Keep Calm and Carry On

Keep Calm and Carry On...

That was the mantra of our staff last year at Thompson. I have the saying on a shirt. I have it on a tea towel, that I actually purchased in NE England, hanging in my classroom now. I look at it constantly throughout the day....

I knew the saying and design originated during WWII in England, but I never knew the history behind it. Thanks Nicole for posting this video...

It's a great reminder as we're on the downhill slope of the year and the students are raging with Spring Fever.

KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON!

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.

European Chronicles July 8, 2011

Today began with a bit of sleeping in and reading in bed--quite an enjoyable way to start a day if you ask me. :)

Nicole was slightly under the weather (wah!) and Nathan went off to gather some shtuff from some people that were moving, so Sam and I decided to head into town to hang out a bit.

(As she's reading this, Nicole says, "Slightly under the weather? WHAT? If you count ****** and ****** slightly under the weather! I thought I was going to die, ok??!? Just give me a bit of credit so they don't think I'm a wuss that stayed in bed and whined all day.) 

Back to my story.... 

We decided to eat lunch at a "Mexican" place and try to stave off a bit of our (my) cravings for a time. There was only one other set of people in there--perhaps because it was like 1130 and folks here don't eat until about 1300. The food wasn't bad--more like TexMex than the usual Mexican food we are used to. I'll look forward to some Baja Fresh (and some hole in the wall Mexican upon my return). 

We wandered around town a bit after that. We sauntered through an underground/indoor market thing that resembled those of a third-world country. It wasn't dirty or anything, just set up a bit differently than you'd normally see here. It reminded me of a lot of the market places around Romania. We didn't purchase anything, but we enjoyed it. We spent a bit of time browsing the other shops around town and found a few neat things. Sam got a super cute handbag and we purchased a couple little "thank you" gifts for Nathan and Nicole. Then it was on to a cute little coffee shop for a drink and a lemon cupcake (that we split). We wrote in our cards and put together our girfts (the people in the coffee shop shot a few strange looks at us, but we didn't mind a bit).

As soon as we left, it started raining--a lot. Awesome. Good thing we brought our umbrellas! I tried to cover the giftbags as best I could, so I was holding them precariously close to my face, which made for an awkward walk home. We got a bit wet--or a lot wet, but I kept the bags fairly dry. I was not a complete fail. 

When we got home, Nathan, Sam, and I watched a spot of Seinfeld--about three episodes--and laughed...a lot. Nicole listened in from the bedroom. We read for a bit ater that while Nathan slaved in the kitchen making bangers and mash--delicious!!! For those un-English out there, that means sausage and mashed potatoes. Yum!! After dinner we got into quite the interesting theological discussions about baptism and end times and church and denominations. Fascinating. We ended up the night with YouTube videos-- we probably should have stuck to theological discussions, but we had a few good laughs. 

Let's hope Nicole feels chipper in the morning. We have a tea to attend tomorrow if all goes well. And sadly, tomorrow is our last day. Weird. I will be sad. :::tear:::

European Chronicles July 7, 2011

York. ...the place...not the peppermint patty. :) 

Today was a girls' day. Nathan wimped out and decided to be diligent with his studies. Wah. Anywho, we (after a yummmy breakfast Nathan made) got into the car and drove about an hour and a half to York. Nicole is quite an excellent driver here. :) 

When we got to York, we compiled random bits of change, paid for parking, and walked into the city (through the WALLS). Another first for me today--I have never been to a city with walls. It was neat. We decided to eat first and stopped at a little place called The Punch Bowl (mainly because it had a cool name). Sam and I realized that it was owned by the same people that owned the pub we went to in Edinburgh, but it was quite good, so we didn't mind at all. Fish and chips was the choice for today--how can you not when you're in England??--topped off with a little Elderflower juice. YES! I love that stuff! Anyone know if you can get it in the States?? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? 

After lunch, we got to do one of our favorite things--go on a FREE WALKING TOUR!! What? What? I actually stumbled across it in the England book I was browsing on our way to York and we were all quite excited. As we began our journey over to the starting point, it started to rain. Typical. Good thing we had umbrellas! They shot right up and we were protected. Phew! We met up with our tour guide (a sweet older woman who had been doing this for 22 years!!!) and we were on our way. I saw a lot of neat things and heard a lot of history. The whole time I kept thinking--I wonder where my family is all from? (I know, don't end a sentence in a preposition--sorry, it's summer). It'd be interesting to dive a bit deeper into my geneology after hearing about all this European history.

I'd have to say my favorite part of the tour was walking along the city wall. Really? People just get to do that? Super cool. 

Or perhaps it was the part where some English teenagers were laughing about America and how young it was (Lame sauce.). Or maybe it was walking down the Shambles (GOOGLE IT-seriously!)--a street that looks like toon town. Literally, the buildings are all warped and coming together at the tops so that they lean in toward the center of the street. Crazy! That's what happens when your Oak isn't mature enough. Didn't these people know that? Seriously. 

After the tour, we happened upon a Starbucks and got some delicous treats. As we well know, coffee is not a part of my life, so I ordered a mango passion tea smoothie thing--now this, folks, can become part of my life. IT. WAS. AWESOME. We dabbled in a few shops before heading back to the car and on home. Nicole did a fabulous job driving once again. I don't know how she does it--I'd be scared out of my little mind! :)

We had leftovers for dinner when we got home, YUUMMMMY!, and headed over to their neighbor Francis's house for drinks after. I had some more Elderflower juice (delicious) and some crisps (chips). We chatted and visited for a bit and I watched the beautiful sunset outside. As soon as we got back home into the North Barn, it started POURING outside. Good timing!

I have no idea what tomorrow will bring. Maybe just a day to relax? I'll be sure to keep you posted. 

European Chronicles July 6, 2011

The Day We Weren't in Ireland... 

Instead, we went a bit North to Holy Island. Google it in you're interested. It's quite lovely (aren't I sounding English already?). We had to check the tides last night to figure out when to go, but if you don't, you could end up like this: 

There were signs all around the island warning us to check the tides and not get stuck. (Obviously you can drive there during low tide. Obviously you're an idiot if you try to drive in or out during high tide). 

 We got our times right today and made it out there safely. There was only one close call on the way out--Nathan was glancing at the water when a plane flew super flow, causing quite the rumble, and freaking us (Nathan) out. He was mainly freaked out because 1. He wasn't exactly looking at the rode and thought perhaps a semi was about to collapse on us and 2. His strong protective instincts kicked in because he had three ladies in the car with him. Uh huh. 

Anyway, when we got to the island, our tummies were rumbling a bit like the low plane, so we stopped at a cafe to get some food. We were (by far) the youngest there. I ordered a samich and some chips and a DIET COKE (not Cola Light) and guess whaaaaat??? It was FREEZING cold! I was a bit more excited than I should have been. I didn't realize how much I missed cold soda. Delightful to the last drop...

Then we checked out the Priory, the church, and of course, the graveyard (they have lots of those over here). We even saw a fresh-ish grave. It was from this year, had a shiny headstone, and the earth was still a bit raised up. I was slightly weirded out, but everything was really pretty. Then we headed toward the castle and it began to spinkle on us. Surprisingly, this is really the first rainy day we've had. We've been quite fortunate. Lukily, we had umbrellas and we trugged on. Nathan did a bit of planking on the stone wall leading up to the castle. We admired the castle from the outside, but didn't pay to go in.

We headed back toward the town because we wanted to see this exhibit they had of some old gospels. Unfortunately, they only had a replica there, but we did get to learn a lot about it and watched an interesting video about ancient Viking raids of the island. Then we decided to head back and beat the tide--no one wants to pay 4000lbs to be rescued! 

It started pouring on the way home and I fell asleep. When I awoke, we were close to Durham and it was bright and sunny. Delightful. Nicole went to the store after we got home and Sam and I hung out and read. I started (and finished) a really interesting book today (Nothing in My Hand I Bring by Ray Galea) about the differences between Catholics and Protestants. It was quite fascinating and (obviously) a quick read. I'd definitely recommend it for anyone on either side (or outside) the spectrum. 

Anywho, when Nicole returned, we played extra hands in the kitchen and helped her whip up some deliciousness--sour cream bake--which she learned about from Pioneer Woman's blog (hilarious and awesome--google it). Dinner was YUMMY and she even treated us to some Magnum bars for dessert. We hung out and chatted and Nathan fiddled around on the guitar for the rest of the evening. 

We're not quite sure what tomorrow will hold. York maybe? We're going to play it by ear and trust that God had bigger plans for us than Ireland. I know that's true, but I'm just really bummed that we couldn't take Nathan and Nicole to Ireland. My heart was so looking forward to that experience with them and doing something nice for them after they so graciously opened their home to us. Now they just have to play tour guide and entertain us around England. Hopefully we can make it up to them. They're pretty amazing, and I love them. :)

Thanks for reading and keeping up with my European adventures. Much love!!

European Chronicles July 5, 2011

Once upon a time, we didn't go to Ireland. Here is the story written by Nicole and posted on her blog:

This is how we didn't get to Ireland today.

Yesterday Amy, Sam, and I went to the public library to do some travel business. Unlike last week, this time I "made a booking" in the digital media suite (read: group of computers). 

Wait! I didn't tell you that story?! Last time I was there, the nasty librarian called security on me because I didn't "make a booking" and my feathers were quite ruffled. She made a nasty face and rolled her eyes and breathed a long breath like Napoleon Dynamite, but she let me print my confirmation number for our flight to Prague because I would "be quick about it." It didn't help in the end. That's another sad travel story.

Anyway, this time I made a proper booking and settled down with the girls to take care of our travel business. Surprisingly,  nothing went wrong with the booking, boarding passes, the parking reservation, or printing all of them. We had to pay 10p per page for 12 pages, but I did steal one page because Mean Librarian Girl was behind the counter and I was feeling especially rebellious. 

This morning, we decided to not leave on "Nicole time," (read: ridiculously early) but rather a bit later. I tried my very hardest to be go with the flow, but I was worried anyway. I'm always worried before traveling because something always goes wrong, especially in England. 

We had a leisurely breakfast of scones from Crook Hall and drove to the off-site airport parking place. Unfortunately, I had the GPS in my backpack, which was in the boot (translation: trunk) so we pulled over to get it out. Even with the GPS's help, we got a little lost because of inadequate signage and false advertising. The name of company on the brick and mortar place did not match the online reservation name. However, we eventually found it and transferred our stuff to the airport shuttle.

Our "five minute ride to the airport" turned out to be about 15 because of road construction. Nathan made happy conversation with our driver while my feet tapped nervously in the back. He asked the driver, "What should we do in Ireland?" 

"Drink." 

"What if we're only moderate drinkers?" 

"Guinness."

Right.

We bounded out of the van and checked the departure board just inside the airport doors. We didn't see our flight. Since we didn't have any bags to check, we went straight to security and got our passports and boarding passes inspected. It was only then that I noticed that the gate closed at 10:40 and the flight departed at 11:10, not 11:55 like we thought. It was 11:05.

Calm on the outside. Panicked on the inside.

We went through security with no problems. I ran to our gate on the other side while Nathan and the girls ran behind me with belts, shoes, sweatshirts, etc. flagging behind. The departures board on the other side of security said "LAST CALL," so we ran with all of our might. 

The flight was already gone.

Dejected but not defeated, we huffed and puffed while Nathan said, "It's okay! We'll just re-book for a later one." We checked at the counter, but there were no more flights to Dublin today. The agent said we could change our reservation for tomorrow for100 pounds each but encouraged us to get a cheaper flight by booking online ourselves.

We called the parking service to come get us again, got the car and drove to the Metrocentre, the largest mall in Europe, which happened to be a few minutes away. In the parking deck Nathan and Amy got on the phone with the hotel and rental car companies, and we learned that we couldn't cancel tonight and get any money back, which was disappointing. However, in the mall we got something cool and refreshing (Diet Coke from McDonald's), walked around a bit but didn't go into any stores, and tried to re-book our flights through two separate travel agencies, neither of which worked with Ryanair. 

We drove home discouraged, but set out to play travel agent ourselves and and try to buy four one-way tickets from NCL to DUB online, but it just. didn't. work. We tried over 20 times. We used five calls to Ryanair customer service (in India) at 10 p per minute, four different credit cards, three search engines, two computers with cleaned out cookies, and partridge in a pear tree. 

While on the phone with Ryanair India, we got responses to our problem like, "There's no problem with the website." "You should call your bank." "You didn't delete the cookies correctly." "Hundreds of other people are booking reservations online right now." "The people who told you you could re-book for 100 pounds were wrong." "I can do it over the phone for a million pound surcharge." They were generally rude and unhelpful, even though I was supremely nice. 

Then Nathan tried but was rebuffed. He even said crazy things like, "My brother dropped dead this morning. Now that we've grieved and moved on, we're ready to re-book our flight for tomorrow. My confirmation number is B as in baked beans, G as in gorilla, 1, J as in jalopy, Y as in Old Yeller, and N as in NEVER GOING TO GET TO IRELAND AT THIS RATE."

It's funnier now than it was an hour ago.

After our futile attempts to get help on the phone from Ryanair, we decided to try to call the airport itself and just have them re-book our flights like they offered to this morning. They just directed us to India. Then, a stroke of genius. I called lost baggage, a local number, and got passed from desk to desk all the way to a Ryanair agent at the airport. FINALLY! 

She told me that I could not re-book for 100 pounds each because it was too late for that, but I COULD drive back to the airport and book there, but there would be surcharges for printing boarding passes. Our "rough estimate" total was 479 pounds. 

*choking sound*

At this point we decided to try to get Amy and Sam's money back for the hotel, rental car, and airport parking and if we were mildly successful, scrap the whole trip. In all, we were 66% successful with the hotel, 100% successful with the rental car, and 0% successful with the airport parking. Total losses, including the flights we never took, added up to: $590 and NO TRIP TO IRELAND.

After more phone calls across the Irish Sea and a few more here in the UK, we drove over to a nice village pub in Woolsingham called The Black Bull and drowned our sorrows in Guinness (Nathan) and chocolate sundaes (the girls).

For now Ireland remains a land of ire. Lots of it. So far, no tears have been shed, but we still have two hours left in the day.

Two morals to this story: 1) Don't fly with RyanAir and 2) pay for your printing at the library.

 I had to copy and paste, because I couldn't stand to type it all out myself and she did such a fabulous job. The only tears that have been shed so far are tears from laughter over Nathan's recitation of our confirmation number. I hope you find as much joy out of it as we did--especially considering the circumstances. 

We trust that there is some reason we are not in Ireland--but we haven't heard yet of any plane crashes or bombs. 

Now we plan to make the most out of our time in England. Tomorrow we are going to Holy Island which we can only cross at certain times of the day due to rising tides (hope we don't mess up the times tomorrow). :) 

Hope you enjoyed our story. Let's all hope it ends in "happily ever after..." 

European Chronicles July 4, 2011

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY EVERYONE!!!!!

My family is probably laying out bronzing on the beach right now, and looking forward to a BBQ in a bit and fireworks tonight. I love me some 4th of July! However, my experience was quite different this year. It was definitely a 4th of July to remember... 

The day started out a bit lazily... we didn't need to get up for any purpose, so we slept in a bit. We planned on decorating for the party in the afternoon, but we hung our flag out front in the morning. Nathan and Nicole's landlord was working in the yard this morning and when we walked out he said, "I don't remember anywhere in the lease allowing you to fly foreign flags here!" We died laughing! We assured him it was only for today. :) 

Then it was time to go to the library make a "booking" to use the internet and printer (if you don't have a booking, you will get security called on you--just ask Nicole). We checked in for our flight to Ireland tomorrow and printed our boarding passes (because if we didn't have them in advance, we'd get charged a TON--ridiculous). Then we went on our way to say hi to Nathan at school and see where he spends most of his waking hours. We posed for a few pictures, saw the library and chapel, and went on our way. 

We came back to the house for a few minutes before heading over to Crook Hall right next door--a beautiful old building with amazing gardens. Nicole sent Sam and me into a giant bush maze to see who could get to the middle first. I was not a big fan of this. I was a fail (as Forest's mom would say). Sam won. I'm just glad I was able to find my way out. Thanks Nicole!

Then it was back on home for some for tea and scones (or water and scones in my case). We purchased a few scones from the kitchen at Crook Hall and had a lovely afternoon snack. Delicious! Then it was on to planning our 4th of July party! Nicole and I made a playlist of patriotic songs and firework shows on YouTube, we decorated the house with all the cutouts that we brought, packed for Ireland (THREE DAYS IN A BACKPACK THANK YOU VERY MUCH!), and relaxed a bit before the party began. 

Our guests started arriving around half seven (7:30 in American), and the first one was dressed in a full on REDCOAT uniform. The white sashes on the uniform were made out of LOO ROLL (toilet paper in American). Simply amazing.

 All of the other guests that arrived (none of which were actually American--we had one Irish girl, a Canadian dude, and some English people) were wearing red, white, and blue. I felt so honored. We began the party with some patriotic songs (including some karyoke sing alongs which only Nicole and I really sang to). We then made S'more nachos (graham crackers, chocolate bars, and marshmallows all roasted in the oven due to the lack of a fire), and played the "s'more of what" clip from The Sandlot. Epic. We had to show our guests how s'mores were really made, of course. 

We also shared some American candy--hot tamales, peach rings, and Dewars chews--which they quite enjoyed--followed by Disneyland's 4th of July World of Color show from YouTube (quite amazing, really). The rest of the evening we just visited and hung out. I learned about some of the differences between schools in England and America, we discussed the fashion trends among teenagers (scary), and a mish-mosh of other topics. We made sure to take everyone's picture in front of our special picture wall before they departed, and we bid farewell. 

After the guests left, we finished off the night by cleaning up and me polishing off the bottle of Elderflower juice (straight out of the bottle). That stuff really is amazing--remember me talking about it back in one of my Hungary notes? I wonder if we can get that in the states...anyone? anyone? Bueller? 

Although I miss my family a lot (especially today), I did have quite an eventful and memorable 4th of July. I hope y'all are having a great one as well. Family, take pictures at the beach! Friends, be safe and have an awesome time celebrating. 

I'm not sure about the status of the internet in Ireland, so I'm not quite certain I'll be able to update. If I can, I'll be all over it (Sam is a superwoman packer and was able to fit her little laptop in her backpack). If not, I'll be sure to fill you in on as much as I can when we return. 

European Chronicles July 3, 2011

Countdown to our EPIC 4th of July party with the Red Coasts: T-minus 20 hours and counting! ...as you can see, I'm quite excited about it. We have decorations and s'mores and a firework show prepared to play on YouTube and whatever other shenanigans we can come up with before tomorrow evening. Be looking forward to that post for sure (I know I am!)!!! 

Anyway, back to the present....we began the day going to Christchurch. Amazing that last week we were in church in Hungary and today we were in church in England. A chunk of my heart missed Living Grace (it's been a long time!), but it was really neat to experience church here with Nathan and Nicole. We heard a great message about Jacob and how to cling to God in our weakness for his strength is always sufficient and He is all that we need. After church we had a bit of tea time to fellowship with others at church. We met a few people and talked to some of the guys we hung out with the other night, and Nicole had to urge Nathan to leave because otherwise he would have talked forever! (Head down and walk out!). :)

We enjoyed a nice lunch at home (leftover Indian food) and some good conversation. Then we decided to go on a tour of Durham that the city puts on every Saturday and Sunday. We walked into town only to find out that the tour was canceled for today because there was not a guide available. However, that did not stop us! Nathan has the tour guide bug since going on a free walking tour in Prague and has decided to (hopefully) start his own free walking tours here someday. So, we let him practice on us! He did a great job! I mean, who knows, he could have just made up everything he said, but it all sounded good! Haha. Jk. He has been studying and researching and he really is learning his stuff. The tour was quite interesting!

We took a little break at...ahh...I forget the name of the little cafe...Nicole, please fill the people in when you read this. :) Anyway, it was set back in this little courtyard and it was quite lovely. Nathan had some tea and we all split some chocolate cake and this carmel banana pie thing that had a cool name that I can't remember. Delicious! After that it was the pharmacy and the grocery store and then on home. 

Nicole whipped up some delicious soup for dinner (she's quite the creative cook, people--yuuuummmmy), and we had Tesco's finest lemon pie thing for dessert. We spent the rest of the evening just hanging out in the living room and talking. I seriously love nights like this. Good conversation warms my soul. Hahaha...cheesy, but true. We finished up our evening with a few "So You Think You Can Dance" and "Brian Regan" clips on YouTube and we called it a night. 

Tomorrow we have to "make a booking" to use the computer and printer at the public library to print our boarding passes for Ireland (because if we don't they will charge us a million pounds each--seriously!!!). We also have to plan and decorate for our party and pack for Ireland. This, my friends and family, will require your prayers. I have to pack for 3 days in a backpack. If you know me well enough, you know that packing is one of my worst enemies. Let's just hope it's not the end of me tomorrow. :) 

European Chronicles June 30, 2011

Woke up in Hungary...went to sleep in England...and a bit on the plane in between... :)

We started the day off in Budapest, got ready and gathered our stuff, and headed out to get pastries for breakfast. I thought we were going to get like breakfast type pastries, but it was more of a cake/dessert pastry shop. They did have a coffee cake like thing that I chose and it was delicious!

Then it was on to the airport. We had already checked in, so we just needed to print our boarding passes and drop off our checked bags. Online it said you could print your pass at a kiosk. Well, folks, when we got there, there was no kiosk with the British Airways option. Great. There was also no one at the BA info desk, and there were no lines open for BA check in. Awesome. So we waited. Dad had come in with us, so he was trying to ask around and solve the mystery. No luck. We figured we may just be a bit early...so we waited. At about 11:30, a desk did open and we were able to get our boarding passes and check our bags. We said goodbye to dad and headed on our way.

We decided to get some lunch since we had quite a bit of time and weren't sure if we'd be fed on the plane. There was a place right by our terminal that said "Serve Food All Day." Sweet. We both ordered this chicken penne pasta thing. But, alas, I did not receive said penne pasta. I instead got spaghetti--but, like our pizza incident earlier in the week, you can't really complain, you just take what you get. It was alright, not great. I got quite tired of eating it after a short while, so I only had a bit. Oh well!

We boarded the plane and took off--and, what to you know?!?--they served samiches. Yum. Good job BA for feeding us constantly. It was definitely better than my spaghetti. The plane ride was only about two hours long. There was a bit of turbulence which I love, and we landed without incident. We were a bit nervous about making our connecting flight because we didn't have much time, so we jetted through Heathrow airport to find our next gate. We made it! I was super thirsty, so we got something to drink. I just got water, but Sam got Dr. Pepper (it's rare where we've been). We walked over to our terminal and when we opened it (like Dr. Pepper is known for doing) it sprayed all over the place. Classic. We had a good laugh or two before she got some napkins to mop it up.

The second flight from London to Newcastle was only about 40 minutes long, but they still gave us drinks and snacks. Gotta love BA! The only problem with this flight is they didn't have all of the luggage to start off with, so we sat on the tarmac for probably about the same amount of time that we spent in the air--sorry Nathan and Nicole! When we arrived, they rolled the stairs up to the plane and we walked right off and into the airport. All of our bags made it and we exited to a smiling Nathan and Nicole holding a sign that said "Amy and Friend." (We had been joking that Nathan couldn't remember Sam's name and kept asking Nicole).

After some hugs, we gathered our stuff and headed out to the car. We enjoyed a beautiful drive back to Durham, complete with a bright double rainbow. We quoted Brian Regan and got a few history lessons from Nathan about the places we passed by (he'll make a good tour guide one day). We got to the barn (their house) for a quick luggage drop off and potato salad pick up and we were off again to have dinner with some of their friends. Delicious!!! It was definitely one of the best meals I've had so far. We enjoyed good food and entertaining conversation. Then it was off to Dun Cow to experience some good old folk music. I loved it! They guys said it didn't give us an accurate first look into what life here is really like, but we quite enjoyed it.

We walked back to Nathan and Nicole's house after the music extravaganza and set up our bedroom. We chatted for a few while Sam and Nicole sipped some tea and then it was off to bed. 

I'm quite sure we're in for more great adventures soon. Stay tuned!