Sunday, January 06, 2008

Our England Visit

We had a great time visiting in England! We were blessed to spend the holidays with our good friends the Horines!

Here are a few of the highlights:



Zoe and me at the Arc de Triomphe.



Us at the top of the Eiffel Tower.
We went to Christmas Eve service at Ely Cathedral. It was what the British call a 'crib service', and all the kids (and me too!) got to sit up front and watch the kids put on a nativity play. It was neat to go to church in cathedral so rich with history. After the service, they opened the church up so we could explore. Very cool!


One of the neatest things we got to do was see the Queen to wish her a 'happy' Christmas. Zoe even got to go up and meet her and give her Christmas flowers and cards from us and the Horines! That's Zoe in the pink hat and the Queen with the clear umbrella.


We spent an hour at Stonehenge. That's about all it takes to really see it. There was a path around the stones, but you are unable to go up and touch them. Still, it was a visit very worth making.


This is outside of the Roman Baths in Bath, England. This was one of my favorite things to see. It is amazing to see all the engineering feats of a civilization so old.


Warwick Castle. One thing I really wanted to do while there was see a castle. Warwick was a great one! We got to climb up the highest turret - what a view! It was a big climb - over 500 stairs, most of them winding up a small, dark staircase.



Since all four of us are navigators, the Royal Observatory Greenwich seemed an appropriate place to visit. Here's Pete and Frank on either side of the Prime Meridian.




Us on the London Eye.



Pete and Frank by Big Ben, Parliament. Look, kids.



Zoe with her godparents Beth and Pete.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Square rigger!

I was glad to see that you followed through with your plans to go back to England. What sort of papers did you have to file with the authorities to warn them you were back in country? Certainly, both of us are on someone's watch list after the "Blizzard of '94" tour!

You have a great looking family there and I can't believe Zoe is three already! Man, time is flying fast. Can you believe it's been 14 years since our tour aboard the Horstwessel.

The area you live in is very nice. I would really like to pack-up and head out west. Whenever I'm out there I'm inspire by its vastness and beauty. Although Maine is certainly beautiful, it is also crowded. If you spend any time in New Mexico, Nevada, etc. you come back here and feel like you're in a shoe box!

I actually am going on a business trip myself this week to Washington D.C. I'll be driving down and will get to see sites of my own, Scranton, P.A., the Beltway, oh, and Washington Bridge in New York. Not quite the Queen of England, but as an authentic East Coaster, I prefer grime and crime over pagentry and pleasantries.

I think that's why my Sunday School student's like about me the most, "Mr. Gamache, tell us more about escapades in St. Lucia!" "Well children, gather around..."

Not sure if I told you that, I went from heathen, to Catholic, to CCD teacher in three years. I guess I'm on God's "accelerated plan." Let's just hope it's not too accelerated, if you get my drift!

I hope all is well. And me, Michelle, et al. wish you and your family a prosperous and healthy New Year.

Take care, mate.