England-Número Dos

This is the last part of my England trip. Sorry if I get too carried away and I put too many pictures. This is mainly for me; it's my way to record the highlights of my trip.

On the first weekend of my trip, we went to two of my favorite places. First, we went to Hadrian's Wall. Hadrian's Wall it's kind of like the China Wall of Northern England. It's beautiful and it you can see the most amazing views from there. As you walk further down the wall you can come across the Robin Hood Tree. That is where they recorded one of the scenes for the Robyn Hood movie with Kevin Costner.

Next we headed to the Lake District. I told Matt I want to buy a cottage there one day. My dream was cut short when Matt told me of someone who exchanged their apt here in Manhattan for a cottage in the Lake District. Oh well...there is nothing wrong with dreaming.

 The rest of the week we went to Durham City with the girls.. It was so much fun.

Silly Evie

Holy Island Castle

The weather was not cooperating so we got stuck eating lunch under the umbrella.

The last part of my trip we headed to London. First, we went to Camden Town and I've got to say this little town has a lot of character and amazing shops.

The rest of the day we went to see Big Ben and the Parliment Building. Then we went to see Wicked show...I must say that has become my favorite broadway show.

The last day on our way to the airport we went passed the London Temple.

 

And of course, we had to take a picture of our matching t-shirts before I got on the plane.

Overall this trip to England was just awesome. Thank you to the Caves for being such wonderful friends. Next time I will definitely go back with Matt.

I leave you with pics of Mr. Benjamin. He is the cutest little boy. Has the biggest smile and is always so happy. And he snores like a proper old man...it's just so comical!

Surprise for a Friend

Warning: This is a LONG post! 

About a month ago, I flew back to England for about 2 weeks to surprise my friend Louise. Both her husband (Richie) and I have been planning this trip for months but we had to keep it on the low-down so she will not find out I was coming. I must say that I now consider England my third home. I am in love with England’s beauty, its green hills and the beautiful country side. I really wish I could move there like right NOW!!
I want to apologize if some of my pictures are out of focus. One of my lenses broke right before my trip and then I drop my other lens while I was there…. I know…I literally cried for two days.

As planned I showed up at Lou's house and surprised her. She was very surprised and the best part was that Evie didn't forget who I was. She hugged me without any hesitation. She is such a sweet little girl! Yes, I know I look horrible. I was exhausted; I traveled for day in half via plane and train.

The first days of my trip Lou took me around Newcastle. We walked around the town and remembered all our adventures while we lived there.

We went past my favorite store, the farmer's market of Newcastle, Grainger Market. I almost went crazy when I saw the huge boxes of blueberries and raspberries for only 99p. And of course, Lou had to stop and get some shoes by Grainger Market.

I had to stop by our old neighborhood and our old apt. I almost cried when I saw it. I promised Matt I would take a picture of me in front of our old apt building.



I felt so bad leaving Matt behind in New York while I played in Newcastle. But I promised him I would make a special stop at his favorite place; St. James Park. I wished he had been there to see Newcastle win their soccer match.

The best part of my trip I think it was to be able to see our old friends. Not only I got to see our friends that are from Newcastle but I also got to see others who I shared some amazing experiences while living in Grenada.

One night we got to make our own pizza in the pizza oven that Richie made in his own backyard. Talk about being creative. The Durham's were there that night and of course they always bring the spirit into the party.

In honor of Matt, one night we went to the coast and we had fish in chips in his honor. I must say we missed Matthew like crazy.

Eating fish and chips with Eivie and Richie.

This is the first part of the England trip. More to come on London, Durham and the Lake District. 

Dear Friends,

I thought I would take a moment to chime in on this lovely blog Maria has kept up to date so well. The past 2 years have been the best of my life! That's not to say that it will be the best years of my life because I am sure there is much more to come. Here I sit in Sunny Florida, even though I am not sweating anymore, at the end of 2 grueling years of medical school, having fared pretty well, and think about the journey that has led me to the half time of my medical school career. No doubt the persistent consistency of my momma in the face of formidable opposition has fueled my tenacity. When I whined about getting up for school in the cold dark morning I heard "Good morning Sunshine," "It's time to get up," and as I persisted to lay there lifeless... "Get up or I'm going to throw water in your face!" We were never late and I think I had perfect attendance 99% of the time. And the only thing that ever kept us from going to church on a Sunday morning was a frozen shut icy gate in the dead of winter. The only thing you could do to open it was bang it with a hammer so we took that as a sign we should stay home, but even then we had a little lesson from a church book. (That was my favorite).

Dad's sense of adventure certainly helps one to think outside the box and after spending lots of your youthful years upside down in a kayak and successfully traversing lots of whitewater you begin to think that other difficult things are really not that hard. Kyle, my brother, who has always been the smartest, was a bank vice president by the time he was 30... so things like that just help ya think that you better do something with your life. And Jessica was the peaceful influence that helped remind everyone to be nice. Most recently she owned her own store just because she wanted to.

Of course, it goes without saying that all the positive things that have happened in my life in the last 12 years have been a direct result of my membership in my church which always helps remind me to be my best self each day. Here is a short list of the things that have been the result: Would I have lived in the Philippines? Nope; Married to the lovely Maria? Nope; Played football on 5 continents? Nope (That means soccer for all the Americans); Gone to medical school? Certainly Not. Had a family network and some of the coolest people in the world as my friends in all our destinations over the past 2 years? Nope

Bursting with jubilation best describes my feelings at the end of my first 2 years having completed everything on schedule! It has not been easy but it has been very rewarding, and best of all, my wife still loves me.

So many people have contributed to the joy I have in my life. Hopefully each of us can do the same for others.

Andrew Cole, Famous English Footballer, and me at graduation from Northumbria.

Goodbye Newcastle

Our time is up here in England. We are going to miss this place very much. Tomorrow we will be going back to the US for about two weeks and then we will be in Grenada West Indies for a year. I have to say this year was one of the best years on my life. I think Matt feels the same way...maybe its the football. We will miss: Our noisy neighborhood The Bigg Market. This neighborhood it actually the number 5 party spot in the world, supposedly. The English are loud partiers. Matt will greatly miss the chants through our alley of "Toon Toon, Black and White Army" (A Newcastle United chant). Toon is how to properly pronounce Town. The cold weather......ummm...may be not. Not having to depend on a car, but just being able to walk, ride a bus or the metro. Being able to go to the Grainger Market to get our food. Football ofcourse ! But most of all we will miss our friends. They have made our experience here in England amazing. We will miss you guys. Cheers mates!