Salisbury—a sister city?!?!

Prior to this trip—and more specifically today—I knew little about Stonehenge and/or Salisbury because they didn't often occur in the Brit lit I've read or top the must-see lists suggested to me by other international travelers. It was very cool to see Stonehenge, but unlike many of the other tourists I overheard while there, it wasn't "exactly as I imagined it would be." The scale of the structures, the magnitude of moving and creating them from those huge stones, and the very isolated setting do present an intriguing mystery. Still, I somehow was imagining it much larger than it actually is. Of course, visitors cannot actually enter the stones, so that impacts the perception of scale, and the thought of moving and erecting the formation is astounding considering that our guide said the formation is 5000 years old. Nonetheless, like many other sites we've visited, my pre-imaginings of size have been completely off, but that's turning out to be nothing new. :) I suppose I was thinking it would be this huge acres-wide complex set on a hilltop or something, but misjudging the size/scope does not diminish the impact, especially when driving up. The real surprising find of the day, though, was Salisbury and it's special connection to my own home library and city!!!! (pictures and explanation behind the cut)

I mentioned in my blog profile that I work for a public library and provided a link to our library's blog/website. What neither of those postings explains, though, is that Lakeland is a swan city. By itself, this fact is unique but not apparently relevant to my travels or England at all. However, the Lakeland swans boast a direct English connection as a pair of mute white swans from the Queen's royal flock on the Thames were donated to the city back in 1957 to repopulate after the original flock was gone (read more here). Accordingly, swans are a big deal in Lakeland, particularly around Lake Morton, which also happens to be home to the Lakeland Public Library. My library isn't technically on that lake, nor do we have real swans near us, but the swan love and swan insignia are part of the city identity.

Imagine my surprise, then, to be following our wonderful guide, Hugh, through Salisbury on the way to the cathedral only to discover swans in their little river. There were about 8 or 10 total—I could only capture 8 on film at any given time—but I was immediately reminded of Lakeland. Add to this surprising discovery the realization that the swans in the river were swimming right in front of the Salisbury library—the perfect parallel. I, of course, took tons of pictures because swans sightings are an everyday occurrence at LPL, and then noticed a random little sign just across the bridge from the library and swans the completely sealed the deal. Even though it appears to be some kind of business, there was a "Lakeland" sign literally next door to the library and also facing the same swan river. Unfortunately, the swans were going with the flow of the current and wouldn't hover underneath the Lakeland sign long enough for a photo op, but what an amazing coincidence! I think Lakeland needs to apply for sister city status. :)

Swans at the library!

It's Lakeland in England!

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water, water everywhere

We have a leak! Actually, we counted five separate leaks and there could be more since they're all from one shower upstairs but seem to appear at different spots in our hallway, living room area, and kitchen (especially random in the kitchen). Joanna called down to report our water issues and they sent a person right away, but we haven't yet gotten the final word on what the impact of the upstairs leak will be. Following class this morning, the maintenance person was gone, as was one of our towels and the puddles in our hallway. We haven't received instructions about not using showers or anything, though, so our water problems here appear to be fixed.

On the other hand, I learned a sad lesson today also ironically involving water. In an effort to pack light for a day of walking--Westminister Abbey tour--and then standing in the London Eye for a ride, I thought I'd save space by not taking any water/drink with me. Bad idea, even in London's comparatively balmier weather. I did get some water at lunch (an interesting experience in and of itself because we had a slightly harried/abrupt waitress), but that didn't last long, and it was sort of a sad taunt to be riding the London Eye over the Thames River and be really dehydrated, especially since we had an overabundance of water in our flat this morning. On the plus side, though, dinner remedied the situation and I know without a doubt that a water bottle is on my must-pack list for the rest of this trip, no matter what the daily activity. :)

We got some incredible pictures of Westminister Abbey and the surrounding areas this afternoon, and the London Eye provided some unique perspective on the London cityscape in general. Peep managed to make a few appearances as well and meet the other mascots. I've included more pictures behind the cut of today's adventures (amazing buildings) and just a little more about Westminister Abbey.

Peep riding the London Eye and enjoying the view of Parliament and Westminister Abbey

A shot from inside the cloisters at Westminister Abbey

Amazing architecture!

This was taken as we approached 10 Downing Street

The guard! (It was toasty, so they were probably both really hot)

A view of all the sights in relative proximity/relation to one and other

An aerial shot of the Parliament buildings and clock tower from the London Eye

Peep perched outside Westminister Abbey waiting for our tour

Westminister Abbey

I closed with the Westminister Abbey picture because I absolutely loved that tour, even though the whole crypt aspect of the church is a little unusual. Still, it was facinating to see the tombs/markers for Tudor kings and queens and some of my favorite authors and musicians (Chaucer, R. Vaughn Williams, etc). Even though it's just a memoriam, it was also cool to see markers for Lewis Carroll and Jane Austen, but sadly, no pictures inside the Abbey means I can only tell, not show the experience. :)


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Peep meets London

We took our super coach tour this morning and it was worth getting up early. :) Our Blue Badge guide, Hugh, was very nice and gave us a ton of information, as well as some photo ops. We ended up circling around London Bridge at one point, which meant I had the chance with Peep in tow to take more pictures in London (i.e. facing the Tower) and see the sights in central London. We even got to see the changing of the guard and Buckingham Palace, two quintessentially touristy things that were still fun. Our afternoon plans didn't go as well, mostly because advance booking for tickets is very much a must around here. Still, it was neat to tour more of London than our immediate neighborhoods and then walk Leicester Square for some postcards/souvenirs. Check out some highlights of Peep's tour behind the cut as well as the fun conclusion to our afternoon of free time.

Peep at St. Paul's, very impressed by the sheer size of the cathedral

A Tower Bridge photo op by the Thames

Peep at the Palace!

After our bus tour, Peep took a break at the flat while we made lunch and tried to decide what to do. We unfortunately discovered that you must call well in advance for tickets to just about anything and thus, our hopes of catching some of the nearby shows (except We Will Rock You) were dashed. Literally, we kept discovering things to do about fifteen minutes too late, which was a little sad since some of them sounded fun and were free. In the end, we decided to tour Covent Gardens, which included a trip to the market and lots of window shopping and strolling. It was late enough on a Sunday afternoon/evening that everything was closed, and thanks to our indecisiveness and more timing issues, we ended up walking all the way back to the study centre before finding food.

During our search for theatre options, we came across multiple listings for performances at the Globe--one of my must-see options while in London (thanks to that English undergrad background)--but of course, they want two weeks' notice on bookings, which essentially precludes attending an actual performance at the Globe itself. As a consolation prize, we found a little pub called The Globe, but it was closing as we arrived; literally, they turned off the lights while we were looking at the menu posted outside. More sad times. Oddly enough, the little restaurant we finally found for dinner accepted American dollars and Euros, though, so in case we run out of English currency at the end of our time in London, we know where to go for an inexpensive meal. :)


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Tours and the Tower

It was another day of firsts for me, from a Blue Badge Tour to riding the tube (an experience in and of itself) to my first authentic fish and chips. :) We started out the morning with a neighborhood tour by a Blue Badge guide who was very informative and entertaining. He provided a lot of background detail about the cultural and historical context of the neighborhood and some of its famous residents, which is always interesting to hear. After a lunch in the flat, we had some free time of our own in which we could go to a scavenger hunt in the area or choose our own afternoon plans. I opted to visit the Tower of London with Robin—one of my places of interest that wasn't a class destination—and thus got to experience riding the underground.... (... = read more, especially if you want to see some Tower pictures!)

The experience actually wasn't bad, although I admit I expected the trains to be larger somehow; they seemed small compared to what I was expecting, but it was fine. We had to cross over once to another line, but made it to London Bridge, crossed the bridge, and got to walk for about ten minutes to get to the Tower grounds. That Tower of London is one massive complex! While the tube seemed small to me, the Tower grounds are huge! It's like a massive fortress complex when I was expecting something much smaller and with fewer buildings.

Given the time of day for our departure in the afternoon, I didn't have a lot of time to linger if I wanted to make it back for the group dinner at the pub, so we didn't get a chance to go on the guided tour. We did, however, get a chance to take lots of pictures, see the Crown Jewels (interesting with that moving platform), and get a couple of snapshots of the ravens and a trebuchet for SEMA. I made it back in time to join the group dinner at Marlborough Arms, which was a really nice little pub and my first experience with fish and chips; my cranberry juice even came with ice (shock shock), so it was a day of surprises all around. It was really nice to get to meet everyone and have a group dinner. Tomorrow morning's itinerary takes us on a tour of London via coach—we're branching out from Bloomsbury—but the afternoon is largely free after a flat meeting, so we'll see what exciting and interesting plans come about.

I won't be posting a slideshow everyday, but I liked these pictures and it was a really neat place to see, so I included a short slideshow of pictures from my tour of the Tower of London. :)

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A tour of the flat

From security meetings and morning orientation to an informal walking tour of Bloomsbury, we covered a lot of ground today and had some fun. Thanks to my cell phone finally working, I didn't have to go buy one this afternoon, but my flatmates and I did make a trip to the local grocery store to pick up supplies. I created a slideshow introduction to our flat, which is posted below. :)

I also added a mini slideshow in the side column of random London pictures I've taken thus far. I'll keep adding new ones as they come, but for now, the mini show includes shots from today's informal tour of Bloomsbury...


To explain the flat 10 slideshow a little, my flatmates are Myra (left in the roommate picture) and Joanna (center). Both are in the Project LEAD program at FSU. While I didn't get a picture of our tiny bathrooms (at least there are two), there is one picture of Myra trying to figure out our confusing shower faucets, one of which seems to love extremes of scalding and freezing. Our living area has three separate loveseat/sofas that face the two unplugged refridgerators and tv. The two front windows overlook Great Russell Street and the Trade Union Congress building, where the statue (pictured in the slideshow) is displayed. We got to cook in our kitchen tonight and had some initial troubles with the hob (aka stove), but everything worked out in the end and we had a nice pasta dinner. Tomorrow promises two more tour experiences of the Bloomsbury area, which is thus far lovely and a little eclectic (we're currently listening to a concert somewhere up the street through our open windows).
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A festive first day

Thanks to a rather unusual takeoff, I for once basically forgot all about the Magee poem quote and instead focused on keeping a suspicious liquid from dripping down and back on my head and seat for the entire ascent. Thankfully, I was seated by a nice passenger from Wales who volunteered her plastic emergency information card to help shield the woman in front of me while I got to use my Virgin airlines issue plastic-wrapped blanket to keep the drips off. The plus side of the whole incident was that it prompted the people in the row in front of us to move, meaning that no one reclined back in those seats for the entire eight hour flight. :) We also got extra pillows and blankets to use since our originals were destroyed by the "condensation." Still, it set the tone for an interesting trip abroad, which did not abate once we finally arrived at Gatwick (after losing a fifteen minute headstart from Orlando and tacking on an extra twenty before landing). From lengthy waits in passport lines to cell phone issues, it was a festive first day to say the least...

Actually, the unusual and/or unexpected kept happening so often that festive really became a word of the day in general. Nonetheless, we arrived safely, still managed to meet up with the FSU coach (bus) despite our delays, and endeed up walking around a good bit of Bloomsbury and even into Camden. The city is vastly huger than I ever imagined, but interesting, although I could see how people can get lost easily. The flat I'm staying in has two bathrooms (always a plus for three people) and oddly enough, three refridgerators, only one of which works (the one in the kitchen), while the other two provide unique if non-functional decor in the TV/common room. Since the flat is a fourth floor walk-up (no lift), I'm also guaranteed some exercise along the way, but one of the tradeoffs for fifty-nine winding, narrowing stairs is that our room has a view of sorts and a big window. :) It's different, but good, and now that the phone problems are finally fixed, it's enjoyable too. I'm looking forward to seeing more of the city in the coming days, but first we start tomorrow with some informational meetings and a walking tour. :)

Peep tries to relax only to discover he packed the wrong slippers

Hanging out in the flat by the big window in our room (note the view) :)

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And we're off...

Okay, not literally. The flight doesn't leave for several more hours, but all of my packing is done and now that I got a haircut (yay), I'm ready to go. :) Here's hoping I packed everything but not too much...

Every time I fly, I'm always reminded of one trip I made with my sister from Memphis, TN to Orlando. On that leg of our journey, the captain was pretty cheesy with singing, jokes, and quotes as we waited to take off and then throughout the flight. He kept quoting (repeating) one poem in particular by John Gillespie Magee, Jr. that unfortunately, thanks to his continuous repetition, now always comes to mind whenever I fly anywhere. So, to borrow from Mr. Magee's "High Flight," in a couple of hours, we will have "slipped the surly bonds of earth and danced the skies on laughter-silvered wings..."It's still very unreal to me, but today begins my trip of a lifetime. :)
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Getting ready with Peep

It's still very unreal to me that we actually leave tomorrow evening—less than 24 hours from now—for England. Nonetheless, my belated packing is virtually done thanks to some extra help, and I think I'm ready to go. I took a few pictures (behind the cut) of the final packing process and Peep's contribution to getting ready for London. :)

Peep surveys a small assortment of random supplies to be packed

To help identify my potentially generic luggage, Peep suggests a fetching ribbon color

Ready to go...

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The packing begins!

With a whole two days to go before my flight to London, my packing fun has finally begun, thanks largely to some help from my sister while she was visiting FL this past week/weekend. It's amazing how much there is to do, particularly the little last-minute details that seem to keep multiplying...

I think most of my to-dos are actually done, like finding my walking shoe options and finally getting a (temporary) international plan for my cell phone. Still, it feels unreal that I'll be leaving the country in two days, and I'm glad it won't be a solo flight for me since it's a super long one. Robin, a friend of mine from middle school onward, will be flying with me to England and will be in London while my FSU program is there. I'm sure we'll have several packing and departure-related pictures to post in the near future too, but as of now, Peep (who still needs a final name) and most of the rest of my supplies await packing.
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One week and counting

The countdown has officially begun until our departure next week! (It's hard to believe it's already the middle of June and the LN85 program will start in London basically a week from now.) We had our second online class meeting this last Monday night and now I've got to start gathering up all of the miscellaneous supplies I've been collecting for several weeks now. The packing definitely has not yet begun, but at least more of my random to-dos are getting done, including finally posting a pseudo profile for this blog and planning the trip free time...

My must-see destinations list has honed more to a likely four destinations in England, and I have actual tentative plans for the free weekend, which is a nice change.

Destinations (in no particular order):
1. Canterbury—there's a really cute B&B in Canterbury with "beamy" rooms, but I'm thinking any trip there would be short-term
2. Chagford—a more unusual choice, but it also has a really cute, very old (16th century) B&B and ancestor appeal
3. Hampshire—the JA places (Winchester Cathedral and Chawton Cottage) would be neat to see, although again, likely a day trip
4. Hadrian's Wall—this is the odd/nerdy choice, I know, but interesting from the historical angle

None of those plans are official yet, although logically, the Hampshire and Chagford pair together since they're en route. Otherwise, I found a really cute kite to take (a class requirement), and I've gotten a lot of helpful hints from others about what to bring/not to bring along with me. Poor Peep still has no name, but perhaps I'll get inspired (or someone else will suggest one). :)
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And the winner is...

I now officially have a cute, highly portable photo mascot for my trip! (Look behind the cut for pics of my new traveling companion.)

To make sure there weren't any kind of trademark or copyright infringement issues with taking along a recognizable character/item as a photo mascot, I sent out some email inquiries. This afternoon, I heard back from the contact lady, so now I can go to London with my peeps. :)

It's Peep! (He needs a better name, but I haven't come up with one yet.)

Here, Peep gets the good news via email clearance that he's going to London.

(As an added bonus, my shoes just came too, so at least one of my orders is no longer lost in Amazon!) :)

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Lost in Amazon

I ordered all of the textbooks for this program several months ago, and within a week, three of the four arrived. The fourth, however, was supposedly temporarily backordered, but came with the promise via email that it would be shipped shortly. Fastforward two months and still, my book is lost somewhere at Amazon, only now, they're also holding out on the shoes I ordered too. (I know, most people prefer Zappos for ordering shoes online, but Amazon was less expensive in this case.) My shoe hunt would be at least half over if the shoes would actually arrive—I wanted them to come early for some pre-trip testing and brekaing in—but who knows when that will happen.

On the plus side, though...I have actually made some progress in my trip preparations. None of the plans are finalized for my free weekend while in England, but I have sent out some email inquiries—"enquiries" according to the B&B websites—about availabilities, so hopefully there will be some good news to report on that front soon. I still haven't decided what if any mascot to take on my journey either, but given the fun times I've had recently working on assignments for my non-LN85 summer course, the mascot and freetime planning haven't been priorities. With just over two weeks until we leave, though, I'm running out of time with my procrastination planning. :)

My short(er) list of freetime destinations is as follows (in no particular order):
1. Chagford in Devon
2. Canterbury (and possibly Dover)
3. Stratford-upon-Avon——How can I go to England as an English major and not visit the Bard's house?)
4. Hadrian's Wall——Another kind of nerdy choice, I know, but unique in its own way too

I have no real ideas for my free day in France; some other group members had talked about going to Mont Saint-Michel, but it's not a definite thing yet. If they do end up going, I think I'd like to go along. The appeal might be lost on some, but as perhaps only my sister can attest, it would be neat to see the "Abbey on a Rock." :)

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The start of June, the start of classes

Technically, it's still another three weeks or so until we'll be in London, but the start of June also ushered in the start of summer classes. Monday night was the first official online meeting of the LN85 summer program participants, and it was nice to be able to meet the group, even if the meeting aspect was limited to brief self-introductions online. It's both a little scary and exciting to think that in just a few weeks, we'll all be meeting in person in England and living--at least temporarily--in London.

In the meantime, though, assignment due dates and work at the "e" make it seem like any other semester of school on a day-to-day basis. My fun planning continues, especially trying to determine where to go/what to see on my free weekend there. I think my want-to-see list is much longer than the free time we will have, but at least the class destinations while in London cover a lot of must-sees there. However, there are still oodles of details to take care of, and, of course, the shoe hunt continues...

Also, I'm debating whether to take a mascot of sorts—some kind of emblem or item to chronicle through pictures during my trip. Having a 'mascot' is optional, of course, but provides a cohesive element for the photobook we each will be creating at the end of the program. I had trouble coming up with a prospective item to serve as a mascot, mostly because I don't know if there are any trademark issues if I were to select a recognizable character. I'd thought of a taking a stuffed Peep, but that fits in with the trademark questions. Any suggestions are welcome. :)
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