new things

check out our new blog local.tourist.philly!

... it's carrying the torch from Steven's last local tourist blog, local.tourist.london

we will try update it at least once a week

read the ever-evolving list of activities we want to do, from museums and parks, to restaurants and random activities!

nature

last saturday and sunday had beautiful weather so we spent most of our time in various parks enjoying the sun and insect life...

a field of buttercups

busy bee

sun in the trees

cyclist

little translucent bug

industrious fly

red bug that kept trying to climb on me

dandelion waiting for the wind

springtime in london

we took these flower photos on sunday walking through hyde park.  It was a beautiful sunny, beginning to be warm day, which held promise for a wonderful spring to come.

cherry blossoms mean springtime in london

bright and cheery pansies and daffodils

okay, this is a cheating picture.  This pie was made back in the usa, with home-grown orchard cherries that were frozen since last summer, defrosted and reconstituted into a summery winter pie :) 

*fyi, I brought back crisco, hidden in my suitcase, to make pies in England.  Pie isn't pie without a crisco crust.

nyc

I found this picture within a cup of jo.  On the left is New York City imaged in 1609, on the right is New York City now.  It's amazing what a little people can do to a place...

for when I return

I've decided to come up with a list of things I am going to do when I am allowed to return to SJ in the UK.  I miss a lot of stuff over there, even riding the buses, which may seem a bit strange, but if you sit up front it could be the best 90p spent of your life.  Anyway, I'll add to the list when I think of new things.

1) see SJ
2) go to the tate modern and see the bunk beds
3) drink bubble tea in chinatown
4) go on unpurposeful exploring walks around London
5) go on unpurposeful exploring bike rides around London
6) read in the park on a sunny-ish day
7) visit the National Geographic shop on Regent Street

8) see the hampsters in Harrods

9) learn to play my ukulele.  yes.

southbank walkabout

Last week I did a walk around the Southbank with SJ.  Here are some of the pictures from it.  We went to the Covent Garden August Night Market (only on in August) afterwards, but I'll post those pictures later this afternoon since there are a lot.

View on Lambeth Bridge, Parliament on the left, London Eye on the right.

Parliament

'Statue' along Southwark, Tutu Hitler

Massive chair outside National Theatre

Carpets drying outside the National Theatre, maybe for Ralph Fiennes' Oedipus?

View of St. Paul's and the Gherkin

Sand artists

Bohemian sand artist making a frog prince

Steps down to the Thames.  When the tide is in you definitely can't go down...

Interesting rig in the Thames, maybe for a dive?

Art on the Tate Modern

Statue outside St. Paul's that looks like that faun in Pan's Labyrinth.

On to Covent Garden Night Market later...

in the neighborhood NW8

Today after work and dinner and groceries I went on a walk-about in the area around where I live and took some snapshots along the way......

Delaware Rd? Who knew?

Bombay Bicycle Club Take-Away.  The best Indian food in NW London :)  

Ask Kate, Steph and Katie... they can tell you.

How they get the food to your house/flat.

The church a block from my flat.

Flowers in the churchyard

Um, yea, a new bracelet that we have in the shop now...

Blurry Violet Hill sign (Coldplay?), one block from the flat.

Flowers in focus, SJ not.

My bike locked outside the flat!