Buckingham

Buckingham, where we are living, is located about 100km NW of London. The nearest major centre is a post-war city called Milton Keynes, which is approximately 25 minutes on the bus. To get to London by train, one goes from the Milton Keynes Station. Milton Keynes is also a popular destination for the locals because of its large shopping centre. Because of the modern low rise office buildings and the vast upscale mall, Milton Keynes reminds me of Mississauga. The World Vision head office is also located in Milton Keynes.

Buckingham (pop. 11,000) itself is very pretty, with plenty of handsome Georgian buildings. Our rented house is located just a few minutes from the town centre and shops on High Street. There are lots of interesting shops (shoes, clothes, gifts, stationary, jewelry), banks, restaurants and even a grocery store (with organic and specialty items) very close by. The large Tesco (chain grocery store) is 20 minutes on foot. The Church of St. Peter and St. Paul is 10 minutes away on foot; its tall spire is a useful landmark.

The roads around the town centre are windy and narrow and in some places the sidewalks are rather narrow also! People drive very quickly but are very good about stopping for pedestrians at crosswalks. We are learning to look right, then left (not the other way around) before crossing.

The University of Buckingham hosts a significant number of international students from Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

People are very gracious and endeavor to be helpful when we ask for assistance with the bus, or how to get somewhere. (I hope that I am that gracious with visitors to Canada!) We find ourselves often asking for assistance. We take for granted all the things we know how to do back home.