I was so blessed to have a nice long three-week visit from my parents over the Easter holidays. After not seeing them for eight months, our time together felt even more precious. And even though we all were feeling sick (literally) and tired by the time we made it back to London, we still enjoyed our last few days together. Since I had to work, my parents explored on their own, but we had some nice dinners together. I loved coming home at the end of the day, relaxing with them and swapping stories of our days. After being so independent for so long, I really enjoyed that communal time together as a family.
Sadly, on Friday morning, I had to send them off to Heathrow in a taxi so they could catch their plane home to the states. This had been such an amazing trip for us; none of us wanted it to end. If you think about it, how many 30-year-olds get to explore Europe with their parents? Not many. And there's something to be said about traveling with your parents when you're an adult versus when you're a child. Needless to say, I loved each day I had with my parents and will treasure those memories we made for the rest of my life. And so after a teary goodbye, I walked to work feeling a little more lonely than I had felt in a long time.
One of the best blessings I've found on this Fulbright journey is a set of new American friends. My fellow Fulbrighters and I have bonded over our shared experiences, and when times get tough as they often do, they are the first people I call. My dear Fulbright friend Rebecca had suggested we go visit the 100 Acre Wood (you know, land of Winnie the Pooh), and she couldn't have had better timing because just as I was feeling down, there was another great adventure waiting for me. So Saturday morning, I got up bright and early to catch the train to meet her.
We started our adventure in Hartfield, which is where A.A. Milne lived and wrote his books. Our first stop was for tea at Piglet's Tea Room where we had a little smackrel and enjoyed some much needed sunshine and fresh air.
Then we made our way to the famous Pooh Bridge for a riveting game (or three) of Pooh Sticks. To win the game of Pooh Sticks, one must first choose the perfect stick. All players stand on one side of the bridge and after a count of "ready, steady, go" they simultaneously drop their sticks into the water, then run to the other side of the bridge to see whose stick comes out first, declaring that person the winner. Well, I must have lettered in Pooh Sticks in a past life or something because I beat Rebecca three times out of three! I am probably the most unathletic person I know, so I considered this quite a feat! But better than winning was just the pure joy of being outside, being silly and feeling happy. It was great to see other people playing Pooh Sticks on the bridge, too, most of them being adults!
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| On the way down to Pooh Bridge |
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| A little Pooh trail |
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| Owl lives in these trees! |
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| Christopher Robin's house :) |
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| Getting ready for Round 1 of Pooh Sticks |
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| Total Pooh Stick Domination! |
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| So much fun! |
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| Rebecca wanted to climb up to the creepy fake guy in the tree. |
After our visit to the 100 Acre Woods, we headed off to Eastbourne, where we stayed for the night. Parking the car proved a bit tricky in Eastbourne, but we finally found a spot, checked into our room, and set out to explore the town a bit. I love the ocean and miss being near the water, so Eastbourne was like a haven to me. Later that night we had a nice pub dinner then went to see an improv musical comedy show called Showstoppers, which was fabulously awkward and funny. Rebecca's suggestion was even incorporated into the show! What fun improv is!
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| Eastbourne. There's our hotel on the corner on the left. |
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| Our hotel |
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| Heading down to the beach |
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| Eastbourne Pier |
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| Totes Amaze Balls |
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| There was a neat little food fair along the sidewalk. |
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| Checking out the pier |
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| Our weird hotel room had two bedrooms |
Sunday morning, we set out for Brighton where planned to spend the afternoon. But first, we stopped at the Seven Sisters cliffs where we took a nice 30-minute walk out to the cliffs for some photos and fresh air. The cliffs are stunningly beautiful and the day was perfect for some beachy explorations. One of my favorite parts, though, was introducing Rebecca to Mr. Whippy (the simple but delicious soft-serve vanilla ice cream that I love so much).
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| Along the drive to Seven Sisters |
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| We passed lots of cute villages like this. |
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| What a perfect English cottage! |
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| The path down to the sea and Seven Sisters cliffs. |
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We passed lots of pups along the walk to the beach. This little guy
came right up to us to show us his ball. Reminded me of Pippy! |
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| Seven Sisters cliffs |
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| Cool found art at the Seven Sister info center |
We arrived in Brighton in the early afternoon. Unfortunately, there was a massive protest going on with a bunch of scary people who we didn't want to mix with, so we decided to stay up in the shopping area (fine with me!) away from the beach for a while until the protests and counter protests cleared out. Of course we managed to find a few great treasures before heading back down to the beach. The Brighton Pier is so sweet and magical, like a time warp, really. The boardwalk is great too, with lots of shops, bars and seafood places along the way. With the sun shining down, we hardly noticed the freezing temperature that was settling in with the wind. Before we left, we had a quick fish and chips supper, and just as it was starting to get unbearably cold, it was time to go home. Brighton to London is an easy train ride, so I said goodbye to Rebecca, who was driving home to Milton Keynes, and caught a train back to the Smoke.
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| Windmill on the hill dropping down into Brighton |
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| Cool trendy shopping area in Brighton |
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| New shades! |
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| Mister Wippy ice cream and Elvis! The perfect combo! |
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| Little hut where they selling fish and shellfish to eat as you walk along |
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| Hungry seagull |
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| Fish and chips by the sea |
This has been such a crazy year, full of new adventures and countless amazing weekends like this. Life is just totally different here than it is at home, and so I've nicknamed this the Year of Unreality. What was striking to me about this weekend was how when I said goodbye to my parents Friday morning, I was thinking, "well, it's back to normal now." But the new normal for me is to be doing something totally different all the time (like this last fun weekend away). My new normal is so unrealistic! This crazy life of mine, I know it's just temporary. Sadly, it will have to end sooner than I'd like to admit. But for now, I'm going to keep on living and loving my Year of Unreality!
