February 2006: Erin Riley comes to Visit!

My college roomate Erin Riley came for a visit in February. After some confusion at the airport with regards to the arrival date (yes I showed up a day early!), we finally got Erin and enjoyed a week of touring around our area, eating good food, shopping in London, and visiting museums. After John left for training, Erin and I took the Eurostar to Paris and had a great time in such a beautiful city. We saw all the sights (translation: ate amazing cheese, crossiants, and drank delicious french wine) and I still can not believe what an amazing city it is!

March 2006: Belgium & Germany

John had to go to a work conference in Germany the first week in April. We decided to make a weekend trip out of it and headed to Brussels with our friends Dutch and Dano. After a very early Eurostar reservation, we were in Brussels in less than two hours and had plenty of time left in the day to tour the city. Brussels was interesting, but the best part of the trip was the chocolate, the beer, the waffles, and the pots of mussels! We then spent a day and a night in Bastogne and were fortunate to have a local historian take us on a tour of the battle of the bulge. It was incredible to see where the battle took place. After our tour of Bastogne, we went to Germany, toured castles, and took a cruise on the Rhine.

June 2006: Dutch comes for a visit!

June 2006

June started with a visit from our friend Dutch. He is currently in Portugal and was happy to visit his old stomping grounds in England. We had a great time enjoying the first weekend of Summer weather, punting on the River in Cambridge, losing the punting pole, and navigating the traffic jams. The weekend was lots of fun and way too short. It, of course, ended with the world famous Ringo BBQ and some of the wine Dutch brought from Portugal.

June 2006: Dave & Tawnia Visit!

June 2006

John's brother Dave and his girlfriend Tawnia came to visit us in early June. John & I met them in Edinburgh, Scotland and after a few days of eating (the Witchery) and drinking (Pimm's at Harvey Nichols) we headed up to the Scottish Highlands and the West Coast. The first night we settled into a great B&B with beautiful views of Loch Ness. There was only one problem with the visit... no water. So, needless to say, we headed out the next morning and did not stick around to see if the pumps for the town would start working anytime soon. After sightseeing all day and a hike we stayed the night at the Old Inn in Gairloch. It was a tradition Scottish Pub with great atmosphere and very quiet. We were so far north that we all were up early and hit the road for more touring of the West Coast. After two more great days along the west coast we headed to Prestwick Airport near Glasgow (airport slogan: "Pure Dead Brilliant"?!) to fly back to Stansted. Dave & Tawnia only spent one night with us at the Old Rectory before heading to London and Paris to round out their short European break. We are looking forward to the next visit!

July 2006: 4th of July Party!

Happy 4th of July!

As Americans on exchange we made the very wise decision to throw a 4th of July BBQ bash for our friends at the base and for the village that we live in. We had plenty of help in the form of old friends, Matt from Italy and Erin from London. We put them to work and in the end it was a great success! The weather was amazing (actually hot and sunny!), the kids loved the wading pools, the boucy castle and the summo suits. It was also nice to meet some of the new neighbors and members of our squadron. The party did go quiet for about 2 hours as England played in the World Cup but then everyone was back to drown their sorrows at the loss.

We are looking forward to next year! Mark your calendars!

May 2006: The Old Rectory

May 2006

We have moved! We now find ourselves in an Old Rectory built in 1726. The building sits on about 1 acre of land and is in a very cute little village. All of the village folk have been over to introduce themselves to the new additions and we are very excited to get to know them better! It has four bedrooms so we are looking forward to many visitors!

June 2006: Royal Ascot

June 23rd, 2006

How could anyone forget Audrey Hepburn as Eliza Doolittle leaning over the fence at Royal Ascot yelling for her horse to win?? On Friday afternoon, without any lessons from Henry Higgins, John & I along with our friends Gary & Belinda, were invited to attend the Royal Enclosure at Ascot. The weather was perfect, the men in morning coats were stunning, the hats were unbeliveable, and the crowd would have made Professor Higgins proud. At 2 PM sharp our attention turned from the crowd to the royal family arriving by horse drawn carriage. After the Queen was nicely tucked into her royal box, the horse races began. We thought that we would try our luck at a few novice bets. While some may have won big on Quija Board, we left our money in the hands of the very capable bookies at the end of the track. All in all a wonderful afternoon at the races.