Snowed In - 8th of February

After lunch I set off for the Peak District which is where I'm working all next week. I started my drive beneath a beautiful blue sky which quickly turned to rain, then sleet and finally heavy snow. The small country lanes approaching the Three Horsehoes pub/hotel were treacherous with deep snow drifts on top of thick ice. Whilst checking in I learnt that the road behind me had just been closed and that many drivers were stuck in their cars. Apparently the forecast for tomorrow is more of the same and I'm told there is a good chance I will be snowed in. Still, there are worse places to be stuck than a beautiful old English pub! Check out my youtube page for videos of the snow.

UPDATE: I took these photos the following morning:

Funny World - 7th of February

About six years ago I picked up some paintings of Trafalgar Square, London Bridge and the London Eye by Alce Harfield. At the time I had no idea that I would end up living in London and especially not in such close proximity to those areas. To be honest, I had no idea what I would do with them as I didn't even have a house. A few week ago we finally got the money together to get them framed at Bijan Art on Tower Bridge Road and I really love the final result - funny how things work out in the end.

Snow Go - 1st and 2nd of February

As we drove back from Portsmouth we literally hit a wall of Snow. As usual, London ground to a halt the instant the first flake landed. Carolyn managed to take some great photos despite me unhelpfully pelting her with snowballs.

Isle of Wight - 1st of February

We started our trip to the Isle of Wight with a visit to the seaside home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert - Osborne House. After an excellent guided tour and short walk through the grounds of this magnificent house we moved on to the amazing natural beauty of the Needles. Before catching the ferry back to Portsmouth there was just enough time to visit Ryde and its brilliant old Pier. You can even drive your car to the end of it!

Portsmouth - 31st of January

It's been a rough few days at work (don't ask). I didn't really feel like going away for the weekend but we had already paid and the ferry/hotel were non-refundable. Besides, going away did help take my mind of things a little bit. On Saturday we headed down to Portsmouth to visit the Historic Dockyard. First up, we took the harbour cruise which provided fantastic views of the most powerful warship in the world, the £1 billion HMS Daring (bottom left photo) as well as the mothballed aircraft carrier HMS Invincible (bottom right photo). Following this we checked out the amazing Mary Rose - King Henry VIII's pride and joy. But the main event (for me anyway) was HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar. One of my ancestors, Captain George Blagdon Westcott served on board Victory during the Second Battle of Ushant. We finished the day by catching the ferry to the Isle of Wight.

Bibury - 25th of January

Every year Carolyn stays in the small English village of Bibury whilst helping out with the Royal International Air Tattoo at RAF Fairford. Carolyn is always telling me what a beautiful part of the Cotswolds this is so we took a trip so I could check it out. Bibury really is the perfect English village complete with weaver cottages, trout farm, swans, excellent pubs (with open fires) and beautiful country houses.

What's that Coming Over the Hill, is it a Razor? - 20th of January

The long static view from our apartment is changing - for the better! I first noticed the new Strata sky scraper (AKA as the eletric razor) popping up from behind the old Victorian school (now luxury apartments) a few months ago. It's really starting to take shape now as it ventures past 50% of its final height. The Strata will form a key part of the much needed Elephant and Castle regeneration scheme. This isn't the only new sky scraper in SE1 though as work is well underway on the Shard which will become the tallest building in the UK. It's all happening in SE1.

Mayflower in Rotherhithe - 18th of January

Continuing with the American history in England theme we headed down to St. Mary's Church, Rotherhithe. Christopher Jones, captain of the Mayflower is buried here along with many of the ship's owners. The Mayflower set sail for North America in 1620 from a mooring across the street from the church. There is a pub overlooking the mooring named (you guessed it) the Mayflower. It would have been rude if we didn't stop by for a quick pint. We finished the day with a visit to the Brunel musem and a late night watching the Philadelphia Eagles lose to the Arizona Cardinals.

London, USA/China - 17th of January

We got up early (for a weekend) and hit the gym for a couple of hours. We quickly ruined any positive effect from our workout by heading downtown to Ed's Easy Diner. It was all my fault as I had a craving for American diner food whilst pounding the rubber on the running machine. We both went for burgers, cheese fries and shakes - nice. The diner is just down the road from London's China Town, forget New York - London is the real metling pot.

Goodnight Vienna - 11th to 13th of January

I'm Just back from a work conference in Vienna - what a beautiful city! We managed to grab a few hours after the conference to go exploring. I particularly liked the window puppet which looked like Jake and the slutty bride wedding cake. Make of that what you will.

Mayflower Barn and William Penn - 3rd of January

My Mum gave Carolyn a book on American history in England for Christmas. We immediately read the chapter on William Penn as he founded Pennsylvania and Philadelphia. Reading the article reminded us that William Penn is buried close to my office on the outskirts of London. I did a bit of research and found a great walk on the Internet which covers the Mayflower barn and the final resting place of William Penn. The walk took in some beautiful English countryside but seeing the original timbers from the Mayflower was something else. Next to the Mayflower Barn is the old Jordans guest house where William Penn and George Fox (founder of the Quaker religion) regularly worshipped. A little further down the road we came across the current Quaker meeting house (1688) set next to a small graveyard where Carolyn used her Philly sixth sense to walk straight to William Penn's grave.

New Years Day

For the third year, Carolyn and I headed into central London for the New Year's Day Parade complete with customary cheer leaders, Morris Men, classic cars and American marching bands. It was bloody freezing but great fun despite the distinct possibility of frost bite. I can't imagine what it was like for the poor high school kids from Hawaii and Florida ;-) There were over 10,000 performers from 20 countries including the UK effort - Morris Minors which broke down every 10 feet.

New Year's Eve

We went down to the South Bank for New Year's Eve to checkout the fireworks. Carolyn brought along her new camera to checkout the night shots. Both the fireworks and the camera were very impressive!