Our Latest Adventure (Part 1)...

So, we finally made it back. After two solid weeks of traveling and adding quite a few miles to our frequent flyer (and train rider if that is possible) accounts saw the sights and took pictures. Below is a quick rundown and some pictures, if you want to see all of them I'll post a link at the bottom for to view all of our pics.

I have also decided to break this up into two separate posts. There is quite a bit to cover in each one, and thought I would do both justice.

We left about mid morning on a Thursday (thank for the lift Al). After checking in we had a short flight to Newark. There we exchanged some money, which I wouldn't do again, and waited. The initial wait wasn't so bad, we even had a chance to swing by the Brooklyn Brewery pub in Newark. It was ok, but I wouldn't recommend it. After that we boarded a plane to Bristol, UK. Yes, I realize this was our Italy trip, but our very first stop was the UK.


Above is the town of Dunster, we actually stayed with some friends (Sam and Bethany) near here in a village called Withycombe. It was a fantastic, very much your "traditional English countryside".

Our first day there we got to explore the countryside a little and neighboring villages. Since Sam had the car, we couldn't get too far from the house. But something else had us tied near our temporary place of residence, jet lag. This was my first flight overseas and I wasn't quite as prepared for it as I thought.

Our flight had brought us to the UK overnight so we arrived early the next morning. This was originally a great idea, but I didn't factor in that sleep on a plane is not really sleep at all, but just closing your eyes for a bit to pass the time. So, when we arrived we had been awake for close to 18 hours or so, nothing too crazy. It was the next 12 that were tough. As you can tell from my expression below...


As we explored in the towns and countryside, we happened upon the Dunster Castle. Although we did not take the official tour, we did walk around and look at surrounding areas.

We also stopped in for a tea and snack. This was not your traditional "cream tea", just something to tide us over (and keep us up) until later. Something to note, the English do offer a cheese sandwich, which as it turns out, is not heated at all, just some cheese between two slices of dry bread. All in all, it wasn't too bad.

Despite the jet lag we finally made it through our exploring, with a short nap, and went out to a traditional English pub in the countryside. I keep referring to most of these places as "in the countryside" because to be quite honest, Sam drove or Bethany led, so I have no idea where we were half the time.

The pub food was great, I had the fish and chips of course and Heather had the "fisherman's bake", think chicken-pot-pie. However, the one item that completely threw me off was the beer, or rather ale. What the English term as "proper" meant, to me at least, "no bubbles". Apparently carbonation was something that prohibits the folks across the pond from consuming as much beer as they would like before they become too bloated to consume anymore. I enjoyed my drinks, but still missed a "bit o'the bubbly".


Our second day was filled with traveling all around the moore's and coastal villages. I had my first "propper" cream tea. And, as it turns out, I really enjoy clotted cream, in Devon. For those of you that have had clotted cream you know what I am talking about, but for those of you that have not, imagine the best butter you have ever had slathered all over a scone or biscuit. That, my friends, is amazing.

We also visited Sam's parents home, hiked to the highest point in the area (all are in the full set of pictures), and had a nice Thai curry for dinner.

Our final day was spent catching a train to Paddington Station then to Heatherow and then flying to Milano...

Link to All Pictures

I used Shazam to discover I Want You To by Weezer

	Hi, I used Shazam to discover I Want You To by Weezer and thought I'd share it with you.
Shazam users on iPhone and iPod touch, tap here to add this to your Tag List.

-Steven

Google fast flip...

So, it seems that our attention spans are getting shorter every day. Google labs just introduced something known as Google fast flip. The idea is that it takes news stories from all over the web, puts them in logical groups (topics, sources, most popular, etc...) and then displays a visual snippet of the story. You can scroll through these groupings to see if there is anything that seems interesting enough to devote several more seconds to. It's a great idea, and I'm pretty sure it will hold my attention for quite some time to come.

http://fastflip.googlelabs.com/

Your "go to" places?

Last night Heather and I met a couple of our friends for dinner at a new restaurant on Henderson called Park (more on this later). During the meal, I made a comment that 1) I felt like this place was going to be extremely busy when the weather cooled off and 2) this would be a great place to come to more often.

That got me thinking about my "go to" places. You know, the first place you think of when you're craving Tex-Mex, coffee or pizza. Given the multitude of restaurants we have here in Dallas, most people (myself included) tend to frequent the same establishments. This in and of itself isn't a bad thing, in fact some people encourage it. It's a way to build relationships with the staff there, a way to find your "favorite" dish, etc. But, I do enjoy the occasional new place. Trying out a new restaurant, bakery or even record store is always an adventure.

The Dallas Observer is currently running a poll or their Best of Dallas 2009 (http://polls.dallasobserver.com/polls/dal/bestof2009/) but I figured I would throw up my own list and see what my friends thought, or could add (please feel free). So, sit back, relax and enjoy.

Go To for something completely different...
Park (on Henderson)
http://www.parkhenderson.com/

Go To caffeine supplier...
Pearl Cup (with Crooked Tree coming in a close second)
http://thepearlcup.com/

Go To caffeine supplier delivered to your door...
Oak Cliff Coffee
http://www.oakcliffcoffee.com/

Go To for the new indie album of your choice (vinyl or cd)...
Good Records
http://www.goodrecords.com/

Go To when you need random ravioli
Civello's Ravilismo
http://civellosraviolismo.com/

Go To when conventional isn't an option for your apples... (disclaimer: I work for WFM)
Whole Foods Lakewood
http://www.wholefoods.com

Go To when ice cream just won't do...
Paciugo on Abrams
http://www.paciugo.com/

Go To for more than rice and beans...
Mia's for the Brisket Tacos
http://www.miastexmex.com/

Go To when you want to have breakfast in Austin, but don't want to drive through Waco...
All Good Cafe
http://www.allgoodcafe.com/

Go To for that really random book on the cheep...
Half Price Books on NW Hwy
http://www.halfpricebooks.com/

Go To when you're craving curry...
Bangkok City on Greenville
http://www.bkkcityrestaurant.com/

Go To for the best pancakes with bananas and granola with warm praline sauce...
Legal Grounds
Map to

Go To for great atmosphere, food and drinks...
Trinity Hall
http://www.trinityhall.tv/


Hope this short list helps, and if you can think anything else I might have missed please feel free to comment, I love finding new places.

-Steven

I used Shazam to discover Fireflies by Owl City

	Hi, I used Shazam to discover Fireflies by Owl City and thought I'd share it with you.
Shazam users on iPhone and iPod touch, tap here to add this to your Tag List.

-Steven

Anna's Big Day...

In case you have not met her before, this is Anna.

We recently discovered that Anna likes to eat things. And, by recently I mean over the course of her 5 years here on Earth. It is not uncommon for her to ingest socks, underwear, paper and the like. By ingest I mean, whole, not shredded but swallowed. For most dogs this would be a death sentence, and we have tried to curb her appetite for these things. Keeping doors shut, and clothes off the floor has helped, but she is persistent. Well, yesterday she bumped it up to a whole new level.

Let me give you a little more history. I started shaving with a double-edge safety razor about a year ago. I really like it and am trying to get my friends interested in it as well. I purchased a "sampler pack" of blades a few months ago, tried several of them, and had several left. I asked, and my friends wanted to try them as well, so I figured I would share. One of said friends lives out of state, so I need to mail them to him. I am extremely forgetful, so I thought it would be a good idea to place the zip top bag with the new, unused, still in their wrapper blades on the table so I would see them on the way out. Well, they stayed there for the better part of the day yesterday.

Notice I said better part, not the entire day. At some point they made their way down to the floor, I assume with a little help from the canine pictured above. At this point, I'm not really sure what occurred, but I have a good idea. When I got home around 3:30, this is what I found (see picture on right.) Actually, this is a recreation on the table, but you can imagine what it would look like on the floor. Apparently, our dog has a death wish and this was a cry for help. She had chewed on and presumably swallowed razor blades at some point during the day. A sense of panic went over me when I realized this. Anna, on the other hand, was just as happy as she could be. In fact, she ran out to meet the mail man when I came home, an act he was not too excited about by the way. So, what to do?

I called the vet, they asked how long ago she had gotten into them, "at some point during the day" I replied. "Well, you should bring her in, just to be safe" they replied. Ok, here we go. This is going to be expensive. We arrived at the vet, Anna smelling around at everything. If I had just chewed on and swallowed razor blades, I wouldn't be quite this inquisitive. But, as I mentioned before, she has a history. We got in to see a vet much faster than ever before, something about razor sharp (literally) metal passing through a digestive system that conveys a sense of urgency. The vet laid down two options. Option one, the cheap way, observe her for the next several days and if she stops eating, or vomiting bring her in. Option two, the expensive way, take an x-ray. Of course, being the paranoid hypochondriac that I am, I opted for option two. Ten minutes later, and with much yelping (from Anna of course, she has separation anxiety) x-rays are done and the vet returns with the news.

No blades or metal of any sort. Woohoo!! He even examines her mouth. No cuts on her gums or tongue. Crazy, our dog has chewed on razor blades and lived to tell the tale. Just for good measure, he takes two x-rays (one of her throat and one of her stomach), both are clear. While he's poking around he checks to make sure there is no joint damage (due to old age) and there is no tartar on her teeth. Anna comes out with a clean bill of health.

So what has this taught us? Well, for starters, don't trust Anna and don't leave things out. I'm pretty sure if we left something she wanted on top of the fridge she would figure out how to get up there. So in case you ever wondered if they embellished a little with the making of Marley and Me, please refer back to Anna's Big Day.

It's about that time...

Well, here you have it. This is our extent of decorating looks like. Not too shabby eh? And yes, that is a real tree. Merry Christmas everyone.