The one where I'm in England

Sunday, February 8, 2009

Wobbly Bridge

I went to see the Millenium Bridge in London the other day..It is a bridge that crosses the Thames river between the Blackfriars bridge and Southwark Bridge..By the way Southwark is pronounced 'sothark' with no 'w' sound..geez louise, let me tell ya, if u mispronounce something the Brits'll let u know...

The Millenium Bridge was built for the millenium obviously but why for the millenium I don't know...Well, anyways...its a pedestrian bridge only and the views from the bridge are awesome cuz it doesn't have pillars or posts to block views..When it opened, June 10, 2000, and people crossed the bridge it started to sway and wobble, hence the nickname Wobbly Bridge....a few days after opening they had to close it and find and fix the problem...(lol, looks like someone @%*'d up..)

Why did the bridge wobble? The explanation is really technical and full of architecture stuff I don't really understand but to put it simply, it was: Unexpected lateral vibration as one source tried to explain..whatever..lets move on...

I walked to the middle of the bridge and I was able to recognize the landmarks all around, St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge, Tate Modern, The Eye, The Globe theatre, and so many more..

Saturday, March 8, 2008

Bakewell Tart

I went to the town of Bakewell in Derbyshire, UK and they are famous for the Bakewell Tart...sooo, obviously I had to have one...Did ya ever have a Bakewell tart?...Well I have and it's num num...

It's kinda hard to explain so I added a photo....It's really sweet and tastes of almonds and has jam in the middle...or as in the picture below, the jam is nearer to the bottom...

My mom used to make something similar but made with semolina too..I looked up some recipes and some use flour and ground almonds only and some use both flour, almonds and semolina..

You can purchase variations of this tart in the supermarkets here in the UK..but I liked going to Bakewell and eating one there! Coffee and a tart anyone? lol..

Last of the Summer Wine

Holmefirth in Yorkshire, England is a village known to many people here in England for its 'Last of the Summer Wine' fame...the town where BBC has been filming this long runnning comedy series since 1973!

The series is about senior citizens who reminisce about the good old days and get into situation comedy stuff..I don't really watch the show but I have seen it on PBS back home in L.A. a few times...I'm not an expert on what its about, but I do remember how pretty the countryside looked...

Well, it happened that I went to this town of Holmefirth..lol..below is a picture of me in front of the cafe, Sid's Cafe..lol..you have to watch the show now..hehe

Chatsworth House

Chatsworth House is an historical home in Derbyshire, England...this is the home of the Duke and Duchess of Devonshire..now, I'm not sure why the Duke of Devonshire would have a home in Derbyshire..I think it was a gift or something around 400 years ago..

Anyways, it's a beautiful stately home that allows visitors to enter and view many of the elegant and historical rooms...the artwork is one of Europes finest private collection..Throughout the house, there are magnificent displays of paintings, furniture, silver, tapestries and porcelain...

The gardens are huge and offer trails and walks, people can even picnic there too! There is a waterfall and a maze in the garden which I didn't go see cuz it started raining..lol..and there's a farm house too, and also a farm shop where you can buy products and meat that are grown on the estate..there's lots to see and the website recommends about five hours to see it all!! lol...I didn't stay that long tho...

It was still raining when I took this picture of the house...kinda reminds me of the house in the movie 'Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan', but it's not..lol..another fyi for ya..that was at Blenheim House in Oxfordshire...however the Chatworth House has been in the movies quite a bit, like the 2005 'Pride and Prejudice' with Kiera Knightly.

Well Dressing

When I was at the cottage in Derbyshire, England, I learnt of the pagan pratice of well dressing. It is unknown where well dressing originated, but one theory is that well dressing was to give thanks to the purity of the well water that was drawn during the Black Plague. In the 1300's there was a Black Plague or Black Death that began in Central Asia and estimated 75 million people died world wide of which around 20 to 30 million in Europe died...

But most likely it was a pagan practice of fertility...the pagans offered up sacrifices to the water gods..but today, it is strongly linked to the Christian Church and some wells are even dedicated to saints..

To dress a well you have to constuct a wooden frame near the well and cover the frame with a mixture of clay, water and salt..then a design is put over it..the design is usually made with natural materials like flower petals, beans, seeds, and is pressed into the clay...

Each village taking part in this custom has its own jealously guarded version and designs worked out months beforehand are not revealed until the last possible moment. Usually there is a festival and a blessing of the well..

Litton

Litton is a really small village in Derbyshire...we stayed there in a cottage owned by Gary M's parents called the Red Lion Cottage right on the village green..It was built in the 17th century...The village has a pub (next door) which serves great food, a school, village hall, church, and a shop..The shop is run by volunteer villagers..

Now if you want to see real English countryside, this is it...everywhere there are mostly stock farms with cows or sheep, and the countryside is divided up by stone walls that have been erected with no mortar..

Whats really nice about it is that you can actually walk around the farms and thru the fields..there's lot and lots of trails to take long long traditionally English walks....Below are some pictures I took..one of Litton in the background and one of the countryside..

Chislehurst Caves

I went to the Chislehurst caves in south east London...now, I thought I was gonna see natural caves, but they are actually man-made..It was originally dug for mining chalk and flint...
The caves are owned by the same Gardner family for generations..after mining was over they grew mushrooms in the caves because it was profitable back then when they had mushroom tax on imports..lol..

The caves are most famous for being the largest air raid shelter outside of London during the second world war..and during the war time, up to 15,000 people sheltered there every night!!! Imagine that! It's 22 miles of tunnels...You could even get your mail sent there too!! Hehe..

In the 1960's the caves were used as a music venue...David Bowie, The Rolling Stones, Pink Floyd and even Jimi Hendrix performed there..Below, I took a picture of the stage..it's quite small..but the sound must of been awesome flowing thru the tunnels..

In October of 1974 Led Zepplin had a media party there to launch their new Swan Song label...Now, more recently some of the tunnels are used for a live action role playing game called 'Labyrinthe'...

When you go to the caves you enter thru a gift shop where you purchase your ticket..the tours are every hour and last about 45 minutes...you are given a parafin lamp to hold in order to see..lol..and at one point in the tour the guide wants to show us what really true darkness is..the total absense of light..so he leaves his flashlight with us and takes the lamps away...then he comes back and turns off the flashlight...omg..it was the first time i ever truely experienced total darkness..that was the most interesting part really...too bad Jimi's not playing there anymore..