So That Happened

Travelogue Addendum, Part Two

Things I Forgot To Write About Before Nor Do I Have Pictures Of But Are Still Worthy Of A Mention Here Because They Are Awesome

1. The broken thermostat in our room that we didn't notice was broken until it was 35 degrees Celsius.  What, the flashing red light didn't give it away? 
2. The Lil'est Gypsy Girl Ever on the subway in Rome, complete with KEYTAR.  She had a MINI-KEYTAR, people!  Really.  I would have taken a picture of her but I'm sure her partner in crime (the second-Lil'est Gypsy Girl Ever) would have totally swiped my wallet or something when I wasn't looking.
3. The gypsy woman who was physically blocked from talking to us or the other diners at our restaurant in Rome by our waiter.  He, well, what would be the term to use here?  Not "cockblocked," I know.  Hmm.  Must think about this.
4. The Costco membership card belonging to Lauren's friend, Lloyd.  Who knew that England had Costcos?  I didn't.  Upon further research, I learned that there are 15 locations in the UK alone!  Being that I love Costco almost as much as I love England, clearly this means that I need to go back just to revel in the overseas warehouse magic.  Imagine all the Cadburys and McVitie's Digestives I could buy!  Hee.  I wonder if they'll take my card. 

Travelogue Addendum

I forgot to add a few pictures to my various posts as well as list our British TV shows of interest, so here they are for your consumption.  Enjoy!

=====

Date: Tuesday (11/7)
Location: Mary Quant, Knightsbridge
Why: I happened upon the Mary Quant store after our lunch at the Tea Clipper.  We had just seen the fashion exhibits at the V&A and I had clothes on the brain.

Date: Thursday (11/9)
Location: Tudini Ristorante, Rome
Why: Woodcocks = comedy gold, GOLD!  By the way, woodcocks are meat.  Keep it clean, kids.

Date: Friday (11/10)
Location: Somewhere near our hotel
Why: The depiction of Death seeking, missing, seeking again, and ultimately finding Genderless Figure and killing it?  HILARIOUS.

Date: Friday (11/10)
Location: A street in Chelsea
Why: I love mailboxes, and the Royal Mail ones are so very pretty.

=====

Good Things We Saw On British TV

1. Have I Got News For You on BBC: It was like a hybrid of The Daily Show and Whose Line Is It Anyway?  The best part of the whole thing?  Guest host Damian Lewis!  Sigh, swoon, drool.  The TV listing in the paper described the dreamy Lewis as "hot ginger actor."  Hee. 
2. The Bill on ITV: It was a crime procedural in the Law & Order vein, but with detectives not nearly as grizzled and tough-as-nails as Lennie Briscoe.  There wasn't enough door-slamming or chair-shoving, nor were there enough interrogation scenes in which the detective gets up in the suspect's face and barks, "TELL ME WHO IS IN CHARGE!!!"  The most notable missing element?  The dramatic music! 
3. Loads of Australian soaps. 
4. The Race on Sky One: Dude.  This show pits celebrities against each other in a race (ha) to see who is the best race car driver!  Three of the contestants are Gary Numan, AC/DC's Brian Johnson, AND Melissa Joan Hart!  How can we not watch?
5. Some sitcom in which an American actress whom we did not recognize has a co-starring role.  Alas, I can't remember the name of the show, either. 
6. And last but certainly not least, a news tease in which the presenter (the British term for news anchor) led with Britney's divorce and followed up with the latest on Al-Qaeda.  Glad to know they have their priorities straight.  Awesome.

Our Last Day In London. Pout.

Hello! Welcome to the final installment of my travelogue!  Today's post covers our last day in London, Sunday (11/12). 

=====

After a week of a lot of sightseeing, food, drinks, and even more walking, it was time to go home.  Aw.  Sniff.  There was a lot of creative packing of suitcases and general rushing about.  Having already hemorrhaged an obscene amount of money on our last cab ride, we wisely took the Tube to Heathrow in the morning.  Getting to our local Tube stop was comical, at least for me, because I was a slow-ass walker with my two bags and I had to keep catching up with the girls.  Sigh.

So, Chelsea, Tube stop, Heathrow, all in less than an hour.  It was SO nice to be able to take public transportation to the airport.  It is close to impossible to do so in Los Angeles without it taking an additional hour or two, which is why any trips to or from LAX involve cabs, leaving your car in long-term parking, or asking friends very nicely to drop you off or pick you up with the promise of food or alcohol or chocolate (or all of the above) as an incentive. 

Flying out of Heathrow was an experience.  Having heard how tight security had become following the tightening of the regulations in August, we anticipated a madhouse.  After we checked in our luggage and got into the One Big Long Line for security screening, we learned that we were allowed only one carry-on bag, and Jen had to do some serious shuffling of items, which was no fun.  Curiously, one of the stores next to the One Big Long Line sold only bags and suitcases, which, really?

I watched as personnel had not just one but two wheelchair-bound people STAND UP and WALK THROUGH the metal detector.  It took them some time (both were elderly) but they managed to do so with assistance, and I wondered, what if a person in a wheelchair could not stand up at all?  I mean, they were in a wheelchair for a reason, right?  What would personnel do then?  Hmm.

After going through the One Big Long Line it was time for us to check out the Duty-Free goods and see where else we could spend our currency.  I bought Walkers shortbread, a London photo frame, a 500-piece jigsaw puzzle of the Tube map (I love puzzles), and an oversized postcard of an English breakfast. 

(I would be remiss if I didn't mention at least once how incredibly tired we were of carrying around our large messenger bags.  Not a single day went by without one of us cursing the searing pain in our shoulders.  It was a relief to know that we were in the home stretch and soon would not have to carry our big bags anymore.  It has been over a week and my shoulders are still tense!  Sigh.)

Finally, after a lot of hurrying up and waiting and eating some panini that were quite fantastic, we  boarded the plane.  I love traveling and seeing different places, and i especially love London, but it was really nice to go home.

Mr. Bear eagerly anticipated sleeping in his own bed, but for now the seat pocket would do.

Mr. Bear made sure he was up to snuff on Air New Zealand's safety instructions.  He always likes to be prepared; he was a Cub Scout, you know.  RIm shot!

Here he is again, enjoying the view.

Dinner: chicken tikka with basmati rice.  Unexpected for an airline meal, no?  This was one of the best in-flight meals I have ever had.  I just found out that Air New Zealand asked L.A. chef Govind Armstrong to consult on its menus, which was one hell of a good call, because the meals I had were great.  Two forks up!

Mr. Bear loves himself some trashy British tabs.   Oh, that Jordan.

SOMEONE watched Garfield: A Tale of Two Kitties on the plane and within five minutes promptly hated herself for doing so.   I myself watched Wordplay and The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring, which put me in the mood to watch the other two LotR movies again. 

Jen and I finished our respective hats on the return flight.  My red beanie turned out so cute and just long enough to cover my ears, which was what I wanted.  I meant to finish it on the way to London so that I could wear it there, but that was not the case.

ANZ's last offering: vegetable quiche and a scone.  Yum.

After eleven hours of flying and a few spells of turbulence which were not exactly fun (it's never good when the pilot asks the in-flight crew to go to their seats and buckle up), we and our luggage made it home safe and sound.  Huzzah!

=====

I am back in the daily grind, but I still have traces of post-vacation joy.  I have gotten back in the habit of having Earl Grey tea each morning, and have already finished one pack of McVitie's Digestives (don't judge).  I love London so very much.  I feel very much at ease there, and would even go so far as to say that I wouldn't mind living there, but for now I shall think of how and when I can come back to visit.  This isn't the last you've seen of me, London!

Thanks to everyone for reading my travelogue.  I am so glad you enjoyed my posts and photographs, and have appreciated every comment and e-mail sent my way.  I hope to go somewhere again very soon just so I can write more of these posts - it was fun!  Besides, Mr. Bear is already pestering me about our next trip.  He really has the travel bug now.

=====

This travelogue is dedicated to Jen's blow dryer, which shorted out, started smoking, and promptly died the first time she tried to use it in London - RIP.

Chelsea! Chelsea! Chelsea!

Today's post is about our penultimate day in London, Saturday (11/11).  I started this travelogue a little out of order, so you can find my post on Friday's doings here.

=====

As much fun as we were having in London, we were really looking forward to Saturday.  Why?  We were going to the Chelsea/Watford match!  Lauren and I have become Chelsea fans over the past year (Jen, ever the contrarian, is a Liverpool supporter), so we were most excited about going to a match at Stamford Bridge.  Not only did we have that to look forward to, but later that night we were celebrating Lauren's birthday in advance - yay!  Such fun!  And so much less walking!  Double yay!

Today was much more leisurely.  We did not have to be anywhere until the match at 3 p.m., so in the morning Lauren and I went on the hunt for some food near our hotel.  Sadly, we didn't find anything, so we headed back to our home sweet home for the week (above) to see what they had.

My brunch: spicy potato wedges with barbecue sauce and sour cream, plus tea, because tea goes really well with such a dish.  The wedges were really good and quite filling, I must say.  I read the sports section and learned of Freddy Adu's upcoming two-week trial with Manchester United. 

Back in our hotel room, we entertained ourselves by watching live TV coverage of the Lord Mayor's Show.  To the untrained eye it looked very much like a parade in that there were marching bands and floats sponsored by such marvelously named organizations as The Worshipfull Company of Gardeners of London (whose members, we found out from the reporter, dressed up as gnomes one year, much to Lauren's delight), but the Lord Mayor's Show is kind of like an inauguration.  The Lord Mayor Elect travels in a horse-drawn carriage from the City to Westminster, where he pledges his oath of loyalty to the Sovereign.  Man, if Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa knew about this ceremony, he'd be really, really jealous.

We eventually left the hotel and walked to Stamford Bridge.  It was so nice to be where we needed to be in less than 15 minutes!  Talk about convenient!  We didn't have to take the Tube or anything - Stamford Bridge, we learned, was less than 100 yards from our Tube station.  Awesome.  I took this picture while en route.

One thing that caught our eye was the significant lack of tailgating, or tailgating as we know it.  If they don't drive, then where do they barbecue and drink beer?  That's one of the best parts of going to a game!  We then came across a pub running two large grills outside with plenty of folks hoisting pints, and we took that as being the British version of tailgating. 

Welcome to Stamford Bridge!

Mr. Bear did not want to be left out of the fun.  I personally think he just wanted to get into a row, but his conscience won out over his inner hooligan.  When I took this picture, a man walking by chuckled.  Aw.

Lauren and I in our Chelsea gear.  We are wearing our prized Terry kits, but unfortunately you can't see them because it was quite chilly and we stayed bundled up in our coats.  At least you can see our scarves, which we purchased at Harrods.  Please to admire our handknit hats, won't you?  I'm in the Hello Kitty hat (of course), and Lauren is wearing a super cute hat made by Jen.

Mr. Bear wore the Chelsea blue with pride.

We love the tall and strapping Chelsea captain, John Terry.

Mr. Bear watched the match intensely and was not at all distracted by the numerous chants and songs led by the Chelsea fans.  So much audience participation!  My personal favorite chant was this little ditty, sung by the crowd when Joe Cole took the field: "HE'S IN!  HE'S IN!  HE'S REALLY F**KING IN!  JOE COOOOOLE!  JOE COOOOLE!"  Ahahaha.

Final score: Chelsea beat Watford 4-0!  Hooray!

After the game we went to the local Sainsburys to pick up our British chocolate stash.  If you have not tried British chocolates, you are missing out, because they are SOOO good.  I am a big ol' crack whore for Bounty bars (like Mounds, only better) and McVitie's Digestives, so named because its original recipe called for a large amount of baking soda, which aided digestion.  They are just plain cookies with milk or dark chocolate topping, but they are delicious.  Yes, I could get these chocolates at various British shops in L.A., but it was cheaper to buy them in London. 

We had some time to kill before going out that night, so we watched more TV.  You can only imagine how excited we were when we discovered while watching BBC's Strictly Come Dancing that one of the celebrity contestants was none other than Emma Bunton, aka Baby Spice!  I KNOW!  We also came to the conclusion that Louisa Lytton was Britain's Lindsay Lohan, and that she was a horrible dancer.  Just awful.

But enough about chocolates and TV - it was time to celebrate Lauren's birthday!  In advance!  In London!  After a comical time spent crossing paths, we finally found each other and ended up at the West Cornwall Pasty Company again, where, sadly, we could not get pasties as the restaurant was closed, but where we could get drinks.

Lauren with her boys, Mike (on her right) and Lloyd.

The girls: Mike's girlfriend Mel, Lauren, me, and Jen.

Lloyd recoils as Lauren totally checks out the singer's package.

Lloyd, me, and Mike's brother, Dave.  I'm wearing my Tempting sweater - hooray for handknits being worn in two countries!

Forget about us and our pints of Guinness - this photo is all about Lloyd creeping in from behind.  HA.

I love how the people in the mural look like they're part of our group.

=====

So that was Saturday.  Tune in tomorrow for the final post (sniff) of my London travelogue.  Just thinking about writing it makes me sad. 

Roman HoliDay

First things first: I am SO glad that we were in Rome last week and not, say, this week what with all the Tom Cruise/Katie Holmes wedding nonsense.  I can't imagine what it is like there now.  Ugh.

Today's post covers our one day outside of London: we went to Rome last Thursday (11/9)!  And can I tell you how weird it is to talk about being in London and Rome just last week?  So weird.

My first trip to Rome was in 1997.  One of my goals at that time was to see the Trevi Fountain; I had my three coins to throw in and everything.  Anyway, when I finally got to the fountain, I learned - much to my great dismay - that it was the ONE DAY OF THE YEAR it was drained for cleaning.  The ONE.  I KNOW.  I was so crushed.  That was the Charlie Browniest moment of my life, y'all. 

I was looking forward to going to Rome this time, and not just for the food and sights: come hell or high water, I was going to see the Trevi Fountain as it was meant to be seen!

Ahem.  Onto Rome!

Our day in Rome began in London at 2:45 a.m., which is when we woke up.  This horribly blurry photo is of our cab's meter upon leaving our hotel at 3:30 a.m.  We had to hire a cab to drive us from Chelsea to Stansted Airport because we had a very early flight and the Stansted Express (which would have saved us a ton of money) did not run during the middle of the night.  DAMN. 

All I can say is that this was the Most Expensive Cab Ride EVER.  Want to know how much? 

After an hour of driving, we ended up paying 153 Pounds Sterling (tip included). 

One. Hundred. And. Fifty-Three. Pounds. 

That, my friends, is equivalent to $300 dollars.

I think I'm going to frame the receipt.

To quote my very astute co-worker, Ryanair is like Southwest, only not as nice.  The airline has its safety instructions printed on the back of the headrest in front of you, which gave us something to read.  We would have read the mythical Ryanair in-flight magazine the pilot talked about over the PA system, but we didn't see anything resembling printed materials anywhere.

"In case of fire, all colorblind men wearing Dutch clogs should try in vain to follow the red arrows leading to the exits."

"In the event of an emergency landing, all women dressed as Little Orphan Annie should exit the plane via the nearest inflatable ramp with their arms in the 'No Sex For You' position, and then run away from the wreckage before it explodes."

"In case your seatmate uses his X-ray vision to set fire to something outside the plane, BE ALARMED.  And know that once you see him do that, you cannot escape, because he has already soldered the exit doors shut."

Insert artsy photo of British currency here.

Buon giorno, Italia!  We arrived at Ciampino Airport and took a shuttle that dropped us off at Termini, Rome's main train station. 

Mr. Bear came out of hibernation to join us on our day trip. 

I love Earth Wind & Fire!  I'm so jealous that the Italians will be dancing in Novembre.

One of the huge train schedule boards in Termini: no TV monitors to read, just this large display with its individual slots that flipped and changed into letters or numbers at a very impressive speed.  You could even hear the flippity-flip (and I'm sure that's the correct technical term) of the slots as the locations and times changed during the day.  I'm probably the only person who would think this, but just hearing the board at work with its constant flippity-flipping was extremely satisfying.  In a world full of high-tech electronic isolation, the sound was something intangible yet real.  It was as if the board was alive, and I loved it.  I could watch it all day.

I am sure hundreds of people pass by this board every day and do not think twice about it.  However, and at the risk of sounding extremely geeky (if I don't already), it means a lot to me.  I can close my eyes now and hear that sound again, and I smile.  Oh, to have that sound on my iPod! 

Listen up, Termini.  You've been nicely renovated since I've seen you last, but you didn't update those display boards, and for that, I thank you.  Don't go changin'.

Moving on...

Motorcycles in Rome.  Sadly, I didn't see any Vespas lined up just so.

This group of Young Hot Priests distracted me so much I couldn't focus clearly.

Mr. Bear in front of the Colosseum.

Mr. Bear with the Arch of Constantine.

Mr. Bear at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier.

So, Trevi Fountain, WE MEET AGAIN.  And you have water this time!  The huge crowd around the fountain, however, was not fun to deal with.  There were so many people!  It was also getting warm, which made the experience less pleasurable.

Of course Mr. Bear had to have his own picture in front of the Trevi.

Up the road apiece from the Trevi Fountain is Il Gelato di San Crispino, which is considered the home of the best gelato in all of Italy.  I tried two flavors: the Vanilla Bourbon and Hazelnut.  DELICIOUS. 

Vatican City.  I kind of love the God light in this picture.

Mr. Bear sought an audience with the Pope, but that was not to be.

The Da Vinci Postal Code: Years ago, I learned that people come from all over Rome and, nay, the world in order to send mail through the Vatican City post office.  I think I heard about it on a 60 Minutes report.  Anyway, Romans sent their mail through this particular location because it was the fastest of all the post offices in Italy at processing its mail, plus having the Vatican City postmark was like having a "blessing" on your correspondence, which I could see as an added bonus.  With that knowledge we were on a quest to find the Vatican City post office.

Which we didn't.

After looking around the city proper, we asked one of the local guards about this elusive post office I had heard so much about, and he told us that it became so swamped with all of the non-papal letters and postcards and bills and packages that it stopped processing public mail altogether, and that now it only handles mail from within Vatican City itself.  FINE.  Yet another Italian dream crushed before my eyes.

The photo above is of a regular, non-papal Italian post office.  It is located just outside Vatican City, so I like to think that while you don't get the Vatican City postmark, you're at least sending from a post office nearby, so that has to mean good vibes for your letters, right?  Notice the device for wheelchairs in front: that was the one place in Rome where I had seen such a thing.

The girls went inside to send off postcards, and I stayed ouside to take pictures.

Italians have such vivid mailboxes, don't they?  I'm all about the brick-red mailbox being that that is my favorite color.  It looks like lipstick! 

Mr. Bear makes friends with some Italian dogs in front of the post office.

By evening we were pretty tired of walking, so we decided to get dinner.  We found Tudini on Via Cavour just two or so blocks from Termini, and it fit the bill perfectly. 

How good does my pizza look? It was a thin crust pizza with the freshest mozzarella cheese I have ever had (there was a pool of milk on my plate from the cheese) and the most flavorful tomatoes.  I don't even like raw tomatoes, but these were so fresh and bright that I could have eaten them like candy. 

Mr. Bear was overwhelmed by the Chocolate Mousse.

Our day in Rome turned into night, and we left the city for Ciampino Airport in order to catch our late-night flight back to London.  We watched as a very suspicious man leave one bag kind of far away from himself as he checked in before us, and we totally thought that he was carrying some explosive device and were ready to turn him in if he didn't pick up his one bag.  Sure enough, he did, but that didn't quell our suspicions.

After what felt like an eternity (okay, so it was a few hours, but we were exhausted and everything felt like it took longer), we were finally able to board the plane.  (Dear Ryanair: Please do not have your employees stand around and debate having passengers board the plane when they are standing RIGHT THERE.  Thanks.)  We made it back to Stansted just before midnight and were hoping to get through Passport Control quickly so as to make the last Stansted Express train back to London at 12:15 a.m. 

Upon questioning, the Passport Control person asked me to show not just my U.S. passport but also proof of my return trip back to the states.  Mind you, the Stansted flight had NOTHING to do with my flight back home, but she asked to see something indicating that I was indeed going to the U.S.  Fortunately for me I had an itinerary to show her, but what if I didn't?  What would have happened to me?  I do not like thinking about the reasons why she asked for that.  Bothersome, this was.  Very. 

We made it to the train with minutes to spare - phew! - and arrived at the Liverpool Street Tube station at 1 a.m.  The station was closed.  In fact, the entire Tube was shut down by then (I thought it ran continuously - my bad), so we had to take a bus back to Chelsea.  By now we were walking zombies, we were so tired.

However, I wasn't so tired that I couldn't take pictures.

This photo was taken at 1:30 a.m. from the N11 bus.  It ranks very high on my all-time favorite pictures list.

We made it back to our hotel by 2:45.  Yes, we had been up and about for 24 WHOLE HOURS.  Unbelievable!  I don't know if I could pull a stunt like that again.

In a nutshell, underneath all the unlovely parts (of which there were many), Rome is a lovely place.  However, the negatives outweighed the positives this time.  Yes, we had good food and we saw (most of the) amazing sights, but it was more crowded and dirtier and smellier than I had remembered it being.  Next time I go to Italy (and there will be a next time), I don't think I'll do Rome again.  I will go to Tuscany or the Amalfi coast.  Mmm, Portofino!  Definitely.

Oh, wait.  I would go back to Rome just for the Termini display boards.  That I would do.  :)

=====

My goodness, this post is long!  See what happens when you have no plans on a Friday night?  If you've gotten this far, thanks for reading the whole thing.  I hope you liked it. 

Come back tomorrow for more Chelsea fun!

This Post Will Bring The Most Inappropriate Google Searches Upon Me, I Just Know It

Okay!

Today's post is all about last Wednesday (11/8).

I Went to Marks & Spencer and All I Got Was This Sandwich: We stopped for food before beginning our day of sightseeing at M&S.  I was ravenous and had tea and some grilled cheese and mushroom goodness.  Tasty!  There was a little girl with great curly brown hair sitting with her mom not too far from us and she was eating chocolate, or at least attempting to eat chocolate, because she had most of it smeared all over her face.  It was really cute.  (Aside: Big ups to M&S for using Twiggy as a spokesmodel.  Awesome!)

The map of Kensington Gardens.

My favorite part of the map of Kensington Gardens.  Hee.

Cherubic British children all bundled up and at play.  Aw.  Not shown: their Filipina nannies just to my right.

Kensington Palace. 

We were very excited about seeing the Diana, Princess of Wales exhibition.  On display were the photographs from her Vanity Fair photo shoot with Mario Testino - the last official photos taken before her death in August 1997 - as were a number of her gowns.  Just divine.  Sorry - no photos allowed inside, folks, which is too bad, because we (and by "we" I mean "Jen and I") made a mockery of the royals amused ourselves by posing like various cherub statues inside the King's Apartment. 

I really like this picture of a man reading his paper.  I wonder if he comes by every morning with his paper and coffee and sits on the same bench.  If I lived near Kensington Gardens I would walk over there and read or knit every day.

King William III of Orange...and Lauren.

Good advice.  That's one-half of Jen at the top of the picture, by the way.

The Great Pond with some of its locals at rest.

I freaked out when I saw all the pigeons and swans attack flock to this boy in his stroller as he tossed out food.  Disease, DISEASE!

Insert obligatory inside-a-London phone booth photo here.

One entire wall of adverts in the High Kensington Tube station was dedicated to the latest George Michael CD - a compilation of his greatest hits.  The photos covered his entire career from Wham! to today and everything in between.  Yay!

It was time for a late lunch, and we made our way to a pub recommended by Heather.

Ladies and gentlemen, welcome to The Cock.

See?

One more photo for good measure.

Being of like minds, we all had the bacon and brie sandwich.  Mmm, brie.

The day's headlines.

Our next stop was Stanfords, an excellent map store, but we got lost and ended up unintentionally making it to Trafalgar Square.  This is the National Portrait Gallery.

Trafalgar Square.  Out of all of the pictures I have taken, this is one of my favorites.  I love how it looks like it could be either 1946 or 2006.

Hooray!  We finally found Stanfords!  If you are a cartography buff and are in the area, do go there.  It's chock full of maps and travel books for all ages.  Jen bought a National Geographic world map, and I bought Long Way Round, the book by Ewan McGregor (swoon) and Charley Boorman about their motorcycle trip around the world.

After Stanfords we tried to get to Loop to get our yarn fix, but it turned out to be farther away than we had thought and so we scrapped our plans.  'Sokay.  But seriously - there has to be more than one yarn store in London, right?  I'm just sayin'.

One of my most cherished memories is of this busker, an older man playing ABBA's "Dancing Queen" on the saxophone.  Imagine hearing the delightful sounds of ABBA as you are coming down the escalator!  Fantastic.

A great Guinness advert.

=====

That's it for Wednesday, kids.  Make sure to come back tomorrow for Rome follies, okay?  Thanks for reading!

Fashion, Food, and Fireworks

Today's post is brought to you by the letters 'E' and 'D,' as in 'Election Day,' which is when these pictures were taken.  While you were voting, we were gallivating around London!  You're totally jealous, I know.

=====

My breakfast at our hotel.  Apparently I was very, very thirsty.

This, my friends, is a T.G.I. Fridays.  In LONDON.  It was yards away from our Tube stop (I KNOW!), and the signs in front promoted it as an "American bar and grill."  (I KNOW!)  Sigh.

Insert artsy empty Tube stop photo here.

Our very first stop on our very first official day in London was the Victoria & Albert Museum.  Why?  Not only does the V&A maintain a permanent fashion exhibition (swoon), it was also hosting an exhibition dedicated entirely to Sixties Fashion!  Color us very excited!  Apologies in advance for the somewhat blurry photos; I did not use my flash.

The above photo is of the wedding party outfits for children, designed by Jean Paul Gaultier. 

I am in love with the Gianni Versace dress on the right.  Not only does it boast a gem-encrusted cross (sparkly!), the dress is made of leather.  LOVE.

The Moschino bra dress is surreal and whimsical and awesome.  I'm really sad I did not take a better picture of it.

Really?  A Juicy Couture sweatsuit?  In the V&A?  REALLY?!

Onto Sixties Fashion!  This 1966 PVC design by Young Jaeger totally reminded me of the big sunblock visors the Asian ladies in L.A. wear whenever they're outside.  Yes, we have a legion of drivers wearing large welder's mask-like face visors.  On another note, doesn't the PVC jacket seem like it would be really hot?  Ew.

Check out this awesome 1964 Mary Quant promo photo with the Rolling Stones!  I liked this shot so much I bought the postcard at the gift shop.

Fabulous Pierre Cardin shifts.  The one on the left brings to mind Mondrian, no?

Paper dresses!  Imagine that!

Aside: The V&A will be hosting a Wedding Dresses exhibition in 2008!  EEEE!  I absolutely want to see it!  Who's with me?

"Feed the birds, tuppence a bag...": This older fellow was feeding the pigeons just outside the V&A.  My first thought was of, naturally, Mary Poppins, except this man wasn't a homeless woman sitting outside the bank.  My second thought?  "PIGEONS!  They spread disease!  Stop feeding and encouraging them, Sir!"

Hee.  This guy was just outside the South Kensington Tube station.  He had set up camp in the middle of the road and was singing into a microphone, which he had plugged into a tiny amplifier, and OH did he sing.  Endlessly.  And, tunelessly.  And - I think - in English?  Maybe?  I couldn't tell exactly what he was saying.  Anyway.  Who needs words when you have moves like him?  He sang and danced around his little piece of land, sometimes doing the Pigeon like Bert from Sesame Street, and sometimes even slapping his ass.  I can't describe how happy I am that I got a picture of him in mid-ass slap.  Action shot!

The people on the Tube go up and down, up and down, up and down - the escalators, that is.

London street activity.  Harrods is on my left.

Insert obligatory London phone booth(s) photo here.

My British friend Aidan recommended that we eat at the Tea Clipper in Kensington.  He said his family's old home was not far from here.  Isn't that neat?

This beautiful Rolls Royce was parked in front of one of the homes across the street from the Tea Clipper.  When I showed Aidan this picture, he said that that car has been parked there forEVER. 

The not-at-all-to-scale map to the Tea Clipper, drawn by Aidan.  Heh.

The British are so polite, aren't they?

Here I am with my first Dublin-brewed Guinness ever, and with my pinky up, no less.  I'm not normally a Guinness fan, but it tasted much better in London than what we get at home.  Perhaps this is because of where it was brewed? 

My lunch: sausages and mash atop a tasty peppery gravy, and with onion rings to boot!  Delicious and filling, especially when accompanied with a pint of Guinness.  Those who disparage British and/or pub food in general can bite me, because this?  Was GOOD.

Harrods! 

After making our way through Harrods and finding Chelsea scarves (for Lauren and me) and the Cutest Coat In The World for my niece, we went over the river and through the wood (seriously, it took ages to find this place) to get to the famous Chocolate Bar, and it was totally worth the trip.  I had the amazing dish you see above: milk, dark, and white chocolate ice creams with fudge sauce and chocolate straws.  SO GOOD.

We hustled over to Regent Street that evening to see the Christmas lights be turned on by the cast of Flushed Away.  Sir Ian McKellen, everybody!  But before that, we made it to Piccadilly Circus. 

Heh.  "Swallow."  I am 12.

Regent Street before the lights were turned on.  Yes, we were standing in the middle of the road.  Festive Christmas music was playing on a number of loudspeakers, which put me very much in the holiday spirit.  We even heard Band-Aid's "Do They Know It's Christmas?" - yay!

My version of an Topshop advert.

Lights!  Fireworks!  Huzzah!

The three of us.  Don't worry, girls - I'll try to fix the blurriness in Post!

And We're Off!

I know that this post on the vacation really should have been the first and not the second since it will be covering the first two days of the trip, but OH WELL.  It'll all make sense in the end, right?

The following pictures were taken on Sunday (11/5) and Monday (11/6).

After dealing with a vexing car accident and a suitcase that was already proving itself to be quite stubborn (and we hadn't even left yet), Lauren, Jen, and I made it to the airport and onto the plane.  To London!

Seeing how American films are translated into other languages amuses me greatly.

A great deal of in-flight knitting took place.  I wove in the ends on this Chunky Cabled Beanie (free pattern from Stitch Cafe in Valley Village), which is made from Mission Falls 1824 wool.  The sad thing is that I didn't even wear it on the trip: I only wore the Hello Kitty hat!  Which was received very well, thankyouverymuch.

Jen's hat - made of Debbie Bliss Alpaca Silk - turned out very cute. 

This yarn cake of Cascade 220 wool became yet another Chunky Cabled Beanie.  My grand plan was to start and finish it on the plane ride to London, but I only got one-third of the way through before I put it away.  I eventually finished it on the way home while watching The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring.

Dude.  How could I not take a picture of something called "Honky the Wonder Horse"?!  Seriously. 

It turns out bro'Town is a popular animated show in New Zealand.  I likened it to South Park.  I watched about 10 minutes and had to stop because I didn't understand most of the slang, and because I couldn't stop laughing once the kids - after naming the star of the episode, a racehorse about to be put out to pasture until they came to his rescue - started cheering, "HON! KY! HON! KY! HON! KY! HON! KY!"  Ahahahaha.

NEIL! 

Lauren cracked me up when she said I was knitting "just like [Charlie's] Grandma."  AND I WAS.

Air New Zealand offered very tasty airline food!  Above is a photo of my dinner, which was pasta.  The airline provided keen-looking flatware, too.

Breakfast: French Toast with peaches, yogurt, a muffin, and juice.

We flew over Greenland and Iceland - hello, Reykjavik!

My absolute favorite Kiwi in all the world: PHIL.  Jeff Probst ain't got nothin' on him.

We made it to London!  This was taken from the back of our cab as we headed to our hotel last Monday morning.  I'm not even going to tell you how much this cab ride cost, because nothing - NOTHING - compares to what we like to call The World's Most Expensive Cab Ride EVER.  But that's a story for another time.

True Confession: we intended to nap for only 90 minutes upon arriving at the hotel, but our power nap turned into a five-hour snoozefest.  D'oh!  Once we woke up we walked around the Fulham area of Chelsea for a spell looking for food and ended up at The Morrison, where we had our first pints of the trip.  Cheers! 

(But seriously, the kitchen wasn't open until 8 p.m., which is what we encountered at other pubs as well.  What's up with that?  Aren't people hungry before 8 p.m., too?)

Give it up for Tupac, y'all.  The TV was set to a music channel, which was airing a Dr. Dre retrospective.  We saw old school Snoop videos, Eminem clips, the Eve and Gwen Stefani duet, you name it.  (Let the record show that the Dr. Dre and Tupac collaboration that is California Love is one of my favorite songs.  "Pasadena, where you at?" indeed.)

=====

Come back tomorrow, won't you?  I'll have another post up - this time with photos taken in actual daylight!

Mr. Bear Goes To London

As promised, here are some photos from the trip.  Hope you don't mind that I will be posting them somewhat out of order! 

=====

The following pictures were taken last Friday (11/10).

No matter where you are in the world and no matter what time of day it is, you can turn on the TV and find either The Simpsons or Law & Order.  Hi, Sam Waterston!  We did not leave the hotel until we watched the entire episode.

One of London's fine post boxes.  I even bought a pencil sharpener shaped like a GR post box!  You're totally jealous of me, I CAN TELL.

Make sure to look to your right before crossing the street, lest you actually want to get broadsided by a vehicle and crushed to bits. 

Here is Mr. Bear, my steady mate and faithful travel companion of 24 years, trying to make sense of the Tube.  You can't see his face here, but trust me when I say he was completely befuddled by the whole thing.

Having plotted out his trip, Mr. Bear rode the Tube with confidence.  In case you were wondering, he is of Scottish extraction, as denoted by his tartan bow tie.

One of Mr. Bear's hobbies is reading.  Here he is, taking in the comics. 

Mr. Bear in front of the Tower of London. 

Our proper English breakfast.  Just look at all that buttered toast!  YUM.

If you visit the Tower, I highly recommend taking a Yeoman Warder tour.  It was fascinating.  Our Yeoman Warder (or "Beefeater") was a great storyteller.  Mr. Bear paid close attention to him the entire time.

The Crown Jewels are right inside this tower.  I enjoyed seeing them in person (my favorite piece is the Sovereign's Orb), even if you're whizzed by them while standing on a conveyer belt.  I also really liked watching the films of Queen Elizabeth II's 1953 coronation (her accession to the throne was in 1952, FYI) as well as her Golden Jubilee coronation in 2002. 

You know who, this time posing before the Tower Bridge.

Mr. Bear with a Tower Raven.  The legend of the Ravens is fascinating.  Click on the link to learn more about it, won't you?

After the Tower tour we hustled over to the London Eye.  We scheduled our flight time to coincide with the sunset, which worked out well.  This is a nice shot of the walkway just as we were ascending.

Mr. Bear is totally not afraid of heights. 

Mr. Bear made some new friends that day.  Jen's Paddington Bear (dressed as a Yeoman Warder) is on his right, and Lauren's Henry VIII bear is on his left.  Mr. Bear felt like a lowly commoner bear in his bow tie, but I assured him he looked just as regal as the others.

The three mates enjoying the spectacular view.

Another shot of the London Eye, this time from the ground.  So tall!

Insert blurry-yet-artsy evening photo of the London Eye and Big Ben here.

Westminster Abbey looks really cool at night.  Sadly, we missed visitors' hours, so we could not go inside, but you get the drift.

This is the Field of Remembrance, which was dedicated by Prince Philip the day before our visit.  Hundreds of crosses - each bearing a poppy and representing a British soldier who died in service - were placed in the lawn outside Westminster Abbey.  It reminded me a great deal of the Arlington West memorial in Santa Monica.

The Poppy Appeal is not unlike the American practice of wearing a yellow ribbon: one could buy a paper Poppy to wear in support of the British Legion.  We saw people wearing Poppies EVERYWHERE. 

The Quest for Pasties (pronounced with a short "a" as in "fast") eventually led us to the West Cornwall Pasty Company, specifically the Chelsea location at Markham Square and King's Road.  There is a pub in the basement that stays open once the restaurant closes, and you can bring your pasty down there and get a drink if you like.  I would totally conduct all of my business there if I could.

(Addendum: if you go here, keep an eye out for the bartender who I thought looked like Joseph Fiennes, only with really cut arms.  He was cool.)

Dinner time!  I had a pint of Cornish Blonde Wheat Ale and a Steak and Stilton pasty.  YUM.  I really, really, REALLY need to master the art of making pasties, y'all.  I'm not kidding.  I'm also not kidding when I say that there are no photos of me shoveling the pasty into my mouth because I was so hungry. 

Having not absconded with any picnic baskets that day, Mr. Bear stared at my meal with unbridled envy. 

Do you know how the Smurfs are three apples high?  Well, Mr. Bear is pint glass-sized when seated, if that gives you any perspective on how small he is.

=====

More photos tomorrow! 

(Finally, on a personal note to someone who knows the following is for them, Happy Birthday!)