Aye, Aye Matey.

Ahoy Dear Scallywags.

My life just got so much better today.  Not only am I in a beautiful country with beautiful people, I have now become a pirate.  I don't know if you know this about me or not, but when I was a wee little teenager, I was quite obsessed with the Pirates of the Caribbean.  In fact, I would watch the movies back to back when I could.  I even had the real movie poster on the back of my door.  So, today was a big day.

Adi and I drove to the coast in northern England today, and we were ust walking about the beautiful towns and low-and-behold there is a man telling us we can ride in a pirate ship and take a tour of the bay for $3 pounds.  UHHHH.  Yes please.  So, we got on and giddy as I am, they asked if we wanted to drive the boat.  And drive we did.  Here is proof.

So, there you have it.  My pirate experience.  What you should also know about Whitby is that it is the home to the one and only Mr. James Cook, who is in fact a famous sailor himself.  He was the one who "founded" New Zealand and Australia in the eyes of the English.  So it just makes the whole sailing thing that much more cool.  But that isn't all I have been up to recently.

We have also been able to see some true ruins that contain history older than our US history.  So crazy!  For example, we drove by Byland Abbey which is one of the first buildings to start this specific architectural influence in the north.  Here is a picture for ya.

 

We also went to go Whitby Abbey which happens to be where Bram Stoker found his inspiration for his work 'Dracula'.  Somehow I can't escape the idea of vampires.  If you're in my family, you totally understand what I mean and you're probably laughing to yourself.  If you don't know, I was born in Romania and my biological family happened to be from Transylvania, which is also where "Dracula" is from if you didn't know.  Well lucky for me, the first teeth that grew in were my vampire teeth.  Now you can be in the know.  Enjoy the castle ruins.

Northern England is so beautiful and having the opportunity to drive around is absolutely a blessing.  Here are some pictures of places and things I have been able to do.  

Just a little side note, we were walking around Whitby and we found some apartments through the street that are absolutely perfect.  See if you can tell why.

For now, I will bid you adieu but please enjoy the rest of your day wherever you are in the world.  

Sincerely,

Angela

The North.

Hello Friends and Family.

Sorry for the lack of updating. I have been up north with Adi's family and I have been so blessed to have such an amazing extended English family. They have all treated me with open arms and have just accepted me into the family and I love it. I have loved trying lots of new English things. I have been able to have lots of tea which is absolutely wonderful I might add. I've been able to have an English BBQ and a proper English breakfast. I've had a proper tea party with scones ad macaroons and all. I've walked around cobble stone side walks while listening to men yell in pubs during the soccer game that is on. And I've had lots of cherry bakewell tarts (around 11ish). They're hust way too good  It's been great to meet everyone and gain a whole new family. I now know if I ever come to England I will have many places. It is awesome. 

All in all, I've really been enjoying the relaxing lifestyle of the country. Excited for another fun week here that's for sure. 

Just so you know, the whole time I've been here it hasn't rained once until today when it sprinkled just a tiny bit. I sure do love this sunshine without the Texas humidity. 

Until next time, have a happy Monday. 

Sincerely,
Angela

Lovin' London.

Oh Hi There.

If I could ever advise you to do anything in your life, it would be to go out and experience the world. See it and embrace it. I know what you're thinking. She has been in London for 5 days and another country or two, so why should I listen to her? And to that, I would say that it doesn't matter if you travel to 40 countries or 1 country. To expand your world view is almost an essential part of life. Traveling isn't for everyone and I understand and accept that, but I can't express enough how important it is to at least try it. It is an amazing a freeing feeling to go to a completely different environment and to get out of your comfort zone. So, all this to say, go out and try something new and be adventurous. Okay, I'll jump off my soap box and I'll update ya on a little bit of what we've done.

Adi and I have been walking (I don't know how many miles) all around London. We went to Camden and went shopping and had crepes. We went to Harrods and had google-y eyes over all the different floors of designer things. Such a crazy store. We have also gone to Kensington Gardens and Kensington Palace and wow; that is such a beautiful place. I love the Peter Pan statue!! While we were there we saw the Royal Albert Hall. It is the hosting place for the biggest musical collaborations around. Right next to that, was the Albert Memorial which is a huge golden statue that pays tribute to Prince Albert who died from typhoid. It is 176ft and cost $10 million to build. Crazy stuff.

We were able to see some of Adi's friends who live around the city as well as my YWAM friends from Australia. It has been cool for us to integrate each other in our circle of friends and gain more of an understanding of one another in general. We also got to see Buckingham Palace which is absolutely incredible. Such detail and beauty all smooshed in one big house. We also went to Fortnum & Mason which is basically a huge ritzy department store with ridiculous prices. We went to Westminster Abbey and oh my word. If you come to London ever, you must come down to west London. It's so beautiful and has so many years of history that oozes from every nook and cranny.  Last night we went to a movie premiere in Notting Hill with some friends and it was fun. We all had a great time. 

So that is everything we've done In a huge nutshell for ya. The last thing that I am loving to do (but not so much Adi) is "The Runner's Five". Basically, when you're walking about and you happen to see a runner, you encourage them by sayin something along the lines of "great job running" or "you're doing awesome today" and tally how many high fives you receive compared to how many you hand out. 

My current score is 25-36. 

Happy people high five. 

Here are some pictures from the past couple of days. 

Sincerely,
Ang

Oh Peter.

A statue in Kensington Gardens.

Albert Memorial.

Big Ben.

Westminster Abbey.

Westminster Abbey.

Adi and I before the premiere.

Breakfast.

I must confess something. I have had one of these for breakfast everyday. They're amazing. They're called cherry bakewell. I love them. A lot.

Sincerely,
Ang

Palace, Places, and People to See.

Hello Fellow Blog Readers,

Today was another fun day of seeing some more of London's best while hanging with friends from around the globe.  Seriously, around the globe.

Please enjoy pictures today.

Sincerely,
Angela

Harrods Department Store.

Me.

Harrods even blings out their water bottles.

Horse Head in Marble Arch.

Outside Buckingham Palace.

Outside Buckingham Palace.

There's the Queen's casa.

Just some cool arches by Buckingham Palace.

I'm Such a Tourist.

Hi All,

So, I can report that I woke up at 9:30am this morning.  Granted, I laid there contemplating falling back to sleep until 10:00am, but I will dominate jet lag.  

Day two has been an awesome day as well.  Adi and I went around and saw all the touristy things to go see, and I have come to a conclusion.  I am a full on, all out tourist.  I feel like I stop every 5 seconds to take a picture or video or something.  And I think I am okay with that.  It is different than my every day life, of course, but I feel like I should be wearing my visor and fanny pack all while wearing my Hawaiian print shirt.  But for now, I will stick with my leather jacket and sandals.

Today, I went to the olympic park and since the Paralympics is going on, it was pretty crazy.  Also, the stadium is absolutely massive.  I was quite surprised.  I also got to meet up with a friend from Australia and was able to catch up with her about life and a ministry that she has been doing.  Had such a great time.

We also went to Piccadilly and oh my word.  It is absolutely amazing.  All the buildings are so amazingly beautiful.  All of them.  It is street after street after street.  It is like never ending beautiful-ness.  Yes, I just made a word up.  Thank you.

When we were walking around all the different theaters, we walked up to this huge crowd and there were lights and security everywhere.  So of course we go to see what it was.  It turned out to be the movie premiere Sweeney.  It was crazy and unlike anything that I have seen before.  It was awesome.

Because Adi is an actress, she can get discounts on shows, so we were able to go to a West End show called "Blood Brothers".  It was awesome.  It was professional.  It made my night.  After that, we walked toward Westminster Abbey, Big Ben, and the London Eye.  London at night is really cool.  They have everything lit up with different colors and it is just breath taking.

Again, today was another full and exciting day.  London is such a fast pace city full of different cultures and activities.  I am loving it.  Tomorrow is going to be another sight seeing day seeing friends from around the world.

That's all for now.  Thanks for reading all my mini activities and as a reward, I shall show you pictures.

Please enjoy.

Floating Man #1 in Covent Garden.

Floating Man #2 in Covent Garden.

Just hanging out with the Tallest Man on Earth, no big deal.

Regent Street.

En route to Lester Square.

Our tickets!

Phoenix Theater on Charing Cross Road.

The London Eye!

Big Ben!!!!

Until next time, have a great day!

Sincerely,

Ang

First 24 Hours.

Dear Ladies and Gents,

Can I just say it is day two in the lovely country of England and I have already done so much. Let me break it down for ya.

Flights can be an interesting place to gather stories. And I am no exception to that. My first flight to JFK was nice. Sat next to an amazing Austinite family with a great window seat. Let me jut say, flying into New York City is a trip. All I can say is, smog is real people. Smog is real.

After having 5 hours in the JFK airport, I boarded onto my flight bound for London. I originally had a middle section aisle seat an through a turn of events, I ended getting a window seat after trading my seat(s) for love bird couples. So, I finally sat down next to a business Puerto Rican man (who thought I was Puerto Rican, but that's beside the point) and got all settled. It was great. Time flew, quite literally. I was on cloud 9. I felt like a mature adult traveling internationally who is getting ready to studying abroad. It was awesome. And then breakfast came...

I had one hour left and was just chilling next to this good looking Puerto Rican just eating my breakfast and drinking my orange juice. They passed out arrival cards and I had to get a pen out of my bag. So I lifted my tray and started digging and then I realized I was tipping my orange juice cup forward. Thought I was sly by catching myself before the horrible disaster of spilling occurred. I was proud of my swift and cat-like reflexes. And then I felt it seep into my jeans. And not just on the thigh area either. I don't know how to put this delicately but I am just going to come right out and say it. I spilt a half a cup's worth of orange juice on my crotch, seat, and shirt. Crap.

Not only was I cold and wet, it got sticky and began to smell. And if you know anything about dried orange juice is it smells like pee. It also looks like it. So here I am with one hour left for it to dry and I'm trying to be this mature adult and I am arriving in London looking like I wet myself. Not even 24 hours into this trip (I haven't even arrived to be honest) and I am making quite the impression.

To sum this up, I stayed covered and tried to dry myself secretly and bolted to the bathroom as soon as it was possible. After going trough the easiest and quickest customs ever, I found Adi and we were on our way (with my incredibly heavy bags) to take on London.

The day was full of sight seeing, drinking coffee, and a concert of some absolutely amazing bands. The first day has been great. All I can say is when we went to bed, I don't remember laying there for longer than a minute.  It was glorious.

Here are just a couple pictures of my many from the day.

The One and Only, Mr. Matt Corby.

Gotta love red phone booths.

My form of transportation for the week.

March Arch!  Woot Woot!

That's all for the first day.  It's been awesome.  Simple.  Hope everyone is doing well.

Sincerely,

Angela