This and That.

I usually upload photo's onto my computer from my camera once every year. At best. As it is "that time again", I thought I would put some random pictures up from the past couple of months.

I was in D.C. during the first week of October for a close family friends wedding. Jonathan was supposed to go on a work trip (which actually never happened), so my brother was my date. Most times when my brother and I go out together, every assumes that we are dating since we look NOTHING alike. He somehow inherited our Irish-genes while I did not. We had an awesome weekend in D.C. with my parents and the wedding was a blast.

For Jonathan's birthday this year I bought him a home-brew kit so that he can make his own tasty brews at home. I'm pretty sure I caught a glimpse of what Jonathan was like when he opened Christmas presents when he was little. I'm also pretty sure that I saw a tear or two as Jonathan gently caressed the beer making supplies. (what did I do!!??!!). Jonathan's first batch of beer was, according to our friend Dr. EZ, a success since he didn't get "the runs" from the home brew! Everyone enjoyed it and I have to say that it tasted as good, and maybe better than, some of the beers in the pubs here. Jonathan just started his second batch...a Winter Warmer...so we're excited to taste that one too.

Quite possibly the most fun event we have been to in England was the Dog Races at Mildenhall. Holly got us a great deal for the races: 10 pounds for fish and chips, entrance to the races, two-one pound bets, and a pint!! Between the four of us, we won over 40 pounds betting on the dogs. I successfully chose the second place dog EVERY race, unfortunately my winnings were 0. Whatever. Maybe it was bad luck after Holly and I decided it was a good idea to take a pictures of the dogs, mid-race, with flash photography. Woops.

Jonathan, Holly and Dan at the races.

I went to the Lavender fields in Norfolk with a couple of friends a while back. The lavender fields were actually not as big as we thought they would be, but they were still pretty. Of course, it was raining when we went. (Thanks England)

At the end of November my job will finish, then my class finishes a week after that, and I will be in Alabama for Thanksgiving with my parents and Jonathan. Lots to look forward to...

Country Roads.

Life has been pretty hectic since my last post. I got a job (woohoo!) and I started my last class for my DPT (woohoo!).

I am a community physiotherapist working for the NHS (National Health Service) in England. I drive A LOT for my job. It takes me about 1 and 1/2 hours to get to the office in the mornings, and since I am a community physio I drive to all of my patients homes-which are, on average, 30 minutes from my office. I initially was driving my car, an American left-side car sedan. Despite 40-point turns to park my beast in tiny English parking lots, I never exactly realized just how 'big" my car is for this country. These are pictures of two of the 60 mile per hour, "two-laned" roads that I take to get to some of my patients out in the country:

Needless to say, driving my left-sided car on these country roads was getting my adrenalin pumping...especially when a huge semi-trailer was heading directly at my car going 60 miles per hour.

I now drive our right-side drive British car and, although I still fear for my life multiple times a day, I know that I can at least see around bends and turns and if I hold my breath, I just might make it past that huge truck without a scrape. The bushes on the other side of my car, not so lucky...

The Oregon Coast

Tide pools Sunset in Lincoln City

Lincoln City Newport (and the best coffee EVER)

Jonathan and I spent an amazing week in the Northwest this past July. A whirlwind weekend in Seattle for a friends wedding followed by a relaxing week at the beach in Oregon made for a great family vacation. We were able to spend our time with Jonathan's parents, brother and his brother's fiancee.

The Pacific Northwest is FAR different than the East coast (I, myself, claim to be from the East). Everyone that I met was super friendly, inviting and generally happy (which is, unfortunately a lot different than both my current home and previous homes on the east coast). Portland was quite possibly one of the coolest, most unique American cities that I have been to (although, Boston is still my favorite). The REI alone in Portland is enough to make me happy, then you add Voodoo Donuts which offers the best donuts around, an amazing Nike store, and crazy entertaining homeless people wandering the streets and was SOLD. Residents of the city did fit my stereotype of "granola-ey", but they pull off the granola look with style. I could definitely see myself settling in Portland someday.

Oregon, the state, pretty cool as well. A good friend of mine is Oregonian and has been talking up her state since I met her. Having visited Portland and spent a week in Lincoln City, I have to say that she wasn't lying. The beach at Lincoln City was absolutely beautiful, if not a little (or a LOT) cold and windy. Despite the cold at the beach, our week their was perfect. We were able to fly kites, go on runs, check out the tide pools, see Sea Lions!!, eat yummy seafood chowder and eat lots and lots of ice cream.

All in all, it was a great trip. As it turns out, the West Coast really isn't as bad as everyone on the East Coast says it is! ;)


Jumping off the sand dunes. (This picture looks FAR more impressive than my actual 1 foot jump.)

Paris

About a month ago, Jonathan was sent to Paris to "work" at the air show so I decided to tag along for a cheap trip. The airshow was pretty amazing, as far as airshows go. Lots of European fighters, jumbo airliners and missle displays. While Jonathan and the other air crew members worked at the show, I spent my time wondering around the streets of Paris...

Ah, Paris. A beautiful city full of charming side walk vendors, pastry shops, art...and Parisians. I have been to Paris 4 times in my life (and yes, I am a travel snob). Out of all the amazing places to see in Europe, I am a little sad and embarassed to admit how many times I have been to Paris. Don't get me wrong, Paris is pretty neat and probably on most peoples "must see" list of Europe. That being said, the atmosphere in Paris, in my own opinion, (read: the people) is snobby, condescending and a bit stick-up-the-rear-ish (for lack of a better term). Despite that, I had a great time wondering the city. I walked past almost all of the major sites including Notre Dame, The Louvre, Champs de Elysses, and the Arc de Triumph. One of the funnier moments of my trip occured when I was sitting at a cafe eavesdropping on an American couples' conversation. Like many Americans that travel Europe, this couple came equipped with two fanny packs, a large camera, and lack of an INSIDE voice (aka. they talk REAL loud). While discussing the sights they wanted to see during the day, the wife said to the husband "I really can wait to see the Louvre" (Pronounced LEW-VREY). Lucky for me, because I was watching this all unfold, the waiter had just walked over to the table to take their lunch order when this was said. His face crumpled when she asked him where the "LEW-VREY" was in relation to the cafe....pretty sure they got a free side of saliva with their French Onion soup. HA. Ah, Americans. Gotta love us.

One of the highlights of the trip was going to the Moulin Rouge for a show. Categorized as a Cabaret, the Moulin Rouge show is like a really bad version of a Broadway musical (in French). The dancing was a bit so-so, the costumes a bit, uh, lacking in material, and the Shetland ponies were just scary. BUT, it was really fun to sit inside the Moulin Rouge and it was an experience I will always remember.

All in all, our trip to Paris was pretty awesome. There is something to be said about being able to "hop on" a train from your town and arrive in Paris a couple of hours later.

Death by Toaster?

English summers are the time of year when the temperatures tip the scale in the mid 70's, British chavs walk around with little to no clothing on, and when spiders decide to invade.  The spiders here can be MONSTERS.  During the summer months, we keep the windows open to get some fresh air in our un-airconditioned house allowing spiders to freely roam into our territory.  Jonathan being the nice, and somewhat granola-ey person that he is, likes to let the spiders we find in our house live.  He especially likes the daddy-long-legs because, according to him, they eat other spiders and are awesome.  I on the other hand perfer that anything in our house that is living and uninvited should meet my can of Raid and take a little water slide ride down the toilet. (Uninvited house guests beware.)  The only problem is that I am a big sissy when it comes to picking spiders up and I either have to a) use a whole roll of paper towel to ensure that the spider does not come back to life and jump of me or (the more likely choice) b) soak the offender in a puddle of Raid and leave it until Jonathan comes home from work.  Jonathan loves that.  Well this morning, I opened the toaster to make some toast and found a spider crushed between the door and the toaster where it met its "warm" death. 

 

 My can of Raid was spared, but I was so disgusted that a spider somehow crawled INTO my toaster I couldn't eat my toast.  At least my can of Raid was spared for another day.  

Amanda!

One of my oldest friends, Amanda, made the trek out to England to visit me this past April. Since she would only be here for about 4 days, we decided to stay local and check out London, Cambridge and Bury. It was awesome to catch up with Amanda, and I really enjoyed seeing some new things in London. Some of the highlights:

-Sushi (yum)-Touring Westminster Cathedral--chatting up the head of cathedral "security" and getting to meet the Dean of the Cathedral

-Riding the bus around London. Usually we take the Tube (which is underground). It was really neat to sit on the second level of the bus and watch the city go by...

-Taking a running tour around Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park. We not only got a nice hour jog in, but we also got to see some of the best sights in London. Below is Amanda's excellent attempt of a self portrait in front of the Palace for your viewing pleasure.

After London, Amanda and I spent a day wandering around Cambridge. We peaked into a bunch of the college campuses and made our way around the River Cam. On Amanda's final day in England, we spent the day in Bury walking through the market and the abbey gardens. I realized that I sometimes take for granted that I live in such a cute and charming little town. I also realized that I have not posted pictures of Bury...so I've put some of those up too.
All in all, I had a great time hanging out with Amanda and being a tourist in England.

Fjord-tastic.

Jonathan and I just got back from an awesome 3 day trip to Haugesund, Norway. Having taken many gastronomic-centered trips around Europe in the past, Jonathan and I were really looking forward to an active, outdoorsy type vacation. We got our money's worth on this one. Despite some cold, rainy weather on the first two days of our trip, we still made the most of our time in Norway and went on lots of "walks" and hikes in Haugesund, Karmoy and Etne.

Karmoy is an island in Norway, and the location of the airport where RyanAir's worst pilot decided to "slam" our plane onto the runway (my fear of flying is now greater, thanks to him). It was a safe landing, just a very rough one. Even Jonathan made a comment about it. Anyways, Karmoy is absolutely beautiful and the home of the Vikings (you know, the guys that pillaged England and stirred up the gene pool a bit). We were able to walk around Viking ruins on Karmoy on a very rainy and cold day...despite the rain we still had a great time.

<---Avaldsnes (on Karmoy). Where the Vikings lived.

On our second day in Norway, Jonathan and I drove all the way around Karmoy making stops at various beaches and taking a walk through a fjord in the center of the island. It was still pretty rainy and cold, which ruined our plans to rent bikes, but the day still was pretty awesome! While we were hiking on Karmoy I asked Jonathan what kind of wildlife Norway had...somehow my mom has rubbed off on me and I feared that we would be attacked by a bear or some sort of wilderbeast. Jonathan, however, told me we were probably pretty safe and wouldn't see any large, dangerous animals on our hike. Well-he was WRONG. Check out this monster of a slug....next time I am bringing a flare gun (just to be on the safe side).

<----- Biggest slug EVER!

We finished our second day with a nice hike in the mountains in north Haugesund. The hike was pretty easy, but offered beautiful views of Haugesund.

<-----Haugesund is behind/below us

Our third day in Norway was definitely our favorite (and the weather was absolutely gorgeous). Jonathan and I planned a nice little drive to Etne; home of Norway's 5th tallest waterfall-Langfoss. The drive to Etne was a great start to the day. Jonathan had a lot of fun driving on the winding roads that followed along the fjords (I had a lot of fun being a back seat driver). After parking at Langfoss, we met a friendly Norwegian woman who showed us where the trail began so that we could hike to the top of the waterfall (which is some 600+ meters high).

The hike was beautiful. We spent about 6 hours hiking up the waterfall and around the backside of the fjord. We were the only tourists hiking the waterfall that day as tourist season starts in June in Norway.

After seeing how beautiful southwest Norway is, I wonder why in the world the Vikings would ever want to leave their home to come to England.

Best Birthday, Ever.

May 9th 2009 was an awesome day.  Jonathan came home from a business trip on my b-day.  Pretty cool present if I do say so myself.  Shanna took some awesome pictures of the return (thanks!).  

Espana.

I recently returned home from a trip to Spain with my friend Holly. After three years of high school Spanish (two of which were in a school in El Paso, TX-also known as "Mexico") you would think I would have NO problem in a Spanish speaking country. Wrong. Way wrong. Well, I will give myself some credit-I was able to understand about 60-70% of the Spanish I heard, but I learned that I no speakie the Spanish very well. And by not very well I mean that many Spaniards probably confused me with a mute and/or thought my IQ was much lower than it actually is (not that its too high to start with). Luckily Holly had just finished a two week immersion course and I used her as my Spanish interpreter for the trip! Woohoo!

I spent my first couple of days in Madrid. Our hotel was super charming--I thought that the cross dressing prostitutes lining the street by our hotel was a special touch! (don't worry, mom, we were safe). Seriously though, very charming hotel (Hostal Adriano)-highly recommended. Madrid is a pretty cool city and the tapas are yummy...and super if you are working on a muffin top. Holly and I spent our days wondering the city and eating. We pretty much ate all the time. Breakfast was followed by a three course "menu del dia" lunch which was followed by a large dinner or Tapas. Fantastic! Also-I think the Spaniards might have the best cafe con leche that I have ever had. Speaking of building a muffin top-Madrid is known for its Churros with Chocolate. This has to have been the most decadently delicious snack I have ever had. When you order this tasty treat, you get a mug FULL of melted chocolate and way more churros than you can possibly eat. My stomach still hurts from eating all that chocolate...so worth it.

After Madrid, we boarded the bus to head to a town named Segovia. This is a very charming town with a fairy-tale-esque castle, a Roman aqueduct and many winding medival streets. We stayed in a hotel called Los Linajes which was very nice, but has not been redecorated since 1950. The room came complete with a sitting room with a gold coffee table and white pleather couch--Klassy! Holly got some insider info from a couple of American students studying abroad who told her that Oso Blanco (a bar in town) had THE best sangria in all of Spain. After seeing the sights of Segovia, Holly and I walked circles around the town until we found Oso Blanco. Oso Blanco must have been designed at the same time as Los Linajes because it was a total blast from the past-and completely perfect. We ordered the Sangria (which, lucky for us, only comes in 1 liter) and the first taste was heavenly. To our surprise the bartender supplied us with some free "tapas" meant to bring out the flavors of the Sangria. Who knew that corn nuts, peanuts and gummy sharks were the perfect accompaniment to fantastic Spanish drinks!? Also on the tapas menu was another tasty "treat" called Murros. Murros, as it turns out, is cow lips. Holly is adventurous and tried them...and ate the whole plate to the astonishment of all the locals in the pub. I stuck with the gummy sharks...

<---The Aqueduct in Segovia

The country side of Segovia---->

After Segovia we headed to Toledo. Toledo has a LOT of churches, monasteries and convents. Toledo also has many of the famous works by El Greco...an artist from the 1400's. Holly and I had a great time wandering the city. In following the theme of this blog (food), Toledo is known for its Marzipan. Marzipan is a delicious mix of sugar, almond paste and honey. Yum. I am definitely impressed with the food in Spain! Our hotel in Toledo had a roof top terrace that overlooked the city--Holly and I spent the better part of an afternoon drinking a bottle of Spanish wine and reading our books--it was the perfect last day of our vacation.

I highly recommend Spain to anyone who hasn't yet been. Make sure to order some Murros and gummy sharks with your Sangria!

Nuts and Bolts, Nuts and Bolts, I got screwed...

This past Saturday I learned a very important lesson...well two lessons actually.

1. Curbs should be avoided at all times while driving. Stupid curbs. I not only slammed into a curb on Saturday night, but I also popped TWO tires in the process. TWO. So, my plans to go to Cambridge for Chinese and movies didn't happen. What did happen was that I spent 2 hours hemming and hawing over what to do...do I change one tire, do I leave my car, do I set my car on fire...?? Stupid, stupid curbs.

2. I learned the importance of buying new tires when your old ones are worn. *Please see learning point one for explanation.*

I have 4 brand new tires on my car now...and I have to say, they look pretty classy. The rims, however, are another story. It looks like some sort of rabid animal chewed all the way around the outer edge of my rims. Oh well. Luckily my car sustained little damage...what was damaged was my ego. I have always prided myself on being a very safe driver (minus ONE speeding ticket when I was going 90 in a 55..."I was going down a hill, officer"). Ever since moving to England, my pride has taken some pretty tough hits. The first incident occured last Janaury when a deer decided to jump out in front of my car on a foggy, British b-road. That deer had some springs in its legs, because instead of a dent in the front of my car, I somehow have the imprint of a deer butt on the top of my hood. Not sure how that happened, but I'm pretty sure its annoying. The next incident was between me and a low lying wooden fence. While my car did get a couple of scratches on it, I'm pretty sure the fence was worse. So, maybe thats one point Erin, zero points fence?

So, now that I have hit a deer, run into a wooden fence, and popped two tires, I am afraid that I can no longer pride myself on driving skills. But-I was able to change my tire and that counts for something, right?

Just another Sunday morning drive...

This past Sunday I drove my friend Holly to the airport where she was catching a plane to Madrid. Her flight was pretty early, so we were on the road at 5:45am. There was minimal traffic, which was definitely nice, the sun was out (amazing!), and we were enjoying a nice little conversation. While chatting, we both were distracted when we saw a car stopped on the other side of the motorway while its driver appeared to be jogging around the car in a pink jumpsuit. On closer inspection, as the driver turned so that he was facing us, we realized that the "pink jumpsuit" was in fact his pasty white skin reacting to the cold air and we had a full on frontal view of his "jiggly bits" as he jogged. Talk about not being able to look away from a train wreck. Holly and I didn't talk for a couple of minutes after our sighting...mostly because neither one of us wanted to believe that what we had seen actually happened. I don't particularly want to see any naked man jogging on the side of a motorway, in particular a brit with pasty white skin (although, Jude Law is pretty dreamy....). Even if Brad Pitt was jogging naked on the side of the road I would probably still throw up in my mouth a little bit.

So, the question of the day is...what is the deal with flashers!?! I was flashed by a man asking for "directions" when I was in middle school, my mom was flashed when she was a girl on her way to CCD (Catholic sunday school), and almost all of my friends have similar "flasher" experiences. A note to all men: We (women) REALLY, REALLY don't need to see your bits and bobs out in public...take a look down south and you will realize that that region of your world is NOT all that attractive to us women-folk.

Maybe the naked man I saw jogging by the A14 was simply trying to get a little exercise, maybe he was falling asleep at the wheel and was trying to wake himself up, or maybe he is just, well, a freak! Whatever the case, it is NEVER okay to jog naked. Never, ever, ever.

Good times.

When I was home in the states, I got to hang out with my good friend Lindsay for a couple of days. Lindsay lives just north of Boston and has an adorable Cockerspaniel puppy. We went to a beach on the North shore where her puppy, Scooter, ran around with other dogs and drank salt water (in Scooter's defense, he was only copying another dog). Scooter and his dog friend like to chase eachother around, and when doing this forget to look ahead of them to make sure they don't run into anything or anyone. Well, poor Lindsay lost in Scooters game of chase and was laid flat out after being run into by Scooter and another dog. One minute Lindsay was talking to us, the next she was FACE DOWN in the sand. Scooter paused and looked really really confused, then proceeded to lick Lindsays face while she was down. Luckily, nothing was damaged on Lindsay and Scooter seemed to have a great time. Nothing like watching a human get clotheslined by two dogs on a freezing beach!

When in Rome...

On a recent trip home to the states, I was fortunate enough to spend a couple of days in a little city called Worcester. Some may be familiar with this city from an Adam Sandler skit where Adam is a toll booth operator and says "Welcome to WOOOSTA" to every car that comes his way. Others may know Worcester from its review in Maxim magazine which dubbed it "the armpit of Massachusetts". Call it what you may, Worcester is the city where my extended family is from, and where my parents grew up.

Worcester is like many old factory towns in New England...some parts (or many) are run down, but it has a sort of...well..."charm" that is unmistakeable. The charm I am talking about comes in the form of Nascar t-shirt wearing, Marlboro light smoking, Budweiser drinking, good ole city folk. These "city folk" like to pahk their cahs in tha garage just as much as anyone else and Dunkin Donuts is the regular meeting place. If you are from Worcester and reading this-don't be offended. EVERY city I have been to has the same "charm"...it just varies in characteristics from region to region. You have the Chavs in England, Cholos in Mexico, red-necks in the south...etc, etc. Many of the people in Worcester (especially members of my family) are amazingly great people who are well educated and classy. But, the Worcester-ites that make for more interesting blog stories are the Bud drinkers.

Anyways-to get to the point of this close to pointless blog: My mom and I got to spend some quality time together in Worcester last week. Many of the days we spent together were a bit stressful since we had some family health issues going on. One morning, after working out at the gym, my mom and I decided to grab a bite (and coffee) at Dunkin Donuts and then head over to Shaws to pick up some groceries. My moms outfit was classic: faded blue tapered sweat pants and an oversized college sweatshirt. My outfit was equally as hideous. We had to capture the moment while cruising the aisles of Shaws. We had fun laughing at eachother and just being silly. We decided that we were just going along with the old saying "when in Rome, do as the Romans". Theres nothing like going back to your roots...

What I learned was that sometimes all you need is a pair of faded, tapered sweats and two oversized sweatshirts in order to forget about the stresses of life for a little while. And for the record, mom, those sweatpants will NEVER go out of style. (or maybe they already have?)

**Disclaimer: KCamp (mom) and I look MUCH better in person....I hope!

A new level of crazy.

I've always known that I can be a bit abnormal. Growing up in a house with two very, very clean-freakish parents (some may call them OCD), I have learned to truly enjoy cleaning. This is not to say that my house is spotless, even I have my limits (though I do like to have the vacuum trails on the carpet...NO footprints!). I love going to the grocery store and picking out cleaning products (oh, Kaboom, how I love thee), and I love the smell of a clean house. When I am done cleaning a room, I like to admire my work and enjoy the clean. I have grown attached to 409 since Jonathan and I moved to England. Maybe its the nesting instinct that comes with being newly married and living in a foreign country, or maybe its just me, but I love to use 409-daily.

Today, I was baking cookies to send to Jonathan and I wanted to spot clean the counter in-between batches. I reached down into the cabinet and grasped the 409 bottle. As I lifted the bottle, the top detached from the bottom half of the bottle, and lots of 409 spilled out on the floor. No joke, the first thought in my head was "my liquid gold, wasted!". I very rarely scare myself with my cleaning addiction, but today I begin the first step in my healing process. I admit the problem.

This isn't the first incident of crazy since my addiction has begun. A few months back I wanted to deep clean the master bathroom. The water in England is very hard and full of minerals, so the glass door on the shower is always a disaster. I always use Kaboom in the shower, but this time I thought I would attack the shower two-fold: a little Kaboom and a little Tilex (with bleach). I'm not a detail person, so reading the "warning" label on the back of the bottles seemed pointless to me. About 5 minutes into my cleaning, I noticed that I was getting light headed and felt "tingly". I turned the fan on and continued cleaning. I jumped in the shower after cleaning and became increasingly lightheaded. I quickly left the bathroom and read the back of the bottles. Turns out you shouldn't mix bathroom cleaning chemicals...especially when bleach is involved. Luckily, I didn't pass out, though I am pretty sure I lost some precious brain cells (and I don't have many to spare!). All I could think about after that event (other than the fact that I am an idiot) was that Jonathan could have come home from work to find me passed out on the bathroom floor with a bottle of bleach in one hand and Kaboom in the other...I would NEVER live that down.

Lesson of the day: Do NOT mix cleaning supplies...even if the end result is an amazing sparkly and clean shower door, its just not worth the loss of brain cells.

Bon Jour. Good Day. That's too expensive.

I recently returned home from a four day trip to Provence, France. This was the first trip of (hopefully) many to come while I have lots of girl bonding time. Provence was charming, beautiful and full of wine. The countryside is more barren than I expected, but considering that Provence is in the south of France on the coast of the Mediterranean, I guess it makes sense. All along the road were Cyprus trees, olive trees and, of course, vineyards. Despite very bad experiences in the past with the French people, more specifically with Parisians, I was very pleasantly surprised at the friendliness and overall demeanor of the residents that we met in the Provence region. While I hold steady to my opinion that French people (in general) are a little bit snotty, a little bit condescending and just a little too stuffy for my taste; I was amazed at how many town dwellers helped us to navigate our car (a large Sedan) through the tiny, twisting streets of the Town of Arles. Holly was a champion and did all of the town driving (mostly because I was a big baby and too scared to try). Despite dozens of turns that required Austin-Power turning skills, Holly did a fantastic job and even had some French "ground guides" show her the way.

The food in Provence was disappointing (for me at least). I am a moderately picky eater, so take what I say with a grain of salt. Many menus that we encountered were solely in French. 0 out of the 5 girls on the trip took French in high school, so ordering food was a "close your eyes and point" process. Some nights we were pleasantly surprised, and some nights we got jelly-fied eggplant appetizers, and sour cream with bitter chocolate for dessert. Lunches were great (we ate at little sandwich cafes) and snacks were amazing (chocolate croissants and nutella filled crepes made before your eyes by street vendors). The wine was also phenomenal. We found an old monastery called Chartreuse de Bonpas that featured a tour of its grounds and wine tasting for free if you bought a bottle. Buying a bottle was no problem, for any of us! At Bonpas we met a friendly French-man named Bruce who let us taste more wines than normal and also pointed out some cute towns in the area that we might want to check out. Chartreuse de Bonpas is definitely recommended for anyone in the Avignon (Provence) region.

Here's everywhere that we checked out on our trip:
-Les Baux (a charming medieval town on a hill)
-Arles
-La Isle sur la Sorgue ( a town known for selling Antiquities)
-Aix de Provence (a more modern city, with very charming streets filled with shops)
-Cassis (a beach town)
-Avignon
-Marseille (we only saw Marseille because we were lost trying to find the airport)

Jonathan was excited to hear about the trip, and was happy that my first trip was to a country that he feels no need to visit since he has already been. Thanks for serving J!

Au Revoir!

Two-wheeled bikes are for sissies.

Today was a day of firsts for me:

This morning, I road a one-wheeled bike that didn't move. No, not a unicycle-those are for scary clowns at carnival themed first-saturdays. I attended and somehow completed my first spinning class at the gym. I have successfully avoided this class for many, many years but was somehow persuaded to test it out today by a friend who will remain nameless (my quads will never forgive you, Shanna). The class was probably worse than I anticipated, but being the endorphin junkie that I am, I think I might just learn to like this masochistic aerobic experience. But, I am going to wait to make a final verdict once DOMS has set in (thats medical speak for painful, angry muscles after a workout).

This morning, prior to spnning class, I also volunteered to try out a "sport" yoga class. Now, when I am trying something new, I normally try to keep an open mind but yoga is one of those things that I have been judging for years. Yes, it seems to work for the celebrities that swear by it; but then again most of them think that carbs are theoretical food items that don't really exist. Yoga, to me, has always seemed like a touchy-feely wanna be work out. I like workouts that leave me drenched in sweat and exhausted. My opinions aside, I tried yoga with a semi-open mind. I figured that at best I would get a bit of a core workout, and at worst I would at least get a good stretch in. What I forgot is that I am about as flexible as a brick. Sit and reach always killed my dream in elementary and high school of getting the Presidential fitness award. The instructor was pretty nice and luckily didnt make us picture running through meadows with butterflies (which is what the instructor in my first yoga experience a year ago did). She led us through some positions and I have to admit that I couldnt handle some of the things she wanted us to do. I did get a nice little ab workout, but I didn't leave the class feeling "worked out". I did feel a little more limber after class, so all in all it was a good experience but one I am not sure I will repeat.

So, today was a pretty good day. While I may not have found my "chi" in yoga (is that something you can find?), I did get in a well rounded workout.

Ohm.