The Week in Review

Another week is coming to an end. I'm off to Spain for a few days of skiing in Baqueira followed by a few days of catching up with friends in Madrid.

Last weekend, we toured around London on the motorcycle. We saw a protest against the Egyptian government in Trafalgar Square, crowds of tourists snapping pics of Buckingham Palace (the Queen wasn't home), and a long line of shoppers outside of a Hollister store (don't people have better things to do than line up to get in that place? It's not that good...).

We DID find a store we would have happily queued for hours for: Stanford's. It's a million vacation possibilities in one place, a travel book store filled with guides, destination fiction, memoirs, cook books, maps (oh, the maps!), notebooks, travel gadgets and all other things travel. There is even a little cafe where patrons can share tall tales of past trips and ideas for future ones. Originally, we had planned to browse around Covent Garden, but we ended up spending the entire morning at the bookshop! And we'll be going back soon.

A thing of beauty...

For Valentine's (thanks for the beautiful roses, Tall Guy!), we headed out to Earlsfield to try out a Korean restaurant, Cah-Chi. It was a long haul, even with the motorbike, but it was worth every freezing minute. Our Canada-loving Korean waiter explained the menu and helped us make some great dinner choices. My favourite was the bul-go-gi (thin slices of marinated sirloin barbecued right at the table, then wrapped up in lettuce with spring onions and pickled radish). Or maybe it was the yuk-hoi dol-sot bab (rice and veggies, raw beef and a raw egg yolk served in a sizzling hot stone bowl; you stir everything around and the beef and egg cook right there). Or maybe it was... you get the picture - it was all really GOOD!

This week I went to two yoga classes (I'm getting better!) and a flamenco class. The flamenco class is very "London". Here's why: the instructor is Brazilian and my classmates are Polish, Indian, Mexican, Irish and Bulgarian. Plus me, the Canadian. Plus ONE English woman. It's great. One weird thing is that I'm dancing "in English". It will take some getting used to... It seems that we will have performance opportunities, as a group or individually, this spring. Hooray!

Yesterday, Tall Guy and I had a lunchtime rendez-vous, and the sun came out while we were walking over London Bridge. What a great view of the city!

Looking toward Tower Bridge from London Bridge

Later on, I met up with a high school friend (Go Saints!) for an after work snack of beer and chips. We met at a pub called The Ship Tavern. It was very ship-like. Lots of dark wood, lantern lights, ropes, barrel-tables. It was a good place to sit down, have a good chat and people-watch. Another Canadian (actually, from the other London) told me one of her London must-dos is to have Sunday dinner at a pub. We're away this weekend, but watch for photos of beef  and Yorkshire puddings in the weeks to come.

Well folks, I'm off for a spin through the Natural History Museum, and maybe a steam in the sauna at the gym before I have to make my way to the airport. Keep it tall.