Enjoying the English Country

It's been a few weeks since our last update, however we have been doing just as much as ever.  Well...maybe not just as much.  We have stayed in England and enjoyed traveling to a few cities outside of London.  We definitely feel like we are taking advantage of the great opportunities London has to offer and we are all enjoying this experience.  Below are a few photos from our adventures around England.

Chinese New Year in London is the second largest outside of China.  We enjoyed watching the craziness of lots of people and many dragon dances while we meandered our way through China Town.

Seeing the dragon dance up close.

Enjoying the sights from Daddy's shoulders.

Later in the week we went to the Tower of London and had a fantastic tour guide.  The tour guides are military personnel who are highly honored men or women that have served in the Army for many years.  They are called Beefeaters and take their position very seriously.  We had a fantastic guide, Steve, who made the tour interesting and funny.

Following our tour guide Steve through the tower.

Guard in front of the Queen's House.

The following day we went on a tour with a Member of Parliament through Westminster (Houses of Parliament) and observed the Houses of Commons in session.

Parliament view from the security line.

Beautiful view of Big Ben.

On Saturday, February 9th, my sister came to visit and Josh and I took advantage of having her here.  We enjoyed an evening away in Bath, England.  Bath is the site of the original Roman Baths.  They were discovered when in the late 19th century families all of a sudden noticed warm water coming into their basements.  Since warm running water was not possible at this time, they knew something was astray.  Excavations began and soon the original natural warm Roman Baths were found.  We walked around the site and learned about the history of the site.  The next morning Josh and I went to the Thermae Bath Spa and enjoyed a few hours soaking in the natural hot springs.   

Roman Baths (behind us) and a view of the Abbey.

While Josh was working Caitlyn and I went to the Imagine Children's Festival in Southbank Centre.

Seeing how circuits work.

Helping decorate the wall.

Over the weekend the law consortium hosted a day trip to Oxford, England.  After a 3 hour bus tour we finally arrive in Oxford, had a typical British lunch of bangers and mash, and then walked around a few of the 38 universities that comprise Oxford University.  

The "quad" area of one of the schools.

Beautiful architecture.

View of the library in Oxford.

We have had a few nice days in London and decided to take advantage of that and went to the Diana, Princess of Wales playground.  This place is AMAZING.  Caitlyn had a blast playing in a few of the different areas and is excited to go back.

Getting some help walking across a wooden log bridge.

Just being silly in her frog hat.

Jumping with Daddy.

Intently driving the wooden tractor.

Finally, we took a driving tour (our landlord left us his car) to the Cotswolds.  This is an area that spans about 150 miles and has lots of small towns to explore.  We went to a few of them and may go back in the Spring when the weather will be a little nicer.

Bourton on the Water was the most scenic and enjoyable of the towns we visited.

Feeding the ducks.

Dressing up at the Royal Shakespeare Company in Stratford upon Avon.

Shakespeare's house when he was a young lad.  

Next up - Rome, Italy with an overnight trip to Orvieto.

The Luck of the Irish!

Dublin is charming.  We had a fabulous time.  Its greatest asset is its people.  The Irish are some of the friendliest, most welcoming people I have ever encountered.  We have countless stories from the weekend in Dublin when we were amazed by the warmth of the people we met.

This friendliness began when we were in the airport in London looking for the gate for our flight.  We met a young Irish woman, Orla Gartland, who was also looking for the gate.  She was super nice and began sharing some ideas on what we should see in Dublin.  We chatted throughout the entire flight.  When we landed, she offered to show us to the bus we needed to take to reach our hotel, as she was taking the same one.  She even waited over 20 minutes for us to clear customs!  On the bus, she continued to give us ideas on things to do, and a few minutes after we reached her stop and she left, she texted me to remind me which stop we needed for our hotel.  Throughout the weekend she provided us suggestions on places to eat and things to see.  She was like our own personal tour guide of Dublin!

Orla is an amazing singer/songwriter, and she was opening for the well-known and talented John Newman that night in a venue that holds over 1,000 people.  (Newman's song "Love Me Again" is a big hit in the U.S.)  Because the show was sold out, Orla offered to put us on the guest list to go see it.  It was an over-18 venue, so Bari stayed back at the hotel with Caitlyn, but I went.  Orla put me on the VIP list!  It was a great show.  We'll be seeing Orla in her own headlining show in London in a few weeks! Here's a picture of me and Orla at the show:

During the concert, I met some interesting people who let me join their group to hang out.  There was Mark and his wife Hazel, who then introduced me to their friends, Peter and Tara.  Mark helps to maintain the beautiful facilities at Trinity College.  Peter works for Guinness as a "quality control analyst."  Yes, he tastes Guinness beer every morning!  (His comment:  "it's a great job, except when you've had too many Guinness's the night before!")  Tara insisted on buying me a beer.  Mark emailed me the next day to wish me luck on my journeys.  These are just some of the amazing Irish people we met who made our trip so memorable.

As for sightseeing, we did a lot, including

The Guinness Brewery Storehouse:

The Kilmainham Prison:

Trinity College--a beautiful college campus with an amazing library that houses the Book of Kells:

We watched (and participated in!) a traditional Irish dancing show:

And we happened to be in Dublin during the Temple Bar Trad Fest, a musical festival celebrating traditional Irish music:

But perhaps the highlight of the trip was going to Howth, a small village about 10 miles from Dublin that had a breathtaking hike along the cliffs.  It was one of the most beautiful hikes I've ever done.  Several people told us not to do it with a toddler.  We were grateful for the warning not to bring our stroller (Caitlyn would remind me that it's called a buggy in London and a pushchair in Ireland), but a challenging hike with a kid has never stopped us before!  It just meant that Caitlyn sat on my shoulders most of the time, and we took it very slowly and carefully when we were near the cliffs (good thing our parents are reading this after the hike!).  Speaking of the friendliness of the Irish people, on the train ride out to Howth a nice woman overheard that we were heading there, so she came over to give us some off-the-beaten-path suggestions of restaurants for lunch and places to see the beautiful views.  Here are some pictures from the hike:

We also had some delicious food during our trip, including Irish soda bread, Irish stew, and some amazing "chips" called "Million Dollar Fries" that were basically au gratin potatoes that were then deep-fried (thanks Orla for the restaurant suggestion!).

Perhaps this quote, from the window of an Irish pub, best summarizes my feelings toward Dublin:

"Dream me a city where I can be myself.

Where brewery hops drift on the morning breeze, & a tin whistle swells your soul

And a nation's woes are solved from a barstool.

Where tales grow taller, and old friends become new.

Where conversations start as day ends.

Dream me a city, and I'll show you Dublin.

And you will feel home."