Learning to Live in England, Part 28

Saturday, August 14

Today we went to lunch with Claudia and David Williams, who sold us our flat. They took us to the Ramada Inn in Southport, where the glassed-in dining room overlooks Marine Lake. As the day was beautiful, it all seemed very holiday-like.

Both before and after the meal, they took us on little local tours. The afterward tour was especially meaningful, as they showed us their church in Halsall, which is quite ancient. We couldn't go inside, as it has to be kept locked, but even the outside was fascinating.

Claudia's mother, who lived in our flat before us, is also buried there, so we stopped to pay our respects at her grave. We also got to see the nursing home care home where she live for 18 months after she moved out of the flat.

Something else David pointed out is the ditches between and sometimes around all the fields.  These ditches look about 3 or 4 feet deep, but David says they are deeper than they look.  They are drainage ditches, a whole network of them, and that is how the land is reclaimed from marshland. 

We also saw, in Southport, three art deco buildings we much admired, including one built by a shipper, with a glass dome, from which he could watch to see his ships coming in. 

Claudia and David are such nice people, it would have been a pleasure to spend many more hours with them, but  in a misguided attempt to avoid meat, at least, because of the fast, I ate cheese and it disagreed with me, putting me into quite some physical distress before the day was over.  Serves me right, but ended our together time prematurely.


Sunday, August 15
Feast of the Dormition

We went to church in Liverpool again.  This time, there were more people to talk to afterwards, as we had met two or three more last week.  Our new acquaintances include Galina, who is half Russian and half Norwegian, but prefers to think of herself as the latter, and Aaggi, a Mongolian woman who is Galina's business partner.  Aaggi is the manager of their restaurant, K Gourmet in Southport, and Galina is the chef.  They serve full English breakfasts, and for lunch and dinner, Chinese.  We met one or two more people this week.

After the coffee hour, Elias took us, together with Zisis, to his house for a little feast in honor of the Theotokos.  Another of his friends, an orthopedic surgeon, came down from Newcastle to join us.  He is Greek, but has red hair and blue eyes. 

I had brought an apple crumble.  It had come out of the oven smelling wonderful and looking perfect.  When I laid it on Eleni's counter, however, and removed the foil, a very curious thing had happened:  the crust, or rather the crumble, had entirely disappeared!  I suppose the jiggling around on the train and in the car caused the juices to slosh around and dissolve the crumble.  So it looked a lot less appetizing, although it tasted the same.  Eleni had two other desserts, so no big deal.

Their eldest daughter, Maria, joined us at the table, to make six, while her younger brothers ate separately.  There was no sign of Stella; she was upstairs in her room with a migraine. 
After the meal, Eleni having shooed me out of the kitchen, I went upstairs; and seeing me, Stella called my name, so I went in to talk to her.  Her little brother, Alex, 12, was already there, doing his best to cheer her up.  What a brother!  Sotirios, 16, came in later, too, while I was still there.  How sweet is that?

Stella told me all about it, and afterward asked, 'Do you understand?'  So I told her how it looked to me and she said yes, exactly.   Good.  Anyway, let us hope the best for her, whatever that may be.

As usual, the men drifted into their own conversation, politics, of which I am sick and take no further interest, leaving Eleni and Maria and I to our own socializing.  No problem; they are both lovely people, with whom it is a joy to share an afternoon!  I was especially impressed that Maria, only 21, has the manners and poise and insights of someone much older.  Eleni I feel as if I had known all my life.  I love this whole family !!

Maria took us home, a 10-minute drive, stopping first at the train station, where Zisis just barely caught his train back to Liverpool.