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!

Suckyhall Street, Sucky All-Glasgow

Okay, the street is realy spelled Sauchiehall or something like that, but it pretty much summed up the whole city of Glasgow. There really wasn't anything to see there at all. We left the Cloisters at 4:30 Saturday morning and arrived in Glasgow around 8:00AM. When checking into the Hilton, we were given the keys to a room that was already occupied. (Strike 1)--On a bright note, the Sean McDonald look-alike we woke up, didn't want to punch Mike in the face, or at least we didn't stick around long-enough to find out! We finally got our room (ironically right next to the one we just tried) and took showers to freshen up. As we walked to the city center I could tell I wasn't really going to like it there, I even told Mike, but he told me to give it a chance. I have very good instincts about people and places, I either like them right off, or don't...and I'm barely ever wrong! I was certainly right about Glasgow. We took a Circle City Tour on a double-decker bus. Though it was raining, Mike insisted we sit outside...I only had a hooded sweatshirth with me, Mike had his windbreaker, so a little rain didn't bother him much!---I really need to teach him to be at least a LITTLE chivilrous. After our 1 hour 15 minute tour, we decided that there really wasn't a whole lot we'd want to see further, so we went to lunch I had 4 cups of hot tea because I was drenched and freezing cold. Then we felt bad that there wasn't anything to see, so we went to the Cathedral and to St. Mungo's Religious Museum. St. Mungo is the patron saint of Glasgow, and his crypt is in the cathedral---we couldn't find it---You'd think something like that would be marked. That night we decided to take the train to Edinburgh for Sunday as we weren't sure what there was going to be for us to do in Glasgow for another day.

Edinburgh was a great decision! It was really what I thought Scotland would be like. We started this day also doing the Double-Decker Tour Bus, and we saw lots of things we wanted to go back to, most notably Edinburgh Castle. After the tour, we trekked up to the castle, and had to wait in an hour long que, but it was worth it. The castle is situated on top of the city, so the the views from the top were breathtaking. The castle also housing the crown jewels of Scotland...not much to speak of, really just a sceptor and a crown, but crown jewels nonetheless. I have to say, I've seen more impressive jewels in the window at Tiffany's though.

Other than that, the castle was kind of transformed into various museums which was a little disappointing. For instance, they have the Scottish Military Museum, which holds pretty modern exhibits of the Scots in the Royal Army, etc. I was hoping to get a little more history of the castle and maybe some more swords and suits of armor. Nonetheless, it was really impressive architecturally.

On the Royal Mile in Edinburgh, which is the area from Edinburgh Castle to the Queens Residence whilst in Scotland (the name is escaping me), there were lots of shops with wonderful Scottish goods. I bought myself a kilt and some Christmas presents for the folks back home. Though I tried to get Mike to buy one too, we was having none of it! HaHa! It's funny--In Scotland, Edinburgh especially, men just randomly walk around in kilts--as if they were wearing normal trousers--on top they would have anything from a sports jacket w/ dress shirt to a football jersey...weird!

There was also a festival going on "The Fringe" there were tons of street performers and musicians, and my thrist for bagpipe music was certainly quenched! Mike had to pull me away from a group of 3 little boys playing pipes and drums! We did another loop on the tour bus to take some more pictures, and then we were back on the train to Glasgow.

Today we are just back in the Cloisters for a quick shower and then we're going to the Notting Hill Carnival which is supposed to attract 3million visitors every year. We've heard it's a bit cheesy, but they say it's something you've got to go to, just to say you went.

We're going to post some pictures as soon as we get them uploaded!

Car Giant

Today I had an interview at Car Giant which just surpassed Longo Toyota as the World's Largest Car Dealership as per the Guinness Book of World Records. The position was for a Marketing Analyst and pretty much mirrored what I did at Toyota. I defintely nailed the interview and already have a 2nd interview scheduled for not next week, but the following. It would be a 20% increase in pay from what I was earning in the states, but here, it's necessary b/c everything is so expensive! The area that it was in was a bit "dodgy" as they say here, but in speaking with the girls there, they said I could get the bus from Notting Hill which takes you right to the door there. So it wouldn't be too bad, but definitely something to consider. They are going to be going through a Brand initiative which I would lead, so that it right up my alley. I never thought I would work at a dealership, in a retail environment, but it's very different here. They have all kinds of law regarding what you can advertise, etc. There's no negotiating on vehicles here. The price is the price and the rate is the rate. Although the rates rarely matter b/c it's really hard to get credit here. I felt really good about the interview, so Rajiv....they might be calling you! I really got along with the Marketing Manager, although I think the HR lady was a little frustrated b/c she couldn't converse like with us about cars and financing etc.

Tomorrow we're headed to Glasgow. We have to leave the Cloisters here at around 5:00AM...we're taking the Hogwarts,(I mean Gatwich) Express from Victoria, and then flying out of Gatwick. It's only an hour and ten minute flight, so we'll be there pretty early in the morning! I think we'll be back early enough on Monday to head to the Notting Hill Carnival, which is supposed to be the biggest carnival in Europe. We're also looking into destinations for my birthday already...looks like Spain is the front runner, with Madrid being the leading city.

You won't get a post from me until Monday...so don't get nervous! We're packing light and won't be bringing our computer with us! Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

Not Only am I a Domestic Diva...

But add Poker Princess to that list too! Okay, other than the 2 times I didn't raise as much as I was supposed to I did really well. SO WELL, in fact that I got a better ranking than Mike! He came in around 23rd or 21st place, and I was around 17th! That's right! Top 20! I guess all of those lazy Sundays watching Texas Hold 'Em on ESPN really paid off! Luckily, I wasn't the only girl at the tournament AND we met some very nice people. 1 guy from Seattle, 3 Canadians, and a guy from Portugal were at our 1st table. I think Mike thought I was going to do something embarressing, so he kept whispering things in my ear that I was supposed to do...Little did he know, I had it under control. LOL! The burgers were good, but we didn't stay for the 2nd round of poker, maybe when we live there, but it wasn't going to start until around 9:30, and then by the time we'd get home it would just be too late.

Today my mission is to look at gyms. We get some discounts with Mike's company, so I'm going to see the one that's best. There's one right in the Fulham Broadway Tube Station that looks good, and convenient! I think they even have a pool and tennis courts. I'm also on the hunt for a duffle bag for our trip to Scotland. We only have our HUGE suitcases here with us, and we certainly don't want to lug those all over the place! We also don't want to spend a fortune on a stupid bag that we only need b/c we don't have our stuff yet!

American Women's Club

I did some research online regarding Ex-Pat clubs. I came across this one called "The American Women's Club". The website said that they have happy hours and day trips and meetings and lots of other things. I thought it might be something I could get involved with since I do like to join things and be a part of groups. I emailed them last night for some more information on it. Well today I got my information...Information that tells me this club isn't for me---There's a "strict no denim policy". No denim? These women clearly have been out of the states too long. Picture it...women in their suits and hats with their white gloves sipping tea and eating scones. So I think I'm going to pass on the American Women's Club.

In other news, we've booked our destination for the Bank Holiday. We're headed to Glasgow, Scotland for a few days. We were able to use hotel points (though those aren't going to last for long) and get a flight that was cheaper than taking the train. What's a bit frustrating here is that the actual flight cost only about 30 GBP each, but the tax the hell out of you here, and they wound up being like 130ish GBP...no wonder we couldn't deal with them 200 years ago! Taxation Without Representation!! Apparently Glasgow is the 2nd largest city in the UK, next to London, but it's steeped in history---I'm not sure what history yet, but I'm sure after our trip I'll have a full report!

Tonight we're playing poker at The Morrison, our local pub in Fulham. It's 5 GBP each to play and we get a burger and fries with that! Normally I wouldn't play poker, but they say the welcome beginners, and I'm always up for meeting new friends. I just hope I'm not the only girl! I'll let you know if we win big!