Portsmouth

Time has flown by and Russell and I already feel that we have been in Winchester for ages and are almost locals (without the accent). We were going to go on some trips before school started (classes begin on Monday) but with still getting stuff in order with the apartment, exploring Winchester and waiting to learn more about the ins and outs of European travel, we've stayed in town.

We did make a trip to Portsmouth the other day though and that was very worthwhile.

Portsmouth Harbour

A harbor city with lots of ships and ferries coming and going, Portsmouth is home to several historical ships, including the HMS Victory which was Admiral Horatio Nelson's flagship at the Battle of Trafalgar in 1805 (I had to refresh myself on British history but apparently it was a big one!). 

Russell in front of the HMS Victory

As the admittance fee was quite high on all the ships, this is the only one we paid to tour. It was very impressive and large, yet hard to believe over 800 men had to sleep, work and eat on it. I will think twice before complaining about sharing a tiny bathroom with Russell! The tour guide was a crusty old seaman-type who had little patience for the schoolchildren holding up the tour in front of us, so that allowed us more time to look around. We were even sneaky enough to take pictures when he wasn't looking too (I'm guessing you can't do this because it slows everyone down even more).  The displays were very vivid with being up close with the tools used for unruly behavior (cat of nine tails), seeing the hammocks where the sailors slept (conveniently, they double as a coffin, in case you die onboard) and descriptions of the meals: wevilily biscuits, gruel and salted meat. There was even a stuffed rat in the kitchen to give you a real feel for ship life and hygine. Oh, and to save space and time, the men ate on the same table where surgeries were performed--eww! Russell commented that if the Admiral's quarters weren't so large, there'd be more room for everyone else. It doesn't look like they thought in terms of that kind of equality back then.

Anyway, Nelson died onboard his ship but not before hearing that the British had won the battle against Napoleon's navy.  After that Nelson was a national hero. He was buried in St. Paul's Cathedral and a statue of him was erected in Trafalgar Square, named in honor of his victory. As Nelsonmania erupted, so did the merchandizing and we saw a large display of beautiful artifacts, as well as cheap crap, made in his honor in the museums. I was disappointed to learn that his mistress--a former prostitute--Lady Emma Hamilton, got a whole wall of the museum devoted to her (as well as a pub named after her), when his poor, neglected wife got a tiny corner that mentioned she was devoted to Nelson for the rest of her life. So sad. Where was the First Wives Club back then?

This is a city we will definitely visit again (they had a Cadbury's outlet too!). Two thumbs up.

Settling In

We are in our new apartment (moved in on Monday evening, September 15th) and now have internet (and therefore phone access (via Skype) and T.V (via Slingbox)! Hallelujah and Praise the Lord!! I feel there’s so much to catch up on. Let me first give a shout out to McDonald’s who provides free wi-fi and kept us connected to the world for the past week--May your golden arches keep shining.

We found an apartment, or flat, as the British say, the first day we moved here (September 10th) and in between then and Monday we worked on getting our deposit through so we could move in. 

Our new flat!

That was more of a challenge than we expected. Apparently going with our UK and US banks it was going to take a week to wire the money needed (six months worth of rent because we have no UK credit history). This was going to be too long as we only had the hotel reserved through Sunday night and didn’t want to continue paying for rooms. We felt like the people on that commercial: “It’s my money and I want it now!” Fortunately Russell discovered Moneygram and we were able to wire the money. Of course it wasn’t easy though. Russell’s parents got the third degree from the Moneygram place in San Antonio (we owe them big!) and we had to do it in 2 transactions. 

Then when we went to collect it in Winchester we had different hold ups. The first had to get authorization from someone on the US west coast, so that couldn’t happen until 4pm UK time. The second place had us in two separate lines with employee A and B wondering why we were in their line. My favorite part was when employee A asked employee B why she sent us to her line when she doesn’t handle Moneygrams. “Because,” shouted employee B across a room of 30 people, “it’s for 3,000 pounds!” Yikes. We did not get robbed but I certainly clutched my purse a little tighter as we walked out.
As we didn’t have a phone, communicating with our leasing agent was tricky and we were worried we would miss him. I was imagining we’d have to spend the night on the streets that night with 8 bags of luggage and a wad of cash. He did arrive in the nick of time, at 5:30pm, we passed off our money and got into our apartment! What a relief! My advice if anyone is going to do this is to just bring a suitcase full of money with you on the airplane. You will probably have any easier, quicker time explaining that to Customs than getting it some other way. I document this story to remind myself of how stressful it was and that it all worked out OK. Russell was a lot more patient with the situation than I was.

We love our new flat and are so thankful to all who prayed about this. That was our goal: to get into an apartment within 5 days. It was a great concern. It is in an old church (old by our standards but built in 1870s) with 10 other modern flats. It’s very close to the city center and next door is a beautiful old hotel, The Winchester Royal, which is the oldest hotel in town (we didn’t get to stay here as it was booked). The flat is also furnished which was a welcome surprise as we do not need to go out and buy too much stuff. We will provide pictures of the inside of the flat once we’ve fixed it up.

The weather is perfect. I love going out in a jacket and not sweating. It rained the first few days we were here but only in the afternoon and it was light.

 

A view of Winchester from St. Giles Hill

Everything we need is within walking distance, which is important, as we won’t have a car this year. I believe we will get in great shape, especially since the University is at the top of a hill.

We’ve eaten out at a few places and have enjoyed the food. Russell loves St. George’s Fish and Chips and would eat there every night if he could. He is also renewing his love for Dr. Pepper as it tastes different here, and in our opinion, better. I’ve loved getting back to the snacks I enjoyed as a kid in England: Prawn Cocktail crisps and Digestive biscuits, to name a few (these may sound gross but don’t knock it ‘til you’ve tried it). The Sainsbury’s (grocery store) is very close so we’ve stocked up on essentials as well.

We’ve explored and been sightseeing as well but I’ll reserve that for another post as this is getting long. Cheerio.

We're here!

We made it to Winchester safely and with our luggage intact (my big concern).  Thanks for your prayers.  The city is beautiful: very historic and picturesque.  We've had some time to explore but we've mainly been focusing on getting an apartment and a bank account.  We did find a place to live.  It's in an old converted church, is near the city and comes with some furniture, so that's helpful.  The money wiring is tricky and we're hoping it will go through quickly so we don't have to stay in our hotel too much longer.  Since we don't want to pay $18 a day for internet, we've been hanging out at McDonald's to get free service.  The temperature is in the 50s and it has rained every day.

The news has been quite eventful.  Hurricane Ike has made national headlines.  I hope our Texas friends are safe and inside.  There was a chunnel fire which has caused a lot of distress with travelers.  Also, the third biggest British airline just went under leaving tons of people stranded on vacations and out of work.  The pound has fallen a lot, which helps us, but the British economy is going through their own credit crunch and is not fairing too well.

Tomorrow we hope to go to the Southhampton boat show which sounds like a big thing.

We have a blog!

Russell and I are heading to jolly old England, y'all! I will be attending the University of Winchester, in Winchester, to pursue my Masters in Writing for Children. We have started this blog to document our trip. I'm a little intimidated about the blog because I've never done one before and I'll feel pressue to keep it up. I can't promise we'll post regularly but we'll do our best. Check back soon...