Home Sweet Home

We made it safely home from London late Wednesday night after a long travel day, to say the least! We calculated it with the time change, and we were awake for almost 26 hours. Ugh! But it was definitely worth it for the feeling of finally being HOME.

My parents and my sister picked us up from the airport, and they brought Maggie along, which was a surprise. I have been so worried about her remembering us when we got back, but my fears were slightly resolved because when she saw us and we called her name she started piddling on the floor!! Okay, I know this is probably gross to most of you, and yes, I realize we were THOSE people whose dog was peeing on the floor at the airport. She used to do that as a puppy when she got too excited, but hasn't done it since. I know it sounds kind of gross, but I couldn't have hoped for a better reaction. :)

We came home to a spotless house -- Josh had cleaned it top to bottom! And Angie made us this cute sign that was hanging up in our living room.

Also, my Mom had planted flowers in our flower boxes outside, and she got Maggie groomed the day before we got back.

Everything was picture perfect for our return, which was so sweet and thoughtful. Although, we kind of ruined the picture perfectness in less than five minutes with our 250 pounds of luggage exploding everywhere. :) It has taken almost two days, but we are finally almost finished unpacking and moving back into our house!

In our defense of why it has taken so long, we hit the ground running the very next morning after we got back. Jordan started two of his summer classes that day, one of which started at 6:30am and was three hours long!! He is such a trooper. I would have skipped for sure! Right when he got back from class, he woke me up and we went car shopping. We sold my Beetle a couple months before we left for London, so we were down to one car, the 4Runner. We knew what we wanted, and Jordan had researched a lot online before we came home, so the process was actually pretty quick.

So yesterday morning we drove home our new car, a 2004 Nissan Xterra!

Okay, so this picture isn't our exact car, but I haven't been able to take a picture yet and I found this one online of the same year and model. :) Ours is silver, just like this one. We love it! I have always wanted an Xterra, and we were pretty set on getting something with 4-wheel drive after the last couple winters we've had in Spokane.

Other than that, we are just trying to transition back into our lives here. It's funny because on the flight home, Jordan and I both suddenly felt like the last five months almost didn't seem real, like maybe it didn't happen. :) The jet lag hasn't been too bad yet, except for the fact that we have both been waking up around 6:30am every day so far. There is so much we want to get done and get caught up on, and so many people we want to see... it's a little overwhelming, but it's nice to know we don't have to do it all today!

I'm having mixed feelings about the blog at this point. I've had a few people tell me I should keep it going even now that we're back, but I've always just thought that blogs work a lot better for people who are living abroad or for people who have kids. Obviously we won't fit into either of those categories any time soon! :)

At any rate, thank you to everyone who has followed our adventures on the blog the last five months. We both appreciated your comments and support more than you know!

Saying Goodbye to London

It's hard to believe we are leaving London tomorrow morning and heading back to Spokane... and back to reality. :) 

I was reading through some of the old blog posts last night, and I was overwhelmed when I realized how many amazing things we have been able to do and see in our five months here. We really have been so blessed and fortunate to experience so many incredible things. And even though it took a lot of money, sacrifices, and support for us to be here, I know we'll never once look back and regret our decision to come. 

We thought it would be a fun way to reflect on our time in London by coming up with a list of the 10 Best Things and Worst Things About London, although I'll admit that it was much harder to come up with bad things than it was to come up with good things. :) Jordan helped me with these, so they are from both of our perspectives, and in no particular order. We'll start with the negative things first. And just so you know, the most obvious negative to London was not having our friends and family here! :)

10 Worsts of London

1. Rush Hour on the Tube - Jordan experienced this more often than I did, but it gets really old really fast! Just when you think there is absolutely no possible way another person can fit inside, ten more people force their way in... which makes for some awkward and uncomfortable situations.

2. Weather - The daily weather forecast in London is rainy, cloudy, sunny, windy... it is always changing and totally unpredictable! You definitely don't move to London for the weather!

3. Everything is so Expensive - We finally had to give up trying to look at £1 being $1.50 for our own mental health. Everyday things you wouldn't really think of, like maple syrup (a tiny bottle for £5) or going to the movies (each ticket was £11), really start to add up fast!

4. Size of our Flat - Two hundred square feet. Need I say more? This was especially interesting when adding visitors to the mix. :)

5. Tourists - After being here for a few months, you kind of become snobby about tourists because they are always the ones holding up lines, getting caught in the doors of the tubes, and stopping suddenly in the middle of crowded sidewalks to take pictures of everything. And not to mention, going out in the city on weekends became almost unbearable because of the crowds.

6. Doing Everything More Often - We think it's because of the small living space, but you end up doing everything way more often. For example, washing the dishes (usually twice a day), taking out the garbage (at least once a day), and going grocery shopping (usually 2-3 times per week!)

7. Not Having Our iPhones - Okay, this sounds lame, but hear us out! There were so many times in London when a GPS would have saved our lives, or having the internet would have made life a thousand times easier! 

8. Apartment Living - After having our own house, we're not huge fans of living in an apartment! The noise combined with losing our internet at the worst possible times was not fun. Although I didn't mind not having to do yard work. :)

9. Drinks are Different - Jordan noticed right away that soda in the UK is totally different, and not in a good way! We found out later that they use more sweeteners over here. I, on the other hand, was bummed because the selection at all the Starbucks over here was seriously lacking! :)

10. Service at Restaurants - Jordan calls it "service with a frown." We never realized how spoiled we are in America because in the UK service is not a high priority -- you see your waiter when you order your food and when you need your check, and never in between! Another weird thing is that restaurants here don't let you just order drinks or just order a dessert, they make you order a meal even if they entire restaurant is empty. 

And now for the good things about London! And we want to make perfectly clear that we are in no way trying to bash Spokane. Seriously! :)

10 Bests of London

1. Plays/Theater - We were able to see quite a few musicals while we were here, and we absolutely loved them! It is so fun to have the London Theater as an option for evening entertainment. And they make for great date nights! :)

2. London as a Hub - London proved to be the best departure point for traveling around Europe! We never would have been able to do each trip we did individually coming from the U.S. with such factors as cost, jet lag, etc. The flights and train costs over here are insanely cheap, and the time change is never more than 3 hours.

3. Watching Manchester United - Whether in a pub or at Old Trafford, the game and the fans of Man U were a spectacle to behold. They really are passionate about soccer over here, and it was easy (and surprisingly fun for me!) to get caught up in!

4. Parks - We have a theory that since very few people have their own personal back yard here, London compensates by making their parks huge and beautiful. We loved grabbing sandwiches and our books and heading to a park for the afternoon!

5. Walking - We have learned to love walking. :) We still laugh about the fact that in Spokane we have a Zip's restaurant two blocks away from our house that we always drove to. In London, we walk almost EVERYWHERE! Our definition of "a walkable distance" is anything under an hour... one way. :)

6. Markets - London has an amazing variety of markets that are all completely unique and show off its strikingly different areas, which we came to know as the "real London." The markets really make you realize how London has a little something for everyone.

7. Shopping - Neither of us are huge shoppers, but the shopping here is unmatched to anywhere we've ever been! If I had a limitless credit card, I could get in some serious trouble. :)

8. No One Cares - This might sound strange, but in London it seems like the priorities of appearance are much different (and better) than in the U.S. You rarely see huge buff guys or fake-tanned women. People just seem more "real" here. Everyone dresses to how they think is cool, and no one cares or judges your fashion sense. 

9. Pubs - The pub scene in London is not like the bar scene in America. We really enjoyed the chill, homey atmosphere from the pubs here, and not to mention quality food for really cheap and a place to just go and hang out or watch a soccer game. 

10. Big City Life - In London there is always something to do or something going on. There are always people out and about no matter what time of day or night it is. It was a nice change to live in a city that always felt alive!

We have been packing and cleaning like crazy the last couple days, and we are definitely ready to come home. We both think it will be a mixture of being sad and excited tomorrow when we get on the airplane, which I think is a good thing. We will be sad to leave London, but at the same time we are so excited to be home and see our family and friends, and of course Maggie! :)

Check out all our luggage! Go ahead and get a good laugh while picturing us dragging all this 1/3 of a mile to the tube station...

Thank you for all your thoughts and prayers during our 5 months in London. We can't wait to see everyone! Our flight leaves London tomorrow morning at 11:05am (which is 3:05am Pacific Time), and we get into Spokane at 10:00pm. Needless to say, it's going to be a LONG day!! Please say a quick prayer that we have a safe flight.

Last, but not least, we want to say a special thank you to Josh Dietzel for living in our house and basically maintaining our lives while we were gone! Also, to my parents for taking care of our dog, Maggie! We really could not have done this trip without their help, and we are forever grateful. We are also thankful to everyone who took the time to come visit us while we were here -- each trip was so memorable and meant so much to us!

I will probably post once more when we get home to let everyone know that we made it safely. Other than that, CHEERIO FROM LONDON!

Florence and Pisa

We spent the second half of our week in Florence with a quick stop in Pisa. Florence is a great city, and we got to see a lot of cool things (and the food there was AMAZING), but after visiting Cinque Terre I think any city would seem slightly dull in comparison. It would be like the Backstreet Boys following the Beatles in a concert -- still okay, but you would really just be hoping the Beatles would come back out and play instead. :)

Probably the most recognizable sight in Florence is the huge Duomo Cathedral, which is absolutely stunning. The outside of it is completely unique and so detailed, it's difficult to even describe. It's hard to get a picture of the whole thing from close up because it is so big, but here are a couple attempts...

The next well-known thing we got to see was the original David statue by Michelangelo, which is located at the Accademia Museum in Florence. We were both blown away by how massive the David was! I pictured him being a normal human size, but I could not have been more wrong! Unfortunately we couldn't take pictures inside the museum, but there are "fake" David statues all over Florence, so here is one, just to give you an idea.

Florence is actually a much smaller city than I thought it was, and we were able to walk everywhere we went, so we did a lot of wandering. Here is Jord in front of the river that runs through the middle of the city. Leave it to my husband to wear a shirt with a UK flag on it in Italy. :)

In my opinion, the huge highlight in Florence was the food. We had some of the most AMAZING meals while we were there, and it was easy to see how enjoying good food is really a huge part of the Italian culture. I think maybe I was Italian in another life! :)

Also, Florence is known to have the best gelato in the world -- they call it an edible art form -- and it certainly did not disappoint! 

Another neat landmark in Florence is the Ponte Vecchio bridge. This bridge almost looks like an extension of the city since it has buildings and shops built right into it. It is so unique!

Although we've been in Europe for almost 5 months and traveled to quite a few places, I think we finally found the world's smallest car. :)

Our first night in Florence, we decided to hike up to the Piazzale Michelangelo before dinner, which is a hilltop square overlooking all of Florence. The view was beautiful, and it was neat to see how much the Duomo Cathedral stands out in the city's skyline.

We were trying to decide which "dome" was bigger, my head or the Duomo?! :) 

A constant joke between Jordan and I (and a few others) is how big both of our heads are. Yes, I have considered this minor detail in relation to having kids, which just adds one more reason why it scares me to death!!! :)

There was another replica of the David overlooking the square, and the whole city for that matter. It almost seems like the David is Florence's mascot or something. :)

We found someone to take our picture with the view of Florence in the background right before the sun set. 

Our final day in Florence, we were able to go inside the Duomo Cathedral, which was a really awesome experience. The best part was looking up in the huge dome, which is completely covered in biblical paintings.

To see all of our pictures from Florence, click here.

During our time in Florence, we were able to make a quick trip to the city of Pisa. I don't really know why, but I've always wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, and since we were so close it seemed silly not to go see it! So we took the quick train trip and walked through the town of Pisa, and got to see the Leaning Tower...

It was actually way cooler to see it in person than both Jordan and I thought it would be. They allow you to climb the Tower all the way to the top, but we opted out of that one -- the Tower is leaning 15 feet off its vertical axis, which just didn't do it for me... no thank you! :)

The Leaning Tower sits right next to a few beautiful religious buildings in Pisa -- they call the whole area the "Field of Miracles." 

I've seen a few of my friends' pictures who have been to Pisa, and I was dying to get a few of the classic "leaning on the Leaning Tower of Pisa" pics. :) It was actually pretty funny because there were dozens of people out in the field in front of the Tower doing this exact same pose! 

So here is Jordan leaning on the Tower...

And here I am leaning against, well, actually pushing over the Tower. :)

This is the beautiful Baptistery building across the field from the Leaning Tower. It was absolutely stunning. You might have noticed that all of the buildings in the Field of Miracles have a similar style and kind of match, which I loved. I think all cities should have matching buildings. :)

Jordan had to go check out the foundation and base of the Tower, of course. :) We actually started to feel bad for the guy who built this since he is famous for building a tower that doesn't stand up straight, which probably didn't do much for his professional reputation!

To see the rest of our pictures from Pisa, click here.

All in all, we had a wonderful vacation in Italy. We had amazing weather the entire time, and the food was absolutely to die for! We have been so impressed with Italy as a whole -- so many neat cities!

We got back to London late Friday afternoon, and have recently started the cleaning and packing process to go home. It has been a little strange to think about leaving our life here, but in the same token we are stoked to see everyone and be back in our real home. :) We fly into Spokane late Wednesday night.

I am going to try to post once more before we leave with a London pros and cons list, and maybe a few other highlights. We'll see... any suggestions?? :)

Cinque Terre... heaven on earth!

We started our mini vacation in Cinque Terre, which is quite possibly heaven on earth. I'm going to warn you ahead of time, I fell in love with Cinque Terre. True, unconditional love. This love led to way too many pictures, of which I had a hard time choosing between, as you can tell. So there is your forewarning, I repeat, a complete obsession with Cinque Terre and way too many pictures of it!

With that said...

I'll give you the quick Rick Steves' rundown of what the Cinque Terre actually is: "The Cinque Terre, a remote chunk of the Italian Riviera, is the traffic-free, lowbrow, under-appreciated alternative to the French Riviera. There's not a museum in sight. Just sun, sea, sand, wine, and pure, unadulterated Italy." Rick Steves just says it so much better than I do! :) Basically, there are 5 little towns all consisting of pastel-colored buildings, built into the cliffside. To get between the towns you can hike, take a train, or take a boat. 

We stayed in Vernazza, which is said to be the jewel of the Cinque Terre, and I would have to agree. :) Jordan booked us a great place to stay, right on the harbor. The hotel he booked was full, so they put us up in an amazing, spacious apartment. Here was the view from our balcony...

Not only was the setting of Cinque Terre incredible, but then you have delicious authentic Italian food to boot! :) We ate at a little outdoor cafe for lunch the first day, and ordered "two glasses of house white wine" which apparently means "a huge liter of house white wine" in Italian. :) We were dying laughing when our waiter brought it to the table.

We found out that pesto originated in the Cinque Terre, so we took full advantage of it! I have never had more fresh or authentic pesto in my whole life. We ordered pesto and tomato bruschetta for an appetizer... it was incredible!

We heard it was worth it to hike the trails between the towns, so we went for it. Little did we know that two of the hikes were 90 minutes long, and mostly uphill. The views were definitely breathtaking. Here is Jord overlooking Vernazza, where we stayed, on our first hike out of town.

The view of Vernazza from a little higher up. And yes, I assure you, this place is real. :)

I loved this shot of Jordan looking out at the ocean. These were the views we got on the hike, so I guess you could say it was worth it. :)

We hiked to the town farthest north the first day, called Monterosso. It is a beautiful little town with big sandy beaches.

I can't even tell you how happy we were to have the town in sight after 90 minutes of steep hiking! :)

Since 4 out of the 5 towns in Cinque Terre are on the water, they all have a small beach town feel to them. Notice how the boats are actually in parking spots on the road?! :)

We decided to splurge a little on our first dinner in Cinque Terre. We found this amazing little restaurant literally on the side of a cliff overlooking the ocean in Vernazza, which served Tuscan style seafood and pastas. We had THE MOST AMAZING appetizer -- specialty cheeses dipped in honey -- and we are officially addicted to it. :) 

Can you even believe this view??!!?! Yes, again, I promise this is real!

The next day we decided to hike to the other 3 towns south of Vernazza. Here is the other side of Vernazza, which, as you can see, forms a natural harbor.

I am not exaggerating when I say that the hiking trails were steep, narrow, and NOT easy! There were a few flat spots, and like I said, at the end of the day, we were both glad we hiked them. 

I have never been to Hawaii, but from some of the pictures I've seen of the remote areas there, I felt like these views had a striking resemblance. The water was SO blue...

We finally reached the first town south of Vernazza, called Corniglia, which is the only one of the 5 towns that is not right on the water. 

Oh, did I mention the weather was amazing?! It was between 75 and 80 degrees each day -- tank top and shorts weather... finally! :)

We made a point to stop in each town and wander a little bit (and sample the gelato...)

The next town we came to was Manarola. Besides Vernazza, this was my favorite! I simply could not get enough of the pastel buildings!!

We managed to find someone to take our picture in front of Manarola. I always get a little snobby about strangers taking our picture because I want it to be just right, but you kind of just have to deal with what you get. :)

Seriously?! The buildings? OBSESSED. I told Jordan I want to build a house like that someday. :) It might stand out just a tad in Spokane...

We wandered through Manarola, and it felt so authentically Italian. I could not get enough!

Finally we reached the last city, Riomaggiore. Again, the Italian charm mixed in with the beach town aura was absolutely perfect.

I found myself taking a lot of pictures of Riomaggiore. I think the way the buildings in this town are stacked one on top of the other all the way up the harbor makes it so unique.

Since Riomaggiore was the last city, we decided to take the boat taxi back to Vernazza, partly to skip the hike back but mostly because we thought it would be cool to see the cities from the water. :)

Here is a wider view of Riomaggiore, taken from the boat taxi...

Manarola, as seen from the ocean...

I love the way Corniglia looks nestled into the mountains from this view...

We made it back to Vernazza, and we were beat, so we spent the next few hours laying on the beach. :) Once we showered and got cleaned up, we decided to get some takeout -- pesto pizza and wine -- and eat dinner on the private terrace our hotel offered to its guests. We didn't really know what the terrace would be like, but how bad could it be, right?!

Absolutely AMAZING! We had the whole terrace and this view all to ourselves...

Once it started to get dark, we walked back to the harbor and this sunset greeted us. It was the perfect ending to one of my all-time favorite days...

So there you have it. My new favorite city, the Cinque Terre. If you haven't been there, go. If you have been there, go again. I don't know that I've ever felt so relaxed and content in my whole life as I did in Cinque Terre. Jordan and I loved our honeymoon, but we both agreed this would be an absolutely incredible honeymoon destination! It is relaxing, romantic, fun, beautiful, charming, sunny, remote... I could go on and on... and I didn't even mention the food. :)

I don't think Jordan and I said a word to each other the whole train ride out of Cinque Terre, we were both so sad to leave. But I know that someday we will go back, maybe for an anniversary trip or something. Yes, Jord, this is me dropping hints! :)

If you've made it this far in the post, I'm impressed! I seriously could not limit down my pictures, so there are two Cinque Terre photo albums. If you want to check them out, click on the links below:

Click here for Cinque Terre photo album 1

Click here for Cinque Terre photo album 2

More posts coming soon on the rest of our trip, Florence and Pisa... stay tuned! :)