Why We Should Be Envious of the UK

Let me preface this by saying I have intentionally focused on the positive things that the royal family adds to the UK especially in comparison of the current political climate in the US.  I know that she is a figurehead and she does not do 'much' for the country besides representation and bring in about $46B in revenue.  (I am not kidding check this out if you don't believe me http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/4341491/Royal-Family-is-worth-a-staggering-445billion.html)

"God Save the Queen" is the national athem for the UK.  It is a nice song and we sing it in the US, we know it as "My Country 'Tis of Thee".  I have been in plenty of places plenty of times in the US when we sing our national anthem.  I have also been to plenty of events lately in the UK in which "God Saves the Queen" was sung.

It was the night of the closing ceremonies when I was in a large crowd of people at Hyde Park that I was awe struck.  I had just been successful in my bid for nachos (that do not taste the same I might add, they are crap here with the Mexican flavors) and I was walking back to join my friends.  The closing ceremony in the Olympic Stadium had started and the crowd talked quietly and then cheered at the introduction of Prince Harry as the official representative of the royal family and then there was some general talking in the crowd because Kate was there as well.  The crowd wondered where Wills was....

Then the crowd sang "God Save the Queen".  As the crowd sang, it just kind of hit me what the song and the royal family really seems to mean to the UK.  It was an awesome, powerful moment to be a part of, seeing it on TV is nothing.  Let me digress here a bit.

As an American, I have to say that I definitely have a fascination with the royal family.  I watched Princess Diana and Prince Charles get married.  I have watched countless marriages, read many articles and some books and went to the Diamond Jubilee.  I also understand that not everyone finds the royal family as intriguing or as fascinating as I do....

Politics are politics, no doubt and in the US and even in the UK there is a lot of ugly posturing and power plays.  What hit me as I was listening to this massive amount of people singing, is that the HRH Queen Elizabeth II provides the residents of the UK something that we don't have, a unifying figurehead that they can all get behind and be proud of.  She is gracious, kind, and does lots of charity work on behalf of the poor.  She pays attention to the politicians but does not get involved in the nasty craziness (because they do have some of it here), she pays attention to the state of the commonwealth and gives a talk about it every year.  She unites the United Kingdom in a way that nothing else does.

As Americans it is something that we seem to be missing.  Like the citizens of the United Kingdom we share a flag, an anthem, a love of our country but we seem to be missing something to unify us all.  Like in the US here in the UK, there are different political parties, different religions, different thoughts on same-sex unions (which they are currently trying to make legal), and all these people with different thoughts and opinions can all unify behind HRH Queen Elizabeth II.  They can be proud of her, what she has done and what she represents.  She is a positive representative of the United Kingdom, something to be proud of.  So, it makes sense that the citizens of the UK like the royal family.  According to the recent polls 69% of the people polled believed that the UK is better off with the royal family.  This is the highest approval rating in 15 years.  The lowest was the year when Princess Diana died, with 48% of the people polled believing that the UK is better off with the royal family.

It makes me kind of jealous that the United Kingdom has the Queen to unify the citizens.  I strongly feel that we are missing something very vital in our American culture because we do not have anything like it.  We do not have something that can unify us in such a manner.  It seems so important right now during this very volatile time when Conservatives and Liberals are at each others throats and suddenly now a disagreement somehow constitutes hate.  Now we get closer and closer to the election and the campaign nastiness is really starting to heat up.  The UK is also blessed with really short elections periods.  After the government is 'called' there is about 6 weeks until the general election.  (isn't that dreamy?)

  Is it really that much of a wonder why I want to stay here?  Wouldn't you?

Our Crazy Luck Strikes Again, Olympic Style.

So, we got the wonderful, super exciting offer to go to the Olympics....  I swear, I jinxed it all by myself.  Karma, I guess.

So, we got down to the VIP Lounge and I got pulled aside right away.  There were tickets, to Women's Basketball.  Crazy person that I turned them down.  As you know we did end up taking them, luckily I consulted with my family first and they did want to go!

The issue then because was that the tickets were a ways away.  So, my husband left to get the tickets and the boys and I finished eating and then headed to meet up with him at the North Greenwich Arena aka as the O2.  O2 is a big cell phone carrier here in the UK and the venue is typically called the O2.  For some reason during the Olympics they have called it the North Greenwich Arena instead.  

Somehow, I am still not quite sure how, my husband got confused and went to the Greenwich Park instead of the arena.  Greenwich Park is where a lot of the Equestrian events were held and apparently if you are not reading signs closely and aware of where you are going you can make the mistake and go to the wrong place.   By the time he realized his mistake it was 10 minutes to the start of the game.  He made it just before half time.  I cried, I couldn't help it.  Why can't we have a simple life where everything is rosy.  I mean come on seriously!!!!

I am so over things going wrong.  I just wanted to go to the game and to make our Olympic memories.  We have Olympic memories alright.... good ones and crazy ones!  The crazy always seems to find me and sometimes it just gets hard to keep on smiling....

Thank You Chase Visa

 I would like to give a BIG thank you to Chase Visa.  You have won some very loyal customers.

In my failed bid to get Olympic tickets, they have been fantastic!  Words can not adequately express how wonderfully everyone that I have spoken to has been.  

They invited my family and I the Chase Visa VIP Lounge in London as VIP's.  The lounge was staffed with Iron Chef winner (and owner of 8 restaurants around the world) Chef Morimoto.  We sat at table (when most people stood) and we had a delicious dinner.  Chef Morimoto was not in attendance while we were there, he was taking a well deserved break and was out enjoying the Olympics himself.

When we arrived, we found out that Chase was able to secure tickets for us to attend the Women's Basketball match for the gold medal.  We had excellent seats near one of the basketball goals.  It was a dream come true as we watched USA women's team beat France.  Then we saw the girls receive their medals and flowers during the medal ceremony.   It is a memorable moment to watch the US Flag being hoisted in first place and hearing the Star Spangled Banner!

The USA Basketball Team Gold Medal Winners!

Thank you Chase for giving us some incredible memories that we will always cherish.  

All the Bearys with BIG SMILES!  Thank you Chase!

Now, I need to talk to Chase Visa and sign up for a different credit card that will better suit my needs since I am overseas (bye-bye Amex)!  I wish that I would have known about their other options earlier.  As my readers remember, our move was a huge nightmare!  I am sure that our financial end would have been made easier had I only known all of the different options that they provide.  Sadly, when I looked there was nothing on the ex-pat forums or on the internet.  I understand that I can get a card with that chip and pin that does not charge a foreign transaction fee!  Woot woot!  

I am looking forward to a long relationship with Chase. 

Failed Bid for Olympic Tickets

I usually do not put rants up on my page, but I figure now is a good as a time as any to start.  This is definitely one of those times when being an ex-pat stinks.

So, as you may recall, getting Olympic tickets in the UK has been a beast.  The lotto system was a nightmare and many people have left the country in protest.  Then to add further insult to injury, there were empty seats all over the Olympics the first few days.  They have rectified it by releasing a limited number of tickets every night.

Before I went to Paris, I tried for days to get some tickets without success.  Then, I made a phone call to purchase tickets on the phone and talked to a very helpful Ticketmaster employee that told me that in order to purchase the tickets I had to have a Visa card that billed in the UK.  Which, I did not have.  Then we left the UK and headed to Paris and I just let it go.

Today, I went and made the necessary phone calls to change my address to a UK address and tell them that I would be making this purchase so that I could purchase tickets tonight when tickets were released.  I am very aware that making purchases outside the US can get transactions denied.  I called and got all the proper blocks lifted.  I was ready to buy some tickets!  Now, please let the stars align!

I was so excited and my luck was good, I got tickets to go the the Rhythmic Gymnastics!  It was even to see the medal ceremony!  Yipee!  I got all the way through the process and my card was declined.  I was STUNNED.  Then, my phone rang.  It was the Visa fraud department telling me that a purchase was just attempted it asked me to verify that I had tried to make the purchase and then told me after I verified it that I could try again....  Well, no, you see I couldn't.  The tickets were gone and now I am just heartbroken.

I made a call to a live representative and got my account cleared for any other further transactions.  Great.  Who wants to bet I that I will be lucky enough to get tickets again?  Yeah, me neither.  My luck really just sucks....

Thank you Visa (and in case you are confused, I am not really thanking you at all) 

Paris: The Louvre

I learned a few important things before we left to go to Paris.  First, since we are technically residents of the EU, the boys are admitted to all the museums for free!  (Yeah!  More in the budget to shop!)  Second, we were going to be in Paris the first Sunday of the month, when all the museums have FREE entry!  Keeping those in mind, there was no way that we could do the 4 museums that I had on the list in one day.  The boys would have revolted!

I actually felt that the entry fee for myself to all the museums to be very economical.  The most that I paid was 11 Euro, and that was for the Louvre.  I really think that the museums are a great value.  Especially when you consider all the famous works of art that the museums hold.  There is also the niggle that some of the museums in the US can be quite costly (while some are completely free).

So, after our day of Rodin and the Jardin du Luxembourg I told the boys we were headed to the Louvre.  Their reaction?  Well, definitely a bit of protesting.  My oldest son reminded me that I had said we would only do one museum a day.  I had to explain to him that I had too many museums on my list and not enough days, so we were going to have to do two in one day.  The Louvre was open late that night, until 20:45 (8:45), so, we headed over.

A quick tip.  If you are going to the Louvre, enter though the metro.  It is easier, less lines, and there are some cute shops and eateries that you can find in the mini mall.  We grabbed a bit to eat again, heading back to the golden arches (pretty shameful huh?), I HATE McDonalds, BTW, I promise!  It is the language issue.  I admit that I freaked because I do not know ANY French (which is again my own fault).  The McDonalds had a machine that allowed you to order and NOT TALK TO ANYONE!  Also, the McDonald's in France does serve tasty food.  So, we are at McDonalds for the second time, meh!

This was actually taken the next day, my camera died as we were leaving. 

After we ate we headed to the Louvre.  First though we made a restroom run.  If you had a receipt from an eatery, it was free.  If not you paid .80 Eurocents.  Here I need to add that I have a policy about paying for the bathroom.  I detest it.  Again, I am a spoiled American.

Then we headed to grab my ticket.  I also got the Audio guides.  Which was kind of a hit with the kids as it was a Nintendo 3DS.   So, they used them to listen to about various art works while we wandered through the museum.

I had to take a photo of this one just because of all the crazy controversy about breast feeding!  It's art!

The Louvre is HUGE.  We had three different options for our audio tour.  Because we were going into the museum as the last part of out day, I looked at the map and decided that we would do the paintings and then call it a day.  So, we headed first to the Mona Lisa.

After we saw her mysterious smile, we headed across the museum to the German, Norwegian, Danish and other artists.  It was then that I realized that the Italian artists are generally not my favorites.  I think more so because I prefer to see images of real life, not of what an artist has perceived a biblical story looks like.  I am also a fan of the Impressionists, which is a contrast to the Germanic styles of Vermeer.

Vermeer, The Lacemaker

The Louvre is also great because they allow photos without flash.  Some of the museums had a total ban on all photography.  Not that it stopped people.... but that is a story for another post!

We only went though a small portion of the many wonders of the Louvre.  The kids got their fill (and then some) and I am content with the knowledge that I will go back again and see more of the fabulous treasures!

Paris Day 2: Rodin and the Luxembourg Garden

Our second day in Paris we got up and headed out with the Rodin Museum as our first stop.  Rodin was a sculpture and his most famous work is The Thinker.  

We had some fruit that we picked up at Marks & Spencers the night before so we ate them and then headed out to the metro.  We arrived at the Museum, prepared to learn about Rodin!  

The gardens were beautiful, especially the roses!

The Gates of Hell which is an unfinished work.  This one is at his museum, there is another at the Meuso d'Orsay.

Posing!

Look at my Thinkers!

This is the original!

In the gift shop, note the top right hand book.  In France they do not look for Waldo or Wally (like in the UK) they search for Charlie!

Some of us had lunch in the cafe, two kids decided to just eat a pain au chocolate.... they were a tiny bit hungry later, but I made them wait for dinner and advised them to pick better next time!  

We then headed to the Jardin de Luxembourg.  As you can see I loved the flowers!  The mixes are so beautiful and so much more refreshing then the beds of the same plants that we see over and over in the US.  We also spied a ton of bee hives, which was very interesting that they were in a park.  They were behind fences, so they weren't easy to get to, but all the same it was still interesting.  The younger two were thrilled when we spied a playground.  We did not end up going in though as it cost over 2 Euro to go in!  Lots of kids were there, but I was still not wild about paying to pay.  Perhaps we are a bit spoiled?

We spent some time in the grass reading and just having some down time.  It was then that I remembered that the Louvre was open late.... to be continued!

Paris--The Place of This Little Girls' Dreams

While everyone has been consumed with the Olympics, I decided to do as some of my fellow adopted country-mates and leave the country.  I took the kids to Paris.

I have dreamt of Paris since I was a little girl.  I mean, what is there not for a girl to love?  The Eiffel Tower looked magical, the Louvre with all of it's treasures, shopping on the Champs-Elleysee, Arc de' Triomphe....  what's not to love?  Romance, love....

Cue real life and that record scratching sound.  I went with my 4 boys, aged 7, 9, 13, and 15.  My husband was not in sight, he was not even in the same country.  He stayed back in the UK.  Romance was definitely in *short* supply.  Let's be completely honest... I was happy when the boys did not complain about going to things.  In fact my 15 year old posted a complaint about being dragged to Paris!!!  Can YOU IMAGINE????  Yeah, sadly I can do more then imagine, I lived it.

With that said, it was not all bad.  We learned a lot of things and saw a lot of sights!  It was still a dream come true.  In fact, I love Paris, it is my favorite city to visit out of the handful of European cities that I have managed to make it to....


We took the Eurostar over.  We had to first get a taxi to take us to the train station.  Our taxi did not show when we expected and after a quick call to the company everything was taken care of and we were on our way.  After taking the train we got onto the London Underground.  We arrived at the Eurostar station and boarded the Eurostar.

The boys sleeping on the Eurostar.  Thankfully this was not a portent of the rest of the trip!

After we arrived and got settled into our hotel, we headed to Avenue Champs-Ellysees.  We found a Marks & Spencer and grabbed some drinks and snacks.  Further down we found the golden arches... yes we did partake!  :)  Then we walked down to the Arch d' Triomphe! 

My youngest getting photo bombed by my oldest!

So, we had some time to waste as the sky darkened.  So I took some pictures!

Same picture, different lighting!  

The Eiffel Tower fully lit.

Then, it started to sparkle!  How cool!  I was not expecting it to sparkle.  The collective gasp of the crowd on the Arc d' Triomphe was amazing!

This was how our first day ended, it was pretty amazing!  I definitely floated a little that day!