What does London have against Thanksgiving?

Over the week of Thanksgiving, Charlie came to visit us in London. I finally convinced one of our visitors that I am, indeed, a more interesting tour guide than those on the Big Red Bus tours, and Charlie let me lead him all around the London sites and give him all the historical color that I knew. I think that he definitely got his money's worth (i.e. my tours come free as long as you buy me a Starbucks coffee when I get cold). However, I do remember Charlie asking a question and my response was "Hmmm. I really don't know the answer to that. I think I have reached the limit of my London knowledge." Sorry Charlie! And, by the way, you should have seen the reunion between Bruno and Charlie (who was Bruno's Daddy for the first 3 months that we were in London). Let's just say there was a lot of tail wagging and face licking!

On the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, Charlie, Scott, and I took the Eurostar train from London to Paris (in the Chunnel). We spent the day in Paris and then took another train to Bayeux, France. After a bit of a battle to find Scott something to eat (someone should tell that boy that there is no Papa John's in France), we spent the night in an adorable little hotel in the smallest town that I have visited in Europe thus far. Bayeux even gives Mills River a run for it's money! Anyway, we got picked up the next morning by the most petite little French woman you have ever seen and she took us on a tour of the Normandy/D-Day beaches. For such a little woman, she packed a ton of information into her little head! She talked basically 8 hours nonstop about the history of all of the Normandy beaches, landings, battles, and World War II in general. It was so interesting to hear how the French people (especially those who have lived in Normandy) continue to honor the US soldiers who freed their country and the world from the Nazi regime. It was easily one of our favorite things that we have done here so far. All of us had Grandfathers who fought in World War II but Grandpa Wolford landed on Utah beach a few days after D-Day. And I am the first Wolford that has visited there since he fought! My Dad and Uncle Glenn game me lots of information on his regimental history. It blows me away that he fought on such a terrifying landscape and he survived a war that is so important to all of our lives and freedom. So this year for Thanksgiving, I'm thankful for all of the men and women who fought for our country and our freedom!

After Normandy, we headed back to Paris and spent another day touring around. After being only 2 hours away from it for almost 9 months now, I finally saw the Eiffel Tower!!! It was awesome! We rode all the way to the top - it felt like an amusement park ride. It was probably -50 degrees at the top and the wind was about 100 mph, but it was totally worth it. The view was amazing. We also got to see The Louvre, The Arc d'Triomphe, The Champs Elysees, and Notre Dame. Paris was absolutely beautiful and I'll definitely be going back to visit again soon. We also got to visit with Coach Holladay's daughter, Heather, and her husband David. They have the best flat in Paris and a full view of the Eiffel Tower right out their window! They are our new best friends!!!

Once we got back to London, we had to say goodbye to Charlie. Then we went in search of a turkey. Apparently, London has something against Americans celebrating Thanksgiving because the only turkey that we could find in this city was a 19 lb bird that cost almost $200! So, for Thanksgiving dinner this year, we had "Baby Turkeys". Although most butchers would classify these "Baby Turkeys" as, in fact, chickens, we convinced ourselves that there really isn't much difference in the taste of the two birds when roasted Thanksgiving style! I don't know if we convinced our guests or not! We had a few other Americans and our best English friend, Matt, over to the house and had a the best make-shift Thanksgiving dinner that this flat has ever seen!

Two weeks ago, we also experienced our first Premiership football game (AKA soccer). We saw Fulham play at home vs Blackburn. It was a fun to hear all the fans chanting Fulham on to a win. Then last week, we were finally able to see our first Vanderbilt and Carolina games on television (or slingbox more specifically). So great to see our teams doing so well this year! We'll be sure to cheer loud enough for you to hear over the pond(don't think it will be a problem for me).

We are now starting to experience Christmas shopping season in London. We started our Christmas shopping last weekend on Oxford Street which is a huge outdoor shopping district that is chocked full of tacky Christmas decorations. So of course I love it! There were about a million other Londoners out with us to enjoy the decorations, fake snow, window displays, fireworks, and the street being shut down to cars. It was a little stimulus overload but really fun all the same. Who knew London could be so pretty in the winter time?!