A BEAUTIFUL SPRING DAY IN OXFORD, ENGLAND: Guest Post by Jennifer Arnold

View of Oxford from the top of the tower of St. Mary.

With many thanks to my daughter Jennifer for her excellent report of her recent trip to London with my grandson, who met her there during the spring break from his semester abroad in Madrid. They packed a lot in during the week they were in London! One beautiful spring day they escaped the hustle and bustle of the city did a trip to Oxford for the day.

Street in Oxford with typical Gothic architecture.

Oxford . Oxford is about an hour-and-a-half by train from London and makes a good day trip. We wandered around and enjoyed the beautiful gothic architecture, the famous Blackwell’s book store, St. Mary’s church, and the canal towpath. We went inside the Bodleian library’s divinity school room, which is famous in movies (e.g., it was the infirmary in the Harry Potter movies).

Gothic architecture of one of the colleges.

Printing press.

Connected to the Bodleian was a museum with several free exhibits, including this printing press from the 1800s. They had it set up so that tourists could print a sheet with an excerpt from Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales.

Jennifer in front of the Radcliffe Camera.

The Radcliffe Camera is a famous building in Radcliffe College. As with most colleges, it was off-limits to tourists to enter. Some colleges were open to the public with advance tickets (but we didn’t arrange this).

View from the top of the tower of St. Mary.

We had to pay 6 pounds each to climb the narrow and steep staircase to the tower top, but it was very worth it. From there you could see Oxford from above in every direction.

Bridge of Sighs, Oxford

Note: For Jennifer's report of the rest of their week in London, go to her post on June 16, 2025.

A WEEK IN LONDON: Tower of London, Houses of Parliament, Charles Dickens and More, Guest Post by Jennifer Arnold

Houses of Parliament, London.

With many thanks to my daughter Jennifer for her report of her recent trip to London with my grandson, who met her there during the spring break from his semester abroad in Madrid. They packed a lot in during the week they were in London!

My son and I recently spent a week being tourists in London (Easter week 2025), visiting some of the major sites and learning about British history and contemporary life. One theme that seemed to connect the different sites we saw is the long history of England and the British empire, and the continued class conflict and power struggles.

The "tower", which is now a gift shop.

Tower of London. The Tower of London is really a castle, although it does have one building called “the tower”. This used to be where the kings and queens lived, and it represents both a long and fraught political history as well as the proud history of the royal family. 

Guards marching as a part of the ceremony of the password, which is solemnly shared with the guards.

There are informative and entertaining tours given by the “beef-eaters” (no one knows where that name came from), who live on site with their families and take care of the Tower. The charming man who gave our tour told us that he had been in the British military for 30+ years, serving as the principal violinist in their orchestra! As part of the tour, he told us about the many political prisoners and beheadings that took place nearby. This castle was the primary seat of English political and military power for hundreds of years. 

Metal monkey sculpture.

Artistic metal sculptures depict some of the animals that used to be kept at the tower of London; these animals from far-off places were given as gifts and kept in the tower, which was not always the best habitat.

Observatory ball.  Every day at exactly 1:00 pm Greenwich Mean Time, this red ball on the top of the observatory drops. It is visible from the Thames and allows ships to synchronize their clocks with the official time.

The Greenwich Royal Observatory   A little south of London is the Greenwich Royal Observatory. This observatory marks the location of the Prime Meridian, which is the line that is used across the world to count as the start of a “day”. The museum teaches about the astronomers and mathematicians who worked there, and the long endeavor to develop a method of calculating longitude accurately from a ship. This project took decades, spurred on by a monetary award offered by the British government.  There were many attempts along the way that weren’t successful but nevertheless made scientific and engineering contributions. Ultimately the solution was to develop a clock that would be accurate within seconds when aboard a ship. You can read more about this in Dava Sobel’s book Longitude.

Royal Observatory.. This line marks the prime meridian.

It’s striking how the financial support of the English government was critical to both the scientific advancements as well as the social infrastructure of marking time consistently across the globe.  This is an early example of a federally funded grant, and it accrued power to England.

Houses of Parliament. This photo was taken in one of the only places we were allowed to take pictures.

The Houses of Parliament . Unfortunately, we were visiting during Easter week, which is a holiday in England, so we couldn’t see the houses of parliament in action. But we still could enter the space and take an audio tour. British Parliament includes both the House of Lords and the House of Commons. Originally these parliamentary roles were only open to men of wealth, but later they opened up to “commoners”, and today the only real political power lies in the House of Commons. But we also learned that the House of Lords plays an important negotiating role, precisely because they do not have the same level of power as the House of Commons. The rooms dedicated to the House of Lords are also a lot more ornate than the rooms for the House of Commons!

The 80’s: Photographing Britain at the Tate Britain.  This powerful exhibit depicted several major class struggles in the 70’s and 80s, including union strikes, the coal miner’s strike, and the struggle for recognition of the LGBTQ+ community.

Dickens Museum

Charles Dickens Museum . This museum is built in one of the houses where Dickens lived in the 1800’s, in a beautiful and somewhat secluded neighborhood of London. We learned that Dickens himself came from a financially insecure background, which was blamed on his father’s inability to manage his debts. At age 12 Dickens was sent to work in a factory doing grueling and uninspiring work. This undoubtedly motivated the themes in his novels, which portrayed the poor in a positive light and championed their cause. We also learned that Dickens’ had a flamboyant and entertaining personality. He enjoyed financial success during his lifetime due to the popularity of his writings, and he frequently entertained at his house and performed his books.

Handel House. The room where Handel entertained visitors and musicians, next door to the room where he did most of his composing.

Handel and Hendrix House .  In an unusual twist of fate, two major musicians lived in neighboring houses in London at very different times. The composer George Frederic Handel rented a house in the early 1700s, where he composed his famous Handel’s Messiah and many other works, and from where he developed his career in London. 

The bedroom of Jimi Hendrix’s flat.

Two centuries later, Jimi Hendrix rented a flat next door where his career took off in the 1960’s.

 Note: Next week look for Jennifer's post about their day trip from London to Oxford.

CANARY ISLANDS NATURE TOUR, Part 3: Guest Post by Susan Kean

 

Gran Canaria. View down the ravine with sow thistle.

My friend Susan Kean and her partner George recently visited the Canary Islands on a nature tour. I thank her for sharing her impressions and terrific photos with The Intrepid Tourist.

There is so much to say about the next three days here in Gran Canaria. The island is almost entirely volcanic, rising to about 6000 feet around the edge of its Central Valley or caldera. From the high points there are a number of canyons that were formed millions of years ago by rain. They go down to the ocean from the high point. 

View from the coach as we drive along the narrow roads on the western side of the island.

The roads are narrow with spectacular views, as they wind their way up the canyons. We pass through various ecological zones as we go higher.

Local variety of aeonium.

On Tuesday we drove along the spectacular west coast to a small port, Puerto Rico, and took a boat trip. It was very rough and I spent most of the time watching the horizon to control my queasy stomach! We saw dolphins and small bottlenose whales. Later in the day on dry land saw many birds.

Spoonbills.

Next day we visited the pine forest area and caught a glimpse of the rare Gran Canaria blue chaffinch and enjoyed sunset from the balcony of the Parador Hotel

The following day we ventured into the lower regions of the volcanic caldera to the town of Moya. This time our primary goal was to see the Laurel pigeon. A nearly extinct species with which that they have been able to repopulate their area of the island.

Orchid.

On our last day in Gran Canaria we went to the capital, Las Palmas. We started with church at the English language Episcopal church, Holy Trinity.

Plaque outside the Anglican Church, established 1891.

We were a bit early so we walked around the neighborhood. This area was established by the British Traders in the 18th Century.

Inside Catholic Church.

After worship we headed for the old town area where we saw the Catholic Cathedral of Saint Ann. 

House where Columbus stayed in 1492, 1493 and 1502.

The most interesting place we saw was the house where Christopher Columbus stayed on three of his four trips to America--1492, 1493, and the fourth trip in 1502. I didn’t realize he had made four trips to America. The Columbus house is now a museum.

Small Mardi Gras Parade in Las Palmas. A big one happens on the island of Tenerife.

Look for Susan's previous posts about her trip to the Canary Islands. Part 1 posted on May 26, 2025, and Part 2 posted on June 2, 2025.

CANARY ISLANDS NATURE TOUR, Part 2: Guest Post by Susan Kean

 

View from the top of crater over to Las Palmas. Canary Islands.

My friend Susan Kean and her partner George recently toured the Canary Islands on a nature tour. I thank her for sharing her impressions and terrific photos with The Intrepid Tourist.

Today’s adventure in the Gran Canaria was learning about their indigenous people and checking out the main volcanic crater on the island. Relevant to today’s times, the Canary Island folks were very grateful to the CIA who gave them a heads up in 1971 about an impending earthquake. In those days Spain had no earthquake prediction systems and the CIA were in the Atlantic and observed some activity. This early warning helped save lives.

Cave. (Note tiny cars on lower right for scale.)

It is believed that the earliest people came to Gran Canaria in the 3rd Century. They were from North Africa, similar to the Berbers in Morocco. It is not known how they got there but they may have been brought by the Romans. 

Skeleton.

The early people came prepared--bringing seeds, animals, everything they needed for existence. They lived in caves, similar to those of some indigenous people in the North America.

We had a Tapas lunch in a cave restaurant. Our restaurant was in a cave dug into the hillside.

Center statue is a model of an indigenous statue found on a hillside.

The last day of our Nature Trek trip to Gran Canaria was spent near our hotel at Valley Agaete Necropolis where we learned how the indigenous people buried their dead in raised stone tombs because it was impossible to dig graves in the lava rock. This was during 7th to 11th century.

Stone tomb.

We also had a wonderful time wine tasting and lunch at Finca La Laja farm where they grow coffee, grapes, all kinds of citrus, bananas and every fruit you can think of--almost. The climate is a bit cooler than California and has more rain.

Winery at Finca La Laia.

Opuntia.

Opuntia (prickly pear cactus) was imported from America to grow the cochineal insect to produce red coloring. The cactus is everywhere now.

Feral cats.

Ferry approaching the pier in small harbor near our hotel. I found the lava cliffs coming down to the ocean spooky. 

Part 1 of Susan's trip to the Canary Islands posted last week, May 26, 2025. Part 3 will post next week, June 9, 2025.

CANARY ISLANDS NATURE TOUR, Part 1: Guest Post by Susan Kean

Gran Canaria, Canary Islands

My friend Susan Kean and her partner George recently toured the Canary Islands on a nature tour. I thank her for sharing her impressions and terrific photos with The Intrepid Tourist. The islands are not named for the canary bird. Rather, the name Islas Canarias is likely derived from the Latin name Canariae Insulae, meaning "Islands of the Dogs", perhaps because monk seals or sea dogs were abundant.

View from our hotel balcony.

We arrived in the Canary Islands, specifically Gran Canaria yesterday. The islands, which include Tenerife (the only one I’d heard of), are about 100 miles off the coast of Africa. They are an autonomous community that is part of Spain They claim to have the best climate in the world. They are volcanic islands of various ages--2-3 million years-- and are still active. The volcano on La Palma erupted last year.

Church of St John the Baptist, Arucas. Built about 100 years ago in volcanic rock

Gran Canaria is a circular island about 30 miles across. Our hotel is on the Northwest side of the island in a beautiful setting.

Dragon fruit tree…no dragon fruit do not come from this tree. They only flower every ten years. So the bag on the top is to collect the seeds.

We are on a nature tour. It’s amazing that a small island like this has so much to see.

Limonium, very rare Canary variety.

Today we visited the Botanic Garden to be introduced to all the different plants and birds on the island.

Our guide explaining that this is not a cactus. The only true cactus are in the Americas. It evolved down a separate line. It developed similar water retaining features but has a milky sap.

Sunset.

Part 2 will post next week, with Part 3 in the following week.

HEMP IMPRESSIONS – AN EXHIBITION AT THE CORVALLIS MUSEUM (OREGON) Guest Post by Caroline Hatton

Hemp textile artworks. Left: mulch by Lucas Mazurik, et al. right: Orchid's Keeper's Bag by Sandra Starkey.

My friend Caroline Hatton, a children’s writer and frequent contributor to this blog, took these photos in May 2025, at the Corvallis location of the Benton County Museums in Oregon.

Hemp Impressions, a fiber and fashion exhibition in Corvallis, Oregon.

Hemp Impressions– Sustainable Fiber and Fashion Reimagined, a temporary exhibition at the Benton County Museum in Corvallis, Oregon, “explores the creative potential of industrial hemp to create contemporary fiber art. This juried exhibition called for garments created using fabric that was at least 50% hemp fiber*. Submissions were judged on four criteria: concept, construction, use of hemp, and overall design.”

*Hemp fiber is obtained from the stem of the hemp plant (Cannabis sativa L.), best known because its dried form is marijuana. An important difference is that hemp grown for fiber contains low levels of the psychoactive product, whereas hemp grown for marijuana contains higher levels.

Detail of Orchid Keeper's Bag by Sandra Starkey.

The photo at the top of this post shows the most astonishing aspect of this exhibition for me, which is the boundless range of style allowed by hemp-containing fabrics: from the rustic outfit on the left, designed to go harvesting (the artwork title is mülch: redefining what it means to be an outdoor brand: through dirt, through soil, through mülch by Lucas Mazurik, Jack White & Zoë Reece, Colleen Pokorny & Marianne Dickson, Advisors) to the utterly refined Orchid’s Keeper’s Bag by Sandra Starkey on the right, designed to have no function except for evoking a mystical time.

The hemp abaya by Yessenia Chavez.

Detail of the hemp abaya by Yessenia Chavez.

The Hemp Abaya by Yessenia Chavez features botanical printing. The creator collected bamboo and other plants in her community, then used black fabric paint to print them on the fabric.

Detail of Green Jacket by Susan T. Avila.

While making Green Jacket, Susan T. Avila took advantage of the fact that 100% hemp fabric frays easily, to create fringes and roll them to form a fluffy collar.

Detail of Soft Scales by Sibei Xia.

Although hemp fibers are long-lasting, they are vulnerable to breakage when spun into yarn. Sibei Xia addressed this challenge, while knitting a dress called Soft Scales, by using the float jacquard technique because it decreases the proportion of yarn loops.

Flora Louisienne by Casey R. Stannard.

Say Yes to Hemp by Colleen Moretz.

The Purification of Hemp by Mary Elliott.

The above photos show that any fabric artwork one can dream up, one can make out of hemp-containing material. Beyond the practical aspects mentioned here, the works reflected deep beliefs in the hearts and souls of their creators.

This exhibition is in Corvallis, Oregon, about an hour-and-a-half drive south of Portland, and it ends on June 1, 2025.