CHEERS!

First things first, this blog is a call for synpathy. I went exploring on my bike today in the local area and ended up wobbling, at some speed, off the road so that my wheel caught in the dip and the bike was thrown from under me. My life flashed before my eyes...well, not quite, but I was very lucky the road was empty as I lay sprawled in a tangled heap, sunglasses metres down the road. I picked myself up and miraculousy escaped with only one graze and a hole in my sock! I do, however, have the sorest left thigh imaginable and feel sorry for myself every time I move. This may be the only time I ever appreciate having chunky thighs as clearly they saved the rest of me. To show them how grateful I was, I called in at Toots for some ice cream medicine. 

I've had another busy few days exploring New England. On Thursday, I went with Theresa (a colleague at school) and her family down to Cape Elizabeth, south of Portland to visit, and of course photograph, the most photographed light house in the world. Ta daaaa....

 

We had a stroll along the coast beofore heading to the 'Lobster shack' for my first taste of lobster in the form of a lobster roll. And what a place to eat...picnic tables overlooking the craggy coast line on a beautiful day. The only downside of the location was the presence of ginormous, hungry seagulls circling ominously overhead, waiting for people to be so distracted by the scenery that they leave their food unattended. A man on the next table fell victim to this scam and his wife, too caught up in her own food to notice at first, had to gawp as the seagull swooped down to collect an enormous mouthful of her husband's fries. Luckily for him, his lobster roll was safe! 

I can't say I was overwhelmed by the taste of lobster but it is another item tiicked off of my to-do list.

As was Friday's trip to Boston with Sarah.  Another glorious day allowed us to stroll round the city, following the Freedom trail and learning all about the revolution and the Boston Tea Party. People look slightly apologetic when talking to me about this period of history. The British don't come off too well. I wonder why we don't learn about this at school...?

We had a great talk in Fanueil Hall, a major meeting place in the 1800s for people to debate key issues of the day. It was the place where the words "Taxation without representation is tyranny" (words known by all Americans) were spoken, where sufragettes made their case and where people debated slavery.

Again, I had to be a cheesy tourist. The 'Cheers' bar called but sadly Frasier was absent from the bar. He must still be in Seattle.

We also headed over to Cambridge to see the Harvard campus. This allowed me to pay homage to that most brilliant of films, Legally Blond. Our day in Boston ended with us sheltering from a thunder storm in Cambridge library, another place that looked like a set from a film. A great day of exploring but Boston definitely requires another trip!

This is the end of my tourist capers for a while. Work really does beckon this week. I have an induction on Monday, a geeky IT session so I can learn to set up my own class website on Wednesday and then meeting my new class and their parents at 'Cubbie night'. I'm planning to start by introducing them all to the joy that is marmite!!