Harry Potter-ish

I have no doubt in my mind that JK Rowling shopped at the Camden market in London before writing her scene in the first book where Harry Potter buys his magical school supplies. On our last day in London, Rich and I headed to the market even though it was drizzling. I am SO GLAD we did because it was amazing. No franchise stores to be seen as this was a Scene. Outlandishly urban fashions, artwork, antique to techno and everything else too. Some of it was in wooden floored markets, or winding around haphazardly covered stalls and into tunnels of cobblestone with tremendous chandeliers. I was enchanted and reluctant to leave, but here I am.

Dr. Who?

The day my daughter Jakki returned to the States, Rich arrived from Prague to spend a day in London with me. And he is ever so accommodating! Not only is he patient while I stop foolishly often for photographs, but he's amicable about posing in them too. My muse! And for those familiar with the British sci-fi "Dr. Who" tv series, how could I resist a picture of a doctor entering a phone box?!

Tower of London

I really enjoyed the Tower of London. It was just as every castle should be. It had been a nasty prison, a menagerie complete with an elephant fed only bread and wine that died happy, and a royal residence. It just looked like a *proper* castle.

Jakki and I had a great time sitting on a bench for a while watching groups of school children on a field trip, people with suitcases and people with cameras. And of course, other people just like us.

The crown jewels on display were rather intense as well. They don't look quite real and certainly awfully heavy. As shockingly beautiful as they are there is certainly no comfort in them.

Regent's Park foolin'

Mom and Me: Underground in London

I met my daughter in London for a few days vacation together. She was exhausted from working a double shift before taking the long flight across the ocean. As if that wasn't enough, Immigration had stopped her for two hours for no apparent reason. So we decided we would just take the subway, I mean metro, no I mean underground, no I mean the tube, everywhere we went. And we did.

We only had one issue. We saw a sign for the subway and descended the stairs only to find ourselves going upstairs again. Subway in London simply means a walkway under the street!

Shower power

I am on vacation, but I have to wait for a bit, so I thought I would share some fun I have been having coloring photos. This is our shower in the flat in Prague.

A Touchy Tourist

Neither Rich nor I had ever been to the National Museum and people had been handing out flyers all day advertising that a bunch of museums were offering free admission that night with coordinated transportation. The National Museum was one of them. So we went - together with hundreds of our friends. You can see them within and without. I didn't want to become part of the swell entering the building, but then I just held my breath and jumped in.

Garden Party

Jana, President of the Prague Int'l Rotary Club, hosted the annual garden party as she does each year -in her garden of course! Jana is an early leader in the Czech Republic and a dynamic, strong, and altogether lovely lady. The house and gardens were her grandmother's and she has spent a lot of time making it the vibrant space that it is.

This Rotary Club speaks English as its common language as members are from many different nationalities. There were even a few visitors from other clubs. All of it made for very interesting and varied conversation.

There were a healthy number of people in attendance and the weather was kind enough to cooperate and offer, if not full sun, mostly sun without rain. In addition to adults there were a handful of beautiful children, at least one teenager, and three marvelous dogs. The one pup was so small and such a baby that Nelly simply couldn't resist a few cuddles. Okay, a lot of cuddles!

Lecturing in Kladno

We headed out to the town of Kladno for Rich to deliver a lecture on medical ethics to biomedical engineering students at the Czech Technical University. Another crystal-clear sunshiney day. We had to leave early afternoon and didn't get back until after 7pm. sheesh. That's a long time to hang out with smart people ;-D

gothic goodness

This picture is from St. Vitus Cathedral of course. The door looks so benign from a distance, but when you get up close and personal it can be a little disconcerting.

Not much to write about this weekend. I've been tired and sleeping a lot. The on and off rain all weekend encouraged me to. I had to work some this weekend, too, and it just takes the fun right out of the work.

Hrad Karlstejn

I did not work on Thursday. We took the train to Karlstejn castle for a tour. Not just a partial tour, but the full tour that included the jewelled chapel with 129 portraits. It was remarkable. The portraits were painted by the only artist doing such a thing in the 1400's. The day was bright and beautiful and of course, there was a wedding there. I spotted the happy couple and the woman in red from the bell tower.

The truly exciting part of the trip was when Rich asked for directions to the castle in Czech - and we understood the response! Ahh yes. Finally a little bit of usefulness to this learning.

Espresso s smutny!

We went joyriding on the tram yesterday. It was much hotter than we expected it to be and so our jeans were hanging heavy. The most excitement we made of it was stopping at the Tesco to buy groceries. Then we were hot and carrying heavy bags. Hmmm.

Today we had the urge to leave the flat again. It is cooler, but raining so we hopped down to the cafe. I goofed asking for my coffee though. Instead of asking for espresso with cream I asked for it with sadness!! Smutny...smetana, ahh well.

plumbing too

Very old places don't have original plumbing. It didn't exist so when they add it later it has a habit of sticking out - outside in fact. This leaves it susceptible to things like freezing temperatures. Not so good. But in this picture, I thought it added a funny little flavor. Everything appears worn and washed out, but although the plumbing is in better condition, it is dark and lends a quirky gravity to the edge of the photo. Very old places are not level, either. I try to take a straight picture, but it all depends on which surface I am basing my horizontal on!