Here are a couple of extra pictures of St. Peter's Basilica. 
I also managed to snap some pics on the bus to the airport. 
Ciampino is a really boring airport. As usual we were 3 hours early (my bad) and were stuck in an area with nothing to do. Once we boarded, things got interesting. Now, I should preface this next part by saying that for those of you who don't know, I am terrified of flying...a real white-knuckler. Anyway, we were waiting to take off and there was the usual 'put on your seatbelt, turn off your cell phones and ipods' spiel. Then, as the plane started to accelerate, this woman sitting in front of me had a cell phone that rang. I bit my lip because I figure she just forgot. No worries. Then, as the plane was LEAVING THE GROUND, it rang again!!! That just made me see red. I leaned forward and screamed at her, "TURN YOUR GODDAMN CELL PHONE OFF!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!" I kind of freaked Meredith out because she'd never really seen me lose it before. Yeah, bad cell phone etiquette and flying. A bad combination if you're flying with me...just so you know.We made it to Barcelona with no problems. The only problem was that Girona Airport is 1.5 hours from Barcelona by bus.
We made our way onto the subway once we got to town and
found our hostel. It was really new and hi tech. Unfortunately, the power had gone out. We did manage to get a lowered rate because the power on our floor didn't actually come back until the next afternoon. At this point however, we were all tired, hungry, and grubby. So, we just dropped off our bags and went to get some food.
We found
a cafe near
the hostel and chowed down.Meredith had some trouble finding vegetarian food, but we managed. Barcelona was kind of funny because at first we thought everything was cheap. However we forgot to factor in the GST (Gringo Sales Tax). We got so ripped off with food. I guess that's what we get for not learning Spanish before going.
The next day we set out to see what Barcelona had to offer. Our first stop was the Sagrada Familia. This is a famous church that has been under construction for over 100 years, and still needs another 90 until it's finished. Yes, it is THAT elaborate. I took a ton of pics of it, as I think it might be the most impressive piece of architecture I've ever seen.
Just check this:
After spending some time there, we wandered around to do some shopping.
We kind of missed the cool spots and were just spinning our wheels. 
By this point, Daniel was about done so we took him back to the hostel to chill, and Meredith and I went for a gondola ride. That's right, I said gondola.
It goes up the mountain to a castle which overlooks the docks as well as the city.
Very beautiful, especially because it contains 2 of my favorite things:
Cats
and giant guns.
Here's one of our signature pics of us standing around with our mouths open. So classy.That night we went out for dinner and walked around town. Barcelona is just so laid back.
It was nice to be in that kind of place.
This guy behind the counter looks just like Newman from Seinfeld. Awesome.And so, the following morning it was back to the bus and onto a plane. We flew into Stansted Airport which was out in the middle of nowhere. On the other hand, it wasn't Luton. After yet another long bus ride we arrived in
Greenwich back where we started our trek. We just hung out at St. Christopher's and had some dinner. I had a couple of beers, and Meredith and Daniel had cider. 
Daniel learned an important lesson about the importance of sipping cider, much to his peril. We had an early night as we had to be off early the next day.The next morning we went to Heathrow to send Daniel off. On the way, we remembered what an absolute labyrinth that place is, so we got someone from the airline to escort him to his gate. We said our goodbyes and were off.
I suffered my only injury on the trip while we were heading for the bus to Reading. We were on the elevator when some people got on. I pulled the suitcase towards myself and caught it on my big toenail. It ripped upwards away from my skin. As the elevator was full of people who likely weren't fond of hearing the seven words you'll never hear on television (although George Carlin had obviously never heard of HBO), I elected to silently shriek and look at Meredith with an expression of abject horror and pain. I got a band aid from a dude at the coffee shop.The bus and train trips were uneventful, for once, and we made our way safely home. Once we arrived, I heard from Alan (our totally awesome landlord) that Wyevale was closing down. It turns out it was in the local paper. I found out from my boss that they're closing it to relocate to Slough, near London. So, it looks like I'm out of work in mid February. However, I will be receiving a pretty decent severance package (around 1300 gbp). I feel bad for the other people there, as they will have to start over...I mean, who can just pick up and move to London? So, I'm pretty lucky and (after all it is Thanksgiving) thankful for the fact that we CAN just take off at any time. Most people don't have that option. I know I sound really bitter about this experience, and I likely will look back on this with fondness. That's what Meredith has been saying to me...that was until her car accident this afternoon (don't worry, she wasn't hurt at all). I'll let her fill y'all in about it, since it is after all the latest chapter in her "Me vs. Cars" opus.
Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. It's funny that I never used to put much stock in this holiday. With all the crazy, stressful, and downright awful things that have happened to us and to our loved ones this year, I am just so thankful to have all of you in my life. Well, that's all for now. Missing you lots. Love to all.
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