Bonjour, je no parlent français. Je fais des excuses pour la mauvaise traduction. Cette une image a eu plus de points de vue des personnes de langue française que le reste de mon blog obtient jamais… Si vous êtes ici Google, pourriez vous me dire pourquoi tant de personnes de langue française recherchent le " ; Toucan" ? Merci !
This is a Toucan;
(they live in South America)
This is a sign I saw in Scotland... Now what could it mean?
According to Wikipedia a Toucan crossing is a cross walk big enough to let pedestrians and bikes cross at once. So since Two-can cross at the same place it is a Toucan Crossing (wow, a country that embraces puns full-on, how about that)
I got to see the original sketches for the House on Pooh Corner by E.H. Shepard at the Victoria & Albert Museum... When I see original sketches like these it makes me really excited. Usually (as was the case with these) they are in some small hallway, not really in a place of prominence but still lovingly displayed. I think that seeing the actual document gives me a sense of intimate connection with the artist. E.H. Shepard is rather a big celebrity in the world of children's book illustrators. Looking at the actual graphite shows me how he thought, how we are similar, how we are different... he becomes a peer more than an idol... and then after a moment of technical criticisim... the nostalgia planted in my being at an early stage of life bursts from my depths and into a smile that says "Pooh!!!" finally I am reduced to the excitement of finding an old friend in an unexpected place.
He had murmured this to himself three times in a singing sort of way, when suddenly he remembered. He had put it into the Cunning trap to catch the Heffalump. "Bother" said Pooh. "It all comes to trying to be kind to Heffalumps." and he got back into bed. But he couldn't sleep... he tried counting sheep and as that was no good, he tried counting Heffalumps. And that was worse. because every Heffalump that he counted was making straight for a pot of Pooh's honey, and eating it all.
"My tail is getting cold. I don't want to mention it, but I mention it. I don't want to complain but there it is. My tail's cold"
There was also a sketch by Edward Lear...
The Owl and the Pussy-cat went to sea In a beautiful pea green boat, They took some honey, and plenty of money, Wrapped up in a five pound note. The Owl looked up to the stars above, And sang to a small guitar, 'O lovely Pussy! O Pussy my love, What a beautiful Pussy you are, You are, You are! What a beautiful Pussy you are!'
Lear's "pussy" looks a little peeved...reminds me of my old cat that I had (very cleverly) named "Hissy"
The Brit's seem to be frequently criticised for their "bad food" but after my brief journey there I found little evidence to support the reputation. They do seem to like a few flavors that I love and your typical American does not. There is more black licorice, rhubarb is considered a treat and their "mint" gum tastes like anise (yummy!)... while there I took shots of a few of the meals we had. To start, what kind of suckers do you think you're going to lure into your restaurant by naming it "The Walrus and the Carpenter" and having a "Lewis Caroll dining room"? Yes. THIS kind of fool is who... This was the first pub we tried.
This pub had a full sausage menu that had you pick your variety of sausage and it's delivery method. I chose "Toad in the Hole" mostly because I'd heard it mentioned on the BBC and it's a funny name. The dish consisted of three sausages served in Yorkshire Pudding (the bread bowl thing they're sitting in), surrounded by mashed potatoes, gravy and some unidentifiable (Kale?) greens. I had a pint of London's Pride Ale with it, that was NOT served warm as legend says English beer is, but rather cool (it's just not the icy temperature of the Rockies). The ale was creamy and flavorful (delish!) Conclusion about this dish; the pudding wasn't so exciting, the sausage, gravy, and veggies were heavenly although I wished that they had a half order available, I thought it enough for two meals. At another pub (this one was in Scotland) I had the Irish version of Toad in the Hole; Colcannon. When we ordered, I asked the waitress what kinds of ales they had, she said "We've only got Caffrey's" I had an impulse to jump up and hug her that I fought off and merely said "yes yes, please, I'll have that" Caffrey's is only my favorite ale that stopped being imported to the states 6 months after my 21st birthday... it was almost better than I remembered. The Caffrey's was also served cool not icy (perfect). The Colcannon was pretty good too. Mia had a goat cheese salad with pears and apples (I think she said it was good but I was too preoccupied with meat and beer to pay attention, sorry Mia). The Albert and Victoria Museum was amazing and free and has a palatial dining room with chandeliers, stained glass windows and a hallway of mouth watering cuisine... feeling a bit poor however with the dollar being so weak I opted for the ₤3 lunch of pumpkin soup... it was a little like Trader Joe's butternut squash soup, only it was obviously fresh, served with a dollop of butter and a roll and in this fetching tureen (how stylish). It was required of me to try Fish and Chips in England. This pub is a block away from the Old Globe. Here you see my order of Fish and Chips and in the back You see Mia getting ready to try her "Ploughman's Cheese Sandwich". The fish was Real fish. It wasn't mushy fish goo like we get from the freezer section here (although I must admit, I love that fish goo). It was alright but I thought that the fish was a little bland for my taste. The chips were rather fantastic and tasted like homemade. They also offered me "garden peas" or "mushy peas". I should have had the mushy peas for the true English experience, but I couldn't... and the woman at the counter assured me that they're "disgusting"... unfortunatley the "garden peas" were equally disgusting. They tasted Grey, in the way that Otter Pops or Gummy Bears can taste Green and Red... ick. The Fish and Chips were good, but I thought I have had them equally good in the States. The Beer; more London's Pride. A Ploughman's Cheese sandwich on the menu says that the ingredients are "cheese,lettuce,tomato,and pickle served on rye bread". What Mia recieved was bread with some purple chutney inside it... we asked the waitress if this was the correct order showing at the very least the missing cheese in a "Cheese sandwich". "Oh I'm so sorry" she exclaimed, she took it away and brought it back all improved; the exact same purple chutney but now with some shreds of cheese on top of it. It tasted salty, sour, sweet and rotting all at once. It smelled of brine... "Pickle" in Britain does not mean pickled cucumber as it usually does in the States but it is actually a bizarre mixture of wrong and barely edible. Ok I guess it's actually onion, rutabega, coliflower and spices... this dish I think is evidence for "bad English food"... My only complaint (other than the pickle) was about their coffee. The English like really weak coffee. In fact after trying two different places I discovered that they actually drink a lot of Nescafe. I actually stood staring at the coffee crystals agape... when my dry mouth managed to make a sound all I could say was "Soylent Green is made of people". I mostly managed to give up on the coffee and live off of the black tea which is good everywhere, while poor Mia became a sort of American Arthur Dent in search of a decent cup of Joe... all for naught. Even Starbucks serves their English coffee extra weak.
English Tea; We ordered "Tea for two" and got this Tower of food. For ₤10 we got all of this food plus tea. The bottom plate had sandwiches (we had the option of tuna or pickle and I quickly chose the tuna). The middle plate had two large slices of carrot cake, and the top plate had scones and clotted cream. The sandwiches and cake were just like what you can get at home but the scones and cream were devine. The scones were buttery and light with a faint berry taste, and clotted cream is somewhere between heavy whipped cream and butter. I noticed that other patrons were heaping it on their scones but I was happy with only a thin layer of it on my scone. Tea for two involved food for four... very satisfying. Finally I end this post with the most simple and yet brilliant food improvement courtesy of my people (The Scots). It's just porridge (which tastes just like Quaker quick oats made with water) served with some brown sugar, fruit and a shot of Drambuie. Treat yourself. Try this.
After a bit of a fight between iMovie '08 on Adam's computer and iMovie'06 on my own, I've managed to get this little video to load onto YouTube properly... We took the train from King's Cross Station (alas no novelty platform 9 3/4 pics) we jumped on the train seconds before it left the station... The ride is a quick 6 hour ride through countryside, with a lovely tea trolly roaming at what seemed to be the exact moment I really wanted a little Earl Grey.
The music is by Rob Webster, a scientist on the British Antarctic Survey, he has a blog (link on the side) where you can download more of his music and see some amazing photos from the bottom of the world.
because I'm having trouble getting my train ride video to load properly... and because I'm lacking motivation to write at the moment... I bring you a selective collection of the things that made me giggle.
English is different from American sometimes, and by American standards the English are dirty.
Back in "ye olde time" (I learned and forgot when) there were two streets in London where prostitution was legal. Love Lane and this one; It's a happy bank. The British love their Cocks. All I hear is Bevis and Butthead. (sigh) Burger King is selling something called "sausage butties"
This is the train you take from Heathrow airport... on the way in we were giggling... the next time we rode this train I could spot the Americans who had just arrived because they were giggling.
Ok, now it's out of my system. Soon I will make a real post...
I grew up in a tourist town in the mountians. Downtown the tourists meander the streets as though cars do not exist. They video the totem pole (as though it were about to do something interesting). They browse the shops for kitch decorated with squirrels and moose (despite the fact that there probably has never been a moose in the San Jacinto Mountians ever), they wear flannel and those who get vacation cabins furnish the entire cabin with rough hewn wood furniture and plaid upholstry… Now I live near San Francisco. Tourists arrive in inappropreatly cool clothing (thinking that all of California is like Bay Watch). You can spot them wearing the I (heart) San Francisco polar fleece bought at the pier, the home made t-shirts worn with shorts and visors. They ride the cable cars for $5 each way to get to Fisherman’s warf and buy canned clam chowder served in a hunk of sourdough bread… There are also “Visitors” who actually look around and pay attention and appreciate things that they are not proscribed to look at. These are the ones who do not waste their money buying themed refridgerator magnets and cheaply made T-shirts. Visitors are encouraged to visit the beautiful places I live. Because of my strong anti-tourist leaning I think I go out of my way to not do what tourists are expected to do. In London there are double decker bus tours, which are just about as appealing to me as riding the cable car to work. In addition to their appeal, they cost £22 (aproximatley $45). However lame it is to be a tourist, there are indeed many sights worth seeing in London. As a happy alternative, my travel companion, two of the girls from the hostel and I took public transit (also a double decker bus) to see the sights… Prince Albert was 11' tall and made completely out of gold... do not look directly at the royalty or your retenas will be burnt. two of my fellow anti-tour companions... Parliament and Big Ben were much more impressive than I thought they would be. We turned the corner and actually gasped. It took a moment for me to even realize where we were... once you see the clock tower it's a bit of a give away though. The whole day of touring town cost me a little less than £4 and I didn’t feel like I was riding a cable car of shame.
Within the first hour of leaving the airport I discovered that "the tube" is just like BART and the subway (only far far better) I soon arrived at St.Paul's Youth Hostel. As soon as we checked in and dropped off our bags I was out for a walk. What I never realized about London is that it is jam packed with everything you hear is "in England". Within a short two hour walk I crossed the Mellinnium bridge and immediatley saw the Old Globe Theater, a skip away from that is the Rose (or so the signs said, I never actually saw the Rose)... ...we walked past one of the oldest Gothic churches in England and the footprint of the original Globe theater. .. Sir Francis Drake's ship is docked there (a trashy tourist museum but it's there) just shortly before the London Bridge and then a short jaunt away from the London Tower Bridge... we crossed the tower bridge... to the left is the Tower of London (not just a tower, it's a whole castle with a tower). This is a remnant of the original wall surrounding London (I forget which part at the moment) Then we walked a few blocks of office buildings, but right next to the Thames river looking out onto the sparkle of "old London" across the way.
In an attempt to avoid drama and jealousy and stumbling blocks that has been my answer for my week out of town. I did tie up all of my obligations, and finish some projects early, I did everything necissary to permit not being in Berkeley for the time allotted, all of corse with a very vague response of what I was up to... so now I will potentially spoil my discression by posting lots and lots of pictures of where I've been... I've been far out of town, doing research, finding family, enjoying life. The first hour I arrived here were a few of the pics I took... for those who don't know where I was, see if you can guess.
This is of corse a quick teaser, there will be massive amounts of pictures with stories included but I am at the moment working on getting another show on its feet so blogging will probably be in small bits.
