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Journal Archives
25-Dec-04
Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas! Merry Christmas!
Well, I can't believe another Christmas has come and gone...time does FLY! I had such a wonderful Christmas, every minute of it was so great. It was hard being away from home but it was SO nice to celebrate it with family. I just had the best time ever. I am so thankful that I was able to spend Christmas here, experience it on the other side of the pond, AND for feeling right at home too. I was so spoiled this Christmas too! I am so excited because I got a whole set of tea things in my Spode Blue Italian pattern! And my parents sent over a box of gifts too with REALLY nice gifts, I love them and so thankful for everything that I was given.
Christmas Eve we came home from service and opened a few gifts that family sent over and also each of us got a pair of PJ's that we have since been wearing...they've been on for over a good 24 hours...
Early Christmas morning I called home and was able to talk to my whole family as they were finishing up opening their gifts. It was so weird to talk to them while it was Christmas morning here and still Christmas eve there! A few hours later we all got up and opened stockings, and had absolutely wonderful homemade cinnamon rolls and hot cocoa. We all felt ourselves slipping into a sugar-induced coma later on in the morning. But isn't that was Christmas is all about?! We opened presents until 1 or 2 in the afternoon, and had Christmas dinner around 6 or 7. It was an incredibly delicious dinner of lamb, yorkshire pudding, risotto, and zucchini. ahhhhh......
After dinner we relaxed and played Taboo and then watched Starsky and Hutch, however during the movie I nodded off, just a quick power nap! We tried to stock up on a bunch of food a few days ago, and it's so different here because EVERYTHING is closed on Christmas Day AND Boxing Day, the day after Christmas. So we are now without some things we would like to have, but with Uncle Gary around I am positive that we will not starve. In fact I think I have enough stored up to live for about the next year!
I hope everyone reading this had a fantastic Christmas full of family, friends, food and laughter. I hope you all were able to spend it with those you love.
Love Always, and feeling quite a bit TOO full,
Megan
P.S. I added a BUNCH of new pictures to my webshots page. Go to the Links page and click! Enjoy!
12-24-04
MERRY CHRISTMAS EVE!!!!!!
We had our Christmas musical tonight at the Christingle service and it went great! It was so much fun. After our bit they passed out the Christingles and lit them, then sang the Christingle song and Away in A Manger with the lights down and the church lit. It was so neat! The Christingle (see pics) are oranges with a candle, a red ribbon, and 4 toothpicks with sweets stuck on the end. They are all representation of the meaning of Christmas...orange is the world, red ribbon is the pain Jesus would go through, sweets/gifts were because jesus was a gift to the world and the candle was because jesus is the light of the world. Very neat and such a good tradition!
Right now we are hanging out waiting for Christmas Eve dinner, then we get to open 1 gift and gifts from other family.
Merry Christmas!
12/22/04
Well, hopefully you have all made your way to this new site one way or another. I can't believe that they would change everything...well, I guess I can. So if you would pass along this new web address to everyone, I would really appreciate it!
Christmas is fast approaching, can you believe it? Sunday was our Carol Service at St. James', and Allie and I had a great time singing. It was great because we learned many traditional English songs that we had never heard before! Something great to bring back to the states. We are getting ready for Christmas around here, wrapping gifts and making quick trips into Stratford, Leaminton and Warwick for the odd supply or gift. Friday night is our big Christmas Eve service program, which Allie and I are both really excited about! We get to wear costumes, too! We are to be "Townspeople". We're trying to come up with some brilliant costume, but so far all the ideas we have consist of a bathrobe and a big shawl. We're trying!
Yesterday we met my uncle at an old manor/hotel called Welcombe and had high tea in a huge sitting room. It was DELICIOUS. We sat on big couches in front of a huge fire and had scones with jam and clotted cream, sandwiches, some yummy tarts/sweets, and tea. It was really fun. It was a really rich food day and my stomach was KILLING me by the end, but that's what I get, isn't it? It's worth it!!!
Last night we had a rehearsal at church and then we went to a retirement home to sing carols for the residents there. It was sad AND happy at the same time. They really enjoyed having us sing for them. After that we went to the Vicarage for some mince pies and mulled wine (yum!). Our choir director is married to the vicar and they are a really nice family. So I'm getting really excited about Christmas, I hope you are too! It's amazing how quick it comes and how quick it goes, isn't it? Today we are going to have a baking day, what is Christmas without Christmas cookies?
Merry Christmas!! Love, Megan
12/16/04
Merry Christmas! I was completely wrong when I said we were going to a carol service on Sunday night, we actually went ice skating at Warwick Castle, which I have to say was much more fun than a carol service! At Warwick Castle right now is a big celebration called the "Frost Fair", where they have all sorts of different Christmas activities, and one of those is ice skating. They built a huge rink in the courtyard, inside the castle walls. We had such a great time. Afterwards we went to chinese food, I'm not usually a big fan of Chinese, but the ethnic foods here in England are SO YUMMY. Monday night we DID go to a carol service at King's (Allie's school), she was in the choir and they were just brilliant. It was a combined choir/orchestra program and it was SO nice because they can actually say the word "Jesus" at their school...gasp! It was very traditional, all the great songs, and we just basked in the Christmas spirit while munching on a chocolate bar my aunt snuck in in her purse. Heaven! Tuesday night my aunt and uncle and I went to Kenilworth to hear a choir sing the "Messiah", and that was fantastic too. There were also featured soloists and one of the soloists, the soprano, was my age and studying at the Birmingham Conservatory. She was AMAZING. Absolutely beautiful. Last night my aunt and I went to a party with some of her British friends, the theme was Arabian Nights and we had to dress up all glitz and glammed out. It was brilliant, we had a blast with the ladies. They are a riot! Tomorrow Michie is coming home, (yay!), and this weekend we are going to Charlecote Park for a carol party in the Great Hall with mulled wine and minced pies (takes some getting used to...) and on Sunday we also have a carol service at St. James' that we will be singing in. Then the next week it's almost Christmas! I can't believe it is almost here, wow! So Merry Christmas to you all!!!! Lots of Love, Megs
12/12/04
We headed south east yesterday and spent the day at the very awesome Dover Castle. Dover is the shortest distance between England and France, and on a clear day (wasn't yesterday) you can see France in the distance. Overlooking the town from the eastern heights of the chalk cliffs is the large Dover Castle, which was built in the 11th century by William the Conqueror on the site of earlier Roman and Saxon structures. It is a great example of medieval fortification and includes the nearly intact remains of a Roman lighthouse. A settlement existed on the site of Dover in pre-Roman times. Dover was an important port of Roman Britain from the time of its occupation in 54 bc. It became a Saxon stronghold in the 4th century ad . In the 11th century, after the Norman Conquest, Dover was enfranchised as one of the Cinque Ports (a quasi-independent group of five English Channel ports supplying naval defense). During World War I, Dover Harbor served as the base for the flotilla known as the Dover Patrol, which was responsible for keeping the straits open to shipping. In World War II, Dover was repeatedly subjected to German bombing raids and to shelling by German guns entrenched at Cap Gris-Nez, France.
Now let's all take out a piece of paper and a pen for a short quiz. Just joking! But Dover Castle was amazing and I just put up the pictures in my photo album, so please check them out! We also did see some of the white chalk cliffs from the admirality lookout in front of the castle. They were pretty incredible too. Tonight we are going to a Christmas concert at King's High, Allie's school. Merry Christmas! Love, Meg
12/11/04
According to the Counter at the bottom of this page, this page has been viewed more than 1,000 times!!!! I am very happy and hope that everyone is enjoying this website. It is really fun to do and I love keeping everyone up to date. So Thank You! We are leaving for Dover this morning, so I should have some pics up tonight or tomorrow of our trip. Yay! Merry Christmas! Love, Meg
12/10/04
Well, we got our Christmas tree this week from the Charlecote Garden Center, right across the way from Charlecote Park (see above), a grand old manor house not far from Wellesbourne. Aunt Susan, Stefi and I pulled on our wellies and took a walk down there to see the Charlecote deer and cute spotted sheep. I put our pictures of the walk AND of our tree in the photo albums....Wednesday night we went and saw the Two Gentlemen of Verona at the Swan Theatre in Stratford. The Swan Theatre is a "theatre in the round", just like they had in Shakepeare's day, with the stage in the middle of the theatre and seats in a horseshoe shape around it, with balconies above too. It was very good, they placed the play in the 30's or 40's, it had a "swing" feel to it. It was great. Tomorrow we are heading to Dover to see the white cliffs, I am very excited! It will be our last sightseeing trip for now as Christmas is so close, so we thought we'd make it a good one! Sunday kicks off our busy week, we are ice-skating IN Warwick Castle on Sunday night, Handel's Messiah in Kenilworth on Monday, Choir on Tuesday, a dinner party with the British ladies club on Wednesday ( I was invited!), Misc. on Thursday, Carol concert on Friday, and another Carol Concert at Charlecote Park on Saturday. Phew! Then it is Christmas Week! I can't believe how fast it is coming. I Hope you all are experiencing tons of joy and minimum stree this holiday season! Merry Christmas! Love, Meg
12/6/04
Yesterday we went to the Middlebrook's to play tennis and then have "proper tea". Tracey, Guy, Aunt Susan and I played on their neighbor's tennis court while Allie helped their 2 daughters, Daisy and Teddy, make the tea and Stefi curled up by the fire with her book. I had forgotten how much I love to play tennis, it was so much fun. Fortunately I didn't completely stink the place up! After we played a full match we went in and had our tea, it was so yummy. We had cucumber sandwiches, cake, scones with jam and cream, brownies, crispy chocolate treats, and some very good tea. Yum, Yum, Yum.
I am now driving a lot, this morning I drove into Warwick by myself for the first time too. It is nice because then my aunt does not have to take us everywhere and it is really convenient. And I love her little BMW! This week we don't have a ton going on but next week we have lots planned, this weekend we will get our christmas tree, and we are going to attempt to make some ornaments too, and go on some day trips with Stefi so she can see some places she hasn't gotten to see yet. 19 Days 'Till Christmas!
11/29/04
Well, our Thanksgiving dinner was a big success! We had some friends of ours over, the Middlebrooks; a hilarious British family. We had a great time. The food was fantastic, my uncle did a fabulous job on all the traditional Thanksgiving yummies. We provided the meal and the history/summary of Thanksgiving, and the Middlebrooks' provided the "crackers". I had not really known about crackers before or what they were, but they are very traditional here, and you find them everywhere, especially around Christmastime. They are cardboard tubes wrapped in fancy paper which pop open to reveal goodies. In every cracker there is a customary joke and paper/crepe hat, and you must read the joke out loud and you must wear the hat. And every cracker also comes with a prize of some sort too. You can buy really cheap fun crackers, or you can buy "gourmet" crackers that go up to the hundreds of dollars, from Harrods and other dept./specialty stores. Crazy! It was great. It is one tradition I am looking forward to bringing back to the states with me. So now with our Thanksgiving over, we are focusing on Christmas. This week our main goal is to get everything out in the mail that needs to be in the states before Christmas. Argh! But we'll get it done and let the post office do the rest. Another Argh! This weeked we are not going to be able to go back to London, because my cousin Stefi is coming home from Oxford and she really needs a rest, and additionally my other cousin Michie is switching schools and needs my uncle's help on Saturday to move cross country! She is moving from Auburn in Alabama to Pt. Loma in San Diego. Lucky Girl!!! So we are going to try to hit the Christmas Fayres/Bizarres that we weren't going to be able to attend on Saturday. We also might try and see a play on Sunday too. So now that it is the festive season, I'll be sure to keep you updated on all the fun and interesting things we will be doing! Love, Meg
11/26/04 This morning we headed to Oxford, picked up Stefi, and drove to a train station about 30 mins outside of London so we could take the train the rest of the way. Once we got into London we took the Underground to Westminster, and as soon as we walked up the steps out into the street, there right in front of me was Big Ben! It was so amazing! Westminster is where the Houses of Parliament, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, and the London Eye are located. Since we only did a day trip today, we focused on Westminster Abbey, which was incredible. William the Conqueror was crowned at Westminster Abbey in 1066, and every coronation has happened there since sometime around 1328, if I remember correctly. We also saw the tombs of Elizabeth I, Mary Queen of Scots, Henry VII, Eleanor of Castile, William the Conqueror, and many monuments/plaques dedicated or erected in memory of many famous people in history. It was so amazing to think of all the history that has happened at Westminster, and to actually be walking around on the stone floor that so many historical figures have walked on too. I love England! We're heading back next weekend for 2 day stay, which will be fantastic. I just got a taste of London today and I'm excited to go back for more! I hope that your Thanksgiving Day was very yummy and relaxing! I was very happy because last night I was able to talk to my family in Idaho, I have spent Thanksgiving there for the past 10+ years and it was very strange this year not to be there! Love, Meg
11/24/04
OK, I have been getting many requests to get more pictures, and some of you have been very demanding!!! The nerve! So I am going to London on Friday just to take some more and make all of you that I love happy. We're heading over for the day but it will be my first trip into London, yay! So there, are you happy?!?!?! Saturday is our big Thanksgiving dinner and we have been trying to get ready for that, moving tables and grocery shopping, etc. I never knew how much work goes into Thanksgiving, so I just wanted to say that I have a new, grand appreciation for all of you who are in charge of Thanksgiving festivities. Bravo! Last night we went to a play in Warwick put on by a theatre group called Oddsocks, and they did a parody of MacBeth. It was hilarious. We laughed till it hurt! The script is still the original Shakespeare, but they make it into comedy and of course throw in some ad-lib and things here and there. It was one of the funniest things I have ever seen. This Sunday Allie and I are singing at St. James Church, luckily we get to have our hymn books and music because I haven't quite got all the songs down yet. It has been fun because we sing Anglican hymns, most of which I have never heard. Something to bring back to the states, no?
I wrote a small Thanksgiving Poem to share with you. Uh-hem:
On this joyful Thanksgiving Day, for these things I doeth Pray,
That thou eats 'till thy burstin',
Drinks 'till thou ain't thirstin',
Set yore family afore thee,
Listen as they adore me,
Get thou back for seconds,
The Turkey, thouest still beckons,
Then sit thee down and watch as the NFL doest Play!
Thank you. Pathetic, I know.
11/20/04
Today we headed out to Stoke-on-Trent, the home of the famous potteries; Spode, Royal Winston, Portmeirion, etc. We visited all 3 places and checked out their factory stores. At Spode they had fantastic china, They had a huge room just FULL of the Blue Room collection and a whole wall full of the Blue Italian. I was in heaven, and fortunately did not go crazy, I just bought a pretty calendar plate to "commemorate", if you will, my visit here. But it was so wonderful and overwhelming, ahhh. Stoke is different than any other town I have been to, you can still see the smoke stacks from the pottery factories, and there are still old kilns around too. The brick in the city is a lot darker than other places around, most likely because of the pollution from the factories over the years. It was a very "industrial" looking place. On our way back, we went to Costco (!!!) in Birmingham and stocked up on some nice essentials (Skippy PB, Oreos, Batteries, etc) and I ALMOST felt like I was back home again, just another weekend at Costco. However, Costco is a well kept secret around these parts and it was not crowded at all. Believe it! It has been rainy, wet, and cold, and the river by our house is getting suspiciously high...we shall have to watch that. There has been flooding in years past. Happy Almost Turkey Day! Love, Meg
11/19/04
This morning we went over to my aunt's friend's house in Shrewley and she taught us how to knit! Her name is Tracy and she is a riot. We had so much fun with her. The really fantastic thing about the homes here are that they have SOO much character and are SO unique. Most of the people we know live in homes in the country, which are either very old and/or very remodeled. And they are amazing. I love going to other houses and seeing what they are like. Tracy's house is an old farmhouse in the country. My favorite rooms by far here is the kitchens. They are so fantastic. They are the very old, big kitchens with the Aga stove built into the wall, big old farm table and just character, character, character! Enough about that. After knitting we gathered up all the courage between us and headed to (gasp!) Asda, the UK version of WalMart. We are trying to keep it a secret between us that we even went there but I trust that you will not leak it out. Anyway, we secretly liked it because we found everything we were looking for.. But it was our VERY LAST resort. Then, since we are getting excited for knitting projects, we had to go to Warwick Wools and buy some more needles and yarn. I am wanting to make a really neat poncho but first I had better learn how to cast-on, don't you think? It has been SO cold here, no more than 40 F today, and definetely down to freezing. So we stayed indoors with our nice warm fire and had a nice, cozy evening with wonderful pasta cooked up by the fabulous uncle, and our nightly tea and ritual. I am becoming so spoiled here, actually becoming somewhat of a "food snob". My uncle is an amazing cook and you will only taste Italian food comparable to his in Italy. Loving it! We were so cozy that we watched 3 movies; Love Actually, The Importance of Being Earnest, and Sense and Sensibility. Do you catch a theme there? We joined an unlimited DVD mail rental service through Blockbuster, so we are LOVING it and making long lists of movies we would like to see. The English/History films do take preference, not surprisingly!
Tomorrow we are going to brave the cold and head down to the Cotswolds to poke around some more. AND have tea. Quickly becoming the highlight of my day. It's quite "brill". Must keep up on the Crest Whitestrips though...
11/18/04
Hello! Nothing new and shocking has been going on this week, the weather has been pretty foul which keeps us inside a lot. Today we had our first day of flat-out RAIN, and tonight it turned to SNOW for a brief amount of time. Crazy! Tomorrow aunt susan and I are going over to her friend's house(who is British) and we are going to learn how to knit! There is a huge yarn shop in Warwick and we went in there and saw a whole bunch of awesome things you could knit, and that is our new goal. If the weather is going to be this bad, we need something! Otherwise, not much else going on at the moment. I am looking for a new ballet class, the one that I am in is just not that great. I am also looking in to joining the Warwick/Kenilworth Choral Society, I am loving choir at St. James' and would love to sing more and more. So we shall see. This next coming week we have TONS going on, so I'll make sure and update as often as I can. Cheers! Love, Meg
11/15/04
Yesterday (Sunday) we tried a new church in Leamington Spa. It was very nice, a casual, family service but definetely not what we are used to in the states. Everyone is so nice here, we chatted after church with some people my aunt and uncle had met at a party. We found out that there is a more contemporary service on Sunday nights at 7pm, so we are going to try that next week. It's hard, what we are used to is just not the norm here at all! But we are sticking it out and really happy that there are nice, welcoming people almost everywhere we go. Other breaking news: I finally got my own pair of wellies! They are polka-dotted and so cute. It is muddy and damp here so I am very excited to make use of them right away. I also made another purchase that was very exciting; China! SPODE, to be more exact. I bought a kind of "starter" set of the Blue Italian pattern and am really excited to keep adding to it.
11/13/04
Last night was my first go at catering/waitressing, and it was fun but hard work! I started at 4pm and ended at around 12:30am. It was a big dinner hosted in the great hall of an old building called Lord Leycester Hospital. It was to honor the mayor of Warwick and to celebrate the 450th anniversary of something...i actually didn't catch that part! There were about 90 people at the dinner and it was a 3 course meal, also with bread, a cheese board, and open bar/wine service, pretty fancy! There were a total of 7 of us working, and they were all about my age, which was nice. It was great because we all hit it off and had a blast together the whole night. The time flew by and we were on our feet and going almost the whole time. We did get a little break in between to eat some dinner, but only for about 10 minutes. The only thing I DID NOT like about it is that there was no dish service so we had to wash every piece of dish and cutlery by hand! It took forever! I will probably end up doing this about once a month, if I can! It was nice to work hard and go home with money too. Today we pulled on our Wellies and took a walk to Charlecote Park, a big manor house a few miles away. We walked on footpaths and through fields, it was so beautiful! Today, unbelievably, the sun was out! It was incredibly cold but it was so nice. Tonight we are at home because the Auburn vs. Georgia football game is on, and my aunt and uncle definetely can't miss it!
Love, Meg
11/11/04
Today my aunt and I went up to Solihull to a Thanksgiving lunch put on by the North American Women's Club that my aunt belongs to. It was fun, we met some nice ladies and had some traditional american thanksgiving food...it's so funny because I haven't socialized with other Americans besides my family! But I really like the British people/families we have met so far. They are all very friendly and nice. They are pretty fun too. Tomorrow afternoon/night I am waitressing for a catering company in Warwick, and it will be so nice because I will get paid, and in pounds too! I am just now getting out of the mindset where I convert the price of everything into American money in my head. That is SO bad because when you do that it is going to be twice as much, no matter what. So I only ever want to buy things that are less than 10 pounds. But nothing is less than 10 pounds here worth buying! I could buy lots of shampoo or something...Okay maybe not.
Love, Meg
11/10/04
Hello! New revisions on my little web project...all the pictures that I have are now condensed into individual photo albums on another page. Visit My Photo Albums and the link will take you directly to them. I finally have ALL of my pictures up, from Italy to Oxford to Windsor Castle. I hope you enjoy! They are viewed best (most fun)in the slide show format. Hope you enjoy!
P.S. How sad! I lost 2 weeks worth of my journals and about the Cotswolds!!! Sorry!!! I hate the computer!
11/9/04
I had a great time over the weekend in Oxford with my cousin Stefi, I got to eat in the dining room with the rest of the students, it was incredibly Harry Potter-ish! It was awesome. I had to wear a black robe/vest and we sat and long tables lighted by dim lamps. Definetely a big highlight. There were fireworks because of Guy Fawkes Day, only many of the colleges had their own shows and only set off the fireworks within their courtyards. We only saw a few big ones. We heard them all night though, and for the rest of the weekend! Give them any excuse to set off fireworks...
Sunday we went to Windsor to see Windsor Castle, and it was INCREDIBLE! It is the longest inhabited castle, the monarchy still spends parts of the year there. We visited the state apartments and walked around the grounds. It is one of the biggest castles to see here in England, you can't leave without seeing it!
Tonight I have choir, which is fast becoming one of my favorite parts of the week. There are choral societies here in Warwick and Kenilworth, I would really like to join one and am thinking about it! Coming up later in the month we are going to see Handel's Messiah in Kenilworth, Beauty and the Beast at the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, and many other small musical performances, caroling shows, christmas tree lightings, and just all around fun christmas-y things. The most wonderful time of the year! Hope everything is well for everyone who reads this little journal, wishing you abundantly many things to be thankful for as we approach Thanksgiving and Christmas. Love, Meg
11/4/04
Greetings! Today my aunt and I visited two old manor houses, Baddesley Clinton and Packwood House. They were chock full of history and we both love that!. A murder happened in one of them, the lord came home to find his wife and the priest "flirting" and killed him on the spot. In Baddesley Clinton there were also many priest holes, dating back to reformation when the persecution of catholics was going on. They were small camoflauged holes built in the house for hiding in when the house was being searched, or more appropriately, ransacked. Very interesting and I love all the history. The B.C. house was ALSO moated! It was great. I am heading to Oxford this weekend to visit my cousin Stef, really looking forward to that and also celebrating Guy Fawkes Day on Friday night. Guy Fawkes tried to blow up parliament with gunpowder but was thwarted, so they celebrate that with bonfires and such. Should be very fun! Cheers! Love, Meg
11/01/04
Anerchiadau! Can you believe the date? I can't! Good news that will help solve the dilemma of where to put all my pictures from previous trips! I created a new page called photo archives, and on that page is a link to a Webshots page that I made to store all my older pictures. Be sure and visit it if you haven't already seen all the pictures I have! You can also view the pictures in a slide show format on the website, which is really cool, it's my favorite part. Hope everything is going well, and if you are like me you are holding your breath from now until wednesday...Go Bush!
10/15/04
Hi, our internet is STILL down!!! We are leaving for Pisa/Florence/Tuscany tomorrow night, so I'll be gone for a week but will have many, many awesome pictures and stories when i come back. I'm going to be Under the Tuscan Sun! yay. Choir Tuesday night was amazing! The church is called St. James Church of England (Anglican) and it is a very old church, with stone, stainglass, carvings, all the works. We are working on our Christmas program right now, which Allie and I will be a part of, which takes place on Christmas Eve. What an experience!! Everyone at the church is incredibly nice and friendly. It is very exciting! I should have some pictures of the church up after I get back from Italy. I also started ballet last night at Allie's school, which will be very fun. Wishing you all a great coming week!! Love, Meg
10/9/04
Today Allie and I went shopping in Leamington Spa with some of her girlfriends from school. It was so fun! They are very cute girls. AND, might i add, the shopping in Leamington is VERY good. At least the clothes shopping. I can't wait to go back, there were so many stores and so little time! Allie and I are joining a church choir! It is through the Church of England, so I'm imagining that it will be in a church about 300-400 years old. I think it is going to be an awesome experience!! It starts Tuesday. Can't Wait! Cheers! Meg
10/8/04
Hello, still not much going on, just me and the dog hanging out at home. I put 2 pictures of the Holy Trinity Church under Today's Pictures, if anyone is interested. Hope everything is great! Love, Meg
10/6/04
Hi, Today Aunt susan and I went into Stratford-on-avon, where Shakespeare was born and lived.
We went to the Holy Trinity Church, where he is buried, and just walked around the town, a little shopping here and there. It is the cutest little town!! It is home to the Royal Shakespeare Theatre, which we are planning to make use of and see some shows! Otherwise haven't been up to much. My aunt is going out of town to see my cousin at Auburn, but some exciting news is that we are leaving for Italy on the 16th! I'm so excited. Hopefully everyone is doing well!!! Thinking of home!!! Love, Meg
10/5/04
Yesterday, after my aunt and I had a heck of a time navigating the british motorway looking for the dog kennels, we decided to pack a lunch and go spend the afternoon at Kenilworth castle, about 15 minutes away from home. Kenilworth is about 900 years old and the history surrounding it is so fascinating! It survived battles in the middle ages and also the civil war. Many Kings and Queens have also stayed in the castle, Henry V, Henry VIII and Elizabeth I, who actually gave Kenilworth Castle to her "boyfriend", the Earl of Leicester. (Correct pronunciation is actually "Lester", for all of you who would like to know). It was such a beautiful day, we had such a great time. We were there for about 3 hours, listening to an audio tour (the big phone-thing) and just walking around. We left and picked up Allie from school, had dinner, and the three of us relaxed all evening in the family room with books, a few Friends episodes, and lots of tea and a warm fire. It was heaven! Allie and I also cooked dinner, which was very interesting! No, seriously it turned out really good. Enjoy the pictures! Love Meg
10/3/04
Hello! Back from our weekend adventure to Wales, Shrewsbury, and Stokesay Castle. We left on Saturday morning and drove to Hay-on-Wye, a small Welsh border town known for it's used book shops. It was really cute. The countryside going there was absolutely gorgeous! We passed through Hereford on our way and many tiny little villages. We were surrounded by farmland and pasture the whole way, sectioned off by thousands of hedgerows, no naked fences!! It was so green and lush. And sheep too! Tons of sheep. When you picture English countryside, this was it, only even MORE beautiful! It was really breathtaking. After spending the day at Hay-On-Wye (and my first pub experience!) we went on to Shropshire and spent the night at the Albright-Hussey Hotel, which is a converted midieval manor house with a moat and everything. It was so cool! Right on the grounds is the site for the battle of Shrewsbury. If you visit the pictures part 2 you can read about it. We then made our way to the 13th century Stokesay castle, which is my first castle experience and everything that I thought it would be and more!. The size was good to start out with...you know, baby steps, right?! Anyway, the views from the castle were amazing! We also took tea and sandwiches at the castle and it was a very cute little place. It was a busy trip, lots of time in the car but the countryside made up for it! Hope you enjoy the pictures! I also put up pictures of the house. Hope all is well!! Love, Meg
10/1/04
Hi everyone! Today was a good day, it was my cousin Stef's 21st birthday, so my Uncle Gary picked her up from Oxford which is about 40 minutes away and we went to a birthday dinner in Warwick. We went to a tiny restaurant called Robbie's and it was AMAZING! It was part tradition/modern mix of food, YUM! I had minestrone for a starter, and the main course was Warwickshire Pork with this crispy potato cake and some asparagus. I also shared with my cousin, who had Scottish Steak which was the best I'd ever had! For dessert I had bread pudding with clotted cream and tea. The owners of the restaraunt know my Uncle Gary and they were incredibly nice and friendly. All the food was served the "gourmet" way, you know, with the pretty garnishes and sauces drizzled over everything, I guess you would say the "presentation" was really cool. We had such a good time! Tomorrow we are heading off for the Welsh/English border, and coming back on Sunday. I'll have some great news then! Thank you all for signing my guestbook too! Love Meg
P.S. My camera is not hooking up to the computer right, as soon as I get it going I will have some great pictures to post. Sorry!
9/30/04
Well, I finally made it!!! Everything went very smoothly on the way over, the only glitch was my luggage, but they are delivering it tomorrow morning! I can't believe I am actually here! It's so beautiful and green, and Wellesbourne is SO cute. I should have some pictures up by tomorrow morning. The house is SO nice, it is 130 years old but you would NEVER know! I will have pictures of the house up too. I went with Aunt Susan to pick up Allie from her school and saw the old Warwick castle walls which are still standing, and a really old church that was built in the 12 or 1300's. It is so beautiful! The old stone walls are incredible! Pretty soon we'll go back and I'll take pictures of that too. Hope everything is going well back home, I miss you all!! Love, Meg
9/28/04 UPDATE!!! Hurricane Jeanne has caused a big rift in plans...I have been from San Francisco to Atlanta, but we couldn't land b/c of the strong winds. We then went to Nashville, then back to Atlanta, but still couldn't land. THEN to Cincinnatti, then BACK to Atlanta for the third and final time. I missed my flight to Manchester by 10 minutes and proceeded to wait in line from 2:00AM to 7:00AM to rebook my ticket, along with the 500-900 people who had also been stranded. I got a flight, but not until tomorrow night the 29th at 8PM. Happily, though, I am staying with my cousin Michelle at Auburn University where I am being taken very well care of!! Hope you all are doing well and hopefully the next time I write I'll be in England!! Love Meg
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