My internet connection...

is killing me. I am really sorry for not keeping up the writing but it takes ages for me to log into blogger right now. Just to start a new posting takes about 4 min... I am not sure what makes the connection so slow. I have been looking for strange activities, ran netstates, checked my firewall and yet I could not find any reason. Yesterday I was ready to throw the computer against the wall but today my rage is gone and the focus has shifted to a more productive state of mind. Lets use it wisely and finish this posting. :)

I wrote in my last post that we were in Shrewsbury and Eyam, which are both really nice towns. If you are interested in some pics, here are some for Shrewsbury
and some for Eyam


I have written about Eyam (the plague village) earlier but this time we got to spent a bit more time since none of the kids got sick. :)

What I really like about it is that all the little stone built cottages and shops have plaques attached to them which give a brief overview of who lived in the house during the plague and how the plague impacted that particular family. That way you get a nice lesson on Eyams fascinating history which unfolds while you are walking through the village.

We started our tour by looking at Eyam hall, a 17th century manor house. However, as both hall and the nearby museum were closed, we continued our walk to have a look at the village stocks where offending miners who committed relatively minor
offences were punished. S. was totally fascinated.

In close proximity and likely the heart of Eyam is the church. The Saxon cross in the graveyard dates back to the 7th century and is apparently intimately linked to the village itself. I loved this grave in particular:

After a few minutes walk we finally reached the clean, picturesque center of the village. It is rather small and you come across a few shops, cafes and the Minors Arms a pub that dates back to 1630 and is now the only pub left. The latter looked really nice and I wouldn´t have minded to sit down and have a nice and cold ale. :)
Having the kids and the car with us, however, we decided to go for the quaint little tea shop called the Peak Pentry instead. A success. We ate lunch there and loved it! They were super kids friendly and the food was great! We tried one of their huge Sandwiches, a lovely cottage pie and a delicous stilton broccoli soup. Very English and yet very good. ;)

All right, need to pick up Sara now. Will write some more later.

I am back!!!

Have been neglecting this blog a bit but now I am back after some people told me they are actually reading it. :)

We are back in England after spending the Christmas holidays in snowy Germany. It´s been nice to meet up with friends and family and also to have babysitters which made it possible for M. and me to go out without the kids and party a bit. It´s been the first time since I. was born which most of you know was quite a while ago by now. Luckily, partying is like biking, you don´t forget how to do it. ;)

While in Germany, we had some more first time moments such as S. trying to ski (she did very well), I. going downhill on a sledge and touching snow, S. going to the movies (which she loved. We watched Rapunzel!) and of course I. first Christmas (unfortunately she slept of exhaustion before we opened presents). All in all, it´s been a really lovely holiday.

Now, back in England, we are realizing that our time is limited and we are trying to make the most of it. We made a list with our top things to do and hopefully we get through with it before it is time to go back. Unfortunately, we all came down with a stomach bug last weekend so we didn´t really do much.

Yesterday, however, we took a trip into the Peak district and went to the Chestnut Centre , which is a wildlife park specializing on Otters and owls. It´s in a quite scenic location and makes a nice walk during which one passes different types otters and owls, a fox, a wildcat and some other small animals and deers. The kids really liked it and so did we even though we found it a bit pricey for what you actually get.

On the way home we stopped by a little village called Eyam, which became famous because their inhabitants went into voluntary quarantine when the plague was imported from London in 1665. I think it is one of the cutest little English villages I have been to so far. It is comprised of many fine old houses and parts of the village looked like they haven´t changed much for centuries. I definitely want to go back and walk a around a bit. Yesterday we didn´t have time for it since S. started to have stomach pains again and we needed to rush home.
She is still sick today, resulting in us staying home again and just relaxing.