Our First Trip Home to Florida

Brian and I just got back from our first visit home since moving to the UK in April. It was so nice seeing our friends and family, but 9 days definitely wasn't enough time, especially since we were coordinating moving our dog here with us. This was the longest either of us had ever been away from Orlando and our families and friends so it was nice to go back for this visit.

Some of our favorite things we did at home that we have missed so much were:

• Going to Aquatica with our friends - It was so nice to lay on the "beach" there and enjoy the sun and water (especially the Raging Rapids Lazy River!)


• Eating sushi - We had a great dinner with our friends at Seito Sushi. I hadn't had really good sushi in 4 months so I was very happy that night!


• Eating more sushi =) - We met up with friends from Brian's work for another night of sushi at Amura. Gosh, what I wouldn't give for another Spicy Bubba Roll... =)


• Gator football. (Ok, this one is more Brian's than mine...) =) Brian had the chance to go to 2 football games with Chris, Sneha, and Kim. He'll get to go to 2 more when we are home again later this season. I think it's amazing that my husband who lives so far away from Gainesville now is still able to get 4 games in this season... Oh, and the games he doesn't go to personally, we are watching here on our Slingbox or traveling to London to watch them with the Gator Club there. Anyone who knows Brian wouldn't expect anything less though.

• Convenience. EVERYTHING is open so late. After dinner, we still had time to run errands around town.


• Space. Our home in the States now seems so big to us! There were times where I couldn't find Brian in the house easily; here we trip over each other all the time. And especially now that we have our dog here, we are really missing our backyard!


• Familiary. It was just nice to be back with everything we know and love. We adapted right back into our lifestyle at home. By the second day, I was eating and talking on my cell phone while driving (two things which you are NOT allowed to do here!)

Thanks everyone for making our first trip home so special! We can't wait to come back and see everyone again soon! (And of course everyone is always welcome to come see us here... hint hint) =)

Moving Our Dog to the UK

After months of preparation (and with A LOT of help from our dear friend Chris who watched Lilo when we first moved here), we have FINALLY been able to move our dog Lilo to the UK with us! She seemed to do fine on the flight from what we can tell, although she has slept a lot since then! She is adjusting well to her new home, and we are adjusting to having her here again. It's definitely harder to have a dog when you don't have a backyard though!

Prior to beginning this process, we read a lot of articles about moving a dog to the UK. If you think it's hard to move a person here, just try a dog. We read that a lot of people don't even do it, but I couldn't imagine leaving Lilo behind. Here are some of the tips we learned:

• Throughout the process, DOUBLE and TRIPLE-CHECK every step to make sure you have everything you need. There are checklists, but you are coordinating with so many different people and each of them makes you feel like they've never done it before. Don't rely on anyone - make sure YOU know the information and get what you need.


• The first step to moving a dog to the UK is to have a microchip inserted that meets international standards. DOUBLE-CHECK your vet uses the correct kind. Our's didn't even though she said she did, so we either had to start the 6-month process over or rent our own microchip scanner to bring with us (which is what we did).


• After the microchip, your pet has to go through a blood rabies test (the bloodwork is sent to a testing facility at the University of Kansas) and if that is all clear, they can enter the country 6 months later. Note - another option is for your pet to go into quarantine in the UK during this time, but we didn't want to do that so we left Lilo behind with a friend until her waiting time was complete.


• Now comes the fun of paperwork. You have to get certain papers done within very specific timeframes based on when the dog will fly into the country. For example, your dog has to be evaluated by a vet within 14 days of flight and then you have to send the vet's certificate to the USDA for their stamp (oh yeah, and you have to overnight everything because you need this before you can fly).


• Within 10 days of flight, you need a general health certificate for the airline saying your pet is OK to travel.


• Within 48 hours of flight, your pet needs to go back to the vet for a tick/tapeworm treatment.


• Then of course you have to make sure you meet the airline requirements for transporting your pet, which in our case meant buying a new crate and accessories (including Live Animal stickers) for Lilo.

We had to drop Lilo off at the World Cargo center 4 hours before flight (all dogs have to travel cargo on the British Airways international flights). You have to put them in the crate and they won't get out until after the flight. I had a really hard time with this so Brian actually handled this part. When we got to the airport, we were able to see them loading her onto the plane so we knew she would be with us. Check out the video below:

So as you can see, moving a dog to the UK definitely wasn't easy, but for us, there wasn't any other choice. It can be done - you just have to be diligent, patient, and have a little attitude at times. ;) In the end, it's worth all the trouble...

Deutschland Along the Rhine

Brian and I just got back from a quick weekend in Bad Kreuznach and Rudesheim, Germany. This was a very special trip for me especially because Bad Kreuznach is where my mom was born and raised and where she and my dad met and got married. I visited my mom's family there many times growing up but haven't been back in more than 10 years. It was so interesting to see stores that I remember going to back then. Brian and I spent most of our first day just walking around and enjoying a non-touristy German town. We even stopped and had currywurst for lunch (a hot dog in a ketchup/BBQ sauce sprinkled with curry powder) - yum!

After Bad Kreuznach, we continued driving to Rudesheim, Germany, a place known for Riesling wine. No one told us about the car ferry though! We were driving along and all of a sudden, our GPS told us to "board ferry." We hadn't heard that before but soon figured it out and drove onto the boat that would cross the Rhine River from Bingen to Rudesheim.

Rudesheim was beautiful and definitely worth a trip if you are in that area of Germany. There are vineyards everywhere! A highlight of our trip was taking a cable car over the vineyards to the Niederwald Monument. After that, you take a short hike through a beautiful forest and make your way to a chair lift that takes you through the trees to Assmannhausen, a town further down the Rhine. You finish with a ferry back up the Rhine to Rudesheim. All three legs cost 11 Euros total per person - definitely a great price for an AMAZING experience!

When we arrived in Assmannhausen, we stumbled upon an annual street party for the town. We grabbed a table, ordered some Schnitzel and beer, and enjoyed listening to the German DJ spinning the latest German songs! At times, the area was so beautiful and surreal that we almost felt like we were in Epcot!

Our final stop on our way back to the airport was Bingen. We enjoyed the Winter Festival throughout town and then grabbed a Bratwurst and German potato salad for dinner before heading back home.

Here are some photos from our trip. And if you're interested, click on the video below to hear some of the musical highlights of our lunch in Germany. Auf Wiedersehen for now! =)

Grocery Shopping in the UK

So now that Brian and I are really living in the UK, we have finally gotten into a normal grocery shopping schedule. It's funny to see the differences between grocery shopping here and in the States, so we thought we'd share:

1. Reusable bags are definitely a MUST over here. In our local grocery store in Florida, some people were using them and we were really starting to, but over here, you actually feel guilty if you have to request plastic bags (some stores even charge you for them). As a result, we have our Publix green reusable bags that we now take with us every time we shop. Definitely much better for the environment!
2. No bag boys - you bag your own groceries. And let me tell you, I have a whole new respect for the baggers at Publix. It's crazy when all of the groceries are coming toward you and you're trying to keep up! Plus with the reusable bags, you have limited real estate that you can use. I also have new love for my wonderful husband who is actually an AMAZING grocery bagger - he keeps everything so organized and always fits things into the bags perfectly. He usually does that while I am paying. As a result, I now dread going by myself - it's too much pressure! =)
3. Wait your turn! The check-out person will NOT start scanning the next person's groceries until the previous person has paid, put away their wallet, bagged their groceries, put them in the cart, and is walking away. In the States, there were so many times when I had to make sure my stuff didn't get mixed up with someone else's because they were trying to get us through the line so quickly - not the case here from what I can tell (although I really do appreciate it because I'm a slow bagger...) =)
4. And of course, last but not least, the food is different of course... =) I've already mentioned how they have non-refrigerated milk, how the stores don't refrigerate their eggs, and how a decent sugary cereal is hard to find. But it's also just fun to go through the store and see the different types of food. We're eating lamb now and usually at least one Indian meal per week. Plus we usually try one new British recipe a week which has helped us learn new terms for food (like mangetout is a snap pea).

We've been here for a little while now, but grocery shopping is still an experience each time I go. I usually end up having to ask the store people a million questions, especially if I am trying a new recipe. Everyone is really nice though, and with time, I'm sure I'll get to know the store (and the food!) just as well as I did at home... =)

Traveling the Rings of Ireland

This past weekend, Brian and I took a quick flight over to Ireland to travel the famous Ring of Kerry and Ring of Beara. They are routes that take you around the beautiful countryside and coastline of Ireland, giving you tons of opportunities to see amazing "scenic vistas" as we like to call them. =)

Our first day started off rough -we had horrible weather that blocked many of the views on the Ring of Kerry that we were supposed to be seeing. It also made driving VERY difficult! Not only were we driving on the left side of windy roads up and down mountains, but we also lost almost all of our visibility as we climbed higher toward the clouds that were settling in. It wasn't quite the day we were hoping for, but we still ended up seeing some great sights.

The second morning started off similarily, and a couple of hours into the Ring of Beara, we decided to cut our losses and take a shortcut home. Amazingly, though, along that shortcut the sun came out and we finally saw what everyone loved so much about these routes. We had the best day driving around and seeing the country from the high mountains and down to the coasts. We also saw beautiful waterfalls that were so peaceful! One of our favorite parts along this drive too was seeing the random sheep alongside the roads. You would be going 80-100 km/h and all of a sudden, have to break to make sure you didn't accidentally hit one! Here's a video of us driving by them:

So all in all, despite a very rocky start, we ended up having a great time in Ireland. We've included some photos from our trip here.

A 'Miracle' on the Way to Ireland

Brian and I have officially arrived safely in Ireland, BUT we had a rough day today in the airport. It started when we stood in a very long queue to get our passports checked and check-in our bag at the London-Stanstead Airport (very common for flights over here so we need to get used to it)! Then we made it to the plane and chose our seats which happened to be next to a very nice nun. A crew member from the airline then came on board as everyone was finishing boarding to ask if anyone had dropped a Samsonite money wallet. I looked at my husband as he checked to make sure he was still carrying our's (which contained hundreds of Euros CASH), thinking that surely we hadn't lost it. Wouldn't you know, WE HAD!!! Brian had it hooked around his belt, and when he took off his belt for security, he didn't think about it. It must have gotten pretty far with us though because they knew it was someone on our flight - we had no identification whatsoever in the bag. All we could do to claim it was to say exactly how much money was in there. We were so relieved that they found it and got it back to us before our trip. The icing on the cake was when the nun next to us said, "It's a miracle!" =)

(As a side note to this story, Brian believes this was our good karma coming back to us. A few years ago when we were at Epcot, we found a $100 bill on the ground. We picked it up and turned it into a cast member. A lot of people told us we were crazy! Maybe this was our reward for not keeping the money back then...)

After the money fiasco, we were all flustered and Brian then forgot to put on his seat belt and had to be reminded by the flight attendant. Yeah, we were total rookies today... =)

After all of that, we arrived in the tiniest airport we have been to in Kerry, Ireland, where we had to wait FOREVER to get our rental car (OK, more like 30 minutes). We were officially the last ones in the airport. I may have thrown a little bit of a fit with the rental car guy, but in my defense, it had been quite a couple of hours and I was just ready to get in a car and get to our hotel. =) We have a silver Ford Focus again, just like we did when we first arrived in England. Now I just need to try not to hit anything like I did on our Scotland trip two weeks ago!

More to come on the rest of our trip later!

24 Hours? Seriously?

One of the biggest lifestyle adjustments Brian and I had to make when we first moved to the UK was understanding that stores close EARLY!!! We were so spoiled in Orlando where 9 p.m. was a standard closing time, and a lot of stores were even open later than that. I was that girl who would run up to Target at 9:30 p.m. on a random night to pick up something real quick or just to get out of the house. Definitely can't do that anymore...

In town, most of the little shops close by 5 p.m. Gone are the days where we can run errands at night together when Brian gets home - I do all of that stuff during the day. The restaurants are open later though, thank goodness! And on Sunday's, you have a very limited window to get your stuff done - most places are only open 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. I love being lazy on Sunday's, but usually there isn't time for that!

At first, we got so excited when we saw 2 stores advertising they were open "24 hours". However, I don't think they truly understand the concept of "24 hours" like we do. "24 hours" is being able to run into Wal-Mart at 3 a.m. any day when you desperately need something. Check out the pictures below and judge for yourself... =)