Tuesday 28 January 2014

Index

Welcome back, Blog Fans.  I've appreciated the use of this free site to share my adventures with family, friends and an anonymous lurker or two.  One thing that is lacking with the site, though, is a nice archive.  So, I thought I put together an index post for future reference.  It will help me and hopefully others.

Though I faded towards the end (and was fairly brief in the beginning), I am quite proud of the blog -- all 125 posts.  Sometimes the need/desire of posting something was just enough to get us over the hump and out the door to try something new.  It will serve as a nice archive of our memories.

We were very fortunate to have this experience.  It wasn't always easy, but there's not much I'd change.  I already miss it but it's time to start another chapter . . . . Take care all.

Note:  please feel free to contact me, future RR expats, if you have any questions.


Big Trips
Andalusia, Spain (Oct 2013)

Gran Canaria (August 2013)

Switzerland (July 2013)

Scotland (May 2013)

Berlin and Prague (April 2013)

London (October 2012)

Cornwall (August 2012)

Normandy (July 2012)

Scotland (June 2012)

Bruges & Amsterdam (Apr 2012)

Rome (Oct 2011)

Ireland (August 2011)

Edinburgh (July 2011)

Paris (May 2011)

Bank Holiday (long weekend) Trips
Northern Ireland (August 2013)


Conwy, North Wales (August 2012)

Lake District (May 2012)

Bath & Stonehenge (August 2011)

North Wales (May 2011)

Alnwick & York (April 2011)
 
London
London -- Book of Mormon (November 2013)
London (8 nights, October 2012)
London (3 nights, February 2012)
 
Other Significant Day Trips
Snowdon (June 2013)
Walks (Peak District) -- one of my favorite activities!
Cave Dale, Mam Tor (October 2013)
Hope to Edale (September 2013)
Hathersage, Stanage Edge (September 2013)
Dovedale II (September 2013)
Derwent Moors and Ladybower Reservoir (April 2013)
Padley Gorge (March 2013)
Castleton (October 2012)
Birchen Edge (October 2012)
Hartington II (September 2012)
Thor's Cave (July 2012)
Monsal Dale (May 2012)
Kedleston (April 2012)
Thorpe Cloud (September 2011)
Hartington I (June 2011)
Hermit's Cave (June 2011)
Bakewell (June 2011)
Dove Dale I (June 2011)
 
English Heritage / National Trust / Historical
Outings
Falconry (Alex) (April 2013)
Wollaton Hall (February 2013)
Royal Crown Derby (January 2013)
Twycross Zoo (October 2012)
Chatsworth Country Fair (September 2012)
Heights of Abraham (June 2012)
Falconry (Nicole) (March 2012)
Nottingham (November 2011)
Derbyshire Day (September 2011)
Royal Tattoo (July 2011)
Kedleston Hall (April 2011)
Warwick Castle (April 2011)
Chatsworth (April 2011)
 
Other
787 Flyover (August 2013)
What, more snow? (March 2013)
Snow & A Week of Feasts (January 2013)
Home for Christmas 2012 (January 2013)
Gastronomical Delight (December 2012)
Good Friends, Good Food (November 2012)
Nicole goes to Gibraltar (November 2012)
Celebrations (May 2012)
SB XLVI & some beer notes (February 2012)
Snow! (February 2012)
Trip "Home" (January 2012)
The BFG with friends (December 2011)
Catching up with Friends (September 2011)
Passed! (August 2011)
Weekend Update (July 2011)
 


Sunday 10 November 2013

One Last Trip to London . . .

Hello, Blog Fans.  We had another "last" this weekend.   We spent Saturday in London with our good friends the Connells.   The main event was to see The Book of Mormon but we made a full day of it and had a great time.

We caught the 8:01 from Derby and arrived at St Pancras slightly past 9:30.  After sorting out our Tube tickets/cards we took the Tube to London Bridge for a walk along the South Bank.  Rain was coming but held out long enough.

Great photo, if I do say so myself!  (Given the adult nature of the show we left Alex with the neighbors for the day/night, much to his happiness).


It was nice to walk this part of the city as we haven't seen it before.  Here's Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  I had done the macro planning (show and train tickets) but Andrea took care of the details for the day.  My family thought I'd have a hard time with that but quite to the contrary, it was a welcomed relief to be led around for the day.


Our morning stop was the Tate Modern.  The rain started falling just as we got there.  Given the relaxing nature of the day, we decided to head to the top floor for a coffee at first.  Nice view of the Thames River and the Millennium Bridge while enjoying our lattes and hot chocolates.

Afterwards, we had a stroll through the collections in the museums.  None of us, save perhaps Annabel, are artists so we were bemused and confused (as well as occasionally impressed) with the modern art on display.  It was great to leisurely stroll through the galleries with friends and comment as we went.


 poor photo of the actual art, but I couldn't bypass Annabel's impassioned description


Come on, Man.  Duct work as Art?  How about "Artfully crafted to symbolize a society split in two and the challenges of a good cold air return."  (Okay, I made that up).


 exciting, evidently


 we liked the paint ball plot


 deep thoughts in some areas


 more simplistic in others ("Man Pointing")


and, I have no idea what this one was about

  Vietnam II -- from the Tate website as it was better than mine


 Shades of Gray -- Nefertiti (whom we "saw" in Berlin)

One of the ones that Derek and I liked were the photos of William Eggleston (perhaps because it wasn't as quirky as some of the others).  Nice write-up here for those (okay, maybe just for Derek and me) who are interested.


and another -- most were shot in his hometown of Memphis in the early 70s

After the museum and a lunch stop, we worked our way back to the theatre district to take in the matinee of the Book of Mormon.  (I made the collage above from various web photos as photos were not allowed).  The performance was outstanding if perhaps a little, ah, rude to use a UK expression.  I'm sure my 14 year old heard some things for the first time.  In fact, I'm pretty sure we all did.

However, it was much more layered than simply poking fun at a religion/cult and kept us laughing (to tears in some cases) throughout the night.  Thumbs up all around.  A nice write up can be found here.

That said, I'm not sure this would go over well in Utah (or even Indiana for that matter).  Perhaps I'm underselling my peers in Hoosier land (but I don't think so).
 
After the matinee we quickly walked towards the river to see the last of the fireworks from the Lord Mayor's show.  One of the benefits of living so far north is fireworks at 5 pm!

We then retraced our steps through Chinatown and popped out near Oxford Street to have a nice, albeit leisurely paced, Italian meal (thanks guys!).  We were all a little tired on the train ride home but it was a great day all around.  So glad to have spent the day "Making Memories" with our friends.

Cheers.