day trip from london

Stonehenge.

About to climb the Tor.

Inside the ruin of St. Michael's Church at the top of the Tor.

 The Chalice Well.

Path through the Chalice Well gardens.

Read more here.

I've been a woman of few words lately, processing the events of last week and slowly rejoining society. More soon.

london: day one

The Tree Room at Waxy O'Connors, featuring a preserved peach tree.

I love London. LOVE it. Love, love London. Besides New York City, London is my favorite city in the world. My coworker and I got a last-minute package to London through Travelocity.com and paid $1,200 each for airfare AND five nights at the Hilton Park Place. Sooooo cheap. I had visited London three times before, but my coworker had never been there before.

Here we are, jet-lagged, trying to look deep and intense, and enjoying our first beers at Waxy O'Connors. Sorry for the blurry photo - I was holding the camera and trying to do the self-portrait thing. After a few beers, that's not so easy.

Here's what it looks like from the outside.


Our first beers in London - mine was a Caffrey's Irish ale, and hers was a Carlisle. 

Fish and chips with mushy peas. I love mushy peas! I must learn how to make them. The fish was served with malt vinegar and tartar sauce. It was heavenly. We were soooo hungry.

We left Waxy's in search of a pub recommended by our bartender: The Porterhouse in Covent Garden, and wandered into the Queen's Theatre to inquire about Les Miserables tickets. Aren't these just the greatest door handles? Ever?!

I love this photo - the blurred people walking, the wide angle lens distorting the building and making it appear to be tilting to the left, the general "off"-ness of the whole thing. I think it sums up the energy of the city that night.

This is another photo taken along our walk, near Chinatown.

Chinatown.

London phone booths, a pub, bicycles, and locals dressed in trendy clothes. What else do you need in life? 

The very cool Prince of Wales theatre, showing Mama Mia.

 

The Astrology Shop in Covent Garden, taken because it reminds me of Laura. 

Our final destination: the Porterhouse Pub, where I fell in love with the Porterhouse Red beer. And I mean FELL IN LOVE. It's the best red beer I've ever had. I would go back to London just to sit at the bar and have another pint. Someday I will.

tough few days

The Houses of Parliament, taken from the London Eye on Friday.

Sorry for my lack of posting. As soon as I landed back in Detroit on Monday, I learned that a good friend of mine had died unexpectedly. She was 38 years old and leaves a husband and two small children, and I'm having a hard time dealing and making sense of it all. I will post tomorrow after her funeral.

london, baby!

I am off to London for five days of nonstop fun and beer! See you all on the 28th!

the plane has landed

I'm back! I had so much fun. Still unpacking and downloading photos. Lots and lots of photos. Like zillions.

longing for england

We had our annual art show at work today. Last year I displayed mainly portraits of children, so this year I decided to go through my photos from England and Ireland and choose my favorites. And here they are:

1. View from the top of Blarney Castle; Cork Co., Ireland.
2. Ruins at Glastonbury Abbey; Somerset, England.
3. Leeds Castle; Kent, England.
4. One of the gardens at Hampton Court Palace; Surrey, England.
5. Highgate Cemetery; Highgate, London, England.
6. Rievaulx Abbey; North York Moors, North Yorkshire, England.
7. Hiking near Bath, England.
8. Hampton Court Palace; Surrey, England.

All those photos made me really miss England. If I was kicked out of the United States for some reason (a reason that would probably have a really great story involving beer, angry pomeranians, and Donna), that's where I would live - in a little cottage in the country. And I would raise sheep for wool. And I would knit stuff and sell it. Let's just say, that's my backup plan.

I love the history, the landscapes, the ocean, and the beer. Also, outside of New York, London is my favorite city. I want to marry an Englishman who lives in America, has family in England, and likes to make frequent visits back home, taking his lovely wife (me) with him. That's backup plan #2. Anyone know of any single Brits in the Detroit area? Let me know. You know where to find me.

I'm suddenly aching for another trip to England. Rosanne? You ready?

camera phone retrospect

So I just upgraded to a new phone, this cool LG Chocolate in Blue Ice. On my Verizon plan, I get a free phone very two years, and this is the one I chose. Before activating it, I downloaded all the photos off my old Motorola Razor.

I love camera phone photos. They capture a quick moment in time, nothing scripted or thought out. You usually don't set up a shot, or worry about making a great artistic photo - you just point and shoot and save it to your camera, so later you can go back and flip through all the nifty memories.

Here are my favorites from the past two years. Included are a trip to Chicago; an evening at Comerica Park; Vermont; business trips to Washington D.C. and Ft. Lauderdale; holidays; dogs; a Morrissey concert - plus other exciting shots of me making strange, delirious faces. Please enjoy.

sun island, near belize

View the whole set here:

mayan ruins in tulum

The ruins in Tulum, Mexico.

On the second day of our cruise, we visited the Mayan ruins of Tulum. You can read more about it here.

After our ship docked in Cozumel, we walked to a high-speed ferry, and learned that the air-conditioning wasn't working. If that wasn't bad enough, the 30 minute ride to the mainland was VERY rough, and the ferry got tossed around like crazy. The workers were handing out bags so people could throw up. Then they came around with paper towels to people could mop themselves. I didn't get seasick, but I felt so bad for the people who did.

After we got off the ferry, we walked 20 minutes in the searing heat to the bus. Then the bus took us 45 minutes down the freeway to Tulum. All in all, it was quite an adventure just to get to the ruins.

It was totally worth it!!!!!!

I wanted to linger more at the sites, but we were on a tour and had to keep up with the group.

And it was hot. And I mean HOT. I have never felt heat like that in my entire life. I am a warm person anyway, so sweat was dripping down my arms and legs. I was like a walking waterfall with a bright pink face.

Here's a plug for Neutrogena Sunblock SPF 85 - this stuff is amazing, especially for me, who burns like mad. If my Casper-like freckly skin can survive a whole day in the hot Mexican sunshine wearing this, then it'll work for anyone.

After the tour, we were free to roam around for a half hour. We walked up to the cliffs, and below us was the most beautiful beach. The water was bright blue and looked so cool and inviting that I wanted to dash in with all my clothes on. I think I would have, if there was time.

Then we did the entire route in reverse, and ended up back at Playa del Carmen, where we stopped at Senor Frogs to drink a few beers, look out across the blue water, and wait for our ferry back to Cozumel.

It was such a fun, hot, sunny, exhausting, exhilarating day!

You can see the whole batch of photos here:

key west

Our first day off the ship was spent in Key West. We only had about five hours to explore the town, so we had to hustle. Now, looking at these photos, I wish I would have bought more stuff! I did get myself a cool sparkly pink flamingo pendant on a silver chain and a shot glass.

The shops were completely touristy and fun, everything beachy, bright, and colorful. I would love to go back and experience the night life there - it's supposed to be crazy!

View the whole set of photos on my Flickr site!

i'm back!

Belize, on an island we visited.

I had SO much fun! We ate, we drank, we swam, we lounged, we were entertained . . . it was fabulous. My toes are sunburned and I feel relaxed and peaceful.

Oh, and did I mention I had FUN?!