Bath, revisited

Bath, apart from the historic Roman baths, is a very cool city in it's own right. It's very hilly and seems even more so when walking more than a mile with luggage. (Thank goodness most of it rolls!) My second home.
Bath has an incredible system of lochs throughout the entire city. Each one of these has to be manually opened. You can't see the boys opening this one, but you can see the water starting
to spill in. Check out the plants growing on the gate - almost like terraced plantings!

Narrow cobblestone streets are the norm. Charming.
The Bath Abbey, begun in 1499. Last addition I could find was in 1871.
And that, ladies and gentlemen, is my two minute tour of Bath!

Secret - and not-so-secret Gardens

Although the cities are quite full of people and buildings tend to be squished very closely together, many find ways to fit a garden into their world.
This is on the grounds of the Oxford campus. Ok, how cute is THIS? Taken on our loooong (and all uphill) walk to our youth hostel in Bath.
The best part is, there's no litter box to clean ;)
In the tiny town of Lacock, the back garden of a store. Ok, I had to sneak through a gate and tiptoe into the back but it was worth it, yes?
I loved these little below-sidewalk level gardens in Edinburough! Especially since the buildings in this area are all the same gray stone. Then, you'd look down and see these charming private spaces just below your feet!
Even on a houseboat in Amsterdam, you can find a bit of green! Note the fountain in the foreground (right) and wooden shoe in center back - filled with 'hens and chicks'.

I have been trying to post videos, but it seems that it wont post longer ones! So far, the first one was 4M, and now I have got it up to 16M with this second one, and will try to keep going up a few megs at a time. Most of you should be thankful, because taking us in bigger doses can pose serious health risks!!! Plus, since this is jer, and I really dont know what I am doing, it is amazing that I got it to work at all!!!!

this is a test...it is only a test...do not attempt to adjust your computer!

Amsterdam!

After a long break, I'm back again with a new Patt Family Trip update!! Sorry for the delay;)
The kids and Jer are on 'half term' break so we decided to spend a few carefree days in the city of canals - Amsterdam. After an EIGHT HOUR DELAY of our flight (the flight itself took only 45 minutes!) we arrived safe, sound and vending-machine fed.
As many of you know, Jer's job has been less than enjoyable. He decided to check out a few alternatives. Unfortunately, the career he was hoping to break into was closed (see pic below). We had beautiful (but chilly) fall weather. Below is one of the many canals and bridges that
cross them. We learned that living in the houses along the canals was and still is for the most wealthy. Unlike the area we live in in Harrow, Amsterdamers tend to keep their windows free from curtains. And since their first floors are right at street/sidewalk ("footpath") level, as you walk along, you'll see people in their homes, not 8 feet away from you, reading the paper, doing the crossword, feeding the baby, cooking their dinner. Being the incredible snoop that I am, I totally dig this inside view of the Amsterdamers life!

The morning after we arrived, we took a canal ride on one of the many boat tours. It's a great way to see the city from the water and give you a bit of an idea of how the city is set up.

Plus it was warm and out of the wind;)

As many of you know, the buildings are all squished together, tall and narrow but deep. The reason for the skinniness is because they got taxed on the amount of frontage their building had. You could go as high and deep as you wanted (well, I'm sure there were limits, but you get the picture). Here, we see someone took it to the extreme, with a building only one window wide! Also, see the little little blob just below the tip of the roof? That is a hook, by which you can lift up large items and bring in a window - items that wouldn't fit up the stairs! All the buildings have these hooks.
Here you can see this building's hook clearly, on the left. The buildings were also built on a tilt/angle so that when you did hoist some big, heavy furniture or whatever, it wouldn't hit the side of the building as it went up! Note the goofballs, leaning in the same direction;)
More pics very soon.
Promise!

Jer Gets a Public Whipping!!

Yes, it was a sad day for us. There we were, all signed up for what was supposed
to be a fine Ghost Tour, through the streets and tunnels of Edinburgh (pronounced
Ed-in-burrow, which accounts for my earlier misspellings, I believe).
Well, the tour had barely started when our guide yelled "YOU!" and hauled my poor,
defenseless husband up to this public centre. (Note: It's cool to write centRE instead of the
silly 'centER'). Anyway, we were horrified.
"What did he do?" we cried out, in between bites of popcorn.
"He was said to have raised a pint in the local pub..."
We nodded. Sounded like him all right.
"...and toasted to the King!"
We ate more popcorn. King?
"The king's been overthrown!" she bellowed.
Ahhhh.
"So, for that crime he shall be whipped. And his tongue
shall be cut out!"
Ooo, bummer. But hey, if ya do the crime....
"And THIS man," she continued, pointing to another man in the crowd.
(Boy, she sure had a bee in her bonnet that night.)
"HE heard him and NODDED! So for this crime,
he will have his ears cut off!"

Wow, wonder what you get for a parking ticket in this place?

More Traditional Edinburgh sites

Well, tried to get this as the last picture, as it's not THE most traditional site. But it would be a favorite for those of you who read Harry Potter - this is the cafe in which JK Rowling wrote her first book, allegedly on napkins. And did I grab a few napkins?
You betcha;)

Old Edinburgh from Princes Street. It's so wild, because directly behind me are totally modern

buildings and shops! Beyond this statue, the ground goes down into a grassy valley. This had at one time been a loch (lake) that everyone's waste, (human and otherwise) dumped (oo, bad pun) into. When they finally drained it, they supposedly found over 100 female skeletons - women accused of being witches. Ironically, these women, had they floated, would have been 'proven' to be witches and burned at the stake. Those that sank were proven innocent. They were also, unfortunately, proven dead as well. Whoops. Here's a view of the drained loch, now a beautiful park. With nary a skeleton or a witch.

And, really, no virtual visit to Scotland would be complete without a bagpiper, yes?

Stay tuned for JERRY PATT GETS ACCUSED OF WITCHCRAFT...

(Not your usual) Edinburgh Sights

Tried to snap this on the sly, though I'm pretty sure this kilted man's smile says he knows
he's being photographed. We left on a Monday morning and saw all the kids going to school
in their various 'uni's' - saw one group of teens in military/camoflage wear and another
group in green kilts with green shirts and ties. Now Owen and Mason don't feel theirs are so bad after all. By happenstance, we were in Edinburgh the night of a downhill mountain biking race - from the top of the hill where the castle stands, down all the different sets of stairs, to the very bottom of town. This (blurry) picture shows the crowds on either side of one of the many stairways. It was akin to watching a downhill ski race. (Not that I ever have, but it reminded me of watching them at the Olympics and how people wait on one part of the hill to cheer on the racers.)

We didn't sleep too well Saturday night as we heard all sorts of merriment being made off and on thru the wee hours. When Jer and I went out for our early morning coffee run (er, plod), this is what we saw 1/2 block from our B&B. We were very impressed with this prank and were even fortunate enough, later on, to see the lucky owner of the car cleaning it off! This definitely earns a HIGH FIVE and a major ATTABOY from us.There are all sorts of strange characters on the streets. One must be careful. This young lad went by the name MacOwen.
And then there's the more dangerous sort...
We were lucky to escape alive...

Proud Moment in Patt History

Just two short days ago, our Shayna brought home a note from school that made us practically burst with pride. Shayna, just 11 and a half years old, was issued her own - get ready for it -
PEN LICENSE!!!!!!!!
Here is an excerpt from the official notice:

"Your child has been issued with a pen license. This means that you will need to
purchase a pen for your child's written work in school....
the pen will be the responsibility of your child and will therefore need to be marked in
some way in order to identify it as their own. It is also their responsibility to have the pen for all lessons. Thank you for your support in this matter..."

Well, we were ecstatic, to say the least.
At the same time, we were mortified. Because, truth be told, for months now, even years,
we've been allowing Shayna to use a pen without being properly licensed! Think of tragedies we were lucky enough to escape! I mean, there's...well, unsightly ink splotches...ummmm, ink poisoning? And she could've easily put out someone's eye.
So parents, if you're reading this and you have a child that is using a pen without a license, STOP THEM IMMEDIATELY!

If we can save just one child from this dastardly end, then this post will not have been in vain.

So that's why they call it 'Bath'...

Imagine yourself in a toga (?) lounging beside this natural hot spring pool, around,
say, oh, 43 AD. It's not hard to do when it's right there in front of you!
The Romans get a major High Five and several Attaboy's for building this elaborate
structure, harnessing the hot, curative waters into many different sized (and different-temperatured) pools within. .. The spring still bubbles at a rate of 264,000 gallons of 115 degree water each day!
This statue, below, is one of many that overlook the main bath (you can see them along the
railing in the top photo).
Will they take a dip?
No, had to catch the train back home;)

I can now die and go to heaven...

...or maybe that's where I was.
But I was sure the sign said, "Lacock".
(Look how huge the regular sized van looks next to the house!)

Houses all are made of limestone and every door in the town are this blue or a dark green.

The doorways are so short, too, we felt very tall going through them!

Does it get much cuter than this? I think not.
Awww. Okay, this is cuter.
Heavy sigh.
Now all I have to do is see how I can worm my way into the Talbot family tree, as they are the only ones allowed to live in the town;)