Springtime in London

Finally!! We had some nice weather and long-awaited sun this spring. After our trip to California and Las Vegas, we were very sad to return and leave our friends and family so planned many fun adventures to keep our minds off being homesick and missing everyone. Although we have many wonderful pictures and memories from our trip -- especially the Vegas wedding --we will not be posting them here since this blog is supposed to be about our experience abroad. So, forgive me and let me go straight into our recent antics in London...

Sundays have been all about exploring the many amazing parks in London, the Regent's Park Zoo and many sights of London. In May, Brenna stopped through for a few days on her way to Ibiza again and showed me what the nightlife in London is all about. Then a pregnant Rosella, Carlo and Satya came for a visit from Rome.

Carlo and Rossella at Buckingham Palace

Rome on enjoying storytime on "Grandma's Bed" at the Tate Modern's Festival (right before he threw up all over me)

Rome and Satya checking out ther boats on the Thames with Brenna and Carlo

Globe Theatre with Rossella

Rome and SatyaRome with Brenna - St. Pauls' in the background

a hot, sunny Sunday afternoon in Regent's Park

St. Patrick's Day Parade

There's no better place to celebrate St. Patrick's Day than in Dublin. So we took a one-hour flight to see for ourselves what goes on during their four day celebration. We played at the fun fair in Merrion Square, toured & tasted at the Guiness Factory, went sightseeing to see the highlights of Dublin, had dinner at Bono's hotel, and met with some friends who live there who have two small kids for Rome to play with.

It was a very fun and educational visit and we learned the history of Trinity College and the book of Kells, that Guiness beer tastes much better with blackcurrant juice and that they do not, in fact, dye the river green on St. Patty's Day. The weekend does culminate in a crazy and colorful parade that we got to see right before we took off to go home (and took lots of pics to share with you). We later learned that that is when the real party started, which explains why our flights were so cheap ...

leprechauns??

at the Dublin Castle

going into Trinity College to see the book of Kells

playing at the fun fair in Merrion Square

on the ferris wheel -- no fear of heights at all!!

in a sea of green watching the parade

in front of St. Patrick's cathedral before the parade...

the parade begins...

floats with DJs playing techno beats

posing with Molly Malone

2009 update

Rome in the abbey at Edinburgh Castle, Scotland - Dec. 30th, 2008

Well, it has been way too long since I've written and, as usual, so much has happened I don't know where to begin -- apart from where we left off..... New Years Eve in Edinburgh!!

Suffice it to say we had a great time celebrating the first part of the three day new years party, Hogmanay, which claims to be the biggest new years celebration in Europe. Although it was very cold, that didn't stop the outdoor festivities. We didn't stay for the big grand finale - an all night dance party in the center of town- but participated in the family events that were held prior. Here are a few pics of the Torchlight Procession. We were really fortunate to be at the beginning of the procession, following hundreds of bagpipe players through the streets up to the top of the hill where there was a giant bonfire complete with a burning dragon, highlander-clad warriors and a stunning fireworks display. The sounds of the Scottish music mixed with the sights of the city and the thousands of torches lit all around us made this a truly remarkable and heady experience. I wish we could share the video but it won't load on here so here are a few pics...

holding a torch on Castle Hill a unicorn releif at the Castle (you've gotta love a royal emblem with unicorns..)

the big dragon bonfire

The first few months of the year were pretty uneventful, apart from a visit from our friend Annie who came for her birthday, and a huge snowstorm that dumped several feet of snow on our doorstep in 48 hours. London was the most beautiful I've ever seen, all covered in snow. We made a snowman and then Daniel had a snowball fight with Rome.... guess who won??

Rome with Annie in Spitalfield's Market our back yard after the snowstorm Rome making with our snowman in the yard

It was a cold, wet winter and we stayed quietly indoors for the most part, awaiting Spring and the arrival of more friends, family and blooming flowers.