Notes on London trip

Ok, the last time I posted was ten weeks ago. Time for some updates.

I went to London in February.

The trip was so great. I didn’t expect the city to be as different as it was since Americans came from England, and because we all speak English. But honestly, sometimes I couldn’t even understand what people were saying! Usually that would happen when I would ask what beers they had on tap (they’re not always marked) and they would say all these unintelligible proper nouns over the din of the bar. I would just look at them with this total uncomprehending expression on my face. Then they would give me a sample.

I actually got into drinking beer at a warmer temperatures. And how I loved cider! Cider in America is often really sweet and barely alcoholic at all, so it makes me feel really full, bloated, and sober. The cider in England was stronger, really light and refreshing, and slightly more alcoholic (4-5% I think). It made a difference.

I loved the cabbies! I am so used to half the NYC cabbies having no idea where they’re going, that I am on edge every time I take a cab. On New Year’s Eve I was going home alone and the cabbie missed the exit off the FDR! It was so annoying! Or they just go the only way they know, which is longer, more expensive, and often involves lots of traffic. But the English cabbies have to take the “knowledge,” a test that takes years of studying, and know every single intersection. Even in the age of GPS, this is pretty helpful.

The Tower of London and Westminster Abbey were my favorite attractions. Westminster Abbey was surprisingly secular for a cathedral. They have pavestones dedicated to Isaac Netwon and Charles Darwin, who as I recall were not particularly embraced by most churches at the time. Also, all the kings and queens are buried there, so it feels more political than religious. It’s quite awe-inspiring to see where Queen Elizabeth is resting, Bloody Mary, Mary Queen of Scots, etc. And it’s where Kate Middleton was married. SO topical!

Some people say the Tower of London is really Disney, but it’s actually the real deal. All the towers and castles that I’ve seen up to the point were stealing from the Tower. I guess if I explore Europe more there will be plenty more (possibly more remote) castles to see, but this one is in the center of it all. What’s crazy about it is that there must be ten different styles of architecture. New styles were built onto old styles. It’s the equivalent of adding a split-level house to a classic colonial, then some modern building on top of that. Wow.

I loved the gastropubs. We had the most amazing meals—a “pumkin” soup that tasted so clean and vegetably, not creamy. On the other end, the most buttery “mash” you’ve ever known. Duck salad, leg of lamb, fish of chips with chunky, homemade tartar sauce. And lord, sticky toffee pudding. That stuff was tops.

English people love mushrooms and tomatoes. I ordered steak one night and it came with roasted tomato and the most delicious mushrooms. You get the same two sides with an English breakfast. Mmmm. We went out for Indian one night with E’s co-workers and they ordered mushroom rice as a side. It was just rice with mushrooms mixed in, but exactly my kind of thing. The English have some things figured out!

I feel like I’m a pretty good pedestrian. I can navigate myself all right in the West Village, the most confusing neighborhood in Manhattan. But no. Our skills were no match for London. The first night, we spent an hour and twenty minutes looking for a restaurant in our garden. We knew we were in the general vicinity, but every single road we turned onto was called some version of Onslow Gardens. We asked for directions from a few people, but no one knew where the place (Anglesa Arms) was. We asked this older man, then continued lost. After a moment, he actually chased us down with a copy of “London A to Z” and helped us look up the street. Even then, we saw the road name and some sign that said “opposite,” which we interpreted to mean the wrong thing. So we crossed the street again, and thank goodness we finally found the place and got the only table for two available. We had actually been just half a block from this restaurant! When we looked to turn left, the road was called Onslow Gardens, then it changed its name HALFWAY DOWN THE BLOCK. I wasn’t aware that you could change a road’s name when you are halfway down it. But you can in London!

London’s Tube is so much nicer than the NYC subway, too, though it closes at midnight. That’s a pretty big downside, but it also means they have much more time for maintenance and cleaning. All the trains have countdown clocks, which I am a huge fan of. And when the train is stopped on the tracks, they actually give you specific reasons for why it’s down. Like, someone pulled the emergency brake in the train ahead. We should be moving shortly. So sorry (all done in the most awesome British accent). They apologize for everything! In comparison, we get some computerized announcement or a vague reason. I like the specificity.

E is going back to London next week—so I’ll give him the extra pounds and pence I had left in my wallet.

Best Books of 2011

According to GoodReads, I read FORTY books this year! Woo-hoo. I think that's pretty good for a working girl with no summer and winter vacation--although, that being said, I read a lot more throughout the year now that I don't have hundreds of pages of school reading to do a week.

Some of my favorites

Non-fiction
#1 Unbroken. I gave this to my parents for Christmas. I have flashbacks of this book all the time.
#2 Shadow Divers - Scuba divers exploring an extremely dangerous, deep U-Boat wreck off the American coast.
Isaac's Storm - About a devastating hurricane in Galveston, Texas, that the fairly new National Weather service failed to predict.
What the Dog Saw - collection of Malcolm Gladwell essays


Best Fiction
#1 What Alice Forgot - Laura, I know you don't read fiction but you should read this. It's stunning and poignant and brought me to tears several times. And it describes relationships and life stages with such accuracy. If this weren't on such a girly subject it would be winning a lot more awards.
#2 Cutting for Stone - Took awhile to get into and only really got into it the second time I picked it up. But once you're involved, it is amazing. And there are NO other authors writing books like this right now - about Indian doctors working in Ethiopia in the '60s (at first) and the dictators and wars and struggles there. I love medical stuff and to hear a surgeon writing about this stuff not as a dry medical text but as a talented author? With the ability to talk about the emotions of the surgeon (fear, accomplishment, athletic prowess, grief, hope), the details of the operation? The human body described as only someone who has actually been inside the body can? Whoa, whoa, whoa.
The Namesake
The Hunger Games trilogy - LOVE!
Freedom
Room

Back from South of the Border!

E & I got back on Tuesday from Mexico. The trip was great! Like any of our trips, it had its ups and downs, but it was great to explore another area. Having been to Mexico before, the trip didn't feel as foreign as going to Costa Rica or Panama. However, the Yucatan region is great (except for the water...why can Costa Rica and Panama have clean water but the Yucatan fails so miserably when there is WAY more tourism in that area? Apparently the hotel zone in Cancun is okay but we didn't venture there). What I liked best (and why I really recommend the area!) is that it has all the awesomeness of a beach vacation along with cenotes, underground sinkhold caves, along with Mayan ruins. We also had some great snorkeling, which you don't really get on the Pacific side.

A few highlights:

Cabanas La Conchita in Tulum.

This hotel was amazing! I booked it last minute after our original reservation was cancelled because the hotel was subject to a land grab (shady titles are apparently the norm in the region). Miraculously, the BEST cabana was available, #1. It was the only one that had a full ocean view. We fell asleep to the sound of the waves every night underneath a mosquito net. It was wonderful! Electricity is also in short supply in the area (ours was solar-powered) so we only had power from 5pm-10pm. It was actually really cool to live that way! We would have a last swim right before the sun went down around 5, shower, then go get dinner. We would come back, look at the stars, then go to bed right around when the lights went out. Then at 6am or so, the light starts streaming in and you start to stir. Maybe by 7 you get out of bed, have a morning swim, relax, and then have the delicious, included breakfast at 8. I am NOT a morning person so it was really cool to see how naturally your body responds to the light and dark if you don't have electricity or TV to stimulate you after hours. We also stayed there during a new moon, so the stars were super bright. E brought out his Android and we used Google Sky to identify the constellations. It was magical. Nice, quiet beach.

We ended up changing our plans and coming back to the area for the last two nights. The water was exceptionally calm, eventually like glass. When we had been there before the waves were extremely strong, full of seaweed, and actually a bit intimidating. I went boogie boarding on this beach that was now wave-free! I liked being able to experience the different moods of the same ocean.

It ended up being really worth it to come back to the Cabanas (even though we didn't get as good of a cabin the second time) because sea turtles hatched! Even though it's past the season, the hotel manager had kept some nests in coolers waiting for them to hatch. Two nights in a row, we had people stand at the water with flashlights and released the turtles into the ocean. Feeling a little creature like that in my hands was so, so cool. I felt a little guilty because I have been so conditioned not to touch endangered species, etc., before realizing that in this case, I was the "handler," the person in charge of making sure the creature got into the ocean. Some of the turtles starting moving right away toward the ocean. Others were a little stunned and didn't move at all. I was really worried one of them was hurt but it turned out the little one just needed some time to adjust before he started swimming toward the water.

Back to the breakfast--I love fresh-squeezed orange juice, which was served every day at breakfast. All over Mexico, this is considered the norm, not a luxury. It is so delicious. It tastes clean, a little more watery, and it's so refreshing. OJ containers, in contrast, always have a slightly syrupy or more powerful flavor. Even fresh-squeezed in containers doesn't taste the same as Mexican OJ. Mmmm.

Ok, now more briefly:

COBA

My favorite Mayan ruin. More chill than Chichen Itza with some impressive, unrestored sights. We climbed a really high pyramid and biked to all the different sections of the ruins.

XAMACH DOS

In the Si'an Kaan biopreserve, this hotel was in the middle of nowhere. We befriended one guy who had been there a few times before and this really great family, since we were taking all our meals together. And I learned how to play Cribbage! Also, this family was just SO lovely--three gorgeous blond kids, and we celebrated the Mom's 40th birthday. On our last day, the boy comes over to me and I see he's walking with a limp. I say, 'Hey, guy, did you step on something? You okay?' Then his Dad, who's nearby, says 'You want to tell her, or me?' And this boy tells me that he had a stroke when he was in his mommy's belly and it affects how he walk and his eye. I was stunned and had no idea what to say, only that I didn't want to say what I was thinking, which was that he was brave and he's been through a lot. I was worried that it would turn into some patronizing statement when I've never had to deal with anything like that. Instead, I think I said, 'Wow,' and I don't know what else, just processing. And I told his Dad and him I had no idea, that this was the first I noticed. 'He's come a long way,' the Dad said, and that made me feel like I had at least made some kind of appropriate response. Then later tells me the Dad has colon cancer--he had finished chemo and that was part of the reason the family was taking a three-week vacation. It was crazy to see this family, perfect from the outside, was going through so much. It really blew me away.

We also went inland to Merida for a couple nights. We stayed in a lovely hotel but weren't such a big fan of the hot, crowded, diesel-fumed environment of the city. E says "no more Central American cities." We left a day early for Playa del Carmen, which is an hour south of Cancun and supposedly more "European." It was very, very touristy. There is a huge main pedestrian strip with tons of restaurants, bars, and shops, a few avenues away from the beach. It felt like San Diego or something--not Mexcio. E took issue with everyone being all dressed up, in heels etc. He prefers a more chill environment. We checked out and headed down to Tulum instead the next day. On the plus side, we ate breakfast at this French place and probably had the best almond croissant and "manzana tarte" in all of Mexico. After so much Mexican food that was a nice respite.

Another highlight was renting a car! Though it ended up being quite expensive because of all the insurance add-ons (80% of our cost was insurance!), it helped free us from the crowds and made sure we were on no one's schedule but our own. We also went to smaller, more out-of-the-way spots. E was a great driver! I hate the rules now about not letting anyone else drive unless you pay extra--I only drove in the biopreserve, partly so I wouldn't get carsick because the roads are filled with potholes--like it's actually the worst road I've ever been on.

I caught a cold on my way back and missed work Wednesday and Friday--now I'm leaving two Fridays from now for Seattle! Turns out I miss my work Christmas party, but oh well. I have stuff scheduled right now for seven out of the ten worknights (screenings, plays, parties, etc) and probably will end up doing something else too--CRAZY!! The end of the year is coming too fast now!

Favorite Things of Fall

• Weekend breakfasts on the balcony with a fleece on
• Unpasteurized pineapple orange ginger juice
• Bagels with lox
• Getting rid of things! I have a Salvation Army pick-up appointment set for a couple weeks from now, and I can't wait to de-clutter
• Cooking over the weekend! Yesterday we made yummy tacos for a couple friends who came over and a giant cheesecake (can't wait to try it!). Today I'm planning on making a butternut squash soup (with leftovers for work lunch) and cranberry nut bread with the first cranberries of the season
• When a DJ keeps on playing song after amazing song. I went out spur of the moment last night (after the tacos) and ended up in this scene-y kind of bar that was playing amazing Top 40 mixes. We're talking about mixing Miley Cyus' "Party in the USA" with Biggie, so the song went back and forth between the two for a few minutes. The DJs were so cute and had this little dance they did to a Lady Gaga song. Haven't had that much fun going out in awhile
• Having exciting things to look forward to! Including going to Chicago for my cousin's wedding, going to Vermont next weekend, and the Greenwich Village Halloween parade!
• "Boardwalk Empire" and Ken Burns' "Prohibition" (starting tonight). I think I may need to shell out for one of those pre-made flapper costumes this year.
• Going to see 9/11 memorial today with our state assemblyman.
• Happy, lazy weekends
• I asked for a raise at work, something I have been chickening out about doing for months
• Fall weather that's still warm enough to let you walk home late at night in bar attire without freezing, and not having to carry a heavy winter coat in with you to the bar
• Magazines! I am still having my love affair with "New Yorker," and was going through withdrawals when my magazine was four days late. Also "The Atlantic" and "Wired" are so smart and it's nice not to read everything online for once, especially because I don't like screens for any pre-bedtime reading. And again: so, so, so smart and interesting
• Mindy Kaling: read this. I can't wait to read her memoir when it comes out!
  
• My boyfriend!
  

Mountaineering Documentaries

Lately, I've been mentioning to people that I really like mountaineering documentaries. The response is usually a raised eyebrow and laughter. I guess it's a random thing to be enthused about. But it's true, I do. I love reading and watching anything about mountaineering.

I am an exceedingly cautious person. When I go on hikes, I'm always super slow because I have to make sure I have perfect footing before I proceed. I once cried while on top of one of those fake plastic rock climbing things--partly because I was so high up, partly because I couldn't make it to the top. I don't particularly care for heights. I do like scrambling around rocks and things, but again, caution rules the day.

Watching mountaineering documentaries fills me with adrenaline and awe. I totally understand their goal. Some people may think it's crazy to summit these peaks or try a crazier, never-done-before route, but I completely understand their motives. It feels like the most natural desire in the world. As George Mallory (who died on Everest in the 1920s, perhaps after climbing it, but no one knows for sure) said, in response to the question, "Why climb Everest?" "Because I can." We live in a world where every inch of the world has been explored, yet certain peaks and routes have only been conquered by a select few.

Climbing a mountain is about confronting death. When you're at extremely high altitudes, your body dies a little bit every single minute. Your brain does not receive enough oxygen. Your lungs can fill with fluid. You can die from cerebral edema. Your nose, fingers, and toes begin to freeze off. You're pushing your body into this zone where death is inevitable, yet some people escape unscathed. You're confronting your body's evolutionary limits. We're simply not designed to live that high up. On the same note, Nepalese sherpas do in fact have an adaptation that allows them to take in more oxygen at high altitudes, which is fairly new. That doesn't mean they don't die up there, but it's also a window into a place where genetics snap into focus. We are not all born the same. As people climb up Everest, they see dead bodies along the path. The conditions are so extreme, they simply can't be brought down and buried. Instead, they remain frozen mummies that will probably mystify those that find them millenia from now. Everything about life that is glorious and frightening and fragile and awe-inspiring exists when you are up on the mountain.

I wish I had that skill, that confidence. The lack of fear. But I don't. So I like to watch and read these stories and be in awe of these people's accomplishments.

My recent watches (both on Netflix Instant):
Touching the Void: It shows up on "Best Documentaries of all Time" lists. It chronicles a disastrous attempt of a pair to survive after one man breaks his leg while descending. His tale of survival is so incredibly powerful. One thing that really struck me was that he would set tiny goals for himself, like "you have twenty minutes to get to that ridge." I don't think he could have survived without that.
The Wildest Dream: Not as good, but about another Everest attempt interwoven with the story of George Mallory.

Discovery channel's Everest series. I watched this years ago and was utterly riveted
Into Thin Air by Jon Krakauer. This one sparked my interest. In fact, I want to read it again.

I'd love to write some kind of fictional short story about mountaineering, I love it so much, but they say write what you know and I definitely don't know anything more than a spectator about mountaineering!

CSA Update

For the second year, E & I are doing a CSA (community-supported agriculture). You pay $300 something upfront, and you get fresh fruit, organic vegetables, and cheese (extra) for twenty-something weeks. We were unhappy with how the first one was run, so we switched to the Grand St CSA. We were on the wait list for Grand St. last year, which so far has had more produce, and is closer and more convenient to our apartment. Not only do we have fruits this time, we also have CHEESE. Cheese! They also do one off things, too, so we recently came into a couple quarts of maple syrup that is seriously delicious.

This year we're actually getting vegetables every week (not every other week), which will help with the waste. E was on a business trip in Houston a couple weeks ago, leaving me to cook a head of swiss chard (I made stuffed shells) and eat more lettuce than I ever have in one week in my life--we got two heads of lettuce plus a bag of mixed greens. I hate most bottled salad dressings now that I've started making my own, so I've been making small batches of dressing (so easy, I swear). That way you can have a couple salads with one dressing then move one. I've made a couple viniagrettes, throwing in some fresh herbs, and I am a huge fan of my creamy greek dressing, which I will try to post here soon.

Other things we've done with our vegetables
1. Radishes "the French way, with butter and salt." Meh. I added a Ritz cracker to the mix, but I'm still not a huge radish person.
2. Radishes in fish tacos. Yum! The way radishes were meant to be: In small quantities
3. Swiss chard with caramelized onions in a calzone. So loved! We even figured out a way to cook the stems this time!
4. Salads with fruit, cheese, and nuts. These are the best.


5.Garlic Scape Dip. I actually kind of screwed up this recipe this time, after two times with great success last year. I used WAY more scapes than I should have (they were bigger than the ones from last year, and I just plain added more.) I'm going to buy some more white beans to try to save it from its aggressive garlickiness.
6. Rhubarb compote. We kind of roughly used this recipe, adding some frozen strawberries, mango nectar instead of orange juice, and just a tablespoon of sugar (we had less rhubarb). So yum.

E is flying to LA today for ANOTHER last-minute business trip. I like that he's all important at work and all, but I'm going to be so lonely!! And I'm going to have to eat all the vegetables!! My plan is for him to accrue enough frequent flyer miles to takes us somewhere awesome.

First it was 100 degrees, now it's 70 degrees

With the boyfriend out of town for a business trip and Phish, I had the apartment to myself for a week. Of course, he had to leave three hours after we returned home from a camping trip, so I had to unpack two coolers and cram this random food in our fridge, put away all the camping gear, stinky clothes, etc. I did all of this ASAP because I really like making the apartment super clean whenever he is gone. Then if there are dirty dishes in the sink I have no one to complain to but myself. I also like to bleach things into shiny whiteness. Yeah, that’s what I do when my boyfriend’s out of town. Clean & bleach!

I had a great weekend with lots of friend sightings. I feel like post-college, a lot of interacting is one-on-one meet ups for coffee, dinner, drinks, movies etc. Getting multiple people together for these activities is much more difficult, but ultimately more fun.

On Friday, one my friends hosted a wine & cheese tasting party. I brought 18-month-old beemster (try it! You’ll like it!) and 2-year-old cheddar. J and her boyfriend J made homemade mead and goat cheese, which was a lot of fun to try, especially with the cheese seasoned with herbs, sun-dried tomatoes, etc. As the night progressed, the wine somehow tasted better and better (imagine that). I liked that everyone contributed but it didn’t have a potluck feel to it, it was just everyone introducing something that they really liked and wanted to share. A great party idea! And I have some new wines to try.

Saturday night I went out with four friends, both close and acquaintances. We went to a comedy show for SketchFestNYC, which was terrible. But the show cost no more than a glass of nice wine, so whatever. We all had a sense of humor about the lack of humor. Before and after the show we had some great conversations. We ended up talking a lot about next life stages, like marriage, how would you balance work and having children, and how male anatomy is so weird. I didn't drink too much, but did notice I wasn't walking completely straight as I made my way home. And I discovered a new drink, the French Martini. It’s Chambord, pineapple juice, and vodka. Not too sweet and I like it way better than a cosmo, which I rarely order. I actually have some Chambord at home so I think now I will have to use it more.

I also tried to work out a decent amount this weekend. I had a personal training appointment (included as part of a gym deal) and I asked her to measure my body fat with the caliper test at the end. The results were depressing. I still don’t know if I believe they’re true. Don’t they need to be adjusted for my height/frame etc? I’m in denial! It’s frustrating because I am active, but the trainer made references about “getting back into shape” etc. She could have said that just because I had recently joined the gym, but I felt that also reflected her judgment of my performance. In truth, I COULD do everything she asked me too (minus collapsing after holding plank), so I shouldn’t beat myself up too much. I can definitely run more to get that intense cardio, and I also think I will be hitting free weights more frequently, and working towards holding a plank for a minute to protect my back. But I feel kind of fatalistic. I do weigh myself pretty regularly and track it in Google Calendar. I’ve done that since 2006, and my weight has remained remarkably stable. That includes times I sat on my ass all the time and other times that I was really working on staying active and watching what I ate. Of course, the scale can't distinguish between fat and muscle, and there have been times my body was more tight than others, but it still pretty much weighed the same. I find it hard to believe that I could lose 20 pounds (still a normal weight for my height), or even be able to maintain a 10 pound loss. I certainly never have been able to even get to that point before.

What I am proud of is that I bike/walk to work, which makes me automatically more active than a lot of people. Any exercise on top of that just makes me feel that much better. I’m also proud that I can eat whatever I want without guilt-tripping myself. That used to be a big thing. I don’t binge eat anymore. Once I got to three or four cookies, it used to just be a shame spiral, and I would go crazy, but sweets just don’t have that effect on my anymore. I wonder about that sometimes. Do sweets just not taste that good anymore? I think they don’t provide as much emotional satisfaction as they used to. I don’t feel like I have more self-control, I just feel that sweets don’t taste overwhelmingly good anymore. There are certain things that I still have trouble controlling my intake of, mainly homemade cookies, but even then I don’t overindulge to an insane amount. That makes me really happy. So why haven’t the numbers on the scale gone down?

Sunday I played tennis with one of Eric’s friends that I play with regularly. We’re a good match. He’s just slightly better than me. For tennis, you want to be with someone who hits just a little bit harder than you, so you can slam it right back at them. I was sore from the day before, but my forehand was kicking butt. I think the arm weights helped with that, another reason for me to lift more regularly. Maybe I’ll buy some free weights for home. I’m annoyed because New York City parks DOUBLED the price to play tennis this year. It used to be $7 per person for one hour of tennis. Now it’s $15—so $30 for two people to play for an hour. Really? I try to think to myself, that’s just the price of a yoga class, and it’s good for you, but it still makes me grumpy. I mean, this is the city parks. Aren’t they supposed to be super affordable for regular folk?

This weekend I’m looking forward to hanging out in the city with my boyfriend and making pancakes. Yeah! I’m also planning on working on writing short fiction, and even submitting it to be published. I’ve been inspired by a friend and I think it’s time I dip my toe into some unfamiliar waters.