Prime Meridian

THE LINE

This past Saturday was probably the nicest weather day we've had in England since last April. really. It was clear skies, sunny and warmish all day. Fortunately we had made fun plans to meet some Dallas friends and visit the Royal Observatory and Maritime Museum. It was a great day out. Very interesting to see the official clock of the world - which sets the time for all clocks and also see the Prime Meridian line - the 0 degree longitude line for the globe. (FYI - the Equator is 0 degree latitude). Stood on both the Eastern and Western hemispheres at the same time! So interesting to see how they figured out all that stuff. The history says they needed to figure it out so that the ships at sea could know the current date and time while they were away from land. They also studied the position of the stars to determine their position on the globe.

There is a beautiful park which B and our friends enjoyed rolling down the hill and climbing up the trees. L would have loved it too, but he was at Thorpe Park for a birthday party.

And of course, the end of ANY perfect day in England for a child --- went to Hamley's Toy store - again. Surprisingly B left without spending any of her money (none of mine either :-)

I'm telling you, the sun and warmth just makes us all giddy!

Borough Market

B picking out our artichokes.


The tomato and aubergine selection. (aubergine = eggplant)

Mushrooms anyone?
On the occassional Saturday DA and I really enjoy exploring around Borough Market. It is a really historic food market - evidence that a market has been going on at that location for 1,000 years - and very, very busy. Pick up great produce, meat, fish, cheese, olives, bread, etc. Lots of fun to roam around.

"Forget the veggies, bring on the brownie mountain!!!"

Chelsea game finish

Oh My!! Chelsea and Liverpool just finished their 1st game in a 2 game series and it had a fabulous ending! It was 95 min game and at 94:54 it was 1-0 Liverpool. Chelsea threw in the ball for the last time and Liverpool accidentally hit it into their goal. Tied the game on the buzzer. YEAH!!! (Chelsea's facilities are nearby so we are Chelsea fans). Great ending.
For those American's in the bunch - these are "football" teams, AKA soccer.

Just to show how out of it we are - just tonight DA was on the computer and said, "Kidd plays for Dallas now"??? um, hello, even I knew that. But yes, we do know there is a Presidential election on the horizon.

NEWS FLASH

It must be officially spring - actually rode my bike today without wearing gloves!!!! yeah. amazing. still have to wear a coat, but warming up enough to leave the gloves at home is fabulous. It even stays light until 8:15pm already. I love, love, love the British Summer Time (their word for Daylight Savings) - it's the gift for enduring the dark days of winter.
I am so grateful for the warm sun!!

Chocolate

Went to a fabulous event today with the American Women's group where a master chocolatier, Bill McCarrick, explained the intricacies of chocolate and how he creates his own chocolate from the beans to the final product. I believe he is the only person in England starting at the "beans" stage. It was fascinating and so informative and tasty too. He brought samples and let us taste them. It was delicious. Main thing he said to look for in your chocolate is very few ingredients and cocoa butter (instead of vegetable fat). His chocolate factory is very close by and they do classes frequently where you can go and make some of your own stuff. Sign me up. I'm sure I'll be there soon. He also does a bespoke service (bespoke = custom) and you can create your own recipe for chocolate based on your preferences and it will be your own secret recipe that he only makes for you. Pricey (to the tune of 12oo GBP) but would be a cool thing to do if you had money to burn. check it out.
www.sirhanssloane.com
My new favorite chocolate!!!!
Also met a gal from Southlake today - small world. Not too many North Texas folks around here - most "Texans" in England are from Houston.

My "English" child

The first time any American goes to the movie theater in England and orders popcorn at the concession counter - the next thing they hear is "salty or sweet". what are they talking about? It trips up all the Americans. For the record, they have 2 types. One is salty like we would expect and the other is ...sweet .. clever huh. Not really like carmel corn, but it does have sugar on it. A very unexpected taste. You wouldn't believe how ingrained it is in your taste buds to have salty popcorn while watching a movie. I ordered sweet one time to see how it tasted and every time I took a bite it startled me and my mind was like, "what's that". Definitely couldn't get used to it, but it tastes good enough if you like sweet things.
Further evidence that our kids are picking up English terminology... B asked for popcorn as her snack today. She said, "mom, can you make me some salty popcorn." Now that may not sound English to you, but for her to ask for it that way is just another example of the way things slide into your vocabulary. Like car park, council tax, estate agent, footballers, dual carriageway, smart dress, mac (a coat - not a computer), bespoke, figure (pronounced "figer"), schedule (pronounced as "shes-shwule" - cracks me up every time).
The craziest thing about me writing this list - I cant even think of what all the different words are - I've been here so long they have lost their novelty and sound normal. very weird.
But we still say "trash can" havent converted to the rubbish bin - yet.

Easter

Now that I have experienced our 2nd Easter in England, I have decided it is the English holiday that most resembles Thanksgiving in America. Everyone wishes everyone "happy Easter" and big family meals are expected on that day. Good Friday and "Easter Monday" are both holidays with most stores closed both days. It's a big deal. I dont think I've heard of the "Easter Monday" holiday before. It wouldn't surprise me if there were even people who weren't Christian who "celebrate" Easter. Since it fell during our spring break - we were in Italy for the big day, so I didnt have to cook the fancy meal. Good thing - my last "real" Thanksgiving was interesting enough to last me a whole year. Dont need to throw an extra Thanksgiving meal in the middle.
They do have some fabulous Easter candy though. B kept asking me why the Easter bunny didnt come to Italy. oops.

Italy in springtime

Pompeii and the volcano Vesuvius

B in front of the Roman Forum

DA and I at the Colosseum in Rome

Over the kid's spring break we took a trip to Italy. It was a whirlwind through Tuscany, Rome and the Amalfi coast (the top of the foot in the boot shape of Italy). There are just too many wonderful things to say about Italy. I will post my top 10 list below and a few pictures. We've heard from many other Expats (American Patriots living outside the country - very common term heard over here) that once you travel to Italy you never want to go anywhere else - you just keep going back. I believe it. The food, the people, the scenery, the history - just everything to want in a trip.

PRICE'S TOP 10 LIST FOR ITALY:

10) Pompeii - very, very interesting. New info for me - I thought it was covered up by lava, but in fact, it was just completely buried with ash and falling earth/rocks. It was not burned by lava.

9) the GIGANTIC lemons in Sorrento. Some were larger than softballs. The lemon and orange trees were in bloom all over the area. It is so cool looking. All the little houses have orange and lemon trees in their gardens.

8) the weather in Tuscany - It only rains about 40 days a year in Italy and we were there for 7 of them. It even snowed! Our tour guide said she hadn't seen snow in that area for 30 years. lucky us. Unfortunately we didn't get to see all the colors of Tuscany in their sunshine glory. Guess that means we need to go back.

7) San Gimignano - loved, loved, loved that little town. Also liked Siena, Assissi, Florence...

6) driving the Amalfi Coast - my, my, my fabulous scenery, but scary!!! road is tiny, you are driving on a cliff for MILES with buses meeting you on the road and the locals are driving their little motorcycles fast as they could go down the center of the road. Luckily DA drove. I would have fallen off into the Mediterranean Sea.

5) driving in Italy. period. no lines on the road in Rome. too scary riding in front seat of the taxi! DA loved the "traffic rules are really suggestions" way of life. Italians just do what they want and don't really get mad at anyone else doing what they want - except they might honk at you.

4) the Colosseum in Rome. very cool.

3) the Sistine chapel - beautiful. Line to get into the Vatican Museum is crazy. about 5 deep for a mile, but we bought a ticket where we cut to the front of the line :=) Still took 2 hours to walk straight through the museum just to get to the Sistine Chapel.

2) GELATO - need I say more. delicious. B had at least 2 servings a day. (Italian ice cream for those who don't know)

1) Fried fish - it was so funny. Our first night in Italy was on Good Friday and since the country is mainly Catholic, they only serve fish on that day. It was a fixed menu restaurant. Our 1st Italian meal was: 1st course - fried fish bait - literally fried minnows! fried whole like french fries. heads, eyes, tails and all. B almost fainted. she and I left our plates untouched, but DA said they were tasteless. L tried them and decided he would bite them in half and leave the eyes. yuk. 2nd course - fish soup. tasted good, but looked bad. B left hers untouched! 3rd course - pasta with fish pieces. tasted good, but didn't look too appetizing. B looked pitiful enough that she got some pasta with tomato sauce. 4th course - whole fish. once again served heads, tails and bones. B passed, but the rest of us thought it tasted nice. I do hate bones though. 5th course - fish gelato - just kidding. Tirimisu. very good. and for the final touch - clementines. Sounds like tons of food, but when you get little servings and pass on some of them, you can still leave the table just comfortably full.

Other than that first meal though, all our food was delicious. L ate more pizza than he can remember and B had pasta at every meal. DA and I had fish mainly. It was so, so good. The lemon gelato made with fresh, local lemons was very good too. Of course the fresh, local olive oil was so good too. Just too many good meals to mention.

B and L in the Mediterranean Sea in Positano, Italy

DA in front of Michelangelo's tomb in Florence

We were all fascinated by this street artist in Florence. He was using chalk to draw this on the street. Looked like paint on a canvas.

yes, the kids were out of school again. It seems that they get a break every time I turn around. I just laugh at how much vacation time professionals get over here - I guess they all expect to take off when the kids are out of school for all their breaks. So "when in Rome...". DA said during official "half term" and "mid term" breaks - the office is almost empty. I don't know how they get anything done!

Just walking down the street by the Colosseum in Rome.

Olympic torch in London

Today was a very busy news day. The Olympic torch was been carried through London on a 31 mile trek. We considered going to see the spectacle, but the kids weren't interested leaving all the snow in the backyard. If you see news coverage, no doubt it will be about all the protesters trying to stop the runners or grab the torch. It looked a little crazy to me. The police were getting some flack about their "rugby tackles" on people who interfered with the runners. I still wish we would have gone to the city, but on the other hand, I'm glad that our kids didnt have to experience that craziness. Just letting you know we were safe at home throwing snowballs.

SNOW IN APRIL????

Yep, woke up to some beautiful, fluffy snow today - in April. crazy. The kids had so much fun building snowmen and having snowball fights. We must have gotten about 4 or 5" in about 2 hours. My camillas and azaleas will probably go into shock after being covered in snow. By this afternoon it had mostly melted away and the sun came out for a brief moment. Fun way to spend the last day of our "spring" break.




oops, Frosty melted a little, but he found a friend