Sunday 28th March
Brilliance and Boredom
A year ago today two very nervous people landed at London Heathrow. Neither of us knew quite what to expect or whether we would last the year in this new and strange city. Well as you can see we did in fact last the year and at this stage we haven't booked a flight home. I think I can say that we are both pleased we made the leap and that we have had some fantastic experiences since we left New Zealand. We do miss our family and friends and just wish you could all be here with us. We look forward to showing those of you who come and visit us, 'our' London. We of course owe a debt to Duncan and Bronwyn who have been our London 'family'. Thank you guys for being there, listening to us and sharing this adventure.
It was definitely me who was the most resistant to the whole idea of uprooting our lives and starting over, and some of you may remember I nearly didn't get on the plane. However, London has been good to me. I was lucky and found a job quickly. I was even luckier that it was a job that I enjoy (most of the time) with really nice people who make being at work a pleasure. I was also lucky, or perhaps well prepared, in that the trains/tubes don't seem to upset me nearly as much as I thought they would. In fact I quite enjoy my quiet time in the morning and evening - provided I can get a seat. It has in many ways been one of the calmest years I have ever had. In otherways, of course it has been hectic - new house, new job, new friends, new countries. I had no idea how diverse London was prior to arriving. I think I thought of it as white and middle class. Nothing could be further from the truth. It is 'diverse and dynamic', as all the marketing literature will tell you if you will just read it. I think it is this that has made me feel so at home - everyone is 'other'. I think I have learnt a lot about myself this year and I think most of all I have learned that I have to be me, not some one else, that I have to do things at my own pace (usually slower than everybody else's) and to not expect miracles from myself (or from Nick). And perhaps most importantly always carry an A to Z and an umbrella!!
We decided that since this was our anniversial weekend we would do some London things and in a funny sort of way what we chose to do summed up our time here so far very nicely indeed. Some of our weekend was fantastic and some was flawed.
Yesterday we went to the London Homeshow - catchphrase 'Inspiring London'. We are not sure what London would look like if the Home Show did in fact inspire it but I'm not sure I would want to live here! It was not a cheap day out and at the end we felt like we had paid to be bombarded with infomercials. And the only freebie we got was Oxo gravy packets with MSG as the additional bonus ingrdient. This was definitely pants.
Today however, we had a magical time. We decided to go to the Victoria and
Albert Museum in South Kensington. We weren't sure quite what to expect
and so decided to go on a guided tour. The V and A, like all the other
major museums in London,is vast. It covers art and design and has collections from around
the world. The first thing you see upon entering is a gigantic glass chandelier.
A visit to the museum is almost worth it just to see this fantastic creation.
Our tour started with some details about the chandelier and then the tour
guide took us around several of the galleries spanning India, England,
Italy, Spain and the rest of Europe and also crossing time from the Renaissance
through to the present. It was an hour tour and included too much to take in. There
has been a large amount of restoration since the influx of funding from
the current government and so the Victorian feel of the place has been
recreated in many of the rooms of the museum. This is a little odd as Victorian
nearly always means over done and elaborate.
While waiting for the tour to begin, we browsed the "What's on at the V&A" catalogue and spotted a free workshop on calligraphy running in a room called the studio. We managed to negotiate the seven not-always intersecting floors to find it and took our seats ready to learn all.
The course was taught by a young gentleman who is about to undertake a PhD in Calligraphic Transformations through the centuries. He had an enormous depth of knowledge on all matters typographical and a pretty good singing voice too. This was not a lecture but very much a hands on workshop teaching us the fundamentals of constructing a consistant calligraphic alphabet (sitting properly and breathing play an overly important part). It was so absorbing - the class, not the paper - and writing this I realise we were there for over two hours. During this time we really only scratched the surface, but we have taken away exemplars and exortations to practice.
To round out our weekend of celebrations we headed into Putney to our 'local' Japanese restaurant for some yummy sushi. It was delicious. Through luck not management we were able to avoid the crowds from the Oxford vs. Cambridge boat race. Though only just. The vast expanse of culture at our fingertips really is one of the not to be underestimated highlights of living in London.
Posted by Hayley with assist from Nick
Thursday 25th March
When Harry met our Anniversary
Well, it has been some time since we updated but I can quickly catch you up on what has been going on up to yesterday... Sleep... Eat... Travel... Work... Eat... Work... Travel... Eat... Sleep... Eat... Travel and so on... on weekend days less working and traveling and more sleeping and eating!
Yesterday however, was out third wedding anniversary. The amazing thing about that is in some ways it doesn't feel like three years since we got married yet in other ways so much has happened in that time that it feels like aeons.
We have, up until now, been away for a trip to celebrate each of our anniversaries (Masterton the first year, Santa Rosa the second). We decided we could keep this theme alive by saying that we would be in a different country for each of our anniversaries (1=New Zealand 2=The United States 3=England). We should be ok as long as we don't stay married for more than 340 years. (The number of sovereign and non-sovereign countries recognised by Guinness World Records) So we decided instead of leaving London we would do something Londony as our celebration. We booked tickets to the show When Harry met Sally, based on the movie of the same name, months ago. The main attraction was the show's stars Luke Perry (Dylan from Beverly Hills 90210) and Alyson Hannigan (Willow from Buffy the Vampire Slayer). So we weren't expecting high art.
We decided that we would meet in town following work to partake in a pre-theatre dinner. Nick turned up looking gorgeous in his wedding suit and tie ... apparently everyone at work wanted to know if he had a job interview! I had bought a new black top and wore my Spanish earrings and I think looked glam. We successfully met outside the Criterion Theatre being a little uncertain about locating each other inside Piccadilly Circus tube station at rush hour!
We went for a wander around and see what we could find in the way of restaurants. The area, of course, is full of places to dine all offering pre-theatre 2 or 3 course menus. We settled on Galileo's Restaurant on Haymarket. This was conveniently directly opposite the theatre and had a menu that looked (and was) Hayley-adaptable!! Galileo's wasn't too touristy either... sometimes a problem in this bit of London. Nick started with calamari, followed by Chicken with Aubergine and Mozzarella, and topped off with ice-cream and thick chocolate sauce - which he polished off looking like the cat that ate the cream. I had a delicious lamb steak with potatoes and some absolutely divine spinach and a pot of tea:) Neither of us taking up the pre-theatre menu after all. The music selection in the restaurant was interesting to say the least we heard OMC's How Bizarre - twice. Oh well - at least it added a touch of home to the evening!!
We had planned an after dinner stroll but when we started it was so cold we had to turn back to the warmth of the theatre. The theatre itself, the Theatre Royal Haymarket, was built in 1720 and allegedly has a ghost. It seats around 900 and was worth going to the play just to look at such an old, beautifully restored theatre. Unfortunately when we arrived we were in for a big disappointment, it turns out Alyson Hannigan isn't appearing in any of the shows between 17 March and 3 April. A fact that wasn't advertised when we bought the tickets. We were a bit cross that a show that essentially sells itself on who is in it rather than what it is about would have such a big gap in the middle of such a short run. However, rumours have it that she might have gone off to film the last ever episode of Angel and if this is the case perhaps we can just about forgive her. At least Luke Perry was still there.
The show itself was better and worse than we anticipated. Luke Perry was actually much better than either of us had expected and had some very funny lines which he delivered with aplomb. The two scenes in which he sings were extremely entertaining. He did have the unenviable role of carrying the show in Alyson's absence. The understudy playing Sally initially grated on both of us but in the second half which moved faster she began to grow on us. She didn't give an exactly nuanced performance and it all seemed somewhat under rehearsed - even more unforgivable now we discover it wasn't just a one-off replacement.
Unfortunately for the cast, the moment that got the biggest laugh was unscripted and involved a stage hand appearing out nowhere during a bed room scene involving Harry and Sally's best friends. It occurred behind the actors who took a while to twig to what the audience had gone into convulsions of laughter about. In the end they both gave up trying to get out the rest of the scene and merely threw the blankets over their heads and waited for the screen to close!
A highlight for many in the audience judging by the discussion afterwards was the brief flash of Luke Perry's bottom - less mention was made of rather more flesh displayed by 'Sally' which I'm not sure was entirely intentional. The reviews I read mentioned Harry's flash but had not mentioned a more significant display from Sally. I'm not sure it was the kind of show you would rave about even if both the stars had been there but it was a sweet choice for an anniversary and reminded us of what it is that we love about each other.
All in all, we had a fun night. We are definitely planning more nights at the theatre and more anniversaries.
Posted by Hayley
Saturday 6th March
Wakey wakey…
March has beaten down our door and while we may beg to differ about the arrival of spring, the flowers, birds and squirrels seem to have different ideas. So with daffodils in our garden (and hopefully baby squirrels soon) we present to you the latest incarnation of nickandhayley.com (sunglasses may be necessary).
Hayley was in the city today "pretending to be a Londoner" as she put it. She spent the day at an event called Capital Woman. She got to hear lots of people talk, including Ken (our mayor) and by and large a fun day was had. I stayed at home and pottered about on the computer. So it was a full day for me too.
We had lunch last Sunday with Elizabeth and Carl (formerly of NZ) at a little Japanese cafe in Putney. Food was good and so were they. They've been spared the the honour of having their photo up for the world to see (this time round) as I haven't got round to downloading the photos off our camera yet, and yes, I'm too lazy to do it now while I'm talking about it.
Time to stop writing now and relax. There's an episode or two of Buffy waiting for us on DVD…
Posted by Nick