Bradford

Megan and her friends were attending a dance workshop in Saltaire this weekend so I was on my own with the kids in Bradford.

Lister Park is a good sized swath of green space on the north side of town. It has some lovely landscaping, fountains, and sculpture. The building in this picture is the Cartwright Hall which is in the center of the park, it contains a nice art gallery but is currently under renovation. There is also a small lake where paddle boats can be rented in the summer. There is a good sized play ground and also lots of paths to explore. I think we'll go back someday!


We wandered the city centre which has some decent shops and a good central square.


The highlight of the weekend has to be the National Media Museum... really a must see if you are in the area if you are at all interested in the history and production of television, photography, animation, or just want to check out a vintage TV show in their TV Heaven theatre. Admission is free but if you want to try the simulator or Imax you'll need to pay for it.

Scotland road trip 2008

I know its been quiet on the blog front as of late. Have spent the majority of my time planning and taking our Scotland road trip. If you want to see pictures you can visit my photostream at:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/aar0n/tags/scotland/

We had a great experience even though we looked for and didn't see:

1) Nessie
2) Dolphins
3) Salmon swimming upstream

We did see amazing scenery, castles, cities. Sampled great food, saw many native animals including the oh so cool highland cattle.

I could see myself going back and spending more time up north, visiting even more remote areas like Orkney, Skye, Staffa. I think the highlight of the trip for me was the isle of Arran; place has great features hiking through varied terrain and forests, picturesque villages, ancient monoliths, interesting geologic formations, 2 castles, a beer brewery, distillery, cheese factory (where you can stop and watch production at all 3 I believe).

A great trip and a hard one to top, though we will certainly try. Here are some of my favorite moments: