I upgraded the blog today to a new version from Blogger. I'm not sure what that means yet, except that I finally saw that I need to "approve" comments, no wonder none showed up. All of the comments are now listed.
Be on the lookout for other changes. I am trying to figure out how to make it send you updates when it is updated...I'm still learning.
Ted
Photos
Wednesday, August 23, 2006
Bath
This past weekend, we decided we need to see more of the UK, more day trips. We decided to go to Bath, which is about a 90 minute train ride west of London. It was fantastic.
The key feature of Bath is that it is the site of Roman baths from about 2000 years ago. We went on a tour of the original roman baths, and it was amazing to see something that old. The most amazing things about the site for me were the fact that original pool has a lead liner, two inches thick, to protect ground water from entering the bath. Still water tight...2000 years later. The other was a story about how they lined one pool with concrete...but that with the fall of the Roman empire, the formula for concrete was lost for 1000 years. Doesn't sound like a "hot" technology, but amazingly interesting...at least to me. The last point of interest was that the Roman bath was covered over by houses for 1300 years, to be discovered again in the 18th century. Now that it has been excavated, it looks like it could easily be converted into a working bath now. It was amazing.
Not only were the Roman baths amazing, but Bath itself was a very lovely little town. Bath is a very cute town, great restaurants and a ton of shopping. We also went to a modern day spa/steam place, Thermae Spa - a very relaxing way to start a daytrip. I highly recommend a daytrip to Bath for anyone coming to visit. Stonehenge is also near by, although we didn't make it there.
The key feature of Bath is that it is the site of Roman baths from about 2000 years ago. We went on a tour of the original roman baths, and it was amazing to see something that old. The most amazing things about the site for me were the fact that original pool has a lead liner, two inches thick, to protect ground water from entering the bath. Still water tight...2000 years later. The other was a story about how they lined one pool with concrete...but that with the fall of the Roman empire, the formula for concrete was lost for 1000 years. Doesn't sound like a "hot" technology, but amazingly interesting...at least to me. The last point of interest was that the Roman bath was covered over by houses for 1300 years, to be discovered again in the 18th century. Now that it has been excavated, it looks like it could easily be converted into a working bath now. It was amazing.
Not only were the Roman baths amazing, but Bath itself was a very lovely little town. Bath is a very cute town, great restaurants and a ton of shopping. We also went to a modern day spa/steam place, Thermae Spa - a very relaxing way to start a daytrip. I highly recommend a daytrip to Bath for anyone coming to visit. Stonehenge is also near by, although we didn't make it there.
Thursday, August 17, 2006
Material Girl
Erin's dream came true last night. We went to see Madonna's concert here in London. I'll save all the details for her to retell, but it was a pretty amazing spectacle. It was actually her birthday yesterday...she's 48! She performed at a pretty high energy level for almost 2 hours.
Like any big show, there were lulls, and a big finish in the end. The best part to me was seeing all of the dancers/acrobats, they were pretty amazing. I also liked seeing how Madonna would try to shock the crowd. Is coming out on a giant crucifix with a thorn wreath controversial? I think the only thing really controversial was that someone would be surprised by anything she would do.
All in all, a great show. Not sure it was really worth the outrageous price, but good.
Like any big show, there were lulls, and a big finish in the end. The best part to me was seeing all of the dancers/acrobats, they were pretty amazing. I also liked seeing how Madonna would try to shock the crowd. Is coming out on a giant crucifix with a thorn wreath controversial? I think the only thing really controversial was that someone would be surprised by anything she would do.
All in all, a great show. Not sure it was really worth the outrageous price, but good.
Riding a bike can be dangerous
My newest pleasure in London is riding my new bike around. After shopping in the US and planning to bring one back, I finally realized they were just as cheap in the UK. I bought a new Trek commuter bike. It's pretty nice for a basic, cheap bike...all black, with a rear rack and panier bag. Very practical for riding to work, which I do almost everyday. Better to get sweaty on the bike rather than just standing in the tube. Plus, it's fun to ride through Hyde Park, past Buckingham Palace, around Trafalgar Square and up to work. Probably about 25 minutes each way - a little bit faster than taking the tube door to door.
I had my first minor accident yesterday though. After Erin said goodbye and told me to be careful, I pulled the door closed and pinched my finger. (If you've been to our place, you'll remember (or will see eventually) that there is no doorknob. You need to reach your hand inside the mail slot and pull.) I started riding and realized my finger was bleeding. I looked at it and realized the pinch in the mail slot cut my finger nail in half...about halfway down my nail. It's pretty gross.
But, I guess that could really be a tube injury as well. I guess I better focus my safety search on gloves rather than a helmet.
I had my first minor accident yesterday though. After Erin said goodbye and told me to be careful, I pulled the door closed and pinched my finger. (If you've been to our place, you'll remember (or will see eventually) that there is no doorknob. You need to reach your hand inside the mail slot and pull.) I started riding and realized my finger was bleeding. I looked at it and realized the pinch in the mail slot cut my finger nail in half...about halfway down my nail. It's pretty gross.
But, I guess that could really be a tube injury as well. I guess I better focus my safety search on gloves rather than a helmet.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Many visitors
We have had a ton of visitors recently. It's amazing how central London is to the rest of the world and how people find their way to our little Mew.
Kirsten Nesholm stayed with us for a weekend after she roughed it in the south of France for a couple of weeks on her summer vacation. We had a great time wandering around, eating great food, and she and Erin hit the shopping districts pretty hard. Here's a picture of her and Erin.
We also had the good fortune to have Erin's friend, Karen Nachbar, from Cornell in town on business with Morgan Stanley, and is a total foodie (though she thinks that is a derogatory term, but I don't understand why) and made reservations at quite possibly the best restaurant we've ever been to,The Fat Duck....definitely the priciest. It was phenomenal. We actually had Smoked Bacon and Egg Ice Cream ...very good and sardine sorbet...interesting... We're eating a lot of Mac and cheese to make up for the bill though.
After she left, Kirk Johnson, a former Hitachio, now a big cheese at Jobster.com, was here for work as well. We met up at a gastropub in Chelsea. More great food and a couple of Guiness to make sure he could get over the jet lag....
And last, but not least, Kurt Weber from Seattle was in town, also in for Microsoft work. We hit the town on Friday and Saturday nights. After a long week, Erin and I begged out leaving Kurt and Eddie at the bar at about 1am on Friday night (Saturday morning). We saw Kurt again on Saturday and he regaled us with stories involving Polish supermodels, after hour clubs and 6am finishes...and I actually believe him. He had to check out of his hotel early and after I left my phone off inadvertantly on Saturday he wandered over and quickly invited himself to take a nap before doing anything else.
It's been great to see everyone here. We're slow on the visitors for awhile...but feel free to look at the calendar at the bottom of the page for updates on future arrivals.
Ted
Kirsten Nesholm stayed with us for a weekend after she roughed it in the south of France for a couple of weeks on her summer vacation. We had a great time wandering around, eating great food, and she and Erin hit the shopping districts pretty hard. Here's a picture of her and Erin.
We also had the good fortune to have Erin's friend, Karen Nachbar, from Cornell in town on business with Morgan Stanley, and is a total foodie (though she thinks that is a derogatory term, but I don't understand why) and made reservations at quite possibly the best restaurant we've ever been to,The Fat Duck....definitely the priciest. It was phenomenal. We actually had Smoked Bacon and Egg Ice Cream ...very good and sardine sorbet...interesting... We're eating a lot of Mac and cheese to make up for the bill though.
After she left, Kirk Johnson, a former Hitachio, now a big cheese at Jobster.com, was here for work as well. We met up at a gastropub in Chelsea. More great food and a couple of Guiness to make sure he could get over the jet lag....
And last, but not least, Kurt Weber from Seattle was in town, also in for Microsoft work. We hit the town on Friday and Saturday nights. After a long week, Erin and I begged out leaving Kurt and Eddie at the bar at about 1am on Friday night (Saturday morning). We saw Kurt again on Saturday and he regaled us with stories involving Polish supermodels, after hour clubs and 6am finishes...and I actually believe him. He had to check out of his hotel early and after I left my phone off inadvertantly on Saturday he wandered over and quickly invited himself to take a nap before doing anything else.
It's been great to see everyone here. We're slow on the visitors for awhile...but feel free to look at the calendar at the bottom of the page for updates on future arrivals.
Ted
Monday, August 07, 2006
Praha
This weekend’s big adventure took us to Prague. I was very excited about going after all of the wonderful things I’d heard about it. Unfortunately, I was a little disappointed. I definitely thought Prague had beautiful architecture; the buildings, churches, bridges were all amazing. I think the weather didn’t help my impression much because it was cool, grey and rainy all three days. I guess I thought Prague would be hipper than it turned out to be.
I spent a lot of time wandering around wondering what it is that makes a city seem cool or interesting to me. I’ve certainly thought about the contribution of architecture to coolness, but that must not be it, because there isn’t much architecture better than Prague.
The conclusion I came too is that a cool city is defined by the people who live there and what they are up to. I guess it’s why I (and everyone else) love college towns. There is generally such vibrancy and youth that it infects the rest of the town. I could still feel the impacts of being a former communist state and what it must have been like to live there through the cold war and the soviet occupation. There still wasn’t a lot of new going on there, other than tourist trap restaurants and more caricature artist than the county fair. Even though we saw the castle, the gothic churches in the main square, the old jewish cemetery, I left each of them thinking, where is the soul and the culture? Did it go away with the communists? I have, however, started reading more about Prague to see what I’ve missed. I’ve been reading the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, It is definitely helping to add another dimension to something I missed in Prague.
It could just be my own ignorance about the cool, hip, soulful and cultural things in Prague, but it made me like London a little bit more. When we got off of the train near our flat, Erin stated how boring the buildings were compared to Prague, but I noticed the hustle and bustle of the city. In that first block I found that I think I like London better than Prague. Who woulda thought?
In other travel news, Erin and I forgot to bring the camera…again. I don’t know why we can’t remember to take it places. We purchased disposable camera number two. It’s hard enough for us to download pictures from our camera when we do take it, but to develop film and then scan them into the computer, you’ll have to see Prague pictures when you come to visit.
Ted
I spent a lot of time wandering around wondering what it is that makes a city seem cool or interesting to me. I’ve certainly thought about the contribution of architecture to coolness, but that must not be it, because there isn’t much architecture better than Prague.
The conclusion I came too is that a cool city is defined by the people who live there and what they are up to. I guess it’s why I (and everyone else) love college towns. There is generally such vibrancy and youth that it infects the rest of the town. I could still feel the impacts of being a former communist state and what it must have been like to live there through the cold war and the soviet occupation. There still wasn’t a lot of new going on there, other than tourist trap restaurants and more caricature artist than the county fair. Even though we saw the castle, the gothic churches in the main square, the old jewish cemetery, I left each of them thinking, where is the soul and the culture? Did it go away with the communists? I have, however, started reading more about Prague to see what I’ve missed. I’ve been reading the Unbearable Lightness of Being by Milan Kundera, It is definitely helping to add another dimension to something I missed in Prague.
It could just be my own ignorance about the cool, hip, soulful and cultural things in Prague, but it made me like London a little bit more. When we got off of the train near our flat, Erin stated how boring the buildings were compared to Prague, but I noticed the hustle and bustle of the city. In that first block I found that I think I like London better than Prague. Who woulda thought?
In other travel news, Erin and I forgot to bring the camera…again. I don’t know why we can’t remember to take it places. We purchased disposable camera number two. It’s hard enough for us to download pictures from our camera when we do take it, but to develop film and then scan them into the computer, you’ll have to see Prague pictures when you come to visit.
Ted
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