London

This past week Melyn's husband had to come to London for work. Melyn packed her bags and came along for the trip. I hopped a bus to London and spent Wed and Thursday doing the tourist thing and catching up. (Okay, we definitely did more talking than touring.) (I also have to mention how awesome Melyn's husband is. Even though he was the one working and needed to be alert, he slept on the floor Wed night so that I could stay over in the hotel.)

When I lived on the East Coast I loved taking the China town bus in to NYC. Some people like trains. I like buses. Maybe it's the beatnik in me that feels it's the closest to hopping the rails, or hitchhiking. Like you're running away, if only for a day.

I was afraid the weather wasn't going to be kind to us. Just as the bus pulled into London, the clouds opened wide. I'm not one to take a taxi, especially as the hotel was only a mile from the bus depot, but I was so turned around and it was raining so hard, I had no choice. Note to any travelers - taxi's in the UK are NOT cheap! Fortunately the skies cleared up as Melyn and I headed out on our first adventure.

She and her husband had purchased a 24 hour bus tour the evening before, so we headed to the red bus to catch it towards our first destination. A bus tour operator from a different company tried to runaway with me.

After riding around town, we headed out to the War Museum. Looking for a place to eat, Melyn spotted an Egyptian restaurant on the corner of our street. I can't say exactly what freaked me out about the place, but all the little hairs on the back of my neck stood on edge. Melyn convinced me to at least take a look inside. It took a good 10 minutes of looking at the menu before I was willing to stay. And it turned out to be so very delicious! As Melyn and her husband spend time in Arabic speaking countries, she is learning the language and out of instinct responded to the server as he sat us at the table. He was so delighted with this tall Caucasian woman knowing his language and where he was from that he through in a few extra freebies for us. Melyn ordered a lemonade with crushed mint. I can't wait to try to make this at home. Best thing I've tasted this year! Once the server found out that I lived in the UK he was trying to invite himself to come visit me. It was an odd day with four different occasions of men excessively flirt with me.

These are inside the restaurant. They made Melyn scrunch down. (I tower over most people here in Cheltenham, so it was odd the first few minutes of hanging out with her. I forgot what it was like to be short again.)


After lunch we went to the War Museum. It was odd to see history from a non-U.S. perspective. I have a strong fascination with WWII as it is. It was humbling to look at the impact of the war on the UK and to be reminded that it happened directly on this land. It's something that America hasn't really experienced since the Civil War. No pictures of the museum though.

The two pics below are some of the more famous landmarks. The London Eye (um, ferris wheel) and Parliament. (Also known as Big Ben though our tour operator said that Big Ben is actually the bell in the tower. Not the tower itself.)



The next day we walked toward Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the Guards. Here I am petting one of the Queen's horses. (I don't know if that's what they are officially called, but that's what I referred to them as.) The second pic is as the fresh guards are marching towards Buckingham Palace. It was very Wizard of Oz'ish.



Later in the day we walked up to the British Museum. We didn't get to spend much time in there, but what we did get to see was pretty awesome. The pic on the left is me and Zeus. We also spent some time in the National Gallery and I dragged poor Melyn into almost every used bookstore that we passed along the way. (I'm on a very specific quest for buying certain British books while here.)

Sadly the day ended much to quickly and we had to say good-bye. Melyn and her husband were kind enough to walk me part way to the bus depot (I seriously have never felt so lost in a city before.)


And one of the best things about the trip?!? American Candy! Melyn was kind enough to smuggle some of my favorites over here. I did a calculation on the gum, and if I conserve myself to two sticks a day, this will last me for a little over two months. I really hope someone else comes for a visit soon there after...

London was fun, but as the bus entered the Cotswolds, and I gazed out on the rolling hills and sheep pastueres, I was reminded of how happy I am that I chose this area for graduate school.

The Royal Wedding

I've always wanted to elope. I want a small wedding, without the hassle and anxiety of waiting and preparing and all the questions and noisy neighbors. But I do want the magical "it" dress. Probably kind of hard to elope AND have the perfect dress. And I've never wanted a traditional reception. My ideal reception would be a parade float. Yes, you read that correctly. Wouldn't it be awesome to have a "Just Married" float where you toss out favors to people lined up on the street? Maybe this is the Louisiana blood in me, or the fact that I grew up in marching bands, but I LOVE parades and think it would be just crazy fun to have a "Just Married" float. Yeah, it'll truly be a special man who is willing to do this for me...

Last Friday was the Royal Wedding. They were broadcasting it at the Imperial Gardens during the Cheltenham Jazz Festival. I'll admit, I teared up just a bit whenever the crown cheered and raised their flags. (I also cry during parades, road races, and any other large scale crowd gathering event.) There were little kids wearing crowns, tiara's and wedding veils. People wearing paper faces of the Queen, William, Harry and Kate. And yes, there were more than a handful of women dressed in wedding attire. There were picnics and champagne and general well wishing. And a mumble through the crowd as everyone said to the person standing next to them "For richer or richer" instead of "for richer or poorer".


As I mentioned, this is also the weekend of the Jazz Festival. Jamie Cullum was the hot ticket that I would have given up eating for a week to watch, but his concert was sold out before the tickets were actually released on line. There was also Cleo Lane, whom I saw in concert a long time ago and wasn't really my favorite so not in a huge rush to see her again. Mostly I've walked around, enjoyed the sunshine, listened to the free bands in the open stage (lots of high school jazz bands etc) and perused the shopping stalls.

Nothing says "jazz" like garlic...

And could I interest you in some sausages and potatoes? All of the food vendors had these giant round skillets. I don't recall seeing anything like this in the states. HUGE!



I also wanted to share with you my run venue this past week. I love that a five miler can take me from town center to country side. On Tuesday a herd of cattle were grazing through this field. Of course by the time I could run the route again on Friday the cows had gone off to graze elsewhere. Nevertheless, I love the tree, yellow flowers and wooden fence.




I'm always a little afraid of running on the little country roads because I have a tendency to forget which side to run on. This little side tour took me through a pasture where I saw Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and the other rabbits of Watership Down hopping through the tall grass. There were sheep pastures to the left and right, and a few peacocks perched on a fence that I could barely see through the thicket of branches. And I wondered if the person who erected these gates thought they resembled the pearly gates of Heaven.