And every stranger's face I see reminds me that I long to be homeward bound

And the countdown starts. Five days until home! All the shopping that I can do here is done. One bag is already packed and I’ll start packing the other one soon. I’ve already listened to my “Going Home” playlist once, and I’m making a mental list of things to eat, places to go, and people to hug. I love London, I truly do, but it’s time for this Carolina girl to go home, if only for a little while.

Our work Christmas party was quite good. And interesting. I had a great time, talked to a lot of people, and just had a fun, relaxing time. I learned that me and a white sweater attracts red whine like a moth to a flame, as well as exactly how much wine it takes to make me dance. But other than a few harmless phone calls to good friends the evening was stupidity-free. And a lot of fun.

Saturday I took a three-hour walk through Hyde Park – with a short pit-stop on the Queensway side for some Starbucks. I saw an absurd number of attractive men pushing baby carriages, and an equally absurd number of over-dressed-for-the-park women with their yappy not-a-dogs with names like “Carly” and “Baby.” And at one point a group of soldiers of some kind, in full uniform and in perfect formation, marched through singing in Latin. Combined with the cool air and falling leaves, it was like a scene from a movie. Unfortunatley there was almost a repeat of another scene from a movie when I went around the Big Pond, against my better judgment, and had to fend off pigeons, swans, ducks, and seagulls. Ya’ll don’t know how close you were to losing me – I honestly thought my heart was just going to stop beating from fear. But I kept my eyes on the prize – Starbucks – and made it through.

Sunday I made a trip to Harrods as a favor for Mom, and was happy to have information point me exactly where I needed to be and to not have to wait in a long queue once I was there. I then made the mistake of wandering into the toy area. Screaming, running, bratty kids running all over the place. Shouldn’t they be left at home so the parents can shop for them and surprise them? Ugh. I wasn’t very impressed with the toy section anyway. Only about five Barbies and their other doll section was equally pitiful. The board game selection was nice, but we already have them all, and it seemed like too much of the department was devoted to magic tricks, which I’m just not into.

After a great lunch of a hot bagel sandwich, I went to the Victoria and Albert museum. It is a massive museum full of every kind of artifact from every period you can think of. They say they are grouped by region and era, but sometimes I really don’t believe them. I think there are five floors, but honestly, I’ve never made it past the second. And Sunday I didn’t make it past the fashion exhibit on the first floor. I spent an hour looking at all the dresses and suits from different eras. They had a new exhibit on 60s London fashion which was wonderful, and even a display on women’s lingerie. But the highlight was seeing this, in person, up close, for real.


















Yes, my favorite Diana dress, was there. And it’s just as stunning in person as one would think.

I then glanced around the shop, of course, and on my way out ran into my associate pastor. This is the second time in London I’ve run into someone I know just while out and about and it makes me smile for a long time afterward. It’s such a big city, and since I don’t know that many people, it makes it feel smaller when something like this happens. I remember when I first started at Carolina, thinking that the place was too big and that I could never imagine seeing anyone I’d know just while walking around. Ha. I was lucky if I could go one day without seeing someone I knew. But in London it's still such a rare occurrence I don't mind it too much...yet.

So close...

Really really long post ahead

Well, exhausted doesn't even begin to describe me right now. But also really really happy and excited. The past few days since Mom and Aunt LuAnn have been here have been jam-packed with lots of walking, talking, and going. Having to work was actually a nice break from being a tour guide, even though I probably wasn't even that great of one as I forgot a lot of the important stuff about places. But anyway...

Saturday, of all days, I slept past 9 a.m. for the first time since being in London, and was woken by a phone call from Mom to tell me they were about to board the Gatwick Express. I get to Victoria shortly after they did, though they like to tell it like they were waiting for hours. But, needless to say, I was very happy and excited to finally have them here! After dropping the luggage off at my flat, we set right off before the jet-lag could really hit them. We had lunch at a Pizza Express on Marylebone, then went to Oxford Street and Hyde Park. We walked a lot and saw a lot and it was a good first sight-seeing day.

Sunday we went to church, then had "lunch" at Starbucks. While it's not exactly the same as my caramel apple cider, their caramel hot chocolate is good as well. We stopped at a few shops on Regent Street, including the famous Hamleys toystore. Even though I am "adultish", Mom bought me a Paddington Bear, which has made me dorkily happy. Afterward we headed for Westminster, or as I like to call it, "real London." Big Ben and Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the Thames, the Eye and so on. We went up in the Eye and the view was even more spectactular this time than the first time I went up. Aunt LuAnn didn't care for it too much once we got to the top, but I think we all still enjoyed the experience. Afterward we took a short river cruise on the Thames. Just a 20 minute ride to get us from the Eye to Tower Bridge. But the sun was setting and it was a beautiful backdrop for the city and all the amazing buildings along the river. Tower Bridge is just stunning at night and it was a great way to see it. A long day was capped off a truly British restaurant in Piccadilly Circus - Planet Hollywood. Yes, we all crossed an ocean to eat at Planet Hollywood. But I had never eaten at one before and I got chicken fingers for the first time in more than two months so I was happy!

Monday was busy as well, of course. First thing was Abbey Road. It was awesome to be able to see it with Mom and we all crossed and took pictures. Sadly they've taken down the sign on the sidwalk that says "Abbey Road" and has lots of signatures on it, but it was nice all the same. We then set off for Buckingham Palace, but first a stop at Green Park for another Starbucks brunch. I've had more Starbucks this week than I have all year! Unfortunately "Liz" wasn't at home to invite us in for tea, so Mom thinks we should try and catch her this weekend up at Balmoral. Next was Trafalgar Square and the National Portrait Gallery. All the fountains were on so that somewhat lessened my desire to kick all the pigeons, but only somewhat. Next was Kensington Palace. We went inside and I'm glad we did because it was really lovely and interesting. They had the apartment where Princess Margaret lived open to the public, and that was really neat to walk where she had walked and see her bedroom and such. There was also a display of photographs of Princess Diana and several of her dresses. We got to see the dress she wore to the White House and danced with John Travolta in, and that just took my breath away. I'm not usually a huge fan of palaces but this one was real, not overly opulent or cold. I could live at this one, easily. After the Palace we took the long walk to Knightsbridge to Harrods, by far the most extravagant and nearly over-the-top department store I've ever been in. As has become our custom, we went to the Christmas shop for tree ornaments, and later spent ten minutes trying to exit the massive store. We ended yet another long day at an Italian place called "La Dolce Vita." Love the name and the food.

Now you can see why I, and they, are exhausted! But we are all having a great time and it's been nice showing them London and hopefully they can understand more why I love it so much. Last night we saw "The Sound of Music" and it was amazing. The sets were beautiful, the leads and chldren had great voices and were great actors, and it all came together very nicely, very much like the film. Longer review later, along with Spamalot, promise. But this is entirely too long and I'm tired all over again just writing! Tomorrow we leave for Scotland so I probably won't be writing again until Monday. And will post pictures then as well. Thanks if you made it this far!

"There wasn't an F name in the Bible, so they named him Frankincense, because he smelled so sweet."

I was a little lazy this weekend, but it felt good. I figure it’s good to be out, even if just sitting and relaxing, while it’s warm and I still can. So after a few errands Saturday morning, Marissa and I set out for Victoria to try and get tickets for “Wicked.” It was a long walk, the length of Hyde Park and then some, but it was good to see different areas and just see more of the city in general. We passed the famous Dorchester Hotel, though we didn’t see any famous people around it. We walked the Park Lane area near Hyde Park, which is a really nice area. We weren’t able to get tickets for that night’s how, but we did get them for Sept. 28. I hate having to wait that long but they were cheap and I know it will be worth it. Or at least it better be or it’s Karey’s fault.

And because I apparently forgot I don’t get paid for another week, I went and saw another show anyway – “Seven Brides for Seven Brothers.” I couldn’t count how many times I’ve seen this movie, and I was really excited to see it on stage. It was only ok, I’ve seen better and I’ve seen worse. Parts of it were just like I wanted it to be, and others fell short. Especially the accents! Who knew that settlers in 1850s Oregon had combination bad Southern/British/Irish/Cockney/and maybe Scottish accents. The actors kept slipping into their real voices, or using a terrible Southern-type accent I highly doubt was in the west at this time, and it made it really hard to identify with the characters. They also didn’t have my favorite part of the movie in it – where they all dance at the barn building. They had them dance at a social, but it wasn’t the same. They also cut out the part where the girls dance in their room about being spring/summer/June brides. They did however add a song - that was terrible. I zoned out during it and just stared at all the pretty gold in the theatre. My favorite character in the movie aside from the two leads is Gideon, and this Gideon was pretty good. He was a trained ballet dancer though, and it showed when he’d start doing these pirouette things that just didn’t fit with the rest of the dancers. This is my long-winded way of saying I liked the show, it wasn’t a terrible waste of money, but I’ll take the movie any day.

Now today I’m thinking of just going to Regent’s or Hyde Park for some people-watching and reading. It’s nice out and I really do want to take advantage of it before it gets bed. Pictures of the flat and such will probably come next week. We are still trying to get it all in order and I want to wait to take pictures.

Nothing new to report but I thought I'd check in. One more day of freedom before the job starts - and I couldn't be more thrilled. I like free time but I hate this state of limbo and just want a routine and structure. I may be regretting that two months from now, but I like order.

The last few days have been just exploring the city, walking more than I ever have in my life, which is good. I'm getting a much better feel for things and learning my way around better.

Sunday was spent relaxing in Hyde Park, reading and listening to music. We then headed for Westminster, to see Big Ben and such. I got my first glimpse at 10 Downing, or the armored guards rather leading to it, which I somehow missed seeing last time. Then we chilled in front of the Eye and had a "dinner" of a waffle and ice cream. It was good and terribly unhealthy.

Monday we did some errands, walked a lot, relaxed in Regent's Park, and some more stuff I can't remember. Today we went to the British Museum, wandered around Bloomsbury, and "shopped" on Oxford Street. We did very well, I think, and I only bought a cheap pair of flats that I really really need. :-)

We still haven't moved into our flat yet, hopefully it will be tomorrow. I'm just sick of living out of a suitcase and want to get settled. I guess I'm just antsy to get my life started for real, since right now it just feels like I'm in a holding pattern.

Hopefully more exciting things to report on next time.