Thursday Travels - NFL at Wembley

Wait, going to Wembley counts as traveling, right? It is zone 4.

We went to the NFL game on Sunday. We've actually been able to go every year since moving here, Dave gets offered tickets through work. Last year was sort of fun since the 49ers played and I guess if I am a fan of any NFL team it would be the '9ers. (Growing up, even though we lived closer to Oakland, we always rooted for the SF teams. It was just that way, some people stuck with Oakland, some with SF, and we were SF. However, my mom does like the Raiders and their fans.) The game was a liiitttllleee boring, although we left early and I guess we missed the more exciting 4th quarter. For this game I was cheering a bit more for the Bears since we lived there briefly. I never went to a Bears game while living in Chicago, so it's funny I went to one in London. Ha. Here are some things I noticed while at the game:

1. The Anti-Social Behavior text reporting system. They kept flashing a message saying to report anti-social behavior by text. I have no idea if they do that in the US, but I have never noticed it there. I reported Dave a few times. First for groping, second for rowdiness and finally for drunkenness. It was fun.

Sorry balding man, I didn't mean to take a picture of the back of your head. 

2. Jerseys. As everyone notices, people wear any and all jerseys at the game. We saw the Bears v. Tampa and there were jerseys for Miami, SF, Dallas - you name the team, the jerseys were represented. That would not happen in the US. No way.

3. Cheering for both teams. Along the same lines, people cheer no matter who scores, fumbles, intercepts or tackles. Makes it quite polite I suppose. Similarly, they play both the National Anthem and God Save the Queen. Not surprisingly, more people sang during God Save the Queen.

4. Squirrels on field. There was a squirrel on the field. We watched it for a while. It mainly ran around the end zone, but it got pretty far up the field at one point, probably to the 40 or so. He (or she) ran towards the stands and at that point the crew assembled a Squirrel Response Unit, and I noticed about five people crouching, waiting for the squirrel to show his (or her) face again. They eventually dispersed and I am not sure if the situation was ever rectified.

This picture is hard to see, but the people (in blue) standing between the "U" and C" of the Bucs banner are members of the Squirrel Response Unit (SRU). They are trying to locate the squirrel, he seemed to crawl under the banner.

5. Safety! Tampa scored a safety. For the longest time (or maybe it just felt that way...) Tampa only had two points. Our host joked that about 70,000 people had NO clue what a safety is or why Tampa only scored two points.

 Not a safety picture, I don't have one for that. This is during the National Anthem/God Save the Queen. Look! Card tricks! It felt like home and Cal football games. 

I believe that's it for my astute observations. On the way home from the game I tried really hard to take one of the "new" Metropolitan line trains, but that didn't happen. I want to test this whole air-conditioned train thing. Not like we need the AC now, but since windows on the new trains don't open there has to be some air on them, right? Unlike ALL other tube trains. I guess I need to make another trip to try it out. I realize this is wholly unrelated to the NFL game, but I just thought I'd put it out there.

Wednesday Bits and Bobs

So what have I been up to lately? Here's a recap - everything all at once.

1. It looks like, fingers crossed...toes too actually...that I don't think we are going to have to move. When we found our current "flat" the landlords reneged on the deal at the last minute. They had a few more stipulations that we all finally agreed upon and we ended up signing the lease about one week later. They added a six-month break clause during the second rental year, which we agreed to because we liked the place and we were getting desperate, we didn't want the deal to fall through, again. The break clause just happens to fall about 10 days before the Olympics and we are nervous about having to find a new place at that time. We sent our landlords an email asking if we do renew if we can delete the break clause, and lo and behold, I think they agreed to it! I probably shouldn't get too excited considering their history of changing things at the last minute, but it seems that we can work with the letting agency to redo the lease to reflect the full second year rental period.

I am so relieved and I think Riley will be too. She has so many places she likes to sleep here, it would be sad to take them away from her. She sleeps downstairs on the guest bed, in the entry when it's hot and she wants to cool down on the tiles, on the landings outside the kitchen and bedroom, in the living room, in the kitchen, in the bedroom and finally in our bathroom. How can she live without that much choice? It is imperative she stay here. And it saves me the trouble of dealing with letting agencies again. And the horrible rental market here, which I am not even going to get into it's so depressing.

2. I went to Waitrose today and accidentally dropped a six pack of eggs on the floor. I was wandering the cereal aisle and heard a noise, looked down and saw the carton sitting on the floor. Oops. I picked it up, looked inside and saw one cracked egg (and probably five others, but seeing one was enough). I then casually went back to the egg aisle (after 2.5 years here I am STILL getting used to eggs not being refrigerated, it's just what I am used to...) and returned my faulty carton for another. I put the broken ones in the back so hopefully no one will pick them up. Is that bad? I was worried there could be a "you break it, you buy it" policy with eggs. At least they didn't splatter all over the floor. Now that would have been embarrassing.

I also bought more pumpkin while I was there. Once my stash gets to four cans I get nervous I'll run out. Luckily Waitrose had some and it was Libby too! So now I am good, I have six cans ready for baking. Now I have to make something....

3. It's almost time for Halloween and I am not sure what Riley is going to be this year. I actually do have a costume for her. I bought it at Target. Annnnddddd side note - how I miss Target. Oh my. I remember the days that I would go to Target and pick up some shampoo, conditioner, mascara, dish soap, maybe a cute serving plate, a sweater, a People magazine and cereal. Sigh. Anyway, I bought her a bee costume one year, thinking it would be SOOOO cute to parade her around dressed as a bee. Well you know what happened? She hated it. I mean truly hated it. Riley isn't a clothing dog. Take a look:

Look how embarrassed she is. Not to mention she has too much fur for it to fit. Poor dog. I think I have learned my lesson and she will NOT be dressing up this year. Although I am tempted to take the bee out of the closet for a few minutes just to make her squirm. (I have a really good Halloween costume idea for myself but I am not going to say what it is in case I need to wear it one year. It may come in handy say five years from now, and I want to keep it a surprise. And I don't want anyone to steal it, it's THAT good.)

4. I am so confused and sort of annoyed by my Kindle. I just want to put that out there. I have been looking at some books and the price for Kindle editions is just ridiculous. I mean they are more expensive than other formats, hardback included at times. And what I really don't understand is that if I don't sign in to Amazon then it shows a cheaper, yet incorrect price. For instance one book may say $6.50, then I sign in and the price for that book jumps to $10.99. I guess my location means one price, the cheaper one, but my account means the US price, which is higher. I can't stand it. I know people have been complaining about Kindle prices for while, but not having a Kindle until recently means it was irrelevant to me. Now I am part of the complainers and I am pissed. It defeats the purpose of the Kindle if I just buy the paper books. But I am going to start doing that, I swear I am.

5. I also went to Peter Jones today to look at coats. I am obsessed with coats and jackets. And shoes. And purses. But anyway, while I was there I decided to go to the haberdashery department. I love the haberdashery department, mainly because I love the name. Does anyone in the US even use the word haberdashery anymore? Could I walk into a store and say to the 20-something salesperson, "excuse me, could you point me in the direction of the haberdashery department please?" Um, no. If people do use the word I am going to go out on a limb here and guess that they are 80 or older. But anyhoo, I decided to try and get back into knitting. I have about four knitting projects awaiting completion, so I thought - and this is brilliant thinking - that if I complete a NEW project then it will inspire me to finish the old ones. That should work, right? I mean there's no way this could go wrong. I will not end up with FIVE unfinished projects. Right? I bought some yarn, dark grey, and found a pattern online that looks really easy, like finish in less that two hours easy (sure, easy for them to say) so I will start soon. I swear. Like maybe next month...as in December. Oy.

And that's it for now. I think you are caught up, although I am not as I STILL need to write about Provence, Asia, SF and the NFL. Ugh. Oh, I also have to give Riley a haircut. Yeah, that'll happen.

From the Park to the Pen

Riley's dog walker is on vacation this week. I have a feeling that is one of the worst possible fates that can befall Riley. She's stuck with me all week! She probably has nightmares about Marta not showing up. Picture her - asleep, her paws twitching, maybe her back legs sticking up in the air, and she's dreaming about life without a walker. No parks, no running, no treats, no dogs, it's like the apocalypse. All burning buildings and deserted streets, just the two of us, walking around the block. Sad.

Anyway, because I am walking her this week I thought I'd make an effort (and hopefully make her forget about Marta in the process!) and take her to Battersea. It was such a nice morning - all blue skies, crisp Autumn air, falling leaves. Riley had so much fun. I am still a sissy when it comes to her, so I don't let her off leash, but she still had a nice walk I think. She practically dragged me across Chelsea Bridge she was pulling so hard in anticipation. You could see the excitement in her beady eyes. I am hoping the weather holds up, at least staying dry, so I can take her back there this week. I really wished I had my (actual) camera this morning, it was all so pretty.

So we get home and a few hours later I look out the window and happen to see some woman with frizzier hair than mine looking up at me. Why she was looking into my windows I don't know, but it was a bit nosy I think. Then I happen to see the van parked outside.

Yes, it was the dog unit (terrible logo I must say) and I was nervous they were going to haul my dog off to the big house. I started worrying that she broke out one night while we were asleep and went on a drunken rampage, hitting up any male dog she saw on the street. Or maybe she spent a few hours stealing food and treats from other dogs, and was wanted in both Westminster and Kensington and Chelsea for her crimes. I sent Dave an email with this picture, titled "they're coming for her" and he immediately sent me back a snippy reply. I guess he didn't appreciate my humor and chastised me for even joking about it. (So how will he feel about this blog post???) I thought it was funny, and in my opinion, if I have a good joke I am going to share it with people. He should thank me for trying to lighten his day. But seriously, the woman who was nosing around the neighborhood looking into windows was the actual dog unit captain. I wasn't too concerned. I knew I could take her down if she tried to take my dog. It probably would have been a good fight. In fact Dave probably would have appreciated THAT, even if he doesn't appreciate my jokes.

But more importantly Riley is safe - the woman and her ugly van drove off, I guess they couldn't find the perp.

Thursday Travels - Ahhhhh, Paradou

My birthday was in August. I turned %@*%. Oh! Excuse me. As I was saying...I persuaded Dave to take me to Provence. I have had a certain hotel bookmarked online for so long, probably since I moved here over two years ago. I don't even remember how I first heard of the place, but it has always appealed to me, and I have always wanted to go for a long weekend. I looked into going once before for our anniversary, but we ended up going elsewhere, so I kept it on my radar.

So this past May, when we hadn't yet planned our Asia/California trip, I asked if we could go to France in mid-August, he agreed, and I quickly booked the hotel, the flights and a car. And then we ended up planning our Asia trip, which meant we left for an 18 day trip five days after returning from France. But overall France was so great, and so worth it, we didn't mind the quick turn around. Riley may have, but I think she's over it by now. I hope.

The hotel is La Maison du Paradou, and it was fantastic! I would absolutely recommend it and I really, really hope to return. Even Dave loved it. Not that I thought he wouldn't. But he really liked the weekend, mainly because it was so relaxing he was able to get away from work stress for three days. And the owners of the hotel (I call it a hotel but it's more like a B&B/small inn) are so friendly and helpful and really enhance the stay, it was wonderful. They gave us all the recommendations we wanted, helped us figure out where to go, and booked dinner reservations for us as well.

The Maison only has five rooms (ours, shown below, was Emeraude) along with a separate three bedroom house that can be rented on its own. There are two pools, breakfast is included, along with wi-fi and a movie library. There are three resident dogs, so any dog haters (how could you be a dog hater? How?) should be aware of that.

Paradou, the town, is really, really small. I'm talking two roads small. Actually, more like three shops small. There's a butcher and a baker but alas no candlestick maker. Instead there's a coiffeur. There's also a restaurant, Le Bistro du Paradou just up the road from the Maison. I made a reservation there for my birthday as I read a ton of good reviews, but it turned out the owners of the Maison book every guest there for the first night.

The restaurant absolutely lived up to the hype. The price includes a choice of appetizer, a main, all you can eat cheese (!!!! Cheese, Jerry! Cheese!), dessert and all you can drink wine (!!! wine!! a lot of it!!). It was great, so good, and it felt like a quintessential French bistro. I loved it, and it was a perfect birthday dinner. Especially since my birthday lunch consisted of EasyJet pretzles and a tiny Pepsi Max. Yuck.

Having a car was necessary as no trains go to Paradou, and it would be inconvenient to not have transport while there. The area is gorgeous, and totally worth driving around. And Paradou is a really easy drive from Marseille airport. Although we borrowed a Tom Tom which came in very handy. I shouldn't sound so blase about making our way through the French country side, as we had a nice woman telling us where to go all weekend. (Until you refuse to follow her directions, then she gets a little too testy for my taste) (Or until you fool around with the settings and change it to Thai and then you have no idea what to do).

I'll write about the area next, as we saw quite a few towns, markets and sights over the weekend. And it was all beautiful. Oh, I want to go back...

Thursday Travels - Copenhagen

I know it's not Thursday, but if I didn't write and post this today it wouldn't get done. So deal with it.

The next trip on our summer schedule was to Copenhagen. Copenhagen had been on our list for a while and we never fit it in, so we decided to finally just book tickets and go. However, it ended up being the first of five consecutive weekends we were out of town in August, so in retrospect, we could have waited.

I was a bit worried that Copenhagen would have a similar feel to Helsinki, since we went to Copenhagen three weeks after going to Helsinki. But I was wrong, and Copenhagen felt much more lively and spirited than Helsinki, which was nice. I actually liked Copenhagen a lot. The weather wasn't great while we there, we had some rain and colder temps, but that didn't matter too much. After all, we live in London.

We did as we always do on our trips, we walked around the city. We skipped Tivoli, and instead walked in the main pedestrianized shopping area, in the pretty park on the way to a smorrebrod lunch, we walked in the Nyhavn area, famous for its colored buildings along side a canal, and in the area below our hotel which had a slight sex shop feel to it (probably because we walked by about five sex shops).

Oh, we also ate cinnamon rolls again. And once again we had a few of those. We especially liked the bakery chain Lagkagehuset. There happened to be one a few blocks from our hotel, which was quite handy! Every time we saw one (they have multiple locations in the city) we would say "oh look, it's Lagekagehugeset..." severely butchering the name in our excitement.

We did not take a harbor boat ride, or visit the palace or see the statue of the little mermaid. (I almost typed statue as statuTe. Goes to show you what three years of law school does to you - prevents you from ever typing statue correctly) I think we were ok with missing the mermaid. But we did enjoy seeing all the bikes that weren't locked, and all the kids being shuttled to and fro in their bike boxes.

We went to one of the main stores in town, Illums Bolighus, which was a great store with a lot of really nice Scandinavian design. I walked around and saw about 15 things I wanted. However, the prices made me put them down and sloooowly walk away. Holy moly things were expensive. That goes for food also. We did the smorrebrod, as I mentioned, and yes, it was good, really good in fact, but lunch was sooooo expensive. Dave almost choked when he saw the bill. He wasn't actually eating when the bill came so he almost choked on air, it was that bad. Maybe not $8 Starbucks hot chocolate a la Geneva bad, but bad. As a whole the shopping in the city seemed interesting, but a bit out of my reach. Damn Danish krone exchange rate.

This thermometer is right by the entrance to the shopping area, and across from Tivoli. I love how the temperature only goes up to 30. I guess you can't set your expectations too high that way. (Yet notice it also goes to 20 below. Ugh) I also love how the Carlsberg ad says "probably the best beer in town." I read that as "I guess it is. Maybe. It could be. Who knows." Not as the more declarative statement it's probably intended to be.

We stayed at the Bertrams Hotel Guldsmeden, which was nice (small room) but a bit far from the main sites. A bus stopped right outside the hotel, so it was easy to get around, but it wasn't the sort of hotel you could quickly run back to if you needed a sweater. And our cab driver had no clue where it was so there was that. But not many hotels in Copenhagen get really good reviews, so I went with the cheapest and best option and it was fine, in fact overall perfectly enjoyable. The managers were nice too - one said "goody" a lot.

Our trip to Copenhagen was short because we had a slightly earlier flight home on Sunday. I think we were there the perfect amount of time though. We got to walk around and see a lot of the city, yet we weren't there long enough to get really annoyed by the prices. We got to see some Danish design, and eat some Danish pastries and enjoy the Danish spirit that was so much more evident than anything we saw in Finland. So I was glad we got to cross it off our list. It was worth it.

Now on to the important thing - would Riley like Copenhagen? Well, we have the issue of the cold bothering her precious paws. But I do think she'd like it. She'd like the people watching, and the bakeries, and obviously they have that whole "quality of life" thing going on there. She's a dog that can appreciate the finer things in life, so I think she'd be happy in Copenhagen.

Thursday Travels - Helsinki

After spending the day in Tallinn we spent the next two days in Helsinki. That may have been a touch too long as it turned out. The weather while we were there was fantastic, better than the weather we left in London. It was sunny, hot, and for the most part (aside from the heat in Tallinn) perfect walking weather. In Helsinki we walked through the main market, Market Square, which, if I remember correctly, takes place every day. And if you are looking to buy some berries, then go, GO! to Helsinki in the summer. There were berries everywhere in that market, and in the city. Stalls outside the main department store also sold berries, there were so many berries it was berry overload. I couldn't take any more berries. But let's move on.

There is a pretty park, Esplanadi, in the center of Helsinki. The park runs between two streets, so it is narrow and long, and is a popular place for people to gather and drink. Seriously, everyone sitting in the park was drinking. Especially since it was so warm out, people stayed out at night, talking and drinking. The streets around the park also held the Red Bull Show Run on the Sunday we were there, which basically consisted of little cars veering around the streets and corners as fast and as loudly as they could. We stood around and watched for a while while joking (sort of) about a racing disaster if a car happened to hop the curb and crash into the spectators. People were standing about five feet away from the road, so seriously, it easily could have gone wrong. But maybe we were just being negative. 

As far as the sites, we visited two of the three main churches. We walked into the main Helsinki Cathedral, which was rather plain inside, but pretty from the outside. It stands alone, on the top of steps and is quite imposing looking from the outside.

We also saw the Orthodox Cathedral, supposedly the largest Orthodox Cathedral in Western Europe (or outside of Russia?). It was quite pretty inside, a contrast to the other Cathedral. A wedding was taking place as we were there, and rather strangely, visitors were allowed inside as the bride walked down the aisle. It made the wedding feel a little less intimate in my opinion.

We missed seeing the other famous church, Temppeliaukio, or Church in the Rock. There were rather arbitrary opening hours at the church as we tried to visit it twice in two days and missed it being open both times. The opening hours were handwritten which led me to believe they change almost every day. I would have liked to have seen the inside but Dave wasn't willing to wait around 30 minutes for it to open. So I took a picture of the outside and we moved on.

We walked in various neighborhoods and down by the harbor. The city seemed rather quiet, perhaps it too is a city where everyone escapes to their holiday home on the weekends, much like Stockholm. Having never been to Russia take this next comment with a grain of salt, but to me, it had a Russian feel. Most of the apartment buildings were large, stone and rather dour looking. The buildings were imposing, and most blocks were filled with similar looking, similar height buildings, one after the other. Interestingly, when we got home my parents told me they happened to put on the movie "Gorky Park" that same weekend and noticed that it was filmed in Helsinki, not Russia. The city had a rather heavy feel, and slightly lifeless, but perhaps that's because it was so quiet on the weekend. On a weekday it may well feel more alive. Possibly.

We attempted to eat Finnish food, but had a hard time finding restaurants I had read about. I think we struck out twice, the restaurants were either gone, or my info was bad. We ended up at an Italian place the night we returned from Tallinn and it was actually good, but the service was atrocious. Worse than London. Awful. But good food. I also managed to eat some salmon while there, I felt very Scandinavian, and we definitely enjoyed some cinnamon rolls. A few of those actually. And some bun that was basically butter and sugar and nothing else.

Our hotel, Hotel Kamp, was in a great location, right by the racing action in fact. After the race, when we were going back to the hotel to collect our bags and leave for the airport, we noticed a large crowd outside and we then stood around and watched as two Red Bull Show Run racers (I have no clue who they were) left the hotel restaurant while the crowd cheered loudly. So the Hotel Kamp was not only convenient and comfortable, it was hip as well.

I'm glad we went to Helsinki and Tallinn if only because I can honestly say I would never go there if we lived in the US. Traveling from London was obviously easy, fast and weekend trip convenient. So doing it while living here, great - done and dusted. We got to see a part of the world we probably never would have otherwise. The weekend wasn't all that exciting, but sometimes the quiet weekends away are nice too, as they allow you to return home without feeling exhausted after two days of non-stop moving (and eating in our case).

Finally, although there was a dog park, I'm not sure if Riley would like Helsinki. Most of the year it's too cold for her precious paws.

Coinkidink? Or Not.

I always wonder if these houses coordinated on the dual color scheme. If so that seems very neighborly of them.

Summer Lovin'...in October

Wasn't the weekend amazing? OK, that question is meant for those in London I suppose. Although I hear the weather back home has been pretty nice, so maybe I will just generalize and say the weekend weather was great everywhere! Period!

We took Riley to Hyde Park and had a faux-picnic. Meaning we didn't bring food, we just sat on the grass watching people, taking a million and one pictures of Riley (holiday cards...) and enjoying what is sure to be the last teensy, tiny little bit of summer we have left. The newspaper was already warning of snow! rain! cold temps! coming our way. Um, yeah, snow? Ok. Although we had 80+ degree weather in October so maybe anything is possible, even snow. And now I am going to start pulling my puffy jacket out of the closet...

Hyde park was bursting to the seams with people. I would imagine EVERY London park looked the same this weekend. Riley enjoyed people watching for all of 20 minutes, then she started demanding we go home. She is such a prima donna. She also stepped in her water bowl about five times.

 So many people around the Princess Diana memorial fountain

Three men, all taking a picture of one tiny squirrel. What is up with that? Why are squirrels so fascinating? I grew up with them in our backyard so maybe that's why I couldn't care less. Sorry squirrels.

Oooh, chewy chew stick. 

Riley and the sun bathers.

I Want an "Eat/Sleep" at Windsor*

I went to Windsor this past Friday. So I can cross that off my list. See, I'm getting things done this fall. Score one for me. I really liked seeing Windsor. It was quite pretty, and the audio tour was actually rather interesting. We got to see the State Apartments, the doll house and St. George's Chapel. I overheard one woman saying she would spend all day in the doll house room if she could. I mean it was nice to look at, but really? All day?

It was interesting to see the part of the castle that was rebuilt after the fire in 1992. The rebuilt rooms look "newer" because obviously they are, however the tour told us that the craftsmen used recently felled timber, so that the wood would shrink, contract and split over time, as they would have done when the castle was built. Nice attention to detail I say. Overall it was rather amazing to be walking around the largest and oldest occupied castle in the world. It puts the staggering amount of history in this country into perspective.

One of the rooms (one of many I assume) is used to host visitors for dinner and the tour mentioned that often visitors eat in this room and then stay the night in the castle. So now I want to do that. I can eat and sleep at Windsor, no problem. I'll have my over night bag packed in three minutes.

The trip to Windsor from Paddington was really easy, and fast. The train took just under 30 minutes, and required a quick change in Slough. One of those towns that to an American can be pronounced about 15 different ways. We also happened to go on one of the hottest days of the year, so walking around in the sun was nice and toasty. Going on Friday meant some crowds, but we managed to walk through the rooms without having to look over or under people to see things. Overall I really enjoyed it, and thought it was definitely worth the (easy) trip.

* I can't remember if this is the correct terminology. Is it "eat/stay?" Either way, I'm up for it.