Travel For FOUR

It’s fun to start over. Our life in the US was fun and we were sad to leave it, but it’s exciting to be in a new place and begin the “building process” again.

But while many of the steps and stages of building are exciting, some are painful. Namely, finding doctors, dentists, a salon and a dry cleaner. We tackled these in the US and it took years to find our “dream team”. But we finally did. It only took four years.
I know we’ll eventually find professionals we trust, but the task is daunting. I haven’t yet had a haircut here in London…my last was at Smith Mountain Lake on August 1!!! Hold your breath…I’m scheduled with a salon for next Tuesday. Hopefully this won’t be a repeat of the horribly traumatic hair highlighting fiasco of 2004 (known as the red period…ick!).

After a great week in Ireland and a bit of rest in London to nurse a cold, G’s parents were off to Venice this morning.This weekend, we had dinner with G’s godparents’ daughter (Jeannie) and her fiance. They, too, live in London. I’ve had a couple experiences to emphasize how small the world is since we arrived. The first happened in September–G met a couple from America while out and about. Turns out that the female graduated from Hollins College in Roanoke–her tennis coach was a Bernard (as in Bernards Landing for those folks from FC).

The second came this weekend as I learned that Jeannie works down the block from Cass (my school) and her gym is right across the street. Now, I have someone new to have lunch with (hopefully this will help to maintain my American accent:). And she even likes sushi…Yum!

See new photos from G’s parents visit to London (pgs. 6&7 of the album) 

…or a Commercial. I was walking down the sidewalk in Belsize Park this afternoon and there was a film crew set up on the side walk. There was a camera pointed at a couple sitting on a bench facing the street. As I approached the scene, a man stopped me and said that I could continue to walk through the background, but just not to look at the camera.

Once I got to the other side, I asked another man what they were filming. He said it was a commercial for Cancer Research. Hmmm. Is it really?

Some of you may know that one of the first things I do upon visiting or (moving to) a new city is to scope out the cafes. In Cary, WiFi was magnetic and I frequented Panara Bread and Starbucks. Here, in the UK, cafes charge for their WiFi and coffee cups aren’t bottomless. Being the “starving” college student I am, I haven’t been as fast to start my cafe habit. BUT, that’s now changed.

After being at Cass for a week or so (back in September), I ventured to CITY’s main campus to take care of a few things. On my way, I spied a cool cafe (like the one from Friends) with comfy leather sofas, quirky but friendly staff members, WiFi (albeit paid), paper cup chandeliers (very cool — look at the photo) and a cool buzz. In the interest of our budget, I tried to forget about it, but my efforts only kept my cafe habit at bay for 2 months. I revisited “my” cafe (158 Goswell Rd) today and the romance was rekindled. The menu’s fun, the coffee’s good, there are great people-watching opps. And while folks can smoke in the cafe, they often exhale smoke rings. Whoever thought cafe clientele could be so entertaining?

Watch out G, I think the cafe budget line item will have to be resurrected.

What’s your favorite cafe? How much is too much for a cup of coffee?

See photo of MY Cafe.

Yesterday, we saw Wicked. A play G and I have been looking forward to seeing for years… and it was well worth the wait. All of us, G’s parents included, were thrilled with the show, it’s definitely a favorite. Go see it!

We headed to the pub for dinner. A gastropub, the Anglesea Arms served upscale pub food rather than the typical fish and chips. We enjoyed dinner and then headed off to see the 30 minute fireworks show at Ravenscourt Park (also in Hammersmith/Shepherd’s Bush). Ironically, the display was timed to match music they were playing… a neat idea. The finale was timed to “New York, New York” and the fireworks were red, white and blue. It felt like home. Apparently, that’s the song that nightclubs play just before they close their doors for the night here.

And then, we were off to another pub to meet up with a few of K’s classmates from Cass. A very nice, relaxed day.