10 Wick Close

Here are some photos of the Radford's house. They are currently renting. The man who owns the house wanted to sell the house for £190,000. That roughly translates to $380,000.

The Midlands

The day couldn't have started better!!!!

For those of you who are unaware, I have a passion/obsession with Mini Coopers. The Mini factory is in Oxford, where Vicky is staying, so we've driven by it a few times already. Unfortunately, they only schedule tours 2-3 months in advance, so I wasn't able to get inside. However, each dealership does sell Mini merchandise!

Before heading back up to Oxford to spend the afternoon with Vicky (she had the afternoon off), we stopped by the local dealership. The lady in the store was SUPER friendly and let me sit in an extremely 'souped-up' convertable Mini!! I also spent a small chunk of change on a t-shirt and key chain. A dream come true.....

Since the traffic is obnoxious in the city center, we opted for a park & ride option. Oxford is ABSOLUTELY beautiful. The architecture is more than you could imagine. Many of the buildings inspired writers J.K. Rowling, JRR Tolkein, C.S. Lewis. They have tons of gargoyles and other "critters" they call ghastlies.

We went to the Natural History museum affliated with the university. The Prince Consort was a key figure in getting this started. I loved how they encouraged everyone to touch (nicely) various artifacts. I wish the Smithsonian would do a bit more of that. Hands-on rocks!

Vicky had never had Indian food, so.....we had it again last night! My mission seems to be to eat as much curry as I can before heading home! Yum!!

We've also decided to lay-in Thursday and gear up for Friday, which is to go to London in the morning. I think we're going to do the bus tour I did when I was there the first time. I'm hoping to be able to get off at the Portrait gallery and possibly the History Museum. I feel relatively confident that I'll be able to catch back up with them on the tour.

Thanks for reading!

Cross country

I think I forgot to mention that we had a slight fender-bender the other day....basically, we got rear-ended. Today, the rent-a-car agency brought us a car and the garage came and took our other car away. So, all the miles we put on today were put on the rental!

Today was a HUGE day! We started just after eleven and headed to Greenwich to see the Prime Meridian. I was surprised to see just how close we actually were to London. There were tons of tourists!

After a nice lunch we left for Bodium Castle. It was built in the mid-1300s and had several towers and an actual moat!! With John in the lead, I managed to overcome my heights fear and make it up all the towers. Yea me!

Leaving the castle, we headed for Battle. Battle is where the Battle of Hastings was actually fought in 1066. John and H had seen it before, so I went in alone. I would have loved to spend more time on the trails, but closing time was only 30 minutes off and I didn't have a watch. It was an audio tour that was very informative and interesting. There were sevearl options to receive more information if you wanted it.

Finally, we headed towards Brighton. On our way, there was an odd figure placed on a hill. This figure is called the Long Man of Willmington. He was found in the 1800s and has been replaced with concrete in order to keep him from decay. No one really knows why he is there.

In Brighton, I finally got to see the Royal Pavilion and the Royal Pier. They were only walk-bys because closing time had already passed. However, the grounds were still open. You could definitely sense that the city was getting ready for the Pride Parade this weekend.

After stopping for another curry (cause I can't seem to get enough of it) in Worthing, we've just now gotten home. Everyone's buns are dragging...and bed sounds great! I'm hoping I've finally adjusted enough to the time changes that I can get up for a run tomorrow.

Thanks for reading! Feel free to email if you don't feel comfortable with the blog.

Miss you all!

Lay-in

Monday was supposed to be our day of rest. However, we managed to fill it up with some shopping and touring. Just a ways up the road from Felpham is a larger community called Chicester. We headed there for the day.

After hitting the shops (H & M included), we went to the local cathedral. H and John hadn't been there yet, so we were all seeing it for the first time. I liked it better than the one we saw in Wincester. It was a bit smaller and not as detailed.

Later that afternoon we headed to the beach. I have to admit the water was much warmer than it had been the first day. I'm sure that has something to do with the warmer weather we've been having. The tide was up, so shells and fun rocks were not as easy to find.

Through the Downs

On Sunday we headed out to pick up Vickie from Heathrow airport. She's at a conference in Oxford and needed a ride out there. Plus, it was a good way for her to catch up with H and John, too.

Our trip up to Heathrow, we took some A routes which are small, paved, two-lane highways. They go through various villages and towns....so, not like interstate highways. The roads we took cut through an area called the Downs and another called New Forrest. The route was BEAUTIFUL. Many of the roads had a canopy of trees that made me think of Iccabod Crane.

One of the funniest things we kept coming across was the names of various communities...Singleton, Cocking. Other signs were "Humps ahead," "Spread Eagle Hotel," "Cocking Church."

Once we picked up Vickie we headed towards Oxford. We stopped along the way to eat at a traditional English pub to welcome Vickie to the country. It was slightly expensive but very much authentic. I chose the two entree option but asked for my dessert (a variety of cheeses) to be my appetizer, instead. I think I was viewed as weird...but seriously, who has cheese for dessert?! :)

We'll head back to Oxford on Friday to pick her back up so we didn't stay around to see much. We headed on to Wincester, where surprisingly, the cathedral was still open. They also allowed us to take pictures for free. I wanted to stop here because Jane Austen is buried here. The quire is said to be the oldest remaining medieval example in England. Very impressive!!

Today we are having a 'lay-in' to catch up on some sleep before heading to Leeds Castle and Greenwich tomorrow. That should be another long day in the car, but well worth it. Wednesday we're thinking of taking the ferry over to France to see Normandy and Omaha beaches.

Also, in case you are not familiar with blogging, you are free to comment/ask questions on here. All you have to do is click on 'comment' and a page will open up for you to type your post. Click on 'publish post' and you're good to go!

Thanks for reading!

Reunion

On Saturday we headed back up to Droitwich to see Pauline and Hannah. Pauline and her husband let H and John stay with them right before they were to emigrate to the US last time. So, long story short, when I was here last time I stayed with them as well. Pauline's family is just about ready to leave to emigrate to Australia. So, this was a goodbye visit for H and John.

We spent the day in Worcester. We ate at Subway (where they had a reggae chicken sandwich option....do we have this?) for lunch. I was a bit bummed that you couldn't swap your crisps for two cookies. Apparently, you only get one cookie for a bag of crisps. Ugh!

After lunch we did a bit of shopping. I bought some 'Horrible History' books about the British. I think I can use these as a classroom write-off on my taxes as I hope to use them in class....they actually are full of facts from a different perspective from the US.

We also stopped into the Worcester cathedral. It was actually free to visit. Very impressive. If our churches looked more like this, I would definitely need to take a sweater Sunday. A small choir began singing while we were there....it was absoultely beautiful.

After our day we headed to a traditional British pub for 'tea' (dinner). I had a lovely (look I'm sounding British) butternut squash and spinach lasagne! Yum!

We didn't end up getting back until 1:30am. Worcester is about 3 hours away. Today we're off to pick up Vickie from Heathrow and then over to Oxford.

Also, look at this border collie/corgie mix. Isn't he the cutest?!

Thanks for reading!

Pimms....my new best friend

On Friday afternoon, around 2, we headed over to Ciara's house. Ciara teaches with Heather at her new school. Ciara's husband, Gordy, is in the military here in Britain and they live on Thorney Island, which is a military post here in Britain.

It looked at felt very much like a typical BBQ. Adults sitting around drinking, men fiddling around by the grill, kids bouncing up and down on the trampoline. This is where I was introduced to Pimms.

Pimms is an alcohol-based mix that you add another part vodka and then two parts fizzy lemonade (Sprite). The ladies (there were 5) downed at least 3 pitchers of Pimms while snacking on sausages (not Brats) wrapped up in "finger rolls," cheese puffs, fairy cakes (cupcakes), crisps (chips), and wedges (country fries).

After awhile we had to move into a screened tent to protect ourselves from the mossies (mosquitoes) which apparently were an experiment for germ warfare in WWI. They abandoned this attempt but by then, the mosquitoes had quite taken over the island. These freaking bugs are HUGE!

When the Pimms was gone, we tackled Diet Coke. This is when Gordy went out to find something to mix with it. He was talking whiskey at first but fortunately just found some rum (from Barbados) and brandy (30 years old from France). Did I forget to tell you that Gordy is Scottish?! As my 'cousin' he took it upon himself to make sure I became 'one' with my Scottish ancestory.

Let me also mention my experience with the shower. John gave me a quick run-down before I took actually tried it. After climbing in I proceded to turn on the shower. However, I obviously turned the dials the wrong way. For about 5 minutes I stood (out of the spray) with FREEZING cold water shooting from the nozzle. I kept thinking "these crazy Brits take icy showers," and "like hell, if they think I'm getting under there," and "holy hell, I can feel my leg-hairs shooting out!"

Anywho, enough about Friday. By the way, take a look at one of the many messages you can get on your fag box (cigarette box).

Thanks for reading!

Zombie walking

I made it!

The plane ride was relatively uneventful. However, I struggled to get comfortable. About 5 hours into the flight I realized that I normally try to sit in the window seat where my head will then tilt to the right for support. I've just come to realize that is my preferred sleeping side. Don't say I never learn something new each day.

I was excited to see "Drilbit Taylor" and "Run, Fatboy, Run" as my movie choices. I really liked the latter! I think I'm just not really an Owen Wilson fan.

Heather and John met me at the airport where customs was a breeze. The Velveeta cheese made it through with flying colors. It was a bit soft, but it hadn't oozed or anything during the flight. We put it in the fridge when we got back to their house to stiffen it up again.

We hit the road running by doing a drive-by of Arundel Castle. It is a working castle, meaning the Duke of Norfolk still resides there. The highlight of the building is supposed to be its library. Although it has a medieval feel, the surrounding town a mostly Victorian.

After dropping off my luggage at H and John's (pictures to come later), we headed to the sea. Technically, it's the English Channel. The shore line was pretty rocky....they were smooth cobblestone-type rocks. Once you were closer to the water it became sandy. One thing I noticed right away was the mounds of "sand poop" all over the beach. Apparently, lag worms burrow themselves in the sand, eating their way through. These piles are what comes out the other end of these clever creatures. I took a close up picture as well as a picture of just how many are scattered across the beach.

The water is FREEZING and full of seaweed. After snagging a few rocks and shells we headed back so I could sleep a bit before dinner. We headed to Tandorian Nights for curry and nan. We sampled a variety of dishes and argued over who would need to be rolled out.

Tomorrow is the BBQ with Heather's friend from school. It's also H's birthday, so we'll be sure to celebrate all day long!

Thanks for reading!

Preparations II

I can't believe tomorrow's the big day!! I leave Wichita at 10:45am, fly to Dallas, and leave there for Gatwick. I should be getting there on the 24th around 7-something in the morning. Woo hoo!

Today has been a mixture of last minute appointments and errands. I've not started the "actual" packing process yet. I should be getting worried, but I'm aching for a nap.

Things left to do...
1. Pack
2. Find out Heather's address so customs won't be such a headache
3. Check suitcase restrictions
4. Buy a log of Velveeta
5. Hem white pants
6. Find swimsuit
7. Try to make some of volleyball camp
8. Clean the litter box
9. Take out the trash
10. Garage the Smurf
11. Help dad with motor
12. Download new music to MP3 player
13. Charge camera battery

Hmm....maybe a nap won't fit into the itenerary?!

Preparations

Other than a few odds and ins, I'm just about ready to get the "heck out of Dodge" for a few weeks! I'm so ready to get away for awhile, but knowing that school starts as soon as I get back kind of puts a damper on it all. Oh well, I'll just try not to think about it and live in the moment.

For those of you planning your own trip abroad, be warned about how crappy the dollar is right now! I took around $140 to the bank the other day and they gave me a whopping 67 pounds in return. Yeah baby! Good thing I've anticipated this and have been stashing money away for a few months. Sounds like the Euro isn't much better.

It sounds like we may not be attending the wedding. However, Heather assures me that it is legal to "crash" weddings in England....some ancient law or something. If the urge comes our way, we may just pop into someone's wedding, shed a few tears, shake it with the grandparents, and take home a groomsman (that is how the movie went, right?).

Thanks for reading!