Devon & Cornwall

Last Sunday I went for a long drive through England's southern counties of Devon and Cornwall.  I started out by heading down the M5 motorway, stopping in Exeter to have a look at the well known Exeter Cathedral.  It was very cool, but to be honest not one of the better cathedrals I've seen here. 

I then headed west on the A30... destination St. Ives (many of the towns in this part of the country are named after missionaries).  Along the way I saw signage for Castle Drogo, so having no real schedule, I turned off the highway for a little detour.  Though the castle was closed on the inside, the outside was something else.  Tucked away in the woods and perched on a hill overlooking the Teign Gorge, it has a contemporary feel.  But perhaps the neatest thing I saw as I was exploring the nearby woods was a fox out for a Sunday morning stroll.

After walking the formal gardens I jumped back in the car and headed towards St. Ives as previously planned.  I didn't stay in St. Ives for long.  Parking was a nightmare and I wanted to get going to the day's ultimate destinations... Land's End and Lizard Point.

The drive from St. Ives to Land's End, the western most point in England, was brilliant.  I took what would be considered the coast road.  It was as curvy and narrow as any I've driven.  What I wouldn't give to have a BMW Z4 for that 20 miles.  For much of the drive there was a small hedgerow on the sides of the road (usually no more than a foot from from your side mirror) and it wasn't uncommon for the road to narrow from 2 to 1 lane.  I finally reached Land's End.  What can I say, it's a beautiful coastline.  I'll let the pictures speak for themselves.

After an hour or two at Land's End I headed east then south to my final destination of the day, Lizard Point, the southern most point in England.  Again, another brilliant coast (though not quite as good as Land's End).  There I had a nice dinner at the southern most cafe that overlooks the English Channel.  Finally I hit the road for what was about a 3 hr drive back to Bristol.  A long, good day.  View all photos here

Next major trip: Tuscany.  Today I booked tickets to spend the Easter weekend exploring Florence, Pisa and the surrounding area in Italy.

Take Care,

-ExPat

England Update

I’m sitting at a corner table in what has become a favorite Sunday afternoon spot of mine... the pub of the nearby Channings Hotel. 1) it’s a quiet, authentic English pub with free wi-fi, and 2) so far I’ve found the food here to be better than average (though a bit expensive, but what here isn’t). Though I haven’t been to any new, exciting places these last couple weeks, I thought I’d update you all on life in Bristol.

Things have been busy these last couple weeks. At Rolls, the bonuses of some depends on a project I‘m hoping to finish this week. Needless to say, folks are anxious to see it successfully finished. And I’ve been asked to present our results on another project to some big wigs in February. That will be a good opportunity to get some exposure in front of upper management... a chance to assure them that the money they’re investing to have me here is going to good use.

My social life has been fairly busy as well. A friend and I have been playing squash (racquetball) at a nearby leisure center (sports/exercise facility with onsite pub. If you have not yet noticed, the pub is a key component to English culture). My colleagues and I took our Indian colleague out for dinner last week to commemorate his 6 months work assignment with us. And I’ve met several new Italian friends of a friend.

And when I’m not doing all the above, Low Cost continues to be interesting. I’m waiting on a couple replies to a couple new quotes I’ve been working on. A positive reply to both would be very exciting.

Ahh... here comes my food. Excuse me...

Mmm... that lasagna was quite good. In general, I’m beginning to enjoy the food a bit more here. Not because English food is getting better, but I’m slowing figuring out what I like and where I like it. For example, earlier this week I found a good, simple pizza and yesterday I think I found the best burger in Bristol (Certified Aberdeen-angus beef). And ealier this week we took our Indian friend to one of my favorite curry houses.

As you know it’s been a busy week back in the States. We swore in our new president (twice). The majority here are excited to see Obama move into the Oval Office. Though I’m not surprised because 1) Barack comes across well on UK tele (as compared to recent Republican leadership), and 2) his promised policies will take US policy in a similar direction to that of the UK.

Speaking of US presidents, I saw Frost / Nixon last night. Good movie. I would certainly recommend it.

Hope this post find you all well.

Take care,
ExPat

Back in the Groove

After a relaxing three weeks back in the states, my flights back to England left a bit to be desired.  It all started with a 20 minute delay on the Indy taxiway.  Upon reaching Newark we sat on the ramp for another 20 minutes waiting for a gate to open up.  That said, I was sitting next to Jared the Subway guy so that was a bit interesting.  After an hour's layover in Newark we boarded the flight to Bristol.  Once the cabin doors were closed the captain came onto the cabin intercom to make an announcement.  "We are waiting for a technician to inspect a scratch found on the rear cabin door."  To make a long story short, that "scratch" was deemed bad enough to warrant a change of plane.  So we de-boarded, waited in the terminal for 2-3 hours, and finally boarded a substitute 757 around midnight.  Though to be honest, I appreciated the delay because I then had a chance to watch the Colts play on one of the terminal tv's.  Too bad they got beat.  Anyhow, 19 hours after arriving at the Indy airport I was in my Bristol flat.  

I'd say I did a pretty good job checking things off my list of things to do over the Christmas break.  I did a lot of visiting (as many of you know), ate a lot of pizza, watched a lot of football and basketball (both on tv and in person), and did a lot of driving (real cars on real roads).  Was able to finish a book (State of Fear by Michael Crichton) and start another (Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand).  I would certainly recommend State of Fear for anyone interested in the global warming issue.  Crichton wraps a fiction adventure around global warming facts.

This blog is being typed on a new MacBook Pro computer.  Perhaps the best part of this new laptop is the ease with which we can have video chats.  With a broadband connection, a video camera (separate or integral webcam) and an AIM (free), .MAC, or ME account you too can quickly setup a video chat.  At first I was skeptical, but it really does work well.  If any of you out there would like to give this a try, let me know.  All-in-all I'm really enjoying the new computer.

I've been back for a week now and pretty much back in the groove.  Work quickly spooled up to keep me quite busy and this weekend was spent with several friends (English, Indian, Spanish, Italian) out and about Bristol shopping, watching movies, eating at some new pubs and what's become some old favorites.  If this first week is any indicator of the new year, I'm looking forward to an exciting 2009.  I know many of you have an exciting year to come (Phillip and Kelly, Kevin and Karen, to name a few).  I look forward sharing in that as well (all be it from a long distance), so please stay in touch.

Take care everyone,

-ExPat