Bath

Road trip!  Spent the weekend in Bath with my good friends E&J.  It is hard to believe that we only left Friday after work as we saw so much in so little time.  E&J are also expats but they have recently bought cars so we were on the road.  Sure, we don't really know ALL the driving rules, but we know a bit and what we don't know the on-board navigation system more or less makes up for.  I think the biggest problem is trying to work out where you can and can't park.  The Brits do like to paint a lot of lines onto the road...I think they are supposed to explain things?  They just look like a big old mess to me!

Anyway, we drove out to Bath on Friday after work and enjoyed a weekend of pubs, Christmas markets, a Tour of the Roman Bath, and a bit more shopping.  No wonder I'm tired!  The Christmas Markets (think outdoor craft fair but cute little wooden boths instead of ugly convention centre draping) were so busy with people it was hard to even walk around. Through perseverence I managed to pretty much start and complete all required Christmas shopping.  The Roman Bath was very interesting to tour.  You can't go in the water at the historic location (there is a shiny new spa for that) -  I may or may not have quickly slipped my hand in to see how hot the water was anyway and it may or may not be about the temperature of a warm bath.  The water has a really high copper content so it has a vaguely turquoise colour to it...although the picture above makes it look more like the slough at the farm!  I have to say that the Romans were really such amazing engineers.  The system they put in place to collect, clarify, and deliver the water was really impressive. Plus, they had sauna/steam room areas where they built a false floor over a small vault which allowed them to circulate hot air from the furnace room to produce what is surely the first under floor heating system!

On the way home we stopped at Stonehenge.  I'm struggling with how to describe it.  Driving up to it, it doesn't seem as big as you might expect but I think it is a bit of an optical illusion because when you are standing next to them - or at least as close as you can get - they really are enormous.  The stone was quarried in Wales and then moved up river to where they are now.  They don't really have any explanation of how the stones got from the river bank, up a really large hill, inland about a mile, and then hoisted into place.  A full 1/3 of the stones are actually underground.  They also don't really know what they were used for...but there are lots of theories.  It is all quite deliberate so there must have been some reason.  I don't think it was to entertain the sheep who graze in the field surrounding the stones...they don't seem particularly interested.

I think the highlight of the trip was actually all the great little pubs we nicked into for a pint.  The local brewery, Abbey Ales (http://www.abbeyales.co.uk/index.asp), brews an excellent pint and they are all hand pulled from the keg.  Just what I have been looking for since I moved here!  My favourite pub was the Salamander (http://www.bathales.com/our-pubs/pid/the-salamander/) where we seemed to wander into some sort of sing-a-long.  I didn't know very many of the songs!  The most interesting one was what I recognized as Raffi's 'Down by the Bay' except in the West Country it is 'Down by the Sea' and it is definitely NOT a children's song.  Unless you are trying to teach your children swear words.

5 Aleimda Street

Sometimes it is a good thing to be a stubborn pig-headed mule of a woman.  Like tonight.  I had to pick up a parcel from my local post office.  Okay, no problem, I have even been there once before to buy a stamp.  It's on Upper Street right across from St Somebody-or-Other's Church.  Except according to the card that is not the place I am supposed to go.  I'm going to 5 Aleimda Street.  At first I was looking for Alameda on the map -- which is a dam in Saskatchewan and not a street in London -- so that wasn't helping.  Once I sorted that little bit out I was able to ascertain that I, in fact, pass Aleimda Street each and every time I walk up to Highbury Islington Station (note to self: look up every once in a while) on my way to and from work.

With this bit of confidence in place, I leave work early -- this was a really good idea as you will soon discover -- and proceed to a street in London and not a dam in Saskatchewan.  I turn onto Aleimda and note that the first place is 32 and then 28.  Excellent.  Not so excellent, I have reached the end of the street and I am only at 14 (a quick check across the street reveals it is only at 13).  There is a very mysterious, and poorly lit, Aleimda Passage at the end.  I can only descibe this as an arch shaped tunnel between/under two townhouses.  I emerge in another street definitely not named Aleimda.  I wander a bit.  You would be surprised how often you are the only person on a street in a city as large as London.  Eventually, I find my way back to Upper Street (which is the street I started on) but a considerable distance south.

The card from the post office most definitely says 5 Almeida Street.  I am now irritated beyond all beleif with the Royal Mail.  I try to phone their "help" line but the automated voice hangs up on me.  Twice.  Grr.  Back up to Aleimda I go -- but this time approaching from the opposite direction.  The first thing I notice is that, while the other side of the street started at 32 and was going down, this side is starting a 1 and going up.  Are you kidding me?  1, 2, 3, 4...6.  WTF.  But there is a very dodgy looking ramp thing hidden between 4 & 6.  No sign indicating that this may lead to a Post Office? Wouldn't there be some lights?  This is just a dark alley-ish path.

But as I stand there wondering if this the kind of spot that Jack the Ripper used to stake out?  A woman with a parcel emerges from the dark path.  So, I ignore my Mom's instructions and head, by myself, down a dimly lit alley in one of the largest cities in the world.  Turns out that is where you find the Post Office in Islington.

Paris

Mom & I at Notre Dame Cathedral

Me at the Eiffel Tower.

Metro sign in the Art Nouveau style...

Bon soir au Paris! Well, actually from London but I just got back from a fabulous weekend in Paris with my Mom.  We popped over on the Eurostar for a three day weekend of art, eating, and joix de vie!  It was a really great time and I am so glad that I have finally been to Paris!  What was I waiting for?

We arrived on Friday morning.  After a small navigational error on my part (whoops!) we landed at the Hotel Britanique.  It was a great little hotel just one street back from the Pont de Neuf over the Seine River.  We made the most of our first afternoon checking out Notre Dame Cathedral.  No lightening strikes to report.  It is an amazing building especially when you realize that it was begun in 1163 and it is still used everyday for mass.  Yikes!

Friday night I arranged for Mom & I to take in a show at the Moulin Rouge.  Some of it was pretty cheesy (for example, I believe that the male dancers started the show in the same suit my Crystal Ken Barbie had in 1985) but on the whole it was actually enjoyable.  The in between musical number bits were the best part: a ventriloquist, a woman who swam with snakes (a giant pool rose out of the dance floor for this), and a Cirque de Soliel inspired couple who did these amazing feats of balance & strength like him triceps pressing her while she was balanced in a handstand in his hands.  I'm thinking normal push-ups aren't so bad after all!  And gentlemen, if you like T&A (don't bother lying), this is a good ruse to get to go to the "ballet" with your significant other.

Saturday was a marathon of culture: Musee d'Orsay, L'Orangerie, the Eiffel Tower, L'Arc de Triumph, the Champs Elysee and A LOT of walking!  Mom was a total trooper.  Pretty much everything on my list of things to see in Paris in one day!  Plus a lovely dinner.  Sunday we continued with a trip to the Carousel de Louvre (the mother of all gift shops...it's own mall) and then onto the Musee des Arts Decoratifs in le Lourvre. Definitely feeling a little arted out at this point.

My highlight would definitely be all of the fabulous Art Nouveau!  It is my absolute favourite period (1890 to 1910ish) and I have only ever seen a few pieces with most of my exposure, until this weekend, being pretty pictures in art books or on-line.  But not anymore!  Paris was at the centre of the Art Nouveau movement and there was so much to see live and in person.  It was absolutely spectacular.  And, I got to see a painting by my favourite artist, Gustav Klimt (which was also the first time I've seen one for real and not in a book).  Even the Metro station signs date back to the Art Nouveau period... c'est magnifique!

Commuting

My very first week of commuting is now complete.  Nobody told me how exhausting it would be!
 
Generally, I have a couple of options.  No matter what it starts with a walk ( ¼ mile to Angel Underground or ½ mile to Highbury/Islington), then one stop on the Underground (Northern or Victoria Line), then a stint on the National Rail Service above ground (Kings Cross or Finsbury Park to Potters Bar) and finally either another walk (1 mile from the Station to the Office) or a trip in the Canada Life Bus (only in service 8-10 and 4-6 every 15 minutes...so depending on your arrival time you either have no choice or are just as well to walk).  The Canada Life Bus, when not servicing the insurance crowd, ferries Nursery School children about town so there is a “naughty” list taped onto the back of the driver’s seat and another list with the kids names and gold stars.  So far I have managed to avoid the naughty list but have been unable to earn any gold stars.  I am really hoping for some gold stars by the end of the year.  Last Thursday I made friends with some of the people on the 5:45 bus departure on the way home...I’m hopeful they are regulars as it was nice to have someone to talk to on the way home!
 
The new neighbourhood continues to delight me.  There are so many great looking restaurants, coffee spots, bakeries, dress shops...I need more spare time! I have also spied on the map that I am (I think) very close to Regent’s Canal so I’m hoping that it proves to be a good running route on the weekends. I really want to eat at this one spot called Ottolenghi (http://www.ottolenghi.co.uk/locations/islington/) but it is always lined up out the door.

Tonight on my way home was my first transit through/around/amongst Arsenal Football fans getting to Emirates Field for a game. Yikes! Thank goodness I am a Rider fan as having fought my way from Superstore to Taylor Field was a good warm up. Emirates Field seats just over 60,000 rabid football fans (that would be soccer to you North Americans) and is in the middle of a residential neighborhood accessible only by public transportation or on foot. Yes, citizens of Winnipeg, you read that right. Bomber Stadium isn't so crazy after all, is it? Londoners would swoon with incredulity if they saw the acres of parking spots and nice big streets leading to the new Stadium! If that was even an option here they would pay thousands of £'s a year for the privilege of having a parking spot near a stadium. Until then, they mostly walk from miles around because it is too hard to push your way onto a crowded train on game days.

Angel

Very exciting milestone this week! Just picked up my keys to my flat in London.  It isn't very big (about 500 sq feet) but I love it.  All very modern and posh which is just how I like it.  Angel Underground station is a 5 minute walk away which means I can be to Kings Cross in about 8 minutes...from there I can catch a train or tube to just about anywhere in Europe!!  How cool is that?

The neighbourhood is called Islington and I live just opposite Islington Green...a very nice little park with lots of benches to watch the world go by from.  There is an excellent Patisserie on the corner which has the loveliest pastries & lattes.  Today I saw two people order their "usual" and I can't wait until I can do the same.  I guess I will need to settle on a "usual" first.

Another exciting thing -- my shipment from Canada cleared customs this week and I get my stuff on Monday.  It will be like Christmas.  I am a little worried about where I am going to fit stuff? But I guess that will sort itself out.  The cupboards are pretty big...well not really...but I guess they will have to do.

Mom arrives on Friday for her first official visit.  Can't wait to show her Buckingham Palace and Big Ben!  It really is something.  When I'm walking around sometimes I look up and realize that St Paul's Dome is right in front of me -- such a good landmark even after all these years.  The other day I was watching The Tudors and I realized that I had been in the same square the day before that they characters where standing in several hundred years ago (it looks much cleaner now)!

Here are some pictures of my new flat and the view from my terrace (Terrace: fancy British word for balcony).  Look closely at the kitchen picture.  That is the entire kitchen you are seeing and within it are: a fridge, a freezer, a washer/dryer, an oven (with warming tray), a cook top, a cooking vent/fan, a dishwasher and a sink. Also note the bowl with fake plastic fruit in it as you won't be seeing it in future photos -- my Grandma Nest had a bowl like this in her kitchen in the 80's and I didn't like it then either!

Wicked

The Stage for Wicked the Musical.

My week started out pretty rotten with some sort of terrible flu/cold.  I haven't been exposed to any of the UK strains of things so I hear that I am likely to get a few terrible cases.  Kind of like when your little one starts at daycare.  Except I'm not so little!

Thursday I was in The City for a meeting.  Londoners call the fnancial district The City -- you probably think of it as Canary Wharf.  Anyway, Wednesday I was right in the heart of The City for a meeting at a swanky law firm.  I have to admit it was one of those meetings where in the back of your mind you are thinking "How did I end up here?".  I mean, seriously, I spent my summers in the raspberry patch in Ogema and now I go to meetings in London at swanky law offices?  I bet my family never saw this coming when I was eating dirt in the Garden as a toddler.

Thursday night I went for drinks and dinner in the Farringdon area at a restaurant/bar called Smith's.  It is right across from the Smithfield Market which is -- I'm told -- a famous meat market.  I'm not really sure what a meat market is and I have never heard of it before (except in the context of describing a bar where people are looking to hook up with each other) so I don't know how famous it really is?  I'm not much of a foodie so maybe I'm just not in the loop.  It's really close to the new flat so I will have to make it back some day when it is open and see what the famous-ness is all about.  Great spot to have a drink (main floor is a great pub) and dinner in the restaurant upstairs.  The entire place is decorated in modern-ish cow portraiture.  Think Joe Fafard but less traditional.  City folks think this is cool.

Saturday I had a great Birthday (36 years and counting).  Went into London and saw Wicked the Musical which was absolutely brilliant!  I have this nagging feeling that the book didn't end nearly as happily as the musical but it has been a long time since I read the book so it wasn't too distracting.  The woman who played Elphaba was phenomenal.  I have had the pleasure of seeing many musicals over the years but this woman easily has the best voice I have ever heard.  Absolutely spell binding!  After the show it was off to dinner at my friend Elizabeth & Johan's.  And, to round out the night, Elizabeth and I went to a bar where one of her friends was also having a birthday party.  Elizabeth grew up in St Rose Manitoba -- jut a stone's throw from Canora Beach really!  If our hangovers this morning were any indication, we sure had a great time last night! I wonder how old I will have to get before I realize that Tequila shots are never a good idea?

Only one more week left here in PB.  I can't tell you how happy it makes me just to type that!  My next installment will be written from my new Flat in London.  Not too sure on setting up internet services over here so it might take me a bit to get back on-line.  You'll have to be patient with me.  At this moment I couldn't even name any UK Internet providers.  I guess finding out the name of a company is step number one.  You really take things like that for granted until you move to a whole new country.  Every little thing seems like a nightmare to figure out.

Jamie

I finally have my laptop and can now upload pictures! A whole new (and potentially exciting) way to share my adventure.  This is me sitting in front of my balcony here in PB.  The office is in the background.  The commute time is pretty good!

Winnipeg was great last week.  Thanks to all my friends, family and co-workers for keeping me entertained! A definite highlight was getting to attend Ashley & Mat's wedding where I was even lucky enough to catch the bouquet.  Ashley didn't really give me a choice as she hit me with it!

Some hits and misses this week in my life as an immigrant.  Somehow I have managed to turn a load of laundry into a very unattractive beige colour using the washer/dryer (affectionately renamed the "wrinkler" as that is what it is truly efficient at). I'm not sure if this is the detergent, fabric softener, machine, or operator.  I've been washing my own clothes for 23 years and this is definitely the first time I've gotten these results! What I wouldn't give for a bottle of Tide and some Downy! On the up side, last night I met a friend in London for dinner and we managed to get a table at Jamie Oliver's restaurant near Covent Garden.  How cool is that? I had an English Lamb dish which contained a bunch of parts of a lamb that I have never eaten (heart anyone?) but was thoroughly delicious!

I'm on the countdown to my flat now.  Only 3 more weeks until I get to move into a permanent home in an exciting neighbourhood.  The corporate flat is fine but it is limbo. I'm trying to think of it as just two more weekends.