Stratford-upon-Avon

We are still alive and kicking! We have just been very busy, but we will get to that is a later post. On to this past weekend, which was a Bank Holiday weekend in the UK, and with visitors in town we were off to Stratford-upon-Avon in our rented Nissan Note.

You must be wondering what there is to do in Stratford-upon-Avon??

1. Anne Hathaway's House

2. William Shakespeare's Birthplace

After an hour and 45min. drive up the M40 we arrived destination number 1 above, Anne Hathaway's house. We paid our entrance fee and walked in with our raincoats on and umbrellas fully extended. It was pouring.

Anne Hathaway's House (pictured with Aunt Judy, Scott and Mom Tune)

































To the left is a picture of the 'Willow Cabin'


















Some of the gorgeous flowers that were in the Garden:

This is my favorite one there and I need to find out the name of it.

Some facts learned at Anne Hathaway's House:

1. To clean the chimneys in the old days you would put 1-2 chickens down the chimney and let them flap their way out which would cause all of the soot to come loose.

2. A wheat thatched roof only lasts about 30 years whereas a water seed thatched roof lasts about 70years.

3. The first picture above of the house has two roofs. The roof to the right was just replaced and work finished 3 weeks ago. The total cost was £80,000 ($160,000). Imagine doing that every 30 years :-(

Below is Shakespeare's Birthplace and some photos from around his gardens.

Facts learned at Shakespeare's Birthplace:

1. William left in his will to his wife their 2nd best bed. Scott's thoughts too. Why just the 2nd best bed? Well the first best bed in a house was for your guests.

2. William's family paid some debt off for the Hathaway Family

3. William and Anne had to file for a special marriage certificate since they were under the age of 19.

It was all in all a great time in Stratford-upon-Avon but could have been better if it weren't raining. After leaving Stratford-upon-Avon, we headed to Oxford for a quick trip around the town/city and to show Ma Tune and Judy Oxford University. Pictures to follow later.

Random

It has been a few weeks since we posted anything and there is good reason for that. We have been busy.

A quick glimpse of the what is happening in our life right now:

• Scott is going in for Lasik surgery tomorrow morning to hopefully rid himself of contacts/glasses that he has had for the past 19 years.
• John, Stephanie and their daughter Katie are visiting us now until Sat. am (John is my brother's best friend and what I consider my other brother).
• We are going to get our Russian visas tomorrow (if I can get Scott's without him being there otherwise he will get his Friday)
• Libby is traveling to South Africa for the next 8-10 weeks (on and off)

So lots going on in the next week!

This past weekend we had a great time though as we were in the US. It was a semi-surprise visit as my family knew that we were coming in and Scott's mom did but the rest was really a surprise.

We landed Friday afternoon and ran a few errands before heading off to Yankee Stadium to watch the NY Yankees vs. Seattle Mariners. The YANKEES WIN!

Saturday morning we jetted off early (7am) for Binghamton, NY to watch Ryan (Scott's brother) and Kayla (my cousin) row in the NY State Collegiate Rowing Championship Races. We only watched the heat races since the finals were on Sunday and we were not staying over night for that. Iona College's rowing team did extremely well in the heats! Congrats to all! Saturday night we had friends over for dinner and then headed out to the local bowling alley and bowled 3 games and had a good time!

Sunday, Scott and I met our friends Andrea and John (Andrea is due in August) and gave them a baby gift as I will not be able to make it home for the shower. We had a lovely time with them and it was great catching up with friends!

Monday we met an architect about renovations to our house and should hear this week on pricing, etc. for the architect and within a month have drawings! We can't wait!!!! We then just rand some errands and packed for the airport to fly home.

It was great seeing everyone at home and Scott and I are more excited as the time ticks down to move back to the US! 7 months and 3 days!

We're back from Disneyland

Scott and I went to Disneyland Paris now a week ago just for 2 days. There is a Eurostar (fast train) that goes directly from London St. Pancras to Disneyland Paris in 2.5 hours. It is quite nice to ride the Eurostar and not bother with the airport security lines and sitting on a plane for who knows how long.

Disneyland Paris celebrated their 15 year Anniversary last year so they seem to have made it through their rough times that had back in the late 90's. The Eurostar drops you off at the entrance to the two parks that are at Disneyland Paris (Disneyland Park and MGM Studios). Disneyland Park is the equivalent to Magic Kingdom. We stayed at the Radison Hotel which is located on the Disney Golf Course and was a really nice setting.

MGM Studios- there are a few new rides but it is about 1/3 of the size as the one in Orlando. They just opened Tower of Terror 2 weeks before we arrived and the first day the line was really short so we were in and out of the ride in 20min! That was great! They also changed the ride a bit from the one in Orlando so the drops were in different places. The other ride we rode quite a few times was Aerosmith's Rockin Roller coaster. This was not much different than the one in Orlando although it was suppose to be so maybe I missed something.

Disneyland Park- everything looked the same when you entered the park even down to Scott's favorite Casey's Hot dogs (even though they cost a fortune). We went on Space Mountain 2 which was great but the massive headache you had after the ride was almost not worth going on the ride.....doesn't mean we didn't ride it 3 times in a row since no one was in line :-) They best part was they shot you up at the beginning of the ride which got the momentum going well. After that we headed over to Big Thunder 2 which also was different. They had the roller coaster go through a few dark spots which made it better.

We hung out in the evening at the Disney Village (equivalent of Downtown Disney) except no where near the shops, restaurants, bars, etc. Still we had a nice relaxing time.

All in all it was a nice quick weekend away. I leave you with some pictures of the park!

It's a Small World After All....

we are off to Disneyland Paris this coming weekend! After trying to figure out when Scott's friends Alex, Julie and Bill were coming over for a visit from the States and confirming their thoughts for a trip to Dublin, we rearranged our travel plans for this coming weekend.

Train setting we are on Saturday and off to Disneyland Paris we go! We are both excited to go since we have wanted to see it but it hasn't been on the Top 10 list of places. It happened to be the cheapest option for the short weekend and easy enough to do.

So Tower of Terror....watch out for Scott and Libby this weekend!!!!!

http://us.disneylandparis.com/index.xhtml

Bailey's First Night Out at the Pub!

Less than one year old (about 6 in human years) and she had her first night out at the Local Pub!
Bailey is welcome in one of our local pubs called The Swan in town and she loved going! She gets her own bowl of water then filled with ice cubes (her new favorite treat) and Scott and I are asked if she can have Chicken or some Fillet for dinner. What service dogs get?





















She is ready for her first pint!

Taking a lick of her first pint!

Just chilling with dad:





















So now you know how we spent our Friday night....a relaxing night at the pub for dinner and drinks with our daughter! So next time anyone comes to visit be prepared for a trip to The Swan!

Praha

Prague is the Capital of the Czech Republic and is suppose to be the one of the most beautiful cities in Europe. Scott and I concur with that statement for sure.

Prague is a small city in comparison to Paris, London, Florence, Rome, etc. but has beauty that can't be replicated in any of those cities. We spend the weekend in Prague and were warned to bring rain gear and snow suits since Prague was expected to get both over the weekend. So packed we were and off to Prague.

First stop, T5 (for all the Americans it is British Airways new terminal at Heathrow Airport which cost $8.6 billion). T5 is gorgeous and it does set a new bar for airport terminals but it definitely needs to get the kinks worked out first.

Next Stop: Praha

Prague is sectioned into 5 areas: Old Town, New Town, Jewish Quarter, Little Quarter and Prague Castle. Our hotel was on the Vltava River in the Jewish Quarter. Our first day we set out through the Jewish Quarter to Old Town.

View from our room of the Vltava River and a bridge.

One of the gorgeous buildings in the Jewish Quarter.

The astronomical clock in Old Town. This is part of the Old Town Hall.

After spending a little time in Old Town Square we wandered back towards the river to the Charles Bridge.

After lots of walking, our tired feet needed a rest and we needed to wet our palette with some local beer. First on the list....Budweiser Budvar. I know you are thinking Budweiser. Wrong. Budvar is by far 100% better than Budweiser. Budvar is a local Czech beer so when in Rome...try the local stuff!

After a few beers at a few different locations it was time to move back to the hotel to get ready for dinner at the Svata Klara Restaurant which was an old wine cellar for one of the vineyards of Prague. Today it is one of the Top 4 restaurants in Prague.

We had a 6 Course dinner at the restaurant and here was the menu that night:

Amuse-bouche:
A selection of nibbles to whet your appetite

Entrée:
Rose of Smoked Salmon, served with a mustard dressing and a quail's egg

Starter:
Delicate Foie Gras (Goose Liver Paté), served with a Sauternes sauce

Palette cleanser:
Lemon Sorbet

Main course:
Venison Tournedos, served with sautéed mushrooms, chantarelle mushrooms, and corn pancakes

Cheese course:
A selection of European cheeses

Dessert:
Flambéed Strawberries, served with a drop of Amaretto and a cherry sauce

A Picture of Prague Castle all lit up at night! Absolutely Gorgeous!!!

Saturday we headed off to Prague Castle for the morning to tour away again. Within the Castle walls are: St. Vitus Cathedral, Old Royal Palace, Golden Lane, Basilica of St. George, Royal Gardens and much much more.

The Entrance to the Prague Castle

St. Vitus Cathedral

The inside of the Cathedral to the left and the picture on the right is the ceiling of the Cathedral.

In St. Vitus Cathedral we climbed the 287 steps to the top of the Bell Tower and were left with this amazing view of the city of Prague!

Also on the way up the stairs we got to see the Church bells below:

Once we finished our climb up and our race down the stairs it was off to Golden Lane

This is where the gold smiths would have lived at the time the Castle was fully functioning. Now it is shops for all of the visitors to buy things at.

After wandering around the castle it was time to relax and enjoy a few more local beers. Off to the cafe's/bars we went then off to a traditional Czech dinner.

Sunday we woke up and found an American type Bagel shop and had an American breakfast. Scott was in heaven with a Bacon, Egg and Cheese on a Sesame Bagel (American bacon too). I went with the American pancakes and sausage patties!

Prague is a must see city and we had a spectacular time! I would highly recommend it on a must see list!

Is it Spring or Winter?

This weekend the sky could not figure out what season it wanted to be. It was a toss up of Winter and Spring.

This weekend marked Spring Daylight savings time for us here in Europe which should mean the start of spring right? wrong.

Friday night we has some sputtering of rain. Scott and I met a few neighbors out for some drinks and dinner at a local Wine Bar.

Saturday it was nice in the morning and then started to get very grey. The 154th Oxford Cambridge Boat Race was held in London on the Thames Rives and Scott and I had planned to go to it until it started getting windy and raining again. Scott and I have rowed enough in our time to avoid standing outside in the rain to watch a small portion of the race, so decided to watch it from the comforts of our living room! Oxford was victorious this year!!!! Saturday night we cooked dinner in and called it a night.

Sunday was absolutely gorgeous out! Flip flops were on and we headed to town with Bailey to run a few errands and give her some exercise. Scott and I then went to play tennis in the park and I hate to write this but I do....he won all three games :-( Sunday night we had some of our neighbors over for dinner and cooked them a Chicken BBQ with corn casserole, wild rice and a Strawberry-Rhubarb Crumble!

Now for another week but a short week since we are off to Prague on Friday morning!