5 posts tagged “england”
saturday the 20th was the only full day i had in london where i wasn't working, so momster and i made the most of it. in the morning we strolled along the thames and admired the buskers (everything from 'statues' painted in all colors to a cellist to a talking dog to the invisible man) and the sea-serpent street-lamps, on the way to the reconstructed globe theater. i had been near the globe before but never inside, so we took a tour, enjoying both the exhibit on theater in shakespearian times, including some period-style stage tapestries donated by new zealand (with atlas holding up a new-zealand-centric globe), and the theater itself, with its ornate stage and stalls.
we went to fortnum and mason for afternoon tea in honor of mrs. pumphrey's christmas hampers, then did a little christmas shopping at an outdoor craft market in the gathering twilight, and finished the day with a trip up the london eye.
during my second week in london, i got lots of work done, but also had time to do good things with momster, who was visiting. mostly she went off on her own adventures during the day, but sometimes she came in and met me for lunch of after work. our usual meeting place was in the great hall near the big diplodocus skeleton, and over the course of the week i had a good chance to look around at both the curiosities in alcoves around the hall, and at the amazingly detailed carvings on every available stone surface.
hoo boy, do i have a lot of catching up to do. i'm in finland and the last photos here are from over two weeks ago!
on the sunday we were up north in england, we saw a few castles (belvoir, newark, nottingham, including a tour of mortimer's hole), as well as some nice canals (the trent in newark and also a different canal in nottingham), the trip to jerusalem, and, of course, all the local peebles relatives. and a litter of two-week-old kittens!
the bmnh is all very well and good (and certainly keeping me busy), but over the weekend we got out of london for a change of scenery. momster arrived on friday and we headed straight up to york (if you can call a six-hour drive that should have been four 'straight' - not that i'm complaining, because who doesn't want to sit with the engine turned off on the M25 for 30 minutes?).
i had been to york before and was pretty sure she'd enjoy some of the stuff i saw last time, like the shambles, the city wall and jorvik viking center. unfortunately, after we arrived around four and checked into our b&b, almost everything was closed for the day - so, no walking on the city wall for us, or climbing clifford's tower.
we did see signs for nightly ghost tours, though, and i seemed to recall the pebbles saying he'd done one and enjoyed it, so we toyed with the idea over a delicious pub meal (complete with yorkshire puddings) and decided to go. our guide was great - nicely theatrical in his top hat and victorian coat. we heard about plague stories, murdered orphans, pet dogs bricked into cathedral walls - all the important local history.
but the most memorable experience from york this time around was completely unexpected. as we climbed the steps to clifford's tower on saturday morning, we heard a curious jingling of bells and looked down toward the castle museum, where a group of young men were prancing and waving white handkerchiefs in a most unusual way.
well, we immediately realized the morris dancers
(especially the one dressed as a horse) were waaaaaay more interesting than an old pile of rocks, so we went down for a better look.
and boy, did we get a better look.
in fact, some of us got drafted to join in - luckily in a rather uncomplicated role, mostly standing still interspersed with walking up and down between the lines of leaping, jingling, white-clad merrymakers. and all seemed to be going well until aj, my guide throughout the experience, gently disengaged his previously offered arm and left me standing alone and somewhat bemused in the center of the circle as the dancers converged...
i survived france! and enjoyed it, no less! but i have crossed to the Other Side now, via a stretch of water so narrow, the white cliffs could be seen before leaving calais.
