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Post by pieter on Jul 9, 2014 16:55:30 GMT -7
Jaga,
My father is 86 (and will be 87 on December 18 2014), and yes, he is stil in a very good shape for his age. He stil drives his Automatic transmission car, cycles with my mother and goes for walks every now and then. The game between the Netherlands and Argentina for a long time (90 minutes plus the extra 30 minutes, was 50-50) If the Dutch had scored in the 90 minutes they would have had a chance. The Dutch are traditionally not that good in penalties. The Argentinian team was the better team and I congratulate them. The Dutch team was excellent and fought very hard in the succesful games they played. Reaching the semi finals was an achievement. Ofcourse the main aim is to reach the finals and win, but we also have to remind ourselves that soccer (football) is just a game. A serious game, but a game. In Southern-America and some European countries soccer is a culture and sometimes nearly a sort of religion or cult. The most important thing for some people. The fanatic fans of national teams and soccer teams of cities.
Now Germany and Argentina will play against eachother in the finals. Dutch football experts, sport journalists, trainers and soccer players, believe that Germany will win. Argentina had to use everything it got to win from the Dutch. We will see who will win. Let the best team win!
I am glad that you are enjoying your stay in Scotland. It was raining a lot in the Netherlands too, it is grey over here and it was a cold wednesday. Tomorrow the temperature will raise. Enjoy your stay in Great-Britian Jaga.
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by pieter on Jul 10, 2014 0:53:08 GMT -7
I have to admid that I was a little bit disappointed and sad that the Dutch didn't manage to score yesterday against Argentine, I am a Dutchman after all. I liked and like the Dutch team very much because they are good players. But yesterday they didn't manage to reach their aim, to win, to score and to go to the finals.
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Post by pieter on Jul 10, 2014 2:41:48 GMT -7
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Post by Jaga on Jul 10, 2014 16:42:22 GMT -7
Pieter,
this was sad, but... I could not imagine to see Germany against Netherlands in finals again. Game between Netherlands and Brazil can be more interesting, as well as Argentina vs Germany, since these teams represent different styles.
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Post by karl on Jul 10, 2014 19:04:43 GMT -7
I would expect the up coming game will be hard fought. For the Argentine team is rested, they have studied the German team as well organized with some very good wins to their credit. With this though, has been a show of strategy that may well be copied or at least studied to form some counters in defense by the team Argentine. With this, the Argentine team may well have their own strategy to bring into focus as a winning combination at game time. For then, it will be too late for the German team to change horses in the middle of the stream.
Game time is approaching and we shall see what develops. And, may the best team win...
Karl
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Post by pieter on Jul 11, 2014 4:32:27 GMT -7
Karl, I aggree with you ofcourse from a sportmanlike (sportive/sporting) perspective. Soccer is a nice game with a strong competitive element. There were a lot of interesting games between nice and good teams during this tournament. So again, like you say, let the best team win. But you are allowed to have your favorite. And it might be no surprise to you or Jaga, that I am in favor of the German team. Also due to the Polish players in it, but in the same time because it is a nice team. It is a neighbor and like Jaga said, it plays a bit similar like the present Dutch team. In the past it would be an abnormality, a strange phenomenon of a Dutchman was Pro-Germany. Today it shows how the present European interrelations between nations are. Germany is accepted by it's neighbors, the Netherlands, Poland, Belgium, Denmark, France, Austria and Czech republic. The nationalistic and war connections are gone, and a new pragmatic and sportive element has entered European and world soccer. A Dutchman can be Pro-Germany today without being labeled a traitor. In the seventies it would have been impossible to be Pro-German. The 1974 FIFA World Cup Final was a disaster for the Dutch which was remembered for decades. The West Germans won with 2–1. Germany's Gerd Müller (far left) watches Netherlands' Johann Cruyff (center) playing against teammates Berti Vogts (2nd left) and Uli Hoeneß (right) during the final of the 1974 FIFA World CupDefeating West Germany 2–1 in Hamburg during the 1988 UEFA European Football Championship was of a tremendous psychological and sportive importance to the Dutch. The final was played on 25 June between the Soviet Union and the Netherlands. The Dutch won the match 2–0. Back to 2014, back to Brasil. I wish the Germans and Argentinians good luck in their finale. Again, like Karl said; " May the best team win..." Cheers, Pieter
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Post by Jaga on Jul 21, 2014 6:31:58 GMT -7
Guys, we are still in Cambridge starting the last leg of our trip to London. It was hot & stuffy for last couple of days but it is getting slightly better since it rained. We went punting today and saw Trinity College. We need to walk with lots of suitaces today since we returned the car already. In two days we go back to states,ready for a break
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Post by pieter on Jul 21, 2014 11:28:41 GMT -7
Jaga,
I enjoyed watching your photo's of Camebridge on Facebook. It is an old British university college city, like the Oxford I remember from 1989. Really wonderful pictures of the collages you took from a high altitude. The atmopshere, the perspective, the colors and the images of you were a pleasure to see. We get a short impression of your stay there.
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by Jaga on Jul 22, 2014 10:16:21 GMT -7
Pieter, I saw that you visited my facebook pictures. It is so much easier to post the photos on facebook that in the forum, but I will try to add the link to the forum later on. We are back in London, tomorrow going back to US. We visited today the Tower of London, a bit gruesome.
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Post by pieter on Jul 22, 2014 11:48:02 GMT -7
The gruesome heritage of the Tower of LondonJaga, the history of The Tower of London is gruesome indeed, due to the beheadings of two of Henry VIII's wives; Anne Boleyn (c. 1501[1] – 19 May 1536), his second wife and Catherine Howard (c. 1523 – 13 February 1542), his fifth wife. And the beheadings of many others; William, Lord Hastings (1483), Margaret Pole, the Blessed, Countess of Salisbury, born Margaret of York (14 August 1473 – 27 May 1541), Mark Smeaton (beheaded in 1536). Mark Smeaton (c. 1512 – 17 May 1536) was a musician at the court of Henry VIII of England, in the household of Queen Anne Boleyn. Smeaton, the Queen's brother George Boleyn (= Viscount Rochford), Henry Norris, Francis Weston and William Brereton were executed in the Tower of London for alleged treason and adultery with Queen Anne. And Jane Parker, Lady Rochford (in 1542), Jane Boleyn, Viscountess Rochford (c. 1505 – 13 February 1542) was a sister-in-law of King Henry VIII of England. She was the wife of George Boleyn, Viscount Rochford, brother of Henry's second wife, Anne Boleyn. Jane had a small role in the judgments and subsequent executions of her husband and of three of Henry's wives, and was a lady-in-waiting to a fourth. Lady Jane also served as lady-in-waiting to her cousin-in-law, Henry's fifth wife, Catherine Howard, with whom she was executed. Anne Boleyn (c. 1501[1] – 19 May 1536), Henry VIII second wifeCatherine Howard (c. 1523 – 13 February 1542), Henry VIII fifth wifeThomas CromwellThomas Cromwell was beheaded in 1540 there. Thomas Cromwell, 1st Earl of Essex, KG (/ˈkrɒmwəl/ or /ˈkrɒmwɛl/;[1] c. 1485 – 28 July 1540), was an English lawyer and statesman who served as chief minister to King Henry VIII of England from 1532 to 1540. Cromwell was one of the strongest advocates of the English Reformation. He helped to engineer an annulment of the king's marriage to the Spanish princess Catherine of Aragon, in order to allow Henry to marry his mistress Anne Boleyn. After failure to obtain approval from the Pope, in 1534 parliament endorsed the king's claim to be head of a breakaway Church of England. Cromwell subsequently plotted an evangelical, reformist course for the embryonic Church of England from the unique posts of vicegerent in spirituals and vicar-general. During his rise, Cromwell made many enemies, including his former ally Anne Boleyn; he played a prominent role in her downfall. He later fell from power after arranging the king's marriage to a German princess, Anne of Cleves. Cromwell hoped that the marriage would breathe fresh life into the Reformation in England, but it turned into a disaster for Cromwell and ended in annulment just six months later. Cromwell was arraigned under a bill of attainder and executed for treason and heresy on Tower Hill on 28 July 1540. The king later expressed regret at the loss of his chief minister. Lady Lady Jane Grey, who was Englands queen for a couple of days was beheaded in 1554. The Execution of Lady Jane GreyLady Jane Grey (1536/1537 – 12 February 1554), also known as Lady Jane Dudley or The Nine Days' Queen, was an English noblewoman and de facto monarch of England from 10 July until 19 July 1553. The great-granddaughter of Henry VII through his younger daughter Mary, Jane was a first cousin once removed of Edward VI. In May 1553, she was married to Lord Guildford Dudley, a younger son of Edward's chief minister, John Dudley, Duke of Northumberland. When the 15-year-old king lay dying in June 1553, he nominated Jane as successor to the Crown in his will, thus subverting the claims of his half-sisters Mary and Elizabeth under the Third Succession Act. Jane was imprisoned in the Tower of London when the Privy Council decided to change sides and proclaim Mary as queen on 19 July 1553. Jane was convicted of high treason in November 1553, which carried a sentence of death, although her life was initially spared. Wyatt's rebellion of January and February 1554 against Queen Mary I's plans to marry Philip of Spain led to the execution of both Jane and her husband. Lady Jane Grey had an excellent humanist education and a reputation as one of the most learned young women of her day. A committed Protestant, she was posthumously regarded as not only a political victim but also a martyr. Robert Devereux, 2nd Earl of EssexRobert Devereux, 2nd Earl of Essex, KG PC (/ˈdɛvəˌruː/; 10 November 1565 – 25 February 1601) was an English nobleman and a favourite of Elizabeth I. Politically ambitious, and a committed general, he was placed under house arrest following a poor campaign in Ireland during the Nine Years' War in 1599. In 1601 he led an abortive coup d'état against the government and was executed for treason. GhostsThe ghost of Anne Boleyn, beheaded in 1536 for treason against Henry VIII, allegedly haunts the chapel of St Peter ad Vincula, where she is buried, and has been said to walk around the White Tower carrying her head under her arm. Other ghosts include Henry VI, Lady Jane Grey, Margaret Pole, and the Princes in the Tower. In January 1816, a sentry on guard outside the Jewel House claimed to have witnessed an apparition of a bear advancing towards him, and reportedly died of fright a few days later. In October 1817, a tubular, glowing apparition was claimed to have been seen in the Jewel House by the Keeper of the Crown Jewels, Edmund Lenthal Swifte. He said that the apparition hovered over the shoulder of his wife, leading her to exclaim: " Oh, Christ! It has seized me!" Other nameless and formless terrors have been reported, more recently, by night staff at the Tower. Henry VI (6 December 1421 – 21 May 1471) was King of England from 1422 to 1461 and again from 1470 to 1471Henry VI was imprisoned in the Tower of London, in whose Wakefield Tower he died during the night of 21/22 May 1471. In all likelihood, Henry's opponents had kept him alive up to this point rather than leave the Lancasters with a far more formidable leader in Henry's son Edward. According to the Historie of the arrivall of Edward IV, an official chronicle favourable to Edward, Henry died of melancholy on hearing news of the Battle of Tewkesbury and his son's death. It is widely suspected, however, that Edward IV, who was re-crowned the morning following Henry's death, had in fact ordered his murder. The Keeper of the Crown Jewels, Edmund Lenthal Swifte who saw a a tubular, glowing apparition in the Jewel House in October 1817
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Post by pieter on Jul 22, 2014 12:40:03 GMT -7
An American song with a link to historic figure linked to the history of Scotland and England where you are.
Jaga,
This holiday I have seen a lot of documentries, series and British sitcoms with England's history as a background, since my parents are very British (BBC) oriented In the British BBC detectives and thrillers you often see the lovely English landscapes, cottages, hamlets, villages and towns of old England. The bloody history of the Tudor family stand next to the great cultural, literary, architectonic, political, financial-economical and judicial achievements of the English people. The proud Scots had and have their own history and often clashes with the English, but also cooperated with them. Great-Britain is a result of that cooperation and coexistance.
Cheers, Pieter
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Post by pieter on Jul 22, 2014 12:59:15 GMT -7
This tv sitcom we enjoyed during the eighties. I think it was bought from the BBC by the Dutch television, since we couldn't receive the BBC back then. We had an antenna and no cable back then.
And the author Profile: James Herriot
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Post by Jaga on Jul 22, 2014 16:14:09 GMT -7
Pieter, thanks for all the posts. I read with interest about the historical figures in the Tower of London. it was good supplement for what we saw. Our guide was also telling about two sons of king Edward who died as boys suddenly. He also told about some very cruel executions when people did not die suddenly. We also saw a torture chamber..... later we had a dinner with Polish author from London, Joanna Czechowska, after that we took a tube to see Westminster Abbey and Big Ben.
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Post by pieter on Jul 23, 2014 3:18:10 GMT -7
Tower of LondonTower of London, byname the Tower , royal fortress and London landmark. Its buildings and grounds served historically as a royal palace, a political prison, a place of execution, an arsenal, a royal mint, a menagerie, and a public records office. It is located on the north bank of the River Thames, in the extreme western portion of the borough of Tower Hamlets, on the border with the central City of London. Immediately after his coronation (Christmas 1066), William I the Conqueror began to erect fortifications on the site to dominate the indigenous mercantile community and to control access to the Upper Pool of London, the major port area before the construction of docks farther downstream in the 19th century. The central keep—known as the White Tower—was begun about 1078 close inside the old Roman city wall and was built of limestone from Caen in Normandy. During the 12th and 13th centuries the fortifications were extended beyond the city wall, the White Tower becoming the nucleus of a series of concentric defenses enclosing an inner and an outer ward. William I the Conqueror ( 1028 – 9 September 1087) ( en.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_the_Conqueror ) The inner “ curtain” has 13 towers surrounding the White Tower, of which the best known are the Bloody Tower, the Beauchamp Tower, and the Wakefield Tower. The outer curtain is surrounded by the moat, originally fed by the Thames but drained since 1843. The wall outside the moat has embrasures for cannons; beside them, modern artillery pieces are fired ceremonially on state occasions. The whole complex of buildings covers 18 acres (7 hectares). The only entrance from the land is at the southwest corner, from the City; when the river was still a major highway of London, the 13th-century watergate was much used. Its nickname, Traitors’ Gate, derives from the prisoners brought through it to the Tower, which was long used as a state prison. The armouries that now occupy the White Tower, as well as a later 17th-century brick building alongside, house arms and armour from the early Middle Ages to modern times. Much of this collection, which is administered as the Royal Armouries, was moved to a new museum site in Leeds in 1996. The Tower was a royal residence until the 17th century, and from the 13th century to 1834 it housed the Royal Menagerie (the Lion Tower). In the Middle Ages the Tower of London became a prison and place of execution for politically related crimes, with most captives being put to death (murdered or executed) on Tower Green or, outside the castle, in public on Tower Hill. Among those killed there were Sir Simon Burley (in 1388), an adviser and tutor of Richard II; the statesman Edmund Dudley (1510); the humanist Sir Thomas More (1535); the second wife of Henry VIII, Anne Boleyn (1536); Lady Jane Grey and her husband, Lord Guildford Dudley (1554); and the 11th Lord Lovat, Simon Fraser (1747), who was a Scottish Jacobite leader. During World War I several spies were executed there by firing squad. Other notable inmates included Princess Elizabeth (later Elizabeth I), who was briefly imprisoned by Mary I for suspicion of conspiracy; the soldier and conspirator Guy Fawkes; the adventurer Sir Walter Raleigh; and Sir Roger Casement, who was arrested for treason during World War I. In 1483 the adolescent king Edward V and his younger brother were last seen in the Tower before their disappearance and probable murder. Sir Simon Burley (in 1388)Humanist thinker Sir Thomas More (1535) Simon Fraser (1747), Scottish Jacobite leaderUntil 1994 the British crown jewels and regalia were kept in the underground Jewel House; they are now housed in a more spacious aboveground facility. During the 1990s restoration work was carried out in various parts of the Tower, notably in the medieval apartments in Wakefield and St. Thomas’s towers. A military garrison is maintained within the Tower, which with its precincts constitutes a “ liberty” outside local jurisdictions. It is held for the sovereign by a constable, who is now always a field marshal. There is a resident governor, who occupies the 16th-century Queen’s House on Tower Green and is in charge of the yeoman warders, or “ beefeaters,” as they are popularly called. They still wear a Tudor uniform and live within the Tower, and their responsibilities include guiding tours for the Tower’s two million to three million annual visitors. Ravens with clipped wings are kept on the grounds by the yeoman ravenmaster; a tradition dating from the time of King Charles II (reigned 1660–85) states that, should the ravens leave the Tower, the fortification and the state would fall. By the Tower is Tower Bridge (1894), the only central-city bridge across the Thames below London Bridge. The fortress was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. King Charles II (reigned 1660–85)
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Post by pieter on Jul 23, 2014 3:18:46 GMT -7
Tower HamletsTower Hamlets, inner borough of London, England, extending eastward from the Tower of London and including most of the East End of Inner London. The meandering River Thames forms the southern boundary, the City of London lies to the west, Hackney is to the north, and Newham lies beyond the River Lea to the east. Tower Hamlets borough belongs to the historic county of Middlesex. The borough was established in 1965 by amalgamation of the former metropolitan boroughs of Bethnal Green, Poplar, and Stepney. It includes such areas and historic towns as (roughly from west to east) Spitalfields, Whitechapel, Bethnal Green, Wapping, Shadwell, Mile End, Stepney, Limehouse, Old Ford, Bow, Bromley, Poplar, and the Isle of Dogs (with Millwall, the West India Docks, and Cubitt Town). The Thames brought successive waves of immigrants to Tower Hamlets: French Huguenots established silk weaving in Spitalfields after 1685; Irish labourers came to build London’s expanding wet docks after about 1800; and from the 1880s Jews fled the pogroms of eastern and central Europe and established clothing and footwear crafts on Middlesex Street (Petticoat Lane) and on Commercial Street. Bengalis, originally drawn to the area as seamen, settled there in increasing numbers from the 1960s. In the early 21st century, ethnic minorities accounted for nearly half of the borough’s population. The poverty and attendant social problems of the East End have long drawn attention; in the late 19th century William Booth founded the Salvation Army there. Traditionally, the life of the area centred on the wharves along the Thames. Isambard Kingdom Brunel’s steamship Great Eastern was launched at Millwall in 1859, and shipbuilding flourished there until the 1890s. Various roads were cut to the docks, and the now recreational Regent’s Canal linked the borough to northern England by way of the Grand Union Canal. Heavy damage inflicted by German bombing during World War II prompted a first wave of urban renewal, which was dominated by public housing. Dock and wharf closures from the late 1960s prompted a second, privately driven development boom. In the 1980s Canary Wharf and the area of the Isle of Dogs saw much innovative construction as part of the London Docklands redevelopment project. Near the Tower of London, the area of St. Katharine’s Docks (1825–28) was transformed beginning in 1968 by construction of a hotel, a trade centre, apartments, and a marina. In the late 20th century the borough became a centre for newspaper printing and publishing, as many firms relocated there from Fleet Street in the City of London. Several historic buildings survived the wartime bombings, including the Tower, the Royal Mint (no longer in use), All Hallows by the Tower (one of the oldest churches in London, containing a Roman mosaic floor), and three churches designed by Nicholas Hawksmoor—St. Anne (1712–24) in Limehouse, Christ Church (1714–29) in Spitalfields, and St. George in the East (1714–29). In the western part of the borough, the Whitechapel Art Gallery exhibits modern and contemporary works. Notable public open spaces include Victoria Park (in part) and Cemetery Park. Tower Bridge carries traffic across the Thames, and the borough is linked to Southwark by the Rotherhithe Tunnel (1904–08). Farther east, both a pedestrian tunnel and the Blackwall Tunnel provide links with Greenwich. The Tower of London was designated a UNESCO World Heritage site in 1988. Area 7.6 square miles (20 square km). Pop. (2001) 196,106; (2011) 254,096.
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