Month: February 2017

Wet and Windy Cardiff

Bob and I are having a mild (temperature wise) but wet and windy time in Cardiff at our latest house sit while our homeowners (parents and children) are having a ski vacation in Austria with two other families. It is “half-term” here, so the boys are out of school. Today, Atlantic Storm Doris is to bring winds of up to 80 mph for some parts of Wales. We will see — so far it is windy but not that WINDY.

We have one very cute and active 2-year old dog that we are watching. Her name is Rita, and she is quite charming. She is a proficient ball retriever both inside and at the nearby parks. She is also quite social and loves small children and other dogs.

Rita chewing on one of her balls and wagging her tail

Bringing the ball back for Bob to throw — again

Our first venture out was to St Fagans Castle and National History Museum in the nearby community of St. Fagans. The castle is not really a castle but rather an Elizabetean mansion built on the site of an old Norman castle. The castle is undergoing renovations, so we were unable to go inside (downside of traveling during the off season), but we were able to enjoy the beautiful gardens and grounds which include over 50 original historic buildings that have been moved to the site to preserve them. No admission charge for this impressive heritage site that also includes craft demonstrations, tea rooms, and gift shops.

The main entrance to the castle and grounds

An old post office, possibly the smallest in Wales, used during WWII

We have also ventured into central Cardiff and have seen a few of the sights that we saw during our brief visit here last May while seeing some new sights as well. One of the new sites we visited was the National Cardiff Museum. The National Cardiff Museum (also free admission!) contains both the National Museum of Art and the National Museum of Natural History. Bob and I focused on the Art Museum and spent most of our time in the Impressionist & Modern art sections as well as the Welsh Ceramics. The have a lovely collection of art that has been donated and/or purchased. We enjoyed seeing the paintings and sculptures from some artists with whom we are familiar (Cezanne, Picasso, Rodin) as well as new (to us) artists and learning about the history of ceramic-making in Wales while viewing some lovely pieces.

Part of the Gorsedd Gardens in front of City Hall

One of the statues in the atrium of the National Museum

A ferry boat on the River Taff adjacent to Bute Park

A stone circle in Bute Park with the Cardiff Castle in the background

Typical architecture — similar to the home in which we are staying

While out getting the battery replaced in Bob’s cell phone, he decided to buy some chips to support a local businesses’ fund-raising attempt. We were too late for the chip-wrapping world record attempt, though they did break the record with a speed of over 48 seconds (not sure how many chips), but all proceeds for the day we’re going to Cancer Research Wales. There is a bit of irony in a chip shop supporting cancer research, but there you are life is nothing if not ironical.

Yesterday we had a very, very wet walkabout to see the Landaff Cathedral and walk some of the Taff Trail. We were only partially rewarded for our ambulatory persistence.

On the way to the cathedral, we stumbled upon The Bishop’s Palace, a 13th century fortified residence of the Bishop of Llandaff. It was occupied by bishops until the mid-15th century.

Another view of the Bishop’s Palace. This area was used as the walled kitchen garden for the new Bishop’s residence beginning in 1850.

Additional repairs and landscaping were completed in 1972 when this area became a public garden.

One side and part of the gardens of the Llandaff Cathedral

The front entrance to the cathedral — note the sign on the door that Bob is reading

This is what the sign said — luckily for us it wasn’t in Welsh or we may have interrupted their meeting

Just wanted to share this that we thought was interesting, although it may be that we have too much time to read signs.

Apparently dogs are only allowed on smoking campuses?

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Beautiful Bournemouth

Bob and I began our UK adventure Part II with two days in the beautiful seaside town of Bournemouth. Bournemouth is a resort community of over 180,000 on the southern coast of England. It is known for its 7 miles of beaches, but it also has some lovely gardens, a great art gallery, and a pretty vibrant retail and restaurant area. It is apparently a popular destination for hen (bachelorette) parties. We were impressed by the cleanliness of the area, the people we met, and the amount of visitors even in the off season. We arrived late on Tuesday night, the 14th, and left by train for Cardiff for our current house sit about noon on Friday.

The end of the lower gardens closest to the sea

The Russell-Cotes Museum and Art Gallery, the former home of Sir Merton and Lady Russell-Cotes who gave their home and art collection to the town in 1908

The view of the coastline and Bournemouth pier from the Russell-Cotes home

Another view of the coastline, pier, and promenade

Looking back at Bournemouth, the beaches, and their famous beach huts from the pier

A closer view of the beach huts — supposedly over 2,000 of the along the beach

One of the zig zags that pedestrians take to go from town level down to the beach

Hengistbury Head at one end of the Bournemouth Beach, near the community of Christchurch

The Christchurch Cove adjacent to Hengistbury Head — Christchurch Cove, adjacent to Hengistbury Head

Walking back to Bournemouth from Hengistbury Head

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In a New York Minute

This house sit went way too fast! We started the Brooklyn house sit last Wednesday and just completed it this (Monday) pm. We head back to the UK tonight on an 11:40 pm flight to London via Lisbon.

Here are some highlights from our brief time in the big city.

First, one last glance at our gorgeous Brooklyn cats.

Last Wednesday, after getting settled into our Brooklyn home, we headed out to take advantage of the gorgeous winter day — 60 degrees! We headed for Prospect Park, but discovered that the nearby Botanical Gardens was having a free-entry day, so we decided to explore that instead. It was good that we got out Wednesday, as the City basically shut down Thursday due to a fast-moving snowstorm that dumped about 8 inches in the area.

The Japanese Pond in the botanical garden

The conservatory building at the botanical garden

Thursday we spent mostly inside due to the weather, so we were eager to get out on Friday even in the chilly weather (highs in low 30s with a crisp wind). We decided to take the subway into Manhatten to visit the 911 Museum and Memorial and then walk back into Brooklyn.

The Oculus, the new shopping center/metro stop to replace the one destroyed on 9/11. It was designed by Santiago Calatrava. Unfortunately, a 23 year old teacher died falling off the escalator after a night on the town.

One of the first displays in the 9/11 Memorial Museum (very well done) is a montage of photos of people watching the events unfold on that day.

A quilt with the names of all 2,997 individuals killed on 9/11 — in NY, DC, and PA.

The museum details the events of 9/11, the recovery/clean-up process, and then the longer-term impacts and rebirth.

I love this quote. The installation is to honor all of the individuals killed in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing as well as those killed in the World Trade Centers on 9/11.

This is one section of the memorial outside of the museum. There are 2 areas where the former towers stood — each surrounded by walls with the names of those who died. The plaza also has a number of cypress trees on it, including the only one to have survived the attack.

It was a brisk walk over the Brooklyn Bridge, and we have done it before, but the views never get old. We also enjoyed watching the tourists (somehow we don’t consider ourselves tourists when we house sit) taking their selfies on the bridge.

Walking towards Brooklyn on the popular bridge

‘Nuff Said. It was pretty sweet to get off the bridge down to where the wind wasn’t quite as brisk!

On Saturday, we ran some errands and then headed to the New York Transit Museum which is housed in a former subway station. The museum provided a great overview of the building of the lines (both on land and underwater), the efforts needed to keep the system running ( or get it back in operation) after both man-made and natural disasters, and showed the history of turnstiles, payment methods, and train cars.

Changing types of payment — from cash to tokens to cards

Remember hearing about this? The museum provided a good overview of what happened, how they reacted, and lessons learned.

I ljust liked this poster, but it is impressive that the system is over 100 years old. We should all be blessed with good public transportation.

After the transit museum , we walked along the East River to King’s County Distillery for a tour and tasting.

View 1 of Manhatten from the Brooklyn Esplanade. The new Freedom Tower is the building with the tall spire on it that rises 1776 feet in the air.

View 2 of Manhatten from the Brooklyn Esplanade — note the Jenga game shaped building in the background

Truth in advertising — it is the oldest and only distillery in NYC. It was started in 2014.

Some of the small kegs used to age their moonshine and bourbon

The actual distillery is located in the former navy yard:however, they also have a bar in one of the gatehouses to the navy yard — really cute!

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Three State Blog

The following is a quick blog to catch you up on out travels. Since we left Vancouver, we have had a lovely East Coast tour. First, we had a great time with Bob’s brother and his family and girlfriend in Alexandria, Virginia, before doing a quick 1.5 day tour of Newark, New Jersey to get our 44th state visited. We are now in Brooklyn to start a quick 5 day house sit for two cats before heading back across the pond.

Below are some photo highlights of our travels.

District of Columbia

Bob’s brother Eric’s girlfriend Kym works for the Library of Congress and gave us a great private tour of this gorgeous building after we went through the exhibit on presidential inaugurations. The exhibit presented some of the Library’s items from past inaugurations, including photos, clothing and jewelry, as well as agendas and menus. Best of all staff were on hand to answer questions and provide additional information.

The Jefferson Building, the main building of the LoC. Jefferson sold his collection of 6,000+ books to restore the library after the collection burnt in the Capitol fire during the War of 1812.

One of the beautiful halls. The original building was completed in 1897 and was restored in 1997.

Overlooking the main Reading Room. The eight semi-circular stained-glass windows are decorated with the seals of the 45 US states and 3 territories when the original building was completed.

A small section of the beautiful Great Hall.

The stained-glass ceiling of the Great Hall

Some of the arches and paintings in the mezzanine

Outside of the Supreme Court a few hours before the announcement of Trump’s pick for Supreme Court Justice

Alexandria

Bob’s brother Eric lives in Alexandria. we explored a bit of the area while we were there, and I took advantage of one of the many hiking/biking paths in the area to get some runs in.

The George Washington Masonic National Memorial grounds and building

Plastic critters being used to keep non-plastic critters (?) off of the grounds of the Masonic memorial

A helpful display at the National Inventors Hall of Fame in the Madison Building on the campus of the US Patent and Trademark Office

The need/process to file for patents is included in the Constitution, and many individuals have taken advantage. Under Obama’s term, the US moved to conform with most of the rest of the world where the patent owner is the “first to file” instead of the “first to invent.”

One of many historical buildings in Old Town Alexandria, though I’m thinking that Washington participated in all of his birthdays!

The blue house is a “spite” house — built in the alleyway between two existing houses to keep people from using or hanging out in the alley.

Fairfax, VA

Our nephew, Nathan, is currently a freshman at George Mason University in Fairfax, VA. He gave Bob and I a tour of the campus while we were there. Usually abbreviated to “Mason,” it is the largest public research university in Virginia.

Each freshman class signs a board with the year of their anticipated graduation. No pressure Nathan!

Bob and Nathan standing by the statue of George Mason for whom the school is named. The esteemed Mr. Mason was a delegate to the Constitutional Convention but was one of only three delegates not to sign the constitution. His objections formed the basis for the US Bill of Rights.

Bob found a big head on campus to pose with

Newark, NJ

Bob and I had a quick trip to NJ to earn our 44th US state. That will mean more to some than others, but I’ll spare the rest of you the TMI.

Bob and I took a Greyhound from Union Station in DC to Penn Station in Newark. Easy, inexpensive four hour ride (though no wifi, we did enjoy the Sunday edition of the Washington Post).

While in Newark, we slept with (dead) presidents. Sort of, but a surprisingly nice hotel, given that we are always looking for a bargain.

Our hotel was near the NJ Performing Art Center. We didn’t catch a show but thought the building was attractive.

Oh, oh, oh Stayin’ Alive on the NJ Walk of Fame

Bob by the Big Head of Justice outside of the federal courthouse building

The main administrative building on the NJ Institute of Technology campus

The outside of the main public library building

Crossing the Passaic River into Harrison, NJ

A 9/11 Memorial in Harrison made from some of the beams from the Twin Towers

Brooklyn, NY

We are now at our house sit in Brooklyn looking after two cats below and a lovely apartment/condo in a town home building. More on the house sit later. Both cats are larger than the 2 dogs we just sat for in Vancouver!

This is Boomer who can take or leave humans but does like to curl up on the bed and our soft-sided suitcase. He also likes plastic, so we need to watch out for that.

This is the curious, cuddly (you will attend to me!) Alf who actually slept on my head last night.

I am finishing this in the midst of a winter storm that is to bring 8-12″ of snow — after having reached a high of 61 yesterday!