A weekend in the city

We spent this weekend in London and found some new corners of the city that we really like. On Saturday, Joe & I headed over to Covent Garden for a bit of shopping. I got a cool new backpack and a pair of Birkenstocks, so I'm an official hippie now. The area is really cool - small, narrow streets and lots of smaller non-chain stores. In the afternoon, we had lunch a Greek tapas place and enjoyed looking out the window at passers by.

That night, Joe's roomie (or flatmate as they say here since you don't share a roooooommmm - as I'm often reminded) Benji and his girlfriend Danyl came over for dinner. I made tomato/basil/mozzarella salad, stuffed mushrooms and lemon salmon but clearly didn't cook the salmon long enough. It was still a bit sushi like. I have a lot to learn in the kitchen, but all were gracious guests and ate it up.

After dinner we headed out to see Lion King. This is probably the most popular show in London - always sold out and always full price tickets. Joe got us tickets (he's awesome at that~) but they were literally the last row, on the end. I'd wished I was wearing those new Birkenstocks when we were hiking up the stairs to the seats... I loved the costumes in the show but didn't get as wrapped up in the story as in other shows (i.e. no tears when Mufasa died). Joe was the same - he slept through part of it, but that's not necessarily an insult to the show as he does that in lots of good shows :)

The next day, after some errands during the day and a yoga DVD, we packed the backpack and headed over to Primrose Hill. Its a park just north of Regent Park and it has a lovely view of the whole city. It was a fantastic day and so the place was packed. The best part was looking at all the cute dogs go by - I want one!!

A staycation and a vacation

You'd think I'd have learned my lesson last year - everyone in Europe takes vacation in August! Instead, I was working in an empty office yet again this year. That is until this week when I decided to take a 'staycation'. This is where you stay home, but take vacation from work. I'm doing an intensive dance program at The Place. Each day, I'm taking 4-6 hours of classes (Feldenkrais, Ballet, Repertory with Rambert Dance Company). I'm on day 2 and thing are going well, but I'm really sore! I got a really nice massage before classes this morning, so that really helped. I'll let you know how the rest goes...

Our real vacation comes in early September. After multiple false starts where our plans fell through to arrange a trip with a group (a private yacht, a beach house in Mykonos, a beach house in Croatia) we've decided to do a cruise with Windstar. The itinerary looks really cool (all over the Greek and Turkish Isles) and the ship only houses about 150 guests.

DATE	DAY	PORTS OF CALL	ARRIVE	DEPART
September 5	Saturday	Athens/Greece	-	5:00 PM
September 6	Sunday	Mykonos/Greece	8:00 AM	10:00 PM
September 7	Monday	Santorini/Greece	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
September 8	Tuesday	Rhodes/Greece	8:00 AM	11:00 PM
September 9	Wednesday	Bodrum/Turkey	8:00 AM	9:00 PM
September 10	Thursday	Kusadasi/Turkey	8:00 AM	4:00 PM
September 11	Friday	At Sea	-	-
September 12	Saturday	Istanbul/Turkey	7:00 AM	-

Canoing on the river Cam

Joe and I alternate weekends between his home - Cambridge - and mine in London. I infinitely prefer Cambridge :) This past weekend, we wound up doing a bunch. On Friday night, we went to a going away party for a friend of Joe's from work - Jessica. A big group assembled for dinner at D'Arry's - a cute wine bar restaurant. Afterwards, we went to a dance club for a few minutes and headed home. On Saturday, we went to the base to meet a group coming back from a 2 month deployment. I'd never been to Mildenhall - its great going on base. Just like visiting a US city! They have Taco Bells with super sized cups and ice and Burger Kings. They have BX stores that sell everything you'd get in a Wal-Mart in the US and all at average US prices. There are some big benefits to being in the military! Anyway - at Joe's office, I got to see where he spends his time and his picture was on the wall as the instructor pilot of the quarter. Congrats, Joe! That afternoon, we went to a friend's BBQ in Newmarket, which is a really nice town closer to the base than Cambridge. Its a big horse racing town so there are paths for horses everywhere and big green fields.

On Sunday, after a gourmet breakfast courtesy of chef Joe and a viewing of Iron Man (awesome), we headed to the city center on the bikes with a picnic packed. We sat out by the water, ate yummy guacamole and had my colors read by a wandering philosopher. He said I was a creative person who needed to find a better outlet for my talents. How nice :) After lunch, we rented a canoe and proceeded on a 2 hour paddle (?) to Grantchester. 2.5 hours later, we asked directions and realized we'd actually passed it! The town has a pretty famous tea garden called the Apple Orchard that had just closed as we got there. Darn! The canoe ride home was infinitely easier, mainly because Joe did all the work, but also because the current and wind took us home. Dinner at Wagamama's capped off a great weekend.

To the seaside

On a whim and at the advice of one of our guidebooks, Joe and I set out on Saturday afternoon for a hike on the South Downs Way, a trek that follows the south eastern coast of England. We packed a few things in a backpack in case we decided to spend the night...and so another great English country weekend began. Every time I leave the city, I really fall in love with this place!

Back at home in London before we left, a car or other alarm had been going off steadily for over 48 hours keeping many neighbors and myself awake. In the country, its green and quiet and the air is fresh :) The trip to Eastbourne took just over 1.5 hours by train from London, but it felt much farther away.

We pretty much decided to stay as soon as we got there and found a hotel on Saturday night down at the edge of town, but still along the coast. The town reminded us of an old time NJ shore type place. An old pier with games (we played Dance Dance Revolution!), a rocky and not so pretty beach, lots of old timers, but the English addition of lots of tea rooms - how civilized! We stayed in The Grand Hotel - the city's only 5 star and the home of Debussy while he was composing La Mer. The common areas were fantastic and this place just had ambiance. At night, a band played and they rolled up the carpet to reveal a wooden dance floor. Couples (some who seemed almost professional) danced the night away. Joe and I enjoyed a quiet dinner at a Thai place and then danced outside to the band.

On Sunday, we did the actual hike - well 4 hours of it until I started to get seriously sun burned. I keep forgetting this country has sun. It was beautiful - just along the cliffs with stunning views. I love too how in the UK there are lots of restaurants and pubs and even the occasional ice cream vans along the way on hiking paths. Joe and I stopped for lunch at Beachy Head and the place was packed with other like-minded folks out for a stroll. After the hike, it was back to the hotel for a dip in the pool, showers and the easy train home.

Off to Neverland...in Hyde park

Joe came back from Seattle last Sunday and came straight to London to visit me. He got 3 days of post-mission leave, so from Monday-Wednesday we painted the town red, as they say, doing all sorts of fun things after work and during my lunch break. Each day, he came to my office in Piccadilly Circus to take me out to lunch (sushi from Itsu, dim sum from Chinatown). Monday night, we found a fantastic Mexican restaurant (finally!). All my complaining on the topic to fellow expats had yielded a few suggestions and this one, called Mestizo, kept coming up, so we checked it out and it was actually really good. Joe experienced a bit of sticker shock when we got the bill and realized we'd paid nearly $100 for the meal, though. Good old El Amigo in Atlanta would have charged us under $25 for the same thing. Oh London!

On Tuesday night, we went to Peter Pan in Kensington Gardens - it was great, very magical. The best part was the setting - right smack dab in the middle of beautiful Hyde Park. There's even a long standing statue of Peter Pan already present in the park, so that was fitting. Speaking of Neverland - I don't want to grow up either!