Only a few days to go

After 9 months in the US it is nearly time to finally go home. The last few weeks in Connecticut have gone so quickly and I’ve had a really great time. Last time I was here it wasn’t much fun as I was stuck in a hotel room most of the time with not much to do. This time has involved lots of lunches and dinners and obviously nights out drinking.

Christmas time seems to be well celebrated here. There are so many houses covered in lights which reminded me of National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation, although I think these house put Chevy Chase’s to shame.

It’s quite bizarre that when I arrived here in March it was thick snow and really cold; now on my return I’ve been treated to exactly the same weather. We have seen 3 lots of snow in as many weeks, and tomorrow we are expecting a Nor’easter which doesn’t sound like much fun. Last Thursday the weather was so bad that most of the office left early. It was quite dangerous driving home as even the main motorways were covered in thick snow and ice as about 10 centimetres fell in a few hours. There is a huge slope up to my hotel which I only just managed to drive up. Some poor bugger in front of me attempted it about 3 times before finally giving up! It was very pretty in the daytime, but the evening rush hour was not very nice. I just hope that the planes are flying out on Tuesday evening when I take my flight back to the Netherlands.

I'm so cold!!!

After 7 glorious months in the Californian desert I have finally returned to Connecticut. I had such a lovely time there and will miss everyone I met. On my last weekend we managed a night out drinking, and then a party at a colleagues house with the highlight being the beer pong and drinking games. I am very sad to leave :-(

It is such a culture shock to be back in Connecticut. Just over a week ago I was sitting by the pool with the temperature at around 30 degrees centigrade. Today in Connecticut it is -3 degrees and has been snowing. The snow that fell earlier has had now turned into ice and it is a nightmare walking around as it’s like a skating rink. It’s quite funny as when I first got the US there was really thick snow, and now just before I leave it is snowing again. Thank goodness for California in between.

Last weekend I did manage to get in a bit more travelling and went to Washington DC for a few days. It was the Thanksgiving holiday so it was a great way to spend time off. The only problem was that the queues were so long for all the museums that I didn’t get to go to any. I did manage to do a lot of sightseeing though and saw The White House, Capitol House, The Smithsonian Castle, The Lincoln Memorial and The Washington Monument. After all the sightseeing I also got to go shopping :-)

Meet Monty

For those of you who don’t recognise him, Monty is the Praying Mantis who now lives in my garden. At first I thought he was a large stick insect (about 3” long or about 8cm) but then someone told me it was a Praying Mantis. He is a welcome addition to the frogs and humming birds. I just hope he eats cockroaches!!!

I realised that I hadn’t included any pictures of the sky recently, in fact I haven’t written anything lately, so I have added some lovely pictures for you to view. Also for those of you who are brave, I have added a couple of pictures of me on Halloween in my Vampiress costume.

So I have just over a week left here in the beautiful desert and then it’s back to Connecticut for 4 weeks before finally returning to the Netherlands. I am really going to miss the sunshine as it is still around 30 degrees here. This weekend I am giving up to sitting by the pool in the daytime and partying in the evening :-)

I return to Connecticut just before Thanksgiving and will fly to Washington DC for the Thanksgiving holiday. There should be more for you to read over the next few weeks as I plan to visit a lot of places when I get back to the East coast. I promise no more pictures of the Statue of Liberty though (unless they are really good)!!!

Congratulations to Deirdre & Co!!!

Before I went over to Ireland for the wedding I managed to spend a few days in Rotterdam. It was so lovely to catch up with all my friends and colleagues, and finally see Phoebe (daughter of Marianne & Daniel). My few days in Rotterdam consisted of lots of partying and very little sleep. It was all worth it though!

After Rotterdam we headed off to Blarney which is a few miles from Cork. Again the first couple of days consisted of drinking and catching up with my friends, and then finally we got to the wedding day.

The wedding ceremony was held in a beautiful chapel called Gougane Barra. The chapel is on the side of a lake surrounded beautiful hills. Such a tranquil setting for a wedding. After the wedding we went back to the Blarney Castle hotel for the reception. By the time we had eaten all four courses we hardly had any energy to dance. The food was just so scrummy.

On the final day we went to Blarney Castle which was stunning with amazing views. I didn’t kiss the Blarney stone though as to do so you needed to lie on the floor and hold on to some hand bars whist leaning backwards with a view down to the ground. I am not afraid of heights, but more worried about all the disgusting germs from the people who had kissed it before. Apparently if you kiss it you are supposed to get the gift of the gab. I figured I didn’t need this so gave the kissing of the stone a miss.

There are more photos of the wedding and Ireland on my Bebo account. http://www.bebo.com/Debbie-Thomas

San Francisco

Having spent the weekend in San Francisco, I think I’ve finally found my favourite US city.

I got there early on Saturday morning and checked into the hotel right in the centre of the city. I then went on a cable car ride that went through the streets on a guided tour. The highlight of this was the Golden Gate Bridge. After that I spent some time on Pier 39 which is a pier with loads of shops, restaurants, an aquarium and various street acts. Just at the edge of the pier is a wild sea lion sanctuary with hundreds of noisy, crazy sea lions. I could have stayed and watched them all day! In the evening I went to a comedy club which was really funny.

On the Sunday I tried to take a trip to Alcatraz but the tours were all sold out. I settled for going on a boat trip around the island and under the Golden Gate Bridge. I also went to the aquarium which was really amazing. Far better than Boston aquarium.

Catalina Island

Last Saturday we had a team outing to Catalina Island. We met at the office at 7.15am(!) and were picked up by a 20 seater limousine. It was surprisingly comfortable for our 2½ hour journey to Long Beach where we got the ferry. The ferry ride was only an hour, but was very windy.

When we got there we had a BBQ and then went off to do activities. We had $40 each and we could decide what activity we did out of snorkeling, canoeing, glass bottom boat and various other activities. A few colleagues and I walked passed all the beaches and Casino (which was unfortunately only a museum) and found a nice beach at the end of the strip. We then decided to take part in an activity called sitting on your arse and drinking cocktails. As I hadn’t drunk for 3 weeks, they still seemed to go down very well! It was a most pleasurable experience and an activity I would definitely take part in in the future.

At the end of the day we took the ferry and the limo back. It was quite an exhausting day but one I completely enjoyed :-) Next weekend I’m off to San Francisco so look out for more photos.

The holiday period is over :-(

Finally, here is the last part of my holiday, although it seems strange writing about it now as it is 2 months ago!

So after Vegas, LA and San Diego it was off to Cabo San Lucas on the Baja Californian peninsula. The resort I stayed in was only 10 months old and it was definitely 5* quality. My room was amazing and big enough to sleep 4 people. There was a fully fitted kitchen with a shower room and laundry room off of the living room. It had a huge balcony which served both the living room and the bedroom. Then came the bedroom which was so luxurious. It had a King size bed with a Jacuzzi bath, and shower room and toilet and double sinks. The resort was also really relaxing and the terrace lead onto the beach. There was a swimming pool and several spa pools. The weather was lovely but it was quite strange though as it was actually cooler than where I live.

The 2nd day I went down to the beach and then to the pool. Unfortunately my suntan lotion didn’t have the desired effect and I ended up getting burnt. This meant that on the 3rd day I couldn’t go in the sun but I did manage to explore the small town and harbour. The 4th day was back to the pool again, but this time I sat under the umbrella all day reading a book. I would definitely recommend the resort if anyone would like a relaxing holiday, although I don’t think you want to go there at the moment as yesterday it was hit by hurricane Henriette. Maybe you should leave it a few months!!! I did include this link before, but you may be interested in it again :-)

http://www.cabovillas.com/properties.asp?PID=199