Crisis Averted

As incredibly knowledgeable as Simon is about American culture/pop culture/history/politics, I often forget that he is not 'of' this country.  There are subtleties that can be lost on him-and I usually don't recognize this until said subtlety is indeed lost.

Take the below photo.  After 18 months, we finally got around to uploading the first photos from our road trip that started in July 2012.  Anyhoo...after uploading this picture, Simon decided to post the picture on Facebook, and simply comment about where the photo was taken (Faith, NC...yes: Faith), and the occasion (July 4).

July 4th

Hours later, when I was pottering on FB, I noticed this photo was posted on his timeline without any commentary (namely...something about the irony of us posing in front of a Rebel flag on July 4th, it being the wrong flag, oh-look how odd...something.  anything).  And, I had a minor meltdown.  Perhaps I was being a bit too sensitive, but I freaked out realizing that my friends (of many different races) would see this posting of us in front of this flag-and think the worst.  What I observed (mid-meltdown) was that Simon really didn't understand my reaction.  And...this was a learning moment for me.  So, I had to explain the origin of my freak, and ask him to either comment on the photo to provide some context, or untag me.  He gamely did this (phew. crisis averted), but I could tell that there was a bit of surprise (confusion?  something else?) from him in the conversation.

Note to self:  no more pictures in front of Rebel flags....

Aloha, Hey Y'all, and Ainngai

That's 'hello' in Hawaii, the South, and Alaska (Inuit).

I often forget how diverse this country is-which is really sad, when I consider that I drove from North Carolina to Washington State not even 18 months ago.  But...I do.

Simon and I have done a fair amount of travel in the US this year-and explicitly tried to tick off a few states he hasn't been to-Alaska and Hawaii-both of which are fairly convenient to reach from Seattle.  Throw in a trip to the South to go visit family...and we've covered a fair amount of geographic and cultural diversity in this country this year.

I've been to Alaska numerous times, and Hawaii once previously-so I knew what to expect in terms of the topography, people, food, weather...everything. But, I couldn't help but be struck by Simon's reaction as we got stuck into these places this past year (most recently, just last month)-and observe the wonder with which he looks at the US sometimes.  By hopping on a flight for a few hours to go to a different state-it can very much be like travelling to a different country.

Sometimes I think that being married to Simon must be what it's like to have a child-and constantly be forced to look at something thru the the eyes of never seeing or experiencing it before-and I am infinitely thankful for the forcing function.  The list of these firsts hasn't gone down in the past 18 months, only evolved.  I'm sure it will continue to evolve in 2014, and I really look forward to seeing something I've already seen before thru a fresh pair of eyes.

(kicks self for taking US for granted)

Back to the Homeland

After 1 year and (what will be...) 29 days, Simon will return to the mother ship for the first time since departure.

I am incredibly excited for him to be able to go home and see friends and family-and experience the sense of familiar that he will surely feel by being back in London.

I wonder if he's truly prepared however, for what has changed-both in London, and him.  I recall that there was a tipping point for me that made me feel less familiar with the US and more familiar with London-almost a comfort level.  I don't know if this will be the trip for Simon-it is just the first year after all, but it has been a year, so he's probably quite settled in the 'American-ness' of his life already.

This should be interesting.

Happy American Birthday

Happy American Birthday, to my incredible husband. 

One year ago today, you landed in the US, and started a new chapter in your life. I hope you've had as much fun the past year as I have.  It's been a continuous series of firsts, and there are plenty more to be had!

A Season of Firsts

It's safe to say, I now know what it must be like to be the parent of a small child...Since our time back in the US, and presuming it isn't permanent, I am keen to chase as many First Time Experiences as possible-for both Simon & I, though mainly for Simon.

To wit:  This year alone, in no particular order, Simon has:

• Filed his first US tax return
• Attended opening night for the Seattle Mariners (a first for me as well)
• Joined a softball league, and played two games.  Which led to...
• Visiting the emergency room-just this week..Simon fractured a bone in his arm after falling at said Softball game on Sunday.  OK. That one we didn't 'chase.'
• Played a game of kickball.  Only one game, unfortunately-due to the aforementioned arm, he will be playing no more.
• Purchased a house
• Observed just *how many* prescription drug commercials are on TV (it's not legal to do so in the UK)
• Started to  just a *little bit*) enjoy drinking an IPA

...and that's just the big stuff.  We do however, still have a few boxes to tick.  Like:

• Learning how to drive
• ..and with that knowledge, getting a drivers license.  Just in case.
• Visiting Alaska and Hawaii (we'll tick these boxes before the end of the year.  woo!)

What else?   What other first time experiences (parents?  Expats?...) should we be chasing for Simon?

London Bound!

In less than 48 hours, I will be back in London for 2 weeks for business.

I've had this trip planned for several months now, and was feeling rather mixed emotions about the trip-somewhat because I'd be going solo (and haven't been in London the past 5 years without Simon), and somewhat because business travel (especially when dealing with a red-eye flight and 8 hours of jet lag) is hard.

But, I've started reaching out to friends and setting up dinners and drinks. And dinners and drinks.  And, more drinks...and find that I'm actually quite excited now at the prospect!

Oddly too, I find that there are a few things on the 'shopping list' that I'm keen to pick up while there-that I can't find here in the US.   So, my behavior the previous 5 years when going to and coming from the US with an empty suitcase to stock up on is about to be repeated-but in reverse.

I'm looking forward to walking around again and taking the tube as my primary mode of transport.  The things I used to complain about the most (well, at least the tube..) are now currently part of what I'm looking forward to. 

Oh, and Lebanese food.  Lots and lots of Lebanese food!

Cross Country Trip Pictures

Better late than never, right? Two months and countless nagging requests to Simon after we finished our trip, and all of the photos have now been uploaded and tagged.  Phew.

I was just having a flip thru, because I thought it would be a good idea to post one trip from each state we visited-then I realized that would be difficult for the last half of the trip where we were in 3,4,5...cities per state.  Then I thought I'd post one picture per stop.  And realize that sometimes we didn't take many pictures-and some times we took a hundred (hello, Grand Canyon!).  So...I give up. I'm just going to post the good ones-and try to keep it to under 50 pictures.  Kidding...No, I probably should try to keep it under 50. :)

Feels like this trip was years ago-not months ago.  Especially as I look at the warm climates, sun, tans, and short sleeves that seem to be the constant in each picture.  Sigh.  Oh well. Summer in Seattle is only a mere 9 months away (it rarely gets 'summery' here before July 4...).

Anyhoo, hope y'all  enjoy looking at the pictures as much as I just did.  Blogger isn't being very friendly to the picture upload, so the first pictures are actually the middle of the trip.  When you get to the Gold Cost, OR picture, the photos flip to the first part of the trip starting in Charleston, SC...Sorry for the confusion.  Grr.

Going local in Austin, TX

MEAT-Salt Lick (Austin, TX)

Roswell, NM..in case it isn't obvious

Central square-Santa Fe, NM

Mud bath at Ojo Caliente, NM

Tinkertown -Sandia Park, NM

Albequerque Isotopes

Painted Dessert-Petrified Forrest National Park

The very Grand Canyon

Gazing out over the Grand Canyon 

On the road to Sedona, AZ

Sunset in Sedona, AZ 

Proof that the Monster Chicken lives...

Santa Cruz, CA

How Wine Tasting should be-CA

Chandler Tree-Leggett, CA

Redwood National Forest-Humboldt, CA

Gold Coast, OR

Charleston, SC

Savannah, GA-Birthplace of  Girl Scouts

With old friends (and new) in Hilton Head, SC

Atlanta, GA

Rockin' on the front porch at Jack's house: Lynchburg, TN

Walking in Memphis..Beale Street

I'm going to Graceland!

Stax Recording Studio-Memphis, TN

Lobby of Shack Up Inn-Clarksdale, MS

Back 'yard' at Shack Up Inn

Bonnie C, Simon, Mr. Crawford-Oxford, MS

Cemetary behind Faulkner's 'marriage church'

Walking the tracks in Clarksdale, MS

Nawleans

St Louis Cemetery 1-NOLA

St Louis Cemetery 1-NOLA

Last Leg of the Trip

Where did the time go?!?!?  I've been back in Seattle for 2 weeks, and it seems like references to our trip-especially the earliest parts-are for a trip that happened years ago, not weeks ago.  Sigh.  I think real life has settled in again.

Before too much more time passes by, I want to get details down for the last leg of the trip.  In some ways, it was my favorite part of the trip, and fortunately, given the proximity of this area to Seattle, comprises the easiest places on the trip to pop back to for a weekend away from Seattle.

Stats since the last update
20 days.  2500 miles.  3 States.  Cities visited: Sedona, AZ; Scottsdale, AZ; Palm Springs, CA; Venice, CA; Santa Barbara, CA: Santa Cruz, CA; San Francisco, CA; Sonoma, CA; Eureka, CA; Gold Beach, OR; Newport, OR; Astoria, OR; Portland, OR.

Highlights...Sedona was a godsend-both the beauty of the scenery, and we stayed in an "AirBNB" type condo that had a kitchen-so, we got to cook!.  All of the Wineries we stopped at along the way were lovely-some better than others...Fess Parker was incredible, and our last winery (sadly, the name currently escapes me), was simple perfection in the setting and experience.  Astoria -and well, any of the Oregon Coast cities-are all hidden gems that I can't wait to return to during weekend trips from Seattle.

Lowlights...really just one...Santa Cruz. The one place on the trip that, hindsight 20/20, I wish we hadn't stayed in.  After booking the hotel, we were unfortunately 'locked in' for 2 days. The town is 'meh', and our hotel was..to be brutally honest (if not a bit kind...) was a shit hole.  Yes, a shit hole.  I've never used that phrase to refer to a hotel before.  Until now.  Santa Cruz is very expensive, but you'd think that for ~$150 a night, you'd get something in which you didn't feel the need to wear socks while walking on the carpet in your room.  Ew.  Oh well..now we know!

So, that's it.  That's the trip-a trip of a lifetime.  All told, we travelled 7700 miles across 13 States and 29 cities.  We started the trip Sunday, July 15 in Charleston, SC, and arrived in Seattle on Friday, August 31.  48 days.  Whew.

It's good to get settled in to Seattle (well, as settled as we can be without our stuff from London yet..), but I could have easily done another 2-3 weeks of the trip.  I start a new job on Monday, but hopefully in another 3-4 years, we'll have the opportunity to take some time off and do the northern route from Seattle to NYC!

I'm sorting thru pictures now.  Once we've been thru-and noted everything-I'll do a pictures post.  Should happen next weekend-it's Simon's task this week to tag the pictures. :)

The First Three Weeks

I’m not really even sure where to begin on this post.  There’s the ‘returning to the US’ part of the post, and the ‘road trip’ part of the post-and both parts almost have nothing to do with each other, but at the same time my observations from each part are most definitely intertwined.  Well, when in doubt, be organized. J

Returning to the US

That’s really what the first 2 weeks of ‘The First Three Weeks’ are about; returning home.  Home.  Wherever that really is.  Some part of the US?  London?  I’m not really sure at this moment, but that’s OK.

Our first week was spent quite literally buying a car.  I sold my car when I moved to London 4 years ago, and as you kind of need a car to do a cross country road trip, that was first on our agenda when we arrived.  The original plan was to buy a Manual transmission, but, one spin around the local mall parking lot with Simon behind the wheel (for the first time in close to 17 years…), and it became pretty apparent that we’d be getting an Automatic transmission!  I’ve never felt such stress in a car in my life, as I sat in the passenger seat as Simon jerkily made a few circles around the lot-and it really stressed him out as well.  There’s so much for him to have to get used to now-different side of the road (if just mentally, as he never really drove in the UK), the logic of the road signage-never mind the actual driving of the car.  Whew.  We’ll get there eventually.  And though, the original plan was that Simon would be doing some of the driving on the trip (er, the long, straight stretches of the road…), the reality is that it’s really not a good idea until he gets more comfortable.  So I’ll do all of the driving, and Simon will navigate.  Then, once we get to Seattle, we’ll get Simon some professional driving lessons.

In the due course of the first week of being back in the US, I took Simon to Faith, North Carolina for his first July 4^th celebration.  

This little town of ~300 people will swell to 30k during the week of July 4^th, and one of my dearest friends has grandparents who live there, so I’ve been to the July 4^th celebrations before-and knew it was the only proper experience Simon could have for his 1^st July 4^th.   Faith did not disappoint, and Simon really seemed to love the small-town experience (complete with BBQ sandwich from the fairgrounds).  Good times.

The Rough Life in Myrtle Beach, SC

Week two of the trip was spent with my Dad and his GF in Myrtle Beach, SC.  Myrtle was the summer location of my childhood vacations, and I thought it would be a hoot to go there with Simon & my Dad.  It was good fun, and it was nice to be in an ocean that was as warm as bathwater-even at 10am!  Simon never understood why I had problems getting in chilly water (ocean or pool), until that trip, but now he gets it.

Other than that, most of our first two weeks was taken up with ‘life admin’ from the move-trying to pay final bills, Simon chasing some probate things for his father’s estate, and planning details for the trip.  My father doesn’t have intertwebs, so it seems like we spent a good 10-15 hours over those two weeks in the local Starbucks on their WiFi!

All of the above aside, I would say there has been a bit of the reverse culture shock that so many people said I’d experience when I returned.  Not much, but I think that’s because what we’re doing now isn’t ‘normal life,’ so I anticipate that once we settle in in Seattle, there will be more observations.  Simon has made quite a few (which I hope he will guest blog about in short order), but for me the biggest thing I’ve noticed-and it’s somewhat tied to the ‘haven’t had a car in 4 years’ bit from above:  Must we be on our mobile phones when driving?!?!?  More times than I can count, the near misses on the roads have been from people on their mobiles.  What gives?  Must common sense be legislated?  Sigh.

Road Trip

6 days.  2600 miles.  5 States.  Cities visited thusfar: Charleston, SC; Savannah, GA; Hilton Head, SC; Atlanta, GA; Bridgeport, AL (just so Simon could tick another State off the list…), and we just arrived in Nasheville, TN.

Our lovely room in the 17hundred 90 Inn

Highlights:  Savannah, GA.  I’m supremely embarrassed that I’ve never been to Savannah before, given how close it is to where I spent most of my life, but the two days in Savannah were perfection.  Loved it.  Simon too.  As in, ‘I’d like to retire here’ kind of loved it.  Great everything.   We stayed in this incredible place called the 17hundred90 Inn, and were so happy to be there, I think we walked around with stupid looks on our faces for 2 straight days!

Rockin' on Jack's front porch

Also, cliche though it may seem...we took the Jack Daniels Distillery tour in Lynchburg, TN, and it was incredible!  Great story, great organization, and the information was enough to be educational and entertaining without belabouring the point.  A Plus.

Lowlights:  Navigation.  I’m not patient enough with Simon/the GPS, and need to get better about this, or we’re going to fight every day-and I don’t want to be that way.  As mentioned earlier, Simon doesn’t yet understand the logic of the road signage, so for him to tell me what he sees on GPS (as we’re not able to dashboard mount the thingy…), is frequently misleading/incorrect, and causes immense frustration for me.  Must. Get. More. Patient.

Final Thoughts....Frustrations with my fellow Americans aside, I'm stunned at how quickly I've slipped back into the US.  When we flew out of London, I quite genuinely thought I'd be bawling my eyes out on the air plane at the prospect of leaving London.  Nope.  Instead, it was more like:  "Come on, come on, come on...can't this plane go any faster!"  I'm really not sure where that came from to be honest.  

The Riverwalk in Savannah, GA

Olympic Park in Atlanta, GA

And Similarly for Simon, the stress of the last 2 months in London with his father's death/estate were really taking it's toll.  We were fortunate enough to find a solicitor to take over probate just weeks before we departed, and now that they're in full action mode, there isn't much that Simon has to worry about (er...other than selling the house).  Nevertheless, the move here-and the trip in particular- was the perfect opportunity to 'draw a line' (Simon's words) from that stress.  I think we both still need another week or so to really come down, and then I think we'll be really ready to embrace this new adventure to the fullest.

The Great American Road Trip

One week from today, we fly out of London back to the US.  Though I am leaving behind a city and country I have come to greatly appreciate, and a job that I love, love, love...I can now say I AM SO FREAKIN' EXCITED to leave and start our road trip!!!

It's been a desire of mine for close to a decade to drive across the country, and about this time last year, I mentioned this to Simon when we started talking about 'how' we would make the move.  We initially decided to be practical and find jobs first, but responses from that effort 6 months ago quite literally made it clear that we would have to be Stateside to properly job-seek.  So, we then thought we'd move, land in NC, visit my dad, and take a week or two to quickly get cross country.  Then you get reminded about how about how short life can be (Simon's dad wasn't even 60 when he passed away 7 weeks ago), and we decided-well, really Simon decided (I was always OK with it...) to take a proper amount of time off (2-3 months), and really make this a trip of a lifetime.

So, about this time next week, we land in Charlotte, NC. We'll spend a week with my dad-car shopping-and then go to the beach with him for 4 days.  We'll return, do some laundry, catch up with a few friends, and then on Sunday, July 15 begin what is currently shaping up to be a 6 week drive across the US!  We estimate that we'll arrive in Seattle around August 30, and I.can't.wait.

We'll potter in the South along the coast for over a week, but then once we hit Atlanta, it's on! :)  Nashville, Memphis, Oxford, NOLA, Houston..that's 2 weeks. Two more weeks gets us thru Texas (Houston, Austin, San Antonio), New Mexico (Santa Fe, Albequerque), and Arizona (Grand Canyon, Sedona, Phoenix).  Then we should hit California at San Diego, and begin 2 weeks pottering along the CA Coast.  We'll then spend the last week in Oregon-before finishing off 2 nights at McMenamins Edgefield in Troutdale (where we got married), then make a last drive to Seattle.

If anyone has any suggested things to see/do/eat/places to stay for under $100 (that hopefully have some "character"), give me a shout-I'd love to know! I'm familiar with everything up to NOLA, and then I've either not been-or it's been soooooo long, that I need a refresher.

Simon is concerned about the heat & humidity of the trip-and up to central CA, it is going to be a challenge for him-er...and a challenge for me. :)  He doesn't deal with heat very well.  So, erm...if anyone has traveled with kids in the heat, I'd love some suggestions as well!  hee hee...

Wish us luck!

Life As We Know It

This is it.  The last week of life as we know it.  The movers come on Thursday to begin packing up, and will remove everything on Friday.  At that point, the flat will be barely a quarter full-compared to now.  That will be weird.
We head out Friday for our last long-weekend in Barcelona-well, at least 'last' for a good while.  We get back to London on Monday super late, and have our final leaving-do the following Saturday, June 16.
Tuesday, June 19, we 'check out' of our flat-and check in to a Travelodge in Covent Garden until July 2.

From there, we fly the friendly skies to the US-and by our estimation, will spend about 58 days on the road.  .

By my count, after Wednesday nite, it will be almost 100 days before we sleep in our bed again.  Excited-and not looking forward to bad beds all at the same time. :)

Catching Up-Champagne Country Travels

Avenue de Champagne in Epernay

Epernay

Moet et Chandon Cave

I'm a bad, bad blogger.  It's been too long since I've posted anything.  Time to catch up!

We've spent the better part of the first two weeks of April travelling.  Barcelona for a quick weekend (because we can), and FINALLY...Reims & Epernay, France (aka 'Champagne Country'). Check one more off the bucket list.

Oh, so much fun.  Oh, so much champagne.  Oh, it was all sooooo good.

We took the Eurostar to Paris Tuesday night after the 4-day bank holiday. My first vacation since early November. Whew.  In to Paris for one night, and then out the next day for Reims.  We got into the Paris hotel rather late, but after dropping off our bags, headed out again to try to find a place for dinner.  Given the area of town we were in (Gare d'Est/Gare du Nord), I wasn't holding my breath, but we actually managed to find a place just around the corner from the hotel-Chez Papa-that was absolutely incredible.  I had a salad with lettuce, two kinds of cheese, sliced/fried potatoes, and a slice of parma ham.  Heaven.

We spent Wednesday morning walking around Paris for a bit.  Coffee & breakfast at Cotume Cafe for seriously some of the best java ever...and then a quick trip to Rue Cler near the Eiffel Tower.  Rue Cler is one of (I'm sure many...) foodie areas of town, and there's a place there called L'Epicerie Fine Rive Gauche that sells the most incredible tarragon flavored dijon mustard. They sell other incredible things, but we were on a mission for this mustard. :)

Afterwards, we took a stroll up to the St Germain de Pres part of town for lunch and then back to the hotel to get our things & go catch the train to Reims, which is 45 minutes east of Paris.

We stayed in Reims for 4 nights & used it as our base.  From there, we popped down to Epernay for a day (train journey is only 30 minutes).  Reims was much bigger than we expected, so we walked a lot.  For the amount (and type..) of food & booze we consumed on this trip, I should have packed on the pounds-but with all of the walking, I actually lost 1.5 pounds!  Best. holdiay. ever. :)

Over the course of our time in Reims, we had a good wander over most of the town, did cave tours of Tattinger & Pommery, had a tasting (no tour) at Charles de Cazanove, and consumed a fair few more bottles/glasses of champagne with our meals.  We wandered by Ruinart (my absolute  fave), but didn't (ahem.  couldn't...) go in.

Epernay was 1/10th the size of Reims (200k people v 20k people)-and more of what I expected the trip to be like.  Super quaint, picturesque village with all of the champagne houses just lined up one after another on a main strip.  Since we didn't have a car, Reims was challenging at times-and I'm sure we missed a good bit -but, for this reason, Epernay was perfect.

We did a tour at Moet & Chandon, and then also tasted (no tour) at Venoge..

The Dom himself

Foie Gras sushi

I would be remiss if I didn't mention the fact that we had delish sushi twice in Reims at a place called Sushi Shop (a Lenny Kravitz chain-seriously!). They had a foie gras sushi on their menu (only in France) that was incredible.

Knowing we were going to spend a good amount on champers during the trip, we opted to hit the local Carrefour on our first day & buy supplies for our breakfasts.  Croissants, meats, cheese, OJ, yogurt, coffee and cream.  Simple, but delish.  We stocked up a few times while there and probably only spent $40 for both of us for breakfast for 4 days.  We were fortunate that the hotel we stayed in had a micro-fridge & kettle to boil water, so we probably had just as good of a breakfast as if we would have gone out in town (and it was nice to have a lazy breakfast in bed..).

Breakfast of Champions

Ah, it was such a great trip.  Work has been busy the past 5 months-and I was beginning to get a little burnt out.  It was nice to have 5 days not thinking about work-and just thinking about the moment.  Simon & I always travel quite well together (thank you, Jesus), so it was nice to be out & about with him as well.  All in all, I couldn't have asked for a better trip.

Yummy in my Tummy

Pardon the self-indulgent nature of this post...It's less about being an expat in London, and more about me wanting to remember two of my favorite places to eat when travelling! :)

In Barcelona...Xaloc...on Calle de la Paja in the Barri Gotic.  Caramelized baked apple with Goat cheese and 'las bombas'...simply incredible.  Torres Celeste crianza wine for 13 EUR (found down the road for 35 EUR).

Carmelized Baked Apple, Salad, and Walnut Goat Cheese

The other place worth mention..Les Chapeliers in Brussels, just right off Grande Place.  We've been there so often now, that the waiter remembers us and calls me by name (and really: who doesn't love Belgian gay diva waiters?!?).  Incredible frite, moule, and 'steak americaine' (steak tartare).   Their sister restaurant, La Rose Blance is just as good, but the servers just aren't as fun. :)

Man, I'm going to miss these places when we move.

'Where Are You From?'

Simple question, right?  I used to think so.  Not any more.
This past Sunday, while sitting down to lunch in Paris (rough life, I know...), the Americans sitting at the next table looked at me and said, 'where are you from?' as they heard me talking when I sat down, and darned if Americans aren't friendly to their own kind when they're abroad! :)

And, thus the dillema began.

When living in the US, 'from' implied where I was originally from-as opposed to where I currently lived.   And, as most Americans can still detect a slight Southern accent, my reply, 'North Carolina' isn't a suprise.  Since moving abroad however-and especially since fully settling into life in London-I really have no idea how to answer that question.  If I say, 'London' (which I did in this case....), I immediately get:  'oh, wow.  you don't sound  British.'  And, then I usually have to follow up with explainig that no, I'm not British-I just live there. I'm most recently from Seattle.  Invariably, the Southern accent gets mentioned, and then I have to further clarify that I'm originally from North Carolina.

Who ever knew that such a simple question could create such a complicated response!  Maybe I'm just making this more complicated than it needs to be.

So, blog readers....when people ask you 'where are you from?' how do you respond?

Lesson Learned

After 3 years, and close to a dozen trips back to the West Coast of the US, I think I have finally cracked the nut on this jet lag thing!

To wit:  I flew in to San Francisco this past Sunday, and by Wednesday (a mere 3 full days later!) felt completely human-in fact, I was feeling pretty good on Tuesday-except for the falling asleep at 10pm part.

What's different from this trip, you ask?  I think it comes down to one thing:  keeping it simples.  Normally, my return trips to the US, whether for work or personal or a combo of two mean that by the 2nd day in the US, I'm working a full day AND going out with friends in the evening-or simply running 'life admin' errands all day long from the moment I'm awake (usually at 5am the first few days.  sigh), until I hit a wall around 8pm.

This time, as I was staying in Sunnyvale, CA-and knew NO ONE within a 50 mile radius, I simply woke up each morning, went to the gym, went to work, went out for dinner, and went back to the hotel.  That's it.  No burning the candle at both ends.  No running myself crazy.  Just a very simple schedule.  Yes, I was awake at 5am on the 1st three days, but as I eased into my routine, staying awake until 10pm-and even midnight on Wednesday were both possible and pain-free!

It sounds silly, but I think this is a complete milestone in how I'm able to cope with the 8 hour time difference from London to the West Coast (London/East Coast has never been a problem)!  It just pains me to think about what 'could have been' the past 3 years. :)  I'll have to test this theory again the next time I'm back in the US.

Fingers crossed I may have just stumbled across my 'jetl ag miracle cure'!

Oh, Prague...

How do I love thee?  Let me count the ways....I love your beautiful architecture, your amazing food, your delicious beer, ridiculously reasonable prices, and most of all, your many and varied (and beautiful) Christmas Markets.

Simon & I went to Prague last weekend (good timing...Prague airports shut down the weekend before; London airports shut down this weekend.  Both due to snow).  It was his second trip, and my first.  All I can say is: oh. my. god. What an absolutely lovely city.  Yes, it was a bit overrun with tourists, but it was still simply amazing-and a stark contrast to my Marrakech experience just a few days before.

We arrived late on Friday-too late to do anything-so our trip really didn't start until Saturday.  But, once we were up, fed, and bundled from what was supposed to be freezing cold (in reality, the weather was mild-mild not only for Prague, but mild even by my standards), we headed out.  Straight to Wenceslas Square for a wander around-and view of the first of several Christmas Markets we'd encounter.  After a bit of a wander, we decided to check out the Communist Museum (a sharp contrast to the Sex Museum-don't judge us-the only other museum we went to on the trip...).  After the Communist Museum, we continued our wander thru town, and on over to the Charles Bridge.  Sooo beautiful-stunning views of both sides of the river-one with the Prague Castle in the background.  We had a nice wander over the bridge, and continued our meandering for another hour or so before deciding to stop for lunch.  Simon had been talking about the 'leg of pork' he had on his last trip, so we decided to find a place that served them.  Not that it was a challenge, it seems to be a very common item on the menu.  I ordered steak, but had serious food envy for Simon's pork, and in truth, it was large enough that we could have both feasted on it!  Absolutely delicious!  Didn't even need a knife to cut the meat-just a fork to scrape it from the bone.  Oh, my.  After stuffing ourselves on meat, it was time to walk off lunch, so we continued on with the meandering.  Prague is one of those cities that you could easilly go from museum to museum or simply have a wander.  And, given our limited time, we opted for the wander (we can do museums the next time we're back!) for the most part.

Our wandering eventually took us to another Christmas Market (super-small, and this one 'felt'' local), and to a stop at a pivo (beer) hall.  After a few beers, some warmth, and a trip to the loo, we were back out for more walking.  We crossed back over the Charles Bridge to our side of town for a bit of touristy souvenir shopping.  After the shopping, we visited the Sex Museum.  Not to sound prudish, but...eh.  I don't know what I expected, but that wasn't it!  Oh well. :)  Shoulda stuck to the wandering around. :)  So, we head over to the Old Town square and stop into one of the outdoor (heated) restaurants for some hot chocolate to warm up. Then, we head over to yet another Christmas Market (by my count, we're up to 5 for the day...), and then decide to start thinking about dinner.

After dinner, it's pushing 9.30pm, and there's one more pivo hall I want to go to-it's close to our hotel, so perfect for our last stop of the evening, and according to what I've read, supposed to be outstanding.  And, it is.  Pivovarsky Dum is the name.  They brew all their own beer-including banana, coffee, nettle, and vanilla beer.  Seriously.  My favorite is a 'champagne beer' (no idea how it's made, but it had the *best* flavor-and you drink it out of a champagne flute) called Samp.   Pivovarsky Dum closes at 11.30p, and we were back in the hotel by 11.45pm-after being gone for over 12 hours.  We were pooped.

Sunday was just a quick trip back into town to the Old Town Square-I wanted to explore in the daylight, as it was very crowded on Saturday night-before heading back to the hotel to shower up, pack, and head to the airport to leave.  Sigh.  I can't wait to go back.  I'm betting Prague in the spring must be simply lovely...Hopefully, I'll get to find out!

 Prague Castle as seen from the Charles Bridge 

Simon's knee of pork with side sauces and a side of cabbage.

Christmas Market 

The "Champagne of Beers"-quite literally.

Astronomical Clock in Old Town Square