March 22. The Southwest 1: Exeter, Falmouth, Pendennis Castle, Lizard Point, St. Michael’s Mount, Penzance, St. Ives & Newquay

Long day today. Kids were up before 6am.. why does it always happen on the weekend? iPad to the rescue. We had a very nice breakfast at the hotel – freshly baked croissants piping hot. Isabella tried hers with honey, jam, and marmalade.

We had a big agenda for the day and Exeter was only the base to start our exploration but we figured since everything will be closed until 10am anyway we have a bit of time to explore. We walked over to Exeter Cathedral. Before we really made a decision to come in, the automatic doors opened and we somehow were ushered inside and past the ticket booth.

We really liked it. Exeter cathedral has a number of cool features lovingly highlighted by the staff and in the guide: a hole in the door leading to the giant astronomical clock – for the cats who took care of church rats in the past. Some really different looking sarcophagi sculptures - one was a completely dried out looking very tall skeleton, the other was a colorful courtly lady playfully lying on the side, with her hand resting on the skull, a trio of effigies of a husband and wife and his nephew lying beneath the two like a lover in hiding.  

After the cathedral we headed our to the Quay - beautiful restored area along the river Exe probably giving the city its name. There were little cute souvenir stores, pretty bridges, and sun shining bright :)

But it was soon time to get started on our journey. We stocked up on some genuine Cornwall pastys (sadly still nowhere even close to kibinai) and headed to the next point: Falmouth. There were more than enough nice sites missed along the way but we had to keep going to reach our final destination in time.

Falmouth

Falmouth is a pretty Southern town with beautiful blue lagoon dotted with ships. It does look a bit like an English Riviera. We walked along the High street and then attracted by the sounds of music and crowds diverted to the main square. There was a kind of sports event going on there. The highlight was a lady dressed in 70s style, playing disco music leading a bunch of similar looking followers in some aerobics exercises. If you were there 30, nay 40 years ago at this point (!!!) it would have probably looked the same... maybe ladies would be younger.

Pendennis Castle

We got back on the main street and then walked along the beach a bit to collect some shells and drove on to Pendennis Castle. As with prior places, it was beautiful. We immediately climbed to the top and watched the surrounding sea and St. Mawes castle across the water. As we started walking down the stairs, Dan was startled by the loud sounds of the battle. One of the rooms downstairs has motion activated sound recording of the battle sounds. There were also several statues posed in the character clothing in the room. They were set up to appear to be loading up and shooting the cannon.

When the shot was fired on the audio, smoke started coming out of the cannon's muzzle. Isabella did not like that bit at all. She rushed us out right into sleet! We all laughed but she did not find this funny either. Fortunately it was over in about a minute and a full rainbow instantly appeared, almost as a make up for any discomfort. This finally appeased Isabella :)

Lizard Point

Our next stop was Lizard point - the Southernmost point of England. The drive resembled a bit our drive to Malin Head last summer. It feels like it was such a long time ago. When we arrived to the village right before the final point we saw that there was a way to drive all the way to the target location so we kept going along the claustrophobic narrow one car lane between the walls of grass covered stone.

There were occasional passing areas to deal with the incoming traffic from the opposite direction. Someone took the pains to remove the "P"s from all of the signs. At last we arrived there and were rewarded with stellar views. There was a way to get down to the beach past some abandoned past-war military building just like in Main Head. It was very windy, but by the time we reached the stone beach the wind has died down.

We were running out of time. From the many options we planned for, we opted for St. Michael's Mount - monastery on a tiny island right off the coast. During the low tide, it is possible to walk over from the mainland. When we arrived we saw people walking along the path. As we descended from the town level and started running toward the island the road was still dry but by the time we reached the middle, waves started splashing over the road portion close to the island. If we were there maybe 30 minutes earlier, we could have made it. It looks beautiful - as it is from the fairy tale.

As a small consolation we started to climb another much smaller rock closer to the mainland. It looked a bit strenuous, but then Dan found some stairs - apparently someone had made, for better watching of St. Michael's Mount.

We only had a few hours of daylight left. After a quick dash through Penzance (no real pirates there, ever!), we drove over to St. Ives, the quintessential English Riviera.

St.Ives

It is probably more quintessential in the summer. It did win over all the others in terms of the number of art shops. All closed regrettably. And most everything else. So we settled down at the Beach restaurant - recommended by Yelp, tripadvisor, and us all :) Fish stew made from the heavy cream with fried bacon and onions and with at least half a dozen kinds of fish will live on our memories for a while :)

The final stop was Newquay to get positioned for our explorations on Sunday. I made reservations at Great Western mistakenly believing it was Best Western. It was not the same thing. But the room was clean, the blankets were real, and there was a view of the ocean in the dark.

March 17-21. Day-to-day things in Kingston

We saw Alicia off on Monday and went back to our busy work schedule. We are returning home to US at the end of June. Interesting bout of unraveling logistics. But I think it will be much easier this time.
The pictures in this post are from Sunday @ Kew Gardens and some home pics during the week.

Trying to remember the highlights for the week. On Wednesday I went to Georgia’s school for the parent teacher conference. Georgia’s teachers shared that she is the “model” student and they could not be happier with her. She is sweet, listens to directions, acts on them thoughtfully; her work is neat and other kids like her. 

Awesome to hear! In a bit of a contrast, at home we are starting to hear the distant echos of the teenage years to come. Georgia is starting to question some of the things we tell her or ask her to do. It is understandable but unexpected and we have to find a way to set the stage for constructive equality-based dialogue with her in the future. The switch from babyshness is happening faster than we thought.

Isabella is on the last cusp of the period when kids say the funniest things. We are trying to remember everything but somehow nothing stays. This week she was talking about the little “chuchelko” monster that eats insects her teachers told her about. I asked her about the features of this creature. Supposedly it is the size of a doll, looks humanoid, wears clothing designed to look like human. I was at a complete loss. Spoke to her teachers about it. At last, using some deductive reasoning and more questioning we derived to the answer that it is a scarecrow.  That’s how she interpreted what teachers told her. Pretty fascinating.

Almost forgot - another major highlight on Thursday - boiler guy came over and we all able to take a bath/shower without having to boil the water in the pots first. Don't know how long it will last this time.. so cautiously dipping our toes in.

On Thursday kids and I went to Benthals after dinner to get a large puzzle and a ship model that we will work on putting together.

And on Friday evening we took a long and slow ride to Exeter to get positioned for our weekend of exploration of the Southwest. There were a few minor accidents on the way. It is exasperating to watch people slow down and waste their time to watch the fender benders. 3.5 hour drive stretched to 5. Will there ever be time when people will stop doing this?

We settled down at a very comfortable Clock Tower Hotel and kids were asleep in their bed before we whooped out our phones for the final catch up on the emails.

March 17th. Hever Castle, Rye and back to Kew

Work week was a blur as usual. We did not even have the time to get out to work from London. Inga had a great time going to London every day. She covered it pretty well, walking to all the key points, and visiting many museums. In the evening our guests had settled down to watch several episodes Shaman2, Russian detective series. At first the acting seemed dismal but as the days progressed we found ourselves turning the screen to the screen that was spewing story of after story complete with the latest slang and tidbits on the realities of life.

One nice break during the week was Georgia and I waking up at 6am and going out on our bikes. It was quiet outside and we enjoyed riding in the park. Later we waited for Costa to open and go everyone fresh croissants and muffins.

We could not decide where to go on Saturday - Stonehenge or Windsor - the de-facto tourist destinations. So instead we went to Hever castle where Anne Boleyn was born. More recently the castle was owned by the Waldorf family.

It is a pretty castle - not really a fortress but more of a manor house. It features a beautiful Italian garden with some 1000 year old statues. Inside the castle even more like a manor - with some modernized looking rooms appearing more like the early 20th century. Just like Leeds, this must have been the luxury in those days,.. and nowadays it is somewhat drab, and uncomfortable looking. Alicia braved the winding staircases.

Our next stop was Rye, surprisingly lovely town set on top of a rock overlooking the sea a few miles away. Most of the winding street seem as they were hundreds of years ago with cobblestone streets, and vines winding around the crooked houses. The guide said it looked like it was "preserved in formaldehyde" and it was true. We climbed up the narrowest ever set of stairs to get to the top of the watch tower. The plaque claimed it was the oldest working tower clock in England. The views were very excellent. Alicia did not join us for the climb but she did do a lot of walking, specially up the steep hill where the town center is located.

We stayed for late lunch and then drove a few miles further South to the sand dunes. There we spent a bit of time wandering around the beach and collecting the shells.

On Sunday we relaxed, Inga did a bit of last minute shopping. It was a warm spring day, 20 degrees Celsius. In the afternoon kids and I took a bus to Kew Garden. We recently got their flier inviting to visit and enjoy magnolias in bloom. And we did. Too early for cherry blossoms but we are planning to go back to see the bluebells.

At night we had dinner @ the Slug. Just like the name suggests. I forgot that we've been there before. Hopefully never again. They seem to offer everything: basic English, Greek, Italian, Indian. But all of it is made from the mixes and cans. We leverage packaged sauces too but at least we don't pre-cook and freeze meat when do it. Yak.

Then we drove Inga to the airport. Very sad. Georgia was crying. Today Alicia is leaving too. It was Isabella's turn to shed some tears. Then, starting with sometime later today, we are guestless for another 2 weeks.

March 12th. The evil gnome

We were having breakfast this morning when someone knocked on our door. There was a tortured looking woman outside. "Your kids scream really loudly when they walk to the elevator in the morning," she said. "I can't sleep." Not something one expects to hear at 7:30 in the morning. Dan just nodded and closed the door. Then we thought: we get out of the apartment at 8:25am; how much longer can one be expecting to sleep on a weekday. Even if the kids were loud, which I doubt. None of us had ever seen this woman before, or, for anything, had seen any people on our floor at best 10 times total in our 8 months here. So we will treat this one as an apparition. I suspect she may haunt again, but it is better to be prepared.  

March 11th. Shakespeare, check!

I am desperately behind in my posts. I'll put up a few right now and try to backdate.. Not even thinking about photos at this point. We are extremely busy as we are going through our final months here and are trying to also continue our coverage of architectural and cultural wonders.

Dan's aunt Inga and grandma Alicia are visiting. Today Inga went to London  to explore V&A museum and Harrods. In the evening the three of us went to Rose Theater to see a Midsummer Night's Dream. It was an interesting production, kind of punk men-only style. Once again it was hard to believe that we are actually in the UK and watching a Shakespeare play. I really liked staging and acting but had to harken back to my high school days to understand at best a quarter. To get through the extensive text the actors were going at a mad pace. So we've lasted through only one act.

The pattern emerges that plays are done spectacularly well. Most of them are a treat. We really loves the play kids and I saw last week: Tom's Midnight Garden. Beautiful angle on the much covered subject of ignored and mistreated children. What was really cool was that most actors played one or more musical instruments. I was moved to tears in the end when the story comes together thanks to the amazing acting by Helen Ryan. Dan & I saw her coming from the train station the next day and came over to say hi.

Speaking of repressed children ;) on Friday it was Georgia's 8th birthday. Just re-read this - haha - she is definitely not a repressed child, but read on to find out more. We brought Sakotis case from Lithuanian food store Papa Karlo to her school and then invited about half of her class to the Sweet Revenge cupcake decoration class. So a few things struck me about that celebration. Every single person we invited showed up. This is kind of amazing with all the different extracurricular activities kids have going on these days. I wonder if parents had to make any special accommodations to make it possible.

Georgia has autistic kid in her class. He came too with his nanny. It was very nice to see how kind and attentive the kids are to him. So OK, back to me story... What struck me was how wild and loud kids were. It is as if someone told them to shut up all day long, and then fed them some sugar and said OK, OK, you can speak now. And speak they did. To the point that instructor, a young girl obsessing about her weight.. I guess providing cupcake decoration instructions could bring that thought to your mind... screamed really loudly at them to shut up. I was upset about that - completely inappropriate & unprofessional on so many levels. Fortunately the kids did not appear to have noticed. Anyway, Dan and I, and Isaac's nanny Marta, and Rosie had a few entertaining and loud hours with 16 kids (Isabella bailed right after pizza).

Despite how it sounds, it was actually fun. Most parents came back about 15 minutes prior to the pick up time. They stood pressing their faces against the glass like some Dickensonian orphans, watching the madness within, and not braving coming in. Against the common sense we decided to plan a major playdate soon.

OK, onto the weekend of March 8-9th.

March 8-9th. Portobello Market & Birmingham

Had a fun weekend with Inga and Alicia. Though Alicia spent most of it recovering from her flight here at home. On Saturday we went to London to orient Inga with our top spots such as Monmouth coffee shop and cover a new point - Portobello Market. We really liked it - it is a less commercial and has more character than Camden market. We took hours to cover maybe 10 city blocks with all the interesting and tasty detours along the way.

Reconnected again with Ekaterinburg relatives via Skype. It is interesting to discuss events in Ukraine with the aggressor country :)

On Sunday Dan had some business to attend to in Birmingham. We joined in - it is the second largest city in the UK, so we had hopes of seeing a mini London despite the warnings in the tour guide about the "urban planning nightmare."

Our first stop was the National Motorcycle Museum in the outskirts. Excellent museum. Not the type of place one expects to end up after a few hours of driving but Dan's hobby certainly brings us to the most interesting places.

We really loved it. The museum does a great job providing a scavenger hunt for kids to keep them engaged through all the 850 exhibits. It was amazing how many transformations the design of the bike has undergone - starting from an extension of the heavy bicycle with the chain and a small motor over 100 years ago on to the rocket ship looking ones that could clock over 200 miles per hour. We also noticed that all the bikes were shined to the perfection, with hardly a speck of dust on them. It takes a lot of effort and loving to keep them in this condition.

Next we wanted to experience some of the Indian Balti food Birmingham is famous for. Unfortunately both spots we tried were not open. As we were driving toward Birmingham town center we passed through Another English Inquisition street and Dan hit our courtesy car, in much similar way as I did previously - against a large parked truck. That and no lunch certainly dumpened our spirits.

We parked in the center and walked through semi-dead streets looking for some nourishment. We finally found a Bodega and settled there. A few drinks and food cheered us up but then Georgia saw the Kiwi video and got very upset. We did not think she would take it that close to heart but watching our reaction about the car and being a bit hungry must have had some effect too. We knew that we are watching a turning moment in Georgia's life. It will need time to get digested fully but it is unlikely that there would not be any impact. I'll have to talk to her about it later.



We continued our walk before deciding to check out the jewelry quarter - Birmingham used to be famous for it. Like everything else it was dead too, except one store run by Russians. Fortunately we accidentally stumbled into Ink Pen Museum, a former Inc Pen factory, and an absolutely awesome incredible museum of the dying art lovingly run by the dedicated volunteers. We all loved it. Kids went through the circuit of creating the tips for the pen. Cherished their new "goody bags." This and the motorcycle museum made the trip worth our while.

On Monday Inga and Alicia went to London to take the Big bus drive around town. We are glad Alicia got a good overview of the town.