Along the Thames & In our Memory

Last night, my husband took me for a walk along the river. I love this part of the city, and it shines in the golden hour!

We also spent some time outside the Tower of London.

The Tower is currently displaying an art installation, in remembrance of the First World War. Entitled "Blood Swept Land and Seas of Red", ceramic red poppies pour out of the tower and fill the moat surrounding the fortress.

Poppies have become a symbol of remembrance for those who lost their lives in service to their country, owing primarily to this poem written by a soldier in the First World War.

In Flanders Field

In Flanders fields the poppies blow
Between the crosses, row on row, 
That mark our place, and in the sky, 
The larks, still bravely singing, fly, 
Scarce heard amid the guns below. 

We are the dead; short days ago
We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow, 
Loved and were loved, and now we lie
In Flanders fields. 

Take up our quarrel with the foe! 
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high! 
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.

-- Lieutenant  Colonel John McCrae

Though the poppies pouring across the grass are breathtakingly beautiful, the effect deepens when you realise each represents a English (or commonwealth) life lost in WWI. And they're still 'planting' more. By the end of the exhibit, 888,246 poppies will line those fields.

888,246 souls.

In remembrance, and in prayer for the souls in danger today.

Summer Travels -- *and a English grammar lesson*

Well, I've been gone a while, at least from writing. This summer opened with an amazing visit from my mother-and-sister in law. We had so much fun through the whirlwind two weeks! After that, I took a week of rest before falling ill* with tonsillitis. Then being the kind soul that I am, I shared my tonsillitis with my husband right before he started his summer module. Some recovery, changes in schedules, a week cooking at a Christian camp in Northhampton, and suddenly, the summer is flying by.
*Note: In England, normal colds, flus, etc. are referred to as being ill or unwell. Being sick involves vomit. Its actually a fairly handy distinction. However, sick can also be used to describe vomit itself. Correct usages would include "I was sick three times last night." or "There was a pile of sick on the sidewalk." Typical conversation would be as follows:
"I fell ill (yes fell replaces the American got, also used in context of falling pregnant) last week."
"Oh no! With what?"
"Oh, I was proper sick all Friday."
"I'm so sorry!"

But I digress.

Summer is actually just starting here in London. The schools in England are all on trimesters. Autumn term is Sept-Dec, spring term is Jan- March, and summer term is April-July, then August is summer holiday. Students get two weeks between terms, and a one week half-term break in the middle of each term. It's different to get used to, but not bad. However, it does mean that traveling Europe in August gets crazy, as EVERYONE is on holiday at the same time! But for me, it still feels like summer is coming to a close. So, before it gets too late, I realised I need to post my photos! Here are some pics from our travels outside London.

We took a day trip to see the White Cliffs of Dover, which were just lovely. The weather was still cool, but the sun was shining, the English channel bright, and the clouds lifted enough for us to see France in the distance. Loved it! (For adventurous videos, check out my previous post for Emily's hubby!)

I love this guy!!!

Then I snuck the girls over for 26 hours in Paris. We walked all over, and sped through the highlights, but this time, made it in a couple of the churches the hubs and I didn't brave queues to see! SO glad we did this time!

Notre Dame..... if you get the chance to go- check out the carvings around the building. Each statue is different, each face unique, everything telling a story. It's just brilliant!

We wandered some Paris streets again.... and again, it charmed my heart!

If you came via my Facebook page, you've already seen us girls on the Pont des Arts--- did I ever post the video we took? I'll have to check!

A Visit from Flat Stanley

Dear Andrew and the rest of the Class at Dickenson Elementary,

Thanks so much for letting Flat Stanley come and stay with me in London. As you can tell, we had such a fun time that I had trouble convincing him to go back home to America! He is on his way back, and should arrive sometime next week along with the information sheet. But I thought I'd share some of the pictures he took here on my website while he's on his way!

Flat Stanley showed up and immediately needed to go shopping for some warm winter clothes. Our winter is probably a little colder than yours in Florida-- not as bad as winter up north in Wisconsin or Minnesota, but still cold with lots of wind and rain. We wear wooly jumpers (thick sweaters), and lots of coats and scarves here. But the last few weeks have been warmer, so he's been able to take off some of those layers.

These are some of the first pictures we took when he arrived. One of my favourite things about living in London is that I get to meet so many people from all over the world. These are some of my friends- one is from England, the other from Germany (and one of the children's Dad's is from Scotland).

These friends are from Mongolia....

... and Isabela is from Brazil!

       

Then I took Flat Stanley out with me. We went to Trafalgar Square, where you can see Nelsons Column, and, way in the background, Big Ben. Its also the home of the National Portrait Gallery, where you can see lots of famous paintings by people like Vincent Van Gogh, and Edgar Degas.

 

For some reason, there's also a very large blue chicken at Trafalgar Square. Its some kind of art that I think is rather silly, but Flat Stanley insisted on getting a picture with it!

Then I took Flat Stanley to church with me. He tried to get up and preach, but I told him that is my pastor's job!

I took Flat Stanley to Covent Garden.... it used to be an old market, famous for its shops and some of the street performers (See if Ms Duncan knows about Punch & Judy- some old fashioned puppets that came from Covent Garden)!

This is Westminster Abbey- one of the most famous churches in the world! Do you know Prince William and Princess Kate (Middleton)? Their wedding was in this church! Its SOOOO big and beautiful!

And of course, Stanley wanted to get a picture with one of London's double decker busses. We rode these lots while he was here! My favourite way to get around London is to get in the front seat of one of these! You see above the cars, look down at the people on the sidewalk, and get to watch everything go by as you bus past London's busy streets! There's always SO much going on in London, sometimes its just nice to sit back and watch. Do you know the phrase "people-watching"? It's really fun! I told Flat Stanley about a game I play, where I see someone, and I make up a story about them... guessing where they come from, where they are going, why they are in London, and trying to figure out as much as I can about them just by looking! Its a fun game (though people are always full of surprises!) You should try it sometime- even just the next time you're at the mall!

Then, since my family was visiting, Flat Stanley came with us on a quick trip to Paris! We can take the train (the Eurostar) through England, through the English Channel- in something called the Chunnel (the Channel Tunnel), and through France to Paris. The trip only takes about 2 hours! That's quicker than you could drive to Miami! Can you believe it?! Flat Stanley loved Paris- though there are always LOTS of tourists!

This is the Notre Dame- a famous Catholic Cathedral. There's a Disney movie called The Hunchback of Notre Dame that is set here. I don't think its a true story- but it's cool to think about the people who have lived near this church for such a long time!

And this is the Louvre Museum. Do you know the painting called Mona Lisa (its the lady with black hair and a funny smile)? That painting lives in this museum! We didn't go in, as its quite expensive and very crowded, but we can say we saw it! (Flat Stanley is in the picture with my sister-in-law, Emily, who came to visit recently!)

And of course, we had to see the Eiffel Tower while we were in Paris! Its SO pretty when they light it up at night. In an earlier blog post, I took a video of it sparkling at night, but we couldn't take a night picture or else you wouldn't see Flat Stanley! But it was so fun to walk around and look up at it. The Eiffel Tower was originally built for the World Fair in 1889 (over 100 years ago). It was only supposed to be up for the fair and then taken down, but they realised it would help with radio signal- which had just been invented, so they left it up! (Remember, back then, electricity and telephones were still new, there was no television, and definitely no computers or internet!)

Of course, then we had to take one more picture back in London- with the famous Big Ben! Its kind of far away, making Flat Stanley look like a giant, but you can look through some of my older pictures to see more of London!

Stanley had so much fun looking around, he forgot to take pictures everywhere we went! But he travelled a ton, and said he'd love to come back to visit! Maybe some of you can come visit me someday too- I'd love that!

Well, I hope you have a great rest of the year at school- you're almost done, aren't you?! Kids here in England have longer Christmas and Spring Breaks, but they have school all the way through July and only get August off for summer break. Crazy, right?! But you get done in just a couple weeks, so Flat Stanley knew he had to get back. Thanks for letting him come visit me! We had a great time!

Bye!
Kate

For my brother in law....

At some point, I'll post a more complete post on our adventures in Dover eventually, but my dear sister-in-law Emily wanted to send something to her hubby to let him know we were thinking of him. But it's a pretty exciting adventure just the same.

Dear Yoshi,

You are far away off in a distant land, doing brave things. Your wife is here in jolly old England, enjoying our coastline today. She said you'd asked for some rocks from the White Cliffs, but all of the hiking paths were on top of the cliffs, not below by the water. We searched for a path down to the sea, and at one point, saw a spot that looked promising. We climbed through the fencing they'd put up with red tape (part was knocked down by someone else already anyway), and scurried our way down the steep hairpin path to the bottom of the cliffs. It was less of a path, and more run-off ditches, but we were so excited.... till we got to the last 30 feet... and saw this:

Is hard to tell from this picture, but the path along the rock face narrow from about 24 inches to about 8 inches, just before the wooden bridge that they'd built across the gap gives way. There's a small section connected by dirt, but if you look close, you'll see that its already cracking, about to give way.

We took a video for you. Click here to see it. (Sorry its on Vimeo, I had a hard time loading it properly.)

Just wanted to let you know we were thinking of you. Your wife misses you greatly. Be safe, love you!

Kate

I'd Forgotten What Silence Sounds Like

I woke up in the middle of the night (around 3:45), and realised something was different. It was silent. Completely silent. No footsteps on the pavement, cars in the street, planes in the air, or sirens in the distance.... just the quiet rhythm of my husband breathing next to me. I honestly can't remember the last time I heard nothing.

The silence was deafening.

When people ask me what I miss most about the States, its not a shop or restaurant, not an accent or a food (though I do miss my Lucky Charms and Peter Pan peanut butter!), it's the stillness. It's the fact that wherever I was, I could be close to doing nothing. Even living in town- I could hop in the car, drive out to the country, and see an empty field with a handfuls of hay bales drying in the sun. I could walk into a forest, where the only bustle is the squirrels and the only twitter is the birds.

I miss the breathing space.

A Walk in the Chilterns

We're going to flashback a bit for this post.

The hubby and I got out of the city for a day this winter, but I never uploaded the photos. I'm finally getting to it tonight.

We wanted to get out of the city and see some English countryside. When my Aunt Jenn was here, she took me to the Cotswolds, which were SO charming! But the hubs hadn't really left London. So we decided to remedy that. Last minute train tickets were a bit pricey, but with a little looking, we found that the tube (Metropolitan Line) could get you out of London pretty well. (Ok, just outside the encircling freeway, but Londoners never get out that far!) :-)

Keep in mind it was mid-December. The air was crisp and cool, but plenty warm for a hike. It was lovely.

We stepped off the train at Chalfont and Latimer. I quickly discovered that like cities in the States, the 'burbs are where its at! The gated homes were beautiful!

Through a field path (which is an awesome English concept, that walking footpaths are required through private land between villages)... around the corner, we saw the open fields of the English Countryside!

We stumbled on (and across) Harewood Downs Golf Club-- the footpaths go right through the fairways! (Don't worry, Dad. I kept proper golfing etiquette and stayed out of sight in the woods till the foursome had teed off and started their way down to their shots!)

From there, we meandered to Chalfont St. Giles... a charming tiny village (and cool, as our church is St. Giles!)

Through the lych-gate (corpse gate) at the local church. Read the wiki entry about these gates to find the superstition behind them!

The woodwork on the chapel entrance was lovely.

Then we found what we meandered here for-- Milton's Cottage! This is the home where John Milton penned Paradise Lost. We weren't able to tour inside, but it was so neat to be peek inside and consider the history that had been here, and the great minds that once dwelled in this home!

** Random shot of the day ** In the public loo, they had this hand washing station, with buttons for water, soap, and then air drying. Weirdest thing I've ever seen, but apparently, they're not uncommon!

Then we quickly realised we were running out of daylight (in December, the sun sets sets before 4pm!), so we hoofed it up to Amersham, where we did a quick tour of Old Amersham (historical district) and  stepped in a quick charity shop (thrift shop) before catching our train back to London.

They trim certain trees here in England like this. I don't really understand why they lop them off so starkly. They do it in the country and here in London. It makes the the parks look like a Dr. Seuss book!

Dear Mama- I thought of you!

Apparently, we were in the county of Buckinghamshire, in a region of hills called The Chilterns. (I love that!) And we'll have to go back... apparently, there are a few places near there that they used in filming (both) versions of Pride & Prejudice! And the Austen geek in me wants to see them!

P.S.   Dad- You can bring your clubs when you visit. Harewood Downs is only £30 for green fees. I'll go with you if I can borrow your clubs!