Yeovil and Bath

We just got back from an awesome 5-day trip to the western side of England. We started off in Yeovil where Brian did some work stuff, and then we headed over to Bath for the weekend. Gosh, Bath was amazing! The town was in a valley of sorts so as you went up and down hills around town, you got some amazing views. We did a lot of shopping and then of course did the traditional touristy things, including:

• Bizarre Bath - a comedy walking tour through the town


• Thermae Bath Spa - a modern take on the ancient Roman baths - we got in our bathing suits to swim in a rooftop pool and experience the aromatic steam rooms


• Roman Baths - absolutely amazing to see how much of the ruins still remain!


• Tower Tour - we climbed to the top of the tower in the middle of town, including a fun stop along the way where we saw the bells and the back of the clock face

For anyone coming to England, we highly recommend visiting Bath! Check out our photos from the weekend.

Our Home in the UK

After much unpacking and many furniture deliveries, we are finally REALLY living in our house and settling in. We love the layout of our new home, especially the back patio overlooking the creek. There are a lot of ducks living back there that are fun to watch, including a mama duck with five ducklings! Here are some photos from around the house.


Some of the more interesting differences between our US home and our UK home are:

• We don't have closests in our UK home (typical for over here). As a result, we have a large wardrobe closet that we actually built inside our room. (It'll have to be taken apart before it can leave!)
• Our bathroom has the weird half-glass door as part of the shower rather than a full door or shower curtain. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but if you're not careful, you can get water EVERYWHERE!
• We don't have air conditioning, so we have our windows open every day. (And as a note, they also don't have screens on the windows so we often have flys that come in!)
• Finally, our house is now "vertical" rather than "horizontal" - we don't have much space on each floor, but we have a total of 3 different levels, including the top floor that we mentioned before for our guests. =)

We are officially ready for visitors, so let us know if you are planning to jump the pond. ;)

The Slingbox - Our Connection to American TV

I hadn't heard of this before we were planning our move overseas, so I figured a lot of other people hadn't heard of it either. I wanted to take an opportunity to tell you about the most wonderful invention: the Slingbox. Brian's friends from work were nice enough to get it for us. Basically, it is a box connected to a DVR in the States that we can tap into from our computer over here. Our wonderful friend Chris has it set up at his house for us (he can really mess with us if he wants to though because he can record shows and change the channels)! We can set our recordings, watch live TV from Florida, and do everything else you would normally do at home with your DVR.

British TV isn't nearly as bad as I thought it would be - we actually do have DVR over here too, which has been nice. (Once you've had DVR, it's very hard to go back to watching TV normally!) However, I can't imagine missing my shows from home, which is why I'm so thankful for the Slingbox. Even if England does have some of the same shows, most times they are at least a few weeks behind so you read stuff online before you have a chance to watch. But because of the Slingbox, I can watch So You Think You Can Dance, The Real Housewives, and the Food Network just like I would at home! It has been such a lifesaver, and I would recommend everyone living overseas to get one.

I do tend to skip through the commercials still though so let me know if any good shows are coming up over in the States that we need to make sure to record! =)

Cinque Terre, Italy

Brian and I just got back from a wonderful weekend in Cinque Terre, Italy, to celebrate our 4-year wedding anniversary. It's an area on the Italian Riviera made up of five little towns on the coast - we stayed in Vernazza (which actually turned out to be our favorite one luckily).

During our trip, we stayed in a little bed-and-breakfast called "Rooms by Martina." We were on the top floor with a balcony overlooking the coast - it was a great view, but it was 76 steps to get up there each time!!! The room was also the first I had ever stayed in that didn't have internet, phone, or TV. It actually ended up being a nice technology-break though. Here's a video of our view:

The weather wasn't perfect when we first arrived, but we ended up getting a lot time in the beautiful outdoors there (and hey, any weather has to be better than England, right?) ;) On our second day, we even did a 2-hour hike up a mountain - I'm not normally one for hiking, but Brian promised it would be worth it and it definitely was! I have never climbed so many steps in my life, but I also have never seen a coast from that view before.

We flew in and out of the Pisa airport so we actually made a stop by the Leaning Tower on our way home too. Here are some photos from our trip - hope you enjoy!

Furniture Deliveries and Repairs in the UK - "A Cup of Tea"

We've had a TON of deliveries and appointments lately as we have continued to set up our new house. Last week, we had a man come to check our gas lines. I had to move some dishes so he could check around our kitchen. He offered to help me dry them if I made him a cup of tea. I told him I was sorry but that I didn't have a kettle or any way to make tea yet since we weren't living in the house. Then a few days later, we had some furniture delivered. The men asked for cups of water, so I gave them some and they stood around for almost 15 minutes after they were done just chatting away! After a third similar incident, I began to wonder what was going on...

I asked someone over here who has been here for a while and was told that when people deliver items to your house or come to do repairs, it is customary to offer them a cup of tea and/or other refreshments. What?!? I am the type of person who wants the person to get in and get out as quickly as possible. I don't want to sit around and make small talk for a while! It's just such a different custom than what we do in the States.

I would like to note though that I am a quick learner and when the gentleman came yesterday to set up my phone/internet line, I did offer him refreshments. He was very nice and we got everything set up that we needed. I guess I can sit through a cup of tea every now and then... =)

Jacqueline Gets a "Ka"!!

My driving over here still needs some work (those confusing round-a-bouts still get me sometimes!), but it's good enough now that we felt confident getting a car for me. We bought a 2000 Ford Ka (we're not sure if it's prounced "K-A" or "Ka" like from New Jersey - we're going with "Ka" from NJ because it's more fun!) that I can use to get around town. You'll notice it's very small to make it easier for me to get through the tiny streets and into the tiny parking spots. Now I just have to hope that Lilo can fit into the backseat! =) For those who are wondering, I did get a manual - it'll be weird to shift with my left hand, but I'm hoping I'll get used to it soon! Here's a photo of me with the car:

We are picking it up Thursday after it has been detailed. Of course, this is assuming that I can get car insurance over here before then. I'm a little nervous because of my guardrail incident last year... Wish me luck!

First Home-Made Meal and Grocery Shopping in the UK

Although we aren't living in our new house just yet, we were able to cook in our kitchen last night for the first time. We haven't cooked in almost 6 weeks because of the move so it was definitely a big deal for us! We made a spaghetti bolognese with a small side salad and fresh garlic bread. Yum!

To prepare for our dinner, we made our first major grocery run here. In the States, we used to go shopping every week or couple of weeks and stock up. Here people go every couple of DAYS! I think it's because 1) our fridge and pantry space aren't that big and 2) they have great fresh markets here twice a week so people like to take advantage of those. In the grocery stores, you get nasty looks if you don't bring your own environment-friendly bags and you have to bag the groceries yourself. You can do a lot of grocery shopping online here too though and have everything delivered directly to your door free-of-charge.

Learning the different products and brand names is going to take some time. We didn't really think about the fact that you can't get what we're used to over here! Here are some of our interesting grocery store observations from the UK:

• The stores have a selection of "trolley sizes" - they even have charts that help you determine which size you might need depending on the shopping you're doing (we'll get a picture of this later to post).


• The ice cream selection is very limited. They have Ben & Jerry's, but it is very expensive!


• The eggs are not refrigerated.


• Milk comes in TINY little jugs to fit the TINY little fridges. They also have a big section of long-lasting liquid milk that is not even refrigerated (weird!).


• They have HUGE sections devoted to tea.


• At least where we were, we couldn't find sticks of butter - we had to get a big slab of it.


• They have so many different kinds of mayo, it's scary (I believe it is the favorite condiment of this country!).

We are making meal #2 tonight - we'll be having Indian food, of course! =)