The Open and theater

I went to The Open on Thursday and was able to watch some great golf. The day before I went I walked with Lee on here morning walk and we saw this unusual parking spot. It was a lot tighter than the pictures shows, they must have bought the car for spot. 

I took an early train to where the open was being held. I had the choice of a first class ticket that left at 5:27 am or a regular class at 5:35 am.  They were the same price so it was an easy pick, and i got breakfast in first class. 

I had to switch train stations in Liverpool, about a 5 block walk. This county always has interesting buildings and statues. I did not see anything that had to do with the Beatles.

The next train was a commuter train that stopped about 15 times before we got to our station. I knew I was at the right stop when everyone on the train got off. It was a mass of people but it moved right along. 

The entrance to Royal Birkdale where the Open is being played this year. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Birkdale_Golf_Club

It was a cold and windy day, i'm glad I dressed for it.

After going thru the main gate I had to pass all the food ,vendor tents and one of many score boards. 

I finally got past all the junk and masses of people and made my way down the course. This is heading down hole #1.

I decided to walk the course and they had a route to follow. Along the way there would be places where you could walk across a fairway and more food stands. This was hole #6

The course was a Links style course.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Links_(golf)

This is a short explanations of what a links course is.

Links land is typically characterised by dunes, an undulating surface, and a sandy soil unsuitable for arable farming.

So the land is not good for anything, so lets put a golf course on it.

This was the tee box on hole #7  par 3 and 177 yards. 

I passed a guy drawing the 13th hole, he said come back later and he would have more color to it.

All was going good till just before the 18th hole. I tripped on my own feet and down i went.  It wasn't all that bad until some young kid asked me "are you ok sir?" He might as well have said "Old Guy Down" 

I went to the aid station and had them clean it up and put a bandaid on it. The British call it plaster rather than band aid. Another odd wording over here of something. 

A view of the 18th fairway, the green is to the left of the picture. The building to the right is used for all the TV interview. 

This is a view of the club house and the #18 hole.  Not sure why the guy in white looks so bored. 

A better view of the course, I took this from the top of the bleachers.

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The train ride back was uneventful, on the short walk thru Liverpool I saw this interesting building. Still didn't see anything about the Beatles. 

I got home and Coach was real excited to see me. 

Friday night Leanne and I went to the Holland park Opera. We would see an Opera called Kat'a Kabanova. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%A1%C5%A5a_Kabanov%C3%A1

Neither one of us like it. 

On friday we were invited by one of Leanne's coworkers to a theater in the park. A nice bring your own theater, we wish they had more of these back in the states. 

Tonight we would be seeing Shakespeare's play, The Tempest.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Tempest

The park was once part of the York house property.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_House,_Twickenham

Like so many other large properties in england it was taken over by the local government.

There was a beautiful fountain behind the stage with mostly female statures. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Naked_Ladies

The history of it is very interesting. This is what it would look like without the stage in front of it.

On with the show, this was much better than the night before.

After the show Brian and Judith took us to the Twickenham Yacht club. A very small club that is on the Thames. 

A great view of the night sky from the clubhouse porch. Off to the left is Ell Pie island. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eel_Pie_Island

At one time there was a hotel and stage that hosted some famous bands, here is a list of a few of them, Rod Stewart, Eric Clapton, The Rolling Stones, The Who, The Yardbirds, Black Sabbath and Genesis

We headed back to there house and had one more drink for the road. They pulled a bottle of toffee flavored Vodka out of the fridge. This was a great sipping vodka, that would be great for dessert on its own.

The next day on our walk we passed on unusually advertisement. This is another thing that you would never see in the states. 

Country walk and Wimbledon

This is the last week of Wimbledon so we did a short walk in the country to make it back in time to watch the finals.

Train travel made the trip very easy we were there in 45 min.

The first 3/4 of a mile of the walk we had done before. This one would take a turn over the tracks.

We're working with maps and our iphone for this walk. It does make it easy once you know how to use every thing.  We stopped at this rustic cemetery for a check on the map. 

The grave are marked with wood plaques instead of grave stones.

From this angle we can see a walk we did a few months ago. We had walked up the hill to the windmills on the right. From there we walked the ridge. 

A view in the other direction, the trail on the ridge is called the South Down Way. 

A nice path that i'm sure we will walk on a few more times before we live england.

As with most of our walks we pass a country estate. 

Map in hand, Coach and i make our way across a field of fresh cut hay.

One of the many gates we crossed today. 

Lee crossing over, while Coach takes his route.

Another gate, Lee pulls the board up for Coach. He got to be a pro with the gates. 

An then the fields with the sheep was thrown in the mix, we had been careful with each new field we entered.

Away from the field of sheep we can see Danny House off the the left.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Danny_House

As we got near the house we saw a herd of Alpacas.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alpaca

Like sheep there raised for their fiber. 

Getting a closer look, I commented they look like something Dr, Seuss drew up.

And now some useless info:

alpaca's can be house trained, just make sure you have a big house. 

A closer look at Danny house. Built in the 16th century and where Prime Minister Lloyd George lived during the first world war. It's now a retirement home and B & B.

Coach making a new friend .

The sheep was not afraid of Coach and they got as close as they could with the fence between them.

Coach decided to get a little closer and stuck his head thru the fence. Just after i took this picture the sheep head butted him. So much for a friendly hello.

Passing another country estate, very clean. 

This walk would end up being about 6 1/2 miles. And mostly with Coach in the lead.

With an occasional turn by him to make sure we are still there.

There always seems to be a church in the distance. We would make a turn and walk by the church in a mile or so.

Passed a car for sale, it didn't seem like a bad price for "Alice" 

Hiking thru another field with hills in the distance, it was a good day for a hike.

We passed the bush with fruit growing from it

I thought it was a kumquat. But after looking at pictures on the web i'm not sure what it is.

Heading back to the train station we passed a sign that you won't see in the states. 

Back home in time to watch the women final. Coach is sleeping and Lee and I are enjoying coffee with strawberries and cream. 

A good way to end the day.