November was ALL about birthdays! My and James' birthdays are just 9 days apart, so for the last two years we've been celebrating them together. This year was decidedly quieter than last - we still had the traditional (well, for James it's tradition) birthday curry but only invited a fraction of the number that we did last year, so the party was just under 10 versus the 25 or so last year. It was nicer though, b/c we could actually talk to everyone at the table. After dinner we went to an American-themed bar up the street and to my surprise they were playing the Ohio State game on their lone TV! I was so excited and promptly became very anti-social as I was mesmerised. They were playing Wisconsin and it was a close one - thankfully we won as I would have been devastated if we lost the one game I could actually watch.
We held the birthday curry between our two birthdays, so before that we had a small celebration for James' birthday, which happily was on a Saturday. When I asked him what he wanted to do on the day, he sent me an itinerary which included breakfast, at least two naps, a museum and a pub. I had to double check to be sure he was turning 29 and not 49, with a birthday like that! :) We had already booked breakfast at the Wolseley, a posh restaurant near Piccadilly (we went last year too) to celebrate both his birthday and the second anniversary of our meeting, which happened to be on his birthday too. The breakfast was delicious as usual, and I nearly had to be rolled out of the restaurant after my eyes were bigger than my stomach and I ordered the full serving of eggs benedict rather than half. Afterwards we returned home and took the first of the aforementioned naps, but not before I gave him his present - a voucher for a helicopter flying lesson. He hasn't taken it yet as I'm sure he'll want to wait for the weather to warm up, but I can't wait for him to do it. After the nap we met Iain and Sacha at the Imperial War Museum which was so well done and we all enjoyed it so much that we stayed until closing and missed the second nap! James didn't seem too bothered though as we headed straight to the pub for a few pints before making a fairly early night of it.
My birthday fell on a Monday, which I have decided is the worst day of the week to have a birthday, and I wish that I had decided to take the day off. However, I was planning on taking the entire month of December off instead, so the last bit of November was very busy trying to get as many loose ends tied off as possible. I did manage to leave at exactly 17.30 (the earliest in months), and James and I went shopping for a watch - his present to me. It took a while but I finally picked a nice one that wouldn't slip down my wrist (random but this was my number one priority as I get annoyed with watches that slide around on my wrist). Then he made me a nice dinner AND did the dishes! (usually we share the duties)
Other than work and birthdays, I did do a few other things of note in November - James and I went to the Wildlife Photographer of the Year exhibit at the Natural History Museum for the second year in a row. The photos were amazing but overall I liked last year's collection better. We also went to a couple of concerts in the last two weeks of the month - Jimmy Eat World and Frightened Rabbit (this was actually on 1 December but hey). Jimmy is one of James' favourite bands so he loved that show. I thought it was good as well, but I definitely liked Frightened Rabbit better, although the venue wasn't as good for the show and I couldn't see very well. The band who opened for them was called Admiral Fallow - we liked every one of their songs and decided to buy the album, and then purchased tickets to their next show in London! Not often that happens with an opening band, but they were particularly good. Frightened Rabbit was superb - they really changed the way they played most of their songs so that the show was a different experience than listening to the album.
That's about it for November, mostly a lot of work in preparation for my month o' holiday in December - more on that in the next entry!
Heather xoxo
Tuesday, December 21, 2010
Monday, December 20, 2010
October 2010 - babies and a British jack-o-lantern
October was a lovely, busy month, although it began in a sad way. One of James' cousins was killed in a hit and run accident ten years ago in Rome, and his aunt and uncle held a memorial service on 2 October, as their local church had finally allowed a stone to be installed where his ashes had been buried in the church yard (it had been a point of contention before as the church yard was supposedly "too full"). The day started out sunny and warm and James and I met his mum, dad, sister and granny for a pub lunch before heading to the church. By the time of the service it was fittingly rainy and chilly. The service was perfect - the priest said a few words about Nick, James' deceased cousin, and a short prayer after which we could choose to stay in silence and reflect. I quickly found a nearby bench as I had made the poor decision to wear heels and they were sinking into the wet earth. James' poor mum had a hard time with it - she disappeared fairly soon after the service and we didn't see much of her at the reception James' aunt and uncle held at their house afterwards. The reception was lovely and I got to meet James' new second cousin (if that's what it is? His cousin's baby anyway) for the first time - he was about two months old and so precious.
Speaking of babies, the beginning of October brought two other little ones into our lives - our close friends in London had a baby boy named Ewan on 6 October, and one of my best friends in Kansas City had a little girl named Clare on 14 October. It's been so special to spend time with both of them - it still amazes me to think that they didn't exist a year ago, and that we were all that little at one point. James is very sweet with Ewan too, he's very tender but not afraid or nervous like many people are who aren't used to being around babies. We visited Ewan about a week after he was born and James of course brought his camera - our friends liked the pictures so much that they invited us back so James could take more for their Christmas cards! James was so pleased to be asked (of course I wasn't surprised as he's a fantastic photographer), and I was excited to spend more time with the baby!
The beginning of October marked the end of the lease at Andrea and my flat, and James took Andrea's place! Andrea had started dating a girl during the year whom he wanted to move in with, and since I didn't want to live with another stranger and James was on a month-to-month lease at his old flat, we decided it would be the best option for him to move in. The move was the quickest I've ever done - we started at 10 and were done by noon, and half of that was driving across town! The man with the van was excellent - if anyone's looking for a mover in London I know a good one. :) It's been so nice living with James, I was a little nervous at first as I'd never lived with a boyfriend before but it feels very natural, and is SO nice not to have to travel an hour to see each other! I think James is quite pleased as well b/c this flat is nicer than his old flat and I'm tidier than his old roommates, and his commute is quicker and more pleasant. So far so good….very good in fact. :)
The following weekend James and I headed to his parents house in Drimpton to celebrate James', his mum's, and my birthdays. Although his mum's birthday is in October, mine and James' aren't until November but it was his parents' last weekend in the UK before leaving for New Zealand so we got an early celebration. As always in Drimpton, it was a quiet, relaxing weekend. James' mum, sister and I went to a course called "Looking Good, Feeling Good" taught by an image consultant at Dillington House, one of those grand old English country houses. It was all about dressing for your body shape, proportions, and colours - fun but I didn't feel like I learned anything earth shattering. Although it was interesting to realise why I like certain clothes more than others - they're the right colours for my skin tone! The rest of the weekend was spent eating, taking strolls through the charming English countryside, and giving gifts - James and I gave his mum a gift certificate to a spa in NZ and I made homemade vouchers in place of the boring internet ones, and I got some girly lotions and cute cupcake holders that look like tea cups!
When we returned to London that Sunday James' cousin Iain and his girlfriend Sacha arrived a few hours later - they had moved to London from NZ a few weeks ago and had been staying in a friend's living room but were having trouble finding a flat, so we offered them our new spare bedroom while they searched. They ended up staying about 3 weeks and were the best houseguests we could have asked for! Iain was still job-searching so he played house husband to the other three of us and cooked for us nearly every night! He even did some cleaning while we were there - I felt very spoiled by the time they found a flat and left. We introduced them to the British comedy show Peep Show - they loved it so much that we watched it nearly every night during those three weeks, in preparation for the new season that starts in December. Sacha and I became quite good friends while they were there and it's been nice having a girlfriend to go to the gym and shopping with. Except now I'm shopping much more, and she always talks me into getting things, so maybe not so great on my wallet! :)
October ended as usual with Halloween (and the British lack of celebration), but I did have my first British jack-o-lantern! Iain and Sacha were so thoughtful and bought a pumpkin for me since they thought I probably didn't do much celebrating in the UK, so I carved it into a scary face and lit a candle in it for about a week. Made me feel more at home and so happy.
Heather xoxo
Speaking of babies, the beginning of October brought two other little ones into our lives - our close friends in London had a baby boy named Ewan on 6 October, and one of my best friends in Kansas City had a little girl named Clare on 14 October. It's been so special to spend time with both of them - it still amazes me to think that they didn't exist a year ago, and that we were all that little at one point. James is very sweet with Ewan too, he's very tender but not afraid or nervous like many people are who aren't used to being around babies. We visited Ewan about a week after he was born and James of course brought his camera - our friends liked the pictures so much that they invited us back so James could take more for their Christmas cards! James was so pleased to be asked (of course I wasn't surprised as he's a fantastic photographer), and I was excited to spend more time with the baby!
The beginning of October marked the end of the lease at Andrea and my flat, and James took Andrea's place! Andrea had started dating a girl during the year whom he wanted to move in with, and since I didn't want to live with another stranger and James was on a month-to-month lease at his old flat, we decided it would be the best option for him to move in. The move was the quickest I've ever done - we started at 10 and were done by noon, and half of that was driving across town! The man with the van was excellent - if anyone's looking for a mover in London I know a good one. :) It's been so nice living with James, I was a little nervous at first as I'd never lived with a boyfriend before but it feels very natural, and is SO nice not to have to travel an hour to see each other! I think James is quite pleased as well b/c this flat is nicer than his old flat and I'm tidier than his old roommates, and his commute is quicker and more pleasant. So far so good….very good in fact. :)
The following weekend James and I headed to his parents house in Drimpton to celebrate James', his mum's, and my birthdays. Although his mum's birthday is in October, mine and James' aren't until November but it was his parents' last weekend in the UK before leaving for New Zealand so we got an early celebration. As always in Drimpton, it was a quiet, relaxing weekend. James' mum, sister and I went to a course called "Looking Good, Feeling Good" taught by an image consultant at Dillington House, one of those grand old English country houses. It was all about dressing for your body shape, proportions, and colours - fun but I didn't feel like I learned anything earth shattering. Although it was interesting to realise why I like certain clothes more than others - they're the right colours for my skin tone! The rest of the weekend was spent eating, taking strolls through the charming English countryside, and giving gifts - James and I gave his mum a gift certificate to a spa in NZ and I made homemade vouchers in place of the boring internet ones, and I got some girly lotions and cute cupcake holders that look like tea cups!
When we returned to London that Sunday James' cousin Iain and his girlfriend Sacha arrived a few hours later - they had moved to London from NZ a few weeks ago and had been staying in a friend's living room but were having trouble finding a flat, so we offered them our new spare bedroom while they searched. They ended up staying about 3 weeks and were the best houseguests we could have asked for! Iain was still job-searching so he played house husband to the other three of us and cooked for us nearly every night! He even did some cleaning while we were there - I felt very spoiled by the time they found a flat and left. We introduced them to the British comedy show Peep Show - they loved it so much that we watched it nearly every night during those three weeks, in preparation for the new season that starts in December. Sacha and I became quite good friends while they were there and it's been nice having a girlfriend to go to the gym and shopping with. Except now I'm shopping much more, and she always talks me into getting things, so maybe not so great on my wallet! :)
October ended as usual with Halloween (and the British lack of celebration), but I did have my first British jack-o-lantern! Iain and Sacha were so thoughtful and bought a pumpkin for me since they thought I probably didn't do much celebrating in the UK, so I carved it into a scary face and lit a candle in it for about a week. Made me feel more at home and so happy.
Heather xoxo
Sunday, November 7, 2010
September 2010 - Ohio and early Christmas
So many things happened in September! It was quite a busy month, but mostly in the good way, fortunately not too much with work. On the very first day of September, James and I went to the Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London. I had booked us to go several months before as they have a very archaic system of reserving tickets where you have to send a letter in the post (not email, nor phone) in which you suggest several dates that you can go and they send a reply letter with your tickets for one of those days. My family and I had gone last summer during their visit to London, and I thought it was a unique way to see the Tower and wanted James to experience it as well. I thought the yeoman who did the introduction and tour wasn't as good as the one last year, but it was still quite interesting and fun, and James seemed to enjoy it.
That weekend James and I met up with a small group for his friend Nicola's birthday – just a few drinks in the pub, and then we ended up in this weird underground bar where all of the furniture was concrete. Very edgy and industrial. In the end we couldn't find a place around the area that stayed open past midnight so we all went home early! Quite nice to get a good night's sleep. Oh gosh I can't belive I just said that – I'm getting so old!
The following Wednesday (date night), James and I went to see a Canadian band called Wintersleep for the second time in a pub near my place. Once again I felt slightly out of place amongst all of the British as I was the only one properly dancing to any of the songs – and God forbid you put your hands in the air! The band even made a joke about how the crowd was loud “for London”. Ah well, I am quite happy to be the freak who dances at concerts :)
That Friday James and I left for a week long holiday in Ohio! We had planned this trip to revolve around the Ohio State football game that my parents had tickets to, and it just so happened that my mom's birthday fell within the week as well. Actually the game was for her birthday – I'm not that terrible of a daughter. As this was James' first trip to Ohio (the poor guy – his first trips to the States have been KC and Ohio – not the most glamorous of places, but some of the best in my book!), we had a lot of people to see and things to eat. But first was the game – the morning after we arrived we headed to Columbus for a tailgate breakfast/lunch, then headed into the Horseshoe for the game. We played Miami FL and fortunately we won, otherwise it would have been a very poor start to the week. Although I've tried to explain the rules during the few games that we've watched together on TV, James still printed out 11 pages from the internet on American football rules! He did seem to understand what was going on during the game a little better though, so it was worth it. I had an awesome time cheering on the Buckeyes and was so pleased to be there with James and my parents.
The next day one of my grandma's friends invited us to her lake house, and I jumped at the chance – it was still hot in Ohio at the time and I wanted to enjoy the sun while I was away from dreary London! We all spent the day there after church – James, Megan, my dad and I all took turns on the jetski (it was James's first time on a jetski and now he can't stop talking about it!), and at the end of the day we all took a lazy ride in her pontoon boat. Brilliant, relaxing day.
That Tuesday was mom's birthday, and a massive group of us went to the local Mexican restaurant to celebrate. The food was so good – I wolfed it down about twice as fast as I normally eat. At the end of the meal the waiters brought out the sombrero for mom to wear while we all sang happy birthday - she looked hilarious but awesome of course! Apparently she only agreed to the sombrero b/c we were in the back room of the restaurant where no one could see her, and then James posted the pictures on facebook – brilliant!
During our trip James and I also went to observe my dad in surgery, we watched two cataract surgeries and this time they had little cameras set up so that we could see exactly what my dad was seeing – last time I had to use the second set of microscopes to see the detail. It was just as cool as last time and made me feel so proud of my dad. The rest of the time at home James and I spent playing wii, sleeping, and eating – very relaxing and stress-free. The night before we left my mom organised a little party so that she could show James off to our friends who hadn't had the chance to meet him yet. :) It was really good to see everyone and spend the time gossiping and catching up.
We flew back to London the next day and I spent an hour and a half in the longest line I've ever seen at the UK border. Of course my registration for the iris scan (which gets me in without the queue) had just expired the week before with my original visa, and the last two times I had been to the airport the offices had been closed for me to re-register. Helpfully, the office is past security in the terminals so you can only register on your flight out. I was so frustrated, and felt bad for James, who just had to wait for me in baggage claim since there had barely been anyone in the UK/EU line. Oh well, all's well that ends well I suppose.
The first Monday back at work I got the good news that I had been promoted, along with a meager raise and bonus! I was pleased about the promotion, but also somewhat reluctant – in exchange for the better title I had agreed to go back to mainstream audit from the consulting role I had been doing, to manage audits. So far in London my most miserable times at work have been while doing audits, so I wasn't too keen on it but played the game anyway and now I'm an ultra-important Assistant Manager. As I write, a month and a half into the promotion, I'm even less keen on the role but hey, the title looks better on a CV right? :) However, in spite of my deep-rooted bitterness about my job it was still very nice to be recognised for my hard work.
The last weekend in September we had the McClea Christmas do. It was odd to have a Christmas celebration three months in advance of the actual holiday, but since James's parents are in New Zealand for half of the year, they decided that this was the only time of year when they could get the extended family together to celebrate. I met the last of the McCleas that I hadn't yet met (other than the Kiwi relatives, whom I will have to wait to meet – at least those who haven't come to London) – cousins Charlie and Olivia, and Charlie's gf Miranda. Also got to meet SJ's new boyfriend Tony, who was really good fun and felt like he fit right into the family. We did a secret santa gift exchange with the theme of “green”, and luckily the presents weren't too awful! I ended up with some pepper and lettuce seeds that I can grow at home. The best was the green martian t-shirt that James's posh solicitor uncle ended up with – this is the guy who shows up to everything in a suit and tie! He did try it on for everyone for a laugh, and I'm sure that is the first and last time he's ever worn a t-shirt. We also played charades and my turn was rather embarrassing – I got “Jane Eyre”, and I was trying to have them guess it by how it sounds, but I thought Eyre was pronounced “eyer”, and the British say it “air”. So it was a bit of a disaster and James's dad had to help me, but we got there in the end. I'm still not sure whether it was a difference in American-British pronunciation or if I just didn't know how to say it! You can bet on the day I chalked it all up to British-American differences though! :)
That's about it for September, pretty busy month but happy busy.
Hope all is well back home, lots of love!
Heather
PS – photos on facebook of Ohio if you fancy a look...
That weekend James and I met up with a small group for his friend Nicola's birthday – just a few drinks in the pub, and then we ended up in this weird underground bar where all of the furniture was concrete. Very edgy and industrial. In the end we couldn't find a place around the area that stayed open past midnight so we all went home early! Quite nice to get a good night's sleep. Oh gosh I can't belive I just said that – I'm getting so old!
The following Wednesday (date night), James and I went to see a Canadian band called Wintersleep for the second time in a pub near my place. Once again I felt slightly out of place amongst all of the British as I was the only one properly dancing to any of the songs – and God forbid you put your hands in the air! The band even made a joke about how the crowd was loud “for London”. Ah well, I am quite happy to be the freak who dances at concerts :)
That Friday James and I left for a week long holiday in Ohio! We had planned this trip to revolve around the Ohio State football game that my parents had tickets to, and it just so happened that my mom's birthday fell within the week as well. Actually the game was for her birthday – I'm not that terrible of a daughter. As this was James' first trip to Ohio (the poor guy – his first trips to the States have been KC and Ohio – not the most glamorous of places, but some of the best in my book!), we had a lot of people to see and things to eat. But first was the game – the morning after we arrived we headed to Columbus for a tailgate breakfast/lunch, then headed into the Horseshoe for the game. We played Miami FL and fortunately we won, otherwise it would have been a very poor start to the week. Although I've tried to explain the rules during the few games that we've watched together on TV, James still printed out 11 pages from the internet on American football rules! He did seem to understand what was going on during the game a little better though, so it was worth it. I had an awesome time cheering on the Buckeyes and was so pleased to be there with James and my parents.
The next day one of my grandma's friends invited us to her lake house, and I jumped at the chance – it was still hot in Ohio at the time and I wanted to enjoy the sun while I was away from dreary London! We all spent the day there after church – James, Megan, my dad and I all took turns on the jetski (it was James's first time on a jetski and now he can't stop talking about it!), and at the end of the day we all took a lazy ride in her pontoon boat. Brilliant, relaxing day.
That Tuesday was mom's birthday, and a massive group of us went to the local Mexican restaurant to celebrate. The food was so good – I wolfed it down about twice as fast as I normally eat. At the end of the meal the waiters brought out the sombrero for mom to wear while we all sang happy birthday - she looked hilarious but awesome of course! Apparently she only agreed to the sombrero b/c we were in the back room of the restaurant where no one could see her, and then James posted the pictures on facebook – brilliant!
During our trip James and I also went to observe my dad in surgery, we watched two cataract surgeries and this time they had little cameras set up so that we could see exactly what my dad was seeing – last time I had to use the second set of microscopes to see the detail. It was just as cool as last time and made me feel so proud of my dad. The rest of the time at home James and I spent playing wii, sleeping, and eating – very relaxing and stress-free. The night before we left my mom organised a little party so that she could show James off to our friends who hadn't had the chance to meet him yet. :) It was really good to see everyone and spend the time gossiping and catching up.
We flew back to London the next day and I spent an hour and a half in the longest line I've ever seen at the UK border. Of course my registration for the iris scan (which gets me in without the queue) had just expired the week before with my original visa, and the last two times I had been to the airport the offices had been closed for me to re-register. Helpfully, the office is past security in the terminals so you can only register on your flight out. I was so frustrated, and felt bad for James, who just had to wait for me in baggage claim since there had barely been anyone in the UK/EU line. Oh well, all's well that ends well I suppose.
The first Monday back at work I got the good news that I had been promoted, along with a meager raise and bonus! I was pleased about the promotion, but also somewhat reluctant – in exchange for the better title I had agreed to go back to mainstream audit from the consulting role I had been doing, to manage audits. So far in London my most miserable times at work have been while doing audits, so I wasn't too keen on it but played the game anyway and now I'm an ultra-important Assistant Manager. As I write, a month and a half into the promotion, I'm even less keen on the role but hey, the title looks better on a CV right? :) However, in spite of my deep-rooted bitterness about my job it was still very nice to be recognised for my hard work.
The last weekend in September we had the McClea Christmas do. It was odd to have a Christmas celebration three months in advance of the actual holiday, but since James's parents are in New Zealand for half of the year, they decided that this was the only time of year when they could get the extended family together to celebrate. I met the last of the McCleas that I hadn't yet met (other than the Kiwi relatives, whom I will have to wait to meet – at least those who haven't come to London) – cousins Charlie and Olivia, and Charlie's gf Miranda. Also got to meet SJ's new boyfriend Tony, who was really good fun and felt like he fit right into the family. We did a secret santa gift exchange with the theme of “green”, and luckily the presents weren't too awful! I ended up with some pepper and lettuce seeds that I can grow at home. The best was the green martian t-shirt that James's posh solicitor uncle ended up with – this is the guy who shows up to everything in a suit and tie! He did try it on for everyone for a laugh, and I'm sure that is the first and last time he's ever worn a t-shirt. We also played charades and my turn was rather embarrassing – I got “Jane Eyre”, and I was trying to have them guess it by how it sounds, but I thought Eyre was pronounced “eyer”, and the British say it “air”. So it was a bit of a disaster and James's dad had to help me, but we got there in the end. I'm still not sure whether it was a difference in American-British pronunciation or if I just didn't know how to say it! You can bet on the day I chalked it all up to British-American differences though! :)
That's about it for September, pretty busy month but happy busy.
Hope all is well back home, lots of love!
Heather
PS – photos on facebook of Ohio if you fancy a look...
Monday, September 27, 2010
August 2010 - Scotland, new job for James
Things finally slowed down in August, thankfully. The month started out as best as it could – on holiday with James! We decided to go to Scotland for a week and started things out in Edinburgh. We arrived on a Sunday afternoon and spent the rest of the day hiking to the top of a large hill where we took in the gorgeous views over the city and the near-by ocean inlet (sea loch, as they call them in Scotland). The next day was a touristy day – we visited Edinburgh castle to see the Scottish crown jewels and a surprisingly interesting Scottish military museum (my favourite were all the old school army recruitment posters), as well as more commanding views of the city. We then made our way down the Royal Mile – a stretch of road that spans between the castle and Holyrood Palace (where the queen stays when visiting Edinburgh). There was St. Mary's cathedral where John Knox, the calvinist reformer, preached back in the day (and who has a very cool last name), and we also stopped in the National Museum of Scotland. We were surprised by how well done the museum was and ran out of time to see everything that we wanted before closing time – how often does that happen in a history museum? :)
On Tuesday we started off on a guided tour of the highlands. We felt a little out of place on our mini bus full of tourists who were either over 60 years old or Asian and barely able to communicate in English. But we had decided on the tour b/c I didn't want to drive on the left side of the road, James hadn't driven a car in 4+ years, and the trains were a headache to navigate. It was pretty cheesy at times – our guide wore a kilt, spoke a bit of the native Gaelic to us, and played “traditional” Scottish songs almost non-stop for the entire three days, but he was very knowledgeable and I imagine we learned heaps more than if we had done a self-guided tour.
The first day we made our way from east to west across Scotland, up the coast of Loch Lomond and all the way to the Isle of Skye off the west coast. Just before we reached the Isle we stopped at a castle on the coast called Eilean Donan – it's the one that's in all the photographs and movies about Scotland - breathtaking. We ended up missing the opening time by about five minutes so couldn't go inside, but we did have a good wander around the outside, and learned that it is the clan castle of the McRaes, and one of James's grandmothers is a McRae!
Just before crossing the bridge to the Isle we passed through a town where we were stopped by a herd of highland cattle in the road - these are those beautiful cattle with the long shaggy hair and long horns – so cool! One of them had a calf that was absolutely adorable. The Asian tourists kept trying to stand next to the cows to get a picture, and I'm still surprised that one of them wasn't gored. Our guide kept shouting at them to keep clear, but obviously they couldn't understand or just chose to ignore him. On the Isle we stayed in one of the worst hotels I've ever stayed in, although it did have comparatively nice food. The tour company had booked the hotels for us, and it wasn't a place they normally use. Hopefully after the feedback that our group gave they won't be using it again. That evening on the Isle James and I took a short hike across the beach and up to the ruins of a medieval castle. The sun set just as we made our way to the castle, and we got some gorgeous views of the ocean and the small town in the sunset. Making our way back in the dark was a little tricky though!
The next day we spent the majority of the day touring round the Isle, where we stopped at the old family home of the MacDonalds, the clan who is traditionally from the Isle of Skye. The house was charming but fairly run down, and the gardens were fantastic – a wonderland of plants and streams and waterfalls. We crossed back to the mainland from the Isle on a ferry and made our way to Fort William, a small town near the coast to stay for the night. On the way we passed by the rail bridge that was used in the Harry Potter films for the Hogwarts Express! I was such a kid about it - taking photos and hoping a train would cross - but James of course was completely uninterested (he shockingly has never read any of the books). The B&B the second night was thankfully miles better than the first hotel - charming with high ceilings and a newly remodeled bathroom - such a relief after that terrible place the night before.
The next morning commenced the last day of our tour and we began with an early morning hike (they call it a “walk” in Britain b/c – surprise – it really is just walking) up the side of one of the nearby mountains. We didn't go to the summit so it was only about 15 minutes each way, but absolutely gorgeous every second. It culminated in a mountain valley with a waterfall at the other end. Pretty amazing with the morning sun behind it. The only downside to the hike was that I got overly ambitious while crossly a small stream, slipped on a wet rock, and really bruised my bum! It was so painful to complete the rest of the hike, and then sit on the bus for another few hours. Honestly I could still feel it for about two weeks – couldn't do yoga properly and stuff. How embarrassing.
That afternoon we made our way up the coast of Loch Ness (didn't see the monster, although we all secretly had our eyes pealed), and around through the highlands back to Edinburgh. A recurring theme throughout our tour was the Jacobites (a group of rebels who were loyal to a different royal line than is still on the throne today) and their last leader, Bonnie Prince Charlie, so it was interesting to return to the National Museum of Scotland the next day and learn so much more about these people we had been hearing about non-stop for three days. We spent a large part of that last day in the museum, then went to a few comedy shows. There is a famous festival in Edinburgh that goes for the entire month of August, and part of it is a massive comedy festival. So James and I bought tickets to a couple of shows (make that three after I accidentally purchased the wrong evening's tickets for one of them – what an idiot), and had a night o' comedy for our last night in Scotland. We saw a really young kid who was funny but seemed to think that the more he swore the funnier he'd be, and another chap who we had seen in London and quite enjoyed.
Our B&B those last two nights in Edinburgh was amazing. It was five star, our room was brand new with a four poster bed, and we got a massive menu for breakfast, including eggs benedict! I would highly recommend it to anyone going to Edinburgh as it's not overly expensive for what you get – it's called Amar Agua guest house.
The last day in Edinburgh was a bit of a write off as we had the train to catch around one, so we just hung out in a tiny pub by the station for a few hours (and then got kicked out for staying too long – so much for Scottish hospitality!). Scotland was really fantastic though, I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind the cold – even in August it was cold and rainy! Other than that Edinburgh's a terribly charming city and the highlands have such gorgeous scenery, I was blown away by the beauty. I really thought it was going to be pretty barren with a few rolling hills, but there are proper mountains up there!
The week we returned to London James started his new job – he's at a sports betting company where he'll be doing group financial reporting. It's sad not to have him around GT anymore, but I know he's much happier at the new place. Jeez I just made it sound like he died or something, talking about him in a better place! As I write it's been about six weeks since he started and he says he loves it, so I'm very happy for him.
That weekend we soaked up the fleeting British summer sunshine at a friend's BBQ in Balham, and the weekend after that I had a posh afternoon tea for a friend's baby shower (Caroline, one of James's old flatmates who coincidently married one of his old work mates) at a lovely hotel near Green Park. The hotel had one of those living walls outside – so cool!
Well that's all of the stories for August, but I have some more word translations! These are mostly in the spirit of The Great British Pastime: gardening. English people are especially obsessed with their gardens, it's quite cute.
Aubergine = eggplant
Courgette = zucchini
Marrow = butternut/acorn/summer/yellow squash
Diversion = detour (ok that's not a gardening word but hey)
Love to all,
Heather xoxo
PS don't forget there are photos of our adventures on facebook if you'd like to see them.
On Tuesday we started off on a guided tour of the highlands. We felt a little out of place on our mini bus full of tourists who were either over 60 years old or Asian and barely able to communicate in English. But we had decided on the tour b/c I didn't want to drive on the left side of the road, James hadn't driven a car in 4+ years, and the trains were a headache to navigate. It was pretty cheesy at times – our guide wore a kilt, spoke a bit of the native Gaelic to us, and played “traditional” Scottish songs almost non-stop for the entire three days, but he was very knowledgeable and I imagine we learned heaps more than if we had done a self-guided tour.
The first day we made our way from east to west across Scotland, up the coast of Loch Lomond and all the way to the Isle of Skye off the west coast. Just before we reached the Isle we stopped at a castle on the coast called Eilean Donan – it's the one that's in all the photographs and movies about Scotland - breathtaking. We ended up missing the opening time by about five minutes so couldn't go inside, but we did have a good wander around the outside, and learned that it is the clan castle of the McRaes, and one of James's grandmothers is a McRae!
Just before crossing the bridge to the Isle we passed through a town where we were stopped by a herd of highland cattle in the road - these are those beautiful cattle with the long shaggy hair and long horns – so cool! One of them had a calf that was absolutely adorable. The Asian tourists kept trying to stand next to the cows to get a picture, and I'm still surprised that one of them wasn't gored. Our guide kept shouting at them to keep clear, but obviously they couldn't understand or just chose to ignore him. On the Isle we stayed in one of the worst hotels I've ever stayed in, although it did have comparatively nice food. The tour company had booked the hotels for us, and it wasn't a place they normally use. Hopefully after the feedback that our group gave they won't be using it again. That evening on the Isle James and I took a short hike across the beach and up to the ruins of a medieval castle. The sun set just as we made our way to the castle, and we got some gorgeous views of the ocean and the small town in the sunset. Making our way back in the dark was a little tricky though!
The next day we spent the majority of the day touring round the Isle, where we stopped at the old family home of the MacDonalds, the clan who is traditionally from the Isle of Skye. The house was charming but fairly run down, and the gardens were fantastic – a wonderland of plants and streams and waterfalls. We crossed back to the mainland from the Isle on a ferry and made our way to Fort William, a small town near the coast to stay for the night. On the way we passed by the rail bridge that was used in the Harry Potter films for the Hogwarts Express! I was such a kid about it - taking photos and hoping a train would cross - but James of course was completely uninterested (he shockingly has never read any of the books). The B&B the second night was thankfully miles better than the first hotel - charming with high ceilings and a newly remodeled bathroom - such a relief after that terrible place the night before.
The next morning commenced the last day of our tour and we began with an early morning hike (they call it a “walk” in Britain b/c – surprise – it really is just walking) up the side of one of the nearby mountains. We didn't go to the summit so it was only about 15 minutes each way, but absolutely gorgeous every second. It culminated in a mountain valley with a waterfall at the other end. Pretty amazing with the morning sun behind it. The only downside to the hike was that I got overly ambitious while crossly a small stream, slipped on a wet rock, and really bruised my bum! It was so painful to complete the rest of the hike, and then sit on the bus for another few hours. Honestly I could still feel it for about two weeks – couldn't do yoga properly and stuff. How embarrassing.
That afternoon we made our way up the coast of Loch Ness (didn't see the monster, although we all secretly had our eyes pealed), and around through the highlands back to Edinburgh. A recurring theme throughout our tour was the Jacobites (a group of rebels who were loyal to a different royal line than is still on the throne today) and their last leader, Bonnie Prince Charlie, so it was interesting to return to the National Museum of Scotland the next day and learn so much more about these people we had been hearing about non-stop for three days. We spent a large part of that last day in the museum, then went to a few comedy shows. There is a famous festival in Edinburgh that goes for the entire month of August, and part of it is a massive comedy festival. So James and I bought tickets to a couple of shows (make that three after I accidentally purchased the wrong evening's tickets for one of them – what an idiot), and had a night o' comedy for our last night in Scotland. We saw a really young kid who was funny but seemed to think that the more he swore the funnier he'd be, and another chap who we had seen in London and quite enjoyed.
Our B&B those last two nights in Edinburgh was amazing. It was five star, our room was brand new with a four poster bed, and we got a massive menu for breakfast, including eggs benedict! I would highly recommend it to anyone going to Edinburgh as it's not overly expensive for what you get – it's called Amar Agua guest house.
The last day in Edinburgh was a bit of a write off as we had the train to catch around one, so we just hung out in a tiny pub by the station for a few hours (and then got kicked out for staying too long – so much for Scottish hospitality!). Scotland was really fantastic though, I'd recommend it to anyone who doesn't mind the cold – even in August it was cold and rainy! Other than that Edinburgh's a terribly charming city and the highlands have such gorgeous scenery, I was blown away by the beauty. I really thought it was going to be pretty barren with a few rolling hills, but there are proper mountains up there!
The week we returned to London James started his new job – he's at a sports betting company where he'll be doing group financial reporting. It's sad not to have him around GT anymore, but I know he's much happier at the new place. Jeez I just made it sound like he died or something, talking about him in a better place! As I write it's been about six weeks since he started and he says he loves it, so I'm very happy for him.
That weekend we soaked up the fleeting British summer sunshine at a friend's BBQ in Balham, and the weekend after that I had a posh afternoon tea for a friend's baby shower (Caroline, one of James's old flatmates who coincidently married one of his old work mates) at a lovely hotel near Green Park. The hotel had one of those living walls outside – so cool!
Well that's all of the stories for August, but I have some more word translations! These are mostly in the spirit of The Great British Pastime: gardening. English people are especially obsessed with their gardens, it's quite cute.
Aubergine = eggplant
Courgette = zucchini
Marrow = butternut/acorn/summer/yellow squash
Diversion = detour (ok that's not a gardening word but hey)
Love to all,
Heather xoxo
PS don't forget there are photos of our adventures on facebook if you'd like to see them.
Tuesday, August 31, 2010
July 2010 - Switzerland, Austria, Germany, Paris...and back to Yorkshire
July was another busy month at work, but counterbalanced with a week's holiday with my family, and a long weekend away with James's family. Before all of that though, during the weekend of the fourth James and I went down to his parents's house in Dorset for another family birthday celebration - this time for his sister's 27th. Since it also happened to be American independence day, his mum did his best to make me feel at home by cooking a BBQ of hamburgers and sausages, and even went to the trouble of making little American flags out of internet print-outs and toothpicks and hanging them all over the house. It was very sweet and made me feel so special. James's sister brought her new boyfriend down for the weekend (the first time she's ever brought someone to meet the family since I've been dating James), but she's since broken up with him. I thought he was pretty nice but she thought he tried a bit too hard. Which he did, but hey. That weekend we went to the restaurant of a famous TV chef called River Cottage Canteen (the restaurant, not the chef), in the country near his parents's place. There is a farm attached to the restaurant and everything served in the restaurant comes straight from the farm, so it's very fresh. It was very delicious food and we all left very stuffed.
The following weekend I flew to Zurich to meet my family, who had flown over for two weeks from the States! Not everyone had come, but mom, dad, Meg, Tim, Tim's girlfriend Elisha, and grandma were all there. The itinerary was Switzerland, Austria, Hannover, Paris, then London for the last few days. In Switzerland we went from Zurich to Interlaken, the small town that I had visited on my backpacking trip in 2005. The train ride there was gorgeous - it wound all the way around a mountain lake so made for some amazing views. Interlaken was just as stunning and charming as I remembered it to be - gorgeous views of the Jungfrau and everything in walking distance. It was unseasonably hot though, around 90 degrees the entire time! I felt bad for my family b/c they had come from that weather in Ohio and were looking forward to getting some relief in the mountains, but no such luck. I didn't mind since it never gets that hot in London, and enjoyed not being cold for once.
We stayed in Interlaken only one day, and spent the entire next day traveling to Austria via Munich on one of the busiest trains I have ever been on – I felt like I was on one of the cattle car type carriages you see in India in the movies. Coupled with 90 degree heat and no air conditioning, it was quickly turning ugly. Fortunately my mom suddenly realised she had booked our rail cards in first class, so we all made a mad dash for the front carriages. Not much cooler, but much more peaceful. Our original plans were to stay in Munich for four days, but a few days before we left we were invited by the family of the exchange student who had lived with my family for the last year, Clemens, to stay in their mountain house in Austria. We couldn't really say no, since we all wanted to meet his family, plus it was free and they also had a car for us to use while we were there! My family had grown quite close to Clemens during the year that he lived with them, so my mom was already missing him even though he had only been back in Austria for a month. The first night his family came up to have dinner and get us settled into the house - they are lovely people and it was so nice to spend the evening with them. Their mountain house was fantastic and it ended up being the most relaxing part of the trip. The scenery in the mountains was absolutely breathtaking - every morning I'd walk onto the back deck and be blown away by the view. It was exactly like the opening scene in the Sound of Music!
During the four days that we were in Austria we made a day trip to Salzburg, and another day trip to two famous castles (the Cinderella castle!) in the Bavarian region of Germany. Salzburg was lovely but it was so hot that day that I was worn out very quickly. We did a walking tour from our guide book through the old town, which was lovely but quite German, if you know what I mean. Not as beautiful as Paris, let's just say. Still worth a visit though. After the walking tour most of the family went on a Sound of Music bike tour, but grandma and I decided to forego the bikes and sit in a pub for a few hours and drink coffees and beers - we were tired.
A couple of days later we took a very long but very scenic drive through the mountains to the site of two very touristy castles in Bavaria - Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Neuschwanstein is the castle that inspired Walt Disney in the creation of the Cinderella castle, which is probably why it's so popular, at least with Americans. They are beautiful castles though, and we did the tour of them both. The builder of the newer of the two - Neuschwantein - was Mad King Ludwig who was obsessed with Richard Wagner's operas. He had nearly every room decorated in the theme of a different opera - one was even a cave complete with stalactites and stalagmites! It was weird to walk through that one after endless rooms of 19th century opulence. On the way back to the car we got a bit lost and ended up going on a bit of a nature hike, but made it in the end and I think it ended up being a bit of a short cut. That day was another scorcher, so by the end of the day we were all sticky and so tired - it was a long day but well worth it.
The last night in Austria we went down the mountain to have dinner with Clemens in his hometown of Kufstein, about a 30 minute drive from the mountain house. We ate at a restaurant that had a pond in the back, and the fish on the menu were caught fresh every day. My mom, dad, and grandma ordered the fish, and it came out as a whole fish - head and eyes and all! I was so glad I hadn't ordered it, although they did say it was delicious. I had some traditional Austrian spinach dumplings, which were good but very filling. That night when leaving Clemen's driveway my dad backed into their gate and knocked the side mirror loose on the car his family had lent us - oopsie.
We left Austria after four relatively peaceful days bound for Hannover, Germany by train, and arrived midday. We spent the day sightseeing around the town, which didn't take long as it's a fairly industrial city and there isn't much to see. The Germans had even conveniently painted a “red thread” on the ground to guide you through all of the sites in the city – gotta love their efficiency. We made it to most of the places on the thread, including the city hall which offered good sites of the city from the tower which you reached by a curved elevator, and most impressively (or so I thought), inside the hall were four large models of the city from different eras – 1600s, 1930s before the war, 1945, and modern day. The 1945 model was shocking – per the history books over 90% of Hannover was destroyed in the war (makes sense seeing as how it was a major industrial site), and the depiction of the devastation was very arresting. I couldn't see how anyone could have lived in the rubble, b/c that was all that was left.
We ended the day in Hannover on a fairly negative note when my grandma and I got into a bit of a tiff – mostly just family drama brought to a head by the stress of traveling. Fortunately it ended well, although I think she's still getting over it. We left at about 10 or 11 that evening on an overnight train bound for Paris. None of us had ever been on a night train before, so were excited to see what it would be like. Especially since we had first class tickets – we wanted to see how posh it was! Not hugely, as it turns out, although we didn't see the standard class cabins. The cabins slept three each, and since there were seven of us one person had to sleep with a couple of strangers – my dad volunteered. There was hardly room to turn around in these cabins, but somehow they had managed to squeeze in three bunk beds and a small wash basin. The toilet and shower were shared by the car and ours happened to reek of urine, which meant we all went without showers that night. Except my dad, who really isn't picky.
We arrived in Paris on Saturday morning, and made our way to Nord station where we were to meet James who was arriving on the Eurostar from London for the weekend. After collecting everyone, we made our way to the cutest little hotel in Paris – called Hotel Relais Bousquet, near the Eiffel Tower. Anyone going to Paris should stay here – I know I will when I go back! It isn't too expensive, the staff are friendly and fluent in English, and the rooms are really lovely. After a few showers we had baguette sandwiches at a little outdoor cafe down the street (and felt so Parisian!), then went to the catacombs – miles of underground tunnels where they moved thousands of skeletons from city cemeteries when diseases started to spread from them. It was pretty creepy but the boys loved it. The next day we took a cruise down the Seine, hopping off to stroll through Notre Dame, then the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. That evening James and I went back to London, and work the next day. The rest of the family stayed in Paris for a few days and then came to London for the last few days, where I managed to squeeze everyone into my flat! I took off the two days they were here and we went to Windsor where we toured the castle and met James's parents for lunch, and the next day did the aquarium, London Eye (although only Tim and Elisha had a ride), and took a long walk through St. James's Park and past Buckingham Palace. It was very sad to see them off the next morning but also a bit of a relief. The trip was fun but fairly stressful with all of those people, and as I was the most experienced traveler in Europe at times I felt like a bit of a tour guide. I think everyone else was worn out as well b/c they said that next time we will only do one or two places, and just stay for a few days! I missed them so much though when I returned to my empty, quiet flat.
That weekend was a nice distraction from missing my family as I spent it with James's family! The 26th was his parents's 30th wedding anniversary, and they had rented a very peaceful and posh lakeside “eco cabin” outside a tiny village in Yorkshire. James and I and his sister took off the Monday to have a long weekend of relaxing lie-ins, afternoons of watching the swans and funny little ducks in the lakes, and lots of good food. It was a nice respite from the hectic traveling from the previous two weeks. The cabin was nice too – a new build so everything was very modern and slick, except the “eco” thing meant there was limited hot water – only about 5 minute showers! Let's just say I didn't shave my legs that weekend. :) On the Saturday we all went to visit the ruins of Richmond castle, and on Sunday we visited a beautiful arboretum that also had a falconry. We went for one of the flying shows and it was so cool! They have to fly the birds for exercise so have made a little show of it for the public. They flew a kestrel, an owl, and a peregrine falcon. The falcon was definitely the best b/c it was the fastest and flew the highest. SJ and I even got to have the kestrel perch on our hands! After the flying show we had a better look around the falconry, which also happened to have numerous other animals about, including a family of meerkats who had a tiny little baby amongst them! It was the most adorable thing to watch it scamper after its parents (or brothers or sisters – whoever they were). After the arboretum we met James's aunt and uncle for afternoon tea. These were some of the only family members that I hadn't yet met, so they gave me the traditional 20 questions. It was lovely to finally meet them though, now the only ones I haven't met are the ones in New Zealand – will have to make an excuse to visit! On the Monday James's parents exchanged anniversary gifts (his mum got loads of lovely pearls for the pearl anniversary), and then we sadly had to say goodbye.
And I'm afraid I'm going to have to say goodbye as well, it is late and I have an early train to catch to a client!
Cheerio and lots of love,
Heather xoxo
The following weekend I flew to Zurich to meet my family, who had flown over for two weeks from the States! Not everyone had come, but mom, dad, Meg, Tim, Tim's girlfriend Elisha, and grandma were all there. The itinerary was Switzerland, Austria, Hannover, Paris, then London for the last few days. In Switzerland we went from Zurich to Interlaken, the small town that I had visited on my backpacking trip in 2005. The train ride there was gorgeous - it wound all the way around a mountain lake so made for some amazing views. Interlaken was just as stunning and charming as I remembered it to be - gorgeous views of the Jungfrau and everything in walking distance. It was unseasonably hot though, around 90 degrees the entire time! I felt bad for my family b/c they had come from that weather in Ohio and were looking forward to getting some relief in the mountains, but no such luck. I didn't mind since it never gets that hot in London, and enjoyed not being cold for once.
We stayed in Interlaken only one day, and spent the entire next day traveling to Austria via Munich on one of the busiest trains I have ever been on – I felt like I was on one of the cattle car type carriages you see in India in the movies. Coupled with 90 degree heat and no air conditioning, it was quickly turning ugly. Fortunately my mom suddenly realised she had booked our rail cards in first class, so we all made a mad dash for the front carriages. Not much cooler, but much more peaceful. Our original plans were to stay in Munich for four days, but a few days before we left we were invited by the family of the exchange student who had lived with my family for the last year, Clemens, to stay in their mountain house in Austria. We couldn't really say no, since we all wanted to meet his family, plus it was free and they also had a car for us to use while we were there! My family had grown quite close to Clemens during the year that he lived with them, so my mom was already missing him even though he had only been back in Austria for a month. The first night his family came up to have dinner and get us settled into the house - they are lovely people and it was so nice to spend the evening with them. Their mountain house was fantastic and it ended up being the most relaxing part of the trip. The scenery in the mountains was absolutely breathtaking - every morning I'd walk onto the back deck and be blown away by the view. It was exactly like the opening scene in the Sound of Music!
During the four days that we were in Austria we made a day trip to Salzburg, and another day trip to two famous castles (the Cinderella castle!) in the Bavarian region of Germany. Salzburg was lovely but it was so hot that day that I was worn out very quickly. We did a walking tour from our guide book through the old town, which was lovely but quite German, if you know what I mean. Not as beautiful as Paris, let's just say. Still worth a visit though. After the walking tour most of the family went on a Sound of Music bike tour, but grandma and I decided to forego the bikes and sit in a pub for a few hours and drink coffees and beers - we were tired.
A couple of days later we took a very long but very scenic drive through the mountains to the site of two very touristy castles in Bavaria - Hohenschwangau and Neuschwanstein. Neuschwanstein is the castle that inspired Walt Disney in the creation of the Cinderella castle, which is probably why it's so popular, at least with Americans. They are beautiful castles though, and we did the tour of them both. The builder of the newer of the two - Neuschwantein - was Mad King Ludwig who was obsessed with Richard Wagner's operas. He had nearly every room decorated in the theme of a different opera - one was even a cave complete with stalactites and stalagmites! It was weird to walk through that one after endless rooms of 19th century opulence. On the way back to the car we got a bit lost and ended up going on a bit of a nature hike, but made it in the end and I think it ended up being a bit of a short cut. That day was another scorcher, so by the end of the day we were all sticky and so tired - it was a long day but well worth it.
The last night in Austria we went down the mountain to have dinner with Clemens in his hometown of Kufstein, about a 30 minute drive from the mountain house. We ate at a restaurant that had a pond in the back, and the fish on the menu were caught fresh every day. My mom, dad, and grandma ordered the fish, and it came out as a whole fish - head and eyes and all! I was so glad I hadn't ordered it, although they did say it was delicious. I had some traditional Austrian spinach dumplings, which were good but very filling. That night when leaving Clemen's driveway my dad backed into their gate and knocked the side mirror loose on the car his family had lent us - oopsie.
We left Austria after four relatively peaceful days bound for Hannover, Germany by train, and arrived midday. We spent the day sightseeing around the town, which didn't take long as it's a fairly industrial city and there isn't much to see. The Germans had even conveniently painted a “red thread” on the ground to guide you through all of the sites in the city – gotta love their efficiency. We made it to most of the places on the thread, including the city hall which offered good sites of the city from the tower which you reached by a curved elevator, and most impressively (or so I thought), inside the hall were four large models of the city from different eras – 1600s, 1930s before the war, 1945, and modern day. The 1945 model was shocking – per the history books over 90% of Hannover was destroyed in the war (makes sense seeing as how it was a major industrial site), and the depiction of the devastation was very arresting. I couldn't see how anyone could have lived in the rubble, b/c that was all that was left.
We ended the day in Hannover on a fairly negative note when my grandma and I got into a bit of a tiff – mostly just family drama brought to a head by the stress of traveling. Fortunately it ended well, although I think she's still getting over it. We left at about 10 or 11 that evening on an overnight train bound for Paris. None of us had ever been on a night train before, so were excited to see what it would be like. Especially since we had first class tickets – we wanted to see how posh it was! Not hugely, as it turns out, although we didn't see the standard class cabins. The cabins slept three each, and since there were seven of us one person had to sleep with a couple of strangers – my dad volunteered. There was hardly room to turn around in these cabins, but somehow they had managed to squeeze in three bunk beds and a small wash basin. The toilet and shower were shared by the car and ours happened to reek of urine, which meant we all went without showers that night. Except my dad, who really isn't picky.
We arrived in Paris on Saturday morning, and made our way to Nord station where we were to meet James who was arriving on the Eurostar from London for the weekend. After collecting everyone, we made our way to the cutest little hotel in Paris – called Hotel Relais Bousquet, near the Eiffel Tower. Anyone going to Paris should stay here – I know I will when I go back! It isn't too expensive, the staff are friendly and fluent in English, and the rooms are really lovely. After a few showers we had baguette sandwiches at a little outdoor cafe down the street (and felt so Parisian!), then went to the catacombs – miles of underground tunnels where they moved thousands of skeletons from city cemeteries when diseases started to spread from them. It was pretty creepy but the boys loved it. The next day we took a cruise down the Seine, hopping off to stroll through Notre Dame, then the Champs-Elysees and the Arc de Triomphe. That evening James and I went back to London, and work the next day. The rest of the family stayed in Paris for a few days and then came to London for the last few days, where I managed to squeeze everyone into my flat! I took off the two days they were here and we went to Windsor where we toured the castle and met James's parents for lunch, and the next day did the aquarium, London Eye (although only Tim and Elisha had a ride), and took a long walk through St. James's Park and past Buckingham Palace. It was very sad to see them off the next morning but also a bit of a relief. The trip was fun but fairly stressful with all of those people, and as I was the most experienced traveler in Europe at times I felt like a bit of a tour guide. I think everyone else was worn out as well b/c they said that next time we will only do one or two places, and just stay for a few days! I missed them so much though when I returned to my empty, quiet flat.
That weekend was a nice distraction from missing my family as I spent it with James's family! The 26th was his parents's 30th wedding anniversary, and they had rented a very peaceful and posh lakeside “eco cabin” outside a tiny village in Yorkshire. James and I and his sister took off the Monday to have a long weekend of relaxing lie-ins, afternoons of watching the swans and funny little ducks in the lakes, and lots of good food. It was a nice respite from the hectic traveling from the previous two weeks. The cabin was nice too – a new build so everything was very modern and slick, except the “eco” thing meant there was limited hot water – only about 5 minute showers! Let's just say I didn't shave my legs that weekend. :) On the Saturday we all went to visit the ruins of Richmond castle, and on Sunday we visited a beautiful arboretum that also had a falconry. We went for one of the flying shows and it was so cool! They have to fly the birds for exercise so have made a little show of it for the public. They flew a kestrel, an owl, and a peregrine falcon. The falcon was definitely the best b/c it was the fastest and flew the highest. SJ and I even got to have the kestrel perch on our hands! After the flying show we had a better look around the falconry, which also happened to have numerous other animals about, including a family of meerkats who had a tiny little baby amongst them! It was the most adorable thing to watch it scamper after its parents (or brothers or sisters – whoever they were). After the arboretum we met James's aunt and uncle for afternoon tea. These were some of the only family members that I hadn't yet met, so they gave me the traditional 20 questions. It was lovely to finally meet them though, now the only ones I haven't met are the ones in New Zealand – will have to make an excuse to visit! On the Monday James's parents exchanged anniversary gifts (his mum got loads of lovely pearls for the pearl anniversary), and then we sadly had to say goodbye.
And I'm afraid I'm going to have to say goodbye as well, it is late and I have an early train to catch to a client!
Cheerio and lots of love,
Heather xoxo
Saturday, August 28, 2010
June 2010 - Soccer and headstands
June was a fairly quiet month socially, because it was the month from hell at work. I picked up a new audit (taking into account that I haven't really been doing audits for the past 1.5 years, but more consulting type work) that I got involved in b/c it had a US GAAP element, and the CFO of the company was very demanding and a bit of a bully. Just reminded me of how much I don't want to do audit and made me appreciate the work I've been doing instead. Oh well, it's over now. Until next year that is...meh.
I did get a couple of days out in June to go to the corporate training facility for a three day “development centre”. I felt privileged to go as you have to be nominated to go, but I had heard some stories that it was pretty intense. It was, but not terrible. Basically you just do a load of roleplays, a report and a presentation, and there are some senior managers and HR people that tell you what you need to improve upon to get promoted to manager. It was nice b/c I'd never taken that much time to consider things like what motivates me or how I learn and how I can translate those into the work I do to make it more meaningful. Granted I don't think anything would every make audit more meaningful but hey. It was a good few days overall, and I met some cool people from other offices, which is always nice.
The world cup was on during June, which was pretty exciting to be a part of in Europe. It's such a non-event in the US – someone here just couldn't believe how complacent the Americans are about it and asked me, “Even in '94 when you guys hosted it?” I just blinked at him – I didn't even know that we had hosted it at all! Anyway it is a BIG event here. For some reason they let England, Wales, Scotland, and N. Ireland compete as separate nations even though they are the same country, but England is usually the only one to make it to the final, as it happened this year as well. All of the English were very excited about this, but typical of the English self-defeatist mentality, most people openly admitted that they didn't expect England to win. Can you imagine an American saying that they didn't expect their team to win? I mean at something we're actually good at (b/c the English are pretty good) – it would be like admitting that our basketball team competing in the Olympics isn't very good and probably won't win. I guess this is the main thing I miss about sports in Britain vs sports in America – the passion! There is so much more passion in American sports fans, and yes, it may look a little bit mental at times, but it's so much more fun! I admit, the English had their football hooligans a few years back, and I reckon some of them still exist, but that really is mental, not fun. I went to a big pub for one of the England games with James and his friends, and found it all incredibly boring how everyone celebrated for a goal – a quick little hoorah and then back to relative silence. Maybe it's just me but I love going absolutely crazy when my team scores, and keeping the crazy going for at least a few minutes following the goal. I think this is just another example of the small cultural divide between the Yanks and the Brits – we're just louder. And I love it.
Other than the festivities for the world cup I did manage to get to a birthday/housewarming party of a friend from work, and my grandma's friend from home came to Europe with her daughter and stopped at my flat for a few days. It was good to be around some fellow Americans, and it was her daughter's first trip to Europe so was good to see her first impressions. We went to see Legally Blonde the musical, which was actually better than I was expecting – they really capitalised on the whole dumb blonde sorority girl thing and made it funny. The main song had a chorus of “Oh my God, oh my God you guys” - awesome! It was with these two friends that I was walking when I stumbled across something spectacular – Chipotle!! It was late in the evening so it had already closed, but I made a pilgrimage back that weekend and felt like I heard the angels singing when I walked through the door – it really was Chipotle! I asked the man behind the counter if it was the only one in London, and he said it was the only one in Europe! [I just realised that I've ended the last four sentences with an exclamation point, but I was seriously excited] And it had something even better – they gave you the choice of brown or white rice, which I've never seen in an American Chipotle. I savoured that massive burrito for as long as I could make it last, mmmmm.
Also during June I made a big accomplishment in yoga – I did my first full headstand! I was very proud b/c it's one of those things that when I started doing yoga I thought I would never be able to do and watched enviously as the more experienced ones in my classes would do them. But now I can do it! I can't hold it for very long, but hey – that's why they call it a practice, right?
That's about it for June. I'm on a roll this weekend – May and June done, now just need to squeeze July in and I'll be caught up! And then it will be another three months until I write the August entry. :)
Love to all, miss you guys,
Heather xoxo
I did get a couple of days out in June to go to the corporate training facility for a three day “development centre”. I felt privileged to go as you have to be nominated to go, but I had heard some stories that it was pretty intense. It was, but not terrible. Basically you just do a load of roleplays, a report and a presentation, and there are some senior managers and HR people that tell you what you need to improve upon to get promoted to manager. It was nice b/c I'd never taken that much time to consider things like what motivates me or how I learn and how I can translate those into the work I do to make it more meaningful. Granted I don't think anything would every make audit more meaningful but hey. It was a good few days overall, and I met some cool people from other offices, which is always nice.
The world cup was on during June, which was pretty exciting to be a part of in Europe. It's such a non-event in the US – someone here just couldn't believe how complacent the Americans are about it and asked me, “Even in '94 when you guys hosted it?” I just blinked at him – I didn't even know that we had hosted it at all! Anyway it is a BIG event here. For some reason they let England, Wales, Scotland, and N. Ireland compete as separate nations even though they are the same country, but England is usually the only one to make it to the final, as it happened this year as well. All of the English were very excited about this, but typical of the English self-defeatist mentality, most people openly admitted that they didn't expect England to win. Can you imagine an American saying that they didn't expect their team to win? I mean at something we're actually good at (b/c the English are pretty good) – it would be like admitting that our basketball team competing in the Olympics isn't very good and probably won't win. I guess this is the main thing I miss about sports in Britain vs sports in America – the passion! There is so much more passion in American sports fans, and yes, it may look a little bit mental at times, but it's so much more fun! I admit, the English had their football hooligans a few years back, and I reckon some of them still exist, but that really is mental, not fun. I went to a big pub for one of the England games with James and his friends, and found it all incredibly boring how everyone celebrated for a goal – a quick little hoorah and then back to relative silence. Maybe it's just me but I love going absolutely crazy when my team scores, and keeping the crazy going for at least a few minutes following the goal. I think this is just another example of the small cultural divide between the Yanks and the Brits – we're just louder. And I love it.
Other than the festivities for the world cup I did manage to get to a birthday/housewarming party of a friend from work, and my grandma's friend from home came to Europe with her daughter and stopped at my flat for a few days. It was good to be around some fellow Americans, and it was her daughter's first trip to Europe so was good to see her first impressions. We went to see Legally Blonde the musical, which was actually better than I was expecting – they really capitalised on the whole dumb blonde sorority girl thing and made it funny. The main song had a chorus of “Oh my God, oh my God you guys” - awesome! It was with these two friends that I was walking when I stumbled across something spectacular – Chipotle!! It was late in the evening so it had already closed, but I made a pilgrimage back that weekend and felt like I heard the angels singing when I walked through the door – it really was Chipotle! I asked the man behind the counter if it was the only one in London, and he said it was the only one in Europe! [I just realised that I've ended the last four sentences with an exclamation point, but I was seriously excited] And it had something even better – they gave you the choice of brown or white rice, which I've never seen in an American Chipotle. I savoured that massive burrito for as long as I could make it last, mmmmm.
Also during June I made a big accomplishment in yoga – I did my first full headstand! I was very proud b/c it's one of those things that when I started doing yoga I thought I would never be able to do and watched enviously as the more experienced ones in my classes would do them. But now I can do it! I can't hold it for very long, but hey – that's why they call it a practice, right?
That's about it for June. I'm on a roll this weekend – May and June done, now just need to squeeze July in and I'll be caught up! And then it will be another three months until I write the August entry. :)
Love to all, miss you guys,
Heather xoxo
Friday, August 27, 2010
May 2010 - Stockholm, concerts, and sunshine
Wow. The summer has been busy I guess, considering my silence for the last three months. Well May started out in Stockholm, where James and I went for the first bank holiday weekend to visit Lina, Mattias, and their girls. We took off the Friday (and had the Monday off for the holiday), so it was a lovely long weekend. As it turned out a few girls from work and one of their sisters planned a trip to Stockholm on the same weekend, so it was a fun group trip – they even stayed in our same hotel! Friday evening we had dinner at Lina and Mattias's, and I met their youngest Svea for the first time. She is adorable and looks more like Lina than Astrid does. It was amazing too how much Astrid had grown up in the year and a half since I had seen her last. They were both a barrel of fun – just before they went to bed Astrid started shouting “disco dancing!” and they put music on and everyone danced around the flat for a few minutes! It was hilarious, apparently they do this every night as one last hurrah (or maybe to tire the girls out before bed :). Saturday we took a boat ride out into the archipelago to Mattias's family's country house. It was so cold on the sea! But Lina and Mattias brought us ski jackets and pants – we laughed at first but were so glad to have them in the end! It was beautiful scenery though, a very nice little trip. At one point we hit an underwater rock with the motor and then it wouldn't start for a bit – I was kind of nervous that we would be stuck there! It was fine in the end though, just a few minutes delay. I think Mattias might hear it from his dad though, as it was his boat. Sunday and Monday James and I spent walking around Stockholm seeing the sights, it is a beautiful city and James loved it (he had never been before). Saturday night we had a big fancy dinner with the girls from work and Lina and Mattias at a posh restaurant – apparently there was a famous Swedish footballer at the next table but only Lina and Mattias recognised him. It was sad to leave Stockholm but I can't wait to go back.
Early in May was also the big election in Britain, when the ruling Labour party lost to a coalition of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. I have heard it said that the most conservative politician in Britain is still not as conservative as the most liberal politician in the States, and I think it's got some truth behind it. This is a fairly socialist country after all. But I was pleased to see the Conservatives take power, at least they may be able to get the national budget under some sort of control. Everyone here was very excited about the election – didn't seem to have quite the hype of the American presidential election, but close. Especially when the conservative party didn't make a clean sweep with the votes and had to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, everyone seemed to be on pins and needles to see what would happen. Lots of people in the office that day were following it live on the internet. I couldn't vote as I'm not a citizen, but it was fun to observe. Now that it's about 100 days after the election that I'm writing, it doesn't seem like the new government has done a great deal but hey. How much can you really expect? Politicians are the same the world over.
That weekend I went on a pub crawl with a bunch of people from work. It was a Monopoly pub crawl, so you try to hit every place on a monopoly board. I didn't realise it before then but there is a different board in Britain than the States. Most of the places are in London, so it's feasible to do in one day (if you start at 9 am like the rest of them did – James and I met up later). It would be difficult to do the American monopoly pub crawl, seeing as how most of the places are states. It would get expensive with the flights. Anyway I think there are 24 places on the board and we made it to about 20, drinking a half pint in each pub. It was fun but some of the people were on a mission and made it more about getting to all of the places than hanging out and seeing friends. I didn't think it was as fun as it could have been but hey. Was still good to see everyone.
In the middle of May James and I made our way down to his parents' house in Dorset to celebrate his dad's birthday. As it always is in the tiny village that they live in, it was a super relaxing, quiet weekend. Lots of delicious food and sleep. His dad got a bike just before his birthday, so most of the presents were cycling-themed – helmet, light reflecting gear, etc. After he opened them all he modeled everything for us – hilarious!
The Monday following our return to London from Dorset James and I went to a concert of a Canadian band called Wintersleep. It was in the upstairs bit of a pub near King's Cross, so a very small, intimate venue. The opening band was a bit weird but Wintersleep was amazing. They sing this song called Weighty Ghost – my favourite. I danced around like a hippy to that one – I stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the reserved Britons, who keep all signs of exuberance to calmly swaying back and forth or maybe bopping their heads.
That week also saw the last of my fashion classes, it was sad to end but a good experience. I'm not sure how much I really learned about fashion buying/retailing/merchandising, but it gave me a taste of something other than accounting, which is what I was after. I'd love to do a job in the field someday, even though it seems like a pretty competitive industry.
The weekend after my last class I went to the wedding of a friend from work. The wedding was held at Leeds Castle, this beautiful castle surrounded by a moat – very medieval. It's a fair way from London so the bride and groom had arranged for a coach to take all of their friends from London down to the wedding. Seems simple enough but our driver was such an idiot. When we finally made it to the castle he nearly smashed into the security guard's car, and ran over a few construction cones. Other than the special driver the evening was fantastic – we had only been invited to the “evening reception” (pretty much the C list of friends – we arrived after the wedding and the meal), but managed to dance the night away and it was kind of her to invite us at all seeing as how we're only work colleagues. When the sun had set, mist started to rise off the moat, and the castle looked like a fairy tale with the way the light shone through the mist. Of course every castle in Britain looks like a fairy tale to an American.
Later that week I tried Bikram yoga for the first time. This is the yoga where they heat the room to about 90 degrees, to aid in flexibility and the release of toxins from the body, or some such malarky. Even though I've been practicing yoga for years I had never tried this before, as I had the impression that people who practice Bikram are more competitive and arrogant that other yogis. I didn't notice any of this when I went, but it still wasn't a pleasant experience compared to other types of yoga, at least to me. The classroom was massive and very crowded – probably about 60 people in the room, no music, and hot (obviously) – there were huge fans on either side of the room that noisily blew hot air over everyone. The instructor wore a microphone – bc the room was so massive and the fans so noisy you would never hear them otherwise, and the routine that they led us through was regimented and we weren't given the chance to take the poses into more advanced variations, and from what the friends that I went with tell me, it's the exact same routine every time. Basically it felt like I was doing yoga in hell, bc of the heat, no music, and the instructor barking instructions at us. I haven't been back but am glad that I at least gave it a go. I'm much happier with my small classes at normal temperatures, even if they don't always play music.
That weekend James and I went to Blackpool to visit his best friend from school Russ and his wife Emma. Russ has been in prison for a few months due to a car accident that he was in in which the other driver died. He is in a low security prison and is allowed home leave and town visits on some weekends – this one happened to be one when we could visit. Blackpool is a seaside town that used to be the big place to holiday in the 50s or so but is a very has-been town nowadays. There are still carnivals rides and cheesy attractions, but it all feels very seedy. It didn't help that the day we were there it rained almost continually, shocking for Britain I know. It was really good to see Russ and Emma though, they seem to be doing well in spite of the situation. As I write this in August, he doesn't have long until he gets out – next month I think.
In spite of the rain in Blackpool, one of the best parts of May was all the sunshine! The British spring is very rainy and gloomy, so the sunshine in May was such a welcome change. It sounds daft, but it really does make my spirits soar when the weather is nice. And in Britain you know you have to take advantage when it is nice – there are precious few days in the year that it is warm at all, compared to the sweltering heat and humidity that I am used to in the Midwestern American summers.
The very last day in May I went to another concert with James, this time an older American band called Sunny Day Real Estate was playing. They are an early 90s band who are sometimes credited with starting the emo genre of music, but they sound nothing like today's emo bands. They split up ages ago but got back together for this limited tour, and this was the first time they had played in Britain. I wasn't that fussed by them but James loves them so I went along. The show had been delayed by the flight disruption caused by the erupting volcano, so the original opening band wasn't able to play. All that was mentioned was a “special guest” would be playing in their place. The venue was the same place that we had gone for the Idlewild concert, so once again James and I got there fairly early since we were coming from work. We were in the back having a few sips of beer when the opening band came on, and we didn't really pay much attention. Then they started playing, and I realised it was Biffy Clyro, one of my favourite bands! They are apparently big fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, and had agreed to open this show as a favour. They didn't have their full band, but just played some acoustic versions of a few of their songs. It was amazing – Biffy Clyro are quite famous in Britain, it would be like having Coldplay open for a pretty no-name band. It was such a good surprise and the best part of the show for me, as well as a fantastic end to the month of May.
Heather xoxo
Early in May was also the big election in Britain, when the ruling Labour party lost to a coalition of the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats. I have heard it said that the most conservative politician in Britain is still not as conservative as the most liberal politician in the States, and I think it's got some truth behind it. This is a fairly socialist country after all. But I was pleased to see the Conservatives take power, at least they may be able to get the national budget under some sort of control. Everyone here was very excited about the election – didn't seem to have quite the hype of the American presidential election, but close. Especially when the conservative party didn't make a clean sweep with the votes and had to form a coalition with the Liberal Democrats, everyone seemed to be on pins and needles to see what would happen. Lots of people in the office that day were following it live on the internet. I couldn't vote as I'm not a citizen, but it was fun to observe. Now that it's about 100 days after the election that I'm writing, it doesn't seem like the new government has done a great deal but hey. How much can you really expect? Politicians are the same the world over.
That weekend I went on a pub crawl with a bunch of people from work. It was a Monopoly pub crawl, so you try to hit every place on a monopoly board. I didn't realise it before then but there is a different board in Britain than the States. Most of the places are in London, so it's feasible to do in one day (if you start at 9 am like the rest of them did – James and I met up later). It would be difficult to do the American monopoly pub crawl, seeing as how most of the places are states. It would get expensive with the flights. Anyway I think there are 24 places on the board and we made it to about 20, drinking a half pint in each pub. It was fun but some of the people were on a mission and made it more about getting to all of the places than hanging out and seeing friends. I didn't think it was as fun as it could have been but hey. Was still good to see everyone.
In the middle of May James and I made our way down to his parents' house in Dorset to celebrate his dad's birthday. As it always is in the tiny village that they live in, it was a super relaxing, quiet weekend. Lots of delicious food and sleep. His dad got a bike just before his birthday, so most of the presents were cycling-themed – helmet, light reflecting gear, etc. After he opened them all he modeled everything for us – hilarious!
The Monday following our return to London from Dorset James and I went to a concert of a Canadian band called Wintersleep. It was in the upstairs bit of a pub near King's Cross, so a very small, intimate venue. The opening band was a bit weird but Wintersleep was amazing. They sing this song called Weighty Ghost – my favourite. I danced around like a hippy to that one – I stood out like a sore thumb amongst all the reserved Britons, who keep all signs of exuberance to calmly swaying back and forth or maybe bopping their heads.
That week also saw the last of my fashion classes, it was sad to end but a good experience. I'm not sure how much I really learned about fashion buying/retailing/merchandising, but it gave me a taste of something other than accounting, which is what I was after. I'd love to do a job in the field someday, even though it seems like a pretty competitive industry.
The weekend after my last class I went to the wedding of a friend from work. The wedding was held at Leeds Castle, this beautiful castle surrounded by a moat – very medieval. It's a fair way from London so the bride and groom had arranged for a coach to take all of their friends from London down to the wedding. Seems simple enough but our driver was such an idiot. When we finally made it to the castle he nearly smashed into the security guard's car, and ran over a few construction cones. Other than the special driver the evening was fantastic – we had only been invited to the “evening reception” (pretty much the C list of friends – we arrived after the wedding and the meal), but managed to dance the night away and it was kind of her to invite us at all seeing as how we're only work colleagues. When the sun had set, mist started to rise off the moat, and the castle looked like a fairy tale with the way the light shone through the mist. Of course every castle in Britain looks like a fairy tale to an American.
Later that week I tried Bikram yoga for the first time. This is the yoga where they heat the room to about 90 degrees, to aid in flexibility and the release of toxins from the body, or some such malarky. Even though I've been practicing yoga for years I had never tried this before, as I had the impression that people who practice Bikram are more competitive and arrogant that other yogis. I didn't notice any of this when I went, but it still wasn't a pleasant experience compared to other types of yoga, at least to me. The classroom was massive and very crowded – probably about 60 people in the room, no music, and hot (obviously) – there were huge fans on either side of the room that noisily blew hot air over everyone. The instructor wore a microphone – bc the room was so massive and the fans so noisy you would never hear them otherwise, and the routine that they led us through was regimented and we weren't given the chance to take the poses into more advanced variations, and from what the friends that I went with tell me, it's the exact same routine every time. Basically it felt like I was doing yoga in hell, bc of the heat, no music, and the instructor barking instructions at us. I haven't been back but am glad that I at least gave it a go. I'm much happier with my small classes at normal temperatures, even if they don't always play music.
That weekend James and I went to Blackpool to visit his best friend from school Russ and his wife Emma. Russ has been in prison for a few months due to a car accident that he was in in which the other driver died. He is in a low security prison and is allowed home leave and town visits on some weekends – this one happened to be one when we could visit. Blackpool is a seaside town that used to be the big place to holiday in the 50s or so but is a very has-been town nowadays. There are still carnivals rides and cheesy attractions, but it all feels very seedy. It didn't help that the day we were there it rained almost continually, shocking for Britain I know. It was really good to see Russ and Emma though, they seem to be doing well in spite of the situation. As I write this in August, he doesn't have long until he gets out – next month I think.
In spite of the rain in Blackpool, one of the best parts of May was all the sunshine! The British spring is very rainy and gloomy, so the sunshine in May was such a welcome change. It sounds daft, but it really does make my spirits soar when the weather is nice. And in Britain you know you have to take advantage when it is nice – there are precious few days in the year that it is warm at all, compared to the sweltering heat and humidity that I am used to in the Midwestern American summers.
The very last day in May I went to another concert with James, this time an older American band called Sunny Day Real Estate was playing. They are an early 90s band who are sometimes credited with starting the emo genre of music, but they sound nothing like today's emo bands. They split up ages ago but got back together for this limited tour, and this was the first time they had played in Britain. I wasn't that fussed by them but James loves them so I went along. The show had been delayed by the flight disruption caused by the erupting volcano, so the original opening band wasn't able to play. All that was mentioned was a “special guest” would be playing in their place. The venue was the same place that we had gone for the Idlewild concert, so once again James and I got there fairly early since we were coming from work. We were in the back having a few sips of beer when the opening band came on, and we didn't really pay much attention. Then they started playing, and I realised it was Biffy Clyro, one of my favourite bands! They are apparently big fans of Sunny Day Real Estate, and had agreed to open this show as a favour. They didn't have their full band, but just played some acoustic versions of a few of their songs. It was amazing – Biffy Clyro are quite famous in Britain, it would be like having Coldplay open for a pretty no-name band. It was such a good surprise and the best part of the show for me, as well as a fantastic end to the month of May.
Heather xoxo
Sunday, May 23, 2010
April 2010 - weekend trips, iPhone, and cheerleading tryouts
April was a whirlwind of lovely little trips, sightseeing, and hanging with family (well, James' family). The first weekend in April was Easter and James took me to Durham, the small town in northern England where he went to university. It was adorable and peaceful, and it was fun to see all of James' old haunts and listen to him reminisce. It did make me a little sad at times though to think about what it would have been like if we had gone to uni together. I often get sad about that – wishing that I had found James years ago so that I could have had that much longer to be in love with him. Sorry, I know you are probably vomiting right now, I will stop with the mush. Besides, if we had met when we were younger we might not have ended up together – Lord knows I needed to shop around before I knew the right guy when I found him! Anyway Durham was super, we had four days there since Good Friday and Easter Monday are holidays in the UK, and we mostly spent it pootling (remember this word?) around the town. We had a tour of the castle (originally built to defend England against the Scots, now a dorm for some of the students), and gave ourselves a tour of their immense cathedral, including the climb to the top of the bell tower. The cathedral is what Durham is known for – it's too small a town to have one really, but was at one point a seat of one of the prince-bishops. On Easter we even went to the morning service! It was amazing, I had never been to a proper service in a cathedral before. I can see why people back in the day would have been so awe-inspired by the building, when all they had to compare to were their tiny houses and huts. I was impressed myself and couldn't stop staring upwards at the stonework and stained-glass windows! The rest of the time in Durham was spent going on long walks and James showing me all of his favourite places, and eating and drinking really cheaply! The beer there was cheaper for two than it is for one in London – amazing and dangerous. Of course we also had dinner at James' favourite curry house!
The next week my mobile phone contract was due for an upgrade. I realise this isn't normally something one would get excited enough about to write in one's blog, but I am because I got – drumroll please – an iPhone, hurray! I was so excited b/c I had felt so left out for a few months. James got one in January and when we skyped my parents that evening they were showing theirs off too - they had all gotten one the same day! So I had to get on the bandwagon. And it is SUCH a bandwagon isn't it? A highly-functional, overpriced, super-slick bandwagon. I will admit that I secretly feel cooler when I get my phone out on the tube now to check the news or my email. And for those sad few months after James and the family had one when I didn't, I secretly felt ashamed of my poor inferior Nokia. I know I sound like an idiot rambling on about a silly phone, but it really is superb – if you don't have one you should get one. Trust me it will be like before you had a mobile and then got one for the first time – how did you ever live without it?! You know what I mean.
Ho hum back to more interesting things...the second weekend in April James and I went to Oxford on Saturday to see his parents and sister – his parents had arrived back in the UK after their six months in New Zealand so we hadn't seen them in ages! It was really good to catch up with them and have a quiet day doing loads of relaxing, chatting, and eating. We all took a walk in the park before dinner and happened to come across a hot air balloon being unloaded from a truck! We decided to stay and watch the excitement and got to see it inflated, loaded with people, and take off. It's surprising how big they are – you forget b/c you usually only see them when they're high in the sky. I was also surprised at how many people they managed to jam into the basket – I think there were about 12 or 14! It didn't look that comfortable really. I'd still like to do it someday, would be fun.
The following day James and I went to Burnham for his granny's 89th birthday party. His aunts, uncles and cousins were all there as well (this was the little do where I met them all for the first time last year, remember?), it was beautiful weather and we had a lovely day. Although I didn't notice it, apparently it was also a bit quieter b/c per his aunt and uncle they live in one of the Heathrow airport flight paths but we happened to be there on a day when the erupting volcano had grounded all of the flights. Super! And no, it wasn't foggy or cloudy from the ash, it was too high in the sky. But yes the party was great with delicious food, I ate so much I thought I was going to have to have James roll me to the train station to get home.
Later that week James and I went to an Idlewild concert on our traditional “date night” - Wednesday. See, it works out well b/c we spend all weekend together and then we see each other on Wednesday night to get us through the rest of the week without each other! Anyway this particular one was a gig – Idlewild, who is one of James' favourite bands. They are Scottish and fairly well known around Britain. The venue was small-ish – about the size of the Uptown in KC. James and I got there fairly early since we were coming from work, and as I was doing some people watching before the gig started I realised that there was a trend among the concert goers – they were all slightly geeky late-twenty somethings! So this must have been the fan base that Idlewild built up through their ten years of playing – let's just say that James fits the picture well. The concert itself was fantastic – I had been ordered by James to educate myself on the band about two weeks before the show, so for those two weeks I listened to nothing else. It worked though – I knew most of the words to the songs, or at least the chorus. James on the other hand knew every word to every song, and wished that they played more at the end of the show. He was happier than I think I've ever seen him – smiling ear to ear, belting out the songs at the top of his lungs, dancing with abandon. I've never seen anything like it from him and it made me so happy to see him that way! Honestly I think I spent more time watching him than I did the band!
One of the last weekends in April we went up to Harrogate for Lisa's (one of James' friends from the English equivalent of high school) birthday. Harrogate is the small-ish town in North Yorkshire where James grew up for those of you who don't remember. We went up on the Saturday via the very expensive train journey (nearly 100 pounds each!), met up with everyone at Lisa's for a light dinner and then went out dancing! While we were still at hers Lisa tried to make everyone a round of Irish coffees, except they turned out like warm milky whiskey, not that great and so strong I would barely drink a few sips at a time. As you can imagine the Harrogate clubbing scene is small potatoes compared to the London scene, but I didn't mind b/c it meant the dance floor wasn't that full. We danced the entire night, it was so much fun. Mark, James' flatmate in London, came up for the celebration and everyone mocked him all night b/c he never makes an effort for anyone's birthday and finally decided to show his face after years. I believe there was even a point where some of the girls were making fun of the fact that he's gotten a bit pudgy since they'd seen him and started stripping off his shirt to see his moobs! Pretty hilarious and slightly disturbing. All in all a good weekend, as it always is with that crew.
On the 22 of April I finally started my class at the London College of Fashion. I say finally b/c I signed up for this class in February – they book up rather far in advance. It was Fashion Buying and Retailing level 1, basically just an introduction to the industry and the roles of the buyer and the retailer. It was a short course, only five weeks long, but pretty insightful and gave me some inspiration. I signed up for it because I've been a bit bored with accounting lately (shocking I know) and am thinking about career changes. Actually, not bored so much as lacking passion. I would like to do something that I am more passionate about and work for a company that I feel more committed to instead of ever growing resentment. But anyway enough complaining about work. The class was actually really good fun, I met some great girls (there was only one guy in the class of 18, and surprisingly enough he wasn't gay!), and most importantly, as I said before, I gained some much needed inspiration for the career path I might take. The job market is terrible now and it's even harder for me with the visa issues, but perhaps one day I will no longer work in a public accounting firm. Let's hope so anyway.
Last but certainly not least, the last weekend in April was cheerleading tryouts for my sister! This was the first year that she could try out and she was nervous about the whole thing, but I did my best to help her through skype (point your toes, arms straight, sharp motions – that kind of thing), but in the end she was a star as usual and she made it! I was so excited that she wanted to tryout, of course I wanted her to since I was a cheerleader and loved it, but I wasn't going to pressure her. Very proud of my little sis for making it her first time! Oh as a side note – Brits love it that I was a cheerleader, and was in a sorority, since they have nothing like either of these things in Britain. Their only impressions of cheerleaders, sororities, and fraternities is through the movies and TV (groan). So they think cheerleaders are all bitchy and promiscuous like the girls on Glee. (I, along with most of the girls in Britain, am obsessed with Glee – it's just as big here as in the States I think).
Ok enough rambling, whew this was a long one! Love to you all, I miss you!
Heather xoxoxoxo
PS – there are pictures of all the weekend trips on facebook - on James' page, but you should be able to get to them through mine as I'm tagged in them. Hope you enjoy!
Wednesday, May 5, 2010
March 2010 - markets and musings
March was a fairly busy month at work so not a lot to write about. I did, however, finally buy myself a Nintendo Wii (off of my colleague for a steal!), so I've been playing a lot. The best part is that I beat James in just about every game, other than soccer which I just can't be bothered to learn all of the controls.
James and I spent one weekend in March exploring some of the markets in London. On Saturday we went to Borough market, which is a fairly famous one where you find every type of food and drink you could imagine. Except for cheez-its though, of course. It was amazing though - just walking through the market and seeing and smelling all of the deliciousness was heavenly. I decided that I want to take my family there when they come to visit this summer - I think mom and grandma would especially enjoy seeing foods you don't usually get in the States. I ended up buying some fresh spices (tex-mex and chipotle for Mexican cooking!), and a heavenly raspberry tart when I was feeling a bit peckish. Have I ever used that word on my blog? It's an English phrase for hungry. I really wanted to get some cheese but could never decide which to buy, there were so many! The vendors would have those giant cheese wheels behind their stands and they would just cut some straight off. There was also a stand selling ostrich meat - I couldn't believe how expensive it was! It did look very lean and tasty though.
The next day we went to a couple markets within walking distance of my flat - Columbia Road market which is for flowers, and Brick Lane market. Columbia Road was so crowded it was not enjoyable, and I haven't been back. I suppose it's good for florists b/c most of the flowers were sold by the type, rather than in arrangements. I'm not that great at making the arrangement myself, and in that crowd all I wanted to do was choose and leave, but in the end I found a very nice ready-made bouquet. We have been to Brick Lane market several times, and it is mostly just junk, but it's fun to have a walk around and see what you can find. The area where I live now is very eclectic and edgy and dodgy in some bits, but I really love it.
That's kind of how I feel about London in general - there are some things that I could do without and at times I downright hate, but overall I love it and am so glad I made the choice to come here. There are times when I get fed up with the smelly streets and noise, but then I reflect that it's all just part of the hustle and bustle and excitement of the city. I do feel that I've become a bit jaded from the city though - sometimes I realise that I'm rushing from place to place without stopping to enjoy the ride, and I have found myself at times bumping into people and not apologising, since no one else ever does. I often times relish the thought of moving away to the country-side where you actually get to know your neighbours and have green space to roam, but I reckon I would get rather bored after a month of green and quiet. Someday I will move from London, but I bet it will be having kids that gives me the motivation to do it, b/c I wouldn't be able to afford a big enough flat for kids if nothing else! It's so convenient in London too - everything that you could every want to see/do/need is here somewhere. Except cheez-its and Chipotle. I love being in one of the cities that gets referenced in magazines - in the States they always talk about shops and restaurants to go to in Chicago, New York, and LA which didn't really help much in KC, you know? I think I'm finally really settled in here - making friends and feeling comfortable being an American in London. It took longer than any of the other moves in my life, but then again I suppose it was the biggest one, and the first on my own.
Living in another country (even one as similar to the States as Britain is) really opens your eyes and your heart as well. You gain perspective on Americans in ways that you had never thought of, both in negative (we really ARE terribly fat, poorly travelled and over-worked as compared to other western cultures) and positive ways (we're patriotic, not in the crazy skinhead way, just that we truly believe that our country is a great place to be from, and are proud of it). Americans are also more self-reliant - Britain is called a nanny state for a reason after all. Of course this self-reliance is probably the reason that most Americans have a warped perception of work-life balance and are chained to their desks - we believe you make your own destiny.
I've also enjoyed getting to know people from different races and religions - it has been especially interesting to make friends who are Hindu and Muslim, it's intriguing to me to learn about their religions and observe their devotion toward their gods. It definitely makes you more tolerant and less intimidated by other races and religions when you get to know them better.
I'll stop musing and leave it at that - April's entry will be more exciting and less philosophical, I promise.
Heather xoxo
James and I spent one weekend in March exploring some of the markets in London. On Saturday we went to Borough market, which is a fairly famous one where you find every type of food and drink you could imagine. Except for cheez-its though, of course. It was amazing though - just walking through the market and seeing and smelling all of the deliciousness was heavenly. I decided that I want to take my family there when they come to visit this summer - I think mom and grandma would especially enjoy seeing foods you don't usually get in the States. I ended up buying some fresh spices (tex-mex and chipotle for Mexican cooking!), and a heavenly raspberry tart when I was feeling a bit peckish. Have I ever used that word on my blog? It's an English phrase for hungry. I really wanted to get some cheese but could never decide which to buy, there were so many! The vendors would have those giant cheese wheels behind their stands and they would just cut some straight off. There was also a stand selling ostrich meat - I couldn't believe how expensive it was! It did look very lean and tasty though.
The next day we went to a couple markets within walking distance of my flat - Columbia Road market which is for flowers, and Brick Lane market. Columbia Road was so crowded it was not enjoyable, and I haven't been back. I suppose it's good for florists b/c most of the flowers were sold by the type, rather than in arrangements. I'm not that great at making the arrangement myself, and in that crowd all I wanted to do was choose and leave, but in the end I found a very nice ready-made bouquet. We have been to Brick Lane market several times, and it is mostly just junk, but it's fun to have a walk around and see what you can find. The area where I live now is very eclectic and edgy and dodgy in some bits, but I really love it.
That's kind of how I feel about London in general - there are some things that I could do without and at times I downright hate, but overall I love it and am so glad I made the choice to come here. There are times when I get fed up with the smelly streets and noise, but then I reflect that it's all just part of the hustle and bustle and excitement of the city. I do feel that I've become a bit jaded from the city though - sometimes I realise that I'm rushing from place to place without stopping to enjoy the ride, and I have found myself at times bumping into people and not apologising, since no one else ever does. I often times relish the thought of moving away to the country-side where you actually get to know your neighbours and have green space to roam, but I reckon I would get rather bored after a month of green and quiet. Someday I will move from London, but I bet it will be having kids that gives me the motivation to do it, b/c I wouldn't be able to afford a big enough flat for kids if nothing else! It's so convenient in London too - everything that you could every want to see/do/need is here somewhere. Except cheez-its and Chipotle. I love being in one of the cities that gets referenced in magazines - in the States they always talk about shops and restaurants to go to in Chicago, New York, and LA which didn't really help much in KC, you know? I think I'm finally really settled in here - making friends and feeling comfortable being an American in London. It took longer than any of the other moves in my life, but then again I suppose it was the biggest one, and the first on my own.
Living in another country (even one as similar to the States as Britain is) really opens your eyes and your heart as well. You gain perspective on Americans in ways that you had never thought of, both in negative (we really ARE terribly fat, poorly travelled and over-worked as compared to other western cultures) and positive ways (we're patriotic, not in the crazy skinhead way, just that we truly believe that our country is a great place to be from, and are proud of it). Americans are also more self-reliant - Britain is called a nanny state for a reason after all. Of course this self-reliance is probably the reason that most Americans have a warped perception of work-life balance and are chained to their desks - we believe you make your own destiny.
I've also enjoyed getting to know people from different races and religions - it has been especially interesting to make friends who are Hindu and Muslim, it's intriguing to me to learn about their religions and observe their devotion toward their gods. It definitely makes you more tolerant and less intimidated by other races and religions when you get to know them better.
I'll stop musing and leave it at that - April's entry will be more exciting and less philosophical, I promise.
Heather xoxo
Tuesday, March 2, 2010
February 2010 - rugby, gay bars, and olympics
February was a relatively quiet month overall - both at work and at play - but still over very quickly, as February always is. The weather was crap - shocking for London, I know - more snow but mostly cold and rainy.
Near the end of January James and I made a list of things and places that we want to do and see around London and the UK in the coming years, and we got off to a cracking start at crossing them off by having another "tourists in London" day in early Feb. We tooled around the City (the original Roman part of London, commonly called “the City”) one rainy Saturday and went to the top of the Monument. This is a column that was erected to commemorate the Great Fire of London which happened in 1666. It sounds weird to say that they were commemorating a fire, but it was more like remembering the rebuilding effort and remembering what London was like before the fire, you know. Anyway we went to the top and I thought that we weren't going to be able to see anything due to the dreary weather, but we gladly could see all the important bits of the skyline (pics on James' facebook page). We also saw the London Stone, which I thought was going to be a bit of the old Roman wall (there are parts of it somewhere in London), but it turned out that it was just some old slab of rock found around the area a long time ago – very underwhelming. It was also weird b/c it was just in a little glass case in the side of a wall along the street – if you weren't looking for it you would almost certainly miss it. Odd. After that thrilling piece of history we made our way to St. Paul's cathedral, and went inside for an organ recital. It was SO beautiful!! I had never been inside so was mesmerised by the mosaics and the size, and the organ sounded amazing as well. The unfortunate part was that they close off most of the church on Sundays as it's only open to worshippers, so we couldn't really get a proper look around. But it was still lovely and I'd like to go back someday (on a day when you have to pay – meh) to have more of a tour.
In early February the Six Nations rugby tournament started – this is a tournament between England, Ireland, Wales, Scotland, France, and Italy which happens once a year. England did well at the beginning but ended up losing to France, Ireland, and Scotland. Boo. It was really fun to watch though, I would say that rugby is my favourite British sport so far. I still find football (soccer) very boring and miss American sports very much. Although being in a foreign country does have its benefits in that you can forget about the pain when your team chokes in the second round of the NCAA tournament, since we don't have every news station going on about it. Sigh...
The next week Denisse was in town from the States and I had my “staying do” to celebrate my staying in London, as I mentioned in my last entry. That weekend was also Valentines Day, and I told James that we didn't have to celebrate it (since it is a fairly contrived and commercial holiday), but I did say that I would like some flowers. This does not sound as selfish as it sounds – he used to bring me flowers nearly every week as he would pass a flower stand on his way to my house, but since I've moved to Shoreditch he doesn't pass one and I hadn't had any flowers for a while. Hence my gentle suggestion. But I never did get any on Valentines Day! He made up for it a few weeks later though with a lovely bouquet from a local flower market. The rest of the weekend was spent watching rugby and the Olympics (and cheering my Americans onto the top of the medals board!!).
I've discovered the coolest place – a sort of gym that only does classes - your standard cardio and toning classes but also has loads of dance, yoga and pilates! I love it so much – the dance classes are fun, although I feel like a bit of an idiot sometimes b/c I'm so out of practice, and the yoga instructors are really excellent. The other day I did a headstand all on my own, without the wall, for the first time ever! Very exciting stuff.
I also discovered an excellent restaurant in February - I went to a French two Michelin-starred restaurant called Pied a Terre for a work dinner. It was arguably the best meal I've ever had (except for mum's home-cooked meals of course!). I checked online to see about prices as I'd like to go back someday (we had had a set menu), and it was about 75 pounds for three courses! Guess I'll have to make it for special occasions only...
A few weeks ago James and I went to a work colleague's birthday party in a gay pub, and and my favourite bits were how James kept getting blatantly checked out from head to toe, and my in depth conversation with one of the guys about the effect that Alexander McQueen's death would have on the fashion industry. The following day we went to my very first live rugby game with a group of work mates. This was a friendly match (like a scrimmage) between London and Melbourne, and it was League Rugby rather than Union Rugby. It's just two different leagues but there are slightly different rules between the two. Union is the more popular and it's what is played in the Six Nations. The game was awesome to watch, although it was freezing outside and London lost.
Love to all and miss you!
Heather xoxo
Monday, March 1, 2010
January 2010 - cold and snow (boring)
Did I really just title my own blog "boring"? Oh well, it's true - January was a fairly tame and boring month, I mean when you compare it to my normal ultra exciting, jet-setter lifestyle. :)
James and I had a few outings with friends here and there, went to a friend's birthday party who had hired a sommelier for the evening - it was good fun and nice to try all the different wines. While we were there I met one of James' friends from uni who is now a bankruptcy lawyer and was telling us a story about how he had to repossess a woman's Arabian horses but had to bring the police b/c she had threatened to kill herself if the horses were taken. We heard from him later that she did slit her wrists when they took the horses and they are now arresting her on contempt of court - soulless! But also quite entertaining.
We also had lunch at a Peruvian place with friends one Sunday - it was interesting and very tasty. Another weekend we spent a day in Greenwich - all-you-can-eat curry, milkshakes, and the Greenwich market as always. But it never gets old! I love the Greenwich market, but the best bit is seeing friends of course.
There was loads of snow in January in the UK, but we didn't get any snow days this time, at least not if you loved in central London. Everyone who lived outside and has to commute in had about a week's worth of snow days b/c the British can handle snow about as well as the Floridians - basically everything grinds to a halt if there's an inch of snow on the ground. But central London barely saw any - and thus I had to trudge into work everyday.
The other exciting thing that happened in January was that I got the official word that I could stay in London indefinitely! I had been working with the two firms for a few months on either giving me an extension of another year or transferring me over to a permanent contract, and in the end they let me choose, so I decided to go permanent. It makes life a little simpler for me, and also allows me a bit more freedom as I won't be tied to GT under a contract after September. It was a hard decision to make though, b/c I feel like I'm abandoning my friends and especially my family back home. I had a big sob-fest about it a few days after the official word came through. It's very weird - feeling very happy and very sad about the same thing at the same time. My boss was very kind though and got me a "staying" present when he saw that it was hard for me - a set of Legos! Yes, I love Legos even though I should have grown out of them 15 years ago. I also had a staying do - just a small get together of work friends at a bar close to the office. Usually people have leaving dos when they leave their jobs, but I decided it was appropriate to have little celebration for my staying! That was actually in February, when Denisse was here again from KC! She comes in early February every year now, which is an awesome thing to look forward to in the middle of the winter blues after Christmas. We had a good, if not short visit with her and it was awesome to hear all the gossip on all the friends back in KC. I really miss everyone so much. Honestly, when is someone going to invent a teleporter?
Well that's about it for January and a little of February, more on that month in the next entry!
Love to all, xoxo
Heather
Monday, February 8, 2010
New Year's Eve and South Dakota!
After my harrowing trip to KC I was finally back with James! Ok, it had only been two weeks but it feels like two years when you're as crazy about someone as I am about James. I know, I am a mushy romantic, I can't help it. We had an amazing time in KC though, where he met almost all of my friends and it felt like we also gained about 8 lbs each b/c all we did was eat! I had planned a load of lunches and dinners in order to see everyone and it just wasn't kind to our waistlines.
Our first day in KC I hadn't planned much as I figured James would be jet-lagged, which he was. Either that or he was just using it as an excuse to sleep till his normal 1 pm. Either way, we just spent the day running a few errands that I needed to do in KC (like, for example, spending an hour strolling around Target. Ahhh...Target) while I drove the long way in between to show James all of my favourite spots around the city. We had Chipotle for lunch and it was superb and delicious. James loved it as well and still mentions it from time to time - he just did today when we were wondering what to have for lunch! That night was Monday Night Football and James, Myers, Young, and a couple of other guys all went to the ESPN sports bar on the plaza where I introduced James to fried pickles. We all made an effort to teach James the rules to the game and he was getting a few details, but as I've said before I never realised how complicated football was until I tried to explain it to a Brit! He will learn slowly, this fall we're planning to go to Ohio for an Ohio State football game so I will try to teach him before then!
The next day we accidentally slept in ridiculously late and got to lunch 30 minutes late with the girls from GT (well, none of us actually work at GT in KC anymore!). We ate a very large amount of Italian food at Brio, James accidentally ordered the dinner size portion of lasagna and it literally came in a serving dish - he had to turn it sideways just to fit it in front of him. Even with this massive meal though he managed to have burnt ends at Jack Stack that night with Rach, Ang, Jackie and their men. Even though Jack Stack is nice, once everyone got wind that this was James' first BBQ experience they couldn't stop going on about Oklahoma Joe's being the best place in town. I ended up taking him there on our last day in KC. He marveled at the line out the door, ate the Z-man (tried to order it as the "zed-man" and the man behind the counter looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language) and posted pictures of it on facebook he loved it so much!
But rewind a few days - Tuesday night after Jack Stack we all made our way to the Cashew for a few drinks, and loads of people from the GT KC office turned up to say hello! Of course Jenni, Meisel, and Jenn were there as well. It started snowing while we were in the Cashew and James ended up having to push me out of our parking space b/c the car was stuck! Fortunately we made it home safely before the roads got too terrible.
Wednesday afternoon I took James to the only touristy thing I could think of in KC - the war memorial near Union Station. Unfortunately the tower was closed due to "weather conditions" so we couldn't go to the top, but the view from just the base is pretty fantastic, so we kind of got what we had gone for. That evening we met my friend Kelly and her bf for Mexican food on SW Blvd, it was soooo good. We didn't get there until rather late though and were the last ones in the restaurant - we kind of had to rush b/c the wait staff were giving us the evil eye! Still didn't take away from the deliciousness of the food though.
The next day was NYE, and as I mentioned before, I took James for lunch at Oklahoma Joe's with Jenn and Myers. That evening we had dinner at place downtown called 1924 Main with Young and Ashley, Myers, and another couple. The dinner was fancy and very good! I had scallops in some creamy sauce with walnuts, but most of the rest had a delicious steak. After dinner we made our way to the piano bar in Westport, where we had purchased tickets in advance but we still had to wait in the queue for a bit and it was freezing! We finally made it in though and had a blast. James had never been to a piano bar before (I've never seen or heard of one in London), and he thought it was awesome! I also ran into a very old friend from KU named Zach at the bar, it was such a weird coincidence that we were both there!
After the evening of debauchery, James and I had to rise VERY early to catch a greyhound bus to Omaha. We were on our way to South Dakota for my friend and old roommate Heather's wedding, and found that it was cheaper to get the bus to Omaha then rent a car from there than it was to rent the car in KC and drop it off in Omaha. Weird. Anyway this was my first experience on a greyhound, and I wasn't let down by the reputation they get. Let's just say that our fellow passengers were, well, unique. But the service was very good and we even arrived a little early in Omaha. We had an uneventful drive to South Dakota after stopping in Omaha for McDonald's - hangover food. The woman at the cash register had to keep asking James to repeat himself when he ordered, and when I explained that he was from England, she said, "Oh, that's why I couldn't understand a word he said!" Poor James. Anyway we made it to South Dakota and the coldest temperatures that I have ever been in. It hovered around negative 19F (neg. 28C) the whole time we were there. It was so cold that you could feel your nose hairs freeze every time you breathed in! Even if all we had to go was one block, I would get in the car and drive.
That evening was the rehearsal dinner, and unfortunately was also the Rose Bowl, in which Ohio State was playing. I was able to watch the first half, but missed the second. Gladly, Ohio State won. The rehearsal dinner was delicious and I cried when Heather gave me my gift - I'm such a sap. It was just so good to see her! After the rehearsal dinner we went back to the hotel for a small reception, and I introduced James to Sandy and Cameron, some of Heather's friends from grad school. They really hit it off, which was good b/c James had someone to hang out with the next day while I was with the wedding party. I was very impressed with Sioux Falls - the wedding was beautiful! In between the ceremony and reception Sandy, Cameron, James and I all went to this dive bar on the edge of town that Sandy and Cameron had discovered a few nights before. It was awesome and had the dodgiest people, and we got 4 beers for 5 bucks - bargain!
James and I left for Omaha that evening as we had an early flight out the next morning (Omaha was the closest commercial airport to Sioux Falls), and we ended up driving through the worst snowstorm I've ever driven through. It was so scary and didn't let up the entire way. Eventually we made it safely, thank God, and I felt like I had just run a marathon - I had been so stressed and tense. My fingers were sore from gripping the wheel so tightly! I was glad that we had gone that night though b/c I bet they wouldn't have had the roads plowed enough for us to make it back in time for our flight if we had gone that morning. As it was the flight was right on time and we made it to Chicago just fine. We then connected from Chicago to New York, and from New York to London. Except the flight from Chicago was two hours late, and then took another two hours to get us our bags (we had booked the flights separately so had to collect and re-check our bags). So we missed our flight to London but thankfully were able to be put on the last flight out. The only downside was that we didn't get to sit together, but really I just slept the entire time anyway. So we made it to work a bit late (we had planned to land at 7 am and be on time for work), but all was well in the end. We'll just never fly American airlines again - they were the airline that had a two hour delayed flight, and then took another two hours to get the bags from the plane to the baggage claim, and when they finally got there James' bag was cracked on one side! Miserable service. Oh well, as I said all's well that ends well.
Oh also, there are pictures from all of our adventures in America on facebook, if you'd like to check them out.
Heather xoxo
Our first day in KC I hadn't planned much as I figured James would be jet-lagged, which he was. Either that or he was just using it as an excuse to sleep till his normal 1 pm. Either way, we just spent the day running a few errands that I needed to do in KC (like, for example, spending an hour strolling around Target. Ahhh...Target) while I drove the long way in between to show James all of my favourite spots around the city. We had Chipotle for lunch and it was superb and delicious. James loved it as well and still mentions it from time to time - he just did today when we were wondering what to have for lunch! That night was Monday Night Football and James, Myers, Young, and a couple of other guys all went to the ESPN sports bar on the plaza where I introduced James to fried pickles. We all made an effort to teach James the rules to the game and he was getting a few details, but as I've said before I never realised how complicated football was until I tried to explain it to a Brit! He will learn slowly, this fall we're planning to go to Ohio for an Ohio State football game so I will try to teach him before then!
The next day we accidentally slept in ridiculously late and got to lunch 30 minutes late with the girls from GT (well, none of us actually work at GT in KC anymore!). We ate a very large amount of Italian food at Brio, James accidentally ordered the dinner size portion of lasagna and it literally came in a serving dish - he had to turn it sideways just to fit it in front of him. Even with this massive meal though he managed to have burnt ends at Jack Stack that night with Rach, Ang, Jackie and their men. Even though Jack Stack is nice, once everyone got wind that this was James' first BBQ experience they couldn't stop going on about Oklahoma Joe's being the best place in town. I ended up taking him there on our last day in KC. He marveled at the line out the door, ate the Z-man (tried to order it as the "zed-man" and the man behind the counter looked at him like he was speaking a foreign language) and posted pictures of it on facebook he loved it so much!
But rewind a few days - Tuesday night after Jack Stack we all made our way to the Cashew for a few drinks, and loads of people from the GT KC office turned up to say hello! Of course Jenni, Meisel, and Jenn were there as well. It started snowing while we were in the Cashew and James ended up having to push me out of our parking space b/c the car was stuck! Fortunately we made it home safely before the roads got too terrible.
Wednesday afternoon I took James to the only touristy thing I could think of in KC - the war memorial near Union Station. Unfortunately the tower was closed due to "weather conditions" so we couldn't go to the top, but the view from just the base is pretty fantastic, so we kind of got what we had gone for. That evening we met my friend Kelly and her bf for Mexican food on SW Blvd, it was soooo good. We didn't get there until rather late though and were the last ones in the restaurant - we kind of had to rush b/c the wait staff were giving us the evil eye! Still didn't take away from the deliciousness of the food though.
The next day was NYE, and as I mentioned before, I took James for lunch at Oklahoma Joe's with Jenn and Myers. That evening we had dinner at place downtown called 1924 Main with Young and Ashley, Myers, and another couple. The dinner was fancy and very good! I had scallops in some creamy sauce with walnuts, but most of the rest had a delicious steak. After dinner we made our way to the piano bar in Westport, where we had purchased tickets in advance but we still had to wait in the queue for a bit and it was freezing! We finally made it in though and had a blast. James had never been to a piano bar before (I've never seen or heard of one in London), and he thought it was awesome! I also ran into a very old friend from KU named Zach at the bar, it was such a weird coincidence that we were both there!
After the evening of debauchery, James and I had to rise VERY early to catch a greyhound bus to Omaha. We were on our way to South Dakota for my friend and old roommate Heather's wedding, and found that it was cheaper to get the bus to Omaha then rent a car from there than it was to rent the car in KC and drop it off in Omaha. Weird. Anyway this was my first experience on a greyhound, and I wasn't let down by the reputation they get. Let's just say that our fellow passengers were, well, unique. But the service was very good and we even arrived a little early in Omaha. We had an uneventful drive to South Dakota after stopping in Omaha for McDonald's - hangover food. The woman at the cash register had to keep asking James to repeat himself when he ordered, and when I explained that he was from England, she said, "Oh, that's why I couldn't understand a word he said!" Poor James. Anyway we made it to South Dakota and the coldest temperatures that I have ever been in. It hovered around negative 19F (neg. 28C) the whole time we were there. It was so cold that you could feel your nose hairs freeze every time you breathed in! Even if all we had to go was one block, I would get in the car and drive.
That evening was the rehearsal dinner, and unfortunately was also the Rose Bowl, in which Ohio State was playing. I was able to watch the first half, but missed the second. Gladly, Ohio State won. The rehearsal dinner was delicious and I cried when Heather gave me my gift - I'm such a sap. It was just so good to see her! After the rehearsal dinner we went back to the hotel for a small reception, and I introduced James to Sandy and Cameron, some of Heather's friends from grad school. They really hit it off, which was good b/c James had someone to hang out with the next day while I was with the wedding party. I was very impressed with Sioux Falls - the wedding was beautiful! In between the ceremony and reception Sandy, Cameron, James and I all went to this dive bar on the edge of town that Sandy and Cameron had discovered a few nights before. It was awesome and had the dodgiest people, and we got 4 beers for 5 bucks - bargain!
James and I left for Omaha that evening as we had an early flight out the next morning (Omaha was the closest commercial airport to Sioux Falls), and we ended up driving through the worst snowstorm I've ever driven through. It was so scary and didn't let up the entire way. Eventually we made it safely, thank God, and I felt like I had just run a marathon - I had been so stressed and tense. My fingers were sore from gripping the wheel so tightly! I was glad that we had gone that night though b/c I bet they wouldn't have had the roads plowed enough for us to make it back in time for our flight if we had gone that morning. As it was the flight was right on time and we made it to Chicago just fine. We then connected from Chicago to New York, and from New York to London. Except the flight from Chicago was two hours late, and then took another two hours to get us our bags (we had booked the flights separately so had to collect and re-check our bags). So we missed our flight to London but thankfully were able to be put on the last flight out. The only downside was that we didn't get to sit together, but really I just slept the entire time anyway. So we made it to work a bit late (we had planned to land at 7 am and be on time for work), but all was well in the end. We'll just never fly American airlines again - they were the airline that had a two hour delayed flight, and then took another two hours to get the bags from the plane to the baggage claim, and when they finally got there James' bag was cracked on one side! Miserable service. Oh well, as I said all's well that ends well.
Oh also, there are pictures from all of our adventures in America on facebook, if you'd like to check them out.
Heather xoxo
Tuesday, January 26, 2010
December 2009
December was a superb month - mainly because three of the four weeks were spent on holiday. More importantly, work just happened to be at a stage where I could really get away and not have to think about it whilst on holiday. I didn't even bring my computer with me! It was amazing.
The first week of December was really spent slacking off at work and just waiting around for my holiday to start, and picking up a few presents for folks back home. Most of the buying I saved for home as: a) I wouldn't have to haul it across an ocean, and b) it would be cheaper in the States. By the way, I can't remember if I ever mentioned this one in my earlier translations, but "dear" = "expensive" in Britain.
I left London on 12 December, with the slightest feeling of dread about my upcoming traveling. In the next few weeks I was going to be crossing all of the Midwest in the dead of winter - that's just asking for snowstorms and delayed flights. I miraculously made it to Ohio without a hitch, and woke up to my sister's homemade sign on the bedroom door saying "Welcome Home Heather!" She's so thoughtful and precious. Also on the way home I saw Sarah Jessica Parker (actress from Sex and the City) - she had been on my flight from London to JFK! I didn't even realise until I was standing right next to her at the baggage claim, so cool! I arrived home late on a Saturday night, so the first thing we did was go to church the next morning, and after church we had lunch - at a Mexican place! It was sooooo good, I savoured every bite.
James went to New Zealand for Christmas, as his parents live there for 6 months of the year the family spends alternating Christmases in England and NZ. Life of luxury! He stopped to be with me in Kansas City for a week on his way back across the world, more on that trip later....
A few evenings later my entire family plus our exchange student from Austria, Clemens, went to a medical society dinner for my dad. It was all planned to have kids there as well, and they had rented three of those bouncy castles (indoors of course). By the end of the evening we were all in the castles, acting like kids. One of them was set up as an obstacle course where you could race another person, American Gladiators style, so my brothers and I kept racing each other. It was so much fun! And good exercise too. We went to the party with my dad's partner in his medical practice and his family, but before we went they came over a little early b/c his partner had bought a new pistol and he wanted to try it out with some target practice. My parents' house is perfect since they live on some acreage so it's not dangerous. So my dad got out his pistol as well and they both put on the headphones and stood out in the backyard having target practice. This may seem like a normal thing in America, but having lived in Britain for the last year I realised how shocked a Brit would be to see such a thing happening! I told James about it on Skype that evening and he was laughing - nervously.
Luckily, I got there just in time to see my sister's band/choir concert, and also her dance recital! This is her first year in band and choir, and she sounded great. Well, they sounded great I guess b/c I could hear only her. Her dance recital was great as always too, for her performance she was the only one who turned up! Fortunately they found another girl who knew the dance so she didn't have to do it by herself.
It was pretty low key at home for the first few days, I was good and went to work out 3-4 times a week. It's amazing how nice it is to work out when you actually have time to do it! My mom and I went to a few yoga classes too. My family also found this awesome new gym that had recently opened. They have this room that is full of games that keep you active - like dance dance revolution, the Wii, a climbing wall, etc. The best bit was this giant light-up board - one on the floor, one on the wall. There were different games you could play on these boards, for example, in dodgeball a ball of light bounces around the board and everyone has to avoid it. We went there a few times and stayed for hours without even noticing. Even my brothers liked it and they never like anything except video games!
It also snowed while I was at home, big fluffy flakes. My sister, dad and I spent the morning sledding, having snowball fights and building snowmen. So fun! Of course it mostly melted by the time Christmas rolled around, so we didn't have a white Christmas. But it was fun anyway.
My brother Matt arrived from Phoenix a few days before Christmas, and mom, Grandma and I went up to Columbus a few hours before to do some shopping! I went to all the stores I had been missing in London - J Crew, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret. Matt arrived right on time with his two little dogs - Dachshund and Chihuahua mix. They were so cute! At first they were quite scared of everyone else and just followed Matt everywhere, but by the time he left they were much more independent. Matt was the last of the kids to come home, and my mom was very pleased to have all of her chicks back in the nest.
Christmas itself was great - for Christmas eve we went up to my grandma's and had a massive meal with my aunt and uncles and cousin, and some friends of the family came over to catch up. My parents overdid themselves again and everyone got gobs of presents. My favourite present was from my grandma and was a framed picture of my great great grandparents. I also got a set of legos! I will admit that I still love legos and usually I just steal whatever legos my siblings get and build them first. But they are growing up and not asking for them anymore, so this was the first year that I actually got them myself again! It was a very grown up set though - a model of the Guggenheim museum in NYC.
A few days after Christmas the whole fam all went up to the zoo in Columbus. They always decorate the entire place with thousands of lights - it's amazing to see. It was below freezing though, so we would just hurry from one indoor exhibit to another.
I was to leave Ohio for KC on 27 December, but of course a horrible snowstorm was blowing through the Midwest and my flight was canceled. Apparently my flight was the only one that was canceled too. But then again if I had made it to Chicago (connecting city) I probably wouldn't have made it out. They did end up booking me on a later flight, but that one was canceled in the end as well. I ended up hitching a ride with my uncle, who randomly and very conveniently happened to be driving from Ohio to KC that very night. He works as a welder and the closest work he's been able to find in the last few months is all the way in KC, working on a new power plant. So we drove all night and I got to KC at about 4 am. James was already there of course, since he had come from NZ through LA he hadn't hit any of the snow. We were staying with my friend Matt Myers, who was so kind and picked him up at the airport and entertained him while I wasn't there. He took him to Taco Bell for dinner, of all places to introduce James to American cuisine. I was not pleased. :)
Ok this is getting to be a rather long entry to I will write about Kansas City and South Dakota in another one.
Lots of love to all,
Heather xoxo
The first week of December was really spent slacking off at work and just waiting around for my holiday to start, and picking up a few presents for folks back home. Most of the buying I saved for home as: a) I wouldn't have to haul it across an ocean, and b) it would be cheaper in the States. By the way, I can't remember if I ever mentioned this one in my earlier translations, but "dear" = "expensive" in Britain.
I left London on 12 December, with the slightest feeling of dread about my upcoming traveling. In the next few weeks I was going to be crossing all of the Midwest in the dead of winter - that's just asking for snowstorms and delayed flights. I miraculously made it to Ohio without a hitch, and woke up to my sister's homemade sign on the bedroom door saying "Welcome Home Heather!" She's so thoughtful and precious. Also on the way home I saw Sarah Jessica Parker (actress from Sex and the City) - she had been on my flight from London to JFK! I didn't even realise until I was standing right next to her at the baggage claim, so cool! I arrived home late on a Saturday night, so the first thing we did was go to church the next morning, and after church we had lunch - at a Mexican place! It was sooooo good, I savoured every bite.
James went to New Zealand for Christmas, as his parents live there for 6 months of the year the family spends alternating Christmases in England and NZ. Life of luxury! He stopped to be with me in Kansas City for a week on his way back across the world, more on that trip later....
A few evenings later my entire family plus our exchange student from Austria, Clemens, went to a medical society dinner for my dad. It was all planned to have kids there as well, and they had rented three of those bouncy castles (indoors of course). By the end of the evening we were all in the castles, acting like kids. One of them was set up as an obstacle course where you could race another person, American Gladiators style, so my brothers and I kept racing each other. It was so much fun! And good exercise too. We went to the party with my dad's partner in his medical practice and his family, but before we went they came over a little early b/c his partner had bought a new pistol and he wanted to try it out with some target practice. My parents' house is perfect since they live on some acreage so it's not dangerous. So my dad got out his pistol as well and they both put on the headphones and stood out in the backyard having target practice. This may seem like a normal thing in America, but having lived in Britain for the last year I realised how shocked a Brit would be to see such a thing happening! I told James about it on Skype that evening and he was laughing - nervously.
Luckily, I got there just in time to see my sister's band/choir concert, and also her dance recital! This is her first year in band and choir, and she sounded great. Well, they sounded great I guess b/c I could hear only her. Her dance recital was great as always too, for her performance she was the only one who turned up! Fortunately they found another girl who knew the dance so she didn't have to do it by herself.
It was pretty low key at home for the first few days, I was good and went to work out 3-4 times a week. It's amazing how nice it is to work out when you actually have time to do it! My mom and I went to a few yoga classes too. My family also found this awesome new gym that had recently opened. They have this room that is full of games that keep you active - like dance dance revolution, the Wii, a climbing wall, etc. The best bit was this giant light-up board - one on the floor, one on the wall. There were different games you could play on these boards, for example, in dodgeball a ball of light bounces around the board and everyone has to avoid it. We went there a few times and stayed for hours without even noticing. Even my brothers liked it and they never like anything except video games!
It also snowed while I was at home, big fluffy flakes. My sister, dad and I spent the morning sledding, having snowball fights and building snowmen. So fun! Of course it mostly melted by the time Christmas rolled around, so we didn't have a white Christmas. But it was fun anyway.
My brother Matt arrived from Phoenix a few days before Christmas, and mom, Grandma and I went up to Columbus a few hours before to do some shopping! I went to all the stores I had been missing in London - J Crew, Anthropologie, Banana Republic, Victoria's Secret. Matt arrived right on time with his two little dogs - Dachshund and Chihuahua mix. They were so cute! At first they were quite scared of everyone else and just followed Matt everywhere, but by the time he left they were much more independent. Matt was the last of the kids to come home, and my mom was very pleased to have all of her chicks back in the nest.
Christmas itself was great - for Christmas eve we went up to my grandma's and had a massive meal with my aunt and uncles and cousin, and some friends of the family came over to catch up. My parents overdid themselves again and everyone got gobs of presents. My favourite present was from my grandma and was a framed picture of my great great grandparents. I also got a set of legos! I will admit that I still love legos and usually I just steal whatever legos my siblings get and build them first. But they are growing up and not asking for them anymore, so this was the first year that I actually got them myself again! It was a very grown up set though - a model of the Guggenheim museum in NYC.
A few days after Christmas the whole fam all went up to the zoo in Columbus. They always decorate the entire place with thousands of lights - it's amazing to see. It was below freezing though, so we would just hurry from one indoor exhibit to another.
I was to leave Ohio for KC on 27 December, but of course a horrible snowstorm was blowing through the Midwest and my flight was canceled. Apparently my flight was the only one that was canceled too. But then again if I had made it to Chicago (connecting city) I probably wouldn't have made it out. They did end up booking me on a later flight, but that one was canceled in the end as well. I ended up hitching a ride with my uncle, who randomly and very conveniently happened to be driving from Ohio to KC that very night. He works as a welder and the closest work he's been able to find in the last few months is all the way in KC, working on a new power plant. So we drove all night and I got to KC at about 4 am. James was already there of course, since he had come from NZ through LA he hadn't hit any of the snow. We were staying with my friend Matt Myers, who was so kind and picked him up at the airport and entertained him while I wasn't there. He took him to Taco Bell for dinner, of all places to introduce James to American cuisine. I was not pleased. :)
Ok this is getting to be a rather long entry to I will write about Kansas City and South Dakota in another one.
Lots of love to all,
Heather xoxo
Sunday, January 10, 2010
Egypt
On 21 November James and I flew to Sharm el Sheikh for a week long holiday in Egypt. The British seem to think of going to Egypt a bit like Americans think of going to Florida, it's funny. Sharm el Sheikh is a beach town on the very tip of the Sinai peninsula, about six hours drive from Cairo. When booking our trip, I noticed that there were quite a lot of hotels, and I should have taken note b/c this town has to be the most touristy place I have ever stayed, save maybe South Padre Island for one of my spring breaks in college. In spite of the garishness of some of the city, we still made the most of it and had an amazing and very relaxing time.
We arrived on Saturday evening, and immediately were met with our first bartering opportunity. We had read and been warned by former travelers to Egypt that you have to barter for everything and anything in Egypt, even in places like pharmacies, and they were right! Bartering for a taxi from the airport was something we expected, and we ended up agreeing on 100 LE (Egyptian pounds). The exchange rate is about 10 to 1, and we thought that £10 was pretty cheap for a taxi anywhere, especially considering we're used to the exorbitant prices of London taxis. Later we got a taxi from the airport for 40 LE when we were in more of a bartering mood, so clearly we overpaid but it's all about perspective, right? Anyway we made it to the hotel, which was really a very lovely resort. There were two parts, one just on the beach, and another larger portion across a rather busy four lane road, called the "mountain side" of the resort. Sometimes there were men outside who would stop traffic to allow us to cross, but usually we just had to dodge traffic to get down to the beach. It wasn't really that bad though, I'm probably making it sound worse. Of course everyone at the resort spoke English, which was nice but we felt spoiled. Just another indication of how touristy Sharm is.
After checking out our cute and cozy hotel room and changing into some lighter clothes (yay!), we headed down to the promenade on the beach in search of an Egyptian meal. When we made it down to the promenade we realised just how touristy the place was. When walking down the path, one passes nothing but resort after resort, with their restaurants front and center. I was a little shocked, but on the plus side I always felt very safe, b/c they had loads of security for all the tourists. Most of the tourists were British, Italian and Russian, but there were a few from other countries as well. The staff at resorts could generally speak at least one of these languages, and sometimes all three, as well as Arabic of course! One of the nice things about the tourists from other nations is that James and I could play dumb to the endless men hocking excursions and meals to us and pretend we didn't understand English, or whatever language they were speaking to us.
We found a restaurant that served Arabic food, and settled down on the long, low cushioned seats to an Egyptian beer called, ironically, Stella. Not Stella Artois, this was a different Egyptian Stella. It was very good though! James and I ordered enough food for a king and queen as we hadn't really eaten since the morning, and certainly did not leave hungry. We had loads of hummus and lamb dishes. The dishes we ordered were smaller, about the size of an appetizer, and we just shared all of them. My favourite was minced lamb sort of spread across a thin pita with herbs and spices, and I would spread hummus across the top before eating it too. Delicious! We had also been warned by friends that we may get sick from the food, and were told never to drink the tap water, not even to brush our teeth. It felt very luxurious and slightly wrong to brush my teeth with bottled water. But I suppose it was worth it b/c we never did get sick during the week of our stay.
The next day, Sunday, was my birthday and James wanted me to indulge in whatever I wanted to do. Which was easy to fulfill b/c all I wanted to do was a whole lot of nothing. We just laid by the pool drinking beers and soaking in the sun all day. I had heard that the resort we were staying in had a Japanese restaurant, so we went there for dinner. We had sushi to start and teppanyaki for the main. I was so full by the end I thought was going to have James roll me back to our room. The restaurant was very empty, we were the only table having teppanyaki that night, and there was a very nice German couple sharing the meal with us. We had some good conversations with them, as James speaks fluent German and the wife of the other couple spoke fluent English. At one point our chef called me up to cook some of the vegetables for everyone, it was good fun! I tried to flip some of the veggies into James' mouth like the chef's often do, but I always missed. Our chef was actually Arabic, which was a bit odd, but he was very entertaining and made delicious food.
The next few days were more of the same - waking up just in time to get breakfast before it was taken away at 11 am, then laying by the pool/beach for hours till we got bored or the sun went down, then eating another delicious meal somewhere along the beach side promenade. It was such a relaxing time. With all this laying out you would think that James and I would have come back to London tan, but we are both very pale and slapped on the SPF 50 everyday. Shamefully, I barely even had a tan line. On one of these days we decided to walk up to "the strip", which I decided was aptly named after I laid eyes on the thing. It looked like the Vegas strip. Neon lights everywhere, and hockers every five steps. We had come to collect some presents for friends and family, which ended up being slightly stressful for me as we had to haggle for everything. But in the end I felt like we got a decent price for everything. I'm sure we could have done better, but it was a good price to me. I ended up with a silver scarab necklace for Megan, and some red coral necklaces from the Red Sea for my girlfriends.
Thursday (which was also Thanksgiving!) we went on an excursion to Cairo. This was one of those guided tours which at first I felt a bit lame about, but once I saw Cairo I was SO glad I had a guide with us. Cairo is one of the dirtiest, poorest cities I have ever seen. I knew it was Africa, but I was expecting a little more from Cairo. I mean they have had 2000+ years to develop the thing, after all. Seriously the ancient Egyptians must be turning in their graves if they could see the city. There was trash everywhere, and the sand had created a horrible film on all of the buildings. When we were on the bus on the way to the pyramids, we were driving along a canal with a horrible amount of rubbish on the banks, and at one point the rubbish got so thick it filled up the canal, you couldn't even see the water. It was nauseating. In Cairo I also figured out where all of the 80s and 90s cars go once we sell them - Africa. Also in the bus whilst on the highway, James and I had a good laugh when we saw one of those old small pickups with a cow tethered in the back. By the end of the ride we realised this was fairly commonplace, and not only with cows but goats and donkeys as well. Speaking of donkeys, we saw several people using donkeys as transport - I didn't think this had happened seriously since Jesus days. I mean I suppose it works, but can you imagine taking a donkey to work?!
To get to Cairo, we had to be at the front desk at 4:30 am, where we were picked up and after picking up a few more travelers, were taken to the airport. After the flight we boarded a bus in Cairo and our first stop was the Egyptian Museum. This was a fairly old school museum, where at times it looked like things had just been stacked in and hadn't been moved or cleaned since its opening in 1901, and it was odd and a bit sad to think that such rare and incredible artifacts were sometimes so haphazardly displayed. Other exhibits were breathtaking. My favourite was of course everything found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen. It was nothing short of amazing to see that famous mask with the gold and turquoise that I had seen so many times in books and magazines. There was so much stuff in his tomb, and so much gold! Our guide made the interesting point that if he was only a fairly minor, un-influential pharaoh, imagine what the tombs of the important pharaohs must have contained.
After the museum we had lunch at a buffet style place, then stopped at a "Papyrus Museum" which really turned out to be a glorified sales pitch. After a short 5 minute demonstration about how papyrus is made, they tried (in vain) to sell us some of these very cheesy paintings which had been done on the papyrus. Think pyramids in the glow of sunset and your name in hieroglyphics, those kinds of awesome paintings. Finally, we made it to the pyramids. They were unbelievable, but not surprisingly they looked pretty much like they do in photographs. I still felt rather in awe of them, and Thanksgiving was a good day to be there as I had a special appreciation for how blessed I was to be able to see these in my lifetime. We drove to several different locations around the pyramids for different photo ops, the last being right in front of the sphinx. An odd juxtaposition that we couldn't help laughing at was the Pizza Hut directly across the street from the sphinx. It was really all so amazing though and I highly recommend a trip if you ever have the chance. Our last stop of the day was another loooong and annoying sales pitch in a perfumery, where they tried to sell us some "special Egyptian essential oils" or some crap like that. After a sales pitch that lasted about 30 minutes, no one bought anything and we all headed straight for the bathroom to wash off all the smelly stuff they had rubbed all over us to sample. Despite the two disguised sales opportunities, the day was one of the best parts of our entire holiday, to me. Of course the best part was being with James for 7 straight days. It was wonderful, and when we got back to London I missed him so much the first time we were apart. Mushy I know, but I can't help it.
Thanksgiving night we tried to find Mexican since I knew we wouldn't find turkey and it is American like Indian food is to Britain, but couldn't find a restaurant. We went to Thai instead and I had the most awful representation of pad thai I've ever had. However, while sitting on the upper level of this restaurant, we had a good view of the strip and managed to spot a Mexican place! We went there the next night for our last dinner in Egypt, and it was surprisingly good, for Mexican food in Egypt.
We flew back Saturday evening and were welcomed with wind and rain for the next three days. We missed the sun very much. Although it hadn't been super hot there (high 70s every day, and zero humidity), it was still much better than the cold and rain. Ah well, it was a fantastic holiday and I can't wait for the next one!
xoxo,
Heather
PS - there are Egypt photos on facebook too, have a look!
We arrived on Saturday evening, and immediately were met with our first bartering opportunity. We had read and been warned by former travelers to Egypt that you have to barter for everything and anything in Egypt, even in places like pharmacies, and they were right! Bartering for a taxi from the airport was something we expected, and we ended up agreeing on 100 LE (Egyptian pounds). The exchange rate is about 10 to 1, and we thought that £10 was pretty cheap for a taxi anywhere, especially considering we're used to the exorbitant prices of London taxis. Later we got a taxi from the airport for 40 LE when we were in more of a bartering mood, so clearly we overpaid but it's all about perspective, right? Anyway we made it to the hotel, which was really a very lovely resort. There were two parts, one just on the beach, and another larger portion across a rather busy four lane road, called the "mountain side" of the resort. Sometimes there were men outside who would stop traffic to allow us to cross, but usually we just had to dodge traffic to get down to the beach. It wasn't really that bad though, I'm probably making it sound worse. Of course everyone at the resort spoke English, which was nice but we felt spoiled. Just another indication of how touristy Sharm is.
After checking out our cute and cozy hotel room and changing into some lighter clothes (yay!), we headed down to the promenade on the beach in search of an Egyptian meal. When we made it down to the promenade we realised just how touristy the place was. When walking down the path, one passes nothing but resort after resort, with their restaurants front and center. I was a little shocked, but on the plus side I always felt very safe, b/c they had loads of security for all the tourists. Most of the tourists were British, Italian and Russian, but there were a few from other countries as well. The staff at resorts could generally speak at least one of these languages, and sometimes all three, as well as Arabic of course! One of the nice things about the tourists from other nations is that James and I could play dumb to the endless men hocking excursions and meals to us and pretend we didn't understand English, or whatever language they were speaking to us.
We found a restaurant that served Arabic food, and settled down on the long, low cushioned seats to an Egyptian beer called, ironically, Stella. Not Stella Artois, this was a different Egyptian Stella. It was very good though! James and I ordered enough food for a king and queen as we hadn't really eaten since the morning, and certainly did not leave hungry. We had loads of hummus and lamb dishes. The dishes we ordered were smaller, about the size of an appetizer, and we just shared all of them. My favourite was minced lamb sort of spread across a thin pita with herbs and spices, and I would spread hummus across the top before eating it too. Delicious! We had also been warned by friends that we may get sick from the food, and were told never to drink the tap water, not even to brush our teeth. It felt very luxurious and slightly wrong to brush my teeth with bottled water. But I suppose it was worth it b/c we never did get sick during the week of our stay.
The next day, Sunday, was my birthday and James wanted me to indulge in whatever I wanted to do. Which was easy to fulfill b/c all I wanted to do was a whole lot of nothing. We just laid by the pool drinking beers and soaking in the sun all day. I had heard that the resort we were staying in had a Japanese restaurant, so we went there for dinner. We had sushi to start and teppanyaki for the main. I was so full by the end I thought was going to have James roll me back to our room. The restaurant was very empty, we were the only table having teppanyaki that night, and there was a very nice German couple sharing the meal with us. We had some good conversations with them, as James speaks fluent German and the wife of the other couple spoke fluent English. At one point our chef called me up to cook some of the vegetables for everyone, it was good fun! I tried to flip some of the veggies into James' mouth like the chef's often do, but I always missed. Our chef was actually Arabic, which was a bit odd, but he was very entertaining and made delicious food.
The next few days were more of the same - waking up just in time to get breakfast before it was taken away at 11 am, then laying by the pool/beach for hours till we got bored or the sun went down, then eating another delicious meal somewhere along the beach side promenade. It was such a relaxing time. With all this laying out you would think that James and I would have come back to London tan, but we are both very pale and slapped on the SPF 50 everyday. Shamefully, I barely even had a tan line. On one of these days we decided to walk up to "the strip", which I decided was aptly named after I laid eyes on the thing. It looked like the Vegas strip. Neon lights everywhere, and hockers every five steps. We had come to collect some presents for friends and family, which ended up being slightly stressful for me as we had to haggle for everything. But in the end I felt like we got a decent price for everything. I'm sure we could have done better, but it was a good price to me. I ended up with a silver scarab necklace for Megan, and some red coral necklaces from the Red Sea for my girlfriends.
Thursday (which was also Thanksgiving!) we went on an excursion to Cairo. This was one of those guided tours which at first I felt a bit lame about, but once I saw Cairo I was SO glad I had a guide with us. Cairo is one of the dirtiest, poorest cities I have ever seen. I knew it was Africa, but I was expecting a little more from Cairo. I mean they have had 2000+ years to develop the thing, after all. Seriously the ancient Egyptians must be turning in their graves if they could see the city. There was trash everywhere, and the sand had created a horrible film on all of the buildings. When we were on the bus on the way to the pyramids, we were driving along a canal with a horrible amount of rubbish on the banks, and at one point the rubbish got so thick it filled up the canal, you couldn't even see the water. It was nauseating. In Cairo I also figured out where all of the 80s and 90s cars go once we sell them - Africa. Also in the bus whilst on the highway, James and I had a good laugh when we saw one of those old small pickups with a cow tethered in the back. By the end of the ride we realised this was fairly commonplace, and not only with cows but goats and donkeys as well. Speaking of donkeys, we saw several people using donkeys as transport - I didn't think this had happened seriously since Jesus days. I mean I suppose it works, but can you imagine taking a donkey to work?!
To get to Cairo, we had to be at the front desk at 4:30 am, where we were picked up and after picking up a few more travelers, were taken to the airport. After the flight we boarded a bus in Cairo and our first stop was the Egyptian Museum. This was a fairly old school museum, where at times it looked like things had just been stacked in and hadn't been moved or cleaned since its opening in 1901, and it was odd and a bit sad to think that such rare and incredible artifacts were sometimes so haphazardly displayed. Other exhibits were breathtaking. My favourite was of course everything found in the tomb of King Tutankhamen. It was nothing short of amazing to see that famous mask with the gold and turquoise that I had seen so many times in books and magazines. There was so much stuff in his tomb, and so much gold! Our guide made the interesting point that if he was only a fairly minor, un-influential pharaoh, imagine what the tombs of the important pharaohs must have contained.
After the museum we had lunch at a buffet style place, then stopped at a "Papyrus Museum" which really turned out to be a glorified sales pitch. After a short 5 minute demonstration about how papyrus is made, they tried (in vain) to sell us some of these very cheesy paintings which had been done on the papyrus. Think pyramids in the glow of sunset and your name in hieroglyphics, those kinds of awesome paintings. Finally, we made it to the pyramids. They were unbelievable, but not surprisingly they looked pretty much like they do in photographs. I still felt rather in awe of them, and Thanksgiving was a good day to be there as I had a special appreciation for how blessed I was to be able to see these in my lifetime. We drove to several different locations around the pyramids for different photo ops, the last being right in front of the sphinx. An odd juxtaposition that we couldn't help laughing at was the Pizza Hut directly across the street from the sphinx. It was really all so amazing though and I highly recommend a trip if you ever have the chance. Our last stop of the day was another loooong and annoying sales pitch in a perfumery, where they tried to sell us some "special Egyptian essential oils" or some crap like that. After a sales pitch that lasted about 30 minutes, no one bought anything and we all headed straight for the bathroom to wash off all the smelly stuff they had rubbed all over us to sample. Despite the two disguised sales opportunities, the day was one of the best parts of our entire holiday, to me. Of course the best part was being with James for 7 straight days. It was wonderful, and when we got back to London I missed him so much the first time we were apart. Mushy I know, but I can't help it.
Thanksgiving night we tried to find Mexican since I knew we wouldn't find turkey and it is American like Indian food is to Britain, but couldn't find a restaurant. We went to Thai instead and I had the most awful representation of pad thai I've ever had. However, while sitting on the upper level of this restaurant, we had a good view of the strip and managed to spot a Mexican place! We went there the next night for our last dinner in Egypt, and it was surprisingly good, for Mexican food in Egypt.
We flew back Saturday evening and were welcomed with wind and rain for the next three days. We missed the sun very much. Although it hadn't been super hot there (high 70s every day, and zero humidity), it was still much better than the cold and rain. Ah well, it was a fantastic holiday and I can't wait for the next one!
xoxo,
Heather
PS - there are Egypt photos on facebook too, have a look!
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