Home, Sweet Home. At least for a day....

It's Kevin, finally back in KY. Amber and I are still tired, even though we went to sleep at 8 last night. Of course, we woke up at 6 AM, and while 10 hours of sleep might sound like a lot, I still feel like I have cobwebs in my head.

Unfortunately, I am off to Bowling Green today for a 5-day AP English workshop. I am kind of looking forward to it, b/c I am a huge dork who wants to learn, but I wish I had a little more time to lie around and enjoy the beauty of the LEX.

We watched England pull out a 1-0 win of Ecuador this morning, and missed the atmosphere a little bit, but at this point wearing my David Beckham shirt on the couch is a much more comfortable option.

My hotel is BG is supposed to have a computer, and I will have a lot of free time in the evening, so I will try to put some more thoughts on the blog later on this week.

So, keep on checking up. We will probably change the focus to the wedding planning here soon, so if that is any interest to you, stay tuned!

The Final Leg.

It's Kevin. I am sitting here in the lobby of a London hotel near the airport, completely pooped. It was a long couple of plane rides back to London, at least they seemed long, as we all had a very late night and an early morning. Oh well, at least it was fun.

I have gotten a couple of emails about "the boys" not caring about food and letting Amber starve. Trust me, as I have told Amber on several occassions, when she is hungry the person who suffers the most is me. Anyway, we have been eating a local specialty, the 3 im weggler (sp?) it seems like everytime we turn around. We all got food pretty quickly after the blog posting, so don't worry. And the German food is great.

Germany was a lot of fun. It had a nice small town feel, even though one of the biggest events in the world was taking place. A lot like Stratford. And I already miss it, since I was quickly reminded I was back in England when I hit my head on the cab door. I swear to God, I have no idea how Peter Crouch (an England soccer player who is 6'7") survives in this country. Although I appreciate having a TV station in English that is not MTV or the ring-tone channel.

There are a lot more stories to tell, and even more that won't be, at least here on a public blog. I mean, come on people, my mom reads this! But I am tired, and hungry, so the stories will have to wait. I cannot wait to see KY!

BOO GHANA!!! TY PENNINGTON IS HOT IN PERSON!!! Well, we went to the big game today, and sadly, we lost. The penalty kick they were awarded was absolute crap, and Kevin and I both have problems with the Ghana players acting like whiny babies and falling down so much that he called them the Ghana swimming and diving team. But it was awesome seeing all the American fans decked out in gear, screaming and singing our anthem. I was pumped to see that Dempsey, my favorite player, score the lone American goal and Kevin and I promptly did the "Lean With It, Rock With It" dance (that Dempsey made famous a couple of games ago) and we think somewhere in the world on some station, we were caught doing that live. Hopefully nowhere in the US!!! I did get to have my picture taken with Ty Pennington (the HOT dude from Extreme Home Makeover). I think he was trying to be incognito, but he only had shades and a hat on, and I noticed his biceps instantly! He was very gracious when I asked for a picture! It was a great experience all around, even if my voice is gone and I'm heavily dissapointed. We're off to eat dinner....it's like 10 p.m. here. The boys never seem to care about food...I, however, am famished and weak with hunger ALL THE TIME!!!

Germans are Bigger Than the British

Kevin here. Amber filled you in on most of the details. The flight was pretty smooth, except for losing her luggage, and the hotel and area are very nice. You may know that The Lon and Mainous were originally were going to sleep on the floor. However, there are open rooms at our hotel, so they will have their own room. Which is nice for everyone involved.

One of the first things I noticed about Germay and our hotel is that it is much more accomodating to people over the height of five feet. I can only assume that Germans on whole, are just larger people throughout history than the British. Not to make a sweeping generalization, but hey, I have to call´em like I see´em.

I don`t think our little 'burg is used to American tourists just wandering around. At least that is the impression I got when The Lon and I were looking for a grocery store. Everyone just looked at us like we weren't wearing pants. But we were. I checked.

We are out exploring today, so it should be fun. Ther Germans were going bananas last night with their big 3-0 win over Ecuador. Lots of cheering, songs, honking, etc. We are supposed to meet up with Mainous tonight. Hopefully it will be as easz as running into The Lon.

Luggage Lost, But Now It´s Back!!!

Amber here. We got up early yesterday and flew out of London to Amsterdam, had a short layover there and arrived in Nuremberg, Germany around 2 p.m. And yes, Kevin's luggage made it, but mine did not. Needless to say, I was less than happy about this, but I reported it and the nice man at the Nuremberg Airport said there were several flights still coming in from Amsterdam and they would just deliver my bag to my hotel when it arrived in Germany. Kevin and I managed to find our way to the subway, buy tickets, etc. with the help of the lovely German ladies who are posted all around the town at FIFA World Cup 2006 Help Stattions. They gave us maps to our hotel, told us what subway and trains to take and even showed us how to buy tickets. Very helpful people! We got off at our train stop (close to our hotel) and who did we run into right there--Shevlin! Apparently, he was on the same train as us the whole time, just in a different car and so it was the easiest meet up in a foreign country I've ever expereinced. We found our hotel, the Park Hotel, and were delighted to discover that it's beautiful, quaint, and even has a REAL bathroom with a tub and a shower with a continuous flow of hot water!!! YIPPEE! The owners are very nice and live in a beautiful house right next to us. It's in the suburbs of a nice, upscale neighborhood, so it's quiet when it's time to sleep.

After showering and putting on the same thing I'd already had on, the three of us when down to Fan Fest, where FIFA has set up these massive television screens, food stands, etc. for World Cup fans to watch the games. It was great eating and drinking with fans from all over the world, all decked out in their country's gear and screaming and yelling. We watched the England v. Sweden game (2-2) and took pictures. Shevlin was treated like a god by another England fan who just couldn't believe he knew so much about football! Well, I let Kevin fill you in on the rest. We're off to explore Nuremeberg, the old town, today and then hit the game tomorrow afternoon. It comes on at 10 a.m. USA time, so look for us! We#ll be decked out in US gear!!!!

It's Amber!!!

This will be as quick as I can get it, so don't mind the punctuation, spelling, etc. I#we got five minutes before we need to head to the Tube to get to Heathrow Airport. Okay, so Kevin said I'm supposed to update about two days ago, etc. Two days ago, I about died of exhaustion because we walked the entire Hyde Park, looking for statues, memorial fountains, Kensington Gardens. I was amazed by the size of the park and the sheer volume of people skating, sunbathing, etc. We even saw a little dog, who was amazing at playing soccer with his owners! We also enjoyed the British Museum---I liked the mummified cats best! The jack the Ripper walk was great, hosted by the most famed author on the subject. We went to several places throughout the City of London, etc. where the murders took place, heard graphic details and much historical fact, and even saw the place where he left his chalk message to the police. It was pretty cool, but exhausting after all the other walking we did that day!

Yesterday was a whirlwind of activity. We started the morning with a Shakespeare walk, which included a morning boat tour of the city. We got off on the South Side of London, which is where Shakespeare lived and worked and saw the old place where the original Globe Theatre stood and what remains of the original London Bridge, complete with Nancy's Steps from the Dicken's novel, Oliver Twist. Again, our guide was great, with a deep knowledge of the subject and London history--she had us imagining we were living in the 1500 and 1600s the whole way! She also had us perform parts of Shakespeare when we were at the old Globe site. I, of course, chose to do some Romeo! Later, we walked across millennium Bridge to St. Peter's, which was nothing short of breathtaking. We hiked all the way to the top of the dome and got some awesome pictures. I could even hear Kevin whispering to me through the wall when we were in the lower gallery, even though he was on the opposite side if it. The Tower of London was fun, mainly because we went on the Beafeaters tour, and our guide was hilarious and entertaining. We saw where Ann Boleyn was killed and buried and learned of countless other imprisonments, tortures and killings. The Crown Jewels were brilliant, but I think I expected to see more. Oh well. Covent Garden later for shopping. I went into my favorite bath shop, Lush, and purchased some goodies and had shrimp for dinner. Yummy! Now it's off to Germany. World Cup---here we come!

Off to Germany!

Kevin again. Don't look so diappointed. Anyway, it is about 5:20 AM and we are on our way to the Tube to go to the airport and head to Germany. The computer has been pretty busy, so we were not able to post what we wanted to last night. In the interest of time, I will hit some bullet points and we can fill in the rest later.

Jack the Ripper tour was very cool and informative. Maybe too informative.

The Shakespeare Walk on Mon. morning included a boat ride down the river Thames. A little on the cold side, but a good way to see a lot of old London, or the City as the original area is still called.

St. Paul's was overwhelming. We climbed 530!! steps to the top of the dome.

The tour guide for the Tower of London may have been the best of the trip. It was interesting to realize that since I'm Catholic, the only way I would have been in there a couple of hundred years ago would be as a prisoner. Fortunately, they did not detain me.

A quick run home to settle a problem with my 5/3 bank card, apparantley they flagged it for fraud b/c it was being used in London, and we headed to Covent Garden, a shopping/eating area. We stumbled across the European premiere for "The Lakehouse" starring Sandra BUllock and Keanu Reeves. We waited awhile in hope of catching a glimpse, but we were starving. After wandering around, we just ate at a pub. FIsh and chips for me! We also went into Lush, an extremely nice soap store.

We have to head out. Yet ANOTHER water problem at the George, last night there wasn't any and this morning it is cold. Let's hope Germany offers better accomodations.

Next stop, Germany!

The Museum, the parks, and Jack the Ripper

Kevin here. Yesterday was the first day Amber and I actually felt worn out. We hit the British Museum early, it is within walking distance so it wasn't that big of a journey. A couple of hours in there was fun, we saw the Rosetta Stone, marbles from the Parthenon, and even Cleopatra's mummy. No sign of her daddy. Sorry, bad joke.

We also saw this group of Tibetan monks, who we had also seen in Stratford. Is it possible they are following us? Who knows, stay tuned!

Next was Hyde Park and Kensington Gardens. Hyde Park is the largest park in London, sort of their version of Central Park, and Kensington is pretty much connected to it. It was a nice stroll, seeing Speaker's Corner, where people were screaming about different subjects, too loud for Amber or I to actually make it out. And this is where the "worn out wave" began to strike.

Kensington Gardens has the Peter Pan statue and a fountai memorial to Princess Di. The memorial was a little difficult to find, and I was quite ready to just call it a day. In the grand scheme of historical figures you encounter in London, for me anyway, Di is pretty far down the list. But find it we did, and I cooled my feet in the flowing water. Very strange fountain and memorial, it felt a lot more like a picnic spot.

We also saw the alrgest freakin' statue here, in honor of King Albert. It is across from Royal ALbert Hall. Super big. But I guess he and Queen Victoria did do a lot for the arts and the city. But still.....

A quick walk around the palace and it was off to Piccadilly Circus, London's version of TImes Square, excpet not as much. We ate at Wagamamma's, which was highly recommended by more than a few people, and it was extremely tasty. We had a Jack the Ripper walk that night, and decided that we were walked out at that point. We headed back to the hotel, and took a nap.

THe Jack the RIpper walk was pretty cool, I'll let Amber talk more about it. It is about time for breakfast, and I have some laundry to do, or else I will have to start wearing my underwear inside out!

USA 1 - Italy 1

It's Kevin. Well, the USA stayed alive last night with a 1-1 tie against Italy. We watched it at a nearby pub, where we met some Americans from the ATL. They went to Emory, same conference as Centre, so we talked a little. It was fun, but I feel a like the US got hosed a little by the refs. The last 45 min. of the game was 9 on 10, with the US being the 9. A tie was a good showing, but a win, which was possible, would have been better.

Unfortunately, we got so wrapped up in the game, we forgot to order our food before the kitchen closed. We ended up eating a couple bags of potato chips, and then hitting the convenience store for some late night sandwiches. Amber was not happy that I overlooked the time of the kitchen closing..

The Cutest Place on Earth

Amber here. Stratford-Upon-Avon is my favorite of all the places we've been so far. It was quaint, homey feeling and downright lovely. From the train station, we walked the short 10 minute route to the center of town, passing all kinds of specialty stores and eventually stopping at Shakespeare's birthplace. We toured the house, which had pretty gardens, but was a little boring. They had a lot of replicas of furniture, etc., which is never as exciting as seeing the real things. We did however feel rather smart, seeing that we already knew most all of the information provided there--I guess that's one of the benefits of having to teach this stuff to high-school age children.

Later, we walked by the Avon River, admiring the tiny house boats, row boats and barges, many of which had stores or eateries on them (how cute!). We kept walking until we reached the old graveyard of the Holy Trinity Church, which was lined with trees, shrubbery and pines and eventually led us to the entrance of the church. This was where we saw Shakespeare's grave and famous epitaph and chatted it up with one of the groundskeepers about how lovely the whole town was. We walked back down the river, sitting on the bank to watch several rowing races on the river that were going on all day, as it was the annual Avon Rowing Regatta, which has apparently been a staple of the town's culture since the late 1880's. We even took a chain or foot ferry ride across the river, which was a highlight of the trip, especially since it only cost 40 pence. We walked back through town, stopping at As You Like It, a cafe named after my favorite Shakespearean comedy, for a light lunch and headed back to the train station.

We are now rejuvenate by hot water and ceilings much higher than we are in our new hotel room, which offers me much comfort at this point. And now it's on to root on the US!!!

Good News!

Kevin here, just before we leave to watch the US/Italy game. The hotel problem has been solved. We complained this morning and asked to be moved to a new room, and they have moved us to an actual room, as opposed to the closet/room hybrid we had been living in. And the new room has hot water! And room to actually move around! And a real doorknob! You can tell I am very excited.

We took a day trip to Stratford on Avon, birthplace of Shakespeare, and it was possibly the highlight of the trip so far. A 2 hour train ride through the English countryside gave us some time to nap, read, and appreciate the beauty. It also gave us air conditioning, which we don't have at the hotel (actually, not that big of a problem, it is not that hot or humid). I will let Amber give you the details, she loved it and constantly referred to everything as "cute!" I appreciated the number of free toilets and trashcans, but also agreed that everything was "cute".

Quick note, I wore my Centre College t-shirt today, and someone stopped us at the train station. His wife's bro and uncle both went to Centre. We talked a little about KY. It was kind of neat.

We also ran into a wedding at the church where Shakes is buried. It was lovely.......well, I don't want to say anything about people on their wedding day.....so let's just say the bride and groom looked very British and leave it at that.

Cheers! Kevin

Amber here. Yesterday was a good day...the night, not so much, but I'll get to that later. We slept in a little and had breakfast with a nice Australian couple in the hotel before heading walking the short two blocks to the British Library. For us English people, this was nothing short of awesome. We got to see Shakespeare's first Folio. the original Beowulf, Magna Carta and even Alice in Wonderland, complete in longhand with drawings. We bought some neat Shakespeare books at the gift shop...to all my fellow cat lovers, you will die when you see Shakespeare Cats!!! Then, it was off to the train station to purchase tickets for our train ride to Stratford today--very easy and painless, and not that expensive. Later, we headed to the Globe Theatre to see Coriolanus (I think I'm misspelling that!) and sit in the galleries as the rich folk. Let me tell you, it was still uncomfortable sitting there with no chair back for three+ hours, but it was a great experience. The theatre was nothing short of beautiful and has all the details we teach about in our English rooms, including the stars on the ceiling. It wasn't my favorite play by far, as the main character was too hard to sympathize with, but I still enjoyed it. We managed to make it to the Tate Modern to see some crazy art work. My favorite was some Matisse snail cutout and the Guerilla Girls prints, which are very girl power in terms of mocking the white-loving men in the art world. Dinner was great--Italian gnocchi and wine. But alas, not much sleep again for the two of us as our neighbors were loud, screaming in a language I didn't understand and playing that awful Euro techno music I despise. They still didn't shut-up even after I politely knocked on their door and asked them to be quiet. Oh well, another day on three hours of sleep. Now if only I could get a hot shower. We're off to Stratford to see more Shakespeare.

The Library and The Globe

This is Kevin. Friday was a pretty good day. We slept in a little bit, and that always feels good, but we were still one of the first tourists to arrive at the British Library. It is fairly close to our hotel and on the way there we found a Starbucks! The coffee at the hotel was nice, but I really needed that 20 oz. that only Starbucks can provide. Anyway, we both really enjoyed the library, it brought out the dorky teacher side in us as we looked over original notebooks from Da Vinci, a copy of Shakespeare's First Folio, a ton of info on Magna Carta, an original handwritten and illustrated copy of "Alice in Wonderland", and even some handwritten notes and lyrics by John Lennon and Paul McCartney of The Beatles. Very cool indeed. We bought a book called "Shakespeare Cats", which is utterly ridiculous. Seriously, words cannot do it justice. We were both laughing in the LIbrary gift shop. Also, the BL has some of the nicest and cleanest public restrooms, or water closets, we've seen. After awhile, you really start to appreciate stuff like that.

On the way to The GLobe, we had a stop at King's Cross Station, which meant we were at the same train station that Harry Potter uses to go to Hogwart's! In fact, Amber and I had our picture taken at the 9 3/4 station where Harry catches the train. Seriously, I know it sounds a little nuts, but it was kind of cool. I just wish I had brought some props or something, like the people holding copies of the book. Actually, that might have been a bit too much.

We went to the Globe Theatre, actually a recreation of the Globe Theatre built in 1997, that is on the Thames river. We stopped for some fruit, our hotel English breakfast usually doesn't include any, and enjoyed some bananas and a pear for Amber. The GLobe is very cool, once again dorky English teacher side coming out, and the play "Corialenius" (spelling may be off) was performed very nicely. Which is one way of saying the play itself wasn't all that great, but the acting was good. Hey, even Shakes can throw a clunker in there. The strange part was, I believe one of the characters in the play was "Geoffrey" was "The Fresh Prince of Bel Air". I wasn't the only one, since everytime he appeared on stage, a group of teenage girls sitting down the row from us would squeal "Geoffrey!". When we planned a trip to see a Shakes production in the original style and setting, I don't think we planned on seeing any stars of "The Fresh Prince". But hey, if you're British, then I guess you can do some theatre.

A visit through the Tate Modern gave us the chance to look at some Picasso's, Monet's, and Pollack's, but also featured some extremely STRANGE pieces of "art". Remind me to tell you about the "Double No", something I still cannot get out of my head.

DInner at an Italtian on The Cut near Waterloo station was nice and relatively inexpensive. Today we are heading out for a day trip to Stratford to see some more dorky Shakespeare stuff. What can I say, we are English dorks. Tonight, for us, will feature the US squaring off against Italy. Hopefully, they can pull out a win.

I won't even get started on our hotel. Still, no hot water, and last night some loud guests next door kept us up past one. We are exploring our options.

Anyway, I would say 95% of it is a good time, and although we could use some hot water, we are having fun. Talk to you all later.

You Can't Hide Bulldog Pride!!

Amber here, again.

Would you believe that across 6 hours, an entire ocean and a different country/continent that we teachers can never escape our students??? Today, after seeing much of Westminster Abbey and taking several reflective moments to ponder over the inhabitants of its lovely Poets Corner (have a Shakespearean sigh of contentment here), who did we run into??? DUNBAR Students!!! It's always nice to hear students politely shouting your name across the famed coronation area of England's most famous church!!! Anyway, we enjoyed visitng with my former student, Marci, and some other Dunbar students who were in the area for the annual Scotland Exchange Program. They were fretting because their chaperones had semi-dissappeared and they were yet to locate them. We looked around for our colleagues and my principal (yes, fancy running into your boss on vacation!), but didn't help them come up with anything. I'm thinking they found them though, since they never came back to beg us for help.

Aside from that, we had lovely time at Buckingham Palace (I saw the Quenn's head!) and looking at the swans, ducks and pelicans in St. James Park. I absolutely loved riding the London Eye--it provided breathtking views of Big Ben, Westinster, St. Paul's and some other very strange London buildings (I thought one looked like a Faberge egg!).

Despite having to pay to use the loo and getting some blisters from my oh-so-I-thought-comfortable $65 flip flops, all is well. The England game was great, though it took them forever to score and some English blogue asked me to squeeze him after I asked him to excuse me from running into him one my way to the loo!

Funny moments in London never end!

England Wins!

It's Kevin. We just returned from watching England beat Trinidad and Tobago 2-0. It was a blast watching it in a London Pub packed with England fans. It was standing room only, but we had a table, b/c we arrived about an hour before gametime. Apparently, it is quite fashionable to wear a flag as a cape or even around your waist. I will have to factor this in to my UK apparel.

We did a lot today, including actually spotting the Queen of England as she left Buckingham Palace in a motorcade. We toured Westminster Abbey, we saw the highlight of Chevy Chase's "European Vacation" (Look kids, Big Ben, Parliament!), and even rode the London Eye, which pretty darn cool.

The only problem is we have had about 8 hours of combined sleep over the past few days, so it is going to be an early night.

Amber here. The flight over was uneventful, but I did get to see Firewall and read Silas House's Clay's Quilt, which I loved. Kevin seemed to do just fine...no handholding necessary. We got in late last night and had trouble sleeping, since we were just too wound up and probably because we were trying to go to bed at 7 p.m. our time. I will say that the water is lukewarm at best and the hairdryer button won't stay on without me constantly pushing it, which makes this spoiled American a little annoyed, but I shouldn't complain. I'm in bloody London afterall! We're off to see the major sites today....Big Ben, Westminster, etc.

We Are Here!

Kevin here, we arrived last night and just finished up our English breakfast. Personally, I don't care for beans with breakfast, but it is the magical fruit so what are you gonna do? The flight was actually pretty smooth, I guess we were so high up the only turbulence we hit was descending. The movie selection was so-so, but I did watch "Casablanca", which was excellent.

Our hotel is "charming" and "cozy", which translates to a little older and a little small. I am not quite sure if British people are small or if I am some sort of American giant. I guess we'll see.

Anyway, big football game today and the question on everyone's mind in London, and I do mean EVERYONE, is whether Wayne Rooney will play for England today. If you have no idea what I am talking about, treat this as a learning opportunity and google his name.

Amber has a few things to say, I am going to guess it is about the hot water, or lack thereof, and maybe the hair dryer. But, who knows?

This is Kevin. We are waiting right now in Frankfort for my parents to drive us up to the Cincy Airport that is actually in KY. Never could figure that out. Amber had a very emotional goodbye with Snickers and Gus (the cats). I think I may have to search her luggage to be sure she isn't trying to sneak them on the plane. I don't feel any better about the upcoming plane flight, but I am holding out hope that we will see some cool movies. Personally, I am hoping for an uplifting sports movie that will help unite us. If, for some reason, they start showing episodes of "Lost" I will officially freak out on someone. Seriously.

This is Amber. We are preparing for our big trip--packing, getting all the tickets and hotel information together and making sure we don't leave important items behind (ex: my hair flat iron). I'm least looking forward to holding Kevin's hand the entire plane ride.

Hi, Kevin here. Amber and I leave for London Wednesday morning at about 6 AM. Of all the facets of our trip, the plane ride is what I am least looking forward to. I just don't like planes. I won't bother you with all the details, but most of the usual reasons/phobias apply. Anyway, I wanted to have the blog up and rolling so during our trip we can keep everyone up to date with what is going on, and I will have an open forum to complain about the plane ride.