Kanterbury Kat Tales: December 2008

Home for the holidays!

The last British hug before we face the cold Chicago winter. Fellow passenger was visiting the windy city for the first time and excited about the snow. Silly girl, her advantage was she would be traveling back to England the next day. Be brave the cold and snow made the trip from the airport more treterous than the entire transatlantic flight. Joe and the Manges family hosted me one more night away from Village of Limestone.

Heathrow offers one last shopping experience, alas I can carry no more.

After resting comfortably at the Holiday Inn Libeary and I head for Heathrow.

The Picadilly Line to London

There may be a credit crunch, but the high street was heaving with traffic and the only crunch was of feet on toes as those bargain hunters and panic buyers turned over pounds, myself included.

The Sound of Music was playing at the Palladium and Libeary and I sat in the Royal circle front row, no better way to say goodbye than amid the crush of Christmas shoppers.

It would not be Christmas without a visit with Dickens. His home on Doughty Street was open for the season.

London Last Stop

Kensington Palace is so close to the shopping district I understand why Dianna would have chosen this location for home base. The Palace does not allow photos inside, but the entire afternoon was spent with the clothing exhibit, WOW.

This is not the end just a break in the action.

Wedding in the Middle East

The customs in the middle east are different than in the western countries. The party begins in the late evening and continues until morning and there is plenty of dancing.

There is also plenty of cake Jasen and Fadia had two cakes and cut both with a saber.

Enjoying as much of the sun as possible, although the beach was cold the pool was 80 degrees F, and getting a sun burn in the winter is not possible. This is what the locals told me, but I used sunscreen anyway, have to keep that pasty white complexion for the trip back to the land of clouds.

Been to the desert lately?

Even in the desert Christmas is celebrated and New Year. With all the sand and sun there is still time to shop.

Libeary did not travel to the desert with me, sand surfing and camel riding are much to dangerous for such a small bear.

Gingerbread houses in Abu Dhabi are very large and covered with frosting. This house was made of gingerbread shingles the size of an A4, it smelled so good, but only the candy was for eating.

The End is Near!

The end is near! One last hurrah at the Dolphin with my CRIBS mates, I depart for the Arabian Gulf in the morning. Libeary is stuffed in the bag and will try to get through customs in Abu Dhabi in the afternoon.

There may not be internet, so the blog will slow down until I can interface.

Cherrio to Canterbury

Guess who's coming to dinner.

Being an international student means never knowing who will be coming to dinner. The house is full, Michael from Slovenia, Mom and Pop from Gibraltar, the whole gang counted 18 and grace was said in Portuguese, Chinese, Slovakian, Swahili, English, Pakistani. . . those crazy Pentecostals speaking in tongues.

More Canterbury Tales

On the hills they still are wagering battle over some silly stone work, being students they only battle on weekends. There were no rabbits out today!

The friars are known by the color of their robes, here are a gray and a black friar. The Miller always wears brown and I suspect he is a wee bit Scots.

Take me away

Here the restaurants are called take away, but the sushi bar is a to go meal, it just keeps coming around to you.Even the coat racks look like art .

Thanksgiving in Canterbury

The international staff wanted us to not feel out of place and presented their interpretation of a Thanksgiving meal; turkey, 'stuffing", cranberry sauce, and brussel sprouts? Who in American served such a dish. The meal was English to be sure, but the beer was American.
Liam was all about being American what with the Budwiser and mash. A true Scotsman.