Notting Hill Carnival

Some impressions...



of theNotting Hill Carnival parade...



while we are listening to one of the sounds systems...



As every year Notting Hill Carnival was terribly crowded and the streets were full of rubbish (especially chicken parts) but the music was good and it was a lovely late summer day. In the crowds only by coincidence I met Hannes, a friend of my brother from Bonn, who is coming to the Carnival every year. The world is small. So we went to a nice little delicatessen shop up in Kensal Rise to chill out before going home and prepare for the working week. -Sharms

Nice weather On Bank Holiday Weekend

It is the bank holiday/Carnival weekend in London. Fernanda has two friends visiting from Brasil and after I met them in a steak restaurant in Borrough Market we went down the river towards Tower Bridge. As I usually do not come to the tourist spots too often I had planned to highlight some of London´s tourist attractions on the river for the blog - but my camera run out of battery. So no photos of Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Liverpool Street Station, Hoxton Square and London Eye which we all visited on Saturday - I can only provide this picture of a friendly sky over St. Pauls Cathedral for the time being. -Sharms

Night on the Town

On saturday night David, James and Kelly joined us for drinks
on the roofbar at the Glenn Hotel, where Natasha is staying...



...followed by dinner at Abattoir, a fairly new restaurant on the west side
that serves an interesting selection of organ meats and other giblets, in addition
to more ordinary plates. Here we see Natasha holding court with what must have been
a very interesting story (I couldn't hear cause I was taking the photo).

Natty G & the Z6P

After work on friday Natasha joined the Zone 6 Pedalers (www.zone6pedalers.blogspot.com) for a evening ride. I was impressed with how quickly she got comfortable on Jen's mountain bike. We rode from the Standard through Grant Park to the Earl, where we saw the local bands Ponderosa and Tom Collins, just as it started to pour down rain!

Brighton Beach

Temperatures reached a soaring 23 degrees Celcius today so Belynda, Fernanda and I went to the beach in Brighton. Being only one hour from London by train I wondered why I had never tried to make that journey before. Although being very crowded we enjoyed some relaxing time in the sun before exploring Brighton's little alleyways (I have never seen so many jewellery shops in one place) and then lunching in one of Brighton´s several vegetarian restaurants. I was good to spend a day away from the city and I only hope that this has not been the last summer day for this year...

Friday Night After Work

We are at our usual spot after work. John - as you can see we now have an international guest in the London office, too!



Michelle and Mr. C. in the Social at a later hour while we are discussing our last visit to the Social in July when you were over.

Amy Pike at the Highland Inn

After dinner at Dynamic Dish with Jen, Jared and Lauren, Natasha and I
headed to the Highland Inn to see cabaret act Amy Pike and later DJ
Chris Case.

Special Australian Edition (aka Vege-mighty!)

During my trip to London last month, I had the pleasure of meeting Donna, who works with Hutch and Aruna in Turner's legal department.  Donna is Australian.  This fact prompted me to share with her a slightly humorous, slightly embarrassing story about Vegemite, Australia's favorite snack food, famously memorialized in the Men at Work hit "Land Down Under."  (See here.) When Hutch returned to Atlanta, he brought me a jar of Vegemite, courtesy of Donna.  (See here.)   Having never tasted Vegemite, I vowed that I would sample it and report on my findings.  

For those unfamiliar with Vegemite, it has a deep brown color and a smooth, spreadable texture, not too far from creamy peanut butter.  I debated whether to eat the Vegemite "straight," or, instead, use it as a condiment.  After considering some suggestions from Donna (including the enticing combo of Vegemite with bananas and toast), I opted to enjoy my first Vegemite bite on a simple cracker:

Having set my course, I plunged the knife straight into the creamy center of the Vegemite jar, leading me to believe that I was primed for a delicious, chocolatey treat:

After spreading a bit of the Vegemite onto a cracker, I was ready to enjoy the deliciousness. However, my friend Seymour the Speak-No-Evil Monkey, was skeptical:

Undaunted, I poised myself for the taste explosion:

Finally, the first bite.  The flavor was deeply earthy, pungently savory, altogether overwhelming to my delicate senses.  I entered another dimension, lost in Vegemite bliss:

Curiously, ever since this fateful night, I have acquired an array of strange super-powers.  For instance, I can play the guitar solo from "Back in Black" note for note.  And, I now have dance moves like that crazy frontman from Midnight Oil.  Unfortunately, I was unable to enjoy any more of the Vegemite, because my friend Reginald the Terra-Cotta Ram got into the jar and ate the remainder of my supply:  

He has now eloped with a ceramic kangaroo.   But, I am left with a lingering aftertaste and fond memories of my first taste of Vegemite.

Paul McCartney in Piedmont Park

The concert was really fun - so many good songs, and it was not that difficult to get in, to get a beer, or to pee, thankfully!

On our way to the concert we took a route around Lake Clara Meer.

Half way through the concert is started pouring so Gary and Natasha made good use of a spare garbage bag. Jen was fully covered in one also, but for a small breathing hole, but I couldn't caputure it on film. I took the rain au natural, which was nice (don't worry, I kept my pants on!) The storm eventually passed and after the concert we walked thru midtown and had a late dinner at Top Flr.

Pool Volleyball

Saturday was very hot and sunny so we spent most of the afternoon playing volleyball in the pool with friends and other residents at my lofts. It was fun. Natasha has a very effective serve, by the way!

Go Braves (English, Russian, Chinese)

Bree brought over some carboard and markers to make a sign for the game - and we did it in three languages in honor of Natasha from Russian and TY from China. We also made a Z6P sign which ultimately appeared on the big jumbotron at the game!

Natty G in the ATL

We are very happy to have Natasha over for a visit - here we are posed
in my backyard with our beers prior to a Braves game.

Visit To Aachen

While being in Germany last week I visited my brother in Aachen which is on the border to the Netherlands. In the background you can see the Aachen cathedral which was the first German World Heritage Site listed by the UN and is one of the oldest cathedrals in Northern Europe. Build in at the end of around 800 AD by Charlemagne, the Aachen cathedral was the church of coronation for more than 30 kings and 12 queens over 600 years (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aachen_Cathedral) and still is a very impressive building.



Historical town center near the cathedral.



Inside the cathedral.

Happy Birthday Aruna!

From Astrid and Hutch - we miss you over here!

Holiday In Bonn, Germany

The yellow building is the University of Bonn. Before becoming the capital of Germany after the war, Bonn used to be renowned for its University and for being Beethoven´s birthtown. The university has been build as a town castle in 1697–1705 and was used as an elector residency (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kurf%C3%BCrstliches_Schloss_Bonn). In the background you can see the old townhall. While Bonn was the capital of Germany, it was used for the reception of state guest like John F. Kennedy who hold a speech on the golden staircase of the townhall in 1963 (http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Altes_Rathaus_(Bonn) ).



This is the Museum of Art, one of the modern architectural highlights in Bonn. It has been build by the German architect Axel Schultes (http://www.schultesfrankarchitekten.de/) who has also build the Bundeskanzleramt in Berlin. Opposite is the Federal Art Exhibition hall, where we visited the Modigliani exhibition (http://www.kah-bonn.de/). I note that these websites are unfortunately not available in the English language version, which is a little surprising as Bonn sees itself as an international town, but there are some nice pictures which give a general impression.


Bonner Sommer 09

...which gave me at least a little bit of summer feeling this year as London is dark, grey and cool and does feel like winter has turned into autumn while not bothering with spring and summer.



This is my old primary school in Bonn-Holzlar where I grew up.

Sunday Morning Softball Practice

Was great fun to practice softball with James (here on the mound)
Ramon (shortstop) Gary (centerfield) and Jessica, Nina, and several
others at the field in front of Sammy Coen School in Kirkwood, ATL.

We really worked up a sweat!

Rosetta's

Being back at Rosetta's in Asheville reminds me of the last time we
were here with Lady Sharms!