Here is a slideshow with pictures from the trip! They all have captions so it should somewhat explain what the weekend was like.
Tuesday, June 28, 2011
Monday, June 27, 2011
Behing the scenes at the airport...
I have gotten to have so many adventures while in London. One of the funnest adventures definately has been getting to go behind the scenes at the airport. Twice as a part of my internship I have gotten to go to the airport for a "walk a mile," which is pretty much an inside look at how an airport is run.I was able to go into the premier passenger lounges. They showed me into the kitchen (where they were making some desert that smelled really good.) I also saw inside the "maid" workroom where they take the remove the suits from the door panel while people are showering and press them. I also went behing the checkin counters and into the security area. It was really cool to have an airside pass and be allowed into all of the different areas.
The funnest part was getting to actually go down onto the runway. I went down into the ramp workers rest area. There were lots of rough and tumble guys but they were all very sweet and friendly to me. One man took me out into the tug (one of those funny looking car things you see driving around on the tarmac).
We rode all over the airport and onto the runway. He told me all about the airport terminology and what all of the signs meant. We also listened to the control tower and called into them when we drove onto the runway. It was cool to learn the jargon and then listen to the pilots call into the tower before they took off and know what they were talking about and what they were about to do. I was even able to go inside one of the AA planes that was at the holding stall. We sat in the cockpit and the guy explained to me where the brake was, how the power worked, and what all of the controls meant.
After that the ramp crew took me out to load the bags onto the plane. I got to put a couple of suitcases onto the ramp and joke around with the workers while they did the rest of the work. The plane was full of people and it was so weird to think that I was one of those people that you can see out of the plane window standing on the tarmac. Then I rode in the tug while we pushed the plane with all of the passengers in it away from the gate and into position to taxi to the runway.
The whole thing was definately a once in a lifetime experience that I never thought I would get to have!
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
Cookie Dough...
So its true, the food here is a little bland. A lady a worked with was talking to me about how the food in America is so much sweeter and salter...and I was thinking and boy is it good! As a result I have eaten more Italian food here than I think I have eaten in my entire life!
The grocery stores are surprisingly different! We have sooooo much more food and sooo much more variely thant they have in England.Even the food that is the same brand as we have at home tastes different. For example, here the Ritz crackers and more dense, not a crispy and have no salt on them! Its crazy!
One things it is impossible to find is cheese dip. Trust me, we have looked at every mexican and latin resteraunt!
Secondly, they don't seem to sell pre-made, packaged cookie dough! It does not exist!! We have asked all the people at Tesco and they have never heard of it. We found an italian resteraunt that had a cookie dough desert it in Oxford and got so excited. We ordered it and they told us they were all out. We saw the same resteraunt in Edinburgh and asked for it and they were out too! So, Monday when we went to Victoria station and saw the resteraunt again we decided to try one last time...and they had just the right number left for the three of us! We were so excited about the cookie dough that the waiter thought we were kind of odd.
Lesson: Bring your own cookie dough, ritz crackers, and cheese dip to London!
The grocery stores are surprisingly different! We have sooooo much more food and sooo much more variely thant they have in England.Even the food that is the same brand as we have at home tastes different. For example, here the Ritz crackers and more dense, not a crispy and have no salt on them! Its crazy!
One things it is impossible to find is cheese dip. Trust me, we have looked at every mexican and latin resteraunt!
Secondly, they don't seem to sell pre-made, packaged cookie dough! It does not exist!! We have asked all the people at Tesco and they have never heard of it. We found an italian resteraunt that had a cookie dough desert it in Oxford and got so excited. We ordered it and they told us they were all out. We saw the same resteraunt in Edinburgh and asked for it and they were out too! So, Monday when we went to Victoria station and saw the resteraunt again we decided to try one last time...and they had just the right number left for the three of us! We were so excited about the cookie dough that the waiter thought we were kind of odd.
Doesn't it look yummy!
Oh, Edinburgh...
I LOVE Edinburgh! This past weekend was my second time to go and I loved it just as much as the first. I went probably six or seven years ago with my family. It was really fun to pass places and remember going there with Mom, Dad, Anna, and Lauren. We went with our wonderful little travel group and John and Colin.
We had a beautiful ride to Edinburgh on the train and passed all of the countryside and the water (which Morgan thought was a lake, I told her was the Ocean, and the lady next to me corrected us and told us the North Sea...oops!) I loved being still to sleep, read, and look out the window. We stayed in ta perfect location, really near the train station and right off the Royal Mile. It was probably one of the nicest hostels I have ever seen (although I really haven't seen very many I guess!).
We wandered around the shops on the Royal Mile, listened to the bag pipes, and saw all of the wool and cashmere. I remembered that there were gardens near by to we headed that way and ended up walking on a path through a field next to the Castle. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!!
Seeing all of the fields and the wonderful sun made my heart happy! I love walking around beautiful countryside like this SO much!
Because we had so much fun in the Princess Gardens we decided to walk to the Botanical Gardens...boy did we not know what we were getting ourselves into!!! Some people we met in the Park told us everyone knew where it was and could give us directions. We figured in that case it would be really close and easy to get to. After for walking around for a while in the direction we assumed we were supposed to go (the Botanics were off of our map so that wasn't very helpful), we stopped and asked a mail man how to get there. He told us to take a few turns and we'd be there, and then rolled down his window when he drove by to make sure we knew which turn to take. After another 20 minutes of walking, no gardens. A sweet old man saw us looking lost and came over to help us, telling us to go down the windy windy bridge and take a few turns. After that we still weren't there! By that point the weather had changed it started to rain.
We finally saw a sign pointing to the gardens. But now it was poring rain and we had come to a bus stop and decided it would be better to take the bus back than walk around the gardens and then walk an hour back in the rain. Sadly, we never made it to the gardens, but we had quite an adventure getting there!
That night we ate at the most wonderful restaurant ever, Monteiths!!! It was so nice and quaint and had great food! We loved it so much that we decided to make reservations and bring the guys back the next night.
Saturday was a very grey and raining day...not to mention freezing cold. After breakfast we decided to go tour the the Endiburgh Castle...bad idea! We waited in the rain to get a ticket for thirty minutes. Once we got inside the wind was blowing so hard we thought we were going to freeze. The castle and views are great on a sunny day, but there is not much of a change to see stuff inside the castle building away from the rain. After this we decided to take our sightseeing inside and go on the Scotch whisky tour. They told us all about the whisky from the different regions of Scotland and we got to smell the differences in them. The places was cool but I think whisky is nasty!!!
That night we went to the bank bar pub to celebrate Colin's 21st bday. They had a guitarist and we was playing all sorts of songs we would have at a band party! The second song he played was Brown Eyed Girl. Of course we loved and it all sang. After that a man came over and said that was his and his wife's song from 1970's and he couldn't believe we knew it...he thought it was so great that he bought all six of us a round. Turned out he was from Atlanta and had come over to play golf. Colin brought the place to life by trying to get literally EVERYONE in the pub to dance! It was so much fun to dance! We also met four older Scottish people who we talked to a lot that night! They were hilarious and dancing with all of us (while playing matchmaker with Liz)! haha such a fun night and wonderful memories!
Sunday we climbed Arthur's Seat. Again, I LOVED it! Beautiful views! John had bought a mini bagpipe and played it for us on the hill lol! Kaz, one of Colin's friends from UVA who is from Edinburgh invited us to her house for lunch. We had so much fun hanging out with her and her sister, and friend and the food was to die for!
That's the end of my long and wonderful weekend and back to London on the train I went!
We had a beautiful ride to Edinburgh on the train and passed all of the countryside and the water (which Morgan thought was a lake, I told her was the Ocean, and the lady next to me corrected us and told us the North Sea...oops!) I loved being still to sleep, read, and look out the window. We stayed in ta perfect location, really near the train station and right off the Royal Mile. It was probably one of the nicest hostels I have ever seen (although I really haven't seen very many I guess!).
We wandered around the shops on the Royal Mile, listened to the bag pipes, and saw all of the wool and cashmere. I remembered that there were gardens near by to we headed that way and ended up walking on a path through a field next to the Castle. It was a BEAUTIFUL day!!
Seeing all of the fields and the wonderful sun made my heart happy! I love walking around beautiful countryside like this SO much!
Because we had so much fun in the Princess Gardens we decided to walk to the Botanical Gardens...boy did we not know what we were getting ourselves into!!! Some people we met in the Park told us everyone knew where it was and could give us directions. We figured in that case it would be really close and easy to get to. After for walking around for a while in the direction we assumed we were supposed to go (the Botanics were off of our map so that wasn't very helpful), we stopped and asked a mail man how to get there. He told us to take a few turns and we'd be there, and then rolled down his window when he drove by to make sure we knew which turn to take. After another 20 minutes of walking, no gardens. A sweet old man saw us looking lost and came over to help us, telling us to go down the windy windy bridge and take a few turns. After that we still weren't there! By that point the weather had changed it started to rain.
We finally saw a sign pointing to the gardens. But now it was poring rain and we had come to a bus stop and decided it would be better to take the bus back than walk around the gardens and then walk an hour back in the rain. Sadly, we never made it to the gardens, but we had quite an adventure getting there!
That night we ate at the most wonderful restaurant ever, Monteiths!!! It was so nice and quaint and had great food! We loved it so much that we decided to make reservations and bring the guys back the next night.
Saturday was a very grey and raining day...not to mention freezing cold. After breakfast we decided to go tour the the Endiburgh Castle...bad idea! We waited in the rain to get a ticket for thirty minutes. Once we got inside the wind was blowing so hard we thought we were going to freeze. The castle and views are great on a sunny day, but there is not much of a change to see stuff inside the castle building away from the rain. After this we decided to take our sightseeing inside and go on the Scotch whisky tour. They told us all about the whisky from the different regions of Scotland and we got to smell the differences in them. The places was cool but I think whisky is nasty!!!
That night we went to the bank bar pub to celebrate Colin's 21st bday. They had a guitarist and we was playing all sorts of songs we would have at a band party! The second song he played was Brown Eyed Girl. Of course we loved and it all sang. After that a man came over and said that was his and his wife's song from 1970's and he couldn't believe we knew it...he thought it was so great that he bought all six of us a round. Turned out he was from Atlanta and had come over to play golf. Colin brought the place to life by trying to get literally EVERYONE in the pub to dance! It was so much fun to dance! We also met four older Scottish people who we talked to a lot that night! They were hilarious and dancing with all of us (while playing matchmaker with Liz)! haha such a fun night and wonderful memories!
Sunday we climbed Arthur's Seat. Again, I LOVED it! Beautiful views! John had bought a mini bagpipe and played it for us on the hill lol! Kaz, one of Colin's friends from UVA who is from Edinburgh invited us to her house for lunch. We had so much fun hanging out with her and her sister, and friend and the food was to die for!
That's the end of my long and wonderful weekend and back to London on the train I went!
Wednesday, June 8, 2011
My new friend, the London Tube...
I have quite a commute to work every day, an hour and thirty minutes each way! During my spare time during my ride (which I have tons of!) I counted the number of stops I have to go through on my way. This comes out to be a grand total of 22! (I travel from one black arrow to the other black arrow.) Thus, I have lots of time to listen to music, pray, read, and people watch every morning and afternoon. Lately, I have been having a hard time not dosing off to sleep!
Lots of kids ride the tube to school. It is really cute to see all of them getting on with their uniforms in the morning. i missed seeing them last week because they were on their version of "spring break." I was on the tube one afternoon earlier this week during my regular commute to work, when I heard two girls quizzing each other for a test. They were talking about the bombing of Birmingham, Alabama and the desegregation of the University of Alabama, and other civil rights events in the US. It was so surprised! Who would have thought that they would be learning about good ole Birmingham, AL all the way over here across the pond! After a little while, I talked to the girls and told them that I was from Birmingham. I think they were really surprised! Both were very sweet, one was in her 8th year and the other was in her 11th (they don't use grades).
My lovely surprise yesterday morning was that the chip in my Oyster travel card no longer works so I cannot get through the tube station. I have to have a new card mailed to me and then go through the confusing process of having my old card refunded and buying another travel plan for the new card and then getting reimbursed for my temporary card. Please pray that the process for getting a new card set up goes smoothly and quickly!
I am sure that my adventures in the tube will only continue!
Tuesday, June 7, 2011
I survived Amsterdam...
The weekend was quite the adventure beginning with leaving our place at 5:45 am for our flight. I had stayed up late the night before finishing a paper, so I fell asleep before the safety presentation and didn't wake up again until after we landed!
We spent the first afternoon in Amsterdam wandering around the canals and different squares. We did wander through the red light district just to say we had been. It was kind of similar to Bourbon street until you got the the actual red light zones. Very interesting to say the least! Then late we went on a boat tour of all of the canals and it was beautiful to see the sights.
I stayed in my first hostel ever! The four of us girls actually stayed in the "hotel" part of the hostel in a private room but I figure that still counts right? Saturday morning came a lot earlier than expected, especially when the pigeons who had landed on the window sill of our open window and started cooing at 6 morning and scared me and Emily half to death. The stairs in those dutch buildings are something else! The stairs up to our room seemed more like a crooked ladder. They were incredibly steep and hardly wide enough to put your whole foot on!
We toured the Heineken beer factory. The factory tour was great with lots of entertainment and even a simulated ride... and beer tasting of course! While we were at Heineken we meet a guy working there who was from Philly and talked to him for a bit. Later that afternoon we were walking down the street and someone called out "hey girls!" We turned around and saw him at a pub with his friends, small world!
The highlight of the trip was our bike tour through the city. Amsterdam is a huge bike city. There are more bikes in Amsterdam than there are people! They even have a huge bike parking deck next to the train station.
Our bike tour guide was the epitome of what you would image when you think of someone from Amsterdam. Born and raised in Amsterdam, she was unashamed to talk about anything and everything Amsterdam related, and was complete with dread locks, scraggly teeth, and blew bubbles in the air as we peddled down the street. We went all over the city on our tour. Sadly, I didn't end up with many pictures because my biking skill are not quite at that level of multitasking yet.
We rounded out the weekend on the rainy Sunday (which I had brought no rain gear for and was completely unprepared) by taking the trolley every. We went to a well known pancake place (really more like crepes) and had a wonderful brunch. We had to scrap the original plan of going to she the flower market due to the rain. However, we did go to Van Gogh Museum which was really cool. Thanks to Emily we spotted Kristen Wiig while we were there!
Thank you to my Uncle Chap who gave me lots of wonderful tips for the weekend! They were so helpful!
Here are some pictures from the weekend:
We spent the first afternoon in Amsterdam wandering around the canals and different squares. We did wander through the red light district just to say we had been. It was kind of similar to Bourbon street until you got the the actual red light zones. Very interesting to say the least! Then late we went on a boat tour of all of the canals and it was beautiful to see the sights.
I stayed in my first hostel ever! The four of us girls actually stayed in the "hotel" part of the hostel in a private room but I figure that still counts right? Saturday morning came a lot earlier than expected, especially when the pigeons who had landed on the window sill of our open window and started cooing at 6 morning and scared me and Emily half to death. The stairs in those dutch buildings are something else! The stairs up to our room seemed more like a crooked ladder. They were incredibly steep and hardly wide enough to put your whole foot on!
The highlight of the trip was our bike tour through the city. Amsterdam is a huge bike city. There are more bikes in Amsterdam than there are people! They even have a huge bike parking deck next to the train station.
Our bike tour guide was the epitome of what you would image when you think of someone from Amsterdam. Born and raised in Amsterdam, she was unashamed to talk about anything and everything Amsterdam related, and was complete with dread locks, scraggly teeth, and blew bubbles in the air as we peddled down the street. We went all over the city on our tour. Sadly, I didn't end up with many pictures because my biking skill are not quite at that level of multitasking yet.
We rounded out the weekend on the rainy Sunday (which I had brought no rain gear for and was completely unprepared) by taking the trolley every. We went to a well known pancake place (really more like crepes) and had a wonderful brunch. We had to scrap the original plan of going to she the flower market due to the rain. However, we did go to Van Gogh Museum which was really cool. Thanks to Emily we spotted Kristen Wiig while we were there!
Thank you to my Uncle Chap who gave me lots of wonderful tips for the weekend! They were so helpful!
Here are some pictures from the weekend:
Then it was back to London, which for now is Home sweet home!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)