Weekend in Portugal
In mid December we took our first trip outside the UK. We were hoping for warm beachy Portugal, but unfortunately, it was still December there, which is apparently the worst time of year to go to Portugal. And we had a little stretch of bad luck that weekend, 
which went something like this:
which went something like this:- Had to get up at 4:30am to catch our Sat morning flight (ok, that wasn't bad luck, just cheap planning)
- Raining in London, left my sweet Garmin umbrella (no didn't have GPS) at the tube station on the way to the airport.
- Torrential downpours when we got to Lisbon.
- Plane didn't pull up to the terminal, they brought out a metal staircase to the plane, I slipped on a step, bruised my bum, almost tumbled down the stairs which would have taken with me the woman holding a baby in front of me.
- Taxi driver charged us twice as much as it should have cost to get to our hotel.
- Everything was fine until we were on our way to the airport, when we realized my phone and Anne's train travel card were stolen out of her purse sometime while we were in Lisbon.
impression of Portugal for us. But otherwise, it was still a really good weekend. We went to a nearby town/city called Sintra which had some palaces up on a hill, saw fado (Portuguese singing/story telling), and explored Lisbon. Maybe we'll go back in the summer and lay on the beach.Saturday in Cambridge
The following Saturday, we went with our friends Aaron and Jenna to Cambridge, which is about an hour and a half outside of London. It was pretty similar to 
Oxford, but still cool. We took a walking tour--our tour guide was about 85 years old. Interesting facts about Cambridge University:
Oxford, but still cool. We took a walking tour--our tour guide was about 85 years old. Interesting facts about Cambridge University:- 2nd oldest university in the english-speaking world (circa 1209)
- Made up of 31 colleges, each independent and self-governing
- The name comes from bridge over the river cam
Christmas Carol Concert at Royal Albert Hall
That Sunday night before Christmas, we went to a concert called 
Carols by Candlelight at a pretty sweet place called Royal Albert Hall. We went with Aaron and Jenna, and I think the concert (partially sing-along) was less than sweet for me and Aaron, but Anne and Jenna enjoyed it. Yes, there were men wearing those old white wigs...and it wasn't by candlelight at all.
Carols by Candlelight at a pretty sweet place called Royal Albert Hall. We went with Aaron and Jenna, and I think the concert (partially sing-along) was less than sweet for me and Aaron, but Anne and Jenna enjoyed it. Yes, there were men wearing those old white wigs...and it wasn't by candlelight at all. Back to KC for the Holidays
Our trip to KC was not real smooth. We left on the 23rd, were supposed to get to KC on the night of the 23rd, and got to Chicago that night, but then our connecting flight got cancelled so we spent the night in Chicago, got up at 4am to go to the airport, but at least made it to KC by about 11am on Christmas Eve. Our time home was great--spent time with family, friends, mexican food--amazing.
Corey and Heather's Wedding in Columbus
On January 2nd, we flew to Columbus, Ohio for our the wedding of our friends Corey and Heather, which worked out great because we were able to stay with my Uncle Steve and Aunt Tricia. So we were able to spend some time with them (and my cousins BJ and James) and see lots of our friends at the wedding stuff, which was a really good time. On Jan. 3, Corey and Heather flew to Mexico, while we flew back to London. We got in on Monday morning at about 8am, I changed clothes at the airport, Anne got in a taxi with our 3 suitcases (which she later had to carry up our stairs), while I took a bus ("coach") to Reading for a meeting at my office.
First Week Back to the UK
The next day, I had to drive to a client I was going to be working at in Newport, Wales. But I stayed in Cardiff because Newport is a little dodgy. Finally came back on Friday and was able to spend more than 12 hours home! Meanwhile, Anne heard on Tuesday that she probably had a temp job she could start on that Thursday. It's a two month gig at in the Admissions Office at King's College in London, which is one of the big universities here. She's not doing real exciting stuff, but it's keeping her busy at least and could lead to a longer, better position there.
Southampton
The next two weeks, I was working at Garmin in Southampton, which is about 1 hour and 15 minutes from our flat. At the end of the second week, Anne came down, and we went to dinner with the other people on my team (which are great). Saturday morning, we drove around and explored Southampton some, which was a little weird because until a couple weeks before we moved here, I was supposed to be assigned to the Southampton office, and we probably would have lived there. So we got a little taste of what life maybe would have been like had they not switched me to Reading so we could live in London.
Winchester
After we left Southampton, we stopped in a town called 
Winchester on the way back to London. Winchester was actually the capital of England at one time (you know, sometime before the U.S. existed). Winchester turned out to be really nice--it's probably a good example of a quaint English town. We walked around, checked out a pretty cool o
Winchester on the way back to London. Winchester was actually the capital of England at one time (you know, sometime before the U.S. existed). Winchester turned out to be really nice--it's probably a good example of a quaint English town. We walked around, checked out a pretty cool old cathedral where Jane Austen's grave is (she was from a town nearby there), and saw an enormous Arthurian Round Table.
Tate Modern
Then on that Sunday, we went to the Tate Modern, which is a well-known modern art museum in London (and free to get in). There was a Mark Rothko exhibition going on (not free), which was pretty interesting. His paintings are enormous in real life, and I think it made us appreciate his work a little more because it talked a lot about why his stuff was unique and not just colored rectangles painted on canvas.
Cyndi's Wedding in New Jersey
Then, this past weekend, we made another trip back to the states--this time only to New Jersey. Anne's cousin Cyndi was getting married, and she was a bridesmaid so she went back last Wednesday, stayed with her friend Lisa in NYC, and then went onto NJ on Thursday for the rehearsal and stuff. I flew over on Friday night after work, and the wedding was on Saturday. It had delicious finger food, a fantastic open bar (Cyndi's husband Billy works for Skyy Vodka), and good music (we danced a lot, maybe too much, some of which was caught on video so hopefully you don't see us on youtube). And most of all, it was really good to see a lot of Anne's Sopranos Italian Jersey family (that we love of course) that she doesn't get to see a lot. THEN, on Sunday we went back into NYC and met Lisa at Chipotle! Great to get to see Lisa again, and great to get a giant burrito (although there are rumors that Chipotle will hit London sometime in 2009). Then onto the plane out of JFK back to London.
Snow Day in London
This time, Anne and I were both scheduled to head to work right away 
when we got back into London on Monday morning. But, there apparently was a snow storm in London on Sunday night/Monday morning. We were in awe when we landed because we saw almost a foot probably at the airport, and it hadn't really snowed at all in London this winter until then. I think we were actually pretty luck to even land because when we were on our way home from the airport, we heard on the radio that they had just shut down both runways at Heathrow. It was so bad that a lot of the tube lines we closed so Anne couldn't get to work. I was supposed to drive up to a client in Oxford, but the roads and traffic was bad enough that I was able to stay home too! I did have to work from home, but it was still amazing to have a snow day. It felt like the good old days.
when we got back into London on Monday morning. But, there apparently was a snow storm in London on Sunday night/Monday morning. We were in awe when we landed because we saw almost a foot probably at the airport, and it hadn't really snowed at all in London this winter until then. I think we were actually pretty luck to even land because when we were on our way home from the airport, we heard on the radio that they had just shut down both runways at Heathrow. It was so bad that a lot of the tube lines we closed so Anne couldn't get to work. I was supposed to drive up to a client in Oxford, but the roads and traffic was bad enough that I was able to stay home too! I did have to work from home, but it was still amazing to have a snow day. It felt like the good old days. There's still some snow on the ground, but we're both back at work now. My "busy season" at work isn't too bad here so far though, and we have some more trips coming up so we're looking forward to those. We'll definitely keep up better on the blog. See new picture links on the right.
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