There are a few bugs to work out, but it’s open and ready. Ladies and Gentlemen, it is time to update your bookmarks, mcneilorama has moved. Our new address is: www.mcneilorama.com Aren’t we cool with a domain of our own? (Don’t get too excited, it looks exactly the same).

Yesterday tiffany and I went to our first premiership football game. We’d been talking about going to one since we arrived in England, but never got around to it until now. We got tickets to a game at Fulham, which was specifically chosen because the tickets are relatively easy to get.

We rode the tube to the stadium, and I was surprised at how orderly and quiet everyone was as they disembarked the train and made their way out of the station. I would have expected a more rowdy and boisterous crowd, but no, very quiet and calm. As we continued on to the stadium the crowed grew to a rather large steady stream of people and it was still quiet and orderly. Enthusiasm finally picked up as we walked past a few pubs and streams of people leaving the pub joined the now river of people heading to the stadium.

The game started out really well. Brian McBride (an American) scored the first goal for Fulham. Unfortunately for Fulham, after scoring McBride was on the ground with a dislocated knee. He was taken off on a stretcher, but let the crowd know he was okay by clapping along with fans as they cheered his name.

From there it went down hill. Middlesbrough scored an equalizer in the second half that was a result of sloppy defense and goal keeping. Then scored a go ahead goal, the second goal was more earned, but still should have been prevented. After lots of angry shouting by the fans, the mood quickly changed to elation when Fulham seemingly scored an equalizer. However the elation quickly turned to anger when everyone realized that the ref wasn’t counting the score. Tiffany and I were stunned. We thought it had surely gone in. And so did tens of thousands of spectators, the Fulham managers and the Fulham team, and they were all letting the ref know about it.

In the end Fulham lost, and there is nothing more annoying than disappointed, frustrated, angry and vocal football supporters. As a result, the game turned out to not be as fun as we’d hoped. We can check football game off our list of things to do, but I we should go to another game sometime. Though I think maybe we’ll go to a Chelsea game. They’re more likely to win.

After the game we read that replays showed the ball indeed crossed the line and the goal should have counted. Anyway, here’s a writeup of the game, and here’s a picture we took at the game.

Back in October (yes, nearly a year ago), we went on a cycling tour through Tuscany. We took about 400000000000000000 pictures of the trip, which is one of the reasons it took so long to route through them, select some favourites, and upload them, but I had a few days off the other week, and now we’re there.

The trip was absolutely wonderful. We woke up early and started cycling at about 8:30 every day, spent most of the day on our bikes exploring the Tuscan countryside, arrived at our next destination in the afternoon, showered, and headed out for some sightseeing and dinner, only to come home, sleep, and start over again. We went on a self-guided tour, which meant that the tour operator gave us directions at the beginning of the trip and sent us on our way. We had a quick introductory session at the first hotel, at which we were given a pack of information, a glass of champagne, and an extraordinarily ugly black hat with EUROBIKE written on the front in red.

That’s when we met the other self-guided tourists, who we later began to think of in an Amazing Race-type way. We imagined them cycling along with their names and a label on the screen beneath them, but since we didn’t know most of their names, we tended to stick with the labels:

French Canadian Foursome
Rather Bland Canadian Couple
Perky Australian Couple
Montana Man and his Swiss Wife
The Swiss Lesbians
. . . and us, who we later discovered (when the tour operator slipped and called us by our label) were known as “The Tall Americans.” Good to know we weren’t the only ones labeling people!

The cycling was actually pretty tough. Tuscany is beautiful, and it is also very hilly. We went about 30-35 miles each day, which is far on a flat surface and really far up and down hills. We tended to be the first ones out in the morning and the last ones to arrive in the afternoon. We didn’t cycle slowly – in fact we often passed people – but we managed to spend enough time cycling up and down side streets (mostly looking for wineries, olive groves, or any other consumable goods) that we lost that much time. One day we lost even more time:

At km 34.2, we went past a turn that would have been 0.5 km too early. We went another 1.5 km downhill, decided that it must have been our turn and went 1.5 km back UP the hill, only it turns out that it wasn’t our turn. We eventually discovered that we went wrong back at km 28.7 when “straight” meant “straighty-right,” and we took the wrong road. Using the map, we (we = Andy) found a shortcut, which was VERY steep, and we went back and forth up and down hills a bit, trying to figure out if the shortcut would get us to the right road or not. When we finally made it to the correct road (thanks to Andy’s skill and willingness to run down and back up hills to double-check), we learned that we lost about 12-15 km behind. We saw the tour organizer driving by shortly thereafter, and he stopped to ask if we were OK – good sign that we were WAY behind schedule. When we finally arrived at our destination (Greve), we found our fellow guided tourists enjoying a pint at the pub and laughing heartily at our rather long excursion. We had some gelato and suddenly felt all better. (Andy: Melone y Cappucino, Tiff: Caffe y Mousse di Chocolatta)

We actually ate an impressive amount of gelato while we were in Tuscany. That was our tenth gelato break, and we still had another day left. Here are a few more trip details, listed in relation to the gelato we consumed along the way:

1 – Day 1 – Montecatini – On the way from the train to our first hotel - Andy: Chocolate & Vanilla Cherry, Tiff: Chocolate

2 – Day 1 – Montecatini – After dinner – Andy: Frutti di Busco & Cookies, Tiff: Mint & Chocolate Chip (Straciatelli)

3 – Day 2 – Montecatini – After cycle to Vinci (as in Leonardo da) and a trip to the terme, where we “drinka dee water,” which is so cleansing that they have several hundred available toilets. Feeling suitably cleansed . . . – Andy: Strawberry & Chocolate, Tiff: Chocolate & Penna Cotta

4 – Day 3 – Pisa – After a stop in Lucca where we visited the tower with trees on top, between visiting the Cathedral in Pisa and walking along the river, we took lots of pictures of people doing Tai Chi , and we stopped for gelato – Andy: Chocolate & Caramel, Tiff: Chocolate & Coffee

5 – Day 3 – Pisa – After dinner, Andy realized he had ordered chocolate in some form every time and became determined to prove that he was not in a rut, and soooo. . . . – Andy: Pistachio & Licorice (EW!), Tiff: Fruitti di Busco & Straciatelli

6 – Day 4 – Casciana Terme – After a strenuous uphill battle and some time in the thermal pool, also good for healing, . . . Andy: Hazelnut & Teramisu, Tiff: Biscuttino & Cupido Chazelinutti (cookies and different cookies)

7 – Day 5 – San Gimignano – As soon as we arrived, because this was listed in our guidebook as a “world-renowned” gelateria – Andy: Orange chocolate & Tiramisu, Tiff: Chocolate & Tutto Frusco

8 – Day 5 – San Gimignano – Yes, it was THAT good – Andy: Mango & Strawberry & Vanilla Crème (3 scoops!), Tiff: Mint & Special random creamy flavor

9 – Day 6 – Siena – After a visit to the church of San Domenico and before the Palazzo Publico – Andy: Chocolatta & Caffe, Tiff: Kiwi & Vanilla

10 – Day 7 – Greve - You already know about 10.

11 – Day 8 – Florence – After the duomo and before the Iffuzi gallery, where we decided that churches and piazzas were better than art and a 90-minute wait, which were our two options – Andy: Biscotto & Cherry Vanilla, Tiff: Straciatella & Crème Caramel

12 – Day 8 – Florence – After we stumbled upon a random wine-tasting which was even more randomly showcasing Californian wines – We shared: Chocolatto, Stracciatella & Hazelnut and walked back along the river after a wonderful trip.

Here’s a quick taste of some of our funny experiences along the way:

We went to a concert in Montecatini – our first day in Italy. We arrived at about 4:30 for a 4:45 concert. The man looked at us like we were nuts and eventually said, “cinque, cinque media” – that’s 5, 5:30. So in Italy, concerts that start at 4:45 actually start ‘round about 5:30. The concert ended up being almost solely intended for people over the age of 70, several of whom were there looking at us like we were crazy. There was a fella playing piano and another fella singing – mostly Frank Sinatra – and then after about 45 minutes they invited a guy from the audience up. He looked like yoda, but MAN the old fella had pipes. He did some very impressive arias – especially for a random guy in the audience who we decided was perhaps not so random after all when - after much “oh no I couldn’t – it’s YOUR concert,” he brought his own sheet music up with him.

On one of our many side-trips to find wineries, we cycled into the back yard of a house / factory, where we found three old Italian men making wine! We took some pictures of them, which they found absolutely hilarious and perhaps a smidge embarrassing. The fat one held up a big plastic tube which was pouring wine into an enormous jug, and he said, “DA VINNNOOOO!!!!” which we loved because it just sounded so ITALIAN! Then they kept saying “AgritourISSMMMOOOOOoooooo,” which was also funny and obviously so strange to them.

One day we stopped in a random little restaurant for lunch, but we got there at about 11:45. We thought we would be too early, because lunch tended to start after noon and end at 2:00 in Tuscany (incidentally not all that convenient when one is – say – cycling through hills of farmland for most of the day). When we walked in, the young lady there started to explain to us in Italian that they didn’t have any hot food yet, when a voice from another room shouted “PASTA!” Our lady said, “y pasta? Pasta.” We said, “Pasta! OK!” and the deal was done. We also had some excellent wine, which was served in a big ceramic bowl with a ladle.

Looking back through my travel journal, I’m amazed at how much adventure we found along our way and at how much fun we always have. Here are some pictures – see for yourself!

On the 1st of July, London went smoke free!! Andy and I were very excited when the bars and restaurants in New York went smoke free, and NOW we get to do it all over again. It might be an even bigger difference here, where smoking is perhaps a bit more common.

Sunday was the first night of the smoking ban, and we obviously had to go out to celebrate. We went to the pub around the corner, which is a very snug little place that serves excellent food and is frequented by about a dozen very old, very intoxicated smoky men. We have been there many times in the past, but the one downfall was always that it can be very smoky in there.

It was wonderful. All of the old, drunk men were at the outside tables whining (or winging, to be a bit more English) about the smoking ban and smoking away, and we walked right on by to find a table inside. We stayed for about an hour, and we marveled at how much more we could SEE in there! For example, until Sunday, I had never noticed the back door. It’s probably about 15-20 feet away from where we were sitting, and yet the air had previously been so smoke-filled that I never noticed it. We’re wondering what the old, drunk men will do when it gets cold. Will they sit outside and freeze, sit inside and pop out every few minutes to freeze/smoke, or what? I guess we’ll find out. . .

THEN, on Tuesday, I had my leaving party for work. (Newsflash: I’m changing jobs) SO, I went to the best pub near my office with all of my colleagues. Normally, I tend not to go to other people’s leaving parties. If I do go, I tend to leave a bit earlier than most, because I get pretty uncomfortable after a while. I know it was my party, but still, I stayed happily to the end of the evening. It felt so much classier without all the mess and stinky headachiness that one normally finds in a pub. Wonderful, I say - just wonderful.

By the way, we are having the coldest, rainiest summer in the universe over here! England=skitso weather. The good news is that today is the first nice day we have had since about the 1st of June (NOTE: based on my perception only), so I plan to take advantage of it!

Yesterday was the first Saturday of Wimbledon, and as we had such a wonderful time last year, we decided to go again. We queued up at 7:45 for grounds admission tickets. Waiting in the Wimbledon queue is quite an experience. Some people camp out for up to two days to try for tickets to Centre Court and Court No.1 (grounds tickets don’t get you into those), and the rest of us show up and stand around for three hours hoping that we’ll make the cut.

The stewards, who tend to be little old men with matching outfits and hats, hand out queue cards with numbers on them, and a 7:45 arrival got us numbers 1877 and 1888, which is impressively high, considering that there are two queues. Compared to last year, though, it was a bit low, because last year was a beautiful, hot, sunny day, and this year was . . . well . . . not.

When I say that we waited in the queue for three hours, therefore, I mean that we waited in the queue IN THE RAIN for three hours. It didn’t rain the whole time or very hard - just off and on and usually lightly. It was an entertaining experience. We read a bit, had some snacks, listened and watched the hubbub of the folks selling newspapers with “FREE poncho, FREE raincoat, FREE tennis-ball-shaped binoculars.” Hmm . . . Perhaps most entertaining was the group of Australian (Kiwi perhaps?) revelers a few people behind us. There were about 12 of them, all loaded down with party kit, all inappropriately dressed for the occasion (they went a bit too summery and otherwise impractical), and all having a wonderful time. By the time we got to security, they had consumed 4 bottles of champagne (with the obligatory floating strawberries, of course), at least 3 of wine, and goodness knows what else, and they had befriended all of the stewards and vendors who came their way in the mean time. We’re not sure how long they could have lasted at that rate, but they sure had fun in the queue! Maybe they shouldn’t have bothered buying tickets - they could have just hung out nearby all day and had a grand old time!

Anyway, we did get grounds tickets, and we went straight to court 2, where Venus Williams was going to play the first match of the day. Court 2 has a standing room section for the peons like us to watch fairly big matches, and so we stood there - in the rain - until about 10:45, when the man from above announced that play would not start until at least noon.

So we stood there - in the rain - until 11:25, when the man from above announced that play would not start until at least 1230, but good news - looks like there’s a clear patch up ahead. The rain grew a bit more intermittent and we started to have hope. We stood there until about 1145, and then we decided that it was lunch time.

For lunch, we each had a slice of pizza and we shared a Cornish pasty. Then we went back up to court 2 standing room. At about 1:15, the grounds boy came out and started to deflate the court cover. People cheered! They deflated it until it lay flat on the court, when - after a few minutes - the rain picked up again. The grounds boy ran around and closed all the vents and filled that cover right back up. BOOOOooooo.

At about 2:00, with the rain stopped again, the grounds boy came out and started to deflate the cover. HOORAAAYYYY! (one guy near us kept cheering “YAY FOR US!” which we thought was funny) Then - miracle of miracles, they did the classic Wimbledon court reveal, which happens when the grounds boys and girls grab on to ropes and run across the court to role up the cover. AHA! The “yay for us” guy said, “I’ve FINALLY seen a tennis court at Wimbledon!”

One thing you don’t usually see when you’re watching Wimbledon on TV is that all of the covers on the grounds get unrolled at almost exactly the same time. It’s very impressive to look across the courts and see all of those people working so hard to maintain the courts and the Wimbledoniness of the event.

Unfortunately, it was not to be. After about 5 minutes of being uncovered, the straps went back out and the grounds boys and girls rolled that cover right back out. BOOOOOoooooo.

And there we stood. In the rain.

That’s when Andy and I realised that we had been standing in the rain since 7:45 that morning, and that really it was all we had done all day. It was actually pretty exhausting!

At 3:00, the cover got unrolled again. A lady came out to feel the grass (literally. she came out, felt the grass here, felt the grass there, and left), and the grounds boys and girls mopped up some rain with special tennis court maxi-pads (that’s what they looked like to us), and then the NET came out! WOOHOO!!! THEN we started to see ball boys and girls emerging from buildings below and heading off to other courts. Then OUR ball boys and girls came on the court, and they set up chairs and water fridges and such! Very exciting. Then the linespeople came out and all we were missing was the players.

We could see players walking out from between two of the buildings and toward their respective courts. A doubles team here, a singles player there, and so on, and then finally we saw Venus. We knew her by her legs. Holy MOLY that girl has legs. YAY FOR US indeed!

Venus and her opponent - a lady named Morigami from Japan, played some wonderful tennis. Venus won the first set 6-2 and was down 1-2 in the second set when it started to sprinkle. Then 1-3, still sprinkling. Then 1-4, and we see covers getting rolled out on other courts. Oh no. And the chair umpire called it. Watching those folks pack up the court was very impressive. The poor chair umpire got pushed off the court IN HIS CHAIR! HA! Venus had to hop over the cover as it rolled by her. GEESH! They almost unapologetically took out one of the World’s elite tennis players. WOW. Wimbledon=very important.

We decided that it was now officially strawberries & cream time. We were NOT the only ones to decide this, but with nowhere else to go, we waited in the queue. We each ordered TWO helpings and found our way to a bench (A SEAT at long last!) - in the rain - to eat them.

They were absolutely divine. Perhaps the best strawberries I have ever eaten. Even better than last year’s Wimbledon strawberries. It’s almost as if they shoot ‘em up with strawberry flavour.

We found a covered area and read for a while, and we decided that if it continued to rain until 6:00, we would call it a day. At 5:45, my bum hurt from sitting on the concrete wall, and we stopped in the shop before heading back to the tube - in the rain. We were happy to relax on the tube on the way back home, and when we got back, we went directly to the chippy. We walked back from the chippy - in the rain - and settled in for the night.

So at the end of the day, we still thought it was worth the price of admission and food for the experience, but we sure felt bad for the people who camped out the night before! As it turns out, they give refunds when there is less than an hour of play. We had 55 minutes, so looking back, we took the tube to Wimbledon for some pizza, a cornish pasty, some delicious strawberries and a nice long day standing in the rain.

They gave us some stickers . . .

And here are some pictures . . .

Originally, I was planning to just add the pictures and link directly without further comment, but when I was looking through the pictures and referring to my journal for more information, I got all excited again and thought I should write a few more things about our trip. I won’t chronicle the whole thing, but I want to at least make sense of the pictures for you.

On day one, we went to Prague Castle, and that’s where we first learned about defenestration. Yes, indeed. A word neither of us had heard previously and which has the wonderful and abundently useful meaning of “The act of being thrown out of a window.” In Prague, the nobles and such fell into the habit of defenstrating each other in various moments of glory, one of which ends in the defenestratee landing - through the intervention of good-humoured angels - safely in the heap of dung below. That started the 30 Years War.

Also in Prague Castle, we visited St. Vitus Cathedral. It had some of the most amazing stained glass we had ever seen before, and it also had budgers. What kind of person cuts in line to get into a CHURCH? Such is European travel, it would seem.

That night, due to some clever forward-thinking by Andy, we went to see Tosca at the State Opera. It was amazing. The singing was fablous, the hall was beautiful, and the spectacle was completely over-the-top and wonderful. We decided that we should go to the opera more often. Prague has a thriving and almost intrusive business around classical music concerts, and we did manage to find another one before we left; this one was Dvorak’s New World Symphony (we were in a Dvoraky mood after going to his museum, where we also decided that we would like to have a frescoed ceiling) and took place in the Municipal House, another gorgeously ornate building in town.

In the Old Town Square, there is an astronomical clock, which is very special because it does things. It is very old, and it indicates not just the time, but the date and some other things, too. More interestingly, it has all sorts of little folks on it that move around and doing interesting things when it strikes. The most interesting thing about the clock from our perspective, though, is the fact that whenever it strikes, people crowd around to watch it. They start showing up about 45 minutes early, and they stand on the street expectently to watch the clock do its thing. When we were there, the crowds literally filled the entire street and sidewalk for about a football field in length. When the clock does its thing, the people gasp and smile, talk to their friends, frantically take pictures, and then ultimately look a smidge disappointed, as the clock may be a bit overhyped. It’s interesting, but it might not be worth a 45-minute stand around. Anyway we stood under the clock and took pictures of people watching the clock, because we thought that was much more entertaining than the clock itself.

That’s all you need to know to make sense of the pictures I think, but also worth noting was a yummy confectionary that we managed to eat several times during our weekend away. It’s basically dough rapped around something that looks like a metal rolling pin. It spins around over a fire until it’s cooked, but more importantly, it is dipped in this wonderful cinammon, sugar, vanilla and walnut concoction that basically should be a larger part of all meals everywhere. DEEEElicious.

Enjoy the pictures!

On Saturday, I went in to work. I’m doing a fun project that I will present on Thursday and I needed to do some of the easy legwork on it, so I thought I would go in and sort it out so that it will be nice and ready-to-go on Monday.

When I go to work on the weekend (which is not very common - don’t fret), I often turn the TV on to one of the radio stations - sort of to keep me company while I work. (Yes, we have TV’s at work, and yes we have radio stations on TV). The radio station I prefer is BBC Radio 6 - mostly because they always play something different. A lot of the radio stations here are dominated by Top 10 Chart type music, and I just HATE hearing the same song over and over again. Anyway, Radio 6 is a bit cooler than I am, but not so much that it’s alienating.

While I was listening, they played this little game in which a pretend little girl (it’s obvious that they cut and paste her voice together) plays a song on her xylophone, and listeners have to guess what song it is. It was Ebony and Ivory, and since I knew it was Ebony and Ivory and I was sitting at my computer, I shot an email over (it was one of their options) to say

“Ebony and Ivory
- Tiffany”

and my phone number, just in case they needed to call me if I won. I have never done anything like that before. Well, the did say my name on the radio - one of the 8 or so people who got it right, but that was it. Incidentally, that was weird and I felt like such a loser, because what kind of person sits around getting in touch with radio stations on a Saturday.

ANYWAY, a few minutes later, I got a phone call. I figured it was Andy, because who else would call me at work on a Saturday?

“Hello?”
“Hi, Tiffany?”
“That’s me.”
“Hi this is Adam from Radio 6.”
“Oh hi” (surprised tone)
“We got your email for the xylophone thing, and we were wondering if you’d like to do the BINGO thing instead?”
“What is it again” (I had no idea, except they said something about it on air)
“Are you still at your computer?”
“Yes hold on” (as I go to their website)
“Basically just open up that BINGO card thing, and we play just like regular BINGO, except obviously you’ll win.”
“Um, yeah ok.”
“OK just hold the line we go on in 20 seconds.”

So I had a chat with the DJ on the phone and it was on air. We talked about me being from Pennsylvania and how - being American - I was a potential terrorist (no idea - I just went with it). Then we talked about why I was at work and how I was actually just down the street from them, and then I played BINGO, which I completely messed up because HERE, you have to get ALL the squares, not just a ROW. So I kept saying, “Things that would make a better olympic logo than that CRAP one BINGO!” (London came up with a crap logo - I AGREE, although I didn’t know at the time - and these were comedic ideas for a replacement) and he kept saying, “NO you don’t have it yet!” That happened twice, and then I said, “Oh wait, Do I have to get ALL of them?” “YES,” he said, and I laughed and said, “Oh then you’re absolutely right I don’t have it.”

So then eventually I won, and they said I won loads of random crap prizes, and asked me to hold on so they could get my address. When they picked up the phone, they asked if I could actually just swing by and pick them up, since I was less than two blocks away. I said sure, but can I get them in a little bit - I was busy. They said they’d call me after the show.

Then I called Andy and told him that I was on the radio - he said I should have called him - I said I was on the phone, and then he reminded me that not only do I have my cell phone, I was also sitting right next to several of my colleagues’ phones. Ah, yes. Should have called.

I thought this was all very silly, but then it got more rediculous.

They called me up again a few minutes later and said, “Tiffany?”
“Yes?”
“We were wondering if you’d like to come down and close the show out with us, since you’re right down the street? We thought that might be fun.”
“Um, I look ABsolutely TERRIBLE.”(I really did, too. Properly greasy and weekended up)
“That’s ok, it’s radio. You should see us.”
I thought for a moment. . .
“Yeah, OK - I’ll come down.”

This time I called Andy before I left - see, I learn . . .and down I went.

The lacky DJ met me downstairs and we went up to the 4th floor, where they said hello and shook my hand, told me to sit down, said “There’s some headphones,” put the mic in front of me, said, “stay about 2 or 3 inches away,” and then we were live.

“We’re here with Tiffany, who has taken a break from working down the street to come see us. HELLO Tiffany!”
“Hi!”
“I have to tell you, Tiffany, that we have loads of people texting and emailing us to say that you sound hot.”
“WHATever.”
“No seriously, this guy says he likes your voice.”
“I see, so you guys brought me down here with alterior motives.”
“No WE didn’t, it’s just these folks emailing us . . . ”

So then they went to give me my prizes and thought it would be fun to pile them up on me quickly and see how many I could hold on to. This included a stack of CDs, a paper cup, the rubbish bin (which was huge and which they DIDN’T let me keep), and so forth. They said they were saving on postage out of consideration for the license fee payers (if you have a TV, you have to pay for the BBC here). I said that was very thoughtful of them. There was some banter about my company, which they knew a bit about and were mildly derogatory towards, and then a bit more chat about my “fans,” and then that was pretty much it.

What a BIZARRE day! I love it when you wake up thinking your day will be one thing and then something entirely unexpected happens. Anyway, I’m obviously a huge star now. (Radio 6 is the tiniest little digital radio station in the universe)

Actually, it’s a shame this blog is just visual - it would be much sexier if I read it to you. Sorry - you’re missing out.

For those of you who don’t know, Simone is one of our dearest friends. She went to college with Tiff and then lived with her in NYC before departing on a world traveling adventure (girl LOVES an adventure). These days, she is busy being very smart and working on her PhD. Anyway, she came to see us a little while back, and HERE is her guest blog . . .

Three months have passed since I visited Tiffany and Andy in London (and since they asked if I would write a guest blog about my time with them). While I may not be prompt, I pride myself on being at least somewhat insightful and observant so here goes:

. . . Subway smells just as disgusting in London as it does in the states. Really. Tiffany doesn’t agree with me on this one, and I can just see her hovering in the doorway of one of the many Subway restaurants, breathing in the mingled scents of freshly baked bread and cleaning products just to remind her of the good ol’ USA. Seriously though, I was saddened to see so many Subways - they are everywhere! Why, when you could go to a pub or chippie, get anything you want on toast, or grab something from your neighborhood Waitrose market, would you ever choose to go to Subway? It baffles me. I must admit, at 5 am, as I was wandering to the bus stop to head to the airport for my weekend in Germany with the family, the smell of Subway did remind me of home and was, on some level, a comfort. Maybe Tiff isn’t totally crazy . . . well, never mind.

I had a wonderful time visiting and the McNeils were lovely hosts. We saw all the usual neighborhood and tourist sights but on a slightly different schedule than their other guests, I think. I was technically in London on a grant to do research for my dissertation at the archive of the National Portrait Gallery. It sounds horribly dull and boring when I write it out like that, and I myself thought I would be holed up in a basement somewhere digging through dusty boxes of paper. Actually the archive was recently renovated, thanks to her Majesty [I know this because there was a sign], and the interior is reminiscent of a beautiful old library, complete with wood paneling, tall stacks of books and huge windows. The atmosphere alone made being inside from 12-5 every day much more bearable.

My time at the Heinz Archive was incredibly productive and the staff was knowledgeable and always willing to help. If you suspect you are of British descent, have a portrait you need help identifying or just have a hankering to learn a bit more about those pesky Brits, I highly recommend a visit. Just watch out for the taxis barreling around a sharp curve on the one-way street that you have to cross to get in the door. I nearly perished in the name of art history on a daily basis.

Anyway, back to the schedule . . . I did my best to sightsee in the morning hours or directly after the archive closed. It is also closed on Mondays so I had two full days to explore London. Tiffany and Andy joined me when they could and in the evenings we either cooked a fabulous meal at their flat or went out in search of fine [and cheap] cuisine. I couldn’t have asked for a more perfect combination of time spent out and in, working, playing, sightseeing and relaxing.

Of course the highlight of my trip was reconnecting with dear old friends. Tiffany and Andy were such a large part of my life when I was living in New York, and staying with them for two weeks brought back all of those wonderful memories. Kermie and Toby have grown from rowdy kittens into quite lovely & refined cats (OK, maybe Kermie more than Toby) and Tiffany and Andy, while only marginally more respectable than before [kidding, of course], have settled nicely into married life and become quite the world travelers. Tiff pointed out that it was comforting for her to see me making my coffee every morning. Somehow, for her, that was an indicator that although years have passed, some things stay the same and can always be counted on. For me it was a feeling of total comfort from the instant I arrived that stayed with me through the entire two weeks. I had a fabulous time and am so grateful to my hosts and friends. Thank you and see you soon!

Simone might send some pictures if she gets a chance, but in the mean time, here’s a picture of Tiff & Simone on Primrose Hill . . .

Today I got a smidge of a lecture about not updating the blog. I didn’t worry too much about it, because life is too short, but then THINK how pleased I was when this happened and I thought, “well THAT’s blogworthy.”

I’ve been thinking about this for a while now. Today, when I left work, a man I don’t know left right behind me. I held the door for him, and he said, “Thanks.” I said, “Sure.”

All is normal.

Then, I went through the 2 doors that go to the stairway, and he went behind me. “Thanks.” “Yup.” “Thank you.” “No problem.”

Then we walked down the two flights of steps and out the two doors that lead back into the lobby. “Thankyou.” I go with a smile this time. “Cheers.” Another smile and a little giggle.

The door out to the security bit. “thanks.” “sure.”

And finally, we went through the door to outside. No “thanks” this time. So that was his limit. Six doors.

So this led me to a few thoughts. Firstly, I have seven doors between my desk and outside. I never thought about it before, but it suddenly seems a bit excessive. Secondly, what are the rules of multiple door-holding etiquette? Does the first “thank you” get the point across, or must one continue to ensure that your polite friend feels gratified for all of his noble duties?

Having given this some thought, I’ve decided that six, while perhaps admirable, is a little high. I certainly don’t think this guy is of especially noteworthy politeness due to his six thank yous. Maybe if he had gone for the seventh, I would have thought about it, but I don’t know.

I think that it starts to get a bit silly after two thank yous. So maybe you go for the first two, and then wait a couple, and then maybe do the last one or two. Or maybe you say thank you for the first one and then say to your friend, “Look I’m going to stop with the thank you’s now so that we don’t get uncomfortable, but please don’t think I’m any less grateful for the next six doors.”

Anyway, I’m glad that this fella thanked me for holding the doors for him, so six is definitely better than zero, but I’ll have to pay attention and think about this more carefully. I’ll let you know if I come up with any clear rules, but please comment if you have any experience in this matter.

And thanks for the blog nudge, lady.

A few months ago, when registering online for a lighting tradeshow I was feeling a little silly. When I got to the field where one is to enter one’s title, I went, well… a little overboard. Several months later, after having forgotten about the whole thing my registration packet arrived addressed to me using the title I entered. However, the mailroom accidentally put it in the mailbox of the girl who sits next to me. That day, as she was looking through her mail she cried, “Andrew McNeil, Supreme Commander, what’s this?” That of course got the attention of the entire office, so I proceeded to open it with everyone watching and pulled out my name badge for the trade show. Hilarity ensued…

Following my lead, everyone immediately started making big plans for next year. Titles like “pretty pretty princess” “heinous overlord” “international man of mystery” among others were discussed.

And yes, I did wear it to the show…