Cambridge Science Festival

This past Saturday we spent exploring Cambridge Science Festival hosted by the University. There we took part in a lecture on Electricity, dissected an Owl pellet, looked at Os cheek cells, collected pets of Daphnia, did a skull comparison, and view fruit flies under the scope in the Biology Department. In the Chemistry building we tackled glow stick science, dressed in lab safety equipment to make goo, elephant toothpaste, polish pennies, and make a cup disappear. Also we were treated to liquid nitrogen ice cream.

I finally created a mini-me ;)

Amsterdam

Amsterdam in 4 Days, that was our latest venture. It was spurred on by our good friend, Kris, who was flying through Amsterdam on her way to Dar, Tanzania. She is going to help improve nursing practices in a major hospital. Unable to miss our friend whilst she traveled toward more important business, we took O out of school and hopped on over for a visit, museums, and eats.
The first day was spent walking about the city and enjoying just the novelty of company and canals in the rain. We popped into a small cafe where Olive entertained herself with a bowl of pea soup and a colorful calico kitten until we dried & warmed up enough to head back outside. We walked the Bloemenmarkt and stopped for some cheese tasting. Olive was so charming that the Eastern European woman (dressed in a Dutch costume) gave her a entire package of chocolates for being good in the shop. Makes you wonder how other kids then act. We also spent time taking in the local flavor visiting a hammock shop, walking by coffee houses, looking at cows attached to the ceiling in the official Iamsterdam shop, and buying boxes of hagelslag.

That afternoon, after one of us napped (any guess who?) and some games in the hotel, we searched for the "best frite" in the city, but I mistakenly mislabeled the map before the trip. But we did get to see much of the Jordaan section of town. We also walked by Ann Frank's home opting out of that subject with Olive. The Nazis in the Sound of Music scare her enough... some of life's ills can better be explained when older.We tried to go to a Brown Cafe, Int Aepjen, for dinner, but alas they did not serve it. We vowed to return again later to take in the place properly. We ended up dining at the Restaurant De Haven van Textel. Josh got his much needed mini croquet and the rest of us had various meats in brown sauce. Jet lagged and tired, 3 of the 4 of us retired by 6:30pm that evening (or 5:30pm UK time)


Friday we woke at 6am (5am UK time) with 3 of the 4 of us up and ready to go. Alas, most things do not open until 10. We hung about our hotel, Hotel De Gerstekorrel, as long as we could and braved our way into the cold morning streets. We were treated with the sun rise over the city on our way to the National Maritime Museum.

The Het Scheepvaartmuseum has all sorts of Dutch East India Company kit in an old beautiful building. Josh got his naval fix. Olive liked the maps and running the path through the navigational equipment. However, by the time we made it to the tall ship, her blood sugar was running low and she flipped out thinking the cannons were going to fire upon her. A good imagination she has. Lunch was in another small cafe & consisted of beer and sandwiches. Then we were off to the Van Gogh museum. There we saw a the famous "Sunflowers" among others. Over 800 oil paintings + sketches, watercolours, and other pieces in around 20 years. Amazing how much work he did before doing himself in.

After the museum Josh found the frite shop we were searching for earlier, Vleminckx Sausmessters, and had ourselves a cone of fries with curry catchup or mayonnaise. An old pipe organ was playing down the neighboring street singing tunes from Aladdin while we ate. Ironically, the day before while searching for this very frite stand, Olive payed them for a song... we were so close and didn't even know it.



Since we were on a lucky streak we chose to look for the upstairs pancake house as well. Sure enough, 15 min later we are there. Pannekoekenuis was a tiny 14 seat eatery at the top of a very steep and narrow staircase. Once upstairs you are entertained and served by the large owner/operator. He has amassed a large tea pot collection which he displays on his ceiling. Savory and sweet pancakes alike are to be drenched in strop.

After our early dinner we headed in the Red Light district. At 7pm things were surprisingly very busy. Most shades were already drawn with customers inside, but there were a few women still in the windows. Olive didn't ask why they were in their underwear or swimsuits... she just commented on the quality of the red lights. She liked the ones which were more magenta better.

The monkey cafe we attempted for the second time for an aperitif, but alas, a Friday night created a hopping crowd. Thwarted again, we settled on a cafe by Dam Square to do a little people watching and have a drink before bed. Kris kindly took Olive back to the hotel so Josh and I could go out for another as adults. We ended up in a small cafe where a band of older men were celebrating one's 60th birthday with a round of gin and beer. We were back and in bed by 9!

Saturday was packed with things to do. After another early wake up via Olive's impressive internal clock. We were up and out for the day. After a quick shop & a flan drunk, we first stopped at Open Bare Bibliotheek. The public library is amazing! Fantastic views of the city, modern architecture, fun children's section. A must see for anyone traveling through.
Next was NEMO, the hands on science museum. There we all played. Josh and Olive did a hydro electric experiment and the girls did a bit of dancing about with the light screen. We got to watch a giant chain reaction/ Goldberg machine, play with bubbles, and be part of a factory. A very informative place, especially when you reach the 3rd floor and learn ALL about sex. Forget the adult museums or shops in the red light district. For the price of our universal museum pass we saw much to inform. We joked at the model that showed french kissing where each person stuck their arm into a big tongue puppet (Kris has this on her camera, so I am unable to share) . Then you turn the corner and BAM in your face photos, videos, models... nothing held back. Olive kept touching the buttons on a model, before we could whisk her away from it... it was to help demonstrate erogenous zones on the female anatomy. Luckily no further questions have arisen. I'm okay with her knowing the basics of babies, but a few things there were new for me to see.

We had a lovely pick-nick lunch on the terrace roof garden and headed into town for our last stop with Kris in tow. We did finally get a seat at the Brown Monkey Cafe, Int Aepjen. The reason we wanted to go there due to it being, "One of the oldest bars in Amsterdam, housed in the only remaining 15th-century home. 'Aepjen' means monkey, which refers to the time this was a sailors lodging house. A guest couldn't pay his bill, and he supposedly bartered with a pet monkey. " Olive took plenty of photos of the interior for us since we had been talking this place up for 3 days. We said our goodbyes to Kris after walking her back to the train station & headed in search of dinner. We settled on a micro brewery, Bier van de Maand, for supper. Once full, we were done for the day and were back to the hotel just as the town started waking up for the night.

Sunday was our last day to see the sights before we flew back home. That morning after our final breakfast from the neighboring bakery, we wandered desolate streets for an hour and a half on to the Rijks Museum. While on the long walk, we saw the cordoned off scene of a tram/bicyclist collision. I guess they're quite common, because a fabric silhouette was laid down on top of the bike. We saw the highlights of Rembrandt's "The Night Watch" & Vermeer's "The Kitchen Maid". Our picnic lunch was short due to it getting extremely cold out and we sought comfort in another cone of frite from our favorite shop.We even stumbled out of the cold into the Amsterdam Museum. There was a neat interactive exhibit where Olive got to be an orphan in a poor house & the story was told by a mouse (but in Dutch...) Unfortunately by then we were all worn out and done with museums- I well could have visited it again if we had another day. On our way back to the hotel Josh treated me to a new satchel (of which I've been searching endlessly for) By then it was time to get our luggage & pack our way to the train station & airport.

Thank you Kris for helping make this one to remember- Wishing you the best in your efforts. To all others, enjoy the friends around you. You don't realize how important they really are until they are too far away to share your everyday life with. Here's to seeing a few of you this summer! -A

Bath, a reunion

On the eve of yet another trip, I have the need to record the last outing before it becomes ignored and unforgotten venture. A pint of St. Peter's Mild in hand, I commence.

The first weekend of January we took off to visit my old haunt, Bath (or as Olive says much like a local, Bauth). We took off driving Saturday and arrived just after noon. I have to say driving the outskirts of town was beautiful... HILLS, well, green rolling landscape in comparison to the dry flat husk of Suffolk, it was a welcome change. I was a bit turned about once in town because I rarely visited it in a motored vehicle, but found my bearings well enough once on foot.

For those of you who were there with me, all the faves are still there: The Huntsman, Ts, Moles, Cadillac, and all the others of the past 10pm venues. Didn't visit a one. But we did snag lunch at Marmaris! Beth's and my thrift shop with the coat is still thriving. The street performers have remained true in there golden statue and juggling acts. The one truly noticeable difference was the end of town near Wells Road is Upscale. Jaz told me about it, but I didn't recognize the place with new shops and no heroin addicts sleeping on the street.  It's high street, main stream, commerce.

We took in the Abby, had a tea, and then walked up to the old place and through the park. Did a bit of stone skipping on the canal (dirty as ever) with the family. Students now have put out chairs (why didn't we think of that?) and amazingly most of the message is still there that Steve, Beth, and I left. Cheesy Brit pop song lyric!

On the walk back we wondered the park and spoke of the beloved Canadians. Saw the circle and crescent and Jane Austin's door. The magic of Bath was created by the people I lived it with. The memories far exceed the town.

That night we spent outside Bath in the George Inn Hotel, which is over 700 years old. We stayed in a room with large bowed wooden planked floors, and four poster bed, and a low ceiling. Lovely tap room with a large fireplace, wood carved details in all the furnishings, and just a very neat historic experience. Think, nearly 700 years of a rooms continual use... what all has happened inside those walls!

The next morning we were off to Stonehenge. Olive enjoyed the automated audio tour. She was proud knowing her numbers and punching in the correct ones for the stories at each station. Lucky to have nice weather and a walk before we started our way home. By chance we needed a break from the drive back and ended up in Winchester, the home of "The" Round Table. After taking that in and having a quick sausage roll, we were on the way home.

There you have it.

Left Unattended-Weeds Will Grow

I look at this blog like my garden. When the weather is nice and sun is shining, I truly enjoy digging in and making something nice. The rest of the time, F-it, let the weeds grow. Well, until the weeds are overtaking what meager winter plants are left. Time to trim them back and leave bits of tales for you to read.

December was a blur between general holiday happenings, traveling, a planned visit from friends, an impromtu visit from Rob & Barbara, and the numerous school events which Olive experienced and I volunteered for. (I was immersed more in religion in December than I was my entire life up until then... C of E, making my child a believer) One of these events was a school Nativity play cleverly titled "Is There a Baby in There?" If you want to see Olive pretending to sing along while yawning and over doing the choreography with her British classmates, watch above. She was a Ladybird, if you were wondering.

View of Baden Wildbad from the Charlottes Forsthaus

entry hall

We did make it to the continent again to take in the festive atmosphere of the Christkindlmarts. We met up with the Laramie & Kasparek families in Bad Wildbad, Germany to share a villa and have a mini Washington Expat reunion. The Charlottes Forsthaus was a fantastic find, thank you Josh, and it was so cleaverly decorated with pewter cups, wood carved furnishings, antlers, a stuffed bird, and photographs of the matriarch and family who once lived there. Included was a photo of her husband in his SS uniform siting proudly on the desk.

Stuttgarter

Our first day was spent around the villa &wandering in Baden Baden's small market (no pictures, forgot the camera). The second day was in Stuttgarter & Ludwisburg. Much Glühwein was needed to keep off the chill while we wandered and ate our way through Josh's childhood memories of the markets. Grilled brats, creamy mushrooms, lebkuchen, candied nuts, hard cookie balls with unpronounceable names... we even stopped into a local restaurant in Ludwigsburg for dinner. It was the kind of eating establishment that doesn't have pictures on the menu, or an English translation- a first in our travels thus far. We guessed at what we were ordering since Josh is the only one amongst us that had any German schooling and was able to order us some grub (Babs be proud of your boy, he did well!) By the time we came out, the lights were aglow and the town's angel motif was adding to the brass band's festive spirit under the pavilion. Before we left, Josh ordered himself a feuerzangenbowle, or a chalice of mulled wine & spirits put a flame.

Ludwigsburg Market Square

Bridge the Falls in Triburg

The third day we headed further into the Black Forest to seek out the home of the Cuckoo clock, Triberg. The drive over, admittedly was very beautiful with all the snow, but I was too gripped with fear in our little rent-a-Ford  to be able to admire it much at the time (or take photos!) Josh was very patient with me and with the driving. At times there was over five inches of unplowed snow on the roads, on hills, with no guard rails... Once coming out of a grove of trees into a small village, it took a moment to scan the landscape to deduce where the road lay- between two snow poles and then a sharp left. I was happy to have the Kaspareks forge ahead with their mighty Beast and leave our little put put to follow in it's tracks.

Once there we had a lovely lunch at a restaurant used to tourists. So much so that there was the German equivalent of an Applebee's like decor about the place- hunting medals, game, antlers, nutcrackers, wood carvings, gnomes, and of course, squirrels playing cards crowded off the walls and ceilings. After we had our Black Forest Cake, we went back out into the snow to explore the town. We happened into Oli's Schnitzstube, the one real clock maker there, although we didn't know it at the time. He was a lovely fellow who took the time to teach us about Cuckoo clocks and the quality, or lack there of, that you are buying. After our tutorial, we wanted to see what else there was since you never buy the first thing you see, you want to check out to see what else there is. Once we did, however, we realized that it was all just junk. Back we went to Oli, picked out our clock, and had it shipped to the UK. He was kind enough to give Olive a Cuckoo clock whistle that was made out of wood. Have to say, if you ever find yourself in Triberg, go see Oli, master carver, third generation clock maker, he'll hook you up.

For further tales & another view on the trip visit the Kasparek's Blog:
http://kasparekfamily.blogspot.com/2011/12/bad-wildbad-and-baden-baden.html
http://kasparekfamily.blogspot.com/2011/12/stuttgart-and-ludwigsburg.html
http://kasparekfamily.blogspot.com/2011/12/cuckoo-clocks-and-snow.html

Nutcracker at the Royal Opera House, London

The rest of the year was spent in and around Cheveley. Christmas came and went. You will have to ask Olive and Josh how it was, I was poorly. Father Christmas brought Olive her "Red Nutcracker" as instructed. He was kind enough to throw in a set of Ballet tickets for Boxing Day down in London. Since it was a holiday, no trains were running. And since no trains were running, it was an ideal time for a tube strike. Josh now can add another major city he has navigated a car through. The theater was beautiful, the ballet okay, and Olive's reaction memorable.

Olive before her first school dance, I mean Disco, showing off her Gingerbread Man (see last post)

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The New Year was rung in at our neighbor's house, Squirrel Cottage, celebrating her daughter's 5th birthday with a hand full of their family and friends. Lucky to have the jumbled lot of them - a bit of art and insanity in our otherwise quaint and normal existence here in Cheveley. Josh got to try ginger wine. Ask him if you are curious about it or the after effects.

And that gets me here to 2012. There, caught up for now. Although I didn't tackle it all, I at least don't feel like I've neglected it as much.  Still have last weekend to write, but that can wait until another time. Maybe I'll have January wrapped before the end. You shall see.

The Holiday Spirit

It's only mid November, but the holiday spirit has gripped Olive. Maybe it had something to do taking her to Santa's Grotto in the Gingerbread village at Harrods. She was sweet enough to bring him a gift of elf ornaments for his tree (her idea). It could be also attributed to the school starting rehearsal for the nativity play, which has a matinee and evening performance times, tickets to follow. We have been informed that she will be an insect, which one is up to her choice. Currently she's wanting to be a LadyBird.  Or it could be that she was reading "The Gingerbread Man" in class & each student made their own one only to have them run off. They were kind enough to leave a note "Can't catch me we're the Gingerbread Men!" They searched high and low and couldn't find them. The class even made LOST posters and put them around the school. A day later, they returned with a tap on the window. Olive is still wondering what adventures they had overnight roaming the village.  Luckily they were not hurt and hopefully won't do it again.