Wednesday, September 21, 2011

Faversham Hop Festival


A coworker of mine told me about the Faversham Hops Festival in Kent, where hops growing is a tradition. Hops is a major ingredient in beer, so this seemed like a must-do.






The weather was predicted to be good on Saturday, so we got up and headed off to St Pancras train station to catch the high speed train for the 1 hour train ride to Faversham. Our friend Dara was joining us, but unfortunately, she missed the train and had to follow us a half-hour later.



Faversham is a cute little country town east of London. It once served as an important port during medieval times. Today it is mostly rural, surrounded by orchards growing apples and cherries and of course large fields growing Hop vines. It is also the town where Shepherd Neame, the oldest brewery in England, makes beer.




We all rendezvoused at the train station, and started walking down the one main road in the town. It was one of those rare sunny and warm English Days, and I think we all planned to make the most of it.






There are some very old buildings that are in wonderful condition, and show many major periods in British architecture. From Mixed timber to Tudor brick to 1800's modern, you'll see them all mixed in together side by side.







Faversham even has the one thing that no small English country village can do without - A Kebab Shop. . .









It wasn't long before we came across a huge truckload of Hops. It smelled of grass and pine.








They were making Hops wreaths for everyone. Tony quickly "hopped" into the action and made wreathes for all of us too.




















It was a lot of fun feeling a part of something as hometowny as this. It reminded me a bit of when we went to the Orange County Fair of the Crawfish Festival in Louisiana.



Mostly, it was fun to cut loose and enjoy the beautiful day and the fresh country air. Early Londoners used to go on working holidays to Kent to pick the hops and enjoy a break from the city. I can see why.







Even Bentley and Pepper got into the spirit of the day. We called them our little "Hop Dogs".





As Kent is known for Hops and Beermaking, it wasn't long before we found our first microbrewed beer stand.







It was turning into a hot day, so it was time for the first round. Dara and I had the Nelson IPA, a strong hoppy beer that seemed appropriate for the occasion. Tony sampled their locally sourced Cider.





A little further down the villages mainstreet, we encountered a local folk dance troop that was performing a traditional dance involving the clapping of pieces of wood. I've seen these different troops around at different locations, and they always put a wry smile on my face.




They were accompanied by a small group of musicians playing some traditional folk instruments. It really felt hometowny. . .






We walked on through the pretty little village until we came to the main square where food stalls were set up. They had roasted a whole hog, and we had to have a pork sandwich complete with crackling, dressing, and homemade apple sauce.



We found a spot to sit on some grass, and enjoy it. If ever any of you come to England, do not pass up the oportunity to have one of these amazing pork sandwiches. You will find them at most fairs, and at the Portabello Road market on Saturday. Yum!

And of course some more Hoppy Beer.




Faversham was once an important town for England, and as such, signs are everywhere celebrating it's past. One sign referenced a visit to the town by Queen Elizabeth I. The town was heavily involved with the making of gun powder, but thankfully by the time of WWII, it was no longer involved, and appears to have escaped largely unhurt.


It is also a rural area, and there are cows wandering through the pastures just across the inlet from the main street. We walked with the dogs out into the field, and Bentley got very excited seeing the cows.





It was a beautiful afternoon for a walk out in the countryside.



There was one particularly picturesque building that was once some sort of warehouse, but has now been converted into residential living. It is right on the water. If there were a place I'd want to live in Faversham, it would be here. Really nice.







Wild Blackberries were growing in abundance, and they gave us quick little sugar bursts to fuel our walk.

















Of course we discovered a wonderful country pub
conveniently located on the water.









It was run by the main local brewery, Shepherd Neame, and was serving all of the special Hop Harvest Brews.



Before long it was time to start making our way back to the train station. Enroute, we ran into a troop of "little old ladies" riding their shopping carts. It is a common site to see older women pushing these shopping carts for their daily groceries, so these were a wonderful send up of them.



It looked like they'd taken Segways and adapted them to make the carts, and then they had fake legs on top to make it look like they were riding the carts. They were a huge hit with the crowd.







We decided to have one more beer for the road. How often would we have the chance to have fresh microbrewed beer out in the countryside on a beautiful day like this.



On the trainride back, we saw what is called an Oast House. It is where they would dry the hops. Most of these are no longer in use, but they have such a place in English beer making history that they are being preserved in some form.


We also saw an old submarine in the River Medway near Rochester. Turns out that it is "The Black Widow", a Russian Hunter/Killer Class submarine built in the mid sixties in the cold war.

Guess we have another adventure in store for us down here someday. . .

Tuesday, September 20, 2011

Star Wars - Blue Ray World Premiere


In honor of the World Premiere of the latest version of the Star Wars saga on Blue Ray, they took the BT tower, which is only a couple blocks from my work, and made it into the world's largest Lightsabre. A genius marketing gimmick.






I hadn't thought that it looked like a lightsabre, but now that you mention it. . .









Fortunately, it was a clear night and the tower was visible for miles. We could see it all the way from our apartment.

Monday, September 19, 2011

A World of Honey!


One thing that I've loved trying out in Europe are all the different types of honey. I've purchased honey from almost everywhere we've visited.



Denmark, Ukraine, France, Spain, Sweden, Luxembourg, Austria - they all have honey of varying types and consistencies.



Luxembourgish Honey from the Grand Duche of Luxembourg is quite sought after, and is strictly regulated. I'm not sure why, but each jar is stamped with a number and the seal of the duke.

Of course I had to buy a jar of it to bring home. With this kind of exotic marketing, how could I not?





I think this honey mania reached its "bee-nith" when Tony, Mark, Dara and I went to the Southbank Convention Center for the London Honey Festival.




Evidently, there are hives all over the London area, and there are clubs that maintain them and teach others to do it. There are some right in our neighborhood even. I had to buy a jar of Honey from Hackney, which is only a few blocks away. I've probably seen some of their bees in action.






I was happy to find that I'm not the only Honey Nut in London. Turns out that Dara is quite a Honey Fiend herself.









I was amazed at the numbers of beekeepers in London. Right now, they were selling honey from the work of the bees in the Spring. As a result, the honey will have a very light floral flavor. They are just now preparing to harvest the honey from the late summer. Because of the abundance of other flowers, the honey will have a much deeper complex flavor. Very interesting. . .

I'll have to buy some more honey.






Of course this does have the makings for a really bad "B"-movie. . .

Thursday, September 15, 2011

The Imperial War Museum


We got up on Saturday, and made our way to Angel Station to meet up with our friend Dara, and our old neighbor Mark. We took the tube out to the Imperial War Museum to see a bunch of military weapons from Britain's history - Mostly WWII.










The building housing the museum is an old hospital that once held the Bedlam Asylum - the origin of the word "bedlam". It is a beautiful building, and the collection of military vehicles is first rate.







Value to money, this is the best museum I've been to in Europe. It is packed with a variety of things to interest both adults and children. Best of all, it is free!








We arrived at the museum ready for a day full of fun and cheer. But the museum also hammers home the horrors of war, and before we would leave, we would all have an emotional journey that would leave us all exhausted.




On our way to the museum, we passed the residence of Captain William Bligh of Mutiny on the Bounty fame (played by Anthony Hopkins in the Mel Gibson film, "The Bounty"). It shouldn't still amaze me to round a corner and see such places, but it still does.



Once inside the museum, you are greeted with a spectacular courtyard filled with airplanes, rockets, and tanks.








The old WWI planes are in excellent shape. I can't imagine going into combat in a plane made of light wood and paper. Crazy.









They have tanks from many countries in Europe including Russia. It was fascinating to see them up close. And they are all in amazing condition.








Some tanks look like they go back as early as WWI.








They have a real British Spitfire forever locked in combat over London with its arch rival. . .












The German Messerschmitt!










One of the planes was an american plane. I was pleased to see that it was credited as having been made in Inglewood, CA. Almost my home neighborhood.







A nose of a larger bomber is setup so that you can walk through it and see what it would have been like to serve inside one of these larger air machines.








A small early German U-boat is on display. It is basically a carrier for 2 torpedos, that were mounted on either side.





There are even several different types of missiles on display from the early German V-2 rocket. . .








To the modern Polaris Missile.









Of course one of the highlights would have to be the replica of "Little Boy" - the Atomic Bomb dropped on Hiroshima, which heralded a new era in warfare.





There was a really cool display on Spy Warfare. It featured spy cameras, listening bugs, and code communication devices.





The most infamous of all being the German Enigma Machine. It was a encoding and decoding device which had a series of discs that could be swapped out. This created what's called a Polyalphabetic Solution, which made the cypher so difficult to break.






I was surprised to learn that there were several other more elaborate code machines developed on both the British and German sides. However none equaled the notoriety of the Enigma device. It is the granddad of our modern cypher machines.



There was also a Holocaust Exhibit. We saved this to the end, which was a wise decision. It is very moving and emotionally draining. After walking through it, we were all pretty much exhausted, and that was the end of our time at the Imperial War Museum.






We all needed a drink!