Todd Hoeft's Euro Vacation

Todd came to visit us in London for a few days before he continued onto Amsterdam and Belgium. It was great seeing him and catching up on how life is treating him in Chicago. From what I can tell he had a great time and was on the hunt for a famous British pie. We ultimately found him a delectable looking one at Borough Market the day before he left. Not so good though is the fact that he left it wrapped up in our fridge and never got to try it. Oh well - gives him a reason to visit again.

Todd picking out what I am sure would have been a great pie:

Road Trip to Wales

Mike Goodspeed, Kati Boler, Lindsey and I spent over a month trying to figure out where to spend their last weekend as Londoners. Luckily, if you wait long enough, you don't have many choices left. Wales it was! We had a few simple goals. The first one was to see an epic sunset - check. The second one was find great ice cream - check (in a different sort of way). Another was to find great Mexican in Britain - double check. The final goal was to find some cool waterfalls - check times 4. It was a great weekend and Chloe thoroughly enjoyed the hiking that we did to find the different waterfalls in the region of Brecon Beacons.


Chloe helping Kati out:

Best Mexican Food in England (casa Mexicana):


One of many waterfalls we found:

The Square - 2 Michelin Stars

When Yan Wang came to visit the office in London we had the good fortune to also visit The Square. It was a great meal from start to finish - especially the finish! Also, we were by far the least formally dressed people in the place. Luckily, we had an early reservation and were out of there before we could make the late crown uncomfortable.

No way can I remember what these apps were:


This Dessert was one of my top 5 of all time. It reminded me a lot of our wedding cake (layers of Raspberry and crunch and more raspberry and crunch):

Finally Ate at St. John Restaurant

I was lucky enough to finally get to eat at St. John on September 21 with a group of co-workers. I had a couple of opportunities previously and had to cancel for one reason or another. We did not get the suckling pig this time around so that gives me a reason to go back. This is close to the most "British" food I have eaten while living in London and for the most part it was very good. Others seem to think so also because it held on to its Michelin star again for 2011. My whole life my parents have been encouraging me to try new things and I guess that I fought that for so long that now I view it as a major accomplishment when I actually do expand my culinary horizons. I tried marrow for the first time and was delighted I took the dive. So much so that I went back for a second scoop of the succulent goo.

This is not my picture but gives you a good sense of the atmosphere:


Picture source: http://foodsnobblog.wordpress.com/2008/12/13/st-john-london-the-second-return/

First Time Lawn Bowling

Lindsey, Kati Bohler, and I finally made it out for an afternoon of lawn bowling. Sorry to say that Mike Goodspeed was not feeling well enough to make it a foursome. If it wasn't for my hot start, the girls would have come away with a victory. Luckily, our time was up and they couldn't demand a rematch.

Night Photo Making Class!

Yuhong Liu, John Vlahos, and I had a great time walking along the River Thames August 3 2011. I think we all got some great photos which is much easier to do when there are such great lit up locations to shoot. Enjoy the set of my favorite pics from that night....

Random photos from July 2011

Chloe in Hyde Park

Boots in Park

Tate Escalator

Ceiling of Pizza East London

Best Seat in the City

Lawn Ouside of Tate Modern

Random Girl in Portobello Market

PK traveled by train to Florence.

I headed to Florence for the last weekend of my Italian trip to meet up with my co-workers. The resort Villa Cora was so great and the fact that we had it all to ourselves made it so I never left the compound. That only means I will get to take Lindsey back and actually enjoy the city a little bit next time.

Sorrento and Amalfi Coast

Lindsey had never been to the Amalfi Coast region of Italy. It is one area that is definitely nice enough to break my personal rule of never visit the same place twice. We were stationed in two different areas. The first was Sorrento and the second was the Island of Ischia. We also stopped in Positano and Capri on day trips. I won't be able to do the trip justice through words so here are some of the pictures for you to enjoy.

View from our hotel with Vesuvius in the background


Beautiful Cliffs of Positano


Scootering Around Capri


Resort on the Island of Ischia


Greatest Restaurant of the trip - La Vigna di Alberto. This was an amazing experience and a must do if you get to Ischia. They opened an hour early for just us so we got to watch them make everything from scratch. The wine was also from the restaurant grounds and brought to us in a pitcher. A++.

Photography Class Weekend

During the first weekend of July 2011 I took part in a great two day photo class. This was a lovely gift from my wonderful wife. Since then I have also taken a night class (pics to come) and have again started carrying my camera with me everywhere I go. I look forward to getting better and another season of traveling with my camera. One of these trips I will get up early enough to shoot the sunrise. Enjoy a couple examples of different aperture settings.

4.0:


22.0:


4.0:


22.0:

Glastonbury and Wells

When Chad and the kids were visiting we did a weekend trip to Glastonbury and Wells. It just so happened to coincide with Glastonbury Festival which is the largest music fest in Europe. Luckily the festival was a few miles out of town and was fun to look at from a distance. While we were there we had lots of fun eating, shopping, begging for a place to stay, and visiting the cathedral and bishops palace. Here are some of the pics:

Had to take this pic for mom.

Stopped at Stonehenge on the way.

A working moat around the bishop's palace.

The Cathedral From the Palace Grounds.

Climbing to the top of the Tor on the edge of Glastonbury.

Chad and the Kids Enjoying London

Based on the pictures I would definitely have to say that Chad Ammerman was enjoying himself just as much as the kids on there trip to London. We happened to be walking through the nearby college campus as a student festival was in full swing. We may or may not have entered through the proper channels. Anyways, Chad talked his way onto one of the rides. It was great having them come and visit us. There will be more pictures to come from our weekend excursion to the countryside.

If you click on the picture you can see Chad grinning from ear to ear in anticipation....

Weekend Trip To Bruges With Murph

Over June 11th and 12th, Lindsey and I headed to Bruges to meet up with Patrick Murphy. We had a great time and incredible luck with the timing of the rain storms. We all enjoyed the Belgium beers and the local fries. I can't even count how many times we ordered fries just to make sure they passes inspection. I do have to say that the best I found was the right stand as you face the Belfry Tower. The first place we stopped off to find a local brew was a hidden gem called De Garre. I realized after listening to Murph and Lindsey talking about all the beers they want to try that the only way I was going to get to see the city was by turning Saturday into a pub crawl. It worked out beautifully.

Overall, I think we were all really impressed with what Bruges had to offer and we highly recommend it as a 1 or 2 day stop if you have the chance. The best chocolate shop in my opinion was Pralinette. I would recommend trying every truffle combination possible. I never did find a bad one out the ones I tried.

Enjoy the pictures.....

Lindsey and Murph enjoying a pint at De Garre


An impressive wall of Belgium beers


Murphy looking for directions the the Belfry ;)


Prettiest spot in town - Lake of Love

Where We Have Been...

Day trip to Cambridge

I finally joined Zipcar and now have access to wheels in the UK. It's a weird thing. In the UK they accept your US drovers license for 12 months but Zipcar UK will accept your US license if you have lived in the UK for more than a year. Riddle me that!
Here are some pictures from our wonderful day spent in Cambridge with Kati Boler and Mike Goodspeed. Cheers!