England

England was a fantastic trip! I stayed up in Shropshire until New Year's Day and then I went down to Kent to see everyone and made a few forays into London :) London is my new obsession. When I grow up, I want to be a graphic designer in London.

Metal sculpture map of London

With all of the snow I was worried that my flight to London would be cancelled. It was delayed by 2 hours because of snow in Bergamo, but I made it. Because it was delayed I had to take the late bus to Birmingham, but Pete and Neti were kind enough to pick me up anyways. By the time we got home, it was 2 am so I had to give major props to Pete for staying awake to drive. He was great.

Shropshire was like a postcard when I first got there because all of the fields and the cute hedge lined roads were covered in snow. When the snow started to melt, it caused a lot of fog so most days it was like everyone was waiting for Jack the Ripper to pop out from behind trees as they loomed out of the haze. Needless to say, it was a pea souper (aren't English phrases great!).

In Shropshire me and Neti mostly hung around the house watching British soap operas and working our way through many bottles of wine. It was very nice after 3 months of screaming Italian children to just relax and have peace and quiet. Of course, the peace was less quiet when Sam and the kids came around but it was completely worth it to see Annette dance on the PlayStation Move. It was hilarious watching the videos of how ridiculous we all looked.

We went into Wrexham, Wales with Sam, Callum, and Layla to hit up some holiday sales and to watch Gulliver's Travels. Jack Black is legend, and movies in English rock my world. Two thumbs up.

The 3 couples of Oswestry, Neti and Pete- Jill and Nick- Sue and Martin, do everything together. They always get together when I'm in town, and we always have an unforgettable time. This occasion happened to be Nick's birthday and we all went out for a proper English pub dinner at Mad Jack's. We were joined by the fabulous Rachel, Sue and Martin's daughter, who was home from university on break. We caught up as we killed a bottle of Rosé over a delectable dinner, and she invited me out with her friends for New Year's Eve.

New Year's Eve in Oswestry was an experience. They go hard on the Welsh border. I woke up with a giant bruise and muddy feet and no recollection of how they came to be. We went to Rachel's friend Llinos's house to drink a few Sex on the Beach's and get ready. For the record Welsh names are particularly difficult to pronounce before and especially after cocktails. We were joined by the lovely Natalie and the rockin' awesome Jodie and after some more pre-gaming to the new Rhianna CD (thank god for exposer to current pop culture) we hit the town. We went to two pubs --the second was named The Boar's Head and I swear came straight out of a stereotypical American movie about British people-- and both were a blast. We tore up the dance floor at both of them, before ending the night with a kebab for the ride home. Rachel was such a blast and the most fantastic hostess, she made it an excellent New Year's Eve. Oswestry wasn't glamorous- it was just the local crowd hanging out in the pub, maybe drinking, dancing, and dressing up a little more than usual...but it was genuine. And more importantly it was genuinely the best time ever. Awesome night!

Since I have no NYE photos I've put a sign from the London Underground in their place. Appropriate, I feel. 

This trip was a disaster for pictures. Up in Shropshire I was too busy relaxing to be bothered to take many pictures before New Year's. When New Year's Eve came I was determined to have photo documentation, but I left my camera at Llinos's house before we went out. Then when I got it back, the battery was dead. And when I tried to recharge the battery, my charger wouldn't fit into my UK wall adapter. When I borrowed another adapter it still didn't fit. Thus, all of these photos were taken with my iPhone and may or may not look like they were taken by a drunken 8-year-old. 

In Kent we went to visit the rest of the fam. We had EXCELLENT Indian take-out at Del and Jenny's and watched the Hangover. Then the next day we went to visit Grandad Bob and Alpina, ran into Cat and Dan, and stopped at Mark and Vicky's to say hi and play with the kids. I feel old, kids that were 3 when I first met them what seems like a short time ago, are now 11. It's kind of surreal. 

That night Jaimie and Ant took me to the local Orpington pub with one of their friends. His name is Dan, but they both affectionately know him as Ginger or Ging, owing to the fact that he is a freakishly tall and freckly redhead. He had a proper cockney accent and I could probably listen to him talk forever. Cockney intrigues me, it's like double dutch that has survived beyond the 6th grade. 

I stayed with Jaimie and Ant while I was in Kent and crashed on their couch. I've never had better hotel service in my life. Ant cooked a fantastic meal every night I was there, the turn down service was impeccable, and the hotel bar was always open. We had a good time watching comedians from the UK and testing whether I could understand their heavy Scottish or Geordie accents. We played drinking games, sang obnoxious songs, watched movies, shared stories, talked with helium, and had a raucous good time in general. Best hotel I know. 

I went into London twice while I was in the south of England. The first time, me and Ant went in together for the day while Jaimie had to work. Since I'd never seen Harrod's he said it was a must see. Harrod's proves one thing to me. Money can't buy taste. It is a store bigger than a city block that would take DAYS to go through every department and floor, and it is absolutely full with wildly overpriced designer things. Most of them more hideous than the last. The only redeemable qualities of Harrod's were the Egyptian staircase, the giant floor of international delicacies, and of course, the bears. While we were there, we also went to the theater so I could squeeze in one more movie in English before leaving. We watched Love and Other Drugs which was really good and not as corny or predictable as RomCom's usually are. Ant was happy because he expected a chick flick and then Anne Hathaway spent half the movie naked. I was happy because so did Jake Gyllenhaal :)

Cait and the giant Harrod's bear.

Cait and the Harrod's doorman.

The second time I went in by myself to have lunch with Cat and walk around. We ate in a cute cafe that was a reclaimed train dock in Bethnal Green. After lunch I walked around Shoreditch and hit up the Spitalfields Market. My amber jewelry guy from 2 years ago wasn't there that day, but I asked and he's still around. I won't lose hope of replacing my lost necklace :(  But I'm so in LOVE with London. All of the swanky little neighborhoods with the artsy little shopping streets. It's like an indie artist's dream. Now it's my dream. I can't wait! Give me 3 years or so and I'll see you there. 

Building in Shoreditch, London. I would live in Shoreditch if I thought I was hipster enough to pull it off.

Favorite British sayings:

pea souper = so foggy you can't see

bubble and squeak = Greek

Alan Wicker's = knickers

knickers = underwear

Favorite British prefixes:

well= ex. "That suitcase is well heavy." or "I am well drunk."

proper= ex. "I can't find my wallet. I am proper screwed."

Favorite British foods:

well matured cheese and cream crackers!

TEA

salt and vinegar chips

Yorkshire pudding

fish and chips

steak and ale pie 

minced pies with double cream

bread pudding

shepard's pie

Cornish pasty