Sister Act

Ordinarily, I don't get too excited about Tube rides, especially not long ones with transfers. But last week, I took the most exciting Tube ride I've ever taken...all the way out to Heathrow Airport to meet my big sister Heather for her holiday in London. Heather actually booked her plane ticket to spend Christmas with me way back in April, almost immediately after I found out I had been matched for an exchange. Knowing she was coming for this visit has been such a blessing and relief for me. I haven't once had to worry about who I would spend the holidays with or what I would do without my family during this very special time. And I've seriously been looking forward to her visit ever since I arrived in Brixton, counting down the months, then days, then hours till her arrival.

And so it's no wonder that I arrived at Heathrow more than an hour before her flight was scheduled to land. Taking the Tube to Heathrow was surprisingly simple, and so I found myself with a lot of extra time to sit around and wait for Heather's arrival. For some reason, I just kept getting more and more excited and nervous and anxious all wrapped into one. You know the feeling--when you can't quite sit still, have to pee every few minutes, and find yourself literally watching the time pass on your watch. To keep myself from going mad, I wrote out some last minute Christmas cards. That occupied my about 15 minutes, then it was on to the waiting.

Spent a lot of time starring at this board, waiting for Heather's arrival.

IB4212 LANDED! Hooray! 

Finally, her flight landed and I moved over to the walkway by the doors to wait for her with the little "Welcome to London, Sister" sign I had made her. I was feeling very antsy watching all the people come through, hoping each one would be her. Then finally it was, and of course, we both burst into tears like a couple of old grannies. We haven't ever in our lives spent that much time apart, not even when we were both in college. And I guess finally being reunited was just a little too much for us to handle. Once composed, we headed out to meet our taxi, which took us straight home to the flat. Heather's journey was ridiculously long, flying first from Seattle to Las Vegas, then to Chicago, and then finally to London, a grand total of 14 hours of flight time plus six hours of layovers. She was really exhausted (or a bit shattered, as they say out here) but after a good night of sleep she rallied like a champ.

For the rest of the week, we spent as much time as we could touring the city together when I wasn't working, and when I was working, Heather bravely took on The Old Smoke all by herself. All I did was show her how the Tube and the busses worked, gave her some maps, and off she went, just like a jet-setting pro. Quite impressive! But while we were together, I really enjoyed showing her some of my favorite parts of London. It's nice to finally feel more comfortable in the city and to be able to show it off to my sister was really fun. Plus having my sister around and all to myself was just awesome!

Piccadilly Circus

Trafalgar Square with the National Gallery 

On the river Thames with the London Eye behind us. After we crossed the bridge, we found a Mr. Whippy stand. That's the soft serve vanilla ice cream I love so much. Even though it was freezing cold, Heather insisted we stop for an ice cream, so we did. And it was delicious! 

Parliament at night

Before Heather's arrival, I planned different activities for us to do each night after work, so went and checked out Hyde Park's Winter Wonderland (a big fair with rides, food, and gifts), took a nighttime tour of the city on an old fashioned bus, and even went to see the musical Scrooge, which was Heather's treat. I absolutely loved Scrooge. It was funny and touching and the music was fantastic. Plus, it really helped me finally get into the holiday spirit.

At Winter Wonderland in Hyde Park

Winter Wonderland

On the night bus. Very poor photo quality, but you'll get the gist.

London Eye at night. Isn't it pretty? We stopped here on our night tour.

Waiting for Scrooge to start.

On Friday, Heather came to school with me to meet my students and all my fabulous colleagues and work friends. We had a great day at school, though the girls were extra hyper with it being the day before break. Still, we muddled our way through four English lessons before school let out at 1 p.m. The funniest thing, though, was how excited all the girls were to meet Heather. Students I don't even have were running into my classroom to get a look at her. I'm not sure if it was her bright blond hair that got them so excited ("But Miss, why do you have brown hair and she has blond hair?") or maybe just the fact that teachers actually have sisters ("Oh my gosh, that's Miss' sister!!!"), but something made them really freak out. It was quite humorous actually, and Heather was a great sport about it. Each of my four classes got to have a quick Q&A with her, and the girls loved asking her questions about the States. They all wanted to know more about what school is like in America and if Heather happened to know Kim Kardashian. And they also all asked her to do her best British accent, which she did, and which made them all giggle. It really was a fun day.

This way to La Retraite!

Saturday morning brought even more fun when we met up with Natalie and her sister and nephew for a day of London sightseeing. Natalie's sister and nephew flew over from California to spend Christmas with her, and all three of them were spending the holiday in London. We had a fun time together, and even though our Hop On/Hop Off bus was kind of a waste of money, we loved checking out Borough Market where we found Bridget Jones' house (Heather and I are both more than a little obsessed with the Bridget Jones movies--it's a problem, really), and we really enjoyed our Thames cruise and tour of St. Paul's Cathedral. It was great to see Natalie one last time for a few hours before she heads back home (her exchange is only for a semester). I'm really going to miss her!

I love these painted dishes at the market. Wish I could take some home to the States.

Inside busy Borough Market

Turkeys ready for Christmas dinner (well, almost ready)

Aren't the wreaths fun and festive?

At Bridget Jones' house (please, don't ask me why I'm wearing pink on pink...major fashion oversight!). 

Bridget Jones' house

Photo Opp at Tower Bridge

Natalie's nephew Chris, Heather, Natalie's sister Angela, Natalie and I all in front of Tower Bridge

Tower of London

Old Roman wall ruins

Quintessential British moment!

St. Paul's Cathedral. What a magnificent place!

Outside St. Paul's

Outside St. Paul's  

St. Paul's at dusk

Saturday night we headed home to the flat pretty exhausted and ready to rest. We still had to pack for Dublin though, which was where we were headed Sunday morning for a mini-holiday over Christmas. While packing, we realized we were trying to bring way too much stuff, so out of the suitcase came our stockings. We turned on some Christmas tunes, make ourselves a couple of nice hot cups of cocoa (with lots of marshmallows), and took turns opening our stockings. Heather and I were both excited to see what we had gotten each other, just like little kids.

The stockings were hung in the hallway with care...

Skyping the parents!

Then after a Skype session with our parents, we settled in for the night. My sister and I both slept well that night, even with the anticipation of our big trip to Dublin. It had been a successful few days of hardcore touring in London. We needed a little vacation to recover, and that's just what we found in Ireland. 

The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The Christmas season is well upon us, in fact Christmas day is just two days away. I've been so busy this month that the time has really gone by quickly, too quickly actually. But I've been squeezing in some fun holiday festivities, including an awesome staff Christmas party at school and a visit from some exchange teachers from Scotland who came to London for some shopping two weekends ago. And of course, my sister has finally arrived and we are right in the middle of our holiday visit together. Life is certainly good these days! Here's a quick recap of mid-December. More Christmas posts to come later.

My colleague and friend Adam and I posing in our "1940s Wartime Christmas" fancy dress. (How's that for a Christmas party theme!?!)  He came dressed as an American G.I., which I thought was too fun! All the staff who participated in the party had a great time. We decorated a big room at school, dressed up in costumes and then basically cooked a feast together. After Christmas dinner, we danced to a live 1940s band and even sang some karaoke. It was quite an evening!

Later that weekend, I met Christy and Tracey for a fun day in London. We walked all over the city and even made a stop into Harrods, which of course was a madhouse. 

We also stopped by the Christmas Market at Southbank. I love walking around a good Christmas market with a nice hot cup of mulled wine.

Regent and Oxford streets (where all the really big, expensive shops are located)  are beautifully decorated, and they're not the only ones feeling the Christmas spirit. Even Channel 4 has decorated for Christmas!

We also stumbled upon Piccadilly Circus! Can now cross that one off the tourist list.

Blurry but still kinda neat shot of Big Ben, the tree and the London Eye.

Lovely Lyon

Last weekend I traveled all the way to Lyon to spend about 36 hours in this gorgeous city, exploring with fellow Fulbrighters Susan and Ellen and checking out the famous Fete des Lumieres (Festival of Lights). It was a quick but relaxing weekend, and I’ve decided Lyon is definitely a city worth a second visit. The mobs of tourists made it nearly impossible to see the attractions, so I think I'll book a return trip in the spring. 

I had all kinds of travel drama Friday evening that included a flight delay and an excruciatingly expensive taxi ride to the hotel, but sitting in the bar Friday night, sipping French wine (in France!!!) with my friends helped me let go of the chaos and just enjoy the moment. It was definitely one of those I-Can’t-Believe-This-Is-Really-My-Life moments that I seem to be having quite often these days.

The next morning we slept in late and then made our way to the city. Our first stop was a for a nice lunch because Lyon is known as France’s gastronomical capital. We were not disappointed! We did have to wait around for almost an hour to get a table because Lyon was packed full of tourists in town for the fete, but the wait was so worth it! I chose from the set menu and had the best meal: crab soufflé with lobster sauce for the starter, beef in a wine and shallot sauce for the main, and an amazing melty chocolate dessert. Yum! We also had some nice drinks with our meal, and about two hours later, we left the restaurant in major food comas. Needless to say, we didn’t get hungry again for hours!

The restaurant's menu posted outside, all lit up for the festival.

The restaurant had a very neat cellar/cabin feel to it. Tres chic!

Forgot to take a picture of my amazing souffle, but here's my main. 

Isn't that pretty! Love the heart plate!

One of the decorations in this cool, funky restaurant--a bathtub goldfish pond.

We spent the rest of the day walking around the city, sipping hot, mulled wine and ducking into shops here and there. When the darkness crept in around 4:30 p.m., we made sure to catch as many of the light shows as we could find. During the festival (which is in honor of Jesus’ mother Mary), different light shows are displayed on buildings all over the city. They are all very “artsy” and unique, and we never really knew what we would find. My favorite was along the riverbank where music played, the buildings lit up in different colors and small candles were floated down the river.  There is also a beautiful tradition where everyone puts lit candles in their windows at night, so as you walk through the city, all the windows were illuminated. Lyon is  a gorgeous city on it’s own, but lit up with lights made it even more special and beautiful.

Roasting chestnuts!

Susan, Ellen and I on either the Rhone or the Saone river...can't remember!

Basilica of Notre-Dame de Fourviere, which we weren't able to visit because there were too many people.

Bellecour Square 

Bellecour Square

About to head into the Christmas market...which was a huge mistake because of the overcrowding. 

Here you can see what I mean by the buildings having light shows displayed on them.

Night in Bellecour Square

We stopped into this bakery for some cookies.

Watching the light show from across the river.

Watching the lights show. There's one of the tiny candles floating down the river.

As we turned away from the river, we saw these guys approaching. A huge parade of giant festival animals.

Then we got to watch a silhouette puppet show from behind. It was like watching the Wizard work his magic in Wizard of Oz!

The night ended with a gorgeous fireworks display.

One last lights show on the walk out of the city.

This building is painted to look like huge bookcase! LOVE!

All the devoted, leaving candles lit for mother Mary.