England, part 4

The day before Easter there was a local cricket match. Now, being American, I always assumed that "cricket" was a simple chirping house bug, but of course, I was mistaken. Dave, Lynne's husband, is a big cricketer. I think it must be like football to the south. Everyone in England is into cricket. It reminded me of a game dad use to call "blue jay" which was basically baseball with only two bases instead of four. I can't tell you much more than that honestly. All I know is that it was clearly a gentleman's game since it lasts for hours upon end, and they even break for tea in the middle of the game. This isn't America apparently. Still, it was a beautiful, warm, blue, sunny day and perfect for leisurely watching a nice game of cricket from the club house porch. Had someone offered me an iced tea and cake, I might not have been able to leave. Fortunately, Lynne saved me. She is not very interested in Cricket, but supports it since her husband loves the game. She introduced me to some of her friends, and then we shuffled right out of there. The area where Lynne lives is called "The Potteries" since it was here were famous china makers first opened shop. Makers like Wedgewood, and smaller businesses alike flooded the area. Since there is a lot of burning involved in pottery making (remember you have to fire a piece of pottery at least once?), the sky during that time became black with coal dust. Even in mid day, it was black as night, which I am sure was not pleasant to live in. What I was amazed to find, was that bone china had to be fired at least two times, if not more, depending on how decorated it was. Of course, now all of that work is done in china, and nothing is hand done in England any more. And if you can find a hand painted piece it will run you about 800 dollars and up. It was really interesting being inside the museum. Actually, it was once a local pottery shop that made fine china and pottery, but was never internationally known. It was scheduled for demolition and then at the last minute, the government decided to preserve it and turn it into a museum.


Lynne's community alloment. Where people can grow their own "veg" (as Lynne likes to call it)


The museum parking lot


Inside the old china factory


Inside the kilns. This is where they would heat the pottery.


An outside view of the kilns.






We spent so long at the potteries that one of the docents had to tell us to leave. It was a wonderful museum. We actually did not even make it all the way through. Although, true to British form, we stopped for a leisurely tea in the middle of the day. It was here, at this pottery museum, that I first tasted, and have since become infatuated with, Coffee and Walnut Cake. The woman behind the counter cut a huge slice for me. It was clearly homemade with tons of coffee butter cream frosting in the layers and slathered all over the top. England really inspired me to get back into cake making. There are tons of sweets recipes on BBCGOODFOOD.COM, and I intend to try out many of them once I get back home. Of course, I will be taking all of my creations up to mom and dad's offices so I will not have to be tempted with cakes all around me. Still, I think this could turn into a fun hobby.

After the museum, we drove back to the cricket match, which was not even close to finishing. We had left Jess there because Dave's team pays Jess to score each game they play. So, she unfortunately had to work while we went to the museum. She seemed to enjoy it though.

Since Jess was not able to leave yet, we all bundled back into the car and drove to the local Loggerheads grocery where we picked up salmon fillets, coleslaw, salad stuff (including avocados), and PHISH FOOD. Okay, so those of you who are already acquainted with Ben and Jerry’s know what I am talking about. For those of you who don't, it is a heavenly chocolate ice cream with marshmallows, caramel, chocolate, with dark chocolate fishes swimming throughout. It was really addictive. I had never before tried it, but it was on sale, and so we bought a small pint. YUMM. I am going to have to try to stay clear of that in the grocery stores back home. While enjoying our lovely meal and heavenly ice cream in front of the living room TV, we were entertained by Simon Cowell in "Britain's Got Talent". One woman actually stripped on the show and got through to the next round. And people, she was neither thin, nor young. She had all of her big flab-a-lab shaking all over the place, and was not taken off stage or anything. They just censored her with little bars. British TV is certainly something different.

England, part 3

Good Friday started out with the traditional Hot Cross Buns. For those of you who have never seen a "hot cross bun" and only know the name because you had to memorize "hot cross buns" on the recorder in Elementary school (yes, this was me), I have posted a picture below.



Superstitions surrounding the Hot Cross Bun (from Wikipedia):
English folklore includes many superstitions surrounding hot cross buns. One of them says that buns baked and served on Good Friday will not spoil or become moldy during the subsequent year. Another encourages keeping such a bun for medicinal purposes. A piece of it given to someone who is ill is said to help them recover.
Sharing a hot cross bun with another is supposed to ensure friendship throughout the coming year, particularly if "Half for you and half for me, Between us two shall goodwill be" is said at the time. Because of the cross on the buns, some say they should be kissed before being eaten. If taken on a sea voyage, hot cross buns are said to protect against shipwreck. If hung in the kitchen, they are said to protect against fires and ensure that all breads turn out perfectly. The hanging bun is replaced each year.


I had thought the cross was going to be icing, but I was sorely disappointed when it turned out to be only some tasteless flour paste. Still, I managed to cut my bun in the correct fashion, and slathered it with butter. Of course we had several cups of tea before we could be off for the day, but we did eventually make it to the car and we were on our way to Chester. The medieval town of Chester was strikingly beautiful. It did rain on and off, so it was very overcast, but even still, the buildings were luminous. What makes Chester so remarkable is the way it is laid out. There are two levels of shopping before you reach what use to be merchants homes above the shops. All throughout the interconnected buildings there are the smallest little staircases and I often missed them before Lynne started pointing them out to me. Of course there are larger stairs at the end of each row of buildings, but in between lye the tiny ones where you can make a quick escape to the grown level. We walked around a lot, but I did not buy much of anything. Another thing that is unique about this city is that you can walk the entire perimeter of the old city walls. It took us about two hours to do, but it was really amazing getting to see the old city from every angle.

After our walk around the city walls we were both cold and tired, and stopped at an open air tea shop on the second level of one of the main buildings to have some tea. It was a great spot because we were also able to people watch. Unfortunately, the muffins we ordered were not made there and had been frozen. Lynne’s did not get completely thawed and when she tried to bite into it, she got a big hunk of frozen blue berry muffin. Jessica and I were at least lucky enough to have ordered chocolate muffins that were only mildly cool in the center.

After the tea we all decided to go. I am sure there was much more to see and do. I had even spotted a Starbucks down the way, but we were so chilled and exhausted, we did not want to stay. So, we bundled back into Lynne's light blue Citroen and headed home. Except, we made a detour on the way. We stopped in Market Drayton, the closest town to Loggerheads, where there was an excellent fish and chip shop. Oh. My. God. I think I died and went to heaven that evening. The chip shop smelt of grease and salt. The people working behind the counters looked hot, but amazingly, all the tables and the counter were impeccably clean. We ordered 5 fishes, and 3 large chips. The fish was huge. I mean, you order fish and chips in the USA and you get some measly piece of fish compared to what you get in England. The fish was so big; both ends were hanging off my dinner plate. And the fries, oh god, let me tell you about the fries. They were soft! I mean, they had a slight crisp to them, but they were in not way crunchy, and being that I like soft fries, I was in heaven. Everyone ate their fish and chips differently. Lynne ate hers with vinegar, David ate his with tartar sauce, Ann ate hers plain, and Jess and I ate ours with ketchup. It was by far my favorite thing I ate in England. I love the fried food.

And, as if the all the pounds of fried fish and potato were not enough, we topped the whole meal off with Cadbury Cream Egg ice cream. Then we all settled in the living room to watch the results of American Idol. Now, I know this might sound really wrong, but you know the blind guy who was on American Idol? Well, I have no idea why I did not remember him, but I didn't and so when he came up to sing I started saying how freaky his eyes looked, and how he seemed just a little creepy. Pretty soon we were all saying how creepy he looked, until I suddenly remembered. Holy Crap! He is the blind guy. When I came to this realization, everyone else felt immediately horrible for having agreed with me, but oh well. I mean I feel bad I did not remember, but how are just suppose to know he is blind. Okay, well I think that might be obvious to most people, but somehow I just missed it.

Photos of Chester:


This is the dominant style seen in Chester.




Notice the two levels of shopping.


Entrance to Chester.


A view of Chester from the city wall.








The Churches of Chester.

England, Part 2

The morning after my arrival was gray and there was a ever so slight drizzle falling from the sky. Still, it might as well have been sunny to me. Surprising the weather did not effect me the way it does when it rains here in Italy. I did not find gray England dreary at all. Mornings were always slow for the family. Friday was the first day of "bank holiday" where all of the banks and post offices are closed for the Easter weekend. People did not start working until the following Tuesday. So, everyone woke up somewhere around eight or eight thirty. Lynne was always up before I was and the moment I walk into the kitchen, the first place I thought of every morning, she would make me a fresh cup of tea. In England people use electric tea kettles. I told her I was surprised to see such a think since we have always had a kettle that you place on the stove. She looked at me with a little shock, and told me that no one has used that kind of kettle for ages and that most all Englanders use an electric kettle now. When I came back from England I started researching electric tea kettles and found that the reason why most people use them is because they filter out excess lime (which is a big problem here in Italy) and they heat up faster as well as conserve more of your water. I am planning on going to look for one in Siena on Monday, I just hope they are not outrageously expensive.

Tea was always the first thing you made yourself in the morning. About an hour after you had two cups of tea, Lynne would come back into the kitchen and make breakfast for everyone. We had poached eggs that morning, and almost every morning there after. I would always ask for two poached eggs and three slices of toast. She opened this fabulous bottle of fig jam while I was there and one of my favorite breakfast things was a slice of toast covered in melted butter with the sweet fig jam on top. Of course we had some more tea or juice with our breakfast. Afterwards, we all changed clothes, cleaned up the kitchen and left for Newcastle-under-Lyme. The people of the area just call it Newcastle for short, but if you say "Newcastle" to someone from another area, they will think you mean the large city that is much further north.

In Newcastle Lynne bought a gift for her sister-in-law as it was her birthday the following day, and then we went to a local jewelery pawn shop where I exchanged 100 euros for pounds. We took a quick walk around the city, just window shopping mainly, and then decided to stop in a local tea shop for a rest and a bit of tea. I posted a picture of this tea in my last post.


I loved the name and look of this building.


A view of the tea room in Newcastle where I had my first English tea time.


The public garden in Newcastle.


A statue of the queen in the Newcastle gardens.


One of the main streets in Newcastle.


The "Womble In"


The "Golden Lion"


Another main street in Newcastle.


A tulip blooming at the first sign of spring


A final view of the Newcastle gardens.

It was not the prettiest of days, but I was so excited just to be in England that it didn't matter. After we exchanged my money, we headed off to the grocery store where we bought the essentials, including freshly baked Hot Cross Buns. They are a traditional Good friday treat, and so we bought enough for snack time as well as for the next morning for breakfast. I was in love with the grocery store. It was just like back home. You could get anything you might ever want, including pancake mix, and made up meals sold by the grocery. Lynne bought the things to make "bangers and mash" as well as some Cadburry Cream Egg Ice Cream.

By the time we got home we were hungry and decided to make some tea and toast the hot cross buns. Lynne toasted mine for me and then told me to just cut it in half. Now, if you have never seen a hot cross bun before, it is basically in the shape of a dinner roll and has to white perpendicular lines across it. I thought, when she told me to cut it in half, that she ment for me to cut the bun in half along the line. So, that's exactly what I did. Lynne turned around, she had gone back to the oven for the rest of the buns, and for the briefest of moments, had a look of terror in her eyes. "Oh, you cut it the wrong way" she told me. I was really confused at this point and said "How do you know which way you are suppose to cut it" I asked her, thinking she meant I was suppose to cut down the other line. Then I see her slice her own like a bagel, and I understand what she means. We all had a little laught and Lynne assured me that there was no wrong way to eat it, and that I could eat mine however I liked.

After our buns Lynne and I decided to take a walk. Since they live in the country, there are all these hidden walking trails that many people seem to use whenever it is not raining outside. Even if there is a threat of rain, people will still walk if they think they can get out and back in before the rains come. It was pretty muddy when Lynne and I first took off. We headed down a trail that was behind her house, out to the main road and then off behind an old farm that someone had converted into a large home. Unfortunately, it was a little more wet that we anticipated and my feet sunk in the mud at the end of the dell. The good part is that I only got a little of one shoe wet so, I was able to keep going. We walked for two hours that day. The country side can be vast, but they were not at all disconnect from the main cities. It was nice because they got the chance to walk everyday and still could work close by.

Photos of the Loggerheads Country Side:


A baby fern slowly opeing its leaves.


The old farm house I was talking about that was converted to a modern home.


Flowers in the dell.


That's Lynne just ahead of me.

















One thing that I was really struck by was the design of the homes. Lynne's home was built in the 80s and still it was a great design. All of the windows are deeply set into the walls. In the Living room there was a bay window with a little curtain that fitted directly over it. Then there was another curtain David and Lynne had hung which would cover the whole area of the bay window on nights when it was really cold. Of course there was no ventiallation system in the home because people do not have air conditioning. Lynne said they only turn the heat off from May to mid-September. Also, when Lynne had her kitchen redone, she installed heated tile flooring so that it was always pleasant on your feet in the morning. The ceilings were low, more characteristic of older homes, but still in a place that is so cold, you want your ceilings to be lower. Still, the house never felt or looked cramped. It was so comfortable that even though it got down to the 30s at night, I could still sit in the living room with wet hair and be perfectly comfortable. The one thing I thought odd was that no one had mail boxes. You have to go to a post box to mail your letters. Although everyone has a mail slot in their door so the mail does atlease come to you.

And finally, there was Sky TV. Oh bless you! I got to watch American Idol for the first time since I left the states, and it was wonderful. Sky TV is like a form of cable television where you get all sorts of channels in all sorts of languages. American Idol is so popular even in Britain, that the BBC airs each new episode every Thursday, and the results show on Fridays. That night we ate "bangers and mash", aka 'sausage and mashed potatoes' with brown sauce (like a vinegary ketchup) in front of the TV while watching American Idol. To finish it all off, we each had a bowl of Cadburry Cream Egg Ice Cream.

Now, some people might ask why I did not go to London. Well, the truth of the matter is, no one knew how expensive the tickets were going to be until we started looking it up. It was going to cost us almost 100 pounds for a roundtrip train ticket to London. We were all so astounded, and agreed that it would be something to do next time I came to visit them.

It was a wonderful day. Relaxing, pleasant, and I even got a little exercise in. I was so happy.

England, Just What the Doctor Ordered

So, let's start from the beginning shall we? The date is April 8, 2009. The time is 8:00am. The place? Well, San Gusme of course. So, here we go!

I woke up bright and early last Wednesday morning, and was out the door at 8am sharp. With my blue suite case in hand (borrowed from P&S), and my carry-on strapped to me, I headed off for the big house. Everything went very smoothly. Sam and Emma were out the door on time, we dropped Emma off at school and then Sam drove straight to the Siena train station. I was really appreciative when he got out of the car and walked into the station with me. I had thought, and I guess he had too, that there was one of the modern ticket machines at the train station, but once we were inside it was obvious there were none. So, we headed to the ticket counter. I asked the man for a ticket to Pisa Airport, and he turned and did some fiddling on his computer. Then, he turned back to me and began speaking. The only problem was I could not hear him at all. There was no microphone behind the thick glass partition, only a few little slits, and what with trains taking off and arriving in the background I could only make out a few mumbles here or there. Thankfully Sam was able to catch more than I was, and eventually I had my ticket in hand.

He gave me a quick hug, and wished me well before I turned to make my way to my platform. The train was already pulled up when I reached the platform, and I was a little suspicious that this was not my train at all. Sometimes, trains will park at a platform for a while to ensure that they are on schedule. I could see many others around me with suitcases looking a little perplexed as well, so I decided to hang back and see what everyone did. With ten minutes left before the train was scheduled to take off, everyone eventually came to the conclusion that this was in face the correct train, and we all made our way on board. I was sitting on the train, staring out the window, when I saw three young people racing up the stairs. They were all about to get on when one of them, the lone male, realized they had forgotten to stamp their tickets (if you do not do this to every ticket you have before you get on a train you could get a HUGE fine), so he hopped back down, raced over to the little yellow stamping machine by the stairs they had rushed up, and as quickly as he could stamped all three tickets. Now, you might think that since the trains are still operated by humans, that if you are late or running up to dash onboard at the last minute, that the train will wait for you, but you would be wrong. I have seen a lady bang on the doors of a train while it is moving and try to even stick her arm through the closed door to open it, and the train never stopped. The trains are the only thing that runs on any resemblance of a schedule in Italy and if you miss your train it is like missing the subway, it is not stopping for you. Fortunately though, the guy was able to stamp all the tickets and make it on to the train in plenty of time. I knew they spoke English when I heard the guy talking as he was running up to the train carriage. Funny enough, the three of them, ended up taking the three seats around me, and I listened to them chatter away for a while.

Eventually, I asked them where they were from. Turns out the two girls were from Germany, but spoke perfect English, and the guy said he was from South Caroline. I told him I was from Texas, and he asked whereabouts. I told him Fort Worth, and he looked at me a little funny, and he asked me, "You don't by any chance happen to know the Reids do you?" Of course, this was a little vague and I said, maybe, since the name did sound familiar. He listed off the parents names, but that did me no good. I asked for their kids names, and the final one he listed was William Reid. Well, I knew THAT name. We went to choir when we were younger, and although he really enjoyed it, it was the bane of my existence. When I confirmed that I did know William, he said "Oh my god, that's so funny. William is my boyfriend." I was shocked. I mean, what a small world. We could not believe that we had met in Italy, on a train going to Florence. I mean, it was fate. We talked and talked until we could talk no more. It was so nice to talk with someone who was from home, or at least knew the area. We talked a little about Italy, and they said they were there doing their master’s thesis, but on their way to Venice for a vacation. Unfortunately, I had to get off the train at Empoli and switch directions so that I could make it to the Pisa Airport. I told him how glad I was to meet him, and to add me on facebook whenever he got the chance. It was really comforting to be among friendly people who speak English.

I waited in Empoli for an hour for my next train. I could have taken another train that went much quicker, but it would have meant that I would have had to make another switch at the main Pisa station and get on a smaller train to the airport. I did not want to take the chance of getting lost so I just took the train that would take me directly to the airport after my wait in Empoli. What with my bags and all, I did not want to be racing up and down a continuous amount of stairs trying to reach my destination. I arrived at the airport in one piece, and made my way to the Ryan Air desk. In case you have not heard of Ryan Air, it is an airline based out of England that is super cheap (the seats do not even recline, and you have to pay to use the bathroom on board); many people fly it though because they will go to the little airports. Had I have not flown Ryan air, I would have had to fly into London and then get another plane flying into Liverpool. All in all it would have taken me about six hours, where as with Ryan Air, it only took me 2.5 hours. I knew there would be problems from the start since I had decided to take a checked bag and had not indicated so much when I checked in online. I tried to call the Ryan Air office but they told me they could do nothing for me since I had already checked in online, and that I would need to pay for my bag when I checked it at the desk at the airport. So, I stood waiting for about 40 minutes for my Liverpool flight to open. People were crowded all over the place waiting to get in line, and once the sign flicked up saying that the Liverpool desk was open, it was what I imagine the Red Sea looked like after all the Jews had crossed it. Imagine, if you will, a massive wave of people each trying to nonchalantly slip in front of the other. I did not worry about it too much, but ended up getting in the upper middle of the line. Once I reached the desk, I told the woman I needed to check a bag. Ryan Air is full of weight and dimension restrictions. I could only take 22 pounds on board in a small carryon, and my checked bag could be no more than 35 pounds. And you are only allowed to take one small carry-on on the plane. Nothing else. So, if you have a purse, you better be able to fit it in your bag, because it counts as a second item. Also, Ryan Air does not assign seats. It is first come, first serve. You can pay for priority boarding, which I think I will do next time, but I did not bother with it this time. So, back to my checked bag. The woman gave me a receipt and told me I had to go inside the other building and pay for my bag (22 Euros), then come back and bring her the ticket and that she would give me my boarding pass. She also told me to not wait in the line, but just to come up and she would give me my ticket. I was a little skeptical about this, but did as I was told. I waited in the line to pay my bag, and returned to the other building cautiously making my way up the line. I was worried someone was going to stab me in the back or something because people are never meaner than when they are at the airport, and what with the line still being out the door, I knew some people were going to think that I was cutting. Actually, as I was waiting for a chance to slip in somewhere between the people checking in, I looked over at the line to find a lot of people my age giving me the evil eye. "I promise I am not cutting" I said, "They told me to not wait in line after I paid for my checked bag." I think some of them were a little embarrassed to have been called out on their staring but one of the guys made a joke and told me he would believe me for now. There were two desks dedicated to the Liverpool flight, both out the door and I finally got to slip in to ask one of the attendants about my ticket. Immediately, she told me that I needed to ask the other woman. Damn just when I had made my way to her, then I had to wait to get in to see the other woman. As I was waiting, all of the old people kept cutting me off and giving me the cold shoulder as I tried to get the other attendants attention, the other attendant just said "No, just ask her" and coaxed me. Eventually, I just interrupted her, and she quickly handed me my boarding pass. I was finally on my way.

Security was a nightmare of course. I had to go through the metal detector three times. After the third time the woman who was watching my line just said that it was probably my hair clip and told me to go on. When I came to the passport desk, I simply handed my book over to the man behind the partition and waited. He did some fiddling on his computer, and I was so hot from going through security so many times, that my face must have looked beet red. After what seemed like ages, he gave me back my passport. Then, just as I thought I was in the clear, he called to me just as I was walking behind the partition. He asked to see my passport once again, did a little more fiddling and then just handed it back to me and let me go. At this point, I was really hot and tired. I still had to wait another forty minutes before we could get on board. They boarded the priority people first, and then it was time for everyone else. Once they checked my ticket for a final time, we were lead out to the tarmac and had to board the plane using stairs. Unfortunately, I was not a good judge when it came to where to sit. I only realized there was a two year old sitting directly behind me when the flight took off and it start screaming bloody murder. Not only did it scream, but it kicked my seat as if it was possessed. It was a long flight. In a nutshell, the child did not like be in a seat belt and would therefore scream whenever she had to sit down. When the plane was landing was the worse, because the parents kept taking her out of the seat to comfort her, and then she would scream whenever they tried to put her back. I was really exhausted at this point. All I had had to eat was an apple at 7am, and now there was an infant kicking my chair and screaming in my ear. Jesus.

Arriving in England was a little different. There was only one line for all other non European citizens and it was completely empty, where as the line for the EU citizen was jam packed. I had to fill out a little information card for the passport man, but was stumped when it came to "address where you will be staying". In my rush to get going I had completely forgot to print Lynne's address, and so I had nothing to tell the man other than Lynne Redfern and Loggerheads. He asked me for the address and I had nothing to give him. I told him I didn't know her address but that she lived in Loggerheads. He asked me where that was and I told him I had no idea. He asked where we met; I told him we met last October while on vacation in Venice. He asked me if she was picking me up, and I told him she was. He asked me if I was a student in Italy, and I told him I was. "Just one of those semester things huh?" he asked. "Yes" I answered. He stamped my passport and bid me good day. Finally, I was in England. My bag seemed to be waiting for me, and I rolled out into the main area of the airport.

My goodness it was so nice to see Lynne. A friendly face is always welcome. Jessica, her daughter, was with her as well, and she was very fun and bubbly. We were out the door in minutes. As we reached her car I moved to get into the passenger side when Lynne said "Oh, this is England dear. Passenger side is the other side." My mind did a whole "HOLY CRAP!" thing, before it registered, and I made my way around the other side of the car. I did not make that mistake again.

I think the most amazing thing at that time was that it was so pleasant and sunny. There was a strong wind in Liverpool, but that died out as we made our way into the country side. There were big white clouds, and bright bits of blue sky. It was a very pleasant day. And I was so happy to be there. So grateful for a vacation.

We arrived at their house in about an hour. We dropped off my bags, I was given a quick tour of the house, shown my room, and then we made our way over to Ann's house (Lynne's mother, who we also met on our vacation). She was ready and waiting with traditional English tea. She even got out the super nice china, and three different types of tea cakes were ready and waiting for me. I had one of each since I told them I had only had an apple all day, I think they understood. After I had two cups of tea, and felt a little more replenished, we looked over the Chinese take-out menu. Yumm. I don't even remember what all we ate; I just know it was good. The take out place was only a few minutes from her house, so while Lynne went in to order, Ann, Jess and I headed over to "The Loggerheads", the local pub where we got a few glasses of white wine and a juice for Jess. I really love the English pubs. All are kept in their original style, and have the traditional super low ceilings, no doubt sealing in warmth during the winter, and have tons of exposed beams everywhere. The furniture has that old worn in quality. Maybe it does not look old, but it feels like every chair is welcoming, like each bit of furniture has been waiting for you for years ready and willing to make you as comfortable as possible. Traditionally the fabrics in these places seem to be of the dark nature, making the space feel even more cozy and comforting. Yes, I think it would be safe to say it was love at first sight.

Our food was ready immediately and we scurried back home to eat and drink and be merry. We watched 'America's got Talent' (Yay!!!! American TV!!), and had more wine that should be allotted for any one person. I went to bed thoroughly full and pleased. Completely happy and satiated for the first time in a long time, I drifted to sleep in their large double bed with soft white sheets and welcoming down comforter.

Now, of course I know you want pictures, and believe me, I have plenty, but I did not take any pictures on my first day, so I will give you a sneak peak of England, part 2.


My first cup of English tea at a tea shop in Newcastle-under-Lyme. It was wonderful.

Hi Ho Cherie-O!

I AM GOING TO ENGLAND!!!!!!!!!

Feel free to be jealous now.

So, as you can see, I am very excited to be venturing to England. After all, I have only ever seen Italy, and I know it has to get a little better than this. I will be gone for eight whole days if you can believe that! I am excited to sip tea and eat a crumpet (okay, can someone please tell me WHAT a crumpet is first??). I am so happy to be finally GOING somewhere new. I get bored up here in my little apartment and doing the daily grind (of course, who doesn't?). So, it is almost 11 at night here and I have to wake up early so I am going to make this short and sweet. I hope to post to my blog at least a few times while I am in England... perhaps even upload some photos. However, if I do not do this, please expect a post sometime in the early afternoon on the 16th of April.

I seriously hope we get to go to the movies. I am so desperate to sit in a movie theatre and watch a movie in English. Maybe the daughter, Jessica, will say something. Oh dear lord, please let me go to the movies!!

Wet, cold, mud, who cares when you are on vacation?!

The Good And The Bad

Let's start out with the good news shall we?

First of all, I got 10 hours of sleep last night, and I am feeling much better today. Even thought I am still moving a little slow, I guess it is not all together inappropriate being that I am in Italy.

Second, Pam decided to come home tonight and sleep. I do not really know why she decided to do this, but I am glad she did because I was not really looking forward to sleeping in their bed again. Okay, I was not looking forward to changing the sheets and making a new bed. What can I say; I guess I have gotten a little lazy.

Third, the sun is out today and it a very pleasant weather.

The Bad...

Well, the soup did not turn out quite like I had planned. Actually, I never had a full bowl of it. Around six the girls headed off to swim practice and I trudged back to the apartment to read a little. I was so dead; I just was not even hungry. I went down to the office and told Sam that I was just going to skip dinner and go to bed because I was dragging. He told me this was fine, and I fell asleep around 9:30pm. I don't know if they actually ate any of the soup or not, but I can tell you, it did not taste all that good to me. Now, I did find it bland so perhaps they really liked it, who knows. Then, this morning Pam comes to tell me that she is coming home in the evening and is going to bring a pizza for us all. I am pretty happy about that. I really love pizza night because there is hardly any mess to clean up, and of course, I love the pizza here.

The worst is that I think it is starting to show just how much I need a vacation. I just don't do much of anything anymore. When I first came, as all of you know, I wanted to do everything for this family. Then when they would not help me keep their place orderly, it kind of hurt my feelings and made me feel like they did not care what I did, like my hard work meant nothing to them. I still do the laundry, and pick up a little, but it is nothing like it once was because I just got burned out. Burned out and tired. I have even stopped cooking all that much. I just know that they do not like much of the food I cook and therefore, I just cook whatever is convenient. Their disorderliness has really gotten to me these past few weeks. If know me well, you know I am not very accepting of other's flaws. Even though I am plenty flawed myself, and I realize this, I have a hard time accepting the flaws of others when they are things I find important, like living an orderly life, etc. I guess, well, I guess I am pretty judgmental when it comes right down to it (another wonderful flaw to add to my list), but hopefully, I can change this with time.

Today I came to this realization. For a while now, I have been talking to Mom, and thinking, and trying to figure out what I do not like about it here, why I am not just overjoyed to be in Italy. And today, it suddenly dawned on me. I just don't like the lifestyle. Of course it probably doesn't help that the family I work for pushes my buttons a little, but still, I know it is mostly the lifestyle. I am just not an Italian at heart. I don't want to wait two years to get an electric bill, or never be able to find a ham hock, never eat another Oreo again. Even though life here of slow, and therefore the claim is that the quality of life is better, I would rather be in a faster society where I can have the luxuries of this world. That is just who I am. And, even if I come back from Italy not knowing how to speak Italian fluently, and even if I decide to not come back to work in Europe, I say that coming to Italy was still a good decision in the long run because it taught me that the life back home may not be perfect, but it is the life I want for myself. Now, all I have to do is learn how to find happiness here, and accept my surroundings. I think if I can do that, I will be much happier. I just have to think of it as 'roughing it' for a few more months because after the summer is over. I am only coming back for three months. Not nearly as long as my first stay here. So, I am glad I recognized this, finally, and I hope my next few months here go a lot more smoothly.

Did you know I have to boil 200 eggs and then help dye them in time for Easter this year? I think I might have mentioned this in my last post. Well, I started working on them today. I can do about twelve at a time so hopefully, it will be a fairly quick process. If you did not have to wait twenty minutes after you boiled them, it would be even better. It is really interesting how Italians celebrate Easter. I think most of them have some sort of past dish along with lamb, and the children receive huge, I mean huge, like the size of your face, chocolate Easter eggs. They are wrapped either in fancy paper or child themed paper (like Barbie or Batman). I am actually very interested to know how the British celebrate Easter. I imagine it must be pretty similar to the way Americans celebrate the holiday, but who knows. After this holiday, I don't think I will be missing any other American holidays at hom....crap; I will miss the 4th of July. Well, I will only be home five days late so that has to count for something. Obviously, the people here do not celebrate the 4th of July, so I guess I will be missing that holiday also. Although, I never much cared about the 4th of July the way I care about Thanksgiving and Christmas.

On Monday, I am planning on going into Siena one more time before I leave, I want to get birthday presents for both of the girls (Siena's is not for a few months yet, but I figure it is best to be prepared), as well as check out some shops I have had my eye one for a while now. Then, on Tuesday, I will be packing like a mad woman. Wednesday, I will be off (My flight leaves 7:40 am Fort Worth time), so you can be thinking of my as you are getting up next Wednesday morning.

My French lessons are going well. I am already able to speak a little bit, and mostly my grammar is not incorrect, just my pronunciation, which slows down our lessons a lot, but what can you do eh? I will be trying to practice more now that I am out of Italian school, and of course, I need to get back to practicing my Italian and drilling myself on vocabulary for both languages. Also, I have started working on my writing again. I try to do whatever feels natural to me, and so we will see where that leads me. Several people have said they enjoy my writing in the blog, and so I am trying to translate that into a story and use my Italian surroundings to influence me a little. Maybe all is starting to get on track again...or maybe I haven't even found my train car yet, who knows? (Or as the Italians would say: Chissa?)

Time's A Killer

I don't know about the rest of you, but for some reason Spring Forward this year has been like a death sentence for me. In case any of you do not know, Italy Springs forward at the end of March, while the United States springs forward at the beginning of March. So, for almost a whole month I was six hours closer to home, and I was naturally waking up around 6:40am getting work done, and just generally enjoying my natural early rising. Then, the time change hit, and I have been like a zombie for these past few days. I have not been able to get up out of bed until 8:30am or later, and in so doing, miss my morning yoga routine, and generally just do not get much accomplished. This morning was no different. I woke up, and just rolled over. I guess it does not help that I am staying up later as well. With the time change, I have to wait until even later in the evening to talk to Mom, which puts me in bed an hour to two hours later than normal. I swear tomorrow, I am going to wake up and get over this lethargy. I hope.

In other news, I am going to try to make a Ribollita soup tonight. It is a Tuscan soup that uses old bread, veggies, and that's about it. I am adding some pork fat to my soup in hopes to give it a little flavor. You know, you would not think it would be too hard to find some things. Even if you don't know the proper word for them, you would think you could still describe them, and people would know what you are talking about. Not true. I have talked to at least three people now who have no idea what I am talking about when I try to explain a "ham hock". Everyone looks at me like I am from Mars instead of the USA. Sam says that even butchers just don't sell the bones here, very weird, and I have to wonder, 'where do they all go?' So, this morning I went to the local market and asked Johnny, who is very nice, for a piece of meat maybe prosciutto or pancetta, that I could use to give a flavor to a soup. He also looked at me like I was a little crazy, but what are you going to do eh? He was helpful though, and said I should probably use the pancetta, a lighter bacon, and I asked him to cut me a sizeable hunk I probably will not use all of it, but freeze it and use it again. I told him, while he was cutting, that in the good ol' USA we normally use a bone, but that here it did not seem possible to find such a thing. He shook his head ferverently and said no. Oh well, at least I have something now.

Also, I have taken down the spider web curtains that hang over my kitchen area, and threw them in the wash this morning. I was amazed at the gaps in the windows I had thought I filled with aluminum foil (by the way, thanks Jeff for the recommendation to use dryer sheets to keep out the bugs. Unfortunately, since there are no dryers in Italy, dryer sheets are not available here). I mean, Batman could fit through those gaps. So, I filled them, completely this time, with almuminum foil, and once the curtains are dry, I will hang them over the window in hopes to insulate the apartment a little more.

And, of course, I am going to England in six days!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Think I am excited?? I was telling Mom the other night how happy I was to be spending Easter with a family this year. I mean, sure I could be with the family I work for, but as it turns out, Emma's birthday will be the day after easter, so they are celebrating it all together this year and there will be something like forty kids running in and out of this apartment. It isn't even really the kids that bothers me, but who do you think would have cleaned up that mess afterwards. Certainly not Mom or Dad.... Yeah, cleaning up after forty kids is no way to spend a holiday. I am glad I am going to be welcomed as someones guest for Easter. I don't care if we just sit in the livining room eating Chinese food; I will just be happy to be with a family. I think Thanksgiving might be really hard for me, and I might really put an effort towards going to one of my pen pals homes for that period of time. The weather says it is suppose to be raining for the first three days after I arrive in England, but I figure this is normal, and I am not too worried about it.

Last night it rained here like crazy. Fortunately, it stoped by the time Pam and Sam got home, so I did not have to walk back to the apartment in the rain. It was the first night of their first tour of the year last night, and they were out until around 11:15pm. This Friday, Saturday, and part of Sunday, they will be gone so I will have a little relaxation this weekend, which I am happy about. Oh, and did I mention something early about going to Paris with P&S in June?? Well, if I did, please know that it is officially off... for me. Pam decided to take just Siena after Emma complained about going, and so it was decided that I would stay here and watch Emma while everyone else went to Paris. Damn. Well, I guess it is my job, but from now on, I will just know to not count on anyhting Pam says we are doing. Still, I can go to Paris on my own if I want, so I guess that is some comfort.

I am really missing home this week, but I am excited to be going to England, and I am trying to keep that in mind.

Finally, I am very very sorry I have not posted pictures lately. I know those are the posts everyone loves the best. My plan is to do a little walking maybe on Saturday and post some photos after my walk around San Gusme. However if this does not happen, please know that some time after April 15th this blog will be loaded down with pictures of England. Perhaps I will take a picture of the soup a make tonight as well and post the recipe to my blog if it tastes good.

Missing you all.