Rome

October 28-31

Rick and I spent a wonderful weekend in Rome. For those of you who have enjoyed time in Rome, you might want to skip the photo portion of the blog…we took 400 pictures and I managed to cut it to 176.

We took a night flight on Thursday and checked into our little hotel room right near The Spanish Steps. On the advice of veteran Rome travelers, we pre-booked our Vatican tickets and after a short Metro ride, we were able to walk right in to the Vatican Museums and bypass the lines that already wrapped around the buildings on two sides. The Vatican Museums are truly incredible and defy description…more statues then you ever imagined and galleries that surround you with works of art…even on the ceilings! We took a self-guided tour and after about 2 ½ hours, we made our way to the Sistine Chapel, the only part of the tour where photos are not allowed. It is everything you ever imagined and more. We spent close to an hour just listening to our audio guide and observing all aspects of the masterpieces before heading to St. Peter’s Basilica…again, words cannot begin to describe! Since our arrival in London, we have been in loads of cathedrals and have been in awe of many but they would all easily fit inside St. Peter’s and nothing even comes close to its magnificence!!! We took a few pictures but how do you capture the enormity…both in size and grandeur!!! We left the interior and got in the queue to climb the 320 steps to the top of the dome and gallery around the cupola where we were greeted by more awesome sights!

By the time we left Vatican City, it was late in the afternoon and we were in need of a glass of wine and some cheese so we headed to Piazza Navona and enjoyed the sights and sounds as the day turned to dusk. We took Rick Steves’ advice and one of his evening strolls and saw The Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, The Spanish Steps. There are so many wonderful restaurants and we happened into one near our hotel…if you are ever in Rome we can recommend Ristorante Mario on Via della Vite…they will treat you like family. It is, in fact, family owned…the mother greets you at the door, the son seats you, the father oversees all the tables and makes sure that everyone feels welcome and satisfied and the place is filled with families who obviously eat there often. Rick’s lasagna was great but my pasta was worth coming back for! It was soooo good that we booked a table for the next night and we were greeted with a special starter that our waiter ordered just for us. Dinner and dessert were every bit as good as the first night and when we left we were presented with a small book about the restaurant, Mario, and some of the special recipes…all in Italian (anyone want to translate???)!!!

Saturday, we had a wonderful tour of the Colosseum and Roman Forum. Again, we took the good advice of friends and family and pre-booked a tour. Our guide had a degree in history and gave great information and commentary while skillfully guiding us to the exact right spot to stand for the best views of all that is there. After 3 hours, we were free to explore on our own before we headed to one of Jennifer and Ben’s recommended restaurants: Ristorante Al Cardello…again filled with people who seem well known to the staff and food that is worth returning for. After lunch we found that we were at only steps away from St. Peter-in-Chains church were we saw Michelangelo’s Moses and the chains which are in a glass case below the altar. We then proceeded to see all of the churches, columns, and piazzas that Rick Steves describes stopping only to enjoy a serving (or two) of gelato!

Sunday, we checked out of our room and headed out for brunch and I agreed to eat pizza if we could have it with Prosecco since those were the only remaining Italian food groups that we had not sampled! Then we went in search of The Great Synagogue and Jewish Museum of Rome. The museum and history of the Cinque Scole (five schools) is fascinating and we again had a very knowledgeable guide in the synagogue which is closely guarded and can only be viewed with a guide. The synagogue is not ancient but it does sit on the edge of the Jewish Ghetto which has been completely demolished but is remembered in the museum. Leaving there, we happened upon the Teatro di Marcello and several other archeological areas and thoroughly enjoyed our explorations before it was time to collect our stuff and head for the airport.

Enjoy the photos….
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/Rome?authkey=Gv1sRgCKyPqsnZr-W7nQE&feat=directlink

The Cotswolds

October 21-24

Rick and I spent three lovely days in an area of England know as the Cotswolds. This is a range of limestone hills covering an area of over 700 square miles and encompassing hundreds of ancient villages each with an individual character. The typical features are:
· Buildings made of Cotswold stone: yellow/gold toned limestone that is soft and easily carved when first quarried but grows harder with age as it turns darker and sometimes grey
· The typical Cotswold cottage has split stone tiles covering the steeply pitched roof and a timber door
· Drystone walls crisscross the fields of grazing sheep
· Sheep dominate the landscape as the economy of the area was originally based on the medieval wool trade and this wealth was responsible for the building of the many churches known as “wool churches”

It is impossible to describe the beauty of this area so the pictures will tell the story….
http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/TheCotswolds?authkey=Gv1sRgCJzV4e_N6ZHkRw&feat=directlink

October Travels

October 15-17 we traveled by train to Bruges, Belgium which is just an hour further than Brussels and has a famed historical centre that is listed as a World Heritage site. The medieval city streets are filled with cobblestones and lined with landmarks, monuments, and basilicas dating from the 12th century.

This was such an easy trip to plan…for the first time we used a company that combines rail travel and hotel accommodations into one inclusive package. We were able to book online and have all of our travel documents delivered to our flat. We had a choice of hotels and were advised to choose a boutique hotel with only 20 beautiful rooms and a warm and friendly staff. There was a cozy lounge where we had coffee each evening, a beautiful and snug bar, and the fabulous Restaurant Le Mystique where we had quite probably the best dinner we have ever eaten!!!

Our hotel was just a short walk from the city centre so we went there immediately after checking in to our room. While it rained softly, we sat under a canopy at one of the many cafés surrounding the market square and shared a late dinner of Moules & Frites (mussels and fries), looked across the square at the famous belfry, and sipped our wine.

Saturday, following breakfast in our hotel we returned to the Grote Markt to see all the sights, enjoy a canal ride, and explore all of the churches, basilicas, and the famous cathedral all the while sampling Belgium chocolates. After lunch we had a great walk to the outskirts of the historic center to The Minnewater, a lake surrounded by parkland which was once the city harbor and is the source of the canals which run through the city. There are breathtaking views and a refuge for the city’s numerous swans. Sunday we walked to the edge of the historic centre to get a close-up view of the windmills lining the canal. We explored all the remaining streets and enjoyed the architecture of this quaint city. We returned to our favorite café, this time to sit in the sun and enjoy a lunch of traditional Flemish stew. Too soon, we were back at our hotel having coffee and chocolates in front of the fire for one last time before heading to the train station and back to London.

http://picasaweb.google.com/alysehirsekorn/Brugges?authkey=Gv1sRgCKHkpeWQiqy_YA&feat=directlink

September Sightseeing

September 17-25


September was a memorable month in our London Adventure. First of all, I returned to Atlanta for 3 weeks in August and this marked my first return to my London home. I found that as great as it was to be in my Atlanta home, London now feels like home too!!!

September was also the month when Erin and Matt visited us for a week and we got to celebrate Erin’s birthday at Nobu where Matt ate sushi for the first time and proclaimed it “not too bad!!!”
Enjoying all the London sights only gets better when the experience is shared with family and friends. Rick worked many of the days during Erin and Matt’s visit so I got to see all the usual attractions with them and when Rick was able to join us we explored many new sights. On a day trip to Cambridge we experienced the two “must do” events that this city offers. First we took a guided Punting Tour on the River Cam where we saw the famous Cambridge College “Backs” from a traditional Cambridge Punt. Our guide, a 20 year old college student, talked about the college landmarks as we leisurely passed by them. The punt is a flat-bottomed boat which is propelled by pushing against the river bed with a pole. Many tourists choose to rent a punt and navigate the river on their own but I am not sure why you would want to do that…it looked neither relaxing nor safe to us especially as we passed a woman, holding a baby, while attempting to punt and was actually traveling down the river sideways (there is so much wrong with that picture…I can’t even comment)!!! We also took a guided walking tour of Cambridge College where we saw all the famous buildings and several chapels while hearing stories of the notable people connected to this historic university.

Another highlight of Erin and Matt’s visit was our tour of the Buckingham Palace State Rooms. Buckingham Palace is only open for tours during August and September when the Queen is on vacation at Balmoral so we were excited that we were able to share this experience with them. There is really no way to describe the interior of a working royal palace!!! It is beautiful and grand and everywhere there are treasures of furniture, porcelain, and painting by masters.

For a totally different experience, we visited The Churchill War Rooms. Again, this is a unique museum housed in the underground complex that was the British government command centre throughout the Second World War. The complex, located beneath the Treasury building in the Whitehall area, became operational in August 1939, shortly before the outbreak of war in Europe. The War Rooms remained in operation throughout the Second World War and were abandoned in August 1945 after the surrender of Japan. The rooms have been restored to the state they would have been in during their period of use and this is one of those museums where “history comes alive.”

Of course their visit ended much too soon! Since then Rick and I have been making plans to see as much as possible in October when the weather is still nice enough to enjoy! Stay tuned for the next blog when I describe our trips to Brugges, The Cotswolds, and Rome!!!

Pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/ErinAndMattInLondon?authkey=Gv1sRgCN7_0cbs1YDz6gE&feat=directlink

Housekeeping

August

August is the month that I will call “housekeeping!”

Rick and I moved into our new flat and organized our closets…yes, I did say closets although technically they are called wardrobes in London…but whatever, we now have five of them...we are practically giddy!!! We also have a proper kitchen and a garden…it’s really just a small enclosed patio on the lower ground level and a deck on the ground level but here they like to call any outdoor space a garden.

I flew to Atlanta two weeks ahead of Rick and after just a few days at home my ground floor air conditioner was struck by lighting taking with it the garage door openers, telephones, and cable modem. So the next several days were spent with the insurance adjuster and the installers.

Meanwhile, we were conducting a covert operation to put the final touches on our plans for Erin’s surprise party celebrating the end of her year of Breast Cancer treatment. This was actually the highlight of our time in Atlanta and the reason we chose to be there in the scorching month of August. Erin was surprised as 75 of her family and friends gathered to remind her once again just how much we all love, admire, and support her.

Another of my tasks was to meet with the movers and packers and gather and organize the additional goods that would be our one and only shipment of stuff from the US to the UK.

There was time to visit with family and friends although not nearly enough as I do miss you with all my heart.

Returning to London in September, I got to meet the movers and unpackers and get the rest of our stuff situated in our flat then spent the better part of a day having a satellite dish installed.

I purchased a few necessary items to make our guest room comfortable for our first visitors (Erin and Matt arrived just 8 days later) and added a few items to my list of “things you should not carry home on a 13 block walk”…these include a floor lamp and lamp shade, linens for two bedrooms, and 6 bottles of wine when you already have 3 bags of groceries!!!

Finally, Rick and I purchased 25 plants to fill the containers in our garden. Rick is obviously the ‘brains” of this operation as he hailed a taxi for our trip home from the garden center. This activity was worth all the effort as our garden is now neat and tidy with lovely plants that remind us of home while embracing our new environment....camelias, hydrangeas, ferns, lavender, and herbs.

Day-to-Day Life In London

August 1

Many of you have asked “what is it like to live in London?” First, an update on our location…we moved from a very small two bedroom flat in Mayfair to a larger, two bedroom flat in Marylebone. Our new flat is in a period building within site of Regent’s Park and just a block off Marylebone High Street (the high street is like “Main Street” with all the shops and conveniences of the area). Our reception room has 12 foot ceilings and two large windows that open on to a tiny deck which is accessible from a spiral staircase in the small private patio outside of our downstairs master bedroom. We have a “proper” kitchen with a gas range, convection oven, garbage disposal, separate washer and dryer, and a small breakfast table. We feel as though we have moved into a mansion!!!

I continue with my 3 mornings a week at the gym only now instead of a 10 minute walk, I take the Tube. Rick’s daily travel time is much the same as before and he is on both the Tube and the train. I now have a regular size grocery store instead of one about the half the size of our neighborhood CVS. I have a small two wheel trolley that I use on days when I buy more than what I can carry.

Some of the things I have learned in my two months in London:
· Read the markings on the street and be sure to look in the proper direction before stepping off the pavement. Taxis and sometimes cars will stop for you to cross. Buses will never stop and motorcycles and bicycles do not observe any of the “rules of the road!”
· Prepare to be bumped into when walking. Londoners are multi-taskers and cannot agree on which side of the pavement or stairs to walk so even when you are walking on the left (which makes sense to me since they drive on the left and the signs often say: “keep left”) you will still come face to face with people and have to dodge out of the way as they are either listening to Ipods, talking on mobile phones, texting, reading newspapers or books (I can’t figure out how they manage that while walking) or in some truly amazing cases drinking coffee, smoking cigarettes and talking on the phone (how many hands do you need for that?)!
· The weather is unpredictable so always carry an umbrella or rain jacket and sometimes a sweater. We all know how the weather people in the US like to make an “event” out of every type of weather well in the UK they downplay the weather and the description often sounds like this “a few possible showers with some bright spells and later it will be fresher.” The temperature is in Celsius and I have pretty much mastered the conversion and now know that 30 is hot and 17 is cool.
· The British people and those from many other cultures who are here permanently or temporarily are civilized, polite, and proud. They will give you directions and send you off with “Cheers”, they will answer your questions and try to figure out what you want when you ask for a pound of ground meat (here it is called “minced” and they aren’t really sure how much a pound a weighs), they are patient when you try to pay for something with their 8 different coins and even if you make a mistake, they will always give you the correct change (I have learned that only 4 of the 8 are worth messing with…anything in copper is a pence or less and not worth carrying and if your purse weighs too much, you should get rid of the 5 and 10 pence pieces as well), they will always say “sorry” when they bump you, they will always ask where in America you are from but be delighted when you tell them that you live in London!

To learn more about our day to day life, you should plan a visit here as our spare bedroom is just waiting for more family and friends to sign our guest book!

Sisters See London

July 9 – 22

My sister, Judy, arrived in London on July 9th and I was immediately determined that she get her money’s worth during her visit. After getting her settled in our small flat, we set out to see the neighborhood, grab a quick meal, then a walk across Green Park to Buckingham Palace where Judy was given her first view of the red-coated Royal Guards and Queen Victoria’s Memorial. For lunch, we stopped at Fortnum & Mason on Piccadilly Street and enjoyed one of the five restaurants in this one of kind elegant department store known for their own brand of tea and the famous clock which features life size figurines bringing out the tea service on the hour.

Beginning early the next morning, Judy and I became London tourists and during her two weeks we took the Big Bus Tour, saw the crown jewels at the Tower of London, walked across the Tower Bridge, rode in the London Eye and took a Thames River Cruise. We toured Westminster Abbey, St. Paul’s Cathedral, and the Royal Mews. We saw the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, and visited the British Museum, the National Gallery, the Victoria & Albert Museum, and the Wallace Collection. We saw Big Ben, Covent Garden, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and shopped on Oxford and Regent Streets, Carnaby Square, St. Christopher’s Place, Harrods, the Portobello Road Market, and the Camden Lock Market.

Judy’s visit included some very special “beyond London” highlights! Rick booked us on a tour of the London 2012 Olympic Site. The site has completely transformed a very derelict part of London into a 350 acre site for athletics (track & field), swimming, cycling, basketball, opening and closing ceremonies, The Olympic Village, parks and waterways. This highly secure site has over 8000 workers each day and has been built with very high environmental standards….we were impressed!!! We spent a day in Stratford Upon Avon where we toured Shakespeare’s birthplace, Anne Hathaway’s Cottage, and saw the charming River Avon. Our castle and palace tours included Hampton Court Palace (known as one of Henry VIII’s famous palaces), Warwick Castle (now a commercial property), and Windsor Castle (a working castle and home to the Royal Family). We had a leisurely Afternoon Tea at the Cheshire Hotel in Mayfair where we enjoyed flowering teas, finger sandwiches, tarts, and scones. We spent a lovely day in Richmond at The Ham House and Gardens, a very fashionable 17th century home owned by a close friend and court member of Charles I, it survived Cromwell’s rule and is now one of the National Trust properties.

We had a wonderful “sister visit” in and among all the touring, Tube and train rides, and walks and believe it or not, we did not see “it all!” Judy is already making plans to return with Lamar during her spring break in April!

See our pictures: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/SistersSeeLondon?authkey=Gv1sRgCLq08PqipeXPlgE&feat=directlink

Castle Crawl

July 3 & 4

This post is long overdue but I have many good excuses....first, my sister visited us in London from July 9-22 and we stayed busy 24/7 so you will hear of those adventures in my next posting....and second, I am dealing with the logistics of our local move...more on that as well.

Rick and I enjoyed a true adventure over the 4th of July weekend when our plans to visit a friend in Amsterdam fell through due to the excessive price of tickets to anywhere in Europe during the summer months. We learned our lesson: plan ahead, book early, and don't travel when all the tourists are taking European vacations! Finding ourselves without plans for the 4th of July weekend, I turned to the National Trust Handbook to find some "local" attractions. The National Trust is a conservation organization that preserves, protects, and cares for more than 350 historic houses, castles, gardens, and monuments. These historic properties are open to the public for the price of admission and free to National Trust members. Our Marietta friend and neighbor, Carol, first told me about this organization and once I arrived in London, we quickly saw the benefits in joining. To date, I have visited 8 NT properties and plan to work my way through many more. So, with our free weekend and the guidebook in hand, I identified 7 houses, castles, and gardens that Rick and I could visit in a 16 mile radius all about 35 miles from London. The plan involved taking a train to a central location, renting a car (which would give Rick his first experience of driving on the "wrong side of the road" and booking a hotel room. By Thursday night, our/my ambitious plans were all in place!

Saturday morning, we took the train to Maidstone and walked to the rental car location on the ground floor of a historic and realtively unmarked building and asked for our car which we quickly learned would be a manual transmission. Driving on the "wrong side" is one thing but we weren't sure that Rick was up to also shifting left handed so we pleaded for an automatic which promptly increased the cost plus by this time, the rental agent had a good idea of our plans and advised us to also rent a GPS...this we soon found was a necessity for our little adventure. All the logistics put us behind on our itinerary so we scraped two of the properties and headed out to see the others. This proved to be a good decision as this part of the UK is full of rotaries or roundabouts which require you to carefully count the number of exits and select the proper one all while driving on the "wrong side" of the road so you can guess that we had to make several attempts at this exercise before we finally mastered the rotaries!

Our first stop was Hever Castle. For those of you who are fans of The Other Boleyn Girl by Philippa Gregory; you will recognize this castle as the childhood home of Mary and Anne Boleyn. Like many castles, it was constructed in phases, the earliest being 1270. The Tudor section was added in the middle 1500s and much later, it was owned by William Waldorf Astor who added the Italian Gardens. We loved this castle as much for its history as for its beauty!

Moving on, the second and final stop of the day was Chartwell. We were quite certain that we were never going to arrive at this destination as Mandy, our American speaking GPS, had us driving on winding, one lane roads with 20 foot tall hedgerows on either side so we could never see where we were headed or who was coming from the other direction! However, as she would say many times during our weekend adventure, "in 200 yards you will have reached your destination" and sure enough, miraculiously, we would be there!!! Chartwell is the Victorian Mansion that was home to Sir Winston Churchill for over 40 years. It was here that many of his famous speeches and books were written. I did not know that he was also an painter and the house and his studio display over 140 of his more than 500 paintings! Apparently, this great man slept very little so he had a small bedroom built next to his office where he would occasionally take a nap. The house is exactly as the Churchill's left it and it is full of history and very inspiring. We recommended it to some friends who visited the following weekend and were not disappointed!

On Sunday, we got a fairly early start so that we could see all three of the remaining properties. Driving continued to be an adventure and we were grateful to make it to every location! Our first stop was Scotney Castle which is actually two houses. The original castle was built in 1137 and is in partial ruins now but with its round towers and proximity on the river, it looks like a fairytale. The Elizabethan style Victorian Country House and Picturesque style garden were built in the mid 1800s and are beautiful. All manor houses and castles are surrounded by beautiful gardens and parkland which the local residents and all visitors are able to use; often free of charge.

Our second stop was Ightham Mote, a medieval manor house dating from 1320. Here we were greeted with the biggest surprise of the day. As we turned to take our first picture of this amazing house, we both spotted the American flag flying from the highest point. Since it was the 4th of July which is not celebrated (for obvious reasons) in the UK, Rick and I were curious to discover why the American flag was displayed. This property was actually rescued in the 1950s by an American, Charles Henry Robinson who upon his death bequeathed it to the NT....hence, the American flag.

The third and final castle was Leeds Castle, a very large, moated castle in 500 acres of spectacular parkland. Leeds is a commercial property so it has quite a different emphasis than the conservation properties owned by the NT. This more than 900 year old castle is actually a "queen's castle" having been in the hands of 6 medieval queens for over 150 years. It's last owner, also a woman, lived here from 1926 until her death in 1974. Much of the interior was restored and redecorated in the 1930s and it is interesting to see the "contemporary" fixtures, furniture, and decoration in this medieval setting.

Before we knew it, it was time for us to part with Mandy and our car and catch a train back to London. The weekend was a great adventure and we both agreed that we will pursue more visits to NT properties, that driving is challenging but possible, and that three attractions is the maximum that we can handle in one day!

We hope you enjoy our photos...I have tried to compile them so you will enjoy the experience as much as we did: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/CastleCrawl?authkey=Gv1sRgCLPbuvrqz5WSpwE&feat=directlink

Brussels

June 26-27


Often described as "the most beautiful town square in Europe" Brussels is another one of those places that is more breathtaking than you imagined! The town square called the Grand Place is completely surrounded by the most historic building in all of Belgium....all of the buildings date from 1695-1697. When you look at our pictures you will see many of the Grand Place as each time you change directions you think surely this will be the picture that will capture it all!


After checking into our hotel we followed Ben's directions and made our way through the Grand Place. We tried to take it all in before we continued on our way to the Manneken Pis which literally is the famous peeing boy statue. This statue apparently has about 800 outfits that he may be dressed in for many occasions. Had we been more aware, we would have seen his outfit of the day as a clue of what was to come later that afternoon! From the statue, again following Ben's directions, we found his favorite waffle stand (there are many to choose from!) and shared our first Belguim waffle. When we returned to the Grand Place a short time later, we decided that we could not survive on waffles alone (although apparently people have tried to!) so we took a table front and center on the town square and while waiting for our salads began to notice that the square was being cleared and prepared for some sort of ceremony. It turns our that we had front row seats for Meyboom!!! The pictures tell the story far better than I can but apparently it is an annual event dating from 1213 that involves a lots of muscians, costumes, and giant figures that parade around the town square.

Brussels has many famous monuments, statues, parks, and museums that we explored, including: The Royal Park and Royal Palace, The Saint Michel and Saint Gudula cathedral, The Royal Museum of Fine Arts and The Magritte Museum. We saw the many, many, many chocolate shops and treated ourselves to a few samples, had Moules et Frites for dinner and of course, before leaving, we enjoyed another Belgium waffle!


We hope you enjoy our photos: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/Brussels?authkey=Gv1sRgCIugioGtsIrL_AE&feat=directlink

Wimbledon

June 22 - Tuesday


Our day at Wimbledon was perfect. The weather had finally warmed up to near 80 we had a day of sun and clear skies. Wimbledon is one of those places where the build up does not exceed the actual experience! The moment we entered the complex you sense the prestige and tradition. Our invitation included cocktails and lunch in a private suite. The pre-lunch cocktails were either champagne or Pimm's which is a refreshing drink that Rick likes to call "British Sangria." It is actually a gin based drink which looks like iced tea and is mixed with lightly carbonated lemonade, spices, and chopped fresh fruits such as apples, oranges, cucumber, and mint. The actual Pimm's base is a highly guarded secret recipe....much like Coca Cola!


After lunch we took our seats in Centre Court to watch the action packed match between Rafael Nadal and Kei Nishikori which you probably know was won by Nadal. We then returned to our suite for tea and the traditional strawberries and cream....quite the "proper" midday treat! Rick and I returned to Centre Court to watch our hometown boy, Robby Ginepri struggle against the powerful serve of Robin Soderling. You may also know that Soderling won the match in straight sets.

We totally enjoyed our Wimbledon experience and as I type this blog, England and the United States have both just won their World Cup matches with the US finishing at the top of their group...yeah!

See our Wimbledon photos: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/Wimbledon?authkey=Gv1sRgCOODioyE8sWcrQE&feat=directlink

Bodiam Castle

June 21 - Monday



I had a wonderful trip to Bodiam Castle with four other women. We boarded a train at Charing Cross Station at 9:00am and arrived in Robertsbridge, East Sussex at about 10:15am. We walked a few blocks into the village and stopped in a sweet little flower shop where two women helped us by calling a car to drive us the 5 miles to Bodiam Castle. Bodiam Castle is one of the last remaining moated castles and it is a thrill to see it set apart from the village in the rolling green park and farm land. Completely surrounded by its wide moat, the external walls remain entirely intact, and the entire effect is the castle you have always imagined! The roof is gone and most of the interior walls are in ruins but enough remains so that you can see how grand it once was. We spent a lovely day exploring the castle, climbing the tower stairs and enjoying the stunning views.

See my photos of Bodiam Castle: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/BodiamCastle?authkey=Gv1sRgCJuO-pGp4rmIbg&feat=directlink

Tomorrow we go to Wimbledon.

Week One - Living in London

June 14 - 20


My first week of living in London was actually interesting and uneventful. Here is the week in numbers:
joined 1 gym
attended 2 exercise classes
cooked 4 meals
rode 6 Tube lines
explored 7 neighborhoods
learned 8 coins in the UK currency
looked at 15 rental properties
visited 30 shops in The Silver Vaults
walked many...many...many miles


As you can see, it was a week of adjustments and learning the routines of life in London. One of the more interesting moments was standing in the grocery store and suddenly realizing that the measurments of ingredients in my recipe had to be converted into grams & liters!!! This is when you give up on the recipe and just go with what looks about right. Another "ah hah" moment came when I realized that the Brits are very clever when it comes to conserving space in their teeny tiny kitchens...no such thing as those lovely cartons of chicken broth that we have in the US...theirs is a product called Stock Pot and comes in a gelatin form about the size of an ice cube. My final revelation came when I went to cook dinner in the oven and realized that the temperature ranges from 50 - 250...again...it's all guess work.


As I said...not very exciting but even the routine has some unexpected surprises!!! Just walking the streets and exploring the neighborhoods reveals exciting and inspiring architecture! There is something delightful and unique around every corner and I love having adventures in this city!


Hope all the fathers had a lovely Father's Day Weekend.

Weekend in Edinburgh

June 12 & 13

Edinburgh was wonderful and magical! There was beautiful scenery from the window of the train. Throughout England there are rolling green hills full of sheep and lambs and as we got into Scotland we were able to see the coastline with its cliffs, crags, and monolithic rock formations. Train travel is wonderful for catching up on conversation, reading, and snacking (we are going to have to watch that habit as they feed you better on the trains than on the airlines and the snacks are really yummy....double chocolate dunking bars, fruit and oat soft bars just like homemade oatmeal cookies, and Walkers Shortbread cookies!!!)


From the train station we made our way down the main road to our hotel in the original Caledonian Train Station. Our room looked out at the Edinburgh Castle which dominates the skyline as it sits upon Castle Rock and is completely majestic! That is were our tour began and we spent the next few hours exploring this amazing fortress that had its beginnings in the 12th century. From the Castle, we made our way down The Royal Mile which is jam packed with kilt shops, art galleries, pubs and eateries, souvenir shops, and best of all the medieval cobble stoned walkways (wynds and closes) that lead to gardens, tiny shops, smaller museums, kirk yards (kirk = church) all on the way to the 12th century Palace of Holyroodhouse.


We saved our tour of The Palace for Sunday and were greeted by a drizzly day so as we made our way there we stopped at an art gallery that we had seen the day before and spent some time choosing black and white drawings to begin our collection of UK artwork. The Palace is quite impressive and full of history. As you exit The Palace you are in the ruins of the Abbey which was the original structure on this site. Once outside, it stopped raining and allowed us a walk through the gardens where we were able to view the ruins with the peak of Arthur's Seat in the background.

Lots more beautiful scenery from the windows of the train and the ticket-taker on our return trip looked liked he belonged in a children's storybook: short and squat with white hair and mustache and his train uniform was complete with a hat!!!

See our photos: http://picasaweb.google.co.uk/alysehirsekorn/Edinburgh?authkey=Gv1sRgCJjootWu1oymPQ&feat=directlink

First Day Living in London

June 10, 2010

I arrived in London yesterday and after being greeted by Rick before he left for work, I took a 3 hour nap followed by food and a shower so that I felt almost human. Yesterday was uneventful and was spent mostly unpacking, walking around to get oriented and reading up on Edinburgh for our weekend trip.

Today was equally uneventful as I slept until almost 11am and can't even remember the last time that happened!!! Walked up to Oxford Street to Rick's favorite all-purpose store, John Lewis where I bought hangers and a shoe rack for my closet...yes, I do have a closet of my own thanks to my dear husband being willing to rearrange his stuff!!! I do not recommend walking home with a shoe rack in tow...even one that is unassembled, however it did force me to find a few shortcuts and I didn't even get lost!!!! This store also has a lovely foodhall/grocery and I was very tempted to buy some yummy fresh produce and other food items but luckily I remembered that we are short on space and won't actually be home til Sunday night again so I limited myself to fruit (also had to be carried home...see...I am learning) and will make some practical meal plans next week now that I know what is available.

Rick keeps reminding me that I don't have to do everything at once and that I am allowed to take it easy for a while so I am enjoying the slower pace. Monday begins my search for a larger flat so even though the invitation has been made for any and all visitors, if you plan to visit before mid-August, please only bring one change of clothes!!! Also beginning tomorrow or Monday, I will look into creating a blog which my dear cousin Sandy has said is simple to do through Google....of course everything is simple to Sandy!
I will try to keep you updated weekly and should have more exciting experiences to share next week since tomorrow night we attend a Black Tie affair at The Old Billingsgate Fish Market (with Rick's joint venture companies) and Sat. and Sun. we are in Edinburgh.


I look forward to hearing from all of you and hope that you are enjoying your summer.