Oh my, It's January.

Can you believe it?! The last time I wrote was a month ago! I am so sorry to all of my faithful followers:-) So much has happened in one month it is pretty unbelievable. I'm back across the pond and homesick again-it's almost worse this time because I absolutely loved being home when I was there but once July comes I will be back in America for the rest of my life..except for some vacations hopefully. So I am trying to do my best to be optimistic and enjoy the last 6 months here...wow that sounds like so long!
Soo after I wrote the last time, we had the last week of school with a bunch of Christmas festivities which Ali was here for. We had a staff talent show type thing and the PE staff were jelly babies and we had these big stretchy bags and rolled and jumped around. I actually had it recorded on my camera and forgot to show everyone while I was home..very funny. So then Friday, the 12th we had the staff Christmas party which was fun-good food and dancing and music and lots of wine. Then Ali and I missed the bus Saturday morning from Monmouth to Newport so we took a cab and then she couldn't get on the same bus to Heathrow because she didn't have the same ticket as mine..it was just an open-return one and blah blah we had drama with that so eventually we both ended up at the Heathrow airport and took the tube to our hostel which was very interesting. Looking at the ceiling and seeing how small the room is, you just couldn't imagine how they fit all the furniture in there but it was fine. We thought we would outsmart the cleaning people by sneaking into the laundry closet and getting new sheets because we wanted to make sure they were clean and then we started taking them out and it was about 30 pillowcases...not smart. haha so then we felt like idiots because we grabbed a bag full of pillowcases from the linen closet. But it ended up being ok in the end. We did all of the touristy stuff there was to do and it was very fun. Now I am back and all by my lonesome and cannot wait to have visitors again-hurry up Mom and Dad!!
So then I got back on Tuesday and Charlie came to visit Friday-Monday:-) That was fun and it was really nice having him there and he met the family and all that good stuff. Then Monday, I went with him to Michigan to meet his family and that went very well also. I also met his high school friends..I love them all-the fam and the friends:-) Next time I'll see them will probably be the summer though but I am learning to take things day by day and not worry about the summer yet!
Then I was home for Christmas and everyone had the bug and that was fun..glad we were all in it together:-) Then that Sunday I got to go to the Ravens gameee!!! That was sooo exciting! Man I looove them!!! They are just so cool:-)
My laptop had to have the motherboard replaced which controls the whole system and all the hardware and I haven't gotten that back yet so I have watched the last 2 Ravens games in the computer lab with my jersey on and sweaty palms because I get so nervous! And I can't even celebrate with anyone..just me jumping around haha. So yeah, waiting on that and hopefully it will get here tomorrow so I can get the internet and everything sorted out with the IT guys but Lisa will probably make me watch the game in the computer lab anyway-superstitious family, I tell ya!
My last few days home I went to Denver to see Kaitlyn and Charlie and his friends/roommates and that was really fun. So weird being out there and not going back to school but just to visit. It was really good to be out there and see everyone though and I was so sad to leave obviously.
Hmm let's see what's happened since I've been here...
Well I got a bug bite that scared me because I constantly scratched it for 2 days and so it got swollen and really red and my mom scared me saying I should get it looked at. I shower with the water so hot that it leaves almost a rash looking type thing on wherever it hits so when I got out of the shower, I thought I had a rash from the bug bite and hyperventilated a little bit...I kept careful watch and the rash faded and then I remembered it was because of the water temperature. I left home sick and came here more sick (sicker?) and went to the doctor and got some antibiotics..feeling better but still tired. Getting there though. The doctor also reassured me that bugs here do not cause illnesses so that was a relief!
Went to Merlins yesterday for dish soap and everything on the back was in Welsh so I had to ask someone if what I picked out was for dishes..the first thing was for toilets. Then I found the dish soap:-) My favorite place Woolworths closed..it's like a Walgreens or Rite Aid or things like that. Rumor has it they are replacing it with Icelands which is all frozen food and if you've visited me you would know that I can fit 2 ice trays in my freezer and thats it sooo Icelands will do me no good:-(
I think that's about it right now..I am planning my February half-term break and I am going to visit one of the girls who I did Italy with in Bath and then we are going to leave Tuesday for Munich then stay there for however long and then end in Berlin and come back to London on Saturday...and we start school back up on Monday. So it's really only a week break but I had to do something or I'd go crazy here for that long by myself. Not sure what we'll do for the long April break but some girls were talking about getting a place off Portugal or Greece so we shall see. I am also in the midst of planning a curise with Christine and Lisa for the end of May:-) We're thinking the Greek Islands:-) Sooo I am very happy and trying to just keep myself busy planning things and finding things to do..spending money-ugh. I will update you as soon as something exciting happens in my Welsh life:-)

xo,
DP

December!

I can't believe it's December and that my birthday was 2 weeks ago and that Thanksgiving was this time last week! Time is definitely flying! My birthday was fun and then Thanksgiving was really fun and it was nice that I wasn't by myself. The usual group of girls that I hang out with (Amy, Steph, Andrea, Tegan, and Katherine) all decided that I needed to have a proper Thanksgiving dinner where we could all hang out together that night and cook together and have a little bonding time. When my mom came out here so brought some extra bags of stovetop thinking ahead to Thanksgiving and then some french fried onions which everyone loved and was picking off the top of the green bean casserole. I made the green bean casserole for the very first time and I must say- It was delicious! I think I did an excellent job and was very proud of myself! Although when Mom-Mom and my mom were here and my mom made it, some of the top ones were a little dark and Mom-Mom said "boy, you really cooked those onions" and mine turned out that way too so it must have been the oven:-) But they had never had it before and really liked it. Tegan said she didn't like green beans but would try it to be nice and ended up loving it so I think I did a pretty good job:-) I also made stovetop which wasn't the most difficult of tasks but even I would find a way to mess that up- and I didnt. We went to a nearby town called Ross and got an already roasted chicken, well we got 2. So we had them, green bean casserole, stovetop, butternut squash (not a fan), mashed potatoes, gravy, pumpkin pie, and ice cream. I was very full so it felt very much like Thanksgiving! I said the prayer before we began our meal and everyone loved it and clapped and I reminded them that you usually don't clap for the person after they do the prayer haha. Very good meal though:-)
Ali is coming to visit on Monday!!! I am sooo excited and she is making fun of me because of everything I have planned for us to do and how busy I am keeping her but I want her to get the most out of this trip and even my little town has a lot to offer:-) So we are going to a couple castles and up to the Kymin which Lisa loved:-) It was a 45 minute walk straight up haha..very tiring but it has the best view around of Monmouth so it is definitely worth it..with some water! Then I'm going to take her out on Friday to Spoons, the pub we go to every Friday so she can see it. Won't stay out late since we leave for London the next day and I already have alot planned for that Saturday! We go home Tuesday out of London Heathrow..so crazy how soon I go home!!! I am very excited to be home and to see everyone and to just hang out in the house. DU has a 7 week break this year so everyone is home for what seems like forever so I am very jealous.
I had a meeting today with head of boarding, ceri the girl I work with, and the head of the pe department. It was very interesting and helpful just talking about next term and getting more girls involved in lax and really talking up sports in general around the boarding house. Also, since lacrosse ends in April, they said I need to start thinking now about what I want to do after school during the week. My options are: Athletics which is basically track, Badminton, Rounders, and Tennis. They said maybe I could broaden my range of knowledge of sports and help with some different ones on different days so I may do that. I am finished here in July and then want to travel before coming home for good. I'm so sad that I am missing the OC vacation this year but it will always be there and I won't always have the chance to travel Europe. I was worried in my meeting that they would bring up next year and that I'd have to say that I wasn't coming back but they didn't! Some girls actually are going home after they are finished lacrosse at their school. Most girls are leaving in April/May but I told them that I planned on staying through to July 3rd and they are already short on staff for sports so I wouldn't just abandon them.
This past weekend we went to a triangle where we take all the teams and they play 2 different teams and it was the same place where a bird pooped on my twice so I was a little anxious the whole time being there and paranoid about what was around me. But, I came home poop free so it was all clear!
Let me know if anyone would like anything from London while I am there before I come home, already getting scarves for Kelly which have been requested ha. Let me know if you can think of anything else you may fancy:-) Alright, well I will write again if I think of anything else and let me know if you have any suggestions for what sport I should take over in the Spring!

Love,
DP

Just a Brief Update on Life

I'm not really sure why I say brief because everyone knows that once I get started, they end up way longer than I originally planned. So my birthday was Friday and that was exciting! The PE Department had a little bday party for me with a cake and some cards and I have a new Wales keychain for my keys now. I went out for my birthday and then yesterday we had lax games but it was in Reading which is near London and the bus got lost so it ended up taking us about 3 hrs to get there and then didn't even get back here until about 7:15pm soo it was a very long day for only about an hour and a half of games. On the way back I was on the bus with the U14, 13, and 12 and they drove me crazy. I might even go as far as saying they make me second guess having kids. I have never been asked so many questions in my life! Miss Provance what time will we be in Newport? What time will we be back at school? Where are we? Can I use the bathroom? Every 10 minutes. And then my favorite..Miss Provance, are we on the Severn Bridge now? I looked at her and said "Well, you may be able to see if you look out the window and see the same view that I have up here." And she sat down haha. I couldn't believe how many questions they could ask and how looooud they could be. Then they were harassing the bus driver about going faster and getting back quicker and where we were and asking what speed he was going and when we'd be back and blah blah blah.
People here told me they do not celebrate birthdays like we do because on November 1st, I was like it's my birthday month!!! And then last Monday..It's my birthday week!!! They were like yeah I think birthdays are bigger in America and I was like well I looove my birthday so I am not how a typical American would react to it being their birthday ha. Thank you everyone for all of the great birthday wishes and cards and gifts:-)
Ali gets here in 15 days! That is so crazy that she will be here in 2 weeks and we are in school that whole week so she will have to guest blog about my life here and let you know what it's like. Funny she will get to meet all the kids. They will be in awe of another American. I still have kids looking at me when I talk and then go "oh my god I looove your accent!" It makes me laugh but I'm flattered of course haha. So she will be here December 8th and then school ends December 12th, we go to London December 13th-16th and then fly out of Heathrow to Baltimore!!! I cannot wait to be home for Christmas and am very sad about missing Thanksgiving but I guess it's all a part of growing up which is what people are telling me and expecting that to make it better- it's not. Well the dinner bell just went off so I better get going. I told Lisa that one day and she said "there's an actual bell?" haha it sounds like a bell for changing classes but it goes off when it's time for a meal which is good because sometimes I lose track of time. I will think of if there is anything else to update you on and maybe add another one tonight. I started reading Twilight today and already love it. Love you all and miss you! See you soon!!

Danielle
x

LINK TO MY PICTURES!

Hey, here is the link to my snapfish with some pics. I also have some others on Facebook of Italy but here is my link. Miss you all! x

http://www3.snapfish.co.uk/photolibrary/owned_view=owned_2008/t_=149683675

Arrivederci:-)

So here I am back from my long vaca away from Monmouth and the duties of a PE teacher and lax coach. I am completely exhausted and sore from all the walking I did in London and then around Italy. Also, I had a lifeguarding course today with all the PE teachers and my arms hurt to touch they are so sore. Tomorrow I am going to wake up not able to move-I am getting old! I got back from Italy yesterday afternoon after taking a 6am flight out of Rome and going to the airport with another girl on my flight the night before. I never want to spend the night in the airport again! Also, I learned that it is not fun having a small bladder because places in Europe make you pay to use the bathroom-how bizarre is that?! I should have added how much I spent on that. It was a running joke that I was the 5 yr old in the group because whenever we were going somewhere, they would make me "try" to go to the bathroom even if I said that I didn't need to haha. And then whenever we would see one, they'd say ok Danielle, go in and try at least. Sure enough, I always went!
This is going to be a long one so get comfortable, grab whatever water, do whatever you need to do:-)
So we met in the Gatwick Airport in London and flew into Pisa. Couldn't find the hotel when we got there so walked around in the rain for awhile then decided to get a cab. The lady was standing outside waving her arms. Good old Cecilia-bless her. So we figured she was waving us down so we stopped at the house haha. Sure enough, she was looking for us. We had our own house there because no one else was staying in the hostel so that was awesome. We walked around town that night and then just went to bed. We woke up and Cecilia had breakfast for us and some Espresso-yum! We went to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa which was pretty amazing to see in person. It almost seemed fake that we were standing right in front of it. So we did all the touristy pictures and actually ran into a couple other girls who were leaving Pisa but were there through out program so it was fun seeing them for a couple hours! Walked around some more and took the train to Venice. The train ride was the most fun I've ever had in transportation haha. We bought loaves of fresh bread, oil, olives, cheese, peppers, chips, and had an amazing feast. Oh and we also bought some bottles of wine. Needless to say we had a fantastic time! We got to the hostel that night and just relaxed and went to bed. Woke up and did St. Mark's Basillica which was beautiful. We paid to walk around and go to the top and take pics and everything of St. Mark's Square. I am officially a peristerophobian. I am completely terrified of pigeons. They will walk across your feet if they need to get somewhere! They would all make fun of me because I would scream and run from them because sometimes I swear they were flying full speed right at me. They are not afraid of humans at all. There was a lady in the middle of St. Mark's Square feeding them with her kids and the pigeons were multiplying around them and I almost had a panic attack. I couldn't breathe because it was so scary. They would fly right in front of your face or above your head and hit your hair. It was soo scary! So I was the girl with the 5 yr old bladder and afraid of pigeons. Then we paid for this ferry and it was like the bus tour in London where you pay for a pass and it takes you to all different stops along the "Canal Grande" and you can get on and off whenever you want. So we did that for awhile and got off at certain places to take pictures. Some old man gave Marcy a statue of Santa Lucia so we carried her with us and she even made it in some pictures. We walked along the Rialto bridge which is historically known for Italy's most vibrant markets (again, from my book). We took the boat to an island called Murano where they make glass. This is something that was soo amazing! We got to watch them make glass and it was so mesmorizing! So cool how they did it and they have the prettiest jewelry from it. We all bought a few rings from there because we couldn't resist-my favorite one broke and I still don't like to talk about it because it makes me sad. So we did that until later at night, had dinner, relaxed and went to bed. The next day we walked alll around Venice and went to the best pizza place in Venice called Arca and had pizza and wine which was fun. I drank more wine on this trip than ever in my life oh and also, the gelato! Sooo good!! I felt ok eating alot though because we walked so many miles a day! So anyyywaayyys...walked around and such that day then took the train to Florence.
Went to bed when we got there that night because we were exhausted. The next day we had tickets to the Uffizi museum which Shantel and I still call the "you-fuzzy" because we could never get how to say it. This was an art gallery with priceless paintings and sculptures from the world's most important collection of Renaissance art. I am copying sentences from my Western Europe book haha:-) The museum's most famous paintings are the Primavera and The Birth of Venus which actually meant nothing to me until I saw them and was like ohhhh yeahhh I know those! ha. Lots of other cool things there and some very famous paintings but I won't bore you with that because I didn't care until I saw them in person to be honest. We walked around Florence some more, hit some markets (well didn't actually hit them), and then went to teh Duomo which was alot cooler than I thought. It's in alot of my pictures. It looks like a 3-D puzzle. There is room inside for 20, 000 people so it's huuuge! It has stained-glass windows that date back to the mid-15th century and are some of Italy's best. We climbed the 463 stairs to the top of the Duomo and I can't even explain the views. I have pictures of it but it is so different seeing it in person. We all got up there and were just speechless. So incredible! Last tidbit: the interior of the dome glitters with Florence's only mosiac cycle, the earliest dating back to 1225. After that we did dinner and wine. We decided to buy a bottle of champagne each at the dollar store so this may have been the most eventful night of the trip. We went to various places, meeting many people, and it was very very fun but it made for a rough morning. We woke up to get to the Accademia which has the original scultpure of David from the story of David and Goliath and yes mom this is "the naked guy." I thought you would know who it was but I guess whatever helps you remember:-) This was really the only thing we looked at in that museum. There were some other neat things but that was the amazing one. We snuck pictures of it and it was neat to hear the history of it. We walked around some more, went to some markets, and then left for our train to Rome!
We woke up on Thursday and paid 20 euros for a guided tour of the Colosseum and the Foro Romano which was the ruins of Ancient Rome. These were both unbelievable and so amazing to be standing in and walking around. The money was definately worth it because otherwise we would have just wandered around not knowing anything about what any of it was. We learned so much about the times back then and their culture and way of life. We also learned what certain things were that we could have just overlooked probably. Later that night, we went out and had another great time just like in Florence. Met lots of new people from everywhere but it made for a rough morning since we woke up at 730am-yuck! We woke up early to do St. Peter's Cathedral, Sistine Chapel, and the Vatican. It was pretty amazing to see these places in person. I felt so holy:-) We wanted to go to Mass in St. Peter's but we would have had to wait like 4 hours and that would have just been too long to sit around in a chapel..even if it was a famous one! St. Peter's is the largest Roman Catholic building in the world, accomodating 60,000 people and has 778 columns, 44 altars, 135 mosaics, and 395 statues. It was absolutely breathtaking and I didn't even know what to take pictures of because everything was just so beautiful everywhere you would turn! We did the audio tour of the Vatican and Sistine Chapel and I think I could have stayed there for days just listening to everything that each individual sculpture and painting stood for. It just held so much history and it was so amazing to listen to. The Sistine Chapel is something that everyone needs to see in their life. The audio guide told us sooo much stuff about it but I don't wanna bore you:-) So later that afternoon around 2ish me and Marcy got separated and had no map. We decided to wander into shops and bars and restaurants. Had a glass of wine everywhere we went, had a nice dinner and shared a bottle of wine, and walked around some more before finally buying a map and making it back to the hostel at around 10:30pm. It was a very eventful afternoon/night but so fun. Saturday, last day, we woke up and did the Trevi Fountain. This was built in 1762 and has been there since. Oh my god. I just read in my book that you needed to toss TWO coins into the fountain to ensure that you returned. greatttt I'm not going back! That is a downer! ha. Well nothing I can do now I guess...continuing on..
Had dinner at the hostel and then left at like 9pm for the train station to take one to the airport in Rome. Like I said before, never sleeping in an airport again. It was miserable and made for a long day! Still exhausted but I wanted to post this blog for my faithful followers:-) I miss everyone and I will see you in December!!!! If I think of anything else, I will post it on here:-)


DLP

ps

Forgot to add that we stayed in a very cute place on a very cute street in an adorable area known as Earl's Court. It was very convenient for the tube and my mom worked very hard to find the place called London Town Hotel which we called home. Special thanks for my mom and MMJ who planned and financed many of the things we did because without you, Lisa and I would have just traveled the tube. Shout out to you ladies:-)

Cheers

Grab a snack, drink, and use the bathroom before this one.

On Sunday, we bought tickets for the Original Bus Tour which takes people all around London, making various stops allowing us to get off whenever and jump back on a bus after seeing a landmark. This was very convenient because we still had many things we wanted to see. Some of the things we saw were: St James Palace, The Ritz Restaurant, Speakers Corner (where anyone can stand and speak out about anything except the Royal family on Sundays). We also saw the Dorchester where many of the famous people stay, the barbed wire fence of the Buckingham Palace gardens (41 acres), the street where the Duke of Wellington owns all the property and you can't buy, can only lease, and it's the most expensive homes in not only Europe...but the world. We got off the bus to see St Paul's Cathedral, which isn't open for tours on Sunday, but were able to walk through and light candles. Mom and Mom Mom walked up farther and listened to part of the Mass, while Lisa and I walked around. We then got back on the bus and stopped at the Tower Bridge and the Tower of London, where we saw the Crowned Jewels and everything else that was worth more than we will ever make in our lives...combined. Lisa and I walked around separately and saw many things. We saw the site where Anne Boleyn and many others were decapitated which was a glass memorial with a glass pillow on top of it. We also went into the White Tower which was full of armor and artillery used for many centuries before. For dinner, we went to the Sports Cafe near Trafalgar Square where Lisa had read that they show NFL games on Sunday night. Unfortunately, they did not play the Ravens game because they only get certain ones on certain weekends. We were still able to watch another game and see the scores during that. While waiting for our table, a very handsome young man walked by me and I hit Lisa and said "that was Josh Duhamel!" For those of you who don't know who this is, he was in Transformers, Win a Date With Tad Hamilton, the show Las Vegas, and All My Children. Shaking, we followed him outside and debated how to go about asking him to be in a picture with us. I guess we were pretty obvious because he saw us struggling and walked over and asked and we were like oh yeah of course sure. Lisa fumbled with her camera and knocked her earring out and I thought my knees were going to give out on me because I was shaking so bad. So we got a picture with him and went into the restaurant and realized that our booth was back to back with his and his fiance, Fergie of Black Eyed Peas. If you don't know who Fergie is, then look her up because she is very famous. We ate our dinner and when he got up to pay the check and get ready to leave, I (being the brave one that I am) walked over to Fergie's booth and said "um hi excuse me..would you mind being in a picture with my sister and I?" and she said "oh of course! you asked so politely!" I blushed. I frantically summoned Lisa to come over and join me and my mom got up also to take the picture. She was very proud of herself because every other time she took a picture with Lisa's camera, she accidentally pressed power and turned it off. She not only didn't turn it off, but was able to get all 3 of us in the picture without her glasses. Lisa was complimented on being a sports fan when Fergie saw she was wearing a Ravens jersey. I did not know what was going on because I was shaking and all I could do was smile. Lisa says that Fergie tried to shake my hand but I'm not sure what I was doing because everything was out of focus. We told her that it was nice to meet her and she said the same (we didn't think to ask why they were there or anything like that). I don't really remember what was going through my head at the time because we were so excited. Josh came back and said bye and smiled and waved (our new friend!) and he took her hand and they walked out of the restaurant...and our lives.
One of the best nights of our lives by far.
We slept in on Monday, went to get tickets for Wicked and then got on our Original Bus tour bus to go to the Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guards. It was really neat to see and be there but it was so crowded that it was hard to get good pictures although Lisa still managed to get up there in the action. After that, we went to Harrods and saw floors full of everything we can't afford and Lisa wouldn't try anything on with me. That night we went to see Wicked which was really really good and had some very catchy tunes. Tuesday, we slept in and missed breakfast which ended at 9am everyday. We went to the Portabello Road Market in Notting Hill. It was a pretty walk but didn't buy anything. We took a picture of the Travel Book Shop that was in Notting Hill (the movie with Julia Roberts and Hugh Grant). We walked around inside and were intrigued that it was in a movie. After that, we walked around the Kensington Palace, the former home of Princess Diana. We were leaving that day so we didn't have time to walk to the other side of the park to see the Princess Diana Memorial Fountain.
Lisa and I began our journey back to Monmouth around 130pm, leaving for the Victoria Station. We found our way to the National Express office, bought tickets for that day and Friday to go to the airport and then got on the bus to Newport. In Newport, we experienced some confusion because no one, including ourselves, knew where the bus going to Monmouth picked up Newport passengers. We traveled around the area asking anyone and everyone who led us in all different directions and then finally found it under a bridge near the Newport Railway. Good thing we had some time to spare. We arrived in Monmouth and decided to not take a cab the short distance back to my school. With 3 bags between us, we realized this "short" distance (uphill) was much farther than we thought. We finally got to the gates of the school, and Lisa saw the hill that led up to the top where we needed to be. Finally got to my flat, talked to my mom to let her know we were safe, and spent the night catching up on some shows that we missed.
Today, we walked into town to get some groceries and see everything. We then hiked up to the Kymin which is the highest point around with the best view of Monmouth. This is a very steep, 45 minute walk or so, and Lisa and I can't move. We made it to the top, took some pictures, drank some more water, and then headed back down. It was beautiful but very tiring and our bodies ache. Made spaghetti, green bean casserole, and stove top for dinner (weird combo I know) and then relaxed the rest of the night. Tomorrow is another day and we are planning to pack, do laundry, walk to the Monmouth Castle (which looks close on the map), and see what else the day brings us. Early day starting at about 6am on Friday and a long day of traveling back to America for her and Italy for me. Hope you enjoyed our very long blog!:-) Sorry this one wasn't that funny but beggars can't be choosers.

xoxo
LP and DP

The Four Funny Foreigners

Yesterday, I didn't really have any lax so my mom, mom mom jo, and I drove to see the Chepstow Castle and also went by the Tintern Abbey. They were both gorgeous but both would have to be a day trip so we will go back in the spring when my mom and dad visit. My mom decided that driving here is not for her and I agreed after we got back to the school and I was nauseous and lightheaded from being in the passengers seat with her driving all day. She thinks that if she hits curbs and almost hits a lady with a walker, it's better than hitting another car and also damaging theirs along with ours. She tends to stop when another car is coming and I told her that the people behind us would start honking if she continued stopping everytime there was another car but she isn't from here so it was ok apparently. We ended up finding the Europcar Rental Car place perfectly fine this morning which my mom said was a gift from God since it was so small but I didn't think it was hard to get to at all-but I guess that's just because I'm kinda a local now:-) So we got a ride from there to the bus station where we were told the National Express office was closed on the weekends. The lady working at the other desk came over and told us that we could call the number on the door and order them and then show the driver our ticket number on our mobile phone (which is mine) or we could buy them online, if we were able to find somewhere with internet because we couldn't use hers. My mom was beside herself and said "how were we supposed to know that they weren't open today?!" and the lady calmly said "well it says it right here" pointing to the door at the office. We shrugged it off and decided to call the number. This was a task in itself with me trying to buy the tickets because for some reason we had to do them separately (senior, adult, young person). The lady on the other line told me about 50 times "annnnd this is the service bus 201 leaving Newport at 10:10 and arriving at the Heathrow Central Bus Station at approximately 12:45". I was like yesss I understand that! Over and over she told me that. So then I had to tell her the billing address of the card we were using and she didn't understand that I was saying sparrow because of the way I was saying sparrow. When I asked her if she needed the zip code she said "no I have most of the address, it's fine." So we finallyyyy got the tickets and then the bus came and he asked what kind of tickets we got and I said adult, senior, and young person. I bought mine with my Young Persons Coachcard but only had the number because I am still waiting for it to come in the mail. The lady on the phone didn't mind but the driver was not nice and insisted that I needed the actual card whenever traveling and then left us standing there wondering if I could go with them but he said it wasn't our fault, it was the ticket agent's and to make sure I read the terms and conditions of the card when I got it because it must be with me when I travel.
We made it to Lisa at Heathrow Airport where she was patiently waiting our arrival. We got off the bus with our 5 suitcases and headed to the tube. We survived the tube with all 6 suitcases and people standing all around them as they were obstacles throughout the tube and cheered when we got off because they actually had some room to stand. They we took the lift (elevator) to where we needed to go, which opened on both sides. We thought we were supposed to exit the opposite side we entered, however we found out otherwise. The doors opened, everyone else went out the right way and for some reason we began to exit the wrong way where many people were waiting to enter. Lisa was very agitated at how people had been acting throughout the station so told a guy to "at least wait until we get off" (rolling over his foot and catching his jeans on the way) while I am following and get told my an old lady with a cane, who is banging her cane on the floor, that we were going out the wrong way. Then we tell my mom that we went out the wrong way and she said "I know! We had to walk through the riot you created with 3 suitcases." She told the rioters that we were tourists and apologized after Lisa and I were laughing hysterically off to the side. She came over and joined us and we laughed about it for awhile. We left flustered from that and pulling our 6 suitcases, finally making it to our London Town Hotel. Lisa and I walked around town for a little while and went to Starbucks while Mom and MMJ rested. Then, we all went back to the tube more experienced with less luggage and made our way to the tourist attractions. We took multiple pictures of Big Ben, a museum, Parliament, Westminster Abbey, the London Eye (which we rode and was amazing) and various street performers. I will learn at some point to post pictures but I'm not quite there yet so be patient. We went to get pizza tonight and had a nice dinner near the hotel and will go to bed early because we are all exhausted. Tomorrow will start another adventure!:-) We'll keep you posted!

Cheers from the Foreigners.

Guest blogger

Hello,
This is weird; I have never blogged before. :-)
So, this is Kathy, Danielle's mom-- writing because my mother and I are in Wales with Danielle for a visit.
We flew British Airways, Tuesday night. Boy, was that a treat after domestic airlines. We got on, there was a pillow, blanket, eye mask, SOCKS (of all things) and a toothbrush (for morning dragon breath), all wrapped up on our seat-- plus a headset for the 100 channel individual TV in front of us. My mom wanted the window, I took the aisle-- got all settle in. We took off-- first they came around with any drink you would want, complimentary-- then a full dinner-- After all of that, I was really TIRED (the wine helped), settled in-- and just as I got into a sound sleep, mom had to get up to go to the bathroom. That was fine the first time, but she was WIDE awake all night-- didn't want to watch TV, so her past-time was getting up every hour or so. So, I didn't sleep much. It was weird that she wasn't sleeping because she can usually sleep anywhere. What was more odd was that I was really tired the rest of the day and she was really perky.

From Heathrow, we took a bus to Newport (2.5 hrs).... wasn't too bad. From there, we took a cab to the car rental place I had found online (not knowing there were several car places right outside the bus terminal. This place, called EuroCar, was in this tiny bright green building, with a gravel area in the front (not the parking lot I had envisioned to practice with the car) large enough to park 2 cars. The taxi driver left us at the edge of the road to drag our suitcases across the gravel to the door. I was getting nervous about actually having to drive as I signed the papers. They were impressed that our credit card was approved for the $22,000 they would charge me if I totaled the car! I mentioned car insurance and they said that doesn't work over here. Thank goodness I had signed up for Orbitz insurance when I reserved the rental-- that covers up to $40,000-- just in case I would scrape the car as I would come in the gate to the school. It's an awesome policy I recommend for anyone; better than what the car companies try to talk you into at the desk.

Finally, I had to leave there. They took the time to show me how to start the car.... It's so weird to be on the left side of the road driving on the right side of the car. The gearshift is in the middle, have to use my LEFT hand to use it, but I keep trying the steering wheel and keep turning the windshield wipers on. Mom commented today on how clean I am keeping the window. Pulling out of there took awhile... I wanted NO ONE anywhere near me. Mom made the sign of the cross and off we went. To shorten this, I will say we made it to Haberdashers without getting lost!! I do best just driving down the middle of the road, and find myself slowing down whenever someone is coming opposite me. Highways are the best.

Danielle's apartment is adorable! It looks MUCH nicer than her pictures. The school is beautiful, as are the surrounding areas. It's like being in a fable or something. It's neat to walk around the town (I had to walk down today to find a new adapter for Danielle after my hairdryer blew hers out). The sidewalks are full of shoppers, many know each other. There are all kinds of shops.... and I found a neat place to stay when Joey and I come in the spring.

Mom and I ventured out to sightsee at an amazing castle. It was from the early 1500's... in a beautiful spot-- took some pictures.......

Danielle is trying to be off tomorrow afternoon and she wants us to go up to a mountain top view, but the drive up there is along a NARROW road with some scary switchbacks and I am not thrilled to do it. It would be one of those things where I am scared all of the way up and then scared to come down. So, we'll see.........

By the way, Danielle looks GREAT and is really doing well here!!
So, good-bye-- One more day here and we're off to London!

Kathy

Sincere Apologies to My People

Hello all! I am so sorry that I have waited so long to grace you with another blog. I have been pretty busy with nonsense stuff-nothing too exciting to write about. Let's see what has happened since the last time I blogged...
I'm injured. Not sure what I did but I hurt my achilles/calf/whatever is right in the middle. It was really sore and I kept running so then the next day I couldn't walk without limping. So now I have been icing it whenever I can, elevating it, keeping it wrapped, and it not running. I have been running everyday so not running is pretty tough because it helps release stress and such. Instead, I started eating more ice cream haha. I got to watch the Ravens game with Lisa! I was told by my family that I can't watch anymore of the games because they were 2-2 and then got crushed and it's because I watched-sad:-( Also, Lisa and I realized that the SlingBox she and Christine bought for me is also controlled by what I do on my laptop. I had watched Grey's Anatomy which she recorded and I was trying to watch Friends and it kept going back to Grey's so I would go back to Friends and finally Lisa IMed me and goes ARE YOU ON SLINGBOX TRYING TO WATCH FRIENDS?!? haha. So now we know that we can actually watch TV together because I can see everything she does on her TV and she can see everything I do on my laptop-very strange to see Baltimore/Maryland commercials haha.
I managed to lock myself out of my flat for the first time. Only took me about 7 weeks. I went to run downstairs and then came back up and went to open it and went uh oh...haha but luckily one of Gap students from Australia had this flat last year (they came last January) and she still had the spare key.
My mom and grandmother got here yesterday!! I had been waiting for my mom to call my mobile and then I had a lesson with the year 7 girls and I hear "DANIELLLEEE!!!" and I look and see my mom at the top of the hill waving intensely haha. So they are here and that's exciting! Yesterday, we went to Pizza Express for dinner and then the grocery store for stuff for dinner tonight. They went to see a castle today while I worked (which my mom will write a blog about) and then she made chicken cordon blue, green bean casserole, fresh bread, and stove top!! oh and some cucumbers which Mom Mom cut up:-) So that was great!! Ice cream for dessert and my mom had a glass of wine while MMJ had a couple beers:-) Now we are lounging watching some TV and tomorrow I pretty much have the day free so we will get to hang out and then Saturday we go to London and meet Lisa!
That's about all I have to write for now and my mom will write about their experience and trip so far.
Miss you and love you all!!
xoxo
Danielle