...chronicle...

part one...i want to wake up in the city that never sleeps...

We arrived at Billie's apartment in the East Village around 9:00pm on Friday the 26th. The days travels went fairly well, though we had to get put on a different airline due to the fact that we were not notified that our original flight time had changed. I was about ready to freak, but it all worked out fine.
So...it was great being back in the city! That first night, after talking with Billie for a bit, Jer and I walked to Odessa...a great 24-hour Ukranian food joint/bar. We were super hungry...I got the matzoh ball soup and Jer the hot borscht, and we shared sweet potato pierogis and a potato pancake...mmm...
The next three days consisted of hanging out with Corrie Beth in Thompkin's Square Park, enjoying the company of the DiCarlos, brunch with lots of family including some cousins!, walking all throughout Central Park until finally arriving at the ice-skating rink to chat with Kuban for a bit, going up into the triple digits for a lovely night of snacking and drinking with Christine and Ron, chats and dinner with Billie, visiting with Bea, clothes shopping, and eating!!!
Tuesday we took a very l-o-n-g subway ride out to JFK and after much line standing, found ourselves on a flight to London...

part two...london calling...

We had never flown Virgin Atlantic before. Man...I couldn't sleep at all...too many movies and video games to choose from. It was a good flight, though I regretted not sleeping a little later. When we deplaned, Jer and I headed for the tube, and then got mixed up in finding our B&B. Luckily, we finally found someone who busted out a comprehensive map, and directed us to where we needed to go. I was thankful for finally being able to set down heavy bags.
We couldn't check in right away, so we left our bags and decided to grab a bite at a Vietnamese restaurant not too far down the street. Mmm...I got a bowl of tofu/vegetable Pho (I think it was Pho...maybe Bun) that came with a plate of thai basil, sliced up hot chiles, lime wedges and cilantro to add to my taste. That, in combination with some jasmine tea, made the shower and sleep that followed all the more sweet.
After a glorious rest, we spent the rest of the night in the room, enjoying British tv, and discovering the tasty sandwiches that one can purchase at Boots.
London was a blur of walking to Westminster Abbey, foot pain, expensive yet tasty food, bashing around Brixton, and the start of my love affair with Boots - the best drugstore chain in the universe.
Saturday, Joan and Rachel picked us up and we all enjoyed a great day walking the length of the Portabello Road market. Jer and Rachel had never been there before, and I was happy to have another go at it! After much walking, we wound our way back to the car, and began our journey to Swanage.

part three...there's corfe castle, i love corfe castle...

The English countryside is beautiful, and I fully enjoyed it from my shotgun seat in Joan's car. As we found ourselves getting closer to Swanage, I found myself loving all that my eyes were taking in more and more. We found out as we passed by Corfe Castle (ruins of a medieval - sp?- castle...very cool) that last summer, every time they would drive by there, Morgan would declare, "There's Corfe Castle! I lo-ve Corfe Castle!" It drove Rachel nuts, so we decided to keep up with the tradition.
The night we arrived, we got acquainted with Joan's house, and took a little walking tour of Swanage on our way to eat fish and chips...yes, I ate fish and chips...and it was good! They are about a five-minute walk from the beach, and can pretty much get anything they need by foot. The town is all stone, moss, moisture, salt air, and church bells. I love it!
Sunday, we headed to Monkey World (my new home), though Rachel did not join us, for she has been to Monkey World plenty, and had important business to attend to at the arcade...such as the dancing game. Anyway...Monkey World is a near-by place that takes in all kinds of monkeys who have been rescued from lives that monkeys should not have to lead...such as being photo props, being people's illegal pets, or living in laboratories. They are given fun indoor/outdoor living spaces, and we are allowed to try to catch glimpses of them playing with their friends, or eating their friends bugs off of their backs. We saw quite a few, and had a nice time. As we headed back to the car, the requisite five-minutes of rain for the day came down. Upon our return, Joan whipped up a super-tasty meal of vegetarian bangers, mashed potatoes, and cabbage, washed down with wine...so good. Jeremy and I were having a great time hanging out with Joan, but Rachel called and insisted we come to the arcade to meet her mates. We were game...ha ha.
The arcade is a strange mixture of adult gambling machines and various kinds of interactive video games...kid gambling machines! We met some of Rachel's friends, were ignored, played a basketball game, played the only pinball machine in the place, played air hockey, watched as they all shoved pounds into the dance game (though they are all really quite good at it...I, on the other hand, am not!), were giggled at for snogging, were hugged by Rachel, and were ignored more. After awhile, we decided to head back.
Jeremy started to come down with something, which he is still fighting a bit, so he did not join Joan, Missy (the puppy), and I on our big hike the next day. It was beautiful!!! I thoroughly enjoyed the sights, and the company. Joan made dinner when we returned, and came down with a bug herself soon after. People were dropping like flies! She was fairly knocked out for the rest of our stay, though not entirely.
Jeremy and I ventured on our own to Corfe Castle. You can get a steam train from Swanage to Corfe Castle village...about 20 minutes. We found a nice little tea room to grab a bite of lunch. While we waited for our order, a poor waiter dropped a tray of glasses, and a bunch of glass flew right onto us, and some other surrounding eaters! Yikes. We switched tables after picking the bits of glass from our coats, and were delivered some extremely tasty food. Jeremy just got some cheese scones with chive butter, and I ordered the vegetable soup with crusty bread...I think that was possibly one of my favorite meals of the whole trip!
Corfe Castle was great fun. It has amazing views from the top, and I just love hiking around ruins of things. We walked around the village some before getting the train back to Swanage. Joan still wasn't doing too hot, so Jer and I headed to a pub for some pints, and some food.
Wednesday, our last full day in town, we went to Dorchester, but unfortunately missed the market they have there. But, we did see some interesting Thomas Hardy related sights, and had fun spending more time with Joan. That night, all four of us went to an awesome pub in a semi-nearby town. Very cool.
So...Thursday we were driven to Poole, boarded a bus for the airport, got checked through quickly, got on the plane, had food constantly shoved at us, watched two movies, got off in Newark, hopped on the hotel shuttle and enjoyed lolling in our hotel room. Poor Jer was not feeling well at all. Fortunately there was a Chinese take-out menu left in our room, so we ordered soup and a spicy tofu dish, which seemed to perk Jer up.
Friday we began the journey back to Kansas City. The cats were very happy when we came through the front door.

...a few of my favorite things...

Wellies! - I was wearing Joan's, now I have my own...the view from Joan's guest room window - a full moon illuminating the swift clouds and rooftops - the colors were incredible...English candy bars - we brought many back...crisps - all those flavors...laughing with Rachel...Missy in the kitchen...that wonderful brown bread...walking around with Joan...pints of cider...British news...pulling the chain to flush the toilet...Boots ploughman sandwich!...spending time with friends and family in both New York and Swanage.

...one last thing...

Since being back, we have been discovering all the secrets of our yard. We were not here this time last year, so we did not know about the tiny purple and white flowers that are scattered throughout our front yard, how the surprise lillies that came up in the fall have very different looking plants in the spring, or that we have daffodils!