Russell Square

Bill has a work meeting in London all week so we were able to come in on Saturday for an "extra" night.  We're staying in Russell Square on the 7th floor here:

The room is great but the windows are old and face the street so we got LOTS of noise last night.  I'm typing this sitting in bed with a bit of a headache left over from our dinner with Bill's work mate Peter.  It was a very fun night but this post is about our afternoon in Bloomsbury.  I should add that the internet here is slow (does a hotel exist that actually has decent wifi??) so I only have the patience to load a few pix for this post.

As soon as we arrived at the hotel we saw that there was some sort of festival going on in the park across the street.  The Bloomsbury festival was all about art, crafts, music, and food - all things we like!

First stop- books!

 Second stop - bags!

 And scarves!  (I bought the black and tan checked one to go with my leather jacket.   I HAD to buy something after that woman held up the mirror for ages while I tried on every scarf.

And just so you don't forget who I was with - here is Bill and a broader view of the festival behind him.   Perfect weather for an outside festival.

In this booth you could have your portrait drawn for a donation of your choice.   We didn't hang around to get ours done but just watched as the artists sketched.  They were actually quite good but we were ready for our caffeine.

We got a cuppa over on Lambs Conduit before we took a long walk through some new neighborhoods.  Everything was closing so we just wandered aimlessly but kept saying "Oh, we need to come back to this shop/restaurant/cafe etc"  I don't think it's possible to ever be done with London!!

God "Likes" Goodramgate

When Jana and I were in York last weekend we stumbled on this little church on our way in to town. So while all the other tourists were lining up for York Minster,  we went into this cute little chapel.  I liked all the tall pew boxes and the stained glass.  There was a story about how an American tourist saved the church in 1981 when she saw it was on fire. (I was strangely happy to hear it was an American.  With the recent government is shut down etc we aren't looking our best these days.)

You know Facebook is here to stay when the church is trying to get "likes".  

Bill has a Fitbit!

Bill bought a Fitbit - the kind that goes on your wrist rather than the kind I have that I clip to my bra.  No furtive glances down his shirt for Bill.  But the downside of his bracelet version is that he can't see his stats without synch on his phone where as I can see my exact step count at any moment of the day.

Anyway, this means we are doing some evening walks.  Our first walk took us behind the Eton buildings on to a spooky trail.   He took these pictures of me in the dark.

Last night we wandered out back to check out the tent that was put up yesterday morning.  It seems there was a circus in our back yard!!  We are always the last to know.  We got there just as it was letting out - lots of happy kids and families with glow sticks.  As soon as the tent was empty it looked like they started to take down the walls.  It's actually too foggy out this morning to see if it's still there or not.  

I went in to watch a new show (Breathless) while Bill said he wanted to stay out for more steps.  Then I got this picture on Instagram.  Doesn't look like steps to me!  Is the Fitbit just an excuse to get more cigar time?  I blame the monkeys.

Bile Beans

Those of you who are friends with Jana on Facebook already saw this beauty.   But for the rest of you, I'll post this as a public service announcement.  Bile Beans - the cure for all ills.

We walked by this every day during our weekend in York and we giggled every time.  So I finally decided to google it.  Seems that this sign has seen a lot of controversy - not so much about its content but about its fresh coat of paint. It has been repainted several times and each time causes a new uproar between those who think it should be iconically weathered and those that like the refurbishment. You'd think that the fact that they have this argument multiple times means that the sign will weather again - - York has a fresh sign for now and eventually they will have a weathered sign again and they can start the cycle over.   I guess that like beans, history repeats itself.  

Jana's back in Eton...Man Booker Announced!

Jana spent Monday night in London with another friend.  She spent sightseeing and then took the train back to ours.  That gave us a good excuse to go to the pub on a Tuesday night.  This is us at The George.

 We timed it well, getting home just in time for the Man Booker announcement.  In the UK, a book award is televised like the Oscars.  You can't really see her face but that's the Duchess of Cornwall (Camilla) presenting the award.

 And the winner is....Eleanor Catton!!  I haven't read the book yet but I bought it the other night and had it signed.  She's a New Zealander so she has a very cute little clipped accent.  Jana and I took to Facebook so we could discuss with book friends around the world (and each other despite sitting in the same room).  Congratulations, Eleanor!

Castle Howard

Castle Howard is the setting for both versions of Brideshead Revisited. I was obsessed by the original Brideshead when it was on Masterpiece Theater in the 80's (yes, in high school I was watching Masterpiece...prepping for my days with the Newburyport Period Piece Society) so Castle Howard was on my Must See list.

This is an early porta-potty.  It would be on the back of a horse drawn coach and when a traveler needed the facilities they would stop the coach and put it in the road for use.  The docent told us that people weren't as shy about bodily functions as they are now and at balls, the ladies would just squat down on something like this to pee right in the middle of the ball room.  Everything would be covered by their big flouncy dresses. Why haven't they had a scene like that on Masterpiece Theater?

 Is that Aloysius in the chair?

 Unfortunately it was raw and rainy and miserable outside that day so we did not tour the gardens.

 But the inside of the house had quite a bit to entertain us.

There was a room dedicated to the house and family during the war.  The house was used as a girls school.  There was a big fire and the girls helped save much of the books and furnishings.  This Nazi propaganda caught my eye - the influence for Edward Scissorhands perhaps?

 This little guy sat quietly under his owner's bus seat the whole ride home.

Man Booker 2013

Jana's visit coincided with the annual Man Booker Prize Reading event.  This is the one I went to last year where the short listed authors all read and talk a bit about their books.  The prize winner will be announced Tuesday night.  For those of you not in the book world, the Man Booker is a BIG deal and the fact that I've been able to go to this event twice is still amazing to me.  

 And the short listers are....Colm Toibin, Ruth Ozeki, Jhumpa Lahiri, Jim Crace, Eleanor Catton and NoViolet Bulawayo.  Mark Lawson from the Guardian was the moderator in the middle.

 I have only read one of the shortlisted books so far but if I had to make a judgement based on the event I would have to say Jim Crace is the favorite with Eleanor Catton as my safety backup.  I was very wrong about the Women's Prize this spring though, so my guess really means nothing.

Lately it seems like every event throws out the No Photo caveat just to taunt me.   I snuck that shot of them on stage and figured I would get better ones at the signing table but they kept repeating the no photo rule even in the lobby.  But we could take photos of ourselves - which is always a good time.

 Here is one I was able to quickly take of Ruth and Eleanor before a fan got in the way.

 I like to think of this one of Jim Crace's neck as a sort of impressionistic view of a book signing. 

A great ending to a very fun weekend.  Jana and I went out to dinner after and stayed over night in the big city.  

Birds of Prey - York Day 3

Mr Owl, how many licks does it take to get to the center of a Tootsie Roll tootsie pop?

This is my new friend, Ash.  Ash is a bird of prey.  

 I'm fairly certain that my tasty finger is prey based on the look he is giving it.  

On our way into town yesterday we saw this birds of prey display.  For 3 pounds you could hold one.  A bargain!!!

 There were about 7 birds on display.  Most were owls of various sizes.  This big one got a little panicked when his leg got caught in the tether line.  This is the displayer - I have no idea what her credentials were other than happening to have a bunch of birds of prey.

 This was the tiniest - although there is nothing in the picture to give perspective. I wanted to put him in my pocket and take him home.   

PS Ash told me 3 licks.

Another Brick in the Wall (York Day 2)

Since Jana is one of my Fitbit buddies we needed to start the day with a walk on the medieval wall that surrounds York center.

Lunch at Betty's Tea Room - perfection.  The treacle tart was the perfect treat to counteract that healthy walk.  Travel Monkey enjoyed the house blend tea.

 We really had the perfect Jen Day - just the right mix of walking, eating, book shopping at Minster Gate Book Shop then Evensong at York Minster.

We followed this up with a movie (Sunshine on Leith - - two thumbs way up), drinks at the Evil Eye (how did I not get a picture of that?) and a late dinner before heading back to the B&B with 20K steps each.   Whew - that was a full day! We're heading into breakfast now to start Day 3 :-)