Prime seats for the Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race

On Saturday my cousin Emily came down on her own from Scotland. We took her out to Camden Market in the morning to expose her to the funky punk of London, including the bear above. She's into that stuff so it was totally a good call. She bought two hoodies that day, which totally came in handy for us during the next event we attended that day.
In the late afternoon we took the trek down to Southwest London to Putney Bridge where my office is located, which is coincidentally (and fortunate for us) located right on the embankment where the annual Oxford-Cambridge rowing regatta starts every year! It is the only action that Putney Bridge gets each year so its quite a big deal.
The Boat Race is a rowing race between the Oxford University Boat Club and the Cambride University Boat Club. It is rowed annually each spring on the Thames in London. The event is a popular one, not only with the alumni of the universities, but also with rowers in general and the public. An estimated quarter of a million people watch the race live from the banks of the river, around seven to nine million people on TV in the UK, and an overseas audience estimated by the Boat Race Company of around 120 million.
The weather was completely rainy, but the crowds still came. And we enjoyed our cushy balcony view with access to free beer provided by Heineken who were using the base of our building to sell their brand (and beer of course!). The water was quite rough for the teams and Oxford won the race with the slowest time since 1947 at a time of 20 minutes 53 seconds claiming their third victory in a row. A video of the race start is below. It was really cool to see such an epic event, and I was very glad to work where I did to stay out of the rain!

I think we found Wales' Disneyland!

On our last day in Wales, we drove again through the mountains past streams and waterfalls, to a set of caves. What we didn't expect was the caves to be like a theme park. I mean, I read it in the guidebook, but didn't want to believe it. But when we arrived at the Dan-yr-ogof caves and saw the large parking lot with an entrance of a brontosaurus, we began to get an idea of what we were in for! It was cute to see the children so excited though. There was one child who turned to his parents with a big grin and said "Did you know that's a pterodactyl?" It reminded me of the kid in Jerry Maguire who said "Did you know a rabbits head weighs eight pounds?"

Syd was cringing as we walked through the park, but once you get into the caves, the natural wonders that they are speak for themselves. The stalactites (like the phallic looking one below) in the first cave were truly majestic, and took hundreds of years to form from dripping water, calcium and lime. There were actually 10 miles of caves discovered back in the mid twentieth century, but only one mile is open to the public.
The second cave - the cathedral cave - aptly named for its domed ceilings - was the best. The ceiling in it must have been 20 feet high, and brightly lit so you could feel the vastness of it. There was also a number of thundering waterfalls within it. Near the waterfall there was cheesy wedding music and a chapel set up, no doubt to advertise itself as a wedding venue, but hey, I guess the Wales tourism board has to do what it can!Part 2 of our disneyland experience was at Caerphilly castle near Cardiff. When we crossed the great drawbridge into the castle grounds we immediately saw a number of people dressed up in medieval garb, including kids. Of course I was instantly pumped, but Syd rolled his eyes and said "here we go again!".
There were medieval demonstrations throughout the castle grounds, including the firing of the 4 different types of war machines (i.e. catapults).
We lucked out because they only fire them on holiday weekends. Syd admitted that the catapults were the highlight of this massive castle. I couldn't agree with him more, and actually deemed this my favourite castle of the entire weekend. ;o)

Castles of the Red Dragon - towards the Brecon Beacons

On our third glorious day in Wales we trekked along to the Brecon Beacons, which is a national park with a mountain range called the Black Mountains. Along the way we stopped at Dryslwyn Castle - which is a ruined castle at the top of a hill overlooking a massive valley, attesting to the defensive strength that the castle must have had in the past. What made this castle unique is that it was in a remote location, and required a hike up a hill to reach it, so that meant we had the castle all to ourselves.The main castle that I longed to see was Carreg Cennan. It was on the edge of the Brecon Beacons and was also set atop a cliff. It was a blustery day when we hiked up the side of the hill, but we stopped in time to rent a torch (i.e. flashlight) to explore a unique part of the castle. This unique part was a dark, natural cave that descended into complete darkness beneath the castle. It was believed that when the castle was under siege, the family would hide down in the caves, and sometimes escape altogether. It was quite slippery and treacherous but thats what made it all the more exciting!
The castle is located above a farm, so after Syd chased a little lamb around the pasture we stopped at the base of the hill where a sweet teashop was located. We had tea and lunch here on wood tables resting on top of steel milk cans. We took a picture of the place because we thought it was most fascinating. The view overlooking the pastures was pretty fantastic too.
By this point in the trip I was 'hostelled-out', so I was quite glad that we had booked at a hotel in Brecon. But not just any hotel - Brecon Castle! It really is just ruins of a castle, with modern extensions forming the hotel. The interesting history behind this castle is that the Brecon townspeople destroyed the castle themselves so that their town would not fall prey to seige warfare. We stayed in a loft style room in what used to be the original stables of the castle. I enjoyed a hot hot shower while Syd explored the neighbouring medieval cathedral in town and then we both experienced a fabulous Welsh dinner and a comfortable sleep. ;o)

Castles of the Red Dragon - Pembrokeshire

In a country with relatively few great churches and abbeys, and even fewer unfortified manor houses, the Castles of Wales form the most imposing group of monuments left from the Middle Ages. In terms of grandeur they are second only to the dramatic landscape.

On our second day of our castle adventure we were located in a hostel in southwest wales in a region/national park called Pembrokeshire. This area was made up of a number of nature and coastal trails and a TON of castles! From now on, when I describe a castle, I will provide a link to a castle site that describes its history, and then list one personal unique feature, so that I can keep them apart in my mind, and so that you know that every castle had its own character.
The first castle we saw on Saturday was Manorbier (aka manner-beer) castle. It was a ruined medieval castle that wasn't restored, but what made it unique was its arched entry from the road through an overgrown gate. It felt like we were entering a secret garden as the walls were stone, but covered in ivy. The castle itself wasn't much to look at, but as it was a first of many, it was special in its own right.
We then went to the coastal town of Tenby, where we parked along the promenade, that was set upon a cliff above a beautiful beach. We watched as children and dogs danced along the sand leaving footprints and laughter lingering behind them. The castle in this city was less of a castle and more of a wall around the retail district. Once you went in through the 'walls' you were in a normal seaside town with surf shops and tourist shops.
We didn't linger here long but appreciated the town and its ambience and thought it would be a beautiful place to come in the summer. Strangely enough, the day after we were there, a main hotel on the promenade caught fire and now is reduced to rubble. They are still investigating the source of the fire, but suspect arson. What a real shame. We then drove to Carew castle (only a 15 minute drive away), which was home to some of the tudor family in the 16th century. It is situated on a strategically excellent site at the crossing point of a river. There was a 15ft Celtic Cross in front of this castle that made it very unique, as it dated back to the 11th century. We also were quite intrigued to see a sign here that the castle ruins are home to many species of bats and we were instructed to take care not to disturb their habitat.
The castle itself was a hybrid of three different time periods, with one wall being completely resurfaced with Tudorian style windows that were dissimilar to any other castle.After seeing 3 castles in the morning alone, we took a VERY WINDY hike along the coastal cliffs. It was really beautiful looking out over the sea, but due to the cold biting winds and our nagging hungers we didn't stay too long. We thought it best to take a rest at a local pub on the river in the region's capital town of Pembroke. It was called the 'Watermans' and we enjoyed a tranquil welsh lunch - mine being stew in a yorkshire bread bowl- while looking out at the massive castle there and people feeding the swans on the river.
Pembroke Castle was quite something. It was set with a river moat all around it, and was a mixture of restoration and ruin. We did a tour of this castle as it was rich in history. Syd liked this one the best because all of the towers could be climbed and explored - he just loves to explore! I liked it because it had exhibits that really helped give a history of the castle.
Henry VII was born here, and put Wales on the map under the sign of the red dragon and brought peace with England by conquering Richard III. The keep in this castle was very unique as it was still complete, and immensely high, with an arched ceiling. A dungeon contained here was also neat, though creepy.

By this point I was feeling pretty castled out, yes me! But Syd saw one more on the map near our next hostel that he wanted to check out. It was called Llawhawden. It was random, and the once-home of a bishop, but worth a look to see the ruins. What was unique about this castle was the deep well in the centre of the courtyard. I couldn't see the bottom, and it creeped me out because it reminded me of the well in the movie 'The Ring'.

That night we stayed at a really fun hostel run by a man and his wife. He has travelled everywhere in his lifetime and it is evident by the decor, and even the menu in his hotel - mexican, japanese, chinese, Peruvian and European accents throughout. We met a few people there that we played cards and pool with down at the bar and thought that if all hostels are like this, we could definitely get used to it!

Castles of the Red Dragon - Cardiff

With all of the travelling in Europe that Syd and I have done, we felt it was time to spend a weekend in the UK...but that doesn't mean we were going to stay in England. Nope, we went to the land of the red dragon - Wales. The red dragon, or camyrdraed (sp?) is the national symbol of the country of Wales. It represents a long line of tudor kings - Henry VII, Henry VIII and Elizabeth who are Welsh descendents that also were rulers of England. Syd and I were most excited to visit Wales because it is renowned for having a high number of medieval castles. Little did I know that Syd had planned on us seeing 12 castles in a weekend, which sounds pretty impossible...but I figure, bring it on - right up my alley! ;o)

We narrowly grabbed the train after work on Friday evening to go to Cardiff, Wales. Our hostel for the evening was a brief walk from the train station where we basically just dumped our stuff and went out on the town for late night eats, drinks and fun. We ate at a pub that used to be a theatre, so it still had balconies and box seats. It was a really neat decor, so we tried to overlook the fact that it was a chain restaurant/bar. ;o) After that we went up the main club district and were drawn into a club that was flouresant lighting and everyone wearing bunny ears, and playing "girls just want to have fun". The bar was called Reflex, which was a total 80's bar with Mr. T on the wall, ghostbusters symbols, a rubix cube and pac man ghosts hanging from the ceiling, and don't forget the cheesy 80's hair band videos. I had good fun dancing in my own bunny ears, that were easily obtained by buying two 'cadbury cream egg' shots. Syd knew less of the music than I did, but enjoyed watching me mash it up. Later we learned that it too was a chain, but now I may plan a night out to one of its locations in London!

On Friday we checked out our first castle - Cardiff castle, that is located right in the middle of the city, right beside a main shopping street. We booked a tour to see the completely restored castle interior designed by William Burgess for Lord Bute (and his family of descendents). The rooms were so elaborately done. The smoking room was in one tower and was designed around the four seasons and the zodiac (with birds drawn all over the room as well as zodiac signs). There was also a children's nursery with nursery rhyme characters drawn all around the walls. The best room was the arabic room, that was a domed tower with wood and gold ceilings and gold walls and lush red carpets. Outside, the keep was quite unique as it was only accessible by crossing over a moat and climbing 50ft of stairs.

After grabbing some provisions for our weekend car journey we rented our car and were on our way in the Welsh countryside! I'm sure Syd will describe his experience of driving with you, but I can tell you that getting used to driving on the left is quite hairy at first because you are unaware of your space, especially in some of the very narrow country roads. We made sure to check out one more castle on our journey to the next hostel, this one was called Castle Coch (pronounced 'core'). It was a fairytale (disney) castle if I ever saw one. It was set up in a hill, in the woods, with a drawbridge and big wooden doors. But what made it most unique was the pointed roofs on the towers - the only one of its kind! The interior of this one was also designed by William Burgess and would have been neat to see and compare to Cardiff castle, but it was closed when we arrived so we just at our dinner outside the castle walls.

St. Paddy's in the UK

Here this holiday is taken seriously. Back home in Canada people celebrated on Saturday night, since you know, that is the night Canadians go out -- not Monday :). Here its Monday night and folks are out in full effect -- we've got whole families who have dragged their kids along, all dressed up, so mom and dad can celebrate at their local. We've got a live musician starting in a few minutes, and professional Irish Dancers hit the stage a half hour after that.
Strido and I have our Guinness in hand -- its not everyday you can celebrate St. Paddy's in the UK.

The boys showed up to our local railway pub about an hour later and we enjoyed some more beer while enjoying some classic, live, irish tunes! Later that night we bought the chap's cd so we can enjoy for all time.

My Birthday Shindig

So I turned the big 3-0 here in London. What made it great is that it was celebrated over 3 days as it fell in the middle of the week. At work I was greeted by my friend Astrid in the morning with a cute gift and my team gave me cake in the afternoon, that one of my team members had baked (from scratch - who DOES that anymore??). I was touched. That evening Astrid and I found a fun cuban bar called Cuba Libre - it was 2for1 mojitos...you can see how the night went. ;o)

Syd took me out for birthday dinner to a neat Spanish restaurant. We had this amazing pork entree that was the finest cuts of pork that were flavoured with parprika and garlic. Yum! We then hit a great bar nearby that made the most interesting cocktails. I got one that was blackberry and basil. Sounds weird, but I took down the ingredients so I can try on my own someday because I quite enjoyed the freshness of it!

The highlight of my birthday was the scottish dancing evening. About 12 of us went out to a 'Ceilidh', which is essentially scottish folk dancing in a big church-like hall. It was the most fun I've had in ages. Hands down. And the best part, you don't have to have ANY dancing skill at all. In fact, its probably more fun if you don't have skill so that you don't take it too seriously. It was also great to see people from all ages, but especially young people, getting into a new culture, and having fun mingling with other people. There was like 300 people there!

There were a series of dances where you stand in line facing your partner, and then skip down the middle of the lines, form arches, skip around, and link hands/arms and spin. It all sounds like good fun doesn't it?

It was super exhausting too. Each song only lasted 5 minutes or so, but we tended to dance one, wait one, and then dance again so we could catch our breath (and our drinks!).
If the pictures are any indication of the lines and laughter, I hope they give an idea. ;o) Our only regret is that the night seemed to pass so quickly and then we were kicked out at 11. Good times, can't wait to go back!

Apres Ski and Spa

Thermal Spa

On Thursday (Day 5), the four of us headed to a cool 'Thermal Spa" for the entire night after skiing. It was called "Aqua Dome" and was completely marketed not only on our flight to Innsbruck but also all over the ski lifts and restaurants in Solden. It is a complex made up of mineral water from the mountains of the surrounding region of Tyrol. According to the Tirolean spa law, this sodium chloride sulphate spa is a mineral spring and it was approved as an official sulphur spa. The produced water has a temperature of 40°C. It was a short bus ride from our hotel and only £15 to spend a whole night in the thermal pools.
It was a very organised complex of different connected indoor and outdoor 'hot tubs', which is the best way to describe it. There was a huge jacuzzi tub with jets, and atrium with different water elements as well as an outdoor 'massage bowl' that spurts strong showers of sulphuric mineral water. The outdoor area was designed to look space-like and it certainly did! Our favourite pool was the salt water pool with rotating lights and soothing music underneath the stars. It was heaven.
Apres Ski
Mid week we hit a bar called Fire and Ice. It was a club designed to look like a cabin. We went at 9 pm but it was still rocking from 5 pm when people came off the slopes! Men and women alike were dancing (quite adeptly though drunk) in their ski boots - dancing and partying all night. We watched from the loft above and just laughed at the meat market of it all. The large shot glasses that we had flugerl in (cherry vodka and red bull shots) were quite nice so we asked the bar if we could take two home as souvenirs.

Our last night in Solden, Syd and I checked out 'the party haus" - which was a large club filled with crazy girls and cheap drinks. There was a ring set up in the middle of the bar where live boxing had just been occurring (we missed it). We people-watched for an hour or so while the dj spun some tunes then decided to explore. We somehow got into a VIP area where there were free wine tastings. We tried 3 wines. I wanted to buy the merlot and asked how much it was and they said £99. I don't think so! We exited the bar fairly quickly after that.

Heading Home...
On the plane home from Innsbruck I had the window seat and as we flew into the sunset, the vista was snow-tipped mountains and clouds as far as the eye could see...