Carol singers, tree lighting, and a celebrity...
The holiday season has officially begun in Hampstead. This afternoon there were carol singers and the ceremonial tree lighting on the high street. Sophie and I met some friends from our playgroup there. Actress Emma Thompson was the secret local celebrity assisting with the ceremony. She was very funny and looked great! After the ceremony I tried to get her autograph and a picture with her but she was whisked away. My friend Tracy took a picture of Emma on her camera phone (I will post when I get it from her).
So a bit disappointed, but I chatted a bit more with some friends of course...finally I left and as I walking down the high street Emma was standing with two other people waiting for her daughter to come out of the community center it appeared, and of course I had to ask if I could bother her for an autograph. She kindly obliged and signed the back of a cardboard crown Sophie was given at the ceremony by the local fairy shop--With lots of love Sophie! Emma Thompson xx --very sweet! Just another day in London...
An American Thanksgiving
We celebrated Thanksgiving with a traditional American meal on Saturday at our flat. We invited a British family, the Longhurst's, over to share in the celebration with us. Tracy went to university in Michigan so she was familiar with the traditions, but her husband Paul and kids (they have 2 sets of twins, yes you read it right, 5 year olds and 2 1/2 year olds, Sam & Harry, who Sophie just adores!) had not experienced it as we know Thanksgiving. Obviously in my small flat there were shifts, kids first, adults second as we don't have enough table space or chairs to accommodate, but it worked out fine.
Last year we attempted a holiday meal for Christmas and it was a disaster. Thankfully we learned from last years mistakes. I ordered most of the food with my grocery delivery (I will miss this a lot when we move back!), having planned out our menu a week in advance. I also had to make a stop at the Rosslyn Deli on our high street which has an American food section, expensive, but at least you can get much needed ingredients. And of course, Jeremy had to make a morning of run to the grocery store as well. We also realized that morning that we only had 4 adult size plates, so he was off to buy some more plates and another serving dish. Thankfully Tracy was also able to borrow me serving spoons and forks, a turkey platter, and several other things to help with the meal.
Our menu consisted of:
Turkey
Stuffing
Sweet potatoes
Corn
Cranberry sauce
Pumpkin pie
Pecan tartlets
Of course there was the relish tray, not seen on British holiday tables ever we were told!
Jeremy did an excellent job with the turkey as it was not dried out like the one I made last year. Everything was from scratch and completely homemade except the stuffing (thank you Jackie for the stove top!). I also had eggnog, which I know is for Christmas but I was craving it, and then we forgot to serve it to our guests.
Our friends said their holiday meal is very different at Christmas. The kids, not surprisingly, except for Jake the oldest boy, did not each much. It really is foreign to them. The taste buds between Americans and Britons are very, very different. Jake loved the meat and gravy, just like Jeremy, the son he doesn't have...
It was so nice to entertain, enjoy friends, conversation, and food! Thanks Longhurst's for celebrating our day with us! Cheers!
School for Sophie
Kids start nursery school around three in London. It is quite the process, which thankfully I have a very good friend who has helped me through it. We have found a small nursery school about 10 minutes from our flat which Sophie has been gotten into called Puss in Boots. She will know lots of children there, specifically her best buds Sam and Harry. Starting in January, she will go one afternoon and one morning, we are hoping that can change to two mornings, but frankly the fact that we got in at all is great. Sophie loved the school when we went and toured it. After we left she said, "mum that was a great school!" What a relief. Hopefully she still has this attitude in January when she starts. I think she is ready, not sure if I am...
Ceremony of the Keys at the Tower of London
The Hampstead Women's Club hosted a private tour of the Tower of London which included the Ceremony of the Keys. It was fantastic! I have been to the Tower before, but during the day and was not able to follow one of the tours since Sophie was in her buggy and the crowd was huge. The 1 1/2 hour tour was very informative and just for our group. It is very different and a bit eerie being at the Tower in the evening. I had to ask if there were any vegetarian "beefeaters" and apparently there is one...
After the tour we viewed the Ceremony of the Keys:
For the last 700 years, the Tower of London has locked its gates at 21:53, exactly seven minutes before 10 o’clock. The Chief Warder, dressed in a Beefeater costume, marches his way to the front gate from the Byward Tower. Carrying a lantern in one hand and the Queen’s keys in the other, the Chief Warder walks to Traitor’s Gate and hands his lantern to a nearby guard. As he locks it and aims his way to the other ones, all Beefeater soldiers salute to the Queens Key’s. Never has a small piece of metal demanded so much respect.
As the soldier locks up all the gates, he makes his way towards the Bloody Archway tower, where he is stopped by a sentry. As part of its tradition, the sentry and Warder hold an exchange:
Sentry: ‘Halt, Who goes there?’
Warder: ‘The Keys!’
Sentry: ‘Whose keys?’
Warder: ‘Queen Elizabeth’s keys.’
Sentry: ‘Pass Queen Elizabeth’s keys – Alls well!’
After the traditional exchange the Chief Warder lifts his hat and proclaims ‘God preserve Queen Elizabeth.’ The clock chimes for 10 o’clock as the other Queen’s guards raise their bonnets and say ‘Amen.’ The entire process takes no more than 7 minutes, making the Ceremony of the Keys one of the shortest in London.
Despite it being a near millennia tradition, the ceremony has gone on every night without disturbance. During World War II, when German bombs rained down on London, the ceremony still took place with the exception of a direct hit. Even then, the ceremony was delayed by one-half hour
Very interesting ceremony! This was a great experience. Alls well!
The Ups and Downs of Madrid
The trip to Madrid starting off with us almost hotel-less, but we recovered; this seemed to be the theme of the trip...
We arrive in Madrid without incident on Friday. As we are walking on a very busy street in Madrid to our hotel a man yells behind us "Are you English, are you English?" we turn around wondering why he is yelling at us, both Jeremy and I thinking he is trying some kind of scam. We say yes, and the man tells us that someone was trying to steal Jeremy's computer bag which is strapped to our suitcase! A few more seconds and it would have been gone! We were walking side by side and didn't see and Jeremy didn't feel anything. Thank god for this Good Samaritan! We hope good karma goes his way.
As I am a planner I have our entire trip planned out. So on Saturday we head to the Palace Real which is our main attraction for the day. As we get closer to the Palace we can tell that something out of the ordinary is going on. Unfortunately, we couldn't quite figure it out. We think it may have been the presentation of credentials to the King (as it looks like the same type of ceremony as was on a postcard in the gift shop...). My Spanish was not good enough to ask the right questions and I couldn't translate what people were saying to me when I tried to ask. There ended up being a huge parade into the Palace with many, many horse drawn carriages and guards on horses. We couldn't see well so we only stuck around for a while then found a playground nearby for Sophie to have some fun at. The ceremony went on for about an hour and a half. It ended with four jets flying close by spraying out colored smoke, very interesting.
So instead of the Palace we walked around and explored the city and seeing a few of the major plazas. We had lunch at a small Spanish restaurant. This restaurant offered all of its dishes to share, which is a problem as Jeremy loves meat and I don't eat any. In the end, I ordered olives, bread and garlic mushrooms, good but enough of for two people; Jeremy doesn't eat any and gets a meat dish for two. Large groups would be good at these types of restaurants to be able to get a variety of food, instead of one item.
In the afternoon and evening we visited two museums, the Museo Thyssen Bornemisza and the Centro de Arte Reina Sofia. Both were great and we are a little burned out on museums! The first museum Museo Thyssen Bornemisza houses some nice impressionists' pieces, which is our favorite. There were works by Renoir (Woman with a Parasol in Garden), Van Gogh (Les Vessenots), Degas (Swaying Dancer), many by Alred Sisley, Paul Gauguin and more! Fantastic! And Sophie was napping so we fully enjoyed it. The second museum,Centro de Arte Reina Sofia was so huge there was no way we could view all the pieces and we bumping into dinner time. So we saw the pieces by Picasso and specifically the highlight was Picasso's famous piece Guernica. It is massive! Literally, it is a huge painting. I knew it was large, but it was so much larger than we expected. Very cool to see this in person! There were also quite a few pieces by Salvador Dali (I like, Jeremy does not), Juan Gris, George Baroque (Jeremy loves) and others. Nice visit, it was just quick and covering the pieces we enjoy the most.
On Sunday it was another attempt at the Palacio Real. This time it was a success! It was well worth the wait. This Palace was the best we have seen, it was absolutely incredible! We absolutely loved it! I feel like they can't keep getting better but they do! This was fantastic! Pictures were allowed only without flash, so I bought the guide which has good photos in case ours don't work out. Each room had a separate theme and feel to it. Starting from the main staircase throughout the entire Palace it impresses. We can't decide which room was our most favorite because each was so incredible. Madrid is almost worth a trip just to see this Palace! The Spanish royalty know how to build a Palace! Our ticket also included a royal armoury which was set up nicely and interesting to see. There was also a pharmacy, not very exciting as one would imagine. Overall, a great visit!
Next we walked down to a park called Campo del Moro, behind the Palace. Gorgeous views of the back of the Palace. Nice green space in the city. There was a little playground along the way that we stopped for a break in. Jeremy watched some older men play a game which he was trying to figure out of course. Madrid had lots of little parks and green space throughout the city, a nice getaway.
Lastly on Sunday afternoon we walked around the El Rastro market. This colorful street market has been going on for over 100 years. It was huge! We thought it might be the size of the Borough Market and Nottinghill Markets combined! It just keep going and going! There was lots of clothes, music, antiques, art, etc. We love to go to the local markets and enjoyed this, though it was packed and a bit hard to get around with Sophie, we loved it. Found a few nice antiques way out of our price range though so they didn't come with us.
On Monday and Tuesday, Jeremy worked and Sophie and I had a full schedule planned out. We took the Metro to the zoo on Monday and when we arrived it was clear it was not opening. So I pulled out the map and came up with a new plan. We got back on the Metro and headed to the Parque del Retiro. It is the city's largest green space and a favorite of local's according to my travel book. The park was beautiful. There are statues, gardens, lakes, rowing boats for hire (I was not brave enough to do this on my own with Sophie as there didn't appear to be life jackets), goldfish in the ponds to fee, and musicians playing throughout the park. We spent four hours there without any problem. Nice and relaxing plan B. While Sophie napped and I realized that every museum, with the exception of one that I had already seen, was closed, I made my way to Starbuck's for some coffee and rest and then through the city back to the hotel for a nice long walk. After a nice nap and some cartoons, we headed to dinner down the street, playing it safe with a Pizza Express.
The plans I had for Tuesday weren't viable either, so we spent the morning at the local botanical garden. When the weather is beautiful and you can be outside with a jacket, really anything works nicely. This was uneventful but peaceful and green. Next we made our way to a playground I had spotted the day before and spent some time there. Sophie is such a climber, she climbed up this tall piece of equipment, well over my head where I couldn't reach her and then starts crying hysterically to get down as the slide looks to tall! Nice! Thankfully she was able to climb back down the way she went up without incident. After a little lunch she fell asleep nicely and I made my way to the Museo del Prado, which houses one of the world's finest art collections. There are some beautiful pieces and the museum is huge! I have to admit that I am burnt out pictures of Christianity. My favorite piece was Las Meninas by Diego Velazquez who I am not familiar with but I loved this picture. It is in one of Sophie's art books and I loved seeing it in person. Before Sophie woke up I was done with my visit and again made my way for a little caffeine and rest. We took the Metro back to the hotel to meet Jeremy and begin the travels back to London.
We did enjoy ourselves in Madrid. I feel very comfortable in Spanish speaking countries. Madrid was a city that we felt we could live in no problem if an opportunity ever arose. The Metro system was extremely easy to get around, lots of green spaces, and very friendly people, especially to kids. We would love visit some other cities in Spain at another time. Adios!
Photos coming soon on the Shutterfly account...
Mad before Madrid
Okay, we are heading to Madrid tomorrow for a quick holiday and we were almost without a hotel. I booked an awesome spa hotel and happened to look at the paperwork today by chance and realized I used a new credit card which apparently didn't work because the small text said that my booking was confirmed but the payment didn't go through. I needed to response within a few days with a new card or the reservation would be cancelled. I book with this company all the time and didn't read this so apparently my reservation was cancelled and the awesome hotel is no longer available, nor is the one that Jeremy's company recommended, but I was able to find one almost comparable with the original one the exception is that it does not have a pool and spa is not in its name, oh well. All this travel had its downsides and stressors like this. Thank god I happened to look at the paperwork and realize I had no hotel, that would have been fun tomorrow when we got into Madrid...Details of this trip to be posted next week...Adios! Chris
Guy Fawkes Celebration
Guy Fawkes Night, more commonly known as Bonfire Night and Fireworks Night, is an annual celebration but not an official holiday on the evening of November 5th primarily in the United Kingdom.
It celebrates the failure of the Gunpowder Plot, in which a group of Catholic conspirators, led by one Robert Catesby and including Guido Fawkes, attempted to blow up the House of Parliament in Westminster on the evening of November 5, 1605 when the Protestant King James I was within its walls.
The celebrations, which in the United Kingdom take place in towns and villages across the country, involve fireworks (lots of them!) and the building of bonfires, on which "guys", or dummies, representing Guy Fawkes, the most infamous of the conspirators, are traditionally burnt. Before the fifth, children use the "guys" to beg for money with the chant "Penny for the guy".
Guy Fawkes, actually sat at the top of Parliament Hill (where we live) to watch Parliament blow up. Of course, he never saw this because he was unsuccessful!
We would compare this celebration to the 4th of July, but with more fireworks. They were going off for hours last night all over our streets. People were swarming up and down the street going to and from Parliament Hill to view these over the city. If you like fireworks this would be a celebration for you!
The night is closely associated with the popular rhyme:
Remember remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder, Treason and Plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder and treason
should ever be forgot.
The holiday season has officially begun in Hampstead. This afternoon there were carol singers and the ceremonial tree lighting on the high street. Sophie and I met some friends from our playgroup there. Actress Emma Thompson was the secret local celebrity assisting with the ceremony. She was very funny and looked great! After the ceremony I tried to get her autograph and a picture with her but she was whisked away. My friend Tracy took a picture of Emma on her camera phone (I will post when I get it from her). 
