I'm Ready...

I’m so ready. In 10 and a half months, I will be in England. WOOHOO!! OK, I’m a bit nervous about that flight over the Atlantic Ocean. I liked the idea of the night flight so that I couldn’t see the water below us, but while my friends are planning to catch some zzzzz’s on the plane, I’m not so sure this wired Chiquita is going to be able to sleep at all. I’m going to be so excited and giddy. I’ll be on a HIGH without the caffeine...maybe I’ll have to give myself some Benadryl. HA!

I’ve already been wondering how Jessica and Becky are going to deal with me for 2 weeks. I’m guessing that I probably won’t sleep for 2 or 3 nights. I’ll just want to be out there in London seeing it all or heading for the countryside of my dreams. [sigh!] And then eventually, we all know that I’m going to need some sleep, and so I’ll probably be out for half a day. Either that or I’ll be revived with a 1 hour nap and then wide eyed and bushy tailed again going a million miles an hour. Yeah, I’ve been looking forward to this adventure my whole life, and I’m not going to want to waste my time resting and sleeping. This could get interesting...

What am I looking forward to the most? Hmmmm…let’s see. Do I have to just pick one thing?

1. I’m ready to see a quaint English village and roam the surrounding countryside with my camera in hand.
2. I’m longing to tour Blenheim Palace and imagine that I can picture Winston Churchill proposing to his beloved Clementine in the Temple of Diana.
3. I’m anxious to walk through Chatsworth and follow in Lizzie Bennett’s steps as she tours the home of Mr. Darcy for the first time.
4. I’m looking forward to a stroll through the walled city of York and the narrow cobbled streets.
5. I’m excited to be able to visit Castle Howard…not only because I love the fact that Howard has a castle named after him, but because it looks architecturally magnificent.
6. I’m eager to roam around Oxford for a bit…snapping photos of the Radcliffe Camera, the Bridge of Sighs, Christ Church, the Martyr’s Memorial, etc.
7. I’m ecstatic about a visit to Hampton Court to see Henry VIII’s riverside palace and gardens, as well as a possible visit to Hatfield House where Queen Elizabeth I first learned of her accession to the throne.
8. I’m delighted at the prospect of seeing buildings that have survived more than 200 years. It’s not quite the Valley of the Kings old here, but it is much older than the buildings in the US. I love buildings with character and a history to boot, and the possibility to walk amidst structures that were began over 700 years ago (like Salisbury Cathedral) just boggles my mind. That’s some awesome structural integrity there.
9. I’m pumped to walk the halls of the British Museum and catch up on thousands of years of civilization’s history.
10. I’m thrilled to be able to see the Roman’s ingenuity and brilliance in Bath and perhaps later catch a glimpse of Hadrian’s Wall in the North country.

And that’s just a bit of our plans. So much more I could say here…

Yeah, there is lots of planning, scheming and scheduling to do in the next 10 months, and I’m already so excited I can hardly stand it! So, if I talk incessantly about England or have that dreamy-eyed faraway look, just smack me and remind me that I have more than 10 months to go. Thanks!