Ebony (and Scott) in England

[hamster8 at ...]

"30 June 2001  Leave US (Chicago O'Hare), 5 p.m. Central Time (6 EST)
1 July 2001  Arrive UK (London Heathrow), 7 a.m. GMT"

I would say get the bus ... without question.  You will be jet-
lagged ... you will NOT be feeling up to changing trains.  Trust me 
on this, when I flew home from Toronto last summer it was awful, and 
I only live 10 miles or so from Heathrow.
 
"According to our listserv, several group members are planning 
weekend side trips to Edinburgh, Dublin, Paris, Amsterdam... some 
alumni of the Detroit/Oakland Corpus Christi program made it all the 
way to Rome and back last year before class resumed on Monday.  My 
funds are not limitless, so I'm not sure if I can afford to do much 
traveling  outside of the UK.  I trust God will let me see Paris and 
Amsterdam  in His time... it's not all that pressing."

Made it to Rome??  Best option for weekenders to Europe would be a 
bus down to Heathrow, and airlines like Ryanair and Easyjet (cheap, 
no-frills, no-food) will get you there for around £49.00 - which I 
think is somewhere in the region of 90 bucks at the minute.

Eb - it's important for you to resist the temptation to see 
*absolutely* everything.  Coming from such an impossibly vast country 
as you do, many Americans over here think nothing of swinging through 
five countries in as many days, ending up with the vague impression 
that the Eiffel Tower is somewhere in the neighbourhood of St Peters 
or la Sagrada Familia (which, by US standards, they are) and suffer 
some sort of national monument overload.  The UK packs 58 million 
people (approx 1/4 of the States) into an area about the size of 
Florida - with attractions and things to see and do for *all* these 
people.  There is a lot to do - you will certainly not get bored.  
And living as I do, five minutes walk from Hampton Court Palace, I 
must recommend you see it.  Incredible gardens (which I can get into 
free, with a local resident's pass *vbeg*).  I'd recommend you try 
out Paris if you get the urge - but don't feel pressured.  Amsterdam 
is a different matter entirely.  Whatever you do, avoid the following 
like the plague -

Brussels (dull dull dull)
Malaga (you won't get this far ... but it's a complete dump)
Gibraltar (ditto Malaga)
Slough 
Milton Keynes (this is a new city, built in the 1960s to be a well-
planned, clean, safe, leafy and generally pleasant place to live.  
For some reason, many Britons find this amusing.  Has the worst 
shopping mall in Europe ... allegedly, though is possibly outclassed 
by The Pavillions Centre in Uxbridge)

Scott said Paris isn't that far by Chunnel ... true, it's only 3 
hours by Eurostar from Waterloo International ... but to get there 
from Oxford would require you to negotiate the London Underground.

"In addition, I'll need to purchase texts and odds and ends like 
washing powder. And your pound seems to beat the stuffing out of our 
poor dollar... I was horrified when I realized that it currently 
takes $1.60 to make a single pound!" 

You'll be fine *g*
 
Scott hinted ... 

"I don't care how much I travel in the future I don't think I'll 
ever get used to foreign currency. It's so confusing. It's probably 
easier if you don't even try to understand it. (Hey Britons! Was it 
that hard you coming to the US?)"

100 pennies to a pound ... 100 cents to a dollar ... exactly where is 
the confusion occuring here?  Or am I missing something?  Coming to 
the US, it was easy ... just worked in dollars the moment I got off 
the plane.  Try not to think about what it's costing you in dollars - 
pretend you are actually working with dollars (don't work with 
dollars, cos shopkeepers won't thank you for it).  This is only my 
advice, however, I have legendarily bad financial acumen, and 
obviously it works differently for Brits going Stateside (how d'you 
guys keep it so *cheap*) and I should probably be ignored.

"Any chance of meeting any UK listies?  It's time to make definite 
plans... I've met Penny already, so it's time to meet some more of 
you!"

Like we'd let you stay here for six weeks and *not* meet up???

Al
*One Tokyo shopping bag displayed a disturbing, though strangely 
comforting lack of geographical precision.  A picture of yachts 
sailing on a clear blue sea was accompanied by the 
legend, 'Switzerland: Seaside City.'*