Rugby World Cup

What are sports fans concerned with in the UK right now? Not the NFL and its arrival at Wembley Stadium when the Giants will play the Dolphins here... not the FedEx or President's Cups, and definitely not the drama currently surrounding the Padre's or Mets' slumps, the Cubs surge to the top of their division, or the annual Red Sox-Yankees drama...

Its the Rugby World Cup (and then Premiership Football of course... but the World Cup is dominant right now).


I have a French colleague that purchased tickets for every French and Irish game in the first 'pool matches' and then also for his anticipated support of the French in at minimum the quarter finals - and took a 15 day holiday traveling around France (there are 10 French venues as well as matches being played in Cardiff and Edinburgh - click here for an interactive venue guide)...
I've not seen someone return to work after two weeks off looking less healthy and less refreshed than he.

Before it all began on & September in Paris this same colleague sent out an email to me and two other Americans in the office asking if we wanted tickets to see England vs the USA in the first round...and I took them immediately - thinking of Rachel's affinity for the game and the opportunity to see a World Cup match that we might not have four years from now, especially because the host nation in 2011 is New Zealand...

So - off we went, having found a special Eurostar service with trains provided specifically to access the match, on a day trip to Lens, France.

We went with fairly low expectations for the results (it was, after all, a semi-pro team that made it through qualifying up against the defending world cup champions) - but had a really good time with the whole day - with the highlight for me walking around Lens ahead of the match and witnessing the complete overwhelming effect of the English fans who had descended upon this smaller French city. Many of the more industrious/entrepreneurial bar/cafe owners stocked up on Kronenboug kegs and plastic cups and charged premiums (we heard that the price of beer at one had doubled overnight from some England fans making a weekend of it) - we even saw pastry shops and a pr agency that had rolled out portable 'kegerators'... anywhere that beer was being poured was guaranteed to host an impromptu English party at least 40 strong and overflowing on to the streets.

The match itself was fun to see - with the Americans playing some inspired rugby in their first match and the English appearing a bit lethargic, or potentially looking ahead to their next match vs South Africa.

It was much closer than anticipated (the betting spread was +56 points at one point in the week prior for this match with the US at 5000-1 odds to win the whole thing)
(USA's first points on the board were from this kick:

- and then there was a break out chance for the US team to score a try - foiled by the English captain tripping the ball carrier (which ultimately resulted in his being suspended for two subsequent matches and also being left on the bench for his next eligible match - all of which was massive news here...)


At this vendor outside the stadium an Americain is a sausage in a long french bread bun and a bed of french fries all bunched together in a tin foil pouch...topped with a curry mayonnaise. I tasted and re-tasted it the rest of the day and return trip.

The end result was England 28, USA 10, and a fairly sombre England fan base (a match recap can be seen here)




Two other 'interesting' events:
- a young English kid (not even a teenager, Kevin Dillon) waiting outside the stadium saw a US flag on the ground took the opportunity to stomp aggressively/repeatedly on it - until he spied me and his friend asked me if I was from the US, to which I replied 'do you really feel that strongly about that?' and he shrugged no. In our time here I've noticed that people seem to like, or at least get on well with Americans, but also seem to really dislike the US now.

- our return train trip that evening had a transfer to the Eurostar in Lille, where I suppose the authorities were anticipating fan violence or hooliganism because we were forced to walk through a receiving line of police in full riot gear (including the plexiglass shields) that literally ran from the end of our train through the entire station and then to the one exit we were allowed to use that led over to the separate Eurostar station... that walkway also was spot-manned by machine gun bearing cops... we saw one guy ahead of us that did not understand where we were supposed to go rather roughly escorted back to our group

Funny and Scary

I dragged myself out on Saturday for my second to last long run prior to the race. 45 minutes in and feeling quite sorry for myself each painful step - and what do I spy....

600 people dressed in full, head-to-toe gorilla suits running in a race.

I ran for the next half an hour, against the tide of gorillas - carrying bananas, making gorilla sounds, wearing bikinis on top of their suits, and my favorite, carrying a Welsh flag.

I was laughing hysterically, and a wee bit frightened because of a childhood fear of people wearing masks. It turned my run around - and I finished still smiling. We'll definitely do this next year.

A great cause: The Great Gorilla Run: http://www.gorillas.org/GreatGorillaRun/

Venice - She said

Alright Rebekah, you asked for it.

I will try not to gush too much - but when, after multiple times of asking TJ, "where are you taking me?" "Come on, tell me, where are we going," and finally receiving the answer... "Ok- you want to know, Venice."

My smile lasted for days and my nagging stopped for at least a full day with that answer. (OK maybe one reminder to mail something, or pick something up - but it was small.)

There may not be a more romantic a birthday present than that! Last year was a weekend in Napa, at the Carneros Inn, private winery tours involving glasses of red while walking amongst the vines with a big "Jack Falstaff" character, and white on a porch of the wine maker's home, and a dinner at Chez Panisse. This year - VENICE!





TJ continually surprises me. Just when you think that maybe he hadn't planned anything - or maybe continual episodes of "Family Guy" have warped his sense of reality and romance...he goes and does something as fabulous as this.




The weekend was 4 days of walking, eating, drinking and laughing. Starting with the previously mentioned private boat trip from the airport...


quaint stops in squares, trying the local "spritz" shown above, lunch at Da Fiore, and perfectly timed with a local gondola festival.

We had a Bellini in Harry's Bar- supposedly where they invented it. It was the kind of bar where I imagined my Grandfather would have visited while on tour. Barman in a a bowtie and vest, beautiful marble bar - cast of characters mixed with a bit of elegance.

4 days of pure relaxation.


I am blessed - and not only for weekends in Venice, but to have found someone that makes me laugh every day, who is thoughtful and with whom I am seeing all of this.

OK - I know it's a little sappy - and I'll blame on Rebekah =) She asked.....

My immense set of pictures are here.

Recipe for Spritz to enjoy while you are perusing them:
-white wine
-campari
-mineral water
-lemon or orange

serve with some salty chips

Venice (TJ's version)

Venice was great -- and exceeded my expectations.

We went for Rachel's birthday in part because she had said before we moved over that Venice was a place she had always wnted to visit. I had always heard that it was too touristy, that the weather was iffy, the food was not that great, and that you should only go for two days (and to watch out for the high waters (acqua alta).

Not true across the board & I've never taken more pictures.

We had perfect weather, primarily stayed away from the touristy areas, had one particularly great meal (and several slices of very good, the kind you cannot find in San Francisco or London, pizza), and just tried to do what the locals do.

When we arrived at the airport I had prearranged a private water taxi to take us directly to our hotel... typically for Italy we then had to wait, with no one really telling us what was going on, for about 20 minutes before we were able to board a taxi, and shared it with a nice older English woman (it was supposed to be just our own - but that was ok... until the taxi driver did not know where our hotel was).
As a result we got a great tour up and back the Grand Canal - and then were let off somewhere in the vicinity of our hotel...

When researching hotels I made a point of trying to find one away from the main tourist spots... one in particular had great reviews - and was fully booked as a result when I first emailed them -- however they were just finishing up an 'annex' that they had purchased - right around the corner - but with a separate entrance. It was great - not overly 'posh' but new (on the inside - see photo at right - it is the two windows above the black door), and quiet, and it felt like we had our own little apartment there.

From there we just explored on foot. We covered all of the neighborhoods of Venice, and ended up knowing the geography fairly well, which is no small feat given the fact that it can take over 20 minutes to walk through the very narrow passageways and up and down the stairs innumerable times to cross the canals for what would take you five or less in a straight line.

The weather really added to the trip - we came upon scenes all day long, each day, that were just absolutely beautiful - and unlike anyplace I had ever been before.

The great meal we had was set up by Rach - she had read about the restaurant, and when we asked the guy at the hotel to book a table he said that you had to do so at least a month in advance because it was one of the 10 best restaurants in all of Italy... but not for lunch. This could not have turned out better, because at lunch it was busy, but not crazy, and we had a phenomenal table at the end of the restaurant right by a canal. The food was really, really good, and we were there for more than two hours, just enjoying each plate as it came out and the scene outside the window (at right) - and there were no 'socks and sandals' tourists at all except for the ones crossing over the bridge outside the window...just far enough away (but close enough to be in many of their pictures -- see the photo page for a couple of good examples of good outfits and the crowds of St Mark's).

While sitting there it dawned on me what was the most significant difference about Venice... it is really quiet. No cars, buses, motorbikes, sirens, etc.... it is all done via boat or foot... and moves at just that same pace.

The rest of the time we just wandered and found squares and ordered what the locals did, then watched to see which restaurants/pizzerias were popular and followed suit --- and risking too many photos / too long a post..... and 80 or so others are on this photo page

just after a wedding -- on the way to the reception

gondolas put away for the evening

venetian laundry

just a corner of san marco square

venice at night

mmmm.. sandwicesys...

Football

Well... some company called NetResults has requested that Google disable my previous youtube video of a English Premier League football match that was all of one minute and three seconds long... intended just to share the atmosphere of Emirates Stadium (and maybe encourage more people to follow the team) for copyright infringement. I'd understand if I had

A: rebroadcast the entire match or B: was profiting from it

but I did not, and am not - and it was captured with a small digital camera (and therefore grainy and the view is from a significant distance... and no goal was scored, just a corner kick and some brief play that really had little bearing on the result of the match.

Yep - they sent an email, and if I want to appeal I have to send my argument in writing to Google's ombudsman in Mountain View, which is just a pain - especially for a video that was just for family and friends to see that was, as previously mentioned, 63 seconds. NetResults is officially on my List. - Jerks.

So - I went to another match recently, where team A was playing a team with the initials M.C. from the north-west who was at the top of the league tables at the time (end of August) at a stadium named after a middle eastern airline (how's that?)...

It was a good, competitive match that should have had more goals than were scored for team A (including a missed penalty).

-- I again placed a few small bets and lost them all (the missed penalty played a role in this, and that player that missed was very close to making... but is not on the List)

- team A won and the home supporters were pleased.

I have two videos from this one... one from outside of the crowd filing down the street towards the stadium and a great guy selling the 'brand new issue of the gooner' (hopefully you can hear him on the audio).



The other is from... wait for it.. yep - inside the stadium. I again am hoping to share ambiance / feel of the game with family and friends -- which was absolutely great all match long (as you can see from these 49 seconds)



Photos:
inside E Stadium, pre-match:

a different view of the seats:

post-match pitch maintenance - there are just 4 guys doing this...

and the give away - and I know that there are copyrights on logos too - but this is a part of the stadium, on the steps between seats, and I thought it might be a cool photo... no malicious intent whatsoever...

London Proms

When Rachel first told me that she had purchased tickets for us to attend the a night of the London Proms I was a bit dubious (and concerned that some of the old dresses in purple, emerald, etc. that we used to have in the basement in San Francisco might have made a stealthy trip to London..)

It turns out that these events are billed as "The Worlds Greatest Classical Music Festival" (see here) - and do not involve any dj's or a bunch of kids dancing tight circles as one might think from the title...

The event we attended was the last performance of a series by the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra at Crystal Palace the 26th of August -- a park that we had not previously attended in South London (map here- the event was in front of the pond at the top).

We had a big day earlier - where I kind of suggested that we walk to the Tate Museum from our flat to see an exhibit that was due to end soon (which took maybe just slightly a bit longer than I had originally anticipated) and were considering not going to the Proms - but we were glad that we did make the effort to get the train south from Westminster.

Rachel had gotten the 'premier tickets', which provided reserved canvas beach chairs up front by the pond - providing great views of both the performers and the fireworks display at the end.
the looks I get here are great:



We were amazed by the size of the crowd, their enthusiasm, patriotism...

patriotism:


fireworks:

...and atmosphere that was more lively than we thought a philharmonic audience would provide. In all it was a great afternoon and evenign out, even when I suggested that we got off of the train a stop early to walk back through Battersea Park, which was just a bit too much -- but also gave us this view to end the day:

***EDITOR'S NOTE****
For the record, I never wore an emerald prom dress....to be precise, it was for the Junior prom, and was "electric blue" not purple. After all, it was Long Island in the late 80's. For the senior prom, I went with an understated white. Goodwill in San Francisco must have been quite surprised opening that bag of donations.

More from Israel - August trip

Despite disappointment from losing the videos I took with my camera... my friend Dave had his camera there and I have some of what we took from his... (see below for scenes from the Henna celebration and some of the band / dance floor)

plus -- I've had a chance now to upload all of the picture I took, which can be seen on the photo page here.

San Francisco- Home Sick

There are a few things I really, really miss about San Francisco....our good friends, day trips to Napa, our sweet home on Gates St.....but this, this brings back great memories. Reading this review today brought back the memories of discovering Bernal Heights, take out and calls to TJ, where we would be trying to figure out what to have for dinner and it would go a bit like this:

TJ: "pizza?"
Me: "No, it's not good for us."
TJ: "Goooood Frinkin' Chicken?"
Me: "Ask for a plain pita"

This place is Frinkin' good....and their mixed mediterannean plate with the Lamb Shwarma, pitta, hummus and a crisp lemony green salad was a staple of our diet. And the name always makes us smile.

Jen and Steve - it's worth the trip - and Pablo & Michael - it is right down the hill if you have not found it yet!

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2007/09/05/FDT5RSDTA.DTL