August 2009

Oh my it's been so long since I've written - again! Well August was a jolly good month, particularly since it started with my family here in London with me! Not quite everyone came - my brother Matt stayed back in the States, but mom, dad, brothers Tim and David, and sister Megan were all here - I was in heaven! Despite what the fact that I've moved thousands of miles away might let on, being around my family is one of the only times that I can truly unwind and be at peace. Right, enough mush - they arrived on a Wednesday and for those first few days I was still working, but it selfishly worked out in my favour b/c I missed all of the really touristy London things that I've done loads of times already. I did try to take them for some new and fun cuisine that they can't find in Portsmouth (where the most foreign restaurant is the local Mexican place) - we tried Lebanese, Indian, and a traditional English pub, amongst others. My sister (who is 11 for those who don't know) of course hated nearly all of it, except the chips (fries) at the English places. She took one bite of the curry and only ate rice after, and I had ordered the mildest thing on the menu! Oh well, she'll grow into it I guess. My family brought me some of my favorite treats from America as well (that I can't find here): Cheez-its, colby jack cheese, Cheryl's cookies, Ohio sweetcorn on the cob. All so delicious although my brothers ate nearly all of the cheez-its before I did! My mom also brought presents for James and I - get ready for the cheese - they were mugs with pictures of the two of us on them, to drink our tea! I love them and James does too, despite and because of the cheesiness, and because my mom's so sweet to think of such a clever present. She also brought James an Ohio State t-shirt - she's making sure he cultivates his allegiances right away!

On Saturday after their arrival we flew to Rome, where we stayed for three days before moving up the coast. In Rome we did all of the touristy things - Colosseum, Vatican, etc. that I had done while traveling in 2005. It was fantastic to experience it with my family, but I'll admit that I was mostly there for the heat and the gelato. After my first English "summer", I was soaking up the sun! It was that heat where you must take a shower at the end of the day before getting into bed b/c you're so sticky. It was awesome. I did get a bit sick of Rome by the end though, I thought many of the people were rude and loud, but it was probably b/c I was in the touristy areas. On our last day in Rome we took a day trip to the ruins of Pompeii, which I hadn't seen before and was mesmerised! With the way that the ashes preserved the city it literally looked like some of the houses had been lived in just a few months before our visit. It was also creepy to see the volcano looming in the background, looking green, peaceful and harmless, probably the way it looked to the ancient Pompeians. We spent all day there (in 90 degree heat - hurrah!), and returned exhausted to our hotel in Roma. The next day we took a train to the Cinque Terre, a small region along the Italian riviera comprised of five tiny villages. The coast is not very beachy, more like steep mountains rising out of the sea upon which the villagers grow grapes in terrace fields. There is a seven mile hike that you can do between each of the five villages (we stayed in Riomaggiore, the southernmost town), and I did this whilst traveling in 2005 but decided to have a day on the beach this time around. The "beach" at Riomaggiore is not sand but rather pebbles and smallish boulders - not the most comfortable but I improvised and bought an inflatable pool float to sunbathe on and thus cushion myself from the rocks. The sea was amazing - so clear you can see right to the bottom many feet out from the shore, and the most beautiful blue-green. My dad bought a mask and snorkel set and it turned out to be the best purchase yet - the fish were incredible! There were loads and loads - they didn't seem to mind the people in the water at all, but you couldn't really see them until you had the mask and could look underwater. Honestly I think I could have snorkeled all day long. For the most part we just kind of chilled out in Riomaggiore, played a lot of cards with my brothers and did a bit of shopping. On the last night we had a nice dinner of seafood and the delicious wine that is made in the region, along with a sample of pesto from the region as well. The restaurant was high up on the hill and looked out over the sea, and the sunset was to die for.

After the Cinque Terre we came back to gray sodden England for a roadtrip. We rented a car at the airport, and my dad drove (on the other side of the car and the other side of the road mind you), and I was navigator. It was SO stressful at first! Dad was simply trying to stay on the right side of the road while I was trying to figure out what the hell all the road signs meant. We accidentally made an entire journey around Heathrow airport, but it was probably for the best b/c it gave us some practise with the round-abouts. First we went to Stonehenge and did the free audit-tour. Very cool to see but made much more interesting by the tour. Otherwise it's still unfortunately just a pile of bloody rocks, no matter how old and mysterious they are. After Stonehenge we drove to a town to the south called Salisbury (no, we didn't have any steaks nor see any on the menu that night) where we stayed for the night. We pootled (English word for amble) around the town but all the shops were closed, so we came back the next morning and did a bit of shopping. My parents bought me a picnic set I'd been eyeing the night before. This is how middle-aged I have become - I now own a picnic set (think wicker basket, proper plates, wine glasses and cutlery) and I love it. I feel like a bit of a d-bag taking it to the park but that's the beauty of London - you can get away with literally anything. Any worrying that I ever did about what I wore or what I looked like has completely evaporated b/c in London there will always be ten people who look weirder (and somehow cooler...) than you do. The next day we went to Bath and strolled around, then to Oxford, where (gasp!) my and James' parents met each other! It was rather spur of the moment b/c James called to let me know that they were going to be in Oxford visiting his sister, and I couldn't show up in Oxford and avoid them, now could I? To be honest I was actually quite excited by it, and they got on very well, as I knew they would. Our parents are very similar so I didn't have any doubt. Our mums gossiped and laughed the whole time and our dads (when my dad could actually understand James's dad's accent (he had a bit of trouble understanding British accents sometimes)) gabbed the whole time too. We didn't see much of Oxford that day b/c we had decided to visit Blenheim Palace, an aristocratic home (palace really, as the name implies) which has been partially opened to the public. It was very beautiful and a lovely day, so the gardens were fabulous as well. There was a very large hedge maze in the gardens - so fun! That day we drove back to London and they left the next morning. I was quite sad and cried a little to come back to my empty flat, but James was very good at taking their place and cheering me up again, since I hadn't seen him in over a week.

After the week and a half holiday I spent the rest of August trying to get back in the flow of working and having quiet weekends - James and I went to the London aquarium which was cool but we both thought was overpriced, and we did a bit of running (which has since nearly ceased). Also during August I got the result of my IFRS exam and I passed!! The passing grade was a 50 out of 100 and I got - wait for it - a 50! It was exactly what I was aiming for though and what I keep telling people is the result of highly efficient studying. Just so glad to have it over and done with. Except now people keep expecting me to remember the things that I studied - bollocks!

At the very end of August there is a bank holiday in Britain, a week before Labor Day. James and I went down to his parents' house in Dorset, in southeast England. They have a lovely house in a very tiny village called Drimpton. It was a quiet weekend and that's exactly what we had planned. On Sunday we had Sunday lunch (a big pub lunch generally consisting of a roast) and then went to the seaside, where it was freezing and windy! Thank goodness James's mum doesn't like the cold either and didn't want to stay too long. There was a little visitor center at the beach where they had many of the fossils that had been found in the area on display, kinda cool! James's sister came down too for a few days, so it was really nice just to spend the weekend relaxing with his family.

That finishes August off, next - you guessed it - September!

xoxo,
Heather