Monday, January 21, 2013

New Boots for a New Year

We made it – we survived the apocalypse! 

Whew!  Now I don’t have to worry about finding out if Cam and Mitchell will ever get a baby on Modern Family, or finishing The Passage trilogy, or die wondering if anyone will ever start producing Twinkies again.  Seriously, American junk food companies, get on that!

We had grand plans for New Year’s Eve.  Well, I did.  Dad and me – we were on the same page.  Everyone else, not so much.  David wanted to stay home and finish up our week-long Walking Dead marathon.  He bought me Seasons 1 and 2 as a stocking stuffer so we forced the fam (including Mom) to watch a few episodes before bed every night… and even with all of the axes/shovels/gunshots to the head, Mom got hooked.  So she and Elizabeth were with David.

In the end, we compromised.

I signed us up for a fun-filled day of activities and by 5:00 we were too exhausted to even think about fighting through the crowds of thousands on the tube and along the river to watch the fireworks from Embankment.  So we went home, made Frito Pies, watched the Walking Dead, pausing it at 11:59 to spend a half hour watching the fireworks in our neighborhood and on TV while sipping our special Fortum and Mason champagne we’d been saving for a year.

We spent the morning of NYE on a Charles Dickens walking tour.  We met at the Christmas Tree in Trafalgar Square and spent the next two hours wandering around central London.  We saw the foggy street that Dickens was walking down when he got the inspiration for Scrooge’s creepy door knocker in a Christmas Carol.  We saw the church his father and mother were married in, which we walk past all the time on the Strand and never knew about.  Dickens’ former office is now a coffee shop and the factory where he worked as a boy is London’s token TGI Fridays.  I’m sure the person eating the basket of onion rings near the window was asking himself why 20 people were standing outside staring at him… kind of took away from the history of the tour.


Besides Charles Dickens, we learned a lot about London in general from the tour.  Along the Thames, there is a bust of the man that cleaned up London’s sewer system, saving countless lives.  It sounds like a low job, but by cleaning up the river, he prevented who-knows-how-many epidemics from springing up.  To give you an idea of how disgusting London was a mere hundred years ago, the smell got so bad during one hot summer that MP’s were passing out during Parliamentary sessions.

We also saw the entrance to the Ministry of Magic from Harry Potter, one of the Turkish bathhouses Watson visited in the Sherlock Holmes’ novels, and an alleyway outside a theatre where one of the city’s most famous actors was stabbed to death after a performance.

In London, people don’t really put up Christmas lights on their houses or flats.  So instead of driving around looking at the lights (like we would do in the states), in Europe you walk along the streets to see the lights and store displays in places like Harrod’s and Harvey Nichols.  We started at my office on Oxford Street and made our way to Carnaby Street. 


From there, we walked to Regent Street and through Picadilly Circus to see the store windows at Fortum and Mason.



The day after New Year’s, David had to go back to work.  We woke up a bit earlier than usual also and headed to Buckingham Palace to witness the Changing of the Guard.  I’d never seen the Changing before (I know!) but I had seen the parade during the Queen’s birthday last summer, which was a lot better.


Usually in December and January, it’s pretty quiet around the city.  But this year with the Olympics, Queen’s Jubilee, and mild winter, there has been a constant flow of tourists.  The tube was really crowded, especially during rush hour, and it was Mom’s constant fear that she’d get stuck outside the closing doors and have to make her way home alone.  For those of you that don’t know my mom, she has a terrible sense of direction.  One time we found ourselves running to get into one of the Underground cars and as we were flying down the stairs, Mom was crying out, “This is my worst nightmare!”  Oh, Mama, you’re so silly!  We would never leave you…

We got to the palace about 20 minutes early and it was so crowded that we had to stand across the street.  After a couple of marches and songs from the band (including the theme to Mission Impossible – what?!), we made our way to the gates, but we were still a few rows back and didn’t get the best view.  Dad will just have to make another trip over here to see it again up-close! ;)


An hour later, we were walking through Hyde Park to get to Kensington Palace.  David and I had been before when it was being renovated, but now most of the wings are open so there was a lot more to see.  My favorite is still Queen Victoria’s apartments.   This summer, they’ll also open a Modern Royals exhibit featuring gowns worn by Princesses Di and Anne. 


Elizabeth kept her eyes peeled for a glimpse of Kate Middleton, but unfortunately she wasn’t home.  I think she spent that week with her family while William was on duty in Wales.  Sometimes she takes their dog, Lupo, for walks in Kensington Gardens or you can see them leaving/entering the palace in their car, but we had no such luck.  Sorry, Elizabeth!

We didn’t do it during their last visit, so during this trip, we had to have traditional afternoon tea.  We booked a slot at the boutique hotel Montague on the Gardens and got dressed up for our sitting.  When the staff first brought out the trays of finger sandwiches, scones, and desserts, the Kurzwegs were fooled into thinking it wasn’t nearly enough food.  But after a couple of hours, we were all stuffed.  As you finish each tray, the waitress will bring out more.  And with the unlimited tea, it was more than enough.  Elizabeth’s favorite was the raspberry macaroon and she was thrilled when she found out she got as many as she wanted.



On our final day, we used my Secret London guidebook to take a walking tour around St. Paul’s.  I picked up this book at work during one of our book fairs and it’s been great!  The book contains over 20 miles of walks around the city and they uncover lots of little-known places off the beaten path.  That’s how we found Windsor Castle pub in Notting Hill and on Friday, we had lunch at a pub on our route called The Olde Mitre.  


The pub dates back to 1546 and inside, in the corner of the bar, is a tree trunk that Elizabeth I danced around as a little girl.

Mom and Dad dancing just like Queen Elizabeth

The total walk was around 2 miles and on it we saw the Newgate execution bell, a crypt chapel beneath an old Roman Catholic church, a Victorian livery hall, and a medieval building preserved inside the basement of one of London’s top law firms.

In the Catholic crypt

Dad admiring the medieval home inside a modern office building

With all of the walking we did over two weeks, it wasn't a surprise to find Elizabeth’s boots were completely destroyed! 

Mind the Gap!

American shoes do not stack up against European ones, because almost everyone in America drives (instead of walks) to get where they’re going.  Elizabeth is one lucky lady, though, because Mom and Dad bought her new Hunter wellies to get her home! 

Just like Kate!

It was a great trip, and we were sad to see everyone go.  We had a lot of fun celebrating the holidays with the Houses and Kurzwegs!  To see all of the pictures from their visit, click here.

Wednesday, January 9, 2013

Christmas with the Kurzwegs

This year for the holidays, David and I stayed in London and invited our families to join us in Europe for Christmas and New Year’s. So Amy, Ross, Jeff, and Laura flew in from Texas and Scotland and stayed with Karen, while Mom, Dad, and Elizabeth came over from El Paso and stayed with us. We had a full two weeks scheduled!

Because Elizabeth didn’t get out of school until the 21st, we spent the week before Christmas with the Houses in Surrey.  I had to work, but luckily it was slow in the office so I still got a lot of family time in by working from home.  We relaxed, watched a lot of movies, and on Saturday had a hilarious awkward family photo session. 

Kirby is such a loyal pup! He always stays close when I’m working from home, and (mostly) quiet during conference calls.

The Houses always bake and decorate the most delicious sugar cookies  
for Christmas. They made this nice bell to welcome my family.

The day that Dad, Mom, and Elizabeth got in we visited the Christmas markets.  It was the day before Xmas Eve, so they were crazy crowded.  The Southbank Market has a great atmosphere along the Thames in the shadow of the Eye and Big Ben.  



I think it only took about 8 tries to get this pic...

Hyde Park’s Winter Wonderland has changed entirely, though.  It’s no longer a traditional German Xmas Market, it’s now a carnival with stalls for food, drinks, and dare-devil rides!  In the past, they’ve only had the ferris wheel and it’s always been too cold to go on.  But we had a very mild December this year, so David, Elizabeth, and I rode a few rides.  Mom and Dad were too jet-lagged to be whipped around on the swings or free-fall 180 feet, but the kids had fun!

Elizabeth turned 18 in November so here she is with her first legal drink ever – hot chocolate and amaretto.  She loved it, but she kept forgetting the name of the liquor, so she started calling it ‘that Armageddon drink.’

On Christmas Eve, David and I hosted a dinner party at our place before heading to Carols by Candlelight at Royal Albert Hall.  Last time we were in London for Christmas, we really enjoyed caroling so we’re trying to make this a tradition every time we’re in England for the holidays.

Royal Albert Hall inside...

.... and out

I had so much fun planning our dinner party.  I got a ton of great ideas off of Pinterest for recipes and creative Christmas-themed desserts, and the place cards.  Our guests snacked on mini mac n cheeses, spinach and artichoke dip, roast beef and piccalilli tea sandwiches, and cranberry brie bites.  To satisfy our sweet teeth, I made Christmas tree brownies (decorated by Elizabeth), vanilla cupcakes, and Hershey kiss cookies with the kisses flown in from the states.  We also had mulled wine simmering on the stove and a hot chocolate bar.

David crafted the candy cane card holders, 
and that’s our first real tree in the background.



Christmas Day we headed over to Karen’s for a delicious dinner and a day spent with family.

Wearing our crowns from the Christmas crackers. It was the first time 
that Ross, Mom, Dad, and Elizabeth had ever popped open Christmas crackers.  Elizabeth opted to wear the Santa hat instead.

Boxing Day (the day after Christmas, an official holiday in the UK) is also Amy’s birthday!  So we left the Kurzweg's to relax at home while we headed back to Karen’s for a homemade dinner and birthday celebration!

Blowing out the candles on her stick toffee pudding!

The rest of the week was spent visiting sites around London like Hampton Court Palace, Portobello Market, and Somerset House.

Entrance to Hampton Court Palace

Celebrating after we finished the maze on the grounds of Hampton Court.  We took this picture about 10 times, and Mom didn’t move an inch!

Ice skating at Somerset House. That day, we learned that NO ONE in London can skate. We flew out there and did half a loop before we noticed everyone else was still gripping on to the walls beside the entrance to the rink, trying so hard to keep their balance and not fall. Once people got a bit more confident, we saw some great wipe-outs!

We also visited David’s former favorite attraction in the city, the London Dungeon.  Unfortunately I don’t think we’ll be going back.  It’s changed a lot in the past year since they added a new ride.  In the past, we showed up and walked right in with little to no lines.  Last summer, we tried to take my family and the line was 2 hours long.  We tried again before we ice skated and found the same thing.  Third time was a charm once we realized it’s best to buy tickets in advance for a certain time slot.  But still, the crowd control is out of control.  But it was definitely worth it this one last time to see Elizabeth hit the deck when Jack the Ripper came after her.  I’ve never seen her move that fast in my life!

Even with the advance tickets purchased online, we still had to wait outside in the cold rain for about 20 minutes.  Bring back Sweeney Todd and get rid of that dumb ride, Dungeon!

We also had our share of British food at the local pubs.

The Windsor Castle pub in Notting Hill is so old that it’s rumored patrons used to be able to see Windsor Castle 20 miles away.  You can tell it’s old because a couple of the doors inside are made for very short people.  Dad is 6'2'' and would've been a giant back then!

We watched the UT Bowl Game at barbeque joint Bodean's with the other Texas Exes that were in town.  Elizabeth got to meet a lot of alumni and is even more excited to move to Austin next summer!

A big tradition in the Kurzweg family during Christmas break is to relax at the movies.  We each got to choose a movie, but unfortunately there’s a delay in Hollywood releases here so some of the great ones like Lincoln and Les Mis aren’t out until mid-January.  Mom picked Parental Guidance and David and I chose to see Life of Pi.  Dad decided on The Hobbit.  Best out of all three:  Life of Pi.  The Hobbit was good, but too long.  And do they really need to make two more?  Maybe I need to read the book… 

And no, we didn’t forget about Elizabeth.  For her birthday, we got her tickets to Phantom of the Opera at Her Majesty’s Theatre.  It was one of the best, if not the best, performances of Phantom we’ve ever seen.  David has been a ridiculous number of times (something like 9?) and this was my third time.  And we were all blown away.  Plus it’s always fun to see with newbies and gauge their reactions.


Week Two was packed full of other fun things like the Harry Potter Studio Tour, Afternoon Tea, and a couple of Walking Tours.  But that will have to wait because it’s the first week back to work, we haven’t taken down any of our Christmas decorations, and we’re heading to France for a ski trip this weekend.  So I gots to go!