The Pup at the Pub

Summer has FINALLY arrived in London!

Last weekend at David’s and Jeff’s baseball game, Karen and I bundled up in our winter coats and boots and watched all seven innings from the warmth of the car.  But this weekend, we watched the boys in T-shirts and shorts and even got a little too much sun (my legs are painfully red). 

The House boys

Jeff pitching and David at 3rd

Even Kirby came along to soak up the rays 

and watch his daddy and uncle play ball. 

And afterwards, because he was such a good pup and 

Herts won the game, we took Kirby to his first pub to celebrate!

That was Sunday.  On Saturday, I planned a day out in Highgate.  A couple of years ago I read Her Fearful Symmetry, a novel written by Audrey Niffenegger, the author of The Time Traveler’s Wife.  Her Fearful Symmetry is a story about twin girls that inherit their aunt’s flat in Highgate overlooking a famous cemetery, and they experience some supernatural activity.  But not scary supernatural.  More like the Time Traveler's Wife supernatural.  The setting of the book is a real place in north London and I’ve wanted to visit it for a while.  So with the weather finally hitting the high-70s, this was the perfect time to get out there!

We took the one-hour tour of Highgate Cemetery in the afternoon.  The cemetery is one of seven that was commissioned in the mid-1800s to solve the problem of churchyard overcrowding.  This was the first opportunity for the Victorians to show off their wealth through death.  Karl Marx is buried here, as well as the Dickens family (sans Charles Dickens, who was laid to rest in Poet’s Corner in Westminster Abbey).  The cemetery is still in use today, though space is quickly running out.

The cemetery was built on a wooded hill, 

making it a peaceful walk through the woods for visitors

Highgate's most famous occupant - Karl Marx

Egyptian Avenue

Row of tombs

Some of the headstones and monuments are completely covered in foliage

After the tour, we walked down Swain’s Lane to Parliament Hill to relax in the park with the rest of London.  Parliament Hill is so-named because during the English Civil War, the hill was held by the Parliamentarians against the Royalists.  It is also rumored that Guy Fawkes planned to watch Parliament blow up from here.  The top of the hill offers great panoramic views of the city. 

At the bottom of the hill was a large pond and David joked that it was so warm, he wouldn't mind going swimming.  When we came to the bottom, we saw that this was in fact a “swimming pond” and the place was full of locals and even a lifeguard paddling around on a surfboard.  Gross!  I love to swim, but in a pond?  There were ducks and geese paddling around next to the people.  It must be filthy in there.  I’d have to be pretty desperate to swim in a pond.  But then again, when we first moved, I used to poke fun at all of the pale Londoners that would come out in droves in their swimsuits to tan in the parks.  In Texas, you’d hang out at the lake or the local pool, not a park.  But now we’ve become just as pale (David’s new nickname for me is Powder) and just as desperate for the sun.  

Who knows... maybe next year we'll be missing water so 

much that we'll be cooling down in this "swimming pond."

Then we walked through Hampstead Heath to the Camden area.  Everyone always raves about this area of London and its quaint alleys and fun pubs.  It was super cute and we had lunch in the garden of a little wine bar called Forks and Corks.

We found the cutest village in the middle of Camden.  

This is the gate to the community...

...and inside were picture-perfect cottages like this!

Living in a place like London really does make you appreciate the seasons more.  This weather could not be more perfect and with my new job that keeps me closer to home and only a couple of trips planned this summer, we are looking forward to a lot more weekend outings!

Brighton Beach Holiday

For the long May bank holiday weekend, David and I decided to go to Brighton to soak up the sun on the beach. But of course, it rained… the entire time! I swear it’s been raining nonstop for almost a year now. And with all of the rain comes cold temperatures. So instead of lying around on the beach getting tans, we bundled up in our winter coats and explored the city.

I always forget how close London is to the coast. The other day when I was flying in from Vienna after my last business trip to Bratislava (in case you haven’t heard, last Monday I started a new job at Dell that keeps me closer to home – yay!) I could see the coast and the O2 arena simultaneously out of the plane window.

Brighton's rocky beaches

It makes sense then, that Brighton is only a 50 minute train ride south. We arrived Friday night after work and checked into the historic Grand hotel on the promenade.

The Grand Hotel has hosted Presidents Kennedy and Reagan, some famous actors, and Margaret Thatcher. During Thatcher’s visit in 1984, the IRA blew up the hotel, killing 5 people and injuring dozens more. The hotel was rebuilt back to its Victorian grandeur two years later.

Early Saturday afternoon, we walked through the Lanes, narrow streets in the center of the town full of shops and restaurants. We stopped at English’s, a 150-year old seafood restaurant, for lunch. The family that owns the restaurant has been harvesting its own oysters for more than 400 years, so of course David had to try them. I’m still not an oyster fan, so I stuck with the giant prawn spaghetti.

After lunch we walked down the road to the Brighton Pavilion, George IV’s opulent palace. King George IV was a terrible king and basically wasted away his life drinking and eating. His palace in Brighton was constructed purely to house his lavish parties. The outside is in the “Hindu style” as builder Nash called it, and the inside is covered in Oriental decoration, which was popular in the 1800s and known as the “chinoiserie” style. It doesn’t seem like a real palace at all because it’s so whimsical. Because George IV loved to eat so much and was morbidly obese, the highlights of the tour here were the modern kitchen and dining room, where the center chandelier is dangling from the talons of a giant dragon. We weren’t allowed to take pictures inside so you just have to imagine it. The stranger, the better.

Entrance to the Royal Pavilion

Front lawn

After dinner, guests would move into the music room. The dome of this room is covered in gold cockle shells. After an arsonist tried burning down the palace in 1975, these were painstakingly restored one-by-one. But in 1987, during a hurricane (yeah, who knew there were hurricanes in England?!) the heavy stone ball on top of the dome came loose and crashed through the ceiling. So the restoration had to begin all over again. Bad luck!

It felt like a hurricane outside that afternoon, so after our palace tour, we headed back to the hotel and relaxed watching movies and ordering room service. Our kind of vacation!

Before the day was over, I had to try some Brighton rock candy

On Sunday, we shopped! We made the excuse that there was nothing else to do, so we strolled along the North Laines, which are little streets like the Lanes but with more bohemian shops. We found the cutest T-shirt boutique that sells graphic T’s featuring book covers. And for every sale, the company donates a book to a child in Africa. David picked up a Sherlock Holmes T and I grabbed The Wizard of Oz and Pride and Prejudice.

Old pub in the Lanes

After shopping, we had afternoon tea back at the Grand.

David loves his English breakfast tea and scones!

Then the weather looked a bit clearer, so we decided to take a run down to Hove, a small town on the coast next to Brighton. David just joined his first gym, so he was very motivated to keep in shape, even on vacation!

Colorful Hove beach huts

Whoa!  Someone is excited to be running on the beach!

Monday was the bank holiday, so we celebrated on Brighton Pier. First, we rode the Brighton Wheel, similar to the London Eye but not as tall, to get some good views of the seaside resort. This didn’t really work out because it started pouring! Between the showers, we rode some rides on the pier, including the mechanical bull (where I think we managed to stay on for 6 seconds – total of both our times combined… we did not make Texas proud). We also rode the Mousetrap roller coaster and played the Dolphin Derby, where David beat out 18 other players on his FIRST TRY to win me a purple dolphin!

At the top of the wheel

Unfortunately he couldn't win me a dolphin AND an angry bird

Slide ride on the pier

And that was it! We grabbed the afternoon train home and even got back in time to see The Avengers that night. It was a really relaxing weekend away from the city, but I am sad we didn’t get to lie on the beach in the sun. Seriously, English weather, I’ve had enough! The April showers should be over. Summer is supposed to be here. I’m ready to put away my winter clothes and get some Vitamin D, so Brighton up!