London Digested, pt. II

Here's some photos from the second day of my attempt to stay away from the tourist hot spots. It rained for about two hours right as I got off the train at Fenchurch Street and my one goal for the day was to find a pub Jon had told me about called Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese, a place referenced in numerous Dickens novels and also rumoured to be the place Samuel Johnson worked on what would become the first dictionary of the English language. Pretty cool huh? Yeah, I couldn't find it.


A statue thought to be Roman Emperor Trajan, aka the Virtuous Pagan. There's a nickname you don't hear nowadays.


I was thinking this would be a good look for me in the 2009


Don't worry, he sees me


This is the most beautiful photo this swan has ever taken


There's a pigeon obesity epidemic in the UK


Moments later the birds carried this man away. There was nothing I could do.


This is actually very cool


Outside Buckingham Palace


Don't be so coy


This reminds of something


Westminster Abbey = Brilliant


If you try long enough to take a photo of yourself in front of Parliament some stranger will finally come rescue you and offer their services


Not all great historical figures have great historical posture


I will model my own landscaping after that of the Houses of Parliament


Obligatory shot of Big Ben


In London, ferris wheels turn counter clockwise, unless you're standing on the opposite side of them.


I stood and watched this for some time

For my final night in England, Jon & Michelle took me out for some good food and drinks. We started off at The Hoop, a pub in Stock.




Perfect!

We couldn't decide what we wanted so just ordered three dishes and wherever the waitress placed them, that's what we ate. It worked out well because after two pints...



and a bowl of winter root soup...



...I was ready to dig in & I got the heartiest of the three meals.

Meal #1: Homecooked Smoked Ham, 2 Eggs & Chunky Chips



Meal #2: Hunters Chicken with Chunky Bread



Meal #3: The Hoop’s Toad in the Hole with Mash & Onion Gravy



Can you guess which I got?

You know it! Toad in the Hole! And I killed it.



On our way to the next pub Jon took us thru some backroads which highlighted driving the car thru a fjord, some breathtaking houses, and deciding to pull over on the darkest road I've ever been on to explore an old church.






Just before we got back home we stopped at one last place to cap off the night with a pint or two of Guinness and some good ol' conversation. We closed the place out.




The next morning it was time to go, but not without a final bowl of my beloved Mini Banana Wheat Bisks, the best cereal ever.



My flight home was rough. A lot of turbulence, but I had great company. A couple of ladies, BB & Jenny, traveling to NYC to do some Xmas shopping. They were a riot. BB all but maimed the row behind trying to change into her "flying socks" in the aisle, and only upon landing did I learn that, in some way, somehow, BB was the original Bridget Jones. She had to change her name to avoid the publicity. Strange. Here we are.



England is pretty cool.

Madison's Photo Shoot

We had dinner at Brian & Asriel's last Thursday night, delicious, and to keep Madison busy while the grown-ups talked I gave Madison my camera. She took some pretty good shots. We may have a little Annie Leibovitz on our hands.

Banged

Fran is going thru her Lita Ford 80's metal hair phase. Let's hope Santa brings her a helmet for Christmas.

Krih Sma Swid Dak Rups

I learned a few things while celebrating Christmas with the Krupps this past weekend.

• Krupps can fill up a house with holiday cheer
• The Krupp mouth is highly genetic
• No Krupp is very good at volleyball
• Braden sings Soulja Boy when he thinks no one's looking
• Madison has decided she is a dog named Martini
• Dylans head is not completely attached to his body
• blind cats are the sweetest kind of cat
• Laura & I are the best sleepers in the family
• Mad Gab may be the greatest game ever invented

That said, we had a lovely time visiting our old stomping grounds, having lunch with Christina, holding Leann, meeting Mariah, and just hanging around with the family in general. Christmas morning was great fun with good food and presents ranging from calypso drums to authentic longswords. Wouldn't have it any other way.

Look

Sparkles Billboard

Gotta love the South.

London Digested, pt. I

I've had the chance to digest my travels. Finally uploaded all the photos, the usual collection of tourist spots I swore I wouldn't visit but had a hard time avoiding. I really did try and get lost in the back alleys and streets of London, possibly not the best idea nowadays, but I made it home alive so...

I was able to keep the blog somewhat up to date while I was over there so I don't feel the need to elaborate or post an exceptional amount of photos, but I will briefly recap some of the spots I visited with some of my more personally preferred photos.


Those British are so nostalgic


This is the Tower of London. It's like a castle. Isn't that crazy!?


The area surrounding Tower Bridge is known for defying gravity


It's also a little known fact that Tower Bridge lies somewhere along the Jersey Shore


The dreaded stairway into the Thames


Here it is folks, the infamous London Bridge!


From one of my favourite spots in London, Trafalgar Square


People live here. Seems unreal.


I ran past Parliament & Big Ben on my way to the tube. I didn't wanna be late for rehearsal. But never fear, I came back the next day for a proper photo shoot.

I'll post day two later on this week. I gotta go do the dishes.

We Got K-Rod

I realize I haven't mentioned diddly squat about anything to do with sports, especailly baseball, in awhile. Not much worth mentioning that's not just embarassing (like your star wide receiver shooting himself in the leg with his own illegally concealed weapon) but now...

This is how Mets fans should feel

I won't lie, I was caught off guard. I haven't really been paying attention to the off-season trades mainly because... well ... there haven't really been any yet. But leave it up to Minaya to break the ice and snatch up Francisco Rodriguez, aka K-Rod (original), the star closer for the Angels last season and the man who broke Bobby Thigpen's 18 year record for saves in a season. This dude is no joke, and considering the absolute cataclysm the Mets were running out of the bullpen last season this can't be anything but a major upgrade. Only scary part is that after Thigpen set the record back in 1990 he never even came close to those numbers for the rest of his career. Oh boy...

So I can say it. We got K-Rod! I will sing it! Not like a silly little Bow-Wow-Wow "I Want Candy" kinda tune. More like a "We Got Annie" kinda song & dance number, a little soft shoeing and harp playing kinda giddiness.


Check those moves by Punjab

Home: Finally: Bed

Gee Whiz! It feels like I haven't sat at this computer for weeks. A seemingly quick flight after quite a nice visit with her side of the family, a slight hangup in the airport parking lot last night (dead battery (Frans fault) (just kidding hun))) we finally made it home to our quaint little icebox. I barely noticed the snow on the ground, I just couldn't wait to jump into my own bed. Kittens were excited to not be alone anymore, or maybe just happy to see someone who could clean their box and give them fresh food. They showed their appreciation by sleeping as close to our faces as felinely possible.


And even the chilly sheets didn't stop me from diving face first into my pillow. We layered about 12 blankets, including our newly acquired (stolen) green fuzzy from the Krupps, and it was toasty in no time. We only got in a few hours before it was time to get up again but.... it was what I've been waiting for.

Photos are uploading from the past few days/weeks whatever. I should be able to put up some Krupp Christmas photos in the next day or two and start leaking out some shots I took while wandering the streets of London. Get excited.

Fran is off to work now, and I too have a busy week ahead. Have two shows to stage and 3 to choreograph, maybe 4, all before Christmas. Miami this weekend, Alabama the next. Not to mention trying to track down some more of these dag-blasted wood pellets. I am chilly. All I want for Christmas is my warm bed.

Ooh! & that new Woody Allen book.

East the River Thames

Home tomorrow then. Good stuff.

West the River Thames

Spoons!