Hey!  We're alive and not deported!  I should have let you know that sooner.


Matthew and I have struggled to find time to blog, and have been up late just trying to get ourselves organized for the next day.

I want to give everything its due justice, so maybe the majority of blogging about London won't happen until the train trip to Bath, when there'll be time.

I'll start with Day 0, anyway.

The day started with last minute packing.  Lots of much needed help from my mum in order to fit everything into the large suitcase.  She took me to Wal-mart, and showed me what types of sheets and bedding I will need to purchase when I arrive in Leeds.  It feels a bit overwhelming all the things that I take for granted at home, but will need to start from scratch there. 

Donald picked me up, and drove me to the airport.  Leaving him through the security gate was a very emotional moment, and I almost started bawling at the security x-rays, which would have been less than ideal.  I miss you, Love.

The plane trip itself was pretty awful, but I had these treats to brighten the 9 hour commute!

This photo is dedicated to Bruce. As promised, I didn't open them until I was on the plane, and here is my photo evidence.  :)

I didn't get to sleep at all.  At least, I didn't get to sleep for more than 20min. intervals at a time.  Blarg.

However, we managed to beat jet lag by not going to bed until past 10:00, yay!  We're already adjusted!


Day 1

Matthew and I had very different experiences at Customs.  When I landed, there was a special "First Time International Students,".  There was no line.  I was the only person from my flight who used it.  I had to fill out two forms, involving my Leeds residence address and the address of the University, both of which where very difficult to find. 

Example:
Contact us
University of Leeds, Leeds LS2 9JT, UK

That's it.  No street name, or number, or anything.  It took me a lot of roaming on my phone at customs to find that it is on "Woodlane"  and I never found a number.

I was then grilled with questions about how long I was staying, how I'm funding my trip, will I be working (no.) where's my visa (don't have one), do I have a letter of recommendation from my host university (yes) do I have a letter of recommendation from my home university (no).  I was afraid of being deported then and there, but it worked out.

Matthew however had an extremely long line up, but no questions.

We asked some questions, and took an underground train to a bus stop.  The trains are VERY comfortable, here, and are significantly quieter than our skytrains.  (Expo and Millennium lines, anyway).  I really quite like travel by train.

This is what I first saw upon walking out of the train station.  It was my first steps outside in London, and I was still surprised by the appearance of the buildings.  This promptly became normal.  The architecture here is very varied.  I love it!  There is definitely a mixture of old and modern buildings, depending on the districts.

We took the bus and found the B&B we are staying at, in Barnes.  It is appropriately named, "The Bed and Breakfast in Barnes,".  The lady is very friendly, and the room and restroom is nice.  It was a brief challenge to figure out the shower, but we did.

Here are some photos of where we are staying:

Pardon my formatting.  It's past one in the morning as I'm typing this.  Top left is our room, not shown is the second bed which I sat on to take the picture, also not shown is the the desk that is too the left, and nice.  Maybe I'll take a better angle shot later.  Really I just wanted to show off the lovely mirror and wardrobe.  The bathroom, top right, is also larger than I expected, but the shower was tricky to use.  The key is the key to our room!  So cool!

We then went for a nice walk around Barnes to find the Sun Inn, where we had a very lovely dinner.  It is a pub, but Stella, our B&B host, claims it isn't a "true English pub," so, we'll need to take her word for it until we gain more experience.

First, however, we need to comment on the parking all over Barnes.

WHAT IS THIS, I DON'T EVEN-  THIS IS NORMAL HERE!  Maybe they need to park on the curb because the streets are so narrow.  That's probably it, but it still doesn't explain the facing-different directions!  I thought England was supposed to be orderly!

Anyway, Barnes is a very nice place.  Less busy than London core, and very quaint.  The pub was very nice, and I kid you not, the menu changes on a daily basis.  Cool!  The menu was also very impressive.  I had a two-course fixed price spinach mushroom risotto with a hint of mint, with potato and leek soup.  Matthew and I split a salted caramel, chocolate tarte for dessert.  When we stood up to order (we need to order food at the bar at pubs here), Matthew suddenly looks at me intently and asks,
"Elise!  What about, ALCOHOL?!?"
I look at him confused, and respond,
"Uh, the drinking age here is 18."
"Yes, and we are both over 18!" he responded, urgently.  I didn't quite understand, so I said,
"Yeah?  You can order a drink if you want to..?"

We reach the bar, and Matthew asks,
"So, what do you recommend for a beer?"
Bartender responds with some suggestion
"I've never had a beer!"

Oh.  Well.  That surprises me. 

The bartender offers Matthew two samples, and he picks one.  I decide that I should have a drink to, so I order a blush cider that was on tap, that contained blackberry liquor.  It was very sweet and tasty!

Shout-out to Mom:

On the right - Blue Moon is on tap!

I had the pink one.  Delicious.
Below - Matthew and his first beer, and a photo of my cider.
 

 It is now very much past my bedtime, but there are Days 0+1 for you!  Today, we had a very crammed-filled day in London core, and you shall here about that later.

Bye!~