Buckingham, Buckingham

One really cannot say enough wonderful things about Buckingham. It’s chock full of nice people, adorable shops, cosy pubs, and just gorgeous scenery!  Everything is picture-perfect nearly down to the point where I’m eyeing the Neighborhood Watch signs I’ve found a little more closely…

  

But that aside, it really is so charming.

The Old Gaol (pronounce as "jail") in town

Sunset behind St. Peter and Paul's

Buckingham Park

The River Ouse (pronounce as "Ooze" and giggle! I did.)

Pictures from the Town Centre

Sunset in a field behind my development

Observations/Advice for Living/Visiting the Lovely Buckingham

1. Sunday is the day to get things at home done as everything aside from the pubs, a handful of restaurants, Tesco (supermarket), and Waitrose (another supermarket, but with severely limited hours on Sunday) is closed. It’s a bit of a shock for me to have a whole town effectively shut down , but on the upside, it’s perfect for a blog post (aside from last week) and reading!

2. Ohmygoodness markets! I haven’t taken any pictures of these yet, but they’re officially the cutest ever.  I’m in a wee town in the rolling English countryside that has farmer’s markets and charity sales markets and they sell just everything from homemade soaps to furniture to toilet paper (wut?) and it’s adorbs (to quote my waifu). 

3. This town is positively lovely even when it’s dark, cold, windy, and raining a little bit. I still can’t help but love everything about it (save for the weather! Haha).

4. Sidewalks were a definite afterthought in the construction of this town…as were cars. They simply were not designed to have more than one person walking on them at a time. The roads are often shockingly narrow; houses/buildings are already there so I suppose the road can now only be so wide…but it still gives me a nasty turn to be whipped about by a car zooming past me a mere foot or two away.

5. Speaking of cars, nearly everyone in Buckingham has a nice one (just ask the professors of The Programme!). Like a really nice one. Minis and Fiats are commonplace along with Audis and Mercedes. You also get the occasional Aston Martin (and the illustrious Reliant Robin, but I hardly consider those to be in the same class).

6. I salute all who possess a bicycle, but alas, they are not for me at this time. There. Are. HILLS! Even merely walking up the long hill to my flat would be better classified as a slow trod, and heaven forbid I have groceries (read: weight training)! Even if I were to coast down and walk the bike back up, I would likely kill myself or a driver with the fright I would give them due to my lack of familiarity/knowledge about UK driving laws. I still have trouble remembering which way to look first before crossing the street…in London they have reminders for you on nearly every street corner, but at least I’m used to looking both ways ALL the time having once been a pedestrian in Miami (I LIVED!).

7. “Cheers” is often said in tandem with or instead of “Thanks”. I started noticing this on the plane and it has yet to cease amusing me immensely.

8. I could really get used to being called “dear” or “love” by all the shopkeepers. It’s that freaking adorable!

9. “You okay?” is like Americans saying “Hey, how’re you?” Answer accordingly.

10. YOU CAN SEE STARS. Look up!

I     I leave you with two lovely shots of Buckingham after dark courtesy of His Royal Highness Free Lord M Keltanen (someone's itching to be denied cookies on Wednesday...). 

The moon is nearly as bright as the lamp. Taken in the old graveyard next to campus.

Look up and you can see the moon! It was much lovelier (and appeared larger) in person.

Cheers!