An Olympic Weekend

We actually didn't do too many Olympic related events this weekend. We watched the road race and that was about it. But there is so much going on in London during the Olympics there is always something to check out. On Saturday we walked around the Exhibition Road Show, taking place along Exhibition Road in South Kensington until August 5th. I was curious to see the food trucks and food offerings put on by eat.st. We got there early so most of the food wasn't quite ready but the food trucks on offer will rotate and be there week nights and during the day on weekends. I may have to go back just to hit up some mobile bar trucks. They are also having musical, cultural and museum related events during the show.

I want this truck parked in front of my house at all times.

We also travelled across the city on Saturday, and it was easy! We went to Islington for a few hours, back home to rescue Riley, then out to the Goodge Street area Saturday night. No traffic, no over crowding, no real crowds and no hassle. I was shocked that the first weekend of the Olympics felt quieter than a normal Saturday night in London. Did people heed the warnings and stay away? Was London actually, gasp!, prepared? Were we lucky? I guess time will tell, but for now, and for once, I cannot complain about London transport.

After over extending myself a bit on Saturday night, albeit in a multicultural way which was fitting for the Olympics, I loved having the BBC coverage of the Olympics as an excuse to stay home parked on the couch on Sunday. Seriously, you can watch all of it on TV. They are showing all the sports and have non-stop coverage of the events, so you can watch all the canoe slalom taking place on one day. You can then switch to badminton and watch that for a few hours before switching to diving and then to archery. And you can even watch stuff without commentary! The red button is awesome. I do not miss the typically choppy coverage of the US broadcast. I was used to seeing about 15 minutes of swimming (and only of the US swimmers) then 20 minutes of basketball followed by 45 minutes of gymnastics with interruptions every five minutes. The BBC is spoiling me as I can now indulge my inner weightlifting obsession to my heart's content.

Tomorrow we are off to table tennis. I will be doing some serious wrist exercises and prepping my paddle tonight.

I almost forgot! Walking to dinner on Saturday we passed this. Yes, that is a dog. Yes, it's being pulled in a wagon. Yes, the wagon has an umbrella. And yes, Riley is jealous.

Riley, The Olympic Dog

Saturday morning we took Riley to her very first Olympic event, the Men's Road Race. She loved it! All three seconds of it. We stood on Brompton Road down by Beauchamp Place and had a great unobstructed, uncrowded view of the race as it flew by. We saw the lead police escort, the racers and the support vehicles with their extra bikes, wheels and tires. Our view of the event was very, very short because it was about three minutes into the race so all of the riders were clumped together. Except for one lone rider from Russia who came a minute or two after everyone else. Not sure what happened there but he was met with rousing applause as he rode by, all alone. Even though it was short, it was rather thrilling knowing we were seeing an Olympic event fly by. Three seconds of the Olympics is still rather moving and meaningful, and seeing as how it was my first ever in person Olympic event made it even more exciting. After the race was over (at least for us, they returned on the way back but we didn't see it) we walked up Brompton Road enjoying the car free street. Riley had a great morning, and I think was quite grateful we took her to the Olympics in her own backyard. Now she wants an Olympic t-shirt and pin for her collection.

The Torch! Part Deux

This morning I went to Tower Hill to take some pictures of Tower Bridge bedecked with the Olympics rings. I took some pictures last month but at night so they didn't come out very well and I wanted a redo. There were quite a few people mingling around, taking pictures, a few camera crews and some getting an early start on the torch relay. I hadn't considered that The Torch! was coming down the Thames so it was a happy coincidence that I was there at roughly the same time. I took the tube back to Temple and walked along the Embankment looking for a good place to perch for 15 minutes to wait The Torch! out. I stood across from the Southbank Centre and the Eye and got to see The Torch! sail by on the royal barge. The torchbearer was holding a torch and then used it to light a cauldron at the front of the barge just about as it was passing under Waterloo Bridge. The barge had some company as it sailed down the Thames.

After The Torch! passed by I walked to Embankment and happened to go through Embankment Gardens which looks really pretty right now. It was very summery and flowery, too bad the weather was not as summery and sunny today. I don't remember the garden being that pretty but maybe I failed to take much notice of it before. Or perhaps it has been gussied up like so many other parts of the city in preparation for the games.

I also saw this hardcore fan on my walk to Embankment. Now that is spirit! I want Dave to dress like this for the next 16 days. Her companions were nowhere near as spirited. 

I am all set to watch the opening ceremonies tonight, can't wait! And I guess tomorrow the fun starts in earnest, namely trying to navigate London while the road race happens, people descend on the various venues, tourists are out in full force, and Londoners are going about their Saturdays. Happy Olympics!

The Torch!

All day I've been referring to the torch as The Torch! It only seems appropriate to use capitals and an exclamation point when speaking of The Torch! It's just so...Olympic! As I might have mentioned in an earlier post, prior to moving whenever I was asked how long we would live in London I would reply "at least through the Olympics." And today, seeing The Torch! pass by brought home the fact that moment is here and I have lived in London as long as I initially thought we would and set out to do. These past three plus years have flown by, and I have lived through the preparation, the build-up, the warnings from TFL, the disruptions and even more warnings from TFL. Tomorrow the Olympics start, The Torch! has almost completed its journey, I completed my initial goal, and we can now leave London. Just kidding.

I walked down to lower Sloane Street to see it pass by my hood. Where I was standing was crowded, but relatively empty compared to Sloane Square and King's Road. I had a great view of the torchbearer as he ran by, I could have even tripped him if I wanted to. Not like I would have done that to The Torch! I am not sure who was holding it, I looked online and his name was given but he had no bio. Now I am curious....and a bit suspicious.

Before the torchbearer got to me we had to see the various sponsors drive by.

 I liked the Lloyds party bus the best.

Then the support team.

And finally The Torch! (Sorry, my best shot was on my iPhone which I promptly Instagramed)

The Torch! is preceded by a truck carrying quite a few cameras.

After The Torch! passed by I walked up to Sloane Square and saw the crowds that had gathered there. They got to watch the Ab Fab duo carry The Torch! past Peter Jones which would have been exciting, but much more crowded and harder to see. I had a great view of some random guy running by.

Tomorrow the Olympics officially start. On Tuesday we see table tennis (yeah!) and sadly, that will be the end of my personal Olympic experience. I will be watching the rest on TV, although maybe not the 22 (24? 16?) hours a day the BBC is promising. There may be such a thing as Olympic overload.

One Step Closer to Separate Beds

Dave and I fight about the covers all the time. All the time. He is usually on a repetitive cycle of telling me how much I pulled or tugged or hogged or smothered him. Our bedtime routine consists of us pushing the covers at each other trying to find an equilibrium for about five minutes. It doesn't stop, and it is never my fault. Truly. Up until about one month ago we used two different down duvets on our bed, one for him and one for me, mainly because he doesn't like the one I was using. The only problem is that the one I used is for a queen bed, bought back when I had a queen bed (and used in Dave's first London apartment when he had, yep, a queen bed). He uses my super old twin size duvet from my freshman year of college. It still has a tremendous amount of fluff to it, it's great, and rather light. So he was all happy, yet still managed to complain, but I wasn't happy because I had too darn much overhang. The queen fell over my side almost to the floor so my feet couldn't stick out if they wanted too, so I would get really hot. H-O-T.

I found a solution and bought myself a silk duvet in a twin size and now I am a happy camper. I realize how Euro we now are, using personal twin duvets. Our hotel in Bergen had two covers lined up and ready to go on the bed, one for each of us, and our home bed looks like that too! It's like we're always on vacation in a Scandinavian country. Now that we both have twin sized covers there isn't too much overlap in the middle, too much overhang on the sides, and they have different weights, mine being more summer weight. I did have to get used to sleeping under a lighter cover, but in weather like this, I am not complaining. I do like the silk, though I am dubious it will keep me warm sans blanket come winter (in two weeks...). They say silk keeps you cool in the summer by letting air circulate, but also warm in the winter by draping over you while also regulating your body temp. Silk also helps keep away dust mites, which are just gross. Every so often down gives me allergies, so I am hoping the silk keeps them at bay. But just being able to avoid arguments makes my purchase worth it. Fifty years from now Dave and I will be asked how we lasted so long and I will simply reply "silk."

I figure now that we have two separate duvets, we are that much closer to just getting two separate beds, like old 1950's sitcoms. That way Dave could keep his flannel sheets on year round (ick) and I could put the good fancy hotel-like stuff on mine. And Riley could have her very own bed right in the middle.

The Tale of the Admiral Codrington

THUMP. Did you hear that? That was the sound of me jumping on the Ad Cod bandwagon. Yes, it is good. And yes, it happens to be less than a 10 minute walk from us. And yes, I do crave cheeseburgers every now and then. More like now and now. Dave thinks it's one of the best burgers in London, and he's picky. Prior to trying the Ad Cod burger Goodman and Hawksmoor were high on his list.

We went to the Ad Cod a little while ago and were shown to our table, a nice corner table with a view of the whole room. As soon as I sat down a man came running over exclaiming "I reserved that table! That's mine!" and he and the host went off to confer and check the reservation system. It turned out the man had in fact reserved that one specific table, and he explained to us it was the only table his wife liked so if he didn't get it, he'd get a fork in the neck. We moved because all we cared about was eating. I mean seriously, just put the food on a chair and I'll stand to eat, I'm good. The host apologized and then told us the man offered to by our first round of drinks as an apology. So we ordered the large glasses of wine.

After dinner we walked by the couple and stopped to say thank you. I happened to notice something was sort of amiss with the wife, as in she was missing one front tooth. The man then told us they got payback for taking the table from us, his wife lost her tooth at dinner while biting into a piece of bread. Mind you the bread is not that crunchy. But she still managed to lose her front tooth. Her FRONT tooth. She had a big ole gaping hole in the front of her mouth. She was remarkably composed considering. I later told Dave that if I bit into a piece of bread and my front tooth popped out I would probably run out of the restaurant screaming. She told us they had plans the next night so she was a little upset about that, seeing as how it was Saturday night and she probably wouldn't be able to get her tooth fixed on a Sunday. Dave asked her if she was taking the tooth home with her. Hopefully she had it wrapped in a little tin foil or something. We assured the couple we did not seek revenge by putting pebbles in their food, and hey! Thanks for the wine and we'll be on our way, teeth intact.

The poor man, he did not get a fork in the neck for reserving the wrong table, but he did go home with a toothless wife, and a slightly lighter wallet after paying for our drinks. At least we had a good night!

The Admiral Codrington

PS - Dave thinks I should put a picture of the cheeseburger here, but I haven't taken one. If you are curious (and don't want to take me at my word) Google the place and images will come up, especially of the special burgers. Those look serious. And are usually only available at lunch time. Boo.

More Bits and Bobs

So what else has happened in the last month?

Riley got a furcut. It only took me about two weeks to complete it. Between cuts she was walking around looking like she was wearing furry chaps on her thighs. Poor dog.

She also got a new collar, a big thank you to her grandfather for mailing it to her. Doesn't she look fancy?

I stopped using shampoo. So there's that. Did you just stop reading? No seriously, I am trying something new. I have very curly hair and I cannot bring myself to do the whole "no poo" thing, so I am doing a modified version and only using conditioner to "wash" my hair. I'll try to use shampoo only once a week. Supposedly there are enough chemicals in conditioner to clean your hair without also stripping it dry. So far so good. (Dave may have a different response...)

I also started Jillian Michaels' 30 Day Shred, and just typing that is embarrassing. I have never watched "The Biggest Loser," I have no desire to, I am not a fan of hers, but I needed to do something. And come on, 20 minutes a day? I can totally handle that. Again, so far so good. I am still on the first workout, day seven, and it will take me about 37 days to complete it since I don't work out when we travel. I'm not that hardcore. But I figure I need to be in a bathing suit come August 30th, so if that's not motivation I don't know what is.

We have done some travelling recently. We went to Lake Maggiore for the Jubilee (that seems so long ago), Norway for the fjords (it was fjordirific) and are off to Provence today. Yeah, sun!!! Our upcoming trips are to Switzerland (I am dragging Dave on hikes around the base of the Matterhorn. I am going to be Jillian Michaels ripped by then) and to Asia for our 10th, yes TENTH wedding anniversary. I can't wait! Dave will also have a birthday while in Asia. He'll be %&. I am turning #@ in August. Did I mention how young we are?

I think that's all for now. Au revoir!

Friends?

I saw this NYT article courtesy of the Twitterverse. I found it interesting and immediately forwarded it to my friend to get her thoughts. The two of us spend countless minutes (not quite hours) discussing and strategizing as to how to meet people and make friends in London. It's not easy when you are older. I mean young like us. And when you aren't working, or in school, surrounded by people all day. Have a read here...

I've Been Scooped

If I was a better blogger (ahem, resolution failure...) I would have shown a picture of this way back in April after we got home from Singapore and before it started hitting the interwebs this week. My friend posted a link to this awesomeness on facebook, I saw it mentioned on various other websites, and my mom even sent an email linking to it. Now you know something has gone viral if my mom emails it to me! (Sorry, mom!) So what is it? Only this, the most incredible invention in food technology since...the slurpee machine?

There are 7-11's all over Singapore and while buying water a few times we were able to simultaneously marvel at the mashed potato dispensers. I finally had to take a picture (covertly so as to not offend the 7-11 franchisees who decided installing this machine was a solid business decision), and we sent it to our friend who almost immediately wrote back linking to four or five YouTube videos showing how much the color, consistency, texture and gravy vary from one machine to the next. One is rather liquidy, one more sludgy, one white, one god knows what, one has brown gravy, one gray, one has lumpy gravy, one has gravy as thin as water. Seriously, google this thing. Overall the videos proved that this idea is a massive failure. I couldn't bring myself to actually try some mashed potatoes while there. I think Dave would have left me right then and there if I had done so, mid bite.  Mid slurp?

       "Grounds for divorce?"

       "She bought mashed potatoes out of a machine at a 7-11 in Singapore, Your Honor. With gravy."   
     
       "Granted!"

So I saved my marriage and my stomach by not sampling. We're going back to Singapore in August. Dare I try them then? Maybe by then they'll have a turkey dispenser too.

But really the lesson in this post is that I need to be a better blogger! I could have hit the web with this amazing story three months ago. I could have gone viral! At this point this machine is old news. Bo-ring. Mashed potatoes out of a machine? Everyone knows they are so summer 2012.