Monday, September 10, 2012

Perfect Ending for a First Day in England



After finally getting on my flight and making it to England, I found my way though the Manchester Airport and got on the bus I needed to be on. I was heading to meet the rest of my group at an old cotton mill a few minutes away from the airport. When I arrived, they were nowhere to be found. After asking the lovely people at the desk, they got in contact with my group and found out that they had missed their bus and the next one wouldn't be coming around for another hour. So I spent that hour wandering the grounds of the mill.

 
             
Very English Countryside
 
 
We had a lovely lunch of tea, coffee, sandwiches, spring onion and nettle soup, and then a yummy dessert tray.
 






As you can see from the picture above, the gardens were beautiful! They had many demonstrations going on inside the mill, but it was dark and many of the photos didn't turn out right.
 
My roomie and I were going to get the famous fish and chips, but then we saw the fish burger...it was interesting.
 

And our day couldn't be complete without getting poured on as we walked back to our hotel room!
 
 
Now I'm quite ready to plop down on this bed and never move! I've been up since 9:30am on Sunday (New York time), and its now 10:10pm on Monday (England time). We get confused every time we try to figure out how long I've been up...jet-lag is getting the better of us!
 

 

 

Sunday, September 9, 2012

Off to the Land of Austen and Tea...Eventually!

This is the first time I've have to navigate through all the security, gates, terminals of the airports by myself. Actually, the last time I was on a plane I was 3 or 4 years old, wearing bright red sweatshirts and sweatpants along with my siblings so my parents could keep track of us better in the busy airports.
Yesterday my flight was scheduled to leave around 5:30 pm but there was horrible weather and it was delayed until 6:30 pm, and again until 7 pm. We finally boarded shortly after 7, which meant when we landed in Philadelphia, I'd have to make a mad dash to the right terminal to catch my 8:40 flight.

If my outgoing flight had been in the same terminal, I would've had time to make the flight, it wasn't. Nope, we landed at terminal F and I had to take the shuttle alllll the way around to terminal A...and then run down the entire terminal because of course my flight departed from the very end of the terminal. Though, I don't know if you could classify the way I was moving as running, between my backpack on my back, a bag in one hand and clutching my ticket in the other, I'm pretty sure I resembled and mad woman waddling in a hurried manner through the terminal.

So I missed my flight. Now what?  I called my parents to let them know what happened and then got my ticket replaced. I was given a voucher for a hotel and just as I was starting to feel very small and lost in the airport, my brother called me and helped me figure things out. I ended up figuring out where I needed go, called and booked a hotel, found the shuttle to get me there and finally, around 11:30pm, I flopped onto the hotel bed. And I didn't move until it was absolutely necessary. I slept into a shocking 9:30 the next morning, had some breakfast, called the shuttle and got ready to head out to the airport.

So now here I am, sitting at the airport waiting for my 8:40 flight and wishing so much that I could be with my group in Manchester right now as they are looking at antique garments. *sigh* Oh well, least I was still in  U.S. so I could use my cell to make phone calls, and I'll be on my way in roughly four hours.
For now though, I think I'll search out some tea and finish my book. Cheerio!
 

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Off to the Land of Austen and Tea!

Today's the day! After talking about this trip for years and having my spot reserved for a little over a year, I'm finally setting out on this adventure! It still doesn't feel real. Whenever we would talk about it, it always felt so far off. "Yes, I'm going to England and Germany in the fall", I would say when people asked about my trip. But now suddenly it is fall (ok, not technically, but it is September and for me that is fall.) and the fact that I'm staring at my plane ticket and passport is telling me that this is really happening!
 
 
Obviously my packing still needs some work. I'm afraid I'm not a good packer, though my excuse is that I never go anywhere so why would I be good at it? I have my books, (The Great Gatsby, A Picture of Dorian Gray, Jane Austen Ruined My Life, and All Roads Lead to Austen) along with my regency dress, short stays, a couple chemises, and a pelisse with a removable skirt to turn it into a spencer. I have no idea if that is accurate (probably not) but it is so much more convenient. I also have my bonnets, which all of my packing was worked around. I'm heading to the airport in a few hours, so I should finish up. I shall try ever so hard to share pictures with you and write as much as I can during my trip. Goodbye good ol' U.S.A. Hello U.K.!