Random Ramblings and Observations...


Mini and micro skirts are definitely vogue in the UK, however, worn always with black tights! So far, nary a bare leg with either shorts or mini skirts.  We are clearly not in France where fashion and design are concerned.... here, anything seems to go with everything!!


Let's talk TP.... I have purchased cheap, better and most-expensive toilet paper based on the descriptive "soft and pillowy" text.  They are all the same... cost is not an indicator on this item!


Fish and chips....taste best cooked in lard.... horrific, I know!  We opted today for the healthier version.. oil.... floppy, old chips and greasy fish!  No more fish and chips!  Not healthy and we had the best.... once!


Winston is finally making tighter left turns, wider rights and navigating the round-a-bouts without me holding my breath and waving to all the cars trying to figure out what he's up to.  Although, we are still stopping at thrift stores looking for a toddler steering wheel for me so I can drive as well~!


Night All.... from stunning Shrewsbury!

A Day in York..... WT drove the 4-hour trek from London to York without incident.  He kept to his side of the road just fine.  The M1 moved right along ...it's efficient but I missed the countryside views and cute little villages on the way.  However, had we taken the cute route, we might still be driving!  It was a fabulously sunny day and we arrived around 2PM.  We dropped our gear at the hotel and took off around the beautiful walled city.  Two hundred years of incredible Gothic architecture.... the York Minster really stands out among the rest.

     The Shambles is an especially quaint and colorful street....fun little cafes, shops and restaurants.  The name comes from the word shammell meaning a butcher's cutting block.  In  medieval times it was the butcher's street.  We zigzagged around the entire city and just couldn't get enough of it.  So, we went out in the evening for another walk..... a guided, ghostly walk to hear about the creepy side of the world's most haunted city - after celebrating Michael's 18th birthday - of course!

    Michael's birthday event was by all accounts notable.... we found a delightful restaurant aptly named Michael's.  We indulged..... roast beef & Yorkshire pud', local sausages & cheesy mash, roast lamb & Yorkshire pud', colourful steamed veggies uniquely served family style.... and we finished up with a shared treacle pudding with lashings of custard. The creepy tour wasn't bad....not brilliant either.... glad we hadn't paid more than we did.

     Rellies arrived from Manchester for a morning visit... great overlap including an altogether trip to the Railway Museum....  York was the railway hub of Northern England in the Industrial Age and its station was the world's largest.  Story has it that in World War II Hitler chose to bomb York simply because he had seen a photo of the city in a travel book.

     "Au revoir, relies" and off and away to Scotland.  Ominous weather rolled in and I was looking for Heathcliff out over the moors.

      Onwards to Hadrian's Wall which I mistakenly took to be the divider between Scotland and England.  I woke up Michael and Madison and welcomed them to Scotland....oooohing and aaaahing over the lush green landscape but also wondering how I'd missed the "Welcome to bonnie, wee Scotland" sign.  

     We pulled into Newcastle and suddenly the world's worst torrential downpour accented with thunder and flashes of lightning jarred us to our senses.  The MI was reduced to 8 to 10mph for about 20 miles.... seemed like forever.  Several roads were entirely washed out but slowly navigable until we hit one road blocked off by police.  This is where I learnt that we were still in Northumberland, England.  She told me how to detour around the closed roads and that the Scottish border was 15 minutes ahead.  She also told me that typically there is someone there in full kilt bagpiping visitors over the line but due to weather, he probably wasn't.  I was so disappointed he wasn't....... I really wanted to be bagpiped in, wouldn't you?  Another time...

     The Northumberland countryside is so beautiful and the transition into Scotland continued to be so.... patchworks of varying shades of green rolled out to as far as one can see.  It's breathtaking.  God's amazing!  

     Edinburgh came into view at around 8PM and only a couple hours later than we had anticipated.  Sainsbury's around the corner along with an M&S Outlet and a view of Aurthur's Seat... I think we are in the right spot....oh, and the Royal Mile just a 15 minute walk away.  How exciting!

     

Day 4, 5 & 6


Sunday took us on a Notting Hill adventure.  We have the tube and schedules all sorted out now and it’s beginning to make sense to us now.  Mads prefers the double decker buses even if its standing room only….. there appears to be less BO for some reason and a better option for seats to become available.  It is hard to fathom an entire underground system beneath the City of London and then some…  being claustrophobic, I can’t give it a nanosecond of thought further though! 

     The Notting Hill station pops up just by the the famous Portabello Road and market. However, Sunday clearly isn’t the best day for the market….. the only day when there are no fruits, veggies or flower stands.  It was chucking it down with rain and the perfect time for Mads to invest in a pair of lovely, yellow wellies.  Evidently, the name in wellies is Hunter brand complete with special wellie socks.  I’ve since learnt that we can actually buy that brand in Canada and at Nordie’s in the states…no matter, at least she can say she bought them across the pond in a quaint area of Notting Hill.  We legged it the 2 miles and then circled back to Westbourne Grove, a more upscale area of shops, restaurants and cafes.  We found a cute café serving Illy coffee, grabbed a couple of croissants and a vile, triangular Brazilian chicken pot pie.  The smell of the latter involuntarily turned my stomach…. WT, ever the “clean up man”, managed to work it down though.  Good man!

     Hyde Park/Speaker’s Corner just on the edge of Marble Arch.  Hyde Park was actually Henry VIII’s hunting grounds – now quite the lovely, green hub for walkers, runners and resters.  Speaker’s Corner, however, is a place for ranting and venting…an opportunity for those willing to preach their particular persuasion on any controversial social topic. 

     On to Fortnum & Mason, otherwise known as the Queen’s shop…high quality items.  I splurged…I heard THE VOICE.. I had to do it….. a Christmas pud’ in a limited Jubilee edition crock!!! 

     Monday took us schlepping through St. James’s Park to Buckingham Palace for the changing of the guards.  I am a mushy mess when it comes to the pomp and circumstance….nothing a little fish and chips couldn’t help though.  A recommendation from Rob Porter, a bus schedule and determination took us right to the Fryer’s Delight in Holborn.  Wow, it did not disappoint.  We each snatched our paper-wrapped bit of goodness and muscled our way to the little Red Lion Park, found a bench and proceeded to wrap our lips around those tasty morsels.  Haddock and chips….a forever memory such that we are afraid to order it anywhere else now….

     Chinatown and Soho called and we were off and running into the dodgy area of London…and an education on several levels for M&m’s!! 

     Yesterday brought my friend Dave out for a visit.  It was fabulous catching up with him but just too short…we captured a few Sidley memories, had a few laughs then he was off and running in one direction while our direction took us to the museums…namely the Natural History and The Royal Albert and Victoria.  It is quite perplexing how quickly the Tan Clan can march through incredible artifacts in double time!  I’m beginning to feel like M&m’s take after my dad…..”mo hing chui” (not much interest)!!  Who raised ‘em?

Random Ramblings and Observations...... Unsubstantiated, of course!!


Hollister - Regent Street, London....... greeted by young, sexy guy models at the door wearing only low slung board shorts.  (substantiated!)


Seems like very few people actually speak English.


The majority of locals appear to be middle Eastern or of southeast Asian decent.


Why do women in black robes and black head coverings with only their eyes showing buy bags and bags and bags of clothes at Primark?


I am secretly nervous of picking up our rental car and driving around England!

     All these seriously late nights and then late mornings have us walking out of the flat by mid afternoon and so the cycle continues.  Today, Day 5 marks a new trend.  We are actually up and at 'em...ready to take on Notting Hill and the Westbourne Grove, the famous Portabello Road its market... then on to Piccardilly Circus for a bit of Fortnam & Mason.  It seems it's a bit of a shopping adventure today.
     Speaking of an adventure, Day 3 we will blame on jet lag simply because we did not roar out of the door until 3PM, and only a couple of hours after we all woke up!  First and last stop, Harrods!  We shuffled in the 4-acre shop (spanning 7 floors) with the rest of the teeming masses and bumped and shoved our way through the Cosmetic Suite to the Food Halls.  Brimming with cordial staff and breathtaking display counters, we inched our way around the entire hall with a goal to the Chocolate Room.  Splurging on a Harrods' milk chocolate bar and a beautifully-packaged, local Notting Hill vendor, we navigated our way to the Egyptian escalator to The Tea Room for a spot of High Tea, The Mayfair to be exact.  So, dinner time found us munching on microscopic sandwiches, scones and desserts, which we dissected into 4!  It was a fun family event which will be memorable on every level for a very long time to come!!
    Yesterday took us to Greenwich Village, a world heritage site, and home to Greenwich Mean Time and the Prime Meridian line.  Other local points of interest are the Royal Observatory, the National Maritime Museum and the Old Royal Naval College.  The village itself is quaint and attractive....we instantly loved it.  We legged it up the Observatory and took pictures straddling both hemispheres.  
    Next stop.... Tate Modern!  Clearly the Tans have little appreciation for any form of modern art!!  Somewhere we missed some Andy Warhol and Monet...
    Following a brisk walk to Shakespeare's Globe, we jumped on the #6  bus and the scenic ride back to Maida Vale....
   

Day 2.... Well, the brief and amazing weather was, well, brief and amazing!  Today opted for cooler and wetter.  However, our day did not start until about noon.  After a local midnight bedtime, most of us slept until lunch!!  
     We are tucked away in a 3-bedroom top flat (wicked steep stairs to the top) in an area of London called Maida Vale.... neighbours (2 streets away) to Jude Law, Madonna and several  other stars apparently.  However, we haven't laid eyes on anyone famous yet!!  One block away takes us to an organic butcher, an organic grocer, Tesco's Express Market (great for sandwiches and chockies in a hurry!), a fabulous deli and several little restaurants.  I believe we can make this work!
    The Warwick Avenue underground station is 1/2 a block away on the Bakerloo Line.  After a Rick Steves suggestion in his Britain book, we opted for the 1-week Oyster pass which gives us anytime bus or tube options.  First stop .... the British Museum.  The highlights were the Rosetta Stone and the Balawat Gates.  We clearly missed a torrential downpour and ducked out of the museum and shared a Cornish soft-serve in cup with a flake...I could have bathed in it...divine!  From there, we legged it to Covent Garden where the traditional red telephone boxes had artistic makeovers for charity.  We scarfed a Venezuelan corn crepe stuffed with cheese, beef, avocado sauce and chilis.....so good that everyone had to go back and get their own!  Def's worth eating and thus became dinner.
    Diving into Marks and Spenser's for a quick look around was a must as was blazing into Starbuck's for a necessary pick-me-up!  At 8:00, we began to make our way home.....the long route on a double decker bus "alighting" ourselves at Piccadilly Circus and a short tube ride back to Warwick Ave.  "Alighting" because the automated woman alerting us to the next bus stop insists we alight..... so we bloody alight!
    Time for a cup of tea and one episode of Hustle before saying 'bon nuit'!!
     

Day 1... June 19, 2012


We are currently nestled into oversized, overstuffed, cubicle chairs in the Delta Crown Room at the Minneapolis airport.  Yay for Winston being a Delta Two-plus Million Miler and a Diamond whatever kind of guy!  All those seat hours spent with limited leg room zigzagging across the country pays off eventually.  


I believe we are arriving in London on their first officially sunny day. How exciting!  More after our arrival......