Sharing some of the experiences encountered moving to and living in London … and then moving to Amsterdam! And then, moving to Austin, Texas where Adventure Cow has taken over this blog!
Friends and Family month, May, ended with Aj and Aaron
flying to Dallas and my flying to Baltimore. Andy stayed in London and was able
to meet up with his friend from college, Andrea, after about 35 years.
My main purpose for making this trip was to accept the award
of Professor Emeritus from my college of twenty-three years, Baltimore City
Community College. I remain humbled, honored, and gratified that my years of
work have been recognized in this manner. Not to brag too much, but this is the
highest award a faculty member can earn. A proposal package is generated by an
existing faculty member, in my case Dr. Karen Shallenberger, who must then
locate written support for the nomination. The proposal is then approved by a
vote of all faculty, the Vice President of Academic Affairs, the College
President, and finally the Board of Trustees. Again, in my case, they all said âyesâ.
And, I could go shopping; with a car. New black jeans from
Macyâs, new tops from Boscovs and new undies from Kohls. Combined with a couple
trips to Target for personal items and a chance to just wander their aisles,
the shopping was great fun. In-between graduation and shopping, I was lucky
enough to visit many dear friends while I essentially went from meal-to-meal.
Iâm over the crab cake cravings now! It was great to know my way around and to
see the friendly faces. The trip was a wonderful treat for me, and I thank Dr.
Shallenberger for making it happen.
The Friday after Eric was here, I had a great lunch date and
book discussion with Wendy Schiff. Wendy is a member of my Baltimore-based book
club who had come to London for a long weekend, joining in on a business trip
of her daughters. After meeting at the memorial to Ememeline Pankhurst, https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/historic_figures/pankhurst_emmeline.shtml,
we made our way across the Westminster Bridge and past the London Eye to
Southbank and a noodle lunch at Wagamamaâs. It was great seeing a familiar face
and discussing the book, Becoming, in person. (Needed better editing,
could have been two books, Michelle is a rock star)
A few days later, Aj and Aaron arrived from Dallas. We
started our time together in Wimbledon at the New Wimbledon Theaterâs showing
of Amelie, the musical. The production was first rate and the theater
beautiful. https://www.atgtickets.com/venues/new-wimbledon-theatre/history/ Good start. Next day, off to the Warner
Brothers Studio Tour. https://www.wbstudiotour.co.uk/ Also known as the Harry Potter movie tour.
These are the actual sets, costumes, props, and notes used in the making of all
eight movies. There are no rides; just the real stuff used. If you love Harry,
and we do, then this is a must-see. This long day ended in true British
fashion, Thai food in the local pub. Yum.
It was in Greenwich the next day that we were able to meet
up with A2âs friend, Richard, who had come for a weekend in London. Took the
Clipper again, this time we walked past the Cutty Sark and went straight for
the Chapel and Painted Hall. (Same parts as with Eric, worth a second look) We
had hoped to tour âthe Queens Houseâ but it was closed for a private event. We
stopped by the Maritime Museum on this trip to take in an exhibit of space
photography. https://www.rmg.co.uk/whats-on/astronomy-photographer-year/exhibition
Then, back to the Royal Observatory. This time I went straight for the top of
the building to the telescope room. The telescope part was not open for use or
demonstration, but still something to see and the views outside to London city
center are fabulous. I was also able to see the Camera Obscura this trip and
take in more of the grounds. Picking back up on our Harry Potter theme, we
concluded this day with a trip to The Cauldron. https://thecauldron.io/london This is an adults only castle/dungeon
experience where you make your own cocktails using the directions, supplies,
and magic provided.
The next day started with a short ride on the Underground to
Ealing, and a short tour of the newly re-furbished Pitzhanger Manor. https://www.pitzhanger.org.uk/ This is one of the advantages of traveling
with Aj, the architect knows all the buildings and what exhibits are in them.
The exhibit was Anish Kapoor, who you may know as the artist behind the Cloud
Gate (shiny bean) in Chicago. From Ealing, it was onto Kew Gardens.
We have been to Kew Gardens before. In winter, it is the
location of Christmas at Kew, a large, multi-media presentation of lights and
music for the holidays. This was our first trip during the day. https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens The
gardens, houses, and conservatories are something to see in themselves; but
this trip also added a temporary installation by Dale Chihuly. https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-on/chihuly-at-kew-reflections-on-nature We had last seen his work at the New York
Botanical Gardens in the Bronx when we were there last spring. https://www.nybg.org/ There were some thoughts
that this would be essentially the same; but it wasnât. Kew is a larger garden
and some of the glasswork appeared to have been made specifically for this
location. We tried to do it all; all the Chihulyâs, the Pagoda climb, the Hive,
and Kew Palace. https://www.kew.org/kew-gardens/whats-in-the-gardens/kew-palace-and-queen-charlottes-cottage
Exhausting, and there is still much to see and do.
Bank Holiday on Monday. Aj and Aaron had previously signed
up for the Vitality London, 10k. We were happy to cheer them on and then find
them at the end of the race among twenty-three thousand other runners at St.
James Park. https://www.vitalitylondon10000.co.uk/
A quick trip home for showers and sandwiches and we were back in the city at
the Barbican. https://www.barbican.org.uk/ We thought we were going to see a multi-media
presentation of Wallace and Grommit, which we did; but we also covered a lot of
territory in this, the largest performing arts center in Europe adjacent to the
estate apartments which house over 4,000 people. Aj covered even more territory
as the three of us located one of the many cafes and had prosecco and beer
while Aj walked the whole complex to take pictures. The history of this
development is compelling and worth your clicking the link to learn more. As
the day was ending, we found few places open for dinner on the bank holiday,
but as we looked behind St. Pauls Cathedral, a restaurant with a story was
open: The Paternoster Chop House. https://www.paternosterchophouse.co.uk/
Not only did we find a nice dinner, we also learned that this is the restaurant
location for the First Dates program on BBC, Channel 4. We had never
heard of the program but have since watched for a few minutes just to say to
each other: âThatâs where we ate that night.â
Another favorite spot was on schedule for the following day;
the Victoria and Albert Museum. A design museum with something for everyone in
our group. In particular, two fashion exhibits were the top of all our lists:
Christian Dior, Designer of Dreams and Mary Quant. https://www.vam.ac.uk/whatson The Dior was beautiful and beautifully
presented. It may also be the most popular exhibit ever produced. Even with
timed tickets, it was wall-to-wall people. A stunning display of actual dresses
and accessories from the New Look of 1947 to the 2018 samples. Mary Quant was
not quite as crowded, so we could spread out to read and look as we wanted. We
pretty much agreed, the Dior was beautiful, but the Mary Quant offered much
more in the way of context and the impacts and interplay of design with womenâs
lives and economics. Another good visit â time to go on to the next thing.
We shopped and ate our way through the city to the West End.
Another musical for us to see, this time it was Come from Away. The
story of the small town of Gander, Newfoundland and how the folks in it opened
their hearts and homes to stranded passengers from September 11th. A difficult topic, which right off does not
sound much like a musical, but it is almost perfect. Beautiful music, great
staging, and a story which takes turns making you laugh and then cry. https://officiallondontheatre.com/news/the-true-stories-of-come-from-away/
We followed a day at my favorite museum (The Victoria and
Albert) with my least favorite, the Tate Modern. Sometimes you have to take one
for the team. At least they have a 9th floor observation deck with
coffee. đAnd, as it turns out, an interesting exhibit
by Yinka Shonibare, CBE, who created a library of 6,000 books. They are covered
in Dutch wax print, a fabric with an interesting and complicated history. 2,700
of the books have the name of a first- or second-generation contributor
imprinted on them; urging us to think of the impact of immigration on culture
and history. The blank books are to call out that the story of immigration is
still being written. https://www.tate.org.uk/visit/tate-modern/display/artist-and-society/yinka-shonibare-cbe
As the Tate is on the river Thames, we ended our day out by walking along the
river, crossing Tower Bridge, and finding Indian food for Aaronâs specially
requested birthday dinner meal choice.
Our last day together was spent in true tourist mode; a trip
to The Tower of London. https://www.hrp.org.uk/tower-of-london/#gs.hykm5x
Itâs got history, art, armor, and the crown jewels of England. A great way to
end Ajâs second visit to our new home in London and Aaronâs first.
On Friday, the 31st, Aj and Aaron returned to
Dallas, I returned to Baltimore and Andy met his friend from college (UCLA)
Andrea Bjornlie, for dinner in Kensington.
The end of the Friends and Family Month of May leads right
into June, a month of recognition, friends, and more new experiences of being
in, and traveling from, our base in London.
The month of May started with a visit from our friends Tom
and Liz Comstock. Through the magic of Facebook, especially given our almost
total lack of accessing it, we were able to connect with Tom and Liz who were
on their way from Los Angeles to a Croatian cruise. And, while it had been
about 11 years since we had last seen them, we were able to pick right back up
where we left off.
The following week we were able to spend some time with Eric
Engel. Eric is Andyâs brotherâs wifeâs brother â Andy has known him for a very
long time. Another resident of Los Angeles, Eric included a few days in London
tagged onto his larger trip to Ireland. Because Andy was at work, and because he
did not care; Eric and I spent a great afternoon at the Churchill War Rooms. https://www.iwm.org.uk/visits/churchill-war-rooms If you like history, this is a canât miss
location. In addition to seeing the actual rooms used during the war, a
complete museum of Churchill is located tangentially to the actual bunkers. It
should be noted that folks who go through museums at different speeds may want
to identify meeting points or times; Eric and I did not do this â and completely
lost track of each other. There is no cell service once you are
underground.
Sunday, we went to the British Library. This is the UKâs
public library which houses a âcollection of over 170 million items [which] includes
artefacts from every age of written civilization.â We were especially
interested in the âMaking our Markâ exhibit on the evolution of writing. https://www.bl.uk/events/writing-making-your-mark It was interesting, but not quite as much as
we had all hoped. The ongoing exhibit of rare books is worth a look as it includes
original works such as the Magna Carta, Shakespeare, the Beatles, etc. https://www.bl.uk/events/treasures-of-the-british-library
For Sunday afternoon, we used TKTS to see The Play That Goes Wrong. Itâs true,
Andy and I have both seen it before; but it is so funny and so well done and
well, Eric hadnât seen it before. It was still good and a great way to spend
the afternoon. Then it was time to say goodbye to Eric. Wishing him what we now
know was a safe trip home and on to his next adventure with his son Alex.
We had planned adventures coming up with our son too.
To be continued in Friends and Family month, Part 2
You might think youâve got Brighton sussed A town built on weekends of lust With hipsters and greens Mods, rockers and queens The odd bit of new agey crust
Yet bold ideas are key to this place: Its royal palace once deemed a disgrace But a prince with a vision Ignored all derision The result? An iconic ace
This city gets under your nails Its freedom puts wind in your sails Be creative, be a freak Brighton loves whatâs unique By contrast elsewhere simply pales.
We have been introduced to several British comedians through various local television shows. The BBC likes to put teams of two comedians each on air to discuss trivia and current events. We are particularly fans of 8 out of 10 Cats does Countdown, which is a hybridization of this format with an existing game show. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/8_Out_of_10_Cats_Does_Countdown It is through this program that we were introduced to comedian, storyteller, musician, and animal lover; Bill Bailey. https://billbailey.co.uk/ After seeing him on the show, we said: â⊠wonder if we could see him in person, he seems pretty interestingâ. The answer was âyesâ. Bill Baileyâs tour would be stopping in Brighton, a UK city that we had not been to before. Off we went.
Brighton is 46 miles from London, about two hours of walking
and taking the over-ground train from our house. Easy enough. Brighton has a
pebble beach bordering the English Channel. So different from our place and
routines in London. Walking down the street from the train station you can see
the water of the ocean, such a treat. The beach area and pier could almost
remind you of Atlantic City, but the beach is longer and not all the shops sell
t-shirts â and most are still in business. It could remind you of Santa Monica,
but there is plenty of room for parking and wide walking and biking lanes.
Could it remind you of Brighton Beach New York? I do not know, I have not been
there â so, maybe. But it is here in the UK. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brighton
We have said before that we are not âbeach peopleâ. Sitting
in the sand, with a cold drink, and a good book is attractive to me for about
15 minutes â then it is time to do something â not being a strong swimmer, it
needs to be something on land. But we are fans of water and waves, fresh air
and a little sunshine. There was plenty to do in Brighton. We never even made
it to the end of the beach area. We walked as far as the little huts in Hove
and then back over to the Pier. After that we went to the âLanesâ area of old
streets, old shops, old pubs and an amazing number of jewelry stores. https://www.ringjewellery.co.uk/blog/the-lanes-brighton We donât need any jewelry, but the displays
of both new and antique rings and necklaces brought out the magpie in me.
Before we knew it, it was time to get ready for Bill Bailey.
The last day we started by having breakfast and taking a short
walk at the beach. Then we were off to see the Royal Pavilion which was built
by King George IV before he became king. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Pavilion
While much of the interior of the building is in disrepair, the restored rooms
are spectacular. The outside is something of an Indian design, although the
tour says that people from India would not recognize it as such, and the inside
is mostly Chinese. The last royal to live there was Queen Victoria who found it
too small for her family and thought it too far from the beach. She removed
most decorations from the pavilion in anticipation of its destruction â but it
was not leveled for new development and the city of Brighton bought it. While
some items have gone on to Buckingham and Windsor palaces, some were returned
to Brighton for the buildingâs restoration. We, of course, spent a lot of time
there; they have a tea room on the second floor, so no need to leave for drinks
or snacks.
A walk through the palace gardens, a quick look at the art
museumâs gift shop and it was time to go back through the Lanes to our hotel and
pick up the suitcases to head back to the train. As the poem I started this
entry with suggests, Brighton is many things; the bachelor party and bridal
shower groups all found the fun and drink they were looking for, the Fringe
Festival was in full swing so other folks found what they were looking for; we
were looking for some British humor, some water, some walking, some sea air â
we found what we were looking for too.
We will never finish touring the places we want to see
We have a list, well kind of a list, of the places we would
like to go and the things we want to see while we are living in London. The
list includes places in the United Kingdom and places in Europe. Generally
speaking, we are interested in history and art, science, technology, and
industry. We like cityscapes and landscapes, waterways and forests. We think
climbing Norman and Gothic towers to be great fun; enjoying the history, the
climb and the view from the top.
Previously, I wrote about our trip to Bath, UK; blog 10.
This blog entry is about York, UK. York has a history going back thousands of
years; pre-Vikings, pre-Romans. It appears though that it is the Romans who
first recorded the spot as a city, the city of Eboracum, in 71 AD. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York
I like to start our trip planning with the âtop tenâ things
to do that are provided by TripAdvisor and/or Google. With their help, I had a
list of eleven top things to do for a weekend in York. It was possible that all
items could be accomplished, but not probable. We always sign up for any live
tours available. They take longer than skimming museum cards, but always add
just a bit more information and minor points we would never find on our own.
And, we go in every room, even the ones that are weakly suggested â we might
miss something. This is why of our list of eleven things to do and see in York
recently, what we actually saw and did was six of them.
You cannot miss York Minster, it is a must see on all lists.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/York_Minster
As one of the largest and oldest churches in Northern Europe, it is something
to see. The stained-glass windows are worth seeing, with the church having the
most medieval stained glass in the world. Our tour guide lamented this is a
bittersweet claim to fame as he feels that they have a little over half of the
surviving stained glass, which represents about 3% of all that was made. There
is so much glass, 128 windows, that it is cleaned on a 150-year schedule. It
takes a year to take down, properly clean and repair, and then re-install the
large panes of glass.
TripAdvisor said to plan one to two hours for visiting the
Minster. They didnât know that our guided tour alone would take almost ninety
minutes. And, they did not include the Undercroft. The Undercroft expands the
story of the minster with access to excavations and artifacts below the church.
https://yorkminster.org/discover/stories/story/creating-the-undercroft/
From here we saw the work done to stabilize the foundation of the church and
some of the actual Roman fortress foundations the church was built on. The
daily living artifacts of the Roman soldiers was interesting and the
still-painted wall from a meeting room astonishing. We were there for hours.
After the minster it was time to hit another âmust doâ from
the list â Afternoon Tea at Bettys Tea Room. This was our first traditional
Afternoon Tea. Yum. We shared a tea for one, plus an extra cup of tea. This
gave us three of the crustless quarter sandwiches, a scone with jam and clotted
cream, and three small sweets to share â more than enough to hold us over till
dinner. https://www.bettys.co.uk/cafe-tea-rooms/our-locations/bettys-york
This left us with enough time and renewed energy to head
back to the hotel to add a layer of clothes, as the âmust doâ for the evening
was a ghost tour. There are several companies offering ghost tours of York, as
it is the most haunted city in the UK, we went with http://www.theoriginalghostwalkofyork.co.uk/ They were highly rated and we were not
disappointed. We heard several stories which appeared to be based in facts,
until you get to the ghost that remains part â which it is not up to me to
determine. Holy cow, they did some awful stuff to people over the hundreds of
years that they have been a city. The truth of the stories is enough, I did not
need to believe in ghosts to have the tour be worthwhile. As this tour also ran
long, we were lucky enough to find an Italian restaurant still open for a light
dinner before bed.
Planning to complete at least three of our âmust doâ items
on Sunday, we started with the largest item, the National Railway Museum. TripAdvisor
said we should plan to spend four hours â ha, ha. We did two âtalksâ that
themselves used two and half hours. We still had to see all the engines,
compartments, and stores of artifacts. They have over 300 vehicles, 1,000âs of
artifacts, and several cafes â it was so Benjamin Friendly itâs a wonder we are
not still there. https://www.railwaymuseum.org.uk/
We walked quickly over a short section of their city walls, http://www.yorkwalls.org.uk/?page_id=3690,
then across the Shambles, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Shambles
to see the street in the daylight of which it is said JK Rowling used as
inspiration for Diagon Alley in the Harry Potter books. Picked up our suitcases
and back on the train.
Of our eleven âmust doâ items then, we completed six. We did
not go to: The Castle, the Gardens, the Tower, the Abbey or the Art Museum.
And, we removed the Viking Center from the list as being too realistic in the
smell of it. We could easily come back for another weekend and fill it up with
all new things to do, plus another trip to Bettyâs.
In common usage in Amsterdam; Mokum, is the nickname for the
city, not unlike calling New York City âthe Big Appleâ. How did this come to
be, that a European City would freely adopt a Yiddish word as its nickname?
During the Netherlandâs journey to the constitutional
monarchy under which they are now governed, they created a country open to
different religions and practices. When the Inquisition raged in Spain, the
Netherlands became âMokumâ, a safe place Jews could turn to; and they did. They
felt safe in the Dutch city of Amsterdam and began to make their lives there as
did fellow freedom seekers from around the world.
The Netherlands has grown a culture of individual freedoms
which has resulted in it being Mokum for those looking for marijuana, or
prostitution, or alternative lifestyles. Individual freedoms are allowed and
where necessary, regulated; there is no smoking of marijuana on the streets and
the red-light district workers benefit from physical protection and excellent
healthcare, even as they are displayed in the red-curtained windows on the
streets. Combined with the arts and culture and canals, these attitudes and
regulations have created a city like no other in the world. http://www.goodtosee.com/amsterdam-the-city-of-freedom/
We had to go there. London to Amsterdam is four hours by
train; through the east of England, through the Chunnel, and up the west of
France and Belgium. It is a beautiful trip. While the Eurostar train took us to
Amsterdam Centraal, we immediately started this adventure by taking the
âsprinterâ to the airport, where we picked up the 858 bus to Keukenhof
Gardens. https://keukenhof.nl/en/ The bus stops in front of the Gardens, from
which we walked to our hotel, past rows and rows of blooming tulips and
hyacinths. We arrived in this small town of Lisse on Friday afternoon so we
would be able to take in the Gardens on Saturday morning and be ready for the
passing of the Flower Parade through town in the afternoon. https://www.holland.com/global/tourism/plan-your-holiday/events/flower-parade.htm
Pictures available online of individual floats covered in
all types of flowers would make you think that the Flower Parade is made mostly
of these types of entries â not so; there are many beautiful floats that are
completely covered with flowers designed in fabulous shapes and sizes, there
are also tractors with flowers attached to the hood, and cars with flowers on
the hoods and busses with flowers on the side, in addition to marching bands
and some (unknown to us) dignitaries waving from the backs of trucks. It was
beautiful and corny all at the same time. And, it was a party. We lucked into a
table at an outdoor restaurant where we ate lunch and listened to the American
music blaring from the pop-up DJ across the street. And, it hailed on us, just
before the parade, which has a 25-mile route which takes 12 hours, made it to
our section. An event to remember.
Not that our trip to the Keukenhof Gardens earlier in the
morning was not an event to remember too. There is no visual gap in the Gardens
displayed in online photos and the actual Gardens; they are beyond my ability
to describe, if anything, it was more impressive in person. The Keukenhof
Gardens are open three months a year. Every year the flower beds are replanted
with millions of bulbs and flowers. The park itself is surrounded by canals,
has old trees, water features, pavilions for more flowers, a windmill and even
a maze which you must navigate to get to one of the best lookout points of the
Gardens. A million visitors a year enter Keukenhof during those three months;
many of them on the day of the parade like we did, holy cow did it get crowded
as the day went on. But we were done by then. Not that we couldnât have spent
even more time â but we became âmuseumed upâ; like when you have seen so much fabulous
art, read so many captions, walked so many pokey miles, itâs just time to go.
So off we went to wait for the parade.
By the end of the parade, we were done. Most of the town was
done too, with the shops closing and the street fair packing up. Going back to
the hotel, we decided to give our feet a break by having dinner in the hotel
restaurant. A surprisingly good meal and good wine too. Lisse has the best
bread. The next day we started out for the flower fields nearby as Andy hoped
to take a great picture of the gold-tinged red tulips in bloom there. The
resulting picture is more âinterestingâ than beautiful because while we were at
the parade the tractors had come though and âtoppedâ the field; all the blooms
were laying in the rows, not standing on the stems. As we learned at our
subsequent stop at The Black Tulip Museum in town, (https://www.atlasobscura.com/places/black-tulip-museum
) the growing flowers have the actual petals chopped to force the plant to make
the best bulbs. The bulbs are what will be sold, not the blooming stems. Time
to go to Amsterdam.
The next day was our thirty-fifth anniversary. In an
unintentional combination of timing, this was the day we had a walking tour of
Jewish Amsterdam followed by a visit to the Anne Frank house. A cosmic reminder
to take the bitter with the sweet, Amen.
The tour was âokâ, the guide was not great; but we learned about the February
Strike, where non-Jews rose up against the Germans in protest of their pogroms.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/February_strike
, we saw the Broken Mirrors monument which is to remind us all that the sky
broke over Auschwitz and will never again be whole https://nl.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auschwitzmonument_(Amsterdam),
and âstumbling blocksâ (metal cobblestones placed in front of the houses where
Jewish families once lived engraved with their names and dates) that are meant
to catch your foot, and have you look down and recognize the tragedy of the
holocaust which stands before you. https://www.npr.org/2012/05/31/153943491/stumbling-upon-miniature-memorials-to-nazi-victims
The Anne Frank house was just what I expected. It is the best possible
presentation of a 1930âs business, with an annexed hiding place, there might
be. With original wallpaper and photos it is as wrenching as it should be.
Eight people in total hid there for two years, until they were discovered and
put on the last train to the death camps. Seven of them dying within weeks of
the Allies liberation, only Otto Frank living to tell the tale. https://www.annefrank.org/en/ There was no Mokum to be found; not in
Amsterdam, not in the Netherlands, not in the world, during the Nazi era.
On our last full day, it was back to the museums. We started
at the Van Gogh Museum, and a special exhibit on David Hockney in tribute to
Van Gogh. The Hockney was amazing. Generally, I am not a fan and his earlier
work really made no sense to me; but this work, which is based on Hockneyâs
return to England, reflecting on his love of Van Gogh, their joint love of
nature, was very much worth seeing. The rest of the museum is, as the names
suggests, is devoted to Van Gogh. This is my type of art arrangement, where I
can see the early work, the influences, and the master work in chronological
order. Van Gogh painted for eight years and was considered a failure â he is
gone, but the work lives on. (See Hockney above đ) https://www.vangoghmuseum.nl/en
We finished our last full day by going to the Ziggo Arena
where Michelle Obama was speaking as part of her book tour. Michelle Obama is a
rock star, entering the arena to rock music and flashing lights. In the book
her mother is quoted as saying: âthese kids are not unique, the South Side is
full of kids just like themâ; and that may be true, but this ability to work
her hardest, to think problems through thoroughly, to stand up every day and do
her best â is inspiring. In the face of racism that we would all hope is the
product of a bygone time, Michelle has raised her kids to be strong and
independent, supported her husbandâs goals to change the world, and maintained
a personal path of work and contribution â all the while being ridiculed in the
press, being targeted with hate speech in person. She is a âfirstâ in so many
ways and wears it so well. In the talk she emphasized that she is who she is,
there is no persona to keep up in public, and she believes that is why her
memoir is becoming (pun intended) the best-selling memoir of all time. The
evening was exciting and motivating. It was fun and funny in ways I donât
suspect Mrs. Obama intended, such as when she used a reference to âDanger, Will
Robinsonâ and few members of the audience understood. But, the core message of
becoming, that life is a journey, that growing and doing your best is important
â everyone got that. https://becomingmichelleobama.com/
Bath, England. There are 38 trains per day going from Londonâs
Paddington Station to Bristol Temple Meads Station. The train passes out of the
city and into the green countryside and within a few minutesâ villages and
fields with an esthetically pleasing number of sheep, cover the landscape. An
hour and twenty-four minutes into the trip, the train arrives at the station of
Bath Spa before continuing to Bristol, a city straddling the River Avon further
west.
The Roman Baths have always been the center of town;
although the name has changed over the centuries. https://whc.unesco.org/en/list/428 The Romans
named the town Aquae Sulis, Latin
for “the waters of Sulis.” https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aquae_Sulis
They merged the existing Celtic god of
Sulis with their god Minerva and encouraged her worship at the baths, which
they expanded and revised over the centuries into a major religious complex.
The excavated Roman Baths, and the museum created to display and interpret the
astounding array of preserved artifacts, continue the tradition of being the
main tourist attraction and the reason for over one million visitors to the
site each year. https://www.romanbaths.co.uk/walkthrough
We had planned a long week-end in Bath, in part to attend an
event in the townâs comedy festival. https://www.bathcomedy.com/.
But, of course, we had to see and do more than that. After arriving on the
train and leaving our bags at the hotel, we set about learning our way around the
town of Bath. We had compiled a list of things to see and do, but they were in
no particular order, making this a very flexible few days. City center is old
with narrow and winding streets, much of it still cobblestoned. We set off
after determining the first thing we needed was lunch. It took a bit of
walking, but we decided on a âpastyâ shop. Pasties are a common lunch item here
in the UK, but to this point I had not had one. They are essentially a meat (or
meatless) pie folded around with pastry so they can be eaten like a hot sandwich.
http://westcornwallpasty.co.uk/ There
were no tables to sit at. Noting that we were ânot from around hereâ, the
shopkeeper told us to simply go to the corner and turn left, there we would
find a courtyard with benches. Yes, yes we did. We found one open bench as this
is the courtyard in front of the Roman Baths. To our left stood Bath Abbey. http://www.bathabbey.org/
Bath Abbey is the second most visited spot in Bath, so it
was also on our list of âmust seeâ sites. After watching a bus load of students
go into the Baths, we decided we would go into the Abbey. The Abbey is a
beautiful Anglican Church which also dates back hundreds of years. In addition
to soaring ceilings and huge stained-glass windows, the abbey has a bell tower
which stands 212 steps above the ground offering fantastic views of the city
center and beyond. http://www.bathabbey.org/towertours
Up we went. We add this to our list of âthey would never let you do this in Californiaâ
activities. Narrow, steep, dark, slippery; and totally worth it.
Now it was time to hit the Roman Baths. It is important to
note that while the Roman Baths do have water in them, visitors are not allowed
in the baths. The nearby Thermae Bath Spa uses the same water which
is treated to make it safe for bathing. This was not our first Roman Bath.
Most recently, when we were in Paris, (I know, it is good to be me) I visited
the Cluny Museum of Medieval History, which is built over the remains of Roman
Baths, https://www.musee-moyenage.fr/lieu/les-thermes-antiques.html.
That was an amazing site to see with vaults rising more than 14 meters high;
original walls and floors. Excavations in Paris indicate a much larger complex
than is currently visible; in Bath much of the bathing complex is excavated and
is accessible to visitors. We thought we were going to see an open bath area
with columns and original floors; we did see that, and then the separate wings
with saunas, therapy pools, frigidariums, massage and changing rooms for both
men and women in addition to the whole large pool for socializing and swimming
in the middle. There is also the museum which has been created to walk you
through the artifacts and the lives of people who made them as you go from
entry level (current street level) of the baths down to the base level. (Roman
street level) Building fragments, headstones, tools, jewelry, pots and
glassware; the largest hoard of Roman coins found Great Briton. It is simply
astounding. It is stops like this that make us so grateful to be in London for
an extended period of time â we would never make a trip from Baltimore to Bath,
and only now know what a worthy side trip it makes.
Over the next few days we accomplished our âmust seeâ list;
we spent much of Saturday completing the Bath Skyline Walk, https://www.nationaltrust.org.uk/bath-skyline A six mile walk of âmoderatelyâ challenging
terrain with wide views of the city and hills, forests, and meadows. (more
sheep, and lambs too) We Saw the Royal Women exhibit at the Fashion Museum https://www.fashionmuseum.co.uk/news/royal-women Having recently read the book The Gown by Jennifer Robson, https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/39893613-the-gown,
it was a treat to view actual gowns made by the designer Hartnell. The Victoria
Art Gallery had an exhibit of the Sharmanka Travelling Circus https://www.victoriagal.org.uk/events/sharmanka-travelling-circus
An animatronic exhibit of found objects set to music and lights to create a 20
minute show. And, though not on our original list, while walking the Bath
Skyline we found ourselves very close to the American Museum in Bath. https://americanmuseum.org/ Their current exhibit of Kaffe Fassettâs
Quilts in America was truly something to see. Educational and inspiring. Fassett
used quilts from the museums collection to inspire himself to create new
quilts. The exhibit was a combination of both the new and the old. Who would
have thought; a small town in England would have such a great display of
American quilts.
38 trains go back to London, Paddington Station each day.
Back on the train, back to work for Andy, back to planning the next trip for
me.
Blog 9.1 â What accent do you think the citizens of Anatevka
have?
Seeing Fiddler on the Roof in London
Fiddler on the Roof as a Broadway musical is now fifty years
old. Long enough for both of us to have seen it many, many times. It is Andyâs
favorite musical, is my second favorite â Lez Miz is still the top for me. So,
when I read a good review in December of Fiddler on the Roof here in London, I
signed us up. And, since Friday night I have puzzled with one question.
Have all the Fiddlers I have watched before had American
accents? Didnât they all have Russian accents? I ponder this as the Fiddler
production we saw in London clearly had Scottish and English accents. They
tried to be Russian at first, but it did not hold up. It added a little humor
that I donât think is supposed to be there â especially in the second act;
which is tragic, not humorous.
We are the strangers here, in a strange new land to
paraphrase Tevye from the second act. It is again surprising to me to add
another item to my list of âThe same, only differentâ. I would not have thought
Fiddler on the Roof would have been on this list, especially after fifty years.
Blog 9 â âJust another winterâs day in Southern Californiaâ
But, not Southern California â Barcelona.
Last week we left chilly and rainy London and headed to
chilly and rainy Barcelona. As it turned out, it rained all week in London, but
cleared up nicely in Barcelona. We have wanted to visit this city for a long
time and being this close to it now (1-hour 45-minute flight), time was up,
time to go. We explored the architecture, the beach, one mountain, and the food
and drink of the city.
Itâs embarrassing to admit, but it turns out that both of us
were among the many folks who believe that to label something as âgawdyâ is to
compare it to the work of the architect Antoni Gaudi of Barcelona â wrong. https://www.alphadictionary.com/goodword/word/gaudy Both words do have the same Latin root of gaudere
which means âjoyâ, but gawdy had been in use for hundreds of years before Gaudi
came along with his detailed architectural plans. We also learned that he was
not a tile-obsessive church builder who worked on only one building for his
entire life and still did not even finish that. There is so much more. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Antoni_Gaud%C3%AD
We began our Gaudi education with dinner and a tour at Casa
Mila. http://www.lapedrera.com/es It
was here that we were first awed by the sheer scope of his work and learned
that his true greatness lies not just in decorative arts but in the engineering
of design to be both beautiful and functional and in harmony with nature. In
the attic of Casa Mila, designed to be the laundry of the house with white
arched ceilings and ingenious ventilation, we saw models of his work and the way
he determined the use of the catenary curve as a building structure, which had
previously only been used on bridges. The attic was the last stop before we
were allowed on the roof of the building. From the roof we could see both
across the city and down the atrium, which the house is built around. Not a
straight line to be found.
Casa Mila set us up for the following morning when we
planned the 10:00 am tour of the Sagrada Familia, âthe churchâ. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sagrada_Fam%C3%ADliahttps://sagradafamilia.org/
But, truly, nothing could prepare us for the scope and size of this project. It
is not just big, it is huge. It is not just decorated, it is the bible told in
art sculpture, and decorated. Gaudi envisioned the outside of the church to be
a teaching tool that even the uneducated would be able to understand. But that is
not the best part; the best part is when you walk through the doors and take in
the astounding beauty of the arched ceilings being held up by marble columns
that appear to be trees which frame the stained-glass windows lining the walls.
Sagrada Familia means Sacred Family. Gaudi wanted the church to be open to all
peoples, the sacred family of humanity. I am not a Catholic, far from it, but
none-the-less this felt like a sacred space for me. We spent almost the whole
day there; looking up, looking out, looking at the museum which now occupies
the basement.
The next day started with Park Guell. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Park_G%C3%BCellhttps://parkguell.barcelona/ca/
The Park Guell is a failed housing development. It was meant to be a contained
neighborhood with a central space for social and market interaction, but few
plots of the land were sold. In the end, the land and the house which Gaudi
himself lived in, were donated to the city. The park is a combination of urban
nature trail and the beautiful park center designed by Gaudi. Much of the urban
nature trail part is open to the public, but the Gaudi buildings at the center
are by paid admission only. Our tour guide explained that access to the central
section of the park had to be limited because when it was free to all there
were over 9 million visitors a year. The built and natural environment cannot
support that many people.
Our last Gaudi building was the Casa Batllo. https://www.casabatllo.es/en/online-tickets/
This is another âhouseâ designed by Gaudi. It is similar to the Casa Mila, but
smaller and currently under major renovations. The renovations did not diminish
our visit. Work areas were sealed off using see-through plastic so we could see
the actual work being done. By the time we left this site, we had both become
true Gaudi fans. TripAdvisor says there are ten must see Gaudi works in
Barcelona. It just was not possible for us to tour them all and we have added
several to a list of what to see ânext timeâ.
And, there is more to Barcelona than only Gaudi buildings â
although they are the main tourist attractions. We climbed Montjuic. To get to
the top you can either walk/climb the trails or take a combination of the
funicular and cable car. The funicular is being upgraded so it was not
available when we were there; it has a bus replacement (no fun) and once we had
covered that much of the mountain by foot there didnât seem to be a reason to
take the cable car for the rest; although we did take it down. Montjuic has a
castle at the top. It is the fortress type of castle with views from the water
to the valley of the city to Mount Tibidaboon the other side. The centuries old history of the castle is difficult as
it has both protected the city of Barcelona and fired on it during âThe
Troublesâ of the late 1930âs.
Down the cable car, a short rest, and then off to the 2019 Barcelona
Beer Festival. We look for a special event to tie our travels to, the beer
festival was the event for Barcelona. We could go any time, but why pick just
anytime when we could also attend the beer festival. Of course, I donât drink
beer; but I do listen to music, eat festival food and if available, cider. It
was 99 different beers and 1 cider â so we were good for the evening. Andy
didnât have to taste them all â weâve done site tours of Flying Dog and Anchor
Steam in the US. He did get to try some Russian beer and others from Spain and
the UK. My cider was from Quebec; not US, but pretty darn close. A fun, and
highly organized (which always appeals to me) event. https://barcelonabeerfestival.com/?page_id=1278&lang=en
In between everything listed already, we walked, we ate tapas, and we drank Aperol Spritzâ. The La Rambla is the main boulevard for shopping, eating, hanging out. Right off La Rambla is the Boquiteria, or market. Think of Reading Market in Philadelphia or Quincy Market in Boston; fresh food, prepared food, trinkets, and of course, beer and cocktails. (I cannot compare to Baltimoreâs Lexington Market â must admit, I have never been inside) We went for the gelato which hit the spot on a clear day with temperatures in the 60âs. We walked the Gothic Quarter with its narrow streets, shops, restaurants and churches; the Eixample area which has more shops and restaurants and the beach with sand, sun, and water.
Three restaurants were particularly good, each for their own reasons. Bronzo is a non-traditional tapas place offering more Italian/Sardinian types of food. We went there because one of the folks Andy works with is one of the three owners of the restaurant. The food was good, the place is cute enough and has some outside seating if weather permits. http://www.bronzo.es/es We also went to La Pepita which is a much more traditional tapas restaurant. It is completely covered with graffiti – I added a “Baltimore Hon” to the corner of the table we sat at. Very good and surprisingly fast given how busy they were. http://lapepitabcn.com/ And, the last day we had brunch at Blai 9 which was not too far from our hotel. Blai is a street that is closed to traffic so it has lots of restaurants with outside tables. Cute. They line up their tapas on the bar area and you just take what looks good to you. They charge you based on the empty plates. http://blai9.com/ So good. FYI, Barcelona believes in siesta time. Most restaurants do not open for dinner until 7:30 – 8:00.Â
The rain from the first day cleared up, the sun came out and
it was beautiful. As my friend and artist, Jay Wolf Schlossberg-Cohen would
say: âitâs just another winterâs day in Southern California.â But it wasnât. It
was several beautiful wintersâ days in Barcelona.
Writing about International Womenâs Day is not working out. (See comments to previous posting, IWD was to be the next topic.)
When my notes International Womenâs Day reached four pages,
I knew it was too much. It may be that obsessiveness was about to take me over
again, but I have nipped that for the time being, at least for this topic.
Coincidentally, Google thought that I might be interested in
a Buzzfeed article where they collected 34
Things That People Didn’t Realize Were 100% American Until They Left America.
Since in our few months we have experienced many of these differences, it
occurred to me that I could just use the Buzzfeed post for my blog post. https://www.buzzfeed.com/ehisosifo1/34-things-that-people-didnt-realize-were-100-american-until
That would be wrong â but an annotated selection I think is
fine. See below:
Drive-thrus:
“I’m from
Northern Europe but have visited the US a couple of times. Their love of SUV
cars and drive-thrus is unreal â like there is a Dunkin’, a Subway, and three
other kinds of fast food places next to each other, and all of them have a
drive-thru.”
No, we donât have drive thrus here. And, there is no Dunkin;
plenty of Starbucks, McDonalds, Nandos, and, of course, KFC.
Sales tax:
“The prices
abroad don’t add tax after the fact. You pay what the price shows. No need to
figure out the tax before you pay.”
True here too. The price is the price. Few exceptions on
restaurant bills where a âserviceâ may be added, otherwise the cost on the menu
is the cost; very little discretionary âtippingâ.
Multiple soda flavors:
“Getting to
choose from like 50 different types and subtypes of sodas.”
Nope, very few soda flavors; Coke, Diet Coke, and Coke Zero.
Many restaurants make their own sodas and flavored waters. And, no refills; not
even for iced tea. I learned that lesson early on, when my lunch cost me way
more than expected; one ice tea + one ice tea + one ice tea.
Water fountains:
“I’ve noticed
there’s a big shortage of water fountains once you leave the US.”
Another truism. Even museums which I thought you could count
on to have a fountain by the restrooms â nope; bring your own water.
Cashiers bagging your groceries:
“I went to
Germany and found it strange that they don’t bag your items for you. Everyone
just brings their own bag or dumps their stuff in a backpack.”
This is true in London also. The cashiers sit on chairs,
scan your items, and wait for you to pack up.
Cold drinks:
“In every
European country I’ve visited, the drinks would best be described as cool, but
definitely not ice-cold like in the US.”
Some places will provide ice if you ask for it, but some
others do not even have an ice maker. Just not the way they are used to it.
Free public restrooms:
“When I visited
Europe I thought it was the strangest thing that you had to pay to use a public
restroom.”
One of my recommendations for visitors is always to carry a
couple 50 pence coins with them. Many times, you can find a restroom, but just
as likely you will have to pay for it.
And, I will end
my version of the list with this one:
Sugar:
“When I visited
Japan, even some of their sweetest desserts paled in comparison to how much
sugar is in American food.”
So true here. A bottle of lemonade here is 38 calories.
Compare that to what you have at home â 120 at least.
On that sour note, my posting for this time is complete. I
will continue to look for things that are the same only different as we
transition into spring in the UK.
