First Day in the UK

After flying and waiting in airports for 15 hours, I arrived in London suffering from the typical bone-weariness of attempting to catch at least 15 minutes of consecutive sleep in economy class. However, a sweet surprise was waiting for me at a kiosk as I made my way to the bus terminal - HOBNOBS! As the label says, these are "roasty oaty biscuits" covered with milk chocolate on one side. I was introduced to Hobnobs years ago when we were living in Russia. I've gotten a hold of them on rare occasion since, but now that I'm in the land where they originated, I'll be doing some Hobnobbing (not to mention getting some good fiber : )

I caught my bus for Bristol and traveled through some beautiful, rolling green hills. At one moment I thought I caught a glance of Harry Potter's uncle's house. As I rolled into Bristol after two hours I noticed immediately the mix of the old and the new - old buildings, walls, cathedrals, etc. Before arriving to the city we passed the cutoff to the old Roman town of Bath located close by where the Romans built public baths that had medicinal qualities at the turn of the 1st millennium. Everything is much older here than in the US when it comes to structures, buildings, etc.

With the seven hour time difference I am feeling a bit exhausted. But before signing off tonight I accepted an invitation to watch the England vs. Croatia World Cup qualifying match. Needless to to say, the English remind me of the Chileans and Argentinians (as well as most other nations in the world when it comes to soccer) in their passion to see their team win - and they did 5 to 1.
I met some great people who are studying, teaching and working here and look forward to rubbing shoulders with them as I pursue postgraduate research. All and all, for a travel day it was a great one, though I miss my family. To them: XXooxOxooX