A City of Many Faces

We arrived in Amsterdam, Holland and went straight to the Amsterdam Hilton known by some as one of the spots (the Queen Anne Hotel in Montreal was the other) where John Lennon and Yoko Ono held a week long "love-in" for peace and tolerance. The next day we opted for the hop-on hop-off boat cruise along the miles of canals that weave through the beautiful city filled with impressive buildings, churches, synagogues, museums, and parks.

We explored NEMO (an extensive, interactive science museum), a flower market full of tulip bulbs and gorgeous blooms of all kinds, the Rijksmuseum (a classics art museum showing Rembrandt, Van Dyck, Vermeer), the Amsterdam Zoo and many streets and squares.

Everyone was on a bike. Bike paths ruled municipal transport. We worried more about getting run over by a bike while crossing the bike lanes than by a car or bus which were much fewer and seemed less menacing. The bikes were fantastic though; new, yet styled old fashioned. Many had big baskets or wooden crates stuck on their fronts.

Finally, we come to the "coffee chops" and "red light district". The former are laid back places with low profile couches with alot of zoned out young people hanging out. We almost walked into one called "The Green Room" thinking we'd get a nice salad for lunch, then thought twice once getting a glimpse of the scene inside. Coffee shops may or may not serve coffee, but rather offer smokes of the variety not legal in Canada. In the "red light district" there are actual lights located above doors to flats! We still aren't sure what the light on meant - come in or stay out- and neither of us wanted to test out a hypothesis.

Picking Blackberries in Port Meadow

We went on an outing with a friend Laura met from swimming, Rosie, and her family. A 20 minute stroll from our doorstep and we hit on a 440 acre green space along the River Thames called Port Meadow. As we approached the park, a field of green opened up and we could see lush foliage in every direction dotted with what we soon realized were free roaming cows and horses. As the story goes, in return for helping to defend the kingdom against the marauding Danes, the Freemen of Oxford were given the land in 1086 to graze their cattle and horses free of charge by King Alfred who founded Oxford in the 10th Century. The Freemen's collective right has been exercised ever since and certain folks are permitted to house their animals on these common lands.

The meadow is picturesque, enhanced by views of the Thames River (really a canal at this point), swans and other beautiful birds, colorful sail boats, and animals of all types. Wild blackberries are available aplenty for those brave enough to face the thorny bushes to pick them. And as is the case with all of Britain, a couple of pubs are placed at strategic points along the route. All in all, we really enjoyed this gorgeous, relaxing spot and will return many times to get away for the hustle and bustle.

A Bird's Eye View of Oxford

To get a skyline view of Oxford we climbed 99 steps of Carfax Tower, all that remains of the 13th century St. Martin's Church. We saw terrific views of the Radcliffe Camera - originally built to house the Radcliffe Science Center - it is now home to additional reading rooms of the Bodleian Library. Also visible at this height was the beautiful Christ Church Cathedral built between 1160 and 1200. Though considered a relatively small cathedral, it serves not only the diocese of the City of Oxford, but is the chapel for Christ Church College, the largest of all 36 colleges at Oxford University.

Ancient Roman Baths

We took a day trip to the historic city of Bath, 1.5 hours by train. What a gorgeous city with Georgian architecture carved from the limestone of the surrounding hills. The highlight was the Roman Baths - one of the most beautiful and intact thermal bath houses built in the Roman period. Built atop hot springs, these Roman baths continue to be supplied by hot, fresh water. Since the rooftops have been lost, the algae has taken over and bathing is no longer possible. You can, however, buy a glass of the spring water straight from the falling spring for 60 pence - while it tastes horrible, it's said to have healing powers?
Bath is also home to one of the most elegant curved line of townhouses called the Royal Crescent (named so for one of the first residents was a Prince). These houses are a landmark of Bath and go for about 4 million pounds (that's $8 million Canadian) each. Nicholas Cage recently bought one in the middle (#7). He took the number off the front door (maybe in the hopes of his house not being spotted between 6 & 8?).
Home to many famous characters, Jane Austen stands out as a prominent Bath resident. Though she prefered the countryside, she spend many summers, then 7 years staying in various spots around Bath to write her manuscripts.
Finally, we found Bath a city of roadway anomalies - as our bus tour guide said, "Cheap Street is expensive, Broad Street is narrow, and North Street is a one way going south". Bath is truly a spectacular place.

Dinosaur Bones and a Stuffed Dodo Bird

Last Sunday afternoon we headed to the Oxford University Natural History Museum and were in for quite a treat. Not only the collection was fine, but the building's architecture (like much of Oxford) was impressive and the space inside better still. The room housing the collection of fossils and specimens was large and stately with lots of wood beams and mosaic tiling. A perfect backdrop to the enormous dinosaur, elephant, and giraffe skeleton displays. Laura enjoyed it thoroughly.

Blenheim Palace - Sir Winston Churchill's Birthplace

Who knew Sir Winston Churchill was the 10th Duke of Marlborough? Not us, until visiting Blenheim Palace in Woodstock, UK, 30 minutes drive from Oxford. The Palace was a gift from Queen Anne to the 1st Duke, John Churchill, for defeating the French at Blenheim, Germany in 1705. The 2100 acres of pristine grounds, water terraces, and Italian, Rose and Secret Gardens were stunning. The interior of the palace was grand and elegant with a great audiovisual tour given by a "ghost" relating the 300 year history of its occupants. Spookishly entertaining.

Laura's First Day of School

She was quiet for the first 45 minutes, then she spoke up and I could leave. Her teachers were fooled into thinking she was going to be a shy, quiet one, now she won't leave them alone. So began Laura's first week of school. From Day One she loved it. It's a small school with tons of green yard and play structures, gardens (gardening is one of their courses!), and super nice staff. She's off to a great start. Oh, and as a tribute to her missed teacher of last year, check out the photo...

Our Flat in Oxford

Our apartment loaned to us by Ian's sabbatical group is tiny, but nice. We're trying to get used to living with only a mini-fridge, no clothes dryer, little space, 6 TV channels (3 are the same) and no car! Welcome to Europe!

On the plus side, our area of Jericho is very charming and exciting full of restaurants, shops, pubs, and colorful architecture. Downtown is a 15 min walk away. Laura's school looks amazing and we've heard great things about it. She's totally thrilled to start on Sept. 3rd and meet new friends. She adores her bedroom as you can see in the photo above.

Visit to the Edinburgh Zoo

We set out to find the Edinburgh Zoo and what a prize! Beautiful setting amidst green forest and hills and many wonderful animals. There were few visitors so we got a great, close-up view - especially of the lions. Check it out!

Laura's 1/16 Scottish Don't You Know!

Here's Laura in Edinburgh sporting her Ogilvie Tartan (the Richardson clan fell under both the Ogilvie and Buchanan clans). She was very keen to dress Scottish style when we went out for dinner.

Stunning Edinburgh

We were blown away by the magnificence that is Edinburgh! The massive, ancient, gorgeous Edinburgh castle towers over the city sitting on an extinct volcano and led up to via the "Royal Mile" consisting of old shops selling tartans, antiquities, and keep-sakes; cafes and pubs with age-old tales. Edinburgh is full of character and impressive architecture at every turn. We ran into the Fringe Festival (theater & shows) with buskers from a show performing in the streets to entice you to buy tickets. It made for very exciting strolls.

We went to Glasgow, Scotland

We set off for Glasgow, Scotland for Ian's International Pain Conference on our 3'rd day in GB. It is a beautiful city though quite a business spot. Laura and I found the Museum of Transport on one day.

We walked over to beautiful Kensington Park the next day. Laura was swinging and bagpipes were playing in the background - no kidding! Ian took some time from the meeting and we visited an amazing Science Center. Food was amazing and shopping too.

We also hooked up with Liz and David from Kingston attending the Pain Meeting. We lunched in the Willow Room designed by Charles Rennie Mackintosh famous for his black and white linear designs.

Oxford, England

We're loving Oxford after 10 days here. Beautiful, ancient buildings, gorgeous architecture, a castle in the middle of downtown, tons of restaurants of every ethnicity (thank goodness -bangers & mash got old right away). Oxford University is impressive with 36 separate and very distinct colleges some dating back to the 1300s - boasting alumni such as J. R. Tolkein, C.S. Lewis, Sir Alexander Fleming who invented penicillin, along with 16 Prime Ministers of the UK.

Our 2 bedroom apartment is tiny, but cute and bright with a nice new kitchen. It's in a cool area of Oxford called Jericho (tiny streets with shops, pubs, cafes, etc.) and walking distance to most everything. Laura loved her bedroom right away, especially once we embellished it with beautiful heart stickers and a high school musical blanket (thanks again Sydney, Camille, Janice & Len).

Laura started swim lessons right away this week, and starts school at St. Barnabas Primary on Sept. 3rd. We still know very little about the details, but just found out from a Mom at swim class that hers is one of few schools here that has no uniform. That was a shocker.