England

I can't believe it all worked out, but it miraculously did. I made it all the way to England by taking a bus, then a train, then a car, then a ferry, then a train again. My destination was Lakenheath Airforce Base in East Anglia to visit my aunt and cousins who are currently stationed there. It gave me a bit of stress trying to organize everything, but it all came together in the end. Luckily the family of a friend of mine was already planning to vacation in England, and offered to take me with them until Dover. It was really fun traveling with them and getting to know another German family. My aunt Liz (whom I hadn't seen in about 4 years) picked me up in a nearby town called Ely on a Friday afternoon and while we were there we visited the famous Ely cathedral and walked around the town. Very charming. When we got to her house on the base, I was surprised to find that my two little cousins, Ryan and Collin, were no longer little. They had not grown as fast as my brother (now a 6 ft. freshman) but still had become very mature looking. On Saturday Ryan had a varsity soccer game, so we all sat on the cold metal bleachers that I knew

so well from military sporting events and cheered him on as it drizzled that misty english rain. After the game Collin and Aunt Liz gave me a tour of the base. It brought back a lot of memories from my childhood on the army posts back in the States. Typical military housing means being all squished in together, but in turn having a very warm sense of community. It was like a little piece of America in England. I could even pay for everything with dollars instead of pounds. The only thing that would give you a clue that it wasn't in the US was that everyone had to drive on the left side. I had a lot of fun walking up and down the aisles of the commisary, admiring the american products that you can't get in Germany. I didn't really miss them, but I had this strange impulse to buy things I would never normally buy back home like Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, Cream Soda, Betty Crocker's Chocolate Chip cookie mix and a series of other junk food labels. I was also sort of shocked by the size of everything. I ordered a small club sandwich from the deli, expecting a german brötchen-sized thing and got a sub the size of an infant. At least the soldiers are required to do PT (physical training). There were many nice athletic facilities which seemed to be in frequent use.
Sunday we went to a recreated Anglo-Saxon village in a place called West Stow. We learned some really interesting things about how they lived and even got to dress up! There have been so many people living in England for so long, that whenever there is new contruction, there are often skeletons and old pottery unearthed. Pretty neat. After the museum we took a little nature hike along the river nearby.
On Monday my aunt and I went to explore Cambridge together. We wandered through all the little streets and various colleges and courtyards. It was really beautiful in the morning and the flowers and leaves were blooming, but it turned ugly in the afternoon. That's when we had our tea and scones and then later fish and chips! Yum! We walked by King's College and watched the "Punters" (like venetian gondolas) on the river. It was a really pleasant day.
My aunt and her family are well-known for being intense sight-seers in our family, and I finally got a taste of that. Glad I am still young enough to keep up! On Tuesday morning we went to a town called Newmarket that is famous for its horse racing. I loved seeing the horses, but I am not a huge fan of the racing culture. We also did some shopping in the antique and "charity" shops (second hand, Johnny Cake Centers, they all have different names) in the town. We got home just a few minutes after my uncle arrived back from his business trip to Jerusalem. That evening we got to hear this epic story of all his adventures of visiting holy places and being rocketed at and then protected by the Iraeli Defense Force. Dangerous? Yes. Exciting? Of course!
Because of travel issues, I decided to leave a day earlier than I had planned and spend the day in London. I have fond memories of watching London-based films such as Mary Poppins, My Fair Lady, Bedknobs and Broomsticks, and of course--Harry Potter. I made a pretty strategically-planned sight seeing schedule for myself but only managed to do about half of it. It was supposed to rain in the afternoon, so I tried to work around that, but it ended up being a really nice day (and my backpack ended up being heavier than I expected). First I did the must-sees: Big Ben, the British Parliament, Westminster Abby, and the Treasury. Next I raced over to a place called Portobello Road, a street made famous by the song in Bedknobs and Broomsticks. Portobello Road, Portobello Road, anything and everything a chap can unload!! It was remarkably like in the film, just a bit more modern. There were dancers and singers and everything you could possibly imagine for sale. I particularly enjoyed listening to a Greek vendor try to sell cloths to me by singing me a free- style he called "only 3£" It was so good, I bought shirt for his efforts.
Before I went to the British museum, I wanted to swing by the Vivienne Westwood Store and ending up finding too many interesting things on the way. I came upon Carnaby Street and wandered in and out of the adorable little shops. There are so many clothing stores in London!!! I took a break in Green Park by Buckingham Palace and soaked up some rare sunshine and did some people watching. I then went to find my hostel and leave my heavy pack there. It was a decent hostel for being only 10£ a night. I freshened up and took the tube to the London Bridge and walked along the river walk and did some writing and sketching. It was so magical--like Disney only not fake. Back at the hostel I contimplated staying up to get to know the other travelers there, but I was too exhausted and went right to bed. I didn't sleep that well though because I was in a room with 15 other people with 3 stack bunk beds. At least there were railings. The next morning I grabbed my continental breakfast of toast and ran to catch my train, but I wasn't fast enough. I missed my train and got to Dover later than planned. My friend's family picked me up and we raced to the ferry and slid into one of the last places. Close one! I felt really bad, but I was really grateful we made it. It was a really nice ride with them back to Germany. We sang songs, played games, and told jokes. I had sort of forgotten about those road trips. Those were nice. I'm now back at home and starting a new internship next week. Exciting stuff! Hope everyone has a wonderful spring break. Appreciate the greeness and new life!

Bis zum nächsten Mal,
Elena