Life is a Journey:Live it (Part 46)

The other autobiography
“Let's get back to where we left off. The Abbey was bought by Professor Dr Fred Blum and his charity in 1982. The place was in bad shape. Intensive renovation was needed. As it is a listed building the local authorities had a say in the process. The main building is a large square with a spacious courtyard between its limestone-plastered walls. Lucy Champagner a nun from French speaking Quebec in Canada had designed the garden of the inner courtyard a place 16 miles south of Oxford, six miles from Abingdon, three miles from JET project the nuclear fusion test site operated by the European Union at which my Cousin Alan Hancock used to work as a Computer Operator before it got shut down, and four miles north of Didcot train station to take the train London, Swindon or Bristol. Approximately four thousand people lived in the old and new developments up the road, close to the Catholic church.

Opposite The Swan around a curve the Lady in Waiting for Princess Margaret, Queen Elizabeth II's sister, has her house. The old provisions shop is just behind The Abbey, accessible when you cross the vegetable garden at the back of the Estate and walk through the door in the wall. The shop is the most wonderful place to do your daily shopping. The ceiling is rather low, the English winegum which I dearly love so much….”

“You want my shopping list?” asked Tobias Wittmann, laughing his head off.

I laughed at myself having lost myself in the good old memories of the place where I had stayed for three years. I answered him:” I got your message. Back to the old Abbey. Two rooms were rented out one to a Scientist from Denmark, and another one to a young couple from Italy. Both men worked at JET Joint European Torus in Culham while she completed her PhD thesis on the works of German philosopher Leibniz.

The other rooms were occupied by nuns from Canada and London. Pierre was a monk from Canada as well. I was like Fred Blum, the only German at that time in The Abbey. Fred Blum was from Stuttgart, Jewish, and had fled Germany before the war in 1939 began. He ended up in the USA, got married to Anna, a typical American lady short with a massive lower body structure. She had a typical American smile on her face, friendly at first sight but not made for a deeper and long-lasting relationship. He had retired as a Professor wanting to get as close to his old home as possible but Anna was not into learning German therefore they got to the UK instead. During the week Anna Blum worked in London as a psychotherapist in their own apartment while Fred Blum worked at The Abbey. On weekends they met again at The Abbey. Facing the main building, a small Cottage was the privately owned home of Fred Blum and his wife. A Dovecot and a long barn were later converted into rooms for visitors to attend seminars at The Abbey.