After a fairly drab winter, snow flurries finally started falling last night around 6pm. By the time we went to bed there were 2 or 3 inches so we set the alarm to ensure an early snowy morning wake-up. It wasn't sunny, but there were at least 4 inches of fresh snow on the ground and we had two hyper active labradors - so to the park!
We wandered around the park, threw snowballs for the dogs and generally soaked up the atmosphere. It being a Sunday, half of St Albans seemed to be in the park, many of them attached to plastic sledges.
Feeling like we had to do more to enjoy the snowy winter weather, we decided to build a snowman. This endeavour soon became greater as we added a companion and then a little doggy friend.
Our little snowy replicas garnered quite a lot of attention, with one lady saying seeing them had made her Sunday morning! It may have been hyperbole, but it was a lovely compliment to get. Guinness wasn't so sure his replica really suited however!
Can you still spot our snow family?
We were very glad to have our snow fix and intend to take advantage as much as possible over the coming days before it all disappears again.
We enjoyed a slightly adapted version of Nigella Lawson's ham in Coca-Cola recipe for New Year's Eve this year. Despite our love for coke and the number of recipes out there using it as a key ingredient this was the first time we cooked with it. We made a few tweaks here and there - to accommodate for lack of ingredients and to incorporate other ideas we and our good friends had - and it was delicious!
Ingredients:
2kg British gammon joint
1 red onion, peeled and cut in half
2-litre bottle of regular Coca-Cola
Handful of cloves
About 4 tablespoons grainy dijon mustard
A couple of tablespoons of brown sugar
A couple of tablespoons of Spanish honey
Nigella's Instructions with a few tweaks:
Put the ham in a pan covered with cold water, bring to the boil, then tip into a colander in the sink and start from here; otherwise, put the gammon in a pan, skin-side down if it fits like that, add the onion, then pour over the Coke.
Bring to the boil, reduce to a good simmer, put the lid on loosely and cook for just under 2½ hours. If your joint is larger or smaller, work out timing by reckoning on an hour per kilo, remembering that it's going to get a quick blast in the oven later. Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 240°C/gas mark 9.
At the end of the specified time, let the ham cool a bit and then remove the skin, leaving a thin layer of fat. Score the fat with a sharp knife to make fairly large diamond shapes, and stud each diamond with a clove. Then spread the glaze you made with the honey, sugar and mustard all over the ham generously. Cook in a foil-lined roasting tin for approximately 10 minutes or until the glaze is burnished and bubbly.
A perfect holiday meal or something for a rainy day! Best served with roasted vegetables and brussels sprouts. Fois gras, home made fig jelly and home made bread as a starter go really well too! Thanks to our good friends for a fabulous evening!
We were so busy cooking and enjoying ourselves we completely forgot to take a picture!
Perfect meal for a holiday or cold winter day from BBC Good Food...
Main Ingredients:
2½ kg leg of lamb
6 slices Parma ham
4 garlic cloves
lemon , zested - we adapted this and used orange instead which was really good
2 sprigs rosemary - we used more than the original amount
25g butter , softened
2kg maris piper potatoes , peeled and cut into 1cm slices
500 ml vegetable stock
Gravy Ingredients:
25g butter
1 tbsp olive oil
4 small red onions , peeled and sliced
1 tbsp plain flour
250ml red wine or port
600ml lamb or beef stock
1 tbsp redcurrants jelly - we used blueberries instead as didn't have any of this
Instructions:
Heat the oven to 230C/fan 210C/gas 8. Start by making deep incisions all over the meaty side of the leg of lamb using a small knife. Whizz the Parma ham, garlic, lemon zest and half of the rosemary in a food processor. Season with pepper and using your fingers, push the mixture into the incisions in the lamb. Pull the rest of the rosemary into sprigs and push a sprig into each incision. Spread the butter over the surface of the meat and season well.
Season the potatoes, arrange in a roasting tin and pour the stock around. Put the lamb on top and roast for 15 minutes. Turn the heat down to 180C/fan 160C/gas 4 and continue to cook for a further 1 hour and 15 minutes.
While the lamb is cooking, make the gravy. Heat the butter and olive oil in a saucepan, add the onions and cook until golden brown. Add the flour and cook for a further 30 seconds. Pour in the red wine, bring to the boil and reduce by half. Add the stock, redcurrant jelly and continue to cook for 5 minutes. Season and serve with the lamb and potatoes and enjoy!
Seeking a last minute escape and a way of using some free train tickets, we sought out a beach escape on the South Coast. We had no real idea of where we wanted to go, simply that it should be walking distance to the beach and accept a dog - obviously!
As of Boxing Day we had not found anything, but at about 6pm we found 'The Warrens' - a lovely little beach themed house in the village of Camber, near Rye. We phoned the owners, who were thoroughly enjoying their Boxing Day meal - and explained we were looking for a last minute getaway. They were happy to let us have the whole four bedroom house for a very good deal starting the next morning. As you can see - it was a lovely little hideaway.
Camber Sands is a 2.5 mile long and half a mile wide (at low tide) sandy beach with a long stretch of dunes as well. It is quite a busy place in the summer, but the last week of December is pretty empty - mostly populated by just dog walkers and windsurfers.
The solitude was exactly what we wanted in order to have some good quality beach time with Guinness. Besides the extreme wind, which caused some serious ear flapping, he was extremely excited to run, swim and chase his toys on the beach.
He particularly enjoyed playing in the dunes - see video at the end of this post for some live action!
Even though we were only down in Camber for two days it was very peaceful and a lovely way to get away from it all.
Here are a few videos of our excursions on the beach and in the dunes, enjoy!
For more videos of Guinness check out our shared folder on dropbox - drop us an email if you didn't get the link
In 2003 we lived in a beautiful flat in Chicago that had a perfect little corner for a lovely Christmas tree.
In 2004 we moved to the UK and made the executive decision to leave all of our Christmas decorations at home as we just wouldn't have the storage space (albeit it was only two small boxes worth). We rightly guessed that we may be missing more than just storage space...
2004 came and went and our little flat in Chiswick didn't have a perfect little corner for a lovely Christmas tree.
2005 and 2006 came and went and our little cottage in Waterbeach didn't have a perfect little corner for a lovely Christmas tree, or any space for much at all for that matter...
2007, 2008 and 2009 came and went and our little cottage on Blacksmiths Lane didn't have a perfect little corner for a lovely Christmas tree, at least not one where a wagging tail wouldn't knock off all of the ornaments or perhaps even the tree itself.
(are you sensing a theme here yet?)
2010 came and went and our little cottage on Albert Street didn't seem to have a perfect little corner for a lovely Christmas tree.
2011 came.... and alas, we found a lovely little corner (or spot in the middle of the room) after all for a lovely little Christmas tree!
So after eight years of waiting for the opportunity to once again have a little tree with twinkly lights and dangling ornaments, we finally have one! It's a gorgeous little narrow 'European' tree with just enough density and scent to give the room a festive cheer.
Wishing you all the best in this festive time of year!
Taking advantage of Cora having a work conference there, we fulfilled a long time wish to visit Krakow in September. Krakow is a very compact city that you can easily explore by foot. The weather was glorious, so as we discovered different parts of the city we also took advantage of the many outdoor cafes in the Polish sunshine.
Krakow’s historic centre is an UNESCO World Heritage Site and the Main Market Square, the castle on Wawel Hill and old Jewish district of Kazimierz are filled with little lanes and random, alluring sites. We settled into our little bed and breakfast near the centre, and were politely greeted in Polish. This ended up being a regular occurrence, as many saw our Polish/Ukrainian surname and assumed we were Polish.
Having had a really busy few weeks leading up to this short visit, we didn’t venture far off the beaten path and stuck to many of the main sites. We discovered the castle and its surroundings, some of the old synagogues and Jewish Cemetery and generally enjoyed the sights, sounds and food of Krakow.
We had a great time the first night with some of Cora’s colleagues from the conference as we found ourselves in a random little bar with Singer sewing machines dotted all over the place and deep red toned antique decorations. The place was packed but people were still dancing to the most eclectic mix of music we had ever heard. They played reggae and Spanish, pop and rock and some quite upbeat Gypsy music. At one point it even sounded like they were playing Fiddler on the Roof! It was close to 4am before we wandered home having had a great night out!
On one day we wandered across the river to the old industrial district and found the old Schindler Factory, which now houses a fabulous museum to Krakow during World War II. It features elements of Oscar Schindler’s story and how he saved close to 1,200 Jews by employing and shielding them from the concentration camps. But it also showed what everyday life was like and how the Poles, of all religions, coped with, and fought against the Nazi and then Soviet occupations. It was a wonderfully well put together museum that tried to show you through all your senses what life was like during that time, and we definitely recommend it to any future visitors.
If the weekend had a theme, it was probably best summed up by raspberries. Malina is the derivative for raspberries and there are lots of different foods, drinks and even a restaurant using malina in some way or the other. So we had delicious raspberry beer, raspberry biscuits and a raspberry honey sauce on the meat platter we shared at the Miod Malina restaurant. It was a really nice way to connect to an ancestral land and made us feel a little bit special each time we saw it on a label or menu.
After the fun, frivolity and excitement of Austin and Kay’s wedding in July, we hired a car and drove three hours east to Lake Tahoe. Both of us were craving mountains and some time surrounded by nature, and Tahoe came through in spades.
We found ourselves a quaint little studio flat over a couple’s garage and almost immediately headed down to their private dock to take in the full view of the lake. Being situated on the North Coast, we had spectacular views straight down the lake towards the Nevada-California state line. We were lucky enough to see snow capped peaks, as the Sierra Nevadas had encountered a very heavy winter, one that afforded the ski resorts to stay open until July 4th!
The scope of Lake Tahoe is quite incredible. About 22 miles long by 12 miles wide at its maximum points, it has a surface elevation of 6,225 feet making it the largest alpine lake in North America. It has an average depth of 1,000 feet, but the water is so clear and clean that you can routinely see to depths of 80 to 100 feet! Lake Tahoe holds enough water that if it were emptied out, it would cover the entire state of California to a depth of five feet. In short, Lake Tahoe is a big, deep, gorgeous clean body of water.
We spent the two full days we had driving from beauty spot to beauty spot listening to a CD that our hosts left for us by a local singer/songwriter/ski bum – Tahoe’s equivalent to Jimmy Buffet. The CD was a mixture of songs about Tahoe and spoken history, including stories of the white man’s discovery in 1844, the meaning of Washo (the original Native American name), and other local legends, myths, and tales of Lake Tahoe.
We took a couple of nice, short hikes into the peaks, including a lovely picnic lunch on a smaller lake that drains into Tahoe, as well as a sharp climb up to a great view over the entire lake – complete with our own little furry chipmunk friend. The highlight for both of us, besides maybe relaxing each evening in the hot tub overlooking the lake and rising full moon, was our kayaking trip.
After renting kayaks, we spent four hours paddling between the massive boulders and small coves on the Nevada side of the lake. Kayaking was definitely a great way to feel in tune with the lake and truly get a sense of the depth and clarity of the water. It was amazingly tranquil and was exactly what we were looking for. If we had had longer we definitely would have done it again on a different part of the lake.
We were hoping to see a bit more wildlife, but we settled with seeing a very friendly yellow lab (go figure), a curious chipmunk, a regal eagle (seen at a distance) and a ‘whale’ who you may find featuring in the slideshow below!
Experiencing Lake Tahoe was a great little getaway and we only wish we had had more time to enjoy the fantastic natural beauty of this beautiful blue giant!
On the long Easter weekend we went for our first cycle ride of the year. Nothing serious, just a little jaunt with a picnic to enjoy the glorious weather. After our picnic we decided to take a random path instead of going back along the roads.
The path led through the woods to the entrance of Heartwood Forest, a mixture of existing ancient woodland and freshly planted baby trees. We cycled through the lovely wooded areas and were treated to absolute carpets of bluebells.
We didn’t have our cameras with us, so we decided to head back there the next day. So, on foot, with Guinness, we once again packed a picnic lunch and walked a 12 mile return trip up to the woods and back.
It is always nice to know that even after 4+ years of living here we can find new experiences on our doorstep. All it took was taking the path less travelled.
Another delicious recipe to share, from the Seven Continents Recipes Book compiled by Carol Fisher
Ingredients:
3 T oil
1/2 cup onion
3 T flour
2 tsp cumin
1/2 tsp ginger1/4 tsp red pepper
1 tsp salt
1 1/2 tsp coriander
1/2 tsp tumeric
1 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp cloves
1/2 tsp cinammon2 tsp curry powder
Lemon, grated rind and juice
2 cups beef stock
2 cups ground beef
Instructions:
Brown onions in hot oil. Mix all dry spices and add to onions. Cook for three minutes over low heat to remove raw taste of spices, stirring constantly. Add rind and juice plus 2 cups stock. Simmer until thickens slightly. Add cooked meat. Serve with rice and garnish with fresh parsley.
Known as the ‘city of golden spires’ and the ‘mother of cities’, Prague draws you in with her meandering, magical, medieval streets and passageways. Best explored on foot, the city radiates a gothic charm infused with colourful grand buildings that would not be out of place on the splendid Parisian boulevards.
Prague is best known for the Charles Bridge, Astronomical Clock and the castle that dominates the northwestern ridge of the city. But the city is so much more. It is the winding streets of Malá Strana, the cluttered and chaotic Jewish Cemetery and the unknown lurking around every corner that really gives this city a beautiful soul.
The Charles Bridge is the lynchpin of any tourist experience. The now pedestrian only bridge was built by Charles IV and features numerous religious statues and beautiful lanterns. Protected by towers on either end, the bridge had a military role to play in past centuries but it is now the domain of tourists and small artisans selling their crafts.
The Charles Bridge is best explored at a slow walk, observing the statues, people and most importantly the views of the Vltava River, Prague Castle and numerous spires. This bridge has as many emotions as there are types of Czech weather and can be haunting in mist, romantic in snow and downright unpleasant in the howling rain.
Stretching away from the eastern side of the bridge is the ‘Old Town’. All streets will eventually take you to Staromêstské námêstí, the main square with the fabulous Astronomical Clock. This dual faced clock is not located atop the clock tower, but rather around the side of the tower and features an astronomical dial, hourly ‘walk of the apostles’ and a calendar dial.
Every hour a massive crowd forms below the clock to watch the new hour chime in.When the clock strikes the hour a skeletal figure representing Death begins ringing a bell suggesting that it is time go – in the eternal sense of the word. The other figures next to the clock shake their heads in disagreement while the 12 Apostles parade in front of two open windows above the clock.
After watching the clock’s show it is well worth the 100CZK (about £4) to ascend the tower itself. After taking the lift shaped like an old glass internal mail tube or climbing the sloped ramps and tight metal spiralled staircase you will be greeted with phenomenal views in all directions over the red terracotta rooftops. Although constantly bumped in the tight tower walkway, seeing this magical city from above is not to be missed, nor rushed. Anyone who happens to be atop the tower at the strike of an hour will have the pleasure of seeing the trumpeter play and wave to those massed below.
Wandering out of the Old Town Square it is easy to make your way to Vaclavske námêstí (Wenceslas Square).Although lined with souvenry shops and casinos the square is truly awe-inspiring. Stretching uphill nearly half a mile to the grandiose neoclassical Czech National Museum, this sprawling expanse of space leaves you unsettled following the cramped streets of the older areas of the city. A former horse market, the square dates back to the 14th century and is the traditional gathering place for large scale demonstrations and celebrations.
Beyond this square to the south lies the 10th century fortress of Vyšehrad and the more modern sections of the city. Ubiquitous amongst these areas are the concrete tower blocks of any major western city. Yet, unlike many ‘capitalist’ cities, many suggest that these tower estates have traditionally engendered a strong community setting and the residents take great pride in their buildings, encouraging those of all economic statuses to remain within these blocks.
Heading out of the Old Town Square in the opposite direction from Wenceslas Square you encounter the old Jewish Ghetto of Josefov. The centrepiece of this small sub-neighbourhood of Old Town is the old Jewish Cemetery. The burial ground dates from the 15th century and entombs as many as 100,000 people in 12 layers deep with perhaps 12,000 visible tombstones. Some stand proud and vertical, others jumble together like people huddling under an umbrella. The first feeling you get is of chaotic neglect, yet after delving deeper into the labyrinth you come to see a beauty in the haphazard nature of this sacred ground.
Surrounding the cemetery are several synagogues including the majestic Spanish Synagogue covered floor to ceiling in ornate paintings. Josefov is also home to the Old-New Synagogue, the oldest synagogue still being used in Europe today. Within this area you often come across three short stairs across the street at intersections which demarcate the old city walls.
Nestled between the river and the Castle is Malá Strana (Lesser Town). It is a lovely place to stay as the area is quieter and slightly less touristy than the other side of the river. There are numerous little streets and squares that beckon to be explored and post-dinner strolls are particularly worthwhile.
Leading up from Malá Strana are the Old and New Castle Steps. Whichever set of steps you choose to climb, amazing panoramic views of the city stretch out below the Castle walls. The Prazskíhrad (Castle) isn’t a castle with turrets and ramparts as you may expect, but rather a series of palaces, walls and gardens atop the hill. The centrepiece of the castle area is St Vitus Cathedral which towers above the surrounding buildings and is visible from almost anywhere in the central areas of Prague.
From the castle it is a lovely walk through yet more narrow, cobblestoned streets to the Stanhov Monastery, home to a magnificent library and locally brewed beers. The monastery borders Petrín Hill, a large wooded park that is perfect for walking amongst fallen autumnal leaves and sitting on benches enjoying the sun-speckled city below.
These are just some of the many wonderful experiences, places and vistas to be enjoyed in this magical city.Whatever you have time to explore, be sure to stop on the Charles Bridge and rub the statue of St John of Nepomuk which legend says will bring you back to Prague someday…
As many of you know, we are being unceremoniously chucked out of our house. Our landlords decided to sell, couldn't find a buyer, decided to rent it again, but didn't specify how long for. Basically after a lot of uncertainty, we could wait no longer and found another dog-friendly cottage in St Albans (more on that next time).
Even though the last few weeks have not been overly joyous with estate agents breathing down our necks and the landlords flip-flopping, we have genuinely loved this little cottage. It has been our home for more than 3.5 years and during that time we have grown to love the area and found some really fantastic friends. We aren't moving far and will still be able to walk in the park and see everyone here often, but the proximity to the open fields and the feeling of relaxation that we felt walking down Fishpool Street every evening will no longer be a part of our lives.
We are quite used to moving, as everyone knows, but this is the first time we are moving because of someone else's decision. It is a different mentality to have - more denial, less excitement. It is alright though, we have spent the day packing - not a terribly relaxing day off work - and the excitement is beginning to build.
Guinness has been feeling quite worried over the whole mess of boxes and wrapping and suitcases. He spent the day either exploring what we were doing, sitting outside pouting or trying to get some shut eye in the most inconvenient places he could find.
We have our doubts about the next place, but who knows, we might be pleasantly surprised. Regardless, we will make it our home and hope that the next time we move, it will be once again of our choosing.
You will undoubtedly have noticed a general dearth of entries over the previous months. Reasons for this are two-pronged. One is we have been nose to the grindstone at work and generally in life and have therefore not been out and about with our usual verve and purpose. The second is actually for the same reason as above, only in the sense that even when we have gotten out and about we haven’t had the chance to edit photos/write up the blog entry. However, we have reached Bank Holiday weekend and finally found some time... so here is the first of a few posts about our summer adventures.
Having had very little holiday this year and with finally being able to hire a car, we decided on a long weekend of camping in the Lake District. This is an area of the UK we had not been to before and well, we still haven’t. The weather through June and July was pretty much perfect – sunny, dry and warm. That all changed the week leading up to our planned weekend at the end of July. The forecast for the Lake District was torrential rain all weekend, so we cast about for other options, settling on Snowdonia in Northern Wales.
We set out in partially cloudy conditions and as we moved ever closer to the Welsh border the clouds darkened, and then opened. First a mere drizzle, turning progressively harder as we wound through the green country roads of Snowdonia National Park. It was gorgeous scenery, though we couldn’t see too much of it through the sheets of rain.
We arrived at our campsite, Hafod Y Llan, at the base of Snowdon and ostensibly next to a ‘babbling’ brook. Yeah, not so much babbling as cacophonous, but it was surrounded by a lush, green moss covering every rock and tree trunk.
The campsite was nice, even if the rain required a bit of improvisation on our tent. Deciding that cooking on a propane stove in the pouring rain wasn’t going to work and desperately needing to be in out of the rain we went to a nearby pub and went from being soaked to slightly damp in the course of our meal.
The rain had stopped by the time we were done and back to the campsite, but that just encouraged the midges to come out in force, so we retreated to our tent for an early night and the hope of better conditions come morning. The next morning however we woke up to more rain. It broke long enough to let us cook our breakfast but we ended up eating in the tent as the clouds opened once more.
Sick of sitting in the rain and being in no mood to further exhaust ourselves hiking up a wet and muddy mountain, we voted two to one to get back in the car and drive further south in the hopes of some better weather and a change of scenery. I say two to one because Guinness was not real keen on the car. He used to love our old Jetta in Chicago and would cram his substantial frame into the back window sill and very comfortably spend many hours sleeping up there on our myriad trips. This car did not have a similar window sill for him and so he spent all weekend standing and panting in semi-agitation whenever in the car. Not great for all involved.
We wandered over to the coast and had a nice picnic on a rocky beach, with Guinness swimming in the waves for the first time since North Carolina all those years back. Suffice to say, he enjoyed himself!
We wound up in a delightful little campsite just outside Brecon Beacons National Park in South Wales and had a nice meal and then got a roaring campfire going – before the rains returned. Unwilling to turn away from our campfire early, we huddled under the umbrella for thirty minutes for the rain to stop, before finally turning in.
The morning greeted us with more rain – I am convinced by the way that it never rained in the Lake District but rather moved south with us all weekend – and we once more got wet taking the campsite apart. More driving greeted us, some of it along rather tiny farm tracks up the moorland of Brecon Beacons.
We did get out and hike to the top of a hill just because it was there – even stayed dry on that excursion.
Further driving, complete with panting dog in the back seat, brought us through the Forest of Dean and to the edge of the Cotswolds. We thought we would have a poke around Bourton-on-the-Wold, but apparently half of England had a similar idea – circus only begins to describe the scene – so instead we just cracked on home.
The peaceful, relaxing weekend we had envisaged it was not. Too mobile, as we always seem to be, and too wet. That being said, it was great to have the freedom of a car and we really enjoyed seeing some scenery of the UK that we had not been able to enjoy yet. Our second night with the campfire was great as well and at the end of the day, we hadn’t been to work on Friday, which was always going to be a plus!
To sum up: camping in Britain requires a heck of a lot of good waterproof kit, a car with a back window sill and more than three days. Lessons learned for next time, which there will definitely be.
Over the last month or so, we've had the joy of seeing lots of new families make their home in the park near our house where we walk with Guinness daily.
The park is home to a number of bird species including ducks, geese, coots, swans, magpies, pigeons, seagulls, herons, ruddy ducks and moorhens as well as a number of other funny looking birds which we can't always identify.
It's so much fun watching each family appear and then grow until you can no longer differentiate them from the adults. We're also busy counting the babies to make sure one hasn't gone missing (in a heron's meal) but that can sometimes be a challenge. This year, one pair of geese have 22 goslings!
We'll make a few more attempts soon to get the other families, the geese were out in force this time...
After months of preparation and well over 400 miles of training runs, we set off for Paris on Thursday night after work. We were on schedule and making our way through Eurostar when we had a ‘petit probleme’. As I got out the passports, I had one red one (British) for Cora, one blue one (American) for me… except, the blue one was actually Cora’s as well!
So after a moment or two of panic and much swearing from me, I made a quick dash back home – well, quick if you consider a 20 minute train ride, return cab trip and then another 20 minute train ride back fast. I finally got back through security 20 minutes before the last train left – which Cora was able to get us re-booked onto whilst I was dashing home. Not a brilliant start to the weekend to say the least!
From there things went smoothly and our good friends Amelie and PH were excellent and very hospitable hosts for the weekend making us feel right at home. I got my number and timing chip on Friday at the Marathon Expo and then we joined Adeline and Diane, Venla and Julien, and Amelie and PH for a nice quiet dinner after they finished work.
Saturday we spent a lot of time outside relaxing and consuming a lot of pasta. That night we also celebrated Adeline’s birthday, which was on the Sunday, with a chocolate cake and a few never-ending candles magic candles which really dumbfounded little two year old Diane.
Sunday dawned bright and cool, but blissfully free of the winds they were forecasting. I had a quiet breakfast and finished some last preparations and was out the door by 715. We met up with Oliver and Kathy, the other two runners from Cora’s company, and then walked the two minutes up to the Arc d’Triomphe where the marathon started.
It was a truly amazing experience to be in a crowd of 30,000 runners all heading off down the Champs Elysees at once and the first few kilometers flew by.
The elites
I passed our cheering section twice in the first half of the race and definitely felt great at those points.
After the marathon we spent the rest of the day drinking and eating and hanging out with good friends, with Oliver and I gradually hobbling around after people. All in all it was a really great weekend and although the last hour and a half of running were not great on my part, the marathon itself was still amazing. That being said, I am taking a well deserved break off from running this week!
Congratulations to all three marathon runners - CW, Oliver and Kathy for a great marathon!!
Just wanted to share a touch of Easter in England with this little excerpt of our beautiful local church bells.
The sound and quality aren't the best since I did it with my phone, but hopefully you can still hear something of how lovely the sound of our weekly bells are...
