Recent Wanders

I had the great delight of having Rachel Sorensen come for a visit -- our first house guest.  

She was a terrific sport putting up with my novice driving and ignorance as a tour guide.

  We had lots of fun exploring nearby sites.

 We visited Bath and toured the 2000-year-old  old Roman bath ruins.  We also enjoyed Bath's lovely Christmas  Market.

Oxford had a Bright Light Night where the Christmas lights of the city are officially illuminated.  

There was a parade with luminaries like the one above.  It was charming.

These are the cloisters at Gloucester Cathedral.  They were used as a location for filming the first, second and sixth Harry Potter films.

To the Manor Born:  We visited The village of Bampton in Oxfordshire that was used for filming the outdoor scenes in Downton Abbey,  most notably St Mary's Church and the village library, which served as the entrance to the cottage hospital.  

Waddesdon Manor is a Renaissance-style château built by Baron Ferdinand de Rothschild to display his outstanding collection of art treasures and to entertain the fashionable world.  Overt the years it has been the sight of many films and TV programs. It is owned by the National Trust and they go all out at Christmas decorating a wing of the Manor for Christmas tours.  

Switching to the Left

I've made the switch!  I now drive on the left, in a manual car that has a stick shift on the left.  It was daunting at first.  The hardest part about learning to drive confidently on the left is relearning one's deeply ingrained instincts.  The car mirrors aren't where I'm used to. Looking over my left shoulder when I'm backing up doesn't feel natural. And passing on the right just seems weird.  The other hard part is knowing which lane to be in.  Most intersections here are round-abouts, some with several spokes that branch out from the circle.  I'll admit I've circled around a few round-abouts more than once, trying to get into the right light for the spoke that I want.

I have a new best friend to help me with the driving.  I haven't named her yet, but she has a lovely accent and is very patient with my when I miss her instructions and take the wrong turn.  She's called a Sat Nav here,  and a GPS in the U.S.    I used to listen to NPR every time I drove somewhere in the U.S.  Here I listen to a voice telling me that there is a round-about in 300 yard and that I want to take the 3rd exit in the roundabout.

Why do the English drive on the left?

In the Middle Ages you kept to the left for the simple reason that you never knew who you'd meet on the road in those days. You wanted to make sure that a stranger passed on the right so you could go for your sword in case he proved unfriendly.

This custom was given official sanction in 1300 AD, when Pope Boniface VIII invented the modern science of traffic control by declaring that pilgrims headed to Rome should keep left.

The papal system prevailed until the late 1700s, when teamsters in the United States and France began hauling farm products in big wagons pulled by several pairs of horses.

These wagons had no driver's seat. Instead the driver sat on the left rear horse, so he could keep his right arm free to lash the team.

Since you were sitting on the left, naturally you wanted everybody to pass on the left so you could look down and make sure you kept clear of the other guy's wheels. Ergo, you kept to the right side of the road.

The first known keep-right law in the U.S. was enacted in Pennsylvania in 1792, and in the ensuing years many states and Canadian provinces followed suit.

In France the keep-right custom was established in much the same way. An added impetus was that, this being the era of the French Revolution and all, people figured, hey, no pope is gonna tell ME what to do.

Later Napoleon enforced the keep-right rule in all countries occupied by his armies. The custom endured even after the empire was destroyed.

Grey is the New Blue

We are now official residents of Oxford.  We arrived back here last Wednesday morning after a crazy month of travel in the U.S. and Mexico. We were too late for Halloween but in time for Guy Fox day and the “Bonfire Parties” (complete with fireworks).  It was a nice welcome.  We moved into our new home  and camped in the empty house for two days until our shipment arrived, right on schedule.

It is a bit of a challenge moving into a small English home that has very little storage space.  I’ve been spoiled with walk-in closets, basement storage rooms, enormous bedrooms and garages, and bathrooms and kitchens with lots of cupboards.  Despite the lack of space, closets and cupboards, the house is going to be just fine.  I’ll just have to get creative regarding storage.  Isn’t that what IKEA and the space under beds is for, after all.

We’ve already met two of our neighbors.  Across the street is a lovely older couple who have Italian students boarding with them.  Next door is a young family with two adorable kids -- they  already had us over for dinner.  We have felt warmly welcomed.

Our next hurdle is getting broadband at home, a car, and car insurance.  Everything here is a huge puzzle to figure out –nothing is straightforward like we are used to in the U.S. That is part of the fun and challenge.

So that’s the news from the Paddock in Kennington.  It is beautiful here -- Fall in its glory.  I am learning, though, that grey is the new blue.  It has been grey since we’ve arrived.  I better get used to it.