SATURDAY and SUNDAY

SATURDAY

We arrived at Birmingham Intl airport at 8:20 am, Saturday and headed directly to Registration so we would have passes for the local trains. Following a couple of hours in the “House of Friendship”, (essentially the display hall for the convention) we decided it was late enough to try and get into our hotel. We headed for the shuttle busses that run regularly to the hotels for what we hoped was a 10 to 15 minute ride to the Apollo Hotel in Edgbaston, a suburb of Birmingham. 1 hour, and multiple head bobs later….. we arrived at our hotel. The driver was on a milk run, plus had to stop and wait at each stop for anyone else wanting to get on.

We found we were unable to check in for another hour. So we made our way through a few more head bobs in the lobby waiting for the magic hour: 2:00 pm (7:00 am Utah time)

With key in hand we made our way to the third floor of building F and settled into our room, which reminded us very much of the room we had in Portugal last fall, except with carpeting.

We decided not to stop and rest, as that would mess up our time transition. We headed out the door and down the street to catch the bus to the train station. At the train station we headed for Coventry, to St Michaels Parish, hoping to find the graveyard where a number of Annette’s ancestors are buried, according to the records we have.

It was an interesting trip – again reminiscent of our train rides in Portugal.

Coventry was a fun town and the Parish was massive. Part of it had been destroyed many years ago but the outside shell still stood.

A new parish had been built next door, but everyone was gone from the building by the time we arrived. We were able to take some pictures of a very old graveyard, but most of the stones were unreadable. None of the ones we could read had family names, so we went away empty handed, other than some photos of the graveyard. I guess that one is for another time.

We ate dinner in nice little place called Café Rouge; an Italian place with wonderful salmon and a chicken baguette. It really hit the spot and gave us the oomph to go searching for the bus to get back to our hotel.

That was an adventure in itself. After an hour of walking and thinking it was just around the next corner, or just over the next rise, (as well as a much needed potty break at a local McDonalds) we found the bus stop and made it back to the hotel. By then, the Moore’s (friends from Brigham, and also Rotarians) had arrived and we compared notes for our next day’s activities.

SUNDAY

Up bright and early and off to church in Harborne. The map said about 1.7 miles so we decided to have a nice walk to the chapel. And maybe it really was 1.7 miles, but it seemed like a lot farther. We had left a half hour prior to starting time and barely made it for the opening. It was a great experience sitting next to a couple of missionaries and a family they had brought. The Primary kids sang “Daddy’s Homecoming” and the High Council spoke. Lucky us! It was really nice to feel right at home in a distant country.

We determined to find a way to either catch a bus back, or grab a taxi rather than another half hour of walking, and we’re glad we did as the rest of the afternoon was nothing but walking. I’ll post later on our trip to Warwick Castle. An amazing experience.

**Hang in there Ty. You’re doing great!**