Girl's Hit the Road!

Mike is heading to Munich for the day tomorrow so we figured this would be a good opportunity to take a road trip for a couple of days. We tossed around a bunch of ideas but settled on Cambridge and Oxford.

The drive to Cambridge was longer than expected so, after turning North as we approached London, Lynette started looking for an interesting town to explore along the way. We ended up in St. Albens - perfect for wandering around and getting the legs working again but definitely not a destination (at least not today). Soon after hitting the road again our oil light came on. Now, Lynette is a woman of many skills I am discovering. She advised me to pull over right away because you don't mess around with oil problems so we found a gas station and pulled in. To my delight, they were also offering hand car washes on the spot so we had the car washed, bought a liter of oil and were on our way again.

We arrived in Cambridge around 4 pm and it was hopping! It was tight navigating through the center of town on the very narrow roads but we managed to find a car park and began to look around. It did occur to us at that point that we had not yet booked a room to stay. Of course, we walked straight to the best hotel in the center of town only to find out that they were fully booked as were the next 15 (give or take) hotels that we tried. Just as we were about to head for the surrounding countryside to seek shelter we discovered a Best Western that was well located and actually had ONE room left - we were living right and the folks at ICMC will be happy to know that we are supporting the client whenever possible.

Now that our lodging was secure, we could focus on getting our bearings and taking in this beautiful University town. We found that all of the colleges were closed to visitors due to special events and exam schedules but we were able to view the architecture from the streets as we wandered around. Soon we began to spot young people dressed in formal attire everywhere we went. Most appeared to be high school aged and we later discovered that the colleges, equivalent to our high school juniors and seniors, were having graduation celebrations. We found a lovely spot for dinner, overlooking a plaza by the river, that appeared to be a meeting place for at least some of these events, so it was perfect for people watching and the food was delicious too.

The next morning we decided that our main mission in Cambridge was to buy a sweatshirt before leaving town - mission accomplished! Next stop was a town nearby called Saffron Walden, known for a splendid country house called Audley End House. This Jacobean House was once the largest house in England with gardens designed by Capability Brown. It was an interesting tour and the grounds were beautiful, complete with immaculately restored Jacobean stables and an organic working kitchen garden.

On the way back towards home we made a stop in Oxford. I had been there with Megan a year and a half earlier during the winter break but it looks completely different in the summer when it is full of people. We enjoyed looking at the beautiful University buildings, walking on the grounds near Christ Church and poking in the shops but the very best thing of this day was the perfect English cream tea and delicious scones with raspberry jam we enjoyed at the Vaults and Garden Coffee Shop on the lawn outside St. Mary the Virgin Church. Lynette is determined to find the best scones in England and so far this is the leader.

Tomorrow is Lynette's last full day in England and we are headed to Bath...stay tuned!

Productive Day Close to Home with Lynette

Today we slept in, did laundry and caught up on email before heading out to explore nearby and hopefully cross some much needed items off of my shopping list.

First stop, Marlborough. This is another charming old English market town with plenty of shopping and cute restaurants. We poked in and out of shops and actually had some luck at a clothing store on high street. Lynette found a skirt and I found a much needed lightweight raincoat which I have since worn every day. It was a nice day so we had lunch outside in a courtyard tucked away off the high street.

After lunch we wandered in to a small shop that made one of a kind wooden kitchen bowls and serving/cutting boards from unique and beautiful pieces of wood. Lynette hit pay dirt in here and walked out with a very large (and heavy) wooden serving/cutting board that had hollowed out places for the serving pieces. She also found a beautiful covered dish to keep butter, jams or whatever. If she makes it home under the weight limit I will be shocked! Meanwhile, I found maple syrup to help satisfy my craving for pancakes lately.

With a few hours left before we needed to meet Mike for dinner, we decided to head to another favorite market town of mine, Cirencester. I wrote about it in one of my first blog posts so I won't go back into the detail but I will say that this time around we got a personal guided tour on the stature of the Cathedral in this prosperous town (considered the capital of the Cotswolds). Our guide, probably anxious to close up for the day, walked us around and pointed out the Ann Bolyn cup, the fan arches on the ceiling, the new and state of the art organ and the remains of the Roman column and painted walls. Also worth mentioning, I finally found a coat rack in Cirencester! Given the complete lack of closets (I have probably mentioned this before but it has really been a problem), the coat rack will be useful - and the price was right on this one!

After our very productive day we met Mike at home and walked to town to eat Thai food before coming back to get ready for our road trip tomorrow.

Three is NOT a Crowd - We Had a Blast!

We fit quite a lot into this past weekend. Mike was at the wheel and Lynette rode shotgun. I opted for the back seat as I tend to be a bit of a back seat driver anyway! It worked out perfectly because if Mike accidentally ended up on the wrong side of the road Lynette could relax by just meditating (I need to learn this skill right away) and I couldn't really see what was happening so everyone was happy.

Saturday morning we set the GPS to Isle of Wight and away we went. We never tire of the endless string of charming towns and beautiful countryside that you come across on these road trips. Once again, we stopped by the side of the road to buy freshly picked British strawberries and rasperries. Soooo good!

We pulled into Southampton and found the Red Funnel Car Ferry. This was a new experience for us. We pulled into the queue, bought our tickets and waited to board. It was pretty convenient to be able load up the car with everything you might need and not have to worry about carrying a daypack all day. We were loaded onto the bottom deck along with other cars, motor homes and even a tour bus - amazing that this boat stayed afloat! We proceeded to the top deck to enjoy the sunny day as we cruised through the channel to the Isle of Wight for an hour.

This island has a little bit of everything from beaches and world class sailing to historic royal homes, castles and festivals. This past weekend happened to be the Isle of Wight Music Festival featuring acts such as Kanye West, Jay-Z, Paul McCartney, Pink, and lots of others I haven't heard of. We drove past the concert grounds on our way to Carisbrooke Castle and it made me think of Megan and her Country Thunder weekends because on the field was a blanket of tents and campers.

Our first destination on the island was actually Osbourne House, once the summer home of Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. It was an amazing retreat and so fascinating to learn about her life and her NINE children! It sounds like she and Albert had planned to unify countries by arranging marriages for their children that would build peaceful and mutually beneficial relationships between nations. It didn't quite work out that way in the end but their descendents around Europe left quite a legacy. The home itself sits on a massive estate with sprawling grounds and a beautiful and graceful summer retreat. You can just image the children running and playing here and the Queen and Prince Albert relaxing a bit away from the scrutiny that royal life brought on. We could have wandered around for several more hours here but hunger got the better of us and we sat down to tea on the terrace overlooking the grounds and beyond that the ocean. Lynette and I split tea for two complete with cucumber sandwiches, salmon sandwiches, cakes and scones while Mike ordered a antipasta plate and a glass of wine.

We relaxed for a bit too long before realizing that we had just one hour to get over to Carisbrooke Castle if we wanted to get in and see it before closing time. We made it but only had 30 minutes to spare so it was a quick tour and lots of picture snapping from the towers! King Charles I was imprisoned here before his execution. Some of this castle is in ruins but it dates back to pre-Roman times and was then fortified several different times over the centuries. We closed the place down and they basically had to chase us out and lock the gates behind us. Time to drive on!

From here we drove back to the port town of Cowes and found a spot for dinner. Fortunately it was across the street from a pub with a big screen TV that we could see through the window since the US was playing England in the first game of the World Cup. There was quite a bit of merriment at that pub early on but by the end I think the wind went out of their sails. The tie game was a gift! We all had a seafood dinner and then had to drive over a 'floating' bridge to get back to the ferry that would take us to the main land. To cross the floating bridge you drove onto a barge, paid them 2 pounds and then the barge floated across about 200 feet of water and let you out on the other side - it was a hoot! Once on the red funnel ferry we all slept, read or meditated our way back to the other side so we would be fresh and ready to head west toward Wells and find a place to crash for the night.

What seemed like a short one hour trip turned out to be quite a bit longer when driving down narrow winding roads in the dark. We quickly realized we would not make our destination before the inn keepers closed up for the night and we might very well be sleeping in the car on the side of the road in the middle of nowhere unless we got creative.

Our option was turn towards home or ask for help (very hard to make a man stop the car and do). Ultimately Mike pulled over by a lone pub in the middle of a very small town at about 10:45 p.m. and I leaned out to ask the very well-watered gentleman (ok that is a stretch) if he knew of any accomodations nearby. To our great surprise, he directed us to the top of the hill to the Cedar Hotel in Westbury. They just happened to have two rooms left that were actually quite clean and included breakfast in the morning for just 65 pounds. We are living right!

From Westbury it was just a quick trip in the morning over to Wells for a look around town and a tour of their famous Cathedral. We must be getting bleary on the Cathedrals because we worked through this one quickly and decided to push on to Cheddar Gorge for some hiking, caving and cheese tasting.

Cheddar Gorge is actually a beautiful area with steep, limestone cliffs rising on both sides of the road. Caves throughout the area are used to age the cheddar cheese produced in this town. We opted to hike to the top of the gorge, along it's length and back on the other side. The brochure said it would take 3 hours but we were convinced we would have it licked in an hour or so - HA! It turned out to be quite a hike and as we roamed across the top through a meadow area Lynette did, at one point, start to sing "The Hills are Alive" and it kind of fit the situation.

The caves were cold and damp but interesting and, in places, beautiful. Apparently they found evidence in these caves of ancient people in the area that were cannibals....hmmm. Anyway, after a well-earned ice cream we set the GPS and headed off for home.

How did we ever travel without GPS? This thing took us through a road that looked like someones driveway for miles before we ended up on anything resembling a road made for traffic. We drove past beautiful lakes, farm land, charming homes and little towns but next time I think we might type in "fastest way home" because the M4 probably would have done the trick in half the time. Kudos to Mike for all the driving. He did a GREAT job and we only had one near head on collision in the middle of the night. Who knew that wasn't a roundabout?

Cheers to my two amazing travel companions. I will go anywhere with you guys!

Time to Show Off the Countryside

After two days of nonstop walking in London, Lynette and I decided to jump in the car on Friday and head for Stratford upon Avon via Bourton-on-the-Water.

Bourton-on-the-Water is in the Cotswolds off the beaten path and I have been wanting to check it out since our first trip to Stratford last month. Lynette's visit was the perfect opportunity. I was anxious to show her just how charming the English countryside is. Around every corner there is yet another picturesque scene - fabulous! We parked the car and set off towards the small village via a meandering walkway next to a crystal clear and very shallow moving stream. The bottom of the stream is covered in pebbles and it is kind of mesmerizing to watch just a few inches of water flowing swiftly over the wide stream bed. As we approached town it became quickly evident that we would have to have tea at one of the charming cafes along the main street so we could take it all in. This was our first encounter with "clotted cream" and scones!

I won't get into the details of Stratford-upon-Avon again but we were able to finish all of the historic homes of William Shakespeare and his family this time around. As an aside, I am on a mission to find a coat rack, given the complete lack of closets in our flat! As we poke around these little towns I am determined to find one in an antique store or something but so far, no luck. Another interesting observation is that some things are universal. For example, we had to hit up McDonalds in Stratford to use the facilities and came upon three teenage girls doctoring up the skirt of their school uniform. Out with the plaid one that went with the blazer and blouse! They all pulled out black mini skirts, tied the shirts fashionably at the waist and changed their shoes - voila, they were ready for the after school scene! Who hasn't seen that transformation of the Xavier outfit at Scottsdale Fashion Square?

But I digress...time to head home to Swindon and show Lynette some hospitality. Good thing Mike made reservations for us at Thai Orchid - in my defense, I have been out all day!

Lynette is here and ready to hit the road!

Every day really is a new experience here and I am so excited that Lynette has arrived to explore with me! We have been busy so let's back up to Wednesday for a minute.

Lynette has been traveling for like 13 hours. When she finally lands at Heathrow the customs process is a breeze and she has her bags before you know it. As she exits the baggage area she is expecting to see me waiting with a big smile on my face but NO! My train was held up due to a signal problem at a station along the way and then rerouted through what seemed like the entire English countryside before arriving at Paddingdon (that's right - not at Heathrow) 3 hours later. Along the way I have left phone messages for Lynette, which she never received, and had the train dispatch a message to US Airways to track her down and give her the news (again, never received). Thankfully she got over her feelings of abandonment and set off in search of a computer to find the information I had sent her with my UK phone number in the event of an emergency. What a relief to get that call from her as we were pulling (finally) into Paddingdon Station. Being the independent, resourceful woman that she is, she adjusted her plans and hopped on the Heathrow Express to meet me at Paddingdon Station and we were off on our fabulous London adventure no worse for the wear!

I am a fan of big, long naps to overcome jet lag but Lynette was a trooper and insisted that the best way to get on schedule was to push on and so we set out to explore. We started with a walk through Hyde Park beginning at Kensington Gardens, past the Albert Memorial, by the Serpentine Lake and eventually exiting at speakers corner. From there we walked along one side of Green Park and up Picadilly to Picadilly Circus and then towards Leister Square and Covent Gardens. There was shopping all along the way but, to my surprise, Lynette was not to be baited. We did stop for lunch at a very posh hotel with a cafe attached (the name escapes me now). After checking into our hotel and taking a quick cat nap we left in search of good Indian food which we found at a place called Khan. Being an Indian food newbie, we had to order a wide variety so that I could sample several things which led to the need for an after dinner walk through Notting Hill. Unfortunately, we passed a Gelato Shop that was calling our name and we ate even more before heading back to the hotel and sleeping it all off. In our defense, we did walk an extraordinarily long way and more was in store the next day.

Thursday we woke up and hopped the Central Line to Oxford Circus so that we could walk down Regents Street - again, great shopping but surprisingly we could only think about FOOD! We found a great breakfast spot just off the main street that allowed us to watch the people go by and get the protien we needed for what turned out to be a LOT of walking.

After breakfast we went to Leister Square to see what theatre tickets we might be interested in for the matinee but ultimately decided that we might prefer to see something at the Shakespeare Globe Theatre so we continued on to tour Saint Paul's Cathedral. I have already told you all about that from my previous visit but I hope Lynette enjoyed this tour (and the climb to the top) as much as I did.

From Saint Pauls we walked across the Millenium Bridge to the Globe Theatre but the tickets were sold out for that day - press on! We walked along the river walk for awhile and stopped for lunch at Wagamama's which Megan introduced me too when she was in London - yummy. By now, I am the one that really wants to do some shopping so we decided to try Oxford Street. We got off the tube too early and ended up walking there by way of the British Museum. I have to say that Oxford Street shops are not really up my alley - huge stores, huge crowds, not long on charm in my opinion! We did find a pedestrian street and poked in some shops there before collapsing at a cafe for tea - but what we really were looking for was a beer at this point!

We never did find that beer on Oxford Street so we hopped on the tube and back to Notting Hill where we went in the first pub we saw. It was charming and we felt very English with the after work crowd. Lynette mentioned that she loved the movie Notting Hill so we went in search of the Travel Book Shop. Here we are but where is Hugh Grant?

Last stop in London was a walk to Kensington for dinner. We found a really charming place called Maggie Jones just off Kensington Church Street. Their specialty was the meat pies so we decided to give that a try. Lynette ordered Shepard's Pie and I opted for Chicken and Artichoke pie. Both were delicious with a glass of wine. We were perfectly sated and relaxed for our cab ride back to the hotel to grab our luggage and then on to Paddingdon to head home.

So much more to write about but I have hit the wall - must sleep! Look for pictures and more adventures soon...

Still Catching Up...Stonehenge and Salisbury

In an effort to just keep my records straight on this stint in England, I need to back track and cover this past weekend.

We had every intention of waking up early and heading out for some distant destination on Saturday but the reality is that we stayed up late, slept until 9:30, took a walk/run around town and didn't end up getting out of here until noon!

A quick look at the map told us that Stonehenge was not too far away and we couldn't live here and not visit that landmark, could we? Along the way we stopped to take a quick peak at the Saturday market in Marlborough. Well, I actually ended up poking in the shops and Mike, of course, headed to the nearest bicycle shop!

Stonehenge was actually quite crowded but we parked, paid and funneled through the site with our audio headset on. It was interesting but ultimately left you wondering why these rocks were laboriously transported to this location seemingly in the middle of nowhere. So many theories, no concrete answers! We enjoyed a nice snack and decided to continue on to Salisbury for the rest of the afternoon.


Salisbury has a beautiful Cathedral , which we toured, and on the way out we noticed that they were setting up stages on the Cathedral grounds. Later, as we were having dinner at a restaurant on the high street we watched as hundreds of people began lining up in the street outside the Cathedral gates with blankets, picnic baskets and chairs. It reminded me of Ravinia in the Chicago area so of course we had to check it out!

It turns out that Salisbury was celebrating the final night of the Salisbury International Arts Festival with a Party in the Close. They had three bands, food, drinks, activities for the kids and we decided we couldn't pass it up. The only issue is, we were not prepared for a picnic. Not to worry - we had a set of new car mats in the back of our vehicle and money in our pocket to purchase a bottle of wine while we relaxed and enjoyed the music and people watching. What an unexpected surprise! For all of you Ahwatukee folks, it reminded me of movie night at Kiwanis park or, even more recently, a fun day at the Scottsdale Festival of the Arts with good friends. We miss you all!

Again this morning we had good intentions of an early start but it was not to be. I actually slept until 10:30 - what is wrong with me?!! Again we took a walk/run in town and were delighted to be asked to "tea" by one of Mike's new colleagues, Susan. She was an amazing hostess and I was so happy to have a social event - you know me! We visited in her beautiful home in Wootton Basset, ate a fabulous meal al fresco, took a walk through the town and even came home with an old desk to use during our stay here. Susan, cheers and thank you!

OK. I am caught up now. It's off to bed so I can begin to enjoy the mornings again!

Much to Celebrate

Given that it has been three weeks since I have posted and we have a lot to remember from our (almost) three weeks back in the USA I am going to post a highlight reel:

1) May 15, 2010 - Megan graduated from University of Arizona - go girl!!! We had a fabulous time cheering her on and celebrating with our family (Amy and Rick flew in) and amazing friends (Joe, Lindsey, Haley, Sean and Courtney) also celebrating two graduations - congrats to Sean and Haley. Go Wildcats...

2) May 20, 2010 - Got to spend a couple of days visiting my Mom in Glenview (plotting a mother/daughter reunion in England was at the top of our list). Also enjoyed spending an evening out with Stevie and Scott - you're still the one, Stevie!

3) May 22, 2010 - Amy graduated from Loyola University Chicago School of Law - look out Manhattan, here she comes!!! Where did the last three years go? We attended a reception at the Law School on Friday, went to the Graduation Mass on Saturday followed by the graduation ceremony. It was very exciting to watch the pomp and circumstance and, needless to say, we are extremely proud of all she has accomplished in such a short time!

4) May 22, 2010 - Celebrated BOTH of our daughter's graduations and toasted their future plans by hosting a family dinner party at Maggiano's Little Italy in downtown Chicago for nearly 40 relatives. It was really fantastic for us to have both sides of our family in one place for such a happy event and we so appreciate the distances that some had to travel to be there for us - THANK YOU! So many of their cousins will soon be participating in similar celebrations and we can't wait as their future unfolds too :)

5) May 24, 2010 - Rendevouz in Las Vegas for the start of our long awaited family river trip down the Colorado River through the Grand Canyon. What an experience! Incredible beauty, thrilling rapids, fun hikes to turquoise pools and fabulous waterfalls...the list goes on. The weather was perfect (although that water is COLD when it soaks you in a rapid) and I loved having my family all to myself because it may be awhile before that happens again. I must admit that the girls and I were fantasizing about a spa day by the last day of our trip. We must have had sand in every pore of our body and Megan and I were definitely cursing our contact lenses by day 6! We didn't lose anyone to the river but came close in Lava Falls - Mike kept Megan in the boat by sheer will when she lost her grip!

6) May 31 - June 6, 2010 - Everyone gets back to business. Megan is working for Ideas Collide this summer and in summer school full time to get a second degree in Nutritional Sciences - Dietetics. She will be busy and we are happy that she is going after this degree since it really suits her passion to work in the health and nutrition field. Amy is hard at work all day everyday in her BarBri (sp?) class to prepare for the New York Bar exam at the end of July. She passed her patent Bar in February so this is the last step in the process for her - home stretch! Amy and Rick are also training for an Olympic distance triathlon in Chicago this summer while Megan starts training for another marathon this fall. We are back in England now and Mike is rebounding from his cycling injury. I am hoping that I might be able to keep up with him just a bit for a few more weeks!

Life is good. God is great!