A trip to England--my arrival

In July I had the opportunity to travel to England for the first time.  I was asked to co-lead a workshop that SIM UK was offering on working within Multi-Cultural Teams.  I had attended a similar workshop in Thailand in 2008, and in order to offer one in South America next year, they needed someone to co-lead this one to get more experience.  I was more than happy to go, it's a subject that I enjoy and to be able to travel made it an amazing experience.  I said goodbye to my sweet family, knowing that I would be away for 2 full weeks, and headed to the airport.  I was flying out on July 4th, going from Lima to Madrid and Madrid to London--it was winter here but truth be told, the summer weather in England was just as cold as the weather in Peru!

This was the view as I flew from Madrid to England; the best part of my entire flight was flying over London and seeing so many beautiful, green trees and parks.

One of the super cool things was that the 2012 Summer Olympics were to take place in London the end of July, I was there just 2 weeks before they were to start and everything was decked out in their honor!  The streets had signs on them directing people to the different Olympic Venues, the Underground had signs up also, directing people to the various stops they needed to take in order to see their sports.  Even the Tower Bridge had the Olympic Rings on it--a sight that I will never forget.

My arrival was a bit crazy, I was to fly into Heathrow (after flying all night long) and take the Underground to Liverpool Street Station where I would then switch lines, buy tickets, and take another train to Stowmarket where my good friend, Helen, would pick me up.  I had purchased my Stowmarket tix in advance, but I had to buy an Oyster Card at Heathrow that I would also be able to use when I toured the London sights on my way home.  So I purchased my Oyster card and managed to take my first ride on The Tube...it was interesting as I was lugging my bag and it was also the start of the Peak Hours. Anyhow, I made it to Liverpool Street Station, found the ticket booths, printed out my train pass and was on my way to Stowmarket...it was super cool to pass by Olympic Stadium as well!