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| Worcester |
2009/05/30
A Trip to Worcester - The capital of the Shire in which we live
We had a wonderful day out today. The sun was beaming down, not a cloud in the sky. To that end we decided to take ourselves off to Worcester. Its about 30 mins drive from where we live. We are so lucky here in Redditch. We are only a short journey away from some of the most beautiful spots in England. Take a look! Click the first picture to take you to the Picasa Slideshow.
Here's the video..
2009/05/25
A Visit to the Great Bard's Home Town **** Stratford-Upon-Avon
This is a place holder for Andrea to describe the day out in Stratford.
***Andrea's description of the day out in Stratford***
My posts are starting to sound the same...a short drive to a beautiful hamlet...all puns intended!
We drove to Stratford and got the park-n-ride bus to town, which is a great way to do it, the bus drops off and picks up on both ends of the main road every 15min and you don't have to worry about parking in town.
First we walked down to the River Avon, stopping along the way at a small festival outside the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as popping onto a moored narrow boat-turned-art gallery. At the river we got on a river cruiser boat but quickly decided to grab a row boat for ourselves.
Adam row, row, rowed our boat. There were others with motorboats, one filled with some students--a blanket term used for anyone of "uni" age who demonstrate a particular type of behavior--who shouted at us, their motorboat was better because it was faster. We beg to differ, there's just something about being in a hurry on this little bit of river that seems idiosyncratic.
After boating we wandered to the Pen and Parchment pub for lunch, which was fabulous. We shared a smoked meats platter with the best horseraddish sauce either of us ever had and a smoked salmon and creme fraiche tarte on a bed of rocket with cranberry garnish. If you're like me and have to Google creme fraiche, it's similar to sour cream but not as soured.
After lunch we walked around the town streets, into the Guild chapel, Shakespeare's gardens, his birthplace.
Stratford is one of the towns that guidebooks describe as quintessentially English, with charming buildings steeped in history. With this I agree but there's so much more, we will need several return trips to take it all in, the least of which is theatre!
****Back to Adam***
Here is a slideshow.. As always it's actually best viewed in Picasa's own slideshow viewer as it plays full screen.
To view in picasa, just click an image then select Slideshow from the top left corner of the screen.
***Andrea's description of the day out in Stratford***
My posts are starting to sound the same...a short drive to a beautiful hamlet...all puns intended!
We drove to Stratford and got the park-n-ride bus to town, which is a great way to do it, the bus drops off and picks up on both ends of the main road every 15min and you don't have to worry about parking in town.
First we walked down to the River Avon, stopping along the way at a small festival outside the Royal Shakespeare Company as well as popping onto a moored narrow boat-turned-art gallery. At the river we got on a river cruiser boat but quickly decided to grab a row boat for ourselves.
Adam row, row, rowed our boat. There were others with motorboats, one filled with some students--a blanket term used for anyone of "uni" age who demonstrate a particular type of behavior--who shouted at us, their motorboat was better because it was faster. We beg to differ, there's just something about being in a hurry on this little bit of river that seems idiosyncratic.
After boating we wandered to the Pen and Parchment pub for lunch, which was fabulous. We shared a smoked meats platter with the best horseraddish sauce either of us ever had and a smoked salmon and creme fraiche tarte on a bed of rocket with cranberry garnish. If you're like me and have to Google creme fraiche, it's similar to sour cream but not as soured.
After lunch we walked around the town streets, into the Guild chapel, Shakespeare's gardens, his birthplace.
Stratford is one of the towns that guidebooks describe as quintessentially English, with charming buildings steeped in history. With this I agree but there's so much more, we will need several return trips to take it all in, the least of which is theatre!
****Back to Adam***
Here is a slideshow.. As always it's actually best viewed in Picasa's own slideshow viewer as it plays full screen.
To view in picasa, just click an image then select Slideshow from the top left corner of the screen.
2009/05/24
What do you do if you can't find a Loo in an English Country Garden?
Well there are two options... If you follow the nursery rhyme you "Pull down your pants and paralyse the Ants in an English Country Garden"
We however are just a little more civilised so we went for "Sit out in our Garden, relax, enjoy the Sun and smell the Roast Leg of Lamb in Rosemary, Garlic and Red Wine Vinegar cook away whilst enjoying a glass of wine and a good book!"
We however are just a little more civilised so we went for "Sit out in our Garden, relax, enjoy the Sun and smell the Roast Leg of Lamb in Rosemary, Garlic and Red Wine Vinegar cook away whilst enjoying a glass of wine and a good book!"
2009/05/22
AT&T Spirit Team Racing
Team Racing!
A really enjoyable evening :) 80 odd people in teams, racing around in 50mph electric cars! Food and drinks were laid on.
Gotta love our Spirit Team, keeping the "spirit" of AT&T alive
Andrea was included because she is alreadyt considered part of AT&T in the UK so we both went and raced.
It was a riot!
Our cars sucked..Thats my excuse.. Andrea's team came last and we came second to last.. BUT Andrea's team had the head of Public Relations so he will no doubt put a good story out! LOL
Anyway it was fun. Im sure Andrea will comment too.
A really enjoyable evening :) 80 odd people in teams, racing around in 50mph electric cars! Food and drinks were laid on.
Gotta love our Spirit Team, keeping the "spirit" of AT&T alive
Andrea was included because she is alreadyt considered part of AT&T in the UK so we both went and raced.
It was a riot!
Our cars sucked..Thats my excuse.. Andrea's team came last and we came second to last.. BUT Andrea's team had the head of Public Relations so he will no doubt put a good story out! LOL
Anyway it was fun. Im sure Andrea will comment too.
2009/05/18
2009/05/13
Cancer Research Race for Life
Ok Here is Andrea and I after a bit of Photo shopping :)
Andrea and I are partaking in this years Race for Life.
The theme this year is Superhero's.
Whilst trying to decide what Superhero to be, we stumbled on a website that offered up a Superhero Quiz.
Adam's results:
You are Spider-Man
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
Andrea's Results:
You are Supergirl
Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...
Andrea and I are partaking in this years Race for Life.
The theme this year is Superhero's.
Whilst trying to decide what Superhero to be, we stumbled on a website that offered up a Superhero Quiz.
Adam's results:
You are Spider-Man
| You are intelligent, witty, a bit geeky and have great power and responsibility.  |
Click here to take the Superhero Personality Quiz
Andrea's Results:
You are Supergirl
| Lean, muscular and feminine. Honest and a defender of the innocent.  |
Click here to take the "Which Superhero am I?" quiz...
2009/05/10
A quick trip into Birmingham
We decided to have a trip into our regional capital "Birmingham" today.
Here are a few pictures from our trip.
We went out on the train which is about a 30 minute ride to the second largest city in the UK.
We then wandered around doing a little shopping before visiting one of the cities Museums that blew us away.
The exhibits were fantastic and what's more entry was free!
Here are a few pictures from our trip.
We went out on the train which is about a 30 minute ride to the second largest city in the UK.
We then wandered around doing a little shopping before visiting one of the cities Museums that blew us away.
The exhibits were fantastic and what's more entry was free!
2009/05/09
Warwick Castle, in our backyard
Well close, it's only 16miles away, in Warwickshire. In Redditch we are in Worcestershire, just like the sauce. I've been meaning to do wiki search to see if there's any connection.
We toured the castle including static displays of readying for battle in the 1400's, the jail (spelled gaol in the old English) which was the real jail where prisoners were kept. Now it is lit a bit but still not anywhere I want to spend time. The dungeon exhibit has been revamped and billed as much scarier so we opted to skip it as the jail was enough for me!
Touring was also allowed in the home--living quarters and chapel. The decoration and craftsmanship displayed, in full-length hand carved wall panels, to gilded and sculpted ceilings was beyond impressive. You just can't get that at Pottery Barn, and believe me, I looked! The house was occupied as private residence until the early 1900's (wiki for details).
Here's some photos I took, Adam is working on the video to post as well as his photos later.
We toured the castle including static displays of readying for battle in the 1400's, the jail (spelled gaol in the old English) which was the real jail where prisoners were kept. Now it is lit a bit but still not anywhere I want to spend time. The dungeon exhibit has been revamped and billed as much scarier so we opted to skip it as the jail was enough for me!
Touring was also allowed in the home--living quarters and chapel. The decoration and craftsmanship displayed, in full-length hand carved wall panels, to gilded and sculpted ceilings was beyond impressive. You just can't get that at Pottery Barn, and believe me, I looked! The house was occupied as private residence until the early 1900's (wiki for details).
Here's some photos I took, Adam is working on the video to post as well as his photos later.
Filling in the Blanks
Boy am I glad to be back online! I am glad we had the BB but the speed reminded me of my old Mac Classic and 96K modem.
As you've seen, we've easily settled into the house and I can't believe it's been nearly a month! I love having a backyard again and yesterday happily did some weeding and planting. We also have a bit of a herb garden in the kitchen window with our hardy basil and newcomers parsley and chives.
Our trip to Cornwall was fantastic as you can see from the photos. We stayed at Park Farm B&B which we both highly recommend. The location was perfect, easy drives to the towns and tourist spots but removed enough for peace at night. Adam enjoyed his Full English breakfast each morning and one night we had the 3-course dinner of smoked duck loin, sea bass in a creamy lemony heavenly sauce and green beans and blueberry crumble tart-pie with homemade Cornish ice cream. YUM! We also enjoyed wine from the local winery, Camel Valley. They do a red, a white, and a sparkling wine; we tried both the red and white; the red was our favorite.
It's not that I don't know the type of wine, that's how they are labeled. The red was smoother than the usual red and didn't burn like I usually find them. The white we didn't really care for, it was described to us as dry.
There are tastings and tours available at the vineyard, we planned to stop by but didn't make it. Next time!
With the sunny weather, we opted to skip Eden Project, since it's mostly in-sphere and take advantage of the coastal/beach areas. The first night we took the water taxi to Padstow, where May Day is a huge celebration/party. The streets were packed, the pubs overflowing. We walked around best we could and ate at an Italian-ish restaurant overlooking the bay. We wanted to eat local seafood as much as possible and we did!
Saturday we went to Port Quin and Port Isaac. We got to Port Quin early and were the only souls up and around, we walked along the coast and into the water a bit as the tide was out. The water was a deep turquoise and with the clear blue sky and green rolling hills was utterly impressive. Seems in England, you're never far from the farmland. Although I have heard tell of this London town that is surrounded by concrete :)
Now I've been to both sides of the Atlantic! Didn't see any jellyfish here, or medical waste for that matter...
Port Isaac is a few miles further along from Port Quin, it's a fishing village and we walked down to the town, a few galleries and harbor, then walked up, up, up to the top, built-in steps as well, and enjoyed the panoramic views. That's where the video that includes "avoid the poo" was shot.
Sunday we returned to Padstow for our boatrip. We booked for a sightseeing tour along the coast so were a bit surprised when it was a fishing trip but nevermind that, it was a great ride. The water was choppy and the boat was tossing around, the photos were taken with the camera held straight, the boat was rocking! Adam caught some mackerel and we gave them to our B&B owners before heading down to visit a friend in Hale.
After Hale we took the train to St Ives, walked along the sandy beach and had dinner, more seafood!
Monday we headed home after breakfast, it's a 4hr drive total, most on the M5, and we wanted to avoid the return holiday caravan traffic. Think I-17 southbound on Memorial Day. We returned home safely without event.
We definitely will return, I am looking forward to laying on the warm sandy beach in summer. Plus the B&B owners want to expand to offer cooking classes to which we both said YES!
Here's the link if you're looking for a great place to stay.
Well Adam just put out a delicious looking dinner so I will catch you all up on our trip to Warwick Castle today in a bit.
Hope everyone is well.
As you've seen, we've easily settled into the house and I can't believe it's been nearly a month! I love having a backyard again and yesterday happily did some weeding and planting. We also have a bit of a herb garden in the kitchen window with our hardy basil and newcomers parsley and chives.
Our trip to Cornwall was fantastic as you can see from the photos. We stayed at Park Farm B&B which we both highly recommend. The location was perfect, easy drives to the towns and tourist spots but removed enough for peace at night. Adam enjoyed his Full English breakfast each morning and one night we had the 3-course dinner of smoked duck loin, sea bass in a creamy lemony heavenly sauce and green beans and blueberry crumble tart-pie with homemade Cornish ice cream. YUM! We also enjoyed wine from the local winery, Camel Valley. They do a red, a white, and a sparkling wine; we tried both the red and white; the red was our favorite.
It's not that I don't know the type of wine, that's how they are labeled. The red was smoother than the usual red and didn't burn like I usually find them. The white we didn't really care for, it was described to us as dry.
There are tastings and tours available at the vineyard, we planned to stop by but didn't make it. Next time!
With the sunny weather, we opted to skip Eden Project, since it's mostly in-sphere and take advantage of the coastal/beach areas. The first night we took the water taxi to Padstow, where May Day is a huge celebration/party. The streets were packed, the pubs overflowing. We walked around best we could and ate at an Italian-ish restaurant overlooking the bay. We wanted to eat local seafood as much as possible and we did!
Saturday we went to Port Quin and Port Isaac. We got to Port Quin early and were the only souls up and around, we walked along the coast and into the water a bit as the tide was out. The water was a deep turquoise and with the clear blue sky and green rolling hills was utterly impressive. Seems in England, you're never far from the farmland. Although I have heard tell of this London town that is surrounded by concrete :)
Now I've been to both sides of the Atlantic! Didn't see any jellyfish here, or medical waste for that matter...
Port Isaac is a few miles further along from Port Quin, it's a fishing village and we walked down to the town, a few galleries and harbor, then walked up, up, up to the top, built-in steps as well, and enjoyed the panoramic views. That's where the video that includes "avoid the poo" was shot.
Sunday we returned to Padstow for our boatrip. We booked for a sightseeing tour along the coast so were a bit surprised when it was a fishing trip but nevermind that, it was a great ride. The water was choppy and the boat was tossing around, the photos were taken with the camera held straight, the boat was rocking! Adam caught some mackerel and we gave them to our B&B owners before heading down to visit a friend in Hale.
After Hale we took the train to St Ives, walked along the sandy beach and had dinner, more seafood!
Monday we headed home after breakfast, it's a 4hr drive total, most on the M5, and we wanted to avoid the return holiday caravan traffic. Think I-17 southbound on Memorial Day. We returned home safely without event.
We definitely will return, I am looking forward to laying on the warm sandy beach in summer. Plus the B&B owners want to expand to offer cooking classes to which we both said YES!
Here's the link if you're looking for a great place to stay.
Well Adam just put out a delicious looking dinner so I will catch you all up on our trip to Warwick Castle today in a bit.
Hope everyone is well.
2009/05/05
Some Video from Cornwall
We spent the weekend in Cornwall. It was lovely.
We are editing and sending out DVDs of it but here is the raw format.
The video is slow due to the way Picasa and Blogger convert it.
The original is so much better.
I'm sure Andrea will update this post in due course.
Love to all.
Click on the picture below to enlarge the slideshow. Then click on slideshow.
I recommend an interval of 5 seconds as opposed to the default of 3.
We are editing and sending out DVDs of it but here is the raw format.
The video is slow due to the way Picasa and Blogger convert it.
The original is so much better.
I'm sure Andrea will update this post in due course.
Love to all.
Click on the picture below to enlarge the slideshow. Then click on slideshow.
I recommend an interval of 5 seconds as opposed to the default of 3.
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| From Cornwall Video |
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