It's our last night. The last night on Walney Island in Barrow. Not sure if I shared a funny quote with you before: "Barrow isn't the end of the world, but you can see it from there". When that was said to us we laughed, thinking, ha! maybe it is? After 11 months of living on Walney Island and traveling Europe, I can say that I would come back in a heartbeat and hope friends and family can one day experience the things we have. There are definitely more places we'd love to see and things we'd still love to do, but all in all I wouldn't have changed a thing. Cheers Walney Island, cheers Barrow and cheers to all the wonderful places and people we've met along the way. Continue living our experiences with us as we flip to the next chapter in our lives on Hawks Nest

The English Expereince

I walk to work just about every day. I often end up walking amongst the same people and see the same cars drive past - it's a nice routine. Believe it or not, it rains a lot here, so Erin drives me into work and strangely enough, the same people and the same cars keep up their routine while I seem to be the lone black sheep, scared of a little rain. As we drive by, we wonder if those rain walkers don't have cars or spouses that love them or if they just plain don't notice it's raining. Towards the end of my work day Erin will send me an email with a weather update and lets me know if she should pick me up or if I'm okay to walk home. The best days are those that she meets me and makes the walk home with me : ) Today I got an email saying she would do just that. A few sprinkles had turned into a steady rain by the time we got within a mile of the house. As we walked, drenched from head to toe, we found ourselves amongst the rain walkers and the people driving wondering if we didn't have a car or didn't realize it was raining.

Remember, Remember the 5th of November....

Kevin told me to give my ''watching fireworks face''...obviously we were watching different firework shows

If any of you have seen V for Vendetta then the above phrase might sound familiar. (and if you haven't you should...it's a really good movie!)

Turns out part of the movie was truth. The 5th of November marks the downfall of the gunpowder plot, in which conspirators attempted to blow up the Houses of Parliment in 1605. Ever since the UK celebrates what they have called Guy Fawkes night or Bon Fire night to celebrate people light bon fires and set off fireworks.

It was a regular ole 4th of July around these parts...there were fireworks going off all night & there are firework shows scheduled all weekend. We stepped out into the rain to watch some of the celebrations - but this was the best picture we could grab. I swear there is a firework going off in the distance in the one picture.

Yucky

Another rainy day in Enlgand - boo.

T minus 30 days

till we're back - stateside :)

We're both totally ready. We desperately miss Dylan.

The countdown begins....

Au Revoir Paris

Paris ate us up & spit us out! This was one of quicker trips so in order to take full advantage of the time we had we made each day a full day of touring. And although there was metro & bus services we believe in soaking up more of the atmosphere by getting everywhere on foot. Needless to say almost 3 six hour days of nonstop walking makes the legs ache. We both feel a little broken.

Us & the Eiffel Tower

Original Mona Lisa painting

All in all we hit up every major site in Paris - our favorites were The Eiffel tower, the Notre Dame Cathedral & the Louvre Museum. The Eiffel Tower was pretty amazing & we were able to take the cheap route up by climbing the stairs to the second level. I can't imagine the kind of views you might get from the tippy top because the views from the 2nd level were incredible. The Notre Dame Cathedral was just so grand and being Sunday when we visited we were able to catch part of a service. And I'm not a huge fan of Museums but the Louvre definitely gave the British Museum in London some competition. It was HUGE! Not to mention we were able to see some original art work including the ever so famous Mona Lisa.

Anniversary Night

Aside from the major sites the atmosphere and culture were just as we imagined they might be in Paris. Tons of cafes with coffee & wine drinkers just watching the day go by. We had a mix bag of weather and it was definitely a lot cooler than we anticipated - but staying on the sunny side of the sidewalk, sipping coffee and holding hands helped. The language barrier was the most difficult thus far that we have encountered...but we managed to get there, get around & get home just fine :)

Despite a few unfortunate occurances on our actual anniversary night we had a terrific evening and weekend in Paris. Au Revoir Paris. Lots more pictures in our album (link to the right)

1st Anniversary!

October 18th

We'll be in Paris this weekend doing what we do best & celebrating us :) It's been a year of blissful marriage but really it's been a road of happy since the day we locked eyes in Silverado 8 years ago.

Cheers to us & love -the perfect combination.