Well, the family visit is over, I'm tracking their flight as I type this. They are safely on their way. I have a huge back log of blogging but this will be a little place holder for now in outline form. My parents and brother Joe were here for eight days, my folks stayed in our guest bedroom and Joe we stuffed in the dining room at night (we have a small place and two visitors at once is much easier to deal with for space). This was their first trip abroad, so it was a really big deal for them and they had a blast! Here was the itinerary, for my records and for any who may want to visit us, a taste of what staying at the Denovich B&B would be like :) Day one, was a four mile walk around our village and along part of The Thames Foot Path (the walk and sunshine is key in combating jet lag), tea in Cookham, lounging and recovering from jet-lag watching Vicar of Dibley and then dinner at the 1000 year old, oldest pub in England: The Royal Standard, which happens to be right near where we live. Day two, bagel breakfast, train into Windsor, toured the castle, walked around the Long Walk, around Windsor for some shopping, lunch and cream tea and then home for dinner where we made fillet steaks, baked potatoes and runner beans, and more Vicar before bed. Day three, breakfast of Greek yogurt/muesli/honey/blueberries, train into London, Trafalgar Square, Big Ben, Westminster Abby, Parliament, a ride on the London Eye, trip on a City Cruise with hilarious commentary up to Greenwich where we took numerous silly photos on the Prime Meridian at the Royal Observatory, back home for dinner of our home made pasta with fresh basil, tomatoes and mozzarella. Day four, my awesome eggs Benedict breakfast, Caves and amazing geology at Cheddar Gorge!, lunch at a 500 year old pub, Cheddar cheese made in Cheddar, nice drive through English countryside on the way (through the Cotswolds and Chilterns) seeing all sorts of varying vernacular architecture region to region. Home for dinner, our pork wiener schnitzel and Oreos! my folks brought over for us for dessert. Day five, parents went to church (fortunately there is a Catholic church in our village, I wouldn't have a clue where to send them otherwise). We drove south to the coast and hiked around the Seven Sisters Cliffs gorgeous white chalk cliffs, where you can endanger your own life by walking right up to the VERY EDGE it's awesome! Picnic of sandwiches from Marks and Spark's on the cliff edge. Stopped at Bodiam Castle on the way home. Saw many of the Oast houses in Kent, where hops are dried. Dinner at home consisted of Kung Pao beef followed by a very British Banoffee Pie Day six, was very low key, we were experiencing gale force winds and periodic downpours, so we hunkered down for the day. We slept in and I made ricotta pancakes topped with bananas for breakfast. I did take the family out in the rain for a bit to go shop on our little High Street, and to the post office so they could send off their post cards. We made a Ploughman's lunch, which consists of a baguette, cheeses, sliced apples, prosciutto, ploughman's pickle, dates, blueberries, and fresh apple cider from our green grocer. Much Wii Bowling was played by the family. Dinner involved a big batch of sangria and build your own soft tacos (the smoked garlic we've been buying lately really added a wonderful flavor!) Day seven, after a breakfast of French toast made from left over baguette, we drove into Wiltshire. We went to Stonehenge, Woodhenge and Avebury Circle of Standing Stones, went into Salisbury, toured its Cathedral with the tallest spire in England filled with the tombs of illegitimate children of king's of England, stopped at Sarum Castle, and found one of the many mysterious White Horses of Wiltshire. Dinner was a night out at the Bel and Dragon in Cookham and topped with some sticky toffee pudding. Day eight, I made home made scones for breakfast with tea before their taxi arrived to whisk them off to Heathrow. We all had a blast, it was a great vacation. There is just so much to do and see, they'll just have to come back :) Photos will be forth coming with more detailed blog entries on the dates.