Across the Pond

Ely

2009-06-17T10:26:00.000-07:00

I wanted to write about Ely because it was so weird. I knew people whose last name was Ely and I'd never thought about it before but Ely is really named after eels.

East Anglia was very swampy until they drained the water, but even then there were marshes and people lived on eels. You would stick a giant spear into the mud and hope you pulled up an eel. Oliver Cromwell's wife, (we visited his house) had a very famous eel recipe that they have put on a bench. Evidently they still eat jellied eels in East London.

The cathedral was beautiful. We happened to be there on Easter Sunday and it was a great service. There is this huge painted ceiling that is gorgeous. It also has an octagonal tower which is unusual. An artist was commissioned, for some Ely anniversary, to do a series of artworks around the town and one of them was this big tall group of 8 eel spears that echoed the 8-sided tower of the cathedral.

The cathedral had a labyrinth at the entry and then a big wall sculpture of a cross. The bottom is wavy and it is supposed to symbolize the path to Christ, but dad thought it also looked like an eel. I'm not sure if that is what the artist intended, but who knows.

St. Etheldreda is (600's) is associated with the area because she started the abbey where the cathedral now stands. She died of a tumor in her throat, but when they exhumed her years later her body had not decayed and the tumor was gone so she became a St. and everyone made pilgrimages to Ely like they did to Canterbury. You wanted somebody cool buried in your cathedral or you tried to acquire somebody's bones or organs or something so that people would come to your town to see the cathedral that housed them. It brought it lots of money to the town and church.

I also included a picture of Dad looking in a bakery. A very common sight.

Paris

2009-06-15T13:18:00.000-07:00

We went to Paris for four days during the first week in April. Unfortunately I was sick (stomach flu) for one of the days but I still felt like I saw a lot; mostly stuff I'd never done before.

Going on the Eurostar was amazing. It takes less time to get to Paris that way than to get to Edinburgh on a train. We stayed at an Ibis and it was pretty well-located. The weather was good, which it often hasn't been when I was there, and we gave everybody a 3-day pass and let them loose. As a result we had no group activities and it was nice to have a bit of a break although we did run into bunches of the girls every now then. One time, about 5 of the girls we ran into had just run into Bill Clinton on the Champs Elysses and had their picture taken with him.

First, here are a few shots of Pere La Chaise. Pictures here include Dad next to the kind of tomb he wants to have when he grows up, Oscar Wilde's tomb with lipstick marks all over it, and then my favorite was a guy holding up his own face looking at it.

Another thing we did we've never done before was go to the Orangerie where a building was built for Monet's huge waterlily murals. It's a round bldg. with two circles shaped like an "8" and before you see the mural rooms there a blank, white room you enter, I guess to cleanse your pallet. It is well worth a stop. (We didn't go to the Louvre or D'Orsay this time around.)

Then we went to the Pantheon. Really cool inside with a giant pendulum and a neat crypt. We also went to the Picasso museum. It was fun too. Although they wouldn't let us take pictures I took of pictures in the anterooms of the reflections from the minimalist stained glass window. It was a remarkable effect.

Just before we left, we went clear out to the OTHER arch, the grand arch, La Defense I think. There is no way to describe it's immensity and we were too close to get a long shot, but as you probably know it echos the Arc de Triumphe but super-sized.

From the top of the steps I looked over at a huge sculpture, which from a distance looked liked like a modern mother and child. But when I zoomed and then went closer, it was a huge finger.

Brighton

2009-06-15T13:11:00.000-07:00

Brighton is the home of George the IV's garish Pavillion. They won't let you take photos inside, but I've included a shot of the onion domes from the exterior.

We have also been back here with the spring group. After George died, Victoria gave it to the city because she didn't like it and said you couldn't see the sea from the windows - which is true.

Brighton beach and pier is kind of like the boardwalks that we know except the beach is all rocks rather than sand. People still go out and eat and play on the beach. The day we were there the weather changed every 10 minutes. The clouds made for great picture-taking. A couple of weeks ago it was no fun because the sky was clear blue.

End of that trip.

Bodiam Castle

2009-06-15T13:03:00.000-07:00

The last trip we took in March was to Battle, Bodiam, and Brighton. We didn't visit them in alphabetical order and started with Bodiam first.

This is one of my favorite castles. It is the actor Robert Hardy's (Cornelius Fudge to you) VERY favorite castle. It is in ruin but looks good from the outside. We have since been back with the spring group and I think it was sunnier the first time.

I learned the little jutty things along the top of the castle are crenelation and you needed a license to "crenelate" because it was an official castle meant to act as a fortress. There is also a picture of the "murder holes". If a warring group made it across the moat then they would pour hot oil through the holes in the ceiling of the entryway.

On a more peaceful note, it was lambing season and I took lots of pictures of mom sheep and baby lambs that were grazing next to the castle.

Miscellanea

2009-06-01T16:22:00.000-07:00

This is a bunch of quirky stuff and each has no real connection to the other, but I thought they’d be worth writing about.

Whenever we’ve traveled by train or bus through the countryside over the last few weeks we’ve been lucky enough to see brilliant fields of yellow blossoms. It is oilseed rape, but they make it into canola oil.

When the woman that gives the tube announcements gives info at a station, instead of saying get off here for the British Library, or exit here for Buckingham Palace, she says “Alight here for Royal Albert Hall and the Museums.” It automatically makes me sound graceful.

Queen Elizabeth has two birthdays. One is on April 21st, her real birthday and another is always the 3rd something in June. Don’t know why. Shakespeare’s B-day is April 23rd and that is also St. George’s Day. St. George is the patron saint of England and lots of people go around wearing dragon hats.

The parish church just down the street from us is called St. Mary Abbot’s and I love it. It’s right on the corner of Kensington High street and has a little hidden garden behind. There is always someone inside to greet visitors and they are called Church Watchers. Every now and then I go inside and one of the Watchers explained to me why there are these little pieces of wood that slide out from the pew into the aisle. They were for gentlemen to rest their hats on.

One of my favorite things about our street is that there are a few schools in the neighborhood and everyday a bunch of little girls in their uniforms go down the street. I’m guessing they are headed for Hyde Park. Some of them are carrying hula hoops which seem to be making a comeback here.

When we were in Cambridge with the Stevens we decided to pay the entrance fee to go into Trinity College. Isaac Newton, Francis Bacon, Tennyson and many others belonged to that college. The written guide drew attention to a statue of Henry VIII a ways above the main gate. You wouldn’t notice unless you were told, but a few years ago some students climbed up and took the staff or whatever out of his hand and put in a wooden chair leg instead. I guess it was considered a great prank and so they’ve left it there. See photo.

Like any other big city, there are a lot of interesting people. Especially on the tube. See photo of red girl.

Even though we’ve been here several times, we have never gone across the street from St. Mary Abott’s to the roof gardens. I’ve known they were there but never gone up. A bunch of dept. Stores are underneath and the gardens are on top of six floors. Richard Branson bought them and has turned it into something really wonderful. One can go visit as long as there isn’t a “function” going on. There is a great view, trees, streams, flamingos and ducks.

I went to Berkeley Square the other day just to look around and saw a little yellow car recharging, I guess. See photo.

When we went to Kew Gardens with the last group, we took the girls that won the “clean room” competition to lunch. Sally picked a Michelin-rated restaurant. I don’t think these girls had ever had that kind of a dining experience.

Last but not least, (I’ve got more but this is getting too long), Iggy has a new girlfriend. Her name is Lizzy and she came from the Buckingham Palace gift shop. They make a great bear pair.

Exeter

2009-06-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

I know it's been a very long time. I (this is Laura) have actually been to London and back. But I want to catch up on what Mom has sent me for the blog. So here it is:

Exeter is kind of the gateway to Cornwall and it was the furthest we have gone so far. We stayed at a B&B called Raffles with Rick and Sue. When we arrived Rick told us we were going to stay in a “secret room.” He took us upstairs and then down a hallway. He opened a door to another little curvy stairway which took us up to a tiny little room. It was cute and en suite and comfortable for a two-night stay. (Rick makes great scrambled eggs.)

We walked down to the cathedral the next day. Exeter has done a great job modernizing the shopping streets that lead to the cathedral close. The town is surrounded by a Roman wall of which over half is still standing – one of the town’s claims to fame besides the cathedral. Dad and I usually have a routine when visiting cathedral.

We split up for an hour at first and just look at our own pace and then we meet up and make sure that each saw the others favourite things. Some of the quirky misericords jump out at you, a particular sculpture, etc. The cathedral really had a lot going on. Probably the most important was Ghislaine Howard’s Stations of the Cross. She painted them a few years ago and since then they have been touring various cathedrals. They are huge, in black and white, abstract, and very moving. I liked them so much I used them in a fireside talk we had to give and put them into a powerpoint presentation.

I did some research on her and have become a big fan. Another thing I liked was a sculpture of the Mother and Child. I’d seen it online and really had to look for it because it was much smaller than I thought it would be. That didn’t detract from the original impact it had on me. Mary has her legs stretched out, kind of rocking the child. From a certain angle she even looks like a mermaid.

Another neat thing was the “cat hole.” It had been in an old door since the 1500’s. They’ve always had a cat that kept mice out of the north tower. There is a record that shows that the early monks budgeted a penny a week for food for the cat. There were some neat modern sculptures in the chapter house depicting Christ’s life. One thing I keep forgetting is that alot of the stone in and out of the cathedral was painted and there were drawings by some little kids that showed how they would have painted the figures on the exterior west end of the building.

The town has alot of other things to offer – an Almshouse that is very well presented, St. Nicholas’s Priory, and a riverside walk. We went to Eucharist the next day. The choir sang a fun French mass that ranged from bombast to serene Faure-like sections.

Bloomin' England.

2009-05-02T16:43:00.000-07:00

Mom and Dad had some time to stroll around and admire the Spring flowers. Here are some picture's mom shot:

Three Crises

2009-04-29T10:30:00.000-07:00

Last Saturday, I personally welcomed 40 brand new students to the London Centre for spring term. They seemed a bit tired from the journey, but excited nevertheless to experience London.

I handed each of them £100 to buy a monthly tube pass, gave them a mini-orientation, and guided them out the door to get crackin'! Each student must complete a set of "London Walks" as part of the curriculum; and so the first "walk" is entitled A WALK AROUND THE NEIGHBORHOOD. On this jaunt, they familiarize themselves with Notting Hill Gate, Queensway, and Bayswater Tube Stations, as well as the local environs.

I also had to break it to all our pupils that the dorms' boiler blew out a few days ago, and THERE IS NO HOT WATER! So it's cold showers, unless any student wants to make an appointment with a faculty member where the hot water flows freely in all flats. Tomorrow we have our first shower appointment.

Mom took a picture of the spent boiler to document the occasion. Mom takes pictures of everything. Mom has turned into a picture-taking machine. She is a digital camera diva. When walking with her anywhere, it takes twice as long to get from point A to point B because she takes pictures of anything that she can see through her viewfinder.Even before 24 hours with the new group had passed, we had a crisis here and there.

The crisis HERE was when Lisa Ann locked herself in Dorm #3's bathroom toilet and could not get out because the latch had broken. It just so happened this was 15 minutes before we were all to leave for the Hyde Park Ward. So Mom herded all the other students across Hyde Park to the chapel while I remained with Lisa Ann and took the door apart with a screwdriver, finally springing her from her entrapment.

The crisis THERE was when Kimberlee left her wallet on a chair as she was trying on shoes up at a store on Queensway, and POOF! After 30 seconds it was a goner. She thinks the store clerk is the culprit, but when Kimberlee confronted him, he basically laughed at her.

She came to our door with her sister Caitlyn, and sobbed to Mom for about an hour. Gone are her $200 in cash, the month's tube pass she had just purchased, not to mention her credit cards, driver's license, etc. Aren't big cities FUN? I told her about when I had my wallet lifted in the Newark airport 10 years ago. I think it helped. She's actually a great girl, and will be fine, I'm sure.

Where's Tom?

2009-04-29T10:15:00.000-07:00

This game was actually intended for the grandkids, but my mom said anyone is welcome to play. I wonder though if my dad knew what was going on here.

Norwich Castle Museum

Norwich Gardens near hotel

Ely Cathedral

Ely Cromwell Museum

Hatfield House

Exeter Cathedral

(I can't find him)

Where's Becky?

"How I Wish Once Again in the North I Could Be..."

2009-04-16T11:59:00.000-07:00

Here is a rather lengthy update from Mom -- I cut it down a bit. I added headings so you can pick and choose to read what you will.

The words in purple are simply to highlight how affected my mother is after being in England for almost 4 months. The editor in me has been correcting all her misspellings and nonsense up until this point, but now I just think it’s funny.

I want to write a general overview about our northern trip because we did so much, it is so beautiful, and has probably been my favourite group trip away from the centre.

Haworth

Our first stop was the Bronte Parsonage. It still amazes me to go there and know that they all lived there, wrote their books there, and rarely left. Each time I go they improve the Parsonage museum. It was March 17 and just happened to be Patrick Bronte’s birthday (their father – who outlived them all!). They had some flowers and a notice otherwise I wouldn’t have known.

The landscape is so beautiful, even without leaves on the trees. I had arranged to take the DVD (the newest one) of Jane Eyre for everyone to watch on the coach. Fortunately they all got into it and by the time we got to Haworth they had a better grasp of what it was all about. It’s a long video and so we continued to watch it as we went to Bolton Castle. The castle is up in the Yorkshire Dales and so as we watched the movie we saw the landscape firsthand.

Even though it was early, there were some lambs. There had been a notice in the papers about pregnant women and lambing season. They are advised not to get near the lambs or their mothers because some sort of germ causes problems with the pregnancy and birth.

Bolton Castle & Fountains Abbey

Bolton Castle is where Mary Queen of Scots was held for a few months on her way down to England. It has a great view of the countryside. They opened the castle just for us because it was so early in the season. The sun was shining and it was warm enough to relax and enjoy ourselves. There was a little church adjacent to the castle called St. Oswald’s. I bought the booklet inside (honour system- put a pound in the box). It said this church was one of the last churches to implement public apologies. I’m going to quote to get it right.

“An interesting reference to an old traditional custom is made by Ella Pontefract and Marie Harley in 1936. It reads: Probably one of the last instances of public apology took place here. A woman had slandered another, and the apology was demanded by the whole village. During the service she had to walk up and down the aisle, and at theend of it make her apology, which she did in rhyme.” Ah, those were the days.Having spent the night in the Ibis in Leeds (a luxury compared to the hostels coming up) we went to Fountains Abbey. It was kind of misty which makes it all the more ethereal. The abbey was destroyed by Henry the VIII’s men and left in ruins. It’s so majestic against the green lawns that I can’t imagine it any other way.

York

From there we went to York. We just let everybody loose. Of course we “did” the Minster. There was a choir and orchestra rehearsing Zadok the Priest which was very exciting – love that piece. It’s sung at the coronation of every monarch. Dad and I then went and had tea in Betty’s Tea Shop. Kind of a tradition. We wandered a bit and then went to the hostel. We actually had a TV (no bathroom) and watched the tragic news about Natasha Richardson.

Durham

The next morning we left for Durham. Again we were rushing and our guide Roz at the cathedral wasn’t rushing with us and so Dad and Jess had to keep prodding her. It’s a magnificent cathedral but the girl’s have lost their enthusiasm for cathedrals. The first time we went to one at the beginning of the trip they were ooh-ing and ah-ing and snapping pictures left and right. Dave Shuler said to one of them, remember how you feel right now and try and keep that up through the trip. Human nature being such as it is, they weren’t able to muster up the energy to find the same excitement. Dad and I love all of the unique features and quirky stuff about each one we visit and we understand that not everyone feels that way. Especially 20-year olds.

Hadrian’s Wall & Lucy’s

From there we went to Chester’s Fort to see the remnants of Hadrian’s Wall. The construction of that wall is an amazing feat and it is really something to see what is left. It’s not just the wall but the “stations” – almost like little cities – that were built along the wall every several miles. We also stopped at a place called “Once Brewed” to see an especially long portion of the wall itself. The drive down into Ambleside in the Lake District was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was setting and it was really magical.

Although the Youth Hostel was horrible and our room was about as big as our clothes closet back home, we were right on Lake Windermere which made up for everything. Dad and I opted out of dinner and walked into Ambleside – about a mile- and found the restaurant that we loved that last time we were there – Lucy’s. It’s very good food - Lucy runs a cookery school. The menu is different everyday so she prints up a sheet that begins by talking about the weather and the news. She welcomes by name anyone who has booked a table and it’s really fun and personal. We went back to the hostel and tried to sleep through the girls out on the dock dropping each other into the freezing water.

Lake District

The next day we spent driving around the Lake District. First we went to Dove’s Cottage – Wordsworth’s home. It’s a great little place but when Terri said she was going to walk into Grasmere with Julie and Jaivri I went with them. It was only a 10 minute walk and Grasmere is even more quaint and picturesque than Ambleside. There is a Wordsworth daffodil walk near the cemetery where is buried and since its daffodil season it was in full bloom.

Right at the end of the walk there is a tiny gingerbread shop that is very well known. We went in there and bought Grasmere’s own special kind of gingerbread. It’s really flat and is very ginger-y. Almost like a cookie. We bought a bunch of that, stopped in a couple of shops and then figured we’d better get back.

We stopped in Keswick for lunch and to go to the Keswick Museum which claims to be the third "strangest museum in England." Their prize and joy is a 600 year-old petrified cat found in a slate roof. I'm not too sure why we went there but it was fun.

From there we went to the Bowderstone. We’d wanted to go to Castlerigg, a stone circle, but Tony couldn’t get the coach up there. The Bowderstone is a riot. It’s a huge stone that they’ve traced to Scotland that must have come down during the ice age. It’s in a very precarious position, resting on kind of a corner. There is a ladder you can climb to the top. At the base, somebody dug a hole in the dirt that is just barely big enough for you to reach your arm through and “shake hands” with the person on the other side. It was so fun because we’d never been there before. By then the sun had come out and it was a pleasant hike to the stone.

After that we went to Hawkshead. It’s yet another charming village. Wordsworth went to school there as a young boy. People from all over England would send their boys there to be educated. Again, they opened it for us and we had a terrific guide who gave us a real taste of what it would have been like to go there. We all got to sit in the old desks, some from 1500, while we listened. Evidently Fletcher Christian’s (Mutiny on the Bounty) brother was a schoolmaster there. We had a little time to roam and so I went up to the church and the cemetery. Dad was over in the field with the sheep but he kept baa-ing at them and scaring them away.

It had been a wonderful day and we celebrated by going back to Lucy’s.

Preston Temple

Saturday we went down to Preston on the way home. One of the members of the church – Peter Fagg – took us on a tour of the city and its LDS historical sites - the River Ribble, etc. We stopped at the Temple to take pictures, but it got very cold and windy and so we headed back to London and crashed.

As always, wish you were all here with us.

Love,

mom/Becky

Henry VIII and Kirsten Dunst

2009-04-09T08:14:00.000-07:00

The travelogue continues with a quick stop at Hampton Court and Wimbledon. Both are in the same neck of the woods so we spent the morning at Hampton Court and then the afternoon at Wimbledon.

Hampton Court has always been one of my favorite places. I love all of the chimneys. Evidently after 500 years they need to be rebuilt and so it is going to cost £20,000 each to preserve them! I think are 241. I also really like the kitchen, but I spent more time in other parts of the palace that I've never visited even though I've been there twice before.

They've really stepped things up to encourage tourists and so Henry VIII and Catherine Parr were strolling the halls before a staged wedding ceremony was held downstairs and we caught a glimpse of them. We also were speaking to guide who was so nice and opened up an out-of-the-way door to show us a hidden staircase that Henry used when he stayed there.

I'd like to go sometime without students and spend the whole day there. There is never enough time to see all of the grounds which they spend so much time on. We always have to go see the grapevine that Capability Brown planted that is hundreds of years old. It's some sort of obligatory ceremonial communion that Dad has to experience each time we go.

Wimbeldon was more fun than I anticipated. We had scheduled a guided tour that was to be 2 hours long! Fortunately our guide was excellent. His name was Andy and he is a blue badge guide that does all kinds of stuff in London. He moved things along and was fun and interesting.

The pictures I'm sending are of him telling us how poorly Kirsten Dunst served the ball in the movie when it was being filmed there. He demonstrated how she had about 20 takes until they finally had something they could use. When we went and sat in Court 1 that was really fun because he told us all about the electronic fences they have up to keep the foxes out and then a hawk called Hamish they bring in to scare away the pigeons - especially in that court. He doesn't attack them or anything. They are just afraid of him and so they stay away. Of course, this is the stuff that would interest me since I'm not what you'd call an aficionado.

They are building a roof over Centre Court which is controversial but necessary I guess and they are building a new Court 2 which is good according to some because I guess it is supposed to be jinxed.

We also went in to the BBC desk which is almost sacrosanct but they let Dad and Jess do a little "commentating" while we took photos. Then we went to the press room where the players are interviewed and the girls each got to take a turn sitting there. It was a fun outing because it was different than what we usually do.

The guided tour did last over an hour and then there is a state of the art interactive museum downstairs. (See hologram of John McEnroe.) So, it was a fun day AND the weather cooperated.

love,

mom/Becky

Iggy's Flock

2009-04-01T08:55:00.000-07:00

Here is Iggy with a Parliament of owls. I assume one of those little owls will be in my house one day.

It's just a hunch.

More on Stratford

2009-03-29T20:50:00.000-07:00

In the spirit of being thorough and somewhat constant I wanted to share a few more highlights of the Stratford trip.

We went to Mary Arden’s farm first. Mary Arden was Shakespeare’s mother and I actually like this best of all of the Shakespeare “properties.” It was kind of cloudy but not cold and I felt like I’d walked onto a real farm. There were people in costume doing stuff and it was like it really needed to be done and they weren’t just going through the motions for tourists.

Recently a house on the farm, formerly known as “Glebe Farm”, has been opened. Most of the furniture there is Victorian rather than Tudor, including a multi-purpose high chair. Kind of in one end and out the other. The guy inside answering questions found out we were going to the play that night. He said he worked at the theatre and it was the best production of the “Tempest” he’d ever seen and by far the best Ariel he’d ever seen. It was a South African production and very “colourful”.

The play really was spectacular. It was the Lion King meets Shakespeare. It had a colonial twist (England colonizing third world countries) and was topical because of Apartheid etc. The music, decor, costuming and some of the actors were South African. Anthony Sher was Prospero (look him up, you might recognize him) and Ariel – who was South African lived up to my expectations. I ran into the guy from Mary Arden’s farm. He was selling programs and so I bought one.)

The girls had a good time thanks to how visually stimulating it was and how noisy it was. Plus Ferdinand was very cute and I knew they would all fall in love with him. Sure enough, when we were all outside they had already divided into two camps based on whether Ariel or Ferdinand had the best abs. They were very adamant and vocal in their debate and so when poor Ariel came out of the theatre to go home, they all accosted him wanting pictures and asking to see his abs. Meanwhile Tom was down the street getting cabs to take girls to the hostel. (Tony had used up his hours for the day.) We were finally able to start dragging them away and send them off in groups of 4 & 5.

About 15 minutes later Jess came around the corner and said guess who he had with him: Ferdinand. I thought he was joking but he had talked the actor into coming down the street to meet the girls. They were thrilled and those who’d already left were devastated.

The next morning we went to Blenheim Palace. Dad and I had never been there before. Tony approached it from a road that made the first glimpse, very stunning. It’s made of gold stone and is situated on grounds with gardens, lakes, a maze, etc. Winston Churchill was born there and spent a lot of his time there as a young child because he was related to the Marlboroughs who owned the house and still do. We decided to do a group shot on the steps and so the girls ran to the windows of the cars in the parking lot and started to do hair and make-up. I found it comical because their little faces were going to be tiny and a hair out of place wasn’t really going to matter.

I walked over to take a picture of one them primping and somehow the cord on my jacket got caught between the trunk and back bumper of one of the cars. By some fluke of nature this little metal thing slid down into the crack but wouldn’t come back out. I tugged and maneuvered it; everyone came to help except Dad who was no where to be found. It looked like the only options were to leave my jacket there, which would have looked weird and it was kind of cold, get it out somehow, or cut it off. Gnawing if off looked to be the only possibility (not really) until one of the girls found some scissors in her backpack. Thank goodness.

Well that’s all for now. (It was “Mothering Day” here in England last week and the Shulers gave me a cute card they’d all signed and a little sheep ‘cause they know I love sheep. They also call it Mum’s Day and there’s a movement to make the name officially Mothering Day, because everyone is getting lazy and calling it Mother’s Day.)

Love,
Mom/Becky

Gloucester -- abridged

2009-03-25T16:48:00.000-07:00

Here is a belated report on our weekend in Gloucester.

I’d been there before – as have Carter and Laura - and the Cathedral acoustic was amazing and so I suggested it for one of Dad’s cathedral projects. Finding hotels for these outings is an extensive effort because we have to take in to consideration the price, availability, locale (has to be within walking distance of the Cathedrals), and of course, the “charming” factor.

We ended up at The New Inn which is really old – 1300’s. It was a stable, pub, inn and still has a courtyard and prides itself in its variety of ales. We told them to give us a good room and ended up with the “Oak Room.” Our room had the lion, you can see in the picture, right outside our window. It was paneled with oak and was a little scary because the floor creaked and kind of went downhill from one side of the room to the other. It was one of those “wonky” half-timbered houses. (The bed also went downhill.) When you looked at the armoire, at the bottom it was about 12 inches from the wall, but at the=20top it was about 6 inches from the wall. I don’t know if it was the armoire, the floor, or the wall that was crooked.

From our room you looked out to the courtyard and could actually watch everyone getting drunk. We were right over the pub and when you were in the bathroom you were privy to private conversations going on downstairs. Rather than luxuriate in our historical “digs” (evidently Jane Grey was there when she learned that Bloody Mary had taken the throne from her) that night, we planned ahead and got tickets for a movie about Liverpool at an arts cinema.

The New Inn was right around the corner from the Cathedral and so we went in to look after we got our movie tickets. It was easy to spend an hour or longer there looking at everything. Edward II is buried there. They tell us in the guidebook that he was suffocated, but didn’t mention how the hot poker slid up his rectum that his wife and others used to kill him. I guess if you’ve got a monarch buried at your cathedral you want to put the best face possible on it.

There is a little chapel off the Lady Chapel that pays tribute to all of the musicians that worked there, Sumsion, Howells, and Ivor Gurney. They were really modern stained glass windows and I wish the UCA choir could have seen the Howells window when we were there. Another chapel has new windows that are all in blues that depict the doubting Thomas story – really beautiful. Every nook and cranny in these cathedrals have something to look at whether it’s a tomb, misericord, painting, window, sculpture etc. and the mixture of old and new makes it really interesting.

There was a little place to write a note and leave it for the preacher to read in the prayer at Evensong and dad left one for Jack and his upcoming surgery. (We are always lighting candles for everyone so I hope you are feeling the benefits of those!)

We finally decided to get something to eat and we went to Lily’s Tea Room right across the lane from the Beatrix Potter shop. I discovered that there is a museum upstairs and the little man who ran the shop was very excited to tell us all about it. If you look at the illustrations in “The Tailor of Gloucester”, you can see the shop and other Gloucester landmarks depicted.

Since we were so close to the cathedral we decided to go back for Evensong. It was very moving when we heard the woman vicar mention Jack in her prayer. It reverberated throughout the church. We went and shook her hand afterward and said thank you.

The next morning we went back to Eucharist. I decided to get a blessing while everyone else got the wafer and wine. As in various other cathedrals, they tell you in the program to take it up with you and you will just receive a blessing.

Like most every one we’ve heard here, the sermon was very insightful and thought-provoking. The choir sounded great and I actually saw some of the boys outside playing soccer after the service and they let me take their picture.

We hopped back on the train and were back to the centre in time for our own Evensong.

Love, Mom/Becky

You Can't Get There from Here...aka the Earl's Court Problem

2009-03-16T07:22:00.000-07:00

Last Sunday, Mom and I decided to attend Sung Eucharist at Westminster Abbey. I reasoned my English hymn project would benefit from selecting a hymn heard in that historic space. So...getting to Westminster Abbey from BYU’s London Centre is a snap, right? I mean, it’s only a few stops from Notting Hill Gate down the Circle Line.

Except, wait a minute…it's Sunday. London Transport closes the Circle Line for maintenance nearly every weekend. Buses? Nah—too unpredictable and they take too long on weekends.

Not to worry. Let's take the District Line from Notting Hill to Earl’s Court, transfer to the other side of the platform and pickup the returning District Line towards Westminster. Right? Not so fast. Sure, we get to Earl's Court--but on this particular Sunday the District Line was closed for “track repair” from Earl’s Court through White Chapel. Does that include Westminster? Yup. Sigh. Anyone that’s ever travelled underground in London knows how the Bermuda Triangle’s got nothing on Earl’s Court Station.

Now what? Throw ourselves on the tracks? Not just yet. C'mon! We can beat this system! No problem. Station officials advised us to take the Piccadilly Line from Earl’s Court to Green Park, and then transfer to the Jubilee Line which will then deposit us at Westminster.

Ya think? Whoops. We got to Green Park all right, but what’s with this sign that says “Jubilee Line is shut at Green Park? Are you kidding me?

OK—now I’m at WAR with the London Underground. We consult the map. I know! Let’s make our way over to Embankment on 2 lines that ARE operating today, then work our way back to Westminster.

Mom's brow is furrowed. She's got that sceptical look. Time ticks--Eucharist is minutes from starting. But we DO get to Embankment; what a triumph. And...Oh my gad! All westbound (towards Westminster) trains from Embankment are suspended. HUH? Yee Gads.

Exasperated, Mom declares, “I AM OUTTA HERE!” We split up--not the marriage (though almost!), just our next chosen paths. I exited Embankment, and walked prestissimo to the Abbey--a pace that would have put Mom “in hospital"-- arriving 15 minutes late. They let me in with a wink. Except for one possibility, the hymns weren’t that great! Isn't London swell?

Miscellanea

2009-03-10T16:10:00.000-07:00

It's time for a bit of the trivia and unclassifiable stuff that Mom likes to share with us on occasion:

1. "Boiled Sweets" = hard candy, like life-savers, or those little candies you get in a tin at Christmas

2. Instead of passing someone on the freeway (motorway or M-road) you "overtake" them.

3. When they lay somebody off here, they say that workers have become "redundant". So you'd say that GM has had 2500 redundancies this month.

4. When we went to Ann Hathaway's cottage we were told that the little curved parts of the thatched roof were call "eyebrows."

5. Outside old churches is something called a "litchgate" where the recently dead are left for a few days. They look like a little wooden shelter with a roof and no walls. They wanted to make sure the person was really dead and so they didn't bury them for a few days after the funeral.

6. Dad and I took the Shulers to Young Victoria the other day at Whiteley's. It's a great movie that doesn't open until June in the US. It stars Emily Blunt (Meryl Streep's assistant in the Devil Wears Prada,) and Rupert Friend (who played Wickham in P&P.)

7. We do feel like the girl's are "learning" something while we are here but it's a bit disheartening when we tell them we are taking a trip to Greenwich and we explain that we'll be taking a boat down the Thames and somebody says "what's that?" and we've been here for 2 and half months.

8. I went to Portobello Road the other day and saw several unusual things - one of which was a guy carrying a bass fiddle on his shoulder like a rifle.

9. There is this great Oscar Wilde sculpture/bench behind St. Martin's. It says "A Conversation with Oscar Wilde." See attached photo of Dad and Oscar chatting.

10. Friday is Red Nose Day. It's a Comic Relief thing and they've been promoting it for weeks. Red Nose refers to clowns. We had two on our tube train yesterday asking for money. I put some in and they put a sticker on my coat.

11. At a church in Greenwich the little kids made a giant cross out of egg cartons.

12. Last but not least, there was a really warm day last week and Dad and I decided to go to the Borough Market. As we were leaving we "caught" the girls taking a mattress to Hyde Park.

Mary Arden's Farm

2009-03-04T16:10:00.000-08:00

Mom went to Mary Arden's Farm and she, along with several girls, got to work with the "falconer." Only that day it was owls and not falcons.

"The owl comes swooping to get some "food" and lands on your hand. That pales in comparison to the horror of having a chopped off chicken foot, claw, whatever on the glove on your hand. I'm glad the photo of me is a rear view..."

From place, to place.....to place.

2009-03-01T09:14:00.000-08:00

Mom and dad went on a three-day trip, which is to date the longest this group has been away from the center. They made many stops and mom touched a bit on each one-

Wales

We drove through Newport and the hotel we stayed in. St. Fagin's is kind of a Williamsberg kind of place. There are a bunch of Welsh cottages, houses, shops that have been gathered an put into a kind of "village" form. It turned into a beautiful day and quite warm. There were people in period costume working in the homes and fields. There was smoke coming out of the chimneys on the thatched roofs and it was very picturesque. They had also built this Celtic huts that were supposed to be similar to what the Celts lived in 1000 years ago. Little kids from a school class were there building mud fences and houses. The students had a great time because it was warm and they got to get out and move around.

After that we went to Castle Coch just outside of Cardiff. It was way up on a mountain and looks like a fairy tale castle. The same guy that financed the refurbished Cardiff Castle and the same architect were responsible for building Castle Coch on top of existing ruins. The decor and style of the interior was very much like Cardiff Castle. It was fun and the girls loved it.

The next morning we headed north and traveled the entire length of Wales. It was cloudy, but still beautiful to see the landscape. There were mountains, sheep, coal mines, and it started to snow. We went around Snowdonia and stopped in a little town called Porthmadog for lunch. Fortunately we made it to Beaumaris a couple of hours before dark. We went to Beaumaris Castle which was built by Edward I. It was never finished but is considered one of the best preserved and it was more secure that other castles because there were various walls that had to be penetrated by the enemy. It may become one of my favorite castles. The primitive little chapel is still intact and Dad had the girls that were there when we were sing a few hymns to check the accoustics. Pretty soon everybody (the students) all over the castle grounds started drifting in because they could here us. The singing went on for about a half hour and we had to drag them out of there.

The hotel was a bit worn down, but in England that counts as charming. They gave us a great deal and that's why we were able to afford it. It was very Victorian. Dad and I stayed in the Regent Room. I guess they give the director the best accommodations. We had a view of the water and it was really fun. The girls were in heaven. In places like that all the rooms are different and so they were running around looking at each others rooms. It was first bathtub they'd seen since they'd left home.

The next day we traveled to Chester, one of the oldest cities in England. It was adorable. What they call the Rows are shops with two stories. Kind of the very first mall. On the upper level you don't have even have to go outside. We walked through those for awhile, went to the Cathedral, and went to look at the Roman amphitheatre ruins. From there we went to Shrewsbury to see the Abbey there. It is the locale of the Cadfael mysteries, and is associated with Wilfred Owen, the WWI poet. After that we still had time to go to Coventry and see the cathedral there.

I took the picture of the little girl because she was there with her dad and she said, "Daddy- let me show you my favorite thing here. It's the dancing stage." The dad said, "honey that's not a dancing stage." It was kind of poignant considering the she was dancing among the ruins...

Lincoln

2009-02-23T08:24:00.001-08:00

Mom and Dad have been wanting to go to Lincoln for awhile and so they decided to use Lincoln Cathedral as one of Dad's projects. I still don't understand what these "projects" are. They kind of sound like excuses to go out and have fun to me.

From Mom:

"I wanted to briefly tell you about our trip to Lincoln. Dad and I took the train from King's Cross on Friday night and had decided to stay two nights. Lincoln is in Lincolnshire which is where some of Grandma Christensen's relatives are from. The Cathedral is up on a hill and our hotel, the White Hart was right around the corner.

We spent about 3 hours in Lincoln Cathedral. There was a modern 15 "Stations of the Cross" exhibit that was really neat. It was carved out of wood with insets of various woods from all over the world.

None of the chairs were in the nave and so when the afternoon sun came through the stained glass windows there was a spectacular effect.

The Cathedral has a teeny carving called the Lincoln Imp. There is a legend that some of the devil's imps escaped and flew into the cathedral. The angels told them to leave but one of them wouldn't leave and so it was turned to stone. It's way up high and if there hadn't been some people nearby who knew where it was, I probably wouldn't have found it.

Lincoln Cathedral is also known for letting the Da Vinci Code in to film in their Chapter House because Westminster Abbey wouldn't let them. (you'll see pictures of Dad playing the piano in there)

Some of my favorite things in the Cathedral are known as the Gilbert Pots. The person that created them evidently used the potter's wheel to it's maximum capacity and so the pots are very large. They are filled with sand and serve as candle holders in the Gilbert Chapel. One of the pots didn't have any candles and so I put one in; when dad came along, he put in a second.

We also were just around the corner from Lincoln Castle which houses one of the three copies of the Magna Carta but it was in Santa Barbara or something. Actually we'd just seen the most legible copy in Salisbury two weeks before. The castle was also a prison for awhile.

We then wandered down Steep Street knowing we were going to have to come back up at some point. We stopped for a lemon and chocolate "sponge" at a cute little pub. We went to Evensong and the men and the girl's choir were singing. It was a great service because they used a string quartet and did a Pergolasi Mass. Later we went to dinner at Cafe Zoot.

We always have to get back in time for Sunday dinner at the Centre so we left after a late breakfast. Dad tried the black pudding. I chose not to have a taste. He didn't eat all of it but at least he can say he tried it.

That's it for Lincoln."

Mom also included this picture in her Lincoln album. I think it's from the castle. I have no idea what it's about, but I thought it was kind of awesome.

Dover, Canterbury and Lost Lambs

2009-02-16T19:47:00.000-08:00

New update from Mom:

"I've never been to Dover Castle so I was excited to go. It was actually sunny. As we've planned these trips we find that many places aren't open to tourists during this part of the year. Dover Castle was open but a big chunk was under construction. We first went through the secret war tunnels. It's all pretty sobering. The castle was the main defence (that's how they spell it here) as early as 1100 and the tunnels, which may have been caves, were carved out by them and expanded as time went on. By WWII they were hidden war rooms, a hospital, and even living quarters for servicemen and their wives. Everyone wanted to see the white cliffs of Dover and so Tony drove by them and they were able to catch a glimpse. Nothing like seeing it from the ferry.

We then went to Canterbury. First we went to St. Augustine's Abbey ruins -- they opened it especially for us. The girls played some sort of hide and seek game behind all the broken walls. Then we walked to the cathedral. They split us into groups and we had guides. For awhile I thought I was locked in the cloisters all by myself. I went in there to go back to the the chapter house where we [Utah Chamber Artists] rehearsed last spring. Anyway, when I was done reminiscing and tried to leave, I couldn't figure out the handle.

There was a cathedral cat in the cloisters (remember Wolfie from Salisbury) but not another person. I could not get the huge wooden door open and finally found a way out around the back and so now I know how to get in there for free.

Meanwhile, Dad made the mistake of asking the guide a question and spent the next half hour with him. He and I got separated so I wandered around Canterbury on my own for about a half hour. It was fun to just take pictures and wander. We were all supposed to meet at 4:30 to walk back to the coach. When we did the count off (Alyssa who is #6 is always late in answering and dad has to go ALYSSA???? and it is just like that guy screaming ALVINNNN!!!! in the chipmunk Christmas song) there were 3 girls missing. We waited and waited. We threaten to leave if someone is late, but there were three girls and it was getting dark. Dad was really scared. Dave and Terri were still back waiting for late girls at the meeting spot, but they weren't there. All the leaders have cell phones and the girls are always supposed to carry the emergency phone #'s with them but we hadn't heard from them. We finally decided to try and drive around to find them. Astonishingly we drove right by them on the other side of town. They had gotten a policeman who was walking around with them. Dad was traumatized."

I (this is Laura talking now) recently wrote a post on my personal blog about always losing my cell phone. Dad sent me an email letting me know that I'm not alone in losing things because (as Mom explained above) the students seem to lose themselves. Here is Dad's account of Canterbury:

"Be back on the bus by such and such" is an order understood and absorbed by most of our students. But every time we stop our touring bus and re-board later, most of us wait for the lingering, oblivious few who remain to take that last digital picture, or are still waiting for their hot chocolate at Starbucks, or still in the gift shop or bathroom. In Canterbury, 3 of our group got so lost on the way back to the bus, I got concerned and feared the worst. By luck, we did a loop around the town and found them at the main bus stop in the center of town, instead of the Coach Park on the edge of Canterbury. Sigh. Even though we have passed out to everyone a card to keep with them on all trips that has my cell phone number on it, well...of course they don't bring such things with them.

So...I taught everybody a song that contains my cell phone number. We practice it, sing it on the coach, and it sinks into their little brains so that if they get separated from our group and have forgotten the card with my phone number on it, all they have to do is sing this tune back to themselves and call me up.

The tune is the first phrase of a familiar tune popularized by the Harvard Glee Club back in the 1930's.

"Forgive me, madam, for taking up so much of your time."

2009-02-06T17:22:00.000-08:00

I've fallen behind. Mom sent a bunch of pictures, but there wasn't narrative to go along with the pictures. For the record, Mom and Dad have been to the following:

Stourhead
Winchester Cathedral
Portchester Castle

I will post one picture from their field trip to Stourhead, because it makes me feel all kinds of wistful. If you remember this:

You'll probably recognize this:

In addition to being a major tourist site, it is where Mr. Darcy proposed to Elizabeth in the rain (and got rejected). Apparently all the girls were very psyched. She sent a few of this site. I made one of the pictures my desktop here at home (my desktop at work has the photo I used for the blog's title box. Mom takes some good photos).

Here is another she took at Stourhead. Mom said every time you turned around, you wanted to take a picture.

Oh, and Mom and Dad have a tip for anyone who wants to go see a movie at Whitely's in London. If your ticket says the movie starts at 8 PM, and you're there and nobody else is, it's because the locals know that you'll be watching 30 minutes of ads before the movie actually starts.

Mom's first British haircut

2009-02-03T16:10:00.000-08:00

Got this email from Mom:

"My roots were finally getting gray enough that I had to find somebody to take care of my hair. I'd researched some online, looked around as I was walking, and tried to get a recommendation or two (which was to no avail) and so I finally decided on Toni and Guy on Kensington Church Street. I'd passed by it so many times from Abbey House to the tube stop that it felt kind of familiar.

Maybe things are a bit more "posh" in SLC than what I've experienced in Sandy, but this was a whole new experience. First, you pick someone to color your hair, someone different to cut your hair, and then someone different to style and finish your hair if you want. Then you pick between three different levels of experience with each costing more as you move up. When I went in to "book" I just told them to refer somebody. (Oh, plus there are 3 different degrees of root coverage depending on how much of your head you want done.) So I ended up with Serina, the lowest rung, doing my color and Laurie, the second rung doing my cut. No need for a "style."

First Serina came to talk to me about what I wanted. She thought my highlights contrasted with the regular color of my hair way too much and suggested a "toner". That is a semi-permanent colour - did I want red? or just the same gold I'm using - that would mellow out what was already there. Extra 15 pounds. (colour was 48 pounds and cut was 55 pounds. yikes) I said ok fine. So Serena colors my hair, wonders if I want tea etc. Then she brings this giant machine over and puts it around my head. She called it a heat machine. It had funny little warming discs that just radiate heat in about 4 places about 6 inches from your head. It's like you are in the oven. Then she walks me over to the shampoo station. Oh, another reason I picked Toni and Guy was because they don't put you all in the front window for everybody to look at as they go by. So, this cute new girl comes and puts me in the chair to wash, condition, apply toner, do the head massage and stuff. Suddenly I feel this rumblings underneath me and its a massage chair. I'll bet I was in the chair for 30 minutes. It was terrific.

Then out comes Laurie. (pronounced Lori) He looks to be about 18. He has what looks like a Paul Gaugin painting up the side of one of his arms. (All of the guys in there had their jeans about mid-buttocks) He was very sweet, easy to talk to. We talked about how weird it is that in the US we have "bangs" and in the Uk they have "fringe." Laurie did a great job; a little more precision than usual. He was very careful. He then blew me dry. Serina came back to ask how I liked the color. They got me my coat, I gave the front desk a bunch of cash including tips, made my - woops booked my appt. in advance which gives me a 10% discount. I figure I'm dropping at least $200 everytime except when I finally get new highlights which will cost another 50 pounds or so. The toner did it's job and my highlights are much more subtle, which Serina informed is really what "highlights" are all about.

So, I'm happy with what they did. The trauma of deciding where to go is over. I'll stick with Serina and Laurie and start saving up for next time."

I know. I was expecting a picture as well.

Heavy Snow

2009-02-02T16:41:00.000-08:00

LONDON, Feb. 2 -- A beautiful yet crippling blanket of snow fell across much of England on Monday, causing transportation nightmares but giving rise to thousands of cheery snowmen in a nation barely equipped for heavy winter weather. Nearly a foot of snow had landed in London by midday and another solid dump was expected Monday night in what meteorologists called the heaviest snowfall in nearly two decades. Snow also caused transportation disruptions in France and Ireland, as the icy weather blew westward across northern Europe.

I got that report from the Washington Post. And I got the image from Google.

Mom sent this image to the left. This was taken from her flat window. She left me a voice mail earlier saying she hasn't gone outside all day because no one plows the roads or even shovels. And I guess she doesn't have skis like the guy pictured in the first image.

Coming up next:
Stourhead, Winchester, Portchester, and Mom's first British haircut experience.

Bath, Stonehenge and Salisbury -- Abridged

2009-01-23T22:07:00.000-08:00

What we have here are two different accounts of the same day (Jan 19). Both Mom and Dad sent a narrative on their day trip (Mom's arriving a couple days after Dad's). Dad's version is in black and Mom's is in purple. I took some editorial license and cut out information that would be irrelevant to the general readership.

We took our second day trip yesterday. Out the door at 7:15 and off to Bath! I instituted a new feature on the coach (a feature I borrowed from the Chamber Orchestra tour Mom and I were on a few years ago) called BUS FUN. I previously asked two of the girls (Mary Katherine and Janna Adaniya) to put together some fun things to present over the bus microphone to the group. They gave some news from home including the weather in Provo, BYU and Jazz updates, and made up 3 songs, each spotlighting one of the girls in the group. Very bubbly presentation, lots of personality--they both relished having control of the microphone for a few minutes. I think we'll continue with BUS FUN.

I've included a picture of Tony our busdriver. He is very talkative, but we love him. He's been with us twice now. As we were driving to Bath he explained that in order for a village to be a village it has to have a church and a pub. Otherwise it's a hamlet. He pointed out that we were passing by Nimlet, the hamlet, and if you blinked you missed it. Tony also taught as a new word - "wonky". He was showing us wonky timber houses which means their floors were saggy and crooked. He also told us that there used to be a "window tax" way back when and that's why some of the really old houses had boarded up their windows.

We arrived in Bath at 9:45, just in time for the opening of the Roman Baths. I've visited this site 4 or 5 times now and each visit offers something new. This time the audio guide had different listening options for the same object or moment along the tour. I listened mostly to Bill Bryson hold forth with his witty take on things British. Mom and I typically go through museums at our own pace and meet up in the gift shop. We also do gift shops at our own pace. Mom needs more time--me less. She keeps buying stuff and storing it in the chest of drawers in our extra bedroom. I'm in denial on how she plans on transporting all her purchases in June.

Mom and I went window shopping along the Pulteney Bridge spanning the River Avon--the bridge has lots of touristy-type shops. We then walked some other streets and stopped in a few stores and paused to listen to a trio of brass players playing Mozart, Ravel, and other classics. They actually played pretty well and even had a CD to sell. I bummed a pound off of Mom and threw it in their case. We stroll by Sally Lunn's house--the oldest house in Bath, now a restaurant featuring her famous buns from an original recipe. I've tried them in previous visits. They're very average and nothing to write home about--so why am I doing exactly that? Dunno...

Bath was fun - again. When I took a picture of the big gorgon head, I suddenly realized it looked like Richard Harris. See what you think. Tony drove us up past the crescent and the circus and showed us where Nicholas Cage lives.

We reboarded the coach at 12:30 and headed to Stonehenge, arriving 1:45. Even though this world wonder now holds little mystery and awe for me (I've been...what? 5 times now?), I still get a bit of a charge every time I see it. We will be going AGAIN with our spring group. By then, it will be warmer--so we plan on leaving VERY early in the morning and arranging a private tour of the stones. On such visits, the English Heritage folks let us go under the ropes and right up to the rocks. Anyway, the girls seemed to have a good time; they took lots of pictures. For some reason many girls stick one leg out and stretch one or two arms outward while posing. The sun shined a bit, but the cold still had us shivering.

Stonehenge was absolutely gorgeous. I don't think the weather was much colder than when we were there in June and the wind wasn't blowing that much. I was very happy to have the sheep there as an alternative to taking lots of pictures of stone.

ASIDE: Even on a clear blue day (rare) we don't see much of the sun. Our northern latitude means the sun rises in the southeast and sets in the southwest. It just seems stuck in the south when it makes an appearance--which is only for 4 or 5 hours tops. 4:30 PM seems like 9:00 PM.

We journeyed to Salisbury and the great Cathedral there. We arrived 3:00 and Dr. Crisler and I went ahead of the group to arrange payment for the students. We got a great discount, but the Salisbury folks insisted we tour the Cathedral in groups of 11 with their guides. I took the first group and we met our guide with his green sash inside. He must have been about 112 years old. He leaned on his cane and nearly tipped over a few times. He spoke in muffled, soft tones, at a VERY slow pace. We didn't move for 20 minutes. I started calculating how long it was going to take to get us around the nave, transept, side chapels, etc. Ironically, this guy had no concept of time, and the Cathedral houses the world's oldest clock along the northside of the nave. Yikes. At the very end of the tour, one goes to the Chapter House that displays an original copy of the Magna Carta. Ebeneezer (not our guide's real name, but it seems appropriate) finally shifted into a slightly higher gear, and we made it to the Magna Carta after an hour.

Unlike Dad, my group had a very cute old man as our guide in Salisbury Cathedral. We dashed through there but as you know, Dad and I are going back tomorrow.

Today I teach my classes and I'm having Mom do a spiel on Tchaikovsky, Prokofiev, and Verdi--composers featured in tonight's concert required of all students at Royal Festival Hall. She's got her powerpoint presentation prepared, and she went out and bought CD's (purchased with program funds) to play for the class.

The concert was Fantastic! The orchestra is so good and the guest conductor was an Italian guy that was really fun to watch. In some of the more playful, less dense places, he'd just conduct with a shoulder twitch here or there. The girls had a good time I think.

This weekend, Mom and I return to Salisbury to attend Mattins on Sunday for my English Hymn research project.

*Editor's note: All photographs are provided by Mom (or Dad, who knows), except for Salisbury Cathedral. I had to google image that one because there were no pictures provided.

**Question to Mom and Dad: you keep referring to "the girls"... has BYU gone "all girl" or what?

Cambridge

2009-01-20T07:27:00.000-08:00

Mom and Dad went on their first "outing" last week. Here is some narrative from Mom:

On Wednesday we went to Cambridge. It was our first day out.

Our first stop was Verulaneum at St. Albans just outside the city. There is a museum and then kind of an archeological dig nearby. We walked about a mile in the fog to St. Albans cathedral. We had been neither of these places so it was great for us. The cathedral itself had so many wonderful aspects - ceilings, screens, Abbey the bear... We may go back there too.

After that we ate lunch on the coach and by the time we got to Cambridge, we'd come out of the fog. We went to a cemetery for WWII American soldiers on land that was donated by England. There was a huge wall with over 5000 names of soldiers whose bodies had not been found. Among them was the band leader Glenn Miller and Joseph Kennedy Jr., JFK's older brother - who his dad had figured would be the president some day - who volunteered for a dangerous mission and his plane was blown up over the English Channel.

When we got to Cambridge we went to the Fitzwilliam Art Museum - which they've expanded - and then we walked down to the colleges. We had a minute for a panini before we went to get in line for Evensong. It was pitch black by 5:00 PM. The college next to Kings had kind of a neat thing going on with light designs flashed on one of the buildings. We sat right in the choir for Evensong.

So, that was it. Next week we go to Stonehenge - brrrr - and Salisbury.

Introducing, "Ignacious"

2009-01-14T10:57:00.001-08:00

Mom bought a little bear, that fits inside his own tiny little suitcase. His name is "Ignacious", otherwise known as Iggy. He is kind of like the little gnome that shows up everywhere in the world, and you get to see him doing cute things in special places. So Iggy, apparently got into the cupcakes that mom and dad brought back from Hummingbird Bakery and made an absolute mess of himself.

Keep your eye for Iggy in other places.

Evensong

2009-01-12T08:10:00.000-08:00

I got an email from Dad last night. He said they attended Sacrament Meeting at the Hyde Park Chapel. As a musician he notices things a lot of people wouldn't, but from this story it sounds like a lot of people might have noticed this:

"Attending church in a foreign country provides Wasatch Front types like me with variety. For instance, the organist played in one tempo, the chorister conducted in a wholly different tempo, and Abdul (sitting behind me) sang in yet another tempo. Tempo polyphony--a new musical idea. As a composer, I can't help but think about the possibilities of such a concept. Somehow, the discombobulation worked out and we all ended together. The chorister didn't cut us off at the end, she just froze her flailing arm somewhere between beats 2 and 3, then just plopped her right arm down to her side."

Apparently each night at the London Centre, everyone meets for 15 minutes before dinner in the Salon (pictured) for a devotional. They share announcements, a thought, and a blessing. I kind of remember this from the summer of '95 when Lisa and I were there for the full 2 months.

This is what Dad had to say:

"Before the prayer, the girls sing my little composition called EVENSONG that I wrote (music & words) and dedicated to the students here at the Centre:

Now as we gather for supper and prayer,
Charmed with the cheer of the things we will share,
Bathe those who bask in thy beckoning light,
Cradle our souls while we slumber tonight.

We named these 15 minutes "Evensong" instead of "Devotional." It's more Anglican than Mormon--but hey! We're in England."

Hey Dad, if you read this, you should get one of your students to lend you a little digital recorder that someone is bound to have and record the nightly evensong. And then let me upload it to the blog.

Cheers.

Slideshow

2009-01-12T08:04:00.000-08:00

Mom sent us a load of pictures. I took a selection of them and created a slideshow. One of them actually has Mom in it. I wasn't sure if we would get any of those since she's the one with the camera.

Thanks Mom! Keep them coming.

People, Places, and Cookies

2009-01-10T16:34:00.001-08:00

Mom and Dad are busy everyday of the week it seems. With all the fun things to do in London, it isn't hard to keep yourself occupied. Here is a snippit..from their Saturday afternoon:

Dad and I went to Crypt and Trafalgar one day. Today (yesterday now) we went to the Natural History Museum and had hot chocolate at the Hummingbird Bakery which dad discovered when he came here in October. Of all the times I'd been to London I had never set foot in the Natural History museum and so this was fun. We shouldn't have come on a Saturday altho it was fun to see the thousands of kids swarming around. We'll come back again to see the actual Darwin exhibit on a weekday. We stopped at Kensington High Street and I bought a cookie at Ben's which made me think of Laura and Lis. We went into Whole Foods and dad bought some granola. It's kind of a Harrod's Food Court for yuppies. We came out and it was snowing and then when we came out at Nottinghill people were demonstrating.

Last time we were all in London together, mom took Laura and I to Ben's Cookies. It was super special then, because there wasn't one at the Gateway at the time. And for awhile, the one at Gateway was the only one in the US. So mom suggested we each choose a cookie, and then we'll all share them so we can taste a variety. So we ordered our separate cookies and mom held all three of them and asked us "Which one do you want to be your resident cookie?"

For some reason Laura and I found that very funny. You may, you may not. But it's a good memory.

As for the "demonstrating" mom referenced, there were quite a few Palestinian protesters in London and she took pictures. So stay tuned for those.

Getting Settled

2009-01-08T08:22:00.001-08:00

This blog is for my parents who moved to London for the next six months. And for you. It's purpose is to keep family and friends informed of their whereabouts in Britain, how they're doing and what they're doing.

Tom and Becky are teaching a BYU semester abroad. I get a lot of questions about them, and although they would love to email everyone personal messages about how they are, it's just not possible, so I thought a blog could be somewhat of a solution. I will post whatever pictures I have permission to post and whatever stories they feel appropriate to share. Hopefully this can be an easy way for all of you to keep in touch with them as well, and send them little messages via the comment section.

It's only been a week since they've left, but they seem to be settled. The picture that accompanies the blog title is the street where they live. Here are some pictures of their flat at the BYU London Centre:

Mom said something about that fireplace and how the fake fire actually gives off a lot of heat. So that's nice.

Apparently Mom already made a few purchases:

Nice purchases, Mom. I think the kids will love playing with those. I especially like the wooden Loch Ness Monster -- I think that's what it is.

I actually don't have permission to make this public yet, so we'll see what Mom says.