Hiking in Oxfordshire with the former Prime Minister of Israel

Ok... the title is a bit misleading... but it's still a good story! The day started pretty early with a group of us from the College taking a classic London black cab to Paddington Station where we boarded a train bound for the historic town of Henley-on-the-Thames. As the St-Catharines crowd is well aware, this town is well known for its rowing history - with its first rowing regatta dating back to 1839. We hiked from the town of Henley-on-the-Thames through Grey's Court and Rotherfield Peppard.

Well, let's just say that we've experienced first hand the english country side. Beginning with walking through a field surrounded by hunters shooting at birds... That's when I thought to myself... this can't be really safe... but then, we made it through just fine and Greg made a few friends. Here is a classic picture of one of the hunters and his dog.

After more than 5 hours of walking through the fields and with our feet wet and muddy we then decided to stop at a small pub for lunch. Maybe I should specify that it was the only pub in the region. Well, it was quite an experience! I was the first one to walk into the pub and as I did I felt like if I just walked into someone's house. I am so used to the London city phenomenon it caught me by surprise when everyone that was having a pint at the bar introduced themselves and was asking about our group. We ended up spending a couple of hours by the fireplace, playing board games and eating the good traditional fish and chips! Below, is a picture of the old pub.

I couldn't help but take a few pictures of the scenery...

Before boarding our train back to London we decided to have a nice cup of tea... sitting outside on a patio overlooking the river... I know... so english. Well, all of sudden "people watching" became quite interesting. So, a big black van pulled in front of us and two men walked out each with their earpiece... clearly body guards. Then, an older distinguished man came out with his wife. So at this point, Greg said he recognized the man but couldn't quite place him. Next time I see bodyguards I will take pictures even if I don't know who the person is! So, as the couple strolled away along the river... Greg was exercising serious peer pressure and asked me to go talk to the driver of the van... And of course, without too much convincing I went. Our mysterious couple turned out to be Mrs. and Mr. Netanyahu (former Israeli Prime Minister). The driver told us that if we wanted to wait around we could take a picture with him. I really wanted too! It would have been quite funny with mud all the way up to our knees! It would have made for a classy picture! Anyhow, turns out that we would have missed our train! All this to say, it was quite a fun day!

Youpie... de la neige!

Alors, ce matin vers 7:00 qu'elle belle surprise que de voir de la neige! Par 10:00 du matin, il n'y avait plus de neige! Tout était déjà fondu! Ceci étant dit, apparemment que c'était toute une affaire! La plus grande accumulation de neige depuis 2003! Les médias annoncent qu'un pouce de neige est tombée durant la nuit... je pense qu'il faut le dire assez rapidement! Selon moi, c'était plutôt un centimètre! Rien a faire, la ville était complètement bouleversée! Toute la journée j'ai du faire un effort pour cacher mon envie de rire! Cliquer ici pour voir l'un des nombreux articles a ce sujet. C'est assez amusant en tant que Canadien!

A Day in Cambridge

As part of our "Beyond the M-25 Club" (this is the name of the main highway surrounding London), a few of us spent the day in Cambridge. The sun was shinning, the air was fresh and what a day! I haven’t had that much fun and good laughs in a long time.

The day began with a quick visit to Kings’ College founded in 1441 by Henry VI. We were fortunate enough to be right on time for visiting the Chapel at a time where the Choir was practicing! To be sitting there and listening was absolutely incredible! I took some fabulous pictures of the Chapel!

After, we went for a coffee break. You have to remember that we were on Rampant's eating schedule... with no Cornish Pasty in site, Rampant had to settle for a Starbucks Coffee. We all enjoyed the coffee break! After the coffee break... off we were... Highlights of the day included walking along the River Cam, a nice two hour lunch, and punting.

Yes, we did go punting!!! After seeing all these people relaxing and admiring the scenery from their punt, we began to feel confident that us too could do it! So, off we go! Our only concern at this point was who will punt. Oh, well… we all voted for the youngest of the group to do the job! So that’s when Justin took over the role! Not only was he great at keeping our boat under control but he also managed to sing too! Well, that's what I call real entertainment! What a treat we were in for! Going down the river was magnificent and pretty smooth punting... BUT, turning around was another story... with the sun setting down and the wind picking up.... keeping in mind that our bus was about to leave... turned out to be quite a fun adventure! So, Justin was working hard to bring us back, but to no avail... the punt could barely move against the wind. That's when Derek gets in with his paddle (just goes to show you that you don't need 14 years of university, just some experience in the woods)! Hey, after all I think canoeing is a way better invention! So obviously we did manage to get back and made sure we would arrive back to the rental place looking like it was effortless... Overall, an awesome day in Cambridge! Below our some pictures. Click here to see additional pictures.

Pictures of some of the colleges

Various pictures, when walking along the river Cam...

Justin in action

Admiring the view... (while others do all the work...)

Anything goes to get back....

V'là l'bon vent!

V'là l'bon vent, v'là l'joli vent
V'là l'bon vent m'ami m'appelle
V'là l'bon vent, v'là l'joli vent
V'là l'bon vent m'ami m'attend !

Vraiment, ma journée d’hier était incroyable. J’avais des cours jusqu'à 13h00 et habituellement ma marche de retour a Goodenough est d’environ 20 minutes… sauf qu’avec le beau vent d’hier ça ma pris plus d’une demi-heure ! C’est avec les cheveux dans le vent, les feuilles d'arbre me frappants aux visages et peine à me tenir debout que j’ai affronter mon trajet. Les dégats étaient flagrants... des poubelles renversées et des affiches volants un peu partout! Les beaux arbres de Mecklenburg Square était des plus menaçants… si quelqu’un m’avait offert un casque protecteur… je ne suis pas certaine que j’aurais refusée! Ce n’était pas des petites branches qui tombaient au beau milieu de la rue! C’était tout un remuménage! Le BBC indique ce matin que c’était la plus grosse tempête en 17 ans. Les vents on atteints 90kmh!

Strange Facts of London

Things that we have now become accustom to... but yet when we first got here were the strangest things... Especially, when english is your second language! Take the quiz:

1. If you don't want to eat in a restaurant, do you say I'll have it for: "take out" or "take away"? The answer is "take away".

2. When you wait in a line... are you waiting "lining-up" or are you in the "queue"? The answer is the "queue" and it can also be used as a verb as in "I am queuing".

3. When you take out money from a machine, is it a "bank machine" or a "cash point"? The answer is "cash point".

4. If I am on a train that goes under the city, am I on a "subway" or "tube"? That's an easy one... It's called the "tube" as in "I am taking the tube".

5. When you walk on the street do you keep right or left? That one is a bit confusing and took me a while to figure out... Because London is so international it seems that any side goes. However, I did see a few signs in tube stations that says "Keep Left", I now assume that when walking you should keep left.

6. When they want you to pay attention to something do they use the word "mind" or "watch". The answer is "mind" as in "mind the gap" or "mind the step".

7. Do we live in an "apartment" or a "flat"? That's an obvious one... In this country, its called a "flat".

8. When in England, do you "call" someone or "ring" someone? The answer is "ring".

9. When something is not good is it "garbage" or "rubbish"? The answer is "rubbish". It can also be used in a sentence, such as: "I am taking the rubbish outside" or "This essay is rubbish"!

10. Should the hot water and coffee be mixed in the cup or filter? Cup! Yak! The English definitely can't make good coffee!

11. This is Greg's special touch to my list: If you don't like someone should that person be referred to as a "jerk" or a "wanker"? The later is the answer!

On that note, I now have to go mind my mind so that there is no gap!

Une soirée entre canadiens..

Ce soir, le collège était l'hôte d'une délagation canadienne de stagiaires parlementaires. Bien entendu, c'est avec un énorme plaisir que j'ai accepté l'invitation de rencontrer les stagiaires. Bien évidemment, ils étaient tous fascinés par la politique et étaient ici pour en apprendre d'avantages sur les institutions britanniques. C'est toujours extrêmement intéressant d'entendre les nouveaux diplômés parlés de leurs ambitions, leurs projets et aspirations. Plusieurs d'entre eux entrevoient une carrière dans la fonction publique fédérale. Comme bonne ambassadrice, j'ai su leurs fournir des conseils...

Pour la première fois, je me suis demandée... quand est-ce que les rôles ont changés... Peut-être est-ce qu'auparavant je n'avais jamais eu le temps d'y penser... A vrai dire, il n'y a pas si longtemps c'était moi a la recherche de conseils... Les temps changent... les années passent... et pourtant dans ma tête... rien n'a changé...

Regent's Park

"The sun is out!" Those were my first word this morning getting up. While the weather has been nice we haven't seen much sun lately. Today felt just like spring! We decided to go for a nice run in Regent's Park. What a shame that we hadn't gone there before. It was absolutely fantastic! It is incredibly big and has everything you can ever imagine. There's a river running through it, there are fountains, playgrounds for kids, cafes, soccer fields, flowers (yes, in January), boats, ducks, swans... you name it... it's there... there is even a zoo... but we didn't make it all the way there.... that's going to be for another day. It's not really far from our place about a 10 minute run or so... this will definitely be my new hang out place... I'll bring my camera next time so that I can post some pictures. I can only imagine how beautiful it will be this spring!

Madame Tussauds

So we went to Madame Tusssauds' Wax Museum.... and yes the story posted on Friday is a pure fabrication by my husband... Nonetheless, I have to admit that I did get a good laugh at how many people believed it was true... It was no surprise to me that my mom would believe it... but Paul... in all people??? really? "things don't always turn out as they first appear....".

Not to worry now, I have once again taken over the blog and my sources are reliable! So, Madame Tussauds' Wax museum was a bit expensive but it was a lot of fun! I thought the walk through the Chambers of Horrors was extremely scary and I would not do it again! Greg didn't think it was scary but he didn't seem that brave to me. One thing for sure, this is not a place for my dad! Below are some more pictures of the wax figures that we saw:

You'll never guess...

Today began like an otherwise normal day. Well things don’t always turn out as they first appear.

Here we go…..We decided to take a stroll before dinner tonight down into the stylish Soho area of London. We passed our usual sights and smells (roasted chestnuts and stale beer) and made our way through the busy crowds, and post pub crew towards our favorite dining destination.

I had stopped for a moment to take money out of a cash point, when Annick noticed a long line of black limousines, and other exotic cars. Well, let’s check it out! I said.

It turned out that there was an event going on at the London Hard Rock Café for the promotion of the new Rocky movie. Oddly enough, there wasn’t the usual London crowd of people in the area as it was still pretty early (5:30 pm).

As we approached the roped off area in front of the restaurant, we could see the reporters and groupies getting geared up for the big night.

That’s when it happened. In her friendly style, Annick began to talk to a security guard, who was standing with a woman in a dark suite along the edge of the ropes. To make a long story short – apparently for Hard Rock openings they allow some “normal” people in (20 or so). I guess she thought we were “normal enough”. Who cares, we were in!

It was pretty dead, with faces of people we didn’t recognize, but then around 7 pm it began to get pretty interesting. Thank goodness we have proof.

I think the tabloids would pay for this awesome picture Annick took.....

Believe it or not me and Morgan Freeman...he doesn't look too happy to be having his picture taken though...

Annick and John Travolta...



What a night! Too bad we were so underdressed. John Travolta was bugging Annick and told her she looked like she should be in the Rocky movie!

A night to remember. Like I said, things don't always turn out like they first appear... thank you Madame Tussauds! (click on the link).

Manque d'inspiration...

Nous sommes bien ici pour étudier. Preuve est de constater que je suis confiné a mon appartement (ou comme l'on dit si bien dans ce pays... dans mon flat) pour les prochains jours. Du moins, tant et aussi longtemps que je n'ai pas terminé ma dissertation. Le temps est maussade... une journée parfaite pour étudier... je crois en avoir assez de flâner... il est peut être temps que je passe a l'action et me mettre au boulot!

The National Gallery

A visit at the National Gallery is an absolute "must do" for anyone visiting London. The collection is simply incredible and the setting is absolutely stunning! For lack of a better word... it was: "cool!" Highlights of the tour included: "The Entombment" from Michelangelo, the "Sunflowers" from Van Gogh and many Monet paintings! We also had the opportunity to see: "The Virgin of the Rocks" from Leonardo Da Vinci. This is the painting that inspired the famous novel the "The Da Vinci Code". Those are definitely the experiences that I will remember from my stay in London.

The pictures below were taken from the steps of the National Gallery over looking Trafalgar Square.

Happy New Year!

Apologies, it's been a while... We've had a fantastic time at home over the holidays. Although, I have to admit that it was a bit strange not to go to our house... Oh well, it will make it that much more exciting when we return in August! So, as usual the January blues are back... no more Christmas decorations... no more extraordinary good food... not as much hanging out with friends and family. Yes, the Christmas season is always fun!

Now back to London... We had a wonderful trip back to London with a layover in Toronto where Greg's parents came to meet with us and gave us Christmas goodies to bring back. Whom ever made that chocolate fudge... Incredibly delicious! At the Kosters it's generally a family affair to do the Christmas baking! Although, this year they had to do without my traditional burning of the cookies! There is always next year! So long as I will be around... there will be burnt cookies for everyone to enjoy!

As for Air Canada, well, they lost my luggage not once but twice... In Toronto, it was sent to Vancouver as opposed to London, England... oups... wrong direction... Then, the next day it arrived at Heathrow, but the delivery company lost it again. This is where I got pretty nervous given that the delivery company was also in charge of delivering 10 000 suitcases that were lost at Heathrow over the holidays. It was all over the newspapers! I finally got it back, no major ordeal other than quite a bit of anxiety to start the new year!

The past couple of days have been consumed with writing essays that are due in the next two weeks. I will post more interesting things soon!