Hi again, Amber and I have been busy these past couple of months with some guests! We have a few blog posts that we’re catching up on and hope you like seeing what we’ve been up to. For this post we have a guest writer – I let my mom take a turn blogging as she is newly retired and loving her free time. So enjoy the following by Emily.

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As we stepped off the airplane in Manchester, we were greeted by Jacob and Amber – after months of anticipation!  They swept us off in their car & drove us (on the ‘wrong’ side of the road) to their home in Tarporley. We were greeted by Brindle, who seemed very excited about guests in her home!  Soon we were whisked away to Delamere Forest where we hiked just over 4 miles.  All was beautiful and we almost had the trails to ourselves, but the stinging nettle seemed to find me. Or did I find it?!  As the weekend went on, we couldn’t be happier with learning the town of Tarporley. The town’s charm includes an old church bell that rings often; an old cemetery that has a path throughout that dogs are allowed on and one can’t help but read some of the old tombstones of dates that go back to the early 1800s; lovely eating places such as a Winery spot that we had a charcuterie board & wine in the hot sun.  Another thing that is fascinating about their town is all the hidden pathways that tuck around the neighborhoods.  Brindle has most of the passageways memorized and when I took her on a morning walk, she knew where to lead me!  

Later in the weekend, off to Wales we went to take in a castle. Jacob & Amber had their handy raincoats packed in their trunk like true Brits. The sunny skies were changed to a steady rain as we adventured around the castle grounds. Gwrych Castle was interesting to tour and take in views of the architecture around every corner— even with rain pitter pattering down. The sea view was somewhat obstructed due to the fog & the rain, but we headed over to the sea afterwards before heading home. 

The next morning we parted ways so Brian & I could go off to Italy (to celebrate our 30th anniversary), Jacob & Amber headed to work at Husco, and Natalie enjoyed time with Brindle and a book. 

Toward the end of the week, Jacob, Amber, and Natalie flew to Brussels & spent one day exploring the city.

Then, they took the train to Paris where they were reunited with Brian & I. One of the first things we did in the big city of Paris was check out the Arc de Triomphe. As we fell in love with the massive size of this structure and snapped many photos, we began to consider buying tickets to go to the top of the Arc. However, the 82 degree hot, humid air turned suddenly into rain pelting us sideways, & we watched the storm roll in as we sheltered under the Arc. Eventually, we decided to tackle getting back on the subway but so did a million other people! We had never seen subways squished with so many people and we let 3 trains pass by before deciding to squeeze ourselves in too. 

As the sun came back out, Natalie was brave to experiment riding a scooter on the streets of Paris! After Jacob, Amber & Brian watched from our hotel balcony, they came down & took turns on the scooter too. (No one fell off or interrupted the flow of all the bike or scooter traffic—phew!) 

Next up, Starbucks was calling our 17 year old Natalie— she had researched ahead & knew it was the first Parisian Starbucks with the decor being so very beautiful. After the Starbucks, which did not disappoint, we headed toward the Eiffel Tower for a night viewing. We stopped for a great meal first (even if the service was slow), which worked out quite well since we learned the lights on the Eiffel Tower were not turned on until 11pm. So as dinner wrapped up late, we made our way to the Tower for the lit up structure view! We had to speed walk toward the Metro afterwards since we thought our subway day passes expired at midnight: we jumped on at 11:58. Almost close call! We later learned the passes didn’t expire until 4AM, but enjoyed the thrill of our race against time.

All in all, we had an incredible second day in Paris squeezing in as much sightseeing as possible. Our fav thing was the 1st floor of the Eiffel Tower as we all munched on crepes and the guys had beers! We could have stayed up there for hours. As we said goodbye to Paris, the Chunnel was an adventure all on its own as we traveled to London at speeds up to 207 mph on the Eurostar. After a quick hello to Big Ben and multiple other sights, including eating in China Town, we rushed off to a comedy club so we could give our feet a rest! 

After London – Brian, Natalie, and I went separate ways from Jacob & Amber as they went back North on the train for work the following days while we headed on a bus to Southampton.

Someone turned older on this trip: Brian hit 52!! We were reunited on this big birthday after Jacob & Amber finished work; Myself, Brian, & Natalie returned to Tarporley with Hilary & Peter (who I had lived with 33 years ago when I student taught in Southampton!)  Jacob & Amber went all out with decorations, steak on the barbecue, and Amber whipped up a homemade Victoria sponge cake. It was such a pleasure seeing these two love the comfort of their English kitchen and sharing hospitality with Peter & Hil and the three of us. 

Getting that inside peek of Jacob and Amber’s new lifestyle across the Atlantic Ocean certainly made our parent-hearts so very happy. (And Natalie loved embracing time with her brother & sister in law too!) A trip that will never be forgotten…and one that makes us want to applaud that much louder for Amber & Jacob taking on living there for two full years.

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As you can tell from my mom’s writing – Amber and I are pretty awesome and if you haven’t yet booked your stay with us you’d better act soon as 2024 is filling up fast! Haha. Really though, it was an awesome time sharing this new life with my parents and Natalie and I was so glad to have them here.

Thanks for reading and be prepared to be spammed with a few more posts very soon,

Jacob