Hi Blog Faithful,
We are officially 7 Days, 7 Hours, and 20 minutes away from the Opening Ceremonies. The mood in London this past week has been quite festive as the Olympic Teams have been arriving, the official 2012 Olympic BMWs have been zipping around the city in their dedicated Olympic only traffic lanes, and the Senior Director has been wrapping up her rigorous training regimen for the Solo Synchronised Swimming event. She has been lucky it has been such a rainy summer and there have been some ample sized puddles around our flat because she was getting a little carried away with some of her "Flamingos" in our bathtub. She may in fact be the first Olympic medal hopeful from Fondy.
We were so thrilled 2 weeks ago to have our friend Trish visit us from San Francisco for a week. We had an awesome time seeing and doing some things that we still had not yet done, and most importantly, just getting to spend time with her. We finally had the quintessential English afternoon tea experience at Browns Hotel in Mayfair on Sunday. Browns was opened in 1837 and its tea room is attributed as the spot where Rudyard Kipling penned several of his novels and was the inspiration for Agatha Christie's "At Bertram's Hotel." It was a brilliant experience. Since Wimbledon was still happening, we chose the Wimbledon inspired theme which started with a glass of Rose champagne and then was followed by a choice of tea, strawberries and cream, warm scones and strawberry preserves, a bottomless assortment of finger sandwiches, and a variety of cakes and tarts. We were all glad for our self-guided London walking tour after that meal. Sunday also brought on a bit of the Sunday-Funday by accident. We decided on our way home to stop by a recommended wine bar in SOHO, Cork & Bottle, for a glass of wine at about 4:30. At 8:30, after about 5 or 6 glasses of wine, we finally made it to a cab to get us home. Monday morning was a little rough for those of us with work, but what a fun night that we had. On Tuesday night, we had the best Indian food that I have ever had thanks to a recommendation from Trish's friend in San Fran for a restaurant in Whitechapel called Tayyabs. It was phenomenal. On Wednesday, we also had another new dining experience at The Troubador Cafe in Earl's Court. Being another place that had been highly recommended to us, The Troubador is the last of the traditional coffee houses in London that opened in 1954 and has been host to a number of infamous musical acts including Bob Dylan, Paul Simon, Jimmy Page, Robert Plant, Jimmi Hendrix, and countless others. The ambiance and environment was fantastic. Friday night, Trish's last night, we went and saw "Billy Elliot" at the Victoria Palace Theatre. I have enjoyed every musical and play that we have seen here in London, and this one certainly did not disappoint. TP, we have so many great memories from our week together. Thanks for making the trip across the US and the pond to come and see us. We are looking forward to our trip out to San Fran when we are back and settled in the homeland.
We hope that everyone has a good weekend. It is, of course, the British Open this weekend at Royal Lytham, so let's hope for some good old typical links playing conditions in Northwest England. Safe travels and safe partying to the Knapp family who are embarking on the annual beach vacation starting tomorrow in Watercolor. We wish that we could be there. I am relieved that "Officer Oliver" will be there to keep everyone in check. Finally, a fair warning to all of the London Underground operators, bus drivers, taxi drivers, and rickshaw drivers in London. Ann has an after work social event this evening, so please be on alert for the Synchronised Swimming Sensation from Fondy as she may in fact need a lift home.
Maldives
Friday, 20 July 2012
Friday, 6 July 2012
Midsummer in Sweden
Happy belated 4th of July. There was not much mention of our independence here in England, of course, but I was quick to remind my English co-workers that it was the day that we defeated those Brit "Wankers." I also told the Frenchie on my team that I am pretty sure that is the last war that they actually showed up to fight. She takes my French jokes pretty well.
I am finally getting around to documenting our fantastic trip to Gothenburg, Sweden to see Ann's cousin Derek and the Swedish Diener contingent for the Midsummer festival two weekends ago. Thank you so much to Derek, Elisa, Noelle, Linnea, and most importantly Hansy Baby and Terttu (Elisa's Parents) for being incredible hosts and inviting us to stay in their beautiful summer cottage by the sea. Our pictures really do little to capture the serenity and tranquility of the West Coast of Sweden. It is every bit as remote and beautiful as you can imagine. The "Wet Coast" moniker unfortunately held true that weekend, but the rain did not stop any of the festivities. Elisa's brother was visiting from Australia, so he had invited some Aussie friends as well as a few of his Swedish friends, so it was quite a party. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. Upon our late evening arrival on Friday, we were greeted with the first of many shots of Swedish Snaps. As we came to find out later in the weekend as well, we were treated to a most memorable Midsummer serenade by Hansy Baby on the accordion. Apparently, this is incredibly rare and Ann and I were so lucky to have been witness. That really set the tone for the evening as the Snaps and beers continued to flow. At one point, as we were commenting on all of the different nations being represented at the Bjorkland Midsummer's party, we all sang each of our national anthems (Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the US). It was highly entertaining. I was truly in my element as well because there is nothing that I enjoy more than sipping cocktails and having good random conversations all night long. I was proud to be the last one standing and when I went to bed at 4am, not only had the sun never set, but it could have still been about 8 in the evening. Saturday morning, Ann and I took an awesome walk out along the coast and over the rocky shores. The surroundings were just so extraordinary. After a big breakfast, we loaded up in a 4 car (Volvo of course!!) caravan and headed north to a small fishing village called Smogen. It is this quaint summer town on the Swedish Coast. It is known for its long wooden piers filled with shops and restaurants in these old fishing huts. We had a fantastic fresh seafood lunch. We spent the afternoon walking around there and then came back to the cottage for a BBQ. On Sunday, Elisa's parents were so kind to watch the girls, so Derek and Elisa drove us in to Gothenburg to discover the city itself. We had so much fun walking around and had a remarkable lunch. We still had yet to sample the local delicacy, pickled herring, and it was well worth the wait. Most importantly, we enjoyed so much just getting to spend some time with Derek and Elisa. When we are all back in Fond du Lac for some occasion or another, it is hard to spend an extended period of time with anyone, so it was so nice for the 4 of us just to hang out. We are hoping that they are able to make a quick weekend trip down to London before we head back to the States. Derek has promised that he will sport his "bass" sweatshirt all weekend and Elisa promises a lot of "flipping," whatever that means;)!!!!! Ann and I really hope that we can return to Sweden one day because it is a beautiful country.
Cheers
Kevin
I am finally getting around to documenting our fantastic trip to Gothenburg, Sweden to see Ann's cousin Derek and the Swedish Diener contingent for the Midsummer festival two weekends ago. Thank you so much to Derek, Elisa, Noelle, Linnea, and most importantly Hansy Baby and Terttu (Elisa's Parents) for being incredible hosts and inviting us to stay in their beautiful summer cottage by the sea. Our pictures really do little to capture the serenity and tranquility of the West Coast of Sweden. It is every bit as remote and beautiful as you can imagine. The "Wet Coast" moniker unfortunately held true that weekend, but the rain did not stop any of the festivities. Elisa's brother was visiting from Australia, so he had invited some Aussie friends as well as a few of his Swedish friends, so it was quite a party. Everyone was so kind and welcoming. Upon our late evening arrival on Friday, we were greeted with the first of many shots of Swedish Snaps. As we came to find out later in the weekend as well, we were treated to a most memorable Midsummer serenade by Hansy Baby on the accordion. Apparently, this is incredibly rare and Ann and I were so lucky to have been witness. That really set the tone for the evening as the Snaps and beers continued to flow. At one point, as we were commenting on all of the different nations being represented at the Bjorkland Midsummer's party, we all sang each of our national anthems (Sweden, Australia, Canada, and the US). It was highly entertaining. I was truly in my element as well because there is nothing that I enjoy more than sipping cocktails and having good random conversations all night long. I was proud to be the last one standing and when I went to bed at 4am, not only had the sun never set, but it could have still been about 8 in the evening. Saturday morning, Ann and I took an awesome walk out along the coast and over the rocky shores. The surroundings were just so extraordinary. After a big breakfast, we loaded up in a 4 car (Volvo of course!!) caravan and headed north to a small fishing village called Smogen. It is this quaint summer town on the Swedish Coast. It is known for its long wooden piers filled with shops and restaurants in these old fishing huts. We had a fantastic fresh seafood lunch. We spent the afternoon walking around there and then came back to the cottage for a BBQ. On Sunday, Elisa's parents were so kind to watch the girls, so Derek and Elisa drove us in to Gothenburg to discover the city itself. We had so much fun walking around and had a remarkable lunch. We still had yet to sample the local delicacy, pickled herring, and it was well worth the wait. Most importantly, we enjoyed so much just getting to spend some time with Derek and Elisa. When we are all back in Fond du Lac for some occasion or another, it is hard to spend an extended period of time with anyone, so it was so nice for the 4 of us just to hang out. We are hoping that they are able to make a quick weekend trip down to London before we head back to the States. Derek has promised that he will sport his "bass" sweatshirt all weekend and Elisa promises a lot of "flipping," whatever that means;)!!!!! Ann and I really hope that we can return to Sweden one day because it is a beautiful country.
Cheers
Kevin
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