From London - Family (Baby Pics!), Parks, Good Living, VitaOrganic Restaurant

Sorry not to have posted for so long - there's so much catching up to do, so much to see - and a whole new face on the world to which to introduce Phil.

Have to start with the baby, of course! She is just three months old, but she's so alert, so big, so engaged, so happy! She has this knowing look in her eyes as she smiles, as if she has a private joke. Here she is with my mom...[removed baby pics at request of my brother and sister-in-law]

And with her mom and grandma

My brother makes such a great dad

And I got to experience her remarkable firm-footedness also (she likes to 'stand up')

It is a new kind of magic, the galvanizing effect on a family of having a small baby around. The juxtaposition of helplessness, constant, earnest, determined learning (watch those babies soaking up everything!) and being charming and adorable... Plus, the appeal of an infant who resembles their family members is definitely strong. It was fascinating for me to be drawn into that too: they were wondering whether she might end up with eyes like mine (my brother has red hair and fair skin, but much darker eyes, whereas I'm darker-complected but have almost green eyes) and remarking on the similarity of our hair colors also. It's wonderful to see how her parents dote on her, how alert they are to her needs and likes.

Phil and I went around London a bit - we went to the National Gallery: I was so taken with the fig-tree hedge outside! Actually, I was seeing fig trees everywhere - those beautiful leaves...

The trees are one of the things I love most in London - many of them are so old and full of character.

Here's Phil with Buckingham Palace in the background. He thought there was something fundamentally, conceptually wrong with taking such a picture!

When I was a kid, the ponds in London parks were full of mallard ducks, canada geese, coots, and not much else. Now, though, there were still those, but also beautiful mandarin ducks, another kind of coot, two or three other kinds of geese, several other kinds of duck, and these ridiculous, hilarious pelicans!

We met up with my other brother for lunch - they got take-out falafels and we sat outside a pub in the rain!

I just got a little broccoli and cauliflower (from the falafel place, middle-eastern style, like my grandmother's cooking) because I was so excited to go try a raw food restaurant in London! There were none last time I was here: now, according to web searches, there are several. Vita Organic wasn't very far from where we were with my bro, and their website claims that they have a low-glycemic philosophy, so I was especially excited to try them out.

UNfortunately, they hadn't updated their website to tell that they were expanding to new premises, a way further on, and that most of the live food was in the new place. So after a long, in my case, hungry, walk in the rain, we came to a very cool and cute bar that was mostly cooked vegan eat-in buffet.

I got a 'living latte' - nut milk with your choice of flavorings. I asked for chai and maca, and had it made with yacon syrup to be low-glycemic.

It was 3pm, but quite busy with customers coming in to eat buffet - but I was surprised by how long it took to arrive. For how expensive it was, it's also pretty small. The top inch there is 'head.' It was good enough for me, but I could have made something much better myself, and wouldn't have felt good about sharing it with someone who wasn't into raw foods. What I couldn't understand was why it had such an intense licorice flavor - there was a lot of nutmeg in the chai, which amplified the licorice. I've never had yacon syrup before, but I've grown yacon before and that has no licorice taste... I didn't dislike it, but a lot of people do.

I've been making lots of gorgeous salads at my folks,'

(table spread extra-big for the visit of my brother, his wife and their baby)

and stuffed a butternut squash with lentils, middle eastern style...

Some marinaded and lightly-toasted pumpkin seeds on top - was yummy! Neither of my brothers would eat it, although my bigger brother loves Israeli style lentils. They're both major meat and minimal veggies guys. We have many differences and many things in common too - have been enjoying giggling over reminiscences.

I have a product review to do, as promised, and lots more London experiences to share. But most of the time here has to be dedicated to visiting, going, seeing.

Much love!