Travel With A Traveling Gnome

When gearing for my first international trip I got obsessed with the idea of traveling with a traveling gnome like in the movie Amelie.  It was like a right of passage, an initiation to travel if you will, or maybe I just wanted an excuse to buy a gnome. 

I named him Herman, a traveling Gnome I bought on Amazon, complete with his own passport.  I bought two more gnomes that I creatively named for my besties.  I'm the only one that ended up using the gnome as a traveling gnome.  I'd like to believe he was the secret to my travel success.

Herman easily fit in my purse, and traveled from London to Greece with me.  He was there when I stumbled out of a bus and sprained my ankle in Paris, he held my hair back when I was puking in the toilet after having too much vino in Venice, he was our bodyguard when we were chased through Switzerland by a public masturbator, and he drank it up with us during Oktoberfest in Germany.

Date Accomplished:   October 2nd, 2007

Take A Photo In A Red Phone Booth In London

If someone showed you a photo of a red phone booth (or red telephone box as they are more commonly known in the UK), I would guess that a large percentage  would immediately know you were in London.  These bright red phone booths are a familiar sight when roaming the streets of London, and even though their presence has declined with the creation of the cell phone, they are still a staple around the city.

So, how excited was I to find one just around the corner of my hotel (unfortunately after I had already spent a ridiculous amount of Pounds trying to make a local call with the crappy hotel pay phone).  Obviously, as a tourist I had to step into one of them and pretend to make a phone call.  Unfortunately, as locals walked by staring at my ridiculousness, my face would turn a shade similar to the color of the booth.  Shame!

Date Accomplished:  September 15th, 2007

Have Bangers & Mash In England

Before traveling to England my roommate's boyfriend told me, "You HAAAVE to eat Bangers & Mash."

You want me to eat WHAT now?

So I did some research and learned that Bangers & Mash is traditional English pub food made of sausages and mashed potatoes drenched in an onion gravy.  That settled my mind quite a bit as I was thinking the worst (brains and cow guts were just a few of the thoughts swirling in my head).

Just before my friend and I toured Stonehenge we stopped at a nearby pub to indulge in some pub grub.  The pub had a cute little restaurant area, and the menu included Bangers & Mash!  Score!  Still suffering from jet lag, I paired it with coffee instead of beer (don't judge).

I was pleasantly surprised with how much I enjoyed the dish, especially since I am not typically a huge fan of mashed potatoes or sausages.

For the record, Mom, if you're reading, I ate most of my veggies too!

Date Accomplished:  September 16th, 2007