Adios WordPress!

If you are reading this then you need to change the address in your address bar to www.fishandchipsandsalsa.com

The change-over is being a little wonky because wordpress is a pain. For the next 24 hours the links may not be seamless but after about 24 hours just plain fishandchipsandsalsa.com will work again. In domain mapping, apparently those three Ws are crucial. Who knew?

This wordpress blog will no longer be updated but will remain up for the time being. All the archives are at our new site so there is no reason to come back to the old stompin’ ground. If you are curious and want a reason that we left, it is because wordpress’s iron clad themes finally pushed me too far and my desire for something pretty finally outweighed my desire to not mess with all that computer/interweb/programming crap.

If you are following us on a blog feeder like Bloglovin’ or Google reader you may need to reset your feed but I am not sure.

Thanks for the memories, WordPress. We’re on to bigger and better things!

www.Fishandchipsandsalsa.com

India Interrupted: Cinco de Mayo!

Yesterday was Cinco de Mayo! Which is just basically an excuse to go eat Mexican food. My fave little shopping area, Seven Dials near Covent Garden had a sale/street fair event and my friend Maggie and I headed over there after work to check it out! If you registered online, you got a 20% off coupon to all the stores in the area and a free margarita by Cantina Laredo. The weather was lovely and the shopping was very nice and some of the stores were giving free gifts with purchase (be still my heart.)

Cantina Laredo had a pop up bar in the courtyard which was excellent marketing because we promptly reserved a table in the restaurant for an hour later!

There was a little band playing outside one of the pubs where people were gathering.

Free popcorn!

The centre of the dial area(pardon the terrible pic)

After so many months of cold, it was wonderful to walk around in the evening sunshine. Happy Cinco de Mayo everyone!

India: Delhi 2

Yesterday was only half of our day in Delhi. We stopped for a nice lunch (of curry!) and then headed out to see more.

Humayun’s Toumb: The tomb was commissioned by Humayun’s wife Hamida Banu Begum in 1562 CE, and designed by Mirak Mirza Ghiyath, a Persian architect.^[1] It was the first garden-tomb on the Indian subcontinent,^[2] and is located in Nizamuddin East, Delhi, India, close to the Dina-panah citadel also known as Purana Qila, that Humayun founded in 1533. It was also the first structure to use red sandstone at such a scale^[3][4] The tomb was declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1993,^[2] and since then has undergone extensive restoration work, which is still underway. Besides the main tomb enclosure of Humayun, several smaller monuments dot the pathway leading up to it, from the main entrance in the West, including one that even pre-dates the main tomb itself, by twenty years; it is the tomb complex of Isa Khan Niyazi, an Afghan noble in Sher Shah Suri’s court of the Suri dynasty, who fought against the Mughals, constructed in 1547 CE. (from Wikipedia, so you know it’s accurate!)

Qutb Minar: a tower located in Delhi, India. It is the world’s tallest brick minaret with a height of 72.5 meters (237.8 ft). Construction commenced by Qutb-ud-din Aibak who won Delhi from the Prithviraj under Muhammad of Ghor as his commander in chief, and finished by Iltutmish, The Qutub Minar is notable for being one of the earliest and most prominent examples of Indo-Islamic architecture. It is surrounded by several other ancient and medieval structures and ruins, collectively known as Qutub complex.

These sandstone columns were amazingly intricate.

We all got in rickshaws and went through a tour of a small market and then into the heart of the city. A typical street in Delhi ( I wouldn’t consider this one of the crowded areas. At all.)

That’s all for Delhi. We left early the next morning and headed out to Agra. See you tomorrow!

India: Delhi

Our first day in India was spent resting in the hotel and trying to catch up on sleep and get ready for the next few days. We did briefly leave our hotel in an attempt to see some of Delhi before realizing that we stuck out like giant tourist sore thumbs and rickshaw drivers wouldn’t take us where we wanted to go they only wanted to take us to shopping bazaars where they got kickbacks. We went back to the hotel and ate room service. The next day was our first day with the tour and we went around Delhi. Here are some highlights of the morning:

Red Fort

Gandhi’s Tomb

I made a joke about how popular Ben Kingsley was over here because he was on ALL the money. Our tour guide did not find it funny. Not even a little bit.

India: The Prep

I suppose I should tell you about India now. But I am going to start slow. This trip took much more prep than usual. I can be packed and out the door for a two-week trip back to Texas in less than half and hour. This trip took much longer to pack and shop for. We had to buy soft sided bags and take with us and I am telling you this because I want to show you the bag I packed in that sustained me for two weeks and was way below the weight limit mostly, because I was darn impressed with myself.

Some of you may be thinking that you want to go to India- obviously if we can do it anyone can. So I came up with a quick litmus test to help you decide if a trip to India is for you:

• Does the thought of tinkling in squattie potties for two weeks bother you? Then you should maybe reconsider your trip.
• Does the thought of tinkling in squattie potties and tipping 10 rupes each time for the privilege bother you? Then you should definitely reconsider your trip.

Will be posting on India every day until I have gotten through everything so come back for the party!

*Dear men who think that the above test does not apply to you, please remember that the curry that you will be eating three meals a day will obliterate any schedule that you thought you had your …ahem…bodily functions on leaving them unscheduled at best and unstoppable at worst. Please reconsider the above questions.

Royal Wedding: Perfection Edition

We had so much fun celebrating the royal wedding both yesterday and over the past few months with fun souvenirs on the internet. We got in the spirit more than we thought possible and last night spent a while holding coronation services for Hannahbelle and Kricket. (The debate between calling them duchess or lady or viscountess still rages)

The dress that she wore will inspire another generation’s princess fairytale dreams. It was elegant, modern, modest and beautiful. I am sure that the $500 knockoff on which the makers can’t help themselves and add iridescent sequins will delight brides for years to come.

Now it is over and along with the rest of the country/world we are wishing The Duke and Duchess of Cambridge the very best honeymoon and life together. Because the wedding from engagement through reception was perfection.

Congratulations!!

Royal Wedding: Badass Edition

Like most people, until this wedding hoopla, I didn’t pay that much attention to the royal family. However, I would like to go on record and say that Prince Philip looks like a total Badass. Judging by his uniform, I am assuming that there is a war that we have never heard of because Prince Philip won it single-handedly?

Also, after yesterday I hope that all rumors of Prince Harry’s paternity go out the window because he is the spitting image of his grandpa. Other proof? Prince Philip seems to be enjoying the company of the still-a-miss Miss Middleton and Harry has always been known as the more ladies man of the two princes. Also, those aerial view shots in the abbey last night showed that along with wealth and royalty, Harry has also inherited the beginnings of premature balding.

Royal Wedding: Video Edition

This is a video that Mike shot with his iPhone from the balcony where we were standing as the royal family was leaving the Abbey.  It is pretty cool and you can see the horse at the front that goes bonkers and bucks his rider.

Royal Wedding from Fish and Chips and Salsa on Vimeo.

We were pretty impressed with the quality of the video!

Royal Wedding: This is it edition!

We are here in the estate on a balcony overlooking the abbey! We won’t be able to see the entrance but I can’t imagine a better view of the processional!

The Royal Air Force band is playing a song from Disney’s Enchanted! This is really such a fairytale!

Prince William just passed us!!!!

Pardon the abrupt departure earlier- we couldn’t get any internet on our phones! Too many people around all trying to post to their facebook too. Here are some of our fave pics that we took!

It was a wonderful day! We watched from a balcony on the parliamentary estate and had a wonderful time! I could not have asked for a better spot to watch the festivities because we had the best of both worlds- a great spot to see everything outside but also a television and snacks.

Will post more later.

Royal Wedding: dude it is intense over here edition

It is almost here and London has officially reached saturation point. I hope everyone will be up bright and early to watch in the morning.

Around Westminster Abbey with a little bit of Andrea-crazy.

I will be posting during the wedding if I can manage it but until then best wishes on your wedding festivities.