We're here

In England. Bath specifically. The plane trip was just fine - I think they accidentally doublebooked William's seat because at boarding they gave us free upgrades to nicer seats, which was lovely. The train was easy to catch straight from Heathrow and we arrived here midafternoon. Of course it's 9 hours difference from California and five hours difference from New York, which we'd adapted to, so with only about 3-4 hours of sleep, we're pretty tuckered out. But we're gonna stay awake another few hours so we get on the right schedule.

A few random first impressions:

Traveling here on the train, looking out the window, if I hadn't seen any buildings, I would swear we're simply in Oregon. Green. But the buildings - all those row houses with the odd shaped roofs, they're the giveaway.

Their keyboard isn't the same as an American keyboard - ACK!

The exchange rate dollar to pound is even worse then when we planned the trip. A pound worth almost twice an American dollar - double ACK!

Our B&B is fine but we have many many stairs to climb to our room.

Our first night in England, we went to a Spanish restaurant. Had tapas, which are all sorts of individual dishes meant to be shared, kinda like eating at a Chinese restaurant. William and I both liked it.

We've already gone to the Roman Baths - toooooo cool. Tribute to the Goddess Minerva. I threw an offering in the pool, just like folks have been doing for almost 2,000 years.

Everything is picturesque - there's no way to turn without wanting to whip out my camera and snap a shot. I'm trying to be selective as we'll be here for 3-1/2 weeks - I only have eight SD cards with me! William has a camera too. At the last minute I bought a second camera. It will be fun to see what he takes pictures of - he's a pretty decent photographer already and I think he'll only improve with all the photo ops here.

Traffic rules - I don't think anyone finds them particularly useful - they certainly don't follow them! I think the main rule is - Don't get run over!

Well, my 30 minutes and a cuppa are almost up, so I'll sign off.

Except for that damn exchange rate (and I have a sneaking suspicion that Bath is sorta the English equivalent of Santa Cruz or Ashland or some other upscale tourist community - maybe things will be better in the wilds of Wales or Scotland, our next stops methinks) this is really a mind stretching experience - even on 3 hours of sleep. And a glass of sangria.