Manila, Philippines August 30, 2013

Today we walked Bonafacio High Street, a street filled with shops and restaurants.  We began our adventure at Bo's Coffee Shop...

We window shopped and just explored the area.  There was a 3D painting on the sidewalk...

No, I'm not about to fall on that crevice!  We made our way down to Market, Market Mall...

There is an open air produce/flower market at the entrance...

The mall itself is huge - 5 levels including a cinema...

There is an Ace Hardware and a Wendy's in the mall!  The grocery store is actually on the basement level of Metro Department Store.  We picked up a few groceries and stopped for a Jamba Juice on the way back to the apartment :)

Manila, Philippines 8/26-27, 2013

The flight from Atlanta to Seoul, Korea was very long but actually not too bad.  We had a two hour lay over in Korea...

The 3 1/2 hour flight from Korea to Manila was painful-I guess because we were so tired!  Our driver was waiting for us when we arrived, and we got to our apartment at Sebu Suites safe and sound.  

Edi went into the office on Tuesday - I took a picture of him walking to work from our window.  What a nice commute!

While Edi was at work, I did some reading by the pool...

We walked to High Street where there are shops and restaurants.  We decided on Italiano's for dinner.  After dinner we walked through Market, Market Mall and found a proper super market:). After a nice walk back to our apartment, we called it a day :)

Maggie Valley 8/15-8/18, 2013

Edi and I headed up to The Mountain Landing, our house in Maggie Valley, North Carolina for the weekend.  We had a great time - Kona really had a good time being able to run around chasing all kinds of critters :)  Friday evening we walked around Lake Junaluska and were rewarded with a beautiful sunset.  Saturday evening, we walked up 'our mountain.'  It was so cloudy we couldn't even see the top of the mountain across the way!  Back to Decatur rested and relaxed :)

July 20, 2013 UK

This morning we took the river bus (ferry)  to St. George's Wharf where we then walked to the smoke stacks that are on the cover of Pink Floyd's album Animals.  Edi is a huge Pink Floyd fan!

We took the tube to Earl's Court, so we could take a picture of the Tardis from Dr. Who for our nephew, Grey.  Dr. Who was no where in sight.

We had lunch in a traditional English Pub where a huge cricket match was on all screens - England vs. Australia.  England won :)  We then hopped on the tube again heading to Abbey Road.  We had to cross the road exactly where the Beatles crossed - from the cover of their album Abbey Road.  This was for Claire, our niece.  We even wrote her name on the wall in front of Abbey Road Studios.  Needless to say, she is a Beatles fan :)

 Our last attraction of the day was Buckingham Palace.  It is truly grand, and the guards really do not smile.  There were lots of reporters camped out across the street waiting for the announcement of the Royal Baby.

July 19, 2013 UK

Yesterday after Edi got out of training, we headed to London.  Our driver, Bob, was quite entertaining, so the two hour drive went by very quickly.  We checked into our hotel, The Ibis, which is clean, functional, and minimal.  We did a little walking around, had dinner at the hotel (because all of the restaurants were jammed), and pretty much called it a day.

Today, we got up early so we could be at The Globe Theatre when they opened. We toured the exhibition with an audio wand, then toured The Globe with a guide.  She was really good!  I can't believe I will not be teaching Shakespeare anymore!

After The Globe we headed to The London Eye. Thank heavens we ordered flexible fast track tickets last night, so we didn't have to wait in that long line!  It definitely was a bird's eye view of London.

We walked across London Bridge, by London Tower, down Pudding Lane where the Great Fire of London started in 1666, St. Paul's Cathedral, Temple Church, Royal Courts, Somerset House Art Gallery.  Wierd thing about the Somerset Art Gallery...they had a short film exhibit about the egg house in Cayman Brac which we have been in!  We ended up in Trafalgar Square

A full day of sight seeing!  What will tomorrow bring?

July 17, 2013 UK

I did a bit of shopping today.  There is an IKEA right down from the hotel... I couldn't help myself; I had to go in!  I needed another book (I don't have a reader), so I went to Waterstone's and settled on Wicked by Gregory Maguire.  It was a beautiful day, so I grabbed my book and headed to the waterfront park.  I did a lot of people watching and a little reading :)  Some were swimming off this little pebble beach there, and a few were swimming off of the docks.  I imagine the water being very cold!  A huge barge came in...

We had dinner with several of Edi's colleagues at Banana Wharf in Ocean Village.  It was quite the global mix: two from the states, two from Ireland, and two from the UK.  It was a nice time.

July 16, 2013 UK

Today I toured Old Town.  It was a self-guided tour and was very educational.  I toured the Tudor House...

I also toured St. Michael's Church in Michael's Square...

It is incredible to see the walls and gates still standing that protected South Hampton so many years ago...