Day 1 – 17/18 July – Princes Risborough

by The Travel Guy

As we waited for our flight to take off a thunder and lightning storm rolled past the airport and they temporarily suspended ground operations until the rain subsided and the threat of lightning diminished.  By the time we boarded the flight the clouds had moved off and the sun was shining brightly.  A good omen we thought.

Fast forward nine hours and we were riding the Tube in London around the northwest corner of the city to finally reach the end of the Metroplitan Line at Amersham.  There we were met by Eirwin and Peter, Jeff’s cousins who ‘downsized’ from their place in London to live in Princes Risborough, a short drive from Amersham.  Peter and Jeff aren’t first cousins, their grandmothers were sisters, so I suppose that makes them second-cousins, but “cousin” seems easier to say.

We had an easy day of it, relaxing on the outdoor patio and enjoying the 28 C weather under bright blue skies.  A little nap before dinner was the perfect way to shake off the “red-eye” flight.

Kite_looking

Earlier in the day Eirwen had cut up a barbequed chicken and deboned it.  The scraps were spread on the lawn and we waited for the Red Kites to make their “dive bomb” attacks to pick up the pieces of meat.  Apparently these birds, with a 5-6 ft wing span fancy dead meat, but don’t hunt for live meat, except for the odd unfortunate small bird.  The Kites would spot the meat with their keen eyes and wait for more friends to arrive.  Finally, once about 8-10 Kites were circling overhead they began to make their runs to pick up pieces of the chicken without actually landing.

Kite_landing

When you look at the feathers curled up at the end of their wings, you wonder where the airlines got the idea to add those little “winglets” to the end of their wings …..

It was great to spend some time getting caught up on all the developments in our respective families since the last time we got together during our visit to London with Jessica and Andrew in the summer of 2008.  ( http://2008europe.wordpress.com).