One Last Visitor

Our first European visitor was Bartosz...but sadly he was the last in our home abroad.

Bartosz, one of my team members out in Poland, came to visit us for a weekend in London. Bartosz hadn’t been to London before, so it was a good opportunity for him to get out and see the city. And since Bartosz has one of the most brutal jobs on the project team in dealing with all the IT stuff in all the countries, I figured the least I could do is give him somewhere to sleep and introduce him to London.

Dining at Vapiano
In the London Underground

On the train back to Basildon

He arrived on Friday, but we spent the day in the lovely Basildon office. Compared to the Poland office, Basildon looks like it originated in the 1800s, so he wasn’t too impressed. On Saturday, we ventured into London for the day. We ended up splitting up and doing some sightseeing on our own before meeting back up for dinner. I think he got to see quite a bit of London while we were there; he didn’t mess around. While we were in Germany during the project, we ate several times at the Vapiano restaurant, so we decided to eat at the newly opened London restaurant. It is a pizza/pasta/salad type place where they cook in front of you with all fresh ingredients. It is really good and on the cheap side pricewise. I introduced Bartosz to Belgium beer, which is one of my favorites. Then on Saturday, we took him out to Chelmsford to meet up with some of our British friends for lunch at a Spanish tapas restaurant. He got to see some of the countryside of England on the way there. Then it was back to work on Monday. Unfortunately, he had to hitch a ride to the airport with some weird guy named Paul who leaves at 3:30 in the morning for a 6:30 flight when the airport is only 30 minutes away. Sorry Bartosz, that wasn’t my fault! We enjoyed having you and are looking forward to your visit to Colorado in the summer.

Matt

With the Buckleys at La Tasca

More Visitors!

Carol, Me, and Liz

January did not pass without another set of visitors. This time Matt and I hosted Liz and her sister Carol. (Liz is my sorority sister and was active in the Denver Alumnae Association before she and her family moved to Wisconsin.) They flew over for a long weekend and arrived in Basildon on a Friday evening. They wanted an authentic British pub experience and we gave them one! Our first choice for always taking guests happened to be reserved/booked for the whole evening, so we went to another good spot that was crazy busy. Saturday they went into London on their own and then we all went in together on Sunday. That is one of my favorite parts of going into London, the train ride. There really isn’t anything special about it, but since we don’t use public transportation often in Colorado it is just a different experience. I love seeing the city come into view!

Liz and Carol had a few things planned for themselves, including a special tour of Buckingham Palace, so Matt and I went to Greenwich to the Maritime Museum and Royal Observatory. We were supposed to meet up with them at Trafalgar Square but their tour ran over and they were quite late. It was freezing cold and started to snow so we took cover in the lobby of a restaurant near one of the underground entrances of Charing Cross. Amazingly, the girls came out right in front of us! The snow was coming down pretty heavy at that time so we decided not to trek out to another restaurant and settled for dinner where we were. On the train ride home we could tell that it was going to be quite a snowfall when it was all said and done. Luckily we made it home because some of the later trains were cancelled.

standing in two hemispheres at one time

Prime Meridian in Greenwich

National Maritime Museum

I woke early in the morning because I was anxious to check the weather for Liz and Carol as they were flying back home that day. The news was reporting about ‘Blizzard Britain’ and stated that parts of the underground were closed as were national rail lines. Well, so much for Liz and Carol taking the train and tube to the airport. They were up by this time preparing to head out with plenty of time to catch their flight. I broke the news to them about the weather and told them that Matt and I would take them to the airport. We really didn’t mind doing this and actually the motorways were quite good compared to other parts of the region. We got them there with hours to spare! The next big question was whether their flight got out, which it did and was one of the few.

First night of snowfall

They thought they left the snow behind in Chicago...

Matt throwing snowballs

Cheyenne loves the snow!

Apparently, this was the biggest snowstorm in 18 years! Businesses and transportation routes were closed down and people were urged to stay home and off the roads. Of course, there was great controversy over the preparedness of the city of London but give them some credit, they only deal with this once every 20 years or so and did their best given the situation!

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!

Mom & Dad Biviano

Mom and Dad, Covent Garden

Matt's parents made their first trip abroad to visit us in April. They were here for almost two weeks (April 22 - May 2), but I'll save you the day-by-day replay. We were really looking forward to their visit and showing them around England. It also helped that their visit meant that Matt would be home for two weeks straight!

Mom, Matt, Amber - Southend

Contrary to popular belief, I did not have their itinerary planned by the minute. They had a few things in mind they wanted to see and do but otherwise were happy to hear our suggestions. We divided up the days by going into London, traveling the countryside, and hanging out at home. Of course, we took them to our favorite pub for fish 'n chips, but we couldn't completely give up the comforts of American cooking and customed Outback Steakhouse and TGI Friday's. (Yes, they have those here.) We went to Southend-on-Sea for a stroll along the coast, to Canterbury to see the Cathedral, and to Portsmouth to visit the historic dockyard. We took the train into London on two days, but split up to do sightseeing. Matt and I had already seen most of the usual suspects, so left Matt's parents to explore the Tower of London and such. We all went to Changing the Guard at Buckingham Palace and stayed for the entire ceremony in the rain.

Amber, Matt, Dad in London

Dad's proof we went to church, in Canterbury

One especially nice thing about having his parents with us is that they wanted to take as many pictures during their visit as I did, so Matt could not escape the cameras! After 10 years together you think Matt would learn and adapt, but yet he still runs from a camera or scowls for most of the pictures. I am and will always be a picture taker...but sometimes I want to be in them too! Sadly, out of the hundreds of pictures we took between us we did not get even one with the four of us together.

We truly enjoyed their visit and it was so nice having them to ourselves for a bit. With a large family like the Bivianos' it is sometimes difficult to get quality time on a small, more personal level. Mom and Dad, we are so grateful for the time we got to spend with you. Thank you for making the trip across the pond to see us!

Mom and Dad, Portsmouth

Complete Album

http://picasaweb.google.com/amber.biviano/MomDadSVisit

April Visitors

Me, Kelsey, and Melissa

I was blessed to have two friends visit me this past week. Kelsey and Melissa were members of the Alpha Omicron Pi chapter I advised at the University of Northern Colorado. They have since graduated and are currently visiting Europe. Their first stop was to see me in England! They arrived on Tuesday and made their way from the London airport by underground and train. I picked them up at the train station on Tuesday afternoon. On Wednesday, they toured the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. On Thursday all of us enjoyed a trip into the city. First, I had free show tickets for the live taping of Loose Women, which is sort of the British version of The View, but much "saucier". Afterwards, we took a guided tour inside Westminster Abbey and then took photographs around the Palace of Westminster. That evening after returning to Basildon, we enjoyed a traditional british dinner at my favorite local pub & restaurant. (Kelsey had "bangers & mash" and Melissa and I had "fish & chips".) Friday they were on their own again, and toured St. Paul's Cathedral and Greenwich. Sadly, on Saturday they headed in to London for the last time - this time to stay over night to prepare for an early departure. This morning they were to head out to Paris on the Eurostar. I can't wait to hear about the rest of their travels and see all of the pictures!

Kelsey and Melissa in the College Garden on the Westminster Abbey grounds


Saying goodbye at the Billericay Train Station


The train arrives to take them away :-(

Thanksgiving in Paris!

Yes, that is right. I spent Thanksgiving in Paris with my Mom! My Mother visited us the week of Thanksgiving (and my birthday), which was her first trip overseas. I was so excited to share that milestone with her! Also, she has always wanted to go to Paris since taking french in high school. Unfortunately at the time her family could not afford to send her with the french class for study abroad. Matt bought us train tickets and offered his Hilton points for our stay (as my birthday gift). It was quite a short trip for us. We took the new Eurostar from London's St Pancras station about 8:30am Thanksgiving Day. Upon arriving in Paris we were told that the train workers were on strike and we wouldn't get very far on the subway. That turned out to be a good thing b/c we would have missed a lot of the city if we would have stayed underground. Despite having to walk several miles to the other side of the city to our hotel, we had a fabulous time taking in all there was to see. We didn't have time to go into any museums or other important buildings, but we did enjoy views of the Eiffel Tower, an evening boat cruise on the Seine River, and a casual dinner in a french restaurant. We were laughing all the way back to the hotel because of the price of our dinner. While most of the items were reasonably priced, my soda cost 8 euros (which is about $12 USD)! That was a shock. We stayed at the Paris Hilton Eiffel Tower. As you will see from our pictures, we had a fabulous view of the Eiffel Tower from our room! What a dream come true for my Mom and a lovely time for us to share. We had to leave the next morning, but will cherish our Mother/Daughter time together in the city.

Enjoy the rest of my photos at

http://picasaweb.google.com/amber.biviano/November2007!

Paris is definitely the City of Lights and the City of Romance. I hope to go back there with Matt to take advantage of all that the city has to offer. I would like to climb the Eiffel Tower for its incredible view, take a romantice boat cruise, and tour one or two of the museums. I would also like to take a day trip to Versailles to view the Palace. Matt isn't up for the museums, but would be happy hanging out at a cafe watching passers-by while I get a 'bit of culture'.

During my Mom's visit, we also took a bus tour of London, went shopping in a few of the local malls, and had a delicious Italian dinner at the coast for my birthday! I can't explain how happy I am that she was able to visit and make this trip of a lifetime!

Our little family, on my Birthday!

Kurt's Visit

In November Matt and I were blessed to have two guests visit us, in back-to-back weeks. Kurt, Matt's friend from grad school, arrived on Monday 12 November. We didn't really get to say goodbye to Kurt before we left Denver, so it was nice that he could come for a visit. He took it easy on the first day and then on the second day I joined him in London for a bit of sightseeing. I think he needed the day after that to recover from the jetlag, as he slept for most of the day. On Friday and Saturday of that week, all three of us went to London both days. One of the highlights of those days was a traditional English Tea in Fortnum & Masons (one of the first department stores, established in 1707). My how time flies when you are having fun. His visit came to an end that Sunday. We went to one airport to pick up my Mom that morning and then we dropped Kurt off at a hotel near another airport. He was going to get another day out in London before flying out the next day. Thanks for the good times, Kurt! See you when we return to Denver!

Our First Visitors!

*More pictures of these adventures can be found using the "WEB ALBUM" link on the left side of this page.*

Picture 1: Marie & Bob @ Southend-on-Sea

Picture 2: Shakespeare's Globe Theatre (Merchant of Venice performance)

Picture 3: Amber & Matt (Us) @ Stonehenge

Picture 4: Roman Bath in Bath, England

Picture 5: Amber & Quinn with Darth Vader

Okay, our guests have been gone for a week now so I shouldn't have any more excuses of why I haven't updated our blog lately. I was waiting until the end of their visit so that I could update everyone on all that we did. It was very exciting to have Matt's cousins (Marie, husband Bob, and son Quinn) be our first guests. We haven't seen them in a long time, but knew that they were very adventurous so we would have an exciting time. They are perfect guests in that they don't expect much from their hosts. They kept themselves busy each day heading into London, made their own meals, etc. What was exciting for us was hearing their daily stories and also being able to join them on a few excursions, not to mention tasting all of the new beer and cookies they brough home!

I could write a short book about all of the things we did while they were here, but I'll try to save you most of that. The highlights for me were a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre, the Star Wars Exhibition (how lucky we were that it was happening this year), and the trips out to Bath and Stonehenge. Most of you probably didn't know that I was a Star Wars fan, but I am very intrigued by the story of all the characters in the saga - not so much the light saber fights and flying vehicles. However, I'm not a big sci-fi fan in general just of SW. (Matt doesn't share the love, though.) Anyway, I could talk days about all of that. The Star Wars Exhibition is in town until September and the first-ever Star Wars Celebration Europe will be held in London in mid-July to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the release of Star Wars. Unfortunately that coincides with my high school reunion. Wish I could be in two places at once! The play we went to see in the Globe was Merchant of Venice, one of Shakespeare's comedies. It was great! One of the surprising things that coincided with their visit was a Monster Truck Show! Can you believe it? Granted, we are living in a small town (not central London) and it was held at a local farm, but still very interesting. Of course we had to go and check it out. It wasn't the best/biggest we've been to but entertaining enough to say we did it. Haha! Please check out our web albums for more pictures of from our visit. Stay tuned for my next update...