The DC Cohen Visit

Giles, Tracy, Avery, and Phoebe spent a fun-filled week with us in the U.K. I have to admit that the highlights for Rachelle and me were playing with adorable Avery (5 yo) and Phoebe (2 yo). Avery was very excited about being in England (he didn't sleep on the US-UK flight), and when he stepped off the bus in Bath he quickly peppered me with a litany of questions, including whether or not bathrooms were inside the homes and if the London bridge was in fact falling down. Phoebe is a social little toddler and entertained us with songs and full-dimpled smiles.

On their first day in Bath, our little Clio made 2 trips to get all Cohens to Victoria park. It was a beautiful day, and the 4 parents had a decent time losing and finding and chasing around the 4 little Cohens. Noah and Liv each found school mates and were off and Avery and Phoebe were drawn to different areas of the large playground. That evening the 8 of us enjoyed a wonderful Rachelle-made dinner at home, and then Giles and I headed downtown to a traditional pub for some ale and a long brotherly, warm catch-up.

Monday through Thursday, Noah and Liv had school, but the rest of us toured the South-Western UK. We started the week by jumping into our rented 7-seater and did the necessary trip to Stonehenge. Avery was particularly interested in the gift shop and the snack bar, and Phoebe fine-tuned her "baas" with the ever-present sheep. On the way home, we dropped off Giles and Tracy to explore downtown and the Roman Baths and find their way back to our cottage using the bendable "Big Orange" bus, and Rachelle and I took the two little Americans home with us for fun babysitting. In the early evening, the visitors, Liv, and I headed to Sham Castle for some climbing and great views of downtown Bath. We also stopped by the pond to feed the ducks, which was especially fun for Phoebe who was fearless of the snapping beaks.

On Tuesday we headed to Wales for a day that will live long in Avery's memory, as we enjoyed two of his favorite interests - Castles and trains. Caerphilly Castle is one of the largest in Britain with a double-moat and replicas of cross-bows, trebuchets, catapults, canons, and other implements of destruction. After Avery had his fill of imaginary war waging, we headed to the Brecon Mountain Railway, a little steam engine train that took us on an hour trip through the beautiful mountainside and by a lake in Wales.

On Wednesday, we explored the Cotswalds villages of Lacock and Castle Combe. Although Rachelle and I have been to each about 5 times, we still found the villages enchanting and peaceful, even as we chased or carried Avery and Phoebe up and down the cobblestone street and through the fields.

On Thursday we headed to Wells cathedral and Glastonbury. At this point, I believe Avery had just about had his fill of castles and cathedrals, especially because the Big Boy (as Phoebe called Noah) and Liv were not with us. Of course the ancient clock with the wooden animated jousters in the Wells Cathedral was a hit for the little ones. In Glastonbury we explored the Abbey ruins and grounds, which are beautiful and the weather was perfect. Phobe was especially fond of the ducks and Avery liked to climb on the stone ruins. The bigger folks enjoyed seeing the stone markers of the supposed graves of King Arthur and Queen Guinevere. Having 4 adults to 2 kids allowed some of us a chance to read and listen to the incredible history of the Abbey, which was established in 712 and rose and fell in prominence and finally was disestablished by Henry VIII in 1539. If you are curious, Henry had the Abbot Richard Whiting hanged, drawn, and quartered on Glastonbury Tor, which we had visited on a prior trip with Rachelle and George.

On Friday, we all split up (not the same way as poor Richard Whiting). Tracy and Avery took the train to London; Noah and Liv went to school; Giles, Phoebe, and I toured downtown Bath and had lunch as a noodle place (Phoebe's request); and Rachelle stayed home and cleaned and relaxed. In the afternoon, we drove the rental to London to meet up with Tracy and Avery, and we only faced Friday 5:00 traffic once we were in the city. Once we found each other at our hotel, Avery shared stories of riding the train and a double-decker bus around the city. We found a Thai restaurant and luckily we were the only customers in the downstairs area, as we had a fun and rowdy meal. Later that evening, Giles and I slipped out to a pub for a pint or two, to take in some of the local color, and enjoyed a long chat.

On Saturday, we took the Tube and buses to Buckingham Palace and then to the Tower of London. Avery loved the subway, Phoebe loved playing with Liv, and Noah and Avery shared a fascination with some of the scarier stories about the Tower. We parted in the park as our D.C. visitors were getting into a long line for the London Eye and we were heading back to Bath. On the way back to the hotel, we stopped for a snack. As we got off the second subway and were walking toward the hotel, we noticed that the foursome in front of us were strikingly similar to our family we had left at the South Bank. In fact, they had skipped the Eye, played in the park, and headed back. So, we were afforded some final time to wrestle and wreak havoc in the hotel room before we hugged, parted, and we headed back to Bath. (pictures will be added soon!)

The Royal Mineral Hospital

As I had spent 7 months examining adolescent chronic pain data at the University of Bath Centre for Pain Research, I decided it was high time I descended from the ivory tower on the hill to get a first-hand and personal look at the hospital where the adolescents with chronic pain receive treatment: The Royal Mineral Hospital Pain Management Program.

On Friday, I completed the 3-week, 9-5, adolescent and parent, pain program. Rather than just involve myself with the Psychology strand, I stayed with the 6 adolescents and their mums for every session (physio, occupational, medical, psychology) through the day. It was intense and exhausting and I don't even have chronic pain. I shouldn't complain too much about the 3 weeks; most people work all year for 3 weeks off... ;) The program is remarkable and the treatment team seamlessly works together to help the adolescents and their parents break old patterns and begin to get their academic, social, professional, and personal lives back on track - despite having chronic pain. There are many difficult and heart-wrenching moments, but there are fun times too. I'll share a couple of the light-hearted events.

We went to the gym so that the adolescents could work on their individual goals, which range from bending a leg, touching a foot to the floor, and weight-bearing, to walking and exercising. One of the activities was a dancing game. Basically, there are dance mats wirelessly connected to a large screen. We compete against each other by dancing to the song and pressing the mat arrows in the correct sequence. The adolescents encouraged me to join the game, which I did. Well, the first round I found it challenging and at the end of the song noticed that I came in 6th place...out of 6 dancers. The next 2 songs I really focused and was never able to do better than 5th place. I do not consider myself a great dancer, but jeez, these kids were on crutches! They were really laughing at me, which they said was because I looked like a rabbit bouncing on my pad. It wasn't until later that one of them confessed that their giggles were because they had noticed that my mat was turned off and not registering!

There is a holiday in England called Red Nose day. On that day, you do humorous things to raise money for charity. The adolescents and their parents decided that for Red Nose day, the treatment team would wear their "pants" on the outside of their clothes. No boxers aloud. So, we pranced around all day wearing our underwear on top of our trousers. Let me tell you, it is hard to have a serious conversation with an adolescent and her mum when you are standing there with a tie, dress shirt, fancy slacks, and striped tight briefs. Well, I guess it is all for a good cause.

A side-benefit of working in the hospital rather than up at the University is that I could skip out for lunch and walks around downtown Bath, which was a treat. As you might be able to make out from the photo, the hospital is in the middle of a great pedestrian and shopping area. Also, since I was not working a stone's throw from our house, I had the opportunity to bike to and from the hospital each day. Given that our cottage is on top of a mile long steep hill, the ride to work was a breeze, but the ride home on my fixed gear bike was a chore. I will decline from sharing the story of when I wasn't paying attention and ran into a van, which was stopped at a light. Please know that only my pride was hurt when all of the windows rolled down and the carload of teens looked at me with a mixture of concern, confusion, and amusement.

All in all, it was wonderful working with the adolescents and their parents, and the experience will undoubtedly breathe life into my research.

Durham and Yorkshire Dales

I was invited to give a talk at Durham University, so we decided to make a family weekend of it in the north country. Rachelle and I scooped the kids out of school Thursday afternoon and hit the motorway. We arrived at our posh hotel (thank you Durham University for the nice digs) that evening after grabbing some Brit roadside food along the way. The Brit Breakfast in the hotel was fab as they say, and we headed out to explore Durham.

Durham is a quaint, cobble-stoned, old city with a wonderful cathedral and castle. Most of downtown is a pedestrian zone, with bridges over the rivers and great little shops and restaurants. We spent most of the morning exploring the cathedral, which author Bill Bryson called the "best cathedral on planet Earth." We were able to extend our visit because there were challenging, fun, and time-consuming kid activities for Noah and Liv. To be honest, Rachelle and I greatly enjoyed helping them search through the carvings, stained-glass windows, and statues for animals and other hidden treasures.

After picking out some books at a little shop, we found a great cafe for lunch and reading time. I headed to the university for my talk, which was followed by a pub gathering, and then off to a Thai restaurant where Rachelle and the kids joined the Durham faculty, students, and me. Liv held court at one end of the table telling three Brit students about life in America and in Bath.

The next day we headed out of Durham for home. We wanted to get back because Noah had a friend coming over Sunday and I was eager to try out my much improved ankle on the football field. Along the way, Rachelle and I discreetly detoured a bit into the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

After lunch in a great pub, which helped to quell the kids' protests about the upcoming hike, we headed to the tiny town of Malham. Malham has a population of 200, but 500,000 hikers descend on the town annually to walk in the surroundings. We hiked along a river up to a cove and enormous waterfall. We climbed the 400 or so stone stairs to the top and scampered around on the granite rocks and cliffs before descending back to the river. The kids had fun hopping on stones in the water and managed to stay at least partially dry before we drove back to Bath.

Spain Trip Part IV: Ronda

We sadly left our wonderful hosts and the colorful and vibrant Sevilla and headed for Ronda. Ronda is a medium-sized town perched on the top of cliffs and straddling a 300-foot canyon. We had booked a room outside of town in a B&B situated in the middle of a working olive farm. The whole family was immediately enchanted by the pool, gnarly olive trees, horses, wonderful farm house, views into the mountains, and especially for the kids, the many friendly dogs who lived there. Liv and Noah quickly joined the dog pack and were either leading or following their furry friends at all times. Rachelle and I enjoyed a walk and enjoyed the views through the fields to the snow-capped peaks, the sun, and the fresh air. Rachelle and I were repeatedly chastised by the kids for only staying 1 night in this peaceful retreat, which was their favorite part of the Spain trip.

We spent the evening exploring Ronda before finding a recommended restaurant for dinner. At this restaurant, the waiter asked us about our general food preferences (grilled or steamed, vegetarian, etc.) and then disappeared. We saw no menus and before we could request them, food was brought to our table. The food was wonderful and kept coming until we said that we had had enough. As was customary in many of our dining experiences in Spain, after we had paid but before we were allowed to leave, Rachelle and I had to each drink a shot of some unknown and often sweet alcohol.

After a wonderful breakfast at our farmhouse, we returned to Ronda for further exploring. We found a mine, which was a secret military structure constructed by the Moors. We followed the zigzagging steep stairs and tunnels, which are carved into the rock down 180 feet to the river at the base of the gorge.

We said goodbye to Ronda and Noah and Liv's dog pack and headed to Malaga for our last night before heading back to Bath. All in all, we agreed that Spain had the best weather, yummiest food, and warmest people that we have met on our travels.