Cricket Field House Hotel Salisbury

Hi!

So with only a week and a half to go, I have, of course, managed to contract a cold. Grrrr. I think I can probably blame my weekend in Bath for that, as it was absolutely freezing there. It actually made me appreciate the "mild" weather that Norwich enjoys (comparatively speaking). The thing is, I don't want to blame Bath, because it is such a lovely city!

I headed there on Friday afternoon and met up with mt friend Teresa. We got to our ...

... Michael's Church to help us sort and pack the boxes. You are all stars...

We can't wait to start seeing the smiling faces of people receiving your shoeboxes and we promise to keep you up to date with where we are, who we meet and the reaction your gifts receive.

Check back on Monday when the Trussell team will reach Bulgaria and start distributing your shoeboxes to men, women and children living in poverty...

Booked flight today - Guatemala on Feb 22nd 2010. So to mark the occasion I thought I'd start my travel diary today as well.

Two months to go - and a lot of list-making, planning, shopping, getting vaccinated, freaking out, and bouncing with excitement to do!

11.20.09/11.21.09 Time To Take [A] Bath!

After a month of heavy traveling, it is good to be in England! No fuss over the language – traffic flow that we can respect – and familiar comfort foods (yesterday after our doctor's appointment, we had shepherd’s pie, chili, and even nachos!)! Almost like coming "home" for a few days – but with a British twist (e.g., Yorkshire pudding, double-decker buses, delicious teas, and towns like Freshford ...

... for centuries, and its hard to believe that you could once chip off parts of the icons as a souvenir! The stories surrounding this icon have been quite outrageous, although the mystery of how or why the builders set this up as a kind of solar time clock is still amazing.

At last, we had an attraction that we could visit and not feel that we did not have enough time!

... pub name in England, with more than 480 pubs in England bearing that name.

We got to Bath and saw the Roman baths which were very interesting, and after that we got to explore Bath on our own. We didn't have much time after taking so long at the Roman Baths, so there wasn't much we could do besides walking around the city and enjoying the architecture surrounding us. Bath is a beautiful place. I would definitely like to spend more ...

... Tommy. Veel kletsen, veel geinen en te laat gingen we naar bed: voor morgen lag er al een plan klaar... We waren vroeg wakker, maar bleven in onze pyama's weer te lang kletsen. Rond het middaguur liepen we naar het centrum en gingen even langs bij een van de kerken. Sinds haar terugkomst uit Australië en Nieuw-Zeeland, werkt Lara ook als begeleidster van verstandelijk gehandicapten ("mentally challanged" noemen ze ze): deze doen vrijwilligerswerk in de kerk en Lara moest nog wat ...

... England, Northern Ireland and Wales and about half of them are open this time of year (all between April and October). All but one of the sites I saw when I was in England before was an NT site. The other reason why I picked Bodiam Castle is because of the layout and design of the castle. It is what one might expect a castle to be, a wide moat, four towers and thick walls around a 'house.' It should be very interesting to see, hopefully the weather is not dreadful ...

... where the wood used to be.) The rest of the trip round the ye old Salisbury was spent at the big olde cathedral, which was indeed as described, but just like so many others in Europe. Trust me, I'm not putting it down, I actually rather enjoy them all, but I won't bore you with the details (Quick survey, do I sound cool or stupid if I start saying 'deets' as opposed to details? I know what you're thinking, but despite that, the answer is actually cool. Go figure.) The rest ...

... enjoying the views of the cows and sheep on the beautiful English countryside, we arrived in the old town of Salisbury, home of the famous Salisbury cathedral. The town is beautiful and quaint with creeks and mallards and whitewashed row houses and lots of gardens. Our tour guide took us through and explained the history, finally ending up at the famous cathedral. This is the highest cathedral spire in England and was, for a long time, the tallest in all of ...