With much to be thankful for— in particular the chance to live on the other side of the pond for nearly three months in a comfortable flat with views of said pond on two sides. We’re also thankful for Sam’s Grand-mère, who arrived here just a few days before Thanksgiving. Sammy now has an additional [...]
Last summer, some of AC’s Brighton colleagues were in SF for a month, and so we had them round to dinner. I must have asked one of them if he liked his living situation in Brighton or something like that and he replied, “Oh, I live in Hove, actually.” And then the colleagues laughed and [...]
I made my first trip to the UK when I was 15 years old. I loved it. The Roman ruins, cold Welsh castles, and majestic cathedrals fired up my anglophile-imagination. At the time I could name the English kings and queens from the Plantagenets to the Windsors. English history–bloody, bawdy, and long in the beard–was [...]
While we consider whether or not it’s financially and logistically feasible for us to travel up to Scotland next week when AC has holiday time for American Thanksgiving, a few words about little traveler Sam. For the most part, she’s a really good traveler. But, as the old nursery rhyme goes: “When she was good [...]
Coucou! We’re back after a lovely long weekend in Paris. Mon mari has already written his version of the travelogue here, so I thought I’d tell my version with pictures: Here is Sam getting settled in her window seat for the train ride from Brighton to London St. Pancras. Imagine our surprise when our usually [...]
When we ask Sam what she likes about living in Brighton, she unfailingly replies: “The Stairs” and “My stripey bed!” Here she is in said stripey bed, having dozed off during “quiet time.” After a couple of years of being a very reliable napper, Sam is now giving up her daily nap. Alas. The transition [...]
Earlier this week I came back to the flat to discover that my laptop couldn’t see out to the internet. I put Sam to bed for her afternoon nap and then tried the few things I know how to do to debug such problems. Nothing worked. I picked up the phone to call AC to [...]
The Fifth of November. Sr. Mary Hyde, my senior year English teacher, drilled that phrase into us when we were reading Thomas Hardy’s The Return of the Native, whose story begins on the fifth of November, Guy Fawkes Night. So far, Guy Fawkes Night, or Bonfire Night as everyone here seems to call it, consists [...]
Many Brits told us that Halloween is not be a big deal in the U.K., at least nothing like it is in the U.S. That may be changing, as retailers have figured out that they may be able to push Halloween products and candy and the like on youngsters. In the final days before the [...]
We’re just back from a weekend in Cambridge. AC’s colleague’s parents offered us the use of their flat for the weekend while they were away. Flat does not do it justice. It was a three-story house–enormous– with large and winding carpeted stairs, which prompted Sam to remark again that “England has a lot of stairs.” [...]