Christmas in London

I had lunch this week with Leanne near where she works. After lunch we she gave me a tour around where she works and were other people go to lunch. The first thing that seem different is all the suits. Unlike the states where most men do not wear suits every day, here in London they all wear suits. If there were 30 guys 29 of them would be wearing a suit. I must say it was really weird, looked like a bunch of robots walking around.

Another thing is they all have a drink at lunch, Leanne said its like this every day at lunch. It looks like a convention for something, lots of suits having a drink.

I found out about an auction a butcher has every year on Christmas eve morning. Having nothing to do that morning i decided to go and see it. At first glance i saw what looked like a mob but it was the auction.

The auction has been going on for over 30 years. If you want a deal on meat this is the place to be, but you better have a big freezer. They were selling everything from pork, beef, and poultry. The auctioneer would hold up a piece of meat, name a price and people would start waving money. This picture shows the selling of pork chops, they must have sold 20 of them. 

This is a prime rib that was auction off. If we had room in our freezer i would have bought one.

After a fun day of watching people spending i went home and cooked our turkey. Leanne got off work early and we had a great dinner. Latter on we decided to work on a 1000 piece puzzle. At first we thought we could get it done in one sitting---wrong, it would end up being  a two day puzzle.

As we did the puzzle Coach would sit and look out the window. He never did this in the states so it seems odd when he does it. The view is from the second floor so he gets to see all the coming and going in the neighborhood.

The day after Christmas we did another walk from Leanne's London walk's book. This one would take us thru  Belgravia an area in west central London.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Belgravia 

This area is a who's who of people that live here, and also a large amount of embassy's.

This is St. Lukes church, Charles Dickens was married here in 1836

And another pricey area, these "cottages"go for over $2 million and i don't think there was even a garage. Nice area but not for that kind of money. 

So this was our first Christmas out of the states.

Small corner theater

Not much happened this week, Leanne had a luncheon with her coworkers and invited me to join her. When ever Leanne would talk about business all of them would listen to her every word. She is one smart woman. I'm amazed this old farm boy is lucky enough to be with her.

A light fog on the way home, this is a view looking over the Thames at St. Paul's Cathedral. The views Leanne and I see over here never get old.

And then there are the just plain odd things to see. This is a guy on a scooter with a golf travel bag---i wonder if there was a bowling ball in the travel case on the back.

Leanne and I have been looking for a small theater we finally found one less than 2 miles from our house.

On the third floor above a pub (how great is that) is the 50 seat Finborough Theater. 

Its very small building, we sat on in the third of four rows and as you can see your just about sitting on stage. The play we saw was better than we both expected and with a lot of great restaurants close by we will be back again.

And the last thing on the list for this week is cooking. Leanne had a craving for something different and suggested i make a Pumpkin roll. It was not that hard to make and tastes great. 

and i also made a blue cheese souffle.

A trip back across the pond

This past week Leanne and I went back across the pond to celebrate Christmas with my family in Michigan and also visit with Kim and Jim in Chicago.
Our trip would start with a flight to Detroit, Michigan where our friend Herb Mahony would pick us up and take us to my son Damian's house for a vehicle to drive. It was my turn to borrow a car from him. And then it was on to Cowboy Creek where the DuRussel's would be celebrating Christmas. We  rent it for the weekend and had used it last year with great success.  It has 13 hotel rooms, a small kitchen, great room and lots of area outside for the kids to run around.
The theme for this year was Lumberjack Christmas and the first night we had a soup or stew cook off

and there was also a costume contest.

Pats family took both of them, Potato soup and Lisa dressed as Babe the blue ox.

We also did cookie decorating. My sister Lori has been doing this every Christmas since my kids were little.

As you can see she makes a lot of cookies.

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and sometimes the moms have to help.

Tanner doing it himself, Lori buys a lot of stuff for decorating.  

And there were lumberjack movies to watch along with old family photes.

and Andy and Dylan added some excitement to the mix.

Time for dinner, Prime rib, cheesey potatoes, corn, salad and rolls. Jim got volunteered to do the cutting this year.

Jaxon waiting for Jim to cut his.

Looks like the end of the line, time for me to jump in.

And then it was Yankee Christmas swap time. After a few minutes the place would be a mess.  

The kids have been doing a pyramid every year since there was enough of them too do it.

the little ones get into the act too.

Seeger in the Christmas spirit 

and so is Heather, Tanner on the other hand has had all the fun he can handle.

Monday we were able to watch of my grand kids Tucker, Avery, Seeger and Jaxon do there Christmas show. And Tuesday night we watched Dayton and Malory in the Christmas band concert.

On Wednesday we took the train from Jackson, Mi to Chicago. The trains in the states are not as nice as the ones in the UK. The ride is bumpier and a lot slower.  We have been told the the trains in Japan and Germany are a lot better than the UK. We will find out about Germany in the next year. I don't think Japan will be on our list of places to go.

It was great to see Leanne's sister Kim and her man Jim. While there we had the usual stuff you get while your in Chicago, Giordano's Stuffed Pizza, 

Portillo's beef sandwich  and a Chicago hot dog.

and a couple of White castle hamburgers

but not in one sitting.

Friday night we went to a show were the audience sang Christmas carols. My voice was not as good as it was in Sister Jean Marie (i think that was her name--they all looked alike) choir class in ninth grade. It is easier to sing when you don't have to worry about getting smacked by a ruler.  

Saturday we headed back across the pond, it has been a busy week.

Visitors from the States

Our good friends Kat and Greg from Charlotte flew over the pond for a visit.

The week was non stop fun, with lots of sights, food and drink. They arrived on Thursday the 19th and after a quick stop at the house to drop off the stuff we were off. We walked thru Holland Park and then stopped at a pub for lunch and a pint.

 And then on to see some of the sights.

We started Friday with a visit to Borough's market a wholesale and retail food market that dates back to 1272. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Borough_Market

If you want to eat, this is the place.

Or have a pint.

And as you can see its not Weight Watcher approved.

After lunch we headed across the London Bridge.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/London_Bridge

Now for some crazy history. This bridge was rebuilt in 1974 and the old bridge was sold and moved to Arizona. Yes, London Bridge is in Arizona, and I have the picture to prove it.

After crossing the London Bridge in London, (not to be confused with the one in Arizona) we stopped for a visit at the Tower of London. It's one of those things that you have to see if you visit. And Kat wanted to see the Crown Jewels, sorry Kat no free samples.

And as the sun was setting we got some great shots of the Tower bridge

and a great panoramic shot of the area showing the sunset.

Saturday we were off to Portobello Road.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Portobello_Road

 This is another place were vendors sell just about anything. My sister Diane would call a lot of this stuff  "happy crap". You're real happy when you buy it but when you get home you realize its just crap.

Kat looking at a new purse, there are things that are a bargain, you just have to get thru the happy crap to find them. As you can see Greg is being the good husband by telling her it looks great.  Notice Kat's new purse in later photos, it will look familiar.

Also on this street was a men's clothing store, they had hundreds of old sewing machines on display.

That night we met up with friends of  Kat and Greg's for dinner. The meal was Italian and the pub stop after was gin and tonics. It was interesting that the pub closed at midnight on a Saturday night. 

Sunday it was off to Camden Town, 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Camden_Town

another place with lots of happy crap.

and also where there are canal locks. 

From there we went to the Abbey Road crossing made famous by the 11th album of the Beatles. 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abbey_Road

And then to Maida Vale 

 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maida_Vale

and the area of  Little Venice.

and of course a stop at a pub.

Monday was spent on a hop on hop off bus for a trip around London. We had a very knowledgeable guide that would add comical stories thru out the ride. 

Tuesday (my birthday) it was off to Paris by train. Why does Greg get to sit next to my woman on the train?  Answer: I can't ride backwards on the train.

The one thing you will notice in the Paris pictures is the absence of people. The terrorist attack has taken its toll on the economy. All the normally busy tourists spots were void of the long lines. Any thing we wanted to go to we got right in. Good for us, bad for the tourist industry. Our hotel had a number of cancellations and was only half full, it was normally full. Greg talked to a cafe owner and food was 70% of there business, they were down to 20%. And a cab driver thanked us a number of times for coming to his town. 

Once in Paris our first stop was at the  Orsay Museum

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mus%C3%A9e_d%27Orsay

The Orsay has the largest collection of impressionist and post impressionist paintings in the world. The building was once a railroad station that was scheduled for demolition but was suggested to make it a museum.

The view from the top level.

 

One of the two clocks with a glass face to see thru.

We spent over 2 hours there, not near enough time to see everything.

Dinner that night would be at a restaurant whose specialty is souffle's. For the appetizer we had either the lobster/crab souffle.

or the blue cheese souffle.

The main courses were Duck, Coq au Vin, Mushrooms and Kidney and a Sea food dish. All were very good.

Dessert was a chocolate, Grand Marnier souffle 

and mine was a Rhubarb and Cherry souffle, everything was fantastic.

and a nice walk back to the hotel with friends.

Wednesday would be a busy day trying to see all we could. There was a presence of the military at most of the places we would be today. Usually about 6 soldiers with automatic weapons. 

Our first stop was Louvre Museum.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louvre

This place was huge, and we only saw a small portion of it

 Checking out the Venus de Milo

One of many long rooms of art, this one had paintings.

It was a little crowded by the Mona Lisa, but we were able to get up close.

And the painting were all sizes.

Next stop was the Eiffel Tower

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Eiffel_Tower

The lines were short so we were able to get to the top very fast. I'm not very excited about heights as you can tell.

The heights didn't bother Kat and Greg.

or Leanne

They were great views,

but it was great to be back on the ground.

Our next stop was the Arc de Triomphe

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arc_de_Triomphe

It was raining and cold when we got there, but it was another great sight to see.

As you can see very cold and rainy

near the monument was a Cartier jewelry store decorated for Christmas.

Next stop was to find a warm place for a drink. We found this place (it was the first one we came to) and once in realized we should have walked on a bit. It was famous for a place were celebrities go.

good thing I ordered a drink with a lot of volume to it, this one is called a Green Hornet.

After we warmed up a bit and the rain stopped we went back outside. This is a view from the Champs-Élysées

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Champs-%C3%89lys%C3%A9es

Time for dinner, not as good as the night before but it was still very good. And another wonderful walk back to the hotel.

Thursday, Thanksgiving day, last day in Paris. 

The next few pictures is the area where our hotel was. Lots of restaurants, bakeries and pastries shops.

and yes it all looked real good.

look at all the bread and also how big some of them are.

Enough of the food, on to something educational. Being brought up catholic we couldn't go to Paris with out visiting Notre Dame

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Notre_Dame_de_Paris

This building was very run down compared to all the other churches we have seen over here. If you go to the Wikipedia page it explains about it. It was actually used for a food storage.

another large pulpit to preach fire and brimstone. 

and the outside with the famous gargoyles, there were to many to count. A lot of them were in need of repair and some were gone altogether.  

Little kids must have loved to go to this church.

a view from the back of the church.

And then a stroll down some side streets and more places to eat. This had beef, chicken or pork with the dripping going in a pan filled with vegetables. Hungry? Lets move on the the next shop.

Sea food and all kinds, not for me as i am allergic to shellfish. The display looked great.

This is the small street that had all this great food.

Lets not for get dessert, i think you could gain weight just by walking down this street. 

This is supposed to be the narrowest house in Paris, just 2 windows wide. They must sleep standing up.

Another few of one of the many food streets.

Greg decide to have pot of mussels, i didn't think he could eat all of them. Leanne, Kat and I had French onion soup,  with either chicken or a pork chop and french fries. 

 St. Micheal fountain, we came around a corner and there is was.  

 Sitting in a cafe outside the rail station, having drinks and playing Euchre. Leanne and Greg are on a winning streak that will soon end.

Time for the ride back to London. As with most of the rail stations in Europe this one is  also very beautiful and large.

Friday, 

As you all know in the states the day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. One of the biggest shopping day of the year. In the spirit of Christmas people get in fights to get a great deal on something they don't really need. But the price is to good to pass up---sounds like a lot of "Happy Crap". 

London also has black Friday, its the day after Thanksgiving---even though they don't celebrate it---and some places have specials on turkey dinners. 

In this picture Kat is pointing out some diamonds to Leanne. I guess size does matter. 

At Harrods, biggest store i have ever been in. You could literally "spend" your vacation there.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harrods

Kat pointing out stuff we need at our house.

at the wine glass area--how did we find this place in the store.

and then a leisure walk thru a small square.

It was a great week visiting with close friends.