York, England

In retrospect, it occurred to me that I should have taken some of my UK postcards along for our recent trip so we could try to capture the same views today. Too late, but in a few cases the views turned out to be fairly similar just by chance.  Here's an old postcard of York, with a view of the Minster from the city wall.  Note the long line of laundry hanging out to dry in the lower right corner.

This photo is taken from a little bit further back, and unfortunately we can no longer see the clothesline, but the general scene is little changed from a hundred years ago.

As tourists, there are some things that are remarkable to us that locals would not even look at twice. Certainly the food is different. We found ourselves fascinated with Cornish pasties, with each shop claiming to have award-winning versions, though specific award names were never mentioned.  I think they probably all deserve awards.

Mushy peas were also new to us, served with fish and chips or with pasties. They don't sound glamorous, but mushy peas are good.

Most American buildings have not been around long enough to see this kind of settling, so we found the sloped floors, cracked walls, and crooked door frames to be pretty interesting. This one is at Betty's Tea Room in York.

I don't think this hair color has made it to Oregon yet, though it would do a lot to brighten up our wet and gloomy winters, as would the pink dresses.

Here's a previous post on York and the its trams.

A Meeting of Blogs

When I first started this blog it was because a friend of mine created a short-term vacation blog to share with friends and family.  I had a collection of postcards I thought people might find interesting, so I decided to give it a try too. Other than that, I had few expectations. I hadn't thought about where it would all lead, much less what I might discover on other blogs.

In fact, I had no idea of the great variety of blogs and the incredible effort that goes into maintaining them.  My favorite blogs have inspired new interests and effectively transported me to places I have never visited. When you follow blogs for a long time, you start to feel a virtual connection not only to the blogs, but also to the authors you've never met. As closely as you follow other blogs, you don't really expect to meet your fellow bloggers though, especially those that live halfway around the world. That all changed when the architect who steals my covers and I started planning a trip to England.  The next thing I knew, we  were meeting up with Alan, famed blogger of News from Nowhere, and his wife in Huddersfield.

If only Alan's blog had mentioned how good his homemade chips are, we might have made the trip sooner. But Alan also had a special surprise for us; he had also planned a meeting with Jennyfreckles of the Saltaire Daily Photo. Off we went to Saltaire, and here's the evidence.

Alan, Christine, and Jennyfreckles 

The lovely and animated Jennyfreckles treated us to a comprehensive walking tour of Saltaire. I was initially sorry that I didn't take more photographs, but there is really no need. Anytime I want to see the best of Saltaire, I can just visit the Saltaire Daily Photo, which Jennyfreckles has now incorporated into her blog Salt and Light.

Alan also took us on a driving tour that included the moors and Haworth, home of the Bronte sisters. It was amazing to see the parsonage where they were raised, but we also had the good fortune of arriving just in time for Haworth's annual 1940s weekend.  It was like stepping back in time.

Although this visit to Huddersfield and Saltaire represented just a few days in three-week trip, it was truly a highlight and a memory we will cherish for a very long time.

Time For More Giant Fruit

Of all the giant fruit I would love to have, I think berries and lemons would be at the top of the list.

Alas, there are no messages on the backs of these cards to tell us just how delicious the fruit was.