05.06.07
Today we went to Turville, Twyford, and Henley. First, Twyford where we saw an old church that was having its Sunday services with contemporary style worship. The church was made with unusual agate-looing stones that were black inside and white o nthe outside. Twyford was only a stop on the way to Henley-on-Thames where we would get a cab for Turville. Henley had a nice town square with shops and nice restaurants. Henley is also the home of the royal regatta each summer over the weekend of the 4th timeframe. The town’s activities and real estate seem to centre on the Thames where there are restaurants and condos on the banks and private boats glide past.
Turville has very cute and the Bull and Butcher had nice food (50 pounds for two) – we each had a Sunday brunch special of rare roast beef with mash and veg. Then Mark had walnut treacle tarte with clotted cream and I had pear and apple crumble. We each enjoyed our Kronenburg 1660 French beer which the young waiter recommended as their “best beer”. The ceilings were low and had dark wooden beams. The old woman sitting next to us drank cidre, little kids sat at the bar and drank juice (their feet only reaching a third of the way down the bar stool). I started to see how the pub is one of the centers of social life and how people of all ages find ways to drink socially. Afterwards we hiked on trails that led through fields and woods. The woods had tall tender grasses on the ground but no scrubby trees or bushes—no undergrowth to speak of. Then we climbed a tall hill to see an old windmill and had a view of the village. At this point it was warm and I found a woods along the trail to take off my silk long underwear.
On the ride back to London we each slept a lot in the taxi and on the train. Oh, on the way from London Paddington to Twyford, there was a group of Italian friends traveling together. They were constantly taking pictures of each other, laughing, and teasing each other. It made me think of Dick and Chub and how much they like to joke around all the time, almost to the point where you don’t ever know if they’re being serious or not and wonder if they can ever be completely earnest. That evening we ate at burger king because it’s what was open and it would help us to economize a bit.
