Back home ... oh the memories

Returned to Calgary on May 30 and back to work and reality on Monday ... going through the 396 photos we took and came across this one I took during our walking tour of Oxford universities/city and I am reminiscing already ....

Birmingham

We decided to explore Birmingham yesterday and today. We would have liked to have gone on a couple more Cotswolds walks before leaving, but the weather turned and we have had a lot of rain over the past few days - not exactly ideal walking weather!

Yesterday we drove into Birmingham and parked near the Bull Ring (in a ridiculously tight carpark). The Bull Ring is a large shopping centre in the heart of the City. It was easy enough driving in from Coventry on the A45. Teresa gave us directions as to how to drive in but failed to mention you cannot go back the same way you came so it was a bit stressful finding our way back! We couldn't find an A45 sign to save our lives, so we headed south and found our way back on our own! We arrived around 11am and while there were lots of people about, we found as the afternoon progressed, the number of people increased and oh so many more cars/buses were on the roads. We hit rush hour in a big way leaving the country's 2nd largest city. We went back today on the train (less stressful) and finished exploring the Art Museum (brilliant museum, lots to see, paintings from the 14th to the 20th century, ceramics, jewellery, stained glass, metal works and more) and much to our surprise, admission was free! This photo was taken in Victoria Square (appropriately named given the sculpture of Queen Victoria who stands regally overlooking the square).

Dinner with Nev & Teresa

We took Nev and Teresa out for dinner at Rupali, an Indian Restaurant Saturday night. We had a delicious meal and as usual, shared many laughs together.

Grandma's Garden

Cotswold Walk - Blockley

Andy and I did a 4 mile walk on Saturday which started in this pretty village in the Cotswolds (yes, yet another picturesque village)! The walk started at St. Peter & St. Paul Church (shown in post below) and after walking up through fields and woods and back down again, we ended back where we started, at the church. It was a rather windy day but pleasant enough. Most of the roads in England are narrow but I found these streets narrower than most, esp. with cars parked tight up against the stone walls on the streets leaving mere inches to either side in which to negotiate! This village is built on a hillside which gave me more occassions to hold my breath as we circled the village looking for parking! I find negotiating these narrow streets very stressful - Andy somehow manages to drive well despite having a "Nervous Nelly" (and navigator) sitting in the passenger seat!

St. Peter & St. Paul church in Blockley

After finishing our walk we went inside this church which, with the exception of a few more modern churches in England, is filled with history.

When excavating to expand the church in the 1700's the excavators found 2,000 skulls and bones and after due inquiry, could find no record as to who these bones belonged to or how they came to be buried at this site. The skulls and bones were re-buried in the vault inside the church below the tomb of Lord Harwick's daughter as shown in the top right corner (photo tried to also capture the wooden timber roof joists which were really superb). This tomb is located just inside the wall on the left just behind arch shown in the bottom left. The angel carries a banner that reads "Gloria in excellis Deo" and is hung high on the stone arch on the left side.

Broadway Walk

Rachel, Tyler, Andy and I went on a 4 mile walk to Broadway Tower, a 1024 foot climb which afforded superb panoramic views from the top and along the way as shown in this photo mosaic. We had ideal walking temperature but it was a bit overcast and hazy. We encountered gusty winds at the top and decided to eat our picnic lunch huddled against a stone wall just a short distance on the descending walk.

Lion King!

Went to the Lion King today in London with Rachel and Tyler - it was great! Costumes were phenomenal. We hopped on the train at Coventry station to Euston and from there travelled on the tube to Leicester Square and grabbed a quick lunch & then took in the matinee performance at 2pm. It was a full house.

Northleach walk - May 20

Andy and I walked a 4 mile circular walk through 2 tiny Cotswold villages, Hampnett and Northleach. Starting in Northleach we crossed fields, climbed up a steep hill, crossed over a B road and headed for Northleach. Shown in these photos: top left: view of the Norman church in Hampnett where in the late 1800's the reverend took it upon himself to have the chancel stencilled (as shown in the bottom left photo). Reading the history of the church, the locals did not take well to such decoration and started a fund raising campaign to rid the church of the stencilling - fortunately, they were unsuccessful. The stencilling is beautiful! The lower right photo is of the church at Northleach, a much grander church, but not as interesting as the Hampnett church in my opinion. Photo in the top right hand corner is one of the beautiful views we encountered on our Cotswold walk.

Rachel and Tyler returned from their trip to London and we are off to London tomorrow to take in The Lion King. Rachel and Tyler bought tickets for all of us to go (very generous of them) and we're all stoked to see it!

Sunday May 17

Attended the 10:00 service this morning at the church where Mark and Kate are to be married next year. After the service Kate introduced us to the reverend who will be marrying them and discussed various aspects of the wedding including the music. Rachel tried out the old piano and played a few sample tunes for Kate who very quickly welled up with emotion. It is a very pretty parish church built in the 1500's in a most picturesque market town about 20 minutes from Keresley.

Family time - May 16

Mark, Kate, Danny and the twins, Helen & Paul and the girls came up for dinner (17 people in total). Rachel made a Leek Cassoulet and Andy bar-b-qued chicken, all delicious!

Sophie and Chloe (3.5 yrs) have been a bit shy and distant with us so it's been a hard job getting good photos of them! While I do not consider these to be good, they are as good as I could capture in tight quarters with lots of people milling about. Around 8:30pm the special coloring book & crayola markers came out which kept the twins amused for some time. How to tell them apart? Sophie is wearing a headband, whereas Chloe's "fringe" (bangs) are in her face most of the time!

Yorkshire Dales

While the weather was a bit gloomy and overcast and rained at times, there was no concealing the beauty of the Yorkshire Dales.

Coventry Motor Museum

We took Rachel and Tyler to the motor museum - while it's been in Coventry for years, we ourselves had never been. Coventry was badly bombed in the war owing to the fact that the numerous car factories in the city were repurposed to make ammunitions for the war. The museum had a large display depicting the German's blitz on Coventry November 14-16 which effectively levelled the city, killing 808 people all of whom were buried at the Coventry cemetary on the London Road. In the first photo Andy is chatting to a former Massey Ferguson employee, now a museum assistant, who was on hand to answer any queries in the wartime Coventry section of the museum. The top right hand photo was one of the many cars that Andy admired; the bottom left was a depiction of a Coventry street after the war; Andy remembers riding the double decker bus shown in the bottom right hand corner. (that's him in front passenger window)

Dinner with Sally & Alfie

We had a most enjoyable visit with Sally on Wednesday at her home where she prepared dinner. Alfie her dog kept us amused with his antics during & after dinner.

York

Arrived in the City of York today and walked the old city by foot. We plan to drive to the Bronte country and explore the Yorkshire Dales tomorrow before returning home to Coventry.

Oxford - May 13

After touring C.S. Lewis's home, "The Kilns" in Oxford, we grabbed lunch and then headed out on a 2 hour walking tour of the university/city. There are 39 different universities in Oxford and we gained access to Queen's College and Christ Church. The last photo may look familiar to anyone who is a Harry Potter fan!

First photo: photo of the garden from the kitchen window of The Kilns; 2nd photo: approaching Christ Church; 3rd photo: the Hall at Christ Church

Cotswolds Walk #1 - Minster Lovell

Andy and I dropped Rachel and Tyler off at Warwick Castle and drove south another hour to the edge of Oxfordshire where we did a 3.5 mile circular walk (just a little over 5km). It was an absolutely beautiful walk - through meadows, pastures, along the banks of the Windrush River, stopping to view the ruins of an old Manor Hall. Nothing could be more picturesque!

Peeping Tom

One of the things Coventry is known for (besides being bombed mercilessly during the war) is Lady Godiva. According to Wikipedia:

Godiva (or Godgifu) (fl. 1040-1080) was a noblewoman who, according to legend, rode naked through the streets of Coventry in order to gain a remission of the oppressive toll imposed by her husband on his tenants. The name "Peeping Tom" for a voyeur comes from later versions of this legend in which a man named Tom watched her ride and was struck blind or dead.

After touring the remains of the old and new cathedrals with Tyler today, Andy took this photo of a novelty Lady Godiva/Peeping Tom installed in the town centre's clock. When the clock chimes on the hour, the door open and Lady Godiva appears, riding her horse with Peeping Tom peering on.

Danny's last football match of the season

We were pleased when we arrived to warm weather - mid 20's. After a good night's sleep woke to blue skies and by 9:00 it was about 25 degrees. We went to see our nephew Danny's last football match of the season this morning and we (me, Andy, Rachel, Tyler, Mark and Kate) proudly cheered on the Hawkshill team (and saw Danny score a goal for his team).

May 9 - England bound!

We woke Friday morning to snow - not entirely unusual in May in Alberta, but instead of moaning about it, we were happy knowing we were hours away to hopping the big pond on our way to England. Photos taken while waiting for the boarding call at the airport.