Monday, July 26th
Took it easy today. Finally able to get the laundry done. Cleaned up the room some. It’s getting close to leaving time.
We really did almost nothing worthy of talking about today. Spent a few brief moments with friends. Spent most of our day alone. It was nice.
Started reading George Orwell’s 1984 tonight – only made it 19 pages in. We’ll see how this goes. Leo has been after me to read it since we met… three years ago. I guess I’ll give it a shot.
Tuesday, July 27th
Woke up early today and went to town. Had some last minute errands to run and wanted to get them done before we were really pressed for time. Since we were there, we also got delicious iced coffees – probably our last of the trip. Whoa. That’s sad. In less than a week we’ll be Stateside again. Who is excited? This girl.
Finished 1984 today. I was pleasantly surprised at how much I enjoyed the book. Good read. Thanks for the suggestion.
What I just realized today: Wallets are called purses. Purses are called bags.
Things I will miss about the UK:
1. The ability to walk everywhere – easily and safely.
2. The tube.
3. Delicious cheese in a tube.
4. Teacakes.
5. How late the sun sets.
6. The amazing shopping.
7. Seeing Ryan, Colleen and Tommy daily.
Wednesday, July 28th
Last day for babysitting Tommy – and she took the longest nap known to toddlers! I was actually bummed that I wasn’t able to spend more time with her while she was conscious ☺
I have made very good progress on my next book, The Lost Symbol. I love it. So good. I am actually excited to finish this book because I want to find out what happens. Usually, I get sad when I finish books if I really like them. I need to finish this one to have the answers!
Spent the evening drinking wine (and some blueberry cider, yum!), telling scary stories/dreams, watching scary videos… with Leo, Colleen and Ryan. I love this life. They are the best friends and I am so thankful that I’ve been able to share all of this with them. Love those three so much!
Did I mention we lit a sky lantern and watched the fireball soar through the sky? Uh, yeah. Best way to end our time in Worcester. ☺
Thursday, July 29th
We’ve spent the morning doing last-minute things for leaving. Printing boarding passes, packing, etc…
Tonight we’re going to the Indian restaurant with all of the students (and Ryan/Colleen) for a farewell dinner. That should be fun – looking forward to it!
Then - We are headed to Amsterdam for the weekend! I can’t wait to be there – it looks beautiful. Looking forward to renting bikes and riding around. We plan to relax. Then – we’ll be home!!! ☺
Thursday, July 29, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Friday-Saturday-Sunday
Friday, July 23rd
Didn’t do anything overly exciting today. I’ve realized as we get closer to flying home, the excitement and activity is dying down a little. And I’m okay with that – Leo and I have done and experienced a lot of exciting, amazing things the past five weeks.
I’m actually feeling anxious to get home. I want to be back in my routine. I want to see family, friends. I want to see Henry. ☺ I feel so lucky to have the life that I have – traveling has reinforced that for me. I’m one lucky gal.
We still have one exciting trip left – Amsterdam our last weekend here! I’ve heard amazing things about it and am really looking forward to it!
Leo and I went to dinner with some of the students at a Mexican restaurant – it was pretty good. It’s funny how different Mexican tastes! And the margaritas. They were pink and fizzy – weird!
Saturday, July 24th
We went to Cardiff today. We had heard that it was a really cool coastal town – it was okay. Nothing to write home about. It was pretty much identical to Worcester, but then it had a bay. The bay was okay – found a fun carousel that Tommy loved. It smelled like lots of dead fish.
It was a fun day – nice to get out of Worcester and do something different.
Sunday, July 25th
Happy birthday to my big bro, Kel! ☺ See you soon! Slept in today. It was wonderful!
We were going to do laundry so that we could start the packing process but the laundry room was randomly locked… What? That threw a wrench into our plans. We were able to get a bunch of packing done and will finish by Wednesday. Since we will be gone Thursday night-Sunday night we have to have virtually all of our packing done before we go.
I can’t believe that everything is ending. It’s weird to think that in a week we won’t be in this placed we’ve called home for the past five weeks. I will miss it. I will. But I am looking forward to being home. Have I said that already?
Didn’t do anything overly exciting today. I’ve realized as we get closer to flying home, the excitement and activity is dying down a little. And I’m okay with that – Leo and I have done and experienced a lot of exciting, amazing things the past five weeks.
I’m actually feeling anxious to get home. I want to be back in my routine. I want to see family, friends. I want to see Henry. ☺ I feel so lucky to have the life that I have – traveling has reinforced that for me. I’m one lucky gal.
We still have one exciting trip left – Amsterdam our last weekend here! I’ve heard amazing things about it and am really looking forward to it!
Leo and I went to dinner with some of the students at a Mexican restaurant – it was pretty good. It’s funny how different Mexican tastes! And the margaritas. They were pink and fizzy – weird!
Saturday, July 24th
We went to Cardiff today. We had heard that it was a really cool coastal town – it was okay. Nothing to write home about. It was pretty much identical to Worcester, but then it had a bay. The bay was okay – found a fun carousel that Tommy loved. It smelled like lots of dead fish.
It was a fun day – nice to get out of Worcester and do something different.
Sunday, July 25th
Happy birthday to my big bro, Kel! ☺ See you soon! Slept in today. It was wonderful!
We were going to do laundry so that we could start the packing process but the laundry room was randomly locked… What? That threw a wrench into our plans. We were able to get a bunch of packing done and will finish by Wednesday. Since we will be gone Thursday night-Sunday night we have to have virtually all of our packing done before we go.
I can’t believe that everything is ending. It’s weird to think that in a week we won’t be in this placed we’ve called home for the past five weeks. I will miss it. I will. But I am looking forward to being home. Have I said that already?
Friday, July 23, 2010
More London photos -
A few more photos from my camera - London weekend.
Waiting for the Coach Friday morning.
Outside the theatre for Legally Blonde!
Beer in the theatre while watching Legally Blonde!
Leo and Buckingham Palace.
Us with Big Ben. (Who is actually kinda little.)
This is Tower Bridge, frequently mistaken for London Bridge.
Leo and I with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.
Parliament.
Leo and I in Hyde Park.
In the London Eye.
Waiting for the Coach Friday morning.
Outside the theatre for Legally Blonde!
Beer in the theatre while watching Legally Blonde!
Leo and Buckingham Palace.
Us with Big Ben. (Who is actually kinda little.)
This is Tower Bridge, frequently mistaken for London Bridge.
Leo and I with St. Paul's Cathedral in the background.
Parliament.
Leo and I in Hyde Park.
In the London Eye.
Thursday, July 22, 2010
Mon.Tues.Wed.Thursday (19th-22nd)
Monday. July 19th
Today was uneventful. This is the last week of my summer classes and I have left two 15 page papers to write. I’m smart. ☺ But, this isn’t the first time I’ve procrastinated – and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Lucky for me I work well on a deadline… like, getting As on these papers well.
I spent the morning working on my EdFon paper – knocked it out relatively painlessly. And I’m proud of it! High five for me! To celebrate, Leo and I went with some BSU kiddies to see Inception – the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie. It blew my mind! I think I watched the whole movie with my mouth hanging open. It was good. End of story.
Leo and I went to get a beer with Season after the movie – I like her. ☺
Tuesday. July 20th
Another uneventful day! I was able to finish my second final – EdHi 611. Officially DONE with summer classes now! Hooray for me! Papers have been submitted, final evals done – I am free. Leo was in Birmingham most of the day for a class thing so I spent it relaxing. Reading books, hanging out, kind of cleaning and organizing.
To celebrate being done we ordered Domino’s for dinner. It was fabulous! Watched some tv. Oh – we were watching a show about teenage pregnancies. Guess what? You know those high-tech 3D sonograms we have in the U.S. for thousands of dollars? They only have to pay 35 pounds for them here. Roughly, 52 bucks. Word.
Did some late-night grocery shopping and am just going to relax for the night. This is the life! ☺
Just had a wonderful chat with my bestest Amber on facebook. I love you! I miss my friends. As soon as we’re back… we’re all hanging out. And I mean ALL of us. No excuses.
Wednesday. July 21st
Woke up late. Felt great. Read in bed. Ate lunch. (That’s how late – 1130am late!)
I’m going to town while Leo is doing is class duties. Plan on doing some excellent window-shopping and meeting Leo for one of those fabulous iced coffees I told you about.
Update: window-shopping turned into actual shopping. Oops! At least I only bought things that were on super-sale! ☺ That’s got to count for something, right?
Thursday, July 22nd
Another easy day. Leo was off on a day trip – I babysat Tommy. Had dinner with Leo, Colleen, Ryan and Tommy when they got back. An all-around good day. End of story.
Today was uneventful. This is the last week of my summer classes and I have left two 15 page papers to write. I’m smart. ☺ But, this isn’t the first time I’ve procrastinated – and I’m sure it won’t be the last. Lucky for me I work well on a deadline… like, getting As on these papers well.
I spent the morning working on my EdFon paper – knocked it out relatively painlessly. And I’m proud of it! High five for me! To celebrate, Leo and I went with some BSU kiddies to see Inception – the new Leonardo DiCaprio movie. It blew my mind! I think I watched the whole movie with my mouth hanging open. It was good. End of story.
Leo and I went to get a beer with Season after the movie – I like her. ☺
Tuesday. July 20th
Another uneventful day! I was able to finish my second final – EdHi 611. Officially DONE with summer classes now! Hooray for me! Papers have been submitted, final evals done – I am free. Leo was in Birmingham most of the day for a class thing so I spent it relaxing. Reading books, hanging out, kind of cleaning and organizing.
To celebrate being done we ordered Domino’s for dinner. It was fabulous! Watched some tv. Oh – we were watching a show about teenage pregnancies. Guess what? You know those high-tech 3D sonograms we have in the U.S. for thousands of dollars? They only have to pay 35 pounds for them here. Roughly, 52 bucks. Word.
Did some late-night grocery shopping and am just going to relax for the night. This is the life! ☺
Just had a wonderful chat with my bestest Amber on facebook. I love you! I miss my friends. As soon as we’re back… we’re all hanging out. And I mean ALL of us. No excuses.
Wednesday. July 21st
Woke up late. Felt great. Read in bed. Ate lunch. (That’s how late – 1130am late!)
I’m going to town while Leo is doing is class duties. Plan on doing some excellent window-shopping and meeting Leo for one of those fabulous iced coffees I told you about.
Update: window-shopping turned into actual shopping. Oops! At least I only bought things that were on super-sale! ☺ That’s got to count for something, right?
Thursday, July 22nd
Another easy day. Leo was off on a day trip – I babysat Tommy. Had dinner with Leo, Colleen, Ryan and Tommy when they got back. An all-around good day. End of story.
Tuesday, July 20, 2010
Some London Photos
Just a few photos from our time in London... I'll post more once I get my photos off of my camera! :) Most of these are from the same day - I guess a lot of the photos from the other days are on my camera.
The London Eye. And some trees.
Me at Piccadilly Circus
Mom and Dad, this one's for you - it's Leo the Lion!
While Leo was in there he notice a small black box with wires sticking out of it - that was beeping. This was him making a quick exit.
Leo loved the Ice Bar
Waiting for Legally Blonde - feeling lucky I have a boy who will suggest seeing it with me! Love him.
In the London Eye
Phone booth
In the ice bar wearing our Eskimo parkas!
Candid: Leo and I looking so "posh" in London. :)
The London Eye. And some trees.
Me at Piccadilly Circus
Mom and Dad, this one's for you - it's Leo the Lion!
While Leo was in there he notice a small black box with wires sticking out of it - that was beeping. This was him making a quick exit.
Leo loved the Ice Bar
Waiting for Legally Blonde - feeling lucky I have a boy who will suggest seeing it with me! Love him.
In the London Eye
Phone booth
In the ice bar wearing our Eskimo parkas!
Candid: Leo and I looking so "posh" in London. :)
London, baby!
London Weekend!
Almost a week since my last post… I apologize for my absence. Thursday was uneventful – I babysat and packed for London. Not much to report there.
Would you like to hear all about London? I thought so.
In the words of Joey Tribianni “London, Baby!” (Friends reference… if you didn’t know that, we are no longer friends)
Friday, July 16th. LONDON! LONDON! LONDON!
London broke my shoe after only walking around for an hour. It was a flat. And the uneven ground caught the heel and ripped it right off. Of course, the only other pair of shoes I brought were heels. ☺
Things I know already:
1. I love London.
2. It is absolutely beautiful here.
3. I want to move here.
4. The underground is so convenient.
5. I love the woman who says, “Please, Mind the Gap!”
Anyway, let's start at the beginning. I was able to get on the bus that the students were taking (as this was a group trip for the BSU kiddies) so that was wonderful! The ride felt super long – I think the bus driver was traveling very slowly. I was instantly in love with London when we arrived. It is beautiful and busy. At times it felt a little too busy for my liking, but I enjoyed it overall.
The first thing Leo and I did was spend two hours walking – had to pick up our London passes (including our travel passes) on the opposite side of the city from where we were staying. It was a fun experience – we got to see a lot of London right away.
*Side not on the London pass – so NOT worth it. We got our money’s worth out of the travel passes, but the London pass was so stupid.
After our walk we were hungry so we had dinner at a cute little diner not far from our hostel. It was good. We were more excited for the ICE BAR! Yes, an ice bar. A bar completely made of ice. We had to book tickets online ahead of time because they have limited space and it fills up fast. So, after dinner we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to find the Ice Bar. We have lots of pictures – it was so cool. Ha! We were given big ponchos with hoods and gloves to wear… and our glasses were made of ice!
After the ice bar we took the tube to Trafalgar Square – walked around, saw the sights. Then… it was time to go to the theatre. We saw a true classic while in London – Legally Blonde the Musical! Seriously. That is what we saw. And it was fabulous! ☺
The theatre was really cool – it was big and beautiful! And you can drink bear in the actual theatre while you watch the performances! And then at intermission they serve you little ice cream cups! Legally Blond, Beer and Ice Cream – just the “Welcome to London!” that I was looking for! ☺ Even Leo enjoyed the show… though he has trouble admitting it.
By the time the show was over we were pooped. We briefly took in the nightlife as we walked to the underground and then it was off to dreamland! It was a wonderful first day in London. So far, London is my favorite place that we’ve been! So much to do and to see. So easy to get around. Love it.
Saturday, July 17th.
London day 2 – woke up nice and early so that we could eat breakfast in our hostel. It wasn’t that bad… the English like baked beans with their breakfast. And now I like it too! This morning was the only thing that the BSU group had to do together (the whole weekend was on their own terms) when they did the London Eye – the giant ferris wheel on the Thames River.
I went with because I was going to buy my own ticket – hell no! They were 30 pounds! (Roughly 45 dollars! For a ferris wheel!) However, London was smiling on me. Ryan had an extra ticket and I was able to ride the London Eye without paying a dime! ☺
The view was amazing and we were able to get some good photos – I will hopefully be borrowing Ryan’s card reader again and uploading more photos this weekend. Get excited!
Next up: we took a river cruise on the Thames. So cool! We saw all of the fabulous bridges, including London Bridge – which actually has fallen down… three times! – and we got off the boat by the Tower of London.
The Tower of London is a historic castle located on the Thames – it was originally a grand palace that served as a residence, but then became used as a place of imprisonment and death. Henry VIII tortured prisoners there and it is also where he beheaded his wives. Cool, huh? The Tower of London also houses the Crown Jewels. We weren’t able to see the jewels because the line was hours long – we plan to come back to London so we’ll see them at some point.
After the tower we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to do some shopping. Here, we saw the busiest Starbucks I’ve ever laid eyes on. There were three registers and nine people working. And there was a constant line out the door! Insane. Piccadilly Circus is an insane place in itself. I think that everyone in London was there.
We spent a few hours shopping – it was a helluva experience. I swear, everyone in England spends the majority of their time shopping. ☺ I had the most terrifying shipping experience of my life this afternoon. We went into a store called Primark. The shoppers were literally crazed and furious and rude and loud and pushy and ohmygod scary. On the upside, Leo and I both found some crazy-good deals! (One of my good deals was a new bag… I guess this means I have to donate another to goodwill!)
So, after shopping we went to Hyde Park and looked at the Marble Arch. Fun stuff. Hyde Park is big. Then I found a store that was selling 15 postcards for 95 pence… another deal! ☺ The rest of the night was pretty chill. We went back by the hostel, met up with Natalie and drank delicious cappuccino. Here’s where it got interesting. Dinner.
We invited Natalie along and she planned to order dessert. She had already eaten so it was a logical thing to do. We get the restaurant and order drinks (I had some delicious champagne drink) and then it’s time to order food. Leo and I order and then Natalie orders her tiramisu… the waitress gets all weird and tells her that if she’s going to order a cocktail then she has to order a main meal. WTF? So, Natalie decides to order one of the pizzas. Bad news – pizzas only come in one size and it is LARGE! Natalie ended up with a gigantic pizza that she didn’t even want and couldn’t eat any tiramisu.
It gets better. This restaurant offered a deal where you get 50% off of your bill when you use your London pass. When it comes time to ask for our bill we tell the waitress that we also have our London passes – mind you, we haven’t gotten a bill yet nor has she printed one. She gets really angry and rude and says, “You should have told me that before because I have to tell someone, sorry!” Then storms off. Um, why does it matter if we tell you beforehand? Who does she have to tell? The cooks so they give us ½ as much? The people that bring the food so they spit in it? She was all in a tizzy. She came back to the table and I was not going to let her get away with this… I said (very nicely, I might add) “So, we’re still going to get our discount tonight, right? Because we have the London pass and nowhere on your restaurant’s description does it say you have to notify in advance.” She replied with “Oh, yes. I’ll give it to you just this once.” As if she was doing us a big favor by freaking out and making a scene. Ugh. What a night.
After that we needed to have fun. Leo and I went out with some of the students to get drinks – fun. Went back to the hostel to go to bed. Where we were woken up multiple times by people screaming insanely outside and by little kids across the way from us shining their desk lamps into our room in Morse code. Leo went and stood at the window and stared at them like a scary bodyguard and they eventually stopped. ☺
Sunday, July18th.
Our last day in London. Sad. One weekend is not an adequate amount of time to soak up all of the amazingness that is London. We started the day early with breakfast and checked out of our rooms. Leo and I got coffee asap and booked it to the Tate Modern (art museum) for some early gallery perusing. There was some really cool stuff there – Leo bought a neat book!
After the museum we walked the Millennium Bridge across the Thames (also called the “wobbly bridge”) to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was beautiful. We took photos. After St. Paul’s we took the tube across the city to see Buckingham Palace. SO BEAUTIFUL! The queen’s got a pretty nice crib. The bummer was that we had just missed the changing of the guard. It was still a sight to see! They have police right inside the gates to the palace who are armed and there are also police along the building – carrying the biggest guns I’ve seen in person. It would be stressful to protect the queen.
After Buckingham Palace we walked over to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben/Parliament. They were pretty impressive as well! There were some war people camping out on the green by Westminster protesting – all calling for the end of the war in Iraq.
Next – we took the tube to Trafalgar Square again for lunch. Another event in and of itself. We ended the afternoon with some souvenir shopping and then it was time to meet the bus to come back to Worcester. I had one last delicious cappuccino before climbing onto that large bus for the long drive home.
Almost a week since my last post… I apologize for my absence. Thursday was uneventful – I babysat and packed for London. Not much to report there.
Would you like to hear all about London? I thought so.
In the words of Joey Tribianni “London, Baby!” (Friends reference… if you didn’t know that, we are no longer friends)
Friday, July 16th. LONDON! LONDON! LONDON!
London broke my shoe after only walking around for an hour. It was a flat. And the uneven ground caught the heel and ripped it right off. Of course, the only other pair of shoes I brought were heels. ☺
Things I know already:
1. I love London.
2. It is absolutely beautiful here.
3. I want to move here.
4. The underground is so convenient.
5. I love the woman who says, “Please, Mind the Gap!”
Anyway, let's start at the beginning. I was able to get on the bus that the students were taking (as this was a group trip for the BSU kiddies) so that was wonderful! The ride felt super long – I think the bus driver was traveling very slowly. I was instantly in love with London when we arrived. It is beautiful and busy. At times it felt a little too busy for my liking, but I enjoyed it overall.
The first thing Leo and I did was spend two hours walking – had to pick up our London passes (including our travel passes) on the opposite side of the city from where we were staying. It was a fun experience – we got to see a lot of London right away.
*Side not on the London pass – so NOT worth it. We got our money’s worth out of the travel passes, but the London pass was so stupid.
After our walk we were hungry so we had dinner at a cute little diner not far from our hostel. It was good. We were more excited for the ICE BAR! Yes, an ice bar. A bar completely made of ice. We had to book tickets online ahead of time because they have limited space and it fills up fast. So, after dinner we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to find the Ice Bar. We have lots of pictures – it was so cool. Ha! We were given big ponchos with hoods and gloves to wear… and our glasses were made of ice!
After the ice bar we took the tube to Trafalgar Square – walked around, saw the sights. Then… it was time to go to the theatre. We saw a true classic while in London – Legally Blonde the Musical! Seriously. That is what we saw. And it was fabulous! ☺
The theatre was really cool – it was big and beautiful! And you can drink bear in the actual theatre while you watch the performances! And then at intermission they serve you little ice cream cups! Legally Blond, Beer and Ice Cream – just the “Welcome to London!” that I was looking for! ☺ Even Leo enjoyed the show… though he has trouble admitting it.
By the time the show was over we were pooped. We briefly took in the nightlife as we walked to the underground and then it was off to dreamland! It was a wonderful first day in London. So far, London is my favorite place that we’ve been! So much to do and to see. So easy to get around. Love it.
Saturday, July 17th.
London day 2 – woke up nice and early so that we could eat breakfast in our hostel. It wasn’t that bad… the English like baked beans with their breakfast. And now I like it too! This morning was the only thing that the BSU group had to do together (the whole weekend was on their own terms) when they did the London Eye – the giant ferris wheel on the Thames River.
I went with because I was going to buy my own ticket – hell no! They were 30 pounds! (Roughly 45 dollars! For a ferris wheel!) However, London was smiling on me. Ryan had an extra ticket and I was able to ride the London Eye without paying a dime! ☺
The view was amazing and we were able to get some good photos – I will hopefully be borrowing Ryan’s card reader again and uploading more photos this weekend. Get excited!
Next up: we took a river cruise on the Thames. So cool! We saw all of the fabulous bridges, including London Bridge – which actually has fallen down… three times! – and we got off the boat by the Tower of London.
The Tower of London is a historic castle located on the Thames – it was originally a grand palace that served as a residence, but then became used as a place of imprisonment and death. Henry VIII tortured prisoners there and it is also where he beheaded his wives. Cool, huh? The Tower of London also houses the Crown Jewels. We weren’t able to see the jewels because the line was hours long – we plan to come back to London so we’ll see them at some point.
After the tower we took the tube to Piccadilly Circus to do some shopping. Here, we saw the busiest Starbucks I’ve ever laid eyes on. There were three registers and nine people working. And there was a constant line out the door! Insane. Piccadilly Circus is an insane place in itself. I think that everyone in London was there.
We spent a few hours shopping – it was a helluva experience. I swear, everyone in England spends the majority of their time shopping. ☺ I had the most terrifying shipping experience of my life this afternoon. We went into a store called Primark. The shoppers were literally crazed and furious and rude and loud and pushy and ohmygod scary. On the upside, Leo and I both found some crazy-good deals! (One of my good deals was a new bag… I guess this means I have to donate another to goodwill!)
So, after shopping we went to Hyde Park and looked at the Marble Arch. Fun stuff. Hyde Park is big. Then I found a store that was selling 15 postcards for 95 pence… another deal! ☺ The rest of the night was pretty chill. We went back by the hostel, met up with Natalie and drank delicious cappuccino. Here’s where it got interesting. Dinner.
We invited Natalie along and she planned to order dessert. She had already eaten so it was a logical thing to do. We get the restaurant and order drinks (I had some delicious champagne drink) and then it’s time to order food. Leo and I order and then Natalie orders her tiramisu… the waitress gets all weird and tells her that if she’s going to order a cocktail then she has to order a main meal. WTF? So, Natalie decides to order one of the pizzas. Bad news – pizzas only come in one size and it is LARGE! Natalie ended up with a gigantic pizza that she didn’t even want and couldn’t eat any tiramisu.
It gets better. This restaurant offered a deal where you get 50% off of your bill when you use your London pass. When it comes time to ask for our bill we tell the waitress that we also have our London passes – mind you, we haven’t gotten a bill yet nor has she printed one. She gets really angry and rude and says, “You should have told me that before because I have to tell someone, sorry!” Then storms off. Um, why does it matter if we tell you beforehand? Who does she have to tell? The cooks so they give us ½ as much? The people that bring the food so they spit in it? She was all in a tizzy. She came back to the table and I was not going to let her get away with this… I said (very nicely, I might add) “So, we’re still going to get our discount tonight, right? Because we have the London pass and nowhere on your restaurant’s description does it say you have to notify in advance.” She replied with “Oh, yes. I’ll give it to you just this once.” As if she was doing us a big favor by freaking out and making a scene. Ugh. What a night.
After that we needed to have fun. Leo and I went out with some of the students to get drinks – fun. Went back to the hostel to go to bed. Where we were woken up multiple times by people screaming insanely outside and by little kids across the way from us shining their desk lamps into our room in Morse code. Leo went and stood at the window and stared at them like a scary bodyguard and they eventually stopped. ☺
Sunday, July18th.
Our last day in London. Sad. One weekend is not an adequate amount of time to soak up all of the amazingness that is London. We started the day early with breakfast and checked out of our rooms. Leo and I got coffee asap and booked it to the Tate Modern (art museum) for some early gallery perusing. There was some really cool stuff there – Leo bought a neat book!
After the museum we walked the Millennium Bridge across the Thames (also called the “wobbly bridge”) to St. Paul’s Cathedral. It was beautiful. We took photos. After St. Paul’s we took the tube across the city to see Buckingham Palace. SO BEAUTIFUL! The queen’s got a pretty nice crib. The bummer was that we had just missed the changing of the guard. It was still a sight to see! They have police right inside the gates to the palace who are armed and there are also police along the building – carrying the biggest guns I’ve seen in person. It would be stressful to protect the queen.
After Buckingham Palace we walked over to Westminster Abbey and Big Ben/Parliament. They were pretty impressive as well! There were some war people camping out on the green by Westminster protesting – all calling for the end of the war in Iraq.
Next – we took the tube to Trafalgar Square again for lunch. Another event in and of itself. We ended the afternoon with some souvenir shopping and then it was time to meet the bus to come back to Worcester. I had one last delicious cappuccino before climbing onto that large bus for the long drive home.
Thursday, July 15, 2010
Tuesday (13th) and Wednesday (14th)
Tuesday. July 13th
First, a few things that I forgot to mention about Sunday/Monday: When we were at Lloyd’s the garbage can outside caught fire. The bartender put it out and then the fire department showed up. It was all very dramatic for a tiny smoking garbage can. After the bartender put the fire out a woman still called the fire dept… Um, why? They were helmets that look like baseball helmets. It was cute.
Last night Leo and I made a delicious pesto pasta dinner and drank wine. It was fun and nice and romantic. In the dorm room. Ha. Then we watched Remember Me – it was so good and not what I expected at all. I cried like a baby.
Anyway. I’ve read all of the books I brought with me, plus one that I bought while here. I just had to get another one that I will start shortly. Looking forward to it. Summer classes are almost over. Only a week and a half left! Hooray. I’ll have a month of freedom before the fall semester starts. Can’t believe that grad school is already almost over for me. When did that happen? This has been a fabulous summer – I’m looking forward to more amazingness when we get back to the States!
You know what I miss? Driving. I drove almost everyday… and I miss it. I think this is the longest I’ll go without driving since my freshman year of college – no car on campus. I cannot wait to drive when we get home. Leo is itching to drive also.
We went to town today. Leo had to go to the post office and I wanted to get off campus. Guess what?! Today is our first rainy day! It is fabulous. I love it. It has been cloudy and chilly and rainy all day. I’m in England! Speaking of downtown, Leo and I went to a little café to get coffee… the iced coffee was so delicious. It was just plain old iced coffee but I actually said the words “Move over, Starbucks!” I know. It’s serious business. I don’t know if I’ll be able to leave after having tasted such wonderful iced coffee.
We spent the evening with Colleen and Ryan. Drinking wine and laughing. It was so fun. The four of us have decided that we need to set up a regular schedule when we get home – we’ve been seeing them so much here! We’re family now.
This weekend we're going to London. The students are all going as one of the trips planned by their program – one of the Worcester people is going to let me ride on their coach bus. Yay! That means I will save a lot of money on a rail ticket.
I need to work on my thesis. I’ve been communicating with my chair since I’ve been here so I have been productive – I just need to really focus on it tomorrow. That’s my plan. I also have two 15-page papers to write for my online classes before next Thursday – then I'll be done with them! Maybe I can get one of them done before the weekend is over. Let’s make that my goal. I’ll let you know what happens. ☺
Well, Mom and Dad – you were right. Belfast is still pretty violent. Apparently, kids are even getting involved in the rioting and we were told that didn’t even happen in the worst of The Troubles.
Check out this link:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3051955/Belfast-march-violence-flares.html
Wednesday. July 14th
Spent the morning doing thesis stuff. Had to submit my project to the IRB – hopefully they’ll get back to me soon and things will be approved! Mom and Dad – we have to talk about my thesis! I don’t think we have…
Today was uneventful, really. Leo and I got a lot of things done, which was important. I spent some of the afternoon with Colleen and T and then we all went to dinner with Catherine (I always spell it with a C due to my sister, I suppose she could spell it with a K… Just met her today) and her husband. Indian food – my first experience. Loved it! ☺
And here we are. Just got off the phone with my parents – miss you! I miss my friends, too. I think that everyone should come to England in a week. It will be like we brought home to England. Who’s with me?
It’s late. I’m getting up early. Sleep tight!
First, a few things that I forgot to mention about Sunday/Monday: When we were at Lloyd’s the garbage can outside caught fire. The bartender put it out and then the fire department showed up. It was all very dramatic for a tiny smoking garbage can. After the bartender put the fire out a woman still called the fire dept… Um, why? They were helmets that look like baseball helmets. It was cute.
Last night Leo and I made a delicious pesto pasta dinner and drank wine. It was fun and nice and romantic. In the dorm room. Ha. Then we watched Remember Me – it was so good and not what I expected at all. I cried like a baby.
Anyway. I’ve read all of the books I brought with me, plus one that I bought while here. I just had to get another one that I will start shortly. Looking forward to it. Summer classes are almost over. Only a week and a half left! Hooray. I’ll have a month of freedom before the fall semester starts. Can’t believe that grad school is already almost over for me. When did that happen? This has been a fabulous summer – I’m looking forward to more amazingness when we get back to the States!
You know what I miss? Driving. I drove almost everyday… and I miss it. I think this is the longest I’ll go without driving since my freshman year of college – no car on campus. I cannot wait to drive when we get home. Leo is itching to drive also.
We went to town today. Leo had to go to the post office and I wanted to get off campus. Guess what?! Today is our first rainy day! It is fabulous. I love it. It has been cloudy and chilly and rainy all day. I’m in England! Speaking of downtown, Leo and I went to a little café to get coffee… the iced coffee was so delicious. It was just plain old iced coffee but I actually said the words “Move over, Starbucks!” I know. It’s serious business. I don’t know if I’ll be able to leave after having tasted such wonderful iced coffee.
We spent the evening with Colleen and Ryan. Drinking wine and laughing. It was so fun. The four of us have decided that we need to set up a regular schedule when we get home – we’ve been seeing them so much here! We’re family now.
This weekend we're going to London. The students are all going as one of the trips planned by their program – one of the Worcester people is going to let me ride on their coach bus. Yay! That means I will save a lot of money on a rail ticket.
I need to work on my thesis. I’ve been communicating with my chair since I’ve been here so I have been productive – I just need to really focus on it tomorrow. That’s my plan. I also have two 15-page papers to write for my online classes before next Thursday – then I'll be done with them! Maybe I can get one of them done before the weekend is over. Let’s make that my goal. I’ll let you know what happens. ☺
Well, Mom and Dad – you were right. Belfast is still pretty violent. Apparently, kids are even getting involved in the rioting and we were told that didn’t even happen in the worst of The Troubles.
Check out this link:
http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/3051955/Belfast-march-violence-flares.html
Wednesday. July 14th
Spent the morning doing thesis stuff. Had to submit my project to the IRB – hopefully they’ll get back to me soon and things will be approved! Mom and Dad – we have to talk about my thesis! I don’t think we have…
Today was uneventful, really. Leo and I got a lot of things done, which was important. I spent some of the afternoon with Colleen and T and then we all went to dinner with Catherine (I always spell it with a C due to my sister, I suppose she could spell it with a K… Just met her today) and her husband. Indian food – my first experience. Loved it! ☺
And here we are. Just got off the phone with my parents – miss you! I miss my friends, too. I think that everyone should come to England in a week. It will be like we brought home to England. Who’s with me?
It’s late. I’m getting up early. Sleep tight!
Monday, July 12, 2010
Sunday and Monday.
Sunday. July 11th
Today was good. Slept in. Way in. Spent a lazy Sunday with Leo. We did laundry. Cleaned. Organized. It was nice.
We went to Lloyd's for dinner and to watch the World Cup. This turned into a very fun night. Some students from the program joined us as well as a couple of English guys. The game was pretty boring until the last 5 minutes of overtime.
And then it got really interesting! If you're living under a rock, Spain won. Which prompted some strange guy to show up out of nowhere and sit at the end of our table. He started rambling about how he knew this would be how the World Cup ends.
To quote: "I knew it! I knew the score would be 1-nil. I had a premonition. I told the people at work. I knew it!" And upon hearing our giggles, "I really did know it. You don't believe me, but I knew it!"
It was amusing. And then Sunday was over.
Monday. July 12th
Nothing exciting to report. Did homework. Read British Cosmo - which is fun! And interesting. And that's about it. Will be making a trip to the co-op later. Such an exciting Monday in England.
It's really starting to feel like we live here - things are normal. We do normal things. We have normal schedules and responsibilities. We aren't just running around the whole time. It's like our home, but without everything and everybody we love. :)
Today was good. Slept in. Way in. Spent a lazy Sunday with Leo. We did laundry. Cleaned. Organized. It was nice.
We went to Lloyd's for dinner and to watch the World Cup. This turned into a very fun night. Some students from the program joined us as well as a couple of English guys. The game was pretty boring until the last 5 minutes of overtime.
And then it got really interesting! If you're living under a rock, Spain won. Which prompted some strange guy to show up out of nowhere and sit at the end of our table. He started rambling about how he knew this would be how the World Cup ends.
To quote: "I knew it! I knew the score would be 1-nil. I had a premonition. I told the people at work. I knew it!" And upon hearing our giggles, "I really did know it. You don't believe me, but I knew it!"
It was amusing. And then Sunday was over.
Monday. July 12th
Nothing exciting to report. Did homework. Read British Cosmo - which is fun! And interesting. And that's about it. Will be making a trip to the co-op later. Such an exciting Monday in England.
It's really starting to feel like we live here - things are normal. We do normal things. We have normal schedules and responsibilities. We aren't just running around the whole time. It's like our home, but without everything and everybody we love. :)
Saturday, July 10, 2010
Friday and Saturday.
Friday.
Today was great! We got a late start – rightfully so. Ryan, Colleen and Leo didn’t get back from Stratford-Upon-Avon until midnight. Crazy! We spent the day at Hay-on-Wye, the book town. It was a little town that a guy moved to and wanted to open up a bunch of bookstores. He succeeded. It was a really cute little town with tons of shops. Ryan drove us.
I found a couple of good books to give as gifts – yay presents! There was also a castle in the middle of the town that had an “Honesty Bookstore.” It was set up in the courtyard of the castle and no one worked it. There was a small box where you put your money if you decided to buy anything. I found a really cool, very old Holy Bible – it was transcribed from the original writings and isn’t associated with any version/church. Best part – it is illustrated and pocketsize. And it only cost 1 pound. I also found an old church hymnal for Leo – it was only 50 pence as it was a paperback.
Book town was a success! Eclipse also opened in Europe today so we went with some of the students and Colleen. It must not be as big of a deal here – there were plenty of empty seats in the theatre. It was fun!
Saturday.
Leo and I went to Malvern today to hike the hills. It was a lot of fun! I think that my calf muscles are twice the size they were when I woke up this morning as a result. It was a good workout and we had a beautiful view when we got to the top. We took photos. ☺
We brought a picnic lunch with us to eat as well. It was a great day. :)
Another plus – we got some sun. Charles Darwin’s daughter is buried somewhere in the hills but we didn’t see her grave on our walks. We did come across a natural spring that is supposedly the cleanest, purest, clearest water ever. We filled our water bottles. There were tons of cute dogs on the hills and it made us miss Henry.
We’ve been missing home lately. We miss our family and our friends. We miss our dog. We miss the familiarity. But then we remember that we’re having an amazing experience and we’re okay. I was able to talk to my parents for awhile today so that helped as well ☺ I can’t believe we still have three weeks here!
Things to note:
1. It seems like most towns are named “on something.” Hay-on-Wye, Stratford-upon-Avon, Upton-on-Severn. Apparently it is because of the rivers that run through them… We decided that we are now going to call Muncie “Muncie-upon-White.”
2. The movie theatres here don’t put butter on their popcorn. You are given the option of sweet or salty. Interesting. It tasted like the popcorn you get at high school basketball games. Which was fine with me. ☺
3. Have I told you about stoplights? Not only do they turn green-yellow-red, but when they’re red they turn yellow and then green. So people can start slowly going before the green. Interesting!
Photos! (Courtesy of Leo as I have yet to get my photos off the camera.)
We drank tea.
Perfect bug that drove into the shot.
The Honesty Bookstore.
Hiking up the Malvern Hills. This is a big tree.
Leo and the natural spring.
Us on the hill.
We were enjoying the hills. And the view. And resting.
Today was great! We got a late start – rightfully so. Ryan, Colleen and Leo didn’t get back from Stratford-Upon-Avon until midnight. Crazy! We spent the day at Hay-on-Wye, the book town. It was a little town that a guy moved to and wanted to open up a bunch of bookstores. He succeeded. It was a really cute little town with tons of shops. Ryan drove us.
I found a couple of good books to give as gifts – yay presents! There was also a castle in the middle of the town that had an “Honesty Bookstore.” It was set up in the courtyard of the castle and no one worked it. There was a small box where you put your money if you decided to buy anything. I found a really cool, very old Holy Bible – it was transcribed from the original writings and isn’t associated with any version/church. Best part – it is illustrated and pocketsize. And it only cost 1 pound. I also found an old church hymnal for Leo – it was only 50 pence as it was a paperback.
Book town was a success! Eclipse also opened in Europe today so we went with some of the students and Colleen. It must not be as big of a deal here – there were plenty of empty seats in the theatre. It was fun!
Saturday.
Leo and I went to Malvern today to hike the hills. It was a lot of fun! I think that my calf muscles are twice the size they were when I woke up this morning as a result. It was a good workout and we had a beautiful view when we got to the top. We took photos. ☺
We brought a picnic lunch with us to eat as well. It was a great day. :)
Another plus – we got some sun. Charles Darwin’s daughter is buried somewhere in the hills but we didn’t see her grave on our walks. We did come across a natural spring that is supposedly the cleanest, purest, clearest water ever. We filled our water bottles. There were tons of cute dogs on the hills and it made us miss Henry.
We’ve been missing home lately. We miss our family and our friends. We miss our dog. We miss the familiarity. But then we remember that we’re having an amazing experience and we’re okay. I was able to talk to my parents for awhile today so that helped as well ☺ I can’t believe we still have three weeks here!
Things to note:
1. It seems like most towns are named “on something.” Hay-on-Wye, Stratford-upon-Avon, Upton-on-Severn. Apparently it is because of the rivers that run through them… We decided that we are now going to call Muncie “Muncie-upon-White.”
2. The movie theatres here don’t put butter on their popcorn. You are given the option of sweet or salty. Interesting. It tasted like the popcorn you get at high school basketball games. Which was fine with me. ☺
3. Have I told you about stoplights? Not only do they turn green-yellow-red, but when they’re red they turn yellow and then green. So people can start slowly going before the green. Interesting!
Photos! (Courtesy of Leo as I have yet to get my photos off the camera.)
We drank tea.
Perfect bug that drove into the shot.
The Honesty Bookstore.
Hiking up the Malvern Hills. This is a big tree.
Leo and the natural spring.
Us on the hill.
We were enjoying the hills. And the view. And resting.
Thursday, July 8, 2010
Thursday (8th)
Thursday (7.8)
Today is a Thursday – which means that Leo is on one of his day trips. This is literally an all-day trip and he won’t be back until midnight. Boo. I’ve been babysitting Tiny T today once I picked her up at 1. She’s adorable and we had a fun day. Playing outside. Playing inside. Watching Wonder Pets. Eating. Cuddling with a bottle before bed. I’m glad that I have her on Thursdays when everyone else is gone! ☺
So, I made some “Pot Noodles” for dinner… Kind of like Ramen Noodles but in a plastic tub that it is supposed to cook itself in. Bad choice. I did not eat them as they were less than delicious – but the directions for making them were hilarious! I have transcribed verbatim below.
1. It’s not rocket science!
2. Rip off lid. Whip out sachet. Add boiling water to fill line. Leave alone for 2 minutes.
3. Stir. Leave alone for another 2 minutes.
4. Stir again. Find sachet. Add contents.
5. Grab fork and dig in.
*None of that artificial colors or preservatives stuff. If it’s in perfect condition, happy days. If not, have a moan at our customer care department.
Ha. I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I was able to finish all of my homework for the week tonight so I don’t have anything to do. We’re going to go to Hay-on-Wye tomorrow with Colleen and Ryan. It’s a cute town that is home to dozens and dozens of bookstores – that’s how it was developed. Check it out: http://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/
Today is a Thursday – which means that Leo is on one of his day trips. This is literally an all-day trip and he won’t be back until midnight. Boo. I’ve been babysitting Tiny T today once I picked her up at 1. She’s adorable and we had a fun day. Playing outside. Playing inside. Watching Wonder Pets. Eating. Cuddling with a bottle before bed. I’m glad that I have her on Thursdays when everyone else is gone! ☺
So, I made some “Pot Noodles” for dinner… Kind of like Ramen Noodles but in a plastic tub that it is supposed to cook itself in. Bad choice. I did not eat them as they were less than delicious – but the directions for making them were hilarious! I have transcribed verbatim below.
1. It’s not rocket science!
2. Rip off lid. Whip out sachet. Add boiling water to fill line. Leave alone for 2 minutes.
3. Stir. Leave alone for another 2 minutes.
4. Stir again. Find sachet. Add contents.
5. Grab fork and dig in.
*None of that artificial colors or preservatives stuff. If it’s in perfect condition, happy days. If not, have a moan at our customer care department.
Ha. I am really looking forward to tomorrow. I was able to finish all of my homework for the week tonight so I don’t have anything to do. We’re going to go to Hay-on-Wye tomorrow with Colleen and Ryan. It’s a cute town that is home to dozens and dozens of bookstores – that’s how it was developed. Check it out: http://www.hay-on-wye.co.uk/
Wednesday, July 7, 2010
Wednesday.
Wednesday (7.7)
Leo and I went to town early so that we could go to the post office and explore before he had to be in class. We went to a traditional Cornish bakery and bought delicious (cheap!) pasties (no, that is not a typo) for brunch. It was our first experience with them and it was a good one! We'll be going back before we leave.
We also went to the Tudor House. It was not what I expected. It was weird – is that a rude thing to say? I usually refer to things as “different” because that is what they are, but this was weird. I’m glad admission was free, let’s just put it that way. ☺ Leo and I did take a couple of silly photos with a weird doctor statue… so it was a partial success.
We went out with a few of the BSU kiddies to Lloyd’s – which I can’t stop calling Floyd’s for some reason. Probably because it’s a better name. It was fun. We had drinks with cute names: Frilly Tutu to be exact (Debbie – thought of you!)
It’s weird – there are going to be things that I am definitely going to miss when I’m back in the States. I think that biggest thing will be the ability to walk everywhere. I love being close enough to everything I need – and if we’re not close, it is still safe to walk to everything. Sidewalks everywhere! I will also miss the ability to jump on the train and go just about anywhere – for relatively inexpensive. I like not having to rely on a car to get anywhere. We need more trains in the States! ☺
Things to note:
1. All of the cars are little – I think I have said this before. But it makes me think about why everyone has such big cars in the States. These little guys (and seriously, they’re all about the size of a Chevy Aveo) get the job done just fine. I am guilty of loving SUVs and wanting one. I feel my priorities changing. I don’t want to just talk about caring about the environment – I want to be proactive. Leo and I discussed that we should look into buying hybrids when it comes time for us to get new cars (and hopefully we’ll live in a place where we could get away with one car between us). We talked about having one SUV between us and that we would do so if we could find a hybrid SUV. Yes, it will cost more initially but I think it’s beneficial. The reason that I hold onto wanting an SUV is because I feel safer in them in the States – everyone has a massive car so I feel like I would be able to hold my own better. Does any of this make sense or am I just rambling?
2. The credit and debit cards here have little chips in them. People just stick one end into a little machine and it reads the card. This makes it difficult when you have a dinosaur card that you have to swipe. Not everywhere can take them. And, even if they do, you have to have it signed. I like to write “See Photo ID” on my card – not good enough here. I have never been asked for multiple things with my signature on it like I have been here. People don’t even ask to see my ID 99% of the time in the States.
3. England is suffering a dry spell – it was in the papers. They are concerned that they will soon have to limit people’s outside water use. It is strange – it has only rained once for about 10 minutes since we’ve been here. It has been very hot and sunny – out of the ordinary for England. I want to experience some English weather! It feels like we’ve been in Indiana the past two weeks. I hope it rains soon!
4. It is impossible for me to keep myself from calculating the $ amount on items – even groceries. I do it automatically. While something seems cheap here I’ll think, “Well, I wouldn’t pay X amount of $ in America for this!”
Time to end the night with an episode of True Blood... We can thank Colleen for getting us started!
Leo and I went to town early so that we could go to the post office and explore before he had to be in class. We went to a traditional Cornish bakery and bought delicious (cheap!) pasties (no, that is not a typo) for brunch. It was our first experience with them and it was a good one! We'll be going back before we leave.
We also went to the Tudor House. It was not what I expected. It was weird – is that a rude thing to say? I usually refer to things as “different” because that is what they are, but this was weird. I’m glad admission was free, let’s just put it that way. ☺ Leo and I did take a couple of silly photos with a weird doctor statue… so it was a partial success.
We went out with a few of the BSU kiddies to Lloyd’s – which I can’t stop calling Floyd’s for some reason. Probably because it’s a better name. It was fun. We had drinks with cute names: Frilly Tutu to be exact (Debbie – thought of you!)
It’s weird – there are going to be things that I am definitely going to miss when I’m back in the States. I think that biggest thing will be the ability to walk everywhere. I love being close enough to everything I need – and if we’re not close, it is still safe to walk to everything. Sidewalks everywhere! I will also miss the ability to jump on the train and go just about anywhere – for relatively inexpensive. I like not having to rely on a car to get anywhere. We need more trains in the States! ☺
Things to note:
1. All of the cars are little – I think I have said this before. But it makes me think about why everyone has such big cars in the States. These little guys (and seriously, they’re all about the size of a Chevy Aveo) get the job done just fine. I am guilty of loving SUVs and wanting one. I feel my priorities changing. I don’t want to just talk about caring about the environment – I want to be proactive. Leo and I discussed that we should look into buying hybrids when it comes time for us to get new cars (and hopefully we’ll live in a place where we could get away with one car between us). We talked about having one SUV between us and that we would do so if we could find a hybrid SUV. Yes, it will cost more initially but I think it’s beneficial. The reason that I hold onto wanting an SUV is because I feel safer in them in the States – everyone has a massive car so I feel like I would be able to hold my own better. Does any of this make sense or am I just rambling?
2. The credit and debit cards here have little chips in them. People just stick one end into a little machine and it reads the card. This makes it difficult when you have a dinosaur card that you have to swipe. Not everywhere can take them. And, even if they do, you have to have it signed. I like to write “See Photo ID” on my card – not good enough here. I have never been asked for multiple things with my signature on it like I have been here. People don’t even ask to see my ID 99% of the time in the States.
3. England is suffering a dry spell – it was in the papers. They are concerned that they will soon have to limit people’s outside water use. It is strange – it has only rained once for about 10 minutes since we’ve been here. It has been very hot and sunny – out of the ordinary for England. I want to experience some English weather! It feels like we’ve been in Indiana the past two weeks. I hope it rains soon!
4. It is impossible for me to keep myself from calculating the $ amount on items – even groceries. I do it automatically. While something seems cheap here I’ll think, “Well, I wouldn’t pay X amount of $ in America for this!”
Time to end the night with an episode of True Blood... We can thank Colleen for getting us started!
Monday and Tuesday.
I forgot to blog Monday and Tuesday… sorry Mom and Dad! ☺
Monday (7.5)
Uh… I don’t really remember what we did Monday. Oh, yeah! I literally spent almost the entire day working on homework. It was brutal. Only two more weeks of class while I’m over here so I’ll be able to enjoy our last week with zero commitments. Yay!
To reward myself for working so diligently throughout the day Leo and I spent the evening hanging out with our BFFs: Ryan, Colleen and Tiny T. Have I mentioned how comforting it is to have friends nearby when you’re halfway around the world? It has been great.
Monday was so fun. We spent the entire evening laughing (sorry, Dawn!☺) and drinking wine. It was a very nice, chill night. So fun. Just what we needed, really. Colleen eventually got so excited that she poked herself in the eye. Maybe you had to be there.
Leo and I ended the evening watching True Blood on the computer. It’s really a ridiculous show – I think that’s why we like it so much! ☺
Sorry, no photos.
Tuesday (7.6)
Yesterday was fun as well! Spent the morning doing homework – shock! At 2pm we met our BFFs to go into town. We walked around, drank smoothies, did some shopping… At 530 we went to the cathedral for Evensong. Their men’s choir sings hymns and they do some readings. It was beautiful and amazing to be able to experience that.
After the cathedral we went to dinner with our BFFs – I just need to give a shout out to Tiny T. She is so well-behaved. So mellow. So easy-going. Really, she’s a joy to be around! Dinner was good. End of story. ☺
Leo and I found some really cool wine glasses for pretty cheap – we’re going to pick them up before we go back to the States. So cool! I also had this delicious caffeine concoction – A scoop of vanilla ice cream covered in espresso. Delicious!
Guess how we ended the night? Yes. An episode of True Blood. The show keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Sorry, no photos.
I’m going to talk to Ryan to see if I can borrow his reader so I can upload my photos this weekend – I’ll have the time to do so. Get excited.
Monday (7.5)
Uh… I don’t really remember what we did Monday. Oh, yeah! I literally spent almost the entire day working on homework. It was brutal. Only two more weeks of class while I’m over here so I’ll be able to enjoy our last week with zero commitments. Yay!
To reward myself for working so diligently throughout the day Leo and I spent the evening hanging out with our BFFs: Ryan, Colleen and Tiny T. Have I mentioned how comforting it is to have friends nearby when you’re halfway around the world? It has been great.
Monday was so fun. We spent the entire evening laughing (sorry, Dawn!☺) and drinking wine. It was a very nice, chill night. So fun. Just what we needed, really. Colleen eventually got so excited that she poked herself in the eye. Maybe you had to be there.
Leo and I ended the evening watching True Blood on the computer. It’s really a ridiculous show – I think that’s why we like it so much! ☺
Sorry, no photos.
Tuesday (7.6)
Yesterday was fun as well! Spent the morning doing homework – shock! At 2pm we met our BFFs to go into town. We walked around, drank smoothies, did some shopping… At 530 we went to the cathedral for Evensong. Their men’s choir sings hymns and they do some readings. It was beautiful and amazing to be able to experience that.
After the cathedral we went to dinner with our BFFs – I just need to give a shout out to Tiny T. She is so well-behaved. So mellow. So easy-going. Really, she’s a joy to be around! Dinner was good. End of story. ☺
Leo and I found some really cool wine glasses for pretty cheap – we’re going to pick them up before we go back to the States. So cool! I also had this delicious caffeine concoction – A scoop of vanilla ice cream covered in espresso. Delicious!
Guess how we ended the night? Yes. An episode of True Blood. The show keeps getting weirder and weirder.
Sorry, no photos.
I’m going to talk to Ryan to see if I can borrow his reader so I can upload my photos this weekend – I’ll have the time to do so. Get excited.
Monday, July 5, 2010
Belfast Weekend
Adventures in Belfast, Ireland.
Thursday Night
As I said, we decided to take the train into Birmingham tonight so that we could stay at the airport hotel. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 7am so it is very convenient. Finding the hotel, however, was not convenient. We took the train to the airport – which the hotel is attached to – so we figured it would be pretty easy to find. Wrong.
When we got off the train there were signs for “hotel” – pointing in two different directions. Great. We chose one direction. It led us into an abandoned area – which we followed to the outside, per the signs – into an empty parking lot. I swear, it was just like the empty airport on the movie Langoliers. Creepy.
We eventually found the hotel – had to take another tram in the opposite direction that we went the first time – and had some delicious beer. I love Becks since being in the UK. I only like beer that I can see through. Not cheap beer, but I must be able to see through it. Becks fulfills those requirements.
Then we went to sleep. Oh, first I must describe the bathroom in our room. It was a rounded thing that you had to step up into. It was like the bathroom was a little space capsule in the room. It was quite neat. ☺
Friday. Belfast!
I just need to take a moment to discuss the difference between airports in the US and airports overseas. Well, at least the ones in Europe and Northen Ireland. There didn’t seem to be as tight of security in the airports we’ve encountered. We leave our shoes on. I walked through the metal detectors with my sunglasses on my head (not on purpose, just forgot). No one even looked at our IDs until we were at our gate and boarding the plane. Yes, we still had our little liquids in plastic bags – but it was just so different.
And. Talk about a weird waiting area. Everyone – no matter what flight you’re on – sits in the same big open waiting area. It was shaped like a circle, with tons of little shops and places to eat, and you just wait there. The monitors don’t post the gate you will be leaving from until 30 mins before you take off. At that point you go to your gate and get on the plane. Interesting.
We were flying with bmibaby – a cheap airline over here. I have to admit that when I saw the airplane I was slightly worried. It was painted powder blue and literally had a doodle of a baby’s face on the tail. Here goes nothing! ☺
The flight was short and sweet. Made it to Belfast early Friday morning and took the bus from the airport to the center of the city. Guess what the first thing we saw was? Starbucks. You bet your ass we went in and got a nonfat iced caramel macchiato.
Did you know that the Titanic was built and launched in Belfast? I did. And I was excited. Little known fact about me – I love reading about the Titanic. I love the history. The story. Yes, and the movie. ☺ Well, they have a whole section of the city that’s on the water devoted to it. It’s called the Titanic quarter and you can go see the actual dock where the ship was launched. You can see the pump house. You can see the last place it sat on land when it was finished being built. We walked forever to get to it. As it turns out we came to Belfast 2 years too soon. They are planning a huge memorial with tons of amazing Titanic stuff for the 100th anniversary. April of 2012. I’m going back. ☺
After we walked for miles (literally) to and from the Titanic Quarter we drank a beer. What? It was noon. Welcome to Ireland! Next up – typical tourist sightseeing bus tour. It was a lot of fun. We were able to see tons of amazing stuff for really cheap. It was definitely amazing and worth the money. Except for the part where it was much longer than the brochure said and Leo and I had drank a beer… See where this is going? By the end of the tour we were barely paying attention as we were more worried about having an “accident” on the bus. Too much information? Oh, the things we share because we think it’s amusing and then decide later that maybe we shouldn’t have said anything. And in reality I could delete that whole story before I post this… But I’m not going to. It was an adventure!
During the bus tour we learned about Northern Ireland’s violent – and relatively recent – history. There was major fighting between the Protestants and the Catholics in Belfast. It had gotten so bad that there was a large peace wall constructed in the hopes that it would keep the fighting to a minimum. The tour guide said it worked – people couldn’t get over the wall to kill each other. Many people have visited this wall. It was very sad to see the destruction that is still obvious in this part of Belfast – and strange to drive just 15 minutes away and be back in the hustle and bustle of the city.
We ate a fabulous dinner and then went to check out the shops. Leo loves the clothing in the UK. His shopping bags are proof. I love that he loves shopping – it makes it even more fun for me. I have been having a surprisingly difficult time spending my money though. I have talked myself out of almost everything I’ve considered buying. (Except gifts – I have plenty of those for people already!☺) I did find a fabulous bag (I know, I know – do I really need another bag? No. But I decided that if I bought this bag I would donate three of the ones I have at home to Goodwill so that other people can love them as much as I have.) And plus, this bag is from a store that does not exist in America. Bonus! A new bag. The one thing I’ve bought for myself. And I’m totally content with that. Dad, be proud! ☺
Saturday.
Today we planned ahead and bought tickets for an all day Giant’s Causeway coach bus trip. We left Belfast at 9:45 am and it was an all-day excursion. We took the coastal route to get there and it was so beautiful. When we got close to the Giant’s Causeway – a huge rock formation that was the result of volcanic eruptions – we were able to see Scotland. Apparently it is only 25 miles offshore from Northern Ireland. Cool!
We stopped at Carrickfergus Castle on the way to the Causeway. It was cool. I like old castles. Then we continued driving and stopped for what the drive called a “Comfort Stop” aka Potty Break. Leo and I had a great picture of us taken with the coastline in the background – I think we got Scotland in there too.
Finally! We made it to Giant’s Causeway and it was amazing. We were able to climb on the rocks and get down by the Ocean. It was amazing. The view – incredible. Ireland is seriously the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I’m going to move there. (I think by the end of this trip I will have said, “I’m going to move there” about every place we go.)
After the Causeway we went and stopped at another castle – Dunluce Castle – for a photo op. Natalie Portman just finished filming the movie Your Highness there. Interesting. Expecially since it was basically the ruins of what used to be a castle.
Next stop, Bushmills Distillery. This is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. The guide explained that they spell Whiskey with an ‘E’ (as opposed to Whisky) because the E stood for excellence. And then he said, “Cheesy, I know.”
So after we did a little whiskey tasting – which was absolutely disgusting, I might add – we went to the rope bridge. The rope bridge was a bridge that the salmon fishermen had built to connect the mainland to a small island not far from the coastline. The reason they needed the bridge was because the salmon wouldn’t come close enough to shore for them to catch – so they went to the salmon. The bridge is about 30 meters from the water and it was amazing to cross! It started pouring as soon as we were hiking to the bridge but it didn’t matter. We were doing it. The view from the tiny island – beautiful! Surprised? Didn’t think so.
We were beat by the time we got back to Belfast at 730. We walked a ton that day but it was totally worth it. So much beauty. We’re so lucky that we’re able to experience all of this.
Sunday.
Not much to share about Sunday. Woke up. Had coffee. Had lunch (the best salad I’ve had since being here!). Went to airport. Here’s where it gets good! We got to the airport at 230 as we were scheduled to board our plane at 520. Flight was delayed by two hours. Okay – we could still make our train from Birmingham to Worcester when we got back to England. Wrong!
Our flight didn’t actually take off until 730. When we landed, Leo and I ran through the airport – I’ve never actually had to do that before – and then we had to wait for the little airport shuttle that would take us to the airport train station. Our running was for nothing. The shuttle was on “super slow so Jess and Leo miss their train mode” and we missed the train we needed to get on. I know this because the clocks count the seconds in the train station.
We had to wait for the next train into Birmingham (we have to take a train from the airport to the center of Birmingham where we can then switch trains and get on one to Worcester) which meant that we were too late for our train to Worcester. The real kicker? We missed it by 1 minute and 30 seconds. I know this because the clocks in the station count the seconds.
Guess what? That was the last train to Worcester for the night. Awesome! A taxi was going to cost us 60 pounds (roughly 90 dollars) if we wanted it to take us to Worcester. Instead, we hopped a train to Redditch, which isn’t too far from Worcester, but still ended up paying a 30 pound cab fare.
All in all, the trip was a definite success! There are a few photos below. Enjoy!
This is me sitting on some of the rocks at the Giant’s Causeway. The rocks are all shaped like polygons, which is why this place is so mysterious.
This is us at the Giant’s Causeway. We were trying to take the photo ourselves when a sweet Irish woman came up and said, “Just ask me to take your photo, darling!” She took this.
Dunluce Castle. You can tour the castle but that wasn't part of our trip.
The rope bridge.
Some of the coast.
Thursday Night
As I said, we decided to take the train into Birmingham tonight so that we could stay at the airport hotel. Our flight leaves tomorrow at 7am so it is very convenient. Finding the hotel, however, was not convenient. We took the train to the airport – which the hotel is attached to – so we figured it would be pretty easy to find. Wrong.
When we got off the train there were signs for “hotel” – pointing in two different directions. Great. We chose one direction. It led us into an abandoned area – which we followed to the outside, per the signs – into an empty parking lot. I swear, it was just like the empty airport on the movie Langoliers. Creepy.
We eventually found the hotel – had to take another tram in the opposite direction that we went the first time – and had some delicious beer. I love Becks since being in the UK. I only like beer that I can see through. Not cheap beer, but I must be able to see through it. Becks fulfills those requirements.
Then we went to sleep. Oh, first I must describe the bathroom in our room. It was a rounded thing that you had to step up into. It was like the bathroom was a little space capsule in the room. It was quite neat. ☺
Friday. Belfast!
I just need to take a moment to discuss the difference between airports in the US and airports overseas. Well, at least the ones in Europe and Northen Ireland. There didn’t seem to be as tight of security in the airports we’ve encountered. We leave our shoes on. I walked through the metal detectors with my sunglasses on my head (not on purpose, just forgot). No one even looked at our IDs until we were at our gate and boarding the plane. Yes, we still had our little liquids in plastic bags – but it was just so different.
And. Talk about a weird waiting area. Everyone – no matter what flight you’re on – sits in the same big open waiting area. It was shaped like a circle, with tons of little shops and places to eat, and you just wait there. The monitors don’t post the gate you will be leaving from until 30 mins before you take off. At that point you go to your gate and get on the plane. Interesting.
We were flying with bmibaby – a cheap airline over here. I have to admit that when I saw the airplane I was slightly worried. It was painted powder blue and literally had a doodle of a baby’s face on the tail. Here goes nothing! ☺
The flight was short and sweet. Made it to Belfast early Friday morning and took the bus from the airport to the center of the city. Guess what the first thing we saw was? Starbucks. You bet your ass we went in and got a nonfat iced caramel macchiato.
Did you know that the Titanic was built and launched in Belfast? I did. And I was excited. Little known fact about me – I love reading about the Titanic. I love the history. The story. Yes, and the movie. ☺ Well, they have a whole section of the city that’s on the water devoted to it. It’s called the Titanic quarter and you can go see the actual dock where the ship was launched. You can see the pump house. You can see the last place it sat on land when it was finished being built. We walked forever to get to it. As it turns out we came to Belfast 2 years too soon. They are planning a huge memorial with tons of amazing Titanic stuff for the 100th anniversary. April of 2012. I’m going back. ☺
After we walked for miles (literally) to and from the Titanic Quarter we drank a beer. What? It was noon. Welcome to Ireland! Next up – typical tourist sightseeing bus tour. It was a lot of fun. We were able to see tons of amazing stuff for really cheap. It was definitely amazing and worth the money. Except for the part where it was much longer than the brochure said and Leo and I had drank a beer… See where this is going? By the end of the tour we were barely paying attention as we were more worried about having an “accident” on the bus. Too much information? Oh, the things we share because we think it’s amusing and then decide later that maybe we shouldn’t have said anything. And in reality I could delete that whole story before I post this… But I’m not going to. It was an adventure!
During the bus tour we learned about Northern Ireland’s violent – and relatively recent – history. There was major fighting between the Protestants and the Catholics in Belfast. It had gotten so bad that there was a large peace wall constructed in the hopes that it would keep the fighting to a minimum. The tour guide said it worked – people couldn’t get over the wall to kill each other. Many people have visited this wall. It was very sad to see the destruction that is still obvious in this part of Belfast – and strange to drive just 15 minutes away and be back in the hustle and bustle of the city.
We ate a fabulous dinner and then went to check out the shops. Leo loves the clothing in the UK. His shopping bags are proof. I love that he loves shopping – it makes it even more fun for me. I have been having a surprisingly difficult time spending my money though. I have talked myself out of almost everything I’ve considered buying. (Except gifts – I have plenty of those for people already!☺) I did find a fabulous bag (I know, I know – do I really need another bag? No. But I decided that if I bought this bag I would donate three of the ones I have at home to Goodwill so that other people can love them as much as I have.) And plus, this bag is from a store that does not exist in America. Bonus! A new bag. The one thing I’ve bought for myself. And I’m totally content with that. Dad, be proud! ☺
Saturday.
Today we planned ahead and bought tickets for an all day Giant’s Causeway coach bus trip. We left Belfast at 9:45 am and it was an all-day excursion. We took the coastal route to get there and it was so beautiful. When we got close to the Giant’s Causeway – a huge rock formation that was the result of volcanic eruptions – we were able to see Scotland. Apparently it is only 25 miles offshore from Northern Ireland. Cool!
We stopped at Carrickfergus Castle on the way to the Causeway. It was cool. I like old castles. Then we continued driving and stopped for what the drive called a “Comfort Stop” aka Potty Break. Leo and I had a great picture of us taken with the coastline in the background – I think we got Scotland in there too.
Finally! We made it to Giant’s Causeway and it was amazing. We were able to climb on the rocks and get down by the Ocean. It was amazing. The view – incredible. Ireland is seriously the most beautiful place I’ve ever been. I’m going to move there. (I think by the end of this trip I will have said, “I’m going to move there” about every place we go.)
After the Causeway we went and stopped at another castle – Dunluce Castle – for a photo op. Natalie Portman just finished filming the movie Your Highness there. Interesting. Expecially since it was basically the ruins of what used to be a castle.
Next stop, Bushmills Distillery. This is the oldest licensed whiskey distillery in the world. The guide explained that they spell Whiskey with an ‘E’ (as opposed to Whisky) because the E stood for excellence. And then he said, “Cheesy, I know.”
So after we did a little whiskey tasting – which was absolutely disgusting, I might add – we went to the rope bridge. The rope bridge was a bridge that the salmon fishermen had built to connect the mainland to a small island not far from the coastline. The reason they needed the bridge was because the salmon wouldn’t come close enough to shore for them to catch – so they went to the salmon. The bridge is about 30 meters from the water and it was amazing to cross! It started pouring as soon as we were hiking to the bridge but it didn’t matter. We were doing it. The view from the tiny island – beautiful! Surprised? Didn’t think so.
We were beat by the time we got back to Belfast at 730. We walked a ton that day but it was totally worth it. So much beauty. We’re so lucky that we’re able to experience all of this.
Sunday.
Not much to share about Sunday. Woke up. Had coffee. Had lunch (the best salad I’ve had since being here!). Went to airport. Here’s where it gets good! We got to the airport at 230 as we were scheduled to board our plane at 520. Flight was delayed by two hours. Okay – we could still make our train from Birmingham to Worcester when we got back to England. Wrong!
Our flight didn’t actually take off until 730. When we landed, Leo and I ran through the airport – I’ve never actually had to do that before – and then we had to wait for the little airport shuttle that would take us to the airport train station. Our running was for nothing. The shuttle was on “super slow so Jess and Leo miss their train mode” and we missed the train we needed to get on. I know this because the clocks count the seconds in the train station.
We had to wait for the next train into Birmingham (we have to take a train from the airport to the center of Birmingham where we can then switch trains and get on one to Worcester) which meant that we were too late for our train to Worcester. The real kicker? We missed it by 1 minute and 30 seconds. I know this because the clocks in the station count the seconds.
Guess what? That was the last train to Worcester for the night. Awesome! A taxi was going to cost us 60 pounds (roughly 90 dollars) if we wanted it to take us to Worcester. Instead, we hopped a train to Redditch, which isn’t too far from Worcester, but still ended up paying a 30 pound cab fare.
All in all, the trip was a definite success! There are a few photos below. Enjoy!
This is me sitting on some of the rocks at the Giant’s Causeway. The rocks are all shaped like polygons, which is why this place is so mysterious.
This is us at the Giant’s Causeway. We were trying to take the photo ourselves when a sweet Irish woman came up and said, “Just ask me to take your photo, darling!” She took this.
Dunluce Castle. You can tour the castle but that wasn't part of our trip.
The rope bridge.
Some of the coast.
Thursday, July 1, 2010
Thursday.
Started the day off with - you guessed it - homework!
Today is the first day trip that Leo and the rest of the BSU kiddies have to go on. I was able to really focus this morning at least - but it's not as exciting around here when everyone is gone.
I also packed for Ireland - we fly there tomorrow @ 7am! We're actually taking the train into Birmingham tonight to stay at the airport hotel. Remember? Our flights are so early that the train doesn't even run.
This made it more challenging to get everything for the week done as I only have until 6pm tonight.
At 1 I went to pick Tommy up from daycare. Tommy is Ryan and Colleen's daughter for those of you who don't know. Ryan and Colleen both go on these trips so I am Tommy's babysitter on Thursday afternoons. Fun! She just went down for a nap - tough job, I know. When she wakes up it will be lunch time.
I realize as I am writing this that it is probably filled with boring nonevents that you really don't care that much about. Anyway.
I am really looking forward to Ireland - have I said this already? Looking forward to the adventure. We will have spotty (if any) access to the internet over the weekend so don't expect to hear from us again until Monday (that means you, mom and dad!:))
I think I'll be able to upload some pictures next week. Ryan has an SD card reader so I can use that to load my photos onto my computer! Hooray! You won't have to wait too much longer to see these photos that I can't stop talking about. Not to mention the ones that we'll take in Ireland.
So, yeah. Look for a new blog post Sunday night or Monday morning - depending on when we make it back to Worcester and how tired I am at that time. :)
Have a fabulous weekend!
Today is the first day trip that Leo and the rest of the BSU kiddies have to go on. I was able to really focus this morning at least - but it's not as exciting around here when everyone is gone.
I also packed for Ireland - we fly there tomorrow @ 7am! We're actually taking the train into Birmingham tonight to stay at the airport hotel. Remember? Our flights are so early that the train doesn't even run.
This made it more challenging to get everything for the week done as I only have until 6pm tonight.
At 1 I went to pick Tommy up from daycare. Tommy is Ryan and Colleen's daughter for those of you who don't know. Ryan and Colleen both go on these trips so I am Tommy's babysitter on Thursday afternoons. Fun! She just went down for a nap - tough job, I know. When she wakes up it will be lunch time.
I realize as I am writing this that it is probably filled with boring nonevents that you really don't care that much about. Anyway.
I am really looking forward to Ireland - have I said this already? Looking forward to the adventure. We will have spotty (if any) access to the internet over the weekend so don't expect to hear from us again until Monday (that means you, mom and dad!:))
I think I'll be able to upload some pictures next week. Ryan has an SD card reader so I can use that to load my photos onto my computer! Hooray! You won't have to wait too much longer to see these photos that I can't stop talking about. Not to mention the ones that we'll take in Ireland.
So, yeah. Look for a new blog post Sunday night or Monday morning - depending on when we make it back to Worcester and how tired I am at that time. :)
Have a fabulous weekend!
Wednesday, June 30, 2010
Wednesday (and the remainder of Tuesday)
What really happened Tuesday…
Colleen and I had planned to go to the Tudor House in the afternoon – turns out it isn’t open on Tuesdays. Silly us. (Check out this link to see the Tudor House: http://www.tudorhouse.org.uk/index.php) We’re going to try going next week! When it’s actually open ☺
We did find something cool to do in its place – we went to the Worcester Porcelain Museum. Now, now – don’t knock it ‘til you try it. It was actually a really cool place with tons of neat history! Would you like me to include a link? Thought so. (http://www.worcesterporcelainmuseum.org.uk/) The museum itself was two floors and we saw some of the most beautiful porcelain ever. I have pictures that I can’t get off my camera. ☺
Leo was supposed to be meeting us at the museum after his class. He did not show up. I decided that it would be best to check out the outdoor eatery we’ve deemed “our spot” and there he was! Drinking a gigantic pint. He got lost in some garden on the way to the museum. Oops!
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering and then went home to have dinner and chill out. I love all of the exercise I’ve been getting just walking around. It takes about 25 minutes to get to the city – that’s a lot of walking when you figure we do that a couple of times. Not to mention all the walking we do once we get there. I feel good. It’s nice to be outside al day. Did I mention that all of their shops open to the street? It’s wonderful because it is nothing like being in a mall. You just walk down the street in the beautiful sunshine and are surrounded by fabulous shops!
Dinner – not so great. Made some stuffed pasta thing that was less than stellar. Oh well! However, we followed it up with some fabulous True Blood: Season 2 on iTunes and had a fabulous evening!
Wednesday.
Went to town early this morning so that we could pick up our rail tickets for tomorrow night. This weekend we’re traveling to Belfast, Ireland and I am really excited! I just keep hearing about how beautiful Ireland is and I can’t wait to be there! We’ll have three days to explore.
Leo and I were happy this morning – we found a place serving iced coffee. And it was good! It made my day. Seriously. I’ve spent literally the entire day doing homework because I have to have everything for this week done by 1pm tomorrow. Crazytown. But I made a very good dent in it this morning so I’m happy.
Leo and I had planned an outing with the BSU kids to go to a pub and get pints. Everything was all set – we reminded people today at 630 that we're meeting at 715. Well, 715 rolled around and suddenly no one was coming anymore. Boo. This is why I don’t try to make plans.
Anyway, we made the best of the evening by going for a drive into the beautiful countryside with Ryan, Colleen and Tommy. (They rented a car) We ended up at a little town called Tewkesbury and it was so adorable!!! I loved it – we all did. I was able to take some neat photos – on my camera – so you will have to see them later. ☺ There was a beautiful old Abbey. There was also a cute statue of some kids – Tommy fell in love with and called them her “friends.” I have a photo of her “dancing” with them!
Here a some photos from the past few days – none from today.
All photos courtesy of Leo Caldwell. :)
This is the Worcester Cathedral.
This is me looking at the cute baby swans.
This is a cool flower and some swans.
These are some swans.
This is us.
Leo is very proud of this photo. Not to be vain, but I love it too!
Colleen and I had planned to go to the Tudor House in the afternoon – turns out it isn’t open on Tuesdays. Silly us. (Check out this link to see the Tudor House: http://www.tudorhouse.org.uk/index.php) We’re going to try going next week! When it’s actually open ☺
We did find something cool to do in its place – we went to the Worcester Porcelain Museum. Now, now – don’t knock it ‘til you try it. It was actually a really cool place with tons of neat history! Would you like me to include a link? Thought so. (http://www.worcesterporcelainmuseum.org.uk/) The museum itself was two floors and we saw some of the most beautiful porcelain ever. I have pictures that I can’t get off my camera. ☺
Leo was supposed to be meeting us at the museum after his class. He did not show up. I decided that it would be best to check out the outdoor eatery we’ve deemed “our spot” and there he was! Drinking a gigantic pint. He got lost in some garden on the way to the museum. Oops!
We spent the rest of the afternoon wandering and then went home to have dinner and chill out. I love all of the exercise I’ve been getting just walking around. It takes about 25 minutes to get to the city – that’s a lot of walking when you figure we do that a couple of times. Not to mention all the walking we do once we get there. I feel good. It’s nice to be outside al day. Did I mention that all of their shops open to the street? It’s wonderful because it is nothing like being in a mall. You just walk down the street in the beautiful sunshine and are surrounded by fabulous shops!
Dinner – not so great. Made some stuffed pasta thing that was less than stellar. Oh well! However, we followed it up with some fabulous True Blood: Season 2 on iTunes and had a fabulous evening!
Wednesday.
Went to town early this morning so that we could pick up our rail tickets for tomorrow night. This weekend we’re traveling to Belfast, Ireland and I am really excited! I just keep hearing about how beautiful Ireland is and I can’t wait to be there! We’ll have three days to explore.
Leo and I were happy this morning – we found a place serving iced coffee. And it was good! It made my day. Seriously. I’ve spent literally the entire day doing homework because I have to have everything for this week done by 1pm tomorrow. Crazytown. But I made a very good dent in it this morning so I’m happy.
Leo and I had planned an outing with the BSU kids to go to a pub and get pints. Everything was all set – we reminded people today at 630 that we're meeting at 715. Well, 715 rolled around and suddenly no one was coming anymore. Boo. This is why I don’t try to make plans.
Anyway, we made the best of the evening by going for a drive into the beautiful countryside with Ryan, Colleen and Tommy. (They rented a car) We ended up at a little town called Tewkesbury and it was so adorable!!! I loved it – we all did. I was able to take some neat photos – on my camera – so you will have to see them later. ☺ There was a beautiful old Abbey. There was also a cute statue of some kids – Tommy fell in love with and called them her “friends.” I have a photo of her “dancing” with them!
Here a some photos from the past few days – none from today.
All photos courtesy of Leo Caldwell. :)
This is the Worcester Cathedral.
This is me looking at the cute baby swans.
This is a cool flower and some swans.
These are some swans.
This is us.
Leo is very proud of this photo. Not to be vain, but I love it too!
Tuesday, June 29, 2010
Tuesday.
This really contains almost nothing about today. Look for a better update tomorrow.
Tuesday.
Daily routine – wake up and do homework. Boo. But I’m getting As so it’s all gravy. It’s still early here and I’ve finished my work for the day. That means it is time to consume more caffeine, eat lunch, then tour the Tudor House in Worcester. Super excited!
Note about the coffee – it is SO weak! Mom and dad – you would love it! ☺ I bought instant coffee so that I can make it in the mornings (pretty inexpensive here) and I have to use like, a shovel in order to actually taste it. I’m thinking about just hooking up to a coffee IV. (By the end of this trip my parents are going to know exactly how much coffee I consume. I’m not sure they know the severity of my caffeine addiction… ☺)
Some random stuff:
Leo just brought this to my attention: In one of my first posts I talked about how the BSU kiddies went out and drank etc and that I said they needed some discipline. Of course, I was just kidding. However, as I am friends with them on my facebook – where I post links to this blog, I hope that none of them took offense to that. That’s just my sarcastic, sassy flair. And if they did take offense then they probably aren’t reading my blog anymore so they will never know that those comments were made in good fun. Eh - you win some, you lose some. ☺
So, let’s talk about how I get shy, not even shy, just quiet – at first – around new people. Some of the girls here seem like they would be tons of fun! However, I get all clammed up sitting at a table with them and suddenly have nothing to say. Almost like it feels forced. We’re going out with them soon so hopefully that will serve as a good icebreaker and we can just have fun and love each other! ☺
Travel troubles:
Leo and I booked all of our Friday morning flights between 6 and 7am from Birmingham. This would be okay – if the train from Worcester to Birmingham ran that early. Oops. If we hadn’t booked the flights then we wouldn’t have been flying out until 4 or 5pm so we would barely have time at our weekend spots. We just need to figure out a plan… and fast. Ireland happens this Friday.
We have figured out a plan that is going to work for two of our three planned weekends. We are going to take the Thursday night train and stay at the airport hotel (pretty cheap) so that we are ready for our flight Friday morning. However, this does not work for our Paris weekend. The one we’ve really been looking forward to. Paris is getting dumped. How much does that suck, you ask? A lot. Leo’s day trip on Thursday (for some reason) does not put him back in Worcester until around midnight. Which means no Thursday night train. Note to self, next time we should do less planning upfront. Who knew? Big expensive lesson learned.
Things to note:
1) Saying “You look large!” to a girl you’re meeting at an outdoor eatery apparently means that you think she looks fabulous. It took me a moment to realize this – I had to observe the body language after that comment, the hugging and smiling told me it was okay – and my sympathy for the girl disappeared. ☺ I’m not sure that I will be saying this to any of my friends back home, though. And if I do, it means that I think you look absolutely gorgeous in your maxi dress!
2) They have the hottest water I’ve ever felt in England. Piping hot, if you will. I watched Leo burn his hand really badly while making lunch. From the faucet. That is most likely the reason there is a sign above the sink that reads: Caution! Hot water!
3) Tea cakes are a little cookie base, a big blob of marshmallow, all covered in milk chocolate. I thought they were actual little cakes. Maybe some are – perhaps this is just one variety.
4) They have the strangest potato crisp (chips) flavors here: Roast Chicken, American Cheeseburger… I could go on. Would anyone like some American Cheeseburger chips?
More photos!
We went to dinner.
This means yield.
This was me being excited. We were on our way to the co-op.
Tuesday.
Daily routine – wake up and do homework. Boo. But I’m getting As so it’s all gravy. It’s still early here and I’ve finished my work for the day. That means it is time to consume more caffeine, eat lunch, then tour the Tudor House in Worcester. Super excited!
Note about the coffee – it is SO weak! Mom and dad – you would love it! ☺ I bought instant coffee so that I can make it in the mornings (pretty inexpensive here) and I have to use like, a shovel in order to actually taste it. I’m thinking about just hooking up to a coffee IV. (By the end of this trip my parents are going to know exactly how much coffee I consume. I’m not sure they know the severity of my caffeine addiction… ☺)
Some random stuff:
Leo just brought this to my attention: In one of my first posts I talked about how the BSU kiddies went out and drank etc and that I said they needed some discipline. Of course, I was just kidding. However, as I am friends with them on my facebook – where I post links to this blog, I hope that none of them took offense to that. That’s just my sarcastic, sassy flair. And if they did take offense then they probably aren’t reading my blog anymore so they will never know that those comments were made in good fun. Eh - you win some, you lose some. ☺
So, let’s talk about how I get shy, not even shy, just quiet – at first – around new people. Some of the girls here seem like they would be tons of fun! However, I get all clammed up sitting at a table with them and suddenly have nothing to say. Almost like it feels forced. We’re going out with them soon so hopefully that will serve as a good icebreaker and we can just have fun and love each other! ☺
Travel troubles:
Leo and I booked all of our Friday morning flights between 6 and 7am from Birmingham. This would be okay – if the train from Worcester to Birmingham ran that early. Oops. If we hadn’t booked the flights then we wouldn’t have been flying out until 4 or 5pm so we would barely have time at our weekend spots. We just need to figure out a plan… and fast. Ireland happens this Friday.
We have figured out a plan that is going to work for two of our three planned weekends. We are going to take the Thursday night train and stay at the airport hotel (pretty cheap) so that we are ready for our flight Friday morning. However, this does not work for our Paris weekend. The one we’ve really been looking forward to. Paris is getting dumped. How much does that suck, you ask? A lot. Leo’s day trip on Thursday (for some reason) does not put him back in Worcester until around midnight. Which means no Thursday night train. Note to self, next time we should do less planning upfront. Who knew? Big expensive lesson learned.
Things to note:
1) Saying “You look large!” to a girl you’re meeting at an outdoor eatery apparently means that you think she looks fabulous. It took me a moment to realize this – I had to observe the body language after that comment, the hugging and smiling told me it was okay – and my sympathy for the girl disappeared. ☺ I’m not sure that I will be saying this to any of my friends back home, though. And if I do, it means that I think you look absolutely gorgeous in your maxi dress!
2) They have the hottest water I’ve ever felt in England. Piping hot, if you will. I watched Leo burn his hand really badly while making lunch. From the faucet. That is most likely the reason there is a sign above the sink that reads: Caution! Hot water!
3) Tea cakes are a little cookie base, a big blob of marshmallow, all covered in milk chocolate. I thought they were actual little cakes. Maybe some are – perhaps this is just one variety.
4) They have the strangest potato crisp (chips) flavors here: Roast Chicken, American Cheeseburger… I could go on. Would anyone like some American Cheeseburger chips?
More photos!
We went to dinner.
This means yield.
This was me being excited. We were on our way to the co-op.
Monday, June 28, 2010
Monday.
June 28. Monday.
Today has been a workday. I’ve been trying to get ahead in my homework and Leo has he first class in a couple of hours so he has been busy preparing as well. I haven’t really done much today worth writing about so I wanted to share some random stuff with you.
1. I love the homes here! Yes, they are all pretty small and very close together – quaint, I like to say – but they are wonderful. Most of the houses look very much alike but each somehow has it’s own personality. They all have little brick walls in front that enclose the front yards, and little gates that lead to the sidewalk. So cute! I have photos BUT I forgot the cord that connects my camera to my computer so I can’t upload any of the great photos I have taken. I’ve been stealing the ones on my blog from Leo.
2. During our walk to Sainsbury’s yesterday we saw Garfield the Cat hanging in one of the homes. It was so crazy to see that little piece of Muncie over here! ☺
3. Almost all of the cars here are compact. And nice. I haven’t seen one beater and only a handful of SUVs. However, we did see a Mercedes semi truck. The grill had the biggest Mercedes symbol I’ve ever seen!
4. Dad, bad news for you. Loud motorbikes – aka Harleys – have been banned. I’m not sure that I'll be able to bring you a t-shirt as I’m not sure that I’ll find a store. If not, I’ll come up with something good.
5. Guess what acrylic nails are called here? Nail extensions. Ha!
6. Guess what tube tops are called? Boobtubes. Literally. A tube for your boobs.
7. I don’t think people eat leftovers here. They don’t have To Go boxes at restaurants if you don’t finish a meal. I feel so wasteful. I can never finish anything anymore – successful stomach shrinkage – but that means lots of leftover food. This would have come in particularly handy Saturday night when Leo and I had that insanely long dinner I wrote about earlier. I ordered an enchilada. You know – a skinny thing about 6 or 7 inches long? WRONG! An enchilada here is the size of two 12-inch softballs. If I had my camera cord you could see for yourself. I could have eaten off of that thing for 4 days. I just need to talk about Leo’s dinner, too. He ordered some salmon and shrimp thing. I think we all know that I have issues with my food actually looking like the thing it came from – I almost died when they gave him his plate. It had this giant shrimp on it – literally bigger than my palm – and it had a million legs that were so long they were dangling off his plate. He informed me after dinner that it still had its eyes – I’m so grateful he did not bring this to my attention while we were eating. I would have been done.
The End.
Today has been a workday. I’ve been trying to get ahead in my homework and Leo has he first class in a couple of hours so he has been busy preparing as well. I haven’t really done much today worth writing about so I wanted to share some random stuff with you.
1. I love the homes here! Yes, they are all pretty small and very close together – quaint, I like to say – but they are wonderful. Most of the houses look very much alike but each somehow has it’s own personality. They all have little brick walls in front that enclose the front yards, and little gates that lead to the sidewalk. So cute! I have photos BUT I forgot the cord that connects my camera to my computer so I can’t upload any of the great photos I have taken. I’ve been stealing the ones on my blog from Leo.
2. During our walk to Sainsbury’s yesterday we saw Garfield the Cat hanging in one of the homes. It was so crazy to see that little piece of Muncie over here! ☺
3. Almost all of the cars here are compact. And nice. I haven’t seen one beater and only a handful of SUVs. However, we did see a Mercedes semi truck. The grill had the biggest Mercedes symbol I’ve ever seen!
4. Dad, bad news for you. Loud motorbikes – aka Harleys – have been banned. I’m not sure that I'll be able to bring you a t-shirt as I’m not sure that I’ll find a store. If not, I’ll come up with something good.
5. Guess what acrylic nails are called here? Nail extensions. Ha!
6. Guess what tube tops are called? Boobtubes. Literally. A tube for your boobs.
7. I don’t think people eat leftovers here. They don’t have To Go boxes at restaurants if you don’t finish a meal. I feel so wasteful. I can never finish anything anymore – successful stomach shrinkage – but that means lots of leftover food. This would have come in particularly handy Saturday night when Leo and I had that insanely long dinner I wrote about earlier. I ordered an enchilada. You know – a skinny thing about 6 or 7 inches long? WRONG! An enchilada here is the size of two 12-inch softballs. If I had my camera cord you could see for yourself. I could have eaten off of that thing for 4 days. I just need to talk about Leo’s dinner, too. He ordered some salmon and shrimp thing. I think we all know that I have issues with my food actually looking like the thing it came from – I almost died when they gave him his plate. It had this giant shrimp on it – literally bigger than my palm – and it had a million legs that were so long they were dangling off his plate. He informed me after dinner that it still had its eyes – I’m so grateful he did not bring this to my attention while we were eating. I would have been done.
The End.
Sunday.
June 27th.
(AM blog) Today is Sunday. Slept in again. Felt great! Leo and I plan on taking the weekend easy. We have a lot of weekend adventuring coming up and want to enjoy this one in Worcester. It is beautiful outside and sunny – interesting thing about the weather, apparently. According to the locals, it has been “unseasonably warm” here the past few days and it has not rained once! I like to think it is the world’s way of apologizing for our 3.5 hr Tarmac fiasco. Off to see what we’re going to get ourselves into today!
(PM blog) Guess what we did? We walked to Sainsbury’s! What is this, you ask? It is the Worcester equivalent to our WalMart. Pretty great, huh? Only – it is not as big. They still have a random selection of everything, just in smaller quantities. And it’s all kind of thrown together haphazardly. The batteries were next to the alcohol and the clothing was next to the tiki torches, which was next to all of the England flags. What?
Speaking of clothing – the majority of girls here do not dress conservatively or in neutral colors. I’ve seen some of the shortest, tightest, brightest clothing ever since being in England. Just saying.
Back to Sainsbury’s – it was in a part of Worcester we hadn’t been to before, St. Johns. Before leaving Leo assured me that he knew where he was going. Three minutes into walking he said he “has an idea of the direction we need to walk in, but not the exact directions to get there.” Which is why we ended up walking down a street that turned into a dead end. ☺ It was fun, though! Even with that short detour (which was our only one the whole walk) it only took about 30 minutes to get to the store.
Some of their food is really good, some of it I would never touch. Things I would never touch: Prawn Crisps aka Shrimp Potato Chips. (I know, what were they thinking?) However, we have noticed a few really great things.
1) Bottled water is super cheap here. LOVE IT!
2) They don’t use high fructose corn syrup. Soda is made with real sugar. Candy is made with real sugar. We checked the labels. :)
3) It’s amazing how natural everything is. Leo and I were reading the labels on the groceries we bought and we can pronounce every word on them – and they are words we’ve heard before! All of the things we bought would have an “organic” label on them in the States and we would pay a million dollars for it.
After Sainsbury’s we made lunch and watched the World Cup. I didn’t think that I would be interested in the game but being in England has put me in the soccer, excuse me – football, spirit! I was really rooting for England – Leo was into it too. It was a fun game to watch… until Germany wiped the floor with England.
As the announcer referred to it: “England’s World Cup Debacle” and that the team experienced “England’s heaviest loss in World Cup history” as they lost 4-1. We stayed here to watch it but some of the students went to the pubs – they said that everyone had cleared out of the pubs by halftime because they knew it was over and it wasn’t fun anymore. Sad! I would have liked to see them pull out a win. But enough about the World Cup.
We rented a movie on iTunes and just relaxed the rest of the evening. It was fabulous.
I think that I elaborated on all of my “things to note” so there won’t be a list in this post, but I did just remember one.
1 - They have little candies here that look exactly like a fried egg. How fun! Our candy is so boring in the US. ☺
We haven't really taken any photos the past few days because we haven't done much. And those we did take are on my camera :) Most of you have seen these already so they are for my parents! Deal with it.
This is me.
This is the beginning of The Butts - yes, that is a part of the town.
This is how big the drinks are. Though, the photo didn't really capture the size of the glass. It was HUGE!
This is a section of The Shops.
This photo was taken from the footbridge on the way to Worcester City Centre. You can see the top of the cathedral and that is the River Severn.
(AM blog) Today is Sunday. Slept in again. Felt great! Leo and I plan on taking the weekend easy. We have a lot of weekend adventuring coming up and want to enjoy this one in Worcester. It is beautiful outside and sunny – interesting thing about the weather, apparently. According to the locals, it has been “unseasonably warm” here the past few days and it has not rained once! I like to think it is the world’s way of apologizing for our 3.5 hr Tarmac fiasco. Off to see what we’re going to get ourselves into today!
(PM blog) Guess what we did? We walked to Sainsbury’s! What is this, you ask? It is the Worcester equivalent to our WalMart. Pretty great, huh? Only – it is not as big. They still have a random selection of everything, just in smaller quantities. And it’s all kind of thrown together haphazardly. The batteries were next to the alcohol and the clothing was next to the tiki torches, which was next to all of the England flags. What?
Speaking of clothing – the majority of girls here do not dress conservatively or in neutral colors. I’ve seen some of the shortest, tightest, brightest clothing ever since being in England. Just saying.
Back to Sainsbury’s – it was in a part of Worcester we hadn’t been to before, St. Johns. Before leaving Leo assured me that he knew where he was going. Three minutes into walking he said he “has an idea of the direction we need to walk in, but not the exact directions to get there.” Which is why we ended up walking down a street that turned into a dead end. ☺ It was fun, though! Even with that short detour (which was our only one the whole walk) it only took about 30 minutes to get to the store.
Some of their food is really good, some of it I would never touch. Things I would never touch: Prawn Crisps aka Shrimp Potato Chips. (I know, what were they thinking?) However, we have noticed a few really great things.
1) Bottled water is super cheap here. LOVE IT!
2) They don’t use high fructose corn syrup. Soda is made with real sugar. Candy is made with real sugar. We checked the labels. :)
3) It’s amazing how natural everything is. Leo and I were reading the labels on the groceries we bought and we can pronounce every word on them – and they are words we’ve heard before! All of the things we bought would have an “organic” label on them in the States and we would pay a million dollars for it.
After Sainsbury’s we made lunch and watched the World Cup. I didn’t think that I would be interested in the game but being in England has put me in the soccer, excuse me – football, spirit! I was really rooting for England – Leo was into it too. It was a fun game to watch… until Germany wiped the floor with England.
As the announcer referred to it: “England’s World Cup Debacle” and that the team experienced “England’s heaviest loss in World Cup history” as they lost 4-1. We stayed here to watch it but some of the students went to the pubs – they said that everyone had cleared out of the pubs by halftime because they knew it was over and it wasn’t fun anymore. Sad! I would have liked to see them pull out a win. But enough about the World Cup.
We rented a movie on iTunes and just relaxed the rest of the evening. It was fabulous.
I think that I elaborated on all of my “things to note” so there won’t be a list in this post, but I did just remember one.
1 - They have little candies here that look exactly like a fried egg. How fun! Our candy is so boring in the US. ☺
We haven't really taken any photos the past few days because we haven't done much. And those we did take are on my camera :) Most of you have seen these already so they are for my parents! Deal with it.
This is me.
This is the beginning of The Butts - yes, that is a part of the town.
This is how big the drinks are. Though, the photo didn't really capture the size of the glass. It was HUGE!
This is a section of The Shops.
This photo was taken from the footbridge on the way to Worcester City Centre. You can see the top of the cathedral and that is the River Severn.
Saturday, June 26, 2010
Saturday.
I forgot to tell you the most hilarious thing that happened yesterday – Leo called American money “human dollars” as if that was what we really called it. It was so funny. Maybe you had to be there.
I am feeling so much better today! I guess my body really needed all of the sleep I got yesterday and last night. Feels great! Leo and I have been going over all of our weekend trips and travel plans and we’re slightly worried that we’ve overbooked. We’re going to stay positive and just go with it – that’s part of the adventure, right?
Today we went to town to go to the Strawberry Festival. It was a bust. Unless by strawberry festival they really meant “a few random stands on the street selling crappy jewelry and key chains with the occasional strawberry tart on the table” – then it was fabulous!
However, Leo did “accidentally” buy a strawberry cider (mom and dad – cider is a kind of alcohol, did you know that already?) and he can’t stand ciders. Bummer. It doesn’t end there. We then went to sit outside at a pub. Where he “accidentally” bought another cider. What? I know. How does someone accidentally buy two ciders within an hour? I’ll be nice and say that maybe he’s still slightly jet lagged.
So. People move at a very slow pace here. Too slow to be considered leisurely. I don’t know if we’re just addicted to doing everything at warp speed or if life really is that slow here. Dinner tonight took over two hours. What? We weren’t at a nice restaurant. It wasn’t fancy. I just couldn’t handle it. At least we were outside… but still. It’s just crazy different.
I am going to wear my small sunglasses tomorrow. I feel like my big ones give me away as an American. No one else wears big sunglasses. Aside from that, Leo and I have been doing a good job of blending in.
Mom – most of the girls here seem to abide by one of Oprah’s cardinal rules: they own leopard print ballerina flats. And wear them with anything. ☺
Things to note:
1. Strangers don’t smile at each other here. I’ve been doing a lot of smiling and getting blank stares in return. Rude. ☺
2. Old money here goes out of circulation. Their old 20 pound bank notes expire on the 30th of this month and you have to spend them beforehand or exchange them for the new ones at a bank.
3. Girls here don’t care if their bras hang out of their clothes. Like, way out. If they’re even wearing a bra.
Us being cute.
The fire juggler and an adorable girl who just gave him money.
The flowers Leo bought me at the open air market.
I am feeling so much better today! I guess my body really needed all of the sleep I got yesterday and last night. Feels great! Leo and I have been going over all of our weekend trips and travel plans and we’re slightly worried that we’ve overbooked. We’re going to stay positive and just go with it – that’s part of the adventure, right?
Today we went to town to go to the Strawberry Festival. It was a bust. Unless by strawberry festival they really meant “a few random stands on the street selling crappy jewelry and key chains with the occasional strawberry tart on the table” – then it was fabulous!
However, Leo did “accidentally” buy a strawberry cider (mom and dad – cider is a kind of alcohol, did you know that already?) and he can’t stand ciders. Bummer. It doesn’t end there. We then went to sit outside at a pub. Where he “accidentally” bought another cider. What? I know. How does someone accidentally buy two ciders within an hour? I’ll be nice and say that maybe he’s still slightly jet lagged.
So. People move at a very slow pace here. Too slow to be considered leisurely. I don’t know if we’re just addicted to doing everything at warp speed or if life really is that slow here. Dinner tonight took over two hours. What? We weren’t at a nice restaurant. It wasn’t fancy. I just couldn’t handle it. At least we were outside… but still. It’s just crazy different.
I am going to wear my small sunglasses tomorrow. I feel like my big ones give me away as an American. No one else wears big sunglasses. Aside from that, Leo and I have been doing a good job of blending in.
Mom – most of the girls here seem to abide by one of Oprah’s cardinal rules: they own leopard print ballerina flats. And wear them with anything. ☺
Things to note:
1. Strangers don’t smile at each other here. I’ve been doing a lot of smiling and getting blank stares in return. Rude. ☺
2. Old money here goes out of circulation. Their old 20 pound bank notes expire on the 30th of this month and you have to spend them beforehand or exchange them for the new ones at a bank.
3. Girls here don’t care if their bras hang out of their clothes. Like, way out. If they’re even wearing a bra.
Us being cute.
The fire juggler and an adorable girl who just gave him money.
The flowers Leo bought me at the open air market.
Friday, June 25, 2010
Feeling jet laggy and stuffed up and achey.
This is my whiney blog.
Boo! I think Leo and I tried to do too much too soon - started feeling like I might die this afternoon. I'm just so excited to get out and start seeing things and doing stuff that I don't want to waste time sleeping. Lesson learned today - waste the time sleeping in the beginning.
I have really sensitive sinuses and they're all dried up here. This was the beginning of the end of the day for me. At least I have a fab boy who brought me home and let me sleep for 5 hours. Then fed me food. I plan to go to sleep again soon so that I can hopefully get on the local schedule. Jet lag sucks!
Tomorrow is the strawberry festival - so excited! :)
Things to note:
1. Pigeons are insanely vocal here.
2. The sun doesn't begin to set until 10pm.
3. I found the cutest shoes today... and will be buying them.
Boo! I think Leo and I tried to do too much too soon - started feeling like I might die this afternoon. I'm just so excited to get out and start seeing things and doing stuff that I don't want to waste time sleeping. Lesson learned today - waste the time sleeping in the beginning.
I have really sensitive sinuses and they're all dried up here. This was the beginning of the end of the day for me. At least I have a fab boy who brought me home and let me sleep for 5 hours. Then fed me food. I plan to go to sleep again soon so that I can hopefully get on the local schedule. Jet lag sucks!
Tomorrow is the strawberry festival - so excited! :)
Things to note:
1. Pigeons are insanely vocal here.
2. The sun doesn't begin to set until 10pm.
3. I found the cutest shoes today... and will be buying them.
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