 |
| From Photo of the Week |
Spotted in Cambridge.
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
A Weekend In Cambridge
When Grace and I discovered we did not actually have to return to the US for visa purposes, we found we had the whole month of February and nothing planned. So we decided to take a trip up to visit our mates in Cambridge, which we haven't done since Thanksgiving. We booked tickets on the bus, rather than the train this time. Train prices seem to have doubled since we moved here two years ago, and it is now cheaper to travel by plane to anywhere in UK with an airport. Bus is much cheaper, though it takes an extra hour.
At 8:30 on Saturday we then piled onto the bus, put on our seatbelts (mandatory now!) and 90 minutes later we were in Cambridge. The bus traveled through the site of the 2012 Olympics, which was pretty incredible. A colossal area - a whole landscape - has been turned into dirt piles plowed by construction vehicles, as the new site is built up. They're literally building up a new miniature city. And this is London, where much infrastructure is already in place, and where the government is cutting back to save money. I can't imagine how incredible it must have been in Beijing.
In Cambridge we had a classic relaxing day. The weather was really warm, so we took a walk with our friends across the fields to the village of Grantchester, some five miles out and back. We had a pub lunch in the village before heading back in the afternoon, this time along the banks of the creek. Lots of people were out walking dogs, and some Cambridge nerds were dressed in medievel costume having some kind of mock battle or historical reenactment.
Behind the trees, there be nerds.
The next day, we had a big British breakfast, then wandered into town. We spent awhile lounging on one of the scenic college bridges.
Playing with the fast shutter speed of my new camera!
Later, we went to see a museum, closed, then went for lunch - no seats available for 45 minutes. We had to pick up our bags from the home, so Gareth and I went to get the bags, then biked back into town - so I did get to relive my biking days from Cambridge.
At 8:30 on Saturday we then piled onto the bus, put on our seatbelts (mandatory now!) and 90 minutes later we were in Cambridge. The bus traveled through the site of the 2012 Olympics, which was pretty incredible. A colossal area - a whole landscape - has been turned into dirt piles plowed by construction vehicles, as the new site is built up. They're literally building up a new miniature city. And this is London, where much infrastructure is already in place, and where the government is cutting back to save money. I can't imagine how incredible it must have been in Beijing.
In Cambridge we had a classic relaxing day. The weather was really warm, so we took a walk with our friends across the fields to the village of Grantchester, some five miles out and back. We had a pub lunch in the village before heading back in the afternoon, this time along the banks of the creek. Lots of people were out walking dogs, and some Cambridge nerds were dressed in medievel costume having some kind of mock battle or historical reenactment.
Behind the trees, there be nerds.
The next day, we had a big British breakfast, then wandered into town. We spent awhile lounging on one of the scenic college bridges.
Playing with the fast shutter speed of my new camera!
Later, we went to see a museum, closed, then went for lunch - no seats available for 45 minutes. We had to pick up our bags from the home, so Gareth and I went to get the bags, then biked back into town - so I did get to relive my biking days from Cambridge.
Tuesday, February 17, 2009
Monday, February 16, 2009
The weekend, Part II--Sunday Lunch
There is a great British tradition called a Sunday Lunch (or Sunday Dinner, or Sunday Roast) which is a meal eaten on Sunday afternoon, consisting usually of a central meat, usually beef, pork, chicken or lamb, and various vegetables, especially roast potatoes, parsnips, carrots and similar. This tradition dates back to when landowners rewarded their peasants for their work during the week with a roast ox each Sunday after church. Typically, a roast was put into the oven before church so that it would be ready to eat when you got back.
Well, we went to a Sunday lunch at a friend's house and had a very nice time. My friend Amanda arranged this with three couples of mixed meat-eating preferences. She's vegan and her boyfriend Tom is not. Matt's vegetarian and I'm not. Same with the other couple, and everyone else who was there. This was ostensibly an occasion for non-vegetarians to satisfy their craving for a large hunk of still-bloody meat, while allowing the more civilised vegetarians to enjoy some kind of vegetable casserole and feel superior.
Here our friend Tom is carving a joint of pork.
On the plate, it looked like this.
You see a big slice of roast pork, potatoes which have been coated in pork drippings and roasted, carrots prepared the same way, stewed red cabbage, and home-made roasted apple sauce, which is traditionally eaten with pork here. And there is gravy poured over the top of everything. So definitely not a meal you want to eat more than once a week!
After Sunday lunch we went to the birthday party of a friend of Matt's from his course in Cambridge, who now lives in London. Matt is not good with directions, but while we were wandering lost, we managed to snap some pictures of Canary Wharf, one of the big financial districts of London.
Monday it was back to work!
Well, we went to a Sunday lunch at a friend's house and had a very nice time. My friend Amanda arranged this with three couples of mixed meat-eating preferences. She's vegan and her boyfriend Tom is not. Matt's vegetarian and I'm not. Same with the other couple, and everyone else who was there. This was ostensibly an occasion for non-vegetarians to satisfy their craving for a large hunk of still-bloody meat, while allowing the more civilised vegetarians to enjoy some kind of vegetable casserole and feel superior.
Here our friend Tom is carving a joint of pork.
On the plate, it looked like this.
You see a big slice of roast pork, potatoes which have been coated in pork drippings and roasted, carrots prepared the same way, stewed red cabbage, and home-made roasted apple sauce, which is traditionally eaten with pork here. And there is gravy poured over the top of everything. So definitely not a meal you want to eat more than once a week!
After Sunday lunch we went to the birthday party of a friend of Matt's from his course in Cambridge, who now lives in London. Matt is not good with directions, but while we were wandering lost, we managed to snap some pictures of Canary Wharf, one of the big financial districts of London.
Monday it was back to work!
The Weekend, Part I--Valentine's Day
We had a busy weekend last weekend. Friday we went out for drinks with Matt's workmates. Saturday was Valentine's Day and Matt's parents said we should go out for dinner and a movie on them. We chose to go to an Ethiopian restaurant because I think we prefer Ethiopian above any type of restaurant food, and it's one of the specialty restaurant foods which we have no idea how to make.
We went to Zigni House in Angel, Islington (which perhaps Jill and Tim will recognise because we went there with them once). When we got there the place was empty so we took some pictures to give you an idea what the restaurant is like and what Ethiopian/Eritrean food is like.
You can see that the tables are placed in the center of informal couches and stools:
Basically, they have this pancake-type thing called injera, made out of fermented rice and wheat flour. They roll one out on a really big plate and on top they pile various dishes, kind of like curry, but flavored with I know not what. It looks like this:
Matt and I got one that had a combination of different vegetarian and meat dishes. You tear off pieces of injera and use it to scoop up some meat, veg and sauce.
Injera has the same property as pancakes of slowly settling in your stomach so that you think you're not full and you eat a lot, until all of a sudden your pants need unbuttoning. This is actually one of the reasons why we like Ethiopian food, because you never, ever go away unsatisfied.
After we had finished eating, the restaurant gave us a complementary Valentine's Day dessert of whipped cream and strawberries with chocolate sauce in martini glasses.
After dinner, we went to a movie at a small theatre. They were having a Valentine's Day deal of a movie, a glass of champagne and a brownie, so we saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
We went to Zigni House in Angel, Islington (which perhaps Jill and Tim will recognise because we went there with them once). When we got there the place was empty so we took some pictures to give you an idea what the restaurant is like and what Ethiopian/Eritrean food is like.
You can see that the tables are placed in the center of informal couches and stools:
Basically, they have this pancake-type thing called injera, made out of fermented rice and wheat flour. They roll one out on a really big plate and on top they pile various dishes, kind of like curry, but flavored with I know not what. It looks like this:
Matt and I got one that had a combination of different vegetarian and meat dishes. You tear off pieces of injera and use it to scoop up some meat, veg and sauce.
Injera has the same property as pancakes of slowly settling in your stomach so that you think you're not full and you eat a lot, until all of a sudden your pants need unbuttoning. This is actually one of the reasons why we like Ethiopian food, because you never, ever go away unsatisfied.
After we had finished eating, the restaurant gave us a complementary Valentine's Day dessert of whipped cream and strawberries with chocolate sauce in martini glasses.
After dinner, we went to a movie at a small theatre. They were having a Valentine's Day deal of a movie, a glass of champagne and a brownie, so we saw Vicky Cristina Barcelona.
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Success!
I finally have a UK bank account! Looks like fifth time's the charm!
(Things have been sorting themselves out for us lately in a pleasant way. At this point, Matt likes to say this absolutely horrible saying that I think I've successfully ground out of him by intense glaring. He likes to say, 'Looks like everything's coming up CLANCY!' while clenching his fist. What a dork!)
(Things have been sorting themselves out for us lately in a pleasant way. At this point, Matt likes to say this absolutely horrible saying that I think I've successfully ground out of him by intense glaring. He likes to say, 'Looks like everything's coming up CLANCY!' while clenching his fist. What a dork!)
Thursday, February 12, 2009
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
They Say It's Your Birthday
It's my birthday today, but we have no major events planned. Originally I took off next Monday for us to take a long weekend somewhere, but there's just nowhere we're crazy about visiting in the UK in February. And we can't leave the country until we get our passports back from the visa office! It seems like the only things you can do in this month are visit cities - and I want a break from city living, not more city touring - or go skiing in Scotland. But that's just a bit too much for us to arrange for three days.
Still, it's been a good birthday. Over the weekend, we met up with a friend I haven't seen in awhile and it came to pass that he has a spare keyboard lying around, just what I've been looking for! We now have a 61-key keyboard set up in the corner of the living room, resting on top the ironing board. I've been wanting a keyboard for months, ever since we left International Hall, which had a music room, in August. Since it's tight quarters, I was looking for a keyboard that I can use headphones on, and voila, I'm now in luck! 2009 should be a great year I'm thinking. Between the new camera and now the piano, I've got enough new toys to keep me occupied for some time. Grace and I have each been playing the piano everyday since Saturday, when it arrived. I'm doing an hour a day, at least! Suddenly, there's not enough time in the evenings!
Other than that, it's been a fairly mild week. The snow hung around for a long time, but now the weather has reverted back to plain old cold rain. Next weekend, we're planning to see a theatre show (we don't know what yet) and meet up with some friends (including some of my classmates from Cambridge). The weekend after that, we're taking a trip up to Cambridge. And after that, it's March, and we plan to get up to visit friends in Leeds. After that, it'll be warmer, so we'll take more trips, hopefully!
Still, it's been a good birthday. Over the weekend, we met up with a friend I haven't seen in awhile and it came to pass that he has a spare keyboard lying around, just what I've been looking for! We now have a 61-key keyboard set up in the corner of the living room, resting on top the ironing board. I've been wanting a keyboard for months, ever since we left International Hall, which had a music room, in August. Since it's tight quarters, I was looking for a keyboard that I can use headphones on, and voila, I'm now in luck! 2009 should be a great year I'm thinking. Between the new camera and now the piano, I've got enough new toys to keep me occupied for some time. Grace and I have each been playing the piano everyday since Saturday, when it arrived. I'm doing an hour a day, at least! Suddenly, there's not enough time in the evenings!
Other than that, it's been a fairly mild week. The snow hung around for a long time, but now the weather has reverted back to plain old cold rain. Next weekend, we're planning to see a theatre show (we don't know what yet) and meet up with some friends (including some of my classmates from Cambridge). The weekend after that, we're taking a trip up to Cambridge. And after that, it's March, and we plan to get up to visit friends in Leeds. After that, it'll be warmer, so we'll take more trips, hopefully!
Monday, February 02, 2009
Snow On The Ground Shuts Down London Town
People always ask us - 'does it snow in London?' And I always say, 'not really.'
The truth is snow does fall each winter, but it melts away in minutes or hours at most. There were some flurries yesterday, and I ran outside to take photos, thinking it would be my only chance to photograph snow in London for the year.
However, in the last 24 hours we've had the biggest snowfall in London in 18 years. More snow is on the way tonight. By Iowa standards, it wasn't that bad - maybe 5 or 6 inches. But, since London hasn't seen snow in a long time, it brought the entire city to a standstill.
All the buses were cancelled. Ten out of 11 tube routes were entirely or partially closed and suffering 'severe delays.' Ambulances were only responding to life-threatening calls, people were advised not to drive at all, and tons of shops were closed. By happy coincidence, one of the only tube lines without major problems was the one right by my house, so I made it to work pretty easily.
But probably only half my office showed up, and we were allowed to leave at three o'clock. Some people showed up hours late. Two people walked for 90 minutes to get in. Some of my office colleagues are not even bothering to go home tonight, but staying with people who live in town, or actually renting hotel rooms. And Grace's office simply called her up in the morning and said 'don't bother.'
The big fear now is that the slush on the road will freeze overnight and make the roads a skating rink. That would mean another day where the city stays home.
I, however, was thrilled because I brought my camera into work. I took a spin around town at lunch, and again after work. I probably looked a bit silly, with an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other. I was holding the camera so it pointed to the sky, with the lens just under the skin of the umbrella. You see, I'm terrified of getting the new camera wet, because I had another camera once where water got in and made all the photos have three gray dots in the middle. I was careful though, and got some pictures. Click on the one below to take a look.
The truth is snow does fall each winter, but it melts away in minutes or hours at most. There were some flurries yesterday, and I ran outside to take photos, thinking it would be my only chance to photograph snow in London for the year.
However, in the last 24 hours we've had the biggest snowfall in London in 18 years. More snow is on the way tonight. By Iowa standards, it wasn't that bad - maybe 5 or 6 inches. But, since London hasn't seen snow in a long time, it brought the entire city to a standstill.
All the buses were cancelled. Ten out of 11 tube routes were entirely or partially closed and suffering 'severe delays.' Ambulances were only responding to life-threatening calls, people were advised not to drive at all, and tons of shops were closed. By happy coincidence, one of the only tube lines without major problems was the one right by my house, so I made it to work pretty easily.
But probably only half my office showed up, and we were allowed to leave at three o'clock. Some people showed up hours late. Two people walked for 90 minutes to get in. Some of my office colleagues are not even bothering to go home tonight, but staying with people who live in town, or actually renting hotel rooms. And Grace's office simply called her up in the morning and said 'don't bother.'
The big fear now is that the slush on the road will freeze overnight and make the roads a skating rink. That would mean another day where the city stays home.
I, however, was thrilled because I brought my camera into work. I took a spin around town at lunch, and again after work. I probably looked a bit silly, with an umbrella in one hand and a camera in the other. I was holding the camera so it pointed to the sky, with the lens just under the skin of the umbrella. You see, I'm terrified of getting the new camera wet, because I had another camera once where water got in and made all the photos have three gray dots in the middle. I was careful though, and got some pictures. Click on the one below to take a look.
 |
| Snow in London |
Sunday, February 01, 2009
Matt the Mozambique
We were invited to a party this weekend where we were supposed to dress up as something that began with the first letter of our name, so I went as the south African country of Mozambique.
Grace went as a Goth, but my camera ran out of battery, so we don't have any good photos of that.
By the way, in Britain, costumes are called 'fancy dress.' So it was technically a fancy dress party.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
Visitor Map
