Things are heating up in Dubai

It's 104 degrees in Dubai right now, but it's a dry heat so it doesn't feel that bad... just kidding. 104 degrees is HOT, no matter how dry it may or may not be. We've had a nice first day here, visiting a few art galleries that were out in an industrial area (think car dealerships and warehouses). A slightly odd place for a burgeoning art scene, but we saw some amazing paintings from middle eastern artists, had lunch in one of the galleries, and then walked 15 minutes down a fairly deserted road to try and find a taxi (after the one that the gallery called for us failed to show up an hour and a half later... "welcome to Dubai!" we were told). After visions of getting stranded and actually melting, we luckily got a cab and headed to the only place you can really go in Dubai during the summer days... the mall. It was pretty outrageous, especially the indoor ski slope. Next was a trip to the Burj hotel, but we got turned away at the gate for not having reservations. So we're now fighting jet lag at the hotel and looking forward to a little down time before dinner. Great meal in store at the Eauzone restaurant at the One and Only Royal Mirage Hotel, and then hopefully a little seaplane tour tomorrow and a visit to the Souks (markets) for as long as we're able to stay outside.

More on Hong Kong when we get back - it was a really cool city and we had a great time. Incredibly urban, with no real "residential" areas, but amazing views, and interesting mix of Asian and Western cultures.

Jet lag

I have a lot of admiration for all our US visitors who have come to London and not skipped a beat, time zone wise (Sara was the most recent example of this - she was amazing!). I, on the other hand, take 2-3 days to recover from a trip to the east coast. I got back on Monday morning, slept for two hours, and have been trying to recover since then. Feeling pretty close to normal this afternoon, but still a little foggy.

Had a great time at Donna's wedding, though, and it was fun to see some of the Spark crew. After a cold and rainy Friday, the weather cleared up and Saturday was gorgeous. I also managed to eat a lot of American food while I was back for 36 hours, including a big juicy burger, a deli sandwich, and chicken parm. Ric was more than a little jealous.

Here are a few pics:

Beautiful day!



Mr. and Mrs. Billy Burke



Me and Sayula




Sparksters




To cap off our crazy month of non-stop travel, we head to Hong Kong on Friday, then Dubai next week. We've heard really great things about both places and can't wait to actually see them in person. Especially because we're already telling people that we want to move to Hong Kong next, without ever having been there... just a small technicality...

The Heartland

I'm back in the heartland this week. Well, actually, it's far from the heartland but I'm back in the US this week, so it's as close to the heartland as I'm going to be for a while. I was in Boston Monday, then flew up to Rochester, NY, and am now in the Steel City (Pittsburgh for those not "in the know"). Now I haven't been able to see many sites, but in my little time in each place, I've been able to at least get a decent meal. Some have come from personal recommendations and others have come from a little home-grown research on the good old World Wide Web.

I'm a firm believer in "When in Rome..." so I decided that of all the things I could eat in Boston, what else would be better than some lobster? And how better to eat it than on a roll? I tried one at Neptune in the North End neighborhood of Boston. For those SF readers out there, the area was very similar to North Beach, it's described as "Little Italy." For purists, this might not be the way to go because it's not paper plates and plastic forks, but they did have one served cold with a bit of mayo, I went for hot one with my favorite condiment...butter. Highly recommended if you ever find yourself in Boston. They also had a good selection of oysters too.

Moving on to Rochester, NY, my choices were really limited. However, on a recommendation from someone who travels to what should be re-named Eastman-Kodak, NY a lot, I tried 2 Vine. Let's just say it's not a culinary destination, but it was probably the best of the bunch and seemed popular with the locals.

I've been in Pittsburgh for a bit less than 12 hours now so little to report, but I am hoping to get to Primanti Brothers before I head out of town. The Great Depression Era restaurant serves up what many say is the best sandwich this side of the Monongahela, we'll see.

I'm back in London Thursday and then Rachel leaves on Friday for a wedding in NY, we're trying to squeeze in seeing each every now and again. Luckily, we have a week off to look forward to coming up, but we'll write about that later on...

Abbreviations

Brits love abbreviations... it didn't take me long to learn this simple fact, or start incorporating some of the better ones into my own vocab (aka vocabulary). Here's short list of the most common ones I hear:

Brekkies = breakfast (as in, "sausage and mash for brekkies? why not!")

Telly = television (as in, "quick, turn on the telly, another episode of Friends is on!")

Veg = vegetables (as in, "make sure to get your five-a-day of fruit and veg")

Brolley = umbrella (as in, "in London, you never leave the house without a brolley")

Adverts = advertisements (as in, "they sure do play a lot of adverts during Desperate Housewives")

Brill = brilliant (as in, "brekkies at the club? Brill.")

On a related note, I've heard a lot of "phone tennis" over here instead of "phone tag." Same idea, different recreational activity.

Flowers!

We've had gorgeous weather this weekend... about 80 degrees and sunny both days... so I took advantage of that, as well as Ric being out of town, to plant flowers and clean up the back porch (after laying in the park and having a picnic lunch, of course). I think they turned out pretty well, but I'll let you judge for yourself!

Back porch:

Front porch:

It's an exciting day for the Bremer Blog...

We have our first guest contributor!! And, very appropriately, it's Sara Parr who is one of the Bremer Blog's most loyal and frequent readers. As you may know, if you've read the blog recently, Sara and Jeff just spent a few days with us in London and Sara wrote a great recap of what they did. I wanted to share this with everyone because they were amazing tourists (and I mean that in a good way). They saw a ton of sights, hit the major landmarks, explored cool neighborhoods, and really made the most of their days. I know an "on the go" schedule isn't for everyone, but if you are wondering what to do on your next visit to London, here are a few ideas...

Sara and Jeff's London Visit
April 24 – May 1, 2008

Friday April 25
Arrived and…straight to a pub, of course! LOVE Hampstead. Feels very English…little cobblestone alleys and walkways. Bugaboo strollers everywhere. Went to the Holly Bush on the hill…can see the London skyline. Then to the Flask for dinner (fish and chips!). Pooped from travel so off to bed in the Bremer's AWESOME house.

Saturday April 26
Up and at 'em…Portobello market in Notting Hill. GORGEOUS weather…warm! Walked through Hyde Park. Market OK…lunch delicious. Walked around Notting Hill then to Primrose Hill. Gorgeous views, park packed. Love the Primrose Hill area…where Saucy Mossy hangs out! Back to Hampstead…nap for Jeff, American BBQ with a bunch of Americans in Hampstead. Dinner in Camden Town (where Winehouse hangs out, edgier area like the Haight). Back to Ye Old White Bear in Hampstead to meet up with the American BBQ crew. Fun pub! Warm enough we could sit outside at 10pm!

Sunday April 27
Flower market at Columbia road…super cool! Then to Harrod's and the Food Halls. Then a drink to rest our feet at the top floor of Harvey Nichols. Another walk through Hyde Park, back to Hampstead where Rachel prepared an amazing wine and cheese spread, followed by dinner. So nice to be able to have relaxing home touches on a trip like this!!

Monday April 28
Jeff and Sara hit the tourist circuit!!! Jeff planned an incredible day…didn't think it was possible to hit everything he had planned, but we did it!! Started at the British Museum (a little cluttered, lots of little artifact-y things) then a walk through the West End (Rick Steves!). Cute streets with cute shops. Lunch then walked to Trafalgar Square…very impressive! Then on the Big Bus Tour past all the main sights! Bus ended at Tower Bridge and included a river cruise back down the Thames to Parliament. Really enjoyed the cruise back…great views. A quick walk back up Whitehall past 10 Downing Street to Trafalgar Square to catch the awesome Northern Line! Drinks at the Horseshoe in Hampstead followed by dim sum at Ping Pong.

Tuesday April 29
National Gallery – very nice. Love how the British museums are free! Walked down the Mall to Buckingham Palace. Encountered our first crowds of the trip. Saw the changing of the guard. Nothing super special, but we saw it. Then we got on the Kensington line of the Big Bus and that was probably not the best choice! Lots of traffic over in that area, so it took forever, plus it started to rain so sitting up top wasn't possible. I wanted to see Kensington Palace, but we flew past it in a flash…this is the only part I wouldn't recommend! But we got back on track and headed to St Paul's. Climbed up the teeny winding staircases to the very very top! I thought it was super cool! Then across the Millennium bridge to the Tate Modern…also very cool. Perfect bldg for a modern museum. Walked to the London Bridge stop (that awesome Northern line again!) and home to Hampstead for dinner at Frascati.

Wednesday April 30
Westminster Abbey. Very cool! Very unique…a cluttered, jam-packed, random mix of statues and coffins. Never seen anything like it! Took the afternoon off relaxing in Hampstead – I went for a walk through town and the Heath, Jeff did some studying. Gearing up for Paris. Rachel cooked another fabulous send-off meal for us.

Dubrovnik

Just got back from a great weekend in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Matthew and I went on Friday morning and Ric met us there Saturday afternoon. We had amazing weather the whole time and ended up spending most of the days lying right by the water on the Adriatic with a gorgeous view of the Elaphiti Islands. Didn't plan on this being a "lay by the water" kind of vacation, but in hindsight I'm really glad it turned out that way. It was super relaxing, sunny, warm, and great to spend time with the husband and little bro.

We did walk around the Old Town, but it's so small that it takes less than an hour to pretty much see everything. The best part was finding a little bar on the rocks that we had heard about from some friends. You basically walk through a little doorway in the wall (that surrounds the entire Old Town) and pop out on the other side, right on the edge of the cliffs. There's a little bar that serves mediocre wine and Croatia beer, but has the most amazing views.

One of the biggest surprises was how expensive everything was. They've definitely figured out that Croatia is a tourist hot spot and have priced the food accordingly. At our hotel and any of the restaurants near Old Town, a fish platter for two was $200!!! And lobster for one was about $80. We couldn't believe it. I really thought Croatia would be relatively inexpensive. But things cost more than they do in London! We luckily found a nice little restaurant off the beaten path, called Eden, where prices were more reasonable. Ate there two out of three nights!

A great trip overall and our pictures are up on Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/rachelbremer/sets/72157604916372056/

Here are just a few to get you started:

Dubrovnik Old Town

Matthew enjoying a gelato

The sign pointing the way to Buza Bar

View from Buza Bar

Ric and Rachel enjoying the sun

View from Buza Bar

One of the many restaurants at our hotel

Saying goodbye to Dubrovnik Palace