Thursday, July 14, 2011

European Chronicles July 9, 2011

Our last day in England... on one hand, it seems like we've been in Europe forever... and yet, the end has suddenly creeped up on us and we'll be home in a few short days...

This morning we slept in again and prayed that Nicole was feeling better. Thank you, Lord, she was! Sam and I got ready and headed into town to make a booking at the library to use the computer to print off our shuttle confirmation for Paris. If this little shuttle trip is any indication, our super short stay in Paris may prove to be quite expensive. But, you only live once, right? 

We grabbed a quick lunch at Bell's because we had heard that they have the best fish and chips (and that's pretty much all England is known for). Guess what folks? We heard corretly! The fish and chips was delicious!!! Good choice for sure. There was a big parade in town today, which we didn't catch, but we saw all the pre-parade festivites in the town square during lunch. The weirdos were out in full force--too bad it was difficult to snap candid pics from inside the restaurant. As we started walking back to the north barn, (wouldn't you know) it started raining. Good thing we brought along our umbrellas!


We read for a short bit when we got home then headed off with Nicole to attend a Ladies' Afternoon Tea with her church. We drank tea and enjoyed scones with clotted cream and jam. Delicious. A lady spoke for a bit and shared quite a touching story. A few observations here: no one shed a tear, not even the speaker (in America, most of the ladies would have been crying); I can count on one hand the ladies that were wearing make-up; no one applauded after the speaker finished. Different cultures are fascinating to me. Anyway, we quite enjoyed ourselves and came out with a good piece of encouragement: just keep swimming.

We packed and read for a while this afternoon (Nicole was playing on my Kindle, so I read Stephanie's blog), I skyped with my parents for a bit, and then we helped Nicole with dinner--chicken enchiladas--my favorite! They were DELICIOUS!!! I'm going to miss me this here home cookin when I get back. Mom, I've learned a few tricks though--I think we can do it! :) 

After dinner we skyped with the Sampley clan back in Bako and watched Family Man on VHS. :) I got a proper Nicole hug before she turned in for the night, and here I sit. Now Sam and I will enjoy our last night sleeping on the pull out couch together. We've double and triple checked our flight times for tomorrow, so Lord willing, there shouldn't be any problems. Let's just hope (and pray) the whole quick transfer in London goes well, the getting our luggage in Paris and finding out where we are and finding a phone to call the shuttle service goes well, and the checking into the hotel goes well (I know that last sentence was incredibly awkward--I kind of planned it that way).

If we have internet in our hotel in Paris, I'll be sure to keep you updated on our adventures for the next couple of nights. If not, it's home sweet home on Tuesday.

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