Sweeties

One of the things that made the UK appealing to me is the fact that the language is the same… well, almost. There have been a few notable definitions that have required clarification along the way. Along with the traditional “thongs” and “pants” misunderstandings, I have learnt that a lolly is sugar on a stick and any other sort of sugar treat is a “sweetie”. Below is a picture of a particular UK sweetie known as a flying saucer – a rice paper case with sherbet in the middle (very bizarre!).And then there is the pronunciation & accent issue. Initially I had troubles with “Southwark” [pronounced “Suth-ick” rather than the phonetically pronounced “South-wark”]. Also, apparently the English can not distinguish between me saying jam, jem & Jan! Another bad habit of mine is the interchangeable use of “dollar” and “pound”. It is probably the hardest one for me to get use to, but the impact of using the $ instead of the £ at work can make a significant difference!

On a completely different note, here are a few snaps from the Lord Mayor Show & parade through London a few weeks ago. (In the night time shot, you have the London Eye on the left & Big Ben on the far right.)

Bonfire Night

One of the annual traditions in London is bonfire night... commonly known as “Guy Fawkes”. Back in 1605, this lunatic apparently attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliament. After being found out, he was put to death with his body quartered and hung on the four corners of the Westminster. Every year Londoners celebrate this guy’s attempt of blowing up Parliament – very bizarre! Anyway, I had a fun evening at Ravenscourt Park watching the massive 30m+ bonfire plus fireworks display with a few friends.

On a side note, we have been having a fantastic autumn in London. There is no doubt that autumn in my favourite season of the year with the vibrant displays of red & orange leaves as they fall from the trees. Here a just a few photos from my stroll yesterday through St James Park, located between Buckingham Palace and Whitehall.

Ultimate Sports

We live in the era of all things “ultimate” – ultimate frisbee & ultimate football to name a few. On the weekend, while wandering through Greenwich markets, I watched the ultimate of crafting activities – Ultimate Knitting! I will leave it to the photo to give you a visual of what I’m talking about.

Also included in our Saturday walking around Greenwich, Sarah, Fee & I visited the Old Royal Naval College, the Queen’s house & the National Maritime Museum. With too many things to do & see in Greenwich in one day, I'll certainly be back there another weekend.

Calling all academics

With beautiful autumn weather, Ivan, Belle & I travelled 90km north-west of London to see the spire covered skyline of the 30+ colleges in Oxford. Oxford is delightful with a genuine small town feel. Initially we were quite surprised to see many of the students wearing their full gown including bow ties & caps. Apparently they have to wear the full gown for their exams. I could not imagine having to wearing that uncomfortable outfit during exams!!

There were many points of interest in Oxford including:

• Christ Church College – We wandered through the grounds of the college including the quadrangle, the Cathedral, Tom Tower & the dining hall (one of the locations for the filming of Harry Potter);
  
• The University Church of St Mary’s Virgin – On route to climb the tower of the church with magnificent 360 degree views of the spire skyline (a must for anyone going to Oxford!), we stopped to listen to a practice session of Schola Pietatis Antonio Vivaldi, an all-female ensemble of singers and players of instruments from the violin family. The music was beautiful, almost spine-tingling.
  
• Radcliffe Camera – Built in 1737, the circular building is a grand library and apparently one of the most photographed buildings in the UK.
• The Bear – A weekend in an English town is not complete without some local pub grub. A cider & steak & ale pie filled the hole for us after walking around town all day.

On Sunday, we headed out of Oxford to Blenheim Palace, home to the Dukes of Marlborough (currently the 11th Duke lives there) & the birth place of Winston Churchill. Set in 2100 acres, the palace is surrounded by sweeping lawns, formal gardens and a lake. The grand palace entrance follows a path over a bridge to the victory column on the opposing hillside. Inside, the Palace is full of historical artifacts of the Churchill-Spencer family. The long library was my favourite room with the floor to ceiling books and its view over the water terrace gardens.

Talent

“Everybody has talent, it's just a matter of moving around until you've discovered what it is.” George Lucas

Here is a little snippet of some of the talent I have seen over the past few weeks…

• With the Rugby World Cup on at the moment, there has been plenty of sporting talent flooding my TV over the past month. While it has been great to see Australia convincingly conquer the competition in the pool matches, it was certainly a disappointing weekend to see the poms climb over the Aussies in the super eight. Yes, being in London and surrounded by poms has added extra salt to my wound.


• Packed into Wembley Arena with 12,299 other people last weekend, I watched Gwen Stefani and her ensemble as part of The Sweet Escape tour. Although some of her songs are not my flavour, I certainly admired the talent and energy shown by Gwen, the dancers and the band. They definitely rocked the arena.
  
• On Saturday evening, I watched the stage play of “The Woman in Black”. The small English town ghost story was acted by two talented actors, with a third silent actor appearing occasionally… or was that just my imagination? The novel was simply portrayed but absolutely thrilling. I’m proud that I only jumped once!