Latvia

Our trip started on the wrong foot when I was picked out of the line at the Bristol airport because my carry-on was too big to be carried on. Not only was I annoyed to have to pay to check the bag, but I lost my spot and about 5 more Latvians cut in front of my family (I repeatedly learned on our trips that Latvians are polar opposites to the orderly Brits who always politely que up). The downsides to the cheap tickets on RyanAir is that there are no assigned seats and they make their money off of checked bags and other extra charges.

We were picked up in Riga by Gita and Anta, Rachelle's cousin and goddaughter. The kids and I used our Latvian 'hi' (sweiks) and 'thank you' (pauldies) and then let the 3 of them began yammering away in Latvian.

When we woke at Hotel Tia the next morning, Rachelle realized that she had left her carry on, with all of her clothes, on the plane. So, with Rachelle dressed in Noah's Real Madrid shirt and shorts, we enjoyed breakfast at our hotel, which was a great Latvian spread of dark rye and other traditional breads, fruit, eggs, and different dishes of veggies with sauces. Anta had the day off and served as our tour guide around downtown Latvia. Riga is an 800-year-old city with a variety of colorful and beautiful architecture. The city is a mixture of stone, earth tones, spires, bright wooden buildings, and bridges over the river. There are clear influences from the many years when Riga was under German and Russian rule.

After exploring Riga, we took a bus to the airport to retrieve Rachelle's bag - they found it on the plane and were holding it for her! - and pick up our rental car. After stopping by Hotel Tia so Rachelle could shed Noah's clothes, we headed to Lido, a combination restaurant and amusement park (http://ac.lido.lv/index.php?lang=en&sad=1). We found Gita, Anta, Toms, and Inese (Gita's son and his wife), picked out some food from the buffets, and found a table in the building that seats over 1000 people. After dinner, the kids, Toms, and I went to the amusement park. Liv enjoyed the rides that took her high in the air and Noah preferred the shooting games. All of us took part in the cannon room, where you are situated at an air gun and can shoot spongy balls at each other. There are 4 guns on each side of the netted room. Although the balls are soft, they do slightly sting, especially when they hit your face. One Russian boy let out evil cackles as he fired the gun until Noah repeatedly smacked him in the head with well aimed shots. The boy abandoned his gun, ran across the floor, and began pelting Noah with the balls. However, his throws were not as hard as the gun shots and when he was in the middle of the room, he was an easy target for all of the shooters on both sides.

The next day we joined Gita and Anta at the Latvian Ethnographic Open Air Museum, which is a collection of old Latvian huts, houses, and other structures set in 100 hectares of open wooded land. It was a beautiful day for us to explore the buildings and enjoy some Latvian dancing, music, and food. We headed to dinner at Gita's, where Guntars (Gita's husband) cooked wonderful salmon and other dishes. The kids spent most of the evening playing with Gita and Guntars' new puppy, Dzane (pronounced Jane-uh), in the back yard while we grownups caught up. Rachelle was sweet to do some translating so I could join in the conversation.

On Monday, we met up with Anta and headed to the beach near Ragaciems, north of Riga. Lativa has some beautiful white sandy beaches, and the kids enjoyed making sand/snow angels. Liv and Noah built sandcastles and we had a picnic, having stopped at a local stand where we procured some excellent smoked fish. Later that day, we met up with Toms and Inese at Go Planet, a flashy indoor amusement center where we had dinner and played some high energy laser tag and other games. As Toms is a police officer, he easily outmaneuvered and outshoot us, even though he is a much larger target.

The next day we left our hotel very early and headed to Cesis, where Rachelle's other cousin, Gatis, and his family live. One of the reasons why we decided to go to Latvia when we did (and pull our kids out of school for a week), was to partake in the celebration of Jani, the summer solstace. Latvians get at least 2 days off (our relatives seemed to have 3 days) to return to their pagan roots. Most lativans seem to head off to the country for Jani and they try to stay up all night to ensure good luck for the following year. Gatis works at a sports school and was in charge of organizing a fun run over the holiday. We had signed up for the 6k road race, which had seemed like a good idea several weeks ago. When we got there, there were lots of fit Euros stretching and jogging around. We learned that there is a sports training college in town, and many of the students had shown up for the John's day race. Noah started the race with me, and I repeatedly warned him him to slow down and pace himself, but some things you have to learn the hard way. After a kilometer or so, he gasped that he would wait and run with Rachelle and Liv. I took off and enjoyed passing runners for the rest of the race as I had been able to conserve energy with Noah. I ended up 31st overall and 1st in my age group, which was a boost a day before my birthday. I waited in the heat with the growing crowd of sweaty europeans (yes, it was stinky), I was able to snap photos of Liv and Rachelle and later Noah crossing the finish line. We all enjoyed the post-race free food and drink and exploring the adorable quaint town and castle before heading to Gatis' house.

Gatis, his wife Gita (a different Gita), their 17-year-old daughter, Zane, and their 4-year-old daughter, Marta, live on an idylic spot of farm land on a pond. We spent

the rest of the day celebrating John's day by weaving flower and reed head wreathes, eating Latvian food, enjoying the sun, and playing. I had to excuse myself to Skype back to the U.S. to chair a student's thesis defense, which went well despite a spotty internet connection. Once I re-joined the group, I could enjoy Gatis' homeade beer, which he kept in a large metal vessel hung by a rope down a deep hole in the ground. Gatis' stoked up his sauna, where I enjoyed a traditional ritual cleansing session. This involved me laying down, Gatis' throwing water and incense on the hot stones to steam up and vaporize the room, and then whipping me with birch branches and leaves. He also did some swirling of the hot air over my chakras and whipped me some more until he and I were completely exhausted. We would then dash out of the sauna and dive into the cold pond. This process is repeated 3 times until I enter a nirvana-out-of-body-existential state, which is helped along by the Gatis' home brew. The rest of the day and night were consumed by a haze of eating, singing, and playing; everyone except Noah, Liv, Marta, and Inese (who is pregnant) woke to hangovers the next day.

After some strong coffee/syrup, dark Latvian rye, and other food, we all went on a hike in the Gaujas National Park. We waded in the cold Gauja river and enjoyed the view from the top of a hill. We returned to the home for more playing, fishing in the pond, and relaxing and napping in the sun. Everyone learned it was my birthday, and they sang 3 different Latvia birthday songs. I wish I had a recorded the final song, which was a heavily accented version Happy Birthday. We had a great lunch, including the grilled fish we had just caught. As the birthday boy, I enjoyed an especially big fish that Noah had landed. In the afternoon, we reluctantly said farewell to everyone and headed back to Riga.

On our drive, we decided to peak into Sigulda, a lovely village. As the kids slept in the backseat, Rachelle and I cruised the tree-canopied streets. We then noticed signs pointing to an adventure park of some sort (http://www.tarzans.lv/en). As we neared it, Rachelle whispered to me, "Should we go to the ropes course?" and Liv popped out of her sleep and said, "YES!"

The Tarzan ropes course is like your typical ropes adventure course, but on steroids. If this type of course were found in the U.S. it would be limited to adults who are under very tight supervision. In our case, we had some too-cool teens who quickly mentioned that we should make sure to always be attached by our caribiners to the wires and let us have at it. We were proud of Noah who is scared of heights, but managed to make it through the green and blue courses. As I have done ropes courses before, I watched very closely as Rachelle, Liv, and Noah clipped and un-clipped and moved through the obstacles (e.g., rope swings, climbing walls, widely-spaced wooden slatted bridges, zip lines), which swayed in the tops of very tall trees. Noah dropped off and repeated the green and blue course as Liv, Rachelle, and I moved on to red. Liv was disappointed that she was too young for black or super-black and Rachelle had no intention of moving past the red trail. Once I committed to the black and then super-black, I regretted it, but there is really no turning back. With the teen workers no where in sight and no one to instruct me, it was somewhat sketchy and quite scary.

Rachelle, Liv, and I left Noah and his book as we took the chair lift to the top of the hill for the final course, which consists of a series of zip lines and obstacles, with the final zip line being 150 meters. The teen who sat at the beginning of this course took a break from texting on his cell to watch Liv zip off on the first wire. He then told me to go ahead. I couldn't see Liv or the end because of the trees, but I hooked up and began speeding down the wire. As I picked up speed I saw ahead of me Liv suspended on the wire about 10 feet from the tree platform ending zone. Our eyes locked as we realized we were about to collide, and I barely had time to spread my arms and legs to cushion the impact before we slammed into each other. We were more freaked out then hurt, and one of Liv's shoes flew off into the woods down below. We realized that Rachelle would soon be zipping into us, so I managed to reach overhead and pull us along to the platform. Liv and I stayed shaken up, but finished the course, with some new rules (e.g., I went first to catch Liv so she wouldn't bounce off the tree and back into space, we would yell to the person behind that we were off if they couldn't see us). Despite our near-death experience, we had a great time. Rachelle experienced "flow" while sipping down and the views of the surrounding countryside from the lines were stunning.

As if our day at the ropes course wasn't enough, we decided to go to the water park (http://www.akvaparks.lv/en/) the next day. We opted for the all-day pass, which gave us enough time to explore the large facility. There were indoor and outdoor slides of every variety, a wave pool, a spa area (saunas, steam rooms, jacuzzis, massages, warm pool with a bar, etc.), restaurants, and a "river" twisting throughout the park. As I had repeatedly learned on our trip, especially at the ropes course, laws, rules, and safety are much more fluid and flexible in Latvia. So, I was not surprised when I saw some of the high speed and nearly vertical slides manned by cell-phone toting, gum chewing teens. For example, Liv and I went on a slide in which we had to learn the hard way that you should hold your head up to keep it from banging on the way down. Ouch. After 6 hours, we tried every slide, enjoyed relaxing in the spa area, and repeated our favorite slides a dozen times. No doubt all four of us had a blast.

We spent a low-key last day returning our rental car and hanging out with Gita and Anta. All in all, we had a great visit with friends and family in Latvia.

When the Mice are Away...

Noah and all of his classmates went on a camping trip this past week, so Liv enjoyed being the solo child. On Monday, I picked up Liv and her buddy, Bryony, from school and we headed to the Climbing Academy in Bristol, an indoor bouldering facility (http://www.theclimbingacademy.com). Bryony shares Liv's love for climbing and they were in heaven scaling the walls for hours. Bryony's dad surprised us by dropping in and the 4 of us grabbed dinner at Liv's favorite pub, the Globe. Liv said it was one of her favorite days.

On Thursday, Liv was going to a birthday party straight from school, and so Rachelle and I were kid-free from 8:40a until 7p. After dropping Liv off at school we headed to Blenheim Palace (http://www.blenheimpalace.com), the home of the 11th Duke and Duchess of Marlborough and the birthplace of Winston Churchill. The palace and grounds were exquisite and we enjoyed listening to the knowledgeable tour guide. We were particularly fascinated by the story of the 9th Duke, who had an arranged marriage to Consuela Vanderbilt. As both the Duke and Conseula were in love with others, the Duke was bribed (approximately 75 million in current currency) and Consuela was locked in a room until they were forcibly married. The marriage lasted 11 years before they went their separate ways, Consuela finding love in a second marriage and the Duke suffering a difficult and short-lived second marriage. We also enjoyed reading the numerous letters written by Winston Churchill, who played and lived in the house in his youth. One letter sticks in my mind, which was a young Winston's eloquent complaining to his father about his overly strict teachers at his school.

In the afternoon we headed to nearby Oxford to explore the small city and large university. It had much of the feel of a college town with bustling cafes and pubs full of lively young folks, with the occasional Oxford student standing out in the required black school robes. We marveled at the beauty and history of Christ Church as we wandered the grounds, buildings, and cathedral. Eventually we had to head home and pick up Liv from her birthday party. Although it was a fun week, we were all three excited to welcome Noah back home Friday evening.

Celebrate Good Times

FC Belvedere End of Year Do

The FC Belevedere had the end of season party at the Belvedere pub, and it was a night to remember. We had a room to ourselves, which suited the rest of the pub just fine, as we were loud and rowdy. After the pool tournament and some food, we turned to the awards ceremony. After the Most Improved and Top Scorer awards cam the Player-of-the-Year Award. Suspense was kindled by Brian, our manager, who read off the number of votes received by different players starting at the bottom. As we neared the top, some guys started patting my back as I had not been called out yet. When Brian announced that I had won the award, I was hoisted up and carried around by some of my teammates. I received a nice engraved trophy, with my name, the team, year, and the words "Players Player". The night wound on in the typical fashion of toasts, drinks, songs, and messing around. The owner of the pub left, which allowed us to make ourselves at home behind and in front of the bar. Unfortunately, our antics resulted in a toppling over of some players and a small table. When the dust settled, my trophy was found in bits on the floor. Bummer. I made it home in the wee hours with the little "Players Player" piece of the trophy in my pocket. When Liv heard the story, she took the piece and stole away. Later, she presented me with a trophy she had constructed (see picture).

Noah's Belated Birthday Party

Although Noah turned 11 on March 10, with all of our European gallivanting, we really didn't have a free weekend for the party until June 6! Noah had said he wanted the party to be a series of competitive games, likely inspired by our visit to Greece and talk of the Olympics. Well, Rachelle and I really rose to the challenge, and came up with the "Anglo-American Games". The Games consisted of 7 challenges tapping mental and physical abilities. The 3 3-player teams first squared off in a contest of creativity as they came up with team names and chants. They each rank-ordered their favorite, and the "Gambling Turkeys" took the early lead. Over the series of games, which included a campus-wide treasure hunt (the Silverbacks won with 16 minutes and only 2 of the 3 kids hobbled across the finish line with cramps). After pizza, veggies, and fruit, we jumped into Boggle, badminton, Wayne's World memory game, and Worst Case Scenario. The teams were within a point of each other with the Silverbacks in a 1 point lead. We then passed out the eggs, to be named, decorated, and packaged up to survive a 2-story plunge onto concrete. Unfortunately, the Gambling Turkeys broke their first one when they were trying to cram a balloon hat onto the top and then dropped their second one. They were out! Both the Silverbacks and Money make elaborate protective devices, but tied with the Turkeys as each egg contraption hit the concrete with a crack and a bit of tell-tale ooze. The final score, Money (15), Silverbacks (13), and Gambling Turkeys (13).

Centre for Pain Research Launch

Instead of "Grant Opening" the term "Launch" is used here, and it was high time for the University of Bath to host the launch of the pain centre, which has been in business since shortly before I joined it in August 2008. Sexy advertisement posters (see picture) were hung around campus and details were set. Chris Eccleston, the director, asked if I would give a talk. In his kind and sharp ways, he was able to combine my Centre talk with the David Parkin Public Address. We had a good showing with the auditorium fairly filled, and my talk went well. The food, drinks, and poster session following the talks was jovial and Rachelle and I were able to smuggle some of the bagels and pizza home for the kids.

Greece

We had a wonderful 9 days in Greece, filled with sunshine, baklava, swimming, and dancing. We flew into Thessaloniki and spent 2 days there exploring the bustling city. Liv said, “This place is a mixture of old buildings and new buildings, loud people and cars, smoke, water…but it all seems to fit together.” Part of the reason for our trip was to attend the wedding of Christina Vlahou (a former student of mine, who returned home to Greece after earning her PhD) and Chris (her Greek fiancé who attended Georgia Tech). We had a wonderful dinner with the lovely Vlahous (see picture) and the next morning everyone drove to Litohoro, the village where the wedding would take place.

Litohoro is a cute little village nestled in the foothills of Mount Olympus, home to Zeus. One of the highlights was when we met two of Christina’s friends at a café, and they were introduced to us as “Nick and Nick”. We had recently watched My Big Fat Greek Wedding and flashed back to the scene when half of the wedding party was introduced as “Nick.” The day before the wedding, we hiked in the Mount Olympus National Park, and the kids and I had an intense and prolonged pine cone battle on the rocks along and across a small river.

The wedding was held in the mountains at a tiny adorable church. If you looked up you could see snow-capped mountains and the view down went to sea. It was quite a spot. The wedding was all in Greek with a sort of chanting like rhythm. The ceremony was a blast and the dancing was wild, partly helped by the pitchers of Ouzo on the tables. Some of the traditional Greek circle dances came easy to Rachelle and me who had danced a Jewish Hora or two. The best man told me that after our dancing we could officially be called “Cohenopolis”. In addition to the traditional Greek music and dancing, the DJ spun some excellent 70s and 80s tunes.

The next morning around 10:30 we popped into our rental, turned on Emily, and dialed in our destination in Volos to catch the one-a-day 12:00 ferry to Volos. Our mouths dropped when we saw that our trusty GPS Emily estimated our arrival at 12:17. Emily is incredibly accurate. As I took off and joined the other crazy Greek drivers, Rachelle repeatedly said that we could just sleep in Volos for a night. I was determined to make the ferry and before too long Emily’s ETA was 12:16 and then 12:15! Rather than say I was driving like a maniac, I will simply comment that I was driving like the average Greek driver. They are total whackos behind the wheel and take all laws, such as red lights and speed limits, as mere suggestions. Go Greece Lightning Go! We pulled into the ferry place at 11:58. I jumped out to the booth the purchase the tickets and the woman told me that they did not take credit cards and the ferry was leaving. I high-tailed it to an ATM across the street and back and she honestly thought I had not moved and had just pulled out the cash. We spun over to the ferry and the guys waved us on and the ramp closed just as we pulled off of it and into the ferry. Phew.

The ferry ride was beautiful as we cruised through the blue Mediterranean and among the island. We found a great little bungalow in Skiathos with a huge deck that looked out over the beach and sea, and allowed the kids to be able to monitor the deterioration of their sandcastle in the evening. Each day we either stayed at our beach and swam, snorkeled, climbed the rocks around to other coves (Liv and me), relaxed in our chairs under the big umbrellas, and played in the sand. Some days we explored other beaches on the island, which varied from secluded coves to larger beach stretches with taverns. There are supposedly 61 beaches on the 19 square-mile island. One day we took a boat cruise, which allowed us to visit some of the coves that are not accessible by foot as well as some nearby small islands. The island is lush and green and quite hilly, and we spent one afternoon hiking and exploring the ruins of the village, which was the town center when repeated pirate attacks sent the Greeks into the hills. Another day we visited a hilltop monastery, and enjoyed watching the chickens and roosters run around within the stone walls. We also spent some time in the downtown area, especially at one café that had WIFI. The owner, Yannis, was sweet and we enjoyed talking with him. We had several great dinners, with one being memorable for the view over the sea and another for the tunes from the Greek musicians. at restaurants that overlooked the sea

The trip home was a bit harrowing because we arrived back at our hotel in Thessaloniki around midnight in order to leave the hotel at 3 to catch our 4:30 flight. If paying the hotel for 3 hours wasn’t annoying enough, they had an incredibly loud and smoky wedding that was in full swing when we arrived and when we left in our taxi a few hours later. We did catch some zzz’s on the flight to Heathrow and then on the bus back to bath. Of course, a Sunday afternoon back in our own beds didn’t hurt.

Jerry and Andrea visit the UK

Rachelle and I picked up my dad and Andrea on Friday from the train station and let them freshen up in their bed-and-breakfast before heading out to lunch. The kids were delighted to be picked up from school by the grandparents. When my dad saw our kids he laughed because he had initially thought that all of green uniformed kids were girl scouts. Later the kids showed their grandparents Sham Castle, and my dad was surprised that we would go for a walk in wet and windy weather. After 10 months in blustery England, we have gotten to the point where we barely noticed.

On Saturday, we all headed into the Cotswalds, visiting Lacock and Castle Combe. In the afternoon we showed them around our lovely Bath including the Roman Baths, the Circus, and the Royal Crescent.

On Sunday we split up. Rachelle and Andrea managed a two garden day- first they headed to Stourshead, an incredible garden about 40 minutes away, then to our local Prior Park. I think we lucked out, as Dad, Noah, Liv, and I headed to Longleat (www.longleat.co.uk), the 9000 acre home of the 7th Marquess of Bath and the world's first safari park. We had a full day exploring the safari park and driving among lions, tigers, a wolf pack, giraffes, and other animals. We were allowed to feed the deer who stuck their heads in our car. The Marquis prides himself on allowing the animals to stay as wild as possible. For example, he feeds the lions by pulling meat on a rope behind a car so that they have to chase it and catch it. My dad and I enjoyed the English manor house, and the kids loved the hedge mazes, and the enormous playground. We all had a great time on the boat, which took us by the island where a silverback gorilla resides, watched as sea lions barked for food by the boat, and hippos emerged from the water.

On Monday, the kids were dropped at school and the grownups headed to Wells Cathedral and the Glastonbury Abbey. It was another wet and chilly day, but we stayed dry inside the wonderful cathedral and then tucked into a yummy lunch at a pub. We were lucky to have some sun for a walk through the Glastonbury Abbey ruins and ground before we headed back to Bath to pick up Noah and Liv. Jerry and Andrea played with the kids until our babysitter arrived in the early evening. Yes, Rachelle and I were headed for a grownup night out, a too-rare occurrence for us. The 4 of us had a great meal that evening at the elegant and quaint Olive Tree restaurant.

On Tuesday, I had breakfast at dad and Andrea's B&B before dropping them at the train station, where they would be heading to London, then off to Provence, and then back to Scotland before going back to the U.S. We had a wonderful visit and we were reminded of the family and friends we would get to see come August.

Cohens in Cornwall

We picked up the kids at school on Friday and headed south. Cornwall is in England's Southwestern tip of the peninsula, and with its own language, culture, and history, many Cornish consider it an independent country. One of the highlights of Cornwall is that it is the home of the Currans, a previous Atlanta and Paideia family who visited us several months ago in Bath. Rob, Karen, and their 3 daughters (Megan, 11; Lannie, 9; and Jess, 6) moved to Cornwall (Rob's home) a few years ago.

Our first stop was the Curran's house. They live in a converted barn in a tiny village in the woods on a stream. Rachelle and I loved spending time chatting with Rob and Karen while the 5 kids played outside. After dinner we headed to our B&B, which was beautiful. It was a converted mill set on a fast-moving river, and we entered our accommodation, which used to be a stone barn, by crossing a small bridge over water. Our place was surrounded by water, and there was a little boat if you wanted to paddle around.

On Saturday, we popped into the Curran's and picked up Megan and Lannie and headed to Pendennis Castle. We were lucky that they were having a wedding and we witnessed the bride and her party arrive in carriage pulled by horses and the groom prance in with his top hat and tails on a horse. It was quite a spectacle. We explored the peninsula and climbed amongst the rocks before meeting up with the rest of the Currans. We followed them to a little beach tucked in a wooded cove. I helped Rob carry his kayak down the path and the kids helped tote the picnic, which was a treat of Cornish pasties and ales. While the kids scampered amongst the rocks and climbed trees, the grownups relaxed in the sun and sipped wine and ale. We took turns exploring the coves and caves with the kayak, and it was quite easy to imagine past smugglers and pirates hiding their goods amongst the rocks.

On Sunday we took the two youngest Currans to St. Michael's Mount (http://www.stmichaelsmount.co.uk/), which is a castle on the hill of an island only accessible at low tide or by boat. The 6 of us stormed the castle and feasted on Cornish food in a little restaurant. After having our fill of the fortified island, we drove through Penzance and headed to the cute fishing village called Mousehole (pronounced Mowzil). After exploring the cute shops and having some ice-cream, we headed to the beaches on the Northern coast. As we drove there, we found that you could see either coast from certain high points in the road. We stopped at a beautiful stretch of beach, which had a rocks for climbing and long stretches of sand for chase. As we explored, we came to a very fast-moving and wide stream that came from the rocks and flowed into the ocean. The kids waded in a bit, but it was Noah who braved through to the other side and ending up completely soaked head to toe in sandy salt water. We eventually had to leave as it was getting close to dinner at the rest of the Currans were waiting, so, after getting Noah into dry clothes we headed out. That evening, we had another lovely dinner with the Currans and a good nights sleep.

On Monday we headed to the Curran's for a wonderful pancake meal. On that particular day the Curran's village was having a street sale. All along the road were little tables set up with clothes, toys, books, homemade food, plants, and other things. Noah and Liv joined the Curran kids and a couple of other kids to man a table full of toys, kids clothes, and other odds and ends. They most definitely gave the "fairy cake" selling little old ladies a run for their money in the cute category. Eventually we had to bid farewell to the Currans and head out. On the way home, we detoured to the Eden Project (www.edenproject.com), which is a former clay-pit site converted into an enormous garden and several huge biodomes. We wandered through the rain forest biodome, which is the world's largest greenhouse complete with birds and waterfalls, before having an all-natural lunch harvested from the Eden Project land. After filling up on environmentalism and nature we headed back home to Bath.

Rachelle's Recent Adventures

I have been taking a couple of adventures without Linz and the kids as of late. I have been hanging out with Karen (the mom of the "Other Americans"), who loves gardens and plants. A few weeks ago, we drove through the charming Wiltshire countryside to look at the Courts Garden and the Great Chalfield Manor. This is a truly impressive medieval (15th century)home where The Other Boleyn Girl was filmed.
Karen and I also took a tour of Hampstead and the Kenwood House in London a few days later. Hampstead, once a suburb of London, is a planned community that was built for all people, regardless of social class, income or age to live side by side. It seems the utopian community didn't exactly work as dreamed, but it is still a beautiful neighborhood. Kenwood House was once the home of a Guinness (as in the Irish beer)family member and was filled with wonderful art, including a Rembrandt and a Vermeer.
I also ventured to Latvia for a short trip. I stayed both with my cousin, Gita and her daughter (and my god daughter) Anta. We had a great time soaking up the Baltic sun whilst (use of a new British word) exploring Riga's medievial streets. We went to the opera in the evening. The National Opera House is spectacular and the opera wasn't bad either (a Russian tragedy). The next day we went to Cesis to see my other cousin, Gatis, and his family. We walked around the old city and had a fabulous lunch at his house. I also went to the Jurmala (beach) with Gita. The weather was incredible, much warmer than England, and I had a wonderful relaxing time. My cousins, however, were sweating the credit crunch, which has had a profound impact on their well being. It seems the Latvians have been living high on the hog on borrowed money (gosh, that sounds familiar) and now the government is likely to go bankrupt. The cousins say that their pensions are not safe. I guess all we can do is wait with our fingers crossed, or as they say in Latvian, holding our thumb!