Bitter Sweet Moments!

Well... as you can see I haven't written in FAR too long... I apologize... I've had a hard time lately finding things I want to write about. The second half of my stay here has not been as exciting in the element of travel as the first half. Nonetheless, I scratched down a few notes and will take you through a couple of things I've gotten to do recently.

A couple of weeks ago (Nov 18) Tom and I went in to London to see the Opening of Parliament. We didn't attend the actual ceremony inside of Parliament but we attended the parade in hopes of seeing the Queen!! And we did!!! It was pretty neat!! The pictures I took turned out pretty blurry but I did share above, the actual picture of the Queen and Philip even though it's very blurry. You get the idea at least.

Then, last night there was a concert on base that I went to. It was Kid Rock with Carlos Mencia opening... it was pretty good... I was excited to get out and do something different. (Of course: FREE is always nice too!!)

Other than that I've remained pretty low key. We're coming upon January which is my brother's deployment month and things are starting to veer toward his preparation and my preparation to make the journey home with my sister-in-law and the kids. It's been great to be here, to help, to have fun, to learn, and experience so many things!! Next week we'll be heading in to London for my last time... I'm so excited and sad at the same time. I LOVE London and it will be great to go get a few more pictures to share with people and spend time with the family.

I'm hoping to get more pictures up on Facebook and more blogging done as I bring my journey to an end in a month or so... If you'd like the link to the pictures let me know or add me as a friend on FB. Until the next time... I'll leave you with another one of my "silly lists" of interesting facts I continue to learn the longer I'm here!!! (*Disclaimer: Please forgive me if I repeat some of my random facts!) Have a good week.

~ In England they have what is called "The Right to Roam". It's a law that states you can walk wherever you'd like. Through someone's field... whatever... and because of it... several people have been killed..... BY COWS!!!! Crazy... but get this; if you're walking your dog and you choose to cut through a field.... often times the dog scares the cattle. The cattle then stampede and usually the human gets trampled and the dog is found seemingly unscathed down the road awhile later...

~ You cannot own a gun in this country. There is no hunting... and PS... there's TONS of pheasants!!!

~ The area in which we live is called "The Fens" and at one time not so long ago it was all under water... then, they dug deep ditches, formed roads and set up farmland... actually let me rephrase... they set up farmland and then roads... Over here, you can live 15 miles from somewhere but it might take you 30-40 minutes to get there because the roads wind and curve AROUND the farmer's land. There have also been several deaths in car accidents in our area because these deep ditches in the states would be reverted to cement culvers, however due to the narrow roads, if you fly off a curve and flip into the ditch.... you might end up in 5 feet of water and drown.... pretty scary.

~ You can still get your milk delivered in a glass bottle here if you so choose.

~ If you have an American Spec car over here... where the steering wheel is on the left, you cannot pass while driving.

~ Over here, the police are called "Bobbies", getting arrested is coined as, "getting nicked", and if the cops suspect you have drugs on you, they'll ask if you're carrying any "gear" on yourself. (That mostly refers to cannabis)

~ Something I just figured out is that there is no "Righty tighty, Lefty Loosey" here. Strange!!

~ While driving on an interstate or freeway here you'll find that there are no "rest areas", however if you want a tea break or need a pit stop there are little refreshment stands that are parked on the road. They are literally right on the road, with a slightly widened shoulder for them to park on... and lots of times they are packed!!

~ If a police officer drives by you and you are walking or driving and they feel you even look REMOTELY suspicious, they have the right to stop you, or pull you over, search your car or your person just to check things out.

~ When you go shopping over here you'll see that 90% of stores have their cashiers SITTING at their station waiting on you.....

I guess those are the ones I can think of this time around. I'm sure I'll have more next time. I always seem to come up with something to talk about!! So.. until I'm enlightened again..... ttfn!!

Experience, Learn, REPEAT

I just can't even tell you how much I am learning over here. I feel like I take notes and make lists over and over of all the things I want to make sure to share with people. I am continually amazed. I actually kind of feel like I'm in a cultures class learning... there's something everyday that I notice or ask about. I told my brother I was needing to update this but wasn't sure what to write about besides all the things I'm learning.. we've gone on trips and done fun things and I will tell you all about them but along the way you'll have to read about all the things I think are amazing, crazy, and weird. If that's "geeky" of me I'm sorry.. but I hope you continue to read!!

I've done some more traveling around England over the last week. (and I have pictures up on Facebook if any one is interested) It's been pretty fun. I made a second trip in to London.. I really love that city. This trip was different... Tom and I both were a little disappointed but we tried to make the most of it. It was one of those days where you just couldn't make things right if you tried.... here's how that went:

We decided this time around to plan a little better because we flew by the seat of our pants last time and although we had a BLAST, we forgot a few important things along the way, like changing over our currency before we left etc! So.. we thought we had this a little more scoped out, however when we got there.. it just kind of all hit the fan if you know what I mean!! LOL. We decided first of all to get off on a different Tube Station to explore a bit and then once we got out and started walking we were starving... we were NOWHERE near a place to eat!! So we made a mental note: Temple Station... no food! When we finally did find a place to eat (Subway) the girl put so much sauce on our subs we thought we might drown in it... we decided then to walk to Trafalgar Square to eat because on the TomTom it said it was close... guess what.. sometimes GPS is WRONG!! So.. we walked and walked.. finally we found Trafalgar Sq and we ate our soaked subs!! Then we went in to the British Museum.... we were thinking ok cool... now we can get to seeing things.... we pulled out the camera to take pictures.... and it died! Then, in our effort to find Piccadilly Circus we found ChinaTown instead and forgot all about Piccadilly, which was no big deal at first... we'd just tried to get there last time and didn't know it would be a disappointment till later.. I'll tell you that story at the end... so then we came upon Leicester Square where we saw they were setting up a red carpet and lights... we thought we'd ask what was up.. A Movie premiere to our excitement.. so we asked what time it was going to start and who was going to be there... heartache struck again.. it was to start at 7pm and the lead man to show up... GEORGE CLOONEY.... (ps we had to leave by about 5pm) We took some pictures on our phones and headed on our way... next stop.. FLEET STREET.. home of Sweeney Todd's Barber shop... that's a long story, but it was a let down also.. just not what we expected. :) Oh well... so then.. we decided to book it over to Buckingham palace and check that out quick but because we decided to stop for some hot chocolate on the way we walked up to the Palace right as they FINISHED the changing of the guard... at that point.. we decided we just better get back... so we figured out where the closest station was (oh and by the way our TomTom died half way thru the day also) and of course when we got there it was about 530pm which we just so conveniently forgot was the busiest time of day to get on the tube because everyone is commuting back home from work... ugh.. what a day... we both agreed we still had fun, but it was very testing on our patience!!! (To go back now to my Piccadilly story.. I got home that night and happen to read a story about how Leona Lewis got punched in the head, when I got to the end of the story and they told where she had been signing autographs when she was struck they said she was in a bookstore in Piccadilly Circus...)

So.... enough about all of that.. my other trips over the last week weren't quite so trying and I enjoyed even just driving in the countryside of England.. it's soooo beautiful here!

The rest of the week brought a trip to Windsor Castle, Stonehenge, and Bath!! Oh and we drove thru Oxford.. wow there are people everywhere in that city.. Along our journey we found more places that will give families military discounts.. and those that don't :) We learned that there are 38 independent, self governing colleges at Oxford University.. I'm sure that has to do with the amount of people!! We also learned that there is much mystery behind Stonehenge and there is really no clear information about why it is there. We learned that Windsor Castle is one of the only Castles still occupied in the country. (The queen floats about different places throughout the year and this is one of her stops) We also learned that the Roman Baths are the only Hot Spring in Britain. So much stuff!!! I never liked History in School but when it comes to life before your eyes.... TRULY AMAZING!!

I suppose I've written quite a bit for this entry.. I'll leave you with a few other fun tidbits I learned this week... very random and not really pertaining to anything in particular!

~ The McDonalds over here do not serve grilled chicken, everything is fried but the good news: their McFlurries... are only 99(pence)!!

~ Most portion sizes are smaller over here. You can't get the same size bottle of pop even

~ We have not found any Cadillacs over here... there are of course several brands of cars here that are not in the states but we have found almost all cars you would see in the states here, but no Caddys!

~ Because they are ahead here in the school system, you graduate at 16 but still go to college at 18. Strange I thought..

~ Your license plates come on your car when you buy it. They are white on the front plate, yellow on the back plate.

~ Some boarding schools here go until 5pm

~ Lots of places have breaks for afternoon tea!! (PS I need to find a grocer in the states that sells clotted cream!!! My new favorite food item!)

~ They have commercials on TV that you see in the states but the voices have been dubbed over with British accented people!

~ Gas is 1.10(lbs) per LITRE!!!

~ Lots of places figure your tip into your bill for you. The servers make a regular wage and tips are evenly distributed to all employees...

I know there are more, but I'll leave you with those for today.. hope you enjoy reading!! Have a great week!!

Castle Rising

Yesterday we went on a little road trip again! We figure we better get a few in before the baby (my nephew) gets here. This trip we headed to Hunstanton but on the way we stopped to see Castle Rising. One of the top 12 Castles in England! It's beautiful!!

The Castle's "insides" are mostly gone but it was fun to go in and wander around. Tom also got an audio guide that we shared. It was the story of the Castle told by people as tho they were the ones who lived there. It's kinda neat! As we walked thru it told all about each room and what it was used for and whether or not each room was original or not, as some rooms were added on in the 13th or 14th century.

After we were done we talked to the head custodian. He happens to also be into the paranormal, which just for the record I have never paid too much attention to. I've never been into the shows on tv like Haunting or anything where they go into houses and tried to find "ghosts". Anyway, we talked with him for awhile when we left because his book of pictures caught our eye. It was all pictures of "orbs" or people from beyond the grave that had been captured by him or his colleagues in that very Castle. I kind of just listened, and Tom asked lots of questions. Then the custodian pulled out his camera and SD card and showed us pictures he had just taken a few days prior .... I must admit.. I was a bit shocked. He had definite pictures of things that were unexplainable.... one image in fact looked like a bearded man with a crown... I didn't know what to say...

He of course encouraged us to go back over our pictures once on the computer but I have found no "orbs" so I don't know what that means!! :) Maybe nothing!! Haha!!

Anyway...it was interesting all around; and when we were done there we then headed to Hunstanton as planned to see the coast. It's beautiful there!! It's actually part of the channel called The Wash, but it made for a few good extra pictures!!

Shock and Awe

Wednesday I toured London with my brother!! WOW!! I was blown away! London is definitely a melting pot. And when I say melting pot, i don't just mean different kinds of people, because with the different kinds of people came tons of styles, different mannerisms, and all sorts of crazy stuff! It was a lot to take in!

There were so many amazing things to see and do and since we walked over 5 miles on Wednesday; I learned a few more lessons in travel, sight seeing, and having fun!!

#1 When traveling by train: if you get motion sickness easy, don't watch the area wear the cars are joined. The movement of wobbling cars can give you the heebeegeebies....

A) Also.. don't stop and wait for people. On the underground (the tube as it's called) there are thousands of people with destinations and agendas... if you pause so they can walk in front of you or something.. you'll get mowed down. Just keep moving... that was a hard one for me.

#2 When traveling on foot: Have fun..and who cares if you get lost... if you have the whole day to do what you want then do it!! Tom and I took some back streets and just went with the flow. We found a cute little pub for lunch, and a fire brigade museum we wouldn't have found if we'd just stuck to the main roads.

#3 Be aware of the cost to convert your money and pay attention in shops for forms of payment

#4 When going to a restaurant, ask to see a menu first.. this will help with two main things: A) finding a place that has food you really want to eat and B) finding a place you can afford to eat! Tom and I looked at several places before we stopped for lunch. One place that smelled so good when we walked by we found out was completely organic food. They served things like chicken wraps with yogurt and garlic sauce. Something I wouldn't mind, but my brother would NEVER eat!!

#5 Also while you're traveling around on foot, you'll see several street peddlers. They are out there to make money. They are either bums with no place to live or they are actors just out to make a buck... BE CAREUL if you decide you want to give someone money. Some of these people really do need help others as I said are con artists. We found a man playing sax on the street and it sounded AMAZING... but as soon as we started to walk over to give him some change... the "street police" as Tom and I called them, walked over to him to give him a citation. Apparently in England you have to have a permit to perform EVEN IF you are dirt poor. It's how the Queen makes money. There are several things you need permits for or pay extra taxes for. In fact on a side bar you have to pay a tax to have your TV and you have to pay a tax to have screens on your windows.... funny I thought. (We just kept walking then as the police approached. You never interfere in official acts here or you're liable to get scooped up along with the rest of them and taken away or ticketed yourself. We decided we better just hold on to our money.)

Anyway... that's what I know so far... I feel so incompetent in some ways here.. there are so many things I don't know about or understand... but I've enjoyed learning and I'm sure there will be more to write as the days go by!!

Cheers!

Lessons Learned Thus Far

Well, I have only been here a little under a week, and let me tell you...wow... you really don't realize how different things are in other places... I'm not going to use the cliche that it makes me appreciate what I have back home more, cause honestly, it doesn't... it makes me more aware of other people, cultures, and ways of life, ways of doing things. It's not a matter of what's right or wrong... like why we drive on the right and in the UK they drive on the left... its a matter of the history behind it and why each works! Here are a few things I learned over the last week:
~ Animals here consist of foxes and moles, not squirrels and raccoons
~ There are TONS of pigeons
~ The weather here makes it possible for several crops each season. And PS when they grown onions... you can SMELL IT!!!
~ There are little to no stop signs, they use "Give Way" signs
~ You cannot EAT and drive, let alone talk and drive...BIG TICKETS HERE!!
~ I could go on and on about the driving rules...the last one I'll share is that if you are caught intoxicated and NOT driving but in possession of your keys, you can still get charged, they have something here called an Intent to Drive Intoxicated Ticket
~ They take their time collecting garbage on garbage day, if they get to it on your day fine, but if not...expect them tomorrow.
~ They stack their hay bales in the middle of their fields here 20+ high and 20+ wide and then have problems with teens setting them on fire! Oops
~ Most schools, public or not have uniforms
~ People are allowed to PARK ON THE ROAD like the main road to talk on the phone or get out and do something ... you simply must drive around them...
~ Soda here is made with natural sugar so it tastes different
~ You get tea with almost anything even fast food. This morning we had Burger King, we each got orange juice but they gave us each a cup and tea bag for hot tea

And that's where it's at right now... I could go on but I'll let you chew on those for now... wild stuff!! Tomorrow I tour around London with my brother and I'll post some pictures then!

Cheers!

Arrival in the UK

Well...I finally made it here after several hours on a plane and LOTS of drilling at Customs!!!

My trip started on the 16th at 6:10AM! The early part of the day was spent driving to the cities and having lunch with some friends!! It was fun. I arrived at the airport around 1:15 but we realized we were in the wrong terminal...we darted back to the car and headed for the other terminal. When we found where I was going however, we realized the check in counter didn't open for yet another hour!! So I said goodbye to my friends and settled in for a bit!! I tried to read but I was far too distracted and preoccupied!! I started to get my ticket information and passport ready when I noticed the counter opened early...I headed over for check in but this is when it started gettin' dicey!!

I made my way to the counter where the gentleman looked at my passport and started to put my luggage tickets on. He asked me about my return flight...to which I replied, "I won't have a return ticket till I get there". (Can I please have credit for honesty)
"Well", he informs me, "that's a problem!" Lovely I'm thinking..just what I need...a PROBLEM and I haven't even left the US yet. He said that all summer they have had to tell people unless they can prove they are leaving they won't be allowed in the country. I went in to immediate panic mode and started to pray. The clerk went and got his boss. When he arrived they pulled up their handy-dandy information on the computer..."Guess they changed the rule" he declared! "It says here we're supposed to let them go ahead and they decide over there whether or not to let them in!!"
I wiped the sweat from my brow, thanked God, handed off my luggage and hit the escalator!!

My flight was pretty long...I had a flight first to ICELAND, (5 1/2 hours) where my layover was. It was NOT covered in ice yet, and I got a few pictures I'll post soon!! The Airline was nice, and the seats were comfortable. Complete with monitors in the head rests. The down side: you had to buy headphones to watch anything...oh well.. I needed sleep. Once we got to Iceland, it was back thru security and customs for my first passport stamp and then on to England. By the time they have you thru security and customs you're ready for your next flight almost literally..I think I had 7 minutes to use the restroom and board my next plane!! The toilets P.S. are triangular in the airport there and have a push button on top to flush...

Anyway...the flight to London was not near as long! (A little over 2 hours)It was the customs agent I got that took forever!! When I got to the counter finally after being in line almost a half hour she asked me when I was returning to the US which I of course had to try and explain the best I could...I informed her I didn't buy a return ticket as we were waiting on the birth of my new nephew etc...she didn't like what I had to say and couldn't believe I would have any desire to fly across the globe to be with my family...she was not nice...and by the way NOT A NATIVE!!! I wanted to ask her what process she needed to go thru to get to where she was...but I didn't! After asking me all sorts of personal questions, including how much money I had and what was my brother's phone number...she finally stamped me in to the UK!!!! I made my way thru and got my luggage then headed for the EXIT!! Once I hit the doors..I saw Megan's lovely face greeting me!!! It was so nice after all of that drilling!! Tom and William then walked up, as they had gone to another counter to see if I was somewhere in the building needing assistance!! :)

The end of my day was pretty laid back...they took me to McDonalds (yes there's a McD's!) and then we headed to the house!! I had in my mind for some reason that the drive was shorter than it was to which came my first disappointment as my rear end was quite sore from sitting so much!! But the day ended good..Tom and I went for a run and I was surprisingly not as tired as I had thought I would be. I did hit the sack early tho so we could venture out on Friday...I have a feeling I will have lots to write about as the days go on so stay connected...it should be a great adventure!!

Pre-Trip Notes

Well...I decided to start a second blog to track and journal about my adventures outside of the US! I'm getting anxious, a little worried, and of course EXCITED!!!!

To bring you all up to speed, I'm heading to England September 16th, to stay with my brother and sister-in-law for a few months. They are expecting Baby #2 and have invited me to come stay and help them for a few months!! I have no idea what to expect as I travel and I actually love the idea of having NO expectations. I have been out of the country before..but not that far!!! (Only Mexico)

As the day approaches I find I have more and more questions reeling in my mind....I feel totally unprepared some days and other days I feel I have no worries!!! I do have one suitcase completely packed and ready to go..that's a bonus right!?

Follow along if you'd like... I'll try to keep it interesting!!

10 days and counting!!
~Cas