Day Out in London

Saturday we took the 94 bus all the way into Piccadilly Circus--which, much to Maddie's disappointment, is not actually a circus. It just feels like one. The underground is probably a faster way to travel to this crowded city center, but the 94 is a double decker and it gave us a chance to see what all is between here and there.

Wow! The number of people gathered in London on a nice Saturday is staggering. Absolutely stunning. We got off at Piccadilly Circus and headed in the direction of Leicester Square to the National Gallery Museum. Most of the museums here are free, so we can go with Maddie, stay about 30 minutes and leave. Maddie studied a lot of the famous artists in school last year and she had been wanting to see Van Gogh's Sunflowers and Monet's Water Lillies--both of which are at the National Gallery here in London. After that, however, she was done. And then, anytime you head to any museum or historical site in London, you have to deal with something violent. Lot's of burnings, plagues and beheadings in the history of England and Maddie was really turned off by the enormous painting depicting the beheading of Lady Jane Grey. She also is not a fan of all those pictures that show Jesus hanging on the cross. This is what happens when you raise a child Protestant.

We happened to stumble upon a festival going on outside of the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square celebrating the contributions of London's disabled citizens. Maddie got to participate in a half-hour drama workshop at the kid's tent.

Then we stopped by London's answer to FAO Schwartz, Hamley's. We didn't stay and look as long as we might have as yesterday was an unseasonably warm day for London. All in all, that was a good thing, but in a very crowded, large, un-air conditioned toy store, it was not a plus. We stopped in one of London's large department stores to try to buy Maddie some shoes, but when we realized we had to wait in a long line just to get someone to help us with the shoes, we decided Maddie could hold out a little longer with her current footwear.

We hoofed it quite a bit yesterday and by the time we made it home at 5:30 we were all pretty worn out.



Maddie outside the National Gallery overlooking Trafalgar Square



The drama workshop Maddie stumbled into



Maddie and Skip in front of a distinctly German-looking building in the middle of Leicester Square

Drama in the City

So, Skip had an interesting experience yesterday. He has two offices that he travels to during the week. One is west of here in Teddington and the other is the London Bridge office, right in the heart of London. It's not surprising that there are homeless people in a large metropolitan area. Skip often sees the same people whom he assumes live on the street when he goes into the London office. But yesterday, he saw something he hadn't seen before. One of the women decided to relieve herself by peeing directly into one of the water drains on the street. He said that was a first for him. Personally, I think he was being a little sexist. He wouldn't have been nearly as shocked by a man doing the same thing. You don't often see something that's sad and shocking and a bit funny all at the same time on your way to work. See what a fascinating city London is!

I had my own personal drama early this morning as I stumbled across the fact that the Jonas Brothers are coming in concert here in London for one night only on September 11 and the tickets were all but sold out. Maddie is a Jonas Brothers fanatic and I was trying to figure out a way that she would never know that they were even here when I was able to secure three tickets on a ticket re-selling site. Of course, I ended up paying slightly more than the original face value. There went my ticket money to see a short-run revival of They're Playing Our Song. Oh, well. We're waiting to tell her until closer to the date or she would be driving everybody crazy!

My driving continues to get easier and easier. I'm even learning how to bob and weave in these many streets that allow two-way traffic, but aren't wide enough for two cars. The round-a-bouts continue to confuse me, but they're getting easier as well. I am loving our new health club. It has quite the set up. We're going to sign Maddie up for a 13-week karate course there. That should be interesting.

Driving and UK Television

I'm about to master the art of driving on the left side of the road. Yesterday I drove to Maddie's school for a 2nd grade parents coffee. This school is much more interested in parent pleasing than our last one. I loved ISD, but those who had problems did not get great responses from the administration. But then, they were the only game in town. London is crawling with international schools as well as many other private and public English-speaking options. So ACS seems a little more interested in making sure parents know that they value our input and volunteer efforts.

So, not only did I get to and from Maddie's school, I also went and picked up all my membership info and the very posh health club I have joined, and I drove to the grocery store to get milk and cereal. The health club would be walk-able (although a pretty good hike), but I think I will usually drive just to keep in practice. Otherwise, I might go a week without getting behind the wheel and I think the repetition is what will make it easier. That being said, every time I go to get in the car, I still head to the passenger side and I can't even begin to parallel park.

Skip and I have both discovered programs that we like on Brit TV. You know the British pioneered the reality TV genre. Big Brother, American Idol and Dancing with the Stars are all British imports. Skip likes this show called "Who do you think you are?" which takes a famous person and traces their genealogy to see who their ancestors are. Last week they discovered that the Mayor of London has ancestor that include famous Turkish dissidents and illegitimate French royalty. Tonight, they're doing Jerry Springer. And then I have discovered "Last Choir Standing". It's like American Idol, but with entire choirs. I've come in late in the game, so there are only three choirs left--a men's chorus, a gospel choir and a youth choir. I am such a geek. It's just fabulous.

My explorations of London have been delayed by something leaking in our upstairs bathroom. I have been waiting and chasing and it looks like a contractor/plumber is actually going to come today. Hope we can get it fixed and then I really do have to get the house in order. Our downstairs living area is looking pretty good (we're still waiting for a love seat and I'm trying to give away a rug that doesn't fit), but our bedrooms are another story entirely.

Well, I've made it through a week without having to give any money away. I have a new exercise program. I plan to hit the gym several times a week, but to insure that I make exercise a daily part of my life, I have pledged that any day I do not get in at least 30 minutes of dedicated exercise time (walking to and from town doesn't count), I have to give $10 to the Republican party. I give myself one day off a week and last week, I made it. So depending on where your support lies, you can cheer on my success or hope for my failure.

City Living

We only brought Maddie to the big city so we could spend more time on the farm. We took Maddie and friends Gina and Megan to Garson's Farms in Esher, Surrey--about 40 minutes south of here--to pick our own produce.

They had a number of crops to pick including courgettes (summer squash), onions, potatoes, broccoli, peas and cauliflower, but we stuck to corn, strawberries, raspberries, blackberries and apples. The place was huge. In addition to the Pick Your Own fields, they had a gift shop, food store and cafe. When we arrived at around 11 a.m. there weren't too many people in the main parking lot (you drive your car into the PYO area and go from field to field), but when we emerged from the fields at about 1:45 the parking lot was packed. Who knew those girls had it in them to work in the fields for over two hours? Hearty stock they must come from.

We did find it odd that in corn fields we saw more than one kid munching on a raw ear of corn. None of us thought that was a very good idea. We did think it was okay to feed some corn to the horses grazing in the next field over. They really seemed to enjoy it. There were a few minor injuries from the blackberry and raspberry picking, due to the thorny branches, but overall, it was a great time.

The food shop not only had all the produce that you could pick yourself, but carried a wide variety of foods from different places. I was able to get Skip a bottle of Frank's Red Hot Sauce as well as some ready to pan fry chicken schnitzel cutlets. He is loving both of that. The schnitzel will have to wait until tomorrow. Tonight will be an all veggie and fruit feast. The real prize of the day is the raspberries. They are terrific. We picked two full baskets.



Maddie, Megan and Skip in the corn fields




Megan in Strawberry Fields forever



We really had to work to find the strawberries. Maddie was extra proud of her bounty.



Maddie and Skip on the trail of apples



New Friends to Feed



Looking for only the blackest of the blackberries

A Royal Day Out

It was a royal day out for the Russ-Lentz clan. Unfortunately, I don't have very good pictures because I couldn't snap any inside pics today. And the outside courtyard (where you could get a great shot of the guard and the front of the castle) was filled with people who were celebrating the Olympic Torch being passed to London for 2012.

We decided to take advantage of the chance to see Buckingham Palace. You can only tour the inside of the Palace in August and the first part of September when the Queen is not in residence. She's at her summer home. Maddie and I both took the children's audio tour and Skip went for the adult version. The Palace has 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices and 78 bathrooms. There are 450 people who work there year round.

This year, they not only tour you through the grand staircase, the portrait gallery and many of the historically furnished rooms, but they also set up the royal dining room for a state dinner. It was really amazing. Maddie and I learned that if you are ever a dinner guest of the Queen, you never have to worry about doing the wrong thing. The stewards are not only there to serve, but to answer any questions, such as what fork to use or if it's okay to get up and go to the bathroom. We also learned that it takes two days to set everything up. Skip learned that they measure the distances between every utensil and tableware so that everything is perfectly aligned.

We've seen a lot of castles in our time in Europe, but what made this one so cool was not merely its amazing decor, but the fact that it's still a royal residence. It's not just being kept up for tourism. It's a working palace. Pretty rare.

We also got to tour a collection of the Royal Art that were drawings and paintings of plant and animals made during the Renaissance. None of us realized that back then, botanists and biologists and naturalists also had to be artists. They couldn't take photos of all the new species that were being discovered in the New World. Someone had to draw them in order for others to learn about and study them. There were even drawings by DaVinci. And for Maddie, there was a kid's map with items she was supposed to find and answer questions about.

Then to cap it all off, we did a quick tour of the Royal Mews, or stables. We saw the carriages that the Queen rides around in and even got to see some of the biggest horses I've ever laid eyes on.

Maddie was a trouper. We were all dragging on the way back home from the tube stop. But she rallied to have her buddy Megan come over and spend the night. Tomorrow is a bank holiday here and there is no school. Like I said in the last post, she lives a ridiculously great life!



Skip and Maddie in front of the carriage gifted to the Queen from her loyal subjects in Australia



Maddie flys the flag of her adopted country



Maddie's feet are killing her by the time we make it to the Mews House

It's a Machine

The Disney machine is alive and churning here in England as well. Took Maddie to see the stage performance of High School Musical. The theater was packed with little girls dressed as East Side High cheerleaders waving their pom poms. I have to say that the play was really great. They changed up some of the songs to make them even bigger productions and even added some new ones. the dancing was extremely athletic and I couldn't believe that the cast was going to turn around and do it again at 7 tonight! So cool that Maddie is getting to see productions like this. The actors all used "American" accents, but at the end when "Troy" was making an announcement about donating to a local children's hospital, he suddenly became British.

Skip is at his first Fulham game in his jersey that I retrieved over my Thursday adventure. He took one of his co-workers with him. Omigosh, I just got a text from him that they won. He will be high as a kite when he gets home. I am never getting to sleep tonight. The man is detail oriented and he will want to share every detail.

I have to say that squiring Maddie around a city of 12 million people is not the most relaxing outing, but we did have a good time. I even braved the Disney store near the theater. That's what a good mother I am. Came home and took two Tylenol immediately. Maddie is loving school, but not liking the bus as much as she thought she would. It's long. If she didn't have such a ridiculously fabulous life, I might feel a little guilty about that, but as it stands now, she can learn to deal.

Tomorrow, we hit Buckingham Palace. It's a 3-day weekend, so we're really playing tourist big-time. Actually, we were going to head out of town until we realized that Skip had this football game. I'm hoping his sports-crazedness doesn't cramp our travel style. And now that it looks like they're going to be a winning team (they were expected to lose this one), no telling how it will affect our lives!

White City is Under Construction

I can't imagine that in the States, I would ever be headed on a bus to a place called "White City Station," but that's exactly where I had to get to today here in London. My rabid sports fan husband, who never fails to adopt the local team wherever we find ourselves, naturally already has season tickets for the Fulham football club games. Of course, he had to make sure and have a team jersey before the first game on Saturday. Unfortunately, he said he wanted to sign for it when he ordered it. So you can jump ahead to us not being home when they delivered it and getting a note that we could pick it up at this Royal Mail station near White City Station. I figured out that White City Station was on the same bus route that runs in front of our house, but since they don't list or announce the stations on the buses, you kind of have to know where you're going. I asked the bus driver how many stops until White City and he told me it was "a bit down the route" and that he would call out the stop when we arrived. Really nice. I totally would have missed it otherwise.

I got off at the stop and asked a woman at the desk of the White City Station about the Royal Mail office, and she told me to turn left, go under a bridge and make another left, "then ask someone over there. It's that a way." So I followed those directions and ended up in this huge construction zone. I seemed to be the only person around now wearing a bright vest and a hard hat, so I asked someone if I was even supposed to be there. They said I was okay, but they didn't know where the Royal Mail place was. I finally found it and got the jersey. Then I had to find a new bus stop because the return stop for the 272 had been closed because of all the construction. When I finally got home, it had been about an hour-and-a-half trip for this jersey. Thank goodness everyone spoke English or the jersey might have been lost forever.

Thankfully, I did all of this without Maddie in tow as today was her first day of school! She had a great day and even took the bus. She said it was her best first day of school ever.




She'll go back tomorrow and then be off for a three-day weekend as Monday is a bank holiday here in England. She'll need it. She is absolutely wiped out!

Settling in

Continuing to get settled in. Maddie has a new scooter. We upgraded from the plastic, three-wheeled model that she had far outgrown to the two-wheeled steel model. Now she just whizzes around the sidewalks of London. No more whining about walking when she can scooter.

Have to call our maintenance company today. We think they didn't fix the leak that happened earlier this summer correctly as we have found some water marks on the ceiling above the stairs. Our landlord in Duesseldorf, who had lived in London for several years, told us we would enjoy it immensely, but to expect plumbing problems. Guess he knows of what he speaks.

This has been such an easier transition than the German move--not just because of the language. This time we have all of our stuff and all of our basic services (I include Internet access as "basic"). When we got to Germany, we didn't have furniture, phone or even lights for more than a few weeks. Of course, the fact that we moved here from another European country, rather than from the States, helped make this transition easier.

The Olympic coverage has been interesting. Lots of sailing and indoor cycling. Also, we noticed that in US reports the United States is number one in medals, but in British reports, China is first. GB ranks by number of gold medals and China is indeed far ahead in that one, but the US counts in total medals. Wonder if the US always counts that way, or if we just count which ever way puts us first?

Sunday, Sunday

We went to church this morning at an Anglican Church, St. Michaels, in our neighborhood. I think I may be destined against all my efforts to be consigned to a high church existence. This worship service had all the bells and chanting and incense. I think next time we go, I'll need to take an antihistamine beforehand. However, I have to admit that during communion when the smoke from the incense mixed with the light that was coming in from the high windows, it really did look like an effect from a movie where the director was trying to get a visual of the Holy Spirit hovering over the bread and the wine. Pretty powerful stuff

Of course, the difference in worship style often caused my mind to wander away from God. When the Gospel was read, a group of people processed the Bible to the center of the church and the priest read from it and then kissed the page. Instead of reflecting on the beauty of Mary's magnificat (which was the reading), I could only think that if I read the Gospel that way, I'd have to make sure not to put on lipstick on Sunday mornings.

Even though it's a little too much pomp and circumstance for me, the sermon was good and the priest engaging. Plus there is a woman priest who also preaches. It seems as if they have a great children's program and even an active children's choir. And the fact that it is so close to our house is a real plus. It is such a travel ordeal for Skip to get to work five days a week, we really need an easy trip to church on Sundays for it to truly be a day of rest for him.

On a completely different note, for fans of the Friends series, I discovered that we have our very own Ugly Naked Guy. At least we have an Ugly Half-Naked Guy. There is one room at the top of the house where the roof comes together. This room gets warm in the middle of the day, but there are windows on both sides so you can get a nice cross breeze going. I was up there after church still trying to get our stuff organized and looked out one of the windows when I opened it. Directly across the street, there was man without a shirt on sitting at his table right by his own open window reading a paper. It was not pretty. Such are the views in the big city.

On a follow-up to the driving, we made a dry run out to Maddie's school and I'm happy to report it's a much easier drive than the route we took yesterday to a shop. I feel pretty good about being able to get Maddie to orientation and about getting her if she's ever sick or has an after school activity. This left-side driving is still a little dicey, but it does seem to get easier each time.

Anne and Rosie's Big Day Out

Okay, I lived to tell the tale. I drove from our home about 30 minutes west on the left side of the road. I'd like to say that it was a breeze, but unfortunately that is not the case. I feel like I should have a drink before I get behind the wheel again, but I understand that such things are counter indicated. Not only do you have to get used to looking for cars coming at you from different directions, but many of the roads here are not wide enough for two cars--even though they are two-way streets, so you keep having to do these little dances in order for everyone to get by. Also, it's really odd, but it's hard to get a sense of how close the left side of the car is to the curb, so you just have to hug the center line as close as possible. I will be surprised if I make it through a year with both rear view mirrors intact! While I need to drive enough to feel comfortable driving when I need to, it won't be a day-to-day activity. We filled the car up today for a whopping 57 pounds--that's about 100 US dollars.

I have to say that I am proud that my daughter is such an encourager. Unlike her father, who mostly cringed and gasped, she kept telling me how good I was doing from the back seat. She even helped guide me in and out of a tight parking space in an overcrowded garage. . This stay-at-home mom thing may be driving me up a wall, but I can't be doing THAT bad of a job.

Just to keep the level of excitement up, we stopped by our local pet store on the way home to get bunny harnesses so that we could take the bunnies out for a walk. There is a "dog-free" gated section in the park near our home where they can get some exercise. We tried it today with Rosie--as she is the most sensible and easy going of the two bunnies. It was quite the scene. After a day of such exercise, Rosie is now snoozing in her hutch.

Getting There

Today did not start off well as I had to clean the bathrooms--never a pleasant job to be sure, but we're back in the land of the hard water, and that makes it even worse. It's kind of a ridiculous job as you have to use the very water that leaves the calcium deposits in order to rinse off the cleaner that clears away the calcium deposits left by the water. Then you have to use a squeegee and a towel to dry everything down so you can have at least one spot-free day. Using a squeegee after each shower helps, but there are still areas that the gunk builds up badly.

Maddie and I are slowly mastering the bus lines. We figured out that the bus that runs in front of our house can take us to our favorite restaurant (Giraffe) and right to the front door of the large Sainsburys grocery store (the choice of chef Jamie Oliver) as well. I have to say I am LOVING the grocery store options here. Lots of fresh stuff and organic choices. Plus I can take the bus to buy fresh things and have heavy or bulky items like beverages, cleaning supplies and paper goods delivered to my house by ordering over the internet. Also, I realize it's best to buy frozen items via internet as well as it can take a good half-hour or more if you have to wait on the bus to get home! Unfortunately, the bus that runs right by our house is a short route and the buses only run every 15 minutes, and then, they're not always on time. As Maddie and I waited for the bus with our bags of groceries for more than 20 minutes, I began to more fully understand why public transport has a hard time gaining ground in the States.

Today, I also figured out how to register and automatically "top up" my Oyster card, which is the pass card for the Tube and buses in London. Those planning on visiting will want to get one. There's a monthly pass--which is what Skip has--that comes at a flat rate for those who take the train every day. And then there is the pay as you go plan which deducts the cost of each ride when you scan it going through a turnstile or hopping on a bus. But the deal is you pay a lot less per ride with the Oyster. It's about 70 percent cheaper than paying ticket by ticket. So take note those of you planning your London vacations. Oyster cards all the way. You can pick one up for as little as 10 or 20 pounds and just let it run out, or you can do what I did and have it linked to a credit card. Anytime my card gets below 5 pounds of credit, it will automatically top it up 40 pounds, so I never get stuck somewhere. Maddie rides free.

I will eventually get behind the wheel of our car. This weekend I'm planning some practice runs so I can take Maddie to her school orientation on Wednesday. The bus service comes for the first day of school, but I have to get her there the day before. Surely, it won't take too long before my brain clicks over to driving on the other side of the road. Even after I master driving, it still makes more sense, most of the time to just walk or take the train or bus. Parking is difficult and gas is even more expensive than it is in the States.

Maddie helped me pick out a bright pink cell phone today. I had to get a phone today as I need to get in a whole bunch of forms for Maddie's new school and many of them asked for home and cell phones. Didn't want to have to go back later to add that, so the forms will be another thing I can wrap up today.

Still have not found a place for everything here at the house, but am working on that, too. Should be in good shape by the time our first guests arrive in October!

We Made it

We made it to London safely and without incident. When you're faced with a long travel day, it is so nice when everything runs smoothly. The plane was delayed a bit, but it just put us in here an hour later than we anticipated. All in all, not that big of a deal.

Maddie slept until 11 a.m. today--when I woke her up. Will try to get her to bed at a normal time tonight and get her up a little earlier tomorrow. It's still another week until school starts (much to Maddie's chagrin), so she's got time to get on track with her sleeping.

I got up when Skip headed into work-around 7 a.m. Bet he has had a GREAT day. Fortunately, he doesn't fog up as much as I do while I'm adjusting to the time change. My head feels like it's been stuffed with cotton for about three days, but he really bounces back pretty quickly.

Before I can regale my faithful readers with tales of living in the exciting city of London, I have to get the house in order. And a small house it is. The downstairs is great, but trying to find places for all of our stuff in the bedrooms is getting dicey. Thank goodness I got addicted to Style Channel's Clean House this summer. Am already using some of the tricks I learned from their organizing guru. I need to figure out what England's version of the Container Store is. And paint--we're definitely going to need some paint. Am really hoping the landlord will give us the okay to do some painting. If I learned one thing from my first ex-pat experience is that camping out for two years in a house that doesn't feel like a home is no good. I'm making the effort on the front end with this house whether we're here for a year or two.

More later

Bless her heart

Poor Maddie is struggling with this whole London move. She's not getting to go back to Germany to her school and her friends, so it's not as easy as last summer. Plus, she doesn't have the advantage of getting how incredible it is to have the opportunity to live in London. Today, we stopped by the Michael's arts and crafts store and she wanted to know if "when we move back permanently" if she could take one of the cake decorating classes they offer there. I told her she could, but also told her that if she really wanted to take a cake decorating class in London, we could do it there too. In fact, I told her, there's not much you could come up with that you couldn't do in London.

Once school starts, she'll be great, but getting to the 21st could be a little hairy for everyone!

We DID find out that the High School Musical 3 movie will be released in London a week ahead of when it will be released in the States, so the city does have that going for it!

We had a fun weekend full of friends and family. Friday night the Kastens hosted a get-together at their house and on Saturday, we had the Allen clan here at our house. Have pictures to post, but am having problems getting them uploaded at the moment.

Getting Ready to Get Ready

Working on list of the things I need to do/get before we shove off on Monday. Lots to squeeze in. Our friends the Kastens are holding a little get-together for friends of ours on Friday night, the Allen clan is coming to our house on Saturday and Mom and I will make two local television shows to promote our new book What's More Fun than a Funeral? between now and then. We also are setting up some house painters (inside and out) to do some work after we leave and need to make sure our mail forwarding system is in place.

Maddie is one big ball of emotion. She's had a big summer. Camp, Bible school, sleepovers. She's lost her two front teeth, learned to dive and has finally mastered the art of jumping rope. This year, she doesn't have the luxury of going back to a familiar school with familiar friends, so she's not quite as excited to be leaving her friends and her house and her grandparents. I'm sure she'll be great once school gets started, but I don't think getting there is looking too appealing to her right now.



Fortunately, Skip did a lot of the legwork this summer. He got the internet/phone/tv hooked up and scored us a car for weekend trips to the English countryside. All of our stuff is already there as well, so when we land we can just go ahead and start living rather than be bogged down in the details of a move. Maddie's international school starts August 23, but English schools don't typically start until September, so August is a big kid's activity month in London. There will be a number of fun things to do with Maddie until school starts, so that should ease the transition.

Skip and I have both checked quite a bit off of our list of stuff to do, so hopefully the weekend can be about enjoying our friends and family here in LR before we head to the big city.