Aldeburgh, internet challenges, Ancient Britain...

Hello from Aldeburgh, England

Well I'm way behind on blogging, aren't I? Must say I don't have a great excuse other than trying to do too much in too little time, but that's fairly typical for everybody these days, I guess.

Now that we're AWAY from it all (in Aldeburgh, a little coastal town in Suffolk, a couple hours from London), I can actually take a minute to write.

This is a lovely place, 2,500 inhabitants in winter, swelling to 12,000 in summer. Little cottages line the windy streets and go up the hills overlooking the coast, which is full of rocks that in my mind are larger than pebbles. (They call it a pebble beach.)

It's windy, of course, and cool, and I'm sure the water will be cold to our toes (we're planning to dip them in today). Yesterday we sat out on the rocks and enjoyed the view and the kids' energy as they ran back and forth looking for the "right" 4 rocks to bring home. (One must put limits on these things or the luggage will weigh more than we do.)

Fishing boats and fish stands are here there and everywhere along the windy coast, and plenty of people are out and about flying kites and playing along the water. What a contrast from India's beach, where heat meets water.

We left a sunny London, took the train to Saxmundem, then cabbed it a short way to the fine Wentworth Hotel. Our cabbie said it's a traditional English Inn, frequented by people who've been coming for years upon years, some still coming even after they've passed. Food: adequate. He gave us the two minute tour of town (it's a one main streeter).

We checked in and headed out on foot to check the lay of the land, first stop being the North Sea. Very much a breath of fresh air. We headed through town and stopped for ice cream at the most popular shop around: the ice cream place. (Line half way down the block.) (There were also lines around the block for the fresh fish and chips shops.)

Claire ordered her standby: lemon sorbet. I had a chocolate crunch that was missing the chocolate (huh?), Ava had chocolate mint, Joe banana fudge (again light on the chocolate). We checked the rest of Aldeburgh out, then had refreshments at the hotel bar (doesn't that sound so British) and dinner at the hotel restaurant. Our driver was spot on; we were clearly among the younger crowd.

Day two in Aldeburgh was fabulously lazy; Joe and I each headed out, taking turns exploring before the kids got moving, then had breakfast at the hotel. And from there we spent 3 hours on the coast. Kids pored over the pebbles, donned swim suits and checked out the water temp. (Frigid.)

Eventually I was convinced to leave my sunny spot and we wandered through town, had ice cream again, this time before lunch. Why not?!? Then down to the wharf to check out a tower (couldn't go in though). And we landed on a Michelin listed restaurant for a late lunch. Superb fish and asparagus.

Then onto our hotel for a bit of regrouping...the bath tub is the longest I've ever bathed in (love love love baths). We then enjoyed a bit of time in the main part of the hotel (we're in the annex across the street, which is supposed to have family rooms vs. smaller ones at the property itself -- maybe it's code for "let's keep the noisy people off site.)

Anyway, some cards and Ava's purple nail polish later...we ate dinner at the hotel again (why not? It was included in our stay...). Great duck I must say.

Lovely day. Following a good, busy week...and what did we do last week? Bit of a blur but what stands out:

- Lipchitz art exhibit on Tuesday night. A curator from the Tate museum lectured and walked us through drawings and studies at the Ben Uri Gallery in St. Johns Wood. More than 150 of Lipchitz’s works spanning 60 years are featured there. (Lipchitz was a Lithuanian-born sculptor and “pioneer of Cubist sculpture in Paris.”)

Many of the drawings were studies for very well known sculptures in the U.S. and in Israel. The curator discussed how his art changed over the years, how it was influenced by other artists, political events, religion, etc. from when he began in 1910.

Very worthwhile experience, and apparently the gallery expects to move into a larger space near the National Portrait Gallery and other frequented museums/tourist destinations. Their focus will continue to be on immigrant artists, many with a Jewish background like Lipchitz.


- On Wed. I headed off with my Ancient Britain class to Butser Ancient Farm, south of London, for a tour by working archeologist. The bus trip there wound us through London and eventually into the crisp, green countryside. Butser is gorgeous -- farmland area, verdant green hills surrounding a spot with roundhouses recreated from what is perceived to be farm homes from the Iron Age.

Our guide was an impassioned, energetic man with wild salt and pepper hair who moved quickly and spoke eloquently about all the projects he's been working on at the farm. Among them: a number of roundhouses he and others have built, using materials from the areas upon which roundhouse remnants have been found (various areas in England and Wales).

Some have roofs made w/ reeds, others with straw, for example). Mud daub walls, chalk floors (chalk is commonly found in the soil here and in other areas around England.) He showed us where he'd dug holes for grain storage, as would have been done during the Iron Age. Sheep from the time period are raised on the farm, fed with “ancient” grains. (That sounds tasty, doesn’t it?)

Inside the houses are no windows, just a single door, generally facing east, with thatch thick enough for protection yet thin enough to let smoke seep out (holes in the roof would lead to leaks and/or fires). One of the houses was "furnished" as it would have been then -- some spinning tools, grain pounding implements, shelves for pottery, etc.

The last structure we toured was a Roman villa from more recent times, featuring an under-floor heating system.

From Butser we headed off to lunch at the Red Lion pub, which had a warm ambience with plenty of wooden furniture and a big table to seat all of us. I had a fabulous lamb pie with superb potatoes and onions. A warm, satisfying meal after a breezy couple of hours wandering about the farm felt just right.

Friday evening Joe and I met up for theatre -- Sunset Boulevard at the Comedy Theatre. While it wasn’t our favorite, the performance was excellent, the twisted Hollywood plot kept us engaged and we had great seats. We ended our evening with a bite to eat at a nearby Italian cafe.

The prior week...(May 11 onward)

Ai yai yai…I have been booted off the internet again by BT (British Telecom). Boobs. Sometime in the next millennium we’ll have cable and wireless internet. The former I could live without, the latter is a bit of a lifeline these days, especially as we’re going on 7 months out of country.

If and when we get back online you’ll be the first to know.

May 11 was a delightful day – I dissed rug unrolling and all that jazz to join the ladies for a special tour of Spencer House (think Lady Di – it was built by her ancestor, the first Earl Spencer).

The house is recognized as “one of the most ambitious aristocratic town houses ever built in London and is, today, the city's only great eighteenth-century private palace to survive intact.”

Spencer House was built in 1756-66 and is located near St James's Palace, Buckingham Palace and the Palace of Westminster, with a lovely view of Green Park (this I can attest to – the views into the park from various rooms are gorgeous – lovely “back yard” with beautiful, huge trees).

House info per the Web:

The first architect of Spencer House was John Vardy (a pupil of William Kent), who used the Palladian style. He was responsible for the external elevations of Spencer House and the design of the ground floor rooms as well assome of the furniture.

James 'Athenian' Stuart, who’d just returned from Greece, superseded Vardy as Lord Spencer's architect in 1758. Thus the House became the first example in London of accurate Greek detail in its interior, making it one of the pioneer examples of neo-classical architecture.

Spencer House was designed to be used for receptions and family gatherings, as the first Earl Spencer and his wife were prominent figures in London society, and during their lifetime Spencer House was often the setting for lavish entertainments. Their descendants, notably the fourth and sixth Earls, both of whom served as Lord Chamberlain of the Royal Household, continued this tradition.

Following the death of the first Earl Spencer in 1783 the House was partly remodeled.

The Spencer family lived in the House until 1895 when the building was let to a series of tenants, including the Duke of Marlborough and his wife, the former Miss Consuelo Vanderbilt. Following the death of the fifth Earl Spencer in 1910 the family returned to the House and in 1926 the building was substantially restored. A year later the family moved away and the House was let to the Ladies' Army and Navy Club until 1943.

The contents of the House were removed to Althorp and in 1942, at the height of the Blitz, valuable original fixtures such as chimneypieces, doors and chair rails were removed. During the war the House was occupied by nursing services, and in 1948 a lease was signed with the auctioneers Christies's (their property was bomb-damaged).
The House was then converted into offices for the British Oxygen Company (from the Vanderbilts to the Oxygen company – whoa!). In 1963 the Economist Intelligence Unit moved to Spencer House until 1985, when the lease was assigned to J.Rothschild Holdings and to RIT Capital Partners.

The House has since been restored, complete with carved architectural detail, chimneypieces and copies of original furniture. A wide array of paintings – some provided to the House by the Queen (prior to Diana’s death) are featured.
A select number of functions are held each year at Spencer House, and part of the building is used for offices. The public can schedule tours, like we did, and I think the House is open for a couple of hours on Sundays.

- On Tuesday I had lunch w/ the International Culture Committee’s cuisine club – it was their last event for the year as the ICC breaks for summer. Great finale – we met at a Greek woman’s flat for incredible Greek food. Highlights: fried meatballs, pita and traditional dips, spanikopata (sp?), fresh Feta, of course a lovely Greek salad…it went on and on.

The entertainment, too, was great fun and quite a surprise – a gorgeous woman in fancy red costume belly danced. She pulled members of the club in to dance with her, which was a hoot. I was selected to balance a sword on my head while the rest of me wiggled and jiggled to the music. Let’s just say I was successful at balancing the sword, not sure if any of my flesh actually moved to the beat.

Wednesday marked my first online grocery store delivery – free since I met the 100 pound mark. Worked great, will do that again – it was a “general goods” stock up – no meat, cheese or produce (that stuff, I do believe, needs to be selected by hand…I need to decide if the tomato looks worthy of purchasing.). Plus frankly I like to grocery shop for those things – TP and paper towels, who cares?

Friday my outing was a visit to the Dulwich Picture Gallery with a friend. We went to see Sickert in Venice, which was a great exhibit, in town until early June. A bus ride wound us through town to a great little gallery off the beaten path, featuring Walter Richard Sickert, one of the “the most important British artists of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.”

Known as the father of modern British art; he introduced Impressionism and Post-Impressionism to a younger generation of British painters. Sickert trained under James McNeill Whistler.

Per the name of the exhibit, it featured many of his Venetian works as he’d visited the city many times and painted many scenes of Venetian architecture. Apparently the churches and bridges lost a little of their lustre as Sickert moved onto painting prostitutes…also featured in the exhibit.

And after lunch at a French café we made our way back to SJW.

Joe and I had a date that evening, as he’d returned from a week in the U.S. earlier in the day. We opted for dinner at Gilgamesh, where I’m convinced I’d had the best sea bass of my life a couple weeks earlier.

We had the tasting menu:

Edamame Beans with Sea Salt
Selection of Sushi and Sashimi
Chicken Croquettes
Prawn Spring Roll
Scallop Sui Mai
Asian Spiced Rack of Lamb
Hoba Miso Chilean Seabass
Chicken and Papaya Salad
Stir Fried Asian Greens
Crab Fried Rice
Gilgamesh Dessert Platter

It was delicious. And great ambience – Asian influenced, warm with great lighting, mixed crowd.

On Saturday Claire and I headed off to Windsor for the Royal Windsor horse show, which she was EXTREMELY interested in attending. We went early, took the train from Waterloo. It was a cool, breezy day but rain-free for the most part. The grounds are near the castle, which greeted us as we left the train station. It’s huge and lovely – another day we’ll have a Windsor Castle experience.

After wandering past that landmark we made our way to the grounds, which featured three arenas, booths (plenty of food and drink options, horse related products, cheese, wine, clothes, paintings, jewelry, etc.), sponsor displays (British armed forces were all over the place) and plenty of horses, horsewomen and horsemen.

The Castle arena was the largest venue; we watched jumping competitions for a couple hours, then checked out the practice area and watched the carriage races. (Teams pulled carriages with a driver and one person as a “moving weight” on back through an obstacle course. Near us was a series of turns/bridges the carriages had to move through as quickly as possible before racing to the finish. Teams from around Europe were featured.

For the jumping competitions, most riders were from the UK, several members of the Olympic team and/or offspring of Olympians.

In one area showmanship competitions were taking place with Welsh ponies, gorgeous with their long wavy tails and shiny black coats.

One of the jumping events featured a wall that was raised after each round, riders eliminated after knocking the top piece off. The winner cleared 7+ feet.

Great experience, such a contrast to the western horsemanship style I’ve been exposed to.

And in other news of the week…I got to escort first graders throughout the streets of SJW to practice street safety, wise skills for all in this city. In addition to driving on the other side of the road, cars move at a very rapid pace and the pedestrian ONLY has right of way at zebra crossings and lights. So Look Out!

I leave you with this anecdote, which may not be amusing to you, but I had a chuckle:
Last week a delivery person left a box at my door, then run to his unmarked van. I asked where he came from (meaning which company); he replied without hesitating “Hungary.” DSL, Hungary, fed ex…