American Entertainment with a British Tradition

For the past few weeks every Tuesday, I've headed over to my friend, Brooke's, flat to indulge in some terrible but much needed American entertainment: The Bachelor. We watch and then discuss Who will Chris choose? We will usually have scones, cinnamon cake and blueberries or pasta salad (something to nibble on), but we will always have tea.

It's hard keeping up on American TV shows over here. We usually have to watch something a day or two later than everybody else (if we can find a site to watch it on). Even then it is difficult finding people to talk to about it because it's usually "old news" to people in the states or due to the time change, they're still sleeping! And it's not like Aaron wants to watch the Bachelor with me...

The Golden Globes, the Oscars, all these award shows, we watch clips of the day after so we know what everyone is talking about. I woke up this morning and our cousin and his girlfriend had gotten engaged (congrats!!) and the internet was in a roar about a white and gold dress (yes, clearly it is white and gold). Basically, what I'm trying to say is that Aaron and I have come to expect that we are usually a little behind when it comes to current trends or exciting news.

But that's okay. Because for those two hours on Tuesday, I've really come to enjoy indulging in a little piece of terrible but wonderful American entertainment while sipping my British tea... and having someone to discuss it with afterwards. It's the little things : )

Day Trip to St Albans: Exploring Roman History and The Oldest British Pub

A few months ago, Aaron and I got a history lesson in a London black cab. The cabbie was a huge history buff; he loved it and his enthusiasm was contagious. We pulled over outside our flat, he stopped the meter and then proceeded to give us a list of places that we should go because they are full of history. St Albans was one of those places.

This past Saturday, we took the a bus to the tube to the train and headed out about 19 miles north to explore the old Roman town. The city was named after the first British Christian martyr, Saint Alban, but it actually was called Verulamium during Roman times (good luck pronouncing that!).

During this period, it was the second largest Roman town in Britain and it is the only place that you can see evidence of a Roman theater in Britain (see bottom, top left photo). They have a pretty substantial museum next to the theater that has artifacts, human remains and information from this era. We found that another familiar town we have visited, Colchester, was also referenced in the museum.

After visiting the theater and museum, we took a stroll through a gorgeous park that's just nearby. We couldn't believe how many people were there! It had lots of ponds and there were so many ducks, swans, geese... really every bird imaginable.

We made our way through the park to Ye Olde Fighting Cocks, Britain's oldest pub according to Guinness. A pub in that location dates back to the 8th century, but the half-timbered structure that you see now was built in the 11th century. Aaron could barely stand up because the roof was so low; he had to stand in between the beams : )

There's a lot of dispute about which pub is the oldest in Britain, but it was certainly the oldest that we've ever had a pint at... cheers!

On the Flipside: Pancake Day

On Tuesday, it was Pancake Day!! For those of you that don't remember what this is, take a look back at last year's Newlyweds Abroad post. Or just continue to think that those crazy Brits have an entire day devoted to pancakes : ) I won't judge if you do.

In honor of the holiday, Aaron and I made British pancakes (crêpe-like) for dinner! I did the mixing and he did the flipping. We had sweet and savory: one with turkey and melted cheese, and one with sliced apples, blueberries and raspberry sauce drizzled over the top. YUM!

To give you a taste of what it's like to cook in the UK and in case you want to make your own, here's the recipe for British pancakes:
- 100g plain flour (otherwise known as a little bit more than 3/4 cup)
- 2 large eggs
- 300ml milk (converted it's 1 cup + 3 Tbls + 1 tsp)

This is what we have to deal with : )

Can you believe it's already been a year since I wrote about the first pancake day? Wow, that really crêped up on me...

A Trip to the US Embassy in London

Yesterday, I took a little trip to the US Embassy in London to add pages to both Aaron's and my passport. We got new passports right before we moved to London, and since then the stamps have been piling up: we are running out of space!

So for just a few brief hours, I was back in the good old U.S. of A. Here are five interesting things about my visit:

1. They immediately divide you into two lines: American citizens and anyone else applying for a visa to visit the country. The American citizen line was WAY shorter and moved MUCH quicker.

2. They had said you couldn't bring luggage or laptops but iPads and phones were okay. I brought my iPad and bluetooth keyboard for it. As I was going through security, I learned that my bluetooth keyboard was not allowed. I had to run to a pharmacy a few blocks away to "check" it since I couldn't bring it in. That pharmacy is charging £3 for every item checked- I'm sure they are making bank! New business idea: set up a little stand outside the embassy where visitors can check their banned items. I'm calling it "Ur Stuff" (US for short).

3. Not everyone who works at the US Embassy is American. Many of them had British accents. Who knew?

4. The process was actually fairly painless (surprisingly). I was in and out of the embassy in less than two hours and that was even with my little keyboard hiccup!

5. Our new passports are HUGE. They are so thick they look like a miniature book.

We Heart Games.

Happy (belated) Valentine's Day! How did you spend it?

This year, Aaron and I unexpectedly spent it with a full day of games. We started off putt putting with friends in Wandsworth Park then going to dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in Fulham. Dinner was followed by dominos and jenga at a pub nearby our house (the tower got pretty tall!), then Battleship (throwback!) at another pub and finally darts at yet another pub.

So who won? It was very even, but as Aaron always says, we are on the same team : )

Hope you had a fantastic Valentine's Day too!

Alarmed on Friday the 13th

On Friday the 13th, we woke up at 7am and heard our downstairs neighbor's alarm going off. The alarm wasn't so deafening that you could hear it from outside of the flat, but you could hear it from our place since it was just below. I'm pretty sure the flats next door could hear it as well since houses in London are right next to each other, so they share side walls. We tried knocking on our neighbor's door, but then I remembered that last time I had seen him, he said he would be away for a few months beginning in February.

So there we were: alarm beeping and no idea what to do. We didn't know if it was a fire alarm, carbon monoxide detecter, alarm clock or intruder house alert. At the time, we were a bit worried because it was unlike any beep we'd heard. Aaron thought it sounded like space invaders.

After an hour, we decided to call the non-emergency line. The police came and said they didn't smell any strange odors or see smoke. They could force entry if we really wanted but normally they didn't do that for this type of thing. And if he was away, then his flat would be unlocked (door broken) for the remainder of the time he was gone. The police said they couldn't imagine it going off for more than an hour or two more, so they left.

Immediately after, I finally managed to track down our neighbor's cell number from our landlord. The line went straight to voicemail. Our neighbor lives part time in Barbados, so at that point I assumed he's out of the country and his phone does not work.

By 10am the beeping was still going on. I decided to get out of the house for as long as possible: gym, coffee shop, walk. Before I left, I did leave a note on our door saying "The alarm is not in this flat!" in case a neighbor called the police and they forced entry into the flat... I wanted to be sure they knew which door to break down! I came back to the flat around 3pm and it was still going off. Luckily, I was able to close our living room door and turn on music, so that the sound was barely distinguishable.

Finally, at 5pm I heard some rustling downstairs and went to go investigate (detective Ashley). Turns out, our neighbor is having some work done on his flat while he's away, but he forgot to give his alarm fab to the worker. The worker ended up finally turning the alarm off (although I could still hear it faintly ringing in my head).

How long would you last with a neighbor's house alarm going off? For us, it was 10 hours. YIKES.

Over the Bridges and Through the Canals to Amsterdam We Go!

Amsterdam is the first city that Aaron and I have "doubled up" on with our traveling. But did we like it again as much as we liked it the first time? You'll have to read and find out.

One of Aaron's coworkers is on an assignment in Amsterdam, so the reason for the trip was really to see her. We went with three of his other coworkers who we play dodgeball with. Our group photo is above : )

After walking around all day on Saturday, we decided to see the city on a bike tour Sunday. Good decision: the way to see the city is really from two wheels. There are so many canals, lots of bike paths and the city is very flat (our guide joked that the bridges were mountains so you might feel light headed at the top.) Being from the PNW, Aaron and I were like, these are no mountains!

We covered so much ground and saw so many things we hadn't seen on our previous trip to the city. Plus everyone rides bikes in Amsterdam. You feel like a local ...but most definitely still look like a tourist.

And yes, we liked it just as much the second time.

Life in a Suitcase

Aaron and I have become extremely efficient packers since moving abroad. You would probably not want to pack a lot either if you were packing and unpacking as often as we are : )

What do we want to bring? What do we absolutely need? What about the "nice to haves"?

I usually divide myself into two piles - can't go without it and if it fits, then I'll take it. We hardly ever check a bag. Usually we take two small carry-ons for a trip longer than 4 days, and for weekend trips we take this guy:

Yep, I see the amazement in your eyes. Both of our stuff fits in that little bag. I'm quite proud of our efficiency and we always say that really all we need when we travel is our passports and our swimsuits (...if we are going somewhere warm).

Don't need our swimsuits this time as we are headed to Amsterdam for the weekend... Goede reis!

An Ireland Road Trip: Dublin, Galway, Cliffs of Moher

About two weeks ago, we spontaneously planned an Ireland road with Brooke and Steve, our friends that live in London but are from Seattle. We decided to go this past weekend, but because it was month end and Aaron had to work late, we flew to Dublin so he could catch the last flight out from London.

We spent the night drinking Guinness and a little whiskey, and listening to Irish music at a pub in the Temple bar district, famous for it's lively nightlife and crowds. Saturday morning, we woke up and drove in our tiny rental car across the country (both Steve and Aaron are 6'4"+ so any car would've been tiny).

Our first stop was Ireland's oldest licensed distillery, Kilbeggan. It's in a very small town just off the highway. We did a self-guided tour around the facility which told the process of making whiskey using all the old equipment and then had a taster at the end.

Next stop was Clonmacnoise, an old monastery founded in 544. The property has three stone towers, a stone cathedral and an expansive, eerie graveyard. It is in ruins but sits overlooking the River Shannon. It was actually really beautiful, but the wind was so strong and cold that we didn't stay for too long. We drove along and hit some wild weather. One minute it would be sunny, the next it would be raining or really windy. We even got some slush snow/rain mix.

Our last stop for the day was Dunguaire Castle, built in the 16th century in front of Galway Bay. Unfortunately, the castle wasn't open to visit inside, so we walked around a small and treacherous, muddy path along the outside (the boys idea) and then headed to our bed and breakfast in the city of Galway.

Galway is a college town. It's a pretty big city but has a small-town feel. We went to a stock market bar which was really American of us (prices of the drinks fall or rise every 10 minutes... it was really fun! Aaron totally loved it). Then grabbed dinner at an amazing restaurant and more drinks at an Irish pub after.

The next morning, we woke up early and drove along the windy coast to the Cliffs of Moher. I visited the cliffs when I was studying abroad and it is still one of the most beautiful, picturesque places I have ever been. It was a gorgeous, sunny day so we walked around and took photos. We didn't have a lot of time because we had to race to return the rental car and catch our flight from the Shannon Airport. I was a bit panicked since we arrived only 45 minutes before our flight. But luckily, the airport is extremely small and we were the only people in the security line. Even with returning the rental car, we were at the gate with 30 minutes to spare.

It was a great impromptu weekend trip to one of my favorite countries : ) See a map of where we travelled below!

First Snow in London

Last night we woke up to a little dusting of snow in our neighborhood. We didn't get any last year so it's the first time that it's snowed since we've been here. The snow didn't really stick, but you can see some of it below (sorry, it's not a very good picture):

Super Bowl XLIX

We watched Super Bowl XLIX at our Seattle friends' flat in London. It started at 11:30pm and didn't get over until about 3:30am. When it was over, we went straight to bed since it was so late so when we got up the next morning, I was still thinking, 'Did that really happen?'

It's amazing how much money, time and energy that America spends on sporting events- especially the Super Bowl. I don't think there was a single sports fan who wasn't shocked by the way it ended. Yes, that probably wasn't the smartest play call, but there were a lot of other catches, stops and plays we didn't make during the game. You can't blame the entire loss of the game on the final 30 seconds just like you can't blame the last play on one person.

Still yesterday was a tough day to be a Seahawks fan. Just as I'm sure it was a tough day to be a Packers fan the day after this year's NFC championship. Or a tough day to be a Broncos fan the day after the Super Bowl last year. And a tough day to be a 49ers fan after last year's NFC championship. You are still in shock but reality has sunk in: we were so close but we didn't win.

I don't know everything about football, and I don't pretend to know. That's why I watch it with my wonderful husband who does : ) But I love the Seahawks because they are my team. I grew up supporting them, I believe in them and they are literally the reason why I am here.*

I went to college in Southern California so a lot of my college friends are not Seahawks fans. In fact, most of them probably hate the Seahawks. We are a hate-able team because we have a good team.** But I could barely go online yesterday since there were so many articles about the game and people posting rude things about my team. It sounds silly and I probably take it too personally, but the wound is still so fresh, and I don't want to be kicked when I'm down.

Super Bowl XLIX was a great game and both teams fought very hard. Some of my friends that don't like the hawks chose not to post anything cruel or spiteful about them which I really appreciate. We may not support the same teams, but we both agree that in the end, coming so close and losing it is bad enough.

*My parents met at a Hawks game! Throwback to the Kingdome
**Aaron wanted me to add "with a number of brash outspoken players" here ...or you could say they are fiercely passionate : )