Matt's Newcastle

Our friend Matt gave us a really great excuse to go to Newcastle…for those of you who don’t know Matt, he’s a good friend of mine (now ours) from high school. And he’s pretty darn awesome. He’s just recently started medical school at the University of Northumbria…so he spent a little time in London with us first and then dragged us up to the north of England to Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Yep, dragged us skipping and giggling, "Wee! A trip!"

So, we arrived on a Friday with Matt at his student housing and reminisced briefly about our lives in dorm rooms. Yucky. Luckily Matt will be so busy studying he won’t have time to hate his new “home.” After settling into our B & B, the three of us hit the town, which people take pretty seriously in Newcastle. I started to wonder how Matt would get anything done in such a party town.

Here’s a lovely picture (stolen from Matt’s camera) of the Castle Keep and the Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas, as seen from up the road.

Yep, just another castle and amazing, gigantic cathedral plunked down in the middle of town. It's just so unoriginal, building a town around a castle like that. Someone should come up with some NEW new ideas. This "new" castle dates back to 1080.

We started the next day at a place called Wallsend, which has an especially nice ring to it when said with a northern British accent. Wallsend is named as such because it is near the end of Hadrian’s Wall (the gigantic wall that the Romans built to keep those ruffians, the Scots, out of all of England. Pansies.) It’s also the site of an old Roman fort, which isn’t exactly picture-worthy as it’s a big archaeological dig-site which has been filled back in. What sticks up looks like matchbox cobblestone streets. It was cool, though, don't get me wrong.

Here's a small slice of Hadrian’s Wall, next to a wall which they think may replicate what the original once was.

Next we headed out toward the coast (and we're talking the Northeast coast, here) to a place called Tynemouth Priory and Castle. This is where Derek and I became English Heritage site members. Now, to get our money's worth, we have to visit over 400 sites across England (plus more in Wales, Scotland, and the Isle of Man) in the next year. (It was my idea. I swear, we'll save money. Really.)

The ruins at Tynemouth.

The weather started out crummy, but then turned on us and got sunny! So I took a lot of pictures...sometimes it’s nice to look back at pictures and see what blue sky is like. I'm ready for winter, can you tell?!

Matt graces the archways at Tynemouth Priory.

The Tynemouth Priory...and some handsome guy just walking around like a hobo with a rucksack on a stick.

The cemetery at Tynemouth Priory and Castle. Behind me is a really awesome view of the River Tyne flowing out to the North Sea. Sure wish you could see it...

We hopped on a ferry to take us across the river to see what was on the other side. The grass was greener there--and by that I mean there was good local beer and friendly pub conversation.

Then we meandered through Gateshead, south of Newcastle, and found our way back to the River, where we crossed Newcastle’s Millennium Bridge. Here's the River Tyne, the new performing arts center (the big silver thing) and the Millennium Bridge.

The Millennium Bridge as seen in the "down" position.

We got ourselves a nice pint of Guinness and waited for 9:00, the magical time when the millennium bridge moves. After we watched it, we all came to the conclusion that London’s millennium bridge pales in comparison. If it was music, it would be Jimi Hendrix playing a harp: extremely cool and somehow elegant at the same time. Take a moment to envision that. You'll see what I mean.

Here's the Millennium Bridge in the raised position.

The next day, we walked around by the river again, taking more photos and getting a daytime look at things. Somehow, all the night ones turned out better. Oh, we also found a pub that serves only vegetarian food. AWEsome. I had "chili non-carne." Very clever, eh?

Finally, we wandered inside the beautiful Cathedral Church of St. Nicholas.

We were sure sad to go; Newcastle is a fun and friendly old town. Really REALLY old. But Derek and I had a date with Edinburgh, so we just had to go...More on that later. Ta!

Paul's Stonehenge

Only a mere five days of freedom for Noah, getting spoiled by his auntie and uncle and running us ragged across London, before his dad joined in the fun. Paul arrived on Saturday, and our good friend Matt arrived the very next day. (It was a wee bit crowded in the Wellesley Flat). So, on Sunday Paul and Noah ventured northwest of the city to the Royal Air Force Museum to see several hangers full of aircraft whilst Derek and I headed across town to pick up Matt (and his life, stuffed into only 2 giant duffel bags and a large backpack--Matt's just started Med School in Newcastle-Upon-Tyne, a city up near the Scottish border. He came to London about 2 weeks early to hang out with us and see some sights before heading north to settle in--which we'll write about in our next post!)

Needless to say, it only took a slight amount of persuasion to get everyone on the train to Salisbury and out to Stonehenge the next morning. We were all pretty psyched--there's a lot of hype surrounding it, and for good reason:

A nice shot using the handy panorama setting on Matt's camera.

Now, I'll just take a moment to say that all three of our guests are avid photographers; Noah, for example, likes to take at least two or three pictures of each subject. Figuring the excitement and splendor of Stonehenge into the equation, we knew that there would be billions of photos taken by the end of the day. So Derek and I left our camera at home, knowing we'd never be able to accomplish with our menial skills the same ingenuity as the the other three. The day became a competition, of sorts--to see who could take the best photograph of the stones, with the fewest people or cars, with the best clouds, etc. etc. The three guys were seen sprawling about the grounds, trying to get just the right angles. It was amazing to watch.

Matt and I chillin' by the stones.

Note the "tongue" sticking out of the top of the stone...

Here's a few very interesting things about the stones (and there are many interesting things about them). For one, one of the types of rock used at Stonehenge is only found in the Preseli Mountains in Wales, nearly 200 miles-as the crow flies-from Stonehenge. They think these rocks--many of which weigh about 4 tons--were carried both across land and on rafts along the southern coast of Wales and up several rivers to get to where they are today. WHY? (No one really knows). Another interesting thing is the constructors used mortice and tenon joints and the tongue-and-groove technique to stabilize the rocks (see the pic, above).

Derek and I in front of the magnificent structure.

A nice angle, found by Noah

It's a bit sad, but true: while some of the structure has probably eroded naturally, parts of the stones have been chipped off and taken as souvenirs--or even for practical purposes. What's left is still pretty amazing, though.

A nice shot of Paul & Noah.

Paul has an amazing knack for taking pictures in crowded places without getting any people in them (and it was, indeed, very crowded).

Keep in mind, this isn't the view you'd have seen in 1500 b.c. when construction was completed (so they think); instead it would have been surrounded by a thick forest.

If you're interested in more of the history surrounding Stonehenge: http://www.britannia.com/history/h7.html

After we had finished at Stonehenge, it was back on the bus for a bouncy ride to Old Sarum, a Norman Castle Ruin. Archaeological evidence suggests this site--resting atop a hill about 2 miles from the current city of Salisbury--dates as far back as 3000 b.c. Historians claim the site was first occupied by neolithic peoples, then by Iron-Age early Britons, then used as a Fort by the Romans, expanded by the Anglo-Saxons, further expanded and altered by the Normans, and continued to be used for various reasons--sometimes a palace, sometimes a prison--until about 1220 when inhabitants essentially packed up and moved a couple of miles south.

Laura lounges on the soft grass in the middle of Old Sarum.

Derek ponders the fascinating history of Old Sarum; Matt, Laura, and Noah rest on the ruins of the castle's battlements and chat about their Norman ancestry.

Noah gazes out across the ruins of a cathedral, built around 1075, which lies just below the hilltop castle ruins. As you can see, it was an absolutely fabulous day, weather-wise.

Laura, Noah, Derek, and Paul graced by the gorgeous British countryside.

The Haunch of Venison

Of course, after all this we were rather thirsty. A friendly employee at Old Sarum recommended this pub called "The Haunch of Venison." We knew by its name alone we'd have to pop in for a pint.

Sláinte!

Noah's London

This is the story of a wee lad in a great city, a young man full of questions lost amongst aged stones, walking the same earth that saw the rise and fall of kings and queens and their empires; heard the words and ideas of great poets and great philosophers; and housed the heroes of history...And that was just day one! Yes, this is the tale of Noah's visit to London. For those of you who don't know, Noah is our Nephew. He's 14 years old and he came here to visit in mid July. He stayed with us for 5 days before his father (Laura's brother Paul) showed up and the two of them carried on across Europe to continue their adventure. We'll post more on our time with them both here in London and our meeting with the two of them up in Scotland later, but for now, in this massive post, we will try to convey to you the immense amount of ground we covered as Noah (full of spritely exuberance) all but dragged us about the Old Foggy City. You could almost hear the buildings and several weary oaks whispering in a wheezy voice, "slow down young chap, there's plenty of time, plenty of time to see everything." But, of course, there really wasn't. Enjoy!

So, here you see our protagonist next to one of London's famous red phone booths. We're pretty close to St. Paul's Cathedral here and before that we visited Buckingham Palace, walked through St. James's Park to Westminster Abbey, the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. After having a little picnic in St. Paul's churchyard, we continued on to Spitalfields Market where Noah bought a cool black leather fedora and then we strolled about Brick Lane before finally heading home. By the way, this all happened in the afternoon after we picked Noah up from the airport. What about the jet lag you ask? Pshaw! Jet lag! what a bunch of rubbish!

We realized that we haven't posted any pictures of the inside of the British Museum. So, here's a snapshot. It's an incredibly beautiful building and Noah caught some of the essence of it with this great picture on our first full day of sightseeing. We spent quite a bit of time here (maybe three hours), but I'm fairly certain one day or even one week would not give you enough time to cover everything there is to see in this place.

After a hearty and healthy lunch at Noah's favorite place to eat here in London (Pizza Express) we headed south of the Thames to see the Imperial War Museum. This is a shot of Noah next to one of the shells they used to fire out of the German Big Bertha artillery gun.

Here our fedora clad hero poses by the fuselage of arguably the most successful bomber of World War II: the Lancaster.

And this is the outside of the museum with two big guns from a British battle ship mounted out front. It, also, is a rather pretty building.

We made our way back across the river and walked along it for a bit before catching a bus to Trafalgar Square. Noah snapped this picture looking back south across the river at some modern green buildings with some kayakers in the foreground.

And finally, we have Noah atop one of the Trafalgar Lions during a beautiful summer day in the great city. Day 2 complete!

And here's a picture of us on the third day of Noah's visit. We're looking surprisingly fresh despite our lack of sleep and all the traipsing about the city from the previous two days. This is in front of a section of Roman Wall that can be seen just outside of Tower Hill tube station. It's pretty incredible as it's one of the few visible signs still standing in London showing that the Romans were actually here, but if you didn't know about it you could easily walk right by.

After the Roman wall we carried on to the Tower of London. This is the central tower, known as White Tower and it houses most of the exhibits (like the armor). The slightly tan tower that you can see behind it is where they keep the crown jewels.

That day we were lucky enough to catch a siege weapons demonstration. They had a different name for this, I believe, but the weapon Noah is standing next to is essentially a man powered trebuchet (i.e. it uses people pulling on ropes instead of a counterweight). In the video below you can see me, and three other blokes, operating it.

We were hurling water balloons, but as you can see the pressure was too great for this one.

We started out day 4 with a climb up to the top of the Monument remembering the Great Fire. Here's a shot of Noah and I (Derek) from the top.

From there we went on across Tower Bridge to see the H.M.S Belfast, a WWII era battleship which has been docked in the Thames and turned into a museum of sorts. Just as we got on board, though, we were lucky enough to catch a tall masted sailing boat going under Tower Bridge and requiring the bridge to open, something we haven't seen since we've been here.

And here's Noah sitting at the helm of the Belfast. And that concludes the pictures for Day 4! What you say? That's it? Well, we'll have you know that before we went to the Monument we went down to the Victoria Apollo Theatre where we rushed tickets for Wicked. So, after some supper (again at Pizza Express) we were back down to the Apollo for the evening show. It was very good, but, unfortunately, we don't have any pictures of it. They frown on that.

Noah and I began day 5 with a trip to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard while Laura went to Heathrow to meet Paul.

We then carried on to the Guard Museum, again through St. James's and over to see the horse guards where I took this shot of Noah. From there it was up to Picadilly Circus to meet Paul and Laura, and then to St. Paul's again for another lunch before heading back to our place. 5 days complete. They were really wonderful and we did and saw a ton of stuff we probably wouldn't have if Noah wouldn't have come. The best part, though (no matter how much of a hard time we give him), was getting to spend some quality time with our nephew! If you're reading this Noah, we hope you had as much fun as we did!

Chap Olympiad

So, it's been some time since our last post mainly because we've had a rather busy summer with lots of friends and family traveling across the pond to visit, which has been great! It gives us a little taste of home and lets us remember the people and places we're most familiar with, and we'll write about some of our travels and outings with them in a bit. This post, however, has very little to do with reminiscing about home and is more about fully immersing one's self in British culture. Yes, what I'm talking about is the Chap Olympiad! Where manners are prized, leisureliness is expected, mustachios are groomed, hats are doffed, pipes are lit and gin, that most prized of spirits, is never spilled. Laura and I did our best to represent the American brand of dandyism at this years events and what follows is a chronicle of our efforts (without showing too much exuberance of course) to bask, with grace and composure, in the English summer sunshine with the most debonair chaps and stylish ladies Britain had to offer.

One of the judges is taken aback by his beverage--a martini jointly concocted by four people during the martini relay event.

A chap prepares for battle, waving the Union Jack, just before pedaling towards his opponent in the bicycle umbrella jousting event.

Applying and preparing the mustachio for the mustachio tug of war. It is crucial, in this event, that the mustachio be both well combed and then waxed so that not a single hair comes out of place as this may weaken the mustachio and cause it to split.

Laura and I enjoying the day on our picnic blanket under a tree.

Our friends Aöne and Sevrin dancing on the main stage during a break in the events.

Laura, atop her steed (me), objects to a false start during the steeple chase.

A bit blurry, but this is Laura spurring me on with my own hat.

The view from Aöne's mount (Sevrin) during the steeple chase.

Finally, Sevrin and I looking quite serious (since it is a most serious event) at our picnic spot. I'm wearing a pith hat I borrowed for the occasion from a fellow chap.

Sitting in the Park with Friends

This post features a smattering of fun events, visitors, and so on which have occurred over the past month or so...

Julie Williams, a friend from Spearfish, and Laura in Trafalgar Square. This giant ship, a replica of the HMS Victory--the ship with which Admiral Nelson won the famous Battle of Trafalgar--was created by an African artist with the goal of reconciling the imperial/colonial past. No one can figure out how he got the ship into the bottle! Anyway, Julie was in town for a few days with a study abroad program, so we had dinner and showed her around town a little bit!

Our next "friends in the park" refers to our good friends Ben Harper and Eddie Vedder, who played a nice quiet, quaint concert just for us. OK, we are very generous people and allowed about 30,000 other "friends" to join us. It was Laura's first Pearl Jam concert (and her first mosh pit, though it was a pretty tame one!), and they rocked. Unfortunately, we weren't able to get any pictures, as we had stupidly forgotten our camera.

The next day, our good friends Jessie and Dennis came into town on their way to Sweden & Italy, so we went out for an amazing dinner at our favorite Indian food restaurant and enjoyed each other's company. The next day, we spent some time wandering around London before the next concert!

Posing in front of the statue in front of Buckingham Palace. You can't tell from this picture, but it was BLOODY hot!!!

Jess and Den in front of Buckingham Palace.

This is what Crosby, Stills, and Nash look like from a very great distance. We're pretty sure that's really them. They were awesome.

[Commence screaming]

Ahhhhhh!!!!!!

Paul McCartney!!!

The concert was unbelievable. McCartney was just radiant, and incredibly energetic. He switched instruments nearly every song, playing some of his own tunes and many of the Beatles classics (Day Tripper, Paperback Writer, Hey Jude, and so on and so on.) He even brought out the ukelele for Something in a tribute to George Harrison--Laura's favorite Beatles song, and a fantastic version it is. We were so glad to share the concert with Jess and Den, too!

Just a little "teaser" with some of Paul's theatrics.

Unfortunately, Dennis had to leave the next day for his business trip to Sweden. But Jess was able to stay a few more days, and we had a lovely time doing all sorts of things: exploring the city, shopping for wedding dresses (no luck there, yet), and getting duped into free theatre tickets!

So, the story there is that we noticed a show called "Prisoner of Second Avenue," a Neil Simon comedy starring Jeff Goldblum, on the Old Vic Theatre website. It was very difficult to understand the woman on the phone as I bought the tickets, but I knew (so I thought) that the tickets were for that night. So, we enjoyed a fun day seeing some of the sights before going to the Old Vic Theatre to see the show. After about 5 minutes of conversing with the box office staff, who were nearly freaking out because they could not find our tickets anywhere in the system, I realized we were at the wrong theatre...with about 3.5 minutes to Curtain. But then we were informed that "Prisoner of Second Avenue" didn't start until the next night. I was obviously embarrassed; then the guy turns around and asks "So, do you guys have plans tonight? Obviously not. So here you go, head upstairs and see a free show and sort out your tickets for tomorrow in the morning." So that's how we got free tickets to "As You Like It" at the Old Vic Theatre, which was absolutely fantastic. We're going to start doing that more often.

These pianos were all over London as part of a summer arts festival, available for anyone to stop and play. This is in St. Paul's Cathedral churchyard.

Sister-Friends on the Millennium Bridge; behind us Tower Bridge spans the Thames.

Jess snapped a nice photo of Derek and I in front of the Tower of London.

Looking across the Thames at Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. It was SO wonderful having Jess and Dennis with us--we're hoping that they can return soon for a longer trip. It was like having a little taste of home here for a few days, and great to enjoy this amazing city with our dear friends. Jess headed off to Italy to meet Dennis and enjoy the Italian lake country...and informs us we'll have to go ourselves someday!