going to Sutton, England

Well -- tomorrow I fly to England!

Less than two weeks ago, I received an email about a one-day workshop for librarians and the IB Diploma program (which our school has)... and I'm off! The upper school principal was supportive of me attending, and school has helped set up all travel arrangements for me. So, so nice.

blue marker: Sutton, England

red marker: Milan, Italy

The flight from Malpensa (Milan) to Gatwick (London) is about 2 hours long.

Awesome! (...Still amazing to me... to be able to fly just 2 hours and be in a completely different country and culture... when in the States, I take two flights, totally about 5 hours in the air and get from Denver, Colorado to Rochester, New York.)

Sutton is just south of London:

school mornings - Opera

It is mid-November and I'm still happily riding my bicycle to school in the mornings!

The 10-minute ride is really nice in the morning. I bundle up with a jacket, hat, mittens, and scarf... and am all set.

Some mornings I'm also treated with amazing lighting from the rising sun:

Just leaving my apartment building in the morning:

The two photos below are looking out from atop the bridge that I cross over the highway on...

special Sunday lunch

I was in the middle of a few loads of laundry, reading my book earlier today when the phone rang. (That doesn't happen often!)

Ends up being a new friend of mine from school! She retired from ASM about 7 years ago but is still often seen around campus and helps with PTO things.

Her and a friend are soon going to Hong Kong and Vietnam!

She invited me over for lunch at her place... along with the travel friend.

I'm so glad that I went. It was nice to have a true home-cooked Italian meal. Her husband made a delicious polenta with rabbit. And there was homemade panna cotta with caramel (basically cooked cream). Wow.

When she invited me over she asked if I am vegetarian... to which I said, "No"... and she said, "Oh good, then you can eat some Italian foods!" Hahaha.

Her husband only spoke Italian... her friend is originally from England but has lived in Milan for 30-some years... and she, herself, speaks both English and Italian. It was nice to try and follow their conversations in Italian... be able to have help translating at times... and also be able to speak some in English as well.

I've forgotten so much of the Italian that I learned during college... but it's nice to be here and re-learn some... while also learning new things, since I'm more in conversation here rather than a grammar-based class.

After lunch we sat and chatted... looked at photos from their recent family trip to Croatia... and then took a walk over to the monthly Sunday market in town.

A very nice Sunday indeed.   : )

Pavia sepia'd - some favorites

Some of my favorites from last weekend's day-trip to Pavia:

Pavia at night

We looked for a place to get something eat as it started growing dark. Most restaurants weren't open... only being 5:00pm or so... and restaurants begin serving dinner at about 8:00pm or so. I'm still not quite used to the later hours!

A main square, shown in the first two photos below, had a good number of cafes and restaurants. We sat outside of one and were able to order paninis and sandwiches.

Muscle man in front of Pavia's train station:

walking around Pavia, Italy

After the Monet exhibit we walked around the town of Pavia...

And we popped in THIS store (below) for some dolci! (Sweets!)

I chose one that was a little creme puff... 

it was JUST like my family makes at the holiday times! 

Tasted like a little piece of home.  : )

castle FAVORITES

Some of my favorite photos from the castle where we went to the Monet exhibit   : )

I love the colors of the homes in town beyond the castle's brick: