Well, this is it – we’re on our way back to the States – for good! We’re on the plane as we speak, and good news this time – one of my bags is guaranteed to make it – apparently, they always mark one "end bag" as the bag to look for, and this time it was mine. We found out a little over a month ago that we’d be moving back now, so we’ve been busy soaking up as much of London as we could. We took some tours around England and we went to Portugal as well. We also tried to spend as much time with our friends as possible.

It started off with the girls (Jill, Beth, Kelly, and Katy) all going out for “high tea”. When they say “high”, I think they mean the price. But it was all worth it – they loved it! They got a lot more than tea – they were flowered with finger food, cookies, and cakes as well. Some of the cookies were shaped and decorated like purses and shoes – just what these woman like the most!

The Brocks were kind enough to throw a dinner party for “the group”. Five American couples make up this group – Andrew and Kelly, Rino and Beth, Jeremy and Katy, Tim and Christi, and us. They cooked some delicious spaghetti for everyone and we all had a great time – that was evident by the wine stains that were left (not by the Beards I might add). Hadley and Savannah (their dogs) had recently moved in, so we had lots of fun playing with them. Thank you guys for hosting such a great night!

The next day, Jill and I took a tour of Oxford, Cotswolds, and Stratford upon Avon. Oxford is made up of 39 different colleges – we were able to tour Braise Nose. The housing is small and it reminded us of fraternities and sororities, only older. The eating hall looks like Harry Potter’s place at Hogwarts. Oxford is a really nice campus and we had a good time walking around (we even saw where Bill Clinton studied).

On the way to Cotswolds, we saw where Winston Churchill was born. Cotswolds is all about quaint villages, rivers, sheep, stone, and hills. This area is one of the most beautiful in England. The houses are made from the local material – stone. Some stone houses are in a raw (natural) state and some are in a dressed (cut) state. Some roofs are even made of stone. There are also lots of stone walls throughout – no mortar is used though. The stones are just stacked on top of each other and they can last for more than 400 years. So imagine stone houses, stone walls that contain sheep, and rivers throughout the hills of the English countryside – that’s Cotswolds.

Stratford upon Avon is where Shakespeare was born. We took a tour of his house, walked around the village, and had tea and scones at Holl’s Croft. Overall, it was a great day – nice way to see these three cities when you’re on a tight time scale.

We took a nice trip to Lisbon, Portugal with Beth and Rino – this was our last European trip, and we ended on a good one. We were pleasantly surprised with Lisbon and what Portugal had to offer. We all went out for some snacks and drinks on the night we arrived, and when we got back to our hotel, we had a bottle of champagne waiting on us – I had set it all up as this was Jill and my fifth year anniversary.

I’ll go ahead and go off on a tangent here – the past five years with Jill have been absolutely incredible! Jill is such an amazing wife – we both love being together, we have lots of fun, we’re extremely compatible, and most importantly, she can put up with me for long periods of time! Seriously, we have had a great marriage and I thank God every day for my wonderful wife. Happy anniversary and here’s to many more – I love you!

Ok, back to Portugal. When walking around in Lisbon (Lisboa), you need to be really careful because some of the sidewalks are actually streets. It’s hard to tell as you’re walking down a cobblestone sidewalk (or road). The weather was a great change from London – it was so sunny and warm we didn’t even wear jackets one day. Lisbon is very hilly, so we took a tour of Old Town and Amalfa the easy way – by tram! It was neat riding up and down the hills through narrow streets of cobblestone seeing all the sights.

Tile is big in Portugal – lots of buildings have tile décor covering the entire walls (inside and out). Artists also paint pictures and scenes on these tiles – they are everywhere. We enjoyed some great views from the castle on top of the hill, and we all loved the pasties. Pasty shops are all over the place, and they have all kinds of unique desserts. They have long glass bars displaying the food, and you walk up, order, and eat on the bar while you stand. I miss the natas already!

Desserts aren’t the only good food in Portugal – seafood is also a specialty. We had a really nice dinner on our anniversary, and the Noris even surprised us with dessert and Port wine – thanks again guys!

We hired a private taxi to take us outside of Lisbon for a day. We went through Amora, Sintra, and Cascais. Sintra is very mountainous and offered spectacular views. We stopped off at the National Palace of Sintra (built in the 14th and 16th centuries) and walked around the city. We had some really nice Port and some interesting cheesecake (small pasty ones).

We continued to drive along the Atlantic to the most western point in Europe, and the waves are much bigger on this side of the pond – we got out and watched them come crashing in for a bit. There are some really nice houses built up on the cliffs, and we also learned that there are so many cork trees in Portugal that cork is one of their biggest exports.

On the way to Cascais, we stopped off at Hell’s Mouth – this is one of the coolest things we have ever seen. We stood over a cliff looking down into the ocean. The body of water is surrounded by this cliff on all sides, but there is one small (well, relatively small) hole at the bottom where the water comes in from the ocean. When big waves come up, the ocean rushes through the opening and splashes up against all of the rocks below. When the waves are really big, they even come crashing over the top of the cliff from the ocean-side. It’s really a sight to see!

Cascais is a very ritzy place where the rich people live in houses that overlook the ocean. The Royal Casino is also in this area, and it’s the largest casino in Europe. Of course Rino and I had to go play a few hands of blackjack (I broke even). While I was playing, a guy bet off my hand – that is, he put more chips on top of my bet. I couldn’t believe that this was a legal bet – he didn’t ask me or anything. This was very strange, but I’m glad I won that hand!

The drive back to Lisbon was a very nice coastal drive as we passed lots of surfers, big palaces, and somehow, we ended up at the largest mall in Europe – I think the girls had something to do with this! There are actual “streets” throughout this mall, and we even found a “parallel mall” hidden around the corner.

Even though the Portuguese food is very good, we just couldn’t pass up having dinner at the Hard Rock. Once you’ve been in Europe for a long period of time, it’s really nice to get a true American meal when you have the chance. We had a great time and our waiter was a trip (Toby, from Prague). We even went back the next day for lunch! The hotel left chocolate and flowers outside of our rooms on our last night – Rino was very impressed with this. On our way out, we tried the infamous Ginjinha – a very good cherry-flavored drink that some say tastes like cough medicine. The guys liked it at least! Noris – we had a lot of fun on this trip – thank you for celebrating our 5th year anniversary with us!

If any of you guys missed Valentine’s Day, I hope you’re out of the doghouse by now! Jill went grocery shopping that day – keep in mind that without a car she has to carry all of the groceries home, and that’s at least a 10-minute walk. I surprised her by showing up at the grocery store with a rose, took her to Nando's for lunch, and I helped her carry the groceries up. That night, we had a very good dinner at Chez Lindsay – a quaint French restaurant in Richmond. We hope all of you had a great Valentine’s Day back home!

We were able to mark some other things off of our list around London – we finally had lunch at the Borough Market. The Raclette was delicious – huge blocks of cheese are melted over an open flame and then poured on top of potatoes. We went to the Britain at War Museum where we were able to tour the bomb shelters used during the German Blitz. They also have a small room that plays the “sounds of the Blitz” – we heard actual air raid sirens and recorded sounds from actual planes and bomb blasts from the Blitz. Hamley’s is the largest toy store in the U.K. – every kid’s dream. We had to check it out, and when we did, the Rubik's Cube U.K. champ was there solving the cubes in as little as 16 seconds – I’ve never solved one in my entire life. We did the Duck Tour – this is the vehicle used in World War II that can drive on land as well as water (we enjoyed some nice views from the Thames). And the last play we saw before we left was Billy Elliot – and it was a good final "extremely British" play to see.

Our last trip around England was to Canterbury with the Brocks. We took a train from Southwark to Canterbury Cathedral – the same route Chaucer and his gang took when he wrote the Canterbury Tales. The Cathedral is massive – it has really large stone columns, a large crypt, and a cathedral cat. We did the “Canterbury Tales” which is a humorous display of some of the 14 tales from Chaucer – that was pretty cool and had some funny props. We enjoyed taking this trip with you guys and we’ll miss doing more.

Jill and I had dinner at our favorite Indian restaurant one last time – the Taste of Raj in Twickenham. We also celebrated Shrove Tuesday (Pancake Day) with Justin and Rachel (and Carter). We met up with some old friends before we left – Jack, Juliette, Pat, Shameem, Aaliyah, Ian. It was great seeing you all again – we’ll miss you all! ntl (the company that I’ve been working with for the past three years) and Telewest have merged, and they are now called Virginmedia. I was able to meet and go out to dinner with some of these guys before I left – it was nice meeting all of you.

Beth and Rino were so kind to throw us a going away party - when Jill and I arrived, the whole “group” was there waiting for us. New York music was playing and Rino had New York pictures scrolling through his computer. Beth made some outstanding chicken cordon bleu as well as some delicious desserts. Thank you both for throwing this party for us, and thank you all for coming and making this such a special night for us – we’ll miss you all!

We packed up our flat in 41 boxes (545 kg), sent them to Birmingham, and moved into a hotel for a few nights. All of our boxes have already arrived in BHM, and reports are that they are all in good shape. If you remember, this is the OPPOSITE of how they arrived when we moved over here – they were destroyed (split and broken so much that our clothes were hanging out and dragging). Hopefully nothing is broken (tap wood).

We spent our last few nights going to our favorite restaurant in the world (Le Relais de Venise l'entrecôte - steak) and hanging out with friends. We had some really good Mexican food (Jill got her fix) with the Brocks Triefs, and “the group” went out to the Bavarian Beer House. This is a German restaurant with a true German atmosphere. The tables are long with wooden benches, beer steins are available, and the food was excellent. Kelly wins the “stein prize”. Justin, Rachel, and Carter met us out in central London for lunch and a walk along the South Bank (of course we’ll miss you all too!)

Our last meals – we had lunch at one of Jill’s favorite restaurants – Nando’s, and we had dinner at an Indian restaurant with Andrew, Kelly, Beth, and Rino. Although we’re looking forward to American food again, we will miss enough places in London.

We are going to write one more update to summarize our time in Europe before closing this chapter of our lives (it’s going to be a good one, so be sure to check it out). Before we go, we’d like to congratulate my cousin Tracey and Clay who are the proud parents of Calley Howell Sinder. She was born on February 8th, weighed 7 pounds 1 ounce, and was 20 3/4 inches long. Tim and Heather Braswell brought Brooks Patterson into the world today - 8 pounds 10 ounces. Also today, Christian and Ashley Peters had their baby today as well, but I don't have any details at this time. Congratulations to Scott and Diana Munger who are pregnant with their first. We are very happy for all of you and wish you the best. Don’t forget to check out our updated pictures – London, Portugal, Oxford-Cotswolds-Stratford, and Canterbury. Until next time, take care and God bless. We love and miss you all!