Celebs, Soumi, and the Orient Express

I had to travel to China last week in a pretty quick turnaround, leaving on a Monday and arriving back in London early Friday morning. As is my custom, I got to Heathrow on the early side because there's just no predicting how badly they can screw you up, even if not traveling through the already infamous Terminal 5. For scheduling reasons, I flew Finnair from here through Helsinki to Shanghai , but that illustrious carrier being a OneWorld partner of American and British Airways, I got to check in through BA. As I waited in line, this cool cat in dark sunglasses, unstructured blazer over a distressed t-shirt, tapered jeans, and an impossibly hip squared-edged attache case sauntered into line right behind me.

So I says to myself, F*cking Jude Law! The line was soooo long and my newfound Finnair association combined with wanting to eavesdrop on JL's mobile call threw me off my game for a few minutes. But these business trips are Go Time for me, so I broke out of line, walked over to some random BA employee standing alone at a random kiosk who said, Sure I'll check you in here as long as you're not checking bags (I wasn't/I don't). Well, take one guess who thought I had the best idea of the morning. F*cking Jude Law. He totally copied me.

I wouldn't say it was an "accident" that I sat five feet from Jude in BA lounge a few minutes later. It's not like I was planning on chatting with him, but in the slim chance he was also Helsinki bound this could've been the start of a beautiful friendship (he lives in North London near me, so carpooling and such would be an easy option). So being all nonchallant and such, I picked up the GQ sitting on the table next to my chair and flip right to an ad for Alfred Dunhill (one of my favorites, fwiw - their flagship store is 3 blocks from my office), whose celebrity shill is...you guessed it. And those sunglasses he was wearing earlier were Dunhill couture (look at the fourth picture down of JL sitting in the cockpit). A few minutes later a man came along and sat down right next to Jude. I could have sworn that it was Anthony Minghella (who directed Jude, Matt, and Gwyneth in The Talented Mr. Ripley), but seeing as Tony died last year I was either having a Sixth Sense moment or it wasn't him.

Alright, enough of Jude Law - we hardly knew ye. He clearly wasn't going to Finland and it was time to move on. It's only 3 hours east to the edge of the Russian empire and with a couple hour layover in Helsinki, I got to pace the quite nice (though small) airport terminal, always in search of that next coveted refrigerator magnet. The first thing you notice in Suomi (what the Finns call Finalnd) is that they're not shy about injecting an abundance of extra consonants and umlats (those two dots above vowels) into many of their words. I kind of like the look and sound of their language - it has a good Tolkein vibe about it. Well, I failed in finding my next magnet (I draw the line at a $15 moose that didn't even say where it was from), but with a bright blue Suomi t-shirt in my carry-on, I boarded my 9 hour flight to Shanghai.

Not so bad, especially compared to some previous trips. Food and seat not so bad, and my stewardess was so blond, she bordered on translucent. I would fly Finnair again. To bookend this very long first day, I met up with Tristan for breakfast. (I use bookend liberally, because though it had already been 24 hours on the clock, it was only 7am in Shanghai and we had in front of us a full day's conference and then a local Shanghainese crab-seven-ways dinner - I won't even go there). Oh, yeah: Detlef Schrempf was at breakfast as well. Hard to get more random than seeing a 6'11'' German in a Sonics warm-up suit strolling through an all-you-can eat dim sum and pastry buffet in Shanghai, except to note that I just discovered that one of my favorite bands, Band of Horses, named a song after him.

The weather in Shanghai was relatively glorious (i.e., no typhoon). For the first time there I saw blue skies emerge from behind the retreating smog, which allowed for panaromic views of the Pudong (central business district) skyline as well as that of the Bund, the historic boulevard on the opposite bank of the Huangpu River, which cuts through the city. Many of the skyscrapers, which seem to pop up in greater number each time I'm there, have a Godzilla-movie quality about them, both modern and retro at the same time. On my second night, I had an hour between meetings and dinner so I passed on a quick nap, hit the streets (fresh air!) and took some photos of the neighborhood. The second photo doesn't do the Oriental Pearl TV Tower justice. It's the highest tower in Asia (third highest tower in the world) and is a helluva sight, including for the more prurient among you. I somehow managed to not catch Mission Impossible 3, but I know that tower featured prominently in it. Early the next morning, we flew down to Hong Kong for all of 12 hours, then a 12 hour flight home to London, then a day to unpack and repack for our family holiday to Tunisia. Stay tuned....

Sarah (Zachy) Wants a Doll

Well, a doll has entered the Portnoy home for the first time. Sarah has more or less been playing with the boys' toys since she showed up 17 months ago. At the park, she keeps stealing other little girls' dolls, so it was time. She hugs it, tucks it in, gives her a kiss. So sweet.

Shock of shocks, someone else really wants to play with it. My mind can't help but flash to the Free To Be You and Me soundtrack. William wanted a doll and, gosh darn it, that was okay. Zach's okay, I'm okay, big ole Rosy Grier crying like a school girl is okay, you're okay - we're all okay!

Old Friends

We've been really lucky lately to have had some of our closest friends stay with us in London. First off was Bonnie & John from St. Louis. Next was Rob & Marianne from Detroit. We had a great time with both. So a mighty Bronx cheer to Mr. Franklin's old saw about fish and visitors....

Brighton Beach Memories

We took a great little daytrip to Brighton the other week. Just a 45 minute train ride from Victoria Station, it's on England's southern coast, along the English Channel and a (long) stone's throw from the northern coast of France. The beaches are in fact all stone, tailor-made for boys with a penchant to skip rocks if not for sunbathers craving the feel of sand between their toes.

For a mental image of classic Brighton, think of the last scene of the Remains of the Day when Anthony Hopkins and Emma Thompson had their rendez-vous, boardwalk stroll, and heart-wrenching goodbye. Indeed, Brighton's centerpiece is a classic boardwalk pier, built in the late 19th century (1879?) and just like you'd imagine it. Sort of. Fast forward from simpler, slower post-war Britain to 2008, the pier is about as classy as Ocean City, Maryland. But there's nothing wrong with some cheesy fun, filled with air hockey, bumper cars ("dodge 'ems" in England), and lots and lots of candy. On a sunny though gusty day, the boys had a ball riding all the rides and (hopefully without sounding too boastful) I totally dominated the adult bumper cars. It's an extreme sport imho, but apparently the gaggle of young women with whom I shared the rink hadn't been thinking in those terms. Caveat emptor.

Post-boardwalk, we walked all around Brighton, which actually was a lovely little town. The annual arts fair was taking place, so there were tons of people out and with a number of pedestrian streets or regular streets blocked off for the fair, it was easy to stroll. Some of the off-streets had numerous small, hip boutiques. We enjoyed a basic Italian dinner of pizza and pasta and even with a large Italian beer (Messina - Tom's namesake town!), the total was just $45 (dollars, not pounds), a somewhat normal pricetag that quickly reminded us what a rip-off most of London is. We'll be back.

Pasta 1, Sarah 0

Detente

The Boys Do Paris

Kind of sad, but my kids took their first trip to Paris without me. I had to travel for work back to the US and the timing worked out that the kids and Tracy, her folks and sister and nephews could take the Eurostar down to both EuroDisney and Paris for a few days. They were unlucky with the weather (cold), unfortunately, but still saw and did a lot. Disney was beautiful but evidently the French employees didn't get the memo on delivering Disney-quality service. My boys had been talking for months about wanting to see the Eiffel Tower and I gather that they were not disappointed. They came home talking about the double-decker elevator that took them to the top. Paris is an amazing city for parks (for kids and pigeons alike), which the boys and their cousins got to experience. Also sounds like they got to experience a generous portion of typical Parisian rudeness, which is unfortunate. It's an amazing city, but would be even more so without some of the local attitude.

More Dublin

Some snaps from our Dublin trip in April. It's a city we've wanted to go to for some time and it being all of a 59 minute flight from London (ignoring the several hours it takes to get to the airport and deal with all that meshugas), it was a manageable journey. It's also a manageable city in that it's not that big and many of the things to see are centrally located.

Tracy got us a super hotel, not far from the River Liffey, which we seemed to cross many times a day. It was also just across the street from the Millennium Spire, a massive, well, spire, that is by a wide margin the tallest structure in Dublin (last picture, taken from the base looking up). We walked through Trinity College, founded in the 16th century, and is typically the case during our weekend trips found ourselves at parks for the kids because at the end of the day all they really want to do is play anyway. Other parts of Dublin look like they're out of a movie set, with cobblestone streets and pub after pub with names like O'Shea's, Dooley's, Callahan's, McMurtry's, Fitzgerald's, Brannigan's, Flannigan's, Madigan's...you get the point. During some down time I also found my way to St. Patrick's (it's Ireland for goodness sake!), built at some point in the 11th century. I'm sure it was a big deal that after two or three hundred years they built a choir school across the street.

A Lovely Day for a Guinness

One of the highlights of our Dublin trip was that I got to steal away for a few hours to check out one of the city's most famous tourist attractions, the Guinness Brewery. Pretty neat, I've got to say. The brewery complex is massive and on a typically dark, rainy day just off the Irish Sea, it has imposing quality about it. Not unlike the first impression of Mr. Wonka's factory (you might be gathering from the blog that I love the original movie....), though waiting outside in the rain for 45 minutes I was not approached by Mr. Slugworth to steal the Everlasting Gobstopper (i.e., beer) recipe secrets.

Indeed, Mr. Slugworth could have just ponied up a few quid like the rest of us and the whole "secret" process was right there on display. The site was actually surprisingly well layed out and curated, walking us through every step in the process. Water, barley, yeast, hops - that's it! Simple as that (not really, but what beer these days doesn't sell its simplicity and purity). The tour started on the ground floor and worked its way up, with different exhibits on each floor. From afar this large cylindrical structure basically looks like a huge pint of beer. There didn't appear to be any Augustus Gloomps running around trying to taste the fresh mountain water running through the factory. I'm sure many give it a thought, but discipline and patience is duly rewarded at the tour's terminus on the top floor, when everyone receives their "free" pint of Guinness. The top floor is a 360-degree floor-to-ceiling glass platform, so there are cool wrap-around views of all of Dublin. Even on a grey day, you do get to see the whole city.

When Mr. Guinness secured the brewery site in 1759, he struck a 9000 year lease with the city of Dublin (well played, Arthur), so assuming our collective taste for the dark stuff doesn't wane anytime soon, we have a few just a few more millennia to take the tour. Get there while you can.

The Unreliable Blogger

Yep, that's me. Apologies to family and friends for taking a mental holiday from the toils of blogging. I actually love doing this, as most of you know, so actually it beats me why I blanked for more than a month. Writer's block? Lack of new material? Too busy at work? Consistently lovely weather? Who knows - don't matter.

I'll be back with some catch-up material before I leave for mainland China next week. All blogs are blocked in China (I've tried to blog from Shanghai in the past and the url is inaccessible.) For whatever reason, blogging and communist dictatorships don't mix. Can't recall if it was in the Little Red Book, but I think it's fair to say that free expression isn't one of their main selling points.