Jerusalem Day One

I spent my first two days in Jerusalem with Gnomie, mostly running errands and meeting some of her friends. I took a red-eye and was completely sleep deprived, also dealing with culture shock (Gnomie says I came out of England unreasonably polite) and weather shock (heat! sun! akkk!). In all that time, we really only took one picture and it's of me standing in front of the mural near Mahane Yehuda. Sorry there are no pictures of the Gnomster.

Most ridiculous Israel moment so far? Right after Gnomie left, I ended up in a conversation with an Israeli about where I could purchase a SIM chip for my cell phone. He was helpful and I thanked him. Then he asked for my phone number. Was he paying any attention to our conversation?

Westminster Abbey

For those who don't know, I am now in Jerusalem! I have changed the blog's title to reflect our current whereabouts and I will change it again when Mordu comes to join me in Israel (mid-September).

These are some shots from the morning before my flight to Israel on the evening of July 23. We spent the morning at Westminster Abbey, taking a guided tour with Ben who has worked as a verger at the abbey for 17 years. A verger is someone who carries around a stick and beats back the people who are crowding the clergy. No joke. Ben was a fabulous tour guide. Not only was he patient and extremely knowledgeable, he also let us break a few rules and go places other tourists weren't allowed to go and even take some pictures when no one else was looking (rather against the rules). The abbey, as many may know, is the final resting place to about 3000 people, a number of them phenomenally famous: Newton, Darwin, Chaucer, Queen Victoria - and many other British monarchs, Oliver Cromwell for about 3 years before he was disinterred and his body completely desecrated, Hardy, Handel, Samuel Johnson, Charles Dickens, Tennyson, Kipling, Rutherford, Sir Laurence Olivier, and so on).  Here are some licit and other deliciously illicit shots.

 View from the Westminster Abbey.

 Statue to celebrate olympics.

 View from behind the altar.

Tomb of Edward the Confessor.

 I think this is Eleanor of Castile.

 Cloisters courtyard.

 Exterior shot.

 Cloisters.

Mordu and I took this same picture almost two years ago when I visited him while he was doing pre-dissertation research.

The London Eye

The London Eye, built in 1999, is now the third highest Ferris wheel in the world (443 feet). It takes 30 minutes to turn.

 Donning 3D glasses for the "4D" experience ahead of our visit. This was a five minute 3D video "pep rally" for the ride.

 Our view waiting on line.

All the carriages are white - except this one that is orange. Sadly, we did not get on the orange one.

 Here we go!

 View of South London.

 Say cheese.

 Over the top...

 Fly-over Big Ben and Houses of Parliament.

(Big Ben is getting a name change, by the way, to "Elizabeth Tower." Mordu and I are pushing for "Big Beth" as the new nickname.)

 Now heading down...

Picture of us snapped on the way out.

Welcome Danny and Leora!

Danny and Leora flew in today, arriving about noon. They made it smoothly through customs and arrived at our apartment about 2PM so we ate a quick lunch and headed out to see some sights (and keep them awake).

About to enter the British Museum:

Roman manufactured perfume/scent bottle in the shape of a foot (I guess feet have always been stinky):

 The Lewis chessmen. Made in about the 11th century, probably in Norway, out of ivory:

The Rosetta Stone (plus my reflection):

Danny and Leora with Easter Island dude:

An enormous scarab beetle; one of many cool Egyptian artifacts. There was a sign saying not to touch...unless you are blind:

Street art near Tottingham Court Road:

 We are lucky to live in a neighborhood with many public green spaces. This is the one closest to our apartment; it contains a small zoo of exotic animals, mostly birds. The laughing kookaburras started up a racket that sounded like this.

Pretty bird:

 

Another pretty bird taking a nap on one leg:

R.O.U.S.'s

Look, they're still awake!

Pretty flowers in the "water garden" part of the park:

More pretty flowers:

Another shot of the "water garden":

Yup, still awake. Must be because they know they get some good ol' veggie chili if they stay up:

Make way for ducklings! I almost missed my chance at this shot...

Brit Speak

Now, if only we'd had the underground dictionary six months ago...

Source: http://www.scribd.com/doc/55551980/Anglo-EU-Translation-Guide

Happy Independence Day

Though we do not anticipate any firework displays here, we're are having a few friends over this evening to celebrate July 4th. Most are American, a few Canadian ("you know July 4th isn't a holiday for us, right?"), and even a few Brits. Serving the best/worst of American fare including apple pie and beer. Happy July 4th!