Xmas Cruise, Nottingham, and Derbyshire

So I've been informed by v. influential sources that my last post covered a bit much, so I'll try to simplify this one. However, that last post just did have so much to cover!

After returning from the Leeds weekend, I began yet another week of work that started off with me still being exhausted from the weekend. And instead of taking it easy at night, we still managed to get out and do something every night of the week! One night in my and GP's show oddessy, we saw the Agatha Christie murder mystery "And Then There Were None" (including in the cast the actress that played Bridget Jones' mother in the movie), a v. good play that actually scared GP. Also, Wednesday night was the BUNAC Christmas Cruise on the Thames. Our little boat had music and a dance floor, but also sitting areas and a deck that you could just hang out on and watch the sights go by. However, it of course chose that night to spit some v. cold rain, so not many people hung out outside. Another night Trace, Kate, and I thought about going to a couple different Christmas Concerts (one at Westminster Abbey, one at St. Martin's), but decided against it. In our quest of deciding what to do, we happened by yet another movie premeire, this one for King Kong. It was nowhere near as crowded as Harry Potter, but there always seems to be one going on somewhere. That night we ended up heading to Bayswater for some cheap nachos that supposedly were really good, which they were, but their cheapness made them even better.

Saturday, Trace and I headed to Derby to go to the peak district and Nottingham for the weekend. I was v. excited, since ever seeing the BBC "Pride and Prejudice," I'd wanted to go to the Peak District (a humungo national park!) and the Robin Hood part of Nottingham was also v. inticing for Nottingham. We caught an early train, though we missed the train we'd aimed for, and were on our way. We spent the morning in Nottinghamm wandering around and taking in the city. We had "breakfast" at Ye Ole Trip to Jeruselem, supposedly the oldest pub in Britain. It was built in 1186 (or similar) and was built partially into the sandstone caves under the large outcropping on which Nottingham Castle was built. A bit touristy, though the pub didn't have that feel, and the bangers and mash were excellent!

We then headed back up past the statue of Robin Hood to Nottingham Castle. Besides the cheap admission, we decided to go on a Cave Tour, only costing a single pound!!! The museum at the castle wasn't fantasatic, but the near hour-long guided tour through the caves, old dungeons, and the Castle Grounds was probably the best pound I've spent yet in the UK. We saw where this guy was held prisoner, where this guy was tortured, where another snuck into the castle to capture his mother's lover, where they sent the people with the plague, all the really fascinating stuff, of course. We headed then back through town to the train station to head to Derby. (photos: me at the street of a character supposedly based on a weirdly and v. distnatly-related ancestor; the Robin Hood statue next to the bluff with the Castle; the old pub (please note how it butts right up against the bluff with the castle and actually uses the tunnels as part of the pub); and one of the tunnels that someone famous was dragged down years ago.)




Getting to Derby, we of course hadn't figured out where to stay yet, since none of our tour books were v. helpful in this area. Eventually, we found a B&B, a bit more than what we wanted to pay though still average for the town, dumped our bags, and headed to dinner at the oldest pub in Derby (Ye Ole Dolphin). The city was neat as we wandered through since it, like all the other's we'd visited, was decked out for Christmas. Derby even had a small German Christmas market, complete with a sausage vendor. We spent most of our night wandering around town, but turned into bed early since neither of us had had a good nights sleep in a long time.

The next morning, we were up early for breakfast before heading to the station for our train. This was where our luck kicked in that Saturday had only been hinting at. We got to the station and had to wait an hour for the bus into the Peak District, since we had just missed an earlier one since our breakfast took forever in coming. Once on the bus, we had a delightful trip towards Matlock with incredible scenery. However, we a huge traffic jam outside Matlock, arrived late at the station, and missed the bus we wanted to change to by only five minutes. Seeing that the next bus didn't arrive for another two hours, we wandered around town and even did some hiking on the hills outside of town. Upon return to the station, we then realized that the bus we were waiting for would really not come for another hour since the one we'd hoped to catch was in v. small print half obscured by an ad that it was a summer only bus. Realizing it would be too late to try to go to Chatsworth House, a huge estate (kind of like Blenheim) as used in the new Pride and Prejudice as Pemberley and the house Jane Austen supposedly had in mind while writing the book, we decided to just head further into the District and stop at some of the cute towns to explore. However, while waiting for the bus to Chatsoworth and before realizing it's downfall, we missed the bus we would have needed to take further into the district and had to thus wait another hour. Ugh. Once finally on the bus, the scenery was great. The photo's that I'll post with this won't do it justice since they were taken through a v. dirty bus window. (photos: Trace on the hill overlooking Matlock; fields, hills, and a castle near Matlock; sheep and the rolling hills of the Southern Peak District via a dirty bus window; cute streets in Buxton; Trace with our gingerbread cookies (he already started to eat his; and me leaning causally against a certain wall...)






We explored Buxton and Bakewell (home of the Bakewell pudding and pie), before heading back through the district to Derby. We almost had another long wait at the station, but caught a different train instead and were soon headed back on a v. crowded train back to London. Arriving back at St. Pancras Station, we popped back in to check out Platform 9 3/4 (the actual platform loctaion with the luggage trolley half-disappeared through the barrier) and then the platform they used in the movies (Platform 4, or something like that) before heading home.

Leeds, Rochester, and Hangin' Out

Well Oxford was fabulously fun and chill, but it was back to work on Monday (as always). Our weekend trips our wonderful, but because we see and do so much, we're always exhausted and reluctant to return to work. So, our weeknights have been probably noticibly chill, but have also lately been getting a bit more active as you'll notice. The week we came back from the Oxford trip, GP and I started our attempt at "A Show A Week," initiating it with A Few Good Men (starring Rob Lowe!!!). The show was pretty good, especially when it's a movie that I've seen a good amount, but it was v. exciting to see it on stage and starring someone as great as Rob Lowe. We also started going out a bit more to explore things like pubs. The BUNAC Pub Meets took us to an old church-turned-pub that also had a bit of a Harry Potter feel to it and a handful of us went a different night to Ye Ole Cheshire Cheese (a pub dating back to the 15th and 16th century with such past visitors as Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle). Kate and I also went to the Tate Modern and decided that neither of us "did" modern art very well. Most was pretty distrubing, but it was still cool.

That Saturday was a day to hang out around town. I got up early and did laundry before catching a bus to Notting Hill to go to the Portobello Road Market. It was super busy and I didn't find a purse that I was looking for. I got a bit lost, but got a nice tour through Kensington (one of the most posh areas of the city) before meeting Kate on Oxford Street to attempt a bit of shopping there (though it didn't work well either). With the busiest shopping street in London at midday on a Saturday, it was a bit more than ominous when they started giving out free knives at a department store. Adding a bit of a rain shower, Kate and I hustled towards a pub to catch some lunch and ended up at the Sherlock Holmes, our favorite London detective and the face of our favorite Tube stop (Baker St.!!!). Kate then went home and on her errands while I went to the National Gallery, determined to accomplish something and do something new that day. I took a guided tour of the museum, free and stopping to interpret a few of the most famous paintings. Trace met me at the Gallery and we started wandering around town.

Not really having anywhere to go, we went from the Gallery at Trafalgar Square towards Westminster and the Abbey (first time to the Abbey), through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace (1st time there too), back through Picadilly to Trafalgar, and then crossing the Thames at the Jubilee Bridge. We then went along the river towards the Millenium Bridge, taking time to stop and listen to a guy playing the guitar while relaxing by the river with a great view of the city and Christmas lights. After crossing the Millenium Bridge, we were at St. Pauls and headed towards the Cheshire Cheese and surrounding areas for some dinner and hanging out before finally returning home. I tried to calculate the length of my walky-walky and figured it was at least 10K, though most likely more like 15-20K for the entire day.

The next morning Kate, GP, and I met Trace at the Tube stop to meet the BUNAC bus to go to Leeds Castle and the Rochester Dickens Christmas Festival. Since some of our tube lines were down for the day, we got to walk by the Sherlock Holmes statue where I of course got my photo taken (I've had strange fascinations with both Sherlock Holmes and with sheep since I've been here). On the bus, we again were faced with the OSU girls from teh Bath trip, who very soon realized that I went to UofM, though I was soon decided to be "one of the nice ones."

The castle itself was very cool, though not as cool as Warwick. We wandered through the hedge maze, down through the grotto from the center of the maze, and back through the Aviary to the Castle itself. The Castle was refurbished, but mostly as a modern-day conference center. Much of the castle did have various period-decorated rooms with historical information, but there also were a few of the conference meeting rooms as well. My favorite room was the library and all the old books on the shelves, of which I did take many, many pictures. After the Castle itself, we wandered the grounds a bit more before heading back to the bus.

A short drive and we arrived in Rochesterto their annual Dickens Festival. Rochester was the home of Charles Dickens at various times, and he also refered to it, either directly or indirectly, in many of his books, inparticular Great Expectations and the Pickwick Papers. We were all just hungry, but instead had to go on a bit of a tour with a local guide. I was initially excited for this, but our guide stuttered and stumbled quite a bit, enought to make us all get restless and try to find ways of escaping. After leaving the tour, we headed through the Winter Carnival in the ruins of the old castle (a Norman castle built on an old Roman one) into town to try to find a pub for a Sunday roast (attempt #3 for Kate and I). Instead, we settled for some delicious vendor food while also enjoying some mulled wine and bagpipe music by one of the visiting piping groups. We kept wandering down the high street, occasionally pausing for pictures with some of the locals in costume. The best part of Rochester was by far the local people that dressed in Dickensian period costumes, some in characters, wandering around the streets. Some played the hand bells, a British soldier and tried recruiting kids to the army, a man dressed as Scrooge was pulled in a wagon with a plate on the back saying "SCROO U" (so absolutely hilarious!)

We stopped at a little church for some food there and afterwards tried some roasted chestnuts (not what I expected, though delicious) while a group of costumed people did a bit of a routine to "The 12 Days of Christmas." Standing around, eating roasted chestnuts, and in a large crowd of people all laughing and singing carols was so wonderful and finally put me in the Christmas Mood. Up til then, there'd been no snow and it was definately not cold enough to seem like anywhere near December. Eventually we made our way back up the street towards the castle to look around before staking out some room to see the parade. A man wandering up the street was dressed as the Phantom of the Opera. I wanted to get my picture with him too, though I soon discovered that he had definately been drinking and insisted on posing for the picture as they did in the movie. We saw the bagpipers again, saw all the characters in costume, and even got to see Scrooge again as he demanded that we "get all the ugly children" out of his way and that our season would be full of all sorts of misery, etc. Though tired, we all had a great time that day.

Oxford and Blenheim Palace

That week saw me returning to work again and trying to get internet access. Kate and I one night went to flatmate Sam's office to use his for a short while and ended up staying there til after 10pm. We also started more venturing to pubs and sites around London after work. That Thursday was Thanksgiving and BUNAC had its own Thanksgiving dinner for about 20 pounds. However, that day at work was a v. rough day and, adding that to a bit of nostalgia and meloncholy from missing Thanksgiving and a bit of frustrations on the Tube, I was in no mood to go to the dinner. Instead, I saved a chunk of money and had Subway instead. Anticlimactic, but in the end much better, I think.

That Friday, oneof the biggest travel magazines, Travel Weekly, came to our office to do a big story on the company. Apparently AA Appointments (who I work for) has won various awards, including lots for "Best Travel Recruitment Agency," but it was still a big deal. I had to wear a suit jacket and everything and we had a professional photo shoot. In the end, I was v. glad when that week was over and Kate and I were going to Oxford.

As usual, Kate and I got up early and headed to the train station to catch the train to Oxford. We got there and wandered around checking out the different colleges and the town. We really wanted to go to Christ Church College where they filmed parts of Harry Potter (the Great Hall, varioius courtyard scenes) and also wehre the man known as Lewis Carroll wrote Alice in Wonderland as inspired by experiences at Christ Church. However, since we arrived at the beginning of lunch, all the colelges were closed to tourists since the students who actually when there had the audacity of actually using their facilities.

Now looking for something to do, we went to check out a possible tour at the Bodlien Library, one of the 6 official copyright deposits (a library that recives a copy of every book published) in the UK and a library that doesn't let anyone actually take out its books. The only way a non-student can get into the library is through a tour, which also includes a visit to the Divinity School (as seen as the Hospital Wing in Harry Potter, and the library scenes filmed in the Bodlien). However, there was a graduation ceremony and no tours that day. Again thwarted, we decided we should eat too.

We went to the Eagle and Child, a pub known for frequent visits by JRR Tolkien, C.S. Lewis, and their literary/academic circle in the 1940s and 1950s. It was a fabulous pub with fabulous food and we were v. much refreshed before heading back towards Christ Church. We did the touristy thing and did the tour of the college, which was v. fascinating. After that tour, we went to the museum in town for a brief walkthorugh before it closed. At last we gave into the need to go to our hostel and actually check in and ditch our bags. We didn't stay long before we left to find something to do before actually going to bed. Kate wanted to check her email, so we went to a café (as mentioned in the previous entry) and then went in surch of a pub called The Turf Tavern (the place where allegedly Bill Clinton didn't inhale). This was hard to find as we had to go down an alleyway and another alleyway to get to this small, though v. cool pub. After a drink, we went back to an Irish pub we had past earlier in the day to listen to the live Irish music. They played lots of great songs, some of my favorites and some of them new, and even played "Wild Rover" ("if you don't know this one, then you're... I don't know... American!"). (photos: Gargoyles at Oxford; me at the school; the Eagle and Child; The Great Hall; and the window at the Great Hall with Alice in Wonderland characters. )







The hostel was definately a hostel and the bed felt like I slept in a trench or something and was very glad to wake up and leave the next morning. Kate and I headed quickly for a croissant for breakfast (Kate ordered a cornish "pastey" before catching herself) and then to the bus station to go to Blenheim Palace. Blenheim is a huge country house that has been the home to at least 11 dukes, starting with John Churchill, the first Duke of Marlborough, who defeated the French army in a huge victory for the first time in a generation at the Battle of Blenheim in 1704. As a reward, Queen Anne gave Churchill a lot of land and money and he built Blenheim Palace. Eventually the family title passed to his daughters, who then married the Spencers (as in Diana Spencer), and Winston Churchill was the son of the younger brother of the 10th (or maybe earlier) Duke. He was born at Blenheim and often returned there as PM.

The Palace was great and even better decorated for Christmas. It had a theme of The Twelve Days of Christmas where you had to find all twelve days hidden around the palace. That afternoon they even had live choral and orchestral music and caroling. As we toured the gournds, we were pursued it seemed by a helicopter landing on the lawn near the private quarters of the Palace. We stole a picture more so to remember the feeling of being supposedly chased down by a helicopter than to photograph the passengers. We think the helicopter contained either friends or family of the Duke, and I even think we saw the Duke himself that morning. (We arrived just before it opened and an old man in a golf/newsie hat was walking his dog, heading back towards the private quarters, though we had no idea at the time. Come to find out, it looks just like the current Duke and who else would be walking their dog there?). (photos: Blenheim from the front entrance; Sheep at Blenheim (I heart sheep!!!); gardens at Belenheim; the Helicopter)






Finally, we headed back to the bus and then back to London, though stopping again at the Eagle and Child for another attempt and thwarting at a Sunday Roast and having to settle for sandwiches for dinner.

Internet at last!!!

Just fyi, we did finally get our promised Wireless over the weekend. I finished the update for the Bath entry, though will add pics tomorrow. Also, to look forward to, are...

* Oxford and Blenhiem Palace
* Leeds Castle, Rochester Dickens Festival, and a major day of walky-walky in town
* Nottingham, Derbyshire, and the Peak District

All will be up to date in the next day or so (at last)...