Paris!

Bonjour Everyone,


Late last night I got home from one of the greatest weekend trips I've ever taken. Kathleen and I spent two full days in Paris, France and I'm going to tell you all about it. We left Friday night after Kathleen got home from work and took the train to London from which we took an overnight bus trip through the Chunnel to Paris. We left London very late Friday night and arrived in Paris early Saturday morning. When we got to the Paris coach terminal we took the Paris Metro(subway station) directly to the tour agency. From the tour agency we took the tour bus to the Palace of Versailles. The Palace of Versailles was absolutely amazing! There was so much to see from the palace itself to the numerous fountains and gardens. We first took a tour through the palace and saw the different rooms in the apartments of the King and Queen and the Hall of Mirrors. After exiting the palace we walked through the garden with its many fountains and statues. After walking through the garden we went to the nearby Little Venice Restaurant for lunch and had a great meal. When we were done lunch we walked through the Grand Trianon and Marie-Antoinette's Estate. We then took the bus back to Paris and found our hotel, The Hotel Armstrong, and then had supper and went to bed.

The next day, which also happened to be Kathleen and I's fourth anniversary, we got up bright and early and headed to our first tour of the day. We first went to the Louvre Museum, the biggest museum in the world. At the Louvre we saw many original masterpieces such as the Venus de Milo, the Mona Lisa, and the Coronation of Napoleon. Upon leaving the Louvre we took a boat tour down the River Seine toward the Eiffel Tower. Arriving at the Eiffel Tower I couldn't believe how huge it was. I mean I always knew it was big but you never really appreciate it till you see it in real life. We were very thankful for being part of a tour because you know when I said the Eiffel Tower was huge well you should of seen the non-tour line, it was enormous. Anyway, we took the elevator to the first floor of the Eiffel Tower where we had lunch at the Eiffel Tower Restaurant where Kathleen had dessert before her meal (take that Momsy Kerr). We then exited through the gift shop and proceeded to take more pictures of a single object, the tower itself, than I have ever taken before. When we were done taking pictures we got back on the river boat and headed to the last stop of our tour, Notre Dame Cathedral. At Notre Dame we saw some of the best architecture and stained glass windows I have ever seen. We then went for supper and then took a river tour plus a bus tour called Paris Illuminations. On the tours we saw what Paris looked like at night which is actually pretty amazing. We saw quite a few different attractions such as the Arc de Triomphe and the Eiffel Tower all lit up. After Paris Illuminations we headed back to our hotel.

The next morning we got up and took a taxi to the coach station to begin our trip back to England. It ended up taking 12 hours to get home as we took the ferry, The Pride of Canterbury, and went through more customs checkpoints than I can count. We got home around 10 o'clock last night and were both exhausted, but we can't wait to see what adventure next awaits us.

Till next time,
Rocky

We went to Cambridge!

Hi Everyone!

When I last posted I told you about our three day tour around the London area. Now I'm going to tell you about our one day tour to Cambridge. The day after Thanksgiving Monday (yesterday) we woke up early and caught the train to Ipswich and then transfered to a train heading for Cambridge. Once arriving in Cambridge we wasted no time and headed straight to the River Cam. On our way to the river we noticed very many bikes. That is because no student that goes to Cambridge University can own a car in Cambridge because everything is in either walking or biking distance. At the River Cam we went on a punting tour. Now if you don't know what punting is (I thought it was what you did on a third or fourth down in football) I will explain it to you. Punting is like taking a gondola ride but a punt is wider than a gondola and holds more people. Anyway, we took a punting tour down the river and saw many of the old colleges at Cambridge, such as Queens' College and King's College (I know what your thinking, if you noticed, that when I said Queens' College the apostrophe is after the "s" that is because there were two queens that founded the college). Interesting fact about colleges at Cambridge, they are separate colleges but they all go to Cambridge University. The colleges themselves are what your accepted into and serve more as residences for students. So, every morning you get up and leave your college to go to university.

After the punting tour we took a two hour walking tour of Cambridge. I learned many new things like how Cambridge got it's name. There is a main bridge going over the River Cam. So, it's the Cam bridge(get it?). Anyway, during the tour we passed by the Eagle Pub where the scientists that discovered DNA, James Watson and Francis Crick, made there first announcement that they discovered DNA. Next we walked past a few labs and faculty buildings and arrived at Queens' College. I thought we were just going to walk past it but then realized we actually got to go in and tour the grounds, which was pretty amazing. The highlight for me was the Mathematical Bridge. From what I understood the bridge gets stronger the more weight you put on it, cool eh? After touring Queens' College we headed for King's College where we also got to tour the grounds and visit the King's College Chapel. The best part of the King's College tour for me was the chapel which started being built in 1446 by Henry VI and took over a century to finish. The Chapel is where the Christmas Eve service, A Festival of Nine Lessons, is held. The service is broadcast to millions around the world each year.

We concluded our tour by leaving the King's College grounds and went for supper at Pizza Hut(felt like having a taste of home). We then walked back to the National Railway Station and caught the train back to Ipswich and then onto Melton. By the way, hope you all had a great Thanksgiving and are doing well.

Till next time,

Rocky

Happy Thanksgiving!

As I'm sure you have all noticed, it was Thanksgiving this weekend! We spent our Thanksgiving starting with a delightful day of sleeping in, reading books, watching TV, and generally doing nothing. Then, we took some Thanksgiving photo's, something that my family does every year.

Needless to say we had a delightful time! Next up was our "wonderful" Thanksgiving dinner...

Yeah, looks pretty good doesn't it? Yeah, it tasted about as good as it looks. However, we did get to have Rolo pudding for dessert, which is pretty much the best food we have had in England. They are seriously amazing. We eat way to many of them.

After supper we did some more nothing, Rocky got to talk to his dad and sister on Skype, then went to bed... only to get up at 12:30 (in the morning) to have "dinner" with my family, which was super great as we got to see everybody, though sad because we couldn't eat the lefsa that everyone was eating. Vicki, being the delightful sister that she is, made sure she showed us every bite that she was eating, and how delicious it was, so, yeah, thanks for that.

In other news, Karin gave us a waffle iron, so next weekend I'm making waffles! Should be super exciting. Karin asked if I wanted it, and I got really excited about it. She said that she didn't think that I cooked... and I said that I didn't but that I would for waffles. So hopefully that works out. Mom, if you're reading this and could send me your recipe, that would be great.

Anyways, I guess that is it for me. Rocky is going to do a blog about our trip today, and since everyone seems to like his blog posts better anyways (:P) I shall let him do it. 

Later days, 

Kathleen.