So, at the start of the month, Geoff and Jaime headed off on a little European vacation. Two weeks in London/Paris...
It was rad! Brother in law Ryan and Peyton were waiting to pick us up from Heathrow, and it was a short car ride (on the wrong side of the road!) out to Pinner and my sister's LOVELY house! After a short nap Sunday afternoon (we arrived at 10am, having left Seattle around noon the previous day with a stopover in Chicago) we were adjusted and ready to enjoy the time we got to spend with niece Isabel and nephew Peyton, and our travels! Monday we got a late start to the morning and headed into London proper for our first experiences. Since we missed both Isabel and Peyton's birthdays, we took them to Hamleys, a large toy store in downtown London. Afterward Jaime, Tina, and Isabel headed to Harrods for tea, and Ryan, Peyton and I walked around Hyde Park.
The following day Jaime and I departed for Paris via the Eurostar. Ok, ok, I'm a train guy - but the Eurostar is amazing! It's fast (almost 200mph), smooth, and QUIET. Seriously, Jaime and I were whispering with each other because the cars are so quiet...It's also incredibly easy! I HIGHLY recommend checking it out if you're in London or Paris (it also goes to Belgium).
Video of Geoff and Jaime on Eurostar
Paris was RAD! Paris is also HUGE! We arrived Tuesday afternoon, checked into our hotel, and thought we'd take a nice short stroll along the river Seine - I guess because it's nearly all flat, the city just seems to go on and on. Highlights of Paris - yeah, the Louvre is cool, and we spent a LONG time inside, but Cathedral Notre Dame, in my opinion, is better! Seriously, it's beautiful. Sunset atop the Eiffel tower - again, spectacular. Incredibly windy, but spectacular. After nightfall, every hour on the hour, they have a series of flash bulbs that go off all over it. We caught an elevator down just in time to catch it. Our final indulgence in Paris was a dinner cruise along the Seine. Nice views, great food, spectacular wine, and my absolute most favorite person to share it with. Once in a lifetime...
We ended Paris with a walk around the Montmarte district, using the Rick Steves Paris guide. There are travel books, and there are Rick Steves guides. Don't bother with anything else, seriously. Caught the evening Eurostar back to London. Loved every minute of the journey.
(shout out to the Paris Metro system - I don't speak ANY French, and it took me two rides to figure out how it works - all other subways should be designed this way)
The next day we spent relaxing with Isabel and Peyton in Pinner (Uncle Geoff needs his rest when he travels). The following days were spent exploring London - Discovered a great chain restaurant called "Wagamama," toured Westminster Abbey (no pictures?) saw Big Ben, the Tower of London (held a crossbow), the Crown Jewels (again, no pictures? They're BEAUTIFUL!) , took a bus tour (great way to get acquainted with the city, but no good for deep insight) 
"Which way's North?"
"Which way's North?"saw the Rosetta stone at the British Museum (history, awesome!) drank lots of English beer, ate fish and chips (no skin, please!) and had a generally great time.
On our last full day, Tina, Isabel, and Peyton joined us to check out the changing of the guard at Buckingham palace. The ceremony is cool and all, but the highlight for me was actually getting to see the Queen. Granted, she was cruising out in her Rolls Royce limo, but still, she waived at the crowd. Otherwise, I'd say Buckingham Palace was a bit of a yawn. Afterward we grabbed some lunch, and then took the kids on a boat cruise down the Thames to Greenwich. We spent some time in the very cool National Maritime museum, then headed uphill to the Royal Observatory to "see" the Prime Meridian. It was unfortunate that we were all a little weary, and there was a GIANT group of French school kids there. If I make it back to London, I'll have to go check it out again. In fact, by the end of the trip, I was TOTALLY over groups of French schoolkids...
It seemed like we had just gotten comfortable when it was time to head home again. We spent one VERY long day (including a 5 hour layover in Chicago) getting home, and rolled in around midnight. We cannot thank Tina and Ryan enough for hosting us - they provided us their house and made it possible for us to be able to stay for 10 days, otherwise it never would have happened. Everyone asks me what my favorite part of the trip was...and sappy as it may be, it was getting to spend so much time with my niece and nephew.
Here's a link to the Shutterfly album.
So, the other big news is that two days before we left for Europe, we put an offer in on a house in Issaquah. There was lots of emailing and signing and scanning while we were in London, but we got it done. We're in escrow this week - and planning on closing on Thursday or Friday. I'll just include a link to the Windermere listing - it's a GREAT house, in a nice neighborhood, and it HAS A GARAGE!!!! Yeah, we're moving to the suburbs - deal with it ;) We'll still come to West Seattle for Bakery Nouveau, Easy Street Records, Kokoras, and Beveridge Place. Plus, we have so many great friends here.
Nearly a year ago, when we turned in our airline miles to get our London tickets, we didn't plan for everything to come together at once. Who knew the week before we left we'd find our perfect house. Besides - if we got an offer in before April 30th (we left May 1st) we were still eligible for the first time Home Buyers tax credit. Score! Then - when the Sportwagen started leaking again in February, how were we supposed to know that it's replacement would show up while we were traveling (thanks, bro, for taking such good care of the Tiguan "Tigger" while we were gone). Did I mention someone who may or may not be my wife might be leaving her 20s behind on Saturday? Did I mention someone who may or may not be her Husband will be doing the same in two weeks? Holy Crap...seriously.
One more thing - I've been promoted at Nordstrom. My friend Deke is leaving for a different department - I'll be taking over his role as the Knowledge Base administrator, and separately from that, I've been promoted to our "Escalation" team. Things are starting to move in the right direction, and it feels nice to be acknowledged for it. I start all of that June 1st.
So, that's May...god only knows what's in store for the rest of the year. I hope everyone is doing well. If we haven't talked in a while, you can understand why?
If you're in Seattle, and free on June 5th...well, we might be moving that day ;) Free beer?
-Geoff
