UK Getaway: A Relaxing Bath Break

For a while now, I've been wanting to visit Bath. Everyone has told me that it's a really beautiful UK city and perfect for a weekend getaway from London.

We finally made the trip last weekend with our friends, Dan and Shelley. We rented a car and drove the 2.5 hours out there on Saturday morning. After we arrived, we parked and went to have a beer : )

The pub that we went to had this game called bully: there was a picture of a bull on the wall that had a hook for a nose. About 7 feet back there was a string hanging from the ceiling that had a metal loop tied to the end. You have to swing the loop and try to hook it on the bull nose - not as easy as it sounds. A very simple but amusing game which we played for a good half hour while we drank our pints. Dan was the only one to get it hooked once!

Next stop was the Roman Baths. In AD60, the Romans built baths in the area because of it's natural hot springs. The water in the hot springs is actually rain water that falls within the earth and the temperature is then raised through geothermal energy. Today, the Roman bath is still there, but the water is deemed unsafe for actually bathing in. You can still walk through all the areas they used for bathing and there are many artifacts from the Roman era. You can even drink some of the clean bath water that is safe - it is warm and supposedly contains a lot of good nutrients for you... but it was pretty gross! Warm water anyone? ...Yuck.

Afterwards, we walked by Bath Abbey and then up to the Circus and the Royal Crescent. These areas are famous for their Georgian Architecture and are picturesque spots because of their use of Bath stone. The whole town has a "Jane Austen" feel. She actually lived in Bath for a few years, but these places in particular were where this really shown through.

Once we finished walking around, we stumbled upon an 18-hole miniature golf course and ended up playing a round. Aaron won! Finally, we hurried to dinner and then had a mini pub crawl to end the night.

In the morning, we woke and walked around a bit more. While it had been hot and sunny the day before, Sunday it was pretty rainy. We had breakfast and then hurried to the car to make our way to one of the most historical sites we've ever been to... Stonehenge. More to come!

All the World's a Stage...

And all the men and women merely players! On Wednesday, we saw As You Like It at the globe theater in London.

Built in 1599 by Shakespeare's playing company, The Lord Chamberlain's Men, the original globe burned down in 1613. During a performance of Henry VIII, one of the theatrical canons ignited a wooden beam and thatching. It was then rebuilt, but closed down in 30 years later by the Puritans and demolished a few years later. The current one that you see today is a reconstruction that opened in 1997. It is near the old location (not exact), but does show performances as they were in Shakespeare's day.

There are three levels to the Globe- the top and middle which are only seats, and the ground floor which are a mix of seats and standing. It is an open air theater, so although the stage and seats are covered, the standing tickets are exposed to the elements, but this also means that you can get really close to the actors on the stage. However, Aaron and I were very grateful to be sitting in seats for our performance, since in typical British weather, it rained for over half of the show.

They try to make the whole experience very authentic. The seats are benches so the bad part is that your back has no support. But you can pay one pound for a cushion (worth it!) and it adds to the atmosphere of it all. It is a small theater, so you are close to the action no matter where you see the show from.

This is one of the best things that we've done in London. First of all, As You Like It is such a good comedy. The actress that played Rosalind was phenomenal, but all of the actors and actresses were great. Secondly, although it is a reconstruction, I loved being in the Globe. The setting is what you actually pay for, but we really enjoyed the performance.

At the end of the night, it was still pouring rain as we made our way on a bridge across the Thames back to our District line tube stop. There are some things you just can't avoid when living in London no matter how much you pay. And rain, is one of them : )

Cheers to the London Craft Beer Festival

Last weekend, we went to the London Craft Beer Festival with some friends and it was so fun! It was in a warehouse, event space in East London. You got a glass and then were able to sample as many beers as you want from craft breweries in the UK and beyond (Norway, Sweden, Australia)!

My favorites were:
• Eureka by Redemption Brewing Co (an American Amber / Red Lager)
• Cloud Catcher by Stone & Wood (Australian Pale Ale)

Aaron's favorites were:
• Pacific Ale by Stone & Wood (Australian Pale Ale)
• Little Things That Kill - Batch 13 by Weird Beard Brew Co. (Session IPA)

And both of us really enjoyed:
• Gamma Ray by Beavertown (American Pale Ale)
• Avenyn Ale by Dugges Ale- & Porterbryggeri AB (American Pale Ale)

Most of the beers there were very good ...apart from the 13% one I had that's made with maple syrup. Maybe it would be good on pancakes or ice cream but definitely not for drinking a pint!

Feeling the Heat and Music in Vienna

The beauty of being in London is that we can take a short weekend trip to a country we've never been to in Europe. We did that last weekend with a quick holiday break to Vienna. We both have never been to Austria, and we found a good deal on flights and a hotel.

Vienna was full of history, delicious food and classical music. It reminded me of quite a few other countries we've been to, but mixed into one: Germany for the bratwurst, beer and language, but also Hungary, Italy, France, Czech Republic, which made Vienna feel familiar in a way.

We arrived late on friday, so we headed to a nearby café for a beer. Cafés are a huge part of the culture in the city. Locals actually take the time to sip their coffees on the patios outside while enjoying a sachertorte or cigarette.

The next morning, we hopped on a bus tour around the city.  It drove us all over- through old town, new town and out to the many palaces. We even saw the world's oldest still-running ferris wheel (but decided for safety reasons not to get on...) But it was so hot (about 98 degrees!) so we had to get inside to cool down. We stopped off for lunch and toured the Opera House.

I had wanted to go to an opera but unfortunately there are no performances during the month of August. The opera house has so much history, but not all of it is as beautiful as the music housed inside. It first opened in 1869, but public response was not good. People didn't think that it was magnificent or grand enough. Because of the poor feedback when it was being built, one of the architects committed suicide and the other one ended up passing away shortly thereafter. Neither ever saw the completion of their work. The structure was also bombed in WWII and much of it had to be rebuilt. We saw what has been rebuilt, the original structure, backstage and seating area. It was incredible to think of all the composers that had their works performed there: Mozart, Richard Strauss, Richard Wagner and Beethoven to name a few.

Afterwards, we walked through a city market and then made our way to a beer haus that brewed their own beers. We enjoyed pints in the sun before walking around some more and then using our guidebook to find a place for dinner. The restaurant we ended up going to was perfect. Griechenbeisl opened in 1447 and is Vienna's oldest. We ate outside and enjoyed goulash and beers.

Then Aaron decided he wanted to explore the inside of the restaurant. We stumbled upon one room which had a man playing an akkordolia, an instrument that we both have never seen where you play strings and press down on buttons. After listening to the musician for a while, we peered into another room and about to turn and go, when the bartender said we needed to take a look at the back room on the left. He proceeded to take us back there where people were eating their meals! The ceiling and walls were covered in signatures (photo here). And he pointed out signatures of Mozart, Beethoven, Mark Twain, Johnny Cash, Led Zeppelin, Phil Collins, etc. Wow. It was one of the coolest things we've seen.

After dinner, we walked around and ended up in a huge park that was hosting a festival. There were tents set up serving food and drink, and a huge screen set up in front of a cathedral showing a classical music performance. A few hundred people were watching it in the stands, standing (like us) or just enjoying the atmosphere and having drinks with friends. Afterwards, we went to a Heuriger which is a traditional Austrian wine tavern. You can find them because they have a "wreath" symbol above the door.

On Sunday, we toured Mozart's house. He lived there when he was writing the Marriage of Figaro, which premiered in Vienna in 1786. It was neat to learn more about his life (he actually had a terrible gambling habit and the circumstances surrounding his death were questionable), but the museum itself wasn't organized very well. Afterwards, we had bratwursts and walked back to our hotel to collect our bags and head to the airport.

We really liked Vienna. It was a very easy city to explore and everyone was really friendly. It's the headquarters for many International organizations including the United Nations and OPEC, and has a lot more history than we realized. Plus, I loved that music is so interwoven with the city. It wasn't on our "must-travel-to" list when we moved over, but I am so glad that we went and would recommend it to anyone visiting Europe!

A Visit to the Queen's House

Recently Aaron and I toured the Queen's home: Buckingham Palace. Unfortunately, no, she wasn't home at the time...

...But for only a few months once a year, Buckingham Palace opens its doors to visitors while the Queen is not there. The rooms and areas that are available to see include:

• The Queen's Gallery - we found this to be the least exciting part. It is artwork from the Royal Collection. The featured exhibition right now is the palace garden.
• The Royal Mews - this part has working stables and houses everything to do with transportation for the Queen and other members of the royal family (such as coaches, carriages, and Bentleys). It even houses the Rolls-Royce Phantom IV. Fun facts: the cars do not have registration numbers since they are state vehicles. They also have special engines that allow them to drive at a very slow speed for a long time (used during the processions).
• The State Rooms - This was the best part! We toured through 19 rooms that are used for ceremonial occasions and entertaining. They are called the state rooms because they are public rooms (used for state entertaining). You couldn't take pictures in any of the rooms, so unfortunately I have no photos but they were all elegant, pristine, and very "royal". The Queen has her own seamstress/designer and we saw some of her outfits, hats and jewellery that she's worn to important functions. We also saw some gifts given from other Heads of State who have visited the palace. My favorite state room was the ballroom which is where all the banquets take place. The room is huge, and it was set up as if the state banquet was taking place (with beautiful china, table decorations, etc). There are at least five glasses used during a banquet dinner: one for water, red wine, white wine, champagne, sherry. That's a lot of drinking!

To give you some background, Buckingham Palace was originally a house built in 1701 for the Duke of Buckingham. It was then bought by King George III in 1761 for his wife Queen Charlotte to use as a home. Eventually King George IV and later King William IV built it into a palace. Finally when Queen Victoria came to power, she turned it into her primary residence and expanded it further.

The palace is massive and we only toured through a small part of it. It has 775 rooms (including 19 state rooms, 52 royal and guest bedrooms, 188 staff bedrooms, 92 offices, 78 bathrooms and one indoor pool).

We would definitely recommend touring the palace if it is open. Seeing it from the outside is neat, but being in rooms where so many monarchs have walked before is incredible.

Life Milestones in Seattle: A Birthday, Wedding and Babysitting

Since we moved to London, I've been back to Seattle six times and Aaron's been back five. Of those trips, three have been for 5 days or less. This was one of those short trips.

Aaron's best friend, Doug, got married and Aaron was the officiant!! He did such an amazing job making the ceremony funny, sentimental, genuine and impactful. There were only 16 people present so it was a beautiful, small ceremony on the shores of Lake Washington. The bride and groom were stunning and it was a great day.

It was also Aaron's birthday the day that we flew to Seattle, so we had 32 hours of celebrating and a surprise waiting for him when we arrived : ) The look on his face was priceless as we arrived home to find his friends jumping out at him from a dark house!

We saw lots of friends and family during our visit (first time seeing Katie pregnant!), and even squeezed in a full day of babysitting with Colton! He's gotten so much bigger since the last time we saw him, and he is starting to speak gibberish and is now actually able to play with toys. I'm constantly in awe of how cute he is.

Another fun trip visiting friends and family back home! It definitely felt as if we never left : )
 

The British Open and Edinburgh Castle in Scotland

We began a whirlwind trip two weeks ago packed with a lot of activities, family, friends and fun! It went by way too quickly, but that's probably because we saw and did so much. To give a brief recap on our trip, first, we went to Scotland with Aaron's parents where we visited Edinburgh and went to the British Open. Then we flew on Tuesday (also Aaron's birthday!) from Edinburgh-London-Seattle. We were only in Seattle for five days, but we saw lots of friends and family, and also went to a wedding. Or should I say that Aaron performed a wedding and I attended : ) We arrived back in London last Monday and are slowly adjusting back to real life after two back-to-back eventful and amazing trips.

So first, I'll start with Scotland...
Aaron's parents arrived from Elk on Thursday afternoon. They spent Friday exploring with Aaron and met me at my work for lunch. Then that evening we had dinner at our favorite Italian restaurant in Fulham before heading off to the train station.

As we were trying to figure out logistics for our trip, we decided to take the Caldonian sleeper train up to Scotland on Friday night. We were having difficulty finding a place to stay in Edinburgh / St. Andrews area for that Friday, so thought, why not!? On Saturday morning, all we could say is they should not call that a "sleeper" train. The lounge car was great, the beds were comfy, rooms were cosy but actually a decent size... however, the train is not a smooth, peaceful ride so you're constantly being jerked around and hearing squeaks and rail noises all night. It was probably the worst night of sleep that we've all ever had, but certainly a memorable experience!

We arrived into Edinburgh at 7am (-1 night of sleep) and immediately picked up our rental car. From there, we drove to St. Andrews, which is where the British Open was being played. We had heard on the radio that there was so much wind on the course that they had delayed play for the time being. What we didn't expect was that wind would delay play practically all day and we wouldn't see a single golf club swung! So instead, we walked around the course (trying not to get blown away... it was pretty windy!) and then had lunch in St. Andrews. At 3pm, we decided to call it a day. So unfortunately, we didn't see any golf on Saturday, but we all were very sleep deprived at this point: a nap was more important!

We rented an old barn that was recently converted to a house just outside of Perth. It was very secluded with lots of trees and wild life, and from the review comments on the site, everyone loved it- apart from the road that you drive up to get there. Well, we got to experience what they were talking about first hand. A mile long, winding, gravel road that has cliff edges to one side and boulders/trees to the other. Each time we drove up and down it, we thought we were going to die. The barn was really peaceful, cosy and beautiful. We ended up taking a quick nap and then drove into Perth for dinner that night.

Sunday we headed back into Edinburgh. We toured the Edinburgh Castle, which sits overlooking the entire city on Castle Rock. There has been a castle there since the 12th century, but evidence has been found that the area has been occupied since 2nd century AD. The castle used to be a royal residence for the monarchs, fortress and prison. It now houses museums, a Scottish National War Museum, and the Royal crown, sceptre and Stone of Scone, a stone where Scottish monarchs sat when they were crowned. Every day at 1pm, a huge gun is fired from the castle. It was originally used as a time signal for ships in the harbor, but is now a tourist attraction.

The city itself is very Gothic looking. We had lunch and then wandered around for a bit before it started to rain, so we ran to the car. Typical summer weather in Scotland : )

On Monday, Paul went fishing, so we dropped him off to meet his guide and then Gail, Aaron and I drove to Scone Palace. You may remember the Stone of Scone? Well, this was it's original home. Scone Palace (pronounced Scoon) originally began as Scone abbey in the 12th century. The palace has now been home to the Earls of Mansfield for 400 years plus, but it was the site where the early Kings of Scotland were crowned. Queen Victoria stayed in the palace in 1842. The palace also has gifts from Marie Antoinette and was the first place of introduction of the Douglas fir to Britain. We toured around inside the Palace and then had scones and tea in the cafe. There is a star-shaped maze on the grounds, so we went to check this out afterwards, and naturally, we turned it into a competition: get to the center of the maze before everyone else. Gail won, I came in second, and Aaron... well... Aaron took a while : )

After touring Scone Palace, we headed back to the British Open. Because of the wind delay on Saturday, they had pushed the rounds back by one day, so the final was on Monday. They were offering £10 tickets and we thought we would have better luck! There were so many less spectators than the weekend, so we got very close to the players! We saw the winner, Zach Johnson, tee off at the 10th hole, and Jordan Spieth hit onto the green on the 3rd hole. We watched for a few hours and then the rain kicked in, so we headed back to Perth to watch the final few holes from a pub inside.

Amateur Paul Dunne and Jordan Spieth

Watching the last few holes of the British Open from this pub, was one of my favorite experiences from the trip. It was a total locals place in the downstairs of an Inn. Paul met us there, so it was the four of us, the bartender and two men with thick Scottish accents. They were very nice but kept trying to talk to us and we could barely understand what they were saying! So we laughed, nodded and smiled, and kept drinking our pints pretending we knew what they were talking about.

Once the British open was finished, we drove to a place that was recommended by the bartender for Aaron's birthday dinner. We tried Haggis, which is a beloved Scottish dish that consists of many things you would not want to know that you are eating. It is illegal to import it into the US, so we figured as long as we were in Scotland, we should give it a go... and it was actually delicious! But I will spare you all the gross details of what it's made from. There's a thing called Google for a reason.

The next morning, Aaron and I dropped Gail and Paul off in Edinburgh (they were staying for an extra day) and we departed on our 1.5 hour + 9.5 hour flights... destination: Seattle!