Monday July 28th – Bletchley Park and “The Coach & Horses”.
Rosemarie & Ian had another action packed day planned for Monday. After breakfast we were up and off back to Buckinghamshire to visit Bletchley Park, the wartime home of the “Codebreakers” who successfully created a “computer” that would allow the Allies to decode German encrypted messages, the odds of which were 150 million,
million, million to 1. The fact that the German “Enigma” encoding system was “broken” at Bletchley Park is considered to have shortened the war by at least a year and saved thousands of lives. There is so much to know about Bletchley Park that I cannot possibly go into it all here, but it is very interesting. Here is a link to the official website: http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/early.rhtm
The mathematical genius behind the code breaking machine (named The Turing Bombe) was Alan Turing, a King’s College,
Cambridge graduate and professor, studying pure mathematics and probability theory. His name is quoted liberally in the fictional novel “Simple Genius” by David Baldacci, which, by coincidence, I read on the Alaska trip. I mention this because he contributed so much to the breaking of the code, but sadly, in 1954, 10 years after the war, was about to be prosecuted for “living with another man” (he was gay), and he committed suicide by taking a bite from a cyanide laced apple. Turing appears now as the “founder of computer science” and it was suggested during our tour that the Apple computer logo, with the bite taken out of the apple, is a tribute to Turing’s contribution to this subject. You can find out more about Turing at: http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/index.html
Of course I was very interested in the Turing Bombe machine itself and how it worked and how they went about trying to “break the codes”. I can’t say that I fully understood, but certainly got a good idea. For those of you who are interested, here is a link to some information that will get you started!
http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/enigma/index.htm
There is also a movie called “ENIGMA” starring Kate Blanchet, fictional, but takes place at Bletchley during the war. We have not seen it yet, but have confirmed that it is available at our local Blockbuster.
You will notice from the photograph, that the front of the main “manor house” looks very strange, with an assortment of different architectures appearing haphazardly (Victorian Gothic, Tudor and Dutch Baroque). The house was originally a very large farm house, but when it was bought by Sir Herbert Samuel Leon in 1883, he added a new façade to the front of the house, but each time he went overseas on holiday, he came back and wanted to incorporate the style of building he had just seen on his latest travels!
All in all it was a fascinating visit and we were still looking around when the Park closed at 5:00 PM and we were the last to leave. We were very weary after another very hot day, and walking about from building to building (or hut) and standing looking at the exhibits. It gave us some idea of the awful working conditions the employees had to suffer at Bletchley Park during the war years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletchley_Park
From Bletchley, we made our way across country back into Oxfordshire and to the “Coach & Horses” in Chislehampton, where 
R&I had made reservations for dinner. This is the pub where the “Chiltern” Chapter of the UK TR Club holds its monthly meeting and as we have said earlier in the blog, Ian is the proud owner of “Primrose”, a Triumph TR6 classic car. Here is a link to photographs taken at one of their monthly meetings at the “Coach & Horses”.
http://www.chiltern-trs.co.uk/Coach%20and%20Horses/index.htm
This a typical village pub in this area – dating back to 15??, with very low ceilings and large 
fireplaces and homely atmosphere (plus a fine selection of beer of course!)--all the qualities that make a good old english pub! We had a delicious meal and it was a great finish to a lovely day.
Tuesday July 29th- Our Last Day with Rosemarie & Ian
After our very long day and evening yesterday, we slept-in a while and got off to a lazy start to the day. We’d had three continuous days of hot and sunny weather, but today was gloomy and rain was on its way. We hadn’t yet gone into the town of Bicester (just 2 miles from R&I’s village of Launton) to see the very well-known “Bicester Village” outlet shops. These shops have put Bicester, which is an old market town not far from Oxford, “on the map” for people all over England. They were mentioned by people we met in Dover at the start of the month, and by people we met when in the Midlands for our timeshare week. So the four of us drove to the multi-storey parking garage next to Bicester Village, and walked towards the shops. The rain started coming down soon after our arrival, and we left R&I enjoying coffee in a coffee shop, and arranged to meet them in a book shop close by in about half an hour. The outlet shops are those of many “exclusive” fashion brands, and we were truly horrified by the prices of the clothing and shoes we saw in the shop windows. Even if the British Pound and the American Dollar were the exact same value, the prices were about double what we’d pay in dollars, and all we could do was laugh and wonder why on earth people travel to Bicester to shop at the Village! Meanwhile the rain pounded down, but there were still lots of shoppers walking about carrying big bags of purchases under their umbrellas. We found an ATM and withdrew the last Pounds we’d need to see us through Heathrow and purchase a few gifts there, and soon found R&I, who were amazed we were back with them so soon. When we exclaimed about the prices, they told us that compared to London and other big cities, the prices in these outlet shops were roughly one-third less, which is why people make the trip there, even from France and other European countries. We were soon back home at R&I’s and after a light lunch of final leftovers from the weekend, we started packing for our return home.
Today we had to remember to print our United Airlines boarding passes for our flight the next day at 4:20 PM. We wanted to be sure that we would be one of the first logged on 24 hours prior to the flight so that we would be offered the chance to purchase an upgrade to Economy Plus, which gives you an extra five inches of leg room (which Alison needs!) and priority boarding after Business Class. We had taken this option on the way out, but is not “pre-bookable” and only available at web check in and only as long as seats are available. Alison got on at the prescribed time and after being offered an upgrade to business class at around 400 Pounds each,
settled on Economy Plus at 35 Pounds each (watch this space!). For our final evening meal with R&I, we went back into Bicester and enjoyed great Indian food at a restaurant named Shakil’s. After a nightcap farewell drink with R&I back at their house, we retired to bed content with all we had accomplished, but ready to return to our family and home.
Wednesday, July 30th - Homeward Bound.
On Wednesday morning, Rosemarie & Ian were up early – not because they were making sure we were getting ready to leave, but because they were leaving on a village organized day trip to the “seaside” – Weymouth. The bus was leaving at 9:00 AM and they had to be on it, so we were left to close up and leave for Heathrow at our own pace. As always, Bob was keen to be at Heathrow sooner than later, so by 10:30 we were on our way. After an easy drive down the the M40 and a cut across to the M4 we were at Heathrow in no time and returning the Avis rental car and checking in for our flight. When checking in we were told we could use the “lounge” because of Bob’s “Gold” status as a frequent flier with US Airways, which was great as we had more than a couple of hours before our flight would be boarding, and having a quiet, comfortable spot (with free food & drinks!) was very welcome. Next came an even bigger surprise. When boarding had started and we were expecting to be called for our Economy Plus seats, they called for any “Gold” card holders with any of United’s “partner” airlines and within a couple of minutes we were given a FREE upgrade from Economy Plus to Business Class. What a deal! It is amazing how fast the next 7 hours of flight time flew by – between eating, reading and sleeping, we didn’t even get time to watch a movie! We were met at Dulles by David & Indigo (Melanie was away on business in Milwaukee) and were soon back in Falls Church, relaxing before collapsing into bed after a very long day. It had been a wonderful trip.
Rosemarie & Ian had another action packed day planned for Monday. After breakfast we were up and off back to Buckinghamshire to visit Bletchley Park, the wartime home of the “Codebreakers” who successfully created a “computer” that would allow the Allies to decode German encrypted messages, the odds of which were 150 million,
million, million to 1. The fact that the German “Enigma” encoding system was “broken” at Bletchley Park is considered to have shortened the war by at least a year and saved thousands of lives. There is so much to know about Bletchley Park that I cannot possibly go into it all here, but it is very interesting. Here is a link to the official website: http://www.bletchleypark.org.uk/content/hist/early.rhtmThe mathematical genius behind the code breaking machine (named The Turing Bombe) was Alan Turing, a King’s College,
Cambridge graduate and professor, studying pure mathematics and probability theory. His name is quoted liberally in the fictional novel “Simple Genius” by David Baldacci, which, by coincidence, I read on the Alaska trip. I mention this because he contributed so much to the breaking of the code, but sadly, in 1954, 10 years after the war, was about to be prosecuted for “living with another man” (he was gay), and he committed suicide by taking a bite from a cyanide laced apple. Turing appears now as the “founder of computer science” and it was suggested during our tour that the Apple computer logo, with the bite taken out of the apple, is a tribute to Turing’s contribution to this subject. You can find out more about Turing at: http://www.turing.org.uk/turing/index.html
Of course I was very interested in the Turing Bombe machine itself and how it worked and how they went about trying to “break the codes”. I can’t say that I fully understood, but certainly got a good idea. For those of you who are interested, here is a link to some information that will get you started!http://www.codesandciphers.org.uk/enigma/index.htm
There is also a movie called “ENIGMA” starring Kate Blanchet, fictional, but takes place at Bletchley during the war. We have not seen it yet, but have confirmed that it is available at our local Blockbuster.
You will notice from the photograph, that the front of the main “manor house” looks very strange, with an assortment of different architectures appearing haphazardly (Victorian Gothic, Tudor and Dutch Baroque). The house was originally a very large farm house, but when it was bought by Sir Herbert Samuel Leon in 1883, he added a new façade to the front of the house, but each time he went overseas on holiday, he came back and wanted to incorporate the style of building he had just seen on his latest travels!
All in all it was a fascinating visit and we were still looking around when the Park closed at 5:00 PM and we were the last to leave. We were very weary after another very hot day, and walking about from building to building (or hut) and standing looking at the exhibits. It gave us some idea of the awful working conditions the employees had to suffer at Bletchley Park during the war years.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bletchley_Park
From Bletchley, we made our way across country back into Oxfordshire and to the “Coach & Horses” in Chislehampton, where 
R&I had made reservations for dinner. This is the pub where the “Chiltern” Chapter of the UK TR Club holds its monthly meeting and as we have said earlier in the blog, Ian is the proud owner of “Primrose”, a Triumph TR6 classic car. Here is a link to photographs taken at one of their monthly meetings at the “Coach & Horses”.http://www.chiltern-trs.co.uk/Coach%20and%20Horses/index.htm
This a typical village pub in this area – dating back to 15??, with very low ceilings and large 
fireplaces and homely atmosphere (plus a fine selection of beer of course!)--all the qualities that make a good old english pub! We had a delicious meal and it was a great finish to a lovely day.Tuesday July 29th- Our Last Day with Rosemarie & Ian
After our very long day and evening yesterday, we slept-in a while and got off to a lazy start to the day. We’d had three continuous days of hot and sunny weather, but today was gloomy and rain was on its way. We hadn’t yet gone into the town of Bicester (just 2 miles from R&I’s village of Launton) to see the very well-known “Bicester Village” outlet shops. These shops have put Bicester, which is an old market town not far from Oxford, “on the map” for people all over England. They were mentioned by people we met in Dover at the start of the month, and by people we met when in the Midlands for our timeshare week. So the four of us drove to the multi-storey parking garage next to Bicester Village, and walked towards the shops. The rain started coming down soon after our arrival, and we left R&I enjoying coffee in a coffee shop, and arranged to meet them in a book shop close by in about half an hour. The outlet shops are those of many “exclusive” fashion brands, and we were truly horrified by the prices of the clothing and shoes we saw in the shop windows. Even if the British Pound and the American Dollar were the exact same value, the prices were about double what we’d pay in dollars, and all we could do was laugh and wonder why on earth people travel to Bicester to shop at the Village! Meanwhile the rain pounded down, but there were still lots of shoppers walking about carrying big bags of purchases under their umbrellas. We found an ATM and withdrew the last Pounds we’d need to see us through Heathrow and purchase a few gifts there, and soon found R&I, who were amazed we were back with them so soon. When we exclaimed about the prices, they told us that compared to London and other big cities, the prices in these outlet shops were roughly one-third less, which is why people make the trip there, even from France and other European countries. We were soon back home at R&I’s and after a light lunch of final leftovers from the weekend, we started packing for our return home.
Today we had to remember to print our United Airlines boarding passes for our flight the next day at 4:20 PM. We wanted to be sure that we would be one of the first logged on 24 hours prior to the flight so that we would be offered the chance to purchase an upgrade to Economy Plus, which gives you an extra five inches of leg room (which Alison needs!) and priority boarding after Business Class. We had taken this option on the way out, but is not “pre-bookable” and only available at web check in and only as long as seats are available. Alison got on at the prescribed time and after being offered an upgrade to business class at around 400 Pounds each,
settled on Economy Plus at 35 Pounds each (watch this space!). For our final evening meal with R&I, we went back into Bicester and enjoyed great Indian food at a restaurant named Shakil’s. After a nightcap farewell drink with R&I back at their house, we retired to bed content with all we had accomplished, but ready to return to our family and home.Wednesday, July 30th - Homeward Bound.
On Wednesday morning, Rosemarie & Ian were up early – not because they were making sure we were getting ready to leave, but because they were leaving on a village organized day trip to the “seaside” – Weymouth. The bus was leaving at 9:00 AM and they had to be on it, so we were left to close up and leave for Heathrow at our own pace. As always, Bob was keen to be at Heathrow sooner than later, so by 10:30 we were on our way. After an easy drive down the the M40 and a cut across to the M4 we were at Heathrow in no time and returning the Avis rental car and checking in for our flight. When checking in we were told we could use the “lounge” because of Bob’s “Gold” status as a frequent flier with US Airways, which was great as we had more than a couple of hours before our flight would be boarding, and having a quiet, comfortable spot (with free food & drinks!) was very welcome. Next came an even bigger surprise. When boarding had started and we were expecting to be called for our Economy Plus seats, they called for any “Gold” card holders with any of United’s “partner” airlines and within a couple of minutes we were given a FREE upgrade from Economy Plus to Business Class. What a deal! It is amazing how fast the next 7 hours of flight time flew by – between eating, reading and sleeping, we didn’t even get time to watch a movie! We were met at Dulles by David & Indigo (Melanie was away on business in Milwaukee) and were soon back in Falls Church, relaxing before collapsing into bed after a very long day. It had been a wonderful trip.
1 comment:
Good job! Sounds like you just had a super time with R&I - that photo of the two of them is adorable. We're so happy they found one another. So cool how you got the upgrade home.
I managed two blog updates myself but they were not the most cheery.
Love, Melanie
Post a Comment