Lots to talk about!

I know, I know, it's been a while since I posted! I'm sorry - life has just been getting away from me!

Well, where to start? I went to Bath for Easter weekend, which is a four-day weekend here. It was about an hour and a half train ride from London. What a beautiful city!! I loved it! There are mineral hot springs there that were turned into a temple to the goddess Minerva Sulis and public baths by the Romans back during the Roman occupation of Britian. The structures had all fallen into disrepair and a cathedral was built on top of the temple. The baths were used for different purposes over the years until the 1800s when a entrepreneur decided Bath would become a tourist attraction, so he took it upon himself to build a city (build it and they will come!). So he did and they did! It became the fashionable place to holiday, and actually had a "season" (as in, "We're going to Bath for the season"). Anyway, that means that most of the building was done around the same time in a similar style so it is well laid out and quite beautiful. Everything is made of Bath stone, which is particularly good for building. There is a lovely abbey, with tons of windows, and remnants of the Romans here and there in bridges and whatnot. See the link below for pictures of my excursion to Bath as well as a Bath website with more information.

http://www.chrisinchiswick.zoomshare.com/1.shtml/Bath

www.bath.co.uk


I no sooner got home than I got sick and was in bed for two days during the week. I'm still recovering, and have been told by a frequent traveller that my slow recovery is likely due to the bad air in London. I have a persistent sore throat, and he said that is quite common for newcomers to have sore throats and breathing issues for their first six months.

Last Saturday, I went with a friend to a suburb called Watford. My friend had promised to help his buddy put up a prefab garden shed, so I tagged along. It was a great day - sunny, but not too hot. The wife, Loretta, and I got along famously and had fun. We made supper for the guys and the four of us chatted and played some games. A very nice day out!

This weekend I've booked a trip to Malta. I'm very excited! Malta is a tiny island just south of Sicily in the Mediterranean Sea. It was the place where the apostle Paul was shipwrecked. My birthday is on Tuesday, May 2, and since Monday, May 1 is a holiday here, I took the opportunity for a long weekend and took Tuesday off. So I'm going for 4 nights, staying in a resort hotel and catching some rays! The island has an interesting history and I plan to do some checking out of ancient churches and chapels as well as walking around soaking up the culture and trying Maltese food. Too bad I couldn't bring Chipper, my Maltese dog, with me!! But I think he's happier in his home in Calgary. You can check out more about Malta at this link:

www.visitmalta.com

Not much other news to report. Been working a lot, getting caught up from my three weeks in Canada. They are doing some restoration work on our building, so it's currently covered by scaffolding and plastic, which means we have no view out the window and it feels a bit like a hothouse in here. We've been joking that we should be putting tomato plants in all the windowsills! I hope they're done the work soon, but based on my experiences so far, and the opinions of my coworkers, I'm not holding my breath!

As some of you might know, it was the Queen's 80th birthday last weekend. Lots of celebrating going on here, and I was pleased and touched to see that the British genuinely love and respect their Queen, and far from being outdated, the monarchy is alive and well. Queen Elizabeth is a brilliant monarch and leader, tireless and always gracious. She plays an important role in governing the nation and successive prime ministers from Churchill on have come to her for advice and guidance. A few days before the actual day, she held a birthday party for 99 people who have a birthday on the same day as her. Apparently the attendees were decided by lottery, so if you had the same birthdate (including year), you were eligible. So there were 100 (including her) octogenarians in the room together! I thought that was a classy thing for her to do.

Back in the saddle

I'm back in London, back at work, back to my life. It feels great!!

This morning I decided to stay on my train (instead if changing at Hammersmith), get off at St. James and walk through the park. I go through St. James Park, cut across in front of Buckingham Palace (yes, THE Buckingham Palace) and go through Green Park up to my office. There is a long pond in St. James Park, so I go over a bridge, and there are a lot of ducks and geese and even a couple of swans. It's so pretty. This morning the apple blossoms were starting to fall off the trees and making a carpet on the walkway. It was lovely!

I have to say that the English keep very lovely gardens and parks. They are well looked after and have lots of colourful flowers. Of course, maybe that's just these parks are big tourist spots, but I enjoy them thoroughly! Things are quite green here, despite the lack of moisture throughout the winter. I'm guessing it may dry up in the summer, but it's very nice now.

It's interesting how settled I feel. Since I'm all nice and legal now, I feel like a true resident. I've even noticed a lot more British slang creeping into my language.

I'm travelling to Bath for the Easter weekend. We have both Friday and Monday off, so I'm leaving Friday morning on the train and returning on Sunday night. It's very expensive to stay this weekend because everything is full up in Bath, so I had to get a family room, as opposed to a single. So I decided two nights was enough. I haven't done any research yet, so all I know is that it is the site of the ancient Roman baths and there are some nice spas there (although I won't be going into any of them!). I'll be busy doing internet research so I know where I want to go in my two and a half days.

I'll let you know how it all turns out!

I can see clearly now...

Well, it's all coming together! I obtained the declaration and faxed it to the British High Commission this morning! I'm now playing the waiting game again. Sigh...but I think I should hear tomorrow for sure.

In other news...I sold both my houses on Monday! The same day! The Linden house went to a guy from Calgary who bought it for his son and his son's friend, who are going to be working at Courtney Berg for the next year and a half. The Calgary house went to a nice young couple - their first house! I got decent money for both and they both close on May 1. So, as of May 2 (my birthday!) I'll be debt free!! How cool! No mortgage, no loans, no credit cards, no nothing!! What a great feeling. So, maybe that's why my visa was taking so long - God was keeping me here so I could get the houses sold and finish sorting everything out.

I am so excited about going back to London! I can hardly wait!! According to my colleagues over there, patiently waiting for me, spring has sprung indeed. The weather is nice and getting warmer, the flowers are blooming and everything is lovely. I am really looking forward to doing some exploring in earnest now that the weather is nicer. So many outdoor things I want to do - wander through Hyde Park, visit Greenwich, take some trips into the country - Brighton, Cornwall, Stonehenge, Yorkshire. Not to mention Scotand and Ireland and the rest of Europe!

I've been doing some shopping here in Canada- stocking up on things like microwave popcorn and deoderant. I also got some more towels and stuff. Everything is just so much more expensive in London, that it makes sent to buy as much as I can here and bring it with me. I just hope I can get my suitcase closed! lol

Well, I should end this epistle. I'm encouraged by the light at the end of the visa tunnel. I'm feeling good - like it's really going to happen this time!

Cheers!

Home is where the heart is.

I realize it's been several weeks since I posted last, and that is because I wasn't planning on posting until I got back to London. Well, I'm still in Canada! It's two weeks and on the way to three. Sorting out the visa paperwork is proving to take longer and have more red tape than I had originally anticipated. But, more on that later.

When I logged on and saw the title of my last blog, I smiled to myself. I've learned something very interesting. Somehow, over the last few months, London has become home. I noticed it shortly after I arrived in Calgary. Now, of course, part of the reason is that I have no place to call my own here. I'm living out of a suitcase, staying with friends or my parents. But it's more than that. I really want to get back home now, to London. To my flat and my neighbourhood and to work. I miss the office and the guys I work with. I miss learning or discovering something new every day. I miss my flat, with it's view and it's little washer and U.K. television shows. I want to go home and get back to my life.

Now, I'm sure there are a lot of you wondering why I'm still here. Well, here's the story.

I think I've mentioned that when I lost my passport the day I flew out, I also lost the visa that was stuck inside it by the British High Commission. So, when I came back to Canada on Thursday, March 16, I couriered an application for a new visa off the the British High Commission (along with my passport). On Wednesday, the following week, I received my application back, with a note advising that I hadn't sent them enough money. A real blonde thing to do, I hadn't double checked the amount required and sent $157 instead of $187. So, I turned it around the same day and sent a note along asking that they contact me if they couldn't get it to me by Friday, since my flight was due to go out on Saturday.

Well, no passport/visa arrived on Friday, but late in the afternoon an email arrived advising me they had received my application and were processing it. I rebooked my flight for Tuesday, on the basis that the first time I got the visa, it only took them a day or two to process. I waited for word or the document, but nothing arrived by Tuesday, so I rebooked my flight again for Friday.

Thursday afternoon I finally received another email from the British High Commission. This time, they advised me that in order to process my application, they would need a letter from me explaining why I'm reapplying, a new work permit with my new passport number on it (the work permit took almost a month the first time!) and proof that I was financiall able to maintain myself over there (what part of "work permit" makes that unclear?!). I replied with a letter via email explaining why I'm reapplying and that I had filed a Declaration re Lost Passport when I got my new passport, which would prevent anyone else from using my old passport and visa. They emailed me back the next day saying that they would just require a copy of that Declaration and would then finish processing the application. Happy Day! I was very excited that I was in the home stretch. That was Friday afternoon. I phone the passport office (toll free number to Ottawa) and they advise that to get a copy of this document, I would have to go through the Access to Information people! So, the Access to Information legislation is preventing me from obtaining my own document filed by myself with the government. My tax dollars hard at work! I faxed off an application to the Access to Information people, telling then that this is urgent and describing the situation I was in. I've heard nothing from them. If I don't get anything by tomorrow, I am going to the passport office in Calgary, camping out in their offices until they give me a copy of this thing. It's really quite ridiculous. Give me City of Westminster Waste Management any day!!!

So, my flight is rebooked for next Friday, and I am going to do everything possible to make sure I am on it!! Pray for me!!!

Almost home...

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!

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!!

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!

Some of my favourite words

So, I thought I'd share with you some of my favourite British words.

Shattered - means very, very tired. I think it's a particularly descriptive term!

Skint - meaning broke, no money, flat busted, no dough, etc. As in, "I can't afford to go out tonight, I'm skint".

Wodge - one of my all time favourites. It means a very large amount. As in, "It takes a wodge of cash to buy property in London." Rhymes with lodge.

Brilliant - probably overuse this one myself. Meaning excellent, good, great, etc. I use it when I'm happy about something, as in if someone actually delivers something when they say they will, I say, "That's brilliant, thanks!"

Cheers - actually means thanks, as well as something you say when you clink glasses. So, using the above example, I would say, "That's brilliant, cheers!".

Oh yes, and this always makes me laugh - at the bank you don't make a deposit, you "pay in" using the "paying in slips"! lol You do, however, withdraw cash. Along the same lines, they don't have exits, they have "way out".

So, there you have it! Some of my favourite sayings.

It's currently 8:43 here and I just got home from work about half an hour ago. Been working long hours - hope that stops soon. Of course, not that there's much else to do! Decided not to go to Brighton this weekend as it's supposed to be cold and rainy. Probably try to take in more of the museum or something like that.

Anyway, gotta run - eat some supper and head to bed.

cya!