My parent's vacation starts tomorrow

Whew! I intended to sit down and ramble out a bunch of posts (not about salt), but the day is completely running away from me. I also meant to give the bathroom a good scrub and have a soak in the tub, but I'm seeing that opportunity fade away too. (Note: I was so overtaken with guilt that I actually got up and cleaned the bathroom, less the tub since we're actually out of tub and tile cleaner. Now I'm back to writing this post).

My parents are leaving on their epic month-long European vacation tomorrow and so I've spent the bulk of the day having WhatsApp conversations, Skype calls and emails to help them sort out all of their last minute questions. We've covered everything from my UK phone number and how to dial it, to what their insurance policies are like in the event that they should die while on vacation. Yeah, it's been that kind of day.

Their trip is a long time coming and it will see them travelling, at various times, with up to eight other life-long friends and family. It will also be their first trip to Europe. Ever. I'm pumped just to watch that all go down. I also get a front-row seat for part of it as I'll be meeting them in France and then staying with them through Paris and up to London. So expect posts from the French countryside and Paris later this month and into June! I can't wait to get back to Chazieux.

Missing Molly

We've returned from a weekend in Scotland and, more specifically, Edinburgh. If you've never been before, you might not know that there are images of, and references to, Greyfriars Bobby everywhere. The most iconic image, of course, is the little statue. We ran into it within minutes of checking into our accommodations:

I've left my little dog, Molly, back in Canada with my parents (along with cat, Penny and snail, Speedy) and am missing her terribly. Seeing Greyfriars Bobby everywhere I turned made me miss her all the more. And the adorable small dogs in smart tartan coats didn't help either. Poor James had to endure endless "awww"s each time we crossed paths with a dog and double "awww"s if the dog was attired in any sort of coat.

So I've sent Molly a postcard of the statue telling her just how much I miss her. You don't have to say it; I know what you're thinking. Don't worry, Molly doesn't use the computer much so I won't spoil anything for her by writing about it here.

Leaving the animals behind was a hard decision to make, but it's the best one. We didn't know where we'd be living and how much time/space we'd be able to give them once we settled in, so we put their needs first. They live in complete luxury at my parents' suburban home. Molly gets long walks and trips to the cottage. Penny gets her little box cleaned roughly four times a day (seriously, it's like this has become my dad's part time job) and she has more chairs and sunbeams than she knows what to do with. And Speedy gets peace and quiet and, since it makes life easier, a tank heater. 

My parents have been lovely enough to send photos pretty often to show us how they're getting on and I can honestly say, I don't think they've noticed our absence. We are visiting in September and I can't wait to give my dog a very big cuddle. In the mean time I'm going to watch the neighbourhood dogs wistfully and hope they bother to give me a look.

Penny antagonising Molly on one of the many chairs she's claimed as "hers"

Molly at the cottage, resting between bouts of duck chasing

A little audio from Brighton Beach

I'm usually a scent-driven person, but since moving I've been really into the sounds of my new surroundings and adventures. I thought it might be interesting to add some audio to the blog. Mostly just stuff that I record using my iPhone as I'm wandering about. Nothing splashy and certainly no spoken word...I'm not spending that much time alone. Yet.

This is my test-run with an audio recording I took while James and I were at Brighton Beach in February. If this doesn't entirely cock up, I have a bunch more I'd like to post. As added pressure, I'm on a train headed for Scotland when this is scheduled to post, so that's definitely tempting fate to have this backfire. Or be entirely all too brilliant. We'll see.



When we were at the beach it hit me how the waves make a noise similar to those hokey rain stick thingies as they're receding from the rocks. I liked it so much I wanted to record it, but only had my iPhone. So that's what I'm doing now. Recording the world on my iPhone.

Exhausted

I fully intended to come home from flat hunting and bash out a fun little entry, but oh wow, I'm exhausted!

Instead, here are photos from the first week...

Lunch/dinner at EAT. Every time I've been back since they've not had this pie on the menu. It was soooo scrummy, I wish it would show up again!

Miles Kane at the O2

Cyclamen in a window box....seriously, it's that mild!* 

*James would like me to point out that these are probably bred and grown in the UK and are therefore a hardier variety than we find in the tropical plant section at most home and garden stores in Canada....blah blah blah, kill the sense of wonderment.....blah blah economist...

Yup, we went to St. Pancras to see the 35' LEGO Christmas tree.

James' new place of employment. Looks quite posh, no?

Books in the window at the pub in Sarratt

James was very pleased with pub lunch and look at that Yorkshire pudding!

More photos to come..now that I look at them, this is really just food and a few random shots. Promise I'll put something more comprehensive together!

Going AWOL and Part I: Arrival

Whoops. Sorry for going AWOL, kids. The last three weeks have been a super intense whirlwind and I think the best way to take stock is in four parts. 

I will tackle these parts like so: 

Part I: Arrival 

Part II: The Sickening 

Part III: Christmas in France 

Part IV: Observations 

 I did actually start on several of these entries during the time they were happening, but nothing is ready, so let's go through my notes, shall we? I have photos to go with all of this, but I can't figure out how to make Blogsy cooperate with Instagram and my iPad at the moment, so I'll migrate them to Picasa and give you a very photo-heavy post tomorrow. 

Part I: ArrivalI gotta say, landing in London was pretty awesome - I've never flown into the city and the countryside looked spectacular from up above. The sprawling lawns and gardens of some of the castles/manors were fun to try and spot, even on very little sleep (yes, we were subjected to the standard crying baby for the duration of the flight). We queued in Heathrow for an eternity to get to customs and then were told by the overly good-natured customs official that in the future we can use the express UK nationals line because James is a citizen. His status trumps mine. That will come in handy. What I also hadn't expected was having to declare my occupation on my landing card. A day prior at the dentist in Canada I also had to list my occupation. Because they knew me there, I chose to write "kept woman" but I didn't think that the UK Border Agency would find this at all amusing....so I wrote "consultant" - more on that in a later post! 

 After collecting our bags we got a cab and started the journey to our hotel. I really can't say I felt like we'd moved to London at that point, but man was I happy....even without coffee. Our hotel leaves quite a bit to be desired and I have a lot to say on the subject, so let's just leave that for the time being. A quick nap and shower and we were ready to go. We stopped for food at EAT and ended up sitting in front of a stage actor of notable fame....of course, given that neither of us know much about British stage, all we could come up with is "Oh man, I've seen him before" but not his name. Regardless, he had a lovely and soothing speaking voice and I spent more time listening to him than James. 

 We hit the ground running with tickets to see Miles Kane and Kasabian at the O2. It was a huge stadium show, but we had floor tickets and were very early. I was totally in my glory two people from the front at the center of the stage. Can I just tell you right now, if you haven't heard Miles Kane's album, you ought to do so. It is easily my album of 2011. He was phenomenal - I can't think of a better way to move to London. What I wasn't prepared for, however, was the ridiculous behaviour of the crowd at the show. I should have known that a country known for hooliganism at football matches wouldn't be tame when it came to concerts. Kasabian is the biggest rock band in the UK right now, so it was going to be rowdy, but I had no idea that it was common to throw half full cups of liquid up to the front of the crowd....and god, I know some of those cups weren't beer. I got pelted right in the head and was instantly soaked along with the guy behind me. I turned to him and he immediately made smell his head to figure out if it was beer or worse. I couldn't quite tell, so I'm going to go with beer. Yeah, beer. That makes me less inclined to want to throw up. 

 Kasabian hit the stage and the entire front 60 rows of people were thrown into some sort of jumping/mashing frenzy that I seriously haven't experienced since my punk days. Three songs into Kasabian's set and I forced James to bee-line it for the edge of the crowd. Let's just say, that was a good move. We unknowingly placed ourselves on the outskirts about 40 feet from the raised platform to the side of the stage and the VIP area. My attention started to wander and I looked up to the platform to see Miles Kane enjoying the show....with Noel Fielding. That set me to smiling....a lot. Then I glanced back at the VIP area behind us and there was Rupert Grint. I thought my little jet-lagged brain was going to explode at the overall awesome of the evening. Some leggy blond model/actress tottered down from the platform and past me (can't seriously say who she was), but she smelled divine...and had toilet paper on her stiletto. I alerted her to this in a very matter-of-fact "I'm not phased by you" sort of way and was rewarded with a shoulder-squeeze thank you that left her lingering fragrance. Seriously, this woman smelled incredible. In all, if London was trying to impress me on my first day, she'd done her job. 

 With Thursday night in the bag, we slept.Friday had us unpacking and then taking care of little details like bank accounts and cell phones. At the bank I had to fill in my occupation yet again, however because she couldn't pin down an income amount for me, our account manager insisted that I be listed as a homemaker. So in three days I'd been a kept woman, a consultant and a homemaker.....identity crisis! 

The Saturday before Christmas James did something very selfless. He took me to Hamley's at a detriment to his health and sanity. I'm thankful that he did, so that I could immerse myself in the mayhem. Oxford and Regent St rounded out our afternoon before we nipped home to change and then speed off again to visit James' cousin, Jo and her husband along with a couple of their friends for a Christmas dinner. It was traditional, from what I gather, and everyone was really welcoming to us and inquisitive. 

The highlight of the weekend came on Sunday when we took the tube out to visit James' other cousin, Claire. Upon arrival in a a much more rural setting, Claire whisked us off to the yard where we got to meet Billy, her pretty little horse. The weather wasn't great, otherwise I think we'd have spent more time there, but I'm going to have plenty of time to visit with Billy in the coming years. While out in the "country" we got to eat lunch at a proper country pub. James was in heaven and I wasn't far behind! The Yorkshire puddings alone were massive and so yummy. The Cricketers Pub will be seeing us again before long.

This is pretty good place to end Part I. I promise I won't do day-by-day reports on the following three weeks, but the first week really does stand out in my mind and bears telling. Once we're all up to speed on my goings on here I'll get topical and tell you all about this zany country and what I love...along with what I miss. 

Photos to come - promise!

Art Party

The last thing I should be doing right now is planning activities for London. I should be packing. Or at least thinking about packing. That would be more productive and probably lead to a smoother move in 18 days, but seriously. London has soooo much going on all the time that I'm having a hard time concentrating....and I'm not even there yet!! My latest happy discovery is that there will be a Damien Hirst retrospective in 2012 at the Tate Modern. Yes, a retrospective for a man who is still on the good side of 50 years old. I could slip back into my visual arts degree days and give you an entire essay, complete with sources on the effects of Hirst in the art world, but let's skip it and look a "For the love of God:"

This is James' photo of the poster for the piece. Yes, we photographed the poster. Why? Because in the 36 hours we were in Florence for our honeymoon this past spring, we happened upon a held-over showing of this incredible show piece and I nearly lost my little mind with excitement. The skull has only been in display three times. We dutifully bought our tickets and, after seeing a very private room in one of the Medici apartments (a prerequisite for having the skull on show in the villa - nice touch, Damien), we were escorted into a dark room with another security guard. 

The room was draped in black velvet and the only light source came from display case, atop a pillar in the center of the room. The skull was, quite literally, the only object you could clearly see in the dark. Guests are allotted three minutes to soak in all the splendor and macabre frivolity before being asked to leave. I do think I spent enough time fawning over it that we were given a few extra seconds to absorb the full experience. We left that room and I was stunned. 

Emerging into the light and the now seemingly dull Medici apartments, I knew I had just had an experience of a lifetime. Now I get to experience it all over again! Annnnnnd, if that wasn't enough, the craftsman that worked with Hirst has also got an exhibit about to open in London featuring his other gemstone works. And that is why I can't focus on packing.

An eye-spy just for me

When this whole "move to London" event was just a dangling carrot for some far-away possibility, it was March. I remember this because we were preparing to leave for the airport while simultaneously downloading the job descriptions and requirements. We were headed to Vancouver to see good friends and family and now we had a sixteen page document to read on the way. If you know me at all, you'll know then, that once there was a remote chance of such an event taking place, I jumped on it and let it occupy my day-dreaming. This is nothing new. I fuel my day dreams with all sorts of themes and story lines, nearly all of which are as tangible as steam from a kettle. Regardless of where I am or what I'm doing, even if I am at my most content, I am always day dreaming of something else. It isn't a "grass is greener" phenomenon, it's the dialogue to the book I have in my head that I maintain simply for my own amusement.

Given all this, you can only imagine what sort of fodder a London job posting would provide! And then, as if preordained (in my head), this image appeared in my news reader.

Designed by Nick Prints, this is an adorable diagram of all that London has to offer. Can you believe that my mind immediately decided, "yes, well, better add a star to this reader item so that I can go back to it when I'm ready to write a blog post about it in my "moving to London" blog." See? Always dreaming and thinking and producing my own internal storyline. It was like my own personal sign that our move was already decided and we just had to wait out the details. Ok, well, not quite. I'm not nearly that much of a hippy...or any part of a hippy at all, really. But still, how much of a delightful coincidence to hear about the job posting and have this arrive less than a week later to further taunt me.

Anyway, as it stands, I really do adore this print and just might have to pick up a copy for myself once we arrive (I refuse to pay to ship something to Canada that I'm only going to have to drag back to the UK, even something as tiny as this). Then, I figure, I can go about using this as my checklist of what one should most certainly do whilst in London.