Home, Bitter Sweet Home

Our adventure has come to an end and we are almost back in the United States.  None of us wants to say "finally," because the return is bitter sweet.  Sweet because it will be wonderful to sleep in our beds tonight, and see our friends, and return to some semblence of normalcy.  Bitter because we enjoyed our time in Europe so much and now it is over.  Because we will miss the friends and colleagues we saw there and made there.  There are things that we've missed from home and now there are things we will miss from the last two months in so many different places.

Here are some of our take-aways.  This was fun for us to sit down and think about, and it can also serve as an FAQ for this blog's close followers (nearly 4000 page views in the last 8 weeks!)

Favorite City
Eli - Edinburgh
Emmma - Paris
Sharon - Paris / London
Andrew - Edinburgh / Leiden

Most impressive thing you saw or did?
Eli - Miniland in Legoland
Emma - Notre Dame
Sharon - View from the Eiffel Tower
Andrew - Edinburgh

Where would you live?
Eli - Amsterdam
Emma - London or Paris
Sharon - London
Andrew - London

What does Europe do better than the United States?
Eli - Trains
Emma - Trains and Fish & Chips
Sharon - Public transportation & Credit cards
Andrew -  Coffee (on the mainland) and Beer (in Britain)

What does the United States do better than Europe?
Eli - TV channel setup
Emma - Peanut butter, crowd control, air conditioning
Sharon - Restaurant customer service
Andrew - Ice

Where would you like to visit again?
Eli - Amsterdam
Emma - London
Sharon - London
Andrew - London

What did you want to do that you couldn't?
Eli - Ireland
Emma - Ireland
Sharon - Scottish Highlands
Andrew - Meet the Queen (I wanna tell her that I love her a lot, but I gotta get a belly full of wine)

What is the best meal you ate?
Eli - Chicken and potato salad with balsamic salad (Edinburgh)
Emma - Penne with spinich, chicken, pancetta, mushroom sauce (Sheffield)
Sharon - Goat cheese ravioli with pine nuts & pesto (Sheffield)
Andrew - Wolf fish (Leiden)

What is the best dessert you ate?
Eli - Waffle with chocolate and whipped cream (Amsterdam)
Emma - ditto
Sharon - Hot chocolate (Cambridge)
Andrew - Shared dessert plates at product management dinner (Amsterdam)

What did you miss the most while you were gone?
Eli - My bass
Emma - My friends, chocolate and peanut butter, Beaufort
Sharon - My bed with a top sheet and my shower with a door
Andrew - My bed

What will you miss the most when you're settled back home?
Eli - Familiarity with our home away from home
Emma - Being able to easily go to different countries and site-see
Sharon - Getting around without being so dependent on a car
Andrew - Working face-to-face with European colleagues and libraries


One take-away that we all share is that we will have a very different view of people coming to the United States to live for the first time or for extended visits.  Some people made us feel very, very welcome (I will never forget the public works employee who saw us lost in Sheffield's town center and went out of his way to holler "'elp ya?"), and that is a feeling that all of us want to share with other people in a strange land. 

I would be remiss if I didn't thank OCLC for supporting my professional endeavors, and all my colleagues in Europe who helped me out, and all those back in Ohio and Seattle who endured (or enjoyed?) my absence. 

The kids have a few weeks of summer vacation left, though Emma will be busy with Band Camp and Eli has an epic Nerf battle to finish planning.  As I write this, we are almost home, sitting in the airport in Toronto for our final leg.  It will feel like 4 am when we get to the house, but at least it will feel like home.

Harry Potter: The Making Of

Every wand, every robe, every stone statue. That's what we saw at the Harry Potter studios. Behind the doors we were met with the astounding details of the Great Hall. But only ten feet away from that, the Gryffindor Common room. I can honestly say that not only was it amazing to see all of the original sets, props and costumes from the beloved movies, but to learn about the outstanding work from the crew that put so much work into the tiny details that make the movies amazing and so loved. We saw the Knight Bus, Number 4 Privet Drive, and the Burrow's cozy kitchen. The entire experience was indescribable and amazing. My favorite part was the enormous model of the Hogwarts Castle, in every detail. Right down to the lights in the windows. I loved every minute of it and it only made the movies and stories even more magical.

The entrance to the studios

Eli and I in the Great Hall

The model of the Hogwarts Castle

Model of the castle

The cupboard under the stairs

Number 4 Privet Drive 

One Last Day Trip

I'm on the train to Edinburgh today...up and back the same day for a short two-hour meeting with libraries. One of the disappointments for which we were prepared was the fact that we would not be able to do everything together on this trip.  I've missed York, Cardiff, trips to windmills and castles.  I've gone alone to Florence, Delft, Tilburg, Munich, and now another trip to Edinburgh (though we were all there together a short time ago).  Eli even asked if he could come with me today.

We're all winding down now...ready for the comforts of home and desperate for our own beds, our own space, and our American friends.  The only things I would do differently are with the benefit of hindsight.  I probably should have taken some more time off of work...somehow I've managed all of this with only three days holiday over the course of seven weeks.

It's been absolutely fantastic to visit libraries and librarians with whom I have limited interaction.  It's been equally wonderful to meet more of the OCLC staff in Europe...putting faces to names and meeting others for the first time.  There is part of me that could just stay for another month or another year, but right now there is a bigger part of me that is ready to return home.

I will return to the Sheffield office tomorrow for one last day, then we're off to London Friday, a last hurrah at the Harry Potter Studios, then a long trip home on Saturday.  For now, however, I will enjoy my last bit of civilised travel across a beautiful countryside.

GGGGRRRRRRRRRRRRR IMMA VIKING

So, I went to York today, and I went to the Jorvik Viking Center.  It was a very, very interesting place to learn about the Vikings in Jorvik.  Once you walk into the dark room downstairs, there is a big glass floor that had artifacts from the Vikings right underneath your feet.  Once you were done looking around in that area, you go on a little car to see what it was like to live as a Viking. The car passes traders, blacksmiths, butchers, and children playing games that Vikings played.  At the end of the ride it showed a pleasant, plastic Viking pooping in a wooden bathroom in his backyard!  Also, that pooping Viking had sound effects.  It was very pleasant!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  And if that pooping Viking was not enough poop for you, near the end of the museum there was a nice, shiny, delicious looking fossilized piece of poop! I also got to learn a little bit about the famous battle of 1066.  Of course, we got dropped of into a gift shop where I bought a nifty, little green leather coin purse.

Good Night Moon,
Eli (I hope you enjoyed my in depth description of Viking poop.  It was the most interesting part of the museum anyway.)

@_@  <------ that guy likes pizza flavored pizza!.!.!.! $_$   <------ he does too!.!.!

York, Trains, and a Prince

We hopped on the train this morning and arrived in York in just under an hour.  I LOVE the trains in England.  It is so easy to get around and you dont have the stress of driving and parking.  I really wish the U.S. would embrace train travel.  I am a little sad that when we get home we will be dependent on our car again.  At the beginning of the summer, the kids winced at the idea of walking a mile.  Now they think nothing of walking the mile to the train station, hopping a train, and then walking for miles around our destination.  I will get off my soapbox now and tell you a bit about York. 

When we arrived we went to York Minster.  The streets were blocked off and there were police everywhere.  The bus driver told us that Prince Charles was due to arrive any minute.  We hurried up to the front of the church and saw his motorcade go by, but by the time we made it up to the barricades, all we saw was his back as he entered York Minster.  After the crowd thinned a bit, we headed in to see the church.  It cost 9 pounds to go into the cathedral.  It is beautiful, but honestly, I have a hard time paying a fee to go in a church, so we opted to take in it's beauty from the back corner where we were allowed to stand for free!!

York Minster

The part that I could see for free!

After our brush with Prince Charles we headed over to the Jorvik Viking Center.  Apparently the Vikings lived in York at one time and they have unearthed many artifacts.  Eli wants to blog about our visit there, so I wont say any more.  Check back later for his post!!

We finished our day at the National Railway Museum.  This is the largest railway museum in the world and a chance for them to celebrate their wonderful rail history.  We spent two hours there and did not even scratch the surface of the museum!  

This is just one corner of the warehouse.  

 There is another room full of Royal Coaches.  They are beautiful and Emma and I decided that we would prefer to always travel by Royal Coach! Some of the trains had footprints nearby that explained where each person would stand when the Royal of choice was entering and exiting the coach.

Emma is pretending to be the queen, exiting the coach.  She is missing a few footmen!

We learned the history of the Flying Scotsman, which was acquired by the Museum in recent years and is being restored.  We also rode in a simulator that recreated the Mallard's 1938 record breaking speed of 146 mph. This still stands as the fastest speed for a steam engine. We ended our day by walking to the train station and boarding our train for Sheffield.  After a long day it was so nice to sit and relax and watch the countryside fly by.  It sure beat driving in a car and fighting traffic!

We thought this looked like Thomas' friend Henry.

Eli on the bridge inside the Warehouse.

Papa's turn to ride the Mallard simulator.

Matlock Bath, Gondola Style

Prof. Sir Patrick Stewart.  Tassles?  Make it so.

Today was a very welcome Saturday.  The arrival of Sharon's parents was well timed, as I had to spend four days back in Leiden and then all day Friday in Huddersfield (that evening ended with a short pub crawl through the town with my friend and colleague from the University, Dave Pattern, and a rather late return on a slow train to Sheffield...thanks daveyp! I had a lot of fun hanging out).  Did you know that the Chancellor of the University of Huddersfield is none other than Patrick Stewart?  I kid you not.  I think he's off filming the next X-Men movie, though, so I didn't bump into him on my visit to the pub.

We had a really nice day at the Heights of Abraham

Despite the late return on Friday, we awoke early today to take the train to Matlock Bath where you can take a Gondala up to the top of the peak called The Heights of Abraham (named after the British war victory in Quebec) to visit the 600 year old lead mines and enjoy the sights.  It was also nice that it cooled off a bit today.  My Sheffield friends tell me is has been a decade since there were this many sunny days in a row in Britain.

Sheffield has been a bit wild this weekend.  It's the Tramlines Festival, with bands and lots of rowdy young people who like loud music, cheap beer, and carnival rides (yes, I'm getting old..."Hey you kids, get off my lawn!")  Of course, without Tramlines, what other chance would one get to see something like this:

Motorized, cross-dressing, musical nun.  Brilliant!

Our plan tomorrow is to have a nice Sunday Roast and take it easy.  We're trying not to dwell on all the things for which there is just no more time or energy to accomplish.  We need to keep some things on the list for which we will all want to come back some day.  We've all crossed motorized cross-dressing musical nun off the list, so who cares if we don't see Stonehenge?

Dam Busters

This will be a quick blog post, but I found this story fascinating so I wanted to share.  We drove into the Peak District National Park today, which is only about 25 minutes from the Sheffield City Center.  Our destination was the Derwent Reservoir which has a dam you can walk to easily from the visitor's center.  The dam itself is quite interesting to look at since it's two towers resemble castle turrets, however having been built in the early 1900's it is young compared to England's many castles!!  It was wonderful to get out of the hot, noisy city and enjoy the peaceful countryside.  

This dam played an important roll during World War II as the training ground for the Dam Busters.  The Dam Busters were to fly into Germany and blow up their dams with an invention called the bouncing bomb.  In order to prepare for their mission they practiced at the Derwent Dam.  The planes flew low along the water and dropped the bouncing bomb that would skip along the water like a stone.  After skipping along the water the bomb would hopefully sink down below the water at the base of the dam, explode, mission accomplished.  The missions were successful and there is a memorial at the dam for those in the squadron.  My dad says there was a movie made about the Dam Busters in 1954, so we may have to check that out when we get home.  

Derwent Dam

These flowers were growing all through the woods.

I'm sure this sign is meant to be serious, but it made us all giggle!