Western Europe continued
Brighton, England, Sep 4 - 13, by Aaron
Just in case you don't remember, we met Lisa & Sarah while traveling through Vietnam in August '00. They had invited us to visit them if in England, and were we ever glad we did.
Lisa Earl-Novell said it best when she was talking with her sister about our stay with Sarah and her John in their sumptuous house in Brighton, "They just want a place to be for awhile, to cook, and do all the normal stuff we take for granted." She was exactly right. Both of the Earl-Novell sisters were the very essence of hospitality. Sarah picked us up at the airport, on Tuesday, September 4, and we never left her house! Not true, of course, but nearly the case. She was very kind and moved many furnishings around to accommodate us, and I was so embarrassed, because most of it was because I wanted a desk to write. So we moved Sarah and John out of their room and took over. Oh, us yanks! We are so overbearing.
Sarah then lead us around the famous Brighton beach, and we learned that one of my favorite musicians, Fat Boy Slim, lives in Brighton. I was near his house, and that was good enough for me. John's brother was staying with them, so it was the five of us, and John's brother Rob and I both have a taste for Adam Sandler movies, so I got to indulge myself. The first day on our own, we went grocery shopping at Waitrose and ate pub food, a hearty pie full of gravy. Yum! Most of our days though, were spent inside. I would write in the mornings while Laura watched ER, two episodes were on each day on one of the BBC's. In the afternoon, Laura would work on the website and I would watch Adam Sandler movies. And a good time was had by all. In the evenings, Sarah and John were gracious enough to let us cook for them, and that was a lot of fun, and we even helped Sarah throw a surprise party for John, congratulating him on finished up his PhD. That Saturday night, both Laura and I were the most uneducated people at the party, everyone had PhDs, and the conversations were great! We got a chance to meet Pete, who was also PhD bound, having done research in South Africa, so we had a lot to talk about. Lisa and her John, the almost married couple, came down for the party, so we got to see them and reminisce about our time together in Vietnam, more than a year earlier. I was so impressed by both of the Johns, Sarah's and Lisa's. Sarah's John was quiet, but had a great sense of humor and a golden heart, and Lisa's John has the best social skills of anyone I had ever met in my life! He was so easy to talk to, and I must admit, I secretly want to be him! Sunday we fed the house with American french toast, my secret family recipe, and then I went with Rob and Pete to watch the movie Red Planet and we finished the day with pizza in Brighton.
Tuesday, September 11, started out as a normal day. I rented movies at a local place after writing in the morning, and then I stopped at a little market to look for sour snakes for Laura. They didn't have sour snakes, but they did have jelly babies, what Dr. Who eats, so I bought them. While I was buying the candy, I heard on the news that a plane had hit the world trade center in New York. Really, I didn't think too much about it. I went back to the apartment, watched a movie, and then John called, saying that a plane had hit the world trade center. I told him I heard, but again, I didn't think much of it. I went back to my movie, Little Nicky, Adam Sandler's latest, and then Sarah came home early and asked if I had heard, and I said I had. I roused Laura from her web work (she didn't know anything about it) and then we turned on the news. Then I understood. I had thought it was just a small plane, like a cessna, and that it had been an accident. As the news unfolded, we watched as the first tower fell, and then the second. The World Trade Center towers were gone. For the next five hours, we were glued to the TV. Pete came over, saying his father in New York was safe, and after we had had enough of the news, we got Indian food and watched Little Nicky. It was a welcome break after the news. I will never forget watching the towers fall while Larua and Sarah cried. It was horrific. Even more frightening was that night there were explosions in Kabul, Afghanistan that night, and I though for sure our psyco president had started bombing. I like the world, was horrified at what had happened, but we were all so scared about what would happen next. The U.S. is a violent country, and we have a lot of arms to use. In the Gulf War, we called it inventory reduction. What would happen next?
The next couple of days, when anyone found out we were Americans, they would give us their sympathies and go over how awful the whole thing had been. One woman hugged and told me that she would pray for us and for our country. That was the feeling among the people we had met. The day after, Sarah had to go to a conference, so John was left alone to entertain us, and he did a great job. For our last night in Brighton, he took us to fish and chips and mushy peas. It was one of the best meals on the trip! I forget the name of the place, but it's where everyone says the best fish and chips are served. We ate, walked home through Brighton, got up the next day and took the train to London. We went on with our plans through the shock of the tragedy.
Brighton beach, the West Pier which was damaged and is undergoing restoration.
Our
Yellow Room where we both spent so much time each day. Aaron
wrote & I worked on the website
View
down West street looking towards the beach, downtown Brighton
Sarah & John's red door to their house
Pizza
dinner with Aaron, Rob, Pete, John & Sarah
