Kathleen was here!

January was quite the busy month for me. My good friend, and former coworker, Kathleen was in London recently with her husband Sean. Sean had to travel for work and he surprised Kathleen at Christmas with a plane ticket to join him. Boy was I surprised and excited when she called me up and said “would you like to have lunch next week?” What?! She was going to be in London?! Of course, I had to see her. She and I we were office mates for a couple of years, before I changed jobs in Denver, and became great friends. She and Sean moved from Colorado to Michigan shortly before Matt and I moved to England.

I met her in London one day and we hopped on a train at Waterloo Station to go out to Hampton Court Palace and visit one of King Henry VIII’s palaces. It was a grand site and we enjoyed an official tour and stroll through some of the gardens. Afterward, we savored a Tudor-style lunch in the Privy Kitchen. We ended the day having pizza and ice cream in Harrod’s!

Our delicious lunch from the Privy Kitchen

Two days later Kathleen ventured out to my neck of the woods – about a 25 minute train ride east of the city – for dinner and a drive through the country. After a mix up at the train station that had us both waiting in different areas for 45 minutes, we finally met up and I drove her to one of my favorite Italian places. We enjoyed a lovely dinner and then went to my house. She had a brief time to say hello to Cheyenne and take a look around before we had to get her back to the train station for the last train into London that evening. While I would have been happy for her to stay overnight, I know she wanted to get back to the city.

Kathleen, it was so wonderful to see you! Thank you for including me in your plans during your first visit to London!

It took 12.5 years…

…but I finally visited my friend Sonja in Berlin! Sonja was an exchange student in my high school when I was a junior. We played on the volleyball team together and became fast friends. When she returned to Germany I vowed to stay in touch with her and one day visit. The two of us moved several times over the years and stayed in contact through letters and emails. I knew that I could not return to the States without visiting her and with only a couple of months to spare I finally made the journey to her hometown. She is quite the busy woman now as she is a doctor, but I appreciate the time she was able to spend with me during my visit.

These pictures were taken quite early in the morning - Sonja had to go to work and I had to head to the airport.

I was graciously invited to stay with her and her boyfriend at their new flat. The first evening we went out with some of her friends, but surprisingly I was too insecure to try my newly learned German language skills on them. What was more interesting is that Sonja’s boyfriend is from Spain, so throughout the weekend she went from Spanish to German to English quite effortlessly. Sonja and Rafa showed me around the city a bit and it was nice to see areas that Matt and I did not visit during our previous trip. It is always nice to experience the local’s way of life too. The visit may have only been a few short days but it meant the world to me to finally say that I made good on my promise. Now, if only I can get them out to Colorado in the next 12 years!

Sanssouci Palace gardens, Potsdam

Checkpoint Charlie, Berlin

Day Trip to Paris

My great friend, Angela, and I took the Eurostar to Paris for a day! This was my third trip to the city but Angela’s first. I was excited to able to share the experience with her. Cheyenne and I stayed over at her place Monday night and then on Tuesday she and I caught the train from Ebbsfleet around 6:00am. We arrived in Paris just over two hours later. Can you believe the weather high was 16 degrees Fahrenheit that day?! There was ice and snow on the ground, but it was all very beautiful. I can’t lie and say we were snug in our clothes b/c we were not quite prepared for that temperature, but we didn’t let that ruin our day. We did not intend to go into any of the museums or anything since we were only there for a ‘whistle-stop’ but we did make it around the city to see many of the sights. I do feel sorry for the American couple who was turned away at the Eiffel Tower b/c it was closed due to ice.

Sacré-Coeur Basilica

We first went up to Montmartre to see the Sacré-Coeur Basilica and a panoramic view of the city. Near the basilica was Tetre Square – full of street artists where we had our portraits drawn. Of course, we made our way along the Seine River past many of the historic sights to the Eiffel Tower, did some window shopping along the Champs-Élysées, and walked the grounds around the Louvre at night. We wined and dined in a couple of quaint restaurants to complete our Parisian experience. We ended our fabulous day around 9:00pm when we had to catch the train back to England.

Musée du Louvre

New Year’s Eve Masked Ball

We broke from tradition this year and rang in the New Year with friends at a private bash in Rochester, Kent. Angela and Alan invited us to their members club – The Roffen – for an evening of dancing, drinks, and dining. As most of you know, Matt and I usually go out to eat at a Japanese hibachi steakhouse and then spend the rest of the night at home watching all of the crazy festivities on television. It may not sound like your idea of a fun evening, but it is the perfect way to celebrate the ending of one year and the beginning of another.





We thought that since it was our last holiday in Europe we would go out with a bang. The evening included a dinner buffet, two floors of dancing, cooked breakfast, and masks were provided late in the evening before midnight.

Cheyenne was able to spend some time with her new friend, Jesse, while the parents were partying it up!



Thanks for a great evening, Angela and Alan!