Monday, January 31, 2011

National Media Museum



This weekend, we went to the National Media Museum in Bradford. It was really impressive--I couldn't believe it was free. In the basement, they had a gallery on photography that covered everything from the camera obscura and Daguerrotypes to Polaroids and digital cameras. On the main floor, there was a games area with classic arcade games like Space Invaders and TV console games like Donkey Kong & Super Mario Bros.

Floors 2 & 3 were both devoted to current exhibits, which happened to be on photography, too. The 4th floor was devoted to TV and BBC news production (they had some really cool early TV sets), and it had some great interactive stuff (a blue screen and a teleprompter to play with). The 5th floor had a section for kids that we skipped, and a nice gallery on animation history. It had an original set from a Wallace & Gromit movie that I actually had seen, so that was cool. The 6th floor was all about TV, and there were quite a lot of references that I didn't get--it made me realize how important media is to understanding national culture (and this, coming from a communications postgrad student)! I thought I knew all about Britain and British TV by now, but there are some things you'd have to be a native to know (especially references to children's shows). The 7th floor showed the IMAX projection room--the reels of film are massive. Each one lasts an hour, and it's way bigger than normal film.
It was crazy! Apparently, the bulk makes it too heavy for normal film reels, so they use these huge platters--a 2 1/2 hour film weighs 551 lbs! Yikes!

I can't say that many nice things about Bradford (Leeds-Bradford is like Seattle-Tacoma...), but this museum was definitely worth the trip to Bradford!


Friday, January 28, 2011

Fish & Chips at the Market


On my cafe crawl earlier this week, I made a detour to the market for lunch (and to see the kittens at the pet stall!)
Graveley's really is a nice, authentic chip shop (4.50 for fish & chips)

Sunday, January 23, 2011

Addingham

Me at my desk back in November--just hadn't posted it yet
The Crown Inn, where we had a lovely Sunday roast
The staff were all very friendly and we ate in a cozy little side room with a fireplace :)
A park along Main Street
Addingham's public library. We also saw a really cool specialty place for collectible children's books, TP Children's Bookshop, but it's only open on Fri & Sat, 10am-4pm!


A mile marker near Addingham

Sunday, January 16, 2011

Harrogate

This was the lounge in the ladies' room at Betty's, the posh tea room/cafe in Harrogate. Pretty elaborate for a bathroom!
St. Peter's Church in the city centre

The Yorkshire Hotel

Friday, January 7, 2011

Amsterdam


Harbour outside the Amsterdam Central Station

Bicycle parking lot--see how the bike lane is about the same size as the road!

Central station

Canal cruise boats

Tram system

Department store


Madame Tussad's

The palace is under reconstruction...




Bloemenmarkt flower market



The Rijksmuseum

Entrance to the Rijksmuseum

The American Book Center



Shopping area

View from the canal cruise boat

The harbour--see how flat the land is!


This was a replica of a sunken ship--it was built as part of a job creation scheme in the 1980's, giving 400 local artists & craftspeople jobs, and it's a maritime museum.

Warehouses in the port







Houseboat--note the grass growing on top!





The one in the middle is the Anne Frank house--just for you, Mom :)






3 story parking garage for bikes behind central station--the cyclists seriously own this city!