Our Honeymoon ~ From London to Spain

Stop No. 1 ~ London

Whilst the winter has kept us at home and not traveling as much as we'd like and therefore making our 'perpetual adventures' slightly more brief, if not completely non-existent (*by the way, that isn't happening next year - I will go on both a ski trip and somewhere tropical during the winter hibernation period)...anyhow, I thought that I'd share some stories and photos from our honeymoon - our trip of a lifetime. Now before I get to London, the first leg of our ten city, five country trip, I must begin with a sweet little story about the planning that went into this trip.

Originally, the entire honeymoon was to be a surprise for me - Adam knows just how much I love surprises and since I was going a little overboard with all of the wedding planning, he figured that the best use of his time was in planning our celebratory trip to follow the wedding...or maybe I just told him to do that? Anyhow, I believe it was about April or May when we were driving to our church one Sunday morning and Adam said, "So, how badly did you want the honeymoon to actually be a surprise?" Understanding him the way I do I took this to meant that he was undecided about something and needed my help. I replied with, "I really love surprises you know, is there anyway you can just make a few decisions and keep me out of the loop?" He of course agreed to that - but brought the topic back up again a few minutes later so I figured there was something on his mind that he needed to share. And so I thought about it and realized, actually, I'm dying to know what the plan is!

Adam then preceded by telling me he had had a dream. This isn't a unique phenomenon I told him and he explained that he never dreams or at least he can rarely ever remember his dreams. At this point, as you might imagine, I'm totally intrigued by what he has to share with me. Without further ado, in his dream he was at some big party that was happening before our wedding and all of my closest friends and family were there, getting to know him, interrogating him a bit, etc. He thinks it was either Amy or Jordyn who asked him, "Where are you taking Melody on the honeymoon?" And as he told them the plan he said that they all started laughing hysterically and saying, "Don't you know Melody at all? She'll hate that." In the dream he specifically remembers looking at Jordyn, and all she had to do was raise those dramatic eyebrows of hers and he knew he had blown it.

And so, my poor hubby was experiencing a bit of anxiety prior to making the final arrangements for our honeymoon. I decided it was best to let the guy get the affirmation from me that he so desperately needed. He then described and unfolded the entire honeymoon in such an elaborate way, I couldn't help but be totally enthralled and more than ready to depart for our 14 day cruise covering the beautiful coastal cities along the Adriatic and Mediterranean seas. I guess the majority of his anxiety stemmed from a comment that I had made about hating the 'All Inclusive's' - I meant like Sandals - not a cruise! Especially not a cruise that is exposing me to some of the places that I have longed to visit! Here's the breakdown of the honeymoon: London to Venice to Debrovnik to Athens to Santorini to Naples to Rome to Florence/Pisa to Cannes to Barcelona. I mean, what's not to love about that? Besides...Athens of course :)

Sunday night, the day after our wedding we flew out from Seattle to London (approx 10+ hour flight). Now the cruise actually started in Venice, but Adam saw an opportunity to gain a country and one up me in our country competition, by choosing a flight with a layover in a city/country he had never been, one in which I had been several times! Needless to say, we arrived in the middle of the afternoon after our red eye and from all of the excitement with the wedding and everything, we didn't really sleep on the plane much so we were exhausted. Let me just say this, exhaustion has nothing on adrenaline and excitement, so we took on sightseeing and enjoying one of my favorite cities in the world.

Our first stop, checking into our hotel - the Sherlock Holmes hotel on Baker Street, naturally. Well, actually, it wasn't naturally, rather a sweet deal that Priceline set up for us but very fun nevertheless.

We immediately departed for Westminster and Big Ben, the London Eye, the Parliament, and of course, Westminster Abbey. Although this area can get a little crowded with all the tourists, etc, you can usually find a quiet bench nearby the abbey to read, sketch, enjoy your surroundings.




All of a sudden we heard Big Ben chime (seriously) and realized that it was almost six o'clock and we had to be at Queen's theatre for Les Miserables by seven o'clock and we were starving. We hopped on the Tube and made our way to the Picadilly Circus line and headed to the theatre (notice the English spelling of the word, my preferred spelling of the word as well) - arriving with only about 20 minutes prior to the start of our show and still starving. Yes, I'm proud to say that on our first night of our honeymoon we ate McDonald's. Please don't judge me, I love that place.

It's sad, but true...after our McDonalds chow down, the traveling, the wedding festivities and all, our adrenaline finally ran out and we both fell asleep during the second half of Les Mis. Sad. Oh well, both of us have seen the play (one of our shared favorites) approx ten times, so no biggy. After the show, it's dark out and late and even though we are tired and have to get up super early to make our flight to Venice, I convince him to wander over to St. Paul's Cathedral, which has the second highest dome in the world (we also saw the first highest on this trip, can you guess where?). St. Paul's is one of those sights that I particularly like to see in the evening. There is something hauntingly reverent about this place of worship, nestled in the hub of London's epicenter. I highly recommend visiting the cathedral in the evenings, folks are rarely around that area at night.

We decided after that to call it a night - no stops at the pub for warm beer or hot toddy's :( But I feel pretty confident that we will be back...

For your viewing pleasure, here are a couple of fun pics that we took while in London: The much loved red telephone booth picture (I have a ton of these now) and of course the beginning of several self portraits because we are too frightened to ask anyone else to snag a pic, and finally, the first of several pictures intended to document the numerous subway rides we took on this honeymoon. I can now offer anyone who is interested a thoughtful and comprehensive reflection of the subways in Washington DC, New York City, London, Rome, Athens, and Barcelona.

Have you been to London before? What are you favorite things to do and see? Please share your thoughts - I love including highly recommended sights into my travel plans!
Cheers, Melody

"My dear, don't you know? That's Rhett Butler. He's from Charleston. He has the most terrible reputation."

**********************Part II: Charleston**********************

It's no surprise to me that Charleston is the fictional home of the affluent Rhett Butler. I have never experienced more grandeur anywhere else in the U.S. than I did walking along the Battery in the historic area of Charleston. The range and size of the architectural structures lining the streets will leave you awestruck - from the charming Georgian style to the statuesque Federal style to the classic Italianate and Victorian style homes, the city boasts an unprecedented diversity leaving you with hours to spend gawking and admiring.

I'm going to let the pictures do most of the talking in this post - they speak volumes of the beauty, elegance, and authentic southern charm that you would imagine of Charleston.

There are several old estates that you can visit during your stay in Charleston. We chose to visit Middleton Place during this trip. The grounds are what was most spectacular here - although, when looking at the images of the main house, you can imagine a certain quality about it. Here is a write up that I found online to give you a little background about the estate:

Middleton Place was established early in the life of the Carolina colony and served as a base of operations for a great Low Country planter family and was home to a dynamic African-American slave community. Begun in 1741 by Henry Middleton, President of the First Continental Congress, the 60-acre landscaped garden was both an intellectual and emotional focus for successive generations of Middletons. Until 1865, the garden was nurtured and embellished by Henry's son, Arthur Middleton, a signer of the Declaration of Independence; Arthur Middleton's son, Henry Middleton, who was Governor of South Carolina and U.S. Minister to Russia; and Governor Henry Middleton's son, Williams Middleton, who signed the Ordinance of Secession.

Without further ado, here are some of my favorite snapshots that I captured as we wandered the grounds of this fine, old southern estate:

My travel companions, my in-laws, Mark and Michele, and my darling husband, Adam.

Adam and I standing on a rickety old footbridge.

My Marms (Michele) - standing along the row of big oaks and Spanish moss -
looking all mysterious like the lady of the woods!

This was my Marms' favorite view point!

I would like nothing more than to spend a warm, spring afternoon wandering from garden to garden, picnicking, reading, playing games with friends...it almost makes me want to move out of the city. Notice I said almost, I'd rather just own something like this that I can visit on the weekends.

After exploring Middleton Place, we headed into town and checked in to the John Rutledge Inn. This is where Adam proposed to me a year ago and it was so special to return as husband and wife. I think this will definitely become a yearly tradition of ours and I think it's truly important to return to these spots where we experienced love to the fullest, where our lives were forever changed - and reflect and remember. After all, these are the moments in our lives that we live for.

After checking in we enjoyed tea, brandy, and pastries in the ballroom. Doesn't that just take you back to entirely different era. Can anyone actually say let's have tea in the ballroom during this day and age? It was very cozy and we all were ready to take a nap after that but we decided to tour the town a bit. We wandered along the Battery, which is a pathway along the waterfront that is perfect for strolling. Since we had missed our opportunity to explore one of the grand houses in Savannah we were eager to find a tour opportunity in one of the large Charleston homes. We stumbled upon the Calhoun Mansion which was offering one last tour for the day. The house was extravagant, but entirely too cluttered! There were artifacts from nearly every country you could imagine and while that might seem eclectic and interesting to some, it was way to chaotic for me! I think the intent of the home owner is to display all of his collectibles at once and that he isn't too concerned with style and design. All that to say, it was a lovely experience - I recommend touring a large mansion whilst in Charleston, I just don't recommend this one. However, an interesting tidbit for all of you movie lovers, apparently several films have featured scenes inside this fine mansion to include The Notebook (it's the interior of Allie's parents' summer home - the exterior is Boone Hall - also in Charleston).

After strolling the town we dressed for dinner - also a term that isn't used by me very often. My typical evening consists of dressing down in sweats and t-shirt for dinner. Sometimes I long for the grand ol' days when folks actually dressed up for dinner...but then I remember how cozy I like to feel in the evenings and I dismiss that desire. We went back to back to Circa 1886, the amazing restaurant that Adam and I ate at the evening he proposed. This was definitely a trip full of too much eating - but all of the food was incredible. The South knows how to cook! We had a lovely time and before you know it we were full, happy, and again, ready for bed!




The next morning we took our rental car back and headed to the train station for our trip back to DC. I can definitely say that traveling during the day on the train is my preferred way to travel on the train. For one, I can't sleep long enough on the train to make the night trip valuable and second of all, I love the interesting sites you get to enjoy as you travel by train. You can seriously just sit back and enjoy the sites as they pass you by. Not all of these sites were positive, South Carolina (besides the old, historic area of Charleston) is really hurting - the infrastructure and condition of family homes indicate the need for support. This kind of exposure, while difficult, can only help us remember to consider other States and other U.S. citizens when considering whether or not to be in support of bigger Federal efforts like, health care reform and so forth. If you could see the impoverished areas that we saw along the train route, you would definitely see that there are families out there even in our own country - that are really struggling and desperately have a need for Federal assistance. Okay - sorry for the rant - please drop me a line with your thoughts! Have you been to Charleston? Can you recommend places for us to visit the next time we are there? I forgot to mention that I am probably going there for work in April - when it will be 10x warmer :) I can't wait! So send me your recommendations now!

"Savannah would be better for ya. You'd just get in trouble in Atlanta."

**********************Part I: Savannah**********************

Ah, the good ol' South. Some of you might recognize the words from my title as the keen advice from Mammy to Scarlett O'Hara in Gone with the Wind (side bar - in preparation for our trip down south, Adam and I watched Gone with the Wind for the first time in years - I can't help but love Scarlett for some strange reason...) And why you might ask were we down in that fine part of the country? Well, my darling Adam was ever so kind and planned a fun-filled southern getaway for my late thirtieth birthday celebration and our one year engagement anniversary. A year ago we got engaged in Charleston, South Carolina - so it was only fitting that we head down there and he added a Savannah stop as a bonus! It was a semi-surprise in that I knew nothing about the arrangements he had made for traveling, lodging, dining, or any of the activities. On Wednesday evening he told me to pack a suitcase and have it ready by the door before I left for work on Thursday morning. I don't know about the rest of you but for me, I love anticipation periods - it's exciting! From the moment I left for work until the time we got to our departure point, I was contemplating all sorts of adventures that we might be taking. Even though I already knew we were going to Savannah and Charleston (which I thought we were leaving for those destinations on Friday), I somehow managed to ask if I need my passport. I know, I know,...I have big expectations - maybe that's why I relate to Scarlett?

As I arrived home from work that evening Adam was already there (which is never the case) and he was ready to go right away and there were no suitcases by the door. I was told to just wear what I had on (business casual) and we started walking towards Union Station (our closest metro stop). Now instead of walking to the end of the building towards the metro entrance, we entered into the main area of Union Station and this is where I started to consider that we might be taking a train trip - I naturally thought it was going to be some sort of dinner train somewhere. As we walked towards the center restaurant I asked Adam where we were going and he said, "I don't know but do you want to go with those people?" Sitting upstairs in the restaurant just happened to be my new mother and father-in-law! I screamed and it was more of the scared scream (I just don't have a cute, girly squeal) because I was so surprised to see them!

And as many of you have already guessed, the four of us eventually got on a train for the evening and made our way to Savannah. This was my first overnight train trip since I was in Thailand in 2003 and I gotta say, it was a very interesting experience. My generation has sort of snubbed the whole train idea unless it's in Europe or Japan where the trains go really fast. If you haven't taken a train before I highly recommend it. Now, sleeping on the train is nearly impossible (unless you're doped up-Marms was lucky here) but the rest of the experiences one has on a train are really really unique. For example, there is a very diverse group of folks who take the train. My Marms asked one of the staffers on the train what type of people usually take the train and she said, "Greyhound People." Not really sure what that means but, there was definitely an assortment of eye candy (and I don't mean attractive guys). Also, I am still a very private person - it's early in our marriage but I hope that we continue to use the restroom in private when possible...that's just polite :) However, it was not possible in our sleeper car which had a tiny little toilet located right in our room for us to use. I held it in all night until I couldn't any more - then I made Adam flip over on his stomach and put a coat over his head while I hummed and made other noises to keep him from hearing the tinkle.

We arrived in Savannah around 0600 after a night of zero sleep (except for Marms) and called in a taxi. We left around 8:00pm so it was approximately a 10 hour train ride. We stayed at a really cute boutique hotel downtown Savannah called the Marshall House. I loved this place - Adam knows me so well and he picked out the perfect hotel - smallish (but not so small that you feel uncomfortable), beautiful old architecture coupled with brand new decor (and linens!!) that's a tad more contemporary, and minimal on the decor - I can't handle some of the old inns that have to put each and every antique on display and it's so overwhelming you feel claustrophobic. There was none of that - this place is gorgeous! One of the interesting little details is that all of the rooms facing the street have extra large windows that you use to access the porch. Apparently when the house was built there was a tax on all doors and so in an effort to avoid the additional taxes and still provide access to the porch, the builders added extra wide and extra low windows to make it easy for someone to crawl out of the room and onto the porch!

As you can probably imagine, it was a little too early for us to check into our rooms so we dropped off our bags and decided to head to...Starbucks of course. It's like 7:00am at this point and we need a little pick-me-up! After perking up a bit, we headed out for our first walk around the city. Savannah has 21 squares that are all designed to be miniature parks and gardens. Everywhere you look in Savannah you are surrounded by tall Oaks, Magnolias, and Crape Myrtles all draped with the wispy remnants of Spanish moss. All of the squares are full of park benches and little nooks for spending the afternoon day dreaming or reading books. There is a real magical appeal to these quaint little gardens - almost like there is something mysterious about each and every one. I'm not sure if that just comes from the quirky history of Savannah or what...but there is a certain allure, a je ne sais quoi.




After a morning of walking around the town, our hotel called notifying us that we were able to check into our rooms. At that point a few of us were a little zombie like (lack of sleep) so we decided to check in, shower and take a quick nap. We woke up feeling hungry and well rested. One of the goals of this trip was to get some real southern cooking and Adam and Marms had read a spectacular review in both Southern Living and the NY Times about a small, off the beaten path kind of place called Masada Cafe. The taxi driver had never heard of this place and kept checking in with the dispatcher to try and find out where it was at. Luckily we had the iPhone to guide us to our destination. Masada Cafe is located in a small church just outside of the historic downtown area. The lady who runs the church is the pastors wife and all proceeds go towards service work around the community. The food...unreal. Marms, Mark and I had fried chicken (duh), macaroni and cheese, green beans, a biscuit, and a diet coke to wash it down. Adam was a little more adventurous and went with ox tail, fried okra, rice, mac and cheese...and we all had a little red velvet cake to help that heaping of food digest properly :) We didn't plan to walk back to town, but we did...3 miles. Basically, we were stranded after the taxi dropped us off and had no other choice, it was slightly annoying at the time - but definitely funny now. Anyhow, the whole experience gets two thumbs up, best fried chicken ever and definitely a bonus to get outside of the more touristy area for some authenticity.


The rest of the afternoon was spent wandering around town. We tried to take a tour of the Mercer Williams house - this is the home where the main character from the novel Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil lived. I bought the book at the house gift store (open until 5:00pm) since we missed the actual tour hours for the house (open until 4:10pm). Does anyone else think 4:10pm is a strange quitting time?




I started reading my book right away - for those of you who haven't read it yet, it's quite good!

From there we browsed stores and wandered around, had a spot of tea in small French home goods store (our favorite). We eventually wandered back to the hotel to freshen up and dress for our fancy dinner at Elizabeth on 37th. We all got fancified, took another taxi ride from a proud Savannian, and showed up at the most beautifully haunting, older building for dinner.

The food was spectacular, we had a little rose champagne to wash things down, we sat next to a cozy fireplace, and of course, we had delightful conversation. I loved it there. That and the place that I ate at the night Adam proposed to me are the nicest restaurants I've been to in my life. Truly a special evening!!

We ended the evening sitting out on the big porch, rocking away, feeling extremely full, and entirely too exhausted to stay out on the porch as long we'd like. I'll definitely be back to Savannah someday - hopefully someday soon! The town is artistic (with nearly 100 buildings for the hub of Savannah College of Art and Design campus), eclectic, and full of delicious places to eat - why wouldn't you visit? Have you been before? How was your experience? Drop me a line!