The Motherland, Baby Britain, and Garden Mazes!

I know, I know -- it's been a long time since I posted on this here blog, but I blame it fully on my very tempermental internet connection here at East India Dock Road. Not on my laziness -- me, lazy? Not at all!

So I have tons to write about -- namely, Portugal, a.k.a. the Motherland. First, we flew on TAP, or, as I like to call it, Air Portugal, and experienced arguing flight attendants, extreme turbulence, and the "light snack" of horrible chicken and kale sandwiches. But... Portugal, man. Portugal is the greatest place ever. As you can see from hundreds of pictures, it is truly beautiful, and so much better in person! We went to Gaia, Oporto, Braga, and Guimaeres -- 4 amazing cities with loads of history. Portugal is old! Everything is from the 16th century, and nearly every block has a huge church where bishops are buried or relics are hidden. It truly is a very Catholic country and very traditional. And so beautiful, with such good food (can you say bacalhau con natas? -- I can! And you haven't lived until you've tried a Magnum ice cream bar). Also, staying in a Portuguese home reminded me of home, which was nice. It made me miss home a lot, but nice nonetheless. Everybody should go to Portugal! Ride the bus, it's hilarious! Some of the roads are really narrow and should only be one-way streets, but nobody cares and drives any which way. So the bus driver has to rapidly beep everytime he's making a turn in these crazy, windy, narrow streets just in case another car drives head-on into him. You haven't lived until you're on a bus that has to drive in reverse for awhile so that a semi can pass somehow, somewhere. Classic. One of my favorite moments.

But there was wine tasting, lots of eating, tons of sightseeing, some forbidden treks into construction zones (thanks to our fearless Portuguese leader, Zeka), and an awesome climb up to the top of an ancient castle. Marvelous. Simply marvelous.

And then on the way home we got stuck on the Heathrow Express (a train that's supposed to take you from Heathrow airport to Central London in a guaranteed 15 minutes; hence the term express), for about an hour, missed the tube because it was after midnight and the tube stations close at around 11:30, and had to pay some big bucks to ride an infamous black cab. We already wrote to Heathrow Express and complained, so we're expecting a refund for both the express train and cab -- they shouldn't mess with Americans at all.

Tuesday was Halloween, which you all know but the British don't. It was kind of depressing not seeing kids dressed up in Halloween costumes, and the lack of fun-size candy shocked me. Some of us ex-patriots refused to let the British indifference to a fun holiday stop us from celebrating, so we went on a ghost walk. London is so old and has so much history -- and also a lot of public hangings and murder intrigue. For example, the guide took us to an old pub that was transformed into a clandestine Catholic church during Elizabeth I's reign (a very good time for Protestants) -- the authorities found out about it and MURDERED all those celebrating mass. So it's apparently haunted. Saw no ghosts anywhere, though -- probably because it was so bloody cold. And yes, it has been cold! And when I say cold, I mean cold! Bitter cold! 4-layer cold! I can't deal.

Work overall that week? Busy, busy, busy. Deadline = lots of work, so I was working overtime, not taking my full hour of lunch, etc, just so I could get all those proofs keyed! Now I'm busy again, making calls to judge's chambers and verifying address and contact information. Fun stuff. I bet you never thought London could be this exciting.

This weekend was also very cool. On Saturday we got up early to go to Hampton Court, which is about a half hour away from central London on train. Hampton Court is this insanely large Tudor Palace -- kings such as Henry VIII housed themselves there. The gardens are absolutely stunning -- and they have a garden maze! Exciting! It was like Harry Potter, except without bad guys with magical powers trying to hurt you. Another highlight? Watching guys dressed up cook a traditional dinner back in ye olde days. We walked into the Tudor kitchen, and stopped to watch in horror a man scoop the marrow out of meat bones -- gross! The marrow was going to somehow be made into liquid and used for soup or something like that. You got to watch them eat the food, which was interesting and bizarre at the same time. The visitors couldn't try it for fear of lawsuits, but the workers seemed to enjoy it.

Before I move on, let me briefly list all the events that truly made this weekend the "weekend of woe" (in a good way... if that makes sense) :

-one lost glove (later found)
-one lost scarf (apologies to mother)
-one lost earring
-one pair of broken sunglasses
-one pair of broken sunglasses at the bottom of the toilet
-one ruined purse
-one DLR (Dockland's Light Rail) open-door malfunction mishap
-one bicycle mauling
-one bangle bracelet at the bottom of the toilet
-one bag with a bottle of leaky super-glue stuck inside a pocket

And there you have the unfortante events.

Guy Fawkes Day was on Sunday, but we really didn't do anything. Too wiped out from Hampton Court. But let me tell you, when they say America is obsessed with explosives, they obviously forgot London, especially East London. Fireworks have been going off for weeks and weeks. Many people like to shoot off fireworks from their backyards. Or in the park -- even when people are in the park minding their own business. And when I mean fireworks, I mean big, flashy fireworks. It's insane. And yeah, I don't much like fireworks anymore, after weeks and weeks of hearing loud booming noises reminiscent of lightning wars. But it's winding down. Just like I'm winding down. Sleep time! Goodnight and godspeed.