Swingin' London

Well, I guess old news is better than no news......about a month ago, Phil was asked to go to the UK to learn about reading PSAT scores at an air force base. We decided that since this good ol' Uncle Sam was paying for his trip there, that I might as well tag along and we would make a little trip out of his training. So, for 2 days we hung out at Lakenheath Air Force base, a couple of hours away from London, where Phil learned about things like how many students understand the quadratic formula and I got to watch lots of British morning talk shows, including their own version of "The Jerry Springer Show". Somehow, people just don't sound as trashy talking about getting pregnant at 15 ON PURPOSE when they say it with such a nice accent! Once Phil completed the training, we traveled back to London and hit the town!

We stayed in a hotel in the Notting Hill area, amongst white pristine townhouses, colorful flats, and eclectic shops. To get there, we rode the train from Heathrow, where we dropped off the other teachers who had been traveling with us. Now, this train here in London is a trip! As if London is not expensive enough, they have their subway (the tube) system so cleverly worked out that you have to pay more money to ride through certain zones of the city! Now they know that most people want to get to where the action is, so that's all in Zone 1, aka Ground Zero for your wallet! It's genius, but also frustrating to an out-of-towner coughing up $5 for one train ride! I don't know how the average Londoner can afford to leave the house! I'd become a hermit there for sure.

Anywho, we had a lovely time. We went to the theatre on Friday night and saw The Mousetrap by Agatha Christie, which is the longest running play in its 53rd year (I believe, but this could be a lie!) Now, anyone can tell you that I love me some Agatha Christie. In fact, I grew up reading all of her suspense stories about old ladies with sensible shoes and parlor maids being strangeled by a lunatic nephew, but she was not my first choice. After our first 2 choices fell through, that is what we were stuck watching. "Ewan McGregor, if you're out there and reading this, I really tried to see you in Guys and Dolls, honest!" But, it was a good show in a nice theatre and we had fun with all the other senior citizens visiting London.

On a crisp and suprisingly sunny Saturday morning we visited the market on Portobello Road, and darned if I couldn't stop singing the Sherman brothers classic "Portobello Road" from Bedknobs and Broomsticks all dang weekend! I don't know if this song takes over other people like it did to Phil and I, but it became really annoying after about the 76th time of hearing it repeated in my head (chorus only--I'm not that dedicated of an Angela Lansbury fan!) Portobello Road is a neat place and luckily it wasn't too far from our hotel, so we hauled our booty back, then hit the road in search of a double decker bus to drive us around to all of the sights.

This is probably the best way to get around and see the majority of the tourist attractions if you have a limited amount of time in which to do it, like we did. You can get off and on a bus all day long so you can actually get out and pose with the hundreds of other people in front of Big Ben or St. Paul's Cathedral. Sit on top, then you have a much better shot at taking somewhat decent pictures.

Now that we know how to get around and where most things are located, we will definitely be traveling back sometime soon. Now if a rich great aunt could just pass away and leave me a small fortune to spend wisely, I could actually afford to return to that great city of London.

Portobello Road, Portobello Road, Street where the riches of ages are sold........Saturday morning at the Portobello Road Market

Phil's senior picture moment in front of Westminster Abbey

Queenie in London 2 weeks ago

Phil and bro Ben at Devil's Lake

Phil and Aja in front of the Freak Monkey after the race.

August - October: Oh, How the Time Flies!

This is just unexcusable. I ought to be kicked out of this whole blogger business and just give up on my journalism dreams. If there is a rehab program for this kind of neglect, I want to be first on the list. I have gone 2 whole months without so much as a hello or a picture or anything. My apologies to all of you. Now, I am back on track and ready to write, so here goes......

Our time back in the States seems like ions ago. We spent our days visiting with friends and family, swimming at Devil's Lake, shopping for the little things like cow hooves (they're Oscar's favorite) and face wash that we don't have over here in Sicily, traveling to Chicago to see Carrie and Andrew (and a creepy and controversial exhibit called Body Works), and hanging out at the good ol' Lenawee County Fair. You see, Phil had it timed perfectly so that we would be home while the fair was running strong.

He said it was so we could support Ben at the pig show, but I knew otherwise. Phil had one thing on his mind, and that thing was the Figure 8 race. He's been involved in it 3 times prior, and was itching for another chance to ram into cars and leave the other hillbillies of Lenawee county in his dust. Driving in Sicily has really prepared him for this task, as we endure figure 8 style driving everyday here where the craziest and most ruthless people get behind the wheels of their Fiat Cinquecentos and Ford Fiestas (oh yeah, they're a big hit over here!). Sicilians have no concept of looking before they pull out onto the road and they will turn any stretch of asphalt into a 3 lane highway. And why should they care what happens to their cars? The majority of them drives pieces of crap anyway. So, back to the race....

If success was measured in the form of greatest number of gasps from the audience, then Phil would have claimed the top prize for sure! Every time he neared the center of the figure 8, he came within millimeters of T boning the approaching cars. Ooooooo! That was close! Eeeeek! Geeeez! That's all I heard myself saying on the videotape. Sadly, he didn't win, but there's always next summer..........the Freak Monkey will ride again!