Cap Christmas Dinner

Amy and I went to La Hacienda's last night for the CAP Christmas dinner. We both enjoyed the lively conversation and very good food. We also managed to get out of there with two bottles of wine. :-)

Surprise Party for Joe

Amy and I went to a great surprise 30th birthday party for our friend Joe. It was setup by his wife April and our friend Jennifer. The party was at the UH World Affairs lounge in the UC. It was a bit strange parking at my building on a Saturday evening and going to a party and not to work. They had lots of good food and a professional karaoke person. Lots of fun was had by all. Amy and I did Love Shack and Summer Nights together. Amy did Earl's Got to Die and I did We Are In Love solo. Joe was up there all the time!

Back Home!

Well Amy and I have returned home safe and sound. It is a bit hard to believe that our honeymoon is over but it was fantastic to say the least. I really want to thank the people that helped us make it happen. Thanks a ton Mom, Dad and Dave. Due to your help this was a trip to remember and we did not have to worry about a thing while on it. :-)

Day 15 - Back to Houston

Well getting up this morning it seemed a bit unreal that the trip was over. We have been on the road for two weeks but I am ready for two more. Our plane flight out was not till 1:30pm so we had time to walk around a bit and have breakfast in the morning. We revisited Covent Garden and Trafalgar Square before going to check out and take our last tube ride and last train ride to Gatwick Airport. We had a one hour delay at Gatwick and the security and gate check in system was not nearly as good as Houstons but we managed to get on board and had a very easy flight back to real life. Amy and I are blessed to be able to have such a memorable and awesome honeymoon. I know that I am ready to go back as soon as we can manage it.

Day 14 - Windsor Castle

This morning we got up and we did not have anything else in London we were burning to do so we decided to use our rail passes for one last day trip to Windsor Castle. The last time I was there it was the day we flew into London so I was a bit out of it and did not remember just how fantastic it was. Amy and I both agreed that it was one of our favorite sites on the trip. While we were there we were told that on the arrival of the Queen the union jack was switched with her royal banner. At the end of the tour of the buildings we walked outside to discover that the flag pole was empty and as we watched as the Queens royal banner was raised. Unfortunately they must be able to bring her in away from the public places since we did not get to see her but it was cool to be there for the switch. Since this is our last day we were both ready to come home but also very sad to have this exciting and amazing adventure come to a close. We greatly appreciate everyone who helped us make this trip such a fantastic success. :-)

Day 13 - Horse Gaurds, Royal Mews, Westminster Abbey and Blue Man

This morning we slept in a bit and walked over to the Westminster area to see the changing of the Horse Gaurds and Buckingham Palace gaurds. After watching the horse gaurds we walked through St. James Park to Buckingham Palace but unfortunately they did not do the changing of the gaurds ceremony today. Oh well. We then headed over to the Royal Mews where the stables and royal cars are kept. We got a guided tour of the stables and got to meet the horses and see the carriages. We then went to Westminster Abbey and walked through it. The people buried there are amazing but after St. Pauls no other abbey or cathedral even compares. On the spur of the moment we decided to see if we could get tickets to the Blue Man group for this evening. We got the tickets and I have to say the show was very fun and quite different from anything I have seen. Before the show we ate at a pub and then killed time having a drink and reading outside. It was fun being slow and people watching.

Day 12 - British Museum, Harrods, Spamalot

We got up today and went to the British Museum first thing. It is beyond over whelming and after several hours looking at all of the amazing artifacts you begin to just wander through rooms bearly able to even take it all in. We admitted defeat at about 1 and headed over to check out Harrods and had lunch at Yo Sushi. We then headed back to the hotel and got cleaned up and ready for a nice dinner before seeing Spamalot. Spamalot was one of the best, funniest musicals I have ever seen. When it comes to Houston I am ready to go see it again. :-)

Day 11 - York and London Eye

Today we went on a day trip from London to York. It is about 2 hours north of London by rail. York is one of the few medieval walled cities in England. We walked around several pieces of the wall and visited the York Cathedral which was great. We also followed Rick Stevie's advise and visited the York Castle Museum which was fairly poor but not everything can be fantastic I guess. On getting back to London we had dinner and then rode the London Eye. The London Eye is the very large Farris wheel right on the Themes. It was very romantic and the view of London at night was gorgeous.

Day 10 - London Tower and St. Pauls

In the Tower of London, the ghost of Anne Boleyn walks.... well, WE didn't see her, but we saw pretty much everything else there. Got to stare at the Crown Jewels for a good length of time, and they were truly spectacular. Amazing, even. Our Beefeater guide was a hoot. The ravens are BIG birds, with no fear, and plenty of "cheek". Even the little birds were bold!
After the Tower, we walked through Cheapside to St. Pauls for Evensong. I won't bother to try to describe it, but Tom and I both had several bouts of chills, not least of which was from the Whispering Gallery (it's true) and the Stone Gallery (279 steps up, thanks.) The beauty of the place is really stunning, and we got to hear the Boy's Choir sing. How do you cap off a day like that??

Day 9 - Hampton Court

We got up a bit slow today and decided to head out to Hampton Court Palace. The trains are a bit messed up due to work on the lines so we had to catch a bus for the last part of the trip. So now we have pretty much ridden every possible means of transportation on this trip. Hampton Court is amazing, it is pretty wild to think that Henry VIII and Anne Boleyn walked in those same places. The gardens around the palace are even more amazing then the Palace itself. We got back into London then got dinner and had some drinks at the Lamb and Flag or as it is also know the Blood and Bucket. Charles Dickens drank there so it is a bit old. We ended the evening with a night time walk along the Thames! Ah, so romantic. We are having the best honeymoon you could imagine.

Day 8 - London

We arrived in London from our ill fated night train trip at 11:00 or so. We headed to the Strand Palace hotel and discovered to our delight that we could check into our very nice suite. We took a very hot bath and showered up then headed out to see the area. We went to Covent Garden for a late lunch then walked through Trafalger square, Picadilly Circus and Leichester square. We then went back to the room and NAPPED! At 7 we headed back out and had some chinese in China town and picked up excellent seats for Spamalot on Wednesday. YES!

Day 7 - Inverness

We had a great breakfast at the new bed and breakfast then headed down to catch a tour of Loch Ness and Castle Urquhart. Our tour guide was this very interesting and boisterous lady named Allison. She took us to the Loch and we did a short cruise on Loch Ness right near Castle Urquhart. We then got dropped at the castle and got to walk around. The guy driving the boat told us a great story about stinky dead donkeys and a trebuchets. You will have to ask us for more details. ;-) After the tour we caught the night train to London, we thought. The night train was a bit of a disaster as it was rough, late and stopped short of London, another long story but it did get us to London.

Day 6 - Holyrood Palace and Inverness

Had a traditional Scottish breakfast, which included BOTH haggis and blood sausage. Yummm... Then we walked down to Holyrood Palace at the bottom of the Royal Mile. The ruins of the Abbey attached to the newer palace are pretty cool. The gardens were still in bloom, too. Walked back up the mile to catch the train to Inverness through some spectacular countryside. At Inverness we had enough time to walk around a while, eat, and then go to Hootananny's (supposedly world renowned for it's traditional celtic music) where we waited to finally get to hear Bob Hall play some boogie-freaking-woogie. Ugh. We went to bed early.

Day 5 - Edinburgh

We spent a restless night on the sleeper and made it to Edinburgh very early. We went to the amazing castle first and spent the morning wandering around. We window shopped our way back down the Royal Mile to our hotel and had a nap, then we ate dinner at a great little Italian place right across the street. Scotland rolls up the sidewalks pretty early, so we had no choice but to visit a pub. Several, actually. :)

Day 4 - Winchester

More pictures of the cottage today - we had nice weather, and Mary and Roy took us out to Winchester. The cathedral there is spectacular. One corner of the building had severe subsidence and was about two feet lower in the corner. Roy waited for us in a nice pub and we had a traditional English lunch there before we wandered over to Jane Austen's last residence. We then went out to the ruins of a Roman Town nearby, where the walls are still standing pretty much intact. We had our last wonderful tea and scones before Mary and Roy dropped us off for the train to Edinburgh. We had miscalculated, and had to wait almost four hours!

Day 3 - Avebury and Stonehenge

Today we finished in Bath by visiting the crypts of the Bath Abbey. We then met Mary and Roy at Basingstoke by train. They picked us up and took us to their beautiful cottage in Ashford Hill, Berkshire. What a fantastic place! Mary and Roy were so nice to take us into their home. As if housing us was not enough they then toured us around. Roy got us to both Avebury and Stonehenge! WOW, what a fantastic day of the stones. We then had a great dinner at the Pineapple , a 900 year old inn, near the 400 year old thatched cottage.

Day 2 - Bath

We started the morning with a traditional English Breakfast, cooked by our hosts, Jill and Kevin. Then we went off on the free walking tour of the city, saw the Royal Crescent, Queen's Square, and several homes of famous English people we didn't know. We then visited The Roman Bath and made it to the Abbey for the Choral Evensong. Amazing! We'll be finishing today with a meal at The Wife of Bath restaurant. Hope it's good! Here is a map of our pictures!

Day 1 - Salisbury and Bath

Ok Day one was a bit brutal! We got on the plane at 4:00pm friday evening and we were on the ground at 7:00am saturday in London time. We then traveled by train to Salisbury and walked around and saw the Cathedral. We had lunch there at the Lion's Head. We then got back on the train and traveled to Bath. We checked into our bed and breakfast, Holly Villa. Since we needed to stay awake we then walked around Bath and got to see the Bath Abbey lit at night, beautiful. We had dinner at the Crystal Palace and went to bed at 8:00pm. 30 hours with no sleep so we slept like babies. :-)

Heading Out

We are both very excited to be heading out on our honeymoon. I want to especially thank David for staying at our place and keeping the animals! You are the best man, thanks! :-) 

New Blog

I created this new site for Amy and I to use together. We are starting a very exciting stage in our lives together and I looking forward to getting to be with Amy for the rest of our lives. I love you very much my beautiful wife! :-)