Our friend from Hitachi, David Han, who also house sat for us when we were in India, is in London this week. One of his primary goals is to see Wimbledon while he is here. We agreed a couple of months ago that we would go with him on opening day, the 26th, to see the matches. After doing a ton of research online as to tickets, locations and times, we talked to him last night to agree to a plan. We found out that the matches were to begin at noon, and that we would need to get there early to get a grounds pass to get in. We could have camped out all night to get a seat in center court, but Erin and I agreed a grounds pass would suffice. David, of course didn't want to miss a moment and wanted us to meet him at 7am at the gates to wait in line. We agreed that we would meet him...some time after 9am. Three hours in line is enough devotion for us.
We went to bed, excited about the idea of Wimbledon the next day. Suddenly, the phone is ringing, and ringing, and ringing...by the time we realized that the sky wasn't falling we missed the phone. I went got my cell phone, assuming it was David and saw that there were two missed calls. One at 6:15 and one at 6:16. Only the ringing phone was the house phone, not the cell...make that one more missed call at 6:17. It was now 6:18 and I called David back. He informed us that it was raining and likely to rain all day. But that we should still try to go regardless. I said that sounded good...thanks for the update... and we'd call him back in "a couple of hours" after finishing sleeping. He asked what we were doing because he was bored....at 6:18 am. Afterall he had already gone for a run and needed something to do. He said he wasn't feeling any jet lag effects either after arriving yesterday afternoon. I hung up on him and went back to sleep.
Finally we got in touch with David around 9 (apparently he fell asleep again...ha!). We agreed that we should try to go to Wimbledon, because it wasn't raining as hard anymore. So Erin and I put our shorts (her skirt) and flip-flops on. Rain be damned! As we walked to the tube, there was no rain, just umbrellas in our shorts pockets. We may be getting lucky...The four of us, with David's friend Stephanie, made it out to Wimbledon after a brief 30 minute tube ride. We walked the mile from the tube and realized we missed the queue for the non ticket holders and began our walk back up the road. We found the queue and realized there wasn't actually a queue, only a security stop. We were in.
Quickly we were able to find seats at court 19 and watched the beginning of a match. It was 4 to 4 and 30 minutes in, when play was suspended. At first the warning on the PA said 1 to 2 hours. So we walked around. Eventually we found the practice courts and were able to watch Maria Hotapova, er, Sharapova take practice swings with her coach. I even was able to get my picture taken with her. Pictures coming as soon as I find the cable to connect my camera to the computer.
Following that we went to get autographs as even the practice courts were closed due to rain. As the players went to the locker room we were able to watch Leyton Hewitt, Rafael Nadal, and a few other people we had no clue who they were walk by. We just weren't quick enough to get autographs. We did get a couple though. One we had no idea who it was, the other from Andy Murray, a young Brit.
We then spent about 45 minutes waiting in line for Wimbledon gear, then went for our requisite strawberries and cream....all while still waiting out the rain. We were so excited for the strawberries and cream at Wimbledon, that it took us until about half way through eating to realize, while shivering in wet shorts, that they are very overrated. Then the PA came back on and said play was likely to resume in another couple of hours...it was almost 4 already. We threw away the remaining cream, popped open the new Wimbledon umbrella and got on the bus back home. We'll look like grizzled veterans when we return in a few days with Wimbledon hats, tshirts and umbrellas....and jeans.
Overall it was exceptionally cool and we can't wait to try to go again. We will try to go one more day this week and possibly next week when Andy and Jen are in town. Grounds passes are a mere 17 pounds...really pretty cheap for a day of entertainment in London.
Monday, June 26, 2006
Isle of Wight
I'm suddenly on a roll with updates to the blog. I finally remembered to take my camera around to a couple of events we did this weekend, so it must get the blog juices flowing.
First, we went to the Isle of Wight this weekend. The IOW, as it is known apparently, is a small island off of the southern coast of England. Erin and I went with our friend from work, Honor Smith, the Director of Operations for Hitachi Consulting Europe. The trip involved a 1.5 hour train ride from London to Portsmouth, followed by a 15 minute ferry ride to Ryde on the Isle. We were able to find a nice little hotel in the coastal town of Shanklin. From the ferry we were able to take a "train" to Shanklin. The train was actually a retired London subway car. We were only there for about 24 hours, so we didn't do a ton while we were there. We did, however, have a fabulous meal at The Essex in Godshill. It was a small unassuming restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Not sure what type of food you would call it, maybe European Continental, but it was something to write home about (which is what I'm doing). Apparently Erin and Honor had this chocolate dessert that Erin actually had a dream about that night.
On Sunday we went to Queen Victoria's summer house, Osbourne House. It was a beautiful house on about 3oo acres with a great view of the sea. The most amazing room in the house was an "Indian" room that was a recreation of an Indian palace. It was intricately carved and decorated and very much reminded us of our time in India.
We were also able to watch the England-Ecuador match at a pub in Ryde before heading back to London. Another great chance to learn english chants and cheers as Beckham's penalty shot won the game.
We all really enjoyed the Isle of Wight and would recommend it to anyone.
Ted
First, we went to the Isle of Wight this weekend. The IOW, as it is known apparently, is a small island off of the southern coast of England. Erin and I went with our friend from work, Honor Smith, the Director of Operations for Hitachi Consulting Europe. The trip involved a 1.5 hour train ride from London to Portsmouth, followed by a 15 minute ferry ride to Ryde on the Isle. We were able to find a nice little hotel in the coastal town of Shanklin. From the ferry we were able to take a "train" to Shanklin. The train was actually a retired London subway car. We were only there for about 24 hours, so we didn't do a ton while we were there. We did, however, have a fabulous meal at The Essex in Godshill. It was a small unassuming restaurant in the middle of nowhere. Not sure what type of food you would call it, maybe European Continental, but it was something to write home about (which is what I'm doing). Apparently Erin and Honor had this chocolate dessert that Erin actually had a dream about that night.
On Sunday we went to Queen Victoria's summer house, Osbourne House. It was a beautiful house on about 3oo acres with a great view of the sea. The most amazing room in the house was an "Indian" room that was a recreation of an Indian palace. It was intricately carved and decorated and very much reminded us of our time in India.
We were also able to watch the England-Ecuador match at a pub in Ryde before heading back to London. Another great chance to learn english chants and cheers as Beckham's penalty shot won the game.
We all really enjoyed the Isle of Wight and would recommend it to anyone.
Ted
Saturday, June 24, 2006
Contact Info
I've heard people don't know how to contact us. Here is the summary
Address:
12 Bathurst Mews
London, W2 2SB, UK
Home Phone:
+44 (0) 207 262 3508
Ted Cell:
+44 (0) 794 603 2676
Erin Cell
+44 (0) 794 036 7337
Note on phone numbers: the + is for what you dial to get out of the country, from the US to UK it is 011, from the UK it is 00. The zero in paranthesis is only for if you are in the country. For those of you calling us from the US, don't dial the zero in parenthesis. If you come to visit and are calling from a local phone, do dial it.
Other fun note is my cool phone here. I finally broke down and bought a pda type of phone. I got the T-Mobile MDA Vario. It is so cool and fun to use. I can now check my email from anywhere. It is WiFi enabled too so it is free to use in our house or office with the WiFi, but there is a phone option for the web. It also has this cool slide out keyboard. Here's a picture for you to enjoy as well....I know, dorky, but why not...
Erin will get a cool phone soon too now that we've finally gotten a bill with her name spelled correctly so that she can get on the bank account and therefore get a phone.
Address:
12 Bathurst Mews
London, W2 2SB, UK
Home Phone:
+44 (0) 207 262 3508
Ted Cell:
+44 (0) 794 603 2676
Erin Cell
+44 (0) 794 036 7337
Note on phone numbers: the + is for what you dial to get out of the country, from the US to UK it is 011, from the UK it is 00. The zero in paranthesis is only for if you are in the country. For those of you calling us from the US, don't dial the zero in parenthesis. If you come to visit and are calling from a local phone, do dial it.
Other fun note is my cool phone here. I finally broke down and bought a pda type of phone. I got the T-Mobile MDA Vario. It is so cool and fun to use. I can now check my email from anywhere. It is WiFi enabled too so it is free to use in our house or office with the WiFi, but there is a phone option for the web. It also has this cool slide out keyboard. Here's a picture for you to enjoy as well....I know, dorky, but why not...
Erin will get a cool phone soon too now that we've finally gotten a bill with her name spelled correctly so that she can get on the bank account and therefore get a phone.
London Photos
In order to speed the rate of posts, I'm going for shorter, more targeted posts.
Fun Pictures from London
Leanne, Ted and Erin at Eddie's summer tropics party
Tara and Erin clowning in the phone booth
Erin, Ted, Tara and Sam in Chinatown
Lunch with Crystal in Camden Town, photo by Tamra
Fun Pictures from London
Leanne, Ted and Erin at Eddie's summer tropics party
Tara and Erin clowning in the phone booth
Erin, Ted, Tara and Sam in Chinatown
Lunch with Crystal in Camden Town, photo by Tamra
Friday, June 23, 2006
Work - Life Balance
Now that we’ve figured out banking and the grocery store, it’s time to figure out the consulting world. This update is on what our work life is like and what we’re working on.
First of all, Hitachi Consulting hired a few people in London to start an office about a month before we arrived. There are currently three VPs in London driving work in the Public sector (government – big here) and financial services. These three VPs and one senior manager were most recently with Unisys in London. In addition to these three VPs, the COO of Hitachi Consulting Europe and the director of Operations are also based in London. Then there are the three of us from Seattle.
Now that you know the players, the ballfield is another story. According to Charles, the managing VP, most people in London work from home. Since office space is so expensive, we don’t have a big space to house everybody. We do, however, have an office in “The City” which is the financial district of London. Since we are very much in start-up mode, we are renting what used to be a library for a law firm. Inside this library, there are shelves on all the walls but with no books anymore. In the middle is one big conference room table. Since the general theory remains that you can work at home when necessary, it’s hard to predict how many people will be in the office. Some days there are two of us. Other days it’s 12 and no one can concentrate. It’s fun listening to the different types of conversations people are having about their particular problem. Not often do you get the chance to hear the COO talk to the CFO about their meeting with the CEO. That is A.OK.
The other reason that there is a loose office policy is that most people live outside of London because it is too expensive. One of the people in our office lives near Bath, which is about a 2-3 hour train ride away. He makes the commute a few days a week. The real kicker for him is the fact that the fare is about $125 a day. Must be a good deal on rent out there to justify it.
As for work, Erin and I are primarily focused on Microsoft. Thankfully for me, we are also trying to expand the Business Intelligence practice here, which is my specialty. I’ve been lending a hand where I can. My two recent interesting activities were to help complete some due diligence on a potential acquisition and help on a proposal for the government of Northern Ireland.
All of the logistics aside, while it is fun to be in London, it is stressful being in more of a pure business development role. There is certainly far more pressure on making sure we make a sale. While the job is similar to what we would be doing in Seattle, all of the Seattle support systems are around the world. While people there help all they can, we still need to figure it out, have the conversations and close the deals. Erin and I firmly believe we are doing all of the right things, and know that it will take time, but we’re still nervous because of the trust that people in Seattle have put in us, not to mention the expense of letting us be here. It will be a lot better when we can report more on the money coming in than the money going out. It will also be a lot easier to enjoy the experience.
Thank goodness for quiz night at the pub to relax and forget for a little while. We’re also looking forward to the summer tourist season. We’re taking Monday off and going to Wimbledon with David Han from Seattle. Nothing more relaxing than strawberries and cream on the grass of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (or something like that).
First of all, Hitachi Consulting hired a few people in London to start an office about a month before we arrived. There are currently three VPs in London driving work in the Public sector (government – big here) and financial services. These three VPs and one senior manager were most recently with Unisys in London. In addition to these three VPs, the COO of Hitachi Consulting Europe and the director of Operations are also based in London. Then there are the three of us from Seattle.
Now that you know the players, the ballfield is another story. According to Charles, the managing VP, most people in London work from home. Since office space is so expensive, we don’t have a big space to house everybody. We do, however, have an office in “The City” which is the financial district of London. Since we are very much in start-up mode, we are renting what used to be a library for a law firm. Inside this library, there are shelves on all the walls but with no books anymore. In the middle is one big conference room table. Since the general theory remains that you can work at home when necessary, it’s hard to predict how many people will be in the office. Some days there are two of us. Other days it’s 12 and no one can concentrate. It’s fun listening to the different types of conversations people are having about their particular problem. Not often do you get the chance to hear the COO talk to the CFO about their meeting with the CEO. That is A.OK.
The other reason that there is a loose office policy is that most people live outside of London because it is too expensive. One of the people in our office lives near Bath, which is about a 2-3 hour train ride away. He makes the commute a few days a week. The real kicker for him is the fact that the fare is about $125 a day. Must be a good deal on rent out there to justify it.
As for work, Erin and I are primarily focused on Microsoft. Thankfully for me, we are also trying to expand the Business Intelligence practice here, which is my specialty. I’ve been lending a hand where I can. My two recent interesting activities were to help complete some due diligence on a potential acquisition and help on a proposal for the government of Northern Ireland.
All of the logistics aside, while it is fun to be in London, it is stressful being in more of a pure business development role. There is certainly far more pressure on making sure we make a sale. While the job is similar to what we would be doing in Seattle, all of the Seattle support systems are around the world. While people there help all they can, we still need to figure it out, have the conversations and close the deals. Erin and I firmly believe we are doing all of the right things, and know that it will take time, but we’re still nervous because of the trust that people in Seattle have put in us, not to mention the expense of letting us be here. It will be a lot better when we can report more on the money coming in than the money going out. It will also be a lot easier to enjoy the experience.
Thank goodness for quiz night at the pub to relax and forget for a little while. We’re also looking forward to the summer tourist season. We’re taking Monday off and going to Wimbledon with David Han from Seattle. Nothing more relaxing than strawberries and cream on the grass of the All England Lawn and Tennis Club (or something like that).
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Meredith in Paris
We've started the weekend trips off in style with a weekend to Paris for the long bank holiday (no Memorial day here, but the Brits were kind enough to have a bank holiday, not sure why though) this past weekend.
We loaded on the Eurostar train on Friday afternoon. We were very lucky to be able to stay in a flat owned by a friend of Erin's who was out of town for the weekend. Two times I've made it to Paris now and both times stayed in someone else's apartment while they were out of town. It's great because there is more money then to spend on wine and foie gras, which we certainly did enjoy.
Our plan was quite simple - eat, drink and shop...not necessarily in that order for Erin. She had the greenlight to do lots of shopping after winning some extra cash at work for all of her hard work getting us here.
A friend from Hitachi, Meredith, was also in Paris and we hung out all weekend. Lucky because not only was she fun, but she provided ample opportunities for us to laugh, if not at her, very near by. To start, on Friday night we had plans to go to a party with Erin's friend. We gave Meredith detailed instructions to our neighborhood from her hotel via the Metro. After waiting over drinks, we decided to eat dinner when she still didn't show up. Finally as our meal just arrived, so did Meredith. Apparently it was a long journey. Her order of duck confit arrived shortly after I finished mine. In true Corbett fashion, I was eyeing her plate and couldn't understand why she was eating so slowly. Then she stood up real fast and ran for the bathroom...She must have had too much fun on her recent trip to South Africa. Oh, and I enjoyed the second helping of duck.
On Saturday, Erin, Delphine and Meredith took off on a long day of shopping, while I walked all over Paris. Erin did indeed live up to reputation and brought in quite a haul. As for me, I wandered around Paris. In most places, I have a great internal compass, but apparently, like me, it doesn't speak French. I did enjoy a nice, meandering walk to find the Eiffel tower. Who would have thought you couldn't see it from everywhere.
Saturday night we all went to Delphine, Christophe and Viktor's (Erin's friend from living in Paris in high school) house for dinner. So great to eat dinner in a real french household. How can it be bad when you start off with Port and then move into a steak dish with a big piece of foie gras on top with a yummy sauce and wine. It was fantastic. It was also great to see Christophe's work, as he is a cartoonist who is soon to have his first book published in the US. (you can see some of his work here http://www.bulledair.com/blain/). Of course Meredith was tired from the night before, so she showed us how to fall asleep during dinner. And we thought Meredith was supposed to be fun.
On Sunday, Meredith, Erin and I went to the local market near our apartment (per our original plan Meredith was staying with us now too to save $ for shopping herself). After looking at all kinds of great food, we decided to shop for a picnic for later in the afternoon. We bought so much food that we wound up having about three picnics around town throughout the day. We had three kinds of pate, two cheeses, fruit, bread, olives, some fancy feta dip (I guess that's three cheeses), and of course, wine. We had our first picnic outside Notre Dame and our second, with champagne (Meredith's favorite) outside the Louvre. It was extremely decadent and a ton of fun. Always great to travel with someone who loves food as much as we do. Plus, she was so embarassed by her performances on Friday and Saturday that she had to prove how much fun she was. So we had a great Sunday night wine/foie gras crawl through Paris. It was indeed fun.
Meredith added one more bit of excitement on Monday morning when Erin went to see why she hadn't gotten up yet for her early flight to London. She found out that her alarm, which was our cell phone that I set...oops, was set for an hour later. She should have plenty of time, except that she realized when she woke up that she left her passport in the room safe of the hotel she was staying in on Friday night. After a chaotic race to get ready and catch a cab, she missed her flight...fortunately for her she was able to get on a later flight.
We returned to London on Monday along with Meredith as she was making one more stop here. We got to spend a couple of more nights with her, including one night at quiz night at the local pub. It was a great time...though we came in around 10th...out of 13. We need a brit on our team in the future. We had five people from Seattle. One of our new friends is a neighbor, Eddie, who is from Seattle and is the marketing director for Cranium (one of our favorite games). In a small world, he brought a friend who was visiting from Seattle, who works with our friend from Denver, Patrick Combs....or as she called him, Dr. P Diddy. We had a good team name though, "Seattle: Where the weather is better".
We'll get pictures posted soon.
Thanks for the fun Meredith.
Ted
We loaded on the Eurostar train on Friday afternoon. We were very lucky to be able to stay in a flat owned by a friend of Erin's who was out of town for the weekend. Two times I've made it to Paris now and both times stayed in someone else's apartment while they were out of town. It's great because there is more money then to spend on wine and foie gras, which we certainly did enjoy.
Our plan was quite simple - eat, drink and shop...not necessarily in that order for Erin. She had the greenlight to do lots of shopping after winning some extra cash at work for all of her hard work getting us here.
A friend from Hitachi, Meredith, was also in Paris and we hung out all weekend. Lucky because not only was she fun, but she provided ample opportunities for us to laugh, if not at her, very near by. To start, on Friday night we had plans to go to a party with Erin's friend. We gave Meredith detailed instructions to our neighborhood from her hotel via the Metro. After waiting over drinks, we decided to eat dinner when she still didn't show up. Finally as our meal just arrived, so did Meredith. Apparently it was a long journey. Her order of duck confit arrived shortly after I finished mine. In true Corbett fashion, I was eyeing her plate and couldn't understand why she was eating so slowly. Then she stood up real fast and ran for the bathroom...She must have had too much fun on her recent trip to South Africa. Oh, and I enjoyed the second helping of duck.
On Saturday, Erin, Delphine and Meredith took off on a long day of shopping, while I walked all over Paris. Erin did indeed live up to reputation and brought in quite a haul. As for me, I wandered around Paris. In most places, I have a great internal compass, but apparently, like me, it doesn't speak French. I did enjoy a nice, meandering walk to find the Eiffel tower. Who would have thought you couldn't see it from everywhere.
Saturday night we all went to Delphine, Christophe and Viktor's (Erin's friend from living in Paris in high school) house for dinner. So great to eat dinner in a real french household. How can it be bad when you start off with Port and then move into a steak dish with a big piece of foie gras on top with a yummy sauce and wine. It was fantastic. It was also great to see Christophe's work, as he is a cartoonist who is soon to have his first book published in the US. (you can see some of his work here http://www.bulledair.com/blain/). Of course Meredith was tired from the night before, so she showed us how to fall asleep during dinner. And we thought Meredith was supposed to be fun.
On Sunday, Meredith, Erin and I went to the local market near our apartment (per our original plan Meredith was staying with us now too to save $ for shopping herself). After looking at all kinds of great food, we decided to shop for a picnic for later in the afternoon. We bought so much food that we wound up having about three picnics around town throughout the day. We had three kinds of pate, two cheeses, fruit, bread, olives, some fancy feta dip (I guess that's three cheeses), and of course, wine. We had our first picnic outside Notre Dame and our second, with champagne (Meredith's favorite) outside the Louvre. It was extremely decadent and a ton of fun. Always great to travel with someone who loves food as much as we do. Plus, she was so embarassed by her performances on Friday and Saturday that she had to prove how much fun she was. So we had a great Sunday night wine/foie gras crawl through Paris. It was indeed fun.
Meredith added one more bit of excitement on Monday morning when Erin went to see why she hadn't gotten up yet for her early flight to London. She found out that her alarm, which was our cell phone that I set...oops, was set for an hour later. She should have plenty of time, except that she realized when she woke up that she left her passport in the room safe of the hotel she was staying in on Friday night. After a chaotic race to get ready and catch a cab, she missed her flight...fortunately for her she was able to get on a later flight.
We returned to London on Monday along with Meredith as she was making one more stop here. We got to spend a couple of more nights with her, including one night at quiz night at the local pub. It was a great time...though we came in around 10th...out of 13. We need a brit on our team in the future. We had five people from Seattle. One of our new friends is a neighbor, Eddie, who is from Seattle and is the marketing director for Cranium (one of our favorite games). In a small world, he brought a friend who was visiting from Seattle, who works with our friend from Denver, Patrick Combs....or as she called him, Dr. P Diddy. We had a good team name though, "Seattle: Where the weather is better".
We'll get pictures posted soon.
Thanks for the fun Meredith.
Ted
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
The wind in my face...
Sorry for the delayed update, I've been trying to think of wity things to say, but that might prevent another update. Things are still going well. We've had a horrific week of rain and cold though. We even had to turn the heat on yesterday.
We've also had our first visitor. Ian Stakiw, a former colleague of ours from Arthur Andersen and Hitachi was finishing up a month long tour of Europe and stayed with us. I think he liked the accomodations because he came for a night and stayed for four. He was a big fan of the new espresso machine.
It has been interesting moving to a foreign country, but not in any one really big way, but rather in a million small ones. Differences and challenges we've found to date:
We've also had our first visitor. Ian Stakiw, a former colleague of ours from Arthur Andersen and Hitachi was finishing up a month long tour of Europe and stayed with us. I think he liked the accomodations because he came for a night and stayed for four. He was a big fan of the new espresso machine.
It has been interesting moving to a foreign country, but not in any one really big way, but rather in a million small ones. Differences and challenges we've found to date:
- Dress for work - Suits. It became pretty clear pretty early that my look isn't going to work in London for long. In my never ending effort at conforming I went out and bought a sport coat, started wearing a tie and shaved my beard. I feel so much more British now...
- Money. Many challenges in this department. First is the simple fact that the exchange rate is not in our favor. The prices are really the same on the face; a $3 latte is 3 pounds. The problem is that 1 pound is approaching $2. So everything is really double. Fortunately uncle Hitachi helps us there, but it is still a shock when a movie is close to $20...each.
The other challenge with money is just how hard it is to pay for things. For example, one of our early goals was to get a cell phone. The problem is that in order to have a cell phone, you need to pay with a direct debit from your bank. To get a bank account, you require a utility bill (with your name spelled correctly, which apparently takes an extra ten days), to get a utility bill you need a lease, and for a lease you need money. Fortunately, we again had the help of uncle Hitachi here. Without their help, it would be near impossible to sign a lease unless you have the amount for a deposit and rent in advance in cash. Of course a landlord wouldn't take cash so you'd have to write a check....but you can't get an account. Fortunately, we now have an account...just no pin number, so we can't use it...that takes a few more days. - Television - as most know we love television, so we had to go buy one. Only we can't take a TV home with us because it is a different signal and voltage. So we decided to buy a "cheap" one. It's cool and widescreen though. Now we find that if we own a tv, we have to buy a TV license to pay for the BBC and other channels, a mere 130 pounds a year. But we trying to find a loophole. We've recently discovered the beauty of downloading US tv shows from iTunes and learned how to play them on our new TV. Plus, we've signed up for the NetFlix equivalent. Now we wonder if we can avoid the TV license...but who are we kidding, we'll probably get the license anyway. But, at least we still have The Apprentice, Top Chef and Desperate Housewives. Heaven forbid we actually see London while we're here.
- Electrical supplies - everything needs to be replaced since new electronics are cheaper than buying voltage converters....see money above.
- Sayings are different too. I don't have much problem understanding english accents, I just don't understand the words they are using. Not that they're particularly challenging, but it just takes another minute of looking at them like a dumb American.
- Lunch time, and work hours in general - The day generally starts later, around 9ish, and ends later around 6:30 or 7 and lunch is at 1. I've found that my lunch hunger is triggered by the clock as much as anything and that hour between 12 and 1 waiting for lunch is finally getting easier.
- Transportation - public transportation is fantastic. I've really enjoyed not having a car. The only problems are carrying groceries and other large purchases home. We actually walked a mile carrying our new espresso machine. Of course most places deliver, but we haven't figure all of that out yet. The other problem relates again to money. Apparently taxis are more expensive at night. A short 4 to 5 mile cab ride late on Saturday night was a mere 30 pounds....$60. We're looking into night bus options now.
I'm sure there are a million other things that are escaping me now, but I wanted to get another post up. We're going to Paris this weekend for the long weekend, a delayed birthday present for Erin. I have no doubt that it will be a blast.
We're also planning all the trips we want to take while we're here, along with all of the people who are planning to come visit. The next confirmed visitors are brother Andy and his girlfriend Jen the first week of July and David Han from Hitachi who is coming for Wimbledon around the same time, but staying mostly with another friend of his.
Hope everyone is well. More soon.
Ted
Monday, May 08, 2006
Our Flat
Finally some pictures of our new apartment. We engaged in a frantic weekend of unpacking and buying things we forgot we would need, or need just because we're in London. Most of them are electronics. Since the place is still largely a disaster area, we've limited the pictures to the areas that are relatively presentable - like the outside. We'll add more later as we continue to settle in.
First is a picture of the outside of the flat. Really does look like a converted stable.
Next are two pictures of the Mew we live on. You can see our green doorways in both of them. Just a mere three doors down is an actual stable. There is a working stable/riding school in our Mew for Hyde park. Most days we see about 20 horses out and about. It may be a stinky summer of horse poo....but quaint right?
Now for the inside. The first is of the downstairs. It is one long room with the big barn doors on one end down to the kitchen on the other end.
There are two sofas, a huge table and a bathroom under the stairs.
Then there is the upstairs.
Just above the barn doors is an open room with two doors that open onto the Mew. This picture was taken from that room down the hallway to the two bedrooms and bathroom. The highlight is the giant skylight over the stairs. There are also skylights in both the bathroom and second bedroom. The upstairs is flooded in light. It's great.
We'll send more pictures as we get more set-up.
Ted
First is a picture of the outside of the flat. Really does look like a converted stable.
Next are two pictures of the Mew we live on. You can see our green doorways in both of them. Just a mere three doors down is an actual stable. There is a working stable/riding school in our Mew for Hyde park. Most days we see about 20 horses out and about. It may be a stinky summer of horse poo....but quaint right?
Now for the inside. The first is of the downstairs. It is one long room with the big barn doors on one end down to the kitchen on the other end.
There are two sofas, a huge table and a bathroom under the stairs.Then there is the upstairs.
Just above the barn doors is an open room with two doors that open onto the Mew. This picture was taken from that room down the hallway to the two bedrooms and bathroom. The highlight is the giant skylight over the stairs. There are also skylights in both the bathroom and second bedroom. The upstairs is flooded in light. It's great.We'll send more pictures as we get more set-up.
Ted
Wednesday, May 03, 2006
Mmm Iberian meat products
We had a great time touring around Spain. Our trip was through Andalusia which is in southern Spain.
Day 1, 2 - Malaga
We flew into Malaga, a Mediterranean seaside town. Since we were so busy getting ready to get out of town and look for an apartment in London, we only had a general plan for Spain, but had made no reservations at any hotels. We were lucky to find a nice hotel in the center of town. The first night in Spain we went out for dinner at about 10pm and I think we were early. As everyone knows, Tapas are a fantastic way to eat. We lived almost entirely on the assortment of Iberian meats (chorizo, procuitto-like serrano ham, etc), wine and sangria.
Day two, we shopped. Apparently a lot of shoes are made in Spain -- we looked at a lot of shoes. Erin became a complete shopaholic in Spain beginning in Malaga.
Following shopping we loaded up the rental car and started driving toward our next seaside destination of Nerja. We had a bit of a hard time figuring out the roads and directions, especially since neither of us speak spanish. But we were on the road. In one town along the way we were driving slowly through a parking lot looking for a bathroom. Suddenly Erin shrieked "lookout...LOOKOUT!" and out of nothing a kid on a bike shot out between two cars right in front of us. Fortunately, we stopped in time, but it was one of the closest calls I've ever had. Needless to say I was a little unnerved as we got back on the road. As I was driving slowly down a small road about 20 minutes later. Just starting to get more comfortable after the near miss and was looking at the sites and suddenly SLAM. I looked around and realized I didn't hit anyone, nothing in front of us. Look in my rear view mirror and as soon as I saw the car that hit us, we felt another SLAM. I couldn't believe it, we were being rammed. We pulled over to the side and the driver pulled up next to us and started screaming at us in Spanish. The driver was very drunk, and apparently we weren't going fast enough so he slammed into us like bumper cars to get us moving. We were completely shocked and didn't know what to do. Fortunately there were some people on the street who looked as shocked as we did. As we got out of the car to inspect the damage, he thankfully sped off. There wasn't much damage, just a dented bumper if you looked closely. We decided to forget about it because of our terrible spanish and decided to move on. I was getting nervous about our decision to rent a car and drive through Spain. Most of the rest of the trip was uneventful, except for after the third night when I went to get the car and found out someone had hit our car in the parking lot and put a three inch ding near the front tire. We'll find out how good the insurance on Diners Club is soon I guess.
Back to vacation. We spent three nights on a horribly uncomfortable bed at a stunningly beautiful town called Nerja. Our hotel was on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. The first day the whether was hot and fantastic and we got our share of sun. The next few days were cooler, but great and we were able to wander all over the small town and down on the beach.
Days 5, 6 - Granada
Drove north to the town of Granada, site of the Alhambra. The Alhambra was an amazing fortress built about a thousand years ago. It is quite famous and we were lucky to be able to see it. Words can't really do the Alhambra justice, so here's a picture of me looking at enjoying some spanish wine.
Day 7 - Cordoba
Cordoba is former Roman town founded in 152 BC. It was amazing to see Roman ruins, including a bridge that old. There was also an amazing mosque. Another highlight of Cordoba was visiting a Arab Hammam, which was really a series of a pool, a hot tub and a cold plunge, with a mediocre massage, but in a stunning building.
Day 8, 9, 10 - Seville
Seville was amazing. We were there for an annual festival called Feria. Feria is a weeklong festival following easter that celebrates the Spanish Flamenco culture. All over town we saw women all day wearing full flamenco dresses, men in suits and kids dressed to match their parents. All-day we saw people being driven to the fair in horse-drawn carriages, cars, mopeds, buses, you name it. Like everyone else we headed for the fair as well. After about a 2 mile walk, we found the fairgrounds. Amazing...the fairgrounds probably stretched two miles. I would guess that there were 200,000 people there...at 3am. One night we were leaving the fair at about 2am and there were far more people heading in than heading out.
Feria was unlike any fair I've ever been to. There are thousands of tents set-up each hosted by a family or a business, or luckily for us a public tent for a district of town. Each tent is more elaborate than the next and all feature chandeliers, speaker systems, bars, kitchens, lots of people dancing and eating iberian cured meats. The kicker of all of it for us was the drink of choice....Sherry. Every tent serves Manzanilla, a chilled, dry sherry served by the bottle or in a giant pepsi cup containing a bottle of sherry and some 7-up. The first night the sherry was great. The third night it was gross...we were thankful for the 7-up...but we still drank it.
One great night at a bar following Feria, we went to a bar and had the bartender give us a sampling of different kinds of sherry's. They were quite good. Neither of us had ever had sherry before, but no doubt we will again. Most were much like Port. I've been meaning to look up the difference between sherry and port, but I haven't yet.
(note the sherry bottles and more meat products)
The other highlight of Seville as attending a bull fight. The bullring in Seville was built in 1758 and holds about 14 thousand people. We showed up about 2 minutes before the first bull and were directed to our seats about 10 rows above the entrance. I tried to ask which aisle we should go up and the guy didn't understand my question, just kept pointing up while pushing us forward because the bull was coming. So we had to walk straight up the seats and ask everyone to stand up to let us by. There were no aisles. Of course the seats were also directly in the sun and we had no hats, but fortunately plenty of sunscreen.
Bullfights are pretty amazing. Certainly not for the squeamish. It's amazing that 14K people show up every night to watch the gallantry in 6 bulls getting killed. Starting with knives in the bulls shoulders, ultimately leading to the matador finally stabbing it in the heart. Then the bull wobbles around and dies. Only to be triumphantly dragged off by horses.
Day 11
Back to Malaga
There are probably a million details I'm missing, but here's a start...
More soon.
Day 1, 2 - Malaga
We flew into Malaga, a Mediterranean seaside town. Since we were so busy getting ready to get out of town and look for an apartment in London, we only had a general plan for Spain, but had made no reservations at any hotels. We were lucky to find a nice hotel in the center of town. The first night in Spain we went out for dinner at about 10pm and I think we were early. As everyone knows, Tapas are a fantastic way to eat. We lived almost entirely on the assortment of Iberian meats (chorizo, procuitto-like serrano ham, etc), wine and sangria.
Day two, we shopped. Apparently a lot of shoes are made in Spain -- we looked at a lot of shoes. Erin became a complete shopaholic in Spain beginning in Malaga.
Following shopping we loaded up the rental car and started driving toward our next seaside destination of Nerja. We had a bit of a hard time figuring out the roads and directions, especially since neither of us speak spanish. But we were on the road. In one town along the way we were driving slowly through a parking lot looking for a bathroom. Suddenly Erin shrieked "lookout...LOOKOUT!" and out of nothing a kid on a bike shot out between two cars right in front of us. Fortunately, we stopped in time, but it was one of the closest calls I've ever had. Needless to say I was a little unnerved as we got back on the road. As I was driving slowly down a small road about 20 minutes later. Just starting to get more comfortable after the near miss and was looking at the sites and suddenly SLAM. I looked around and realized I didn't hit anyone, nothing in front of us. Look in my rear view mirror and as soon as I saw the car that hit us, we felt another SLAM. I couldn't believe it, we were being rammed. We pulled over to the side and the driver pulled up next to us and started screaming at us in Spanish. The driver was very drunk, and apparently we weren't going fast enough so he slammed into us like bumper cars to get us moving. We were completely shocked and didn't know what to do. Fortunately there were some people on the street who looked as shocked as we did. As we got out of the car to inspect the damage, he thankfully sped off. There wasn't much damage, just a dented bumper if you looked closely. We decided to forget about it because of our terrible spanish and decided to move on. I was getting nervous about our decision to rent a car and drive through Spain. Most of the rest of the trip was uneventful, except for after the third night when I went to get the car and found out someone had hit our car in the parking lot and put a three inch ding near the front tire. We'll find out how good the insurance on Diners Club is soon I guess.
Back to vacation. We spent three nights on a horribly uncomfortable bed at a stunningly beautiful town called Nerja. Our hotel was on a cliff overlooking the Mediterranean. The first day the whether was hot and fantastic and we got our share of sun. The next few days were cooler, but great and we were able to wander all over the small town and down on the beach.
Days 5, 6 - Granada
Drove north to the town of Granada, site of the Alhambra. The Alhambra was an amazing fortress built about a thousand years ago. It is quite famous and we were lucky to be able to see it. Words can't really do the Alhambra justice, so here's a picture of me looking at enjoying some spanish wine.
Day 7 - Cordoba
Cordoba is former Roman town founded in 152 BC. It was amazing to see Roman ruins, including a bridge that old. There was also an amazing mosque. Another highlight of Cordoba was visiting a Arab Hammam, which was really a series of a pool, a hot tub and a cold plunge, with a mediocre massage, but in a stunning building.
Day 8, 9, 10 - Seville
Seville was amazing. We were there for an annual festival called Feria. Feria is a weeklong festival following easter that celebrates the Spanish Flamenco culture. All over town we saw women all day wearing full flamenco dresses, men in suits and kids dressed to match their parents. All-day we saw people being driven to the fair in horse-drawn carriages, cars, mopeds, buses, you name it. Like everyone else we headed for the fair as well. After about a 2 mile walk, we found the fairgrounds. Amazing...the fairgrounds probably stretched two miles. I would guess that there were 200,000 people there...at 3am. One night we were leaving the fair at about 2am and there were far more people heading in than heading out.
Feria was unlike any fair I've ever been to. There are thousands of tents set-up each hosted by a family or a business, or luckily for us a public tent for a district of town. Each tent is more elaborate than the next and all feature chandeliers, speaker systems, bars, kitchens, lots of people dancing and eating iberian cured meats. The kicker of all of it for us was the drink of choice....Sherry. Every tent serves Manzanilla, a chilled, dry sherry served by the bottle or in a giant pepsi cup containing a bottle of sherry and some 7-up. The first night the sherry was great. The third night it was gross...we were thankful for the 7-up...but we still drank it.
One great night at a bar following Feria, we went to a bar and had the bartender give us a sampling of different kinds of sherry's. They were quite good. Neither of us had ever had sherry before, but no doubt we will again. Most were much like Port. I've been meaning to look up the difference between sherry and port, but I haven't yet.
(note the sherry bottles and more meat products)
The other highlight of Seville as attending a bull fight. The bullring in Seville was built in 1758 and holds about 14 thousand people. We showed up about 2 minutes before the first bull and were directed to our seats about 10 rows above the entrance. I tried to ask which aisle we should go up and the guy didn't understand my question, just kept pointing up while pushing us forward because the bull was coming. So we had to walk straight up the seats and ask everyone to stand up to let us by. There were no aisles. Of course the seats were also directly in the sun and we had no hats, but fortunately plenty of sunscreen.
Bullfights are pretty amazing. Certainly not for the squeamish. It's amazing that 14K people show up every night to watch the gallantry in 6 bulls getting killed. Starting with knives in the bulls shoulders, ultimately leading to the matador finally stabbing it in the heart. Then the bull wobbles around and dies. Only to be triumphantly dragged off by horses.
Day 11
Back to Malaga
There are probably a million details I'm missing, but here's a start...
More soon.
Monday, May 01, 2006
London arrival
After a crazy month we are starting to settle in to life in London. We left Seattle on April 12th, spent about five days in London, then went on vacation in Spain for 11 days. Now we're back in London and ready to get down to business. We really enjoyed having this blog during our trip to India, so we'll try it again in this big adventure. Since so much has happened in the last couple of weeks, I expect there will be several different updates to the blog over the next couple of days to bring you up to speed. Here's the start.
Arrival in London
We planned our arrival in London for April 12th which would give us five days to look for an apartment before heading to Spain for a much needed vacation. What we didn't know was that was Easter weekend and most of London was shut down on Good Friday and Easter Monday (and of course the two days in between). Our five day house hunting trip turned into a five hour tour on Tuesday. After investigating different areas of London, we wanted to live near the Paddington train station because that's where we will need to get the train to Reading for Microsoft. We had a relocation person help us out and she picked us up at 9:30am with a plan to find a flat and drop us off for the train trip to the airport at 3. No problem.
We saw about 15 different apartments, all charming in their own way. Some had 20 foot ceilings and were 400 years old, others had five flights of stairs. We settled on a converted horse stable in a small alley about a block off of Hyde Park (the Lancaster Gate Tube station) and three to four blocks from Paddington Station. It has two floors, recently remodeled and a big sky light that makes the upstairs very bright during the day. At night it appears to have a bunch of halogen type lights that will make it very sophisticated and "euro". They call it a two bedroom, but the second bedroom is perfectly sized for someone no bigger than my mom. (but Ma, there's a guest room for you). It also has stable doors that open up onto the alley which will be great in the summer. I'll post pictures after we move in tomorrow.
Next we went to Spain. I'll save the summary of spain for another post.
Ted
Arrival in London
We planned our arrival in London for April 12th which would give us five days to look for an apartment before heading to Spain for a much needed vacation. What we didn't know was that was Easter weekend and most of London was shut down on Good Friday and Easter Monday (and of course the two days in between). Our five day house hunting trip turned into a five hour tour on Tuesday. After investigating different areas of London, we wanted to live near the Paddington train station because that's where we will need to get the train to Reading for Microsoft. We had a relocation person help us out and she picked us up at 9:30am with a plan to find a flat and drop us off for the train trip to the airport at 3. No problem.
We saw about 15 different apartments, all charming in their own way. Some had 20 foot ceilings and were 400 years old, others had five flights of stairs. We settled on a converted horse stable in a small alley about a block off of Hyde Park (the Lancaster Gate Tube station) and three to four blocks from Paddington Station. It has two floors, recently remodeled and a big sky light that makes the upstairs very bright during the day. At night it appears to have a bunch of halogen type lights that will make it very sophisticated and "euro". They call it a two bedroom, but the second bedroom is perfectly sized for someone no bigger than my mom. (but Ma, there's a guest room for you). It also has stable doors that open up onto the alley which will be great in the summer. I'll post pictures after we move in tomorrow.
Next we went to Spain. I'll save the summary of spain for another post.
Ted
Thursday, March 16, 2006
London Here we come
As most of you probably know, Erin and I are heading off for another big adventure. We are moving to London for a year to help expand Hitachi Consulting in Europe (where we both work). Our goal is to leave Seattle around April 10th, 2006. Before we go, we need to rent our house and sell our cars. We're using the blog from our last big adventure to show some pictures below. If you are interested or know someone who might be, please forward this on.
House for Rent $1500/month - RENTED!!!
We need someone to rent our house in Seattle while we're away. We're asking for $1500 per month, beginning April 15th. We can negotiate the terms for the right situation. Ideally we want to find a friend or friend of a friend who will treat the house as their own.
Our house is located in the Leschi neighborhood of Seattle (502 29th Avenue), about 10 minutes from Downtown, close to both I-90 and 520. We're about 6 blocks away from the Madrona restaurants and shops and two blocks from about 5 Ethiopian restaurants.
The house is 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, large living room and dining room. Total size is about 2800 sq. ft (including basement). Both the kitchen and the bathroom have been remodeled in the last three years. We also have a large yard with lots of gardening/landscaping opportunities if you're so inclined. We would like to leave the house partially furnished including couches, beds, dressers, dining room table with 10 chairs (definitely stays, too heavy to move), tv, Tivo, wireless internet. We will also be storing some stuff in the basement and could move anything you don't want to use down there.
Below are a bunch of pictures of the house.
Back of the house
View from the living room
Kitchen
Living Room
Dining Room
Here are a few pictures of our bathroom. As you can see it is quite large with a big soaking tub, separate shower with two shower heads, vessel style sink.
We love the bathroom and know you will too.
2. Sell our cars
We also have two cars that we need to sell before we leave.
2003 VW GTI VR6 - 2 door hatchback, 6speed, moonroof, premium sound, CD, power doors/windows, black exterior with grey leather interior, heated front seats. 22k miles. $15,500.
2001 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro - 4 door sedan, midnight blue exterior, black leather interior. 5 speed, power doors, windows, seats; premium Bose sound; sports package; heated front seats; moonroof. 55K Miles. $14,500
Both cars are in excellent condition. We're sad to see them go.
If you're interested the house or the cars, or know someone who might be, please send them this link or have them get in touch with us. Contact me, Ted Corbett, at 206.276.4018 or ted_corbett@hotmail.com if interested. Let me know if you have any questions.
If you keep reading the blog, you can see details from our last big adventure to India in 2004.
House for Rent $1500/month - RENTED!!!
We need someone to rent our house in Seattle while we're away. We're asking for $1500 per month, beginning April 15th. We can negotiate the terms for the right situation. Ideally we want to find a friend or friend of a friend who will treat the house as their own.
Our house is located in the Leschi neighborhood of Seattle (502 29th Avenue), about 10 minutes from Downtown, close to both I-90 and 520. We're about 6 blocks away from the Madrona restaurants and shops and two blocks from about 5 Ethiopian restaurants.
The house is 3 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, large living room and dining room. Total size is about 2800 sq. ft (including basement). Both the kitchen and the bathroom have been remodeled in the last three years. We also have a large yard with lots of gardening/landscaping opportunities if you're so inclined. We would like to leave the house partially furnished including couches, beds, dressers, dining room table with 10 chairs (definitely stays, too heavy to move), tv, Tivo, wireless internet. We will also be storing some stuff in the basement and could move anything you don't want to use down there.
Below are a bunch of pictures of the house.
Back of the house
View from the living room
Kitchen
Living Room
Dining Room
Here are a few pictures of our bathroom. As you can see it is quite large with a big soaking tub, separate shower with two shower heads, vessel style sink.
We love the bathroom and know you will too.
2. Sell our cars
We also have two cars that we need to sell before we leave.
2003 VW GTI VR6 - 2 door hatchback, 6speed, moonroof, premium sound, CD, power doors/windows, black exterior with grey leather interior, heated front seats. 22k miles. $15,500.
2001 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro - 4 door sedan, midnight blue exterior, black leather interior. 5 speed, power doors, windows, seats; premium Bose sound; sports package; heated front seats; moonroof. 55K Miles. $14,500
Both cars are in excellent condition. We're sad to see them go.
If you're interested the house or the cars, or know someone who might be, please send them this link or have them get in touch with us. Contact me, Ted Corbett, at 206.276.4018 or ted_corbett@hotmail.com if interested. Let me know if you have any questions.
If you keep reading the blog, you can see details from our last big adventure to India in 2004.
Saturday, January 01, 2005
Happy New Year
We happily rang in the new year last night Amsterdam style. We are staying in the dorm that Erin's cousin Scott lives in. Fortunately, he has a friend who is out of town for the holidays, so we get to share one single bed with only two of us (rather than three in one if we were bunking with Scott). It's close quarters, but the price is right.
Scott lives with about 8 other people on his floor from all around the world who are very interesting, smart and fun. We met them last night while having an international feast. With all the other guests and friends visiting last night, there were about 8 Germans, 10 Swedes and our three Americans. Everyone cooked something and we sat around and drank pints of warm Grolsch beer for hours. We contributed good-ole american guacamole and chips to the party, but I'm not sure people really understood it.
At about 11pm, everyone from the party dressed warmly and headed for one of the main squares in town to watch the fireworks. Little did we know when we departed, but there was no organized fireworks show. Instead there were about 10,000 people in a small square standing around swilling beers, vodka and champagne, while the drunkest thousand people lit fireworks in the middle of everyone. There were some of the loudest fireworks I've ever heard exploding around us. There were also some amazing fireworks that seemed like professional quality, but there were certainly no professionals around. It was really quite scary and dangerous, but mesmerizing and exciting as well. We tried to stay on the periphery and out of the way, but it was hard to miss. I'm sure if you read the Amsterdam paper today you would read about lots of injuries. None in our group though.
Now we are just wandering the streets and soaking up as much of Europe as we can before heading back to the US. I can hardly believe it, but there are only a few days left.
Hope everyone had a happy new year. See you soon.
Ted and Erin
Scott lives with about 8 other people on his floor from all around the world who are very interesting, smart and fun. We met them last night while having an international feast. With all the other guests and friends visiting last night, there were about 8 Germans, 10 Swedes and our three Americans. Everyone cooked something and we sat around and drank pints of warm Grolsch beer for hours. We contributed good-ole american guacamole and chips to the party, but I'm not sure people really understood it.
At about 11pm, everyone from the party dressed warmly and headed for one of the main squares in town to watch the fireworks. Little did we know when we departed, but there was no organized fireworks show. Instead there were about 10,000 people in a small square standing around swilling beers, vodka and champagne, while the drunkest thousand people lit fireworks in the middle of everyone. There were some of the loudest fireworks I've ever heard exploding around us. There were also some amazing fireworks that seemed like professional quality, but there were certainly no professionals around. It was really quite scary and dangerous, but mesmerizing and exciting as well. We tried to stay on the periphery and out of the way, but it was hard to miss. I'm sure if you read the Amsterdam paper today you would read about lots of injuries. None in our group though.
Now we are just wandering the streets and soaking up as much of Europe as we can before heading back to the US. I can hardly believe it, but there are only a few days left.
Hope everyone had a happy new year. See you soon.
Ted and Erin
Thursday, December 30, 2004
Paris update
Sorry for the delay in updating, but Paris has been so nice and relaxing, that I haven't been motivated.
First, we had a wonderful Christmas here. Since much of Paris was closed, we spent the day walking around. We went to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, walked down the Champs Elysee, and around the Louvre. All firsts for me. Since we stayed in an apartment in Paris, we were able to save cash by shopping at the store and eating in most nights. We've been indulging on pain du chocolat and croissants every morning, cheeses, wine, pate and fois gras...it has been a little decadent. Very wonderful.
It will be interesting to see how all of the memories shake out a few months from now, because I always love the thing we just did the most. Right now, Paris is the highlight of the trip for me. Then again, it's hard to compare Paris decadence to Delhi squalor.
Today we are headed off to Amsterdam for New Year's Eve. We will then be in London on the 4th preparing for the final flight back to the US on the 6th.
I hope all is well.
Ted
First, we had a wonderful Christmas here. Since much of Paris was closed, we spent the day walking around. We went to the Eiffel Tower, the Arc de Triomphe, walked down the Champs Elysee, and around the Louvre. All firsts for me. Since we stayed in an apartment in Paris, we were able to save cash by shopping at the store and eating in most nights. We've been indulging on pain du chocolat and croissants every morning, cheeses, wine, pate and fois gras...it has been a little decadent. Very wonderful.
It will be interesting to see how all of the memories shake out a few months from now, because I always love the thing we just did the most. Right now, Paris is the highlight of the trip for me. Then again, it's hard to compare Paris decadence to Delhi squalor.
Today we are headed off to Amsterdam for New Year's Eve. We will then be in London on the 4th preparing for the final flight back to the US on the 6th.
I hope all is well.
Ted
Thursday, December 23, 2004
Civilization
Just a quick update...
We finally made it onto our flight from Delhi to London via Vienna. We had a "nice" visit in Vienna from 3am to 7am. Those hard wooden benches were difficult to sleep on, but we managed.
We landed in London early on the 21st and proceeded to Erin's friend CJ's (from Cornell) house. It was great to stay with a real family and not in a hotel for the first time in weeks. We even made it out to a London pub for trivia night. We found out that we don't know a thing about British trivia or pop culture. We did, however, come in second to last. A couple at our table from New Zealand brought up the rear.
Yesterday we got on the Eurostar express train for Paris. After arriving at about 5pm, we crisscrossed Paris on the Metro first to find our hotel, then to go get the keys to an apartment we'll be staying in, then on to a dinner party held in Erin's honor. Unfortunately, we were quite late to the party, but it was fun to have dinner with the family that Erin was an exchange student with when she was in high school. Delphine was her host and in attendance were her partner Christoff, their son Victor, her two sisters (Claire and Madelind), Claire's husband and their Mother. While I understood only a fraction of the conversation, it was a great time. Certainly interesting to try to answer questions from a bewildered French family about why exactly Bush won office again. No anger or resentment, only curiousity.
Today we moved out of our hotel and into the apartment that a friend of Kirsten's lives in. He is in the states for the next couple of weeks, so we can stay for free there. It is in Saint Germaine, which is a beautiful neighborhood right in the heart of Paris. We walked a couple blocks away for our cafe au lait before heading along the Siene, toured Notre Dame, and Christmas shopped in a number of charming stores. We haven't even been here for 24 hours yet. I can't wait to see what the next several days will bring.
We are about to go and meet Erin's cousin Scott who lives in Amsterdam and will be with us for much of the next two weeks.
We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. We are thinking about you all.
Ted and Erin
We finally made it onto our flight from Delhi to London via Vienna. We had a "nice" visit in Vienna from 3am to 7am. Those hard wooden benches were difficult to sleep on, but we managed.
We landed in London early on the 21st and proceeded to Erin's friend CJ's (from Cornell) house. It was great to stay with a real family and not in a hotel for the first time in weeks. We even made it out to a London pub for trivia night. We found out that we don't know a thing about British trivia or pop culture. We did, however, come in second to last. A couple at our table from New Zealand brought up the rear.
Yesterday we got on the Eurostar express train for Paris. After arriving at about 5pm, we crisscrossed Paris on the Metro first to find our hotel, then to go get the keys to an apartment we'll be staying in, then on to a dinner party held in Erin's honor. Unfortunately, we were quite late to the party, but it was fun to have dinner with the family that Erin was an exchange student with when she was in high school. Delphine was her host and in attendance were her partner Christoff, their son Victor, her two sisters (Claire and Madelind), Claire's husband and their Mother. While I understood only a fraction of the conversation, it was a great time. Certainly interesting to try to answer questions from a bewildered French family about why exactly Bush won office again. No anger or resentment, only curiousity.
Today we moved out of our hotel and into the apartment that a friend of Kirsten's lives in. He is in the states for the next couple of weeks, so we can stay for free there. It is in Saint Germaine, which is a beautiful neighborhood right in the heart of Paris. We walked a couple blocks away for our cafe au lait before heading along the Siene, toured Notre Dame, and Christmas shopped in a number of charming stores. We haven't even been here for 24 hours yet. I can't wait to see what the next several days will bring.
We are about to go and meet Erin's cousin Scott who lives in Amsterdam and will be with us for much of the next two weeks.
We hope everyone has a wonderful Christmas. We are thinking about you all.
Ted and Erin
Monday, December 20, 2004
Gary's Summary
Let's get my heroic 5 AM swandive into a pool of black street sludge in the creepy Delhi train station out of the way first. Ted failed to give the correct version of the truth.
It would have been easy for me to accomplish this feat if it were simply to save a life. I did it to save a seat. Sending Ted & Erin running frantically ahead to scout out the available seats on the morning express to Agra was a good decision. Had I gone first, the two of them would have had difficulty keeping up. I laid back only for security purposes, for I am the patriarchal guide -- it is my duty. Noticing Erin had decided not to follow instructions by setting a pace much too fast and dangerous for her, I did what I had to do. I took the plunge. Fearing injury, I led with my face. I chose a spot which might draw the most attention under the circumstances. The ink-like oozy substance in the puddle made a magnificent splash. The liquid therein had not been displaced since the days of Rudyard Kipling. Upon hearing the inevitable commotion, my loyal daughter-in-law acted exactly as I expected she would. After an obvious, albeit short, internal debate -- forge ahead or give assistance? -- she darted, almost immediately, to my aid. The plan worked.
Now for the truth. Did I take the heroic plunge just to save a seat? No. I did it for medical science. Unknown even to my fellow travelers, it was an opportunity to allow entrance through my open wounds several important substances into my body for their eventual passage from India and through my lower intestinal tract upon my return from the third to the second world. I was able to smuggle with almost no detection several forms of bacteria, viruses, amoeba, and parasites for further study upon my return. After three intense days in my home lavatory, my studies are complete.
Highlights of my dreamlike stay in India: The Plunge, The Communal Haircut in Mandawa, The Taj Mahal, The Taj McMall, and Old Delhi.
Further and more accurate details of The Plunge will be added as imagination matures and memory fades.
For those interested, and for family members, photos of The Communal Haircut will be available upon request. (Family members of course need not request, for they will be provided ad nauseum at holidays, weddings, and funeral parties.)
The Taj Mahal was every bit as magnificent as Ted described. I cannot improve on his account. The memory burned in, though, will forever be the ride there and back and the Star Wars Bar Scene outside its gates. The structure itself is breathtaking.
I'll hold on my summary of the Taj McMall, a catchall term for several of our shopping excursions, until Ted & Erin & I get our stories straight. Again, these will be provided at the aforementioned family gatherings. (As a study guide, see Apocryphal.)
For me, my lasting memory of this incredible country will be Old Delhi. One man told us the population in India will double in the next two or three generations, overtaking China in numbers. Where will they fit? Congestion is not the word to describe what we saw. We need another word. It's like going back to the time of the ancients, adding a few motorized vehicles, sickening-sweet odors of urine & burning cow dung, and all through the city electrical cables thick as your arm draped like dozens of boa constrictors across wooden poles bending from the weight. Walking the streets gives you the feeling of not moving as individuals but as part of a huge almost liquid mass. Eyestrain comes from looking to & fro catching sights challenging your brain & tugging at your heart. Somehow, though, everything works in a way. Everyone is busy doing something. Loitering of the kind seen on the darker streets of Seattle, Denver, or Cincinnati isn't evident. People look bewildered, sad, and sometimes happy all at the same time. But they don't look sinister. We didn't feel threatened. I can't remember witnessing a truly angry exchange in all of India. Gone there are the frequent malicious hand- and arm-gestures we're accustomed to here in large-city traffic. Also absent were signs of traffic accidents. We might've heard one ambulance, and saw very few police. India is at once the most dysfunctional and most functional place I've ever seen. Dysfunction is everywhere. The smell alone is a constant reminder. The numbers of bodies ambling along everywhere staggers the imagination. Raw sewage trickling along with you as you walk, and garbage piled here and there for the sacred cows' personal smorgasbord provides other usable objects for street people to turn into commercial items of some sort at the most primitive level.
I can't wait to return.
I thank Ted & Erin, my wonderful life-long traveling companions, for sharing a small part of their incredible journey, which of course is just beginning. Merry Christmas to all who tune in. If you're Jewish, Happy Chanukka and good luck for another year of deciding which is the correct spelling of your holiday season. If you're Muslim, know that we know not all of you are radical wierdos intent on doing us in, and thank you for the small part of your land I've managed to see and for the small number of fine families I was able to at least greet & smile with while there. If you're Hindu, good luck and may your Bollywood flicks be ever so sappy and wonderful. If you're any other religion, happy holiday or happy unholidays to you, and know that religions that seperate us are not of God. We all must be brought together in spirit, or we cannot survive. We all must travel in whatever way we can -- if not by train, then in mind and heart -- but if by train, count on me. I'll take the plunge & save you a seat.
It would have been easy for me to accomplish this feat if it were simply to save a life. I did it to save a seat. Sending Ted & Erin running frantically ahead to scout out the available seats on the morning express to Agra was a good decision. Had I gone first, the two of them would have had difficulty keeping up. I laid back only for security purposes, for I am the patriarchal guide -- it is my duty. Noticing Erin had decided not to follow instructions by setting a pace much too fast and dangerous for her, I did what I had to do. I took the plunge. Fearing injury, I led with my face. I chose a spot which might draw the most attention under the circumstances. The ink-like oozy substance in the puddle made a magnificent splash. The liquid therein had not been displaced since the days of Rudyard Kipling. Upon hearing the inevitable commotion, my loyal daughter-in-law acted exactly as I expected she would. After an obvious, albeit short, internal debate -- forge ahead or give assistance? -- she darted, almost immediately, to my aid. The plan worked.
Now for the truth. Did I take the heroic plunge just to save a seat? No. I did it for medical science. Unknown even to my fellow travelers, it was an opportunity to allow entrance through my open wounds several important substances into my body for their eventual passage from India and through my lower intestinal tract upon my return from the third to the second world. I was able to smuggle with almost no detection several forms of bacteria, viruses, amoeba, and parasites for further study upon my return. After three intense days in my home lavatory, my studies are complete.
Highlights of my dreamlike stay in India: The Plunge, The Communal Haircut in Mandawa, The Taj Mahal, The Taj McMall, and Old Delhi.
Further and more accurate details of The Plunge will be added as imagination matures and memory fades.
For those interested, and for family members, photos of The Communal Haircut will be available upon request. (Family members of course need not request, for they will be provided ad nauseum at holidays, weddings, and funeral parties.)
The Taj Mahal was every bit as magnificent as Ted described. I cannot improve on his account. The memory burned in, though, will forever be the ride there and back and the Star Wars Bar Scene outside its gates. The structure itself is breathtaking.
I'll hold on my summary of the Taj McMall, a catchall term for several of our shopping excursions, until Ted & Erin & I get our stories straight. Again, these will be provided at the aforementioned family gatherings. (As a study guide, see Apocryphal.)
For me, my lasting memory of this incredible country will be Old Delhi. One man told us the population in India will double in the next two or three generations, overtaking China in numbers. Where will they fit? Congestion is not the word to describe what we saw. We need another word. It's like going back to the time of the ancients, adding a few motorized vehicles, sickening-sweet odors of urine & burning cow dung, and all through the city electrical cables thick as your arm draped like dozens of boa constrictors across wooden poles bending from the weight. Walking the streets gives you the feeling of not moving as individuals but as part of a huge almost liquid mass. Eyestrain comes from looking to & fro catching sights challenging your brain & tugging at your heart. Somehow, though, everything works in a way. Everyone is busy doing something. Loitering of the kind seen on the darker streets of Seattle, Denver, or Cincinnati isn't evident. People look bewildered, sad, and sometimes happy all at the same time. But they don't look sinister. We didn't feel threatened. I can't remember witnessing a truly angry exchange in all of India. Gone there are the frequent malicious hand- and arm-gestures we're accustomed to here in large-city traffic. Also absent were signs of traffic accidents. We might've heard one ambulance, and saw very few police. India is at once the most dysfunctional and most functional place I've ever seen. Dysfunction is everywhere. The smell alone is a constant reminder. The numbers of bodies ambling along everywhere staggers the imagination. Raw sewage trickling along with you as you walk, and garbage piled here and there for the sacred cows' personal smorgasbord provides other usable objects for street people to turn into commercial items of some sort at the most primitive level.
I can't wait to return.
I thank Ted & Erin, my wonderful life-long traveling companions, for sharing a small part of their incredible journey, which of course is just beginning. Merry Christmas to all who tune in. If you're Jewish, Happy Chanukka and good luck for another year of deciding which is the correct spelling of your holiday season. If you're Muslim, know that we know not all of you are radical wierdos intent on doing us in, and thank you for the small part of your land I've managed to see and for the small number of fine families I was able to at least greet & smile with while there. If you're Hindu, good luck and may your Bollywood flicks be ever so sappy and wonderful. If you're any other religion, happy holiday or happy unholidays to you, and know that religions that seperate us are not of God. We all must be brought together in spirit, or we cannot survive. We all must travel in whatever way we can -- if not by train, then in mind and heart -- but if by train, count on me. I'll take the plunge & save you a seat.
Confirmation...
On our last day in Delhi, we took it easy. With a flight at 2:20am on Monday (Sunday night), we had some time to kill. We lazed around the hotel, watched TV, went shopping for some last minute gifts, etc... We tried to go see a movie at around 6, but it was sold out so instead we enjoyed a lazy dinner and some shopping for books. When we exhausted all of our options, we went back to our hotel to wait for a cab to take us to the airport at 11pm....three hours early, plenty of time.
As we walked into the terminal with all of our bags and bewildered expressions, we see a departure screen with our flight number that says, "Now boarding" and a scheduled departure time of 12:10 am!! We hurried around the terminal looking for the Austrian Airlines desk to get some information, but were informed it had already shut down for the night. After exhaustive conversations with unhelpful Delhi airport security guards, we finally found a red-jacketed Austrian Air official. He basically laughed at us and told us to go home, there will be another flight the next night at 12:10. All flights apparently had been moved earlier due to fog issues. He was shocked we didn't know, "the change occured as of the 15th of December". "Didn't you find this out when you called to reconfirm your flight 3 days ago?", he asked as we stared at him with a look that said, "No shit we didn't call or we wouldn't be here now, would we?" Although all we said was, "No". To add insult to injury, he said that because we are on an award ticket, we may not be able to make any changes either. That got us into a bit of a panic...
We booked ourselves back into the Claridges hotel at about 12:30am. We were both feeling embarassed and sick at forgetting to reconfirm our flight. Neither of us even considered it. It made me feel a little better to look on the back of my United Airline ticket jacket and read "United Reservations do not need to be reconfirmed", but I guess we should have known better anyway. When we got into our room, we tried to contact United Airlines to find out our options. Of course the Delhi office was closed for the night and the US numbers are all toll-free, unless you are international and can't call a toll free number. First we called United in the UK. They told us that we are screwed and by missing our flight, we forfiet the remainder of our ticket since no changes can be made to a reward ticket once travel begins. Now that made us panic even more.
We immediately went to the internet desk at 1am and started pricing tickets to get us home, even considering that we may be stuck in Delhi for three weeks waiting for an open seat over the holidays, possibly missing out on the European leg of our adventure. We found a flight leaving early today for about $1300 one way each. Not bad we thought...
As a last ditch effort we found an international number for United in the states. After waiting on hold for about 20 minutes, I finally found someone to talk to. She said it was at the sole discretion of Austrian Airlines as to whether we could fly standby on the flight the next night. Nothing more United could do. But she did say that our next leg from London to Seattle "shouldn't" be affected by this.
After a couple of fitful hours of sleep we raced to the Austrian airlines office in New Delhi to plead our case. We both agreed that crying and begging were appropriate. After a brief exchange, a couple of tense conversations with people behind the desk where all we heard was a bunch of hindi and the words "No changes allowed", the woman smiled and said "I can confirm you on tonights flights for no charge" We must have said thank you fifty times...
A tense night, feelings of stupidity and embarassment, and two, long, very expensive international phone calls later.... Now we are waiting around for our 12:10 am flight to Vienna and then London. It's about 4:20pm here now, I think we'll leave soon for the airport...just to recomfirm....
As we walked into the terminal with all of our bags and bewildered expressions, we see a departure screen with our flight number that says, "Now boarding" and a scheduled departure time of 12:10 am!! We hurried around the terminal looking for the Austrian Airlines desk to get some information, but were informed it had already shut down for the night. After exhaustive conversations with unhelpful Delhi airport security guards, we finally found a red-jacketed Austrian Air official. He basically laughed at us and told us to go home, there will be another flight the next night at 12:10. All flights apparently had been moved earlier due to fog issues. He was shocked we didn't know, "the change occured as of the 15th of December". "Didn't you find this out when you called to reconfirm your flight 3 days ago?", he asked as we stared at him with a look that said, "No shit we didn't call or we wouldn't be here now, would we?" Although all we said was, "No". To add insult to injury, he said that because we are on an award ticket, we may not be able to make any changes either. That got us into a bit of a panic...
We booked ourselves back into the Claridges hotel at about 12:30am. We were both feeling embarassed and sick at forgetting to reconfirm our flight. Neither of us even considered it. It made me feel a little better to look on the back of my United Airline ticket jacket and read "United Reservations do not need to be reconfirmed", but I guess we should have known better anyway. When we got into our room, we tried to contact United Airlines to find out our options. Of course the Delhi office was closed for the night and the US numbers are all toll-free, unless you are international and can't call a toll free number. First we called United in the UK. They told us that we are screwed and by missing our flight, we forfiet the remainder of our ticket since no changes can be made to a reward ticket once travel begins. Now that made us panic even more.
We immediately went to the internet desk at 1am and started pricing tickets to get us home, even considering that we may be stuck in Delhi for three weeks waiting for an open seat over the holidays, possibly missing out on the European leg of our adventure. We found a flight leaving early today for about $1300 one way each. Not bad we thought...
As a last ditch effort we found an international number for United in the states. After waiting on hold for about 20 minutes, I finally found someone to talk to. She said it was at the sole discretion of Austrian Airlines as to whether we could fly standby on the flight the next night. Nothing more United could do. But she did say that our next leg from London to Seattle "shouldn't" be affected by this.
After a couple of fitful hours of sleep we raced to the Austrian airlines office in New Delhi to plead our case. We both agreed that crying and begging were appropriate. After a brief exchange, a couple of tense conversations with people behind the desk where all we heard was a bunch of hindi and the words "No changes allowed", the woman smiled and said "I can confirm you on tonights flights for no charge" We must have said thank you fifty times...
A tense night, feelings of stupidity and embarassment, and two, long, very expensive international phone calls later.... Now we are waiting around for our 12:10 am flight to Vienna and then London. It's about 4:20pm here now, I think we'll leave soon for the airport...just to recomfirm....
Friday, December 17, 2004
Resting up...
After the whirlwind that I last reported, Erin and I decided to try to stay at our hotel, The Connaught, for one more night while figuring out what to do next with the 4 days left before leaving for Europe. We went to the desk and argued with the manager to let us stay one more night, but he wouldn't budge despite our offers of baksheesh (bribes) to stay. Funny really, because we hated the hotel, the managers, the room, the restaurant, the neighborhood, really everything about it.
Upon learning that we would need to find another hotel, we went to the travel agent to try to figure out what we could possibly do within a few hours of Delhi for the weekend. Our dream would have been a flight to a tropical beach and stay in a cheap, but luxurious hotel. Surprisingly, there weren't very many options. The best option we found was to take a train then a taxi for a total of about 9 hours to a town called Khuarjato for a stay in a hotel that looked like a nice holiday inn, but had a lot of interesting temples with Karma Sutra carvings. Since we couldn't leave until Friday (this is Thursday), we decided to book a room at a pretty nice hotel in Delhi, the Claridges. We had high hopes for the Claridges and thought that at a minumum we could spend the night before embarking on a nine hour journey.
When we opened the door to our room we were nothing short of blown away. Instead of small, dingy rooms, threadbare carpets, hard beds, rotting bathrooms, formerly white (now grey) towels found in most hotels, we were greeted with pure luxury. A big, clean room with a sitting area, down comforter, beautiful bathroom, soft pillows and soft robes in the closet. Heaven! We sat down to take a nap and watch a movie on HBO at about 2pm and finally emerged for breakfast this morning at 9am! I actually slept from about 7pm to 7am without really stirring!! Our first stop before breakfast was the check-in counter where we asked to extend our stay for two more nights eliminating any plans to go on a nine hour journey. We are relieved and excited that they will allow us to stay another two nights. After all the adventures the past few weeks, a good modern hotel is exactly what the doctor ordered. It's more expensive than other options, but worth every last cent.
We are going to waste away the next few days shopping, dining, exploring, sleeping and seeing movies. We have already seen Ocean's Twelve and the remaining English language movies in town include The Incredibles, Bridget Jones and Shark Tales...I'm sure we'll see them all. Beyond that, I have no idea what we will do.
We leave Delhi on Sunday night (Monday morning) at about 2am and head for London. After a couple of days in London we take the train to Paris on the 22nd where we will spend Christmas. Hopefully there will be more updates before then, but you never know, I might go for another nap this afternoon and not wake up until Sunday...
Ted and Erin
Upon learning that we would need to find another hotel, we went to the travel agent to try to figure out what we could possibly do within a few hours of Delhi for the weekend. Our dream would have been a flight to a tropical beach and stay in a cheap, but luxurious hotel. Surprisingly, there weren't very many options. The best option we found was to take a train then a taxi for a total of about 9 hours to a town called Khuarjato for a stay in a hotel that looked like a nice holiday inn, but had a lot of interesting temples with Karma Sutra carvings. Since we couldn't leave until Friday (this is Thursday), we decided to book a room at a pretty nice hotel in Delhi, the Claridges. We had high hopes for the Claridges and thought that at a minumum we could spend the night before embarking on a nine hour journey.
When we opened the door to our room we were nothing short of blown away. Instead of small, dingy rooms, threadbare carpets, hard beds, rotting bathrooms, formerly white (now grey) towels found in most hotels, we were greeted with pure luxury. A big, clean room with a sitting area, down comforter, beautiful bathroom, soft pillows and soft robes in the closet. Heaven! We sat down to take a nap and watch a movie on HBO at about 2pm and finally emerged for breakfast this morning at 9am! I actually slept from about 7pm to 7am without really stirring!! Our first stop before breakfast was the check-in counter where we asked to extend our stay for two more nights eliminating any plans to go on a nine hour journey. We are relieved and excited that they will allow us to stay another two nights. After all the adventures the past few weeks, a good modern hotel is exactly what the doctor ordered. It's more expensive than other options, but worth every last cent.
We are going to waste away the next few days shopping, dining, exploring, sleeping and seeing movies. We have already seen Ocean's Twelve and the remaining English language movies in town include The Incredibles, Bridget Jones and Shark Tales...I'm sure we'll see them all. Beyond that, I have no idea what we will do.
We leave Delhi on Sunday night (Monday morning) at about 2am and head for London. After a couple of days in London we take the train to Paris on the 22nd where we will spend Christmas. Hopefully there will be more updates before then, but you never know, I might go for another nap this afternoon and not wake up until Sunday...
Ted and Erin
Wednesday, December 15, 2004
A Long Journey
Well, it's been a long journey since I last typed a message on here. When I last wrote, we were in Jaipur getting ready to head to Mandawa in the Shekwati region (though you heard from Gar in between).
We stayed in a beautiful 150 year old haveli in Mandawa with an open courtyard and rooms that probably haven't changed much in 150 years. It was amazing. The first night we had dinner on the rooftop with a fire, local dancers and candles all around. It was very romantic, me, Erin....and my dad.
When we went to bed we could hear chanting and music coming from the mosque down the street. Erin remarked at how enchanting it was to fall asleep to the rhythms of India. At about 1:30 am, we were a little annoyed as the rhythms continued, blaring louder than when we first fell asleep...at 2:30 we were getting a little pissed...at 5am we were resigned. When we awoke, or rather got out of bed, we asked the man at the front desk what was the cause of the all night blaring. He said there was a party and assured us it was a one night event and wouldn't occur the next night. Well...it did. All night chanting and blaring music. I think Gar said he fell asleep at 7am when his alarm went off.
With no sleep for two nights in a row, we packed up to make the trek to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Just prior to getting into a car for the 9 hour drive, we decided to call around in Agra and find a hotel. Of course there were no hotels available anywhere in Agra. We could either stay in one for $10 a night of $450 a night. We all agreed that the $450 version would be better....too bad we can't afford that though, so we reserved the $10 version. As we were loading into the car, the driver informed us that he wouldn't take us all the way to Agra. Only to Jaipur and we would have to find another car there. Somehow, in a split second, the three of us agreed that perhaps it would be better to go straight to Delhi and go to Agra as a day trip from there. In five minutes, the owner of the hotel found us a new driver and we were on the road to Delhi. It was a strange turn of events.
In the five minutes spent finding a new driver, we were able to call hotels in Delhi and book two nights at a hotel that had two available rooms. Apparently this is the height of the tourism season and rooms are hard to find, but we found one.
After sitting in a small bumpy car for about 7 hours we arrived in Delhi. Our driver was visibly nervous as we approached Delhi, and had to stop and ask people every two kilometers if we were going the right way. At one point we even loaded a 14 year old boy into the car to help with directions for awhile. After arriving at our hotel, the driver informed us that it was the first time he'd ever driven to Delhi. Luck us.
The front desk at the Connaught hotel in Delhi informed us very matter of factly that all three of us would share one room. It was the only option. So here are three tired, grumpy, dirty people looking for some peace, quiet and a hot shower only to be told there is only one room. So we were shown two different rooms that we could share. When we argued that we would take both of them and we wouldn't share...they relented. They gave us two other rooms. So not only was there more than one room, there were 4, but we were told to share? Then they said we could only do one night. More hateful looks from us and they relented again. Why does it have to be so difficult?
We got settled in our rooms after a nice dinner out and rested up for a trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Erin and I set our alarm for 4:55 in order to meet Gar in the lobby at 5 in order to make it to the train station for a 6 am express train to Agra. I think Gar was in the lobby waiting at 4:55.
The Delhi train station is a mob of people even at 5:30am. Of course all of the ticket windows were closed that early, so a man who said he was an official told us we could rush across the street to a foreign tourist booking office to buy tickets for the train, but we had to hurry. So we took off running, me following the guy, Erin and Gar following behind. We jumped over sleeping people, around beggars and touts, over curbs, between auto rickshaws, around cows, suddenly they guy stopped and we looked back for Erin and Gar. We lost them around the corner. When we doubled back, we found Erin helping Gar wipe dirt and mud off. Apparently he tripped and did a five point landing in a pile of what could only be shit. He was covered on the right side in black muck, including on his face. Of course we were still trying to rush to buy the ticket and make sure he was okay at the same time. We finally made it to the booking office, where we could see a two bloodied knees, and a thoroughly soiled pair of pants and shirt. Fortunately, he was okay.
Once settled in the office, we learned that the train was sold out. All that rush for nothing. After a little debate, we agreed to rent a car to take us to Agra for the day and bring us back. It would be a 4 hour drive each way, so we all agreed to pay a premium for the nicer, bigger Toyota four-wheel drive rather than the piece of shit yugo like car. The sales guy kept pushing that we are paying for the better service with the nicer car as well. We paid and waited for the car...it finally arrived and we were taken downstairs....only to be greeted with a littl piece of shit yugo like car. The fuckers (I use this term loosely to those "service" people throughout our trip) tried to scam us...again. We put up a fight and they relented and brought us the good, big Toyota car. Finally. We went back to the hotel and cleaned Gar off then loaded back in the car for the ride to Agra.
We finally made it to the Taj Mahal in the mid-afternoon, just before sunset after a tour of the Red Fort in Agra as well. The Taj was nothing short of magical. When I walked through the gate to the classic view we've all seen of the Taj, it took my breath away and gave me goosebumps. I was worried that I'd be underwhelmed, but I wasn't in the least. The beauty, the scale, the engineering, the color, the setting, the gardens, the people... amazing. Pictures don't do it justice, but now we have the requisite picture of the three of us in front of the Taj Mahal as the sun is setting with a perfect reflection in the reflecting pool...amazing.
Our first stop today was the chemist (or pharmacist) because, without going into too many details, my stomach issues have persisted. After all my jokes before we left about getting a little dysentery to lose weight, it happened. I haven't been to a doctor, but all indications are that I contracted amoebic dysentery. More annoying than anything, but now I have all the proper meds that were recommended in the books. I haven't felt bad, just spent a little more time in the bathroom than I'd prefer. I'll keep you posted, but I think I'll be fine.
Now we are back in Delhi showing Gar around before he departs tonight after a whirlwind trip of India. Erin and I aren't sure what to do after Gar leaves tonight. We are investigating our options today. We are hoping for warm, tropical, cheap and convenient, we'll probably settle for warm, tropical, expensive and a pain in the ass.
Talk to you soon.
Ted
We stayed in a beautiful 150 year old haveli in Mandawa with an open courtyard and rooms that probably haven't changed much in 150 years. It was amazing. The first night we had dinner on the rooftop with a fire, local dancers and candles all around. It was very romantic, me, Erin....and my dad.
When we went to bed we could hear chanting and music coming from the mosque down the street. Erin remarked at how enchanting it was to fall asleep to the rhythms of India. At about 1:30 am, we were a little annoyed as the rhythms continued, blaring louder than when we first fell asleep...at 2:30 we were getting a little pissed...at 5am we were resigned. When we awoke, or rather got out of bed, we asked the man at the front desk what was the cause of the all night blaring. He said there was a party and assured us it was a one night event and wouldn't occur the next night. Well...it did. All night chanting and blaring music. I think Gar said he fell asleep at 7am when his alarm went off.
With no sleep for two nights in a row, we packed up to make the trek to Agra to see the Taj Mahal. Just prior to getting into a car for the 9 hour drive, we decided to call around in Agra and find a hotel. Of course there were no hotels available anywhere in Agra. We could either stay in one for $10 a night of $450 a night. We all agreed that the $450 version would be better....too bad we can't afford that though, so we reserved the $10 version. As we were loading into the car, the driver informed us that he wouldn't take us all the way to Agra. Only to Jaipur and we would have to find another car there. Somehow, in a split second, the three of us agreed that perhaps it would be better to go straight to Delhi and go to Agra as a day trip from there. In five minutes, the owner of the hotel found us a new driver and we were on the road to Delhi. It was a strange turn of events.
In the five minutes spent finding a new driver, we were able to call hotels in Delhi and book two nights at a hotel that had two available rooms. Apparently this is the height of the tourism season and rooms are hard to find, but we found one.
After sitting in a small bumpy car for about 7 hours we arrived in Delhi. Our driver was visibly nervous as we approached Delhi, and had to stop and ask people every two kilometers if we were going the right way. At one point we even loaded a 14 year old boy into the car to help with directions for awhile. After arriving at our hotel, the driver informed us that it was the first time he'd ever driven to Delhi. Luck us.
The front desk at the Connaught hotel in Delhi informed us very matter of factly that all three of us would share one room. It was the only option. So here are three tired, grumpy, dirty people looking for some peace, quiet and a hot shower only to be told there is only one room. So we were shown two different rooms that we could share. When we argued that we would take both of them and we wouldn't share...they relented. They gave us two other rooms. So not only was there more than one room, there were 4, but we were told to share? Then they said we could only do one night. More hateful looks from us and they relented again. Why does it have to be so difficult?
We got settled in our rooms after a nice dinner out and rested up for a trip to Agra to visit the Taj Mahal. Erin and I set our alarm for 4:55 in order to meet Gar in the lobby at 5 in order to make it to the train station for a 6 am express train to Agra. I think Gar was in the lobby waiting at 4:55.
The Delhi train station is a mob of people even at 5:30am. Of course all of the ticket windows were closed that early, so a man who said he was an official told us we could rush across the street to a foreign tourist booking office to buy tickets for the train, but we had to hurry. So we took off running, me following the guy, Erin and Gar following behind. We jumped over sleeping people, around beggars and touts, over curbs, between auto rickshaws, around cows, suddenly they guy stopped and we looked back for Erin and Gar. We lost them around the corner. When we doubled back, we found Erin helping Gar wipe dirt and mud off. Apparently he tripped and did a five point landing in a pile of what could only be shit. He was covered on the right side in black muck, including on his face. Of course we were still trying to rush to buy the ticket and make sure he was okay at the same time. We finally made it to the booking office, where we could see a two bloodied knees, and a thoroughly soiled pair of pants and shirt. Fortunately, he was okay.
Once settled in the office, we learned that the train was sold out. All that rush for nothing. After a little debate, we agreed to rent a car to take us to Agra for the day and bring us back. It would be a 4 hour drive each way, so we all agreed to pay a premium for the nicer, bigger Toyota four-wheel drive rather than the piece of shit yugo like car. The sales guy kept pushing that we are paying for the better service with the nicer car as well. We paid and waited for the car...it finally arrived and we were taken downstairs....only to be greeted with a littl piece of shit yugo like car. The fuckers (I use this term loosely to those "service" people throughout our trip) tried to scam us...again. We put up a fight and they relented and brought us the good, big Toyota car. Finally. We went back to the hotel and cleaned Gar off then loaded back in the car for the ride to Agra.
We finally made it to the Taj Mahal in the mid-afternoon, just before sunset after a tour of the Red Fort in Agra as well. The Taj was nothing short of magical. When I walked through the gate to the classic view we've all seen of the Taj, it took my breath away and gave me goosebumps. I was worried that I'd be underwhelmed, but I wasn't in the least. The beauty, the scale, the engineering, the color, the setting, the gardens, the people... amazing. Pictures don't do it justice, but now we have the requisite picture of the three of us in front of the Taj Mahal as the sun is setting with a perfect reflection in the reflecting pool...amazing.
Our first stop today was the chemist (or pharmacist) because, without going into too many details, my stomach issues have persisted. After all my jokes before we left about getting a little dysentery to lose weight, it happened. I haven't been to a doctor, but all indications are that I contracted amoebic dysentery. More annoying than anything, but now I have all the proper meds that were recommended in the books. I haven't felt bad, just spent a little more time in the bathroom than I'd prefer. I'll keep you posted, but I think I'll be fine.
Now we are back in Delhi showing Gar around before he departs tonight after a whirlwind trip of India. Erin and I aren't sure what to do after Gar leaves tonight. We are investigating our options today. We are hoping for warm, tropical, cheap and convenient, we'll probably settle for warm, tropical, expensive and a pain in the ass.
Talk to you soon.
Ted
Sunday, December 12, 2004
Gare the Patriarchal Guide Here
Negotiating traffic in Jaipur is a bit like finding Nemo in the Star Wars bar scene. Ted & Erin & I squeezed butt to butt to butt in our motorized rickshaw with room for only one butt. Our driver, an old old man about three months younger than I, needled his way through the maze of bicycles, motorscooters, donkey carts, camels, the occasional but very visible elephant, and a gazillion small cars with sewing-machine engines and horns never in the off position. We entered our first round-about Wednesday morning and emerged sometime Friday night just in time to get in line at Asia's swankest Hindi theater where we drew quite a crowd of children who wanted to touch us and giggle.
Now we're in Mandawa in the Shekwati region, which of course is Hindi for we-have-no-clue-where-we-are. The highlight here came last night when Ted & I took turns getting haircuts in a streetside barbershop, again drawing a huge crowd of onlookers wanting to touch us and giggle and make humorous remarks at our expense in a foreign language. We giggled back knowingly.
This morning after an omelette and yet another cup of Nescafe we took turns getting a massage by the minister of misery who insisted on crunching us repeatedly against the cold hard wooden table in complete and total nakedness which here is not something to consider as odd. No worries here about which parts go which ways. My parts for example went every which way but the way Sahib wanted them to go.
Ted & I ducked in here to escape our ubiquitous guides who wish only to get us into their fathers' shops and take hundreds of rupees for their efforts. We wait now for Erin to emerge from the massage chamber so we can forage for more Puri Banghi, Hindi for last night's leftovers rolled in Nan which of course is a Hindi burrito.
For the reader's edification, Indian men wear towels on their heads for convenience, just in the off-chance a hot shower might be working. This is a rare occasion, but when it does work one can be sure the lights won't. Your choice is to have half a hot shower in the dark or a cold shower also in the dark. Dark is the natural state, as is cold. Hot is unusual and short-lived, although it does last long enough to soap up your hair. Exactly long enough.
Women wear saris of red and blue colors not found in Gap. They carry heavy objects on their heads, children in one arm, and a vegetable garden in the other. Men smoke.
G
Now we're in Mandawa in the Shekwati region, which of course is Hindi for we-have-no-clue-where-we-are. The highlight here came last night when Ted & I took turns getting haircuts in a streetside barbershop, again drawing a huge crowd of onlookers wanting to touch us and giggle and make humorous remarks at our expense in a foreign language. We giggled back knowingly.
This morning after an omelette and yet another cup of Nescafe we took turns getting a massage by the minister of misery who insisted on crunching us repeatedly against the cold hard wooden table in complete and total nakedness which here is not something to consider as odd. No worries here about which parts go which ways. My parts for example went every which way but the way Sahib wanted them to go.
Ted & I ducked in here to escape our ubiquitous guides who wish only to get us into their fathers' shops and take hundreds of rupees for their efforts. We wait now for Erin to emerge from the massage chamber so we can forage for more Puri Banghi, Hindi for last night's leftovers rolled in Nan which of course is a Hindi burrito.
For the reader's edification, Indian men wear towels on their heads for convenience, just in the off-chance a hot shower might be working. This is a rare occasion, but when it does work one can be sure the lights won't. Your choice is to have half a hot shower in the dark or a cold shower also in the dark. Dark is the natural state, as is cold. Hot is unusual and short-lived, although it does last long enough to soap up your hair. Exactly long enough.
Women wear saris of red and blue colors not found in Gap. They carry heavy objects on their heads, children in one arm, and a vegetable garden in the other. Men smoke.
G
Saturday, December 11, 2004
Jaipur
We now write from Jaipur, a relatively big city of 2.3 million in the middle of Rajasthan. Erin and I spent all night on a train to get here in the best class seats available. We were on both sides of an aisle on the top level of a three-tiered bunk bed all night. The ride wasn't bad, other thn the guy in the middle bunk had a snore that powered the whole train. Thank god for ear plugs.
When we got to Jaipur we met my dad at the hotel as he arrived on a whirlwind tour through New York, Istanbul and Delhi. His eyes were the size of saucers at the third worldness of India. We proceeded to cruise all over Jaipur squeezed into a rickshaw made for 10 indians or 2 Americans. We managed three...barely. For all of you who know my dad, you will know that where he goes, so goes his camera. He lived up to expectations and captured all of Jaipur in the first day.
I, unfortunately, missed out on all of yesterdays adventures because the stomach bug finally got me...or perhaps the undercooked chicken or street food I ate. Fortunately, our $25 a night nice hotel had HBO...so it was just like being at home.
According to the stories I heard, Gar and Erin had a good time with all the touts and beggars in Jaipur who tried to sell them stuff by turning the game around on them. Gar kept trying to sell Erin's hat to people...needless to say they were confused with the turnabout. It must have been fun, because they both giggled when they returned.
After finally feeling better last night, we went out for an american night out. We went to McDonald's for dinner, where we had chicken big macs and the McCurry Pan since they don't serve the revered cow in Indian McDonalds'. We topped that by going to the largest cinema in Asia to catch a Bollywood flick. It was of course in Hindi, but the melodrama and dancing were so thick that we had no problem understanding the story. The most amazing part was the stares we got in the lobby from everyone. We were quite the center of attention.
In other big news, while Gar napped on a couch at a carpet store, Erin negotiated our way into a beautiful new rug from Kashmir to adorn our living room. We went to about 10 different stores over the last few weeks, saw hundreds of rugs, and were told hundreds of stories about the best ones. Finally we found one we both loved and bought it. Very exciting...now we just need to figure out how to get it home. We got a discount by not having them ship it...now we'll probably double the price mailing it home. They did, however, fold it into a nice burlap suitcase for us.
Well, the taxi is here and we are off to the Shekwati region for a few days. More to come soon.
Ted
When we got to Jaipur we met my dad at the hotel as he arrived on a whirlwind tour through New York, Istanbul and Delhi. His eyes were the size of saucers at the third worldness of India. We proceeded to cruise all over Jaipur squeezed into a rickshaw made for 10 indians or 2 Americans. We managed three...barely. For all of you who know my dad, you will know that where he goes, so goes his camera. He lived up to expectations and captured all of Jaipur in the first day.
I, unfortunately, missed out on all of yesterdays adventures because the stomach bug finally got me...or perhaps the undercooked chicken or street food I ate. Fortunately, our $25 a night nice hotel had HBO...so it was just like being at home.
According to the stories I heard, Gar and Erin had a good time with all the touts and beggars in Jaipur who tried to sell them stuff by turning the game around on them. Gar kept trying to sell Erin's hat to people...needless to say they were confused with the turnabout. It must have been fun, because they both giggled when they returned.
After finally feeling better last night, we went out for an american night out. We went to McDonald's for dinner, where we had chicken big macs and the McCurry Pan since they don't serve the revered cow in Indian McDonalds'. We topped that by going to the largest cinema in Asia to catch a Bollywood flick. It was of course in Hindi, but the melodrama and dancing were so thick that we had no problem understanding the story. The most amazing part was the stares we got in the lobby from everyone. We were quite the center of attention.
In other big news, while Gar napped on a couch at a carpet store, Erin negotiated our way into a beautiful new rug from Kashmir to adorn our living room. We went to about 10 different stores over the last few weeks, saw hundreds of rugs, and were told hundreds of stories about the best ones. Finally we found one we both loved and bought it. Very exciting...now we just need to figure out how to get it home. We got a discount by not having them ship it...now we'll probably double the price mailing it home. They did, however, fold it into a nice burlap suitcase for us.
Well, the taxi is here and we are off to the Shekwati region for a few days. More to come soon.
Ted
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