Back to Kent

Even tho' I think every once in awhile that I miss having a car, when we actually do drive in the city I quickly remember how lucky we are not to have one.  When I say "we" drive, I of course mean Chris.  When we first came to London, I told him that learning to drive here could be one of the biggest challenges of my life, but also one of my greatest accomplishments.  However, it was not to be.  Just wasn't worth the hassle and most of the cars here have manual transmissions anyway, which I never mastered on my own side of the pond with the gear shift on my right...  I could really be dangerous behind the wheel here.  What with the "roundabouts" every 100 yards and the motorways named with letters & numbers, going clockwise and "anti-clockwise".  And when giving directions in the UK (or in fact anywhere we've been in Europe) no one uses street names.  It's "Go down this road about 5 minutes and turn right when you see the Budgens."  This includes the good old GPS, or "sat nav" as it's more popularly referred to here.  Our automated friend simply doesn't use road names or numbers, rather it's, "after 100 yards, turn right at the round about, third exit" or "after 200 yards, bear right" or "after 100 yards, go straight on!"  But she was spot on with her most recent commentary, and we were grateful to have her when we rented a car last weekend and drove to the Kent Coast.

I've been wanting to see Dover Castle, and a few different people recommended against staying in the town of Dover itself, so I found a hotel in the seaside port of Ramsgate, about 20 miles north.  Suffice it to say that Ramsgate is nowhere as scenic as its tourist website portrays, and the room we stayed in - although the hotel itself was charming - was probably the smallest we've ever stayed in.  Ever.  In our lives.  One of us had to back up around the bed when the other needed to grab something from the closet - er - cubby with hangers.  But it was clean and functional and completely fine.  And despite the lack of atmosphere in Ramsgate, we had really great dinners there both nights we stayed, first at a seafood restaurant tucked away above a fishmonger's shop, and the second at a Michelin-starred venue with a waiter from NYC.

The real highlights of this weekend were Dover Castle and the famed "White Cliffs".  And we thoroughly enjoyed the town of Sandwich, where we spent our Sunday before heading back to London.  Dover Castle is a fort that originally dates back to early Saxon days 2,000 years ago.  It was expanded upon under Henry II, who built the current castle in the early 12th century.  Well, we are talking about a king here, so I suppose it's more accurate to say that he had the castle built.  Over the years, it's served as a key defense of Britain, being quite close to the coastline of France across the English Channel.  From the first invasion by the French in 1216, to protection during the Napoleonic Wars threat in the early 1800's, to it's importance in the planning and execution of "Operation Dynamo" - a huge evacuation effort of British troops from Dunkirk during WWII - Dover Castle has earned its nickname of "key of England".

The castle is actually a huge complex, and your visit can be broken up into sort of 5 different eras of history; we spent the most time in the Secret Wartime Tunnels exhibit.  These tunnels were first built  - or dug I suppose - during the Napoleonic Wars - and became the crucial centerpiece for the afore-mentioned Operation Dynamo.  They basically provided an underground city including headquarters, barracks, and a hospital, and the amazing feat of the evacuation of nearly 340,000 troops over 10 days who were trapped in Dunkirk and unable to fend off the German army any longer, was carried out from these tunnels.  The exhibit was really well done and moving.

Leaving the castle, we drove to the nearby White Cliffs.  The weather had improved nicely by then and we had a lovely walk along the cliff edge (!) to get a good look.  We recalled our trip to the more-impressive Cliffs of Mohor in Ireland in 2005 - like then, there was not a guardrail in sight.  And it was windy which made us feel all the more vulnerable.  But we didn't fall thank goodness, rather we got some lovely pictures and strolled back to the car after about 30 minutes - we really didn't need more.  On the way back to Ramsgate, we stopped in the nice little coastal town of Deal and had a bit of a walk around before stopping for a pub lunch, then headed back to our hotel.  As I said earlier, Ramsgate doesn't seem to offer much in the way of culture or history, but we were 2 for 2 with really excellent restaurants for our dinners, in both food & service.  Made the lack of square footage in our hotel room bearable.  And speaking of the hotel, the common areas were really charming, and they even had an extensive vinyl collection and a turntable; while I was napping one afternoon Chris whiled away some time in the reception room listening to classic Dire Straits.

After packing up and checking out the next morning, we headed for Sandwich, a lovely and historic little Cinque port town. (What's a Cinque port? click here. )  At first we were a bit discouraged, as everything seemed to be closed, including the tourist information center!  But we stopped for a coffee and had a chat with the proprietor and she gave us some encouragement.  And believe it or not, the attendant at the public toilet was a wealth of information and had free maps for us!  Thank God for Chris's prostrate the size of a grapefruit.  So we went to the "Secret Gardens of Sandwich" which were beautiful, and strolled along the town "wall walk" and had a nice lunch before finally calling it a day and heading back to London.  It was a nice little getaway weekend in this nice little country of which we are privileged to be temporary residents.

https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/DoverEtc?authuser=0&feat=directlink

On Overload

So much has been happening since I last wrote I don't even think I can write a sensible commentary.

Chris & visited Dorset in September, more specifically the coastal towns of Bournemouth & Poole and had a very nice time.  I can't write a blog about the weekend, however, as I took no notes and it was already 6 weeks ago.  In a nutshell:  Bournemouth - pretty touristy, nice hotel, lovely gardens in the middle of town, on the seaside; Poole - much more quaint and pretty, on a harbor, very old, love their pottery.  Oh - and I was convinced that I saw Vanessa Redgrave there.  What Vanessa Redgrave, CBE, would be doing in frumpy clothing sitting on a bench on the Poole Quay (boardwalk) I have no idea, but if it wasn't Vanessa, then she has a twin.  An identical twin.  And even tho' the woman told me directly that she was not Vanessa Redgrave when I asked (oh, yes - I asked), if she had said she was I would've believed her, she looked that much like Vanessa Redgrave, even at close range.  As a matter of fact, I'm convinced that she told me that she was not indeed Vanessa Redgrave, so as not to start a riot of fans right there on the Poole Quay.  Chris & I are fortunate enough to have tickets to see Ms. Redgrave co-starring with James Earl Jones in the West End production of Driving Miss Daisy next weekend.  Perhaps a stage door interrogation following the play is in order.

Anyway.  At the end of September and beginning of October, London - indeed most of the lower UK - was blessed with summer.  Finally.  It was truly glorious weather by any region's standards: blue, cloudless sky and temps hovering right around 80 degrees F or a tad higher.  I took advantage by walking & visiting parks where possible, and Joyce, Jenny & I made a day of it and visited Ham House, a National Trust property in the southwest part of London.  Chris & I also finally made it back to Highgate Cemetery to check out the west side (we saw the east side last summer) and I must say, against most conventional wisdom we both preferred the east side.  You can only visit the west side through a tour group and aren't able to wander around on your own, which might have been why it was less appealing.  Still a beautiful, mysterious place.  Apparently, Highgate was the setting for various B-type vampire & horror movies in the 60's and 70's, and it's completely evident why it would have served as the perfect choice.

On the day that the weather was due to become more seasonable and England-like, Chris, Kyle & I flew off to the US for a visit.  True to form, it was jam-packed.   It unfortunately started with a 5-hour delay at Dulles for Kyle & I as our plane from London was delayed and we missed the connecting flight to Syracuse.  But it was all up hill from there.  We spent 2 days in Liverpool (NY) then drove down to Vestal to our house that we seem to grow to love more the longer we are away from it!  That weekend, the Manning family descended for the annual (when we can pull it off) Early Thanksgiving, and as usual, it was a hoot.  Following that, Chris flew to DC for work and Kyle and I took a road trip to NJ and PA before heading back to Vestal to prepare for the Wronsky's 50th Anniversary dinner, which was a sparkling success.   Then, after the bathrooms were once again clean, beds made up with clean sheets and every last crumb vacuumed away, we all flew down to Washington for a few more days of visiting with the guys before finally flying back to London.  Gosh - it made me tired just to recall all of that!

And speaking of tired, the jet-lag got the better of me on this end of the trip and it seemed to take longer than usual to get back onto GMT.  And now that I finally am, we turn the clocks back this weekend.  Woe is me, right?  Until the next adventure, I will survive!

https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/BournemouthPoole?authuser=0&feat=directlink

https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Summer2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

The Rest of Summer

18 August:  Eric arrives from US
20 August:  Michael & Sarah arrive from US
20-29 August:  Duck confit sandwich at Borough Market, Holly Bush, Hill Garden & Pergola, Golders Hill Park, Bull & Bush, Hyde Park, the Swan, Imperial War Museum, Museum of London, Three Stags, London Walks (Unexpected Downpour), Market Porter
23 August:  Sue & Sarah go to Richard Ward Salon in Chelsea to have hair done; Sarah gets hair done by Kate Middleton's personal stylist James Pryce; rainiest day so far this summer!  (He loved her dress!  Well done.)
25 August:  Michael & Sarah depart for Austria
29 August:  Eric departs for home
30 August:  Chris departs for US work trip, passes Liz on M1 who is arriving from Heathrow (2 days late - thanks Irene!)
1 September: Chris returns from US
2 September:  Meg & Glenn arrive from US
30 August - 9 September:  The Duke, Holly Bush, Geffrye Museum, Sông Quê, Cristina & Wycliffe, St. Paul's, Southbank, Vinopolis & the Whiskey Exchange, la Ballerina, Chris & Glenn golf at the Belfry, V & A, Hyde Park, the Swan, Notting Hill (fond farewell, Travel Bookshop!), Chris turns 49, Tower of London in the rain (finally see the Crown Jewels!  Kind of unimpressed so glad we weren't waiting 2 hours in a cold rain as others have done), Hung, Drawn & Quartered, Westminster sights, Belgo for dinner (unpleasant diner behind us - there is a story here), Camden Markets for last minute shopping, last stop at Holly Bush and final lamb dinner.  Whew!
9 September:  Liz & Koetz's depart for Heathrow.  Sue enters Betty Ford Clinic.

https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/SummerCompany?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Stratford-upon-Avon

I've been compiling a list of recommendations from various sources of places to visit in England, and several different folks suggested Stratford-upon-Avon - which will be referred to here at "SoA" or simply "Stratford".  Hyphens can be such a nuisance.

Stratford is in the Cotswold region (dedicated readers will recall that the Cotswolds are a "An Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty" north & west of London.)  The train from London took about 2 hours, and our hotel (the appropriately named "Shakespeare Hotel") was another one of those lovely old Tudor buildings built in the 16th century and nicely modernized for the 21st.  The first evening there, most shops & sights were closed, but we strolled around and got our first look at Shakespeare's birthplace, which is of course the biggest tourist draw to the city.  One of Chris's colleagues had recommended an Italian restaurant and it was fabulous - so fab in fact that it was our dinner spot for both nights.  (Well, it was fab, and we found all of our other choices booked the second night, so it worked out well.)

Saturday morning showed the promise of sun and off we went to explore the Home of the Bard.   First stop was the afore-mentioned Birthplace, and it was pretty neat.  Will was born to John & Mary Shakespeare; Dad was a glove-maker and married Mary Arden, who's childhood farm is another historic sight nearby.  The date of his birth (23 April, 1564) is estimated by the recorded date of his baptism; it's known that back then a child was typically baptized within 2-4 days of its birth (unless the poor thing was sickly - then it happened asap!) Will grew up in SuA, and at the age of 18 married the 26-year-old Anne Hathaway, who was - gasp - already with child!  I was a bit disappointed in this fact not because baby was already on the way (I mean, really - who am I to judge?) but because it ensures that the movie "Shakespeare in Love" (one of my favorites) is a complete work of fiction, rather than just a partial work of fiction.  **Sigh**  Anyhoo... Will went on to do all sorts of remarkable things, such as become the greatest writer in the English language.  His plays were being staged in London by 1592 and he spent his career between Stratford & London, where his company founded and constructed the Globe Theatre.  He lived out his days at New Place, the second largest home in Stratford, and died on 23 April, 1616 -  his 52nd birthday.

After the Birthplace, our 3-in-1"Shakespeare Birthplace Trust" ticket gained us entrance to Nash's House & New Place, and Hall's Croft. Nash's house is the still-standing next-door neighbor to New Place, and is a museum; New Place is a very interesting work in progress: the final home of WS, it's currently being excavated, centuries after having been demolished in about 1760.  Hall's Croft was the home of Will & Anne's daughter Susanna and her husband John Hall;  a "croft" is an enclosed area of land.  It's an interesting period home - the Halls were quite wealthy - with really lovely gardens.  In order to bring things full circle, our last stop of the day was the Holy Trinity Church, the final resting place of the Beloved Playwright.  It's on a very quiet and beautiful spot along the River Avon, and I think honors him well.

After a little siesta back at the hotel, we went to meet Mr. Josiah Grubb, guide for our evening's Stratford Ghost Walk, and he was delightful.  We ended up revisiting many of the spots we'd seen earlier in the day, but gained new ethereal insights.  Then it was back to Sorrento, where they already knew our name, and yummy Italian fare, of the Stratfordian ilk.  Sunday found us shopping in a colorful street market, then to the Royal Shakespeare Company for a behind-the-scenes tour, which was really interesting.  The RSC is home to one of the most - if not the most - prestigious Shakespeare companies in Britian; it's been burned down and rebuilt and currently produces multiple Shakespeare productions each year, featuring such notables as Dame Judi Dench, Sir Patrick Stewart, and Sir Ian McKellan.  When we were there, Macbeth was playing, but at a running time of 2:50, we wisely decided that Josiah Grubb was more our speed.

Statford-upon-Avon holds a worthy spot on our list of recommendations.  And so alas, parting in such sweet sorrow, I leave you better a witty fool than a foolish wit; but surely you know that despite the fact that our revels are now ended, we can always be assured that all's well that ends well.  So until next time, my friends... "A horse! A horse!  My kingdom for a horse!"  I know, I know.... "I must be cruel, only to be kind."  And...  oh forget it.  You get the drift.

https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/StratfordUponAvon?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Quand les Proches Entré - Deuxième Partie

Oh man, this one will be tough.  Paris seems like a lifetime ago at this point!  But I will do my best to remember the highlights, the first of which occured before we even left London.  We were nearly "down one Grampa" as Nicole so aptly put it, as after we all got off of the tube at St. Pancras station on the way to the train, Sam didn't realize we'd all exited and was still in the carriage after the rest of us had gotten off and the tone was sounding for the doors to close.  Fortunately we saw him just in the knick of time - it was the crowded morning rush hour - and he made it off in time.  Had he not... well, let's just say the Eurostar waits for no one.  Fortunately, it didn't come to that.

Dad was the only one in our group who had never been to the "City of Lights", but we all saw many sights for the first time.  We arrived in the early afternoon on a Wednesday and checked into a wonderful hotel, just steps away from the National Assembly and within a 5 minute walk of the Place de la Concorde.  The skies were questionable to begin with and we started off for lunch in a bit of a shower, but by the end of the day we were clear and dry.  We walked quite a bit - as you do in Paris - and made it to the Notre Dame Cathedral just before it closed for the day.  On the way back to the hotel we stopped for a libation and ordered a cheese board to share at the table.  Sam declared the butter the best cheese on the plate (he really did think it was cheese - must be something in the French milk) so we dubbed it "le beurre fromage" and had a good laugh.  Dinner that evening was fantastic - a bistro in walking distance with wonderful service, terrific food, and even an English menu.

The next day was Bastille Day, and we were lucky enough to catch a bit of the air show and parade right near our hotel.  We then were on the march once again, and headed for le Jardin & le Palais du Luxumbourg.  Mon Dieu, were they beautiful, and well worth the trek.  Also worth the trek was where we went for lunch afterwards: the "Académie de la Bière".  My guidebook had recommended it, and the gendarmes outside of the palace had heard of it, but they gave us directions European-style.  In other words - no sense of distance.  Cinq minutes turned into trente minutes, but at least we were going in the right direction.  Good beer and good food and a good resting spot.  Dinner that night was a bit more of a challenge - no English menu and not many English speakers, so we took the waiter's suggestion and ordered a price-fixed chef's menu for the table.  Smart move.  We might not have been able to name everything we ate, but we can definitely say it was delish.  And what better way to end a French dinner but with fireworks over the Eiffel Tower?  We only caught the tail end but it appeared to be an amazing finale to Bastille Day.

Our final day was picture perfect, just right for a stroll down the Champs-Elysées to the Arc de Triomphe followed by a river cruise on the Seine.  Unfortunately we were on a boat with a roof, which would've been great if it was raining; in our case it prohibited us from really being able to see some of the sights being spoken about in our audio guide.  Oh well... c'est la vie.  Still fun.  Our last meal wasn't a great way to end the trip, due to Chris getting into an argument with the waiter over our credit card use (or banning there-of), but the friendly receptionist at our hotel had us smiling again when we went back to pick up our luggage, and all was set right again.  Two and a half days is simply not enough for Paris - even if you've been before - but even a short trip can pack quite a punch and we all had a great time.

The family's final days in rainy/sunny London were spent at the Churchill Museum/Cabinet War Rooms, and a trip to Harrods along with half the population of the universe.  We did find by default a wonderful little pub in Kensington that had a limited menu of pub-fare pure and simple but it was really good.  And our Irish barmaid was a hoot so it was a good choice of spots to come into out of the rain.  We also squoze (squeezed?) in an early 21st birthday celebration for Kyle plus another dinner of lamb, so our companty left us with some yummy food memories to think about the next day when they were presented their airline choice of chicken or pasta, wrapped in plastic.

We are expecting a whole new slew of company during the second half of August and first part of September; I've thought of hanging a "No Vacancy" sign outside on the balcony but it could send the wrong message to the neighbors.  We're getting pretty good at making the Full English, so maybe considering opening a Bed & Breakfast is in order...   Contact me for availability and online booking options!

https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Paris2011?authuser=0&feat=directlink

When the Relatives Came...

Well - Sam, Mike, and Nicole finally arrived in London 36 hours later than they were supposed to, and down 2 suitcases, but the point is they made it.  (Most of you know that Sam is my father-in-law, Mike my bro-in-law, and Nicole Mike's girlfriend.)  They were truly no worse for the wear from their preceding 48 hour travel debacle - at least nothing that a full English and a hot shower couldn't cure.  Of course a brief walk around Hampstead and a stop at the pub were in order, followed by a lamb dinner - Mike's favorite from his visit last year.

The next morning, the five of us (Kyle was working) were off to Cambridge by train.  (We did a load of laundry the night before, what with the missing luggage and all.)  Chris & I had never been to Cambridge either, and we all really enjoyed it.  It has very much the same ambiance of Oxford, but is smaller, more quaint, and dare I say prettier.  The weather started off a bit on the rainy side (shouldn't be any surprises here) but by the end of the day we were relaxing in a punt boat in the sunshine on the river Cam being steered by the lovely Lucy and it was wonderful.  We spent the afternoon mostly strolling around town enjoying the scenery and dodging the ever-present punt-boat captains in their efforts to give us an awesome deal on a river ride.  By the end of the day, the sun had come out, and when punt-pusher Andy approached us he caught us just in the right mood, so we took him up on it and were so glad we did.  He turned us over into the capable hands of the afore-mentioned Lucy who was back punting for her first day after a bit of a hiatus, but didn't miss a trick.  She gave us a great tour of the colleges & landmarks on either side of the river.  She also suggested a restaurant for dinner and was spot-on with that as well.

After spending the night at a very nice B&B just outside of town, we spent the next day touring the colleges of Kings (the most well know of Cambridge's schools), St. Johns, and Clare, which had the most  beautiful gardens.  And the day was beautiful as well which was truly a bonus.   After doing some walking and shopping, we went back to a pub that we'd been to the day before at the suggestion of a market vendor who not only sold me a shirt and a purse, but who's wife was from Schenectady, NY which is but a stone's throw from where Chris & I grew up and where our visitors were from!  We most likely never would have gone back on our own as we witnessed and experienced ourselves some of the rudest behavior I'd ever seen on the part of the blond, Eastern European waitress when we'd been for lunch the previous day.  However, the vendor told us that it was a well known pub - the Eagle - and that during the war it had been a favorite hang out of both RAF pilots and American service men who had adorned the ceiling with graffiti marking their visit, something Blondie had neglected to mention the day before.  (To be fair, this particular bar was in a separate part of the pub.)  So we went back to have a pint and got a good look at a place that had most likely little changed since 1945.  Very cool.

After waiting awhile for a very nice lunch at a place suggested by the cab driver, we re-claimed our things at the B&B and headed for the train station.  Cambridge was most definitely worth the visit.

The following day was one of rest and a slow start, as the gang needed some down time and it was raining.  We stopped in to Kyle's store to visit him on his work break that afternoon before going to an early dinner at London's version of Joe Allen (which we thoroughly enjoyed) and then on to see the West End production of "Pygmalion" with Rupert Everett as Prof. Henry Higgins - which we also thoroughly enjoyed.  (Spoiler alert:  Eliza marries Freddie in the play!  Who knew?  Who will get the Professor his blasted slippers?!)  As Kyle was unable to join us for the play due to work, we invited Chris's admin, Amina, and it was so nice to have her along.

The next day started bright and early as we were off to take the Eurostar to Paree!  Stay tuned.

https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Cambridge?authuser=0&feat=directlink

Weather def. Wronskys in Straight Sets

(Cue violin music)
So... a few weeks ago, I had just kind of had it with what the latest in British summer weather had to offer.  Temps rarely getting above 70 degrees (21C); rain, then sun, then rain, then su..no - rai.. no, yes - rain, then hail.  And this is all within a 15 minute time span on any given day.  Enough to drive an otherwise happy-go-lucky person like me (ahem... yes - me) batty.  So... I decided that for our next weekend excursion, we would get outta Dodge.  What's close and easy to get to? France.  Paris?  Well, we'll be going again in July when company comes, so what about Lyon?  Sounds great.  The Eurostar goes there.  But you have to switch trains in Lille.  Well....  what about Lille, then?  Only an hour by train and I've heard it's a lovely place.  Lille it is.

Checked the Lille 5-day forecast (does that actually say 80 degrees on Sunday??), checked the London 5-day (60's with sun & rain.  Yup.), found a nice hotel, booked the tickets a few days ahead, and when I looked out the window at the crappy London weather I thought "Heh heh heh.  In a few short days, we'll be in warm, sunny Lille. Heh heh heh."

So...  Lille, in the very north of France, is a nice little town, and a nice little place to visit - but not for an entire weekend and not when it's rainy and cool (as it was meant to be in London); and London - where you normally live except this weekend when you chose to go away - is sunny and 80 (as it was meant to be in Lille.)  We did finally see blue sky and feel some warmth midday Sunday, and arriving back home were still able to enjoy the evening in Hampstead.  And the warm temps and sunny skies were forecast for Monday as well, and how wonderful, as we were right in the middle of the Wimbledon fortnight and anyone lucky enough to have tickets to Wimbledon - as we did (for Tuesday) - knows how spectacular a place Wimbledon is in the warm sunshine.  When it's raining, however... not so much.

And did it ever rain at Wimbledon on Tuesday.  It wasn't even one of those fickle rain-sun-rain-sun kind of days.  And when it was raining, it was RAINING - apparently the poor folks under the roof in Centre Court could barely hear the umpire shout her calls due to the heavy rain pelting the roof.  We in the uncovered Court 1 didn't have to deal with that nonsense.  Not us.   We could hear the cheers just fine over the walls from Centre Court while that match played and ours... well, didn't.  Around 4 pm (3 hours after our first match was due to begin) the big yellow thing in the sky seemed to be making an effort, and we actually saw some patches of blue.  So off the cover came and the match started, and it was actually a very good ladies quarter-final match (Kvitova def. Pironkova 6-3,6-7,6-2)... but then the sky brightening ended and it got dark and ominous again.  The 2nd match (Azarenka vs. Paszek) was barely begun before one of the players - not sure if it was Azarenka or Paszek - complained about the court being slippery, so the umpire came down, and a woman with a walkie talkie came out, and they all conferred and decided that the court was indeed too wet and play would... be... suspended.  And thus ended our once-in-a-lifetime Wimbledon experience.  Alack, alas, and woe is me.  Just one more piece of bad timing:  we found out the next morning that the match that got suspended ended up finishing on Centre Court - so we missed that experience as well.  But frankly, by the time play was called we really had had enough and it was time to go home.  In case you're wondering, Azarenka beat Paszek in straight sets.  And no, I am not making these names up.  Remember the easy last names, like King? Evert? Navratilova?

By the way, we did manage to relax with some Wimbledon traditional treats, like Champagne and strawberries & cream.  And even though it didn't turn out anything like we were anticipating, I am still happy to have had the Wimbledon experience.  We also made the most of Lille - they have a very nice fine art museum, the Palais de Beaux Arts, and we had a really great dinner on Saturday night at a Michelin-starred restaurant that one of Chris's colleagues recommended (which we'll be paying for in easy installments until 2012.)  The old town area is really beautiful with some great shopping if you like that sort of thing.  In retrospect, and even if the weather had been good, we really didn't need an entire weekend there and we wouldn't necessarily go back.  But, hey - it's another stamp on the old passport.

We have plans to go back to the American Embassy for the 4th of July picnic on Sunday.  Not sure what the forecast says but in my heart, I know it will be rain.
(End violin music)

View photos (such as they are):
https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Lille?authuser=0&feat=directlink
https://picasaweb.google.com/swronsky/Wimbledon?authuser=0&feat=directlink