One week in England and...

Things are very different...

The food is different - yay fresh fruits and vegetables! Cheese! Bread! Coffee! Meat! Chocolate! Cake! I've been making the most of it and have suffered more than one stomache ache as a result. Hasn't stopped me yet though...

The climate is different - and not to my liking! Having grown used to 40 - degree heat, I'm unimpressed by typical English summer, which is even worse than usual. Living in sweaters is not my idea of summer at the best of times.

The people are different - ahhhh, family! It is really really nice to see everyone again. The cousins are bigger and more grownup looking (but as heart-meltingly cute as ever), but everyone pretty much is the same as I remember - just the way I always want it to be. I arrived right into the thick of things, with everyone at 102 for the Great Family Picnic the next day.

Despite the dismal weather, it was one of the best yet. A few days later we had a non-wedding Wedding (aka very low-key), which was absolutely lovely.

Has being here been much of a shock? Not really. I'm still away from home, so perhaps there's still time to go crashing back to earth.


I miss India though. A lot. I know I will return, as soon as I possibly can. I desperately want to see everyone again, and there's so much more of the country to discover. I can see why so many people go to India again and again.



(Now that I have access to high-speed internet, photos to accompany previous posts are to come.)

off so soon...

Ok this photo has nothing to do with anything, I just thought it was funny!

I'm leaving 102 tomorrow, and it hardly feels as if I've been here at all. Being used to staying here for several weeks at a time, a few days feels incredibly short. However, in that time I've managed to check off all the things on my list of Things I Must Do When in England.

These include:

Lunch at the Harrow (no photographic evidence of my enormous ham-and-lentil soup I'm afraid, as I was clueless and forgot my camera!)

Coffee and biscuit at Marks & Spencers (with the remains of a dusted cocoa star)

Spending time with family of all ages

Admiring adorably British cottages

And one picture especially for my sister!

Next stop is London. Looking forward to seeing Ayla for the first time in 2 years, and for seeing London on foot rather than by bus! Am getting lots of advice from everyone I meet, which is increasing my nerves/excitement. There's still a little part of me that doesn't actually believe what I'm about to do...

Note to Self:

It would help if you made sure that you had important information, like say, the phone number of your destination, before setting off. It would also help if you were fully awake before booking your transportation out of the airport and onto your next destination, so as to avoid time-wasting coaches.

Live and learn?

Anyway, I did arrive at 102 safe and sound, albeit considerably later than expected and adding a few grey hairs to my mother and grandmother's heads! And (trying to look on the bright side), the time-consuming journey to Victoria Station in London, and also time-consuming journey from London to Petersfield meant that I was able to have a mini tour of the city (sort of).
Now I am ensconsed in my second home, listening to the birds outside. One of my favourite things about England is being able to wake up to the sounds of woodpigeons cooing in the morning (quite possibly the world's most pleasant alarm clock). I have many traditions when staying in England and at 102. Along with the morning pigeons, there's the walk around the Heath, wandering through town, eating freshly-baked bread, going to the Harrow. These are activities that I know I will do every single time I come here, and that repetition and familiarity make them all the more enjoyable.