A Month in the UK - Week 1

Wocha!!! or Hello!!!  This is a travel documentary of the adventures I plan to share as I travel from various places around the world, country, United States, etc.  I am an American black female who loves to travel abroad.  I should have started this fun blog a long time ago and need to play catch up with the various trips I have taken in the past like Israel in 2009, Japan 2010, Columbia in 2011, Aruba, Hawaii, and other places, just to name a few.  To start this blog off it will begin with London, England, in a town where I will be staying called Swanley, in the County of Kent. (suburb just outside of London).  I will try to be short winded as a talk about my day to day ventures & include pics as I go along.  I am staying with some dear friends who are Londoners for a month, and they will be able to give me the 4-1-1 about some of the similarities and differences in lifestyles between Europeans and Americans.  Of course, I will be able to share from first hand experience.  So come along with me "across the pond" as they would say, as I explore this great country called Europe.  And stay tuned for my adventure to Ireland where I will go while I'm here on this side of the globe.

London, England here I come....... 

Day 1

This is the airline attndt (click pic to enlarge)

I am so excited!!! I got off to a great start and left the United States on time, Wednesday, 9/14/11, at 1:15pm, from Dallas, Texas, with a connection in Atlanta to travel to London, England.  Oh, that's not me in the pic, but the airline attendant.  Wow! what a flight.  The airline showed 3 movies in a row which meant I didn't get any real sleep, maybe about 3 hours.  However, dinner was very good.  Took advantage of the altitude and was able to view all the stars that were shining beautifuly in the night sky above us.  The scenery was absolutely breathtaking as a new day was dawning off in the horizon as the morning sun was peaking through.

Day 2

Map of destination from on plane (click pic to enlarge)

Thank God, I made it safely to London and arrived at the London Gatwick Airport.  Well, all was going well until I hit customs and I was questioned, interrogated, whatever you want to call it for 2.  Can you believe it?  Yes,! I've been to London before and it never was like this.  I wasn't the only one, there were others of a different nationality that were given the same special treatment (smile).  Again, thank God who blessed me with enduring patience.  It certainly proved how much patience, and self control I really have.  Thank God for His peace that sustained me.  I didn't let my feathers get ruffled, if you know what I mean.  I did ask them to page my friends who were surely concerned and waiting for me, which they did and reached them in the airport to let them know I was being detained.  To look at me it's obvious I pose no threat to anyone.  It must have been my lucky day.  This is just me being humorous opposed to being upset and annoyed by the whole ordeal.

            Leaving London Gatwick Airport (click pic to enlarge)

Got my luggage and we're off.  Unfortunately, it cost my friends $30 in parking fees due to them having to wait for me to clear customs.  We made it to their home and I didn't waist anytime getting to sleep.  It was 9:30am London time, but 3:30am Dallas time for me, and my body definitely let me know and was shutting down quick.  I finally awoke from coma tose :) my friend walked me to the neighborhood market for a few things I wanted to get like instant coffee.  I like the neighborhood.  They live in Swanley, a suburb of London bout 14 miles out.  It's a very diverse area which makes it a lil' more easier to settle in.  They also even got me a complimentary healthclub membership so I could continue with my exercise routines while I'm here.  How kewl is that!  Well, they've prepared dinner (supper).
Tune in again tomorrow......

Day 3

British skim milk for my coffee (click pic to enlarge)

Well, I'm finally up. Suprisingly! it's close to 10am here.  I did manage to get a good night's rest.  We played Progressive Rumey last night...it's a card game for those who may not know.  I lost, of course from learning how to play for the first time.  I won't even begin to try and explain how to play it.  And we had a "cuppa tea and scones" as they would say here in England.  Scones is like a biscuit with raisins in it and you add butter, jam, and clotted cream.  It was actually pretty good.  Then some time later we had supper. which my friend, I'll call her Ms. A. prepared, baked chicke, jacket potatoes (which we call em baked potatoes), and spinach.  Her hubby asked if I ever had porage...I was like "Whatttt!"  I said, I only remember that from the childhood story Goldilocks & the 3 bears :)" .

They live off the main street where there's people walking up and down it all day which I have a good view and can people watch.  The weather is great, like 65 degrees.  It is a sure relief from the Dallas desert temperatures of 100+.  Some people have on shorts, short sleeve shirts, skirts, jogging suits. You know just comfortable. Well, I'm off to the gym gotta go.

Day 4
Well, I had a good night's rest last night.  It's Saturday, 9:30am here in England and 3:30am back home.  My first wknd here.  It rained a tad this morning and the sun is in & out.  The weather is perfect.  Back in the states we would consider this Fall weather.  I understand they'd say Autum instead of Fall.  A nice Londener I presume left a comment about the biscuit I tried to describe that I had & I'm glad she did because I had the name wrong.  It's called Scones not Crones, that's a disease I believe...duh!  Well I fixed it.  Forgive my ignorance but I'm learning new words, new customs, a different way of living which is a good thing.  I like being outside the box anyway.  She also left be a "Blighty" welcome.  Too funny but cute.  I was told by my host family they say well done, we say good job; we say freeway, they say motorway; they call their main street, the high street, and what we call department stores, they say high street shopping.


Mrs. A. is taking me to this town called Orpington...Orping who???  She's going to take me to the charity shops they have there.  From what she said there's quite a few of them.  I've already had my cuppa coffee, another Scones, washed my faced & brushed my teeth.  She still has on her jammies.  Well, I gotta get ready we're heading to the gym first, then off to Orpington.

We had a grand time in Orpington, a lot of shops up and down the street (high street).  I bought a few items but I was a typical tourist and seized every opportunity for photo shoots.  They had your typical Mickey D's (aka McDonalds), Burger King, even KFC (Colonel Sanders)  I thought that was quite interesting.  People were quite nice a whole lot better than what I experienced going thru customs.  The cashier where I bought an item said to me "Cheers" as I left the store, that is to say "Good-bye".

Here's a few more pics I took while out and about.

Double Decker Bus

The double decker bus.  I saw plenty of those.  And the Mercedes Van next to it.  Their vehicles are of interesting designs.  I guess they would be to a foreigner.

Charity Shop

Just me, the foreign tourister

Pic of one of the charity stores we shopped at.  There were plenty of them & all of them for good causes.  One was for cancer another was for dogs and so many different causes.





Me on the streets of Orpington.  I had a blast.  See the little shopping bag.  I gotta take it slow I'm gonna be here awhile.  So don't wanna spend it all in one day.  Gotta save some loot for when I go into London for some shopping also.  Oh, can't forget Dublin in a few weeks.

Well gotta go.  We're about to have an afternoon cuppa tea before supper.

Tune in for more of Traventure Woman's adventures....cheers :)

Day 5
Today is Sunday, Sept. 18, the weather was kinda iffy as we left for church.  They worship like we do in the states and they preach the same message, at least where I we went they did at Mr & Mrs. A's church.  I felt like jet lag caught up with me again and I had to take a nap soon as I got back from church.  It's to be expected.  It was 4 a.m in Dallas, while I was leaving for service here at 10 a.m.  Well, I must get some rest and get ready for tonight's ministering.  Until next time....

Btw, one of the church members laughed soon as I started talking.  She said I talked funny and love to hear Americans talk because of the accent.  To myself I'm thinking I believe you're the ones with the accent.  But of course, I'm the foreigner and I'm sure I sound funny to them just as the way they talk sounds funny to me.  Can you believe someone asked about JR's ranch....too funny.  Yes, they know about Dallas and the longhorn cattle.

Day 6
Today is Monday, Sept 20, I am pooped from last night but got up and Mrs. A & I went to work out at the gym before she & Mr. A head off to work.  They call it the Leisure Centre ----> then I will go on a walkabout to the store.  We will be going into London tomorrow & I will have better pics of the sights.  I was informed that the law prohibits the homes to have electrical outlets in the bathrooms, so any shaving or hair blow drying has to be done elsewhere in the house where you can find a socket which are minimum.  To us there's sockets everywhere you turn.  And those who are called homeless in America, they call them travellers.  Interesting isn't it.

Oh, I was happily surprised to see I'm not surrounded by fast food joints, liquor stores, Sonics, etc.  I may end up shedding a few pounds myself.  Everyone pretty much walks here.  You see a lot of people walking to the markets or taking the buses which I believe explains why obesity is not as prevelant as it is in the states we drive everywhere for the most part.  If anything, I feel kinda overweight from seeing them.   This goes for both men & women but you can tell the ones who may have visited the pub one too many times....know what I mean? (beer bellies).  Well, see ya later,

It's now 8pm, Monday eve. here in Swanley & 2pm there in Dallas & we just returned from a long walk in the farmers' fields which they call -----> "footpaths" which are very legal.  The English law is that when you buy land you must provide a footpath thru it, not to trample on the land but to just do a walkabout.  Basically, it's like taking a walk thru a field.  I'm sure they're hoping you're not there to pick what they'ved farmed.  You'll see in some of the pics, we came across a parsley field which you'll see in the pic below.

Don't forget you can click on pics to make larger.

Me and Tex in parsely field

Katrina found an onion

This is Katrina, her mommy, (they pronounce it "mummy" calls her KT.  She was schooling me on how to pronounce their english words they pronounce bowl like bull and color is like cola and bath is like buth.  She is adorable, she found the onion patch.  Keep in mind it is perfectly legal to walk the farms.  I told them, in the states that would be called trespassing on other peoples property and considered breaking the law.

We also filled up on the wild blackberrys.  They were ripe & sweet.  We stayed there a good while eating them off the tree or bush they were all over the place  As you can see lil Katrina's fingertips were stained with the blackberry juice.  She had a field day.  She and her "mummy" went on the footpaths with me and my friend Mrs. A. today. 

  

Oh, I didn't mention that to get to these foot paths you have to climb this little fence w/a stool that you step on however, this one was broken.  That's me trying to make my way over & my jeans were just a tad bit snug for that challenge but I made it obviously.  Lil' Katrina just went under but the rest of us it was like doing one of those daring game shows you see on TV.  Too funny. 

Here's Cindy, Katrina's mommy :) making her way over the fence.  This was so totally new to me we don't have anything like this back in the states that I can think of.  We don't trolly around on people's land.  The law in America is that you have a right to protect your own & have firearms.

Mrs. A. feeding the horses

But off we went and then we came to the horses, which again is on farmers land.  Mrs. A. apparently does this all the time bcuz she knew exactly where to go and even brought carrots to feed the horses.  As you can see they ate right out of her hand.






Me with the horses.  I thought I'd give it a try feeding them some grass, but I don't think they were feelin it.

But this one was really friendly and ate right our of my hand and snugged up next to me after that.  That's why my mouth is open bcuz I was surprised.  The horses were very friendly & didn't run off.  And I was told they have a bad case of foxes.  It's been banned to not hunt them and so they've multiplied out of control and sometimes are found in your home in your yard, anywhere.  So I'm on the look out.

Well, this is it for now.  As we were heading back to the house I saw this interesting vehicle which they call a taxi & they for the most part all look like this one but are generally black in color. Looks like the kind we see on the show "The Nanny", if you happen to watch it.  You know the Nanny who comes to set the house in order when children are out of order & the parents don't know how to discipline them back in order.  Right! that one.  Anyway, cheers for now.

Day 7

Okay, today is Monday, September 20, and it's late again, 12:20 a.m.  With the time change it's 6:20pm n Dallas, too early to go to bed.  We went to one of the church member's home group bible study tonight and got back late & just now able to blog.  They go for hours, spending time in worship, prayer & fellowship.  It was good.  The family whose home we were at built a "zip line" in their back yard for their 2 young sons.  Yes, you know like what you see on extreme adventures.  Their backyard is that huge.  Mrs. A. got the idea of actually wanting to go to a real one which they are popular here in the UK. 

Their traffic is totally opposite from the states, pedestrians do not have the right away, the yellow light is actually for you to get ready to proceed, which the cars start moving & the green light is you should already be moving & they can park along the street in any direction, no law to say which direction to park like back home accept in some areas.  The school children where uniforms, different colors for different schools, with their little hats, plaid & pleated skirts & they all carry book bags that look like laptop bags.  And driving down their narrow streets the Yukons, Denalis, SUV Cadillacs & Hummers would take up the whole road.  I have more to share but I'm a little too pooped to upload pics tonight but will tomorrow.  We're headed to the coast in the morning at 6:30am.  We say ocean, they say "sea".  it's going to be an all day affair.  Stay tuned....

Okay here's some pics from yesterday.

On the streets of Seven Oaks High Street shopping district.

Just me outside the red telephone booth.

Pic with the young waiter at the Strada Italiano Restaurante.  He was very charming and nice.  He actually have family in Columbus, Ohio.  Not knowing any better he had said Ohio, Columbus.  Oh, and inside the restaurant you will see green letters on the wall "WC" which stands for "Water Closet" aka restroom, and they don't say restroom or bathroom, they say "toilet".  Doesn't sound tactful but hey, things are different wherever you go.

You heard of Strada handbags, introducing the Strada Restaurant.  Hopefully, you can click on pic to get a better look.  To look at it from the outside you wouldn't think it to be very chic & elegant on the inside, which it is.

This is a mailbox, looks nothing like our blue ones here in the states...right?



St. Nicholas church

This is a very old church and there are plenty of them throughout the villages.  Speaking of villages, they have the most beautiful cookie cutter homes and cottages.  Looks like something out of an old fairy tale storybook.  And they still have the cemetary w/grave stones still their.

Check out new post of week 2 of my month in the UK.