tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-16638242520214964532024-03-12T20:02:45.130-07:00Early Music TravelsWho are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.comBlogger21125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-48228807191008949752011-07-18T16:07:00.000-07:002011-07-18T16:07:42.766-07:00Last Day in Oxford...Last Day of Fund for Teachers Trip! Biking, The Bate Collection<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7NIRYMTHIB4/TiSnPY26VfI/AAAAAAAAAX8/uMddh9MPNpw/s1600/DSC_0041.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-7NIRYMTHIB4/TiSnPY26VfI/AAAAAAAAAX8/uMddh9MPNpw/s640/DSC_0041.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is an early clarinet. <br />
The next time Cristi or Esther (my sweet clarinetists) lose their ligatures,<br />
I'm handing them lots of string. </td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Andrew and I have been looking forward to seeing the Bate Instrument Collection all trip, so today was an exciting and kind of sad day all wrapped into one. After some amazing experiences this was our official last day with the Fund For Teachers portion of our trip. Tomorrow we are headed to Edinburgh and later on Dublin, but the official grant portion of the trip came to an excellent end viewing the most amazing collection of instruments I have ever seen in one building. It was so amazing, in fact, that we're going to do a separate post on it in a few days because the amount of information we have is just too much for one sitting. We took lots of video of the different instruments, some ranging back as far as the 16th century! We can't wait to show our band kids the pictures of the origins of their instruments!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Before viewing the Bate collection though, we rented bikes and literally spent the entire day biking <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew's Note: Read: "nearly dying")</span> through the town of Oxford. Oxford is known as a biker's city, every single street has well marked bike lanes (that are occasionally shared with the bus lane) which make it easy to speed through town. Took as many pictures as we could when it wasn't raining, and in true British fashion, we rode in the rain. Here are a few things I learned from the experience:</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">1. Buses always have the right of way. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Translation: Buses don't look where they're going)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">2. Yellow lights come on BEFORE green lights AND before red lights.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3. Understanding #2 is vital to avoiding angry Brits</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">4. Umbrellas are useless while biking.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">5. Andrew bikes as slowly as he walks. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(In my defense, your legs are twice as long as mine...)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">6. Due to #4, a rain jacket makes an excellent purchase.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">7. Rain jackets do not allow any range of head movement.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">8. Which means you need to keep reminding yourself of #1. Often.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHijqG7PE_A/TiSiMSGn54I/AAAAAAAAAXk/UuElxzlwzYE/s1600/DSC_0009.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-ZHijqG7PE_A/TiSiMSGn54I/AAAAAAAAAXk/UuElxzlwzYE/s640/DSC_0009.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I look like I'm 12 in this picture.... <br />
just need pink streamers coming from my handlebars</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UzltYDzyjt0/TiSi9D9C8NI/AAAAAAAAAXo/_iaT8n-Ib8E/s1600/DSC_0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-UzltYDzyjt0/TiSi9D9C8NI/AAAAAAAAAXo/_iaT8n-Ib8E/s640/DSC_0011.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See the Yellow light? This is before we realized that meant GO.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DtXK6aBF3_4/TiStM3DUX6I/AAAAAAAAAYM/0CtUzuCgXE8/s1600/DSC_0071.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-DtXK6aBF3_4/TiStM3DUX6I/AAAAAAAAAYM/0CtUzuCgXE8/s640/DSC_0071.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I believe these are<a href="http://www.dailyinfo.co.uk/guide/punting.htm"> 'punting' boat</a>s! Evidently a quintessential thing to do in Oxford. </td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYWSQ67q_nI/TiSuGc5In4I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/2yxbwPbxdAU/s1600/DSC_0073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YYWSQ67q_nI/TiSuGc5In4I/AAAAAAAAAYQ/2yxbwPbxdAU/s640/DSC_0073.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Saw these houses that back up to the river that runs through Oxford. </td></tr>
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Here is a sneak peak of a few gems in the Bate Instrument Collection! Don't worry, we have WAY more information about this collection coming in a few days!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DgM6gysjonI/TiSkfSrn3xI/AAAAAAAAAXw/jJWYiNLjjN0/s1600/DSC_0016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-DgM6gysjonI/TiSkfSrn3xI/AAAAAAAAAXw/jJWYiNLjjN0/s640/DSC_0016.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Early timpani, also called Kettle Drums <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(with real calf skin heads!)</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G6MUUhtrn8E/TiSlkNv3pvI/AAAAAAAAAX0/oTrm2MSQTi0/s1600/DSC_0022.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-G6MUUhtrn8E/TiSlkNv3pvI/AAAAAAAAAX0/oTrm2MSQTi0/s640/DSC_0022.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Harpsichord</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IBt92VrWDVM/TiSmXREp5VI/AAAAAAAAAX4/CSjKLctXQOA/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-IBt92VrWDVM/TiSmXREp5VI/AAAAAAAAAX4/CSjKLctXQOA/s640/DSC_0023.JPG" width="428" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Serpentine...like a cross between a tuba, a clarinet, and a <span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-size: x-small;">didgeridoo</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D5KL0k3t_iM/TiSoT9sQrDI/AAAAAAAAAYA/1J0uEWIBwkw/s1600/DSC_0044.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-D5KL0k3t_iM/TiSoT9sQrDI/AAAAAAAAAYA/1J0uEWIBwkw/s640/DSC_0044.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Viols</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We couldn't play on any of the historical instruments of course, but they did have reproductions of a <a href="http://www.music.iastate.edu/antiqua/crumhorn.htm">crumhorn</a> and a <a href="http://www.cornetto.org.uk/cornetto.html">cornetto</a> (both used in the medieval and renaissance eras) that I got to play on!! So fun! We have a video that we'll post later, but the crumhorn sounded very much like a bagpipe practice chanter and the cornetto sounded a little like a wooden trumpet. Like Allison said, there was so much to this museum that we'll give it a page all it's own when we get back and make a video for our kids to see. We think they'll like seeing all of the old, weird, and bizarre instruments!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-umb-ljwjNfg/TiSuxoRwOMI/AAAAAAAAAYU/18hotgp9Vk0/s1600/DSC_0076.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-umb-ljwjNfg/TiSuxoRwOMI/AAAAAAAAAYU/18hotgp9Vk0/s640/DSC_0076.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Last dinner before Edinburgh. Thanks Fund for Teachers!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>By the way, we are not going to stop blogging. Our daily trip posts from Edinburgh and Dublin will be available at our normal personal blog site that has been feeling very neglected recently! http://keepingthetime.blogspot.com<br />
<br />
We aren't quite finished with this site though, so check both! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We want to be sure and say "thank you" again to Fund for Teachers - this trip has been a once-in-a-lifetime experience and we've seen so much that we can take back home and use in our teaching. One of the biggest things that has been reinforced during the trip is that there is no substitute for hearing music performed live by great performers. It has an impact that little else can match. If you are a classroom teacher and have at least 3 years of teaching experience, APPLY FOR THIS!! Being able to tailor your professional development to what will help you the most is one of the strongest aspects of what FFT does. We would be glad to help you with the process as we were helped by other Fellows, so please feel free to contact us below with any questions. Hooray Fund for Teachers! Thanks!!</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.fundforteachers.org/">www.fundforteachers.org</a></span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">aredmon@graceschool.org (Andrew)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">aredmon@houstonchristianhs.org (Allison) </span>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com18tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-26287218839559625122011-07-17T15:05:00.000-07:002011-07-17T15:07:40.705-07:00<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Day two in Oxford – we feel smarter already. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xwdJFH671hA/TiNbtuwSktI/AAAAAAAAAXg/XFw083V11CM/s1600/elephant.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-xwdJFH671hA/TiNbtuwSktI/AAAAAAAAAXg/XFw083V11CM/s400/elephant.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We woke up and had breakfast in Kebel College’s version of the “Great Hall”. Pretty impressive. Makes you want to raise your pinky finger just a bit higher when sipping your tea. Sundays are a bit hard anywhere tourism wise; so many things are closed down. And it was raining… boo. The ‘Hop-on-Hop-Off’ Bus tour was not closed and it was covered from the rain, so we had a really nice tour through Oxford, seeing and hearing about the history of probably 40 or so sights. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I then took Andrew to the covered market which contains all sorts of unique and cozy shops, filled with stuff you don’t need but will buy anyway. More importantly, it houses a milkshake place that will blend pretty much any British biscuit (Remember that’s code for ‘cookie’ here) into a milkshake. Yes. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew's Note: YEESSSSS!!!) </span>Andrew had a chocolate Hobnob milk shake. Remember he ate like 2 full packages of them a few nights ago?<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(I do.)</span><span style="color: red;"> </span>Evidently that didn’t quite cut it. I had a homemade triple chocolate cookie… it almost made me cry. And this all was on top of having pies and mash for lunch. <o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">We’re glad that we have the fall to train for a half marathon.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">On significantly full stomachs, we walked over to Christ Church College.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P4L8XWsyfc0/TiNCSZs3ybI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/TrX3h9YPZSc/s1600/DSC_0593.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-P4L8XWsyfc0/TiNCSZs3ybI/AAAAAAAAAXQ/TrX3h9YPZSc/s400/DSC_0593.JPG" width="400" /></a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It's important in it's own right but now it happens to be ridiculously famous for being associated with Harry Potter. That couldn't have anything to do with why we went there... The Great Hall is modeled after their dining hall:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dP-tIII3IpI/TiNPmMYxgAI/AAAAAAAAAXU/VRpTAunw-6E/s1600/DSC_0604.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dP-tIII3IpI/TiNPmMYxgAI/AAAAAAAAAXU/VRpTAunw-6E/s640/DSC_0604.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I was disappointed to find out that the students here just pick their houses instead of being sorted.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">And the staircase leading up to their dining hall was used for the first film!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EgNkfA3MP4c/TiNRcJOy1yI/AAAAAAAAAXY/CYXK9EKfBBc/s1600/DSC_0603.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-EgNkfA3MP4c/TiNRcJOy1yI/AAAAAAAAAXY/CYXK9EKfBBc/s640/DSC_0603.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hard to see with all the people, sorry. This is where Neville lost his frog :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The rest of the place, of course, is beautiful and castle-like. The cathedral inside the college has some amazing windows, AND it's where John and Charles Wesley were buried! </span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CQgUSIMO8GU/TiNU9pLyRhI/AAAAAAAAAXc/5vatNEZby_A/s1600/DSC_0625.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-CQgUSIMO8GU/TiNU9pLyRhI/AAAAAAAAAXc/5vatNEZby_A/s640/DSC_0625.JPG" width="640" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This is a big deal since we both went to Asbury University. Asbury is sometimes mistakenly called a Methodist school, but it does have close ties with the Methodist church and several early Methodist movement leaders got the school going. I also grew up in a Methodist church and have lots of roots with them and the Moravians, who cheered up a dejected John Wesley on a boat trip and got him back on track with his </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">evangelization in America. Poof, the Methodist church! All that, plus John Wesley and his brother, Charles, wrote some of the greatest hymns we have in the church today. </span><br />
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">If you’re wondering what all this has to do with Early Music, we promise we’re set to do something of worth in Oxford, we just arrived at an unfortunate time. The Bate Early Music Instrument collection doesn’t open until Monday, so we’ll go tomorrow. Meanwhile, we attended an Evensong. Remember, evensong is essentially a ‘sung’ church service. I find that as a musician, I tend to get more out of this approach to a church service than your typical service.<o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Here’s Andrew for the details:<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">Tonight’s Evensong service was at the Church of St. Mary the Virgin (the one where we climbed the tower yesterday to look out over Oxford). It’s pretty much a night and day difference from Westminster Abbey’s Evensong. There were only about 15 people (compared to probably 150 at Westminster) and the choir was a guest choir from a town down the river a bit who tended toward the over 80 age mark :-) I realize what I’m comparing it to Westminster here, but I’m just illustrating the differences. They did Mozart’s “Ave verum corpus” – a pretty famous piece and one I could actually sing along with! It’s interesting…Americans tend to hold up the British accent as a low-maintenance singing accent (as in, you don’t have to fix as much because their vowels tend to be purer and you can’t find an “R” at the end of a word in sight), but hearing an everyday citizen church choir makes me realize that everyone has things to work on! Most of the pronunciation and accent issues that my choirs deal with are not problems here, but they do have their own set of funny vowels and things. Now I know what I can fix when I move here! Ahem…..</span></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-82562138313816058492011-07-16T15:43:00.000-07:002011-07-17T14:07:59.978-07:00Day 1 - Oxford: Missed trains, graduation, and The Inklings!<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Well hello Oxford! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Finally...after missing our train from York because the attendant told us it was not our train!!! 80 pounds later...)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">I love this place. Secretly wished I had gone to school here. Oxford town and University have such a different feel about them than London or York. It's just inspiring! So much history and legacy wrapped up into a world class institution. There are 39 colleges here and some of them are around 750 years old! And, get this, we are staying at Kebel College! In the fellows' apartment wing! Not all that fancy, but heck who cares? We get to live IN Oxford University for three nights... happy, happy, happy. Thanks to my good amiga Christina West for hooking us up with a friend of hers from Oxford. You should check out her blog: <a href="http://fulbrightmexico.wordpress.com/">http://fulbrightmexico.wordpress.com</a> She was a Fund For Teachers fellow last summer and this summer is on a Fulbright-Hays seminar trip to Mexico.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UvIsOHVR1RY/TiICVTxOo2I/AAAAAAAAAWk/ha40rH44Pjk/s1600/DSC_0544.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UvIsOHVR1RY/TiICVTxOo2I/AAAAAAAAAWk/ha40rH44Pjk/s640/DSC_0544.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="428" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Once you get past the wallpaper, the place isn't so bad</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">Kebel College is one of the newer colleges, built in 1870 (I know, right?!) and houses <span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">435 undergraduates and 245 graduate students. When we asked about getting internet the guys at the front desk laughed at us. Nice. Most colleges at Oxford are designed as huge enclosed buildings with a 'quad' or green area in the middle. (Andrew's itching to play frisbee on the grass.. I wouldn't let him. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew's Note: I had to ask if I was supposed to keep off the grass. It's unclear.)</span> HCHS peeps: "Don't step on the grass... we're growing leaders!" <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Kebel is growing nerds).</span> We were then given a key to get into the college. Yes, a key. You have to use the key to open a huge wooden door which functions more like a porthole, because the door is at lease 2 feet off the ground, you have to step over it to get into the college. </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-bottom: 0.5em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; padding-bottom: 6px; padding-left: 6px; padding-right: 6px; padding-top: 6px; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-51UJsVYoHWg/TiIDNwzUI9I/AAAAAAAAAWo/DDPIeoM7Kwc/s1600/DSC_0546.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-51UJsVYoHWg/TiIDNwzUI9I/AAAAAAAAAWo/DDPIeoM7Kwc/s640/DSC_0546.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Kebel College quad</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XwjAXIzlMCk/TiIETgYqwBI/AAAAAAAAAWs/LmmKUMkwmaQ/s1600/DSC_0548.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-XwjAXIzlMCk/TiIETgYqwBI/AAAAAAAAAWs/LmmKUMkwmaQ/s640/DSC_0548.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Kebel Chapel</span></td></tr>
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</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">We started the evening in Oxford by climbing up the tower at the Church of Saint Mary the Virgin. It gives you an awesome view of the entire city of Oxford, as well as an amazing up close view of Radcliffe Camera. Not familiar with Radcliffe Camera? Its probably the picture you've seen when looking up Oxford University. It was built around 1737 and is Britain's third largest dome. And since you can't actually get into Radcliffe Camera but once a month for tours (?!), climbing the tower at St. Mary the Virgin's Church is the way to go. I did it, thank you very much, and while I was petrified, I'll admit the view was worth the falling nightmares I'll enjoy later on tonight. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LycBThOqeqA/TiIHXJvGTtI/AAAAAAAAAW4/WA1WeagkIOQ/s1600/DSC_0561.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-LycBThOqeqA/TiIHXJvGTtI/AAAAAAAAAW4/WA1WeagkIOQ/s640/DSC_0561.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DU1zHGRbRTY/TiIIaRVBePI/AAAAAAAAAW8/dnvz0Ud6LO4/s1600/DSC_0562.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-DU1zHGRbRTY/TiIIaRVBePI/AAAAAAAAAW8/dnvz0Ud6LO4/s640/DSC_0562.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="428" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="padding-top: 4px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The Radcliffe Camera</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;">We then wandered through the main part of Oxford and discovered that what the guide books told us was in fact correct. There were a heck of a lot of students wearing graduation type gowns. This made Andrew freakishly happy. And I'm sure he'll go into an insubordinate amount of senseless detail about graduation robes ... right..... now. Go! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(This cracked me up - the guidebook said that Oxford is a bookish, academic feeling city...we get off the bus and there are all kinds of students walking every street in their robes, caps, and hoods! Turns out today was, in fact, graduation day for this term and it had just let out! It felt like a caricature :-) Anyway, I do like all that stuff about graduation robes and hoods and where it comes from and all of that. I find it very interesting for some reason. I like to play "Guess the Degree" from the hood color...and I have a pretty good record since I've spent some time looking at what all the colors represent. Don't ask. Also don't ask about the width of the velvet strip, the length of the hood, and the coloring, striping, and piping of the robes. I <i>certainly</i></span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> don't know anything about those... </span></span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nei6-JurQk0/TiIFWHxi-VI/AAAAAAAAAWw/DberpNiMHrI/s1600/DSC_0550.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-nei6-JurQk0/TiIFWHxi-VI/AAAAAAAAAWw/DberpNiMHrI/s640/DSC_0550.JPG" style="cursor: move;" width="640" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">I think what I liked the most was that several of the graduates had thick white fur (like a Persian cat!) lining their hoods. I'm pretty sure we don't have that option in America and I would like to think it's reserved for those Oxford students who have completed a M.Ptrc. degree (that's the Master of Pillaging Thatched Roof Cottages degree - comes with a minor in Viking Studies). It's actually just an option they can get for their hoods, but I like my reasoning better.</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s5obGjOP4-Y/TiIR_wPHGDI/AAAAAAAAAXM/qWdOclBv7aY/s1600/Graduand-Hood-2+%25281%2529.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-s5obGjOP4-Y/TiIR_wPHGDI/AAAAAAAAAXM/qWdOclBv7aY/s400/Graduand-Hood-2+%25281%2529.jpg" width="321" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">This is not a fake picture, although the Oxford ones don't have silver in the middle.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">If you're still reading at this point you must really like us. Thanks. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Double thanks.)</span></span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Moving on. Who are your favorite authors? Book? Of all time? Lucky for you this blog is a one way conversation so here are mine!</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice"</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Lord of the Rings" and "The Hobbit"</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">C.S.Lewis's "The Chronicles of Narnia"</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">and of course J.K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;">Tonight we spent the evening at the "Eagle and Child" Pub, home to the authors known as the "Inklings", none other than C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien and a few others!!!!! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(It seems to be billed as "a few others" nearly everywhere it's mentioned...I feel bad for the other Inklings who don't merit the mention!) </span> It was awesome and worth a visit if you are even mildly obsessed with these greats. Andrew spent some quality time reading "Lord of the Rings" while I attacked a bowl of <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eton_mess">Eton Mess</a>... mmmm. </span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 19px;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aa73kQ866M4/TiIJns1cSwI/AAAAAAAAAXE/lLizVKLRF2A/s1600/DSC_0584.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aa73kQ866M4/TiIJns1cSwI/AAAAAAAAAXE/lLizVKLRF2A/s400/DSC_0584.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QLxYXuIMe04/TiIKWHZZ7KI/AAAAAAAAAXI/r-sMQLXEonI/s1600/DSC_0587.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-QLxYXuIMe04/TiIKWHZZ7KI/AAAAAAAAAXI/r-sMQLXEonI/s400/DSC_0587.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">A very fun and literary night. I'm going to bed now, as I have a serious inferiority complex around all these smarty-pantses. I had difficulty with the door key she previously mentioned, so I'm going to sleep on it and see if I can't do a better job tomorrow representing the American peasantry. </span></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: sans-serif; font-size: x-small;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span id="goog_671329630"></span><span id="goog_671329631"></span></span></span>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-27895091579214692082011-07-16T01:39:00.000-07:002011-07-16T01:39:57.398-07:00Day 8 - Last Day in York :-(<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Today feels like the end of many things....Harry Potter.....our trip to York....a bittersweet day :-) We started out with more laundry and then went to a picture print shop and bought two big amazing pictures of York Minster Cathedral as souvenirs to hang at home. I actually found one similar to it online, but ours is way better:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lw4nXarGBpk/TiByDxO5w-I/AAAAAAAAAWQ/KR6JKLoxQco/s1600/york-minster1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="481" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lw4nXarGBpk/TiByDxO5w-I/AAAAAAAAAWQ/KR6JKLoxQco/s640/york-minster1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The other is of the Minster in a blizzard. These will look great on our wall! After that, we had lunch at a Sichuan Chinese restaurant that was surprisingly good! Annnnd after that - of course - to the York Picturehouse for the showing of the last Harry Potter movie. So good...so sad...and we pretty much walked out of the theater, turned the corner and walked by what might as well be Hogwarts Castle. What a great place to watch the movie!</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJpPu782reo/TiBz39OCzpI/AAAAAAAAAWU/whGhtlMoZ9A/s1600/Hogwarts.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="282" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rJpPu782reo/TiBz39OCzpI/AAAAAAAAAWU/whGhtlMoZ9A/s400/Hogwarts.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hogwarts? A castle around the corner? Who knows, I've lost track!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This evening was the final major concert of the festival - The Sixteen. I've have been a HUGE fan for a couple of years now and hearing them in a place like York Minster was just surreal. Their entire program was all music from the 16th century composer, Tomas Luis de Victoria, one of the more well known early composers. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HN9BpkFozYA/TiFIzo1qHFI/AAAAAAAAAWc/EKAniZc-c5U/s1600/DSC_0537.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HN9BpkFozYA/TiFIzo1qHFI/AAAAAAAAAWc/EKAniZc-c5U/s320/DSC_0537.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Sixteen in York Minster - Sorry for the awful picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">From a sound standpoint, The Sixteen were better suited for the space than the first concert, the<a href="http://earlymusictravels.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-6-york-and-biscuits.html"> Gabrieli Ensemble</a>. I think that had to do with the fact that 1) The Sixteen have about 6 fewer singers, 2) the music had more contrast to it and 3) they did much more dynamic shaping of the music than Gabrieli. You could hear without a doubt the "singing of the line" and shaping the phrases so that there was a rise and fall to them. It was incredible. At the intermission, I happened to see Harry Christophers (the conductor - the guy's a really big deal) and decided to talk to him! And I did!! I told him about Fund for Teachers and the grant and how much we were enjoying the concert and that we would take everything we are hearing and learning back to our students. He thanked me and was very impressed with the grant. He told me, "You're hearing us in possibly the greatest choral performing space in England - it's fantastic to sing here." I agreed :-)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">So does this make me famous now? I think it does. </span>(Allison's Note: No.)<br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After the concert, we went to another medieval hall for a dinner:</span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YY6Mg0hckxQ/TiFJowqYUqI/AAAAAAAAAWg/-6sDVnj8jsQ/s1600/DSC_0541.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="427" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YY6Mg0hckxQ/TiFJowqYUqI/AAAAAAAAAWg/-6sDVnj8jsQ/s640/DSC_0541.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">People kept telling us we were keeping the group young.</td></tr>
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</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We kind of thought this would be a large event and everyone would come over from the concert, but there were only about 30 people there. Most of them were "Friends" of the festival (yearly supporters) and just a few others who had bought tickets to the dinner (us). It was basically an ask for more money to support the festival - a little awkward - but it was fun to talk to some of the people we were sitting by. They were all excited about the grant and INCREDIBLY excited by the fact the we "reduced the average age of the room by about half" :-) </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We unfortunately leave York tomorrow...when exactly is the next time we came come back to this place??? </span>Christmas husband, Christmas. York Christmas Music Festival.<br />
<br />
Off to Oxford to show Andrew around and to see the Bate Early Musical Instrument collection. Everyone at our dinner last night was very excited that we were getting to see the collection. <br />
<br />
Bye York!Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-78818085891032664642011-07-15T02:55:00.000-07:002011-07-15T09:52:59.718-07:00Day 7: Scarborough Castle<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z19Zp5hTruM/TiAJ3GFoHlI/AAAAAAAAAVo/CP_yBgueFJY/s1600/CSC_0478.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-z19Zp5hTruM/TiAJ3GFoHlI/AAAAAAAAAVo/CP_yBgueFJY/s640/CSC_0478.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just pretend that you can't see the grass at the bottom of the picture</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Alright folks, today was young artist competition day at the York Early Music Festival, so there were not really any concerts. We decided to head out of town for a day trip to the sleepy little coastal town of Scarborough.</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB0TZRW4C7E/Th9bUQc9HdI/AAAAAAAAATw/KetCWv0KDHU/s1600/map.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="345" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-rB0TZRW4C7E/Th9bUQc9HdI/AAAAAAAAATw/KetCWv0KDHU/s400/map.gif" style="cursor: move;" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Scarborough was Daniel's idea and it turned out to be a great place to go. It's pretty close to York - just a 45 minute train ride, made more interesting by an old man sitting in out little group of 4 seats who tossed out facts about the English countryside and all sorts of other things the whole way. For instance:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">1) Yorkshire is the largest county in England.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">2) He has lived in York his entire life.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">3) Most of the royal family's men are going bald.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">4) Downtown York is turning into "one giant pub" because there are so many of them.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">5) "The Kennedys" was a pretty good documentary. Greg Kinnear, you know.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">6) Scarborough's train station has the longest train station bench in the world. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">7) The best fish and chips in Yorkshire is just to the right of the terminal - called "Mother Hubbard's"</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Allison's Notes: Honorary mention goes to Daniel and Andrew for their great help in keeping the conversation going. 4.5 minutes into the old man's life story, Daniel put on his headphones and sunglasses. Awesome. Then Andrew decides he has to use the loo. Really?? </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">all </span>("Allison")<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> had to concentrate pretty hard to understand him with his accent but we learned quite a bit on the ride over. When we pulled up he said, "Right-o. Enjoy your day." Nice guy.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">We then embarked on an unplanned day. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Allison is mildly hyperventilating even as she's writing this several hours after the fact.) </span>I had to schedule it as an "unplanned" day in my agenda just so I would feel like some aspect of it was planned. We didn't even have a map!! But we figured the beach was somewhere nearby and if all else failed, following the sea gulls seemed like a logical plan. So we did. Got to admit that going to a beach in 60 degree weather was weird. I kept my athletic shoes on the whole time, and I was bundled up because it was so windy... brr! Scarborough's touristy spots are so darned cute and really remind me of your average American boardwalk, minus the saltwater taffy. (We looked for it, it doesn't exist.) Instead, we had afternoon tea along the beach. Love it! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Warm scones with strawberry jam and clotted cream is now what I want in my I.V. any time I have to go to a hospital.)</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XK6Tl3qqCw/TiAHDn92FYI/AAAAAAAAAVA/GcMFAjb0dJM/s1600/DSC_0277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-5XK6Tl3qqCw/TiAHDn92FYI/AAAAAAAAAVA/GcMFAjb0dJM/s400/DSC_0277.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel has a massive sweet tooth. This was the first cream filled pastry he had today... <br />
there were more.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wz_uAmioqsY/TiALiRf-H9I/AAAAAAAAAWI/33Lo3oxqs9k/s1600/DSC_0285+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-wz_uAmioqsY/TiALiRf-H9I/AAAAAAAAAWI/33Lo3oxqs9k/s400/DSC_0285+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Cute little seaside boardwalk</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R4RzRihkhyg/TiAK6S_1nYI/AAAAAAAAAV8/vo9ynrwWjMw/s1600/DSC_0309+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-R4RzRihkhyg/TiAK6S_1nYI/AAAAAAAAAV8/vo9ynrwWjMw/s400/DSC_0309+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Running shoes in the sand? Cold? Yes.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sAbAWXNSK4w/TiALELsOtTI/AAAAAAAAAWA/PgZthiKNbV8/s1600/DSC_0302+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-sAbAWXNSK4w/TiALELsOtTI/AAAAAAAAAWA/PgZthiKNbV8/s400/DSC_0302+%25282%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beach!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9frpPUpmpg/TiALSR7CSII/AAAAAAAAAWE/uH282mxTQFg/s1600/DSC_0290.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-m9frpPUpmpg/TiALSR7CSII/AAAAAAAAAWE/uH282mxTQFg/s400/DSC_0290.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Very cold water</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eQd-8hSiAxI/TiAKpZanERI/AAAAAAAAAV4/OZH09pq-nN8/s1600/DSC_0344+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eQd-8hSiAxI/TiAKpZanERI/AAAAAAAAAV4/OZH09pq-nN8/s640/DSC_0344+%25282%2529.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So many flowers</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BHWEC0eGf2A/TiAIfQUhMwI/AAAAAAAAAVM/X8EKH0WpU1k/s1600/DSC_0503.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-BHWEC0eGf2A/TiAIfQUhMwI/AAAAAAAAAVM/X8EKH0WpU1k/s640/DSC_0503.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel was not dry the rest of the day</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">We sat in the sand for a good while just hanging out. You see a lot of different types of attire here in England. I'll do another post on it later, let just say that the nose piercing I've had for the last year or so fits right in. My blonde hair does not, a bright shade of purple or red might be more appropriate for my age... but that's a topic for another day. At the beach, there was a weird mixture of sissys like us who had nine layers of clothes on, and then the average Scarboroghonian (??) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Scarboroughniantonianists)</span> who had a swimsuit on. Evidently "cold" weather is a relative phenomenon. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(As is a cheese sandwich...if you order a cheese sandwich, you will not get grilled cheese but a slice of chilly cheese on a piece of bread. In Scarborough, you will get a mound of shredded Kraft on a hamburger bun </span>(How do you eat it??) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">).</span> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UKaeGAcwo5U/TiAI-33MqwI/AAAAAAAAAVY/RKsB1el0INY/s1600/DSC_0462.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-UKaeGAcwo5U/TiAI-33MqwI/AAAAAAAAAVY/RKsB1el0INY/s400/DSC_0462.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The ruins of Scarborough Caslte</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">After our athletic shoes were heavy with sand, Daniel suggested we climb up the Scarborough Castle. I had to contort my neck in a very ungraceful position to see the castle behind me, which made me think twice about not having a car. Scarborough is very hilly. So we climbed and walked and climbed...but it was so worth it! The castle ruins and ground were probably my second favorite place we've visited so far. So desolate and beautiful. You know those pictures you see of the cliffs of England and Ireland? We were on top of them! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"> Harry Potter nerds: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">1. It was like when Dumbledore takes Harry to the caves where Voldemort hid the horcrux! </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">2. Tomorrow! I will see the movie 6 hours ahead of you!!!!!</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HD5VObmQdhE/TiAImS-be8I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/qMfwRnzsGKg/s1600/CSC_0475.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black; font-size: x-small;"><img border="0" height="480" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-HD5VObmQdhE/TiAImS-be8I/AAAAAAAAAVQ/qMfwRnzsGKg/s640/CSC_0475.JPG" width="640" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Surveying his domain </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="text-align: left;">Take a look at the windy pictures. We have video too but can't load it with the slow connection at our B&B. Afterwards, we walked around some of the seedier parts of town, had dinner and returned home on the train. Daniel even serenaded Andrew and I on our empty train cart, it was comical. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(It was something...)</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PXO4SM2_0WU/TiAHqC2rTUI/AAAAAAAAAVE/mjbd0Eh7in4/s1600/DSC_0399.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-PXO4SM2_0WU/TiAHqC2rTUI/AAAAAAAAAVE/mjbd0Eh7in4/s400/DSC_0399.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Ruins of the castle tower</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QG1ovkhOuBc/TiAH0oMiUMI/AAAAAAAAAVI/kLg6VgiRHDg/s1600/CSC_0481.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-QG1ovkhOuBc/TiAH0oMiUMI/AAAAAAAAAVI/kLg6VgiRHDg/s400/CSC_0481.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-122EtHDdeM4/TiAIt2ttjSI/AAAAAAAAAVU/7eplJPJiFmU/s1600/DSC_0464.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-122EtHDdeM4/TiAIt2ttjSI/AAAAAAAAAVU/7eplJPJiFmU/s400/DSC_0464.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Andrew began gnawing on "wheat"... which he said wan't actually wheat, so he called it "faux-wheat", or "fwheat"</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2pKPa0FHXw/TiAJMWfgOvI/AAAAAAAAAVc/ojtah5lzhr0/s1600/DSC_0452.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-L2pKPa0FHXw/TiAJMWfgOvI/AAAAAAAAAVc/ojtah5lzhr0/s400/DSC_0452.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lord of the Rings fans should be very happy with this picture. <br />
"Light the beacons!!"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awwww....</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">You can't see it, but he still has the fwheat in his mouth... nerd.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Tomorrow is going to be a good day - as we said, we're seeing the last Harry Potter movie and BY THE WAY - we found out that <a href="http://earlymusictravels.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-5-york-castle-howard-dufay.html">The Dufay Ensemble</a> played on the soundtrack of Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban (movie #3)!!! All you fellow nerds, listen to the soundtrack and see if you can pick out where they play. How's THAT for connecting current pop culture with early music?? Tomorrow is also the biggest concert of the entire festival - <a href="http://www.the-sixteen.org.uk/">The Sixteen</a> perform in York Minster Cathedral! I've been a Sixteen fan for a long time, so hooray!</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; text-align: left;">Before we go, Happy Birthday to my beautiful and wonderful Mom today by the way! Love you Mom!!</div><div><br />
</div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-54142585413184794602011-07-14T00:59:00.000-07:002011-07-14T00:59:32.610-07:00Day 6 - York: York Minster Cathedral, Too Much Fish & Chips, The Harp Concert, and The Brabant Ensemble<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Well, after being here for 4 days and going to a concert and a church service in York Minster Cathedral, we finally got a chance to actually explore the place! It kind of feels like our "home church" in a city of churches because it takes 39 seconds to walk there (I timed it.) </span>(Allison's Note: Nerd)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> I feel bad gushing more about how beautiful it is, but it really is a breathtaking sight. </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> The inside has a really nice museum in the basement/crypt area telling you where the original Roman basilica was in the first century AD, then where the Saxons (ancient English) built a small church in the 600s, then where the Normans (ancient French) built a large church in the 1100s, and finally when the cathedral was built in the 13-1400s. Each new building was basically built on top of the previous one, so there are layers of stone and foundations under the cathedral that chronicle its' 1,900 year history. (</span>There are parts in the crypt where you can see the Roman and Norman architecture merging... so cool!)<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The organ</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Quire (where the choir sits :-)</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My gratuitous Lord of the Rings shot</td></tr>
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Daniel and I took the long walk up to the top of the central tower, which consists of about 250 tiny stone steps in a tight spiral staircase to get to the top. It's pretty intense - several times I couldn't fit through the passageways unless I turned my shoulders! </span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This x 250 = the top of York Minster</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pM3vq6bCAWw/Th6eZm9bWHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/n3BSmqMM06A/s1600/CSC_0264.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-pM3vq6bCAWw/Th6eZm9bWHI/AAAAAAAAATQ/n3BSmqMM06A/s640/CSC_0264.JPG" width="428" /></a></div><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The view from the top is amazing, though, </span>(Nope! I didn't go. I had a tour by one of the 200 volunteers around the minster itself. Heights + Allison = puke) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">and you can see all of York 360 degrees around and even into the farmland outside. I do believe my knees and legs are killing me now but it was worth it.</span><br />
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Then it got cold. And windy. So we changed and I used a gift that I bought for someone as layering to keep me warm. Sorry Lindsey. We met Daniel after his concert for authentic fish n'chips. It was so good that we didn't take any pictures because we were too focused on eating. Mmmmm.<br />
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Then I got my ear pierced again. Don't worry Fund for Teachers, you didn't pay for it :-) <br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Allison's York souvenir is in the top left of the picture :-)</td></tr>
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Then we headed to our next two concerts of the evening. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The first one was the Harp Ensemble - 4 players playing all sorts of instruments...the violin, the hurdy-gurdy, the triple harp (earlier version of our current harp), the Psaltery (like a strummed dulcimer or auto harp), the guitar, the bagpipes, the shawm, and the cornetto (an instrument that sounds like a mellow trumpet - made of wood with a mouthpiece and finger holes. Think a long recorder that you buzz into!) The concert involved not only music, but dancing and poetry, too. It was very diverse and very entertaining.</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is pretty much what this guy did the whole time - no lie</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The second concert was the Brabant Ensemble, a 12 voice vocal group who have been around since 1998. They did a beautiful job - they focus on lesser know composers of the 15th & 16th centuries. Here's the program:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Mater floreat - Pierre Moulu</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Mater Christi sanctissima - Tavenrer </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Gloria (from Missa 'El Ojo') - Francisco de Penalosa</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Quam pulchra es - King Henry VIII (Did you know that Henry VIII probably wrote two settings of the Mass Ordinary? They did not survive, but this piece is his only surviving Latin piece. The words are from Song of Solomon...actually pretty racy!)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Salve regina - Cristobal de Morales</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Sanctus (from Missa 'Tu es Petrus') - Jean Mouton</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Aspice Domine - Phillip van Wilder</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Agnus Dei (from Missa 'Alma Redemptoris mater') - Pierre Moulu (this piece became famous as a "telescope canon" - where the music can be sung either with rests or without them!)</span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The conductor had interesting interpretations on some things - the sopranos had no vibrato throughout the concert, but the other parts (particularly the men) used it at least sometimes, but never on the final note of the songs. Also, the sopranos were VERY loud on several of the pieces. I argued that it was not a balance problem; that the conductor must have a musical reason for doing that on certain pieces. After all, they are a professional group and the conductor was a Choir Scholar at Cambridge and has a doctorate in Early Music from Oxford. The guy knows a thing or two! Any professors out there want to shed any light on these observations in the comments section??</span><br />
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</span>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-35246572150454007432011-07-13T02:10:00.000-07:002011-07-13T02:10:59.219-07:00Day 5 - York: Castle Howard, The Dufay Collective, and the Orlando Consort<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqDfFeE8Mzc/Th1S1B2ZtcI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/fo5hG1562A0/s1600/DSC_0116.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-GqDfFeE8Mzc/Th1S1B2ZtcI/AAAAAAAAAQ4/fo5hG1562A0/s400/DSC_0116.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We went to a castle today! <a href="http://www.castlehoward.co.uk/">Castle Howard</a> to be specific. And we have tons of pictures, so less talk and more pictures are the plan for this post. I'll have to quote from the Lonely Planet guide book on this one, because it says it the best: </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"> "Stately homes my be two a penny in England, but you'll have to try pretty d$#% hard to find one as breathtakingly stately as Castle Howard." -Lonely Planet</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Agreed. </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">We took a local bus to get there are weren't disappointed (with the house, the bus was fine too but you don't care about that do you? : ) Evidently it was filmed in two movies, an original and a remake, both called <i><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0412536/">Brideshead Revisited</a></i>, which I've never heard of. The guy who designed the place in 1699, John Vanburgh, had no formal training and was known as a playwright... but I think he did a pretty decent job for a drama guy. The grounds and home itself are beautifully maintained.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">When I see this I think Pride and Prejudice</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Get ready for Pride and Prejudice references folks: Lady Catherine's house anyone?? </td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This pic reminds me of the hall at Pemberly where Elizabeth sees Darcy's portrait and really falls in love for the first time</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is the chapel inside the house</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L-E2EQaLqEc/Th1ZXiZYhcI/AAAAAAAAARY/ySIACC94zKE/s1600/DSC_0093.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-L-E2EQaLqEc/Th1ZXiZYhcI/AAAAAAAAARY/ySIACC94zKE/s640/DSC_0093.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Darcy?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dSbs8Qx899k/Th1ZuaF_y9I/AAAAAAAAARg/IdBnXPxigTo/s1600/DSC_0114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-dSbs8Qx899k/Th1ZuaF_y9I/AAAAAAAAARg/IdBnXPxigTo/s640/DSC_0114.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elizabeth Bennett? : ) !!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MX243j_28Qg/Th1ZjkDyIMI/AAAAAAAAARc/viZ6HFiltuA/s1600/DSC_0104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-MX243j_28Qg/Th1ZjkDyIMI/AAAAAAAAARc/viZ6HFiltuA/s640/DSC_0104.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mr. Wickham??! Just kidding.<br />
I feel like the storm clouds in the background really fit the mood of the picture</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K8dlxtoHxNo/Th1Z_UKJ85I/AAAAAAAAARk/JfsFGOKVbQo/s1600/DSC_0124.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-K8dlxtoHxNo/Th1Z_UKJ85I/AAAAAAAAARk/JfsFGOKVbQo/s640/DSC_0124.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">During the Christmas season, the house is closed to the public and the family lives here</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-38G2VL_w0qU/Th1aRXAkpUI/AAAAAAAAARo/cjVMVPglqz0/s1600/DSC_0125.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-38G2VL_w0qU/Th1aRXAkpUI/AAAAAAAAARo/cjVMVPglqz0/s640/DSC_0125.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Loo anyone?</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rMOYFg_kD0I/Th1ag2o6uqI/AAAAAAAAARs/iXzlBhbakn8/s1600/DSC_0131.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rMOYFg_kD0I/Th1ag2o6uqI/AAAAAAAAARs/iXzlBhbakn8/s400/DSC_0131.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A depiction of what the house looked like in the 1800s</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ayIBCT9_Uzo/Th1a7sUi2cI/AAAAAAAAAR0/qSDOxP6gI_o/s1600/DSC_0149.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ayIBCT9_Uzo/Th1a7sUi2cI/AAAAAAAAAR0/qSDOxP6gI_o/s640/DSC_0149.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Wow</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BMdxmyvUWFY/Th1bELKaiqI/AAAAAAAAAR4/TBMF-_S0Bsw/s1600/DSC_0150.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BMdxmyvUWFY/Th1bELKaiqI/AAAAAAAAAR4/TBMF-_S0Bsw/s640/DSC_0150.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It really hurt to take this picture</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VEQxcO8xaec/Th1bNasj10I/AAAAAAAAAR8/rgxdpLKJ_bU/s1600/DSC_0151.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-VEQxcO8xaec/Th1bNasj10I/AAAAAAAAAR8/rgxdpLKJ_bU/s640/DSC_0151.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful fabrics all around the house</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2-1GzNlTve4/Th1bWN3kS5I/AAAAAAAAASA/VZzRnlbKQQg/s1600/DSC_0181.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2-1GzNlTve4/Th1bWN3kS5I/AAAAAAAAASA/VZzRnlbKQQg/s640/DSC_0181.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spot of tea on the cold castle grounds!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After touring, we ate a scrumptious lunch at the castle cafe (I had quiche!). <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew's Note: Mine may have been the best steak pie I've ever had in my life, made with the Angus beef from the farm on the property! Think of the best pot roast you've ever had and put a crispy puff pastry on top. I <i>know, </i>right?!!) </span>We rode back to York and went running (Because I had quiche!!). Can't get over how nice it is to run in 60 degree weather in July. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Not to mention the whole running in the scrubby wildflower-y English country side. That'll do, Donkey.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Then we had 2 concerts! One of which was my favorite so far. Andrew will do the honors on this end.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The first one was the Dufay Collective, the one we both had really been looking forward to. They did not disappoint - it was our favorite so far! The venue was the Merchant Adventurer's Hall - in the 1300s this was home to the Merchant Adventurers, one of the most powerful medieval guilds (association of craftsmen of a certain trade) in medieval England. Guess what? They still meet here! Yes, the Merchant Adventurers have been meeting in this hall for 700 years. Now it's really just ceremonial of course. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dpgZSXpzdxA/Th1fHEmTfsI/AAAAAAAAASI/XnHAV0LknWs/s1600/DSC_0183.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-dpgZSXpzdxA/Th1fHEmTfsI/AAAAAAAAASI/XnHAV0LknWs/s400/DSC_0183.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Anyway, it was a great setting for a really unique concert. The instruments used were what really made it interesting. There was one singer and 5 instrumentalists playing one or a combination of the following: harp, percussion, gittern (like a mandolin), flute, recorder, bagpipes (!!), simfony (like a hurdy gurdy - scroll down <a href="http://earlymusictravels.blogspot.com/p/medieval-music-800-1400ad.html">here</a></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> and go to the 3rd video down), and the vielle (similar to a violin or treble viol). Every one of their songs were by that great composer, Anonymous :-) The music they played is so old that they don't have much if any info about who wrote them and how exactly they were supposed to be played. Their playing involves a lot of improvisation and guesswork at how they music should be structured. One of my favorites, though, was a medieval bagpipe duet. Luckily, medieval pipes are about half as loud as the normal bagpipes you hear, so our ears are still intact. We wished SO much that we could have videoed this one for you, but here's something so you can hear the sounds: </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After that, we heard the Orlando Consort, a male quartet who specialize in 10th - 15th century vocal music. They also performed several pieces that are so old that nobody knows who wrote them. They blended beautifully and their <a href="http://www.orlandoconsort.com/group_biog.htm">bio</a> is impressive!</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Db9hlOacIG4/Th1fd_gG8bI/AAAAAAAAASM/v-p2SSiYGyg/s1600/DSC_0190.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Db9hlOacIG4/Th1fd_gG8bI/AAAAAAAAASM/v-p2SSiYGyg/s400/DSC_0190.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-size: small;">Dufay Collective- sorry about the bad picture</span></td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VI_nO5YshgI/Th1gbZ40FfI/AAAAAAAAASU/XRfYbSXEI8I/s1600/orlando.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-VI_nO5YshgI/Th1gbZ40FfI/AAAAAAAAASU/XRfYbSXEI8I/s400/orlando.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Orlando Consort</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Whew! Lots of music tonight! It's midnight, so we're going to bed! </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Mi5axc18nA/Th1frcMkhiI/AAAAAAAAASQ/3ww7k2nw5yQ/s1600/DSC_0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-2Mi5axc18nA/Th1frcMkhiI/AAAAAAAAASQ/3ww7k2nw5yQ/s640/DSC_0199.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">But before bed, we must eat our biscuits ; )</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"></div><span id="goog_547044460"></span><span id="goog_547044461"></span>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-88016468968958890332011-07-11T14:26:00.000-07:002011-07-11T14:26:08.247-07:00Day 4 - York: More laundry, The Festival Consort, Rose Consort of Viols, and The City Musick<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4_HKcitRXnI/ThthUuzgGKI/AAAAAAAAAPE/Ip4IFEqyo_E/s1600/Laundry.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-4_HKcitRXnI/ThthUuzgGKI/AAAAAAAAAPE/Ip4IFEqyo_E/s400/Laundry.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Ahh, Laundromats. Oops, I mean Launderettes. We have gotten officially fed up with smelling like we wash our own clothes, so Allison went to a little laundry place here in York</span> (Allison's Note: Husband, are you criticizing my laundry-washing-in-a-tub skillz?? My arms are still sore from that adventure)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">. Other than the oppressive shop owner </span>("Excuse me madam, you are closing the dryer door too loudly, let me show you how to do it")<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">, everything went well and we now have nice smelling clothes </span>(As does half of York, today was a busy day at the laundromat, but most people just dropped off their dirty clothes, and most of them were bachelors.... ha!)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> The do-your-own-laundry thing work for serious backpacking and was a good idea in London, but now that we have a small home base in a smaller city (and 9 days in the same place!) we decided to find other ways to be fresh-from-a-spring-meadow clean. (</span>Translation: Some smells can't be scrubbed out by hand.) <br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Allison, Daniel and I met for lunch at The Roman Bath Pub, a little place with a 1,950 year old Roman bath in the basement! The ruins are set up like a small museum and you pay a few pounds and you can see it and have the very helpful museum owner give you an introduction. </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xZYV397SIJM/Thtgolrny6I/AAAAAAAAAO8/q-Pku3d9_uU/s1600/bath2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xZYV397SIJM/Thtgolrny6I/AAAAAAAAAO8/q-Pku3d9_uU/s400/bath2.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Romans never looked so Tudor</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VOVDcYhB318/ThtgoMV5WMI/AAAAAAAAAO4/BbJocL0adc0/s1600/bath.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="265" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-VOVDcYhB318/ThtgoMV5WMI/AAAAAAAAAO4/BbJocL0adc0/s400/bath.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Roman Bath. Under a Pub. Behind an electronics store.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It's interesting - the Roman street level was about 10-12 feet below the current York street level. (In the museum, the ceiling above your head is current street level and what you're standing on was Roman street level.) I suppose that makes plenty of sense but I hadn't thought about it. Anyway, it was fascinating to see things that old AND they had Roman armor you could try on in the corner. </span>(Left the camera... sorry!)<br />
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We were busy today with two concerts, both were excellent. <br />
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The lunch time concert was the Festival Consort, a vocal quintet made up of various performers from various ensembles performing in the festival and the The Rose Consort of Viols:<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0xtgbnP4gSk/ThthAUnNyYI/AAAAAAAAAPA/SeFgAEhPVCk/s1600/rose+consort.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="307" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0xtgbnP4gSk/ThthAUnNyYI/AAAAAAAAAPA/SeFgAEhPVCk/s400/rose+consort.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
This 1:00 PM concert featured the music of Peter Philips (1560-1628) and Richard Dering (1580-1630). It also obviously featured the "Viol". Viols are not used today in your typical orchestra but were used in early music, specifically developed during the Renaissance. The tend to come in a few sizes as you can see below. Such an interesting sound is produced from this type of instrument! The first thing I noticed is how relatively soft the overall sound of the group was. With the improvement in instrument production and the quality of materials used, our modern decedents from such instruments produce a louder sound that can be heard clearly at the back of a room. The group's sound was light, stringy (in a good way!) and very pleasant to hear. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(The instruments have gut strings (like nylon) instead of metal - that also makes them softer.)</span> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zpfipgmE1U8/Thtf0sWWoiI/AAAAAAAAAOk/IEbz9Y6WY-0/s1600/CSC_0049.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-zpfipgmE1U8/Thtf0sWWoiI/AAAAAAAAAOk/IEbz9Y6WY-0/s400/CSC_0049.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">From left to right: recorder, bass viol (on floor), cittern (darker guitar-looking thingy, played melody and chords), lute (lighter guitar-looking thingy, played mostly melody), the singer, bandora (mandolin-looking thingy, played mostly chords</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YuGLfQlivfg/ThtgGUchflI/AAAAAAAAAO0/j0oYsM0T8xw/s1600/DSC_0071+%25283%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-YuGLfQlivfg/ThtgGUchflI/AAAAAAAAAO0/j0oYsM0T8xw/s400/DSC_0071+%25283%2529.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The bandora</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cDdeFZo-NSQ/Thtf-xXVceI/AAAAAAAAAOw/oihzSi0KpS0/s1600/CSC_0060.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-cDdeFZo-NSQ/Thtf-xXVceI/AAAAAAAAAOw/oihzSi0KpS0/s400/CSC_0060.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">McSteamy playing the cittern</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The concert was held at the National Center for Early Music here in York. Their concert hall was formerly an old church but has been renovated for performance purposes. It looked like a medieval banquet hall, with real candles and huge windows used for natural lighting rather than light bulbs. The ceiling had a Tudor look with wooden beams stretched far above us. Ironically, among all this period architecture and decorating, there are 21st century sound panels, similar to what I have in my band room to make the room less "live". Hearing these period instruments in this setting makes me quite excited to see the instruments up close at Oxford University's Bate Early Music Instrument Collection. It also makes me thankful for the improvements in instrument production that we have today. <br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYgRy_a1JcM/ThtiKYoOFhI/AAAAAAAAAPI/FmGprMr1nR4/s1600/DSC_0031.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aYgRy_a1JcM/ThtiKYoOFhI/AAAAAAAAAPI/FmGprMr1nR4/s400/DSC_0031.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It was nice to hear some instrumental music - it has pretty much all been vocal so far, but there's a good mix for the rest of the time, as well as several other performance halls that are really unique and REALLY old...although I'm really looking forward to our last concert in York because it's back in the cathedral!</span></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-88017308805329981292011-07-10T13:59:00.000-07:002011-07-10T14:02:22.481-07:00Day 3 - York: Church at York Minster Cathedral<div style="text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We went to church in the largest cathedral in Northern Europe today! How about that! </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-np5eb0Qojog/ThoCHbnanTI/AAAAAAAAANc/h_7RTi3GC3g/s1600/DSC_0364.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-np5eb0Qojog/ThoCHbnanTI/AAAAAAAAANc/h_7RTi3GC3g/s640/DSC_0364.JPG" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So amazing</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-joSUsOvlkdM/ThoBgYyLe8I/AAAAAAAAANM/BrfkyYBYjqw/s1600/DSC_0291.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-joSUsOvlkdM/ThoBgYyLe8I/AAAAAAAAANM/BrfkyYBYjqw/s640/DSC_0291.JPG" width="428" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Listen to the video below - York Minster has 32 bells that are rung on Sundays and some holidays by hand. Turn it up really loud and it's exactly what we heard out our window this morning at 9am </span>(The bells rang from 9-10 AM)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">! Amazing! </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/2M5HDzqRbz0" width="425"></iframe></div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The services at York Minster are Anglican (Church of England) – if you’ve never been to a traditional Anglican service, it’s pretty similar to a Catholic service…minus the whole<u> </u></span><a href="http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/603196/transubstantiation" style="color: blue;">transubstantiation</a><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> thing and a few other parts…</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It’s kind of in between a Catholic service and a traditional Lutheran service.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The </span><u style="color: blue;"><a href="http://www.yorkminster.org/worship/music/choir/">choir</a></u><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> was beautiful, especially the children.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Hearing the children’s voices soar above the adults into a huge stone space is just incredible.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">You could look up at the ceiling and forget that you weren’t huddled in there worshipping with your fellow peasants in the 1200s! </span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">There is so much singing in this type of service, both by the choir and by the congregation.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The row of older adults behind us had a gusto all their own :-) </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span>(Allison's Note: Then there's me sitting between Andrew and Daniel. Andrew has a beautiful voice and Daniels is like an opera star in Kentucky. Huge voice + Me + Huge voice = intimidation). <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Hearing the organ was great, too…I’m no lover of solo organ music, but hearing such a beautiful instrument in a place like that kind of blows your mind.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-doIDAQkDAJs/ThoBp2hc4nI/AAAAAAAAANQ/1Ia4WHAcyms/s1600/DSC_0298.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-doIDAQkDAJs/ThoBp2hc4nI/AAAAAAAAANQ/1Ia4WHAcyms/s400/DSC_0298.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main organ - from the 1800's because a fire destroyed the previous one</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tl1oDrJHlYE/ThoB9pp6jdI/AAAAAAAAANY/GlhV6I0Z7PU/s1600/DSC_0303.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-tl1oDrJHlYE/ThoB9pp6jdI/AAAAAAAAANY/GlhV6I0Z7PU/s400/DSC_0303.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Look at the detail on the pipes!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It was a Eucharist (Communion) service, so we were able to participate. There were apparently a huge number of people there today since there are horse races, the Early Music Festival, and some other event going on in the city this week, not to mention the fact that it was a special service for the big wigs of the Church of England. The priest who gave the sermon was the Bishop of Copenhagen. After the service we had tea and biscuits in a back chapel – just like going to some fellowship hall in a church at home and grabbing a cup of coffee after the service, only you’re surrounded by 600 year old stained glass and stone, and some knight probably took some sort of vow where you’re standing and looking longingly at the empty biscuit tin. Again, this puts many things into perspective. </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fv30tGz-5eo/ThoBzwgNeTI/AAAAAAAAANU/m8wqzSwIPRc/s1600/DSC_0302.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-fv30tGz-5eo/ThoBzwgNeTI/AAAAAAAAANU/m8wqzSwIPRc/s400/DSC_0302.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I declare and appoint thee Sir Andrew, Lord of the Early Music Festival </td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Allison: We spent the remainder of the day walking around York and the remainder of the medieval wall (which I evidently spelled wrong 5 times yesterday... my bad!), At one point I lost my black cardigan sweater on a walk back to the B&B. I retraced my steps to every shop we stopped at, all the shop owners were so compassionate and helped me look around but we couldn't find the sweater. "Oh sorry deary, we just feel so poorly for you." Then, a lady a block away found me walking outside and said she overheard me discussing my missing jacket and that she found a jacket on one of the city walls we had walked by earlier in the day. It was mine : ) I went back and all the shop owners were so excited for me. "Oh deary, my husband said he saw that jacket when he was on the walls" (Really??!) Love these cute English people in York!!<br />
Here are a few pictures from around York, I think I've fallen in love with this place!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rh7Hsa36Ut0/ThoORJtaIsI/AAAAAAAAAOg/xmJRLAzAH1Y/s1600/DSC_0374.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rh7Hsa36Ut0/ThoORJtaIsI/AAAAAAAAAOg/xmJRLAzAH1Y/s640/DSC_0374.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View of York Minster from upstairs through a window</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ytZr9YK9ol4/ThoHuTZhaxI/AAAAAAAAAOY/ru8M-QRhvww/s1600/DSC_0024.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ytZr9YK9ol4/ThoHuTZhaxI/AAAAAAAAAOY/ru8M-QRhvww/s400/DSC_0024.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Because...why wouldn't you name a street this?</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAVnQCfI-yo/ThoHSSDL3yI/AAAAAAAAAOM/-ToSaFNBBeE/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aAVnQCfI-yo/ThoHSSDL3yI/AAAAAAAAAOM/-ToSaFNBBeE/s400/DSC_0019.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Take that, dachshunds</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OwNApgfW2zA/ThoHbxrdPHI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/Hi8HHy8iE3w/s1600/DSC_0020.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-OwNApgfW2zA/ThoHbxrdPHI/AAAAAAAAAOQ/Hi8HHy8iE3w/s400/DSC_0020.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I feel that when I'm 85, I will own a shop like this. <br />
It will make no money, but it will be named "The Blue Bike" and have a blue bike parked outside</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-frCKELSyCeA/ThoHkvPqtZI/AAAAAAAAAOU/_DQmjwsrfwE/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-frCKELSyCeA/ThoHkvPqtZI/AAAAAAAAAOU/_DQmjwsrfwE/s400/DSC_0023.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Took this pic for my friend Karen : )</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7zKyBdDOl2M/ThoHI6nmOzI/AAAAAAAAAOI/DqFNaGKWLKc/s1600/DSC_0016.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-7zKyBdDOl2M/ThoHI6nmOzI/AAAAAAAAAOI/DqFNaGKWLKc/s400/DSC_0016.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Soooo... I made the boys get "high tea". HA!! Look at their faces!!!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BsFlFUSOmkc/ThoG_zOo-nI/AAAAAAAAAOE/tA9P5mlGzTQ/s1600/DSC_0014.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-BsFlFUSOmkc/ThoG_zOo-nI/AAAAAAAAAOE/tA9P5mlGzTQ/s640/DSC_0014.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This picture is for all you sissys out there that think eggs have to be kept in the refrigerator. <br />
This is on the grocery aisle shelves, not the refrigerated section. Eggs, can in fact, be left out!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-agpZEd7I6LI/ThoG1_EIpLI/AAAAAAAAAOA/CB3XE-iFBWY/s1600/DSC_0011.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-agpZEd7I6LI/ThoG1_EIpLI/AAAAAAAAAOA/CB3XE-iFBWY/s400/DSC_0011.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">View from the wall around York - this is the original Roman fortification from 37AD!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQaPB2cqujw/ThoGf_iLPdI/AAAAAAAAAN4/hUQwwiNHMas/s1600/DSC_0006.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-EQaPB2cqujw/ThoGf_iLPdI/AAAAAAAAAN4/hUQwwiNHMas/s400/DSC_0006.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">York Minster from the wall</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T8s4tKqkX3Q/ThoGMcfHmQI/AAAAAAAAANw/rKptDGd90dA/s1600/DSC_0003.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-T8s4tKqkX3Q/ThoGMcfHmQI/AAAAAAAAANw/rKptDGd90dA/s640/DSC_0003.JPG" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I want the view from my house to look like this... Katy... sigh</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j_4IPk6LrAs/ThoF49VysVI/AAAAAAAAANo/fzb4UVQs1ws/s1600/CSC_0027.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-j_4IPk6LrAs/ThoF49VysVI/AAAAAAAAANo/fzb4UVQs1ws/s400/CSC_0027.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Backyard parties in England... way better than Houston</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-015WbonFdoQ/ThoFzK3VBSI/AAAAAAAAANk/A20JzEnQ6WA/s1600/CSC_0026.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-015WbonFdoQ/ThoFzK3VBSI/AAAAAAAAANk/A20JzEnQ6WA/s320/CSC_0026.JPG" width="214" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inside the wall fortification thing... </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vLbw8MYEb9c/ThoNs1k1QoI/AAAAAAAAAOc/qEDtGryIEVc/s1600/DSC_0028.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-vLbw8MYEb9c/ThoNs1k1QoI/AAAAAAAAAOc/qEDtGryIEVc/s640/DSC_0028.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Can you guess what time of NIGHT this is?? Hint: It's not 6 PM, or 7 or 8 or even 9 PM!!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">**By the way, in case you are checking this with baited breath 5 times a day to see when we’re posting some videos (I know you all are :-), we’re trying hard to get videos posted but it’s really difficult with the</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">wifi</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">connections over here.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It takes forever just to load a picture!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We tried to upload several at a time in London and left it to upload all night and it ended by saying we had an error.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We’ve decreased the picture size of the ones we post which helps, but video has proven pretty impossible.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Unless we find a faster connection in York or maybe Oxford, we’ll probably just post all the videos under a video tab on the blog when we get back.**</span><br />
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</div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-32756334726795116512011-07-10T01:39:00.000-07:002011-07-10T12:54:49.393-07:00Day 2 - York: Workshop for Voices, The English Concert<div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Today was a good day.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu5WGprsZqs/ThjlVFnLXGI/AAAAAAAAAM8/AeC2f2ck4Fc/s1600/DSC_0363.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-Lu5WGprsZqs/ThjlVFnLXGI/AAAAAAAAAM8/AeC2f2ck4Fc/s640/DSC_0363.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking York's medieval city wall</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I got to have some alone time! The guys, Andrew and Daniel, attended a vocalists' medieval music workshop which I excluded myself from mostly because I woudn't want to subject the workshop attendees to my voice. My poor band kids have to listen to me sing parts all the time, it's really a wonder that the program is growing. Anyway, I'll let Andrew tell you about his nerd workshop below. I had a great morning. We had breakfast and then I decided to have my first run here in York. I was intending to go running in Hyde Park in London, but we were just to busy and tired from walking so many miles everyday that we didn't. York, as I mentioned yesterday, is beautiful. The River Ouse runs directly through town and the wonderful city of York has put in a riverside running/walking/biking trail that runs for miles, even past the city. So while the boys workshopped, I ran 5 miles along the river in York (Aren't you proud of me, Devon?!)! </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Here are a couple of observations:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">1. Running is far more exciting in a foreign country</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">2. Running is great practice for driving in a foreign country, you have to run on the opposite side!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">3. Running in 60 degree weather vs. 100 degree weather makes me like running!</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">4. Running through farms, hills and dales is so much more gratifying than running on concrete in Houston.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zaFkNTzd-eo/Thjj7zG6doI/AAAAAAAAAMs/HT_1GxwWiYc/s1600/DSC_0331.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-zaFkNTzd-eo/Thjj7zG6doI/AAAAAAAAAMs/HT_1GxwWiYc/s400/DSC_0331.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quaint York</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">After that I meandered through town. Having never been here, I have to say it is officially my favorite small town that I've ever visited. The history of this place is pretty awesome. Remember Constantine? Roman Emperor? York originally was called Eboracum back in AD 71 and Constantine was crowned emperor here! Skip ahead a few hundred years to the year 627and a church was built; more on that later. The Vikings took over, then the Danish and finally the Normans who fortified the city with a wall; more on that later. During medieval times, York became England's second biggest city with Henry VIII using the church I mentioned earlier, "York Minster", as his Anglican Church's northern capital. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x_TfVBkF1F4/Thjlx1hPkWI/AAAAAAAAANA/vdt7GZZ7W60/s1600/DSC_0365.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-x_TfVBkF1F4/Thjlx1hPkWI/AAAAAAAAANA/vdt7GZZ7W60/s640/DSC_0365.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The trees kind of block the view and look small, but the trees are HUGE</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">York Minster Cathedral is unbelievable. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew's Note: What you see above is about 23 1/2 steps from the place we're staying.) </span>Gothic design at its absolute best. If you've been to Westminster but not York Minster, there really is no comparison. York Minister is shockingly tall, beautiful, ornate, and it honestly just astounds you. It's visible from nearly every point in the city of York, all directions are given in relation to it. We're attending church there tomorrow, so we'll give you the scoop on the inside for that later. </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">I spent some time in town. My Nook and I had "high tea" at the Earl Grey Tea Shop. It was lovely! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Nice - sounding British already!) </span>Scones, egg and watercress sandwiches, tea, a good book and no boys. Yes. I did some shopping in the center of York, which is the location of the "Shambles" street. It is billed the most picturesque street in Europe, although to get a people-free picture you have to get there at like 4 AM. (Not happening). Shambles came from the word <i>shammell</i>, meaning a butcher's cutting block because the street used to house rows of butchers. The Tudor buildings are so quaint and the shopfronts make you want to buy way too many unnecessary things. I found a cute pink coat (very, very necessary, husband) that will be great for football season with the band. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(That's OK...I'm pretty sure I'll find a VERY necessary $800 kilt in Scotland. In fact, I'm sure of it.)</span> </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PZcevKTwJ-8/ThjjnELIdVI/AAAAAAAAAMo/vhdKdab8x-A/s1600/DSC_0330.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-PZcevKTwJ-8/ThjjnELIdVI/AAAAAAAAAMo/vhdKdab8x-A/s640/DSC_0330.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tea time is much better without boys</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ddiAU6ZSQD4/ThjjSsYu3eI/AAAAAAAAAMk/Vd-nmH7HtcQ/s1600/DSC_0329.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-ddiAU6ZSQD4/ThjjSsYu3eI/AAAAAAAAAMk/Vd-nmH7HtcQ/s640/DSC_0329.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Nook, my date</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ezp6sNqDTEo/ThjiUdul9DI/AAAAAAAAAMY/1-xQo_9U0P8/s1600/DSC_0325.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-Ezp6sNqDTEo/ThjiUdul9DI/AAAAAAAAAMY/1-xQo_9U0P8/s400/DSC_0325.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Shambles</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOdQyraWdv4/ThjinfSGqhI/AAAAAAAAAMc/iFYJUFvEWes/s1600/DSC_0326.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-aOdQyraWdv4/ThjinfSGqhI/AAAAAAAAAMc/iFYJUFvEWes/s640/DSC_0326.JPG" width="427" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">More Shambles</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iSIPnVMHaP0/Thji9VQUG2I/AAAAAAAAAMg/DT5wMdaxEWU/s1600/DSC_0327.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-iSIPnVMHaP0/Thji9VQUG2I/AAAAAAAAAMg/DT5wMdaxEWU/s400/DSC_0327.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Some meat sellers still located in the Shambles area</td></tr>
</tbody></table> I then headed to hear the impromptu performance put on by the medieval vocal workshop the boys had been in all day. It was really neat to hear music that had just been found and not yet published be sung for the first time since the 1500s. Wow! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(It was a great little workshop - although I could've done with about 2 hours less of it :-) We rehearsed a William Byrd Mass written for the Catholics for the first 2 hours and got some really good insight into why he wrote it and the correct way to sing a piece from that period. Bottom line = measure lines are a pesky modern invention, pay no attention to them! Sing the line! Our director never did tell us exactly what he does for a living, but he was incredibly knowledgeable about all things early music. He may have been a professor, probably at the University of York. The folks who came to sing ranged from "enthusiastic amateurs" (as they called themselves) to early music professors (as we found out when one tenor piped up and said, "Pip pip, your score for the Dering motet has an error in the Latin - it should be the plural of the word in bar 31!" Somewhat intimidating :-) Anyway, we broke for lunch and came back for another 2 hours of rehearsing on some little known pieces by the late renaissance/early baroque composer Richard Dering. We had a little performance of Byrd's Mass for 4 Voices and the 4 Dering pieces we read through. A little rough, but fun!</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PTlohEMvGBQ/ThjkQW7mWwI/AAAAAAAAAMw/u2BdW2vt-ec/s1600/DSC_0338.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PTlohEMvGBQ/ThjkQW7mWwI/AAAAAAAAAMw/u2BdW2vt-ec/s400/DSC_0338.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bad picture... sorry. Andrew and Daniel are in the top right</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After the "concert", we did some walking around York's 2 or so miles of medieval wall.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9OhP2qqvj8g/Thjk8L37VAI/AAAAAAAAAM4/kdti0ComMR8/s1600/DSC_0362.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-9OhP2qqvj8g/Thjk8L37VAI/AAAAAAAAAM4/kdti0ComMR8/s400/DSC_0362.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Walking the 2 mile wall around York</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyfqvWTZ3n8/ThjkjyErrKI/AAAAAAAAAM0/dLuoM4MXYB8/s1600/DSC_0339.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-gyfqvWTZ3n8/ThjkjyErrKI/AAAAAAAAAM0/dLuoM4MXYB8/s400/DSC_0339.JPG" width="266" /></a></div><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Following this concert, Andrew and I went to hear the talented English Concert. This group features all instrumentalists (yay!), such as the familiar: oboe, cello, viola, violins, double bass, and the not so familiar: theorbo and harpsichord. The concert featured music of Handel and Vivaldi. Quite impressive!! Here is what we heard:</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Handel- Concerto grosso in B flat Op. 3 no. 2</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Vivaldi- Cello Concerto in A minor, RV420</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Handel- Armida abbandonata, HWV105</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Handel- Alpestre monte, HWV81</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Handel- Three arias from Agrippina, HWV6</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;">Vivaldi wrote at least 28 cello concertos. It wasn't so much that he loved the cello, more that people were willing to pay him to write them, so he did! The third work listed is a beautiful cantata. During the time of Handel, opera was banned in Rome by the Pope, but the people like Opera, and the secular cantata, being a similar format, was the perfect substitute for composers to use without getting into trouble. Enough nerd from me. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(And me!)</span> </div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vSBHFgfeSho/ThjneH8o55I/AAAAAAAAANI/IQV3B9hK2ww/s1600/CSC_0369.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-vSBHFgfeSho/ThjneH8o55I/AAAAAAAAANI/IQV3B9hK2ww/s400/CSC_0369.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">New pink coat! And it's cold enough to use!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><br />
</div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-40460199444891434642011-07-08T15:22:00.000-07:002011-07-15T15:36:21.289-07:00Day 6: London to York and Biscuits<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VoFEJeyBJYc/ThdzW9GtO1I/AAAAAAAAALs/JLVV7IqeGxc/s1600/DSC_0283.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-VoFEJeyBJYc/ThdzW9GtO1I/AAAAAAAAALs/JLVV7IqeGxc/s400/DSC_0283.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Today was supposed to be a "I'm not doing my hair today" so don't take a pic of me day. <br />
As usual, I'm learning flexibility. And to always do my hair. </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7U4JwjSJM0/Thd1eGYQPYI/AAAAAAAAAMI/1_JS9f-2h4w/s1600/DSC_0282.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-i7U4JwjSJM0/Thd1eGYQPYI/AAAAAAAAAMI/1_JS9f-2h4w/s400/DSC_0282.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kings Cross Station at Platform 9 3/4 was our departure station to York. I call that fate.<br />
We all got pictures. If you don't know what Platform 9 3/4 is, <br />
you have a very sad, sad life. </td></tr>
</tbody></table>Off to York!<br />
<br />
We took the train to York, England today around noon. You really have to admire the UK's efficient transportation system, I wish Houston were this easy to get around. I spent much of the trip reading, while Daniel and Andrew ate Dark Chocolate Digestives. And by ate, I mean they finished two packages of the cookies.. I mean biscuits. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew's Note: Biscuits!!) </span> Things get ugly if you call biscuits "cookies" here. Andrew is obsessed with the whole biscuits thing. He has this book called "<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Nice-Cup-Tea-Sit-Down/dp/0751537659">Nice Cup of Tea and a Sit Down</a>". And no, I didn't make that up. It gives all sorts of lovely biscuits to eat with your "cuppa" (cup of tea). Oh, and there's a <a href="http://www.nicecupofteaandasitdown.com/">website</a>. He checks this weekly in case there's any pressing news on the biscuit front.... this is a whole new level of nerd folks. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(I haven't checked it weekly in about two years! They've stopped posting :-( I suppose there's not enough demand for biscuit knowledge.)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PLSC7KbemWM/Thd3_IuAaGI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/y658kvNLugc/s1600/digestives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="275" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-PLSC7KbemWM/Thd3_IuAaGI/AAAAAAAAAMQ/y658kvNLugc/s400/digestives.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">There's like a thousand calories in two biscuits, each package holds like 20, <br />
and they ate two whole packages.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>We got to York, five pounds heavier. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(And five times more awesome!)</span> I'll give more background on how awesome this town is on another post, I'm too tired from ... sitting... in the train.... and watching boys eat biscuits. Needless to say, it's quaint and wonderful and perfectly English. We have 9 days here so we're super excited to take it easy and explore the Roman ruins, the "Shambles" (the most picturesque streets in Europe), go hiking, and just relax. And attend two Early Music concerts a day from the York Early Music Festival. Can't say thank you enough to Fund for Teachers for this opportunity!!<br />
<br />
We're staying at this awesome B&B, "<a href="http://www.lambandlionyork.com/">The Lamb and Lion Inn</a>". Having never stayed in a B&B before, Andrew and I were pretty excited, especially about the towels in the bathroom!! So plush and fuzzy!! Our room is super cute, not expensive, free and fast wifi, and breakfast is included. Love it! The people in the pub downstairs just told us that it was rated by some travel magazine as one of the best places to stay in all of Europe for under one hundred pounds. I wrote out 'one hundred pounds' because I can't find a pound sign in word on the computer. Pounds. The owner's name is Brian, he carried my bag up three floors to my room. Andrew forgot to tip him but he seemed to still like us. We like Brian. And York. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(We chose this place on a whim, mostly for the location (about 500 feet from York Minster Cathedral) and the mid-range price...we had no idea it was going to be such a gem!)</span><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UzAl094njzQ/Thdzldcg-hI/AAAAAAAAAL0/sljJtjAwY58/s1600/DSC_0285.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-UzAl094njzQ/Thdzldcg-hI/AAAAAAAAAL0/sljJtjAwY58/s640/DSC_0285.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So so cute! Dahh!!! Love it! </td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w2IHmzKh9lk/Thdzs5Z0LSI/AAAAAAAAAL4/kyccFKkSbik/s1600/DSC_0286.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-w2IHmzKh9lk/Thdzs5Z0LSI/AAAAAAAAAL4/kyccFKkSbik/s640/DSC_0286.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">So much space for a British loo!!! And the towels! <br />
Will have to get a picture in tomorrow of the towels!</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The first concert of the York Early Music Festival was by the <a href="http://www.gabrieli.com/">Gabrieli Consort</a>! The concert was held in York Minster Cathedral, more on that later. Let's just say there's been a church there since around 630 AD. Yes. That's not a typo. Andrew can give you further details of the concert, he was salivating the entire time. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Indeed. The Gabrieli Consort is a group of about 25 professional singers started about 30 years ago and they are amazing. They did a concert based around the 16th century composer William Byrd's Great Service - basically Anglican (Church of England) service music for morning and evening prayer. William Byrd is interesting...usually composers in this time were either famous for writing music for the Catholic church or music for the Protestant church. Depending on the religious preference of the King/Queen, you could look forward to either a comfy career or getting thrown out on the street (if not being burned at the stake!) Byrd wrote music for the Catholic church and the Anglican (Protestant) church - it was all so good that he managed to keep his job (and his head) through the ebb and flow of religious persecution from both sides. </span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Byrd's music was the majority of the concert, along with a couple of modern pieces:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Gabriel Jackson (20th century) - To Morning</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*William Byrd - Great Service - Venite, Te deum, Benedictus, Magnificat, Nunc dimitis</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Anonymous 14-15th century hymns - Iam lucris orto sidere, Rector potens, verax Deus, Te lucis ante terminum</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Jonathan Dove (20th century) - Full Many A Glorious Morning, Care-charmer Sleep</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">*Eric Whitacre (20th century) - Sleep (Possibly one of my and Allison's favorite all time pieces!!)</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span><br />
I liked the concert but was way too distracted by the amazing architecture. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(It is definitely hard in these places to not drift off into thinking about how the stone that your feet are sitting on has possibly been there for 1,400 years!) </span>One of my graduating band students, Taylor, is studying architecture... I expect my next band room to be built with a ceiling like this, Taylor:<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C8pal9AivxE/Thd0KtCxwwI/AAAAAAAAAME/7hPP-MbgPps/s1600/DSC_0308.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="428" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-C8pal9AivxE/Thd0KtCxwwI/AAAAAAAAAME/7hPP-MbgPps/s640/DSC_0308.JPG" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Gabrieli Consort in York Minster Cathedral. WOW.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>The last piece, "Sleep" is probably Eric Whitacre's most famous piece along with maybe "Lux Arumque" - look them up on iTunes, turn up your speakers, and just let the sounds lull you into a music coma. It will. His songs are like nothing out there. He has written a few works for band, but most are for advanced groups. There is one piece entitled "October" that I'm considering doing with my band this year... jury's still out on it though. I'll have to see how strong my woodwinds are in the tuning department. Keeping my finger's crossed though, I'd really like to attempt it! <br />
<br />
Here is "Sleep" done by the St. Olaf Choir, conducted by Eric Whitacre himself. Turn up your speakers really high... Do it. <br />
<br />
<iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9shXm0cIeEY?rel=0" width="560"></iframe><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div> <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(And by the way, Grace Choir peeps - they ended the entire concert tonight with a similar arrangement of "Tallis' Canon" that we did on our Spring Concert last year! How do you like that?!?)</span><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-38113343531851007002011-07-07T17:49:00.000-07:002011-07-07T17:49:29.131-07:00Last Day In London - Harry Potter, Jellied Eels, and King's Singers!<div class="MsoNormal">Harry Potter Day!!!! </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hBdNyu2FNQ0/ThZPpMK_ClI/AAAAAAAAALI/Lfo41292hy0/s1600/SSC_0254.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-hBdNyu2FNQ0/ThZPpMK_ClI/AAAAAAAAALI/Lfo41292hy0/s400/SSC_0254.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Something is buzzing in London</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Just kidding… but no, seriously. I’ve been obsessed with the books since I read them in college. As I started my freshmen year at Asbury University, Harry started his first year at Hogwarts. Tear… Gag. Love these books. Read them too many times to tell you without being embarrassed. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew’s Note: Me too!)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span> </span>Dressed up for the book and movie releases. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Me too!)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Been to every midnight showing and release party with the hubby and recently, with some of my favorite Harry-Nerds, Jordan, Julia and Anthony!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> (Yes.)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can’t wait to have kids just so I can read them the books much like my dad read me “The Hobbit” by J.R. Tolkien when I was in first grade. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">Today was the UK movie premiere, which is when all the Potter stars come to Leicester Square to see the first showing of the movie; we commoners won’t get to see it until next weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Regardless, we signed up for the Harry Potter Walking Tour at noon.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It met in the thick of things at Leicester Square which was huge fun.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was like a midnight showing in the US, but way more intense.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Some of these Brits had been camped out since Monday in tents to see the stars walk down the red carpet.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There was even a girl from Argentina who had come to see the premiere.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I appreciate devoted fans, as I consider myself one of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Way to go Argentina.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, if you were one of the first 3,000 to get a wrist band, you got to attend a red carpet party at Trafalgar Square before the red carpet walk at Leicester Square.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Needless to say, London was Potterified today.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s like the closing of an era here and they’re making the most of it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal">We met our tour guide in the center of the nerds. He yells out, “Who is here for the Harry Potter walking tour?” About 3,000 people turned their heads and started salivating. No kidding. We signed with about 40 other people and the tour began. The really funny thing is that we walked less than a block to get away from the Potter mania, and 3/4 of the tour group got lost. We went from 40 to 10 in about two minutes… poor tour guy, he thought he was going to lose his job. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> (It’s true.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He said he’s lost one or two from time to time along the tour, but never the majority of them before he’s even said a word.)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span> </span>However, if you’re going to lose a Harry Potter tour group, what a better way to lose them then in a HP movie premiere? <span style="font-family: Wingdings;"><span style="mso-char-type: symbol; mso-symbol-font-family: Wingdings;">J</span></span> We walked all over the city of London, and saw all sorts of sites from the film locations to the inspirations for locations that J.K. Rowling wrote about. However, it was pouring the whole time. Pouring!! Boo!<span style="color: red;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> (That might be a little dramatic..it poured for about the first 45 minutes, then a few more times for 5 or 10 minutes here and there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was slightly miserable since we walked the streets for about 2 ½ hours, but our AWESOME R.E.I. raincoats helped so much!)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span> </span>We were drenched from about the waist down, but it was so worth it. I’m definitely going to find a way to make my band kids view all my pictures from the tour. Must find a way to relate it to band class… must. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> (Play Harry Potter next year!)</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x0QIfQXFvRk/ThZP5bRrogI/AAAAAAAAALM/kjgOg5wHSWU/s1600/SSC_0253.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-x0QIfQXFvRk/ThZP5bRrogI/AAAAAAAAALM/kjgOg5wHSWU/s400/SSC_0253.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Kind of ghetto, but they had to set up something for the <br />
tourists, even if it's not technically in King's Cross Station</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After the Harry Potter Swimmin….I mean Walking Tour, we fulfilled one of my have-to-dos for lunch.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>About 2 years<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>ago, we saw a Bizarre Foods with Andrew Zimmern on the Food Network where he went to London and stopped at a shop called F. Cooke & Sons.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s a tiny shop in a London suburb that has been feeding London workers the same thing for 180 years – EELS!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Little river eels.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(If, at this point, you want to stop reading to freak out for a minute or two go for it. I’ve had 6 years of marriage to Andrew to not be weirded out by his fascination with all things not normal, you’ve had 5 blog posts. There’s only so much we can expect of you………….. Better? And…. Back to eels :)<span style="color: red;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> They also serve pies and mash, which is a small beef pie with a mountain of mashed potatoes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Very stick-to-your-ribs food for a full day of working.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andrew Zimmern got a bowl full of jellied eels and loved everything; from the eels to the green sauce they slather everything with to the ambiance of the place.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Sure enough, I plotted us a course through 4 or 5 tube stops and then about a mile’s walk through random borough and we found it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Daniel and Allison and I each got a pie n’ mash and I got a bowl of jellied eels :-)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They were actually way better than I expected!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The eels themselves were meaty like cooked tuna, but a little softer and hardly fishy at all - almost like a piece of soft swordfish steak.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You do have to be careful and eat around the spine…it’s really sharp and angry.</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span> </span>(I love eating at restaurants where there are no tourists and the owners have to tell you how to eat the food. Ether we come off as idiots… a lot…or we eat at really bizarre places. Could be an unfortunate combination of the two…. Sigh) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The clear jelly around them was odd – like a salty brine.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>When we paid, we told the lady how much we enjoyed the food and she was thrilled to hear that we saw the shop on TV 2 years ago and made a special trip out there to go.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>She said the restaurant has been in her family since it was started in the 1800s.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Full, happy </span>(?)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">, and culturally satisfied, we set back off for London (although my socks were still a little wet from the morning!)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aS6epnsvh50/ThZQhkSyF6I/AAAAAAAAALc/V55gTUXJ2uo/s1600/SSC_0252.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-aS6epnsvh50/ThZQhkSyF6I/AAAAAAAAALc/V55gTUXJ2uo/s640/SSC_0252.JPG" width="480" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me being excited and Daniel contemplating why he came with us to this particular outing....</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gnvXPL3Uvpg/ThZQeGZiJII/AAAAAAAAALY/z8utKBkSwIA/s1600/SSC_0251.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-gnvXPL3Uvpg/ThZQeGZiJII/AAAAAAAAALY/z8utKBkSwIA/s400/SSC_0251.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Jellied eels on the left, pie n' mash in green sauce on the right! Stick to your ribs, coal mining food!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz4mbEYbumI/ThZQU0Uu4rI/AAAAAAAAALQ/bl5QzppT8iU/s1600/SSC_0249.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-Cz4mbEYbumI/ThZQU0Uu4rI/AAAAAAAAALQ/bl5QzppT8iU/s1600/SSC_0249.JPG" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I call this picture "Navigating the Spines"</td></tr>
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<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TQdijYoQy_E/ThZQZL9PN6I/AAAAAAAAALU/6H623dyFeOM/s1600/SSC_0250.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TQdijYoQy_E/ThZQZL9PN6I/AAAAAAAAALU/6H623dyFeOM/s400/SSC_0250.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Awesome. Notice my Harry Potter shirt, too!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The City of London Festival Concert tonight was one we had been looking forward to very much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The King’s Singers are a very famous group of men who have been around for a very long time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They are fairly unique because they are a men’s group who sing 4-6 part music.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The two guys singing countertenor sing what would be the soprano and alto parts.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s amazing – the older of the two has this beautiful, clear-as-a-bell falsetto tone that gives me goose bumps.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Their program was varied with new and older songs:</span> (Alright nerds, the concert had a theme… can you guess what it was?)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Bennett – All Creatures Now are Merry-Minded</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Weelkes – The Nightingale, The Organ of Delight</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Ligeti – The Cukoo in the Pear Tree, Two Dreams and Little Bat, The Lobster Quadrille, A Long Sad Tale</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Bartlet – Of All the Birds That I Do Know</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Gibbons – The Silver Swan</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Ravencroft – The Three Ravens</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Wilbye – Sweet Honey-Sucking Bees</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Williamson – The Musicians of Bremen</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Kats-Chermin – River’s Lament</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Various songs that they love – Beatles, Paul Simon, etc.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">A few of these were Renaissance madrigals, and the Ligeti pieces were 20<sup>th</sup> century madrigals that were some of the most difficult choral pieces we’ve ever heard</span> (Sounded a lot like the composer said “you have to sing every note in a different key than the next guy and also in a different time signature…. Go”.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">According to the program, Gibbons’ “The Silver Swan”, about a mute swan who, when dying, sang that “more geese than swans now live, more fools than wise”, is about the passing of the madrigal tradition itself.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I didn’t know that!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My very favorite was Williamson’s “The Musicians of Bremen”, a piece that was recently composed for the King’s Singers.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s about a cat, dog, donkey, and rooster who decide that they are old and of no more use and want to go apply to be musicians in Bremen because they are supposedly accepting applications. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was really fun to listen to and BRILLIANTLY composed for each animal.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IUlp3zBxEGk/ThZSb6IVENI/AAAAAAAAALg/bemPTu-WEC8/s1600/SSC_0277.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-IUlp3zBxEGk/ThZSb6IVENI/AAAAAAAAALg/bemPTu-WEC8/s400/SSC_0277.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Another beautiful venue - The Mansion House, home of the Lord Mayor of London!</td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IVL7MzZnFDc/ThZScbVrFdI/AAAAAAAAALk/3xdruvTyFyk/s1600/SSC_0278.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-IVL7MzZnFDc/ThZScbVrFdI/AAAAAAAAALk/3xdruvTyFyk/s400/SSC_0278.JPG" width="300" /></a></div><br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2bYFWNJtH2w/ThZSd0D81pI/AAAAAAAAALo/skemyZ4YVZo/s1600/SSC_0279.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-2bYFWNJtH2w/ThZSd0D81pI/AAAAAAAAALo/skemyZ4YVZo/s400/SSC_0279.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The King's Singers!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(**Choir nerd alert!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Students, take notes!!**) Listening to this group sing really reinforced the notion that singing the same vowel shape across the group does HUGE things for your tuning.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They have mastered this of course, so every single one of them had exactly the same vowel shape for every single note.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>They also sing in the British style of little or no vibrato (depending on the piece), so there is nothing to mask being perfectly in tune.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It is a sight to see!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or….a sound to hear!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Whew!</span> (I’m even embarrassed at how nerdy that was husband! Way to go! But in all seriousness, Andrew does know a thing or two about the vowel concept; you should hear his (Grace School) and his mom’s (Gwinnett Young Singers) choirs. WOW. They do the vowel thing like few other children’s choirs!)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: red;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">What a fantastic way to wrap up London!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We’re sad to see London go, but tomorrow we are off to York and the real musical meat and potatoes of our trip at the York Early Music Festival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>London is Allison’s favorite city in the world</span> (yes yes) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">and I had hoped that it would live up to my expectations, and it really has.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I love this city!!!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-81736754004651438072011-07-07T01:42:00.000-07:002011-07-07T01:43:41.560-07:00Day 5 - London: Windsor, Maxim Rysanov Concert<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Ok folks, I’m on blog duty tonight – Allison is doing laundry in the loo!</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-llhtjqxiXDM/ThTfcEMtMII/AAAAAAAAAKo/Iut0_rZIyFc/s1600/SSC_0199.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-llhtjqxiXDM/ThTfcEMtMII/AAAAAAAAAKo/Iut0_rZIyFc/s400/SSC_0199.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">We eat out of the sink, too :-)</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Today was a long day, but really fun!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We left in the morning to take a day trip to Windsor – a suggestion from a student’s parents (thanks, Quiros’!)</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Windsor is a 45 minute train ride west of London and very much worth the trip.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It’s a quaint, pretty little town and home to Windsor Castle, the royal family’s real residence for over 900 years.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span>(Really puts the White House into perspective...) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It’s really the Duke of Edinburgh (the Queen’s husband)’s domain.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">He’s sort of the ranger in charge of the whole thing. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDUoBY-cbD8/ThThc-44KGI/AAAAAAAAAK0/U7izRaMht1U/s1600/SSC_0207.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-KDUoBY-cbD8/ThThc-44KGI/AAAAAAAAAK0/U7izRaMht1U/s400/SSC_0207.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Windsor Castle</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dZZcAU4ysUU/ThThTNcBLVI/AAAAAAAAAKw/S6oYVeIrHNw/s1600/SSC_0205.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dZZcAU4ysUU/ThThTNcBLVI/AAAAAAAAAKw/S6oYVeIrHNw/s400/SSC_0205.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Every time we see a Land Rover, we think it's someone important</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Allison and I got a 3 disc set of Netflix documentaries about a year in the life of Windsor castle </span>(yep, we're those people)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> with info on the dinners, events, and people they host there. It was a great documentary and it made the visit much better because we knew much more about what we were seeing. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We really like the Duke of Edinburgh – he’s 90 and a very quirky dude. </span>(Andrew kept saying... "that man can rock a kilt")</div></div><div class="MsoNormal"><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We’ve been going 100 miles an hour so far, so the next part was REALLY needed – we found a spot on the castle grounds and SAT DOWN :-) It was beautiful – a long green strip leading up to the castle with trees and really nice views. We grabbed some food from a local store in our tube station, sat there, ate lunch in the 70 degree</span> (try 60... I had 2 jackets on)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> weather and then just rested for a while. I think Allison took a nap. I think I ate an entire package of crackers.</span></div></div></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SKrB4ji9t-w/ThTid1vIwvI/AAAAAAAAALA/7esgNDSsvRk/s1600/SSC_0204.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-SKrB4ji9t-w/ThTid1vIwvI/AAAAAAAAALA/7esgNDSsvRk/s400/SSC_0204.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Quite perfect</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eotGwVM2zRA/ThTicclsD1I/AAAAAAAAAK8/sBnlQMnytQE/s1600/SSC_0203.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eotGwVM2zRA/ThTicclsD1I/AAAAAAAAAK8/sBnlQMnytQE/s400/SSC_0203.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmpicnic</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tSEhwdl4TQ4/ThTiW2HCH7I/AAAAAAAAAK4/lakYYqLPZ0Y/s1600/SSC_0201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-tSEhwdl4TQ4/ThTiW2HCH7I/AAAAAAAAAK4/lakYYqLPZ0Y/s400/SSC_0201.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Beautiful (and vicious) thistles on the grounds</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After that much needed relaxing, it was back on the train to London to catch our next City of London festival concert. </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The concert was a violist and pianist – not the usual instrumentation – and it was in a small church next to St. Paul’s Cathedral with incredible acoustics.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-46PpU7kd3XM/ThTj3V7_UYI/AAAAAAAAALE/oFhlUrYIUaQ/s1600/SSC_0200.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-46PpU7kd3XM/ThTj3V7_UYI/AAAAAAAAALE/oFhlUrYIUaQ/s400/SSC_0200.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Sorry, the concert pictures have to be hastily taken while people are clapping!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Here was the program:</span><br />
<br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">JS Bach – Cello Suite No. 2 in D minor (arr. for viola)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Grainger – The Two Sisters and Danish Memories</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Schubert – Sonata in A minor</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The Bach Cello Suite was gorgeous…I was a little skeptical of it not being played on a cello, but the velvety warm sound of a viola definitely did it justice, particularly in that church room. Bach was probably the most famous composer from the Baroque Period of early music; as a matter of fact people use his death date as the end of the Baroque period. Cello Suite No. 1 is the most well known of the 6 he wrote. It's been in several commercials, not to mention movies - Master and Commander was probably the latest one. Do you recognize it? </span><br />
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</span></div><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/dZn_VBgkPNY?rel=0" width="425"></iframe><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The Grainger pieces were wonderful, too. We’re so lucky that this festival is emphasizing one of our favorite composers! The Schubert Sonata was nicely done and REALLY emotionally played…this concert was also broadcast live on BBC radio and if I was listening to it, I might be a little distracted by his breathing. It sounded like he had a wind tunnel in there!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Another great concert, another early bed time!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Whew!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We’re sleeping in a bit tomorrow, but we’re excited because the concert tomorrow night is the one we’re most looking forward to here in London – the King’s Singers!</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> </span>(And Andrew's dragging me to a shop where we'll eat eels...!! Oh, and in case you've lived in a closet the last 10 years or so, the final Harry Potter Movie premieres tomorrow night in London with all the stars! We're doing a Harry Potter walking tour in honor of Harry.) </div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-78429264289552121622011-07-06T01:08:00.000-07:002011-07-06T01:08:40.422-07:00Day 4 London:<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Onward! Today we went to the changing of the guard at Buckingham Palace!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We got there just a tad late, so we could only see parts of it.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Pretty much every tourist in London converges on Buckingham to see this – it was really neat hearing the band that marched the new guards in play during almost the whole exchange. </span>(Allison's Note: The band is dressed to the nines in military guard uniforms... and playing music from... the "Incredibles" movie... must have lost "God Save the Queen" in the wind on the march over) </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lWvdPlPprVk/ThQB1dY4e1I/AAAAAAAAAKE/Q2-UBQkjing/s1600/DSC_0005.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-lWvdPlPprVk/ThQB1dY4e1I/AAAAAAAAAKE/Q2-UBQkjing/s400/DSC_0005.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Buckingham Palace - no Queen at the moment</span></td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qSL88ISbztQ/ThQFKGPcabI/AAAAAAAAAKI/b-WHJ1STlPk/s1600/DSC_0019.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-qSL88ISbztQ/ThQFKGPcabI/AAAAAAAAAKI/b-WHJ1STlPk/s400/DSC_0019.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Roll your feet!!</span></td></tr>
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ggmqqMCWDVo/ThQM15u1iII/AAAAAAAAAKM/JuJSMxBu99s/s1600/DSC_0023.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ggmqqMCWDVo/ThQM15u1iII/AAAAAAAAAKM/JuJSMxBu99s/s400/DSC_0023.JPG" width="400" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Allison and Daniel and I walked back to Trafalgar Square where the National Gallery is.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">They also put up a really cool sign for the 2012 London Olympics:</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_xrA5gA7aBg/ThQQvITQvyI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/0f9wheUZ0S0/s1600/DSC_0074.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-_xrA5gA7aBg/ThQQvITQvyI/AAAAAAAAAKQ/0f9wheUZ0S0/s640/DSC_0074.JPG" width="427" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">388 days left!</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It’s going to be so great to see those next summer right after we have been here! </span>(Does this mean we get to visit London again???) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After that, we took a double decker bus to Piccadilly – basically a </span>(very very)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> small version of NY’s Times Square.</span><span style="color: blue;"> We had a nice video for you but we've been having internet issues over here - WiFi is much harder and more expensive to come by over here, particularly at fast speeds :-(</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We weaved our way through Piccadilly and the West End theater district to find our incredibly random lunch spot, Belgo Cenraal, which is an odd little Belgian place that specializes in mussels and has a sprawling underground seating area. The place also has only one bathroom for boys and girls. That was a little weird, although I could’ve played on the foot operated faucet all day. </span>(I definetly went into what I though was the girls bathroom and saw a guy in it, and then really embarrassed, turned and went out. Then went back in and discovered it was a combined girl/boys bathroom thing with a shared sink thing in the middle. I went out the restaurant and made Andrew and Daniel go to the bathroom... : ) Then I stood and took pictures of it with some Japanese tourists. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NsABpLDlBzo/ThQReo6_A3I/AAAAAAAAAKU/GXvKYTEfYns/s1600/DSC_0081+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-NsABpLDlBzo/ThQReo6_A3I/AAAAAAAAAKU/GXvKYTEfYns/s320/DSC_0081+%25282%2529.JPG" width="214" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">Good times here in London</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">We walked a short way over to the British Museum – a must-see if you come here. The museum consists of a HUGE beautiful building pretty much filled with other peoples’ stuff. I think several parts of it are controversial since the countries from which the artifacts came from kind of want their stuff back. It’s fascinating, though, and we got to see the actual Rosetta Stone (the giant slab of written-on rock that helped people decode Egyptian hieroglyphs and other Mesopotamian languages for the first time), real mummies from ancient Egypt, and all kinds of amazingly preserved artifacts from pretty much every civilization on Earth. You probably won’t see everything unless you stay there all day, particularly if you’re a history buff. I have a feeling a history teacher could spend 2 or 3 full days just there. We saw a few musical instruments – a few ancient Mesopotamian lyres, but one in particular caught our eye – the citole. This forerunner of the guitar was something that neither of us had ever seen before. It looks like a violin, but with a deep carved body. Those carvings you see on it below are incredibly detailed!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rGaGyEOmCQk/ThQSPm52i6I/AAAAAAAAAKY/2REuoptGBLI/s1600/DSC_0101+%25282%2529.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-rGaGyEOmCQk/ThQSPm52i6I/AAAAAAAAAKY/2REuoptGBLI/s640/DSC_0101+%25282%2529.JPG" width="428" /></span></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit; font-size: small;">The medieval citole (sort of)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">One thing I was surprised about was that the F shaped resonating holes on the top of the instrument (that you see on today’s string instruments) were there on an instrument from the 1300's! I was thinking they were a 1500-1600s development. Luckily we checked on it and and found this:</span><br />
<span class="Apple-style-span" style="line-height: 19px;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;">"There is a surviving instrument from around 1300 from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Warwick_Castle" style="background-attachment: initial; background-clip: initial; background-color: initial; background-image: none; background-origin: initial; background-position: initial initial; background-repeat: initial initial; color: #0645ad; text-decoration: none;" title="Warwick Castle">Warwick Castle</a> which is now in the British Museum, albeit at some point, probably in the sixteenth century, it was converted into a violin with tall bridge, 'f'-holes and angled fingerboard; thus the image of the instrument's top is not representative of its original appearance."</span></span></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">This is an amazing find because it is the only surviving instrument from the 1300's! This is a modern version of what the actual instrument looked like:</span><br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kSq1UrJeXaE/ThQXbXHSenI/AAAAAAAAAKg/_vEV7Cr-CrM/s1600/jovanovic1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="font-family: inherit;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-kSq1UrJeXaE/ThQXbXHSenI/AAAAAAAAAKg/_vEV7Cr-CrM/s320/jovanovic1.jpg" width="133" /></span></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Very cool! </span>(Very nerdy.) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We saw as much as we could before it closed (about 2 hours) and went off for a REALLY quick stop at Harrod’s department store. For more on that and the rest of the day, I turn you over to my colleague, Allison J. Redmon. Allison? </span></span><br />
<div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">Yes well, I was proud of the guys for traipsing across London to see and eat at Harrods during rush hour... for the record, I've never stood so close to so many people as I did on the Tube at 5:30 PM.... scrubbed extra hard in the shower tonight. Harrod's is like a 5 story mall, but all in the same building. Very posh, very expensive. </span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;"><br />
</span></div><div><span style="font-family: inherit; line-height: 115%;">We purchased tickets to see "The Lion King" and it was just unbelievable. Everyone needs to see this, it is a completely unique experience in theater and worth every penny. I had goosebumps for the first 20 minutes of the show. Go see it if you are in New York!! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(I'm not a huge theater-goer but it was one of the coolest things I have ever seen and SO much fun! The costumes were amazing and the music was, of course, fantastic. It helps when you already have an emotional connection with the music before you see the show. Lioon King is the best music of the Disney movies in my opinion. Not to mention the old Sega video game version with all the music from the movie!! Anybody? Anybody?</span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></span></div><div><span style="line-height: 115%;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue; font-family: inherit;">Ok, fine. Take my word for it!</span></span></div><div><span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%;"><span style="font-family: Calibri, sans-serif;"><br />
</span></span></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-82929122402055759852011-07-05T06:37:00.000-07:002011-07-05T06:37:19.656-07:00Day 3 - London: Tower, St. Pauls, Millenium, Nash EnsembleSorry everyone!! An unnamed female party in this group posted Day 3 to the wrong blog! Here's the link until we get it on here:<br />
<br />
<a href="http://keepingthetime.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-3-london-tower-st-pauls-millenium.html">http://keepingthetime.blogspot.com/2011/07/day-3-london-tower-st-pauls-millenium.html</a>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-16317608604279927532011-07-03T14:21:00.000-07:002011-07-03T14:21:18.902-07:00Day 2- London: Churchill War Rooms, Camden Market, London Eye<div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We woke up this morning feeling much better than yesterday, thanks to NOT taking a nap yesterday.</span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After breakfast at the hotel, we hopped on the tube to meet our friend, Daniel.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Everyone, meet Daniel!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span>(Allison's Note: Yay Daniel!)</div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0rLg3nuZRcY/ThDVkKbo6kI/AAAAAAAAAIg/hlTNyVMo420/s1600/DSC_0080.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-0rLg3nuZRcY/ThDVkKbo6kI/AAAAAAAAAIg/hlTNyVMo420/s400/DSC_0080.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Outside Westminster Abbey</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I (Andrew) met Daniel in graduate school at Eastern Kentucky University.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We were both graduate assistants in the choral department, he was vocal performance and I was choral conducting.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Both of us being rather introverted and quiet individuals, it took us a good year of working together to really start our friendship.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I blame Allison :-) </span> (Um, here's the deal ...these guys din't talk. Like, the entire first year they knew each other, and they worked in the same room. Introverts!) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I think we started hanging out </span>(talking)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> more after our supervising professor sent us on a campus-wide poster hanging adventure.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Good times. </span>(Andrew came home and said, "So Daniel is really cool!")<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> Anyway, Daniel is a voice professor and tenor extraordinaire at Kentucky Christian University</span> (His voice is incredible!!) <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">and has been to Houston two times just to visit us, which is a big deal because Houston a loooong way from Kentucky.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Sorry if I seem distracted…there is a VERY serious “define the relationship” talk going on between the couple at the table next to us at this coffee shop.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Moving on.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Daniel was very excited for us when we told him all about this grant; in fact he really wanted to apply for his own grant, but college level teachers are not eligible.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fresh from getting his tax return, he decided that he might like to meet us over here for part of our trip!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He will be with us off and on in London and for the whole time in York for the York Early Music Festival.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Awesome!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">There wasn’t really anything at the City of London Festival today that applied, so we had a sight-seeing day.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>We started at 9:30am with the Churchill Museum and Cabinet War Rooms – a bunker-looking door underneath the Royal Treasury Building.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eoUrESJPArA/ThDVwBzL7rI/AAAAAAAAAIk/vmLChE56hZM/s1600/DSC_0081.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-eoUrESJPArA/ThDVwBzL7rI/AAAAAAAAAIk/vmLChE56hZM/s400/DSC_0081.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This was pretty amazing – we did the audio tour again, but you need it more for the War Rooms than anything else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The War Room complex was where Winston Churchill and all of the defense ministers, etc. ran the war for several years.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>A lot of the people who worked there saw the sunlight for a really short time in the evening and went right back to the underground complex.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The hallways and rooms are just as they were when the place closed down in 1945, down to the wall paint, lights, and papers hanging on the walls.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It’s an interesting mix of old and new…in the middle of the building you suddenly come from authentic WWII hallways into a huge, modern looking room</span> (it was like a giant Ipad)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">: the Churchill Museum.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Great place – really detailed, interactive, and there were lots of artifacts around, particularly coats and jackets (The man had quite an affinity for uniforms.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for alcohol.)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The Museum and War Rooms really make you feel like you’re right in the middle of the London bombings and Churchill’s life.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-awroQa7637w/ThDVxmaXkwI/AAAAAAAAAIo/Y5g4MvTqp00/s1600/DSC_0082.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-awroQa7637w/ThDVxmaXkwI/AAAAAAAAAIo/Y5g4MvTqp00/s400/DSC_0082.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The main War Room - exactly as it was in 1945. The rounded chair in the center was Churchill's.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rv5YBvE9s_8/ThDW5TjwLZI/AAAAAAAAAIs/PZpgl-8MLpA/s1600/DSC_0085.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Rv5YBvE9s_8/ThDW5TjwLZI/AAAAAAAAAIs/PZpgl-8MLpA/s400/DSC_0085.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Two odd-looking soldiers</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GpuIKU6KqNU/ThDW6tY-HGI/AAAAAAAAAIw/md_w9koO7i8/s1600/DSC_0100.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-GpuIKU6KqNU/ThDW6tY-HGI/AAAAAAAAAIw/md_w9koO7i8/s400/DSC_0100.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Churchill has a LOT of good quotes!</td></tr>
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Highly recommended! After that – Camden Market!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Over to Allison!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XcB_LB9FgOI/ThDX0vXwVRI/AAAAAAAAAJY/_uQcSM80rGk/s1600/DSC_0126.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-XcB_LB9FgOI/ThDX0vXwVRI/AAAAAAAAAJY/_uQcSM80rGk/s400/DSC_0126.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Camden Market is a must if you visit London, especially is you’re a girl.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or a goth.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Or have spikey hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Gold star for goth girls <i>with</i> spikey hair.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(no seriously… me and my flannel shirt were sticking out like a goth girl with spikey hair at an American Girl’s convention).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Anyway, Camden market is for shopping for stuff that you will never use again but feel strangely compelled to buy and wear while you’re there.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Spiked belts with chains that attach to your multiple face piercings?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>British flag everything? (and we do mean everything…..).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Wait, you don’t have your cheek pierced?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Let’s remedy that.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-USf4pkKmrSo/ThDY-NSs-dI/AAAAAAAAAJc/_Tk8h4RMnIs/s1600/card00152_fr.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="224" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-USf4pkKmrSo/ThDY-NSs-dI/AAAAAAAAAJc/_Tk8h4RMnIs/s320/card00152_fr.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal">Andrew says that I’m making this sound awful, but honestly, this is one of my go-to stops in London.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I don’t think Andrew or Daniel were all that impressed (they’re too American and too preppy <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Um, try too bored with shopping for 4 hours)</span>), but I love it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And since is the first time I’ve been to London since getting my nose pierced, I feel like I fit in quite nicely. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(She bought three more little nose thingies.)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(Selest, [band student] if you’re reading this, you would own this place!!!)<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal">You also get to do a fair bit of haggling here, which can be fun for a girl that grew up in Asia.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’ve perfected the “just walk away” technique that always gets me another pound or two off the price.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Yes!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Andrew’s even better at this… I usually make him do the bargaining. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(This is an inherited trait from my Dad that I didn't know existed until I went to S.E. Asia. Thanks, Dad!)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-khrwCKsGP0M/ThDXsmc7uGI/AAAAAAAAAJE/Wf81Q1gAAuE/s1600/DSC_0114.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-khrwCKsGP0M/ThDXsmc7uGI/AAAAAAAAAJE/Wf81Q1gAAuE/s400/DSC_0114.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The masses. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(The piercings!)</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LBByJdD0pY8/ThDXl5Jx1MI/AAAAAAAAAI0/TrBy_KxyQ4s/s1600/DSC_0102.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-LBByJdD0pY8/ThDXl5Jx1MI/AAAAAAAAAI0/TrBy_KxyQ4s/s400/DSC_0102.JPG" width="267" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GzC2AhfdLtg/ThDXv5worNI/AAAAAAAAAJM/fc_W1ESAh2M/s1600/DSC_0121.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-GzC2AhfdLtg/ThDXv5worNI/AAAAAAAAAJM/fc_W1ESAh2M/s400/DSC_0121.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Fish who give you a foot massage! Seriously!<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> (Massaging, eating your feet, whatever.</span>)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5ka1MFsDAs/ThDXuQdsE3I/AAAAAAAAAJI/TlG32LrIAIg/s1600/DSC_0120.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-P5ka1MFsDAs/ThDXuQdsE3I/AAAAAAAAAJI/TlG32LrIAIg/s320/DSC_0120.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">It was like Narnia.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Camden is also awesome for food stalls (street food).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And it is delicious!!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Indian curries, Pakistani dishes, Mexican fajitas, fresh fruit juice stands, French pastries and Crepe stands galore, it is a foodie's paradise.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TJMXUDLgkXg/ThDXo9if0RI/AAAAAAAAAI8/s38MEUROqxY/s1600/DSC_0105.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-TJMXUDLgkXg/ThDXo9if0RI/AAAAAAAAAI8/s38MEUROqxY/s400/DSC_0105.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">mmmmmmmm</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoKZGIXv-GE/ThDXnsrdgsI/AAAAAAAAAI4/PsHocOlc8l4/s1600/DSC_0104.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-eoKZGIXv-GE/ThDXnsrdgsI/AAAAAAAAAI4/PsHocOlc8l4/s400/DSC_0104.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Daniel getting some awesomeness.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">Everyone is yelling out for you to try out samples - it’s like HEB on Saturday morning... minus the shopping carts<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> (and the SUVs...)</span>.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I had a savory crepe with cheese, mushrooms and ham for lunch, and finished it off with half of a cream filled monstrosity.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was delectable. (<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Agreed. My lunch consisted of all the samples I could stuff my face with and the other have of that delectable cream filled monstrosity.)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xtX34KvIHb8/ThDXxOeYD1I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/GKPW4KwILbU/s1600/DSC_0122.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-xtX34KvIHb8/ThDXxOeYD1I/AAAAAAAAAJQ/GKPW4KwILbU/s400/DSC_0122.JPG" width="267" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yr8CjEznxc4/ThDXyC_Iw0I/AAAAAAAAAJU/cimg20O4s7s/s1600/DSC_0123.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-yr8CjEznxc4/ThDXyC_Iw0I/AAAAAAAAAJU/cimg20O4s7s/s400/DSC_0123.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yes folks, it merited two pictures.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal">After this adventure we did the London Eye.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The last time I was in London I didn’t do the Eye b/c I have an issue with heights.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My family has been really really annoying about this since so I decided that this would be a good time to get over it and just go up.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And for the record, it was pretty harmless the first third and last third of the trip.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The middle part is scary.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like, top of the rollercoaster-about-to-dive-down-the-huge-drop-scary. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(It does drop down the other side! At about a foot per minute :-)</span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I took pictures at the edge of the sphere until we got near the top, then I sat in the middle and contemplated my life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>And no kidding, thought about how many different ways I could die.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpFirst" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">1.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> 1) </span>Our sphere thing could come loose and we’d all crash to the ground</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">2.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>2) The lock on our sphere thing’s door would magically come loose and I’d be the one to fall.</div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpMiddle" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">3.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>3) The floor would fall out from underneath of the place where I was taking a picture of Big Ben. </div><div class="MsoListParagraphCxSpLast" style="mso-list: l0 level1 lfo1; text-indent: -.25in;"><!--[if !supportLists]--><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri; mso-bidi-theme-font: minor-latin;"><span style="mso-list: Ignore;">4.<span style="font: 7.0pt "Times New Roman";"> </span></span></span>4) The annoying couple on the other side of the sphere would get into a huge fight and knock the window out and I’d be sucked out the vortex.</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(I have a feeling there were more than 4...she sat over there for a pretty long time.)</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal">Yeah…. THIS is why I didn't go with my family last time.</div><div class="MsoNormal">I survived. Andrew gave me a hug.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1NDldr3fgAU/ThDadjVR3ZI/AAAAAAAAAJg/pKyzftbuCFI/s1600/DSC_0133.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-1NDldr3fgAU/ThDadjVR3ZI/AAAAAAAAAJg/pKyzftbuCFI/s320/DSC_0133.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's not as dark as it looks here</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ikQAjDiyBmo/ThDafZrGawI/AAAAAAAAAJk/ORTjKK2_sZE/s1600/DSC_0135.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-ikQAjDiyBmo/ThDafZrGawI/AAAAAAAAAJk/ORTjKK2_sZE/s400/DSC_0135.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The pod full of hyper kids. We just missed that one :-)</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0IRhMfb1DUM/ThDaguzXINI/AAAAAAAAAJo/Yr2HFLyN878/s1600/DSC_0139.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-0IRhMfb1DUM/ThDaguzXINI/AAAAAAAAAJo/Yr2HFLyN878/s400/DSC_0139.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Not a bad view!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dkI8711jzIk/ThDaiLDD8-I/AAAAAAAAAJs/DGKl7KmGzm4/s1600/DSC_0143.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-dkI8711jzIk/ThDaiLDD8-I/AAAAAAAAAJs/DGKl7KmGzm4/s400/DSC_0143.JPG" width="267" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tiny Ben!</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kr2NJftwoDw/ThDaj7cTgyI/AAAAAAAAAJw/Xt7B9NStDj4/s1600/DSC_0145.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-Kr2NJftwoDw/ThDaj7cTgyI/AAAAAAAAAJw/Xt7B9NStDj4/s400/DSC_0145.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Holding Tiny Ben!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TilWu-KU5RY/ThDalWA4QFI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/InAzIyuP8cs/s1600/DSC_0147.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-TilWu-KU5RY/ThDalWA4QFI/AAAAAAAAAJ0/InAzIyuP8cs/s400/DSC_0147.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R0gIEXK3p7Y/ThDanWpnsFI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/uwmvfxUTEl4/s1600/DSC_0154.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-R0gIEXK3p7Y/ThDanWpnsFI/AAAAAAAAAJ4/uwmvfxUTEl4/s640/DSC_0154.JPG" width="428" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See?? We don't lie on this blog!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ILGgZMZM5IE/ThDaotPM8pI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/JUydlddXcWA/s1600/DSC_0157.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ILGgZMZM5IE/ThDaotPM8pI/AAAAAAAAAJ8/JUydlddXcWA/s400/DSC_0157.JPG" width="400" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We were going to have an amazing dinner, but it was closed today so we'll save it for another time. After selecting another place and THAT being closed as well, we stopped into a pub for dinner near St. Paul's Cathedral that was started 5 years before our country was born. How's that for history?!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Now that we are tired out, walked out, and goth-ed out, it's time for bed! Good night!</span></span></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-21594317311814138082011-07-02T13:31:00.000-07:002011-07-02T13:31:02.510-07:00Day 1 - London: Westminster & Evensong<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We're here!! </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;">Look out, London, the Redmons are taking over. After getting harassed at the Houston airport for taking a picture… </div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><span style="color: #4f81bd;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">…we were on our way to a 9 hour overnight (6:30pm – 9:30am) flight! </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span style="color: #4f81bd;">(</span>Allison's Note: Those TSA peeps have waaaay too much time on their hands. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Big TSA Dude: “Mam, who are you taking a picture of?? <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Me: “My husband.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Big TSA Dude: “Can I see the camera please?” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Me: Thinks “No!” Says “Of course, officer.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Big TSA Dude: “Oh, it is your husband… ‘cause I don’t like it when people take pictures of me without a royalty being given to me. <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Me: “Yep. You’re definitely not in that picture.” <o:p></o:p></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal;">Andrew: “And…. It’s time to go!” *Drags me off before I’m arrested.*)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4f81bd;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We both thought the flight to London felt really short, but neither of us got much sleep at all. I think I had maybe 3 hours and Allison had maybe 3 minutes. Needless to say, we are WIPED OUT! We’re trying our best right now to stay awake as long as we can so we can go to bed at a normal time tonight</span> (Read 6 PM).</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We arrived at Heathrow right on time and went through customs.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We felt like we were being grilled hardcore by the customs guy, </span>(Don’t ever answer… “Because we were given $10,000.” It leads to 10 minutes of very intense questions and lots and lots of paperwork)<span style="color: #4f81bd;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">but it turned out he was just REALLY interested about the Fund for Teachers grant!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">He kept going on and on about how they didn’t have anything like that in the UK and how great that was for us and our students – pretty cool! </span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After quite some time there, we stepped outside to the most glorious thing for two Houstonians – 66 degree temperatures in the middle of the day!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This is my cup of tea (ha!)</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span>(I was cold.)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: #4f81bd;"><o:p></o:p></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We managed the tube stations and found our hotel. </span>(Not without bemoaning the fact that we should have had Tyler Look, one of my band kids, to give us the skinny on maneuvering the London Tube system on a Saturday which is, by the way, when half of the tube system is shut down due to maintenance. The route we ended up taking to our hotel looked like a smiley face once completed.)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"> The hotel is a nice little place right next to a street full of Indian restaurants – so we hopped right out to get going.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We ate at a fantastic Indian vegetarian place about 100 feet…sorry….30 meters :-)…..from our hotel</span> (It was us and a bunch of Dutch backpackers who stood just a little too close to us in the buffet line).<span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Boy, Indian food in England is AWESOME.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Behold, pictures of our happiness </span>(We're going to go ahead and just apologize now for all the food pictures you’re going to see on this blog…. Mmmmm, we sure do like to eat.):</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Yum!</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mmm...dosas!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After that, we took the tube again to go to Westminster Abbey. This experience was incredible…we could NOT have found a better way to start this trip! Westminster is probably the most famous church in the English-speaking world - the place has 3,000 tombs (29 of which are kings and queens) and so many memorials to prominent people that you can hardly take 3 steps without stepping on one of them. The walls contain everything from new, shiny marble to 1,000 year old columns to bomb holes from the German bombing campaigns of World War II.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Westminster Abbey</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">"Will you take our picture without stealing our camera?"</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The side of the Abbey. No pictures allowed inside :-(</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Somebody's been awake for too long....</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We took the self guided audio tour (which is free, but you pay for admission - absolutely worth the money.) The different parts of the Abbey they describe are fascinating, and you wouldn’t know half of it unless someone told you. The highlight of the tour had to be the burial site of the Baroque composer George Frederick Handel. Doesn’t ring a bell?? One word:</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><div style="text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="349" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/usfiAsWR4qU?rel=0" width="425"></iframe></div><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This guy is one of the most famous composers to have ever lived and we stood 2 feet from where he was buried in 250 years ago!!</span> (Actually, I’m pretty sure we stood on him.)<span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We also saw burial plates for Ralph Vaughn Williams </span>(Love!)<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">, Edward Elgar, Benjamin Britten, and Henry Purcell.</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Talk about bridging what you’ve studied to real life!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span></div><div class="MsoNormal"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">After the tour, we walked across Westminster Bridge to get a few good pictures of Parliament and Big Ben!</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(For the record, we keep saying “What time is it?” to each other because we don’t have cell phones with us…nevermind that there’s a clock the size of Alaska constantly in view.)</span><span style="color: blue;"> </span>(Sooo, I planed everything out right?? And missed one MAJOR detail. We don’t have phones. And I haven’t worn a watch since… oh…. 2001?? We literally had no idea what time it was all day.) </div><div class="MsoNormal"><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It really is a large Ben.</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This is not to scale.</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2oFc2jSLifY/Tg9pAPk--rI/AAAAAAAAAFk/CK4rEMhMDBI/s1600/CSC_0073.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="214" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-2oFc2jSLifY/Tg9pAPk--rI/AAAAAAAAAFk/CK4rEMhMDBI/s320/CSC_0073.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Big Ben and Parliment</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CFdYQa00DBk/Tg9w2XHxO9I/AAAAAAAAAGs/jZtnM_vPuTc/s1600/DSC_0055.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-CFdYQa00DBk/Tg9w2XHxO9I/AAAAAAAAAGs/jZtnM_vPuTc/s400/DSC_0055.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">That is NOT our kid.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="color: blue;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">The icing on the cake for us and the reason I said this was the perfect way to start the trip was what we came back to the Abbey for at 5pm – the nightly Evensong service.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">This is a free hour-long service that is about 90% sung liturgy.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We heard EXACTLY what we’re here for – the first song was the Choir of Westminster Abbey singing a plainsong chant by the composer Ambrose from about 370 A.D.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Hearing that in the middle of downtown London in a beautiful cathedral that has been singing those services since about 950 A.D. was nearly too much for me.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I’ll tell you, it’s difficult to break the fog of jet lag and concentrate on something the first day of a trip, but that was an experience we will never in our lives forget.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">I was speechless.</span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;"><span style="color: blue;"> </span></span><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: black;">(Both of us might or might not have cried… : ) </span></div><br />
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</span></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-83472397098679426752011-07-01T06:07:00.000-07:002011-07-01T06:07:43.121-07:00Time to go!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J-azITRAIfg/Tg3DaZIa7LI/AAAAAAAAAFI/PeL1emgovXM/s1600/UJ2.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://4.bp.blogspot.com/-J-azITRAIfg/Tg3DaZIa7LI/AAAAAAAAAFI/PeL1emgovXM/s320/UJ2.JPG" width="286" /></a></div><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Well, today's the day! After Allison takes a Music Theory final for grad school (blech), we're going to the airport! We leave Houston at 6:30pm and get in to London Heathrow at 9:45am tomorrow. We'll hit the ground running with an afternoon evensong service at Westminster Abbey and a walking tour of the area around Westminster. We've also decided that our first meal in England will be Indian food. This may or may not be a mistake...aren't you supposed to eat light after a long flight?? </span><br />
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<span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">We hope to update the blog at least once a day when we get to England, so we'll see you back here tomorrow! My phone says it's 68 degrees in London right now...goodbye, Houston heat!</span><br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">Won Ton seems to think he's going with us. I told him our suitcases aren't long enough.</span></td></tr>
</tbody></table>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-76222390537875924572011-06-28T11:26:00.000-07:002011-06-28T11:26:56.782-07:00How to not pack anything!<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">As big believers in backpacks, Andrew and I have an unhealthy tendency to make fun of travelers who over pack There is something so freeing about using a backpack rather than a suitcase, it puts you in the class of "cool-hippie" travelers. Under that title, you can just about get away with anything. 3 pairs of underwear for a month? Of course! <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Andrew's Note: Actually, you can wear one pair of underwear 4 times...regular, backwards, inside-out regular, and inside-out backwards! Right? .....right?......)</span> 1 pair of pants that function simultaneously as shorts, pants, duffle bag and bandanna? Yes please!! 3 shirts that can be wadded into a ball the size of my hand and then unwadded and not be at all wrinkled? Check!! This kind of travel is only for the brave. </div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Vx4VfLfcHY/TgoUias-dKI/AAAAAAAAAE4/A_1_VeO82lE/s1600/elephants.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-7Vx4VfLfcHY/TgoUias-dKI/AAAAAAAAAE4/A_1_VeO82lE/s400/elephants.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 weeks in Asia means lots of elephants.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">3 years ago Andrew and I trekked across South East Asia, visiting South Korea, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Indonesia for 5 weeks. I think I packed 5 shirts, 2 pairs of shorts and no make up. Now, for you male readers, this might not be a big deal. I know that if I didn't do laundry weekly, Andrew would probably wear the same Darth Vader shirt daily. But for the girls out there, I want you to know that I had no makeup, hair dryer, straightener.... just one brush and a few hair twisty things. The pictures from the trip of me might be a little sketchy, but heck.... who cares??! I woke up, washed my face, threw my hair into a ponytail and left. Wow! Don't you wish we could do that everyday?!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">I have a point here.... all of our previous experiences with backpacking weighed heavily on our minds as we considered what to do for this trip to the UK for a month. Backpacks could work, but we're not staying at hostels like we did in Asia, hotels and B&B's are much more suitcase friendly. Thus, we compromised and decided to go with carry-on suitcases. For the record, I'm pretty sure that carry-on suitcases hold less than our Asia trip backpacks held. So, we'll pretty much follow the same procedures, 5 shirts for me, 2 skirts, 1 pair of jeans (for 50 degree weather in Scotland & Ireland!), and a hoodie and fleece. That's it! Oh, and I will bring mascara and eyeliner (but nothing else!) this time since all these fancy concerts probably won't let me in unless I have a least a smidgen of makeup. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Money saving tip - get your suitcases at Ross, Marshall's, or TJ Maxx. I have had junky off-brand suitcases most of my life and they rarely last very long without something cracking, tearing, or falling off, and that's just a little trip to another state here and there. Those stores have name brand (Samsonite, etc.) luggage for about half of what you would pay for them normally. I'm very proud of my awesome new suitcase!) </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Now just in case you're worried that we'll start to smell after we've used up all our clothes, no fear! Stores like REI carry TSA approved LD (Laundry Detergent)... (felt like I had to keep with the abbreviations theme) (FLIHTKWTAT). Ha!</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jJ8Ntu380-U/TgobuC8i_WI/AAAAAAAAAFE/KeaRCOZmLns/s1600/P6280001.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="http://3.bp.blogspot.com/-jJ8Ntu380-U/TgobuC8i_WI/AAAAAAAAAFE/KeaRCOZmLns/s320/P6280001.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">See? TSA approved!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><a href="http://travelstore.ricksteves.com/catalog/index.cfm?fuseaction=product&theParentId=150&id=27">Rick Steves</a> (super-nerd travel guru) also has a laundry line that velcros to two ends of a room and is braided so you can hang you clothes from it to dry after you've washed them, so really, there is never ever an excuse to bring lots of clothes on a trip. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Um, except not wanting to stand over a sink and wash clothes every night for an hour...)</span> The only complicating factor on this trip is all the concerts we'll be attending, I've got a non-wrinkle L.B.D. (can you guess this one??) to wear to such occasions. I have no idea what Andrew's wearing, I can tell you it won't be the Darth Vader shirt.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(L.B.D. Ok. I guessed:</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">1) Lame Bass Drum (wouldn't fit in a suitcase, doesn't wrinkle anyway)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">2) Large Bricklaying Device (may be a little a heavy)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">3) Lengthy Brown Dachshunds (Won Ton!! I tried...see video at the bottom)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">4) Lumpy Bird Droppings (Ew.)</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;"><br />
</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">She had to tell me - Little Black Dress. Whatever.) </span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rAb3_wqvZqA/TgoUkBFIW1I/AAAAAAAAAE8/eziSDsm4RkM/s1600/laundry.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-rAb3_wqvZqA/TgoUkBFIW1I/AAAAAAAAAE8/eziSDsm4RkM/s400/laundry.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Laundry day in Malaysia!</td></tr>
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Since we did lose our bags coming to Thailand on that Asia trip and had to wallow in the same clothes for 3 days, we're being slightly neurotic this time around and keeping our carry-on close by.... as in above our heads. Bags with clothes + non-smelly husband = happy wife. <span class="Apple-style-span" style="color: blue;">(Indeed. Below is us packing! Note the relative tiny-ness of our suitcases! 3 DAYS 'TILL WE'RE OFF!)</span> </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.blogger.com/video.g?token=AD6v5dz366zSLYUWXfYnTmJAl_dUQ6kQcO2LiKYe-t7syE8zeYj3v6CNWpGMBDTAhdOMZ9vdNl-s7Oooh3tUItqR4g' class='b-hbp-video b-uploaded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-33573556218704740602011-06-21T20:52:00.000-07:002011-06-23T12:46:40.088-07:00Introductions... all around.Alright kids, welcome! It's about time that we start posting, we leave July 1st! With that in mind we thought that we'd take a post to introduce the people behind the blog. For the smarty-pants in the audience, you might be asking, "Why is this necessary?? I could read the 'About Us' tab!"<br />
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And this is a great point!<br />
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Hmm...<br />
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Ah well, you've read this far right? A little bit more narcissism isn't going to hurt anyone at this point. So here goes:<br />
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I'm Allison Redmon!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X21amqVhCKI/TgFXm_Jlk6I/AAAAAAAAAEI/HqLV7iqo4EI/s1600/photo-3.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="298" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-X21amqVhCKI/TgFXm_Jlk6I/AAAAAAAAAEI/HqLV7iqo4EI/s400/photo-3.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me! Teaching my Digital Music class! It was Friday... don't judge the jeans.</td></tr>
</tbody></table> I'm efficient, bossy, and unorganized. I like making messy piles. I'm into modern indie & alternative music, love to backpack to weird places with the hubby, teach a group of pretty unique high school band kids, and haven't eaten lunch on my own in 4 years. I work at a pretty awesome school, <a href="http://www.houstonchristianhs.org/" style="color: #674ea7;">Houston Christian High School</a><span style="color: #674ea7;">, </span>and if you click on that link you'll see a fancy picture of said students of whom I teach... lucky them! Now I realize that the topic of this blog might not be your cup of tea. Get it? Cup of tea? England? Ha!! Moving on. But we're (read 'Andrew') are going to try to make it as funny as possible. Here's how it works: My thoughts will be posted in BLACK, and Andrew's will be posted in <span style="color: blue;">BLUE. <span style="color: black;">For the purposes of this blog, you're really not going to want to miss the <span style="color: blue;">BLUE <span style="color: black;">stuff, trust me. I married a pretty funny guy. So that's me. Here's the other member of the team: Andrew!</span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">Hi! I'm Andrew Redmon! </span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zXqECNmRTjA/TgFbmrXmXcI/AAAAAAAAAEM/6NTZivxnoO4/s1600/DSC_1201.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="267" src="http://1.bp.blogspot.com/-zXqECNmRTjA/TgFbmrXmXcI/AAAAAAAAAEM/6NTZivxnoO4/s400/DSC_1201.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr style="color: blue;"><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Me taking a tabla drum lesson in Singapore with a guy who has been studying tabla since before I was born...</td><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</tbody></table><span style="color: blue;"> </span><span style="color: blue;"> I am somewhat less efficient <span style="color: black;">(somewhat?)</span>, not at all bossy, and organized with certain things. I like cleaning up Allison's messy piles <span style="color: black;">(Yes!)</span>. I'm into all sorts of music and movie scores, love to backpack to weird places with the wife, and teach crazy and amazing groups of middle school band and choir students. I work at a better school (Ohhh!!), <a href="http://www.graceschool.org/" style="color: #674ea7;">Grace School</a>. <span style="color: black;">(Um, no.) </span> This will be my first time to Europe and I can't wait! I've always harbored a secret dream to live out the older parts of my life in a small Scottish village tending a flock of sheep and ambling about in my kilt. I have a feeling this is going to be the first step toward that dream, although as much as I Google it, there is no such thing as short term sheep rental in the UK. Too bad. </span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">My interest in early music was really sparked in grad school by <a href="http://www.music.eku.edu/faculty1/hensleyh.php" style="color: #674ea7;">Dr. Hunter Hensley</a> at Eastern Kentucky University. Through learning about and performing that music, I fell in love with the sounds of those musical eras <span style="color: black;">(Ah... <a href="http://www.music.vt.edu/musicdictionary/texts/Sackbut.html">sackbuts</a>!)</span>. This grant gives Allison and me the opportunity to experience this music in (we feel) the very best way possible - through live performances by the best groups around. I'm very much aware that, while I am gushing about how beautiful some 17th century mass is, my poor, captive middle schoolers are thinking "Dude...is it time to go to lunch yet??", as I was most definitely thinking at that time of my life. Hopefully a few of you are reading this - yes, I know what you think :-) Hopefully though, you and everyone else will learn a little something from this experience of ours...at the very least <a href="http://www.blogger.com/goog_724270995" style="color: #674ea7;">what the Super Mario theme sounds like on a 17th century Baroque harpsichord.</a><span style="color: #674ea7;"> </span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;">So please <span style="color: black;">(please, please) <span style="color: blue;">follow us and enjoy this experience with us! <span style="color: black;">If nothing else, tune in to see if we accidentally end up in Norway trying to take the Tube 15 times a day. Bookmark us... now. </span></span></span></span><br />
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<span style="color: blue;"><span style="color: black;"> </span><span style="color: black;">Next post = how to pack a month's worth of stuff into a carry on bag. Can it be done? Who even knows??</span></span>Who are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1663824252021496453.post-90938227145868933202011-04-08T09:41:00.000-07:002011-04-08T09:41:21.511-07:00Welcome to the blog!<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NB1LBpUncg4/TZ857h99gFI/AAAAAAAAACg/nTaHD7VNfWo/s1600/P3300053.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NB1LBpUncg4/TZ857h99gFI/AAAAAAAAACg/nTaHD7VNfWo/s320/P3300053.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Our Fund For Teachers acceptance letters!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Welcome!<br />
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Although, you're a bit early! Andrew and I begin our travels to the U.K. in July of 2011! We should start posting more regularly in June, until then... keep checking for updates.<br />
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For the moment, we are busy purchasing concert tickets, booking hotels and trying to pawn off our mischievous dachshunds on unsuspecting family members. As soon as we have something more... educational.... to write about, we post it! Until then, feel free to check out our personal blog (www.keepingthetime.blogspot.com)<br />
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Andrew and I are super excited to begin our adventure this summer. We hope you'll join us by reading along, watching videos we post, and listening to music clips we add!<br />
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Thanks!<br />
Allison & Andrew RedmonWho are these people??http://www.blogger.com/profile/14308168911561300354noreply@blogger.com2