Welcome Back to the Rat Race

We are back in the states for a while. It is funny how you come back to Silicon Valley, and BAM – instantly you are in the old routines (see photo). Our morning coffee discussions of travel and restaurants to visit that week in London became noses down in our computers checking emails, barely speaking. The surrounding conversations went from sight-seeing itineraries in eight languages to CPMs and business financing. Weird.

No talking, just working. That guy is checking Dave out, see that.

In any case, it has been fun being here. I miss coworkers so much working in my basement apartment alone and all……it was great to see them. We also went hiking in Big Basin, in the rain but it was worth it. We never really went there all that often before because dogs weren’t allowed (poor Witty Sam) and hiking without the dog was unfathomable. Despite the rain and no dog, a lovely time was had by all.

 

Raining.

 

Tree, big tree.

 

Raining some more.

Douche.

 

Not a CTS, it's a rough-skinned newt (thanks L.B.).

Sunday of course was the game, the infamous game, which I watched with peeps in Los Gatos. Every second of the evening reminded me how lucky I am to have known these friends for the better part of 10 years, holy crap - feeling old.

At the end of the night, I was the only sober figure it seemed so I volunteered to drive some friends and their cars home. It’s a long, complicated story involving the fact that I left my cute but heavy purse in London and was using a green plastic grocery bag as a purse. Worried about what the LG crowd at the bars would think of a woman walking around with a grocery-bag-as-purse ensemble, I locked the purse (including my wallet and hotel room key) in the glove compartment of our glorious Chevy Aveo rental car – where they would be safe.

Right, it’s the end of the night, and everyone is driven home safely. Brilliant. I was ready to drive back to PA and go to bed. Except shit, double shit my rental car keys were not in my jacket pocket where they had been all night. OK they must have fallen out of my pocket at the bar. E.S. (the angelic wife of one of the drunken friends I drove home) drove me back to the bar. Shit again, the bar was closed. I have no car key, no phone, no wallet, it just started raining, I am jetlagged, and about to cry. Luckily E.S. is a stalwart of rationality and calmness. We called her husband to see if maybe the keys fell out of my pocket in the car that I had previously driven to their house, and guess what HE FOUND THEM IN THE CAR SITTING RIGHT THERE ON THE SEAT. So after a bit of a rigmarole, and E.S. driving me around, I finally made it back to PA safely. Good lord.

Oh man it is going to be a long game.

 

And it is going to get ugly.

Great London Advice

No Heels

“Leave your cute high heel shoes in the USA, you won’t wear them”, said my favorite expat blog. But what about my cute red sandals with the wedge heel, they are comfy (somewhat). I’ll wear those…..nope. I brought two pairs of heels with me and I can count on one hand the number of times I have worn them. This of course excludes kitten heels, such as my very beloved La Canadienne boots. One simply cannot wear heels in London with all the walking to and from the the Tube, the bus, and the train - and that is just he beginning. Then there are all those slippery sidewalks, stairs, and slightly dodgy escalators, yikes. All this foot traffic is necessary just to exist here, let alone do something crazy like go to a museum or movie. I have never walked so much on a daily basis in my life. I suppose it is good for me, or something.

On nice days, get out in the sun

Vitamin D people, it’s essential and in short supply when the sun sets at 3:45 in the winter. So far, we have had an especially mild winter in London. I have taken full advantage of the sunny days (despite my hurt foot) and get out and walk as much as possible, as described previously this is often out of necessity. And – I do feel better for it.The lovely R.C. gave me that tip, a lifelong Brit - she knows her stuff. Maybe this lack of sun for 2 years will help reverse some of the damage I did at the beach in Carlsbad while I was in high school. What was I thinking, everyday at the beach. And by the way, baby oil is not sunscreen. Oh the horror.

Have something you need to do to so you enjoy the things you get to do

It sounds random I know, but it was great advice. This tidbit came from the wife of one of Dave’s coworkers. We ran into her by chance in Palo Alto a few weeks before we were leaving for London.  I was trying to decide what to do with my life/career given the uncertain job market awaiting me in London. I wanted to maintain my flexibility to travel and enjoy living overseas, but knew I’d go ape-shit without enough “to do”. I have worked since the day I turned 16 after all. Do I quit and take my chances over in London, try and stay with my current employer, not work at all, go to school - aghhhhhhh! Well I obviously kept on at my job (part-time), which has been perfect. I can pretty much work from anywhere in the world as long as I have my computer and an internet connection. Working definitely helps order my day so that I can fit some fun stuff in. I don't "waste time" because I know I have to work later in the day.

Right now we are back in the Bay Area for work and to see family. Boarding the plane at Heathrow, I kept thinking that I was so glad we still have another year and a half in London! There is still so much to see, 2 years will barely cover it. In fact, I only just made it to the Tower of London on Wednesday (which is about two blocks from our old flat near The Monument). I got off at the tube stop nearest our old place and walked over. I passed by a Wren church I had never noticed before, St. Dunstan’s. It was pretty much destroyed during the Blitz and has since been turned into a little park. WOW and WOW, I love that crap.

 

St. Dunstan's - beautiful.

Anyway, the Tower of London was actually a lot cooler than I thought it was going to be. I did the Beefeater-led guided tour, since I am a geek for a good guided tour. There is a ton of history within the walls, including graffiti from the many Catholics imprisoned at the Tower of London during the Reformation.There are also lovely views of the city. Plus the crown jewels, including a 500 carat diamond that was a gift from some Indian sultan back in the day.

 

Inside the Tower of London complex, bridge in the background.

The chapel within the tower, cool view of London beyond.

Me being artsy, or something.

Dark and scary.

An on a final note, my swimsuit is getting to be a bit see-through and x-rated - well on my body it is more PG-13. So I went to the biggest sports retailer in London, and here is my selection. Do you want blue or black? Really? There were some grandma-ish red ones, but come on! Therefore, I will be buying my suit here in the states where I can get an obnoxious girly one at Illusions.

We're Joining the Circus

OK maybe not, but we practice. We saw a brilliant vaudevillian/cabaret circus (LaSoiree) a few weeks ago, Olympic gymnastics prelims on Friday, then the Cirque Du Soleil's Totem on Sunday at Royal Albert Hall. It was all inspiring, and led to a lot of me lifting Dave up on my feet and such in our tiny living room. A very scary proposition to anyone that knows of my complete lack of grace and skill at practically anything I do. All the home acrobatics ended abruptly with a dramatic fall in the bedroom, on the very hard tile floor while demonstrating my yoga arabesque (aka. dancer pose). Ouch, bruise pictures to follow.

Lesson learned: Do not show off circus tricks while wearing Nepali slippers on a cold tile floor, after drinking champers (yes we ended up at the Library Bar yet again). I am a dumbass.

O2 arena, yes we had shit seats.

Yes you can get a beer pretty much anywhere in London.

Makes me think of all the Mexican food to eat in SF next week.

Royal Albert Hall, my favorite venue ever.

Champers at the Library Bar, we most stop meeting like this.

The bar's tower of snack power, I want one for my house.

Prior to my crippling gymnastic routine, we did a kick-ass 17 (woah) mile ride around Clapham and Putney. We just took off with a general destination in mind (Richmond Park) and rode around, not actually making it to Richmond Park..... It was cold but SUNNY, and overall a great time. We have to begin preparations for riding the Camino De Santiago in May, after all.

You can barely see our not-so-hard-core route on this map here.

This weekend also involved dinner at Hawksmoor Guildhall, which is supposedly the best steak restaurant in London. I am no steak expert, but it was pretty damn good. And then there was the Niner game on Saturday, which we watched from a pub at Victoria with a crapload of other loud Americans.

Other than that, we are preparing for our upcoming trip to the US. Holy crap we leave on Thursday! I am so excited to see my niece I could die.

Stop it with the cuteness!

Send me an email if you want to get together for drinks or dinner. We’ll have a car this time so we can be mobile. I might be lucky enough to talk a friend into lending me a bike so I can do the Tribe ride on Saturday (I am wear a 6.5 shoe if I can borrow)…….email me.  

Otherwise, we are actively planning winter and spring trips. I am obsessed with the cutest hotel ever in Sicily called La Via Delle Biciclette and am trying to plan that trip, but the Alps call to us. Yeah, my life really sucks - I know.

From the paper on Sunday, and poor CA has zero snow!

Flying Monkey Travel Awards

I have had quite a few people ask me where I hear about travel activities and hotels. Well, there is no single answer. I get a lot of information just asking questions of my well-traveled friends and then researching the locations online (see the Flying Monkey Travel Awards below). I also read magazines like Time Out and Budget Travel. For example I just read about the Torre Hotel Guelfa in Florence for $100 per night. The hotel has a tower that was built in the 13th century, and there is a bar on top – YES AND YES. When I see cool places/activities/ restaurants like that, I cut the article out and sort them by country. Then, using my Elmer’s School Glue, I paste the snippets into my travel notebook like such.

 

The sacred notebook.

A multi-day bike trip and visit to the coast are on our agenda.

Flying Monkey Travel Awards

OK, here are my top picks for travel websites. I believe that travel should NOT cost a fortune. There are always deals to be had if you are willing to look around a bit and research. Spend your money on the champagne, and not the hotel room or airfare. These sites all support that travel premise. (Sorry for the weir formatting and spacing here.)

Best Overall Site - Tripadvisor.com

Obvi - this site is the BEST for hotel reviews. I NEVER stay at a hotel without checking the reviews first. I love finding a gem of a small, family run place - like Ramsay's in Edinburgh, for example. I like that the reviews aren't paid endorsements, unlike some of the reviews in  magazines and guidebooks. It's funny, sometimes the people that give hotels bad reviews at Tripadvisor seem so annoying, I know I will like the hotel anyway.


Cons: Not good for much other than hotels. The restaurant and tour/activity reviews are generally inconsistent and lame.

Best Hotel Site - Venere.com

I like Venere because you can book smaller, family run hotels in addition to large chain hotels. A lot of the smaller hotels and inns that I find at Tripadvisor can be booked instantly through Venere, which is a lot easier than emailing a hotel owner in Italian and hoping that you get an email back that you can understand. Plus,(generally) the reservation can be cancelled without penalty, which comes in handy of you are coordinating a group or your plans are in flux but you still want to hold a room.

Cons: The site is not good for booking U.S. hotels, though they are very slowly improving on that front.

Best for Airfares - Kayak.com

Your typical consolidation site, which I use primarily for airfare and rental cars. I used to use Orbitz, but they had that row with American Airlines and now their results aren't so reliable on the airfare-front. The site is simple to use, allows you to search several airports at once, and pulls results from lots of websites, which is especially good over here in Europe where there are so many tiny airlines you've never heard of. Same for rental cars, Kayak is easy to use and has good, consolidated results. 

Cons: Sometimes the price changes when you link through to the actual booking, which is exceedingly annoying after the second or third try.

Best for Alternative Lodging - VRBO.com

VRBO (Vacation Rental By Owner) is such a cool concept. Property owners list their rentals at the site and you rent directly from them for days, weeks, or whatever. I generally use VRBO when I need a house for a larger group. Vrbo is also handy for cities where hotels are pricey and I am already familiar with the city (since there is no concierge to help you), like Santa Barbara or Paris. Wait, isn't that scary? I suppose a little, especially when you are mailing cashiers checks to France......but I have never had a negative experience (knock on wood). We have met some really cool owners through VRBO, plus they will all generally give discounts to return guests!


Cons: Can be overwhelming to sort through everything to find what you are really looking for. For example, if you want a two bedroom place in Maui – be ready to sort through nine million properties.

Best for Alternative/Work/Volunteer Travel - WWOOF.org, HelpX.net
I love checking out these sites when I feel a bit wanderlusty. You can do anything as part of you travels, help at a beachside hotel, work at a winery, harvest veggies, make cheese, the locations and types of jobs are endless. Willing Workers on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is obviously more farm- and food-production based, and Help Exchange is more random-job based. Both sites are based on the premise that you work part-time and get room and board in exchange. Not too bad if you are on a budget while traveling! And for anyone in the Live Earth farmshare, the TLC (Tastes Like Chicken, really the name) farm owners quit their egg operation last year (sad) so that they could WWOOF with their daughter for a few years until she is old enough to start kindergarten. Awesome!


Cons: This type of travel isn't for everyone. It takes a fair amount of research and coordination. You also really need a open mind. I had a friend that WWOOFed in Ireland and basically had to make tea for the farmer she was working for, that was her job. Weird.




Well I hope you all enjoy this! Now get out there and travel~

Things That Are Londoney

This weekend was spent in London! Shocker. Time to hit a few of those places that I said, "we'll go to during the winter" to avoid my least favorite things - crowds and lines. Really, you should have seen this city over the summer. Trying to go for a run in Hyde Park or along the Thames Trail became an effort in futility, all tourist dodging and such. Don't even ask me about the lines to get into the Tate Britain, kill me now - no effing way.

Our local weekend started on Saturday with a 7K handicap run in Hyde Park with the Serpentine Running Club. Well GDM-effer if I didn't hurt my foot again...... I think it was our week of hard-core skiing in Austria without enough foot-resting or icing. Then I go out and push hard and get hurt. SHIT.

After the race, I hobbled my way to Churchill's War Rooms. Overall, the exhibits were just OK, especially for the £16.50 it costs to get in (clearly I have been spoiled by all the free museums here). Apparently, Churchill won WWII for the world, interesting how perspective colors history. In any case, it was a very good history lesson since I didn't know crap about Churchill, except that his mom was American and named Jenny (thanks Bill Bryson for your book Home).

One of my favorite spots in St. James Park. 

 

Look kids, Big Ben - Parliament.

 

Sunday we went to the Imperial War Museum. I must have been a bit war-museum fatigued because I breezed through that place. A sign at the beginning of the WWII exhibit said, "The only people that have seen the end of war are the dead" and it sort of got to me. Jeezus. The museum felt a bit like a giant advertisement about how cool war is. I had to skip the "Crimes Against Humanity" and "Holocaust" exhibits, I am naturally prone to depression and generally hating humanity so better I don't see all that business. 

It is crazy that during WWI, 35 million people died. France lost 4.4% of it's entire population, which is why I hate when people diss the French army for their efforts (or lack thereof) during WWII. Dude, they were still reeling from WWI. See the movie The Very Long Engagement for some of that WWI trench warfare horribleness, still a great film because of/in spite of all the war stuff.

Cool planes in the museum.

More planes.

More planes and guns, I am tired already.

 

Dave with some bombs, not sure I'd take my kids here.......

Dave with a big gun.

Devastatingly handsome.

Wow we are in town next weekend too! I can't believe it. I have Cirque Du Soleil tickets for Sunday, can't wait. Peace out.

Wee Bit of the Scottish Kilt (Country #11)

 

Edinburgh was more lovely than I thought it would be. It is just what you picture, castles, stone buildings, green hills, accents you can’t understand, etc. It doesn’t hurt that the weather was unseasonably warm and dry, a fact that we appreciated the entire time we were there. The minute we arrived, Dave and I were plotting our next visit (in the spring of course). Overall, everything is cheap, the food is good, the town is loaded with tiny boutique stores selling locally made art and clothes, and you can walk everywhere.

View from somewhere or other, redic.

 

View down the Royal Mile from the castle.

   

I haven't seen anything good today.

Eat-Drink-Drink-Sleep-Repeat

We went to Edinburgh for Hogmenay, which is a street party/music festival/all around good time. We bought tickets and booked our hotel months ago, specifically for this sold-out festival. We stayed at Ramsay’s B&B, and it is everything the Tripadvisor website says it is - and more. The owners (Norrie and Sharon and their daughter Madison) were the best hosts you could ask for. They left champers in our room for New Years, sent us off to Hogmenay only after we all shared several drams of scotch (mixed with Baileys for the ladies) with their visiting extended family, and invited us to their friend’s Hogmenay after-party. Unreal! I will never stay anywhere else in Edinburgh.

We are so cute.

 

Dancing with fellow crazies at Hogmenay.

Gorgeous couple, and look Andy isn't making a weird face.......

 

Ready to show kilt-dude what's up.

 

Us with some friendly Scottish dude, that is how they roll.

Other Non-drinking Activities

We went to the usual suspects: Edinburgh castle, St. Giles Cathedral (though the Scots are Protestant, it was still an interesting church), scotch tasting (gross, and this involves drinking so I suppose it is under the wrong heading), Ballyrood Hill for the windiest hike I have ever done, the palace, the hauntingly beautiful abbey, the Royal Mile, Carlton Hill, and the Edinburgh underground tour. It was all stinkin cool.  

There's the scotch, in case you missed it.

Scotch tasting, blech.

Recovery (A.V. and J.V. stop reading now)

After hiking Balyrood Hill, I was cold and tired. I won't go into my stomach issues, which occurred as a result of drinking large gulps of water from a tap in Austria labeled "kein Trinkwasser" (idiot, I took German specifically to avoid such situations......). Massage and spa anyone? We wandered over to the schwanky Balmoral Hotel and chilled out, well actually we warmed up in the saunas and steam rooms – then got massages, followed again by more poaching (as J.V. calls it) in the saunas and steam rooms. Heaven! Oh and did I mention the post-spa champers in the hotel bar. Perhaps I shouldn’t, because I think A.V and J.V. may be hating us right about now. While we were spa-ing, our faithful travel companions were on their 15+ hour journey back to the Bay Area. We miss you already!

So who’s up for Hogmenay next year!

Who is in for 2012/2013? Come on, it only rained a little.......

Who Could Not Like Austria, Really (Country #10)

First of all, Austria is just amazing; jaw-droppingly beautiful, filled with very friendly/super-outdoorsy peeps, and efficient (the 8:45 ski-bus leaves at 8:45 regardless of whether your friend is off buying coffee or you forgot your kid’s glove in the room). I love how ALL ages ski here. The person sitting next to you was just as likely to be 66 as they were to be 26, none of that “mom and grandma are in the lodge reading a book at a table” you see so often in CA and Utah – EVERYONE skis. Plus Austria has two things that the U.S. does not: HEATED ski lift seats and bubble covers over the lift chairs to block the wind. Why have I never seen these amazing inventions before?!?! All that being said, we will definitely be going back to Austria to ski this winter - anyone want to join?

Yes, look how warm I look in the bubble - well better than nothing.

Ski-Drink-Eat-Sleep-Repeat

Dave and I started the trip in Innsbruck. We weren’t intending to ski there, but who can resist fresh snow and a free ski bus to the eight or nine resorts surrounding Innsbruck. Though conditions were not perfect, it was still a blast and there were ZERO lift lines and lots of free lunch tables at the ski lodges (this is a big deal for me since I hate the stressing out and stalking that comes with trying to get a lunch table at Heavenly or Snowbird). We stayed at the Hotel Innsbruck because it has a spa/sauna/pool area, though I prefer the Weiss Kreuz. Ottoberg for dinner was the highlight, though not a lick of English is spoken there. My sad German language skills was tested for sure.

Look how nice and mellow the lodge is, and NO sodas - just beers. Heaven!

Sickening.

J.V. and A.V. met us in Innsbruck two days later and we immediately drove their super-jet-lagged asses to St. Anton am Arlberg, specifically to Stuben and the Sporthotel Arlberg. This was my first experience with the ski-in ski-out concept. Not having to step foot into a car to ski at the several resorts in the area is just about the coolest thing ever. The atmosphere is so much more mellow and relaxed without the traffic/parking rat-race in the morning. Strangely, the crowd here did not include powder-hounds, these peeps stay on the groomers so it is very easy to find good off-piste, uncrowded action. Perhaps it is their Germanic rule-following sensibilities……. In any case, the snow was good and it snowed even more while we were there! I think we picked a good year to be in Europe since Tahoe really doesn’t have any snow yet this year it seems. And the line of the week, "If one more person ever tells me that Squaw looks like the Alps, I am going to punch them in the face". Well said Mr. A.V.

J.V. and A.V. - don't they look cute!

 

Redic view into St. Anton.

  

Our sweet little hotel in Stuben, Sporthotel Arlberg.

 The Dong Show (as I write this, we are passing through Doncaster, which sounds like "Dongcaster" when the train announcer says it, we are laughing like idiots)

Our hotel had a spa area with a Jacuzzi and various steam rooms and dry saunas. NICE after skiing for sure! We were told upon check-in that the areas are nude. Us being prudish Americans, wore our swimsuits the first day (better to be over-dressed than under-dressed, as Dave always says). Well we looked like douches because it was an all nude free for all. From then on, nudity reigned in the spa – it was The Dong Show for all of us! Which was completely fine with the inner hippie in me anyway, we ALL have boobs ya know.

We Are Lucky

After several days in St. Anton, we were off to our New Year celebration destination – Edinburgh. We had a noon flight from Innsbruck to Edinburgh. “No problem”, we thought the night before. We’ll have a leisurely breakfast and drive to the airport afterwards. Except, when I work up in the morning: OH CRAP was it snowing.…..hard……and sideways. I bet there was another foot of powder on the ground, and we had rented a two-wheel-drive Skoda (not exactly a snow-devouring Subaru). I was torn between, “we aren’t going to make it out of here” and “I hope we DON’T make it out of here” (more skiing ya’all). In any case, Dave’s master snow driving experience got us out of the driveway and safely on the road, despite the douches in the Volvo that blocked the exit as we were about to leave.

Luckily the Austrians are competent drivers, this snow would have crippled Tahoe.

  

We made it to the airport in Innsbruck where they started cancelling flights or rebooking people on BUSSES to Munich so they could fly out from there. Our flight was on the board and not cancelled, though it was clearly not boarding since there was no actual plane at the gate. Again, my thoughts vacillated between, “we aren’t going to make it out of here” and “I hope we DON’T make it out of here”. Well, our plane arrived at the gate and we safely departed. The pilot told us we were the last ones out and the Innsbruck airport was closed. Woooooosh what luck! Off to Edinburgh.

Plowing the runway at the airport, this had me a bit worried.