London - Day 1

We've come to London for a long weekend of playing tourist and going to the theatre. So it was a 4:30 am wake up call and a taxi to the airport yesterday. Breakfast at the airport - which I can now recommend - and an uneventful flight. A short train ride into to town and we were at our hotel, just across the street from the Tower of London. We had a little trouble checking-in (goodbye Expedia - that's one too many problems) but eventually got settled.

We hopped a tube to Westminster to start the sight-seeing with Parliament and Big Ben. We contemplated a trip on the Eye, but the line was too long. It is still something we'd like to do, though. Fiona has promised that if I start to freak out, she'll "take care of it".

Big Ben was impressive and we got to hear him chime soon after we arrived, although at 1pm it wasn't too exciting. With the exception of the building material and the size, Parliament reminded us of Marischal College back in Aberdeen.

Our main goal was Westminster Abbey, which we hoped looked better on the inside than the outside. It was actually really interesting, especially as a history buff. The place is actually more like an elaborately bedecked cemetery than a church - it is jam-packed with all sorts of memorials. Kings, Queens, inventors, explorers, military officers, politicians and aristocrats. In some places you have a mixture of all of these, one on top of the other. I could start naming names, but I'd be here for the rest of the day. Interesting to see the sarcophagus of Edward I, who labeled himself simply as "the Hammer of the Scots". Even with all the dead people, the church had a light and airy feel, lots of light and light colored walls that reminded us of the Grote Kerk in Breda. We're not quite sure where to rank Westminster Abbey in our tour of great churches: the Grote Kerk, Notre Dame, Sacre Coeur, Saint Giles (Edinburgh) and Westminster.

We walked a little further towards Buckingham Palace, past the Institution for Mechanical Engineers - I guess if we had ever succeeded in driving my dad crazy when we were children, that's where he would have gone.

Buckingham was closed, as Lizzy and Phil were at home, but we wandered around and got the requisite pictures, including me guarding the Canada gate. At some point we noted that they were stopping some traffic in certain lanes, so we sidled up the barricades around the traffic circle to see what would happen. A couple of Jaguars drove past, one with an old grey haired lady and a small old man, not more than 15 feet from us. Pretty cool to be seeing your head of state like that. Cooler still to later notice snipers on the roof of Buckingham Palace.

We wandered a little further to the Wellington Arch. It puts on a good front, with an impressive statue on top and fabulous iron gates, put it looks like they spent all their money on that, with no carvings or plaques on the sides of the arch. I think Wellington deserved at least as much as Napoleon.

The stroll from there to Picadilly Circus was interesting. Quaint old hotels, including one with a vertical garden that was very impressive. Some of the crossings between the arch and St. James's Park had lights for horse and rider - not something you see every day.

The last stop was Trafalgar Square and Nelson's column, although we were misled once by another larger column to think we had already reached our destination. This city is so full of statues and monuments that it can get a little confusing. But we eventually found or way through the naval arch and to the square. A good cap to an interesting day.

After a quick dinner we took a taxi to the restored Globe Theatre for a night of Shakespeare. What an experience. The theatre is open air, with the ground floor mostly taken up by standing room. I (wisely) had chosen seats in the covered second deck, and although the seats were small, hard pine benches, at least we could rent cushions. When the heavens opened up sometime in the second act, everyone standing in front of the stage had no choice but to endure a thorough soaking. The play, Troilus and Cressida, was fantastic. I think we especially enjoyed a very Welsh Achillies.

As the rain had let up towards the end of the play, we wandered along the banks of the Thames towards home. Just shy of the Tower Bridge the heavens opened up again and we sheltered under one of the Towers until we could hail a cab.

Our first impressions of London are pretty good. The transport is easy and rather uncomplicated, there is definitely lots to see and we're really enjoying an eclectic mix of architecture - from classic to gothic to contemporary and modern. A little like Holland, but a little less extreme. We're looking forward to the rest of the weekend.

Bonus points to any readers who can guess which shows we will be seeing the next two nights ...

I think Kellogs owes me some money ...

We went to the grocery store this morning after our golf lesson, looking for a nice roast for this evening. On our way out we walked past the cereal aisle and eagle-eyed Fiona spotted the following Kellogs product: Ricicles. She claims "Captain Rik" on the front of the box looks too much like me to be a coincidence.

I haven't tried them yet, but sugar coated Rice Krispies can't be that bad, can they?

Our New Life

I guess one of the things we didn't really think hard enough about when we left Houston and decided to take up the ex-pat life is not just our own transience, but that of those around us as well. When you decide to move to a foreign country, and commit to continue moving around in the future, you can count on leaving some friends behind. It's hard and you definitely put it into the "cons" column, but you always look forward to making new friends in new places. What you don't count on is that the easiest people to meet are also ex-pats, who get moved around too. It's happened to us again, in that friends we have met here in Aberdeen are being shipped off somewhere else. It makes you want to pull inward a little - what's the point if everyone is just going to move away once you get to know them - but that's an urge we have to fight.

I spoke to my sister, Linda, the other day. She's starting a mini-expat experience of her own, doing 6 months of research in Holland for her PhD. We had a good chat and I think we've already organized a couple of visits, including a possible Christmas visit. We wish her, Mark and Adele all the best in their adventure.

For those who are interested, Australia are 479 for 5 in their first innings, after England went a respectable 435 all out. The English bowlers are having real trouble getting wickets and it looks like Australia could bat all day. The guys at work were hoping for rain, which would call off the remainder of the match and give an "honorable" draw for the first test.

We also are getting back into the Tour de France. I thought I would have to retract my statement about Lance not finishing this year, but it looks like Contador put his stamp on the race yesterday. If Lance can't pull back the time in the rest of the Pyrenees, I don't see him being content with second fiddle and working to protect a teammate's lead. I can imagine a withdrawal sometime in the last week. I was hoping Astana would get 5 guys in the top 5 positions and then, on the second last day, just let them go at each other up Mont Ventoux. Oh well.

We went out again last night in what is becoming our routine Friday night walk on the beach with Casey. The wind was blowing and the surf was up, so there were a few more surfers in the water than last time. Casey loves it - chasing birds, running in the water, playing with other dogs and little people. She comes home exhausted. It works out well for us too. A little bit of exercise and fresh air, get to watch the big boats leaving the harbour and, if we deserve it, some soft-serve ice cream.

Hot as Hades

It's been blinking hot the last few days - pushing 28 degrees. For a city with no air conditioning, that's pretty hot. We had a hard time getting to sleep last night. Opening the windows doesn't help because there's too much light out. We've decided to try moving down one floor and sleeping in the guest room. Hopefully it goes a little better.

We had a nice weekend, too. We spent the whole of Saturday outside, buying some new flowers for the garden, puttering around outside and having a BBQ. We wandered across the road to the neighbours house as well, for some impromptu drinks. Their garden was in full bloom and is absolutely amazing. The kind of place I would like the time to develop if we should ever put down roots somewhere. We finished the night with a few Mojitos and a nice fire in the chimenea.

We had a nice Canada Day yesterday, too. We got together for a BBQ with Canadian Association of Aberdeen. Big Sugar was played, the anthem was sung and hockey trades were discussed. All in glorious sunshine. It doesn't get better than that.

We're dog-sitting, as well. Friends of ours that have dog-sat Casey in the past dropped off a little Pomeranian named Pogo. He's a decent little dog, although his hair is starting to get to Fiona's allergies. I don't think Casey is too thrilled about sharing her parents, either.

We're watching the team introductions for the Tour de France, which starts for real on Saturday. I don't think we've picked our favorites or a winner yet, but we're both certain that it won't be Lance in yellow on the Champs. Personally, I would be very surprised if he finishes.

The other big sporting event going on right now is Wimbledon, of course. The entire UK is getting behind Andy Murray. It's all roses and sunshine when he's winning, then he is an example of a great British athlete. When he loses, though, he inevitably becomes Scottish again. Funny how that works ....

Paris - Day 6

Not really a full day today, and not the day we planned, but a fun day nonetheless.

We went to Sacre-Coeur this morning, the first stop on what we thought would be a tour of Montmartre. The basilica was gorgeous and the history behind it was quite interesting. It was more serene than the circus at Notre-Dame, which was a step in the right direction. The only drawback was: no pictures inside the church. That was unfortunate, as some of the dome paintings and stained glass were magnificent.

We had planned to trek further into Montmartre after Sacre-Coeur, but it wasn't as inviting as we had hoped. There were copious amounts of broken bottles everywhere and the atmosphere was a little dreary. We decided to move on.

We went back towards the downtown and the Rue Royale that we had passed through yesterday. We got a closer look at the Church of Mary Magdalene that we saw yesterday. It was unique, with religious modern art in some of the side niches.

After lunch, and dropping 27 euros at the mustard shop (lemon & harissa, chablis & morels, garlic & lemon, parmesan & basil, rhubarb & thyme, fine herbs, dill & lime and a l'ancien), we wandered down the retail avenue, window shopping at all the big labels - Chanel, Cartier, Dior, Yves St. Laurent and many more. Fiona's favorite, Hermes, agreed to swap some of our quite unfashionable euros for their somewhat more fashionable scarves. How kind.

Paris - Day 5

Day 5 was a bit of a potpourri. One major item on the agenda and then a range of possibilities.

We took our first Metro trip and we highly recommend it for getting around Paris. The tracks and destinations are clear and well laid out. The price is reasonable, as are the crowds. Definitely skip the Batobus on the Seine and take the Metro.

We got off at the Arc de Triomphe and wandered around the base for a while. The views on a relatively quiet Sunday morning were grand. The large avenues were mostly empty and we could see for miles due to the clear skies. We took the 284 steps to the top terrace and got an even better view.

We then wandered down the Champs Elysees, which was made a bit easier due to the fact it was Sunday and some of the shops were closed. I guess we could have planned that better. We took the time for a nice lunch before making it down to the end of the Champs. There, at the Grand Palais, we found an exposition of ancient books and prints. Fiona catered to my love of old books and agreed to have a look for a couple of hours. The books were spectacular. I went in with a North American view of old books (ie. first editions by Churchill or Twain) and got a European insight into old books - books made before the printing press, hand written and illustrated. It was absolutely amazing.

We left the Grand Palais and found a nice little park outside the Petit Palais to recharge our batteries with some fruit and croissants. We quickly attracted quite a crowd of pigeons and sparrows.

We then decided on seeing a few more landmarks before calling it a day. We wandered down to the Opera building, passing the Church of Marie de Magdalene along the way, although my personal highlight was the Maille mustard shop (fortunately, for my wallet, it was closed). We then hopped the Metro to the Cemetiere de Pere Lachaise, where some Parisiens of note are buried. We saw Marcel Proust and Edith Piaf, Modigliani and Jim Morrison, Marshal Ney and the several Napoleonic noble families. The highlight was the gravestone of Oscar Wilde, covered with lipstick kisses. I leave it to you to decide whether or not one belongs to Fiona.

We hustled it back home and had a quiet meal. We're becoming somewhat worn down by now, and are taking every opportunity to ride instead of walk, sit instead of stand, etc... I think the timeline of a week in Paris flirts with our limits.

Paris - Day 4

We had another great dinner last night. On the recommendation of the hotel and to celebrate Fiona's birthday we went to a local eatery called Le Pere Claude (known to be a favourite of a certain Mr. Chirac). It worked out perfectly. We had a great waiter who was bang on with his recommendations. I had a starter that probably ranks up in the top ten of things I have ever eaten: a truffle based cream soup with two lightly poached eggs swimming in it. It may sound gross to some, but I was speechless in trying to describe it to Fiona. We absolutely recommend this place to anyone dining in Paris. All at a reasonable price, too.

Because we had walked our feet raw at Versailles the day before, we decided that today would have a slightly more lazy overtone. We had "petit dejeuner Anglaise" at the corner brasserie and then wandered down to the Batobus - a Seine based boat service that acts like a bus, allowing you to hop on and off at the major tourist attractions. Our stop was Notre Dame.

For as busy as it was, there wasn't a lot of waiting around. The church itself is very impressive - although not everyone was in the right frame of mind, necessitating a shushing by the staff over the PA system. We ducked into the treasury to see some of the icons and other "donations" made by kings and queens over the years. They also had a cabinet of cameos containing the likeness of all of the popes - very interesting. We kept comparing it back to our tour of the Grote Kerk in Breda. Scales were similar, with Notre Dame being much darker inside, but with more of its beauty and decoration still intact. We had a little thunderstorm during our visit, so we did not ascend the 387 step spiral staircase to the top of the towers.

When we decided to come to Paris we hoped to have enough time to see the major tourist attractions and still be able to wander around and get a feel for the "real" Paris. With nothing else really planned for the day, we decided to go off in search of an authentic "chocolat chaud". Staying on the islands, we tracked down a tiny shop that had a particularly good reputation. The chocolat was thick and creamy and unlike any "hot chocolate" that we had ever had. We ended up having to cut it a bit with water, which was provided, because it was so rich.

We then walked a few doors down to a local art gallery containing a lot of really good work by local and visiting artists. We ended up having a good conversation with the gallery owner and settling on an original piece that will forever remind us of this fantastic trip - a much better souvenir than the tacky miniature Eiffel Towers that are sold by the handful on every street corner. The gallery owner asked us for our information and offered to let us know when some of the other artists had new work, so it looks like we now have our own private art dealer to visit every time we jet into town. Moving on up in the world ...

The painting is wrapped for travel, so we'll take a snapshot and post it once we get back home.

Looks like tomorrow will be the Champs D'Elysees and the Arc du Triomphe. We're planning on taking the metro in order to give our feet another day of rest. I think we'll do a walking tour of Montmartre on Monday. We happened to be flipping channels on our hotel TV while changing for dinner tonight and had to stop on the music channel when we heard an unfamiliar but very catchy tune. We liked it quite a bit, but were unable to find a download on iTunes. Lo and behold, the band, Yodelice, is playing a free concert at the Palais Royal tomorrow evening, as part of the "Fete de la Musique" festival running tomorrow. Funny how that works out.

Paris - Day 3

First things first - a very happy birthday to my fabulous young wife. It truly is great to spending it with you in Paris!

Our feet had recovered somewhat from our previous day's excursion, and it was a good thing, too, because they were seriously put to the test today. We got up early, grabbed a quick croissant and grabbed the train out of town towards Versaille. By the time we arrived at 9:30, the crowds were already gathering and the school trips were pulling up in their busloads. I thought that was something I would have a hard time with, the crowds, but it has been easier to take than I thought. You just resign yourself to the fact that there will always be someone in your otherwise perfect picture, that everything worth seeing will have a line and that a constant dull roar of noise will be in the background. I was joking today that as a Canadian I never really grew up with a good perception of what "busy" is.

Versaille was, of course, magnificent. We enjoyed every aspect - the Grand Apartements, les jardin, le Trianon and the Queen's Hamlet. It really is worth the trip for anyone visiting Paris. I'll let the pictures do the talking and sign off early tonight ...