OK, so yah, I've been a terrible slacker, I swear I'll get the last week of our trip down in photos sometime soon, maybe this weekend(!) Yea, right...
But, just to give anyone hope, I've started a newer blog that I hope to be more random and thus possibly motivated at: http://seaverliving.blogspot.com
So check it out if you're bored with this one, maybe there's something to read there.
Well, I guess its been a while since I've said something, its been a fantastic time in Oxford, last few ddays with family at home and then an easy flight home to Chicago.
Ah, Chicago, tipping a cab driver who didn't know where he was going and ran three red lights, contemplating wrecking a friend's lawn because our car was blocked in, stopping for frosties and fries, A/C, waking up to a parking ticket, man, I guess we're home.
So, it was back to work and the grindstone. Nothing seemed to have changed much though the lab's server seemed to have gone through some mid-life crisis of its own, I swear I had the file for my poster in there somewhere...
Its photo time, where can I start? Did anybody know that I went to boarding school for 7 years? Well, on our way to Oxford, we stopped by to visit the memories, good and bad. Its an old manor out in the Berkshire countryside thats been well-extended to accomodate Britain's most intelligent deaf youth...well, I had to say that didn't I:
Moving on, Erika met Gran for the first time:
Then after they got rid of me, Erika picked up Amber and they went to sweden for a few days:
Did I mention our Czech friend, Jitka? Well, she actually works in Sweden and was their lovely host:
They went partying on a roof one night, with Jitka's man (on the right), I won't do him the dishonor of trying to spell his name when I actually don't know:
We all reconvened back in a TW park for some Fish 'n' Chips!!! and beer, thats my brother behind Amber:
I'd come home from Oxford for the weekend because it was Erika's birthday and as part of her very special day, (which she always seems to spend in England ever since she's gotten to know me), we took her to a castle. But not just any castle...because you see, she's read 'The other Boleyn girl' which is set mostly in the home of the Boleyns, Hever Castle, and guess what, it's right up our street. No photos girls, Erika's saving them for her next book club, so you can see exactly where Anne and Mary 'conquered', so graphically too, His Majesty...
Ahem, moving on...
They were doing some medieval jousting in the castle grounds:
And what did my lovely wife like to do with her food on her birthday?
Why, play with it of course.
Thats it for today folks, more photos coming up in due course.
BTW, anyone notice anything special happening on Saturday 19th? Its the start of the Premiership! Thank God for the beautiful game, that no chest-butt can sully.
Our last weekend in Tunbridge Wells was relaxing and nice. We had a kebab on friday night and went to a book party and then came home and chilled, watched a murder mystery, there are so many of them in England, I loved it!
Saturday we relaxed as well and went into town and got some last minute stuff and just enjoyed the nice weather. We had a wonderful curry that Nigel made, I wish I could make curry like that, I don't think I would eat out as much if I could! I already miss everyone but luckily we are able to come over again in the winter so not too long of a wait.
Poor Nigel had to drive us to the airport at 5 in the morning but we made it in good time and made it to the flight while they were boarding, perfect timing, no waiting around!
Well we landed safely in Chicago yesterday at around 10:30 in the morning. We had a good flight in the Economy plus section of the airplane. Orignally sam and I didn't have seats together, so when we got to the gate I asked if we could get seats together and she said she would check. Well our original seats were in Economy class but then she moved us to the economy plus where you get 5 extra inches of leg room!!! It was nice though becuase we were the first row after business class so we didn't have any seats in front of us and I could sit on the floor if I wanted!!
When we arrived we got a cab to our friends house where our car was and realized that we didn't really tell them when we were arriving so our car was blocked in. We were going to ride over the lawn to get to the street but they came home just in time. The car was not starting since we had left it for so long but finally roared to a start.
The house had not withered in the heat which was good and I unpacked as sam slept for another 3 hours. I made us a small dinner from the random stuff we had in the house and we went to bed around 7pm and slept until 9am this morning!! When going to the car this morning we had already gotten a lovely 120 dollar parking ticket for not having the new city sticker, I love chicago!!!
I am already annoyed that I have to start school on the 24th of August and start grad school on the 28th but I guess I have no room to complain seeing sam went to work this morning at 10am and most people work year round. I always forget how spoiled I am when I have to come home and actually make myself a meal and clean up after myself. For the last 7 weeks I have only had to cook for myself twice and for all you cooks out there you know how difficult it is to come up with food ideas and am sure you can relate to my shock of now having to go to the store and think of a meal!! Bummer.
When Sam's work settles down a little I will get some more photos on the blog, so don't stop reading even though we are home!
Hope you are all well and talk to you soon
Erika
Today Amber and I decided to take a trip to Cantebury cathedral. The one great thing about Europe is that you can get to places that are completely different in under and hour. I have really enjoyed traveling around Europe.
The cathedral was huge! I have been shock at how big these monuments and buildings are seeing that they were started in 597 A.D. I just don't know how they could build such beautiful places without the modern technology that we have today. We looked around the town and had another gelato ice cream!!! It is an Italian ice cream that is to die for.
Then we were exhausted from eating the ice cream so fast that we decided to head back early and go into Tunbridge Wells for a little bit to get some last minute gifts for Ambers mom. We just hung out around the pantiles and then headed home for a traditional english dish, shepards pie. It was really good and I would recommend it. I was unable to think of something that I could compare it to.
Amber leaves for America tomorrow in the morning and then I will have 5 more days to relax and try not to think of what I will have to do when I return home. Unfortunately, I have to start grad school again as well as prepare for the darlings of Evanston High School to return to school:(
Hopefully in the next week I will be able to add a little more about our travels, but no promises.
Erika
Well hello everyone. Sorry it has been so long since either of us have written. We have been busy riding trains, planes and automobiles!! Dorky!After being in the Czech Republic we were in England for about a week, which was nice to just relax with sam's family and catch up on sleep and see everyone. Then Nigel, Sam and I went to meet his grandma in Oxford on saturday. She was very nice and we just sat out in the garden and had some tea and cake and caught up. Then Nigel and I left sam the next morning to pick up my friend Amber from the airport. Amber and I went to high school together. She had never been to England and we thought this would be a great time for her to come over while sam is studying in oxford. Nigel and I had left sam a bit late so we had to hit the motorway, so we were cruising down the motorway around 90 miles an hour, which is normal in england, and arrive at the airport just in time for amber!!Amber and I had decided that we would go someplace we both hadn't been first and then travel around england so we decided on sweden. One of the biggest reasons we decided on Sweden was becuase Jitka, my friend from the czech republic is working there so we would have free accomodations and have someone that knew the city to help us around. Also the weather there was not has hot as it was going to be in Rome, I am not a fan of the heat so Sweden was a good choice!We were in Sweden for four nights and we were staying in Jitka's dorm room. It was perfect for getting some rest since all the students are on holiday, it was a great place to stay. We were mainly in stockholm and the islands that surround it. It was unbelievable all the water and islands there were. I loved it becuase I have always found the water relaxing and beautiful.We went to Gamla Stan, which is the old town and walked for about 9 hours that day. It was amazing how many different buildings and surrondings there were. IT was great though becuase it is such a walkable city that you could walk everywhere. Once I see Sam I will try to add some pictures but he is Oxford at the moment and you know me and technology! We went to a museum in Gamla Stan that had royal attire, it was amazing to see what they would wear in battle, it seemed so heavy and impossible to fight it. They also had what the women would wear in that time period and I don't know how they would manage to get through the door becuase the material around their hips were huge. I think I would like that time period though becuase it would have hidden all my lumps and bumps.
There was also an old boat that was turned into a hostel which we broken into to see what it was like. We went on a two hour river cruise, that had headphones that told us about all the different sites in stockholm we went under 15 bridges in that short period of time. Then we also saw a boat that sunk on it's maiden voyage in 1628 but they did not recover the ship, don't ask me why seeing that everyone was there when it sank in the harbor, but they recovered it in 19...something! It was really cool though to see how they restored it and all that jazz.
I was proud of my navigational ablitlies, it is amazing what you can do when you have too,. I am used to following Sam around and not dealing with directions. We got lost once and seemed to walk in a complete circle but hey that is part of the fun isn't it.
Amber and I ate a lot of ice cream and pizza, the pizza in Europe is excellent and addicting! I think that traveling makes you feel invincible to putting on weight! Lovely! I am going to have to run miles when i get home to shed the pounds.
The last night we were in Sweden we went out with Jitka's boyfriends mates and we had great fun talking to the local Swed's. We had some interesting drinks in their flat and then went out to the club. Jimmy, one of the friends, was rocking out to Purple rain all night which was great fun.
We returned to Tunbridge Wells on Friday and had a relaxing evening in the park having Fish and chips with mushy peas!! Then we went out to have a few drinks in the pub with david, sam's brother and some teacher friends.
On Saturday, my birthday, I had a nice breakfast and got spoiled with all my presents. Sam got me my favorite cheese, smoked applewood. He also got me some jewelry and a book that I have been wanting! So Rich, he did well but I was still hoping for the bow!!:) Amber, sam's sister, got me a nice manicure kit, braclet, address book. Then Annie and Nigel gave me some gift certificates to get some clothes and some food!! David got me some workout clothes, which i think was a hint at my eating episodes. I am a food freak I have figured out, I follow in my dad's foot tracks. My parents gave me some money to buy clothes for this trip which was great. I don't feel a day older other than the great neck brace i have to wear at night:)
But enough about the presents. The coolest thing was that we went to Hever castle, which i would normally not be interested in but I am currently reading a book called 'The other Boylen Girl' which was set here in England. It is all about the Queen of England and Henry the 8th.
Then we went to Oxford to see the town sam is working in for three weeks. It was really nice becuase we were able to get a college tour and oxford is mostly made up of colleges so it was perfect. There are 39 colleges that make up the university of oxford. We went punting with a mate sam has met in the lab. I did pretty good at punting but it would get stuck in the mud and then I would go backwards instead of forward. We stayed in sam's aunt's house which was nice to have a proper house to come home to.
Amber and I then traveled to Bath Spa, which was really really beautiful. We had this amazing tour guide that was 77 years old but walked us around for 2 hours and told us so much of the history of Bath. We didn't go into the baths but after hearing the stories of how the baths cured so many illnesses I would definately go back when I became old. We saw where Charlie Chaplan started his career and we also saw where Jane Austen lived and wrote some of her novels.
I will stop there so that you guys don't get bored without pictures to accompany my blabbing. I still have loads of stuff i could talk about but I will save that for a later date.
I also wanted to say thanks to Rich and Jenny and Cali for calling me on my birthday, it was a great surprise, and thanks to my parents for calling as well.
Hope you are all well and we will be seeing you all soon.
Well, its nearly the end of another week, and an idyllic one it has been for me in sunny Oxford. The weather has been borderline between fantastic and fantastically hot, it was 100 degrees on wednesday! Unbelievable for a British summer, and with a lack of A/C in the office, sweaty too.
Well, to recap, we visited my grandma Shelia and aunt Miriam last saturday, its been a while since we'd seen them both, and it was the first time that Erika met my last remaining grandparent, and they got on well, thank goodness! Well, knowing Erika, its not hard for anyone to like her :-) (*gag*)
My aunt's house in Botley (a mile or so west of Oxford) is a great place and I can't believe I have it to myself, I'm so grateful to aunt Miriam she saved me a ton of money.
Erika left me sunday morning (hooray!) and I just chilled. Went back to grandma's house for lunch with her and Miriam, to watch the golf and do some more general chilling.
After that, I've been in a lab in the Zoology department all week, the lab is full of nice people, notably Joe, Albert (Han Jun) and Esther. Joe and Albert took me out drinking on monday night and we did a great crawl visiting some of the better pubs such as Eagle and Child, (where the inklings used to meet...you know, tolkien and lewis et al.) Lamb and Flag, Turf Tavern and Twist. I've not got the camera, so I have to wait for Erika to get back with her pictures of stockholm, I'm sure she'll have a lot to say too.
The only other main event was that we went punting last night, and Joe took some pictures, here's one of me punting, and that's Albert sitting in front of me:
We punted to a barbie to a park, with other researchers from the department, and punted our way round afterward, along with a bottle of wine and about 50 geese too.
Its early saturday morning, and in a couple of hours we'll be setting off for Oxford. Its been a great week at home with my family, just chilling. Erika and I had a quiet day for our anniversary, we took a 3 mile walk through the local countryside to this li'l village and had dinner at the pub there, we didn't take the camera so no pics.
Wednesday we went to meet Ady for lunch in London, we grabbed some sandwiches and sat on the bank of the Thames with a great view of the tower of london and the tower bridge, the weather was and still is amazing.
We watched a one-off detective program about a man who was pushed to his death over a balcony, two of the suspects were deaf and the main character was the interpreter who got a bit too involved. It was cool not just because of the extensive use of sign language but because at times the sound itself was engineered to reflect what a deaf person might hear.
This is a picture of one of our local parks in tunbridge wells, I'd forgotten how beautiful the place can be, its a former victorian estate with its own man-made lake:
Thursday we all went to the seaside, Camber Sands, and enjoyed the sun, sand and sea though the sea was freezing, even the indomitable Erika wouldn't go under the water. We stopped on the way to get some english breakfast and stopped on the way back for a pint in an old pub.
Take note of the low sea wall that Dad built around Mum to help keep the tide away :-)
Yesterday, Mum and Erika went shopping, I had the chance to get away and go looking for a present for Erika's birthday but I'm still short on good ideas though I have a couple, its a nightmare shopping for this woman, she never knows what she'd like for her birthday! Judging by her previous post, I imagine she'd like me to get myself an anti-snoring kit and make it a gift to her :-)
Dad made some indian last night, but did he make some!
Then Erika and I went out with Dave and some of his friends for some drinks in a couple of pubs. Nice to relive the pub life here in England, never find it anywhere else.
Then Erika and I went out with Dave and some of his friends for some drinks in a couple of pubs. Nice to relive the pub life here in England, never find it anywhere else.
