Brilliant Brighton

This weekend we went to Brighton as part of my birthday present from Ellie to me. We had heard so much about Brighton and how hip and open-minded it was and how similar it was to Key West or some other liberal seaside town. It is only one hour away from London.


We rushed straight after work as our train was leaving at 5:52 exactly and we both get out of work between 5 and 5:30. We met at London Bridge station with enough time to attempt to make an earlier train. That train was so packed with commuters, heading home for the weekends with their faces smashed against the glass and their briefcases resting on their heads that we decided to wait the extra 15 minutes and take our original train. When it pulled up it was still packed so we stood for the first 15 minutes but eventually it cleared out as stopped at places like Clapham Junction and East Croydon. Once we finally made it to Brighton, we hailed a taxi to take us to our bed and breakfast where we met Marcus and John, the couple who owned
"Home"



and they showed us to our room where we had a beautiful window that you can see the ocean from. We drank a cup of tea and relaxed in our room for a few minutes before we set off on foot to find the Concorde which is the venue that Tegan and Sara were playing at. Ellie got us tickets for my birthday since they are one of our favorite bands. We got there just in time to catch the tail end of the set of Northern State which were amazing. Then Tegan and Sara took the stage and we got a beer and listened to their set, thrilled we were in Brighton with our favorite twins.

The show was perfect as they played their old songs and their new songs off of The Con. They were hilarious as all of the English people kept yelling out, "Tegan, you're so fit!" and they just scratched their heads puzzled.

After the show, we were starving and attempted to find some late night food in Brighton. Brighton is beautiful at night with the pier glowing in the distance.


(This is right next to the Concorde where the show was)

Next to kebabs, it was looking a little dismal but we managed to find a sit-down restaurant still serving full menu Italian food. Ellie got some mushrooms and eggplant parm and I got some subpar spaghetti and garlic bread. Our plan was to go out on the town, but after you eat your weight in pasta, nobody wants to dance or drink. We headed back to the B and B, drank some more tea and crashed.

The next morning the first order of business was to see the ocean up close and walk around the pier and do some tourist activities. We had an excellent and very posh three course breakfast that Marcus cooked for us consisting of muesli, croissants, eggs, spinach and muffins.

Afterwards, we walked along the beach. Brighton does not have sand and instead has huge stones which look like they would be hugely inconvenient and uncomfortable but are instead not bad because you can sit and not get sand all over your clothing and feet.

It was so nice to be near the Atlantic ocean again and so crazy to think that this is
the same ocean that touches our shores at home.




I kept thinking that I could look across the English Channel and see France, but of course, you can't look across the Atlantic and see Cuba from Key West so it was a silly idea. After spending an hour at the beach, we walked around the Brighton Pier which has rides and greasy carnival food and extends very far on to the water. It was overpriced and touristy but a lot of fun to walk around.






We also noticed that there were some people swimming in the ocean without wetsuits. It was very cold and was not even a spring day, much less a summer day. When the people came out of the water their entire bodies were so red and miserable looking, it was crazy.


Afterwards we walked around the North Laines shopping area which has the cutest shops, brightly colored and people just milling around the boutiques and record stores and eating outside at vegetarian cafes. Every other restaurant is vegetarian in Brighton. The North Laines made me want to move to Brighton and walk around on the weekends and sit outside on picnic tables drinking pints while people-watching.



We were getting quite hungry so we decided to check out Hop Poles which is a pub that a friend had suggested. However, we had to go down tiny, one person only lanes and alleys to find it.

It was nice though with about a 6 page menu and many vegetarian options and Leffe on top and Sufjan on the stereo. I got veggie chilli with rice and Ellie got a jacket sweet potatoe with goats cheese and veggies on top and a Guiness. We sat outside under the heat lamp enjoying the winter weather. After we decided to head back to our room and have a nap, but stopped on the way back at the Pier to get some donuts like the kind they make with the sugar and put in a bag. They were greasy and
delicious and we sat on the beach and ate them.



After a nice long nap and some more tea...

(I am beginning to love hot tea which probably means I am a true Brit now and just need to stay)

we headed to the only place we could find online that was a brewery in Brighton. I got some boring beer that seemed to be light instead of white like I asked but
Ellie got a nice room temperature one and we sipped and watched other enjoying the rugby match. Afterwards, we headed to the South Laines for our dinner reservation at Food For Friends which is this very upscale vegetarian restaurant that is basically a Brighton institution. The food was to die for and we got some mulled wine which
was amazing as well. As we were sitting there, we saw many groups of people walk by in costume. There was a group of golfers, French maids, some lingerie wearers, and some people in camouflage. Upon asking our waitress she just shrugged and said "That's Brighton for you." After dinner we headed out for some more drinks and to see some Brighton nightlife. We didn't stay out too late though because Gaelle and Masih were meeting us early the next morning.

The next morning we slept in and woke to the seagulls crowing outside of our window on our porch. It was really comfortable and nice. We scurried downstairs to have our sunday brunch with Marcus and John. It was even better the second day. Masih and Gaellie called while we were having breakfast and they said they were at the beach waiting for us. We spotted them and sprinted towards them, hugging and being so excited to be with friends in another city outside of London and near the ocean with a whole day ahead of us.





We sat around for a little bit observing the ocean and taking photos and then showed them the pier where they got noodles at some little Asian takeaway.




The weather was beautiful and much warmer this day. Masih was acting crazy and so happy because in Iran she doesn't have the freedom to be relaxed near the ocean and shout and run and scream and go swimming. She couldn't understand how we took it for granted and it was really refreshing to have a reminder how lucky we are. She was so excited she stripped off her jeans and her sweater and went swimming in her thermals.





After, we walked around the North Laines and bought some clotted cream fudge. We headed to the Royal Pavilion afterwards and upon John and Marcus suggestions, we paid the 5.60 to take the tour of the pavillion.




The pavillion is absolutely breathtaking. The interiors are magnificent and mostly still intact from the 1700 and 1800s when King George IV entertained his guests there and his conquests and women. The whole pavilion has Asian influences and looks like the Taj Mahal or something on the outside. The Asian theme is used throughout as it is decorated with birds and snakes and dragons. The chandelier above the dining room weighs more than one ton and guests were scared to sit under in case it came crashing down and it is hung from a giant dragon on the huge domed ceiling. Everything is so ornate and so well preserved. They didn't let you take any photos inside though.



(but here are a few from Google, but they don't even do it justice)

Afterwards we got some tea at the cutest ice cream parlor. We stumbled across this cake shop which was just amazing, literally the most amazing realistic cakes we have ever seen. We couldn't tell what was cake in the store and what was decoration.



After the cakes we got some dinner from this little veggie place called Iydea and then we rushed back so they could catch their bus and we could catch our trains, both coming back to NW1 London.

Overall, we were both really taken with Brighton and have now begun thinking about pursuing graduate degrees there because in the UK you get a two year work visa for one year masters program so we could stay here for two years then. It's just a thought though since we both really love New York and Portland, Seattle and San Francisco. It was a really nice early birthday present from Ellie and something we will never forget.

tidbit

I forgot to mention that at the movies here they don't have butter for your popcorn and when ellie asked they looked at her like stupid gluttonous American girl and she was very confused when they asked her, sweet or salty? Apparently, kettle corn is an option. Take note.

Am I supposed to piss in the street?- Gaelle

Two weekends ago we decided to stay in London and lounge around a bit. On saturday we went to the 222 vegan buffet for lunch and then came home and napped our life away and made a cake. Afterwards we met Gaelle in front of the Camden Eye and had a snake bite. The Camden Eye turned into, Edinboro Castle, which turned into the Duke of Camden, which unfortunately or humorously enough turned into Belushi's the bar of the hostel we first stayed at when we moved here. We were very happy to meet up with our old friend Clint who was working at Belushi's and staying there. We found out that he was moving back to South Africa to surf for a bit. We wished him well and danced around and drank some cocktails.

Here are a few pictures from that night:












The next day we woke up late and decided to explore the canary wharf area of London. We wanted to take the DLR which is a part of the underground that eventually emerges from the underground and becomes overground, sort of monorail style. It is driverless which is really crazy if you think about it. Unfortunately, as London transport tends to be half the time, the DLR was closed from the station we needed to take it from. So we took the boring Jubilee underground.


(me sharing my dissatisfaction with transport London)
Once we got there, it was very interesting. Canary Wharf is sort of industrial but has really huge modern, manhattan style glass business buildings. It is right on the Thames.




It was lovely and sunny so we walked around a bit and took in the interesting architecture. There are a lot of nice restaurants and bars where people sit outside in the summer along the river and drink beer or eat brunch. There wasn't too much else going on though so we got on the DLR at Canary Wharf heading towards India Quay. We were loving the view of the skyline and we came to this place called Mudchute.

It looked really rural and there was a huge park and a farm with horses so we walked around for a bit.







There was also an ASDA which is Walmart but in the UK. I didn't have the pleasure to find out if ASDA was as disgusting as Walmart though because we were on our way back to see a movie in Canary Wharf and get a Starbucks.

That following Tuesday we went to Brick Lane in East London and went to curry mile with Gaelle and Clint and some other friends. This is the heart of the Indian community in London. The shop owners come outside and say things like " free poppadums or free wine if you come in my restaurant." Gaelle managed to talk one of them down to a free bottle of wine and 25 percent off our bill. The food was pretty good and afterwards Gaelle showed us Vibe Bar which is this amazing little indie club with hoegaarden beer on tap in Shoreditch. The next night we went over to Gaelle's for fondue from France and it may have been the best cheese ever. It was so amazing. The three of us and Masih stood over the stove shoveling bread and cheese into our mouths, burning our taste buds, washing it down with the cheapest white wine. I cant wait for France so I can just have entire meals of cheese and wine.

British Appreciation

Kelly, Lauren and I are all learning to fit in here in the UK. People often mistake us as locals.

Here comes the bride...

HAPPY ENGAGEMENT TO OUR FRIENDS, RACHEL AND IAN.

Ian proposed to Rachel in Savannah on the long holiday. We are very excited about the wedding in Savannah next winter. We love you very much...

Afrika Afrika

The night before Valentine's day, Feb. 13th we went to see Afrika Afrika. It is a show playing at the O2 arena that I had heard a lot about and that my co-workers and I were always talking about wanting to see. Someone sent me a link in my email, telling me about free tickets for some promotion so we got to go. The 02 arena is really nice with 40 restaurants, bars, an ice rink, the King Tut exhibit, the actual arena and the tents we were in. The tents were African themed and really beautiful with art everywhere and candles and sand. Here is a short video clip about Afrika Afrika.

*To play just click on the video(this is for those who are less technologically savvy,)


The show was a lot like Cirque du Soleil except with all African performers. It was very energetic and all the music was live and our free seats were unbelievable. Here is one more clip of this crazy woman who could stretch and do things I never thought possible. She was the snake woman.

Year of the RAT!

Gung Hay Fat Choy! Or Happy New Year in Chinese! Today is the beginning of the Chinese New Year celebration in London. It is the year of the rat.


Fun Fact: London has the largest Chinese population outside of China so Chinese New Year is crazy important and huge.

We headed down to Charing Cross today to catch the parade. The parade came down the streets with Chinese dragons, martial arts exhibits and plenty kimonos. We took entirely too many photos so we apologize in advance.









we think that there may have been some non-chinese people in the parade, but can't be sure...




The real Kung Fu Panda












After the parade we headed down to Leicester Square where there were stalls, booths, and shows happening on main stages in both Leicester Square and Trafalgar Square. Chinatown was packed to the brim, bustling with Chinese lanterns and tourists with fold-up dragons.

Ellie in Leicester Square


China Town


We crammed ourselves into a Chinese restaurant and ate sweet and sour tofu and fried rice and watched the crowds from the window. Afterwards, we enjoyed the sun on our face as we watched traditional Chinese dance on the main stage in Trafalgar square with the thousands of other people.

Trafalgar Square

London Lately

London has been amazing lately. As of yesterday we have three months left here. It is flying by.

Last week, I went to a meeting of the London Feminist Network. I was a little nervous to go by myself since Ellie was at work late and Lauren couldn’t get over to Euston in time but I am really happy I sucked it up and went. I learned about their projects coming up and it was in a really cute bar inside of a monument that I know will become one of my regular hang outs. The next night, Ellie and I met outside of Big Ben on the Southbank and walked over to the city hall in front of Westminster Abbey where we joined the Pro-Choice rally going on to combat a very close-minded woman who is trying to pass an atrocious bill. There were over 400 people at the rally, both men and women, of all ages, all chanting and holding up signs. It is so nice to be able to be involved with things that I am passionate about outside of college.




This weekend, we decided to stay in London since we have been traveling somewhere different every weekend for over a month. On Friday night, we made a Greek feast for dinner and then lazed about the house, eventually going out around 11:30 which is very late here to start going out. We ended up walking around Angel and heading to two different bars. We took the bus home around 2 in the morning, excited for sleep the following morning.

After we woke up on Saturday and had bagels and cream cheese, which are nothing like Goldman’s or New York, we went to the laundry in Kentish Town with a ton of things to wash. It is the first time that George’s mom hasn’t done our laundry. Laundry was expensive, about 12 pounds = 24 dollars. While it was going we walked to the library and took out some new books, including some recipe books which I am excited about. We headed off to the Borough market which I have been dying to go to since Ellie and Lauren always talk about it.






Borough market has been around for 250 years and is the biggest open air food market in Europe, I think. It is unbelieveable. Anything you want, someone is making it fresh for you. Gourmet cheeses, chutneys, specialty beers, fresh vegetables and ciders, etc. It is so incredible.




You have people from Italy making pasta in front of you for you to purchase and French people cutting up fresh Roquefort. I can’t wait to take our families here. We purchased a medium dry apple cider that still tasted like the wood barrel it came in and I got a wheat ale from this brewery on site.



We had tons of samples and ended up buying blood oranges since they remind us of home. They were so juicy.




There is also a huge meat and fish market under the same roof. Any guesses as to what type of animals these are?


After the market we walked around those neighborhoods until we got to London south Bank University where I work. I showed Ellie around the campus and what buildings I was in.





These are photos of me in front of my work place. Work is going really amazing for both of us. Ellie likes the people she works with and so do I. I am learning a lot about other cultures and faiths, including Muslim faith, as a lot of people who work with me are Muslim. I have also learned a lot about racism and how it affects England and how it differs from racism in the states. Ellie works with a ton of people from other countries as well so she is constantly learning about other cultures and getting advice for when we travel.

(This is Ellie's desk at her office. She is planning on writing an entry with more pictures about her work soon.)


We walked over to the Southbank and went to the Hayward museum and saw an exhibit called “Laughing in a Foreign Language.” The exhibit would have been better if we didn’t anticipate humor and just went in to see an art exhibit that happened to be somewhat funny. The Hayward was a nice museum though and in a wonderful location on the water.

We decided to eat at Las Iguanas which is this South American/Mexican restaurant. I had an amazing butternut squash chimichanga and a Caipirinha and Ellie had fajitas. The restaurant was packed for a Saturday and was really lively.


London is so packed with things to do that I think we could live here for 5 years and still never do everything. There are so many neighborhoods and secret streets and boroughs, all small towns of their own. It’s expansive and overwhelming, crazy and unexpected yet utterly amazing.

Meaty Manchester

Last weekend we went to Manchester which is a city that we had been dying to go to since we heard it was an industrial liberal free for all. We decided to take one of our holiday days from work (I get nine paid holidays for four months of work and ellie gets 8) and check out the great northwest.



We caught the bus from Victoria at 8:00 in the morning on Friday, February 1st. We got split up at the Victoria tube station and almost didn’t both make it on the bus at the Victoria coach station but we worked it out. Unfortunately we didn’t get seats together, but did manage to sit across the aisle from one another. Ellie got to sit with a nice and quiet converse wearing, skinny jean guy while I got a true gangster from Inverness. Inverness is like the Scottish nowhere land up north. Within five minutes he popped open his first beer and mind you, it was 8:00 am. Within ten minutes the bus went around a roundabout and his beer was all over my feet. When the bus didn’t stop for a cigarette break, which it never does, he told me that he was going to “light one up in the bathroom, excuse me.” As the queue for the bathroom grew longer and people looked at me questioningly like who is in there? I pretended to be asleep. He also really liked having sexual conversations on the phone with one of many girls including purring and barking like a dog. Needless to say when the bus pulled in at noon in Manchester, I was thrilled.

We followed precise directions and ended up at the Hatters Hostel where we had booked two nights. The hostel was really cute and one of the nicest ones we have been in yet.

We were in a ten bedroom female dorm and upon walking in, we met Roxanne, an Australian who is moving out of Manchester in the next few days and we met Amanda

who is from North Carolina and had just left the states a week ago to travel from the UK to Europe to Asia and then to New Zealand all by herself. We had some free tea and toast with them and then headed to the Cuban restaurant we saw near the bus stop. We got some amazing vegetarian food and tapas for only five pounds each.

Afterwards, we explored the Northern Quarter which is where our hostel is located. It is the trendy shopping district with lots of boutiques and cute cafes. We ended up in famous Affleck’s palace which is an old department store that has been turned into this funky, carnival like department store for alternative fashions complete with piercing and tattoo parlors inside.



(Some amazing art work outside Affleck's.)


After tons of vintage clothes and amazing jewelry which we were sad we couldn’t afford, we decided to meet up with Amanda and Roxanne who were at the Urbis design museum. Urbis is this amazing glass building with an elevator that goes up horizontally on a slant.


The exhibit was really good and had a lot to do with the effects of advertising as well as an exhibit about Hacienda which is this famous punk/drag/rock club that closed down in the late nineties, sort of the studio 54 of Manchester.

The weather was awful and so freezing so we decided to head back to the hostel.

We stopped along the way to watch a five year old and a ten year old break dance in front of a shopping centre with their mom. We got some beer and drank some and hung out until Ellie and I decided we wanted pizza so we went out and had really nice pizza and the owner of the restaurant gave us a Chilean dessert shot, sort of like Baileys. We met up with Roxanne, Amanda and this other Aussie named Rebecca in the Gay village and had a pint in a cozy corner while the scantily clad men of the bar tried to make love connections.

When we got back to the hostel, we sat around with Amanda talking about the states. I looked outside and saw huge snow flurries falling from the sky. Ellie and I excused ourselves as crazy Floridians and ran to the street like small children, screaming with joy.




We spun around and danced in it for a bit before we resigned ourselves from the cold. When we awoke it was snowing hard and we went back to bed until about 11 and the sun was out and the snow was melted.

We went down to this place called the cornerhouse which was an art museum, café and indie move theatre all in one.

I ate really good vegetable paella and Amanda met us there. After lunch we saw some really interesting installations by the artist Chosil Kim. We decided to continue exploring Manchester by foot and went to the top of Hilton, pretending like we could afford 1100 pound rooms per night and we got some amazing views.

The hilton from the outside.





We walked near the deansgate area and to the castlefield, which is this weird castle wall thing in a field, much as the name suggests.




We walked around the Northern Quarter some more and around the saturday fashion market and then we went back for a bit to the hostel to relax and then went out to Manchester’s Chinatown for some excellent pad thai and sweet and sour vegetables.


We ended up talking to some guys at the hostel from Canada and Germany and then decided we were too tired to go out and went to bed.

The next day we made breakfast for the girls at the hostel

and then walked Amanda to the train station wishing her good luck on her journey. We walked around the village some and then decided to head back to cornerhouse to catch a film. We saw Libero, an Italian film and it was quite good. We ended up grabbing some food for the bus and then having to head home in the late afternoon.

Manchester was interesting because the architecture was a mix of quite industrial buildings and old English buildings and modern glass buildings right next to each other.

It also has really amazing sculptures and artsy touches throughout the city.


I think we thought that there was going to be more going on than there was but we had a rally nice weekend and it was nice to hang out with some new people. Hearing Amanda talk about her around the world journey got me really pumped for our traveling outside the U.K.

Kung Fu Panda Does Norwich! The Sequel!

We are a little behind in our posting because we are having so much fun! But, a few weekends ago we went to visit Gena and Merlin. After a stressful jog to liverpool street station five minutes before our train was due to pull out, we arrived in Norwich. Merlin was at his friday night radio show with Matt and we sat around and talked with Gena and Daisy and drank our usual pear cider catching up and waiting for the guys. After they came home, near midnight, we all sat in their kitchen eating crumpets, sort of like english muffins, and jemma came home from a first date and we just talked until we were too tired and we went to bed.

The next morning, Ellie had a hair appointment and got her hair cut at Kinki and it looked amazing.

We went to the salvation army and bought some scarves afterwards. Gena and Merlin met us on the same street Kinki is on and we walked to baba ganoush this amazing restaurant that has a lot of veggie options and we did a tapas style lunch. We walked around through different cute norwich shops.




Merlin has recently found a record player so he was on the hunt for a smiths album so we walked around some record shops without any luck. We decided to go see The Savages at cinema city which is this amazing movie theatre in norwich and jemma met us there. After the movie, we stayed in town and had a few drinks where matt met up with us and then we all went out for indian food and ate some many pappadums that I could hardly even touch our Korma.

The next day we woke up late, went to the pub for a sunday nut roast as per usual and had some red stripe with lime while the boys and Ellie watched sunday football.


Jemma , Gena and I

On our way to the nut roast in the beautiful weather!

We lazed around



and ate some halloumi sandwiches for dinner with gena

while the boys went to their football league.


Our train left at 8 so we took our cab back to the train station and made our way home. It is always so hard leaving gena and merlin behind.

Camden Market Fire

For anyone who didn't know (or anyone who did know, and is worried about us) there was a massive fire at the Camden Loch Markets near our flat. WE ARE OK, and out flat is OK. The fire was less than a mile away, but it is under control, if not out by now. It was a little scary, because George burst through the door and said "Have you seen the fire?!?!" So we initially thought it might be another fire escapade similar to Pegasus Landing (where our kitchen caught fire and we had to move out) but then he explained that all the streets were barricaded by the fire brigade. We looked out our kitchen window and saw billowing smoke. The fire started around 7pm and it was about 10pm when we found out about it. Kelly and I immediately went outside to investigate. Here are some pictures I took:

most of these are from the street in front of our flat.


this was pretty much as close as we could get





We walked to one of the main roads (which was closed). There were tons of people standing along the caution tape watching the fire fighters working on the flames with water hoses.



We are pretty sad about it, because it was one of our favourite spots in London and a real draw for why we lived in Camden Town. We had planned on going there this morning, but decided next weekend would be better. We don't know exactly how much damage was done, but I doubt that will still be an option.


Here are some links to find out more about it:

http://news.sky.com/skynews/article/0,,30100-1304790,00.html?f=rss

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/23085539/

We love you all and just wanted to give you the breaking news, and let everyone know we are safe and sound.

-Ellie