Fall colors

Southern California in the Fall -- sunny. brown. hot. I had never seen such brilliant Fall colors until this past weekend. Rome, Daniel and I went to the Cotswolds, about 90 minutes west of London, for a quiet, romantic weekend. Athough I took about 100 pictures, I wish I had taken more.... most of the villages in "the wolds"were built in the 14th century and grew very wealthy from wool trading. Many of the original buildings still remain and the sheep are still in abundance, as well as pheasants, churches, cobblestone roads and green fields. I'll put as many pics as I can fit in here for you to see how gorgeous and charming the countryside and all the little villages in between are.

As for Halloween, if you're wondering what people in England do, scroll down to see pics from our night. Although there were a few trick-or-treaters and events last year, we decided to go and seek out some fun and ended up at a family resort down on the cliffs of Dover. They had a big party with entertainment and a costume parade. Rome won a lollipop in his monkey costume and we all had a very cheesy, bizzare but very entertaining night (mainly just from watching Rome dancing with all the kids in his monkeysuit). The next day we visited the famous white cliffs and Dover Castle and then a wild-animal park that was created by one of the landed gentry who started to do captivated breeding of endangered animals -- now there are tigers, elephants, lemurs, buffalo, gorillas and lots & lots of monkeys roaming around on the 600 acre estate. Rome had the best weekend ever!!!!
driving from village to village in the countryside

the bridge at Bibury

Arlington Row in Bibury

sheep in the meadow
tea and Rome's snacks at an old Inn

Broadway village

telephone booths in Broadway

Daniel & rome at a 400 year old Inn

Sunday traffic in Broadway

the Horse and Hound

Rome with the sheep

and cows

residential window displays

and shops

Chipping Campden

houses along the main road on Chipping Campden

stately mansions

town square

(notice everything is made from the same stone)

a cottage in Bibury

old stone walls that run throughout the Cotswolds

with the ducks at Moreton in Marsh

Halloween in England

Here are a few pics from our Helloween weekend in Dover

at the Halloween party

dancing with all the kids

the white cliffs of Dover

lemurs

London Calling

So we still have a lot of catching up to do from June -- the Secret Garden Party festival, our trip to San Francisco and Los Angeles (which we are still collecting photos from-please send me some if you have any) and many other fun things from the summer but as the clocks are jumping forward now, so am I- going straight into Fall. Hopefully, I'll have a chance to return to summer and write about our California trip soon. Until, then, here's what we've been up to in London....

We decided the only way to get over being homesick is to go out and do really cool, fun things that we can't do at home in the US. The weather has actually been nice enough to make that happen as well (how nice of it to stop raining for a bit?). So here are some pictures to show you why we love it so much here. After seeing them, I'm sure you'll understand.

For instance, where else can you go for a pub lunch and then run amongst wild deer in a city park? Or visit working castles with moats, aviaries and black swans? Or have your two year old sit on a 2,000 year old art treasure? How about see a falconry show and then duel with other kids in the King Arthur playground? Or chase peacocks and get so close you can see them doing their private business--and get it on video? (no joke- see it below). Or where else would you go sightseeing for the day--in a cemetary? This is just a taste of what this city (and countryside) has to offer.....

black swans from NZ
riding the ancient art treasures waiting to see the falconry show

deer mating season in Richmond Park on the outskirts on London

see the deer and the high-rise buildings behind Rome? This really is just outside the city!!

So long Summertime....

Summertime is officially over -- at least here in London where it's been raining nearly every day since we returned from California. We're finally unpacked but finding it difficult to settle back into London life after such warm and wonderful experiences with friends and family back home. It really did make us realise what we're missing....YOU!! We have a lot of catching up to do on this site now--basically, the entire summer.

So here are a few scenes from our vacation to Malta in June. Next to the trip to Hawaii that I won in college, this was the greatest prize of all and opened up our eyes to a new mode of traveling--- going to one place and staying put for one week. It was a true "holiday" as they say here in Britain. We were on the beach, with pools and activities at the hotel, a myriad of historical sites, small villages and nearby islands to explore, and tennis courts. It was fantastic!!! Rugged and raw, yet beautiful and serene. The Blue Lagoon was small but the water was like from a bath. This was also the island of Calypso where the pirates came and where the Knights of St. John were based. Their presence has left a rich and vast legacy on the island.

outside a little church

the Maltese cross
in the Medina

Rome being posh
a big church
the path to a 5,000 year old temple
ruins on the hilltop

From New York to .. York

The last few months have been a blur, starting with Rome's birthday party in New York, followed by a trip to York in England, Paris and Fontainbleau, France for the INSEAD ball, and then a holiday to the island of Malta. In between, we had a house full of friends and family (with quite a few return visitors). We're happy to be staying put this month and then to be heading to California soon! Here are the latest pics to keep our faces fresh until then... Rome at the Children's Museum of Manhattan

Rome's pizza party at Otto, Mario Battali's pizza joint, in NYC

rocking out in Astoria celebrating birthday #2 with cousins Amanda, Madison, Julia & Nicole in New York

Rome at the Viking Museum in York
the twin towers of York Minster, York the heart of York

Rome running through the yard

As for visitors, Brenna wins the prize for most trips to or through London- with her third visit en route to Ibiza for the summer. Serry (who was here at the same time), tied with Ms. Millet for second place, as they stopped by for tea en route from Portugal and to Tanzania, respectively. Although they both had been here three times now, we were only here to see them each twice- so it's kind of a three way tie.

Adam & Alli came for a weekend on the way back from Spain and Scooter hoppped across the pond from Ireland, where he's working for Google this summer. We're so lucky to have such well-traveled friends to come by and keep us company. So, if you haven't been here yet, what are you waiting for???

Our camera with all our photos was stolen in France, but Karyn, who is a very successful and amazing photographer, took lots of beautiful shots on our day at Kensington Palace. Click on the link below to see if you can spot Rome running through the topiaries (then click on page two to see most w/us).
http://homepage.mac.com/karynmillet/london03

If it looks like we've just been having too much fun, you'll be happy to hear that it rained bucketloads all day today, this June was the coldest on record in the UK, and we ate couscous for dinner all alone on the 4th of July. So it's not all fun in the sunshine over here...it did clear up the next night for an outdoor concert in Hampstead Heath where we saw Rufus Wainwright singing "I'm so tired of America". We obviously missed being out there BBQing with all of you on our country's day of Independence. God Bless America.....

Hope you're all enjoying the summer!