Marathon Birthday

Of course it's a great day for the London Marathon: grey, rainy, some hail, some sun, 8C (46F) with a possible high of 12C (53F). Good temps for running.

Those poor Maasai warriors have probably never felt anything like it though. They have never been outside their village in Tanzania before, but this year they opened the marathon and are running to raise money so that their village can obtain fresh drinking water. They will be in traditional clothing, carrying their shields and spears, wearing sandals made of rubber tires, and chanting - just as they do at home - and hope to complete the marathon in 4 hours.

They can run for days at a time hunting food and water and herding cattle, so this little marathon will be a walk in the park.


Near London Bridge



On the Tube

Because London is a completely alien experience, they were given a four-page cultural briefing that included info such as:

"Even though some may look like they have a frown on their face, they are very friendly people - many of them just work in offices, jobs they don't enjoy, and so they do not smile as much as they should."

"You cannot rely on the sun to tell the time accurately and will have to rely on clocks and watches. The sun will rise and set at different times." [Me. If they see the sun at all.]

"Whereas at home for you it is acceptable to spit, in England it is not but, if you have to, you must do so in a sink or in some trees when no one is looking." [Me. Then they'll be the only people not spitting on the street.]

"You will see many people who are wearing only small clothes and you will wonder why they are cold and may think they are being disrespectful....This is normal for England, especially when it is sunny or in the evening. However, it is illegal to show certain parts of the body and for this reason it is important that you wear underpants if you are wearing your blankets."

To read more, visit the article in the Daily Mail.

This just in:
Unsurprisingly, the first six men across the line were Kenyan with one American coming fifth. A Brit came in 5 minutes later.

The rest will be straggling in until well after sunset. Some people in costumes, raising money for various charities, may take a few more days!

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And now on to my birthday on Thursday.

I took the day off and my mother came along since she had the day off. This may be our last birthday together in a long time, and I wanted to spend the day in town appreciating London before I leave it.

1) Lunch with Lydia


Lydia is my oldest friend. We have known each other for over 27 years. We don't even remember meeting.



After lunch at Cumin Indian restaurant

2) Chores and banking

3) Wandering around Carnaby Street


One of three handbag flowerpots on a ledge outside a shop in funky Kingly Court, off Carnaby Street



The signed card that greeted me back at work thenext morning! It made my day.


As fine a sunset as you will get in London

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Addendum:
I've just received a final comment on my previous post.

Mark said: Some nice pics there. I think you secretly like living in London (despite the tales of travel delays)!! You'll miss it if you move away!?

No, Mark, I won't miss it enough to regret leaving and I didn't miss it before I came back.
And I can take nice pics anywhere, you'll see!

What I will miss are little things like perhaps some favourite foods and products. (I will make a list soon.) Also I might experience those split second sensory flashbacks, just as I do now with memories of Texas which come unbidden as I sit at my desk in the office. That's life.

First week of April

Except that I do want to complain about the 2.5 hour commute I endured on Tuesday morning. There were no eastbound services on the Tube, and I work at the eastern end of the Metropolitan Line. And it had taken 45 minutes southbound, stuck in a tunnel for half of it, to find that out! Followed by 3 buses and then a 15 minute walk.

Oh, not to mention a power outage on the entirety of the line I live along, on Thursday evening. Some people were stuck underground for 3 hours.
Fortunately it started before I left the office and so I took the Met line and a bus.

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My suburban street (spacious Edwardian houses) on a typical grey day. Once upon a time it was probably tree-lined with these huge trees, but they have been lopped to halt the damage caused to the house foundations.



I went for a little ramble last week because it was still light when I left the office!
Here you see Spitalfield's old shops.



Spitalfield's new shopping street next to the shiny ABN Amro building (see top left corner), Spitalfields Church, and the old shops opposite all span centuries



Christ Church Spitalfields, 300 years old, restored in 2004 not as a church but a venue



Lincoln, the life of the party, taking a nap whilst trying not to miss a thing.



With my honorary nephew, taking a guess as to where the phonecam was pointing, hence all the empty space.



Alicia and me covered in grins.



Snow on Saturday, my early birthday present.



Very wet clumpy snow which fell off soon after and melted.

Warm heart cold hands

Freeeeeezzzzzzinggggggg this weekend in London.
The sort of cold that makes your face freeze and your toes fall off. No, I exaggerate, but they certainly get halfway there.

But I still went out. Brrrrrr.

Saturday afternoon was spent with friends where I met my new "nephew". I am one of a trio of aunties, the other two being Amy and Pandy. Of course, his real aunty was there too with her partner.

He is 4 weeks old. I couldn't meet him on his public debut at one week, since I was sick. He's tiny and wee and cute now, so imagine what he was like then!



He is perfect! I could hear him breathing! His hands are gorgeous, his eyes are gorgeous, even the little whorl of hair on the back of his head....! His little busy mouth...his grasping hands...He tucks in his little froggie legs and moulds himself to you. OK, I will shut up now.

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On Sunday, I bundled up and went out with a bunch of fun friends to the Winter Wonderland Christmas fair at Hyde Park. There was a ferris wheel, a bandstand, a haunted house, a toboggan slope, and virtual pod rides (flights?) from Bee Movie and The Snowman.










There were also stalls selling crafts, but most importantly, FOOD. This weather makes me ravenously hungry at regular intervals. There were pancakes and waffles, Pimms, mulled wine, sausage and sauerkraut, hot dogs, a whole pig on a flaming spit (couldn't get a photo between the cooks)....the mini pancakes were a treat with hot chocolate sauce. The German burgers and hot dogs were nice too. I got a bite of those off one of my friends.

But after a while my fingers went numb (inside my fleece lined suede gloves) and my toes were numb (despite wearing two socks and woolly insoles with my boots). So I parted with the group as they set off for the ice rink (yes, ICE) at the Tower of London. I wish I could have, but I was suffering. The cold has also given me a headache. When I got into the train, my toes started burning, and I hate when that happens.

I simply cannot wear enough to keep me warm, but I was so bundled up, I am sure I would have bounced and rolled if I had fallen.

What did you all do this weekend?

Some Lights [EDITED]

Last weekend at Oxford Street, we saw the lights on South Molton Street, which is a small boutique shopping lane next to Bond Street Station.





And an upshot (which you know is my favourite type!) of one of the angels right next to the station, part of which is in the building you see:




Does that satisfy those of you who were agitating for London piccies???

;)

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[EDIT]

Still more? OK, this was the view from the window at 2 p.m. today:



The grey haze behind the church is actually the suburbs a few miles away. On a sunny day you can see the rooftops and a couple of fields.

There is a good case to be made for hibernation when it's like this every day...

Little Thanksgiving

I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving since moving back to London 5 years ago. Now that my mother has moved back too, and we are missing the old life even more, we decided to follow up some leads, knowing that someone must cater to the large community of American expats here.

So we went to Christophers American Bar & Grill in Covent Garden.

	3 course traditional menu - £38 Begin your Thanksgiving celebration with Christopher’s Cranberry Martini - £8 Roast corn and sweet potato chowder Warm tomato tart guacamole cream, cilantro dressing “Grand Central” oyster and scallop pan roast Traditional ‘Waldorf salad’ smoked duck, walnut oil dressing Slow cooked ballottine of Norfolk Turkey corn bread, hazelnut and Michigan cherry stuffing, cranberry relish, buttered beans and creamed potatoes Missouri roast rump of lamb, Avocado tamale, dried tomato & cilantro dressing Roast Salmon with apple, pecan & wild rice griddle cake Sauteed baby spinach, Californian raisin and pecan brown butter Pumpkin pie bourbon cream Blackberry and apple cobbler blueberry ice cream Chocolate fudge brownie raspberries, vanilla ice cream and hot chocolate sauce

Apologies for not taking the photo before demolishing half the plate!
Waldorf salad with rocket leaves, sliced celeriac, smoked duck slices, golden raisins, and warm walnut oil dressing. Very cosy eating, that!



Missouri lamb rump in a sundried tomato and cilantro (coriander leaf) sauce, with an avocado tamale. Again I'm sorry I ate half of it first :) The medium done lamb was melt-in-your-mouth, mmmmm....



Spiced pumpkin pie with bourbon whisky cream and a sugar wafer. Just the right size dessert.



All rounded off with looseleaf (!) peppermint tea and dark chocolate truffles :P



Mum trying to figure our her new phone camera



Me going strong on the rose wine

We had a wonderful time there and wish we could go for Christmas too (if public transport is working on that day). The service was wonderful, attentive, precise, efficient - the table was even scraped between courses with a brass scoop - something I haven't seen since the Flying Dutchman on the Kemah waterfront in Texas, where we ate things like beef wellington and soft-shell crab.

At Christophers, we forgot we were in London, felt very homey, comfortable, and happy. The sort of happy where your heart rises for a moment. Neither of us have felt that in a long, long time...