Last days in London

Terri & Mary like the dumplings at Jen's.
MTH 110 students in Trafalgar Square.

On Monday & Tuesday, Mary wanted to see London & I was exhausted! So sadly, she saw more than I did those last couple of days -- we did see the National Gallery with the MTH 110 class. Mary & Chuck also saw the National Portrait Gallery, St Martin in the Fields, British Library and the Victoria and Albert museum. We also did some shopping in Covent Garden.

On Thursday CAPA hosted a going away party for us at the Drayton Arms. It was a nice, but brief, party. Friday, we packed and went out to Thai Thai with Jamie for our last London meal. Then it was up at 3:30 am for a very LONG day traveling back to Pittsburgh. Getting checked in and through security in Gatwick was horrid, but here we are!

A Belgian Weekend & a Visit from Mary

Westminster Abbey at 5 pmThe view of London from the Eye
Mary & Chuck in the Eye

On last Thursday, Mary came to visit us in London and suffered a week sleeping on our couch. We were excited to see her - our first and only sleep-in visitor. Ray & Chris were our other visitors, but they were smart enough to stay in a hotel room!

Thursday evening we went to Evensong at Westminster Abbey which is song by the choir and was wonderful. Then it was on to the London Eye. Our first weekend in London rode the Eye in the daytime and now we rode it at night. It was an awe-inspiring sight with the city lit up and a full moon in the sky. The 30 minute ride seemed to go by in 30 seconds!

Friday was a very, very early start, especially for Mary - we needed to be at the Belgium tour pickup location near Victoria Station at 6 am. This meant we left the flat at 4:30 am (remember Mary is still on Pgh. time - 5 hours earlier). The bus took us to a ferry in Dover where we crossed the English Channel and saw the white cliffs of Dover.

White Cliffs of Dover

Our first stop is Bruges - a fairy tale town with crooked streets, hundreds of cobble stones and lots and lots of chocolate shops (and those who know me will realize why I liked Bruges so much). Jamie, Mary, Chuck & I wandered the streets, ate frites (fantastic fries), sampled chocolate and the local mulled wine (Gluhwein). I'd love to return.

Bruges

Both nights we stayed at Oostende on the North Sea. Our hotel room was large and quiet - quite a change from our flat in London.

Saturday it was on to Brussels, where we again saw the Christmas markets, sampled chocolates and gluhwein, and enjoyed the scenic town. The city hall in the Grote Markt was lit up with constantly changing lights set to music. Wow. We also saw a famous statue of a boy pissing (dressed up like St Nicolas) and the Atomium - a huge structure composed of the atoms of a molecule created for the 1958 World's Fair.

Brussels City Hall

Pissing boy statue dressed up as St NicolasAtomium in Brussels
Sunday, St Nicolas Day, we saw St Nicolas in the local Oostende bakery giving treats to the children (I got a kiss) and then it was on to Antwerp. No Christmas markets there yet, but we saw brightly dressed men with horns marching into church, Rubens in the local cathedral, more chocolate shops and ate waffels for lunch. After a long bus ride, ferry crossing and more bus riding we ended up back in London and back in the flat. In my next blog entry, I'll report how Mary wore us out on Monday and Tuesday in London!

Antwerp Guild Houses
St. Nicolas in Oostende

North Sea in Oostende

Christmas decorations & cards

On Sunday, we spent some time in the Marylebone area and then on Oxford Street (huge shopping mecca). I was amazed at the variety of Christmas decorations, yet confused about the umbrellas (brollies) on Oxford St. (2nd photo). The theme is related to A Christmas Carol and still I'm confused about the decorations! The first photo is from Carnaby St. and the last one is from Marylebone.

We then went over to the Marble Arch area for dinner with Ed. Ed is a sociologist from Texas and has sublet a flat across from Hyde Park and near the Blair's house. It was a small, but lovely flat and the dinner was lots of fun!

Today, Tuesday, we had to leave the flat for while for its weekly cleaning. So we headed to Picadilly Circus and found St. James Church with its antiques market. Two packages of Christmas cards and some rocks later ... Eventually we ended up at Thai Thai on Old Street which is a short 15 minute walk back to the flat. Jamie's coming for dinner so I'm trying to simmer soup in 2 small pots on a stove that won't go low enough to get a simmer, not a boil!

What? No after Thanksgiving sales?!

Chuck & I slept in this morning and then headed for Oxford Circus tube station. Our mission? To find the Broad Street Pump, instrumental in helping to spread cholera in 1854, and to find the University of Westminster. Mission accomplished! Our our way to Broadwick Street (formerly Broad Street) in Soho, we detoured via Carnaby Street and enjoyed the 1960s style Christmas decorations above the street.

We easily found the pump and the John Snow Pub. Dr. Snow is credited for realizing that cholera might be spread via water and having the pump handle removed to stop people from drinking cholera-infected water. Over 600 people died in just over 2 weeks. Very sad.

Then onto The University of Westminster on Regents Street. We found the main administrative building and then learned that the University is spread out over a wide area. So much for finding the bookstore ... we were a good 6 + miles away!

Here's Chuck in our flat after we've decorated for Christmas with 2 small trees - one for us and one for Jamie!

Happy Thanksgiving in London

On Wednesday, Jamie arranged for a guest speaker from Bethlem Hospital (psychiatric), nicknamed Bedlam (the hospital, not the speaker). Caroline was marvelous and I really enjoyed the talk especially the case studies and before/after photos of patients from the late 1800's.

Today, Thanksgiving, was an odd day. It's my first time out of the country for this, my favorite, holiday. I don't teach on Thursdays, so Chuck & I headed out to Greenwich where the prime meridian is (longitude 0 0 00). We took the #188 bus from Russell Square which wandered about the city for a good 90 minutes before reaching Greenwich. In a car, it would have taken us about 20 minutes ... It was fun to see the neighborhoods and expand our understanding of London's geography, but on the way back we got off at a tube stop for the Northern Line which took us to Old Street in 1/3rd the time.

The Royal Observatory at Greenwich is up a steep hill with a gorgeous park in front. The view of London from the top is spectacular!! We got our photo taken in front of the meridian -- each in a different hemisphere. There were telescopes, clocks, and lots of interesting views of the surrounding landscape.

Tonight, CAPA arranged for a Thanksgiving dinner with the American students in London. There were speeches, silly hats, drinks, turkey, stuffing, and pumpkin pie for dessert. Just needed some American football on the TV to make the evening complete. Happy Thanksgiving one and all!

Dumplings and used books

Friday's afternoon party with 10 WC went well. It's a good thing that only 10 of the students were able to attend, since they filled up our "reception room." I had a good time and am still enjoying the gorgeous roses that Jamie brought me.

We lazed around on Saturday morning and then headed to Chinatown, Leicester Square and Covent Garden -- tons of people there today! We spent some time in the antique book stores and only bought one book. Bought a Christmas gift in Covent Garden for Jerry. Then, Chuck & I had lunch at a dumpling place in Chinatown -- yum -- and then back to the flat. Back up to Angel again late afternoon for a massage; I'm going to miss Ben!!

Chuck made great sandwiches and chips for dinner tonight and now we're lazing around again ...

only 2 more Saturdays in London ...

A Tale of Two Jamies

Christ Church in Oxford
Thursday Chuck & I caught a bus (Oxford Tube) to Oxford University. The drive was great - we got to see green stuff (it's been awhile). We spent about 3 hours in the town, peeking into the colleges and touring the churches. Lovely.

In the evening, Chuck, Jamie, Pam, and I had 6:30 dinner reservations at Jamie Oliver's Fifteen. He trains 15 young Brits in the restaurant business and they run the place. The London 15 is just 3-4 blocks from our flat. Since it was Jamie's birthday, the four of us celebrated at 15. The dining room has a pre fix menu. It was marvelous. The food was good, the service was good, and we were there for almost 3 hours. I had (1) fantastic salad of coppa with salad of chargrilled Comice pear, radicchio Castelfranco, gorgonzola piccante and aged balsamic, (2) cappellacci with Italian stem artichoke and baked ricotta 'Agricansiglio' finished in a caper butter sauce, (3) Pete Gott's rare-breed Cumbrian pork roasted in radicchio Trevisano, balsamic vinegar and bay with braised fennel, spinach and pan juices, and (4) chocolate and espresso tart with mascarpone and crushed honeycomb. There was also focaccia with salami and olives, a raw scallop palate cleanser and chocolate truffles. Wow. 18 hours later and I'm still stuffed. (By the way, we got to take a menu home so don't be impressed by the recitation of menu items!)

Today, we're hosting some of the students at our flat from 2 - 5 pm. Luckily, not all can make it! I say "luckily", because the flat won't hold even 1/2 of the 30 students!

Happy birthday, Jamie!