Leo and Jen Move to London

One night in Nagoya

2010-01-16T09:52:00.003-05:00

And now, back to Japan...

We had met several people from Nagoya on our trip through Japan, and all had told us the same thing...Go to Nagoya and get chicken wings. We had one night between Matsuyama and heading back to Tokyo where we hadn't planned anything, so we decided to seek out these famous wings. We had been told of a chain called Yama-chan, which was supposedly the best place to experience the wings, and luckily, in Nagoya, there is a Yama-chan on almost every block.
I've got to say, these were awesome wings! And we even learned a new method of eating wings, which will revolutionize wing eating in the west.

A small pause

2009-12-03T16:40:00.002-05:00

Sorry for the small hiatus, especially in the middle of my Japan tales, but we're now back in Manhattan and things are moving so quickly that I haven't had time to sit down and blog. Just to let you know, we've got an apartment and we're moving in tomorrow, Leo's started work, I've been working on a friend's movie and have just had my first interview today with yet another museum. So, I promise to pick up where I left off very, very soon.

The Ishiteji temple in Matsuyama

2009-11-19T03:48:00.006-05:00

One of the strangest temples we've visited was Ishiteji in Matsuyama. We didn't know exactly where it was or what we were in store for...just had a brief description in our guide book about weird statues and secret tunnels. We arrived at what looked like a pretty standard temple, though a bit run-down looking yet very colorful. Thinking that perhaps this wasn't the right place, we started walking up the hill beside the temple complex, where we encountered these statues in what appeared to be a cemetery. Further up the hill we came to a large golden dome with this statue outside. Leo, being curious, entered the door in the middle of the dome and called for me to come in as well. The place was dark and smelled of mildew, but I climbed up the steps inside the door and found myself surrounded by at least a hundred carved wooden statues staring at me (with some random red cushioned theater seats scattered throughout the room).

Just across the street from the domed complex we found this tunnel opening, so of course we went inside. Several stone buddahs were set in a line in the middle of the tunnel, which was quite dark at times, and there were various rooms we explored filled with statues and drawings. I learned that day that I'm not a big fan of dark tunnels, so Leo held my hand much of the way. We emerged behind the main temple we had first come to that day.

Very odd place, but if you're in Matsuyama you definitely must go there.

Matsuyama

2009-11-19T03:19:00.003-05:00

The next stop was Matsuyama. We decided while in Hakodate that we should try to visit the 4 major islands in Japan, so Matsuyama seemed an obvious choice for a location in Shikoku since it is the largest city on the island. We also found out that there was the oldest onsen in Japan in Dogo, a suburb of Matsuyama, so Leo was very excited to experience that.

For dinner on the first night we found a noddle place known for their 5 colored soba noodles. Although the noodles themselves tasted a bit like angel hair pasta, the sauce they were in and the fish served along with them were wonderful.

Both nights we were in Matsuyama, we went to ex-pat bars. We had expected them to be full of Brits or Australians (this is Jim, and yes he is British)
but they were filled with people from all over the place - Germany, China, Thailand, Israel. It really is a very interesting experience and we met some really great people.
We did make it to the onsen in Dogo. The building is beautiful and I'm told (since I haven't seen the movie yet) that this is the onsen which is in the movie "Spirited Away." In the bath, the walls are covered with white and blue painted tiles and the water pours out from a stone fountain. Even I was able to relax in such a nice place.

Hiroshima

2009-11-17T14:47:00.007-05:00

The following day we took an early train to Hiroshima (thank goodness for these rail passes...I do believe we've gotten our monies worth). We dropped off our stuff at the hotel and headed over to the Peace Memorial Park, stopping off at the A-bomb dome on the way (one of the few remaining structures unrestored after the war). We walked from there though the Peace Park seeing the various memorialsand we also went to the Memorial Museum was a chilling and touching experience. Needing a bit of cheering up afterward, we found lunch in what is known as the Okonomiyaki Village (basically an office building with several okonomiyaki stalls on each floor). Lunch was huge and delicious.

We wandered around the large shopping arcades in the downtown area and also played some games in what are probably some of the nicest gaming arcades we've found in Japan. Here, Leo is living out his dreams of being a DJ.

We ended the night in the rotating bar at the top of our hotel.
This is were I realized that we were indeed rotating and it wasn't just that the windows were moving.

I promise, this is it for Kyoto

2009-11-16T06:25:00.004-05:00

Twice on this trip I've gotten Leo to have dinner on the floor. This was the first time at a tempura restaurant in Kyoto along the canal. He's not all that flexible, so this is not easy for him, though he had a good time regardless.

On our final day in Kyoto, we visited even more shrines and temples on the east side of the city. These are the stepping stones in the garden of Heian Jingu. Next, we followed what is known as the Philosopher's Path to the Silver Pavilion. This is taken along the path (I don't think it gets more Japanese than this).

This is taken in the hills behind the Silver Pavilion, which isn't actually silver. For dinner we found a restaurant which has been serving eel for over a century. Leo is trying to figure out if the contraption in front of him is to cook the eel, just keep it warm, or for him to eat off of.

More Kyoto

2009-11-16T06:22:00.004-05:00

We were in Kyoto during the perfect time to see the maple leaves changing colors (this is also why we had to pay a lot for a hotel room). For dinner on our second night we ate in a mall. Though, the meal was not like one you'd typically find in such surroundings. Instead it was a set meal of about 5-6 courses of amazing udon, sushi, pudding, and sweets.
Leo was actually very happy with this meal, though he didn't want to show it.

Day three started in the Nishiki marketwhich was filled with pickled things and lots of free samples. We then moved on to the Shogun palace of Nijo-jo and finally the Golden Pavilion (we had to take a cab there since it was a much longer walk than we had anticipated).

Kyoto

2009-11-14T19:50:00.002-05:00

The next stop on our trip was Kyoto. On the train ride down we passed Mt. Fuji which really seemed to rise out of nowhere. For the time of year we were surprised that there was very little snow on top. Walking around Kyoto on the first evening, we were shocked to run into a former coworker of Leo's in one of the arcades. Kyoto is a very large and confusing city, and every map you get makes things look a lot closer than they are...that is if you ever find the places you're looking for. On our first night we tried desperately to find a bar, named A-bar (which didn't make it any easier). After about an hour and a half of searching, we settled on a different bar, where we ended up staying most of the night and befriending the staff and a family who was on vacation from Nagoya. The next day we walked miles around the east side of Kyoto, visiting various shrines and temples. This is the ceiling and alter of the Kenninji Temple. This is the huge tori gate outside of the National Museum of Modern Art (which surprisingly had a show of works from the Borghese Gallery in Rome.

More Hakodate

2009-11-14T01:09:00.006-05:00

We were quite cold and my shoes and socks were wet, so we decided to head to the local onsen to soak in the hot, iron-rich water. This is a lovely park we passed on the way. Going to an onsen was something I never really had an interest in doing (public bathing doesn't really appeal to me) but I think I'm now hooked. I was really relaxing and not as awkward as I had thought it might be. This onsen is known for it's iron-rich waters, and the baths themselves were stained brown. Not very nice to look at, though it was a nice place to get out of the cold.

Though there wasn't much to do in Hakodate, and it was cold and wet, the real reason we went was for the food. They are known there for fresh seafood, particularly squid and crab. One night we stopped in a restaurant with huge fish tanks along the wall, filled with all sorts of sea creatures. We knew we wanted some crab, so Leo just asked for kani for the two of us. They pulled a huge crab out of the tank (we think it was a spider crab), bashed it over the head, made the legs into sashimi and then grilled up the body for us. We also ordered scallops, one was cooked inside the shell on a small grill with butter on top, and the other was made into sushi.

We were also able to get up relatively early one morning to see the seafood market. They mainly sell squid in all forms, salmon roe, and crab. We stopped at a small restaurant inside the market to have donburi for breakfast (fishy things over rice). The bowls may look small, but it was a very filling breakfast and I wasn't able to eat salmon roe for at least a day after this.

Hakodate

2009-11-14T00:43:00.003-05:00

The next stop on our trip was Hakodate in Hokkaido. It took about 9 hours by 2 trains, one of which went through a tunnel 240 meters under ground, beneath the Tsugaru channel (which they kindly illustrated on the back of the train seats). When we got off the train in Hakodate, we were shocked by how much colder it was than in Tokyo and how under-dressed we were. We managed to find some hats at the 7-11 and some beer and salt ramen (a regional specialty) to keep us warm on the first night.

The next morning we woke up to a blizzard and though they were not ideal roaming conditions, we set out to explore the city. We visited the Museum of Northern Peoples and learned about the Ainu people, who used to inhabit the norther parts of Japan. Then for lunch we found Lucky Pierrot,a burger chain in Hokkaido which serves the kujira miso burger (miso flavored deep fried whale meat on a bun with a ton of mayonnaise and lettuce). I can't say I enjoyed it all that much...Leo describes it as eating an animal that was born from a dog and a fish...but it was an experience.

With our stomachs full of grease and whale we set off in the snow to see the churches of Hakodate. There is a Russian Orthodox church, and Catholic one and a Methodist one all next to each other along the base of the mountain.

Last day in Tokyo...for now

2009-11-10T22:06:00.003-05:00

On our final day in Tokyo, we decided to head north to Ikebukuro to see what the much hyped Namjatown Sunshine City was like. We had heard it was an indoor amusement park with a food court called Gyoza stadium, where 32 gyoza vendors try to get your business. We were slightly underwhelmed by what we found, but the gyoza were excellent!

Because it was such a nice day out, we headed to Yoyogi Park in Shibuya and came across a festival just over the bridge containing tons of food vendors, children doing karate and cheer leading on the main stage, and games (including timed wood cutting). In the mood for a death march (and not actually knowing how far we'd be walking), we headed in the direction of Roppongi. A few hours later we got to Roppongi Hills which was quite a sight, though we were too tired to enjoy the area properly.

In the mood for a drink and dinner close to home (since we had a very early train the next morning), we went back to Shinjuku and had martinis in the Park Hyatt hotel on the 52nd floor, with amazing views of the city. For dinner we found a kaiten sushi place and ate to our hearts content.

Day 5 - Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden

2009-11-06T19:38:00.003-05:00

Due to our late night the day before, we had a bit of a late start on day 5. For lunch we found an unagi (eel) restaurant in Shinjuku before heading into the Shinjuku Gyoen National Garden. The only problem about Tokyo, all of Japan in fact, is that the sun goes down around 4 pm. So we didn't have much time to explore the National Garden before it got dark. What we did see was beautiful.

That evening we had plans to meet a friend of the family (thank you Bob and Barbara!), Yukiko. She asked us meet her on the 50th floor of an office building in Shinjuku, and we knew we'd be in for a wonderful time. We had dinner at a restaurant called Neboke, where they served kaiseki meals from Shikoku (where Yukiko is from...and where we're headed on this trip for a few days). The meal was at least 10 course...from soup to sashimi to grilled fish to more soup to pickles...it was incredible. So incredible, I forgot to take any pictures. Plus we had the opportunity to ask Yukiko all of the etiquette questions we'd had since we arrived in Japan (where do we place our hot towels, when do we uncap and drink our soup, when do you pour a beer for someone else). It was a fantastic evening...thank you Yukiko!

Day 4 - Meguro, Ebisu, then north to homebase

2009-11-05T20:57:00.007-05:00

We headed south on day 4 to Meguro, to see the area and visit the Parasitological Museum. After viewing all of the frightening things we could have living in our bodies, we thought we'd have some street food for lunch and picked up some takoyaki (octopus balls). From Meguro we headed north into Ebisu and stopped at the Yebisu , we sampled some of the beers on offer. The Yebisu Black is wonderful if you are able to find it.

We walked further north through Daikanyama, an area apparently filled with rich expats...which was obvious from all of the high class stores and English signs everywhere. We weren't very excited by this area, so we walked back up to Shibuya to find some dinner. Eventually we located an izakaya restaurant which was recommended in our guidebook. We had read that their specialty was meat, but opening the menu and seeing that it was all in Japanese with no pictures we were a bit dismayed. Luckily, one of the waiters who spoke a bit of English recommended some dishes for us. We started with an amazing mushroom salad with a ginger dressing, then raw horse meat served with bits of horse fat, then grilled beef (which is probably the best beef I've ever eaten), and they gave us a complementary dish of raw beef liver. Everything was delicious! We were still hungry so we also ordered some grilled wild boar.

Feeling invigorated from our meal, we went in search of the elusive Nyanpire doll at Kiddyland in Harajuku. Though we didn't have any luck, Leo found a doll called Cheburashka, which he had as a child. Apparently, since Cheburashka resembles Japanese characters (with his big eyes and head), the character was purchased by a Japanese company who is making toys out of it and will be creating a cartoon program.

We took the train back to Shinjuku and went to the Golden Gai to find a place to have a drink. The Golden Gai is a very old area in Shinjuku, with tiny bars lining the narrow streets. You can only fit about 7-10 people in most of these places and most cater to locals, so we were a bit intimidated to go into one. However, we passed a place called Aces where there was a sign on the door saying that foreigners were welcome and then the bartender caught my eye and waved for us to come in. We sat there for the next couple of hours drinking, eating candy (everyone had something they wanted us to try) and talking with some of the regulars, many of whom spoke English and translated for those who didn't. Around 3 in the morning we stumbled home.

Day 3 - Imperial Palace and Akihabara

2009-11-02T05:30:00.005-05:00

We woke up early on our 3rd day, since we had booked tickets to see the Imperial Palace. We took the train during rush hour and it was an eye opening experience. The train was packed with people in business suits on their way to work and we were packed into the car like sardines, but somehow it was not an unpleasant experience. Everyone was quiet, most people listening to their iPods, and even when people pushed to get in or out of the train, it wasn't done with animosity, merely urgency. Also, when getting on and off the train, people did their best to get out of each others way, unlike in London where people will just stand in the doorway until you forcefully ask them to move (or in most cases push...with animosity).

Leo had booked audio guides for the tour of the Imperial Palace, though when we showed up they had run out. So we spent the tour admiring the sites and making up stories about the buildings (and the other people on the tour). This is a view of one of the guard houses against the backdrop of Central Tokyo.

After the tour we headed north, since we wanted to visit Akihabara, which is the home of electronics, anime, and otaku culture. On our way to Akihabara, we stopped at an old soba noodle shop for some lunch where the women sing out your orders. I've never had such flavorful soba before, and we were even served the water the noodles were cooked in to drink after the meal.

After lunch, we walked a bit further north and found ourselves in the heart of Akihabara. This is outside of one of the maid cafes in the area, where your servers are dressed in French maid costumes (this has something to do with Japanese 'cute' fetishism, but seems a bit strange to me).

After all of the walking, we needed to rest our feet and found this nice bar, with an American music theme, near the Akihabara station. Dinner was kaiten sushi, which is sooooooo good here. The quality is that of any good sushi restaurant in London or New York, but a lot cheaper!

Day 2 - Meiji Shrine, Harajuku and Shibuya

2009-10-31T20:07:00.005-04:00

On our second day, we walked from our hotel down to Yoyogi Park to see the Meiji Shrine. These are offerings of sake to the late emperor and his wife outside of the shrine. As we were walking around Shibuya, we were getting a bit tired, so we headed into the nearest arcade to wake up. The noise and chaos in any arcade, any day, at any time are enough to wrench the jet lag out of you.

We've become obsessed with this drumming game, and playing the claw-game to win a Nyampire doll (so far no luck with that one).

We also went through the Shibuya crossing multiple times during the day.

More Shinjuku

2009-10-31T19:45:00.005-04:00

While wandering through Shinjuku on our first full day, we found ourselves in Shinjuku Central Park where we visited our first shrine - the Kumano-jinja Shrine. We also happened upon the Christon Cafe - a Christian themed bar/restaurant where I had a fruity drink called the Deathscythe. For dinner, we attempted to find a soba restaurant recommended in our guidebook, but failed in that attempt (since we didn't realize the restaurant was on the 2nd floor), but ended up in a yakitori stall down an alley just north of Shinjuku station (according to our guidebook, the area is sometimes referred to as "piss alley", from the time before there was a public bathroom down there). We pretty much ate everything they offered, including chicken skin, gizzards, kidneys. We also met some sweet girls from Nagoya who asked to have their picture taken with us, and drank several glasses of shochu with an Englishman living in New Zealand.

Shinjuku

2009-10-29T23:06:00.005-04:00

On our first full day in Tokyo we wandered around Shinjuku, which is where we've been staying. This is a view of Shinjuku from the 26th floor of the L Building. Why were we up there you ask? Because we wanted to visit the Toto design show room (where most of the fancy toilets in Japan come from). Here Leo contemplates how he can bring one of these toilets back to the states. They are quite remarkable, with seat warmers, bidets, blow dryers, music, etc.

On the way to Tokyo

2009-10-29T22:55:00.003-04:00

We are now in Tokyo, taking our last big trip before moving back to New York. I'll try to post a few pictures a day of interesting things we do.This a the bento box we got on the plane on the way over from London. There was a western option as well, but Leo and I opted for the Japanese meal. It was really very good and I think everyone else in our section was jealous they hadn't ordered it.

The 12 hour flight was not as bad as we had anticipated and though we've been a bit tired for the last few days, I think we've handled the jet lag well. The tiredness could very well be from walking around for up to 9 hours a day.

Rhodes

2009-10-27T21:26:00.003-04:00

Our final island was Rhodes and we stayed in a nice pension in the walled medieval city. We spent one day at a lovely rocky beach outside of the old city. We found a fantastic seafood restaurant called Mikes and we went there 3 times during our 5 days in Rhodes. We also happened upon a synagogue in the old city, which is one of the oldest in Europe.

Kos

2009-10-27T21:10:00.004-04:00

From Chios, we took a 6 hour ferry to Kos, which actually was pretty enjoyable. We sat up on the deck and played cards most of the time, and I had a wonderful octopus stew for lunch. We chose Kos as our next destination since we all had flights out of Rhodes and it was one of the connecting islands. We thought it would just be a nice place with great beaches, and were pleasantly surprised to also find that it had great archaeological sites, including the ancient Asklepion. Next to our hotel was a great taverna where we tested out Greek-style pizza (actually rather tasty). We took a bus one day to the other side of the island to Bubble beach, named that since if you moved your hands quickly in the water it formed tiny bubbles and felt like being in a jacuzzi. Kos is also rather close to Turkey, and we decided to take a day trip to Bodrum to visit the underwater archaeological museum which is housed in the Castle of St. Peter. We also had an amazing meal of grilled snapper, of course with plenty of raki (like Greek ouzo but not as sweet).

Chios

2009-10-26T02:03:00.003-04:00

The first Greek island we hit was Chios. We went mainly because it was one of the easiest islands to access from Turkey, but there was really a lot to see there and it ended up being our favorite island during the trip.

On our first day, we decided to relax a bit on the beach. We then decided to rent a car, since the island is one of the larger Greek islands. There were many ruins to see, as well as interesting medieval villages (this is Pyrgi, where all of the homes are decorated with geometrical designs called 'xysta') and wild-ish life, like these goats.

More Istanbul and on the way to Greece

2009-10-26T01:48:00.005-04:00

While we were in Istanbul, we were thrilled with how much street food there was available. This was a fish sandwich we got for breakfast one morning right by the ferry terminal. They claimed the fish came from the Bosphorous, though we were told later that it actually is shipped in from Norway.

When we were in Istanbul, it was the end of Ramadan, so the city was packed with Turkish tourists. This is a tunnel we went through to get to the ferries. We were packed liked sardines and walking at a snail's pace through this see of people.

In order to jump off to the Greek islands, we first took a very early morning ferry from Istanbul to Bandirma. This is Leo and John in the Bandirma train station having some tea. We were supposed to take the train to Izmir, but it stopped outside the city and we had to pile into buses to get to Izmir. From there we got a good deal to take a taxi to Cesme, where we spent the night and got on another early morning ferry to the Greek island of Chios.

The long awaited holiday photos

2009-10-23T07:27:00.003-04:00

We started our trip in Istanbul, where we stayed with a old college friend "The Turk." We visited the Topkapi palace and went on a tour of the harem, which was beautifully decorated. We sampled some Turkish sweets. Visited the Basilica Cistern, Hagia Sophia
and the Blue Mosque.

Big News - expensive and cold no more

2009-10-12T07:45:00.002-04:00

I know that I owe you some photos of our recent trip to Turkey and Greece, but I've been a bit distracted since we've recently found out we'll be moving back to the US. As our flat gets colder and colder each day and the sun is coming out less frequently, I'm quite happy to be heading back to the US. Though I'll miss the friends I've made and all of the travelling we've been able to do while living here, it will be nice to move back to New York...land of the perfect pizza, shops open on Sunday, and sushi delivery until 3 in the morning.

Speaking of sushi, before heading home, we're spending a month in Japan. I'm amazingly excited!

My summer vacation part 2

2009-09-12T09:12:00.005-04:00

Our friend Elyse and her husband Andrew stopped by on one of their many international vacations, so again, we had a bbq (and the weather wasn't too bad that day). During the long weekend for the August Bank holiday, I went to a bbq on the roof of our friend Stephen's building (I was kind of surprised that at an event deemed as a bbq there were no actual barbeques and instead we grilled in these disposable aluminum pans with charcoal on the bottom).We also wanted to get into the Bank holiday spirit, so we had yet another bbq the next day. We made shish kabobs (Russian style) and Leo made some lethal cocktails called Suffering Bastards.

And finally, we went to Oxford for the day with our friends Pedro and Iness. This is inside the Natural History Museum in Oxford.And that's pretty much what we did this summer. We'll be headed to Istanbul and some Greek islands this weekend, so upon our return a fortnight later, I'll try to post pictures asap.

My summer vacation part 1

2009-09-12T09:10:00.004-04:00

I know I've been terrible at updating this blog...let's just consider it was my summer break. So here's what I did on my summer vacation, even though I haven't had any time off and it's barely been warm enough to consider it summer.

Our friend Steve from college came to visit us with his sister Michelle, so we, of course, had a bbq. We celebrated our friend Caron's birthday with a picnic in Queen's Park. We went to the Royal Opera House to see Swan Lake, which was a birthday gift from Leo's parents, complete with salmon sandwiches and champagne during intermission (Thank you!).

For Heather

2009-07-26T18:22:00.001-04:00

As per Heather's request, here is the back garden as of yesterday...tomatoes are on the right against the wall.

Garden update

2009-07-25T11:05:00.003-04:00

So, it's been some time since I brought up the garden and I know you're all dying to know what's been going on. Well, we harvested our two marble beets, which I boiled and served with a bit of olive oil, salt and pepper. I also cooked the leave of the beets, chopping them and sauteing them with some oil, garlic and chillies. Though there wasn't very much to eat, it was all really good!

Everything in the garden seems to be growing well. We are certainly learning a lot about gardening - what we thought were brussel sprouts turned out to be cauliflower and vice versa. We had planted a lot of cucumber seedlings in the spring, all of which died when I planted them outisde. So I decided just to plant a seed directly into the ground, and it looks to be doing very well. If we get one cucumber out of this I'll consider it a great success.

The thing I am most excited about are the tomatoes. We have 6 plants which seem to be bearing fruit. I can't wait till they are ripe enough to eat. The anticipation is killing me.

Back to Portugal

2009-07-18T05:24:00.005-04:00

Last month, after Marseille and before we went to the states, we spent a long weekend in Porto. We had loved Lisbon so much that we wanted to see more of Portugal so we found some cheap tickets and took a very, very early flight to Porto. Our hotel was a bit of a ways from the Ribeira (the historic area down by the river) but it gave us an opportunity to see where people actually lived in the city. It also allowed us to get in some good hiking, since the city is quite hilly...down to the Ribeira in the morning was no problem, but back up to the hotel after drinking port all day with a stomach full of tripas a moda do Porto was not as much fun (we actually took a taxi on one occasion). After touring some churches, on the way down to the Ribeira, we stopped at a small restaurant along the river and though we weren't terribly hungry, we couldn't resist some octopus salad and grilled sardines. We then wandered across the river, which actually is the city of Gaia, to visit one of the port caves. We stopped at the first one over the bridge, Calem, and were given a tour where we learned how port was made, how to differentiate between the types of port and were then given some free samples, meant to soften us up so we'd take a few cases home. The tour and the samplings were a bit meager and we later learned that the better tours (and samples) were at the caves further from the river, where they actually made and stored the port on site. On our last day we went to the Croft cave, higher up the hill, and had a much better experience. On our second day we tried to find a beach where we could just sit and relax, but weather and our friend's directions conspired against us. We eventually found a beach (not the nicest since just north of it was a chemical plant of some sort) but it was very windy so we just decided to walk along the coast. There were several beaches between where we were and the Ribiera so we figured we'd be able to plant ourselves on one of them and get some sun. This nice stroll ended up as a death march, with me getting terribly sunburned, us not relaxing on the beach, and getting exhausted, hungry, thirsty...and therefore angry. But, it did lead us to a small, confusing, local taverna where we had some interesting food and a wonderful time.

The place was virtually empty and we went up to the counter and tried to order things from the menu. The woman shook her head at everything we wanted and then pointed to the dishes behind the counter. Not knowing what any of them were, we pointed to a couple, ending up with liver and onion sandwiches and bachalau croquettes...both were delicious. We also got a carafe of what the locals were drinking, which turned out to be beer mixed with wine. After the snack, we got a second carafe (this time of fizzy white wine that came out of a tap) and grabbed a table outside. About ten minutes later the place was full of people eating fried bachalau. It was like the entire neighborhood descended on this place at once all knowing precisely when the fish would be ready. After they scarfed down the piles of fish with several glasses of beer and wine, everyone got a bowl of brown sludge. Some little girls we were sharing the table with finished off their sludge in second and though it looked revolting, the smell was amazing and I had Leo order us a bowl. Somehow, he was able to pick up that this was papash, which is a blood and bread pudding. We tried it and it was really, really good (our Portuguese friends in London were shocked that we actually tried it).

We continued our death march and found ourselves at a street fair which we later found out was for the festival of St. Anthony (this festival is very big in Lisbon, but only the small neighborhood we were in in Porto celebrates it as well). There's a trolley that goes along the coast, which cut straight through this fair, so it was amusing to watch people playing foosball on the trolley tracks have to pick up their game and move it to the other tracks to let the trolley pass. We stayed at the fair until pretty late, listening to local bands, drinking beer, eating sausage and having a wonderful time.

Next up...the US of A

Even more Marseille

2009-06-21T05:55:00.003-04:00

After several attempts at the Tourist information office to find out how to get to the Calanque (the three of us all got different answers), which is an area outside Marseille with limestone cliffs going down into the sea, we finally caught a bus to Luminy and arrived in one of the most beautiful areas I've ever seen. The hike down to the water took about an hour, but the view was completely worth it.

More Marseille

2009-06-21T05:52:00.006-04:00

After hiking to the fishing village, we decided to hike some more (surprise, surprise)...all the way up to Notre-Dame de la Garde, situated at the highest natural point in Marseille (over 500 ft. up). After that, we again retired to our terrace for some wine, cheese, and saucisson.

Everyone told us that we had to have bouillabaisse in Marseille. We had thought we went to one of the good places, Mirimar in the old port, and our hopes were high when they brought out this monstrosity. But after the first course of broth from the dish, we knew we had either chosen the wrong restaurant, or we just all hated bouillabaisse. The broth was gritty, over-seasoned, and far too large a portion to be followed by second course. The second course was a plate with even more broth, smothering overcooked, chewy fish and shellfish. We got through about 5 bites each, trying to smile and claim it was great...but we then had to admit defeat.

The next day we took a bus into the mountains to Aubagne, which was where Marcel Pagnol was born. We had hoped that the town was actually where they filmed some of the movies about Marcel Pagnol's life (My Father's Glory & My Mother's Castle), but seems that it just inspired the locations in the films. However, the trip got us further into the mountains, which were absolutely beautiful. The following day, we hopped on another bus to spend the day in Aix en Provence. While there we saw a wonderful Cezanne and Picasso exhibition, ate some really good pizza, watched some old men play petanque, and walked around the lovely, quiet streets.

Photos from Marseille

2009-06-21T05:44:00.006-04:00

The last week in May we took a really early train out of Kings Cross and headed south to Marseille. Six hours later, we arrived, greeted by our friend Jon (who flew in from Virginia). We rented a lovely flat a block away from the harbor. This is the view from our balcony. And this is the terrace where we'd wait out the hottest hours of the day, drinking wine and eating cheese. The food in Marseille was wonderful (except for the bouillabaisse, which I'll explain later). We ate twice at La Souk, a North African restaurant with fantastic couscous. We did a lot of walking, as is typical of our holidays, and one day walked to the small fishing village of Vallon des auffes. More to come...

Away again

2009-06-11T23:02:00.001-04:00

This weekend we're headed to Porto, Portugal. The photos of Marseille will have to wait until we get back. Sorry for the delay, but it's worth it.

Home again, home again

2009-05-31T18:29:00.002-04:00

So after a week in beautiful, sunny Marseille, we are now home again..a bit tired, very tanned, and already looking forward to our next trip (Porto in two weeks!). I'll post photos before we leave again.

A weekend in Budapeast

2009-05-12T03:47:00.006-04:00

As I'm about to go on holiday again, I realize that I never posted anything about our trip to Budapest. I apologize for my laziness, but the weather has actually been pretty good lately, so I've been spending as much time outside as possible. Plus Leo's parents were in town and now some friends from New York, so it's been a pretty busy month.

The end of April/beginning of May we went to Budapest with our friend Lars. I think the way we decided on Budapest went like this:

Leo - Lars, when are we going to see you again?
Lars - I'm coming to Europe at the end of April, maybe we can meet up then.
Leo - So will you be heading to London?
Lars - Hell no! I hate London!
Leo - So where should we meet up?
Lars - Well, I've never been to Budapest.
Leo - Ok, let's all go to Budapest.

So, we all went to Budapest, and it was a wonderful trip. The food was amazing...rich, meaty, saucy, not too expensive. We had some fabulous meals (when we were able to find the restaurants, and they were open). And the weather was perfect for Leo death marches. We basically spent the weekend roaming around, eating, drinking, sitting and then doing it all over again.

Here are some highlight:

This is a view from the castle in Buda, overlooking the Lanchid (chain bridge) and our hotel Lanchid 19 (I think it's the one with the glass roof).
On our first day we walked to the Jewish quarter in Pest and saw the second largest synagogue in the world. Equally as impressive as the synagogue was the fact that Leo and Lars wore yarmulkas while in the synagogue (well, they were forced to by a little old man at the entrance).
The second night we were there we went to Take 5, a jazz club in Pest to see Nicola Conte perform. Walking around on day 2, we saw many of the sites in Buda. This is a statue of St. Gellert on the south side of Gellert Hill.

That evening we ate a a restaurant in Buda known for serving excellent game. I had the rabbit.

Making use of our garden

2009-04-20T09:07:00.004-04:00

It makes me feel really good that we not only have some outside space, but that we're putting it to good use. We recently bought a barbecue and some outdoor furniture, and with the weather finally becoming a bit nicer, we're spending as much time outside as we can. Last weekend we had our first bbq (aka liquor-cheeseburger party), and invited some friends over. During the week, Leo and I had an ode-to-Greece dinner, of grilled fish, haloumi cheese, and eggplant. Then this past weekend, we did a lot of sitting outside and reading, as well as planting another row of vegetables...i think brussels sprouts, cauliflower, spinach, and some sunflowers. We also tried laying down more grass seeds, since although the first bit of seeding did work, it was a bit patchy. I can't wait to see if we actually grow anything!

Wow, when did I become a person who talks about their garden all the time...I'm scaring myself. I promise never to speak about it again.

More pictures from Germany

2009-04-03T05:33:00.006-04:00

Moselle Valley wine weekend

2009-04-03T04:45:00.006-04:00

Last weekend, Leo and I flew to Frankfurt-Hahn (which is nowhere near Frankfurt) to visit our friend Stephen, who we've know since our days in Chicago. We had tried this trip once before in December, but due to a bad roast beef sandwich at the airport, we never got on the plane. This time, we did make it and Stephen picked us up in a very old, beat up van, which belonged to the vineyard he was working on. Luckily it was late when we got in, and I couldn't see the size of the mountains we were driving on, and the width of the road, so I didn't get nervous each time the van stalled or the gear shift didn't work. We got to his apartment around midnight and yet still managed to finish off 4 bottle of wine (all from his vineyard) before bed.

The next morning, we arose...probably still a bit drunk...and Stephen took us on a tour of Kerpen's bottling area and the wine cellar, where we tasted...let's just say a lot of wine. I have been to a couple wineries in California. I remember them being very clean, very hygienic, and very soulless. This place was overflowing with character...and wine. It was dark, and dank, with mold and cobwebs growing on the walls. It felt like the type of place wine has always been produced and will always be produced.After a morning spent drinking wine, we decided to spend the afternoon and evening drinking beer, so headed two towns over to Bernkastel-Kues. We had some wonderful jagerschnitzel for lunch, and a few weisens...followed by some walking around the town...followed by some more weisens and a pilsen...followed by some ice cream...then more weisens and pilsens. We stayed in Bernkastel long enough to have another meal and we decided to go for Indian (which made Stephen happy, since he's a vegan and made us happy since it fit in with us going to Asian restaurants in foreign countries). It was better than most of the Indian food I've had in London.
It was a fantastic weekend, though too short as usual.

A garden and a mystery

2009-03-25T14:13:00.011-04:00

Last weekend we decided to take advantage of the weather to do some gardening. We needed to remove the weeds, rocks, and trash from the garden before putting down some grass seeds. After hours raking, shoveling, yanking, bagging, squatting we were thoroughly exhausted...so Leo made us some well-earned gin and tonics. Here's a before and after shot of the garden (hopefully you can see the difference). On the left we have a bunch of daffodils which started growing, so we left those. On the right is where the vegetable garden will go, since it gets the most sunshine.

While Leo was digging the shovel hit something hard in the back of the garden. Digging down deeper he came across a large blue crate full of dirt buried in the back yard. It was the oddest thing. As we dumped the dirt out we found a few children's toys inside and I was praying we wouldn't find a child's hand buried in there as well...which thankfully we didn't.

New addition to the living room

2009-03-25T14:09:00.004-04:00

We bought a new rug, which is very similar to a smaller one we have which is now sitting in Leo's parents' attic. We were out on one of our death marches through the city on a sunny day and happened upon a rug store going out of business. So this one came pretty cheap. Do you think it ties the room together?

The Urban Gardeners

2009-03-15T07:17:00.003-04:00

For the first time in our adult lives, Leo and I have a piece of land. Sure, right now it's just a large patch of dirt in back of our flat, but to us it's the promise of a great salad to come. If you know me, you know plants would rather kill themselves than let me nurture them. But for some reason, London gave me a greener thumb. My friend Caron gave me a tomato and a pepper plant last fall and both are still alive, so they'll be going into the garden soon. I've also got some herbs which I picked up at the supermarket, which are still alive. We've also started some seedlings for cucumbers, carrots, cauliflower, two types of tomatoes, beets, leeks, and peas which are now in our living room, but will soon be transplanted to the garden. Can't wait to see if anything actually grows!

More flat photos (ha!)

2009-03-07T06:28:00.001-05:00

What's really nice is the sun is shining today, and I'm sitting in our study writing this post and listening to the birds chirp from the tree in my garden. Some days in London are good days.

Long overdue

2009-03-07T06:21:00.003-05:00

So, finally our flat is starting to feel like home. We've spent the last few weekends cleaning the place up, buying items to make it feel more homey, and as the place has been warming up, I think we've both been warming up to it. So, here are some photos so you all can get an idea of where we live.

Pancake day perfection

2009-02-25T05:38:00.004-05:00

Last year I was a bit confused by Pancake Day (a.k.a. Shrove Tuesday) so I didn't take part. I've never been a big pancake fan, and therefore it didn't seem necessarily fun to overindulge on pancakes, which is what one does on pancake day. For me, something like Fat Tuesday and drinking to excess makes more sense before repenting during Lent (not that I repent during Lent).

But this year, for some reason, Leo and I decided to celebrate Pancake Day, by putting together a pancake feast, both savory and sweet. Rather than taking on the English tradition, however, we decided to celebrate Maslenitsa (the Russian equivalent - which can be referred to as both pancake week or butter week) so Leo made some rather buttery pancake batter from a recipe in our Russian cookbook...so buttery that no butter was actually needed to cook them in the pan. These things oozed butter!
To add to the Russian festivities, we also toasted our meal with vodka. We served up the pancakes topped with ham and cheese, mushrooms and onions, and for dessert with gooseberry jam. I think now I'm a pancake fan!

We've moved

2009-02-11T04:33:00.007-05:00

Last weekend we hired a van and moved all of our stuff to the new flat. The move itself was the easy part. We hired a man-and-a-van as they call it here, and the man came at 2 pm like he said and he even helped us load the van, which was not something we paid for but which we accepted happily. Somehow the 6 suitcases and a guitar which we had brought with us to London a year ago had expanded to 6 suitcases, 3 garbage bags, 4 plants, a desk, 2 bookcases, a TV, a PlayStation, and several smaller bags crammed with pictures and other junk. I have no idea how we expanded this much in one year! But we easily fit everything into the van, waved goodbye to the mouse-infested flat (Leo had killed one just that morning), and in less than 15 minutes were at our new place where there was a vacant parking space directly in front for the van. We unloaded everything in minutes and began the excruciating task of finding places for everything. The task is almost made worse when you have too many options of where to put things, as is the case with our new flat.

As we started unpacking, we noticed one BIG problem with the place...it was freezing. We ran the heater almost all day and still the place was icy (not sure why we didn't realize that a bedroom in a basement in winter in London might be very cold). But also, there seemed to be something wrong with the boiler, since it kept turning itself off (even when we told it to stay on!) when it thought the flat had reached the desired temperature, even when that temperature had certainly not been reached and you could see your breath inside. So, while unpacking I had on a hat, scarf, and heavy sweater and looked more like I was on an expedition in the Arctic than in my new, lovely flat with centralized heating in central London.

On Sunday, we spent a fun-filled day at Ikea, spending more money than we'd have liked to on the same items we've bought several times before. And now I'm still trying to find a place for everything and and to put everything in its place. I think once we get the cold issue resolved, and the mold (another issue arising from living in a basement), the place will be fine. At least there are no mice!

The big-ish snow

2009-02-03T05:18:00.012-05:00

Yesterday, London was blanketed by snow...a whole 6 inches of it (sense the sarcasm!). Not much by say Chicago standards, even New York standards...but a lot for here. Enough for here to shut down the city, bringing all of the buses, planes, and most trains to a halt, closing school. Due to the inclement weather an estimated 6 million people just didn't show up for work throughout Britain, most not even calling in. Sure, it took me 2 hours to get into work yesterday, walking the icy sidewalks (because neither shop owners, companies, nor the city feel any responsibility to pedestrians and actually shovel or salt the streets or sidewalks) and I had to walk to 3 different tube stations in order to find a working train (all of which were listed as being operational when I left my flat in the morning). But I got to work! Along with every other American I know in London, even when their commutes were even worse than mine.

As I was walking to work I was recalling my two mile walks to work during the transit strike in Manhattan. It was the dead of winter and probably the coldest week 0f the year. There was a great sense of community on those icy days, as people would walk together in packs like penguins to try to keep out the cold. Everyone was put out, everyone was cold and tired, but everyone did everything they could to get to work. Why? Because we had jobs to do and because we all felt a sense of obligation. Ok, maybe I'm generalizing a bit, but each day we'd get into the office, all with our stories of struggle and triumph to tell - hitchhiking across the Brooklyn Bridge, walking from the upper east side to Battery Park to get to work by noon, carpooling with coworkers from the outer boroughs, slipping and falling multiple times with strangers coming to your aid. But when I finally got into my office yesterday all the lights were out, and I was all alone. The place was a ghost town. There were so few people who actually turned up for work, the Museum was forced to close by 2 pm.

Yes, there was a lot of snow and ice. But everyone knew the snow and ice were coming, so why was nothing done to prepare for this? Why were the roads not salted? Why were the train tracks not de-iced? Because no one turned up to do the jobs they were supposed to be doing! I know I'm going on a bit too long about this, but I find it really irritating. I would have liked to stay in bed, I would have liked to make a snow man, and I would have liked to sit in a pub by a fireplace (if one was actually open yesterday), but instead I went to work and did my job.

A few more photos

2009-01-28T15:17:00.004-05:00

Did I mention the three bathrooms...one upstairs, one with a bathtub between the small bedroom and the master bedroom and one with a shower in the master bedroom. And finally our bedroom.

Photos of the flat

2009-01-28T15:08:00.002-05:00

Here are two views of the living room. Unfortunately, the fireplace doesn't work. The living room is attached to the kitchen. This is the view of the garden from the kitchen. This is the stairwell down to the bedrooms in the basement.

Move #2 approaches

2009-01-28T05:54:00.002-05:00

So, after living here for a year (has it really been that long!), we've decided to move. Our current flat is fine - if you forget about all of the appliances constantly breaking, the mouse-infestation, the drunken shouting as people emerge from the late-night bar across the street at 3 in the morning, and the 15 minute walk to the closest tube station - but we've decided we need a change. So we did a few weeks worth of frustrating flat hunting and we finally found an awesome two-story flat in West Central London with a garden and 3 pubs within a 2 minute walk from our front door (all the important things). The minute we walked into the place, Leo and I knew we wanted to live there, a feeling we haven't felt since seeing our apartment the West Village. When we saw the flat it was unfurnished and today we're going back to see what furniture they've put in for us. I'm a bit nervous to see what we'll be living with, but at least all of it will be brand new. It is a bit unsettling knowing that you're sleeping in someone else's bed, like in the place we're in now. I'm bringing my camera, so I'll post the photos of the place soon.

More from Rome

2009-01-19T02:53:00.007-05:00

Here's a view of the Victor Emmanuel Monument at night. Looks a bit less Fascist in this lighting.

On New Years Eve, instead of finding a restaurant which would take us at the last minute, we decided to cook dinner. We were all staying in a beautiful apartment right around the corner from the Pantheon which I would highly recommend, called Gloria. That morning we all went to the outdoor market in the Campo de'Fiori and picked up some pasta, the makings for sauce, cheese, some beautiful artichokes, and of course wine. That evening my Dad and I cooked a Roman feast (probably one of our best meals in Rome).

On my parents last day in Rome we decided to get out of the city and we went to the unearthed city of Ostia-Antica. The site was huge and took us a couple of cold and rainy hours to get through, but it was really amazing to see.

Overall, Rome was not the city I had remembered. Maybe it was the weather, or the fact that the euro was now equal to the pound, so everything was amazingly expensive (I've lived in New York and London and this place is now more expensive than both!). But Rome just felt like one big tourist trap, which I guess is exactly what it has been for centuries.
Well, happy inauguration day!

Sorry for the delay

2009-01-18T12:38:00.004-05:00

We decided to get out of London and head to someplace warmer between Christmas and New Years with my folks. Little did we know, a cold front was descending upon Rome, so when we got there it was about 5 degrees (Celsius) cooler than we thought it would be and raining. So, in essence, we left crappy weather for more crappy weather...but at least it did let up a couple of days and we did have a wonderful time - even with the hoards of Catholics and the daily hunt for something good to eat. Over the week we were there, we walked most if the city... or at least it felt like it. We even went out of town to the ancient and unearthed city of Ostia. And now for some pictures... This is us walking to the Galleria Borghese through the park. Doesn't it look remarkably like London? Leo feels rights at home in the Capitoline Museum. A view from the top of the Castel Sant'Angelo. Leo and I walked around the Roman Forum and marvelled at how few people we had encountered in there last time we were in Rome in the summer of 2001 compared with the crowds we were finding now.

Roman Holiday

2009-01-04T05:29:00.002-05:00

We just got back from a week in Rome late last night. I'll post pictures and stories soon.

Some things I forgot to mention

2008-12-12T03:07:00.005-05:00

I've realized that I've been rather lazy lately and I'm sorry. I guess life just feels so normal here now that I think things aren't really worth mentioning. But there have been a few things lately which shouldn't be overlooked.

First, our photographer friend Dave was in London for a night on a photo shoot and gave us a call. After checking his email, we took him to our favorite Turkish restaurant and then for drinks.

We also went fly fishing in a lake in South Cerney. After a few lessons, and a lot of grass fishing, we were set free in the stocked lake to try to catch some rainbow trout for dinner. Rather than using the standard fly fishing method, I had better luck using a slingshot method the guide taught me to fish in areas with a lot of overhanging trees. And I think I caught the biggest fish of the day.

Leo learned how to dress a fish (pull out it's insides and clean it). I also learned how to cook a whole trout, which was an interesting experience in itself, and which made for a delicious dinner and leftovers which are still in our freezer.

Finally, Leo and I took another trip to Paris. We just went for a weekend and stayed in our cousins' apartment in Vincennes (Thank you Bob and Barbara!). We had an amazing lunch in a dingy looking restaurant in Boulogne-Billancourt before going to the Albert Kahn Museum. The three other diners in the restaurant were all eating something out of big clay pots, so we decided we'd eat out of the big clay pots too. It turned out to be an amazing couscous meal with stewed vegetables, chicken, and sausage.
We wandered around Vincennes a bit and the wonderful market they have there on Sundays.
We also went to the Porte de Clignancourt, which I think is the largest flea market in Europe, filled with stalls selling shoes, clothing, antiques, furniture. We bought some paintings done by an Armenian artist who makes reproductions of illuminated manuscripts and Leo forced me, in my pathetic French, to purchase the paintings and try a bit of haggling...it was very sad, but we did get a good deal. This time in Paris was much more relaxed that our previous 2 trips. I guess since we've already seen the major site, we were able to take our time and see some less touristy areas.

Thanksgiving

2008-11-28T03:07:00.005-05:00

I never realized how much I loved Thanksgiving until I moved here. Originally we were going to go out to dinner, but didn't book far enough in advance, so they were all booked up when we called. I was devastated! And totally surprised by my reaction. Needing desperately to do something for Thanksgiving, on Wednesday I went to Whole Foods in search of a bird. I was thrilled to find tons of turkey, pre-made side dishes, and a bunch of other Americans shopping for their Thanksgiving dinners as well. I decided to cook a duck, since the turkeys were all too big. This was my first time cooking a duck and I was really pleased with how it came out...and how the whole meal came out. We invited some of our English friends over to share the feast with us, and although we didn't get to spend Thanksgiving with our families, it still felt like the holiday I love so much.

Just a few more photos

2008-11-20T13:27:00.004-05:00

The obligatory picture in front of the Parthenon. One of the two places Socrates may have possibly taken the hemlock...if he even existed.An odd sculpture in the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.What once were rabbits hanging in the central market, where we ate our lunch one day.Leo pondering the awesomeness of the Temple of Zeus.
THE END.

The rest of the trip...in photos

2008-11-20T13:07:00.003-05:00

Us at the top of a mountain (ok hill) we climbed on the island of Delos. The amphitheater in Delos. Sunset from our hotel way up the mountain in Mykonos. Yes, we did eat at a Chinese/Thai restaurant in Mykonos. It was the closest restaurant to our hotel and we were tired from going up the big hill to get to the hotel and didn't want to walk down again (and then back up) to find dinner. A cool bar we found in Athens where they make all their own spirits.

More Naxos

2008-11-16T04:54:00.007-05:00

In an effort not to bore you with long entries and few pictures, I'm going to try another approach, more photos and short captions...so as to finish this section on Greece before our next trip. On our second day in Naxos we rented a car to drive around the island. The island is so small with so few roads, there are no real road maps...which you think would make things easy, but somehow we ended up in a small town driving down a pedestrian street with an old man laughing at us, trying to direct up to Demeter's Temple in Greek. We eventually made it to the temple. We ventured further and arrived at Apiranthos, which is a small own perched upon the side of a mountain and made almost entirely from marble. Not only did Leo have to contend with driving on narrow, winding mountain roads, he also needed to contend with goat roadblocks. Naxos has always been a large exporter of marble. We passed this large quarry on our road trip. One of the goals of the car trip was to find on of the abandoned kouros statues which again, after a few wrong turns, we eventually got to.

Naxos

2008-11-08T05:52:00.004-05:00

John flew home out of Santorini and we caught a ferry to Naxos. Originally it had not been on the itinerary, but we were so happy we ended up there. When we pulled into the port we had decided to look out for people from specific hotels that were recommended in our guidebook, so as to avoid the chaos we found when we got to Santorini. Our choice of the Pension Sofi was perfect, and even better than the guidebook had said. The hotel owner's father drove us to the hotel, just a 5 minute walk from the port, and her husband sat us down, gave us raki melo (raki with honey, which is a specialty in Naxos) and a plate of tomatoes, cheese, and olives (all homemade/grown) and gave us an extensive description of everything to do and see on the island, which was mostly in Greek. Not even Leo was able to pick up on everything he said, so we just nodded and drank our raki. After dropping off our bags in our inexpensive, big, beautiful room with a lovely balcony, we headed to the main street along the port. We were a bit dismayed at how empty the place was. But we found out that this was just due to it being Friday, during siesta, and things began to pick up later in the evening. We walked all around the port then back to Appolon's Gate and watched the sun set, then found a nice taverna for a quick meal before heading back to our lovely room for some much needed sleep.

More Santorini (sorry it's taken so long)

2008-10-29T08:00:00.002-04:00

As it is cold and rainy here in London, it's the perfect time to reminisce about nicer, warmer times. Day two in Santorini we took Mario's advice and headed for the black sand beaches of Perissa. Although it was a bit overcast and chilly (the only time on the entire trip) we found a bar with a constant stream of the Rolling Stones playing over the speakers, and we sat and drank and played cards for a few hours before catching the bus back to Fira...once we found the bus stop...and once the bus actually showed up. On our last day, we went up to the north end of the island to the town of Oia. Again, we took Mario's suggestion and headed down the 300+ old stone steps to the small port where we had an amazing lunch of freshly caught octopus and fish as we looked out on the boats that brought the fish in that morning. Rather than climb back up the steps, we found out that there was a ship that went from the port to another small port loser to Fira, so we figured we'd hop aboard. We were dropped off at the port near Fira where the two options to get up the cliff are to take the funicular or to ride a donkey up the steep and windy path. We opted for the funicular to get back up to the top.

Crazy weather

2008-10-29T06:32:00.004-04:00

Sorry to interrupt the Greece reminiscences, but I just had to mention that last night it snowed in London. This is the first time since 1934 that it has snowed in London in October. And the weather just keeps getting colder.

Santorini

2008-10-24T04:48:00.007-04:00

We took off for Santorini on a beautiful clear day and didn't even need the Dramamine we took for the ferry ride. There is nothing quite like coming into the port in Santorini, since you are motoring into a caldera formed by one of the largest volcanoes in history. All you see around you are a few small, burnt and uninhabited islands in the centre, then these huge cliffs, with a sugaring of houses at the top. When we go off the ship, we realized that climbing up to the top of the cliff in order to get to the main town of Fira wasn't an option. We looked for the elusive city bus which was supposed to take us into town, but couldn't find it and were told the next one would be coming when the next ferry arrivedabout 4 hours later. We were then bombarded by people from the surrounding hotels, anxious to get us to stay there and promising great views far outside of the main cities. We finally found a taxi and our nice taxi driver let us know of a good place to say in Fira, and dropped us off at the Hotel Flora, where the prices were reasonable (since it didn't actually overlook the western coast, but we had a nice view of the eastern coast from our balcony) and the rooms were big and clean. We dropped off our stuff and headed to the main street. Since the shops, restaurants, and hotels are built along the cliff, the entrances off of the main street are often just doors looking out to the sea with steps leading downward. Leo led us on a death march along the main street, which we found actually connected separate towns...we saw three of them by the end of our hike. We hiked through Fira, then Firostefani, and then Imerovigli. The views were incredible and we marveled at how low the walls were which overlooked the cliffs that descended into the ocean (in the US there would probably be much higher walls, someone guarding them, and signs everywhere telling you to stand back and be safe). As walked...and walked...and walked, we passed by swanky hotels, pretty people sitting at pool bars, churches, rundown house, and finally we came upon this sad donkey, which appeared to live in a cave. Feeling much like the tired donkey, we headed back in the direction of Fira with the hopes of finding a cute little bar we had passed at some point in our walk. Luckily for Leo and John, I have a much better sense of direction than they do, so we were actually able to find the place. We had a drink outside overlooking the water, then headed inside to talk to Mario, the bartender, who gave us some free drinks, taught us about Santorini wines, told us all about the island and printed out a map for us of the places we should see and where were should eat. He also gave us an itinerary for Athens, which we would hit later on in the trip, since he is from there. After two bottles of wine, a few rounds of cards, and an interesting conversation with an American staying at the attached upscale hotel about politics, we headed to one of the restaurants Mario suggested and had yet another amazing meal.

And now for pretty pictures

2008-10-19T05:30:00.010-04:00

Heraklion in Crete was our first stop on our Greek adventure. Our friend John (aka Country lawyer) decided to come with us on the first half of our trip. After a raucous night out with Leo's coworkers...with too many shots of whiskey consumed...we hopped on a train the next bleary-eyed day to Gatwick airport where we sat around getting antsy, since we are the only people that still get to the airport in the prescribed "2 hours before your flight departs". A couple of pints and some lunch later, we were on our way aboard a very comfortable EasyJet flight (which is a very budget airline for those of you who don't know) which had leather seats, plenty of leg room, and they even showed a movie (the latest Indiana Jones, which I don't recommend to anyone). We got in to Heraklion around 10 pm, dropped off our stuff at the Hotel Rea and headed for Lion's Square, which we were informed had many bars, restaurants, and souvlaki shops. Seated at a souvlaki shop, with some food, and beers, we toasted to the Mediterranean lifestyle and began our vacation.

The next day consisted of walking around the city, which we found out was actually rather small, since we kept finding ourselves back at the same locations time and time again. We also went searching for the Archaeological Museum, which on that day, we weren't able to find. The main problem is that maps in guidebooks never actually list all of the street names and never show you things like elevation, which was necessary in Heraklion since it is quite hilly in parts. And Heraklion suffers from a lack of street signs, so the entire time we were there we were utterly lost. We did wander into a portion of the agora (the market) where we found a small taverna which served mainly fish...and where we had our first amazing Greek meal. We didn't really know what we were ordering and relied upon the help of the waitress, who I guess, seeing that we were Americans, decided we could eat a great quantity of food. A large plate of fresh fried calamari, a huge Greek salad, then three whole grilled mackerels (we had thought we'd be getting three small sardine-like fish to share) arrived in front of us. But we managed to eat it all!

The next day we thought we'd head a bit out of the city to see the ruins of Knossos, where King Minos lived and where the stories of the labyrinth and the Minotaur were born. Again, due to lack of street signs, winding roads, and out of date guidebook information, we spent a long time looking for the bus to take us out to the site. Eventually, Leo found someone to ask for directions, and thanks to his awesome language skills, we found the bus and got to Knossos. The site is quite big and full of pushy tour groups, but we still enjoyed ourselves. The reconstructed parts of Knossos really do help you get a sense of what it might have looked like (so three cheers for Sir Aurthur Evans). Once back in the city, we took a bit of a siesta, then reconvened for some drinks, followed by a few more drinks in our favorite Heraklion dive bar...Route 66 (I think we went there every night we were there). The place played mainly classic rock music, and the occasionally cheesy 80s ballad, and was full of young Cretan, rather than German tourists (who were everywhere else). We were sitting there playing cards and drinking ouzo, when we struck up a conversation with a guy from Athens, who was stationed in Crete for his compulsory service in the Army. He shared some freshly brined olives with us, and we bought another round of ouzo, and spent the night discussing politics and the workings of the world.

The next morning, we took a bus to the south of Crete, to the beach at Matala. The drive across the island was beautiful and quite frightening (with tons of narrow roads along the mountains, with drop-offs below filled with car parts). The beach at Matala was equally as impressive as the drive. The beach is in a bay, surrounded by cliffs on either side, full of wind-carved caves. The caves were originally Roman tombs, but in the 60s, they were inhabited by hippies (including Cat Stevens and Joni Mitchell) looking to live in a beautiful place but not pay for it. We came back from our day at the beach sun burned, exhausted, and looking forward to our next day's adventure...Santorini.

Doing my duty (ha!)

2008-10-17T11:02:00.003-04:00

Since this blog is not just about pretty pictures of places we've visited, but also about living in a foreign country, I thought I'd just mention my latest "life abroad" factoid. I received my absentee ballot for the presidential election and mailed it in yesterday. Even though my vote doesn't actually count (unless there's a run-off in New York, which there won't be since the state always goes to a Democrat), it still made me feel good...and like I was still connected to the US in some small way.

Hopefully, when I eventually come back it will be a nice place to come home to.

Home again, home again

2008-10-13T02:27:00.002-04:00

We got back from Athens yesterday to find dead mouse and our internet was down...not the perfect end to a wonderful vacation, but at least we got in early enough to relax a bit before getting back to reality. I promise to post pictures and tell stories of our adventure soon...but now, off to work...YEY!

Putting our educations to use

2008-09-26T05:00:00.002-04:00

I'm not sure if the Ancient Greek that we studied in college will help, but we'll find out soon since we're heading to Greece today. We'll be flying into Crete and then out of Athens 16 days later...unless we love it so much we decide not to leave. Try not to miss us too much.

A Country Hike

2008-09-15T04:20:00.004-04:00

This weekend the sun ACTUALLY came out. So we decided to spend as much time as we could outside, in the sun, and out of the city. Leo had found a website that gave information about hiking trails around the UK, and became enamoured with hiking on the Ridgeway, one of the oldest paths in the world, which has been in use for around 5,000 years. The entire trail is 85 miles long, but we opted for a 6 mile hike between two towns, Princes Risborough and Wendover. The day before our hike we purchases a book about the Ridgeway, an ordnance map of the area, a compass, and some food. We tried to make it an early night (well Leo did, and I forced him to go to a club to hear some DJs, but then he made me stay out even later than we had anticipated), and we woke up around 9:45, packed our gear, and headed for the train; well, walked 15 minutes to the tube, rode that for about 20 minutes, got out to walk to the train station, and then we were off.

Only about 8 people got off the train with us at Princes Risborough, and luckily two of them were hiking on the Ridgeway as well, and had a much better book than ours, so we were able to get from the train station to the trail. They, however, headed west and we headed east. The trail took us through large open fields between farms, through national parks, through parking lots, and along the country estate of the Prime Minister (we got to play with his sheep). It was a bit strenuous at times, and really, really muddy...but we had a wonderful time! We had thought about going to Tring, which is about another 5 mile hike from Wendover, but once we got to Wendover at about 3:30, and sat down to have a pint at the first pub we spotted, we decided to save Tring for another weekend. We returned to the city exhausted, sore, and smiling.

Labor Day weekend

2008-09-01T14:34:00.002-04:00

Even though we may be in a different country where Labor Day is not celebrated, we ended up celebrating it in true American style. Saturday turned out to be a beautiful day and the sun actually emerged from the smog. We walked along the Regents canals in the morning, seeing one of the locks being put to use, then headed over to a friend's place for a BBQ. There was much drinking, some chess playing, bad music on the radio, and jean legs were rolled up and shirts were discarded (not mine!). The burgers were great, as was the company..and at least for a day London didn't seem to bleak and lonely.

Shoreditch festival

2008-08-21T00:00:00.001-04:00

Since it's gloomy, overcast, and cold today, I'd like to remember the happier, sunnier times. This past weekend we attended the Shoreditch festival - your typical free neighborhood festival, complete with ethnic food stalls, port-o-potties, bad music, and large fields to sit and waste the day in. The forecast had called for rain on Saturday (as it does every day), but when we got up it was bright and sunny out. So we went on a stroll with Caron and Tom and ended up at the Shoreditch festival. When we got there, at noon, people were just starting to arrive, the food was just starting to be cooked, but the bar (a large, dark tent made to resemble a pub...humorously called the Pigeon's Arms) was already up and running. So we bought a pitcher of Pimms and lemon soda, and sat in the field soaking up the sun - since we were all lacking in our vitamin D. After one pitcher, we all got some great Ghanaian food, got another pitcher, reclaimed our spots on the grass and just relaxed...until the sky clouded up, the temperature dropped, and the wind picked up, which meant it was time to head home.

Another birthday thank you

2008-08-20T02:30:00.003-04:00

Last night we went to see The Merry Wives of Windsor at the Globe theatre, thanks to Leo's parents, who got us tickets for Leo's birthday. The theatre was great, aside from the uncomfortable seats (benches too close together with no back rests..perhaps leg room wasn't an issue in the olden days). The play, which was one I had never read, was quite amusing and all of the actors gave great performances. Plus, once again, we were able to bring drinks into the theatre, which never gets old. Thank you for the tickets!

The one nice thing about it raining all the time

2008-08-11T04:29:00.003-04:00

Friday realization

2008-08-08T05:14:00.002-04:00

It's August, and I've been wearing either a jacket or a jumper (a.k.a. sweater) for most of the "summer." There have been a few really hot days, but most of the time it's been cold enough for jeans, a t-shirt, and a summer jacket (as they call them here). Isn't summer jacket an oxymoron, like jumbo shrimp? I guess this is why the English need to take so many holidays and travel to warmer places. Otherwise, you'd forget what seasons were like. It would just be cold and gloomy vs. colder and gloomier.

Well, at least it's Friday.

Seville - the land of heat and oranges

2008-07-29T14:42:00.008-04:00

After we said a tearful goodbye to Tossa de Mar, we went back to Barcelona for the day, then took a night train to Seville. Buying the train ticket had caused us some problems (horrible lines at the station every time we went to buy the ticket, so we had to call to reserve and then go back to the station to pick them up), but when we were waiting to board the train Leo noticed that our tickets said "preferred" on them, which got us into the swanky upper class lounge, where they plied us with free beer and snacks.

When we got off the train at 8 in the morning, it already felt hot out. We dropped off our luggage at the hotel, and started wandering Seville's old city, with it's winding streets and beautifully painted and tiled walls. After our experience in Barcelona at the bullfight, (for some reason) we were both eager to learn more about how the fights worked, so we visited the Plaza de Toros. Seville is where fighting bulls on foot began. They give tours in English every half hour, talking you through the history of bullfighting, and taking you around the ring and in the back areas. Leo is already planning a trip to go back to Seville to see a bullfight in the amazing stadium. Desperately searching for places out of the sun (it was now about 38 degrees Celsius) we went into the Catedral de Santa María de la Sede, which is the largest Gothic cathedral in the world. This place was overwhelming, for lack of a better word. It was about 10 churches held together under one roof. We went up the Giralda, which had once been a minaret, but was turned into the bell tower for the church. From the top you could see the entire city. When Leo and I travel, we usually spend a lot more time and energy seeing the sites than eating fancy meals. But we decided to have one really, really nice meal at the end of our Spanish tour at the La Alquería in the Hacienda Benazuza, also know as the El Bulli hotel. Some of you may be familiar with El Bulli and it's head chef Ferrán Adrià...for those of you who aren't, our friend Lars just went to El Bulli, and posted his insights and observations here. The El Bulli hotel part owned by Ferrán Adrià and the restaurant, La Alquería, has two Michelin stars and serves a "best of" menu of El Bulli dishes. Before we left for Spain, we had a Spanish friend of ours make a reservation for us, and on the day we were supposed to go to the restaurant, I called them to confirm...as I was a bit paranoid that we'd get out there and they'd send us packing. I had also printed out what I thought were good directions from Google maps for how to get there, since it was about 20 km outside of Seville. We got dressed up, got in a cab, and headed into the country. According to my maps, the route was easy, and would take us about 25 minutes...after stopping 4 times for directions, which took an additional 20 minutes, we finally got there (I guess Google maps works better in large c isities with street signs). Aside from the two of us, and a very fancy wedding party, there was no one there. I thought a place like this would be packed on a Saturday night, full of foodies, and want-to-be food journalists, taking pictures of themselves outside the restaurant to post on their blogs...but there was no one. We were a bit early for our 9 pm reservation, so we got the most expensive gin and tonics we'd ever had, then wandered around the hotel. At 9, we wandered into the empty restaurant (I was still freaked out that we were in the wrong place, or on the wrong evening), but we were seated and then began one of the most incredible meals I'd ever had. We told the waiter (who spoke very little English) that we wanted the tasting menu. I asked if I could see what was on the menu, and he smiled and told me that at the end of the meal he'd give us a copy of the menu, but the chef wanted it all to be a surprise. Dish after dish, for 27 courses, we were happily surprised. And by the end of our meal, the restaurant was full of people

The meal began with starters, then moved on to tapas, then the main courses, and finally dessert. By the first of the tapas, Leo was so full he felt sick, so I decided to help him eat an amazing fois gras, watermelon, and tomato dish as well as one with fois gras and mushrooms. But then, by the time I hit my first main course, Leo had recovered and had to help me out. The problem with these incredible, enormous meals is that there is too much food to comfortably eat in one sitting. I think it should be spread out over lunch and dinner, so you can take a break, take a nap, then start all over again. But it was an awesome meal...my favorite item was the lobster gazpacho!
On our final day, we went to the Alcazar, which was originally a Moorish fort, but became the palace of the rulers of Seville. This was the hottest day we had in Spain (I think it reached 39) and we spent most our time finding shady areas and bars to sit in. The heat was intense, and we could easily understand why lots of tourists didn't flock to Seville in July. But we made the best of it, drank some cervezas and lots of water, ate some Iberico ham, and eventually, and sadly, made our way to the airport for our flight home.

When we got home, we immediately began planning our next holiday...Greece and the Greek islands in September.

More of Tossa de Mar

2008-07-29T02:54:00.001-04:00

There are three beaches in Tossa de Mar - one on the more modern side (where the larger hotels are), one in between the modern side and the old city, and one right beneath the wall of the old city, which is a bit hidden...this last one is where we spent our days. The whole point of going to a small town was so we wouldn't fee obligated to spend our days seeing the sights. We just needed a place to relax. Tossa de Mar has 2 major shopping streets, the old city, some hiking paths, and the beaches. So we felt no guilt getting up in the morning, having a bit of breakfast, then lying on the beach until we got hungry again. Then we'd go to the same pizza place day after day (the pizza here was as good as in Italy), followed maybe by a walk (this was taken on a hike we took up the mountain to south of the city),then back to the beach till we got hungry, or thirsty, again. Then we'd head to the same bar, Don Juan's, run by a bunch of Germans and frequented by red-faced foreigners. Then on occasion, back to the beach. It was wonderful! And of course Leo wore his speedo, and felt right at home with all of the other speedo-clad vacationers.

Tossa de Mar

2008-07-27T02:25:00.000-04:00

Leo and I have been traveling a lot lately, touring cities, squeezing as many death marches into a day as we possibly can, so we decided we just needed to relax a bit on this vacation. This is why we decided to head north of Barcelona to the small beach town of Tossa de Mar. Leo had booked us into a small pension, which we knew almost nothing about (I think there was one review of the place online in Danish). The Fonda Codolar is run by a mother and daughter. It's located on a quiet street in the old city. We had booked a room with a bathroom, and the first one they showed us only had a sink. So we asked if we could have another one, and the woman apologized as she took us to a "smaller" room - the room was on the top floor, with a balcony the length of the room. We were in awe. The view from the balcony was amazing, overlooking the water, and we happily switched rooms.We also happily partook of the local drink - Sangria de Cava while sitting in a rooftop restaurant in the old town.

Birthday thank you

2008-07-25T18:46:00.004-04:00

I just wanted to say thank you to Mom and Dad #2 (Yuli and Olga) for getting us tickets to see Les Miserables for my birthday...Thank you! I had a wonderful time...even though the actor who played Jean Valjean would have been better as Jesus in Jesus Christ Superstar. FYI - In theatres in London, you're allowed to bring drinks and snacks (that you've purchased at the show) into the theatre during the performance. Hence, the plastic cups in my hand. This is great, for when you can't finish your intermission drink in time for the second act. But can be awfully annoying when some kid behind you is chowing down on his sticky toffee pudding ice cream while you're trying to watch a performance (this didn't happen at Les Mis, but actually when we saw the London Philharmonic Orchestra).

More of Barcelona

2008-07-23T02:50:00.004-04:00

I had seen photos of Gaudi buildings, but the pictures didn't prepare me at all for the real thing. For lack of a better word, these buildings were awesome.
It wasn't just the Gaudi buildings which we loved. Every street we turned down was charming, and unlike in a lot of cities we've visited, it actually looked like people lived there.We took the funicular up to Montjuïc, mainly to see the amazing views of the city, then we stormed the Castell up on top.We also had some wonderful tapas on our last day in Barcelona, complete with another plate of razor clams, a tropical salad made with crab and fruit, and some cervezas.
Soon to come, tales of Tossa de Mar.

Spain in pictures

2008-07-19T04:39:00.004-04:00

It would be so difficult to do a day-by-day account of our trip to Spain. We did and saw so much, it would probably get tedious and boring. So, I'll show some photos, tell some amusing anecdotes, and hopefully you'll get the gist.

The Boqueria in Barcelona was our first stop, when we finally woke up around 11 am on our first morning there. It reminded me of the Central Mercado in Florence, where I used to do my food shopping. Stall after stall of amazing looking produce, meats, fish (that doesn't smell fishy), dried good...absolutely everything. We had lunch at a stall in the market, where we had fresh razor clams, simply cooked on a grill with garlic, lemon, and oil, with a glass of cava for Leo and a cerveza for me. It was an amazing way to start our first day.

We found a mask and marionette shop during a stroll through the Barrio Gotic.

While going into a tourist information place to pick up a good map of the city, we overheard someone asking about bullfights. Leo had always wanted to go to one, but we did think any were going on while we were in Spain (aside from in Pamplona). So we asked, we found out we could buy the tickets at the stadium for the fight that evening, and we went. It was a rather emotional experience for both of us (not to mention the 6 bulls we saw die). In a way, it was both savage and beautiful...an eerie and gruesome ballet. More photos and stories to come.

New experiences

2008-07-18T08:37:00.002-04:00

One would think that after 6 months in a new place you'd pretty much know how to do everything...at least the standard thing like the post, transit, banking, phones, etc. But today, I had another new experience when I went to deposit a cheque at the bank.

In this land of direct deposits, where even your rent is taken directly out of your bank account, I must not have ever deposited a cheque before today. I walked into the bank, cheque in hand and asked the woman where I make deposits. She directed me to the deposit point, where I filled out the deposit card (after a few seconds contemplating if the card that said 'pay-in note' was a deposit slip), signed the envelope...but then I froze. There was nowhere on the cheque for my signature. My pulse quickened. I kept thinking that I might have brought the wrong portion of the cheque with me. Or perhaps this was not a normal cheque and I had to exchange it somewhere other than a bank for money. So I asked the woman at the front desk, "Where do I sign this cheque?" and she giggled slightly and said that you don't sign cheques, only the slips you put in the envelope with them. Ahhhhh...there is always something new to learn.

Back to the real world

2008-07-15T04:54:00.002-04:00

Spain, was simply amazing...hot, yes...but amazing. I've never felt so at home anywhere I've travelled before (perhaps because even with 4 very badly taught years of Spanish in high school, I still can understand the language, somewhat). I can easily see myself living in Barcelona. The city feels very alive. It has my favorite landscape of beach and mountains. The food is wonderful, the colours are vibrant, the people are tanned to perfection, and the beer is cheap. The entire time we were on holiday, Leo and I kept asking ourselves why we moved to London. The only answer we could think of was so that we could travel...and especially travel to Spain as often as possible.

More details and pictures to come...now, back to work.

Spain

2008-07-08T13:25:00.005-04:00

We are here, and it´s amazing. We´ve spent the last 3 days in Barcelona, falling in love with the city, walking on Leo death marches, and we´ve even seen a bullfight (I cried my eyes out during the entire thing, but I found the experience quite amazing...both sociologically and psychologically. I´ve never felt such sadness and such exhilaration at the same time). We hopped a bus this morning to Tossa de Mar, which is a small town north of Barcelona on the Costa Brava. We are staying at an amazing little pension, run by a woman who speaks very little English. Leo talked us into a room with a balcony, and we are just enjoying the sun, the beach, and the sangria de cava.

More to come...and photos.

Thank you

2008-07-04T06:17:00.002-04:00

I just wanted to say thank you to my parents for coming to London, taking us out, for a fantastic trip to Dublin, and for just being a lot of fun to be with. We had such a wonderful time while you were here. We already miss you guys!

Well, I was hoping to post photos and anecdotes from our trip to Copenhagen last weekend, but I've run out of time, and now we're off to Spain tonight. I promise to give you the run down of both places when we get back on the 14th.

Adios!

More photos from Dublin

2008-07-02T02:46:00.002-04:00

Eating fish and chips from Leo Burdocks on the lawn of Christ Church

One of many pubs we had Guinness in

Leo making jokes in Trinity College

Mom learns the nonsense of stag parties

Dublin through interpretive dance

2008-07-01T03:02:00.004-04:00

but since you can't see that over the internet, here is Dublin through photography: The first of many train rides

The longest word I've ever seen (it's in Welsh)

Dublin castle

The ruins at St. Audoen's church

The Gravity Bar at the top of the Guinness Storeroom

More, and more Dublin

2008-06-27T04:11:00.007-04:00

Day 2 started with a good, hearty Irish breakfast, which is the same as an English breakfast except it includes black and white puddings. We decided to take a tour of medieval Dublin, going through the Dublin Castle, which is part castle and part office building complex, the Chester Beatty Library, which was Leo's good idea (it houses an amazing collection of ancient books), we walked around some churches (mostly from the outside, since they charge steep fees to actually step foot in the door), then decided to go to the Guinness Storehouse, since when in Dublin, do as the tourists do. The place was an amazing homage to the marketing strength of a decent, but in my mind, not AMAZING, beverage. The Gravity Bar at the top of the Storehouse, where you get your "free" pint of Guinness after shelling out 14 euros to get into the place, did provide a really nice view of the city. We got some fantastic fish and chips at Leo Burrdocks, which is a small take-away restaurant near Christ Church, and we picnicked on the lawn of the church in the sunshine. After a few more pints of Guinness and a bit more wandering around, we found a Nepalese restaurant for dinner, where the amazing food was slightly tainted by some debit card issues my parents had been having since arriving in Dublin.

When we woke up on day 3 it was windy, rainy and cold. It's amazing the impact that the weather can have on you. So long as the sun is shining, life is good, things are going your way, and the world is your Irish rock oyster. When the weather is bad, everything looks bleak and oppressive. This is how the day felt. We had been planning to get out of Dublin and go to hiking along the cliffs of Howith, which is on the water, just north east of Dublin. But since it was miserable out, we altered our plans. We went to Trinity College to see the book of Kells and walk around the Library. In the hopes of staying somewhat dry, we then went to the National Museum, which had an awesome collection of people who had died and been preserved in bogs. It was a small museum, so we thought we'd round out the morning with a trip to the Natural History Museum, but were informed that it had been closed for the last 6 months, so we headed once again to a pub for some more Guinness (do you see a theme here). Due to ongoing debit card issues, my folks decided to head back to the hotel where they could call the company and try to resolve the problems that kept plaguing them - it turned out the problem was that the hotel had put a hold on a large chunk of their money, without telling them, so it appeared to their bank that there were insufficient funds on their card. After a few more drinks to ease the pain, we decided on some traditional Irish sushi for lunch followed by some more drinks, some Euro football watching, and the most expensive doner kebab I've ever eaten (10 euro for a doner and chips).

On day 4, there were gale force winds blowing across the Irish Sea. This was the day we were supposed to leave. The woman at the front desk checked online for us and called the ferry port and told us that there was nothing saying that the ferries had been cancelled. Our ferry wasn't until 2:45, so we thought we'd try to get in a bit more sightseeing before we left. According to our guidebook, not much was open on Sunday, and practically nothing before noon, but there were a few churches we'd be able to go into between their services. In the gale force winds and driving rain we marched to St. Patrick's Cathedral, only to be met at the gate by a very surly woman who barked at us that we were not welcome to come in. At the next church, though not met with such nastiness, we were turned away as well (though invited in to pray if we wanted). Cold and dejected, we found a coffee shop, where the woman at the counter tried to rip us off, but we decided to sit there for awhile anyway to wait out the storm. Though the winds didn't die down, the skies did clear up and we reclaimed our luggage at the hotel and hopped in a cab. We joked with the cabbie about the ferries not running due to bad weather, and just as we were turning into the ferry port, the cabbie heard on the radio that the ferries were cancelled. Not believing this news, we checked at the ferry port, and not only were the ferries cancelled, they had been cancelled since the previous night. Angry, cold, tired, wet, and in need of a Guinness, we climbed back into the cab, went back to the hotel, and checked back in, giving them a few nasty glances and some passive aggressive comments. After some Guinness, once again things didn't seem too bad. We went to the National Portrait Gallery (since it was now after noon and some things were open), relaxed a bit in our hotel rooms, and then had a wonderful meal at a place Leo had found, Eden.

Day 5 we awoke and the skies were clear. We grabbed some croissants and headed to the ferry which I had made sure were running. We got on the 8:45 a.m. ferry and hit Hollyhead 15 minutes after the first train to Crewe departed. We got on the next train which was an hour later. Once we got to Crewe it was another hour until our next train to London. Leo and I, who had both planned on going in to work, as it was Monday, were both getting antsy. Finally, after an extra day in Dublin, 2 hours on a ferry, 5 hours on trains, and 2 hours standing around, we got back to London. Leo went off to work for the remainder of the afternoon (and evening), my parents headed back to their hotel, and I headed home.

Looking back, we did do some interesting things in Dublin, had some good meals, and had a lot of quality bonding (drinking) time. But I'm not sure if I'll go back to Dublin any time soon.

Pictures will be posted, but this evening we're off to Copenhagen, so it will have wait until we return.

A look back at Dublin - Day 1

2008-06-26T08:45:00.003-04:00

Dublin seemed an obvious place to visit while my parents were in London. It got us out of the city, it wasn't too expensive to travel there, and we'd be able to do it in a few days (and not miss much work). What we didn't seem to think about was what we'd find in Dublin, what we'd do during the days we were there, and what the city was actually like.

We though we'd make a trip out of traveling to Dublin, so we opted for a 6 hour journey on train and by boat to get there. The countryside was beautiful and turned us all into babbling 5 year olds, pointing out everything we passed with single word utterances - "sheep!" "cows!" "castle!" "lake!" We went through Wales and marveled at how long and unpronounceable the words were. We hopped on the ferry at Hollyhead and found the seas to be a bit more lively that we had anticipated, though we all survived. When we emerged in Dublin, the skies darkened, and the troubles began. There were no taxis at the port, so we took the bus along with the other foot passengers from the ferry and one crazy woman who kept yelling rude comments at the bus driver then telling us all that she was 3 months pregnant and going into labor (when she was obviously not). The bus dropped us off a distance from our hotel, so we hiked there in the now drenching rain. The hotel looked fine, but was staffed by a bunch of the most helpful morons we ever met (eager to answer any question with the most incorrect answer possible).

Hungry after our long journey, we went to a place I had found recommended on several websites, only to find that it was basically a TGIFridays-like chain restaurant with mediocre food. After, we walked around Temple Bar (the young, hip area) which was filled with bars and pubs and fast food restaurants and which reminded us of tourist areas in the US - areas devoid of culture, filled with people just looking to get drunk and/or laid, and smelling faintly of urine. Think St. Marks Place in New York, or the French Quarter (without the charm) in New Orleans, or South Street in Philadelphia. So we hurried out of the area as quickly as possible and found a nice old pub filled with actual Dubliners, where we sat and had a few pints of Guinness. After the pints, Dublin looked a lot better (perhaps that's why all people do there is drink). Leo had found out that the Buena Vista Social Club was playing that night in Dublin so we ended up seeing an amazing show in a beautiful old theater, and ended day 1 in Dublin on a high note.

More to come soon (plus pictures)...

Too much Dublin

2008-06-24T08:45:00.003-04:00

I promise to go into detail soon about our Dublin trip, but right now I'm exhausted. Let's just say we stayed in Dublin longer than we had planned, our trip back to London was terribly long, and this week I'm supervising photo shoots at ungodly hours. Maybe after some coffee I'll feel like writing more.

We're off...

2008-06-18T11:40:00.002-04:00

Once again we're going off to explore new lands. This time it's the land of James Joyce, Guinness, and all things fried. We're setting off by train and then by boat to Dublin. I promise to return on Monday with photos and stories to tell.

Leo's Birthday Dinner

2008-06-17T02:21:00.005-04:00

Last night we went to our favorite restaurant, St. John, to celebrate Leo getting older. We thought it would be a no-hassle Birthday plan, with great food, good friends, and a pleasant atmosphere. Unfortunately, not everything went as planned and I ended up being doused with white wine and considered a thief by the end of the evening. We were seated in the private dining room, since we were a large party. Our server was very abrupt when telling us the specials and getting our wine order, but I just thought she was trying to be efficient. I watch Hell's Kitchen and Top Chef. I know that a party over 5 people is typically difficult to deal with, and we had 9. We got a few bottles of wine for the table, and Leo ordered a round of vodka shots (just to keep the conversation lively and flowing). I won't go into what everyone had, but we were all quite happy with our meals. St. John always delivers amazingly fresh and flavourful food. I started with the smoked sprats with horseradish sauce, followed by the ox tongue with horseradish and beets. I haven't had tongue since I was about 10 and my Grandmother forced me to try some of the grey, cold, horizontally sliced tongue (so each piece still looks like a tongue) she brought back from the supermarket. I've been frightened of it ever since. So I though that St. John would help me overcome this fear, and it did. The tongue was the consistency of pastrami, and tasted both of beef and organ meat. The juices from the beets mingled on the plate with the horseradish sauce, making an excellent sauce for the tongue.

The server had been coming in infrequently to check on us, and our bottles of wine ran dry. The time between our starters and main courses was close to half and hour, and we were all snacking hungrily on bread before our mains arrived. While our mains were being cleared, one of the busboys knocked the rest of my wine right into my lap...and he never apologized for it. Everyone at the table was buzzing (rather loudly, so as to be heard by the server) that they should bring us a complimentary bottle of wine, or some free desserts, but instead a napkin was thrown at me by our surly server, an apology was mumbled, and a half a glass of wine was placed in front of me. Everyone at the table told me to make a fuss about it, but I just wanted to carry on with the meal. Before our server came to take our dessert orders (she had been gone for a while at this point), two people from our party had to leave, since one was about to miss his last train home and the other had to bike home, which was going to take him some time. When our server finally turned up, we ordered desserts and Leo's came out with a candle in it...which was nice. When the bill arrived, there was the standard scrabbling to get the correct amount of money together (at this point our server was very attentive!). When we handed her the money, she counted it on the table in front of us, then handed me back a 20 pound note and informed me that it didn't feel right and she wasn't going to accept it. She held it up to the light and explained to us how it was probably counterfeit. I was appalled. We just spent a good deal of money, and a whole lot of time, on the meal. She had hundreds of our pounds in her hands, and she had the nerve to throw our money back at us and insinuate that we were trying to pull one over on her. The least she could have done was take the money to the register to count it and question it's authenticity in private. Perhaps she could have used one of those pens that every restaurant seems to have to check to see if a bill is counterfeit, rather than just denying our money. Luckily, I had another £20 note in my purse, we paid the bill, did not add any additional tip besides the service charge (which we probably would have if the service had been good), and left.

From now on, when we go to St. John, I'm eating in the bar.

Garden photos and more

2008-06-11T02:25:00.005-04:00

When in London...visit gardens

2008-06-09T13:28:00.004-04:00

This past weekend, the weather was amazing. Actually, Sunday got a bit too hot...but I'm not complaining. With the amazing weather, my parents and I decided to partake in Open Squares
weekend, when private gardens around the city are open to the public. Rather than describing what we saw, I'll just show you...tomorrow (since Leo took my camera with him to Scotland before I was able to download the photos). But they really are lovely, I promise...you'll see tomorrow.

On Sunday we all took a tour of the neighborhood markets, including the Columbia flower market, finishing off with our favorite Sunday Roast at the Royal Oak. Luckily we got there early and were able to score the big table in the back of the pub (with only a few elbows thrown). My folks loved the meal and the company (thanks Tom and Caron for joining us). And my parents bought me an aloe plant to add to my growing menagerie (fingers crossed I won't kill this one).

Home

2008-06-02T02:33:00.002-04:00

Ever since we got back from Chicago things in London have felt different. While we were waiting in the airport to board the plane, we both realized that we just wanted to be home...and home was London. Even though our flat came fully furnished, we still wanted to sleep in our bed. We wanted to eat at our local Turkish restaurant, and wanted to pick up some essentials (hob nobs, crumpets, actimel) at our Tesco. After 5 months, London feels very comfortable.

Since getting back, we've fallen into our standard routines - going to work, drinking with Leo's coworkers on Friday evenings, going to the markets on Sundays. Unfortunately, this doesn't make for very interesting blog posts, but don't despair. My parents are coming to town soon, so stay tuned for some more sightseeing, restaurant-hopping, and trips abroad.

The Chi-town rundown

2008-05-29T16:03:00.004-04:00

With all of the fun we had in Chicago (and all the shopping), there wasn't much time for snapping photos - but here are a few.
The happy couple (pre-wedding). See how perfect they are for each other. The only thing I wanted to eat while I was in Chicago - a Chicago dog with everything on top and chili cheese fries, washed down with an Old Style beer.
Good times on the Shalom shuttle bus - hired from a Jewish retirement home. The artsy, non-traditional yet rather traditional, Jewish wedding. We all stood around the huppah to watch the ceremony, which was only slightly interrupted every 7 minutes by a passing L train.
Leo having a great time at the wedding...really.

We're back

2008-05-26T12:41:00.002-04:00

We're home and exhausted. Sorry for the short post, but this is as much effort as I'm able to muster right now. More to come when I wake up.

Back in the USSA

2008-05-22T01:48:00.002-04:00

Today, for the first time in almost 5 months we're heading back to the US to attend a wedding. What's odd is that we're not going to back to New York, we're not seeing our families...instead we're flying to Chicago (we lived there close to 5 years ago). So I guess it's home...in a way. What I'm most looking forward to is meandering down the aisles at Rite Aid and picking up items I don't even know I miss - Aleve, stick non-scented deodorant, mac and cheese. We'll be back on Sunday with the good, stories to share, and hopefully a lot of pictures.

Here and Now

2008-05-17T06:36:00.002-04:00

Last night I went to Wembley Arena to see the Here and Now tour. The lineup was a bunch of 1 hit wonders from the 80s, and my British companions were amazed to find out that these people/bands had even made it across the pond. We, unfortunately, got there a bit late (the concert was called for 7:30, and we arrived at 8 thinking that there would be no way they'd start on time. By the time we found our seats, the first band, the Cutting Crew (of "I just died in your arms tonight" fame) had just finished. Next came Curiosity Killed the Cat, who I don't think ever made it big in the US and Johnny Hates Jazz ("Shattered dreams"). Then came the big hitters - ABC ("Poison arrow" and "Look of love"), Paul Young ("Every time you go away"), Bananarama ("Venus" and "Cruel summer"), and Rick Astley ("Together forever" and "Never gonna give you up"). The whole evening was like a slow dance in junior high school. It was wonderful. I didn't bring my camera, but here are some of the highlights from the show (these are from a different venue, but it was basically the same thing - I think they were even wearing the same outfits).

Rick Astley
ABC
Bananarama
Paul Young

There were some distinct differences between seeing a concert in the UK versus one in the US. Someone in our row spilled their drink, and a guy with a mop came by to clean it up. I was shocked! The ushers were actually helpful and nice. There were enough bathrooms that you could find one easily without a queue. And the bathrooms were clean! It was a very pleasant experience just being in an arena that functioned in such an orderly and sanitary way.

Partying American-style

2008-05-12T02:37:00.003-04:00

This past weekend we celebrated our friend Matt's birthday in very familiar surroundings - a bowling alley. I love to bowl...I'm terrible at it, but I'm always up for it and I always have a great time. In Chicago, we used to go bowling quite a bit. I guess it was just the thing to do. And what I love about bowling alleys is they are all the same - from the Bowl-o-Mat in Miami, to Timberlanes in Chicago, to Leisure Time Bowl in New York's Port Authority. They all have the same smell of disinfectant in the air, cheep beer, greasy food, ugly (seizure-inducing) carpeting, terrible music, stained ceilings, and surly staff (unless they are boutique bowling establishments, which although they look nice, they don't have nearly as much...charm).

I am happy to say that the Super Bowl in the Elephant & Castle Shopping Centre lived up to the same standards of its American counterparts.Same ill-fitting shoes (and horrible carpeting).Same water-damaged ceiling.
Same bowling bravado.
Same amusing antics. In the hideous orange glow of the bowling alley, I almost forgot where I was...and except for the thumping club music...it was almost like home.

The sun

2008-05-08T03:21:00.002-04:00

When the sun is out in London, it becomes a new city. There is more life on the street, people are smiling, the tube is sweltering...but it's still not too bad. I don't have to wear a jacket. We don't have to turn on the overhead lights in my office. I can sit in the park, or on the lawn in front of where I work to eat my lunch. Life is grand...and hopefully it will stay this way.

Bank holidaze

2008-05-05T07:30:00.005-04:00

Our friends Matt and Lara are staying with us this weekend. Matt is English and used to live in London. So, when I asked him what he wanted to do while he was here, he responded "It's Bank holiday weekend...it's time to get properly pissed." So this is what we've been doing since Saturday morning when they arrived. We have done a bit of sightseeing - walk down to the Docklands to go to a pub, walk around Shoreditch to go to a pub, walk around Hoxton to go to a pub. It's all a bit of a blur, but it's been a lot of fun. Last night, due to pubs closing ridiculously early around here, we all ended up at our flat for an impromptu party, surrounded by new friends and old. Good times.

The stresses of vacations

2008-04-29T02:44:00.002-04:00

There was a time before everyone had their own websites, or were hooked up to giant search engines, when vacation decisions could be made on the fly. I remember traveling through Turkey, when I was in college, never knowing what town I'd go to next. Never buying train tickets in advance. Never reserving a hostel or hotel room in advance. It was the summer, tourist season...we were surrounded by Germans on one of their never ending holidays, but there was no stress about where we'd be sleeping; about getting from point A to point B.

But these days, when every tiny pension has its own website, set up with the same calendar feature allowing you to book up to 6 months in advance (and the earlier you do it, the cheaper it will be...and book now since there are only 5 rooms left - even though the place may only have 5 rooms), vacation planning has become necessary and stressful.

Right now, Leo and I are planning our trip to Spain. On an impulse we bought a plane ticket to Barcelona, then out of Seville 10 days later - sounds easy enough. But for the past few weeks I've been agonizing over the smallest details - train times, car rentals, ferry schedules, routes to get us to where we need to go, where we're going to be each night, then trying to find a place to stay. Plus, with everything being done on the internet, three months in advance and some of the places I've been looking at for us to stay are booking up (I bet it's the Germans). So far, we have a hotel for 3 nights in Barcelona and 1 night in Seville, and that's it. And I'm stressed and need a vacation.

Ally McBeal syndrome

2008-04-28T04:38:00.003-04:00

One thing that keeps bothering me is what women here find appropriate to wear to work. It's not that I'm an old maid, confused by the fashions of the modern world. Nor am I all that prudish. Showing a little leg is fine (depending on your office). But the amount of leg that I see walking to work each morning...it's nearly obscene. Sometimes it's just a shirt dress, that looks more like a shirt, over some dark tights. Other times it's a mini, mini skirts that would cover nothing if the woman bent over to pick up her briefcase. Very often their jackets come down well below their skirts, so they look like flashers on the prowl. They look more like pricey escorts than business woman...and if I can't help but stare at them as they pass me on the street, then I fear how them men in their offices may react to their outfits.

*if i'm able to snap some pictures of this epidemic, i'll certainly post them