Dec. 8th. Shoreditch, Greenwich, Brighton

Another whirlwind week went by. It seems that our story here is evolving along 4 parallel lines. First, is that we are on a tropical island. I have 2 more pieces of evidence: cherry tree is blooming by the school and Georgia had found a coconut on a beach in Brighton, UK today. That being said, the island had shrank a bit in the last few days though it may be unrelated. On another unrelated note, the boiler is broken again, which really should be OK since it is a tropical island after all.

Next.. Christmas. The seriousness level had come up a few notches. I lost track of emails from both schools urging to bring something, anything to donate for school fairs. They will take used soft toys, books, clothing, food.

While it is nice that all these things will not go to waste and someone will be able to benefit, it is a bit discomforting that the time between dropping things off and fairs is small. I don't think the things dropped off will go through any sorting or cleaning. By the magnitude of the effort ("if you bring donation on Friday, you don't have to wear your uniform"), it would seem that at least Georgia's school fair, since her school is much larger, would have mounds of stuff. Unfortunately we missed both fairs so I could not attest to how that actually looked.

Train ads urge to send texts to various charities to donate and help end everything: (not to make the light of any of those things, but literally, there is no other place to direct your eyes): domestic abuse, homelessness, cancer, child abuse, animal abuse, and so on. Along with the holiday themes, billboards and news discuss the importance of stopping downward spiral of alcoholism and drunk driving. I am sure we do all of these things in US as well. I guess, since we don't live in the urban area we might not have been exposed to them as much. A sad thought that comes to mind is come Dec 25 all these ads will go down and drunkards will continue to abuse their wifes and children until the next holiday season rolls around.

Kids were having various celebrations in school almost every day. Next week we will visit Isabella's school. Like many other schools around they are doing the animated nativity scene. Isabella will be Mary and will sing a song about baby Jesus. We will record.

Work. Much excitement in that area this week on account of the visit from the boss. Went to the office and saw the old traditional Christmas tree in the break room: it is upside down. The idea is that more gifts fit this way but we did not see any. We also were not invited to the holiday party but at least we are still on the mailing list for NJ :)

Finally, the last theme, travel. This week I visited Shoreditch to meet with Paul S. and his gang. It is an area in London between financial district and the end of Brick lane - the little Bangladesh. It is a hot area for new growth and development. A bit like meatpacker's district in NYC before it got renovated. While it is clear that restoration works are underway, Shoreditch felt like it still has ways to go. But there is something about this place. I am drawn to come back for another look.

Guess which one is the queen

On Saturday we all went back to London to visit the British museum.

Kids were primed on the awesome books from the Gilgamesh trilogy and we went straight for the Mesopotamian section. We had a blast. The book was clearly inspired by the same images so kids were recognizing the artifacts from the book and were pointing things like cunieforms on the carvings out to me. Seeing those things at a museum was making Isabella think that the story was real. The kids lasted long enough for us to cover the mummies, medieval chess, a small Japanese section, a part of the permanent exhibit.

We were completely inspired as we left the museum. Finding a Korean restaurant Bibimbop right in front of museum was exactly what we needed for some physical sustenance. Perfection achieved! Well,.. it was completely achieved some time later, after a short stop at a French bakery Pain de Miel that lives up to its name because of the pain one feels to have to exercise restraint in consuming their wondrous creations.

Next we decided to take the London cable car from Royal Victoria station to North Greenwich. There is actually such a thing in London! It was built by United Arab Emirates last year. We took an underground followed by light rail, both of which took about an hour for a 10 minute cable car ride across the river. The views were worth it!! Speaking of other modes of transportation, there is a also funicular near St. Pauls. Will have to try that one out as well.

After we arrived, we walked over to Greenwich and just wandered around enjoying festive crowds and the sights. At dusk, we caught a boat ferry ride back to Embankment, right across the river from London Eye. Watching the sunset view along the river was a great experience. We also got a fun soundtrack. There was an English family next to us. The dad must have worked for a construction company. He told his kids interesting anecdotes about some of the major buildings and bridges around, including the one about the stupid Americans who wanted to buy the Tower Bridge but confused the names and offered to buy the London Bridge instead. I kept a neutral expression and was rewarded with more stories.


On Sunday we went to Brighton. It is a beautiful city on the South coast. It was originally built as a royal retreat. It features one of the unusual buildings we've ever seen - the Royal Pavilion. It is a fun mish-mash of Middleastern, Indian, and even Russian styles and is a proper answer to Pena Palace in Sintra. When we arrived, we took a ride on the Ferris wheel and saw the beautiful coastline. It seemed to resemble Brighton, US somewhat.

Then we walked for two hours to the white cliffs and marina and then back to town for lunch at a non-recommended Corner Café. Did a stroll around the Royal Pavilion. It now features the skating rink.

Kids wanted to go but we were not sure we could handle it with all the walking we did. It looks like they are stronger than us now :)

So instead, we continued wandering around the narrow streets in the center, and then to the beach along the artists quarter. They have shops featuring some typical seaside type of art underneath the boardwalk. There are also a couple of food kiosks.

Georgia, Dan and I had some oysters. They were 90 pence each. Based on the latest verification Dan is still not a fan. Georgia was trying hers for the first time in her life and really liked it. I have not tried that many but these were the best ones yet.

We finished our walk at the Brighton Pier. They have a small amusement park and several gambling arcades.

It is a much larger and more developed town than Hastings, and seems to be in a better shape economically. But Hastings, with its houses perched on the slopes of the hills and their roofs covered in moss is more charming. Parking in Brighton was the most expensive we've seen so far. The best and cheapest place to park is along the beach through the entry point near the Ferris wheel or by the marina.

Back home, after a quick fridge raid, everyone went to their rooms to go to sleep.

Pretty intense weekend!! Looking forward to going home soon!!