Our 10th Anniversary

IMG_0354, originally uploaded by Bio-hazar.

Last week Peter and I celebrated our 10th wedding anniversary. I can believe how quickly the last 10 years have flown by. We weren't able to celebrate on the day as both of us had to work, but we did get away for the day on Saturday. We deiced to go to Kingston-Upon-Thames for the day. We went because on the day after our wedding in Canada while we were driving to Ottawa to get my visa we stayed over night half way in Kingston, Ontario. So we went to see what the England equivalent was like.

The town it's self is much like any other urban city with lots of shops etc.,but running through it is the river Thames and we enjoyed a lovely morning stroll along the banks. We saw several swans, geese and coots. On the river there was a lot of boat activity especially people in long row boats, and along the riverbank there were many channel boats ofter with lots of potted plants growing on them. Part way down the Thames we came to a dock where you can get boat trips. We decided to take a trip to Hampton Court Palace. I was a nice day so we sat out in the bow and enjoyed a leisurely cruise along the river watching all the beautiful riverbank scenery go by.

We got to Hampton Court Palace and decided to have a look around. The palace itself would have taken 3 hours to go through and the boat back left in 2, so we just paid to go into the private gardens instead. The weather had got a bit cloudy, but it was still nice. As the clouds came in I would put my sweater on and then the sun would come out and I'd have to take it off again. In the end I just keep my sweater on cause every time I took it off the clouds would come. After that we had a nice sunny day. We strolled around the gardens enjoying all the water features, birds, manicured trees, sculptures and the few remaining flowers for this time of year. We didn't make it through the whole of the grounds before we had to start thinking about heading back to the boat. We grabbed an ice cream and meandered back to the dock and just made it in time for the boat back to Kingston.

Back in Kingston we went around some of the shops. I was quiet intrigued by one called Candy Cakes. We went inside, but I must admit that the cupcakes they sold did not look appetising at all. They were covered with this thick icing in bright colours that looked almost like play dough. We did however buy a few French Macaron which reminded us of Luxemburgerli we've had from Switzerland. We found a cafe with a few of the river and had a drink and a few of the Macarons. They were enjoyable, but not nearly as nice as Luxemburgerli.

In the evening we drove over to Epsom and meet up with a friend who we haven't seen in a long time and enjoyed a wonderful Italian meal together. We started off with olives and garlic bread, then I had a calzone, Peter a spicy pizza and our friend Geoff had a chicken caesar salad. We finished the meal off with profiteroles filled with ice cream. It was great to catch up with our friend and to share a meal together. Then it was back on the road and heading home after a wonderful day spent together.

More photo's from our day together here

Yvonne's Last Day

Friday was my sister's last day here in London. Again I had to work, so Peter took her out for some more sight seeing. They started off driving over to Greenwich Park. They say the Greenwich meridian but unfortunately the Observatory was closed that early in the morning. They also saw the statue of General Wolfe at the top of the park. It was another clear day, so they also some great views of the city. They then went down to the bottom into Greenwich Park and headed towards the Thames. They stopped off for breakfast at the Cutty Sark Cafe and Yvonne had the working mans full English breakfast which consisted of two eggs, two sausages, two slices of bacon, black pudding and two slices of bread and butter. All with a coffee to wash it down with. Needless to say she couldn't quiet finish it all. After breakfast they heading for the walking tunnel that goes under the Thames and walked from the Greenwich side over to the Isle of Dogs. From there Peter took her on the DLR (Docklands Light Railway), which is an automated train with no driver. They got to sit at the front of the train could see where the train was going. They got off at Bank and headed over to St. Paul's Cathedral. They took a tour of the Cathedral all the way from the Crypt up to the Whispering Gallery. At this point Peter's sinus from his cold was bothering him, so Yvonne ventured up to the Stone Gallery by herself. It was a twisty and tight trek up 378 steps. The Stone Gallery is on the outside of the building from where there is an amazing view of the city. While at the top of the Cathedral she called me at work to tell me where she was. She was so happy to have made it up to the top. After St Paul's, they head back down to the Thames to walk over the Millennium Bridge the first pedestrian river crossing over the Thames in central London for more than a century. When it first was constructed it was meant to sway slightly, but it swayed too much so now they have dampened it, so it doesn't move at all. I now call it the Not so wobbly wobbly bridge. They then took a short boat trip up to Waterloo Millennium Pier where they stopped off for a loo break at the Eye and then walked over Westminster Bridge, where they took part in some french crepes. Yvonne had Nutella and banana and Peter had Maple Syrup and banana. Peter decided to walk up the Thames to the next boat stop to take the next boat back down the Thames. Only when they got to Millbank they found they missed the last boat from that stop. So they hopped onto a double decker bus and heading back to Westminster Millennium Pier. They finally got a boat and headed back to Greenwich. Unfortunately they didn't get a boat that had a commentary of the sites that they were passing. Peter tried to point out what he could, but as he was pointing out things on one side of the Thames, he missed some of the other sites on the other side, like the Tower of London.

They got back home around 8pm at which point we headed over to PPP's (Peter's Parent's Place) for our regular Friday night Fish and Chips. We had a lovely evening and Yvonne enjoyed her fish, but for some reason I didn't seem to be enjoying my Lamb Shish Kebab. Guess it was my sore throat that I got from Peter's cold. Yvonne also had her first taste of Treacle Tart with custard. After dinner we has some light entertainment from Peter Sr on the guitar and Yvonne tried out the didgeridoo. She did a good job too! We got home quiet late and stayed up even later while Yvonne started packing up. Then at 4:30am, I had to get up and say our goodbyes! Unfortunately I couldn't go with them to the airport as I had to work that day. So Peter took her over to the airport. Yvonne was worried about the weight of her bags, and then at check in they told her that she had to pay for extra weight. When she asked how much, the person said they couldn't say and she'd have to queue at another line. Then once she got though that queue they found out that her ticket was showing up on the system as a single ticket even though she was returning and was only allowing one bag at 20kg. So they finally got it sorted and she was allowed both her bags and didn't have to pay for anything. She then finally made it through the gate and is now safely home. I hope she enjoyed her trip over here, because we really enjoyed having her. Thanks for coming sis *HUGS*