Travel In Home

Our esteemed neighbor

We went for a short evening stroll tonight, just around the block in our neighborhood. As usual, we were checking out all the houses and deciding which ones we'd like to live in, when David spotted this:It says J.R.R. Tolkien lived here from 1930 to 1947! I don't know if we've missed the plaque on previous walks or if it's new, but it was a really fun discovery so close to home. It's a very

by Jour ~ Monday, June 4, 2007 0 comments

Friday evening drive

Our perty car in front of Great Milton's church.Last night the weather was finally nice again, so we took the new car out for a spin. It was the first time I've gotten to ride in it for any distance and I looovved it. So comfy! It's funny how fancy and luxurious an economy-sized Toyota feels to us, but it's all relative!The first stop on our drive was Headington, which was once a separate village

by Jour ~ Saturday, June 2, 2007 0 comments

April 7: Casablanca

We stayed one night in Casablanca, specifically to see the gleaming new Hassan II Mosque (and secondarily the enjoyable Sacre-Coeur Cathedral). We aimed for the 11am guided tour on Sunday, April 7.We got a little lost on our way to the mosque. We had assumed it couldn't be too hard to just head for the tallest minaret in the world, but the streets twist and turn and buildings often blocked our

by Jour ~ Monday, May 28, 2007 0 comments

April 5: Tarifa and Bolonia, Spain

After our adventures in Gibraltar, we took advantage of our rental car and spent the rest of the afternoon driving along the coast towards the west. The scenery was beautiful after we passed Algeciras - lots of rolling hills and trees. Most of the hills were covered in windmills, which was so impressive. Apparently it is one of the biggest wind farms in Europe. Our first stop was Tarifa, a port

by Jour ~ 0 comments

April 5: Gibraltar

The little country of Gibraltar was quite a bit different than we expected. We imagined it to be a wealthy little British community, all quaint with red phone boxes and changing of the guard at a palace. The expectation of affluence came from what we'd read about how expensive it is to live there or even get a hotel due to lack of space. But Gibraltar turned out to be larger than we thought, not

by Jour ~ Friday, May 25, 2007 0 comments

Three Churches and a Roman Villa

After a long rainy spell we were blessed with mostly-sunny weather this weekend, so we headed out for some local sightseeing. We started out at the North Leigh Roman Villa, which is not far from Blenheim Palace to the west of Oxford. It is the ruins of a country estate built by a rich Roman aristocrat in the 4th century AD. There wasn't a whole lot to see, but the location couldn't be beat! It

by Jour ~ Monday, May 21, 2007 0 comments

An evening in Windsor

This evening we were in Windsor to look at some apartments for rent. Windsor is of course home to Windsor Castle, where the Queen lives (sometimes). But it's also only 10 minutes' drive from Slough, where David works, so it would be ideal for his commute. I took the train there from Oxford (only 48 minutes), arriving with enough time to wander around a bit before our appointment. I had a great

by Jour ~ Thursday, May 17, 2007 0 comments

A grey Saturday

After watching the Formula One qualifying race this afternoon, we headed out to the village of Great Milton (just outside Oxford) to try out David's new wide-angle lens. The weather was very grey, we were rained on frequently, and all the churches we visited were locked, but we still had a good time and the lens looks like it is going to be a great addition to the family.Parish Church of St. Mary

by Jour ~ Saturday, May 12, 2007 0 comments

A weekend of abbeys and churches

We had a very nice weekend trip for the May Bank Holiday. We saw some new things and got lots of photos for my website, but also relaxed and took it pretty easy (comparatively). We also stayed flexible, which was unusual - we chose a general direction and found a couple sights to aim for, then left it open from there.Saturday May 5We headed out sometime after noon on Saturday and drove northwest

by Jour ~ Tuesday, May 8, 2007 0 comments

Iffley Church, Oxford

This Monday is the annual "May Bank Holiday" which means that David has a three-day weekend. The holiday doesn't celebrate anything, but is just a spring holiday on which most businesses are closed. There is also one in September, so they end up being British equivalents of Memorial Day and Labor Day in the USA. So we are going to take a mini-break, as Bridget Jones would say! Since most everyone

by Jour ~ Saturday, May 5, 2007 0 comments

April 4: Driving from Cordoba to Algeciras

Okay, here's a quick post to get the rest of April 4 out of the way. It was pretty uneventful, but I have a few pictures to share, and then the next travel report can be devoted to Gibraltar! In Cordoba we didn't feel we had time to stop and have tapas or a proper meal and we had a surprisingly difficult time finding any quick street food. We made do with a scoop of ice cream from a shop near the

by Jour ~ Thursday, May 3, 2007 0 comments

Sunny May Day in Oxford

Happy May Day! It really feels like May here, as the weather is just glorious. It is at least mid-70s with a clear, blue sky. I had another outing with my camera in the sunshine today and had a wonderful time. Today started off (but not for me) with the annual Oxford ritual of May Morning, where the Magdalen Boys' Choir greets the sunrise from the top of the tower and everyone goes to the pub

by Jour ~ Tuesday, May 1, 2007 0 comments

April 4: Cordoba

The main reason we visited the city of Cordoba was to see the Mezquita, and it did not disappoint. The Mezquita of Cordoba is the only Great Mosque built under Islamic rule in Spain that still stands today. It was built in the 700s AD, when the Moorish dynasty was at its height. At the time, its territory included all of Spain and North Africa and the capital was at Cordoba.The mosque has some

by Jour ~ Sunday, April 29, 2007 0 comments

Oxford sightseeing

Today was warm and sunny so we did some hometown sightseeing in Oxford. David got an early start. While I was still snoozing, he went into town to get his hair cut - he was there when the doors opened at 7:30. Then he went for a stroll with his camera and captured some lovely glimpses of what Oxford looks like before everyone else wakes up and crowds the streets. The New Walk in Christ Church

by Jour ~ Saturday, April 28, 2007 0 comments

April 4: Seville to Cordoba

My last post left off with us making last-minute plans to rent a car from Seville and use it to visit Cordoba, then Algeciras. I was really happy that this new plan would allow us to have a relaxing morning and then go up in La Giralda (the cathedral tower) when it opened at 11. We were also looking forward to taking more pictures of the inside of Seville Cathedral at a time when it was open to

by Jour ~ Wednesday, April 25, 2007 0 comments

Bangkok Pride Festival 2007 ( November 3 - 11, 2007)

Bangkok Pride Festival is a number of community events held throughout the year and culminating with a parade and a community day. Bangkok Pride Festival strives to engender a sense of community among the Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Trans gender(GLBT) population in Thailand, and to empower everyone with a stronger sense of pride.

Over the years, the Bangkok annual event has undergone organizational changes, resulting in a current focus on the long-held goal that the Bangkok events and parade be created by and for members of the Thai GLBT community, with support from gay and gay-friendly business and civil society sectors—Thai and foreigners alike.

History of Bangkok Pride Festival

Pride celebrations started in Thailand in the late 1990’s and were first organized by Khun Pakorn Pimton with the support of several Thai gay businesses. Under the name of Bangkok Gay Festival, they presented Thailand’s first gay pride parade in the Silom business district in 1999. This parade attracted representatives from Japan, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Singapore and other Asian, as well as Western, countries and subsequently led several other countries to follow with their own events.

[Source from; pridefestival.org]

by Jour ~ Monday, April 23, 2007 0 comments