It's me again! I realize I never concluded my Home2Rome blog, and left y'all hanging about my last few weeks in Rome. I had all intentions of writing over winter break, but time flew by as I was catching up with my family and friends, and fighting a virus.
My last blog post was about my time in Ireland, and from there, I flew across the pond to visit my second cousins who live in a suburb outside of Manchester, UK. I arrived on November 18th, and planned on spending the week there since Thanksgiving was Thursday, and I've never been alone on Thanksgiving. Even though I knew they don't celebrate it in Europe, it was comforting being in a cozy home with family.
The last time I saw Chris and Daniel was when I was 4 or 5 years old, so at the airport we hardly recognized each other. It was so nice being able to learn about their lives in the UK, and catch up on the past 15 years. I got to meet their son and his wife and their 3 little girls, who were the absolute cutest, and tried Yorkshire pudding for the first time (IDK how I've lived without them for 22 years). I also kicked off my 6 day stay with a bang by spilling my red wine all over the white table cloth! (SO sorry, Chris!) I learned that chocolate and orange go wonderful together, and how no meal is complete without cheese and bread. PRO TIP: Putting clotted cream, butter, and jam on scones is a complete game changer and I've been doing it wrong for 22 years.
Every day, we did something new. We went to Manchester, and a ton of museums and art galleries, and had lunch followed by coffee and tea cakes. It was so cool that Manchester is trying to reduce the amount of cars driving into the city, so there are so many trains! This was one of my favorite days, because it was like what my mom and I would do, and it gave me a little taste of home. We went to Chester, which was a city inside castle walls (something ya don't see every day here in the States, eh?) We stopped in a church which was almost completely destroyed by a bomb in World War II, but was repaired to perfection. I've always been interested in War history, and being able to see these things was so eye-opening to me. We only get to hear about it in school, but being where things actually happened...it was so cool.
I was also able to break off on my own for a little bit and explored the quaint little town of Altrincham. Their little village made me fall in love with England, and I loved the fact that I could walk there! I got some studying done at a coffee shop called Costa, which again, reminded me of home. I love studying at coffee shops, but all the ones in Rome were normally too crowded, too loud, or too expensive to bring your coffee to a table (lol), so I didn't get to do that for awhile. I also found a cute bakery and bought more scones (I def gained like 50 pounds in England and Ireland combined).
Thanksgiving was hard. Like really hard to the point where it almost hurt to talk to my parents. However, Chris and Daniel made me feel so at home with their warm hospitality. Chris even made a home-made pumpkin pie! Like literally cooked a pumpkin, type-of-homemade. It was seriously the best pumpkin pie I've ever had, and you all should try making yours like that!
On the last night, we went to a restaurant that was in the middle of the countryside. There were SO many winding roads to get there, and for some reason I got super nauseated driving on the other side of the road. It felt so weird! I also kept getting in the wrong side of the car when I road with Chris. Anyway, I had the best chicken pot pie I've ever had, and the pub was so cozy.
After being there for 6 days, I was getting way to comfortable, which made leaving super hard. I loved being in a house, and having my own room and bathroom, and the biggest bed! I loved being able to drink tea at all hours of the day, and just visit with Chris and Daniel. I loved having the opportunity to meet more family, and hearing about how school is so different there. I loved watching Cranford with Chris, while Daniel rolled his eyes at us, and then seeing the village where it was filmed. I am so blessed to have been able to stay with them for a week, and won't ever be able to thank them enough for taking me in. Can't wait to see you both in August!
So, theres my 4 month late UK trip recall! Maybe one of these days I'll write about adjusting back to the American ways ;)
Love to all!
Marisa
Comments