Beautiful Weekend

Hey there – glad you could make it to this weekend’s update.

I think it’s fair to say the weekend (or at least the interesting portion of our week) started a day earlier. At the end of the week, Anne had a 36 hour trip to Copenhagen, Denmark and elected to fly at 7 AM on Thursday morning. In Charlotte, this required us to get going about 5:30 in order to make the flight. For her trip from Heathrow, we decided that 4:10 would be about right. Thanks to my parents for the intercontinental wake-up call.

So we both were dragging a bit during the day and had work-related dinners that night. Anne visited the same restaurant for dinner Thursday and lunch Friday in Denmark at the famous park there, Tivoli.

For my dinner, three colleagues and I ate at Thai Square in Bank, which led to after-dinner drinks, which led to after-dinner-clubbing at this bar called Abacus. I thought the club name was a touch ironic, given that it was four accountants. My “cool American” accent ended up getting me free shots, though I am quite certain my Friday morning would have been better had I turned them down. Clubbing led to me getting home at 1:30, after a quick stop at Maroush for a late-night chicken schwarma sandwich (the London equivalent of Waffle House or Littlejohns).

Two things Friday were amazing: the weather and the fact I made it to work on time. It was 26 – 30 C all weekend (let’s remember our conversion equation… F = 9/5 C + 32), which is 78 – 88ish F. No clouds, no humidity, light until 10 PM or thereabouts. As for the latter, let’s just admit it wasn’t my most productive day.

Anne got home about 10 on Friday night, about the same time as house-guest Number 4. Drumroll please…… Anthony McGuinness, Burr’s Camp Lincoln buddy from 2003. Anthony is a huge Everton Football Club supporter and had come down for the FA Cup Final at Wembley. The FA Cup is the equivalent of English national championship, combining the Super Bowl (size and importance), NCAA tournament (number of teams involved), US Open golf (any team in England can enter the competition).. Everton are the NY Mets of Liverpool, often overshadowed by Liverpool FC. In the Premiership, they are more like the Oakland A’s of the late-90s – competitive second-tier squad with a lower payroll. They were playing Chelsea, a London club owned by a Russian oil csar who has outspent almost every other team in the world.

Saturday morning, we picked up my buddy Eric Carter, Greenville soccer teammate studying / working in London until mid-July, and took the tube out to Wembley Stadium. We grabbed a couple of four-packs and went quasi-tailgating with about 5,000 hammered Everton supporters on the steps of the park. See the pic. Anthony is in the middle and Eric is far right.

Anthony scalped, tricked, parachuted, and/or teleported himself into the match. (You don’t question how people from Liverpool get things done. Anne tried later to interrogate him and we got nowhere.) Eric and I went to an Everton sports-bar in time to see the place erupt when they scored the first goal just 30 seconds into the match. I don’t know if this picture quite captures the 6 or 7 pints of beer dripping from the ceiling supplied by the exuberant Everton supporters.

The atmosphere became more and more subdued as Chelsea took control of the game and won 2-1.

Anne spent Saturday at the gym (working out and enjoying the rooftop deck), at the Portobello Road market and on the couch with her new favourite chick show (Privileged). She then helped prepare a delicious stir-fry meal for the sunburned and dehydrated among us. Anthony then had to scamper off to catch his train.

Sunday, we met up with our favourite group of American ex-pats for beers and Pimms at the White Horse pub in Fulham. Pimms is a British liquor, a delightful drink on a beautiful day and a favourite of the Jervises.

Dublin next weekend. Until then, have a great week.