Sunday/Monday

Okay - quick run down. Sunday was an epic journey. Arrived London actually early - around 12:30. Get to hotel by 1 PM. Huzzah! Can't check in. We're "early." ?? Apparently St. Athans check in is 2 PM. Okay - time to check email, double check flights, etc. Vayama says there's a change on our flight. What? Crap. Call - not open on Sunday. Call Air Canada. No changes. Our seats are already booked. One disaster averted.

By the time that's done we can check in. Finally. Drop bags and walk to British Museum. Finally get photos on the really old stuff we missed before (photos will follow - probably after we get back home). Bus down to the Eye. Great walk along the south bank. Great ride on the Eye. Recommend to all, great views of the city. Parliament; White Hall; Charing Cross etc. etc.

Down and across Jubilee Bridge; Trafalgar Sq. is dark by now but still a few photos of the man himself. Greatest Nelson quote - as his bowsprit is about to get hung up on enemy rigging as he crosses it's stern at the start of the battle of Trafalgar: "There's nothing for it."

Hey! The National Gallery is right there! And it's free! DaVinci's Virgin at the Rocks. Quite a dark painting actually, though Dan Brown is clearly insane. A half-finished Michaelangelo. A few other famous paintings. No pictures though - can't do that there as I quickly found out.

Stroll to Picadilly Circus which is London's Times Square, a short walk to the Odeon. Very early for Harry Potter so we grab a bite at a very big, very crowded Mexican restaurant: Conchito's or something. Not terrible, but nothing great either, and a lot of food. It is so good to see England following US's lead in offering patrons ridiculously huge portions of food. Not a surprise that it is hard to find good Mexican in London.

Movie at 8:45 then a dash to the Underground for one of the last trains. Tried to sleep but the upstairs neighbors were up until very early in the morning walking around, up and down the stairs, and then the floor/ceiling creaks horribly. Almost no sleep, up at 6 AM for epic tour.

I'll just say this. Steer clear of Goldon Tours. We didn't book through them, but Michelle called them by mistake and they actually confirmed the reservation (?!?!). We ended up going with them but the guide was called on the way to Windsor and told that we weren't with her tour. We get to Windsor and - after telling us that she would make sure we connected with our group - basically abandoned us at the gate, waiting for the person who was to be our guide.

By the time he found us it was too late to enjoy Windsor much and we would have to pay our own way (we will be getting a refund on that part...eventually). We walked down to the Thames and ate whilst a group of water fowl watched us predatiously. So we went with the much cooler Premium Tours bus. They stopped at an off the highway pub for lunch on the way to Stonehenge. I got the sense that this tour was supposed to be a real touristy kind of experience with Royal family trivia, lunch at an actual pub (!) etc.

Stonehenge is a definite must do even if you can't go in amongst the stones, and forget about sacrificing a goat or a chicken, much less a virgin. Unfortunately that is something you just can't get away with anymore.

Bath is a beautiful city. Probably a very cool place to live. The Roman baths are a good attraction. I doubt we would take this tour again, but if Bath was a stop on another trip, it would be worth spending some time there.

Long ride back. We walked down Oxford St. looking at all the shops and the Christmas decorations. I guess without Thanksgiving the English have even less incentive to wait a respectable amount of time before hitting you with the $-mas onslaught. Some weird pizza for dinner. Bottle of Claret I got from the Shipston Musical Society. Packing. Home tomorrow - or whatever it is when you're eight hours ahead.

Photos to come a little later.

Brennen

Sunday so far

It's been a while since I posted because I've been very busy. Michelle and I have also picked up on the local lingo. I noticed I referred to a tv host as a tv presenter this morning. Wow.

Drove up to London on Wed. evening for a run through with Siva who is the producer for the recording. A good run through, but I was never in great voice - at all this week. Anyway - Das Lied needs drama and high notes, not so much gentle subtlety, at least for the tenor.

We stayed with a great couple in Cardiff named Jamie and Anna. Great people. Good tea and toast in the morning and help around the city. Anna plays for the WNO (like Suzanne) and Jamie is a freelance pianist. Their flat is on Cathedral Rd near the heart of Cardiff. We also spent a lot of time with Ken and Suzanne. They have two adorable kids and are also hosting contractors who continue to work on the upstairs guest room. Suzanne kept feeding us. She's a great cook.

Thursday we headed off to Stratford. We spent the night there and I went off to morning rehearsal while Michelle saw the sights. Mahler is challenging at any time, but at 10 AM can be particularly difficult. We ran through two of the final pieces, then later, pressed for time, only got one run through of Trinklied. A couple of hours of break in the late afternoon and then back to Shipston with Michelle in tow for the concert at 7:30.

Met Emma, the contralto I sang with. Great, deep, earthy voice and we spent quite a bit of our two days with her and her husband Andy who plays the lute and other period guitars.

The concert went well. Better than rehearsal. The recording will use that as a foundation and patch around it. We had a delightful after concert eats and drinks with a couple who live in Stratford, John and Mary Jane. They live in a 16th century original. You can always tell you are in a 16th or 17th century building because you are always in danger of cracking your head on a lintel or ceiling beam.

But no drinking, because recording started again the next morning. Luckily I didn't have to sing until 12. Did some work (not great) on Trinklied, broke for food at 1. I didn't eat though, and chose rather to listen to some of the takes and the concert recording. Then we worked on the second half of Trinklied, which I think went much better. Then on to the two shorter pieces and I was done by 2:10 (woot!).

I had a couple custard filled donuts for lunch then we all broke for dinner. Nothing was available for the time we had, so since I was done I hit an Indian place on my own. Finally some brit curry. The samosas were good, the pacoras not bad. The curry was very good, the naan - meh - not bad but undercooked.

Since I had no ride between Stratford and Shipston I just hung out, listening to Emma sing her way through her three songs. Well, actually after dinner, it was just the one: der Abschied. But let's be honest it is as long as the rest of the work put together and really tricky for the orchestra and a challenging sing for the contralto: lots of high, sustained, piano singing. It took about 2 1/2 hours and then we all had a well deserved pint.

Then it was good byes. A great thanks to Ken and his leadership from the podium and his passion, Siva for her diligence, support and encouragement as well as Gary the sound engineer for the recording and hats off to Orchestra of the Swan for top notch playing on a very difficult and exposed work. Finally cheers to my colleague Emma and her great work on a truly epic piece of music.

A restless night and now on the train to London - well three trains: Stratford to Leamington Spa to Reading to London. I have to say the British rail system suffers badly in comparison to its continental counterparts. We had a much better time of things in France and Germany. The trains here are much more crowded (why won't they add just another car? A couple trains were standing room only for more than an hour.) and not as timely.

Well, now it's a day in London seeing the sights, Harry Potter at the Leicester (had to reserve seats for that one). Tomorrow an epic bus ride to Windsor, Stonehenge and Bath. Then tomorrow back home.

No trouble getting to London, but hotel room not ready --grrrr. Tried to book our seats on the flight - something has changed? Now I have to call Canada or US or something to see what is up. They couldn't just tell us I guess. I hope it isn't serious.

Stratford Upon Avon

Well, It's Saturday now and as you can guess we've been busy.  Well, hmm...We were last in Cardiff with the Woods family and their friends and then on Thursday, Ken drove us all to Stratford Upon Avon.  It was raining cats & dogs the whole way here.  We checked in and then walked down to a pub for dinner...The Thatch Inn.  It was good food.

A bit of history of Stratford...it was the home of William Shakespeare.  JB has been in rehearsals and concert and recording sessions while I have been playing tourist.  As a favor to my darling spousal unit for bringing me along, I played tourist at all the sites that he would have liked to have seen...he'll get to see the same pictures you do...he'll put them on the same flickr site you've been going to for the other pictures.

Here's a free advertisement for the historical sites for William Shakespeare's life in Stratford Upon Avon...if you spend the money on the ticket, you don't have do do everything on the same day...it is a ticket that is valid for an entire year!  Way cool!  I didn't miss anything after some adventures and it was a nice surprise for today.

Yesterday, I went to the house he was born and raised in.  He also lived there after he was married.  I was going to go to the other sites, but JB requested an insulated coffee mug...apparently they aren't something that the Brits use on a regular basis because I couldn't find one for several hours and eventually found a Starbucks that, of course, had them.  Whew!  That search was very frustrating, but all was well in the end.

Last night was the concert...Mahler's Das Lied von der Erde (Song of the Earth) as performed by the Orchestra of the Swan with Ken Woods conducting and Brennen and Emma singing.  It was really well done and we all enjoyed it.

Today, was also busy until about 3:30.  I started off by being sent on another mission for JB...he needed more dirt tea for his throat and I didn't mind going to find it as I knew where to go after yesterday's search for the cup.  I barely made it to the sidewalk alive as I tripped just leaving the property of the B&B...it was reallly graceful!  The ankle is still sore, but I put over 4 miles on it after I tripped, so it wasn't too bad and I'm taking it easy tonight.

After that, I got to play tourist again and thought I should restart the day at Starbucks.  Well, I thought about going to another coffee shop, but Starbucks brought me luck yesterday.  I also went to Hall's Croft, the home of the local doctor at the time of Shakespeare...my brain is forgetting the details.  I did that with Andy, Emma's husband, and then we went to the church where he (Shakespeare) and his family were buried.  After that we walked along the Avon river and took photos of the buildings that the Royal Shakespeare Company perform in, but we didn't go in to them due to road construction.  From there we went to Nash's house and the New Place.  Nash's House is where Shakespeare's daughter and her husband lived.  The New Place is the house where Shakespeare died and is currently under excavation as it is an archaeological dig in process.

Well, after that I did something for my mother...please be kind and mark it on your calendar.  After organizing our travel for Sunday, I went shopping at Morrisons.  It is England's version of Safeway, including gas stations.  I bought food for a late lunch and some dinner as I was (and still am) planning a quiet night in front of the television and tackling the daunting reorganization of our belongings prior to our destination change in the morning...we're headed back to London.

When JB gets a chance, I will have him throw the pictures back up on flickr.  Until then, have some fun!

Almost slept in. Almost. Went to Ken and Suzanne's for a while, caught up on some of my favorite blogs. Ate at a good Thai restaurant. Then a long drive to London to rehearse in the presence of our producer. She treated us to a very nice meal at "The Albany" near Hampton.

Good rehearsal with Jamie (last time to see him on our trip - farewell) and Ken. Did some good honing and got some good suggestions from Siva (the producer).

Then got back at 11:30, not because we didn't hurry back. Ken drives fast - as in really really fast -- as in get out of the way because you are definitely not driving fast enough. You would not think that his small, diesel, Toyota station wagon would hum along at such great speeds, let me assure: it does, quite well.

Off to bed and the Stratford tomorrow. Bill - here I come.

Brennen

Finally, Tea First!

It's about time that I found a place that offers tea first, before offering coffee!  I've had more tea in the past week than I can remember.  It is rather refreshing.  People do seem a bit surprised that I want "black" tea "black" and no cream and/or sugar...not a huge shock, but still it does catch them off guard.

Here's our real timeline...I read JB's blog entries and even I was confused about the timing.  I'm willing to chalk it up to road weariness and chaos.  Here you go:

Thursday: Arrive 5 hours early and drop our bags at the hotel, get a sim card for the phone, eat in a pub (I don't like haddock for my fish & chips) and head for the British Museum.

Friday: Train to Carlisle, get rental car, go to Hadrian's wall, eat at the Crown Inn pub (steak & ale pie is great), then my first attempt at a blog entry and early to bed.

Saturday: Early up with the continental breakfast at the hotel, followed by the rest of our tour of Hadrian's wall and frantic dash and near failure to get rid of the car, dinner at the pub (I do like cod for my fish & chips) with a bit of "football" and some rugby followed by a walking tour of downtown Carlisle...bought three (3) skeins of "wool" even though it was acrylic and nylon.  They don't understand the word "yarn" as string of varying thicknesses used for making cloth...every time I mentioned it people would stare at me and then point to thread...go figure.

Sunday: Early up with a full English breakfast (confused by the baked beans for breakfast...it's just Wrong!), next up is the series of trains to Cambridge (Carlisle to Newcastle to Peterborough to Cambridge) and meeting up with Beatrice for some great soup and hospitality.  She took us on a tour of the 43 colleges that make up the town of Cambridge and vespers at St. John's College chapel.  I had a hard time not crocheting in church and not fidgeting either.

Monday: Early up with a trip to Cardiff via Birmingham...a really cool thing happened - we purchased BritRail England train passes which were supposed to only be good in England, but we were going to Cardiff (in Wales) and thought we were going to have to buy train tickets from Birmingham to Cardiff, however the ticket agent called her supervisor who said to wait and see if the train conductor/ticket agent would charge us or not...they didn't and saved us at least 80 pounds! We took a cab to Ken & Suzanne Woods' place in Cardiff and discovered the chaos of a construction zone and toddlers combined...it was fun!  I was missing my monkey anyway and so we got both the pooch fix and the toddler fix.


Tuesday:  We did a walking tour of Cardiff - Walked through an awesome park, saw Cardiff Castle, ate lunch in an Irish pub, got a little turned around, took a little train down to Cardiff Bay and walked around the Roald Dahl plaza where Torchwood was filmed, saw the over-priced Dr. Who exhibit, took the water taxi back up the Taff (the main river in Cardiff) and had dinner with Ken & Suzanne and friends.

Wednesday (Today): Easy day = No Plans.  JB and I came over to Ken & Suzanne's early to hang out and just take it easy.  We had lunch at the Bangkok Cafe (a new place in town) and it was really quite good.  JB & Ken went to meet with the producer and have a rehearsal and will be back later.  There are no spectacular plans for tonight...just hanging out with toddlers who go to bed at 7pm.  I'm looking forward to the down time.

Tomorrow (Thursday) we're going to Shipston which is near Stratford Upon Avon if you care to look at a map.  JB's gig is on Friday and the recording session is on Saturday and then it's back to London.  Well, enough typing today.

Michelle

Tuesday

Busy day today. Up, walk through the park to Cardiff Castle (see photos of Gothic revival decorations by the obscenely wealthy) and the Norman keep which was very cool. Walk through the markets, slightly lost then made it to Cardiff Bay where we visited Dr. Who museum and walked on top of Torchwood. Saw a huge bill board dedicated to resuscitating a dead character (and perhaps the series). I don't think it's done any good. Met an older couple. He lived in Cardiff when he was young and told us stories of how dangerous Tiger Bay was and how the docks were black with coal and iron back in the day. Ride back on the water taxi. Rehearsal with Ken and Jamie then a great dinner provided by the Woods and hanging out with our new friends in Cardiff.

Tomorrow - hopefully a lazy morning the Ken and I drive SW of London to meet the producer. No idea what Michelle is up to.

picasaweb.google.com/opus440

Monday is followed by Tuesday

Monday: Cambridge yesterday. A nice train ride and decent weather most of the way. We did have to run to make our connection to Peterborough. Michelle was not happy. The train certainly took it's time getting there, so I don't know why it should have been late, but the British Rail system is not what it once was apparently.

We were able to stay with someone - a friend of a friend from Eugene. Her name was Beatrice, and though she's lived in Cambridge for over 30 years, she's still very much Italian. She took us around the city though almost everything was closed up because we arrived in the afternoon and it was Remembrance Sunday (like our Veteran's Day).

Beatrice is a great host. She fed us and doted on us - lots of laughs. We went to St. John's for vespers. Good choir and a decent sermon but nothing overwhelming. I confess I am not a great fan of the English boys choir - but they do make a beautiful sound that is magical in a stone chapel.

How to sum up Cambridge. That's tricky. I imagine if you went to school there or taught at the University it would be a great place to live. I don't know that I would want to live there if I didn't. I got a sense that it is definitely a place of insiders and outsiders.

Off to Caridff today. Made our trains and actually ate lunch by 1 PM. I haven't noted this, but eating lunch is an achievement we have been unable to fulfill until today. Things keep getting in the way. We've found ourselves typically not eating until two or even three and Friday we skipped out on lunch all together to get up to Hadrian's Wall. We don't go anywhere until Thursday this week, so hopefully we'll get a chance to have a more normal routine, maybe even get to sleep in once. You are supposed to sleep in on vacation, right? We'll see.

Brennen

Tuesday: Train to Birmingham was crowded. We were lucky to get a seat because there were people standing in the aisles for Peterborough and one other stop. We were able to use our Railway passes all the way to Cardiff, which was nice since we would have paid over 40 pounds each for a ticket because we didn't book them in advance.

Birmingham to Cardiff was a breeze and we took a taxi to Ken and Suzanne's. Suzanne made a great dinner and I met Emma who is my singing colleague for this performance, even though we never actually sing together for this piece.

Ken arrived at 7 AM yesterday morning and we decided to put off the planned rehearsal until this evening. We are staying with Jaime and Anna since Ken's guest room didn't get finished yet. Jaime is from the US originally and has been living in the UK for about 7 years. He introduced us to the most sacred of British television programming: the panel show. Apparently this is as popular as the police procedural is in the US. They can be hit and miss, but a fair bit of the comedy goes by us because we don't know the references.

Today we'll stroll around Cardiff, visit the castle, the cathedral, the arcade markets and the Dr. Who museum, then back to Jaime's for rehearsal around 5. Then I'm off to SW London tomorrow for another rehearsal.

Brennen

Carlisle Day II (Roman Numerals in honor of our Latin overlords)

Day 2 in Carlisle. Early breakfast but got out too late. We drove like mad to Corbridge to visit the Roman town there. Lots of interesting ruins and a main road that ran all the way to Carlisle. Lots of photos of the columns in the granery, the underground watering and sewage system etc. Also a lot of restored inscriptions. Translation plaques follow the photo.

Then to Chesters Roman fort. Photos of town, barracks, baths. The chief had his own baths in the back of his home. The museum there had a room in which pretty much everything in it was an altar. Roman altars were not what we tend to think. They are about as big around as a column with a broadening at the top on which to pour or burn the offering. A big one was about 4 feet high. There are a lot of them. The Romans were very religious (we would almost think of it as superstitious) and made regular offerings to everyone from Jupiter to the genius of the captain of the guard. To ignore this duty was to invite bad luck at best and disaster and tragedy at worst.

Two of the places (yesterday and today) we stopped were crags at the top of which was the wall. Quite a hike up, but great views of the surrounding countryside including "enemy" country to the north.

I think it is fair to say that Hadrian was one of the greatest of Rome's emperors and so it is odd that he is most known for building a wall, since it was not one of his greatest accomplishments. On the other hand the wall is an quite a feat even for today. It is hard to look at it still stretching over and across the rugged hills of Northern England and not be impressed. The Romans were serious people and when they set there minds to it, and were at their height, it seemed there was nothing they could not accomplish.

Photos here: http://picasaweb.google.com/opus440

Now to the not so good part of the day. We were heading back, trying to get to the rental car office before noon. We called ahead and let them know where we were at and to get directions so we would have no misturns. We arrived about 10 minutes late. Apparently customer service is not a concern for this particular outpost of Enterprise car rental because it was locked up and no one was there. I was pretty sure that I saw a car pull out of the drive way just as we were making our u-turn to the other side of the street.

Great - we called the number - nothing - transfered to the national cust. service. "Go to the nearest airport and drop the car there." "Really?" "Yes." "Great."

20 minutes later we arrive at the Carlisle airport - if that is what you want to call it. Regional is too big a word. No rental office of any kind. No nothing. Call again. about 45 min. later we get the message - leave the car at the hotel and they'll pick it up on Mon. "We won't be charged for the extra day, right?" "You shouldn't be." "Great."

So back to the hotel - then to the pub (Crown Hill pub - good food) discouraged and hungry - about 1:30 now. A pint and fish and chips and we are better. Watched rugby - GB vs. Aus. First half GB was doing well. We were tired and went back to the hotel. Michelle wanted to take a nap but I discovered there was a craft shop downtown. That got her up and we walked about 15 min. to downtown.

Downtown Carlisle is like a big, open mall. Saturday it was filled with people including the adolescent mall rats and the accompanying drama. We hit the craft shop and Michelle bought yarn. A Hari-Krishna accosted us and tried to sell us "Monk Rock." We declined. He was a nice guy, but also clearly a good salesman and raising money.

On the way back we achieved one of my goals: We ate at McDonalds. I have never eaten at a McDonalds outside of the US. However, I was intrigued when I heard on the radio show "Wait, wait, don't tell me" that chicken mcnuggets are different in Europe and the UK than in the US. Apparently there is a non-foaming agent that is used in the batter in the US that is disallowed in the UK. That agent is dimethylpolysiloxane - otherwise known as silly putty.

Yes, they taste different. Actually they taste more like chicken. There is also the optional sauce of "Sweet Curry." It is the UK afterall. It was pretty good. My other favorite sauce, "Sweet & Sour" also tasted different - more orangey. Michelle said her Big Mac was a little different too: more mustardy. The fries, of course, tasted the same.

We grabbed a bus back up to the hotel. Re-packing now - getting ready to leave in the morning. Three different trains to get from here to Cambridge, but looking forward to the choir at King's College. Then off to Cardiff on Monday and I have to get to work.

Brennen

Yesterday: London on no sleep for 36 hours. I only let Michelle get me lost once, then I made sure I knew where she thought she was going. I got some great photos of the Rome exhibit at the British museum. Well mostly great. Michelle must have grabbed the wrong battery because it kept threatening to quit so it was: flip on, take quick picture, flip off. I took pictures of the tags next to the items, so if you are wondering what is in the photo, the following picture will probably tell you. We did miss some of the truly ancient stuff because they close some exhibits early in the evening. Wish we'd known. Michelle only had the oldest (and therefore best) objects left on her list as we watched, only feet away, the museum staff put up ropes to keep us plebes from their precious exhibits. Well - maybe when we get back to London next week.

Click here for Pictures.

We stayed in a decent hotel last night just off Russel Square. A decent walk from the underground. London is a lot like NYC - lots of busy people going places, lots of cabs, lots of traffic, congestion in the subway. We went down to Kings Cross and there was this mass of people packed up around the underground ticket gates. Apparently there was "congestion" down in the track area, so they held about 300 people back and then started letting them through a minute or so after we got there. The entrance having only 4 ticket gates, the trickle of people was like something out of an apocalyptic movie. If they tried anything like that in NYC there would have been blood spilled. In London apparently it's not that big a deal.

Had a nice train ride up to Carlisle. Grabbed a rental car and made our way to the hotel. Driving in England is perverse. It's not just that they drive on the left side of the road. That on it's own isn't that big a deal. The roads are a deranged mess. All the cities were built when the most luxurious form of travel was a horse and cart which means two things: 1. The roads are way too narrow and 2. There is no logical planning to their layout. Like all ancient cities it is very easy to get lost and turned around. Just because you know you are south and east of where you want to be does not guarantee that if you take roads generally aimed in that direction that you will get anywhere near your destination. More than likely you will simply get yourself lost. If I had not paid the extra coin for a data plan on my android phone and had the use of Google Maps, I have no doubt that the local constables would have found me the next morning, some few steps from my abandoned car, a crumpled, weeping heap.

Now back to the too narrow part. Yes the roads are narrow. The cars are narrow too. You might think that would help. Let me assure, gentle reader, it does not, especially when the car rental agent upgrades you for free because he's such a great guy and we'll need the extra power for the roads around Hadrian's wall. Then there is the fact that apparently driving school in England is taught by members of the Knievel family. Evidently just because we will be passing scant inches from one another at a combined speed of 100 mph does not mean that I should slow down at all. No - grip the steering wheel, square your jaw, and above all FOCUS. It will all be over in a millisecond.

Anyway. We're still alive. Tomorrow is more Hadrian's Wall. We'll get those photos up soon as well as the rest of the British Museum photos.

Brennen

Well, let's see...I'm POOPED!  Yep!  I doubt it's "Jet Lag" but just because we've been too busy to relax and the excitement of seeing a new place.  We're having lots of fun and seeing all kinds of things...in London we did some shopping (for a sim card for the phone) on Oxford Street, we saw King's Cross and St. Pancras and Euston train stations, and the British Museum.  We walked around the Bloomington/Russell Square areas of town.  Then we took a train to Carlisle and rented a car to drive out and see Haidrian's wall...we saw some of it before it got dark, but we're going back tomorrow to see some more...it's pretty cool!  Well, it's nearly 8 o'clock and I'm headed for bed as my typing has gone the way of a 3-year old...and maybe not even that good.

Michelle