The Late Game and London

Ahhhh...*YAWN*...sleepy..."Jen?...Jen? lsudoliwuoie lokjlsi osiolieruowieur oijolsiejflkjl". I thought for sure I was dreaming in another language. But, wait, I wasn't dreaming at all, I was too tired...too tired..."Jen!" Jenny is waking me suddenly. Where am I? Why is she talking so fast? You WHAT????? DIDN'T HEAR THE ALARM????

The plan was to leave the apartment at 5:45 AM to catch the 6:00 AM bus to London. This would give me my first glimpse of London before having to catch our plane to Poland that same day.

Well, Jenny woke up at 5:30 AM instead of 4:30...she had stayed up even later than I to finish some work prior to leaving. We had 15 minutes for the two of us to finish packing, look presentable, and arrive at the bus station in time to board! She showered and miraculously so did I, threw the rest of my things in a bag and off we went. I do not know how we ever made it, thankfully Justyn was waiting downstairs for us so we hopped in the car...if I remember correctly...at about 5:53 AM, wet hair and all. I can't remember ever being that tired before.

And so continued The Late Game...

I received my first glance of the town of Cardiff. It went whizzing past and I didn't even know where my camera was at that point! Somehow we arrived at the bus station and thankfully, there was a passenger that had lost their receipt, so we boarded the bus, out of breath and just happy to be there, at 6:02.

I vaguely remember the bus driver getting a wee bit upset about something, but I couldn't understand him! Jenny said his accent was Welsh and that was why I couldn't catch onto it well.

After sleeping the entire bus trip (new experience!), when I woke up, my tired eyes rested on the new landscape of a different place. London, indeed! I shook off the sleep and started trying to absorb it all. The different bricks. The lower skyline. The traffic of the big city. The rain - start, stop, start, stop.

We had a couple of hours to kill until the bus left for Stanstead airport. So, Jenny whisked me off to see some sights in London. Any idea what is peeking in the background of my first picture in London? (Hint: Might have something to do with the Late Game!...)

And onto Cardiff By the Sea...

This entry is titled as such in honor of Ian..."Cardiff by the Sea" was one of the first songs he learned to play this past year on his trombone, and he would think of Jenny each time!

Here was the first castle sighting, just outside of Cardiff. By then my eyes were actually closing on their own, but stayed open to snap a few more shots!

We drove by the Aston Martin dealership, here you have the fiery red version!

Finally we pulled into Jenny's neighborhood. Justyn helped us carry our bags upstairs and I tried to become very small in her tiny apartment. And I was very cold. It probably wasn't very cold temperature-wise, but sometimes when you travel your body tries hard to adjust quickly - and when it's jet-lagged it doesn't always do the best job. I threw on the one sweater I brought and tried to get organized.

We took a quick run down to the local grocery and grabbed some simplicities for dinner, along with some snacks for our pending early morning journey to the bus station. I stayed up to repack - I was only going to be able to take a carry-on size suitcase for the rest of the trip - so I laid it all out on her floor and used my best judgement what should stay and what should go. I was going to wait until morning since I was soooo tired...all I can tell you is that old adage - NEVER put off tomorrow what you can do today! I finally closed my eyes at 1 am after being mostly satisfied with my smaller suitcase, packed and ready.

And that completes my first day abroad.

Tintern Abby in pictures

Of course, we had to dodge raindrops. Come on Jen, it is England, ooops I mean Wales, after all!
I realized very quickly I didn't understand a word of Welsh, and it wouldn't be easy to figure out on my own...wow, didn't expect that! The words don't even match up!
The mass (and the mess) of the Ruins left by King Henry VIII.
From inside, where the cathedral would have been.
I became an archway fanatic on this trip. Some like castles, monuments...for me, it was arches.
WAIT! They are RESTORING the RUINS?? Does anyone else find this STRANGE??!!

Tintern Abby

And so the trip continued. From Bath, they took me to the ruins of Tintern Abby (left). This is a giant monastery on the edge of Wales.

Is Wales a country? I never got a perfectly straight answer. You don't have to use a passport from England to Wales. It's all part of either the United Kingdom or Great Britain. Either way, I think it was it's own country. I mean after all, Prince Charles is prince of this region, state, area, country, province...

Anyway, this would have been an incredible sight in its day, had King Henry VIII not gotten so upset. Turns out he ruined a bunch of really cool places, which remain in their state so tourists can pay to walk around and imagine what it must have really been like, and then buy a souvenir to prove they were there.

Me, I just took pictures.

Justyn

Justyn Regini. You have heard me mention that he picked us up at the airport in Bristol and that he laughs at my Americanisms. Justyn is a lecturer at the University of Cardiff (a Ph. D), in structural biophysics. This is where Jenny is doing her research for the Fullbright Scholarship.

He decided long ago to become Jenny's friend. Like she is doing, he spent time out of the country to enhance his research and try something new, incidentally at the University of Virgina. He didn't seem to particularly enjoy his short USA stay, and so is doing everything he can to help make my friend feel at home.

We really appreciated his driving us around, and helping us experience areas of England through a native's perspective. Although appearing quite serious, he is a fun fellow who is full of historical bits of knowledge. He is also a bit sentimental and was sharing with me that this was a place he used to come as a lad and enjoyed the waterhole.

After this day I wasn't sure I would be seeing Justyn again. I guess you will have to read on to find out if that is true or not.

Thanks to Justyn for helping me experience England, participating in the Late Game (still to come!) and for taking care of my good friend, Jenny!

A sign of proper English...

Need I say anymore? "Give way, you bloody American, Give WAY!!!!"
LOL!!!!! I thought this was absolutely hilarious, and Justyn just didn't understand why it made me laugh out loud!

And the rest of Bath

The massive church in Bath.
Pulteney Bridge, built in 1769.
Marimba players in the plaza.
The gorgeous architecture of the church in Bath...and blue sky!

Pictures to tell the story...

The "secret garden" at the Royal Crescent Hotel...

Ahhhhh!!! An English black cat is crossing our path!!!

A sneak peek inside the Royal Crescent Hotel...

On a street in Bath, in between raindrops...



Outside the Roman Bath...

Bath, England

Bummer!!!! My entire posting from last night was lost in a computer freeze-up. So, I will begin again...

After the road to Bath was completed, we visited, well...the town of Bath. We started at the Royal Crescent. Now any of you who know me, knows that I am just not a history buff. I try really hard to remember the important things...like what I had for dinner last night. Since I haven't been too successful with that, bear with me as I tell the tale of where we went and what we did. You history buffs out there (and you know who you are!), and those with time to surf the 'net, feel free to fill in the gaps with your comments!

So, back to the Royal Crescent. This building was amazing, and probably the best crescent I have ever seen (minus Pillsbury, that is!). There were some 5 star hotels inside of it, and I am not sure what else. It began to rain big drops, so we took big steps as we started our town tour. Note that we snuck into the "Royal Crescent Hotel", visited the garden in their courtyard...and alas, a black cat crossed our path. You also know that I am not superstitious, but I have added this in there for my mother, who is no doubt shaking her head, saying "tsk", and wondering what calamity is going to happen to me next.

Afterward, I, being on USA time, was hungry. I had my first and last English pub lunch, which in fact was pretty good, considering I had been warned that English food is generally bland and boring. Tasted pretty good to me! Justyn decides he is on a diet and doesn't eat, and Jenny pretends she is not hungry but manages a few snacks. I am happy with my full plate.

Tummy full and raindrops suspended for a moment, we ventured into the street. Jenny had to stop me from crossing. So ingrained to look for traffic the opposite direction! This was the first "grab my arm" scene!

We then experienced a bridge and waterway on the edge of town, and strolled past the Roman Bath, of which I got a picture postcard, and a few shots of the outside. We checked out a few shops and listened to the marimba players in between rain and sun. A church loomed over the plaza and its grand architecture really caught my attention in the sunlight stream.

And that, was Bath, England.

Since we were about 2 hours from Cardiff and Jenny's apartment at that point, we headed back. I had a couple of surprise stops along the way...stay tuned!

A lovely bit on the road to Bath, England

A typical landscape shot on the backroads in England. Note the pavement is wet but the sun is shining. Remind you of any other climate we are familiar with??

But the bushes and trees are so OLD!

Bristol Airport

Arriving at the Bristol Airport.

Two girls proving to the world they can fight the jet lag...and the looming clouds following not far behind!

Bristol - Jet Lag - The Road to Bath - and...The Late Game

Ahhhh, finally...the vacation begins!

Well, after a week of practically working myself to death, vacation time had arrived. This seems so very long ago now, May 22nd, to be exact!

I did TRY to pack early and efficiently (yes, early for me is the day before as opposed to the morning of!). The last few days in the States was a flurry of booking European flights, trying to reach my travel buddy Jenny to collaborate, working to prepare everything while I was gone, and spend a few choice minutes with the kiddo's! Needless to say, when Mom dropped me at the airport, I was exhausted...and, for the first time since I can remember, without a cell phone! Yikes! What would I do! I reached for it every 5 minutes until I convinced myself, well, even though I might need it (and I did need it right THEN!) I didn't HAVE it. Tough luck.

As my life goes on a regular basis, my flight to Newark was delayed. And delayed, and delayed some more. But I was on vacation, no worries! WAIT! I HAD A CONNECTION TO MAKE! And so began the game of running to catch the next mode of transportation - now I fondly refer to this as... The Late Game!

I was to meet Jenny in the Newark airport. She was flying from Rochester and we were flying from there to Bristol together - time to catch up with each other and just talk adult girl talk! We would have plenty of time to relax. RIGHT! I arrived in Newark with barely enough time to run to my gate! Jenny had just arrived late on her flight also and we spent a precious few minutes on last-minute phone calls, reorganizing bags, and taking pictures - the first of MANY to come!

The trip to Bristol was easy - we caught up on life (Jenny's Boston Marathon (woo-HOO), my kids, work, stuff, you know!) and then we caught some much needed sleep - no movies necessary! We landed at 10 AM local time - the flight was only about 6 1/2 hours - and I got to see England from the air - a lush beauty of green and rolling hills.

Jenny's colleague Justyn was there to pick us up, which was wonderful as I adjusted to riding on the opposite side of the car - and the road! Strangely, it seemed very normal for a while. Until we had to make a major turn. WHOA BABY. Then, it was fine until I started to question the logic. Justyn told me a story about the reasoning - due to jousting back in the day. Hmmm. Still doesn't satisfy my logical mind, how could the rest of the world have gone mad?

On the road to Bath and the day couldn't decide if it was going to be rainy or not. I fought the jet lag as much as I possibly could. My eyes would droop and I would pinch myself to stay awake! The rain and windshield wiper rhythm about put me out for good! But I was excited to breathe "new air" - experience a different world - but I just couldn't get over the bushes that were so tall and beautiful and flanking all of the roads (back roads, that is...). I really was so focused on them and trying to figure out how to accomplish this back home - maybe I could become the next Johnny Appleseed...daydreaming this, Justyn interrupted and told me that once, these hills were so full of trees that squirrels never had to set foot on the ground, there had been so many trees here...WAIT, that is something I heard in 6th grade about Ohio! How they could come from NYC all the way down to the Ohio Valley and never touch the ground! Strange the similarities, humph. I don't WANT similarities! I am overseas! Abroad! AWAY from HOME!!!

So then, we found parking in Bath and the pictures - the adventure - and, The Late Game were to begin!!!

Stepping back into reality!

Okay, okay...so I have been gone a little while!

I am back! And here to update you, I hope you haven't given up on me!

So much has happened and I never even got to post photos from the baseball and softball games. Megan's regular games are over; her tournaments are this weekend. She had a wonderful season playing at first base. Next year she advances to the 9-10 year-olds, I think she will be ready to play some serious softball!

Ian has had a great few games this week - he has finally found his comfort stance for hitting and it is working - he has hit consistently each time at bat. He had a great catch at his game on Tuesday...he landed on his knees in the outfield, ball in glove! He has a tournament this weekend, a couple of double headers coming up - then another tournament and the season for 2006 will be over.

My nephew, Aaron, graduated high school this year. He will be attending college in the fall at Mount Vernon Nazarene college. I am so proud of him! I came home in time to enjoy the party and the presence of all my sisters and my mom. The most productive thing that happened was that we finally figured out 3-way calling on Verizon..(*Good luck*)! Seriously, we got to see a lot of great people from our lives - neighbors and friends from when we were growing up. It was like a reunion!

Additionally, our neighbors from across the street moved away - their daughter and Megan were such great friends...we watched them grow from babies to the beautiful young ladies they are today...they have moved to Kansas city to take a new job.

Next posting - Europe and travel and all that good stuff...stay tuned!