OMG!!!! We freakin' made it to Liverpool!!!!

So, the plane ride from Newark to Manchester wasn't as bad as I was anticipating. We were able to select from several different movies (Iron Man, Prince Caspian, etc.), TV shows (CSI, 30 Rock, etc.), and games (Battleship - yay!) AND they fed us 3 different times - quite uncommon for an airline. We first got pretzels, then dinner came a little later, and finally when our journey was almost complete, we got breakfast! I thought I would pass out for most of the trip, but since I slept so much in the airports, I was wide awake.

Unfortunately, the customs line took us an hour to get through. Seems like Border Control is quite secure even outside of the US these days. But one thing is for sure - the British are really great at "Cueing" up (aka: standing in line). Althought the line stretched far down the corridor, not one person made a disgruntled comment - not until we got into the "Other Passport" line that made up mostly Americans. Go figure right? Us Americans...always in a hurry.

Thankfully, by the time we got our passports stamped, we found ALL our luggage waiting on a carousel for us. It got pretty dirty along the way, but luckily nothing was damaged. Since we had 4 different bags to worry about, I was having a little trouble getting all of them across the road and this cute little old woman offered to help me out. I thought it was kind of a role reversal, but appreciated her kindness.

We got into a taxi - one of the largest taxi's we'd ever seen, and the guy was super awesome. He could tell we were American right away and proceeded to tell us stories about his travels in our homeland. It took us about 45 min. to drive from Manchester to Liverpool and once we got there, we found that a ton of roads were closed for the Mathew Street Festival. Apparently, the festival was coinciding with a bank holiday too. Thank God we exchanged enough money to hold us over for awhile.

We were having a hard time getting to our street, so the taxi driver pulled up, spoke to a security guard, and was able to convince him to let us through so we could get dropped off right at our front door. I felt like I was the Queen of England. :P

We then met up with our landlords, Peter and June, and had some coffee (instant) and muffins with them. They explained a lot of different things we had to take care of such as register for Council Tax (which we're both exempt from but still need to register), set up a TV license, etc. etc. We were in such a daze that most of it flew by us. After they showed us where the rubbish bin and post box were, they left and we took a LONG, much needed nap. We're still struggling with jet lag...it's around 11pm our time, but only 3pm over in Seattle! It's strange being completely awake at 4am. We've been watching a lot of episodes of Dexter.

Chris and I will write more about our walks around the city and other things we find interesting. We're happy that our flat looks like it did in the pictures - very spacious, safe, clean, with awesome character. And, we live across from a large clock like Big Ben and hear it chime every hour. How cute and English. Also, when we get a little homesick, we can walk a few blocks and get a coffee from Starbucks...of course, we have to pay around 5 pound ($10) for a couple of lattes...a little more than back home.

More to report later!

Much love,

Nicole

EDIT: Our first pics of LP!

First day in the city:


Yay... tired:


We're in the big GB, the flag confirms it:


The building with the clock that sounds every 15 minutes (right by our flat):


- Chris

Nodding off in Newark

8/23/08 - 4PM

We are here in Newark! The last destination before we really hop on a plane to the UK (finally!). I'm starting to feel the effects of sleep deprivation. Nicole had to sleep quite a bit in Cleveland but I attempted to stay awake. I think I've conditioned myself to be able to stay focused for long periods of time due to my previous overnight radio experiences at KNDD for 2 years. Now though, I've been up with minimal rest for 29 hours (Jesus, it's Saturday) and my body is now starting to work slower than my mind. For example, Nicole has a heavy backpack that started to tip over while I was outside waiting for her in the bathroom. I was also drinking water at the time. Even knowing the container was open, I bent over to pick up the backpack and spilled water on the ground. Why? I have no idea. Of course, a snide New Yorker pointed out the obvious (what else was I to expect?). :)

With so many East Coasters up and moving so much faster than I am right now, I had to find a corner to sit and chill for a second. Furthermore, our original gate for the flight switched and we had to walk quite aways to the new gate (this airport is HUGE!). However, much unlike Cleveland, it actually has things to do (Borders, bars, etc.).

Nicole's changing into sweats right now in preparation for the marathon 7-hour flight to Manchester. I'm already feeling a lag - I don't even want to know what I'll feel like when I get off the plane in the UK! Here's our Newark pics:

Two +'s from the Newark trip:

1) We sat next to a man from Birmingham, England on the plane who had a splendid accent (and very nice).

2) I can't remember the second one...I'll just say we're two flights down, one to go! Hallelujah!!

Kisses,

Chris

Chillin' in Cleveland...

8/23/08 8AM

Finally...we got on a plane....and made it to Cleveland (the underwhelming airport it is). Whoo! Whooooo!! Here's a picture of what we're talking about:

The flight over was about 4 hours and I know both of our asses hurt from attempting to sleep. That was probably the worst sleep I've ever had...a restless toss and turn around to try and find an alright position. Plus side, we were in an exit row (which means room for me and my big legs) and they provided blankets and pillows for every passenger. Oh, and Nicole hopes she doesn't have lice (no idea, she's weird, go with it).

Note, it's about 8AM in Cleveland, but it's really about 5AM for us on PST time. Thus, I had to make an attempt at grabbing coffee to jolt myself awake...and jolt it did. I'm not sure what Cleveland considers coffee, but this shit was heinous. They call it Phoenix (see below), and I bought it from a cafe named "Banjoes". Uh, yeah...

We just ate some mammoth egg and cheese sandwiches. My takeaways from Cleveland so far:

1) Shitty airport.

2)Really big food.

3)Extra shitty coffee.

Next up, we're waiting at gate C16 to hop over to Newark, (our final destination before Manchester). We board at 11:40AM...needless to say, we've got awhile. It will take us a good 24 hours (including flight and layover time) to make it to the good 'ol UK, but at least we're making progress!

One more thing....we're documenting this spectacular flight journey through pictures. Below, see our happy faces at SeaTac. Then our slowly dwindling faces in Cleveland. More to come! :)

Seattle:




Cleveland:

Awesome,

Chris

Another follow up....

Obviously, Chris likes to keep things short and sweet. 

-Nic

Following up on the rough day...

One word: clusterfuck

 - Chris

A Rough Day at the Office....

So...this blog is about Chris and I and our adventures in Liverpool. However, we are not in Liverpool - we aren't even out of the country yet and we were supposed to be in the air, on our way to Amsterdam right now. 

Unfortunately, due to a storm in Houston (our first destination), we were halted at the ticket counter. A gray-haired, over-weight man who looked like he hated his life was the one that was the bearer of bad news. He did absolutely nothing to help our situation - just told us that there was no possible way of getting to Amsterdam til the next morning...meaning we miss the connecting Easy Jet flight from Amsterdam to Liverpool.

After conceding to a flight for the next morning, and getting back to my Mom's house, we started researching possible routes from Amsterdam to Liverpool thinking that we could just push back our Easy Jet flight and get there a day later than expected. However, there wasn't an available flight (plus there was a total bag weight limit which we were definitely over) and after trying the train route, we found we would have to take the train from Amsterdam to Brussels, then to London, and then back up to Liverpool. Not an option with 4 bags each. So scratch that. 

Then we thought, well, we could brave the famously confusing and hectic Heathrow airport in London then train it up to Liverpool. After doing more research, we learned we would have to make two connections (don't forget while hauling 8 bags around) and then find a cab from the train station to our apartment at 11pm. We still have to meet up with the landlord to get our keys so that was not an option either.

At this point, I felt defeated. We had everything figured out WAY in advance and just because of a stupid fluke of a storm, our whole travel plans were screwed. I decided to consult the helpful handbook of advice the school sent me. We found that another route would be through Manchester and then train it or cab it over. So after quite a long time on hold and a lot of explaining, Chris was able to get our flight re-routed to Manchester. However, we have to fly from Cleveland first, and then to Newark before flying overseas. We leave tomorrow (Fri. Aug. 22nd) and should arrive at our apartment at 10am on Sun. Aug. 24th. Pretty sweet. 

Things could always be worse though. At least we're able to relax since we're already packed, have a few more hours to hang out with my mom, and have time to finally start our blog.

 

Anyway, we'll be documenting our super long journey through pictures and possibly more blogs along the way. 

One thing is for sure....we already miss you guys a TON!!! 

-Nic