London

It's been a week since I came back from London! I had a great time seeing my Rosie again!

I arrived on Wednesday morning after waking up early to catch my 9:45 flight. Since I was kinda tired, we decided to take Bus 15 through the city, since I had read something in a Dutch newspaper that said that was the best bus to take if you want a cheap ride through all the famous sites. That was when we rode through Picadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, past Big Ben and the Tower of London, and the Gherkin Building. Then we met Rosie's flatmate Harrie at Rosie's favorite martini bar for yummy chocolate martinis (half-price happy hours every day!! and so swanky!) For dinner we went to Wagamama's for Japanese noodles, and then we went home!

Thursday we got to a late start, but after going into the city center for sushi, Rosie had a work meeting for a couple hours, so I sat in a cafe and read while I waited (I didn't want to risk getting lost!) Then we walked along the Thames before meeting my friends James and Eunjung for Korean food!! It was super yummy, and super great to see James and Eunjung again (we all lived in NYC before and were in the same Bible study)

Friday we went to Oxford University to visit Mark and Tom, and also see my cousin for the first time in 18 years! We quickly met up with Thomas, who showed us around his college, Christ Church, before meeting up with Eunji! Eunji has just married an Englishman who is studying linguistics at Oxford! We spent the afternoon together, and then met up with Mark after his classes. He showed us around his college, New College, and it was BEAUTIFUL, but it was too dark by then to take pictures. We went to the Evensong service at his college's chapel, and then met Eunji and her new husband Hugh for pizza! It was really great to see her again, and meet her husband!

Saturday we met my friend Heather from University for brunch, along with her new husband Ben, who she met when she was doing her graduate studies at Oxford. We ate at some restaurant in Notting Hill, and then afterward we walked along the market before heading back home. We had opera tickets for that evening, so we went home to change before going back out to see the Tower of London and Big Ben, and eat fish and chips

Then the disappointment . . . we had tickets to see Turandot, my favorite opera. Unfortunatly, they did some kind of "modern interpretation" and it was all wrong! ALL WRONG! But at least the music was still wonderful.

Sunday was my last day, so I packed up all my stuff before we went to Rosie's church service, and then I got back on a plane and headed back home.

I had a lovely time with Rosie! But it was also awfully good to be home again. I missed my hubby!