Spring Break Part One: Go Hotspurs!

Sure, you could go to Florida for Spring Break and experience that sunshine stuff. Nat decided instead to come to gloomy, rainy England to hang out with a goofy toddler and a baby who is prone to screaming for several hours a day and likes to poop through his clothes. Good move, eh?

Actually, Nat brought our first spell of balmy weather. She also had some sort of calming effect on Owen as he only screamed a little bit each day instead of his marathon sessions. Nat arrived on Saturday night, and Andy was able to claim her after signing his name in blood and swearing she wasn't some mail-order bride.

On Sunday, our friend Kurt Stemhagen arrived fresh from an academic conference in Oxford. He presented some paper - the title of which included the names of several philosophers and a colon; it must be important. We dumbed him down quickly with some lagers. Then, Andy, Natalie and Kurt headed out to our first Premiership game: Tottenham Hotspurs vs. Reading Royals.

Andy has decided to become a Hotspurs fan because they're close-by and he could score some tickets. Plus, everyone else roots for Chelsea and Arsenal. They play at White Harte Lane which seems to be even more of a dump than Shea Stadium. And, since there's a large Jewish population, the fans like to yell, "Go Yids!" (yes, their own fans yell that). You can see why Andy fit right in. It was noted that they don't sell beer until halftime, when there is a mad stampede to the beer vendors. Also, your average American couldn't fit into the seats - they're tiny.

Here's the penalty kick that gave Tottenham the win (1-0).

The game wasn't that close as Tottenham had 19 shots on goal to Reading's 3. The people around them were cool, and they didn't get trounced by any hooligans. An afternoon well spent.

On Monday morning, we dragged Natalie out of bed (a daily task) and we headed down to Westminster Abbey. Of course, the rest of the vacationing population decided to pop in as well; we could hardly move in there. It's still amazing but we hardly saw what we'd like. All that sightseeing made Owen ravenous. Nursing my baby in Westminster Abbey seemed wrong on so many levels but it had to be done. Don't worry Mimi, I was discreet.


Andy & Kurt popped into the Spaniard's Inn - one of our great local pubs - for a pint and a natter. We said goodbye to Kurt on Tuesday morning - back to Richmond, VA. Our adventures with Nat continued...