Colourful things (such as coats, apples and autumn leaves)

Friday night we saw Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat in London's West End at the Adelphi Theatre. It was a fun show to see, and we were particularly impressed with the amazing dancing! (Interesting tangent--the actor who plays Joseph in the production won a BBC reality TV competition to play this part. He has a great voice.)

Before the show, we ate dinner at this (also very colourful) Brazilian buffet. The food was ok; Jacob says it didn't showcase the potential of Brazilian cuisine (which Jacob thinks is some of the best cuisine in the world).

Saturday morning we went to Audley End House and Gardens for Apple Weekend. The house's extensive kitchen gardens were once used to feed the residents of the mansion, and they still grow plentiful fruits and vegetables. The stars of the weekend were, of course, the apples, which grow in dozens of varieties and in many sizes (see Jacob going in for a bite of a huge apple below). We tasted the local apple varieties and sampled some wonderful apple juice. We also tried a chicken and apple salad that was delicious!

The following photo is dedicated to my Mom (who loves pears); we really liked the way the pear trees have been grown against the wall like this. And the pears themselves look beautiful!

In addition to the fact that apples are in season, here's another indication of autumn: gorgeous leaves in our garden. Happy autumn!

After blackberry picking

It's blackberry season! The plentiful fruit is ripe and delicious and all over the country, ready to be picked. Just across the street is a side-of-the road patch where we've picked many blackberries the past couple of weeks--for free. This afternoon we had a great time picking blackberries together; here are photos of the spoils and the stained hands.

We wish we could share the taste of these gorgeous, delicious berries !

J'aime Paris!

This past weekend was my third trip to Paris, and it was magnifique! I went with Cheria, whose husband works with Jacob, and we met her friends Vicki and Diane (who are sisters) in Paris. I really missed Jacob, but I really enjoyed my traveling companions. Here they are at the Eiffel Tower.

Below is a photo of Notre Dame Cathedral, taken from a cruise along the Seine River. I got to see the inside of the Cathedral this time, which was beautiful (but the photos are a little too dark to include). We were there Sunday morning during mass, which was interesting.

When I was in Paris in June with Nick, Emily and Joel, we went to Versailles but only had time for the gardens, which were fabulous. We wished they would turn on all the gorgeous fountains; on this trip to Paris I saw the Versailles fountains running!

We also went inside the Palace, and the rooms were the most luxurious I've ever seen--or even imagined. Here are photos of the chapel inside the palace, and Cheria and me in the Hall of Mirrors.

One of my favorite parts of Versailles was the Marie Antoinette estate, where she lived to escape palace life. She had a miniature village of her own (Hameau de la Reine), and those cute little buildings were unexpected on the grounds of a palace. But I really enjoyed it.

This is a little tangential, but we discussed the opulence of Versailles and decided that the French populace was totally justified in being outraged at the excessive consumption of the royal family while the French people bore the economic burdens of Louis XVI's debt. As we looked at the gorgeous interiors of the Palace, Cheria said: "I would have beheaded her." Me too.
The metro stop for the Rodin Museum had a couple of Rodin statues. (I know, I'm silly.)

I have so many incredible photos of Versailles, so I'll close with the recently restored Royal Gate and and example of the gorgeous ceiling paintings throughout the Palace.

All the world's a stage...

When we moved to England one of my priority destinations was Stratford-upon-Avon to see the Shakespeare birthplace (above) and other related sites. We finally made it! Before I talk about our wonderful day in Stratford (Monday), I'll talk about what we did Saturday.

We went to London and saw our very first (but certainly not our last) West End production: Les Miserables at the Queen's Theatre. We both thought the production was amazing--the singing, dancing, acting, pit orchestra, set, etc. I can't adequately emphasize how incredible it was!
As you can probably tell from the above photo, the Queen's Theatre was near Chinatown. We enjoyed walking through Chintown in London. Here's a photo of Jacob there.



Now for Stratford. Below is the house where Shakespeare was actually born, and we stood in the very room--totally awesome! The house itself was interesting, as it's the original house from the 1500s (with a few additions over the centuries), and there was an interesting presentation about glove-making, the profession of Shakespeare's father.

(Can you tell I was absolutely elated to be there?)

The next house is is called Hall's Croft and belonged to Shakespeare's son-in-law, who was a doctor in Stratford-upon-Avon. The house was also his medical practice, and it's believed he was actually Shakespeare's physician (which acquaintance probably led to his marrying Shakespeare's daughter).

The house where Shakespeare spent his final days (New Place) was destroyed and is now a beautiful garden. Adjacent to that garden is the amazing Great Garden where we saw a series of statues (by American sculptor Greg Wyatt) of Shakespeare's plays/characters. Here's the one of Falstaff (always a favorite Shakespeare character).

This is Holy Trinity Church, where Shakespeare is buried (and was baptized and worshipped during his life). We saw his grave with the famous epitaph, as well as a first-edition copy of the King James Bible.

Good friend for Jesus sake forbeare,

To dig the dust enclosed here.

Blessed be the man that spares these stones,

And cursed be he that moves my bones.

A Cycling Event

When we lived in Albuquerque we really enjoyed riding our bikes. In England recreational cycling is a bit tricky. Riding on the roads is very dangerous, and we've only seen bike paths in Cambridge. Our bikes took a beating in the move, so Jacob worked extensively to get them ready to ride. And Saturday we were excited to ride our bikes in Thetford Forest, Britain's largest lowland pine forest.

Thetford Forest has a big recreational site with 30 miles of bike and walking trails, picnic areas, a high wire suspension course and more. We rode the red trail, which is just below the black trail in difficulty. We were surprised to discover little obstacles and other "sweet jumps" on the trail. I attempted one, fell off and decided to play it safe on the others. Jacob, however, decided to take a few more risks. On one ramp, he took quite a spill and wound up with a few wounds. The bumps bruises from the fall look painful to me, but the worst of it was from the unidentified vegetation that came in contact with the exposed skin. ("Thank goodness for underwear." ~Jacob) He only got a few hours of sleep last night because the itching and burning kept him awake.

Despite the bumps and bruises, we had a great time and hope to bike again soon.

We can't help but be a little inspired by all the cycling medals won by Team GB in the Beijing Olympics, especially in indoor cycling events, which we were previously unaware existed. We've really enjoyed following the Olympics, especially getting some of the British broadcasts and seeing things from a non-American perspective. We're already looking forward to London 2012 (1433 days to go!).

Czech us out: Prague on the blog

This week we had a few extra days, so we went to Prague! We had an amazing time, and photos don't do it justice.

We took a 6-hour tour of the city and learned a lot about its fascinating history. We saw dozens of gorgeous churches, but the Czech Republic has one of the least religious populations in Europe; our tour guide said that 75% are atheist. Most of the beautiful churches serve as concert halls/performing arts centers, but some do hold services on Christmas and Easter. The photo below shows Tyn's Church in the old town square. Also in the old town square is a reminder of Prague's importance in the tumultuous Protestant Reformation. The statue in the middle of the square is Jan Hus, an influential Protestant thinker who was burned at the stake in 1415. Hus's ideas influenced Martin Luther and the overall Protestant movement in Europe. We find it ironic that a place steeped in so much religious history is currently so nonreligious (probably a result of Communism).

Also in the old town square is the famous Astronomical Clock, constructed in 1410, with most of the original mechanical parts still operating. The Clock gives an hourly performance where the 12 Apostles appear in the 2 blue windows above the Clock; it was lots of fun to watch.


Our tour included a river cruise along the Vltava River. The cruise also took us into a cute little canal. We haven't been to Venice (yet), but we thought the experience felt a little Venetian.
Then we toured Prague Castle, which is the largest ancient castle in the world. The Castle is dominated by St. Vitus Cathedral, a breathtaking structure where coronations and other significant events have taken place in Czech history. Another historical event that took place at Prague Castle was the famous Defenestration of Prague, which started the Thirty Years' War -- another important event from the Protestant Reformation. (You can see the Castle on the hill above the Vltava River.)

We also took the Haunted Prague Tour, which was a little cheesy and not at all scary; but it was fun to see the amazing city at night.

Famous Prague residents included Tycho Brahe and Johannes Kepler; they worked on their groundbreaking theories of planetary motion there (Kepler as Tycho's assistant). The writer Franz Kafka was also from Prague. I read his most famous work Die Verwandlung (The Metamorphosis) in German in college. I wasn't a huge fan, but we visited his monument in Prague anyway. The statue is located in the Jewish Quarter (Josefov), which was preserved by the Nazis, who intended it to be a museum of an extinct people.

The Czechs were under the rule of the Communist party from 1946 until 1989 when the famous Velvet Revolution occurred in Wenceslas Square (pictured below).

Charles Bridge is one of the iconic Prague sights. Most sections of the bridge are original--from as early as the 1300s.

The Lennon Wall is filled with John Lennon-themed graffiti and Beatles song lyrics; it was originally an outlet for anti-Communist protest in the 1980s but survives today as a symbol of the ideals of peace and love.

We loved Prague!

Glad to be home

I just returned from the Middle East. I'm happy to be back at home with my beautiful wife in England. I won't bore you with a lot of details about the trip. Instead I've attached a few pictures that everyone might enjoy....

(This is a picture of me with a familiar face.)

(I did a lot of traveling; I traveled via C-17, C-130 and Army Sherpa--pictured above)

(It was very, very, very, very, very hot. To give you an idea of how hot it is, the tar on the road melted every afternoon.)

(The military can be creative. This is a row of carports just outside Saddam's private terminal that have been converted into offices.)

(I had the opportunity to tour some of Saddam's palaces. This is a picture from the top of one of them, overlooking his palace grounds. The lake is not naturally occurring. The island building is his mother-in-law's house. Insert your own joke.)

(This is a picture of me standing by a playground built for Saddam's grandchildren. It was supposedly built to resemble the Flintstone's cartoon. It was pretty extravagant, with an elevator and a kitchen.)