Merry Christmas!!!!

Mat arrived in London on December 24th. Since it was all very last minute, we were unable to find a bus/train/flight to take us anywhere---so we stayed in London and decided to make a big Christmas dinner to celebrate. Only 2 of our housemates were still in London and they all contributed somehow to the meal. Here are the pictures to document our amazing first Christmas as a married couple!!!

We began our day with a Christmas Curry. How British.

We went for a Christmas walk and discovered an outdoor gym.
Preventative measures called for a pre-dinner workout.

Unlike home, there is no snow, it is 10 degrees and the sky was grey except for this moment of blue, just before the sun went down.

London is the worst city to visit for Christmas as everything closes.

The entire tube and bus system were closed, leaving you to drive everywhere....
but gas stations were also closed, so don't drive too far.

Here are two of our housemates: Haaris and Unai. Together we all made a wonderful Christmas dinner.

Unai spent the majority of the day making desserts.

Mat made breaded chicken breasts (ASDA had run out of food. the only whole chicken/turkey left was over $80!!!!)

Mat also prepared the vegetables as I drank wine.

Haaris made a traditional Pakistani curry.

This is Haaris taking pictures to show his family how he finally celebrated a traditional Christmas.

Every year since 1957 the Queen has broadcast a Christmas message on BBC.We spent some time watching this year's message.

We even spruced up our table with this very traditional Simpsons wrapping paper.

Mat was very excited to get 2 crackers all to himself. WoW!!!

This is our Christmas table (we moved the tree to eat, as it continuously fell down, and no one likes tree in the mashed potatoes)


We all wore the crowns from our crackers.

Some of us even looked like a model while doing it.

Now, the food....

Here is the lovely curry up close and personal.

This is the breaded chicken and vomit looking stuffing. and this is Magners cider: Mat's new poison.

My plate, full of a little of everything. It was all really delicious. Not as good as home (since it was all fake: instant potatoes and instant stuffing and canned corn). everyone loved it though.

Mat was eager to eat.

So was everyone!

Here is just one of the desserts Unai made for us. This is Mat's presentation. Lovely!

These are the donughts that Unai handmade.

And the double chocolate muffins. Remember, there was only 4 of us.

Like all traditional Christmases, we ate to much and needed to recover.

In just 2 days we will head to Belgium, where we'll spend about 1 week...
then we're going to Italy where I will get to compare my sketch of the Colloseum to the real thing.

We had a wonderful holiday. Hope you did too.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!!!!!!!

No pics this week =(

I've been trying to write this posting for over a week, but I've caught the dreaded cold that everyone here seems to have...and I'm just plain tired.

So I was able to spend a few nights with Mat last week, since his ship was being fixed. I would take the tube and train after work and meet him in Gillingham (said Jillinam). It felt like living together again, though only for a few short days, and it was nice (even with the 3 hours of travel each way).

Once I returned to London, I tried to keep myself entertained as usual. I viewed a few book illustration exhibits at some art galleries in the centre, and on Friday I celebrated Kelly Baker's birthday by getting absolutely, Britishly pissed. And I felt it the next day! We had a blast. Talked to a bunch of random people, took even more random pictures and drank until they closed (at the very early hour of midnight. Much like Cinderella).

Sunday, I found some energy to see the newest Matthew Bourne production, Edward Scissorhands. As Bourne is a director, but primarily a choreographer, his works are entirely dance, like a ballet. No talking, no singing, just music and dance. It was a very great adaptation of the film and it was well choreographed and performed, but as a lover of musical theatre, I certainly missed the singing. There was absolutely nothing to really complain about...espcially since I had great seats for a very low price.

I went to see Piaf tonight, which is a play about France's gem 'the little sparrow' who was at one point the world's highest paid female singer. She had a crazy life: born in the gutter, worked as a prostitute, gained fame and a drug addiction and slowly pittered out. It as well was not musical theatre, but it was wonderful. The acting (especially from Elena Roger, who plays Edith Piaf) was breathtaking. The best thing was that I was seated front row centre (and all for the low price of £10, just for going in at 10am today to buy the ticket), so I saw absolutely every emotion this actress went through---and I mean I saw it. It felt like I was actually there, watching it all happen...and when something pulls you in like that, especially something so heavy, you can't help but be effected (which is why I know have a small pack of Oreos sitting beside me).

In other news, Mat is still not sure when he'll be home, but we're dealing with it.
I applied for my SIN number today (called National Insurance here), which was a ridiculous process and will still take 8 weeks. The kicker was, and here is London---the tube station I needed was closed, "due to a person under the train!" I'm not kidding. That's actually what they said---it's what they wrote too and I even have a picture--but on my camera, which I can't upload. It's a gem I'll keep for home though.

Hope everyone is excited for December 21st. I am!!! It's the shortest day of the year and it's quickly approaching, which means that soon---it'll all be up hill.

XOXO

A Wonderful Week (so far)

I spent Sunday strolling through The Borough (the area south of the River across from the Tower of London). It's a cute area, with cobble stone roads and a wonderful view of the city.

Here is a picture of The White Tower at the Tower of London (it used to be white washed to make it appear more ominous to those attempting to invade).

This is Tower Bridge as the sun begins to set (well there was no sun just rain clouds---but somewhere the sun is setting).

In 2011 New Zealand will host the World Cup of Rugby. To promote tourism they've set up a giant rugby ball that fits 150 people inside where a virtual reality video is projected 360 degrees around. They show different areas of New Zealand and different activities you can do, and since it's all 360, it looks 3D and it feels like you're doing the things (skiing, white water rafting). I've never experienced anything like it before.

I got a picture with some singers as I was waiting to go inside.

They even project images onto the exterior of the ball at night time. It's beautiful.

At night you also get a great view of Tower Bridge (though with our crappy camera you can't really see).

I visited City Hall to see an exhibit of bags made by teens about current issues.

Some of the bags.

The best part was that no one I spoke to knew where City Hall was, or even that it was in the area (and I asked at the front desk of a fancy hotel only steps away from it). In at least one way I know more about London than a Londoner.

I thought this was funny. It's a wooden escalator at an obviously old train station out in one of the west boroughs.



Wednesday's highlight was going to the movie premier of Twilight. Now understand, I did not go, but stood outside the theatre and took pictures of the actors. I really liked the book---not so much the movie--and I couldn't care less about the stars, but it was amazing to see the crowd of people (young and old, girls and not) trying to get pictures of these people. Our obsession with celebrity is amazing (more to prove this in just seconds).




This is the Vue Cinema at Leicester Square.

You really can't tell how many people are here, so just take my word for it---a lot.

This is a picture of the actress who plays Bella Swan. I had to google her to find out her name is Kristen Stewart. She constantly looked pissed off.

See our crappy camera. Oh the joy.

I did manage to get a silhouette of her.

And if you squint and peer through the heads, you can see her again.

The big call of the night in this guy, Robert Pattinson, who plays Edward Cullens, the vampire (and played Cedric in Harry Potter).

He's quite sexy, but these girls didn't care about him---just Edward the vampire biting them. It was bizarre. I've never heard so many girls screaming 'bite me!'

This is a better image of him---but it's clearly off of the jumbo tron (you have no idea how much work it was to get any picture at all).

Squint and peer once again....it's both of them together. Oh, if only I weren't behind 5 rows of people and they were actually facing us, not the press, and I had a good camera--it might actually be a good picture.

Thursday marked the 62nd time that Oslo, Norway has donated a Christmas tree to London as a thank you for the support and protection given during the Second World War. The tree stands in the middle of Trafalgar Square, surrounded by Canada House (the Canadian embassy), the National Gallery and the man on the pole, Admiral Nelson.

This is the 90 foot, 90 year old tree. It seems a shame to cut one every year. Couldn't they have just planted one 62 years ago? It would have been cool to watch it grow over the years.

Here is the tree, lit at 6:25pm. It's nice, but late, since it was supposed to be lit at 6pm (it's ok, since nothing here happens on time).

After the lighting, I wandered around and found a group of people screaming and taking pictures (some while standing on ladders---so these people were professional). Like all the other fools who had no idea what was going on, I stood there too....and guess who I saw?????

Melanie C. Sporty Spice!!! I was only 3 feet away from here and they were all screaming 'Mel, look here', so I know for sure I was correct in recognizing her. Too bad my crappy camera has turned her into an albino blob. Just so you know, she is STUNNING. and pregnant. God it makes being human so difficult when celebrities are actually beautiful in real life---but she truly is.


and yet the camera worked wonders for this person (whom I've yet to discover).

So that's all from London for now. It's been a busy week...and a decent one. I haven't talked to Mat much, because he was heading to Amsterdam, but I'm sure he's as wonderful as he always is.

xoxoxo