Well, ya'll, it was fun. Food was eaten (fish & chips, Indian, Ethiopian, crepes, pastries; in the UK, much beer and coffee; in France, much wine and coffee); a large portion of London and Paris were covered by foot, bus, and train; sights were well seen. Really, there are too many details for a blog posting. Some highlights:
St. James Park in London. I caught the changing of the guard at Buckingham by chance. (The
Eye in the background...)
Guarding the Queen's jewels at the
Tower of London. M4 had made us a most awesome going-away card with drawings of various landmarks. I tried to snap a photo with his drawing when I could.
Tower Bridge, of course.
No caption necessary. This is really something everyone should see in person in their lifetime. Not to mention the
Notre Dame cathedral. I could have taken pictures there all day! The gargoyles!! One and a half days was not enough in Paris, but thanks to our fabulous hosts, David and Astrid, we saw a whole heckuva lot!!
The first day in London, Mark had gotten me a surprise: an Italian cooking course at
La Cucina Caldesi!! It was such a fantastic time...everyone else was from the UK, so I got to meet some great people instead of otherwise wandering around solo. Our instructors,
Stefano Borella and
Katie Caldesi were relaxed, fun, and of course, informative! We ate and drank all day long (favorite pasttime); I got to hear Italian (next on the language list?); I was sufficiently inspired to come home and make homemade ravioli tout de suite (with a little help from M4)!
Other highlights:
I also have to shout out to maybe the best coffee I've ever had:
Monmouth Coffee Co. Yes, it was even better than what I had in France. Sacrilege!!! I have many more pictures...if you want to see them, let me know, and I'll send you the Shutterfly link. Mon dieu, it was a great vacation! I can't wait to take the kids sometime...
Coloring eggs with Nana:
Representing Japan in the International Student Organization's Cultural Evening with their international "sister," Chinami (and a student named Claire in her lovely kimono):
On the hunt on Easter morning!
This in addition to music, tae kwon do, M3's rehearsals for the dance performance she's in this weekend, and hanging with Nana and Boppa. A good, busy time was had by all!
M4 checking out the otters...they come close to cats in cuteness!
Driving a riverboat!
This giant catfish sure was ugly, but it was very friendly!
Balancing on Huck Finn's raft. It's a sweet little museum and aquarium. We also toured an old river dredge (high in spook factor because we've read some of the Skeleton Creek books). It was tough to come home after that and know we had to go back to school the next day, but we survived.
Knights on their funeral pyres.
Peekaboo!
Check out this odd structure in the pond down the hill!
I love Andy Goldsworthy. He built a cairn here and at Grinnell College's CERA biological research station, and he built one on each coast as well. He does amazing natural art.
St. James Park in London. I caught the changing of the guard at Buckingham by chance. (The Eye in the background...)
Guarding the Queen's jewels at the Tower of London. M4 had made us a most awesome going-away card with drawings of various landmarks. I tried to snap a photo with his drawing when I could.
Tower Bridge, of course.
No caption necessary. This is really something everyone should see in person in their lifetime. Not to mention the Notre Dame cathedral. I could have taken pictures there all day! The gargoyles!! One and a half days was not enough in Paris, but thanks to our fabulous hosts, David and Astrid, we saw a whole heckuva lot!!
