I am an Island - not a Rock

I probably shouldn't blog today. It has been a long long long day. I just got in from work at about 7:45pm. I was going to blog next more about my trip home and to LA, but I have decided that might make me even more melancholy. So, instead, you get some of the less quaint truths of an American living abroad.

I think the bad day must have started last night. It was to be the night I was completely through with jet lag - no sleeping pills - no halves of sleeping pills. I had friends over for dinner, so after a kitchen full of dishes stacked to drain, I was beat. I somehow remembered my vow to do pilates each night and did it. I also did 2 loads of laundry and got them hung to dry. By 11 I was definitely ready to sleep. I climbed into bed with a book - planning to be asleep by 11:30. Within moments (really only seconds) of settling on the bed something caught the corner of my eye. It was the return of Ginormosa (rhymes with Captain Barbosa) - my giant garden spider friend. I know it is not really the same one - but at least 3 times a week one comes out to play. No worries for you arachnophobes - no spider pictures today.

The spider was on the roman blinds in the smaller bedroom where I have been sleeping since mom and dad came - I have decided that I like the smaller room better - it is off the road more. The big room is like my dressing room - although I do keep it tidy. Back to the spider. As soon as I noticed it, it went back behind the shade. The 2 more minutes and it was out again. I was out of the bed with a plan to catch it. I stood around for like 5 minutes. It must have gone out the open window. Of course, a giant spider = major adrenaline = no sleep. I was up reading (really, I was trying to sleep every 30 hour or so) until like 2am. Ugh. That meant that when my alarm went off at 7:15 I was in no mood to wake up.

I snoozed until 8 - showered and made it to work by 9 with my breakfast yogurt in hand. For a brief moment, I was a rock star.

Work. Blah.

When I think about my decision to move here - really work was the pro and the con. It still is in my life here. If I didn't have work - I don't know what I would do with myself. But that somehow makes it worse. Like finding myself at work until 7:45 on a Wednesday. Gross. I have no life, and work is totally unsatisfying (like always - that is not really a new thing in the UK). Today work was insane. I had gobs of things to do - and felt really at my wits end. I have been here for just over 3 months, so everything(all of my processes) is beginning to repeat. So I should know what I am doing. Sometimes I totally don't and I hate that feeling. Plus, add all of the interpersonal stress - I sat at my desk today and simultaneously heard 2 other American accents within a 10 foot radius - it was like the best part of my day - and I didn't even talk to them. Sad. Like I said - I AM and island. I am not so good at the rock part. Some days the being alone really really sucks.

But - there is goodness too. Today stock actually surpassed the $25 mark. Amazing. I have been on my Pilates wagon for 5 days - a good start. I have probably lost like 5 or 6 pounds in the 3 weeks since I left the UK to go home - also a good start. My friend gave me this book called "Brit-Think, Ameri-Think: A Transatlantic Survival Guide" - I look forward to the read. What a great gift. April and her daughter picked local berries yesterday and brought me a big bowl of fresh strawberries - YUMM.

Don't be alarmed that I am grumpy or down - it will pass. The air has a crispness to it tonight that definitely rings of autumn. I think that I will like autumn here. :)

If any of you have any good Trunk'or'Treat decoration or game ideas, please send them. My first activity as activity chair person is freaking me out.

Love, Becky

Pampered

My week at home was great. First Pippin totally remembered me!! :) That made me happy. Although I was a little disconcerted about re-traumatizing him by leaving for LA for 4 days, coming back and then leaving again after 1 day. I heard he did just fine.

After getting through the drama of church on Sunday without my suitcase, I was thrilled for them to be delivered during dinner. To be fair, I did have one of my suitcases...Kathy was missing both. However, the one I did have was mostly full of gifts (pashminas and chocolate) - so it wasn't much help. It did have my tomtom though, so I was greatful it was never lost.

My good friend Jennifer took Monday off - so nice of her. We went and saw No Reservations. It is a remake of a German movie called Mostly Martha that Kathy loves. The remake is actually quite good. I really enjoyed it. After the movie, we went to Old Chicago for lunch. The Diet Pepsi was fab and refillable. I definitely had my fair share. Yumm. I can't really remember what I did on Monday night. I remember repeatedly going to Target and Trader Joes to pick up things to bring back. Sadly, TJ's has discontinued a couple of things I always buy (Mint Dog Biscuits and Lemon Meringues) and they were completely out of Low Sodium Tuna - at 2 different locations more than 2 separate trips. :(

Oh, I remember. I went home and got Pippin. On Monday night I was playing games back out at my house with Rebecca, Eric, Alexis and Andrea. Pip definitely needed to be there. I took him to Petsmark - he was SO excited. I weighed him, and he is liek 84 pounds now. We both gained weight. Then Rebecca and I ate at Baja Fresh outside while he sat at our feet. Mostly he behaved.

Rebecca (my roommate - now Kathy's) took off Tuesday and Wednesday. Again - so nice. On Tuesday we shopped a little (and found some great clothes at Kohl's) then ate lunch at Costa Vida with some work collegues, then went and got pedicures. Rebecca had to wait FOREVER for hers, but I hope it wasn't too horrible. Here's a picture of my feet - still pretty at the Friday wedding. Mine on on the far right in the black strappies. (The other 2 pairs of feet are Rachel (left) and Kathy (middle)).


I also go my eyebrows done. The fabulous Vietnamese Lady that has done my eyebrows for about a year freaked out...apparently the one time I've had them done here, the technician took too much from the inside of my left eyebrow. Now I am told never to go back there and to let the crazy hairs grow back. Oh well.

After the pedicures we went to Rebecca's work so she could get her tetnus vaccinnation updated in time to keep OHSU compliant with an audit...on the way out, my cheap-o flip flops from the salon broke and I had to walk barefoot back to the car on the hot hot hot pavement.

Tuesday night is kind of a blur. Maybe it will come back to me in a minute. Maybe we ate at the soup place? - no that was Wednesday after my haircut. hmmm.

On Wednesday Rebecca and I ran several errands, ate at Panda Express and then went to get haircuts. I had been toying with whacking my hair off for months - it has been driving me crazy. I settled on just a trim and hightlights. Scott loves straight hair, so he straightened the heck out of my hair. I have never seen it so straight - and he did it in just 15 or 20 minutes. Amazing. It will probably never be so straight again, so here's a picture.


After the movie, Rachel met Rebecca and I at the cinema to see Stardust. We all really liked it. I doesn't come out here for a while, but when it does, I might see it again. There are still a few movies I want to see - The Bourne Supremacy, Ratatouille...and others I can't remember.

On the flights to and from the US, I managed to watch several movies - Blades of Glory (probably the only way I'd ever see it), Cars and Wild Hogs. Cars was the best of the 3. I also re-watched Music and Lyrics which was just as good the second time. :) I did manage to sleep on the planes, and I had very little jetlag in the US...the way back here was a different story - for another day.

Oh, I'll try to make anonomous comments possible today...so if you haven't been able to comment and you want to - go ahead and try.

Kathy and Becky in London - and more

The 4th of August – nearly 3 weeks ago – Kath and I drove to the tube stop in Hounslow (of Bend it like Beckham fame) and parked. I had a minor panic attach because it appeared that the carp park was taken over by a farmers market. After a second drive-by we saw where we could pull in to the smaller side that was still available for parking. It was free! We got our tube passes bought and got on the Picadilly line for a long-ish ride into town. (It is just a stop or two inward from Heathrow, so it was still a ways to ride).

We had only partially planned our day – just had a list of things we’d like to do – mostly had no idea the order to do it in. After much discussion, we finally decided to go to Portobello Road Market first. We transferred to the Circle line and got off the tube at Notting Hill Gate and walked towards the market – with the rest of the world. There is a better way – on the peach line to Ladbroke Grove, that goes to the middle of the market. I think that it was the weekend of the Notting Hill Carnival – so it the market was huge! I can’t believe it is normally that way. Blocks and Blocks and Blocks. We both bought rings made of hard wood from New Zealand. Kathy bought a bag that she’d been looking for for months, and I bought a few pashmina for folks at home.


After Portobello Road, we went to the National Portrait Gallery. We walked through all of it (except the bits that cost) and enjoyed ourselves again. It is a fun museum. Just skip all of the old Victorian and Edwardian portraits – they get old quick. We walked down through Trafalgar Square and headed towards the tube stop called Embankment where we’d ride to Tower Hill. We were hungry, and on the way we found this place called Leon. It was so so yummy. Kathy had a SuperFood Salad with Chicken and lots of seeds and greens. I had a sweet potato falafel wrap. It was SO good. We looked up the restaurant online, and there are a lot of them, but only in London. If you come visit me, we’ll definitely go there.


After our yummy lunch, we tubed over to Tower Hill – it is the stop for the Tower of London and the Tower Bridge.
It is also the starting point for a very nice walk called the Jubilee Walk.

First you cross the Tower Bridge, then walk along the south bank of the Thames. We saw the Design Museum and then passed a lot of things like the South Bank Book Market (loads of books), the Clink (the London Prison Museum), The Tate Modern and Globe and more. Our plan was to end at the London Eye and go on a Thames cruise and a ride on the eye…but I bought the wrong tickets.:( Customer satisfaction is definitely not the way of the London Eye. It was a big mess.


The weather was gorgeous and the streets were very busy. There was a huge stretch with a ton of street performers – many statues (people being very still), musicians, dance acts, etc… As we neared the London Eye, there was bright pink mini van stopped and people handing out gift bags with fans, sunscreen and a map of the Jubilee walk that we had just completed. The sunscreen came in handy though – it is called “Tan Don’t Toast” and has a big disclaimer on the side of it saying that it actually IS sunscreen – not some knock off… Both Kathy and I took it to LA for Disneyland.

After the London Eye disappointment, we took the tube up to Bayswater (near where our hotel was last summer). I bought a few more pashmina (they were just so cheap) and we got some yummy schwarma for dinner. We walked across the street to Kensington Gardens to sit and eat. The parks were much greener than last summer – so it was nice. Finally, we decided that it was time to go home. We took the tube (after a transfer or two) back to Hounslow and then drove into the sunset on the M4 most of the way back to Swindon.


On Sunday we went to church – Kathy got to experience a Fast Sunday in Swindon Ward. George was thanked for a “shorter than normal” testimony.

After church, Kathy and I drove to Bristol to see the Clifton Suspension Bridge. Kathy found it in one of my tourist books. It crosses a gorge from the Avon. It was very very windy. Kathy was in a skirt – not the best combination. After the bridge, we scouted out the Bristol Balloon Fiesta which was to start the following Thursday. We found the place to park and then headed back to Swindon.


On the Thursday before we left, we went the Balloon Fiesta (sponsored by The Discovery Channel and Shark Week). The Festival was 3 days long – 2 balloon launches each day. We went the first evening. Traffic was pretty bad on the way there, so we stopped at IKEA. Kathy didn’t really like the Swedish meatballs we had for dinner. We saw a few of the Crazy Shape balloons in the sky after they were launched – there was a monster from Monster.com, a house, a dog and more that we didn’t see. We made it to the festival before dark and walked all around. The highlight of Thursday night was the Night Glow. 30 or so balloons were tethered to the ground. The inflated all at once (after dark). Then they were illuminated to music. There were three commands: Flash, Flicker and Flame.
It was really cool. The night was finished with a fireworks show. Then we found the car in the field we parked in (not having a panic button makes it a little more difficult when you drive a silver focus – the most common car in Britain). We got packed up on Friday and then left early Saturday morning.

We flew out of Gatwick – and the airport was packed! And hot, and none of the water bottles for sale were cold. It was too bad. We didn’t buy anything in duty free – you aren’t thrown into the perfume section like you are in Heathrow. We flew to Philadelphia, where customs was a huge mess. One of the baggage belts where you recheck luggage was broken, so the lines were huge. Then we walked straight to our gate for our Portland flight that was supposed to leave at 5:50. It didn’t actually leave until nearly 9. The freaky thing is that the departure monitors never said that it was delayed…after 5:50, it just disappeared, like it took off on time. The gate was crazy. Kids were literally climbing the walls – or throwing up. Kathy and I were amazed how dumb some fathers were…it was gross watching them walk there children right through throw up. Ick.

We finally arrived in Portland to see mom and dad – but after waiting for a couple of hours, only 1 of our bags showed up. :( The rest was delivered after church on Sunday.

Then I had Monday – Thursday night to enjoy Pippin, Portland and friends before leaving for LA…

Normandy Day 2

Monday was our 2nd (and last) day in Normandy. We all slept very well. The shower was a bit tricky, but I think we all ended up well rested and clean. We started off early in the morning @ 7:30. The place we had scoped out for breakfast was not open (it had said it’s hours were 7h a 20h – 7am-8pm, they lied). So we set off for the US Landing beaches first and hoped that we would find some food in Bayeux around 10. (Does it seem like we are always eating in my blogs? I realize I write a lot about searching for food…)

On the road to the Point Du Hoc and Omaha Beach, we came upon a monument in the middle of the road. It was the World Peace Statue. The light was really cool – Kathy took lots of pictures of our shadows. There was a cemetery across the way, but not a military cemetery. I really don’t know anything about D-Day or WWII – I haven’t even seen Band of Brothers or Saving Private Ryan (although I own it).


As I understand it, the US landed and Utah Beach and Omaha Beach, and between them is Point Du Hoc – which was supposed to be a stronghold for the Germans because of the cliffs. There are monuments and museums at nearly every beach. We didn’t make it to Utah Beach because there weren’t clear signs to it, or we missed them, or we got off the main road too soon. Mom was disappointed. At the Point Du Hoc site, they have tried to maintain the land just as it was when the US landed. So there are huge craters where the shells from the offshore guns must have landed. We were lucky, and the weather finally got nice, so the water was beautiful.

We drove a bit down the coast and got to Omaha Beach. We followed the first signs and drove on a road right off the sand. It was gorgeous, but unfortunately went right below the cemetery (we figured later) so we missed it. We saw a video later that had big sweeping views of the US Military Cemetery – tons of white crosses and green grass and flags. At Omaha beach there are 2 statues. One is a stone monument just off the beach, one is a metal sculpture on the beach.

The next beach we went to was after Bayeux, and it was the last thing we saw in Normandy – it was called Arromanche. I believe it ended up being the center of the D-Day activities – eventually where the harbor was set up. Kathy had seen an advert for a 360 cinema experience at Arromanche where a 18 minute film including actual d-day footage was shown. 360 Cinema Website We got to Arromanche and it was very crowded. Our time in Point du Hoc and Omaha Beach was really before anything opened, but that was not the case in Arromanche. Parking was difficult, but free. :)
The Cinema was up a very steep hill – a nice walk before getting on the ferry, and the view was gorgeous, but we were in a hurry to make a certain showing – otherwise we’d have to wait another 30 minutes and we were in a hurry to get to the ferry on time. The film was very arty – no narration, only sound from the footage. Some of which was very loud gunfire. There were a lot of small children in the theater (which was like circle vision, but smaller…I think there were 9 screens…we all stood in the middle). I thought the subject matter was a little to disturbing for children – I was disturbed. The film was called The Price of Freedom, so it was supposed to disturb. I definitely came out of it grateful that I wasn’t called upon to be a soldier jumping off a boat on the Normandy shore. I’m sure that I would have been brave enough.

We didn’t have time to visit the British or Canadian Beaches (Gold Beach, Juno Beach and Sword Beach). There is a lot to see – I think the Normandy D-Day Beach Tours usually take several days. The roads follow the coast and are small (some 1 lane only like in Wales, just with less hills) and the speed limit is slow, so it takes some time to go short distances.

Before Arromanche we went back inland to Bayeux. Bayeux is the home of the Bayeux Tapestry – a 70 meter long tapestry (only about 2 feet tall) depicting the story of the Normans and the Saxons – featuring King Harold and William the Conqueror. It was really interesting. The tapestry has an accompanying audio tour that describes all of the scenes and tells the story of the tapestry. The tapestry was displayed for years to laud the story of William the Conqueror – to a largely illiterate people. People aren’t quite sure when the tapestry originated, but right now the leading theory is that it was commissioned by William the Conqueror’s brother, Odo – and completed around 1077. So it is very very very old. Check out some pictures on wikipedia (my go-to-source for everything): Wikipedia Entry. We all really liked it.

Bayeux was a very picturesque town. It has a small river running through it, and lots of pedestrian areas. It made it a bit tricky to figure out where we needed to be at first…finally we just parked and went to the tourist info center and were given a map and directions. It’s amazing how that works everytime if you are willing to say you are a tourist – because you know, wandering around looking lost isn’t worse (or the same) than the tourist label.

Before loading up on the ferry we got gas – well diesel – in Le Havre. It was much cheaper than in England. However, the diesel pump was so so slow. In both the UK and France you have to pump the gas the whole time – there is no mechanism to keep the trigger pulled while pumping; you just have to use your hand. Often the pumps are covered in gas or oil – some stations provide disposable gloves, but they are often all gone. Now I carry an orange cleaning glove in my car – it is very chic.

While waiting in line, a few of the French officers (their shirts said “cadets”) came and asked for our passports and then looked at eat of us – and then walked away. I think that one of them was training the other. After they were about 20 yards away the senior officer must have asked a question like “did you tell them what we are doing with their passports?” – which was answered “no” with a laugh. They both came back and told us that our passports would be stamped and returned. I don’t know how we got selected, but we got Le Havre stamps in our passport. J The cadets barely returned in time – we were moving onto the ferry when they found us.

On the return ferry we just had standard seats. It was fine. The ferry was supposed to be 5 hours, but was delayed by an hour due to a strong wind. We also did some duty free shopping on the ferry on the return trip. I bought some Milka Chocolate (the purple cow chocolate). It was a huge hit at work.

We made it back to Portsmouth around 11 (I think) and home just after midnight. I had to get into the office on Tuesday morning – we were in a month close period where I have a lot of responsibility. I was quite tired. But I survived.

During the week mom and Kathy stayed at home – one day I dropped them off at Avebury for the afternoon. They walked the whole circle a couple of times, and found a nice National Trust shop. I think 4 hours was plenty of time to explore the stones – the sheep had been rotated to a different field, so they didn’t even have the sheep or sheep poop as obstacles.

Mom got dropped at the Heathrow Airport on Thursday morning. On Saturday Kath and I planned a London trip – this time not by car. Details and photos to be blogged soon.

Portsmouth, the Ferry & Mont St Michel

Dad left on Monday morning. Mom and I really did very little during the next week. We went to the Bristol IKEA one night and bought another chair and some shelves to organize a closet. We did laundry. We slept. It was nice. The weather couldn't decide if it was improving or not. So we took umbrellas everywhere we went, just in case.

On Saturday we woke up to learn that Kathy's plane had been delayed leaving Philidelphia. So we stayed home a little longer. Mistake #1. Kathy arrived in Gatwick - so we had to drive down the M4, basically to Heathrow, and then go South (or anti-clockwise) on the M-25 to Gatwick - about 20 miles. The M-25 is a ring around London. It has areas of a "variable" speed limit. The signs are electronic and vary from 40-70 mph (at least that is what I have seen them at). In June I drove to the temple (which is just past the Gatwich exit off the M-25). The traffic wasn't bad then.

It wasn't great on the way to Gatwick. We ended up meeting Kathy at the curb where she waited for a few minutes for us - but thankfully just a few minutes. And thankfully Kathy's phone worked at the Gatwick airport - it hasn't worked since. We'll get to that later. So getting back home from Gatwick - there was an accident in the clockwise lanes on the M-25 while we were on our way to get Kath, so we decided to give it some time to get cleaned up. We drove to the temple. The weather was just cloudy and warm - much nicer than my previous trip there. We spent about 20 minutes or so at the temple, then climbed in the car looking for a place to eat lunch. We stopped at a pub - but it was closed. :( So we decided just to drive home and eat something there...it should be an hour and a half to 2 hours. It was 11am.

The traffic was still horrendous. We didn't get off the M-25 until nearly 1 - then we still had the hour drive on the M-4. We ended up stopping at a motorway "service platform" (where there is gas, food and sometimes hotels - but all not cheap) for lunch near Reading at like 2:30. We didn't get home until after 3.

At home Kathy took a shower and mom and I packed for Normandy-we needed to leave for Portsmouth around 5:30. The drive to Portsmouth is just over an hour - and our Ferry wanted us to arrive by 9pm (for an 11pm launch). So officially we had plenty of time, but I didn't want to get caught in unexpected traffic. Plus, we needed to eventually eat dinner, and get gas.

Portsmouth was super windy. We drove straight to the old boardwalk in Southsea and got our bearings in the car for a few minutes. We spotted Mozzarella Joes, hopped out to check out the menu, and decided that would be where we ate - later. We found a place to park and got out in the wind for a few pictures and to watch the water for a while. There were also some WWII monuments, a museum (that was closed) and of course - the boardwalk full of casinos, games and rides (we did none of those). We also saw a very odd shaped building (picture below from the ferry that night). I guess it is an observation tower. We couldn't figure out how to get to it, but it looked cool. We got gas and then went back to Mozzarella Joes. We all got salads, which were good - although the waiters didn't know anything about the food if we asked questions. Kathy was going to order the Vietnamese Spring Rolls - expecting them not to be fried. She asked just to be sure. The waiter had no clue - so he went to ask. Sure enough, they were fried. Kathy was glad she asked, she would have been sad. Of course they were fried - we're in the UK. After eating, we realized that this restaurant was known for their California style pizza. :) We laughed. Come all this way to basically eat at California Pizza Kitchen.

We took an LD Ferry to Le Havre. LD stand for Louis Dreyfus, I'm sure its not after the actor, but I am not sure what else it could be after. The loading process took some time. One car actually sat so long with it's interior lights on that the battery died and they had to push start the car to get it on the ferry (I think, we were loaded before they were successful in starting the car). We "launched at 11pm (ish) GMT, and were landing in Le Havre at 8am France time (which would be 7am GMT). It was a long journey. We had "Club" seats, which were a little better than the standard seats, but not as posh as the sleeper seat that reclined to flat - and definitely not as dear as the cabins. I got a little sleep - but not much. The extra that we paid for the Club Seats got us a little sticker to wear that also meant we got into the club lounge - it really wasn't much to ooh and ah about. The food everywhere on the ferry was the same. We ended up sharing a full breakfast - because we couldn't see any prices for a la carte. The food was okay - the Yoplait blackberry yogurt was brilliant. It came in a little terracotta pot. And YUM. It was very creamy. I'm sure it was not very low fat.

It was beautiful - our own White Tower in the distance on the sand. It is quite a ways from anything. It seems kind of out of place - this stone tower on the sea. We did pass a lot of French Fry (les frites) places on the way - which made us laugh. Parking was a few euros - but not bad. After pounds, Euros seem like a bargain. :) The streets are very narrow and wind up to the cathedral at the top of the "mountain". There is a raised causeway across the sand that leads directly into the site. The parking is off the causeway. As we left the parking lot, there was a sign that assured that today this side of the car park would not be overcome by the water. :) I guess that made us feel better. There were loads and loads of cars. Just below there are some pictures, one of me on our walk from the car to mont-st-michel and another from the top - you can see all the cars. Besides the causeway and the cars, the mountain is surrounded by quicksand. So there are lots of warning signs everywhere.

A long time a go a woman lived on Mont-St-Michel that was widely known for making the perfect omelette...now there is a cookie business named after her that specializes in gallettes and pallet. Both a buttery cookie, one more flakey than the other. Both good. Mom brought some home to be tasted. :) The streets are also lined with shops - mostly full of touristy crap, but Kath got a super cute calendar and I got some postcards. :)

We left Mt-St-Michel around 2 or 3 (I think). On the walk back to the car it started to rain. So we had perfect timing. It also made a really cool mist hang over the mountain for another nice picture.

We stopped briefly at the cookie outlet - free samples and lots of huge quantities of cookies. Crazy. We also bought a Kouign Amann (which means Butter Cake in Breton). We had it back in Swindon for breakfast for a few days. It was yummy. Look it up on wikipedia. There is a big controversy on its origin. No one really knows where it came from.

Back to Kathy's cell phone. She has had a Motorolla RZR from Cingular for a couple years - the same as mine. Last summer both worked fine. Mine worked fine for weeks when I moved here. No problems at all - just expensive bills. Kathy's doesn't work at all since the Gatwick airport...it just says Unregister SIM.

I think that we figured it out... a few months ago she went to Cingular (now the new AT&T) and got a new SIM card - so now it is an AT&T SIM card...it still should be worldwide (since on the website they have international prices), but maybe it needs to have some functionality in her account turned on. Pain in the but though...and a drawback to the new AT&T - besides the morons that do their customer service who made it very difficult to pay my final bill from the UK. Morons.

So, we drove back in the rain. In France the speed limit is reduced by 20 kph in the rain. We made it back to Caen and checked into our fabulous Etap hotel. It has a double bed and the a single bunk across the top. It had an ensuite bathroom with a shower and was cheap - so it was the place for us. But is was very barebones.

The hotel was in a part of Caen called Mondeville (directly translated to World Town). It is where all of the roads meet - so we could get lost a lot. We crashed at the hotel for a couple of hours - maybe the best sleep all weekend - and then got up to find a place for dinner. We saw some restaurants that seemed to be just across the street - but they were super tricky to get to. We chose a canadian restaurant called Buffalo Grill - and they did serve buffalo. Instead I chose a yummy chicken dish. It came with a dessert and I had the most marvelous sorbet - grapefruit and coconut - it was SO good. :)

The next morning we went to Bayeux and some D-day beaches before getting back to the Ferry in LeHavre by 3. More pictures and blog soon.

3 weekends ago – I am so behind

It was flooding in western England and Wales. We went to Hay-on-Wye on Friday and thankfully did not get stuck in Hereforshire – the flooding got very bad there over the weekend. On Saturday the plan was to go to London. We decided that the motorways should be fine, and the forecast for London wasn’t too bad…so we went.

I drove in London - It actually wasn’t bad.

I parked in London – It was horrific.

First we just had to get into town. London has a “congestion zone” that you have to have a permit to drive in, except on the weekends. Otherwise is it * GBP per day. They have all of these ways you can get out of a ticket – like you just have to have purchased your congestion zone license by midnight of the day you use it, or pay 2 more pounds and you have until midnight the day after you use it. So I don’t know how anyone ever pays a ticket. Unless the tickets come months after you drive illegally (by photo?) or something. I just don’t get it.

Another treat on the way into town was construction. There is an overpass being built right on the main way into town. Construction started that day…so it was as bad as it could be. New to everyone and not quite set up. It took nearly 45 minutes to go 2 miles. Ick. That made it a bit tight to get to the changing of the guard.

In the summer(well, in July) the changing of the guard is everyday at 11. I had never seen one at Buckingham Palace before. So the plan was to arrive by 10:30 so we could get a nice spot to watch from. We had no idea. Parking garages are very elusive in central London. They must hide them. I know they exist, because I looked up the National Car Parks (NCP) online before we left – they are the cheaper option. They were no where to be found, and Kate was not helping (except to keep taking us back to Buckingham Palace when the venture down random roads to find an NCP sign would have gotten us very lost). Finally, at 10 to 11, I dropped mom and dad off at the palace gates with the pay-as-you-go mobile I got for them, and set off to find a parking meter. I found one that I could actually get to. Stuck in as much change as I had (it would only take 20P or 1 pound coins). I had 3 pounds – enough for 1 hour. I ran back to where I dropped mom and dad and found them against the gate, in a crowd 3 or 4 people deep (and that was just at the gate). I made it by 11 but nothing really happened until 11:20 when a small group of guards (all in black) in the palace grounds started marching. Then the bands arrived – first the British band with red coats and big black hats, then the visiting Jamaican band. While the band played, some guards marched back and forth, every which way across the palace foregrounds – seemingly measuring out the space by footsteps. It was really boring. It went on until nearly 12 and I told mom and dad that we needed to get back to the car. The band was playing “On the Street Where You Live” and mom didn’t want to leave, so we left her with the cell phone and went to find the car. She met us there a few minutes later saying that the bands were still playing – no sign of stopping.

Kathy had told me that it was pretty boring – and super crowded. I feel like I saw and heard more tourists than I did the changing of the guard. But now if I ever see it on TV or in a movie (which will give you the best view) I’ll be able to say that I have been there, and have an idea of what it is like in reality.

Our plans were very loose. We wanted to eat lunch at café in the crypt – it is actually in the crypt of St Martins in the Field (a very bizarre name for a cathedral right off of Trafalgar Square, across from the National Galleries). We gave dad a very brief driving tour of Knightsbridge – Parliament, Big Ben, the London Eye, the Thames – and then found a spot to park in the theater district – near Drury Lane and Covent Garden (it was 4 pounds per hour). We walked over to Café in the Crypt – and found it closed (along with the cathedral) for renovations until October. So we ate some Pret a Manger quick food in Trafalgar Square. We walked back to Covent Garden to the Transport Museum – also closed for renovation, but the shop was cute.

While at Covent Garden – the skies opened. Mom was in the bathroom and had to dash across the cobble stones to the indoor market. We wandered around the mall for a bit, and then decided that the rain had let up enough to walk the few more minutes to the car.

More driving tour showed dad St Paul’s Cathedral, the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, & the Tate Modern where mom and dad hopped out (in the rain) to see the Millennium Footbridge. Then we decided that we’d have time to go to the British Museum. I really liked this museum last summer. The building got renovated in 1999 for the Millennium and I think that the big central hall is cool. The museum houses the Rosetta Stone, and scads of artifacts from the British Empire. So, lots of Roman and Greek statues and temples, Atruscan carvings, things from all over the world. There is an ongoing debate about this museum. For instance, Greece is very upset – they want the statues (etal) back. The Brits say no – basically Finders Keepers. Saying that if the British hadn’t removed the artifacts they would have been destroyed (which is probably true).

The museum has way more in it then anyone could see in a day – let alone 2 hours. I really think that is kind of the point…it is the spoils of the British Empire – it is supposed to overwhelm. I still like it though.

That was basically all we did in London – paid like 17 pounds in parking meters, walked a lot, drove by a lot, got a bit wet. I hope dad liked it. On the way out of town we remembered to get a picture (or 10) of the Fuller’s Brewery for our friends the Fullers. Luckily, there was a very strategically placed roundabout – I went around 2 or 3 times to make sure we had the pictures.