We were back in the States near
the end of August for our "big" wedding. Aside from being one of the hottest
days of the year in Pittsburgh (the church does not have air-conditioning, of
course), everything went surprisingly well. Even the rain held off until after
dinner started. Thank you everyone for sending along your doubles! Have not
seen the proofs or videography yet, and STILL working on all the Thank Yous!
Hope to have all that finished SOON!
Left for southern Spain
immediately after flying back to London (we arrived around 9:00, repacked, and
headed back out to Heathrow). Flew into and spent the first night in Malaga
(which is on the coast). Continued on to Granada (Alhambra), Cordoba
(Mezquita), and spent the last two days in Sevilla (Giralda and Cathedral,
Alcazár). As expected, the weather was warm (especially in Cordoba and
Sevilla). Enjoyed lots of tapas, sangria and caught a bit of flamenco.
Especially loved Sevilla and the late Spanish lifestyle.
Now that the "official" tourist
season is over, tickets are available again for most of the plays. Went to see
a musical called Notre Dame de Paris. It is a very visual interpretation of the
Victor Hugo story, complete with acrobats. Need to see it again just for the
music! For you Abba fans, we just saw Mamma Mia! which is a story tied together
with Abba music. At times, this "concept" was especially funny when you
realized that dialogue was beginning to segue into the next song.
Visited Cambridge with another
couple (James & Wendy, some friends we met a couple of months ago). Rained
most of the day so we ended up spending more time in the pubs than actually
touring around. It is a short trip from London, so I am sure we can get out
that way again. The area is exactly what you might expect. Thinking about
visiting Wales and getting out to York or Bath in the next couple of
weeks.
Started a Beginners German class a number of weeks
ago. It was offered as part of the adult education program in the neighbouring
borough (Hammersmith & Fulham - this is a new area for us and we have
discovered a plethora of new pubs and restaurants). Was worried that Shelly
might be a little bored (she had a number of years of German in high school),
but so far we have both enjoyed it. Had a bit of excitement week before last
when the teacher severely cut herself opening the window - she put her hand
through it. We have since learned that she has loss use or partial use of three
of her fingers, but hopefully she will not suffer any permanent nerve /
ligament damage. We were introduced to the new teacher (Claudia) last week.
Since we are already at mid-term, I would expect she will complete the semester
with us.
Went to our first rugby match a
few weeks ago. Saw the London Wasps play the Northampton (or was is
Southampton?) team (not sure what their "name" is). Thought I had a good
understanding of the game though I did not understand any of the penalties.
Bottom line - those guys are nuts! :)
Saw Van Morrison at the
Hammersmith Apollo (where we previously saw Blast!) Like the other shows that
we have seen, the audience was relatively reserved and remained seated for most
of the show. In fact, when a woman to our left stood and started to dance, she
was asked to seat down by the theatre staff. However, near the end of the show,
much of the audience left their seats to dance and get a little closer. Though
the staff tried to get everyone seated again, there were too many people and
they eventually gave up.
Caught the Arsenal v. Aston Villa
match recently. Was VERY interesting since we sat in the vistors' section of
the stadium. A guy that Shelly works with is a big Villa fan, so he arranged
the tickets for everyone. The Villa fans are definitely INTENSE (especially the
dozen or so that were "asked" to leave by the Met Police). Our section spent
nearly the entire match standing, chatting and singing. Arsenal won the match,
though I am not sure that made much difference!
Looking forward to a couple of
visitors and a couple of upcoming trips. There were some fares specials offered
by one of the budget airlines, Go. We bought tickets to Munich for the second
week in December. Leaving Thursday and will probably spend a day in Munich and
a couple of days in Rothenburg exploring the Christkindlmarkts. Also, bought 2
- for - 1 tickets to Bologna in Italy (though not until February). Viv is
visiting during the second week of November. Hoping to catch a Premiership
match and ride the London Eye (the big "ferris wheel"). Then, Michael is
visiting less than a week later for Thanksgiving. Hoping to catch another
Premiership match, attend the Thanksgiving service @St. Paul's Cathedral, and
jump across to Ireland (maybe Dublin) for the weekend. Hoping that our
traveling plans will not be curtailed as we just sent our passports in for the
visa renewals. Definitely a strange feeling not having those while we are
living abroad.
Still no news regarding how long
we will be here, though things continue to be positive. Lots of upcoming
pricing and corporate board reviews, so we should know something EVENTUALLY.
Just finalized plans for Christmas (arriving December 23, returning January 1)
so we hope to see you all soon.
That's all for now...
Take care, and miss you
all!
Norman
P.S. Per usual, check out the
website when you get the chance. I have posted new pictures from Vienna and
Brugges. Also, I am working on getting a video clip of the infamous Sophia
(Warsaw) posted (just needs a bit more "tweaking" - that's tech speak). I have
moved everything to another website, so hopefully things will be a little
faster!