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...