November Break 2013 - London

I can barely believe the November break has already come and gone. For those of you that followed this blog since the beginning, you know the November break has always brought bad luck for us, well mostly bad health luck for Kev. You can refresh your memory here and here. Good news on the November curse, no health problems during the trip! The trip was, however, dampened with a decent amount of rain, but that is expected in London! I was lucky to see a familiar face and a great friend from University because she and her husband had recently moved there for jobs.

In three full days touring London, I feel as if we just scratched the surface of the city. It is an absolutely massive city with so much to do. We probably wouldn't have seen nearly as much either, if we didn't have Megan and John to tour us about here and there.

In our short vacation to London, we did the following:

• Double-Decker Bus Tour
• Saw the main sights: Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, London Bridge, Tower Bridge, Picadilly Circus, etc.
• Saw the World's Longest Running Show: Agathe Christie's the Mousetrap. The play is a murder mystery on it's 60th Anniversary and I won't dare break the oath I took at the end by telling you "whodunit." The theatre (to us) was the epitome of an old theatre experience, uneven floors, steep staircases, uncomfortable seats, and full of charm! We loved it. Photos in the theatre were prohibited, but you can see a virtual tour of it here.
• Saw John's office for his new job
• Ate lots of pub food and pot pies. Whoever says English food is bland doesn't know what they're talking about. The English breakfast is killer, the pub burgers are way better than anything I've had in Germany, and the pot pie options are endless. Kev's favorite was the basic chicken pot pie and I enjoyed the mixed fish pie. Everything is served with mashed potatoes and mushy peas, of course!
• Kev and I decided we definitely aren't museum people after we strolled through the massive Victoria and Albert Museum. Beautiful though.
• Tasted a bunch of different beers on a mini-pub crawl with Meg and John. I swear there is a pub on every corner and at least two in between. Very few dance clubs, overload of pubs, also known as my heaven.
• Saw Notting Hill and the famous Portobello Market.
• Went to Regent Street for the famous "switching-on" of the Christmas Lights. Decided to avoid the crowds on the street and headed for a pub instead. The Christmas build-up is about 2 months long as the stores reap a massive percentage of their annual profits during this time. Makes sense when you don't have Thanksgiving to celebrate, I suppose!
• Mistakenly thought we saw Barbara Streisand at one of the pubs downtown. We sent the usually-willing John for a picture with her before we found out we were wrong. 
• Saw the London Eye and Tower Bridge at night, which was gorgeous all lit up.

That's about our trip in a nut-shell! I'll let the photos do the rest of the explaining.

Big Ben

Big Ben/London Eye

Westminster Abbey

Remembrance Weekend of both World Wars

One of the Oldest Churches in London

Pot Pies from the Pieminister Restaurant 

The famous Harrod's Department Store

Tower Bridge view standing on the London Bridge

Rest houses for the cab drivers

before the Remembrance Weekend parade

Notting Hill

Notting Hill

Old Cameras at the Portobello Market

Old boxing gloves at the Portobello Market

Meg sifting through the Portobello Market

Notting Hill

London Eye

Kev and I in front of Big Ben

Meg and I in front of Tower Bridge

The Date Jar

I came across the idea for "date night in a jar" more than a year ago and have been meaning to create it for us since. In a relationship, it's easy to get into a routine and get stuck doing what's comfortable. When it comes to spending time together, Kev and I try to mix it up as much as possible. But, it's easy to choose dinner at home and catching up on our latest shows over brainstorming something new and different to do.

In come the date jar! You can find the person who came up with this great idea here, and her's is much prettier than mine anyway. I never said I was crafty. All it takes is a jar, some big colored popsicle sticks (or big popsicle sticks and spray paint), a black pen/sharpie, and some creativity for date ideas. I was unable to find large popsicle sticks here in Hamburg, so I used mini-sticks. I was just happy to find popsicle sticks that were already colored.

Anyway, all you have to do then is write your date ideas on the different sticks. I consulted with the internet for some date ideas (here and here), brainstormed with Hamburg in mind, and Kev threw in a few ideas as well. I used four colors to differentiate our categories and stuck the purple sticks in to fill the jar more and separate the colors.

Green sticks are for dates that are more expensive than what we normally do or for dates that take some planning.
-Expensive Dinner out
-Local Sport Event
-Progressive Dinner (apps at one restaurant, main course at another, and dessert at another)
-Couple's Massage
-Day Trip - for us it could be to Lübeck or Bremen, for example

Red sticks are for daytime dates out of the house. Kev has short days (for the most part) so we are able to do things together in the afternoon at times.
-Lunch & Matinee movie (yes, we have one English movie theater in town!!)
-Hamburg Tourist Attraction we haven't done yet
-Coffee Date in Altona (our dream neighborhood to live in)
-Check out a Hamburg Museum
-Ice Cream & Coffee in Blankenese
-Thrift/Consignment store shopping

Yellow sticks represent evening dates out of the house.
-Dinner and a Movie
-Dessert and a Movie
-Tapas Dinner
-Bowling
-Beers at a pool/arcade hall
-Dessert-only Date (have you noticed how much we love dessert?)
-Groupon Date (find a restaurant deal on Groupon)

Orange sticks are for "dates" at home.
-Homemade pizzas & board/card games
-Fondue & a documentary
-Dessert & a movie - Kev's Pick
-Ice cream sundaes & a movie - my pick
-Takeout & board/card games
-Burgers and a "Bourne" movie (recreating our first date)
-Restaurant at Home
     *This blog has recipes that are copy-cats of many favorite restaurants from home, searchable by restaurant name. They have a couple of cookbooks as well. The founder has been seen on Fox News, NBC, ABC, and many other networks.*

Add a little tag with a color "key" on it, and you're all set! These are the activities we'll be up to in the next few weeks. :) Happy Friday!