A weekend of Shakespeare and the Cotswolds

Page and I had a leisurely morning (read: went to bed late= work up late) and finally decided on heading to the Cotswolds and Stratford upon Avon.

We ended up renting a car and I was the chosen driver, mainly because I know how to drive a manual. I was initially a bit nervous about driving in England but I had a lot of fun. The trickiest thing was doing 3 point turns on small country roads, in the rain.

Our car was a "smurf" blue

We decided to see if we could see a play at the famous Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon. Tickets typically sell out months ahead of time, but we tried our luck at the "returned tickets line." We waited 2 hours but got 2 great tickets for the Merchant of Venice.

The next day we drove around the Cotswolds checking out the quaint towns but stayed in the car most of the time due to the rain.

These are the Rollright stones, they date back to the Bronze Age. The guide book said that it might be crowded but apparently no one else wanted to brave the monsoon like weather.

We had a nice "cream tea" in Bourton-on-the-Water. But here is a tip: a "lunch" of simple sugars, fat, and caffeine doesn't really hold one till super time.

Cambridge

I spent a night with Page in Cambridge. I explored the town in the morning.
I had breakfast (and went back for lunch) at Michaelhouse,. I found the recommendation from my good friend Rick Steves. It is a former church turned into an organic cafe. It made me think of Alice's Restaurant......

I then went Ponting on the Cam. Which, apparently, I love! Above is a picture of my .... ponter? I didn't find out the nomenclature....

Below is Trinity College. One of the many colleges in Cambridge. The sign says "closed to visitors." But with some help from the locals and some persistence, I found the Wren Library (it is on the campus but not closed to visitors, they just don't like crowds therefore it is difficult to find). In the library I was able to view hand written works by Newton, a bible from the 8th century, and my personal favorite, the original Winnie the Pooh.

London

A view from the river boat from Waterloo to Tower Bridge.

The view from atop of St. Paul's (83 meters, or 528 stairs to be exact).

Getting ready for baby...

Alexis rented a car and we headed to Ikea to get so more items for the house and baby room.


Alexis is demonstrating the "Sally Gensberg" technique for measuring.

After 4.5 hours.......

We had to hurry to get the car back so Alexis dropped me off at the apartment first. Because there was no parking and they live on a one way street (which is common for a city established way before cars were even envisioned) we "hunkered" and rushed to empty the car. There were 5 cars waiting by the time Alexis pulled away.

I then transferred the pile of stuff from the main hallway through a second hallway to the hallway where the elevator is located. I then transferred it all into the elevator and somehow squeezed in and rode it up.


This is a picture of the elevator with the stuff in it. A real estate listing for this elevator would include the words "quaint" and "charming" . There is sign in there that states "no more than 3 persons" (actually it says it in French, but you get the point), and every time I read it I think "seriously, where would a 4th person fit? Are we holding him/her?" So I was proud of myself for getting everything, plus me, inside.

Anyway, I then transferred everything into their hallway really quickly because I was aware of the fact that someone was waiting for the elevator on the next floor. But before I could completely empty it the person took the stairs to our floor and saw me. Apparently, after describing what the lady looked like to Alexis, it was one of the building co-op administrators who is pretty uptight about putting too much in an elevator (especially boxes). Oops and oh well. The finally transfer was from the hallway to the babies room. All I can say is better me moving it all around than Alexis..... in her "condition".....

Rest day

I never have had a "rest day" on a vacation before. Today was that day. Stayed inside. Rested.

I am kind of fighting something so I took vitamins, took naps, drank tea.

Tomorrow- Ikea Paris!

1/1/11

We (the girls) took a nice walk in Luxembourg gardens in the early afternoon while Nico and Greg played chess there. There usually is a rotating exhibit on one of the fences so we went and looked at that. Everyone else took the bus home but I stayed in the park longer and then walked home enjoying the New Year air. I like observing life in urban parks- the families with their kids in the play ground area, the joggers, the women practicing fencing (I kind of think that in the U.S. people with large swords would bring more attention), men practicing martial arts.



After a nice lunch of leftovers we said goodbye to Greg and Rita. Alexis, Nico, and I went to go see a new American movie that had french subtitles. We had fun.

New Year's Eve

Breakfast of champions
Tickets to the special Monet exhibit
Rita and I after our wonderful time in the exhibit.
Thanks to the two pregnant women, we were able to skip the 3 hour line to get in!


Ringing in the New Year with traditional desserts and drinks!