The Seasons Change

So when October ended, it was like a curtain dropped--literally. It was a different world. And the weather reflected it! We still are having a surprisingly nice day here and there, but then there are these days when the fog is omnipresent--and I do mean morning, noon, and night. The air is chilling--or "crisp," as some like to say. So far, it's not SO bad, and it's not SO cold (I keep hearing it will be much worse), but it's a motivation killer. When I look out the window and see fog everywhere, I just have a hard time getting pumped to go outside to do...well, anything. I do go out, but I have to do better. What will I do when it gets REALLY cold?? I can't stay in the house all winter! Or. . . CAN I????????? Just kidding. I WILL get out despite the weather. I am hatching travel plans even as I write. You will see. =)


Remember my beautiful tree??? November in Czech is a word (Listopad) that means "falling leaves" and boy did they nail that one on the head. It is as if they ALL came down on cue. There are NO leaves on the deciduous trees in my back yard-- all of a sudden, it seems. Hmmmm.

Day of the Dead--Nov 2

With Mr. and Mrs. Harajda, I visited the graves of the family of my exchange partner. The cemetery was beautiful with all the candles and flowers. It was aglow. The night was foggy and we got rather cold by the end of it all, but it was worth the experience for me. I guess it is also worth it for the Czech people. It really is, I think, a lovely thing to remember those who have come before.




These photos are a bit blurry, but they show a little bit of how splendid the place was.


A lot of care is taken to keep the graves of the family clean of leaves and other debris. Almost all the graves are actually made quite beautiful. I wasn't sure if it was just for this time of the year or if it was something that people do all year long (the cleaning of the graves, I mean). I didn't ask SO many questions because I didn't want to be disrespectful.

This holiday is a bit like the Day of the Dead in Latin America, except far more somber. The Latinos really celebrate with a major party--the whole night sometimes--but probably they wouldn't if they had the same weather we have here in CZ. Here, it was not so much a party, but a resigned acceptance of the inevitable. Fine. But the "resigned" part kind of doesn't sit right with me. It's kind of like, we are just passing time while we wait for it. No, I prefer the Dylan Thomas approach...

Do not go gentle into that good night,
Old age should burn and rave at close of day;
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
Though wise men at their end know dark is right,
Because their words had forked no lightning they
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Good men, the last wave by, crying how bright
Their frail deeds might have danced in a green bay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Wild men who caught and sang the sun in flight,
And learn, too late, they grieved it on its way,
Do not go gentle into that good night.

Grave men, near death, who see with blinding sight
Blind eyes could blaze like meteors and be gay,
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

And you, my father, there on the sad height,
Curse, bless me now with your fierce tears, I pray.
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.

Am I in Heaven? Or am I in Heaven??

Yes, folks, this is WIMBLEDON! I am honored and privileged to be but a small part of the Wimbledon tradition. A very small part, I'd say! But oh WOW! We got the tour, and --even at this time of the year when Wimbledon is NOT at its most glamorous--it was the grooviest thing ever!


Speaks for itself, I think.


These are tennis courts, folks. It is amazing how you walk into Wimbledon--or I should say, The All England Lawn Tennis and Croquet Club--and you are IN. Immediately there are the outer courts. You can be SO VERY close to the action! I couldn't even imagine it with crowds of people. I don't know how they do it.




What would Wimbledon BE without clouds??? In traditional fashion, it was threatening rain, with some actual sprinkles, while we were there having our tour. Quite funny.


Fred Perry--the last Englishman to win Wimbledon, back in 1936. That's what I call a drought! No pun intended. =)


Center Court??


Court 1??


Sorry, folks, but I can't really tell from the photos which court is which. It was a strange thing to me to see the courts without the lines, nets, players, etc. It's not really a court at all; it's a lawn! Center Court and Court 1 are only used for The Championships, so they have been growing this grass since last summer! There is an electric fence around the lawn to keep out the foxes. (Low voltage, don't worry.) Although there was evidence of their having been there, there were no foxes in sight today.

Here is our faithful guide, though. She is a stockbroker by day and a London tour guide by weekend. Fantastic! She had to study two years and pass exams to have this weekend job. The course trained her to be a tourguide for everything in London. She does Wimbledon because she is a big tennis fan. A girl after my own heart!


I'm ready for my interview, Mr. Demille!

So this is THE desk where the players sit for their post-match interviews. When I sat down for this photo--I mean, "interview"-- our guide (who QUITE captured my heart here) said, "look, it's Venus Williams." How happy was I? Pleased as punch! If you know me, you can't escape knowing that she is my ABSOLUTE favorite player--and reigning Wimbledon Ladies Champion! I was thrilled to be there!


Me at Wimbledon! This is NOT the greatest picture of me, but it's me at Wimbledon, so it made the blog! Brilliant day!

The Theatre!

So, after much anticipation and a love-affair with the song, "The Music of the Night," I finally got to see The Phantom of the Opera! Maurice was such a sport to go with me when he'd already seen it a bunch of times! I still regret that I had the chance to see it in Los Angeles during its EXTREMELY long run with Michael Crawford as the Phantom, and yet I never got around to going. LAME! But...seeing it in London is not a bad make-up. It's been running here for 19 years! As long as Maurice and I have been friends! I just realized the coincidence. =)

I think "The Music of the Night" has got to be one of the most beautiful songs ever--on its own, even if one never saw the show. It is a special song for me, one that I will always love, I think. It just came on (as it is on my current iTunes playlist) as a matter of fact.

I don't want to be a theater critic here, so I will simply say that I DID like the show. I had no idea of the actual storyline or anything, so it was all fresh to me. I rented the movie tonight and will probably watch it tomorrow. Just to compare and remember. =) It was a really special experience. Thanks Maurice!

London--Hampton Court Palace

Despite the photos (and the postcards Mom, Annie, Grandmother), this was not the most beautiful palace ever, BUT, it was entirely fascinating for its history and the prominent figures who made use of the place. Henry VIII, Elizabeth I (my favorite) handled some of their business here, and it was A TRIP to walk through the place myself! I went with my friend Maurice, and although we had the audio tour, we couldn't be bothered to actually listen to it. It was enough to just see it and imagine our own scenarios. I can see that I am having less and less patience as time passes...


Clock courtyard.


So the story was that this part of the Palace was added (after tearing down an older part) by William and Mary to copy the style of the French palaces like Versailles. So this part is very different to the other parts of the palace. This place is HUGE, by the way!


Henry VIII. OK, some might consider him a bit of a bastard for imprisoning and beheading (and divorcing?) his wives when he wanted to trade them in for a new one--and produce a male heir. HOW DARE THEY have...daughters!! But, having the advantaged perspective of centuries and not being subject to his authority, I can kind of admire him for his drive and determination. Church doesn't allow divorce? Invent a new church! Invent a new policy toward marriage! I love it. No silly tradition would stand in his way. That's vision. Just glad I wasn't one of his more unfortunate wives. But hey, they got to be Queen for a while. That has to count for something. Right??? I really don't see what the big deal was. He finally had a son, but he didn't last too long, and his DAUGHTERS became the monarchs anyway...so what was all the fuss about? Elizabeth did a fantastic job!


In the brick (alcove). Just chillin' between walks through the various parts of the castle.


At the Royal Tennis Courts. I HAD to go and see this! It was a surprise though. It wasn't tennis courts that are royal; it was the courts of Royal Tennis! A game on a court that looks nothing like the tennis I know and love. I can't even explain it. Just know it is DIFFERENT! I even saw people playing. And I CAN tell you that they play off of walls and things, kind of like racquetball, and squash (So I am told. I've never seen squash).



Now we are getting to the really incredible and interesting part of the palace:the kitchens. I love cooking--I mean, eating! I love EATING! Especially when I don't have to cook! This place was really cool!


Maurice and the "oven." Just to give you some perspective on how large this cooking place was, Maurice is standing in front of the fireplace. And this isn't the only one in the kitchen. I think I heard there were eight. Makes me wonder how much sweat was included in the menu. It had to be some kind of inferno!


Kitchen pots. So this kitchen was some addition made by Henry VIII after he took over the palace from his buddy, who fell out of favor and probably lost his head for it. (I'm pretty sure he did.) So Henry had to have kitchens that could prepare food for a LOT of people when he was holding court there. A minimum of 600 people (and often MANY more!) had to be fed twice a day. They had to eat in shifts and it was an enormous and complicated undertaking.


Peacock! Apparently you ARE what you eat. Or WHO you are reflects WHAT you eat. And vice versa. Anybody who was anybody was eating a diet of Boar-Venison-Swan-Peacock. And people of status wouldn't be caught dead eating things like... vegetable soup (Or something that wasn't B-V-S-P). That was for peasants! I hear they ate a diet of 75% meat and 3-4 times the calories we eat today! Per day!



More kitchen


Maurice again and work station. Another shutterbug. And a kindred spirit. =) Remember, Maurice, I never promised you you wouldn't be on the blog. In fact, I refused to make any promise of that sort.


Another cooking station


Food sample. Fake food, of course, but...I heard that 40 times per year, they actually do a cooking demonstration here, using the actual kitchen, methods, and menu of Henry VIII's kitchen! Maurice said he read my mind when I heard this: I was thinking, "What?! I have to see this! Do they let you eat the food?? When will it be?? I have to come back!!" I was fascinated, thrilled, awed, intrigued. Hmmm.


The tree! A peculiar looking tree. I fancied it full of peacocks' nests. But I really don't know what those round things are...


The river. Of course the palace has river-access, and boat launches. This was a nice view of the river area. We were about out of juice here and ready to go back to town and head for the theatre!

London--HAPPY DAY!!

Here I am, outside the exit of the Globe Theater. This was only a pass-through, while we were waiting to board the London Eye. I was rather excited nevertheless. We came back the next day for the actual tour. Maybe we COULD have had a tour this day, but Pamela and I completely missed the entrance, walked all the way around the theater to the exit and went in there. Then we stopped at Starbucks! Starbucks is another beautiful thing about London. I could get my favorite hot chocolate. We then decided we should head on back to the EYE.

This is actually a recreation of Shakespeare's Globe, not very far from the site of the original Globe. It's as exact a copy as they could do with modern safety requirements, and the like. Completely FASCINATING! The tour was great. Just the way I like them--short and to the point. Not too much yakety-yak about every little detail. Perfect!

Those of you who know me will know that I kind of like Shakespeare. So this was a special treat for me...




The gate is a work of art! They employed some incredible number of smiths (or something) to contribute to this gate. It's pretty nifty.

But when we got inside...

After Notting Hill, we were so tired that the first exciting thing we found was a sofa in the ladies' restroom. We were loathe to leave it. I had considered USING the restroom, but I never made it past the sofa. We had to really consider...should we go and see the exhibit before the tour?? Yeah, I guess we should. So off we went!

Then, and I am almost ashamed to admit it, but Beth and I both felt the same way...there were WAY too many things to read in the exhibit! We had no interest in that! There were walls of words!!! No way! And yes, I am an English teacher! What could they really tell us that we wouldn't already know anyway?? We wanted VISUALS!!


This was a start!


This was a model of the theater "auditorium." Good thing I took this picture, because it was impossible to get this shot inside the real theater from our vantage points.


Neat!!


I like these kinds of things. Shows the creativity and importance of Shakespeare (whoever he was).


I liked this poster simply because I use that phrase a lot and there it was, with a picture of Shakespeare. Since I didn't read anything, I have to guess that this is about the identity question of Shakespeare. Hmm. Bacon, DeVere, James I? Maybe. Who cares? The play's the thing! (The plays are...the thing).


So here we were enjoying what we could see of the exhibit, and I noticed the groovy ceiling panels...so who was lying down on the floor, in the middle of the big exhibit room taking pictures of the ceiling? Yes, your truly. And I am not sorry! =)


Earth and moon...far out!


David, our guide, had a lovely accent, I must say. I don't love all the British accents, but his was nice.


The stage!


Stage ceiling, with its depiction of all 12 zodiac signs.


Scales! And I am not just taking this picture because it is my sign. Some of my FAVORITE people are also Libras...OK, there has to be at least one I could name! Somewhere out there. =)


The tour doesn't take people ON stage, so this was as close as I could get to my theater debut. =)


The view FROM the Globe is as good as the view OF the Globe, I dare say.