Horses Are Common in London

I guess since it is so common I don't really think about how often we see horses in our neighborhood and we see lots of "evidence" of them all the time as we jump of the residue left on the street. Sightings in Hyde Park are also quite common although Lindsey and I have never actually gotten around to taking two out for a spin.

Second Trip to Brighton

Another day trip that I forgot to write about was a day trip to Brighton with Kati Boler, Mike Goodspeed, Lindsey Ammerman, and myself (along with Chloe!) A couple of the highlights of the trip included slingshot carnival rides enjoyed by Mike and Lindsey and a visit to The Royal Pavilion (The Royal Pavilion is a former royal residence located in Brighton, England. It was built in three campaigns, beginning in 1787, as a seaside retreat for George, Prince of Wales, from 1811 Prince Regent. It is often referred to as the Brighton Pavilion. It is built in the Indo-Saracenic style prevalent in India for most of the 19th century, with the most extravagant chinoiserie interiors ever executed in the British Isles.)

The Old Pier

The line was too long otherwise we all would have done this....

Lindsey being a kid again


The Royal Pavilion

White Water Rafting on Olympic Course

Back in August Mike, Kati, Kenny, Theresa, Lindsey and I had a thrill leading up to the 2012 Olympics and I didn't want our experience rafting on the course that will host the 2012 games get lost in the shuffle. It was an awesome time and everyone was glad that, although we were all cold and some more wet than others, we made the effort to experience the thrill of rafting.

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/