Waiting for Gehry

Normally exhibits surprise me in London. I didn't even know something was going on until I read a Metro paper in the morning or get a BBC London alert or my Time Out weekly newsletter. (Yes, I am on way too many mailings). However, I've been waiting months for this one! The Serpentine Gallery temporary exhibit is open for the summer. This year's structure was designed by Frank Gehry. It's a combo of steel and timber with an inspiration (apparently) from Leonardo DaVinci's design for wooden catupults.

I'm thinking of dragging L2's cousin there as soon as she arrives!

Image via the same link above.

Romania

So one week later and I'm back at work. It's amazing how time works like that. I thought I could stall it and spend more time in probably the most beautiful country I have ever visited. L2 and I toured 1600 km in 7 days. Incredibly we did not want to kill each other at the end of it. When the pictures are downloaded I'll start blogging about specifics - but here is a rundown of highlights - or just 'lights'.

• Green - first day
• Coral - second day (remember that was straight up and we were going 30 the majority of the time due to the cliff issue)
• Blue- third day
• Red - fourth day - painful due to large potholes and extensive roadwork
• Pink - fifth day - we didn't travel far!
• Baby blue - sixth day
• dark blue - seventh day. Shockingly enough that drive took about as long as the third day (just about 45 minutes longer. Mountains and horse drawn carts really throw a wrench in the quick driving plans.)
• Highlighter yellow - the easiest drive. Oh how nice a real highway was at that point. No horses allowed!

1. sliding down a glacier as the glacier decided that it took precedence over our path.
2. Sibiu - a town built above the rest of the city so you had a great view from the cobblestoned city centre.
3. seeing about 50 pelicans in one spot in the Danube Delta (no exaggeration - our guide even took a picture)
4. two different occasions of sun stroke. Both did not equal good times for me. Apparently my pale skin was not down with the hot sun.
5. thinking I was going to die off a cliff on the Transfergarian Pass as the guard rail was rusted and broken in more than just several parts. Oh and the cliff was literally two feet away from my door.
6. taking a dip in the Black Sea.
7. looking at 365 different frescos in a random church in Curtea de Arges.
8. staying in a Borat looking village our first night with our own balcony.
9. all the horses
10. the kms of sunflower farms
11. the fort at Rasnov.
12. the cement craziness of Bucharest include Palace of Parliament (the second largest building (just one). The first is the US pentagon.
13. the cutest stray dogs I've ever seen in my life.
14. the vince vaughn look-a-like at a random village gas station. He was so friendly and his gas station bathroom was the cleanest thing in the world.
15. the bicaz gorge and killer lake. both were natural wonders to behold.

Bad robot

I know I've been bad this week so I'm doing 5 posts today. First off – why I've been so bad. We've been planning Romania while I work and volunteer for my association who for some reason got their butts in gear this week out of all the weeks. To make it up, I've posted at least some things from the last week.

Sorry. Especially since I'm out till 21 July. Not really going to access email or the internet in Romania.

are you going to the moon

So with a 'visitor' from university in London - L2 and I took him out to Cha cha moon - the new asian cafeteria where everything is £3.50. It's good food too. I think it shocked him that there was somewhere affordable to eat in London that had larger portions and was actually good. I like shocking people. The only thing that was a bit tacky is the waiter's garb. All the shirts say 'are you going to the moon'. Your food is good, it's not michelin starred good.