An Interesting Week

A and I have just come back from a week in Devon, staying at the delightful Honeysuckle Hideaway just outside Cullompton. It took us 5 years, but we got back finally (ok, that's a small fib because I took my parents there for a couple of days last summer, but we stayed in Rose Retreat, the larger cottage). It was lovely to be there again, looking at the sheep, although the weather was pretty lousy - cold, windy and a fair bit of rain. However, never in my wildest dreams did I expect to be sharing my holiday with Margaret Thatcher. At times it seemed like we talked of nothing else.

To give a little background, A and I have differing political views. I'm a wishy-washy liberal, with splinters in my bum and a crick in my neck (too much sitting on the fence and seeing things from both sides) that generally feels a country with a welfare service and the NHS is A Good Thing. The joke about A, on the other hand, was that if you cut him in half, ToryBoy was written through him like a stick of Blackpool Rock. I believe in social housing and community; he believes in capitalism. However we are both clearly Thatcher's children - we were 9 when she came to power, 20 when she was forced to resign. Love her or loathe her, you couldn't ignore the way she influenced our political views as we grew up. I am not a fan of many of her policies and her treatment of some northern cities in the 80s was nothing short of appalling (remember, I've lived in the North West now longer than I ever lived in Oxfordshire), but I find myself at the end of this week feeling very uncomfortable about some of the things that have been said and the way some people have behaved.

Thatcher was a divisive politician, of that there is no doubt, and although there were moments of financial strain in our working class household as I grew up, our lives weren't turned upside down like those of mining communities up and down the country. However some elements of the British public seem to have decided that the implementation of these, and other, hard line policies give them the right to ignore the fact that she was a person with a family who are left behind. Let me put this into perspective - this week, a frail 87 year old woman, who suffered a number of strokes and quite possibly wasn't aware of much of the outside world any more, died. Whether you supported her policies or thought her the worst thing to happen to Britain ever, she was still someone's mother, someone's granny. Ding, dong the witch is dead?  Really? From where I'm standing, that reaction looks insensitive at best and vituperative at worst.

I can't help wondering what the reaction would have been had we been marking the passing of a former Prime Minister who had introduced exactly the same policies, made the same polarising decisions and won three General Elections but was male, not female. Would the vitriol still be flowing? I don't know the answer to that but there's a tiny little voice that can't be silenced that says "No". And that both saddens and worries me, because looking at the young men (who let's be honest are barely old enough to have been born whilst Thatcher was in Number10) dancing in the streets this week, I wonder how they would cope with a woman in power now.

Holidays!

A and I have just returned from jolly-holly-days in Washington DC and Pennsylvania. We had a great time, with sight-seeing...

1. White House, North Lawn, 2. White House South Lawn, 3. Washington Memorial, 4. Lincoln Memorial, 5. Washington Memorial and Capitol Building from Lincoln Memorial, 6. Arlington Cemetery, VA, 7. Trees by USS Maine memorial, Arlington Cemetery, VA , 8. Korea War Memorial, 9. Kalorama, Washington DC

...yarn shops...

...more sight-seeing...


1. King Street Trolley Bus, Alexandria VA, 2. Washington's Town House (replica), Alexandria VA, 3. George Washington Masonic National Memorial, Alexandria VA, 4. Alexandria Old Town Marina

...ice-hockey...

1. Warm up, Washington Capitals vs Philadelphia Flyers, Verizon Center, Washington DC, 2. Go Caps!!

...a road-trip...


1. Somewhere in Maryland, 2. Somewhere else in Maryland, 3. North Carolina Monument, Gettysburg PA, 4. North Carolina Monument, Seminary Ridge, Gettysburg PA, 5. Eisenhower's farm, Gettysburg National Park, PA, 6. View from the observation tower across to Cemetery Ridge, Gettysburg PA, 7. View from Little Round Top, Gettysburg National Park, PA, 8. National Cemetery, Gettysburg PA, 9. Gettysburg Address Memorial Statue, Gettysburg National Cemetery, PA, 10. Civil War Armoury, Gettysburg National Cemetery, PA, 11. Memorial, Gettysburg National Cemetery, PA, 12. View across gravemarkers, Gettysburg National Cemetery, PA

...puerile fun at the expense of a pretty town's name...


and more yarn.

This is Wendy, the lovely owner of Lancaster Yarn Shop, Old Pennsylvania Pike, Intercourse PA. Behind her are a pair of socks she entered in the county show which won (hence the ribbon!)

It was a lovely trip and I would really like to explore more. Much as I love the big cities, it was brilliant to see parts of more rural America.

Trains and Boats and Planes

Have I mentioned that I've fallen in love with Scandinavia?

Our Scandinavian odyssey began with 2 nights in Copenhagen. As we are wont to do, a and I landed, checked in and then went for one of our mega walks. It didn't get off to a promising start when we got to our hotel, 3 stars, nestling between the strip club ("Beautiful Girls!* Totally Nude!") and the fetish clothing shops (leather straps, anyone?). We got up to the top floor to find a very poky room with a 4'6" bed thrust in a corner. Discovering the duvet was only 4' was just the icing on the cake...

Anyway, we set out from our hotel near Tivoli Gardens and walked to the Little Mermaid. A doesn't like her much, thinks she's a bit disappointing, but I loved her.

That evening we went to Tivoli Gardens, and although we didn't go on any rides (A was blessing his high blood pressure, believe me) I loved that too. I know it's cheesy, but it's magical cheese...

The next day we explored several museums (free on Wednesdays) and started to chill out, reading and also enjoying a spot of geocaching at Marmokirken (the Marble church), not at all what I expected to find in Denmark!


The next day we took a train to Gothenburg, across the Öresund bridge, which I hadn't realised rises out of tunnel, so on the way back into Denmark, must look as if it just dives into the sea. Our first look around Gothenburg wasn't very inspiring, it was reminiscent of the Fish Quay in North Shields, but the next day, the sun came out and I was captivated. We had a tourist card which gave us entrance to loads of museums, places of interest and access to canal trips, so we started by setting out for the Art Museum. Outside is a huge statue of Poseidon by Carl Milles. Apparently when it was first planned, it had an enormous manh00d, but the local burghers protested, so he altered the design. He is holding a large fish in his hand, a rather mean looking thing.

However, if you stand to one side, it becomes apparent that Milles had the last laugh...

We also took a trip around the canal. A doesn't do boats, so I was very impressed. However, it wasn't until we were underway that the guide explained that to get out of the canal onto the river Gotha, we needed to go under a low bridge.

A very low bridge.

So low, in fact that we had to get on the floor of the boat.

Luckily to get back in, we only had to duck down and put our heads onto our knees....

I'm not a big fan of fish but I do like salmon, so whilst in Gothenburg I tried some, served with a crayfish sauce.

I was startled to find this beast on my dinner though. I tried to deal with it, but succeeded only in yanking its head off and exposing its guts, so I gave in gracefully and wrapped it in a napkin.

I also tried pickled herring for breakfast, which is gorgeous.

No, really.

After two nights in Gothenburg, it was a first class express train to Stockholm, which after the calmness of Gothenburg took us rather by surprise. It was HEAVING, mainly with passengers off of the cruise ships. Gamla Stan, the oldest part which everyone says you should visit was just horrible on that Saturday afternoon, so we avoided it for a while. On the Sunday we set out to Djurgården on the ferry, and tripped our way about the Nordica folk museum, which included some fantastic temporary displays of ordinary people's collections. You know the type of things people collect... penguin objects, Abba memorabilia, matchboxes, opera glasses, the labels out of people's clothing... I kid you not, this woman is crazy for collecting them, collects them from everyone she knows and keeps them in a photo album. The best one, however, was the collection of historical and foreign mousetraps. I mean, how do you start collecting mousetraps?

Then we went to the Vasa museum, where superlatives fail me. It is the biggest wooden ship I have ever seen and it is about 90% intact. Stunning. Read more about how it sunk after 1300m of its maiden voyage, lay for over 300 years in the water and then was raised and floated into dry dock here. Stunning, truly stunning.

We then went onto Skansen, an open air museum a little like Beamish, that had original buildings from all over Sweden that have been moved and reconstructed to show what life was like. In addition, there are native animals in the park too, and we saw bears, lynx, wolves and elk. Of course, my camera battery died at this point, so I have no pictures of the elk, which were huge. I want to go back to Skansen - we were there at the end of the summer season, so many of the living history exhibits were shut up. You could spend a day there, easily.

The next day we went on another canal trip, then explored Gamla Stan without the hoards. We also did another spot of geocaching and again, just sat, read, chilled (in both senses, as the lovely weather was replaced that day by a cutting wind) We didn't go into the Royal Palace, but we did take a photo of one of the soldiers guarding it...

The next day, it was back to Copenhagen, by plane this time, where we spent all of our Danish coins having fun on the sideshows at Tivoli Gardens. We won so much tat it was unbelievable, but in true Scandinavian style, the tat is about a hundred times better that I'd find in Thame Fair!

And of course, I couldn't come home without some souvenirs...

The three pairs of Fabel came from Deisy Design just down from Poseion on Avenyn in Gothenburg, a lovely shop, with lovely staff. Fabel is Norwegian and was selling at 26SEK (£2) for 50g - cheaper than Opal or Regia. I had a real problem choosing and could have bought more, save for the concern that I would have no room left in the rucksack for Stockholm and Copenhagen.

The three balls of Strompegarn Jacquard (26.5 DKK, about £2.65 for 50g) were from Strikkeboden near the Catherdral in Copenhagen. It was a recommendation from SKE, and I was looking for some wool silk mix by Marianne Isager, but they had none. The shop was very busy and I was conscious of A kicking his heels outside the shops, so I grabbed this, enough for two pairs, one for Dad, one for me and called it a day. However, it had the largest selection of Noro I've ever seen and a gorgeous Nordic style sweater in the window in natural colours. Grrr..

And where is the yarn from Stockholm, I hear you cry? Well, I found a lovely shop on Gamla Stan and a great stall at the world bazaar at Skansen, both selling lots of gorgeous coloured laceweight yarn in 100% wool, but I didn't get any. The colours were brilliant, but the yarn was obviously from raggedy-arsed sheep, since I could have used it to scrub pans. It did not pass the cheek test, but since they knit and wear shawls as extra layers for warmth, not a fine wrap over a strappy dress, it's not really a surprise.

So, if you like warm but not scorching weather, friendly people, lovely cities and expensive vittals, Scandinavia is for you.

I can't wait to go back...


* This always makes me smile, a bit like "We serve good food" - you'd hardly advertise the fact that your food is off, would you?

Home Again, Home Again, Jiggity Jig

I love Scandanavia!

Well, Copenhagen, Gothenberg and Stockholm, anyway.

And the bits in between as seen from the train.

More later, when I've finishing ploughing through the washing.

WIPs

I took this photo last week, but never got round to posting it:

I think I just discovered why other people have swifts and yarn winders! Never mind, an IKEA stool works just as well doesn't it? This is the yarn I received from my Secret Pal the other week. I know I said I wasn't going to cast on with it until I had made more progress on the other projects I have on the go, but whilst I was away, I couldn't resist. I've christened it the Purple Project for the moment, because I don't want to reveal what it is yet. Mind you, the cotton tote bag is now on the handle, so the end is nigh. It's great TV knitting, since it's garter stitch! That's more than can be said for the Purple Project - it's not fiddly (yet!) but it is a yarn that it's easy for my clumsy paws to split if I take my eye off of it, so it's not one for knitting during CSI, NCIS or Doctor Who!

Want a peek? Go on, then:

And just to finish off, when A and I were away at the weekend, we visited an Alpaca centre. These guys are very cute...

I wonder if we could fit one in the garden?

Soundtrack: Sweet Home Alabama - Lynard Skynard; Ever Fallen In Love? - Buzzcocks; Blue Monday - New Order; the Fly - U2; Waterfall - Atlantic Ocean; Outside - George Michael

This always happens!

I've got to this point of the holidays, where I should have done more school work than I have. The grand Spring Clean has been half completed, but has ground to a halt due to lack of time (A has gone back to work), wardrobe space (really need to work out how to make better use of the space in the wardrobe, it's a terrible design) and, let's be frank, inspiration. I have thrown away loads of paper, but there still seems to be loads left.

But some things have gone well. A and I went to Keswick over Easter and we managed a nice 8 mile walk around Derwentwater. I was really pleased with how well we coped with it, since neither of us have walked since Hadrien's Wall and we've both put on weight since then. There is hope! When A comes back from the US next week, we plan to start walking properly again.

This was the view from near the Lodore Hotel, across to the west side of Derwentwater. It was truly magical.

The view from our hotel window wasn't bad, either, but unfortunately I didn't take a photo of it until I was leaving on Monday when it was overcast and the mist was down.

Not a bad view to wake up to though, is it?

Soundtrack: Eminem - Lose Yourself, My Name Is

Sheep!

Looking back at the photos I've posted, the seem to be rather cow-oriented. To balance things out somewhat, here is a short clip of some sheep we saw just outside of Haytongate on the Saturday morning on our walk. You might need to turn the sound up on your monitor, because I recorded it purely for the low level noise they were making, under the bleating!

Holiday Snaps

Thought I'd put some photos up that we took on our walk. Doesn't really do anything to dispell this idea of me being a bit livestock obsessed, does it?

This little herd had appointed themselves guardians of the gate a mile or so outside Heddon on Wednesday morning. A got quite nervous passing through them!

As we got to the gate, this young calf appeared very interested in my camera!

In the interest of livestock balance, here is a sheep two fields later!

We walked past this herd of cows and their calves as we approached Turret 41a, just after Caw Gap early on Friday morning. We hadn't gone far past them when they began to follow us. A was convinced they meant us harm (townie!) but actually, the couple who were walking behind us had just disturbed them more than we had.

Looking back over the crags from Walltown crags. Over the Thursday and Friday, we walked over all the crags in this shot!

More calves - Cumbrian ones this time, about a mile after Haytongate on the Saturday morning.

The trouble with keeping free range chickens is that they sometimes choose really stupid places to lay eggs - like on the farm track outside your property! We counted three, plus any she might actually be sitting on as we passed this farm at Wall Head, just outside Crosby on-Eden on Saturday.

I'm rather pleased with this shot of a Peacock butterfly near the River Eden just outside Carlisle early on the Sunday morning.

This is Joe, the Kune Kune at the King's Arms in Bowness-on-Solway. If you ask nicely, the landlord will show him to you!

After all the misty rain on the Sunday afternoon, it was rather nice to see the view across the Solway Firth to Scotland in the evening as the sun began to set.

Holiday Diary

Well, as promised, here are details of our walk. It hasn’t actually taken this long to get the washing done, I’m just not sure where the last week has gone!

Sunday 30th August: Windermere

A little “mini-break” in Windermere, to see A’s sister and her family before we start. They’ve hired a cottage here, not far from the B&B we stay in when we come up for walking. We haven’t seen them since Christmas, they’re doing well. Bowness-on-Windermere is heaving more than I remember in high season, but it turns out that it’s the Windermere Air Show today, so we get an ace display by the Red Arrows!

Monday 31st July: Tynemouth to Wallsend (6 miles)

Just a little stroll of 6 miles, from the coast to the official start. A and I set out, with A’s parents in tow. A was thrilled that it started to rain as we were walking through some of the less savoury parts of North Tyneside, as you can imagine.

L:Tynemouth

R: A and I about to set out!

Oh, and my £12, 1000 mile, no blisters guaranteed socks were so good, I got a blister. Great start!

Tuesday 1st August: Wallsend to Heddon-on-the Wall (14.5 miles)

The first section proper! The vast majority of this was along the banks of the Tyne and therefore on Tarmac, which is a bit unforgiving. Here is the Baltic Gallery and the Sage Theatre in Gateshead, from the Newcastle Quayside:

There were a couple of showers, but nothing too soggy, thankfully. About lunchtime, I realised I’d left my walking poles at my in-laws. I could live to regret this…The section between Newburn and Wylam was lovely though. This is where we turned away from the Tyne and began to climb to Heddon. We finished this section at the pub with another couple, Phil & Cooky, doing the walk with their two border terriers, Cassie and Buster. Walking this distance was fine, but I was a bit stiff this evening. The Compeed I put on my blister is great, it’s not changed at all. Compeed is amazing stuff.

Wednesday 2nd August: Heddon-on-the-Wall to Wall (14.5 miles)

Today we started off by finding the first section of Wall proper, at Heddon (see photo). How exciting! The first 2 miles today were breezy but clear. Unfortunately, the remaining 12.5 miles were in driving rain, with the final 6 miles or so battling against 40 mph winds too. Deep joy. Most of it was following the path of the Military Road, so it was fairly straight but quite up and down. A and I kept bumping into Phil and Cooky today, and by the end, it really was only Cassie and Buster who had any spring left in their step. It’s sounds dramatic, but I now understand how hypothermia victims feel when they decide to lie down in the snow. My brain was convinced that if I curled up in the Vallum (the ditch that is often the only part of the wall left in this section) I would get warm really quickly. Scary stuff.

An interesting aside here - the Military road was built at the time of the Jacobean Rebellion. The message came for it to follow the route of Hadrian's Wall, but it was taken so literally, that in many places, they built it almost on top of it, using the stone as hardcore. Oops.

The highlight of today was the Bothy we stayed in. The landlady is younger than me I think, and an absolute star. She showed us how to turn the heating up to full to dry our things out, gave us a lift down to the pub that night (having booked us a table) and told us to ring her anytime to come and collect us. Lisa Burrows of Kiln Rigg, we salute you!

A enjoying walking in the rain. Not.

Thursday 3rd August: Wall to Steel Rigg (Once Brewed) (13.5 miles)

The Wall stretching away from us, just outside Chollerford

I got out of bed like a little old man today! Nothing hurts whilst I’m actually walking; the stiffness kicks in when I stop! After yesterday’s downpour, today was glorious. Like a fool though, I didn’t put on enough sunscreen and ended up with the worst sunburn I’ve had in 20 years. My lower left leg is as tight as a sausage about to burst under the grill. This section was magnificent walking, but hard going, over crags. By the time we got to Sycamore Gap, after 12 or so miles, I had to crawl on my hands and knees up the steps to get back out!

Sycamore Gap - yes we did walk down to the tree then back up the other side!

Met up with Phil, Cooky and the dogs again today and we all stayed at Saughy Rigg Farm. This farm is really in the middle of nowhere, but it’s brilliant for walkers, as Kath the owner comes out to pick you up from the Wall and drops you off again, and offers a very nice meal!

Friday 4th August: Steel Rigg to Haytongate (15 miles)

Because we didn’t go for a walk to find food last evening, I woke up pretty stiff this morning and took about 20 minutes to be able to walk without a “sailor’s roll”. Today started off with another 6 miles of stunning crags as we walked over the Whin Sill. The photo shows the view of Saughy Rigg from the top, on a zoom lens. I had a low point at Gilsland, after 8.5 miles, when I wasn’t quite sure how I’d do the next 6.5 miles, but I rallied after I’d had lunch. Possibly it was knowing that we were going on when Phil and Cooky were taking 4 days to do the second half of the walk while we were only taking 3 days. They were really good company and we’ll miss them. Weather was dry but a bit overcast. We spent the night in Brampton, having crossed the border into Cumbria. There was a bath in our en-suite tonight – bliss! A complained about the noises my knees made today. There’s no pain, but a most horrible crunching noise when I walk up or down hill. The right one in particular has made noises like this for a while, but even I winced when I heard them today. A’s knees are silent, but painful, and his feet are a bit of a mess…

Saturday 5th August: Haytongate to Carlisle (13 miles)

Back to lower level walking today. A little bit of drizzle, but not too much. There’s no real stone parts of the wall left here; the Romans had obviously had enough by the time they hit Cumbria, since a lot of the wall was covered in turf here. There is a section of wall that was uncovered last century, but since it was made of sandstone, it was eroding quite quickly, so they covered it up again. The Vallum is often in evidence though, so you still feel that you are following the line of the wall. We arrived in Carlisle fairly early in the afternoon, but without the energy to go and explore. We were picked up from the Sands Centre leisure centre, which doesn’t look like it’s changed much at all since I left Cumbria back in 1995! I’ve got a bit of a soft spot for the Sands Centre, it’s where I fell in love with Shakespeare the first time I ever saw it performed live: Simon Russell Beale as Richard III.

Sunday 6th August: Carlisle to Bowness-on Solway (14.5 miles)

The final section today, starting with a nice stretch along the banks of the River Eden, the only river in England that flows north – now there’s a pub quiz question if ever I heard one! A has now discovered what the muscle on the inside of the knee does – it keeps the lower leg facing in the right direction. And his isn’t! Well, really, it’s only his right foot. It’s waggling about on the end of his leg like something not right, and he’s walking a little like a penguin. We got to Burgh-by Sands (6.5 miles) by 11.15am, so too early for the pub, to A’s dismay. It also started to rain here, the kind of rain that the Irish call “soft” that doesn’t pelt you but soaks you pretty quickly. There is a three mile section from Dykesfield to Drumbrugh that follows a dead flat, dead straight road that I found pretty soul destroying – I don’t know why but I would guess it was the rain – the mist was down low on this stretch, which is very open as it goes along the salt marshes. On a clear day, you would be able to see Dumfries and Galloway across the estuary and Skiddaw to the south, but the mist put paid to that! We stopped for a lunch break after 12 miles, at the Highland Laddie pub in Glasson. The mushroom soup is to be recommended (A says the same about the Stilton and Broccoli!) and we timed it so that we were able to see most of the Grand Prix. Well done Jensen! The final stretch was quickly covered and we were at the end in Bowness-on-Solway! And the pub was a Jennings pub!! Sadly, my personal favourite, Cocker Hoop wasn’t available, but you can’t have everything. They did have a beautiful Kune Kune called Joe, though!

So there it is – we finished it. We covered about 91 miles in about 33.5 hours walking time over a week, with the bulk of it (85 miles or so) in 6 days and 31.5 hours walking time). Something to be proud of, I feel. My feet were fine after that first blister, but my ankles took a battering and swelled up the day after we finished. A's knees are jiggered and his feet are a mess of blisters. He spent most of last week creaking around the house in much the same way as I did! So, the Ridgeway next?

We Did It!!!

A and I have just got back from our jollidays, during which we spent 6 days walking the Hadrian's Wall Walk (84 miles from Wallsend to Bowness-on-Solway). The day before we walked the 6 miles from Tynemouth to Wallsend, so we have actually walked from one side of the country to the other. OK, it was across the thinnest bit, but you've got to start somewhere!

More details later, once I've sorted the photos out and done the washing...

Holiday Plans

Hurrah!

A and I have book our summer holiday. We are going to walk along Hadrian's Wall from Wallsend in the North East to Bowness-on-Solway outside Carlisle. We're actually going to add a bit on, so that the day before, we walk from Whitley Bay or Tynemouth to Wallsend, so we will have walked our own little "Coast to Coast" route.

Guess we'd better start upping our walking rate over the next few weekends...

Musings from JFK

Well, here's a first - I'm blogging in a public place! We're at JFK nice and early (flight leaves in two and a half hours) so I'm making use of the wireless network. This morning I got up early and, anxious not to miss a thing, was in Starbucks by 7am, reading and soaking up the bustle. I finished A Short History of Tractors in Ukrainian by Marina Lewycka whilst I was there. There's some nice touches of satire in it, but an overwhelming poignancy in the family relationships. Not a bad read, though.

Later I fulfilled my last wish for this trip with a huge portion of Eggs Benedict, then we strolled along to the United Nations building for a nose around. You can take guided tours but we didn't, since a number of the rooms these tours take in were closed today.

On our way back, we got a slightly mad taxi driver, who wove from lane to lane as he tried to miss the traffic (fat chance!) I suspect New York Hack would not be impressed by the standard of driving, but I didn't snap a photo of him to post, since we were in an SUV and I felt (reasonably) safe up there.

And so... back to earth tomorrow. Be warned - I am dreadful at finding diversionary tactics - if there is a flurry of blog activity over the next few days, you'll know that the planning for next term is pressing and I'm finding any excuse to not knuckle down to it...

Another Route March

I never intended for this to happen, but we did another route march today (Tuesday) - 42nd Street to 97th through the Upper East Side to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral, then onto the Guggenheim. However, the day was too glorious and I'm too much of a tight wad to pay $18 each when I know I don't want to be in there for more than an hour. Here is Theodore in the lobby, pretending he knows something about art.
I wish I could tell you who the artist was, but I suspect it's on a need to know basis, revealed only once you've paid admission.

We returned to Central Park to bask in the sunshine, then across to the Upper West Side. A quick diversion to Zabar's just for the experience of jostling with their "assertive" customers (their words, not mine; I'd have chosen downright rude for the ones who barged me out of the way!!), then onto the American Museum of Natural History which is an absolute gem. One of my boys is absolutely obsessed with dinosaurs (he has his heart set on being a palaeontologist - not bad for 6, huh?) so I think he might like these photos of Theodore with Triceratops and T-Rex:


It also has some amazing taxidermy exhibits, but A and I had an Eddie Izzard moment when we can across some cases of native North American mammals, such as beaver, bobcat and lynx. Instead of being artfully arranged into lifelike group poses in authentic habitats,as the African and Asian animals have been, these animals appeared to have been stapled to the wall, with their front paws together above their heads and their back paws hanging down below their tails. Did they run out of stuffing or what? Sadly A and I were so convulsed in hysterics by this time that we didn't think to take a photo...