A Visit to Philly and CT: Aug 4-8

Well, maybe its cheating to write about time at home in my UK blog, but when it comes to my neices, I break all the rules. I just can't help but tell you all about them. But.. before I got to CT, I had a great journey to Philadephia with a bunch of friends. I believe there were 40 of us in all!

My friend Steve led us around for the day. We ordered cheesesteaks at Gino's (and ordered properly!), did some shopping, saw all the historic sites, walked up the Rocky steps (by then it was just too hot and we were too tired to run, ha, ha), and finished the day at a Phillies game. It was all GREAT fun. Check out our pics below.



I stayed in Philly that night. Courtesy of too many Hilton miles, I had a free night and free breakfast in a delightful suite near the Liberty Bell. I only wish I'd had more time to really enjoy it! Fabulous hotel and couldn't believe they'd given me a suite! But... my babies were waiting. On to CT.

I'll let more pics show you our fun... but the next three days were filled with lots of wonderful times with my neices. Beaches, visits to Friendly's, cookouts, sandboxes... all sorts of good times. They're just amazing to me; I don't get nearly enough time with them. Its wild too to watch their personalities develop. They're very different, but both wonderful girls. Lexi is more quiee and often prefers to play alone. But she is just about the sweetest little creature I've ever met and a total cuddle bug. I hug from her can melt you. Evelyn is high energy and brilliant. She talks up a storm and is very independant. When she says my name with her big smile ("Auntie Anj!") that smile becomes instantly contagious. And they get along quite well. I could watch them for hours. By the way... did I mention I have a nephew on the way. He's due to join us in October and there's another little on on the way come January! (Different siblings of course, ha, ha)

Ok... enough of my chatting. Here they my two girls. More later!

Belgium! July 20-22

I’d thought about visiting Belgium for some time, but I don’t think I expected to enjoy it so much. Its one of those places you hear little about, so you don’t know what’s in store. With Jessica there though, it just seemed the right place to visit now, especially as the Eurostar makes it so easy.

I arrived on a Friday night and ducked right out to where Jess was staying. Had a lovely evening with her and two of her friends before an early turn it. We had a busy day planned the next day.

We started early to Brugge. Everyone had said it’s so wonderful, so we were eager for a full day there. It wasn’t long until our first chocolate shop and visits to lots of lace shops. Beautiful lace. We visited a church with a Michelangelo sculpture. It was incredibly moving, a statue of Mary holding Jesus as a toddler. We took a horse and carriage ride around town. We took a boat ride through town (its kinda like Venice). Saw lots of beautiful sites. The center of town is almost like a gingerbread village.

Returned to Brussels in the evening to meet up with some other of Jessica’s friends. Had a lovely dinner where I actually found a beer that I like! Strange, huh? So yum. Lace, beer, chocolate, waffles – Is this place cool or what? : ) After dinner we walked around Brussels. Lots of cool little shops. We hung out in the Grand Place. I love the Grand Place. It’s truly an amazing place. As the sun went to sleep, we went up to a park to see some fireworks. I love fireworks!

Jess and her friends went back where she’s staying but I opted to stay in a hotel in the center of Brussels, right near the Grand Place. It could not have been a more perfect location and a delightful little place. I went back to the Grand Place to just sit and people watch until 1AM. Met a nice guy from Spain. We chatted for a bit and then I went back to the hotel for some shut eye.

The next morning I walked around a bit, checking out a cathedral and then went on a formal tour all over Brussels. Good stuff. Then I had a delightful lunch of mussels (another Belgium specialty) and chips. Met up with Jess to stroll more about town, see some sites and do some last minute shopping before returning to London. Oh! And one last wonderful waffle!

It was good to get some time with Jessica. She’s at the point in her stay in Brussels where she’s happy to be there, but still getting adjusted and a little homesick. Goodness, I sure know how that feels. Being with her and having fun joking around was just a neat break, like a taste of home. Each time I get to experience Europe with a friend from home is a special blessing.

I’d chosen to go First Class on Eurostar. Great call. Travel at its most spoiled. Had a delightful ride home, just relaxing and savoring the great weekend I’d had.

Here’s pics!

Amy Visits London: June 21 -25

I've already shared with you about Amy's and my visit to Wimbledon, but I'm a bit tardy in sharing the rest of our time together in London. Amy visited back in late June, so being that its now August, you can tell how remiss I've been. I guess stress and exhaustion can do that to you. :( I guess though, that's why I've been so blessed by the visits of Lori, Mike and Amy. God always knows what we need and provides it. May and June I really needed visitors and these delightful friends abliged.

Amy arrived on a Friday around noon. This was back when our office was in Paternoster (we've since moved to London Bridge) so it was easy to cut out in the middle of the day and greet her. We chatted a bit, got a bite to eat, and then I sent her off to visit the magnificent Tower of London.

After work, I met her up by Regent's Park, where she was visiting with another friend, Jill. We enjoyed some time at Jill's and then set off for a walk in the park. The Queen's Rose Garden was in full bloom... unlike when Kevin and I visited a few months ago. We took lots of fun pics. Later that evening, we enjoyed a delightful dinner at an Indian restaurant by the BT Tower. I took her for my famous evening stroll (Trafalgar, Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the Thames at night) before heading home to crash.

We had a relaxing morning, topped off with coffee and croissants, before setting out to Borough Market. After all these months, I still hadn't been though its practically around the corner. Its a traditional European market with all sorts of cheeses, flowers, wines, vegtables, fruits and other products. We grabbed a nice selection of cheeses and some bread for a snack later.

From there we headed to the center of town to visit Covent Garden. We wandered around there and discovered this delightful children's book store. After visiting there a bit, we went to the tea shop Mike and I had found. Unfortunately, at this point we realized Amy had been pick-pocketed and her camera was gone. We obviously were very disappointedd. Amy being the Godly woman she is though, handled it like a champ. I would have been freaking out. Though sad... after we did what we could, she insisted we carry on and enjoy the day. We journeyed to Trafalgar to sit on the National Gallery's steps to enjoy our cheese and bread.

Late afternoon it was time to head out for our main event of the day, Hyde Park Calling. This event is a big music concert in Hype Park. Headliners were Crowded House and Peter Gabriel. Crowded House was amazing. Unfortunately the weather wasn't and it began to pour so hard I'd thought we'd drown! We're tough though, ha, ha. Peter Gabriel started out a bit slow, but in the end, we were quite pleased to have seen him and he completed his second encore with "In Your Eyes". After a brief scuttle with a drunk Brit (don't ask) we worked our way to the Tube. I've never been on it so insane! When we arrived back at Blackfriars, getting off was like being spit out of an alien! Quite funny actually...

When we got back, we stopped by the flat to get my camera and then returned to Paternoster to recreate some of the photos lost to our theif. St. Paul's is just amazing at night; we had to capture it.

Sunday we slept in again and then head back to Regents Park. We had a bit of time before heading over to Taste of London, so we went back to the gardens to recreate some of those photos. I mean, the camera was a clear loss, but the photos were still the greatest disappointment. We wanted to recreate all we could. Unlike the crazy rain the afternoon before, this day was a bit clearer and just fine for photos and a stroll. Its always a delight just to hang out with Amy and chat about life, so it was a great setting to just do some catching up we hadn't gotten to do for a while.

Taste of London was a lot of fun. Great food, nice wines, and we got to see Gordon Ramsey do a cooking demonstration. Another leisurely afternoon at a fine event.

To tidy up the evening, being Sunday and all, I was thrilled to take Amy to HTB to see this church I so love. It was a special evening, where the set up was quite different and Tim Hughes actually played (he only rarely leads worship these days). Made it the perfect night for Amy to visit because the whole service was even more amazing than normal. The Lord is so present there, his Spirit so alive. I'm learning a lot from this church. In many ways its quite like MBC at home; but in other ways quite different. The two are a nice balance. Anyway... that whole evening was another nice experience. After church, being still stuffed from Taste, we got a snack for home and just chilled the rest of the evening. We had Wimbledon to prepare for!

Well... I've already written on our journey to Wimbledon. Amazing experience. If you haven't already read that one, check it out and see the pics. Later!

A Relaxing Weekend - July 14th and 15th

Some weekends are just made for relaxing. And some times its only when we relax in a city, can we really take it all in. On this weekend, I purposely decided to pretty much, do nothing of significance. I woke late, lounged around the house, and then took my bible, a book and my journal to St. James Park. It was a gorgeous day and I just laid on my blanket in the middle of my favorite park and took it all in. At one point I'm certain I dozed of... just as one can when truly content. It wasn't an exhausted desperate nap, as I've felt I needed so many times before, it was a delicate, "I love this place and can smile here", kinda nap.

I don't even recall what I did that night, but I'm sure it was fine. Probably nothing. I recall earlier in the week when I'd arrived, I was a bit homesick. I'd had a great Fourth week in VA. But now settling back in, it was fine. The Lord had spoken to me that week and I was reassured that I was indeed to be in London, and that he was with me. I felt a peace that I'm here to learn and grown.

Sunday, wanting to at least slightly dig into my "must see list", I set out to visit another church I had been meaning to see, All Souls. It was fine, but I think I really like HTB the best. The worship is unmatched and only parelleled by Frontline.

I spent the afternoon with my flatmate and her parents at the Cabinet War Rooms. Its all about Winston Churchill and WW2. Very well done; I quite enjoyed it. I find I'm pretty ignorant of history, but enjoy the nuggets I take in from time to time, esp when in Europe. It highly recommend this site for anyone in London.

I had a bit of time before HTB (still needed my fix, even though I'd been to church in the morning) so I headed back to St. James Park, just around the corner. Still in a state of contentment, I collected myself an ice cream and went to sit on the lawn by a gazebo with an orchestra playing Les Mis tunes. It was neat. I stayed about a half an hour and then off to HTB. It was fantastic as always.

Such a simple weekend. Maybe that's what made it perfect.

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!