Trish Takes London Town

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.