treasure hunt 2

...another find while digging in the backyard

...feeling a need to play with images right now

...be back with the travel reports soon
   

treasure hunt

Found on an 'archeological' dig in the backyard,
what stories lay beneath encrusted dirt and rust?

Ancient Britain: Salisbury

A highlight of our trip to the UK was a guided day tour to the ancient sites of Salisbury, Old Sarum, Stonehenge, West Kennet, Silbury Hill and Avebury. I don't usually link to commercial sites but this tour pleased us so very much that I'm going to recommend at least reading it for the background so I don't have to write so much. We truly enjoyed the knowledgeable and friendly guide/driver (I wished I'd recorded his fascinating stories) and that we were a small group of about fourteen in a van rather than an enormous bus. I'm having a hard time choosing from the many photos so each stop will merit its own post.

Being the first to be picked up, we got the choice seats at the front of the van. Once we were out of London and on smaller winding highway, we enjoyed the lovely greens and canola yellows of the Wiltshire countryside. The town of Salisbury was our first stop. Here's where the van was an advantage as we wove through the narrow old streets past interesting old buildings, doorways and arches towards Salisbury Cathedral.
   

   
The cathedral, consecrated 751 years ago, is a lovely example of Early English Gothic architecture. I'm always awed by the amazing skills of the craftspeople of those early days, and even more astounding is that this was built in 38 years. Note the model of the construction in progress. A modern addition is the font as a reflecting pool with the water slowly pouring out of the four corners into floor drains and being recycled back.

After a short explanatory, we were on our own to wander about the cathedral and a bit of the town. Now that's a town we could spend more time in to explore more!

Anna, Courtauld, Westminster

The day after our outing to Brighton, husband and I headed into central London and Somerset House (house? it's a palace!). Here we were to meet long-time blog-friend Anna of Self-Winding who was coming in from Norfolk to meet us. As we waited for her, we noted that the famous fountains were down and we were prevented from entering the huge courtyard because there was a Bollywood film set going up. On the other side of the Strand at India House a large demonstration was underway against India's treatment of the Tamil Tigers, like in Brighton.

When tall, beautiful and lively Anna appeared how excited we were to meet at last! While husband went off to explore the sights along the Thames (taking the camera), we ladies went in to see the art in the adjacent Courtauld Gallery. This museum is a nice size with gorgeous rooms without being as exhausting and overwhelming as places like the British Museum or the Louvre. It has an impressive collection including some very famous works by the Impressionists. It's a great feeling to meet so many well-known pieces that I've not seen in real life. Now and then as we passed by windows overlooking the courtyard we were also entertained by the colourful Bollywood dancers in action. Sadly I have no photos but the Courtauld website has this very good video and more.

Anna and I shared the great pleasure of viewing and talking about the art together even as we chatted about personal things. As we were finishing a light lunch on the patio later, husband found us there and joined in a deep and varied conversation that continued as we sauntered over to Trafalgar Square and eventually a lingering tea and dessert under the Portrait Gallery before we had to say an almost tearful goodbye. We wished we'd had more time together but Anna had a 2 1/2 hour bus ride back home to Norfolk. We feel so honoured and grateful she made this long journey to see us and for her excellent suggestion to visit the Courtauld. Hope we shall meet again!

From the immense Trafalgar Square, we decided to explore more of the city, and we sure did walk a lot getting somewhat lost for a while. Passing Canada House, we wandered past immense palatial looking buildings everywhere and beside a park with row upon row of identical trees (plane trees? St. James Park?). Along Whitehall we hit crowds of business-suited commuters rushing like busy ants from every building towards bus and tube stations.

It was like coming upon a vision when suddenly, at a large intersection, we saw the immense and beautiful Palace of Westminster, also known as the Houses of Parliament and the famous Big Ben. Again we saw a group of protestors this time camped out on the opposite square!

All through this long walk we had hoped to find a place to have a modest supper but it wasn't until we'd circled all the way back to the edge of Trafalgar Square that we found a spot to eat. Boy, were we satiated with the sights, and I was tired and knee-and-foot-sore by the time we got back by tube to our daughter's place in Muswell Hill that evening!

P.S. If you haven't read the earlier posts on our recent trip to UK and Paris and you are interested in them, just click on the theme Travel on the side bar or here.

a midsummer fest

I'm up with the early light, though the sun is obscured with cloud, and I remember it is Juhannus and

.... the summer solstice, (or properly June solstice for it's winter in the southern hemisphere). Memories of magical midsummer nights in Finland, Denmark and Sweden made me long for those white nights of the north, and to feel again that amazement with how joyful and energetic the people were. Celebrations rooted in pagan times abounded. It seemed like no one slept much, just soaking in the light, as if refueling after the long dark winter. How could you sleep when the sun hit your eyes where you lay in bed, with only sheer window coverings?, I thought the first time I visited as a teenager, grumpy from jet lag.

This is the time that most Finns start their summer holidays, their trips to summer cabins by serene lakes, leaving the cities behind. Businesses reduce to minimum, it's as if the whole country slows down. How come here in Canada, a northern nation, we don't celebrate midsummer night? Oh, the Scandinavians communities have their events in various cities this weekend, but is that all there is? Where is the magic? Even up in northern British Columbia where we lived a few years, there was no celebration, no sense of the ancient rituals of the seasons.

For the first time in some years, yesterday afternoon husband, youngest daughter and I went to the Scandinavian Midsummer Festival at our Scandinavian Community Centre to see if we could find a little of that magic I always miss. We were very pleasantly surprised how the event had grown and how well attended it was. I loved the choir, the folk dancers, and the variety of colourful and beautifully made national costumes they wore as did the many volunteers and quite a few visitors. (How I wish my mother's fit me.) We enjoyed samples of food and displays set up by each Nordic country celebrating their heritage and crafts.
   

   
The Viking Village was definitely the most impressive, put together with a lot of hard work by the Norwegian and Icelandic members. The village held a couple of boats, one just recently completed and made by hand, interesting tents with carved and detailed wood frames, upright looms in the prehistoric style, shields, helmets and weapons, and characters in Viking era costumes and jewelry enacting scenes of village life.

Other highlights for us were the Finnish birch bark woven crafts and wood objects, plus the Dane Steen Larsen and his reproduction of an 1830 European barrel 72 pipe organ that he built and which plays six different melodies.
   

   
So it was that a little of that nostalgia and pride for the traditions of the old country was nourished and satisfied in me. All of us people there celebrated midsummer in an emigrant-Nordic way far way from our roots. If you live in the Vancouver area and you are interested, the fest is still on today and is open to everyone.

Hauskaa Juhannusta! Happy solstice!

Some interesting related links:

June hardly sleeps

In Scandinavia, Solstice Means Fun in the Midnight Sun

Solstice at the megaliths in Brittany, something that I'd like to experience someday

Brighton's roofs: details

Some closer shots of Brighton's fascinating roof panorama and some of its wild life. The seagull nest attracted me, and soon the watchful seagull came closer... in warning or in friendly interest? Note the baby seagull on the far right and what may be a pigeon on the left, I forget. I felt like I was the one being watched.

Brighton's roofs

Lunch in Brighton was in a lively large Italian restaurant. We were seated upstairs in a bright room next to large windows that looked out onto rooftops. The roofs and chimney pots in London (and even later in Paris) fascinated me. So here in Brighton was a perfect opportunity to grab some photos while waiting for dessert (tiramisu if you want to know). I was given permission to go out on the small landing, a perfect vantage point.

What an amazing patchwork of textures, shapes, colours and patterns, don't you think? Times like this I wished I'd taken along our better but heavy SLR camera, but I still hope I'll be able to use some of these in future prints! More photos to come....