23 December 2016

Dear friends, 

We spent the Christmas weekend in London with D’s parents (F’s Popo and Gonggong). It was a much needed respite from the craziness of the last 3 weeks.

We love visiting the South Bank in London. It has a great mix of activities for all ages and is just far enough off the tourist track to be fairly low density. Plus, it has a high density of bridges to cross back and forth for many new views of the north and south banks of the River Thames.

The Winter Festival was a great place to imbibe the festive atmosphere (albeit windy and nippy). The absolute best bits were the diverse food stalls, ranging from German, Indian, Italian, Moroccan, to Swedish.

Garlic pizza bread

F had yummy garlic pizza bread, P couldn’t resist the pulled pork bun, and I succumbed to the aroma of the grilled lamb from the Middle Eastern stall while waiting for F’s pizza to emerge from its clay oven.

Deconstructed lamb kebab

While all the food was pretty good, my choice of a deconstructed lamb kebab, where the wrap itself was replaced by chips, was deemed the top choice. The spices were warming, and the deconstructed wrap ingredients in a box was far less messy to eat than the usual falling-apart package.

P with fellow large hooter Gonk

D with Gonk and wind blown glove

The wind defeated our desire to further explore the festive market, and into the Festival Theatre, where we enjoyed a fabulous big band performance and ballroom dancing.

Big Band and ballroom dancing

Sufficiently fed and entertained, we headed back on F’s new favourite Tubilee (Jubilee) line via Waterloo station.

Enjoying Christmas carols by the Salvation Army

More on some late night shopping on Christmas Eve and more London stories to come…

Love, 

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Dear friends, 

A decade ago, we blogged our move from Edinburgh to Los Angeles. Now, we’re doing the reverse. 

While the science during our sojourn in LA was fantastic, it was a struggle to get the financial support needed to keep the whole enterprise going. 

In the end, a sacrifice of our way of life in LA was necessary to keep our family unit together.

So we’re taking a break in Scotland until we embark on our next adventure. 

Many new stories to come. Stay tuned! 

Love, 

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It’s Super Bowl Sunday in the US, and hence Kirin’s unofficial birthday. We first met her on our way to our friends’ annual Super Bowl party, and 2 days later, she came to us as her forever parents. We don’t know her real birthday, why she was abandoned not just once, but twice, or why she’s so scared of fireworks. But she’s our favourite dog and it’s her birthday today, so Happy Birthday KiKi!