trying to acclimate to local time, it's 11pm here, so staying up as long as possible so i can adjust to local time quicker. i feel like i'm living in a british movie. christmas carolers at the pub. steak and ale pie. hard cider on tap. narrow country roads, quaint houses, english gardens, a cup of tea at every turn... tonight i had a roasted chicken and ham pie with cider cream sauce, like a chicken pot pie. my sis had a steak and ale pie, which i have to get next time we're at the pub (okay, like, every day ;) )
found myself already slipping into bits of british accent. at least in this part of the country the accent isn't abhorrent and i can understand everyone (better than when i moved to southern indiana). i used the words "proper", water closet (literally, it's a water CLOSET!), and asked for bangers and mash. after a few ciders, i just wanted to stay at the pub and drink away and sing along with the carolers. everyone in the pub was into it. apparently it's a local tradition to not only have carolers at the local watering hole, but to come door-to-door. and i find it quite adorable to listen to children with british accents. cracks me up.
the haze has lifted and tomorrow i'll be able to see queen victoria's osbourne castle across the channel on the isle of wight. we might take a trip out there next week. also, rod (sis' FIL) is going to take me up to earl carnarvon's home (benefactor to howard carter's excavation of tut's tomb), also to Bath, stonehenge, and other stone circles in the area, including some castles and ancient abbey ruins. we had a nightcap in the parlor, chatting about american and british politics. they asked us who we thought would win iowa: obama or hilary. the british press is doing a good job of covering it. so we explained how our elections worked, and i got a good education in the british parliamentary system.
this place is everything i thought it was. straight from a storybook. i'm in love with it already. i feel so at home. someone pack up my condo and ship my furniture over! we discussed our plans to head over to calaise in france for a wine run. oh crap, i'm going to have to stock up. wine is almost half as cheap as in england, about 9 euros, or 6 GBP = $12 for the good stuff. damn, i'm trying to keep all this currency straight. tomorrow my sis and i will walk into town so i can find an ATM, and to take pics of a 1000 yr old anglican church nearby. everyone in the village knows each other, and sis' hubby's family all lives here. since we're right on the english channel between isle of wight and the mainland, we're between portsmouth and southampton, and can see the QM2 go by, as well as the other cruise liners and freight/oil tankers. damn, should have brought a 300mm lens! but still, i'd like to go over to southampton to see where the lucitania and titanic were built.
heathrow was a BREEZE to get through. NO one in the passport or customs lines. go figure. found my sis easily at the starbucks outside customs. ah, to have my tall chai first thing in the morning. i slept like A$$ on the plane, only 2 hours, and that was under the influence of 3 xanax and a small bottle of wine with dinner. i may try to use my miles to upgrade to business class on the way back just so i can be cozy and lie down flat. took a nap when i got here (first sleep in 2 days), and slept like the dead. not sure what friday brings us, but i know we have dinner w/ some family friends down the road, then saturday night is pub crawling with some of my BIL's pals. the weather is cool, a light frost, but sitting at about 34 degrees. it's cold for here, should be in the high 40s this weekend. tomorrow i take out the camera so time to start shooting!
AH, and got to the bottom of Boxing Day. "back in the day" it used to be the day when presents were exchanged, not on xmas day. but that changed over time, but the day-after holiday stuck. now it's just a time for parties and soccer games. :)
12/21/2007
the tide is out, so i'm putting on my rain boots and heading down to the Solent (aka, the straight between here and the isle) to take some pictures. we just returned from running errands, went into town. no one jaywalks there. they use the crosswalk. "it's just how it's always done." what, i can't just cross the street here? why not?
went to the ATM, got money. went to the pharmacy and the cheese shop. starting to get the hang of the coins and paper currency. went to cafe for lunch, on the side they gave me sausages wrapped in bacon. i love any country that wraps things in bacon.
12/21/2007
just returned from an hour-long picture-taking excursion on the waterfront. but it's tea time now, so i'll post pix later this eve. yes, everything stops for tea.
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