Last week I went on a shopping trip to Calais with my friends Carissa, Sarah, and Aimee. (Left to right in this photo.) The trip was organized through a coach tour company, Sunfun International. One of the pickup points for the tour bus was RAF Alconbury, which is a good two hours south of Harrogate. The pickup time was 4am! So, we decided to head down the night before and stay at the hotel on the base.

Aimee very kindly drove. After sorting a few logistical hiccups out, the four of us had dinner in Harrogate Tuesday night before heading to Alconbury. We ate at an Italian place called, "Est Est Est." It was a weeknight and early (for dining out here), so the place was nice and quiet.

Sarah wanted an amaretto sour. The waiter informed us they didn't have sour mix. The maitre'd came to our table and asked Sarah, "You want an amaretto sour?"

Sarah replied (to the effect), "You don't have sour mix though, right?"

The maitre'd said, "Sour mix is for bartenders that don't know what they're doing."

!

So we were curious to see how Sarah's amaretto sour (without sour mix) would turn out. When the drink did come, it was a different color than Sarah expected, but was otherwise pretty good. Sarah gave us a taste. I don't know what amaretto sours are supposed to taste like, but this seemed pretty good. A little while later, the maitre'd came back with a straw, stuck it in Sarah's drink, and put his finger on the end of the straw, extracting a taste. He said he wanted to see how it turned out. We all just sort of looked at each other. I couldn't believe he did that!

The food was pretty good. I ordered a glass of house white wine. I really am not a wine connoisseur, but I'm pretty sure I've had stronger water! :)

I had a nice time at dinner. If that was all the four of us had done, I would have been plenty happy! It was very enjoyable just to go out to eat somewhere nice, with friends.

After dinner, we made our way to Alconbury. We got checked in, and after a bit of confusion as to where our rooms were, got settled in. We really didn't get much rest. By the time we got to sleep, it was pretty late. The tv in the room next to the one Carissa and I shared was on all night, extremely loudly.

By 4am, we were out in front of the base, waiting for the bus. The day before, I made a pumpkin cream cheese bread for us to munch on as an early morning snack. It hit the spot, if I do say so! :)

We managed to doze a bit on our way to Dover, where we took the ferry across the English Channel. I hadn't realized I'd get to see the white cliffs of Dover on this trip. They were really amazing. I also didn't realize I'd get to take a ferry. (When JoAnna and I went to Paris in the summer, we took a train under the Channel. This was my first time on a big ferry.) We stayed on the bus, which drove right onto the ferry (which, by the way, was named "The Pride of Calais," of the P&O Ferries line). We got off the bus, and looked for a way out onto the deck of the ferry. We finally managed to get out on the deck as we were pulling away from the dock. The ferry was pretty big, and we were pretty high above the water. It was actually quite a sight, being able to get a view of the cliffs, at the break of dawn.

I wanted to take pictures, but discovered that I'd left my camera behind. Sarah and Aimee didn't bring cameras, so Carissa was our official photographer. (I will post more photos at some point - hopefully soon!)

It was really cold and windy, so after admiring the view for a while, we went inside. There was a pretty big duty free shop on the ferry, as well as plenty of lounges. There was a cafeteria, a coffee kiosk, and a slightly nicer sit-down restaurant. There was an arcade, and also a little kids area with table toys. All in all, not too shabby.

It was only about an hour's trip from Dover to Calais. The bus took us to a store called "Pidou." It reminded me of Smart & Final. When we'd checked into the hotel at Alconbury, the lady at the front desk had said, "Going on the booze cruise, eh?" That comment made sense once we saw how much alcohol people were buying at Pidou. Apparently people will buy a whole year's supply at once. The only thing I bought was a selection of beer from Belgium for Larry.

There was also a little store next door that sold Belgium chocolate.

From there we went to our destination, which turned out to simply be a mall. I had to laugh because honestly, there's a huge mall just down near Manchester that's just as nice. The prices weren't that much better in Calais, except that the main currency was the euro, rather than the pound (although, a lot of places did take pounds as well).

We had crepes for lunch, which was fun!

At the front of the mall was a huge, WalMart-esque store called, "Carrefour." We bought a few things there.

I had been hoping to finish my Christmas shopping, but didn't really find much that I liked, gift-wise.

The main point of the trip for me was more just have some kid-free time, and be with friends.

After a few hours of shopping, we were back on the bus. We actually had to go through immigration before getting back on the ferry. Now I have a Calais stamp in my passport!

Our return trip was on "The Pride of Burgundy." We went back up on the deck to watch the ferry turn around and leave. The sunset over the shore and the city was quite beautiful. (This photo was taken on our way out on the Burgundy.)

I would be remiss if I didn't mention our feisty and terribly politically incorrect Scottish bus driver! Sarah and Aimee were sitting in the front of the bus (Carissa and I were towards the back), so they told us about all the crazy comments the bus driver was making that the rest of the bus didn't hear.

We pretty much retraced our journey, dropping people off. Unfortunately, people forgot things on the bus, so we had to stop and wait for them to catch up to the bus, and get their things. That was annoying. 

We stopped for a bite for dinner once we were on the road towards Harrogate.

All in all, I'm glad we went and I had a very good time!

I'm here! I'm alive! All is well! :)

Goodness, it has been a while, hasn't it?

I really just have not had much of a chance to be on my computer lately. However, I do wish to rectify my lack of entries soon.

Larry left in the wee hours Sunday morning for another tdy. Unfortunately, he will not be back before Ryan and I leave for the States. :(

Hope everyone has a good week - especially with Thanksgiving coming up!

Happy birthday to Mark, and Heather! Hope each of you has a great one!

Love,

~Holly, Larry, and Ryan

On Saturday, Larry and Ryan and I went to the Corbridge Roman Site and Museum. Corbridge was a supply base for Hadrian's Wall. Larry's become interested in Hadrian's Wall since moving here, and we've been wanting to take a day trip there for a while now. We didn't make it to the wall itself, but the site at Corbridge was interesting to explore. They had a small, but nice museum and visitor's center. There was a little table for kids where they could color and do puzzles. Ryan enjoyed coloring.

After wandering through the museum, we went outside to the ruins. It definitely wasn't the best day to be outside, weather wise. It was cold, windy, and rainy. Luckily it didn't rain much while we were there. We went through some very heavy rain and wind on the way there and back though.

Corbridge

Happy birthday Brice!

This is one of the fireworks pictures I took on Bonfire Night. (Larry likes this photo. He says it's, "trippy." :)) The bright orb is the moon. The camera I used has a "fireworks" setting, but actually I found that "night landscape" worked better. I don't know if it will show up on here, but in the full res version, you can see the clouds in the night sky, and it adds a really amazing texture to the whole thing.

Yesterday we didn't have running water for a while. Apparently, a main burst somewhere. Unfortunately, our washing machine also decided to go on the fritz yesterday. I'm not sure if the two events are related, but I was in the middle of a load of laundry when the water was shut off, and the washer hasn't been the same since. We tried to get a hold of the landlord today, but couldn't. Larry and I hope we can get the washing machine fixed asap!

Today was the first day I would say it was officially cold. I actually wore a hat and a scarf, and wished I had gloves! I put mitts on Ryan, but he just pulled them off.

Speaking of Ryan, I forgot to mention that for a while now, he'll say, "Zip!" and zip up his jammies himself. He also likes to zip up my hoodie for me. :)

(This is a photo of this year's bonfire. We were fairly far away. The bonfire was pretty huge.)

It is definitely that time of year where the whole sunlight situation (or lack thereof) is weird. It is just WRONG that it's dark by five pm. It's also so strange that the sun never gets very high up in the sky. It seems late all day. I really don't like it.

We've been pretty fortunate with the weather so far though. Except for a day here and there, it's been pretty dry. At the end of October, we had some unseasonably warm days, which was wonderful! Over the last week or so though, the weather here seemed to remember it was November, and the temperature dropped accordingly. When the sun is out, it's gorgeous except for the wind/breeze (there always seems to be one or the other around here). It's the breeze that makes it really cold. The sun is warm, but the wind has a sharp, freezing edge to it.

I managed to kill a plant. My Grandfather had the greenest thumb, and my Dad does, too. I thought I'd inherited at least a little of it. At a friend's baby shower, little flowers were given out as mementos. The idea was to pot the plant and watch it grow in honor of the baby to be. Well, I bought a nice pot and some nice soil, and potted the nice plant and put it in a nice spot in the kitchen window. It promptly was devoured by aphids and died. I think I may have over watered it, too. Oh well. It may not mean the green thumb gene skipped me. Even the best lose a plant now and then. It was still a bit disappointing.

Speaking of disappointing, I discovered today that someone threw an egg at our house! I hope it was random. We live in a decent area. I think it's so stupid when people do things like that. Larry said it's probably the same people who pulled off our license plate!

I've been running with the Harrogate Harriers still. I think I can actually see some improvement in my running, which is always gratifying. Because of where the group meets, pretty much all the runs end uphill. Tuesday night, I started up that final uphill stretch and realized I felt good and strong. I enjoyed a sense of power as I increased my pace and accelerated up the hill. It's moments like that when I truly savor being a runner.

Ryan's been doing well. He's started saying, "Ready, steady, go!" Which every time Larry hears, he says to Ryan, "Ready, SET, go!" :P

Last Saturday, Larry and Ryan and I went to IKEA for a few things, then had lunch at the Hard Rock Cafe in Leeds. That was fun. We hadn't had lunch there in a while. Oddly, we were seated at the same table we sat at the last time we were there.

Today Ryan and I took advantage of the nice weather and spent a lot of time outside. In the late morning, we went over to the shopping area where the farmer's market (on every 2nd Thursday) was taking place. It was fun to browse, though I didn't buy anything. Of course we stopped at Starbucks! Actually, during our previous two visits, we got free drinks! The first time was because a very nice girl there doesn't charge us for Ryan's hot chocolate, when she's working the register. I think that's very sweet! She says that it's hardly anything at all, and we're in all the time. It's much appreciated! The second time was because another barista forgot to put espresso in my gingerbread latte! :) Neither time was I expecting it, so both times the freebies were a pleasant surprise!

Ryan and I came home and had lunch, then we went back out to the Stray where he ran around for almost an hour. Ryan loves to run, and he loves to be outside. A few days ago, Ryan accidentally discovered how much fun it is to roll down a slope. Ever since then, he's been trying to duplicate the experience! It's funny how kids take you back to your own childhood. I'd forgotten how much I used to enjoy rolling down hills. Another thing Ryan loves to do that I think everyone loves at some point is kicking and tromping through fallen leaves. It's so much fun to watch Ryan having such a good time!

It's that time of year again, where England celebrates the foiling of the "Gun Powder Plot," and the capture of Guy Fawkes by burning him in effigy! http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guy_Fawkes#General_popularity

This morning Larry ran the Guy Fawkes 10 Miler at Ripley Castle. It was a dry day, but cold and extremely windy. There were 871 runners in the race. The course was tough and very hilly (Larry counted at least seven distinct hills). One hill was a 15% grade. (I was glad I wasn't running!) Larry told me the first part of the race went through the castle itself.

Larry did well, placing 258th overall, with an official finishing time of 1:17:52.

Larry said it was a great running environment, and that, "The Brits do running well," referring to their enthusiasm and friendliness.

Later on in the evening, Larry and Ryan and I walked over to the Stray to watch the Bonfire Night fireworks, and of course to see the bonfire itself. (Photos to follow at some point.) It was brisk out, but not terribly cold.

We timed it really well, since the fireworks started right after we arrived. We also got a really good spot. It wasn't too crowded (which was a feat, since there were supposed to be about 10,000 people there), and we had a wonderful view of the full moon as a backdrop for the fireworks.

Larry tried to put Ryan up on his shoulders so he could see the fireworks. However, Ryan was more interested in trying to run around than in watching fireworks.

It was a good display, and we enjoyed watching it.

Happy birthday Rene!

Happy anniversary Shawn and Jeremy!

Love,

~Holly, Ryan, and Larry