Settling In

Saturday was a busy day, with grocery shopping at Waitross in the morning, lunch at the Montepellier Wine Bar, walking the High Street, and visiting our favorite shops. Home to rest up, party at Jeff and Ken's, and a late dinner at Giannis.

Waitross is a full service grocery much like the Walmart and Targets are at home. Household items are offered, kitchen and bath things and a large grocery store and liquor store. We had a blast browsing and picking out a few things to have at the apt for breakfast and lunch. The selection is so different, but we noticed a lot of American brands mixed in with the usual British fare. It is walking distance, a mile or so, but a nice walk on the River Chelt. There is also a smaller food co-op close if we need anything and don't want to hike to the Waitross.

After unpacking groceries, we went to lunch at the Montpellier Wine Bar,  had a nice cider with a sandwich. Cloudy still, but not too cool, perfect for a walk. The parks are beautiful, I'll take my camera with me next time take some photos. Andrew got this photo of a store window, it was evening so it is kind of dark.

The Queen's Jubilee is being celebrated in the beginning of June, and there are displays everywhere. Its so fun to see all the buntings and flags and memorabilia for sale, but very tempting too. It is a huge deal and there are festivals and fetes in every village.

The Olympic Torch is coming through on Wednesday and will be very exciting to see. It comes very close to where we are staying, so we plan to walk out to the main road to see it. Expect to see some photos!

Jeff, a coworker of Andrew's is  getting ready to come home and he had a party Saturday night. His house is amazing, just enormous. It is a regency town house with 12 ft ceilings, chandeliers, molding, etc. We will ask the housing officer for a home just like his :). That will go over well I am sure. After a tour of the house we met some to the folks who are here now. Very nice! We heard that someone coming over this summer is going to be on House Hunters International! I'll let you know when I find out the details.

We left the party at 8:45pm to go to dinner, and it was still daylight! I forgot about that, those long summer days. It is still light until well after 9pm.

Sunday was nice quiet day, breakfast at home, skyped with friends and family and Sunday lunch at the Beehive Pub.  Roast beef and Yorkshire pub never tasted so good.

An early shipment just arrived so I must go unpack, but first I think I'll have a cup of tea!