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For as long as I can recall, I've considered myself a bit of an Anglophile. (Our friends at Wikipedia define Anglophile as someone who is fond of English Culture). At any rate, I am one. I've long been a fan of Masterpiece Theatre, the venerable PBS series that has featured the best of the best television programming, in my humble opinion. That series alone makes the dreadful fundraising drives worth the torture. For some unknown reason, I've not watched much television at all- never mind Masterpiece Theatre. Well anyway, I stumbled on a British drama series called 'Downton Abbey'. It is a magnificent British period piece storyline, so if you love that sort of thing, run-don't walk to download it from iTunes.I won't even try to tell the entire story, or give away the plot, but in short Downton Abbey follows the lives of two groups of people; the fictitious Earl and Countess of Grantham and their aristocratic Crawley family, as well as their household servants and staff. It is broadly similar to the old 'Upstairs, Downstairs' series. The story kicks off with news of the Titanic sinking, and its impact to the family. The rest, my gentle reader, you will need to watch to find out. Suffice to say, it would certainly not make this blog if the Palm Springs Savant didn't feel it was up to scratch!If you are looking for a nice story to watch, download Downton Abbey season one. Make yourself a nice batch of tea and settle in for a really great series.-Rick Rockhill
I've been especially quiet on the blog for the past few weeks, primarily because I've been out of town on a few extended trips and didn't want to broadcast that my home was empty. One of my destinations was to the United Kingdom. Welcome to another installment of Rick's Roadshow: Back in England. This trip was entirely vacation, so it was relaxation central! Having lived in the UK many years ago, it is always nice to be back for a visit. Here are some photos of Cliveden House, a luxury hotel in Berkshire, just outside of London. It is a short ride to the famed Eton, where Prince William attended school.
Cliveden House is a grand, stately English estate surrounded by 376 acres of perfectly manicured grounds and formal gardens. It has a rich, interesting history with numerous stories associated with its long list of illustrious guests. The property has great bones and plenty of details. Look closely at this wall, there are dragons on the sides of the posts. Others have lions and a range of other symbols from British Empire's history.
I was also fascinated by the wonderful manicured gardens, including this one at left. Here you can see the hedges trimmed with incredible precision. The photo below shows a side garden with some topiary. It is, however winter, therefore none of the flowers are in bloom as you can see. Nonetheless these grounds are idyllic for garden parties, receptions and weddings.While in London I also saw the theatre in Leicester Square where Harry Potter and The Deathly Hallows, Part I had opened. As one can imagine, there was tremendous fanfare in London for the latest installment in the magical series. There were hundreds of people dressed as various Harry Potter characters- this is a city that seems to enjoy the series as much as here in the US. Samuel Pepys once said "A man who is tired of London is tired of life." I couldn't agree more. London is a vibrant city with a huge range of things to do and see. Truly there is something for everyone. After one particularly busy day out and about, I was in need of some soft lighting and a refreshing libation. A delightful champagne lounge was just the trick- here I finally had a moment to exhale.I spent a full day in Windsor and started off with a tour of Windsor Castle, the private residence of Queen Elizabeth II. It had been over 20 years since I was last at the castle, and I must say it was wonderful to be back again. Here is an exterior view of the Castle, with a nice statue of Queen Victoria, in front of a soon-to be decorated Christmas tree. It was rather chilly this day, thankfully I was properly dressed, including ear muffs! The cold wind was cutting. What I really needed was a nice cuppa. Windsor Castle has over a thousand years of history with British monarchs. If you are visiting London and want to see a real castle, this one delivers- in spades. There is plenty to learn along the audio-guided tour, which one can navigate along at one's own pace and preference. I stopped frequently to admire details such as this one at St George's gate. Here he is, slaying a dragon. You don't often find this sort of stuff in the US. The multiple gift shops had loads of tempting wares, to which I succumbed in short order. The city of Windsor itself is quite charming; tea shops, pubs and British tourist trap gift shops aplenty-all of which enabled me to part with my money in short order.When lunchtime rolled around, we made our way to an old pub, off the beaten path, probably frequented more by locals than tourists, or at least I had hoped. It was nothing extraordinary, and that was precisely what I liked best. It was exactly the sort of place one would go if one lived there. I had a very ordinary lunch, with a very ordinary pint of ale to wash it down. It was indeed, the best lunch of the entire week. Tomorrow I'll share a few photos from Paris...yes I'm back.
My trip is now officially winding down. Rick's Roadshow from London isn't really a roadshow, as I've been here so many times I rarely take photos anymore. Well that and the fact that I'm conducting some business means I am primarily working during this brief stop in the UK. I did, however have time to meet a Blogger buddy, (c) Karelian Blonde.
We've been reading each other's blogs for several years now, and I finally had the opportunity to make contact! We met for a pint (or two) after work, to spend some time chatting about life, friends and the virtues of having a regular pub to call home. She is very sweet and a lovely person. Stop by and say hello to her if you have a chance. For those of you who have met other Blogger buddies, well you know how fun it is to meet.
above: Hard at work.
All kidding aside, a proper pub photo, like this is a must when you visit London. Well today its back to the old London salt mines for me. I probably won't post anything tomorrow as today will be a combination of being busy with a few last minute meetings and then I head back to the US. Thanks for joining me for Rick's Roadshow through Asia these past few weeks. I have many fond memories of Asia and appreciate the time you took to follow along.
-Rick Rockhill
I'm pleased to bring another installment of Rick's Roadshow: Chester, England. As this is a business trip, it is difficult to have much time for sight-seeing and personal travel. Therefore I bring my camera virtually everywhere I go, so if I'm on my way to an appointment, I snap some photos along the way! That enables me to maximize my time. At any rate I was fortunate to have some time in the city of Chester, England. Chester is located in Cheshire, due west from Manchester, just south of Liverpool, and is nearly on the border of Wales. Originally established by the Romans back in 79 AD, it was an important Roman province until the 5th century, when the Saxons took over. Chester is known for its wall perimeter, and the many medieval black and white buildings (see photo above). Its defensive wall perimeter is mainly medieval and Victorian and is one of the best preserved in Britain. Some sections of the wall date back to 120 AD. This is one old city!
above: here is somewhat of a close up of the wall entering into part of the city's shopping area. You can see the famous Eastgate clock, in honor of Queen Victoria's Diamond Jubilee, which was added in 1899.
above portion of the Dee River, with a lazy paddle boat floating downstream.
a nice combination of old arches and original medieval black and white buildings.
above: For some reason I liked the way this building is situated, with the center bit and the brick chimneys.
above: more from The Rows, Park Street and St Werburgh Street area.
above: a portion of the original defensive wall gate. Its amazing what is still standing in this wonderful town. Chester is a hidden jewel. The residential neighborhoods are very nice, and there are loads of great shops too. I'd definitely recommend a visit particularly if you enjoy history. In addition to what I mentioned above, there is a 1,000 year old cathedral, a 2,000 year old Roman Amphitheatre, the oldest racecourse in the country, and very interesting collection of Anglo-Saxon ruins. A visit to England' s countryside should include Chester and Wales; it makes for a nice weekend excursion away from London. Someday perhaps I'll cover some other favorite parts of Britain in a future Rick's Roadshow series. Tomorrow I leave the UK and head to Germany. Rick's Roadshow continues...
-Rick Rockhill
Rick's Roadshow continues with updates from the beautiful city of Bath, which is 95 miles southwest of London. It is an ancient city, dating back 2,000 years when the Romans lived here. Bath is the only known place in the UK with a natural hot spring still flowing continuously. It was here the Romans built the massive Spa facility- much of which still stands today, having been unearthed over many years. Today visitors can explore the site and follow the exact steps the ancient Romans did when they enjoyed the healing powers of the hot mineral waters. It is an important historical site, and is the most popular tourist attractions outside of London. I've been to Bath many times previously, but as it was John's first visit to the UK I'm showing him a few highlights of England on this brief visit. 
above: the lovey River Avon, flowing through Bath provides a calming ambiance to this city.
Above: a view from above of the great Roman Baths, built as a temple in 60 AD in honor of the goddess Minerva. It is an impressive structure.
above: I paused for a few minutes to reflect on the history of this great site and think about the people who enjoyed these waters over the past two thousand years.
The Roman influence of Bath can be found everywhere throughout. I love the carvings like this one above.
above: This gives you a sense of the architecture style in the city.
above: another photo of the Baths, with a view of the spire of Bath Abbey in the distance.
above: a quick photo inside Bath Abbey, which is stunning.
Now, Back to London
No visit to London is complete in my mind without a visit to Buckingham Palace. Despite the fact that I lived in London, and have also visited the Palace on numerous occasions, it still seems exciting to me each time I return. And so, here are a few quick images of the beautiful "Buck House" as locals like to call it. Keep in mind that while this is the London residence of The Queen, it is really sort of a work residence; she actually prefers Windsor Castle or Balmoral Castle, as they are truly her "homes". However, duties of State and her responsibilities as Monarch, as ceremonial they may be, keep her in London.
above: another view of The Palace, with the side gate in view.
above: anyone who has ever visited Buckingham Palace has taken this exact photo. The gates are truly magnificent, and captivate everyone.
above: the St James Park, that leads up to Buckingham Palace is quite relaxing with this lake.
A Spot of Afternoon Tea
after visiting the Palace, we stopped for Afternoon Tea at the fabulous and legendary Fortnum and Mason's, at the St James restaurant on the fourth floor. There are only a handful of places in London who serve tea as well as Fortnums. I also recommend The Dorchester Hotel, The Ritz or The Savoy. I couldn't take any other photos, as there was Lord seated next to us as we took our tea, and I didn't want to be an ugly American. Well that's all for today. Thanks for visiting Rick's Roadshow. The journey continues, so stay tuned.
-Rick Rockhill
Welcome to another installment of Rick's Roadshow: More from London. Admittedly, this first photo above left of a display case of gourmet cupcakes is not what one would expect to find as the lead photo in a post about London. However, as regular readers know, I am on a Cupcake Quest, and when I discovered this shop in London I nearly passed out. They were simply fabulous cupcakes. It made my day just seeing these, so I felt it was a fun way to start today's post. So this photo is dedicated to Empress Bee of the High Seas, who loves cake too. This cupcake shop is in an area of London called Covent Garden, a very old shopping market with early Roman influences, built on cobblestone pavers with shops, push carts, street performers, museums and restaurants. I had decided Covent Garden as the site for lunch. So we went to a place called The Crusting Pipe, where I had been many times years past. I've always liked the ambiance of inside Covent Garden. It is bright and cheery, with lots of things to see.
above: we sat in the lower courtyard at The Crusting Pipe restaurant, and people-watched while sipping a nice beer.
above: This area features a continual stream of authorized performers- musicians, singers, jugglers, etc who all play for tips. They were great.
Later, A Typical English DinnerLater that day we ate dinner by Tower Bridge. I wanted to be someplace by the Thames River and enjoy a spectacular view of London, which is why I chose Tower Bridge (see photo yesterday further below)
above: Beef Rib, with traditional Yorkshire Pudding on top. It was delicious
above: This wasn't my pork chop but it looked wonderful
above: John had some cut of steak, served on a cutting board with grilled veggies, potato wedges and served with some brown gravy. Wow, what a meal.
above: after dinner I ordered a cheese board. I love English Cheeses especially. It is a perfect way to end a meal in London. As you can see from this post, food was a sub theme...I do love to eat.
-Rick Rockhill
Busy at the moment but wanted to share this lovely photo I took after dinner last night. We had dinner adjacent to Tower Bridge, on the Thames River. More to come later today...Enjoy!
I've been away from the blog for awhile, quite busy with all sorts of travels. Today begins a fresh installment of Rick's Roadshow, this week from London. I'm on my way to the Interzoo pet supply trade show in Nuremberg, Germany next week. This week I'm in the UK for some meetings and squeeze in a bit of R&R along the way too. It's always good to be back in England. Having lived here what seems like a zillion years ago, I still have an affinity for these green lands, this sceptered isle. The weather has been fairly pleasant, although I suspect I'll encounter a bit of the wet stuff today while out and about town. Last night I met up with an old friend for dinner. We went to a lovely Sardinian restaurant called Olivo in West London, close to Victoria Tube station. In this photo I was still a bit of a zombie, not having much caught up on sleep still. I'm smiling because I was about to enjoy a piece of Tirimisu, which turned out to be quite delicious.
In fact, here is a better view of it- the cocoa dusting around the plate made me especially happy :-)
The big news here is all about the UK's new Hung Parliament, with a single party not having garnered a majority in yesterday's General Election. Most people seem happy that the current Labor PM Gordon Brown will be out. Looks like David Cameron will have to assemble some sort of coalition government I suppose...we'll wait and see. I imagine he will be headed to Buckingham Palace shortly to meet with HM The Queen. After a General Election if there is a change in control, she formally "invites" the winner to form a government. Not sure exactly what happens when its hung like this. I suppose Cameron will be busy! Tomorrow I'll be sure to post some more photos and a proper update from Rick's Roadshow in London, so do come back.
-Rick Rockhill
