Day 4 - The Cottage

Today we enjoyed our first full day at the cottage. This dwelling is over 300 years old and was made for and by much shorter people, but it is absolutely charming. We woke up at a goodly hour and then started out for a day of sight-seeing about the country side. We see our first estate, much to Leslie's delight, called Holkham hall. Then we had a picnic by the sea. After that we went to another town where we got ice cream and immediately got caught in the rain. We held up in an old stone basement/ruin for a few minutes than decided to duck into a cafe before it got really bad, which it did as soon as we left the shelter in search of the cafe. Water damage was nill and the tea was perfect. I popped in and lifted up my head and realized: "I've been here before." Indeed I had when I'd been visiting seven years ago. We popped in and out of a few more little towns along the coast and then headed home for a nice dinner of fajitas and a walk in a beautiful nature reserve just outside the cottage. Then back home for some Cosby Show.

Back from the Cottage

We've just returned this afternoon from three wonderful days in what is exactly what you would imagine when I mention the term: English Cottage. Ducking in from room to room, a starecase no bigger than a closet, and memories as far as the mind's eye can see. Hopefully tonight we will be able to post some highlights. We'll most likely call tomorrow if we can get our calling card situation straightened out. We'll be watching Wembeldon for sure tomorrow at 2PM as Nadal meets Federer. We've really been engrossed in the action. More to come.

Day 3 - To the Cottage

Today, Leslie, Ellie, Alex, and I drove the 2.5 hour drive north to Mulbarton where Ellie's parents live. I got to see the church where Alex and Ellie were married. It was the first time I'd seen it in six years! We had a lovely lunch waiting for us when we arrived. In an hour or so, we're going to head to the cottage, a fifty minute drive away, where we'll spend our days looking at olde English estates and eating on the shore at restaurants that I'm sure invented fish and chips. We'll be there until Saturday so updates will be sparce as I'm pretty sure the cottage is not equipped with high speed internet, or a computer. Should be fun.
PS Jenn's cookies have been famously received now in two different parts of England. Ellie mom loved hers this afternoon. These sweeties are litrally world famous!

London - Day 2

On Tuesday, Leslie and I had some time to ourselves to bash about London. We saw the changing of the guards which made our legs, back, and skin sore and was otherwise not too remarkable. Then we walked through St. James Park and sat down to study the Bible (Leslie) and sleep (Andy). We then found a fun restaurant off the Thames river, had lunch, then met up with Alex and Ellie at Covent Garden. They had a bunch of cool shops and wonderful street performers. Most of the pictures are too big to post and forget about the videos, so we'll have to have a slide show at our new house shortly after we return. The most memorable part of the day was when we when out to dinner with Alex and Ellie that night and then saw A Mid-Summer Night's Dream in the Globe theater, where Shakespeare's plays were originally performed. We got home late and slept even later.

London - Day 1

Leslie and I arrived safely yesterday afternoon to the smiles of Alex and Ellie. We hopped in the car, popped open the bin of cookies that Jenn sent over with us, and headed out for Alex's parents' house. Roger and Irene are two of the sweetest people we've ever met, and we hope you'll all join us in pressuring them to come visit us some day. We had an amazing dinner, as anyone will when eating Irene's cooking, and then Leslie and I caught up on some very sweet sleep. The morning was beautiful as we had breakfast in the back garden (yard) and then we headed to London proper by way of the underground. We saw Big Ben - actually we saw the clock that encases Big Ben (the bell within the clock tower). We saw the house of parliment and Westminister Abbey and the Globe Theater, in which we will see A Mid Summer Night's Dream tomorrow night if all goes to plan, and generally had a wonderful time exploring London and all of her museums, St. Paul's cathedral, and all of her other diversions. St. Paul's was the most amazing cathedral I've ever been in, but we weren't permitted to take pictures, so these will have to suffice.