Our Final trip Outside of England

After the wonderful wedding we attended, we headed to Northern Wales. Our last "out of England" adventure before moving back to the states.  Super weird to be typing that.

We slept in, and then drove up to Northern Wales (about 2 hours).  We got into the beautiful national park called Snowdonia.  It was breathtaking and the weather was gorgeous!  We drove around for a bit, and stopped to take some pictures that showed Mt. Snowdon in the background.  We planned on climbing it later that day.  A friend told us to visit Electric Mountain, which is the largest hydro-power station in Europe.  It is hidden in the mountain side, so you cannot even notice it when driving by.  We stopped in (after paying for 4 hours of parking) to get a tour.  Sadly, they were booked for the day.  So we decided to go find parking to climb Snowdon...just to find that all the lots to get to the path we were planning on taking were full.  We headed back to the parking lot we just left to pay for parking for a second time.  We were slowly giving up on this adventure, therefore we were just going to take the train to the top of the mountain.  Lazy, I know.  We got to the train station to find that the trains were all booked for the day.  We were striking out hard.

 In the National Park

Snowdon is to the right of Jeff's head

We gave up altogether, and headed to Conwy Castle, which was about a 30 minute drive away. We paid for parking for a third time, but the third time was the charm here.  The city was gorgeous, and it was partially walled city like York.  We walked around in the castle grounds for a while.  It was all open, no rooms like you may be picturing.  We climbed up a couple tours to not only have a beautiful view of the ocean, but the countryside as well.  We didn't spend a lot of time there, but we did enjoy the sights.  It was funny because there was a huge group of Americans touring the castle as well.  Some of which were being the stereotypical American tourists, and we hoped we never acted like them on our trips.  Ha! We walked a little bit of the city walls, and then headed into the heart of the city. 

 Inner part of the castle

 
Jeff and I headed down to the waterside, but before , we stopped in this small fish & chips shop.  We didn't have a plan to go there, but it was highly rated...even by Rick Steves.  For those of you who do not know him, he is an American author who travels around Europe writing about the do's/don'ts of European travel.  We have browsed through a few of his books, and he is honest and truthful about the places to see and not see.  But anyway---no joke on these fish & chips.  I don't really like fish, but this was excellent!  So greasy...yummo! We walked down to sit near the water to enjoy our snack.

The sign can't lie "probably the best"

Next to the water was also the Smallest House in Great Britain, so for a pound ($1.50) you could take a picture and see the inside.  I paid the money, as Jeff didn't care much about it.  It was SO small.  I tried to take a couple pictures, but you could never get a good angle because of the size.  Go figure, right?  Well worth the pound.  Jeff and I headed back to the car before traveling back to the hotel for the night.

 
Since we failed at the planning portion of Day #1 in Wales, we woke up early to head to the top of Snowdon.  A little bit about Snowdon...

• It is over 1,000 meters high (over 3,500 feet)
• Highest mountain in Wales
• You can get to the top by foot or by train
• Around 350,000 people make it to the summit each year (train and/or foot)
• Snowdon means "snow hill"---often being able to see some snow at the top
• If the weather is right, you can see England, Ireland, and Scotland from the summit 
• Takes the average person 6 hours to get to the top and back down by foot (train is 2 hours round trip). 

Jeff and I made it to the top by foot.  And before I get started on talking about the adventure, let me point out I thought it was going to take us 6 hours to get to the top.  Jeff had told me 6 hours earlier, but I never heard him say, roundtrip.  I was about ready to die when Jeff said we had only been walking for an hour. I just kept thinking, "Why would I want to keep doing this for another 5 hours?"  But I didn't complain, and just kept at it.  So you can imagine my surprise when we had been climbing 2 hours, and when we asked how much more to the top, someone said "15 minutes".  I was so relieved!!

 The first path we walked on.

On our walk to the top!

Our walk started out so peacefully, as we were walking along a path alongside some beautiful lakes.  I was thinking, "Wow  this won't be too bad".  My opinion quickly changed when we started putting some elevation in the mix and on top of it all the "paths" were gone and we were climbing up makeshift routes. At one point Jeff and I just stood there, looking up, wondering which way to go as we saw no path.  We climbed through some large rocks, and climbed up that way.  We didn't take very many pictures at this point, as we were focusing on where to walk safely.

 One of the "paths"  This was definitely mild compared to our other routes.

We made it to the top in about 2 hours and 15 minutes, and that was with some "catch our breath" breaks.  We were so glad that we made it to the top so early.  Jeff and I made it to the top by 9:30, which was nice given the train didn't start dropping people off until 10:00.  We had some time on the summit to enjoy the scenery, er, white background.  It reminded me of our trip to Dover Cliffs, and we could not see a thing.  The frustrating part is the day before was beautiful, so I can only imagine how much you could see if we climbed it like our original plan. 

 Our friends have said that you can see the countryside for miles...guess we picked the wrong day!

The first train of the day.  It was so cold, windy, and rainy at the top!

It only took us an hour and 45 minutes to get down.  We actually headed down a different path by accident.  It was SO much easier than the path we took to the top.  I think it would have been an even shorter trip to the bottom if we would have found the spot where we were basically going vertical. 

Afterwards, we headed back to Nottingham.  Surprisingly it was only a 3 hour ride home.  Crazy to think about the UK and its size.  How cool to be near the water, on a mountain, in the city, or in the countryside all within a short drive. 

On to the next adventure...

Enjoying a Beautiful English Wedding

This past Saturday, we headed down to to Hereford (about 2 hours southwest) to a couple of our friends' wedding.  Jeff met the groom, Tom, at work and I was lucky enough to become friends with the bride, Sarah, last spring.  The ceremony was at this quaint church out in the countryside.  It was so interesting experiencing the differences between and American vs. an English wedding.  As we sat down, we enjoyed the company of some of our other friends.  I learned that often times the bride comes down before the bridesmaids.  This is so that the bridesmaids can hold the train of the bride's dress, although Sarah came down after the bridesmaids in her wedding.  There was no groomsmen, only ushers (including a best man).  They did not stand up front or go down the isle. 

 

Not the clearest picture, but you can see the adorable invitations. 

Inside of the programs

The wedding began, and there was lots of hymns and readings.  The minister asked if there were any objections, which I had not heard at a wedding in a long time.  I also found it interesting that they signed the legal documents during the ceremony.  Our friends laughed when Jeff told them we signed it at our reception on the back of our best man, Scott.  We threw dried flower petals at the couple as they walked out of the church and into their cute little ride. 

Flower send-off!

We headed straight to the reception, which was held at this winery. It was a beautiful set up, as we all sipped on cocktails outside on a beautiful day!  They came around with a few hors d'oeuvres, and then the reception began around 4:30.  Our meal, which was called the Wedding Breakfast.  I asked weeks ago about this, and it is called a breakfast because it is the first meal as husband and wife.  Cute, right? We sat down for our three course meal.  Jeff had chicken liver pate, chicken breast & vegetables, and eton mess for dessert.  I had the pea & mint soup, chicken & vegetables, and chocolate roulade.  No cake for dessert, but it is still tradition to cut the cake.  They cut the cake and put it out later for you to eat later in the night or take it home.

Loved picking out my fascinator for the wedding.  So much fun!

If the Mackins are reading this, we decided to wear the exact same attire we wore to your wedding since it was about a year ago.  We partied in your honor. 

We enjoyed the wonderful meal, and left completely stuffed.  The speeches started, and there was legit betting going on at how long the best man's speech was going to be.   Apparently, it is known that the best man always takes a really long time embarrassing the groom.  Jeff and I put down 7 minutes and 22 seconds for our bet.  We ALMOST won, as the winning number was 7 minutes and 35 seconds.  People started to heckle the best man to keep talking, so I think if they didn't do that...we would have won. Ha, wishful thinking?! The money is normally used to pay for drinks at the bar anyway.  All three speeches were great! The father of the bride spoke, the groom, and of course the best man.  It was really cute to see the groom speak at his own wedding.  I liked that.  

Next up was dancing.  There was a good amount of people dancing throughout the night, and often times to songs I had never heard.  My favorite part was when they brought out more desserts and cheeses to nibble on throughout the night.  Me being obsessed with food, shocker...right? This was mostly for the second round of guests that had arrived.  There were two invitations.  One invitation was for the entire day's events, and the other was to come after dinner. We had a great time, and felt so lucky to be able to not only experience and English wedding, but to celebrate with our dear friends, Tom & Sarah.  Congrats, Tom & Sarah!!

On to the next adventure...

 

Our Last Visitors

Jeff's mom and sister, Lori and Michelle, came back to Nottingham on Monday afternoon.  We met up for dinner at a Moroccan place Jeff and I have been meaning to go to for well, a year.  I pass by it almost every day.  Our food was pretty good, and I think everyone enjoyed trying something new.

Lori, Michelle, and I met up on Tuesday for a quick lunch at one of my favorite cafes in Nottingham, Ugly Bread Bakery.  We all enjoyed our lunch, each one of us trying something new.  I got this roasted pepper sandwich, Michelle tried one of the great pizzas, and Lori tried these pita sandwich...well it was more of a taco.  Next up on our list was a lonnnnggg walk to Wollaton Hall. Jeff and I have been here a few times.  If you don't remember this place, it was where Dark Knight Rises (Batman) was filmed.  It was about an hour walk, and very enjoyable as the weather held off on our walk to the hall.  I think they were pretty impressed, especially the outside "wow" factor.  The gardens were beautiful, and we were able take a stroll around the lake, which I had never done before.  It was a nice trail around, mostly covered by trees which made it extra pretty. Although, it was sad that the deer were hiding, as it is a deer park as well as the hall.  The inside of the building, which is a natural history museum, had changed a lot since the last time I went there.  They took away a few of the exhibits, put in a tea room, and added guided tours (for money).  So it still looks like they are making lots of changes at the hall.

 Wayne Manor..I mean Wollaton Hall & Deer Park

 There was a tree in one of the halls that asked what you liked about the hall, and I  loved this sweet little answer. Love little kids! The picture to the right is Michelle pretending to be Batman.

 This was BEFORE the squirrel tried to attack us.  No...really.  It was charging at us.  We screamed and ran away.  

Love this view! You can see Wollaton Hall in the background

We began our journey back, the weather started to look a bit sketchy.  We kept going, but I think put our umbrellas up/down at least 5 times.  HA! At one point, it was starting to hail, and we debated grabbing the next bus to head into the city centre.  We pushed through, and I'm glad we did as we ended up at a pub that I had never been into.  Lori and Michelle had a cider, which was yummy and I grabbed a pint I had never had before.  I am excited to take Jeff back to this pub, as the restaurant portion looked amazing.  It was in the back of the building, lit up with icicle lights and it almost looked like a cave.  You know how Jeff and I are with our caves...

We grabbed some items at the grocery store, and then headed back to our flat to relax before dinner.  Michelle snuggled up with Mackey and took a "quick" nap while I started dinner.  We had a great meal, although Jeff was unable to join us as he had a late meeting.  Bummer!

Mackey doesn't care if you're allergic or not...he does what he wants.

Wednesday, was Lori and Michelle's last day in England.  They flew out of Manchester on Thursday and headed to Copehhagen, Denmark.  Michelle is studying abroad for the next 6-weeks, so that is really exciting she gets to continue her European adventure! But back to Wednesday's adventures...I took Lori and Michelle and Derby for an afternoon day trip.  We had pretty much done every attraction there was left to do in Nottingham, so we decided to try a new city.

We got into Derby via the bus.  The bus was on its best behavior as it was only a 20-25 minute bus ride, and not the dreadful 45 minutes that it can be.  We walked around the city for a bit, tried to go into the cathedral, but it was closed.  We hopped into Primark, one of my favorite cheap stores.  I think Michelle enjoyed it, as she picked up a couple items.  We headed into the mall to pick up some candy that Lori and Michelle really like that is only in England.  Then we were on our way to the Royal Crown Derby, where we had a factory tour of how the china is made! I was pretty excited to do this, as I had been to the Denby Pottery stores on site (located outside of Derby) before, but never the "fancy" brand in the city.

Definitely a small, but mighty factory

No pictures allowed, which was a bummer.  Completely understandable as people were working, and that would be EXTRA annoying for tourists to be snapping photos of you when you are trying to do your job.   We got to watch the entire process, the molding, kilning process, smoothing, and decorating.  It was really interesting, especially since they use liquid gold on many of their pieces.  It was crazy to see the gold when painted on, as it just looks brown.  Once it dries, they buff it out and it shines.  It was amazing! We definitely understand why one teacup and saucer costs 50 pounds ($75).  So much goes into the process, and many of it is inspected and created by hand.  We watched one lady use these decals, where she had warmed the plates, moistened the decal, and placed it perfectly around the rim of the plate.  To meet quota (and get paid accordingly) she had to complete each plate in between 3 and 4 minutes. If it didn't meet expectation, the plate would come back to her the next day to fix.  She would not get paid for working on the piece twice.  How do they know it was her piece, you might ask? Each plate has an initial on the back to tell inspectors who was in charge of that one.  That makes each plate Royal Crown Derby makes individual and unique.  If you own any pieces, check out the little initials on the back of the product to see what I mean.  I should have taken a picture in the factory shop.

I had this all planned out in my head that following the tour we would have afternoon tea.  Unfortunately, they told me I had to book a day in advance.  Which, I'm not going to lie, made me really mad because their website or the lady I was corresponding with through email did not say anything about.   So, if you are reading this Royal Crown Derby...take this as my review and constructive criticism!  Michelle and Lori were very understanding with my honest mess up, so we just had a cup of tea and a sweet to hold us over until our early dinner.  It was fun still being able to eat and drink out of the cups and plates we had witnessed being made minutes before.

Tea and sweets. Is there any other way?!

Jeff met up with us in Derby, and we went out for an earlier dinner (given we had only ate sweets since we woke up...whoops!).  I was pretty excited to try the Silk Mill, which is a famous pub in Derby.  We had a couple pints, and the food was excellent.  We all left will full bellies.  Lori and Michelle were able to experience riding in a car on the "wrong side of the road" or as locals say, "the correct side of the road."   We dropped them off at their hotel, as they had a 5:20AM train ride in the morning to head up to Manchester, to then get to Denmark.  I can only imagine how tired they were!

What a great couple of weeks it has been, seeing and hanging out with so many loved ones.  I can't believe we had 17 visitors (2 of them came more than once) over our time here. And 9 of them were in the last two weeks!  That is basically an average of a person a month! CRAZY! A big thank you to everyone who came to experience "our world" while living abroad.  It was fun to travel, show you our favorite spots, eat some of our favorite foods, and enjoy each others company! See you in a couple years when we do it again.....calm down, I'm joking.

On to the next adventure...

#30daysofappreciation {Round 1}

Tuesday, May 12th was officially our one month left mark.  In honor of that, I decided to post a photo a day on my Instagram account to show my appreciation of our amazing time over here.  Pictures include anything from food (shocker), daily life, and/or things for which I am very thankful.  It really made me stop and smell the roses one last time of those things I will miss when moving back to the states.

Since many of my blog followers are not followers on Instagram (*cough, Christin), I decided to share my photos of the last 10 days of appreciation.  I will post two more times to share the other 20 photographs.

#Day1: Relocation Assessment
The relocation company came by to assess how much stuff we have to ship back to the states.  It was kind of funny it landed right on our 1 month mark.  We chatted for a bit, and then he assessed our stuff. He said we were right at our limit, so I best not go out and buy anything over the next month.

 

 #Day2: Time to Cook

I have absolutely LOVED my time in the kitchen over here.  I could start dinner at 5:30 some days, knowing Jeff wouldn't be home until 7.   It really allowed me to play with recipes, explore, and have time to make healthy foods.  I know I am going to miss that, as I will be working, and the amount of prep time will be eliminated.  I have already been trying to think about ways to prep over the weekends, so I am able to cook more clean and healthy.  Wish me luck!

 

#Day3: Mackey

Although it has been expensive to keep him over here in terms of getting him to/from the states, I wouldn't have had it any other way.  He has become even more loveable! Who knew that was possible?  His personality has changed, but for the better.  I think he has enjoyed his time over here, watching pigeons and sleeping in every windowsill possible.  I definitely enjoyed having that "piece of home" with me.

#Day4: Friends

We have made some great friends (both Americans and locals).  We have been able to travel, have nights out, girls and boys nights, and plenty of time to chat about life.  That was one thing I was really nervous about when moving over here, as we both have amazing friends at home.  We will miss our local friends, but hope to still see our new American friends in the states once we all move back. 

#Day5: Beer

I should probably point out that these are in no particular order.  As you have yet to see a picture of Jeff, does not mean he is not my #1 thing I appreciate over here.  Okay, now that we have cleared that up...beer.  We have enjoyed trying all the different kinds of beer over here.  During the first year, we took a picture of every new pint we had.  That got old pretty quickly, so we stopped taking a a picture of each pint.  Jeff had a project envisioned.  We definitely enjoyed that part of England, but in the same sense, we won't miss the crazy amount of drinking.  

#Day6: Traveling

The bag below barely made it over the one year mark before being thrown away.  I thought for sure that when we were in London a couple weeks ago it was going to completely break.  It made it home before saying my final farewell to it.  It was the perfect size, as you have to have a fairly small bag to fly on budget airlines, like we do.  It would fit in the top bin or under the seat with no problems.  I never had to worry about it! I definitely got my 12 pounds worth out of this bag, as it traveled to many amazing places around Europe.

 

#Day7: Beautiful Spots

This one goes along with #6, but all of the beautiful places we were able to see during our time abroad is something I will never under appreciate.   I will speak on behalf of Jeff (I geuss I always do that, but...) and say that were very appreciative of how many trips, whether big or small, that we were able to go on.  We were so glad we spent our money on traveling, as we will have those memories, pictures, and video forever. 

#Day8: Visitors

We had so many visitors over the last year and a half! Seventeen, but who's counting?   We have loved every visit, and each one was unique in its own way.  We tried to do something a little different with each visitor, whether it was a local restaurant, new European trip, or a tourist attraction we had never been to in our own city! We enjoyed showing off "our world"

#Day9: Tea

In the states I would NEVER drink tea. Not iced tea, hot tea, flavored tea...etc.  My friends here continued to "bully" me into liking tea. I tried it each time we were together.  Now, I can officially say I drink a cup of hot tea every morning and no longer drink coffee at all.  What a transition!

 

#Day10: House/Flat

I definitely do not spend enough time appreciating the house, which was converted into 8 flats that we live in. It is in a fantastic location with a beautiful view from every window.  If I want ice cream, I can have it in hand within 5 minutes. Amazing! It is definitely an English feeling house, which is nice.  We want to embrace the culture as much, and I think our single pane windows that make our flat colder than it is outside is embracing it! Ha!

More Visitors...We are so Lucky!

As you know, after our group of friends left, we immediately picked up Jeff's family (his mom, sister, brother, aunt, and cousin).  We were so excited to hang out with them throughout their time here.  After our lunch, walking tour, and quick pint...we left them in London.  Haha, that sounds funny!  They were going to explore London and surrounding areas a bit more before heading up to Nottingham for a couple days of their trip.  They were able to see the big attractions in London, Windsor, Stonehenge, Bath, and another small village.  They were busy!  It was fun to be able to talk about these places with them because we had been there before!

They got into Nottingham on Thursday, and I was able to take them to the famous, Ye Olde Trip to Jerusalem.  It was so busy, and I was bummed because the upstairs (which is the coolest part) was all reserved, so I could not show that part off.  We enjoyed a great lunch, and then headed up to the castle.

 (L-R) His aunt, Susan; sister, Michelle; cousin, Nathan; mom, Lori; and brother, Matthew

Always can count on Michelle (my sister-in-law) to take a goofy picture with me!

It was the time of year that the castle just had boring paintings, and not the awesome war exhibits like it did in the fall.  We were able to explore the outside area, and point out different buildings and sights from afar.  We headed inside, and walked around the building.  I was able to visit my favorite exhibit (all about the riots), and reflected that it would be the last time I would go in there before moving home! I took it all in, appreciating it all.

Afterwards, we headed for a quick tour around town, grabbed some groceries, and then headed back to our flat so we could hang out until dinner time.  They had all been on the move for the last 5 days, so we chilled for a bit as I made dinner.  We ate dinner, caught up, and enjoyed the relaxing evening.

The next day, they headed to Liverpool, and I stayed back as I had a few things to take care of.  We all met up on Saturday to explore Nottingham a bit more.  They all went to the Galleries of Justice, and I stayed behind as I had already been to the attraction twice.  Jeff went with them, and I think they enjoyed the history side of things.  It sounds like they had a bit of a different experience where they were able to recreate a trial in the courtroom, which sounded really interesting.  I think a few of them were participants, which would have been funny to see! Jeff should be writing this post, so he can tell you more about the experience!

 Siblings reunited after quite a long time

In the entryway of Pitcher & Piano

I met up with everyone at Pitcher and Piano, which is the church that was converted into a bar.  One of my favorite places to grab a pint and/or lunch.  And we grabbed both!  Afterwards, we headed to another pub which is right on the canal, called The Canalhouse.  It is really neat, as there is a boat garage that goes through the restaurant.  There is even a boat inside!  Next up, we explored the caves of Nottingham.  Nottingham is actually known as the City of Caves.  This is something we had not done before, so we were excited to do a new tourist attraction in our own city! It was a 45 minute tour, exploring the caves.  We were even given little hard hats, which we took advantage of! It was interesting to see hear and see what the caves were used for in the past.  It was like another world down there!

 Blurry shot...but having fun underground!  One of the shopping centres was built on top of the caves!

 Digging for bones!

 Our sweet hard hats!

We ended our night taking everyone to one of our favorite Indian restaurants.  Yummy! We hung out at our house later that night.  It was the last night in England for his brother, as he was heading back the following day.  Everyone headed back to London with him, as his aunt and cousin were flying out on Monday.  They enjoyed a few more attractions, like the London Eye and Wimbledon.  Their tour looked fantastic! They were able to see some things we were obviously not allowed or able to see during our time at Wimbledon, so it was fun hearing about their experience.  Jeff's mom and sister are staying a couple extra days in Nottingham, so I'll post about our adventures on the next post!


On to the next adventure...

London Shenanigans

This past weekend, 4 of our friends from the states joined us and our friends from Cambridge for some sightseeing, catching up, and fun in London. Jeff and I headed down via car on Friday afternoon so we could meet up with everyone for a late dinner.  Six of us had made it to London at this point, as the others were in route until the morning.  We grabbed a light dinner, and headed out for a few pints after.  It was great catching up, as we have not seen most of our friends since June.

 The girls

 The guys with their Old Fashioneds

The next morning, we walked around the city just enjoying the beautiful weather.  We didn't have much on the agenda until our other friends arrived.  Once everyone had arrived, we headed out to a market called Old Spitalfields Market, which was one of the better markets I had been to in London.  Everyone got something different, as there were many options.  Jeff and I enjoyed a great pulled pork sandwich on a bagel.  Afterwards, the group split up as some went shopping and some went for a nap.  Guess what group I chose? You guessed it, shopping! This market had some amazing clothes, and jewelry.  I tried to refrain given we do not have a lot of extra room to bring things back to the states.  I ended up buying this fleece jacket and a graphic tank top with a bicycle on it.  Others were buying scarves, jackets, shoes, and some souvenirs for friends and family back home.  We spent a lot more time than expected in there, and met up with the rest of the group to head to do our tourist attractions for the day.

 Artwork that I found hilarious, obviously fits my odd sense of humor

 View from the top. Great market!

We made it to the London Eye, where we took the 20-30 minute ride around the big enclosed ferris wheel along the Thames River.  I'm not a huge fan of heights, but this was no big deal.  Each pod held ~15 people.  We were able to walk around, take pictures, and hang out as it went around.  It was interesting, as the wheel never stops moving.  We had to be quick getting on, as it was still rolling when you get on/off.  Now, mind you, it wasn't going overly fast...so it wasn't like we had to run to get on.  Afterwards our river boat cruise along the Thames River started.  It was beautiful, and a lot of fun to see all of the sights from the water.  It was about a 45-minute ride, and got pretty windy at a few points.  We learned some new facts about the buildings and London as we rode along.

 London Eye

 Group shot on the London Eye

 Great view of Parliament

 We're at the top!

 I'm impressed I could get everyone in this shot. On the river boat cruise, now!

 Just passing by parliament

 Turning around, and heading the other direction on the boat

 My favorite building in London

Tower of London. One of Jeff's favorite attractions

Next up was drinks and dinner.  We went to this amazing restaurant called Wahaca.  You should click on the link to watch the video on the restaurant being built, as old shipping containers make up the building. We hung out the bar, swapping stories, for about an hour and a half before sitting for dinner.  Fantastic food, and it reminded me of Bakersfield only with a bit more to choose from.  Later on, we headed to a couple pubs in the West End (Theatre District) until heading back to the flat we rented for the weekend.  All eight of us were able to stay in the same flat, which made it very convenient and entertaining.  Although getting ready in the morning was a bit of a challenge...8 people, 1 bathroom.

Speaking of getting ready in the morning, the next morning quickly approached and we got a bit of a later start to our day.  We made it to the Tower of London, and everyone stayed to do this tourist attraction but Jeff and I.  We went last may with our friends, Christian and Kristin.  We decided not to do it again, as it was a bit pricey and we had other things on our agenda.  Jeff and I walked about 5 miles during the day, as it was BEAUTIFUL out.  I even got a small suntan! We walked down by the river, grabbed some sandwiches at one of our favorite spots, Pret a Manger.  It is a "fast food" chain, but it is all natural foods.  Mostly they carry sandwiches, veggies, fruits, salads, and soups.  Hints, why it put the words: fast food in quotes.  We took our lunch to Hyde Park and had a picnic in the sun.  Well, Jeff was hiding in the shade, but I was in the sun.  We had been to Hyde Park before, but not in very deep.  It is just like Central Park in terms of size. 

 Picnic in Hyde Park

The water that runs through Hyde Park. 

After our picnic was over, we headed to Kensington Palace.  The pictures online were definitely better than the palace in person.  We were going to head inside, but decided against it as it was fairly expensive and it appeared to not be worth it.  We decided to go find the Princess Diana fountain instead.  This was not an ordinary fountain, as it looking like a man-made creek.  The fountain is supposed to represent Diana's life.  People of all ages had their shoes off and were walking all the way around it.  Jeff and I both took our shoes off and put our feet in the freezing water for a few seconds.  It felt painfully great, as my feet were sore from all the walking.  

 Beautiful gardens at the palace

 Kensington Palace is where William & Kate live

The Princess Diana Memorial Fountain was really hard to capture via picture.  You can see the kids walking through the FREEZING cold water.

Before meeting up with our friends, we took a short nap in Hyde park,  enjoying the warmth and sunshine.  We met up with our friends and headed to Piccadilly Circus (the Times Square of London).  We grabbed some Pimm's, which is a famous British drink.  Many enjoy it at special occasions like, Wimbledon.  I think everyone enjoyed trying the drink, and of course we order a few bowls of chips (french fries).  We headed back towards the flat, and decided to grab dinner to eat in for the night.  It was a lot of fun, sitting around chatting, and playing games.  We were planning to head back out for the night, but never made it there! Ha!

We will definitely miss our friends, but it was nice to be able to say "See you next month", as it is hard to believe we have a handful of weekends left before the big move.  I might be able to add a few more pictures over the next couple weeks, as we all trade pictures.  Thanks, Khalie for already sending me a few!!

After all of our friends went their separate ways (Cambridge, Indianapolis, and Paris), we headed out to Heathrow to welcome our next 5 visitors! Jeff's family arrived on Monday, and will be here for the next week+.  We were able to get them to their hotel, grab a quick lunch, and lead a walking tour before Jeff and I headed back to Nottingham.  We were able to show them the London Eye, Parliament (& Elizabeth Tower), Westminster Abbey, St. James' Park, Buckingham Palace, Piccadilly Circus, and finish up with a pint at a local pub.  We parted ways, and kudos to them for not napping! I'm sure they were exhausted.  We look forward to seeing them later this week to show off our "home town".  Look out for another blog post on that next week!

 Lori, I stole this one off your Facebook. I'll have to get the rest from you later! :)

On to the next adventure...