We're leaving on a jet plane...

Had a great fun-filled weekend in London, Chelsea and Windsor..

• Friday - went to watch Monty Python's Spamalot at the Palace Theatre in London's West End. I must admit, I liked the movie (Monty Python and the Holy Grail) better than the musical but it was our first musical since arriving here so it was good. Managed to get two Grand Circle tickets for 50GBP.

• Saturday - we went to Windsor (a bit late) to visit Windsor Castle, one of the Royal residences. It's actually the oldest castle that is still in use - the Queen Mum still comes here regularly on the weekends..denoted by the British flag raised on the flagpole. Very very nice town, we only got through the State Rooms (holy humongous!) and didn't get to St Georges Chapel.

• St Georges chapel is where King Henry VIII is buried so that will be cool to go back and see. Buying a ticket also gives you 12 months unlimited admission..

• Sunday - celebrated our 11-year old niece's birthday in Chelsea! Played the WII and good company..she was also wearing our sweater/jacket that we got for her at the end of the night!
  

Well we didn't exactly go to Harvard campus on our trip to Boston, but we definitely heard Bostonians speak..well, Bostonian. Spent the past 5 days on our first trip back to North America for Andrea and Victor's wedding and it was real good to be back on North American soil.

• CONGRATS to Andrea and Victor for such a beautiful and fun wedding! They got married on Friday, September 5th at the State Room. Let me tell you, 2-storey-tall, floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking Boston Harbour, the view and setting were unbelievable! Met up with old friends from Toronto, San Diego and well, Boston and we had good times all week...so this is what missing friends is all about! We are missing out!!

• Live band was actually much better than I expected. He even did Montell Jordan lol!
  

• It was also a reunion of sorts for Michelle and her old housemates from McMaster university..but wheres Nunaz? lol!

• Nicky is such a good, good, good cute baby. Pretty much no crying at all, wakes up smiling (that was wicked) and loves the ladies..haha!

• Of course, since we have been around expensive shopping in London, one of our main goals was to do some damage shopping and oh boy did we do some damage! Went wild at Banana Republic, Macy's, all the good stores and it was very clear to see how much more affordable it is to live there compared to London...oh and did I mention NO SALES TAX? Yep, our suitcases were heavvvvy on the way home.

• Damnit! I have been looking all over for these Onitsuka Tiger Ultimate 81 shoes sz 9 everywhere and they are out of my size! Feels like one of those missions i have to accomplish (in London theyre £49, in US, theyre $60..big difference).

• You can't quite see it in the pic below, but we had lunch at a replica bar of the one from Cheers, the TV show. We went to the replica in Quincy Market and the real one is only like 1-2 mile away.
  

So this past weekend, my parents and aunt and uncle came over to Europe for their 10-day adventure to Cork, Paris and London. They had a great time and it was even better that they got to stay with us at least one night before they left back home.

• When they first arrived in London, Michelle and I met up with them for a couple nights after work for dinner and to find out their initial impressions of London. Too many people, dirty.

• We took them to Stonehenge on Saturday and we saw it the 'budget' way..haha. Look at the fence in the picture and you should be able to figure out what I mean.

• Afterwards we went to check out Salisbury nearby and walked around the cathedral area for some good ol' English countryside-town time.

• Had dinner and drinks (Pimms anyone?) at Belvedere Arms in Ascot..yep long day after they came into London from Paris on a 2.5 hr train ride + 1 hr van ride from Kings Cross.

• Sunday was a luggage-packing day but more importantly, it was a day to go shopping at Marks and Spencer..woohoo!

• Sadly, my family had to leave after only a short time with us but I'm sure they had a good time. To be honest, i think the best time was that we got to 'hang out' with each other after a few months of not seeing each other. Can't wait to go back home in a few weeks!
  

• We also visited our family living in the Chelsea area. Very very nice to catch up (haven't seen them since the Philippines 3 yrs ago!) and got my butt kicked playing the Wii...against a soon-to-be 11 yr old lol! We will definitely go back and visit again and are trying to find a time to get them to our place out in the country.

• Someone's birthday is coming up!! An aspiring fashion designer and huge Chelsea fan!! See ya soon!
  

On our first Bank Holiday in the UK, Cigdem, Michelle and I decided to spend the long weekend Monday in Bath.

This historic city has been designated by UNESCO as a World Heritage Site and presents some of the finest architectural sights in Europe, most notably the famous Roman Baths.

• Bath is about 2 hrs west of where we were and I must say, it was a pretty surprisingly interesting town. It has a very strong Roman influence and it's biggest attraction are the Roman Baths which were situated on top of a natural hot spring, thought to bring healing/magical powers. Natural hot water still flows through here but the baths themselves are no longer used and the water is sort of greenish in colour but yes, hot.

• At the end of the Roman baths, we were able to sample some of the actual water, which is thought to be good for your digestive/overall health. YUCK! Tasted like hot water that had a million pennies in it..

• We also took a sightseeing open-top bus tour that took about 45 minutes and wandered throughout the city. We also passed by the place where Jane Austen lived (woohoo! :P) and got a quick glimpse of the famous Royal Crescent, a crescent shaped street, with 30 houses, and amazing architecture. Drove through the University of Bath (they also have a separate university in town, Bath University!) which is known for medical engineering and sports/athletics. A lot of Olympians have schooled/trained here and also the English Rugby club prepares here for international matches.

• "Pulteney Bridge, together with the Ponte Vecchio in Florence, is one of the world's most beautiful bridges. Like the Ponte Vecchio it is one of a handful of historic bridges in the world with shops built into it."

• Ate at Sally Lunn's restaurant, which is in the oldest building in Bath. It's famous for Sally Lunn's buns (originally Soleil and Lune for the dark top and light bottom colour of the bun itself).

• The city of Bath has all these different pig sculptures all over the city - just like Toronto has it's mooses! They're all commissioned by various artists/businesses and there's a pig-hunting treasure hunt involved with them, if you have the time.
  

• Edinburgh Castle - beautiful castle overlooking the city of Edinburgh. The crown jewels are housed here, like they've been over the past few hundred years or so since they were re-discovered in an old chest. The history is actually quite fascinating with Mary, Queen of Scots, William Wallace and all but I'll leave that up to you to research. We saw the crown jewels after spending 20 minutes or so in a queue and they are well...royal. It was also cool to see the old prisons for POWs and for soldiers behaving badly.

• Ghost Tour - We went on a ghost tour of Scotland on Saturday night (apparently they are very popular here) and it was ok. The guide was a nutter and I had to go pee the whole time, but held it for close to 2 hrs..

• Mary King's Close - Sunday we spent in the underground of Scotland checking out the historic Mary King's Close. A close is basically a very narrow street with tiny rooms on both sides that were pretty much dwellings. While we went underground, we actually say the real Mary King's Close which is now housed underground, imagine a thin narrow street with a strong incline, cobblestone pathways, pretty cool stuff.

• We also saw the most haunted place in Scotland (also in Mary King's close) and was also featured on the TV show 'Most Haunted' (sorry no pics allowed!!)

• The most famous ghost here was that of 10-year old Annie, who died of the plague back in the day but visitors still report feeling a tug when they are in her bedroom, where her parents left her to die.

• Talisker Whisky - one of Scotland's famous 6 whiskies and I won this drink against Richard when we bet on the men's rowing 8's Olympic final (Canada vs Great Britain) Goooooooooooold!! Oh, and im bringing back a bottle of this stuff when I come back to Canada..heheh get ready boys..