Coming home

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

We did a little backing and forthing on this trip. At the moment we’re back at JFK waiting for our delayed red-eye to Heathrow. Previously we were in Manhattan after being back in New Jersey (Franklin Lakes and Fort Lee), and Manhattan again before that, and New Jersey (Fair Haven and Fort Lee) before that! I think. More or less. Pretty much. Maybe.
Anyhow, this picture was taken at the new New Museum cafe. It’s a great building (loaded with venustas) and an interesting institution - glad we went. We also checked out the recent Renzo Piano-designed renovation/addition to the Morgan Library - another worthy trip.
Our flight should be boarding soon, hopefully, so we’ll be back in London in a few hours!

London fog

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

After lunch with Suzette & Jeff at Le Cafe Anglais (do believe the hype) we walked down Queensway searching for sage (to no avail). Then we crossed Hyde Park and had a look at the Serpentine Gallery’s current misty exhibit by Anthony McCall. The park was stunningly beautiful. Despite London’s foggy reputation, we haven’t experienced anything like this in our three years here...

Wow!

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Makes you want to get on a train... just to go... anyplace!
This was my first visit to the newly refurbished (and re-christened) St. Pancras International station, which has replaced Waterloo International as London’s Eurostar terminus. I must say it’s very impressive. See? The Brits really are good at stuff! I had to resist strong urges to buy a ticket and board the next train.
I was, however, disappointed that there isn’t any kind of Eurostar memorabilia (“tat” in local parlance) available for purchase. The platform-level WH Smith had one post card with a picture of a speeding train on it. But sans context, it looks like any not-so-old train. You’d want a picture of it pulling into this magnificent Victorian shed, whizzing past a country village church steeple, or passing something Parisian... I thought it a bit odd that they sell models and plush toys of BA & Virgin Atlantic planes, but nothing Eurostar-themed. Seems like they’re missing a major merchandising opportunity — kinda surprising in this day and age, don’t you think? Hello! Gimme an embroidered patch, a keychain or a fridge magnet at the very least! Is that too much to ask?

TreeQuest ‘07

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

Any of you (Maggie, Suzette, Lauren?) who’ve experienced the joys of prior TreeQuests will appreciate what a special experience the first reconnaissance outing in a foreign country must have been... I won’t go into too much detail here...
Suffice to say that this picture is false advertising. Sure, it’s charming as heck, but this was just the first stop, and, well, let’s just say that the gloom and cold rain matched the mood of certain members of our party (ok, member). Chris, our driver, had mistakenly passed the closer place (the one that didn’t pre-net their trees) - but we tried to put on a good face and say we really wanted to see the reindeer, the bull, the pigs, the chickens, the medieval abbey ruin, the pretty Gothic farm buildings, and stuff.
Since we had already traveled so far, we decided that instead of dropping Steven at the Farnham train station (at his request, don’t ask), we would proceed to Alice Holt Woodland Park (under darkening skies). WHEW! Thank goodness! Supposedly it’s a very pleasant park with scenic walks and things, but most importantly, we found ourselves deciding between three equally lovely specimens, any of which would have made the perfect Christmas tree.
Note to expats: bring your own rope or bungee cord - they don’t help you here.
Or get your friend to borrow the scuba school Jeep (another disaster narrowly averted - thanks again, Chris!).
After that it was pretty much smooth sailing. We stopped for a lovely cuppa with Jane, David and Charlie. Much to David’s chagrin, Chris mesmerized Charlie by getting 99 points playing Bopit (Chris also happens to know that Bopit only counts up to 250).
The tree is now up and mostly trimmed. Stay tuned for pics.

Oh my!

Originally uploaded by sf2london.

We just got back from a hyper-extended weekend in Gran Canaria. Even though we planned the trip WAY before our CP (that’s Civil Partnership), it wound up serving as a honeymoon of sorts - just a coincidence, I guess. Miraculously, Steven relaxed almost instantly and only talked about work for 2 or 3 minutes on our last day. As Neil - one of our hosts - commented: it’s the kind of destination where “you can leave your brain at home.” I’d actually say best to leave the brain at home, because you wouldn’t want it to get dirty or for anything bad to happen to it...
Why did we go to a trashy place with zero culture and bad food? SUN. Yup, when you’ve got about 7 or 8 hours of daylight and the sky is relentlessly gray, a four hour flight that lands on a warm sunny island in the same time zone becomes rather appealing!