Day Tickets London

Having the kids back in school is a great excuse to take the train down to London for a day out on my own. I wanted to stop by and check the progress of the art installation at Tower of London: Blood Swept Lands and Seas of Red. Mid-August when I was there with my parents there were few poppies after the fall of poppies from the window.

I had a few other places to check off my London list. I visited the British Library to see their original copies of manuscripts from Bronte, Austen, Dickens, Da Vinci and others. I enjoyed seeing the Da Vinci's, since the pages were full of sketches. I would have thought I'd be most interested in seeing the manuscripts from all the authors I enjoy. The thing is, the handwriting is so different from today that I couldn't read any of it. If I could, it would have been interesting, with the cross-outs and additions. Sadly, I enjoyed the Beatles lyrics more, as I could read them. They were the original lyrics scratched out on items like birthday cards. They also had copies of illustrated bibles, that were beautiful to see.

Besides the British Library, there were several markets in London I hadn't seen yet. I didn't have time for all of them, so decided on Leadenhall Market - a beautiful Victorian market that was also a film location for Harry Potter - and Spitalfields - specializing in antiques.

The most exciting part of my day turned out to be going to see a show. I feel a little too self-indulgent paying full price to go see a show on my own, for no particular reason, so I'd decided to check out the half-price ticket booth to see what they were offering. People line up early to get the best tickets there. By the time I arrived, close to 11, there weren't a lot of great discounts or shows I was particularly interested in. I'd noticed that one of the theaters I had passed on my way to the ticket booth had a sign up saying "Day Tickets Available." It turns out that shows will sell same-day tickets to their box offices for ten to twenty pounds. Sometimes you can get lucky and get a great seat at a great price. Most of the time though, there's a reason these tickets are left: they're obstructed view seats where you will be missing out on some of the show. In busy times people will line up by 7:30 in the morning for the popular shows. On a Thursday in September though, some theaters still had tickets at 11 when I was walking around.

I bought a ticket to the show "Shakespeare in Love." The ticket agent warned me the tickets were front row and that the stage was high. The price was so low, I decided to risk it. When I walked in the theatre, I was quite concerned. Sitting in my chair, looking straight forward, I was looking directly at the wooden edge of the stage. I was worried I wouldn't see a thing. Once the show started I found that if the actors were in the front half of the stage or on the upper levels of the set, my seats were fabulous. The back half of the stage I could barely see at all, and one scene where the actors were lying on the stage I couldn't see either. Luckily, a vast majority of the show was where I could see. Anyway, the show was soooo good - the lead actor Tom Bateman is going to be a star of the West End I think - that I'm very pleased with my day ticket discovery and might try to go again before I leave England.

Unexpected England

I've had a hard time blogging lately, mostly because I'm in a high state of ambivalence that my time here is quickly coming to an end. Ever since the other week when I was looking at the

church bulletin and realized that due to conferences and travel plans, Camille only had three more Sundays at our lovely Cambridge church (now two - boo-hoo) I've been feeling a bit paralyzed. One minute I'm happily thinking of our Thanksgiving plans with family back in the U.S., and the next I'm ready to cry realizing that this or that outing is just not going to happen, or is The Last Time I'll... Time is running out.

So, I'm going to avoid dealing with that, and instead share a few random pictures of things that surprised us this past year. 

This is a PG version of English place names that don't translate well to American English. Many are much more racy.

English people seem to be very fond of one piece pajamas. When Anya's school had a wear your pajamas to school day, she reported that she was one of the very few without a onesie. Frankly, you don't often see English people wearing onesies AND riding a horse, so I'm not sure if this was a one-time special occasion or just a cozy way to go for a morning horse ride.

I picture all of England as rolling countryside and cute, stone villages. So passing a modern outlet mall is a little shock for me.

It took me an embarrassingly long time to figure out that the above sign means "no bicycles," not "special bicycle path." The white circle with the red border means "not allowed." They don't seem to use the universal circle with a diagonal line. 

Anya was surprised to see that people still have milk delivered the old-fashioned way. I looked it up, and it's really only 13% of the country that has milkman delivery. That's still higher than United States' .5%. We don't really care if people buy their milk from the grocery store or have milkman delivery - we just like the way the bottles look on the front steps. 

The girls were also surprised to find that "humbug" isn't just an exclamation used in The Christmas Carol. It's also a candy. 

This is a town quite close to where Jane Austen lived. Coincidence?

That's all I have for now. I must get back to panicking about our move.

Celebrating 20 Years in Prague

The art nouveau artist Alphonse Mucha lived in Prague for some of his life. You see a lot of that style around town. I especially liked this apartment building doorway - the owls, the weaving vines, the monster head over the door, the swirling iron gate. The amazing thing about Prague is how much beautiful architecture there is. Street after street, neighborhood after neighborhood of beautiful buildings.

The Weeping Wall of Wallenstein - made to look like stalactites. BTW, I look a little underdressed here because I packed completely wrong. I brought all these light sweaters and a rain jacket, which were just what I needed in England in August. But Prague in September was HOT. At least it felt hot after our English summer.

Hidden throughout the stalactite wall are faces of little monsters, snakes and frogs. It took us a while to spot them at first. They kind of blend in when you're looking at the whole, large wall.

We chose some rather quirky entertainments in Prague. Mostly, we wanted to sit eating in cafes and wander aimlessly. And that's what we did, except when we were visiting this KGB museum, with the most animated, enthused tour guide you'll ever encounter, or at the museum of communism (no eccentric guide, yet I learned a lot), or at a marionette version of Don Giovanni. 

My parents were nice enough to watch our kids while we took a trip for our 10 year anniversary and also for this trip celebrating 20 years. It's weird to think that for our 30 year anniversary, our kids won't require watching anymore. At least we sure hope they won't.

Goodbye Visitors

Although our touring and outings definitely slowed down after we returned from the Lake District, they did not slow down as much as my photos might indicate. Mike, who is generally the designated photographer, went back to work. Without him along, I'm afraid I barely took any pictures. 

One day we drove to the nearby town of Stamford, Lincolnshire. It's famous for all its stone buildings, and also for having the country home of Burghley.

We ended up wasting a little time trying to walk over to Burghley House from downtown Stamford. It was a longer walk than it looked, and we ended up turning back around before ever even making it to within viewing distance of the house. But we still had a little time for walking around the town, doing a little shopping and getting some fish and chips. I would definitely enjoy spending more time there another day.

Another day Mom, Dad and I went to London for the day. We toured Westminster Cathedral, which I hadn't done yet. There's really so much to look at in the way of memorials, that I'm not sure what my impression is of the cathedral as a whole. I suppose, though, what really makes it unique is the dense amount of history it holds.

We also did a little shopping at Harrods. Their shoe department is called "Shoe Heaven." It's a big name to live up to. I'd say if your price point for shoes starts at about $500 and comfortably goes up into the thousands, then Harrods probably is your shoe heaven. Every luxury shoe brand I've ever heard of has a beautifully presented space there.

After shopping, we spent a little time picnic-ing in Hyde Park, saw Buckingham Palace and Covent Garden, and then Mom and I went to see the show War Horse. If you've been at all tempted to see it and get the chance, go! The puppetry is amazing, the story is a nuanced view of war and is also very emotionally engaging.

And now my parents are back home. We loved having them here. I hope we were able to show them enough of what has made us fall in love with England.

Lake District Hikes

One morning Mike, Mom and I set out to the village of Elterwater to do this hike: http://www.walkscene.co.uk/description_21/Elterwater_Colwith_Force_and_Skelwith_Force.html. It includes two waterfalls, walks through valleys and along a river, with mountain views all around. Maximum views for minimum effort, which is in general my hiking philosophy.

Another day Mike, Mom and I set out on this hike in the Cartmel Fells/Lyth Valley area: http://www.crosthwaiteandlyth.co.uk/damsonwalks9.html. It had the advantage of circling by right where we were staying, so Mom did the first half with us and Mike and I finished the rest after a little lunch break. It goes by old farms, becks (streams), hows (hills), tarns (little lakes) and includes a nice view of Lake Windermere. It also goes very near the Masons Arms in Cartmel Fell, which is a fun and tasty place to eat.

I had to include this picture because of our experience crossing through some of the fields with cows. Two of them had a bull in them, which made me a little nervous. Luckily, the bulls didn't seem interested in us and let us pass through unbothered. In this one field with a bull though, every cow turned to watch our every move as we made our way through the field. Some would even come trotting over toward us. And yes, cows can apparently trot when they want to. It felt like a scene in a very weird horror movie. You know, like The Birds, except with cows.

We didn't do all the hikes we imagined we'd do, or even any of the hikes from the best-of lists of the area, but what we did do was so beautiful and whet our appetites for coming back someday for more.

And what were the rest of our group up to while we were out walking? Dad indulged Anya with many, many games of Monopoly. I wish I'd gotten some pictures of them playing. It was such a treat for Anya to find someone who would play with her.

Hadrian's Wall

This was my second trip to see Hadrian's Wall. The first time was a very cold day in April. In fact it was so cold and we were so not dressed for the occasion that we got out of the car, took a brief look - yep, that's a stone wall all right - and got back in the car to drive off to our next destination. 

This visit in late August was not warm, but a much nicer day for getting out and exploring. The countryside around the wall is beautiful. Does the wall not look very impressive? Interesting facts about the wall:

* It stretched 75 miles across the country

* It was originally 3 meters wide and 6 meters tall in places

* It also originally included wide ditches on each side and some forts

* We can't see it's original state because for years people stole stones from the wall for building

Mike, Camille and Anya went on to explore more of the wall and another Roman fort site.

While Camille, Anya and Mike went on to explore more of Hadrian's Wall, Mom, Dad and I visited Carlisle Castle where we learned all about Bonnie Prince Charlie and the Jacobite Rebellion. Please, don't quiz me on it. Carlisle Castle is not the kind of castle where you imagine the beautiful life of past kings and queens. It's more the kind of castle where you shudder imagining the poor people held in the very dreary, dark and drippy prisons.

We also have to take a moment here to laugh at (with?) my poor mother, used to the desert heat of southwest Utah. She took to wearing layers of coats in England. Here she's down to two layers of coats, but doesn't she look a little cold? I think she's missing her third layer back in the car.