Robert, King of Lewes Castle, Celebrates #6

Don't know who had more fun at this party - him, me, his sister, dad or Grammy?!? Above, you can see Sir Robert dressed as a knight on top of the barbican of Lewes castle. Upper right shows him and his friends having a toast out of goblets.
This lower picture gives a great sense of the castle grounds where we played a lot of games and the outside of the barbican. In there is where the party was held. It was a glorious day and his friends were just great. We got to party like it was 1077!!!

Wimbledon 2009

We actually saw Wimbledon. My mother is here also and she got to experience the English queue. It was something. We got to the 'parking lot' at 10:30 a.m. and were admitted to the grounds at 2 p.m. It was very well organized but very hot too. As we went on the second day (foolishly thinking the lines would be SHORT) we got to see a lot of tennis on the outlying courts (centre court and court 1 were extra of course - and sold out by the time we got to the front of the line). Everywhere you looked there were matches and look how close we got. Don't ask me who this is -- I don't remember and it doesn't matter because she's not in it anymore -- that's the beauty of the first round. But she could have beaten any of us. In fact, she won this match. And yes, we did have strawberries and cream (and Pimm's).

Norway has it ALL!!!

What a way to spend our last regular school break at the end of May! If you are looking for something for everyone, go to Oslo. First, you can see that Glen managed to find a race course - at right you can see Eleanor and our Norwegian friend Marit at the track in Eiksmarka. Below, Robert made a 'sculpture' out of fabulous branches on the porch of Marit's house.

Well, it gets even better. Marit also has a cabin about 90 minutes Northwest of Oslo on her own island. Yes, you read that right. This island is so private you have to get to it in a rowboat. Really. Big fun for a family of suburbanites. Here is the view from the cabin.
I've done something to the picture below, so bear with me. This is the opera house in Oslo. Glen walked on the roof which is amazing for its views of the harbor. There is a lot of amazing modern architecture in Oslo.

In addition, there are lots of public sculptures, like this one below, that just pop up all over the place. Or for an amazing sculpture treat, visit Vigeland Park.http://www.norwayguide.no/ta/vigeland.htm

Finally, here is a view of the harbor in Oslo near where the major museums are: the Fram (polar explorer ship, Robin's favorite), Kon-Tiki, Viking Boats, and Folk Museum. Plus, in the morning the fisherman are there selling their catches. But do be warned, while not quite as expensive as Copenhagen, Oslo is certainly up there. It was totally worth it though.