Note to self.

Next time landlord wants to do extensive refurb on the house, make sure the temps will be above freezing!!! Tonight we are sitting in a house, freezing temperature outside and the entire roof to our conservatory is open to the world. Did I mention it is also raining!
Cold, cold, cold in our house.
I'm not complaining though. We needed this work done because the roof has been leaking for months (almost a year) every time it rains - and in case you haven't heard - it rains A LOT in England. So the landlord finally approved having the glass ceiling replaced. We are very happy that the new glass will be the latest and greatest stuff, but it's cold tonight. We will have to be careful in the morning to check for a sheet of ice across our kitchen floor.
The contractors worked really hard today so that the house is open to the elements for the fewest days possible. I kept the tea and coffee pouring for them as a thank you for them working hard in the cold. Had set up all the Christmas decorations, tree, etc, but nothing looks very neat and tidy with all the conservatory furnishings spread all over the house. Oh well, makes for another unique holiday in England.
If you see us with blue lips in Dallas, just know that it's not the newest lipstick craze in London, it's our frigidly cold house.
Get this, the contractor was here 5 min when he turned to me and said, "Are you from Texas, you sure sound like it" Yeah! havent lost my drawl yet. And craziest thing is that he's never even been to Texas. How'd he guess that?

Boo Hoo

Our favorite team - the Abilene Wylie Bulldogs lost to Prosper in the Semi-finals tonight on a 2 point conversion right at the very end of the game. major,major bummer. Yes, I am up at 3am following in the game.
Congratulations on a good season, Hugh.
Time for me to get to sleep.

The absolute most frustrating day.

Today was a beautiful sunny day in London. Having had many wonderful photo ops over the past year, you would think I had that Christmas card photo done. Well, since L has grown and changed so much, I thought we should take a more current photo and I REALLY wanted one in London with a landmark behind us. NOT SO> wont be happening. Today we rounded up the kids - they were already dragging their heels about having to go have a picture taken. Got on the train and into the city where we needed to be. Took about an hour shooting some pictures, trying to get just what we wanted with the background and lighting and all PLUS a decent smile on the kid's faces. you've all been there, you know what I mean.
DA and L went back home so L could get to a ice skating party at Hampton Court Palace. B and I went shopping at Harrod's (C-R-A-Z-Y!).
Then, get this, DA calls me later in the afternoon, funny tone in his voice and asks me very softly if I happened to change out the memory card in the camera. "Uh, no." He then informs me even more softly that the photos are not there. Not there. Just not there! I suggest other methods for him to check and come to find out - The photos are no where to be found!!!???!!!! I think our memory card was corrupted or something. It keeps saying, "card not formatted". Which it was working while we were there. We scrolled through them several times, zoomed in, etc. The memory card was in the camera.
After that little bit of information, B has informed me she WILL NOT be taking any more pictures in London. I'm not really one to put up with a comment like that, but as much as I wanted that photo, I don't really want to spend my 1 hour of daylight in the afternoon running back to the city for a picture. SO< when you get your Christmas card, just know it should have been our little family in front of Parliament/Big Ben, instead, we have a wonderful shot taken by our friend, Bryan Urban. (Thanks Bryan. I love it), but L has grown about 4" since then and gotten contacts, so he is looking like a boy in the photo instead of the young man he is growing into.
I always thought photos would get easier as my kids got older, what happened?

The Queen

I finally got to see the Queen today. Funny to be here for so long and only just now have the opportunity to see her. It was the State Opening of Parliament. They do a whole pomp and circumstance routine with all the carriages, horse guards, footmen, crown, Queen, etc. We watched on the parade route down Whitehall to the Parliament building that is attached to Big Ben's tower. We were standing right by Downing Street.

This is the carriage that carries the crown only. The Queen rides in a separate carriage. From what I have been told - a member of parliament is locked in the Tower while the crown is out for this duty. It is that valuable that it needs live collateral. It was stated, "the Queen can be replaced, but the crown can't." That sounds a little harsh to me, but hey, it's their country!

Whatever, I'm just happy I've finally seen the Queen. She goes by in a flash though. The horses are at a trot and if you blink, you miss her. I may have only seen her through the camera lens, but here is my proof.

Abilene Wylie won!

Go Bulldogs!
Go Bulldogs!!
Go Bulldogs!!

Wish we could see a live game.

(ACU lost, bummer. Especially after such a nice write up in the NYTimes about the quarterback)
But Wylie won. Yeah.

Watching the Cowboys on Thanksgiving made us a little homesick. Seeing the stadium when they showed the aerial view - just makes us want to buy a ticket to Big D.

Happy Thanksgiving

Wishing you a Happy Thanksgiving!
We are having just a "normal" day here. School, work, basketball practice, etc are all still ON. We are doing our big meal on Saturday with some friends. I don't have to cook a turkey this year with the feathers still attached, YEAH!
I went into the city with several friends for the American Thanksgiving service at St. Paul's cathedral. The cathedral was packed full of people. I still think it is one of the most beautiful building interiors in the world. The ceilings are gorgeous. US Ambassador Tuttle presided over his last Thanksgiving service. With a change in Presidents comes a change in Ambassadors. The minister from the church we attend was the main speaker. He did a great job. One of our friends' sons said a prayer at the service. It was fun knowing people who were up there. It makes you realize how far we as a family have come that I can sit in that service full of people from all around the world and know folks sitting in almost every section. Strange sensation.
I still get a little choked up when the Marines march the American flag by while we are singing "purple mountains majesty...". Feels very patriotic.
Tonight we are headed out for a very "unThanksgiving" Italian meal. The guys are trying to get home in time from work to join us. I hope DA catches the early train. I would hate to have our Italian Thanksgiving meal without him.
We are thinking of all our family and friends back home. Looking forward to seeing you all very soon. Happy Thanksgiving.
Here is a link to a NYTimes article about the service.
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/28/world/europe/28cathedral.html?_r=1&emc=eta1

American food

My kids and their American taste buds. I recently bought L a treat at a local farm store that sells a few American products. He really likes the pop tarts in the BLUE box that are the brown sugar flavor. I rarely buy them because they are so expensive, but I thought it would be a treat since he had worked hard at school. He was so excited to see them in the cupboard. He could not believe I found some of the "right" flavor. Little does he know, they are available most of the time, I'm just too cheap to buy them on a regular basis. I mean how many 5$ pop tarts does a kid need? He told me that next time I am headed to that store, I must come get him out of school (as if..) take him home to get his wallet and HE will buy the poptarts with his own money. Poor kid. I know how he feels though. We are counting the days until we can be in Dallas and eat at Mi Cocina and Houstons. I think I'll make a run by the grocery in Dallas and buy him a few boxes to wrap up for Christmas. It will probably be his favorite gift.

congrats to my favorite Abilene teams

yeah, Wylie Bulldogs!
Yeah, Abilene Christian!
Both teams still winning this fall. Nice news to see upon waking up this morning. ACU even made my front page of Yahoo sports. Very impressive.
Havent seen a live football game since Fall 2006. Reading Wylie's online play by play is as close as we get.
Go Bulldogs. Go Wildcats.

Time for lights?

By the title you think I'm talking about Christmas lights right? nope. Not Christmas yet. Gotta get Thanksgiving celebrated. What I'm talking about is "what time do you turn on the lights?" Seriously. Every day here that time gets earlier and earlier. Today the kids and I went out to lunch after church. (Wagamama, my favorite) DA was sick AGAIN. I swear riding on the tube makes him sick on a weekly basis. We left the restaurant at 2:00 pm and it felt like it was after dinner. It wasn't dark exactly, but it felt like evening with the sun so low in the sky. We were home by 3:00, and I had to actually turn on the lights in the house so that we could see. 3:00 people. that is just too darn early. So just think of us at 3:oo your time today. Do you have to turn on all the lights yet? nope? see, TOO DARK IN LONDON!!! that is the biggest problem living here - well at least for us vitamin D (pronounced with "it" not "ite") deficient folks. Maybe that's DA's problem. Not enough vitamin D to keep him well. Where is the summer time? - the sunshine til 10:00pm? This is why no one visits London in the winter.
Just my daily winching about the darkness (they don't say "whining" here). The darkness drives me crazy!!!!

kids had successful week

Some weeks are better than others, but this was a good week. L found out on Friday that he made the middle school basketball team. He was thrilled. Lots of boys tried out, so he wasn't sure if he'd be selected or not. He also received his first report card of the year and made some really good grades. yeah! One surprising side effect of all this good news was that he was begging me that we would stay here through the NEXT school year. ????!!!!!!

B finished her soccer league playing well. It was freezing (literally) at the field, so all the girls were having to be talked into staying out on the field. She was glad it was over so she could buy some American candy at the candy tent at the field. She really wanted skittles, but when she came back she had a "airhead" in her hand. She said, "I know I can get skittle's at another store, but I cant get any Airheads, so I got them since this is my last chance to buy them." Made me laugh that she knows exactly which American candy we can and cannot find in England.

One other great thing about today - the sun came out for about an hour. It was so nice. Freezing temps tolerable when the sun is shining. We are expecting snow in the morning. "I'm dreaming of a white Thanksgiving"

Tour of Big Ben

ok, what I should be typing here is about my great tour of Big Ben tower, BUT I missed it!!

Such a bummer. Getting a tour of Big Ben is for residents only. Must have a UK address to make arrangements for the tour. I have one friend who, very graciously, made arrangements for a group of us to receive a tour. We have to go through our "MP" which is similar to your State Representative in Washington. We all had to turn in our details: place of birth, legal name.....etc. A real pain to get organized. Anyway, my tour was for Monday at 11:30. Very strict appointment time and date. I had a doctor's appointment that morning in Chertsey that I had moved up so I could make my train. Was going to have a 23 min window after I arrived at Waterloo station to get over to the government building by Big Ben. Close timing, but doable. I Got to the train station on time, bought my ticket after a VERY SLOW man who was buying a senior rail card - took forever. Anyway, my train was a couple of minutes late -- not good -- cutting into my 23 min window. train Actually departed 10 min late --- really not good-- and by the time we arrived in Waterloo and I made a mad dash through the train station --- I arrived at 11:35. the tour had already departed and the door guard would NOT let me go through, nor would he escort me to the tour. I was turned away. I was dejected and mad at the train company. How dare they!

SO, If I ever get to see the bell at the top of Big Ben I will write about how cool it is, but for now here's a photo.

Note: this photo was NOT taken this week. We are in the humm drums of grey winter skies in which the sun sets at like 10AM so just know that we are not experiencing such pretty blue, clear weather.

Games Day

Saturday happened to be a day of games. Our church sponsored an "Amazing Race" through London. The exciting thing is that the Amazing Race is my absolute favorite TV show. I would love to be on the real show so I was very excited to do a small scale family version through London. Only problem - our buddy family was English/Dutch and had never even heard of the Amazing Race and they had no idea we needed to hurry, get the challenges completed and move onto the next clue. I was so frustrated. I wanted to WIN. Unfortunately, we came in 4th out of 6 teams. The kids did great though. They walked ALL over London. No tube rides for us.
That evening we hurried back home only to get to our next event of Quiz night through the American Women's group. Our friends challenged the wives against the husbands. We thought we would ROCK. but, came in next to last out of 7 groups. Major bummer. We did great on the British History category only to blow it on the American History. We also did poorly on the Olympics section.
Fun games day - but I wanted to win! Need to brush up on my US Presidents.

English cooking disaster # 7,365,484

When will I learn... all efforts at cooking here are just laughable. Tonight I made my first attempt at a traditional English apricot pudding (their version of cake - not baked, but steamed). This is how it worked out

DISASTER! but smells really good. Should look like a cake made in a jello mold turned out on a plate with toffee coating. think this falls under "complete failure"!
Very disappointing since pudding takes forever to cook on the stovetop (1.5 hrs +)
I know what my problem is though. One part of the recipe calls for baking soda and the other part calls for baking powder. I mixed them up and since I dont really understand the science of baking soda/powder, I didn't know how to counteract my mess-up. It's very confusing since the English version of soda is half strength, so if you are making US recipes with UK ingredients, you must double soda. If making UK recipe with US ingredients, I might need to half it. (that might even be wrong. It could be baking powder that is half/double strength.)
Regardless, it was a complete, globby mess. The real kicker is that I went to a cooking class and watched a lady make the same recipe, so I thought I had all the odds working on my side. Think again, Bridget!

Hope your dinner turns out well tonight.

Remembrance Day

http://www.freefoto.com/preview/9904-11-12?ffid=9904-11-12

Today Remembrance Day was celebrated in England. It is the basic equivalent to Veteran's Day in the USA. It is marked by wearing a poppy such as this on your lapel. This year is the 90th annual commemoration of the end of WWI which is always done on the Sunday closest to the 11 day of the 11 month of the 11th hour. The whole country has a 2 min. moment of silence at 11:00am to remember the end of WWI in addition to paying respect to all the families who sacrificed for that great war plus all the other conflicts which have happened since. We had our moment of silence during church and they read off some statistics that seemed poignant.
In the "British Empire" as it was called at the time, they mobilized almost 5.5 million people and suffered almost 2.5 million casualties of either wounded or dead. France mobilized 7.5 million people with almost 4.3 million casualties of wounded or dead, and the US, which joined the war later, also suffered significant casualties with over 300,000 wounded or dead.
The English gentleman leading the memorial gave much respect and credit to the US for helping end the war so quickly.
I guess living here and traveling through Europe - even visiting the American Cemetary in Normandy, it has opened my eyes to realize how WWI and WWII deeply affected the people, landscape, and entire societies of the whole world. Millions dead or wounded. It's just mind boggling. Even to this day you can see bomb damage in London that happened during the blitz of WWII.
I know I studied WWI during school, but I guess I've always heard more about the second world war. It is interesting to hear about history from another perspective and to learn what is significant to them. I appreciate having these opportunities to understand and see first hand the history of Europe.

No funny quips today, just commemorating Remembrance Day.
I guess the endless days of rain, grey skies and darkness just zap the "funny" right out of me.

My American moment

We have a running joke here that anytime we do anything "American" that we should know better NOT to do anymore - we call it having our "American Moment" of the day.
Usually referred to when DA drives on the right side of the road - not to be confused with the correct side of the road that he should be on to avoid having a wreck.
Anyway, today I went to a grocery store I have only been in once before. I didnt know where things were located. I was distracted when walking into the store - reading some vouchers (coupons) that had been handed to me as I walked in. Unusual because they dont use coupons here, so I was a little dazed by knowing what to do with them ;-)
I was shopping for 1 thing - eggs. I immediately looked up around the top part of the walls for the big EGGS sign. Didnt see it, started walking down the refrigerated aisle. Didnt see them, walked to other end of store for more refrigerated section when I remembered!!!! after being here for almost 2 years that eggs are NEVER sold in the refrigerated section. They were located, as usual, in the middle of the cereal aisle. I could not believe after all this time that I had a mental block and actually looked in several places in the store for refrigerated eggs. How dare I think that eggs should actually be cold (or white or without feathers and bits on them!) It's those kind of moments that make me shake my head and realize that no matter how long I'm here, the oddball habits are hard to break.
Moments later I also had sticker shock - 2 dozen eggs cost 8 GPS. That seemed outrageous to me. Are they that much in Dallas?

Oh - update on the eco milk sold in the bag. They now have a plastic carton that they sell right next to the milk for you to put your milk into to dispense it - obviously - but this new eco solution is so much more expensive than the regular milk. How can "eco" milk in a bag be more expensive than milk in a carton? Crazy.

The Hills are Alive...

The hills are alive... with the sound of off key singing!!!!
For half term break we did a driving tour of southern Germany and Austria. Got to do some really fun stuff which included a tour of all the Sound of Music movie sites in Salzburg, Austria. DA made us recreate some of the scenes. Here are a couple.

"Doe, ray, me.." cue Julie Andrews for the high note, cause we surely cant hit it.

"I am 16 going on..." the gazebo is locked due to a grandma jumping from bench to bench - she fell and sued for damages, hence no more jumping from bench to bench.
Our decision to drive across Germany/Austria was based partly on the fact it is fairly easy to do, the scenery is beautiful and since it is low season, there really aren't many professional tours we could have joined anyway. Driving ourselves to our own schedule was great except for --- they drive on the right side of the road! DA had to drive a stick shift - on the right side of the road- and we were driving straight up narrow roads in the Alps. Scary! He drove on the wrong side so, so, so many times. And then he kept stalling the car. He did a much better job than I ever could have, but it was still nerve wracking. If it weren't for the TomTom (satNav) we would still be driving around the border looking for signs we could read.
We ended up making our trip safely. Surprisingly, we had some friends who ended up being on our same flights and were going to some of the same towns as we were. Very strange to run into someone you know (unexpectedly) on top of a mountain in Germany. The kids were pumped seeing their friends, made the trip just that much more fun.
Here are some highlights:
Neuschwanstein castle in Germany. Supposedly this castle inspired Walt Disney's Cinderella castle.
Our hotel at the top of the mountain - the building on the right. The hotel was just below the ruins of Falkenstein castle. I held my breath the entire time we drove up the 1 lane road to get to the top - stalling the car made it so memorable!
Me at the top of Falkenstein castle ruins. I'm the one waving!Salzburg, Austria. One of my favorite things - the iron signs lining the old town. They are so picturesque. Even McDonald's has a fancy sign.

We visited the salt mines outside of Salzburg. (get it? Salz = Salt. The $ from the salt mines paid for the building of Salzburg)
The salt mine tour was really cool. We were so far underground (at least 750 meters straight into a mountain). We even crossed the German/Austrian border while underground.
We had to wear these dorky white overalls - to protect our clothes from the narrow cave walls and also to protect our legs on the cool slides they had which allowed us to get from one level to another within the mine.
We rode this train into the mine - too far to walk!Innsbruck, Austria Olympic ski jump. I'll never understand how those jumpers get the nerve to jump the first time.
My family on the Olympic medal stand in Innsbruck at the bobsled track.


The first snow of the season happened while we were there. Had to get out of the car and throw a few snowballs.

Munich, Germany.
The Marienplatz and the glockenspiel. B was soooo over it by this point. We'd been to one old building too many.
B looking out over Munich. It was absolutely freezing in Munich, but it was warmer than London which had ice at the time.

This was the weirdest site of the whole trip - entire stores devoted to decorated eggs- thousands of them. They were mainly Easter themed, but had Christmas and Halloween ones too. They cost 6.50 Euro per egg, so they weren't cheap. Family - this is what you're getting for Christmas gifts.... NOT!

Happy Halloween and Guy Fawkes!

Happy Halloween. We celebrated last week with a big trunk or treat event at the kid's school. B was a "colorful Fairy" and L was a punk rocker.

B and friends at their costume parade at school.
On the 31st we stayed home and handed out some candy. The concept of trick or treating isnt as ingrained here as it is in the States. I answered the door one time to a group of kids and no one said anything when I opened the door. I said, "no trick or treat?" they just looked at me and held out their bags. Instead of "thank you" I got the British "cheers." Our funniest trick or treater costume was a boy dressed in dark clothes with a woman's bra and panties on top. Instead of carrying a bag for his candy, he stuffed his goodies into his bra. It was so funny.

Today started the Guy Fawkes celebration. They light fireworks for about 2 weeks straight. We have had about 3 hours worth already tonight. It seems every home with a decent sized garden buys fancy fireworks and shoots them off sometime over the next couple of weeks.

I'm not sure if they ever wish anyone this, but "happy Guy Fawkes" to you all.

The New Forest

This weekend was a long weekend off from school. Not because of the US holiday, but because of teacher conferences (kids don't attend school on conference days). We decided we would drive over to South Wales - 1) because we haven't been there yet and 2) because L is doing a family history project and we believe both sides of his heritage originated from Wales.
As you would expect, when driving out of London on a Friday afternoon, you encounter bad traffic - but yesterday was HORRIBLE. There was traffic everywhere. It was "choc-a-block"!!! SO, knowing that our whole journey should have taken 2.5 hr to drive - imagine our frustration that we were only 45 miles away after 4.5 hours. There was wreck after wreck and since they don't have frontage roads in this lovely country, there is no where to go except to wait on the road for them to clear the wreck. UGH!!! We bailed on South Wales and came back home for the night.
Anyway, this morning we tried a new destination and went down to "The New Forest" for the day. We'd heard really nice things about it and decided to give it a shot. It's about 1 hr drive away and I'm so pleased we went.
Out for a walk in the New Forest. (really a clearing in the forest!) The New Forest is actually very old. Established (and named) around the time of William the Conqueror about 1,000 years ago. It was protected land that the king could hunt on. They established laws several centuries ago that allowed the commoners to have access to open pastures and those laws still apply today. These are some types horses we came across beside the road today.

Mainly there are wild horses roaming free - over roads, through back yards, in the parking lots, etc. It is kinda crazy to see. The cars just have to wait for the horses to get out of the road. We came across at least 50 horses or so on the roads in just one afternoon. It really backs up the traffic and the horses are in no hurry to get out of the way. Even though the horses are wild, they are all owned "by a commoner" whatever that means.
B, being giddy over horses, had a ball. We toured in the car for a while and then got out and walked. You're not allowed to touch or feed the horses, but B wanted to get closer to them than we could in the car. We were standing by the fence when 2 feisty, wild horses came running full blast around the corner. Scared me to death. We watched them and realized they were the bullies of the neighborhood, charging at the other grazing horses and making them all run off.
These are the bully horses. As I was jumping on the fence, DA was snapping a photo.
We saw lots of deer in one area. A huge buck and about 15 others in his herd.Bonus that we choose a sunny, autumn day enjoy the fall color of the leaves.
So, the weekend wasn't a total bust - no Wales to check off, but the New Forest was a good substitute.
We laughed at this slug and beetle having a war over some droppings. The slug was huge - at least 3" long and that little beetle was not intimidated at all. No wonder all my flowers get eaten by the slugs, they're like monsters!

school run in the Fall

Here's a snapshot of my path to school. The sun was out and the trees and toadstools were looking so cute and colorful. Dont the mushrooms look just like a little figurine you'd see in a gift shop. Never come across real, red topped, spotted mushrooms before.

I know, slow day on the news front!

Westminster Abbey

Disclaimer: yesterday was not sunny. I took this photo in June.
My Tuesday outing this week was to Westminster Abbey. I cant believe I've lived here this long and haven't toured through there yet, but the cost is 12 GBP per person and it's just expensive to take the kids in when they don't even really want to go in. Well, my friend and I toured the whole thing, listened to the audio guide and just took it all in. I think it held my interest much more now that I've read so much about British history. Knowing who the monarchs are - who the Tudors are - why it's controversial that Elizabeth I and Mary are buried in the same tomb. Why it's important that Mary Queen of Scots is buried where she is, etc.

I even saw 3 different references and photos of the Bayeux tapestry which is what I toured with my parents in Normandy, France. I've seen the actual tapestry and know why it's important to Westminster Abbey and how the stories intertwine. I am just a nerd that I love making all those connections and having "a-ha" moments.

I always get a kick out of the green, green grass here in England.

The mid day of a Tuesday in the Fall is a great time to go to Westminster Abbey in case you're wondering. Light crowd and you could get up close to see anything you wanted to study.

I was so impressed with the sheer amount of memorials, cripts, etc. in the Abbey. It's like a storehouse of all the famous people of Britain. More of a indoor cemetary than church. No disrespect, but almost like stuffing your garage full of stuff - important stuff, but hardly spaced out so you can appreciate it. PACKED full of statues. An overwhelming mass of history.

I would have never imagined the state of disrepair of the coronation chair. Hard to believe that it is carved with graffiti all over it like it was stored at the back of the teen room in the church for centuries, but they still use it as the throne for every coronation, even now.

We ended the day with a quick swing through the Jewel Tower (not to be confused with Tower of London where the jewels are kept). It was small and only took about 15 min.

Lunch at Wagamama was a perfect ending and we headed out on the train.

check, check. Working on my list.

Global warming is affecting the milk carton now

What on earth??? look what I came across at the grocery store - milk in a bag. Not even a reclosable zip lock bag, but "a cut it open, here you go" bag of fresh milk in the dairy aisle.

What am I supposed to do with this? L has a hard enough time fixing his breakfast without making a milk mess on the counter with a milk carton. I can just see "here, have a squishy, bag full of milk - no mess please." Ha.

I guess what they indend is for you to pour it in your own milk jug and cover with plastic wrap? Has this hit the States yet? I didnt buy any, but if the economy keeps on the same track, I may be looking for ways to knock a few pence off the price of my milk.

Or, this is even better, maybe I should just consider it as another opportunity to go find some cute English pottery milk jug. Yeah, I think I might just buy into the milk in a bag concept!

B's favorite thing about living in England

This photo says it all...

B's absolute favorite thing about living in England is riding with her dad on his scooter.

It was really too cold to ride in shorts, but she had just finished a soccer game so she was given the choice to freeze on the ride home or go in the car. She chose the scooter and never complained one second. Amazing how resilient they can be when it's their choice.

Fun in London

My goal since school started (6 weeks ago) has been to get into the city every Tuesday for a London experience. The welcome coffees, hello mixers, meet a new friend teas, etc (just kidding, but seems like that) are finally complete and now I can do what I want to do. The fun started this week. 2 friends joined me for my first viewing of the changing of the guard at Buckingham. We had planned to go tour Clarence House, but it's just our luck that the last day the palace was open was the day BEFORE. Clarence is closed until next fall. Missed that opportunity. The changing of the guard, I'm sorry to say, was a little bit of a let down. I've seen all the marching guards I can take over the last year and a half and I think the Trooping of the Color just trooped me right over the bear skin hat edge! We had a spot at the fence at Buckingham, but you still cant really tell what's going on when they change the guard. I took a few photos anyway and had more fun sharing laughs with my friends. We walked to Texas Embassy for lunch - which my Seattle friend thinks is amazing. If she only knew! I told her it might taste just like Mexican food in Seattle, but I think it is mediocre at best. Although the ACU flag hanging on the ceiling makes the T.E. hold a special place in my heart. It was the first time I've heard country music in a while. Garth still sounds the same.
We added a little more culture to our day by touring the "Banqueting House" which was not for banquets at all, but it is the last remaining building that was part of Whitehall Palace from centuries ago. If you read about British history, Whitehall is mentioned over and over. I could never really figure out where it was, but now I know, it burned down and the Banqueting house is all that is left. Pretty place and fortunately, can see it all in about 30 min.

We made another trip to London today for a quick shop at Borough market.

Bought some great, gigantic artichokes and some figs. First time I've ever bought figs, but I like them. Do they sell figs in Dallas? Saw them filming the cooking show "Market Kitchen" too.

Took a leisurely stroll down the South bank from Southwark (pronounced "sutherk") to Waterloo. Very chilly along the water - coat, scarf and gloves were worn by my friends, but the sun was shining, so we were soaking up every minute of it. I cant believe we were on the beach just last Sunday. As of today, I think the autumn arrived with a date named winter! I heard a man today say it was "fresh" outside. Never heard that term before, but I guess it means "cold".

came across this man fishing in the Thames River. he was fishing for eels. That is St. Paul's in the background.