On our first night near Birmingham (you don't pronounce the h) we fell asleep as the sun started to rise so we slept in a bit in the morning. Around noon, my friend and her husband had to head out to a wedding for the day so we puttered around and did some laundry. We watched the weather do crazy things like downpour rain for ten minutes and then shine a bright sun in through the windows like a tropical beach day. We organized ourselves and went for a walk down a beautiful trail past the hospital to the center of town. We stopped at a grocery store that was open late because of the Olympics. I am not sure how that was related but we were grateful that we could buy some food anyway. We walked around the center of town to a few shops but since it was a Sunday, most places closed early. We walked along the water looking at white swans, cathedrals and churches. We stopped at a bench for a while and admired the nature around us and then headed back to the house. We ate pasta and fried eggs for dinner while watching movies. My friends got home past midnight and we stayed up for several more hours watching funny youtube videos and reminding each other of days back in nursing school. By the time we went to bed, our stomachs hurt from all the laughing.
The next morning we all slept in a bit and the four of us got to hang out for the day. We went on a mini hike first to a very scenic mountain with a view of the city and green fields as far as the eye could see. We stopped for a survey conducted by a student on the way up and were rewarded by candy which we munched on to balance out the excersise we were doing. At the top of the mountain we saw sheep grazing and played guess the droppings as well as shared stories of past travels and experiences. We drove nearly one hour to a small quaint English villiage with small shops. We walked around for a while and tried to eat at a pub but they did not open until later in the evening. After wandering and exploring for a while we head back to the house. We walked to the local chip shop and bought food to eat on their lovely patio. I had a burger and chips while everyone else had fish and chips. It was greasy and delicious. We watched 30 rock and ate brownies for the next little while. After that everyone spent time fussing over their own technology all over the room into the evening. We watched a few episodes of a funny English sitcom that they follow and then eventually we all crashed for the night.
In the morning we got up early and got dropped off near the bus station around seven thirty. We tried to sneak onto and earlier bus but it was sold out so we waited at a McDonalds for the next bus time. After being refused onto three busses, the weather warmed up a bit and we decided to get some breakfast. We ate baguettes and coffee nearby and then went shopping in the area. It is quite a busy city with men and women in suits bustling around doing important things, I'm sure. Our bus was a bit late arriving but that is to be expected with the olympics in the next city over. We caught the bus after noon and head to London to witness the second olympic games of our lives. We had a perfect little visit in Birmingham with our friends and it was great to see them. We are hoping to meet up again in London on the weekend before we head back to the homeland.
Once we got into Victoria station in London, I thought we had come to the wrong city. I was expecting larger than life crowds and craziness. London is normally a very busy place, London in August is insanity and London in August as the host for the 2012 games was meant to be bumper to bumper fun. The few people wandering in the gloomy weather was quite underwhelming. We left the station late as our bus had been delayed "due to the Olympics" but I am pretty sure it was unrelated based on the non existent traffic. We walked to the one and only seat of the Queen, Buckingham palace which was again, underwhelming. It is of course big, grand and royal but the weather, lack of tourists and the fact that it was the thousanth large beautiful buidling we had seen in the last two months, made it less than breathtaking. Nevertheless we took photos, mocked the guards Mr. Bean style and continued past the beach volleyball games to the supreme court buildings, Westminister Abby, big ben and the parliament buildings. Big Ben is not a big statue of a bear like I expected but rather, it is a clock. Not a special clock, just a clock. Underwhelming. We passed protestors of different varieties, hundreds of red phone booths, big two level red busses and bobbies (cops). All cliches of London were there in addition to tons of pink vested volunteers looking for people to help out. We visited inside the Supreme court buildings and we went into the Italian house. The Italian house was set up very nice with a huge auditorium to watch the games and booths giving away samples with information. They said they were having a food and wine sample and for the first time this trip, we said no to free food because we had to get going to meet our host for London.
We met some young Christian men who taught us about the love of Jesus and we went back and forth reasoning our beliefs to each other for a while. It was a refreshing conversation that (I think) ended with both parties thinking in the right directions. After this conversation around five pm people started appearing out of no where (likely from the games) by the thousands. The streets were packed, the sun came out and it started to get exciting. Based on my impression from the first day, the olympics here have far less free events for people. Nightly concerts and houses from different sponsors are non existant and other than the normal tourist activities, the Olympics are only visible by symbolic statues and monuments in addition to tacky pink vested eager volunteers.
We travelled by tube to Southgate station which is nearly forty minutes outside of the downtown area. We tried to call my mother's aunty with the payphone but the darn machine kept eating my coins so we borrowed a phone from a nice young lady. We had miscommunicated with my mom's aunty and cousin who were hosting us. They had been expecting us around one pm and were a bit cofused. Everything worked out in the end and we got picked up from the station. We went back to their home nearby and met the rest of the family over a delicious Persian meal. I met my second cousin and great aunty and we stayed up very late getting to know one another. We slept well that night in anticipation for another day at the twice in a lifetime event.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
The next morning we all slept in a bit and the four of us got to hang out for the day. We went on a mini hike first to a very scenic mountain with a view of the city and green fields as far as the eye could see. We stopped for a survey conducted by a student on the way up and were rewarded by candy which we munched on to balance out the excersise we were doing. At the top of the mountain we saw sheep grazing and played guess the droppings as well as shared stories of past travels and experiences. We drove nearly one hour to a small quaint English villiage with small shops. We walked around for a while and tried to eat at a pub but they did not open until later in the evening. After wandering and exploring for a while we head back to the house. We walked to the local chip shop and bought food to eat on their lovely patio. I had a burger and chips while everyone else had fish and chips. It was greasy and delicious. We watched 30 rock and ate brownies for the next little while. After that everyone spent time fussing over their own technology all over the room into the evening. We watched a few episodes of a funny English sitcom that they follow and then eventually we all crashed for the night.
In the morning we got up early and got dropped off near the bus station around seven thirty. We tried to sneak onto and earlier bus but it was sold out so we waited at a McDonalds for the next bus time. After being refused onto three busses, the weather warmed up a bit and we decided to get some breakfast. We ate baguettes and coffee nearby and then went shopping in the area. It is quite a busy city with men and women in suits bustling around doing important things, I'm sure. Our bus was a bit late arriving but that is to be expected with the olympics in the next city over. We caught the bus after noon and head to London to witness the second olympic games of our lives. We had a perfect little visit in Birmingham with our friends and it was great to see them. We are hoping to meet up again in London on the weekend before we head back to the homeland.
Once we got into Victoria station in London, I thought we had come to the wrong city. I was expecting larger than life crowds and craziness. London is normally a very busy place, London in August is insanity and London in August as the host for the 2012 games was meant to be bumper to bumper fun. The few people wandering in the gloomy weather was quite underwhelming. We left the station late as our bus had been delayed "due to the Olympics" but I am pretty sure it was unrelated based on the non existent traffic. We walked to the one and only seat of the Queen, Buckingham palace which was again, underwhelming. It is of course big, grand and royal but the weather, lack of tourists and the fact that it was the thousanth large beautiful buidling we had seen in the last two months, made it less than breathtaking. Nevertheless we took photos, mocked the guards Mr. Bean style and continued past the beach volleyball games to the supreme court buildings, Westminister Abby, big ben and the parliament buildings. Big Ben is not a big statue of a bear like I expected but rather, it is a clock. Not a special clock, just a clock. Underwhelming. We passed protestors of different varieties, hundreds of red phone booths, big two level red busses and bobbies (cops). All cliches of London were there in addition to tons of pink vested volunteers looking for people to help out. We visited inside the Supreme court buildings and we went into the Italian house. The Italian house was set up very nice with a huge auditorium to watch the games and booths giving away samples with information. They said they were having a food and wine sample and for the first time this trip, we said no to free food because we had to get going to meet our host for London.
We met some young Christian men who taught us about the love of Jesus and we went back and forth reasoning our beliefs to each other for a while. It was a refreshing conversation that (I think) ended with both parties thinking in the right directions. After this conversation around five pm people started appearing out of no where (likely from the games) by the thousands. The streets were packed, the sun came out and it started to get exciting. Based on my impression from the first day, the olympics here have far less free events for people. Nightly concerts and houses from different sponsors are non existant and other than the normal tourist activities, the Olympics are only visible by symbolic statues and monuments in addition to tacky pink vested eager volunteers.
We travelled by tube to Southgate station which is nearly forty minutes outside of the downtown area. We tried to call my mother's aunty with the payphone but the darn machine kept eating my coins so we borrowed a phone from a nice young lady. We had miscommunicated with my mom's aunty and cousin who were hosting us. They had been expecting us around one pm and were a bit cofused. Everything worked out in the end and we got picked up from the station. We went back to their home nearby and met the rest of the family over a delicious Persian meal. I met my second cousin and great aunty and we stayed up very late getting to know one another. We slept well that night in anticipation for another day at the twice in a lifetime event.
"If we are not happy and joyous in this season for what season shall we wait"
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