Viaggiatore (vee-a-gee-ah-tore-A) – Traveler

     Wow….the past few days have simply been completely a whirlwind….i am now home after quite the amazing adventure….this weekend was so great, but it definently feels good to be home in my own place….AND it just feels better to be back in italy J….

…yesterday morning…sheesh feels like forever ago….Olivia and I were on a train at 7am, which is completely too early to make the cheapest train by theway….but no matter, we were on the train for two and a half hours destined for Birmingham….we were off to find grandpas house….oh goodness it was so cool J….so first of all we got to see the sunrise over the English countryside which was exactly what you would picture and it was so so so beautiful….i loved it…..we both slept quite a bit, but eventually we made it…./Birmingham is actually very very pretty….we had heard however, from Grant (the policeman I made friends with on Friday) that we shouldn’t really bring out our phones here because there were a lot snatchers, so I don’t have very good pictures sorry L….

…but once we got there we found an information center who gave us perfect directions on what bus to take out the right neighborhood….then we walked all around for a bit trying to find Dryden Grove….and after asking a few people for directions, we found it!....two houses down toward the culdesac, on the right….there it was….5 Dryden Grove….the address in passport of K. J. W. Wall J…..i was so estatic….i went to the door to ask about it and a lady answered (originally thinking I was a marketer, and asking me to go away until I told her, in an American accent, that this was my granddads house)….she had lived in the house for 46 years, moving in when she was only a couple months old….she talked to me for a little bit, intridgued that I was even there, and then she directed me towards the records hall in town to do anymore research I wanted….so we took some pictures and headed off…

….i was a little disappointed that there wasn’t anything more from here, not sure exactly what I was expecting but just maybe something more…..but grandpa was watching out for me, because no sooner was I stepping onto Dryden Grove, then I heard one of the two men that were talking in the front lawn next door, ask me about my granddad…..i told him why I was there, and he thought it was very cool…..then he asked where we were from so we told him the usual…..Americans studying in Italy for the semester….its when I told him where in the US that I knew grandpa was watching…..i told him Idaho (expecting to have to change it to Seattle, like I usually do) and his response was, “oh like Coeur d’ Alene/ Spokane area?” I WAS SPEECHLESS!!! J J J what are the odds of the next door neighbor to Grandpa’s house in Birmingham England, knowing CDA, in little old Idaho?!?!?.....come to find out, his brother in law, is a Chief Master Sargent at the Fairchild Airforce base, and so he and his wife had been there many times…..totally amazing…we ended up talking there for a good 45 minutes….they were so kind, and it was just exactly the experience I was wanted…..the only thing that would have been the icing on the cake, would have been if a Great Blue Heron flew overhead….that experience, made the whole thing completely worth finding….        

….an hour later, we were on the train back to London, exhausted but I was extremely happy J….when we got back we went off to find a different loop of the bus tour….because of a certain deal, we were able to get the passes for two days instead of one….so this time we rode it around for about an hour, seeing amazing things like, Kensington Park (no I didn’t go in it to find the Peter Pan statue, I forgot it was there), the Palace, Victoria and Albert Musuem and many other things….we finally got off at Harrods J…and needless to say, had a great time wandering and getting lost in there….after, we headed back towards Birmingham Palace…it was so so beautiful at night J and so many less people, so we sat and watched….took some more pictures….and then headed off towards Trafalgur Square for dinner….

            …we went to a place that we had seen the first day, and I of course got a local beer, and fish & chips….when in Rome (London) right?....man it was delish!! And finished with a cup of tea?? It was a perfect last dinner in London J….we took our time, and I think may have showed England how Itlaians enjoy food (aka took a really long time to eat J)

…..afterwards we just wandered, and waited to go meet my friend Lucas….he is a Boise State kid that I have known since Freshman Year, who is studying in London….he had been traveling and had just gotten back….

            …it was so so nice to see him and catch up….since he was letting us crash with him that night, we headed back to his house, ended up going to a pub for a drink and hanging out the rest of the night….it was the best way to spend a night and so so so much fun J….this morning the three of us headed out early to do our last big tourist attraction, the Tower Bridge…

            …Olivia and I had tickets (and Lucas bought one there) to go through the exhibit and get to go up to the top and look out….it was so cool J….we learned a ton about it and got amazing views of the city….we took our time, taking a ton of pictures!! And then we were off to our last stop in London….the Brick Lane Market, that Lucas loves and goes to every Sunday….and let me just tell you, you would never find this if you didn’t know where to look but oh my god you must go!....its this completely funky market, but the best part is the food court…..soooo many good ethnic foods….we had Chinese food for the first time in 2 months….and it was the best that I have ever had….seriously it was so so good J….we took our time with the rest of it before it was time to head out..

            ….we went back to the train station, said a see you later, to Lucas (he is coming here next month hopefully) and then went for one more sight in the train station….Platform 9 ¾ Kings Cross Station….aka how to get to Hogwarts J

….after that we hopped on a train…that took longer than we thought it would….got to the airport with 1 hour until our flight….met a man when we were getting off the train who was a god send!...he only had 45 mintues until his flight and showed us exactly where to run to for our flight, which security…all of it….as we were racing through Gatwick Airport we were so thankful….we were able to get there in enough time, but once we were boarded, we sat….for apparently about 45 minutes (I fell asleep)….then we de-planed, waited about 20 minutes….were let back on and were off 1 ½ hours later….apparently something was leaking into the overhead bins, and down into the panels over row 11, and then by someones feet and it had to be cleaned so it would cause electrical problems….but we were finally off, and after fighting our way past people to get onto the first bus back into the city, and the metro….we are finally home….its been a long weekend, but that was a great adventure!!!