The most expensive 22 days of our lives

The last weekend in July, we journeyed to Moscow, Russia with our fellow Americans living abroad Heather and David (who currently live in Paris). We took a four-day weekend and apparently got there just in time to miss the Russians starting a war! I think the best way to describe the trip was…interesting. The first night that we were there, we went to dinner at a Uzbekistani restaurant that came highly recommended from the Moscow Marriott’s concierge. The menu included Russian, Uzbekistani, and Arabic foods and was written in 20% English. We did the best we could and the food was actually really good but the entertainment was even better. There were scantily-clad belly dancers around every corner (one who was well over 300lbs) and a band with two female singers dressed in short 70’s style dresses with go-go boots singing all Abba songs all night long with a dance floor filled with everything from teenagers drinking in shorts and flip flops to cross-dressers to ladies in sequined ball gowns. Needless to say, we ate in silence, wide-eyed, and tried to take it all in. Wow. We had other interesting adventures such as holding two monkeys and an eagle in Red Square, getting denied entry into the Kremlin because it was randomly closed for reasons that were “not for us to know.” But eventually we did get to see the Kremlin, Red Square, Lenin’s Mausoleum, St. Basil’s Cathedral, and all of the amazing sights that Moscow has to offer. We bargained for Russian nesting dolls, ate some borscht and a lot of meat, even saw a man on his balcony in a way-too-small speedo talking on his cell phone (don’t worry, I won’t post that one on the blog), and thankfully didn’t manage to anger Russian Mafia! Moscow was easily the most difficult city that I’ve been in to communicate as few people speak English and at one point Scott actually clucked like a chicken to communicate to a waiter what he wanted to order. Apologies, again, to Heather and David for that one! Seriously though, Moscow was an awesome trip and being with Heather and David (our new favorite travel companions) made it that much more fun.

After a quick week back in London, and my last week at work which was followed by a great goodbye celebration with my friends from The Wellington Hospital, we were off to Africa! We started off by flying into Johannesburg and then on a Zambian Airways flight into Livingstone, Zambia. We saw Victoria Falls, which was absolutely breathtaking and got to pal around with the animals in the nature preserve that our hotel was on including monkeys, baboons, impala, hippos, zebras, and giraffes. Scott and I got to venture into town before his family came to join us and saw a completely different way of life in Africa from what we are privileged to have grown up in. Very eye-opening experience. After Coach Roy, Bub, and Kimmie made it to Livingstone (albeit a little tired) the restaurant staff at the hotel gave Coach a fantastic African rendition of “Happy Birthday” when they brought out his b-day dessert after dinner. Then we had a crazy experience being led through immigration out of Zambia, across a ferry and into Botswana, then out of Botswana while stepping on a disinfectant pad to prevent foot-and-mouth disease, and then into Namibia and onto a safari boat. We cruised down the Chobe River which lies in between Botswana and Namibia in Chobe National Park which is well known for it’s overpopulation of elephants. It was crazy to see all these elephants in their natural habitat – running to get water, nestling their babies, having politics with each other – so cool! We also got to take out the speed boats and go fishing, see amazing sunsets, and come frightening close to crocs and baboons. We also got to see more types of antelopes than we knew existed as well as giraffes, tons of birds, warthogs, etc.

Our next two stops were into South Africa in Krueger National Park. The first was in the middle of Krueger at The Honeyguide which was a tented camp – luxury tents, that is, with a concrete slab floor, running water, shower/toilet, electricity, and a king size bed! But it was a little scary that animals walked through camp all day long and at night you needed to be escorted to your tent and asked not to leave until you were woken up in the morning by the African drum because you would probably get eaten by a leopard! At night, I would lie in bed and just watch animals walk past the tent – amazing! We got taken around in safari land rovers and got to see animals super close up including elephants, giraffes, antelope, baboons, lions, rhino, vultures, buffalo, endangered African wild dog, African wild cat, etc. We even tracked a momma leopard who had killed an antelope and left it in a tree for her babies for later. Next we were off to The Outpost. The two planes that we took to get there were four seaters (that’s right, if you do the math, we could not all fit in one plane – yikes!) and easily the scariest part of the trip. They took off the dirt airstrip which had to be cleared of antelope before we went. Kimmie and I might have held hands the entire flight while Scott was loving every minute of flying co-pilot. Once we made it to The Outpost, we stayed in rooms that were built into the side of a mountain and only had three walls – the fourth was just an amazing view of the river below. So cool! The first night we were there, Scott and I heard Bub scream and we heard three big smacks – we figured that she had taken care of whatever bug had scared her and didn’t think anything else of it. Come to find out, Bub could have been killed if the poisonous centipede that Coach Roy killed had bitten her. So we got lucky on that one! Otherwise, The Outpost was awesome and we got to take super long safari rides and see lots of animals that we had seen before as well as some amazing scenery and some new animals that we didn’t even know existed like a gannet and a civet. We also saw a lion and heard her growl to protect her cubs and then come up close and personal with an elephant when he cornered us during his dinner.

After the Outpost, Scott’s family returned Stateside and Scott and I journeyed to Capetown, South Africa and the winelands. We were amazed at what a cool city Capetown is! We got to learn all the Nelson Mandela history on a tour to Robben Island, had some awesome South African seafood, toured around Table Mountain, and bargained our way through the craft markets. We finished up our trip with a tour of the winelands in Franschhoek – even though Scott doesn’t even drink wine, we both loved seeing the miles and miles of vines and all of the science that goes into winemaking on our tours of the Mont Rochelle and Boschendall wineries.

Overall, we had an absolutely amazing time in Africa and is has just topped off our time here abroad. Sorry for the lengthy blog but there was so much to cover!!! And to finish off the most expensive 22 days of our lives, we have reservations at Gordon Ramsay's Restaurant on Royal Hospital Road (which was voted #4 restaurant in the world this year and incidently is two blocks from our flat). It's gonna be Kraft Mac and Cheese for weeks and picking up spare change off the ground for the piggy bank once we get back home! We have one week left in London and then we’re headed Stateside so we’ll see y’all soon!

Trying to fit it all in!

We celebrated the 4th of July this year in Lake Como in northern Italy. You know, with our pal George Clooney. Actually we didn’t really see him but apparently stayed very close to where he lives. We did recently see Barbara Streisand though, but that’s another story. We flew into Milan and rented a teeny diesel little car and drove about an hour into the city of Como. And thanks to my superb navigational skills, we only got lost three times. Lake Como is absolutely gorgeous as it sits in the southern tip of the Alps and the lake is in a valley surrounded by all the huge mountains. The water is super clear and blue and the scenery is just stunning. We walked through the little towns along the lake, soaked in some sunshine, and ate lots of gelato to stay cool. Lake Como is one of the most unique and beautiful places that we’ve seen on our European trips – highly recommended by the Scott and Katie travel guidebook.

And then Allen Wolford invaded London. That’s right - Dad braved the long flight all by himself with his brand new passport in hand and journeyed outside the good ole US of A for the first time! After a little water in the suitcase (inexplicably) and a bit of an adventure to get to our flat, he made it and was ready to see the sights. It was so great to have him here to show him some of the things that we have loved seeing and doing in London. Of all the people (young and old) that have visited us in London, Dad by far had the most energy of them all! We saw more things with him in the week that he was here than with anyone else – hands down. He had no jet lag and never even took any naps during the week. Although the crowds were a little much for us all at times, he handled the tube, double decker buses, and miles of walking without a single complaint. He was so enthralled by everything that he kept forgetting to eat! However, we were able to guide him through his first Thai and Indian food experiences – both of which he actually liked! We saw all the traditional London sites as well as took day trips to the Goodwood Festival of Speed, the Duxford WWII air show, and Windsor castle. And after all that, he still had the energy to take Bruno to the park everyday for some quality Frisbee time. Very impressive Mr. Wolford!!!

Since our London adventures are quickly coming to an end, Scott and I are trying to check as many restaurants, theatre, etc off of our London to-do list. Well, more like Scott is going to the restaurants as he is trying to quench his cravings for Indian food for every meal before we return Stateside and I am trying to see as much theatre as possible before I leave. Our friend, Sandy, and I went to see Dirty Dancing recently. It was very well done and had awesome dancing but you can’t beat the original Baby and Johnny Castle.

We’re getting ready for our busy upcoming month of trying to fit in trips to Moscow and South Africa, finish work, and pack our lives up to get back to the US before Labor Day.

Happy June!

We started off the month of June with a weeklong trip Stateside. We flew in on Friday and drove straight to Charleston for a beach weekend with Granny and Granddaddy, Coach and Bub, Charlie, Dave, and Kimmie. We had a beautiful weekend, lots of amazing food (thanks to Bub), soaked up some much needed sun, and hopefully made Bubba’s birthday weekend a little brighter! We spent the rest of the week in Charlotte visiting friends and family. Scott's highlight of the trip was eating at The Penguin (awesome greasy burger dive) with some friends and some old coaches. The highlight of the trip for me, hands down, was watching Lindsay’s (my niece) dance rehearsal! She was the most beautiful “bear” dressed in a bright pink tutu ever! Even funnier was watching Cara’s internal struggle as she followed Lindsay’s dance teacher’s instructions and jazzed Lindsay up even more with make-up and curled hair. Mike and Cara are such great parents and Lindsay is at such an adorable age right now. For more laughs, check out their blog at http://www.lindsaywolford.blogspot.com/

After getting back to London, we had one of my most favorite days in London yet. We spent the day at Royal Ascot, which is basically England’s version of the Kentucky Derby which is attended by the Royal Family. We went with our friends Matt, JoAnn, Ricky, and Sandy to “Ladies Day” which is supposed to be the most fashionable day to go. It was fantastic seeing all the gents in their top hats and tails (i.e. Morning suits) and all the ladies in their huge hats. And the best part of the day, I won!!! All the US horses were winning that day – so we ran to the betting booth, bet 10 pounds on a US horse called Fifteen Love and won 185 pounds (which is about $370). A pretty fabulous day all around.

And then I turned 29! We celebrated all day long at work. The British have a weird custom where you bring in your own cake/treats to work when it’s your birthday. Backwards, I know. But I have eaten lots of others’ cakes, so I figured I would go crazy and spoil myself (and others) with tons of cake and candy all day long. Needless to say, my birthday was a huge success at work! Then, Scott met me near Westminster Abbey with flowers in hand for a great dinner at the Cinnamon Club which is a fancy Indian restaurant set in the Old Westminster Library. The food was wonderful and the atmosphere was so cool – there were still all the old books on the 2nd floor of the restaurant. Then we came home and Bruno licked my arm for like 20 minutes. We assumed that was his way of saying “Happy Birthday.”

Our latest trip was a day trip with our friend, Sandy, to Brighton which is about an hour south of London on the coast. So we got to see the English Channel in person (rather than just from an airplane) and we got to walk in the rocks (that’s right, not sand, but full out rocks) which to be honest was a little painful but pretty nonetheless. Brighton is kind of like Myrtle Beach (rides on the pier, slightly trashy nightlife, etc) but we still had a fun day walking around and being touristy. It was (as is typical) too cold to sunbathe or swim in the ocean but at least we can check it off the list!

In other news, Wachovia has decided to call Scott back to the mother ship in Charlotte a little earlier than expected. So, it looks like we’ll be moving back home around Labor Day of this year. We’re really excited to go home to see all of our friends and family on a little more regular basis. Although we’re sad that we won’t get to see everything that we wanted to see prior to leaving London. But I think if we stayed here 10 years, we still wouldn’t get to it all! So, y’all make us some sweet tea and get ready to welcome us home!

When does winter end?

The subject of this post is a quote from one of Scott’s work colleagues, Eric, who recently got transferred to London. Eric's 4-year-old daughter, Georgia, asked, "Daddy, I know its summer back in Charlotte, but when does winter end and summer start here in England?" What a smart little American girl she is!

Despite London’s slow start to summer, it has been tolerable enough for Kimmie and 5 of her friends to tour around London without using their umbrellas (much). I don’t think they could say the same for trip to Paris where they got drenched on the top of an open-air bus tour. They got to see all the typical London sites (St. Paul’s Cathedral, Big Ben, London Eye, Parliament, etc) and even got to experience Thai and Indian food which were firsts for most of them. I don’t know if they’ll ever eat it again but they all cleaned their plates! Almost every night they were here, the rocked out on Guitar Hero reaching levels of the game we never knew existed. I was grateful to them for catching me up on the latest US celebrity gossip and TV show happenings. Scott was grateful to have them here because of the extra food we had for them – lasagna, crepes (which were a little suspect), scones, etc. It was great to have them here and we were sad for them to leave! Bruno was especially sad to see them go – he loved all the extra attention and walks throughout the day with 5 extra girls in the house.

The UNC women’s basketball team also made a stop through London on their European tour. Scott went to their game against the London Heathrow Acers Select (who we had no idea existed) and had a fantastic time watching the Heels win and getting to meet all the players. You can see photos at http://tarheelblue.cstv.com/view.gal?id=28691. There is even one of Scott with his arm around Sylvia! Watch it, Scotty boy; she’s married, you know!

One really cool thing about London is that they still use horse guards – some for police and some for protection of the Queen/ Royal Family. Kind of random, I know. But a few mornings a week, the horse guards come down our street on their morning exercise route. Bruno immediately goes crazy and barks like a wild animal and the horses just saunter along proudly through our street – so cool!

Another quintessential London thing we recently did was to see the Chelsea Flower Show. It is the largest flower show in the world. We weren’t really that excited to go at first. I mean, it’s just a bunch of flowers right? Wrong. This thing was incredible. They take the yard of the Chelsea Royal Hospital (a little bigger than a football field) and the exhibitors turn their allocated space (approx 20ft x 20ft) into a themed oasis. Some of them were dug deep and made into Japanese bonsai gardens, others were made into little ponds with palm trees all around, others were made into magical fairy woodlands – it was really very cool and super impressive. I can’t do it justice with the descriptions so you’ll just have to trust me and go if you ever have the chance. Granny and Granddaddy would have been in heaven!

On a more serious note, our good friend Bo is in the hospital at Duke after a double lung transplant. It’s definitely a reality check to hear what he is battling right now so please keep him, his beautiful daughter Addi, and awesome wife Christi (A.K.A. Beastie) in your thoughts and prayers. www.bovsbac.blogspot.com

G'day Mates!

Scott started out the month of May with a 10-day business trip to Singapore, Australia (Sydney, Melbourne, Canberra), and New Zealand (Auckland). He had over 20 meetings in the small amount of time that he was actually on land but also got to see some cool parts of some countries that he had never been to before. He says the drive from the airport in Singapore into the center city was the prettiest one that he can remember. The city is spotless and very safe (because of some pretty harsh rules - they execute you for dealing drugs). It is one of the busiest shipping ports in the world with 60% of the world’s oil going through that port. He was there for 2 days before heading off to Australia. He got to see a fair amount of Sydney and he went on an amazing run around Sydney Harbor past the Opera House and the botanical gardens. He also went to Bondi Beach (the one famous for surfing) but since it was autumn there, he decided to save his moves on the waves for another trip. Unfortunately, he didn’t get to see too much of the other cities but even more disappointing, he didn’t see ONE kangaroo! But he made it back to London in one piece just in time for spring!
That’s right, we actually had a 10-day stretch of 70-degree sunshine with not a cloud in sight! I am sure it is some kind of record. As you can tell from the picture on the right, Bruno has been loving the extra time in the park and has been in full pursuit of any food item brought into “his” park for a picnic. I can’t count how many times I’ve chased after him trying to run down a little kid with an ice cream cone or apologizing after he stole some deli meat out of someone’s picnic basket. However, we’re a little worried that this little stint of sunshine will be the only bit of summer we’ll get this year (like last year). And of course, the 50-degree rain has returned just in time to welcome Scott’s sister, Kimmie, (and 4 of her friends) for a visit! Good luck Kimmie!

Happy Birthday Scotty!

That’s right, the old man turned 31 on April 15. Although, his hip didn’t pop when he rolled over in bed like it did on his 30th birthday, I think Scott felt just as old this year because of his nagging knee troubles. He’s been saying he’ll need a knee replacement by the time he is 40, so I have taken him on as my first acupuncture client! He is a making a great pincushion for me to practice on so far and has only screamed twice (the sissy!). In celebration of Scott’s b-day, I surprised him with a trip to the OXO Tower for dinner. The OXO Tower has one of the best views in London overlooking the Thames (St. Paul’s Cathedral, Big Ben, Parliament, etc) and was easily the best “fancy” meal that we’ve eaten out since we moved to London. Bruno and I decided that the old man needed to keep up his exercise in his old age and we also got him a Nintendo Wii (thanks Jess and Jimmy for the recommendation and to Crazy Dave and Kimmie for assistance helping me get it across the pond!). In addition to working on our golf games and boxing skills, the Wii has truly allowed Scott and I unleash our inner Guitar Heroes. It is SO FUN!!! I highly recommend it!

A few months ago, Bub and Coach Roy had the idea to go to the Canary Islands after the basketball season. So naturally, we decided to ride their coattails and tag along! But since the TarHeels had such an awesome season and decided to make it all the way to the Final Four, Coach and Bub didn’t exactly have time to make it to the Canaries…but Scott and I did! We spent five days there soaking up some much needed sun, watching the kite surfers, eating great food, lounging by the pool, and enjoying being on the other side of the Atlantic. The Island of Tenerife is like of a mix of Hawaii (because it is a volcanic island) and Palm Springs (because the dry climate and dessert landscape). Because we haven’t seen the sun in London for months, Scott got a sweet sunburn. Let me just tell you how sexy he was on the beach - maroon on the front and ghostly white on the back. Despite Scott staying under an umbrella the rest of the trip, we had a great time. We even decided to get adventurous and go sailing on a whale watching tour. There were 5 of us on this small (at least it seemed small to me) sailboat on the windiest day that I can ever remember. The sea was angry that day, my friends. I think that the Captain said the wind was at 22 knots, which in Katie terms mean nothing except really strong and scary. I was white knuckled for the first 45 minutes because I thought we were definitely tipping over. I had my escape route all planned out and even strategically placed myself near the life preserver. That was until I realized that there was a really good chance that I might get seasick. Scott had taken some nausea medicine (I am sure some of you remember the deep sea fishing debacle). I figured that I would be fine, but the waves were like 20 feet trough to crest. Luckily, we saw a bunch of whales so it was all worth it. After the whales left us, the sea captain (Felix) sailed us back towards the coastline where it was a little less choppy and thankfully there was only one boat member that had to lose breakfast over the back of the boat – and it wasn’t Scott or me!

It has finally started getting warm and sunny here and actually feels a little like spring! Since the time has changed, it doesn’t get dark here until after 8pm and Bruno is loving the extra time in the park. Scott just left a few days ago for a business trip to Singapore, Australia, and New Zealand so Bruno and I are holding down the fort until he returns in week and a half. Otherwise all is well here. But the calendar for our summer visitors is still a little bare so help us fill it up! Love and miss you all!

Final Four – Here we come!

At 4 am on Sunday, March 29th, Scott and I watched as Coach Roy’s TarHeels won their way to the Final Four! By 4:30 am, we had two plane tickets and the following Friday we were en route to San Antonio. Our flight was a little less than perfect, to say the least. Despite being in the very last row of the plane and dangerously close a man vomiting into the air sickness bags every 5 minutes, we had a passenger emergency requiring a stop over in, that’s right, Newfoundland, which Scott so correctly pointed out, looks exactly like the moon. There were huge craters of ice everywhere and no civilization in sight. Scott even quoted Dumb and Dumber, saying "We've landed on the moon!" but only he and I thought that was funny at that point. By Aunt Cheryl’s rulings, in order to say that you have been to a particular place in the world, you have to have a meal there. Luckily, we can now say that we have officially been to Newfoundland because although we weren't able to get off the plane, the stewardesses felt bad for all of us and decided to give us some ice cream. Woohoo! Anyway, after finally landing in Atlanta and being almost 4 hours late for our connecting flight, we (somehow) still made it Texas that night. After a tardy arrival into Texas, we made it to San Antonio in one piece.

It was great to see all of Scott’s family and friends who had come out to cheer on the Heels. It was also really good to see all of our Kansas friends again so unexpectedly! We ate Mexican food for breakfast, lunch, and dinner everyday, drank margaritas on the Riverwalk, saw the sun for the first time in months, toured the Alamo, and watch Charlie Ripple almost become the National Champion in the State Farm Shootout at the Final Four’s Hoop City. Maybe next year, Chuck! And even though the Heels could have gone just a wee bit further, we were so proud of Coach Roy’s boys for having such an amazing season. At least we got to see our Kansas friends so happy!

So now we’re back in London doing typical London things like watching the 2008 London Marathon. Back in August, I applied for the marathon lottery but didn’t get in. Although I was sad to not have the chance to run, I think I had a little divine intervention because it was about 50 degrees, super windy, and rainy during the marathon. Whew! Instead of running, I was out to breakfast, eating waffles, and taking a (covered) boat ride to Greenwich to visit the Royal Maritime Museum and the Prime Meridian. Although that may not sound like a rockin’ good time to some, it definitely seemed like it to me when I was watching those poor runners!