First Day in the UK

The reality of where I was headed and for how long hit me around mid-flight.  I started to get those nervous butterflies, but it wasn't long after i landed that they gave way to excited energy.  As I was being driven through the English countryside, I talked to the driver about my car back home, his favorite cars, and what it was like driving in general in the UK.  I tried to pay attention to the roundabouts and how they worked.  I'm pretty positive I'll be in some kind of accident within my first week!  Just watching the traffic made me nervous, and it didn't visually compute.  I also noticed there were no pickup trucks on the roads...at all.  That was weird.

Park down the street

I arrived at my hotel in Tunbridge Wells, a very cute town outside of London.  As I couldn't check in for another hour or two, I grabbed my purse and started exploring.  The first place I came to was a beautiful park just on the other side of the hotel.  I walked around there a bit before going back to the main street.  You can walk anywhere with purpose and look like you belong there, so that's what i did.

The buildings on main street were beautiful.  The rain pipes, chimneys and street lights were romantic.  Little shops lined the street, and my first stop was for a cup of awesome, strong espresso.  In the cool mist my smooth California hair quickly escaped into its natural state of wild curls.  I ended up walking around for hours, just for the sake of walking...it was wonderful!  Pedestrians don't have the right of way in Europe, I quickly remembered.  And these people have MAD parallel parking skills.

View from my window

I wandered back to the hotel and was escorted to my room.  It's a nice size as European rooms go, and I have a beautiful view of the park out the window.  I made the mistake of lying down for a short nap. No Bueno!  I did NOT want to wake up after that.  It took everything I could muster to fling myself out of bed and out the door in search of another espresso.  I went a different way down the street this time and found a very cool shop selling "pastys".  They are like meat pies, and are delicious!  I asked the guys in the shop which their favorite was, and they said chicken and chorizo was the way to go, so that's what i got, soooo good!

It was an awesome first day... I'll finish it off with a shot of whisky so i sleep well. :)