Please sir, I want some moors

Cheers from Ripon, Yorkshire! I can't upload photos here, so they will have to wait till we find a proper internet cafe (we're at a library presently). SInce leaving London, we have learned several things. England is cold and rainy. Bare ground and no pillows make for poor sleeping conditions. Backpacks are very heavy. But despite those things, we are having a fantastic time. We went from London to Cambridge and walked around to see my old haunts from studying abroad. I was delighted to discover that I still knew my way around. Next we trained to York, set up the tent, and headed to Leeds (much, much bigger than I expected; it looked like the English version of Tampa or something) and then Keighley (pronounced Keith-ley; go figure) and then took a bus to Haworth, home of the Brontes. Haworth was not as spectacular as I hoped, but we did find some lovely windswept, heather-filled moors on top of a hill. The next day (yesterday) we explored York. We both loved York; it was quite charming. We walked along the city walls, went to a sort of everyday-life museum with recreated rooms and streets, and visited York Minster. I've been to many cathedrals in my time, but York Minster was quite impressive. We took lots of pictures, and I lit a candle in one of the chapels in memory of the April 16 kids. That night we walked around some more and went to a pub for cider and Pimm's & lemonade. Then we turned in for the night. This morning, we trained to Harrogate and bused here to Ripon. Now we're off to visit Fountains Abbey -- our first National Trust stop. I'll probably update again in about three or four days. We're having a great time and wish you were all here with us...although I don't think you'd fit in the tent!

First stop: London

We're here! We left Newark this morning and set our watches to London time as soon as we got on the plane, so it really feels like midnight, and we're ready for bed. We're staying with Courtney, who I met online through a Gator alumni networking thing. She has a sweet job in London and she is letting us sleep on her futon. We had a great flight with movies and snacks galore, then we got here, had some tasty dinner, talked to Courtney for a while, and now we're off to bed. Tomorrow morning: Cambridge. I'll post from there, hopefully with some photos.

Love to all,
Alexandria

And away we go!

Moving: check
Packing for trip: check
Last details for trip: check
Say goodbye to friends: check
Drive to New Jersey: ready to go

My next post will be from Europe!

Countdown to May 27: 2 days

Moving is done...now we wait

Yesterday, with the help of Maura and Gilbert, Amy and Luke, and Miriam, we moved (almost) all of our possessions out of our apartment and into the storage unit. Phew. Last night, M and G, Miriam, Savvy, Dana, and Brian helped us celebrate our newly empty apartment with fish tacos and margaritas. This week: we finish our trip preparations, apply for a job or two in Boston, hang out with our friends, and try to grasp the fact that we're actually going to Europe.

Countdown to May 27: 6 days

One more week in the burg

Well, we're almost done packing, we're going to get the last few bits and pieces for our trip today, it's Andrew's last day at work, and I only have one more week. Sunday is moving day and empty apartment party day. Then we tie up the last few loose ends, and we're out of here! It's hard to believe :-)

Countdown to May 27: 9 days

Boxes, boxes, and more boxes

Well, we finally started packing yesterday. We packed about 15-20 boxes of books....and we still have several shelves of books to go. We already need more boxes. It felt good to start, though.

Apart from that, it was a really nice weekend. We saw different groups of friends on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights. We started wondering if we were crazy to be moving at all, but realized that, no, this is the right thing to do. Blacksburg is a college town, and as such, is a place of constant change. Probably none of our close friends will still be here in five years. That's just the way it goes. So even though we will be sad to say goodbye to everyone here, we will always cherish the special kind of memories that close quarters and compressed timetables bring to school friends.

Countdown to May 27: 20 days

And for my next trick

I will attempt to add photos. Here we go. This is Bryan, Christina, and Andrew on the top of Stone Mountain. Bryan and I both represented with our Europe backpacks. Word.Countdown to May 27: 26 days