The Imitation Game

Have you seen the movie The Imitation Game? If not you should see it because it's a very interesting movie. We saw it when we were on the ship and enjoyed it and thought it was worth seeing.

Now that we are in Milton Keynes we have learnt that the actual place that the movie is based on is here in Milton Keynes. Well actually it's Bletchley which is essentially part of Milton Keynes. Bletchley Park is open as a tourist site and is the original WW2 site where the Enigma code was broken. Now this may not make much sense if you don't know the story or haven't seen the movie.

In a nutshell it's where the British intelligence broke the "unbreakable" code of the the Germans Enigma code. It's where Alan Turing did his amazing work and built his "Christopher" that broke the code and allowed the Germans to be defeated and ended WW2.

Cotswolds

Grahame recently set out to conquer the Cotswolds just a mere 165km walk. With his newly purchased equipment he set off on a 10 day hike. Starting at Bath and ending at Chipping Camden. He caught the train to Bath and then headed north. His walk took him through some amazing countryside, past historical sights and beautiful buildings and villages. Apart from some gnarly blisters he didn't have any problems. The next jaunt is to walk through the Lake district which he wants to do as soon as his blisters are healed.

Bourton on the Water

On the way back from Wales we ventured in to the picture perfect village of Bourton on the Water in the Cotswolds. Absolutely beautiful.
This is what I thought England was all about. I thought every village looked like this but that isn't so. Travelling through the little villages is always a surprise. some like this are drop dead beautiful where all the buildings are built from Cotswolds stone. Others are  narrow cobblestoned streets full of wonky tudor style buildings or thatched cottages. Some homes are precariously built on the narrow streets and you can literally stick your hand in their windows as you drive by. Some houses even get accidentally hit by passing cars because they are right on the edge of the road and the roads are soon narrow that only one car can pass at a time.
What I've noticed here is that nearly every building is built of the same materials that is common to it's area and of similar styles because of their time period. The houses have not been pulled down and some modern monstrosity is standing in its place as very often seen in Australia. 
I think the Brits appreciate their history,these buildings have stood the test of time and probably will for many years to come.

Cardiff Castle

Cardiff was a lovely little city. Pretty buildings, a big malled are with lots of arcades very similar to the beautiful arcades of Melbourne. And of course smack bang in the middle of down town is the Cardiff Castle. 
This is the sort of castle you imagined when you were a kid. The big stoned wall, the keep, the moat, the draw bridge,the trebuchet, the dungeons it had it all. 
The castle home was beautifully constructed. It always amazes me the extraordinary workmanship of the artisans of hundreds of years ago. They weren't simply builders they were craftsman who were talented,precise perfectionists and took pride in their work.
I seriously doubt that the level of detail achieved in those so called "primitive years" could be achieved today by the modern trade who really has the most technological advantage ever but not the workmanship or pride in their work.
I suppose though if the threat of the guillotine loomed closely you made sure your work was spot on.

Dr Who

Our visit to the UK would not be complete without a visit to the Dr Who Experience in Cardiff,Wales. As we have a family full of Dr Who fans this was a number one must do on our list of tourist attractions.
After about a 3 hour drive we arrived in Cardiff along with the pouring rain,but that didn't dampen our spirit for a Dr Who experience. Our tour was at 12.00 The first 30 mins or so is an interactive experience which is fun and makes you feel like you are on a Dr Who episode. I won't tell you anymore incase any of you reading this goes there, I don't want to spoil it for you.

Train Travel

Did you know that to cross the Euro tunnel you can either take a passenger train or as we did a car train. You simply drive your car onto the carriage and the train takes you to France in about 35minutes. Once the train stops at Calais you simply drive off the train and straight onto the right (wrong) side of the road. Pretty darn amazing really but totally frightening when you are not used to driving on the opposite side of the road.
All the customs stuff is done at the English side prior to driving onto the train. You are then asked to line up in a boarding area and then next you are driving onto a train carriage.
Brilliant.

Cars are bumper to bumper about6 to a carriage. You can hop out of your car and their is even a bathroom should you need it. So easy.

A country road

Have I shown you how narrow some of of the roads are here. The hedges are on either side of the road and you can not see what is coming. This photo does not show how narrow the road really is.

Skiing and scones

Milton Keynes is home to the largest indoor skiing centre in the Northern hemisphere. Elliott and Harison have only been to the snow once or twice before. As they are not at school, thanks to the UK schooling system we need to try and keep them entertained.
So 5 private lessons were booked and off they went. They both enjoyed it and weren't too bad at it either. Now they have declared it as their favourite sport!!

After a hard day skiing on the slopes an afternoon tea must be in order. While the boys were hard at it Dad was whipping up a batch of his finest scones. You may not be aware of this,Grahame's scones are truly the best scones you'll ever eat. With fresh strawberry jam and clotted cream yummy.

Of course as a growing teenager there is never enough food to fill the hollow legs. A "little" Eaton mess goes a long way.

The Champs Eylsees and my driving

They made me drive in Paris and around the infamous Champs Eylsees and all through France. So I'm now driving on the opposite side of the road and in the UK right hand drive car, they drive left hand obviously.
It was bad enough driving to the right around roundabouts but to drive this one and survive(only just) is crazy. Yes someone nearly cleaned us up and it wasn't my fault. The french don't know how to drive around it either, what hope do foreigners have. There are no words to describe it except CRAZZZZZY.

To give you an idea

http://i.ytimg.com/vi/lay8aZlsbB0/0.jpg

Elliott was able to capture a good shot.

Someone thought it would be a good idea to host a vintage Citroen car show on the edge of this roundabout and the adjacent square. So not only are you trying to negotiate your way around with pyscho french drivers but the merrily wandering car enthusiasts just dawdling onto the roundabout. I tell you, it's complete madness.

We also saw the Louvre, Notre Dame,of the Eiffel tower and many other sights. We firstly drove around and then decided to do the Hop on Hop off bus which is what we have done in other cities. It is a brilliant way to see a lot of sights and with audio commentary.

 Notre Dame

The Louvre

We had a glimpse of the Palace of Versailles as we were there in Versailles but it was too late to visit and the next day was way too busy for us to go there. Disappointing but oneway we will get there.

Our visit to France was truly lovely in every aspect.