Last but not least - Leavesden - one of the absolute highlights

Sorry, the quality of the photos is crap. But all the rest is pure magic ;)

The bus from Watford Junction to Leavesden.

We're here!!!

 The doors of the Great Hall in Hogwarts Castle. Let the tour begin.

 The Great Hall.

Gryffindor colours :)

 The Mirror of Erised.

Gryffindor common room - very homely :)

 The griffin stairwell to Dumbledore's office.

Dumbledore's office.

 The potions classroom.

The portraits of Hogwarts.

Fancy a ride?

Gringotts vault door - I was mesmerised by Gringotts in the films. 

The Chamber of Secrets door - do you remember the snakes moving?

Hagrid's hut

The Burrow, yes, the iron was actually ironing, the dishes were washing themselves and the knife was chopping a carrot there. Not to mention the kitting.

Umbridge's office in the Ministry of Magic

Lord Voldemort and Lucius Malfoy

Privet Drive, home of the Dursleys

 The Knight Bus

Hogwarts Bridge - it was absobloodylutely magnificent!

Wizard's chess - very real and scary

I wouldn't like to meet Aragog in real life.

 Buckbeak the Hippogriff

 Diagon Alley, my very favourite.

Just wow.

 And then, in the very last room - Hogwarts. I might have or might not have cried a little.

All in all, it might have been the most scenic of my trips to the UK. However, there are already quite a few places I want to go (back) to... What can I say, I even missed the Tube and its logic and that says it all.

THE END.

Natuke suve

Jaanipäev 2013 ehk kolm päeva püha, seekord sooja ilmaga

See kraana (või mõni sarnane kraana) oli seal juba enne minu sündi..

Hetk enne seda ronisime üle aia ja kraavi...

Suvi......

 mk paraadi vastu võtmas 

 Ja lõket kohale kärutamas

Vilnius 07-09.06

Reisi võtmesõna oleks ehk ära eksimine. Bussijuht oli orienteeruja extraordinaire ja tagasipöördeid ning muidu ringe tegime ohtrasti. Giid polnud käinud ei Vilniuses, ristimäel ega mujal, kus me käisime, nii et ka see oli omaette vaatamisväärsus, kuidas tema oma Vilniuse linnaekskursiooniga üldse hakkama ei saanud. Aga muidu oli väga vahva reis :)

Kogu toredus algas Riias. Riia vanalinna jõudsime pärast giidi peale võtmist Riia bussijaamast, milleks läks meil umbes tunnike, kuna bussijuht ei suutnud bussijaama sisse sõita. Ja Lidos käisime söömas ka veel enne. Vanalinnas veetsime oma kõva 15 minutit, millest mul väga kahju ei olnud, kuna olen seal korduvalt käinud. Seejärel ei saanud me Riia linnast välja ja tiirutasime raudteesilla ja Vansu silla vahelisel alal pooltunnikese...

 Jelgava loss.

 Õhtuks jõudsime Vilniusesse ja jalutasime vanalinna sööma. Vaade raekoja platsile.

Järgmisel hommikul alustasime Trakai lossiga. Kõigepealt tekkis segadus Vilniusest väljumisel, sõitsime natuke edasi-tagasi. Trakai piirkonda jõudnud, keerasime mingile pisikesele kruusateele ja nautisime bussi aknast ehedat külaelu. Lossi seal võsas ei olnud, veendusime selles oma silmadega. Kaks tee ääres seisnud kohalikku poolpaljast tädi said kindlasti viimase kümnendi elamuse, kui suur valge buss lausa kaks korda nende majast mööda vuhas. Edasi sõitsime tädide õpetuste mööda kruusateed mööda tagasi ja siis asfalti pidi edasi ja pöörasime seejärel rõõmsalt valele poole. Natukese aja pärast sai jälle tagasipööret harjutada. Siis tegime paar ringi ringristmiku lähistel ja lõpetasime tanklas, kus meile üks kohalik auto kätte näidati ja kästi selle järel sõita. Jeeee, nii jõudsimegi kohale, ei võtnudki rohkem kui tunnikese. Trakai loss oli ilus :)

 Trakai asula ise oli ka ilus ja suvine ja palav.

Seal toimus mingi käsitöölaat, kus müüdi kõikvõimalikku kraami alates seentest...

 ... kommide...

 ... ja nende Leedu maiustusteni, mida mina kuuseks nimetan. Ostsin omale kuuse paar alumist oksa :p

Tagasi Vilniuses toimus väike linnaekskursioon, aga kuna giid ei leidnud kõiki kohti kohe üles (näiteks raekoja platsi, kus me eelmisel õhtul/öösel olime söömas käinud või Vilniuse vanalinna üht põhitänavat a la Viru tänav Tallinna vanalinnas), siis jäi see ekskursioon väga üürikeseks. Tapvalt palav oli ainult :) Pildil Vilniuse Katedraal ja katedraali väljak, see oli hirmus suur.

Edasi siis juba eelmainitud tänav, kuhu pärast sööma läksime. Õpilased seda tänavat tõenäoliselt üles ei leidnud...

Väike jäätee.

Edasi jätkus päev Vichy veepargis ja ostukeskuses. Kuna mul ei olnud kavas veepargis nägu vee alla panna, sest mul olid läätsed silmas, mõtlesin, et lasen ainult kõige väiksemast liutorust alla. Lasingi. Ja käisin toru lõpus oma kummirõngaga ümber ja niimoodi üle pea vee alla, et mul oli ka nina vett täis (ja seda, et nina vett täis läheb, juhtub minuga ikka üsna harva). Siis oli mul juba ükskõik, sai ka teistest torudest natuke alla lasta, aga enam vee alla ei lennanud, ilmselgelt.

 Tagasisõidupäeva ainuke kultuuripeatus oli Siauliai lähedal Ristimäel. See oli äärmiselt muljetavaldav paik.

Vot nii siis. Kõik see korraldus kokku oli niivõrd jabur, et me ei lasnud ennast sellest häirida, nii et lõppkokkuvõttes oli täitsa tore reis.

Kahed väga erinevad talgud

Õppekava

Kummut

Reflection.

Evelin Võigemast on endiselt naine teiselt planeedilt, siin aga natuke Tanelit :p

Your face sounds familiar

Ma naersin pisarateni Taneli üle. Ta on geenius.

Käisime täna Soomaal - seal oli põhimõtteliselt palju vett.

Siis oli seal igat masti kanuusid.

Ja veel vett, igal pool.

Inimesi, roppu moodi. Umbes nagu laulupeol.

Ülejäänud pildid on mu Fotki albumis.

I find Rock Summer homepage ridiculously gorgeous.

Your Face Sounds Familiar - this pic more or less sums up the whole show :p

Pildi allikas: Kroonika

Utterly beautiful

I AM GOING TO EXETER IN SUMMER :))))

After the fiasco on Friday this was the best work-related thing that could have happened. I wonder if Friday was my all-time low at work. Probably not :p I'm a queen of overreacting, but this time it was a bit too much. I was rather proud myself when I managed to be up till 4 am at the film night on Friday and ignore the fact that my head was exploding from the emotional overload. 

A very relevant post

So, I had a brilliant idea. I'll put down all my favourite characters from the TV shows I'm currently watching or have watched in the past. Brilliant, just brilliant. *HEAVY sarcasm* But the list is real, no sarcasm there.
Here we go then:

First thing first, favourite male characters in a leading role: Neal Caffrey (White Collar), Damon Salvatore (The Vampire Diaries), Sherlock Holmes (Sherlock), Dean Winchester (Supernatural), Merlin and Arthur (Merlin), Mike Ross (Suits), Fox Mulder (The X-Files), Sgt Gavin Troy (Midsomer Murders), Captain Jack Harkness (Torchwood, Dr. Who), Michael Scofield (Prison Break)

Favourite female characters in a leading role: Kate Beckett (Castle), Dr. Joan Watson (Elementary), Sydney Bristow (Alias)

Favourite male characters in a supporting role: Lincoln Lee (Fringe), Javier Esposito and Kevin Ryan (Castle), Jamie Lannister (Game of Thrones), Bobby Singer (Supernatural), Michael Vaughn (Alias), Logan Cale (Dark Angel), Andrew Martin (Ringer), Luke Danes (Gilmore Girls), James "Sawyer" Ford (Lost)

Favourite female characters in a supporting role: Diana Berrigan (White Collar), Caroline Forbes (The Vampire Diaries), Daenerys Targaryen (Game of Thrones), Jessica Pearson (Suits), Kelly Taylor (Beverly Hills 90210), Kate Austen (Lost), Gwen Cooper (Torchwood), Sam Marquez (Las Vegas)

Natuke külma Tartut 13.03.2013.

YUP - a lesson in history and philology

They used to use urine to tan animal skins, so families used to all pee in a pot & then once a day it was taken & Sold to the tannery.......if you had to do this to survive you were "Piss Poor"

 But worse than that were the really poor folk who couldn't even afford to buy a pot......they "didn't have a pot to piss in" & were the lowest of the low

The next time you are washing your hands and complain because the water temperature isn't just how you like it, think about how things used to be. Here are some facts about the 1500s:

Most people got married in June because they took their yearly bath in May, and they still smelled pretty good by June.. However, since they were starting to smell . ...... . Brides carried a bouquet of flowers to hide the body odor. Hence the custom today of carrying a bouquet when getting Married.

Baths consisted of a big tub filled with hot water. The man of the house had the privilege of the nice clean water, then all the other sons and men, then the women and finally the children. Last of all the babies. By then the water was so dirty you could actually lose someone in it.. Hence the saying, "Don't throw the baby out with the Bath water!"

Houses had thatched roofs-thick straw-piled high, with no wood underneath. It was the only place for animals to get warm, so all the cats and other small animals (mice, bugs) lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery and sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof... Hence the saying "It's raining cats and dogs."

There was nothing to stop things from falling into the house. This posed a real problem in the bedroom where bugs and other droppings could mess up your nice clean bed. Hence, a bed with big posts and a sheet hung over the top afforded some protection. That's how canopy beds came into existence.

The floor was dirt. Only the wealthy had something other than dirt. Hence the saying, "Dirt poor." The wealthy had slate floors that would get slippery in the winter when wet, so they spread thresh (straw) on floor to help keep their footing. As the winter wore on, they added more thresh until, when you opened the door, it would all start slipping outside. A piece of wood was placed in the entrance-way. Hence: a thresh hold.

In those old days, they cooked in the kitchen with a big kettle that always hung over the fire.. Every day they lit the fire and added things to the pot. They ate mostly vegetables and did not get much meat. They would eat the stew for dinner, leaving leftovers in the pot to get cold overnight and then start over the next day. Sometimes stew had food in it that had been there for quite a while. Hence the rhyme: Peas porridge hot, peas porridge cold, peas porridge in the pot nine days old. Sometimes they could obtain pork, which made them feel quite special. When visitors came over, they would hang up their bacon to show off. It was a sign of wealth that a man could, "bring home the bacon." They would cut off a little to share with guests and would all sit around and chew the fat.

 Those with money had plates made of pewter. Food with high acid content caused some of the lead to leach onto the food, causing lead poisoning death. This happened most often with tomatoes, so for the next 400 years or so, tomatoes were considered poisonous.

Bread was divided according to status. Workers got the burnt bottom of the loaf, the family got the middle, and guests got the top, or the upper crust.

Lead cups were used to drink ale or whisky. The combination would Sometimes knock the imbibers out for a couple of days. Someone walking along the road would take them for dead and prepare them for burial.. They were laid out on the kitchen table for a couple of days and the family would gather around and eat and drink and wait and see if they would wake up. Hence the custom of holding a wake.

England is old and small and the local folks started running out of places to bury people. So they would dig up coffins and would take the bones to a bone-house, and reuse the grave. When reopening these coffins, 1 out of 25 coffins were found to have scratch marks on the inside and they realized they had been burying people alive... So they would tie a string on the wrist of the corpse, lead it through the coffin and up through the ground and tie it to a bell. Someone would have to sit out in the graveyard all night (the graveyard shift.) to listen for the bell; thus, someone could be, saved by the bell or was considered a dead ringer.

And that's the truth....Now, whoever said History was boring

Me approves :)