England Experiences - Number 4 - Olympic Mania

We were in London a few weeks before the Olympics began but there was already a lot of Olympic stuff around.  Rings were everywhere! On the Tower Bridge:

In the train station (St. Pancras).

And although we couldn't go into any venues we did see a lot (from a distance).


The Olympic Stadium.

The Aquatic Centre.

The Equestrian Stadium.

The Olympic Park.

Not a venue but just as important - security!

Transport for London was getting ready for the Games, putting up signs to venues and warning people that it would get busy on transit.

The British Museum had a display about the Olympics, not very big but there were gold medals on display!

On our last night we were in Cambridge and saw the torch relay.  We arrived over an hour before the torch came through to stake out our spot and it turned out to be perfect - right in front of an exchange!  First lots of promotional vehicles came through.

The next torch bearer took pictures with the crowd while he waited for the torch to arrive.

Police kept everyone in order.

 Finally the torch arrived and the flame was passed.

The media was there to capture it all.

I meant to have this post up earlier but since the Games started I've been spending a lot of time sitting on my couch watching! I'll admit it's pretty much all the time I don't have to be at work or somewhere else.  Thankfully they only last 2 weeks and then life can return to normal!

England Experiences - Number 3 - Woolfest

When I was looking around on the Internet planning our trip I was overjoyed to find out we'd be in the right area at the right time for Woolfest!  Happily it turned out to be just as wonderful as I'd hoped.

The two day festival was held at a local agricultural centre.  In case you missed the signs pointing the way you could also follow this big sheep!

Some of these guys came inside 

It was really interesting to see the different breeds up close.

There were quite a few live animal displays as well as loads of vendors selling everything wool related: fleeces, rovings, yarn, felting kits, knitting needles, spinning wheels, felt, etc. etc.  I believe there were also sheep auctions going on but I'd have hard time packing one in my suitcase (not to mention customs!) so I stayed clear of that!

The rooms were decorated with wool bunting (what else?) and I participated in a small way by bringing in a knitted triangle to add to the bunting effort.

While I didn't exactly do as this sign suggests I did bring home my share of wool goodies.

I focused on buying local (or at least British) yarn I can't get here in Canada and was very successful! These three are from different types of sheep: Blue Faced Leister, Swaledale and Herdwick and are undyed.  Very cool!  I really like the Herdwick yarn as that type of sheep is really particular to the Lake District.

 

This was my splurge purchase!

A kit to make Kate Davies Rams & Yowes blanket.  The yarn is all undyed Shetland - isn't that amazing!  There should be enough yarn for a hat as well as the blanket.  I think this will be next winter's project.

England Experiences - Number 2 - Filming Locations

I have to admit, a lot of my favourite TV shows and movies are British.  Pride & Prejudice (BBC version), Emma (BBC version), the Cranford series, As Time Goes By and Downton Abbey are a few that come to mind. It was very exciting to see some of the places these were filmed when I was in England!

Our first stop was Bath. Very Jane Austen-ish looking and generally beautiful.  A lot of Persuasion is set in Bath & they used some of the streets in the 1995 version.  I think the street in the second picture is where Anne & Captain Wentworth got engaged.

Not far outside Bath is the little village of Lacock which has been used in a number of period pieces.  Memorable ones for me were Pride & Prejudice, Emma and Cranford.  As a National Trust village Lacock remains historical and beautiful!  We walked around the streets pointing out familiar buildings from films and taking pictures of everything!

Any guesses which film this location was used for?

If you know Downton Abbey at all that shot pretty much gives it away (it's our take-off on the DVD cover).  We took a tour from London that visited the village that was used for places like the hospital, the Crawley cottage and the church, as well as Highclere Castle that plays Downton Abbey so well.  The tour was great fun!  While we traveled around on the coach we watched episdoes of the show and it was an easy, stress-free way to see two locations in one day.  Photography wasn't allowed inside but many of the rooms looked very similar to how they look in the film.  Especially the library, the staircase & great room and the dining room.  The outside bits are very distinctive as well.  Here's the courtyard (with film props stored in the arches) and the tree that is such a lovely shape.  You can just make out my sister & I sitting on the bench underneath.  I'm not sure what that last thing is called but I remember seeing it in the film.

The last location is not nearly as well known.  This farm, Bank Ground, was used for the 1977 film of Swallows & Amazons.  I'm a great fan of the books but hadn't seen the film till this trip (we borrowed a copy from the farm owners) as I haven't been able to find it in the correct format for Canada.

One day we took a steam ship down the lake and caught a glimpse of Wild Cat Island.

This sail boat is not at all like the ones in the book but we enjoyed watching it anyways.

How about you; are there any favourite filming locations you've seen or want to visit?

England Experiences - Number 1 - Tea

I haven't mentioned here that I was in England for 3 weeks!  It was a great trip with my mum & my sister.  We have all been before and went back to visit some favourite places as well as discover some new ones.  Now that I've had a week to catch up with life at home there's time to blog and share some of my England experiences with you!

One of the quintessential English things is having tea.  Tea at breakfast, tea in the afternoon, tea in the evening, at the hotel, at restaurants, with friends.  As a non coffee drinker I love that hotel rooms provide a tea kettle rather than a coffee maker!  Adding some biscuits, scones or another treat makes tea even sweeter.  I'm not sure how many cups of tea we drank over 21 days but we enjoyed every one.

This picture sums up how we ended a lot of nights.  Tea in our hotel room supplemented with a selection of biscuits from Marks & Spencer.

In Bath we had tea at the Pump Room as people have been doing since the 1700s.  In London we had tea at Buckingham Palace!  Not, alas, an official garden tea party with the Queen in attendance, but out of a paper cup in the cafe set up in the garden after touring the State Rooms.

I ended up blending in with the decor very well!

At the end of the trip we bought some tea to bring home with us so we can continue to enjoy!  I think scone making should be in the near future too!

Last Stop - Vancouver

The last stop on our trip was Vancouver; mainly to visit family & friends but we also snuck in a little sight seeing & shopping.  This picture is from the top of Grouse Mountain which is, more or less, in the city.  As far as I can remember this was the first time I've been up Grouse.  This time we took the gondola up but next time I want to hike up the "Grouse Grind".

At the top we saw this grizzly bear!  Safely ensconced in a habitat and happily eating (grass!) away with his friend.  Both the bears were orphaned as cubs and were brought to Grouse Mountain to live.

There was a fair amount of physical activity during the trip and Vancouver was no exception.  My sister & I took some dance classes at Harbour Dance.  My favourite ballet class - I haven't taken one in a few years and it was great to be back at the barre.

I kept up running while I was away.  My favourite run was along the seawall - it was a beautiful run and there was so much to look at the 15 kilometres went by quite quickly.

Still in the sporty theme of things we revisited the Olympic Cauldron.  Not nearly as exciting as 18 months ago when it was lit but you can get a lot closer now!

The final event was a triathlon!  I competed in the Vancouver Triathlon in Stanley Park - sprint distance.  That's 750m swim, 20km bike, 5km run.  Because they close the road around the park the race started early - 7:00 which made for a chilly start!  This was my first ocean race and was it chilly!  Even with a wetsuit on.  Some people swam without them and kudos to them I couldn't have done it!

Friends of mine were bike course marshals and happened to get the camera out in time to catch me riding by.

Here I am on the run, at this point my feet had finally thawed from the swim and I was really enjoying the day.

Our last night was spent at the beach eating fish & chips & ice cream with good friends.  Great finale to a great trip.