Happy Thanksgivukkah

Hi Everyone!

!חג שמח

I hope you are all enjoying your Thanksgiving break and Black Friday extravaganzas!  Yesterday / last night was a whirlwind of fun for me, as well.

Battersea Power Station

In the morning before class, I ventured south and west to the Battersea Power Station and got lost in Chelsea on my way back.  Fortunately I didn't have class until 2.  But why Battersea Power Station?  Well, I am currently working on a term paper (which I always seem to be doing) for my architecture elective on the life and career of Sir Giles Gilbert Scott.  You may remember him from one of my Liverpool posts.  Not only did he design and work on huge projects like the Anglican Liverpool Cathedral and parts of the Battersea Power Station, but he is also really famous for designing the Red Telephone Booth!  And, if I'm being honest, that is the real reason why I chose to write an architectural profile on him.  But, as it turns out, he was quite revolutionary for his time: he mixed Classical and Gothic designs.  Unfortunately, the power station is no longer operational.  I think there is talk about transforming it into either a museum or art gallery (similar to the Tate Modern, which is also an old industrial building).  Further down the river from the Battersea Power Station is another power station that was build to power the whole Tube network!  Of course, the Underground system has grown significantly since then (first line built 150 years ago).

Albert Bridge, Battersea

I was actually in this area a few nights ago with my architecture class to visit the architecture firm of Norman Foster, which was a huge deal because he has built some awesome buildings in London, as well as all over the world (including Manhattan).  Imagine working out of an office with this view of the Thames and its prettiest bridge (Albert Bridge).

For some reason getting through Chelsea to Battersea wasn't a problem, but getting back was definitely a challenge.  I think it may have been because Chelsea is just this huge residential area full of cul-de-sacs and dead ends.  What a nightmare!  Oh man, I was just about to say I prefer navigating the streets of Boston .... such a LIE!

In any case, I'll tell you about the more exciting parts of the day:

Hanukkah in front of the National Gallery, Trafalgar Sq

For the second night of Hanukkah, Chabad of London arranged this big celebration in Trafalgar Square with giant dreidels and free jelly donuts.   They even invited the Lord Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, to light the alleged "largest hanukkiah in the whole of Europe."  His words.  The lighting itself was a bit underwhelming, but there was fun music and dancing to make up for it.  Various shul choirs sang, and even TINY children's choirs!  UH too cute!  I also ran into someone I went to high school with at Akiba, which was really nice because I haven't seen him for three years.  The whole event was actually a lot of fun and the atmosphere was very homey.

After candle lighting, I jumped back onto a spankin' new Bus 9 and headed home for THE BEST Thanksgivukkah* feast!  There were 10 of us in total (7 students, 3 parents).  Starting from the front, moving clockwise around the table: Zein (kudos to her for taking this picture), Seanne, Seanne's mom, Courtney's father, me, Liz, Courtney's mom, Sarah, Eunice, and Courtney.  We all had such a good time and there was so much laughter.

Thanksgivukkah Feast selfie

My contribution was a fruit salad in cranberry sauce, as well as sweet potato latkes.  Other dishes included turkey and stuffing (of course), green been casserole, brussels sprouts, a sweet potato/banana/pecan dish, and a green salad.  Dessert was birthday cake!  I don't think any of us have consumed that much food before (and there are SO many leftovers), which is saying something for me because all Jews know how to do is eat.  I wasn't even hungry for breakfast this morning!

All I have to do now is save room for round 2: a Thanksgivukkah Shabbat dinner for 20- and 30-somethings at a shul in North London ... just around the corner from Abbey Road studios!

Thanks for reading and happy holidays!

* Apparently another "Thanksgivukkah" won't occur for another 79,000 years ... and it must be true since wikipedia says so.