A couple weekends ago I checked off another of my must-do's from The List. Friday after work I high-tailed it home, threw some clothes into a piece of carry-on, and headed for the airport. After a very short layover in Amsterdam I was on my way to Milan, Italy.
Saturday was a free day, so I took the metro train to the city center for a day of wandering. The desk clerk at the hotel told me to get off the metro when I saw a church on the left. According to him, "You couldn't miss it." So when I saw the "church" I got off to check it out. It was impressive. What I would only come to realize later in the day I had gotten off at the wrong "church". While the church I initially saw was impressive, the real church, the Duomo, was unbelievable. Most impressive was the color. Surrounded by dark, old buildings, this cathedral and its near white color seemed to glow. Easily the most impressive cathedral I've seen so far. I guess that shouldn't be surprising since I wasn't too far from the center of the Catholic universe. As it turned out I was there in time for the Saturday evening service. So I stayed and sat in on the service. The rest of downtown Milan was very cool. I spent some time in what is their Central Park. Not too far away is a huge, thousand-year-old fortress. And of course the shopping options are never ending. For those of you who don't know, Milan is the fashion world's ground zero. For the women reading this post, specifically my sisters-in-law, you would have thought you had died and gone to heaven. I'm thinking all credit cards would have been maxed out by lunch.
Now to the reason for the weekend's trip, the Italian F1 Grand Prix. I woke up Sunday morning with no idea how I was going to get to the track. So I decided I would wait in the lobby and ask he first person I saw that looked like they were headed to the race for a ride. As it turned out, the first two to exit the elevator were two Polish brothers. My day was about to get interesting.
The first could not speak English so he pointed me to his brother who could speak just enough for us to have a difficult conversation. Even then I had to motion with my hands that I was looking for a ride. His response was the English equivalent to, "Why not." Turns out they were in a larger group of about 7 friends, all from Poland. When I saw their car I knew I had hit the jackpot. We drove to the race in a Mercedes Benz CL 600. This is a V12, 500hp near $200,000 car. To top it off he said, "My other car's a Lamborghini." (And he wasn't kidding. In the back seat were Lamborghini hats). Despite the language barrier, before reaching the track I was one of the gang and they were buying me drinks. At the track we split ways, but arranged a place for meeting after the race so I could get a ride back to the hotel.
Despite the light rain, the race was great. My general admission seats were marginal, but I decided that you don't go to an F1 race for the action on the track. For the most part these races are 200mph parades. You go for the sounds. I'm convinced the sound of these cars is one of the greatest sounds on Earth. I couldn't have been more than 50 feet from the track and the sound was so loud. It is nearly painful to your ears, uncomfortable to your teeth, but exhilarating to your heart... well worth the price of admission.
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
Boat Show in The Netherlands
A couple weekends ago I set off for Amsterdam to attend what’s touted as one of the biggest and best in-water boat shows in Europe. Late the Friday night before I booked a ticket for me and my car to cross the English Channel on a ferry, and early Saturday morning, with no more than a couple hours sleep and no real plan to speak of, I set out on the motorway (English interstate highway) in my car. The first stop was Dover,UK on England’s southeast coast. There I (along with a couple hundred other cars, trucks, and campers) drove onto the lower deck of a very large ferry boat. When I arrived in Dover I was hoping I would get to see the famous White Cliffs of Dover (see Robin Hood movie with Kevin Costner). Sure enough, as the ship pulled away from port there they were in all their slender. They were stunning… particularly with the morning sun hitting them. The 1 hour ferry ride was pleasant… a nice break after what had already been 3+ hours driving in the on-again, off-again rain and what would later prove to be another 3+ hours in the car. An hour later we all pulled off the ferry, this time on the opposite side of the road than when we had boarded. I was now in Calais, France. After a minor detour (nice way of saying getting lost) I was headed north. All I had for directions were a few notes scratched onto the back of an envelope. Of course, now all the road signage was in French (and I took Spanish in high school). Anyhow, the highway numbers were such that I could more or less keep myself headed in the right direction (though sometimes more sure than others). Before long I had left France and was in Belgium, around Antwerp, and finally The Netherlands. At no point when crossing the border from one country to the next (other than before getting on the ferry in Dover) did I have to stop and go through some sort of customs / security checkpoint. A few hours (and only a couple wrong turns) after disembarking from the ferry I found myself in Amsterdam.
I had no hotel reservations so my first order of business was to find a place to stay for the night. A task easier said than done, because now all the signage was in Dutch. However, as I was driving towards the city I could see off in the distance the familiar words “Holiday Inn” atop one of the larger buildings. So I decided I would point myself towards the familiar hotel in hopes to find a room there.
As I drove in and around downtown Amsterdam one thing stuck out like a sore thumb. Bikes. Bicycles as far as the eye can see. Traffic was light because nearly everyone was riding a bike. And one would think with so many bikes they would be riding the latest in two-wheel technology. Just the opposite. All the bikes were vintage 1950's. Some may have been that old, but many were new... designed and bought to look old.
After finding a room for the night and taking a short nap I set out for a walk to find something to eat and see a bit of the city. For the most part, from what little I saw, the city was beautiful. There's a nice balance of old architecture with bits of modern, northern-European design spattered about. I didn't realize this before visiting, but the city has a very extensive network of canals running through the streets (a small version of what you might find in Venice. In some areas the canal runs right against the buildings.) Rail cars powered by overhead cables run down the middle of the the streets without canals . And of course wherever there are people there are bikes. As the hours grew late you begin to see the less attractive parts of the city. Trash everywhere and people seem to have no issue with relieving themselves wherever and whenever (in one case it was off a bridge into one of those canals). As you walk about you can smell the marijuana sold legally in designated "bars". (I had an interesting conversation with an African gentleman who apparently spent his summers in Amsterdam as a drug dealer. He was telling me how it was only legal to sell pot before 1AM. After which you had to get it from someone like himself. Turns out he was dealing some much harder drugs of choice as well). And the infamous red light district is right in the middle of the action. Even after 12AM the city was bustling with people (it was a Saturday night).
The next morning I headed to the boat show on the coast just west of the city. The weather was not good, but the rain was pretty light. Long story short, there were a lot of boats. Hundreds upon hundreds. There were so many, after a while they all started to look the same. Though some were amazing and couldn't help but stand out. I particularly like the all-wooden boats and the 60'-70' sailing yachts. If only I lived near water (and had a couple million bucks to blow). Despite the rain I wondering around the docks for nearly 4 hours taking it all in before setting off for home.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Great Dorset Steam Fair
Yesterday I drove 2 hrs south to the Great Dorset Steam Fair in the county of Dorset. I would describe the fair as a cross between the Decatur County Fair and Power of the Past multiplied by 5. But at this fair, as you can infer from its name, steam is king. Steam tractors, steam trucks, a steam train, steam pumps, a steam-powered, horse-drawn fire engine, and so on. Heck, even the "midway" of amusement rides was powered by electricity generated with steam. In addition to steam-powered machines, there was also a rather impressive heavy horse show. These are work horses pulling field tools and carts. The pictures below really tell the story...Thursday, August 28, 2008
Back in Bristol
It was great to see everyone while in the States the other week. The weather while I was home was brilliant... mid 70's and sunny. After landing back in the UK I wasn't even able to make it to my flat without getting rained on.
Below are responses to a few questions I recently received from a fellow blog reader. Thanks for the questions.
Q: What was it like to come back and drive in the States?
A: To be honest, I hardly noticed. I must say, it was nice to get behind the wheel of my car (despite the fact that it drove horribly). I think the hardest thing to get used to is where you position your car within your lane. When you drive from the left side of the car, as you drive down your lane your body is just left of center. Position your body similarly when driving from the right side of the car and the left side of your car is in the lane next to you. I'm sure I've upset a few people over here once or twice because of this.
Q: How is the food and do you cook?
A: The food here is nothing to write home about. If England is known for one thing, it wouldn't be the food. However, there is quite the variety of food here from many other cultures and parts of the world. Like I've said before, the best food I've had here is probably Indian curry. And no, I don't really cook. Most nights, like tonight, is just something warmed up in the oven.
Q: Are the malls and grocery stores very different?
A: Pretty much the same. Except grocery stores are missing some of the staples... like Pop Tarts. Oh, and everything seems ridiculously expensive. Because of the exchange rate everything here pretty much cost double. For example, I bought a simple pair of Nikes yesterday. They cost 60 pounds. Doesn't sound too bad until you realize that's $120. When I fist arrived here I had a tendency to convert everything from pounds to dollars. It was depressing. So I try not to think about how much things cost in terms of dollars.
Q: Do people treat you differently b/c you're an American?
A: Hard to say, but I don't think so. I can't say that I've ever been treated poorly for being American. Sometimes I wonder if people even know I'm not from around here. I suspect they do as soon as I open my mouth and they hear my American "accent".
This weekend I'm headed to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. It looks to be similar to the Decatur County's Power of the Past... only English, bigger and with steam engines. I'll be sure to take my camera and post pictures to the blog.
Take care,
ExPat
Below are responses to a few questions I recently received from a fellow blog reader. Thanks for the questions.
Q: What was it like to come back and drive in the States?
A: To be honest, I hardly noticed. I must say, it was nice to get behind the wheel of my car (despite the fact that it drove horribly). I think the hardest thing to get used to is where you position your car within your lane. When you drive from the left side of the car, as you drive down your lane your body is just left of center. Position your body similarly when driving from the right side of the car and the left side of your car is in the lane next to you. I'm sure I've upset a few people over here once or twice because of this.
Q: How is the food and do you cook?
A: The food here is nothing to write home about. If England is known for one thing, it wouldn't be the food. However, there is quite the variety of food here from many other cultures and parts of the world. Like I've said before, the best food I've had here is probably Indian curry. And no, I don't really cook. Most nights, like tonight, is just something warmed up in the oven.
Q: Are the malls and grocery stores very different?
A: Pretty much the same. Except grocery stores are missing some of the staples... like Pop Tarts. Oh, and everything seems ridiculously expensive. Because of the exchange rate everything here pretty much cost double. For example, I bought a simple pair of Nikes yesterday. They cost 60 pounds. Doesn't sound too bad until you realize that's $120. When I fist arrived here I had a tendency to convert everything from pounds to dollars. It was depressing. So I try not to think about how much things cost in terms of dollars.
Q: Do people treat you differently b/c you're an American?
A: Hard to say, but I don't think so. I can't say that I've ever been treated poorly for being American. Sometimes I wonder if people even know I'm not from around here. I suspect they do as soon as I open my mouth and they hear my American "accent".
This weekend I'm headed to the Great Dorset Steam Fair. It looks to be similar to the Decatur County's Power of the Past... only English, bigger and with steam engines. I'll be sure to take my camera and post pictures to the blog.
Take care,
ExPat
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Home for a Week
I'll be arriving in Indy the evening of Saturday, Aug. 9 for a week long business trip. Looking forward to seeing everyone. Shoot me an email or give me a call at my old Indy cell number if you have a spare evening and would like to get together.
Monday, August 4, 2008
London Air Races
This past Sunday I set off for London to watch the Red Bull London Air Races. The day actually started the night before when I realized I had not printed my race ticket which was emailed to me after purchasing online. Normally that wouldn't be a problem, but I don't have a printer. So the morning of my first stop after leaving for London was my Rolls-Royce office where I had hoped to print the ticket there. Don't worry Rolls-Royce... I didn't use any company resources because my attempt to print didn't work. Something was not working somewhere between my computer an the printer. Typical. So I set out for London with the only evidence of my having bought a ticket being an electronic version of my ticket on my iPhone.
The racing was excellent. It quickly becomes obvious that these pilots are the best of the best. They're flying over 200 mph less than 60 ft from the water routinely pulling 9-10 g's. At 10 g's a 150 lb person feels as if they weigh 1,500 lbs. Imagine being under that pressure while flying precision maneuvers only 60 ft from the ground. This is far more extreme than what a fighter pilot must withstand.
During the race the weather was classically English. You can see from the photos the overcast skies and it spit rain several times over the course of the 2 hour event. But it was the wind that concerned the pilots. Winds were reported to gust near 20 mph. This made the course that much more difficult.
The racing was excellent. It quickly becomes obvious that these pilots are the best of the best. They're flying over 200 mph less than 60 ft from the water routinely pulling 9-10 g's. At 10 g's a 150 lb person feels as if they weigh 1,500 lbs. Imagine being under that pressure while flying precision maneuvers only 60 ft from the ground. This is far more extreme than what a fighter pilot must withstand.
During the race the weather was classically English. You can see from the photos the overcast skies and it spit rain several times over the course of the 2 hour event. But it was the wind that concerned the pilots. Winds were reported to gust near 20 mph. This made the course that much more difficult.
Saturday, July 19, 2008
Farnborough 2008
WARNING! - This post may be unbearable for those of you who don't love aviation. Proceed at your own risk.
Last Friday I had the opportunity to check off one of the items from "The List". Thanks to a free ticket provided by my boss, I attended the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, UK. Each year Farnborough and Paris alternate hosting this week long event. It is by far the most comprehensive airshow in the world. It's similar to Oshkosh, but while Oshkosh is more focused on the average American, Farnborough is focused on business. It's both airshow and aerospace industry trade show. There are several huge buildings filled with stands / displays from companies that make everything from the smallest gasket to Airbus and Boeing that make the largest of aircraft. In addition, the bigger companies will have their own building on site. It's here where big customers are schmoozed and big deals made. Farnborough is the place where everyone unveils their new aircraft (like the Detroit autoshow), where the high rollers come to test drive and pick out their new corporate jet, and where million dollar deals are made between companies and governments.
Monday through Friday of the show are "trade show" days or "corporate" days. These days are not for the general public, but are reserved for those with some kind of tie to the aerospace industry. My ticket was good for any day, including "corporate" days. So Friday morning with the help of new trusty iPhone I drove the 2 hours east to the airstrip, just south of Farnborough, UK. I spent the first couple hours strolling about indoors looking at all the displays. Some of you may have found this boring, but for aviation enthusiast like myself, it's like being a kid in a toy store. I was struck by the extravagance of the displays (you'll see in some of the pictures below). Big screen flat panels displays, scale and lifesize models and cutaways, and fancy lighting everywhere. Some "stands" where two stories, the top story being reserved for VIP's. Some were serving snacks and drinks. These companies spend a lot of money (some hundreds of thousands of dollars I'm sure) to put their best, most impressive foot forward. One interesting moment to note is when I found myself behind enemy lines. I had wandered into the MiG and Sukhoi displays... Russian territoy. I must admit I felt a little chill run down my spine and felt the need to look over my shoulder. Oh, and I did take the opportunity to talk to some folks at the Rolls-Royce display (do a little networking myself).
I then headed outside where there were many aircraft on display. Many were military in nature, similar to what you might see at an American airshow, but there were also many corporate aircraft on display. Dassualts, Cessna, and Learjets... oh my. And lots of corporate helicopters too (like AugustWestland). These are the toys and tools of the very rich. When walking about the show your just one door away from what I like to call "the parallel universe".
Then came the flight portion of the airshow. Unlike an American airshow, flight demonstrations at Farnborough are compacted into a 2-1/2 hour span. But you see more demos in that 2-1/2 hours than you would all day at an American airshow. I say "demos" because that's the feeling you get when watching them. In general, each plane flew for no more than 15 minutes. It's as if they say to the pilot, "You've got 15 minutes to make me want to by this airplane. Show me what you got." And boy do they. From takeoff to landing it's an action packed 15 minutes. Whether it's the huge Airbus A380 or the agile Eurofighter Typhoon, they fly these birds hard. The day I was there was typical UK weather (cold, windy, with an occasional lite rain) so the cloud ceiling was around 3,000 feet. Because of that the planes stayed low and tight... which seemed to suit the pilots just fine. These days I think the two things fighters like to tout is agility and maneuverability. Who can make the tightest turn? Who can pull back on the stick and swing the tail end around the quickest. This is why you see thrust vectoring (F-22) and canards (Eurofighter Typhoon) in modern fighters. And the results are impressive. For those of you who haven't been to an airshow in 10-20 years, jet fighters are doing things now that make you ask yourself, "Is that even possible?" You think they must be breaking some fundamental law of flight. These jets are doing things that was once reserved for little prop-driven aerobatic planes like the extra 300 or Pitts. When was the last time you saw a 30,000 lb jet hang by it's "prop" or do a tailslide?
Unlike an American airshow, at Farnborough you can stand not too far from the runway. And throughout the flight demos I stood at the approach end of the runway where I got to see the planes taxi into position, spool up their engines, release the brakes, and begin to accelerate down the runway. The best part was the sounds. To hear that high-pitched whine and hiss of an idling gas turbine turn into a roar that can shake the ground is an adrenaline rush. When the F-18 took off there was an instant that I feared damage to my hearing. And as the fighters pulled away you could see the fire from the afterburner up the exhaust nozzles.
Below are some pictures from my day. And below that are some videos I pulled from YouTube of Farnborough 2008. The videos I took were OK, but those below are from this year's show as well and very representative of what I saw. Enjoy.
Airbus A380
Eurofigher Typhoon
F-16 Fighting Falcon
Vulcan
Red Arrows
Last Friday I had the opportunity to check off one of the items from "The List". Thanks to a free ticket provided by my boss, I attended the Farnborough International Airshow in Farnborough, UK. Each year Farnborough and Paris alternate hosting this week long event. It is by far the most comprehensive airshow in the world. It's similar to Oshkosh, but while Oshkosh is more focused on the average American, Farnborough is focused on business. It's both airshow and aerospace industry trade show. There are several huge buildings filled with stands / displays from companies that make everything from the smallest gasket to Airbus and Boeing that make the largest of aircraft. In addition, the bigger companies will have their own building on site. It's here where big customers are schmoozed and big deals made. Farnborough is the place where everyone unveils their new aircraft (like the Detroit autoshow), where the high rollers come to test drive and pick out their new corporate jet, and where million dollar deals are made between companies and governments.
Monday through Friday of the show are "trade show" days or "corporate" days. These days are not for the general public, but are reserved for those with some kind of tie to the aerospace industry. My ticket was good for any day, including "corporate" days. So Friday morning with the help of new trusty iPhone I drove the 2 hours east to the airstrip, just south of Farnborough, UK. I spent the first couple hours strolling about indoors looking at all the displays. Some of you may have found this boring, but for aviation enthusiast like myself, it's like being a kid in a toy store. I was struck by the extravagance of the displays (you'll see in some of the pictures below). Big screen flat panels displays, scale and lifesize models and cutaways, and fancy lighting everywhere. Some "stands" where two stories, the top story being reserved for VIP's. Some were serving snacks and drinks. These companies spend a lot of money (some hundreds of thousands of dollars I'm sure) to put their best, most impressive foot forward. One interesting moment to note is when I found myself behind enemy lines. I had wandered into the MiG and Sukhoi displays... Russian territoy. I must admit I felt a little chill run down my spine and felt the need to look over my shoulder. Oh, and I did take the opportunity to talk to some folks at the Rolls-Royce display (do a little networking myself).
I then headed outside where there were many aircraft on display. Many were military in nature, similar to what you might see at an American airshow, but there were also many corporate aircraft on display. Dassualts, Cessna, and Learjets... oh my. And lots of corporate helicopters too (like AugustWestland). These are the toys and tools of the very rich. When walking about the show your just one door away from what I like to call "the parallel universe".
Then came the flight portion of the airshow. Unlike an American airshow, flight demonstrations at Farnborough are compacted into a 2-1/2 hour span. But you see more demos in that 2-1/2 hours than you would all day at an American airshow. I say "demos" because that's the feeling you get when watching them. In general, each plane flew for no more than 15 minutes. It's as if they say to the pilot, "You've got 15 minutes to make me want to by this airplane. Show me what you got." And boy do they. From takeoff to landing it's an action packed 15 minutes. Whether it's the huge Airbus A380 or the agile Eurofighter Typhoon, they fly these birds hard. The day I was there was typical UK weather (cold, windy, with an occasional lite rain) so the cloud ceiling was around 3,000 feet. Because of that the planes stayed low and tight... which seemed to suit the pilots just fine. These days I think the two things fighters like to tout is agility and maneuverability. Who can make the tightest turn? Who can pull back on the stick and swing the tail end around the quickest. This is why you see thrust vectoring (F-22) and canards (Eurofighter Typhoon) in modern fighters. And the results are impressive. For those of you who haven't been to an airshow in 10-20 years, jet fighters are doing things now that make you ask yourself, "Is that even possible?" You think they must be breaking some fundamental law of flight. These jets are doing things that was once reserved for little prop-driven aerobatic planes like the extra 300 or Pitts. When was the last time you saw a 30,000 lb jet hang by it's "prop" or do a tailslide?
Unlike an American airshow, at Farnborough you can stand not too far from the runway. And throughout the flight demos I stood at the approach end of the runway where I got to see the planes taxi into position, spool up their engines, release the brakes, and begin to accelerate down the runway. The best part was the sounds. To hear that high-pitched whine and hiss of an idling gas turbine turn into a roar that can shake the ground is an adrenaline rush. When the F-18 took off there was an instant that I feared damage to my hearing. And as the fighters pulled away you could see the fire from the afterburner up the exhaust nozzles.
Below are some pictures from my day. And below that are some videos I pulled from YouTube of Farnborough 2008. The videos I took were OK, but those below are from this year's show as well and very representative of what I saw. Enjoy.
Airbus A380
Eurofigher Typhoon
F-16 Fighting Falcon
Vulcan
Red Arrows
Air Tattoo
I knew I'd get some of you with that title. No, I didn't get a tattoo of an airplane. Air Tattoo is short for Royal International Air Tattoo (RIAT), the UK's premier military airshow. I was to go last weekend, but due to heavy rains several days before the airshow, it was cancelled for the first time in 38 years. The reason for cancellation was that the grass and fields surrounding the airstrip were too wet to withstand the onslaught of what was estimated to be 140,000 people (and their cars) over the course of the weekend. I can imagine hundreds of cars getting stuck in the mud. Oh well... will try again next year.
What interested to me most about Air Tattoo was the fact that America's F-22 Raptor was there. The F-22 is our latest jet fighter (that we know of). Each one costs around $140 million (your tax dollars hard at work). Don't worry... you get what you pay for. The F-22 is the most dominant fighter in the world today. Not only is it stealthy and can perform an entire mission at supersonic speeds (without afterburners), it can maneuver like no other. Check out this video taken just days ago as the Raptor rehearsed for RIAT 2008.
However, the weekend wasn't a complete loss. Last Friday I did manage to get my hands on one of the last remaining new iPhones 3G's in Bristol. It is brilliant. I particularly find the maps with GPS useful as I try to find my way about over here. For those of you with existing cell contracts due to expire soon, you'd be crazy not to get an iPhone.
Now that I'm settled in I'm thinking about planning some trips elsewhere. I think the way I'd prefer seeing Europe is by planning trips around events. So I've begun to populate my calendar with events I'd like to see. Then I figure I'll take a few days before or after the event to tour the area. Those of you planning a trip may want to keep an eye on the calendar. If you see something that sparks your interest, perhaps that would be a good time to visit.
Next post coming soon... Farnborough 2008.
What interested to me most about Air Tattoo was the fact that America's F-22 Raptor was there. The F-22 is our latest jet fighter (that we know of). Each one costs around $140 million (your tax dollars hard at work). Don't worry... you get what you pay for. The F-22 is the most dominant fighter in the world today. Not only is it stealthy and can perform an entire mission at supersonic speeds (without afterburners), it can maneuver like no other. Check out this video taken just days ago as the Raptor rehearsed for RIAT 2008.
However, the weekend wasn't a complete loss. Last Friday I did manage to get my hands on one of the last remaining new iPhones 3G's in Bristol. It is brilliant. I particularly find the maps with GPS useful as I try to find my way about over here. For those of you with existing cell contracts due to expire soon, you'd be crazy not to get an iPhone.
Now that I'm settled in I'm thinking about planning some trips elsewhere. I think the way I'd prefer seeing Europe is by planning trips around events. So I've begun to populate my calendar with events I'd like to see. Then I figure I'll take a few days before or after the event to tour the area. Those of you planning a trip may want to keep an eye on the calendar. If you see something that sparks your interest, perhaps that would be a good time to visit.
Next post coming soon... Farnborough 2008.
Thursday, July 3, 2008
Happy Independence Day
Those of you who know me well know I love great music from all genres... be it Rage Against the Machine to Mozart. Well, tonight I went back to Wells Cathedral where the only thing that could compete with this amazing structure were the notes from its huge pipe organ. Powerful stuff. Here's but a taste...
For those of you in the good ole US of A, enjoy your 4th of July. Be thankful you were born in such a great country (no matter how high the gas prices). While you're all watching parades and preparing for barbecues, I'll be at work. But to celebrate I thought I might bring something truly American into work to enjoy with my UK colleagues... maybe Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Happy Birthday to Ella Marie and Grace Elizabeth Reiger.
-ExPat
For those of you in the good ole US of A, enjoy your 4th of July. Be thankful you were born in such a great country (no matter how high the gas prices). While you're all watching parades and preparing for barbecues, I'll be at work. But to celebrate I thought I might bring something truly American into work to enjoy with my UK colleagues... maybe Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Happy Birthday to Ella Marie and Grace Elizabeth Reiger.
-ExPat
Saturday, June 28, 2008
Countryside and a Cathedral
I recently acquired a new set of wheels. No, I didn't trade in my Ford Focus for an Aston Martin and I didn't buy a new BMW motorcycle (yet). A friend from work offered to let me borrow his extra mountain bike. So after buying a few accessories (like a helmet), that friend and I took to the trails last Saturday for what I figured to be a couple hour ride. I had expressed interest in seeing some English countryside, and boy did we. At one point we found ourselves hoisting our bikes over farm gates and riding through a cow pasture, dodging both cows and other things you might find in a cow pasture (if you know what I mean). One flat tire and six hours later we finally made our way back to town. It was great fun.
Just yesterday that same friend, his wife and I hit the road for the city of Wells to visit the Wells Cathedral of the Church of England. Wells is a small city (classified as a city because it has a cathedral) some :45 south of Bristol. To start, the drive south offers some great views of the English countryside. The rolling hills are so green, broken apart by a patchwork of miles of hedgerows and dry stone walls (The size and shape of stones vary depending on what part of the country you're in. Here they tend to be smaller, thinner limestone). Never mind the breathtaking gardens that exist in England (and I'm not talking about your tomatoes in the backyard or roses in the front yard, but the acres of landscaping groomed and preserved by the UK's National Trust), even looking at the open countryside you get the idea the English take more pride in a well-groomed landscape. (Why is that? Maybe it's because they have less of it.) Once reaching Wells and parking the car we set out to find a cafe to have a proper, traditional English tea. What is a proper English tea you ask? Basically, it's an mid-late afternoon snack. But it's more than that. Our traditional English tea included hot tea and scones. A scone is a kind of sweet biscuit; some are plain, others have raisin-like fruit in them. You then spread cotter creme and jam on your scone and enjoy. It's quite good... a tradition I could get used to (but we Americans eat too far too much as it is). After tea we headed towards the cathedral. On the way we came across an open-street market being torn down after a morning of local commerce. I couldn't help but think how that same market has existed for 100's of years. When standing in the narrow streets of Wells it's not hard to imagine (like a scene out of Robin Hood). We finally made our way to the cathedral and WOW! It is huge and so ornate. There is so much detailed stone work it's overwhelming. From a design / aesthetic point of view I would say it's too much detail. When we walked in we were greeted by the beautiful sound of a choir singing. Turns out there was a service going on, but the place is so huge the service was going on in one end of he cathedral while visitors were free to come and go in the other end of the cathedral. Any attempt I might make to describe this place wouldn't do it justice, so I won't even try. Needless to say, it's an amazing, beautiful place (so much so I'm considering going back this coming week for a concert). But while there I couldn't help but notice how the building exuded a feeling contrary to what God is all about. We know God to be a loving, personal God. Hundred's of years ago when the average person didn't read, let alone own a Bible, this building would have only sent the message that God is distant and to be feared. It makes one wonder if, at that time, was the church more interested in the salvation of individuals or the control of the masses? From the looks of it... the control of the masses. (And that's exactly why King Henry VIII established the Church of England. He didn't establish it so that all his subjects would go to heaven. He did it to tell the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope the he was in charge.) Perhaps this is why so many people here are sceptical of religion.
Below are a few pictures of the memorable day...
I'm excited to see Indy ExPat's readership is growing. I would encourage each of you to continue sharing it with others whom you think might be interested, and making comments and asking questions on the posts. Not only is two-way dialog more fun, it gives me ideas for upcoming posts. And if you haven't already done so, subscribe to the blog by entering your email address in the field to the left.
Happy birthday to Mr. Ryan Kerns.
And on a side note... last week I signed a 2-year lease to rent my condo in Indy to what seems to be the perfect tenant. Not a big deal to most of you, but very exciting to me.
Till next time,
-Indy ExPat
Just yesterday that same friend, his wife and I hit the road for the city of Wells to visit the Wells Cathedral of the Church of England. Wells is a small city (classified as a city because it has a cathedral) some :45 south of Bristol. To start, the drive south offers some great views of the English countryside. The rolling hills are so green, broken apart by a patchwork of miles of hedgerows and dry stone walls (The size and shape of stones vary depending on what part of the country you're in. Here they tend to be smaller, thinner limestone). Never mind the breathtaking gardens that exist in England (and I'm not talking about your tomatoes in the backyard or roses in the front yard, but the acres of landscaping groomed and preserved by the UK's National Trust), even looking at the open countryside you get the idea the English take more pride in a well-groomed landscape. (Why is that? Maybe it's because they have less of it.) Once reaching Wells and parking the car we set out to find a cafe to have a proper, traditional English tea. What is a proper English tea you ask? Basically, it's an mid-late afternoon snack. But it's more than that. Our traditional English tea included hot tea and scones. A scone is a kind of sweet biscuit; some are plain, others have raisin-like fruit in them. You then spread cotter creme and jam on your scone and enjoy. It's quite good... a tradition I could get used to (but we Americans eat too far too much as it is). After tea we headed towards the cathedral. On the way we came across an open-street market being torn down after a morning of local commerce. I couldn't help but think how that same market has existed for 100's of years. When standing in the narrow streets of Wells it's not hard to imagine (like a scene out of Robin Hood). We finally made our way to the cathedral and WOW! It is huge and so ornate. There is so much detailed stone work it's overwhelming. From a design / aesthetic point of view I would say it's too much detail. When we walked in we were greeted by the beautiful sound of a choir singing. Turns out there was a service going on, but the place is so huge the service was going on in one end of he cathedral while visitors were free to come and go in the other end of the cathedral. Any attempt I might make to describe this place wouldn't do it justice, so I won't even try. Needless to say, it's an amazing, beautiful place (so much so I'm considering going back this coming week for a concert). But while there I couldn't help but notice how the building exuded a feeling contrary to what God is all about. We know God to be a loving, personal God. Hundred's of years ago when the average person didn't read, let alone own a Bible, this building would have only sent the message that God is distant and to be feared. It makes one wonder if, at that time, was the church more interested in the salvation of individuals or the control of the masses? From the looks of it... the control of the masses. (And that's exactly why King Henry VIII established the Church of England. He didn't establish it so that all his subjects would go to heaven. He did it to tell the Roman Catholic Church and the Pope the he was in charge.) Perhaps this is why so many people here are sceptical of religion.
Below are a few pictures of the memorable day...
I'm excited to see Indy ExPat's readership is growing. I would encourage each of you to continue sharing it with others whom you think might be interested, and making comments and asking questions on the posts. Not only is two-way dialog more fun, it gives me ideas for upcoming posts. And if you haven't already done so, subscribe to the blog by entering your email address in the field to the left.
Happy birthday to Mr. Ryan Kerns.
And on a side note... last week I signed a 2-year lease to rent my condo in Indy to what seems to be the perfect tenant. Not a big deal to most of you, but very exciting to me.
Till next time,
-Indy ExPat
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