Archive for the ‘London’ Category

• Not-So-Wordless Wednesday

  Date: 2009.08.05 | Category: London, Wordless Wednesday | Response: 2

  I haven’t done a Wordless Wednesday in a long time,
  but I wanted to share this really interesting photo from our trip to London.

  

  Preserved Roman Pavement from the 2nd Century
  below All Hallows By the Tower Church in London in the crypt
  

  All Hallows By the Tower Church is the oldest church in the City of London
  and was first established in 675.

• Highlights of the Trip to London: The Food!

  Date: 2009.07.28 | Category: Food, London, Travel | Response: 7

  My hubby and I love to try new food.  Before we even arrived in England, I scouted out different types of restaurants for us to try.  Amazingly, after two weeks worth of eating very well, I only gained one pound!  All the walking really helped.

  Here are some of the Food Highlights of our trip:

  Authentic British Food

  

  Fish and Chips at the Rock & Sole Plaice (the title is three different types of fish)

  

  “Bangers and Mash” at The Brewmaster in Leicester Square (pronounced “Lester”)

  

  Meat Pastry with potatoes and onions & Baguettes filled with meat and fixings at Hobbs
  

  

  Two of My Favorites: Roast Chicken with Yorkshire Pudding & Creme Caramel

  The Good Italian Food (a lot of it was not good)

  

  I had three Caprese Salads during my trip & gelato twice
  (although the gelato not quite as good a the kind you get in Italy)

  Burgers

  

  My Lamb Burger- Boy, was that good!

  
  Our Favorite Dinner: Melati- Indonesian and Malaysian Food

  
  

  This is what we got for twenty pounds each:
  mixed satay, king prawn fritters, sesame prawn toast, spring roll, seaweed, fried rice with chicken, shrimp and veggies, prawns in spicy sambal sauce, slow cooked beef in spicy coconut, lime leaf and lemongrass gravy, chicken cooked in an Indonesian sweet soy sauce, Malaysian style veggies and Toffee Apple dessert.  It was heaven!

  My Hubby’s Favorite Meal: L’Autre- Polish and Mexican Restaurant
  in Shepherd Market (right behind our hotel)

  

  He has chicken stuffed with brie and covered in a mustard sauce.
  I have chili con carne.  They were both excellent!
  Who would have thought a Polish & Mexican Restaurant could be so good?

  Just For Fun!

  

  I hadn’t had a Lemon Fanta since I went to Spain when  I was 14 years old, but it has remained one of my favorite drinks.  I was able to get my fill of it while in London.  My husband enjoyed his orange Fanta.  We often shared different British candy bars that we don’t have in the states.  It was a lot of fun!  The Toffee Crisp (not pictured) was our favorite.

  We ate at several other types of restuarants, including a French resturant where my hubby had pigeon and I had fish.  However, per my doctor’s recommendation after my fall I was allowed a small glass of red wine.  It was wonderful- French food is meant to be accompanied by a glass of wine.  We also had Tapas, which wasn’t all that great, but the sangria was delicious (not that I had any- hehe).

  The best part of going to all of these restaurants was the uninterrupted conversations that we able to share.  What a difference eating dinner without little kids makes!  But I am very happy to be back home, even with the craziness of dinner time.  I missed my kids too much.

• I Am Very Much in Love With This Man

  Date: 2009.07.24 | Category: Hubby, London, Travel, mama | Response: 2

  

  How could I not love a guy who took me to see all of these wonderful places?!

  

  

  

  

  But the best part of the trip was spending time with the love of my life and my best friend.

  I hope we share many more adventures, honey!  I love you.

• A Pregnant Klutz and Her Accident

  Date: 2009.07.17 | Category: Bunky, London, Pregnancy, Punky, Spunky, mama | Response: 18

  This is a long, and true, story.

  One of my first thoughts when arriving in the London and walking across her old, stone roads, was that I must not trip.  I have been very cautious on stairs and when crossing the street.  But I must have become too relaxed by Wednesday.

  I was walking down the sidewalk from our hotel towards the tube (subway).  It is a distance that I travel several times a day.  However, on this very day, I managed to catch my shoe on the curb and I tripped on landed straight on my stomach.  I tried to grab hold of something, anything, but there was nothing nearby.

  Several people immediately came to my aide and called an ambulance.  Not only was I terrified, more terrified than I have ever been in my entire life, but I was alone and without a way to contact my husband who I was on my way to meet.

  A very kind lady held my hand while I waited for the ambulance and feared the absolute worst.  My little boy was not moving and had hidden himself way towards my back, which made my abdomen feel very soft, not its usual hard self.  I was shaking with fear.

  The ambulance arrived and the EMS men checked me out.  I was fine except for a terribly bruised knee.  They were unable to find a heartbeat with the stethoscope; so they recommended that I head to the hospital to be checked out.  Since the baby wasn’t moving at all, despite my poking him constantly, we decided to try to find my husband via ambulance and then go to the ER.

  I was to meet my husband at Westminster Cathedral for the 5:30pm service.  We waited in the courtyard in front of the church for about 20 minutes, during which time, my precious boy began to move and sneak out of his corner.  I was so relieved I almost began to cry.

  My husband never showed up.  It turns out that his train was stuck underground and a trip that should have taken 10-15 minutes took 45.  He arrived at the church to find me absent and immediately started calling the hotel.  Fortunately, a passerby at the time of my accident had gone to the hotel with information about where I was going, as did the Police a little while later.

  All this time, I was at the hospital being checked by a doctor.  Everything was fine.  The baby’s heartrate was steady and strong, and my BP was in good range.  I was sent home with advice to come back if anything changed.  Besides being incredibly sore in my abdomen, nothing has changed.

  At this point, I was alone in a strange area of London without any way to contact my husband who was terrified that something horrible had happened to his wife and child.  All he knew was that I had had an accident and had been taken to the hospital.

  He arrived at the hospital only to find that they had no record of me in the ER (I had gone straight to the OB).  Just as I was about to give up hope of finding him, I went to the ER for a second time and there he was on the phone with our hotel.  We reunited, and I told him that that baby and I are fine.  Slowly, during the evening, I relayed parts of the story as I could remember them.  I was still very shaken up and on the verge of tears much of the night.

  We enjoyed a lovely French dinner, during which I had a tiny glass of wine, advised by the doctor for my nerves.  Then we came back to the hotel.  The following day was actually the hardest for me.  I think I had been so strong that previous evening that I hadn’t had a chance to deal with my emotions.  All the time that the baby was not moving, I could only think that I had killed him.  Terrible, terrible thoughts passed through my mind.  Every time I feel him move, which he does very often, I am reminded that we could have lost him.  But God protected my beautiful child, and for that I am beyond thankful.

  I cannot imagine the pain that a mother feels when she loses a child. The pain that I felt imagining that it could be happening to me was beyond any type of grief I have felt before.  Then hearing his heartbeat brought me greater relief that I have ever known.  My precious child is safe and growing stronger each moment.  I have been taking slow and steady steps where ever I go.  But, to be honest, I am quite terrified of tripping again.  It feels like what I have heard happens after you are in a car accident and are afraid to get behind the wheel again.  That is how I felt yesterday.  I was afraid that I would venture out alone and trip again.

  Times like this make me miss my children even more.  That night, we were able to call my family and talk to both of the kids.  It was so comforting to her them say “I love you”, even if Spunky called me “papa” at first instead of “mommy.”  And Punky’s “see ya soon” brought a huge smile to my face.

  We have a busy few days ahead of us and then we head back home.  I look forward to sharing this time with my husband, but I am also anticipating hugging my little ones again.

• Just Another Day in London

  Date: 2009.07.15 | Category: London | Response: 4

  While my hubby is working, I have spent much of my time sleeping in (way in!), relaxing and enjoying London.

  On Tuesday, I had lunch in Soho at a pizzaria; although, not what you would think of as an American pizzaria.  It was a lovely sit-down restaurant where I leisurely enjoyed my caprese salad (fresh mozzarella, tomatoes and olive oil) served with hot out of the oven Italian flat bread.  It was delicious!  I wandered down Regent Street and stopped into many shops along the way.  I was hoping to find some things to bring home to the kids, but I haven’t found anything yet for little Spunky, besides some candy treats.

  I walked all the way down Regent St. to Piccadilly Circus and browsed in a few more shops before heading back to the hotel.  In all, except for my lunch, I walked for about three hours.  I am definitely getting my exercise here in London. Today I am taking it easy and trying to rest before the late night that we have planned: Westminster Cathedral, Covent Garden for dinner and then a Jazz concert at 9:30.

  I am really enjoying all this time that I am spending with my wonderful husband.  We haven’t had this much time together since before the kiddos were born!

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  Many of you have been asking about how I am feeling, and I am doing very well.  By the first night, my feet had swelled up to about double their size (I even had to find a new pair of shoes- Crocs- to fit my feet into).  But the swelling has subsided and I am able to wear my favorite Clarks again- they are much more comfortable for walking around.  There were several days where I was having a lot of Braxtion Hicks contractions, but those have slowed down as well.  I quickly learned that walking slowly, drinking a lot of water, and taking short breaks helps a lot.

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  I just love it here in London.  I love the city, the temperature, the people.  But I really miss my kids.  Sunday was the hardest day for me, it was the longest I had ever been away from Punky (day one was the longest I had ever been away from Spunky).  But I am doing better now- keeping busy helps.  I keep thinking this is probably going to be my last chance to have time to myself for a very while; so I need to enjoy every minute of it, even the quiet moments alone in my hotel room.

  I look forward to catching up with everyone (in real life or through blogs) once I get back home.

  Here are some more photos for you to enjoy!

• LONDON!

  Date: 2009.07.13 | Category: London | Response: 6

  We made it to London last Thursday morning (or very late Wednesday night for those of you in the US).  Our hotel is right in the heart of London across from Green Park, which leads to Buckingham Palace.

  We spent the first four days of our trip seeing as many sights as possible: Shepherd Market, Liecester Square, Piccadilly Square, St. Paul’s Cathedral, St Bart’s, Trafalgar Square, National Gallery, Globe Theater, The Clink (original jail in London), the Golden Hinde, Southwark Cathedral, Borough Market, the London Bridge to see the London Fayre celebrating the 800th anniversary of the Bridge, The Monument to the Great Fire, ruins of St. Dunstan’s Cathedral, All Hallows by the Tower (oldest church in London), the Tower of London, the Tower Bridge, St Katherine Docks, Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Westminster Cathedral, Chinatown, went to see “Avenue Q”, took a day tour of St Albans and saw the Cathedral, monastery, school for boys, the clock tower and the market.

  Now Nathaniel is working while I am relaxing and taking a day off.  I am sitting in Pret, a chain here in London that is basically on every corner.  Tonight we head to Harrods for dinner and then a walk through Green Park to see Buckingham Palace.

  We will be flying back next Monday, and between now and then we will be seeing Harry Potter- the movie, not the character, the British Museum for a special Indian night, then to Canterbury to see the Cathedral, the Roman Museum, St Martin’s Church, etc.  Then on Sunday, we will be going to the Russian Orthodox Cathedral and then to a show at the Globe Theater, followed by a concert in Regent Park.

  I will be working on uploading more photos when I have a chance, but here is a link to those I have uploaded thus far (sorry it isn’t very many!):  London Photos