From Royalty to Bananas

After being cooped up all morning working on my MFT continuing education units, in preparation for our return home, I decided to take advantage of the surprisingly glorious March sunshine and head for a run outside, to my absolute favorite part of this city, Kensington Gardens and Hyde Park. As I jogged through the wild flower walk, yet to be in bloom, I began to reminisce and ponder. I wonder if there are any parks in San Francisco as nice as this. Will I ever love a park as much as I love this place? As I hugged the pathway near the Serpentine, I thought of Jen and I completing the Royal Parks half marathon walk a couple of years ago, and one glistening sepia photo from that day came to mind. Yes, there it is:

Perhaps that photo will need to be displayed in our house one day. I noticed the sign for the Serpentine (art) Gallery, with free admission. Would they let me in at the end of my run, hot and sweaty in my running clothes? Hmm, probably not the best idea. The Brits don't do that. Besides, I might not come back this way anyhow. Oh well, another day. As I continued on, swerving around the strollers, dogs, and geese, I noticed that the paddle-boats are available again, and thought happily of the day Bryan and I went paddle-boating in the Serpentine last summer. Oh, and the Lido Cafe just beside the Serpentine - still haven't made it there. Shoot. Probably overpriced anyway. Mmm...but the food sure smells good. Before I knew it, I had reached the end of Hyde Park, and fondly remembered the Kings of Leon concert that we listened to on the grass one summer, passing by the field on which Bryan used to play American football ages ago.

As I curved around the edge of the park, I began to have a think about what I might write in our very last blog, in a couple months time. I'd better write some of these ideas down when I get home from this run, lest I forget. How would the blog end? How would we say goodbye? Yes, that's sounding good...With the last few sentences of our final blog set in my mind, I returned to the present moment, noticing the way the sunshine was creating a hazy backdrop to the trees, still in stark winter dress. Why don't I have my camera? I hate when I don't have my camera. Look at everyone else taking pictures. I'll have to take some photos of my close friends in the next few weeks, during our final coffee and dinner dates. Maybe some crazy, fun photos too! Ooh, a collage would be cool. Reaching the corner by Queensway station, I remembered the chap who used to be out there selling roasted chestnuts some time ago. Hmm, when was the last time I saw him? Must be at least a year or so now. Hanging a left to run along inside Kensington Gardens, I saw signs for the Orangery, and thought longingly that I must find time for one more afternoon tea there before we leave. I love that place. When would I be able to go? Has Ruth been there before? Maybe she'd like to join me. Maybe this Sunday - no, we already have plans Sunday. Huh, I'll have to figure that out.

As I trotted along the wide center pathway, with the Round Pond up ahead on my left, and Kensington Palace up ahead on my right, I began to slow down, as police officers were guiding onlookers to one side of the path. I squinted my eyes in the sunlight. Why are all those guards standing outside the Palace? Wait, what day is it today? The new exhibition opens there on March 25. Is it the 25th already? No, not quite yet. Probably no big deal. This city is full of fancily-dressed guards standing at attention. What do they do anyway? Ok, there really are a lot of people standing here with cameras. What is everyone waiting to see? I came to a halt, found a slightly elevated patch of grass at the back of the crowd, shielded my eyes from the sun, and waited. I don't even know what I'm waiting to see. How long have all these people been standing here? Should I ask someone? No, I'll look like an idiot. I'll just wait. Suddenly, there was a loud round of applause that could be heard from just inside the palace doors, and a few people dressed in suits began to spill out. Are those reporters? Seriously, who are we waiting to see?! And then, out from the door on the left-hand side, emerged The Queen of England. Someone in the crowd shouted, "She's wearing purple!" There were a few cheers, and a lot of tourists trying to take long-distance photos with their cameras and phones. Damn it, why don't I have my camera?!?! I don't even have my bloody phone. Within seconds, her majesty had disappeared into a car, the third in a lineup just outside the palace. The police officers on motorcycles gave their bikes a good rev, and the cars jolted into motion. The crowd, with me at the back, began to wave simultaneously, aware that The Queen's car was just about to pass right in front of us, and a visual of the purple-clad lady in the back seat might be obtained. And then, just like in all the movies, she looked at the crowd, and waved, and the people around me erupted in laughter, cheers, and hasty photo-taking. Damn, I can't believe I don't have my camera. Unbelievable.

And just like that, it was over. The crowd dispersed, the police-led entourage of cars proceeded down the center pathway, and I started to jog in tow, heading home and in the same direction. I hope these standing police officers can tell I am obviously just on a jog, not trying to chase after the Queen. I wonder if I look threatening? What if I'm on the news, chasing down the Queen's car? I can't believe I saw the Queen, on a completely unplanned jog. What are the chances? And she waved! It's almost as if she was waving good-bye to me. Wait, she was, waving, good-bye, to me. In my final few weeks in London, I've seen the Queen, and she's waved good-bye. And as I approached the edge of Kensington Gardens, right around where I had started my jog about an hour prior, I was overcome with tears. Fully, within a matter of seconds, sobbing. It's really happening. We are leaving. Am I really crying about this now, in the park, on my jog? The Queen has just waved good-bye to me. What incredible timing. I stopped for a minute to collect myself, wiped my eyes, now burning with sunscreen, sweat, and tears, and looked back at the gardens, with rows and rows of daffodils in full bloom. Beautiful. Just beautiful.

I decided to walk the rest of the way home along High Street Kensington, contemplating my rather abrupt emotional outburst, seemingly brought on by a royal good-bye wave. I thought about the blog I would sit down to write tonight, so that I would never forget this moment. I know that a common byproduct of grief is fear. What if I forget all my memories from this chapter? Surely, someday, this 2 1/2 years will be a mere blip on the radar. I mustn't forget, but how can I make sure of it? Photos I guess. I'll always have Ruth. I won't forget, will I? I remember Jen saying that it was hard going home, lonely at times, isolated in her feelings. Bryan will understand, won't he? Look at all these people walking on the high street, having no idea that the Queen was just minutes away!

And just as I reached the grocery store, about a block away from home, I remembered that I needed to buy bananas. And yogurt. Funny life people lead in London, from royalty to bananas, just like that.

-B

"How lucky I am to have something that makes saying goodbye so hard." - Carol Sobieski and Thomas Meehan, Annie

What Rain?

Having lived in London for over 2 years now, putting pins in our map and planning our next adventure, we have continuously put off traveling to Ireland for one main reason - weather, and finding the best time of year to risk the Irish rain. Well, two weeks ago, we did it - we finally went to Ireland, on a 4-day trip, equipped with our big sturdy umbrellas, our raincoats, and our boots...and somehow (I still can't believe it!), experienced only about 30 minutes of rain during our entire long weekend! So, to set the stage...Ireland in early March - sunny with mostly blue skies, a chilly wind and an occasional quick shower - opened our large umbrellas once, for about five minutes. It was absolutely incredible...like I said, I still can't believe the luck we had!

We arrived in Dublin on a Thursday evening, had a lovely dinner in the Temple Bar area of Dublin, and awoke Friday morning with very different plans for the day in Dublin...

Having coordinated with my former professor and boss at the University of San Diego (USD), I spent Friday with students and staff members from USD's Marital & Family Therapy Program (MFT) at a one-day conference at University College Dublin, where we collaborated with clinical psychology students from Dublin during three professional seminars about various topics related to the counseling/therapy profession. It was a fantastic opportunity to meet current students in the program at USD (making me quite nostalgic for the USD job I left behind when we moved to London!), and to reconnect professionally with topics relevant to my field. Following the conference, Bryan and I wandered around Dublin's city center, which is really a young, energetic, slightly off-beat and edgy university town, enjoyed a sunset over the Ha'Penny Bridge, and later joined up with the staff members from USD for dinner and drinks, which was a lovely, low-key catch-up and brilliant end to my day in Dublin! -B

At the Ha'Penny Bridge, Dublin

After kissing my beautiful fiance goodbye for the day, I threw my backpack on and headed out to discover what Dublin had to offer, on a surprisingly beautiful day. My first stop was to the Guinness Brewery, which was quite impressive. It was a 5-story tour, including a great historical account of how Guinness was discovered, the brewing process explaining its rich color and unique taste (hint: roasted barley and lots of hops), the fact that they source all of their ingredients locally and employ a large percentage of Dublin, and then concluded not only with a complimentary tasting lesson of a quarter-pint, but a fresh full pint as well in their sky bar (taking the official 119 seconds to pour), with a 360 degree view of the entire city. While I enjoyed my pint, I made friends with a local Dubliner and his mate from Brazil, and we compared European beers to US beers - sidenote...while the famous US light beers were an afterthought, they did surprisingly think US microbrews beat many European beers.
I bid them farewell and headed to my next stop....the Jameson Distillery. However, I was starved since it was almost 2pm at this point...not realising I had spent almost 3 hours at the Brewery (well done Guinness marketing). The Distillery was by guided tour only, and I had about an hour until the next one, so I enjoyed a nice lunch in their cafe - irish soda bread topped with fresh crab and lox, accompanied by a glass of their house red wine...deeelish. I finished just in time for the tour to begin and was chosen as 1 of 8 people, out of about 30, to partake in the whiskey tasting at the end of the tour. To be honest, the tour was a bit disappointing. It was only about 30 mins long and not very informative, though I did learn that Jameson is distilled 3 times compared to twice for most Scotch, and just once for many Bourbons. The tasting made up for the poor tour however, where I was able to compare Jameson to Johnny Walker (much smokier) to Jack Daniels (much sweeter). Sure enough, I made some more friends, but this time they were from Northern California...small world. By then it was time to meet up with Brandina, so I bought her some Jameson-infused chocolate and headed back to our hotel. - B


After our day in Dublin, we set off (together!) on Saturday morning via coach for Galway, having been told by a number of people that a real trip to Ireland requires getting outside of Dublin, to experience the countryside and the sea. We spent the entire weekend in Galway, where we stumbled upon a fantastic seaside cafe, boasting only locally-grown and sustainable food (we enjoyed it so much we had both lunch and dinner there one day - and yes they did recognise us), enjoyed the medieval layout of the small town, perused the local markets, and listened to traditional Irish pub music in the evening. On Sunday, we joined a bus tour bound for the Cliffs of Moher, stopping along the way for a hike in the Burren mountains at a local Irish family farm, having lunch in a small fishing village, and again, literally enjoying the most amazing Irish landscapes with sun and blue skies. It really was phenomenal. Sensing a theme here? I know, like I said, I still can't get over the weather we had! Interestingly enough, we did experience about 10 minutes of a sleet/snow storm whilst on the bus to the Cliffs, but by the time we arrived, all signs of winter had passed.

On the farm, set in the Burren mountains

At the Cliffs of Moher

Heading home, via the coastal route

The bus tour finished with a coastal drive back to Galway, where we rounded out the weekend back at our lovely little B&B...on a street seemingly designed just for us :).

-B&B

"May you live all the days of your life". - Jonathan Swift, Irish satirist and poet