walk this way

Today has proved very exciting. We started out with an adventure trying to find the Carphone Warehouse in Bayswater. We would have been okay, but we ended up transferring to the wrong train at Paddington station. The station was beautiful. I loved that it was outside. It looked so well well-worn. The light posts and the bridge walk-ways above the tracks were rusted and the paint was chipping. I can't stop thinking about the millions of people, famous and otherwise who've ridden the same trains and walked the streets and the platforms of the stations before I got there. There is so much history here, it's a little overwhelming.

So we got off at Paddington station, and ended up going the opposite direction. We got to Edgeware Road, but then the trains stopped running. There was something wrong with the signals and it was delaying the trains. So we decided to walk. We ended up walking the wrong direction and ended up back at Paddingtion. We went the right way then, and got to where we wanted to go.

After our little adventure, we took a walking tour of Maida Vale and Little Venice - the area where we are living. It's so quant and beautiful. We walked down to the canals and ended in Regent Park. Here are some of the pictures from our day's journey...


This image is of the actual Little Venice. There are two canals that join here, one goes toward Camden and the Zoo, the other goes... actually I don't remember. But it was really pretty, and we decided that when it gets warmer we're going to go back and picnic on the banks.

This is a photo of the canals near the Maida Tunnel. The guide said that people lived on the canal boats. The Tunnel was cool, HUGE, in the old days when canal boats were pulled by horses, they used to have to unhook the horses because the Tunnel runs straight into a hill. The bargees (people who run the barges) would then lie down on their backs on top of the barge and use their feet and hands to push the boat through.

We ended up seeing Paul McCartney's old house too... that was pretty neat, but the picture is a a little blurry, so I won't post it. But it was cool - it was right across the street from one of Madonna's old homes... I thought it was interesting - our guide seemed to know everything about, well everything.

Tomorrow we're going to visit our school building...

More soon,

b

in London at last

I made it. It's hard to believe that I'm here and that I'm actually sitting in my flat right now. It took so much to get here.

I lost my passport for a brief moment Sunday night - it actually turned out to be still at my uncle's house. I was lucky. I thought I was going to die. There was intense hysteria and explosive crying, until I called Cliff and realized that I had not in fact lost it for good; it was actually just an hour drive away in Raleigh. It was enough to set me over the edge though, and proceeded to remain frantic and overwhelmed for the rest of the night. I was able to pick it up from them on our way to the airport... so it all turned out. It was a little bit too close of a call for my taste, however.

But I'm here! The flight was easy - it was so empty that we were all able to have a row of 5 seats to ourselves. I could stretch out and ended up getting about 3 hours of sleep. It's now about 7:45 pm in London, and I want to fall over sideways and never wake up. I'm so exhausted. But I've managed to stay awake, with only a brief nap on the 2 1/2 hour coach ride from Gatwick airport to our flats in Little Venice.

Our friend Canden took us around tonight. We went to our first pub, then decided to be touristy and had fish and chips for dinner. It was really yummy.

Tomorrow we're going grocery shopping and getting a new SIM card for my phone and then we're taking a walking tour of the area that we live in... should be fun!

more soon,
b

"And we're off..."

"...Like a heard of turtles." For the most part, that's the way it's felt over the past week. It's strange how time seems to slow down right before something you've been looking forward to. I feel like I've been waiting forever for it to be time to leave, and now - it is finally here!

The itinerary stands as follows:

Today (Fri.) - pack. pack. pack. pack. pack. and pack some more...
Saturday - drive to Raleigh with Mom, Dad and Ryan to stay with my aunt and uncle before heading back to Elon.
Sunday - ELON! I'm staying with Mandy's family this night. Say good-bye to my family so they can drive back to DC.
Monday - visit school, a few friends and professors. Depart RDU at 6:45 pm.
Tuesday - 7:00 am, arrive Gatwick airport, England.

So once I arrive in London, we'll be escorted to our flats by the Elon professor who is going with us (Prof. Digre) and we'll get settled. Hopefully our internet will be up and running when we get there so I can make a quick post to let people know I arrived safely.

Time to pack!

I promise more soon...

b

the first of many to come

I leave for London in a little less than two weeks (12 days, but who's counting...?). While there, I am going to try to keep up with this blog to avoid sending mass emails. Friends have done this, and I think it's a great way to keep in touch with people without overloading their in-boxes. Also, this allows you to follow me at your leisure.

I'm going to try to post pictures and anything that I can figure out how to do, to keep this interesting for anyone who wants to read this.

Look for more soon,

B