What a great week it's been in the country thus far. I'm currently staying with some friends in the Midlands area, which is about two hours north of London. They have an adorable bungalow in the town of Yoxall, about 30 minutes from Birmingham (2nd largest city after London). I'm right at home since they have two adorable little dogs named OD (short for Overdraft since he cost a pretty penny) and Rocky:

I know, I'm dog obsessed. But it was pretty tough leaving my yittle manny (Ollie), so it was quite comforting to arrive to these little furry friends. We took them on a long walk on Wednesday through these vast fields that went on forever. The dogs here can run off leash and it was just so peaceful and serene:

This family is just awesome. I met them in LA five years ago and we instantly hit it off. Their daughter Kirsty is a doll face and the parents (Gareth and Gina) are adorable. Homeade meals each night including paella, traditional English meat and potato pie and even some Costco hot appys thrown in -ha! They love Costco here. Nothing changes...

Yesterday was a highlight. I spent the day in the town of Lichfield, about 15 min from here. It's the most quaint village with a ton of interesting sights and shops. Lichfield Cathedral was enormous and visually stunning. They started building it in 1109!

Another sight in Lichfield is the statue of Commander Edward John Smith, the Titanic's captain, which stands tall in these beautiful gardens:

I then had lunch with Kirsty and her dad Gareth (including my first pint, which was delish) then strolled through the village:

                                             Their version of a mailbox

Such a great day. Before I sign off, I'm going to include a segment at the end of each blog called "Say Whaaat?". I feel like Letterman. It will show you the British words/sayings that I heard and had to ask what they heck they meant.

Say Whaaat?

Boot = Trunk
Pants = No good (synonyous with their Rubbish also)
Tits up = Broken
Take the piss out of you = Make fun of or be sarcastic to you (my fave)
Rucksack = Backpack

That's it for now! I'm in the country for a week so I arrive in London on Tuesday. I'll write more this weekend :)

xx Jack

Cheerio!

The road to England was long and windy, not literally of course.. I'm referring to my journey up until this point. I've wanted to take this trip for some time now, and I can't believe it's here! Thank you for all of your support and encouragement -- I am SO excited to share this experience with you all. Time to hit the road!

xx Jack (aka Jacque ;))