The trip to England was a whirlwind! I don't want to retell the story of every event in sequence so I will give a slightly "Reader's Digest" version. We went there as a surprise to Neil's mom. The rest of his family knew we were coming so we all conspired to surprise her.
It drove me nuts not being able to post on Facebook that I was off to Europe. Europe is a pretty big deal for me. I went to Germany and Denmark when I was in my early 20's and I thought I would never head out of the country again. Then of course I went to Brazil and that really started things off for me again. From there I ended up flying to Vancouver and Montreal and Toronto but I certainly did not think I would be going to England ever much less this year!
I felt instantly comfortable the second we arrived in England. Perhaps it is the association with Neil being born there or maybe it just proves it is all meant to be. Neil's family was amazing. I felt like one of the clan quickly and this is a little strange for me but I really felt like they were family immediately. I guess for me, that really proved how natural and honest and real Neil is. He is q00% his family and they are awesome too!
The day we surprised Neil's mom, we all went for a Family photo shoot and then to dinner at the Yew Tree Inn. The photo shoot was fun. I had always wanted to do something like that and I was honoured to be considered worthy of being included in the group family photo. Dinner was pretty cool. The food was homey and the portions were HUGE! The banoffee pie was very decadent and the family was a lot of fun! While in England we also went to a castle that was at one time owned by Neil's ancestors. Bodiam Castle was beautiful! Neil and I went in and walked around. We took photos and really had some special "us" time in there. There was one point where I was standing in the castle (most of it is exposed as it is really an outer shell with little for coverage) and I was thinking to myself.. this would be an amazing place to get married... and at that moment I looked down and saw the plaque that said "Chapel". That was a serious case of the warm fuzzies right there.
Neil's parents also took us to another town called Arundel where there was another castle but we didn't go in. We ended up spending our time there walking around the town and taking a walk along the river. It was a seriously amazing viewpoint of England and really epitomises what England is really like. We then went to a pub called the Black Rabbit and sat along the river at picnic tables and enjoyed a pint and lunch.
During the week Neil and I took two trips to seaside towns (Eastbourne and Brighton) & ate Fish and chips.. We also went to London for the day. I think the most time consuming aspect of sightseeing is the travel time. We spent 1 Hour 20 Minutes on the train to London and the same back to Polegate (the nearest station to his mom and dad's place). London was crazy and hectic.
We did a lot of shopping and ended up having a delicious dinner. We did have some not-so-good sushi and a mediocre lunch but in all, it was a great time! It really makes me want to go back and really take time to see some of the sights and visit the museums and galleries. We really only got a glimpse of the attractions in London so it would be so nice to be able to see more again. Luckily I am in this relationship for good so I foresee a lot more trips in the future.
Neil and I also spent some time in his town of Hailsham and bought candy to bring home etc.. I admittedly did way too much shopping on this trip and although Neil's sister-in-law to be has vowed to take me clothes shopping at Christmas, I am definitely going to plan on curbing my spending this time around!
So Neil and I head back to England for Christmas this year. We are flying out of Calgary on December 16th and we return on December 29th (just in time to recover for New Years Eve!) I expect this next trip to be as equally thrilling and I expect my relationship with Neil to never dull. I can't imagine life with Neil being anything but one amazing adventure after another.
Next year I plan on spending Christmas in Canada. I am hoping Neil's parents plan to come here for Christmas. Bottom line is that I want to be able to spend some Christmases with my family as well. I have some pretty important people in my really tiny family and they are important to me. I think we can compromise without any issues :)
When I got back from England I weighed myself and I was so excited that I could report that I am down to 233 which is exactly 1/2 of my highest weight of 466lbs! I am so glad Neil didn't have to know me in the pre-Marchesini era because I am so much happier now. I am just loving life now. As much as I thought I was before... It took all of my energy to make myself believe I was happy. Now, things come much easier. Every day I am amazed at how my life has turned around over the past 2 years and how much better my life is now. I marvel at how fortunate I am to have certain amazing people in my life and I am so thankful that I am appreciative of them.
Even though I am 1/2 of the person I once was physically, as Neil reminds me, I am even greater than 100% mentally, emotionally and spiritually than I was before!
Anyway, enough about that! Thanks for reading!
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