Visitors from the homeland

Now that we've been in London more than 5 months, spending time with familiar faces from the States feels like food for the soul. Our dear friend John (tan shirt, at left) came to stay with us this weekend, and our Seattle across-the-street neighbors (Olivia, Pat & Terry) stopped in for dinner on Saturday night. What a treat! We caught up on all the neighborhood happenings, and it was such a strange-but-good feeling to have them sitting at our kitchen table, sharing food and wine and stories.

Natalia and I also spent a couple of days with our Seattle friends in Cobham last week. The girls thoroughly enjoyed themselves (and wore themselves out) on our friends' new trampoline, and we moms thoroughly enjoyed ourselves pigging out on U.S.-variety junk food. :-)

Tomorrow we travel to Stonehenge and the Salisbury Cathedral, with a side trip to my friend Andy's parents' house near Reading. She's a former Microsoft coworker, visiting her family and working here for about a month. As she told me in an earlier e-mail, it should be interesting for us to compare notes -- a Brit living in the States and an American living in the UK. Heh.

Post Script: Andy's dad suggested a side trip to a nearby Roman settlement (Silchester/Calleva) which dates from the first century AD. We wandered through an old church on the site, and then checked out the old amphitheatre (not long ago, it was a pond!). Interesting history. It was a treat to see Andy and her girls, and her parents were so gracious!