One recompense of the unbelievably short days here (today the sun rose at 7:56AM and will set at 3:55PM) is the visual spectacle we get to watch over the west pier at dusk. Every afternoon thousands of starlings flock around the burned out pier in the sea. But they don’t just flock. They swoop and swirl and swarm in …

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I walk up St. James where there are several chemists shops and none of them open. I decide to walk back towards the flat, which will take me past the large Boots on North Street and Queen’s Road. Boots is a pharmacy chain that also sells a huge range of cosmetics, baby paraphernalia, and children’s toys. By the time I …

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Despite myself, I arrived at the Doctors Surgery the next day five minutes early. I tried the door all the same, and, lo and behold… it opened. I followed the signs for my doctor’s office and came into a reception area. It was empty except for one other patient. There was no one at the reception desk. It was quiet. It …

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I’ve had a headache going on two weeks now. It arrived with facial pain and an often crushing fatigue that has made me less than a joy to be around. On Thursday I decided that enough was enough and that I would call upon the doctors surgery. The way the Brits use that term is still startling to me. I think of surgery …

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Three words. Six syllables. Sticky. Toffee. Pudding. Where have you been all my life? Why am I only just now, mere weeks away from leaving this chilled island, discovering your gooey warmth, the silky sweetness of your sauce, the moistness of your crumb? How do you manage to be so delectable without the aid of …

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Oh My! We’ve had three great theatrical experiences during our European sojourn. And these do include two lions, one tiger and one bear. Tiger In October I took Sam to see the Brighton Royale Theatre‘s production of The Tiger Who Came to Tea. This was a special production for children, adapted from a British children’s …

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The Normans introduced castles to England. Castles were the key to the Norman conquest of the island in 1066. They were built with high mottes, or mounds, which were protected by a wall or palisade. The motte was not only an effective stronghold against invaders, but it also served as a symbol of Norman power to the …

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With much to be thankful for— in particular the chance to live on the other side of the pond for nearly three months in a comfortable flat with views of said pond on two sides. We’re also thankful for Sam’s Grand-mère, who arrived here just a few days before Thanksgiving. Sammy now has an additional playmate, and the …

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Last summer, some of AC’s Brighton colleagues were in SF for a month, and so we had them round to dinner. I must have asked one of them if he liked his living situation in Brighton or something like that and he replied, “Oh, I live in Hove, actually.” And then the colleagues laughed and explained that “Hove, actually” …

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I made my first trip to the UK when I was 15 years old. I loved it. The Roman ruins, cold Welsh castles, and majestic cathedrals fired up my anglophile-imagination. At the time I could name the English kings and queens from the Plantagenets to the Windsors. English history–bloody, bawdy, and long in the beard–was …

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