Today is going to be an exciting day. There are two things I am greatly looking forward to. One is to visit my good friend from high school, Chris Stewart, who is in the Air Force and stationed in England. I will be staying with him for a few days, hanging out and catching up. The second is yet another thing of my life long dreams list; visiting Lavenham, England the ancestral home of my Mom's side of the family (Spring).
I start the morning off with a traditional English breakfast and then head to the train station (about 100 meters from my hostel). I first am taking a train to a city called (Fill in). From there I can take a bus that will drop me off in Lavenham. Lavenham is a very small village, now mostly popular as a "traditional English village" and a popular tourist spot. Locals are moving out in the droves because they can't afford to live there anymore as it is just a tourist zone, compared to having any real industry of its own.
After a 1.5 hour train ride and 50 minute bus ride through the English country side I arrive in Lavenham. Let me give you some background on my family history here and why I have wanted to visit so badly.
In the 1500's there was a man named Thomas Spring. He lived in Lavenham, England and by controlling most of the textile industry for all of England became one of richest men in the entire country. At one point he was even said to have been richer than the King himself. He made the Spring family name into a name. He was a baron and later as Lords were established, his descendants would become Lords until the direct English line died off in the 1780's. Lavenham is also famous for its beautiful and historic church, which Thomas Spring funded a great deal of. In fact the entire church is lined with the Spring family crest, the crest is in the stain glass windows and Thomas Spring himself is buried inside the church.
Thomas Spring had 3 children. One, his eldest, became his direct line, later becoming lords. The second's family ended up coming to the United States and that is where I descend from and the third was a daughter who married into another noble family. That noble family is now known as the Windors, aka the current Royal family of England. So yes, technically my family is related to the current Royal family of England. Don't believe me, I can prove it. It is close enough relation that on the family tree I can directly trace up the Windsor line to Thomas Spring as well my own. Confused? Prince William's great-great x8 Grandma is my great-great x8 aunt to simplify. Don't believe me, ask any of my family members or don't believe me.
Lucky for me the bus dropped me off by right next to the church. Given, you can walk across the entire village in about 10 minutes, so it wouldn't have matter too much, but I thought it was a great start. I am just amazed by the place. I have looked at pictures, drawings and paintings of it my entire life (we have a lot of them) and am finally seeing it for my self. I walk up and immediately can see our family crest all around the edges just like my Mom told me it would be. I walk around the church admiring the beautiful landscape and finally make my way inside.
Inside is filled with amazing stain glass windows. My breath was taken away by the level of detail, the amount of colors and shear beauty of them. These are some of the most beautiful stain glass windows I have ever seen to be honest. It was great finding our family crest in stain glass, now I see where my grandparents got the idea for their copy at home. I walk to Thomas Spring's grave and read the information about him. I spend around an hour at the church, just lingering and taking it all in. I don't know when the next time I will be here, if ever again, will be.
After the church I walk around the village and a cold front is quickly over taking the beautiful day. I head to the bus stop and wait for my ride. Lucky for me the bus that runs though Lavenham just happens to be the bus that goes to Bury St. Edmond, which is where Chris lives. It is another 40 minutes to the city.
Chris had described where he lived. In an apartment over some shops in the main shopping district. It is a brand new shop. He is over the H&M, across from Voda Phone. The bus drops me off at this shopping district and I look right in front of me and there is H & M and Voda Phone. Couldn't get easier than that. Chris is still at work, so I wander the area for an hour or so until he gets home.
It was great seeing Chris. Now, Chris is around 6'6 or 6'7, so you can't miss him. I haven't seen him in a more than a year. We head inside his awesome apartment/bachelor pad and start to unwind. We just sit there chatting, catching up and drinking a beer. After awhile of hanging out we decide to get some food. He orders a pizza and we head down the street to pick it up. There are two doors, one to his apartment (key) and one to the apartment area (electronic key)
As we leave his apartment he says, "want to hear a funny story?" Of course my answer is yes, who doesn't? Evil people, that is who.
He starts to tell me about one day a friend was over and couldn't find her way out of his complex (not a smart friend). He left his apartment to go help her find her way out. He is only wearing basketball shorts at this point. (Sorry Chris, just too good of a story not to share).
He lets her out and is talking to her outside the electronic door. She leaves and he turns to go back in only to realize he left his keys in his apartment. The guards can let him past the first door, but he still doesn't have his keys to get into his door.
At this point in the story he stops dead in his tracks, gets this worried look on his face and starts to check his pockets, slowly as first and then very quickly in a frantic motion. He goes, "well fuck." I get it right away and start laughing so hard I almost cry. He forgot his keys and locked us out. right in the middle of the story about locking him self out (the only time he has done it) he did it again for the second time. Too good to be true.
We go and get the pizza and head to the security guards area to get let in. Luckily this time he left his apartment door unlocked, so we just need to get through the electronic door. Also, luckily Chris is wearing cloths.
Want to hear the rest of the Chris's story? (again, sorry Chris).
So Chris, in only basketball shorts, goes to the security guard area. They call a locksmith and he says its going to be at least 4 hours until he can get there. The security guard tells him to makes himself comfortable in the lounge. Now here is the thing, the security guard area is also in the office space area that businesses rent.
So on a work day Chris is just sitting there in his shorts, no shirt reading a newspaper and drinking a coffee as men and women in suits walk past looking at him in confusion. Good thing for Chris he has a great sense of humor. He just looks at them, nods or raises his coffee mug like nothing is wrong. "Oh hey Jim, hear about United? Great game." Unluckily for Chris, after about 4 hours the locksmith says he can't make it. He find another one and after about 6-7 total hours of hanging out in this lounge he gets back into his apartment.
Chris and I decide to take the rest of the evening calming. It is Friday, he is tired, I am tired. We play some video games, chat, watch some TV and relax. You may think, "what, that sounds lame, you just met up in a foreign country." Well, let me tell you. Sometimes after months of travel you just want to feel normal. Hang out with a bud and do normal things, not crazy abnormal adventure things.
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