Traveling in December--post 1

Orientation to the exercise bike

Christmas Day, we flew to London, England to visit our daughter. I was surprised at how many people travel on Christmas! It was a short flight from Portland, Oregon to San Francisco, California. That flight from San Francisco to London. . .well, it was LONG! (It was made longer when neither of us slept much on that long leg! I felt for the crying baby and the coughing kid. Both kept it up almost non stop!)

N getting acquainted with "Bangkok Nights"

The best part of the trip was seeing our daughter as we left the baggage claims area at Heathrow airport! Traditionally, we have a coffee from Cafe Nero. It is interesting how much a cup of coffee and a walk can stave off jet lag.

When we arrived at her flat, she gave us a tour. N gave her dad an overview of her exercise bike. She bought a Peloton bike last fall and loves it. We all rode it during our stay. I actually had fun using it which surprised me.

We unpacked the two large suitcases we brought full of her requested items. I'll list a couple items. There were a couple jars of dad's applesauce, dad's pickled cucumbers and a jar of his pickled hot peppers. (Can you see a theme?)

Christmas wallhanging

Then, there were the quilts. I finished Bangkok Nights in 2004. I started it in 1998. Perhaps, I will write a short post about that quilt soon.

One reason why it took so long was that I had stippled three quarters of the background and I didn't like how it looked. I took a couple years to remove the stitches and start again. Removing stippling stitches in a thread that closely matched the background fabric was hard. I'm glad that I took the time to go a different route as I was much happier with the finish.

A test for the larger quilts is "sleep ability." This one is rated a ten out of ten for sleep ability. The photo is proof! The other quilt was a wall hanging that I gave her a few Christmases ago; but, she opted me to hold on to it for her. It looks right at home in her flat!

We took a walk to see Christmas decorations and a few stalls at a riverside Christmas market. On our walk, we spotted a number of artful snowmen along the way. We took a few photos along our route. I was surprised at how few people were out. Although, I did enjoy being able to see the river without looking at it through hundreds of people!

It was Boxing Day--a day when people are spending time with family and friends that they didn't see on Christmas Day. I learned that Christmas Eve isn't the big deal it is in the U.S.

One of the snowmen we encountered on our first walk

When we returned, we ordered take out from a nearby Indian restaurant. Every dish was delicious.  In one of the dishes, I thought I was eating a green bean; but, in reality, I was eating a hot pepper. While I like spicy foods, my body does not. Talk about a shock to the system! We all had a good laugh. I laughed the loudest once the shock to my mouth dulled a bit! I've seen the proof that my face and shirt were the same red color!