Tunbridge Wells

I took the local bus from Brighton to Tunbridge Wells, along the Regency Route, and all readers of Regency Romances will recognize the names of these two places.  Yesterday morning when I got up. It was pouring rain, so I had a pajama morning, reading and drinking coffee. Then the sun came out, and it was beautiful.  I got dressed and had lunch at a place called Tiffin, lovely little cafe a five minute walk from the hotel.  I spent the day walking around the city, exploring some of the shops when it showered out.  I found a great second hand bookstore, books stacked everywhere, no room left on the shelves.  Off to Lewes today, there is a castle there, should be a good day.

The bottom picture is the sweets display at Tiffin.

Sad News

I found out when I got back to Canada that Patches has gone missing.  I had a friend who was house sitting and parish-sitting for me, and he let a group of university students from his regular parish come up and stay in the upstairs of the rectory on the weekend.  Despite his clear instructions to keep doors closed, they didn`t, and Patches managed to get out.  She`s always been obsessed with going outside.  No one has seen her since, though I`m told that the ladies from the church have been looking all over town.

Aside from that, I`m glad to be home.  I landed in Canada yesterday, to a snowstorm in Vancouver.  There were six inches on the ground, and more coming, so I was relieved that the ferry was still running.  The bus to take us there was slow in arriving, which meant that I had to stand in a line in the snow for forty five minutes, without actually knowing if the bus would turn up.

The rest of my time in Canterbury was really great.  I went to a really good town museum, a really good Roman museum (built on the site of a Roman house, with part of the original Roman basement preserved) and lots and lots of churches.  One of the churches is the oldest working church in England- dates from Roman times, they think.  You can see the distinctive Roman bricks in the walls.  I also took a tour of the town, which was neat.  One of the neatest things was the ruins of the Abbey where St. Augustine lived when he first brought formal Christianity to England (there were some Christians in England before he arrived in 597, but they weren`t very organised).  The ruins mostly date from the Norman times, because those Norman jerks were all about tearing down old churches to build new ones.  It`s just bits of wall standing here and there, and impressions in the ground.

I found, which I had forgotten since I last travelled, that there is a lot of time in the day.  I had a lot of time in Canterbury, so I would see one or two things in a day, but then filled in the rest of the time having tea, or poking through charity shops.  I was usually glad to get back to the hotel, and glad that I had my own room in a hotel, and not a hostel.  I had a bottle of Night Nurse, so the cold didn`t bother me at night!

Brighton

After taking a train, train, bus and another train I got to Brighton around 3:00 pm.  I treated myself and took a taxi to the Hotel Mercure.  The Mercure is right across from Brighton Beach, even though it is not beach weather, I like being near the water.  Yesterday I walked over to the Royal Pavilion, and did a tour around there.  They no longer allow pictures inside but I did take pictures inside in 1977, and from my memory things look much the same.  It cost 356 thousand pounds to build, and in 1850 when the City of Brighton bought it they only paid 50 thousand pounds, what a bargain.

Today I went to the Brighton museum, which was very interesting.  They had several exhibits.about Brighton, so I got to learn more about the city.  One of the exhibits was called dirty weekends, because ever since the Prince Regents time, people would slip down to Brighton to have a liaison with their lovers.  Also in the old days when couples needed to have a good reason to divorce, the husband would come to Brighton, hire a room, a woman and pay off a chambermaid to say she caught them "in the act" so they could use adultery.

I am off to Tunbridge Wells tomorrow.

Home again, home again, joggedy jog

As Lisa says one of the good parts of travelling is getting home again. Even if it is -20 there. I guess we have actually spent the last two days travelling, since we drove to Oxford from Dorset on Sunday after dropping Jude at the train. I mistakenly directed us on a long route back, we had to get around Bristol which was a bit confusing. Thank goodness Anne was there to help navigate.

We checked into our hotel in Oxford, which was very nice and a two-minute walk to the bus staton, and strolled around (with a stop at the Bodlean gift shop) until it was time for dinner with Anne and Del. We had Nepalese food, kind of like Indian, but not exactly. It was very good. The restaurant is by their place so we just took the bus back to the hotel so Del could have a beer.

The trip was long but uneventful, except for meeting Will at Heathrow. The plane was full, so no stretching out like the trip over.

The cold and snow were a bit of a shock after leaving a place with green grass and daffodils blooming.

Went over to see the booboos for a bit. They were happy to see us! Kane loved the foam sword Will sent for him. 

Went to bed early and got up early but I see a nap in my near future. I don't go back to work until tomorrow.

I can't believe that Anne is married. She kept talking about Del's house, but it is their house now.

Home again, home again, jiggedity jog

Got back yesterday and am happy to be home. As nice as travelling is, being home is better!
We saw quite a bit in London-Monday, wandered around a bit with Jim monday night, then out for supper with Jim and Mom. Poor mom, as I noted earlier had a cold.

Tuesday we went to Victoria and Albert-R and I spent most of our time in the British area, since we were in Britain. Mom rested most of the time and Jim wandered about, appreciating everything.

Went out for dinner Tuesday night,along with Sam and Nancy. Mom barely made it to the restaurant.

Wednesday, to the Tower of London. Crown jewels were impressive, but I liked the beefeater tour best, along with the TORTURE ROOM. Just wandering around was good-R liked the armory part best, and we both liked the replication of King's room. I felt slightly miffed when Beefeater mentioned France, US, Australia, but not Canada. Slighted Canadian abroad.

Thursday, we caught some of the changing of the guard, went to Churchill War Rooms. I am fascinated by Churchill-so we spent quite a bit of time there. Then we went to Parliament area-decided not to go in as it cost 16 pounds. I thought better to go to our own government for free. westminster abbey, we just appreciated from outside, as we had seen several churches. I feel a bit of regret about this. Saw Downing Street, and many police wandering around Buckingham Palace and Parliament area. I did think, 'couldn't more money be spent on social programs, and less on pomp and pageantry?' They get lots of tourist dollars from it, I guess, but couldn't all that royal serving ware be sold and used to provide food for people, or things like that? They only use it every 50 years. All that being said, I am also fascinated by the Queen.

Friday, we met Laura at the British Museum. Saw the Rosetta Stone, Lord Elgin's stolen marbles, and part of the Sphinx's beard! Also had cream tea with Laura. Then R and I wandered around Covent Gardens (which reminds me of English children's novels), and looked at things we couldn't afford.

Things the UK does well:
trains
tube and public transit
manners in general (Richard especially appreciated the way people walked on sidewalk-in Spain people did not courteously move aside or make eye contact)
using local food and resources
using and saving old buildings
cream tea
dairy products in general
different dialects

Things I appreciate about Canada
space everywhere!
more smiling (or as R says, maybe it is related to dental care?)
this is tremendous generalization, but I think Canadians are happier-or at least we seem that way
plumbing
more affordability
less focus on social class (not that I think we are the cat's meow on this either)
nicer public areas such as bathrooms, waiting areas etc.
also, this is the nurse in me, but I think we wash our hands more and better.

Saturday we got up at 430, walked to train station, took train to Gatwick, stared at people in Gatwick and nodded off, got on plane, slept, got off plane in Calgary, stared at people in Calgary airport and nodded off, got off plane in Kelowna, got home, hugged cats. Went to Mom's, hugged Mom, ate supper, went home and slept. Mom is indeed alive and starting to feel better from her cold.

Today, went to walk in, yup, urinary tract infection, on antibiotics. Richard has a cold, I am fighting it off, or possibly just jetlagged still. Weirdly, 2 things that I get when I travel: cold sores, and bladder infections.

All in all, a really great trip! We had such a fun time at the wedding-meeting Del and  Del's family-they were so lovely. I want to go to Northern Ireland now. Spending time with everyone in Cornwall was really excellent-I wish we had also been there a bit longer.

Montacute House

Today's journey was to  a National Trust properly called Montacute which is about an hour away from our little place.  The house is not open for the season yet, so it was a conservation tour most of the stuff was under covers.  If you go during the season, it is not a guided tour, but this was.  Our guide was very interesting, the house was built by the lawyer who prosecuted Guy Fawkes back in the 1600s.  His name was Phellips.  The house remained in the family for around 300 years and was one of the first properties acquired by the National Trust in the 1930s.  We had some lunch at the cafe after the tour, this time a savoury tea instead cream tea, which meant cheddar and a chutney instead of cream and jam with our scones.

I am sorry to be losing my travelling companions but looking forward to seeing Brighton and Tunbridge Wells.

Clarification

I am posting a lot because I use this as a travel diary, not because I think you are all that interested in what we are doing. But I am very interested in what you all are up to.

Dorchester

We decided to go into Dorchester today, not really knowing what it would be like. A large point in its favour was that there is a park and ride on the outskirts. You can park all day for a pound which includes the bus fare to the centre of town. Bonus - the parking is beside a giant Tesco so we planned to pick up food for supper.

Dorchester was just great. It was a main Roman town and the first place we visited was a Roman house that has been excavated. This picture is of the mosaic floor in one of the rooms. We went to the town museum, a really great one. It had dinosaur stuff, prehistoric stuff, Roman stuff, literary stuff. And it turns out that Benjamin Ferrey, an architect Ferrey ancestor, was from Dorset and designed a lot of buildings in Dorcester. This was in Victorian times. After we left the museum to find a place for tea we  noticed the plaque on the church next door talked about BF.

We had lunch at a little restaurant in an old building run by a nice couple who chatted with us. Looked around town a bit (I bought new shoes!), then on the bus to Tesco and the car. 

All in all a good day. Sure is great to be able to keep track of the Badgers and their travels.

Little Update...

Hey everyone!

So, as it turned out, while Tim was gone my client had her babe! It was really amazing! I learned a lot that day about everything- it is very interesting being on the outside looking in. I really felt like I had not one clue what I was doing, or if I should have even been there at first, but as time moved on, and things progressed, i know that if it was not for me a few times, she would have lost it. Not to blow my own horn, but it sure did feel great when after, her family and the nurses all asked me how long I had been a Doula for, and I shocked them when I said that she was my first one, they all looked stunned and thought I had been a Doula for a few years- nice to know I was doing my job right. The nurse even scored me all 5/5's on the paper work I have to send in to get my certification. It was really a great experience.

I turned 28 on Thursday. Tim spoiled me and got me a new laptop, and here I am sitting on his old one because I barely know how to get on the internet on my new one because the new program is to confusing for the technically challenged- you can't go changing things on us, it takes us the entire time to figure out a new program, as it takes for them to release a new one! yeesh.

I have finally talked my Timmy into letting me have a landline! I am so excited about this that I cannot express it in words. I am so tired of having a cell phone, and this is the second time in two years that I am looking at it costing me upwards of 500 to replace the one that I have now which has completely crapped out on me- and I cannot justify spending that amount of money again to replace it, so that I can probably do it again in a  year, because everything is made in china and nothing lasts anymore. *rant over.....i think. So we will have a landline number soon and I will have a pay as you go for when I am on the road- gonna kick it old school. I wonder if they still make those huge phones that you could have installed in your cars- those were so bad a**. (haha)

We dont have many plans over the next few months. Probably stay pretty low-key before May catches up with us. We are gearing up to play snow pitch next weekend and we also will be taking Kane to see the Backyardigans, which clearly we were into the wine when we thought this was a good idea- not smart. If you dont know what I am talking about you are welcome to turn the television to the treehouse channel at 5pm. Bet you dont last 2 mins.

Speaking of children, I am registering Kane into preschool next week, which I am very excited about. I know I am biased, but I just feel like he is so smart and I am looking forward to seeing him learn more and more. Grady is on the very verge of crawling. The kid is gonna have some serious ab muscles by the time he figures it out because all he does right now is plank! hands and feet, butt in the air- kinda looks like the downward dog move in yoga. It is quite funny. I also had his 6 month (a month late) pictures done today, so I am sure they will be adorable when they come back.

I am sure you have heard that Transcanada had a bit of a blow out....so Tim will be working late and through the weekend, lovely little incident to come home to. He was officially named the 'rover' this morning as he was not there the day the incident took place, and this morning his big task was to make sure that the guys had lunch by 12- hahaha, I am sure you can all imagine how impressed he is.

Kane is at daycare today, Grady is napping, and I am working on my 5 different quilting projects I have on the go, so that is all for now!

Hope you are all safe and happy!

Court

Off to our next adventure

We are sitting in the Dublin airport waiting for our flight to Glasgow. We were having trouble finding a cheap flight that worked with our schedule to Edinburgh, so in a fit of frustration we booked our way to Glasgow, without really checking all our options. And after we booked we both said we wished we were going to Edinburgh. But oh well, we went on a pub crawl last night and met a girl from Glasgow who assured us it's an awesome place. 

I loved Dublin. We went to the Book of Kells, Christ Church Cathedral (where we had coffee in the crypt, near the mummified cat and rat they found in the pipe organ), took the hop on hop off bus all around the city, stopped in at the Museum of Ireland where they have some mummified people found in bogs, and, my personal favourite, the Guinness Storehouse, where we each poured a perfect pint and enjoyed it from the top floor looking down on the city. I will definitely be coming back though. I feel like there's lots we missed, and I would be happy doing some of the same things again too. We did spend a lot of time just walking around, which was nice. I love looking at the old buildings. Wish we had more of that in Canada. 

Another county, another castle

Dorset is very nice. It seems much more open than Cornwall, larger fields. There are lots of thatched roof houses.

We went to see Corfe Castle today. It was built in the 900s and is all tumbledown, but beautiful. We took a steam train to see it! First we took the train to Swanage, a seaside town, and had a look around, then got back on the train and got off at the castle. It was great, and from up there you could see the steam from the train as it drove away. There are lots of kids around as probably everyone has noticed. They were all having lots of fun at the castle. There was a Teddy zip line there.

Geoff has been ably driving us around, with Anne's excellent navigating.

Our little cottage is nice and comfortable, we did not have too much trouble finding it.

I think we will go into Dorcester tomorrow. We can park at a park and ride so will not have to navigate the city.

Jude has a cold and Anne feels one coming on. We cooked supper here tonight. It feels good to just stay in.

Canterbury

I'm having fun in Canterbury!  Getting here was an adventure in itself- we left Venton house around ten, and after some very able driving by dad, and navigating by mom, I was dropped at the Weymouth train station around one.  This was perfect, as there was a trail leaving at one twenty. The train was quite empty for the first hour or so, and the only downside was that all the bathrooms appeared to be out of order.  We were stopped at Southampton for about twenty minutes, as there was someone on the tracks ahead of us.  The conductor was very good about it, and kept giving us updates, even if the update was " I still don't know what's going on".   I wasn't worried about the delay, as I had lots of time to make my connection but  I was happy when he said that we would be skipping the rest of the stations, and going directly to London!

My luggage and I navigated the Underground just fine.  They have lots of good signs, and I was easily able to figure out where to go.  The trouble started when reached St. Pancreas Station.  I found the listing for the train I thought I was supposed to be on- the 5:40.  However, on the list of destinations,  they hadn't listed Canterbury.  So I checked online, and the journey planner said that train was cancelled!  Somewhat worried, I asked a ticket agent which train to take to Canterbury, and she directed me to the 5:40. When I got to the platform (with fear and trembling in my heart) they announced that the tracks were flooded near Canterbury, and those who were going there would take the train partway, then switch to a bus.  It all worked out with the usual British efficiency, and I was able to get a cab to my hotel.

I'm staying at a small hotel about ten minutes from the city center.  My room is tiny- a single bed and desk and very small cupboard, but it does have an ensuite bathroom, and the shower head is affixed to the wall, and at a good height!

Today, after a restful, Nyquill fueled night, I went to see the Cathedral.  In my usual fashion I got lost, and ended up walking most of the way around the precincts before going in.   It was an amazing place- I took a guided tour, and enjoyed it a lot.  Lots of lovely historical and churchy artifacts

After the CThedral I went and saw Eastgate hospital which was a hostel for pilgrims.  The building dates from the twelfth century, which was amazing.    

I've got a bit of a old, so I was pretty tired, and came back to the hotel to collapse for a while.  I've just come in from getting some supper, ad I think I'll have a quiet restful night, before going to see more churches in the morning!

London baby

Sorry about the terrible Austin Powers reference.
We got here just fine. Went for a walk around with Jim, while Mom rested, then for supper.
Went to Victoria and Albert yesterday. We all formed a guard around Mom to get her through the tube safely. Luckily people here are polite.
Got a super cute picture of foxes!
Met with Sam and Nancy for supper. Poor Mom has a cold.
Mom and Jim are off today, back to Canada.
We are going to tower

Goodbye Cornwall

At the kitchen table with Jude and Laura on our last day at Venton House. Now we part ways with a couple more people. Laura and Wilf will be on their way to London and we will drive to Weymouth, drop Will at the train, and go on to our place on Osmington. Will and Jude both have colds. Will is on to Canterbury but he will have quite a journey - he has to change trains in London which will mean a tube ride with his luggage.

Anne is spending her honeymoon with us, apparently. Del went back to work on Tuesday so he dropped her off here on Monday. She will be coming with us to Dorset.

Laura and Wilf took the bus into Plymouth yesterday and toured there. We drove to Tintagel. Me, clutching the maps. I used the ones we had last time we were in Cornwall! Sadly, there were no GPSs available when we rented the car. We only took a couple of wrong turns, and Tintagel was great. The weather was nice and sunny.

Pub for supper. It was curry night.

Now we will see what Dorset is like.

Wedding Thoughts

What a fun weekend.  The people that Anne and Del invited to the wedding, are so friendly and welcoming, much the same as the bride and groom.  The venue was wonderful, so unusual, with beautiful views of the sea.  We had a wonderful meal, soup followed by bangers and mash, and wedding cake.  There was dancing and Mom had a dance with all of her grandsons and Dallyn, and Del's grandmother and mother and Grace.  The weather cooperated and we had some sunshine, a few showers, but not continuous rain.  

The contingent from Oxford, in a car, T&G, Will and I arrived at Venton House first, and so had the pick of the rooms.  The drive was mostly on the motorway, which made it easier for Geoff, and we had a half an hour wait to go over the bridge, which we later found out was very short in comparison to others.  Grace and Dallyn were the next to reach Venton.  They took the train, bus, ferry and taxi to VH. Shortly after Mom, Jim, the Longs, Sam and Nancy arrived and then finally Lisa, Richard and Tim.  BA and Greg were also here for wedding, staying at a different house, and they came over too.   We ordered in Pizza for supper and the Alexander's drove in the pitch black to Torpoint, to Vino's picked it up.  We were all very grateful to them.

Yesterday we had our new Irish family, Del's parents, sister, granny, various aunts and uncles, Steph and Rem, a couple of friends of Anne and Del over for supper to get to know each other a little better.  The house was full, there were about 30 of us, but we all fit and had a wonderful time visiting.

Today's feels a little sad, as most have left to continue their journey.  But Anne is staying here, as Del has to go back to work tomorrow, Will, G&T, L&W and I are staying until Wednesday, and then the group breaks up even more.

Happy Birthday Geoff

I hope London Bridge doesn't fall down

... Because we are staying right by it. Well at least by the London bridge tube station. I'm assuming they are close by each other. 

We had a pretty in eventful trip over. Flew to Vancouver, 2 hour layover, then off to London. Dallyn got the last chicken dinner on the plane and I was stuck with the sub-par pasta. 

Arrived in London and took the underground to our hostel without much trouble. Then we went to see Buckingham Palace and Big Ben and all that. Had dinner at a pub near Trafalgar square. We are now watching figure skating over a pint at our hostel. I love London! But can't wait to see everyone in Cornwall tomorrow! 

Goodbye Oxford

So here we are, last evening in Oxford. Will joined us on Tuesday. We cooked supper here in our little flat for everyone and Stephanie came over later on. Our thought in coming here was to help Anne get ready but there doesn't seem to be much to do, one of the benefits of having a destination wedding, I guess. We have been to some museums and done lots of walking and looking at the shops. And eating at pubs.

Tomorrow we pick up the car and drive to Cornwall. I don't think the flooding will affect us. I sure hope everyone has an uneventful trip.

train to Barcelona

We are in our hotel,after train from Valencia to Barcelona. Richard is flipping through TV channels.
I think trains are the best way to travel. The one we were on went 200 kms/hr.
The trip is lovely, right along the ocean. The countryside was like the okanagan. But with orange trees and artichoke farms, and cacti and cypress trees.
We were in the Russafa area. Right within walking distance of downtown and also the train station.
On the train trip there, there was an old lady beside us,who brought along a sandwich in tinfoil and was worried she was going to miss her station. She got the man sitting across from her to help her with her cellphone. I think she was calling Pepe. She kind of reminded me of Baba.
It is hard to believe that we have been here a week. I feel like I have been on holidays for longer!
Tomorrow we leave hotel to catch shuttle at 545. We're stag at a place nearer the airport, as getting up at 5am is bad enough. This hotel is also pretty nice though. Travel before Expedia was much more complicated.

Here we are

Got to London and found our hotel very easily. We also picked up our train tickets for tomorrow on the 11:15 train. When went through customs the fellow asked why we were in England, said our nieces wedding, he asked if it was in London, no we said Cornwall and he smiled and said hope you brought rain gear!  He wished you and Del good luck Ann.  I was thinking how much the planes had changed since the last time I was in the uk.  Computers on board, lots more security. Don't have to watch the same movie as everyone else.  the Minneapolis airport has computer lounges where there are iPads you use .

some thoughts on Spain

Just got back from a meal of pasta and gelato. Best gelato ever.
We made it to Valencia with little trouble. Our hotel is not as shi shi as the ones in Barcelona, but is pretty nice.
It's true, things shut down here in late afternoon. Restaurants don't really start supper until 8 pm.
Lots of people walk their dogs in the evening and I am surprised at how many people have them here, since this area is all apartments.
Many restaurants have a ham holder thingie. A large ham with hoof still on it, sits waiting to be sliced.
Lots of scooters, which makes a lot of sense here. Driving would not be enjoyable, but people drive well,I don't worry about being hit.
Everyone is wearing scarves, except us.
We were in a café, having coffee and a big story was the snow in Madrid. There was at least a centimeter.
The coffee is the best I've had.
Richard had hot chocolate, and it was like melted chocolate. If Spanish people come to North America, they must be appalled at the watery stuff we have.
We've seen a few nuns in habits and some priests.

Shopping Day

Yesterday we took the. Bus to Bicester Village an outlet mall with stores like Dior, Stella McCartney, Prada.  Even on sale the prices blew me away.  However the Jaeger shop had some fantastic buys, all four of us came out with Jaeger bags, yes even Geoff.  We have had some really good food in Oxford.  On Sunday we went to Jude the Obscure and had a roast dinner.  Our timing was exactly right as they only had three left, one chicken and two beef.  Tons of veg, roasted potatoes, yorkshires yumm.

Anne is coming over here today and we will do some wedding things, not sure what exactly.  Will also arrives today and he is going to stay here and travel to Cornwall with us.

On Sunday G&T went to the Ashmolean Museum and I walked around the city centre, ending up at Blackwells, this enormous bookstore.  That is something about university towns, they seem to always have lots of bookstores.

Sunday in Spain.

We ate at a place that reminded me of the Italian market last night. Soccer was playing and men were intent on watching the game. We had pica pica which was all these vegetable things. Omelettes, one with potato, one with zucchini, dish of fried mushrooms, dish of fried artichokes, etc.
This morning Richard woke up, I looked at my watch, said its only 630,let's keep sleeping. Got up at 900, apparently my watch changed time at some point by 3 hours. I am not sure how that happened. So we got up at 1200. I feel quite rested. But not sure how I'll sleep tonight. Sometimes travel seems to center around physical necessities.
We walked around the Gothic area, stopped for coffee etc a few times.
We go to Valencia tomorrow!

Tried to post before but did not work

Tim, Courtney, Kane and Grady, the day before I left for the UK.

still in Barcelona

Yesterday we found a knitting store and then went on walking tour of city,as directed by Lonely planet. Was a lot of walking, but saw lots of the downtown. Tiny little streets. Spanish people are paler than I thought with dark hair. An attractive people. Had to change hotels as hotel jazz didn't have rooms for tonight. We are now in Soho hotel. Also quite nice. Bathtub is glassed in.
Saw some old churches and city of Barcelona museum yesterday. Today we are going to another church by famous guy called Gaudi.
Proud of having found knitting store.
Ate veal, some very good gelato,and pastries. Plus the coffee is super!
Many people on scooters.

Oxford

We had a seamless trip to Oxford. It was so nice to be met at the airport by Jude. We went right to the bus centre and our bus left right away. Got a cab on Oxford to our very nice little flat in a great location. Supper at a pub, bought breakfast supplies, then bed. Again I say, it is so nice not to have to go out to find a place for breakfast. Now to connect with Anne and see what we can do to help get ready for next weekend.

Last Night in London

On Wednesday, I went to Camden to shop at the markets there.  There were so many stalls, but they all seemed to have the same kinds of stuff in them, nothing very unusual.  It was still fun wandering around.  I know I said I was going to see things that were new to me this trip, but I wanted to see Westminster Abbey again, the last time I was there was when Theresa and I were in London and that was so long ago.  They have a guided tour using a little handheld device, and Jeremy Irons is the narrator, very well done.  I saw the tombs of lots of different kings and queens, Elizabeth I, her sister Mary and even a memorial to the King's plumber from the 17 hundreds.  I had lunch at the abbey, a very delicious lamb stew.  Then off to see a play called The Weir, set in an Irish country pub.  Really, really good.

Today it is raining again, and parts of London Transport are on strike, so I stayed at the flat, puttered around, read and watched some TV.  Tomorrow I meet G&T at Heathrow, and we catch the bus to Oxford.

made it to Barcelona

We are in our hotel right now after our flight.
We both slept on the plane but are pretty tired.
Hotel is pretty nice. Bidet included. Trying to get energy to go out and get a snack.
Took aerobus in and then had to wander around looking for our hotel. Hotel jazz. Can't figure out how to link to it.
OK,out for a snack!

Calgary airport

We are sitting in the Calgary airport, waiting for our flight to London, then to Spain. I worry that I didn't bring enough clothes. But Richard will have brought enough for both of us. I feel pretty tired, so hopefully will sleep on the plane. Lots of people who are English on the flight. For some reason I thought that there would be more Canadians on the flight. I think they were all skiing. H

Busy Few Days

This time in London, I have decided to see and do things I have not done before, excepts for the V&A, cause I love that museum.  One of the exhibitions on is about 80's clothe designers, John Galliano, Zandra Rhodes etc, and the club scene, it was really fun.  On Saturday I toured the Houses of Parliament.  The House of Lords is very ornate, full of red and gold furnishings, while the House of Commons is very plain.  Things are not very automated there, all voting is done manually, there is a bell that is rung when there is a vote, not just in the house, but surrounding bars and restaurants and the members have 8 minutes to got there to vote before the doors are shut.  Sunday I saw my first theatre production, the Commitments, soooo good.  I had forgotten how much I liked the soundtrack to the film and I did not realize it was written by Roddy Doyle.  On Monday a trip to the British Library, what an amazing place.  There is an exhibition on right now all about life in Georgian England and a gallery that has pulled things out of the archives for display, they have the actual Magna Carta, song lyrics from the Beatles, plays by Shakespeare, incredible.  Then last night I finally got to see The Book Of Mormon,  I wanted to see it in New York, but tickets were way too expensive.  It was worth the wait, I laughed so hard.

A little bit about the area I am staying in, very chichi.  Just down the street is a Chanel store, Stella McCartney store.  Then a half a block awaya Sainsbury's, even rich people have to eat.

Almost there!

We will be on vacation in couple days-I booked hotels in Barcelona and Valencia for our trip, and see that the weather looks pretty good while we are there. Also downloaded Spanish/English translator. Hotels in Spain seem pretty reasonable-I guess because their economy isn't great?

In the basement-still waiting for insurance to figure out what they're doing. Apparently because we had 2 claims this year, they won't cover us next year. Thanks jerks. We got the entire length of plumbing changed and also put in pressure valve. And while at it, getting plumber to fix leaky upstairs sink faucet. That plumber has made money off of us.

weather is cold here! Just in time for our vacation!

Still super busy at work, though finally on Friday we managed to catch up sort of with patients. I can't remember it ever being quite that many patients needing admission. I felt overwhelmed on wed, started crying (1st at mom's where we were for supper) and continued until I went to bed. Felt better after my meltdown. And Thursday, though remaining busy finally felt like we got somewhere by end of day. Monday I am supposed to be doing a Lean learning thing, so I hope things are OK there while I am gone. Jana won't be back until after I leave-but cannot do anything about that! And won't worry about it!

Thesis, mostly avoiding, but have doing some reading etc on it.

Richard still slogging away at rental. We decided to not sweat it and just plan on renting for April. Which makes it much more manageable. Richard has found cigarette butts everywhere-vents, cupboards? Who does that? Also illicit substance with paraphenalia-which he threw in garbage. Twits. I felt some satisfaction knowing that their money went in the trash.

Ear, not infected anymore I think-went to doctor earlier this week-who told me to keep doing the drops as was still inflamed-but better now. I go tomorrow to get it syringed out-thankfully-not being able to hear well out of this ear is quite annoying.

So, with all this stuff going on, quite looking forward to time off!

Grady has started sitting up all by himself.