The Parentals

Words cannot express how wonderful it was to have my parents here visiting us in London.  When Jeri and I first decided we were going to leap across the pond, I was not sure whether or not Mom and Dad would make it over for a visit.  I was so excited when they called to tell us their flight info, even more excited when they loaded 20 lbs. of peanut butter into their luggage, and elated when they arrived at our door.  


The time flew by, and Jeri and I are still laughing about all the fun dinners, trips, picture-taking marathons from momma and "beans again" cheers from dad.  We literally ate and drank as if it were the holidays, albeit English-style.  The pub nachos and burgers were a hit, and the raw fish was a... um... another hit.


Borough Market and the Portobello Road Market were both accomplished in one day, with a stop at the Ferrari store in between. Mom and Dad saw the entire city by bus (and boat), taking pictures for us so that we could see all of the "tourist" stuff we have yet to see in person, and even checked out some fabulous museums so that we can tell our other visitors where to go. (Mom kept saying "this will be perfect for Reed and Madi)


Here are a few more highlights... 

On the patio (note- jackets in June)

Filter Coffee at Borough Market

Raw Shrimp and Wine

More Wine...

Happiness

I am so glad to have had such quality time with my parents.  When Jeri and I tucked them into the cab early Monday morning, I held back my tears until the door closed.  We missed them instantly.  

With love,

Amy

Tetbury

We have become big fans of the English countryside and of the Cotswold's in particular.  This Friday we decided to go to Tetbury, a small town in the Cotswold's an hour by train directly west of London.  We gave John and Barbara a backpack for the adventure.

                                                                  

Tetbury has 1300 years of recorded history, which is always so hard to fathom when our history in the US is only 200 years old.  Prince Charles and company have a home in Tetbury so apparently it is not unusual to see them at the polo field and around town; however, we didn’t stumble upon them.

                                                            

We stayed in a beautiful bed and breakfast run by a lovely artistic couple.  They picked us up at the train station when we arrived and welcomed us into their home that was exquisitely designed and decorated with jaw dropping art.  

                                                    

Within 15 minutes of our arrival Amy and her Mom were baking scones in the kitchen.             

                                                                        

                                                            

John was in the backyard talking to Gary and I was finishing up emails in our luxurious bedroom. In true English style, we enjoyed afternoon tea and fresh baked scones in the yard and then set off to check out the town…which took about 30 minutes.  Dinner wasn't until 7:30 so we decided to duck into a real "pub" and have a "pint".  

                             

With still more time to kill and wanting to get everyone laughing I encouraged a game of pool before making our way to the small café where we were scheduled for dinner.  The pool game was hysterical. Truly, a highlight of the trip.

Just as the restaurant name implies, we sat at the bar in the cafe, "The Chef's Table," and watched the chef prepare our meals.   Needless to say, we dreamed about running an open air kitchen brasserie in Seattle.

                               

On Saturday Gary and Nicola prepared a stunning breakfast that equipped us for the antiquing that we were hoping to do.  We walked through town and through many shops, but found nothing compelling enough to drag home on the train.  We've since decided that we got spoiled in Brighton at Alex MacArthur's shop, check her website out, you'll see what I mean - http://www.alexmacarthur.co.uk/

We visited St Mary's Church (and cemetery), which was built in 1777 and is described as "one of the best Georgian Gothic designs" and walked through the pillared outdoor market in the center of town that wool merchants once used as a trading floor. 

We jumped on an afternoon train and when we arrived in London had to sort out how to get home because, as often happens, several tube lines were down.  We were all pretty tired out when we finally arrived home, but Amy and I decided to run down and join an evening yoga class. 

Sunday was a nice relaxing day - we stayed in bed drinking coffee and playing on the computer, planning trips, etc until noon.  Amy's parents did a reconnaissance of a few museums which they raved about and we did a Pilates workout in the afternoon. For dinner, Amy made her new specialty - Indian food.  It was a super relaxing day and another great weekend.

We hear that the northwest is finally starting to get summer weather, that's great!  We are very much looking forward to seeing everyone in August and hoping for some nice weather while we're there so we can get out and enjoy Discovery Park.  We miss our lighthouse.

With love,

Jeri Jo

Gratitude for this life

Sunday, June 6

London

We took a 9:15 yoga class at our new yoga studio this morning.  The instructor ended our practice by saying “It is a privilege to live this life, to breathe this air and to inhabit this body.  It’s an honor to enjoy our home, this planet, and to give and receive love.”  It set the tone to spend the day thinking about all I am grateful for, which is a lot.  A good yoga practice eliminates, even if just momentarily, the need to get to the next thing and reminds you to enjoy what is occurring in this moment, and then the next, and then the next. Connecting to that is why I love yoga.   

Our dear friend Aimee (one half of Kiki’s Adopto-Moms ) is in London on business this week.   We introduced her to our favorite pizza place, “Made in Italy” where pizza is on an ultra thin crust and served by the metre!  We got to catch up an all things Seattle, hear all about Kiki (they think she’s so smart she might be a Mensa cat) and begin to plan our upcoming trip with she and Coleen. 

Amy’s parents arrive on Tuesday, which will be great!  We’re very excited to have them here in London with us for a couple weeks.  Stay tuned for our adventures…

With love,

Jeri Jo

Big Gay Brighton

Fri/Sat, June 4-5

Brighton, UK

Friday night we took a train up to Brighton, the gay capital of Europe (little did we know…)  It’s a fantastic Bohemian and artistic beachside village that provided a nice little escape from London.  We stayed at a small B&B that was right off the beach and explored the village on Friday and Saturday.  They have an area called “the lanes” which consists of very narrow paths littered with great boutiques, cafes and restaurants.  Every few hundred yards are open courtyards with tables and chairs filled with people drinking their lattes, eating a meal or relaxing with a glass of wine.  Intermittently we found a few different bands playing and art galleries supporting local artists.

It was great to breathe the fresh air, and to see a huge body of water (it was the English Channel).  It reminded me of how lucky we are in the Northwest to be surrounded by so much natural beauty.

I made a reservation at a highly recommended vegetarian restaurant (purported to be the best in the UK) as a surprise for Amy (but ended up telling her) and it was incredible!  The food had an Indian inspiration, was extraordinarily fresh and was amazingly creative.  It was a great find and we’ll definitely venture back to Brighton, both for the fresh air and the vegetarian cuisine!

We both made the clean plate club!

With love,

Jeri Jo

Americans in Paris

Wed-Sun,  May 27- 31

Paris, France

I had a few client calls in Paris (boy, was THAT interesting) and we decided to make a weekend out of it.  Amy had never been to Paris so it was fantastic showing her around and reacquainting myself with the city.  Paris is tough because there’s simply so much to see and do and a weekend (or a week) isn’t sufficient, so you have to decide what you really want to see and then promise yourself another trip to hit the rest.  We explored virtually every neighborhood (arrondissement) and must have walked 10+ miles each day.  It’s hard to describe the beautiful architecture that envelopes the streets of Paris.  There’s a feeling of elegance, strength and antiquity everywhere you look.  There are very few modern structures, but most are in surprisingly good condition.  If you have an appreciation for the aged and beautiful, Paris is the city to visit.

Arche de Triomphe

We stayed near the Arche de Triomphe off of Champs Elysees (see above).  We explored the Marais district, the Louvre and Tuileries, St Germain, Montmartre (I made Amy watch Moulin Rouge a few  weeks ago to get in the Montmartre mood) and Montparnasse.  I finally remembered how to get around on the tube in Paris, so that was fun and made everything a bit more accessible.

The Tuileries and the Louvre

The view from Montmartre

The highlights were seeing Notre Dame and watching Amy at the Eiffel Tower.  I forgot that it lights up each night – that was a fun surprise for us both!   We spent most of our time admiring the city, walking through the different neighborhoods and trying new cafes. 

Au Revoir,

Jeri Jo

Shakespeare's Stratford

This past weekend we enjoyed a quick overnight to Stratford Upon Avon.  Jeri and I met at the train station Friday afternoon for our departure, and I must say that we are beginning to develop a nice routine around these little UK excursions.  I arrive with a small backpack that holds our toothbrushes and a change of clothes along with a small cooler that holds our sandwiches, and Jeri arrives with our printed weekend itinerary.  We hop on the train, and 2 hours of perfect reading time later we arrive at our destination, in this case, Stratford.  I have to confess that since my intensive Shakespearean study at Emerson, I have always wanted to see Stratford.  This was truly an idyllic trip for me.  


We arrived at the train station in Stratford and had a 15 minute walk down the road to our bed and breakfast.  Although the breakfast bit was excellent, the bed part was not so.  Much to our chagrin, the bed ended up being the most lumpy and uncomfortable mattress we have ever (not) slept on.  So much for the reviews on Trip advisor... but I digress...


After we arrived, I enjoyed a cup of tea while Jeri finished up some work.  Yes, teatime has officially been adopted by us both.  We have also realized that teatime's perfect compliment, "biscuits"- although just a guiltless name for "cookie"- will be something that we enjoy in London,  and miss when we return home.  


We then grabbed our map and headed into town to explore.  We were blown away by the architecture of the half timbered houses.  It is one thing to have seen pictures of these houses in our history books, and another to stand in front of them and witness the wobbly walls.

We found a wonderful restaurant for dinner called "The Opposition" that was supremely satisfying.  The rooms inside were almost cavernous, and rightfully so being that is is a 16th century beamed building.  It was the perfect place to relax on a Friday evening-


After not sleeping, we arose early on Saturday to enjoy our breakfast and plenty of coffee.  We enjoyed an amazing locally made honey that was served with our toast, and departed for our day hoping that we could find some to bring home with us.  Fortunately, we later stumbled upon a market in town that just happened to have a booth from the farm in which the honey was made.  Mission accomplished.  I digress, yet again...


We started our adventures that morning with a hike to Anne Hathaway's house.  She was courted by Shakespeare at this house, and later married him.  She was 8 years his senior, and together they had 3 children.  The house was incredibly small, but beautiful, and the natural, almost unkempt gardens surrounding the house were our favorite. We walked around in the sun for quite a while before even entering the house. 

Lost in the Labyrinth

Anne's House

After our time at Anne's house, we enjoyed the trek back into town via an old country cottage-lined road.  Back in town, we stumbled upon the market with the fabulous honey.  We also stopped into a little coffee shop for a quick pick-me-up before heading on to Shakespeare's house.  

Shakespeare's Birthplace

They had actors performing scenes in the courtyard behind the home, in full costume and make-up.  However, we did not stick around to watch.  We had somewhere else to be....


Really, this is the highlight of the trip for me, so do forgive my rant.  Let's start with some background.  Don't worry, I will spare you the details of my childhood backyard dramatic productions, skip right over my very favorite class in college where I had to read and translate various Shakespearian works, and bypass the stories of the hours I spent rehearsing those lines of iambic pentameter in the Arlington Street Church in Boston.  Consider yourself lucky.  The background of which I speak is that from the moment Jeri said "pick any spot in the Cotswolds you want, sweetie.  It doesn't matter to me," I started obsessively trying to get tickets to The Royal Shakespeare Company.  I looked online.  Everything sold out.  I called.  Everything sold out.  I checked online again.  One available seat, denoted as having a high back chair.  Not a possibility for the two of us, but the notion of a high backed chair only increased my excitement.  In the original Globe Theatre, the thrust stage was surrounded by benches, the backs of which increased in height as the seats moved up the three tiers of the theatre building.  Ah, to sit for 4 hours in a high backed chair trying to make sense of each and every word spit out by the actors... how wonderful.  At this point though, I was beginning to doubt the reservations I made for our B&B.  How could we go to Stratford Upon Avon and not see Shakespeare?  Of course, had I known the condition of the bed we were to sleep on, I would have found these doubts to be an admonition.  It just didn't seem possible.  Could they really sell out of every seat in the house?  I called the ticket hotline again.  I began to plead my case in hopes that there would be secret tickets, ones that they don't actually advertise and only make available to poor souls with stories such as mine.  "Well, Miss, it is common for us to sell out for the entire run of a show almost as soon as they become available.  Have you joined our mailing list?"  I let out a guffaw.  "Of course I am on the mailing list.  I just never imagined that I would move to London with the love of my life and actually have the opportunity to see Shakespeare in Stratford.  I did not pay attention to the ticket release dates.  I did not plan our visit to Stratford well in advance.  Due diligence was not done, and now I guess I will have to suffer the consequences."  I let out a heavy sigh, hoping to express my true sorrow.  Perhaps that would make the ticket hotline lady find me tickets.  Nope.  "Keep checking back, as we occasionally get returns.  It is rare, but it sometimes happens."  That was all I got.  


Up until this point I had not mentioned the issue to Jeri.  How could I explain that her ex-thespian wife-to-be could not get tickets to The Royal Shakespeare Company?  It would be simply mortifying.  It was now Wednesday, and considering we were leaving Friday afternoon, I knew I needed to muster up the courage.  I tried the sneak technique, subtly mentioning it as we were fumbling for a valid Oyster Card while climbing onto the bus while we were on our way to Yoga just after she returned home from Paris. With all that was going on at the moment, the odds were stacked in my favor that she would hardly hear me.  Since I talk a lot, I know she sometimes must tune me out.  I was secretly hoping that this might be one of those times.  Nope.  She heard me.  But her quick response made me feel better.  "Oh well."


Thursday morning, the day before we were scheduled to leave, we were up early as usual.  I stumbled to the computer after sending Jeri off to work, and sleepily opened the RSC website.  Saturday.  1pm.  Seat availability in the stalls: 3.  What?  3 seats available?  Can this be true?  I was so excited I could hardly stand it.  We'll take 2, I thought calmly.
Before 10 minutes had passed, I had paid for the tickets and proudly emailed confirmation to Jeri for her to print so that we could retrieve our tickets from the box office.  We were going to see the Royal Shakespeare Company...in Stratford!  Oh, and did I mention that the show we were to see was Romeo and Juliet?  Life is good.

Now jump ahead to Saturday afternoon.  As you probably suspected, we eagerly walked over to the show after visiting Shakespeare's birthplace and found our seats.  What followed was 3 1/2 hours of the most incredible theatre ever.  Well, I thought so.  I think Jeri was ready to go for a run.  She is such a good sport!

I would say that we indeed had the most quintessential Shakespearean Stratford Upon Avon getaway.


With love,
Amy


ps- for you, my sweet

Spring is Coming...Slowly

Week 9 in London 

This past week was a bit of a blur.  I had an overnight trip to Paris during the week so I took the  Eurostar for the first time.  What a great way to get to travel!  It’s comfortable, spacious and much easier than flying.  It also offers beautiful scenery along much of the trip.  It was a very busy trip so Amy didn’t go on this one, but we’re planning a few days in Paris at the end of the month.  I was reminded while there of how lucky we are to be in a European city that is English speaking during this year abroad.  Paris is fantastic but feels so much further from home because everyone speaks French (and expects you to).  However, it was refreshing to see them driving on the proper side of the road and in the proper drivers seat. J

Back in London, we finally found a great yoga studio about 20 minutes from the house.  It’s the type of yoga I love and the instructors are very good.  We were able to squeeze a couple classes in last weekend as well as on the night I returned from Paris.

We went to Stratford Upon Avon on this Friday and Saturday as a little getaway.  It was beautiful and a lot of fun.  I’ll let Amy give the highlights.

I hear that we’ve had spring like weather in Seattle – each time it makes me miss my runs through Discovery Park, the barbecues with friends and family and the flowers that I know are blooming everywhere.  We are very fortunate to live in such a beautiful part of the world and to have so many people who we love near us – being away from home reminds me of that often.  We are planning a trip home for early August.

Amy scheduled a massage for me to enjoy upon our return from Stratford Upon Avon, which was the most incredible massage I’ve ever had.  I am already so sore from it – the deep tissue work was intense.  I literally cried out in pain on more than one occasion.  It’s a bit masochistic but I know it’s good for me and so does my baby who always takes good care of me.

With love,

Jeri Jo