Bank Holiday Weekend

Sadly, I don't have too much out of the ordinary to report even though today is a public holiday in the UK. The August bank holiday is much like Labor Day in the US, although this year it's a week earlier. It signals the end of summer and the beginning of a new school term. Many, many Brits go "abroad" (usually meaning to somewhere in continental Europe) for a last shot at the beach or at least somewhere warmer than the UK. This is not a tough goal to meet as temps have been steadily in the (very) low 70s if not cooler for a couple weeks now.

On Saturday I started out with a tour of Kensington Palace here in London. Kensington was Princess Diana's home and has been in the royal family since the 1600s when it was purchased by William I (? or III?). Anyway, it was where Queen Victoria was born and lived before she became queen and also King William III and Queen Mary ruled from here for a time. There is lots of history AND they had a display of the last debuntantes in 1958. It was interesting to learn about the debutantes in Britain and the end of that era.

Sunday I had many intentions of continuing my royal weekend. I ventured out to Buckingham Palace in the morning and found that there was going to be an Olympic handover ceremony that afternoon. Interesting. I went to get in line to get tickets to the State Rooms at the Palace. They are only open in August and September each year. However, the line was very long and I found out that I wouldn't be able to get into the Palace for at least 3 hours. I was by myself and didn't think that sounded like a fun way to spend my day. SO I headed over to Oxford Street, which is one of the main shopping areas in London. Generally it is overrun with people, especially tourists, so I tend to stay away. But I knew I would be getting there right when the stores opened and it was threatening rain and it's bank holiday so I was hoping to avoid the normal mayhem. Plus I needed to run an errand there anyway. Well...3 or so hours later I ended up finishing my errand...with several shopping bags in tow! So I guess staying in London to try to save a bit of money over the weekend didn't pan out quite as I had hoped. But I got some really cute shoes. :)

Today I had to do some work since I had been away at a training Thursday and Friday. Since it is a holiday I can use this time for another day off some other time when I can actually take it. So it was a nice, quiet weekend with some touristy things and shopping thrown in as well. Can't say I can complain!

Cardiff

So I've been thinking that I don't have any overseas trips planned for August. That wasn't acceptable as I have been out of the country at least once every month since April! So yesterday I decided to take a little trip to the country of Wales. It's not out of Great Britain, but it IS out of England. :) I took a bus tour (3 hour drive each way) and spent a few hours wandering around Cardiff. There is a castle there and a huge rugby stadium as well as a bay area that is very developed and lots of shopping. It was a great city to visit for a day and I'm glad I did it!

London!

I have been thinking the last few days about how I have a blog entitled "Life in London" but very rarely do I talk about my life in London. Since I haven't been anywhere more exciting than west London lately, I thought I'd do a post about my life here.


I've been living here for 6 months now and feel that I have adjusted pretty well. Every so often though, I am thrown for a loop by something I haven't encountered before. Often it has to do with government or bureaucracy or how to act in certain social situations. London is an incredibly diverse city so just about anyone can fit in here quickly and easily. I do still find myself a bit embarrassed of my accent at times, though at least I speak up more than I did when I first moved here.


Things I like/love about London:

• Ability to travel in Europe easily (and relatively cheaply) - this, of course, is the reason I moved here
• Walking through various neighborhoods and wishing the 200 year old houses that have been shops, pubs, houses, servants quarters and modern flats could talk to me
• The diversity and acceptance that it's OK to be from somewhere different and have a different background than other people
• The train services to the countryside

Things I dislike/hate about London:

• I miss my car so much. I feel like I am 14 again and totally dependent on others (even though now it's the bus driver instead of my parents or older friends). Sometimes I just want to DRIVE.
• The weather. Everything you've heard is true, except it doesn't rain EVERY day.
• The tourists, especially Americans
• The cost of living
• The health system, my doctor in particular

I don't think I will ever tire of the view of St. Paul's from my seat on the top floor of a double-decker bus every night on my way home from work. And hopping a plane and being on a Greek beach within a few hours isn't too shabby either. Unfortunately, I can't call London home and I don't think I ever will. But I am glad I made the decision to live here and being here has given me experiences I never dreamed of five years ago.

Athens and Aegina

Sorry it's been SO long since I posted! I was away (to Athens obviously) and before and I after I went, work has been bearing down on me with a massive deadline this Friday. So I haven't had much time of my own to tell you about Athens.

I LOVED Greece!!! I definitely cannot wait to go back...hopefully soon. I went down to Athens on a Wednesday evening and met up with my friend Jess and her sister Jaime who had already been there all week for a conference for Jaime. Unfortunately, Jaime was sick the whole time I was there, but I was able to get out and see the city and meet up with Jess when she could join me.

This is a view of the Acropolis (the Parthenon is the biggest building) from one of the nearby hills
















The food was absolutely amazing and I tried everything I could! I really wish I could share the sounds and smells (mostly good) of Athens with you. There always seemed to be something yummy cooking and the people were so friendly and eager to share their culture with visitors.















I spent quite a lot of time just wandering around the city and trying to find shade to stay just a little bit cooler. Thankfully the heat wasn't totally unbearable by the time I got there, so I was happy to get some time to spend on the beach on Friday morning. That afternoon I visited the Acropolis area and got my ancient culture for the trip. ;)















Jess and I spent the evenings doing more wandering up hills, watching sunsets and enjoying fantastic dinners. My hotel had a great rooftop view of the Parthenon/Acropolis area.















On Saturday we took our much-anticipated jaunt to the island of Aegina (pronounced EGG-ina). It is the closest island to Athens and therefore easy to do in a day. We enjoyed the beach, the ancient ruins, wandering the side streets, people watching and eating seafood! We tried octopus and ray and had a good time enjoying the sunshine and the water all day long.




















































I was sad to leave. Especially because it was about 90 degrees when I left Athens Sunday morning and about 65 and windy when I arrived in London! Thankfully, London's weather has been fantastic this week and today I had a great time with a picnic, swim and sun bathe with my friend Sarah in Hampstead Heath. The British summer has finally appeared, but there is no telling how long it will stay!

Cornwall

I went on a last minute trip this past weekend to Gorran Haven, Cornwall. Gorran Haven is a small village about halfway down the county of Cornwall right on the coast of England. We went down to celebrate my friend Sarah's 25th birthday with her family and her husband's family. Even though the weather was a bit on the chilly side, we had a great time on the boat, picnicking on the beach and even swimming! It was so fun to visit a little village and experience life there for a couple of days. Plus, I finally got to take a trip in a car instead of a train or plane!

Oxford

On Saturday I went to visit the town of Oxford. The main attraction is Oxford University, which is made up of lots of small colleges. I only visited Christ Church College and then spent time reading on the riverbank and wandering around the town and the market. It was a pretty day, but prettier in London, so I didn't stay long in Oxford and ended up coming back to London to enjoy the warm sunshine (it is fairly rare for it to be warm and sunny in the same day) for the late afternoon. It stays late until after 9 PM this time of year, so it is fun to enjoy evening sunshine and long days.

The Championships, Wimbledon 2008

I went to Wimbledon TWICE last week! There are a few ways to get tickets to Wimbledon and I utilized two of them. One of the more fun and generally known ways it to stand in line whatever day you want to go and wait for people to leave so that you can buy a grounds pass. That gives you access to all of the outer courts and the hill where there is a big screen TV playing the Centre Court match. From there, you can also stand in another line and try to buy tickets to Court No. 1 or Centre Court as people leave their seats there. Another way to get tickets is on Ticketmaster the night before.

Monday I went and stood in line with friends from work and got onto the grounds. The Centre Court match was very popular so we weren't able to get actual seats but we watched a few of the outer court matches and also watched the TV on the hill. It was a beautiful day and I was completely hooked on Wimbledon!





Since there were some big matches on Wednesday (men's quarterfinals), I decided to cough up the money and get actual seats at Centre Court to see Federer and Nadal play their respective opponents. Despite a bit of rain delay, I got to see both of them play and had a fantastic day with my friends! The matches actually turned out to be not that exciting since they both only went to 3 sets, but I can say I have seen Nadal and Federer play live! (The pics below are Federer and then Nadal.)





By the way, the finals are today. I don't have tickets but I will be watching at home with friends. Hopefully they get to play as the wind and rain are nasty in London today.