Porto, Portugal

We are jetsetters! Tomorrow, we're taking the train to Bath, to explore there for the day and coming back that evening, next weekend, we move into our new digs, Amsterdam the following weekend, AND we just booked ourselves flights to Porto, Portugal for the following weekend! Whew! I'm tired just thinking about it! My friend Amanda is going to be in Poro that weekend--I knew this before we left, but I guess in all the craziness here, it just slipped my mind! Well, she emailed me yesterday asking if we thought we'd be interested in meeting her there--she even found us flights for 20 Pounds! How could we pass that up!!?!?! We get to see a friendly face from home AND get to visit another country! We're both really excited about Portugal because it wasn't really a country on our radar to visit, and PORTO is the Port Wine making captial of the world--Mike is very excited!

Like I said tomorrow we're hitting up Bath, which is supposed to be like a Jane Austen novel come to life for all you literary gurus. I think 2 of her books were even set there. We were going to stay over, but decided to just come back that night, save the money for another destination where we HAVE to stay.

Sunday is the first day of football! We're going to go to Piccadilly Circus to the "American Sports Bar" to watch. The Giants don't play 'til the night game, so we won't get to see them...as it is, the 1:00 game starts here at 6:00!

Only 1 more week at the Cloisters! The countdown continues! Every night before we go to bed, we say all the things we can't wait for...I can't wait for my pots, pans, and knives--and a normal sized kitchen. Mike can't wait for a human sized couch and a queen sized bed!

An Unnecessary Trek Across the City...

As far as we knew this morning when we woke up, the strike was still on. Mike work his Nike Air Cole Haans to work (he got a blister yesterday) and he was figuring out the best route to take! Sadly when he got to work, having passed no tube stations along the way, he came to find out that the strike had been suspended! He made a 3 mile trek across the city in his dress clothes for nothing! Have you ever walked 3 miles straight in a city? I assure you it isn't pleasant, especially in this city...sweating is not an option. You can be out for a leisurly stroll, and it may be chilly enough for you to need a sweater, but I assure you, walk 1 or 2 blocks and you are drenched! And if you're not drenched I may consider having you sweat glands looked at.

Today and tomorrow Mike is in a training class in Greenwich, which is in the East part of England (blah!) and has to stay overnight. We're not 100% sure of the overnight thing, we think it may have something to do with networking etc. So tonight I'm on my own...the best part, I don't have to cook! It's just me, some mac and cheese, a few tabloids and some reality TV. AND I don't have to share our minute couch!

Labor Unions + Labor Day = Labor Strike!

They don't even celebrate Labor Day here, but yesterday, they might as well have! Last night at 5:00 the tube shut down because the maintenance workers went on strike. Only the Piccadilly and Northern Lines were open...and that's really NOTHING! Mike was able to take the Piccadilly Line home, but this morning when he got to our local station, the weren't taking any incoming passengers, so he had to walk to work. It took him about an hour! I think we mapped it out last night, and it was about 3 miles from here! The other option was to take a bus, but when he got to work, Mike found out that the busses were so crowded that the drivers were just skipping stops! They are saying that they are going to do this 3 days a week until they get their demands met. What demands, you may ask? Well they are apparently doing all of this maintenance to the tubes, and it's supposed to take like 15 years or something to complete. They just want to know that if the company they work for changes hands that their pensions, salaries, and jobs will still be in place. If you ask me that's a load of crap. In the corporate world, how often are companies acquired and people laid off? Needless to say, the whole city is in an uproar over it, so I think I'm just going to sit tight here! I can walk to the Victoria & Albert Museum which is one I haven't visited yet, and I have to do a little food shopping for dinner tonight.

Just a spoonful of sugar...

Helps the medicine go down, medicine go dow-own, medicine go down! Last night we went to see Mary Poppins in the West End which is London's answer to Broadway. I liked it, but Mike wasn't impressed. I think that he's just spoiled though! Honestly, I thought the effects were good! Mary flew in with her umbrella and they really flew kites, and Burt even tap dances on the ceiling! It was certainly worth the 1/2 price tickets. We're hoping to take advantage of that often!

Today I brought Mike to CarGiant. Honestly, I wasn't thrilled about the area it was in, but I wanted to make sure it wasn't my imagination, and sure enough it wasn't. Mike says that the area reminds him of Newark, where it's more than likely you'll get robbed at least once a year. So that put the kabosh on that job. I was supposed to go and have a 2nd interview on Tuesday, but I'm going to call the recruiter and cancel. I guess there's really 2 things about a job that makes it worthwhile...the location and the task. This one, that task was good, but location bad. I'm willing to compromise on both, but not when it comes to safety! It's probably better anyway. We move into our flat in exactly 13 days and I really want to get it set up like home...and being home will help me do that! I'm sure something will come up though!

After that we were supposed to take a walking tour, but alot of the tube lines were closed for maintenance, so we missed the tour, but we went to the Tower of London anyway. There we saw the REAL crown jewels, and the world's largest diamond--well, until they found that one in the Congo this week. Mike was saying that he really wasn't very impressed with the clarity of it, but I suppose when it's 52 carats, it's tough to find NO flaws!

Today we also booked our trip to Amsterdam for my birthday. We're going the week before it as it was a lot cheaper than the week after. We're staying in a hotel right next to Ann Frank's house...I love that! I've decided that my souvenir there will be wooden clogs...not to wear of course, I get blisters from everything--the last thing I need is splinters on top of it! No, I'd like to just put them on a shelf. They also have a really cool Christmas shop there from what I read, so maybe I'll get some unique ornaments. We're excited to get out of the UK for a bit the Euro is doing nearly as poorly as the dollar, so our British pounds will go far!

We're in for the night tonight, just chilling out. Mike actually went to the local store to buy some diet coke and came back with 2 six packs of beer, so I guess SOMEONE is planning on getting a little wasted tonight! Tomorrow we're thinking of trying the walking tour again, but from what we understand there's still going to be working on the tube so maybe we'll try to do one of the local ones.

Touching Service, Terrible Photos

Hi All!

I just returned from my jaunt to St. James' Park to Royal Watch at the Memorial Service for Princess Diana. Mike thinks I'm becoming slightly obsessed, and quite possibly I am, but what else am I supposed to do all day!?!? I first set out this morning to get us some 1/2 price show tickets for tonight. They have a TKTS booth like in Manhattan and I was able to get us Mary Poppins tickets...10th row! From there I walked to the chapel where they were having the service. I was able to get right up front for the action, although, the photos I took don't give you a sense of that proximity. Also, my camera died after only a few shots....so no too much to show.

The last shot is of the Princes, both William and Harry arriving at the chapel. The thing I found most amusing was that while everyone was arriving, (Richard Branson, John Major, Tony Blair, the new PM, and Elton John are also pictured) the crowd was clapping. The Princes arrived and there was a roar of hooting and hollaring, Prince Charles arrives, and silence---one person broke the silence and screamed "Hypocrite!!". Then the queen arrived and more hooting and hollaring. I knew that the public opinion of Charles was poor, but I never would have guessed it was that bad. The best part was the 3 older women standing behind me giving commentary of everyone who walked in. Princess Ann, Duke of Kent, Prince Michael, Duke of Edinburgh.

That's all for now, I have to rest before the show tonight!

Diana--Princess of Wales Memorial/Kensington Palace

These are some pictures I took outside Kensington Palace. You can't take any photos inside, but I hope to describe it as best I can. As I'm sure you are aware, tomorrow marks the 10th anniversary of Diana, Princess of Wales passing. As you walk up to the gates of Kensington Palace (her former residence) there is a air of sadness. Children, not much older than Christopher and Matthew are taping flowers to the gate and leaving colored pictures for the Princess. The television cameras are everywhere and reporters are scouring the crowd for the one great quote that will get their story published.

I walked around to all of the flowers and cards and poems to read what everyone had to say. I think the most priceless one was a cartoon of Charles and Camilla and the bubble from Charles' head said, "Well, Camilla, looks like your about as welcome as Foot and Mouth" or some thing like that. And the person who brought it wrote, if this is what will be the monarchy of England, I'm moving to Iraq! Just as I was finishing reading that cartoon, and laughing to myself, I was asked to be interviewed by CBS news. LOL! I almost crapped my pants! It wouldn't be nearly as cool if it had been the BBC or something, but it was CBS and everyone back home would be able to see it! I sudddenly found myself pissed because I didn't put any make up on this morning...and I even thought about it!

I tried to take the high road and be as diplomatic as possible...after all I do have to live in this country for the next two years. That's all I need are the dear Dutchess of Cornwall's henchmen coming after me!

Here's a summary of what I was asked:

In the interview they asked me if I thought that the service and
memorial were a bit over the top, and I replied that I felt as though
the world wants to remember her for all of the wonderful things she did,
for her worldwide impact, and charitible contributions. That I felt
that the memorial is just a testament to the great woman she was
publicly and privately.

THEN, they asked me what I thought about all of the hullaballoo going
on with the guest list, etc. I took the high road, though I wanted to
say that Camilla was a caniving bitch, I simply said that things like
this have a certain way of working themselves out and that as it
stands now the right people will be there to remember Diana, and the
wrong ones will simply be left out.

The entire memorial in the palace was absolutely breathtaking. You went from room to room watching footage of the Princess from the time she and Charles were just dating to her final days. There was a large focus on her dedication to her children and charitable works. The had interviews with her dressmakers, friends, Royal servants, etc. I was literally in there for about 2 hours, until I walked away from that and into the palace tour. I took the tour and went back for another look at the memorials! They had her most famous dresses that she wore on display, one's that I can remember seeing her wear in pictures (probably my mom's tabloids). They also had a room where you could write a little note about Diana in a book. So I did! The memorial was very tasteful and classic. Very much like Diana.

The rest of the palace was interesting as well. I really enjoyed this tour, I think the most of any of the one's I've been on lately. They gave you an audio guide, so you actually could appreciate what you were looking at. As it seems, I got to see the room where Queen Victoria was baptised, her bedroom, completely restored, and the king and queen's galleries where they went and took walks when the weather wasn't up to par.

I have to say I was a bit disappointed in the shop. Like every tour, it ends up in a shop, and I was hoping to get some Diana memorial souvenir or something, but the only thing they really had were notecards with her photographs on the front, and I really don't picture myself sending those out!

Tomorrow, I decided that I am going to go to the Memorial Service at a chapel near Buckingham Palace. It's "invite only" but I'm a sucker for Princes and Dukes and the lot (I think I get that from my mother!) so I will set up came on the sidewalk, hopefully close enough to get a glimpse of my Prince William. Hello! magazine says that his girlfriend Kate Middleton won't be there tomorrow. I think I WILL wear make-up tomorrow--you never know!---Just Kidding Mike!

Notting Hill Carnival

Hi All,

Sorry I haven't blogged in a couple of days!

In my last blog, I mentioned that we were heading out to the Notting Hill Carnival. Stupid me, I pictured Tilt-A-Whirl, Cotton Candy, and maybe even a zeppole. This was more like CARNIVALE that they have in Brazil, etc. Here's the story behind it. I guess in the 60s a lot of the people who lived in Notting Hill were of Carribean descent, so they wanted to celebrate their heritage with a parade and festival. Today, it's turned into this huge thing where over 3 million people travel in to be a part of it. Sounds right up my alley, right? WRONG. It started off with us not being able to get off at the Notting Hill Gate Underground Station. The red flags should have gone off then! So we got off that the next station and walked to where we thought the carnival was (truthfully, we just followed the crowd). We followed the crowd into this crazy mob scene of people who were all drinking in the street to the point of oblivion (I guess we wouldn't have minded that if we were too), and dancing to rap music, and eating jerk chicken. Quickly, I started to get a case of claustrophobia, and we decided that we needed to get out of there. As we were trying to get back the way we came, we realized we couldn't but had to snake around Notting Hill to get out. So, there were no scrambler, no caramel apples, no carnival games to win Homer Simpson stuffed animals. Just drunk people on the street, people trying to sell you weed, and jerk chicken.

When we finally go out of there, and to a tube station, we found that it was only letting people off, and you couldn't get ON the tube there, so we had to continue walking to one that would let us on. We were probably at the carnival for about 45 minutes to an hour, and most of that time was spent just trying to get the hell out of there!

The news on Tuesday showed that a teenager got shot while at the carnival! I knew that place was bad news! Shootings here are VERY few and far between because they have ridiculously strict gun laws. Even the cops or "bobbies" don't carry guns! So you can imagine the uproar this had!

Today I am going to Kensington Palace. This is where Princess Di used to live when she was in London. I think they are having a memorial service both today and tomorrow. Apparently, they have all kinds of exhibits there with her dresses, etc. It's a pretty big deal here--10th Anniversary of her death. The big scandal was that Camilla was going to attend the private service that the Prince's arranged, but I suppose her PR people thought better of it, and she is no longer attending. How tacky to even think of going! You only ruined the poor girl's marriage--and she outwardly spoke about how she didn't like you! Jeez Camilla!