We just had our first visitors from home, Kristian and Joy! They made the big trek across the pond to have a couple of weekends in London with us and a jaunt to Venice. Afte
r a wonderful few days with them, we were very sad to see them go yesterday. Having them here made us feel like we were back home in Vancouver.
K&J arrived on Saturday, March 10th, our six month anniversary of being in London. It was a bright sunny day in London, and it stayed that way for the week. We picked them up at Heathrow and drove them through Northwest London to our flat in Ealing. They were jet-lagged but we were very impressed with their stamina. After some brief down time we took the tube into Central London. We walked through Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and daffodil filled St. James Park, and then past Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben and the Thames.
After an early dinner back in Ealing, we took K&J to the classic local pub behind our place, the Kings Arms. A lot of the pubs in London have been renovated and moderni
zed, and in doing so have lost of bit of their charm. The Kings Arms is true to form. We walked in at 7:30 and headed into the back. Just as we sat down, a man sitting on a stool at the bar passed out, fell backwards, hit is head on the table right beside us and then hit the ground with a thud. He lay there in a heap, a trickle of blood running out of his head, and the waitress returned to the room with a resounding “Oh, for f*** sake…” with a perturbed tone, like this was an everyday occurrence. Welcome to London K&J!
On Sunday, John and I had an Ultimate game and K&J did some exploring/shopping along Oxford Street. They met us at the field as the game ended and we had a beer with the team on a pub patio overlooking Clapham Common. We had a casual dinner at home that night and the evening was filled with great conversation. With good friends, it is always easy to pick things up where you left off.
On Monday, K&J headed to Venice for four days. They lucked out with great weather and they picked a good time because it wasn’t too crowded yet. They had a wonderful, relaxing time exploring the city and we are very inspired to go there after looking at their beautiful photos.
K&J left very early for Venice and arrived back late on Thursday night (exactly six months away from their wedding day!). They were so quiet on both departure and arrival that we woke up worrying that they didn’t leave in time or didn’t make it back.
On Friday, K&J visited family friends in Ascot while John and I worked. We met up for dinner at the Grange Pub on Ealing Common and then went to see the movie Hot Fuzz. It’s a British comedy starring the British equivalent of Will Farrell/Vince Vaughan/Wilson Bros. Needless to say, it had us laughing.
Saturday morning, John whipped up crepes for breakfast (he is becoming a pro at making them). After indulging in several different crepe toppings we drove to the local B&Q (the British Home Depot), so K&J could buy some wallpaper. They bought an awesome new house in Vancouver last year and have a few walls left to uplift. Joy, the decorating pro, wanted to take advantage of the UK’s extensive wallpaper selection and the cheaper prices, compared to Canada. It brought back fond home reno memories for John and I and it felt weird going there and not having to buy anything.
In the afternoon, Joy and I went shopping. First we cruised the Marylebone High Street and browsed The Conran Shop, Cath Kidston and a few expensive clothing stores. Then we went to Kensington High Street to some more affordable shops: Accessorize, Monsoon, Zara… We both had success at Zara. Meanwhile, the boys went to Lilywhites at Piccadilly Circus to buy sport wear and then to a pub to watch football and rugby. We all met back up for a beer at the Price of Wales pub on Kensington Church Street which is where John and I had our first dinner in London.
K&J treated us to a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant in Ealing and more great conversation. We headed back to the flat and enjoyed some Venetian prosecco before hitting the sack.
We had so much fun hanging out with K&J and we are so grateful that they made the trip. As described above, we did a lot of eating, drinking and visiting – just what we wanted. It gave us an excuse to try more local restaurants and explore more of London. We look forward to our next visitors so we can go back to the good spots and find new places.
We were all up early on Sunday. K&J were packing up their new clothes and three rolls of stylish wallpaper, for their midday departure. John and I were getting ready for a full day of Ultimate. We left them with a set of keys to deliver to our next visitor, Mike, in Vancouver. He arrives on Thursday, so we won’t be homesick for long.
Thanks Sawks ‘n Joy for coming to visit! We look forward to more good times together. The six month wedding countdown is on…
Note: Sawks & Joy photos have been added to our London set in Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/weatherills/sets/).
r a wonderful few days with them, we were very sad to see them go yesterday. Having them here made us feel like we were back home in Vancouver.K&J arrived on Saturday, March 10th, our six month anniversary of being in London. It was a bright sunny day in London, and it stayed that way for the week. We picked them up at Heathrow and drove them through Northwest London to our flat in Ealing. They were jet-lagged but we were very impressed with their stamina. After some brief down time we took the tube into Central London. We walked through Oxford Circus, Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square, and daffodil filled St. James Park, and then past Westminster Abbey, Parliament, Big Ben and the Thames.
After an early dinner back in Ealing, we took K&J to the classic local pub behind our place, the Kings Arms. A lot of the pubs in London have been renovated and moderni
zed, and in doing so have lost of bit of their charm. The Kings Arms is true to form. We walked in at 7:30 and headed into the back. Just as we sat down, a man sitting on a stool at the bar passed out, fell backwards, hit is head on the table right beside us and then hit the ground with a thud. He lay there in a heap, a trickle of blood running out of his head, and the waitress returned to the room with a resounding “Oh, for f*** sake…” with a perturbed tone, like this was an everyday occurrence. Welcome to London K&J!On Sunday, John and I had an Ultimate game and K&J did some exploring/shopping along Oxford Street. They met us at the field as the game ended and we had a beer with the team on a pub patio overlooking Clapham Common. We had a casual dinner at home that night and the evening was filled with great conversation. With good friends, it is always easy to pick things up where you left off.
On Monday, K&J headed to Venice for four days. They lucked out with great weather and they picked a good time because it wasn’t too crowded yet. They had a wonderful, relaxing time exploring the city and we are very inspired to go there after looking at their beautiful photos.
K&J left very early for Venice and arrived back late on Thursday night (exactly six months away from their wedding day!). They were so quiet on both departure and arrival that we woke up worrying that they didn’t leave in time or didn’t make it back.
On Friday, K&J visited family friends in Ascot while John and I worked. We met up for dinner at the Grange Pub on Ealing Common and then went to see the movie Hot Fuzz. It’s a British comedy starring the British equivalent of Will Farrell/Vince Vaughan/Wilson Bros. Needless to say, it had us laughing.
Saturday morning, John whipped up crepes for breakfast (he is becoming a pro at making them). After indulging in several different crepe toppings we drove to the local B&Q (the British Home Depot), so K&J could buy some wallpaper. They bought an awesome new house in Vancouver last year and have a few walls left to uplift. Joy, the decorating pro, wanted to take advantage of the UK’s extensive wallpaper selection and the cheaper prices, compared to Canada. It brought back fond home reno memories for John and I and it felt weird going there and not having to buy anything.
In the afternoon, Joy and I went shopping. First we cruised the Marylebone High Street and browsed The Conran Shop, Cath Kidston and a few expensive clothing stores. Then we went to Kensington High Street to some more affordable shops: Accessorize, Monsoon, Zara… We both had success at Zara. Meanwhile, the boys went to Lilywhites at Piccadilly Circus to buy sport wear and then to a pub to watch football and rugby. We all met back up for a beer at the Price of Wales pub on Kensington Church Street which is where John and I had our first dinner in London.
K&J treated us to a delicious dinner at an Italian restaurant in Ealing and more great conversation. We headed back to the flat and enjoyed some Venetian prosecco before hitting the sack.
We had so much fun hanging out with K&J and we are so grateful that they made the trip. As described above, we did a lot of eating, drinking and visiting – just what we wanted. It gave us an excuse to try more local restaurants and explore more of London. We look forward to our next visitors so we can go back to the good spots and find new places.
We were all up early on Sunday. K&J were packing up their new clothes and three rolls of stylish wallpaper, for their midday departure. John and I were getting ready for a full day of Ultimate. We left them with a set of keys to deliver to our next visitor, Mike, in Vancouver. He arrives on Thursday, so we won’t be homesick for long.
Thanks Sawks ‘n Joy for coming to visit! We look forward to more good times together. The six month wedding countdown is on…
Note: Sawks & Joy photos have been added to our London set in Flickr (http://www.flickr.com/photos/weatherills/sets/).
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