What we did for New Year's.

Since I'm already on brief hiatus from Switzerland travel reporting, I thought I should record for posterity what we did for New Year's. Otherwise it could be February before I get to it! Fortunately for blogging purposes, we didn't do all that much, but we still had a really good time.

On New Year's Eve we went out for dinner and a movie in Oxford. We saw The Holiday, a romantic comedy about Cameron Diaz coming to a village in England for Christmas and meeting Jude Law while Kate Winslet takes her place in Los Angeles and meets Jack Black (doesn't seem like much of a trade, does it?).

The movie was really enjoyable (for David too!) - just a nice, cheerful holiday movie that made us laugh. The American-British aspect made it extra fun, as we could really identify with a lot of the humor!

As another bonus, it had a movie-business theme - Cameron's character's job was making movie previews, Jack Black was a film composer, and Kate Winslet befriended a old man in L.A. who was a screenwriter in the good old days of Hollywood. Naturally, however, Kate Winslet and Jude Law worked in publishing (seems like all British characters in romantic comedies do).

We then went out for a late dinner at our old favorite Italian standby, ASK, which we haven't been to for months. I had a tasty pizza and David had his favorite baked pasta dish, and it was a really nice date. We had considered a taxi but it actually wasn't raining for once, so we headed home on foot and it turned out to be a nice walk.

Back at home, I think we watched CSI or something and then looked in vain for some good countdown TV show like Dick Clark. They had something that seemed to be similar in theme, but with a shrieky host and bad music that made it unwatchable, so we mostly watched the nature channel (thank goodness for documentary UK television!) until midnight.

At midnight they showed the fireworks display in London and WOW! As I mentioned in my post at the time, it was truly awesome. Fireworks were launched from barges in the Thames as well as from the London Eye, all with Big Ben as a backdrop. The show was really long, the booms were really loud, and the colors and designs were just stupendous. We're definitely braving the crowds to see that in person next year.

On New Year's Day, we felt like going sightseeing but not much was open and the weather was really cold and windy, so we had limited options. We ended up going to visit the grave of J.R.R. Tolkien, which is in a nice cemetery sort of near the Trout Inn. Tolkien's grave was interesting to see (but just as nondescript as C.S. Lewis'), and I suppose a cemetery makes a good place for contemplating life in the New Year! Here are some snaps David took:


Cemetery chapel


Grave of Tolkien and his wife


Some very-loved recently departed. Note the one on the right has a pub made of flowers over the headstone and a Budweiser for the afterlife! :)


Some nice monuments that caught David's photographer eye

Wolvercote Cemetery was interesting because it was very large and had graves from all time periods and sections for several different faiths. Tolkien was in the large Catholic section, and there was also a Protestant section, a Jewish section and a Muslim section. We didn't see the Muslim one, but enjoying browsing the Jewish section for a bit.

I don't recall ever visiting a Jewish cemetery before, and it was interesting to see because I'd written an article on Jewish funeral practices a long time ago. Burial with a clear tombstone is important, as being remembered by one's descendants is the only afterlife many Jews believe in. The inscription is normally in Hebrew even if the deceased couldn't read it, and instead of flowers, it is Jewish tradition to leave rocks on graves.

We came across one Jewish grave that was covered in bare earth, and the man had only just died on December 16, 2006. He didn't have any rocks on his grave, which we thought was sad. I managed to find a couple small rocks under a tree nearby and gave them to him. I believe his name was Frank, but I've forgotten and didn't take a picture, so I hope he has someone to remember him!

The rest of New Year's Day was nice and relaxing, with David enjoying his day off (I believe there was a nap involved) and me working/playing on my website as usual. I have such fun working on my websites that it doesn't seem like work at all, so what a blessing it is that it actually pays! It is going to be very hard to put it aside next week, but I will be disciplined and return to Ephesus and German - which aren't so bad, either.

We are both feeling quite optimistic about what 2007 will bring, as it will hopefully include, in no particular order: healthier eating and more exercise (we're doing pretty good so far), a master's degree from Oxford, a new job for David that is closer to home and has paid holidays, continued growth in web income with corresponding reduction in our substantial debt, lots more travel, and some more visits from family and friends. Our best wishes (a bit belated) to everyone for a happy and healthy New Year, too!