Shake, Rattle & Roll

Yesterday being one of those aforementioned beautiful days, we decided to take a train trip out to Dover. The Funsucker family had a trip there when visiting us recently and spoke highly of the experience so off we went.

Because we have had some negative experiences in the not so distant past, we have taken to checking to make sure that our train is not one subjected to the never-ending "engineering works" being performed perpetually in the UK. This country is so dependent on train travel and they are constantly working on the train tracks. When they do, they close off a section of track and set up a bus bridge. Which means you have to get off the train, get on a bus, ride the bus for a certain period of time, get off bus, get on another train and then get to your destination. Not the worst thing in the world if you count starvation and "Charles in Charge" but it can still put a crimp into your day. So yesterday the train company website said that there were delays on the train we needed to take because of "earth movement" which caused electrical interruption. What??? THEY HAD AN EARTHQUAKE IN KENT! Coming from earthquake country, we found this fascinating. Now, I know I will offend some of my British fans here when I point out it was a little earthquake as far as earthquakes go - 4.3. But they don't have any noteworthy quakes here so as far as they were concerned, this one rocked the house. The most damage wasn't in the town we were going to but in a few towns close by. I saw pictures of fallen brick & stone walls, shelves busted in the grocery stores. Loads of chimneys fell off houses. I guess when your house was built in 1816, the chimney is susceptible to falling off in a minor ground shaker. Now it was different than the Bay Area quakes we are used to getting, as there was no unending discussion about the BIG ONE that is sure to happen in the next week, next month, next year, next century and are you prepared? No discussion of having any dried fish & chips, dehydrated beer or matches buried in your backyard somewhere. Rookies.

Dover was interesting. The town itself doesn't have the charm of some of the other English hamlets we have visited because it was pretty much bombed flat in WWII. But it has some other points of interest. The White Cliffs of Dover are known world wide. To quote one of the Funsucker nephews "they're cliffs, they're white, they're there". Gotta love adolescent boys. It is also a very happening sea port. Quite a few cruise ships dock there and a lot of industry - container ships and the like. It is also the narrowest part of the English channel and on a really clear day you can see France fairly easily from Dover. It wasn't especially clear on the day we were there but you could make out shapes of buildings in the distance. It was this close proximity that made Dover strategically important from the 11th/12th centuries all through World War II.

There has been some kind of fortress in Dover since the Anglo Saxon Age.
Most of what is Dover Castle today was rebuilt and remodeled during the reigns of William the Conqueror and Henry II around 1066 - 1155 or so. There is an extremely old Roman lighthouse that
has probably been there since somewhere between 50 - 80 AD. The castle itself is impressive as it has been around so long and gives you a realistic view of what life must have been like at the time of say Henry VIII. They have the castle set up as it might have been right before the visit Henry VIII made in 1539. I am always amazed at how different life was in these castles vs. what we have seen on the Hallmark Theatre Productions or even Showtime's "The Tudors". It all looks so opulent and rich on television when it reality it was not. The walls are all made of stone and might have been covered temporarily with wood or tapestries but the overall feeling is still cold, both in temperature
and coziness. We wandered up and down the stairs, which are not paneled in rich, dark , mahogany like they lead you to believe in the Tudors, but are steep, narrow and stone. I can't imagine more than one person at a time walked up these stairs and managing those long skirts was probably no picnic for the ladies of the court.

One of the most interesting aspects of Dover Castle is underneath the Castle grounds itself, the tunnels. There are two series of tunnels, the medieval tunnels and the "secret wartime" tunnels. The medieval tunnels were built
sometime in the 12th century and used basically to house soldiers and communication between different parts of the castle grounds without being seen by an enemy. In the 1800s during the Napoleonic wars, they were remodeled and used a barracks for up to 2000 men. It really is a maze and interesting to imagine a whole army encampment underground.

We were most looking forward to the "secret wartime" tunnels. These tunnels were initially built as an extension of the medieval tunnels during the Napoleonic war but were expanded and used extensively in World War II. The tunnels were used as a war time command/communications center, a hospital, offices, barracks etc. More recently, these tunnels were supposed to the bunker for the Royal Family and important government officials in case of nuclear attack. Historically important, it was from these tunnels that Admiral Ramsey directed the evacuation of thousands of British and American soldiers from the battle of Dunkirk in France. Originally it was thought that only 30,000 - 50,000 soldiers could be evacuated but they ended up rescuing over 300,000 soldiers in what Churchill called the "Miracle of Dunkirk". Since Snake is studying this period in history, he was especially interested in seeing the tunnels.

Guess what? Closed. Because of the "earthquake". They weren't sure if the tunnels built in the 19th century and later were structurally sound but we could walk through the tunnels constructed in the 12th century, some 700 years earlier? Scary.

Don't Even Try Your Southern California-Balboa Bridge-Law Breaking-Misdeeds Around Here Mister!

This picture is for our friend Marky, who may or may not, allegedly, once commited one of these offences, naked. You have been warned, Sir.

Rhymes with Barlow

The weather has been absolutely beautiful here for the past few weeks. Uncle Funsucker and Auntie C. brought the good weather with them and it stuck around a little. The normal weather pattern usually brings some kind of rain during the day so we have enjoyed the sunshine of late and the ability to leave our umbrellas behind. We have become good weather fanatics, much to the irritation of some in our household who think a good weekend is not getting out of bed before 11:00 am., staying in their pajamas until 2:00 p.m., instant messaging friends until late in the night, eating nothing that has any nutritional value whatsoever and then starting all over the next day. So we have been getting them out of the house, practically kicking and screaming. But we don't care, being the parent means we get to torture them occasionally by making them go out in the sunshine and getting a bit of exercise. So sue us!

In order to continue the good weather celebration, last weekend we decided
to go on a little jaunt to Marlow, a cute little village on the Thames River. Truthfully most of the little villages on the banks of the Thames are pretty cute. It is hard to have an uncute village in this kind of setting. Last weekend many little towns had St. George's Day Celebrations. St. George is the patron saint of England, alleged slayer of a dragon and rescuer of a damsel in distress. The park off the high street in Marlow had a little parade with marching bands, local troops of boy scouts, explorers etc.

We strolled along the riverbank taking in the sights. This is quite a popular area for different boat clubs and we watched several teams practice on the river. It was very interesting watching the more experienced teams move in singular motion, almost like a ballet. They move extremely fast. We m
meandered along the walkway, cows on one side, beautiful churches on the other. Further down the river we came to the very small town of Hurley. We stopped for a pub lunch (as usual) and then wandered back. About 7 miles in all. Hurley and Marlow both have locks and we watched several boats go through the locks. For those of you that don't know, a lock is a device which allows boats to move safely on a river that might have an area where the water height suddenly changes, a sudden drop, or navigating an area that might have a rapid. Some of the most famous locks are those in the Panama canal. It is really fascinating to watch. So fascinating that I didn't think to take pictures so you have to try and picture it. The boat goes in a little area on the river, like a box or canal area. Once the boat is in and the gate is closed, the lock either fills with water or lets water out depending on whether your boat is going to a higher or lower level. Trust me, it is interesting. There are lots of locks around here, next time I promise I will take pictures.

It was a great day except for one minor issue. Chizz (and sometimes HIS children) take issue with the speed of my walking (yes, I am turning into my mother - Sorry Mom!). But I like to enjoy my walk, notice my surroundings, drink it all in. I am not like some people, who put their heads down and try to get from point to point as quickly as possible without actually seeing anything around them. So Chizz came up with an idea that he thought might level the playing field and allow everyone to walk together. And here it is.

Right, he tied his shoelaces together. Very funny. Ha Ha Ha. So funny I forgot to laugh. Next time, I will really punish him. I will make him go on one of the walks by himself with Kiki & Snake. And I will stay at home in my pjs, instant messaging my friends and staying up late. That'll show him.

The Cost of the Right To Bear Arms

Of course the news of the Virginia Tech massacre reached here. I read the newspaper accounts of the shootings on the bus yesterday. I looked at the first pictures of the victims and I found myself very emotional. I was glad I had my sunglasses on, the tears came to my eyes quickly. These were faces that looked just like some of the children that Kiki goes to school with. They look just like Raul, our nephew who just left here on Sunday. No older. Quite a few of the dead are children, regardless of the age of consent, the age to buy alcohol, the age to vote, the age to register for the draft. Children. In a place where there should be little expectation of violence.

In the aftermath, there are discussions of how did this happen, why did this happen, who can we blame? What could the University have done to prevent the second round of shootings? Overseas, the discussion is really based on a single subject. Guns. Not gun control. That debate will be inevitable. However, I don't think gun control is the issue. Early reports indicate this man bought his weapons legally and easily enough. I don't know what the exact requirements were in his home state and whether he was required to pass a background check. But what would a background check have turned up that would have prevented him from having a gun? He writes disturbing stories? So do half the published authors in the United States. He was a loner. Should there be a requirement to own a gun that you have a certain number of friends or acquaintances? No, the real debate is whether ordinary citizens should be allowed to own guns at all. That is the discussion going on overseas right now.

The US image abroad is tarnished. Oh, it is true that these kinds of events happen everywhere. Germany, Russia, France all had their share of school shootings in the past decade. But truthfully, when you hear about this kind of incident - isn't your first thought "I wonder where in the US this happened?" The perception here is that it is easy to buy guns in the United States. One of the papers interviewed some people on the street here and I was surprised to find that quite a few of them thought that getting a gun in the US is as easy as going to your grocery store. You can pick one up in the gun aisle, two aisles down from the milk. Truly. The newspaper articles fall just short of blaming the US but really why should they? The United States has a gun culture. Let's face it, let's own it. It is true. You see it on the news everyday. It is part of our entertainment. Watch a prime time drama on television, it will usually involve a gun crime, a murder so grisly we all talk about it the next day. We like it - we must because those are the shows that are the most highly rated, the ones that bring in the big bucks to advertisers, the shows we keep getting to watch.

There is no answer if we continue to believe it is our God-given right to own a gun and we are too afraid as a nation to stand up to an organization as insignificant as the NRA. How can it be that a gun-lobbying organization is so powerful? There is no "need" for an ordinary individual to own a gun. None. As a nation, we don't hunt for our food anymore. I don't buy the "I need a gun to protect myself from the random criminals at my doorstep" argument. Most of the guns used by criminals in the commission of a crime are stolen from the law-abiding citizens who bought them legally. There isn't a plethora of "I foiled the criminal at my doorstep with my .22" stories but you hear a lot about kids injured or killed by guns found in the household. Some of the guns used in the Columbine killing were registered and locked in a gun safe. I haven't heard it yet, but I am sure some gun-loving yahoo will get on TV or the radio in the US saying, "Well, if some of those students at VT were allowed to carry guns - it would be a different story." Such an idiotic statement, I am not going to waste any more space refuting it.

The simple truth is this will continue to happen. Over and over and over again. Until we have the guts to do something about it, like abolishing private gun ownership. Other civilized countries have done it. Everyone knows that Britain bans most gun ownership. They are so serious about it that most of their police officers don't carry guns. Last year in Britain there were 46 gun related homicides in a population of 56 million people. In New York city, population 8 million, there were 590. Doesn't that statistic say something to you? Only 13 more people were murdered by guns in all of England and Wales last year than were killed 2 days ago in Virginia. The number of people killed in this one incident in Virginia represents 72% of the gun related deaths in all of Great Britain and Wales last year.

Oh for a while, we will be all up in arms about this. But in the US we have the attention span of a 2 year old. For a few months we will tsk-tsk, something should be done, blah, blah, blah. I plan on writing my representatives and urge others to do the same. To ban gun ownership wouldn't be popular, but so was abolishing slavery (another constitutional right). The gun lobby would scream but I imagine so did the alcohol lobby when we changed the legal drinking age to 21. Or the tobacco lobby when we banned advertisements for cigarettes in certain publications. All of these action items take courage and I am not sure we have it in us as a Nation to fight these battles any more. And until we do, more kids like these VT students will die and I guess that is the price we are willing to pay for our constitutional right to bear arms.

By The Numbers

The Funsucker family left this morning to go back to the US. We had a GREAT time with them, showing them our new home city and I think they had a great time discovering some places on their own. As I reflected this morning on all the things we did, I thought it was amazing the different number of things we did. Since Uncle Funsucker is a banker, I thought there would be no better way to sum it all but by the numbers. So here goes (in no numerical or chronological order, by the way)

1 Fulham Football Match seen in company suite.

5 Number of football matches watched on TV. (Not counting the 1 match Raul made us watch 4 times!)

1 Winning Ticket for Prize Package at Fulham game. (Way to go Ishmael!)

7 Losing tickets in for prize package at Fulham game.

2 Castles (Tower of London & Dover)

8 Tickets to Spamalot

57 Tombs/Graves of Famous and not-so-famous dead English People.

7 Souvenirs purchased.

18 Members of the crew teams of Oxford & Cambridge at the Boat Race.

3 Oyster Cards purchased. (Fast passes for buses & Tube)

9 All Day Transit Tickets for Ishmael

2 Cathedrals (Salisbury & Westminster)

267 Photos taken by Auntie C.

4.5 Bottles of Wine consumed at dinner one evening.

4 Slightly slow moving adults after dinner night before.

635 Number of Times Uncle Funsucker said "Mind the Gap"

14 Pubs visited during the week. (Yikes!)

2 Wrong Size T-shirts purchased. (Sorry Raul)

3 Steps in Frog Household that Uncle Funsucker claimed got steeper each night.

8 Kinderbueno Candy Bars (Kiki's favorite candy here) for friends back home.

30 Choir members singing in Salisbury Cathedral during Funsucker family visit.

16 Out of Town Train Tickets

1 Sticky Toffee Pudding

40 Number of Horses starting in the Grand National Steeplechase Race

13 Number of Horses finishing Grand National

50 pence - amount needed to enter Frog/Funsucker family bet for Grand National

4 pounds won by Snake for fastest horse in Grand National.

85 songs transferred to Uncle Funsucker's Ipod by Chizz "just to see if you like them"

3 Cds Purchased

6 orders of Fish & Chips consumed

53.5 Average usual temperature in London in April

64.3 Average actual temperature in London during Funsucker family visit

65.7 Average actual temperature in Funsucker's hometown during London visit. (See you didn't miss much and our weather was beautiful!)

12,417 number of miles (actually kilometers) claimed to have been walked by Uncle Funsucker during visit.



1 Sad & Tired Wind the Frog family. We had a great time, they were great guests, we miss them already and we can't wait until their visit next year (but we will see them this summer!). I am not sure how many times.

Spamalot and Eventually I Am Going to Get Banned from Historical Sites-a-lot

The Funsucker and the Wind-The-Frog families saw Spamalot the other night. For those of you that don't know it, it is a musical based quite heavily on Monty Python's Search for the Holy Grail. It's very, very funny and the kids enjoyed it quite a bit. We had two sections of seats. For some reason, months ago, Ticketmaster wouldn't let me buy 8 seats in a row - only 4. So I went to the theatre box office and purchased 4 more seats, in the same row! But we were separated by a few seats. It was all good, the kids could pretend that they were there by themselves. I think I enjoyed the second act more than the first. Mainly because the first act was pretty much word for word from the movie and I knew what to expect. The second act had more things I hadn't seen before. We can heartily recommend it.

Earlier in the day, both families minus Chizz went to see Westminster Abbey. Chizz's work thing keeps getting in the way of fun. Apparently they like him to show up EVERY day Monday through Friday. So unreasonable.
I like Westminster Abbey, there is so much to see there. Even though I have been there about 4 times, I always seem to see something "new" or notice something different. It has all kinds of kings and queens graves and tombs. I also enjoy the audio tours because you always pick up some extra tidbit or two. They are very serious about their audio tours at Westminster Abbey. They give you strict instructions as to where it can be used, where it has to be returned and a list of horrible things that will happen to you if you even try to steal one (well, that last part might be a bit exaggerated). So we wandered through the Abbey, all at our own pace. The kids pace took them about 1/2 hour and culminated in the cafe. Of course.

One of the more interesting items at the Abbey is the coronation chair. Just about every monarch since the late 1200s has sat in that chair during his or her coronation. It is a high back wooden chair, with a shelf under the seat for the Stone of Scone, which was captured in battles with Scotland by Edward III.
Apparently the stone has some religious significance although no one can actually agree what it is. Some believe that the stone was owned by the Biblical Jacob, some believe it was brought by the ancient Gaels when settling early Britain, and still others believe it was the travelling alter of St. Columba when he did his missionary work in early Scotland. At that time, all the Scottish monarchs since 847 had sat on this stone for their coronations. So Edward decided to take it and built a chair around it and from then on all the English Monarchs sat on it. With the exception of Mary, who had a Catholic chair specially built and blessed by the Pope because she considered the chair 'Protestant' and wouldn't sit in after her brother Edward VI died. Apparently the chair had Protestant cooties. Incidentally the English government gave the Stone back to Scotland in 1996 after making Scotland promise they could use it for any future coronations. The chair has all kinds of markings and graffiti on it because until the late 1800s it was just in the Abbey and anyone could sit in it. "Hey Look at Me, I am being coronated!" After years of naughty choir boys and other ruffians scratched their initials and other markings in it, they decided to move it to a more secure location. Ya' think?

The Abbey and its grounds are quite large and you can meander for several hours, which we did. Through the cloisters, through their Chapter house, which lost all of its stained glass windows during the Blitz in WWII. There is an interesting museum where you can see the effigies of the monarchs that were used to craft their tombs.

At the end of the tour, you wander to the Nave of the Abbey. Here you can see the graves of Sir Issac Newton, Darwin, and Ben Jonson, who has the distinction of being the only person buried in a standing position at Westminster Abbey. He was a noted playwright, a contemporary of William Shakespeare but poor. Legend has it that he begged a 2 X 2 spot in Westminster Abbey for his burial and that is what they gave him.

The kids were interested in the memorials to the Unknown Soldier, Winston Churchill (he is not buried there) and the United States. I went over to look at the United States Memorial and that is when the brouhaha happened. I went past the point of no return with my audio guide. I wasn't leaving the chapel but I guess I broke the line of the sensor and my guide started beeping. It wasn't particularly loud until you consider you are in a church and people are being relatively quite. The beeping got louder. I tried to find someone at the drop off spot, but it wasn't manned. So I stayed there with my beeping audio guide until one of the vergers came around. He didn't look any too pleased at me because apparently I interrupted some of his more important verging duties, like giving tours, manning the gift shop or working at the cafe. He took the guide, punched in some keys and walked off. I don't think he said a word. Really, its not like I wanted another audio guide for my personal collection. Or did I?

That Ishmael is One Lucky Guy!

If you know the Funsucker family at all, you know one of their absolutely favorite sports is soccer (football here in the UK but they are our guests to I try not to correct them every time they say it). The boys, Raul & Ishmael, really wanted to see a football match. So they had their mother, Auntie C., check into it - and that involved calling me. Any chance they could see a Manchester United or Chelsea game? No, none, absolutely not. Seeing one of those teams involved some kind of act of God. But because this is England, there is a football club on every corner. So we suggested some other clubs and the boys were able to set their sights on something more attainable, the Fulham Football Club. So we looked into getting tickets. Good news there, Chizz's company has a box there and it was available. The stars were starting to align.

So the crew was off to Fulham to see the team play Manchester City (not Manchester United). We got there in plenty of time.
In fact no one was in the stadium when we got there. We made our way over to the box and it was pretty cool. The boxes are on the corners of the field. When we entered the box, we met Simone. Simone was assigned to the box to help us get drinks and food and such. The tickets for the box come with lunch, so she sets that all up for us. We ate a great lunch and were milling around the box looking at the field before most of the fans got there enjoying the decorations in the box. I must say the Fulham Football Club employees were very nice, they kept checking on us to see if we were alright. An employee of a local gambling establishment came by to see if we wanted to place any bets on the game. In addition to the final outcome of the game, you can bet on which player would make the first goal, what time the goal would be made etc. We chose not to make any bets. Another person came and offered us raffle tickets. The first prize was 1/2 the take of the game (after taxes and something else - we couldn't remember what it was). We bought 8 tickets, one for each of us.

The game started and we all sat down to watch on the balcony.
It is a much different game up close. First, it is very loud. And then there is the singing. Yes the singing. Not by entertainers but by fans. Each football club has standard songs that they sing when the team is doing well. Unfortunately, we didn't get to hear many of the Fulham songs. But we got to hear plenty from Manchester City. It is a strange feeling, the entire away section singing a song loudly. If you ever watch a football match on TV and think, it sounds like they are singing "Blue Moon", you are probably right. They use familar tunes and make up their own lyrics. I am not sure how everyone knows the new, improved lyrics but they all do. And it is not like they wait for a lull in the action to sing, they sing while the action is ongoing. Continually. It is very, very loud and I am surprised it doesn't distract the players.

The action seems to move much quicker in person. When we watch games at home on TV sometimes it seems these games last forever. But the first half just whizzed by. Before you knew it, we were in the back being served cake by Simone. Ah, the life. They announced the raffle winner of the grand prize and then they announced a second prize winner, S0828. We looked at our tickets, no winner. Wait, wait just a minute. Ishmael said "I think those are my numbers". We all looked at the ticket, it seemed to be a winner. Wow!! That's pretty exciting. The second place prize was 2 tickets to the next home game in 2 weeks and an LG product. We were told that someone would come by and verify the ticket. Since we noticed that the winner must be an adult and Ishmael is 11, Auntie C. claimed the prize. She had to go and sign some papers and get the prize. She was gone quite a few minutes. In fact she was gone so long that Chizz felt compelled to drink her beer. But the truth of the matter is that Chizz would have felt compelled to drink her beer if she had just stuck her head out the door. He calls it the slow drinkers' penalty.

Finally Auntie C. returns. She confirms that the prize is 2 tickets to the next game and the product is a surround sound stereo system with a dvd player. The best part? Because the US and the UK use different voltages, 110 v. 220, the funsucker family cannot use the DVD player. So they are leaving it here with us. Temporary custody if you will. They also can't use the game tickets, since they are leaving the Sunday before the game. Bummer, guess we will have to use those as well. Poor, poor us.

But we have come upon the perfect solution. Uncle Funsucker, Auntie C., Raul & Ishmael will have to come visit us, I mean the DVD player every year. Visitation rights for the DVD player, it seems like it is the least we can do!!

Off to The Tower With You!!!

Sunday we went to the Tower of London with Uncle Funsucker, Auntie C & dudes. Come on! Can you think of anything more Eastery than going to a place where many people were imprisoned and several infamous executions took place? It gives me a warm, cozy feeling inside, just like Easter bunnies and baby chicks.

It was a beautiful day. Easter is a great time to visit London. Before we lived here, we came here during this time of year and it has always been beautiful. Everyone said to us, "oh this weather is extra-ordinary", "you really lucked out" "it is never usually this warm". I found myself expressing those exact same words to Uncle Funsucker and gang.

Our family has been there a few times and we always find it interesting.
The Beefeaters are very friendly and approachable. When we came out of one area, we noticed the Royals Guards were doing a shift change. Because the Tower of London is technically a palace, they have the same type of guards that they have at Buckingham Palace. The change ceremony here isn't anywhere near as elaborate as the one at Buckingham Palace but it gives you a taste. An appetizer, if you will. While we were watching that, I noticed a terrace right above where they were changing the guard. There was a group of people, a man, a woman, a couple of teenagers. It didn't look like the tour would take us over to that area, so I asked the Beefeater about it. He informed me that was the Resident Governor of the Tower of London.
He and his family live at the Tower of London, along with several other people - about 150 in all. Wow! Can you imagine that? Living at the Tower of London. Snake wanted to know if the mailman would have to pay the fee to deliver the mail. Hmmm. I don't know. Well, I took a picture of them enjoying their breakfast/brunch on the terrace. In full view of probably 3000 people. That would be weird. Although I don't have curtains on my bedroom window so goodness knows what number of people have espied me or Chizz up there.

One of my favorite parts of the tour (other than the crown jewels, what is not to love about a 530 carat diamond - that's right 5 HUNDRED carats), are the rooms where they kept some of the prisoners. They didn't really keep people in cells like prisons had today. People had a series of rooms, a bedroom, a sitting room, etc. When Sir Walter Raleigh was imprisoned, he brought along his whole family. Nice guy. Mrs. Sir Walter Raleigh :"Oh Walter, I am so sorry you are going to prison, I will wait for you!" "What! We are going too?" In addition to Sir Walter Raleigh, other famous prisoners included two of Henry VIII's wives, Anne Boleyn and Katherine Howard, one Henry VIII's daughters Elizabeth I, Guy Fawkes (who attempted to blow up Parliament) and Rudolph Hess, the Nazi right hand man to Hitler.

One of the most interesting prisoners at the Tower was Lady Jane Grey. When Henry VIII's son, Edward VI died at age 15 he left a mess as far as succession goes. The throne should have been left to Mary, Henry VIII's daughter with Catherine of Aragon, but she was Catholic and Henry VIII had changed the national religion from Catholicism to the Church of England. A will of dubious origin was produced which essentially named Lady Jane Grey heir. She came from another branch of the royal family tree. A tree which has never been cut, and all the branches intertwine. See what happens when you intermarry and never prune!! Essentially Lady Jane was talked into taking the throne by her father and father-in-law, who saw great things for themselves if Jane was Queen. So she was crowned and was Queen. For 9 days. Until Mary got wind of her brother's death, an army was formed and she took back her kingdom, religion or not. So Queen Mary throws everyone involved in the Tower, Lady Jane Grey, her husband Guilford Dudley, her father-in-law, and her father. They lived there together for quite some time; it was thought that Mary would eventually pardon them. But about a year or so later, there were other rebellions that endangered Mary's throne so she worried that Jane and her group might be seen as a cause for further rebellion. A year after they were thrown into the Tower, Mary signed their death warrants. Guilford was killed first, then Lady Jane Grey and some days later Lady Jane Grey's dad. The rest of the group was pardoned. She was 15, her husband 18. I don't think Lady Kiki & Sir Snake could mastermind a rebellion at that age.

In some of the rooms, the prisoners would carve graffiti in the walls. Some of the markings were fairly elaborate. As an imprisoned nobleman, you could hire someone to come in and carve your coat of arms in your prison wall. That is just odd to me. A decorator of sorts for your cell. Many of the markings are just the names of the prisoners, some are sayings, some drawings.
One of the most poignant markings is one done (they think) by Guilford Dudley. It is a bit hard to see, they have most of the graffiti covered by glass so people won't deface it. But it reads IANE, the I being the way they made Js in Olde English. You could read it several ways, Iane - I miss you, I am desperate to be with you. Or it could be Iane! Well this is fine mess you have gotten us into. It is all your fault. I choose to think of it as sort of a desperate longing to be with her. More romantic that way. Of course, Snake pointed out it would have been more romantic if he had spelled her name right.

Of course, we spent some time at the rest of the landmarks in the Tower complex, the armory, the Crown Jewels room, saw the ravens. Most people know the legend of the ravens, if the ravens left the Tower, the kingdom would fall. So the ravens wings are clipped so they can't fly away. There are either 6 or 8 ravens in residence today and they are taken care of by the Royal Ravenmaster (who else?).

We have other adventures in store for the Funsucker family. Stay tuned!

Here They Come, There They Go!!

So Saturday we decided on kind of a low key day because it was really Uncle Funsucker, Auntie C & gang's first day and they were still kind of jet lagged. Last year, Chizz went to the big Boat Race and thought we might enjoy it. This year was the 153rd Boat Race. It started back in 1829 when two students, one of them a nephew of poet William Wordsworth, got an idea for a crew race between Oxford and Cambridge. So in March of that year, Cambridge sent a challenge to Oxford and the party began. Each subsequent year, the loser issues the next challenge and the tradition continues.

The Big Boat race is to England as The Big Game is to Northern California. There are a lot of similarities. Both involve university rivalries, the Big Game - Stanford v. UC Berkeley, the Boat Race - Cambridge v. Oxford. For both the pre-event ritual is almost as important as the event itself. For Stanford/Cal, it involves the tailgate party, bbqing, and drinking lots of beer. For Oxford/Cambridge, it involves the pre-race party, bbqing and drinking lots of beer. Both competitions have fans that wear their team colors. Both events draw heavy alumni participation. Both involve a prize; Stanford/Cal a trophy called The Axe - Cambridge/Oxford, a trophy. Both events have a winner and both a devastated loser, vowing revenge "next year".

These competitions have many differences as well. Stanford/Cal is an American football game. Cambridge/Oxford a crew race. A Stanford Cal game can take the good part of an afternoon. The entire Boat Race lasts about 20 minutes give or take. The part you get to see from your little vantage point on the Thames lasts for about 20 seconds. The two boats go by in a blink of an eye. You have been waiting there for hours, you see the race helicopters coming closer and closer. You here someone shout: "Here they come, Here they come". Various shouts of "Go Cambridge" or "Go Oxford" and then you are looking at the back of that boat. There they go. It is all over.

The next part is the hardest and here is the biggest difference between the two events. After the Big Game, everyone gets in their cars and goes home. Hopefully safely. After the Boat Race, people still stick around and drink. And drink. And drink. It is quite a party occasion. People who are lucky enough to have houses on the race course, throw huge parties for their friends. They watch from their balconies and roof terraces and drink. And drink. And drink. The real trick is to get all the way home without anyone throwing up on you. Glad to say 'mission' accomplished. See you next year!

Its All Relative

Well we are just back from 5 days in Portugal. Kiki & Snake are off school for 2 weeks of Spring Break. 2 weeks!!! Sometimes I think they are never in school. Chizz's brother, Uncle Funsucker, his lovely wife Auntie C and their two strapping boys (names to be determined later) are visiting for a bit over a week. We are very excited and we have lots of fun things planned.

But before they came we decided, in some kind of misguided way, to try and find a little sun. So at the last minute we booked a short trip to Portugal. We figured that was the farthest south we could go and still have a flight under 3 hours so we wouldn't lose a lot of time travelling. Auntie L. was born in Portugal a few years back but she was born in the Azores, an island chain off Portugal in the Atlantic.We ended up in a section of southern part of Portugal called the Algarve. The kids were begging for some relaxing time (read get up late i.e. the afternoon, sit on the beach or by the pool, drink endless cokes and hang). We accomplished quite a bit of that, although the weather was not as warm as we hoped. But to show you how far we have fallen from our sun worshipping California days, we rejoiced when one day the weather reached a blistering 72 degrees. Woo-hoo!! Listen before you judge, remember that a warm winter day here is about 48 degrees, sometimes if we were lucky it would pass the 50 degree mark. It is all what you become acclimated to, in California, you didn't complain until your 50th day of 100 degree weather. In London, you rejoice at your 3rd day of 50 degree weather. It is all what you are used to or get used to.

Degrees of weather aside, the kids had a wonderful time.
We managed to get some time at poolside. Here is a view of the pool of our hotel, the cliffs were amazing. Kiki & Snake were content to lie on those chairs most of the day and soak as much sun is as they could. The hours broken up by ordering cokes, french fries and playing endless games of darts and foos ball. They met some English kids around their ages and spent the time after dinner playing pool and hanging out with them. Apparently this is exactly what they wanted to do and they thought it was a very successful vacation.

Now Chizz and I can handle about two days of sitting around a hotel
pool before we go crazy so we did a bit more exploring. We stayed near a beautiful little town called Carvoeiro, so we walked about 1/2 mile into to town every day to explore and pick out a place for dinner. It seems like all of the villages in Portugal have white buildings. It makes it very picturesque. One day we decided to explore a little further out and take a drive. Of course for the kids that would require leaving the pool and they just couldn't imagine doing that, so we went on our own. They are old enough to fend for themselves. Hey! Its not like they had to forage in the forest for food, they figured out pretty darn quickly how to charge stuff to the room. (Thanks Auntie M. for teaching both of my children the joys of room service!)


Chizz and I rented a teeny, tiny car. If I had reclined my seat, I would have been in the back seat. But that is okay, on these small Portugese roads, it was much better to have a small little car. We drove out to Silves. Portugese sounds alot like Spanish but there are more 'sh' and 'ch' sounds. So Silves is pronounced 'silvish'. Enough phonics today. Silves has the ruins of a Moorish castle that were pretty darn interesting to walk around. It really looks like a castle, when so many of these ruins don't. It is currently being restored to include all of the things a castle needs, like a gift shop and snack stand. The castle is up at the top of the hill because all the better to see people that might be invading you, so you find yourselves slowly meandering up the hill up these little cute cobblestoned streets. We drove through quite a few of the small towns in the south Algarve, Lagos (pronounced Lagosh), Ferragudo, Portimao, Alvor. It is a beautiful area.

Portugal is known for, among other things, their beautiful tile work and pottery. We were taken aback by some of the little buildings that were covered in very beautiful tile work. This picture doesn't do it justice but it does give you an idea of what you might see. The pottery is beautiful too. I picked up a piece to bring home that Chizz was convinced that would ended up smashed to smithereens on the airplane home but with a little work and careful nurturing (Hey! Watch out for my pottery!) it has successfully made it back. Of course, I lost Snake somewhere along the way but you can't have everything.

So even without the really hot weather, we had a great time. Now onto having more local fun with Uncle Funsucker, Auntie C. & gang. It is great having family in town. I am not sure how much time I will get to blog anything so I will leave you with some miscellaneous pictures of our trip to Portugal. Discuss among yourselves.