A Week in the UK Life...

So it's been awhile! Not sure why. Certainly not because I've been hobnobbing with Prince Andrew or anything. God knows that would cost me a pretty penny if Fergie has anything to do with it!

I suppose life has just been trotting on. A few recent features:

Monday, 17May... lined up Henry (one of the landscapers at the apt. complex) to make me up some window boxes for the balconies. He delivered them yesterday. Not exactly the English Country Garden I've always longed for, but the next best thing.

Wednesday, 19May... Kyle & I absolutely positively were NOT lost in Hampstead Heath. There were plenty of people around and we could've asked for assistance at any time. I just chose not to, because I knew that with my impecable sense of direction, I could get us back on the road home easily. But once the sun went behind the clouds for good, and the trees got thicker, and it got later, I finally figured I throw a Brit a bone and let him think that he was bailing out some poor, daft Americans lost in the Heath. Only we absolutely positively were NOT lost. We were headed in the right direction the entire 2 hours. Boy - did that beer taste good when we finally got back to the flat.

Friday, 20May... joined some other members of the Hampstead Women's Club (which I recently joined) for their monthly coffee - at Starbucks of all places! I had decided to boycott all those high profile American companies while we're here in the UK, but my social life has been suffering so I made the sacrifice. Met some very nice ladies and have already made plans to meet one of them at a gallery, and to go to some future events. Hooray.

Saturday, 21May...Chris, Kyle and I got out early (for us) and took a river cruise from Westminster to Greenwich. Greenwich is a lovely village in East London, right on the Thames, and is home not only to a wonderful market, but to the Greenwich Observatory which was the birth of Greenwich Mean Time back in the 1800's. Attached is the obligatory photo of us stradling the Prime Meridian. (Not sure which hemispheres Chris & I are in.) We met a nice artist and bought some artwork from him at the market, and just had a nice day.

Sunday, 22May... went into town for coffee and saw Colin Farrell (or his double) while Chris & I were sitting at the outdoor cafe.

And now it's another week! One other thing worth mentioning is the absolutely glorious weather we've had since last Friday. High 70's to low 80's (26 - 27 degrees C) and blue, blue skies. It's only supposed to be in the 60's for the duration of this week, but staying dry. I think they could really use some rain now, but I am definitely not complaining. As you'll see in the photo album, these Brits are absolute sun worshippers when it finally does make an appearance. Any green space is covered by blankets and/or bare feet on weekends if the sun is out and it's above 60. So you can only imagine what it was like this past weekend.

Bought tix today to go to Royal Ascot on 19 June, including a pre-race tailgate picnic! Very excited about that. Didn't buy the premium "Royal Enclosure" tickets, where we'd be required to don "formal day dress" including hats, ala Eliza Doolittle, but rather the regular Grandstand tickets (although we are still expected "to dress in a manner appropriate to a smart occasion" - straight off the website.) You'll be sure to hear all about that event after it occurs. Really can't wait. "MOVE YOUR BLOOMIN' ASS!!!" Do I dare?? :-)

http://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/LovelyDayNOTLostInTheHeath#
http://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/DayInGreenwich#

Things I Miss

(Mike, Eric, family & friends not withstanding, and in no particular order):

-The Food Network (except for Ina as they occasionally show the Barefoot Contessa here)
-My pot filler (not drug related)
-My car
-My shower
-Having houseplants
-My food processor
-My kitchen sink
-My other kitchen sink
-My kitchen
-Stacey & Clinton
-Property Ladder on Saturday mornings
-My fabulous Whirlpool Duet washer & dryer that are less than 1-year old, have a huge capacity, and can wash & dry a load in considerably less than 3 hours
-Watching the last season of LOST with Eric
-Being in the same time zone with practically everyone else I know
-80 degrees. Make that 70 degrees.
-Grocery shopping at the Medford Shoprite. That's right - the Medford Shoprite; NOT the Johnson City Wegman's
-Having a garden

Things Chris misses:
-His car
-the grill
-the basement
-fire pit
-Bo Flex
-Sam the Beer Man
-Knife sharpener (The fact that it's sitting idle on the shelf in our kitchen pantry is killing Liz as well.)
-the Butchers in NJ. That's right - NOT NY, but NJ.

In Scotland

"Excuse me, can you tell us how to get to room 109?" "One ooo naine? Yeh. Ya goo oop one flooor, then keep gooin down the cahridooor oontil ya get to the soofa. When ya see the soowfa, tern right, then git on the left, and tek the left oop to the therd flooor, to rooom one ooo naine."

And thus began our Scutland advinture. It was a great time. The biggest surprise was the wonderful weather. We left a grey, cool London Wednesday morning, and got off the train in a mostly sunny Glasgow. We were bussed to our hotel, the Cameron House, which was spectacular. Just walking into the lobby was everything I expected: dark paneling, hunting trophies on the walls, and a roaring fire. Chris and I had a chance to take a nice walk around the property, which sits right on Loch Lomond, Wednesday afternoon before a really nice dinner at the hotel.

Thursday, while Chris & colleagues went to work, the spouses were treated to a cruise on the Loch. Ironically, this was the period of the stay which had the worst weather (cold, cloudy, and then rain) but still the views were breathtaking. And we were offered blankets and champagne, so really, how could one complain? Thursday evening our entire group was bussed to the Glengoyne Distillery in Dumgoyne for a tour and dinner. They've been making whisky there for 175 years so I think they've got it right. We had the opportunity to taste 10, 14 (cask strength), 17, and 21-year old bottles; it's not really my drink, but Chris hit the shop before we left and bought a 17-year old bottle as a souvenir. The drive to the distillery alone was beautiful. On the way back, it was nearly 11 pm and you could still see light on the horizon - one of the benefits of being at such a high latitude at this time of year.

(Side note: This dinner provided me my first experience to try haggis, the Scottish "delicacy" [heh heh]. It's sheep organs mixed with oatmeal, spices and other stuff and it's traditionally simmered in the sheep's stomach lining as its preparation. You don't actually eat the stomach, but I really don't know what difference that makes since you're eating all the other parts, plus things you probably would rather not know about. Our version was sort of the "gourmet" version and wasn't bad, but I don't think I'll be ordering it off of the local pub menu anytime soon. Chris liked it.)

Friday, the spouses again had all the fun and were lucky enough to go to Inveraray Castle on Loch Fyne, the ancestral home of the Dukes of Argyll, currently inhabited by the 13th Duke of Argyll, Torquhil Campbell and his family. Many of these ancestral homes have had to be opened to the public over the years to help cover the enormous cost of taxes & upkeep, and Inveraray has had a portion opened for tours since the 1950's. Recently, they've decided to open up parts of the private side of the home for "special" tour groups (yes - things must be getting somewhat desperate) of which we were the very first one. As a very special perk, we were greeted at the house by the Duke himself, who was most friendly and gracious and shook all our hands! It was pretty neat. And the house of course was spectacular, with gifts from Queen Victoria and photos of Princess Diana scattered around. Really something.

Friday evening, our farewell dinner was a "barbeque" at the Boathouse, complete with hamburgers, bbq'd chicken, and corn on the cob. The hotel did a pretty good job on these American faves, and we felt right at home. Unfortunately, tho' the weather stayed clear and it was a lovely evening, the cold wind drove us inside to eat. Still lots of fun.

The company was wonderful, Chris's presentation to the Board went well, and it was an all around great trip. We had just the opposite weather experience on our return: we left Glasgow in the sunshine and returned to a cool rainy London. Go figure. Even the views from the train were postcard-worthy. We are really lucky to be here.

http://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/InScotland#

Off to Scotland

Our first "major" trip out of London starts tomorrow. The annual Board Meeting of the UK unit of Chris's company is this week in Loch Lomond, Scotland. Chris has to go and - darn it - he has to bring his spouse along. Poor Kyle has to stay behind by himself, but he'll be fine.

I'm a tad bit nervous as some of our companions on the trip have titles like "Lord" and "Sir". I am not kidding. While execs & Board members are in meetings, their spouses will be out on river cruises and touring castles so it really should be fun. Weather forecast doesn't look too promising so I think I'll have to worry more about how warm I am versus what I'm actually wearing, which somehow takes the pressure off a bit. As for conversation, I'll keep away from religion & politics and perhaps swing the chat towards the wonders of Marmite, pork pie and bank holidays - all popular items here apparently. (We've yet to try Marmite; pork pie is suspiciously similar to Spam wrapped in pastry dough, and we're lovin' the bank holidays!)

Wish me luck!

http://www.cameronhouse.co.uk/cameron-house.html

I Missed the Kentucky Derby

I still can't believe it. I don't know if I've ever missed this first Saturday in May ritual before. From the time I was around 7 or 8, and we lived in Kentucky, and our dad sat us all down to explain what "odds" were (Dad never missed an opportunity for a teaching moment, even if the subject was bookmaking and we were all under the age of 12) I don't think I've ever missed the Run for the Roses. Each year, despite Dad's lessons, I usually ignored the odds and made my choice of winner based on whichever jockey/trainer/owner/horse had the most touching backstory that year. Or if one of the horses had a name that I could somehow relate to something in my past or present life that seemed remotely connected. This year, I might have picked "American Lion" because I read the book recently. Or "Sidney's Candy" because Sidney is a dear friend of mine, and because I like candy. When the kids were young, they may have indulged me once or twice as we looked over the list of Derby contenders in the paper and we made our picks. ("...uhhh, I don't really care, Mom..." "What do you mean you don't care?! It's the Kentucky Derby! You have to make a pick!" "Well... ok... that one looks cool. Can I play Nintendo now?")

But mostly it was just my thing. Oh, I'd call to everyone when they started to play "My Old Kentucky Home"; sometimes they reluctantly shuffled in just to appease me, but I remember plenty of times watching the race by my lonesome. I loved it all. The ladies in their hats, the free flowing mint julips, listening to the NBC commentators (complete unknowns during any other NBC televised event all year, sport-related or otherwise*) talk about the track conditions and the weather conditions and the conditions of the ladies' hats. And then the horses would be paraded to the starting gate. One or two would always balk at getting shoved in to the little pen but somehow they'd always be convinced, and the announcer would yell, "Annnnnnd they're off" and there it was - the most exciting 2 minutes in sports.

Now I must add here that the recent fates of 2006 Derby winner Barbaro and 2008 filly contender, the sweet Eight Belles who had to be euthanized on the track following the race, have made me rethink my fascination with the sport of horse racing, and how humane - if at all - it is to ask these beautiful huge animals to push their hardest on these seemingly tiny little legs... but that is a commentary for another forum. My point here really started as: I missed the Kentucky Derby! Because I am here in the UK and no one was talking about it! If I'm not careful, the 4th of July might just come and go as any other summer Sunday! November 25th could just become the fourth Thursday in November! Already you've deduced that Susan & Darlene are not going to receive their usual Mother's Day cards on time because the 2nd Sunday of May is not Mother's Day here in England.

I need to start paying better attention. And congratulations to Super Saver.

*except for Bob Costas