August 21 through 26, 2022
"The world is a book and those who do not travel read only one page." - Saint Augustine
We wrapped up our time in Stavanger with a lovely dinner out (I discovered I love Korean BBQ sticky wings!) and dessert at a cool little ice cream place called Moo Goo (I'd include our fun selfie but I really suck at selfies 😅). Trust me, the ice cream was delicious! We didn't really partake of much traditional Norwegian cuisine (neither of us eats much fish) but suffice it to say, we got a taste of the region 😊. We also really enjoyed the cooler weather even if overcast skies made it hard to capture the photos I was hoping for. I did get lucky with a fabulous sunset on our sailing expedition 🌞
Happily our flight to England went smoothly, even with a tight layover in Oslo, and we arrived in England by early evening. It took a bit of trekking through Heathrow and many train transfers to find our way to Willesdon Green (special thanks to our Airbnb host for her great directions). Lydia lives upstairs so she helped us get settled in right away. The location is in north-west London, about 20ish minutes from central London, and the neighborhood is a bit working-class (but not too dodgy), and it's right near a tube stop so that's very convenient. The house itself is spacious and about 100 years old so it comes with some (fun!) quirks. There's wifi, which works really well in the living room (and that room only 😬); maybe that's good for curbing my late night scrolling? The kitchen and bathroom are both modern so I can't complain (much) 😑
We gave ourselves some time to settle in, unpack, grocery shop, and do laundry (always important!). On the second day, we stopped by the bank to visit our account that we set up here 10 years ago. It was nice to see it was still there and accessible 😅 We requested new ATM cards but unfortunately they will be sent to Claremont, so it may be a while until we get those in hand (December maybe? when we see our girls? ah the challenges of not being able to get mail ...) We're also enjoying the ability to understand the local language, recognize more familiar foods, and best of all, enjoy some Cadbury chocolate 😋
I'm realizing how restless I get when I'm doing "not-much" while in a foreign country. Luckily I had a tour planned for the next day, so off I went to see the real-life castle from Downton Abbey. The full-day tour included 4 stops/villages from the show and movie, with Highclere Castle being the big final one. I'm happy to report it was so worth it! Except for not being allowed to take photos inside, the tour was super cool and brought back fond memories of working our way through the 8-year-long series (which we got hooked on while we were here for our last sabbatical).
We also got out to see some theater and explore other parts of London, both near the theater district and near our Airbnb. Since we did live here before, I feel a little like a local (at least until I get very lost 😟). Luckily there's almost always a tube stop nearby and I can find my way back from just about any tube stop in London. The theater show we saw was "To Kill a Mockingbird" and it was amazing! The acting was fantastic and the story-line was, sadly, as relevant as ever. Art also saw "101 Dalmatians" in Regent's Park and said he just loved the outdoor venue. We may go back there this weekend.
Lately I've been missing my girls 💝, and my Claremont friend lunch dates, (and also my hair gel 😏). Art and I have been working on our relationship communication and downtime balance; it's a process. Overall I'd say it's going pretty well 💗 And speaking of books (at least my opening quote did!), I've gotten back into reading and recently finished my 4th book since our trip started. I forgot how much I enjoy reading, especially when there's no time pressure involved (my recent recommendation is "The Nickel Boys" by Colson Whitehead). Art and I also finished up The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel series which we loved 😍 Looking forward to the next season!
Deena and Art
(I just *had* to revisit it...!)
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