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Archive for the ‘Mom and Dad’s Visit’ Category

The Americans have Retreated.

November 29th, 2008 4 comments

I took ma and pa back to the airport this morning. Everything went without issue. Mom is quite worn out but she did survive the week, just. And dad did too!!

Yesterday I once again hired a car, just for the day this time. Mom wanted to see the prime meridian at Greenwich and Hampton Court Palace. So we took off early in the morning in our Vauxhall Astra heading for Greenwich Park. There we wandered around the Royal Observatory in the drizzle that would accompany us all day.

After our visit there we headed across the south of London through terrible Friday afternoon traffic. This is when I really wished I’d opted for an automatic transmission. Regardless I now have a stronger left leg. We arrived at Hampton Court with only a little time to actually go through. We did hit all the major areas however, minus the gardens. But it was raining and despite the current situation, would have been miserable to go through. The rooms within were beautifully decorated and were massive. It must have been quite extraordinary to live in there in the 1700s. There had been a fire in the King’s portion of the state rooms. It was repaired and refurbished and looks fantastic. 

We then departed Hampton Court with the Satnav set for Piccadilly Circus in the centre of London. I want mom and dad to see the lights there as well as the Christmas lights of Regent Street and Oxford Street. We looped up through there seeing everything and being one of the few cars on Oxford Street mixed amongst the busses. Quite intimidating! We stopped off at a few shops and got them some souvenirs, dropped them off back at the hotel, returned the car, and dined on some pub food before calling it an evening!

I’ll put of pictures of yesterday as well as pictures from their trips to Windsor, Stonehenge, and Paris. 

Status Update

In two week time I should be landing, or near landing at Philadelphia International. 

I have a little bit of a dilemma on my hands. After I return home, finish up covering my experience here and write about re-culturing myself the the way of the United States I don’t really know what to do with my blog. I will keep it up for quite a while. I hope to go back through and do a lot of proofing and minor tweaks to the posts, but once that is done I have no idea what else to write about. So for the next couple weeks I’d like to hear from everyone who has been viewing and ready for the past 3 months to leave some feedback on where and what you’d like to see from my site. I’d love to post about my last semester at school but it would all be the same; cold, it snowed, and class sucked. So I’m open for ideas!!

Off to Paris!

November 26th, 2008 2 comments

So far all is good! Mom and Dad had a good time Monday on their tour of London. Mom did excellent on her crutches. They got to see all of the major sites around the city including Camilla, Prince Charles’s wife pulling out of their gate. They even saw a lifting of Tower Bridge! Check out the pictures in the gallery to see what they saw!

Yesterday we made a substitute for Black Friday, only a little early. In the morning we went to Harrods. We got to see a good bit of it including the toys and Christmas world. Those are the most important parts in my opinion. We then headed up to the new Westfield Shopping Centre. This is now the largest mall in Europe and we have been there! We took a cab to these places just for simplicity and the people at Westfield were very nice to Mom.

In the evening, after some great pub food, we ventured up to the Winter Wonderland festival in Hyde Park. They have quite a celebration going on there. There is a German Christmas market set up with vendors selling nearly everything, an ice skating rink, food, rides, lights, and of course Father Christmas. I’m so glad that we made it there!

Today Mom and Dad left a 5:15am for their day trip to Paris. This is the same one that Jamie and I took when she was here. I have no doubt they will have a great time. I just hope it warms up for them a little. I’ll be posting pictures once they have returned. Tomorrow is their trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath. Again, the same one that Jamie and I took.

They have arrived, and departed

November 24th, 2008 2 comments

 

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Mom and Dad got in yesterday around lunch time after a rather rough flight over. There was lots of turbulence landing at Heathrow. We got back to the hotel with little fuss, got lunch and then headed up to my flat so they could see where I have been residing for the last three months. I gathered my stuff up and we trudged back down to the hotel had a little bit of a rest and took off for supper. All three of us were worn out after this so we called it a night rather early.

This morning we were up early to get breakfast and get Mom and Dad on their way. They have a tour of London today! They get to see all the famous sites around the city that I have already documented. But of course they need to see the sites up close! The finish up this evening at the London Eye where I will meet them so we can make our way back to the hotel. 

Tomorrow we are set to see Hampton Court Palace but we’ll see how today goes before that is finalized. I’ll make sure to post some pictures from their endeavors today!

The Americans are coming, The Americans are coming!

November 22nd, 2008 1 comment

Yes, Ma and Pa Devers are on their way to Philadelphia as I type. They’ll be boarding the plane later this evening and arriving at Heathrow in the morning. Stay tuned for updates! It’s going to be an early morning tomorrow.

We have a few things planned. Not sure what all we’ll get done but this is a possible preview: Hampton Court Palace, Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park, Greenwich, they will also be going to Stonehenge and Bath as well as the same trip Jamie and I took back in October. We’re also going to try and check out the new shopping centre in West London. It’s the largest in Europe. That’s scheduled for Friday, need to feed Mom’s craving for shopping on Black Friday!

Update on things, I have 20 days left in London. This time in three weeks I should be nearing Philadelphia International. How exciting!! Still lots of work to get done before that time is up. Wish me luck!