AFA - May 2008 - Madrid: Bullfight

I guess we were caught up in the romance and excitement of seeing a real bullfight in Madrid, so we got tickets. The building in which it was held was really big, a surprisingly big crowd. There was a small band in the stands that played music, then there was a parade of the various players in the bullfight. Then the bull came on, and they tortured it to death. Ugh!
I was grossed out after the first 'fight.' I looked to my left and Amanda had her hands over her eyes, but the others seemed interested. After the second, I turned to Shirleen and said, "this is disgusting!" She agreed and we left. It turns out that no one was enjoying it.
Not for the faint of heart. (or for bulls)

Britspeak: Homely

In conversation recently, a British man I know referred to a place as 'homely'. The context was not referring to appearance, but to being comfortable.
So I looked up the definition:

lacking in physical beauty or proportion; "a homely child"; "several of the buildings were downright homely"; "a plain girl with a freckled face"

homelike: having a feeling of home; cozy and comfortable; "the homely everyday atmosphere"

plain and unpretentious; "homely truths"; "letters to his son full of homely advice"; "homely fare"

without artificial refinement or elegance; "plain homely furniture"; "homely manners"

Interestingly, the most common use of the word in the US is the first definition, in the UK it appears to be the second definition. According to the definitions, a 'homely' building could have a 'homely' atmosphere.

Jousting at Blenheim

Yes, honest to goodness jousting on the grounds of Blenheim palace. There were two knights on each team and they competed for points. The skills were hand to hand combat, spearing practice dummies while on horseback, spearing small rings on their lances as they rode full gallop, and lastly, actual jousting.
It was just like in the movies, the riders galloping at each other and trying to knock the other guy off his horse. One rider was knocked off his horse, but got up okay. There were a couple of times the rider was knocked back on his horse, but did not fall off. One of the lances broke with the force of the impact.
It was very impressive, one of the coolest things we've seen.

Blenheim Palace

Blenheim Palace (pronounce BLEN-um) was built in the early 1700's for the First Duke of Marlborough by the grateful Queen Anne after his having defeated the French. It is truly a 'palace' rather than a castle or just a home. All of the rooms (no picture taking allowed) are over the top, like Windsor and the other great palaces.
It is on over 2,000 acres of beautiful grounds and includes a statue of the first Duke on a pedestal, and some manicured gardens behind the house.
Interestingly, Sir Winston Churchill was born in the house, the 7th Duke was his grandfather on his father's side. Many of the displays in the house are about Sir Winston and his political and military careers.
Not sure of the significance, but over the entrance into the house are painted the eyes in the picture. Beautifully painted, and recently restored to their original colors, but kind of weird.

Anne Hathaway's Cottage

We went to Stratford-upon-Avon to see Anne Hathaway's Cottage. She became William Shakespeare's wife. It is maintained similar to the way it was in her time. The neatest part was the thatched roof and the beautiful cottage garden.
As you can see, they created a gazebo by weaving living trees together. Rebecca is sitting on a bench inside the gazebo. There are three buttons on the bench, each of which plays one of Shakespeare's sonnets.

Warwick Castle

If you are looking for a "fun day at a castle" it is hard to top Warwick castle. (pronounced "war - ick") The castle, built in the 1200's, is in good condition (meaning: it still looks like a castle, not a piece of a castle) and is filled with costumed characters, medieval music, food, and activities. We saw 'knights' fight with various weapons, an archery demonstration, and a bird show with falcons, a massive vulture, and bald eagles. To top it all, they had a trebuchet (aka super catapult), that although we did not see demonstrated, it really worked. It tossed 6 kg bowling ball sized stones about 150 meters. Unfortunately, it was raining and we didn't want to wait around two hours in the rain to see it fire.
The thing I learned that will stay with me is that the people of that time must have been much shorter than 6'2" because I bumped my head many, many times on one thing or another while touring the interior of the castle.

AFA - April - Normandy: Invasion

As early as June 1940, Churchill knew that in order to defeat Hitler it would be necessary to invade the European continent. The UK could not do it on its own, but a year later with the German invasion of the Soviet Union that summer and the entry of the US into the war that December after Pearl Harbor, the pieces began to fall into place. By August of 1943 the plans were under way for an allied invasion to open a second front against Germany.
On June 6, 1944 at 12:15 AM that invasion began with US airborne and British glider divisions landing behind German lines. The actual landings on the five beaches began at 6:30 that morning. That signaled the beginning of the end for Hitler.
In all over 6,800 vessels manned by 195,701 seamen were required to transport the 156,205 land forces that attacked the Normandy beaches. Additionally, another 24,900 US & UK troops landed from the air delivered by 11,590 aircraft supported by 31,000 airmen. A total of 407,805 allied military personnel were involved in the invasion.

The highlight of our final day at Normandy was a service (last picture) at the American cemetery for those that gave their lives.