Thanksgiving Sunday

Thanksgiving Feast

Our Thanksgiving Dinner was a success!  I am happy to report that American Cuisine was well represented last Sunday.  I was surprised to learn that not only had most of our guests never experienced any kind of American Thanksgiving before, but they did not even know the basis for it.  I am not really sure why I was so surprised.  I am not overly well versed on other countries' holidays myself!  We are very lucky to have a diverse group of friends and while there were 3 Americans present, everyone else was from somewhere else.  Spain, New Zealand, Argentina, Spain, The Netherlands, Italy, and of course the UK were all represented.  As for the feast, well that was three days of some intense kitchen time!  We started with pear bread, pumpernickel bread with pumpkin dip, & some mixed nuts.  Then it was on to the main event: mini cornbread puddings; brussels sprouts and kale salad with pecorino romano, dried cranberries, & pecans; cranberry sauce with orange zest; herbed dressing with celery, walnuts, & apples; green bean casserole; herbed cream cheese and roasted garlic mashed potatoes; sweet potatoes with cinnamon syrup; roasted garlic brussels sprouts; brined turkey; and pan dripping gravy.  For desert there were pumpkin and apple pies as well as some delicious chocolates that a few of our guests brought.

Dessert

The best part of the night really was the company.  It was so nice to have many of our London friends all together in one place.  When I think about how it was only a little more than a year ago that J moved here, I feel so lucky that he has made such a wonderful group of friends.  It was great introducing some of my fellow "transplants" to them.  The night ended with everyone full and happy as I sent each guest off with their very own pear bread to enjoy throughout the week.  

The Friday before our Thanksgiving dinner, J and I went to the Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park.  We had a blast.  The Winter Wonderland is a temporary carnival that opens at the end of November and runs through the beginning of January.  There are rides and games as well as craft and artisan food booths.  You can shop for beautiful woodwork, Christmas decorations, unique pottery; or indulge in gourmet pretzels, chocolate covered marzipan, and Belgian chocolate.  If you are really hungry you can go to one of many food vendors or order food at any one of a number of pubs and watering holes scattered throughout the carnival grounds.  By far, the most lively spot is the 'Bavarian Village' complete with a Great Hall that is straight out of Oktoberfest.  Here, the music is pumping and the crowd is incredibly entertaining.

Next stop, Munich!

After a brat and a beer at the Great Hall we moved through an area with some rides, all of which I passed on... given the previously consumed brat and beer.  We made our way over the The Fire Pit, another cafe bar area that had a huge fire, simple farm house foods, roasted marshmallows and a 70s cover band.  We spent most of the remainder of our evening there-it was just so cozy!  There is so much more to see and do; we would like to go on a couple of rides, so we'll have to make another visit.  Most importantly, the chocolate covered marzipan stand was closed as we walked by at the end of the night, so... obviously we are going back!

Not going on this.

Or this.

Husband Creche???
Definition of creche: Day care center.
Sounds about right.

Get in my bellaaaaaaaaayyyyyyyyy!

I have now been in the UK for 3 weeks and have been reflecting a bit on the differences between my first 3 weeks last February/March and now.  Friends really do make all the difference, don't they?  I think it's what really starts to connect you with a place.  And more that just companionship, they provide you with so many useful pieces of information.  In the case of J and I, we are the newbies, so we are constantly asking people for advice and recommendations.  The lovely thing about it all is, that because everyone has been in your place, everyone is so willing to share their experiences and knowledge.  I think that large cities with highly transient populations foster this kind of atmosphere, and London is certainly that.  Since I've returned, J and I have been busy bees and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

Below I have posted some pictures that I took the other day as I was strolling about town.

"Life Preservers, Dagger Canes, Swordsticks"
WHAT??

Piccadilly Circus: Statue turned into the center of a giant snow-globe!

Piccadilly Circus: Regents Street

Wellington Arch: Hyde Park Corner

Natural History Museum Skating Rink

NOTE: When strolling about town, keep your whits about you!  I was walking in front of Buckingham Palace today and encountered a bit of a crowd at a crossing where guards had stopped the foot traffic.  Thinking it was just an issue with the light, I turned away to take a call from J.  All of a sudden I hear shrieks and turn around just in time to see a Range Rover pulling into the palace grounds.  Who was it?  Why none other than HRH, Queen Elizabeth II... AND I DID NOT SEE HER!!!  Gaaaaaaaaaaaaaaargh!  Now, I am not a huge royal "watcher".  I would not have screamed had I seen the Queen, nor would I have jumped up and down as some of the people around me did.  But when she literally drives right in front of you and you somehow miss it??  What a bummer. (By the by, the people most freaked out?  Brits.  So when you hear all of this bull about how they don't care about the royalty and Americans are so weird for being so interested??  No.  They, especially the Brits on holiday from outside of London, totally lose their minds for this stuff.)  But you know what I did see? Corgies!!!  They ran out to the Range Rover when it pulled through the gates and stopped.  Then the car started up again and the Corgies followed.  I thought it was pretty cute.

"Who's a good royal Corgie??  You are, you are!!"

  

Never, never, never give up!

And so I'm back!  Back at the blog, back in the UK, back in our flat in South Kensington.  It's been quite some time since I last wrote, but as they say; "Absence makes the heart grow fonder."  So at this point my faithful readers should be just overcome with anticipation and... adoration?  It does seem that the hiatus has made me fonder of London.  It is either that, or all of the little things that used to really stick in my craw... they still drive me insane, but at least there's a familiarity now.  And there have been some developments as well!  A couple of shops on our street have changed hands and there are new double deckers careening about town.  I am finding that all of my usual walking routes have come back to me with little effort, although I cannot say the same about the grocery store experience.  Every time I finish with shopping I feel like I need to lie down for an hour.  Re-acclimating to British Pounds Sterling, the metric system, and inconsistent inventory will take another week or two, I think.  Luckily, I have found a couple of stores that seem to embrace their American expat customers and carry Thanksgiving supplies!  So we will be celebrating a real American Thanksgiving on Sunday with 13 of our new London friends.  I am not sure that it is prudent for one's first Thanksgiving to be for 13 people, but I have faith that all will go just fine.  If it doesn't, I'll have something to write about for next time!
A lot has happened since I last wrote.  I believe we left off with my departure to Chicago for the 4th of July and my Grandmother's birthday.  I always love my trips to Chicago because they are family centered.  Growing up, most of our vacations were to visit family and I am so grateful for that.  To this day, my favorite trips are those in which I can catch up with friends and family.

Chi-town!

In July J came to visit for two weeks.  We had a lot of fun in the city, even if it was during the hottest three days all year.  We spent our time catching up with friends, visiting Century 21 like good tourists, and on a Monday we... got married!  I've been debating with myself whether to include this in the blog, but most of my readers are probably already aware of this, so I don't feel like I am revealing anything too surprising.  But for those of you who didn't know-now you do!  We are legally united by the State of New York.  The Church, however, is another story.  About a week after J returned to London we finally got permission to be married in the Roman Catholic Church!  I was quickly on the phone and email and got a date booked.  So while we may be married in the eyes of the law, we will not be married in the eyes of the Church until May 2014.  And so the planning began...

141 Worth Street, New York, NY

The planning began and the paperwork began.  Visa paperwork to reflect my new married state that would also allow me to live and work in the UK for as long as J is here.  All went relatively smoothly.  And while we did have a bit of a wait while we gathered all of the necessary evidentiary support, the actual visa was issued in 1 day!
Amidst all the wedding planning and visa getting I was training for the ING NYC Marathon.  On November 3, 2013 I woke up in the wee small hours of the morning, geared up, and hopped on a bus at the New York Public Library headed for Staten Island.  What an amazing experience.  There just aren't enough words to explain what that day felt like and I could probably write a very long blog post on just the marathon alone.  The feeling of crossing the finish line is indescribable.  The amazing thing is that at about mile 22 if you had asked me if I wanted to ever run another marathon again, I would have punched you in the face.  But not even 24 hours later I was already thinking about things that I could have done differently and how I could improve my time.  So we'll see what the future holds!

18,050; Boyanovich, 32F; 04:05:28

The following Sunday I had the pleasure of attending my bridal shower.  My mother hosted a beautiful afternoon luncheon during which I visited with the many wonderful women who have become so important to me over the years.  I am so glad that I got the chance to spend time with them all before my return to London.  The timing really couldn't have been better!

What I learned from my shower photos is that I make ridiculous faces ALL.THE.TIME.

My beautiful sister-in-law (and bridesmaid), Diana, who couldn't be there.

On Friday, November 15th I boarded Virgin flight VS010.  This is the same flight number that I traveled on my way to London that fateful trip in December... you know the one.  The difference is that this time, I stepped off the plane and sailed right through immigration.  I've been here a little over a week now and have been keeping very busy visiting friends and exploring London at Christmas.
You know, it may not be the most profound thing that Winston ever said, but when I think back over the last year I think the quote above really describes it best: "Never, never, never give up!"

Had to include this one of the flowers from the shower.  
They were so beautiful!

On the Road Again

Hampton Court Palace-Tudor Facade

Well hello there, all.  It's been almost exactly a month since I last posted.  In some ways a lot has changed and in other ways, very little has changed!  First and foremost, I am back in the United States.  This is no surprise, it was always part of the plan, but it certainly did not make things any easier as the months turned to weeks and the weeks whittled down to days.  J and I made the most of our time together in the first weeks of June and the weather cooperated with us!  We had absolutely beautiful days full of sun and even some warm-ish temperatures.

Hampton Court Palace-Baroque Facade

We visited Hampton Court Palace and were lucky to run into our friends Efraim and Laura on the train platform at the beginning of the trip.  We spent a fun filled day together exploring the playground of Henry VIII.  Hampton Court is an odd palace because it has 2 very distinct architectural styles.  One can find Tudor and Baroque facades represented.  Personally, I liked the Tudor.  It was the older part, the part that Henry VIII would have lived in.  The Baroque wings were part of a failed renovation by King William III.  It was halted upon the death of his wife, Queen Mary II of smallpox.  Yikes!  After a lovely day strolling around the grounds and exploring the Royal Bedchambers; J, Efraim, Laura and I made our way back into London.  Laura made an amazing Italian feast for us and we found ourselves eating, drinking, and chatting til after midnight.  It was a perfect "Funday Sunday".

I needed a nap.

The day before I was to leave for the US, J and I were excited to receive the couch that we had ordered back in March-on the day we got engaged!  The delivery arrived early Monday morning, only to never quite make it into the apartment.  Our couch simply would not make a crucial turn needed to get it up the stairs in our flat to the floor that the Reception Room is on.  It was like some bizarre and very un-funny 'Friends' episode (PI-V-OT!).  As if we weren't already feeling a bit blue about my impending departure, this really took the cake.  We had already sold our old couch and had been sitting on the floor for about a week-so the prospect of continued camping out did not appeal to J.  The most disappointing thing was that this was a piece that we were both very much looking forward to having in our apartment.  The issue has since been semi-resolved (we were able to find a smaller model of the same couch) and Harrod's was nothing but helpful.  Our experience with their customer service department was extremely positive.  It really has to make you laugh.  Can't ANYTHING just come to us without some roadblock being thrown up in front of us?  Apparently not!

Couch of Tears

I have been having a lot of fun since I have been back in the States.  I have had the chance to catch up with friends, meet some new additions and start in with wedding planning.  This weekend I was able to get together with three of my bridesmaids, two of whom were able to come with me to a bridal shop and chose their dresses for the wedding.  These days, every little step forward feels like a huge win!  This week, my parents and I are on our way to Chicago to celebrate my Grandmother's 90th birthday.  I can't wait to spend time with my family.

Alpha Delta Pi NYC Alumni Group Barbecue

Me and my gorgeous cousin... anxiously awaiting the arrival of Baby Girl E.

We summer in Conshy!

I hope everyone has a happy and safe Independence Day.  I may be an ex-pat in London, but my heart will always belong to the good ol' US of A.

Click on Me!


 
That's right.  I just Miley-bombed you.  Happy 4th!  Hope everyone has a fantastic party in the USA!

Bon Appetit!!

About 3 weeks ago I had a very frustrating moment.  Everything that I was planning on making for dinner made me want to say, "We're having that AGAIN?!?!"... to myself.  I thought, "This cannot be good.  J and I are not even married yet and I am hitting my meal wall??"  So I made a decision.  For the following week I would make something new for dinner every night.  I would also try a couple of new things for lunch.

Most days, I eat all three meals at our flat.  Typical ex-pat day: I have breakfast in the morning with J, then go to the gym or get lost in some project on the computer.  Then it's time for lunch.  I don't often go out for lunch unless it is with someone.  In the afternoon I may go back to the gym, go for a run, do some exploring, or end up falling into another project black hole on the computer.  It is amazing how much time 're-naming' all of your Pinterest pins can take.  This is pretty much the type of thing that only someone with borderline OCD would do, but I'm pretty sure I have mentioned... that's me!  I will spend hours making sure all of my file names are formatted exactly the same, or all of my photos are labeled in the same way.  At least it gives me something to do when it is raining and cold out.

So having decided that the following week would be an adventure in the culinary arts, I set about choosing my menu.  I scrolled through Pinterest and settled on the following:

Monday: Supremes de Volaille aux Champignons (Chicken Breasts w/ Mushroom & Cream)
Sides: Zucchini Spears & Roasted Butternut Squash
Tuesday: Chilean Salmon w/ Avocado Cream Sauce
Sides: Roasted Avocado over Mixed Lettuce & Couscous (Recipe No Longer Available)
Wednesday: Baked Cod w/ Summer Vegetables
Side: Rice & Broccoli
Thursday: Spinach & Tomato Chicken
Side: Tagliatelli
Friday: OUT (We went for Turkish after going to 'To Kill A Mockingbird')

I really enjoyed trying new recipes and boy did we land on a keeper!!

Monday: The Chicken Breasts w/ Mushroom & Cream was TO DIE FOR.  I shouldn't have even questioned the fabulousity of it as it was a Julia Child recipe.  J was in LOOOOVE.  In fact, I would recommend this dish to any woman looking to woo a mate.  I have heard of something called "Wedding Chicken", well... THIS is "Honeymoon Chicken"!

Chicken Breasts w/ Mushroom & Cream Sauce (Roasted Butternut Squash & Zucchini Spears)

Tuesday: The Chilean Salmon w/ Avocado Cream Sauce was very good.  The Roasted Avocado over Mixed Lettuce and Couscous was somewhat of a disappointment.  I substituted quinoa for the couscous and that part was still yummy.  But the roasted avocado... I had such high hopes... and it failed me.  The recipe says to make sure the avocado is ripe or it will taste bitter after roasting.  Well, our avocado was perfectly ripe and soft but it was still bitter.  The initial taste was good, but the lingering bitter kind of ruined it for me.

I may try this one again in the States.  I don't trust these avocados!

Wednesday: We really tucked into the Baked Cod w/ Summer Vegetables.  If I were making this in the US, I would have done heirloom tomatoes, zucchini, and yellow squash.  But, here in the UK, I can't find yellow squash or heirloom tomatoes.  I used a regular red tomato.  I added large chunks of red onion.  I left out the olives.  I would have liked to have included them, but the grocery budget had already been hit and exceeded.  I was not about to push it any further for a bottle of olives.  I served it with white rice that I cooked down with garlic and butter added into the water.  We had white rice in the house.  Ideally, I would have made this with brown rice.  The broccoli was just for me as J does not eat broccoli.  It was sauteed with garlic and olive oil.

About to go into the oven.

This was very tasty.  It has earned a spot in the rotation!

Thursday: I am not sure what happened to this dish.  It had the potential to be great, and honestly, I don't think I have given up on it yet.  It looked beautiful.  It smelled wonderful.  But the taste was... a little bland.  For me, it was actually fine.  In the future, however, I would kick it up a notch if I really wanted it to be fantastic.  J felt that it was a little bland for his taste, and honestly, if I wanted to serve it to a larger group, I would say the same.  The recipe did not give any side suggestions, and I was feeling the yen for pasta, so I served it with tagliatelli.  This dish improved with time.  I had leftovers and those flavors that hadn't intensified on first serving really came together the next day.

Has potential.

So that was our week in meals!  It was, overall, a very delicious week.  Sometimes it was a little stressful as I was juggling new recipes left and right, but it was fun.  Because I had to buy a number of staple items that we had lost in the move and not needed since, the grocery bill was out of budget for the week.  Buying two kinds of fish also added to the greater than usual total and quinoa is not cheap.  But if you are going to spend money on something it might as well be on good, clean eating.  Although not all of these recipes were diet recipes, per se, all parts of the meals were made from fresh/real ingredients.  I think both J and I enjoyed our culinary adventure!

I will leave you with a few more pictures from my evening with Julia!

Now I Ain't Sayin' You A Gold Digger, You Got Needs

Yesterday morning J and I woke up and the first thing he said to me was, "I was just dreaming that I was playing squash all night.  I need to go take a shower."  At 6:45 AM, this is something that the brain takes a while to process.  Are you taking a shower because it is morning and that is what one does?  Or are you taking a shower because of the squash??

My response to him, "Well, were you winning?"

Then I turned on the television to a weather report being filmed in Sherwood Forest.  And I was like this:

I think David says it all right here.

I half expected Robin Hood and his Merry Men to pop out from behind a tree.

That's the way it feels sometimes here-there are so many things that, as an American, really only seemed to exist in fairy tales.  But here, they are real.  Queens, princes, castles, dungeons, enchanted forests, and bespectacled children in uniform abound.  There is a school nearby that makes their students dress like Madeline and I live with Paddington Bear.  So, "Is this real life?", indeed.

Falkner House, spring and winter uniforms.

This past Sunday, J and I went on a day trip to Oxfordshire.  I had embarked upon the trip very much hoping to visit Blenheim Palace, but had thought that we would be able to explore Oxford as well.  Once we got to Oxford, we learned that this would not be possible.  Blenheim Palace really requires a full day.  Since that was all we had, and it was gorgeous and sunny out, I thought it might be the better choice to go out to the palace and enjoy the beautiful day on its grounds.  I had read that there would be a British Civil War reenactment taking place that day and had a feeling that the atmosphere would be festive.  Boy am I glad we chose Blenheim!  An easy 30 minute bus ride from the center of Oxford to the Palace Gates and we were there.

These yellow flowers in the background were everywhere!

Walk from the gates to the house.

The walk from the Palace Gates to the East Entrance is about 10 minutes, and that is at a decent clip.  If you are ever in the market for one of these estates, street noise will never be an issue.

I should probably mention that this estate is the only non-royal, non-episcopal country house in England to hold the distinction of 'palace'.  It has never been occupied by a King or Queen.  It was gifted to the First Duke of Marlborough as a way of celebrating victory over the French during the Wars of Spanish Succession.  John Churchill (last name ring any bells?), 1st Duke of Marlborough, was the military commander who led the Allied forces into battle in 1704 at Blindheim (Blenheim).  He personally received the surrender of the leader of the French forces.  Queen Anne thought this deserved some kind of recognition.  So while today people get medals; J.C. received the Manor of Woodstock, and funds to build a new estate on the site.  I guess the Manor of Woodstock was a fixer upper.  And fix her up they did.  Because after some considerable strife, this was the result:

North Facing Facade

Eat it, Gatsby!

South Facing Facade

The problem with Blenheim is well... it kind of left the family house poor.  Outside of the funding provided by the Crown to build the palace, the 1st Duke was not that wealthy.

As a whole, though, the dynasty Marlborough was basically able to hold their own through to the 5th Duke.  The 5th Duke of Marlborough (1766-1840) ruined EVERYTHING.  He was the.worst.  By the time he died, the family was selling priceless art left and right.  Then they had to sell their books.

And this was all just to make rent.  Because while Queen Anne had gifted the land to the 1st Duke; to this day, the family still needs to pay rent on it.  It's basically like if your parents give you a car and then say, "But we're only taking care of the down payment.  You need to make the monthly payments, pay for gas and maintenance, and the insurance."  It was exactly like that.  So they can't even make rent, and this is a house that needs serious maintenance.  By this point, the place is over 100 years old.

Blenheim Palace was a serious 'Love It or List It' case by the time we get to the 9th Duke, Charles.  He decided he was going to 'Love It' and save the place by whatever means necessary.  Charles was no dummy.  He had no money... but you know who had obscene amounts of money by this point in history, 1896?  Americans.  Americans named Vanderbilt.  So Charles married Consuelo Vanderbilt.  He didn't love her.  She detested him.  Her mother was certifiable and locked her in her room until Consuelo agreed to the union.  Directly after a marriage ceremony that took place in NYC, a dowry contract was signed in which the Duke got $2.5 Million; 50,000 shares of railroad stock; and both Consuelo and the Duke got an annual income of $100,000 EACH for life.  Apparently, on the carriage ride from the church to the wedding celebration the Duke is all, (yawn) "Whatever, you know I don't love you, right?  I hate America, we're never coming back here.  Where's my money?" So.  The 9th Duke saved Blenheim Palace.  But you know who really saved Blenheim?  Consuelo.

Consuelo was also rather ahead of her time, because in 1906, after 2 children and a full palace renovation, she decided that she just couldn't take it anymore and shocked everyone in British and American society by leaving the Duke.  She went on to marry a Frenchman.  I can only imagine what that was like after 10 years of a loveless marriage to a Brit.

As they say, "Git it gurl!" (Although they probably didn't say that in 1906.)

If you couldn't already tell, I am a complete history nerd and could probably write you a book about Consuelo and Blenheim.  But I won't.  All I will add is that Winston Churchill was born there and if you go, you can see portraits of him as a dashing young soldier before he got all jowly.  If you would like to read up more on Blenheim you can visit the below links.

Blenheim Palace Official Website
Wikipedia: Blenheim Palace
Consuelo & Alva: An Early Story of Celebrity


One last one:

It's Raining Again

So I can't believe this but... I only have 13 more days in London before I return to NY.  And writing that just made it seem even more real than it already was.  In case you need a little refresher (I would certainly need one if I were not living it), I have to return to NY because I am currently in London on a Visitor's Visa.  In July J and I will get married (Oh.my.GAWD.) in a civil ceremony.  At which point, I get to change over all of my documents to reflect my new name.  I am sure this will go smoothly... how do you type sarcasm?  Then I get to fill out a ream's worth of paperwork and submit it to UK Border Patrol for my Dependent Visa.  This process will most likely take from mid-July to November or even December.  In some ways, this is good.  I have wedding planning to do for our church wedding which will be in 2014 and marathon training to conquer. 

You should see what comes up when you Google 'Running Bride'.

I figure that it's probably a good thing that I am training for a marathon while all of this is going on.  It gives me something to focus on that is not immigration or wedding related and it will be an excellent way to relieve the bucket loads of stress that I will inevitably feel as I deal with one bureaucratic agency after the next.  I am hoping this will prevent me from going completely postal on some poor unsuspecting florist or stationer as they attempt to question my color palette or font choices.  Even though J and I will be legally married in July, we will not feel really and truly married until it is in the church.  It seems the Catholic Church agrees with us and let me tell you, that is a WHOLE other bag of worms.  This blog may very well turn into "How to Get Married Across Two Continents and Not Lose Your Mind" quite soon.

She doesn't really look that stressed, honestly.

In my last post I talked about how my mom came over and I found my dress.  Well, since then I have found my shoes and my bridesmaids!  I had a lot of fun thinking about how I would ask the girls as I was so far away and I came up with a slightly different angle for each one.  Luckily for me, they all said yes!  I am going to need all the help I can get with this shindig.  Three of them have already witnessed me having the meltdown of all meltdowns (picture hysterical speech that may have gotten me on Gawker/Jezebel if You Tube existed back then) when I was in charge of our sorority's recruitment so I know they will be able to handle me as bride.  Thankfully for us all, I have matured a bit in the last 12 years.
But enough of that.  This weekend was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK.  It was actually pretty great because it coincided with the US's Memorial Day, so everyone had an extra day off!  Huzzah for the unofficial start of summer!  J and I did not travel outside of England, but we certainly made the most of the wonderful sunny weather that we had for the majority of the weekend.
I say the majority of the weekend because Friday was not sunny.  Friday, was a misery.  And this was unfortunate.  J and I had tickets to a production of 'To Kill A Mockingbird' at the Regent's Park Open Air Theatre.  I was super psyched to see this because one of my favorite actors, Robert Sean Leonard, was playing Atticus Finch.

I cannot handle the end of this movie.  I just can't.

Once I got over the horror of realizing that RSL was apparently old enough to be playing Atticus (Dead Poets Society was released 24 years ago, I do not lie.), I turned to J and told him that we must go!  So we did.  It was excellent.  I cannot say enough about this performance.  It was beautifully done and I was impressed by the dedication to the characters by the cast of Brits.  I feel this story is so American, and yet the underlying themes really are universal.  RSL did a fabulous job with the courtroom scene.  When you are trying to perform a roll created by Gregory Peck, the stakes are pretty high and I think Robert (we are on a first name basis now) met the challenge.  Too bad it was 45 degrees.  With intermittent rain.  But, the show must go on!  And so it did.  And it was worth the less than optimal weather.
On Saturday J and I had brunch with friends and went to see Roger Hodgson in concert at the Prince Albert Hall.  Now, it is important to note that outside of a couple of children, we were definitely the youngest people there.  But it was a blast!  The "Voice of Supertramp" sounded great.  I also REALLY enjoyed watching the audience.  Highly entertaining.  Our walk back home post-concert took a route avoiding all pubs and large masses of people as the Champions League Finals had been played that night.  J wanted to be able to watch the replay of the game, so it was necessary that no errant fan be seen lest he should give the result away.  We were successful and then discovered that we did not receive the channel that was broadcasting the replay.  Hmmmm... (slow clap) well played universe, well played.

Bayern Munich: Champions of the Champions League

TO BE CONTINUED...
Tomorrow I will write about our amazing trip to Blenheim Palace in Oxfordshire.  It truly deserves its own post.  The place is unbelievable.

I am so happy that we had such a beautiful long weekend.  Mostly because, well...