Adventures in London: Issues 40-49

Hi All - Please find the video recap from weeks 40-49 :-) I had another song intended for the recap, but with the events of 25 June I figured I would change the song choice.  This of course is not the original, but I remember dancing to this song in my PJs in Rochester when I was little. It was the first record my brother got and we loved dancing to this song before my dad  would put me to bed. 

Hope you all enjoy it. There is a lot crammed into this recap :-)

Miss you all dearly! 

xoxo

T

Adventures in London: Issue 49

J'ai pense que cette semaine, j'ecrirais en francais. Pendant le weekend, la famille et moi sommes allees a Paris pour des vacances. J'adore Paris. The derniere fois j'etais a Paris etait vraiment amusement. Cette visite etait different de ma derniere visite pour deux ou trois raisons

1. Je visite pour plus de une nuit

2. Je suis avec ma famille and non mon mari de travail

3. le temps etait vraiment beau 

Il n'y a aucune ville comme Paris. Je voudrais revenir ici plus souvent ainsi je peux pratiquer mon francais. Je peux lire et je peux ecrire un peu, mai parler est difficule (a moins que je bois). J'estais heureux que j'ai essaye de parler francais a Paris et pouvais parler aux gens vivant la. 

Il etait la premiere fois que ma mere, Kadin et mon frere visite Paris ainsi nous ont vu toutes les attractions.  Les vacances de Paris etaient la premiere fois que nous sommes partis en vacances ensemble....

...et avec la boone planification, j'aimerais partis en vacances ensemble encore :-) 

Peut-etre nous pouvons faire des vacances de famille  chaque annee!! L'annee prochaine - I'Italie!!! Ma famille, ce qui vous pensent?!? C'est un juste de grande idee! Non?! 

Renvoi aux vacances de Paris...

La derniere fois j'etais a Paris, j'etais avec mon amour. Cette fois, j'etais avec l'amous de ma vie. Mais, je dois travailler au baisser a cote de Tour Eiffel... la fois prochaine peut-etre ;-)

Pendant notre temps a Paris mous avons vu toutes less attractions principales:

• Tour Eiffel
• le Louvre
• Acr de Triomphe
• Notre Dame de Paris
• Versailles

Nous avons vu et avons mange dans chaque "neighborhoods" dans Paris. Mon favori est certainement L'Isle de St Louis.  C'est un "neighborhood" mignon et calme a Paris avec les cafes et les restaurants merveilleux. 

Well I am tried of trying to think in french and using my dictionary. So since most of you cannot read french, I suppose I can stop now :-)

Happy belated birthday to my dear father! Oysters anyone?

Miss you all dearly

xx

T

Adventures in London: Issue 48

How can you beat a weekend that includes Borough Market, Gordon's wine bar and a visit with the family? Simple, you cannot. 

My family arrived early Saturday morning and after a quick nap to rest up, it was off to tour London. Given that it was Saturday you can only guess where the tour started. Guess Borough Market? Well then you would be correct. We did not have a great deal of time, but it was just enough for coffee/tea, raclettes and ostrich burgers. Sadly there was no room for anything else, as the market closed soon after we arrived. 

From there it was a nice leisure walk along the Thames. The day was perfect - the weather was not too hot, the Thames wasn't too crowded and I was with my family. It was perfect and I would not have changed a thing. Okay actually I lied, I would have enjoyed the day a bit more if I was not christened by my nephew. A special thanks to the last person who changes his nappy and did not put it on correctly ;-) 

That grand experience also taught me that there are NO clothing stores along the Thames! So if you are ever near the millenium bridge and are in need of some trousers....good luck finding something. Plenty of pubs, but no clothing stores let alone one that sold baby clothing.  

After sorting Kadin out, it was back to touring and site seeing :-)

We continued along the Southbank until we hit Jubliee Gardens and to Kadin's delight - - a playground. Kadin was let loose (not exactly let loose, but you know what I mean) and thoroughly enjoyed the swings, slide and rockers. Hearing his laughter is utterly blissful - there is such life and joy in his laughter. Reminds you that is what life is all about; the times you learn to let go and embrace life and laugh until your belly hurts. 

Growing up there was only one person that could truly make me laugh..26 years later they are still the one person that can truly make me laugh from the pits of my belly. 

In the musical RENT, there is a song called "Seasons of Love" in which the lyrics read

Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year? In daylights? In sunsets? In midnights? In cups of coffee? In inches? In miles? In laughter? In strife? Five hundred twenty-five thousand six hundred minutes. How do you measure a year in the life?

For me, it would be in laughter. What is the use in living if you don't laugh. That is the one thing people cannot take from you. 

So where was I? 

Oh yeah Jubilee Gardens. After we finished playing on the swings it was off to take a ride on the London Spinny - aka London Eye.  Rather than focusing on the different angled views of Big Ben and Parliament, I focused my attention on Kadin. Unlike Mom who stayed seated on the bench, Kadin was pressed against the glass notifying our pod of all the blue cars he could spot on the streets below. Never realised how many blue cars there are in this city :-) 

The next day was Father's Day!! For the second year I was able to celebrate the day with my brother. It amasing to see how well fatherhood suits him. Nothing compares to watching father and son....they are truly a match (they were not dressed alike cause it was father's day - - this occurence happened almost every day of their visit). 

Alright, I am off to Skype with Kadin (yes I am writing this blog after their visit) 

xoxo

T

Adventures in London: Issue 47

I am not going to give this week's update the justice that it needs as it is almost 00:00 and and that means it is almost bedtime. Actually, it is past bedtime for normal people. I blame the fact that the sunset after 9:30pm for the my late sleeping habits. Hard to get ready for bed when the sunsets. Really!! It is just not logical to fall asleep when the sun is still up. 

Back to the weekend...

This past weekend my two best friends from BU came to London for a visit. It was quite the surreal weekend to spend with friends that you met day 1 of school and 10+ years later you are still in each other's lives. It is comforting to know that no matter how much life changes, and no matter where life takes you, certain things don't change. Some people were always met to be in your life.

Courtney, Anne & I literally met on the first day of school. Courtney was the first person that I met at lecture and then later that day I met Anne in our discussion class. Over the next four years we had at BU, we saw each other through many highs and unfortunately through a series of lows. We made new friends, found new loves, we made mashed potato sculptures when we were down, had dance party when we were stressed (or just needed any excuse to dance, which was ALWAYS), we debated life's difficult questions of would you rather eat a spoonful of bacon or a spoonful of onions, amongst many other things. 

It has been 10 years, but the fundamentals of our friendship have not changed. It is comforting to have that, especially in the last couple of weeks. When it comes to friendships lately, I have had a hard time with the new friendships that I have made. Not in the concept of making them, or that there is anything wrong, but I've been starting to question those around me and feel like I am walking on eggshells with everyone. Going home was nice and I am really happy that I was able to see my friends et all from home, but it also made me realize that I am out of the loop. I don't know the stories, I don't know the new hang-outs, I don't know the key songs... and it made me wonder if the phrase, "out of sight, out of mind" has any foundation. Where was I going with all of this?!  You know, I have no idea. 

I know (now) that there is no foundation in that statement when it comes to certain people in your life. This past weekend helped remind me of that. There are certain things worth trusting and although being inquisitive is a good thing, perhaps I can learn to take a step back when it comes to questioning the objective behind those in your life. Just accept things as they are, otherwise you may find yourself 10 years later asking yourself, "why wasn't I there?", "what was I so busy doing that I was not with my friends"... sometimes we get wrapped up in our quest to be the head of the university "PEP squad", the champion of all things university, and the drama of 91 Bay State Road that you miss out on the best part of life - the friendships (I realize the same principle can apply to work). 

Last week I asked what fond memories you had related to "us". That got me thinking of the my fond memories with each of you. When I look back at my time at BU (and especially after this weekend), some of my fondest memories were with Courtney & Anne; reenacting the fight scene from the Phantom Menace, job interviews on your birthday to remind you of your truly calling in life, dodging the church group after watching Elizabeth, making the floor feel awkward with my "slave" sign, hiding in our tents, IMing one another while being in the same room, making jell-o shots (and learning the lesson half & half), Late Night cravings, double dating on the orange line, going to dinner on Newbury during the snow storm, and who could forget - - MILLENNIUM DANCE PARTY! 

This weekend,  marked the 10 year anniversary of 1999 Billboard Awards (okay it didn't, but I just realized that the math lined up).  To celebrate Britney being in town, we started the day at Borough Market (can recommend the Kangaroo burger if you go), a walk along the Thames to visit our friend Ben! After that, it was off to Britney. I honestly did not think that she was going to make it to her Europe leg of her tour, but I am very pleased that she did. Granted, I wish she made the trip with the Pussycat Dolls, but sometimes you cannot have it all. Actually it is probably for the best, as if they were opening, I would have had to answer the question, "would you rather watch the pussycat dolls or eat dinner?". She may have lip-synced the entire concert, but it was quite entertaining. The girls dancing in front of us, the fight that happened behind us, and the outfits -- oh the outfits, just added to the spectacular show. 

I cannot wait until my Indian wedding on top of the train with monkeys and elephants. I am glad that we ironed out so many of the major details...just some minor ones left. Here's a thought, maybe we can our cab driver to come too since he is SO interested in Indian culture. Thank you ladies for the visit and putting up with my photo shoots!

Hopefully it will not be another 4 years when we do this again :-)

Miss you all dearly 

xoxo

T

Adventures in London: Issue 46

This past weekend a couple of us took a weekend trip to Amsterdam. If you have never been, let me just say that it is an AMAZING city! The largest and the capital of the Netherlands, Amsterdam is the home to about 1 million people draws in roughly 4.2 million tourists a year. I did not know what to expect from Amsterdam, I had heard the stories, read the articles, seen it movies, but nothing can capture just how beautiful and welcoming that city is. There is just something about the city that makes you feel welcome. The entire time we roamed the city, we did not feel like tourists. Amsterdam does a brilliant job of opening its arms to you and making you feel like you always belonged. 

We arrived early Friday morning and immediately after checking in we went into the city centre to explore.  We started our adventure in Amsterdam with a boat tour along the historic canals of the city. With over 100 canals, and 1500 bridges, Amsterdam has been named "Venice of the North" - - adding Venice to the list of place to visit.  The canals have served as both a means of defense in the "golden ages", and residential development for the city today. The way the city has been developed and the amount of detail and precision that has gone into the city has to been seen. People may say that Amsterdam is the "sin city" of Europe, but in my book, it is up there with Paris as a romantic city. It is more of a city of beauty and romance than a city of partying and sin. 

The house along the canal have some of the most interesting architecture to them. Back in the 16th century, houses were taxed based on width, therefore houses were built quite narrow with the slimmest side facing the canal. The gables served as a way to mask the angles of the houses and today it acts as a way to determine the age of the house. 

Attached to the gables are hooks that are used as a manual elevator system for bulky items such as pianos, couches, etc that cannot make it up the narrow staircases. As you walk through the city you can see the Dutch movers use pulley system to extract items in and out of the windows (apparently there was someone moving, but I missed it. Otherwise, I would have been sure to take a photo of that). 

I could not get enough of the canal houses, the architecture of the gables and the angles of the house fronts. You cannot quite grasp it in the photo, but you can sorta see the angles of the houses.  If you are an architecture fan, this is a city worth visiting.

Saturday was our day of culture. We had an early start to beat the line to see the Anne Frank house.  There are no words to express what it is like to visit that house and to see where Anne Frank and her family hide for 2 years in the Annex. There is a photo of Otto Frank years after in the Annex that stays with you. I cannot imagine what that must have been like; to return to to those rooms years later, to revisit those moments and memories and to make the decision to keep the place as is (no furniture or anything). Just thinking about the "Secret Annex" behind the book case brings tears to my eyes. There is a video interview with him in which he describes finding and eventually reading Anne's journal. He describes his reaction to the diary and the realization that he had that despite his close rapport that he had with Anne, that there were parts of her that he did not know. 

"It took me a very long time before I could read it. And I must say, I was very much surprised about the deep thoughts that Anne had, her seriousness, especially her self-criticism. It was quite a different Anne than I had known as my daughter. She never really showed this kind of inner feeling. She talked about many things, criticized many things, but what her real feelings were, that I could only see from the diary." - Otto Frank

After that, it was off to the Pancake Bakery (highly recommend the French Onion soup - seriously!), the Rijksmuseum (where I played the "spot the famous person" in the various paintings there), and my favorite the Van Gogh (pronounced Van Gof in Dutch) museum. The museum has over 200 of Van Gogh's paintings, 500 drawings from his early days in Antwerp to Paris to Arles to Saint Remy. Seeing the Starry Night and the Starry Night Over the Rhone up close was mind blowing. They had a print of the Cafe Terrace that I was tempted to purchase, but did not since that painting would never measure up to the original painting that I had. I wish I took a proper photo of that painting so I could at least have some memory of it. Lesson learned, should have packed in my carry-on to ensure that it made the journey to London - hahaha :-)

I think what makes Amsterdam such a unique city is that it contrasts the history and the rich culture with... well... the series of coffee shops and the red light district. It had to be said, the city does have another side of culture and experiences. After a extremely fine meal at Brassierie de Poort (a former beer hall across from the Royal Palace) and a 25cl of La Trappe (the only Holland trappist beer) at In de Wildeman (a brown cafe dating back to 1690 with over 200 beers from around the world) it was off to the Red Light district for a quick yet eye-opening experience. I am going to leave it at that. If you want to know what I am talking about - - you will just have to go. I am not going to even try to describe that part of the night ;-)

Amsterdam was a great weekend. Lovely city, lovely culture, lovely cuisine and lovely company. Amsterdam is definitely one of my favorite cities in Europe. My top is still Paris, but I don't know if my Paris trip can be beat. It was my first Europe experience and I was with one of my best friends! BMac, I wish you all the best with your move and your new chapter in Denver. I know nothing changes with us and you will always be my work husband, but I am going to miss having you in NYC - going to have to wait another 2 hours before we can catch up on Yahoo :-) I am so happy I got to see you this past visit and I am looking forward to the NYC marathon!

With that, I bid you all adieu! I have some exciting weekends coming up. In a matter of a couple of days I have a BU reunion with a couple of girls that I have known since Day 1 of university. After that, my family is here for 2 weekends, my mom stays for another 2 weeks after that, then it is off to the countryside for a housewarming, I celebrate my 1 year the following weekend and then I am off to ROME with my cousin in early August! Wow I am exhausted just thinking about it!! Stay tuned for more photos and adventures! 

xx

T