Walking Weymouth

After a chaotic week of moving flats and some unfortunate news from California, we escaped to the Dorset coast for the long bank holiday weekend with a couple friend and their adorable one-year old son. Timing wasn’t ideal to go away as there was some serious unpacking and administrative tasks to take care of such as transferring bills, cancelling gym memberships, amongst other annoying things. Phew. But the escape to Weymouth was much needed if only to clear our heads, enjoy the gentle sea breeze, and the lovely scenery of Dorset.

Days were spent walking along the promenade to Weymouth, the main seaside town on Dorset and host of the sailing events during the London 2012 Olympics. It town itself is cute with a nice old harbour lined with old-fashioned pubs and restaurants. We got a lucky with plentiful sunshine – people were enjoying fish-n-chip al fresco. As a big history buff, Keenan reminded us that the English coast was a major launching point for the Normandy invasion during World War II. Today statutes line the main drag to commemorate those who died in battle. 

Keenan and I also took a lovely coastal walk along the Jurassic Coast (known for the white chalk cliffs).  It’ll be the first of our ‘training’ hike in preparation for our trip to Annapurnas, Nepal in October. Living in England for almost half a decade now, we’ve grown to love country walks over the years. Yes, we’ve become quite British in that regard. My favourite part – stumbling across old historic pubs along the way like the Smuggler’s Inn, a 13t^h century pub where we stopped for lunch in the garden. Overall enjoyable and easy getaway from London. Now back to reality and unpacking…

Watching the 'Footie'

 Football (that’s soccer for all you my fellow Americans) is a national obsession in the U.K. It’s not usual to come into work on Monday and chat all things football over a cuppa of builder’s tea in the office kitchen. If I haven’t stated before, I’ll do so now -- I am Tottenham Hotspurs supporter. It keeps the household interesting as Keenan is a fan of Arsenal (as are all my other London-based American friends). Yes indeed – the classic North London rivals. I don’t recall how I ended up choosing Hotspurs as my team. I believe five years ago as they are now, Hotspurs are somewhat the underdog of the elite clubs on the Premier League, and I always support the underdog. The battle of the top four seats for a place to compete for the Champions League title is intense. Manchester United will no doubt take the top place but as for the rest, it’s going to close. We’ll see…

 The other weekend we had the pleasure of attending an Arsenal game with another couple friend, compliments of Keenan’s work who has eight season ticket passes. It wasn’t a high-profile game like the one Keenan attended back in January against Man City but still, free tickets to see a top 5 Premier League team, we’d gladly take them. Our friend even put money on the game, and his prediction was right -- Arsenal won 3-1 against Norwich. It was a good game overall with a very exhilarating last 15 minutes. 

I haven’t spent much time around the N5 postcode where the Emirates Stadium is located, but the area around Finsbury is rough around the edge with streets lined with low-end shops. Holloway Road eventually runs into Upper Street in Angel, a trendy area to hang amongst the bonafide twenty-something year olds. After the game, we had dinner at Trullo, a lovely neighborhood Italian restaurant just a short walk from the Highbury Islington tube station. 

 We were impressed with the food, atmosphere, and the wine selection. Being meat-lovers, the boys shared the bistecca fiorentia served over creamy polenta which was delicious, the ladies each ordered a fish dish. All freshly prepared – overall enjoyable meal with good friends, good conversations, and good food.