Photos

Here are some photos I had stored on my iPod... :D


Some stunning English country side...

 Slightly defeated... mostly exhausted.

  Angry? Tired? Mug shot? 

 Zoooooooning out.

 Most addicting and stupid game... ever.

Coming home... :(

As we find more photos, we will put them up... :D

WrapUp

We woke up Wednesday and headed to Heathrow Airport on our way out of the country. Security was POLITE - which was startling (and then sad that it was), AND for the first time in we are guesstimating around 11 years we got to keep our shoes on through security.

Made it home just fine, Ari after an 11 hour flight, Carolyn after nearly 15 hours on 3 planes. MAAADE IT!

Starting weights for our baggage?

Ari: 14.6 lbs
Carolyn: 15.6 lbs

Way home?

Ari: 35 lbs
Carolyn: 45 lbs

We know, it's ridiculous.

Hope y'all enjoyed our blog - there are many more stories and pictures that may be posted here so feel free to check back and see if we managed to put more up :)

Thanks for reading, and much love!

Carolyn and Ariel

London Final

Today (being Tuesday) we got out and about around 10:30 and immediately headed to Hampstead (we were trying to do the Heath and the Tower of London today, a plan that got almost immediately scrapped when we realized how much time we wanted to spend in Hampstead). Got there around 11:30-12 and stopped at a Pizza Express for food. Pizza Express, for those who don't know, is a CHAIN restaurant.

Does that look like chain restaurant food to y'all? Cause it's not what I think of when I think chain food.

Finished up a lovely meal there, gave our compliments to the chef and then headed out in the general direction of the Heath... and got sidetracked.



How does one NOT get sidetracked by things/places/areas that look like this? We walked around the area, just kind of wandering - finding gorgeous houses and friendly 'guard' dogs. Headed in the general approximate direction that we knew the Heath was - AND found it!

The one cloud in the sky at that moment. I couldn't resist taking a picture of it :) This is from a bench we found about 45 minutes into the Heath - we stretched out on it, and the ground and basked in the sun for 30 minutes or so.

Eventually roused ourselves out of our sun-induced stupor and hiked our way back out of the Heath - by a different path - and walked by a carnival that was being set up. On our way back to the tube station we walked by some more gorgeous houses, one of which was - at least externally - perfect.

It's that white one on the far end there - absolutely gorgeous garden, trellises, fwah.

Got back on the tube and headed to Leicester Square because, like Hampstead, the Higlofti had mentioned awesome things about a particular alleyway and we wanted to visit! On the tube on the way there I'd been texting my dad about money and what we were up to, and he told me his request for presents.

Cheap. Tacky. Packable. Royal wedding related.

Sooooo I stopped at a little shop or two and got some things... but just in case he is reading this nowish I will not be saying/describing what they are until he has appreciated them.

Also got some presents for the rest of the family, and then OH HEY LOOK a bookstore.

Lost about an hour in the bookstore... maybe closer to 2 hours. Got a few books... cause you know... They were right there! Then Ari and I realized we were hungry and I'd seen a Carluccios on the corner (another recommended place) and with the wonderful gift of 50lbs for a dinner (from my Daddeh) we sat down for a lovely and somewhat extravagant meal.


That's only some of the food :D. Being that both Ari and I are great readers - and we had just come from a bookstore - we had a reading dinner. Earlier in the trip (Bath) we'd observed two guys that seemed to be friends eating breakfast at adjacent tables instead of across one table from each other. We speculated as to why and then promptly forgot about it until this night when we both wanted to sit on the bench side of the table... so we did. (Our way made a liiiiittle more sense as we pushed the tables together but the general concept is the same). We read and ate dinner - sharing tidbits of the stories as they struck us and had a grand time.

Headed home after the meal, and both Ari and I took baths and generally hung about the room for a little before we headed downstairs to check in via the internet for our flight(s) the next day and to post here... Sadly about 5 minutes after we got down there the internet broke. The manager got very flustered (he couldn't check anyone in) and we got to listen to him on the phone with everyone and sundry trying to fix it - which didn't happen. We went back up to our rooms pretty quickly. Then, the EPIC PACKING OF EPICNESS - aka, CRAM EVERYTHING IN. Ari went first, for which we have a video that will make it to the internet someday, and then I packed. Impressively, she had come to England with 3 bags, and I had come with 2. She left with 2, and I left with 2... all of them better packed. Took a shower, and went to sleep for our last night in England.

London 2

Ari being adorable in the morning

Woke up around 10am today – a bit later than we were hoping but somewhat understandable – I don’t know if y’all have noticed but we’ve been on quite the run around the last few days! Got out of the house (hotel room) around 11 and headed towards the V&A – with a quick stop at the entrance to our tube station (Earl’s Court) to get some pastries on the way in. Ari got a cheese and bacon pastry while I got an almond croissant and a sausage pastry – interestingly, my food choices were fine with my belleh (known commonly as a thing with a storm in it), but Ari did not feel so good after hers.
Regardless, she soldiered on and we made it to the V&A in what seemed to be a massive surge of people through the tunnels. We went to the V&A to see as much as we could – but also to do one of their temporary exhibits called the Cult of Beauty all about the concept of ... wait for it... beauty. “Ars Longa, Vita Brevis” or “ Life is brief, Art endures.” Was one of the main quotes of both the people being studied and the exhibition as a whole – all and all pretty damn cool with some amazingly striking painting, design, and fashion, none of which could I take pictures of. Luckily I did get pictures of some of the other things I saw and liked:

Amazing mosaic-work

Beautiful gothic ironwork jewelry

We could have stayed in the V&A all day – except that on the tube at some point a bit earlier I’d seen an ad about an exhibit at the Natural History Museum called ‘Sexual Nature’ – and really people. Like I’d pass that up?!

So, we walked around the V&A for only a little bit, did the special exhibit, and the parts that I was really interested in seeing.

Sadly, the Fashion area (Ari’s main area of interest) is closed until spring 2012 – something we didn’t realize until we were there! We made the best of it – looking at a few other things that stuck out as especially interesting – but what with our hunger pangs getting louder and louder and the fact that we had only a few hours left of the day to get to the NHM if we wanted any time there… we decided to stop in the café and have some nosh. After touring the café once through – and goggling at the prices a bit, we settled on a bowl of carrot and tomato soup with bread (and butter), a scone with jam and clotted cream, and a pot of tea. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised at how good the food here is, but I am – it was delicious. I wasn’t expecting to love the carrot and tomato soup – but it had some cumin in (more of a savory aspect than a spicy one) and the bread was the perfect level of crunch and soft.



--Can you tell I’m a little hungry at the moment? I’m writing this a little later than planned – we are on the plane home – and have already had our meal of the 11 hour flight. Oy. On the other hand – we get tea on the plane :D. --

Right, back the V&A. Ate, savored as much as we had time for, and noticed (again) the WONDERFUL effects some blood sugar has, both on our own personal mental states and on our relationship. Hungry Carolyn and Ari = Unhappy Carolyn and Ari (though we may not express it in ‘normal’ unhappy ways). Enjoyed the ambiance of the dining room that also happened to have these wonderful chandeliers and felt just a tiny bit fancy.



Left the V&A and headed out of the tunnel and up to the National History Museum – with a general plan to complete the Sexual Nature exhibit and then look around the rest of the museum with the time we had left.

--Something I may have failed to mention about this trip is that a vast majority of the ‘state sponsored’ things we wanted to see opened at 10am and close at either 3 or 5… not a lot of hours open, which makes scheduling multiple places in one day a bit harder than I appreciated. On the other hand, free admittance to the general exhibits? Awesome. --

So, back to the NHM – walk in, find an information desk and ask for tickets to the Sexual Nature, then ask how to get there… this is around 3, maybe 3:30. Walk into the exhibit, past all the people queuing to get into the dinosaur hall – and have a ball. The exhibit has a lot of Isabella Rossellini’s “Green Porno” videos incorporated into it, and she is HILARIOUS if you haven’t seen them.



The exhibit itself was mostly about the animal kingdoms sex lives (leopard slugs mate IN MIDAIR okay? It’s cool.) plus genetics and biology (need to look up what the heck a bdelloid rotifer is) with a bit of focus on humans at the end. Lots of interesting tidbits, and just generally fun. Not too many people in the actual exhibit which was nice because unlike the Cult of Beauty exhibit where we had to queue just to read the descriptions under the items, in Sexual Nature we could spend as much or as little time as we wanted at each grouping. At the end there were two participation aspects that both Ari and I really enjoyed – one where people wrote down words that had some meaning to them about their sexuality (some being words that started relationships or encounters, some that meant something more to them) and one that was a large magnetic wall with words to play with and make sentences with. Both lots of fun.




We didn’t realize it… but it had been awhile that we’d been in the exhibit. There were still a few people in the exhibit so I didn’t think too much on it – but then we got to the store at the end. BOOKS I HAD NEVER HEARD OF PEOPLE. This is a big deal. I only bought two… but first I had to look at all the ones I found intriguing, and if anyone reading this has ever been in a bookstore with me, you know this is a little more involved than it sounds. I wrote down all the author/title combos I was interested in for later research and then noticed that a woman that looked like the manager or summat was standing near the cash register… and so were a few more museum staff than I’d seen before. (To give Ari credit – she’d been trying to get me to hurry up since pretty much the instant we stepped into the shop :P). Paid for my items and wrote down a few more things reaaaaallyquick as we heard the ‘the museum is closing, please proceed to the nearest exit’ a few more times…

Holy cow people. It was around 5:45- 5:55 at that point, and the museum closed at 5:30. OOPS.

And this is the part that I really wish I’d filmed – at the time I was a weeee bit embarrassed, and wanted to get the heck out of dodge as fast as possible for the nice people.

We were followed out by a WAVE of museum staff. Apparently the way they make sure that everyone is out is they start in the back corner (which was either right where we were, or very close), and then collect the staff as they work their way to the front of the museum. Functionally this means that they line the walls and doorways and join the crowd behind the last museum-goers on their March of Doom to the front. Guess who the last museum-goers for our section of the building were?

It was kinda cool and kinda… oddly terrifying to be walking and have this THUNDERING crowd coming behind you (and joining up on the sides). We made it out just fine, obviously, but hot dang. Interesting experience that :P.

Took the tube home, where we went back to the room to drop off our various items and then across the street and up a little for some Indian food – which was okay but not great. (Okay, more correctly, Ari’s butter chicken was delicious and my aloo gobhi was crap.) Back to the room where Ari took a bath and I napped for an hour +, and THEN!

Then we got all dolled up and went clubbing.

Not sure how I feel about posting this on the family + friends blog buuuuut we didn’t get up to any shenanigans so I think it’s probably safe. Got dressed, took a tube to a place called The Rhythm Factory for a launch party called Bass Face – Alex, if you are reading this, be proud – it was Dubstep and Drum and Bass. (Ari and I joke about my love of reviews, but this place had only good ones – and I like my reviews.) Not like there was a huge amount was going on on a Tuesday night… so, clubbing. Got there around 11 and determined that the tube station closed at 12:23 – so we wouldn’t be tubing back. Kinda… walked in the general direction that felt right (I had the address written down with directions but GOD is street signage bad in most of the parts of London we were in, unless they were REALLY touristy). Found the place, walked in and immediately noticed that the age was a bit lower than we were expecting (though the age limit on the club was 18).

The drinking age being at 18 seems like a much better plan than at 21 (and not because then I’m legal) though that perceived difference could easily be my own bias or a cultural difference between drinking in the US and in England – also having functioning mass transit. Besides the point.

It also wasn’t very packed – but the music was very good. We hung out and danced for a few hours before deciding we were pretty tired (long days and all that) and heading home around 1:40. We started walking towards a better (more likely to have cabs going through) area to get a cab and sure enough we flagged one quite easily. As we did so little surface-level travel in London I’m not sure if he took us the longest way back to our hotel (though we suspect so) but we did get to see Buckingham Palace and Hyde Park and a few other historical and beautiful things. Got home safe and sound and crashed somewhere in the middle of the 2am hour.

Brighton - London

Ari here;
Remember how we said that we were going to get an early start to London this morning? Well… Yeah that didn’t happen. Alarm went off at 7:30 a.m. and we turned it off. Went off again at 8:20 a.m. (our original planned time of departure)… and we turned it off. Went off again at 9:30 a.m. and once more on snooze. By 10:30 a.m. we were finally up and moving around.

Got up, got dressed and met with Helena (who’s name is pronounced Elena… The H is silent) and Immie and her little brother Zane who we met for the first time that morning. Had yummy yummy toast and got to sit and talk for a while before Helena took us up to Mill Hill (I think there may be a lot of these hills throughout England…) which is the most beautiful hill thing EVER. I mean, this look out was breath catching.

After our brief visit to the most beautiful hill I may have ever been on top of, we headed to the station. With semi rushed goodbyes and thank yous, we left Helena and ran to the train.

We caught the 11:43 a.m. to London and then were off.

The train… was packed.

And I mean PACKED.

I have this stupid thing where I cannot sit going backwards on trains for long periods of time. I get horribly, and I do mean HORRIBLY motion sick sometimes and just didn’t want to risk it. So we moved from car to car trying to find some seats.

Finally we had to just face the facts and sat down on different side of the car in the first available seats. I sat next to an older gentleman who had a surprised and shy face who was nice enough and Carolyn sat across from a woman in her sixties with short white hair.

Carolyn, of course, bonded with the woman across from her over their eye wear, and from then on, did not stop chit chatting. Eventually the seating rearranged and I ended up next to Eddie across from Carolyn. Eddie is amazing. She reminds me of who Carolyn could/will be when she’s older.
She and Carolyn talked while I tried not to get dizzy on the train. I’ll have to let Carolyn explain further about Eddie in another post.

Eh, figured I'd interject here to help with the readability of the posts. Eddie was AWESOME. She was seated across from me on the train and I'd wanted to ask if I could take a picture of her the instant we got settled but wasn't sure how to do so... until I accidentally knocked over her -thankfully empty- coffee cup and being my mothers daughter, I struck up a conversation. She and I bonded over our glasses being dual colored, and then moved on to talking about the work she does (classically trained in art but is currently teaching basic IT to convicted felons in prison) and then her life and my life... I hope I get to be like her when I'm older. Seriously. So fantastic - and she has had (and is currently having) such an interesting life!

So after the train, we arrived at Victoria Station in London. On our way out, we got stopped, by one of our many vices… Lush. We went in and only managed to escape with a few things, which was not too bad considering our previous expeditions into the store.

Once we got out of Victoria Station, we hopped on the District Line and got off on Earls Court Station. Just a short 3 minute walk from the station and we were at the hotel. It’s so cute.

Checked in, dropped off small overnight bags and then headed out to Camden.

I forgot how much I love Camden. Both the market and the Lock are so amazing and fun. We stopped in the market and had lunch, some of the most amazing burgers EVER. I had a Jerk Chicken burger with mango salsa on it and Carolyn had a chicken honey mustard sandwich thing. In short, they were both amazing. We also ordered a side of sweet potato fries and onion rings.



After the amazing lunch, we headed out to the market. SO AMAZING. It was all just so much to take in and it was so fun! We spent easily 3+ hours there, wandering and enjoying all the sights and smells and sounds of Camden. We both agreed, we could live there very easily.

We had some pretty sugary donuts (4 for £1) that we probably ate 25% of before having to throw them away. We also had some Chinese food that while a bargain, made us both really nauseous.

After leaving Camden, we headed back to our previous hotel to pick up our bags. Brought them back down to our current Hotel and then just hung out, bathed (and I mean we actually took baths…) and listened to hilarious radio personality on the TV. All in all a magnificently fun day.

Random side note… while we were in Camden we happened upon a spa that had the skin nomming fishes, so I got my feet munched on by fishes!!! EEEP! It tickled so bad I thought I was going to die!!!

BRIGHTON!!!

HIYA friends! Ari here. After our looooong day in London, we woke up at around 9:30 a.m. and started packing... I'm not really sure how we have managed this, but some how, without buying anything large (really, face lotion is not big), we are finding it harder and harder to pack our bags up. It's like our bags are shrinking while our clothes are growing. It is quite the challenge.

Carolyn found out last night that we could leave our big bags at the hotel and they would hold them for us, so with this glorious news, we packed little day bag type bags to take on the train to Brighton. After the fiasco in London, we didn't want to risk having to drag our suitcases across the small seaside towns. Successfully shoving everything into bags, we proceeded to check out of the hotel downstairs.

Handing over our suitcases and with them a large cumbersome burden, we headed off to the tube station (on Finchley Rd.) to ride until Waterloo Station. Something about the tube, it is very warm. VERY warm. while this is nice at night like last night, when we're walking around in skirts/dresses, it is not nice in the morning/afternoon when we are feeling nauseous already from not yet eating. Sat on the tube for a bit before arriving at Waterloo Station. Went up to buy our tickets from a nifty little machine...

card declined.

What? Try again...

Card declined.

WHAT? Try another card...

Card declined...

CAROLYN! YOU TRY!!!

Card declined...

I am in full panic mode now. There is no way my card could be without money in my account because Ive been watching it really closely... We head over to the ticket window and I'm about to throw my stupid cell phone against a wall because it wont let me check my bank account. get to the window and successfully purchase tickets. Hope on the first train heading toward Clapham Junction which is where we need to get off to switch trains. Get off at the junction and we are both wilting flowers (admittedly I'm being a pain but for some reason I'm feeling incredibly stressed out...) so we decide food is in order. Buying some yummy breakfast items we head to our platform and plop down, devouring the food before scouting for more.

11:23 a.m. our train pulls into the station and we hop on. This train is confusing... at some point it is going to split into two trains, and if we are not on the right half, we will head in the opposite direction desired. sightly confused and concerned, we wait until the conductor comes through and tells us which car to be in. Head forward and I have a thought about our heavy luggage and how glad I am that we don't have it on us.

Sit down and wait out the rest of the trip. Forgot to mention that we didn't actually head into Brighton Station, but to Shoreham-By-Sea Station (yes the dashes are part of the name), the quaint seaside town of our host family, Helena and her two kids who, of course, I have forgotten the names of. Helena picks us up from the station with a hug and two kisses, and can I just say how nice it is to be greeted with such open arms and warmth.

After a brief tour of the city, we head to Helena's house where we meet her 16 year old daughter - (Imi? We will check in the morning...), while her 14 year old son is MIA.

Have a quick tour of the house which is amazingly cozy and warm, we sit down and talk to Helena and her daughter for a good 2 hours about university and the states and travel and languages and such... her daughter is looking to go to university in the states and had some questions about the system we were more than happy to answer. After a lovely chat, we head out with apples and directions to Brighton, which is just a short bus journey away.

The seaside towns are amazing.

Brighton is amazing. This was the place I was most excited to see and I'm so glad we did. Brighton is thriving and pulsing with shoppers and foodies and people blending from all cultures and all walks of life. it was glorious my friends. GLORIOUS. I could see myself living in that city, so easily.

Did a walk about that ended us up near Brighton Pier. Across the street from the entrance was a restaurant claiming the best fish and chips since sometime in the late 1800's. Deciding we were really too hungry to look any further, we stopped in for some food.

Really the scent that greeted us should have been a strong enough indicator. The fish and chips meal was sub par and though it was beautifully presented, it was bland and kind of icky.

(Side note, we found out that lemonade to them is not what we call lemonade, but in fact Sprite or 7Up.)

After the sub par meal (that made both of us rather nauseous), we headed to the pier across the street... If only we had waited to eat... there was fish and chips everywhere on the pier.

We bought some candy floss (cotton candy to us in the states) 

and wandered the pier, enjoying the amazing size of it. I have honestly never seen a pier with a casino in it. Santa Monica has nothing on this pier.

Headed down to the beach that is covered in stones and rocks and played for a bit before heading back up to the shops. Wandered some more before heading to dinner at a delicious little Italian place. Ate then sat for about two hours before heading out and wandering some more... I will give Brighton this, it sure does have a strong nightlife. There were possibly more people out at night than during the day. Wandered down to the pier again and got some dessert before trying to figure out how to get back home. By this time it was 10 p.m. and the last bus to Shoreham was at 11:13 p.m.

Hopped on the wrong (different) bus and ended up in downtown Shoreham... Now, how do we get back? waited at the bus station for a good 40 minutes before I realized not only did i know where we were, i knew how to get back... Carolyn, doubting my navigational skills (honestly cant blame her) suggested we wait a few more minutes... Right as I was about to start walking, a cab pulled up and we hopped in, giving him the address of Helena's house.

He took the long way, of course.

Still, we got back and home safe and as soon as I got into the house my phone started ringing... A 951 number...

An old schoolmate of mine had pocket dialed me. Really, of all the times she could have pocket dialed, now?

Spoke with her a few minutes before hanging up and getting ready for bed.

Carolyn is currently planning out tomorrow as I write up our day. I really wish we had more time here, but I'm just thankful we got to see it at all... Tomorrow's stop... back to London!

London!

Right - so.

We hadn't set an alarm this morning - assuming we would continue our schedule of waking around 8 or 9 and getting up and doing stuff.

We - obviously - underestimated how exhausted we were...

And woke up around noon.

So... today was kind of bust - we had Wicked at 7:30, and still no plan for the rest of the day (foolishly thinking we were going to be up and about and planning this morning).

We got up... slowly. Showered again, Ari took awhile putting her face on while I lazed about on the bed reading the paper, and ended up heading towards Piccadilly Circus.

Hope you're reading this Manon!

Got there, sat down at a little outdoor cafe and had margarita pizza (not like I've ever had it before though), delicious iced teas, and tirimisu and an almond pastry - all delicious. People watched and enjoyed the atmosphere for probably around an hour (one thing I've noticed about not having my cell phone on me all the time, I tend to lose track of time more easily) and then I decided I wanted to see Westminster Abbey, which we were one tube stop away from...


So we did. Only it closed at 3:30 (and it was around 5 at that point) so that wasn't going to happen. Saw the London Eye, and Big Ben, and the Abbey, and loooooots of tourists - all of it fun.


Headed back to the room - and got dressed to go to Wicked (makeup included)... when we realized it was 6:45. Thinking we were already cutting it close, we headed out (one of us in heels. This would come back to haunt us.) About 20 feet outside the hotel door when I realized how much slower Ari was going to be in heels, we traded shoes. (Admittedly, she does have a point. I walk fast, AND have longer legs than she does - so it makes sense I cover more ground. I'm also impatient, so it was better for me to wear them and be impatient with myself.) We got to the station and asked for directions to the Apollo Theatre.

To make a long and tedious story short, we were given the wrong directions.

Very. Wrong. Directions.

At the other end, we got the right directions. It's now around 7:15.

We get headed the right way, and my feet can no longer take it - so Ari and I switch back shoes.

We get to the right end station, and get out of the station... and have no idea which way to go. Eventually, figure it out (glimpsing the HUGE 'Wicked' sign just as we start to ask a cop for directions). End up running (me in flats, Ari in her sock feet) for the theatre where the very experienced staff take one look at us, find our tickets, and get us seated as soon as they can. All in all? We only missed about 30 minutes of the 3+ hour show.



And it was a FABULOUS show. I finally understand why so many people have had Wicked mania over the years- it really is great. Limped back to the hotel, debated whether to go out again and after trying to stand up again decided against it - ordered in Indian food and watched silly game shoes till I headed down here to write this all up for you.

So there.

Our first day in London - exciting no?

I'm buying a map from the nice concierege before I head upstairs for bed.

Tomorrow - train to Brighton, day in Brighton and night in Brighton-area (our first couchsurf!).

Tune back in to see how it goes :D