Savored in all of its Mediums

It can be a sealed container of emotions, a flowing stream of ideas, or an abstract, obscure vision. It can represent a distant past or an unforeseen future, sometimes simultaneously. It can be created by staying in the lines, thinking outside the box, or modeling the successes that have come before. It can be a concept, a production, a tangible piece of work, even a college degree. It can be timeless or completely outdated, often transcending generations and not only existing in spite of language barriers, cultural values, and educational backgrounds, but thriving all the more. It is art - almost impossible to define, but present around us, beyond us, and in us. One of the most incredible things about Europe is that art is, literally, everywhere - from the architecture, to the cuisine, to the storytelling and the proper fine arts. And when we get to escape work and immerse ourselves in places we haven't yet been, the arts have a way of standing out, making us feel alarmingly alive and yet humbled at the same time. Having recently returned from Budapest & Vienna, we can say that we fancied Budapest quite a bit, and absolutely fell in love with Vienna. Both cities are alive with arts of all kinds, Budapest clearly a bit more "Eastern" as far as European cities are concerned. Both are captivating in their own ways, Budapest in its prideful, prosperous ascent from its relatively recent communist past, Vienna thriving with both historical tales and present-day charm, regal and stunning, yet not at all pretentious. In our five-day exploration of these two cities, we can proclaim, without doubt, that we thoroughly enjoyed the arts....

The Art of Healing

As Bryan frequently says, "When in Rome..." and when in Budapest, one must absolutely indulge in their thermal spas, a staple healing fixture in the daily life of the locals. And indulge, we did...taking a break from our usual 8-10 hour days of walking and exploring, to rest our feet, soak up a bit of sun, and relax in the pools, both indoor and outdoor...

The Szechenyi Baths, Budapest

The Art of Theatre & Dance

With both Budapest & Vienna world-renowned for their opera, music, and ballet, we decided that our trip would be incomplete without some sort of fine arts experience. Once we discovered that the Opera House in Budapest did not have any performances on during our evenings of availability, we were determined to experience the Opera House in Vienna. At the end of a very long first day in Vienna, we arrived outside the Staatsoper just as they opened the doors for the evening. We headed straight for the ticket counter, and with tickets upwards of 150 euros for seats, we opted for the standing section tickets, at a nominal 4 euros each, for the ballet "Homage to Jerome Robbins," commemorating the U.S. choreographer known for his direction of Broadway's West Side Story and Fiddler on the Roof. Expecting the standing section to be a bit of a hectic mess, we were pleasantly surprised to find the standing section rather organised in rows, with padded rails to lean on. The inside of the Opera House was stunning, mostly filled with dressed-up locals in the expensive seats, and casually-dressed, English-speaking tourists in the standing section, fit for a king and comfortable for the commoner as well, much like the rest of Vienna. The way in which sleek ballet dancers and an illustrious orchestra can tell a story, with no words, is absolutely incredible...which, incidentally, was quite lucky for us, being in a non-English speaking Opera House.

The Art of Enjoying Wine & Local Fare

With a few of its suburbs known for their production of white wine, Vienna (from the word Wien, meaning wine) has a leisurely, relaxed approach to the enjoyment of wine. Certainly not for those who are pretentious about their wine, the suburbs of Vienna are dotted with Heuringer wine gardens, restaurants outfitted with outdoor patios and shaded gardens, created especially for the consumption of locally-produced, refreshing white wine served up by the mugful, alongside traditional Viennese Wienerschnitzel, sausage, and potatoes. Vienna is also a city defined by its cafe culture, boasting a number of both simple and quaint, elegant and extravagant cafes, having served the likes of Mozart and Beethoven, offering beverages and desserts of all sorts, including the infamous Viennese sachertorte, an apricot-filled chocolate cake. Art is truly alive over a gorgeous slice of apple streudel and a rum-spiced hot chocolate, enjoyed within four walls once graced by the live music of Mozart.

Heuringer wine garden in Grinzing

The Art of Storytelling

As we've gotten older, Bryan and I have both further developed our love for history, attracted to the rich stories, the intriguing architecture, and the ancient remains, adding texture and depth to the paper and print history textbooks that we've studied over the years. Having read about the magical area of the Danube River valley known as the Wachau, about an hour train ride outside of Vienna, we arrived at the train station, took the next train to Melk, a small medieval town on the Danube, and hopped aboard the Brander river boat. For approximately two hours, the river boat meandered along the Danube River, through the Wachau valley, with crippled medieval castles perched on the hilltops, fields of apricot orchards and wine vineyards, and charming riverside towns steeped with character. Thanks to a bit of narration on board, we learned of Richard the Lionheart's imprisonment in the castle of Kuenringer, and the tales of mystery and death in the 13th-century Burg Aggstein. Indulging a bit of my own family history on this trip as well, having remembered my grandfather's story about his family and its Austrian roots, I had a lovely time posing for a few photos outside of Cafe Drechsler in Vienna (an alternative spelling for Drexler), just for my Grandpa Jerry. And lastly, what artistic image is more reminiscent of storytelling than the quintessential horse-drawn carriage, as seen throughout the cobblestone streets of Vienna?

Benedictine Abbey, Melk

Kuenringer Castle on the hilltop

Medieval towns in Wachau valley, along the Danube

For Grandpa Jerry...

Outside the National Library, Vienna

The Art of Perspective

In cities like Budapest and Vienna, graced with architecture of worlds old and new, perspective can be enjoyed from many angles, various heights, and numerous vantage points, offering up enough architectural gems for even the healthiest of appetites.

Stephansplatz, Vienna

A View of Pest, Budapest

The Chain Bridge across the Danube, Budapest

Matthias Church, Castle Hill, Budapest

Heroes' Square, Budapest

Budapest by night

Regardless of how you define it, enjoy it, take it in, or revel in it, art can be appreciated and savored in all of its mediums, shapes, and expressions, from food to architecture, to storytelling and a way of life. How fortunate we are, to be in the presence of art.

-B&B

"Let me ask you something, what is not art?" ~Author Unknown

The Tour

I thought if I made it to 25 without being in the back of police car then I had succeeded. Well 4 years later, about 6 months shy of 30, it finally happened. What's even scarier is it wasn't in my home country or even my adopted country. It was while traveling abroad in Croatia....


However, they were actually taking us to one of Croatia's best football pitches (ahem - soccer fields) for our second match of the week.


Let me backup a bit. A few months ago I finally started playing soccer again. A buddy of mine Fergus, who is the boyfriend of one of Brandina's coworkers Ruth, introduced me to their Football Club called the Old Sedcopians FC. We play other clubs every Saturday, all over London and it's full on - 11 vs 11, 90 minutes, restricted substitutions. After every game, both teams meet up in the local pub and the home team provides some sort of after-game meal - bangers and chips, pasta, chicken, and of course a few pints...can't beat it - well that's what I thought at least, until I got the Croatian invite.

Every year the club puts together a "tour" to another country, complete with custom jerseys and polo shirts (mine of course says "The American" on the back), a few games with some of their local teams, and plenty of leisure time. They've been to Latvia, Munich, and La Herradura in Spain, among others, and this year they decided the Croatian Islands were in the cards. To be specific, we stayed on a small island called Preko, about a 20-minute ferry ride from the Island of Zadar. When they asked if I wanted to go, I really didn't think twice - an opportunity to play some soccer in the Croatian Islands - umm count me in.


View Larger Map

There were just a few hiccups:

1) I missed my flight out.
All 17 of us were booked on the same Wednesday evening flight, but we were all arriving to the airport a bit differently due to jobs, location, etc. After I arrived at the train station, the ticket machine couldn't find my train ticket, and the staff weren't very helpful. This resulted in 2 missed trains that would have gotten me to the airport with plenty of time. Instead, as my train pulled into the airport, I sprinted to my gate, grasping 2 bags, my laptop, my belt, and other miscellaneous items I snagged after security, and watched, gasping for breathe and cramping up a bit, as my plane pulled away from the gate. 5 minutes too late - damn.

I went home and figured out a round-a-bout way to get to Zadar, including a 6am flight the next morning, and multiple planes. Fortunately, I wasn't alone in this journey, as another teammate missed the original flight too.

We made it to Preko, just in time for our first game - thanks to the crazy taxi driver that literally let us off at the ferry ramp, and talked the ticket collectors into letting us run on for free.

2) I recently started a new job at Healthy Planet, albeit 3 days a week (blog to come later...), so I had an interview scheduled for another part-time position at FoodCycle, for Friday morning - the Friday while I was in Croatia. As a forward-thinking organisation, they happily agreed to conduct the interview via Skype. There was only one place nearby on our island that had wifi, and it was the bar we had partied at the night before (called Luna by the way, the same name of the bar we frequent when in Sacramento). I was impressed to see the bartender there the next morning, as I'm sure he thought the same about me, though I was quite refreshed and ready to rock the interview, as I had kept it quite tame the night before.

The quietest place was in the outside seating area, overlooking the harbor, so I set up shop, and hoped for the best. The interview went great, and the panel even enjoyed my unplanned soundtrack in the background...thanks Luna ;). I had one of those surreal moments, where you just realise how amazing life is sometimes. I was asked in the interview, "If you could do anything in your life what would you do?" As I thought about my answer, I peered over my computer, looking at the harbor and the ocean just steps away, and a wave of euphoria came over me. I said, "You know, not to brag or anything, but I'm kind of living that moment right now. I'm sitting steps away from the ocean in Croatia, interviewing through Skype." I went on to add how I want to (and will) improve our broken food system, but nonetheless, it was an amazing feeling. The interview ended, and while I wasn't sure if I would get the position, I was confident that they liked me. The song Loco-Motion came on, and I sipped on my beer, as I soaked in the tranquility of an amazing morning.

Which finally brings me full circle. On the tour, we were treated a bit like celebrities. We had apartments right on the water, feasts everywhere we went, and even a police escort to our game on Zadar, the practice field that the National Croatian team uses. The Deputy Mayor even came to watch our game and feasted with us afterwards.

It was a fantastic weekend - delicious food, beautiful weather, some quality football, and plenty of good times.

Oh yea, the results - We won the first game 1-0, and lost the second game 7-1. Though to be fair, our second opponent consisted of current and recently retired special forces police officers. Can't win em all.

One of our hosts bbqing our post-game feast

View from our apartment balcony

Luna Bar - Site of the Skype interview and homage to my Sac friends and family

Fresh squid....delicious

Fisherman cleaning his freshly caught fish

While I'm on the topic of sports, and to be honest, while I'm writing a blog (a rare feat Brandina will attest too), I thought I'd include a few more sports photos. I've somehow made it a habit to photograph sporting events, whether professional, local, or cultural, through-out our travels.

Football street performer spinning ball on mouth while climbing a street light in Paris, France

Beach-side basketball in Brighton, UK

Beach volleyball in Brighton, UK

Life-size foosball in Brighton, UK

Paddleball on the beach in San Sebastian, Spain

Football (soccer) on riverside paved field in Florence, Italy

NFL - SF 49ers vs Denver Broncos at Wembley Stadium in London

Water polo in Hvar, Croatia

English Premiere League - Fulham vs Man City in London (20 minute walk from out flat)

Beach football in Alicante, Spain

Rugby Premiership Championship Game - Leicester Tigers vs Saracens at Twickenham Stadium in London

Chess in Thermal Spas at Budapest, Hungary

- Bryan

Do you know what my favorite part of the game is? The opportunity to play. ~Mike Singletary

A Wee Bit Unconventional

Her name is Ruth - she is West London-born and raised, a science teacher at the high school, with a birthday just days before mine, and a profound love for all things outdoors, carrot cake, and cappuccinos. She has become a staple part of my life here in London, with routine coffee dates (at a locally-run cafe, where we can walk in and say, "the usual please"), monthly double dates at Franco Manca's sourdough pizza joint (with her Irish-born partner Fergus, one of Bryan's new mates and partners in crime on the soccer field), and lovely girl chats as we walk partway home from work together, Ruth walking her bicycle until we part ways.

Last weekend, while Bryan and Fergus were off on a soccer/football tour in Croatia (Bryan's blog on that to come...eventually), Ruth and I decided to embark on a somewhat unconventional girls' weekend away - driving her parents' canal boat (or narrowboat) down a curvy 9-mile or so stretch of the Oxford Canal, from around Priors Hardwick to just above Claydon. We left Friday night after work, hopped on a 90-minute train to Banbury, aboard which we ate a picnic dinner (of delicious homemade food that her mum packed for us), called a cab to drive us north and drop us off as close as possible to the canal, and trekked along the canal-side towpath at dusk, until we arrived at the modest "Peerie Dunter," her parents' canal boat which was moored near Priors Hardwick. Peerie Dunter, which means Small Duck in Shetland (where Ruth's mother is from), is equipped with a small bed, floor space for another small mattress, mini kitchen, chairs and table, tiny loo, and front-end outdoor patio - basically a quaint and narrow motorhome on water. After a long evening of hot chocolate and girl chat (ie: wedding plans), we awoke on Saturday to the early morning sun. The morning hours on the canal are absolutely breathtaking, especially at this time of year. It is quiet and crisp, with abundant wildlife (many with adorable young in tow), much like the serene morning hours at a campsite. After making an almost-full English breakfast, we meticulously accomplished her father's three pages of step-by-step instructions for getting the boat started and ready to go, pushed off the canal edge, and began our adventure. With Ruth steering at the back, and myself navigating from the front patio, we coasted at a leisurely pace down the canal (maximum speed on the canal is 4 mph, and oddly enough, boats are driven on the right-side of the canal...opposite of UK roads). We delicately navigated through several extremely low and narrow bridges, passed heaps of other canal boats (quite proud of ourselves, being two young women passing by boats with mostly older gentlemen as the operators), and thoroughly enjoyed the stunningly lush countryside, gawking slightly at the numerous calves, lambs, and families of ducklings. We managed to cruise throughout most of Saturday, enduring only a couple of scrapes (to the boat, not to us), and one incident of getting stuck in the thick reeds on the side, as we courteously pulled over just before entering a bridge, for an oncoming boat.

Finding a proper place to moor the boat overnight proved to be a bit difficult, but we were able to pull in just above the flight of Claydon locks, at about 5:30 pm, after which we sat on the patio with a bottle of wine and watched the sun set behind the fields. Sunday morning involved a few cups of tea, a lazy stroll along the canal path, where Ruth showed me how to operate the canal locks whilst we chatted with the bustling crowd of canal-boat owners, queuing up to enter the Claydon flight of locks. After cleaning up the boat, locking up (basically following the instructional list in reverse order), and calling a cab to pick us up in Claydon, we caught a late-afternoon train back from Banbury to London, reluctantly leaving the serene canal life behind us.

We've already started talking dates for our next narrowboat escape...and maybe, just maybe, we'll take the boys next time...

A map of our route:

View Larger Map

Morning on the canal

Navigating the Canal

Our favorite bridge - The Boundary Lift Bridge
Our peaceful Saturday eveningSunday morning teatime

A birds-eye view of the Claydon locks

Thanks Ruth, for a lovely girls' weekend away...

-B

"Believe me, my young friend, there is nothing - absolutely nothing - half so much worth doing as simply messing about in boats." - Kenneth Grahame

The Rest of the Story

September 25, 2010:
What's up Matt!! How is it being back home [Australia]?! Do you miss us out here yet? I've got some questions for you regarding...wait for it...engagement rings! Nobody knows about this yet -not my best friends, not my parents, nobody, so please keep it on the super hush hush, as I'd like it to be a total surprise for Brandina. Since I'm an engagement rookie I thought I'd look towards the pro to give me a hand, and maybe even sell me a ring..... From past conversations, I'm pretty sure Brandina likes the square shape, yellowish diamonds (I'm not even sure what that means??). And I'd probably stick with a silver band. Sooo what kind of money am I looking at, how much time do I need to plan prior to receiving a ring, and what other tips or suggestions do you have for me? Is this something you'd be able to arrange for me? Hope all is well! -Bryan
October 5 2010:
Hey Dude. I can help for sure, in fact I would love to. It's really nice making things for friends because I get to see them enjoy it. So this is what we'll do - I can get some prices for you, but if you had a budget in mind that would be a great help. Fancy yellow (natural) diamonds are an amazing choice. They also come with a bit of a price tag, but I will be able to help you a lot on the price. I can then do a sketch of your amazing ring and take photos of the yellow diamonds so you can see what you're going to get and send these along. I also need a finger size if you can get it. I think this will be a great start. When did you need it for? I will have Fedex send it to your work place or somewhere and you can sign for it. It will be insured, so don't worry about that. Anyways congrats on this.. How are things in London town? I am missing it a lot hey. It doesn't have the buzz back here in Penrith. We are moving it to the city soon though, so that will ease the blow. Great hearing from you, - Matt

There's always two sides to every story. You've already heard (or read) Brandina's side of the engagement proposal. Now it's time for the inside story....

The two emails you read above were the first of 32 emails and 6 months of planning to make sure the proposal and the ring were as amazing as the bride-to-be receiving it. As you read, and as I'm sure most of you men can attest to, I had no idea where to even start. I did however know a few things: Brandina likes square diamonds, yellow diamonds, has a unique taste, and likes tulips. So before sending the email above, I did quite a bit of research online, as well as in numerous jewelery stores, asking as many questions as possible. Then I remembered that some of our Australian friends we met out here were in the jewelery business, so I figured it was worth asking him a few questions. However they had recently moved back to Australia, so this was going to be a long distance discussion. Brainstorming, ideas, questions, answers, and more research followed in the months to come - sometimes with Brandina in the same room as me. Throughout that time we decided on a cluster design, with the yellow diamond in the middle and some smaller diamonds around it. I should also add, he often reminded me that I needed to figure out her ring size, which I was struggling to do secretly. I did a bit more research, then Matt sent me this email:

December 12 2010:

Hey dude. How are things going? I have found the most amazing diamond for you. It's so bright and vivid. It's a princess cut diamond...and with the other diamonds around it, it will look perfect. I would buy this one myself, I love the diamond [Matt, engaged now, was also in the process of getting engaged at the time]. If that helps you decide.

Hope all is well. Let me know what your thoughts are and I will get a design drawn up for you.

Talk soon mate. Merry Christmas.

-Matt

It sounded amazing, so I had Matt draw up the design:


I loved the drawing, so it was go-time. Meanwhile I still needed her ring size. So, on one of my days off, I went through all of the pictures I could find of her, and finally found one of her wearing a ring. I was able to find the same ring in her jewelery box, and knowing what finger she was wearing it on in the picture (not her ring finger by the way), I took it to a store to get it sized. This, according to Matt, was enough information for him to guess her size...yikes.

After a few more months and one ring nightmare (in which I dreamt the ring was an ugly, archaic, stone-age rock), February rolled around, and the ring finally arrived. It looked fantastic; I just hoped Brandina felt the same way. I knew it was always a bit risky choosing a ring with no help from any of her friends or family, but I decided that if I chose correctly, then it would be an epic win.

During the ring planning process, I had also been planning the proposal. Lucky to be living abroad, I had Europe as my playground. Paris? Too cliche. London? Too close. Her favorite city, San Sebastian? Perhaps, but we were already there, so she may suspect something. Think..think..what does Brandina love...roses? No, she hates those. Tulips? Tulips! The famous tulip fields in Lisse, Holland! The problem was, there is only a small 6-week window to see the blossoming tulips, and we were going to be on holiday through-out Spain with her parents for a good portion of that window. That meant either the first week of the window or the last week. I decided we'd risk the first week, that way we could celebrate our engagement with her parents, while also avoiding the annual ambush of "when are you getting engaged" questions (as in, Brandina's parents' ambush in Stonehenge last year).

The trip to the tulip fields was easy to convince Brandina of, because it was a trip we had talked about doing numerous times, so we planned it as normal, no questions asked.

Leading up to the proposal, with the ring taken care of and the trip planned, my only other concern was making sure it stayed a surprise (and hoping the ring fit...well and that she liked the ring too). This meant not telling a soul for quite a while. With Facebook these days, it doesn't take much for something to go viral. The saying "nobody I would tell, knows her anyway," no longer applies. Your mom's friend may be Facebook friends with someone who has a cousin living in London, who happens to work with Brandina. Not a risk I was willing to take.

There is a caveat - I needed a bit of advice, or encouragement per se, about the ring, so I told my brother, knowing that I could trust him. Not that the SDSU-Film-study-college-

graduate-to-be is a ring expert in any way, but I needed to talk to someone about it.

So about two weeks before the proposal, I was in the U.S. for my cousins wedding, toting around the ring in my scrappy backpack (1) so she wouldn't stumble upon it in my absence (2) to show my brother and (3) so it wouldn't be out of my sight. At the wedding, surrounded by family and friends, I received an onslought of wedding questions myself: "When are you getting married?" "What are you waiting for?" And my personal favorite, while my grandfather married my cousin and her husband, he called me out in his speech saying, "I'm honored to be able to marry my granddaughter, now if my grandson(s) will just hurry up, I may be able to marry them also." I knew the barrage would be coming, and I also knew that I was going to be proposing two weekends later, so I just smiled and played stupid.

I really wanted to tell my mom, because this is a day she has been waiting for since I was called into the Principal's office in kindergarten, for forging her signature (true story - it was of course just her first name, in big block letters). However, I knew that if I told her, as hard as she would try, she wouldn't be able to contain her excitement until the secret was out. It was for her own good. So I had my brother call her late the night before I proposed - that way she did know before it happened, though she was up all night after that call....due to her uncontainable excitement. As a small additional twist, I forgot it was April Fools Day, and my brother and I have been known to collaborate on a few big ones in the past (i.e. that I wouldn't be graduating from grad school in '06), so she didn't believe my brother at first when he told her of the proposal plan.

I did have one more person to tell..err...ask actually. Call me old fashioned, but I've always thought it's respectful to ask your hopefully-soon-to-be-fiance's father for his blessing to marry his daughter. So, while in the Dallas airport on my last leg back to London, I rang Brandina's dad, and asked him for his permission to marry his daughter. After a solid chat about commitment, he gave me his blessing. A quick chat with Brandina's mom followed, to let her in on the details, and I was on my way back to London - everything going according to plan...

Which brings us to the big day, 2 April 2011. Our hotel was in an excellent location, directly next to some of the fields, and a 20-minute walk from the famous Keukenhof Flower Park. My plan was that we'd be frolicking about in some amazing, blossomed tulip field, and I'd get down on one knee, whip out the ring, and propose. There was just one problem. The tulips hadn't blossomed yet. It turns out our risky choice of the first week in the tulip window had failed. As we walked through the flower park, I was looking for some sort of worthy patch of flowers, but the right spot just wasn't speaking to me. I began thinking of a plan B, when Brandina said, "I overheard a couple talking to our hotel receptionist about renting bikes and cycling down to the ocean. I guess it's only about a 30 minute bike ride away, should we go do that?" I thought "bingo!" and replied, "That's a fantastic idea." As we biked to the ocean, I was still hoping to find a beautiful field, but alas there were none - well none that we could reach. We approached the ocean via the sand dunes, locked up our bikes, and when we reached the other side of the dunes, I peered down and knew the beach would be the perfect place.


As we walked on the beach, I asked Brandina to take a photo of some horses the other way (a distraction of course).

While she was taking those pictures, I pulled the ring out of my backpack, got down on one knee, looked her in the eyes, and spoke from heart. As Brandina has mentioned, she doesn't remember a thing I said. Her eyes and mouth were wide open - apparently the surprise worked. She claims the only thing she said was "shuuuuut-uuuuup," in the surprised, completely stunned sense of the phrase, but I don't remember that. I think we were both in a bit of a haze. She of course said yes, and when the ring fit, I finally exhaled.

And that, is the rest of the story....

- Bryan

"...I have always found that plans are useless, but planning is indispensable." - Dwight David Eisenhower

THE Royal Wedding

Yes, we have survived.

A special thanks to everyone who emailed or messaged with thoughts about us on The Royal Wedding Day last Friday, the 29th. The lead-up to last Friday in London was beyond our wildest imaginations - suffice it to say I'm glad it's not our faces on all that merchandise (I mean, how good can your faces really look on merchandise from the £1 store?!) While it was amazing to live here during such a historic day, we are completely shameless in admitting that we spent Friday on the couch. A friend of mine from work came over in the morning, Bryan made us breakfast, and we watched it all from the comfort of our own flat, drinking tea (well, Bryan declined on the tea & biscuits), making comments, and watching what can only be described as an awe-inspiring event, straight out of centuries past. A few notes to self - make sure my wedding band is sized properly, and don't make everyone wait THAT long for a kiss :). Congrats to William & Kate - may you be blessed with love, happiness, and a shred of privacy in the upcoming months!

As a side note, with all the merchandise available to remember the day, we've purchased the commemorative button shown below...our plan, when we return to the States (among heaps of other things, of course) is to create a framed piece of work displaying coins from places we've visited, and we think this button will fit right in....

But, for the record, my absolute favourite piece of memorabilia (which we didn't actually buy) is this one:
Couldn't have said it better ourselves...cheers to our 4-day weekend, and the impending signs of spring & summer in London! Enjoy the warmth, wherever you are, and thanks again for all of your thoughts. We hope to make our special day equally as memorable as Will & Kate's...

-B&B

"We were supposed to have just a small family affair." - Prince William, joking at the altar with Kate's father, Michael Middleton.