Poitiers, France

Hi Friends & Family!

It’s been a few weeks since an update so we thought we’d let you all know what we have been up to….Poitiers, France!  

Dave’s aunt, uncle and 3 cousins, Reed, Lea, and Pablo live in Poitiers, France so we hopped on RyanAir and took a short 45 minute flight to visit them.  We flew into the town of Poitiers and it had the cutest airport we have seen yet!  One plane at a time and from our seats on the plane we could see all the people waiting at the fence near the runway for their loved ones on our flight. Poitiers is a city on the Clain River in west central France. The town centre along with its marché is picturesque and its streets are interesting for remains of historical architecture, especially from the Romanesque period.  Dave’s uncle Jean Claude works at The University of Poitiers, which I researched and it was established in 1431 and welcomed many famous thinkers and it is the second oldest university in France!  

Once we got to Poitiers Jean Claude gave us a tour of their house…which is amazing!!!  It is from the 12th century and built over a cave from Roman times. Apparently the cave system was used to sneak about the city, but their caves are now walled off near the property lines.

From the upstairs window, you have a view of the old town square. In the center is a miniature statue of liberty, but that statute now sits where years ago the guillotine stood. 

Since we didn't have to fear the guillotine and the weather was so nice, we wanted to find a terrace that was serving beer and soak up the sunshine. Dave’s aunt Gina was working so we waited until she got off work and for Lea and Pablo to get home from school.  Once Gina came home we opened some wine and had a fantastic dinner followed by some music and dancing!

Saturday morning we got up late thanks to cousin Reed’s blackout screen and headed down to the marché to get food for the day.  We decided on oysters, white asparagus, and of course some yummy French bread.  We had a snack of oysters

 and then headed on a walk to see the town and to the main park.  All the trees and flowers were in bloom and the sun was out ☺ We toured the city and the old churches, most dating back to the 12th and 13th century.

That night we went to Gina and Jean Claude neighbor, Olivier’s house for a drink…that turned into a few bottles of rare French wines and cognacs! Olivier’s wine cellar turned out to be a goldmine and he was such a fantastic host that we invited him to the wedding on the spot.

Sunday was a chill day of movies and relaxation.  We had amazing osso buco that Gina prepared for us and we sat around and enjoyed the time with them, as I had only met them on skype.

 I must also mention that Pablo is an amazing guitar player we were treated to several shows featuring some of his greatest hits. We felt very special and lucky to see his electric & unplugged performances.

On Monday the kids headed back to school and Gina and I went on a drive to 2 small villages. The first was Angles sur l’Anglin and then we headed to Chanvinge for lunch.  Each village was pretty small but beyond beautiful.  We walked both villages and saw the sites; it was very sweet of Gina to show me her favorite spots.

Sadly Dave had to work that day so we left him at the house.  Once we got back and packed up our belongings we had to head home.    We were very sad to leave but so happy we had the chance to spend so much time with Gina & Jean Claude and the clan and get to experience some good French living.  We highly recommend Poitiers and we fell in love with it!

We head home soon for our wedding, we cant believe the time is already here!  

Love to all of you!!! 

kelly and dave

Southern Spain & Portugal

Hi everyone......

A lot has been going on since our last email to all of you…to start the tickets for the summer 2012 Olympics have gone on sale and we are super excited to sign up for some events!  Hopefully we will be able to see some football, a few swimming events and maybe even some basketball games.  The tickets are not on a first come first serve basis so that will help out our chances J The town is getting ready for the games and for the royal wedding which is in about an month.  April 29^th is the official wedding of Kate and Price William and luckily Dave has it off…maybe we will go line the streets with the other Brits to watch the festivities! Crazy to think that the royal wedding is a national holiday.

We just got back from a wonderful surprise birthday trip Dave planned for me to Portugal; it was a total surprise and a great one!!  I still cannot believe it; he woke me up at 4:30 am and we headed to the airport.  I didn’t have a clue to where we were headed until we took off and they announced where the plane was to land J  

The weekend was more than amazing with sun on our faces and an unexpected road trip to Spain.  The language barrier was a little challenging but with Dave’s knowledge  of Spanish we were able to communicate when needed. Many people speak English there too, which helped.   We landed on Friday morning in Faro and rented a car. 

We then drove to our resort and it was beautiful!  We stayed at the Sheraton Luxury Resort at Pine Cliffs in Albufeira, the beach was lined with pine trees as the name suggests.  Thanks to Dave’s hotel status, we were upgraded to a suite with a view of the pool and of the Atlantic Ocean. 

The ocean was so blue with hues of aqua, greens and blues!  We got back in the car after we asked the locals where the best spots were and headed to the south western most tip of Portugal.  The drive was only about an hour or so and we were super excited to see some beautiful sites.

First we headed to the Fortaleza de Sagres, which was a sweeping fortress protecting the high cliffs and overlooking the Atlantic. 

The views were breathtaking. There were many fishermen casting their lines down the steep cliff faces, and to our amazement, actually catching fish this way. Dave, of course, was quite impressed by this.  

We got back to our hotel in the evening and the concierge made us dinner reservations at a restaurant right on the bluffs that exclusively served seafood.  

Once we sat down we were instructed to pick our fish that we were to eat right out of the case, which were all caught that day.  

The dinner was amazing and to my surprise the staff came out with a piece of chocolate cake with a candle - no singing so we were good J  After a bottle of wine and full stomachs we were exhausted and headed back to the resort for some much needed sleep.

Saturday morning came and we were set to take a road trip to Spain!  

We first headed to a small town to find an art gallery in a town called São Brás de Alportel, but to our surprise it was gone!  Luckily there was a great farmers market so we stopped in and did a bit of shopping. 

After a stretch of our legs and some good people watching we jumped back in the car and headed to Seville, but on our way we stopped at a border town in Spain called Ayamonte and had some lunch.  

We snacked on local meats, olives and of course sangria, so yummy! We really loved the vibe of this little town, and how all of the people dressed up and the kids played around in the square. The adults sat around the square in the cafes and ate tapas and had drinks. Of course we played our favorite game of “we should move here”. Once we were satisfied we continued our journey to a small town of Tarifa.  Once we got there we realized that the town had some sort of Halloween parade and the streets were closed and there were masses of children dressed in costumes.  

We were not able to find parking so we headed to a beautiful over-look of the Straight of Gibraltar where we had a straight shot of Morocco. It was only 20 miles away! We got there right at sunset and the views were out of this world!  It was a long day trip but we really enjoyed seeing the country and the time together in the car watching a whole other world pass by us.  

Once we finally made it back to Portugal and into our room we were wonderfully surprised with chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of champagne sent to us by the concierge for my birthday…we ordered some dinner and then enjoyed the delicious dessert!

Sunday we had a relaxing day of lounging on the beach and enjoying the town of Albufueria.  The town had many cute shops and fun places to eat with views of the beach and of the beach goers, most of whom were topless. We definitely think we’d go back there, and were surprised by just how much southern Portugal looks like California.  

much love from dave and i

Brighton Beach Memoirs

Hello again....

The past 2 weeks have been our time to fully adjust to our new flat and our surroundings.  We have taken a few walks around our neighborhood and there is a lot going on!


 Last weekend we walked to The Tate Modern museum, which was a short 10 minute walk.  The main exhibit was Orozco, which Dave really wanted to see and the other exhibits on the other floors included works from Picasso, Monet, Mondian, and Degas…I loved it!

We did see a few exhibits that were quite bizarre as one artist took lint from clothes dryers and hung it on wire and called it art – to each his own I guess.  We also took a trip out to the neighborhood of Camden which is about 6 or so tube stops away.  Once we got up to the street level the area was jammed packed with vendors and mass amounts of people, we didn’t expect to see so many people out on a Sunday, especially in the rain, but there were mobs of them!  We wandered through many of the vendors and had a great time.  We then ended up on a corner with a very cool mural so I made Dave stand in front of it while he so kindly let me take his photo…for all of you who know Dave well he hates his picture being taken.

Thanks to my wonderful friend Milla in SF I have made a new connection here in London.  Milla has a friend who lives here and she introduced me to her sweet friend Lisa.  I made my first friend in London!  We met for lunch and had a great time in Borough Market.  She was very insightful and had a lot of information that I didn’t even know I needed to know i.e. finding work by using a recruiter once I am back in June, helpful tips about grocery shopping, and most of all some quality girl time :)

This past weekend Dave and I took to a trip down to Brighton Beach, which is an hour south of London via train.  Dave’s brother Kenny’s band, Water Tower Bucket Boys were performing on Saturday night and we were super excited to see him and his band perform!  Once we got to Brighton we fell in love with the town, it had a laid back feel and we finally saw some sun:).  Our hotel was right on the beach and we had a room with a balcony and it was so nice to hear waves breaking on the shore. 

The sun was out and we were beside ourselves trying to soak up all we could.  We took a walk down to the beach and then up through the town lanes, which is basically shopping, then to the Hydrant, where Kenny was playing.

We got special treatment and were invited backstage where we got our own personal show as the band warmed up, it was awesome.  There are 4 members of the Water Tower Bucket Boys and each one has the ability to play each others instrument with such ease, it’s truly amazing to see them play.  Their band has an old bluegrass feel and includes a bango, mandolin, fiddle, bass, guitar, and a harmonica.  We had such a fun time and Kenny is truly a wonderful entertainer!  The band is here for a few more weeks and tonight they are in London in Islisngton so Dave and I are going to go see them again, we can’t wait!  On Sunday in Brighton we woke up to hear the waves crash and again the sun was out, so we took a stroll down to the pier where there were rides, games, and most importantly fresh doughnuts…which we had to eat…and let me tell you they were sinfully delicious!!!

 After a refreshing weekend we were sad to have to come back to London’s grey skies but happy to be home.  It was been a bit chilly here and we are hoping spring comes soon and stays!
I have attached a few pictures of our latest adventures…we miss you all and wish you all health and happiness!  Big hugs from London

xoxo
Kelly and Dave

Ireland & Northern Ireland

This week we traveled to Belfast, Northern Ireland, for Dave’s work and we traveled with his boss Mike, too.  He is one of the coolest bosses I’ve encountered (except for my previous bosses)

Belfast is part of the UK and has a lot to offer.  There is wonderful shopping and fun pubs!  During the day as Dave works I’ve gone out and seen the sites and shopped at all the fun stores here.  Victoria square has all types, from couture to tourist shops…whatever you what you can find here.  I finally was able to buy myself a hair dryer, which may seem like a small luxury but a great treat for me! 

Friday night came and since Dave and Mike had a long hard week it was time for some drinks.  We headed across the street to The Crown, which was established in 1964.

 It is one of the oldest and most bombed bars in Northern Ireland.  Yes, I said bombed.  We read all about the history of this bar and were lucky enough to drink in one of their “cubby holes” where we enjoyed some beer with some fellow Dave’s co-workers.  Inside the bar there are colors of yellow, red and gold on the ceiling, a floor laid in a myriad of mosaic tiles, brocaded walls with uniquely patterned tiles, wood carvings throughout, ornate mirrors, wooden columns with Corinthian capitals and feathered motifs in gold, its pretty impressive! Oh. I forgot to mention that we are staying in a hotel named the Europa, which too is the most bombed hotel in Belfast.

Saturday came and we decided to take a 2 hour train to Dublin in the first class cabin, I had no idea trains had first class seats.

Very comfy and a great way to travel, we were able to see all of the Irish country side from a warm cabin and the ride was super smooth!  I think my favorite part was to see all of the lambs and sheep, we even saw some running which was the cutest thing ever!  I am now trying to convince Dave we need a sheep or 2 when we return from the UK. He’s on board with it.

Once we arrived in Dublin we checked into the Westin, where we had the most beautiful hotel room!

The room had a living area that was separate from the bedroom and a huge bathroom.  This hotel room was much larger than our flat will be J Dublin was awesome, we started at the Guinness factory.

We took the self-guided tour and read all about the beer and how it is made, then headed up to the top floor where we had a complimentary Guinness and an aerial view of all Dublin.  It rained most of the day but that didn’t ruin our mood, as we were so happy full of yummy beer! 

The factory is made of steel but the middle of the building is shaped like a pint glass.  This was my very first Guinness and not my last!  Taste so good – like chocolate!  We were still thirsty so we made our way to the Jamison Whiskey distillery, which I think was a much better tour than Guinness. 

The tour was hosted by Jean who knew so much and was very informative, she had an adorable Irish accent. 

We learned a lot about Irish whiskey, and I knew not one thing before our tour.  Dave was one of 8 people who was lucky enough to do a taste testing of whiskey from the US to Scotland to Ireland.  Once he tasted and named Jamison his favorite he was awarded a certificate as an “official” Jamison taster.

Believe me he LOVED this.  I took his picture with his certificate in front of the Jamison logo which I have attached a picture.
 

On Sunday we slept in and had a leisurely Saturday morning.  We then headed to Temple Bar where we again had oysters, both bloody Mary oyster shooters and then ones with vinegar and shallots they were delicious!! 

We hung out there where we enjoyed some beverages and a local Irish blues due who played acoustic guitars and harmonicas…they were quite good! 

We are now actually on the train back to Belfast where Dave will work the remaining of the week and I will go out and see some more sites.  I do have to say that the people in Ireland are very nice and friendly.

We head back to London on Thursday and we both are very anxious to so do.  We cant so wait to move in to our apartment!  More adventures to follow, we promise to keep the updates coming! 

We miss you all!

Kelly and Dave