There’s a couple of stories that I want to post here so I’ll get those written as soon as possible.

Here’s just a few of the highlights:

• Seeing all of Nate’s college roommates
• Getting maternity photos taken by a dear friend
• A couple of chance encounters with old friends
• Tea and dinner with some of our most cherished friends
• A baby shower filled with words of wisdom and tons of love
• Family BBQ that was only missing a few people
• Lots of relaxing time with my parents and brother & sister (in-law)

Obviously, Nate and I love to travel so not having a car for almost a year and a half was really hard.  Not because we don’t love to walk places (we always prefer walking over driving) or need to run errands or do a run to Costco.  But because we constantly feel the need to escape.  To feel freedom.  To not be confined the the schedules of buses or trolleys or people.  We love to take off on a whim and not having a means to do that has put a cramp in our proverbial style.

Shortly after we purchased the car we took an impromptu road trip to Idyllwild, CA.  Idyllwild is a beautiful little town tucked away in the San Jacinto mountains.  We left San Diego on Saturday morning and took the back roads through deserts, vineyards and national parks.  It was amazing just to drive.  To be free.  Not to be tied down to schedules or certain routes.  Freedom.

When we reached Idyllwild we were welcomed with a fresh sprinkling of snow on the ground!  It was a welcome surprise and made our little getaway seem like we were a million miles away from San Diego.  We stayed at the Strawberry Creek Inn, an adorable bed and breakfast just off the main road.  The owners were wonderful and very accommodating (they even made me gluten-free muffins for breakfast!).  We stayed in a cottage located behind the main house complete with fireplace, robes, snacks and anything else one might need while escaping the city.

We spent a few hours walking around the quaint town.  We reminisced about our childhood at a local toy and candy shop,  bought ostrich and buffalo jerky at a great little shop called “Grampa’s House of Jerky”, and sipped on local coffee before returning to the Inn.  We spent the rest of the day sitting in the sunny dining room of the main house playing board games.  We laughed and talked and relaxed.  No cell phones.  No computers.  Just us.

It was a great weekend made even greater by the ability to flex our freedom after so many months.  We’ve taken several day trips since then… along the coast and out to the dessert.  And even though Nate and I prefer to live in a walkable area, our car is now a constant reminder that we can get away whenever we want.

Here’s an excerpt of my journal from that day …

We hopped one bus up the hill from the port into the central part of [Sorrento], and then another to take us to Amalfi. If you get car sick, take your meds before this trip. The bus drivers seem insane, but its the only way to travel this coastline, and they are so
calm, jetting around blind corners on one lane roads, honking to give warning to oncoming traffic, with a few thousand foot drop inches away from the tires. It’s a true testament to conditioning, training, and Italian culture all in one hour…

Amalfi was booked up solid so we headed to a place about 1.5km away. It had a great terrace and nice rooms. After naps and showers, we took a bus back to Amalfi and walked around, sampling paninis and taking photos of the huge church which dominates the town square. We took a stroll along the sandy beach and the Sea water was so incredibly warm! I had to restrain Tilly from jumping in fully clothed.

Now, if you were traveling in the United States, I certainly don’t recommend taking a bus. But if you’re going around the Amalfi Coast or other parts of Europe, it’s actually not so bad as long as you’ve got some good scenery and a decent set of traveling companions.

In fact, I just heard about this new travel company called “Busabout” where you can… ahem.. bus about Europe. If we were going to take a bus as one of our primary means of transportation through anywhere in Europe, I’d most likely look these guys up again and give them a shot.

They have all kinds of nice comforts that you don’t normally get on a typical generic bus ride. And, they even take care of your accommodations if you want them to. Plus, just like those big red double decker buses in London, they allow you to do the hop-on, hop-off thing, which is great because then you can stay as long as you like when you find a cool place to hang out and sight see.

Enjoy your traveling lifestyle!

Disclaimer, we do make money through this travel blog every now and then. One of the ways we do that is by introducing people to new products and services which we think are cool. The company mentioned in this blog – Busabout – is one of those companies, and if one of you readers does book a trip through our links, we’ll get a little commission for it. Don’t worry, you won’t be charged extra, and we don’t promote things we don’t think are worthy of your attention. That’s all.

On another note, I hope you have fun traveling Europe. And if you’d like to be a guest writer here on this blog, feel free to contact us and/or send us a photo of where you are right now. We’d love to live vicariously through those of you who are currently traveling through Europe… even if it’s by bus. :)

Was high school really that bad for so many people?  I wasn’t the most popular kid.  I wasn’t a cheerleader (they were cool at my school) or super trendy.  I didn’t have a fancy car and I definitely had my awkward moments.  The town I attended high school in was a mostly Dutch community; meaning that I was surrounded by blond-haired-blue-eyed-perfect-skin-long-legged teenagers.  If you know me, you know that I’m short, with brown hair and dark eyes.  I was always overlooked by the boys because I was surrounded by blond bombshell goddesses.  But despite all of that, I had good friends.  Friends that were crazy.  Friends that were adventuresome.  Friends that did what they wanted despite what the world expected of them.  A lot of my friends were girls and a handful of them were guys.  And we had fun.  We would play board games while shoving our faces full of Doritos and Mountain Dew.  We’d sneak out to the woods at night, climb trees and repel to the forest floor.  If it wasn’t raining, we would drag my friends couch and TV out to the backyard and have outdoor movie nights.  We went snowboarding and hung out in coffee shops.  We played at the beaches, the parks, the streets of our neighborhoods.  And nothing mattered because we were carefree and full of life.  And even though the actual time spent in the class rooms and hallways wasn’t always fun, I had good friends.

So I decided to go to my high school reunion.  I haven’t kept in touch with hardly anyone but I still wanted to see them and see how their lives had turned out.  I tried not to have any expectations but I secretly hoped that it would be wonderful.  And I wasn’t disappointed.  It was probably the best reunion anyone has ever had.  Everyone was amazing and friendly and gave hugs out like they were party favors.  People that I hadn’t even spoken with in high school were suddenly dear friends from a long lost life.  It was amazing.  We enjoyed cocktails and appetizers, laughed about social hierarchy and stayed out late.  We all went dancing the first night and were out well past 2:00.  The following night was another great evening of meeting spouses and sharing photos.  Not wanting the evening to end, we decided to go sing Karaoke.  New memories were made.  Great memories were made.  I feel sorry for the people that didn’t get the experience I did.  But it makes me so grateful for my high school and the people that shared those four years with me.

Heidi, Elke, Tilly, Rob, Felicia, Sunny

Tilly, Elke and Rachel... they were both blonde in high school.

Here's just a small handful of the beautiful blondes...

Beer Spigots at The Kebab Shop, originally uploaded by theritters.

]]> http://travel.perfectspace.com/travel/beer-spigots-at-the-kebab-shop/feed/ 2 http://travel.perfectspace.com/travel/last-day-in-london/ http://travel.perfectspace.com/travel/last-day-in-london/#comments Sat, 20 Dec 2008 02:16:16 +0000 Tilly Ritter http://travel.perfectspace.com/?p=125 May 25, 2008 – Sunday: London

We accidentally slept in until 1:30!  I guess we are both still recovering from jet lag.  We didn’t have much planned for the day so it’s not that big of a deal but it’s our last day in London and I still wanted to squeeze in as much as possible.  Nate wanted to go to Hyde Park and see if we could catch the action at Speaker’s Corner.  So after we got up and got ready we headed to Victoria Station to catch the 4 different tubes that would get us to the park.  We stopped at the Marble Arch first and took some photos.  The Marble Arch is where people have been executed for hundred’s of years (luckily not anymore).  Before the prisoner was killed they had a chance to say anything they wanted before they were beheaded or hanged.  Hence what turned into Speaker’s Corner.  So every Sunday afternoon the corner is full of people speaking their mind.  Today was no different.  The people that want to speak (or yell) set up a little box or stepladder to stand on and usually they set up a sign or banner of the topic/view/religion/whatever that they want to talk about.  It seems like it usually ends up being a debate (or yelling match) between the speaker and the crowd. Most people were debating about religion or politics.  Some people give out brochures on different views or organizations to join and some were even giving out free hugs!  It was fun to be among the yelling and shouting people and share in a tradition hundred’s of years old. After the fun at the park we headed to a cafe, had a late lunch and read for the rest of the afternoon.

Marble Arch

Debating Religion

Free Hugs

We’re now sitting in the salon (aka sitting room) of our hotel.  I’m writing and Nate’s emailing and researching cell phones for use in Europe.  We leave for Nice, France tomorrow morning and have to leave the hotel at 2:45am!  We have to catch the 3:15am train to Gaetwich Airport to catch our flight at 6:30am.  If I had known how early we had to leave the hotel, I would have booked a later flight!  We’re both a bit foggy still and I don’t think tomorrow’s going to make it any better.

Cheers!

Guards at Buckingham Palace

Today was much more laid back compared to yesterday.  We slept in a little, had some breakfast at our hotel and then walked to Buckingham Palace.  The changing of the guard happened at 11:20 and even though we got there at 11:00 it was already crazy.  There were people everywhere!  It was insane.  Police on horses were keeping the crowds in check.  There was a parade with a band, there was yelling and saluting and then the guards just stood there…. DOING NOTHING!  How boring!  Why is this such a big deal?  Why do so many people get there hours ahead of time to watch guards walking in and then standing?  Nate and I kept waiting around thinking that there’s gotta be more to this thing than just standing.  But there wasn’t, so we left.

We decided to head to the Tower of London.  The tubes (subways) between the Palace and the Tower were shut down for repairs so we had to walk.  On the map it didn’t look too far but it took us almost two hours to get there.  Even though it took so long, it was an unexpectedly beautiful day and it was a wonderful opportunity to get some great pictures.  We explored alleys, took pictures of architecture and enjoyed a cappuccino and tomato sandwich in the shadow of an old church.

The White Tower

The Tower of London has been a backdrop to many of the novels I have read about London’s history.  I am absolutely fascinated by England’s history, especially the 1500′s during the time of King Henry VIII.  It was surreal to be there.  It not at all what I expected it to be like.  In fact, I was having a hard time even remembering the history and stories because it just didn’t fit with what my imagination had thought up.  There was a guard/tour guide that gave us a tour of the grounds and told us a lot of history of each place inside the walls.  It was great to have him tell us the stories and refresh my memory.  The Palace, also known as the White Tower, is not as palace-like or grand as I would have thought.  The grounds weren’t pretty and it was extremely small compared to what my imagination had painted.  The Bloody Tower wasn’t any bigger than a 2-story Starbucks and didn’t have an extensive history like I thought it would.  The only things that I thought were somewhat fitting to what I had imagined was the chapel and the house that King Henry VIII built for Anne Boleyn.  When I walked into the chapel I felt like I was entering history.  Even the air and the sunlight streaming through the slits in the stone walls felt ancient.  Anne Boleyn’s house was off to the west of the palace built in a quaint cottage style that she loved so much.  Anne was executed on the green in front of her home and next to the ancient chapel for treason against the king (although it was most likely the king’s madness that drove him to declare her death sentence).  They have built a memorial where she was executed and it takes my breath away when I look around me and realize that these buildings where the last thing she saw before she was killed.

Anne Boleyn's House

I had a wonderful time wandering through the grounds and touring the Palace.  Kings, Queens, knights, commoners, lords, ladies, prisoners and executioners have all walked upon this dirt.  Have looked at this view.  Have touched these walls.  It was a very moving experience for me and I’m so glad I got to see it for myself.

After our time at the Tower we hopped on a bus (instead of walking back) and headed for Victoria Station.  Nate has a business contact in London, Ande, and we met up with him at the station.  We walked around some of the neighborhoods and ended up at a fancy little restaurant in Chelsea.  I ordered Ahi tuna and a glass of wine.  While Nate and Ande talked business and computers, I relaxed and reflected on our life these past couple weeks.  I’m loving this time but I’m really aprehensive about living in France.  I keep thinking about it and how we don’t know the language.  We don’t know the culture.  We don’t know anyone.  Sometimes I think we are absolutely crazy and other times I’m impressed by our adventuresome spirit.  I know that total immersion into a culture and a languare is the best way but the fact that we don’t know anyone terrifies me.  It’s not like we’re going to be living with a host family that will help us.  It’s not like when I lived in Sweden and was surounded by people that were in the same boat as me.  It’s just me and Nate and no one else. I’m going to be relying on him like never before as he helps me step out of my comfort zone.

London is amazing!  After we landed at Heathrow Airport at about 3:00pm local time, we got our packs from baggage, went through customs and headed to our hotel.  We bought a 7-day subway card and followed the signs for Victoria Station.  Our hotel, Elizabeth House, in in Westminster and is a very quaint rickety old building.  The staff have been wonderful and helpful.  Our room is a tiny 9×8 room with 2 twin beds which we have pushed together.  The walls are a dirty white on the top half and a very strange shade of lavender along the bottom.  There’s a small sink in the corner with a mirror and a perfect little window overlooking the backs of a bunch of row houses.  It’s fun to peak in the windows and see people in their daily lives.

After checking in, we went for a walk to stretch our legs from the long flight.  We meandered through charming streets passing cute cafes and pubs full of business people.  We stopped for some dinner and then headed back to our room for some much needed sleep.

Today has been a busy day packed as full as we could get it.  We bought tickets for a hop-on-hop-off bus tour and rode the entire bus route.  In the 2 1/2 hours it took us to everywhere we wanted to see and we learned a ton about London.  (As cheesy as touristy activities are, you can learn so much from them.)  I got a really good layout for the city and can now navigate fairly well.  Once the bus tour was over, we hopped onto a boat tour which was included in the price of the bus tour.  We took a 1 1/2 hour boat ride down the Thames… from “Big Ben” to Greenwich.  It was a wonderful trip and the guide was really entertaining.  Once in Greenwich, we hiked up to the Conservatory and where the median of the world is longitude 0.  We went through the free museum and learned about charting and stars and navigating the oceans.  We also learned about time and how they make clocks.  This is where people always feel obligated to take the “I’m standing on both sides of the world” picture.

We took the boat tour back to Big Ben and set off to see if we could get tickets to “Phantom of the Opera”. It’s one of Nate’s favorite plays and I have never seen it so we thought that seeing it in London would be the greatest way to see it. Unfortunately, it was sold out for the next week so we decided to get tickets to the 7:30 show of “Les Miserables”. A very good runner up to “Phantom”. After grabbing a dinner of fish and chips at the Silver Fox in Trafalgar Square we headed to the theatre. What an experience! It was so much fun to be at a theatre in London and to be part of the crowd. Some people were dressed casually and others were glamorously attired with evening gowns and tuxedos. Nate and I felt slightly out of place in our hooded sweatshirts and sneakers but once the lights went down it didn’t matter what people looked like. We sat about 15 rows back from the stage and it was a perfect. The play was great and the actors were amazing. Nate had to buy two cups of coffee during the breaks to stay awake but I was riveted by the energy and excitement of it all.

Nate’s asleep as I write this… it’s been a long day. I”m trying to just take it all in and appreciate every moment– even the ones where we’re sleeping.

A little background if you’re just joining us: Nate and I decided to move to Europe in 2005. We both love to travel and instead of trying to do a whirlwind tour of Europe crammed into a few weeks, we decided it would be great to rent a flat for a year and use it as a home-base while we traveled. We could go back home to do laundry, catch up on sleep and Nate could work for another week or so (on the internet) and then head back out to continue exploring Europe. It took us a lot of planning and dreaming and saving to finally make it happen. We decided to move to the south of France since the climate is so similar to San Diego and would be a relaxing place to return to after our traveling. We moved to France on May 21, 2008 with the plan of returning in a year. But plans don’t always work out how we intend as you’ll soon see.

Journal Entry: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 2:30pm LAX

Nate and I are at LAX waiting for our flight to London. We have been in a packing frenzy for the past 5 days. Even though Nate and I aren’t pack-rats, we somehow managed to accumulate a lot of stuff while living in San Diego. But all that is now behind us as we eagerly await our flight.

Nate is creating a “Europe” distribution email list right now so we can send everyone a goodbye email with our contact and blog information. I’ve been chatting on the phone with friends and family and just taking it all in. I can’t believe that the day is finally here. That we’re actually sitting here with a boarding pass in-hand that will get us on a plane headed to Europe! This adventure is going to be amazing!

Our plane that will take us to Europe

9:05pm

We’re sitting on the plan right now and we’re at about 20,000 feet and somewhere over the California desert. I can’t believe that we’re here! That we are actually sitting on a plane headed for London. It’s surreal and so crazy! Nate prayed right before we took off and dedicated this trip, our year and our adventures to God. It’s going to be a life changing experience and this is only the very tiniest beginning. I’m moved to tears every time I think about what we’re doing. I’m not sure if they are tears of sadness for the chapter we just closed or tears of joy for the great adventure ahead. Maybe a bit of both. One thing that is probably the best thing about all of this… Nate’s coming with me and we’ll go through this all together.