Norway! Yes way!

Seriously, everyone needs to visit Norway at least once (I’m definitely going back for seconds). Oslo alone comprises beautiful buildings, lots of great parks, right on the water, fantastic food and museums and friendly people. Need I say more? Ok, well, their new Opera House alone is worth the trip. It just opened last year and is right on the water. The theme is a glacier and it’s Opera House cum jungle gym as you can climb all over it, even the roof, for amazing views. The inside is like a beautiful wooden Guggenheim with a lovely café in the lobby.

We were able to get such a good view of it because the theatre ship on which we stayed, the MS Innvik, was right across the water from it. While the Innvik gets Major props for location, as well as for fantastic breakfasts (make your own waffles!) and for price, not sure I’d return because the rooms are TINY and you hear a lot of noise from the theatre (which had reggae concerts when we were there). So you know this 6-foot gal with the bionic hearing was having a bit of a hard time. Ah well, time to go make another waffle..lol and enjoy the fact the room was only 75 pounds! Speaking of ships, on one of our walks we saw what had to be the most Gi-normous cruise ship I’ve ever seen. I couldn’t even fit it all in one pic. Speaking of pics, more Opera House, theatre ship and cruise ship (and waffle) ones are here.

I scream, you scream, we all scream for Oslo!

Oslo’s National Gallery is home to the original ‘Scream’ by Munch. It’s also home to a lovely cemetery where we saw Munch’s and Ibsen’s graves, and it is home to a whole peninsula of museums on ships and sailing. You take a boat out there and explore Viking ships and see polar bears, wacky dolls, and an actual Oscar award. Seriously! Here are pics! From ships in museums to ones in the water, we had a fantastic 2-hour cruise on one of the world’s oldest sailing ships. Great commentary from captain, great beer and sandwiches, as well as great scenery (and I don’t just mean the captain!)

Back in the city centre there is also a theatre museum (make sure to ask ‘creepy theatre guy’ who manages the place to screen the bizarre video for you!), the mini bottle gallery, and a ‘House of Singles Outlet’ (alas, I did not find any ‘bargains’..lol). Oslo is also home to the best café – Engebrecht Café – the oldest in Oslo where you get the BEST mussels and cake, in fact, they’ve dubbed it ‘world’s best cake. I’ll let my traveling companion Sarah tell you about it here and then also read about their ingenious invention to help with cleanup. Pics of Oslo sights are here. Final shots are the flash mob dancing to ‘Hairspray’ we saw in the train station. Our trip wrapped up with an afternoon at the Amazing Vigeland Sculpture Park. One sculptor, 200+ granite and bronze sculptures in beautiful setting = a must-see.

The hills are alive!

Other must-sees? The Yorkshire Dales and Lake District (which ok, is technically not North Yorkshire, but right next to it). Gorgeous, gorgeous, gorgeous scenery! Stu and I traveled up to his home town of Knaresborough to celebrate his mom’s 60th and had a fun-filled four days traveling the countryside. We wound our way through Wensleydale and stopped for lunch at the Wensleydale Cheese factory/visitor centre/café. Alas, no sign of Wallace or Gromit, but we did have a great salad with chicken, mango and Wensleydale cheese w/ginger (best salad ever) and stocked up on the ‘fromage!’ It was then up into the hills and dales of the Dales to stop for coffee (and some retail therapy) in the cute town of Grassington. The next day brought the Lake District. INCREDIBLE! I’ll let the pictures speak for themselves. There's one posted here. We had another good lunch stop in a café next to the Theatre by the Lake (hello!), which came complete with a player piano playing Barry Manilow songs (because nothing says Lake District like Copacabana..lol). Wonder if Theatre by the Lake is hiring....

Over the weekend, we explored Harrogate (home to spa water, the original Betty’s tea room, and consistently dubbed one of the best places to live in UK) and Knaresborough (a suburb of Harrogate, situated beautifully along the River Nid and home to Knaresborough Castle. Again, I’ll just let the pics do the talking and send out many thanks to Mr and Mrs C for being such great hosts and tour guides!

Take me to the river

We are one month into our new digs south of the river on Cinnamon Wharf and loving it! Nothing beats having breakfast on the balcony, walking to work along the Thames, or finding great new places such as Teapod (great gingerbread latte) or the Kings Arms, our new ‘local’ and home to the best pub grub and pub quiz! It’s also nice to be so close to my favourite spot in London – the South Bank, home to British Film Institute, Tate Modern, National and Globe Theatres! We’ve got a sofa bed, so come visit! Here are some pics so you can see what it’s like. The one pictured here is a view from our balcony.

Here comes the bride

And she is my beautiful stepsister Eva who married the wonderful Jea on Saturday July 25 at a cool arts venue in Richmond, VA – Plant Zero. In attendance in the wedding party? The cutest nephew ever – Destin – as ring bearer! Here he is with Derek, the ceremony officiant. The whole weekend was a wonderful celebration topped off with the most adorable wedding cake that was topped off with figures of Eva, Jea and Destin! Too cute. Congratulations again to the happy couple!! Can’t wait to see all of you at Christmas! More wedding pics can be found here

Hot fun in the Summertime

After the wedding, had a great relaxing week of soaking up the rays from my mom’ & Peter's porch and pool in Staunton, Tania & Ned’s beach house in New Jersey and David & John’s beach house in Delaware. Many thanks to all for the great hospitality and fun times! There are Scrabble re-matches to be had with all come Christmas, plus catching up reading Harry Potter to Nadia.

Saw a great documentary, Food Inc, w/Mom and Peter and one of the main farms featured, Polyface Farms, turns out to be right outside Staunton! Small world! Bring on the local meat and eggs! Speaking of farms, there is nothing like New Jersey and Delaware produce in the summer. Had the most gorgeous cantaloupe and corn. Mmm good!

The weather gods were also smiling as it was gorgeous weather all week, save for the drive home from Dewey in a practically apocalyptic thunderstorm. OMG, like torrents of rain! Never fear though as my journey was safe and sound in, well a Journey. I got a free upgrade on my rental car and moved up from economy to nice big sturdy emerald green Dodge Journey. This came after getting a free upgrade on the flight over to World Traveller Plus. Thanks BA! Beach pics are here

Laying down the Law..or Get thee to NYC…

… to see Jude Law in Hamlet! Three words: A-MAZ-ING! He should totally do more theatre. From the moment he started speaking he just drew me in and said those famous speeches in the most accessible way. So charismatic, great physicality (and gorgeous)! Loved how they did ‘to be or not to be’. Think he’s replaced Tom Hulce as my fave Hamlet! (Oh no I didn’t…oh yes I did!)
In the theatre I was 4 rows behind Law’s “Sherlock Holmes” co-star Rachel McAdams!! – gorgeous in skinny black trousers and a peachy pink silk kimono like type top). Alas, no pics of her. She came out of stage door briefly after show, but stage manager blocked the shot and she didn’t stay.
Not so Jude though, who was very gracious and took lots of time signing autographs. He’d kept us waiting for quite some time (think while he was visiting w/Rachel), so the crowd was a bit unruly by the time he came out w/lots of shouting going on.I calmly stood and waited my turn and when he took my programme to sign, I looked right at him and said ‘That was a fantastic performance, thank you very much’ and he looked right back at me w/those gorgeous blue eyes and said ‘My pleasure’…I died, and could have laid down the Law right there and then (if ya catch my drift) Special thanks to Lynne for having the forethought to buy tickets way ahead of time (like last year!). More pics of Jude are here

Let’s all go to the movies

The Hangover is the funniest movie of the year, dare I say the decade. Seriously, from start to finish that movie is HI-LAR-I-OUS.
Ed Helms is my new hero, well, along with Joseph Gordon Levitt. (500) Days of Summer? AMAZING! Have you seen it yet? No? What are you waiting for? GO! Seriously, you must see it. So creative, such great writing, such sweet performances. LOVED it.

Earlier in the summer, we paid homage to a fallen film hero – John Hughes, when the Prince Charles Cinema held a memorial double feature of Ferris Bueller and Planes, Trains and Automobiles (which I had never seen before). Have to say, Ferris does not quite stand the test of time, seems a bit dated now, but I LOVED P,T & A. Martin and Candy were fantastic, such great chemistry and dialogue. That’s one I don’t think I’ll grow tired of.

West End Girl

It’s been a very busy early summer in the entertainment department! In what I think is chronological order:
1) Company at Union Theatre. An evening of perfect serendipity was brought about by a simple text from my friend Neil: “Do you know the musical ‘Company’? Do you want to try and get tickets to see it tonight?” Um, yes and yes! It’s one of my favourite Sondheim shows and this production, in a great little black-box theatre near the South Bank, gave the recent Raul Esparza version a run for its money. ‘Joanne’ was one of the youngest I’ve seen, but her Ladies who Lunch may be one of the best versions ever!
2) Chicago w/Jerry Springer. Another one of my favourite musicals and this time with an actual lawyer playing Billy Flynn! While Jerry! Jerry! is not going to get a Tony for his singing anytime soon, Mr. Springer brought great panache and enthusiasm to the role and he and the rest of the cast just seemed to be having such a great rough and tumble, rambunctious time, it was infectious. Mr. Springer should win an award though as one of the most gracious celebs at the stage door. Took his time chatting w/us, posing for pics, etc. Final thought? Go see him in Chicago!
3) Avenue Q – Wow, I was on a roll of seeing some faves, wasn’t I? This was my third trip down the avenue and I continue to Love this hilarious and heartwarming musical. Had a great time seeing it w/Sarah, Stuart and Neil (both of the boys were first-timers to the show). My only quibble? In the final number, “For Now,” they haven’t changed the George Bush lyric, they just say he “Was” only for now. A bit of a cheat, n’est-ce pas?
4) Pet Shop Boys – Going out on a limb and putting this up there as one of the best concerts ever! Many thanks to Sarah for the ticket and to my colleague George for getting us in the groovy VIP lounge of the venue before and after the show. How much do I love their music! Go West, Suburbia and of course West End Girls to name a few. We were up dancing and stomping so much, I thought the O2 Arena would fall into the Thames. If you have a chance to see their Pandemonium tour, go! So theatrical, such great visuals, such great performers.
5) Speaking of great performers, I seem to have saved the best for last…we’re talkin’ Waiting for Godot w/Ian McKellen and Patrick Stewart! Oh My God! My inner-geek was just about dying at seeing Gandalf/Magneto square off against Capt. Picard/Professor Xavier and they sure delivered! McKellen in particular gave me goosebumps and had me in tears. Such a moving performance. He and co-star Simon (Four Weddings and a Funeral) Callow also gets props for coming to the stage door (albeit a bit late – we were Waiting for Gandalf..ha!). Alas, my boss had to run for her train and was unable to stay to play photographer w/me. I then had to ask a stranger (a fellow American) at that, to take a pic of me w/Ian. Umm..yeah, it’s more like me and Eye-an. Who takes a picture this close-up? Never trust your camera to strangers kids! See the pics here

Let’s all go to the movies

Gretch in the City gives two big thumbs-up to Star Trek (seen twice!) and Harry Potter (just saw last night). Also had two great evenings at the British Film Institute recently. The first was a double-feature of concert documentaries featuring Ella Fitzgerald and Oscar Peterson. The first was from the mid -1960s and the second was from mid-1980s and they both sounded flawless on each. Music heaven!

From music to Mexican, it was then off to see the premiere of “Rudo y Cursi” starring Gael Garcia Bernal and Diego Luna, the two stars of “Y Tu Mama Tambien.” In Rudo they play battling brothers both trying to make it big in the world of football (aka soccer). The two stars have terrific chemistry and the film is very funny and heartwarming. Our hearts were warmed even more when the two stars and director Carlos Cuaron and his brother/producer Alfonso Cuaron took the stage for a very funny Q&A live and in person! after the film. OMG, Gale and Diego in person are muy caliente!

On the steps of the palace

Another recent road trip was to volunteer at BHF’s Blenheim Palace Jog. Blenheim is the gorgeous and palatial family home of Winston Churchill and is in a beautiful little town Woodstock on the outskirts of Oxford! Woot! Back to one of my favourite places of all for me! Went up on Saturday and walked around my old summer stomping grounds of Christ Church and the other Oxford colleges and then winded my way to Woodstock where I stayed at a fantastic B&B, The Townhouse. Best breakfast perhaps Ever! Run by the friendliest couple Ever! If you’re in the area, you must stay here!

At the jog, my role was Sweeper – i.e. the last person to go along the route and tell the marshals and water stations to stand down. Along the way I was very fortunate to meet the Youngblood family. They comprise 3 generations of heart patients (Grandmother Mo, Son Lee and Grandson Rhys) and were struggling a bit along the route. I offered to get them some assistance or give them a lift, but they were adamant about finishing the whole route themselves and they did! Such an inspiration!

Also inspiring? The absolutely amazing gardens of Lambeth Palace in London. They are only open a few times a year, and I went on a gorgeous Saturday in June. If you have a green thumb, you will be in nirvana when you see them! Who knew such an oasis was right in the heart of London. Gorgeous weather also prevailed when my friend Sarah and I went to the Canalside Cavalcade in the ‘Little Venice’ area of London. Parades of long boats, puppet theatres on barges and the human fruit machine were just some of the highlights of the day! Pics of all of the above are here!

Have fun stormin’ the castle!

Coming to England anytime soon? Then we’re goin’ to Windsor and Eton! I took advantage of yet another Bank Holiday weekend at the end of May to go explore the Queen's home and surrounding towns. So quick and easy to get to from London and so beautiful. Took a great open-top bus tour, boat tour, walking tour and wrapped it up at a lovely café along the river, named, appropriately enough, The Chocolate Theatre Café (my two favourite things!).

The castle is amazing and has a fantastic audio guide (and I’m not just saying that because it’s Stu’s company that does them). They also have a great deal in that you pay your 20 pound entry fee, but then anytime you go back w/in that calendar year, you get in free – unlimited. So let’s go storm that castle! The pics are here!

Murder, She Predicted

Had a fantastic trip to the Big Apple back in March. Family, friends, fun and food were the order of the day as my flatmate Stuart, who had never been to NYC, and I, who hadn’t been in years, played tourist with our NY City Pass (fab offer btw if you are planning a trip). It got us into the Empire State Building and most of the major museums. The trip was a family reunion with Mom, Kait, Dad and Betty on hand to celebrate the Irish Twins’ birthdays. St. Patrick’s Day brought a bright sunny day for Kait, along with the Parade (of course!) and topped off by “Blithe Spirit” with Angela Lansbury, Christine Ebersole and Rupert Everett. Lansbury It was still early days for the production when we saw it, so it was a bit uneven, but ‘Jessica Fletcher’ stole every scene as the wacky medium Madame Arcati! She also wins the award for one of the most gracious stage door celebs. She patiently posed for pics, and even showed us her green wool cap she was wearing for St. Pat's.

Wednesday brought more theatre (of course!) in the form of the fantastic “Distracted” starring Cynthia Nixon and family friend Josh Stamberg (he of memorable roles in Sex and The City and Six Feet Under). I can’t rave enough about this play. Fantastic writing, super creative staging/set, and wonderful, natural performances by Nixon and Stamberg, along with the rest of the supporting cast who play multiple roles. Nixon was outstanding as she is on stage nearly the entire play and made us laugh and cry (often at the same time, b/c like Steel Magnolias says – laughter through tears is my favourite emotion!)

The day wrapped up with a wonderful birthday feast at Ruby Foo’s with good friends Ben, Mary, Joelle and Liz. Our final day in NYC? More food at the famous Stage Deli for a fun lunch with Oxford friends Joy and Howard! Trip Photos are here.

My Big Fat(tening) Chinese/Italian Wedding Trip

Speaking of feasts – food was the focus of the following trip to Toronto for Stephanie and Rocco’s wedding. Our first day I played tour guide to Stu and fellow British friend Helen – both newcomers to T.O. The bitter winds off the lake blew us into the warm environs of the Jamie Kennedy Wine Bar where we saddled up to the chefs’ bar for an afternoon of wine and lots of tasty treats. You must go if you are in T.O.! We even got cute Jamie himself to sign a menu for the bride (who is even a bigger fan than me) and groom.

Major thanks to Steph and Rocco for putting us British travellers up (and putting up with us) at their fab new townhouse! The next night found us dining Creole style with fellow TO friend Joan at Southern Accent, another of my faves. Along with great Cajun cocktails and food, the restaurant comes complete with a psychic (Many of you may remember how freakily accurate she was for me a few years ago!). Stu and Helen had theirs told and sounds like both are in for some career changes!

The wedding day brought us to the Liberty Grand, a GORGEOUS lakefront venue. Steph and Rocco incorporated Chinese and Italian traditions into the event and started with a tea ceremony with Steph looking lovely in her traditional red dress. Moving into wedding white, movies were the order of the day as Stephanie came down the aisle (in probably I have to say the most beautiful wedding dress) to the theme from The Princess Bride. At the reception, members of the wedding party came in to various movie themes (Rocky, Star Wars, etc). But the BEST (at least for this pop culture fan) was their kissing game. Rather than bang cutlery on glasses, in order to get the bride and groom to smooch, you had to get your whole table to sing a song from a movie/t.v. show. Best idea ever! It wouldn’t be Italian if there wasn’t food – six courses of it! From antipasto to pasta to steak to seafood, topped off by the dessert buffet and candy bar! Yum! We worked off the calories the next day at the bride and groom's by partaking in Playstation’s Rock Band! (I clearly missed my calling as a drummer!) Photos are here

Splish, splash I am in love with Bath!

Early April showers gave way to sunshine and a visit from the Scharpfs! Was soo great to see and play tour guide to Tania, Ned, Nadia and Sophia, who dubbed London fun, but ‘too crowded. I can’t wait to get out to the countryside!’ Pics of the weekend are here

Heeding Sophia’s advice, I took advantage of the UK’s 4(!)-day Easter weekend and discovered my new favourite place in the UK – Bath! Beautiful surroundings, gorgeous buildings, friendly people and a really good vibe around the place, I can’t wait to go back. Highlights included a boat tour down the Avon canal (complete w/hot chocolate & Baileys!), a wonderful walking tour of Jane Austen areas, Good Friday service at the Bath Abbey, the infamous Bizarre Bath tour, the most amazing seafood chowder at the Riverside Café and the super tasty Bath Bunn at Sally Lunn’s!

On Saturday my friend Alison came out for the day and we had quite the adventures. We climbed up Solsbury Hill (of the Peter Gabriel song fame) for fabulous views of the area, and then went canoeing! Or ‘Canadian canoe’ as they call it here. Clearly canoeing is a North American pastime as we were the only out on the canal and when I got back to London, I got the strangest responses when I told people. “Really! You went canoeing?! You did?!” I mean seriously, you would have thought I’d said “I went over Niagra Falls in a barrel” the way they reacted. Wacky!

The water theme continued the next day when I did the Twilight package at the AMAZING, FANTASTIC Thermae Bath Spa. Four levels of saunas and steam rooms topped off by a rooftop pool! Relaxing in this as the sun sets with hot air balloons floating by – it don’t get much better than that my friends! The package also includes a one-course tasty healthy dinner and a nice large glass of wine. Not a bad way to end an Easter weekend! Photos are here.

Owen y'all some blog updates

I lost my blogging mojo for a few months, but am back on track. Was in a bit of a January funk after a fantastic trip home for the holidays (which seemed to be more packed and flew by faster than last year – apologies to those I didn’t get to see). Have then have just been slogging away at work, which also has me in a funk. Job search is back on again as I want to go back to my passion for the arts. Speaking of the arts, saw August: Osage County at the National in January. Best play ever! (or pretty darn close). Have you seen it? Seek it out and go – you won’t be sorry!

Know what else I recently saw? The movie The International, and who did I see introduce it? Clive Owen himself!! In a word – gorgeous! He is the patron of an old historic cinema out in Essex, near where my friend Neil has a place, so recently had a weekend away and spent Sunday night at the Harwich Electric Palace w/Clive. He is very warm and personable - clearly adores this cinema and he spent more than 45 minutes doing Q&As. Sigh…See Clive Owen/Harwich pics

Start spreadin’ the news...

I’m leaving Sunday for the Big Apple and Toronto! My flatmate Stuart and I are flying over for birthdays (mine and my sister’s) and weddings (our friend Stephanie’s). We’ll meet up with my mom, dad, sis and other friends in NYC, during which we’re going to see Blithe Spirit w/Rupert Everett and Angela Lansbury. Mom and Kait and I will also be checking out Distracted w/Cynthia “Miranda” Nixon and Josh Stamberg (we’re friends w/his mom Sue and Josh has also been on Sex and the City and was Sarge from Six Feet Under). On Weds, we’ll be at Ruby Foo’s in Times Square for my b-day dinner. If anyone is around and in town, let me know. Then on Thursday we’re off to Canada for Stephanie and Rocco’s wedding, for which the menu sounds amazing (as Steph’s Chinese and Rocco’s Italian you KNOW there’ll be good eats!)

Got Milk?

Perhaps some of the best Oscar acceptance speeches ever! Gracious, thoughtful, funny, not too over the top emotionally, I thought the awards went pretty well. LOVED having 5 past winners announce the acting categories. Hugh did an admirable job with his opening movie musical montage – but that mess with Beyonce and D-listers from High School Musical…not so much! Was so happy for Kate Winslet – she’s long been overdue. But I still think she was nominated for the wrong film. Revolutionary Road was fantastic (though definitely not the ‘feel good’ nor ‘date’ movie of the year). Tthe performances left me breathless. Kate and Leo both should have been nominated – ditto Sam Mendes. And Sean Penn’s win? In a word – Awesome! I did enjoy The Wrestler and Mickey Rourke was great, but I felt he was kind of playing himself whereas Penn Transformed himself into Harvey Milk.

There was much hootin’ and hollerin’ from the Rich Mix cinema in East London where Alison and I returned for a 2nd year for their Oscar Extravaganza. This year we were joined by Tina, Neil and Katie and made a fairly respectable showing in the Oscar Quiz! Even got my own version of a shampoo bottle! Speaking of winning and Oscars – major kudos to Mark L. Davis (a stalwart of my Oscar parties back in the States). He handily won his work’s Oscar pool! See Oscar party pics

Phoning it in? Not me!

In early February, London had the biggest snowstorm in 18 years! There’s craziness and then there’s good ol’ LDN which closed down all train service and also all buses! Most tube lines were shut as well. Anyone using the phrase standstill would not have been accused of crazy talk. But the BHF was still open for business and my boss asked me to make it in (the penalty for living in central London). A 35 minute walk to a working tube ensued - which was actually quite pretty through the snow covered parks and watching young kids playing (they’d never seen this much snow before in their lives!) Finally made it to the office and was surprised to find many hearty (ha) souls had done the same. Our café staff had even built a snowman on the terrace!

But while I’d made it safely in, my Ecco hiking boots did not. Something about the UK snow, or chemicals they use to treat said snow, had eaten away the soles of the boots. I kept trailing little pieces of rubber throughout the office. The snowfall kept trailing too and so we closed the offices early. Not wanting me to make the return trek sans shoes, my facilities manager bundled me home via a car service. Sweet! See snow pics