Autumn approaching

We are enjoying the last taste of summer here up north as the days quickly get cooler here in Liverpool! Last weekend we had a mix of rain and sun and took advantage of the rainy day to explore some of the indoor activities here in town. We spent the afternoon at the Museum of Liverpool on the Albert docks. It is a really nice museum, and like all the others in town has free admission. We enjoyed learning more about the history of our adopted city :)

Liverpool has a lot of museums so we will definitely explore them in the coming weeks and months once the weather gets a bit wet and cold. It will be nice to live in a bigger city with more of this type of thing to see and do. We did love the Gainesville art museum but it will be a nice change to have more than one museum to visit now.

Austin in front of one of the oldest steam trains

We made our own family crest :)

The devil seagulls don't seem to mind the bad weather

Today I also realized that after over 4 years living in Florida I don't have any real autumn clothes anymore :( these summer sweaters are certainly not working out when an August breeze off the Irish sea hits you! Looks like a trip to H&M is in my near future :)

Summer days in England

Can't believe it's already August. Somehow I've neglected all my blogs this summer! Maybe it's the busy days at work, nights spent relaxing and enjoying our new apartment or out at tae kwon do class/rock climbing/exploring the city/etc. Maybe now this rainy Sunday will inspire me to do some blog writing again :)

We have had a really lovely summer here in Liverpool, with weather that everyone likes to continuously remind us is not normal. A week of near 80's for highs full of sun was fun, and the main reason for us going to costco to purchase a fan, but now it appears the heat wave is over. Still have had some really lovely days, especially yesterday when we made a trip to the River Dee with views of the Irish Sea from Hilbre island. Austin found this place when we first arrived and we made the muddy walk to the island at low tide on a sunny Saturday.

It was a gorgeous windy day with clear views all the way to the hills of Wales. We saw two seals, lots of happy crabs and fish, and explored the island during all of low tide. It was a lovely Saturday and a good way to get out of the city and enjoy the gorgeous nature of this part of the world.

our picnic view

towards Wales

happy hikers :D

Next week is a short one for us, as we'll fly out on Wednesday afternoon to Helsinki to visit two of our best friends, Dragan and Sohan :) We are both looking forward to a weekend up north with 'me mates' in Finlandia for a weekend of saunas, ferry rides to Estonia, and salmiaki :D

First bike adventure in the UK

With a sunny Saturday at home (and a rainy Sunday in the forecast), I decided that yesterday would be the perfect day to try out a bike ride. It had been quite a few months since I'd done a long bike ride and wanted to test out the routes around Liverpool.

The trip started out interestingly enough. I took the train across the River Mersey, all of which were delayed because of some issues on the other side of the river. So amidst much confusion I managed to get myself and my bike to Birkenhead. The start of the trail was about a mile and a half north of the train station, and the trail itself at the beginning was a really nice paved mixed use area. With gorgeous views of the river (better so coming back when you had the city of Liverpool to look at) it started off quite well.

The second part was quite a bit windy, and crowded as well, with a paved path not quite as nice as the first part :P after pushing through the winds I finally made a turn south along the road to Kirkby, enjoying a much-needed break from the gale-force winds and the busy crowds! That was a bout as far as I made it though, as I soon learned that the trail I was planning on taking was all muddy and unpaved...luckily I was already up to quite the amount of miles and was ready to head back home. Lesson learned: stick to the roads for biking!

The way back was amazing, with the wind at my back and not having to stop to check directions all the time :) I took a break by the Irish Sea and then had a proper break of an ale and bag of sea salt crisps before getting back on the train. First time I've been able to do that on a bike ride! Made it home in one piece (with no train confusion this time) and enjoyed an early dinner with Austin in the evening.

I really liked being able to take my bike on the train and to get somewhere new easily without having to drive there. Now that I know that there are some nice country roads to ride on I'll probably stick to those instead of the bike paths, but I did really like the first bit from yesterday along the Mersey River.

Today is a nice day to catch up on non-outdoor parts of life, with rain moving in this afternoon, so a good chance to enjoy some coffee and a book while letting my tired legs rest :P

Heading west (aka the windy part)

A break on the beach

A break (with beer!) on the pier

Liverpool from across the Mersey River. I love our skyline!

(Almost) settled in!

It's been almost two weeks since we got the keys to our new place! It was certainly the experience trying to rent an apartment while having no UK credit, previous addresses, etc etc. The leasing agency was nice enough but everything seemed to move at an absolutely glacial pace. Thankfully we only had to spend a couple of days in a hostel during our first week of work, and now have had time to get everything set up and lovely :)

Pending the hanging of a few IKEA shelves and the arrival of some small boxes of knick-knacks from Florida our new place is almost complete! Haven't taken pictures of it all set up yet (it needs a bit of a clean-up before it's ready for pictures) but here are some photos of us getting things unpacked and all that fun stuff.

We've now been working for 2 weeks and both like our jobs and our new bosses. City life is slowly growing on Austin the country boy :) More to come soon as we continue to explore the area, meet new friends and colleagues, and enjoy the new (and occasionally slow-paced) experiences of life in the UK!

we got the keys :D

Our first meal of frozen pizza on a cardboard box!

Ikea, cart 1 of 2

stuff everywhere ...

Congrats to Austin!

Last weekend we had the pleasure of hosting Austin's family as he came down to Florida for his graduation. After a couple of days of relaxing at the beach, they all headed up north to the GNV to see him walk at the PhD graduation ceremony. After dinner by the pool we relaxed at home, then on Saturday took Adam, Kara, and Tyler to see some of the Gainesville sights.

 At the fancy ceremony

Graduation selfie :)

Next day at lunch at one of our favorite GNV spots, Chopstix

On Sunday I took Austin around the lake for some cap and gown photos before he has to turn his stuff back in to the bookstore. Although he somehow ended up losing his tassel, the photos came out great :)

At the Baughman center gardens

Lake Alice/Baughman center

 I guess I graduated too ;)

Such a handsome graduate-congrats, AJB!

Congrats to Dr. Brockmeier the 2nd!

Austin successfully passed his dissertation defense yesterday! I was glad to have been able to attend the presentation and it was really well done (not that I'm biased or anything). We took time to celebrate with friends downtown that evening and now Austin is making the finishing touches on his dissertation before resubmitting it back to the graduate school.

So now with two PhD's in the house, life in our home will certainly become more philosophical than it was ever before. Congrats to Austin and looking forward to the next step in our journey together!

Foosballin' at Palomino

Beers at Stubbies and Steins

The doctors Brockmeiers :D

Where in the world is Erica?

While Austin finishes writing his thesis and Erica waits for her UK work visa, she is spending some time visiting Dragan in Krakow :) This is my second time here and I really like this city. Nice public transport in a city with lots of growth, the occasionally sunny day (like today) which is a nice treat for early March in Central Europe, a gorgeous city center/old town with tons of museums, and some of the best beer I've ever tried (I've only had one so far that was 'meh'). It's also been quite a lot of fun living a different lifestyle and it's been a nice change of pace and scenery as I wait to start my post-doc.

I haven't taken quite so many photos (my camera needs a break after so many road trips this last year!) but I did manage to capture a few shots on my phone. Hopefully the sun will stick around for our next excursion-for now I will relax my sore muscles (after walking around all day yesterday) and enjoy the sunshine from afar!

On the brand-new 787 dreamliner flying over the coast of Norway on the way to Stockholm

Feels just like home! :)

One of the many absolutely fantastic beers from Poland

Jogging route by a lake, on a foggy day

The old communist area of Nowa Huta

A sunny view from Dragan's balcony

Some fantastic cheesecake that Dragan made!

Sunday was a gorgeous day so we went to the Krakow zoo. 

...then walked around and found a castle (owned by the university). Nice real estate ;)