Springtime in Paris (Part 1)

WE'RE HERE !!!

Well, we know that it has been quite some time since our last entry, but it has definitely been because there has been so much going on….especially in the last two weeks.  In fact, we have so much to blog about that Katie and I agreed to do this in two (maybe three) parts.  So, let’s begin with Paris. 

Two weeks ago Katie’s sister Mary and her step-mom Rhonda came to visit.  Regardless of all of the great traveling that we were all going to do together, the bottom line was that it was SO great to have family here visiting again.  It's always a reminder of how much we miss everyone and reaffirms that Katie and I WILL someday return to the midwest.  

The front door to our apartment - #13

Our trip in Paris began with a big reunion scene in the middle of the airport in Paris…these never get old.  Rhonda and Mary had a bit further to travel than we did but we were all very excited to be in Paris together.  After collecting all of our things, we took the train into the city and made our way to the apartment we had rented.  On a side note, if anyone is planning a trip to Paris, we have a great recommendation for a place to stay.  We stayed in a really great apartment for the four of us so it came with a full kitchen, laundry, etc.  The best part about it was that it was right in the heart of the Bastille neighborhood.  Like most neighborhoods in Paris, it was lively and full of activity right through all hours of the night.  We spent our first night exploring the neighborhood and settled on a nice restaurant for dinner across the street from our apartment.  This is where I tried “steak tartare" for the first time.  It was amazing and even though the ladies were a little grossed out, I was so glad that I tried it!  After dinner, it didn’t take us long to find the gelato shop right down the street from our apartment.  Just like in Italy, after the first bite, we immediately knew that this would be the first of many nights that would end with a pre-bedtime snack of gelato. 

Our first of many great dinners

We basically spent the night catching up, enjoying each other’s company planning out the days ahead.  I was only able to stay until Monday before heading back to work, but the girls were going to stay in Paris until Wednesday before heading over to London for a few days and then eventually making their way to Cornwall.  As a result we quickly agreed that they would save their shopping until the days after I left and that we would spend the first few days doing some of the more “touristy” things.  I definitely dodged a bullet there :)  

Arc De Triomphe

We woke up bright and early Saturday morning and we headed straight for the Eiffel Tower.  Like most developed European cities, the well designed underground Metro system made for easy navigating….and we got to know Paris’ metro system well.  

The Eiffel Tower was everything you expect it to be but even pictures don’t quite prepare you for how big it really is.  After strolling around and under the tower and of course after taking our obligatory 1000 pictures with it in the background, we made our way to the Champs-Élysées, the famous shopping street of Paris.  This is literally over a mile long of luxury shops, cafés and theatres and was certainly something to see.  The week before we were there, I read that rent for 1000 square feet on this street went for over 1-million euro per year.    

After having lunch at one of the outdoor cafés we made our way to Notre Dame and were able to get inside after only a short wait.  Being inside gave you a true appreciation for it’s “Gothic” architecture.  It was dark and old, but still beautiful.  It was huge, but still small enough to walk through quickly and not feel like you are missing anything. 

Notre Dame

After Notre Dame, we made our way along the River Seine, across Pont Neuf bridge (ala Jason Borne) and straight up to the Louvre, one of the largest museums in the world.  It being a very warm day, we enjoyed some time sitting outside and relaxing in the sun before heading through the large gates to the famous glass pyramid.  Again, what a beautiful thing to see.  After this very long day in the sun, we headed back to our apartment to put our feet up and relax before heading out for the evening. 

Saturday night in Paris meant only one thing, watching the sun set over the city and a late night dinner.  As we all do this time of year, we enjoyed the fact that sunset wasn’t until around 9:30-10:00 at night so we had plenty of time to climb our way up to Sacré-Cœur. Sacré-Cœur is a large basilica that sits on top of a hill overlooking the city of Paris.  This being a Saturday night, there were literally hundreds of people who apparently had the same idea that we did.  Like most of them, we spent the evening sitting on the steps, chatting, and looking down on the city as street bands played the soundtrack for the sun setting in the horizon….one of the many “moments” we will take with us from our time spent traveling.   Once the sun was set we headed down the many steps to find place for dinner.  Off in the distance you could see the Eiffel Tower begin to sparkle and light up the sky as it would do every hour for the rest of the night. 

I quickly learned that you could tell how hungry our group was by how quickly we decided on a restaurant for dinner.  On this night, there wasn’t much deliberation : ) We had a fantastic meal at a little Italian restaurant (once again sitting outside) not far from the famous Moulin Rouge neighborhood.   After another stop for gelato, we headed off to bed to prepare for the long day that would be Sunday.

Palace of Versailles with the gardens in the background

Sunday morning came way too early as we were all up by seven in order to catch our train to the Palace of Versailles.  The palace was built by King Louis XIV and is located about 20 kilometers southwest of Paris.  King Louis built this as a country getaway and it eventually became the massive chateau that it is today.  This was also once the home of the famous Marie Antoinette.  The scope of this place was far beyond what any camera could capture and the gardens that stretch out beyond it are too beautiful to describe without sounding like you’re trying too hard.  The inside of the palace was just room after room of marble and granite floors, beautiful art, murals, fireplaces, you name it.  The tour of the house ends with you exiting onto the gardens that reach out so long that you almost can’t see where they end.  The perfectly manicured grounds are filled with fountains and squared off hedges that were clearly designed by and for a king.  The rest of the day was spent strolling through the gardens, eating lunch along one of the pathways and exploring the cottage where Marie Antoinette spent most of her time.  That was of course before the French Revolution resulted in the loss of her head :)

For anyone who has not been, we would highly recommend taking a full day and going to the Palace of Versailles.  It was a long day, but really worth the time and effort to get there. 

After heading back to the city and a short nap, we were ready for what would be MY last night in Paris.  We decided to check out the Eiffel Tower and were so glad that we did.  There is something about seeing the Eiffel Tower during the day and then again at night.  It was literally two completely different experiences.  It’s not difficult to understand why this is one of the most recognizable structures in the world.  The surrounding grounds were filled with people taking pictures, buying food from vendors and some just sitting under the tower looking up at it.  Katie and Mary quickly found the one vendor that made cotton candy….surprise, surprise.  From there we ended up having a great dinner (sitting outside) at a café right down the street from our apartment.

The next day, it was difficult to leave and fly back home, but there was no way I would have been able to keep up with the ladies as they plotted out phase 2 of their time in Paris...shopping, shopping and more shopping.  

Enough said...

As I was sitting in the airport waiting for my flight, I had time to really think about our trip.  We knew that it would be fun, but I don’t think any of us could have known how incredibly well we all traveled together.  I think all four of us did a really good job of taking in every minute.  It’s not everyday you get to spend a beautiful Spring weekend in Paris, but it’s definitely not everyday that you get to do it with family.

Looking back, I don’t think the first few days in Paris could have gone any better.  We saw a lot of things in a short amount of time.  Normally, this would leave you feeling rushed and pressured to take in as much as you can – but in Paris the pace is just slow enough that this feeling is erased the second you sit down at a café for a late-night dinner.  Any day, no matter how busy, that ends with sipping a cappuccino at an outdoor café before savoring some gelato as you head off to bed is a great day…and Paris was filled with them. 

Spring Guests & Such

As the Royal Wedding and Bank Holiday weekend came to a close, we got ready for our guests from Chicago, Mel and Nick.  They had smooth travels and arrived last Tuesday afternoon here in Truro.  Since they had gotten some sleep on the plane and train, they were up for exploring Truro and going out to a pub for their first dinner here at King William the IV. 

As I had off work Wednesday, Mel, Nick and I took the train to St. Ives for the day to do some walking, shopping and talking!  We had a fantastic day of visiting little art galleries scattered throughout the town, having lunch overlooking the sea and harbor and walking barefoot on the beach along the ocean.  A pretty great day!

As John and I had to work both Thursday and Friday, Mel and Nick decided to take some day trips around Cornwall.  But once they were back in Truro for the evenings, we decided to take advantage and went out for dinner each night.  Thursday we did dinner and dessert in town, then headed back to the house to spend a couple hours on the back deck having drinks and catching up.  Friday night we got dressed up and had dinner at an old church now turned into a restaurant and bar called The One Eyed Cat.  The food was amazing and the atmosphere great.  From there we decided to stop at a couple places for drinks and even managed to take some pictures in front of the cathedral on our walk home.  Definitely a fun night!

John and I both had off of work Saturday so we all began the morning in Truro eating pasties in Lemon Quay.  John and Nick decided to check out the local brewery (and discovered there wasn’t much to it) and Mel and I spent some time checking out the shops.  A nice start to a sunny Saturday morning. 

As renting a car is the best way to see a lot of Cornwall in a short amount of time, we decided to take the plunge and spend the rest of the day Saturday and Sunday with a rented car!  We headed to Newquay and had a chance to check out Fistral Beach, walk the main street and do an amazing lunch overlooking the coastline.  From there we headed to Tintagel Castle.  Though John and I had been a couple weekends before, it was definitely worth revisiting as the views there are some of the best in England. After a full day we decided to spend the night at home where Mel and Nick were kind enough to help us sort through our garden.  This was great as John and I are a little lacking in the “green thumb” area.  We were able to pot some new plants courtesy of our guests as well as clean some of the old potted ones up.  As we were all exhausted, we ended the night eating amazing Indian food delivered right to our door.

Mel and Nick were brave and decided to take the car on their own Sunday as I had to work.  They spent the day exploring Land’s End and The Lizard and came back very happy with their day out.  As Mel and Nick were leaving the next morning for a couple days in London, most of Sunday night was spent relaxing and getting packed up.  To finish off their visit, Mel was nice enough to put together a margherita pizza made from scratch using basil from our new outdoor plant and it tasted amazing!

As Mel and Nick headed off Monday morning, John and I have spent this week at home being pretty low-key and will probably do the same next week as things will pick up again when we meet Mary and Rhonda in Paris in two weeks!!!!  Looking forward at the summer, things are going to be so crazy, but in the absolute best way possible.  We are so excited and ready to make the most of our time here and enjoy every minute with visiting friends and family as well as with each other.  

A Royal Weekend

As you all know, England has been the center of attention throughout the world over the past few days.  We have felt so lucky to be here to witness first-hand what a Royal Wedding in England truly looks like.  Boy, do the English sure know how to put on a show!  After a lot of discussion we decided not to make the trip into the city to join the madness.  The experience of watching everything from home and joining in the local festivities with the residents of our town made it a more intimate but equally authentic experience.  

My attempt at Royal Wedding cupcakes

Watching the actual Royal Wedding live on BBC from start to finish was something we will not forget.  We obviously shared this experience as there were over 3 billion people watching!  I decided to take full advantage of having the day off for the wedding by making Royal cupcakes, hanging Union Jack bunting and drinking lots of tea.  We spent the morning in front of the television just taking it all in.

As the pomp and pageantry of the wedding was amazing to witness, John and I both believe the best part of the Royal Wedding was the buzz and energy leading up to the big day.  There was so much talk and speculation leading up to Friday’s events so the discussions with our friends and colleagues at work provided us with a unique perspective.  Some people were incredibly excited and talked about parties they were attending and special outfits they were wearing.  Others talked about deciding to spend the day low-key at home in their pj’s enjoying some time off.  Surprisingly, there were a lot of people who thought the whole idea of the wedding and the massive amount of money spent on it was ridiculous and were not going to watch at all.  Overall, the opinions and ways of spending the day varied greatly from the people John and I had talked to.

One of many Truro storefront windows

There were numerous TV specials leading up to the big day that recounted all of the royal weddings in history and all of the traditions that are involved.  It was so interesting to learn about all of the little details that you would never know about otherwise.  The attention to detail has always been top priority and as we all witnessed, this wedding was no different. 

Celebratory drinks in Truro

But for the massive amounts of people in the UK that did decide to embrace the day, it was spectacular.  After the wedding, John and I walked through Truro and could feel the energy of it all.   The atmosphere was definitely palpable as most people enjoyed the day off and appreciated the opportunity to celebrate as a nation.  All of the shops’ windows were adorned with flags and pictures of William and Kate.  People’s houses were decorated with bunting and flags streaming from their windows and planted in their flowerpots.  Most restaurants and pubs had Royal Wedding festivities planned and some people got dressed up and began celebrating early in the morning.  It really was spectacular to see and be a part of.

As we both had off work, we decided to go out for dinner and drinks last night.  Our night of English celebration ended in a pub with a Beatles cover band playing while patriotic partygoers draped with Union Jack flags danced around.  Definitely entertaining.  It was a perfect British end to a perfect British day!

Easter Exploring in Cornwall

It has been a quiet couple of weeks here in Truro since our trip to Italy.  John and I have both been busy working and just getting back into the day-to-day routine of things.  Yet with this weekend being a four day weekend here in England (bank holidays for both Good Friday and Easter Monday), John and I both had off work and decided it would be a good time to try renting a car for a couple of days.  So far we have had no problems using public transportation to get where we need to go, but we have heard about multiple places in Cornwall as “must visits” that are mostly accessible by car.  So we took the plunge and decided to give it a try!

We picked up our rental car from the rail station on Thursday after work and decided to spend some time just getting used to driving on the “other side of the road” around the Truro area.  John started off driving our little four door and found that he got used to driving pretty quickly, though it did take some practice getting used to the roundabouts!  As we knew we had a full couple of days ahead of us, we called it a night and spent the rest of the night figuring out where in Cornwall we wanted to visit.

First time we haven't had to carry our groceries home!

We decided to spend Friday exploring the two southern peninsulas of Cornwall: The Lizard and Land’s End.  We made our way to a tiny fishing village called Cadgwith first thing in the morning.  As it was a bank holiday and many people were home for the day, the little village was very serene and we just walked around the small beach and up onto the cliffs along the coastal path.  After some hiking, we headed back through town and got some Cornish ice cream cones before hitting the road. 

We then made our way to Kynance Cove, which is also a beach spot in The Lizard.  We parked the car and made our way down a trail to a beautiful cove where there were families spending the holiday on the beach making sand castles, playing in the water and just relaxing.  We ended up eating lunch outside at a beach café overlooking Kynance Cove and just enjoyed people watching for a while before moving on.

Kynance Cove

From there we decided to make our way to Land’s End and drive through some coastal towns along the way.  At this point, John was very comfortable driving and started the journey through Newlyn and Mousehole.  This is when we got our first of many tastes of the much talked about “Cornish” driving.  Mousehole was, as its’ name implies, a tiny maze of roads throughout the village.  There were many moments of disbelief that our GPS was actually taking us through these roads that you wouldn’t expect would be on a map.  They were extremely narrow and typically only fit one vehicle (very small vehicle at that!).  It was a driving challenge for John, but he did a great job with it! 

Lunch overlooking Kynance Cove

At this point in the afternoon (and for the rest of the day), the English weather set in and it began to rain.  We made our way to Land’s End where on a clear day you can see the Isles of Scilly.  It was definitely not a clear afternoon, so we didn’t see much and headed for Sennen Cove for our last stop of the day.  During our time at Sennen Cove it was downpouring so we enjoyed the beach through the car windows.  It looked to be a gorgeous beach so we will have to make a point to visit again on a sunny day.  From there we decided to call it a day and head back to Truro for the night.

Saturday was our last day with the car so I decided it was now or never to try driving in England.  I found that it didn’t take long to adjust to driving on the other side of the road and I enjoyed being behind the wheel again.  Though once we got closer to our first destination of the day and the roads began to get more and more narrow, I did tend to get a bit anxious.  But we made it in one piece to our day exploring the northern coast, starting with Tintagel Castle.  The background of the Tintagel Castle ruins is that it is believed King Arthur once ruled from this castle mounted on a set of cliffs overlooking the sea.  Once we hiked our way to the top of this cliff and through the castle ruins, we couldn’t believe how amazing the views were!  It was literally breathtaking.  We spent some time wandering around the cliffs and made a point to just sit and take it all in--definitely a good way to start our day. 

We had heard about this cute village called Padstow, so we hopped back into the car (with John driving) and started a driving experience like no other.  We drove the main way to Padstow which was miles and miles of truly Cornish roads.  The roads were barely big enough for one small car, just imagine what it was like when two cars met!  There were multiple times that John would be pulled over and had our car in the hedges while the oncoming car would have to open their windows so we could look out our window and let them know if they were going to hit us or not.  There were many moments of reversing back until there was a wider part of the road so the oncoming car could barely squeeze by.  Let’s just say “Cautious Katie” was out in full force during this time!  But John handled both Cautious Katie and driving under these crazy conditions very well!

Tintagel Castle

Padstown was a much busier fishing village with lots of shops and cafes.  We had some lunch of fish and chips and a Cornish pasty and then made our way to Padstow’s beach for an afternoon walk.  The sun was out and we enjoyed spending some time by the water and on the sand.  By this point in the day, we were exhausted and decided to head back to Truro and call it a day.  Before dropping off the car at the rental station, we had to stop and fill the tank up with petrol.  We had only gone through a quarter of a tank of fuel but it cost £32!!!!  Gas prices here are around £6 a gallon, which depending on exchange rate, works out to be about $9 to $10 a gallon.  Even though gas prices in the States currently are considered high, we realized how lucky we are in the States to have access to such cheap fuel compared to other parts of the world!

After a busy couple of days, we have decided to take it easy for the rest of our weekend.  We took a stroll through town earlier today and have now spent the rest of the afternoon eating breakfast and hanging out on our deck in the sun.  Since we can’t spend Easter with our families, this is a pretty enjoyable second option :-)

Three Henrys & a Mohr....An Italian Adventure

Italy….the only place where you can drink a bottle of wine every day and not feel like an alcoholic.  What an amazing week.  Katie and I have just returned from an amazing week in Italy, but what we are most grateful for was the opportunity to spend it with my parents who came to visit for 12 days.

Overall, it was so nice having our first guests and getting to show them around this beautiful part of the country where we live.  Of course they had to have fish and chips, cream tea and real Cornish pasties while they were here, but that goes for anyone who comes to visit us : ) 

Before I forget to write this, can I just say that we could NOT have asked for any better weather during the entire time my parents were in Cornwall or the entire week we were in Italy.  Lots of sun and temps in the 60’s and 70’s.  Not bad at all.

After a busy few days in Truro we all spent Saturday night preparing for our week in Rome and Venice.  Sunday morning came bright and early and we were off for Italy!!!  We hired a private car whose driver (Basil Jelly…yes this is his real name) drove us throughout the English countryside, past Stonehenge and directly to Gatwick airport.  All travel was smooth, we arrived safely in Rome and before you knew it we were sitting in a restaurant for what would be the first of a week filled with meals of pasta, bread, wine, etc.  

First gelato in front of The Trevi Fountain

We filled our Monday with the Roman Colosseum, the Forum and the Pantheon.  Katie and I took some time to ourselves in the afternoon to check out the Trevi Fountain and the Spanish Steps even though we knew we would be back to both later that night with my parents.  As we did every day of the week, we all took a much needed nap and spent another great evening out having an Italian dinner to cap off another great day.  After dinner, we all had our first Gelato (first of many) and spent some time at the Trevi Fountain and Spanish Steps before heading back to our hotel. 

Sistine Chapel

Tuesday was filled with a full day in the world’s smallest country—the Vatican.  Since the Pope didn’t return any of my e-mails we weren’t able to meet up as we had hoped, so instead we decided to take in the Vatican museum (which was huge), the Sistine Chapel and St. Peter’s Basilica by ourselves.  All were just as beautiful as I imagined them to be and were great reminders of how incredibly talented artists of that time, like Michelangelo, really were.  My parents stayed in the Basilica for the daily mass as Katie and I headed back through the rest of Rome for some exploring.  Our last night in Rome was spent around a table filled with more amazing Italian food as the next morning we would board a train which would take us straight to Venice. 

First night in Venice 

One of my favorite aspects of our time in Rome was witnessing my Dad experience Rome for the first time.  I grew up hearing him talk about places like the Roman Colosseum, ancient ruins and the Vatican as if they were something out of reach, that most people never get to see for themselves. So getting to share this with him and to see just how excited he really was to be there is something I will always remember.  The history of these places truly is difficult to grasp.  However, being there to see them with your own eyes does help you to imagine what life may have been like for these whole civilizations of people who walked the same earth that we were now strolling along.  Needless to say, it was really something to remember.    

On Wednesday, all travels to Venice went smoothly.  We had roughly a 4-hour train ride to Venice and we arrived by mid-afternoon. In researching Venice prior to our trip, I remember reading a quote that said, “Venice is not just a city to see, it’s a place that you have to experience.”  Truer words have never been written.  For those of you who have been to Venice, you know that this is a city that not only has no cars, but also has no roads.  In fact the only way to even get to the island is by boat.  All of this just added to the atmosphere and the amazing experience that was Venice.

Date night at Rialto Bridge

After a short Vaporetto ride we hopped off at our stop a few blocks from our hotel.  As you may know, Venice is a labyrinth of canals, bridges, alleys and passageways making it incredibly easy to get lost (more on that later).  As a result we were so grateful to have met a very nice Venetian man on our boat who knew exactly where our hotel was and offered to show us the way as it was in the direction he was headed.  These are the kind of small things that set a tone for an entire day so it was great to start off a new city on such a positive note.

One of many cappuccinos 

Our hotel was great and after we checked into our rooms we decided to start our time in Venice with a gondola ride at sunset (it’s a rough life).   One of the greatest things about our hotel was that it had a private landing for water taxi’s and gondolas so we literally walked right out of our hotel and onto a gondola.  As the sun set over the Grand Canal we floated along the canals in and out of back passageways observing a mixture of tourists struck with the beauty their eyes were seeing and locals living their lives—strolling home from work or hanging laundry on the line.  Witnessing this from a gondola sitting next to people that you love was the quintessential Venice experience.  It was touristy but worth every penny and a great welcome to the city.  Our gondola dropped us off along the Grand Canal so we were able to stroll along the waterfront as small shops and local artists closed up and packed away their things for the night and as restaurants set up tables and wrote dinner specials on outdoor menu boards as an invitation to those who passed by.  We strolled along a few back canal passages, found a restaurant and had another amazing meal.  As usual, we all had bread, wine and a variety of pastas to end another day.  The walk back to our hotel was a bit more complicated than intended as we ALL forgot to bring a map that EACH of us was given by our hotel.  Needless to say that this added a little stress (and a lot of time) to the night, but in my opinion getting lost in Venice is better than knowing your way around any other city in the world : )

Rainbow and ALF along the Grand Canal

The next morning, we took a private water taxi to the island of Murano, most famously known for its glass-making.  Venetians have been known for artistic glass-making for centuries and Murano is a small island just north of Venice.  We were able to take a tour of one of the factories and see some of the glassmakers/artists first hand.  Again, the artistry is amazing and we all agreed that we will never look at glass the same again.  Murano is a very small island, but like Venice is filled with charm and winding walkways that parallel the canals.  However, unlike Venice, there are more locals than tourists, so we spent the morning strolling along the “streets” and walking in and out of shops as Katie and my Mom attempted to satisfy their shopping needs.  We took a vaporetto back to Venice and after some lunch headed back to the hotel.  One great thing about life in Italy is that most people don’t go out for dinner until 8 or 9 o’clock so it was great to wake up a little later, have breakfast (usually croissants, pastries and cappuccino) spend the day exploring, take a nap, and go out for dinner.  Definitely a lifestyle I can get on board with. 

Earlier in the night, we decided that Thursday would be “date night” so Katie and I decided to literally wander around and get lost in Venice.  We ate gelato and strolled along the Rialto Bridge, had dinner at a small restaurant off of the canal and had dessert (tiramisu and cappuccino) at another restaurant before heading back to our hotel.  What a great way to spend a night together in Venice. 

The perfect end to a great week!

Friday, our last day in Italy, snuck up on all of us.  We all knew that we had to make the most of it so we decided to adopt a “no-plans” mindset and set out for the day with nothing specific in mind that we wanted to accomplish.  This can be difficult for four people traveling together, but I think by then, we all realized that this was truly the best way to take in a city like Venice.   I think it helped us to all truly relax and really appreciate every moment of our last day together.  We ate more gelato, did more shopping, and had lunch sitting in the sun at a canal-side restaurant just under the Rialto Bridge.  We had another late afternoon nap and spent the last night in Venice enjoying another great dinner together.  By the end of the week, dinner almost became like a ritual, but one that we were all very comfortable with and a ritual that I think we could all carry out every day for the rest of our lives.  Even the worst meal you have in Italy would be the best meal you would have anywhere else.  The standard is set high and I think we all did a good job of savoring every bite and every moment talking and laughing across the table.  Like a lot of things during the week, they weren’t just events—they were moments and experiences that we would each carry with us forever.    

Awesome!

As we said goodbye to my parent in the airport I found myself thinking about how time is a funny thing.  We spent the months leading up to my parents visiting feeling like time was dragging on until they arrived.  It couldn’t get here soon enough.  But once they were here, I found myself wishing for nothing more than for the time to slow down, so we could enjoy every second of it together. 

There is nothing like being an ocean away from your family that makes you appreciate spending time with them more.  I love that I have the kind of parents that would choose to do something like this with us.  I love that they began planning their trip to visit us the second we told them we were moving over here.  After all they are the ones who instilled in me the confidence to do something like this and the gratitude to appreciate every moment of it.  In that way, sharing this kind of experience with them was very fitting. 

Hanging out on Rialto Bridge

It was an amazing week filled with a lot of memories, and yet we will look to our next trip and our next guests to remind us of how precious our time here really is.

The Beginning of a Great Trip!

Doing some hiking in St. Ives

After a hectic travel schedule, Phil and Debbie Henry are officially in England!  They unfortunately ran into some complications on their way here as both of their flights were delayed due to the late March snowstorm in Wisconsin/Minnesota earlier this week.  Due to the delays and time in line for Customs, they missed their train here.  Fortunately they were able to get tickets for a train going from London to Truro a couple of hours later.  So after a long and stressful trip, they made it to Truro Wednesday night around 9pm!

As you can imagine the jet lag was tough the first couple of days.  They were able to take the first couple of days here to adjust to the time difference and get sorted.  As Debbie hasn’t been feeling 100%, John took Phil around Truro Thursday afternoon for an official tour.  They checked out the Cornwall Museum, walked the main path of the city and even had a Cornish pasty while sitting in the sun in Lemon Quay Square! 

As both John and I had off Friday, we decided to spend the day in St. Ives, which is a coastal town on the northern coast that we had never been to but heard great things about.  Once we were there, we realized what everyone was raving about--it was the most beautiful city yet we’ve seen in Cornwall!  We spent the day exploring the white sand beaches, the turquoise water, the adorable shops and even did some hiking.  We ended up having lunch at a seaside restaurant and finished the meal eating ice cream on the coastal path back to the train station.  The weather was amazing as it was around 58 and sunny all afternoon.  A truly amazing day!  Once back from St. Ives (and after a quick nap), we all headed to Wetherspoon’s (the local pub/restaurant) for a bite to eat.  Overall, a great day!

Perranporth Beach

As I had to work this afternoon, John, Phil and Deb headed to Perranporth Beach for part of the day to enjoy their last full day in Cornwall.  They were able to take a walk on the beach as well as do some hiking and exploring along the coastal path to St. Agnes.  Their afternoon in the sun and along the beach ended with lunch at a café where they experienced a Cornish Cream Tea as well as another pasty.  And they lucked out again with another fantastic day of weather as it was sunny and warm (with no rain!). 

As their time in Truro winds down, we will spend tonight packing and getting ready for our week in Italy!  We leave in the morning and will have a week to experience Rome and Venice.  Life sure is good.

Work, Gardening and Babies!

It’s been a busy couple of weeks since we returned from Amsterdam.  Sad to say, not in an interesting sort of way.  We have been busy with work, as my part-time position has pretty much turned into a full-time one over the past couple of weeks.  And I have started working on the weekends, as I guess that is the norm in retail.  John’s job has also been busier than normal, so we have spent the past couple of weeks just focused on our day-to-day.

Perfect day for some gardening!

Other than work, we have spent the past week or so focusing on getting everything “visitor friendly” at our place before our first set of guests arrive next Wednesday!  John and I spent this weekend going from store to store trying to find all the miscellaneous things we are in need of (extra towels, bowls, bedding, etc).  We also decided that the guest room needed a little sprucing up, so John spent Saturday morning painting and I helped out when I got home from work.  Now that the room is painted and put back together, I am so glad we took the time to do it.  A fresh coat of paint makes such a difference!  Then yesterday was the first time that John and I did some gardening in our backyard.  It was a clear and sunny day (in the mid 50’s) so we put some music on and got started.  It was so nice to spend some time outside working in the yard and in the sun.  Definitely a perfect Sunday!  Once we finish up a couple more small projects, we should be set for John’s parents coming next week and then it’s off to Rome and Venice!  We just can’t believe how quickly time has flown since we moved here and that it has been almost six months since we’ve seen family.  We can’t wait for Phil and Deb to visit as well as some other guests in the coming months :-)  

Madison protests

We have also been closely following the Walker versus Unions in Wisconsin over these past couple of weeks and are thinking about all of our friends and family who will be impacted by these changes.  I know it is a huge battle and issue in the States and realized that it is also hitting internationally as I picked up a local newspaper over my tea break at work and read an entire article devoted to the political happenings with Walker in Wisconsin!  Will be interesting to see what happens in the upcoming weeks.

On a lighter and happier note, the past couple of days have been filled with baby news!  John’s sister Joan and her husband Greg had a baby boy this past week.  His name is Henry Louis Borens and he was a whopping 10 lb baby!  My best friend Emily and her husband Adam also had a baby boy this morning – Turner Chase Bradley.  I was lucky enough to chat with Emily and she is beyond happy with her new addition.  Congrats to everyone!  Looks like we’ll have lots of new babies to meet once we’re back in the States!

An Amsterdam Birthday

Ahhh Amsterdam…what a weekend.  As my 30-year-old fingers type away, I am reminded of all that we experienced in this great city.  Everyone knows that Amsterdam is well known for it’s “open” stance on a number of morally taboo and controversial activities.  But to be honest, if I lived in Amsterdam, I would be rather annoyed that this is the first thing that comes to mind when one hears the word “Amsterdam.”  Yes, the presence of these things can be quite apparent depending on where you go, but Amsterdam is SO much more than this. 

I’m sure in the 13^th century, when fisherman built a dam across the Amstel River, they had no idea that an entire city would be built around this site and on the water.  Today the city, once the home to famous artists Van Gough and Rembrandt, is filled with hundreds of canals, connecting bridges, museums and fantastically old buildings.  It would be the perfect place to ring in the big 3-0.

We arrived in Amsterdam on Thursday night and after settling in to our hotel, we headed out to begin exploring.  Katie and I both had one thing in mind that we just HAD to have while we were outside of the UK.  We knew that Amsterdam would have just the cure for what we were craving….Mexican Food.  After strolling up and down the shop-filled streets, we found a great Mexican restaurant, complete with a man in a large sombrero waving people in from the street.  Let’s just say the food was amazing and we were both reminded of how much we missed good Mexican food. 

Friday morning, we started the day with a great breakfast at our hotel and headed out for the day.  What we really wanted to do was bicycle around the city, but since it was only about 35 degrees, we decided it would be a little too cold.  Incidentally, out of a population of 738,000 people, 600,000 of them have bikes, definitely a very “green” city (for more than one reason).  As a result we decided to get around the city by hopping on and off of canal boat line that had multiple routes running throughout Amsterdam. 

"I AM STERDAM" letters in front of the Rijksmuseum

We were both so fascinated by the fact that a lot of the houses were 5-6 stories tall and some, only about 30 feet across.  We learned on the canal boat that most houses were built that way during the 17^th century because the owners were taxed only on how wide the façade of the house was.  This resulted in a lot of houses that were very skinny, but very tall and very deep.  

We decided to hop off in an area known as Leidseplein, which is the very popular neighborhood for nightlife.  After a short stroll, we stumbled across a bar that was playing nothing but college basketball.  Since, it was my birthday, we even got to stop in for a quick drink before continuing with the day.  Not surprisingly, this bar was filled with Americans…mostly large groups of study abroad students who traveled to Amsterdam for a weekend of shenanigans. 

After a pint of Heineken to build up our courage, Katie and I knew we finally HAD to experience first hand what draws so many people to this city….the museums.  We made our way back over near our hotel, which was only a few blocks away from the Anne Frank House.  After waiting in line we were able to go in and explore the house where Anne Frank and her family hid during WWII when German troops occupied the city.  During this time over 100,000 Jews were deported almost completing wiping out the Jewish community.  It was not the most uplifting birthday activity, but so interesting. 

A Vodka-Red Bull night...enough said

After a short nap at the hotel, we headed out for the night.  Since we were in Amsterdam, I knew it was time to finally do what I have only done a few times since college….go out for sushi.  You know that it had to be my birthday if I got to drink during the day, watch college basketball and have sushi for dinner : )  Fortunately, on the same block as our hotel was a fantastic Japanese teppanyaki restaurant where we both had a great dinner.  From there, we headed out for the night were we had a few drinks, danced and heard a song that we haven’t stopped playing since we left Amsterdam.  Everywhere we went in Amsterdam, they were playing a song called “Hello” by Martin Solveig & Dragonette—still can’t get it out of my head.     

Now THAT is a public restroom

Needless to say, we had a great night out and we spent most of Saturday sleeping in and then doing some more exploring.  We also spent the majority of the afternoon shopping (yeah, my birthday…definitely over).   Since it was our last day in Amsterdam, Katie and I made a pact that we would take full advantage of what Amsterdam is best known for….waffles.  On every street corner, there were bakeries that sold waffles of all different flavors (chocolate, strawberry, frosted, candy sprinkles, etc.). Katie was slightly obsessed.   

After a great dinner on our last night we headed back to the hotel for some much needed rest before our long journey home the next day. 

Mmmm...Waffles.....one of many

Needless to say, we had a great time in this truly beautiful city.  I have to admit that going into the weekend, I had this image in my head that Amsterdam would be kind of this seedy place where you would have to watch over your back everywhere you went—but I was pleasantly surprised to find it was just the opposite.  It was beautiful, very clean and filled with some of the nicest people we have met on our travels so far.  I can’t think of many better ways to spend the last days of my 20’s and the first days of my 30’s.  

Below is a link to more of our photos in Amsterdam if anyone is interested:


Click Here for More Pictures