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Published: June 21st 2006
The Tower of London
Yay! That's where it is! Any English king or queen who was of any importance was obviously kept here for at least a little bit. Even Elizabeth the first graciously made an appearance here. ;)(For anyone north of the Mason-Dixon line, please note that the aforementioned phrase loosely translates to "May I offer you (singular) a cool refreshment?")
Hi everyone!
After hours of travelling, and waiting in the La Guardia airport for far too long (especially Connie), we made it back to our homes in one piece! Yay! And not a moment too soon, apparently. It turns out that AirTran Airlines (the airline that we were both flying on to go home to Atlanta and Cleveland) switched to a different computer system only today, and that system crashed! So in 50 airports or so around the US, lines are incredibly backed up (with a four hour wait or so). In Atlanta, the line was outside of the airport- that's how bad it is.
Thankfully, Connie and I are back now, and it's hard to believe that we left and experienced such a whirlwind of an adventure! It seems slightly surreal somehow... But nonetheless, we did and have the pictures and memories to prove it. 😊
Before we left to go back to the US, we spent a fabulous weekend in London! The city is such a fantastic, international, and diverse city with
so much history... They also have a fantastic theatre scene that easily rivals NYC in its insane amount of plays and musicals that go on daily. Connie and I decided to take advantage of this great theatre scene the first full day of our trip (Saturday) and saw Agatha Christie's "The Mousetrap" (the longest running play in history - over 20,000 performances and in its 54th year). After our long day of seeing the Tower of London, Trafalgar Square, the National Gallery, St. Paul's Cathedral, Leicester Square, and some other things, it was nice to relax in a theatre and watch the play.
Highlights of London also included:
Getting fantastic Indian food at Eriki's by Swiss Cottage
Furthering our education on the nature of Chavs (ask any Brit- they'll tell you)
The British Museum (holy moly! The best Greek and Egyptian collection that side of the Mediterranean!)
Harrods
Finding cheap, cold, and large soft drinks at Subway (pronounced soob-wai) when it was really hot outside
Minding the Gap
Red Double-decker buses
Beefeaters in the Tower of London who say "luv"
Jan Van Eyck's "A Wedding Portrait"
Watching more of the World Cup and discussing it with local Londoners
My
British Guards
All stoic and whatnot. Although when Connie and I were watching one of them stand guard by the Crown jewels, it looked like his hat was sliding off. We felt bad for him. sister's friend Milena, who spoiled us rotten and gave us ice cream
Ribena
The Thames River
"Patisserie Concerto" -the mixture of French and Italian made me laugh
So we're back in the US now, and I have to say that it feels really odd. Europe was rather eye-opening for the both of us. Connie has mentioned repeatedly that her eyes have been opened regarding international relations and cross-cultural communication. I, on the other hand, have become aware that I'm still a floating nomad that easily fits on both continents. I'm European. I'm American. I'm horribly confused. Not once did I experience any kind of culture shock in Europe (other than in Tuscany-good grief!). In fact, what's funny is that people often stopped me to ask for directions (especially in Paris and London). Throughout the trip, I found myself looking around trying to figure out where I could live and teach as a professor some day.... I still have no earthly (ha!) idea.
The jetlag is finally sinking in, and I should stop writing this blog and run some major errands now. But I wanted to write and say thanks to all who have been reading this thing
Belsize Park
This is where Milena lives! It's soooo pretty here! for the past 5 weeks. Your comments were so welcome during our journey; in the low points of travel, solitude, and the occasional longing for fellow friends and family members, your positive notes truly brightened up our days. Thanks, also, to all of you who put us up in your lovely homes while we were in Europe. Our trip would not have been the same without your kindness and hospitality. The support of students, professors, friends, colleagues, and family made our journey so much better, and your comments, advice, random information on where to get a good deal on pasta, etc., will always be remembered.
And for those of you who will miss the blog when it's done, I hope to visit a new (for me) continent next summer, so maybe I'll do a blog then?
In the meantime, thanks for everything!
Auf Wiedersehen!
Tschüss!
Ciao!
Au revoir!
Annyeonghi kyeseyo (hint, hint)!
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Mike
non-member comment
hehe
Thanks for the translation for us Yankees! It looks like you guys had a great trip... have fun in Rochester next year... make sure to give me your contact info, because I pop in every now and then to visit Justin... oh remind me to also give you his contact info and his family's!!!! KEEP IN TOUCH!!!!!!!!!!!! - MW