Can you believe it? In 24 hours' time, I will be in LONDON!! I never, ever thought this day would come....that I'll be getting on an airplane and fly off to the United Kingdom and Belgium.
I'm nearly finished packing (just some odds and ends), and made my flight confirmation and airport limo calls. The butterflies (not from fear, but simple pre-trip nerves) have been going on since I woke up today. I can't imagine what they'll be like tomorrow--will I be able to sleep tonight??
I can't wait to make contact with my British friends, and my Canadian friend in Belgium. Just thinking about being in the same airspace as them is excitement enough!
Yes, this is short--but I've got just two more stops to make, and then I'm ready to go! I'll have lots to share on my return--both photos and descriptions.
Monday, November 1, 2010
Monday, October 25, 2010
The Time Is Getting Closer...!
Yep--this week begins preparations in earnest for my UK/Belgium trip. I've got most of the stuff I will take with me (clothes, guide books, etc..). But it's the packing and stuff that's driving me nuts at the moment: I've got to start within the next day or so. Don't want to leave anything undone until the last moment!
It sure is hard to believe that the departure day is fast approaching....in just about a week, I will be flying across the Atlantic to London--and hopefully meeting several British online correspondents. To think that I will be visiting sites I've only previously been reading about, or have seen in film or television; to be able to walk the paths of famous figures in English/British history is just mind-boggling. I am of no significance at all, in comparison to people like King Henry VIII, Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn--or Sir Winston Churchill, for that matter! It is exciting, for sure.
I'll also be visiting the town of Ypres in Belgium: a town that suffered greatly during the First World War. It was practically destroyed, and was also the scene of some of the worst fighting on the war's Western Front. I am hopeful of visiting some of the battle sites, and the British cemeteries created by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. And it is just in time for Armistice Day, 11 November.
While I won't be taking my computer with me (too many logistical issues), I will be keeping a notebook handy, to write about my visit. And when I return, I will post what I've written here, along with photos I've taken. The good photos, that is.
It sure is hard to believe that the departure day is fast approaching....in just about a week, I will be flying across the Atlantic to London--and hopefully meeting several British online correspondents. To think that I will be visiting sites I've only previously been reading about, or have seen in film or television; to be able to walk the paths of famous figures in English/British history is just mind-boggling. I am of no significance at all, in comparison to people like King Henry VIII, Sir Thomas More, Anne Boleyn--or Sir Winston Churchill, for that matter! It is exciting, for sure.
I'll also be visiting the town of Ypres in Belgium: a town that suffered greatly during the First World War. It was practically destroyed, and was also the scene of some of the worst fighting on the war's Western Front. I am hopeful of visiting some of the battle sites, and the British cemeteries created by the Commonwealth War Graves Commission. And it is just in time for Armistice Day, 11 November.
While I won't be taking my computer with me (too many logistical issues), I will be keeping a notebook handy, to write about my visit. And when I return, I will post what I've written here, along with photos I've taken. The good photos, that is.
Monday, October 4, 2010
An Attempted Crimp In My UK Travel Plans
I suppose most of you have heard of the US State Department's latest 'travel advisory' regarding Americans traveling in Europe? It is in regard to reports that al-Qaida, and its 'hidden' supporters, are in the midst of planning high-profile terror attacks on transport and tourist sites in Europe, similar to the horrible atrocity committed in Mumbai, India, in November 2008.
There have been reports of arrests of UK and Continental nationals of South Asian and/or Middle Eastern origin, who 'spilled some beans' about alleged terror plots. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, for instance, has been closed more than once recently, in response to telephoned 'threats'. Thankfully, so far, these 'threats' haven't borne fruit.
Of course, this hoo-hah comes right in the middle of my own preparations for visiting the UK and Belgium early next month (wouldn't you know it!). From past experience of travel to Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, I am certainly well aware of such travel advisories. I visited Israel nine times between 1977 and 1989, and never EVER felt seriously threatened (although I was at a kibbutz close to the Israel-Lebanon border in June 1982, right after the start of Israel's conflict with PLO terrorists in southern Lebanon). And that was in spite of seeing armed Israeli soldiers all around the country, and the occasional military vehicle.
I have to confess that I am not afraid. Although I will take sensible precautions when in public, on transport and while visiting popular sites, like keeping an eye on my baggage, or on anyone who looks remotely suspicious.
I have a poster in my home that says KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON--which sounds remarkably like a Second World War-era British slogan, created to give the civilian population courage. I will take that poster to heart during my travels, and not let cowardly terrorists (and their so-called 'leaders' hiding in some remote South Asia cave) tell me how to live my life. I will go ahead with my plans, and enjoy the time spent with my British and Continental friends.
There have been reports of arrests of UK and Continental nationals of South Asian and/or Middle Eastern origin, who 'spilled some beans' about alleged terror plots. The Eiffel Tower in Paris, for instance, has been closed more than once recently, in response to telephoned 'threats'. Thankfully, so far, these 'threats' haven't borne fruit.
Of course, this hoo-hah comes right in the middle of my own preparations for visiting the UK and Belgium early next month (wouldn't you know it!). From past experience of travel to Israel in the 1970s and 1980s, I am certainly well aware of such travel advisories. I visited Israel nine times between 1977 and 1989, and never EVER felt seriously threatened (although I was at a kibbutz close to the Israel-Lebanon border in June 1982, right after the start of Israel's conflict with PLO terrorists in southern Lebanon). And that was in spite of seeing armed Israeli soldiers all around the country, and the occasional military vehicle.
I have to confess that I am not afraid. Although I will take sensible precautions when in public, on transport and while visiting popular sites, like keeping an eye on my baggage, or on anyone who looks remotely suspicious.
I have a poster in my home that says KEEP CALM AND CARRY ON--which sounds remarkably like a Second World War-era British slogan, created to give the civilian population courage. I will take that poster to heart during my travels, and not let cowardly terrorists (and their so-called 'leaders' hiding in some remote South Asia cave) tell me how to live my life. I will go ahead with my plans, and enjoy the time spent with my British and Continental friends.
Thursday, September 30, 2010
Sorry for the long lapse....
Hello one and all--I do apologize for the very long lapse in blogging. A lot of stuff has happened to me since then--some good, some not so good.
However, I now have my OWN computer, which I can use with the local library's Wi-Fi access. No more sweating over a post, due to time constraints with the library PCs!! I will now be able to think more thoroughly before writing, and posting. What a relief!
Soon, I will be heading off to the UK on holiday. Still thinking about whether to take the computer with me, or just write in longhand in a notebook, and post it on my return. Haven't figured it out yet. But I am sure looking forward to my visit: I have several British friends to meet in person--plus one in Belgium too (I will be visiting a Canadian-born friend in Ypres).
So, be patient. Maybe I'll have something interesting to write about before I leave. Time will tell.
However, I now have my OWN computer, which I can use with the local library's Wi-Fi access. No more sweating over a post, due to time constraints with the library PCs!! I will now be able to think more thoroughly before writing, and posting. What a relief!
Soon, I will be heading off to the UK on holiday. Still thinking about whether to take the computer with me, or just write in longhand in a notebook, and post it on my return. Haven't figured it out yet. But I am sure looking forward to my visit: I have several British friends to meet in person--plus one in Belgium too (I will be visiting a Canadian-born friend in Ypres).
So, be patient. Maybe I'll have something interesting to write about before I leave. Time will tell.
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