Happy Thursday, everyone! It's about 11:30am Coventry time, and I've had a very busy, and successful morning full of firsts. I arrived last Saturday, so it's day six here. And today is the first day my wireless internet has worked, thanks to the Genius Bar at the Birmingham Apple store. Apparently some of my settings were out of whack, and they knocked 'em back into place. Hooray! That means I can take pictures, like the one with this posting, to show you where I'm writing from. Behind me is the ruins of the Coventry Cathedral. It's my favorite place here in Coventry. I've already bored my family with the story, but lucky you, you get to hear it possibly for the first time! Coventry was a major armaments center during the second World War, so it was a huge target for the Luftwaffe. It was hit many times (so much so, apparently, that when the Germans wanted to destroy something, they'd say they wanted to "Coventrize" it). On November 14th, 1940, the cathedral (built originally in the late 14th/early 15th century) was hit by fire bombs, when engulfed the wooden roof, and destroyed nearly all but the exterior walls and the spire. You can climb the spire, which I might do today- there's actually blue sky today! How exciting. So much grey sky here... And when the spire has about 180 stairs, you really don't want to climb it unless you can see!
Today I got up way too early so I could get to Birmingham for my 9:20am Apple appointment. Originally, I was going to take the bus, as the bus station is about 300 feet from my temporary housing. But I decided last minute that busses still worry me (I never feel like I know exactly where they're going, or if I need to signal for my stop, etc- basic unreasonable paranoia), so I'd rather take a train. At least trains run on tracks, so I know exactly where they're going. It was a great decision, as the building that Apple is in is connected directly to the train station in Birmingham. It was a really smooth ride - not like the bumpy rides Amtrak gives in Washington. Pretty comfortable, too. I am going to buy a student railpass, which gives me a 1/3 discount on all trains in Britain. Should encourage me to get out there and see the country!
Today I pick up the key to my permanent accommodation, but I can't get in until tomorrow. Strange. Oh well. We have a banquet with the Lord Mayor this evening, with a disco. I have found it really entertaining- all the American music here. We had a karaoke night earlier this week, and the music was the exact same that I'd expect to hear at an American karaoke night, just with British accents! Lots of Beatles music, which I certainly won't complain about!
That's probably about it for now. I think I am going to take advantage of this gorgeous weather and climb the spire. I'll post more photos and shoot a few videos once I'm settled into my housing. That includes shopping at IKEA, my favorite store in the world that's only a few short blocks from my place. Oh - had to add- I walked all over around my new place today, to familiarize myself with all the shops and alleyways. There's three "dollar stores" (99pence, or 1 pound stores) within a block of me. There's a sandwich shop called "Snax in the City" (haha), there's a news stand (several actually), and, well, here's the worst. A gelato stand. And yes, they have pistachio, my absolute most favorite food of all time. It's 1.70, or about $3. My prediction: I'll go broke on gelato in about three months time... :-)
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