First of all let's get Portobello Markets out of the way. Yes. Notting Hill. That romantic street where Hugh Grant walked along and it starts raining. That happened to us too. Apart from that it was really nice. Especially the italian food section. More photos at
http://picasaweb.google.com/itspeterb
And there lots!!! And don't say we don't send postcards.. print them out and stick them up in your room! Most of the photos you'll see are of Lincoln's Cathedral and Castle..
And here are my thoughts on life, cathedrals and an English beach in Brighton..
It’s Sunday afternoon and thankfully the sun is out and shining on our back neighbour’s building. The early part of the UK adventure took us to the medieval town of Lincoln, a few hours north of London. (well, it’s fairly modern now and popular with local tourists, but still…) There are hilly cobbled stone streets, a big castle and a massive cathedral with big bell towers. We climbed one of these towers and learned a few useless facts about a roman-built road one afternoon, and joined in at the Cathedral’s long-winded Easter service on Sunday night.
I know that the big buildings and their ornamental values are useless and expensive to maintain.. and that the money could be better spent helping the poor of society, but it was nice to visit. So many powerful people have built rebuilt this cathedral over hundreds of years, probably using money they got by oppressing the peasants, but I can appreciate its overwhelming beauty.
Ironically enough we were celebrating Jesus’ arising from the dead on Easter Sunday, the man who was against building a big kingdom with bricks and mortar, and various earthly material and empire-building strategies. Amidst the grand and glorious and over-the-top architecture I had to constantly divert my attention back to the teachings of this humble carpenter who stood up for those who were poor, sick, disabled, uneducated, unpopular and different in his community, and got prosecuted and given the death sentence unjustly. Standing up for what is right, befriending and empowering the marginalised people, in a compassionate, non-violent way, and against the overruling powers of the day isn’t something you can do and not get in trouble. Still I want to live like him – will you help me?
Rachel is working for a housing organization in Hammersmith, about 50 minutes by bus + underground, and I work as a pharmacy assistant (I know my pharmacy assitant friends are laughing so hard right about now, but hey it pays the bills!) @ Mayfair Pharmacy near Bond St Station on Oxford Street (yes, check your monopoly board for location), about 45 minutes’ ride from home. We live in funky Stoke-Newington with a lovely Japanese housemate. Someone stole my bike seat on the 2nd day we moved in. Welcome to London. Let us know if you are coming this way, there’s a huge lounge room waiting for you.
I went to the beach one day (with a Canadian dude we lived with for 3-4 weeks). Well, it was the ocean with some ripples and lots of rock. In fact the whole “beach” was just rocks. It was sunny but just touching the water with my toes gave me hypothermia, so I didn’t need my boardies after all. People sunbake and have to wear shoes just so their feet don’t bleed from walking. Still Brighton is a nice place to visit with heaps of funky restaurants and vintage shops. Their Arts festival is also one of the best in the UK. Now since it’s about 2 hours by train from London, it would be nice if they put the good acts on the weekend, wouldn’t it?
Oh we also went to Canterbury (and its grand Cathedral) a few weeks ago to visit Fiona and Dennis Golchert and stay at their house. Annette and Phil were there from Australia too, but we didn’t take any photos.. Next stop: a weekend in Belgium – going to Brusells and Bruges (where Dr Evil is from).
Lastly, I am reviewing a CD for an English artist. Check his stuff out and let me what you think:
www.myspace.com/markmathews
Peace, love and sunshine.
Peter (& Rachel, who’s lying in the bath)
