Keeping a journal while I was in England, would have taken a lot of pleasure out of my vacation. However, I do regret not keeping one now. I should have written a sentence or two to sum up each day. Now I will just have to rely on photos to help me to remember the highlights of our trip. I figure I will document my trip through a series of posts with this one being the first.
My husband and I didn’t sleep much on the plane, so we were exhausted when we landed. Unfortunately, we couldn’t check in our hotel until 3 pm. We had three hours to lounge around, so we went to the mall. Our cell phones weren’t working and I am certain we were both going through withdraw. If no one has coined a term to describe such a withdraw they should. We were searching for a store in the mall so we could check our e-mails. I am sure I will have to revise this later after I talk to my husband because I am leaving out some interesting details. On our way to the mall, I was so confused because the cars drive on the opposite side of the highway. I would have gotten hit at least three times had my husband not pulled me back. Well, actually, I would have probably…gotten hit one time because I don’t think I would have crossed the street again if I had gotten hit by that tour bus.
Back to the mall…while walking through the mall, people kept bumping into me! I was getting extremely frustrated because I was tired, hungry, and missing my cell-phone features. My husband who was also tired asked me why I kept bumping into everybody. Well, it took me two days to realize that the mall traffic was just like road traffic. Everything was opposite! You know how two people are walking and you automatically know which side to go on to avoid bumping into each other? Well, that didn’t work out so well for me in England. I am naturally clumsy walking in my own country, so it was a real challenge for me.
We never found what we needed for our phones, so following our daughter’s advice, we purchased UK phones and we had to “top it off,” which meant buy minutes. With all the topping off we did, I could have purchased a whole new wardrobe!
Well, we were able to communicate with our daughter. She also had a UK phone. She was staying at Cambridge University at the time. Still, no e-mail, though, except for the slow behind computer back at the hotel. They charged you by the minute to use it, and it took several minutes to do everything. As I sat there, I was going nuts because it was moving so slowly. “Gosh geez!” I talked to the computer as other hotel guests looked at me strangely. “How am I supposed to get anything done on this hunk of junk?
Hilton Hotel Kensington
Sorry I just jumped from the mall to the hotel. Back to the mall… my husband and I finally sat down to eat after walking around for hours. My stomach was queasy (withdraw, I’m sure), so I asked for a ginger ale. No Ginger ale!! Remember, I was tired, so unimportant things mattered.
We went back to the phone store because we were having problems with our UK phones. When the young lady in the store said, “This is rubbish!” My eyes lit up. I still don’t know why exactly. Maybe I was just delirious. We topped our phone off again before returning to the hotel where I sipped tea most of the night, feeling like rubbish ; )
In a day or so, I will write a post about money in England:
Blessings to you!
Looks like you had an awesome trip.
Yes, my husband and I had a beautiful time. We think back on it often : )
This post was interesting and funny. I can’t wait until your next post. The next time you think about journaling but can’t or don’t want to stop to write, try using the Voice Memo option on your smart phone. It’s a great way to quickly capture your thoughts.
Great idea. I always forget that!