Plants, Photos, Petroffs

The couple days following the trip were hard. For a couple reasons - I was jet lagged and had my timezones screwed up was the first reason but the second was a 25% RIF that happened at work. It wasn't just the fact that my closest friends at work were impacted but these were people that have gotten me settled over the past four years and also helped me raise my babies at work. If it weren't for some, I don't know how I would have even brought them! To put it as pc and frank as possible... it totally sucked. And I'm not sure when it will be okay or better.

As a complete, planned distraction, we headed to Dickinson for the Grady's 9 month pictures. It was a beautiful twofold situation. We got to spend a little time with the Petroffs besides taking the photos. We dropped E off to play with Alice and Shantelle (while Rick worked on the house) and headed up to Jess's studio. Pictures went very well - he was interested and happy and mobil - WAY better than E's 9 month pics, where she cried almost the entire time. Afterward we all went to JD BBQ for lunch - the girls had been playing well and it continued through lunch. Grady was wiped out from pics and napped almost the entire meal.

The rest of memorial weekend was pretty lowkey - which was well needed. We planted and potted and played outside. We were a little late getting the garden in compared to previous years but with all the "help" we had this year and the trip, it was no wonder.

 

Memorial Day was a pretty lazy day - we hung out in pajamas and took things pretty slow. The weather was finally beautiful and the kids were in great moods.

England day 7: Set breakfast, elderflower, driving

Our final morning in England. SAD.

Matt's goal was to have a traditional English breakfast so we set out to a little place I had found - the Regency Café. This was Matt's favorite place of the trip. After getting swore at in proper English - we headed inside and stood in line. There was this sweet thin lady, who was the most efficient machine I've ever seen, taking orders. The menu was simple and as she took your order, she prepared your beverages and you took them to your seat. We ordered the "set breakfast" which comes with a choice of beans or tomatoes. We got one of each and Matt added black pudding to his with a glass of black currant squash. To make the squash, she added a half inch of liquid to a glass and then filled the glass with water - I was skeptical of this watered-down concoction but I'll admit, I'd get it again in a heartbeat.

So there we sat, taking in the morning routines - and suddenly the sweet little stick of a women bellowed out in a voice that couldn't have been her's, "SET BREAKFAST, TOMMOT TOES (because the English don't say the A in tomato)." I was in amazement watching her sort and order each meal but to listen to her bellow finalized meals made me giggle. It was a total experience and we hadn't even had our meal. And when the breakfast came it was not disappointing. It was all so good that is, until I looked up what black pudding was a few days later... blood sausage!

We headed home - packed up our Paddington Bears for the kids, said good bye to our room, and met the Pinkertons at Victoria station. While we were waiting I managed to snag a Lemon and Elderflower cupcake at a little shop in the terminal - which is something I had been dying to have - those flavors were the official cake of Harry and Meghan's wedding.

It was bittersweet to get on the plane... I wasn't ready to leave but I was missing the kids fierce. Michele had been good about facetime and while we were gone, it was the first time Eleanor said "I love you, Mommy."

I attempted to stay awake for most of the flight as an attempt to get back on schedule. We got into Minneapolis on time, made it through customs, grabbed the pick-up from Pinkerton's, ate supper and got on the road about 5ish. The drive sucked and I didn't even drive it. We got home a little before midnight. Grady was up at 1:30 or 2ish - sure I missed him but I could have waited until 7 to see him! We had E in our bed the next morning too... she had woken from a bad dream and the comfort and cuddling was sweet.

We gave them their Paddingtons the next day along with some of the trinkets we had found for them.

It was an amazing trip and my only regrets are not researching more in the front and not staying longer. Matt and I spent the next couple days watching the wedding morning coverage shows. The sheer volume of people continue to take our breath away despite remembering the lines and crowds. It stops my chest to think of being there, a part of history that the world watched and will point at again. Call me a romantic, call me an Anglophile, call me silly - it was a once in a lifetime trip that I will hold in my memory for quite some time.

England Day 6: Elderflower cider, moldy bleu cheese

Monday started a bit slow... we were tired from partying and I had two huge blisters on the bottom of my feet that I popped open. So we were a bit behind schedule when we got to Victoria station, Grabbed a toasty and a Nutella croissant and headed for our tour bus. Now this was a hard thing to stomach coming up - the bus was working around traffic, which was incredibly slow and painful and to top it off, our tour bus driver was on his second day of the job - he wasn't prepared to ad lib and kept telling us things 10 minutes ahead of us while we waited to catch up.

Finally, after disappointment and traffic, we got off and headed by foot to Borough Market - which is what we'd been trying to get to for the past day and a half but kept having a bad run. It was food vendor and artisans all over - so fun. We grabbed a meat pie right away - a moondog with mash and gravy. Great starter. From there we took in the produce and sights and I did a hard force on a stall of mussels in a crème sauce. While I held down a spot, Matt went to a baker and bought a crusted bread. We also stopped for Matt to grab a pretzel and I grabbed a German cheesecake, which is dense and delicious. The other amazing part was taking in the samples - I liked the paella but Matt and I both liked the French cheese booth. We actually bought some peppered cheese to bring home and some cheese jelly - apricot. Matt was giddy though when she gave him a sample of the 6 month old moldy bleu cheese that was growing and fuzzy. I think she could have stolen him away from me... if she promised him cheese and cheese jelly.

Pinkertons joined us and we kept the sampling and sharing going...We shared an Ethiopian combination plate - chicken, beef, mashed lentil beans, and stewed cabbage. The guys got distracted by Scotch eggs and pigs on sticks and us girls found a French stand selling macaroons and meringues. Before we left we had the award winning fish and chips - they had received the highest award in competition so we couldn't resist. They were good - battered and crispy and light. I will admit, I can do with out malt vinegar and I like the thin McDonald American fries but I like good fish.

 

We left there, walked the Tower Bridge and headed to St. Katherine's Dock - which is a quiet closed booth market with shops. It was okay - we stopped at a Spanish place, We had an amazing strawberry lime cider and an assortment of pickles. The service was snooty and it didn't make for us to want to stay long. We split up as Matt wanted to take a Thames tour. It had gotten a bit hot/humid so we stopped for ice cream before hoping aboard.

The tour guide on the water was great - a real showman, cheeky and quick. He gave some historical information as well as some modern fun added in. We headed to the hotel and met up with Pinkertons for dinner at a Thai place just down the road from the hotel. Matt had the green curry and I had the seafood fried rice. From there we started on our pub crawl that we'd left off the night before. My favorite pub may have been the Queen's Arms - big tables, farm house feel but best of all - they had an elderflower cider cask that was wonderful. I'm ready for that to hop the pond. We finished out the night at the Warwick - cute and had the seasonal flora and fauna displayed, which I wish would be picked up too.

Headed home:
ALR: you know I could live here.
MJR: You know, if we lived here, we wouldn't drink in pubs with Pinkertons every night.
ALR: spoil sport.

England, Day 5: Meeting up with the Pinkertons

We woke up at 8 - that's only 15 hours of sleep!
We said good bye to our AirBnB and headed off to London. On the platform in Maidenhead, Matt was lucky that I was willing to share a chicken and mushroom pasty with him. We came into Paddington station, where we picked up bears for the kids - E loves the "BEAR" movie. We headed to our hotel and dropped off our stuff before grabbing a quick bite at this terrible gastro eatery close to the hotel. We both wanted quick sandwiches and some bruschetta. The food was amazing but the service made me hate them! Matt had a spicy salami and I had a goat cheese and vegetable.

From there, we headed off - to meet the Pinkertons. The beautiful thing about when your friends are pilots, it's easy for them to accept your invitations to jet off across the world for a couple of days. Matt and I were so excited to have them in London for our last couple days to share the experience. We met at a cute pub and each had a pint while we caught up. From there, we went to the Tower of London, they went to tour the Tower Bridge.

I was excited to show the Tower to Matt - it's a rich piece of English history between the crown jewels, the Beef Eaters, the torture, the traitors, the ravens - it admits that there is an ugly past that looms in the shadow but celebrates it
still the same. I went on my last trip and can remember the jewels and the ravens but this time we took a Beefeater tour - which gave more detail and some of the lesser known facts. We also toured the torture room. One addition since I've been there is the sculptures of the animals. The Tower used to serve as the zoo, holding all the gifted animals to the monarch. An artist has constructed replicas of the animals to remember their place - I was excited to see them.

We met back up with Pinkertons...took our first British Cab back to the hotel. After officially checking into our quaint little room - we headed out for supper at the Marques of Westminster. This was one of my favorite meals - Brits take Sunday meal seriously and it's usually heavy and traditional. We started off with scotch eggs, I had the pork belly, Matt, John, and Allison had the ribeye roast in a
gravy with celeriac fries. Each meal had yorkshire pudding and my meal also came with pigs in a blanket and bubble and squeak, which I had been wanting to try. We shared a sticky toffee pudding with ice cream afterward. The atmosphere was everything that you'd expect in a pub, the service was amazing, and I'd go back in a heart beat.

From there we went to Cask. Matt and I had tried to go earlier - but they weren't open.This was the first time we'd really experienced a cask beer - which really celebrates the warm temperature. They had a large menu to which we attempted to sample as much as possible.

Allison: Oh that looks good!
ALR: Matt, can you get us a sample?
MJR walks off.
Allison: You can do that?
ALR: Yes - most places are okay with that.
John: No - you can tell Matt to just bring us a sample?
ALR: Yes.
8 samples and 1 amused bartender later.
John: I'll have this one.
MJR: That's the only one you haven't sampled.
John: But that's the one that I wanted from the start.
MJR: What are you two having?
Allison and Amanda: the cider.
MJR: You didn't sample that either.
ALR: We always knew that's what we were going to get. 

After Cask closed at 11:30, we struggled to find a pub to keep the conversation going. This was not easy - even in the middle of London. We finally gave up and headed to John and Allison's hotel lobby bar. We gave up the fight at 1:00 and all headed to bed.

While looking for a bar
homeless lady walks up to Matt and I: Can you help me, I just need a few pounds. I'm not on drugs, I was kicked out of my house...
MJR: Do you know where the pub that's open is.
homeless lady breaks her own sentence, pointing: It's just north of those doors.
MJR grabs ALR's hand: okay, thanks!
Heads off
ALR: Why did she think YOU are approachable?