So, I've been told by someone that I need to post more often. And as you all know, I ALWAYS do as I'm told! So...
The week is going well, but busy. I have a lot to get done before I leave on Thursday morning for Canada. Besides getting the office sorted out and showing Will how to do everything, I need to get myself sorted out and packed and some gifts purchased.
Lately I've been having these strange dreams that I'm getting ready to move to London, or I was planning to move to London and then things changed and I wasn't going after all. And then I wake up, and I'm in London!! It's very surreal!
My office is just down the street from Picadilly Circus, so one night after work, I decided to take a walk down there. What a circus - it was nuts. I decided if any of you come and visit and you want to go there, you're on your own! I don't need to go there again. Sorry!
I'm also only a block from Green Park, which is the park that Buckingham Palace is on the edge of, as well as Clarence house, the former residence of the late Queen Mum, and St. James Palace. The park is very nice and I like walking through it when I have time and the weather is decent.
The crocuses were out in the park - I love crocuses. They herald the advent of spring, and mom and I always tell each other when we see the first crocuses of the year. These were domestic and very different than the ones on the hillside in Linden, but beautiful none the less. They are planted randomly in the grass throughout the park.
On the weekend, there were a ton of tourists, and it felt special that I actually lived there. It's an interesting feeling to live in such a huge tourist destination. I felt a little sorry for the tourists, just like a sometimes feel sorry for myself as a tourist. When you are visiting somewhere, you have limited time to see everything and you want to drink it all in so you can remember it later. As a resident, I feel almost proprietary. I can go down there anytime I want and enjoy the beauty of the park, or the palace or shop on Oxford Street or go to Covent Garden, etc. I'm having fun living here! But Alberta is my home, and always will be.
I'm looking forward to seeing everyone out in Alberta!
14 March 2006
11 March 2006
Saturday again!
I can't believe it's been a whole week since my last post! It seems like it was just a few days ago! It's been busy and eventful!
So, my last Saturday was great! I walked down Chiswick High Road and found a adorable little antique book shop. If you know me well, you know how I adore books and have a modest antique book collection. Well, I was in heaven in this shop! I could have spent hours and hours in there, just breathing in the smell of old books. They had these amazing old leatherbound copies of classics like Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers", and beautiful old Books of Common Prayer. Also lots of framed illustrations from old books on the area, old land deeds (from early 1800s!). It was incredible! I was glad I got out of there without spending too much money!
I then walked down to the river Thames. The road along the Thames is called Chiswick Mall (pronounced "Chizzik Mal"), and it is a quaint road, with lot of houses with names, and a sidewalk made of flat rocks sort of like slate. There were also numerous notices that the road and environs have a tendency to flood, so park your car at your own risk! There's a bit of a drought here right now, so there was no danger of that. The river was very low. On the river side of the road, there are a bunch of yards without houses - this is where the houseboats usually are. Because the river is so low, the boats have left so they don't get grounded. I don't know where they've gone! So there are all these cool little yards with fences and statuary and everything! Click on the link for pictures of my stroll through Chiswick and by the River.
http://www.chrisinchiswick.zoomshare.com/1.shtml/Chiswick
So after that, I was quite tired. Stopped at a little pub down by the river for a half-pint. Actually, by the river is a brewery. In England, there are two major breweries, and they own most of the pubs. So all you can buy at those pubs, apart from a few imports, are that brewery's beer. The one down in Chiswick by the river is Fuller's, which is the same brewery that owns The Old Packhorse, which is right by my flat. The picture is at the above link.
Anyway, came back, got some groceries and went home. Rested for a while and then went off to Jane's place for supper. It was lovely, as always. Jane is a fantastic cook and her and Bernard are lots of fun to be around.
Sunday I was very lazy - got up late, hung around watching tv, and finally got my act together and headed down to Covent Garden. A very cool place! There is this great market with stalls and shops, lots of unique stuff. There are street entertainers all over the place and great little cafes. I'm looking forward to taking visitors there!
Covent Garden, besides being known for it's market, is also know for being in the theatre district and having great restaurants and pubs. So it's a very interesting, vibrant place. I would love to live there, but it's expensive. In Covent Garden is the Maple Leaf Pub. Yes, the one and only Canadian pub/restaurant in the whole city! Great wings and real Canadian beer! I went there to hear some familiar accents and had a good time. I discovered that on Sunday nights they show the taped Hockey Night in Canada from Saturday night in Canada, so I stayed for that - met some people It was all good!
The week has been busy. We're getting ready for meetings in Calgary (yes, I'll be back in Calgary for about 10 days in less than a week) and working on the annual report. It's been busy and long days. But I'm really enjoying the challenge and the work! I will be in Canada from the 16th to the 25th of March with work and cleaning up some loose ends, and getting my visa replaced after the fiasco of having to get a new passport!
Today I walked though the park on my way into the office (yes, I'm working today) and it was so nice. The spring bulb flowers are just starting to bloom and there were crocuses all over the place. Lots of ducks and geese and swans on the river. What a beautiful and interesting place I live in!!
So, my last Saturday was great! I walked down Chiswick High Road and found a adorable little antique book shop. If you know me well, you know how I adore books and have a modest antique book collection. Well, I was in heaven in this shop! I could have spent hours and hours in there, just breathing in the smell of old books. They had these amazing old leatherbound copies of classics like Dickens' "The Pickwick Papers", and beautiful old Books of Common Prayer. Also lots of framed illustrations from old books on the area, old land deeds (from early 1800s!). It was incredible! I was glad I got out of there without spending too much money!
I then walked down to the river Thames. The road along the Thames is called Chiswick Mall (pronounced "Chizzik Mal"), and it is a quaint road, with lot of houses with names, and a sidewalk made of flat rocks sort of like slate. There were also numerous notices that the road and environs have a tendency to flood, so park your car at your own risk! There's a bit of a drought here right now, so there was no danger of that. The river was very low. On the river side of the road, there are a bunch of yards without houses - this is where the houseboats usually are. Because the river is so low, the boats have left so they don't get grounded. I don't know where they've gone! So there are all these cool little yards with fences and statuary and everything! Click on the link for pictures of my stroll through Chiswick and by the River.
http://www.chrisinchiswick.zoomshare.com/1.shtml/Chiswick
So after that, I was quite tired. Stopped at a little pub down by the river for a half-pint. Actually, by the river is a brewery. In England, there are two major breweries, and they own most of the pubs. So all you can buy at those pubs, apart from a few imports, are that brewery's beer. The one down in Chiswick by the river is Fuller's, which is the same brewery that owns The Old Packhorse, which is right by my flat. The picture is at the above link.
Anyway, came back, got some groceries and went home. Rested for a while and then went off to Jane's place for supper. It was lovely, as always. Jane is a fantastic cook and her and Bernard are lots of fun to be around.
Sunday I was very lazy - got up late, hung around watching tv, and finally got my act together and headed down to Covent Garden. A very cool place! There is this great market with stalls and shops, lots of unique stuff. There are street entertainers all over the place and great little cafes. I'm looking forward to taking visitors there!
Covent Garden, besides being known for it's market, is also know for being in the theatre district and having great restaurants and pubs. So it's a very interesting, vibrant place. I would love to live there, but it's expensive. In Covent Garden is the Maple Leaf Pub. Yes, the one and only Canadian pub/restaurant in the whole city! Great wings and real Canadian beer! I went there to hear some familiar accents and had a good time. I discovered that on Sunday nights they show the taped Hockey Night in Canada from Saturday night in Canada, so I stayed for that - met some people It was all good!
The week has been busy. We're getting ready for meetings in Calgary (yes, I'll be back in Calgary for about 10 days in less than a week) and working on the annual report. It's been busy and long days. But I'm really enjoying the challenge and the work! I will be in Canada from the 16th to the 25th of March with work and cleaning up some loose ends, and getting my visa replaced after the fiasco of having to get a new passport!
Today I walked though the park on my way into the office (yes, I'm working today) and it was so nice. The spring bulb flowers are just starting to bloom and there were crocuses all over the place. Lots of ducks and geese and swans on the river. What a beautiful and interesting place I live in!!
04 March 2006
Saturday morning
I woke up this morning to silence. Beautiful silence. You might wonder why this morning? Well, there were no trains going "ka-chunk, ka-chunk, ka-chunk" over the gap in the tracks! They are re-engineering the tracks this weekend, so there are no trains running all weekend. I lay in bed relishing the silence for a while, but decided it was time to get my weekend started.
Despite the advantage of the silence, this also means that I have to take the bus if I want to go anywhere! The buses run quite frequently down Chiswick High Street, which is just a block away from my flat (the blocks here are smaller than the blocks in Canad!). Plus, they have buses running to take the place of the train, so it shouldn't be too hard to get around.
Where do I want to go, you might ask? Well, tomorrow I'm off to Covent Garden. It's an area (not an actual garden) that traditionally was a market area and now had some great eclectic shops and lots of great pubs and restaurants. There is a Canadian pub there called the Maple Leaf, which is supposed to be pretty good. At the very least, I can order beer that I recognize! St. Paul's Cathedral is there as well, which mom said is absolutely stunning, so I'm really looking forward to that.
Today, I'm going to finish off a bit of work and then head down to the river (yes, the Thames), which is walking distance from my flat and forms the south boundary of Chiswick. Jane has invited me for supper tonight, and she's a fantastic cook, it will be a nice ending to the day.
A bit of local history - Chiswick is famous as the home of a fairly well-known artist named Hogarth. His house is a tourist attraction and there is a statue of him on the High Street. I may go to see his house today as well.
Another interesting term used here is High Street. In London, the shopping or main street of each area is called the High Street or High Road, so you have Chiswick High Street, Kensington High Street, etc. They use the term as part of the vernacular referring to any retail. For instance, in advertising, they will say that you can get whatever they are advertising on the High Street. I can't really think of a Canadian alternative term.
Anyway, time to get my day started! The sun is shining and London is calling!
Cheers!
Despite the advantage of the silence, this also means that I have to take the bus if I want to go anywhere! The buses run quite frequently down Chiswick High Street, which is just a block away from my flat (the blocks here are smaller than the blocks in Canad!). Plus, they have buses running to take the place of the train, so it shouldn't be too hard to get around.
Where do I want to go, you might ask? Well, tomorrow I'm off to Covent Garden. It's an area (not an actual garden) that traditionally was a market area and now had some great eclectic shops and lots of great pubs and restaurants. There is a Canadian pub there called the Maple Leaf, which is supposed to be pretty good. At the very least, I can order beer that I recognize! St. Paul's Cathedral is there as well, which mom said is absolutely stunning, so I'm really looking forward to that.
Today, I'm going to finish off a bit of work and then head down to the river (yes, the Thames), which is walking distance from my flat and forms the south boundary of Chiswick. Jane has invited me for supper tonight, and she's a fantastic cook, it will be a nice ending to the day.
A bit of local history - Chiswick is famous as the home of a fairly well-known artist named Hogarth. His house is a tourist attraction and there is a statue of him on the High Street. I may go to see his house today as well.
Another interesting term used here is High Street. In London, the shopping or main street of each area is called the High Street or High Road, so you have Chiswick High Street, Kensington High Street, etc. They use the term as part of the vernacular referring to any retail. For instance, in advertising, they will say that you can get whatever they are advertising on the High Street. I can't really think of a Canadian alternative term.
Anyway, time to get my day started! The sun is shining and London is calling!
Cheers!
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