Puddle Jumpin'

Messing About in Boats

2010-06-06T07:07:00.000-07:00

So when the stress and hassle of work and life get to you, it's always important to take advice from the great works of literature:

"There is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats."
- Kenneth Graham Wind in the Willows

And so that's what we did:

Half-Term break this year found us heading out to the Norfolk Broads, Britain's largest protected wetland and the third largest series of inland waterways comprised of small dikes and rivers to sweeping expanses of open wetlands:

Always the traditionalists, we set off on our 1-week adventure aboard a 22-foot traditional wooden gaff-rigged sloop, Jenny:

Little Jenny was the perfect size (ok, perhaps we could have done with something a wee bit bigger... ;) for seeing the Norfolk sights, including the traditional thatched-roof homes complete with "boatways" (we're assuming there were driveways too, we just didn't see them!).

And all the fantastic wildlife the broads had to offer:

Australian Swan (European swans are white, and there were plenty of them!).  This swan was part of a pair introduced to the broads as an ornamental species who have made a comfy home harassing human tourists for whatever junk-food they were willing to offer.

Crested Grebe (Kim loves these guys, particularly when they carry their young around on their backs!)

Egyptian Geese (also ornamental imports)

Little Turns, up from Africa for the breeding season.

Marsh Harriers swooping around over head.

And lots of other animals (including coots, moorhens, greylags and otters!!!) with lots of little babies paddling about!

One of the challenges of sailing the broads are negotiating the many low bridges crossing the rivers:

The above bridge was in Potter Heigham, an ancient Roman village famous for it's pottery. The low-flying medieval bridge we crossed under is famous for being the most difficult to navigate in all of the broads. Passing under it was fun, but we were particularly impressed with our ability to drop and raise our mast & rigging in under 20 minutes!

After a long day of sailing it was great to moor up in a quiet spot along the banks of the nature reserve, open a bottle of wine, pull out the binoculars and enjoy the chattering of wildlife all around us:

Quiet, restful and invigorating - it was the perfect break after a long and stressful year and a great reminder that:

For whatever we lose (like a you or a me)
it's always ourselves we find in the sea
-ee cummings

Goin' a little batty...

2010-05-16T06:33:00.000-07:00

So the winter has come and departed since last we wrote. We're guessing by now everyone has probably stopped expecting any new adventures from Team Raccio UK... It was a long and snowy winter here in the UK - beautiful to look at:The view from Kim's classroom window: But we can't lie - fun as it was to finally see a little snow, it caused widespread pandemonium across the Cotswolds. Our car was trapped in the driveway for 12 days (we shoveled - but no plows for the roads!), classes disrupted (but still running - the national exams were underway and they don't stop for no one!), and once we nearly ran out of wine (but a 3-mile trek to the nearest shop fixed that problem). Eventually we decided to take a few lessons from the locals and simply decided to bury our heads until spring:We stayed pretty cooped up with all the snow and work - although we did get out on one or two little adventures, like traveling to Glasgow for a performance of one of Jesse's newest pieces (www.jesseraccio.com) and visiting Necropolis on the way: Very Buffy. Kim wandered around with a stake the whole day:And generally enjoying the food, metro vibe and antics of a city that refuses to take itself too seriously (apparently Wellington is almost never without his cap): Unfortunately our little girl, Bizzler, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge in early spring. Nothing can fill the hole left behind by the loss of a fur-kid, but eventually spring came and we've enjoyed the antics of new fur-babies everywhere: Finally deciding it was time to get out and reconnect with the world we excitedly celebrated National Moth Night on May 15th with other crazy Lepidopterain enthusiasts: We got a special perk when we discovered this year's theme was Moths and Bats! We waited patiently for dusk to settle and for some of the UK's most elusive bats to emerge from their daily slumber: And fly right into the harp traps waiting to interrupt their dinner run: It was a busy night with lots of bats being captured and recorded: A good thing for the moths... well, except for those lured by the enchanting glow of the various traps lighting up the forest (so... irresistible...) Good geeky fun for all carried on well into the night: So there you have it - a little update! Hopefully the longer days will bring more interesting adventures (or at least extended opportunities to catch up on old posts!)

One Night in Gaol

2009-09-13T09:23:00.000-07:00

After 11 years of marriage, we thought that we ought to try something different - but not too different - so after a bit of consideration we though it highly appropriate to celebrate the event in prison - The Oxford Prison.

Originally built in 1071, the Oxford Castle evolved from a wooden keep into a massive stone structure, later encompassing the Oxford Prison. Closed in 1996, the former Oxford Prison (or Gaol) is now home to a swanky 5-star hotel with a fantastic restaurant and bar - a perfect (albeit ironic) place to spend our anniversary: The Prison at Night (creepy):Looking in through the barred windows at the detention block:
Interior shots of the original detention block, where our room was located:
Perhaps familiar from such films as "The Italian Job" and "A Fish Called Wanda":

The door to our "cell": Interior shot of the door, with kicked dents and other creepy artifacts:
But don't be mislead, our "cell" was certainly 5-star and HUGE by European standards!
Our windows (they took down the barbed wire, but not the bars!):
Before a yummy dinner down in the crypts, we started off the evening in the fantastic prison bar with all sorts of fun drinks like an "Over the Wall" (Champagne, Raspberry Vodka and Chambord):

And toasted ourselves to another 11 years!

Tam, Tam he's our man....

2009-08-11T11:35:00.000-07:00

Tam came, Tam saw, Tam conquered. Everything....

Our lovely IKEA banana plant pre-Tam (serving as our christmas tree/Hannukah bush):

Our lovely IKEA Banana plant post-Tam, mutilated, sunburnt and left to die in the back garden:

Who said life with ferrets isn't interesting...?!?!?

Because Everybody Loves Puffins!!!

2009-07-24T14:14:00.000-07:00

Caption Contest!!!

As we prepare to embark on our next voyage beyond THE NORTH (a.k.a Scotland), we took a few minutes to reflect on some of our favorite moments from our last visit to the Hebrides. Although we won't be returning to the home of these puffins on Isle of Staffa, special "highland prizes" will go out for the best captions to the following photos:

(1)______________________________

(2) ____________________

(3) _____________________________

(4)_____________________________

(Ok - so it's a bit of lame excuse for our noticeable lack of real posts - but you've got to admit that these poofballs can make you smile! Of course, if your only motivation is a prize, it should also be noted that the tiny island we plan to visit is renowned for both wildlife AND 8 distilleries producing what could be argued as some of the world's best whiskey...)

Over and Back Again

2009-06-01T11:25:00.000-07:00

Once again - the joys of Term Break were upon us... This time, rather than hitting the open road of the Autobahn, Eurotunnel or other methods of continental travel, Jesse and Kim decided to explore the beauty of the English Countryside - starting from West to East. In late April we loaded up our ever-faithful Hyundi Getz (ours is silver) and headed to The West, striking out to the famous coastal countryside and stationing ourselves in the quaint artistic community of St. Ives (and as close to the US as we've managed to get in the past two years!). Our base - a fantastic little (and we can't emphasize how little) self-catering apartment smack dab in the middle of the ancient fishing village of St. Ives: Tiny and quirky (we don't know if these photos actually do justice to exactly HOW SMALL the apartment was!) - The Wreck provided a fantastic base for exploring the fishing village, coastal landscape and Surfing Haven of St. Ives: Mind you - this was April... and to us the weather was freezing, wet and grey... but that did stop the hard-core surfing community that flocked to St. Ives: Although some of the locals were better "kitted out" for the crappy weather than we were: Despite the cold, driving rain and generally miserable (a.k.a "English") weather conditions, we did manage to find places that made us feel right at home: (Unfortunately Kim didn't have her sweatshirt, given to her by her mom as a present many years ago, to wear when we actually visited the Three Ferrets pub. We're pretty sure our ferrets - all 4 of them- we're snuggled up inside the sweatshirt wondering why the hell they were stuck in their room whilst we were away!). We didn't worry too much about that, as we had our own problems with some of the locals: Unfortunately a few complications back home (i.e. - Shandy eating one of our elastic hairbands), forced us to return a bit prematurely... so we didn't get to hit all of the sights on our list such as the Eden Project or Penzance. But the Cornish coast is surprisingly easy to get to, so we'll be sure to go back! But the Cotswolds isn't all that shabby this time of year with some great hiking footpaths leading right out of our back yard. Spring is a vision of blooming beauty - and hayfever (oh god do we miss our Clartin-D! Note to parents - we're running a bit low on the stuff. Care packages would be greatly appreciated...): A-choo! Clearly there isn't much else to do in our neighborhood: Ok... so enough of the flowers (Barassica rapa, or Oilseed Rape. Also known as Wisconsin Fast Plants to those who've been lucky enough to work with them on a bio term project or two). An unfortunate name for a lovely crop that could provide hours of bad... very bad... puns, which we've tastefully decided to omit from our blog) Moving on... a few weeks later we were blessed with yet another term break (and some SUNNY weather!!!) and in true Baggins spirit we headed to The East, striking out for the other side of the island which included a lovely stop in the academic splendor of historic Cambridge:

(St. James College, University of Cambridge)

The view from our hotel along the River Cam: And the famous Cambridge pass time - Punting. Although we're not sure this is exactly the way it's supposed to go... there seemed to be lots of drunken university students celebrating the completion of finals with bottles of champagne (or Jack Daniels) which clearly inhibited their punting abilities: Of course, Cambridge was home to many, many famous scientists - Kim was particularly giddy to see the Museum of Zoology with its extensive collection of dead and squishy things:

Shout out to all you Bio-9ers who ever survived a Raccio class (or a Noble Proctor Biogeography course).  The ultimate mascot of Limiting Factors --- The Whale Billed Stork!  (Apols - the author is having a biogeek moment...)

But wait -- it gets even better!!! Actual finches collected by You-Know-Who on the infamous Voyage of the Beagle: And his Beetles!!!!

Not willing to settle for the second-hand experience, we had to visit the grounds where Darwin himself studied and expanded his coleoptera collection:

Established in as the first National Park in England, Wicken Fen was a beautiful haven for all types of wildlife:

(ok - so not a beetle, but still a lovely arthropod, no?)

And when it was time to refuel, a visit to the famous Eagle Inn, where Watson and Crick argued their formative ideas on the structure of DNA over a pint or two, and earlier, where US Air Force troops signed their names into the ceiling with lighters, lipstick or all other means before heading off to fight in WWII:
Not to monopolize the science-geek front, we also sought out other venues that our musical-geeks in our reading audience would better appreciate:

Now converted into a Bed and Breakfast, we spent a lovely evening in the the home and birthplace of the famous composer Benjamin Britten, which was located in Lowestoft, the Easternmost village in the England:

Of course, even the best plans eventually go to the birds:

In this case it was visiting the fantastic RSPB preserve Minsmere - complete with plenty of fluffy chicks (above) and sand martins (below): Wild Konik Ponies: And the otherwise fabulous beachscape of the North Sea:  All in all a lovely time over and about the island.  Now we're back again and looking forward to our next adventures...

Domine Dirige Nos

2009-05-26T13:17:00.000-07:00

At 10:45 am, on the 26th of May in the Year of our Lord 2009, Kim Mary Raccio was welcomed with Joy as the "Youngest" Freeman of the City of London.

Ehhh?

Yup - on May 26th, after much nodding and bowing and signing her name in the city "book", Kim joined the notable ranks of such great figures as Winston Churchill, Nelson Mandela and Luciano Pavarotti by stating that:

"I, Kim Mary Raccio, do solemnly swear that I will be good and true to Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth the Second; that I will be obedient to the Mayor of this City; that I will maintain the Franchises and Customs thereof, and will keep this City harmless, in that which in me is; that I will also keep the Queen's Peace in my own person; that I will know no Gatherings nor Conspiracies made against the Queen's Peace, but I will warn the Mayor thereof, or hinder it to my power; and that all these points and articles I will well and truly keep, according to the Laws and Customs of this City, to my power." (and she didn't even stutter!!!)

(Kim extending the Right Hand of Freedom to the Chamberlain of the Court)

Living under the Crest of the City of London (above, as seen in the crypts of Guildhall), Kim can now drive her herd of sheep over London Bridge without fear of taxation. She can now be drunk in public and carry a sword -- though both concepts are a bit scary. Kim can now choose, after her drunken sword fight, to be hung by silken rope. These, and many more, are the rights of a Freeman.

Actually, in modern times, it is more of a charitable organization, but at least we can make it sound very...English -- which it is. Actually, the Freedom of the City was, in the earliest times (we're talking 1237-ish), "an essential requirement for all who wished to carry on business and prosper in trade withing the square mile that is the City of London (not to be confused with London... made up of many cities - such as the City of Westminster, etc., etc.). As a result, the privileges attaching to the Freedom were eagerly sought, while the duties and obligations of Freemen were faithfully observed."

Just in case you're drunk and worried about where your privileges run out, it's pretty easy to keep track of what "city" you're in when wandering the winding streets (there are no roads in The City!) of London by simply keeping an eye out for the City Crest:

After Kim's oath, in the presence of The Lord Chamberlain of the City of London (robes) and The Beadle (hat):

Following her early morning ceremony we adjourned with her "entourage" (The Beadle's words, not ours!) to a local pub to celebrate her admittance into the the Freedom and to study the "Rules for the Conduct of Life" which was given alongside her Freedom certificate.

So, if you're like us, you might be wondering how this interesting event came to be. To gain admittance to the Freedom, one must be "sponsored" (unless you're given an "honorary" Freedom... such as the Queen has). For her sponsorship Kim can thank President of the Kingham Hill Alumni Association and Member of the Worshipful Society of Fletchers, Mike Tadman (below):

Although we're not entirely sure why Mr. Tadman found Kim worthy of The Freedom - we do appreciate the opportunity to see first hand some of the ancient and quirky customs of the British people and we look forward to participating in other unique events as a Citizen of the City!

Jesse with KHS "old boy" David Ward in the Jamaica Wine House, one of the many historic pubs tucked into the winding streets of The City

Being a Freeman of the City comes with many perks, which includes countless secrets - such as knowing exactly who moved the cheese:

(random rodent art...one of many secrets that could easily be overlooked in The City. Supposedly this little artisan artifact was the result of a building workers strike, apparently the workers didn't know what else to do with their time!)

Thanks to all who joined in on this memorable day!

(Left to Right: Kingham Hill "Old Boys" David Ward and Mike Tadman, Jesse and Kim Raccio, Fellow KHS Americans Kari and Ben Davis - with William Davis actively trying to eat Kim's Freedom certificate - US State Department employee and KHS American Studies "Founder" Ellen Sheets, Visiting Americans Glenda and Jonathan)

The Amazing Adventures of Shandy and Tam

2009-04-12T12:02:00.000-07:00

Our quiet, Cotswold way of life took a turn for the crazy a few months ago with the arrival of a few new fuzzybutts - Shandy & Tam!

We adopted the 8-month-old fur team from the Three Shires Ferret Shelter, in part, to help restore some balance at home following the passing of Kyoko. We originally only planned to bring home one fuzzy - but the laws of Ferret-Math are never to be violated... and low and behold - our first full-blooded British ferrets bounced into our lives.

Both brown sable hobs (or "poley" boys) - we felt it necessary to give them some proper British names:

Shandy: A beer, usually a lager, flavored with lemonade (or ginger beer and yes, IMHO, it is a nasty as it sounds)
Tam: Old English for "Twin"

The standard "Do I know you?" session on day 1:

We thought the whole integration process went pretty well - until Quank started hording all of his prized possessions and threatening to kill anyone who came near him:

We let everyone go their own way for awhile - and the babies didn't waste any time getting into EVERYTHING:
The joys of nip-training:

Fortunately some unexpected snow provided everyone with a fantastic diversion:

Bizzler isn't really sure what to do with all this cold, white stuff everywhere:
And for those too old to go outside - the snow came to them... and was equally confusing:
Eventually all the excitement wore everyone out and, in their exhaustion, they finally agreed on a truce.Be sure to keep an eye out for the next issue!!!

A Cotswolds Christmas

2009-01-12T12:19:00.000-08:00

And Hanukkah... and New Year...

Abandoning our typical "hit the road every chance you get" ways - we decided to stick close to home this holiday season... A quiet winter in the Cotswolds filled with:

Meat.

Kim's first Black Forest Cake
(with real Schwartzwald Kirschwasser from Baden-Baden, thank you very much!)

Presents under the tree
(so what if it's a banana plant from IKEA, the presents are there, right?)

And the joys of opening presents and hiding them under the couch...

Although the best presents undoubtedly came from the USA:

But being British meant that the festivities were appropriately somber and depressing:
So therefore we must bring the festivities to us.  With Ale.
(at least it's Christmas Ale):
Much Ale.  Even the ferrets need it to stay happy:
And what would Christmas be without family:
And the Boxing Day Hunt galloping across your front yard:
(A prize goes out to the first person who know when boxing day is!)

New Year's Eve Bar-B-Que:
And Auld Lang Syne-ing at the local pub
(the Chequers, of course!)
(Seems that there is this British - Scottish?- tradition that you're supposed to cross your arms and hold the hands of your neighbors as you jump up and down whilst belting Auld Lang Syne out at the top of your lungs... if you lose your grip during the song you can kiss that New Year's wish good-bye.  Somehow we missed this in Edinburgh last year...  clearly that's what went wrong in 2008)

A particularly pleasant surprise - a lovely frosty day, perfect for strolling though the bleak British landscape:

And poetically highlighting our holiday experience, a steaming pile of horseshit:

Happy Holidays Everyone!

Sitting in the Loo of Luxury!

2009-01-04T07:51:00.000-08:00

And You Could Too!

Looking to experience the ULTIMATE peeing privilege? Well look no farther than the long-stay car park in Broadway, England -- the dream destination for the burdened tourist bladder:

Land of our Fathers (and Mothers...) (Vol. III)

2009-01-01T14:18:00.000-08:00

Months have passed, seasons changed, global economies collapsed, but FINALLY, emerging from the tail-end of a holiday-induced food coma, we pause to reflect on more of our journeys from the past year. Fearful that our adventures from Summer 2008 slip into that dim fog of ale-induced forgetfulness we return to the land that brought us The Drozds and Kryznels - our "parentland":

We suppose this would be the place to start on with all your standard "Polish jokes" (see, it's OK to do that when you're part of the club). Instead let's let some of the Polish craziness speak for itself:

Not kidding - we had to refer back to the camera display at least 3 times as we desperately tried to figure out what speed limit we were supposed to be doing where... Although universal caution was to be applied at all intersections lest one mow down happy-candy-balloon-toting little girls:

It was a long drive through southern Poland as we traveled from Prague to Krakow. Making a quick "pit-stop" for supplies, we immediately knew Poland was a place we could call home:

We stayed in a fantastic (and inexpensive!) hostel in Krakow - a quiet place on a fairly secluded street at the edge of Kazimierz district and snuggled up against the banks of the Vistula River:

We felt right at home in our room in the "Fruit Wing":

We were greeted by the sounds of melodious nuns singing in the courtyard outside our window:

For Kim, the sight of nuns, EVERYWHERE, conjured up feelings of dread she hadn't experienced since practicing handwriting in her stiff wooden desk as a 2nd grader at Saint Lawrence under the watchful eye of Sister Mary Immaculate. She had to put those feelings aside as Krakow is, as was put in an anonymous guide from 1647, "the second Rome". There are 87 churches and 56 monasteries in the city with a fair share of priests, monks and nuns. Krakow was also home to that notable Catholic- Pope John Paul II (he was the former Archbishop - a.k.a. Karol Wojtyła):

The Mariacki Church (Saint Mary's Church) in the main square. Legend has it that the different heights of the two towers (81 meters vs. 69 meters) resulted from bad case of sibling rivalry between two architect brothers:

Although "over 90% of Poles declare themselves to be Roman Catholics", Krakow's complex history (indeed all of Poland) is deeply entwined in Judaism. Thanks to a long history of religious tolerance, Poland became home to "the largest and most significant Jewish community in Europe and served as the center for Jewish culture". Our hostel was located on a quiet street on the edge of the Jewish district of Kazimierz:
We had a fantastic walking tour of the district, lead by our guide Konrad (above), who explained the settlement of this district just outside Krakow's Old Town. Seen below in this aerial shot of the city, the Old Town is surrounded by a thick band of green, the former moat/river, which you cross over when walking to Kazimierz.

Today Kazimierz is home to Krakow's vibrant artistic community - leaving the district with a distinctively different, quieter and less "touristy" feeling than what you might experience in the Old City:

Through the quiet winding alleys we emerged upon the "wide street" - look familiar? Although this square was not home to the Jewish Ghetto created by the Nazis in 1941 (that was across the river in Podgorze), it is often mistaken for exactly that thanks to Schindler's List, filmed here in 1993:

During our tour we visited a number of synagogues including the Synagogo Tempel (Temple Synagogue), the only active Reformed synagogue in Krakow:

The Stara Boznica (Old Synagogue) - the most ancient Jewish structure in Poland and a very tall building, although it's foundation is below street level - giving it's appearance a similar height to the surrounding buildings.

The Remuh Cemetery - spared from destruction by the Nazis but now victim to a new threat - acid rain. Metal caps adorn the gravestones to protect them from the elements:

The results of acid rain are clearly visible on this uncapped gravestone:
The fairly recent development of "Bohemian life" in Kazimierz (much of the district remained in ruins until as recently as 2000) now provides a home to a growing artistic community - making it a fantastic place to find all sorts of funky stuff, including this unusual bar where the all the tables are fashioned out of old Singer sewing machines (they also had a impressive menu of Polish vodkas, including Zubrowka or "bison vodka" which we had to sample, given that it's banned for sale in the US...something about containing coumarin a blood thinner or rodenticide or something...):

Moving out of Kazimierz to Wawel Hill we explored the Wawel Cathedral - an interesting hodgepodge of architectural styles and shrine to the monarchs of Poland:
Examples of Krakow's unofficial mascot, the dragon, could be found everywhere on the Hill:
The story goes something like this - "Once upon a time, King Krak started to build a castle on top of Wawel Hill. This disturbed the slumber of a dragon snoozing in the caves beneath the hill. As dragons do, he emerged and wrecked havoc on the local community - eating sheep, cattle, virgins and whatnot. The wise King invited the brave knights to slay the dragon for the usual rewards, and they, of course, all failed. Then a clever cobbler filled a sheepskin with sulphur and salt, sewed it up to look like a sheep, and placed it outside the cave entrance. Upon seeing the sheep, the dragon gobbled it up - but then the desperate dragon drank too much water and died".

Now whether or not you believe in dragons could be open for debate, but it's a little hard to argue with the story when you see the three massive "dragon bones" hanging to the right of the Cathedral entrance (below). According to palaeontologists, "the bones seem to be from an extinct species of rhinoceros, mammoth and whale". Whatever the scientists say, we're sticking by the dragon:

(By the way, the legend also states that should the bones ever fall from their chains the world will come to an end. Fortunately the Crakovians regularly replace the chains - so we needn't worry too much about that!)

Of course, we also managed to get in a little shopping in the market squares. Kim was particularly distracted by lots of shiny amber objects (only a Polish biologist would want jewelry with dead bugs in it...):

Overall, Krakow was a fantastic city, and our time here was far too short. We definitely plan to go back - but now it's time to relax with a nice wodka (no mead - although Poland is supposed to be one of the few countries producing mead - ask Jesse about his failed attempt to get a glass of the stuff!) and plan the next stage of our journey:

But Never Absent From Your Heart...

2008-12-18T04:27:00.000-08:00

Kyoko, our littlest Boo-baby, crossed over the Rainbow Bridge this week...

Born March 29th, 2003 to parents Princess Alibaster and Odesse (that cool little dude was a Best in Show National Champion!), Kyoko joined the fur clan as a friend and companion to Papillion and Obelix, later joined by Wiki, and most recently Qanuk and Lil'Bit...

From her earliest days as a psycho-spastic fur demon who babbled at herself in the mirror, the tiny but beautiful Kyoko grew into our constant companion, always ready for a game of tag or hide-and-go-seek, who came whenever Kim called her:

As so many ferrets do, Kyoko developed signs of insulinoma over the past few months. Her excellent heath made her an ideal candidate for pancreatic surgery - a routine procedure to remove any tumors that developed on the pancreas, thereby preventing the need to manage the cancer with daily medication, at least for a few years.

Kyoko was admitted for surgery on Monday, December 15th. All went well and 3 tumors were removed. Kyoko was discharged and returned home Monday evening. Unfortunately, it wasn't long before we noticed signs of severe distress in Kyoko - vomiting, wheezing and signs of shock. We returned her to the vet who managed to stabilize her, but by 2 am it became clear that something beyond low glucose levels was contributing to her demise.

Suspecting intestinal torsion or another internal complication, Kyoko underwent a second surgery in the early hours of Tuesday morning. The veterinary surgeon found that Kyoko's small intestine had formed a "loop" and "adheased" itself to the section of her pancreas where a large tumor had been removed. A painful and deadly situation, the surgeon successfully separated her small intestine from the pancreas. But two surgeries in under 24-hours proved to be too much for her - Kyoko didn't wake from the anesthesia.

To say that losing Boo is hard sounds stupid and simplistic. She was our Boo-baby, the only ferret we've ever raised from a kit - and she wasn't supposed to go so soon. On her we pinned the hopes that a ferret can actually live 10 years. She was a wonderful ferret - and although it is NEVER easy to say goodbye to a fur-kid, today we feel particularly empty, hollow and heartbroken.

In time the pain will fade, and we'll be able to smile at many of the great memories that are "par for the course" when living with ferrets. For now, it's nice to look back at the few pictures we have and remember Kyoko and Wiki pouncing and tube-romping:

And the other things she loved - like digging (be it in the dirt, snow or Raja's (clean!) kitty litter):

And chicken baby food!

Such was her passion for Gerber baby food that Kyoko even managed to put her differences aside and share a plate of the good stuff with her evil-monkey-arch-nemesis, Lil'bit:

Kyoko helping to pack up for her next big adventure...

Moving to England!Despite the trauma of traveling, and the loss of her best friend, Wiki, in April 2008 due to complications following a double adrenealectomy, Kyoko actually seemed to love England. Spending more time outside than ever before, Kyoko loved to play in the garden and on the footpaths - particularly in the hedgerows, where all sorts of interesting scents were found!

Kyoko (center) and the boys:

Kyoko Superstar, her little boo-thang curled up for a sock nap:

In loving memory

Kyoko

March 29, 2003 - December 16, 2008

You can shed tears that she is gone, Or you can smile because she lived...

Nice is Nice

2008-11-30T11:46:00.001-08:00

Although we still have three volumes of photos from our excursions around Eastern Europe to upload, life just keeps getting in the way (and with 1.8 MB upload speeds, you can bet it's going to take us a LOOoooOoong time before you get to see our pics from Poland and Berlin...). Although Kingham Hill keeps us pretty busy, sometimes working in Europe has it's perks:

Most recently, work took us to Nice, France for the European Council of International Schools annual conference. Although most of our time was spent in workshops confined within the convention center - we made it a point to see as much of the town as we possibly could!

We stayed at the Villa La Tour, a cute little hotel 5 minutes from the convention center and right on the edge of the old city. It was a fantastic place - cheap, and better yet, it had one of the best wine stores in the city directly across the street!

(We passed the evenings there with many other international school educators - chatting about multiculturalism and downing bottles of the newly released 2007 Beaujolais!)

Nice boasted many nice things (sorry...) - although for us, one highlight was seeing the Mediterranean for the first time:

Kim didn't waste any time kicking off her shoes to tromp around in the water (it was cool, but you could still stand in it!). Unfortunately without her Tevas her feet were no match for the stony beaches:

Despite the rocks, it was lovely to sit outside. Although life in the perpetually dim English fog left our eyes poorly equipped to deal with all the sunlight!

As to be expected, French protesters, taking to the streets for some noble cause:

Managing our way around the barricade we marveled at the loveliness that is Nice including Roman ruins:

Lush vegetation:

Fantastic architecture, including the Regina - once home to painter Henri Matisse:

The city of Nice, with the French Alps in the background:
"The Port" - sporting the homes and yachts of the rich and famous:

And of course, The French Riviera:

Not too shabby for a weeks work - n'est-ce pas?

A Quiet Day in Bohemia (Vol. II)

2008-11-02T12:28:00.001-08:00

Leaving the hustle and bustle of Prague behind us, we decided to venture out into the Bohemian countryside to a Hapsburg fortress, made famous - as so many things in Europe were - by the pervasive presence of the Nazis, the town of Terezin:

This massive construction, built during the Austro-Hungarian empire, was intended to be a strong point against the Prussians. However, it was never used as intended. Instead it served as a prison camp from World War I through WWII. During the height of WWII, Terzin saw 150,000 Jews alone -- many other ethnicities were represented. Of these, 88,000 were "transported". In contrast, when not serving as a prison, Terzin housed upwards of 15,000 soldiers. As a ghetto, the place was a bit crowded, anywhere up to 60,000 people would be in this walled village at a given time.

Modern day Terzin has about 3,000 residents. When we visited on a Sunday, there was a strange, empty calm. It felt like a ghost town. The streets were empty and the occasional child riding a bike seemed out of place. Holocaust tourists would pass each other, in silence, dwelling in their own personal space of grief.

One reason Terzin has been made famous was its use as a "model" camp. Here the Nazi's concentrated many of the Jewish artists of the time to use as propaganda instruments with the red cross. Among them were Viktor Ullmann, Hans Krása, Kurt Gerron, Friedl Dicker-Brandeis, and Zikmund Schul.

Throughout what would seem to be a run down, sad and empty town there were still reminders of the roman-esque Hapsburg era.

As we walked past the former infirmary, home of the sick and insane during the ghetto years, we encountered its guardian. The barks of this German shepherd were a surreal imposition an otherwise silent, sonic landscape and nearly scared Kim out of her skin.

One stop on the tour of the town was the hidden synagogue. A friendly local, who happened to live in the town "during" the time it was a ghetto, rented some space to the towns new Jewish residents.
Above is the entrance to what you see below, a wonderfully decorated house of worship.

One can not see a remnant of the holocaust without seeing train tracks. The Nazis industrialized murder on a scale never seen before in human history and the primary mode of transportation was the train. This ghetto was a model town which served as propaganda for the International Red Cross and simultaneously a waypoint for those traveling to Auschwitz.

And beside the tracks, a testament to the fact that life does go on:

In addition to the large fortress which houses the town of Terzin, there was a small fortress nearby which, during the war, was used as an SS prison. Here we saw the obligatory, and in hindsight almost ironic, Nazi message -- "Work makes you free".

As well as the memorials to those who were slaughtered.
Yet everywhere we went, there were always walls and fences. Here a family enjoyed some basketball behind barbed wire.

Life does indeed go on...

Pay No Attention the the Hyundai Behind the Iron Curtain...(Vol. 1)

2008-10-31T09:23:00.000-07:00

A long time ago (well, three months ago), in a galaxy far, far away (well, in England), two crazy Americans loaded up their little Hyundai Getz with a bootload of car snacks and took off for their next great adventure in Eastern Europe...

View Larger Map

Having loved Hungary so much we figured that it would be awesome to check out a little more of Eastern Europe - this time venturing to The Czech Republic (Prague), Poland (Krakow) and Berlin.

Learning our lessons from previous road trips, we decided night driving really wasn't the most relaxing way to go. Setting out early in the morning, we made our first stop about 1/2 way from Oxfordshire to Prague, at a fantastic hostel in Mainz (near Frankfurt).

We're telling you - if you haven't tried them yet, hostels are the way to go! This one catered to families, had a little restaurant/bar, bathroom in room and breakfast included for only 24 Euro/person (No they're not paying us to say this)! Anyway - after a quick rest we bypassed the Gutenberg museum and finished trucking the 850 miles to Prague (Praha):

The capital of the Czech Republic (formerly Czechoslovakia), Prague is a beautiful and ancient city. Despite a complex history (as true for nearly all eastern European cities), the buildings and architecture of Prague practically untouched by wars and the post-soviet "smartening-up" of the city has left Prague with nearly the same level of grandeur found in Paris or Vienna:

The beautiful Jubilee Synagogue (with detail below):

Always one to shun the glitz (well - always broke is more like it), we opted for more modest accommodations during our time in Prague:

From our hostel in central Prague we set off by foot to explore many of the local sights including Wenceslas Square (National Museum is in the background):

Prague Castle with the River Vltava in the foreground:

Funky stalactite rock wall thing in the Wallenstein Garden:

Random mall art:
Tourist traps aside, we spent a day in Josefov, the former Jewish Ghetto:
According to Wikipedia: "Jews are believed to have settled in Prague as early as the 10th century. The first pogrom was in 1096 (the first crusade) and eventually they were concentrated within a walled Ghetto.

In 1850 the quarter was renamed "Josefstadt" (Joseph's City) after Joseph II, Holy Roman Emperor who emancipated Jews with the Toleration Edict in 1781. Two years before Jews were allowed to settle outside of the city, so the share of the Jewish population in Josefov decreased, while only orthodox and poor Jews remained living there.

Most of the quarter was demolished between 1893 and 1913 as part of an initiative to model the city on Paris. What was left were only six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall.

With only six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall the Nazi German occupation could have been expected to complete the demolition of the old ghetto. However the area was preserved in order to provide a site for a planned "exotic museum of an extinct race". This meant that the Nazis gathered Jewish artifacts from all over central Europe for display in Josefov."

Today those artifacts are housed in the remaining synagogue/museums - but unfortunately no pictures are allowed inside the buildings:

Kim did manage to sneak a shot in the Pinkasova synagogue - a memorial to the 77,297 Czech Jews killed in the Holocaust. The longest epitaph in the world - the names of all the victims are written on every bit of wall space in the building:

The Old Jewish Cemetery, dating back to 1439 and used until 1787 (an estimated 100,000 people were buried here by that time):

Being in Prague for only a few days, we didn't get to see everything the city had to offer - but we certainly tried to hit many of the highlights, including traveling by the super efficient and clean metro system, a legacy to the Communist era:
Traveling by metro, we ventured out of the city one night to visit the Zizkov TV Tower:

Originally built by Soviets to jam West German TV transmissions, this tower now is home to some of the most bizarre installation art we've seen so far...

(It was a little too dark to get a good shot of the creepy crawling babies...)

Sunset over Prague, from the Zizkov tower - you can just make out the castle in the center:

If we had to rank Prague in terms of "favorite cities we've visited" - we'd honestly put her towards the bottom of the list. We're not sure what we were expecting, but certainly the hordes of British tourists out for some cheap beer wasn't it... (not that we're complaining about the beer - in fact, Czech beer might be some of the best in the world - we came home with cases of it!!! Below is a shot of Kim enjoying a "Flek" - a dark carmel concoction brewed at u Fleku since 1499):

I guess our point is that nearly everywhere we went we were treated like tourists - handed english menus, etc., and we really struggled to get a true sense of the city. Perhaps we simply need to return with someone who can give us the 'inside scoop' on Prague. Of course, that's not to say the city is all bad! Our favorite moments in Prague occurred when we wandered off the beaten path - in this case accidentally stumbling into a small wine bar filled with locals gathered for a weeknight "sing-a-long". No English was spoken here, but a warm smile beckoned us in and friends were quickly made as we sang "Take Me Home, Country Roads", in whatever language worked best for you... (you MUST click on this link!)
Jesse was pulled into the band as the honorary rice-can shaker...
All-in-all, Prague was a lovely start to a fantastic two-week journey. More to come soon!

Now Why Don't They Write...

2008-10-28T21:03:00.000-07:00

Apols to all who have been patiently awaiting the next installation of The Raccio's Great European Adventure. As you probably suspected we haven't been sitting quietly at home - we've been out and about having some fantastic travels to Prague, Krakow and Berlin - and we PROMISE to have those pics up asap. It would be an understatement to call the start of this current school year anything but MANIC - so finding time to post pics in a way that does any justice to the amazing places we've visited has been hard to come by.

Rather than taking off to parts unknown for our recent 1/2 term break - Kim abandoned Jesse at home and helped to introduce a fleet of 32 students from Kingham Hill to the wonders of the USA including:

A Wicked evening on Broadway:

Shirley Temples at Carmines (remember, no alcohol until you're 21 in the states!):

Road Trips:

A re-enactment of Pickett's Charge at Gettysburg:

Hailing Cabs in NYC:

And when that didn't work - the subway:

Of course these shots only represents a small fraction of our adventures in NYC, Gettysburg, Williamsburg and DC! If you're interested in learning more about this trip (directly from our students) please feel free to visit http://kinghamusa.blogspot.com

So see - despite what you might be thinking, we're not total slackers... and pics of our summer adventures will come soon!

THE Battle Proms!!!!

2008-08-24T06:34:00.000-07:00

Upon arriving to the UK in July 2007 we encountered a great many odd things, including a curious advertisement for something entitled "The Battle Proms". Initially we assumed that "Battle Proms" must include two high school beauty queens in pink taffeta dresses fighting a bloody battle to the death for the honor of being crowned "Prom Queen". Seemed a little extreme to be advertising it with fireworks and cannons - but at this point we had already surmised that pretty much anything odd is possible in England... After a few inquires we eventually learned that "The Battle Proms" are a series of outdoor concert events combining orchestral performances of classical music with cannons, cavalry displays and fireworks that are geared towards rousing the patriotic spirit of the the British people. Curious to see what all the hoopla was about, we packed up a picnic and took the senior Raccio team off to our first "Prom" held on the beautiful grounds of Blenheim Palace. The evening started off with a Napoleonic Cavalry and Infantry Display followed by an evening gun salute: Although the concert was held in mid-July it really wasn't your typical outdoor-summer-picnic-day. We were a bit skeptical that the weather would hold and it was bloody cold! Fortunately the skies cleared a bit, just in time for the opening Spitfire display choreographed to "Jupiter" from The Planets by Gustav Holst: The orchestra did a great job covering a varied repertoire -- from Verdi Operas to Elgar's Pomp & Circumstance (did you know that had words?!?!) -- despite the occasional piece of sheet music flying away: It's hard to exactly describe the audience of the Battle Proms... Clearly everyone was there to have a good time, and picnics ranged from little camper baskets on blanket (go us!) to huge gazebos with candelabras. Audience dress varied from jeans and jumpers (a prize goes out to the first non-British person to post a response explaining what a "jumper" is) to tuxedos and ballroom gowns. Despite the variety, as we said before, UK National Pride oozed out of the pore of everyone there: And being an American certainly didn't stop us from getting in on the action (although we did have a little trouble singing the correct words to "God Save the Queen" - how'd they mange to usurp that tune from us?!?) especially with a little help from our new favorite British summer drink, Pimms: (Why Kim felt she needed an entire pitcher of that beverage, we'll never know...) And, as promised, there were the cannons - all 193 of them to be exact. They played a key role in the 1812 Overture and The Battle of Vittoria, The Battle Symphony (Op. 91 Beethoven): Overall, a good time to be had by all - a great time to be British!

The Great Raccio European Adventure, Part Deux

2008-08-17T14:21:00.000-07:00

After intensive negotiations, we finally manged to free the senior Mr. Raccio from the clutches of the British Transit Police. Figuring we best not press our luck, we hopped the nearest high-speed ferry and quickly fled the country. 4 hours later we arrived in Normandy:

(You can even get good French wine on the Ferry!)

Of course, being back on "the continent" meant that, once again, we needed those damn "de-dazzlers" for our British headlights. Stopping this time to ask for directions from a human (what a novel idea!) we think we finally figured it out! As a public service announcement to those who might be struggling with their own de-dazzlers whilst perturbing truck drivers all over Europe, please refer to the image below. Note the "dimple" in the center of the headlamp (ok, for the record, how the hell were we supposed to know what the directions were talking about when they told us to put the damn sticker to the right of the "dimple"?! I'm mean, what's a "dimple"? You might have a dimple on your chin; my ass is dimpled; but a headlight?! Come on people -- let's try writing these directions in ENGLISH next time). If you're still struggling to see the "dimple" it's actually a small round circle in the center of the plastic headlight cover. No, it doesn't feel "dimpled" because the circle is under the surface of the cover. If you look VERY closely just to the center left of the "Eurolites" sticker you might be luck enough to catch a glimpse of this elusive "dimple": Alright, enough of that. So the damn de-dazzlers are on the car, but like hell we're going to drive at night. Clearly we're harboring angst against our de-dazzlers. We'll try to let it go... Moving Along - as we were saying, we arrived on the French coast of Normandy and made our way to the medieval town of Bayeux, lying just inland of the D-Day beaches. Staying at the lovely Hotel Tardiff, we set off to explore the village: Before departing for some GREAT French food, our host, Antoinie, informed us that the following day would be a "Bank Holiday". That evening we were treated to traditional bank holiday fireworks, which were particularly lovely above the old medieval streets. Of course, in our ignorance, we never realized that it was Bastille Day. Our explorations around the city included the 70-m long Bayeux Tapestry depicting the 1066 Battle of Hastings (a tapestry that the British are whinging about - since the battle took place on their soil they feel they should get the fabric...) and the Bayeux Cathedral, which was one of the few remaining intact cathedrals in the region that survived the war (actually all of Bayeux was spared from the bombings): Of course, the highlight (if you can call it that) of our tour was to have the opportunity to set foot upon the infamous D-Day beaches from WWII. Many artifacts remain from the war, including the bunkers at Pointe du Hoc (above) and the remnants of the gargantuan floating harbor (below) built by the Allied forces at Arromanches, between Gold and Juno Beaches: A memorial at the American Cemetery at Utah Beach:
The Graves of American Soldiers who perished in one of the most difficult, and pivotal, series of battles of WWII:
Unfortunately our time in Bayeux was very limited, so we only had the opportunity to see a fraction of the beaches and memorials. Ah well, being 6 hours away, we know we'll be back... Moving southwest through the French countryside, with Raccios packed in the front and back seats we headed to the next stop on the tour: Having seen covered many of the lovely tourist traps on our first venture into Paris, we armed the senior Raccio team with a metro map and a few choice French phrases and abandoned them for some sites that could only interest biologists or the twisted macabre-artist sorts: You might be thinking, "those dead things look awfully familiar" - and they should! The first image is probably just the most famous Australopithecus you're ever bound to meet - none other than Ms. Lucy herself! (well, they said she was the original... but we think the real skeleton is in Ethiopia) Image #2 is the Inca Mummy that inspired Edvard Munch's painting, The Scream. These stealthily taken pics represent only two of THOUSANDS of really cool things (Rene Descartes skull, one of those wacky crystal skulls now made famous thanks to a little help from Indy Jones, and so on) that can be found in the Musée de l'Homme (translated: "Museum of Man") in Paris. If you're ever in the area we'd highly recommend visiting this spot for a fantastic break for the "tourist circuit" but DO NOT try to use the bathroom on the ground floor. E-mail Kim for more details on horrific experience of being locked into a French W.C. and SCREAMED AT by the washroom attendant (in French) as she desperately attempted to unlock the bathroom door and escape to freedom.

We suppose this might be a good point in the blog to insert some sterotypical jokes about small French people and their Napoleon complexes, but we won't. We did however find some time to visit Les Invalides, originally constructed as a retirement home for war veterans and now home to one of the most brilliant general-gone-crazy-megalomaniacs of all time, Napoleon:
Napoleon's Tomb: Before adding an extra stone thanks to the French breads and cheeses (well, not Jesse, huh?) we returned to the soggy mother land and back to London (actually, we hadn't been to London with the Raccios yet, it's just the way the blog postings worked out). We stayed a lovely hotel near Trafalgar Square with one of the most convoluted showers we've ever seen: They didn't leave a manual so we had to call for tech support after flooding the bathroom... London is becoming so "old hat" for us, so even though we went to some fun new places like Camden Market and bumped across the Dark Knight premier in Leicester Square, we generally didn't lug the camera around with us (sorry!). We did snap a few picks of the very cool British Museum "lobby" and the precursor to BabbleFish, the Rosetta Stone: Leaving the Tony and Jackie safely on their way to Heathrow we headed home to our little Cotswold Cottage for a few days of "down time" before the start of our next great European Adventure. More Details Coming Soon!

Assume the Position...

2008-08-04T13:45:00.000-07:00

Americans are everywhere, and clearly England takes the task of keeping tourists in-line quite seriously - particularly Italian Americans from Connecticut...

During his first time in the London Underground, Tony Raccio is targeted by the transportation police and detained for questioning:
We thought things were going well... until Tony became a bit belligerent with the Bobby:

It all went downhill from there:

Jackie Raccio pleads for mercy:But her pleas fell on deaf ears. Shackled and chained, the Authorities dragged Tony off to the Tower of London where he awaits his fate in a small cell crammed with other tourists from Alabama, Montana, Maine and Alaska. Our hands are full right now as we try to bail him out, but more posts of the "Raccio's European Vacation" will follow as soon as possible!

Random Message of the day...

2008-07-22T02:11:00.001-07:00

Brought to you by the lovely, and thin, folks of the City of London.

Mulling It Over

2008-07-04T05:38:00.001-07:00

Spring Break is one of the favorite holidays for students and teachers around the world. Whilst most people generally think of this as an opportunity for some much needed partying and sunshine, we've fully embraced living in England and now find excessive sunlight abhorrent -- kind of like vampires or those humanoids in I Am Legend. To that end, we found ourselves heading NORTH for spring break, about as far from sun and warmth as one can get, to the Isle of Mull in Hebrides of Scotland... There's a phrase in these parts of the world that says something like, "If you've gone as far as you can go - you're in the Hebrides". So where the hell is that?! Referring to the shoddy map above, the Hebrides are a group of island just off the west coast of Scotland. We traveled to the Isle of Mull, located in the Inner Hebrides, which is marked by the southernmost triangle on the map. Of course, being an island and all, it takes a bit of work to get to Mull or any of the Hebrides, but a good ferry service (below) and good weather, makes Mull quite accessible by car: The Isle of Mull is a fantastically beautiful place, a real haven for naturalists, especially if you're into geology and wildlife. Geologists love Mull because it has such a long and interesting history (its oldest rocks are about 2000 million years old) and it has unique structures and rocks found nowhere else in the world resulting from the complex interactions between the volcanic and glacial history of the island. For the GeoGeeks in the crowd (and we know you're out there!), you might want to check out a bit more on the unique geological history of Mull. Regardless, driving around the base of these amazing rock formations was pretty intense:

We stayed at a fantastic "youth" hostel in the charming fishing village of Tobermory, on the northernmost point of Mull. What you see in the picture below is what you get - a colorful, tiny town with an awesome Fish & Chips van! Using Tobermory as our base, we ventured off to explore the various historical sites of Mull, including old castles: Iona Abbey on the tiny isle of Iona, a 5-minute ferry ride off of the Mull mainland and the birthplace of Christianity in Scotland: The graveyard at Iona Abby - the final resting place for many infamous Scottish kings - including Macbeth! Celtic crosses on the Isle of Iona: We also visited Fingal's Cave on the Isle of Staffa, also a short boat ride from the Mull mainland. Another example of the amazing geology that can be found around Mull, the unique formations seen here resulted from rapid the cooling of hot lava and created this unique geological cave and inspired the famous symphony by Felix Mendelssohn: Although for us, the greatest highlight of the trip was the wildlife, including the guillemot, razorbill and puffin colonies of Lunga: To Kim's new favorite mammal - the Highland Cow! (and Baby!!!) Although we haven't yet purchased the new super-zoom lens (trust us, we're working on it,!!), we were lucky enough to also catch a few glimpses of rare sea eagles: eagles soaring: (yes, there is an eagle nest in the middle of the page, with a little youngster in it...) And our all-time collective favorite - otters!!! Trust us - she's there... (if you squint your eyes you'll see her climbing over the outcropping, about two millimeters in from the far right tip of the rock!)

Overall it was a fantastic vacation - a welcome break from all the city scenes we've been checking out this year. Mull is a mesmerizing place - truly at the end of the road...

We hope we'll have the chance to visit the Hebrides again before our time here is through!

A Single Sweet Bluebell...

2008-06-07T05:35:00.000-07:00

	A fine and subtle spirit dwells In every little flower, Each one its own sweet feeling breathes With more or less of power. There is a silent eloquence In every wild bluebell That fills my softened heart with bliss That words could never tell. - Anne Bronte - The Bluebell A springtime walk in the Cotswolds can reveal many lovely things - baby birds, young foxes, and bluebells! Although work sadly kept us from spending much time in the woods, we did find a few moments to seek out the famous England's famous "bluebell woods":

A delicate little flower, the bluebell is endemic to England and currently protected by the British Government.
It's particularly amazing to view these little flowers in the springtime (April-May) when they form complete "bluebell carpets" within deciduous forests. Walking thought the forests is magical - in the true fairy tale sense. Sadly, life isn't really a fairy tail for this little plant. English Bluebells make up an estimated 25-50% of the global bluebell population and global warming is starting to have a significant negative impact on the species...Regardless - it was lovely to see these lovely little flowers in full bloom here in their native habitat. Blog pictures really don't do them justice --- you'll have to come and see for yourself next year!

In Loving Memory of John S. Drozd

2008-05-12T12:53:00.001-07:00

13 Months before the end of WWII a US bomber was shot down over Germany carrying my Grandfather, "Opa" - John Drozd.

As was the fate of so many others fortunate enough to survive the crash, Opa was taken captive by the Nazis and transported to one of the many Prisoner of War camps in Eastern Europe. For Opa, that meant detention in the infamous Stalag XVII.

Held without medical treatment until the liberation of the camp in 1945, Opa rarely shared his experience at Stalag XVII with us - although a slight limp and chronic back pain was a daily reminder of his time as a POW. Driving through Austria we decided to search for the sight of Stalag XVII. Approximately 3 miles outside of the small Austrian village of Gneixendorf, nothing remains today of the imposing camp that impacted the lives of so many soldiers.

Using latitude and longitude coordinates in the SatNav we eventually managed to find the area formerly known as Stalag XVII. Although it might seem odd to say this, I feel very privileged to have had the opportunity to see this place. Looking out over the surrounding hills I wondered what it was like for him, what he thought of when he viewed those same hills each morning during his time in the camp. It goes without saying that I wish I could share these pictures with him today...

The road approaching Gneixendorf, Austria. A quiet, winding path though the vineyards:

It took a while, but eventually we found the road leading up to the site formerly housing Stalag 17:

We probably would have missed the turn had it not been for a few small memorials on the site of the road in memory of the camp:

Aside from a few memorials, nothing remains of Stalag XVII. The entire area is now converted into a small airstrip:

View of the surrounding hills from the airstrip:

The only acknowledgement of the former Nazi POW camp Stalag XVII - a few quiet memorials on the side of the road entering the air field:
To Opa and all the POW veterans of Stalag XVII B --- we will never forget you.

Honey... Do I want to withdraw 5000 or 50000 Forints?

2008-04-13T06:41:00.000-07:00

With SatNav in hand (definitely the MOST USEFUL GIFT we've EVER been given - THANKS DAD!!!), we set our coordinates out of Vienna and across the former Iron Curtain into Hungary:

We suppose it goes without saying that this leg of the trip wasn't completely without its moments of stress. Let's start with crossing the border - it would have been impressive to see the mammoth soviet-era border in action, which it had been until 1989, but we simply sailed across with a breeze. Now, at the last gas station in Austria, our debit card failed to work and we had to use the remainder of our cash to pay for our gas. So after crossing the border we sought an ATM - but only found lots of little stands called "vignettes" and money exchange offices. Thinking these were relics from the soviet era (I mean Hungary is part of the EU - they must be on the Euro, right? This line of thought coming from the nitwits living in an EU country on the pound!), we hopped back in the car and proceeded to stop at every gas station we could find in a desperate attempt to find an ATM. You can imagine our relief when we finally found one - for hours we were stressing about what would happen if tolls suddenly appeared on the highway or what we'd do if we had to pee (yes, it IS a privilege to pee in Europe). Thinking everything was under control, we hit our next obstacle as the ATM screen flashed up withdrawal denominations ranging from 5000 to 50,000 Forints. What the hell is a Forint? Guessing that 5000 must be roughly equivalent to $10, or the smallest amount you can withdraw from a US machine, we took out what seemed to be a reasonable amount - but who knows - we could have withdrawn enough money to purchase a small vineyard for all we knew!

At this point we decided that it might be prudent to call some Hungarian friends to find out what was going on. It was a helpful conversation, learning that 1 pound = 315 forint (or $1=160 forints) and also discovering that Hungary DID have tolls ("vignettes"!) and you had to purchase a motorway pass for each day that your car is on the road (highway cameras shoot pictures of your car plates and cross check the number against a database of purchased motorway passes). Anyway - we eventually managed to get to Budapest and connect with our friends - although along the way we outlined the chapters for our first book - "Motoring in Continental Europe in a British Car for COMPLETE and TOTAL %@#$ing DUMBASSES".

Leaving our car behind (thank god!), we met up with another American friend from Kingham and set off on foot to explore the capital city. Fortunately, the three of us were blessed to have our own personal tour guide - friend, Hungarian citizen and Kingham Hill co-teacher Éva Huszar:
Éva was absolutely fantastic - coordinating our days, pointing out countless things we would have overlooked and never hesitating to seek help if we stumped her with a question she couldn't answer:
Budapest is an impressive and beautiful city (well, cities, with Buda and Pest being separated by the Danube). Here's a view from Buda looking at Parliament, situated on the Pest side of the river:
From the covered markets (with lots of paprika stands!) to Hero's square, Budapest is a city with an ancient, complicated and proud heritage:

The 7 Magyar chiefs who conquered the Hungarian territory in the 9th century:World Heritage Tram with the Imperial Castle overlooking the Danube:

In many ways the sweeping boulevards of Budapest are reminiscent of the grandeur seen in so many European cities. The elaborate buildings, with their facades and beautiful statues are a sight to behold - but there's something different about this city. Unlike the streets of Paris or Vienna - Budapest feels lived in. It's a little greyer, a little grittier - more real... if that makes sense. Jesse was ready to move in right away:

Budapest bears the scars of a complicated past on her sleeve for all to see. Memorials to the 1956 Revolution were everywhere:
The 1956 bullet scars remain on many of the buildings:
One of the most fascinating museums we visited resided within this unsuspecting house at 60 Andrassy Street. The Terror Haza (House of Terror) "is a museum now, but it was witness to two shameful and tragic periods in Hungary's 20th century history. In 1944, during the gruesome domination of the Hungarian Arrow Cross Party, the building was the party headquarters of the Hungarian Nazis. Between 1945 and 1956, the notorious communist terror organizations of the State Security Office and the State Security Authority took up residence here. The building is itself the statue of terror, a monument to the victims" of these regimes:
We also found time to venture beyond the city - to some of little villages in the Hungarian countryside:
A fantastic place for hand-made Hungarian wares and folk art:
But even here, reminders of the Soviet occupation remain. Below is an example of a Soviet street sign - the original name and number of this street was changed to reflect the will of the soviet government:
We moved farther afield to Eger one of the famous wine growing regions of Hungary. The tasting rooms are owned by different vineyards and carved into the base of a hill:

The wine tends to be stored in the back of the building with a tasting room up front. Hungarian wine was a whole new experience for us - less dry whites and more sweet wines (although we did enjoy a great local dry red translated as "Bulls Blood"!).
A gypsy band playing at one cellar:

Needless to say, we enjoyed the tasting experience!
Fortunately, Éva's fiance, Balázs, was our designated driver responsible for carting our sorry intoxicated butts around from one place to the next. Eger was a bit too far from Budapest to make for a comfortable ride home at night, so we decided to put up at a local hostel. A converted convent which we swear was possessed:

Kim tried to repent for her drunkenness and indulgent ways:Before returning to the city, we stopped to visit with Éva's family in her home village where we were greeted with warm smiles and some FANTASTIC home-cooked Hungarian cuisine:

In perfect English, Éva's dad shares some family history with Lesley and Jesse:Eventually it was time to go -- despite what you might be thinking, we do work sometimes! Leaving the warmth and hospitality of Hungary behind, we turned to truck back across Europe (stopping in Stuttgart for a night - we learned, no night driving!). 1,180 miles later, we're back in the Cotswolds, reunited with the fuzzies and still trying to unpack all the of wine from the boot!

To another fantastic trip, and hopefully more to come.  Egészségedre!

Pics

2008-04-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

We seem to be having some technical difficulties. Hope to have the pics fixed, asap.

Mozart's Balls Are In My Bed!!!

2008-04-08T13:49:00.000-07:00

So with the Easter holiday came an unexpected perk - a 25 day vacation (you're probably beginning to wonder if we EVER work)! Not interested in the thought of chillin' in the Costwolds (although it is REALLY nice here, you'll see when you visit!), we decided to embark on our most massive road trip yet - two week trek across Western and Central Europe from England to Hungary. We loaded up the car with plenty of obligatory "road trip" music and car snacks and set off to catch an 8pm EuroTunnel train with the goal of arriving at our first destination, Austria, by early morning:

Driving a British car on the continent at night did bring a whole new set of challenges - which included remembering to drive on the right and figuring out how to "de-dazzle" (their word, not ours) our headlights so that our British car wouldn't blind every on-coming driver from Calais to Munich. Below you can see Jesse attempting to decipher the multi-lingual directions for attaching the little de-dazzler (in his left hand) to our head lamps.

20 minutes later, Jesse managed to affix the stickers supposedly in accordance with the directions, but not everything was smooth sailing after departing the EuroTunnel. Either we screwed up somewhere along the way or the stickers were simply crap, but apparently EVERY truck driver in France and Germany thought that we had our high-beams on... and had to make it a point of blinding us with their high beams (much higher beams, we might add) as a public service message to turn down our lights. Needless to say, this didn't make for a restful night drive across Europe (if anyone has any suggestions on how the hell to attach these things, please, fire away!!!). Anyway, after driving for 14 hours straight (ok - we did zonk off for two hours in a rest-stop somewhere in middle Germany), we eventually arrived at our first destination, the medieval city of Salzburg, Austria:
A beautiful city all around and the birthplace of Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart:

Yes, we visited the birth house (geburtshaus) - containing all sorts of interesting artifacts, including a creepy looking model of the baby boy genius himself. Basically - at the heart of Salzburg was the "Cult of Mozart", a Stalin-esque cult of personality - with potentially less death:
You name it, and you could find a Mozart version of it - From Busts (yes, with a few of Strauss in there...) to Liquor:

to concerts (with string quartets or chamber ensembles in period dress) EVERYWHERE (No, we didn't go to one. We did see a concert however... of Kodaly, Martinu and Dvorak):
to t-shirts (serious and less so), plates, mugs and even a university...
And these particularly intriguing things called "Mozart Balls" (Mozart Kugeln):
We found these "Mozart Balls" everywhere - even in our bed!!!
Yes - one could a few things other than Mozart in this lovely medieval town - "Der Dom" for instance:
And waiting patiently outside, a harbinger of things yet to come...
So sitting around one afternoon - Kim thought, "Hey - wouldn't it be fun to go up there?!" (see below). We're not exactly sure what we were thinking when we decided to ascend to the top of the Untersberg - the highest peak in the immediate Salzburgian Alps. Perhaps is was the desire to see snow, so absent from our winter in England. Perhaps is was Kim's long-repressed desire to ski. Who knows, but in the end we decided that we needed to get on top of that mountain:
Our chariot of doom descended upon us:
Definitely having one of those "what the hell were we thinking" moments, we hyperventilated for most of the ride to the top of the Untersberg - where we were greeted with some fantastic views, despite the spotty cloud cover (If you're interested, you can check out the view from the top using Der Untersberg Webcam!):

Kim was DYING to ski down (you can take the cable car up and then ski down to another village), but alas, we had to board the cable car once again (a lot calmer this time - thanks to the beers we downed at one of the mountain lodges!)
Leaving the quaint streets and the terrifying heights of the Alps behind, we moved on to Vienna (Wien), and suddenly found ourselves in a grand imperial city -- once the seat of the Hapsburgs and the "capital" of the Holy Roman Empire, not to be confused with the actual Roman Empire. Anyway, you can certainly see this reflected in the amazing architecture and the abundance of Roman-themed statues.

From the Rathaus (town hall) to the wide boulevards - Wien could be sister cities with Paris...
... complete with plenty of gorgeous European churches and gardens (although as one small child put it, "Aww mom - another church??"):

As to be expected, music was everywhere - even in the middle of the busy pedestrian shopping districts!

We did manage to see some more professional concerts (NO MOZART!) whilst in Austria, as well as art exhibits and all sorts of other cultural-type-things. One highlight was visiting the only Austrian synagogue (Stadttempel) to remain standing after WWII. Looking at the location of the synagogue, below, you might begin to understand why it wasn't demolished:

Pretty unsuspecting, huh? A long and complicated history led to the construction of this synagogue in the middle of a block of residential flats. (You can check out more information here if you're interested).  But crossing into the interior of the building revealed as spectacular sight:

Coincidentally, the interior was designed by a German (goy) and he modeled it after an opera by -- you guessed it -- Mozart (The Magic Flute).

All and all - a fantastic trip... and this was only the 1st 1/2! More to come soon!

And here it is - your Austrian Moment of Zen:

Where in the World...?

2008-03-31T00:41:00.001-07:00

A few pics from our most recent adventure! - can you guess where? Be the first person to correctly post our location under "comments" and win a prize! Be sure to leave your full name, e-mail address, bank routing number and security code so that we can get your winnings to you as quickly as possible...

Seriously though, please do send us your e-mail address, if you don't think that we have it. Winners will be notified by e-mail. All entries will be judged by the blog moderators and prizes are non-negotiable. All persons currently living in the U.K. or the E.U. are excluded. Have Fun!

What Good Is Sitting Alone in Your Room?

2008-03-21T10:40:00.000-07:00

Trust us - in middle England, there isn't much else to do. You're either sitting alone in your room or kicking back pints at the pub. Don't believe us? Check out Hot Fuzz on DVD. Seriously - the movie is filmed in a fairly local village... Anyway, we were happy to find another 1/2 term break upon us - just in time to prevent a Cotswold version of The Shining (but with less snow). We immediately jumped a train for the nearest major city (London) and some serious cultural: and retail therapy: Harrods proved to be a match for even the most seasoned shopper (we managed to get out of there with 5 mLs of peach schnapps and some Turkish delight- anything else and it would have required mortgaging a kidney) so we moved on to other shopping venues: Eager to fulfill a shopping fantasy Kim has had since childhood, Portabello Road was true to what Angela Lansbury said, anything and everything a chap can unload can be found here. It's a fantastic haven for antiques and junk. From phrenology heads (no, Jesse didn't buy it, despite his apparent Ph.D in the subject): To things more Kim's angle (although she STILL didn't find any Wellies!): Sadly - not EVERYTHING could be found here. Despite her best efforts, Kim just couldn't find any bedknobs, but she was willing to settle with some brass doorknobs: One tactical error during our most recent city adventure included a trip to the British Museum of Natural History... We're pretty sure dinosaurs were in there somewhere, but the screaming hoards of 7-year olds on 1/2 term break got the best of us, and we fled for our lives - but not before learning that someone else has tapped into the "Hungry Bunny" theory of ecology - with REAL rabbits (shout out to anyone who's survived Bio 9 w/K-rach, you know what we're talking about!): Moving on to safer venues (i.e. "too boring for little kids") we checked out Royal Observatory: And of course - the PRIME MERIDIAN OF THE WORLD (that's what the sign says...)

Of course, had to to the obligatory "one foot in the eastern hemisphere, on in the west" photo...

We look forward to sharing our next adventure with you all - no matter what hemisphere we're in!

Random Message of the Day

2008-03-10T15:23:00.000-07:00

Brought to you by the good folks of Greenwich, London...

What do Sheep Count When They're Trying to Sleep?

2008-03-10T14:55:00.000-07:00

Actually - from what we've seen, they don't sleep... These fluffy eating machines could be found munching away in our back field at any time, day or night. They do seem to get tired, so they'll lie down, and eat. If they actually do fall asleep another sheep will come along and kick the slacker. Occasionally they get REALLY riled up and pretend they're goats, but that's a rare treat for the avid sheep watcher - generally they just eat. Oh! And then there's the the time when the sheep....
This is what our life has become...
Bah.

For Auld Lang Syne

2008-01-28T13:46:00.001-08:00

Sitting around at work sometime in mid-December, we casually inquired what folks did for New Year's Eve on this side of the pond. We were answered with a resounding, "SCOTLAND". To be more specific, we were told, "If you want to see how New Year's is done in Europe, you go to Edinburgh". So we filled up the gas tank and checked our tyre pressure and set off once again, to THE NORTH.

And what else should you expect to see in Scotland?

The capital of Scotland was a beautiful place, complete with one of the most interesting and imposing castles yet:

Unfortunately, we only had about 36 hours in Scotland, and we were really here for one reason:

We can honestly say we didn't know what to expect, but the 10 tonnes of explosives atop Edinburg  Castle were  hinting at what was to come...So, if you're remotely like us, you're probably thinking, "What's Hogmanay?"  An excellent question friends - and although we lived it, the answer is still partially hidden by a thin whiskey haze.  Basically Hogmanay is the Scottish New Year, a 4-day event started by a torch light parade (which we sadly missed) and culminating in a marathon (which we missed).  Between these events there are lots of people (~200,000), drinking lots of beer, and enjoying lots of street festivities...

The events held on night before New Year's Eve is known locally as "Night Afore Fiesta" and included lots of music, dancing and fantastic street exhibits: Unfortunatly, a light mist continued to fall all night, so most of our pics were fuzzy (that's our story and we're sticking to it!), but we think you get the idea. Given the numbers anticipated on Princes Street for New Year's, combined with the prediced rain, we decided that it probably wasn't prudent to bring the camera, so we don't have pics of the INSANE crowds, the fireworks over Edinburg Castle or the Red Hot Chili Pipers - but rest assured that we did manage to fit right in:

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Deutschland - The Final Chapter (Vol. III)

2008-01-20T00:37:00.000-08:00

Feeling fairly melancholy, we left the somberness of Dachau behind as we headed to our next destination...

... Munchen!

One of those "emotional rollercoaster" - type days, we ended it with a bit of good cheer at Munchen's famous Hofbrauhaus. As you can see, Jesse was in particularly good spirits at the end of the night! (Seriously, you only get beer by the liter here...)

We didn't have much time to explore the old city, but we did pass by the Munchen Rathaus (whilst navigating yet another Christkindersmarkt) and the statue of Bavaria. Leaving the city we journeyed south and eventually stumbled upon some interesting geological structures, locally known as the Alps:

Nestled within the Alps, the castles Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein.

Scloss Neuschwanstein at night, as we're trying to figure out the the new tripod...

Departing Munchen, we headed up and over to Augsburg for a 10-year Christmas reunion with Kim's Uncle Erik and Aunt Rose:

Following a lovely Christmas dinner with some of their non-english speaking friends, we generally took things slowly, but did do a bit of sightseeing. Although lots of things were closed on Christmas day, Uncle Eric & Tante Rose did their best to show us the sights around Augsburg, including the Mozarthaus (below) and the Fuggerei (below left). Although it was fantastic to have the "inside scoop" on all things Augsburg, the best part of staying with non-english speakers was having the chance to practice our German. Overall, our german was better when we left, but that's not to say we didn't have plenty of "National Lampoon's European Vacation" moments...

We departed Augsburg for Baden-Baden, with a small diversion to visit the resting place of my Grandmother, Elsa Bauer. Working off our SatNav and a slightly dodgey map drawn by Uncle Erik, we eventually found ourselves in at a graveyard paying our respects to Oma. Even as we photographed the tombstone, Kim noticed something a little squirrely. Oma had passed away in 1995 -- not 2007 as stated on the cross. How on earth could the cemetery have made such an egregious mistake?! Easily - we were in the wrong town. Damn SatNav. A few hours later, with the help of both friendly and hostile locals (somehow unbeknownst to us we fell off the main road and wound up driving down a footpath, pissing off a lot of the dog walkers) we eventually managed to locate the correct cemetery and paid our respects to Kim's REAL grandmother: We ended the day in Baden-Baden ("a town so nice they named it twice!") and ANOTHER Christkindersmarkt (yeah Gluhwein!). Our final leg of the journey started early, so we skipped over the famous thermal springs and headed for a French hypermarket to load the boot with as much Bordeaux as we could manage. 10 hours later we were back in England, settling in and sharing the last days of Christmas with the Fuzzies. Lil'Bit (aka Bizzler) loves her presents! But clearly Christmas wore Qanuk out... We were pretty shot too, and strangely, looking forward to returning to the normalcy of work and life in the Cotswolds (but we suspect that feeling won't last very long!).

A Cold Day in Deutschland (vol. II)

2008-01-13T06:17:00.000-08:00

We left Nurnberg and headed south for Munchen. Almost immediatly upon leaving the city we encountered some of the most magnificent landscape we had ever seen. The world looked like it had been painted over with frosted sugar. The trees were glazed in a shimmering white -- everywhere.

Just outside of Munchen lies a small town by the name Dachau. It is sad that this is a town who's name is probably familiar to us all. It had existed for centuries. First, as a home outside of Munich for Bavarian princes. Then as a market town of its own. Yet now we know it only for the concentration camp.

From the car park, there is a long-ish walk to the camp. It was a lonely, cold day. The trees all glazed in the crystal white of the ice. Each step toward the camp increased in use a strange mix of anticipation and dread.

Our first glimpse of the camp, through the trees, set the surreal tone of the entire experience.
Everywhere we looked there was the institutional inhumanity of the camp surrounded by the enameled white and green of the landscape.

We were shortly greeted by the now infamous KZ-Dachau gate and the signature phrase "Work makes you free".

The gate opens upon a large open area where the roll call would have been taken. As Kim and I stood there, attempting to keep warm in the stark cold, we imagined what it would have been like to stand here in the winter, dressed in only rags, and sick or malnourished for an hour or more in the dark, or the snow or the rain.

In the background, you can see what is left of the barracks -- only two are still standing.

Behind this picture there stands the "bunker". This was the area where the important prisoners were kept safely and where other prisoners were brought to be tortured.

The area covered by the camp was vast. But it was important to remember that what remains is only 1/3 of the size of the original camp. As we walked through, we came upon the most sinister of buildings. The one that contained the gas chamber and ovens.
The view from inside the showers.
an oven

and a memorial...

Do You Hate Your Table for Two? (Vol. I)

2007-12-29T10:38:00.001-08:00

It's a little hard to believe that we just finished the first term of school (we're on a trimester system here)! And this break really came at the perfect time - we were on the verge and ready to jump by the end of the term:

Sorry -- I had to do it...

No really, the end of term marked the start of our next big adventure: Deutschland. Of course we had some obstacles to overcome here in England before we could travel to mainland Europe:

We overnighted at the White Cliffs (not literally, it's too bloody cold and rainy for camping right now) before heading over to the mainland via a remarkable feat of engineering, the Chunnel...

Basically you drive your car up in to a big cargo train, put it in park, turn off the engines and go! 35 minutes later, you're in Calais, France! You can get out of the car, walk around, listen to music, or whatever.

I took pictures.  Jesse panicked as he was the first to notice giant the "No Photography" sign posted on the walls of the train.  Here he is frantically trying to get me back in the car before I get arrested (or worse, our camera gets confiscated!):

Of course what we didn't realize was the sign was for no FLASH photography, as it interferes with the fire detection system on the train.  We both assumed that the no photos sign had something to do with security and terror threats.  Oh god - can it really be that the Bush propaganda has seeped that deeply into our brains?!  Good thing we're living in England!

After passing through France, Belgium and the Netherlands we finally arrived in Germany (about 3 hours later).  Despite what you may have heard otherwise, we found the Germans to be very kind and generous:

No really, everyone was great in Germany, even with our crappy conversational skills and Kim's repeated confusion between the verbs haben (to have) and hassen (to hate) - more on that to come later... Anyway, we stayed in Nurnberg the first three days, in a great little hotel in the Old City:

You can see the wall separating the old and new cities in this shot taken atop the Imperial Castle:

And inside the wall -- all the beautiful, medieval things you'd expect to find in an ancient city:

We had dinner at a few fantastic little restaurants - gorging ourselves on bratwurst and kartoffelsalat. Of course, Kim did manage to get a strange look from a waiter or two when she confidently marched up to them and asked, "Hassen Sie ein tisch fur zwei?". She received similar looks when questioning the bartender with "Hassen Sie ein weis wein, Bitte?". She did manage to clear her head of the the verb "to hate", but only after slipping in to french when trying to order a German pretzel, S'il vous plait. Ahhh, the adventure of language. She did manage to get better after a few days, really. Anyway...

As you probably know, Germany is well know for it's Christmas celebrations. Nurnberg is home to the one of the largest, oldest and most famous Christkindlesmarkt (Christmas Market) in Germany, if not in the world.

We were too busy distracted by the shiny objects to take lots of pictures.  Unfortunately the discovery of Kim's new favorite winter beverage, Gluhwein, didn't help much when it came to trying to take focused pictures of the scenery...  Anyway, we'll try to get some of the pics of the Church and the "Beautiful Fountain" up on Flickr, but check out this link if you'd like to learn more about Christkindles Market.

We also managed to find a little time to venture outside of the old city whilst in Nurnberg. Home to the Nazi Party during the WWII, we visited a few of the most famous sites:

The Dokumentationszentrum (above) housed a fascinating exhibit on the rise and fall of the Nazi party.

The Congress Hall and Nazi Rally Grounds (below):

Hitler spoke here, overlooking the Zeppelin Field, as seen in the film Triumph of the Will (1935).

Graffiti on the entrance to the main platform:
Unfortunately we didn't have time to visit the courtroom of the Nurnberg Trials, as we had to set off for Munchen (Munich). More of our adventures to come (and Kim's hatred of common household objects) to be released shortly in Vol. II!

Message of the Day

2007-11-19T09:08:00.000-08:00

Brought to you by the good citizens of Kingham Village:

Paris... enfin!

2007-11-18T14:05:00.000-08:00

Before London, there was Paris (don't tell the English that, they may not like it).
We spent the first week of our vacation staying on the Boulevard de Montparnasse (below)

and seeing the sights of Paris...
Some sights... eh? Actually, the whole sex stuff was really only in Pigalle - home of Le Chat Noir and Moulin Rouge!

We were heading back to the train when we stumbled upon a neat little building called the Louvre. They had some fantastic art.
Of course, there was more to the Louvre than just soft-porn.

And we did get to see some of the local residents...
(in the Catacombs, if you couldn't guess!) :)

Alas, in the end we returned to the more phallic side of Paris with a visit to one of it's greatest erections, the eiffel tower.
To wrap it up, of course, we felt the need to repent. What better place to do that than a Cathedral, in this case it was Sacre Coure.

London... Finally!

2007-11-18T01:39:00.000-08:00

So 12-weeks have passed since Kim arrived in the UK, 3 for Jesse, and we FINALLY managed to find a few days to check out London - only 90-miles to the south! (apologies in advance if this post lacks our usual light-hearted and humorous tone... we're trying to be properly British.)

At times London reminded us a lot of NYC - although you just don't get quite the same juxtaposition of old and new in downtown Manhattan:

New round shiny building (l), really old Tower of London (r).

Of course, we had to get all the "standards" out of the way:

Big Ben, Parliament...

The  Tower Bridge (More impressive than London Bridge, which is currently residing in Arizona.  Go Figure...)

Lots of pretty sparkly lights as we checked out London at Night from the London Eye on Halloween.

Tate Modern (way to recycle your old power plants!)

Random Cabby Huts.
(apparently these little sheds are rest stops for cab drivers to get a quick spot of tea between runs!).

Seeing as we were there for Halloween, we wanted to do something a little spooky, like the Jack the Ripper Walking Tour. Somehow we wound up with someone slightly tamer:

Nevertheless, our Blue Badge tour guide, Jane, was fantastic. It was great to wander the alleyways that inspired A Christmas Carol. We're looking forward checking out more Walking Tours throughout the year!

In the end, we did get to see a few witches on this Halloween weekend (although they did have funny accents... we'll have to see them again on Broadway)!

As we continued our own walking tour, Jesse set off to find some demon barber:

Whilst Kim made friends with Paddington:

Our morbid fascination with history culminated with a trip to Soho, where the locals eyed Kim suspiciously has she enthusiastically photographed this understated little replica of a water pump:

For all of you bio geeks out here, this pump on Broad Street (now Broadwick street) was the key player in the 1854 outbreak of cholera. Dr John Snow traced the outbreak to a public water pump on the street and disabled the pump. The end of the outbreak swiftly followed . Before this time, the disease was widely thought to be caused by air-borne miasma; Snow's findings showed it to be water-borne (www.wikipedia.org).

The site of the original pump now hosts a pub dedicated to the father of epidemiology. We stopped to rehydrate:

In the end, and free of gastrointestinal parasites, we returned to home and work :( Fortunately, we're sure we'll have many more adventures in London to share with you!

Fun with Rocks

2007-10-30T15:54:00.000-07:00

So, you may find yourself driving down a highway in England, as one often does. These roads are small, narrow, speedy things that snake through the English countryside. Imagine that, once in a while, you round a corner and here is what you see:

I have to say, driving, it took my breath away. This tremendous structure just sitting in the middle of a field, with sheep nearby (this is pretty much a constant in England, sheep are always nearby -- at night we even hear annoyed cows). Well, we had to get out and walk around this paleolithic monstrosity which is also one of the 7 wonders of the ancient world.

Closer to home we discovered an equally ancient yet not so impressive bunch of rocks, the rollright stones.

Kim, however, was distracted by a shiny object...

and I had stone envy...

HaLf TeRm!!!

2007-10-29T09:00:00.001-07:00

So Kingham Hill is divided into three trimesters. As would be expected, end-of-term breaks are scheduled three times/year, but the unexpected perk is that each trimester has a lovely little thing called "half term", consisting of one or two week breaks depending on the particular semester we're in.

Desperate for a break after a grueling first half-term (longer for Kim, who arrived at the start of July), we figured what better way to begin a break than with a 10 am tour of our local brewery right off on day one!

Clearly, beer at 10 am wouldn't be an issue here:

So we set off to see the sun rise upon the imposing rural building that is Hook Norton Brewery:

Clearly, an old-school brewing operation.  They still deliver the beer brewed here to some of the local pubs by horse-drawn carts!

Yeastie-Beasties!  Gotta love Fermentation!

This guy didn't look like he appreciated the early morning paparazzi!

We finished up the morning with a sampling of the brews, and discovered a new favorite, Hook Norton Dark (sadly, only available at the Brewery, so we'll have to go back there when you come to visit!. Cheers!

Hello Out There...

2007-10-24T12:16:00.001-07:00

Just curious, anyone reading this blog? Please feel free to post replies, say hi, whatever!!! We miss you all and would love to hear from you!

Learning a New Sport...

2007-10-24T11:51:00.000-07:00

So in the pantheon of new experiences we've got another one to add... sports! Cricket, "football" and most recently, rugby! It seems that we landed in England just in time to catch the rugby season in full swing - culminating in the Rugby World Cup (yes, the USA was in that competition, for about 15 minutes. I think we lost to Tonga...). Though no one expected it, England advanced herself to the finals against South Africa - played last Saturday in France.

Everyone got in on the excitement, including our local pub, The Chequers (Notably a little different from the sports bars back home... There was one TV in the whole place):

Sadly, England failed to be the first team ever to win the Rugby world cup two years in a row, but that didn't stop us Americans from jumping fully aboard the rugby bandwagon!

Of Scholars and Priates

2007-10-20T09:18:00.000-07:00

You can't wander more than 5 feet in England without smacking into something historical, something cultural, or simply something weird. Imagine how excited Kim was to stumble across the following little plaque whilst strolling through Oxford University (this one goes out to all former and present science geeks from HHCDS - I miss you all!!!):

   

We wrapped our evening in Oxford up with a fantastic concert of the Philharmonia, but not before grabbing a quick bite to eat at:

So what's so famous about this particular pub? Only that it was the local haunt of C.S. Lewis and J.R.R. Tolkien (they have GREAT fish and chips, too!). It seems that they met here on a regular basis to discuss literature (including their most renowned works, Lord of the Rings and the Chronicles of Narnia), politics, and of course, beer!

Here we are (below) in the "Rabbit Room" at the Eagle and Child - the room frequented by Tolkien and Lewis. Note the photos in the background. Yes... we are literature geeks...

And you never know what you'll stumble into when living in England... On a weekend shopping quest for shoes and groceries we were lucky enough to find the Banbury "Pirate Festival" . Although we didn't get any great shots of the pirates (sorry Matney and the rest of the BBSR '07 crew!) we did see lots of festive British longboats:

An ideal way to tour the British country side, we're already planning to rent a long boat next fall and try our hand at "canal life" for a while!

We also have plenty of adventures on the home front too!  Jesse is doing his best to fit in with British Cuisine by preparing such traditional dishes as "Bangers and Mash":

Jesse also has his new favorite breakfast - crumpets and tea!

They're HeRe!!!

2007-09-29T14:25:00.000-07:00

So phase II of the Raccio Relocation Plan (RRP) has successfully completed! Whilst Kim's pathetic attempt to navigate the largest international airport in the world (Heathrow) prevented us from having pics of Jesse's arrival, as you can see, he made it here all in one piece and has comfortably settled down to watch some dry British humor on the telly:

The fuzzies cleared customs without a hitch and are now comfortably

settling into trashing their new bedroom. All in all, it's fantastic to finally have us all together! More pics to come soon!

Weekend Life...

2007-09-01T13:20:00.000-07:00

So somewhere between missing the fab fuzzy four (Kyoko, Lil'bit, Wiki and Qanuk -- for those of you new to life at the Raccios) and freaking out about the start of school, I've made a wee bit of time on the weekends to explore the local villages. Generally this means (a) shopping (b) sampling a world of new ales at local pubs (c) shopping and (d) village "fairs" (which usually includes shopping!). Local fairs can range from tiny village "fetes" to gypsy horse trades to giant agriculture fairs. Here are a few pics from some of the events that filled my weekends over the past 6 weeks:

The local village "fete" in Kingham (Below). Seemed mostly geared to kids (judging by Humpty Dumpty and the Maypole). This was pretty much the BIG event for my village for the ENTIRE summer... even the local pub closed early so that the staff could attend:

Here I'm handling a Greater European Owl (at ~5 lbs, this bird is bigger than the Great Horned Owls we have in North America!) at the Ibstock County Fair (I actually drove the 2 hours to come here for the British Ferret Club show/display, but forgot to take pics!)

Birds of Prey and falconry displays are common at most of the larger summer fairs, such as the Oxfordshire Craft festival at Blenheim Palace (I never actually managed to get into the Palace or Gardens!).

An English Polecat at the Oxfordshire Craft Festival(#1 Below)- the wild relatives of the domestic ferret. This big boy was rescued when his momma was spooked by the household dog and dropped her baby whilst (yes - we say "whilst" rather than "while" in the UK!) moving him to another den. She didn't come back for her little one, so the landowner called the National Ferret Welfare Society (NFWS) and now this fuzzy lives with his new human dad in the presence of domesticated ferrets and makes regular appearances at P.R. showings like this one at the Oxfordshire Craft Festival at Blenheim Palace. Just prior to the races, an NFWS representative presents and educational session on ferrets, with a little help from one of the racing ferret, Smokey(#2 below)!

At the races! On your mark, get set, GO!

"Smokey" ferret gets distracted in the "Trap" leaving just enough time for "Franky" ferret to emerge victorious. Good thing I placed my bets on the green tube!

I See Dead People...

2007-08-28T17:57:00.000-07:00

(Sorry... I had to do it)

Jesse at Saint David's Cathedral in Wales, UK.

Welcome to the Jungle... errr... Garden!

2007-08-27T02:53:00.000-07:00

Wandering down the streets of Churchill can be a beautiful, relaxing past-time. Historic buildings, thatched roofs and vibrant gardens stretch off in every direction -- except at our house. I've decided that we've officially become an embarrassment to the neighbors (one dear chap, Allen, came over to trim the hedge that separates our gardens as it was becoming such an eyesore). Well - don't take my word for it... have a look...

A typical garden walkway in Churchill:

Our front garden (a.k.a. "Yard"):

Our neighbors have vegetables and fruit trees:

We have dead bunnies:

(seriously.. I found this hiding in the foot-high grass)

Hopefully by the time ya'll come to visit we will have turned this little weed patch into a proper English Garden - but nevertheless, even through the weeds, it's still beautiful here:

And Noah Built the Ark...

2007-08-13T10:35:00.000-07:00

So the day after Jesse arrived in England the heavens opened and *whoosh* half of middle England was washed away in the worst flooding in decades. Fortunately, as you can see in the pics below taken from our backyard, our house is on a hill so we didn't have to worry about any damage to our home:

Rather than sitting around in a cold house with no TV, Internet, Cards or Scrabble board we decided to brace ourselves for the cost of petrol and hit the road in our snazzy new car (below), but first it required a little bit of researching - which occurred in the various pubs and coffee shops of a lovely little village called Stow-in-the-Wold:

As most of you already know, we eventually decided to head out to Wales for a totally fantastic trip along the Welsh coast. If you're interested in viewing our complete set of photos with descriptions, including some fantastic castle and bird pics, please follow the Flickr link on the right of the page. But for now, here's a small sampling of what we saw (including gannets, puffins,"Saint Patrick Point" - the place where Saint Patrick was said to have left for Ireland, Carew Castle, and Saint Davids Cathedral:

6 Weeks Later....

2007-08-13T09:00:00.000-07:00

She FINALLY gets internet! WooPWooP!!!

So with a LOT of patience (and a healthy volume of gin & tonics), I've FINALLY settled into the new house, bought the new car, have the new phone # and internet and am actually starting to feel a little bit at home here in the UK. Of course nothing could feel like home until the ferrets have christened every corner... but if all goes well today at the vet (wish Jesse good luck - he's taking all 4 at once!!!) all 6 of us well be settling in here soon!

Ok - so where to start? Before former students (*cough * LiVolsi * cough*) have the opportunity to make any more rude comments on my facebook page about the lack photos I guess I better get busy trying to bring everyone up to speed. I might have to do this in a number of posts as I'm pretty challenged with the photo/text layout thing here. So beware of blog-blitz. No worries though, soon Jesse shall come and make all well in compu-world...

Anyway, let's start with the neighbors:

Not kidding. Ever read any James Harriot? Yes, it's like we've landed in the middle of "All Creatures Great and Small". There will be more on the local wildlife coming shortly, but for now...

So I continued to stay at the lovely Mill House Inn for the next few weeks, quickly becoming spoiled by their great food. Eventually it was time to go, but fortunately my last day at the Mill House was Jesse's first day in England -

so after a "final meal" at the Mill House (which Jesse mostly slept through - an old couple in the corner thought he was drunk!) we finally moved into the new crib!

Welcome to England..here's your raft.

2007-07-23T14:54:00.000-07:00

Regardless of the humor of this title, this is not a laughing matter. Our home is in the middle (luckily on a hill) of the area effected by the worst floods England has seen in 60 years. So, we went to Wales. Pictures will come soon, as soon as Kim sets up the Internet at our new home. TTFN..

For info on the flood hitting Oxfordshire and Gloustershire here are some links:
Oxfordshire web site
BBC News
BBC Oxford

What have we done...????

2007-07-12T10:11:00.001-07:00

We've moved to the land of the healty? Oh god!!!!

http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070712/hl_nm/britain_fat_dc

Still Landing....

2007-07-08T12:31:00.000-07:00

Being fairly limited in my artistic/blogging skills, I'm finding that it's hard to put too many pics on one post at one time. I'm sure I'll figure this out in time, but for now, I'll continue the walking tour on a new post (and I'll keep things pretty linear)...

My Room.

Where I take my breakfast and tea!

My Window (with the light), followed by the view from my window.

The Eagle has Landed... Part II

2007-07-05T08:08:00.001-07:00

And I bet you were just thinking, "'Bout time she writes!". So finally, the arrival of the long-awaited pictures of the Landing Eagle! Yes, there have been MANY reasons for this delay - let's just chalk that all up to things "being different" in England and get on with it, shall we?

Driving and roadsigns will require a dedicated post, but that will come... For the moment I'm walking everwhere, but fortunately the little local villages are fairly close together (btw - don't be fooled by the lovely clear sky in the background...)

So continuing with our "walking tour"...

The gardens (l) approaching the Mill House Inn where I'm staying until later this week (hopefully I'll have the keys to our house on Monday!!!)

The Mill House Inn(r). My Room(below) Clearly Bilbo lived here.

The eagle has landed...

2007-07-03T16:05:00.000-07:00

Kim has arrived in England. We will post some pics as soon as she stops melting power outlets.

A place for our photos.

2007-06-30T08:05:00.001-07:00

Check out our photo's here at Flickr. (we were practicing with the new camera!)

Ferrets in Boxland

2007-06-30T07:51:00.001-07:00

When it comes to packing, ferrets are ever so helpful! They're always around to supervise the process and make sure that we humans are doing everything right! The take the time to personally inspect the quality and integrity of each box to ensure that all of their belongings will make it safely to England... eventually.

Kyoko approves of this box.

Wiki thinks boxes are great places to play hide and seek...

"You found me!

Boxes make great sleepy huts too! After personally helping to pack this box, Qanuk takes a "time out" from all of his hard work.

Learning a new Language

2007-06-22T15:53:00.000-07:00

So we anticipate numerous occasions where we'll inevitably say something terribly stupid...

Fearing potential firing (as one of Kim's students delicately stated in class one day, "Mrs. Raccio, you know you can't call your English students a 'bunch of wankers', right? Do you have any idea what that even means?" Kim did not. Upon being informed of the meaning of her comments she was equally embarrassed and apologetic to her period G Zoology class.), Jesse found the following website to aid us through the UK/US language barrier:

English to American

Hopefully it will prevent Kim from being deported....
Enjoy!

P.S. There will be a quiz on the material presented in this website, including questions such as:
In England, the most common contents of a boot include:
(a) jelly beans
(b) a foot
(c) a spare tire
(d) sock lint
(e) urine

T -10 days

2007-06-16T14:32:00.000-07:00

OK - clearly I was a wee bit overzealous when it came to packing up my teaching materials for shipment to England. As Pam at UPS gently put it, "Do you have ANY idea how much you're going to pay for this?". Obviously, we did not. Sooooo... the 10,000 £ question is how do you shrink 200 lbs. of paperwork (mostly in the form of AP Bio and Chemistry class materials) down to 45 kg?

3 days later, she's still in the trunk...

Boxes o my!

2007-06-11T07:26:00.000-07:00

Our house has been taken over by the vicious box monster and it's evil spawn -- kind of like square tribbles.

One small step...for us at least

2007-06-10T15:49:00.002-07:00

For some reason, out of a sense of adventure or a desire to avoid the future President Fred Thompson and the continuation of the "benevolent" Republican dictatorship, we have decided to move to the United Kingdom (or perhaps it's a previously unexpressed desire to work on our diction). Specifically, we will be living in a small town in Oxfordshire, a beautiful and pristine rural area (or so I am told). However, for devout city dwellers it apparently falls under the category of "the boonies". Of course, seeing as we're proudly owned by four fabulous ferrets, we are happy to move to a country which created the sport of ferret leggin' (shhh - don't tell the A.S.P.C.A.). Included here will be pictures and thoughts (who needs those) about our psychotic, self imposed exile to another country.