Rain, rain, go away…

...Come again some other day! Apparently, 2007 saw the wettest June that ever cursed the City of London, and July is already chalking up the rainy days, as well. It has been absolutely miserable! It feels like it just never stops! So what do you do in London when it rains? You get up and go, just like any other day! You have no choice, and sitting inside listening to the rain gets really old after a couple of weeks.



This weekend it rained every day, so Friday night Andrew and I went to the movies for the first time here in London. We have a cinema in the Fulham Broadway tube station, so it was close by and easy. We saw Ocean’s Thirteen, which was really good.



On Saturday, after a very frustrating lunch, we spent the afternoon at the Natural History Museum. We’ve been trying to save the museums and sightseeing for when all of you come to visit, so that we won’t have to see everything several times, but the rain finally got the best of our plans.

We needed something to do! So we saw the giant robotic tyrannosaurus rex, along with all the rest of the dinosaurs except, strangely, the pterodactyl.

Andrew and I noticed that there were no pterodactyls in the exhibit at all, nor were there any explanations as to why. I’ve just looked up the reason. According to Wikipedia, “Pterosaurs, often called pterodactyls, are sometimes referred to in the popular media as dinosaurs, but this is incorrect. The term ‘dinosaur’ is properly restricted to a certain group of terrestrial reptiles with a unique upright stance (superorder Dinosauria), and therefore excludes the pterosaurs, as well as the various groups of extinct aquatic reptiles, such as ichthyosaurs (giant marine reptiles that resembled fish and dolphins), plesiosaurs (carnivorous aquatic, mostly marine, reptiles), and mosasaurs (serpentine marine reptiles).” Interesting!



Later that night we had dinner in a pub called the Chelsea Ram, which is not too far from our flat. Granted it was pouring down rain while we walked there, and despite the fact that we were both wearing raincoats and each had our own umbrella (called a brelly here), the rain still soaked us by the time we arrived at the restaurant. Our tour book, Access London, describes the Ram as “a great London institution [...that...] is hugely popular with Chelsea locals and other who travel from all over London for the friendly ambience, the great selection of wines, beers, and the rest, and the terrific food. You can just hang out and enjoy a pint of something warm and quintessentially English.” The food and atmosphere were great, and I’m sure that we’ll go back.



So on Sunday, Andrew and I went with Nigel to our long-awaited first cricket match! We had been really looking forward to it for months. Of course, when we woke up on Sunday, it was raining! We met Nigel at the Paddington station at ten that morning, and walked to Lords stadium. Our seats were in the back row of the lower deck, so we were sheltered from the rain, but being at the top of the lower deck with the upper deck above us and no back wall made our seats right in a wind tunnel. We were freezing all day long! On the plus side, the game was really interesting, and Andrew and I learned a lot about cricket, a very confusing game. Nigel explained the rules to us as the game was going on, as well as the history of the stadium, the area, and his experiences growing up attending cricket matches with his father. He is really such an interesting man and is just full of facts! Andrew and I really enjoy hanging out with him and hope to attend another match soon, when the weather is better. We both agreed that the match would have been a great Sunday activity on a warm, sunny Saturday.

So Andrew left for Dubai again on Monday morning, and I’m all alone here again! For those of you who don’t know, he’s been placed on a project with General Motors in Dubai and will be gone for two weeks at a time. He’ll be spending time in South Africa and Egypt, as well, while he’s on this project. He's going to make a special post on Dubai, though, later. Here are some photos of his first trip to Dubai…

Misty and Mark

This weekend my friend Misty, who used to work with me at Axcan and got married and left the week after I did, and her husband came to visit. Misty was in town on business, and Mark just tagged along because he’d never been to London before; neither, in fact had Misty. Both world travelers, though, they were happy to cross London off their list of places to visit. They had a hotel, paid for by Misty’s company, for the week, but they arrived on Saturday morning and spent the night with us before checking into their hotel on Sunday.

Misty and Mark have done better than anyone we know with jetlag. We couldn’t believe that their plane landed at 10:00am, and they were able to go from then until 2:00am the next morning. They must have been carrying tiny Energizer bunnies in their pockets! We were quite proud.

On Saturday they arrived at the flat around 1:00pm after hours on the plane. They freshened up, and Andrew and I took them to Portobello Market, one of my favorite places to go on a Saturday in London. We wandered around a bit and then quickly maneuvered into a pub so that Misty and Mark could grab some lunch. We ended up just sitting in the pub catching up on each other’s lives until after 5:00, at which point we came back home to get ready for dinner. I had made us a booking at Kaslik, one of Andrew’s and my favorite restaurants here in London. It’s the Lebanese one with the belly dancers!



At dinner, Misty and Mark were impressed with the food. They’ve had Lebanese food several times, and we were happy to hear that Kaslik really was as good as Andrew and I thought. (Andrew and I had never had Lebanese before Kaslik, so we really had no basis for comparison; we just knew we liked it!) We sat downstairs this time, three on a low cushioned bench along one wall, and one on a pillow on the floor. Although it was quite crowded, I though the atmosphere of the downstairs room was very quaint. The belly dancer came out later, and I hid, not wanting to have to dance with her again!



After dinner we tried to think of something to do, to no avail. We were really afraid that we would go and pay a cover someplace only to have Misty and Mark totally crash from the jetlag. We didn’t realize we weren’t dealing with amateurs! I really don’t think either of them expected to last as long as they did, either, though. Anyway, we decided to head back home, open some beers and a bottle of wine, and play cards! We stayed away from Presidents this time, though; instead, we played Spades (a little more grownup).

On Sunday morning we all slept late (except Mark, who stayed up later than any of us and was up at nine). Andrew cooked bacon and eggs and biscuits for everyone before we saw them off to their hotel. I was sorry to see Misty and Mark leave, but I think they were glad to get away from the dog hair! Hadley and Savannah are currently shedding their winter coats, and it’s impossible to keep the flat clean without vacuuming twice per day.

Later that week, we met up with them once again on their last night in London before heading off to Paris. We had dinner with Misty, Mark, and Misty’s boss (who Andrew asked if she was Mark’s mother – and she wasn’t even that old) at a tapas restaurant in Mayfair. After an almost tearful goodbye (for me, anyway), Andrew and I said goodbye and left them having their farewell to London drinks at a nearby pub.

Misty and Mark, it was wonderful seeing you; I’m so glad you looked us up and stayed with us. It was really our pleasure!

Everyone else, I do hope that you’ll all come to visit soon. It was so wonderful to have a slice of Home here in London, and I look forward to happening when you come to visit, as well!

Mahiki

We went to a bar called Mahiki in Mayfair, where all the celebrities go every week. We were impressed with everything but the prices (the cheapest drink was ₤7.50)! We didn’t take many pics, but here they are!




Scroll down for another new post about Tommy and Adelle's visit to London!

Sorry so slacking...

So, I’ll bet you’re all wondering why we’ve been such slackers on our blog lately. We took this nice trip to Italy and then seemingly disappeared off the face of the planet! Were we abducted in Italy? Did we like it so much we decided to move there? What’s the deal? Where’d we go?

So here’s the problem. The week before we left for Italy, our flat had a meltdown, it seems. First, our shower has been broken since we moved in; it releases no cold water in the stream, so if the water heat is turned to a normal temperature, it scalds us in the shower because no cold water is mixing in. We’ve countered this problem by turning the main water temperature down to a level we can stand in the shower, but the landlady was supposed to have sent someone to fix the problem while we were in Italy. We figured that would be the best option, so that we and the dogs were out of the plumber’s way and vice versa.

In addition to the shower, however, my computer crashed the week before we left. Andrew had been watching a baseball game on it in bed the night before, and we got up and turned it on to check the weather only to receive a loud series of beeps in reply.

The night before we left, we were still trying to finish up some last minute laundry and realized our washer/dryer combo machine had broken, as well. The morning we left for Italy I was pulling sopping wet clothes out of the machine, wringing them out in the sink, and laying them out around our kitchen to dry while we were gone. We had every intention of calling the landlady to ask her to have the dryer fixed while we were gone, as well, but we were so excited about our trip, I guess, that we forgot.

Anyway, we arrive home from Italy, absolutely exhausted, to a hot, muggy London and a messy flat, only to discover that no one had been there to fix anything at all! The shower was still broken; my computer still wouldn’t start, and the dryer hadn’t magically fixed itself during our absence, unfortunately. Katy picked us up from the airport and took us to East Croydon to pick up the girls, and she got to see the Wrath of Andrew as we came in and realized this; poor girl.

Andrew called the landlady, who was full of excuses for why nothing had been done. We never told her the dates we would be gone; she was sick in the bed; she was on holiday, etc. Whatever, lady, just admit you forgot! She eventually let us know that someone would be out the following Wednesday to fix the shower; Andrew was so angry that he didn’t even broach the subject of the dryer.

So Wednesday Andrew leaves for Miami. He’s being put on a new engagement with GM, and he’ll be spending a lot of time Dubai. Yes, Dubai. Google it if you don’t know; it’s paradise, literally. He’ll be spending two weeks at a time there, so I’ll be left to fend for myself on the weekends for the first time here in London. It’s going to be excruciatingly boring without him around the house to crack me up and make messes that we have to clean later, and, meanwhile, he’ll be spending his weekends sleeping at five-star hotels, laying out on beautiful beaches, golfing at famous resorts, and shopping at the amazing malls. Okay, maybe his life won’t be that blissful in Dubai, as he’ll be as lonely as I am, but at least it should be peaceful there. And he’ll have a maid, living in a hotel. Lucky dog!

Anyway, back to Wednesday – Andrew leaves for Miami; I leave for work, come home to find a gigantic hole in my shower. Luckily we have a separate bathtub, so I didn’t panic. I just figured they’d be back the next day. But, of course, they weren’t. I began calling the landlady at 6:30 and called both her house and cell phone once every couple of hours after that until about nine. I think I left three messages total between the two machines. She calls me back the next morning and is pissed with me! I have a hole in my shower for two days because of something she was supposed to have had fixed a week before, and she’s mad at me! She says they’ll be there to fix it on Monday. The plumber comes on Tuesday and fixes the shower so that it works. I’ve still got a hole in the wall; there are no tiles up around the faucet, but at least the shower works. We still have no idea when the hole will be fixed. We haven’t heard back from anyone in two days.

By this time we’ve arranged for the dryer to be fixed, as well. Unfortunately, we have to pay for that in cash, out of pocket, ourselves, and it’s really expensive, so it’s not getting fixed until this coming Monday, the 18th.

Also during this time, Andrew is doing his best have my computer fixed, as well. He had to mail it to Scotland. And now we come to the point of this emergency not-abut-Italy post… Andrew’s computer won’t let us upload our photos, and there were so many amazing things to see in Italy that we don’t want to post them without the photos, which means we have to wait until we get my computer back. Once we do, however, I’ve been working on the postings, and we’re doing three separate posts, one for each city, so that you don’t get too bored because I know I ramble and you all probably just skim through these posts to get the gist and the important things!

Love to you all!

Tommy and Adelle

Our good friends Tommy and Adelle (Andrew’s coworkers from HealthSouth in Birmingham) came to London recently, and we met up with them a couple of nights for drinks. It’s so great having people from home visit our lovely city. We love hearing stories from home and visiting with old friends! Adelle and I even climbed the lions at Trafalgar Square!

When in Rome -- dine with Simone!

Rome was amazing. After being the tour guide for Venice and Florence, it was Kelly's turn to lead us around Rome and figure out what to see. She did an awesome job and there was very little that we didn't see that we wanted to. What we missed we chose to because we had run out of gas. We spent the first day walking through the Piazza Navona, going to the Pantheon, which was my favorite, and walking along the Tiber while Kelly pointed out significant places. We also found our favorite restaurant in the world; Al Pietro.

It is owned by an Italian couple and he is the chef and she is the host. We found it in our tour book and it was highly recommended. When we went in at 8:00, we were the second couple to arrive in a restaurant that could only seat about 30 people and had a total of 9 tables; including the 3 outside. The other couple in the place was from Atlanta and we immediately began chatting. Our hostess served us fresh baked cheese bread topped with truffles and served us a drink of fresh basil, bourbon, cuointreau and champagne. It was nothing short of divine. She showed us the fresh pastas she made that morning along with the fresh veal cutlets, scallopine, sea bass, squid and prawns that had arrived that morning. Kelly and I shared fresh made fettuccini topped with homemade tomato sauce with bacon bits in it along with the veal scallopine topped with cheese and truffles. The wine was outstanding and the evening became more memorable as the other couples arrived. As the evening progressed a couple of newly weds from NY came in and we chatted with them and the Atlanta group before two guys from Denmark came in to celebrate the closing of their big business deal. The four groups took up all the tables in the front room and we were chatting across the room to one another. The guys from Denmark were drinking $150 bottles of red wine (I know it but I just can't remember at the moment) and consistently kept ordering them and pouring them to all in the room. They put down four bottles before Kelly and I bought a bottle for the room but it was a €25 bottle. The placed closed at 11 but we all stayed until one; except for the Atlanta couple.

The next day we toured ancient Rome, the Nevi fountain and the Spanish steps.

It was in ancient Rome that we ran into a guy doing a free tour for English speakers. He was amazing and we met him the next day for his tour of the Vatican museum. At the end of the second day we met my parents and promptly took them to dinner at the place we had eaten the previous evening. Yes, it was that good. The third day was spent in the Vatican. We slept till almost noon before getting up and heading over there.

The tour of the museum was awesome but I was somewhat disappointed by the Sistine Chapel. It was amazing, of course, but I thought it would be larger. I think it had been hyped up so much that it couldn't have ever lived up to the expectations they place on it.

Kelly and I were wiped out by the end of this. We took a taxi to my parents hotel where we picked up my mobile phone, which we had provided to them in Venice as a way to keep in touch, and had a farewell drink before heading back to the hotel to nap before dinner. Kelly and I had a modest dinner that evening and we were too tired to sit in the restaurant to finish the bottle of wine we ordered. So Kelly put the cork back in it and stuffed it in her big bag and we took it back to the hotel to watch a movie and drink our wine. We didn't even finish the bottle. We were too tired.

The next morning we got up early and caught a 9:45 flight back to London via Zurich. We touched down just after one and we went to pick up the dogs before collapsing on the couch. We loved the trip and can't wait to go back but we are glad we got all of the tourist things out of the way and now we can enjoy the cities the next time at our leisure.

I am busy again now and I have been assigned a client in Dubai; where I sit today writing this. I will be here on and off for the next three to four months in addition to trips to South Africa, Egypt and possibly Kenya. My work will keep me away from Kelly for at most two weeks at a time so it will be a hard next few months. Kelly and I will get some great trips out of this on the firm bill but it's hard being away so much. Dubai is amazing but it has too much construction going on for it to be really impressive.

Florence -- our wild night out with the kids

So after three nights in Venice, we boarded a train and it was off to Florence. As luck should have it, it was raining in Florence when we arrived, too. Dragging your suitcase from the train station to the hotel in the rain is not much fun. It was worse in Rome but I'll get to that in a bit. Kelly and I loved Florence. We loved the relaxed atmosphere and the beauty of the city. We had a really good meal one night with a new friend and we enjoyed some of the best gelato in the world. Upon arrival and check-in we went straight to the Uffizi.

We stood in line for the better part of 2 hours to get in. While waiting in line we met a young guy from North Carolina who was living in Edinburgh. He was going to graduate from school a semester early so he took 6 months to work in Scotland and tour Europe. He was traveling alone and was staying in a local hostel. Anyway so we chat with him while waiting and then walk through the museum with him. When we left we all grabbed a beer together and decided to have dinner together. Kelly and I found a great place and we really enjoyed the veal and the wine. After dinner, we went back to the hostel with our new friend as he noted several people were going out and we wanted to tag along. The next thing we knew we were drinking wine that cost €3 per bottle from little tea glasses and were hanging out with college kids. We stayed out till 2:00 am before finally heading back to our hotel.

Needless to say, we felt miserable the next day. Thankfully, we had reservations at 9:45 at the Accademia to see the David or we would not have gotten up early the next morning. We went and we were completely moved by it. I don't think a sculpture has ever impressed me that much. I think Kelly can agree with me. After the museum we went through the Duomo and we walked across the river and up a huge hill that overlooks all of Florence. We took some amazing pictures, ate wonderful gelato and wandered through strange gardens on the way back down.

We ate cheap calzones for lunch before heading back to the hotel for a nap. For dinner that night, we met my parents and a couple touring with them. The dinner was nice but it was over priced and not as good as the place the night before. It became somewhat of a running joke. My parents, who were staying in 5 star hotels and going to these expensive places to eat did not have more than 2 good dinners over 10 nights in Europe. Kelly and I, who are on the budget trip, used our tour book and had great dinners almost every night but a few. We learned the lesson that our tour book is almost always right. So after 2 nights in Florence, it was on to Rome.