The occasional webcam
| Hi there. Sorry to gloat (since we've heard about the lousy weather back home), but it's been a glorious spring / early summer here. Mostly warm and sunny, not really doing much to convince us that the weather in England is grey and rainy. Not that we're complaining, mind you. We've been trying to get out and enjoy it as much as possible. Here's what's been happening. |
The occasional webcam |
New Family Member
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A big warm welcome to Nathaniel "Nat" Robinson, born April 29th (at home) to Toby's sister Laura (and her husband Zach, of course). We know he should have been mentioned last month, but we were waiting for the pictures which just came today. Thanks! No time to scan it, so click on that small pic to see our picture of a picture! More soon, hopefully. He weighed 7.5 pounds and is perfect. (Well, now that he's stopped crying all the time.) Big sisters Carla and Emily are being very good to him and helping out where they can. Hopefully, we'll get to meet him around Thanksgiving.
Visitors
Only one visitor this past month - Janet Scott, the wife of my friend (and colleague) Mark Scott from ESRI Boston was here working on a project for her company. She's been here before, but was stuck up north near Manchester. This time she was in Coventry, about an hour away. We met with her on a Sunday and dragged her to see Warwick Castle, which was nearby. It's a big castle, with plenty to see and lots of history. Of course, I'm not going into the history here, you'll have to click on that link above to explore the castle history for yourself! (Truthfully, it's a family attraction with picnic areas and a rose garden and stuff for kids and I think it really tries more to give you a feel for the times (torture rooms, weapons displays, bow and arrow demonstrations) than to teach you the specific history of the castle.) It was actually hot - a full 85°F (that's 29+°C for you metric folks). That's pretty hot for around here. The Brits start whinging at about 78°F (whimps)! Anyway, it was fun, albeit a little bit too touristy - it is, after all, owned by the same people who own Madame Toussaud's Wax Museum in London (which, I will remind you, neither Toby nor I were impressed with). We had a fun time and were glad to have hooked up with Janet. A few pics from there below.
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) Minstrels outside the castle |
) Toby and Janet |
) Foxglove - what a cool flower |
) Tom dressed for battle |
) Torture in the dungeon |
) Hawk at the castle |
) Tom with his popsicle |
) Panorama of the castle |
Travels
Our first trip of June was to Copenhagen for a 4-day weekend. We left on Saturday morning and arrived in Copenhagen without incident - a pleasant 2-hour journey.
Our first destination was the Palace Hotel, right in the heart of the city at City Hall Square (Rådhuspladsen). The square and the streets surrounding it were filled with football (soccer) fans from both Denmark and Norway, as that night was the big match between the two countries. Crazy fans, yelling and screaming, banging on drums, singing. We made our way to the hotel only to find they had no record of our reservation. After some searching, they did find us, or perhaps the reservation for my parents who were arriving the next day before heading off on a cruise. Either way, they found us a room, but it wouldn't be ready for a few hours, so off we went to do some exploring. But not too much, because that afternoon we met up with some very close friends of Toby's aunt and uncle (Anne and Saul). We met Inga and Henning Bech in the lobby of our hotel and strolled over to Tivoli Gardens, a lovely 160 year-old park with rides, restaurants, concerts and a small lake. Really lovely to walk through. We also had a scrumptious dinner with them in one of the restaurants in Tivoli (Divan II). A great afternoon with lovely hosts - we are grateful for their time and hospitality. After dinner, we went back to our hotel, and went to our room. They had upgraded us (probably because this was the only room available) to the Queen Margrethe II suite (the current queen) - a big room with a sitting area and two bathrooms! Not to mention the fruit basket that was waiting for us and the magnificent view of City Hall Square. Plus there was a picture in the room of Queen Margrethe II and her husband along with Queen Elizabeth and the Duke of Edinburgh. Luxury...| Click on a photo to see the big version | ||||
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) Toby with Inga and Henning in Tivoli |
) Some gardens at Tivoli |
) Modern art in Copenhagen (by an American sculptor) |
) An amusing sign |
) The Little Mermaid |
) Festival - party in the streets |
) Anglican Church |
) Danish resistance in WWII |
) On all the cars- we assume for parking somehow |
) Rooftop views |
) Canal view from the boat tour |
) apartment bldg- modern Danish design |
) Marble Church |
) Inside the Marble Church (even better than this pic!) |
) Amalie Palace Square Home of the Queen |
As my parents were arriving in the afternoon the following day, we set out to see some sites before they got there. We walked along the Srøget, the world's longest pedestrian shopping street, about 1 km long (that's 0.62 miles for you non-metric folks). Lots of shops, but of course it was Sunday, and it was Whit Sunday (religious holiday) to boot, so nothing was open. Well, that's not entirely true - we had a nice 1-hour boat tour, where we saw canals and big cruise ships and of course, the famous 'Little Mermaid' statue. Not a great view of that from the water, but we ended up walking there later anyway. A nice lunch after our tour - I had herring as I thought I should indulge in the local favorite. Delicious. Our walk continued up to the Little Mermaid, around some parks, to the Palace where the queen and family lives, to the Marble Church (beautiful interior), and down to the Rosenborg Castle with it's lovely grounds. Heading back to the hotel, we climbed up the Round Tower to get a view of the city. Back to the hotel to meet up with my folks. Unfortunately for them, they did not get upgraded and were stuck in a run-of-the-mill small room. I felt bad, but couldn't do much about it, really as we were leaving on different days so I couldn't swap. Oh well, they were good sports about it. Just as a sidenote: on our way to the airport to leave, we met an American couple who had also stayed in the Palace Hotel. His words: "How'd you like the Palace Hotel? Rooms are crap but the location is great". That sums it up (except for our suite!).
My parents did arrive, and after a rest, we all went out for a nice dinner, right across the square. That's when the rain started. We had a delicious meal, and then back to the hotel and to bed.
The next day, Monday, we had breakfast in the hotel restaurant. Very expensive (around $20 each), so we made the best of it and had a big breakfast.
Then onto the open-top tour bus - rain was threatening, and thankfully the open-top bus had a top for rain! An informative tour of Copenhagen indeed. We find the open-top buses are very helpful in getting your bearings and getting a good overview of the place. We did stop briefly at the mermaid.Toby and I took another bus tour (different route) and got to see a little more of the city, at least from the top of the bus. It was raining so we didn't get off the bus, but saw the zoo, the Carlsberg Brewery and another palace.
We headed over to Tivoli Garden with my parents later in the afternoon and had a nice time exploring it with them. I (Tom) did one ride, the one where you strap yourself in, go up 60 meters (that's about 20 stories) and are dropped! It's about 1 second of freefall and then you slow down. Very exhilarating (scary), but great fun too! Dinner at a different restaurant in Tivoli, where my dad had something akin to Danish Shepherd's Pie - mashed potatoes, meat, veggies all stirred together. Not bad, but pretty heavy and lots of food. After dinner we stopped to see a little of the pantomime - they say it's Italian (commedia dell'arte) and rarely done anywhere any more but the stage looks asian. We were looking forward to it, but it turned out to be not our thing.
The last day was a beautiful sunny day - we toured the Rosenborg Palace, which include the Crown Jewels of Denmark. Lunch outside by the water, more walking around, the next thing you know we're on our way to the airport to head home. My parents stayed on and had a great cruise around the Baltic which included St. Petersburg, Helsinki and Stockholm among other cities.
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) View from our room (Rådhuspladsen) |
) Our hotel room with two bathrooms! |
) Mom & Dad in front of Hans Christian Andersen |
) On the boat |
) The grounds at the Rosenborg Palace |
) Rosenborg Palace |
) Lunch at a waterside cafe |
) Statues representing the 9 planets |
) Pantomime stage |
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) Pantomime in action |
) Tom going up,up,up |
) Tom coming down,down,down |
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) The Glyptotek - cool sculpture museum with palm trees inside! |
) Inside the museum |
) Mummies |
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Our next trip is to Barcelona on Friday (Jun 27) to meet up with my brother and Shelley and Laiken. We're really looking forward to that as it is supposed to be a great city and it'll be great to see them all as well.
Fun Things
On Thursday we're going to Wimbledon! We got tickets for Court 1 (not Centre Court) through the Wimbledon national ticket lottery. We're going to see the following matches:
Well, last month it was Asparagus and this month it was strawberry picking. Soon the snap peas and beans and carrots and things will be out. Yum, yum and yum. I know there are places to pick your own fruit and veg back home, I just don't know why we don't do it. Ok, Toby does go strawberry picking once a year at Land's Sake Farm in Weston. Their festival is June 28th this year for you locals. Check it out, the strawberries are wonderful. And if you see Ned Rossiter - tell him Toby sent you!
Akzo's Sports and Social Club had one event this month just this past weekend. It was a walk down the Thames right around Oxford, in fact, right by where we live. Rain threatened, which we think scared off some of the folks, so it ended up being only Toby and myself and one other couple (Allison from customer ops and her husband Michael). We did the 6 mile walk down the Thames and up the Oxford Canal and then had a nice lunch at The Trout pub (of Inspector Morse fame). (Side note: One of the things we really like here is how almost every pub (and many restaurants) have outdoor eating areas or gardens. Nothing like a pub lunch in the sun. With or without a pint;-)
Film
Of course we saw a few movies, not as many as last month. We tried to see I Capture the Castle" but made the mistake of getting dinner before buying tickets, and it was sold out by the time we got there. Oh well. We did see Anger Management which amused us both as a light comedy.
We rented some too: The Ya Ya Sisterhood and The Good Girl. I (Tom) only watched The Good Girl, which wasn't all that good (although Jennifer Aniston did pretty well in a very different role for her), and Toby watched the Ya Ya movie without me. Just as well, it's a chick flick. Book was better, she says.
Theatre
We saw a play at the Oxford Playhouse called Old Town. It was a two person play (by Aleksei Arbuzov)set in Latvia about a doctor and a sanatorium patient who fall in love. Sweet story with some good humour.
Music
Two concerts this month - last
A few weeks ago we went to see Geoff Muldaur at the Pit (where we saw Chris Smither and Peter Mulvey shortly after we'd arrived last year). Geoff's a bluesman who's been around for a while and used to play in a jug band. Turns out, he recently started touring alone for the first time in his life. It was a good show - he's got lots of great stories of some of the legends. Plus there's always a good meal there.
Friday we went with a few friends to see Jools Holland (former member of the band Squeeze) who had an outdoor concert at Hampton Court Palace (of Henry VIII fame). It was a beautiful night - we got there around 7:30 p.m. and had a picnic outside in the great gardens of the Palace. These Brits know how to do picnics - champagne, yummy food, strawberries...yum. The concert was great fun too - right inside one of the palace courtyards - it couldn't have been a nicer evening.| Click on a photo to see the big version | ||
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) Picnic before the concert Toby,Tim,Alex,Sharon,Steve |
) Courtyard at Hampton Court Palace |
) Lit up courtyard |
Miscellaneous
Harry Potter has arrived. We ordered it from Amazon, but had it shipped to Toby's work, so it wasn't going to be in our hands until Monday (it came out Friday night at midnight - i.e. Saturday). Well, that wouldn't do, so we had to buy a copy on Saturday. Now we have two, which means we can both read it at the same time. We're both almost halfway through it and enjoying it!
Toby's work: Oye. Been BUSY. It's been a long 2 months since Alan left - not really a one person job and I admit to having put in some extra hours again. But there is good news. First hired a temp, Mary, who's been great. Mostly she's been helping Arry (who was off for over a week with a trapped nerve in her neck) but is learning more of my side of the business since I'll be away soon, won't I? The other good news is that we today we hired Fiona to replace Alan and she will start on 7th July. By August I should be home by 6!
Tom's work: soon I'm off to California for the ESRI user conference - should be about 12,000 people or so this year. Wow! I'll be stopping very briefly in Boston on my way - apologies if I miss you there. Then on to CA for 2 weeks - one week for the conference and one week for a training course. I will stop in and see my friends Ed and Margie on the weekend in between.
Toby's gambling update: Not a big gambling month. I only lost £4 at the fruit machines. I'll make it up next Thursday when Akzo's sports and social club go to the horse races at Newbury. Tom will be in the states so I'll be free to place my bets....
Bits & Bobs:
And there you have it for this report.
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