In other normal events, my trip to London (and area) was amazing. It was definitely a quick trip and would love to return someday. I met up with Janice, a friend/colleague from Secor/Stantec days. She is currently working in a small town near Huntingdon (north of London) as a civilian contractor at a U.S. military installation there. I got to see Janice's cute village and sample some wonderful beer and food from her favorite pub. We stayed at her house on Wednesday night and headed off to Ely and Cambridge for Thursday. Since it was Thanksgiving Day, we decided (unfortunately) to indulge a few too many times that day and both ended up feeling a bit ill that evening. Something in the tea, coffee, beer, heavy lunch, coffee, heavy dinner, beer, tea combination......Anyhow, the cathedral at Ely was beautiful (pictures in slide show). We drove Janice's cute little mini cooper over (very fun to drive) wandered for a bit and then returned to her house to take the bus to Cambridge. And then more wandering. But I got to see some of the Darwin collection! Although it was is mainly his geological notes, but very cool all the same. We stopped off at Janice's favorite pub on the way to her home and then off on Friday morning to London! A girl I met here in Cyprus, Helen, kindly met up with us and gave us a tour of the British Museum. She had great random bits to share with us as she is a volunteer there. She also took us to Covent Garden, a huge shopping area and then to The Maple Leaf, supposedly the only Canadian pub in London (or did she say England?). After a drink we headed off to dinner on the South Bank, near Hungerford Bridge. At least I think that's where we were. Wonderful organic and vegetarian options!! As well as lovely sangria. Ummm, so yes, we did things other than eat and drink (maybe).
So then Saturday was spent wandering around Kew Gardens. Very relaxing and peaceful (and mainly tourist free). On Sunday before our flights, we did the whirlwind tour of Hyde Park (beautiful!), Buckingham Palace Gate area, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey (from across the street), and Eye of London (from across the river). Then off to the tube and the train station (airport for me, home for Janice)! As a side note, careful not to confuse Westminster Abbey with Westminster Cathedral. We made it to the Abbey and Big Ben area on Friday, but were looking for our accommodation and had our baggage in tow. So we were getting jostled everywhere on top of getting past hungry (dangerous ground for me as many of you know :)), so we didn't spend much time as tourists in the area. Food was definitely higher on the priority list at that time. Amazingly, after eating, we figured out our misstep and backtracked the short distance to the Cathedral, and viola, the B&B we were looking for magically appeared! Note to self: carry more snacks.
AND NOW, what you've all been waiting for....
The former President of Cyprus (Tassos Papadopoulos) kind of disappeared. Not willingly though. His body (yes, body) was dug up and moved to ???? On December 11, the marble slab (250 kg) over the grave was moved, earth removed, and body extracted from the coffin. This happened several days before the one-year anniversary of Papadopoulos' death and a planned memorial at the graveside. The police questioned three people almost immediately but they were released. Several other countries have offered help with the investigation, but no news at this time as to how the investigation is proceeding. Plenty of theories out there suggesting this was some sort of inside job or was politically motivated. As far as public knowledge goes, it doesn't seem that there is any evidence for either of those things. But who knows, it's hard to say what information has been released to the media. BBC story: (Story). I was not even aware of the event (hadn't read the local news) until a friend posted a link to the story on AZCentral.com (of all the places!).
And my first earthquake! I was being lazy and avoiding getting out of bed and I noticed that my bed and the bedside table were vibrating. At first I thought it was an earthquake (honestly), but then quickly dismissed the thought thinking that I wasn't quite awake at the the early hour of 8...ish. Then I thought that the construction near us was causing the entire building to shake. Entirely logical. I went downstairs to work in the library and no one said anything about it so I figured I either imagined the whole thing or it was caused by the construction. Then coffee time comes around and the Director's wife asked if anyone else thought there had been an earthquake that morning. Damn! I knew it! I'm not (totally) crazy (yet). The preliminary readings on Dec. 22 said 4.9 but I just looked it up and it looks as if it was 5.3 (okay, maybe only 4.9 here in Nicosia...or less...). But still, Nice! I'm sure there will be another one here before I leave as Cyprus is in the second most "earthquake stricken zone in the world." (Cyprus.com). And as this lovely map from the USGS illustrates....most definitely happening again before I leave (caption: Seismicity 1990 to present USGS info).
Well, that's not all the news. But the most random of the news. My new goal is to separate myself from my computer by midnight so that I can read or relax for about an hour before going to sleep. I haven't been sleeping too well lately, so I'm trying to get on a routine (kind of). My bedtime of late has been between 2 and 4 a.m. usually falling closer to 4 than 2, meaning I don't get out of bed until 10 or 10:30. That would be great if I didn't wander around like a complete zombie (no offense meant to any zombies out there) for at least an hour in the mornings. I need time for coffee. And sitting. And coffee. These things take time, what can I say?
And for you dorky geographers out there (myself included) I've started making maps of the hikes we take while on the island. Only 3 so far, so I'll post when we get a few more in there. I know you're excited!
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