Happy New Year!

Happy 2011, everyone!

Unfortunately for you internet addicts out there, our new years resolution was clearly not to blog more often, seeing as we're over a week into the 2011 and we haven't blogged once. So I thought I'd give you a quick update on what we've been doing. But first, RPOTD:

We had dinner with our landlords, and I made this French apple tart for dessert. Recipe is here, on Joy of Baking.com. It was nice and apple-y, not overwhelmed with sweetness or buttery-ness.

So let's see....unmentioned activities of late have included a Boxing Day rugby match at Wembley, courtesy of our friend Lianna who won the tickets in a raffle. It was the Wasps vs. Saracens, both of which are London teams. Because it was Boxing day, and because there were musical entertainers as well, the atmosphere was more family-friendly than rowdy, though it was so cold I wouldn't have been upset if someone had started a bonfire in the stands. We also discovered that although we know the general game-play of rugby, the individual rules about fouls are beyond us, plus it's pretty hard to see what going on in the middle of a scrum or ruck, so there were some parts of the game when we got a little lost. But overall it was a good time, and during halftime a member of the audience, participating in a classic half-time kick challenge, hit the crossbar from about 30 yards out, winning £250,000. amazing! For anyone who is interested, Saracens won 13-6.

Between Christmas and New Years there wasn't too much going on, but we did have the pleasure of getting together with two other expat Swatties, Ele and Jeff, who have recently moved to Oxford. We checked out the Christmas market at Hyde Park, which was bigger than the market in Scotland and had more rides, but it was somewhat lacking in charm (since when are haunted houses traditional Christmas entertainment?). But it was not lacking in warming beverages and french fries in paper cones, so it was overall a good experience. Then we went to the Tate Britain (British art from 1500), which is most famous for its collection of paintings by JMW Turner, and we managed to get about halfway through before museum-foot set in. Then Ele and I did a lot of reminiscing about playing soccer and lacrosse at Swarthmore, and we all headed home to put our feet up.

New Years Eve proceeded in typical New Years Eve party fashion, except this one included a German brother-of-a-friend-of-a-friend setting off fireworks in our host's backyard, which was exciting. We spend the next day recovering and making an enormous pot of veggie chilli.

The next day we got together with another Swattie, yay! Our friend Abigail, who is currently working for the US State Department in an undisclosed location (okay, it's Jordan, but isn't it cooler to think it's top secret???) decided last minute to come to London with her "beau", and we met up with them at the British Museum to catch up and look at old things. The British Museum is really an amazing collection of artifacts from all over the world...some possibly ill-gotten marble statues from the Parthenon, a huge supply of Egyptian mummies, and piles of ancient coins and armor and pots that were literally found in people's backyards all over England.

After the British Museum we split up - Abigail and Tony went to the Tower of London, and we'd both already been there - and we got lunch in Covent Garden then went to the London Transport Museum, which is way more awesome than it sounds (although admit it...to a lot of you this sounds really awesome). I'll spare you the details on the history of the Tube and the bus (short version...when the bus first started it was pulled by horses, and they shat a lot), but here are some cool images we came across.








The first is a sketch of Archway in 1823, which is now a busy tube station and bus interchange right near where we live, and the other is essentially an advertisement from 1907 for our neighborhood and surrounding "suburbs", which are now soundly in the middle of London.


Last week was just a usual work week. Danny went to the archives and I went to my office at the LSHTM. I thought a lot about keywords and journal databases, and Danny thought about religious broadcasting on the BBC. We cooked vegetables.

Oh! just kidding, last week was not just a usual work week...it was the week that England won The Ashes in Australia for the first time in 24 years! And they didn't just win, it was an absolute crush job. So last week was a bit of a blur, because the matches didn't start until 11pm GMT, and we stayed up late watching every night. And I killed time before they started by engrossing myself in Pride and Prejudice (yay for old classics free on Kindle!) and The Magicians, an "urban fantasy" book that John lent me when I was back in Boston. Kind of a Harry Potter meets Narnia, but set in the US, and with sex and drugs. A fun and engrossing read.

This weekend we furiously set about trying to check things off our ginormous list of things to do in London. Places we hit up:

Apsley House, former residence of the 8 Dukes of Wellington, that now has an impressive collection of things and artwork that were given to the Dukes over the years. Basically, the first Duke of Wellington defeated Napoleon on multiple occasions, which caused most nation-states of Europe to shower him with riches. Highlights of the collection included a sword that belonged to Napoleon, The Waterseller of Seville, and multiple detailed, if inaccurate, paintings of the Battle of Waterloo.

Harrods. Again. But this time we were drawn there by some gift certificates we each had. Plus there are massive sales going on in every store in London at the moment, so this is the one time of year we can actually afford anything there. I got some cute green shoes and Danny got a luxurious cashmere scarf.

The Brick Lane/Shoreditch area. This was today's expedition. Our original intention was to check out some of the markets and shops in this artsy neighborhood, as well as one or two small museums that are in the area, but we got a late start and were totally overwhelmed by the markets, so we decided to save the museums for another day. We started with Old Spitalfields Market, which hosts dozens of stalls of funky clothing, old books, and hand-crafted jewelry and accessories, all surrounded by restaurants and cafes. I got a skirt that has owl-printed fabric in the pleats (bird-patterned clothing purchase number two of this year!), and I bought it directly from the designer/maker, which was cool. Next we checked out the Christ Church Spitalfield's, which was built in the mid-18th century in an effort to provide more churches to the "godless" immigrants who were rapidly filling London's east end. Funny how Christians always thought of Jews as godless...

Our next destination was Brick Lane Beigel Bakery, which was just a few blocks up Brick Lane, but it took us about 45 minutes to get there because we were drawn in by lots of used clothing shops, artisanal tee-shirts booths, and stands selling fresh noodles and veggie buns. Danny searched for a classy jacket that would fit his shoulders properly, but alas. Also, I've also never been accosted by so many people advertising their curry houses. The beigel (yes, that's how they spell bagel) shop was a bit disappointing...it's supposed to be one of the best in London, but the bagels just tasted like a Lenders bagel. Oh well...we'll be back to Kupel's in a few months! Then we spent some time exploring the side streets and seeing the Columbia Road flower market close up for the day. Overall the neighborhood has some cool little shops (including one where we bought some Sicilian oranges and home-made jam), but I wouldn't describe it as "gentle", as this New York Times article did.

Okay, I think that just about brings us up to speed. And speaking of speed, in case you didn't know, Danny and I are running a half-marathon in June when we get back to the states, so we've also been running a lot lately. Expect some running-focused blog posts in the upcoming future! Here's a running-related photo to tide you over:


Self-inflicted by repeated kicking, or tendon re-attatchment surgery? You be the judge...