england : day six

I'm so stressed out right now because I'm trying to write this while watching the USA v. BEL game and it's in extra time and it's basically been Belgium v. Tim Howard the past 90 minutes! Belgium just scored thanks to the USA not being able to defend but I've my fingers crossed for the next 22 minutes.

So anyways, on Sunday we chilled for a bit at the camp spot in Scotland before heading back to Carlisle late morning. I took a little walk around the beach before we took off. It was so incredibly nice and the weather was perfect.

After getting back to Carlisle, Tom and I managed to make our way to a bar called McQueen's for lunch. I got to try my very first Sunday Roast! I approve. I think the Yorkshire Pudding was my favorite part. Also, I don't know what it was about their coffee but it was the best.

After that we went back to his house and watched Breaking Bad for a few hours (we're finally getting close to the end) and then got hungry again. Normally I wouldn't include every single meal in my posts but we ordered fried chicken and the box it came in was amazing.

Also, the "fried" chicken came in something that was more like batter that you'd find on fish in a fish n' chips meal. When I laughed at it, Tom said to me, "Keep in mind their menu used to say 'open 8 days a week'". It gave me a good laugh.

After fried chicken came s'mores! We had the ingredients leftover from camping so we thought we'd put them to good use. We made them in his garden on the grill.

I really wish we had gardens like this in America.

Thought I'd include this lovely matchbox for you guys, because fire only kills children and I thought you needed to know!

By the time we finished with our s'mores (I introduced his parents to them as well), it was nearing 11pm... Which meant USA v. Portugal was going to come on soon! We stayed up late to watch that and witness the dramatic equaliser by Portugal in the last minute of injury time. I was sure we were in for the win but hey, we still ended up making it to the Final 16.

Speaking of, the USA v Belgium match has ended amidst my writing this. The last 30 minutes of extra time were the best of the whole game. Tim Howard was an absolute beast. Without him the US would have been destroyed.

I'll leave you with this amazing Buzzfeed article.

Goodnight!

-teddy x

england : day three

Time really went entirely too fast on this trip. It normally seems to go quickly, but I definitely think this one went by quicker than any of the previous three. Wish I'd been able to stay longer. :(

On Thursdays, Tom goes to visit an elderly man named Les. It's part of some community involvement thing he does (sweet, isn't he?). Les's wife passed away within the last couple years so he's on his own most of the time. Tom just goes to his house once a week to keep him company for a few hours. This Thursday, I got to go with him. Les was really kind. He made us tea and biscuits and we watched a Daniel O'Donnell (an Irish singer with brilliant dance moves) VHS from the '90s. It was a good afternoon!

These pictures were from the walk to his house:

Everything in England is so much cuter than America. I love it.

Later that night, we headed over to Martyn and Jimmy's house for the England v. Uruguay World Cup match. There were a few of us: Martyn, Jimmy, Tom, Niall, Daniel, Nathan, Doodles, and myself. Unfortunately, England lost 2-1 but on the bright side we had plenty  of vodka to help us forget! I must say I had no idea Brits get as loud and rowdy as Americans when it comes to sports. Also, if you're a huge football fan, please forgive me; Tom says I sound too American and that I need to work on my terminology... I'm trying!!

Nathan and Tom when Rooney equalized in the 75th minute.

Nathan and Martyn!

Martyn and I :) Great lad (how English do I sound!? haha)

So, in the end, even though England lost, I think it's safe to say we all had a pretty good night. And also I have to say that the more I understand football, the more I enjoy it. One of the only sports I can actually sit and watch!

-teddy x

england : day one

As you may have read in earlier posts, my plan was to write a post per day on my trip across the pond... Obviously, that failed. So, now that I'm (unfortunately) home, I'll catch up. I'm going to backdate these posts to the days they're about so as to make myself feel better about not having actually done it on time. To be honest though, it's not that I slacked off, we just were too busy enjoying ourselves and doing things for me to sit down and blog.

Before I really get into the day, I'd like to share a piece from an article I read on the plane giving the low-down on all the teams in The 2014 World Cup. The whole article was brilliantly written (wish I could give credit but I've no idea what the magazine was or who the author was), but I'll just share my favorite bit. If you don't follow football (proper football, not American-- I'm not allowed to call it soccer when I'm dating a Brit), then you may not know who Mario is, but trust me, he's great entertainment.

______________________________________________________________________

I flew into Manchester at about 6:30am local time (1:30am Michigan time).

Met my lovely boyfriend after grabbing my bags (which were for once not over the weight limit!!!) and off we went to take a hike through The Lake District. He took me to a place called Ullswater where we hiked around for a couple hours and saw the gorgeous Aira Force waterfall.

After our hike around there, we decided to head back to Carlisle (where Tom lives) to drop off my luggage and get some lunch. Later on, Tom had to go to a council meeting (did I mention he's a city councillor???) so I decided to take a nap before going uptown to meet him and have a drink with him and his parents. Here's the rest of the night in photos:

Hell Below. Been here a few times now. Their menus are perfect.

 Mojitos and Lady Killers (whatever those are, there's a 2 per person limit).

Paddles of shots because why not?

My handsome man.

 1.5 liters of butter beer.... because why not?

Best friends.

I'll continue with trip details tomorrow. Thanks for checking it out!

-teddy x

last day of work!

...before my trip. :)

I love my job but it will be kind of nice to get out of the office for a couple weeks seeing as we've been in a temporary location due to the library undergoing renovations. I miss my real office!

I've got the weekend to pack and whatnot, then I leave Monday! Really hoping my long flight has the individual TVs at each seat... Makes the 8 hours go so much faster.

So here's a little bit of what I know is happening during my week in England:

• Camping (for one night, with 6 people total, in Scotland I believe?)
• Dinner with the mayor and his wife (this is what comes from dating a politician!)
• Visiting an animal refuge (looking at the cute kits and pups! ^_^)
• Chip Shop Friday!!! (fish and chips for Friday's lunch-- one of the highlights!)
• Going to the pub Friday evening (love the people there & they treat me like a celebrity- so funny!)
• Watching the England v. Uruguay World Cup match (wish I was gonna be there for more than one)
• Having Breaking Bad marathons (Tom and I are hooked & need to get through 3 more seasons)
• Boot camp workouts & running (whipping the boyfriend into shape!! Plus I've been doing them twice a week for over a month now so I can't take afford a two week hiatus!)

That's all that comes to mind at the moment. Not sure how realistic this idea is but I'm going to attempt to do a post per day during my trip. Hopefully I can stick to it!

-teddy x