{"id":1242,"date":"2019-04-13T21:56:20","date_gmt":"2019-04-13T21:56:20","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/?p=1242"},"modified":"2019-04-13T21:56:22","modified_gmt":"2019-04-13T21:56:22","slug":"blog-january-april-2019","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/?p=1242","title":{"rendered":"blog January – April 2019"},"content":{"rendered":"



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Thurs Jan  17
I arrived in the US on Jan 9 very tired – but have had a nice week, incl a few days in San Diego & Honolulu. I first visited Honolulu in 1986 & that started my love affair with America (never thinking I would eventually live there). Today I am off to my next adventure & another new country – Lima,, Peru.<\/p>\n

Fri 18
I arrived in Lima at 12 midnight & got to my hotel in Miraflores by 1 am. After a good sleep I enjoyed a marvellous breakfast. Peruvian food is delicious, & it kept coming. At 11 am I set off to discover my surroundings. I walked along the cliffs which look over the Pacific. The beaches are not great, but attracted surfers & paragliders. I finished up at Huaca Pucllana. This is the remains of a temple (c 500 AD) built of mud clay bricks. It was fascinating. They had women priests who sacrificed women……..no wonder they died out! I then walked to the central park, where there is an historic church & the municipal offices. After 3 hours of walking I returned to the hotel.<\/p>\n

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Sat 19
Today I walked into the Historic Centre. This took 2 hours & lots of people were out for Saty shopping. Eventually I got to the centre & spent 2.5 hours exploring it. I started at Plaza Mayor. This square is surrounded by beautiful old buildings: the cathedral, archbishop\u2019s house, municipal offices & presidential palace. Unfortunately the cathedral was closed for siesta. I then walked to San Francisco. This is a Franciscan monastery still home to Franciscans. I joined a tour thru the complex (no pics allowed) but again, the magnificent church was closed.<\/p>\n

In the evening I attended Vigil Mass at the local church. One of the fascinations with overseas travel is the music I encounter at Sunday Mass. On this occasion the Gloria was sing to the tune of the Battle Hymn of the Republic. The chorus, of course, was: Gloria, Gloria, Hallelujah!<\/p>\n

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Sun 20
This morning I walked around Barranco, the suburb a short walk south of Miraflores. It has a long history as Lima\u2019s bohemian area – I call it the St Kilda of Lima!<\/p>\n

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Fri 31
I returned to the US from Lima on Mon 21 & had a relaxing week based in SD. I flew to London on Mon 28, arriving next day & checking into the Bankside Hilton, the hotel I enjoy when in London. I was welcomed back by the staff who remembered me & spent the day recovering from jet-lag. Today I went to 12.30 pm Mass at St Magnus – the church where I am to be special preacher for Holy Week & Easter in April. It was good to catch up with the Rector & 2 parishioners I know. After Mass I spent the rest of the afternoon in the Imperial War Museum. Tomorrow I go to Walsingham via train to Kings Lynn.<\/p>\n

Sat Feb 2
I arrived in Walsingham yesterday on a very cold day, but the sun was shining. Good to be back & to see everyone again. Today is the 39th anniversary of my ordination to the priesthood. In Adelaide that day it was 33c – today it snowed! So I walked in snow to St Mary\u2019s for the 11 am Mass with Candlemass ceremonies. I enjoyed concelebrating the Mass as I reflected on that day & all that has happened over the years since then. After Mass I joined the parishioners for lunch, which was an initiative from the new Vicar, Fr Harri. I enjoyed meeting him & his wife.<\/p>\n

Tomorrow is the 40th anniversary of my Deaconing & I have been invited to be Deacon at the Parish Mass. Afterwards I will have lunch with my friends, Stephen & Jo. The annual priests retreat starts on Monday & I am looking forward to experiencing this for the 1st time. So 2 Walsingham firsts this visit – Candlemass & the Priests Retreat.<\/p>\n

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Mon 4
Yesterday was a lovely celebration of my anniversary. I wasn\u2019t expecting any fuss – but I was prayed for in the intercessions & during the notices the Vicar, Fr Hari, congratulated me & presented me with a bottle of French champagne. Parishioners were also very kind with their congratulations. A lovely lunch with my friends followed.<\/p>\n

This morning I said Mass in the shrine, using the propers from the missal for the anniversary of ordination. This is a very personal sort of Mass & is only the 2nd time I have used it. Now I look forward to being on retreat with 140 priests & being in silence until Friday morning.<\/p>\n

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Sun 10<\/p>\n

The retreat was excellent. 3 talks about 20th martyrs which each had a relevance to me: the New Guinea Martyrs, Edith Stein & Oscar Romero. The worship & singing were uplifting. On Fri I returned to London for the weekend.<\/p>\n\n

Yesterday I caught the train to Lingfield, Surrey, to visit my old friend, Fr Martin. We chatted & reminisced for hours, remembering good times we had in both our parishes.<\/p>\n

Today I went to High Mass at St Magnus. It was excellent, with wonderful music & the usual superb brunch afterwards. Several people said that they were looking forward to my return to St M to be the special preacher for Holy Week & Easter. After I returned to the hotel I walked to the Imperial War Museum. I still had things to see from my visit on Jan 31 – in fact I spent another 2 hours there.<\/p>\n

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Tomorrow I catch the train to Oxford & will be there 2 nights. The purpose is to meet with the principal of Pusey House. He is in charge of the arrangements for the Peter Toon memorial sermon, which I am to give in May – like St Magnus, another great honour & challenge.<\/p>\n

Thurs 14<\/p>\n

I had a wonderful 2 days in Oxford. I arrived Mon a\/noon & caught a bus to my hotel on the outskirts of Oxford. I was delighted to discover that it was near Littlemore, the village to where Cardinal Newman retired & preached his last sermon as an Anglican. Now a suburb of Oxford, I explored it & found Newman\u2019s parish church. More interesting was the view from my hotel room – St Nicholas Priory, erected in AD 1111.<\/p>\n

Tuesday I caught the bus into the city & was excited to pass St Luke\u2019s, Cowley – the church from which I obtained the Harrison organ for St Mark\u2019s. That was exactly 21 years ago! Returning to the railway station, I then walked to Pusey House. I knew of Pusey House, but had never been there. It is a wonderful anglocatholic establishment providing accomodation for students with the magnificent chapel as its centre. There are daily Services, lectures, seminars & a significant library. I enjoyed staying there as much as for the atmosphere as anything else.<\/p>\n

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After meeting with the principal (whom I enjoyed meeting) about my preaching in May I then explored Oxford. What a wonderful place it is, with so many old buildings & famous Colleges, with their beautiful chapels. I returned to the House for Evensong, which was beautfully sung. Next morning I attended Mass & joined the residents for breakfast. I then explored more of Oxford before catching the train at 12 noon.<\/p>\n

I am now in Walsingham for the Partners w\/e, which I have attended every year since I retired.<\/p>\n

Mon 25<\/p>\n

After an excellent 3 weeks in UK, I had the w\/e in Frankfurt. The weather here has been brilliant sunshine, but chilly. Sunday a\/noon I walked around the old town. This was completely destroyed after the war & debate raged for decades about what to do with it. Thankfully they decided to avoid modern buildings & 15 years ago started to reconstruct the original buildings. I have watched it over the years & now it is finished. A wonderful result, incl an open-air museum of the original Pfalz.<\/p>\n

Today I fly to Madrid. I have a week in Spain, incl 3 days in Seville – a new city for me.<\/p>\n

Fri Mar 1<\/p>\n

The weather in Spain has been amazing, almost like Summer. I wandered around Madrid all day Tuesday, most of it still familiar from my last visit years ago. On Wednesday I caught the train to Seville. What a wonderful, relaxed city this. And so many wonderful churches & buildings. Yesterday I went to Mass in the Royal Chapel of the cathedral. A stunning chapel only open to worshippers. After that I wandered around for 3 hours, finishing at the Macarena basilica – home of the weeping virgin.<\/p>\n

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Today I went to 10 am Mass in the cathedral itself. This was before they let the tourists in & I arrived when the Canons were chanting morning prayer. Wonderful to sit there & take in the impressive sanctuary. Mass followed, accompanied by organ, choir & incense. Afterwards I wandered around the cathedral for 15 mins, having it virtually to myself – fantastic. I then explored more of the city for 3 hours. More of the same tomorrow!<\/p>\n

Sun 3<\/p>\n

Yesterday I explored more of the city, incl Tirana on the other side of the river. I finished up at the stunning church of El Salvador – a wonderful climax to this wonderful city. Today I catch the train back to Madrid & tomorrow fly back to the US.<\/p>\n

Thurs 14<\/p>\n

I arrived back in Australia yesterday after a wonderful week in Spain, followed by a week in the US. Now I have just 4 weeks in Melbourne before flying to London for Holy Week & Easter.<\/p>\n

The flight back to Melb on Monday was a strange experience – it was the last time I will fly between Melb & San Diego with United. For future trips I will be flying with Virgin Australia from Melb to London & returning thru the US. This is due to 2 factors: It is almost impossible to get upgrades on United & it is cheaper to book Bus Class on  Virgin to London than flying United thru SD & hoping for upgrades. This is significant as I now have less income for travel since the sale of my SD condo. It means I will no longer be making SD a base for travel, & I look forward to experiencing travel on Virgin with new planes, new crews, new terminals, new lounges & new elite benefits \ud83d\ude42<\/p>\n

Sun 24<\/p>\n

I have had a very busy time since I returned to St K 11 days ago. As well as the usual things to do & people to catch up with, I have been working on 5 sermons which I have to preach for Holy Week & Easter. I am the special preacher at the famous church of St Magnus the Martyr, London Bridge. This is where I usually worship when I am in London & I know many members of the congregation. It is a church known for its high standard of liturgy & music – & the Rector is one of the best preachers in the C of E. So it is a real challenge, requiring lots of preparation & work. I want to complete the sermons before I leave for London on Apr 9, so set aside 3 days to do it free from interruption. After preparing & reflecting, once I start doing a sermon I can not stop – it just flows. To do 5 in a row was quite a task & I was pleased to finish in 2 days.<\/p>\n

\"Port<\/div>\n

As I leave for London in just over 2 weeks, I have very little time to catch up with friends this time. There is also the start of the football season this w\/e. Yesterday Port Adel played at the MCG & I made a day of it. It began with the Vic Supporters Group meeting for brunch at Riverland Bar. This, as the name suggests, is on the Yarra river & I have had lunch there several times. For the game I sat with all the Port supporters near the Cheer Squad. What fun we had! The team played very well & shocked the pundits by winning. Afterwards I attended the Club after-game gathering………everyone was in a happy mood, of course. So the footy has started & I will enjoy watching\/listening to as many games as possible, seeing as I am only here for the 1st 3 rounds.<\/p>

 <\/p> \n\nThurs April 4: \nLast week I came down with a terrible cold\/cough. This is the last thing I needed, with so much to do before I fly to London. So last Thursday I stayed indoors all day, reading a book & keeping warm. I think I am over the worst of it now. This is just as well, as tomorrow I fly to Brisbane to see Port Adel play on Sat night. I return to Melb on Sun. Then I have to pack & organise everything for my flight to London on Tues!\n\n\n\n


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Thurs Jan  17I arrived in the US on Jan 9 very tired – but have had a nice week, incl a few days in San Diego & Honolulu. I first visited Honolulu in 1986 & that started my love affair with America (never thinking I would eventually live there). Today […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-blog"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1242"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1242\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1243,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1242\/revisions\/1243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/frtonynoble.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}