Summer Days Drifting Away

David and I had a blast this summer!  The weather was the warmest it’s been since we moved to England, so we spent a lot of time outside.  We took Kirby to the neighborhood park almost every day so he could run around in the sun, we tried new recipes on the grill, and I was happiest just breaking out my old Texas wardrobe of shorts, skirts, and sundresses.

And between all of the fun beach vacations, we also had a great time in London with friends and family.

We kicked off the summer with a Texas Exes pub crawl through Canary Wharf.  The London UT alumni association hosted the event to raise scholarship money.  Our friend, Terra, was in town that weekend from Chicago, so she and Jordan came along as honorary Longhorns.

Urban Cowboys  

The theme of the day was Cowboys and Indians and some Texans went all out!  We definitely got some weird stares from fellow Londoners as we made our way from pub to pub along the wharf, but it was good fun for a good cause!

Later that evening, we saw the highly anticipated musical Book of Mormon and then headed over to Jamie Oliver’s pop-up diner in Piccadilly Circus for late-night spaghetti and meatballs and pulled pork waffles with spiked milkshakes.

Our next guests were Anna and Terri from Texas!  Anna was on her ‘babymoon’ before Valentina arrives this winter.  The first night out in London, we went to the historic Lamb and Flag pub in Covent Garden for some traditional British grub and then I introduced them to Laduree. 

The next day, we had afternoon tea at the swanky Dorchester Hotel off Park Lane.  The Dorchester is my new favorite place for afternoon tea.  Not only did we get a main course with our tea (salmon terrine for Terri, stilton and pear pastry for Anna, and meze platter for me) but the hotel also does themed menus and for the summer, they offered us unlimited mini ice cream cones in various flavors.  My favorite had to be the honey ice cream in the chocolate cone.  And the Dorchester is also home to Her Majesty’s Cup, a tea-based cocktail consisting of earl grey infused with berries, rhubarb, gin, and champagne served in a tea cup cocktail glass. 

And on top of all of that, the tea was to die for!  We all fell in love with my vanilla tea from master tea blenders Harney and Sons.  I think altogether, we drank at least three pots, on top of the Dorchester blend Terri ordered, and the lemon decaf Anna ordered.

That evening, we walked to Regent’s Street to shop at Hamley’s, the ‘finest toy shop in the world.’  Oh, how our lives have changed!  We’ve gone from partying until 4:00 in the morning to having afternoon tea, toy shopping for our kids and friends with kids, and then catching the tube home to be in bed before 11:00! 

It was actually great that we were in bed early because the next day was packed!  Anna and Terri headed to Bath and Stonehenge while I headed out to Karen’s house for David’s high school reunion.

Unfortunately I won’t be able to make it back to El Paso next month for my 10-year reunion but it’s great that we are living here in London and able to attend David’s so easily.

The festivities started on Friday when David, Natalie, and other alumni were paraded in front of the current students before the headmaster gave a welcoming speech.  That evening, there was dinner and drinks.

On Saturday, we were given a campus tour, which I really enjoyed.  Though I’ve been to TASIS many, many times, I hadn’t seen the entire campus before and it was so fun to see the children’s Beatrix Potter community garden tucked away on the grounds, the amazing new science labs, and smart boards in all of the classrooms.  Those smart boards are pretty neat.  David and I remember when they started to phase out chalkboards for dry erase boards and we thought that was the coolest thing ever.  Who knows what kind of technology they’ll have by the time our kids are in school!

David making new friends in the science lab.

After the tour, we had a lovely dinner in Thorpe Hall where David and another classmate gave a couple of heartfelt speeches.  David’s was very touching, and afterwards a lot of the faculty asked if they could have copies of it to put in their newsletters or reference for their current students.  He did a great job speaking in front of the room and it was very obvious how much his time at TASIS meant to him, and helped shape him into the man he is today.

As the summer began winding down, we finally used our tickets to the Shard that we received as Christmas presents half a year ago.  The Shard opened up in February of this year as the tallest building in Western Europe, and now dominates London’s skyline.

Part of the reason we waited so long to use our tickets is that we wanted to eat at one of the new panoramic restaurants after enjoying the view from above.  So we booked our tickets to ‘The View’ for sunset and then we were able to snag a reservation at Hutong, the Hong Kong restaurant whose newest location has recently opened up on the 33rd floor of the Shard.

David just bought us a Go-Pro so he was very excited to use it for the first time at the Shard.

Other interesting buildings coming up in East London – the Cheese Grater in its final stages of construction and the Walkie Talkie. Because of its unique shape, the Walkie Talkie reflects heat from the sun onto areas across the street.  The heat was so intense this summer, it actually fried an egg on the pavement, lit a shopkeeper’s carpet on fire, and melted part of someone’s Jaguar.  Oops!

We watched the sun set over the Thames from the 69th and 70th floor observation decks.

Once the sun went down, we headed downstairs to Hutong for a late dinner of dan-dan noodles, spicy pork dumplings, cold chicken salad, and boneless fried ribs.  I think we ate literally every kind of farm animal during that meal.  Our favorite part of the dinner was the Peking duck.  We ordered half a duck, and the first course is prepared table-side.  The meat is thinly sliced and offered with the usual pancakes, cucumber, scallions, and hoisin sauce.  Then, the chef takes the remaining duck back to the kitchen to cook with spices, onions, and other vegetables.  The other half of the duck is then served with additional pancakes and garlic-infused oil and red chili sauce.  It was fan-freakin’-tastic! And of course, the view wasn’t half-bad either!

View of St. Paul's from our table at Hutong

We ended the summer with the Food and Wine Festival at the Ascot racecourse on Saturday.  Alyson and I had really been looking forward to donning our English outfits and heading to Surrey for a day at the races.  We will use any excuse to go shopping for new dresses and hats!

I’ve been to Churchill Downs before when I was younger, and to the racetrack in Texas a few times, but it is a very different affair in England.  During Royal Ascot, men wear their tops and tails and women compete to have the most outlandish hats.  This past year, it got so out of control that the Ascot officials enforced a strict dress code specifying the diameter of the base of the women’s hats.

This past weekend, the dress code was not that strict, but we did have premier access badges which enforced suits and ties for the men and modest dresses for the women.  The badges also gave us access to all areas of the venue (excluding private boxes) so we were able to watch the races at the top viewing deck.  We had fun down in the grass next to the track, too. 

Our view of the warm-up from the top deck 

Downstairs, we could watch the parade of horses up-close before each race and place our bets with the variety of gambling shops.

Saturday being the Food and Wine Festival, of course we ate and drank some very British foods and wines.  We had Pimm’s cups, wine, beer, local cheeses, ploughman sandwiches with ham and chutney, roast beef with horseradish cream, and a couple of Ascot burgers.

James Martin, British TV chef and ‘Strictly Come Dancing’ veteran (the UK’s version of ‘Dancing with the Stars’ which paved the way for the US program) was there to present trophies and do live cooking demonstrations.  There were also booths offering novelty chocolates, candies, flavored oils and vinegars, curries, and other English treats.

We didn’t catch any of the cooking demonstrations, but we did have fun placing our bets on the horses with the craziest or cutest names.  David and Paul actually did some research into the top picks before putting money down, but it didn’t really help… 

Our luck turned during one of the final races when I went for a beautiful horse named Flying Bear.  I won a whopping 20 quid!

Paul’s horse won the next race, so we came away as the big winners.

We also came away with some cheese, chutney, and oatcakes, a few meat pies, and the cutest picnic basket complete with a cooler, cutlery, and dishes. 

We hope this unseasonably warm weather continues for a bit longer so we don’t need to wait until next Summer to use the new picnic basket!