Today is Trooping the Colour and whenever I see it played on television each year, my thoughts go back to the time when hubby and I went to London to check it out in person. We went in 2009 and it was quite the experience. I'm not much of a royalist, but I like to check things off my list to experience while I'm living in England. I figure that I'll have a series of memories to look back on when I'm old and grey :)
If you'd like to check out my experience, you can find it here. It was quite a day! I took lots of pictures! :)
Hello! It's a rainy Monday morning, but I'm feeling pretty good! Just to follow up on the latest news around here...we finally got our washing machine fixed last week. Yay!! And so far it is working okay...fingers crossed.
As I'm sitting here writing this, I'm watching Serena Williams playing against Yaroslava Shvedova at Wimbledon. I'm not actually there, but I'm planted here in my comfy chair in Wiltshire as I glance at the television periodically. Thankfully it's not raining there :-)
This sporty talk goes along with another thing that I'm thinking about...and that is the Olympics! :-) I can't believe how close the Olympics are now. I'm so excited! Over the weekend, Brit Boy and I had a bit of a messy situation with our accommodations for our time in London though. We had a call from the people that we were supposed to be renting from during our Olympic trip and basically they had pushed us out of the way in favor of some bigger spenders...typical! They offered us some other place to stay, but we had a look at it online and it was a mess. We paid good money to these people five months ago and they have had the audacity to push us out after they were all too glad to take our money back then. I would say that we were surprised, but we're not sadly. I will spare you the long story and their response to us wanting what we paid for. Lousy, lousy, lousy customer service!!! I'll just say that we asked for a full refund/compensation and will not be using their pathetic service ever again! We found somewhere else to stay, and it wasn't easy because it's so close to time now, but I'm glad we have somewhere to stay again. I get so tired of people thinking that they can take your money and not provide the service that they are supposed to be offering. I know that this happens way too much these days, but I'm done with just accepting it! End of vent.... ;-)
On to more positive news, as I said at the beginning, I'm feeling pretty good, despite our accommodation speed bump. Brit Boy and I won't let all of that craziness get us down. We haven't been away for this many days for a long time, so we're really looking forward to the chance to have some fun! I was reading online this morning about the US Olympic Trials and I read what my friends were saying on Facebook yesterday. It looks like there is going to be a really good group representing the USA. I'm happy for all of the athletes from everywhere getting their chance to compete in the Olympics and it will be great to see everyone participate. However, I'm going to be cheering on the USA team since I'm a USA girl and I hope that they can do us proud! Brit Boy will of course be cheering on Team GB (Great Britain). We respect both teams in the Yellow House, as I mentioned in this post four years ago :-) And in the event that "our own team" isn't playing, we gladly cheer on the other one and it works. It's always fun ;-) And if neither of our teams are playing, then we're just gonna cheer on everyone because we're happy to be there! What a blessing...
So we're counting down the days until our Olympic trip and I'll definitely be sharing some photos here...
I thought that I would share a bit of the back garden today. This is one of the big pink roses that is growing out back. It took a beating in the wind yesterday, but it survived. Please overlook a bit of my hand in the left corner of the picture!
I hope that everyone is having a great weekend! My book post will be next! :-)
Hello there! This is a short post just to check in and say that I hope that everyone had a great weekend. Mine was good after a frenzied week of trying to write my umpteenth essay for school ;-) I gave myself the gift of a break this weekend before I plow headlong into more studying and writing. It has been hard I will admit, but it will be rewarding in the end. I know that I'm doing just what I need to be doing at this point in my life :-) I'm way behind on basically everything it seems including tending to my blog which I love. Thank you for continuing to visit me here even though I've been quite sporadic lately. But I know that once I get past this next month, I will be able to come here and hang out more.
So many things have passed by that I wanted to write about here, including the lighting of the Olympic flame in Greece the other day. I know this may seem like a random thing to want to mention in the scheme of things, but I want to mention it because Brit Boy and I are going to the Olympics in London. We're both looking forward to it and this will be my second time going to the Olympics. I was lucky to get to go to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta and it was fantastic and I got to enjoy it in my home state. So now, I think it's such a wonderful thing to be getting the chance to go again. It was hard to get tickets, and it's been a long time coming, but we finally got some tickets after a couple of tries. I will most definitely be sharing some photos of our adventures in August.
I didn't want to let that milestone of the torch lighting get too far in the past, because I wanted to share my news and let you know that I'll be sharing some pics. I'm really grateful to get this chance again. I look forward to it.
Now it's back to my school work. One more thing though. Brit Boy and I went for a walk this past Saturday and I took some nature shots of those beautiful green woods that we saw. I will get the pics up this week and share a bit of Wiltshire, England here on my blog.
Have a great day everyone and I'll be back with the pics !
We had a wonderful wedding anniversary and our trip to London was historic and lots of fun. The royal wedding had London all abuzz when we got there. Let me back up a bit though. And I have a variety of photos, so I'll just scatter them within this post independently with captions :)
We headed to London on Thursday morning, the 28th, by bus and train. When we arrived in London we made our way to our hotel to drop off our bags. Then we headed out to see the last minute preparations and see what kind of action was going on. We headed to Westminster Abbey and there were loads of people walking around. There were loads of media around and we saw recognizable reporters amongst the crowds getting interviews with people in the crowds. There were quite a few people camped out too and there was a definite buzz in the air.
Leading up to the side of Westminster Abbey
Front of Westminster Abbey the day before royal wedding
Some of the media across from Westminster Abbey
Then we headed to Buckingham Palace to check things out. Lots of people were camped out along The Mall and there were loads of media and people walking about here too, but the crowds weren’t as big. Since this was a bit of a strategic trip out, we decided that standing along The Mall would be the best place for us to catch a glimpse of things the next day. We really enjoyed soaking up the atmosphere as there was lots of happy anticipation in the air.
Top: Some media across from Buckingham Palace;Middle: Views along The Mall; Bottom: On the way to The Mall (all taken the day before the wedding)
I noticed something when we were watching the various media outlets in their makeshift studios. Whenever they wanted to have cheering in the background, they would have someone on their staff out to the side waving their arms in order to get people to whoop and holler :) And nearly every one of the news studios from different countries did it. A great unifying practice ;-) They also motioned people over who had signs so that they could get them in the background of their live shots whilst their anchors interviewed people. It was surreal and very orchestrated. Who knew? ;-) It was fun to watch. Brit Boy and I hung out for a while longer and played “spot the news anchor”, and then we headed off for a bite to eat. Then we went back to the hotel to chill in preparation for our early start the next day.
On the day of the royal wedding, also our wedding anniversary, we got up and out a bit before 6am. Some people were already out besides those who camped overnight, but not that many. We took a place along The Mall and stood behind some ladies who had camped out and a couple who got there a few minutes before us. Later loads of people filled in behind us. We got a very good spot considering the fact that we didn’t camp out for a spot. The couple in front of us were very nice and we chatted a lot. It was a great way to pass the time together as we all waited. The couple were from the United States like myself and have been living in London for a short time due to the husband’s short-term job assignment here. The ladies who camped out were from South Africa and England, whilst behind us there was a lady from Argentina. It was a very eclectic group in our little section. My own main personal intention for going to see the royal wedding was to experience this global event and that’s exactly what it was. I heard many accents from all around the UK, the USA, continental Europe, Africa, Asia, and everywhere around the world. It was truly a sea of humanity! And I loved that Brit Boy and I got the chance to be a part of this crowd and a part of history.
We were very lucky to get such a good place to watch. Crowds quickly swarmed in right after we got there. It was quite a crunch to be standing there and not be able to move our feet, but it was worth it in the end. Speaking of feet, our hands and feet were freezing. It was a chilly day and there was a cold wind blowing.
Top: The guards & tv cameras; Middle: The Fabulous Band; Bottom: Excited happy people :)
We tried to get some photos, but it was a tough assignment :) Some are rather blurred so I won’t bore you with them. When the royals were heading to the church, the cars sped by very quickly and the crowd went into a frenzy...so I got some pretty random shots. We could hear the ceremony on loudspeakers and they had these programs for sale for £2.
When they all headed back to Buckingham Palace, they came back at a slower pace but it was still tough to get a good shot. But I’ll tell you, seeing it all was something that I’ll never forget :)
Top four: Prince William & Kate; Middle: Prince Charles, Duchess of Cornwall, & Kate's parents; Bottom two: Queen Elizabeth & the Duke of Edinburgh
After they all passed by we made our way down The Mall towards Buckingham Palace. We had been standing for about seven hours so we were a bit stiff. The crowd bottlenecked at one point, so we took a shortcut through St. James Park and somehow got closer to the palace than we expected considering how enormous the crowd was. It was quite a crush so my photos turned out kinda random, but I got a few. We saw the balcony appearance and both of the kisses.
All of the above: the balcony appearance :)
And then it was over. We didn’t see Prince William and Kate drive out in the car, because like many others we had dispersed. However, the memories of those days will stay with us forever!
Here are a few inexpensive things we picked up as souvenirs. The free things were being passed out at or around train stations.
Brit Boy and I made our way out of the crowd slowly...it was quite a crunch, and then we headed to Covent Garden to have our anniversary lunch/dinner. It was so delicious and we were so hungry by that point. It was truly a wonderful day...and it was one that we’ll never forget. We were so happy to be there to witness it all!
The Mall heading to Buckingham Palace the day after the royal wedding:)
The day after, we had a bit of time to kill before we caught our train, so we went back to see how things were the day after. A lot of the scaffolding was being dismantled along The Mall and at the temporary television studios. And the sky was a beautiful blue...a perfect way to end a great trip!
I have been humming this song in the shower for the last couple of days. It’s the winning song at the Eurovision Song Contest for this year. The song is by this fellow Alexander Rybakfrom Norway and it’s called “Fairytale”. He won with a record breaking 387 points.
The UK came in fifth with Jade Ewen singing “It’s My Time”. She has a great voice!
Brit Boy and I weren’t planning on watching it last Saturday night, but we got pulled in. I’ve watched it before since I’ve been here in England, but never all the way through like I did this year. What always intrigues me is seeing all of the entries from the various countries. Some of them are quite “interesting” I’ll just say and some are quite good :-) You never know…an international star may be born. ABBA won the contest back in 1974 and they were a big deal back in the day.
On our television system there is something called the red button and you can go interactive with what you’re watching. So they had a setting where you could sing along with the contestants and being the ham that I am, you know I had to sing along. LOL. Brit Boy joined in sometimes too. I swear we had no alcohol. LOL. We had never heard any of these songs, but singing along was so fun. It took me back to being a kid who loved to sing into a hairbrush at the mirror. LOL. My inner diva comes out!
Anyway, we had a good time and watched the whole thing. Alexander Rybak who won for Norway, wrote this song. I don’t know if it will be a worldwide hit, but I’ll say this for it, it’s really catchy in a surreal sort of way. And no matter what, he was doing his thang and I love it when people go all out doing what they love. Darn, there I go again humming it to myself, and then singing out loud. LOL. What can I say, I’m a wacky wannabee singer girl! :-)
I have some fabulous news! Brit Boy and I are going to see Queen Elizabeth in June. We’re going to Trooping the Colour. This celebration is the Queen’s official birthday parade and is held on a Saturday in June, every year. The Queen’s actual birthday is April 21st. This is a wonderful display of true pageantry and I can’t wait to be there to watch it all unfold. I sometimes can’t believe how things have been turning out for this American girl who still feels like a tourist sometimes :-) I come across to the other side of the Atlantic with no wish lists and through Brit Boy and me giving everything a try, we get in to see all the things I would have wanted to see if I’d had a wish list when I arrived. Who knew that being a plucky couple got you this far :-) Sometimes I feel like we ought to have our own reality show. LOL. Anyway, I’m very grateful that we are getting a chance to go experience something else great together. What a blessing. We definitely know how lucky this all is. Often when we get opportunities like this, it reminds me what happens when you put the effort out there in life to go for what you want...you never know what can happen :-)
Our tickets arrived yesterday. So when Brit Boy came home from work, I sprung the envelope on him. He blogged about it last night. We had to apply for the tickets through a public ballot, which is very similar to how we got tickets to Wimbledon. Here's the post about that. When we originally thought about going, we had figured that we would just turn up on the day and stand along The Mall, and see what we could see. But then we figured that we may as well apply to be put into the public ballot and see what came of it. Well, we got in and our tickets are ready and waiting for June :-)
This should be very cool, because we will see the Queen, the Duke of Edinburgh, and some of the other royals. Brit Boy and I saw Princes William and Harry back in 2007 at the Concert for Diana, so we may add to our list of royal sightings substantially in June. We have to dress up for the occasion, so Brit Boy will have to get all suited up and I will be getting to work on my outfit. Wish me luck! ;-)
So it’s an exciting time around the yellow house. I’ll definitely be sharing all the details from our day out on June 13th! Have a great day :-)
I just wanted to check in and mention my new spring look around here. It's spring and I just felt like changing the scenery here around my blog. I haven't really changed it much since I started blogging over a year ago now. I have been needing a bit of rejuvenation lately around the house and I thought it would be good to do the same on my blog. Gotta keep entertained. (smile) I'm still working on both my surroundings and this blog...so both are a work in progress, but then aren't most things. (smile) Anyway, I just wanted to check in and say hello and let you know what's going on around here. Have a great day! Happy Spring...Happy St. George's...and Happy Birthday to William Shakespeare! :-)
P.S. Check out Brit Boy's post later today about St. George's Day and William Shakespeare's birthday. This is his domain as our Brit around the Yellow House. (smile)
Today is Earth Day and it is a day to celebrate and help our beautiful planet. I love that there is a day when we can all think about what we can do to make our planet a cleaner and greener place. The beauty of this day though is that the awareness doesn’t have to stop tonight when the clock strikes midnight. We can all do our part every day of the year. Please check out this Earth Day site. This and other sites are great resources to find out how we can all do more. I’m learning myself because I just want to do what I can to help along the future of our planet. I don’t have kids, but I have many nieces and nephews, and for them and other children, I want to leave a green mark on the world when I go. (smile) I know that this is all a complex issue, but a lot of times I just cut away all of that and think of it simply. I look outside and see scenes like these and I realize how blessed we all are that we were born here.
The first two photos are from here in England and the last one is from back home in Georgia...two homes to me, but they are all on the same planet that I love. (smile) I’m not here to preach or anything like that, because I’m still learning myself, but as you go about your day, spare a thought for our planet Earth. (smile) Happy Earth Day everybody!
Yesterday was an eventful day. Brit Boy and I had to go to the hospital early in the day for my appointment. We left home early so that we could get there on time, but of course, we met quite a bit of traffic. It was wild. I didn’t know that many people lived out our way. LOL. Brit Boy thought it was more busy than usual too. Anyway, we took a detour here and a detour there and we finally made it to the hospital with a few minutes to spare.
I had to go back to have a check up again because I’ve been having some problems with a bit of pain in my breast. They wanted to have another look at me since the last time I went.
They checked me out again and the good news is, I’m fine. I don’t have “the disease we all worry about”. I have a bit of lumpiness, which they say happens a lot, so I’ll just have to keep watch over it. And to tell you the truth, I was relieved, but the whole thing hadn’t been taking over all my thoughts. I guess that is where faith comes in…you believe that things are going to be okay and if they’re not, then you rely on faith to get through whatever is ahead. You know, I wish that my mom could hear me say that, she would be amazed. (smile) She used to advise me to not worry so much, but I think that this was something that I’ve had to grow into. But I will say, I’m not some robot who had no thoughts of what could happen. Of course I had that thought, and it scared me for a minute, but then I just said, okay, let’s just see what they say. I don’t mean to come across like I’m oversimplifying it, but I was just simply glad that I’m okay (smile) What a blessing.
To change gears…after we left the hospital, I went along for the ride with Brit Boy while he saw a client. Then we came home and celebrated Shrove Tuesday, also known as Pancake Day here. We had pancakes for a sort of early dinner. Hey, we both love pancakes and we don’t have them very often, so they were great. Brit Boy eats them the British way with a bit of lemon juice and sugar, while I eat them with maple syrup. Delicious! (smile) We were happy campers.
In different places around the country, people have pancake races, where they run along with a frying pan which has a pancake in it and they try to run and flip the pancake as they run along. Brit Boy and I didn’t have our own little pancake race, but maybe next year ;-)
Anyway, it was a nice light-hearted way to end the day. Long live Pancake Day!
As some of you may have heard, we had snow here in the UK yesterday and it was really lovely. I wanted to share some of my photos with all of you. I went out with my hubby to keep him company on his ride to see a client, and as always, I took my camera along. Here’s what it looked like around Wiltshire, from the car and on foot and Trevor got in on the fun too. I hope you enjoy the photos :)
Today is the one year anniversary of the day when I passed my Life in the UK test. I loved that day a year ago. I had made it over a hurdle and I was one step closer to settling here in England. I felt good about myself that day because I was going into a territory where I couldn’t ask a friend what it was like, and I began to relish the unknown.
This was a great step ahead for me on my path back from being so depressed after my mom passed. I had just sort of checked out on my own life before this. So preparing for this test was a great help in getting my mind going forward again. It was a baby step and it took a string of baby steps before I was able to look in the mirror and see me again.
I think that January 30th will always be a special day for me. It was a day when I got my confidence back. It was a day when I reached a goal. It was a day when I started to ask myself ‘what next’ again. And to evolve in life, I realized that growing is what I’m here on Earth to do. And that’s what makes life exciting for me :-)
This is a day of reflection for me. It's the day when I remember stepping back into life again with both feet.
I’ve been a bit absent from my blog the last few days. Brit Boy and I have been wallowing a bit more in the afterglow of the holidays before we go along with everyone else into the first full week of the new year :-) So we chilled out this weekend and didn’t go anywhere and it was just great. Saturday we slept in and we relished just sitting around watching movies and just letting the day happen.
Then on Sunday we woke up at about 8am and turned on the TV and started watching this show about people going into the second act of their lives and doing something they always wanted to do. It was great. We ended up watching about three hour-long episodes from bed with one trip downstairs to get green tea and we so enjoyed both…the tea and the show.
They were showing episodes all day. We were so enthralled that we couldn’t tear ourselves away. So while we were getting dressed, we recorded what we were missing. We were hooked :-) But it was good to be hooked on this.
When we were dressed and were sitting down to have lunch, we picked up with watching again. I guess that we were both so into it because we were open to what it was saying…that it’s never too late to do something different with your life.
Brit Boy and I are at a point in our lives where we have been out of school a couple of decades, so we have experienced life a bit. But the way we look at it, there is more experience, life, happiness and fulfillment out there to be had. So I think that we both were very receptive to this show and ready to receive the message. Most of the people on the programs were a decade or two decades older than us, but age was irrelevant in the end. You don’t lose your passions in life just because you have counted more birthdays. What struck me was the underlying theme in all of the episodes, which was to do what you want with your life now, while you have your life to live. Most of the people profiled on the show had long held dreams of pursuing something else, but had to make a living at something else in order to raise their families. Then their kids grew up and they decided it was time for them to take on the second acts in their lives. You could see the twinkle in their eyes along with a bit of anxiety, but it was the greatest thing to see people rediscover a part of themselves.
Seeing this show was so timely for me personally. I wrote in my end of year post that getting separated from Brit Boy twice while we were in London was a good thing for me. Well I feel like the London experiences and how I have been feeling lately and even this show have all converged at this moment to pull me out of this sleep I’ve been in somewhat for quite a while. Sometimes clarity comes in roundabout ways :-)
In a couple of months, I will have been in England for three years and it’s only now that I am really starting to take a real look around. To be truthful, it has been scary. When I moved here, I was doing a whole lot of things at one time. I’ve read since that there are certain life experiences that knock us for a loop even when they are good things. This article said that death of course shakes you up, but the list also included: leaving a job/changing careers, getting married, and moving to name a few. Well, when I came over here in March of 2006, I had done all of them at the same time. I left my job right before Christmas in 2005; eight days later my mom passed away; then I was still trying to be optimistic about getting married (I loved Brit Boy and wanted to marry him, but I was so sad about my mom. I just wanted to go to bed); and then I moved away from the familiarity of home across the Atlantic and I was not myself. Like I said, there were happy things in there, except for my mom’s passing. The good things were things that I wanted, but grief turned everything so upside down.
So I arrived here seriously diluted, but it was sink or swim, so I tried to swim. That didn’t work out so good. I had been here before many times, but visiting is nothing like living somewhere and the culture shock that is normal, just hit me full on as it mixed with everything else. It was too much to take, so I shut down a lot of who I was before. I got married and then I became a lady in waiting…waiting for what I didn’t know.
As I’ve written previously, it’s taken some time, but now I’m finding my groove again. A LOT has challenged me in the last few years and day by day, the Dori I knew before has reappeared, and a lot of that started with beginning to write this blog. And I’m so grateful to all of you that come here to read what I write. It has been so therapeutic to just show up here. I’m more of who I used to be, but there is also change in me…one of the beautiful by-products of living life. We grow :-)
Now that I am getting more connected with myself again, I’m asking myself lately…”So what do you want to do now Dori?” Well, I have a few ideas, but they aren’t in full focus yet. However, that show yesterday showed me that you should just go for it in life. So I think I will :-) It's so true what they say...life is short. My favorite line out of “The Shawshank Redemption” is, we should…”get busy livin’ or get busy dying”.
So I’m back on my journey again and I hope to explore life more here on my blog in this brand new year.
Hey there everybody! Well, Brit Boy and I made it safely to and from London yesterday. This time there was no nail-biting coach trip…lol. We took the train this time. I love making the journey on the train. You get to see the countryside on the way, with all of the little houses that are hidden if you drive in on the highway. And also the train takes half the time so it is my favorite.
We headed out early. We got up at about 5:30am so that we would have time to get dressed, scrape the ice off the car, and get to the train station which is a few miles away. According to Brit Boy the train used to stop here in our little neck of the woods, but they by-pass us now. So we have to drive into town to catch the train. But it’s not too far :-) Anyway, we have been having some really wintery weather the last few days and yesterday was the coldest by far. So we scraped the car and headed for town in the dark. We were catching the 7:40ish train to give us enough time.
We got to town, parked the car and then walked around to the train station. We had pre-booked tickets, which cuts the price considerably. We sat in the waiting room for a few minutes with the other passengers and then our train arrived soon after. We whisked off to London as the morning light slowly grew. It was beautiful to see everything quiet and peaceful as we sped towards London in those early hours.
Our trip to London was so that I could drop by the US Embassy. I went so that I could get some advice about tax filing and stuff like that. It can all get a bit complicated, let me tell you :-) But they answered my questions and I was able to pick up some handy pamphlets before I left, so I’m all information-ed up ;-) This was my first visit to the embassy, so it was one of those things that I figure will go in my catalogue of life experiences. We figured that a visit on a semi-off week would be the best time to visit and we were right. I got in and out in less than forty minutes. I’m sure that it is a lot more hectic during non-holiday weeks, so I was so grateful that I didn’t have to stand in line and could ask loads of questions without holding up a line or anything. It was great. They were kind and very helpful to me. There were maybe eight other people there at the time and we all got our own person to speak with.
It was a very unintimidating experience and it just felt like any other government office here or back home…I’ve been to both and it is the great unifier that they are so alike :-) I had to go in alone, since only the person seeking assistance comes in, which we found out ahead of time. I didn’t have any nerves about going in on my own. I just wanted to get it over with so that we could go do other stuff. I’ve had to deal with so much stuff like this in the last few years that now it’s nearly normal to me to do my grand tour of the government buildings on both sides of the pond :-) So Brit Boy went to have coffee and hang out while I was inside the embassy.
Here’s where our comedy life comes in…there’s always a sequence like this in our lives. LOL. I wasn’t allowed to take in any electronic devices so I didn’t have my cell phone which made it hard to contact Brit Boy and tell him to come meet me on my walk back. So we decided to synchronize our watches and check back at our meeting spot every half hour. Our spot was between two telephone boxes, one black and one the customary red, on Park Lane which runs alongside Hyde Park.
So Brit Boy walked me to the embassy and then I went in and got all sorted out. When I came back out, I glanced at my watch, and I realized that it was about seven minutes until ten. So I trotted along down the sidewalk trying to get back to our meeting spot by ten. I thought, how good that would be to make our rendezvous the first time and not have to wait a whole other half hour. Let’s just say, I had a nice morning run and the air was like ice as I ran that two or three blocks with my purse bouncing. LOL. I made it back to Park Lane and kept up my little morning run. My cheeks felt like they had ice as their new skin. LOL. As I got about half way down the street I saw Brit Boy in the distance. I was too far away to yell and the traffic was so noisy he wouldn’t have heard me. Then he turned and headed back the other way. I thought, “Noooo!!!” LOL. So by the time I made it to the corner he was already down the block and headed across the street at a quick pace. It was a cold day so everyone was hustling along. Then he disappeared in the crowd. By this time I gave up my run and thought, ‘I’ll catch him on the next time around.’ And I just laughed to myself. It was like a movie or something :-)
So I headed to get a cup of coffee and to take a trip to the ladies’ room. It was so nice to thaw out my cheeks. And the warm latte went down my throat like a river of warm life replenishing me. Heaven :-) I sat at the window and looked out. I felt good at that moment. The chill had left my cheeks and I was rejoicing because I didn’t get out of breath really during the whole run and I don’t exercise nearly enough. So I figured that hey, that was pretty good. Also I felt good because since I’ve been living here, I don’t feel as independent because I’m learning my way here. But yesterday was the first time in a long time where I felt, ‘hey you’ve got this Dori’. It’s very easy to become very dependent on your spouse when you are the one away from what you know. London is a huge city and it can be kind of daunting to someone who was new to it like me. But we’ve been many times now and I’m to the point where if I ever got dropped there while blindfolded and then released, I could find my way around the city pretty much and get myself back home all the way out here to Wiltshire. So this was a turning point for me in my mind. This was when I realized that the independent person that I always was is still in there :-) What a great thing to realize as we head into a new year. Full steam ahead! :-)
I finished slurping down my coffee and then headed back to our meeting spot. Then in a few minutes, there he was :-) And I thought to myself, he came back and found me as I found myself again.
We headed off to the rest of our day. We went to have a bite to eat and went to the National Gallery. Before we went in though, we stood and watched some high school marching bands that were playing outside the museum. There were several taking turns playing. They were dressed up in their full uniforms and it brought back such fond memories for me. I was a marching band girl back in the 80s :-) They did a great job. I don’t know what was going on, but how cool is that to be a high school student who gets to go abroad and play.
Later we headed to Leicester Square and walked around. Then we ate again since we had walked the other food off hours earlier. We went to this place that specializes in fish dishes. It was really good. We both had crab cakes. It was so nice to get in from the cold.
We walked around and popped into places here and there and then headed to the tube station so that we could head to Paddington Station to catch our train home. Well, I got tested on my newfound comfort with the city. Brit Boy and I made it to the platform just as the train was about to head away and usually we jump on…no problem. Well, it was another one of our comedy moments. I was right with him, but all of a sudden a space came out of nowhere and he had hopped on and the door of the train closed :-) It was weird. So he mouthed, “I’ll wait for you”. And his little tube train sped away. I just shook my head and laughed. What an eventful day. So I hopped the next train and met him a couple of stations away. Thankfully the trains are close together.
It was cool. It just all seemed rather cinematic…two people…separated by the sliding doors of the tube…will they meet again in time….LOL. Classic Dori and Brit Boy! We reunited and headed to Paddington and waited for our train home to come. It was FREEZING!!!
Yesterday was a cold day and the night was even colder, but we huddled up with a warm drink and people watched. I love people watching at Paddington. A perfect winter evening.
When we got back to our car. It was frozen over with a thick layer of ice and it was only about 7:30pm. We scraped the ice off the outside and then scraped it from the inside of the window and it refroze. Now that’s cold!!! LOL. Then the defrost kicked in and we headed home…happy to see our little house and to know that there was a warm drink and a snack inside. It was an eventful and fun winter’s day and a great way to end the year! Happy New Year everyone! Many blessings to you all!!! :-)
Brit Boy and I had another trip into London on Wednesday for our only true addiction….going to concerts. LOL. We went to see Simply Red. They are going to disband sometime next year, after 25 years by that point, so we just had to go and see them do their thing. The lead singer Mick Hucknall, will still record as a solo artist.
We got home Thursday at about 2:30am, so I spent yesterday chilling and we got some rest and relived it in our heads. Now I can share what happened. It’s always thrilling to get a chance to go into London and going to a concert makes it even more fun.
On Wednesday, Brit Boy worked a half day and then he came home around noon. We had a bit of lunch, watched a bit of TV, and then we got all suited up to go out into the cold on the way to a hot time in the city :-) It has been very cold here lately, but then it’s winter isn’t it. Anyway, we took our faithful old coach/bus ride into London. There’s a company that runs trips to London and mostly everywhere around Britain that we usually take. You can either buy your own tickets and then just catch a ride to and from the concert with them or you can get a package deal and they get the tickets and give you the ride. We have done both things, but this time, we took the second option and got our tickets from the coach company. The perk with this is that they usually get you pretty good seats to the concerts. It’s a win win situation.
So we headed into town and parked our car and headed to our pickup point for the coach. When you get to the coach and check in, they give you an envelope with your tickets inside and you hop aboard. This time we got a seat right at the front, so we had full view of where we were headed. This was both thrilling and a bit terrifying. It was really cool to be able to see everything and to feel almost like we were being hurled through the air. The big window was all that was in front of us so it felt almost like flying and this was fun. But it also got a bit hairy at times because our coach driver had a lead foot and tailgated and switch lanes a bit wildly :-) Brit Boy and I both thought a couple of times that we might just be thrown right out of that big, lovely window in front of us and onto the motorway/freeway as the coach driver slammed on the brakes many times. Eeeek!!! Let’s just say, our hearts were in our mouths for about 60% of the trip :-) We survived and felt like kissing the ground when we stepped off the coach. LOL.
On a calmer note, when I peeled my eyes away from what was happening ahead of us, I would glance out the side window and the view was wonderful. You can see so much from that high up. I’ve traveled that road many times to London, but from this vantage point, it was like seeing parts of it for the first time. I saw streams that were hidden in the woods and beautiful country houses that I didn’t know were there.
When we were almost there, the coach stopped for a bathroom and refreshment break at a rest stop. We were given about thirty minutes. Brit Boy and I went and had a cup of coffee. I had a coffee that was chocolate cookie flavored. It was really tasty. Brit Boy had a regular cappuccino. We stopped at this same rest stop on a trip before, and had fun playing with the various carnival-esque machines there. This time we didn’t bother. The machines are right near the entrance and the freezing air was whooshing in each time the doors opened. The time before, it was summer so it was lots of fun, and there were no icicles hanging off of us :-) The time passed quickly and we were all back onto the coach to finish the journey.
About thirty minutes later, we arrived at the O2. As I’ve mentioned before, it’s a cool venue. It is on the Greenwich Peninsula and sits right on the edge of the River Thames. It was formerly known as the Millenium Dome. It sits there beautifully with the lights of Canary Wharf in the background. London is a fun spot at night. It has a groovy vibe.
Brit Boy and I walked along with a spring in our step…we were heading to our favorite thing…music!!!! :-) As we walked along the walkway to the complex, we noticed that they had a small Christmas market. Here’s a photo of the little castle they had set up.
On from that, they had a few stalls set up. We didn’t really linger for very long because it was an icy cold night and the breeze off the river was positively bone chilling. I knew that it was cold because Brit Boy, who is usually always hot, was running towards the building to get away from the cold (smile). Now that’s cold!!! So we scampered on inside.
The O2 was decked out for Christmas. One of my favorite things is the huge light fixture that hangs in the entry area. It is usually white or blue, but this time it had a colorful strobe going on. We walked around the outer ring of the arena, where all of the restaurants and clubs are…great people watching. Everything was even more sparkly than usual with all of the holiday cheer being spread around. They had a snowboarding/sledding area set up and kids from 8 to 80 were having a go at it. I would have loved to, but the line was long. Here’s a photo though with the little chalet to the side. The photo is kinda blurry, but you can get the idea. Brit Boy and I took the photos on his cell phone and it was kind of chilly still, so our hands were shaking a bit. LOL.
They also had special ornamental lights hung around the place. Here’s a pretty sparkly one.
And they were projecting snowflakes onto the roof and it created a great wintry atmosphere. Here’s a look.
Soon it was time to go in for the concert. It was AMAZING!!! I have always liked their music and I always thought that Mick Hucknall had a lovely set of pipes, but I was simply blown away…Brit Boy was too. Wow! You can definitely tell that this group has a powerful connection and a history because they know just how to put out the best performances and take you along for the ride. The musicians are true pros and the backup singers are amazing! They are all so good that it makes the performance seem effortless. But then I guess that that is what truly talented people do :-) And Mick Hucknall….he has a soulful voice that can just send absolute chills down your spine because he is so good, as many of you already know. Dang…he can REALLY SING!!! :-) The song they opened with was “It’s Only Love”…great song! I tell you, I always loved their sound and I always loved Mick’s voice, but seeing them live and hearing his truly divine voice in person is just an experience that I won’t ever forget. The recordings don’t do his voice justice. And I think that he might have had a slight cold, because he coughed once between the songs, but that was that. I guess with a voice like that, not much can shut you down :-)
They performed all of their hits and we loved it, including our favorite, “Holding Back the Years”. It brought tears to my eyes because his voice just soared to the heavens and as I’ve gone through my life, the words of that song just hit me deep. The part of the lyrics where he sings “I’ve wasted all my tears…wasted all those years”, it just means more to me as I go through my life. It makes me think that time waits for no one and sometimes you just have to let go and make room in your heart and you don’t want to look back at the end and see that all you did was mourn and regret your life away. This song helped me a lot when my mom passed away. In the beginning it made me cry of course, but as time went on, it became a salve of sorts and it made me see the greater picture of my life and the broad span of my mom’s life too and her legacy. The great restorative power of music has always been a comfort to me.
Near the middle of the show, Mick sang “You Make Me Feel Brand New” which was originally done by The Stylistics. Mick hit this one out of the park! The range of his voice is amazing and the raw emotion and passion that he puts into each note just sends you soaring with him. Here’s a video I found of him singing this song in concert. This is great, but I think he sang it even better when we saw him at the O2 :-)
The concert was great. Simply Red will be on tour into 2009, so if they come to your town or nearby, I hope you can catch this group before they disband. It’s all just true talent from top to bottom. You will find yourself singing along with every song. There was a great celebratory vibe and they are amazing! :-)
After the concert, we headed back to the coach and strapped ourselves in for the “adventurous” ride home ;-) Let’s just say, thankfully it was dark, so we couldn’t see enough to be scared. LOL. But we survived the trip thankfully and it was worth it in the end because we had a great night! The coach driver took the scenic route through Central London so we got a nice ride through the city, all decked out in its Christmas finery. What a cool night in more ways than one!
So today is the autumn equinox or the ushering in of fall. :-) There is a chill in the air this morning, but then we didn’t have such a warm summer this year here anyway. It’s a funny thing though, yesterday as we said goodbye to summer, it was one of the warmer, sunny days that we have had in a long time. Saturday was sunny too. As Brit Boy said, at least we got summer at the very end. :-) It was a beautiful weekend. And we got a bonus today too because it is sunny and beautiful outside right now.
I was doing a little research about the autumn equinox and I found that apparently on this day, at every point on Earth, there are twelve hours of darkness and twelve hours of daylight. And in the South Pole and North Pole, there will be changes. Those cute penguins in the South Pole will be celebrating the first appearance of the sun in six months. While in the North Pole, polar bears will be readying themselves for six months of darkness that is coming. So there is a lot of transition going on in nature on this day and we are all carried along for the ride.
Here in Wiltshire, down at Stonehenge, on both equinoxes and both of the solstices, the Druids and others go to the site and are allowed to go close to the stones and welcome the new season with their ceremonies. I have never witnessed it myself, but it sounds very interesting. Here’s a video that I found of part of their procession in the past. You can hear the wind in this video a lot. It has always been very windy down at Stonehenge, every time I have visited the site in the past.
On the days leading up to the ceremonies, Brit Boy and I have gone down on the way to Salisbury, past Avebury, which is another site with stones, and they are usually getting themselves ready for visitors too. So it’s always a busy time around this part of Wiltshire.
Our day at Wimbledon was fantastic. Brit Boy and I both kept saying, “I can’t believe that we are here.” You know how it is sometimes when you look forward to experiencing something in your life and then you finally get to experience it and you say to yourself, ‘Is that all that there is?’ Well going to Wimbledon was not one of those situations at all. (smile) We have all had our share of letdowns in life and God knows that I have had my share in my life, but this day at Wimbledon was just a beautiful reminder that there are still some great experiences out there despite the problems in the world. Our experience at Wimbledon was my first of two reminders last week that there are still glories and truths and things in this world to be excited about. My other reminder came a few days later, but more about that to come.
So Brit Boy and I got up bright and early on Tuesday, June 24th and readied ourselves for our day out. The gates were to open at Wimbledon around 10:30ish and since we had to travel a bit from Wembley to get there, we had to get going early. We had a bit of a hiccup that morning with our hotel room. I mentioned in my last entry that we had to wait a good while to get checked in and then had to collect our key later. Well the fun just kept happening because that morning I was the first into the shower and it was not working. Ugh!!!! Not a good thing.(laugh)But I didn't miss a beat and just plopped myself down and had a very quick bath and Brit Boy did the same. There was no way that we were gonna turn up at the storied lawns of Wimbledon without touching a bit of water. (smile) This was only a minor blip. Nothing was going to stop us that day. I wore my mom's green-stoned ring. I always wear something of hers when I go somewhere new here, because I feel like I am taking her with me. I never got the chance to show her England like I wanted to because she missed making it here by three months. So I take a bit of her with me and it feels like it sets things right. So anyway,when we got down to the lobby, we reported our shower not working and then we were off to Wimbledon.
Brit Boy and I had been praying for great weather for weeks and we certainly got it that day. It was just wonderful…warm and sunny with a breeze. I had always heard that the Wimbledon area was leafy and green and it is that way on the walk down to the complex. There were shuttle buses taking people to the tennis complex from the tube station, but we just walked along with everyone else. The day was too pretty to not walk the couple of blocks and take it all in. Along the way, there were vendors selling food and things. Also there were street teams giving out cereal bars to spectators. Brit Boy and I got a couple. They were chocolate and orange cereal bars. The chocolate and orange combination is a very popular combination here in England. It was free and we hadn’t eaten yet, so I ate it as we walked along. (smile) Brit Boy ate his when we sat down later.
Just as we arrived, the gates were opening. Across the street, some people were veering off to another area to wait to see if they could possibly pick up some tickets to at least get into the grounds. We had thought about doing that too if we hadn’t been so lucky to get our tickets. It is a good option and a good chance to get in also. So anyway, we went through the gates with everyone else and then went through security. They just checked your bags or whatever you were carrying. We traveled lightly. I only had my small over the shoulder purse and my camera. Brit Boy carried a small bag with a couple of things in it.
Once we made it through security, we headed over to get a bit to eat. We timed it just right, because there weren’t too many people in line at that point and the drinks were nice and cold.(smile) We found a nice seat on a bench near a flower pot and had sandwiches and Pepsi. Then as a chaser, we had the traditional strawberries and cream that are a part of the whole Wimbledon scene. They were nice. Brit Boy did remark that he thought that the cream was more like milk than cream. We both thought that it would be thicker when we imagined what it would be like, but it was still wonderful. Here is a photo.
After we finished our little picnic, we took a walk around. People were steadily arriving and there was a lovely atmosphere. Our first quasi-“celebrity” that we spotted was a journalist from Sky News here in the UK. I can’t recall her name and neither can Brit Boy, but she was one of the blond ladies on there. (smile) She was talking on a cell phone as she passed us. Here is a photo of the part of the grounds that they call Henman Hill. It’s named after the former British #1 tennis star Tim Henman.
Then we walked around to the souvenir shop. We were going to go into the museum, but it was closed at that point. We always try to find a keepsake from our adventures together, so we bought a little keepsake box that has the Wimbledon insignia on it. Each of us also purchased a t-shirt. Mine is pink with the Wimbledon emblem on it done up in sparkly beads. What can I say, I love a bit of bling sometimes. (smile) Brit Boy opted for a basic white shirt with a small emblem on the chest. Here is another photo of the grounds.
After a bit more of a walk around, we went ahead and made our way to our seats in Centre Court. While we waited for play to start, we saw the backs of retired tennis star Tracy Austin and Sue Barker who were doing a courtside bit of chat for tv preceding the match. Sue Barker is a former British tennis star who now does commentary and sports presenting for the BBC. Tracy Austin also does commentary for the BBC. Here is a photo of Centre Court before the first match.
The first match that we saw was Venus Williams versus Naomi Cavaday. From her very first serve, I was just in awe of Venus’ muscular tennis-playing prowess. Wow, you can see why she is the champ. Her serves were like lightning. I told Brit Boy that I so want sleek muscular arms like her. She is powerful. She is tall and has long legs and arms which would make you think that would make control tough for her. But she uses her length to her advantage and couples it beautifully with sheer athleticism. She is a great athlete and I am so glad that we had a chance to see her play and win. (smile) Her opponent Naomi Cavaday was good too. She held her own and kept the match close most of the whole way through.
The second match that we saw was Rafael Nadal versus Andreas Beck. Nadal is also tremendously muscular and powerful in his play. I watched the monitor that showed the speed of serves and he and Venus had serves that were similar in speed…well into the 100mph plus range. During the match, a lady collapsed in the stands across the court from us. This guy ran up from several rows down to come to the lady’s aid. The guy running was the reason that most of us noticed the activity. Brit Boy and I wondered how the guy noticed it from that far below the commotion. We wondered if he was a doctor or something since he seemed to be tending to her. There were others crowded around the lady and security was there to help. The guy that ran up the stairs yelled, “Call 911.” We figured he must have been from my side of the pond, because here the emergency number is 999 and it is 911 back home. And kudos to him and all of the other helpful people that were there to help this lady. She was helped away to get medical attention and I guess that she was alright. I hope so. The match continued on after an initial halt when she passed out.
In between the sets you are allowed to go in and out of the match to get refreshments or whatever. Brit Boy and I sat through both of the first two matches, because we didn’t want to miss anything, but by the third match we were getting hungry. So we ducked out after the Nadal match and went to get food. This time the lines were quite a bit longer, but we still made out okay. This time Brit Boy had a tuna and cucumber sandwich and I was feeling adventurous and had a wrap with duck in it. I had never had duck before, so I figured that I would live a little. Well, let me just say, that was my first time and last time having duck probably. I ate it and didn’t let it go to waste, but I didn't like the taste. Brit Boy said that he had had duck before and he didn’t like it also. So that is another thing we have in common. (smile) I know that lots of people like duck and that is great. Everything doesn't suit everyone's taste. That is the fun in the world...there is something for every taste. (smile) After we ate, we walked back towards Centre Court, but stopped off to share a cup of ice cream…it was praline and caramel. Lovely stuff. (smile)
Then we went back to watch the last match with Andy Murray and Fabrice Santoro. They had started by the time we got back so we had to wait a minute to go back to our seats. This match was good too. Murray won.
When we were walking around the grounds before we left, we looked at one of the balconies and saw tennis greats Boris Becker and Tracy Austin being interviewed. Boris Becker popped up again in our London adventure later in the week and he was nearly thisclose. (smile) I’ll tell about that later. Here is a photo of a bit of a trellis along the grounds that I thought was pretty.
We walked back to the tube station with all of the other happy spectators. It had been fabulous and everyone was in a good mood. The tube station was bursting at the seams by the time we got there. There were scores of people queued to buy tickets. Thankfully we had our Oyster cards which are a prepaid card that you use for journeys on London public transport. We bought them before the last time we went to London and now when we go up there we just top them up with more credit. So we swiped our Oyster cards, got on the tube and headed back to our hotel.
We had a glorious day and we will never forget it. Going to Wimbledon is a great experience that we hope to repeat again. I don’t know if fate will hand us Centre Court seats like that ever again, but after that great experience, we can’t be picky. (smile)
Today is my entry that brings to a close, my story of our time in London at the end of April. When I ended yesterday, I had just received my visa and Brit Boy and I were absolutely thrilled that a few years of hard work had finally yielded such a great result. I now have my visa!!!!! (smile) What a relief. Now I don’t have to go around with this monkey on my back anymore. I am free to think of other things and not think about gathering this or that to add to my evidence for my visa. That is behind me. Now Brit Boy and I can have a summer that we can enjoy, without this in the back of our minds. I don’t feel self-conscious anymore…I have completed this task and it has taught me a lot about tenacity. And it has also made me feel stronger about me and Brit Boy. No one can ever say to me that our bond isn’t strong or true, because we have really WORKED to be together and for us, it just makes it sweeter. We have had some doubters in the past who thought that we were nuts to have a long distance relationship and to try to build this transatlantic life. They questioned the validity of our relationship or were condescending or whispered about us. Well I have learned that it doesn’t matter what they think. We know us. Brit Boy and I knew when we met over five years ago, nearly six years ago now, that this was it. It was like “hello…I see you” when we saw each other. And we have been working towards this point ultimately for years. We have completed this circle and now it is on to the next thing…together. (smile)
So Brit Boy and I walked away from the immigration office and headed back to Kensington. As we rode back into the more central bits of London, I had time to think. I just wanted to have a few moments to be with the fact that I finally had my visa. Sometimes it is good to just be with your thoughts. A lot of times in life, I think a lot of us rush past the moments in our lives and don’t just stay in the moment for a bit. I have been trying to do better with this. As I followed through, a calm came over me. It was a good feeling.
We got back to Kensington and went to our hotel room to unload my big folder full of documentation and to take a breath. We then headed out to celebrate. It was still only about midday so we had London at our feet and plenty of time to play. We decided to go out and soak it all in.
We were hungry since we had left early for the immigration office. So we headed to one of our favorite places to eat. We were kind of broke after paying for the visa, but we figured what the heck, we may as well throw a few more pounds onto the plastic to round things off. (laugh) So we went to have a steak lunch at a place around in the Piccadilly Circus area. The streets were full of locals and tourists and loud and it was glorious!! Usually we are not big fans of crowded places, but we just really wanted to be a part of the wildness of the throngs of people right in the middle of everything. We had gone to this place before back in 2007 for my birthday and the food is superb every time. Brit Boy had soup and I had calamari rings for a starter. Then we both had steak for the main meal. For dessert or pudding as they say here, Brit Boy had the most divine cheesecake and I had lemon sorbet. We also tasted each other’s dessert. We both chose well. Our waitress was so wonderful. She noticed my American accent and asked where I was from and I told her and she said that she was from Romania. I felt this surreal kinship with her, like two people away from home, but enlarging the idea of home for ourselves to include more than one place at this time in our lives. That was a great moment.
After we left the restaurant, we walked around Piccadilly Circus with all the others in this sea of humanity. I have been there before, but I always enjoy it. It is great. Piccadilly Circus reminds me of Times Square in New York…life and activity everywhere. Here is a photo of the Greek god of love, Eros, in Piccadilly Circus.
And also, here is another street scene in Piccadilly Circus. I love the architecture.
Brit Boy and I love going into the huge music store there in Piccadilly Circus. I always find myself moving back and forth to the music as I flip through the Cds on display. It is hilarious. (laugh) I told Brit Boy that they should have a dance floor in there. While we were in there I picked up some collectables. I got a small set of Jimi Hendrix and Linkin Park badge buttons. My musical tastes are all over the place and cover many genres and decades. The badges reminded me of ones I had back in the 80s with my fave idols on them. A bit of nostalgia is always good.
Then we spent the rest of the afternoon walking along two of the most fabulous thoroughfares in London….Oxford Street and Regent Street. Wow…shops, shops, and more shops of every variety. It is retail heaven. (smile) Here is a photo of a bit of Regent Street. I didn’t photograph any storefronts, but here is a photo from that day.
After our extended browsing down Oxford Street, we found our way to the edge of Hyde Park. So we walked over to enjoy a bit of nature. It had been misting rain off and on, but it was fine. We enjoyed a nice long walk along the great park.
Then we headed back to our hotel since it was going towards evening at this point. We took a breather and then headed down to the grocery store to pick up some snacks and food to eat. We went back to the hotel and ate in our room and watched television. It was a great night in.
The next day we headed home. We went back to Paddington Station to wait for our train. We sat for a bit and watched the world go by. I love people watching at Paddington. Then we boarded our train back home. It was a lovely time that Brit Boy and I spent together.
So this draws to a close my experiences over our weekend in London. I can’t wait until we go back again. And that will be happening next month. As I mentioned before, we are going to Wimbledon. I have the ticker at the bottom of this page to remind me everyday how long we have to wait. (smile) Brit Boy and I are psyched about going. I used to watch Wimbledon on television when I was growing up, so it will be a thrill to actually go. I will certainly share that experience here too.
