Quirks

So, there are quite a few quirky things about London, and the British in general. I really like some of the pub names:
(just in our neighborhood)
The Bank of Friendship
The Hen and Chickens Theatre Bar
The Famous Cock
The King's Head
(others)
The Coal Hole
The Cock (apparently less famous than the one above)

The Red Lion (there are at least 4 of these)
Ye Olde Cheshire Cheese
The Only Running Footman

Fox & Anchor
Hand & Shears
Hoop & Grapes
Dog & Duck
Lamb & Flag (ate there today actually)
Queen's Head & Artichoke
Fox & Pheasant
Crown & Greyhound
Dog & Bell
Boot & Flogger
Old Bull & Bush
(this naming style is quite common)

Just to name a few. I haven't tried many, seriously, I haven't, but in time I will...

Then there's the food. Generally I like the food, and there's a good variety. But there are a couple issues too. There are basically 2 primary vegetables: baked beans and peas. The peas may be mushy, or not (not a big fan either way). The baked beans have a watered down tomato sauce that just disappoints. Bush's Baked Beans could make a killing here. The Mexican food is just OK, and nobody here knows about queso with your chips (crisps). Oh, and people drink alcohol at lunch during the work day and liquor is available at grocery stores. Some pros, some cons...

The television is interesting-ish. I love 'Top Gear', as well as '8 out of 10 Cats' (which is a comedy show that has nothing to do with cats). American TV censors would have their heads explode here. Swearing is very common, all day. Nudity is somewhat common too. We even saw a commercial the other day with 2 naked people from behind. Now my area of expertise: news, is very different too. I won't pass judgment on American vs. British news, but there are big differences. The news here has far fewer stories and goes much deeper into them. They concentrate on big issues and may spend 5-10 minutes on one story. At my last TV station in America we would do 5 live shots and 15 stories in 10 minutes. I have yet to see a car crash or petty theft type story here, which I will admit is nice. I guess the 'horse meat labelled as beef' story here isn't getting much play back home. They could easily spend 10 minutes on that story alone, and once you know the details, I'd say that may be justified.

An update on us. Tracy's job is going great. I haven't had much luck yet, but I'm still hopeful. We're happy to be settled into our flat. It took quite awhile for the internet to be hooked up, hence the lack of posts for a couple weeks. Not having internet access (aside from coffee shops and internet cafes), feels like the dark ages. So happy to have it now. I'll try to post some London landmark-type pictures soon. I was waiting until the winter gloom had passed...it may be a bit longer.

Cheers!!

Match Day

16-2-13

So today our football team, Arsenal, took on the Blackburn Rovers in an FA Cup game. Our neighborhood was quite busy, as it always is on match day. Today Tracy and I were around as the neighborhood was gearing up for the match. Now usually every day we see people taking pictures of the front of our building, since it was the previous stadium of Arsenal.

OUR HOME

On match days, we see a lot more of that, as well as food stalls and souvenir stands.

30 meters from our door

The team nickname is The Gunners, the fans call themselves The Gooners

Those are homes, by the way

Scarves are BIG here...it is cold and windy a lot

Highbury is our neighborhood, N5 is our post code

Here is a quick snippet of video of the crowd walking through our neighborhood to the stadium.

Just for comparison, I snapped a photo of the new Emirates Stadium, and then I took a couple pictures of old black and white photos from when our home was the stadium. Actually, it was their stadium just a few years ago, the old pictures are really old.

The pub where the old photos are is called the Gunners Pub. Its a block away. Not a nice Victorian Era pub that you'll find in the guidebooks; it was all about the team there.


Oh, and Arsenal lost 1-0. Blimey.