Visiting One of the Queen's Homes - Sandringham

One of the things that Brian and I love most about living in England is how we can visit random castles and country homes on the weekends.  We had a good-weather weekend a little bit ago and decided to visit Sandringham House, one of the Queen's official residences.  And unlike other residences like Buckingham Palace, this is one that the Queen, not the State, officially owns.  It's also where the Royal Family gathers every Christmas and New Year. 

We had the most amazing time seeing the inside of the house and all of the history and decoration in there.  It's one of the newer places we have visited recently, being completed in the late 1800s.  (Our definition of "old" has completely changed since being in England - 1800s seems new now!)  What we enjoyed most though was walking around the grounds outside - there are actually 20,000 acres of land there!  Of course we didn't explore everything, but we did enjoy some time out in the sunshine, which is important since winter is almost here and sunshine days may be few and far between!

My Little Brother Got Married!

Brian and I made what will likely be our last trip home last month for a very special event - my brother's wedding!  Daniel and Cathy were married in Florida on August 14.  We were so glad we were able to get home and be there for the wedding.  It was definitely a whirlwind trip - we went home on the Saturday before the wedding and flew back to London the following Sunday night.  Definitely worth it though!

Our first Sunday in town, my family threw a tea party shower for Cathy, my new sister.  =)  Of course tea and scones are something I know very well now, so I felt like I was back in London.  



Me with the beautiful bride and my new sister  =)

The rest of the week, we hung out with friends and family and then got ready for the wedding festivities on Friday and Saturday.  Luckily they didn't do an outdoor wedding because it was definitely hot and humid in Florida!
 

The ceremony was held at Annunication Catholic Church, and the reception was at the Hilton in Altamonte Springs.  Everything was perfect, and we couldn't have been happier to officially welcome Cathy into our family!  Here are some of our favorite pictures from the weekend.  =)



Daniel and Cathy at the rehearsal dinner

 Bridesmaids at the rehearsal dinner





And they lived happily ever after...  =)

New Sites in London

When my cousin Katherine came into town, we of course wanted to take her into London.  Brian and I have been there a lot with friends and family and thought we had pretty much seen everything there was to do in the city.  However, we found a few new things this time.

First, Katherine and I were waiting for Brian to get into town and needed something to do.  Randomly we ended up in the British Library, which turned out to be a GREAT sightseeing adventure, especially for book-lovers like us!  The British Library is a beautiful building that is free to visitors.  There are also some great exhibits, where we were able to see an original copy of the Magna Carta, Jane Austen's writing desk, a prayer book owned by Henry VIII, and original copies of Alice in Wonderland.  We loved it!  Now this is a top attraction I would recommend to people visiting London, especially if you love literature.

At the British Library in front of the King's Book Collection

This time, we also did the Tower Bridge Exhibition where you are able to actually go up onto the Bridge.  It was fairly inexpensive, and it was really neat to learn how the Bridge was built and to see London from that perspective.

Learning how the Tower Bridge used to be raised and lowered

Tower Bridge Exhibition in London

Finally, Katherine and I randomly ended up in the Covent Garden area after we watched a play.  It's a great area of London with a good vibe where you can visit fun market stalls, get cheap food from street vendors, and just relax and take in the culture.

I thought I had London pretty figured out, but this trip especially showed me that there are still plenty of things to see in the city!  I can't wait for more visitors to come this Fall to see what other new stuff we can find!