First, my apologies for the lack of entries the last week or two. We have just been here in London working and seeing more of the city. We set out on a really fun adventure this morning. We rode the tube to a station near Regents Park in northwest London. It is a beautiful park with vast green spaces, huge ponds and fountains, and blooming flowers everywhere. It is also home to the London Zoo as well as Regents College. We made our way north through the Park and out into an area called Camden Town. Camden is known for its fantastic market. You can find everything from food to antiques to vintage clothing. It is absolutely a must see if you make it to London. It is such a cultural melting pot of people, food and products. The famous poet Dylan Thomas spent the last 2 years of his life there. Charles Dickens was also a resident and used Camden as the home of the Cratchit family in "A Christmas Carol." Amy Winehouse was born and raised in Camden and frequents the markets. If you are familiar with Samantha Brown and her travels shows, Camden is always a stop for her in London as well(Camden pics below). Anyway, we had a great morning wandering through the market and taking in the sights. The weather has been fantastic as well. We have seen the sun almost every day for the last 7 or 8 days and there has been no rain. This city is so incredible when the weather is nice. It is great even when the weather is crappy, but the energy of Londoners when the sun shines is spectacular. Londoners love to be outside rain or shine, so when there is sun, the parks are packed, the sidewalk cafes are full, and the pub crowds spill into the streets. I have seen many cities in the sun, but it is really beyond description here.
This weekend is actually our first wedding anniversary. It is so hard to believe that a year has gone by. It seems like just yesterday that we were talking about wedding details. If you would have asked both of us a year ago what we would be doing today, we would probably have told you that we were maybe expecting a baby and being excited for another MN winter to almost be over. WOW, life can change quickly. Regardless of destination though, Ann is incredibly lucky to have such an amazing husband. I am smart, funny, and incredibly good looking!!!! I am also very skilled at writing about myself. I am just kidding. It is me who is the lucky one. I could not have asked for a better friend and and person to share my life with. We continue to learn more about each other every day and we continue to challenge each other to be better people. We are so thankful to be on this dream journey together. I told her that if this first year is any indicator of excitement for what is ahead in our life, we are going to be worn out by 35;) It has been a great anniversary weekend though. We had an amazing dinner last night at a new restaurant in London called Nopi(HIGHLY RECOMMEND). It was actually opened by the husband and wife team that own our favorite bakery, Ottolenghi. The menu is comprised of small plates. We started with a butternut squash pure to put on bread. We then shared a potato gratin fondant with savoy cabbage. We had seared scallops with a green apple relish. My favorite were the beef brisket croquettes with an asian slaw. The beef just melted in your mouth. We also had a Japanese eggplant and then finished with slow cooked pig cheek. I know that Pig cheek sounds disgusting, but it was some of the most tender and succulent meat that I have ever had. It was a great evening, and a great celebration of our year together. To top off the weekend, we just got home from a 60 minute massage. Life does not get much better than this. I did have to add a quick comment. If you read our posting following our weekend in Madrid, you will be glad to hear that the Sr. Director no longer has to rely on the sun or her shabby old watch to know what time that it is:)
I did want to quickly add an amazing experience that I had on Friday. The iPad 2 launched here in the UK and Europe on Friday at 5pm. It was my first product launch at Apple. I am fortunate because our market support offices sit just above our Covent Garden Store in London. I have heard plenty about the energy and excitement around product launches and have seen some videos, but this was crazy. It is unlike anything that I have ever seen before. I took some video on my iPhone, and I am attempting to attach it to the blog, but I am not sure if I can. Regardless, when we opened the doors to the store at 5pm on Friday, there was a que(line) of more than 1000 people(which is relatively small in comparison to the iPhone 4 launch or an actual new store opening). People had started to line up on Thursday morning. It was insane. I will be involved in some of our new store openings this year in England and Scotland, so I am really looking forward to those.
I guess that is it for now. We are both here in London this week and then Ann flies to Cape Town, South Africa on Friday night for a week. I am really jealous of that trip. We hope that everyone is well. We miss you all and are looking forward to our first visitors in May!!! Ann did get her dress this weekend for the big wedding, so she is feeling much better about that.
Kevin
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