Come on you Whites!

Rob, Laura, Jackie and I got tickets to a Premier League game between Fulham and Stoke city. Fulham is the neighbourhood that Rob and Laura live in so the stadium is fairly close to their flat.

We arrived at Craven Cottage (Fulham's stadium) just before kick-off and got to our seats. They weren't the best in the house, but were covered and near the top of the grandstand. It turned out that this was an even better way to get immersed into the UK football culture! The next 90 minutes were action packed with cheers that were inaudible to the untrained ear, but everyone in the stands (except us) knew every word. There were also several rounds of wanker, bloody, etc. mixed in. One of the cheers that we were able to understand was "Come on you Whites!" which was said in a very low, long drawn-out way and was said whenever Fulham were on the attack with the ball. Fulham is the oldest football club in London and are nicknamed the Whites because of their all white jerseys.

At the end of the match Fulham won 2-0 with our fellow patriot Clint Dempsey scoring both goals! One of them was on a penalty kick at our end of the stadium!

The game couldn't have been better and I know that it certainly won't be our last!

GO BRONCOS!!!!

In October we got our first official visitors since living in London. Drew and Meredith headed over to London for a little sightseeing, and more importantly the NFL game between our beloved Denver Broncos and the San Francisco 49ers. How lucky is it that the year we moved to London I got to see my own team play live! I didn't even get to do that in NYC! As another bonus I didn't have to stay up until 1:00am, watching the Broncos fumble away their season on a crappy pirated Internet feed, but I digress.

Drew and Meredith have another friend living in London that Meredith spent some time with while growing up. Her name is Lindsay and she's from Scotland so it was nice to meet and hangout with a "native" even if she isn't from London.

As both drew and Meredith had been to London before we didn't do a lot of sightseeing but got to spend most of our time together catching up and experiencing London life as a local. We made it to a Gordon Ramsey restaurant called The Warrington which was absolutely delicious and spent some time getting acquainted with some local pubs near our flat.

Drew and Meredith's visit also coincided with Halloween and one of my co-workers, Gabi, planned a huge party at a bar near Oxford circle. I had been hoping that I hadn't seen Drew's Indiana Jones costume for the last time and was elated when he pulled it out of his suitcase along with a brand new whip compliments of Meredith. For our costumes Jackie and I decided to dust off the lederhosen and dirndl from Oktoberfest, but this time I accessorised my costume with a giant pretzel from a vendor at Borough Market. Needless to say I couldn't keep people’s hands off of my pretzel! The party turned out to be fantastic and we had a really great time.

My goodness Sunday morning came quickly and we had to get prepared for the game at Wembley. We took the tube all the way out there and grabbed some lunch and met up with Rob and Laura who also had tickets to the game. We then walked around the tailgate area and took in the experience. As it was technically a home game for the 49ers, everything was themed in their team colors and with their logo, not that it mattered, at one point we were able to find a jersey from every single NFL team within a 15 minute period. Who knew the Brits loved the NFL (don't call it football) so much!

As we were getting ready to head into the stadium we placed our bets on the Broncos and headed into the stadium. On our way in we even saw Jerry Rice! Surprisingly he didn't turn around when Jackie yelled "Joe can we get a picture?” Better luck next time!

The Broncos found a way to lose the game, but all in all, it was a great time and so nice to have Drew and Meredith visit us!



Riding the tube in our costumes

Halloween Fun

Sad day for the pretzel; it was delicious though

At the game

Jerry (aka Joe) Rice from behind

Of course the most ridiculous mullett ever belongs to a Bronco fan

The Warrington crew

Come and Get It!

Bromley apple and cider pork chops for dinner at the Reingardt casa tonight. Are we Brits or what?!?!?!

Our new online grocer (Ocado) delivered our first set of groceries this morning at 7:30am. As much as we both love a good trip to the market on Sunday, online grocery shopping is so convenient. Ocado it is!

What a good hubby. :-)

Oktoberfest 2010

We returned a few hours ago from Oktoberfest 2010 in Munich. It was the 200th time those crazy Germans have gathered to celebrate the marriage of King Ludwig and his bride.

We had an absolute blast and are so glad to have had the chance to go. Our table was in the Schottenhamel tent, where we sat with over 10,000 beer drinking, song singing, bratwurst eating, lederhosen/dirndl wearing party-goers.

There are many things we could say about the weekend, however we think the next 15 pictures are worth 1,000 words.

Prost!!!

(Our plane to Munich)

(Bus to the terminal, we finally made it!)

(Jackie's dream come true, Grosse Breze!)

(Night 1 at Augustiner Bierhalle, Marienplatz)

(Enjoying more pretzels and beer!)

(Our beautiful Oktoberfest tent)

(Everyone wore these cookies around their necks)

(Steve and Jake)

(Naturals)

(Jackie and Gabi)

(Jake with our waiter Alfie, what a gem)

(Gotta love the glasses)

(Did we say glasses or beer goggles?)

(True Bavarian style)

(Why wouldn't we ride the bumper cars on the way home?)

The Last Two Months

Days have become weeks and those weeks have now become 2 and a half months since we started living in London. As this is only our third blog posting in that time I am sure many of you are wondering what exactly it is we have been doing over here in the UK, or if we ever really came!

Well it's time to turn this Blog around, so here's the latest...

We have been busy working during the week and then trying to fit in some sort of cultural activity around London each weekend. Jackie is back working at CB Richard Ellis and PwC London has been great for Jake. We both work with people from all over the world and are quickly becoming accustomed to corporate culture in the UK. Jackie’s office overlooks St. Paul’s Cathedral and Jake’s is at the foot of London Bridge. We take the over ground train to work which we catch a block from our flat and it drops us off right at London Bridge.

We have included pictures of a few of our favorite adventures around London below. Enjoy!

- A picnic at Primrose Hill – the highest natural point in London with great views of the city.




- A walk through Camden Market and Regent’s Park



(The lock system in Camden, in the middle of London)

- Trips to Portobello Road Market, Leadenhall Market and Borough Market



(Getting German sausage at Borough Market)


(Delicious looking Paella at Portobello Road Market)


- Jake attended the England vs. Hungary football (soccer) match


(Thankfully England won)

- A tour of Lloyd’s of London – London’s famous “inside out” building



(At Lloyd's, they record each Lloyd's insured ship or sea vessel that was lost at sea in a log. This is the Deepwater Horizon that caused the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico)



(Jake, Jackie, Rob and Laura taking an elevator at Lloyd's)



(The escalator system inside the Lloyd's buidling is exposed)


- Buckingham Palace – We toured the Queen’s State Rooms while she was “summering” in Scotland.




(Just another afternoon on the back patio at Buckingham Palace)


(Jackie and Rob in the 30+ acres of the Queen's gardens)


- Absolut Ice Bar – Everything, including the glasses, are made from ice and the temperatures inside are sub-zero






- Notting Hill Carnival – Words cannot describe this crazy street fair





- Pub crawls through Clapham and Hampstead




- Trips to Harrods, Selfridges, Big Ben and Parliament




- A stroll down Abbey Road





And last, but not least, a trip back to Colorado for Kacey and Dave’s wedding!



(The bride and groom before Tour de Fat - Congratulations!)

Our Arrival

Jackie finished working on June 17th and Jake wrapped-up in the NYC office on June 25th. We finally finished packing the apartment on July 1st at 7:45 a.m. and our flight to Denver left one hour and 30 minutes later. Let's just say Jackie was wishing she hadn't packed the "Easy Button" at that point. While in Colorado, we were able to enjoy lots of time with friends and family. We celebrated Jake's grandfathers 90th birthday in addition to Dave and Kacey's bachelor and bachelorette parties.


We left Colorado on July 11th for a 24 hour trip back to New York where we stayed the night with Jake’s co-workers Suzanne and Vinny. They were great hosts, who performed duties such as luggage handling while we were in CO, and a last minute trip to the Dunkin’ Donuts drive-thru for a good old fashioned cup of American Joe before boarding the plane.


It was finally time to leave and start the next two years of our life in London. We checked in at JFK with all seven bags (that’s right, SEVEN!), and kindly donated half a month’s salary to Delta in luggage fees.


The flight went smoothly and six hours of cramped sleeping later, we landed in our new home. At Heathrow the task of moving the luggage would be easier with two carts, so we loaded everything up and headed out to the taxi line. The cabbie looked a little bit shocked by the mountain of luggage to be packed into his taxi, but we finally got everything loaded up and were off to our temporary housing, i.e. Rob and Laura’s flat.


Rob and Laura are old friends of ours from Colorado. Laura also works for PwC, which is why she and Rob are in London for the next two years and kindly offered to let us stay with them for a few weeks while we search for a flat of our own.


While driving from Heathrow to Rob and Laura's we pulled up next to a huge Harrods delivery truck. It was at that moment that Jackie knew she was going to like it here.


In anticipation of our arrival, Laura left the keys to the flat in a little garden area next to their building. She assured us that we would be able to find the Ziploc bag mixed in with all of the plants, empty beer cans and other "rubbish." For some reason, we had doubts. However, after unpacking the taxi Jake ran down the block to look for the keys and found them with no problems and we were dragging our suitcases up to their flat before we knew it.


After getting settled, we decided to go for a little walk around the new neighbourhood, an area called Fulham. It was now mid-afternoon and time to grab a local brew! We had read several articles about a pub near Parsons Green called the White Horse, or as locals call it "the Pony" and thought it was only fitting to have our first round of pints there. They were amazing and a great way to end our first, jet lagged day in London.





Our gate at JFK - Let the good times begin!




Jackie cancelling her Verizon Wireless service before boarding the plane.




Check out those exchange rates!! Bummer!




A quick shot with our seat mate, Pete.




We're here, with ALL of our luggage.




Nice ride, Jake!




Our luggage stacked up in the taxi.




The Harrods delivery truck.




The hiding spot for the keys.



Outside of Rob and Laura's flat.