The Welch Assembly Building by Richard Rogers

Pam, Lucy and I took a day trip to Cardiff, only about 40 minutes on the train from Neath where Paul and Pam live. We took the topless bus tour through the city, it was such a good tour. And Pam and Lucy didn't know much about Cardiff, so it was the perfect thing to do, we all had a fun time.

We got off down by the waterfront, where the city has done a bunch of regeneration, including the new Welch Assembly Building by Richard Rogers. It is amazing!!! We walked in the front doors (and through security) and the smell was amazing...like a cedar chest. They got all the wood lining the interior from Canada and it smells so good.

Family Fun in Wales

This past weekend, I traveled to Wales for a long weekend to stay with some distant relatives that we have living in Neath, about 40 min west of Cardiff. I had a wonderful time, it was so fun being around a family again. I didn't realize that I had been missing family and kids so much. Paul is very distantly related to Grandma O'Neill. He and his wife, Pam, along with their kids, Lucy who is 15 and Dan who is 13, put me up in their guest room for 3 nights. It was such an amazing short vacation for me. I didn't have to plan anything, not where I was was going to sleep, what I was going to eat, where I was going, or how I was going to get there. It was like heaven!!! After nearly 5 months of doing that every single day, it was so nice to have a break from all of that.

These pictures are of us on the first day that I arrived. It was an amazing spot, called Worm's Head at Rhossili Beach - we saw hang gliders fly off the cliff right behind us as we sat and had a cup 'o tea. It was so great.

England World Cup 2006

World Cup fever is nuts here!!! I love it!!! When England played at 5.30 pm last week we all got off of work at 4.30 for the rest of the day, it was great! Along with a few co-workers of mine and my flatmate Ema, we went to a bar near work that has an outdoor bar and huge outdoor tv screen. I just can't believe how many people go to the pub to watch the games, they are so packed - wall to wall people. And they are all pissed (drunk) and 90% men. I will be very interested to see what happens at the next game on Satruday, as England has made it through to the quarter finals. Just watched the France v Spain game - it was very exciting!!! France made it through with our main man, Thiery Henry. He plays for Arsenal in the English Premier League who play up the road from where I live.

Bye Marjie!

After a crazy night out, we went to my favorite park and hung out in the sun. This is Marjie taking full advantage of the sun at Primrose Hill Park.

We had some crazy adventures along with some really fun times here in London together. She was my travel buddy and now she has traveled back to Toronto. I will really miss her!!! I am excited that she is going back to her friends and family, she really missed them a lot, but I am sad at the same time. London won't be the same without her.

On a lighter note, now I have a friend in Toronto to visit! I have always wanted to go to Toronto, so now I can and will have someone to show me around. We were talking about me coming to visit on my way back to Seattle from DC. It is on the way, sort of. So i might look into that. It would be so fun!

World Cup 2006 Fever

For all of those who aren't familiar, this is David Beckham, the capitan of the England Football team. And the World Cup action is in full swing. We got off of work an hour early today so that we could watch the match. Almost everyone in the office took off to go to the local pub to watch the match. I talked my work mates into going to an outdoor bar where they have a giant screen tv to watch the game. And the best part of it was that England WON!!!!

Decision time again

I had a meeting with my boss the other day about my work here over the past 3 months. She seemed to be very happy with my input on the project and my general presence in the office. We discussed my visa options at length and she is still interesed in having me stay beyond August when my current visa runs out. But here is where the tough stuff comes in. In order to get a new visa and work permit, i have to come home to the states - which of course means no working for about a month while all the paper work gets figured out and such. And then getting a ticket to come back, all the while paying rent in a house where I am not living.

And on top of all of that, I still am undecided if I want to stay here - so that definately complicates things. So many decisions! And I am so sick of making them on my own!

If I want to stay, i need to leave before August 8th or risk becoming illegal. But Sara is coming to visit at the end of July though August, so I might miss her completely. If I want to do any traveling, I need to do it now and of course don't have the money. It is all so complicated - why does everything have to be so complicated!!!

Summer in London

It came and went so fast! For 8 days straight, the temperatures here were in the lower 80's and even though the temps stayed pretty much the same, every day seemed to get hotter and hotter. I thought it would be exactly like Seattle summers, but it was much muggier. But that could have to do with the fact that the city is so dense and the air doesn't move much. And it is so flat, there is no where for the air to come from or go to. Anyway, it got really hot. And no one has any air conditioning, including my office. We just had to roast for a few days, with the windows open and lots of fans moving the stale air.

And then yesterday it all vanished. Back to grey skies and rain. The 10 day outlook says upper 60's and rain. There is this great commercial for a drug store called Boots. It shows this woman latering up her kids with tons of sun block and they are standing in the doorway looking outside. Then all of the sudden there is a break in the clouds and everyone goes nuts and runs outside into the sun. And then 5 mintues later, the sun goes back behind the clouds and it is over - the summer that is. I am beginning to think that isn't too far off!

The Gossip - My new favorite band!

I went to see my new favorite band last night in a tiny club in London. I was searching through the weekly newspaper Time Out and came across this band that sounded interesting, so I surfed over to ITunes and checked out their new album. The review in Time Out was raving about how great they are live, so i hoped for the best and went and saw them. AMAZING!!! The are originally from Arkansas, and have recently moved to Olympia! I am sure I am behind the time with this band, but being halfway around the world will do that to you I suppose. I will attach their website for you to take a listen to. And they are playing at the Capitol Theatre in Oly on August 2nd and at Bumbershoot that same day - definately check them out!

http://www.gossipyouth.com/

Weekend fun in Regent's Park

After being at the Beach on Saturday, Emma and I walked to Camden Town (in London) and down to Regent's Park where there was a sustainabilty fair going on. It was great! Lots of people and great information, not to mention free stuff! We got free re-usable grocery bags, and a bag to carry my shoes with me to work so I can walk home. The small things and get me excited these days!

The weather was perfect, sunny and beautiful, I even got burned on my sholder - yeah, finally some color so that I don't blend into the color of the grey cloudy skies!

So the photos - that is Emma as we were having our picnic lunch in Regent's park and the other one is a cool marianette puppet that was about 20' tall.

Whitstable, England

After a long and crappy week last week, my flatmate Emma and I decided that we needed to get out of the city for a day. She has a car, so we decided to drive to Kent, the county to the east of London. It is called the Garden of England and was a beautiful drive. It was about 2 hours away and was on the Ocean, or as Emma was calling it, the Sea. It was a beautiful day, sunny and lovely, so we had a drink at a pub on the rocky beach and walked all along the waterfront for the afternoon and had a great dinner in a seafood restaurant. We were going to stay over night, but decided we would head back to our own beds since we were so close.

These beach huts are right long the waterfront and people use them like little cabins, with a kitchen and some storage, and not much more. It really reminded me of St. John's Bay in South Africa, the same beach huts. It was great to get out of the city for the day, smell the ocean and feel the breeze.

Bye Maria!

Today Maria left for Ireland for 4 months or maybe 6 months. We went out for really yummy vegetarian food last night - it was quite a spectical! We ordered this bread that came in a roll, it was about 15 inches long and was crispy, it was wild. They put it right in front of me and I had to smash it to get it to an eatable size.

We went out for drinks after and had a good night of chatting with her Aussie friend Leith and Marjie and I. It was a good last night in London and i was glad to spend it with her after the fun times we have had here. Now I have a good excuse to go to Dublin! I will have someone to stay with! Good luck Maria!