HAPPEN YALLOWEH!

As I sit at the computer by the window, I can see Ossington Street below. It is filled with little spooks and goblins with excited voices echoing up. London is in the throws of Halloween! It is an increasingly popular holiday here. The front steps of the houses behind us are bedecked with carved jack-o-lanterns and everyone seems to be feeling festive.

Last night, to help us get in the spirit of the holiday, the entire group went to see The Woman in Black at the Fortune Theatre. It turned out to be a fun production with lots of good places for screams. The most exciting thing, however, was a mouse or two who tickled Jeff Ringer's toes. The management was good enough to put the Ringers in the royal box overlooking the stage for the second half.

Tonight we had a costume party and the students and kids all went bunk-er-treating from room to room and from flat to flat. I reprised my role as Sheik Omar, which seemed to be a hit. It is amazing what you can do with an old sheet, a pashmina, a drapery tie, some sunglasses, and an eyebrow pencil from Boots.

Kris recreated her role as the #1 Party Pooper

Gary was Mahatma Gandhi, Jennifer and Amy were joined at the hip, Jeff was King Harold (having just been shot in the eye at the Battle of Hastings), I was Sheik Omar, and Kris was a party pooper.

For having few resources, the students always come up with the most creative and fun costumes.

We hope that you all have a great Halloween.

OXO

D.

Kris's Birthday

Today was Kris's birthday. It started early this morning with balloons outside our door from Erika Jackson and some other girls.

Kris chose a cool new birthday outfit (skirt and sweater) from M&S and an amber bracelet that we found in Bath. I decided in the middle of the night that I would like to prepare a proper English tea for her. So I took the 52 bus to Sainsbury's; grabbed some flowers and a few ingredients; came home and served up some cucumber sandwiches; smoked salmon, creamed cheese, and dill sandwiches; scones with clotted cream and jam; a cream cake; and black currant tea. It was spiffing.

This afternoon I arranged to have Chantel, Tina and Tony's daughter, give her a massage. She gave Kris a foot massage as well.

At dinner she received a huge chocolate birthday cake, a chorus of Happy Birthday to You, and three rousing cheers. Gifts and remembrances have been coming in all day from faculty and students.

We finished the day with a window-shopping trip to Kensington High Street with the Ringers and Bartons.

There have been calls, electronic well wishes from home, pictures of Winnie from Ann and Uncle, and an a final email from Katy in WA. So all in all it has been a pretty good day.

Cool new birthday stuff from Marks and Spencer's

Tea for two and two for tea

Freshly massaged feet

Chocolate birthday cake, songs, and well wishes

At Whole Foods Market on Kensington High Street

She loves you all and appreciates your good wishes. Good night all.

OXO

D.

Southwest Trip - Day One

On Wednesday, 24 October we left London dark and early, bound for the southwest of England. We were pleased to see that the coach company had honored our request and sent Martin Featherstone as our driver. He is the best. He is more like a university professor in demeanor and bearing than our usual London-lad drivers. He also happens to live in the southwest and knows the area like the back of his hand, which made my navigating job much simpler. He knows all the best and most scenic routes and has a world of information stored in his head.

Our first stop was Bath. It is a beautiful place and we were blessed with great weather. We proceeded south to Wells, a great little village with a magnificent Cathedral. We went on to Exeter just in the nick of time. We arrived in time to go in the Cathedral there as well. It is one of my favorites with its magnificent ceiling bosses and exposed stone ceiling. We had supper in Exeter at McDonalds. I know that may seem like heresy to some, but very little is open after five that fits our tight budget. Anyway, the point of the story in the first place is that the interior design is fantastic: all chocolate brown and chartreuse with very modern-classic furnishings. I'm not kidding: all Arne-Jacobson 1950s classics like the Ant Chair, the Swan Chair, and the Egg Chair -- so cool. After supper we were dropped off at the hostel where we spent the night.

This is us standing in front of the Royal Crescent in Bath

This is Kris reading about the Assembly Rooms made famous by
Jane Austen, whose presence is everywhere in Bath.

This is No. 25 Gay Street where Jane Austen lived after her father's death as her conditions began to worsen. We have a model (bookend) of this door in our bedroom bookshelf.

At the bottom of this street is her last abode in Bath.
Her star must have risen because the house she
lived in Winchester was nice.

We both love this view of Robert Adam's Pulteney Bridge
on the wier of the Avon River.

Kris, Eliza, and Amy in front of Wells Cathedral

Bartons, Ringers, and Taylors in front of
Exeter Cathedral as the day closes

McDonald's Image from internet

Supper at the super-cool McDonald's in Exeter -
Arne Jacobson chairs from the 50s

Southwest Trip - Day Two

On Thursday, 25 October, we left the Exeter Hostel after a proper English Breakfast (the hostel breakfasts aren't half-bad) and headed southwest to St. Michaels Mount. We planned it so we could catch low tide and walk across the beach and causeway to the island. The weather cooperated again and we had a nice visit. Since we were in Cornwall, we had delicious Cornish pasties for lunch. Martin explained to us that the tin miners in Cornwall created the pasty as a meal of veg, spuds, and meat in a single crust that could be taken down in the mines. Arsenic was a byproduct of tin mining and the very thick crust could be held in one hand while the center of the pasty was eaten. The arsenic-tainted crust was discarded, eaten by the rats that subsequently died of arsenic poisoning. Clever. Ours were arsenic-free and very tasty!

We drove back northward to Tintagel, the spectacular castle ruin on the Cornwall coast where King Arthur is purported to have been conceived. (Don't ask me. I don't know how they know.) The setting is fantastic with the howling wind and crashing waves. The sun poked his head through and the day was beautiful. We spent the night at Golant, an eighteenth-century country house that must have been very fine in its day, but is now a hostel. It sits on a hill above the Fowey River and it is lucky Martin was driving or we would be looking for it still. As it began to lighten in the morning we could see how isolated and beautiful the spot is.

Kris with St. Michael's Mount in the background

Enjoying her pasty on the island quay

Our hot and delicious Cornish pasties waiting to be consumed on a chilly day

The incomparable view from the island ruins of Tintagel Castle

The view back to Cornwall from the island

Kris wishing we had something to post from Tintagel village's ancient
post office with its fantastic stone roof

The pre-sun-up view of the Fowey River from Golant, where we spent the night.

Southwest Trip - Day Three

On Friday, 26 October, Martin navigated and drove us out from our remote hostel and took us north and east to Montacute House, a stellar example of an Elizabethan-era house. The students were thrilled because it was also the setting for Marianne Dashwood's sickness sequence in the Emma-Thompson version of Sense and Sensibility.

From there, Martin moved us along in the most timely manner possible, considering it was half-term school holiday and all of Britain was on the road. We arrived at the Southampton ferry dock at exactly 3:00 P.M. and they let us board for our scheduled and nearly-missed departure. We gave a mighty cheer and heaved a sigh of relief as he pulled the coach onto the to ferry for our crossing to the Isle of Wight.

We spent the night at Sandown, a dowdy old seaside town for which England is so well known. With the Brits traveling internationally for their holidays, the old seaside towns have fallen on hard times. These kinds of towns are filled mostly with old age pensioners now, so naturally, we felt at home. (Stop it; it was just a joke.) There was time for a stroll along the beach before sundown and some supper afterward at a Greek restaurant. I had a lamb shank that was delicious! We stayed in a small, home-sized hotel (St. Michael's on Leed Street), which was a dream after the hostels. It was so nice to have a private bath and a comfortable bed with real sheets and towels.

Montacute: the perfect Elizabethan house

These windows with original glass, lovingly patched over
the years with leading, really knock me out. If you enlarge the
photo and look carefully, you can even see that they have very old
inscriptions etched into them.

Jeff, Amy, and Kris at Montacute House

The driveway entrance to Montacute from the rear

Most of the Ringers (at least those who are in England) 

with Kris on the ferry to the Isle of Wight. The ferry in 

the background is identical to what we were on.

Amy's fun photo of the group

 A screen grab of the St. Michael's Hotel

Southwest Trip - Day Four

On the morning of Saturday, 27 October, we had a nice breakfast at the hotel and then headed to Osborne House, the home of Victoria and Albert, purchased in 1841 as "a place of their own, remote and private." Albert worked closely on the design and popularized the Italianate style for the Victorians. It is a fantastic place, filled with almost all of the original furnishings. It gives real insight into the way they lived. The gardens are immaculately-maintained and extremely beautiful.

We ferried back to Southampton and drove to Portsmouth where we visited the HMS Victory, the ship in which Lord Nelson was wounded and died in the Battle of Trafalgar. It is almost disturbing to see how life would have been for a sailor on such a ship: hundreds of men crammed into a claustrophobic space with cannons and rats. It was a fascinating visit.

From Portsmouth, Martin took us up the road less traveled (the A3) instead of the motorway, and it was a breath-taking ride. It looked like the mountains of Tennessee must look in the fall. The A3 is also a wonderful four-lane, controlled-access road with only one last village without a bypass (they are working on it currently). We were home by 7:00 P.M. and able to get laundry done before bed.

Osborne House on the Isle of Wight

The beautifully manicured gardens at Osborne House

Albert wanted their children to learn how to care for a garden, cook, and do craftsy stuff, so they built this Swiss Chalet at the far bottom of the garden where the children could do the kinds of things Albert thought important, but could not be done in the main house.

The Spinnaker Tower at Portsmouth, a Millennium project

D & K next to the HMS Victory

All hands on deck!

The whole trip was great with excellent weather and a driver who saved our hides over and over.

Bill and JLynn arrived home not too long after we did and by all accounts had a really good trip to York and the Lake District. They went to stake conference with us this morning and are currently off to the British Museum this afternoon. Tomorrow they will head to Oxford and then to the Cotswolds. I'm not sure what we will be doing this week, but if there are adventures, I will post them.

OXO

D.

Monday w/ the Hastings

Yesterday we set out after breakfast to see if we could get cheap tickets to Hairspray, the musical. We were successful and purchased tickets for £25 in the back of the dress circle. They save the front row and the back rows of the dress circle as same-day cheap tickets -- they would normally be about £65. We then proceeded to the American Express office on Haymarket so Bill could cash some traveler's checks. Traveler's checks turn out to be a very bad way to get cash in London. The exchange rate was $2.17 for a £: OUCH!

We bused out to St. Paul's and Bill got to climb to the top for a splendid view. We crossed the Millennium Bridge to the South Bank and the Globe Theatre for their tour. We had time before the tour to nip into the Tate Modern for an aerial view of Shibboleth.

We walked back across the Southwark Bridge to the Cannon Street Station where Bill was able to put together an itinerary for their travel to York and the Lake District. We took a Circle Line train home, arriving just in time for dinner.

After dinner we went back to the Shaftsbury Theatre to see Hairspray. It was great fun but a little more politically-edgy than I expected. Michael Ball of Phantom fame, plays the mother, in drag; he was excellent. The bus ride home was memorable. We waited for a 390 for quite some time and when it finally came, it was diverted down Charing Cross Road and Shaftsbury Avenue because the east end of Oxford Street was closed. So we had a lovely night tour of the West-End-Theatre District, eventually going back up Regent's Street and back on route to Oxford Street. We had lost so much time with the diversion, that the end destination of the bus suddenly was switched to Marble Arch (he was going to turn around and go back to the Archway station where he started) and we had to get off and wait for a 94. So what should have taken a few minutes, took over an hour -- but it was, at least, memorable.

The Hastings in Paternoster Square with St. Paul's in the background

Bill and JLynn on the Millennium Bridge

After their tour of Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

At the Shaftsbury Theatre for Hairspray

Bill has gone to get train tickets and they will spend the day cleaning up their London list before they leave for York in the morning.

We will be going to the Southwest tomorrow and will report on that adventure when we return on the weekend.

OXO

D.

Two Days of Hard Charging

Friday morning we took the train from Waterloo Station to Hampton Court where we spent the day. The weather was perfect and we saw just about everything. Unfortunately the maze was closed. We are now members of the Historic Royal Palaces and can come and go as we please. There is even a members' room where some of the students discovered that you could get a cup of hot chocolate for 50p -- such a deal!

The Hastings and Taylors in front of the
Tudor entrance to Hampton Court

In the Tudor kitchens with a roaring fire
that felt nice on a crisp morning

A light lunch of scones, butter, jam, and clotted cream

Saturday we got an early start for the Tower of London. Transportation is a disaster with planned engineering works every weekend, so we took the central line to St. Paul's and then caught a 15 bus to the Tower. We arrived early enough that the place was fairly empty. We joined a Warder's tour, which is always entertaining. After the tour we hiked through the White Tower from top to bottom and then proceeded to the Crown Jewels exhibit which was a little crowded by then. We visited a few other towers before lunch. We stopped at Subway where the Hastings bought some portable lunch. (I had filled my pockets with cookies before leaving the centre.) We walked to St. Dunstan in the East for a quiet lunch away from the crowds. After lunch we proceeded on through the City to Leadenhall Market and Lloyds of London. Everything is quite deserted in the City on the weekend, so we had the place to ourselves. We tubed (the Central Line was PACKED!!!! because of severe delays due to a signal failure at Stratford) to Holborn where there was a group of thousands of motorcyclists parading down Kingsway. We were finally able to cross and walked to Covent Garden. (It is a very different experience for me to go to all these places with folks who don't need to go in all the shops.) We walked on to Leicester Square where there were no half-price tickets that we wanted so we went to the box office of the Shaftesbury Theatre to see about tickets to Hairspray. When we got that sorted out we still had some time, so we bussed back to St. Paul's, but arriving inside the Cathedral, decided to wait until the dome was open for climbing. Exhaustion was setting in at that point so we attempted to get on the Tube at St. Paul's but came back up out after waiting interminably for a train. The 25 bus took us to Oxford Circus and the 390 took us from there to the top of Palace Court. It felt good to sit!

We walked down beautiful Palace Gardens to the Kensington-High-Street Wagamama for supper and then back to the Gelato shop near the Queensway Station for dessert. I asked the nice girl who has been dipping gelato for us for two months where she is from. She said, "Brasil." It turns out she is from Londrina where I worked! We had a good chat in Portuguese and I secretly hope she will give me bigger scoops now -- do you think she will? Too bad I didn't chat her up weeks ago. We walked home and set our captive travelers free. I am afraid I am running them ragged, but hopefully they will see a lot of London before I kill them.

Bill and JLynn with a Yoeman Warder
or Beefeater at the Tower of London

Lunch at St. Dunstan's in the East,
beginning now to show its fall colors

Bill and JLynn at Lloyds of London with the
Erotic Gherkin shining in the background

Dinner at Wagamama. Kris says I take too many pictures
of us eating, but I told her we do it three times a day, or
more, and so there you go: it's what we do.

Today the Hastings have gone to the Hyde Park Chapel with mom for church and will likely visit museums afterward. They may also try to attend an Evensong service somewhere this afternoon. I won't have any adventures to post today, so watch for more at the beginning of the week

OXO

D.