Resting it out with Pinxos, Paella, and Peddling

For those of you who have never been, Barcelona has an excellent public transportation system. There are plentiful buses, trams, trains, and a metro. But that’s not all- the city has recently started something called Bicing, a pick-up/drop-off bike system for locals. We tried to get bikes, but as we later found out, one needs to register and live in Barcelona to rent one. We are not sure if they are free or just really cheap, but they are great. There are Bicing stations all over the city, so you can pick one up in Plaza Catalunya, for example, and drop it off by the Barcelonetta Beach (as another example). I think every urban city should invest in this system because it is sustainable and fun. Almost everyone loves bike-riding, and it’s much faster than walking.

So anyway, on Wednesday, after a failed attempt to go to Montserrat (I was feeling sick) and successful attempt to sleep until noon, we decided it was time to hit the town. For lunch we had Pinxos, which are little breads with either tortilla or crab or jamon Serrano, or other yummy foods attached with a toothpick.

Full and happy, we walked around the whole city and took the metro to the beach. We strolled leisurely and Bret taught me how to skip stones. Then, we looked up at the distance and realized that there was a series of cable cars overhead. After looking at the map, we realized that we could take a car over the city to Montjuic, yet another part of Barcelona. The ride was lovely because it took us above the sea, and it was lots of fun to get such a nice bird’s eye view of Barcelona. After doing a few sprints around the mountain, we met up with my family again for some dinner. We walked around the whole city looking for places to eat, and finally settled on another Pinxos place in Old City close to the Cathedral. To end the night, we went to the newly designed hotel Ooomm, where we listened to live music and had Amaretto with Cream.

On Thursday, Bret was not feeling well, but he was determined to experience the town, so we rented tourist bikes (not bicings) and rode around the whole city. We have decided that the best way to see a city is by biking or mopedding. We had such a fun time biking through the Born and the Parc de la Ciudadella (where there are lakes, pathways, and a zoo). The sun felt so nice and warm, we decided it would be a perfect day for a paella on the beach. For those of you who don’t know, paella is a delicious Spanish rice made with peppers, squid, lobster, and shrimp. It was perhaps the most delicious paella I’ve had (next to my mother’s of course!), and the hot sun and crashing waves made the experience a completely hedonistic event.

To finish off our bike ride, we headed up through Poblenou, which is a quiet and quaint part of the city, and then Bret went back to nap while I wreaked havoc in the stores. Let me tell you that Catalonians are not known for their kindness towards strangers, and I experienced firsthand the wrath of the shop clerk. Ok, wrath might be a bit strong, but I was needlessly scolded in two stores for touching the merchandise. First, I went into a hat store, and after I had touched a hat, the shop assistant said: “Psst! No!!” and shook his head and wagged his finger at me. I felt like a naughty puppy, so I quickly scampered out to the open market. While there, I noticed a lovely antique typewriter. As I was testing it out, the seller came up to me and said: “Hey, what are you doing? That’s not a toy, you know.” Again, I cowered away. This was too much disciplinary action for a pleasant shopping trip. They could have put signs that said: No tocar, or gently told me that touching the merchandise was not allowed. But no, this is Barcelona, and you have to be a feisty little one to survive the stores. Once you know that, shopping is much better. I think, in fact, that Barcelona shopping is even better than New York shopping because in Barcelona, they have stores you can’t find anywhere else, while in New York, most stores are international chains. Sure, there are chains in Barcelona; in fact, my parents bought me some lovely outfits from the chain MANGO, but they also have little boutiques that aren’t all terribly expensive. I got this really cool felt necklace from a store in Gracia, the young, vibrant part of Barcelona. And there were some really fun pins and patterns in stores around Old City.

Anyway, we have been left visually and gastronomically satisfied. And we are ready for more international adventures. We hope, not only to hit up places around Europe, but even take advantage of the fact we are so close to Africa, and go to Egypt and Morocco. But for now, we’ll keep it quiet here in Northeast England. As they say in these parts: Ta-ra!

Bon Nadal: A taste of the good life

Feliz Navidad to all, or should I say Bon Nadal! Catalan is everywhere in this fiercely independent Spanish province. In the morning, we did the traditional Christmas thing: Mass. We went to the Cathedral Santa Maria del Mar in the Gothic neighbourhood called the Born. This is by far the coolest neighbourhood in Barcelona because there are romantic little winding alleyways and funky boutiques full of Spanish goodies. The Cathedral was unsurprisingly very impressive, with its thick stone beams aspiring to the heavens and colourful stained glass windows forming kaleidoscopes on our faces. The Mass surprisingly (and luckily) was relatively short, despite having been in Spanish, Catalan, and French.

After our holy pilgrimage, we took a quick look at my grandfather’s lovely old flat, which was in the neighbourhood. But since we were starving, we did not linger long, and went to my cousins,’ Stella and Amadeo’s, place shortly after. They live on the other side of town, in a posh area known as the Eixample. There, we soon gathered into a nice sized group, including my six cousins, my parents, and the family priest. This old Jesuit man was good friends with Stella’s mother, who passed away a few years ago. The family has remained close to him, and kindly invited him to spend Christmas with us. Only problem is he spoke mainly Catalan, my cousins mainly Catalan and Spanish, and Bret only English. But I think we managed quite well.

After passing around some presents, downing some wine, olives, and fois, we proceeded to have lunch (at around 3:30!). We sat around at a very grand table with a large crystal chandelier and rococo paintings on the walls. After the little old priest had recited part of a prayer/poem that he wrote (in Catalan), which I gathered had something to do with sunrise, baby Jesus, and Santa, we proceeded to feast. And what a feast it was! Light macaroni soup to start, followed by Escudella- a fabulous Spanish dish of cabbage/potato/carrot/pork/blood sausage/chicken. Wine poured generously from every angle. And then it came: the climax of the lunch: lobsters. While at first we attempted politeness, given the formal surroundings, by the second lobster, we had dumped our manners out along with the lobster shells. And by our fourth lobster, we were competing over who could get the most meat out of the claws. Stuffed and happy, we finished our meal with traditional turrones and some Champagne. 3 hours later, after our hard work of eating fine food and imbibing our vino tinto and bubbly, we headed back to the Alexandra for a well-deserved Christmas nap.

Barthelona: Sun is shinin, weather is sweet...

Well folks, Bret and I are back from our Catalonian adventure, and what a great time we had!

It was Bret’s first time on the Iberian peninsula, and I hadn’t been in 8 years, so I had forgotten quite a bit about it, like how sunny it is in Barcelona! Every day we were blessed with bright blue skies. The temperature, too, was glorious, usually in the mid-fifties. Despite this, wherever we went, we saw everyone bundled up with scarves and coats. Even most dogs were clad in their little canine sweaters! Barcelona is a very dog-friendly city. Actually, it’s a very pedestrian-friendly city, not only because of the weather, but also because the sidewalks are wide and there are many shops and cafes everywhere. We stayed in a wonderful little hotel called the Alexandra, right off the Passeig de Gracia, Barcelona’s “5th Avenue”. Everyday, we walked along the storefronts of Tous, Burberry, Carolina Herrera, and MaxMara.

But the shiny storefronts were hardly the only objects to dazzle our eyes on this trip. Barcelona was Antonio Gaudi’s design playground, and his art nouveau influence, with eccentric undulations and quirky mosaics abound. In fact, after greeting my parents and grabbing some tapas, we decided to head out to his famous cathedral La Sagrada Familia. It’s a fantastic and still unfinished structure which lights up gloriously at night. Across from the Sagrada Familia, there is a lovely park where children were playing futbol and ping pong. Like any cutting edge urban mecca, Barcelona is home to many bustling green spaces. My mom tells me that as a child when she would visit Barcelona for long periods of time, she would feed the pigeons in Plaza Catalunya and play in the Parc de la Ciudadella. These parks act as a sanctuary to garrulous groups, joyous (and tantrum-throwing) children, fetching pups, and romantic (frequently underage) couples.

Surrounding these parks, there is often a mixture of buildings: Parisian-style apartments, grand government structures, and sleek hotels. The old and the new comfortably co-exist in this cosmopolitan city. Ornate gothic churches sit alongside jagged-edged post-modern structures. The centuries compress within buildings, too. It is not uncommon to see an old 18th century exterior, with thick stones and dramatic doors, lead to a cleanly refurbished ultra-modern interior.

After appreciating the preliminary sights of Barcelona, Bret and I decided to head back to our own minimalist quarters at the Hotel Alexandra. As we lay in bed, we couldn’t help but notice that there was something curiously different about our setting aside from the obvious change in location from our English bedroom. Then we realised: unlike our bedroom in Durham which faces a noisy, busy street, this room faced an interior courtyard. We closed our eyes, and for the first time in 3 months on Dec 24, we had a truly silent night.

Hiking Scafell Pike

Greetings from Barcelona!

Hello all. Claudia and I arrived safely in Barcelona earlier this afternoon and have spent the evening touring the area a bit with Claudia's parents (some tapas, Sagrada Familia, and gorgeous walks through the city). Tonight, we'll probably be heading out to the Ramblas and will soon have pictures and stories. For now, I'm taking some time, while Claudia gets gussied up for tonight, to write about my hiking adventure last weekend (December 15th). I was able to convince a couple of mates (Jim and Tim; hereafter, TNJ) at work to head out to the tallest mountain in all of England, Scafell Pike, for a bit of a ramble.

For those of you reading who may not be familiar (i.e., roughly everyone reading this), Scafell Pike is located in the Lake District and rises roughly 1000 meters above sea level. So Scafell Pike is by no means an enormous mountain in the global circuit of high peaks, but since the base of the mountain is near sea level (unlike many large mountains) and the terrain can be steep and rocky, this was a very good challenge for a one-day hike. TNJ and myself got a good start at the mountain shortly after 9:30am. Without including non-negligible detours that were taken, we hiked roughly five miles to the top of the mountain. The entire hike was done over very clear conditions in areas where there was no cover by trees. This made the hike quite windy and picturesque (see photos of our ascent). Near the summit the terrain became challenging to the point where we were climbing at what seemed to be a 45 degree grade in somewhat icy conditions. In fact the final quarter mile or so was covered with a thin glazing of very slippery and solid snow, which we climbed using small rocks that protruded from the snow-buried terrain. But in the end, we perservered and made it to the top with just enough time to get back before sun down (at 3:30pm here in northern England!!!).

Though this hike was not the most challenging physical trial, the experience was enough to get me thinking of undertaking more ambitious future climbs. Around here the big talk about hiking seems to be the "Three Peaks Challenge," which is a challenge to hikers to venture to the tops of the highest peaks in Wales, England, and Scotland all in one day. While I may not be up for such an ambitous adventure at this stage, my current goal is to complete each respective hike separately in the near future and to soon make it out to the Alps for some additional hiking adventures.

a crisp winter evening!

Good evening everyone,
Bret and I have just returned from a night out to the Gala- our mini movie theatre here in Durham. They play two movies a day, and they change the movies every week. Last week we saw Darjeeling Ltd. (not bad) and tonite we saw Fred Claus (v cute). We use our Penn State ids to get a student discount, so the movie comes out to a bargain 3.60 ($7.40) instead of 5.00 ($10.20).

Anyway, so it was a gorgeous evening because it's now freezing, so the dew has frozen onto the sidewalks (pavement) and the grass, and everything looks like its been sprinkled with magic fairy dust! I just love it when it's cold and still, and you can smell the clean air. There was no wind, just beautiful stars, haze above the river, and glittery sidewalks. I miss the snow, but these brisk, tranquil nights are wonderful, too.

Aside from the gradual weather change, life has really picked up for us here in the Northeast. Bret is working on his research as intended, and I am temping for the time being. I've been working as a bookseller at Waterstone's and a receptionist at one of the University dorms. Both jobs are easy and a good way to pass the time, get out of the house, and earn a little money. But come January, I hope to get a permanent office job in Newcastle. We hope to move there in April when our lease runs out. We have realised that we enjoy urban life too much. Durham is quaint, but lacks cultural resources. If we lived in Newcastle, we'd have plenty of restaurants, shops, and gyms to choose from. Not to mention that Newcastle has both a bus and a metro system. It's much more action-packed and diverse. So if I get a job in Newcastle, essentially, we'd have a reason to move there. If I get a job in Durham, we'd "be stuck" in Durham cuz it wouldn't make sense to move to Newcastle if we both had to commute (the train is pricey). I'm sure either way it'll be fine. But it would be great to get out of these country 'burbs and move to a metropolis.

We are very excited for our upcoming future. We'll be going to Barcelona for Christmas (don't worry, I'll tell you all about it!). It's great cuz my cousins live there, and my other cousins are going there, and best of all, my parents are meeting us there too! Bret and I are excited to eat snails, rabbit, and octopus (which we don't get here in mince and mash land). A few months after Barcelona, we plan on going up to Edinburgh, the gorgeous and super hip city of Scotland. I was hoping to go to Russia this summer, but it looks like that one might have to wait...

Thanksgiving at the Coronation House

When I proposed to the Brits in my department that we have Thanksgiving at my house this year, I was not thinking that it would have such a positive response. That's right! Last night Claudia and I celebrated Thanksgiving at Coronation house with nearly ten others; eight of whom were new to the experience.

During the day Claudia made sure to clean the house and make it look presentable for our guests. The bed was made, carpets were fluffed, candles were lit, plants and carpets were strategically placed, and the lighting was tuned to be just right. I have included some mildly artistic photos here to show just how sleek Coronation house can get with a little bit of TLC. You can compare these photos with those that I added last month when we first moved in.

Claudia and I spent much of the early day preparing dinner sides in the traditional Thanksgiving way: there's the stuffing, the cranberry sauce, the mashed potatoes, the gravy, and just when the kitchen was reaching capacity, there was the 11 pound turkey. Unfortunately things got off to a bit of a slow start ... someone (hmm, hmm ... Bret) mistook turmeric for tarragon and left the stuffing smelling like a typical Indian curry. This forced me to start again after waisting about an hour of time cooking some onions, carrots, and pear in turmeric. We'll try and use this odd mixture to make a soup.

After this rough start, everything seemed to fall into place without any further problems. We finished cooking around 6pm, in plenty of time for ourguests who began arriving at 6:30. The food was a smashing success! Others brought desserts, beer, and wine, making this one of the largest feasts that I've ever hosted. Everything turned out delicious and there was plenty to go around for all twelve of us. We spent the night dining, chatting, and playing mafia (see Halloween entry below) until things settled at 12:30 or so.

It's interesting to note that for the past two years I cooked Thanksgivingdinners in Pennsylvania for friends who were stuck in town, and each time I probably got around half the number of people that showed up last night. Of course this is mainly due to the fact that in the US, Thanksgiving is such a family-oriented holiday that few people are without their families. So it's pretty cool at how popular you can become by hosting such a gluttonous holidayin a foreign country. This implies to me that deep down inside, everyone is a fan of Thanksgiving.

Our day in York

Phew! We have had a blast! Bret and I just returned from York. We left this morning around 10:00, and 45 minutes later, we had arrived in York. The minute we got into the train station, we knew we were in a cool city. The station was tall and grand, and there were bikes everywhere. Suddenly we had a realisation: Durham is a suburban wasteland compared to this gem of a city!

Ok, so Durham isn't that bad. It is gorgeous too, but much much smaller. York has lots more shops: department stores like Fenwicks, international shops like L'Occitane, and cool boutiques everywhere (Boho Belle was my fave cuz the clothes is so Kate Moss and the perfume was French). Basically it's got the shopping and restaurant life of Newcastle, plus the quaintness of Durham. For dinner we ate delicious South East Asian, but there was also a Pakistani restaurant, a Turkish restaurant, and Thai food. The most exotic we get here in Durham is a traditional Indian curry.

But I am getting ahead of myself. Let me tell you what we did before dinner. First, we went into the cool cosmopolitan sandwich shop for lunch. After Bret downed some hummus and peppers and I chowed on chicken with mango chutney, we headed over to the National Railroad Museum, where we checked out old railroads and rode on a giant ferris wheel with magnificent views of the city. From the top, we saw green parks, stately homes, and the York Minster (the largest gothic cathedral in the UK).

After we finished the ride, we decided to head to York Minster ("The Minster") and check it out a bit closer. As we walked towards it, the bells tolled louder and louder (ding, ding, dong-ding, ding ... ding, ding, dong-ding, ding ...). People swarmed the narrow streets, and smells of delicious nuts, sweets, and butter filled the air. We had arrived in the hotspot of York.

The cathedral looked impressive. As we walked in, we could hear the boys choir singing dramatic classical songs. The ceiling rose up high, candles abounded, the mysterious scent of incense infused our noses. But then we realised that to experience more, we would have to pay 5 quid.

Suddenly feeling like the Durham cathedral (which is free) was good enough, we opted to walk around the York city shops rather than check out anymore of the minster.

In York, there is an area called "The Shambles." Actually, it's a really narrow cobblestone street, with tudor-style buildings that lean over the road. It's all windy and bustling. Really great fun! There was an outdoor market, some home decor shops, and cute little pubs. Really small alleyways are called "snickleways"...I think those were the little alleys leading out of The Shambles. They are dark and hovering and give the impression that a hairy burly beefcake bearded Viking will pop out on the other side (side note: York was the Viking capital in England).

After window shopping for hours, and feeling sensory overload, we attempted to head over to 'the tower'...all I know about this tower is that in the medieval ages (in this case the 1100s), hundreds of Jews and Jewesses sought out protection in this tower, but they were killed because they refused to renounce their faith. We didn't learn more because it was a 3 quid entrance, and we had already bought a few goodies at the shops. Opting for consumerism over history- we are so post-modern.

Finally, it was getting dark (16:20) so we decided on an early dinner. I ordered a Japanese box of squid and meat, pickled veggies, cooked veggies, cabbage, and white rice. Bret had a Korean Bi Bim Bap. Gastronomically content and exhausted from the day's walking and looking, we headed back to the train station, and finally made our way to the Coronation Station at around 19:00.

Our Hallowe'en Party, Guy Fawkes Nite, and more

Ladies and Gents,
I have not forgotten my blog duties. I have been busy looking for employment, which has thus far been unsuccessful. I have discovered that teaching at a Community College is not the most sensible path, as I would have to go back to school for two years to get some silly certificate. If we were staying here permanently, it would make sense. But since we will only be here for 3 years and US Community Colleges do not require additional certification, it makes far more sense to work in another area, make money, expand my employment skills, and then return to my calling when we get to the US. Bret has been talking about settling down in Oregon. I have never been, but I took a city test, and Portland was my number one city. Health-conscious, dog-friendly, cultural, and clean. There I will be able to motivate young minds to enjoy reading and writing...
Anyway, this is not the time to think about the future. It's time to think about the past- past week in Durham UK, that is.
We hosted our first party on Hallowe'en (I don't know why the Brits do the apostrophe thing). As mentioned in a previous post, we decided to go potluck-style, given our poverty. I made a chicken mush in the crockpot, which turned out pretty tasty (though far from my best, I'm afraid), and our friends brought everything else, which means that we now have a 3 month supply of Gateaux and wine (another curious Brtishism: they call cake by its French name).
While we ate and drank, we dedided to up the merryness by teaching the Brits one of our fave games: Mafia. If you do not know how to play Mafia, I'll give you the quick explanation.
There is a Master of Ceremonies (Bret) to monitors the whole thing. Everyone is given secret cards to mean different things. You can get 1 or 4 options: Mafia, Detective, Medic, and Townsperson. The object of the game is to catch the Mafia, who is lurking amongst the group pretending to be a townsperson. Everyone closes their eyes, and the MC tells Mafia to open her eyes and 'kill' someone, then close her eyes. The MC asks the Detective and Medic to do a few things, and then at the end of the session, someone ends up dead unless the Medic saved the person. Everyone accuses each other of being Mafia. And then everyone votes on who to 'lynch'...if the Mafia was lynched, then the townspeople win, if not, you do another round of closing your eyes, etc. Usually, it takes awhile to catch the Mafia. And there are often a lot of innocent townspeople who are killed before the Mafia is killed. Anyway, it was really fun...

So we didn't have any trick or treaters. Hallowe'en is just starting to get big here. But it's not nearly as fun as in The States. And of course, there's no Thanksgiving, though we are going to host one for our friends. But amidst the super early Christmas decorations and shopping, there's a little Brit holiday called Guy Fawkes Nite.

Apparently, a Catholic named Guy Fawkes made a plot to blow up the corrupt Protestant Parliament (I do not mean to suggest that Protestantism is corrupt; only in this case I believe it was). He failed in his plot, and three months later, he was tortured and hanged. This all took place in 1605. And the country is still celebrating this nite. I think we are meant to be celebrating Guy Fawkes for his effort, but maybe we are celebrating the fact that he failed. I'm not clear on it.

Anyway, it's a big fireworks nite. And so Bren and Dave invited us over for some yummy lamb casserole and apple crumble with custard. We then went out to the freezing cold and watched the fireworks display. It was pretty fun, but not as cool as Independence Day in the states cuz Guy Fawkes nite doesn't have any music. I really thought they could have added a little Classical music, at least, but no, just pop pop, bang bang.

Anyway, so we are really pumped for the weekend, cuz we are going to see Into the Wild in Newcastle and have Jim and Kristen over for dinner. I am going to continue to look for a good job, possibly do some temping for the time being, and of course, do some creative writing. Surprisingly, I've been writing poetry. Most of it has turned out to be about Coronation House, actually. I have found the benefits of riding the bus: time to write. I just take my pen and notebook, and write while I wait and while I'm on the bus. That way, I'm not wasting time and I'm exercising my brain. I am not fond of being carless because buses take much longer, but at least I'm making good use of my time.

the NHS, Newcastle nites, and our upcoming party

Hello everyone,
Happy daylight savings! or "Fall back" or whatever. I know that in the US, you don't turn your clocks until next weekend, but here in Northeast England, we have eagerly turned them back today. It was wonderful sleeping in until 10, which was actually 9. To celebrate, I made Bret and myself some scrambled eggs and toast with some strawberries that I bought in the town market yesterday. I love doing Saturday shopping in town because all the vendors have their veggies and flowers and meats. There is a butcher in the indoor market, and I plan on buying some yummy cow hunks next weekend.
After our breakfast, I set out on a 30 minute run around the farms and hillsides. It's a gorgeous day (55 degrees and sunny), and so I put on my ipod, set it to some hardcore techno, and hit the hills. there was lots of horse poo along the trails, but it's beautiful anyway. Even though we live in a 'suburb,' there are lots of farms around. Right by our home, there is a horse and chicken farm, where they sell free range eggs. We will buy some soon because I used up the last of our Tesco eggs today.
So anyway, house updates: we have a gorgous couch that is very comfy and sleak. It is sitting right under the living room window, where I have 4 potted mini arecas and a bamboo shade rolled up half way. I also bought a fern for our donated bookshelf which is in the dining room. And I got 2 ivy plants for the top of the bookshelf (the leaves will drip down as the plants grow). We plan on spray-painting the bookshelf black because right now, it's just wood color. We are also really excited to put my mom's art on our downstairs walls, and Carmen Ruiz's art in our bedroom.

My herbs are doing phenomenally. the parsley and cilantro (coriander) came back to life, and the mint is going crazy. We are having a Halloween potluck party on Wednesday in which I will make lots of mojitos, hot apple cider, and a rice/chicken crockpot casserole. I'm still not sure what I will dress up as. I'm going for clever and creative because I can't afford a 'real' costume. So suggestions are very welcome.

Anyway, about a month ago, Bret and I went to Newcastle. We decided to go to Eldon Square because we saw that it was a hip shopping area. However, shopping around here closes at 5 so we just kind of roamed around deserted streets. We had eaten some gross sushi that had been going around in a conveyer belt, and then we went to go play pool at a bar where we were the only people over 17. We wondered why everyone raved about Newcastle. It seemed like a boring dirty town to us. With bad food. We were so disappointed.

But on Friday, we gave it another shot- this time with locals. We went out with Mark Norris, Shelly, and we met two other scientists: Gaz (nickname for Gareth) and Hugh. Together, we hit up a decent little Greek restaurant (I had vine leaves, Mousaka, and baklava, of course) in which we imbibed large quantities of red and white wine. Then we met up with Mark's middle brother, who is a beat bobby (steet cop) and Gaz's woman, Teresa at Revolution. It's a super hot bar with loud music, posh decor, and lots and lots of people. I had one of my usuals: a cosmo. After Revolution, we went over to Quayside, the absolute cooooolest part of Newcastle. it's right by the River Tyne. The bridges are all lit up, there are street performers, lots of ethnic restaurants, awesome bars, and crazy clubs. It was a gorgeous nite- cool, full moon, wispy clouds racing overhead. We went to two more bars, and exhausted, we asked middle Norris to drive us back to Durham. We crashed at 2 am and didn't wake up until 10:30. While we were not hungover, we were definitly lethargic. Bret was kind enough to make me some homemade oatmeal with maple syrup and cream.

So finally, we are starting to see the great parts of England. Not only is the nitelife way better than we thought it originally was, but there are aspects of the government which are great too. For starters, guns are illegal in this country, even for cops. That means virtually no gun violence exists (of course, they can be purchased illegally, but it's still quite uncommon to hear of such crimes, unlike the US). The death penalty is also illegal, and has been since the 60s, I believe. And of course, they have state health care. Believe me, I believe in business and profit. And I mistrust all governments, in general. But matters of health should not rest in the hands of profit-makers. Setting myself up with the NHS couldn't have been easier. They didn't even ask to see my passport. I just went to the health clinic, filled out a little form, and now I have an appointment for a check-up this thursday. Prescriptions are super cheap, too. So no copayments, no ridiculous costs. Just a few pounds and that's it.

Coronation House Photos

Here are some pics of our new digs. Hope they do it justice. Comments and decorating suggestions are most welcome. :)


Front door; note that the bushes have now been trimmed. Claudia is facing the street.


Our 2nd floor bedroom, pre-furnishings. Window faces street.


Our 2nd floor bathroom. Sexy candles now added to window sill. Window faces our yard.


Our yard.


Our first night sleeping arrangement. Kitchen in back at left and yard just outside window at right.


Our kitchen area; pre-furnishings.


Our Ikea bed.


Claudia in our office area. Bedroom in room behind her. Yard in front of her.


First dinner in dining room. Street behind her.

Reminiscings of our Honeymoon

We've now obtained internet at the Coronation House, where I have been coronated as king ... of the house. Anyways, I've decided to post a few pics from our honeymoon in NYC and Ireland. Pics of the Coronation House will follow.


New York City Skyline


Claudia on a water taxi (Empire State Building in the background)


Downtown Ireland


Claudia and I on the top of a double-decker bus


Jumping for joy in St. Stephen's Green


Guinness mustache in the Guinness factory


Napping on the way to Galway


Downtown Galway

the latest gossip from coronation station

So as it turns out, Bret has discovered a much unused gift: carpentry. He's a whiz putting furniture together, using tools, figuring out how things work, and installing. We have a new track light system in the office that we got for super cheap at B&Q (think Lowe's or Home Depot), and we're gonna get more. Today, after a another furious day of calling people and sending out my resume, I will go to B&Q to get a tree and some fresh soil. Unfortunately, my Parsley and Cilantro have died. But I am determined to develop a green thumb. I have placed 4 mini arecas on the living room window sill, and the mint and basil are still going strong.

We got the carpet steam cleaned yesterday because it was rotting, and the steam cleaner told me that the water was the color of our coffee table (the darkest, deepest brown you can imagine). I am not sure if the cigarette smell is gone, though, because now the house smells like dirty carpet chemicals. In any case, it looks much much better.

This weekend, we will install our blinds. We plan on doing thick venetians in our bedroom and the dining room, and bamboo in the living room. Soon, we hope to paint the walls, and in a few weeks we'll have our muted-chocolate couch from Argos.

I wanted to have a party for halloween, but the house will not be ready yet. So we're gonna wait and have a Thanksgiving party. We're calling it: "Making Peace with the Enemy" Party. We'll serve traditional thanksgiving food (I've already found an amazing Martha Stewart cranberry chutney) and invite all the Brits. In the meantime, we can only invite one couple at a time every weekend. This weekend, we hope to invite the Alexanders for some Butternut Squash soup, minty lamb lasagne, and poached pears for dessert.

I promise, pictures will be on the blog this weekend. You see, I write from the town library cuz our internet will not be working until tomorrow.

Notes from Neville's Cross

Well friends,
The letting agency has already taken the house off the site, so we'll have to post pics soon. Having our own place is AWESOME!! The house is quite shabby, old, and dirty, but it's got lots of potential. The carpet is burgandy and gross, the walls are mauve, the ceiling has this tacky white floral paper, and the light fixtures are medieval or something. So we hope to a. steam clean the carpet to get rid of the cigarette smell. We have tried deodorizing, vaccuuming over and over again, fabreeze, plug-ins. It's hopeless, the tar is embedded.
b. paint the walls white. It is a dark house, and the mauve doesn't help. White will surely freshen it up.
c. change the light fixtures. Chandeliers are a thing of the past. We are down light and track light people.
d. the ceiling we'll keep (yuck)
e. we hope to get rid of the gas fireplace. it's soooo ugly.

Aside from these minor house horrors, the kitchen and bath are new and lovely. And we have a small city garden in the back which we will fill with ivy and evergreens.

We have already put HHHerbs on our kitchen window. We have parseley, mint, basil, and coriander (cilantro for you non-UKers).

We have also received our first batch of essential furnishings. Ikea delivered our coffee table, dining room table and chairs, cutlery, plates, and pots, our bedding and bed and bedframe, and some other things that we are gonna return cuz we grabbed the wrong stuff at the store.

We now need our couch (there was a mix up about that), and lots of accessories, like fat white candles, paintings, bamboo shades, desks, and of course, plants.

It's so fun to fix up our home...unfortunately it will have to be bit by bit cuz we are soooo poor. For the first time in my life, I've had to ration how much I can spend on food.

Pics forthcoming...promise. You will see the beauty unfold in the upcoming months.

we have a house

that's right, not a flat- a house!! well, the flat fell through, after 2 weeks of chasing after them, pushing them, crossing our arms and giving them the evil eye, we got sick of it, told them that we were interested in another property, and in 3 minutes, the deal was done.
we measure for furniture on thurs and move in fri.

if you want to see pictures of it, go to google and search 'lets rent robinsons,' which is the letting agency. then, find the property entitled "coronation house" (that's the name of our house). click and you can see pics.

and when you do, you'll notice that the carpets are burgundy. they really make this lovely house look a lot more drab than it is. that's the only downside, really. it's got a garden, a new kitchen and new bathroom, a nice master bedroom with closets, and a little room we can use for guests and an office.

a bus on route to our gym passes by our front door every half hour. and it should be a 10 minute bike ride to the station.

there is also free parking for guests (we can't even think about buying a car at this point)

ah, finally. we have waited quite a while for this.

Rowing Upstream from the River of Sorrow

Friends and Family,

This morning I went on a walk with my camera so I could take some picures to share. Claudia and myself have been slowly making the journey towards normalcy, despite not having a place that we can call home.

Actually, Claudia has been bouncing off the walls with joy because yesterday she was selected to interview (on Monday) for a position as a marketing assistant. Right now she is reviewing her interview strategy so that she is prepared for all kinds of questions. If you have any suggestions for Claudia, please comment!

Today, I went to Bannatyne's gym to sign Claudia and myself up for a membership. The gym is a 35 minute walk from Durham city centre and on a frequently-visited bus line. This is great, considering it's been roughly two months since we've had a stable gym and my muscle mass has begun to whither somewhat ... ahhh! Additionally Bannatyne's has free weights and machines, cardiovascular machines, exercise classes, a pool, steam room, sauna, restaurant, bar, squash courts, etc., etc...

After sculpting my guns, I met up with Claudia to go exploring in Durham city. We decided to head down to the River Wear and go for a row boat ride. This means I got to row the boat, while Claudia enjoyed the fresh air on this nice sunny day. If you're visiting Durham, I would recommend the row boats. It's a great way to see the surrounding area, while getting harrassed by local fishermen! To finish off our lovely evening, we ordered some paella, wine, and beer at the riverside restaurant "Hallathan's." For dessert was a delicious banoffee pie ... for those of you not familiar with banoffee, try it now! Fantastic!

So now, Claudia and I are going to take it easy and get a movie. We have high hopes for getting the "OK" to move into our flat this week, at which point we will be very busy decorating. Goodnight for now ...

Cheers,
-BDL

P.S. - Our potential flat is in one of the pictures above. The flat is above the Loyds bank.