parents visit...!

My parents arrived in Oxford for a visit last Wednesday. It was so nice to see them after a few stressful months! I met them in time for lunch at the Queens Lane Coffee Shop (supposedly the oldest coffee shop in the world!), but then I had to run off to get to the boathouse in time for the first regatta race (another post to come on that). In the evening we went for a nice dinner at Quod, and then we enjoyed a concert by the Oxford Millenium Orchestra at the Sheldonian Theatre (the same building where I had my matriculation ceremony). Lovely.

Thursday I went to class in the morning, but then we wandered around Oxford some more, starting with lunch at the Vaults cafe at St. Mary's church. After fueling ourselves, we climbed the steps of the church tower to see the magnificent views of the city from the top. Amazing! We also wandered around the shopping streets, spending a lot of time in the bookshops. In the late afternoon we celebrated Thanksgiving by having tea and scones at a restaurant on the High Street, while watching Oxford life walk by the window. Not exactly turkey and stuffing and pumpkin pie, but those will just have to wait for Christmas. I had family visiting, which is really the whole point of Thanksgiving anyway, so we were happy. :)

Friday the folks left for London following lunch. I got to stay behind for class, a house meeting with the college, rowing and other stuff. In the evening, I met up with a former co-worker Brian and his wife Valerie. Brian was inspired by my decision to come here for my MBA, and they came over from DC to attend the open day that the school was hosting for prospective students. We started the evening at the MBA happy hour, and then continued to dinner with a few of my classmates. I think that they were as impressed with the programme as I was when I visited in February, so hopefully he'll apply. (good luck!!)

Saturday evening I met up with the folks again in London. We went for dinner at Belgo Centraal, a fun Belgian restaurant near Covent Garden with great mussels, frites, and beer, and complete with waitstaff dressed as monks! A unique, and yummy, experience. After dinner we went to the theatre to see a performance of High Society. It was a very entertaining musical, and I was very happy to get a chance to head to my first West End show since arriving here two months ago; a real treat.

Sunday we walked along Bayswater Road (the north side of Hyde Park), where local artists have their art on display every Sunday; something that's always fun to meander through. We ended up in Notting Hill for lunch, and after that headed up on the tube to St. John's Wood, the neighborhood we lived in from 1985-1988. We walked all around our old stomping grounds, of course stopping to see our old house, which I can report still looks quite the same 20 years later! In the evening we met up with some family friends from our time in London for dinner, though I left a little bit early to head back on the bus to Oxford! A great visit and I'm looking forward to heading to DC in a few weeks and getting a chance to catch up with Amy too (and others, of course!!).