Dave and Mere do England

Internationally televised on Sky Sports, visited the queen's residence in London and Windsor, rode all tube lines except two, got so scared in the dungeon we nearly cried, saw the mysterious Stonehenge, the tranquil town of Bath, significantly expanded the dishes we are comfortable ordering at Indian restaurants, laughed so hard it hurt, and hit every pub we could.

Yes, this is what happens when Dave and Mere come to visit you abroad over Thanksgiving.  My parents and sister had already had the chance to visit during our time in London so it was really great to get Dave and Mere out here before we move back to the States.



















We definitely did a whirlwind tour of England when they came to town.  I'm sure there are a lot of things they'll remember for some time, but it was really great for us to have some other Americans to spend Thanksgiving with.  We spent the afternoon and evening at No 1 Sports Bar on City Road.  This has been and will always be our favourite London pub.  We watched the NFL games, drank, ate, and even got interviewed by Sky Sports Network on our thoughts of the efforts to get American Football more attention in the UK.

To our final guests ... what a way to end London.

The Making of Harry Potter (Stupefy)

Diagon Alley!

I finally made it!  After having to leave the UK unexpectedly early and giving away my already purchased Harry Potter tickets, I was able to return and make it to the studio.  You actually have to take a train out to Watford Junction and then a Harry Potter shuttle out to the Warner Brothers' Studio in order to get there.

I was like a kid in a candy store, literally.  Diagon Alley, the different creatures they created, and all the sets/props were unreal.  I seriously could have stayed there all day.  Mike was very glad to hear the final warning to leave or we'd miss the last bus back to the city!

Model of Hogwarts used in every movie

Tom Riddle was messed up

Chamber of Secrets is somewhere nearby

Ipswich, Suffolk, UK

For the past ten days Jolene and I stayed up in Ipswich, a small British town off an inlet of water on the East coast.  This trip did a lot to remind us to reflect on the full circle that we have come while living abroad this past year.

We went to Christchurch park to celebrate our second Guy Fawkes night with a lantern procession, fireworks, a fire show (Flame OZ), and a carnival with the same couple that we went with in London the year before.




There was also an epic battle between me and a coworker and two other British kids where we got into giant bubbles and ran around knocking each other over.  For two pounds, this is by far the best deal I've gotten abroad.

We stayed in a hotel that overlooked the marina called the Salthouse.  The view, rooms, decorations, and food were all great in this place.  After staying in quite a few very nice hotels over the last couple years we have decided this place is our favourite.  Convincing Jolene to leave the hotel to catch our train was far from an easy task.  We will miss her lounge chair in the room and the giant scorpion statue from the lobby the most.

The sole purpose of this trip was to deploy the second upgrade to the system at work.  The hours were very long and we had a whole bunch of interesting hurdles to overcome.  I can say for certain that some of the craziest stuff that has ever happened to me at work in the last decade has happened in Ipswich.  We will now shift into a stabilization period for the next month but this represents the beginning of the end for our lives in London.   

Welcome to Wales / Croeso i Gymru

In an attempt to not travel outside of the UK during our remaining time here, we decided to take a trip to Wales.  While we had some doubts due to comments from friends and coworkers, we managed to have a really good time.



















We spent our first afternoon in Cardiff checking out Millennium Stadium, Cardiff Castle, and strolled through Bute Park.  Something about the leaves changing colors and random Welsh people wearing costumes wandering the streets preparing for Halloween really gave the city a fun Fall atmosphere.  The bay of Cardiff is also a pretty cool place to walk around and grab some food by the water.

On our second day there, Jolene booked us a trip with SeeWales that took us through Swansea and down to the coast of Gower Peninsula to check out the first officially dubbed Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty in the United Kingdom.  We got to hike different parts of the coast on the edge of some crags, mingle with sheep, and a chance to get hit in the face by some unexpected Welsh sleet (it was sunny about an hour earlier!).  This was also Jolene's first chance to touch the Atlantic Ocean from the other side.

Back in London!

After an unforgettable set of months in Barcelona and then in Reading, PA we are back in London.  I came back a couple weeks early to play catch up on some work activities and then Jolene closely followed after she finished her nursing contract in the US.

Even after all the chats with the embassy and other experts, UK customs still made things interesting for Jolene upon arrival.  They reluctantly let her back into the country, but not before they made 4 am deportation threats and added more criminal stamps to her passport which now prevents her from ever being allowed to enter the UK as a tourist again.

We've quickly jumped right into old times with trips to our favourite  pubs, restaurants, and sites.  As part of Jolene's welcome back gift, we went to see Singing in the Rain and even got tickets within "splashing" distance.  We've already generated a bucket list for the remainder of our time here before we return to the States for good...

Death of the Mazda

Despite our normal life of excitements and blessings, there is a sad, gloomy cloud lingering over our heads.  During one of the final road trips Mike and I needed to make with Sarah, my beloved Mazda, she decided to completely breakdown about 80 miles from Pittsburgh. Luckily I was able to safely pull over and call AAA.  My car was towed to a local mechanic and my parents were nice enough to come pick our stranded butts up from the side of the road. Hopes were high when the mechanic told me my car started back up the next day and he couldn't find anything wrong with her, but our hopes were soon crushed when she broke down again for my Dad as he was trying to get her back home, and this time for good.  She got out of the hospital a week later, but let's face it, she's been getting old and I haven't been taking care of her that well during my recent traveling, so I have sadly made the decision to finally sell her once I come home in December.

This is a sad sad day in the DiLoreto household.  Sarah was my first car that I ever bought right when I started my nursing career.  We had a rough start (she tried to kill me multiple times throughout our first year together, but every relationship has a rocky start.)  Since then, she has become a good pal and has seen the country with me in my traveling, driven through good weather and bad and was a reliable friend as I drove through some treacherous snowstorms.  She has been very good to me over the years and she will be greatly missed.  I now ask for a moment of silence....

<3

West Reading, PA

Cupcakes, Cuban Sandwiches, and Milkshakes
 - Need I say more?

Life in West Reading wasn't all that exciting.  I basically worked, slept, and ate cupcakes and milkshakes in my spare time :) This little town had a ton of really good restaurants, so Mike and I went on a food crawl trying to test out all of the places before our time here ran out.  Surprisingly enough, we never came across a place that their food wasn't excellent!

Penn Avenue

Our favorite part of West Reading was Penn Avenue.  It is a strip of street with a bunch of local small businesses that range anywhere from your local pharmacy to quilting to salons to cafes.  You name it, they've got it.  Despite the variety of shops, we did notice a trend through the town of about 4-5 different cupcake shops.  It took a lot of will power not to try every one! We also especially loved Penn Ave's local farmers market that happened every Sunday right in the middle of the strip. This market produced some really good chillies, peaches, and freshly made apple cider!