Day 130: Dallas, Texas

I woke up today, in Heathrow airport, around 8, and I was exhausted, if you can believe it.  I went to the ticket agent, and she was extremely helpful and got me on a flight leaving at 9 45 instead of 13 25.  She even got me a pretty decent seat.

The Boeing 777 that will take me home. 

The flight back was pretty good.  It was quite longer than the flight over, lasting almost 10 hours.  Still not too bad.  I had plenty of legroom, and there were no kids around.  It was certainly no KLM, though.  I did get some mushy cheese pasta that was good, and this mushy cheese pizza thing later.  And some delicious treats to fill the gaps.

Not delicious.

I managed to get a good amount of rest on the flight, and watched a couple of movies.  I saw The Debt, which was pretty good, if anybody is interested. 

When I landed in Dallas, I was met by Natalie and Dad.  It was really great to see them. 

Natalie had this at the airport, in a cooler, with ice.  Best sister ever.

I spent the rest of my evening just relaxing at home.  I talked a lot with my dad about the trip, took a shower, practiced, and had a great dinner courtesy of my mom.  I am really sad to be gone from France, and there are a lot of things I miss, but it is good to see my family again. 

She's special.

My awesome first dinner home.

So this is it.  I am home, after an amazing 4 months in Europe, and my trip is over.  Which makes this blog done as well.  Thanks everybody who made this trip so great, and especially my parents and family for making it possible.  And of course, thanks to everybody who stopped in to read this thing every once in a while.  It has been a pleasure.  Au revoir!

Day 129: London, England

This is really a half day, but I am leaving Europe, so I figured I'd do a post really quickly before I get on the plane.  I arrive in London last night at about 10:20, and started my commute to Heathrow via the Straw.  That is my nickname for the subway in London.  Because it looks like a little straw, underground. It took me a while, and it was nearly midnight when I got to the airport.

I found this highly efficient signage along the way.

When I got to the airport, it was pretty much a ghost town.  There were about 0 people anywhere.

Not a lot of people to talk to.

Cool lighting outside the terminal.

My bed.

I paid money for internets to watch this game.  I thought it was great!

 After the game, I slept for a few hours in the terminal.  I woke up and went to the ticket counter at around 8:15.  The nice lady over-booked the 9:45 flight, so now I get to fly home almost 4 hours earlier.  It is nice to not have to wait as long in the airport. 


It is pretty unbelievable that I am leaving Europe.  I really don't know what to think about it.  It is really, really bittersweet.  See you soon!

Day 128: Manchester, England

So today was my last full day in England.  It was pretty fun.  I woke up pretty late, around 12, and had some toast and got dressed.  Near 1:00, we left for Manchester.  Once we got there, we walked to Salford University, where Danny goes to school, so he could turn in his essay and project.  Manchester is a very interesting city.  It's roots in industry are evident.  There architecture is very, very interesting.  There is lots of brick construction, as well as older stone buildings.  Intermixed are many modern glass constructions.  It is pretty cool.

I like all of the brick.

This is the magistrates court.

The inside of Salford Cathedral.

The Church of Sts. Philip and Stephen in Salford

After we dropped his papers off, we walked backed to Manchester center.  We stopped along the way, at a mall, to eat.  I got fish and chips, because it was only one of two non-American restaurant in the food court.  After we ate, we walked around Manchester a bit more.  It is pretty nice city.

This is the John Rylands liberry at Manchester University.  It is in an old church.

This very, very cool modern structure has been integrated into the existing church structure.

Because of staircases in weird places, I got to see some new angles.

Old book collection.  This ceiling would have been incredibly high if this floor weren't added.

Bridgewater Hall, home of the Manchester Symphony.

This is the train station in Warrington.  This was the first railway line in the world. Ever.

Now, I am just hanging out with Danny for a bit before I leave.  I am about to get on a train to London so I can go to the airport and fly home.  I had a really wonderful stay with Danny and his family, and I hate to leave.

Day 127: Warrington, England

Today, I was in Warrington, England.  I took one picture, and it is really stupid.  I'll show it to you later.  Danny and I woke up pretty late today.  He was up late writing a paper for uni, and I was up late doing nothing productive at all.  We were going to run, but it was rainy, so we watched football.  Manchester City was playing Manchester United in 3rd round FA Cup action.  There was a lot of excitement leading up, after Man City won in October, at United, 6-1.  It was pretty great match, and United ended up winning 3-2.  After the game was over, we just kinda hung out and watched some of Sunderland v. Peterborough. 

The living room, and where I spent my day. I don;t know what Danny is doing over there.

At around 5:30, a lot of people came over for dinner.  Along with Danny's family here was his girlfriend, his sister and her boyfriend, his aunt and uncle and three cousins.  There were a total of 13 people here, which was fun.  Everybody was really nice, and the meal was fantastic.  After dinner, we played this game called gender wars.  It was pretty fun.  It was a really fun evening.

I spent the rest of my night reorganizing all of my things, and getting ready for my travel tomorrow.  Now, I'm listening to sweet Mahler recordings on YouTube with Danny and writing this blog.

Day 126: Warrington, England

I had a pretty good day today in Warrington.  It was pretty relaxed again, but I am having a great, relaxing visit.  We woke up pretty late again, around 11:30, and showered.  Except I didn't shower.  I had some toast and then Danny and I went to get my haircut.  I am not sure if my haircut is good or not, but it is ok.

Danny's home is on the right.  England is looking predictably grey.

After my haircut, we walked back and I showered, and then we went into Warrington. We just sat at a pub for a bit and had some drinks.  And then later some food.  I had fish and chips.

Danny and our Crabbie's Ginger Ale.  It was good.  It was alcoholic.

This was basically the most exciting part of the day.  Some bloke asked us to watch his beer while he went off to the loo.  We watched it for like 20 minutes and it didn't do a thing.  He never came back. 

After we go back home, we just hung out for a little bit. I watched the SHSU football game.  They lost. :(

Not enought Eat 'em'n happened. :/

After I gave up on the football game, Danny's gf Lauren came and we went to eat.  I didn't actually eat anything.  I was still full.  After, Danny and I spent the evening playing FIFA Football '12 and now we're watching Qi, which is funny. 

I am having a great stay here in England.  I can't believe I basically have only 2 days left here in Europe.  Weird.

Day 125: Warrington, England

Yup. I didn't really do anything today, but it was alright.  Danny and I both woke up at around noon, and just kinda hung out.  I had some toast for Breakfast, and we sat and watched TV with his family.  Danny's mom is on holiday, and his works for four days and has four off, and right now he is off, so things are pretty relaxed here.  Danny left for work at around 3, and I just hung out in Danny's room for a bit.  I went down around 2 for tea.  Seriously.  And I had a sandwich.  And some tea.  I watched some Pirates of the Caribbean film with Danny's dad, and a bit later, we had dinner. Dinner was lasagna and salad and garlic bread.  It was good.  At around 8, Danny got home and we sat down to watch Liverpool play in round 3 of the FA Cup.  It was not the prettiest match, but they ended up winning 5-1.  We spent the rest of the evening watching Royale Family, a very funny British sitcom from around 2000.  It is pretty funny.  Danny's family has been wonderful and really welcoming.  His mum bought me jam for my toast. 

I spent most of my time here with my feet on that radiator.

Day 124: Aberdeen, Scotland - Warrington, England

So, today was another adventurous day in Scotland.  Megan and I woke up at around 8:30, a little later than planned, but not bad.  We left at around 10 to go on a trail of historic buildings in Old Aberdeen.  It took us about 90 minutes, and it was pretty interesting.  We saw some old buildings, churches, houses, and uni buildings.  It was alright weather, too, although there were a few minutes of rain, followed by about 60 seconds of intense snowfall.   

A rich person had these gates built by his rich people house.

This is King's College.

Bishop Elphinstone's tomb in front of the chapel at King's College.

This is a garden in Old Aberdeen, whilst it was snowing.

The old town hall.  The pillar in the front is the remain of the market cross, a stone cross that marked the market area, and was the focal point of the city.

St. Machar's Cathedral, and its cemetery. 

Some stained glass.

Seaton Park on the north end of Old Aberdeen.

After our walk, we headed to her house, and had left-over Chinese food for lunch.  It was good and already paid for.  At around 12:30, we left for the station,.  I got my ticket and said bye to Megan.  Things didn't always go incredibly smoothly, but I had a great stay in Scotland.  I’d love to try it in the summer.  Travel today was a bit of a mess.  I got to Edinburgh fine, but my train from there to Carlisle was cancelled, and I ended up on a bus.  It took like 3 hours. :/ I finally made it though, and now I am on my train to Warrington.  The weather was great while I was on the train(of course), but I did get to see some beautiful countryside. 

This is the coast.

This is the other side. Of the train.

Lots o' farmland here.

Stuff is green here.  Despite the frigid arctic air.

 I have had a nice evening since I arrived.  Danny and I got some fish and chips and now we're just hanging out watching British tele.

Fish, chips, Danny.

It is so weird that I am here again, where I started my trip.  And where I’m ending it.  I can’t believe that after  124 days in Europe, I only have 4 left.  I am not at all excited about getting back to the States.  Here’s to 4 great days in England!