Friday, August 31, 2012

Will and Anne




Even though very little is known about Anne Hathaway outside of a few legal documents, she has been much maligned over the centuries as a shrew and a cradle snatcher. Probably, none of these characterizations are true. While she was 26 and pregnant, Shakespeare was 18 and poor and hardly a catch. We visited the house, now much enlarged, where Anne was born. The gardens were fabulous. There is a flower here, the anemone, that I'm coveting for our garden. The pink blooms, dogwood in likeness, sit on the ends of 3' stems. We strolled though a wooded path reading postings from Midsummer Night's Dream before leaving for Shakespeare's birthplace.
Shakespeare and Anne lived in the birthplace house. The Second Best Bed is here. The gardens here are lovely, too. We were amazed to be walking in the same halls as Shakespeare walked, breathed, sneezed, coughed, laughed and ......
More photos at Flickr.

Thursday, August 30, 2012

Windsor, The Trout, and The Intruder




We went to the Queen's favorite week-end digs today, Windsor Castle. The castle had its beginnings with William the Conqueror who wanted to protect the Norman dominance on the outskirts of London and this strategic portion of the Thames. Thereafter it has mostly been a residence, in fact, the longest inhabitated castle in Europe.  It is an amazing piece of architecture, but not particularly interesting in terms of historically significant events...no blood and guts. The art, however, was nice to see: Rembrandt's, Van Dyke's. We came back early to Oxford for dinner at the Trout Inn, a must on our Morse was here list. It is in Lower Wolvercote north of Oxford, directly on the River Thames. Wolvercote is also where Wayne's sons attended school when he was a student at Oxford.
Oh,yes, the intruder. So, around 1 am I awoke to a lot of loud banging. Wayne said, "its just someone on the street." A couple of minutes later I awoke again and said, "someone is in the house". Big, brave, manly Wayne went downstairs, came backup stairs and said, "someone is in the house." My reaction: "What? Lock the bedroom door. No. Don't go down there. Call the police." His response, "Where are my pants?"  We both go downstairs like idiots. Passed out in the living room was a very drunk and vomiting male teenager. Wayne and I both are yelling, "Who the %.*#+~! are you? Get the **}>#>~£ out of here.". Nothing budged the retching retch. I try dialing the police with no success. Wayne is screaming in the guy's ear. I grab a tennis racket (yeah, good weapon) to hit him over the head. Then, suddenly he gets up, looks at us like we have 3 heads, and stumbles out the door without a word. Tonight we will double check the locks and make sure we have Inspector Lewis on speed dial.
See more of Windsor on Flickr. Sorry, no pics of  The Intruder.

Wednesday, August 29, 2012

Oxford Center, the Unfulfilled Quest




It was such a rainy day that we postponed plans to visit Anne Hathaway's home. Instead, we took the bus into the Center to look for 2 treasures, The Light of the World by William Holman Hunt at Keble College and the Shelly Memorial at University College. Alas, we were thwarted on all counts. The Keble College Chapel was under renovations and closed. University College was closed to all visitors. Not to be dissuaded we journeyed on to the Sheldonian. What? Closed for renovations?!?! Oh, you say we can climb to the cupola instead. Okay, why not. Why not indeed. First, the roof was designed by Christopher Wren, and his handiwork can be seen as one climbs into the cupola. Wow. Secondly, the best view one could hope for of the Oxford architecture is here. After lots of ogling and snapping of pics, we descended and headed for Wayne's college, Exeter. It's a small but beautiful college. We sat in the chapel for a bit and went to the door leading to Wayne's tutor, John Wilson. Later, we did some regular living, shopping for socks, having a new watch battery installed and buying some pasties for dinner at home. As we headed for the bus, torrential rains fell as the sun broke through. At the last moment the rainbow appeared.  Pics of our day.

Tuesday, August 28, 2012

Stonehenge and Salisbury Cathedral






I've often remarked to people who have never visited the Grand Canyon that photographs simply cannot capture the essence of the place. The vastness, the depth, the colors and the atmosphere must be experienced personally to grasp the spirit of the place. If you've been to the Grand Canyon, then you will understand what I mean when I say the same applies to Stonehenge. While the two places don't compare physically, the experience is similar. The scale of the stones seen here is under estimated. And the mystery of the who, why, and how only add to the amazement. When Wayne was here 35 years ago, his sons could climb on the stones. Today the area is cordoned off. We circumvented the site with audio guides that gave some insight into the henge origins. I sat and drew for a while. How lucky.
Salisbury is only a short drive from Stonehenge. The spire of the Cathedral rises dramatically over the horizon as one approaches. It is one of the few Cathedrals constructed in a short time and on a large close. As a result the building is one of the purest of English Gothic architecture. John Constable painted the Cathedral many times. Having seen these paintings at The Frick, The NY Met, etc. I've wanted to see the a cathedral in the same light as Constable. A bonus was seeing one of only 4 existing Magna Carta copies in the chapter house.
More photos at Flickr.

Monday, August 27, 2012

Bath and Wells

Wells Cathedral
We had a long drive through on and off rain showers to Bath to see the Roman ruins. Bath is a much larger city than I knew. There is a large pedestrian, upscale mall surrounding the Abbey and the Baths. The sun broke out and we ate lunch outside at one of the restaurants across from the Baths. It is just as fascinating to me that the Baths could be uncovered and reconstructed as it is that they ever were built to begin with. The Abbey has a unique exterior, angels climbing up a ladder on either side of the main entrance are book ended by a high relief carving of the Jesse Tree.
Wells was another 1/2 hour from Bath through narrow roads that were canopied by large trees. The Cathedral sits to one side of the town center and adjacent to the Bishop's palace. The cathedral itself, like all we've seen, is awe inspiring. Please see the photos for the best understanding.Flickr


Sunday, August 26, 2012

Stratford -Upon-Avon



Wayne dining with Shakespeare at The Garrick Pub
If music be the food of love, then play on.We spent the afternoon with Viola, Olivia, Malvolio, et al at the Royal Shakespeare Co. It was a bright and sunny, crisp day suitable for a walk along the Avon. The streets were packed, but being mostly Brits they nicely queued up and gave way to the pushy Americans. So, we had no problems making our way to Shakespeare's birthplace and his grave in Holy Trinity Church as well as having lunch before the play. It was great fun watching a Shakespeare performance in Stratford. We will return later in the week to tour the birthplace home and Anne Hathaway's home.

Saturday, August 25, 2012

Blenheim Palace





Blenheim Palace is the Churchill family estate. Winston Churchill was born here.  Built in the English Baroque style, it has been home to the Churchill family for over 300 years. Our guide was very good. She concentrated on the history of the family telling it through the paintings, furniture and tapestries in the rooms. Most notable sights were the furnishings that came from Versailles, the Singer Sargent painting of the 9th Duke and his wife Consuelo Vanderbilt, the C. Duran painting of Consuelo that hung nearby, and the 10 Flemish Victory Tapestries of John Churchill.  The gardens were very formal, very green and beautifully set against the River Glynne.


We returned to Oxford and the Ashmolean Museum in mid afternoon.  There is a beautiful Uccello painting, The Hunt in the Forest, here.  We later went in Blackwells Book Store (another Morse haunt) to pick up an Oxford tour book. We then returned to Summertown and had dinner at The Spice Lounge, a very good Indian restaurant.  
See more photos at Flickr

Friday, August 24, 2012

Inspector Morse, The Ashmolean, and Evensong




We have finally gotten our body clocks on UK time. After a late breakfast we headed for Oxford Center to check on our Morse tour. On our way out the door we met our neighbor, Harold. He was with Anna, his and our house keeper. She was kind enough to help us with the oven. Alas, it would not work for her either.
From the information center in Oxford, we walked down Broad St and over to Christ Church College, the most beautiful college I've yet seen. The gardens were lush and so well tended. We visited the Cathedral where there are several Burn-Jones windows. Funny story. One of the Burn -Jones windows was being cleaned and had plain glass in place of it. When the docent relayed the cleaning information to a visitor, she exclaimed, "Oh, no. You've cleaned it completely off!" You may see this
over-cleaning on Flickr.
Next on the agenda, Morse. We are Inspector Morse, Lewis and Endeavor fans. As such, Wayne is always pointing out Oxford buildings during the shows. This tour gave us the opportunity to see those spots in true time.
When at Christ Church we saw a posting for Evensong and decided to attend. After the Morse tour we had enough time to visit The Ashmolean. We went immediately the the Pre-Raphaelite Gallery. Wayne remembers when he first saw these paintings 35 years prior and fell in love with them. The collection is small and of early works.
We ended our day in Oxford back at Christ Church Cathedral for Evensong. The choir was young adolescents. The sound was quite lovely and soothing after such a long day on our feet. Back home we cooked some pasta and settled in for a little tv and reading.
To see more photos of today visit Flickr.

Thursday, August 23, 2012

The Cotswolds



Wayne with his Scotch egg in Stow
Today we drove out to the Cotswolds, a very picturesque English countryside. The area is populated with small towns and villages built othat one. In the Middle Ages the wool trade made the Cotswolds prosperous. Some of this money was put into the building of churches so the area has a number of large Cotswold stone "wool churches". the first village we came to, Stow-on-Wold was having an art show in its church. We bought a small painting of the local landscape. Here we also had lunch. I had The Best Damn Fish and Chips; Wayne had a warm Scotch egg. As we drove through the countryside to the next village of Bourton-on-Water, we saw many sheep and fields upon fields of hay or wheat. Bourton-on-Water looks like it belongs in the Shire...too charming for words. A very shallow yet wide river runs through the center of the town. There were children everywhere wading and playing. I stuck my finger in for a test run and immediately withdrew it before icicles formed.
See more photos of the Cotswolds at Flickr

Wednesday, August 22, 2012

The Botanical Gardens, Magdalen College, The Bodleian

Wayne at the King's Arms, Oxford
Yep, we did all those things. We started the day searching Corn Market St for some electrical adapters. The street is pedestrian and has an enclosed market nearby where these poor pigs were begging for attention. From there we walked to the botanical Gardens. They were mostly interesting for the perennials and wild flowers. Across the street from the Gardens is Magdalen College. Inside is a most beautiful chapel. Among the many notable alumni are Oscar Wilde, CS Lewis, Cardinal Wolsey. Up the hill and on our way home was The Bodleian, the library for the Colleges.More photos at Flickr

Tuesday, August 21, 2012

Boston and Beyond






We began by being tourists on our home turf. We spent the day walking around Plymouth Harbor, visiting the Rock, looking at The Mayflower. Remembered the last time we were here with Carolyn and Ralf. Met Jeff at the house; he drove us to the bus. Arrived at Logan 5 hours early. We are EXCELLENT travelers. Really, we just rather sit there and read than kill time elsewhere. Met an interesting guy in the restaurant. He was from Cambridge, UK but living in Maine. The flight was smooth, quick and uneventful. Love British Air. Arrived Heathrow 9:00am, got the car, panicked, drove any way. Arrived at the house around noon. Left the house around 12:01pm. Strolled to Summer Town and caught the bus to Oxford Center where we walked down High St past the Sheldonian. Wayne was grinning ear to ear. Walked back to a pub, The Eagle and Child where we had the worst beer you can imagine. So close to Belgium, yet so far. There was a trivial pursuit game going on. After finishing the awful beer and stuffing myself on a burger, we caught the bus back to the house.
More photos at flickr.

Monday, August 20, 2012

The Night Before




We spent he night before our departure for the UK in Plymouth because our home exchangers had arrived and were in our house. There was the most beautiful sunset occurring as we approached the hotel. I think it is a very good omen. Tomorrow we fly to London.