Alright, well I was back a week and a half ago but who's counting the days right! Here are a few highlights of my 2 weeks abroad:
-Pub eating: OK so to some people this may sound OK, but to someone who actually enjoys things that are somewhat healthy this is not a good thing. EVERY (I literally mean EVERY) meal comes with chips (fries) and peas. The British people's version of a salad is a few brown pieces of lettuce on the corner of your plate and a package of 'salad creme' (kind of like mayonnaise that they use as a dressing).
-Shopping everyday: in England they live the kind of lifestyle where you are required to go up to the local neighbourhood shops for your groceries every morning. You visit the post office for the Pension money for Grandma, then next door to the Spar - a supermarket for bread, milk, etc. then up to the butchers for fresh meat for the meals of the day and then lastly to the liquor store for your daily beer helping.
-Family visits: this was my absolute favourite part of our trip, seeing all my family that I only get to see every 5 or so years. Everyday we tried planning something different with a different set of our family(there is so many). Some of the trips we went on included: Birmingham Shopping Centre (also known as the Bull Ring), The Sea Life Centre in Birmingham, The Cadbury Chocolate Factory (yes where the actual chocolate is made and sold, sooooo good), Alton Towers (my personal favourite - an amusement park with the most awesome rides), and and amazing Indian restaurant. Oh and I can't forget the great Butterfly Gardens we went to. I actually had one land on me and not want to leave.
-Grandma's move: my Dad's Mom is moving out here to Canada with us in September and so a big task we had while over there was packing up everything in her house that we could. We were able to rent a huge storage compartment on a ship that will bring over furniture and belongings overseas to her new home here with my parents.
-Clubbing: I had a fabulous time one night when a good friend of mine took me clubbing 'English style'! Wayne took me first to a pub for some starter bevies. We then moved on to a little town type place called Walsall where we visited another pub for some more warm up drinks. Then it seemed like we moved clubs every hour until we hit 4 am! Then let me tell you about the taxi ride home. We get in this old fashioned police car that these people call taxis, then you get to barter a price to get you home, and then they drive on the wrong side of the road, on a road half the width of what we are used to here and at excessive speeds. When we finally got home I was exhausted just from the cab ride home, let alone all the places we had walked to, danced in and all the alcohol I had consumed.
So all-in-all I must say that I had quite a few adventures within the 2 weeks I was in Europe and wouldn't trade any of it for the world. If anyone is debating going due to high flight prices, it's worth every penny!
Either way, I'm not out there dancing my heart out but this movie sure made me want to be out there with them. You should take a watch. It's not just about dancing and men in tights, it's about people following their dreams when they have nothing else. And you know what, they end up happy in the end. So my motto for today is, do what you want and what your heart desires, not want someone else wants you to do or something you are 'supposed' to be doing.
