Munich!

To the tune of "Take Me Out to the Ball Game":

Take me to the Oktoberfest!
Take me to the beer tent!
Buy me some pretzels and Weissbier! ["wheat beer"]
I don't care if I never leave here!
'Cause it's prost, prost prost for the Weissbier ["Prost" is German for cheers]
Because ich habe ein Tisch! ["Because I have a table!"]
And it's eine, zwei, drei Weissbieren ["And it's one, two, three wheat beers"]
At Oktoberfest!

Oktoberfest was so much more than we imagined. We went with a large group (as you can see from the pictures). Our friends Chris Miller and Lisa Graham (the Grillers for short) each had siblings and friends of siblings flying in for the occasion, so they went on over to Munich on Friday while the rest of us slaved away at the office. By the time we arrived on Saturday, they had already had a wild evening out the night before, had gotten up at the crack of dawn to get a table in one of the beer halls (or tents, as they call them), after obtaining a table had gotten kicked out (becuase of another group's booking, not their behaviour!), and had secured another table outside the beer hall. I'll let Andrew take over from here...

Well we are back from Munich and we are definately worse for wear. We had a BIG time in Munich . Kelly and I left London around 7:30 and landed in Munich at 10:30. By the time we made our way from the airport to the hotel, checked in, and walked to the festival it was close to 1:00. When we arrived we realized it is a gigantic carnival (think Birmingham fair grounds) but with everyone wearing traditional Bavarian outfits. There were big roller coasters, booth games, cotton candy and, of course the huge beer tents.

So we wandered across the whole grounds over to the Schützenfesthalle tent where we went to meet Chris and Lisa (London friends) and their guests, a group of eight people. We were immediately served half liters of beer but in tall glasses and not the cool steins. We stayed at the Schützenfesthalle tent a long time as it was so nice outside (65 and sunny), and we were very thankful to have a seat. The biggest problem there were the bathrooms. They were terribly small and took a long time to get through [Kelly add-in: They were serving that much beer, and all they had was TWO STALLS in the ladies room. Needless to say, the lines were off the charts. When a person got up to go to the loo, we said, "See you in an hour," because that's actually how long it took!!].

We all sat and chatted and sang ridiculous songs we made up for the festival (see lyrics to one of them above). Needless to say, we were having a very good time. We stayed till around 6pm, during which time our other three friends from London arrived and joined us. They arrived around 3pm, by which time the beer tent "guards" had closed the gates into the tent. People were standing in line to get in. We forced our friends in by assuring security they had seats at a table, but it was really that crowded.

After a while we got sick of the bathroom situation [Kelly add-in: We girls were sick of the bathroom situation; the guys had figured out an alternative.] and went into downtown Munich to the Hofbraeuhaus. Getting in was complete pandamonium as people were jammed against one another. We were told to wait, but when they opened the gates, we all just scattered upon entering to find seating.

We secured a table outside in the courtyard and stayed there enjoying big litres of beer from the large German steins. We met all of these random people and continuously singing our songs. We had eaten a little at the first tent but we eat a little more here. By 10pm, I was finished. I mean done! No more! Nicht mehr! I put myself in a cab to the hotel and went to bed. Kelly stayed with our group of friends from Londnon, 13 people in total, and came in an hour later. Neal called me at 4:30am (German time) with the Alabama/Georgia score, but I could barely speak to him I was so tired. Needless to say, though, I was really excited.

I woke around 8am and promptly got on the internet to check the football news, read the articles and revel in UA's dominating victory. I was even able to watch some of a replay on ESPN before Kelly got up around 10am, and we started getting ready to go out for the day. So for breakfast, we wander around until we find a cafe [Kelly add-in: to which we had a map from the hotel, which Andrew dropped somewhere along the way]. To say we loaded up on eggs, pancakes, omelettes and coffee and orange juice would be a gross understatement. We ordered more food than our table could hold! There were only five of us by then, as the Griller group hopped an early train to Prague. So after an outstanding breakfast (keep in mind it's noon), we wander over to the Oktoberfest grounds and go to the Augustiner tent.

The Augustiner tent is a huge tent and very traditional. There were lots of families there, and it seemed more low key. It was really crowded, and we were about to leave for another tent until Kelly saw some folks leaving and hopped in there and grabbed seats at an outdoor table. Again, it's 70 degrees and sunny, so we were happy to sit outside. We all took lots of sun on our faces [Kelly add-in: Some of more than others; I'm still feeling the effects].

This is exactly what I always envisioned Oktoberfest to be. Our "waitress" was missing teeth, but she could carry eight steins at once. The steins hold a litre of beer and are heavy when empty. We met all types of German folks who seemed to enjoy talking to us and are definitely having a great time.

We sat there until around 6pm when one of the guys next to us mentions as he's leaving that if we want to get a table inside and sit for the night, that would be the best time, as lots of people would be leaving shortly causing a rush of tables and people waiting to get them. So we sent the girls (Kelly and Sharon) to go scout it while we three boys sat outside to hold out outside table.

Well, me and Emanuel were sitting outside while Kevin (who is single) talked to an attractive German woman in traditional garb. The phone rang signalling that the girls got seats, so we wrench Kevin away from the Geman to find that Kelly and Sharon have gotten us seats right in the middle of all of the action [Kelly add-in: Sharon and I found a table with three young Italian guys who hardly spoke any English. The table had room for about 10, so we indicated that we had three more outside, and they said we could sit down. Was it our fault they thought we meant three more women?]. We proceeded to stay there for the remainder of the evening (until 10pm) dancing on the tables (with everyone else in the room) and singing with the band and talking to random strangers while our waitress continued to bring us more steins, which by now are completely unnecessary. We enjoyed ourselves immensely. [Kelly add-in: Andrew even got hit on by a good-looking German girl who was waving to him from a few tables away, but he, of course, behaved himself!]

We finally left and Kelly befriended a random American kid who was drinking out of a running shoe. His name was Jeff, aka Alcoholiday, and he randomly joined us while we grabbed some dinner at a random restaurant on the way towards our hotel. Kelly ate something Mexican, as she usually does when it's on the menu. I don't know when she'll ever learn that Mexican food is not good in Europe. I tripped over a fallen bicycle on the way and chipped one of the steins I smuggled out, but the fact that stein survived the fall and made the trip back is a testament to the entire weekend trip.

Waking up yesterday and travelling home may have been one of the most painful experiences of my life. Coming right back into the office today was even worse. We watched the Alabama/Georgia game last night on ESPN archive. It was a great game! I can't believe we are number two in the country. Anyway, we made it home safely. Of the six glasses we stole from Germany five are just fine. Only one glass broke on the trip home, but it was one of the ones from the Schützenfesthalle tent that weren't traditional steins anyway.

[Kelly add-in: Next time we go to Oktoberfest, I'll make Andrew wear lederhosen.]

Bama vs Kentucky

17-14!

Nathan and Emily Vaughn hosted the London Alabama Alumni Association again. Thanks so much for letting us have the group over, Nathan and Emily! Your place is so much larger than ours, and when we've had as good a turnout to watch the games as we have this year, it really makes the seating arrangements much easier!

We look forward to seeing the Tide roll on in another couple of weeks!

PS I'm wearing the scarf you gave me, Aunt Burma, because, yes, IT IS THAT COLD!

Edinburgh!

Our weekend in Edinburgh was absolutely lovely, despite the weather. Andrew and I just really needed a nice little trip after the recent frustrations with my job situations, and Edinburgh being so close provided an excellent getaway. We both took off on Friday and caught our plane at 6:30am to land in Edinburgh around 8:30am. We arrived at the adorable little B&B Andrew booked so early that the office wasn’t even open, yet, but the kitchen was, so we went down and a cup of coffee until we could check in and get going. The B&B, by the way, was called the Walton on Dundas Street. Check out the link; I swear the picture of the room is the same room in which we stayed, bedspreads and all!


We had done no research on the city or what we wanted to see prior to getting on the plane, but I grabbed Frommer’s Europe from $85 a Day (a tour book that Andrew recently purchased but we had yet to use) before we left the house because it had a chapter on “Edinburgh & Environs”. I looked through that on the plane and numbered everything it listed as 1) must see; 2) would like to see; 3) kind of would like to see if time permits; and no number meant I didn’t care to see it at all. There were five ones, so I mapped off the most time-saving course for us and after we checked in at the B&B, we moved along on our way!

The first thing on the list, of course, was Edinburgh Castle. We climbed the hill from our B&B, and as we neared the top of the rise, we could see the Castle looming over the cliffs above us. It is truly an amazing sight. Because it was so early on a Friday morning (it had only opened about an hour before we arrived), the line had hardly formed, so we were able to make our way inside pretty easily. It rained quite a bit that morning as we were wandering the Castle grounds, but we tried to dodge the rain whenever possible by ducking in to view some of the indoor sights while the rain came down. Inside the Castle grounds we enjoyed amazing views over Edinburgh from the lookout; we visited the National War Museum of Scotland, Scottish National War Memorial, Prisons of War Exhibition and, my personal favourite, the Honours of Scotland, or the Crown Jewels.

When we finished touring the Castle, we walked back down the hill to the city and on to the National Museum of Scotland, where, despite our map and audio tour, we managed to get incredibly lost. We wandered around for a good while and then skipped a lot to check out the roof terrace and head to lunch!

We lunched at a little pub nearby the Museum and next door to Greyfriar’s Kirkyard. It was called Greyfriars Bobby’s Bar. Here’s the story behind the bar and the statue of the little dog out front:

“In 1858, a man named John Gray was buried in old Greyfriars Churchyard. His grave levelled by the hand of time, and unmarked by any stone, became scarcely discernible; but, although no human interest seemed to attach to it.

The sacred spot was not wholly disregarded or forgotten. For fourteen years the dead man's faithful dog kept constant watch and guard over the grave until his own death in 1872.

The famous Skye Terrier, Greyfriars Bobby was so devoted to his master John Gray, even in death, for fourteen years Bobby lay on the grave only leaving for food.

It is reported that a daily occurance of people from all walks of life would stand at the entrance of the Kirkyard waiting for the one o'clock gun and the appearance of Bobby leaving the grave for his midday meal.”
[extracted from www.greyfriarsbobby.co.uk]

We’ll come back to the little dog later…

After lunch we decided that we were a bit tired of museums and sightseeing (as I knew we would be when I mapped out our course for the day), so we went to the Brass Rubbing Centre to do a little artwork. We really weren’t sure what this was going to be like; the book didn’t tell a whole lot about it. Basically, they just have a lot of brass tablets with all kinds of different designs; you choose the one you want, and they’ll set it up for you with paper and show you how to do it, then you just rub the wax over the paper. It’s as simple as that! Andrew chose a king (I forget which one)...


...and I chose a Celtic cross, which I know doesn’t make sense because we were in Scotland, not Ireland, but I thought it was pretty. We did our little brass rubbings (quite cheap, too, only about £5 each) just before they closed the Centre, and we moved on to the next spot on our list!

The next spot was just across the road: the Museum of Childhood. Anyone who has ever visited a toy store with Andrew will know why I marked the Museum of Childhood, a museum full of toys for children, as a number one must see. [Andrew often gets thrown out of toy stores for playing with or even breaking the toys. Offhand I can think of two examples when toy store employees yelled at him for playing – Bruges and Rome.] The Museum was actually kind of a let-down. Most of the toys were collectables behind glass, but it was interesting nonetheless.


By the time we left, it was 5pm, so we planned to make our way back to the hotel for a quick kip before heading out for dinner and night time ghost tour! On the way back, however, we popped into the Nutcracker Christmas Shop where we ran into a college student wearing a University of Alabama Supply Store backpack and chatted with him for a moment. He’s living in London doing an internship, so we invited him to look us up and come watch some Bama games with us and the UA London Alumni Club this fall. The world really is incredibly small. What are the chances of our meeting a kid from UA in Edinburgh (and the real kicker) at a Christmas shop in the middle of July?!

Also on the way back to the B&B, we were mesmerised by juggling street performer with an odd petulance for Americans and dumped on by the sky. Andrew had realised once we arrived that he forgot his coat, rain jacket and umbrella for this cold, rainy weekend in Scotland, so when it began to rain, we ducked into a pub for a quick pint. The pub just happened to be one that I’d marked in the tour book. It was called Deacon Brodie’s Tavern, named after Deacon William Brodie, the man who inspired Robert Louis Stevenson’s novel, The Strange Case of Dr Jekyll and Mr Hyde. While we were there, we talked about what we would do the next day, made bookings for that night’s and the next night’s suppers and decided on which ghost tour to take that night.

When it stopped raining, we left to go buy Andrew a rain jacket and / or umbrella, only to discover that everything closed at 6pm, and it was about 6:05! We couldn’t find one place that was open, which we found quite strange for a Friday night. Even London shops stay open until 8 or 9pm on Fridays, though they mostly close at 6pm the rest of the evenings through the week. With no luck, we headed back to the B&B and took a quick nap before getting up and heading out to dinner. We made a booking at a place called Dubh Prais (pronounced “doo-prash”). We ordered traditional Scottish haggis as a starter. Luckily, the waiter refused to tell us what was in it until after we’d eaten (half) of it. It was so salty that neither of us could finish it; we liked it, but will probably never order it again! When we finished eating we had to run out to make it to our ghost tour!

The ghost tour we decided to take (okay – for those of you who know us – the one I decided to take) was called the City of the Dead cemetery tour and was supposed to take us through parts of the Greyfriar’s Kirkyard that aren’t open to the public. It was so much fun. Andrew and volunteered at the beginning in a Braveheartesque demonstration of Scottish warfare. Andrew was the Roman general, and was part of his army. The Scottish kicked our butts. The tour took us into the cemetery where the guide told us the REAL story behind Greyfriar’s Bobby (I told you I’d come back to this…). Apparently, the little dog had the wrong grave. The right name was on it, but it was the wrong grave of another man by the same name! Also, right next to the grave was a tombstone set up so that it kind of looked like a picnic table, so the real story is that the dog wasn’t even trying to keep watch over the grave of his master at all, but was just trying to keep dry and warm under the shelter of the table tombstone next to that grave that just happened to bear the same name as his master. Also, the dog is supposed to have been buried at the entrance to the Kirkyard, but our tourguide told us that was basically nothing other than tourist ploy, as well. The little dog was a stray after his owner died, and no one knows where or when he really died. The dog’s tombstone at the entrance is just a “memorial”. So funny and disappointing at the same time!

So that night we asked our tourguide where to go, and she told us Bar Kohl down the street. We went for a drink and left immediately after because it just wasn’t our scene. Instead, we stopped back into Deacon Brodie’s Tavern where we ran into the nicest couple of Canadians and the strangest blind (possibly faking it) homeless guy who invited himself to sit with us after we petted his adorable puppy. We ended up leaving him at the table and went out to a club with the Canadians. After a couple of pints, we were cashed and grabbed a cab back to the B&B where we crashed.

The next morning, since we’d seen almost everything we wanted to see the day before, we were able to really have a more relaxed day. The only two things left on our list to see were Nelson's Monument where you’re supposed to be able to see the best views of Edinburgh, and the Scotch Whiskey Experience, to which Andrew was especially looking forward. We also, as a side note, wanted to wander through the shopping district around Princes Street to see if we could find a new dress for me to wear to my 10-year high school reunion next month.

We started out the day with a wander around the shopping district, where Andrew was hit by a “fly-by pooping” from a deranged seagull. After the pooping incident, we popped in a little deli for outrageously over-priced sandwiches and then left to do a little more wandering. Andrew found a golf shop where he could practice hitting balls for a bit, so he did (technically) get to play some golf in Scotland.

After a god deal of wandering (and no luck finding a dress, by the way), we decided to take bus to the Monument, only the busses were quite confusing… Then we looked up and realised the Monument wasn’t even that far away, just a hike up a “little hill” that felt like a mountain on the way down when Andrew made me climb an off-the-trail 85 degree drop-off in high-heeled boots. I don’t mind going up slopes like that, but going is a different story!

The Monument was amazing, though I think we had more fun exploring the hillside on the way up than we did actually up the stairs in the tower. There are what looks like Roman ruins next to the Monument that create an amazing view and a kind of forlorn, romantic atmosphere. If I could get married again, anywhere in the world, I would choose to be married on those ruins, despite the fact that they’re known as “Edinburgh’s Disgrace”.

The “ruins” actually make up Scotland’s National Monument, a memorial to those who died in the Napoleonic Wars.

It was designed by Charles Robert Cockerell and his collaborator William Henry Playfair and was intended to be a replica of the Parthenon in Athens, but they ran out of money when it was halfway finished. Apparently, Glascow City offered to help pay for its completion, but the City of Edinburgh was too proud to take them up on it! I don’t think it’s disgraceful, and I think it looks better half finished than it would have completed!

Next we thought it was time to move on to the Scotch Whiskey Experience, which ends with a tasting and therefore is not really suitable for a morning excursion. Our friends Rachel and David had warned us that the tour wasn’t all it was cracked up to be, but that the first 20 minutes and the tasting at the end were both great. They advised we skip the tour and go straight to the tasting. However, Andrew and I talked it over and decided that we’d do the tour anyway because we were both interested to learn a little more about Scotch, and there wasn’t a museum that you could wander yourself before the tasting; it was the tour or nothing. So we took the tour. Big mistake in my opinion! We should have listened to the Kents! The first 20 minutes of the tour was very interesting. They taught us how to taste Scotch: how to look at it, how to smell it, and how to taste it. It was really interesting.

Then they moved us to another room where we watched a movie about Scotch. Then they moved us to another room where we watched another movie about Scotch in front of a small scale model of a distillery that moved. Then they moved us to another room where we watched another movie of ghost bartender telling us more about Scotch. Then they moved us the slowest roller coaster ride in large fake barrels of Scotch on a little ride that told us more about Scotch. It was the laziest tour on which I’ve ever been; the tour guide only really had to talk for the first 20 minutes. It was like being in school with a bad substitute teacher!

The tasting was worth it, though, and afterward we went to the giftshop where Andrew proceeded to buy so much Scotch that they threw in a free map of all the distilleries in Scotland!

After that, we walked outside and decided to try our luck getting into the Witchery, which is a very famous restaurant next to the castle where they used to burn witches at the stake (morbid, I know, but the restaurant is very posh and elegant). We’d tried making a booking the day before, to no avail, but were hoping that if we arrived early (it was 6:30ish), that they might be able to squeeze us in, and they did!


We had an amazing meal there and then wanted to make an early night of it, so we wandered back down to Princes Street and popped into a couple of pubs in that area before we headed back to the B&B.

The next morning, our cab was supposed to arrive around 6:30am, and I woke up, by chance, around 7am. Of course, the cab was gone, and the B&B office, who had called them for us the night before, was closed, so we had no number to call another! Andrew started freaking out, trying to hurriedly pack everything while simultaneously running to and fro in his underwear (including out in to the B&B lobby) trying to figure out what to do about a cab. I honestly think I was still too asleep to really be bothered at that point and was hurriedly, but calmly, packing. We found a binder of guest information in the room, and Andrew called a cab, who arrived about five minutes later to a dishevelled American couple standing outside the B&B obviously freaked out about missing a flight. We made to the airport and checked in safely with time to spare and then I lost my passport somewhere between check-in and security. So we start running back and forth, retracing our steps, dumping everything out of my bag, dumping everything out of Andrew’s bag, and on the second round of dumping, finally found that it had somehow landed folded up in a piece of paper in my bag. All was well again! We made it home in one piece and will always look fondly on weekend getaway to Edinburgh!!

Houseguests!

Sorry for the lack in blog entries for so long! We got behind and then wanted to catch up, and then just continued to get more and more behind until now I think it’s almost pointless to try and catch up! However, I will try and upload some of the photos from our trips since November so that at least you can see them! As for text, you’re probably just going to miss out because it’s way too much to write catch up. However, I promise that we’ll be better about updating from now on, and we’ll try not to get so far behind again!

Alright, so March 2008 was full of houseguests at Casa Brock. Our friend Craig McPherson, Andrew’s fraternity brother and my former coworker from SouthTrust Bank (who, by the way, introduced us – thanks, Craig!) came to stay with us for 10 days. It was a great feeling of home for us. Craig got in town on a Friday while Andrew and I had to work, but Craig’s British friend Liam met him at the airport and made sure he made it to our place okay. Andrew worked from home so that he would be here when they arrived, and they all went to lunch at out local pub, the Fulham Mitre. That evening when I got home from work we all met Liam and his friends at another local hangout, Lloyd’s Bar in the Fulham Broadway tube station. We ended up making a late night of it after that with a quick dinner at the Elk and then we hit up the Slug @ Fulham. The next morning we got up and took Craig to Portobello Market, one of my favourite things to do on a Saturday. Craig bought some souvenirs, and we had another pub lunch while wandering. That night we met several of our friends up at High Street Kensington at our favourite little piano bar, the Live Lounge. Liam came and met us out, as well. A good time was had by all!



The next morning, I really wanted to take Craig to have a proper British Sunday roast, something Andrew and I had yet to do. Liam decided to stick around for lunch, as well, and we went up to Holborn because we were going to hit the British Museum afterward. It was then that we realized that hardly any pubs were open up there! After wandering, starving, for so long, we finally found one and had a lovely Sunday roast with steamed veggies, lots of gravy and Yorkshire pudding (which, I have to say, is not what I though it would be). After lunch Liam left us, and we went to the British Museum. Andrew and I had never been, so were looking forward to it, but I have to say that after such a heavy lunch, we all would have rather had a nap! We struggled around the British Museum for a while and then went home and took the much needed nap.

Monday morning Andrew and I had to head back to work, and Liam met up with Craig to go sightseeing around London. That night, Andrew and I took him to dinner and a show. We saw Agatha Christie’s The Mousetrap. It was really cute.

Tuesday Craig took a coach tour by himself to Stonehenge, Bath and Windsor. And on Wednesday Andrew took off work and took him to the National Gallery and Trafalger Square and some other places that Craig and Liam had missed on Monday. That night Andrew’s coworker Nigel, who takes us to the sports matches here, had gotten two tickets to the Chelsea match. Craig and Andrew were supposed to go together, but then Craig ended up not feeling very well and didn’t want to go, so I got to go instead. Chelsea won, and then Craig started feeling much better after a lazy night in. Yay!

So the next day, we took Craig on the Eurostar to head to Paris for the night. We took a guided tour of Paris, starting out on a freezing cold double decker sightseeing bus. They took us to the second floor of the Eiffel Tower.

Then we took a one-hour cruise on the River Siene and then headed over to the Louvre, where we spent a couple of hours hitting the highlights.

That night we went to dinner at Chez les Anges, a chic restaurant that offered sophisticated French cuisine on the Boulevard de la Tour Maubourg between the Rues de Grenelle and St-Dominique. I ate frog legs, and guess what. They do taste like chicken! After dinner we went to see the Eiffel Tower at night.

On Friday morning, we went to breakfast at Ladurée, a turn-of-the-19th-century salon de thé par excellence. Located on the Avenue des Champs-Elysées, it was posh and ultra-Parisian but not snobbish, and they served the best French toast any of us had ever tasted! The toast and pastries were very reasonably priced, but I should warn anyone who decides to go there – don’t order the fresh-squeezed orange juice! It was more expensive than our orders of toast!! We also saw Tom Bergeron filming an episode of America’s Funniest Videos just outside the café. After breakfast, we walked down the Champs-Elysées all the way to l’Arc de Triomphe and then took the Metropolitaine to Notre Dame, or the Cathédrale de Notre-Dame de Paris (Cathedral of Our Lady of Paris). We toured around inside and then stood in line for forever to go to the top of tower for a little chat with the gargoyles and Quasimodo.

After Notre Dame, I dragged the boys up to the Latin Quarter so that I could see Café Delmas (the former site of La Chope), where a young Ernest Hemingway ate and drank at this neighborhood café. We had a pint in the square and then we wandered on up the street to get a look at 74 Rue du Cardinal-Lemoine, where Ernest and Hadley Hemingway lived on the fourth floor of a working-class building from the beginning of 1922 to the summer of 1923. It was their first apartment in Paris, lovingly recalled in A Moveable Feast, one of my favourite books.

Then it was time for us to leave Paris, so we gathered our stuff from hotel and headed back to Gare du Nord station for our departing train. Our train arrived in London late Friday night at Kings Cross station, so, being the Harry Potter fans the three of us are, we wandered over to see Platform 9¾. It was actually kind of disappointing!

We had dinner in the station and then headed home. By the time we arrived back in London Friday night, we were all exhausted, and we struggled with it the rest of the weekend. On Saturday we went up to Sports Café and watched the rugby game, and then that night we wanted to take Craig out because it was his last real night, but then we were all so tired that we ended up just going to dinner and then having a couple more drinks at our one of our favourite pubs up at Gloucester (pronounced Gloster) Road. On Sunday, we were still pretty beat and did nothing all day, and Craig left for home on Monday morning before Andrew and I even got up for work.

Lauren McDonnell, one of my best friends from high school, came in town that Thursday. She lives in Manhatten and works for Yahoo, and she was in Isreal on business. While she was there, she went and saw Jerusalem, and I now I want to go, as well! It sounded amazing! When she arrived in London around lunchtime, but went straight into the Yahoo office and worked until the end of the day. Then I met her at Earl’s Court and we headed down to Fulham and dropped her stuff off at the house before heading to the Mitre for dinner. Andrew was having celebratory drinks with some of his coworkers. You may not all know this, but he recently got promoted to manager! Everyone who was promoted this time around was heading for drinks that night, so Andrew met McD and I afterward for a late dinner, which gave Lauren and I time beforehand to catch up after not having seen each other since our wedding. Friday we all three had to work, but that night we met several of our friends for dinner at Octave8, a jazz restaurant / bar and then later wandered to a couple of pubs and ended up down the street at our friends house until horribly late! Lauren and I stayed up chatting until five in the morning. Needless to say, we were pooped the next morning, but we got up and headed to Portobello Market anyway and then came home to nap before our evening festivities. I had made us a booking at Buona Sera at the Jam on King’s Road, an adorable Italian restaurant with loft seating. After dinner, we wandered in the pouring rain trying to make it to the Hollywood Arms (we got lost and went out of our way before finally hailing a cab because I forgot my umbrella; Andrew let Lauren and I use his, and he got soaked), where we meeting the Noris and friends for drinks. It was the Noris going away party. They’ll be moving back to the States soon, and we’re all so sad to see them go!

On the way home we stopped at the American Café and ordered late-night French fries and onion rings (so not on my diet!) before heading off to bed! Sunday morning we slept late and had coffee, while Andrew cooked eggs and bacon and grits and toast. Then we just laid around the house and did nothing (well, Andrew took the dogs to meet the woman who will be caring for them while we’re in Prague, but McD and I did nothing). We were going to do some touristy things, but the weather was just complete crap that day: so cold and rainy and windy. You know, your typical London winter day, so we opted to stay out of it and just hang out. Lauren didn’t really want to see Big Ben or Parliament anyway (or so she insisted). I just told her she’d have to come back before we leave for a proper visit when we’ll have time to do things like that!

Anyway, so that was March for us. We’re heading to Prague at the end of March, just Andrew and I, and we can’t wait because we hear it’s a beautiful city. I promise to post another update upon our return.

Dollar continues near record lows

[copied from the BBC]

The US dollar has remained weak against both the euro and the yen in Monday trading as worries about the strength of the US economy continue.

The dollar fell to $1.4666 against the euro by early afternoon in Europe, and dropped to 110.30 yen.

At the start of November, the dollar hit a record low of $1.4752 against the single European currency.

The strength of the dollar had been undermined further by weak US economic data released on Friday.

Interest rate cuts

As a growing number of US banks reveal their exposure to bad US mortgage debt, data on Friday showed the biggest drop in American industrial production since January.

Taken together, analysts say this suggests further cuts in US interest rates.

"There are no fundamental reasons to buy the dollar," said Tsutomu Soma, senior manager of foreign securities at Okasan Securities.

The US Federal Reserve last cut interest rates in October to 4.5%, in an effort to kick-start the faltering housing and credit markets, as well as making borrowing cheaper to encourage consumer spending in the run-up to the key Christmas shopping period.

Despite signalling that it will adopt a wait-and-see approach to the future direction of interest rates, most economists expect a further cut in rates when Fed officials next meet in December.

"Are there inflation fears in the United states? Yes," said David Watt, senior currency strategist at RBC Capital Markets in Toronto.

"But as long as housing remains a downside risk, people will think the Fed is biased to cut rates in the near term."

Barcelona, Baby!

So we went to Barcelona, Spain from November 8-11. Actually, I was there from November 8-16 but the week of November 12 was spent at our global convention, and Kelly flew back to London on Sunday, November 11. So what is there to say about Spain? Well, I’m sure you’ve heard it from us many times, but it is truly a beautiful city in its own way. Europe is amazing like that. As you’ll note in some of our more recent trips to Prague and York, each city is very unique and is special in a different way.

Spain. Just to fill you in a bit on the geography of Barcelona, it is located in the Northeast part of Spain along the Mediterranean coast. If you think it was warm, you would be wrong. Once the calendar turns to fall, the Mediterranean becomes cold, and Barcelona was no different. It was not freezing, by any means, but when I think of Spain, I think of shorts and t-shirts, bathing suits and frozen cocktails. Instead we wore long pants, long shirts or sweaters and coats and scarves the entire time. So, what did we do while we were there?

Well upon arrival, we took a taxi to the hotel only to find out that we were staying quite a bit away from the city center. We had not really done any research prior to booking the hotel, so we got what we asked for, but the good news was that a metro station was about a 10-minute walk from our hotel. Let me give Barcelona real credit here, as their metro system is exceptionally efficient and easily zips you from one place to the next. I believe it was only a 10-15 minute ride to Las Ramblas, which is a very long boulevard with street performers, vendors, clubs, restaurants and hotels adorning the sidewalks and centre pathway. Well, we actually went to Catalunya, which is the main town square and sits at the top of Las Ramblas. Catalunya was lovely, but it was the least impressive of the town squares we have seen in Europe. In addition, the fountains were turned off, as the high season for tourism had long passed. So, Kelly and I cross the street and begin to peruse down Las Ramblas, admiring the various vendors. What we found amazing was that you would walk through districts where all of the vendors pushed similar goods. We walked through the flower vendors, pet vendors, fruit vendors and book vendors with street performers dotted along the way. Think of New Orleans in terms of the street performers, and you get the gist of it. We passed a huge market on a side street and ventured inside to be amazed by the fresh seafood prominently displayed, the butchers, wine and cheese kiosks, etc. It seemed like it never stopped. Finally, we felt like we had seen enough squid and large mouth fish staring up at us and kept moving down the street. I wish I could say we ate a fantastic lunch that afternoon, but honestly we grabbed a quick slice of pizza and a coke and kept walking. As you wind down towards the southern tip of Las Ramblas you walk up to a statue of Columbus in which he is supposed to be pointing to the US (or the new world). The ironic part of the monument is Columbus has his back to the US in a sign of disrespect and actually points toward Turkey.

After we finished walking down Las Ramblas we strolled along the water front and up into the Gothic Quarter surrounded by the old Roman walls. This is also called the medieval area, as much of the buildings are in their original form. Within the centre of the Gothic Quarter is the Barcelona Cathedral. The cathedral was nice, but it was not nearly as beautiful as many of the other churches we have seen. In addition, the cathedral was covered with scaffolding, as they were cleaning the exterior. The one good thing about it was the view from the top it provided after a short elevator ride to the roof. As you can see from the pictures, some turned out quite nice. Outside of the cathedral was a small market we browsed. We used the tour guide to do an hour long walk through the rest of the area. The pictures with the dirty water and the ducks were inside this area, and I believe inside the cathedral. The birds are not to be bothered. They are free birds, but they leave and always return to live here among the fountains in the cathedral.

As we left the Gothic area, we walked down some shopping streets before finally taking the metro to Parc de Montjuic. I’m sure you’re wondering what the significance of this park is, but it famous for the 1992 Summer Olympics and the park they built at the top of it. The Olympic stadium and many of the buildings used to host the numerous events were built specifically for the games. After walking around the buildings and the park we descended the mountain by way of the Placa Espanya where we saw the Magic Fountain and the site of the kickoff to the Olympic games, which is a large square with two towers that look much like the bell tower in the Piazza San Marco in Venice. Nevertheless, it was beautiful, and Kelly had fun running across the fountains when the police were not looking. Look at Kelly living on the edge.

Afterwards we walked up the road to the Poble Espanyol. This place is supposed to be an exact replica of historical Spanish towns prior to sky scrapers. It was really quaint, and we wish we had gone earlier in the day to give us time to enjoy the numerous shops and boutiques there. The city was walled in, and admission was required, but it was full of narrow alleys with two-story buildings complete with a town square. We did not explore it near as much as we would have liked because much of it was closing shortly after we arrived, so we settled for a few beers in the city center and a much needed rest after walking so much of the day. By now, we were some whipped puppies, so we took the metro back to the hotel for a nap.

After waking and freshening ourselves, we headed off to dinner in the port district. I seem to recall dinner being good but not great.


As you can clearly see, I made a mess of myself and, more embarrassingly, the area around me. I was ashamed when the waiter took my napkin, which I was using to hide the stains I created on the white table cloth. Oh, well. It was, nonetheless, hilarious.


The next day brought more adventures, as life always is when you put Kelly and me together. Our first stop was Sagrada Familia. Sagrada Familia is the famous church designed by Antoni Gaudi. As the pictures below show, it looks like it is dripping with wax. It is really neat, but it is incomplete. Antoni Gaudi died before its completion, and it was designed to have two major facades. The most famous façade by Gaudi is charming because of its uniqueness, even though it is eccentric to say the least. The newer façade that is still under construction is heinous.

Kelly and feel that we have been inside enough churches, so we did not venture in this one. The tour book noted the outside was the only really special thing about the building to begin with, so we left after seeing the ugly façade. After leaving the Sagrada Familia, we strolled over to the Ciutadella Parc. The park was really nice and relaxing and it has a famous fountain by Gaudi. His architecture is a large part of Barcelona and it can be stunningly beautiful, but it is very different. I imagine many would believe it to be overbearing. After meandering around the park, we adjourned to lunch around the port district again at a nice little restaurant famous for its generous lunches enjoyed with wine and tending to last quite a long time. We were the last table they let in for the day, as we were unaware they closed around 3pm. I think we walked in the door at 2:55. We were certainly not the last to leave, either. Lunch was fine. I had salted cod, which was their specialty, but I was not impressed. In fact, I disliked it so much Kelly threatens to make it at home when I’m being difficult.

After lunch we walked through the area surrounding Las Ramblas and ended up finding the Picasso Museum. We went in and spent a good bit of time inside it and were quite impressed with the museum and the manner in which it presented his works accompanied by explanations regarding the period in which it was created and the phase in his development he was currently experiencing. By the time we left the museum, it was well after dark, and off we went to dinner. Now here is where Kelly and I continue to make mistakes. You would think after the number of failed Mexican food attempts in London we would accept that Europe can not create good Mexican food but we have not. So off we went to Margarita Blue for Mexican food and drinks. I think you have to understand the clock of Spain to firmly grasp how empty this place was upon our entering for dinner at 8pm. The Spanish go to work at 9am or so, but take two hours off in the afternoon for siesta before working till about 8pm. They usually go to dinner around 10pm and then drink until 3am. Showing up for dinner at 8pm immediately identifies you as a tourist. Nevertheless, there we were. The margaritas were not bad, but they were tiny. I felt like I was taking shots of margarita at €7 per person per round. I have small hands, and look at the size of the drinks in my hands. Needless to say, I switched to beer, so I could get out of there with my shirt. The food wasn’t bad but not memorable.

After dinner Kelly thought it would be fun if we took pictures of us doing stupid things.

How she talked me into climbing 20 feet up a palm tree is beyond me, but I rightly blame it on tequila. It was not hard, so much as it was stupid.

I think the picture of me treating the large round marble as a crystal ball is amusing. After walking around for a bit we stumbled into My Bar where we befriended two couples that were in town from Scotland for the soccer match and another group there for a stag party.

I will conclude this part by saying we stayed out much too late and had too much fun. Consequently, we slept in quite late the next day.

We spent Saturday shaking off the effects of the previous evening and walking around Parc Guell. This was by far my favourite part of the trip, and I have yet to see anything in this world quite like it. Parc Guell is another Gaudi creation. Gaudi purchased the park in the early 1900s and lived there with his family. As a result, he designed and commissioned the construction of almost all but a few buildings in the park, and they are incredibly beautiful. In addition to the buildings, the park boasts some of the best scenic views of Barcelona. If you follow the link above it will take you to the Wikipedia information of the park. If you have time, I suggest you read it and look at the pictures, in addition to ours, as it is very interesting.

After leaving the park we returned to the hotel for a nap. We walked so much the prior two days we were exhausted. The night before did not help much either. After waking I coaxed Kelly into some good ole American food. There is only one place in Europe to get good American food…Hard Rock Café. Oh yes we did. So we dressed down and took the metro back to Catalunya for dinner. I’m not going to lie to you. It was by far the best thing I ate the entire time I was there, and I love trying new food. (As I found out the following week, we did not go to the right places.) Kelly ate macaroni and cheese, and I had fajita nachos that could feed a family of four coupled with Budweiser beers. So good! After waiting to eat for more than an hour and finally finishing, we went straight to the hotel to sleep again.

So that was Barcelona. Kelly and I enjoyed Barcelona but agreed that it would have been better with a group of friends in warm weather while casually strolling the city. We approached the city like Rome or Paris and wore ourselves out, when we should have taken it easy. Oh well, we had fun anyway. We wish you all had been with us. Lots of Love.

The Ray LaMontagne Fiasco

So recently our good friends the Noris asked a bunch of us if we wanted to go to the Ray LaMontagne concert at the Royal Albert Hall.

"Ray Who?" I asked. I'd never heard of the guy. Andrew, however, replied that we'd love to attend, and Beth and Rino got tickets for us and the Tiensvolds and the Sangers (I think). This was months and months ago. After buying the tickets, Beth burned me a copy of his CD, and he's actually quite good. I still listen to the CD often.

Anyway, so the week before the show, both the Sangers and the quasi-hosts - the Noris - backed out and said they could no longer come! The Tiensvolds were still going, though, and Andrew and I had been looking forward to it, so we rushed over after work.Apparently concerts are done differently here in the UK than they are in States. We arrived early and went to the bar to have a pint before the show. Tim soon met us, and Christi arrived about the time we were moving on to our seats. Then the opening act began. She was TERRIBLE! Before she'd even finished her first song, we got up and headed back to the bar. Then there was an intermission after the opening act. Ray didn't even come on stage until about 9pm! We'd been there since about 7pm! No one stood; no one sang; no one danced. It was really strange, eerily quiet. Andrew and I stayed for a while, but we ended up leaving way early. It just wasn't that fun like it is to go to a concert back Home. Andrew and I both agreed that we may be getting older, but we still have some Rock and Roll left in us!

28 Is Great!

So this year for my birthday, Andrew took me to my favourite restaurant, The Big Easy. It's an American New Orleans style restaurant (hence the name), where we can get two of my favourite things: margaritas and crab legs. This time, though, Andrew and I split a whole crab,and apparently I made a pirate face at it (no I hadn't yet had too many margaritas).The Triefs joined us for dinner, and Andrew even put a "K" candle in our dessert.
He's such a sweetie. Great birthday, all around.