Out of Space, Out of Time

The girls at the 10k Olympics swim event

Franny checking out the book selection at Harrods

Franny making the tough cupcake decision

Girls at Hampton Court

The last couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of fitting in the many things that we wanted to do, seeing the people that we wanted to say goodbye to, and getting ready for the journey back to Seattle. We managed to attend a few more Olympic events, including the cycling time trials at Hampton Court (photo directly above), the 10k Men's Outdoor Swim, and Steven went to see the shooting with Rob. We also went in to town and enjoyed the party atmosphere of thousands of spectators watching events on the big screens set up around the city, and watched the Closing Ceremony on our living room sofa.

Last Saturday night, we met Kevin and wandered along Southbank, sneaking in to the Globe Theater and hanging out at the new tanks exhibition halls at the Tate Modern. We watched some of the Olympics on the big screen, until the diving competition started and Steven got bored, then went for coffees and dessert and crossed the Tower Bridge to see the Olympic Rings up close one more time.

In the last week, I had beers with my Abel & Cole buddies and said goodbye to those sweethearts; and the girls spent lots of time with their London friends, promising to keep in touch. We also had one more Indian lunch with Alan and Isabel, thanking them for all of their support over the year, and had big hugs for our wonderful Tooting neighbours, whom we shall miss when back in Ballard.

Greta and I fit in one more trip to Somerset House, which was hosting an awesome Rolling Stones exhibit and an Impressionist drawing show in the Courtauld Gallery. And I took the girls to Harrods for cupcakes and a special souvenir gift, after spending the day at Hyde Park watching the swimming competition in the Serpentine (Lake). It was sad feeling like we were doing these things for the last time, but we all feel like we'll be back in London one day- and there is so much to look forward to in Seattle.

We flew back through Iceland again and arrived home safely, happy to be back in our comfy house. So, our amazing year in London has come to an end, and blogspot has informed us that we are out of memory space for adding more photos (we could have added loads more of the Cotswolds, as it was so picturesque there), so it looks like we finished up just in time. We'll be back at work and school soon, and will fall back in to many of our old routines, but this year has changed all four of us and we shall never forget the adventure. Thanks for following us on our journey.

Fantastical Cotswolds

Dream House

Broadway Tower

As one last 'hurrah' (although I am sure we said the same about Paris) we drove to the Cotswolds and spent two nights in Chipping Campden. We stayed in a great B&B on the high street which really made the trip. Most of the buildings in Chipping Campden- as well as other nearby villages- are made from old Cotswold stone, giving them a weathered and golden look. I loved the architecture of the town, in particular the tall, simple, abundantly windowed buildings made even better with ivy growing across them.

On our first day we visited our great-grandmother in Devizes for lunch at The Bear. It was great to see her but sad to say goodbye after being in such close proximity this year. On the way to Chipping Campden we stopped in the village of Calne, where Dad grew up, to see his old house and where he went to primary school etc. which was really fun. Once in Chipping Campden we explored the town and church a bit before going out to dinner (Greek food). We kept remarking that it was like fairytale land- most of the doors are very short and you have to duck to enter them and all of the buildings and streets are so neatly manicured and well kept and yet still have the original stone and thatched roofs. Mixed with the melancholy feeling of leaving England in just a few days and the incomparable scenery, the whole trip was somewhat bittersweet.

After a huge English breakfast on Day #2, we set off on a loop walk from the high street. It was a beautiful countryside walk, through fields of lambs and horses and roads of thatched roof houses, but was made more amusing by taking the B&B's two dogs Inky and Pip on the walk with us. Franny has decided that she is going to get a dog of her own one day; I am fine with cats.

On our way home to London we stopped to see the village of Broadway and its tower. It was a great getaway and the perfect distraction from the inevitable packing up and goodbyes currently happening over here.