This is our first news letter. We will try to write one more or less every month from now on, so that friends and family, and other people who are interested, can find out how we are doing. This does not mean that we will send no letters any more, but in this way we can reach people easier. It is very difficult to write regularly to everybody. Besides this, we can also show you some pictures.

We are now one year in England. What is our impression from England? Mmmm, the weather is even worse than in Holland. I think we had 5 or 6 weekends with nice weather, to bike or to walk. Biking in the city is not what you would like to do. There are some biking paths but often you have to bike on the footpath or you share a lane with busses and taxis. Outside Birmingham it is not such a problem although around Birmingham it is not possible to avoid busy roads. A disadvantage is that roads outside the city are often enclosed by hedges, making it difficult to see something of the direct area and to be seen by cars. Biking here is a real exercise, because of the hilly areas, starting right by our house. Paths along the picturesque channels offer another opportunity, both for cycling and for walking.

Birmingham itself is not as bad as we thought or were told. We even think of it as a nice place to live. It has a lot of green, is hilly, there is a new, modern center (worth visiting) and there a several other places to visit. Museums and Art Gallery  is in the city centre and there is a small but fine museum at the university, the Barber Institute of Fine Art (both with free entrance, like many other museums in England). Besides shops and restaurants the new centre also houses the National Sea Life Centre (we specially liked the sea horses and sharks ) and the National Indore Arena. We spent one of our first Sundays in  a very English way with a visit/picnic at the Botanical Gardens were a brassband was playing.

Birmingham is surrounded by nice little villages and cities. We have visited already several, including Warwick and its castle, Worcester (say Woester in Dutch), Great Malvern and Lichtfield with Tudorian houses (Elizabeth I period, 16th century), churches and cathedrals. And there is still a lot we have not seen yet....

Ania, who had planned to finish her Ph.D. in Birmingham could not get a grand to do so, but since february 1999 she has a research job, first for one year. Kees is doing research at calcium stores in pollen tubes, so far with little success. In the next letter we will tell more about our work.