So, I have some free time whilst my bf is at the store (picking me up some stuff to help my blistered feet from walking around today). Who'd have thought that socks can make someone have blisters? We walked only about 45 minutes today around Finchley, London, and my feet started hurting like crazy the way the socks rubbed on them. When we got back to Pete's flat I found that I have huge blisters on both of my feet. Not good considering I'm going to be doing a lot of walking on this trip and I want to see all the sights around London and the countryside. I suppose we won't be going anywhere tonight, which is fine though as my feet need time to recover and its snowing outside. Ironically it was VERY sunny this morning/early afternoon. I am now learning a great deal many things about England on my first trip here, and one of them is the unpredictable weather.
My trip has been surreal and a bit of a blur thus far. I had a long 10-hour flight here (there was a lot of turbulance which was unsettling), although I can thoroughly recommend British Airways as the creme de la creme of Airlines if you must travel. I felt so posh having my own personal movie player (equipped with New Release DVDs, older films, TV shows, and Music Albums). I could choose whatever I wanted to watch and it helped pass the time well. I watched "How to Lose Friends & Alienate People" (very funny btw), "Nights in Rodanthe", " High School Musical 3" (was actually quite cute) and an episode of "The Office". The food on the flight was also not that bad, they had a lot of desserts and the nice beverages and the British air stewardesses were all very nice.
I'm sure this happens to everyone who travels to a different place, foreign locales especially, but the change in time zone, directions that you're familiar to, makes it kind of funny. Luckily I managed to stay awake after my flight and set my body clock, but I still get confused as to which way is north, east or west, etc....
I saw some interesting old buildings today as Pete and I walked in Finchley. There was an old church with a graveyard. The church reminded me of something you'd see on a movie set, as I'd never seen something so old. It was very fun. The graveyard had a very mysterious vibe about it, and even crows were making sounds in the trees, giving it quite a bit of ambience, haha. I loved seeing the old headstones covered in lichen, aged with time, some of the inscriptions had been worn off, but the place had a feeling that made you wonder who these people were, and what were their lives like?
I know this is only the tip of the iceberg. Tomorrow we want to go around London (central part I believe). I'm really anxious to see the famous sights of Buckingham Palace, Big Ben, Westminster Abbey, Trafalgar Square, etc... And then I can't wait to see the countryside, because I figure that if I am fascinated by just one old church and a graveyard today, there will be endless things to see and enjoy!
On another note, its quite an adjustment with the cold weather. Being a California girl I've had to bundle up extra (hence why I also wore that rough pair of socks, that are meant as snowboarder/skiier socks actually, thought they'd keep me warm, which they did, but they also did a number on my feet). I dressed warm enough today though when we went outside and I didn't feel cold like I was yesterday. Also, one more thing, it was fun to do simple stuff like go to the grocery store yesterday (Tesco) and see all the different products they have vs. American stuff. I noticed they have lots of baked goods/pastries and meat. And that the baked goods are really not that expensive, for instance, it was only £1.05 for a 6 pack of fresh crossiants. In America this would easily be $3.50 at least.
Anyway, I will try to post pictures when I can. Not sure if that will be after my trip, or during, we'll see!
