Am I an Ugly American?

I try not to be. I'm not loud. I don't put my feet on the opposite seat on the trains (although to be honest, this little no-no is committed by more than just Americans). I don't constantly say, "Well, in the States...(insert implied bigger, better thing here)". I don't get upset when I have to ask for the dinner bill (I've actually decided I like this better than the waitress slapping it down in the middle of the main course anyways). I've even started pronouncing my "t's" when I ask for a boTTle of waTer, instead of a boddle of wader, so that I can be more easily understood.

But I have discovered in the past several weeks that there is one thing about Americans that seem to drive the British nuts, or at least two independent groups of mine and Edgar's friends: Straight teeth. Don't get me wrong. I'm not a fan of the Chiclets, horse teeth ala Hillary Duff. Or the bright whiteness of that designer on Extreme Makeover: Home Edition and Ross on that episode of friends when he bleaches his teeth so much they glow in the black light of his date's apartment. But I see nothing wrong with a nice set of straight teeth. I'm quite happy I put myself through 2 years of torture to get my smile. The gap in my two front teeth was so bad, you probably could have done a strep test without me ever having to open my mouth. And when else could you actually decorate your mouth for the holidays. You know, those colored rubber bands they put around the brackets? Orange and black for Halloween, green for St. Patrick's day, green and red for Christmas...don't deny it, you know you did it, too!

So this teeth thing is new to me. I know I have some British readers out there. Tell me what you think. Can you pick us out of a crowd as soon as we smile? Is this a common stereotype for us Americans? Our friends said that the reason they don't like them so much is because all the crookedness and gaps are what gives a person character. Aren't the British the ones who invented "Mind the Gap"? Just kidding...I had to throw that out there.

Now I find myself in a conundrum. I like to smile at people, but now I'm afraid every time I do, they walk away saying mumbling something about Americans and their teeth. But I think I will keep smiling my big, straight-teethed American smile. It's what makes me...me. Just like I've given up on trying to use my eating utensils the way they do over here. I just don't have the coordination to shove everything onto the back of my fork in my left hand and lift it to my mouth. Who knows, I may get so brave that I also begin to wear khaki shorts with white socks and tennis shoes, shirt tucked in with a belt, camera and passport holder strung around my neck, with a baseball cap to keep the sun out of my eyes.

Last Weekend

Hey Everybody!

A little late, but wanted to give some updates on our happenings lately. We had a great weekend! On Friday night we headed down to the riverfront here in Richmond for a dinner at Gaucho Grill. It's an Argentinian steakhouse and they import their beef from Argentina. I just can't get used to British beef, so it's nice to eat a good "imported" steak every now and then. We should get them to import Texan beef...I mean, has anyone REALLY died from mad cow lately? Unfortunately, the sides were decidedly British. I've never seen a Latin eat beetroot salad or rocket with Parmesan shavings, but at least I got a decent steak.

Saturday, we meandered into London for BBQ near Oxford Street. I promise we do other things than just eat around here. Sometimes we just get homesick for familiar food. Bodeans has BBQ that is very tasty and the BBQ sauce is so good. We then walked down Oxford Street to the Marylebone area and checked out a flat we almost lived in. At the time of choosing a place to live 2 years ago, we had no idea of the layout of London and which areas would be the best. After 50 flats, they all started looking the same and most of the time, I had no idea where I was in the city. I just got out of the car when the relo agent stopped and got back in a few minutes later. Well, I have to say, now that I've been here for a while...that flat in Marylebone would have been our definite second choice. The location of Marylebone is central, but not gritty urban with buses and tourists everywhere. We would have been a short walk from literally everything London has to offer. The downfall of the flat is that it has stored heating. This means that a certain amount of heat is stored (don't ask me where) and when it's used up for the day, you have no more heat-for warmth or hot water. I don't know about you, but I cannot in anyway compromise my daily scalding hot showers. It just isn't an option for me. Imagine the horror of visitors taking a cold shower in the middle of winter...YIKES! Also, the front window looked out to a car park (that's British for parking lot) and the kitchen window looked into a conference room of the office building next door. For those of you who have seen our flat and the beautiful back garden (complete with historic horse chestnut tree), you can understand how that location would have been a bit drab for us. We decided if we were to have been here for a year or less, it would have been worth it, but in the end, we are still so happy we have made our home in Richmond. It's very nice to be in the hustle and bustle of the city and then come home to the calm of Richmond. And it's not like we are miles away...it's only 15 minutes!

Sunday...you guessed it...more eating. We met Cata and Seb (her husband) in the Elephant and Castle area. This is where most of the latin population of London live, including many Colombians. You know what this means! We had very authentic Colombian food and we were SOOOOOO happy! You just can't beat a fried sweet plantain! Cata has not been to Colombia (she went to school with Edgar there) in 2 years, so she was in heaven!

So I guess you can say a bit of homesick medicine by way of familiarity filled our weekend. It gave us a good boost and will keep us on track for another couple of months!

Funny Cadbury Commercial

I don't know how these kids kept a straight face. I wonder how much of it is actually the kids and how much is computertized?

The Ting Tings and Estelle at the Brit Awards 2009

Travel Emergencies

Sometimes, when we or our friends travel, we encounter slight emergencies or glitches in our plans. These can be caused by hotels that look great on the Internet but turn out to be crappy rat holes in person, missed ferries due to weather conditions/sea sickness, or new train times because the city you thought was going to be great turns out to be a bummer and you just can't wait to leave. This is when the magic of the Internet comes into action and a little prayer that someone will be at home to do some research for you and book a ticket/check times/make new reservations. Lilly and Aron were in Africa and Spain this past weekend with Aron's mom. I haven't gotten the full story yet, but I'm assured that everyone is laughing about it now. All I know is that I received several phone calls Sunday and Monday begging for ferry company and airline phone numbers. I think it had something to do with high wind, a cave, and a nice hotel. Nonetheless, Lilly, Aron, and Aron's mom made it back to the UK...finally...and I can't wait to hear all about it. Below is a picture of me playing travel agent...notice the Spain guidebook on the couch next to me.

Brit Awards 2009

Tonight saw the Brit Awards 2009. It's the UK equivalent of the Grammy's. I don't think I really watched them last year for some reason. I don't know why...maybe I just wasn't that interested. The show was fun, funny, fast, and I was really sad when it was over. I've really gotten more into the British music scene this past year and there were several of my favorite artists up for awards (not all British). They were all so good! Some standout nominees were ColdPlay, Estelle, Gabriella Cimli, The Killers, among others. But my favorite artist of the evening, and she cleaned house, was DUFFY!!!! She won 3 of the 4 awards she was nominated for-Best Female Artist, Breakout Artist, and Album of the Year. The only one she didn't win was Single of the Year for "Mercy". She was beat out by Girls Aloud's "The Promise". The performances were great! My favorite was the collaboration between The Ting Tings and Estelle. It rocked the house!!!! I haven't found a good youtube of it yet, but I'll post it when I do. Until then, enjoy a photo of me singing along to "Warwick Avenue" with Duffy and my best spatula microphone. I love this song and sing it often and very loud.

Gelato!!

I love gelato. There is a place in Richmond called Daniele's and I think it's even better than the gelato I had in Italy. We are there at least once or twice a week in the summer and about twice per month in the winter (or when we happen to be in the area). Banana is my favorite ice cream flavor. Since we've lived here (almost 2 years now), Daniele's had yet to carry that flavor. Wouldn't you know it....I guess my begging has worked, because now they have banana!!! YIPPEEE!!! Another new flavor is marzipan, which is basically almond flavored. It's the perfect double scoop! Can't you see how happy I am??

Valentine's Day!

Edgar and I had a great Valentine's weekend! For his V-day gift, Edgar wanted pancakes. I wanted him to clean up after I made the pancakes. We were both happy! The roses were an additional surprise from Edgar, along with some delicious chocolates.


After our yummy breakfast of pancakes, bacon, eggs, strawberries, OJ, and coffee, we headed into London to explore the Natural Science Museum. I know, a museum is not that romantic, but we've both really wanted to go for a while and it was a beautiful sunny day to walk around the city. Those of you who know me well, know that I am really interested in medical stuff. I was in heaven walking around the medical history floor learning about the evolution of anesthetic, herbal remedies, and surgical instruments that looked like torture instruments. Edgar enjoyed walking around the floor dedicated to energy. They had lots of interactive exhibits with one being a trivia game. Edgar only missed one question, and the game told him to play again and "this time, don't cheat!". What???? He's just that smart! And I guess it helps that he's worked in the energy industry for the past 9 years.


After the museum, we made our way back to Richmond to finish the evening with a delicious dinner at Mama Mia. It's a great Italian restaurant near our home that is always delicious. We slept in on Sunday and had a relaxing day just hanging out.

A Care Package from Home!

Edgar and I were so excited last Friday when we received a care package from Mom!!! It included many of our favorite things that we can't get over here-Cheetos, Velveeta, Rotel, Campbell's chicken noodle soup, and US made KitKats (they have KitKats over here, but they don't taste the same). She also included a Christmas gift that we had to leave behind due to an already packed suitcase. We treat these things like gold. To open a bag of Cheetos is a major decision. You have to decide if the craving is really that bad or if you are just getting the munchies. And there's no random, mindless snacking. Each bite counts and is savored.



Edgar received a pair of Dr. Scholl's inserts for his shoes. You can find inserts over here, but he found these when we were in Texas and really liked them. We walk alot over here and comfy shoes are very important. Now if anyone wants to send me one of those new Snuggies that are out, I would really appreciate it! The winters over here are long and cold and a hands-free blanket is just what you need when drinking hot chocolate and blogging!

Some Movie Reviews

Edgar and I love watching movies. Sometimes we'll get on a roll and watch several movies a month and other times we'll go months without seeing anything. Maybe it's the onset of the coldest winter in decades or perhaps it's just because I've been interested in several movies lately, but we've been to 3 movies in the past 3 weeks. I'll give you my reviews...

Frost/Nixon
I thought this movie was so boring. It's literally 2 hours of people just talking back and forth. They try to make it documentary style, but it just didn't work for me. It felt like a bad skit you create for high school English. The story was interesting simply because I didn't know much about this famous David Frost interview of Richard Nixon post impeachment, but the way they did it was just flat out BORING!

The Curious Case of Benjamin Button
We watched this one last night. It was much better than what I was expecting it to be. It's about a boy (Brad Pitt) who is born old and grows young...reverse aging. The way they created the old Brad Pitt is pretty cool because I watched a show on how they did it, but I was very happy when he finally got to his 40's and they could take the make-up off (know what I mean girls?). I did have a few issues with the storyline, but I won't discuss them here in case you want to watch it. Bottom line...Brad Pitt=eye candy, nice movie, good acting, Cate Blanchett goes a beautiful job...go see it.

Slumdog Millionaire
I LOVE THIS MOVIE!!!! I'm not usually one who has a "favorite" movie. I like the classics-Grease, Pretty Woman, Top Gun, Footloose-but rarely have I watched a movie that I just love and can watch again and again. I think this movie is now my favorite movie of all time. It's about a boy from a slum in India who goes on the Indian version of Who Wants to be Millionaire. The movie examines his life based on his answers to the questions. It stars an actor from London and several Bollywood stars. It's a beautiful, colorful, heartwarming, feel good movie. You will leave the theater with a smile on your face and a tear in your eye. I just can't say enough good things about it. It has so far won SAG Awards, the Golden Globes, and many others. It has multiple nominations for the Oscars and the BAFTA's (the British equivalent of the Oscars). Please make a point to see this movie-you won't regret it!

Tenerife!!

We had so much fun in Tenerife! We were only there for 2 1/2 days, but we crammed alot of good times in a very short time frame. We didn't do anything cultural or mind enhancing. We did, however, eat some of the best food I've ever had, laugh constantly with Lilly and Aron, and succumb to total relaxation. Tenerife is one of the Canary Islands, which are owned by Spain. They are located off the western coast of Africa on about the same latitude as the southern border of Morocco.

Our 6am flight meant a very early start on Friday. We drove the car to Gatwick and treated ourselves by parking in the short-term garage. For some reason, it was only about 5GBP more expensive than the off airport long term parking. Lilly and Aron were already checked in when we arrived, so we joined them for a little breakfast coffee and sandwich. In no time, we boarded our Monarch Airline flight and anticipated the end of our 4 1/2 hour journey. We landed on the southern coastline, so it was one of those "looks like we're going to land in the water" landings. We went straight to the rental car desk and got ourselves a convertible. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it right, right?

We stayed at the Iberostar Grand Hotel Anthelia, easily the most beautiful hotel in which I have ever stayed. Their service was just as beautiful as the building, starting with our greeting of smiles and champagne. Our rooms had porches that looked directly onto the pool and allowed easy access to the entire resort. The pool in front of our room was heated, but it wasn't hot enough for me. They had two other saltwater pools that overlooked the ocean. Great view, but waaaaayyy too cold!



We spent Friday lazing by the pool trying to soak up some much needed sun. Lilly took a jog along the promenade and found a restaurant that she thought looked good, so we pried ourselves away from our chairs and headed to dinner in the evening. Was she ever right. We got the best waiter who basically ordered our entire meal for us. It was all delicious and we decided to go there again the following night...highly unusual for us since we generally like to try new things. We went for a few after dinner drinks at a bar next door and then off to a club for a little Latin inspired dancing. Our evening ended around 3am, officially putting us past the awake-for-over-24-hours mark.



We woke around 9:30am on Saturday, determined not to waste any time despite our late night. Our room rate included breakfast, thank goodness. Most half board breakfasts are your run of the mill dry bread, soggy fruit and stale coffee. Exceeding all expectations, this breakfast buffet was unrivalled. When you can have caviar and champagne with your omelet, you know you are some place special. We hopped in the car after breakfast and headed toward El Tiede, the island's volcano. I've never seen a volcano up close and the drive to it was spectacular. Fields of brown and purple lava rocks anchored bright green pine trees dotted along the skyline. The volcano was topped with snow and just begged to be climbed. Edgar and Aron decided to climb a huge mountain. We won't talk about that here, though. It's a great story and I'm glad we can now laugh at it. We returned to our favorite restaurant for dinner, and once again had the most amazing food. Esposito, our waiter, had already ordered our appetizers before we even sat down. Dinner consisted of a salt encrusted sea bass, salad, and potatoes. We finished with our favorite Catalanian desserts, coffee, and warm brandies for the boys.



Sunday brought rain. So we decided to check out the spa because we read that they had a hot tub. This was no ordinary hot tub. It was a thalassotherapy pool. It was a giant heated pool with all sorts of jets and bubbles and fountains. It also had a sauna, steamroom, cold plunge pool and a hotter hottub. Our 2 hours were over way too soon. As we had hot tea before changing out of our swimsuits, we were all overcome with a sense of complete and utter relaxation. I don't think I've ever had this feeling before, that every muscle in my body (including eyelids) were at peace. I want a thalassotherapy pool. If you ever get the chance to spend some time in one, please do it. We extended our checkout to 2pm, so we raced back to our room to change and get our bags together. It was about 2:15 when we received a call from the front desk asking if we needed help with our bags, not "Get the heck out of your room because you are way past your checkout time!" I have never been so tactfully kicked out of a room in my life! One final lunch by the ocean and we were back at the airport. Our flight was slightly delayed upon take off and we had to circle around Gatwick for half an hour while they de-iced the runway. In case you haven't heard, we had a snow storm here (that story is in another post). We finally made it home at 3:15am, tired, but relaxed and with smiles on our faces. We definitely had sweet dreams that night.



Tenerife is a very popular vacation destination for Europeans. Some parts of the island are compared to Cancun, with mass numbers of people and parties everywhere. We were there during an off-season moment, so things were pretty quiet and subdued. Very large resorts are developed along the coastline and even into the hillsides away from the beach areas. I can see how it might be very crowded and uncomfortable when it's high season and the resorts are filled to capacity. I would never go there during high season because I hate big crowds when I am trying to relax on the beach. It was perfect for us...a nice getaway, we saw some sun, and my face even got a little pink. I think I just may make it through the winter now.

It Snowed...and We Had FUN!!!

The worst winter storm in decades hit the UK yesterday, bringing us almost 10 inches snow! Our flight from Tenerife was delayed on departure and then we had to circle around Gatwick while they de-iced the runway. We zipped through customs thanks to our very James Bond-ish Iris scan (your retina is scanned in this machine and you never even have to speak to anyone or stand in line...it's brilliant!). Our bags came out with a little snow on top after their journey from the plane to the baggage claim. Thankfully, we decided to do short-term garage parking, eliminating the need for 20 minutes of scraping and defrosting. Good thing...because we were grossly unprepared for this storm. We don't have a scraper, de-icer, and neither of us had any winter clothes with us.

I felt pretty confident when thinking about driving home. After all, we lived in Columbus, Ohio for 2 years and I've driven in snow before. As we left the airport, there was plenty of snow everywhere, but it seemed that the major roads were at least being plowed....until we got about 5 miles out. The road just kept getting worse and worse. It got so bad that the only reason we were able to keep going was because we were following an SUV and borrowing the tracks it made. As we round-abouted off the major highway to get to Richmond, I was seriously beginning to doubt if we would actually make it our house. We did get stuck a few times, fish tailed most of the way, and Edgar had to push the car out of an intersection because we couldn't get any traction under our tires. Our flat sits in the middle of a hill, so I found the road that was the least steep and we gave it a go. With the pedal to the metal in first gear, we crept up the hill at 2mph, sliding the whole way. We finally crested and pulled into our driveway at 3:15am. What should have taken us 45 minutes, took us 2 hrs and 15 minutes. But we made it home safe and sound. I think that had our plane been delayed another 30 minutes, we could not have made it back.

We woke up to a beautiful blanket of white this morning. All of London transport was closed (there were a few exceptions), so Edgar got to have a snow day!! He did get some work done here at home, and then we went outside to play! We built a snowman, made snow angels, and had a snowball fight. The snow is pretty dry, so it's great for building a snowman, but kind of hurts when packed into a tight snowball!

London's been getting alot of flack for allowing itself to be shut down by 6 inches of snow. What people don't understand is that it doesn't really snow that much here. We generally get a dusting or maybe even an inch. It usually isn't freezing outside, so it melts away pretty quickly. This storm brought a ton of heavily falling snow and freezing temperatures, so it's going to stick around for awhile. They just don't have the equipment to deal with it. No problem for us...we just get to drink hot chocolate and enjoy the beauty.