Nathanael's Birthday

So it was Nathanael's 24th birthday on the 14th of January. As part of the celebrations of his birthday month (or so he kept telling me) we decided to go out to dinner on his actual birthday. We went to Restaurant Sauterelle in the Royal Exchange Building in London. Fantastic building. Here is a pic from the mezzanine where the restaurant is.

As per usual i felt compelled to embarrass everyone by photographing all the food. Here's a selection of things we ate.

My entree - Beetroot salad with goat's cheese mousse


Jon's main - Cod and chorizo


My main - Jerusalem artichoke risotto with truffle oil

Nate's dessert - chestnut parfait with sorbet and some delicious chocolate hazelnut thing that tasted like a ferrero rocher. yum!

Here are Nate and his parents at dinner. They had a waiter that brought around a selection of breads. That's my kind of restaurant.

And here is the pocket watch that my parents and I got Nathanael for his birthday. It's the official Swiss railway clock.

And finally here's the birthday boy with his cake... and yes, he's had a haircut since these photos. haha

Being a tourist in the Arctic

Ok, so we didn't actually go to the Arctic, but the weather certainly came to us here in London. Nathanael's parents, sister and her boyfriend arrived on boxing day and for about two weeks after that the temperature didn't get much higher than 4 degrees. It also snowed a few times, but not really enough for any more awesome snowmen.

Here's a picture of the Reinertsens and James at the Borough Markets, drinking hot cider:)

We went to Hyde Park to check out the Winter Wonderland which had Christmas markets, rides, ice skating and a giant snow globe for people.

We also went to check out the Tower of London. I can't believe how many people were there even though it was freezing cold. We had to line up to get in and even line up about half an hour to see the crown jewels which we were whizzed passed on a conveyor belt thingo so we just managed to catch a glimpse of them.

Here is a picture of me trying out one of their helmets.

And here's me and Nate with a Beefeater. Apparently he didn't like camera flashes. Oops...

We also went to the British Museum, London Museum, National Gallery, National Portrait Gallery, Camden Market and Spitalfields Markets! So we certainly were busy, but we still made sure to be home by 5pm because it was so cold.

Nate and I are now back at work. Hannah and James are now on a Contiki around Europe and Nate's parents are in Berlin. So we will see them again before they head home in February.

Ok, that's it. Sorry for the boring post!