Also stolen: Simon’s old laptop (thankfully it was his old one, and he backed up all his pictures and everything), and Simon’s watch.
All the pictures from our vacation are gone, which is very saddening. More saddening- not listening to my gut that said “change the locks!” after our cleaning lady quit suddenly. If it wasn’t her or an accomplice, I don’t know who it would be. The (very few) other people who have had a key to our apartment are all people I trust. Or, at the very least, people that I would deem more creative and “able to plan a respectable heist” than someone who would quickly run in and steal the first three things they could see.
So I’d like to make a note of the pictures I can remember us taking. And I do realize that there are much worse things that could have happened, and in the grand scheme of things, this doesn’t matter. But I’m sad that I don’t have copies of these pictures now. Really sad.
1) Pictures of me with my family, during the only week I’ve seen them in 2011. Thankfully my parents and sisters also took a few pictures of our time together.
2) Pictures of Simon and me with his almost-80-year-old grandmother, whom he hasn’t seen in four years. Whom we drove 10 hours! round trip to visit for just one evening. Who is looking forward to seeing the pictures on Facebook. :(
3) Pictures of Redcar, a town in England that Simon describes as “the most miserable, depressing place you’ll ever visit” and that other English people describe as “a town that you only visit accidentally”. I (an American), however, saw it as nothing but cute and OMG the town where they filmed many scenes in Atonement! And, oh, the pictures I took there! The pictures I nervously took there because Simon insisted that Redcar is full of mostly chavs that are out to rob me. Chavs that I should “hide my accent from” or “who knows what they’ll do”. Simon grew up there, so he knows. And when Simon says a place is seedy, I believe him. So I walked around with Simon and his “mum” (protectively clutching my purse), and took pictures of things I recognized from Atonement. I took pictures of the town clock and the very creepy metal “art” along the boardwalk. There were pictures of us on the freezing cold beach, including a very artsy picture of my feet in the SUPER cold North Sea water.
Oh, oh, and pictures of the town’s plan to build a “vertical pier“… I don’t know how that’s a thing, but the conversations that it started were hilarious.
Maybe I liked Atonement too much, but those pictures of me in front of things that were also in Atonement were pretty cool to me. Sad face.
4) Pictures of Saltburn, England… Pictures like this one…
…found here. Isn’t it pretty? What a sweet town. Note to self: remember how Simon cared not at all about how pretty Saltburn is, but only cared that the local chippy closed at 8pm, yet did not close the awning of the shop, creating the illusion that fish and chips were still available for purchase. Simon thought that my lack of genuine English chips tainted my experience of Saltburn’s pier. Aww.
Saltburn also had these adorable “lifts to the town” where these old elevators took you up this steep hill, um, to the town (duh). Here’s what my picture looked like (just imagine my mug cheesing up the shot):
Picture found here.
5) Some pictures of some b-e-a-u-t-i-f-u-l BEAUTIFUL castle and grounds in I-don’t-remember, England. Simon’s mom was driving me around and I didn’t absorb much of what she was talking about, but this modest stone building (small castle?) was gorgeous. I took pictures of the leisurely peacocks and the uh, trees and umm, the grass. It was just pretty and nature-y and I loved it and I’ll have to ask Simon’s mom where we were so I can solidify my memory.
6) Pictures of LONDON! This trip included my first real trip to London. Turns out, my English boyfriend and his English friends need to be coerced into taking people to London. It felt weird that I didn’t have a token picture next to Big Ben or The Houses of Parliment or Buckingham Palace (where Kate’s wedding dress was on display!), even though I’m a cheesy American that has been to England a few times. So this trip, we finally ventured to London, and oh was I so excited! I didn’t get any great pictures of me posing in front of any of the aforementioned sights though… because venturing to London with English people means partaking in a mini pub crawl and catching an excellent West End show, not posing next to a giant clocks or Duchesses’ wedding dresses. However, I’m sad I don’t have the pictures of all of us together that day.
Oh, and I took an artsy picture of a used book sale under a bridge along the embankment. I’m positive I would have purchased a cool old cookbook had there not been so much pressure to find. the. pub. But, I wouldn’t change that.
7) Pictures of a gorgeous afternoon in Henley-on-Thames. The weather was perfect and Simon and I sat along the river for lunch and a jug of Pimms. We fed the ducks and geese and got an ice cream cone and I jokingly yelled at him for “holding out on me” because I had no idea that Henley-on-Thames was anywhere near where we stay in England. Turns out, it’s only about 20 minutes away. Gee Sheryn, look at a map every now and again! Also, when he said we were going to Henley for lunch, it didn’t phase me. But when he said we were going to “the place where they were racing in The Social Network”, I got excited. (I really don’t know any names or locations of places.)
I know I’m forgetting all the “insignificant” pictures that I took. You know, the ones that really influence your memory of a trip. The little, stupid, “Why did I take a picture of that??”-type pictures. But at least I remembered some of them, and was able to share them here.
Also, I do take responsibility for this “robbery” happening. I could have prevented it, and I know that.
Let the healing process begin!
