"The Grand Ancestral Homelands Summer Tour 2010" jewels63's Profile

West Midlands, Black Country of our common DNA!

The Labouring Class Roots, and Migratory paths.

THE INNATE DESIRE TO KNOW OUR ORIGINS, THE TIME TO RESEARCH AND MY HUSBANDS LONG-SERVICE LEAVE DUE MEANS I CAN CREATE A PLAN, AN ITINERARY, THAT ALSO ALLOWS FLEXIBILITY.

I SURFED IN ON THIS TRAVEL GUIDE WAVE WHEN I GOOGLED FOR PICTURES FOR DUBLIN CASTLE. I HAVE JUST CONNECTED WITH MY GREAT GRANDMOTHER'S DUBLIN FAMILY THROUGH www.ancestry.com.au

I was born in Birmingham, my husband in Leeds, and we met in Melbourne, Australia...WE must have been attracted to the coal dust seeped into our blood and bones!

Our Aussie kids have flown our Queenslander home and so we depart to connect with our ancestors and marvel at our survival!

This 3 month journey will lead us to tread similar genetic circles around the West Midlands cradle of the Industrial Revolution.

The our Celtic 'dreaming' will have a voice around the Pictish lands of Aberdeen, and haunting trajedies of the poor and orphaned from Glasgow to Dublin...

Our priviledge of lifelong learning and travel will express itself in the poetry and prose I will be able to write using the new tools of a literate and technological revolution - my mini laptop and mp3 voice recorder and wireless connections.

Yes, we have come this far.......

http://julie-mcneill.blogspot.com

http://juliemcneill1.wordpress.com

BIRMINGHAM, ENGLAND.

Julie and the "Floozi in the Jacuzi!" June 1999

I was born a Brummy but was glad to emigrate to Australia with my mum and step-dad, twin sisters, when I was 14. At that age I couldn't wait to get out of the hole in the midlands, but in 1999 the urge to go back and re-connect with relatives was strong.
So glad I did. My sister had gone back there to live, so I had somewhere to stay. One thing that was on my itinerary was to visit the Birmingham Art Gallery and Museum. Mum had taken me there as child and I enjoyed it, but now I was really anticipating the fact that there is the best collection of Pre-Raphaellite paintings there.
A friend had introduced me to their magical works in Melbourne, so I was so pleased that many of the Pre-Raphaelites were influential in my home town - something we should have learned about at school.....
What a fabulous statue in front of the Town Hall and Museum; apparently she has been called 'Floozy in the Jacuzi!"
Inside the Museum there is an excellent history of Birmingham, and a lovely Victorian Tea Room to rest and refresh for more artistic stimulation. I could have easily gone back there many times.

SHAKESPEARE'S TOWN - STRATFORD UPON AVON

Shakespeare's Birthplace June 1999

Sitting in a cafe eating battered fish and chips
And mushy peas, with my Dad and Sister
Who I hadn't seen for years.

No ordinary place was this as I looked through
The window to a Tudor Inn
On Yonder cobbled lane where sheep were herded
In simpler times.

We had come, you see, to buy a ticket
To see a show about a soldier called Anthony
And a Queen named Cleo...

It was One hundred pounds for the priviledge of
Sitting in A Row, but with Alan Bates,
A thespian admired it was a chance of a
Lifetime to see the Bards words come alive!
(And Dad was paying)

At High school it was the intensity of love in
Romeo and Juliet, and the Queen of Macbeth
Who so pitifully wrung her hands in depraved
Guilt-ridden madness.

Then, at Uni, I'd completed a Major of Literature
With all the Readings of genius William Shakespeare
So to be in the country of his birth, tread the streets,
Journey down the River Avon on a boat to the Church
Was a sense of completion, the Cycle had turned.

I went with reverence to the place he was born and
Buried, plus sat on the bench where he courted
And seduced Anne Hathaway.

As we tourists listened to the Guide, suddenly
An American stood out and cried:
You mean this is the floor that the
Great man trod on?
The chair where he sat?

He nearly fell down to the ground on his knees.
Spluttering and repeating that this was for real!

You may think I was slightly mad and obsessed but to me
This American was off his head!

If Shakespeare could have seen us then
He would have been amused at all the attention and
Obsession, but me and the Yank were in love with
The writer who gave us eternal laughs and dramatic
Lines of theatre.

No Saint was he, and only a man, but his verses
Live on In the souls of Man, and this
Appreciative woman.

Julie McNeill
(c)copyright 2004
all rights reserved

Sojourner

The Archibald Fountain at Hyde Park, Sydney 1982

My first job, after year 12 was an office assistant for a Duty Free business in 1981-2. Due to illness I had to leave, but with good will, my bosses who were going to be in Sydney at the Hilton Hotel, said why didn't I go up on the train for a holiday, and I could have the spare bed!

My first independent travel at 19yrs was on the overnight train to Sydney. Whilst my ex-co-workers were busy supervising stocktakes I learned the joys of being a tourist.

It was like I'd never seen a park before! Hyde Park in the CBD seemed wonderous, and the Archibald Fountain, I was enthralled by, plus the first giant chess set I'd seen!
I went down to Manley Beach, caught the ferry to Taronga Zoo and walked around the Sydney Opera House.
I've never minded being a lone explorer, and I love to go to the cinema where I saw Warren Beattie's "Reds".
In the evening I got 'shouted' out to a meal at a little Italian bistro and whilst the workers went back to their rooms, I checked out the night life of the live music scene.
It was a bit nervy being a single lone female but I wasn't going to let that prevent me from worldly experiences!

I've been to Sydney a couple of times since, and each time is always so enjoyable.

The Centre of Australia

Nourlangie Rock at Kakadu National Park

During our touring puppeteers days of the 1980's and 90's we had the priviledge of working in the Northern Territory. We drove from Melbourne up the East Coast to Queensland, in June 1989, stopping off to see the in-laws at Kings Beach, Caloundra where they caravanned in the Winter months.
We went to Townsville where we saw our first Sacred Ibis feeding in people's lawns, then turned to Mt. Isa, and onwards to Darwin where we had our first shows in schools.
At weekends we went sightseeing and then on the way to Katherine, we set up our camper in the World Heritage, Kakadu National Park.
Amazing, and so different to any environment we had ever experienced from gliding down the river seeing crocodiles and beautiful bird life, giant goanna and voluptuous giant turmite mounds looking like the Goddess herself!
Our journey to Nourlangie Rock put us in sych with generations of other walkers through the intense sounds of the bush where in the shade ancient rock paintings loom out.
The drawing of a sailing ship and the coming of the white man arriving lingers in its journalistic candour to this day.

ANGELA IN ATHENS

Plaka memories May 2010

I COULD NEVER HAVE PLANNED THE RE-UNION OF A HIGH SCHOOL CLASS MATE FROM MELBOURNE Circa 1978-1980 stopping me on the street on our first evening stroll in Plaka!

We were 17 years last time we saw each other and now 47!

Not only that, her and husband lived in the heart of the ancient city and every night after work and our daily sight-seeing they showed us how the locals liked to eat and drink....Being a student of Ancient Greece, Angela had come to her parents birth place and home of her ancestors and stayed.
With a sharing of local knowledge and language lessons and lots of laughter our first week in Athens was blessed by the Patron Goddess of Athens, Athena.

As Angela was a publishers editor I thought she would appreciate a poetic parting gift and thankyou for showing us famous Greek hospitalilty, and hoping to see her in our Australian home one day.

ATHENA/ANGELA

Byzantine bells briskly unify
Past to present with religious
Regularity, so the icons of orthodox
Patriarchy, sober and deep-voiced
Create continuity of culture like now
The Greeks demonstrate at secular
Syntagma Square, for rights and reason.

Riot Police ring a city, Goddess born; statues
Of testesterone in flak-jackets, holding
Plastic shields, onyx black boots
Where heroic and artistic antiquities
Exist under marble pavements.

Bold young Byron, captivated by Greece
Celebrated her with bi-polar style, his
Passion in poems, his name inscribed
For posterity, proclaimed on plaques
For his bravery, battling Hellenic principles
Only to die a prolongued and painful
Medical trajedy.

I fear no fate in my Plaka sojourn where
Angela waits at the crossroads like a good
Aussie school mate, possibly a match set
By the ancient Goddess in a whimsical
Play on life's transience or meaning to
"Kairos", then destined for our old crone
Memories, piercing eyes and smiles
Wisened, owl-like.

(c)copyright Julie McNeill May 2010
all rights reserved

Intro Updated Jun 2, 2011
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Comments (8)

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balhannah Feb 16, 2013 at 2:22 AM

Hi Julie! Hope you are having a lovely Birthday! All the best, Dee
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balhannah Feb 16, 2012 at 1:02 PM

Sorry I missed your Birthday, I do hope you had a lovely day!
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  jewels63 Feb 18, 2013 at 4:13 PM
  
  Hello and thankyou - 50 years on the planet, bit soggy at my end but we are high-set! Hope you are well. Mainly writing book about London ancestors: http://juliemcneill1.wordpress.com
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connectingrod Feb 16, 2012 at 2:51 AM

A BIRTHDAY is just the first day of another 365-day journey around the sun. Enjoy the trip.
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tdaydesign Aug 17, 2010 at 2:02 PM

I loved your post! Have you been to Tarquinia yet? I'm thinking about going while on a cruise.
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Tijavi Feb 24, 2010 at 7:21 AM

Glad you like my pages. Thanks for the visit - and for adding Siena to your planner! Cheers from the desert!
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grayfo Feb 17, 2010 at 4:35 AM

Hi Julie, I can guarantee Venice won't disappoint
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cachaseiro Dec 29, 2009 at 9:01 PM

i hope you will have a great trip to denmark and don´t forget to ask for any help if you need it while here. we danish vt members are only happy to help whenever we can.
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scotlandscotour May 30, 2008 at 10:35 AM

Yes, palm trees - but because of mild winters not hot summers - do not be deceived! Thanks for being a new friend - keep in touch. M.