Long Summer Nights

I took a photo on the Summer Solstice to show how bright the sun is so late at night. I did not, however, wake up at 4:00AM to take a picture of the sunrise. 

10:30PM on the Summer Solstice

During one of the longest days of the year, Bill came home work early because the weather was uncharacteristically warm. And by warm, I mean, a whopping 85*F! That, my friends, is as hot as it really gets up here in the north. Anyway, Bill and I decided to walk over to the only Mexican restaurant in town, sit outside and have ourselves a nice little feast with some Coronas. 

After dinner, the sun was still warm and bright, so we walked through and around town, until we heard folk music coming out of a wee pub. We ducked inside, and lo and behold, there were at least 15 musicians jamming on their fiddles, tin whistles, mandolins, etc. One other patron was there watching with Bill and I, but otherwise, it was only us and the musicians.  We stayed for well over an hour, but it was rounding 10:00PM on a school night, so we finished our pints and made our way back home. 

Enjoy this short clip of the music! Please note the video is just an up-close of my jeans as I only wanted to capture the music and not the faces of all the musicians, I thought that would be less invasive.

Cake and Bake Show

My love of British baking continues! 

Within walking distance to our house is a large conference center. One day a while back I was walking by the center and noticed banners had gone up for that weekend's conference… and it was the Cake & Bake Show!! 

Once home, I looked it up, noticed it started the next day (Friday), and decided then and there that I would purchase tickets, including add-on skills courses taught by some of the TV chefs / bakers here in England. So, the next day, tickets in hand, I walked down and had myself a right jolly old time! 

Volunteer pouring batter at Rosemary Schrager's show

First up was a course taught by Rosemary Schrager (she's on the right in the pink photo, above) where we learned how to make a fig and cheese tart. The blond gal was plucked from the audience as her helper, but with only 30 minutes for the demo, it seemed a stressful situation. I am glad I wasn't chosen! 

Next up was a hands-on class teaching us how to make sausage rolls. I arrived early, and since it was Friday, the least crowded day of the convention, the TV baker let us early birds take photos with him. I made sausage rolls that I was so excited about, I ran home and drove them out to Bill at work for his lunch. Peter Sitwell promised to post the recipe on his Facebook page, but he doesn't accept new "friends" and I couldn't find out how to access the recipes. So, I hope Bill enjoyed the sausages, because he'll likely never have them again! :-/

Just before Peter Sitwell's show

That afternoon I went back to the cake and bake show for my third and final class, on ombre piping. I thought we were going to try it ourselves, but we just got to watch the famous London baker show us how to do the ombre piping. The most interesting thing I learned was that this London baker (whom I've never heard of before) had been selected for a new BBC show. The next week she was going to be whisked away to an undisclosed location with many other bakers, and they would all have to work together and run a baker… with only victorian era equipment, technology, and ingredients. I'm keeping my eyes peeled for that show - sounds like a fun one! 

Learning how to pipe ombre frosting

In between the classes, I roved the conference floor, saw lots of stuff for sale, tried a lot of food, and saw amazing cake decorating and displays. My favorite was the upside-down hanging wedding cake, pictured below. How amazing is that?! 

Upside down four-tiered wedding cake

Churchill War Rooms

I studied European history at University, but my particular interest lay in the cultural history of the dark to middle ages. Needless to say, aside from a course on the Art and Poetry of War, I didn't spend a lot of time studying either of the more recent World Wars. 

Several friends of ours had very positive things to say about the Churchill War Rooms in central London, and since none of us had ever been there, we decided to give it a visit. The entrance fee is steep, even for London's prices, but it was an incredible experience and I think we were all glad we opted to pay the price of entry. 

Signatures of Churchill, President Roosevelt, and several others

I thought it would be a museum devoted to the life and times of Winston Churchill, the British Prime Minister during WWII. And don't get me wrong, it is certainly that — there's a gigantic room that houses everything you can imagine about the man — but it is actually the WWII bunker where he ran the war and finally stopped the Nazi's reign of communism, terror, and genocide. 

The bunker is a block away from (and equidistant to) both the Houses of Parliament and #10 Downing Street,  Britain's equivalent of the White House where the Prime Minister lives & works. It's about two stories below street level, and during WWII, Churchill, many of his commanding officers, and a handful of administrative staff (ladies) lived there, working around the clock, fighting Germany and its Nazi regime. Deep in the bunker they even  worked through the Blitz, as above ground, the Luftwaffe tried to destroy London. 

I loved this quote! 

The museum now within the war rooms tells of about the life and times of Winston Churchill, a very well born man whose extremely wealthy parents basically had him as something to do, and promptly handed him off to the nanny and never had much interaction with him. In an attempt to impress his father, Winston joined the military at a young age (wanting to end up in politics) and got himself captured fighting in the Boer War. He was a POW for a while, and then made an daredevil, solo escape in 1899 and became an instant celebrity back in the UK. In 1900, he was first elected as a conservative member of Parliament representing Oldham. 

I know, boring stuff, but I thought it was fascinating! 

One of the command rooms

We walked past many rooms in the bunker, all of which, it is said, were left virtually untouched, just as they were on the last day of the war. Of course they put glass partitions up and, in a few instances, mannequines, but otherwise when the war ended, everyone left everything as is and closed the door, and that's how visitors see the war rooms. 

Although we arrived fairly early, the corridors are very tiny and the windows into many of the rooms have limited viewing area and it gets crowded, fast. Therefore, I didn't take a lot of pictures of rooms such as the Cabinet Room, small offices, tiny communal bunk rooms (men's and women's), and an even tinier kitchen used by everyone living down there like mole people. But I did stop to take several pictures of the Map Room. 

Map room with pins still in the same location as when WWII ended. 

The map room had maps with multi-colored pins, denoting the various troops, battle lines, submarines, bomb sights — honestly, there were so many different colored push pins I couldn't figure out what they all represented. 

Up close of map in map room 

There were also lots of different colored phones, each one a secure line to someone very important, helping relay crucial information to the Prime Minister and his commanding officers. 

The rooms were small, dark (no windows, obviously!), and dank - and on top of all that everyone smoked like a chimney back then, can you imagine?! Everyone working down in the bunker was issued a gas mask for the possibility of the Germans dropping poisonous gas bombs, but I would have wanted to use the gas mask to save myself from all the second hand smoke! 

Different "Bat Phones" in the map room

Sometimes when you go to an attraction or historical site that you knew nothing about, you are pleasantly surprised. And the Churchill War Rooms certainly was an unexpected high point during our short visit in London. 

Map room, as it was left (with mannequins added) the day the war ended.

Central London

The next morning we had a quick breakfast and headed off to Westminster Abbey as Alan hadn't been there in over 40 years. We dropped Alan off and planned to meet back up with him in two hours, as the three of us had all recently visited Westminster Abbey. 

Big Ben, big red busses, and the London Eye - what else do you need?

While Alan was turing the Abbey, we took a walk around the embankment and snapped a few photos of the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. It was a much warmer day than the day before so we strolled over to St. James Park and grabbed a cuppa before taking a nice, long walk around the park. 

Because one can never take too many photos of Big Ben! 

It was such a nice day, we ambled around the little lake and did some bird watching. It always surprises me when, in a big city, an oasis of calm, beauty, and nature can be tucked right inside, like the best part of a jelly dounut.

Green Heron in Central London

At the appointed time we met up with Alan, and made our way to the nearby underground bunker that housed Winston Churchill's WWII War Rooms. 

More on that experience in the next post! 

Along the River Thames

After our adventures at the Greenwich Royal Observatory, we walked down the hill, grabbed a quick bite to eat, and purchased water taxi tickets to get back to central London. On our way to the water taxi, we walked past the Cutty Sark, a British clipper ship built in 1863, that used to sail to and from China, picking up and delivering tea to England. 

When the Suez Canal opened (later in 1863), the route became much faster for steam ships, so the Cutty Sark turned towards Australia and the wool trade after a few years. The tall ship is open to visitors, but alas, we wanted to focus on other items this particular day. 

Cutty Sark

Cutty Sark with sails unfurled - PHOTO FROM WIKIPEDIA

We then boarded a much, much younger powered vessel and made our way towards central London. I have been lucky enough to see the Tower Bridge several times now, but seeing it from the River Thames was quite a site! 

Tower Bridge 

We hopped off the water taxi, and made our way via the London Tube to the British Library, which was currently showcasing a special exhibit of the Magna Carta and other governmental documents it inspired. The Magna Carta was first written to keep King John (coronated in 1199) in check. Apparently, he was a right mean old bugger and would tax and execute with reckless abandon. The Magna Carta set up rules that the ruler had to live by, such as making sure someone accused of a crime actually stood trial before being executed (or thrown in jail), and other such things. The root of the Magna Carta, is as follows:

No free man shall be seized or imprisoned, or stripped of his rights or possessions, or outlawed or be exiled, or deprived of his standing in any other way, nor will we proceed with force against him, or send others to do so, except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land.  

To no one will we sell, to no one deny or delay right or justice.  

As you may be able to tell, core parts of the US government very much mirrors the sentiment in the Magna Carta. In fact, they had on display Thomas Jefferson's hand-written copy of the Declaration of Independence and Delaware's copy of the Bill of Rights. Pretty amazing stuff, right? 

Before we left, we decided to pop into the room labeled Library Treasures, and boy are we glad we did!! They had hand-written music sheets from Beethoven, Chopin, The Beatles. They had bibles and other religious texts that dated back 1,500 years or more. They had Jane Austin's writing desk. They had a hand-written letter by Anne Bolyn. I could go on and on, but you get the point. 

The British Library is just a 5 minute walk from King's Cross / St. Pancras station - If you ever find yourself in London, go! It's free to get in (the Magna Carta exhibit is extra and will be there through October) and it is a great way to spend a half an hour or so. Keep in mind, though, if you're killing time before your train leaves, large luggage cannot be taken in to the library. 

Geeking Out at Longitude 000*00'0"

A week passed after seeing Bev and Alan in Haworth, so Bill and I made our way down to London to spend another few days with them before they flew back home. One of the top agenda items was going to the Royal Observatory in Greenwich, where the Prime Meridian is located and where Greenwich mean time was established. 

The Royal Observatory is about an hour away and 3 tube changes from our hotel, so, not wanting to waste that much time in the morning, we just hailed a taxi and in 35 minutes we were deposited right in front of the observatory around the time it opened. 

Since we arrived early enough, we had plenty of time to take each other's photos at the Prime Meridian, set up for just such a thing. Later in the day we noticed that a line had formed and people were having to take quick photos and move along. 

Divided by a hemisphere

East? West? I never know which direction I'm pointing

Western Hemisphere vs Eastern Hemisphere

0* lattitude

And, riffing on the whole Southern hemisphere toilet flushing debate, Bill wondered if you pee'd on the Prime Meridian, would it always flow to the West, or to the East? :-)

Moving on from good, old-fashioned toilet humor, the view from the top of the hill the Royal Observatory sits atop is pretty spectacular!  

Bill and Bev, braving the wind

The trail to the observatory

But the piece de resistance at the Royal Observatory is the museum of all things astronomically historical.The observatory was created around 1670, thanks to King Charles' II's French mistress who told him about the study of moons to determine longitude. Charles II never visited the observatory, but his interest in how science could benefit his country meant they had his continued support.  The museum had lots of antique celestial science equipment, including the antique precision clock movement (below) owned by the first royal astronomer, John Flamsteed. The case for the clock movement is lost to history because John Flamsteed's widow took the case after his passing in a fit of spite. 

Historical science-y thing-a-ma-bob

Years ago I purchased a book for Bill (per his request) on the scientific challenges determining longitude while at sea. In 1714 the Royal Observatory offered £20,000 of prize money (several million in today's terms) to anyone in England who could solve the problem. Bill relayed the story explained in the book to me, how an uneducated (but extremely smart) man named John Harrison spent his entire life trying, and eventually succeeding in solving the mystery. 

As I remember it, the story detailed how back in the 1700s and earlier you needed to know exactly what time it was in order to determine exactly where you were in the sea, and since all clocks then worked via pendulum, and a pendulum and a rocking boat were not friends, knowing what time it was at sea was virtually impossible. John Harrison worked to solve this problem over four prototypes and more than 30 years. He eventually solved the problem of longitude and also created the world's first precision watch. He was an old man by the time he was awarded the prize money, but he solved the problem, became a very wealthy man, and his name will be known for a long, long time. Well, at least amongst the science-y geek people! 

John Harrison's first attempt at maritime clock

I tell you that whole story in an attempt to get you to realize how excited Bill was when he saw that the Royal Observatory had not one, not two, not three, BUT ALL FOUR of the John Harrison prototypes that solved the problem of longitude. He was a very happy camper! 

Goodbye, Prime Meridian! 

PS Bill wanted me to be sure to explain that John Harrison's precision clock still is the basis for navigation today, including the GPS in your smartphone!  

Late Spring Day

On a recent Spring day, the sun was shining, the birds were singing, and Bill and I decided to get out of the house and enjoy the day. Before we parked ourselves on the grass, we had walked through town, stopping to shop and grab a bite of lunch on our way to the park. As we walked toward the park, I realized I would be much more comfortable if I made quick use of a ladies' room. Public toilets are scarce, so I decide to go into the nearby pub/pizzeria to sneakily use their facilities before meeting back up with my husband in the park. 

Hard at work

I am not a person who normally breaks rules, and toilets are for paying customers and I wasn't a paying customer. But I needed to go, so I decided to break the rules. Cheery, beery groups were clustered around the outdoor tables, drinking in the sunshine and booze. I walk past them, looking left and right, feigning looking for a group of friends who are expecting me to join them, and then duck into the building. 

There are fewer people inside, but the pub/pizzeria are still doing good business. I continue to fake looking for my party as I secretly scan the room for the sign to the toilets, all the while worried that the establishment will toss me out if they find out what I'm doing. I'm breaking their rules! 

I see a sign to the toilets, pointing towards a nearby door in a darkish corner of the pub and without a backwards glance, I push through the door. As I open the door and step inside, the words "dough boys" on the door slowly registers as I see a man washing his hands next to the urinal. 

Oh, dear!

I stand stock-still, in full-on deer-in-headlights mode, as the man turns around and ever so nicely says, "You're in the men's, luv," walks past me, pulls the door open and holds it for me to exit. As I re-enter the pub, I see a party seated near the men's loo chuckle and I roll my eyes at them as a self-depricating survival technique. The kind gentleman who escorted me out of the men's points my way to the ladies'. I thank him and hustle across the room and dive into a cubicle in the women's (labeled "Dough Gals") as quick as I can. More from embarrassment than the need to pee, but since I was there…

I slink out of the pub/pizzeria after a few minutes, avoiding the table full of people who had witnessed my  earlier humiliation. 

Next time, I'll just buy a damn pizza.

When the weather's nice, it's really, really nice!

Going Back to Bronte Country

Bev (Bill's Mum) and Alan (her partner) were recently on a 2-week sightseeing tour in Ireland, Scotland, and England. One of their stops was at the Bronte Parsonage, the home of Charlotte, Emily, and the rest of the Bronte family, which is located in the small village called Haworth. Seeing as Haworth is a fairly easy one hour drive from our house, co-ordinated a visit so we could meet up with them and have a quick lunch. While it didn't go off without a hitch (bus was late, tour leader 'lost' over half the tour group on the walk to the parsonage, etc.), we got to spend about two hours visiting and had ourselves a right good time!  

Haworth High Street

The villiage of Haworth had just the weekend before held their 1940's festival, and all the gloriously British bunting was still up, lining the streets. It was so cute! 

Bill, Bev, and Alan in Haworth

A quick walk up and down the short High Street, lunch at a tea house, and some time meeting some of Bev & Alan's fellow travellers later, it was already time to give them a big hug and say goodbye. This goodbye wasn't sad, though, as we knew we'd see them in a week's time down in London. More on those adventures at a later date!