Mike's Visit to London: June 7-12

Earlier in June, Mike Lee became my second visitor. Yeah!

Its neat, that Mike's interests were very different from Lori's, making for an ENTIRELY different adventure! Lori wanted to see everything... all the tourist sites. Mike wanted to live like the locals, good restaurants and shopping.

Mike arrived on Thursday. Marcus Gladson picked him up and gave him a tour around Southall, where he ministers. I met up with them around dinner time back at the flat and we went up to Bayswater for dinner. Had a delightful meal at a Persian restaurant. Sooo yum. Took a stroll and then got ice cream. Mike kept insisting that he couldn't even tell he was in London. He could be in Boston for all he knew! Well of course I saw that as a challenge and had to change that.

With both of us still jet lagged (translated, no where near ready to go to sleep), I took him for an evening tour of all the sites. We hopped up the Tube in Piccadilly (Time Square), walked down to the famous Trafalgar Square and down Pall Mall to Buckingham Palace. The Mall was decorated with brilliant giant flags left over from the Queen's Jubilee (birthday) the weekend prior). Mike sure couldn't say we were in Boston anymore! We continued down to Westminster, Parliament and Big Ben. We took the typical pictures, including the phone booth pic. Walked along the river (saw The Eye) and up into Embankment and home. Great night.

On Friday, I had to work, but Mike slept in and then spent the day in Victoria. I'm still trying to figure out why, ha, ha, but he says the shopping was good. After work we'd planned to go to The London Eye, but got distracted by a music festival on the South Bank. Very fun event. Stayed for quite a while and then back to Paternoster Square for a fancy English dinner. After dinner we were off for another evening stroll... to check out Smithfields. Mostly bars and restaurants. We didn't go in, but it was nice exploring.

Saturday we spent exploring in Covent Garden and shopping on Oxford Street. Mike was very excited to get some Euro jeans. I got a fun shirt. We both got tea. Then we meant up with Marcus for dinner at this amazing little restaurant, Incognico, on Shaftsbury Lane. Three brilliant courses with champagne for 25GBPs! From there, met up with some coworkers of mine to see a show, The Drowsy Chaperone. It was decent. Not Wicked, but decent. (And fortunately not Mary Poppins either, which Kevin and I saw last week and REALLY weren't thrilled by. I think he wanted to blind himself to make the pain stop.) Anyway... after the show, we walked around Leicester Square and hung out in a pub for bit. Wonderful evening.

Sunday we ventured by boat up to Greenwich to see the meridian. Neat! I got to stradle a date line. So childish, but I loved it. The whole observatory area was beautiful with quite the view. And the boat ride was much fun. Wrapped up the day with church at HTB and then dinner in South Kensington.

Monday I was back to work and Mike did some last minute shopping before some lunch and then off to the airport. I'm so glad he came. It was truly a wonderful weekend.

Here's the pics!

Wimbledon Day Four

Day Three I’d been prodding my coworker, Brian, to come with me. He had a late meeting so terribly disappointed, he had to decline. I think he was slightly thrilled that it was a rain out, so he couldn't be so bummed. AND because he knew he’d have a better chance to coax me to head out again for Day 4.

So Thursday morning, when he began to prod me, it didn’t take much (as he knew it wouldn’t)to get me to go. Again, left work around 4PM and joined the famous queue!

This queue was MUCH longer than days before, but we still were in the grounds by about six, hurried to the resale queue, and off to see tennis on Court 2 by 6:30.

Brian actually went to see some doubles matches on another court first, but I was excited to race to see Amelie Mauresmo, the reining female Champion of Wimbledon. It could be a tight run between Henin and Mauresmo for this year’s title. And if they both make it to the final, it will be an exact rematch of last year. Amelie was incredible to watch. So powerful and athletic yet with a touch of grace. She easily took out her opponent in two sets.

Then it was time for me to see some doubles. Brian caught up with me on Court 2 to see the team of Eric Butorac (USA - who I met) playing with the UK's own Jamie Murray (brother of the famous Andy Murray) against Hernandez (ESP) and Starace (ITA). Our boys won easily in three sets. They too were fun to watch. Then we went to Court 3 to see USA boys Amer Delic and Bobby Reynolds playing fairly well known Baghdatis (CYP) and Wawrinka (SUI). Again, my US boys take it. Took some effort though, so we got to see four fun sets. Yeah!!!

The sun began to set and it was time to go home. Did I mention I love it here?

Brian mocked me as I looked around Wimbledon, in my own way, saying my goodbyes for the year. That would be my last day of this Wimbledon. Ah… it was like a dream. Or maybe just a small sliver of heaven God blessed me with this week. This trip to the UK was the best yet. A few good days with Kevin, a few good days with Amy, and a few good days with Wimbledon. God is good.

And as far as Wimbledon, maybe next year, my friend. Maybe next year.

Wimbledon Day Three

Worked on Wednesday, but cut out just after 4PM to get my tennis fix. Trekked out to Wimbledon and joined the queue, which because of lots of rain, was fairly manageable. Got in quite quickly, raced off to the resale queue, and then I waited. Henman was up again on Center Court, so there was a pretty large queue. But because of the rain delays, I was able to get tickets for Court 1, where Federer (men’s #1) would be wrapping up and Court 2, where American Blake was playing. I was THRILLED!!

Many times it looked like the rain would clear. The wait was fine. Just being on the grounds is an amazing experience. Went to the shop, got some fish and chips and walked around. Unfortunately everyone had the same idea, so it seemed I’d spend the evening merely jumping from queue to queue. Hopefully, I took my fish and chips and headed to Court 1. The clouds were clearly and we all applauded anxiously. Being cautious, the refs held off a bit longer. To pass the time, the crowd started a wave, which went around about six times and then switched directions for two. Pretty funny. Quite common in footie, but a little untraditional for Wimbledon. But heck, we were having fun and that was all that mattered. We all began to cheer wildly as they dropped and rolled back the court cover. You could feel the tension. And then… THE HEAVEN’S OPENED!!!

Oh my, so much rain. I sat there for a few minutes (I had my full sailing foul weather gear on, pants and all), but then as my rucksack looked like it was going to float away, I headed for cover. Another fun thing about Wimbledon is meeting all sorts of great folks. It really is an event you can go to alone and have a magnificent time, none the less. I chatted for a bit with one of the guardies. Nice chap. And then over the loud speaker, they called the rest of the evening cancelled.

Somehow the evening though didn’t feel like a wash. I still had had three brilliant hours on the grounds of the most magnificent tennis club in the world. Just can’t get enough!

Wimbledon Day One, Part Two

So we have the tickets and hand and enter the complex. Our excitement was incredible! There would be about two hours before our first Court 1 match (at 1PM), so we went to one of the smaller courts to check out some earlier matches. But then… the rain. It would rain off and on, heavy at times, for the next several hours. We began to worry because Amy’s flight was at 5:30, so she’d have to leave around 2:30. They delayed the start to 1:30 and then 2. About 2:15 they took the covers off to begin play at 2:30. Amy had a decision to make. Bravely (or riskily, ha, ha) she chose to stay at least for the beginning of the match. Roddick and Gimelstob entered the court.

Great tennis is all I can say. Andy was his regular talented self and Justin did pretty well holding his own. The best thing about Justin though was the shear effort and lots of personality. Andy was fairly stiff, typical stoic, but Justin was full of fun. Amy left as needed but we’d sat with two great Belgian girls who’d likewise provide great entertainment for the rest of the match. In the end, though closer than we’d have thought, it was Roddick. Great showing though Gimelstob! I think I have a crush on him, ha, ha.

Next was Justine Henin, seeded first for the ladies. She was truly magnificent. Took it in two fairly quick sets. Blake was to be up last, but because of the rain delay (we had another delay in between Match 1 and 2), they chose to postpone. But no worries! There was still great excitement to be had! Henman, Britian’s favorite after Andy Murray dropped out due to injury, was in Center Court against Moye. Tight match up! I didn’t bother to try to get tickets for that match, because frankly, it was just as fun to watch on the big screen on the hill, now affectionately being called “Henman Hill”. Sensational crowd! Lots of energy (and no queue!). At 9:30, the had to stop for the night, due to lack of light. It was a nail biter!! What would happen?

Henman would go on to win it Tuesday coming down to the very end of five sets. It was touch and go all the way, with a brilliant showing by both men. The total game time was four and a half hours, so you know it was HARD fought battle.

Wimbledon Day One, Part One

Live from Wimbledon!

I’ve discovered that I absolutely LOVE TENNIS!!! Yes, for any of you who’ve seen me play, my play is desperate, but I am most certainly a very good court observer!

Yesterday Amy and I awoke about half five to ready and out the door by just after six. Arriving at Wimbledon just before seven, we joined the queue. With much excitement, we looked out our queue numbers, 914 and 915. We knew there would be 6000 grounds passes available and about 1000 show court tickets. Yeah!!!

It was around 9AM when we then began to be graced by the tangible hand of God. Down the line came staff to pass out wrist bands for each court. The two people in front of us got the last two bands for Court 2, the last of the show courts. There would be plenty of other matches to watch, but I had my heart set on Court 1. Would have been happy with Court 2, but really hoped for Court 1, with Roddick (3) and Gimelstob (both Americans) in the first and Henin (1) in the second. Henin has a good shot to take it all for the women. Disappointed, but still content, we continued toward the ticket windows.

Someone had mentioned that some times individuals acquire court bands but then don’t actually purchase. Possibly we still had a chance for at least Court 2. At least that would mean we could see Serena Williams and Hingis (though I’ve seen them both before… at the US Open). Yeah… wish I could go to more matches. This was my third Wimbledon and I’ve been to the US Open once. French Open maybe someday? Australian?

Anyway… we get to the booth and I enquire. The young lady assisting us went to check with a manager. She came back with regrets. BUT… then just as she was handing me my ground ticket, her manager came in to the booth. “We do have tickets for obstructed view Court 1. Would that be of any interest?” YAHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

You see, I’d been PRAYING and PRAYING. So hard, you have no idea. Seems so silly to pray for something like this, but recently listened to an old Lon sermon who says not to brush things off. Just pray and believe. I actually did. All morning I’d been praying and oddly I really did believe some how we’d get in to Court 1. And we did! Not to mention that b/c it was obstructed view, we got the tickets half price AND there wasn’t really even anything obstructed in our view. These were AWESOME seats! You must see the pics to see how brilliant they truly were.

Ok… very tired. Enough writing for today. Stay tuned and I’ll tell you more soon!

The Rest of May

The rest of may was much less eventful.

During the week, I worked hard and we went out to the occaisional decent meal. I was having a lot of trouble sleeping so was a little off kilter. Emotional and homesick a lot. Kevin was in town for a week though, and being the champ he is, he took good care of me and we had a fun time.

Checked out a "Pastorate" at Holy Trinity Bromptom. I thought it was going to be like a small group or bible study... but it was worship followed by a talk. Wasn't real impressed by the talk. HTB is much more charismatic than I believed. Not sure what I think of that. Need to explore more. Everyone was perfectly nice, but didn't really connect with anyone. That was a HUGE disappointment. Probably added to the home sickness. There's just nothing like FNBS. I'm thankful for my Christian friends at home. I have one coworker, Jovan, who is a believer, but it would be nice to have just one girl friend here that knows the Lord.

BUT I did get my fix for a great gal friend the third weekend in May. Stephanie (Avey) Shafer, my friend originally from DC, now in Vienna, Austria, was in the UK for the weekend. Her new husband was still living in Harrogate (near York and Leeds) so I traveled up there to meet them. Harrogate is a delightful little town. And we had a wonderful weekend. I stayed at a brilliant hotel, the Yorkshire. Jason came to pick me up when I got in and we went to their UK wedding reception. Met some great folks. That was Friday night. Saturday I slept in and then went strolling around town. Found a beautiful little park and the Shafers (who'd slept in ever more!) met me there. We then went out to lunch at a wonderful little English cafe. Yummm. They had to go pack, so I strolled a bit longer and then got back on the train. But, having to switch in York, I took a bit more time there and toured around. Neat city. Lots of history. But I forgot how bit! My hoofs were killing me. Back home to London for a relaxing evening.

The next day I slept in again but then went to the National Gallery for an art visit. Saw the Sunflowers and a Seurat that I love. Wonderful, leisurely day. Then off to HTB for church. The Pastorate made me feel funny about things... but I still simply love the worship there. God is present, no doubt.

Later that week I went home and it was off to a great week in the Outer Banks!

Lori's Visit - London and Paris

This is why I don't journal regularly... I forget. I laugh to think that back in May I said I was going to catch up... now its the end of June. Oops!

So the rest of May... Lori Smith came to visit me in early May. Yeah! My first visitor! She was around almost a whole week so we had LOADS of time for all sorts of adventures. We began with a delightful little lunch in Paternoster Square and then I sent her out to check out the sights. Unfortunately, I had to go back to work. My overwhelming volume of work was sadly continuing. When we met up later, we had a pretty mellow evening. Saving energy for the next few days!

Friday AM it was back to work for me and off to play for Lori. I think she saw EVERYTHING! I was able to escape around 3PM and met her to go to Tower of London. It was wonderful. Unfortunately though, we'd made a tragic touring error, mistaking the closing time and didn't have hardly enough time to see everything. Terrible thing with a 16GBP entrance fee! But we then head off town to the London Eye, which is really a very slow moving giant ferris wheel. Brilliant view of all of London! Afterwards we met up back at my flat with a few coworkers to grab some burgers and then back to pack for Paris!

Took the Eurostar... great way to Paris. Started our trip at Musee D'Orsay, my most favorite museum in the world! Tons of impressionist art. LOVE IT! Then it was off toward the Eiffel Tower. We cruised down the Champs Ellysee which was a delight. Lori got her first crepe as a snack before we made it to a delightful little french restaurant (that we simply tripped over - our big mistake in Paris was no good travel guide!) The meal was fun, yummy, unforgetable. Then we were on the move again. Got to the Arc D'Triomphe around sunset and that was amazing. Then up the Eiffel Tower for some dynamic nighttime views. We met the most delightful couple as we waited. Ended up spending the whole rest of the night hanging there with them. Their names escape me right now... which really bums me out. I think her name was Linda. They're from Texas, that I remember, and she's an NP (we talked shop a little).

The next day we had a lovely little Parisian breakfast at a sidewalk cafe and then it was off to the Louvre. Gorgeous day, so lots of pics taken inside and out. Saw Venus, so Mona, and then saw the Napoleanic Apts. Very cool. Not time for too much more (you could get lost in there for days!), b/c we wanted to head out to Versailles. That was pretty magnificent. Lori scored us onto this awesome tour. Saw the whole place and got the blow my blow on all of it. My favorite was the Hall of Mirrors. Just something magnificent about it. I think Lori though loved the theatre. That was pretty cool too. The gardens were crazy huge. We went to these dancing fountains which were wild. We got soaked! But it was neat.

That evening we went up to Montemarte and Sacre Couer. Though I'd been to Paris before, I'd never made it there. It was brilliant. We stared at the art in the santuary for what seemed like forever. Lots of detail to pick out. The view from the front steps was to die for. We walked down the hill for another brilliant little Parisian meal. Wine, amazing food, hysterical waiter. He was a real doll. Perfect. Went back to take some night pictures of Sacre Couer, a few tourist purchases for the neices, and the back to the hotel. Turns out the election was today in France! We watched on tv Place d'Concorde was nuts! We'd missed it all, ha, ha, as we'd roamed Paris' perimeter all day. Slightly disappointed, but I think generally thankful. Would have been too surreal crazy.

We were wiped out by the last day, so took it a bit easier. Pleasant breakfast near the hotel. Sidebar - Did I mention we nicknamed this hotel the "dollhouse"? I've never seen such a tiny room with such tiny beds. Oh my. Anyway... after breakfast we were off to the cathedrals. Notre Dame first... than Sainte Chappelle. Both very different but entirely unique. We spent the rest of the day, floating and strolling. Got on a lovely boat cruise of the Seine. Dropped us off near the Champs Ellysee where we got a bagette for lunch and then just pretended we could afford the place. Lori bought a pair of sunglasses just so we could say we bought something there (well, also b/c at some point she put them in my pocket, I didn't know, and then fell out).

The train ride how was a perfect conclusion. We ended up in first class and had the most decadent meal I've ever had on transport. And wine of course... even champagne. I'm learning to like champagne here. We had some deep conversations on the ride home which I think has now bonded us for life, ha, ha.

Lori had another day in London. Again I worked, she toured. But we had a great evening. We went with some coworkers to the Absolute Ice Bar. Got to walk through Trafalgar and Picidilly (got pics of course) and then on to the bar. Pretty cool to do once, but overpriced to do again. The whole place is made of us. You wear these funny capes to keep warm. Absolute cocktails are served in glasses made of ice. Of course many pics taken there. Then we proceeded to a wonderful italian dinner (I joked with Lori that... Look! I'm giving you Italy too!) We still had a tad bit of energy and since it was Lori's last night, wasn't ready to go home. Brian took us and Alyssa to this little underground win bar in Embankment. And when I say underground, I mean it! Its in an old wine celler. Very cool. Fun night.

So that was the end of that adventure. We were both EXHAUSTED! But it was a great week.