Visit of RC Wiveliscombe - Saturday
Our busy program started on Saturday in earnest. In the morning we went to Tauton, the Somerset county seat. I did not talk about it yet, although Wiveliscombe is only a short distance from Tiverton it belongs to Somerset, while Tiverton lies in Devon.
The whole party should go to Tauton by bus, by some near city line. We went to the bus stop by car with the Kellets, but we were late, and the bus just leaving when we arrived. It was no problem, we were first anyway, and the party with the Čutkas was late. The next bus was arriving in about 20 minutes, and on the top of this the Bermans came even later. In Tauton we visited a museum that shown the city history and some technical stuff.
From the museum we went to town and stopped by a coffee house. It was a pretty two storey building with wooden insides. And the coffee was good. The other party with the Čutkas had the same idea, so we all got together and talked. We split after the coffee again, since they went to the museum, where we already were.
We wandered around for a while and then went back. It was lunchtime, and we were expected at the Oake Manor golf club. That was a building – the real English club. Beautiful house, interior like in a castle, selected and very good food. Many members with their wives came for lunch, so there was a lot of getting acquainted.
After lunch we could choose whether to play golf or walk around Wiveliscombe and then go to be interviewed on the radio. Honza Čutka picked golf, his wife shopping, and we went to a walk and the radio. The town itself is not interesting, but since the English architecture is completely different from ours, it was pleasant. Interview in the local radio awaited us, or rather me, later in the afternoon. I had a little bout of stage fright because of my pronunciation – I wanted listeners to understand me. Luckily, I was not afraid about the interview topic itself, and the redactors said that it was good. Reportedly it had juice and all it wanted to cut some gaps in order for it to be more dynamic. As I was concentrating on proper grammar and pronunciation I spoke slowly and sometimes took a break for thought. The guy promised to send me the final copy, but he did not send me anything, even after a reminder.
Then we went around two corners to one Rotarian family for a snack. The snack was large, almost like dinner. And we still had to go to a real dinner. Lenka was in the middle of attention explaining about plans for our wedding.
The dinner was held at Terry and Fran Carter. It was a nice, comfortable evening without any more important experiences. That changed late in the evening, more like at night, at the Kellets, where we were talking a little before bed. Somehow it came out that I like whisky, same as the Kellets. And when they found out that Lenka liked it, too, Adrian came alive and immediately showed us his collection, and we had a nightcap.