End to an interesting ten months.
As the Old English saying goes, all good things must come to an end: But at the laste, as every thing hath ende (English poet Geoffrey Chaucer, in a poem from the 130os). Today concluded our year living in London.
Four days in the mountains of northern Wales.
I chose to spend my final week in the U.K. hiking with Dartmouth friends in Snowdonia, the mountainous region in northern Wales. Much of the region is protected land, as part of Eryri National Park. Although the mountains maintained their characteristically cloudy summits throughout most of our four-day visit, we were spared any rain and enjoyed one gorgeous sunny afternoon on Mount Snowdon (Yr Wyddfa), the highest peak in Wales.
Wherein I complete a royal quest.
While walking through a rural area outside London, early in my year-long stay in England, I came across a bright-red postbox embedded in a very old stone wall in the tiny village of Shalford, outside Guildford. Although self-standing pillar-shaped postboxes are ubiquitous, this one sparked my curiosity. Why is this postbox – owned and maintained by the Royal Mail as a public service – embedded in a stone wall? and what does the insignia, embossed on the surface, mean? I later did some research online and found myself embarking on a months-long quest for more postboxes. Read on!
My final hike in England.
Final for my final hike in England (this year), I selected a section of the Capital Ring trail that runs from Grove Park to Crystal City, southeast of the London city center. Although it much of it follows suburban streets and nearly all of it is on paved tracks, it passes through several pretty parks. This morning was beautiful – sunny, breezy, and (finally!) cool after a week of brutal record-breaking heat across the UK and Europe.
The best way to see Cambridge.
While at the University of Cambridge for a week-long conference, I decided it was time to punt. Yes, it was worth skiving a few hours from the conference so we could experience punting along the River Cam. In both Cambridge and Oxford I’d watched from shore while students, locals, and tourists all enjoyed this classic pastime – most of them on a punt with a skilled guide, and some trying their hand at punting with friends. It looked like fun!
A daily ritual at Buckingham Palace.
One of the benefits of living where we live, in London, is that we often walk by Buckingham Palace. It is only 15-20 minutes from our flat, so I sometimes walk by just to see what’s happening. Of course, the ceremonial guards are there, standing rigidly in front of their guard houses. And the crowds are there, peering through the gates. In the winter, when the guards wear their heavy grey uniforms, the crowds were sparse.
Along the River Cam from Cambridge to Grantchester and back.
When I visited Cambridge, last month, I was in town for just the afternoon and had very little time to see the city or explore the university. I’m back, this time for five nights, to attend a computer-science conference (MobiSys). I chose to arrive early and go for a hike: from Cambridge to Grantchester, and return, along the River Cam. (Get it? Cam-bridge?) Along the way, I encountered four swans a-swimming and dozens of punters a-punting, dined al fresco in an orchard famed for its literary heritage; and explored a church nearly 900 years old.
A midweek ramble through forest and art.
The weather is summery and I had some free time today, so I decided to take a walk in Hampstead Heath – a large, forested park in northwestern London – and stop for lunch in Kenwood House, a historic mansion that now serves as a public art museum. It was reputed to have a lovely café, so I stashed my laptop in my backpack and took the #24 bus to its endpoint near Hampstead Heath.
A sunny hike through English countryside west of London, with a stop at 2000-year-old Roman ruins.
Another sunny day called for another excursion outside London, for a walk through the beautiful English countryside. I hopped off the train in tiny Mortimer, which is little more than a train depo, a church, a pub selling Indian cuisine, and a few houses. Soon I was traversing fields of wheat, crossing pastures with grazing cows, and following a lazy stream across the flat terrain. I tried to imagine what this landscape looked like two thousand years ago, when the Romans arrived and built an amphitheater. I was about to find out.
The most significant ceremonial event of the year, including Trooping the Colours.
One can certainly say one thing about the British: they know pageantry! Today, on a beautiful early summer’s day, was the annual King’s Birthday Parade, the most important of the three occasions for the Trooping of the Colour. Indeed, this is the most important ceremonial occasion of the year for the Royal Family. I live only a few blocks from Buckingham Palace… so I could not resist the opportunity to watch. Wow! what a scene.
David Kotz 