Trains, Trains, Trains!!!

York hosts the National Railway Museum for the whole of England, and it's free entry for everyone.

"Why haven't we been?" we asked ourselves on a recent Sunday morning. We decided right then and there that we had to remedy the situation, walked the 10 minutes to the train station, and were on our way to the museum less than 30 minutes after posing the question to ourselves.

Inside the great hall

Turns out the museum is so large (largest locomotive museum in the world, actually), we only saw a portion of it the afternoon we visited. We spent almost the entire visit in the Great Hall, the largest and most historic part of the museum. 

Myriad of train name plates

Train plaque with 4 font types

York is and always was the great train hub of Northern England, and the Great Hall was one of nine locomotive sheds in York, servicing thousands of trains every year. Hundreds of men (and women, during wartime) worked in this dirty, sooty, muddy shed that is now a bright, airy museum. During WWII the shed was badly damaged by a German air raid, but the shed quickly rebounded; the trains must keep running! 

Steam train workings

What is now the Great Hall was de-commissioned in 1967 as a service station when steam trains were no longer the norm, and it became a storage site for old steam trains. 

A 1920s replica of an 1830s Liverpool/Manchester train

Historic train

The National Railway Museum opened in the mid 1970s and the shed was re-named the Great Hall, and the rest is history!

Another beautiful steam train

There were so many cool trains to see! Some seriously old timey and some famous, like the Mallard, world record holder for the fastest steam train. There were also some historic trains, like the train that carried Winston Churchill's coffin as it rode across the country so its citizens far and wide could pay their respects. We even got to sit on an original, series 0 Shinkansen, AKA Japanese bullet train! 

Winston Churchill's funeral train

At one point while we were visiting, the staff rotated a train for visitors to see how trains were moved around inside the hall. Although the hall is quite large, moving giant locomotives can be quite tricky! The train rotator has been used for years, historically to move train engines in and out for servicing, and nowadays to move trains in and out of the exhibit hall. 

Crowds awaiting the train rotation demo

Rotating the train

There were so many neat trains, and a lot of them had a great story. As usual, I have purchased the guidebook and will be looking it over so that when we go back to the museum we don't miss any of the other cool stuff!  

Colorful engines 

And the whole afternoon I couldn't help thinking, if Sheldon Cooper was a real person, he would be in hog heaven in this museum! 

The Best Way to Leeds...

We were invited by my cardiologist to go to a seminar /slash/ meet-up for people with similar health concerns as myself. The event was held in Leeds, near the hospital where my doctor works. 

Self-portrait at Leed's Trinity Centre

We have been to Leeds on a number of occasions, it being only a 30 minute drive from our house, it is a much quicker commute to this hospital than the one I attend back home in San Francisco. The first few times we went to the doctor's, we drove. To say Leeds is a maze of one-way streets, crazy-confusing roundabouts, and mystifying signage is to belittle the fact that Leeds is a maze of one-way streets, crazy-confusing roundabouts, and mystifying road signage. The first time we drove to Leeds we got in a huge argument because we got lost, the GPS re-routed us through the ass-end of nowhere, and once we found the hospital, we couldn't find parking. We barely made it to my appointment, even though we gave ourselves an extra hour and a half to get there in time. Oh! And three weeks later we received a ticket in the mail for apparently driving in a bus-only lane - oopsies!! 

So, the second time we drove to Leeds for an appointment, I researched the specific post code for the hospital's patient car parking garage, printed directions from the computer (so we weren't relying on the GPS alone), and gave ourselves an extra hour to get to the appointment. Easy-breazy; we made it to the car park! Only to find out that the patient car park consisted of approximately 50 parking spaces (all filled, of course); the rest of the 4-story car park was for permit holders only. CURSES!!! We then had to drive around (getting lost in the process), found parking, and barely made it to the appointment on time. Again.

Cool artwork inside & church steeple outside Leeds mall 

The third time we had to go to an appointment, we took the train and walked the 20 minutes from the train station to the hospital. BLISS!!! This is now the only way we'll go to Leeds if we have to be anywhere specific at a particular time, such as for the medical seminar /slash/ meet-up that we attended a while back. 

The information we received at the seminar was invaluable, meeting people and their loved ones with a similar condition as I do was also eye-opening. I am, thankfully, doing very well, especially considering some of the stories I heard from a few of the other folks in the room. 

Enclosed view of modern Leeds cityscape

We left the seminar feeling informed and empowered. And we had a 'return anytime' ticket for the train, so we walked to a trendy mall, window-shopped, and enjoyed their indoor hipster gastronomic food cart hall. I had a BBQ pulled pork sandwich with skinny fries from an American-style food truck and Bill had a tandoori burger from the indian-fusion truck. And we had a pint or two… because we knew we didn't have to navigate the mean streets of Leeds by car.  Yay, trains!! 

Longer Nights!

We are enjoying longer and warmer days here in the North of England. Well, if you consider 68* to be warm, that is - which is what it is as I type up this post. It's mostly sunny and 68*, so I am wearing a whisper-thin top and slip on sandals, because that's how we roll if the weather is anywhere close to warm. 

9:00 PM in May

A few weeks ago Bill and I ventured out to our first cricket match. Cricket is a weird game, but then again, I think all sports are weird, so this game is just a new kind of weird. Two batters run back and forth between the wickets to score wickets (points). The pitcher cannot bend his arm when he pitches, and there are no foul balls, and the points are added up seeming interestingly - I wouldn't be surprised if there was compounded interest on the points, or some such thing! 

We attended what is called a T20 game, which is only comprised of each team being at bat once and only once. There are six outs per "inning" and each batter gets six pitches. I may be getting some of this wrong, but this is what I remember. 

Cricket, anyone?

My favorite knowledge bomb was that there is such a thing as a Beer Snake. T20 games only last 2-3 hours long, whereas most cricket games last 5 full days and the team takes a break for lunch and tea before resuming play each day. This is a long time for fans to be cheering in the stands, and the English like their pints. As each plastic tumbler full of beer is emptied, it is added to the stack of empties. The more beer the crowd drinks, the longer the beer snake becomes. We saw a Beer Snake at our match,  but it was only about eight feet long.  Here's a short YouTube video (not my video!) of a beer snake from a cricket match in Headingly (same venue we went to) two years ago.

Feed the Snake! Feed the Snake!! Feed the Snake!!!

And on a less drunken note, it was recently half-term, which means a week-long (or longer) school break. All British schools break for half-term at the same time, no exceptions. The May half-term coincides with the May bank holiday (long weekend) so there were many festivities for families to attend. I volunteered at the York Minster during the recent half-term break and it was crazy-busy with families from all over England having a bit of a holiday. 

It was a warmish, dry day, so after my shift ended I meandered back to the train station instead of rushing there as I usually do. And lo and behold, I stumbled upon a lovely owl demonstration! I had always wanted to see the 2,000 year old quadrangle tower, a Roman wall that is partially still standing in one of York's parks. In front of the wall, the local owl conservation group was teaching children (and an American ex-pat who's a little older than that) about owls. So cool! 

Owl be damned, it's Hedwig!! And an ancient, Roman wall!

We enjoy this time of year when the weather can be warm and dry. In fact, I'll soon head out to meet Bill at a local village pub so we can have dinner in their beer garden (outdoor patio). Let's hope the weather doesn't turn in the next two hours… fingers crossed!

Madurodam (AKA Wee Netherlands)

While in The Hague, The Netherlands,* we walked up to the northwestern edge of the city to visit Madurodam, or as I like to call it, Wee Netherlands. 

(*Why must this country insist on including 'The' in their names? Do they think there is another, inferior Hague or Netherlands, and they want to insist these are THE proper ones? And while I'm on a rant, I still have no idea why the country is sometimes called Holland and other times called The Netherlands. Is there a difference? I am uninformed and confused… I shall ask Google…)

I AM GODZILLA!!!

Madurodam was impressive! I am sure it would have been even more impressive had I seen and/or known more than just a few of these buildings. But impressive, none the less. And for the first time EVER, I felt massive! I really had to resist the urge to stomp around like Godzilla.

Well, truth be told, I did stomp around like Godzilla on several occasions, but I did't smash any buildings, people, or cars. Promise! 

Tiny canal, cars, buildings...

There were lots of wee cityscapes, roundabouts, buildings, and cathedrals. You can't see it in pictures, but a lot of the scenes had moving pieces, such as the cars and boats.

Tiny roundabouts, monuments...

Another attempt at a selfie. You can see how tiny the buildings are, especially with the people standing next to the building on the left. 

Tiny buildings, big ass face...

Lots of farming, canal-filled landscapes with wee windmills. 

Tiny windmills...

Tiny windmill and a bottle of HotToddy Sauce

And who doesn't love a parade! 

Tiny parade...

Even the trees were small bushes, trained to look like trees. Some of them were probably fake, but the ones you can see up close were real!

Tiny… um… something? Maybe lakeside resort?

Tiny industrial complex with cathedral in the mix

Again, if I lived or knew more about The Netherlands, I would have probably recognized a lot of the various cityscapes (as above) and older village squares (as below).  

Tiny village square

I especially enjoyed the tiny canals with working canal boats floating back and forth amongst all of the canals. And the cars of various makes and models. A lot of work obviously went into building Madurodam! 

Tiny canal 

Another tiny canal scene with moving boats

I need to find out what fairy-tale castle this is! With it's little red shutters and moat, it looks straight out of a white princess Disney dream! 

Tiny moated castle

And then we found the festival grounds. If you fed the display a Euro you could play DJ, complete with spinning turn tables, which made the music play and wee festival goers dance (jiggle in place). I overheard one Dutch visitor explain to his English-speaking pal, "Oh, look! The Netherland's chief export is represented - EDM (electronic dance music) and MDMA (ecstasy)!" 

Tiny EDM (electronic dance music) concert with actual moving ravers 

Around the corner from the rave / festival, was a weird story teller sitting on a rock with people listening to his story. The story was in Dutch*, so I have no idea what he was saying, but his head would spin and neck would grow occasionally. Very strange, indeed! 

(*And why is the language called Dutch, and not Netherlandian or Hollandish? I'll leave that gripe for you to ponder... )

Creepy-ass, tiny, neck stretching story teller (file under WTF category)

And then, just before you exit through the gift shop, is a wee Schiphol Airport. The airplanes taxi'd around the tarmac, but what I really thought was cool was the conveyor belt of luggage (under the glass, at the tail of the Singapore Airlines plane) - with moving wee luggage! Some luggage was pristine, some was old and beat up, some luggage was piled on top of each other, while some luggage was spread out. The level of detail was so impressive! 

So, if you find yourself in The Hague when absolutely everything save a few restaurants and the museums is closed, go to Madurodam. It's kitschy, but fun! 

Tiny airport

And finally, because inquiring minds want to know (well, at least my mind wanted to know), here is what The Google said when I asked it "What is the Difference between Holland and The Netherlands:"

The Netherlands is often referred to as Holland. Nevertheless, the official name of the country is the (Kingdom of the) Netherlands. The Netherlands consists out of twelve provinces. Two of them, North and South Holland, are the two provinces that together make Holland.

The more you know, people. The more you know...