The Roads

The roads, oh man, where do I even start? Well, okay, of course, they drive on the left side of the road here. That took a while to get used to. I make sure to look both ways before crossing the streets, but even if I forget, there's these handy little messages on the asphalt to remind me.



Then there's the roundabouts. I hate these things with a passion. In Long Beach, where I lived for nearly 6 years, there was this one single roundabout that was always right in the middle of where I wanted to go, and I avoided that thing like the plague. Here, I'm not so lucky. Not only are roundabouts absolutely EVERYWHERE, but I'm riding my bike, not safely stowed away in a car, so if I misuse the roundabout I'm even more in danger! The pic below of one I biked around today!



The streets, from what I've seen at least, are pedestrian friendly. There are many crosswalks, referred to as zebra crossings, each with blinking lights on each side. Also I've noticed that if you press a crosswalk button it signals the traffic to stop almost immediately.





Some speed limit signs are more cute than others, as you can tell by the pictures below.




And also to help reduce speeders are mobile speed cameras located on various problem streets. They are large and yellow laser speed traps that detect the speed of a passing car and records the information. If prosecuted it can result in a minimum of 3 penalty points and a £60 fine. Do we have these in the USA? I know we have traffic light cameras, but I'm not sure about these.



Safe driving!
♡ - Kristen

Loving the Architecture

English architecture is FUNKY! Well, around here it is at least. When I used to think of homes in England I would either imagine little thatched-roofed cottages in some nice grassy countryside, or narrow, dark, tall, and grimy tightly squeezed brick homes of London. Here, seaside, it's a whole other ball game.

Recently, on my free time, I've been exploring my neighborhood by going for long jogs or walks up and down all the streets. The richer areas, usually more close to the ocean, have huge homes, mansions really. With cutely trimmed hedges glorifying the front walkway, or large ornate pineapple statues dressing up the sides. Many also include rod-ironed gates obstructing the path to their front doors.

The more residential areas have zig-zagging streets with cute little homes, some run down, all in snug proximity to each other. What these homes lack in size they make up for with character. I've noticed a trend of extravagant front doors and front entrances. Many use colorful patches of stained glass to embellish the entrance, while other homes have arched doorways or specially warped glass. Also, I've noticed that some residents have given there homes names. I think that's really sweet. "Cloudy Cottage", "Ireland's Eye" - so cute!

All the homes, big and small, seem to share the same awkward love of protruding bay windows, and breakfast nooks, but everywhere! I'm used to homes having maybe one bay window, but here it's common to see a home with four or five! It looks as if most homes have made addition after addition, which makes them seem jumbled together and odd. But since a majority of these homes seem to be very very old, it makes sense that additions have been made over the years, with bay windows being the favorite addition of them all.















>>> And this last pic is of my house! I live above some poetry store or something like that. The entrance is in the back.

♡ - Kristen

Attack of the Squirrel

In Southbourne, a borough near to mine, there's this little nature trail called Fisherman's Walk. It has a meandering walkway shaded by trees, that leads from Southbourne high street to cliffs overlooking the ocean. There's a bandstand somewhere along the walk, as well as wooden art carvings ornamenting the way. At the end of the trail lies a sunken pond with lilies and fish. And there is also a pub, of course!





My favorite part of the walk, however, is the wildlife. It's just pigeons and squirrels really, but they are both so used to human interaction that the squirrels will actually come right up to you and steal food from your hand!

Ashley and I visited the trail today with nuts for the squirrels. The minute we started tearing the plastic bags open, all these little faces curiously shot up from the grass. Before we new it all the little furry thieves were upon us. Just take a look at the video to see what happened.




>>> The culprit


>>> The bite! hahaha

♡- Kristen

Sierra Leone Parties in Bournemouth

Although London is one of the most cultural diverse cities in the world, claiming to have more than 300 languages and dialects spoken, a mere drive away to the coast of Bournemouth and the many different skin colors dwindle down to mostly white, or Caucasian.

That's why today, while headed down to Bournemouth pier I was shocked to see a huge mass of black people partying it up on the beach. Hell yeah!







Apparently this was a outing for immigrates and refugees from Sierra Leone I had no idea so many people from that country lived in this general area.

Unfortunately, later that night while Ashley and I went for a ride, we found the beach completely littered with debris from the festivities. Wish I had my camera with me to show just how bad the beach looked.



♡- Kristen

Vegan By Association

Almost two years ago, a girlfriend and I decided to start eating healthier by cutting out red meats, fast food, and junk food from our diets. Several months later, I turned to pescetarianism, which is abstaining from all meats except for seafood. I LOVE sushi and crab legs (and Red Lobster! haha) so I find this diet best for me. But now living with all vegans and vegetarians, I find my self basically vegan by association.

My boyfriend is vegan, which means abstaining from all animal meats and animal products such as dairy and eggs. Aron, my roommate, is vegan as well and Oli, my other roommate, is vegetarian. I could buy seafood, but I just feel awkward doing that with all these herbivores about. And since Ashley is vegan and we cook and eat almost all our meals together, it's much easier to make one vegan meal then cook two separate ones.

Luckily, veganism and vegetarianism is rather common in England and the ample selection of garden foods in stores and restaurants reflect that. Almost everything vegan or vegetarian has a easy to find label on it, as seen in the picture above. And even on-the-go snacks have a variety of suitable foods. I remember in the states, I'd hardly ever see ready made sandwiches that were vegetarian. Over here, there is cheese & spring onion, tomato & mozzarella, avocado & cranberry - just loads of choices!

Even more surprising is my new found love of cooking. I'm continually amazed at how Ashley and I can make a lasagna with meat-like tofu substitutions and soy cheese, and the end result tasting like the real deal or better! I'm constantly searching the internet for vegan recipes and then trying them out at home. They don't always turn out very well though. For instance, last week I made a stuffed butternut squash, which took forever to make, that ended up tasting disgusting! Ashley ate all of it though. He's really sweet.


>>> Bangers & mash - an English classic, which is simply sausages (in this case meat-less sausages) and mashed potatoes.


>>> Spinach and chickpea curry, it looked better than it tasted, unfortunately.


>>> Vegan lasagna - I feel like food never looks as good in pictures unless taken with a really great camera. This was sooooo yummy though.

♡- Kristen

Birthdays! Happy Birthday Mum!

Oddly enough both Ashley's mum and my mom have the same birthday, which is today! My mom also has a twin and I would like to wish all three of these lovely ladies, as well as anyone else who shares this birthday, a wonderful day!

And since I'm on the subject, I think it's weird that English people make a big deal about turning 21. I mean, they can smoke and drink at 18 so why celebrate 21? In the USA we celebrate it for that obvious liquorific reason. I asked some friends here and they didn't really have a reason. 16, 18, 21, 25, 30, 40, etc... are special, and that's just the way it is.

And someone please remind me why 16 is so sweet? Here 16 is the age of consent, as in being allowed to have sex and not be jailbait. (Oooo celebration!?!)

Side note, I personally think Quinceañeras are awesome!

Neighbor Update (haha)

I mentioned before that the neighbors across the street are entertaining. This guy apparently doesn't believe in wearing clothes and is constantly in his front room with the curtains open, exposing his nice plump belly to me and all else who happen to glance in.

I'm not some peeping Tom or anything, but you seriously can't miss what goes on over there since they live directly across the street. They recently got new lizards and I thought I'd share. I've already seen the dude shirtless, with a lizard on his chest, chugging a beer... nice. I think I'll introduce myself one of these days....



♡ - Kristen