Swan Song

Sarah came over Thanksgiving, which was extra nice because Austin went back to NC for the holiday. She flew in on Thanksgiving day, and we had dinner with some lovely American friends from church. Now I'm wishing I had a picture because it was so nice to be in a real house eating proper American food with other displaced people.

That weekend also coincided with Sarah's 35 birthday. The next day we had the first celebratory outing, to the ATP World Tour Finals tournament which were in town at The O2. And, as you can see of the following picture, we had good seats.

It was pretty fun to sit right up close. First there was a doubles match, in which the Bryan brothers (pictured below) lost to Bhupathi and Paes.

Then in singles, Berdych beat Ferrer in an exciting match. Seeing it right up close like that you can appreciate how hard they hit. Fortunately there were a lot of really good points.

The next day was Saturday, and that was the day that we officially celebrated Sarah's birthday. It started off with breakfast at the flat, which consisted of doughnuts for the kids and Sarah's favorite Greek yogurt and muesli, neither of which can you get back here in the states. You can see that Rippy was pretty excited about the whole thing:

Later in the day Ainsleigh and Sarah and I sent off for our fancy girl day. First we went shopping for Ainsleigh's and Leslie's upcoming Fancy Party in posh Richmond. Ainsleigh found a dress right away at Monsoon. She got this dress, a white feathered cape to go over the top and silver sparkly shoes.

Then we got on the tube and took Ainsleigh to two art museums that she had yet to visit. First we headed to the Tate Modern, where we had a great lunch. Unfortunately one of the main exhibit rooms was closed, so I was glad I made it there twice previously. Here are Sarah and Ainsleigh crossing back over the Millennium Bridge.

In front of St. Paul's

Then we went to the National Gallery. This was the first time I went there. Here is Ainsleigh at the entrance overlooking Trafalgar Square.
Then the three of us went to dinner at Gauthier Soho. At one point we had plans to go to Paris for the weekend, but then with Austin going back to NC that was not going to work with the kids. So, we went out to an amazing French restaurant instead. Here was the fall vegetarian tasting menu.
Yep. It was an eight course meal. It took about three hours. And it was AMAZING.

They seated us in a private room--perhaps an ironic setting since we aren't even wine drinkers.
Ainsleigh had a bit of a hard time with the fancy food (no, I did not get her 8 courses). Fortunately the fruit was a little more accessible.
After eight courses, the last two of which were desserts, we thought we were done, when they unexpectedly brought in this:
It was unbelievable--definitely the best meal Sarah or I have ever had by miles.

If you're ever in London and want a fancy night out, Gauthier is the place! Also, they have a surprisingly affordable lunch menu (25 GBP for 3 courses is well worth it and a steal in such an expensive city).