Friday, March 30, 2012

In The WIndow

I was sitting out on our wee (by "wee" I mean minuscule beyond compare but I digress...) patio when one of my neighbors walked by with a friend.  She introduced herself and her friend who was visiting from California.  She told me which flat she was in and I chatted briefly with her friend about the lovely weather she'd brought to England from Pasadena.  (We've had a week of sunny, dry weather with cool mornings and warm afternoons.  Very unusual for England in March!)


She asked how we were settling in, where we were from, what brought us here and so on. Then my neighbor said "I TOLD my husband there was a lady living here now, I could just tell!"




Evidently the bachelor living in the flat previously did not avail himself of a south-facing kitchen window!

Monday, March 26, 2012

Borough Market

We went in to London on Saturday.  The plan was to tour the Tower of London in the morning and the walk over the Tower Bridge to find some lunch.  Murph's boss told him we should stop by the Borough Market just on the other side of the Thames.  I can't begin to describe the most fabulous market I've ever seen!  There were dozens of stalls...

Fish of all varieties




Lamb, Beef, Pork, Mutton


You would not believe the cheese!



We've not been impressed with the bread here, but this was wonderful

I went away with a hunk of marvelous parmigiano reggiano, some wild boar sausage and a bottle of white truffle oil.  I was only sorry that we were staying in the city and I wasn't able to buy any of the wonderful things that needed immediate refrigeration. 


We had lunch at a small cafe with a stellar wine list.  Then I managed the perfect dessert:




A savory mini "ice cream" cone of fresh mozzarella with a dollop of pesto.

Thursday, March 22, 2012

And We're Back

This? Is the most beautiful sight in the world:


This is me working from the comfort of home! Yes, we have INTERNET! We flew back on March 11th, moved flats on March 12th and were without Internet service until last night. Sweet baby Jesus let me tell you things were getting ugly.  Wireless service in the UK is not quite the same as what we're used to in the States. Even our cell phones weren't getting service in the flat.


I've been skulking about in the one and only Starbucks in Windsor.  (I can honestly say I've spent more time in Starbucks in the last week than in the rest of life combined.) Yesterday afternoon when I left to head home the weather had turned beautifully warm so I popped into the garden of the pub next door to soak up some sun.  On a whim I decided to see if I could still pick up Starbucks WiFi and...YES!  So now I have a back-up plan should the unthinkable occur again.  And it involves Guinness.  What could be better?  

Tuesday, March 20, 2012

We Interupt

We interupt the silence of this blog to say the following: I HAVE NOT HAD INTERNET FOR TEN DAYS. I went back to the States for a work event, came back to Jolly Olde England, moved house and have NO INTERNET since the move.  Not sure how much longer I can skulk around in Starbucks drinking lattes. At any rate I have on good authority that I will be up and running at the end of the week and not a moment too soon!  Cheers!