A couple of trips to Scotland (with a day in London between)

Ramesses the Great.

About a week ago, at the invitation of Gresham College, Sue and I traveled to London so I could deliver a lecture, The Rise and Fall of Sourdough: 6,000 Years of Bread.  For the truly intrepid you can watch a video of the lecture or read a transcript at the link.

Much to my surprise a lot of people turned out.  Who knew there were so many bread-heads in London?

Before my talk we had a couple of hours in the British Museum.  Within minutes we saw the Rosetta Stone, the Elgin Marbles taken from Athens' Acropolis, Assyrian reliefs of a kingly lion hunt that were ready to jump from the stone, and some of the best and largest Egyptian stoneworks in the world.

London bobbies offering an assist to Chinese tourists.

A detail from the Assyrian reliefs.  The foot is about 18 inches long. Look at the detail in the fringe.

Inch-high hieroglyphs covering an 8-foot sarchophogus.

From the Parthenon.  This is the head of one of the horses that drew the chariot of the moon goddess Selene across the night sky. Note the fatigue.

Being muggles we had to take the normal train from London.

After the lecture at Gresham we took the train to Edinburgh, Scotland.  Just six days earlier we were in Edinburgh for the day to see tourist sites.  This time we went so I could take a weekend course on sourdough baking at Bread Matters.  Our first trip to Edinburgh was like this.

And this.

But we did see this.

Edinburgh Castle.

After London, while I was indoors baking, Sue was outside enjoying cloudless skies and temperatures in the 60s.

How I spent my weekend.

 


Some of Sue's discoveries.

Finally, a photo of not a sheep.

Our lodging.

The view toward our cottage from across the valley.

Astute observers among you will notice that in all the photos we have sent from the UK the landscape is beautiful and austere.  There are no trees.  Sue discovered that what the British refer to as a forest is nothing more than a dense plantation of conifers to be mowed down like silage corn.

Finally, can you look at this delicious pub food, called Bangers and Mash, and not giggle?

Cheers.

The next three weeks are chock-a-block full.  Sue's brother Marty joins us for the first two.  We'll tour the Yorkshire Dales with friend Amanda and my colleague Beth for a few days.  Then Beth and I have a conference to attend in Manchester.  At the end of week 1, Marty, Sue, and I head to Paris where Sue and I have to work.  I'm teaching a five day class called A World Food and Agriculture.  Sue will be at her computer.  Sue and I get back to England the same day my niece and me Mum arrive for week three. Phew.