Wendy and I have finally shaken off the jet lag (for the most part- despite people singing justin timberlake songs at 3am outside our window) from returning home to Manchester and are settling back in to normal life. One of our first orders of business was downloading some of the pictures we took while were were in America for nearly a month, although we were only able to get pictures off of one of our cameras - the other one doesn’t seem to be cooperating at the moment, but those will get posted soon.
First, a few pictures from our stop at the cabin in southern Virginia, where Wendy’s parents live.
One of the dogs, Deebo, hangs out near the front porch.
Wendy (above) and her mom (below) enjoying a well-earned drink on the front porch after working in the vineyard.
Jeremy helping Milt rack some of the Vigonier, which is basically the process of removing the sediment from the bottoms of the barrels… I think.
Yep, looks like real wine!
Tastes like real wine, too! The Vigonier is awesome, I am happy to say from first-hand experience.
Wendy also got an early birthday cake from the one and only Creative Cake Shoppe, complete with princess tiara!
Getting ready to blow out the candles…
We made a few other stops before this next set of pictures, but those visits are on the other camera, thus fast-forward to visiting friends in Charlotte!
Wendy got to have some awesome time with the girls, including a fantastic Greek dinner (above with Cameron and Sarah).
We got to see some of our friends’ adorable little children, including Lillie, Brad and Megan’s constantly-smiling little girl. Incredibly cute. This picture was taken moments before Brad decided to give Lillie a ride on the tabletop lazy susan- until mom caught them!
We also had a throwback “field day” of games for the 4th of July, where Sam and Shaunna took the award for best team uniform - yes, those shirts say “Reppin’ Jesus” on them.
Bo, all tangled up after having been wrapped in toilet paper.
Keeping three balloons in the air at the same time proved to be a much harder game than anticipated. Everybody lost this one (or did everybody win?!)
Of course, we had to break out some fireworks, even if they were just sparklers.
What better way to celebrate America than to stick sparklers in a Cheerwine-filling-flavored doughnut? After actually tasting one of the doughnuts, we decided this was a much better way to put them to use.
Wendy got to have brunch with her sweet friend Maria, who, as predicted, cried a little when she left (we love you Maria!).
Then it was on to Asheville, where we got to see Blake and Ashley’s little baby, Campbell. I may have been smiling in this picture, but I spent most of the time being jealous that she already has more hair than I do.
A quick picture of the beautiful blue ridge mountains - we both miss them a lot.
we made it home to the states last week! when we landed in DC, it felt tropical outside. we are certainly not used to the heat and humidity.
we waited out rush hour by having dinner with one of zeke’s old friends from asheville before heading to the cabin/vineyard. after getting the rental car we had to stop at a sheetz gas station to get junk food and red bull to stay awake on the road.
gross huh?
we are so happy to be enjoying all forms of american food (junk food, fast food, home-cooked). when mom asked what we’d like to eat, zeke answered, “anything grilled!”
there is lots to be done in the vineyard right now and zeke and i put in a few hours, under jeremy’s supervision, of course!
that’s right, we have british skin now- no tans.
then we all got cleaned up and went to the berry hill plantation resort to hold a wine tasting for international guests at the hotel.
and here’s a timelapse video of the tasting (yes, at the end that is the iphone falling on the ground.)
we made a weekend visit to the chapel hill/durham area, where we gorged ourselves on:
iced sweet tea! (which wendy ordered with mexican food)
and zeke got a “burnin’ love” burger- though, he didn’t make it a ‘monster’
for my british friends: see what america stands for?
grilled meat with neon halos?
and of course we went to IP3 in chapel hill for their always amazing pizza! we met some friends and even cute little lily!
and on the way to greenville to see zeke’s family we stopped at a chick-fil-a so zeke could try the new spicy chicken sandwich.
obviously it was love at first sight/taste.
and is there anything more american than sipping starbucks in the car?
zeke’s brother and his fiancée also came to greenville to visit and work on their wedding plans. zeke was happy to watch the world cup with alex, instead of wendy who knows relatively little about the sport (here avoiding the argument for calling it football vs. soccer. we have been using both, really.)
below are the two smith boys watching the USA-Algeria match, just before the USA goal in stoppage time.
and after the yelling, screaming and hugging- they were both relieved.
we’re having fun visiting and are happy to have a few more weeks at home. zeke is soaking up ESPN and the Colbert Report, while wendy has eaten mexican food for nearly 80% of her meals.
yesterday we had errands to run around town and soon got hungry and stopped for ‘jacket potatoes.’ wendy’s is plain (of course) and zeke’s has chicken curry on top. yes, they call them ‘jacket potatoes’- as if the potatoes were wearing little coats- and they are in stands around town and little drop-in cafes, like this one, for quick, cheap, (somewhat healthy) snacks.
and in our block of flats there are tons of people excited about the world cup and showing their english pride with flags in their windows.
the tiny one below says ‘forever england’
then wendy took a bus to go to an english-themed party with some art history friends (a picture of her manchester outfit is on facebook), but also dressed up were the bus driver and a charity collector for testicular cancer research.
it was zeke’s birthday last weekend, and he got lots of cards and calls from family (thanks everyone!) but the highlight may just have been the package he got from Mark and Leslie that had lots of little gifts wrapped up.
Ah yes, the card really spoke to Zeke personally…
He actually got it about a week and a half before his birthday, so he decided to open one present a day leading up to his birthday.so, as a way of saying thanks to Mark and Leslie, to the tune of “12 Days of Christmas”…
For the twelve days of my birthday, Mark and Leslie gave to me…
12) Some good-smelling lotion stuff…
11) A box of almond nut-thins
10) Peanut butter Clif bars…
9) Trio nutty snack bars…
8) Blueberry and strawberry Soyjoys…
7) Organic chocolate snack bars…
6) A pack of TLC Trail Mix…
5) WIREDDDDDD MAAAA-GAAA-ZIIIIIIIINE…..
4) More Soyjoy bars…
3) Almond nut-thins…
2) Mango-coconut Soyjoy bars…
1) And a giant bag of Southwest in-flight nuts and pretzellllllllls!!!! (Wait, what??? Leslie, I still need to get the explanation from you on that one)
So obviously, with as much as zeke loves opening presents, it made for a fun couple of minutes every morning opening the fun little gifts. (Not to mention the enjoyment of eating a lot of them).
For the actual birthday weekend, the weather was gorgeous, so we decided to spend as much time as we could outside. Platt Park again had a few fun activities going on as part of its 100th Anniversary, so we walked there and enjoyed some foods that reminded us of summer back at home: soda, fries, and a burger
We followed that up with some ice cream, where Zeke decided to go with an apple cider popsicle, and Wendy ended up getting a chocolate bar with packaging that looked like… well…. you decide.
We wandered down to Shakespeare’s garden and just had a nice couple of hours relaxing and reading books… a great birthday, if you ask me.
And finally, had to give my wonderful wife a shoutout, not only for getting me the early birthday present of tickets to see Malcolm Gladwell (see earlier post) but for making me a couple of my favorite meals over the weekend - fried chicken with mac & cheese and corn pudding, and baked ziti. What more can a guy ask for?
(One final note to Leslie: you’ll notice that while the baked ziti was in the oven, snacks accompanying my nightcap gin and tonic were provided by… yes, Southwest Airlines).
Thanks friends and family for all the birthday wishes! Love you all.
to celebrate being done with classes and zeke’s birthday we decided to take a trip to a giant mall on the other side of manchester. we’ve heard the place is ridiculously over the top and although we had a little shopping to do, we mainly just wanted to see what all the fuss was about. we had planned to be fully engrossed in the spectacle and go to a movie, play putt-putt and laser-quest, but after wendy woke up with a migraine, we got a late start and had to cut some things (meaning, maybe we’ll go back to play and maybe even visit LEGOLAND).
the trafford centre was a huge complex of stores including a Krispy Kreme, LegoLand, and a Museum of Museums (really what the sign said). Inside the building looked like a cross between Las Vegas and Disneyworld.
some of our british friends said we might not be impressed by the mall, since we’re probably used to malls like these in america (i wonder where the heck this conception of america comes from). the gaudy decor was astonishing. the center skylight dome had fake frescoes, faux marble, and golden ornamentation.
it was a neo-baroque spectacle. we also got plenty of looks for taking pictures… of the mall.
it wasn’t long before we headed to the food court- which was designed as a cruise ship! (see wendy’s “WHAHTTTTT?” face below)
and zeke’s “i’m on a boat” face
notice the giant tv screen in the photo below- it was like the cruise ship in the beginning of Wall-E.
we had food court classics: zeke had chinese and wendy had pizza.
by the bathroom we saw copies of statues we had actually just seen at the pergamon museum in berlin.
the front of selfridges (a department store) had a giant food hall where they sell very american products, almost the way at home southern season sells european goods. (can you spot the Fluff, JIFF, Lucky Charms, Quaker Oats, Hershey’s syrup, and Aunt Jemima?) of course all of these things cost about 50% more than in the states. the price for the Lucky Charms, converted to dollars, is about $12 here.
the mall also had a new orleans-themed area, complete with stage sets of bourbon street windows, american flags, and clothes lines with sheets.
after making our purchases we ended the day back at the food court for burritos. this chain restaurant called Barburrito, is the only place we’ve found burritos in manchester. mexican food is something we really miss, so even this version of it is welcomed.
zeke gives his giant burrito (“the ultimate”) a thumbs-up.
so yes, the final verdict is that the trafford centre mall is quite a spectacle, but since there is so much shopping in the nearby city centre, it’s probably only worth returning to for laser-quest or putt-putt.
HATS! one of wendy’s all-time favourite things to do in department stores is to try on hats. department stores here in england, as you can imagine, have loads of fancy hats.
a few weekends ago the large park near our house, which is directly adjacent to our church, celebrated its 100 year anniversary. people were excited for the rain to have held off, and we managed to stroll through the festivities on our way back home after church.
the fluffy pink stuff on the side of the path is the gathering of the petals that have fallen off of some of the first blossoming trees here. i saw a little girl playing in them as if they were fairy dust.
of course we got a little snack to take with us- nothing too exciting, just wedges (zeke’s is topped with hummus/humous).
this is the dedication of the park on 7 April, 1910.
l
and here is our church, looking the same now as it looked when the park was dedicated.
and here are inaugural boat trips in the park. a large lake was cultivated in the park as a civic project to help the large number of recently unemployed local men earn wages.
don’t you love seeing people in top hats boating around a lake?
Even though my sweet wife is super duper busy writing lots of important art history papers (actual titles: “The Eschatological Vision of William Blake: The ‘Apocalyptic Sublime’ in Blake’s Designs” and “Utopian Impulse in American Hip Hop: A Self-Reflexive Genre”), Wendy still got me a nice early birthday present: a ticket to see one of my favorite authors, Malcolm Gladwell, who was coming into town to perform at The Lowry! I say “perform” because while it’s basically just a reading, those of you who are familiar with Gladwell’s books know that he interweaves story and drama through his theories and essays, so sitting through a 90-minute talk of his feels more like a long dramatic monologue, in a good way. It feels enveloping.
On Tuesday evening I took the train out to The Lowry, which is a really awesome building and performance space in Salford Quays, on the Southwestern side of Manchester.
The actual theatre is great - for those of you from Chapel Hill, it reminds me of Memorial Hall, how it looks like there really isn’t a bad seat in the house.
I was fortunate to be sitting on the side of the theater where Gladwell stood and gave his talk, which was fantastic, however I was also right next to an usher who was scolding people left and right for pulling out electronic devices, so I couldn’t grab a picture of Gladwell during the performance. The talk was great - felt like he was reading one of his New Yorker essays right off the page as he talked about the different types of serendipity, how sometimes we set out to find something and discover something completely different (Columbian Serendipity, a la Christopher Columbus); sometimes we are on a mission to discover something but find the solution in a completely unexpected manner (Archamedian Serendipity, like how Alexander Fleming discovered Penicillin); and finally Galilean Serendipity, which is where someone tries to devise a way to see into the great unknown, and sometimes comes up with nothing for all their hard work. He unwove an hourlong anecdote about a startup drug company that thought they had found a remarkably effective cure for Melanoma, only to have all their research fall apart and bury the company four years in. It was heartbreaking and honestly kind of a downer but very much directly in line with his voice and work, so I loved getting to watch him deliver the whole thing.
I was a little peeved I didn’t get to take a picture during the reading, but when I saw afterwards he would be signing books in the lobby, I was definitely standing in line, regardless of length. And yes, it was quite a long line…
When I finally got up to see him, I had basically been standing in a queue for 30 minutes trying to think of something incredibly clever to say that would make Malcolm Gladwell realize that we were destined to be best friends in the 10 seconds of interaction I would get with him. Instead, I abandoned that plan at the last second and just tried to make him laugh, since I noticed in every other picture he would not crack a smile. I brought a book up, he signed it with “to Zeke” on the inside jacket, and then I shook his hand and mentioned I was also an American. He cracked a little smirk, said “Oh, that’s great” and then was ready to move on to the next person, but before I let him do that I said “Malcolm, I hope you’ll excuse me but I’m going to try and take the cheesiest picture possible with you right now” and squatted down next to him, striking a fierce rendition of the Stephen Colbert pose. For reference:
And finally, the piece de resistance:
Mission accomplished! He looked over at me and cracked up, and held his smile into the actual picture, which I couldn’t have appreciated more. He said “Thanks” and smiled as I walked off, I guess amused by it. And that’s about as much as I could have hoped for (I mean, I was still waiting for him to invite me to hang out with him and go on tour and write New Yorker articles with him and be his bestest bud, but we’ll save that for our second encounter I suppose).
I walked home with an autographed copy of “What The Dog Saw,” a picture of me with one of my favorite authors, and a smile on my face. On top of that, Salford Quays really is a beautiful area (see photos below for reference). It was a great night and a great birthday present - thanks Wendy!
I know we’ve thrown up plenty of posts about the bizarre chip/crisp flavors/flavours here, but our most recent purchase from the grocery store definitely warranted another one. It appears that, in preparation for the World Cup this summer, Walker’s is having their own tournament - the Flavour Cup, to determine the world’s best flavour. Here are the bags from the “Americas United” region: American Cheeseburger, Argentinian Flame-Grilled Steak, and Brazilian Salsa. (We also thought it was funny they incorporated flags into the bag packaging).
Then of course there was the “Southern Europe” contingent, with Italian Spaghetti Bolognese, Spanish Chicken Paella, and French Garlic Baguette:
And finally, the “Northern Europe” group, English Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding, Dutch Edam Cheese, and German Bratwurst.
These are truly marvels of the modern (chemical-filled) age. I can say for just about all the chips that when I tried them, the flavor was very akin to what you would actually expect those things to taste like (except the Brazilian salsa, which tasted like ketchup combined with rotten vegetables - the Brits already REALLY struggle to get the flavor of regular salsa correct, so that wasn’t a total surprise).
After having tried all of the flavors, here they are lined up in order of personal preference, best to worst, left to right:
American cheeseburger takes the prize, because it tasted amazingly like a McDonald’s Happy Meal hamburger (bun, condiments and all), and was one of the only non-disappointing meaty flavors.
The English bag tasted like an open-faced roast beef sandwich that had been set on fire and extinguished (there was a heavy charcoal-y taste) and the Argentinian steak wasn’t much better. Somehow Italian spaghetti tasted more like honey-BBQ than anything that could be described as pasta or red sauce, and the German Brat just tasted like other generic meaty chips I’ve had here. The top 4 were definitely a tier above the rest.
Now all that’s left is to track down the other flavors listed on the Walker’s website that weren’t in our grocery store - I can’t believe they’re featuring things like Australian BBQ Kangaroo and Scottish Haggis… but I still definitely want to try them.
Francis Custis Downing Sr. 7 July 1926 - 4 May 2010
(wendy’s grandfather)
today i am wearing the locket he gave me as a girl that has always meant so much to me. it has pictures of my mom and dad in their early twenties inside and on the back of the locket it says, “God loves you & so do I.” this is a familiar saying to some, but from Grandaddy the “& so do I” means so much.
in the navy
with his brothers, sister and granny who all called him ‘teenie’
this was our last full day in berlin and we took full advantage of it - zeke and wendy style. we intended to catch a bus into the city centre to do an english tour of the major sites. we got to the bus stop about 30 seconds before the bus was scheduled to come, however, german transportation is extremely prompt and usually early. so, we missed the hourly bus and hence our tour. but not to despair, we formulated a new plan and decided we could hit the same spots ourselves (well, most of them) and fit in a few more. we headed to a bakery nearby to get a snack while we waited for the next bus. wendy had a delicious “milky coffee” and raisin roll (this may sound more glamorous in german).
our first stop was the reichstag. we had intended to climb to the top of the reichstag’s glass spiral dome, but found out it was open until 10pm and decided to come back after dark to see the lights of the city and to meanwhile see the things that would later be closed.
upon leaving the reichstag we passed a small, unofficial memorial on the former divide between east and west germany. there’s a gate with crosses and pictures of people who had died trying to cross the border.
it was a moving moment within the cold, domineering architecture in the central area of berlin.
zeke had this on his list of things to try in berlin.
wendy didn’t quite see the appeal, as it seemed to be a hotdog covered with curry-seasoned ketchup, but you can see in the video what zeke’s opinions were. (you can also see the vendor giving us a flyer certifying his as the best currywurst in berlin.)
after the snack, and tea to keep wendy warm…
we walked by the tiergarten up towards potsdamer platz- historically a huge cultural centre of berlin that was destroyed by WWII air raids, later the scene of riots against east german communism and a transitional “no man’s land” near the crossing checkpoints when the wall was up, and the area was only rebuilt with the fall of the wall. it is now a high-traffic, commercially abundant part of berlin.
in the square there was an area with information on the wall that once stood there, with preserved sections of the wall on display.
it was interesting to read about the cold war from a different perspective. the subjectiveness of history seems enunciated in the differences between what we are taught in our home country and what we learn while abroad.
on the way to potsdamer platz we went through the “memorial to the murdered jews of europe”.
it is a very unique memorial. at first the dark grey concrete blocks are so abstract that you find yourself wondering how this is meaningful.
(the picture above shows the american embassy)
but after walking through the undulating paths between the columns that get higher the deeper you go, you find yourself feeling insecure only being able to see the sky above.
every time you pass a block there is a gap allowing you to see down the row, but you are also often blindsided by the sudden appearance of a stranger.
so row after row you are looking left and right and forward and behind, and never feel quite sure of your surroundings.
then you find that the blocks get shallower and you can see more; you feel as if you’re emerging from something.
we headed over to museum island to go to the pergamon museum, but stopped first for a late lunch/early dinner. we were drawn into an italian place, yet again.
wendy was happy to have pizza and zeke tried black cola (like i said before, imagine guinness and coke together).
but he was really excited about pork cordon bleu- pork stuffed with ham and cheese topped with mushrooms in a cream sauce.
the meal took a little longer than expected so when we got to the pergamon we only had 45 minutes to run through. the ticket agent was nice though, and gave us half-price tickets since we didn’t have much time. we took tons of pictures posted as slideshows (also with links to information on the things we saw- if you are interested). below is a video we took while leaving the museum, in front of the pergamon altar.
after the museum closed we wandered around museum island a little bit.
and here’s the berliner dom with the infamous tv tower.
zeke also took a video here because if you listen closely (through wendy’s sneezes) you can hear a native american playing “wind of change”. (click on the link to find out why this is ironic.)
we also passed saint hedwig’s cathedral on bebelplatz- a site well known for nazi book burnings
then, taking a recommendation from our friend and landlord rachel, we went to a historic, traditional restaurant for cake and coffee.
the decor of the opera cafe made it feel as if we were sitting inside a jewelry box. (i imagine little girls would love it.)
the cakes were beautiful and our choices were delicious.
zeke got a cake with pistachio and marzipan and wendy’s was hazelnut, praline and chocolate- with a cameo on top made of white chocolate.
this guy is mad because he doesn’t have any cake.
the coffee was good, not as good as the cake… but still good.
after the lovely cafe we headed back towards the reichstag to take an evening climb to the top. on the way we stopped in front of the brandenburg gate.
it was beautifully lit up. this was the day after the tragic polish plane crash, and people began a small memorial to the fallen leaders in front of the gate.
then we made our way back over to the reichstag to climb the dome.
we saw this guy selling pretzels out front before it got dark.
then we stood in line between a group of british high school kids on a field trip and young spanish tourists. it got very cold and windy as soon as the sun went down.
zeke took a video of the flag waving in the wind and you can hear the very diverse crowd we were waiting with.
altogether it took about 30 minutes of waiting to do about 30 minutes of touring the dome with the audio guide. the design is amazing and very unique. below is the mirrored air shaft that reflects light into the chambers below where parliament meets.
the transparency of the dome is supposed to be a metaphor of the new government’s policies.
this is a view from near the top of the dome looking out onto the brandenburg gate.
