Baking with a twist

I made soft pretzels tonight, and they were super-yummy! I've wanted to try making these ever since our now-legendary pretzel experience from last December's trip to the German Christmas market in Köln. (The photo below is to remind you of that pretzel.)

I even melted some cheese over one of them tonight--just for old times. I'm not going to say mine were as good as the ones in Germany, but they're probably the best ones we'll get outside Germany. Delicious!

Signspotting

I guess I'm not the only one on the lookout for funny signs. On our recent trip to Edinburgh we came across an exhibit from http://www.signspotting.com/ where they find ACTUAL funny signs and sell them in the form of t-shirts and books and fridge magnets and the like. Here are some of the funnier ones they had in the exhibit.

Oui and whee

For their last couple of days in Europe, my Grandparents and I went to France to enjoy a couple of days in Paris and a day at the D-Day beaches in Normandy. They left this morning to return to the USA. Below is probably my favorite photo from G&G's visit. They're enjoying a delicious chocolate crepe with Notre Dame Cathedral in the background.

Right when we got to Paris Tuesday we stood in the long, hot line and took the lift to the top of the Eiffel Tower. It was great fun, but Grandma wasn't too thrilled about the 1000-foot rise in an elevator of mostly windows. Once we got to the top she did great.

Wednesday we rented a car and drove to the D-Day beaches in Normandy. In the top photo Grandma and Grandpa are in front of the memorial at Omaha Beach. Below, I'm riding a large anti-aircraft weapon at Pointe du Hoc. We also visited Utah Beach.

Thursday we took the open-top bus tour of Paris so they could see the rest of the big sites in Paris before we boarded the train back to the UK. We saw the Arc de Triomphe and Champs Elysees, and we spent some time in the Louvre and visiting Notre Dame Cathedral. It was a great trip!

A wee trip to Northern Ireland

We took a quick trip to Northern Ireland and had a great time. We especially loved the overwhelmingly common use of the word "wee." They asked if Grandpa wanted a "wee bag" for his purchase, they gave us the "wee bill" at the restaurant and wondered if we'd like a "wee brochure" on the bus this morning. So cute!

(above, the Parliament building, Stormont)

The Titanic was built in Belfast; below, Jacob is standing next to an original Titanic rivet by the dry dock where the Titanic was built. We think it's funny that they're so proud to have built the most famous shipwreck!

The bus tour we took this morning in Belfast was fascinating. We don't always realize the extent of the violence and terrorism in Belfast, even in recent years. There are lots of interesting murals throughout the city regarding the violence, some of them tributes to victims, some of them propaganda for either side. We didn't realize that neighborhoods are divided by a big wall--Republicans (Catholics) living on one side, Protestants (Loyalists) on the other. They call it the "peace wall"--inaccurately named, huh? Here's a picture of part of the wall with a memorial to some victims of the violence.

Below we're on the city wall in Londonderry--a very wide wall.

Giants Causeway

We were excited to visit the Giants Causeway in Northern Ireland! It's an amazing geologic formation of 40,000 hexagonal basalt columns. It's difficult to describe how bizarre and amazing it was! The scientific explanation involves volcanic eruptions 50 million years ago, but the Irish legend is much more interesting.

The Irish legend of the Giants Causeway involves 2 giants separated by the causeway, Irish giant Finn McCool and Scottish giant Benandonner. Apparently Finn saw Benandonner's size and was too intimidated to go through with their scheduled fight, so his wife disguised him as a baby and when Benandonner arrived he judged that a baby so large would have a father way too big to fight, so he fled back to Scotland on the Causeway, tearing it up as he went so Finn McCool couldn't follow him.

What country embraces a hero who's too afraid to fight? And who dresses up like a baby? Hilarious!

Isle of Man

We went for the family history, but what we didn't expect was that the island would be so beautiful! Our first 24 hours there it didn't rain at all, and it was supposed to rain the whole time, so we enjoyed the gorgeous scenery while the sun was out.

Here are some photos from Peel Castle, which we toured and enjoyed.

The Laxey Wheel is the largest working waterwheel in the world.

We also took some scenic drives that were breathtaking. The photos don't do it justice!

The Cannons of Cooilshellagh

This week we made a trip--no, a pilgrimage--to the Isle of Man, which is a beautiful, self-governing island between England and Ireland in the Irish Sea. The reason for the trip is that my Grandma's family, the Cannons, originally came from the Isle of Man, and she's always wanted to visit. We had some fun experiences tracking down Cannon-related places, and this post is dedicated to everyone on the side of the family related to the Cannons. I'll include page references in the Cannon Family book for those who have a copy and want more information. (I'm including lots of details and pictures, so if you aren't related but still care, read the other IoM post--or risk boredom with this one.)

For me, the highlight was finding the Cannon ancestral home/farm Cooilshellagh, translated from the Manx language as Willow Nook. (see page 4) It wasn't easy to find, and I was glad I had done some research before we went or it might have been impossible. It was so exciting to see the farm where my ancestors lived and worked for many generations! Here are some photos of it. (The old stone barn was converted to holiday cottages, but any house once occupied by Cannon ancestors is long gone--see page 5.)

Near Cooilshellagh is the village of Kirk Michael where many of our ancestors are buried. The current church is too new to have been the actual building where our ancestors were christened or married, but the churchyard contains several graves of our ancestors. There was a very helpful man there who showed us around the church and let us examine parish records. I love this photo of actual sheep running between graves there.


We were also fortunate to have found the still-standing home of one of our ancestors, Captain George Cannon (father of the George Cannon who moved the family to America). He's not buried on the island because he died at sea, but we knew his house was still standing in Peel. We knew the street name from pre-trip research, but the SatNav didn't work on the island, and we had terrible maps. Thankfully we bumped into a local who personally escorted us to Orry Lane, where we saw his house. (see page 16)


At the entrance to Cooilshellagh is a plaque dedicated in 1990 by Elder George I. Cannon. It commemorates the 150th anniversary of the family's conversion to the gospel, which led them to join the LDS Church and emigrate to America. Read the plaque's inscription on page 81, and see the photo from September 1990 on page 82.