Olympic Tickets pt 2

WooHoo...I just checked our bank account and see that they have deducted the funds for about a third of the tickets I applied for.  We still don't know which events we got tickets to, but I'm very happy that we at least got some.  We now have to wait about 3 weeks to find out which events we will be seeing, and a little over a year for the Olympics themselves. 

More info to come...

Return trip to Oxford

This past weekend, Darrel and I went out to Oxford to visit Michael.  He and his partner Greg are leaving Oxford in a couple of weeks, and we wanted to get out there once more before they left (especially seeing that Darrel wasn't able to go out there with me a couple of weeks ago).  It is a very easy train ride from us (it took just a little over an hour), and we were happy that we were able to get out there before they left.  Once we arrived, we went to the top of the bell tower of the Old Cathedral and I took the pictures below.



Darrel and Michael at the top of the tower



Me with the Radcliffe Camera (on left) and
All Souls College (on right) in the background

The Radcliffe Camera

All Souls College

View of Oxford High Street





Shakespeare's Globe Theatre



Shakespeare's Globe Theatre

Last week (I know, I've been really terrible at writing in this blog lately...I'm going to try and be better at writing, I promise), we were able to go see AS YOU LIKE IT at Shakespeare's Globe Theatre.  It was Darrel's first time seeing a Shakespeare play, and he and I both thoroughly enjoyed it.  The Globe was originally built in 1599, and it was a little overwhelming to think that plays were being performed there over 400 years ago.  Well, the Theatre that we were in is actually a reconstruction because the original theatre was destroyed by a fire...however, it was still quite brilliant :-)

 

Enjoying a glass of wine at The Globe

 

 

Picture taken from our seats, so you can get a good sense of what the space looks like.  And yes, the people standing are not covered by a roof....luckily, the rain had pretty much stopped by the time the performance started.  









ABBAphonic at Royal Albert Hall

 Our friend Erik is a first chair violinist for the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra.  Last night, he invited us to see them perform ABBAphonic at the Royal Albert Hall.  The performance was really good, and the hall was brilliant!  The picture below was taken from our seats.  The hall was built in 1871, and the best part about it is that it is a 5 minute walk from our flat.  We had a really fun evening.

Getting Settled

We were able to move into our flat last week.  We were given the keys on Thursday, and then our shipment from the States arrived this past Tues.  It was difficult to pack and determine what things from Chicago we would need without really knowing were we were going to end up living.  Unfortunately, we think we brought way too much and wish we were better at editing ourselves.  As it stands, we are having to get very creative on where to put everything, but it does feel nice to have some things from home. 

Our new and more longterm address is:

Flat 5, 1-3 Prince of Wales Terrace

London W8 5PG

UK

+44 02 (0)7937 9350 (our UK landline)

On top of moving into our new flat, we ended up traveling to Paris last weekend.  Darrel had business meetings there on Mon, so we thought we'd go in a day or two earlier and see the city.  It was my first time in Paris, and I really enjoyed it.  We didn't really do that much, other than walk all around (I made Darrel walk 8 1/4 miles) but it was really beautiful.  Here are some of the pictures that I took... 

Arch de Triumph

L'Hôtel National des Invalides (dome on left) and Effel Tower

Darrel in front of L'Hôtel National des Invalides

The Louvre

Effel Tower

The Big Day

Darrel and I were able to make our way down to St James Park and get a spot to watch the procession to and from Westminster Abbey.  We were right across the street from the Horse Guard Parade (see the picture of the map below), and it turned out to be a perfect spot.  During the actual wedding, the entire ceremony was broadcast over speakers throughout the park.  It was a very amazing time to be here in London for. 



The X with a circle around it is where we were standing for the Procession and pics below :-)



Catherine's Rolls Royce on the way to the Abbey



One of the Horse Guards patrolling St. James Park



The Procession begins to come through Horse Guard Parade

First glimpse of the Royal Carriage

William and Catherine

Route of the Procession

Today, I decided that I would try and walk around where the wedding festivities were going to be taking place on Friday.  Without really knowing it at the time (I found out when I looked it up on the internet when I got home), I ended up walking the exact route of the procession.  It will be starting at Buckingham Palace, going down The Mall, through Horse Guards Parade, down Whithall Street past the Houses of Parliament and Big Ben and finally ending at Westminster Abbey.  After the ceremony, the procession will reverse the exact same route.  Below are the pictures I took while on the walk.

Buckingham Palace

The Mall (road through St. James Park with Buckingham Palace on one end and Trafalgar Square on the other)



Bronze Statue of Queen Elizabeth (The Queen Mother) and King George VI on The Mall



The Horse Guard Parade...the Procession will go right through the middle arch

A better close-up of the arch that the procession will pass through (it's where all the people are at in right center of the picture)

Houses of Parliament and Big Ben

Westminster Abbey