Hanging out with Jude Law

Jody & Kit accidentally bought tickets for the wrong date to Hamlet with Jude Law, so they left them with me to use the following week - thanks, guys! I took a colleague from work, Helen, whose children and husband just happened to be out of town that week and we had a great time. The show was fantastic, Jude really showed why he was a star and in particular the setting was great. It was an old West End theater, pretty intimate (maybe 1,000 seats?) and the set was very cool and modern. An image from the show where snow is coming down is particularly vivid. The costumes were modern - very DKNY. All in all, it was a great show. The theater is London is truly the best in the world and I'm lucky to have that at my doorstep.

That was quick...

Well - apparently Summer in the UK is now over, or so everyone in London is saying. Its been raining pretty much nonstop with no signs of quitting and the wind is getting so strong and cold it nearly knocked me off the street on my way to Waitrose (the local gourmet grocer) today.

Last week was a fun one with lots of American visitors. On Wednesday, I worked from Cambridge to spend some time with Joe before he left for Seattle for a few weeks for work. Then on Thursday, I came back into London on the early early (6:45) train and headed in to work. That evening, I met up with friends from Atlanta - Erin K and Kit & Jody B who both just happened to be visiting at the same time. We had dinner at Moro - a fantastic Spanish restaurant in Exmouth Market. We originally had an outside table, but as the rain started to come down, they graciously moved us inside (this place has a weeks long waitlist, so I'm just glad they could find room!). We had a great time catching up and sharing stories of our travels. On Saturday, my friend Josh from GT came in town (he's doing a Law degree and studying abroad at Oxford) and went with me to our office's summer BBQ at our office manager's house in Chiswick. It was nice and sunny for a couple hours but quickly turned cold and grey again in the late afternoon.

I guess this means I'll need to start planning our summer trip to Greece again! Joe and I were originally going to rent a yacht to tour the Greek Isles and we were in touch with this couple that takes you all around the islands and then just as we emailed them to book it, they told us that the day before someone had renting their remaining 2 weeks in August! So now, we're back to the drawing board. I've just come across what could be a winner on my favorite website, VRBO, though. Its a beautiful old house on the island of Skopelos (where Mama Mia was filmed). It looks perfect...and sunny.

Summer in the City

Summer has arrived in London and everyone is outside and loving the new-found sunshine. Joe and I went to Regent's Park today to try out our new trick kite...we could barely get it up in the air! So much for tricks.

Our new favorite place to eat is Chilango in Angel, just up the street from my flat. Good Mexican food is REALLY hard to find in London, but this place gets it right. In the US, it would be just another one of those good, but standard burrito bars but here its a godsend & always packed! I love it!

During the week, I kept my trend of trying out new shows around the city. I saw Midsummer Night's Dream at The Globe on Wednesday and a really funky cabaret show and later dinner at Bistrotheque on Thursday. I even made it to ballet class on Monday, so it was a great week.

Weekend in Derby & Joe's new (old) Land Rover

This weekend, Joe and I took a trip up to Derby & the Peak district to pick up his new Land Rover. Its actually a quite old Land Rover (25 years!), but new to Joe. He's been looking into getting one of these classics for a few years b/c he wants to take it home with him to the States. The one he got in the end is a 4 door complete with extended truck bed and black with "diamond plating" - which is just stainless metal sheets added to certain areas as an accent. It drives great (a little noisy) and is all around fun to take around the countryside.

In Derby we stayed at the fantastic Cathedral Quarter Hotel. It was just renovated in April, so everything is really nice and modern - big bathrooms, cool damask decorative features, flat panel TVs, Aveda bath products - while still enjoying the old shell (high ceilings, stained glass windows, grand staircase). The breakfast was really great - served in this great hall/dining room - and the bar downstairs has all of these really nice cocktails.

On Saturday we went to the Peak district and hiked the 9 mile Monsal Trail. It was set along an old rail line, occassionally vearing off along the creek below. Highlights was the stepping stones laid across the creek and a gorgeous sunset back at the start after a taxi had returned us safely at the end of the day. We only lost our way...once!