Sunday, July 30, 2006

Chedworth Roman Villa




I went to the Chedworth Roman Villa in Glouchestershire. The villa dates from the 4th Century and sits in a secluded valley that even today is reached only by a single-track road. There are a number of mosaics that still survive and a great example of the warm, hot, and then cold bath house.

Anniversary Canal Boat trip


On July 14th, having placed the kids at different friends' houses. Jennifer and I took a canal boat ride for the day. We got there around 9:30 AM and, after a little instruction on how to operate the boat and locks, took off by ourselves. We went up the South Oxford Canal a few miles from Lower Heyford and parked and had lunch. Then we went back to the boat launch. It was so peaceful and relaxing. The day was beautiful and a perfect way to celebrate.

A few days in London

During the mid-term break in May we went into London with the kids and Grandma Vivian for a few days.

Our first stop was Kew Gardens. The weather wasn't the best: it was raining alot so we didn't walk around as much as we wanted. We did visit the Palm House and the Princess of Wales Conservatory. It stopped raining for a bit and we walked amongst the earliest trees to be planted at the Gardens. We didn't have time to see all we wanted so we'll definitely have to head back there.

We took the tube back into central London to take a ride on the London Eye. There was no line and we could get right on one of the capsules. By this time the rain had stopped and things had cleared up. This provided us with a great view of the city.

The next day we spent the day at the London Zoo. A number of animals have been moved out of the city to a satellite zoo but there was still alot of things to see and experience. The invertebrate exhibit and the aviary section were great.

The last day we went to St Paul's Cathedral, the church designed by Christopher Wren in 1673. The inside was so huge and we walked around the crypt area to see all the famous people buried there: Admiral Nelson, Duke of Wellington, etc. We climbed up (99 feet) first to the inside of the dome and looked down on the floor below. Next we took the steps up (175 feet) to the outside of the top of the dome. Lastly, being unable to stop there, took the steps to the top viewing point just under the steeple at en elevation of 280 feet from the church floor. Windy but beautiful.

Thoughts on a World Cup

Perhaps the most interesting thing about the World Cup was the explosion seen in English patriotism. Cars were decorated with the plastic flag holders and flags could be seen everywhere. Obviously there is no Independence Day for the English to celebrate being English but not even St George's Day brings out the response that was seen during the World Cup.

Perhaps the most memorable thing to come out of the WC was Zidane's headbutt. An English jockey the other day was thrown from his horse before a race. He stood up and then headbutted the horse. One newspaper headline was "Jockey Zidane's his Horse."

He he...

I've been pretty bad lately keeping up with things...Please check over the next day or so as I get caught up.