I  were not sure if we are making the right choice. Wendy in  particular getting cold feet about being away this long and talking about making it shorter which would involve a lot of replanning and too much to do. I worked for a few hours and then come home. We have lyft picking up at 3:00 for 7:00 flight. The Lyft driver gets here and  I tell him not to take the route through Red Bank but the route through Newman springs. However that route turns out to be terrible as the  traffic is terrible and  at the rt 35 intersection  is backed up all the ways from the parkway. There was an accident in the parkway ramp so it's  backed up for miles. Google  reroutes  us to Hope road which we eventually get to and get to where we would have been about 30 minutes later than we originally would have. We get to the airport at 5:00 and we figure it's just enough time. It turns out is more th

                It's a quiet day at the office. I'm the only one here. I am only a few days away from being 70 years old and reflecting much on the journey that brought me to this point. I have been getting into writing again mostly rewriting or editing one of my past novels. I've been dictating it which is much easier than having to laboriously write it out. I've also started transcribing some of my journals with both the ups and downs it represents. There's a moment that I really enjoy and think back very fondly of and then there are all the regrets and mistakes that still haunt me. Why do I let things that have occurred 50 years ago still bother me. Much of it is romantic relationships that could have been better or where I made some stupid blunder. I'm enjoying the process and I feel like I should start writing again. There's only a 50-year gap. I am winding down at my office and looking forward to some form of retirement or at least a transitionary reti