April 2009 Archives

Two articles in today's Times caught my attention: this analysis of the Somali bandit culture that's led to the current piracy crisis, and this "their side of the story" piece.

The release of U.S. sea captain Richard Phillips and related Somali piracy stories have dominated headlines here in Britain. Have they done the same in America?

My parents visited me the last two weeks of March and we filled the time well with many trips around England, Scotland and Wales. Today I begin sharing some of the stories and photos from their visit.

After we spent a few days here with friends in Nottingham, we hired a car (and put 1,300 miles on it in one week!) and drove north towards Edinburgh, probably about a 5-hour drive from Nottingham. But we took our time on the way up, stopping first in the historic city of Durham (It's England. It's all historic). Durham's city centre is a charming little warren of twisty, narrow streets winding up a hill and past intriguing shops. Park in the city centre car park for a few quid (pounds) and wander up the hill. Within 10 minutes you'll arrive at the park bordered by the castle and cathedral.

My dad and friend Ruth in front of the Norman-era Durham castle, now part of the local university.

I didn't take any good photos of the cathedral, first built in the 11th and 12 centuries, so go here to learn more about it and see photos. I was very impressed not only by the building, known as "the greatest Norman building in England, possibly in Europe" but also by the wonderful sense of local community and history housed within. Although it is a grand building it is also a parish church, and memorials to local boys killed in the 20th century wars and also lovely modern artworks only enhance the experience. I highly recommend this tourist stop.

For those who are able, I also strongly recommend paying a few pounds more to climb the very long, very steep, very winding staircase up to the roof of the cathedral dome. Climbing hundreds of old steps is an experience itself, but the view from the top is incredible.

I think these are buildings of the adjacent Durham University, as seen from the roof of Durham Cathedral.

We climbed back in the car and an hour later passed the turn for the Holy Island of Lindisfarne, which is reached by driving on a causeway at low tide. We checked and were there just about at low tide, so we drove across and spent another hour exploring the island.

It was windy but lovely at the old Lindisfarne priory grounds.

This friendly horse came up for a pat as we walked through its paddock on the public footpath leading through the the 11th-century priory ruins, past a local parish church and then down to the beach.

We didn't have time, sadly, to visit Lindisfarne Castle, a stunning 16th-century property maintained by England's National Trust.

We were blessed with sunny, warmish weather almost the entire two weeks that my parents visited. They--used to the Arizona desert sun--wrapped up on the gusty island, but my English friend and I were delighted to shed our coats and enjoy the spring warmth as we set off on our adventure.

We've had dozens of lovely spring days by now, so I'd cherished hopes today of hanging my laundry out to dry on the line, where it would merrily bob next to the blossom-laden cherry tree, above the bright stands of daffodils and tulips, and near the pear and apple trees that are just about to explode into flower themselves.

But, alas, it was raining all day. And so I hung my clean, wet washing on various radiators around the home, making the usual mental calculation to figure who'd be entering by the front door and if it was safe to hang underwear there. Yet a shift has occurred within me...I no longer mind this task! This is definitely a change, as previous entries here, here and here all attest.

I didn't realize how English I'd become in this regard--proud to save energy by hanging up laundry instead of using a dryer--until I read this excellent feature in National Geographic's March issue about saving energy at home. It's long but full of great advice. If you don't have time to read it, just look at this photo. I will note, however, that one of the families who undertakes the energy-saving challenge in the article decides to go back to using their dryer after all, because they have 3-year-old twins and do 15 loads of laundry a week! Sounds like a good plan to me.

I've so far refrained from commenting on Giftgate, as I like to call the PR furor that was stirred up after Gordon Brown visited the Obamas last month and brought along lovely, thoughtful historical gifts. It was Obama's gift to Brown that caused the uproar--a set of 12 great American films on DVD, which, according to some reports, were the wrong region and don't even run on British DVD players.

But I had to laugh while watching live BBC footage the other night of Barack and Michelle Obama's meeting with Queen Elizabeth II after the presenter solemnly announced that President Obama had brought for the queen ... an iPod. Now it should be noted that it's a very nice iPod, with photos of Her Majesty's 2007 American visit already uploaded and also accompanied by a rare songbook signed by great American composer Richard Rodgers. But an iPod? Really? After all, the queen is a rather elderly woman and, as technologically savvy as both of my emailing, texting grandmothers (both younger than the queen) are, I can't imagine either one of them joining the iPod revolution. My friends and I had fun the next morning imagining the queen and her iPod.

"She'll be the same queen," Trevor said, "it's just that in all photo shoots from now on you'll notice her subtly bobbing her head and tapping her feet to the music nobody else can hear."

The L.A. Times says we should give Obama a break on the gift gaffes because, after all, we all struggle with gift giving. But I'm more enamored of this idea by Chicago Tribune cultural critic Julia Keller--from now on, the president should give only books.

P.S. I like the breadth and humor of the Daily Mail story I link to in the first paragraph, but the story does contain a cringeworthy error, referring to that "famous line ... from Casablanca, 'Frankly, my dear, I don't give a damn.'" Casablanca? Hello! You don't even have to see the film to know that it is from Gone With the Wind. Maybe the Brits need those DVDs after all.