These last two days John and I have taken a few days to relax and spend time with his family before we leave for Italy. Yesterday we woke up early and went for another hike on the Moors so I could practice using my new camera. Afterward, we came home to prepare for the big England game against Germany. Unfortunately England lost, but we still had a nice BBQ with John's family and friends that night.
Today John and I went for a bike ride in Clumber Park. It was beautiful and good exercise. It took me awhile to get used to riding a bike again, but once I did it was fun! Afterward we spent some time sitting in the yard soaking up the sun until the sky went gloomy. We enjoyed a dinner of steak and guiness pie finished off with some gooseberry crumble. Tonight we will pack for Italy! We will be leaving tomorrow afternoon and arrive in Venice in time for dinner. We are extremly excited! I hope I will have internet access in Italy so I can update my blog, but if I don't I will have a lot to tell you when I return home! Love you all!
Monday, 28 June 2010
Saturday, 26 June 2010
Scotland
John and I have had a very interesting few days. We decided to visit some of John's friends from college. We left on Wednesday to visit his friend Hillary in Worcester, the home of Worcestershire sauce. On the way there we stopped in the town of Warwick to see Warwick Castle. Warwick castle was amazing! It was a beautiful castle and very interesting to visit. When we first went into the castle we had a picnic overlooking a pretty river and the castle's trebuchet. We then went on a tour of the castle's dungeons. This was very neat! They hired actors to play different roles throughout the castle including the roles of dungeon workers. It was a little scary since the dungeons were dark and creepy. Each room had a different purpose and there was an actor in there to show you just what that purpose was, such as torture room, autopsy room, execution room, prisoners quarters, and court. Not only were the actors involved but they also involved the members of the tour. The first room we went into I was chosen to participate...this was the autopsy room! There was a doctor there who was performing an autopsy on a man who died of the plague. He ripped out his organs and squirted the crowd with them...since I was in the first row I had organ juice dripping down my face and hair! He then pointed at me and said that he needed me to go sit in a chair. He pulled a curtain around me and turned on a spotlight so the crowd could see my shadow. Next he pretended to pound me in the head with a hammer and then he took a hook and took bits out of my brain to examine to learn more about the plague. It was fun and I actually learned a lot about the times of the castle. After the dungeon tour we toured the rest of the castle. In one part of the castle we traveled back in time to the early 1900's where we attended a weekend party where an actor tried to seduce me to go to bed with him. We walked up and down the towers and visited the parts where they would prepare for war.
After the castle there was still about an hour left of the England vs Slovenia game, so we walked into town and went into the first pub we found. The pub was all decorated in England flags and it was so crowded John and I had to stand in the doorway to see the TV. It was a real neat experience to see an English pub during a world cup match.
When the game was over we drove on down to Worcester and went to dinner with Hillary and her fiance David. It was fun to meet them and hear about their college days. The next morning John and I drove up to Scotland to visit his friend Ally in Glasgow. This is where John went to college so he had fun showing me around the school and town. We went out to dinner and then to different pubs and even a night club! One of the pubs was in an old church! It was really cool inside. It was really neat because it was graduation night so there were several men out in their full kilt garb!
The next morning John, Ally, and I drove to Edinburgh. We visited the Edinburgh Castle, which is still a working castle, and we walked down the royal mile. The countryside up around there and northern England was beautiful! It is called the lake district and there are just miles of rolling hills and farmland. We left Scotland later that evening to head back home to England. Most of you know that John is a magnet for cops in America. Getting pulled over is a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence for him. Well I was pleased to find out that things are no different for him in Great Britain. On the way home John decided to call his parents to let them know what time to expect us. John forgot that it is illegal to talk on your cell while driving in Great Britain. Well, while John was on the phone, one out of the two cops that patrol all of the motorways in Britain happened to pass our car and see John on his cellular phone. They pulled us over immediately! John had to get out of the car and get into the back of the police car. I was terrified because in America that only happens when you are arrested. John handed the cop his Georgia license instead of his English license and explained that he has lived in America for years now and simply was in the habit of talking on the phone in the car. The cop told him he could arrest him or let him go, but since it was such a hassle to arrest him they decided to let him off with a warning. I was pleased because not only did I not want John to go to jail, but I also didn't like the thought of being stuck in the middle of Scotland by myself with a manual car, which I can't drive.
Once John escaped with his freedom we headed the rest of the way home. I was really excited to take a picture with the "welcome to England" sign when we crossed the border. I had a picture with the Scotland sign on the way up and wanted one with England as well. Well as we approached the sign we were sad to see a police car sitting on the side of the road directly across from the sign. Although we weren't sure if it was illegal or not to take pictures on the side of the interstate, after our brush with the law earlier we decided not to chance it and pull over. John just told me to stick my camera out the window and take one as we passed by. In the hustle to get out my camera, turn it on and take the picture before we passed the sign I somehow broke my camera! I was all upset because we are headed to Italy in a few days and I really wanted to have pictures. John assured me that we could borrow his sisters camera, but I was still upset. We arrived home around midnight and went straight to bed. This morning I woke up and found that John had gone into town and bought me a new pink camera, camera case, and memory card as an early birthday gift! I'm so lucky to have such a sweet and thoughtful boyfriend! Well, tonight we are going to eat Chinese and relax. I will write again soon!
After the castle there was still about an hour left of the England vs Slovenia game, so we walked into town and went into the first pub we found. The pub was all decorated in England flags and it was so crowded John and I had to stand in the doorway to see the TV. It was a real neat experience to see an English pub during a world cup match.
When the game was over we drove on down to Worcester and went to dinner with Hillary and her fiance David. It was fun to meet them and hear about their college days. The next morning John and I drove up to Scotland to visit his friend Ally in Glasgow. This is where John went to college so he had fun showing me around the school and town. We went out to dinner and then to different pubs and even a night club! One of the pubs was in an old church! It was really cool inside. It was really neat because it was graduation night so there were several men out in their full kilt garb!
The next morning John, Ally, and I drove to Edinburgh. We visited the Edinburgh Castle, which is still a working castle, and we walked down the royal mile. The countryside up around there and northern England was beautiful! It is called the lake district and there are just miles of rolling hills and farmland. We left Scotland later that evening to head back home to England. Most of you know that John is a magnet for cops in America. Getting pulled over is a monthly, if not weekly, occurrence for him. Well I was pleased to find out that things are no different for him in Great Britain. On the way home John decided to call his parents to let them know what time to expect us. John forgot that it is illegal to talk on your cell while driving in Great Britain. Well, while John was on the phone, one out of the two cops that patrol all of the motorways in Britain happened to pass our car and see John on his cellular phone. They pulled us over immediately! John had to get out of the car and get into the back of the police car. I was terrified because in America that only happens when you are arrested. John handed the cop his Georgia license instead of his English license and explained that he has lived in America for years now and simply was in the habit of talking on the phone in the car. The cop told him he could arrest him or let him go, but since it was such a hassle to arrest him they decided to let him off with a warning. I was pleased because not only did I not want John to go to jail, but I also didn't like the thought of being stuck in the middle of Scotland by myself with a manual car, which I can't drive.
Once John escaped with his freedom we headed the rest of the way home. I was really excited to take a picture with the "welcome to England" sign when we crossed the border. I had a picture with the Scotland sign on the way up and wanted one with England as well. Well as we approached the sign we were sad to see a police car sitting on the side of the road directly across from the sign. Although we weren't sure if it was illegal or not to take pictures on the side of the interstate, after our brush with the law earlier we decided not to chance it and pull over. John just told me to stick my camera out the window and take one as we passed by. In the hustle to get out my camera, turn it on and take the picture before we passed the sign I somehow broke my camera! I was all upset because we are headed to Italy in a few days and I really wanted to have pictures. John assured me that we could borrow his sisters camera, but I was still upset. We arrived home around midnight and went straight to bed. This morning I woke up and found that John had gone into town and bought me a new pink camera, camera case, and memory card as an early birthday gift! I'm so lucky to have such a sweet and thoughtful boyfriend! Well, tonight we are going to eat Chinese and relax. I will write again soon!
Tuesday, 22 June 2010
In the land of Robin Hood!
Today was a very interesting day! The morning started off early. John's sister Mary is a Kindergarten teacher, which is called year 1 in England. She told all of her students that John and I were coming to visit the family weeks ago, and they were super excited about it. The students just learned about the Wizard of Oz and wanted to hear me speak "Kansas" (American accent) So, John and I decided to go up to the school today to talk to them and teach them a little lesson about America. Anyway, last night Mary, John, and I set up a lesson and I was woken up at 7:15 AM this morning to get ready to go to this school. When we arrived the students had prepared questions to ask us about America. The questions were so cute and funny! The first question I got was from a cute little girl who asked, "Do you wear hairbands (headbands to Americans)?" I was also asked, "Do you have clams?" "Do you carry baskets on your head?" "How hot is the sun?" "How many birds do you have?""Where is Disney World?" "Do you walk on sand or concrete?" and many many more. We answered just about all of their wide variety of questions and then went through a powerpoint of pictures from America. It was funny because John is so used to high school students that he started to try to explain to them about the English settlers and how we got the names of states such as New York. The students just stared at him. Fortunately he stopped before he tried to explain time zones.
After the lesson, the students drew pictures of American things and asked us more questions. Afterward, it was their recess time. We were going to leave but they were so excited that they begged us to stay a little longer...so we did. I couldn't leave them because they were soooo cute! When we went outside both John and I had 6-7 little kids dangling from our arms! They mobbed us....we actually kinda felt like celebrities! While I was getting a make over from the girls, John was being told they wanted to drag him to the bottom of the hill and eat him. The little girls then put on a performance of some Wizard of Oz songs while some older girls at recess questioned me on American shops and restaurants. They all love my "accent" and were asking me to say things. Eventually we had to leave and the students were so upset. Mary even told me that one of the girls started to cry because I left!
Once we left the school we went to Sherwood Forest (where Robin Hood lived). Since it was once again a beautiful day we decided to take a picnic of bread and cheese to eat while we were there. We ate our picnic and took a brief nap in the sun before we headed into the forest. We walked to "The Big Oak" which was apparently where Robin Hood and his Merry Men would meet. We also got to see some of the props from the newest Robin Hood movie with Russel Crowe. We also got to see John's doppelganger from the past. I'll have to tell you more about that later ;)
When we came home John and I sat out in the front yard and tanned...well to be honest I didn't get any sun but John burned haha. We fell asleep in the chairs until his family came out to join us for a few drinks and a chat. Once the sun started to go down we came in for dinner. John's mom made John his favorite, and against my wishes, requested meal...steak and kidney pie! Gulp! All I have to say is I ate it and it wasn't terrible. My mental block of the kidney made it hard to stomach though. We finished the meal with pudding (their word for dessert). It was gooseberry pie....another first for me...but this time it was very enjoyable!
Well that was my day today. Tomorrow we are headed to Warwick Castle and then Scotland so I may not make a new post for a few days. I will catch you up as soon as I return. Love you all..best wishes!
After the lesson, the students drew pictures of American things and asked us more questions. Afterward, it was their recess time. We were going to leave but they were so excited that they begged us to stay a little longer...so we did. I couldn't leave them because they were soooo cute! When we went outside both John and I had 6-7 little kids dangling from our arms! They mobbed us....we actually kinda felt like celebrities! While I was getting a make over from the girls, John was being told they wanted to drag him to the bottom of the hill and eat him. The little girls then put on a performance of some Wizard of Oz songs while some older girls at recess questioned me on American shops and restaurants. They all love my "accent" and were asking me to say things. Eventually we had to leave and the students were so upset. Mary even told me that one of the girls started to cry because I left!
Once we left the school we went to Sherwood Forest (where Robin Hood lived). Since it was once again a beautiful day we decided to take a picnic of bread and cheese to eat while we were there. We ate our picnic and took a brief nap in the sun before we headed into the forest. We walked to "The Big Oak" which was apparently where Robin Hood and his Merry Men would meet. We also got to see some of the props from the newest Robin Hood movie with Russel Crowe. We also got to see John's doppelganger from the past. I'll have to tell you more about that later ;)
When we came home John and I sat out in the front yard and tanned...well to be honest I didn't get any sun but John burned haha. We fell asleep in the chairs until his family came out to join us for a few drinks and a chat. Once the sun started to go down we came in for dinner. John's mom made John his favorite, and against my wishes, requested meal...steak and kidney pie! Gulp! All I have to say is I ate it and it wasn't terrible. My mental block of the kidney made it hard to stomach though. We finished the meal with pudding (their word for dessert). It was gooseberry pie....another first for me...but this time it was very enjoyable!
Well that was my day today. Tomorrow we are headed to Warwick Castle and then Scotland so I may not make a new post for a few days. I will catch you up as soon as I return. Love you all..best wishes!
Monday, 21 June 2010
The Moorelands and Chatsworth House
Its been a few days since I've written and there is a lot to catch you up on. Friday night John and I taught his family how to play Rummikube and they really enjoyed it. I bought it for them before we left America as a "thank you for letting me stay here" gift. Then on Saturday John and I went for a hike on the Moorelands. Basically it is just a bunch of cliffs and rocks surrounded by fields of sheep and heather. When we left it was in the mid 50s but on top of the cliffs if was very windy and cold. I had on a long sleeve shirt, two jackets, and a scarf. It was cloudy and freezing! However, it was BEAUTIFUL! We took several pictures. It was my first time really seeing sheep up close, and in the wild, so I kept trying to get close enough to pet them. They wouldn't have any of it though. The best part was when we got to the top of the cliffs there was an ice cream truck waiting there...so we of course got another 99.
Later that night we went out for Mary's birthday. We went to a pizza place with several of Mary's friends, and this is where I made my first social blunder. We were eating our pizza and I didn't think anything of it until I heard John say, "I'll eat it with my hands too." I looked down the table and every single person was eating their pizza with their knife and fork. I totally forgot that eating with your hands was an American thing to do. It was sweet though because Pete (Mary's husband) and John ate their pizza with their hands to make me not stand out so much. Afterward we went to a pub for a drink and then went home.
The weather up here is so crazy, it changes drastically from day to day. For instance, Sunday John and I went for another hike on the Moorelands. It was beautiful! It was about 70 degrees, sunny, and not near as windy. We hiked to Robin Hood's cave and saw several people rock climbing and repelling. Then, we drove to this little church were we saw Little John's grave. The road up to this church was ridiculous! Barely one car could fit up this curvy road but it was still a two lane road. I took a video of it to show yall when I get back. I do get very car sick almost every time I get in the car because the roads are so curvy and they are constantly swirving around parked cars. Anyway, after our hike we went out for a pub meal (basically its just a restaurant with a bar) with John's family for Father's day. I had a Sunday roast and yorkshire pudding which a traditional English meal. Pete had this starter called black pudding. It looked odd so I asked what it was...it turns out it is pork and pigs blood :/ YUK!
This morning John and I got up and went to his Granny's house to look around. His mom is cleaning it out due to her recent death. It was very neat to see all of the old things she had, but it was also very sad. Afterward, John and I went to Chatsworth house. This is the Duke of Devonshire's house. It was in the Pride and Prejudice movie as Mr. Darcy's house. The house was enormous and beautiful. We had a picnic in the gardens and worked our way through a human maze. It was a beautiful day...the warmest yet. We toured the house and of course had an ice cream when we were finished. Tonight for dinner I was forced to have a meal of fish and chips. It actually wasn't that bad...it hardly tasted fishy at all. I'm sure I will be exposed to it again soon. Well....this novel must come to an end eventually. Sorry it was so choppy and broad.
Later that night we went out for Mary's birthday. We went to a pizza place with several of Mary's friends, and this is where I made my first social blunder. We were eating our pizza and I didn't think anything of it until I heard John say, "I'll eat it with my hands too." I looked down the table and every single person was eating their pizza with their knife and fork. I totally forgot that eating with your hands was an American thing to do. It was sweet though because Pete (Mary's husband) and John ate their pizza with their hands to make me not stand out so much. Afterward we went to a pub for a drink and then went home.
The weather up here is so crazy, it changes drastically from day to day. For instance, Sunday John and I went for another hike on the Moorelands. It was beautiful! It was about 70 degrees, sunny, and not near as windy. We hiked to Robin Hood's cave and saw several people rock climbing and repelling. Then, we drove to this little church were we saw Little John's grave. The road up to this church was ridiculous! Barely one car could fit up this curvy road but it was still a two lane road. I took a video of it to show yall when I get back. I do get very car sick almost every time I get in the car because the roads are so curvy and they are constantly swirving around parked cars. Anyway, after our hike we went out for a pub meal (basically its just a restaurant with a bar) with John's family for Father's day. I had a Sunday roast and yorkshire pudding which a traditional English meal. Pete had this starter called black pudding. It looked odd so I asked what it was...it turns out it is pork and pigs blood :/ YUK!
This morning John and I got up and went to his Granny's house to look around. His mom is cleaning it out due to her recent death. It was very neat to see all of the old things she had, but it was also very sad. Afterward, John and I went to Chatsworth house. This is the Duke of Devonshire's house. It was in the Pride and Prejudice movie as Mr. Darcy's house. The house was enormous and beautiful. We had a picnic in the gardens and worked our way through a human maze. It was a beautiful day...the warmest yet. We toured the house and of course had an ice cream when we were finished. Tonight for dinner I was forced to have a meal of fish and chips. It actually wasn't that bad...it hardly tasted fishy at all. I'm sure I will be exposed to it again soon. Well....this novel must come to an end eventually. Sorry it was so choppy and broad.
My first day in Sheffield
This is another e-mail I wrote to my mom and sister.
When I e-mailed you last night it was 12:30 AM here. As soon as I finished my e-mail I took a shower...which I feel was the best shower I have ever taken. I felt so refreshed and awake that John and I decided to watch some 48 hour mystery on downstairs. Within the first 10 minutes of the show we both fell asleep. We then went upstairs to our bedrooms and I slept until 12:30 in the afternoon...which is around 7:30 AM your time. We ate breakfast and showered and decided to go into town. I was wearing a dress and about froze to death today! It was about 60 degrees, cloudy and windy. I will tell you Jenn, you were right about the shorts. I have only seen two people total my whole time here wear them and they had on weird leggings with them. The people in London dress really strange, but the people in Sheffield dress more normal. They were all wearing pants and jackets. Also, if they do wear dresses they almost always wear stockings with it. Also, I wanted to tell you about the public restrooms. When you go to wash your hands you will be surprised to find that they don't have cold water...quite the opposite actually. The water was scalding HOT! I couldn't keep my hands in the water long enough to wash the soap off! They even had signs that say, "Caution HOT!" It is like they are trying to burn the germs off of you.
Today we went into town. It was very different riding on the opposite side of the car. John drove and I was terrified for my life! The roads here don't have stop signs...they are all yield and there are very few red lights. They have a lot of traffic circles. The roads are very narrow and the speed limits are high! We parked in a building called the cheese grater....because it actually looks like a cheese grater! We walked around Sheffield for a few hours. We saw an abbey that was built in the 1100s. We also saw a Cathedral that was built around 1200....it was beautiful! We went in and took lots of pictures. John's house has parts that were built in the 1700s. I think that is what is so different over here. Most of the buildings are older than America.....and you would be hard pressed to find a wooden building of any kind. All of the buildings are made of stone or brick. Sheffield is where stainless steel was invented so I'll have to bring you back some.
We then came home to celebrate Mary's (John's sister) 30th birthday. His mom made us a very nice meal and now we are watching England play Algeria and drinking tea (with milk and sugar). It is 9:10 PM here now and it is still light out. It doesn't get dark until around 10:30 PM! I am going to try to get to sleep around 11PM tonight so I can start adjusting better to the time change. Tomorrow we are thinking of going to the Moors for a hike.
Anyway, I hope ya'll are having cooler weather down there. I will e-mail you again shortly. Love you~Brittany
PS: Jenn, the tube is the subway. Here they call a walking path that goes under the street a subway and the "marta" is called the tube. I'm trying to get into the lingo ;)
When I e-mailed you last night it was 12:30 AM here. As soon as I finished my e-mail I took a shower...which I feel was the best shower I have ever taken. I felt so refreshed and awake that John and I decided to watch some 48 hour mystery on downstairs. Within the first 10 minutes of the show we both fell asleep. We then went upstairs to our bedrooms and I slept until 12:30 in the afternoon...which is around 7:30 AM your time. We ate breakfast and showered and decided to go into town. I was wearing a dress and about froze to death today! It was about 60 degrees, cloudy and windy. I will tell you Jenn, you were right about the shorts. I have only seen two people total my whole time here wear them and they had on weird leggings with them. The people in London dress really strange, but the people in Sheffield dress more normal. They were all wearing pants and jackets. Also, if they do wear dresses they almost always wear stockings with it. Also, I wanted to tell you about the public restrooms. When you go to wash your hands you will be surprised to find that they don't have cold water...quite the opposite actually. The water was scalding HOT! I couldn't keep my hands in the water long enough to wash the soap off! They even had signs that say, "Caution HOT!" It is like they are trying to burn the germs off of you.
Today we went into town. It was very different riding on the opposite side of the car. John drove and I was terrified for my life! The roads here don't have stop signs...they are all yield and there are very few red lights. They have a lot of traffic circles. The roads are very narrow and the speed limits are high! We parked in a building called the cheese grater....because it actually looks like a cheese grater! We walked around Sheffield for a few hours. We saw an abbey that was built in the 1100s. We also saw a Cathedral that was built around 1200....it was beautiful! We went in and took lots of pictures. John's house has parts that were built in the 1700s. I think that is what is so different over here. Most of the buildings are older than America.....and you would be hard pressed to find a wooden building of any kind. All of the buildings are made of stone or brick. Sheffield is where stainless steel was invented so I'll have to bring you back some.
We then came home to celebrate Mary's (John's sister) 30th birthday. His mom made us a very nice meal and now we are watching England play Algeria and drinking tea (with milk and sugar). It is 9:10 PM here now and it is still light out. It doesn't get dark until around 10:30 PM! I am going to try to get to sleep around 11PM tonight so I can start adjusting better to the time change. Tomorrow we are thinking of going to the Moors for a hike.
Anyway, I hope ya'll are having cooler weather down there. I will e-mail you again shortly. Love you~Brittany
PS: Jenn, the tube is the subway. Here they call a walking path that goes under the street a subway and the "marta" is called the tube. I'm trying to get into the lingo ;)
Travel days
I wrote my mom and sister an e-mail from the first few days of travel. Instead of just re-writing it, I will just copy and paste the e-mail.
So I made it to Sheffield England alive and well after almost two full days of traveling! When I first got on the plane I was pretty nervous since I haven't been on such a big plane before and been on such a long trip. I was excited but nervous. The plane ride was much harder than I expected. Knowing myself I thought I could sleep ANYWHERE and through ANYTHING....well....anywhere but in a coach seat on an airplane. I was initially excited with the movie selection and game options on my flight. Our flight didn't take off till 10:55 pm, so I soon discovered watching a movie wasn't the best idea I ever had. I started it around 11...so it was 1:30 AM when it finished. That gave me about 5 hours to sleep. Sleep was hard because there isn't much leg room and it was hard to get comfortable. I probably only got around 3 hours total of sleep. However, they did feed us two meal which was nice. Jenn, I advise you to take a sleeping pill as soon as you board. John did and he slept pretty much the entire flight. Also Jenn, my TV did start working in case you were wondering. Flying over the UK was beautiful! It looked like Kansas farmland but much greener and not as flat. We finally got off the plane around 7:30 AM GA time...12:30 PM English time. John was able to go through the border in 2 seconds...literally...but I had to wait in a 30 min line to go through customs. They asked me all sorts of questions but I guess they decided I was harmless enough. Once we finally got our bags we rode the tube to the train station where we left our bags. There John got me a sausage pastry roll for lunch which was surprisingly very tasty! We decided to go to the imperial war museum to look around while we waited for our 7:30 PM train. We were directed to the London Bridge tube stop so I got to see that. We then realized we were directed to the wrong tub stop so we decided to walk the three miles to the museum since the weather was so beautiful. We kept getting lost but were able to see a lot of the city. I was surprised to see how old the buildings looked and how different London was from our big cities at home. We finally made it to the museum but shortly into the holocaust exhibit we realized we were too tired to really enjoy it. So, we left and were very happy to see an ice cream truck sitting outside the museum. John was giddy ha ha. He bought me a 99 which is a vanilla ice cream cone with a flaky chocolate stick stuck in it. The ice cream here is much different than the ice cream at home. It has the consistency of whipped cream...but it still tasted good. You can hold it upside down and it won't drip or fall out. We took our ice cream to the nearby park and laid down on a bench to enjoy the sun and rest. We then left to head back to the train station. I was able to ride my first train to Chesterfield where John's parents picked us up. The train ride was nice but I was getting tired of traveling...and I started to smell. John's parents drove us past the crooked spire in Chesterfield which is a church spire that is warped from age. Google it. We finally made it to John's house where we had a snack and tea. His parents are very friendly and welcoming. His dad had american flags out to greet me :) I feel comfortable here already. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I made it here safely, yet tired and dirty. I am going to shower and try to get some rest and adjust to the time change. I'll keep you posted on my trip. Love you!~Brittany
So I made it to Sheffield England alive and well after almost two full days of traveling! When I first got on the plane I was pretty nervous since I haven't been on such a big plane before and been on such a long trip. I was excited but nervous. The plane ride was much harder than I expected. Knowing myself I thought I could sleep ANYWHERE and through ANYTHING....well....anywhere but in a coach seat on an airplane. I was initially excited with the movie selection and game options on my flight. Our flight didn't take off till 10:55 pm, so I soon discovered watching a movie wasn't the best idea I ever had. I started it around 11...so it was 1:30 AM when it finished. That gave me about 5 hours to sleep. Sleep was hard because there isn't much leg room and it was hard to get comfortable. I probably only got around 3 hours total of sleep. However, they did feed us two meal which was nice. Jenn, I advise you to take a sleeping pill as soon as you board. John did and he slept pretty much the entire flight. Also Jenn, my TV did start working in case you were wondering. Flying over the UK was beautiful! It looked like Kansas farmland but much greener and not as flat. We finally got off the plane around 7:30 AM GA time...12:30 PM English time. John was able to go through the border in 2 seconds...literally...but I had to wait in a 30 min line to go through customs. They asked me all sorts of questions but I guess they decided I was harmless enough. Once we finally got our bags we rode the tube to the train station where we left our bags. There John got me a sausage pastry roll for lunch which was surprisingly very tasty! We decided to go to the imperial war museum to look around while we waited for our 7:30 PM train. We were directed to the London Bridge tube stop so I got to see that. We then realized we were directed to the wrong tub stop so we decided to walk the three miles to the museum since the weather was so beautiful. We kept getting lost but were able to see a lot of the city. I was surprised to see how old the buildings looked and how different London was from our big cities at home. We finally made it to the museum but shortly into the holocaust exhibit we realized we were too tired to really enjoy it. So, we left and were very happy to see an ice cream truck sitting outside the museum. John was giddy ha ha. He bought me a 99 which is a vanilla ice cream cone with a flaky chocolate stick stuck in it. The ice cream here is much different than the ice cream at home. It has the consistency of whipped cream...but it still tasted good. You can hold it upside down and it won't drip or fall out. We took our ice cream to the nearby park and laid down on a bench to enjoy the sun and rest. We then left to head back to the train station. I was able to ride my first train to Chesterfield where John's parents picked us up. The train ride was nice but I was getting tired of traveling...and I started to smell. John's parents drove us past the crooked spire in Chesterfield which is a church spire that is warped from age. Google it. We finally made it to John's house where we had a snack and tea. His parents are very friendly and welcoming. His dad had american flags out to greet me :) I feel comfortable here already. Anyway, I just wanted to let you know I made it here safely, yet tired and dirty. I am going to shower and try to get some rest and adjust to the time change. I'll keep you posted on my trip. Love you!~Brittany
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