Happy Christmas....

We've carried on with some holiday traditions:
-going to get a tree together, walking it back to the house, (this time instead of down the hill in Bernal Heights, it was Battersea park)
-listening to Christmas music, (over, and over, and over)
-having a fun spread of hor d'ourves and champagne


Some do not quite match with living in London:
-the big open house tree trimming that we did each year in San Francisco
-going to a cathedral to listen to a holiday choir, (hmmm, they were all booked)

And some are new:
-visiting Oxford and Regents streets while they were closed to car traffic for the holiday shoppers
-associating the beginning of december with our decision to move here, and celebrating that first "can we live here" visit with a trip to the Fromagerie in Marleybone
-Christmas crackers - the first round were a dud and didn't even "crack", but we'll continue until we find some good ones and wear our crowns






The holiday season is in full swing - some things may be different...but once you turn off the lights, and sit and look at the tree with some holiday music playing...it's all oddly quite similar.

Where has the time gone...

As you can see from the time between posts, and as I am sure in your lives, time has been flying!

The quick weekend in Thanksgiving was just as it should be - a thanksgiving meal packed with family in a beautiful home, little kids running around, plenty of laughter and catching up.



I met my cousin Bryan and his wife Jackie's daughter Megan for the first time and had some good conversation with August. There were, no exaggeration, 15 pies on the table for desert...ahhhh it was perfect.




Further updates to follow!

Eze

When I got back from the DC/Virginia trip I spent a day in the office an then was off to meet Rach at the Nice airport... she had been in Cannes for the previous 11 days - which was the reason why she was unable to make the trip for the wedding.

She had found a hotel in Eze that had caught her eye - and managed to negotiate a decent rate there for the weekend in return for us having a smaller, non sea view room.

Once we had the rental car (a super-subcompact manual Citroen) all sorted out we popped the address into the satnav and off we went (kind of - first we got off the road immediately due to a satnav misread which caused us to go through the same toll twice - a flashback to the Spanish road trip)...

Driving around the towns in this area of France is very fun - you come off of the Provence toll highway and are immediately on tight hairpin turn roads through the hills - which made the sat nav display look like a purple squiggly line... but it got us right to the front door of the hotel - literally. We bombed right past the gate house (and the porter inside) and wedged the tiny red rental right between a Ferrari and Lamborghini (the Bently and Rolls you see below were there the next morning - while our Citroen had been relegated to the post office parking lot down the hill!)

Our budget room turned out to be great - and since the only dinner option was going to be €300+ each at their high end restaurant - we both decided that we could do without the meal that night and that some snacks would suffice.
Our room had a small balcony - and while we could tell that there would be a good view from all of the lights that we could see - we were both still surprised with this the next morning -- it was just great - and if this is the non sea view small room - I wonder just how dramatic the others are...
the photos just do not do it justice... after that breakfast we decided to walk down to the down and explore a bit - and then ended up at a pizzeria that also had great water views (pretty much I think the whole town of Eze does - even the grocery store) as well as a visiting accordionist:
We then went back to get the keys to our underappreciated vehicle and set off on another hairpin laden drive down to the water and Saint Jean Cap Ferrat. The town (and even the whole Cote d'Azur region) was only half-open - owing to it being firmly in the offseason and well before the holidays - which was actually quite nice not having to dodge ice cream cone tourists and being able to see these towns through 'local's eyes'.
We walked around the town center and marina area for a while - and with it being so quiet we just explored and took photos:
Knowing that our only option at the hotel that evening was going to be the spendy restaurant, we took a look at where people were getting their bread, cheeses, etc and followed suit - thinking that we had a perfectly good balcony to have dinner on.
The goal was to make it back up there for the sunset - which was a challenge given the roads and tiny engine - but we made it in time to catch:
The next day we set off to Cap d'ail, where we had breakfast and tracked down a hostel that I had stayed in some 14 years ago which is situated literally right on the Mediterranean with massive gated homes around it... it is still there (and looks to have been renovated) and is still a good deal today.
(I remember getting off this train years ago with my backpack that had all of my possessions on it trying to figure out where to go- it was a traveler word of mouth destination in those pre cell/internet days - and I passed it on to Kerry who did the same ~5-6 years later...)
We then continued east through Monaco - having lunch in Menton (why do I always get the nasty looks from people when I am not even taking pictures of them?) - and then on to Italy, basically just to say that we did so - and where we got some Christmas ornaments for our tree (photos to come soon - this is from outside of the stores looking north-west - we were both a bit surprized how different the 'feel' was once we had crossed the border - from resort/beach communities to much more industrial Italy - in just a few miles.

Eze

Here are my pictures from our weekend in Eze -

After 10 days of work on an event in Cannes - 18-20 hour work days - this weekend was a wonderful way for me to chill out and become human again, and for us to practice our French - and we even drove up by Monaco, and up to Italy.

The hotel is one of the best we've stayed in all year. Definitely right up there on the all time best list.

My New Friends

As soon as I knew that I was going to be able to attend Ed and Amity's wedding I wanted to try to extend the trip to the DC area a bit so that I could catch up with some of my very best friends that I had not been able to see for a while... and to meet a few new little friends for the first time.

While in DC I stayed with Andrew and Puffin, and it was great to see their home and to meet my new buddy Cecelia - who went to the golf shop with us, played at Reg & Joe's house, and allowed me to share the back seat of mommy's (or daddy's) new car next to her car seat.

Reg & Joe were kind enough to include me in their Thanksgiving dinner - and it was great to see them, their kids, and Peter - as well as their brand new puppy who may or may not still be named Ramses:
Andrew and I got in one round of golf - and then I headed south to Richmond and the Hammitts...

the aspiring photographer

It was great to see Craig and Rebekah - and to meet their little guy Will... We were all able to spend a good amount of time catching up with their both being kind enough to take a bit of time away from work, and they also hosted a great dinner which was so much fun to catch up with other great friends from college - Sarah, Grady and Mary.... it had been way too many years since I had seen them - and it was so great to be able to spend some time with them and their families... hopefully it will not be as much time between visits in the future.

Will, Jack, and Anna

Before heading back to Dulles I had to make a pilgrimage back to my favorite sandwich place - Bernie's, which is just a few doors away from Bubba's Barber Shop - where I had my hair cut for four years...

Bernie's has not changed.. at all... and that is the way it should be. I even placed my order with the same woman! Fantastic.

Curry Wedding November 3 2007 - DC & Bethesda

My first return steps on US soil since the end of January were on November 2nd - when I went back for the wedding of our friends Ed Curry and Amity Wall.


I first met Ed when Mike Wilson asked me to try to convince him to move to San Francisco from New York when we both worked for Red Herring - and we became fast friends there - as well as in the post Herring days.

I had last seen Ed and Amity 2 nights before we left SF - when Rachel invited some of our friends out for my birthday at Kokkari - which was a very fun evening.

Their service was on a picturesque autumn day at Annunciation in Washington DC...


from there we set off on a tour of DC in a 'trolley bus' - which was actually quite fun as it had been quite a few years since I had been in DC, and over all the years/time spent there I had never really done an official tour.

The reception was at Kenwood Country Club - and was a great venue for a wedding event - and my enduring memory of the wedding may well be from later in the evening downstairs at Kenwood's 'duck-pin' lanes..

Home

(The previous owner of our house, 220 Gates St. in San Francisco, painted a replica of this painting. Because it was such a large painting, his daughter asked if we wanted to keep it hanging after they left. I stumbled upon it in NY at MOMA - and couldn't wait to tell TJ about it.)

Happy Happy Thanksgiving.

As I get ready to fly out tomorrow for my favorite holiday - I am blessed to think of all of the things I am thankful for this year:

-TJ and our new life here - he'll be spending thanksgiving here working while I am with my family. But this adventure of London is just an example of what fun things our life will bring us. Every day he makes me laugh - that is a tremendous blessing.

-My family- this year has given us all time to count our blessings as Dad's countless procedures and operations have been heavy on us. But from discovering kidney cancer just days after Christmas last year to planning a trip for them to visit us in December - we are so lucky with all that this year has brought us and where he is now.

We are gathering all together tomorrow - and one of the huge reasons that Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday is that it is traditionally spent with my cousins and extended Franke family. Usually about 20-25 people gather together, and due to living in San Francisco it's been a few years since I've been able to attend. I get to arrive this year, after being picked up by Rob, Karen and August...and I get to share the backseat with August for about an hour. We will have lots to catch up on!

-My newest family - This picture of Kerry and Kevin was taken at their new apartment in New York - and we will see them right before Christmas and for our annual New Year's eve celebration. This year brought tremendous fun changes for the entire family- from Conneticut to Florida, Philadelphia to Manhattan, and we cannot wait to celebrate it all together in Ponte Vedra Beach.

-My friends - I had weekends with friends from home, and friends from college this year - how lucky am I?

-My life - I cannot wait for what this next year will bring. In January I'll be meeting Jen and Kerry from San Francisco in Switzerland for a ski trip. TJ and I planning a big trip to either New Zealand or South Africa, Lauri and I are going to India, and together with my mom, aunt, cousin and friend we will be in Paris in April.

I love that we get to spent time tomorrow - either with family, or in a quiet moment during a commute in London - to say thanks. I am blessed by the wonderful people in my life and will definitely be smiling all day!

Amsterdam - Final Pictures

Here is a link to my pictures from the weekend.

Rowing

After our "almost move to Boston" visit with long runs along the Charles, 10 years spent by the bay in San Francisco and now time here along the Thames.....

I kept seeing people rowing and thought, "I'd love to do that". The beauty of being out on the water during the early morning - the peace of it - and the fun of doing such a sport really intrigued me.

Since October, when I am in town on weekends, I've started a beginners rowing class with Sons of the Thames.

To quote their website: Sons of the Thames Rowing Club was formed in Hammersmith over 100 years ago with the aim, still enshrined in its constitution, of furthering the sport of rowing in the Borough. Its name derives from the days when its members were the watermen and tradesmen of the Tideway, and it may even be one of the really early rowing clubs.
The course finishes in mid-December, and if you are 'good enough', the club will ask you to join. They train together about 5 days a week with outings on the weekends. The club building itself reminds me a bit of my sorority house - with a cook, creaky old victorian building with tons of charm - and they even have a little bar! So it's kind of a combination of sports and social club. They even wear letters of sort - as all members wear these jackets with SONS on the back.



I have just been out for my second 'outing' and although it was a bit rocky there were moments when the whole 8 of us in the boat were almost in rythmn, and at a time there were geese flying along the river, at our level, and we could hear them talking to each other.

I am learning all these new terms and new sports tasks such as: what is bow side, or a cox, and how to get into a boat wearing and then gracefully removing wellies, and how to help with carring a huge boat out of the water up a ramp.

I had a huge smile on my face all day!!!

Amsterdam (Rachel's Marathon)

I was in Amsterdam with Rachel as encouragement and eye candy - but packed miserably for the trip because I was also packing for the following 5 days in Israel, where it was still on the 30's (80's).

Consequently when we landed I quickly realised (when we stepped off the tram in front of our hotel into breeze driven mist) that it was colder than London in Amsterdam, and all I had was a suit jacket.

hotel:

This was the first plan of post-breakfast action for Saturday morning - and now I have a cool new scarf and wool sweater (I will never, ever say 'woolly jumper' no matter how long we are here) from Amsterdam.

I really enjoy this city - it is beautiful with all of its canals and European meets Eastern European architecture - the museums are fantastic - and the people are all very friendly and accommodating to those that cannot even begin to butcher their language.

When we first arrived we had a fantastic meal at a restaurant just a few blocks from our hotel, which was away from the main touristy areas - but convenient enough to reach said areas and the metro on foot. Arriving late-ish (and getting a few evil eyes from the kitchen) - they put together a table quickly for us and whipped up the best carbonara that Rachel said she had ever tasted... I agree as well. The whole meal was great - and it was a fantastic first evening there.

On the Saturday (after I was sweater and scarf clad) we explored a bit, did a bit of shopping, and also grabbed a quick bite at one of the near ubiquitous fast food vending machine stores called Febo (great little burger):

we then had coffee and a more nutritious snack on the water here:

- and then went to the race expo for Rachel to pick up her number for the next day's event.

that evening we walked over to check out the red light district at night where we watched some of the Rugby World Cup semifinals:


About the race:

Rachel was fantastic -- I was so proud of the preparation work that she did... almost entirely by herself, in London, as the seasons were changing and daylight became scarce... and it paid off on race day - as is evident in this immediately post-race shot (pay attention to the condition of those on either side of her when you click on it for the larger format version):

the official 'receiving of the finisher's medal'

what the finish line scene looked like at Amsterdam's Olympic Stadium:

and this is what we returned to...

apologies for the lack of posts during our respective travels!! the pumpkins were angry (a bit off color and fuzzy) too --

photos have been downloaded and will be here this week / weekend!

Halloween

Happy Happy Day-After Halloween.

For full pictures of our carving skills, click here.

Amsterdam - Race

The travels have begun again - I came back from New York then headed out again with TJ to Amsterdam - then he left for Israel and now we're back until I leave for Cannes on Thursday and TJ for a US trip to D.C., and Richmond.

Amsterdam was fanastic - and the run went as well as I could have wished for. I plan at least one marathon a year, and have kept this up since I was 26, hoping to do 10 to celebrate turning 35.

For this one- I had a new strategy...instead of "just enjoy yourself", or "have fun out there" it was "get it Done!" The crowds were amazing- and I've never experienced people yelling what I presumed to be positive cheers at me in Dutch before. The best was the little children standing on the side of the road out in front of their houses on the canals with little cups of water.

TJ was there to do some mellow sight seeing with me, and there as I finished. I ran my best time in over 6 years, and second best ever! 4:14. Not Boston standards by any means, but enough to keep a smile on my face for over a week.

I posted this picture because it made me laugh tonight when I found it....and if you look closely, you'll see me - and it oddly looks like I am laughing then as well.

For some funny video clips of me racing at each 5k mark:
http://www.runnersweb.nl/runnerstv?e=AM07M&n=Rachel%20Church&r=15174&ct_
s1=11:09:04&nt_s1=30:20&ct_s2=12:07:13&nt_s2=1:28:29&ct_s3=12:42:39&nt_s3=
2:03:55&ct_s4=13:05:06&nt_s4=2:26:22&ct_s5=13:34:41&nt_s5=2:55:56&ct_s6=14:06:43
&nt_s6=3:27:59&ct_s7=14:38:36&nt_s7=3:59:52&ct_f=14:52:46&nt_f=4:14:02&=finish&l=
nl&ccount=1&k=finish