Golf : Stoke Park, Trent Park, and Hatfield London CC

A friend of a friend here has lived in London for 11 years now... With that he has had the time and financial wherewithal to achieve some notable accomplishments as an American in London - the two most impressive in my mind being season tickets at Stamford Bridge (Chelsea's stadium not too far down the road from our flat) and a membership at Stoke Park. (click both links for satellite maps).

Founded in 1908, it has a fairly storied history - and is most frequently known for being the setting for James Bonds' golf match vs. Goldfinger and Oddjob's decapitation of a statue there (some details can be seen here.)

We drove out on a morning that was supposed to be cool and showery, and caught an unexpectedly pleasant English summer day..



The golf, however was not as spectacular as the setting or weather... Having not played for quite some time my chipping was quite bad (way too strong), and my putting was mediocre... I also chunked two wedges and bladed another (a clever chunk-blade combo occurred on one hole and led to a triple bogey 7...)

result: 80



The next weekend Rachel was off to Cardiff for work -- so I thought it would be a good time to tee it up again -- and did twice with a colleague of mine (same guy that played the 36 holes in Scotland).

No car this time - and a 50 minute tube ride to almost the very eastern end of the Picadilly line to play a public course called Trent Park Golf Centre that we had heard decent things about. It was not that long -- and was in pretty good condition... but what dominated the day was a reggae / rap music festival at the university next door to the course. It was funny the whole way around the course, and when the wind was right we also picked up all of the associated aromas.

this is the first audio golf post - and does not really do it justice (I did make the putt though)



Result: 72 (many missed birdie opportunities as well)

Then - we put the golf shoes back in the outer pocket of our bags and walked out to track down a cab to take us to our next time at Hatfield London Country Club. We were unsuccessful so walked back to the tube station, where there was a cab in the car park (thats British for parking lot). I called the number on the side and asked for a car at Oakwood tube station. The guy on the other side of the call said "we are in Oakwood - where are you, are you standing right outside?" - I turned around, waved, hung up, and walked inside.

It was a 25 minute ride out - and worth it.

There are 36 holes there (a member's 18 and a guest/public 18). No one was around, so we teed off on the member's course. I killed a drive, had a sand wedge for my second, and rolled in the birdie putt just as the ranger drove up...

We then walked all 367 yards back - and then over to our designated 1st tee.

I parred the 1st hole there, and then my golf swing basically left. I have no idea what happened as I was still hitting it very solidly, but no longer straight...

Long story short - I was +5 on the front, then doubled 10 and 11, and leaked oil all around that place (but not in the fairway). I lost all 4 balls in my bag.

result: 85 (booooo) and a blister... we finished in the rain, which I had to walk home in, defeated, at 11:20 pm after the long tube ride back

Bastille Day Eve

The four of us (Rachel, Kerry, Kevin and I) saw Cake at the Indigo2 - which is the smaller venue at the much maligned Millennium Dome (details of the show are here, as it was an adventure itself) - then woke up early the next morning, mobilising (brit-spell) four people in our mini-flat and out the door by 8:15 am... to the bus.... to the tube.... to innumerable stairs and escalators to another tube line... then to passport control and security at Waterloo Station. (I was the smart guy that shifted security lines to an empty one...only to be 'randomly selected' to have all my stuff removed from my bag and given the full monty...)

We did 1st class because they serve you meals/drinks/really hot towels, etc, at your seat and we could all sit together at a table, which was great. The ride is about 2:40 total - and definitely beats the struggles involved with getting to one of London's airports and checking and retrieving baggage only to be way out at Charles de Gaulle.

The blackberry GPS put us at a peak of 191 mph - and while it was grey and wet in London (and in northern France) - Paris had emerged from a week+ of rain and we caught a great day.

after more stairs and trains (metro) we got to our hotel and then set off on the Paris tour... Louvre to Champs Elysee to the banks of the Seine over to the Eiffel Tower... then a break where the croque madame was an instant hit (and has since been imported to Philadelphia):

We covered an absolute ton on foot - it was a great way for Kevin to see Paris and reminded us all of just how awe inspiring the city is...
It was also a good 15-20 degrees warmer than London - and some of us were out without sunblock...

After the grand tour we left ourselves a good 20 minutes before our diner reservation at a place my french colleague described as 'one of the last hidden gems in Paris'. I would amend that as 'one of the last hidden gems in Paris but beware that they do not have air conditioning'.

One of us was so hot that they could not focus on the menu, another had to ask what the toaster on the table was for (the waiter's answer was 'to toast bread'), another was in dire need of a Coke, and we could not have had enough water on the table at that time... but we had to accept smallish bottles of Badoit.

Besides that - it was one of the best meals I've had in a long time (confit de canard), and we had 3 starters, 4 meals, water, and wine for under 90 € - which is unheard of in Paris and an all around great day.

many more photos can be seen here .

Kerry and Kevin's Visit- Part 1

What a week....I don't think I've laughed that much on a daily basis since the second grade. There are so many stories and things that seemed to effortlessly fall into place - the kind of week that we couldn't have created if we had planned every minute.

From the nights in London: Cake Concert, and Indian Food, to Paris: Bastille Day - an amazing meal, a repeat visit to Willy's wine bar and watching the fly-over on the Seine at exactly the perfect moment, to Reims: learning even more about champagne, the most unique, indescribable winery visits ever and the equivalent of showing up to the French version of the "French Laundry" and asking them to whip up some sandwiches between winery visits, (they did - foie gras and smoked salmon all around).....

Kerry and Kevin's visit brought us a bit of family, and the kind of laughter that brings tears.
A full recap with pictures to follow this weekend- for now, we're still catching up on sleep and laughing.

Paris - Bastille Day

Where are we?

Kerry and Kevin are here! The four of us are heading to Paris tomorrow - right in time for Bastille day - then to Reims to sample the Champagne region.

And as if life can't get any better, Lauri was here with us all for dinner on Tuesday night!

Pictures and stories to follow.

The Much Anticipated (by Rachel) Whole Foods London Egg Photo

We were thinking about making an omelet that Fred Flintstone would be envious of... but it seems like the larger the egg is, the more gross the idea of it kind of gets... plus we had to walk back to the flat...

60 Germans, a Field, and Me.

I received an invitation late last week, to attend a training in our Stuttgart office. As I'd never been to Germany- I jumped at the chance and booked to stay through the weekend to sight-see.

I wondered a bit when I found I was the only one in my department not going - and the other 4 from my office were required to go....hmmm. I've gotten quite used to being the over-enthusisastic American, (I mean come-ON, who doesn't say Happy Friday...) so I didn't worry too much.

UNTIL I GOT THIS EMAIL:
"We will be camping and the weather does not look good. Please bring warm clothes and proper shoes."

It turned out to be quite the experience. Picture this:

-60 Germans
-Beer, wine, Prosecco, Caprinas, (sugar, limes, & rum on ice) Jagermeister, and sausage for 200
-Tents, rain, cold
-Dancing until 6 am
-Karoake
-Hearing 60 Germans Sing "Take me Home, Country Roads: West Virginia"
-Cleaned up by 8am

And one of the best trainings I've ever been to. Not due to the afore mentioned vast quantities of booze and karoake machine-, but due to the overall theme.

The head of our Stuttgart office gave everyone a task:

CONCEPT-
Plan and execute on a strategic event that trains everyone on the corporate brand, marketplace, and goals - under the toughest conditions - in as little as time as possible.

They succeeded- I've never learned more or been more inspired in any corporate training. Hearing my colleagues talk about the challenges they face and ideas on how to solve issues - was fantastic. Time away from the office, (Ok it was in a field) is so valuable to me....and I was very lucky to have joined them.

Add on to that, my experience as a child camping- and the fact that we were at a Boy Scout Lodge - brought back memories of visiting my dad and brothers at their big Jambories.

Pictures from the training are here.

Post from my weekend alone in Stuttgart to follow. Heading back out to Heathrow tomorrow - to Cannes. TJ joins me on Friday.

Whole-Paycheck

Whole Foods has arrived in London- on the Kensington High Street.
We walked there a few weekends back and saw it in all it's 3 story, jammed-packed with tourist, organic frenzy.

Ahhhhhhh, how I miss paying $100 for two bags of groceries, and buying TJ his bulk-section-chili-pistachios. It was a lot of fun, and I'm still searching for the picture that TJ took, of the section of unusual eggs....yes there were giant ones. YUM.

Doesn't it just look like London?

We were struck by this view out our front window the other night.....

And at how late it was. Still amazes us that we are here.

You can view the whole series by clicking HERE.

Wimbledon

Wimbledon is one of those events that I have always wanted to attend... I remember first watching it with interest over the 4th of July soccer tournaments in Avon (that's football for you UK readers), and on a Thursday when I was already out of the office for the afternoon, and with Rachel off traveling in Stuttgart, I thought that I'd hop on the tube and head over to see if I could get in.

The weather in London has been fantastic since we've been here (in my opinion), but sure enough, with an international viewing stage, the rain has appeared right on queue to interrupt things. Places are flooded in places like Sheffield, Leeds and Lincolnshire, (in the north? I am still learning the UK geography), and Wimbledon has been a mess so far with play regularly interrupted and it seems like the courts have been covered more frequently than not. I was fortunate in that while grey and cool, and a bit breezy (ahh, summer in London?), not a raindrop fell... which would have made me question even more the the hour and a half that I waited in the infamous queue.

Once in though (at just after 6pm, for a £12 grounds ticket) it was well worth it. I set out to explore a bit first before seeing any tennis, and then picked a few matches to see using the main schedule board:


One thing I was immediately struck by was that besides Centre and Court 1 it is a very intimate environment, where it is very easy to get a very close view of the courts and participants.


a few observations:

• the AELTC (All England Lawn Tennis Club) is tucked right within a residential neighborhood and next to a golf course
• the spectators were well behaved and had a high level of 'tennis knowledge'
• strawberries & cream = £2
• the courts are cut to about the length of fairways at a well manicured golf course (I was always curious, and managed to get right up to two of the courts as the photos show)
• all of the scoreboards I saw were manually operated, and the 'hawkeye' replay challenge cameras are only on the main two courts
  
• it is a great family event with little kids all fired up about seeing their favourite (had to do it) players and all chatty about their own tennis aspirations.
• tickets are tough to get - I think they allow in 36,000 at any one time, and many Londoners have never been, even though it is walkable from at least two tube stops (Southfields and Wimbledon)

I ended up seeing a bit of the singles, including some of a Nadal match on the big screen from "Henman's Hill" outside of Centre Court, and then three (two at the same time by merit of the fact that some of the outer courts are separated by no more width than a sidewalk with benches facing in either direction) very good doubles matches, the last of which went to a tiebreak.

I'll definitely do this again (maybe not this year with our upcoming travel schedule), and will enter the lottery next year for tickets because it is such an easy trip there and back, and I am not sure if I am up for camping overnight on the sidewalk to get the 500 ticket they reserve each day for walk up sales to the 'major' courts.


more photos can be seen here




-- next on the sport 'to do' list is the British Open / Open Championship... but that requires significantly more planning and logistics efforts, so will not happen this year at Carnoustie...