More Snow Pictures...

Sorry. 

But I did discover that the third snowfall of the season is just as exciting as the first. 

My First Boris Sighting (and That Old Steam Train)

Last Sunday morning I went to Earl's Court station to see the steam train go by. Yes, really. They are running a steam train to commemorate the Tube's 150th birthday so I decided I needed to see it. The first run was about 9:50am on Sunday, the train left from Kensington Olympia and travelled to Moorgate along the Circle Line/Hammersmith and City Line. The very first tube journey ran from Paddington to Farringdon so the commemorative journey is quite similar, just extended.

There were a fair number of people at Earl's Court, most more prepared than I was, with DSLR's and tripods whereas I had my trusty iPhone. No shutter speed or aperture priority for me on a Sunday morning. Which is why my pictures of the steam train are absolutely abysmal. Terrible. They show nothing but blur, but I did see it go by. I also saw Boris! Boris Johnson, the mayor of London in case you don't call him by one name like I do, you know like "Cher" and "Beyonce." Boris was in the front of the train as it rode through the station and both his hair and hand were waving excitedly. I was standing on the steps and so was just about eye level with him as he rolled by. And thus my first Boris sighting. I perhaps would have preferred Kate or Harry but hey, I'll take what I can get while I live in London.

The train will be making more journeys this upcoming Sunday (tomorrow) assuming it doesn't get snowed in (in this city it wouldn't take much for the train to get snowed in). In order to ride it you need to buy tickets, which are now sold out I just saw. Otherwise you can pick a station and watch it go by, or maybe get lucky and see it while you ride the Circle Line.

To see tomorrow's travel times visit the transport museum website.

Snowflakes That Stay On My (Dog's) Nose...

As I type this it has been snowing for the past six plus hours. Isn't that exciting? I love snow! When I got up this morning I looked out the window and no snow. By the time Riley and I left for our morning walk about 45 minutes later it had started snowing and the snow was already sticking to the sidewalks and cars. We had a good time walking around, leaving paw and foot prints and getting snow stuck to our hair and fur. However, one observation. Snowflakes on your eyelashes? Great. Snowflakes that fly directly into your eyeballs at a high speed? Not so great.

Riley went out with her walker today but the walker left the car at home and decided to hoof it, in case the traffic got bad. This meant that poor Riley had to, gasp! walk to the park. By the time they got back, over two hours later, Riley had an icy head, snow clumps in her tail, ice stuck to her legs and paws and she was in a terrible mood. Marta, our walker, told me that Riley kept running up to cars thinking they were getting into one. More like hoping to get into one. Poor puppy. I'm sure if she could speak she would tell me how she had to walk miles in the snow, with no food or water, her paws were cold, her fur was frozen and then she had to turn around and walk all the way home.

I went out to do a few things and ended up not being able to sit to drink my nice, hot latte. So I decided to walk and enjoy the snow. I love the sound of walking through fresh snow. It's such a satisfying CRUNCH. And even in a city as busy and hectic as London the snow makes things more muted, softer, quieter, prettier. Snow combined with all the Chelsea white houses and gray stone buildings makes the city seem so old; it's easy to imagine what the winter looked like a century ago. The snow gives London a black and white quality, an antiquated look even in 2013.

I think it's supposed to snow most of the day and night. I hope so! Maybe it will stay around and we'll be able to take Riley to Battersea tomorrow morning to play in it. As much as she would deny it, she was born in Colorado, in December, so she's a snow Wheatie at heart.

Snow!

Isn't the first snow of the season the best? Although in London it could be the only snow of the season...

As Dave was leaving this morning he told me it was snowing and there was some snow on the ground. I immediately jumped out of bed to verify, and sure enough there was a light dusting on the sidewalks, streets and cars. Even though it was only 6am I stayed awake so I could take Riley out in the snow. Then I sat in bed...and looked outside about 7:30 and it had stopped...and we stayed in bed. So no snowy walk for us, when we finally went out it was over and most of the snow had melted. There was just the slightest bit left on leaves and trees in the private gardens.

I went to the grocery store about an hour ago and right when I was leaving I realized it was snowing again. Yeah for me! Walking to the store in the snow is just so much more fun. It snowed the entire walk there and back but it was a wet snow, big flakes that melted as soon as they landed on me or the sidewalk. Boo. I was hoping Riley and I could go out in the snow this afternoon. But I'll take what I can get. Since I grew up in California snow is still a novelty to me, and so darn exciting. Although the excitement wears off when London shuts down after just an inch of snow. As of now we're safe and all systems go since the snow isn't sticking. Hopefully there will be a bit more and Riley can play in it. She's all set with her snow jacket.

And when Dave gets home tonight and asks why there aren't any Cornettos (ice creams) in the house I will tell him I had to walk miles (ok, about .5) in the snow (ok, slightly frozen rain drops) to buy food for us (like little marinated mozzarella balls) so we don't starve if we get snowed in. That should work.

2012 Year in Review - Part 2

July - More walks, the fjords in Bergen, Norway and a repeat visit to Provence

August - The Olympics! And more Olympics! More! Even more! Last bit of more! Switzerland for hiking, my birthday and once again we left for Singapore

September - Singapore, Cambodia, Malaysia and Hong Kong. Our 10th anniversary and Dave's birthday

October - Riley got another furcut, I started taking LOTS of pictures of fall leaves, we visited the Cutty Sark with friends and I baked a lot of pumpkin stuff

 

November - More pumpkin baking, the US election, home to California for Thanksgiving and we saw the Rolling Stones in concert (!)

December - Paris (again), Riley turned 6! London for the holidays

Now on to 2013!

Couture, Catch Ups and Comedy

Yesterday turned out to be a busy day. As of Wednesday afternoon I had absolutely no plans for Thursday during the day. I had plans for Thursday night, but my day was wiiiiiiiiiiide open. Then within five minutes of getting online on Wednesday I had agreed to go see the Valentino exhibit at Somerset House and meet an old neighbor from back home for a nice little catch up. Thursday was quite an eventful day.

First stop - the Valentino exhibit at Somerset House, running until March 3, was interesting. I like looking at purdy dresses so I was happy. There are dresses from the 60's up until today, including some well known ones like the dress Julia Roberts wore when she won her Oscar for "Erin Brockovich" and the one shoulder mint green beaded gown Jackie Kennedy wore during a trip to Cambodia. There was also Jackie Kennedy's dress from when she married Aristotle Onassis, and dresses worn by Audrey Hepburn and Anne Hathaway amongst others. My museum going partner and I tried to guess when the dresses were designed, and really only had luck with the ones from the '80s since they were often velvet and tended to have huge bows and/or huge shoulders. Little did we know the mannequins are color coded to the decade of design (no, we didn't read the beginning of the brochure), but I think it's more entertaining to not know the decade and try to guess. Quite a few from 60's and 70's looked relatively modern, an interesting comment on his design abilities and the fact fashion tends to be cyclical. The exhibit also shows how some of his more intricate designs are made. Since I just ordered a sewing machine I walked away with a few ideas. Yeah, sure. Overall I enjoyed the exhibit and liked being able to see such famous and fancy creations up close. It gives you more appreciation for all the work that goes into each and every dress, and the quite amazing designs he has come up with during his long career.

After the Valentino exhibit we happened to pop into the Courtauld Gallery, also in Somerset House. I had never been there and was glad we stopped by. It costs £6 and is a small but impressive collection with many impressionist and post-impressionist pieces. It's one of those galleries where you walk around rather amazed at their collection of works by Van Gogh, Cezanne, Manet, Kandinsky and the like. I find that happens quite often in this city given its amazing museums.

For my second engagement of the day I met up with my neighbor from back home which was nice. We've known each other since we were about three, and I grew up running between my house and hers next door. She was in town visiting a friend and it was nice to hear all about what she has been doing and how her family is. It's always nice to see people from back home! Hint, hint.

Finally, last night I went to see a comedy show with a gaggle of Aussies. We saw Danny Bhoy at the SOHO Theatre, a Scottish comedian I was unfamiliar with until my friend asked about the show and directed me to his YouTube clips. I watched one clip, his comparisons between drinking in the US and Scotland, and it seemed funny to me so I decided to go. Now normally I wouldn't jump at the chance to see a comedian from the UK. You know, "British humor" and all which means it's not funny to me. But hey, he was Scottish so I gave him the benefit of the doubt. My Aussie friend knew him because he's actually quite big in Australia. This show, put on for charity, was actually to help him prep for his upcoming Australian tour. At the beginning he asked if there were Australians in the group, I happened to be sitting with three, and they helped him throughout by telling him if certain references would translate down under. I thought he was pretty funny and I would see him again. It was an intimate venue, there were probably only 60-80 people inside and he had us laughing the whole way through. After the show the Aussies and I split up to get home our respective ways and I got a text later telling me that my friend happened to meet Danny Bhoy after I left. She took a picture with him, she was quite excited. Yes, she is a big fan.

2012 Year in Review - Part 1

Since I am so, so, so bad about writing and posting pictures from our trips I thought I'd do another year in review. I did one last year since I also failed miserably in my 2011 quest to blog about our life in London and our travels. Are you sensing a pattern here? Below are some pictures from the first half of the year. Hard to believe 2012 is over. It flew by! We just resigned our lease for another year so we'll be here at least until January 2014. That means you can look forward to another of these yearly recaps next January! Let's hope that's not the next post I write...

Happy 2013!

January - Paris, Riley got a furcut, we checked out the still under construction Olympic park

February -It snowed! We went to the Olympic diving trials at the (still under construction) Olympic park and we visited a friend in Amsterdam

 March - I took a photography class, went on some Wednesday Wanders, took lots of pictures of Riley and spring blossoms and we left for Singapore

April - Singapore and Vietnam (the beach!), more blossom pictures and more walks

May - Barcelona with friends, Riley had her surgery (poor doggie) and the Chelsea Flower Show

June - Lake Maggiore for the Jubilee weekend, my 3 year anniversary in London, more walks, Royal Ascot horse race

The second half of the year to come...