Sunday, March 6, 2011

BEDFORT: Day of Transportation

WHEW last day of BEDFORT. Thank goodness, I'm exhausted. Writing is hard, guys.

So before we get to the day of EPIC TRANSPORTATION I have a little leftover Normandy ranting to get out. Sorry! Well our tour was only three hours and it started at about 8:30, so we had the entire rest of the day to find things to do. We ended up just walking to the other side of town, where the British cemetary was built. Now I don't know who chose the location, but for some reason this place that deserves all the respect and lovliness of the American cemetary is set next to a soccer field and a loud major road. It just seems very off. But walking around the graves, I was struck by the alarming frequency with which I saw ages of just 19, 20, or 21. These were just kids, my age or even younger. Seeing this just reinforced one of my greatest fears- of finally finding someone who wants to be with me and I love, and then having them be deployed. I always joke that men in uniform are incredibly attractive (which is a FACT) but I can only imagine the pride mixed with terror I would feel if I was actually forced to deal with that. I already just have a friend in the Marines, and that worry is more than enough for me.

All the gravestones in the British cemetary had quotes on them, mostly picked by family members back home, and one really stood out to me. I'm paraphrasing, but it went something like,

"Forever there will be a part of the world that will always be England."

I wish I had pictures to share of this place, because I feel just as much respect and reverance toward the British sacrifices as I do American. However, I used up all the space on my disposable cameras being *that girl* in Normandy. Oh, you know *that girl*, the tourist with the loud disposable camera. You can hear her from far away, as her camera goes CLICK! then WINDWINDWIND as she turns her film. Because, yes, it is in fact 1997. Isn't Boy Meets World the best show EVAR? Ok, that joke doesn't work because Boy Meets World still is the best show ever.

But anyway. The day of travel. It started with us walking out of Bayeux to the train station. Incidentally, as we were walking, I figured out the spot where a picture from 1900 I had gotten on a postcard the day before had been taken way back when. That was pretty cool. So we waited a bit for our train, where once we got on they again did not check our tickets. Sweet. We got off the train in Caen, then figured out using our adult brains (ok mostly just my one friend's brain... but the rest of us followed him like CHAMPS) where the bus station was and what bus we had to take. We catch the bus and thank goodness I didn't grab a snack because I sat in a seat facing backwards and it's very difficult to appreciate adorable french towns, not to mention hold down food, when your body is rocked by nausea. We eventually arrived at our stop, and I peaced out of that scene so quickly you wouldn't even believe it. We then walked to the port for Brittany Ferries, and the ocean was like, right there. Which I guess is exciting to people who aren't me. Then it was time to wait for our boat. Because we were taking a boat over the Channel. I don't think I've mentioned that yet. But yeah, that happened. When we went through security and customs, our passports were stamped with a little boat symbol, which I'd joked about when they were stamped with trains before, but then it became reality because OBVIOUSLY I'M MAGIC.


The ferry was so massive and ridiculously cool, probably because I've never been on anything like it before. It took all my restraint not to spread my arms in the front of the boat in dedication to one of my favorite movies of all time, but I didn't because there were people around. Embarassment always trumps self-expression. Always. We also really wanted to listen to "I'm On a Boat" because that's just what you do on a boat, but it mysteriously disappeared from my Ipod. Disappointment. So we just boated around for another six hours.

We landed in Portsmouth around 9pm, then caught a taxi to the train station. Whereas we thought our train into London was just half an hour in length, we quickly realized 0030 means arriving at 12:30 and our train was two hours. So that was fun. Back in Waterloo (HOME AGAIN GOD I LOVE WATERLOO), we waited too long for a bus, but eventually made it back to the flats. So if we're keeping track, that's a train to a bus to a boat to a taxi to a train to a bus.

Well, I hope you enjoyed BEDFORT. I sure hope nothing exciting happens in the next few days. I need a break. I only have so much clever, and this pretty much drained it. I AM OUT OF FUNNY.



Just kidding. I can never run out of funny. I'M HILARIOUS.


right?

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