December has been a very busy month for us, and you'll see several updates in it. Since we hadn't planned to come back to the US for the holidays, we made some plans to enjoy them here in the UK, and in Europe.
We went around to some celebrations in the London area and looked at the decorations, lights, etc. Spent some time with some friends, Jools and Farah, and James caught up with the boys, as he'd been traveling almost all of November.
It's been very cold here since the middle of November, so getting in the mood for things. In Hyde Park, near Buckingham Palace, we went to the Winter Wonderland festival. This was great, and it was just right to get the season started.
Enjoy
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Happy Winter Solstice
Today, Dec 21, at 12:04 pm, was the Winter Solstice. This makes today the shortest day of the year, and from now on, days get longer by a few seconds a day.
In London, the days are currently less than 8 hours long, as you see from the Astonomy data below
Astronomy
Sunrise: 8:05 AM GMT
Sunset: 3:55 PM GMT
Length of Day: 7h 49m
Tomorrow will be 0m 4s longer.
Moon Rise: 2:06 AM GMT Moon Phase
Moon Set: 12:08 PM GMT
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
29% Illuminated
Yes, this means the sun comes up after 8:00, and sets before 4:00! It's depressing. And on cloudy days, which we have plenty of, they seem even shorter.
I'm looking forward to some longer days. Happy Winter Solstice!
In London, the days are currently less than 8 hours long, as you see from the Astonomy data below
Astronomy
Sunrise: 8:05 AM GMT
Sunset: 3:55 PM GMT
Length of Day: 7h 49m
Tomorrow will be 0m 4s longer.
Moon Rise: 2:06 AM GMT Moon Phase
Moon Set: 12:08 PM GMT
Moon Phase: Waning Crescent
29% Illuminated
Yes, this means the sun comes up after 8:00, and sets before 4:00! It's depressing. And on cloudy days, which we have plenty of, they seem even shorter.
I'm looking forward to some longer days. Happy Winter Solstice!
Sunday, December 7, 2008
Vienna
As i mentioned, I spent almost all of November traveling. In the middle of the month I had to be in Vienna on a Wednesday and Thursday, so we decided to fly Diana in and stay a couple of extra days.
I'd never spent much time in Vienna, literally less than 24 hours. Of course the city has a tremendous history, but it was an interesting mixture of old and new. Much of it was very modern surrounding the historical buildings.
While we were there, Vienna was just opening up their Christmas markets. There were several of them around the city. German Christmas markets are lovely places and great for getting into the mood of the season. We were fortunate enough that on our last day, it was snowing while we were in the markets, really making the season seem right. Then, we almost got stranded there by the snowstorm!
We went to see the Lipizzaner stallions show at the Spanish riding school. This is their home turf and they are awesome animals. I could only take photos before and after the show, they were very serious about no pictures during the performance, even without flash. Still, you get a nice look at the building they perform in.
It was very cold while we were there, and has stayed cold ever since. You'll even notice in one of the pictures that the horse had ear coverings. Some things were a bit tough to do due to the cold, so if the outdoor pictures are shivery, that's why :)
I'd never spent much time in Vienna, literally less than 24 hours. Of course the city has a tremendous history, but it was an interesting mixture of old and new. Much of it was very modern surrounding the historical buildings.
While we were there, Vienna was just opening up their Christmas markets. There were several of them around the city. German Christmas markets are lovely places and great for getting into the mood of the season. We were fortunate enough that on our last day, it was snowing while we were in the markets, really making the season seem right. Then, we almost got stranded there by the snowstorm!
We went to see the Lipizzaner stallions show at the Spanish riding school. This is their home turf and they are awesome animals. I could only take photos before and after the show, they were very serious about no pictures during the performance, even without flash. Still, you get a nice look at the building they perform in.
It was very cold while we were there, and has stayed cold ever since. You'll even notice in one of the pictures that the horse had ear coverings. Some things were a bit tough to do due to the cold, so if the outdoor pictures are shivery, that's why :)
Autumn in Richmond Park
We spend a lot of time walking the dogs, and Richmond Park is one of our favorite places. You've seen lots of pictures of this park in the spring and summer, with the deer, parrots and beautiful landscape. In October and November, the deer were preparing for the rut. All of the bulls have their full racks of antlers, and they are bellowing all over the park. The females are separating off into smaller heards for mating.
You'll also find a picture here of Diana and Elijah on the train. The dogs are allowed to ride the public transport systems here, trains, buses and subways. We've been so impressed at how our dogs took to this. You see the picture here, Elijah is just laying down on the train, relaxing and waiting for his stop.
You'll also find a picture here of Diana and Elijah on the train. The dogs are allowed to ride the public transport systems here, trains, buses and subways. We've been so impressed at how our dogs took to this. You see the picture here, Elijah is just laying down on the train, relaxing and waiting for his stop.
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