An Autumn trip to the Cotswolds
Max and Jo are back in Sydney now but we were very lucky to have them as visitors for a week. It’s always nice to see people from back home and it was great to have an opportunity to spend a long weekend in the country. Despite the fact that all of us were at various stages in the latest virus going around we managed to see, take photos, eat, drink and be merry all the same.
We spent a day in the British museum before we left London for our trip to the Cotwolds. We saw the Egyptian section this time along with some of the bits we’d seen before. On our trip to the Cotwolds we stopped off for an afternoon in Oxford. Completely unplanned mind you, but it was as good a place as any to stop and have some lunch. It was a grey afternoon but it didn’t rain too much and we got to see some of the more famous colleges. I discovered that Magdalen college is pronounced Mawd-len and that gargoyles are all the rage on the ancient buildings. Looks like a very interesting place to study.
We made our way to Cheltenham and to our Bed & Breakfast in time for dinner. We opted for a local Italian place and were disappointed when the risotto was made from long grain rice rather than aborrio (sacrilege!). Oh well, at least it was tasty.
On Sunday the weather was forecast to be bad and it certainly turned out to be wet, windy and miserable. We decided that going to Bath would be a better option than trying to drive around lovely little Cotswolds villages. Robert and I had been to Bath before but only on a very short whirlwind visit with Juliet. This time we saw inside Bath Cathedral (complete with a plaque to Australia’s first Governor) but still did the rounds of the Roman Baths. Nothing much had changed since we were there last. We had a bit of a wander around the town and saw some interesting art on our way up to the Roman Circus. As we arrived the sun broke through the clouds and there was even a rainbow! We had dinner at a pub near Cheltenham. It had a good write up and did pretty decent gastropub food.
The weather was much improved on Monday. The clouds had blown away and so we went for a drive around the Northern Cotswolds villages. We had a little wander around Cheltenham itself and Max got his haircut. We went to checkout the Pittville Pumproom (apparently the original pumproom before Bath took over as a popular spa town) but it was hosting a conference so we couldn’t see inside. We drove through picture-perfect villages with quaint little thatched-roofed cottages and pretty cottage gardens. We took lots of pictures of old churches and some autumn colour. We had lunch in Broadway and climbed to the top of Broadway tower; a folly from which you can see into 6 different counties of England. For dinner we went to ‘The Daffodil’ which is an old 1920s theatre converted into a fine dining restaurant. We had a nice evening with live jazz and really nice food.
On Tuesday we had to head back to London. The weather was still nice so we went to Hailles Abbey and checked out a few more quaint villages like Upper and Lower Slaughter. We had lunch at a tiny café in Cirencester then drove to the Valley of the White Horse before heading back into London. All in all it was a really nice few days away. Max and Jo went off to Scotland on Wednesday night then were back at our place Friday night before flying back to Sydney on Saturday. We will miss them.
This weekend we’re off to Brussels as Robert has to work there on Saturday. My plan is to shop and take some more photos (hope the weather is nice). But for now I shall leave you with visions of fireworks on the horizon as London celebrates Guy Fawkes.
“Remember, remember the fifth of November,
The gunpowder, treason and plot,
I know of no reason
Why gunpowder treason
Should ever be forgot.”
The crack
On Saturday I went to see a big crack in the concrete floor of the Tate Modern. One would think that something had happened, like an earthquake, or something equally catastrophic, but no, it was art! The crack is known as Shibboleth by Doris Salcedo who is making a comment on "the shaky ideological foundations on which Western notions of modernity are built". I'm not normally that intrigued by modern art but I saw a picture of the crack on a friend's flickr account and decided to go and see if for myself. I was surprisingly interested in it depsite the vast number of people milling about. I even went so far as to get an audio guide and find out a little more about the permanent collection.
You may have noticed that I said "I" rather than "We". Yes, I went alone to the Tate Modern. Robert had to work on Saturday so I went wandering about all on my lonesome. I have these sudden fits of ability to be alone, usually fuelled by necessity. I did however catch up with Jackie in Soho and then went back to London bridge to catch up with Yash as the sun was setting over Borough markets. We had coffee in Cafe Nero then went back to his place for some dinner before Robert joined us after he finished up at work. So it was a good day.
Saturday was just another day where I had to entertain myself after Robert was whisked off to Paris for two nights for work. I stayed with Caitlin and John on Wednesday night and then with Sarah on Thursday night and met Robert after work on Friday as he got off the Eurostar. He was lucky to escape from Paris after 3 days of public transport strikes.
On Sunday we went for a bicycle ride; the first one in many months. We did the River Wandle ride from close to where we live all the way along the banks of the river, south, to Mordor (ok, so it's Morden really, but we prefer to call it Mordor). It was a beautiful sunny day (with a top temperature of 14 deg) and aside from a few metres of busy road to cycle on the hazards consisted mostly of crazy kids on scooters and parents with strollers walking in the cycle lane. It was a 20km round trip which is never very taxing in London due to the lack of any sort of hill.
Last weekend we went to see The Four Season by candlelight at the Royal Albert Hall. The Orchestra was dressed in 18th Century costume and wigs and the conductor conducted from his harpsichord just as Mozart would have done. It was a mixed program of pieces by Vivaldi, Hayden, Mozart and Pacabel with the Four Seasons taking up the 2nd half of the program. The violin soloist was very flamouyant and very entertaining.
On the Sunday we went to the Victoria & Albert museum. Robert checked out the Asia section while Sarah and I went to two of the special exhibitions - the Life of Lee Miller (a photographer) and The Golden Age of Couture 1947-1957. Both were very interesting even if the fashion exhibition was badly layed out for the amount of people in the space at anyone time.
This Thursday we are looking forward to seeing Max and Jo who are on their grand tour of Europe and the UK (as all Australians should do at least once in their lives). Looking forward to getting out of London for a long weekend and taking lots of photos of autumn colour. Good thing Robert and I are coming down with a virus now and not at the end of the week... Speaking of which, it's time to make some honey and lemon drinks before we go to bed.
New arrivals
So what's all this about me keeping you more up to date? I'm sorry but life just hasn't been that exciting. Robert has been on call and working hard for past 2 weekends and so we haven't ventured far.
The most exciting news has been the arrival of my new niece - Natalie Rose - on Monday 1st October. First child for my brother and his wife and first grandchild for my parents. She arrived a few weeks early but all is well and they are at home and settling in well.
Since I wrote last we've made a few purchases. Robert has been lusting after a new lens for the Nikon so he finally bought the 18-200mm f/3.5-5.6G IF-ED AF-S VR DX Zoom-Nikkor. For those who don't speak camera geek it's got 11.1x zoom and has vibration reduction. It's a little heavier than the one we got with the camera, and a little longer, but only slightly so it still fits in the camera bag. Robert really wants his own digital SLR but I think one digital SLR between the 2 of us is probably enough. We thought about getting a new compact digital camera but now that we've seen the quality from the Nikon it is hard to go back to a compact. Perhaps we'll just have to learn to share.
I also bought a sewing machine (Janome Sewist 521) in a fit of enthusiasm for altering the clothes I bought last year that are now too big for me. So far I've managed to ruin one skirt and am reluctant to attempt to alter anything else. Perhaps I'll just use the machine to hem the new jeans I bought. Shopping for clothes is a bit of challenge at the moment due to the lack of inspiring fashions on offer. It's rather depressing wading through the racks of leggings and tunics. While I'm thin enough to carry off the look I'm sure they are only designed for teenagers. And don't get me started on the colours! I'm becoming difficult like my mother...
While sewing has been a bit of a disaster I have had at least one success on the knitting front. The blue cardigan in the photo is for Alex in Switzerland. Hopefully he isn't too big for it just yet. Just have to hope the postal strike is resolved so I can send it off in time for the beginning of winter. I did have to do a lot of un-knitting to get this finished. (I got confused with the sizes and was knitting it all out of proportion!) I now have grand plans to knit something for my new niece in time for the Australian winter.
On the work front I've decided to stop looking for a new job and stay for the fireworks. I just wasn't coping with the grueling schedule of interviews and decision-making. I really don't have a clear idea of what I want out of my new job and while there is grass on the other side it is usually just another bit of the same grass. I feel more settled now even if the situation at work is no different.
We haven't been out much lately although we did do Yum Cha with the Australian contingent a couple of weeks ago. We managed to get 10 people together which was great. Another Australian friend, Jackie, has moved over to London as well. Jackie and I went shopping Thursday night while Robert went out for a curry night with his team from work.
Our focus now turns to the end of the year and the coming ski season. I won’t mention the C word as it's still over 2 months away and I'm in denial as usual.
Travel, Festivals and the end of Summer
Having been very slack on the blog-front, I figure it's pointless trying to add posts retrospectively. Instead I will list everything that has happened over the last 6 weeks since my last post then promise to be more diligent in the future.
- Brands Hatch - We went to see the World Superbikes race at Brands Hatch on the hottest day of the year and got burnt. At least the Australians did well.
- Christina came to visit - Christina arrived at the beginning of August for 4 weeks in Europe. She joined us for several events (Iceland, a Proms concert, the Peak District and Spam-a-Lot)
- Proms - We went to another Proms concert. This time it was Renee Fleming singing Berg (Seven Early Songs) and Korngold. The BBC Philharmonic Orchestra played Beethoven Symphony No 8 and Schumann Symphony No 2.
- Iceland - amazing place full of extreme natural wonders - the iceberg lake was my favourite place. Photos can be found at:
Iceland Photo Set- Tour of Westminster Palace - In between Iceland and Hungary we went on a tour of the Houses of Parliament It's an amazingly elaborate building inside and out. It was bombed during the world war, evidence of which Churchill left in place as part of the renovations.
- Hungary - we went to visit our friends Ildi and Mark who were visiting Ildi's parents in Hungary. We were able to experience authentic Hungarian hospitality (complete with Goulash, salami and paprika) and a Hungarian wedding. It was our 4 days of summer with temperatures over 30 deg each day. Photos can be found at:
Hungary Photo Set- Finished Harry Potter - I read the last Harry Potter book and was pleased with the outcome. I was able to give Ildi a summary who just wanted to know what happened.
- The Peak District - we spent the last long weekend of summer in the Peak District in a little town called Bakewell. We went with Christina and friends of hers - Vayra and Ian. We went to Eyam, Chatsworth House, Haddon Hall, Ashby de la Zouch castle and ate a fully cooked English breakfast every morning. Photos can be found at:
Peak District Photo Set- Spam-a-Lot - before Christina went home we went to see Spam-a-lot with her. Yes, this is the second time we've seen it. I think it's funnier second time round.
- The Fat Duck - yes, we went to Heston Blumenthal's restaurant in Bray - the home of molecular gastromony and the best restaurant in the world. We had the tasting menu. 4 hours and 18 courses later we were amazed and very very full. Photos of all the courses at:
The Fat Duck Photo Set- Sikh Wedding - Robert's team leader got married and we were invited to the Sikh religious ceremony and the reception the following night. The wedding festivities for a Sikh go on for a whole week and cost many thousands of pounds. They even had their own fireworks display. Robert has posted some photos of the reception:
Jane and Sunny's Wedding and some of the religious ceremony pics are up on facebook.
- Throat infection - I had to endure a week of antibiotics due to a Strep Throat infection :-(
- London open house weekend - One weekend a year sees many of London's buildings open to the public. We went to the Quaker meeting house in Wandsworth and the Hurlingham club in Fulham.
- London Walking Weekend - The same weekend happened to be London Walking Weekend. We went on two guided walks - one around our local area of Wandsworth and another around Lambeth. We found out lots of interesting things about the area we live in (it had the very first public railway in England - horse drawn carriages on rails to cart coal).
- Museum of Garden History - we stopped by this museum at the end of our Lambeth walk. It is in and old church and has a 16th century knot garden in the church yard. The grave of John Tradescant is at the church - he is a famous name in 16th Century English garden history.
- Thames Festival - on Sunday afternoon we went to the Thames Festival on the Southbank. We caught up with Yash and Sarah, saw the parade, and watched the fireworks (they weren't a patch on Sydney News Year's Eve fireworks). Photos at:
Thames Festival Photo Set
Permission to live
Friday was a bit of an anti-climax. As predicted the CT scan I had done showed no abnormalities and I've been told that I require no further investigations or follow up appointments. I think I'd come to the conclusion about 10 days before that I was just fine and that most of how I'd been feeling was related to my anxiety. I discovered that by realigning my thinking I was able to contemplate living and making plans for the future once again. After all, only I can give myself permission to live. The last 6 months have been a real roller coaster ride but I feel that the next 6 are going to be better. No doubt I'll think of something else to worry about (like all the aeroplanes I'm about to take in the next few weeks ;-))
In my quest to have a life once again we've managed to do a few interesting things in the last few weeks. We went to see the new Harry Potter movie and bought the last Harry Potter book. I thought the movie was very well done and enjoyed it immensely. Many will disagree with me I'm sure. I've not started the book but Robert finished it this morning so I'll start on it as soon as I finish another book I borrowed from the library. I might keep Harry Potter for the plane trip to Iceland. That book has the greatest chance of anything I know of being able to distract me from my anxious thoughts.
I'm currently watching the last stage of the Tour de France on TV. I have to confess that we didn't go into London to see the first stage but I have watched quite a bit of it on TV where I'm sure you get the best view anyway. It's very cool seeing the cyclists ride up and down the streets that I've walked down in Paris. It's such a shame that so many cyclists have been thrown out due to drugs.
You will have seen all the reports of floods in England. We haven't been affected at all except for the day when our local pub had a flooded kitchen and we couldn't have chips with our usual Friday pub lunch. Living on the 6th floor we're unlikely to have any issues with rising water even if the Thames did flood.
Last night we went to Lindsay House (http://www.lindsayhouse.co.uk) the London restaurant of another British celebrity chef - Richard Corrigan. It is classified as Modern British (despite all the wait staff having outrageous French accents!) and we attempted the tasting menu with wine. While it was very yummy, I did feel that the food at the Gordon Ramsay restaurant was better. Each dish seemed to lack a little something. The wine however was very well matched. We tried an American Riesling which was very enjoyable and discovered a sweet red wine which went very well with our chocolate cherry dessert. I didn't feel quite as full as I did after Claridges - I was able to have a coffee and partake in the petit fours. Perhaps the servings were smaller or perhaps my stomach is beginning to stretch again.
Last year I didn't go to any BBC proms concerts but this year we've already been to one concert and have booked to see another one. I hadn't been the Royal Albert Hall before but it is a very nice venue - lots of red velvet. We sat at the side of the stage in the stalls so we were quite close to the action. The pianist who played Ravel's Concerto for left hand was very animated and we were able to hear him make his own sound effects to go with his playing. Unfortunately the next concert we're going to is more popular and as a result we'll be sitting in the circle way up top. I hope we can still see OK. We'll be going with Christina that night - i hope she'll be able to stay awake after only arriving from Australia 36 hours earlier.
The last piece of news to share is all about motorcycles. Robert went to a track day on Thursday at Brands Hatch in Kent. He had a great time going round and round the track at ludicrous speed. He didn't crash and managed to get back in one piece. He even has some photos to prove it. Next weekend we'll be back at Brands Hatch to see a MotoGP race. Hopefully the rain will stay away or it could be a miserable day.
Stay tuned for my next update - most likely from Iceland!!
