dasBlog - our travel blog

Orange-blossom Tea and Mortality (the post that has nothing to do with travel)

2011-02-22T01:04:00.003Z

While working this afternoon, I was particularly enjoying my cup of room-temperature orange blossom tea, and I popped over to Facebook to share this small happiness with my friends. My Facebook philosophy tends toward posting only when I have something happy to share. My philosophy in ‘real life’ tends in the same direction: to maintain a positive outlook, I strive daily to count my blessings and fully experience the small pleasures of life. I ‘live in the moment’ and ‘carpe diem’, and when I’m not feeling it, I tell myself to refocus on the positives. When I perfect my focus on the small things that make me happy, it’s easier to forgo negativity about small inconveniences or minor disappointments.

Inevitably though, in this life, there will be catastrophes and major disappointments. Opening Facebook today, before I had the chance to share my little ray of orange-blossom sunshine, I found myself facing big issues of the negative variety. One friend linked to Al Jazeera’s blog coverage of terrible, violent unrest in Libya, and another delivered news that a classmate from days long gone by died today of cancer. As uncertainty, fear and sadness encroached – political unrest, violence against defenseless masses, the grief left behind when someone leaves this life at a young age – I found that I was debating whether to allow myself to even experience the negative emotions. Should I look at the photos of my classmate with his wife and young children and steep myself in recognition of the frailty of our human nature? Should I read and attempt to understand what’s happening on the other side of the world - what it means for families there and what it means for me? I had a strong desire just to post my happy status, fix my mind on all of the beauty in my life, and move on with my day.

In the end, although it was not my close friend who had passed away or my family that was being attacked by corrupt government, I chose not to attempt to escape these reminders of the fragility of life. I have no guarantee that tomorrow’s catastrophe will not be my catastrophe. How would I react? Or better stated: How will I react? The only guarantee I have in this life is death - either I will die first or I will suffer when my loved ones die. And though it’s not a guarantee, it’s likely that I’ll have to deal with ugly situations (physical and emotional) in the meantime. In theory, I know that I can weather any storm that comes my way, because I recognize that this life is not the apex of my existence. My belief in our eternal souls and in an eternal reward for those who serve God will always put my mortal suffering in perspective. I acknowledge that I have been lucky and blessed in my life so far – I have not suffered greatly, and therefore, this perspective has not been put to the ultimate test. Today, as I ponder my search for happiness through a focus on the little joys of life, I wonder if, in the process of overlooking life’s little problems, am I also blinding myself to the spiritual framework on which I plan to rest when real trouble comes into my life. I am touched by others’ sorrows, and so today, rather than seeking to escape negative emotion by an enjoyment of the little things, I choose instead to take comfort in the big things: This world is not my home, and I do not expect to take a painless trip through it, but in the end, I will have eternal life with my Creator.

While happiness can and should be sought through enjoyment of life’s beauty, great and small, I should not use these blessings to shield me from the daily reminders that this is an imperfect world, and everyone in it will face suffering and, ultimately, mortality. Today, I am convicted that, rather than hiding uncertainty, fear and sadness behind a focus on this beautiful life, I should allow myself to see that life is full of pain. I should remember to trust in God when facing these sorrows, so that I will be prepared to trust Him in times when the pleasures of life could not possibly shield me from the sorrows.

I recognize that many of my facebook friends don’t share my faith, and, even amongst those who do, I feel sure that there are some who spend greater efforts seeking momentary happiness than seeking meaning in this life or preparing for our ultimate date with mortality. I’m challenging myself to be more realistic in this area, and I guess, for anyone who’s read this all the way through, I’m challenging you too. I welcome your thoughts.

Next Stop, Switzerland!

2010-10-14T23:34:00.002+01:00

We're heading to Switzerland tomorrow AM...it's 11:15 PM here, and our cab arrives at 4:00 AM to take us to a cheap RyanAir flight an hour from here. I'm packed - mostly - but still trying to get in my hours and tie up loose ends with work. I have to work 1/2 day tomorrow too, so I should probably just go to bed. After tomorrow, I'm off for 5 1/2 days. I'm also working a half day a week from Monday after we fly in around 3pm....see 3pm here is only 9am in Austin, so lots of time, if not energy, to get some work in. I am conserving vacation days like nobody's business! I was tempted to work a few hours each day next week, just to save another day or so, but I decided not thinking about work AT ALL would be really really good.

So, our plan is to arrive in Milan (b/c there are no cheap flights to Switzerland)...train up to Lugano for a day, then get on the Bernina Express, which is supposed to be the best scenic Alps train in Switzerland. That will take pretty much all day Saturday.

Sunday we'll be in Lucern...there's even a congregation we can visit there, so that fit really well with our plans.

Monday we'll head to a Rick Steve's recommended town called Gimmelwald. It's a tiny (really tiny) village in the Berner Oberland (alps). It's halfway up the mountain, no roads, and you have to take a cable car to get there! We'll stay there for 2 days...cable car up to the top of that mountain one day and hike down some, if the weather's good. Then rent bikes and head down from our village to the valley on day 2, again, weather permitting. (Notice that I'm planning all of our physical activities to be heading downhill!) We're not in shape to hike the Alps uphill...in fact, I'm a little nervous about downhill, based on some things I've read, but we'll see.

Wednesday, we'll make our way back to Interlaken and hop on another scenic train over to Montreux on Lake Geneva. We'll stay there through Friday. We have lots of things lined up during this stay, including a trip on the "Chocolate Train" to Gruyere (where they make the cheese).

Then, on Friday afternoon, we'll start making our way on the train to Vernazza (Cinque Terre)!! :) We debated a lot about whether we should go back...in fact we've agreed to play this part by ear. If we can't get enough of Switzerland, we'll stay....but I really love Vernazza, and I hope we end up going there. It's so neat to revisit a familiar place. It's easier, and I think I'll be ready for that at that point!

Our flight home is through Genoa on Monday 10/25.

It's going to be so fun!!! I'll try to post updates as we go along.

Lovely. Brilliant. Gorgeous.

2010-09-16T02:29:00.001+01:00

We spent the weekend in Scotland with our friends Paul & Terri McGinty and their family. The trip was perfect and homey and just what we hoped it would be. Here are the highlights:

- We rode the train ½ way to Scotland in cramped seats next to a smelly (dirty underwear smelly) guy. That made the 2nd half of the trip that much better, when we were able to move to odor-free seats with a table!

- Paul, Terri and Tracy (Paul’s sister) met us right at the train platform and we walked around downtown Glasgow a bit. The weather was gorgeous and so is the city.

- We headed to Tracy’s flat in Castlemilk, a suburb of Glasgow. Her flat is on the 11th floor and has a brilliant view of the city and mountains in the distance. Paul & Tracy’s mom lives on the 6th floor, so Tracy turned her flat over to us, Paul & Terri, and Leann, Terri’s sister who arrived that night. Daniel & I had the kingly accommodations…Paul & Terri kindly took the air mattress in the living room and Leann had a single bed in the guest room, leaving us with the queen bed in Tracy’s room. It was the most comfortable bed I’ve slept in since leaving California. Tracy has lovely taste, and her flat is so cute and cozy!

- For dinner Friday night, we ate a traditional Scottish meal of Indian take-out. It was fantastic! We spent the night visiting, relaxing and thoroughly enjoying ourselves.

- Saturday morning, Paul prepared a delicious, traditional Scottish breakfast, including potato scones, which I really enjoyed, and blood pudding, which I wouldn’t touch with a ten foot pole. Daniel tried it, and I couldn’t even sit at the table with him while he was eating it. It looks like half-congealed blood mixed with a sausage patty, and it just turned my stomach! (Daniel didn’t care for it, by the way.)

- After breakfast we hit the road to Stirling. We stopped at Falkirk’s Wheel along the way – a cool engineering feat for lifting boats from one canal to another that’s 100 or more feet above. I was really impressed with the design of the wheel, which makes it an amazingly energy efficient tool for moving a large amount weight. We saw Stirling Castle & the William Wallace monument, and ate lunch in a pub, which took about 100 years to deliver our food. I got to do an ad-hoc photo shoot for Leann, which was fun in such a great location!

- Saturday night we went to a family party at Paul’s mom Mary’s flat. We got to meet Paul’s brothers & their families and experience another facet of Glaswegian culture.

- Sunday morning we headed to worship with the church in East Kilbride. We heard a wonderful sermon about grace and met lots of really nice people, including Steve who went to eat lunch and spent the afternoon with us. Steve is the person who taught Paul the gospel years ago. He’s an ex-pat from Ohio, very recently retired, and a science-fiction writer. An interesting, nice person.

- Sunday afternoon found us wandering through a park not too far from the church building. It was really beautiful…everything here is so, so green. I can’t imagine Ireland being any greener…I can’t wait to see it and find out.

- Sunday night I watched the X-factor with Tracy while Paul & Terri took Steve home and brought back chips & rolls for dinner…we put the chips (thick cut fries) on the rolls with butter and malt vinegar (optional), and that was our sandwich. It was tasty. And Simon is still Simon whether in Britain or America.

- I have to mention that we had tea several times throughout the weekend, and even though I’m not a habitual hot tea drinker, I did enjoy it every time (with milk and sugar). I miss my easily accessible iced teas & green tea lemonades!!

- I should also mention that the personality of the Scottish people, as far as our experience went, was notably friendly & cheerful. It’s fun just to hear them talk, and everything, from the view out the window, to a particular favorite song or the quality of their food is “lovely”, “brilliant” or “gorgeous”.

- We woke up early(ish) this morning and Paul & Terri walked us to the #75 bus for the ride in to the train station. We had to brow-beat Paul into letting us take a bus, rather than him driving us himself.

- Now, we’re all set up at our lovely table seats on the train. It’s not crowded, and life feels just about perfect as I sit across from Daniel, watching the rain stream down the windows as the impossibly green hills and valleys roll by.

What have we been up to?

2010-09-16T00:33:00.014+01:00

I’ve slacked off on the blogging….not good! I want to be able to look back at all the things we’ve done, and I’m already forgetting the things I haven’t blogged, so I’m going to attempt a recap.

-Thursday 8/26: Dinner at Rock & Sole with Liz, Brian, Porter, Zach, Tracy & Tyler. The Rock & Sole is a really old fish & chip shop. They claim they’ve been serving fish & chips in this location for the last 130 years or so. It was raining out, so we crammed into the basement seating area. It was cramped but great food and great company!

-Friday, 8/27: Legal London walking tour (I’ll eventually finish my post about this)

-Saturday, 8/28: We took the Oxford Tube bus to Oxford, ate lunch and walked around Oxford. We slept pretty late this morning, so by the time we made the 1.5 – 2 hour trip to Oxford and finished lunch it was around 3:30, and many of the places of interest were closing up. We experienced Oxford from the outside for the most part, but it was such fun to wander the streets! There is so much history and awesome architecture in Oxford. One of our favorite spots was the Great Hall of Christ Church College – a.k.a. Hogwarts’ Great Hall in some of the Harry Potter movies…however, as I said, we didn’t actually get to go inside. It was really beautiful on the outside though (probably better than inside, because, of course, there would not be any floating candles or ghosts about). I was glad we got to see it. As an aside here….Harry Potter tourism isn’t really such a big deal to me…I adore the books, but the movies are just fun. Lots of guide books focus on sending you to the actual spots where the movies were filmed, but for me, that’s not so significant. It’s really enjoyable to experience some of the British culture that you see throughout the books though….treacle tarts and so forth. (Not that I’ve had a treacle tart yet, but I intend to.) And, just to further complicate this aside, I do want to visit the Elephant Room café in Edinburgh where J.K. Rowling wrote some of the early books…For whatever reason, that seems much more significant to me than a film set.

(pictures from Oxford)

-Sunday, 8/29: We worshiped at a nice little congregation in Kentish Town, and had our first experience with sharing one cup for communion. It was surprisingly off-putting to share germs with strangers….I am a wimp. Also I find it so intriguing how uncomfortable it can be to step outside the norm on something like that. I did make the effort not to let that physical detail interfere with the spiritual meaning of the act. I really enjoyed the singing at Kentish Town. The acoustics of their old, old church building (with a neon “Church of Christ” sign out front) were amazing. Following worship, we ate lunch at my reigning favorite joint, the Serpentine Café. Daniel got a whole trout...head and all! He had to fight with fish bones for every bite he ate. I made him hide the fish's head under a lemon!! After eating, we got coffee / hot chocolate and lounged outside, enjoying the lovely (but windy) afternoon.

-Monday, 8/30: I worked, and to be honest I don’t remember what else I did! Likely, grocery shopping and laundry….or maybe nothing. This is why I need to keep up with the blog!

-Tuesday, 8/31: Daniel headed off to class, and we made loose plans to meet up for lunch. The weather was gorgeous, and as lunchtime approached, I found myself thinking about this hot dog stand that had been tempting us every time we were in the vicinity of Hyde Park Corner. We met there and ate lunch on a bench in the rose garden at Hyde Park. It was perfect. Daniel encouraged me to spend a little more time enjoying the weather, so I popped over to, once again, the Serpentine Café, and sat listening to a book on tape for a while. Again, it was perfect. Then, it was home to work.

- Wednesday, 9/1 & Thursday 9/2: I was pretty sick with a cold and didn’t feel like getting out! The question that plagued me was: did I get germs from Kentish Town?? Or was it that guy that coughed directly in my face in the Underground. I decided to blame the cougher. I was so concerned that Daniel would get sick, but thankfully he didn’t! I think it’s the first time in our marriage that I was sick and Daniel didn’t catch it. Hooray!

-Friday, 9/3: I was still feeling a little under the weather, but we had plans to go see Wicked with Zach, Tracy & Tyler. I wasn’t going to miss that!! Getting out of the house was good for me…I wasn’t a sniffling wreck, and I loved the show! I hope I have a reason to go see it again while we’re here. There are so many other shows to see, I don’t know if that will work out, but I can hope. I’m pretty sure Wicked is my favorite musical ever…Lion King being a close second. (I want to know how they got Elphiba to be so green without constantly rubbing green paint onto every other actor.) By the way....Don't you love the poster??

-Saturday, 9/4: We took a bus tour to Windsor, Stonehenge & Bath with Zach, Laura, Koy, Victoria. It was a whirlwind trip, but I’m really glad we got to see these places. It was fun.

- Sunday, 9/5: We worshiped at Wembley, then came home for some work, and then ate dinner with Liz & Bryan and their Sicilian friend, Tony. We all walked over to feed the swans in Hyde Park and then headed back to hang out in their flat until just before the last bus ran. It was so great to sit and visit and get to know them, and especially fun to hang out with their little boy, Porter!!

-Monday, 9/6: Labor Day, we hung around house, met Noelle (our landlord), and I had coffee & dinner with Melisa & Michael Ackermann (who were in London for a few days vacation) at the Serpentine (where else!?)

-Tuesday, 9/7: This was one of my favorite days so far in London. I got up and headed to the V&A museum (museum of art & design) in the morning. On the way, I stopped to take some pictures of the outside of the building, where they have chosen to leave the damaged caused by German bombers during the Blitz. We'd noticed this before, but on this day, I found myself visualizing what it must have been like to be in this area during that time, and how scary it would have been to have bombs raining down, doing the kind of damage I was witnessing to such a solid structure. On Wednesday, I had one of those "goosebumps" moments, when Daniel shared a newspaper he'd picked up the day before. As it happens, though I didn't realize it at the time, the day I was imagining what the Blitz had been like, was actually the 70th anniversary of the day it started. How weird is that? (Maybe not that weird...but a little!)

I thoroughly enjoyed a leisurely stroll through some of the exhibits. I especially loved the sculpture, and I was intrigued by some of the ancient functional design on display - for example an ancient Japanese fire suit. It was woven of heavy cotton and included a jacket and helmet. Before the firemen went to fight a fire, their suits were doused with water to provide some protection from the flames. I am completely resolved that visiting art museums by yourself is the best way to go. I discovered their awesome café &, as the museum is a block from Pepperdine, I took Daniel there for lunch. It was the best of both worlds, because I was able to point out some of my favorite works to Daniel as we made our way to the café. Another reason it was a great morning for me - I LOVE museum shops….they always have the best unique gifts, and the shop at the V&A did not disappoint! I didn’t buy a thing, but I left inspired to try some new techniques for making jewelry, and I will probably go back to buy a few souvenirs for friends before we go home. Of course, I had to pay for my freedom in the morning by working all afternoon and evening, but it was so worth it!!

- Wednesday, 9/8: On Wednesday, I worked in the morning, and then headed to Cambridge to meet one of my coworkers, Yamuna, in person for the first time. Lis, Michael, Yamuna, her family & I ate dinner at Jamie Oliver’s restaurant. It was fantastic, and I have to take Daniel there sometime soon! Also, while in Cambridge, I stopped in at the University Press book store and bought Daniel a Cambridge Bible, straight from the source.

- Thursday, 9/9: Turned out to be a great day, because, in spite of some craziness with FedEx (in which our BritRail passes were sent to South Africa), I was able to pick up new copies of the passes at the local BritRail office. That was crucial, since we planned to use the passes to get to Scotland on Friday.

Legal London

2010-08-28T23:52:00.001+01:00

On Friday morning, we took a cool guided tour in "Legal London". I'll write more soon.

08.24 - Random & Rodents

2010-08-26T11:40:00.001+01:00

Well...I am getting behind on blogging! It hasn't helped that the past couple days have been pretty "normal" around here. I don't have many pictures, and nothing too exciting to report.

Tuesday was Daniel's first day back in class. He had a morning class, and then I got to meet him for lunch. I headed back to the house to work and Daniel went back to school. I picked up some groceries and finally figured out where I could buy mousetraps. I worked, then Daniel came home and talked me into going to Hyde Park for dinner. We wanted to revisit the Serpentine cafe and sit out by the pond while the sun set. When we got there, we determined that it was far too windy and cold to eat outside, but we were able to get a table near the windows inside, so that was almost as good! The Serpentine Cafe is my favorite place to hang out so far! It's really cozy inside, and on a nice day, it's very relaxing and gorgeous outside. I love being near the water. We shared a pizza, and it didn't occur to me to take a picture while it was still looking good. I know the photo I got isn't really appetizing, but the pizza really was delicious! After we ate, we just sat and talked and soaked in the atmosphere. It was great!

When we finally decided to head home, we opted for a trip on the Tube, since the walk was pretty far. Note to self: don't ever leave Oyster cards (discounted Tube pre-paid cards) at home. Neither of us had our Oyster cards, because we had planned to walk. This is okay, because you can still just buy a paper ticket, but the Tube is really expensive! We only traveled in one zone, just 4 stops or so, and the cost was $6 per ticket!! Even with the Oyster card it's not much better! Second note to self: Just walk.

I feel like there's been a theme running through the last few days here, and it's not a theme I appreciate. The theme is: RODENTS. I've now seen 2 different mice in our house (one dark brown, one gray), and I can only imagine that there must be hundreds more who are too smart to come out when I'm sitting on the couch. We've set the traps I mentioned above, but for 2 days, the mice have eluded us. Last night we added some Nutella for bait...what mouse could resist Nutella??? I have heard that peanut butter is the best bait, so I'll probably be out purchasing some peanut butter later today. I know the stores stock it here...I've actually been wanting to buy some anyway, so I can eat peanut butter and black current jam sandwiches! Anyway, back to the rodent theme - when we were walking in Hyde Park just after dark, heading for the tube, we saw 2 gigantic rats. Those guys were terrifying!! I don't think I want to hang out in Hyde Park after dark ever again. Generally, it's probably not a wise decision anyway. I was surprised at how quickly it emptied of people. I guess they all know about the rats.

Notice the return of the coffee pictures in the photos with this post. I took a picture of the HP bottle, because it is Daniel's fill-in barbeque sauce here, and that's important. And, if you're wondering why I have the pictures of the coke cans...I am wondering too. :) Not really! I took the coke can picture to document the fact that Daniel always gets Diet Coke and I always get regular Coke, and there's always a little guilt that goes with it. But I don't like Diet Coke or aspartame...I'm sure regular Coke is actually much healthier.

08.23 Fancy Food

2010-08-25T02:19:00.003+01:00

I am a fan of Giada’s Weekend Getaways on the Food Network, and any time I’m able to sample one of the restaurants she recommends, I like to do it! So, of course when we determined that we’d be staying in London this Fall, I paid extra special attention when the London episode came on. Unfortunately, I’m forgetful and I didn’t make any notes! But, with a little web surfing, I was able to figure out that the Indian restaurant she visited was called Amaya, and it’s not too far from our house. It’s a place that you have to make reservations (or sit at a group table….no thanks. I guess I should probably be more sociable). Anyway, we made our reservation and went to eat at Amaya on Monday night. We walked 1.5 miles to get there, and we were hungry to begin with, so we were really ready to eat when we arrived! This is one of those restaurants that we really have no business going to…you are meant to order lots of little dishes to sample different foods, and it is pricey! But, we figured we’d order tap water - actually, I think Daniel missed that memo! His water had bubbles and was not free ;) - and order lightly. We would sample, rather than feast. That plan, in combination with the hunger we were feeling, could have been a recipe for disaster. But, after studying the menu and negotiating over what to order for 10 minutes or so, I think we did pretty well. I’m so glad we were at a private table though! Just think of the peer pressure of sitting with a group who’s ordering & eating freely, when you have to be extremely careful. The waitress seemed concerned that we wouldn’t have enough to eat, but in the end we were satisfied. Over all though, as good as it was, I’m not sure it’s a place to which I can return. I just can’t stomach paying $15 for broccoli with yogurt, even if it is delicious and somewhat exotic. It’s a shame though, because my stomach is growling now, just thinking about those 4 little bitty pieces of deliciously marinated chicken and even the lamb kebab – normally I don’t even like lamb. Oh…I almost forgot to mention one of the best parts…the restaurant didn’t have that heavy Indian spice smell that, strangely enough, tends to accompany Indian food. I’m not sure how they managed that, but it was wonderful for me, since I really don’t like to smell my food on my clothes after I leave a restaurant!

To balance the scales money wise, and perhaps assuage my craving, I went to the store yesterday and bought some Indian TV dinners. We will now eat 2-3 whole Indian meals for less than the cost of that broccoli! I really can’t wait to taste the “TV dinners” actually! At the market we’ve been shopping at, they have all this prepackaged, prepared food….similar to what I would expect in our frozen foods aisle back home, but nothing is frozen. Most things say they’re “suitable for freezing”. Somehow, because the food isn’t frozen at the store, it all seems fresher and more appetizing to me. In general, I really do believe the quality of food is better here, so I’m expecting good things from my Indian dinners.

In the pictures above, you’ll see a bottle of “belu”, which was Daniel’s sparkling water at Amaya. You’ll also see a glowing street shot, which I snapped on the fly while crossing the street…it was a lucky shot & I love how it turned out! There’s a fancy blue car….random, but I knew I’d be low on photos for my post about Monday, and I thought it was cool. Then, you’ll see a picture of Daniel behind a tree, where he hid while I was taking the picture of the car! Tuesday’s post will be even lighter on the pictures. I’m going to have to work harder to find new photo worthy subjects on the days we stay around our neighborhood!

08.22 Mass Transit & a Bus Tour

2010-08-23T01:20:00.002+01:00

Today started off well…we made it to the tube station just in time to catch the train we’d targeted. We got to our appointed tube stop, found the bus we needed, and then exited the bus at the stop we’d planned. In fact, we’d spent over an hour the night before examining maps and planning our route. Unfortunately, in the end I decided to depend on a ‘handy’ official British Transport site, which allowed me to enter my starting tube stop and ending address, and spit out a few route options. Since the options provided by this site were far simpler than anything we’d come up with, we decided to go with it. When we left the bus and started walking, we discovered that we were nowhere near where we needed to be. So, we found another bus, and rode for about 15 more minutes and then walked for 20 additional minutes to reach the church building. By that point, we were pretty late. Lucky for us, they have an hour and a half of worship, so we still got to participate in what felt like a full service to us. We liked the place, and despite the long commute to get there, I can see us going back regularly. However, I think we’ll see if we can find something closer over the next couple of weeks. Unfortunately, since London is preparing for the 2012 Olympics, there is a good deal of construction going on in the Underground. That translates to some major line closures on weekends, which means what would be a very long commute to the Wembley church in the first place, becomes a longer and very complex commute.

After services we headed back to Pepperdine to join up with a bus tour they were providing for the students (and families). It was a fun time! It was cool to realize that we’d already visited most of the “major” London sites on our rambling walks. I now have a list of new places where I’d like to spend time, and we enjoyed hearing more historical and novel details about some of the sites we’d visited already. For me, one of the highlights was getting to see and drive across the Tower Bridge. I also really liked seeing some of the modern architecture in the financial/business downtown. (We learned that London actually has 2 downtowns – one is the financial/business district, and the other is the government center.) We heard tons of interesting facts about Harrod’s, and one that stood out to me was that when they installed England’s first escalator back in the 1800’s, they had employees waiting at the top to offer brandy for the men and smelling salts for the women to calm their nerves after a ride on the moving stairs. Also, you’ll see a picture of a wall with plants growing out of it in the collage. I really thought that was a cool sight. It was a very nice design created with the plants….I’m not really sure how they did it!

Once we were done with the bus tour, it was on to dinner (we had burgers & fries), and then back to the house. We got to have nice phone calls with my parents and Daniel’s mom. I am loving Skype – just the phone call capability at this point, though I’m sure the video calling is pretty great too!

Tomorrow is orientation for Daniel and another day at work for me. We have dinner reservations at Amaya, which is an Indian restaurant we saw featured on Giada’s Weekend Getaways. Should be good!

08.21 Walking Tour

2010-08-22T01:47:00.003+01:00

I just traced our path for today on Google maps, and it looks like we covered at least 6 miles on foot this afternoon. We started by following Daniel’s most direct route to school. Then, we headed for Hyde Park, and I talked Daniel into stopping at the Serpentine Café for a bottle of water. I love this restaurant! It has tons of outdoor seating overlooking the Serpentine, which is the big body of water in Hyde Park. There are weeping willows and other beautiful trees around, and I think I could sit there for hours, just reading or watching the world go by. After sitting for a while, we headed toward Buckingham Palace. I don’t remember having seen it when I was in London before. It was a long time ago…I should have seen it, but maybe I didn’t. After Buckingham Palace, we walked to Westminster Abbey, then Big Ben, then across the Thames. We walked by the London Eye Ferris wheel , and then through a really strange touristy area with a mime, a few living statues, and a couple of guys in gorilla suits, posing for pictures with anyone who would stop (and pay). A very funny area. Then, we headed back across the Thames, in search of dinner. We walked and walked and walked. And ended up getting a great dinner at a place called Zizza’s, right next to the Royal Opera House. We happened to pass several theaters, including the home of the Lion King! I can’t wait to take in a couple of shows! After all our walking, we bought our oyster cards, for optimum rates on the tube, and headed back to our home tube stop. Before heading home from Gloucester Road, there was the requisite stop for chocolate, and a couple other useful supplies.

Tomorrow is Sunday, so we’ll be making our way over to worship at the church in Wembley. It will be a slightly challenging commute, involving a train, a bus, and a walk. We’re giving ourselves plenty of time. Then, tomorrow afternoon there’s a bus tour of London with the school. I can’t wait to see what else we need to see while we’re here!

08.20 Home Away

2010-08-22T01:15:00.001+01:00

This morning we moved into our flat. We took a £5 cab ride with our 7 bags….again, a lovely decision. Our temporary accommodations are really rather fancy. We have granite countertops and a Tempurpedic bed. And, my favorite, huge windows in the living room and the bedroom! The judge Daniel worked for in Houston helped put him in touch with an American lawyer who is living in London. She’s on assignment in Houston for the next 2 months, so we’re renting her flat while she’s away. It is a little odd to move into a place that’s full of someone else’s belongings, but this is the second time we’ve done this now, and I guess we’re getting used to it. We’re getting a really good deal on the rent, and we are so grateful!

After moving in we headed straight out to eat lunch and buy a few groceries. We live just 2 blocks away from a nice market, a drug store, and the Gloucester Road tube station. Very convenient. I was excited to make dinner at home for the first time in weeks! (We were really lazy about cooking for ourselves over the summer, and I’ve missed it.) I made big salads and heated up a store-bought quiche. We drank adorably tiny Diet Cokes. Nothing too fancy, but it tasted so good! Then we did exciting things like washing clothes (and hanging them to dry, because no one here has clothes driers..just folding racks for the clothes to hang on.) And I put in a full day’s work, from about 2pm through 11pm. Strange hours, and I probably won’t be sticking with them, but it worked best that way given the other activities of the day. After work, I read a little and Daniel watched some TV on his computer. I fell asleep on the couch. It was the perfect evening. I am so excited to be settled in one place for a while, and I’m determined to make this more of a homey experience than the last 2 stops, for my own sanity!

08.19 Taking care of business

2010-08-20T21:08:00.003+01:00

Today was a day mostly dedicated to taking care of business. It turned out to be kind of a joke, because we thought we needed to take the tube down to Baker Botts to meet up with our landlord’s secretary to get the keys to our apartment. In actuality, we just needed to walk about 6 blocks from where we started our journey (at Pepperdine). So $16 (dollars, not pounds) later, we ended up walking and walking to the place we should have been . On the plus side, we did get to see some other parts of London. And we talked with a really funny, friendly tube worker, who was super excited to tell us about London and the particular pass we’d purchased for riding the tube.

Today was also the day I had to go back to work. It wasn’t as smooth as I’d hoped, with phone issues causing a bit of complication. But ultimately, I got it all worked out and jumped back into the job. I have worked 100% remotely for over a year now, but I can already tell that the time difference and international phone call factor is going to lead to some complication. I’m sure I’ll be able to work with it all though, and I’m really thankful that I’m able to keep doing my job from abroad!

I’ve been jotting down some funny British phrases and their American equivalents. Here are a few that I like:

Wheely bins – trash cans with wheels for rolling out to the curb
Donkey work – leg work
In or out – for here or to go
Rocket – a type of lettuce, looks like Arugula to me

08.18 Jetlag

2010-08-20T01:57:00.001+01:00

Today began much like yesterday: breakfast at the Imperial College Cafeteria. It’s included with our room after all. Today, however, we didn’t have any solid plans, so we woke up late, ran to get breakfast before they stopped serving it, and headed back to the room to get ready for the day. While Daniel was in the shower, I fell back asleep! And, once I was asleep, I did not want to wake up. I talked him into giving me “5 more minutes”, and then he got occupied taking care of business with emails and arrangements for our housing. The next thing I knew, it was 2:30. (But only 8:30 in Austin, which isn’t so late!!) I felt so much better after sleeping. I realize it’s a pretty lame way to spend a vacation day, but I think I was able to fully enjoy the rest of the day, because I had rested.

And, with the rest of the day, we headed out to get dinner (a.k.a. lunch). We ate at a neat place called Giraffe on High Kensington, and then headed into Hyde Park for a 2 ½ hour walk. It was so awesome! The park is gorgeous, the weather felt like Fall, and the light was amazing in the hours prior to sunset! We even had some dramatic clouds to make for interesting pictures. We stopped to watch some ducks, and they were cracking me up, chasing each other, quacking and splashing! Daniel said he’d heard someone say that ducks were the silliest of God’s creations. Everything about them just makes you want to giggle! The quacking, the way they walk, and particularly one specimen who was turning his whole body perpendicular to put his head in the water to get food – leaving his tail sticking straight up. I should have taken a picture. In addition to the ducks, we saw a pair of swans and their “ducklings”. (I wonder if there’s a special word for a baby swan.) Having never seen baby swans in person before, I couldn’t help but think of “The Ugly Duckling”.

I am already planning for picnics and walks in the park as often as possible! This was my favorite outing so far.

08.17 Day 2

2010-08-20T01:32:00.005+01:00

Today started with breakfast at the Imperial College cafeteria. Strange breakfast foods were eaten (e.g. baked beans and mushrooms). We thought we were running late for our housing meeting, but we weren’t too worried about it, because we’d awoken to an email from a contact of one of the judges Daniel worked for in Houston. The news: she is willing to rent her flat to us for a very discounted rate, and it is located just a few blocks from the school. This is about the best scenario we could have hoped for! This neighborhood is fantastic, and now we won’t have to pay for traveling to school, which could cost 70 pounds or more per month. We’ll probably need to find other accommodations for the second half of our stay, but we feel good about that…we’re hopeful that we’ll make some good contacts here in the meantime. On top of that, we weren’t late to our meeting.

After the orientation, we headed out to buy our SIM cards on High Kensington Street. On the way it drizzled a bit, so we decided it was time to buy umbrellas. I got a cute frilly one, and Daniel got a practical, larger model. Then, we stopped for a coffee (for Daniel) at a cool looking place called Caffé Nero. Finally, it was down to business. We decided to go with T-Mobile SIMs (for better coverage) and then we headed to a traditional British pub for fish & chips for lunch. Our fish & chips were pretty fancy….no newsprint included. All in all, the meal was good. We both liked the pickled onions, which was a surprise. During lunch we installed the SIM cards and were excited to realize they will work in our iPhones!! Now we don’t have to live without instant answers to every question, constant communication with friends on Facebook, and most importantly, readily available maps for when we’re lost!

After lunch, we wandered along to the neighborhood where we’ll be staying during the first part of the semester. It’s really nice! Then we headed back to the hotel/dorm. We walked past the other side of the Museum of Natural History, which is an awesome building. Then, I think we may have taken a nap, but I don’t remember. (I’m writing this 2 days later. I should remember!) In the end, we headed out to eat dinner at a really great restaurant called Di Mario’s. We’ll surely be back to eat again there. And, we capped off the evening with a stop at the same market as the night before – once again purchasing a large bottle of water and supplies of chocolate.

All in all, a great day! Lots of walking, good food, and fun just spending time with Daniel and exploring our new neighborhood.

08.15 - 08.16 Travel to London and Day 1 in London

2010-08-19T00:37:00.003+01:00

Some good things about our travel day(s):
- Salt Lick for breakfast
- Starbuck’s and the awesome Samsung Lounge for our 5 hour lay-over in DFW
- Pappasito’s for a farewell to TX meal
- Daniel & I catching the eye of a stranger across the terminal and laughing together at the pronunciation of a name over the loud speaker
- An empty middle seat on the plane to London
- The decision to take a cab (though expensive) from the airport to our temporary housing at Imperial College with our 7 bags in tow. (The Tube was our other option.)

I didn’t sleep the night before our flight, but I ended up in a very relaxed, happy mood all day, because I was able to accomplish everything I wanted to accomplish before we left. All the details of our trip went smoothly, until we arrived at Imperial College at 9am, only to realize that we couldn’t check into our room until 2pm. At that point, I started to cry. Yes, cry. It was only the promise of a bed and a nap that had kept me going as we stood in line for an hour for immigration. I was just so tired. It was funny and sad. As always, Daniel was a sweetheart and helped me feel better.

Once I pulled myself together, we walked a few blocks from the dorm to get some brunch. Along the way, we commented and laughed about how wrong it feels to “Look Right” before starting to cross the road. We walked past the Pepperdine campus, the British Natural History Museum, and the Science Museum. Both museums boast free entry, and are just a short walk away, so I think we’ll probably go check them out during our stay in the dorms this week. We ended up at a little French café, eating outside alongside the noise of traffic and road construction and street sweeping. Unlikely as it may seem, the noises, sites & smells all blended to create the perfect ‘welcome to London’ experience. We watched deliveries being delivered and restaurant owners sweeping their patios to greet the first customers of the day. It was a gray morning, and quite chilly on the sidewalk – even in sweaters, the breeze had us shivering. We were euphoric, feeling that we’d jumped straight into the middle of fall. Adios Texas summer! Our food was really nice as well. My fresh squeezed limeade with mint couldn’t have tasted better, and Daniel was delighted with his soup-bowl sized Americano. Of course I had to make fun of him for ordering an Americano at a French café in London.

After lingering at the café, we wandered to the Pepperdine house at 56 Prince’s Gate. We buzzed in and got the tour of the facilities. It’s a very tall “house” with lots of stairs. It doesn’t really feel like a college campus at all. Perhaps that will change when the students arrive. Today the place was quite empty, though we did meet a few of Daniel’s classmates. Eventually 1:45 arrived, and we headed to check in at the temporary housing. We dragged our 7 bags to our very decent room and 3 hours of truly beautiful sleep ensued. Waking up to head out for dinner and cell phone shopping was torturous – until I stepped outside and realized our gray day was gone and a sunny, golden late afternoon had taken its place. We walked a block in the opposite direction from our morning jaunt, and found ourselves facing an entrance to Hyde Park. I couldn’t stop stopping, snapping iPhone photos of all the trees and buildings and just sheer London-ness everywhere we turned.

Cell phone shopping wasn’t lovely, but we did find a lovely shopping district. And once the shops closed – soon after our arrival – we found ourselves another sidewalk café for dinner. It was perfect. I’m so thrilled to be able to eat outside again. Post dinner, we wandered down a street that looked quaint, and just meandered our way back toward Imperial College. Though our map wasn’t great, we managed to find our way without too many wrong turns. We loved getting to walk and soak in the neighborhood together. When we found a little food shop, we stopped for our essential supplies: bottled water and chocolate. We’re already feeling so blessed to have 4 whole months here. It’s a luxury to be free to wander and explore on a whim, and to know that we can revisit interesting places we find along the way on a later date.

Now, it’s barely past 10 pm and Daniel’s already crashed out for the night. My eyes are drooping as I type. I don’t think either one of us will have a problem getting a full night’s sleep tonight, and we’ll be ready for more adventure tomorrow. Finding a place to stay while we’re here is featured on our agenda.

New Travels - Fall Semester in London, 2010

2010-08-19T00:36:00.001+01:00

We've decided to pick up posting on our old travel blog....the adventures continue here. :)

Rearview - Under the Tuscan Sun

2007-06-03T13:02:00.001+01:00

[We arrived safely back home on Friday morning, and since then I've been reviewing the memories (and photos) of our trip. I am planning to record some of the memories while they are fresh on my mind, and now that I have free flowing computer and internet access, I can also add some photos too.]

It's a tough call to say what my favorite day of our trip was, since we did so many exciting things. As for favorite moments, this photo captures the essence of one of the very best. We were headed out of Tuscany on the way to a town called Orvieto, where we had reserved a room for the evening. The day in Tuscany had been amazing...everything I would have hoped for and more, so I was already feeling euphoric. We'd been observing some awesome clouds throughout the second half of our day, but they were always in the distance, providing a dramatic view, but no rain, for which we were thankful. Just as we left the Tuscan region we began to smell rain in the air. I always love the fresh smell of rain, but the scent of rain in the Tuscan hill country, after a day of fun and adventure, with the windows down and the late afternoon sun beginning to cast everything in gold quickly made it's way to the top of my list of favorite moments in the whole trip.

The experience of driving in Italy (or riding anyway) was an adventure in itself, and we spent more time laughing on that day than any other I think. David did a great job as the wheel man, and the rest of us thouroughly enjoyed taking our turns at navigating. At the beginning of the morning we purchased an atlas for Tuscany, and cracked it open, expecting to find road names and mileage notations, but finding instead a not so helpful relief map of the Italian countryside. A review of our trusty Rick Steve's book confirmed that, no, we had not bought a bum map...in Italy the roads are rarely marked with road names, but rather a plethora of signs pointing in the direction of various cities. You travel from round-about to round-about, frantically scanning what at times can be 30-40 signs to tell you which direction to take next. It's like connect the dots, and the Tuscan atlas became more useful as we figured out the method to the madness of Italian driving. We were able to identify the towns between where we were and where we wanted to be, and away we went.

The first town we hit was San Gamignano, a town with many of its historic towers still intact. It's at the top of a large hill, and the views of the surrounding countryside are really spectacular. David and Daniel tackled the stairs to the top of one of the towers and got some great photos, which I will add to this post as soon as I get them from David. Cars are not allowed in the old part of the city, and the whole town is very charming. I would love to return there one day to spend a couple of days relaxing and enjoying the views.

The next stop for us was Montalcino. By the time we reached this town, we had seen plenty of incredible countryside and we were very ready for lunch! Unfortunately for us, it was after 2pm (a.k.a 14:00), and we discovered that these small Italian towns don't have restaraunts that stay open all afternoon. Fortunately for us, we then discovered a fortress with a "snack bar" of sorts that was open, and we ended up having a really fun meal which began with a tasting of local olive oils, and ended with a tasting of local honeys.

Our next target was Montepulciano, but we were running out of time before we were due to check in at our hotel in Orvieto, so we had to just drive through that town. The actual drive between these towns was reported to be fantastic, and it did not disappoint. The only disappointment was that we didn't have more time to enjoy it. I truly hope we will be able to return one day and emerse ourselves in Tuscany for an extended time.

As for Orvieto, it was another happy surprise, with the hotel turning out to be a nice place to rest (with a very decent bathroom) at a reasonable price, and with the old part of the town at the top of a plateau above the modern city. It was in Orvieto that I had the best gelato of the trip (stratchiatella, of course!) I would revisit Orvieto just for the gelato, but the old town square and the cathedral were very quaint as well. We were there on a Friday, and it was wonderful for us to sit and watch the local children run around and around the square while their parents enjoyed gelato and friendly conversation in the cool evening. This was one of the rare (and appreciated) times I really felt that we had escaped tourist Italy and entered authentic Italy. (Not that tourist Italy is anything to complain about!)

Following a restful night of sleep in Orvieto we headed for the airport in Rome to return our rental car and experience Rome...some of that was covered in previous posts, and I'll probably add more detail later, but for now, ciao.

2007-05-28T06:37:00.000+01:00

We are about to visit the Vatican Museum and St. Peter's Cathedral, then, we're headed to the Cinque Terre on the train. I love the train days, because I get to relax and read, and glance out the window to see Europe anytime I feel like it.

This is going to be a quick entry for me, because I need to go eat breakfast. Daniel says hello. We are having a great time, but we are starting to look forward to being home too.

Goodbye for now.

Top 10 Reasons to eat at McDonald's in Rome

2007-05-27T07:03:00.000+01:00

10. You could order McDonald's version of steak fries (but we didn't)
9. You could order McPineapple (which David did...though he will deny it, because he so badly did not want to eat at McDonald's in Italy, he's probably already blocked it out.) (And if you're wondering how we convinced him to go ahead and eat there, just keep reading, with a strong emphasis on number 2.)
8. You pay up front, and therefore are in complete control when you may leave the restraunt. We understand and even appreciate the cultural difference here, but it's hard to get used to having to ask for your check after being left alone by the server for an hour.)
7. You are just a little bit tired of fine Italian food. (Which I would not have thought possible.)
6. There is cultural enlightenment (and amusement) to be found in the comparison of speed of food service in Italy vs. at home, even at a place like McDonald's.
5. The drink is included. (!)
4. The fries taste good. (!!)
3. The menu may offer wine, but the cashier will not look down her nose at you when you do not order it.
2. The meal costs a fraction of what you would pay anywhere else (or have been paying everywhere else)
1. You can enjoy the evening while eating at a lovely outdoor table overlooking the Pantheon (some of the best restraunt real estate in Rome) and linger as long as you like.

missing posts

2007-05-27T06:45:00.000+01:00

Good morning friends. It's Sunday morning, and we are looking forward to going to church here in Rome. This is the first time I've had more than 10 minutes to look at a computer during this whole trip, and I've noticed that a couple of posts are missing! We have been so restricted with computer time, that I failed to notice that they weren't posting. I'll try to find them in the drafts folder and restore them in a minute. However, most of the missing posts are still in my head. Here are some of the titles...I'm hoping I will be able to come back through and fill in the details (with pictures) after the trip, at least for memories for Daniel & I. Here's what we could have been blogging about:

Salzburg - A Bridge Too Far
Mullets over Munich
American Hospitality in Paris
Le'Soufle, c'il vous plait (Which Daniel could spell correctly for me, if he weren't still sleeping this morning :))
What's So Great About Paris?
Venetian Charm
The Alps by Train
Florence & the beginning of our journey to Too Much (Delicious) Italian Food
Under the Tuscan Sun (including lessons in foreign car rentals and driving in Italy)
Veni, Vidi, Vici (once again, Daniel would be able to help with spelling)

There's a ton of detail to fill in, and maybe even some other titles I should have included. Not to mention Daniel's take on things. But for now I will use a separate post to share the entry that was at the top of my mind last night...

still on the run....

2007-05-26T14:02:00.000+01:00

to anyone who is still peeking back at what has turned out to be a rather lame travel blog, i apologize. :)

we are still running around, having fun and trying to post when we can. internet has been hard to come by, but we have it in the hotel today, so hopefully i can post more tonight.

we miss you guys!

p.s. we are in rome

Imprimis (A recovered post)

2007-05-22T09:13:00.000+01:00

Well,

It has taken longer than I hoped to post my first blog, due mainly to the difficulty to access free internet over here.

So, as one already knows from everyone else's blog, we arrived safely in Germany and headed straight for Salzburg (home of Mozart and setting to the Sound of Music), but it was about 40 degrees and pouring rain. So after almost catching a cold by drifting around the old town looking for good German food, we ironically ended back up in the train station eating there (which was good German food). An Irish man decked out like a Lucky from Lucky Charms kept addressing me in German, though I told him in German, French, English, and even with an Irish accent that I do not speak the language. He continued to laugh and mutter German at me giving me the overall impression that I was the butt of the joke.

In preservation of time and space for you and me I will hit the main highlights thus far and hopefully provide more detailed updates.

Munich:

The main highlight of the beautiful city was eating in the huge garden located at the center. I ate schwienerschnitzl with fries. It was awesome, of course. From Munich, we took a night train to Paris.

The night train reminded me much of the portrayal of the steerage accomodations on the Titanic movie, with six short beds stacked in threes on opposite sides of the crammed cabin. I slept off and on during the bumpy ride. The main thing that disturbed sleep was sporadic stops in the middle of the night that halted the necessary white noise and the odd solar pattern here. The sun sets at about 9:30 to 10 and rises at about 5:30.

Paris:

Love the city. I wont recount the story of us missing our bike tour or rushing everywhere, but will record how we journied away from the Eiffel Tower to find a local crepe stand and enjoyed the best cappicino I have ever had while dining on the side walk of a busy Parisian intersection with temperatures in the 50s and 60s, maybe 70 a couple of days.

Musee d'Orsay was awesome and allowed us to see Van Gogh, Manet, Monet etc. Rachel and I went to Pont Neuf, mainly because I wanted to see where Jason Bourne was directing the CIA in the first movie, Saint Chapelle, and the Notre Dame, which the highlight there revolved around the Bread Festival in the front lawn where Rachel and I ate a baguette, free sugar crepes, etc.

As if that was not enough food, we grabbed a Croque Monsieur on the way back to the Louvre.

Oh, I almost forgot to mention the Souffle Restaurant that Jenny took us to where we all had about 10 courses of souffle, from cheese to chocolate (dark of course). Other great dishes: onion soup, galettes, creme brulee, chocolate brioche, quiche, and, ironically, indian food.

Overall, the city excellent with perfect weather most of the year that shelters the historic city laid on cobblestones and fast, clear rivers that surround the 5-10 story buildings made of old stone and masterful architecture. I am sure that on this point alone I could elaborate an entire blog, but unfortunately, I am writing 5 days into one blog, much of which others have already mentioned.

Before I leave Paris I also want to mention going to Place de Concorde, which is where Antoinette lost her head and Madonna stays when in Paris. Also, Jenny obtained the pleasure of watching a scene shot from this plaza for the next Bourne movie that comes out soon. We saw all the shopping districts and monuments etc. that more words will only fail to describe in addition to the abridged novel I have thusfar provided, so, ask me upon return to see the pictures, which are worth 1001 words.

I will let it end at this, as we are about to journey through the alps to Italy. Hopefully I will be able to post another blog sooner so that it is not a rapid fire, bulleted list of only highlights.

On the run!!!

2007-05-18T19:43:00.000+01:00

We're heading to the train...have to be there in just 8 minutes or so!!! we will post more about munich and our first days in europe tomorrow. i can't wait to sleep on the train....it's so exciting!

on the way (A recovered post)

2007-05-17T00:31:00.000+01:00

well we are in the airport in chicago & everything has gone smoothly so far. daniel & I practiced italian phrases all the way from austin to houston. my brother took a long lunch to deliver us to the airport and it was great to see him for a quick hello. we're looking forward to visiting more with him and reda on the way home.

the novel thing about this post is that I'm using david's phone to write it. very cool. thanks david. :)

If you want to get another perspective on our trip, you can see davids blog at http://redskycreative.vox.com or amys blog at http://coffee_girl.pleonast.com

the beginning

2007-05-16T16:44:00.000+01:00

05.16.2007 (or is that 16.05.2007?)

Welcome to our European vacation. Daniel's not sure if anyone will read our blog, so if you do read, consider leaving us a comment. We'd love to hear from you.

Right now we're still at home in Austin. Today's plan is to get out of here by 9:00, stop for coffee (for Daniel of course), and drive to Houston for our flight at 3:00 or so. We're traveling with another couple, David & Amy. I'm leaving last names out of this, in case any brilliant criminals scan blogs to see who's out of town and target their homes. And, for those of you who are reading and may not know me all *that* well, welcome to my mind. Those who do know me well might say that I'm paranoid. (Could it be that they're just jealous that they don't think of these things?) I say I'm prepared, and I know there are at least a few of you out there who will understand.

Along those lines though, we are very thankful to another anonymous friend, who may be reading, for house-sitting while we're gone. If we had pets or plants, they would thank you too.

I already began my transition to European time last night by staying awake until 4:30 am packing & tying up loose ends. I'm quite glad Daniel is the driver for our trek to Houston.

Back to David & Amy, they will be here any minute, so I guess I should go.

Check back soon for updates (and hopefully some photos too!)