Some Rain

These past few we have been lazy on the weekends. Last weekend we spent a rainy evening at the Opera in the Park in Leeds. Kate got some tickets from a co-worker and we made our way down to Leeds for some culture.

We prepared a pretty large picnic and traveled with a couple of the regulars to our weeknight dinners. We brought a lot of wine, along with some curry, bread, cheese, snacks, and gummy bears. Despite the rain, it was a pretty good time (thanks to the wine?). We are at the point now that a little rain can't ruin a good time, even if it is a picnic.


There were apparently 50,000 other people in the same boat as us, but most of them had umbrellas while we had to settle for garbage bags. A lesson for the next time.

This weekend we went up to Sutton Banks near Thirsk in order to go for a walk around the famous white horse. Sadly, it was not an impressive site. It was run down and hardly looked like a horse. Even from a distance it is a bit hard to make out. It was made about 150 years ago, so that may have something to do with it.

Part of the disappointment was the rain. After about 45 minutes of walking in the rain we decided to go back, but we got stuck behind some old people eating ice cream. We hooked a left on to a new trail, the weather cleared, and we ended up having a good time.

We made out way through some wheat fields, through some pastures with lots of cows, some sheep and goats, and a field of rabbits. We ended up finding the largest natural lake in the Yorkshire Moors (not very large).

At the lake, we found a rope swing that ended up being strong enough to hold adults. We spent some time on that before heading up the hill and back to the car. When all was said and done, it ended up being a good day, despite the wet start.

(You can't really tell, but I am very high up over the water here. I swear.)

On Tuesday Kate and I will be flying to Germany to meet up with my old roommate, Stefan. He and his wife Wang Man are in Europe for a month before heading back to China. After 4 days in Bavaria we will all fly back this way for some time in the UK. I am really looking forward to it.

The last time I saw Stefan and Wang Man was in 2004 when they were living in Germany. I crashed with them for a couple of days as I was backpacking through Europe. One of the things I remember is eating dinner with them in their apartment. We were eating by candlelight while listening to Goldfrapp. As they were clearing the table I laid on the floor and fell asleep until morning. Hopefully I don't repeat that. I felt a bit rude. In my defense, I was really tired.