Abbey Road

 It would be a huge disservice to myself, my friends, my parents, and my college education if while in London I didn’t at least GLANCE toward Abbey Road.  Because for those who know, the Beatles have been a big part of my life, musically, literally since I was born.

Why is that, you ask?  Because 1) my dad is, was and always will be, a huge Beatles fan and from an early age played Beatles music to me.  There are cassettes out there (yes, I’m dating myself) of me around the age of 3 singing “Eight Days A Week” with abandon.  And until the age of, oh, I don’t know, 12 or 13, I actually thought my dad wrote and sang “Lady Madonna.”  So when I enrolled at IU and signed up for “The History of the Beatles” class, my parents were in full support of my eagerness to learn the ins and outs of the music of their favorite band…and since they were paying my tuition, I felt their support was justified.  (Even if they hadn’t been, I would have still taken the class!)  And during that time, I have to admit that I felt bad for anyone living around me who didn’t like the Beatles, because I listened to each and every album (okay, CD) constantly.  Like, all day, every day.  Over and over again. 

So it would make sense, in my opinion, to show all those who supported (or didn’t support) my obsession passion for the Fab Four, that their patience and support was well worth it.  Because, after all, walking that crosswalk that served as The Beatles’ final album cover is a definitive symbol of any true Beatles fan.  And if you make it to London, and don’t head there, you just have to truly look inward and say, “am I really that big a fan??”

Little Venice, a charming canal

Not wanting to disappoint, we made our way to Abbey Road.  It was such a gorgeous day that we decided to walk the 3 miles to Abbey Road from our hotel instead of tubing it.  And what a gorgeous walk it was!!  The homes were beautiful and the streets were quiet; a FAR cry from the touristy areas we’d seen nonstop the last week.  We passed by Little Venice, which is a small canal that is now used for touristy gondola rides but was first dredged for cargo.  Once we arrived to Abbey Road, we found that in addition to visiting the famed road, watching the debacle that occurs there is just plain entertaining.

Because it IS still a functioning road; cars pass through the crosswalk to get to their destinations regularly.  And pedestrians walk across Abbey Road to get to their destinations often.  So what you end up having is a hodgepodge of eager, geeky tourists (like myself), stopping traffic and pedestrians from trying to get where they’re going so they can have their photo taken crossing the street.  And for the most part, the drivers of the cars seem relatively compliant and not once did we hear that annoyed long press of the car horn.  But you have to think that some Londoners just want to say after a while, “Come ON!!!  It’s just a CROSSWALK!!!!!  MOVE!!!!!!”

 

But happily we weren’t a reason for road rage that day.  And now I have my picture crossing the road that musical legends walked in their drug-induced state just looking for something different to put on their record album cover oh so long ago.  So I guess you could say I’m one happy Beatle-manic fan. :)

Back To London

After 3 days in Barcelona eating, drinking and spending some wonderful quality time with 2 of our closest friends, it’s time we make our way back to London where we will spend 2 more days before heading to South Africa.

With a little more time to kill there, we’ll most likely walk around the parks, as the weather in London has been amazingly gorgeous and the temperature has been perfect.  I’m sure we’ll tackle an English Breakfast and possibly another pint or two before we say “cheerio” and head south.

Getting closer to our safari…looking forward to it!!

Scones and Clotted Cream=HEAVEN

 

If you haven’t noticed by now, food on this trip is a pretty big deal for me.  It might have a little to do with the fact that since we’ve lived in the BVI we’ve met a ton of British crew, who’ve taught us the ins and outs of English eating.  So before we head out of London, there are a few things we must have while here: a good pint (or two!): check.  Beef pie, check.  Fish and chips, check. English breakfast, and tea.  Hmmm…

We have about 4 hours before we need to be on a plane for Barcelona, and we still have a major food item we need to take on before we leave.  Granted, we’ll be back for another two days at the end of the week, so are we really in the mood for such a filling breakfast now?

My first thought was no.  I thought having a French pastry at the charming little pastisserie not far from our hotel sounded like a much better idea for that particular moment.  So we head that way, intentions clear on a croissant and cappuccino.

Until I read on the menu, “English scone with clotted cream and jam.”

BINGO.

For those of you not in the know, an English scone is a wee bit different than our American scones.  Yes, they are both very crumbly and delicious.  But English scones are traditionally served warm and are usually fruit-based.  And the major difference between English vs. American scones: the English serve theirs with jam and clotted cream.

To further our education lesson in English scone-eating, clotted cream is a heavy cream that has been, er, well, clotted for lack of a better word, making it thick and creamy, similar in texture to butter or cream cheese.  But it doesn’t taste like cream cheese.  Rather it tastes mildly sweet, almost so mild you barely notice it, but adds such a wonderful compliment to the crumbly, buttery scone.  Top it with a little jam and you’ve got yourself a little moment of unadulterated pastry bliss.

You could say that I fell in love, right then and there.  Of course I’ve had my share of scones.  I’ve even had my share of muffins with jam (something I never really knew about until my non-American friends showed me the way).  But taking in an English scone, complete with clotted cream and raspberry jam and side of a gorgeously frothy cappuccino, I think it’s safe to say my day was made.

Next stop, BARCELONA!!!!

Tower of London

A rainy day at the Tower of London

After a fantastic 15 hour night’s sleep, Matt and I both woke up on our second day in London ready to take in the sights.  What to do?  What to do?  Well, the first thing we MUST do is partake in a little English tradition: Fish and Chips.  Ah, the glorious fish and chips.  They even have shops in London (called “chippers”) specifically for fish and chips.  Matt and I walked in with our appetites on our shoulders and proceeded to dive into the enormous amount of chips and equally enormous piece of fish.  Ahhh, a little piece of heaven!

Ok, with that out of the way, what next?

Since we seemingly covered 75% of the sights the day before, the only real glaringly obvious sight to be seen remained: the Tower of London.

I admit it.  I’m a history buff.  I love love LOVE delving into the stories of ancient times, especially in a city that has a history longer than my Aunt Edna’s nose (okay okay, I don’t actually have an Aunt Edna, but if I did she would probably have a big nose).  And I absolutely LOVE the history of kings and queens and all the treachery and drama that surrounds them.  With that said, prior to my trip to London, I envisioned the Tower of London to be just that: a tower.  Maybe even a little similar to Big Ben.  I always knew about it in the context of the Tower of London and London Bridge (“London Bridge is falling down, falling down, falling down…”) but I never really LOOKED at pictures of the Tower of London.  History Buff failure #1.

So you can imagine the look on my face when we arrived at what looks like a town within a city, and realized this was, in fact, the Tower of London.  Not so much a tower, but rather, a palace.  Okay, so some of the buildings within the property have a tower-esque view, but it is seemingly a misnomer nonetheless.  Even more eager to take on this history lesson, we happily paid the £44 entry fee and walked in.  Along with 10,000 other eager visitors.

Yep.  It was a crowded day.  Even for a rainy and chilly Saturday.  But not to be deterred, we continued moving on, and found ourselves doing the “walking tour” with the Beefeater tour guides (also called yeomen).  Since it was rainy, their 1 hour walking tour was abbreviated to a 29 minute summation of the property within the chapel.  But boy did we get an earful of information in that 29 minutes!

The Traitor's Gate

Mostly about Henry VIII, who is the most infamous of England’s kings.  And mostly what we learned about was how few people were executed on the grounds of the Tower of London.  Evidently, it was an honor to be executed within the grounds so therefore not many people “deserved” to die at the request of the monarch in such a prestigious area.  Rather, most people were executed on the hill just up the way from the Tower (aptly named, “Tower Hill”).  We also learned that the yeomen who served within the Tower are all former military personnel who served for a certain number of years and are therefore “promoted” to work and live within the Tower grounds.  We also learned that the chapel we were sitting in was constructed by Henry VIII and that several people during his reign (including his 2^nd wife Anne Boleyn) were buried under the chapel’s floors. 

After our quick rundown of the Tower, we ventured on our own around the grounds and learned for ourselves a little more of the history.  Did you know that from the 14^th century until roughly the end of the 19th century, royalty and consulates from around the world would bring the king or queen in power a “gift” of an exotic animal from their part of the world?  For example, the king of Norway brought Edward II (I think) a polar bear, another consulate brought a lion (actually 3), another brought an ostrich, and yet another brought monkeys.  This eventually became the “Royal Menagerie” and was the sight to be seen in the Tower of London for the commoners.  Likewise, many prisoners spent their final days in the Tower, and we witnessed their inscriptions etched into the stones from where they awaited their fate.  We also got to see the sleeping quarters and court of Edward II. 

The "Royal Menagerie"

After we essentially got kicked out of the Tower at closing time (not entirely but close enough), we continued our walk back over toward Westminster Abbey, which we had not seen up close the day before.  By this time, it was coming on 6pm and we were famished.  After all, fish and chips can only take you so far when you’ve walked around for 6 hours!  So after about an hour of trying to get back into civilization, we finally stumbled upon, surprise! ANOTHER Clarence Pub!  The same pub we visited with Stu the day before, only this pub was in Piccadily Circus and much bigger.  We sat down in the warm and cozy upstairs dining, enjoyed a pint and proceeded to eat the best beef pie ever.  It may have had a little to do with our appetites being so big from walking around so much, but even so, this little pie was just about the best comfort food I’ve had in a long while. 

King Henry VIII's Armor

Exhausted, we made our way back to our hotel, but felt we should at least take in a little more of London’s nightlife on a Saturday night.  After all, it is Saturday and when will we be in London on a Saturday again?  So we went to our neighborhood pub, had a pint and glass of wine (Matt the pint, me the wine) and did some fantastic people watching.

All in all, a wonderful day of learning more about the reigns of British kings and queens for this history buff, followed by a great day of English food and ales.  I’d do it again for sure (Even if I had to learn that the Tower was a wee bit more than that).

A layout of the King's Chambers

Jet Lag? What jet lag???

Our 6 week voyage began with a flight to London, where we stayed for few days before heading to SA.  There are a couple of reasons for this: 1) the flight to South Africa from the States is a RIDICULOUSLY long flight and neither one of us looked forward to having both flights to and from SA be this crazy long, 2)I’ve never been to London and we thought it would be cool to check out the city for a couple of days, and 3) our very awesome friends Steph and Todd live in Zurich, and we all agreed it would rock our worlds if we were able to meet up in Europe for a few days since we were technically flying OVER Europe to get to SA anyway…so of course!!

So, we began our journey in London.  After a not-so-awesome Virgin Atlantic Airlines experience-the staff were more bitter than an AA employee (and THAT’S saying something!), the food made me (and a few others, it would seem, as dictated by the line to the toilet) ill in mid-air, and the plane itself was pretty old and not so comfortable in the seat or in viewing tv for poor Matt who couldn’t sleep.  Not to mention the crew were very bossy about their specific time of night/day when the window shade was REQUIRED to be closed/open (um, excuse me, I don’t want to open the window.  I’m not ready to greet the day!)

Anyway, the flight didn’t last too long…and soon we found ourselves in customs in Heathrow (Wow, how amazingly charmingly nice the British customs agents are!  The rest of the world could learn a few things from them!!), and after we learned that my bag did not seem to make it to the cart that was to go to “baggage claim”, that it instead made it to the cart that was to go to “transport”, and would get to my hotel later in the afternoon, we made our way toward the tube to head into the city.

Now, most of you may be aware of how, um, sleepy I tend to get after about 2 hours of being awake.  And some of you may be aware of how my jet lag in Europe tends to make me walk around in a confused, feel-like-I’ve-been-forced-awake-after-taking-a-sleeping-pill kind of feeling.  So I came into London prepared, mentally.  I was going to feel weird, I knew I would, and by golly, I was GOING to MAKE it until late afternoon if it killed me!

My first ride in the London Tube!!

As it turns out, I felt surprisingly okay standing in line in customs.  Perhaps eating icky food that makes you spend more time in a toilet than a cozy plane seat gives you a sense of revival, or perhaps it was because I was in a new place, or perhaps, maybe, just maybe, part of the reason I felt so exhausted the last time I flew to Europe I had just gotten married and well, that’ll leave you feeling exhausted for a year!  But the urge to fight the sleep only came about when we had time to sit-during the hour transfer to the city via the tube.  Once we got to the hotel, we dropped our bags off and immediately headed out to walk and get some air.  And proceeded to walk the entire circumference of both Kensington and Hyde Parks. 

So now, we’re dealing with sore legs, sore hips, sore feet and sleepy eyes.  BUT, we did manage to stay awake.  And take in the absolutely gorgeous day London provided.  And our best part of the day?  Meeting up with our great friend Stu from the BVI, who happened to be in London renewing his passport.  He took us around Whitehall, a busy metropolitan part of London, where you can find 10 Downing Street (where the Prime Minister lives), access to Scotland Yard (where the police station is), Parliament, Big Ben and Westminster Abbey (where people make laws and royal celebrities get married, so I’m told), and the Clarence Pub (where Stu got kicked out when he was 21).  So lots of history!  After taking in the sights on Whitehall, we ventured over to Picadilly Circus, and what a fitting name for this area: crazy crazy CRAZY area filled with tourists and touristy sights like Ripley’s Believe It or Not and Hard Rock Restaurant and so on.  However, we did find a pub and have one more tasty pint before sending Stu on his way to the airport to head back to the BVI, while Matt and I made our way back to the hotel to discover that (hallelujah!)my bag was waiting for me with a  big smile on its face (okay, now I’d say the jet lag is kicking in!!).

Hanging with Stu in a pub in Picadilly Circus!

After a shower to wash off the not-so-fantastic flight, we crawled into our wood-hard twin-sized beds and promptly fell asleep for 15 hours.

One girl, six weeks and…one duffel bag to tote it all…

Well, here we go!! Our adventure is about to begin!!

One year of talking and planning has finally come to fruition.  And while we still don’t have an exact idea of where we’re going or what we’re doing, we’re still so excited.

Our first stop en route to South Africa is London.  We decided to stop there for a few days so we could make a pit stop to visit some friends who live in Europe, and also to break up the flight and deal with our jet lag a little better.  After 2 days in London, we are flying to Barcelona to visit the aforementioned friends for a little vino and tapas.  We’ll spend about 3 days there, then fly back to London to set ourselves up for our flight to Johannesburg.

Once we get to Johannesburg, we’ll be spending a few days with another set of friends we met in the islands before setting off once again on a plane to Zambia.  After Zambia, we’ll drive west through Namibia and eventually work our way south back into South Africa.

Here’s the sticky point: we’ll be going through various countries, climates and conditions.  And we’ll be gone roughly six weeks.  And we’ll be toting our stuff with us every few days to our next destination.  Which means since I didn’t make enough salary this year to hire a porter to travel with us, I’d better learn how to pack light.

And so, the challenge begins.  One girl, six weeks, and one duffel bag to carry it all.  Not to mention the fact that in Barcelona, the weather will be summery.  In Johannesburg and Cape Town, it will be wintery.  In Zambia and Namibia, it will be summery during the day, and wintery during the night.  And dusty.  Very VERY dusty.  We’ll most likely have limited access to laundry, and therefore will need to pack accordingly so we can “rotate” clothes and such.  Oh, and factor in the fact that every now and again we’ll gain Internet access, and so we’ll need want internet from time to time to check in update our Facebook status, not to mention update our blog with stories and photos.  Also, I have a nice, pretty, shiny new toy, my Nikon D90 SLR camera that I want to play with while I’m traveling so I have to pack that too.  Oh yeah, I also MUST have a second pair of shoes to wear when we “go out” at night, right?  Hmmm, some gym clothes, for that spa gym we’ll encounter, and definitely, DEFINITELY my travel journal and some nice shampoo so I don’t have to rely on that cheap hotel stuff.

Okay, so in looking at this list, I have 6 weeks of winter AND summer clothes I need to pack, a laptop, a camera, extra shoes, shampoo, a travel journal, my DLSR For Dummies book, my Kindle, some odds n’ ends for this n’ that, and my travel pillow.  All in one duffel bag.  Hmmmm…

As it turns out, I managed to be a little smart about my packing so I could accommodate my laptop, camera and shampoo needs.  3 pairs of shorts, 4 tshirts, 5 long-sleeved shirts (including one “go out” shirt), a pair of jeans, 2 pairs of khaki-type safari pants (one also doubles as a pair of shorts-BONUS!), 7 pairs of socks, one pair of wooly warm shoes for those cold nights, some running shoes for our walks, a pair of casual shoes for my “go out” times (flats, easy to pack), 2 fleece jackets (1 long sleeved, one sleeveless) and some pajama pants. 

ALL IN ONE CARRYON DUFFEL BAG.

I compromised, and packed a backpack with my laptop, camera, DLSR For Dummies book, my kindle and all the various chargers for each item (they REALLY need to work in a new universal charger system for all these gadgets!!).  I managed to find a couple of 3oz shampoo bottles and filled up my precious fancy shampoo so that it should last me at least half the time I’m there, and minimized my toiletries to bring only the “necessary” items: stain remover, Kleenex, Qtips, nail clippers, cold/sinus meds, Pepto Bismol, facewash, spare razors, and some makeup…

…(hey, a girl’s gotta draw the “roughing it” line SOMEWHERE!!!)

Everything I need (?) for 6 weeks, tucked nicely away in 2 little bags...

Anyway, when it was all said and done, I managed to whittle down my original overstuffed duffel bag into a respectable and even not-so-heavy carryon bag…it only weighed 29 pounds!  My backpack, while heavy with the laptop and camera, is also not horrible.  I have to admit, I’m a little proud of myself!!

Now, let’s just see if I packed right…

Africa: Here We Come!!

For the last few years Matt and I have made several friends while living and working in the BVI. A lot of these friends hail from South Africa. And as a result, our curiosity about this country has piqued our interest enough to say, "why not?"

So our grand trip, the Grand Pu bah, if you will, is a 6 week trip to Africa. This is the LONGEST vacation I've ever taken, so it's quite a big adventure.

So, where are we going, you ask?

Well, I'm so glad you did!!

We are going to incorporate a little bit of everything Africa has to offer: wildlife viewings, white water rafting, winery tours, wildlife viewings, sand-boarding, hiking, wildlife viewings, Great White/cage diving encounters, rugby matches, wildlife viewings, mountain biking, braiis (that's a BBQ for you Americans), scenic landscapes, and of course, a wee bit of wildlife viewings here and there.  Our plan is to fly to Johannesburg after a week in London/Barcelona with our good friends Steph and Todd who have lived long enough in Zurich to be residents but in a Swiss's mind will never be, and lay low for a few days there to gear up for our next leg. We will then fly to Zambia to meet our friends Ron and Anya, who will be our tour guides for the next month. We will stay in Zambia for about 4 days, taking in the sights of the Victoria Falls and the surrounding area of Livingstone. From there, we will be living and sleeping in a truck that doubles as a tent for us at night as we drive through game camp after game camp after game camp, looking in every direction for those cherished lions, elephants and giraffes. Our route will take us through Botswana and Namibia.

Once in Namibia, we will be safari-geeked out peeps. Evidently, by the time we finish with Namibia and head back into civilization we will be so sick of animals and ready to be out of the dessert (I'll be sure to let you know if this will actually happen!) However, there will be some adventure-seeking thrills as well: skydiving, sand-boarding, quad-biking, etc.

Driving south toward South Africa, we will be stopping along the way to rest and do some hiking and taking in the sights. Once we arrive into South Africa, the plan is to stay mostly coastal: Saldanha Bay and Capetown, which are big coastal areas, and George, which is where Ron and Anya are from so we will have a little taste of home once there.

To give you an idea of where we are headed, I've posted a map of our proposed itinerary. Of course, this was laid out ahead of time, and knowing us as I do, we will most likely alter some areas as we drive endless miles each day. But for now this is the general direction of our travels.

As we travel I will be updating the blog to post some of the photos and experiences, but as we'll be in the desert I'm not sure how often I'll be able to post. Just know I will update as often as I can and if I'm absent for a while it does NOT mean a lion ate me!! :)

In the meantime, I will continue to pack and repack into my itty bitty duffel bag so I don't take too much. A girl, packing a carry-on duffel bag for a 6 week vacation. Can it be done??!!?? Hmmmm.....