Hello again,
Yesterday was New years eve and was an awesome day. First Kim and I went Ice skating in an outdoor rink in the middle of Huddersfield (Lucy was feeling a little sick and couldn't join). It was really fun, but Kim had to hold on my back most of the time while I skated her around... :) After ice skating we went back to her house and caught a train into Nottingham to meet Helen and Bonnie for our Team Awesome reuinion new years extragevanza (minus katie ;( ). It was so nice hanging out with the girls that we met in Central America for new years. Bonnie bought us tickets to a bar for the night. We first went to one of her friends house for some appetizers and a bottle of bubbley, then we went off to the club. We had a few drinks and danced and did the midnight countdown then we all had a slumber party at Bonnies apt. This morning we woke up not very early and Helen drove us allll the way back to London (She is so awesome). Now we are hanging out with one of my old camp friends, Karen and Warren and their three little adorable and hyper kids. It was really cool to meet up with her after not seeing her for 5 years. We just pretty took it easy all afternoon. Tomorrow is our last day in town and they we are going home. I hope you enjoyed reading our blog and we will see you all in 2 days. Happy new years!!!!!!
Tuesday, January 1, 2008
Sunday, December 30, 2007
Day 14-15 Huddersfield/Yorkshire
Hello all,
Yesterday was a travel day again, from Chester to Huddersfield. Unforntunately, our train was canceled so we got into town a little late and our friends Kim and Katie were waiting for us for a half an hour without any idea where we were. We found eachother though and it was all good. They took us out for a proper afternoon tea and then we got into town and Kim took us to the oldest pub in Yorkshire which was really neat and then we went home and relaxed and went to bed.
Today was a whole lot of fun. We woke up early and went to Bolton Abby. This is a church ruin in a gorgeous field of green with a very fast river runing beside it. We walked through the ruins and through all the lovely nature for a few hours. We lucked out because the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was really nice to see the country side. We then drove over to York, which was a very pretty city as well. We walked around for a bit, went to see the Minster (A very very large pretty church), and walked up to Cliford Tower. It was a very relaxing and beautiful day and we had a great time hanging out with our old friends from Central America. After the long day of walking around we came back and played board games which was really fun. Well, until tomorrow...
Yesterday was a travel day again, from Chester to Huddersfield. Unforntunately, our train was canceled so we got into town a little late and our friends Kim and Katie were waiting for us for a half an hour without any idea where we were. We found eachother though and it was all good. They took us out for a proper afternoon tea and then we got into town and Kim took us to the oldest pub in Yorkshire which was really neat and then we went home and relaxed and went to bed.
Today was a whole lot of fun. We woke up early and went to Bolton Abby. This is a church ruin in a gorgeous field of green with a very fast river runing beside it. We walked through the ruins and through all the lovely nature for a few hours. We lucked out because the weather was absolutely gorgeous. It was really nice to see the country side. We then drove over to York, which was a very pretty city as well. We walked around for a bit, went to see the Minster (A very very large pretty church), and walked up to Cliford Tower. It was a very relaxing and beautiful day and we had a great time hanging out with our old friends from Central America. After the long day of walking around we came back and played board games which was really fun. Well, until tomorrow...
Day 13- Liverpool and Chester again
Hi all!
This was another very busy day- we were hanging out with our friend Carly, as well as her two friends Helen and Chrissy- we started out in the morning in Wales, then drove into Chester to pick them up. After, we had a big day planned in Liverpool, and a great big long list of touristy things to get done. We started out by going to the Beatles Experience, which was a really cool museum that has a lot of displays and information as well as a guided audio tour- I love the Beatles but actually learned a lot about them and how they got started etc. Plus they had some neat things like the famous 4 grey jackets they wore, and John Lennons round yellow glasses. There was a lot of cool stuff in the gift shop but all very pricey so the five of us ended up buying a knock off of the Lennon glasses in all different colors and wearing them for a good part of the day (we totally fit in- they all do that in Liverpool). (Ok that was sarcasm we looked ridiculous but it was funny) After we went into the main part of town and walked around and did some shopping- they had this amazing amazing store of really cute clothes/shoes that was sooo cheap in comparison to everything else there called Pricemark I think? Anyways we went in to get some nice shoes because we had both just brought sneakers and we were going out that night in Chester with the girls, but both ended up buying a few things more! I actually bought 3 shirts and 2 pairs of shoes and pajamas.. and then remembered that I had to cram them into my backpack with everything else I had already bought. Needless to say, it's getting pretty hard to zip up! After that we walked down Mathew Street where a lot of Beatles stuff is, like the Cavern Club where they started playing and becoming super popular, and then The Grapes Pub where they used to go out drinking afterwards. Then we drove over to Penny Lane and afterwards to the Liverpool John Lennon Airport where they had a big yellow submarine- basically a lot of really cheesy touristy pictures. Then we drove back to Wales and had a great big tasty Chinese dinner and said goodbye to Carly's family before driving back into Chester to Helen's apartment. We all spent a bit getting ready together, which was a lot of fun with a big group of girls, then headed out to this club called RB's. We had a lot of fun dancing the night away, and even danced with the wierd old man that comes every Friday and Saturday(apparently a tradition there!). We danced for sooooo long, almost 5 hours straight!! By the time we got home we were really really pooped but it was well worth it. Luckily we didn't have to wake up super early the next day, and I'll stop now and let Nyssa fill you in from there. Bye for now!
This was another very busy day- we were hanging out with our friend Carly, as well as her two friends Helen and Chrissy- we started out in the morning in Wales, then drove into Chester to pick them up. After, we had a big day planned in Liverpool, and a great big long list of touristy things to get done. We started out by going to the Beatles Experience, which was a really cool museum that has a lot of displays and information as well as a guided audio tour- I love the Beatles but actually learned a lot about them and how they got started etc. Plus they had some neat things like the famous 4 grey jackets they wore, and John Lennons round yellow glasses. There was a lot of cool stuff in the gift shop but all very pricey so the five of us ended up buying a knock off of the Lennon glasses in all different colors and wearing them for a good part of the day (we totally fit in- they all do that in Liverpool). (Ok that was sarcasm we looked ridiculous but it was funny) After we went into the main part of town and walked around and did some shopping- they had this amazing amazing store of really cute clothes/shoes that was sooo cheap in comparison to everything else there called Pricemark I think? Anyways we went in to get some nice shoes because we had both just brought sneakers and we were going out that night in Chester with the girls, but both ended up buying a few things more! I actually bought 3 shirts and 2 pairs of shoes and pajamas.. and then remembered that I had to cram them into my backpack with everything else I had already bought. Needless to say, it's getting pretty hard to zip up! After that we walked down Mathew Street where a lot of Beatles stuff is, like the Cavern Club where they started playing and becoming super popular, and then The Grapes Pub where they used to go out drinking afterwards. Then we drove over to Penny Lane and afterwards to the Liverpool John Lennon Airport where they had a big yellow submarine- basically a lot of really cheesy touristy pictures. Then we drove back to Wales and had a great big tasty Chinese dinner and said goodbye to Carly's family before driving back into Chester to Helen's apartment. We all spent a bit getting ready together, which was a lot of fun with a big group of girls, then headed out to this club called RB's. We had a lot of fun dancing the night away, and even danced with the wierd old man that comes every Friday and Saturday(apparently a tradition there!). We danced for sooooo long, almost 5 hours straight!! By the time we got home we were really really pooped but it was well worth it. Luckily we didn't have to wake up super early the next day, and I'll stop now and let Nyssa fill you in from there. Bye for now!
Friday, December 28, 2007
Edinburgh/Chester/Wales
Hello again,
So this morning we woke up at 6:30 so we could catch an early train into Chester to meet one of my old camp friends, Carly. The trains had been shut down for 2 days now and no one in the entire country could travel so needless to say today was a crazy travel day... so much in fact that we ended up getting kicked off one of the trains because there were too many people on it and it was a saftey hazard so we had to get on the next one. After four connections, a bunch of delays, and lots of people we finally made it to Chester an hour and a half later than we wanted. When we got here though Carly picked us up from the train station and showed us all around the city. There were sooo many people out shopping, it was like the day after thanksgiving over here. She showed us the Chester clock, which apparently every American takes a picture of so we had to in good American style, and walked through some Roman ruins, and went to a really pretty Cathedral. From there we went back to Carly's place in Wales (where her younger sister was very excited to hear an American accent) and relaxed... which was really nice. Her mom made us a proper English style fish and chips and mushy peas dinner and then we sat around watching TV and eating chocolate. Her family is so nice and it was great to be in a home rather then a hostel. We both had a hot shower this morning and got to blow dry our hair!!! ya!!!!! Anyways we are off to Liverpool now for a very busy and exciting day. Can't wait to go to the Yellow Submarine!!!
Until tomorrow.
So this morning we woke up at 6:30 so we could catch an early train into Chester to meet one of my old camp friends, Carly. The trains had been shut down for 2 days now and no one in the entire country could travel so needless to say today was a crazy travel day... so much in fact that we ended up getting kicked off one of the trains because there were too many people on it and it was a saftey hazard so we had to get on the next one. After four connections, a bunch of delays, and lots of people we finally made it to Chester an hour and a half later than we wanted. When we got here though Carly picked us up from the train station and showed us all around the city. There were sooo many people out shopping, it was like the day after thanksgiving over here. She showed us the Chester clock, which apparently every American takes a picture of so we had to in good American style, and walked through some Roman ruins, and went to a really pretty Cathedral. From there we went back to Carly's place in Wales (where her younger sister was very excited to hear an American accent) and relaxed... which was really nice. Her mom made us a proper English style fish and chips and mushy peas dinner and then we sat around watching TV and eating chocolate. Her family is so nice and it was great to be in a home rather then a hostel. We both had a hot shower this morning and got to blow dry our hair!!! ya!!!!! Anyways we are off to Liverpool now for a very busy and exciting day. Can't wait to go to the Yellow Submarine!!!
Until tomorrow.
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Day 11 Edinburgh
Hello all,
So it is still only noon, but internet acess is limited so I am going to write you about our morning and fill you in on the rest of the day tomorrow. So today is boxing day which is a national holiday that no one really knows why it is called boxing day, basically what is means to Lucy and I though is that everything is closed! Well there are more things open today than there were on christmas, but not that many touristy things. To our luck though the "Whiskey Experience" was open! YAY! Yes, I know that you now realize that I just told you it was noon, so yes we did go on a whisky tour at 10am... nothing else was open though what did you want us to do??? Anyways, it was actually really interesting learning about how whisky was made, and how to tell the difference between the hundreds of different types of whisky that are made. As part of the tour we got a free whisky glass and a free dram of whisky (we tried black bottle which is apparently pretty rare and the bottle cost about $50 in the store). They told us the 5 steps to drinking whisky and that is color, body, nose, palate, and finish. We then learned from a ghost how to blend Scotch whisky (no we weren't drunk it was part of the tour...). After hanging out with the ghost we went on a barrel ride through time and learned all about the history of scotch whiskey, which was a little bit smelly, but quite entertaining. Now we are here, writing to you, so I hope that everyone that celebrates it had a very Merry Chistmas yesterday and Happy Boxing day today!
Until tomorrow!
So it is still only noon, but internet acess is limited so I am going to write you about our morning and fill you in on the rest of the day tomorrow. So today is boxing day which is a national holiday that no one really knows why it is called boxing day, basically what is means to Lucy and I though is that everything is closed! Well there are more things open today than there were on christmas, but not that many touristy things. To our luck though the "Whiskey Experience" was open! YAY! Yes, I know that you now realize that I just told you it was noon, so yes we did go on a whisky tour at 10am... nothing else was open though what did you want us to do??? Anyways, it was actually really interesting learning about how whisky was made, and how to tell the difference between the hundreds of different types of whisky that are made. As part of the tour we got a free whisky glass and a free dram of whisky (we tried black bottle which is apparently pretty rare and the bottle cost about $50 in the store). They told us the 5 steps to drinking whisky and that is color, body, nose, palate, and finish. We then learned from a ghost how to blend Scotch whisky (no we weren't drunk it was part of the tour...). After hanging out with the ghost we went on a barrel ride through time and learned all about the history of scotch whiskey, which was a little bit smelly, but quite entertaining. Now we are here, writing to you, so I hope that everyone that celebrates it had a very Merry Chistmas yesterday and Happy Boxing day today!
Until tomorrow!
Days 9/10 - Bristol and Edinburgh, Scotland
Hi again!
So, after our last entry, we in fact did not go out anywhere cool for dinner/drinks. We went back to our room and fell asleep at about 5 pm and didn't wake up till 9(pm again)! We both contemplated just sleeping straight through the night, but Nyssa needed to get some work done and I was hungry so we went to the cafe downstairs, got a small bite to eat and both did some reading for a few hours, then off to bed around midnight. That morning we woke up pretty early, had the awesome breakfast feast again, then headed to the train station for our ride to Edinburgh. It was a long trip with one change in Birmingham- we left at 9:30 am and then didn't get in till 4:30 pm! While in BIrmingham, we had about an hour layover so stopped into one of the station pubs for some tea and a muffin. I jokingly asked Nyssa if she was going to get a 'morning beer' as it was only 11ish, but then noticed we were actually the only ones in there NOT drinking some form of alcohol! Apparently Brits are bigger drinkers than we thought... During the ride later in the afternoon I started to get hungry and got a sandwich- it was Christmas Eve, which is the day my family usually ahs our big dinner, and i actually found a sandwich with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce inside it!! I thought it was pretty funny anyways. We got there and had a bit of trouble finding our hostel, since it was already dark and the directions on our sheet were wrong, but finally did get settled into our room with about 8 other people mostly from Hong Kong. We went down and hung out in the bar for a bit, and during our drinks decided to have a shot for Jesus(which was pretty funny), and then went to bed reasonably early at 10ish. The next morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hostel, and then left for a free walkign tour around the city. It said on the voucher that it was open 365 days a year, regarless of weather or holidays, so we figured that would be one of our only fun options to do on Christmas. They were having a big holiday party at the hostel, but it cost £25, which is about $50, and frankly at this point in the trip neither of us had that much to spend! The walking tour is through the same company that we went on in Amsterdam, and the guide did a really really good job. We learned all about the history of the city and Scotand in general, about William Wallace(and how Braveheart isn't really historically accurate- for example he didn't live in a humble little hut in the forest, he was actually a duke or something with loads of money! But, still did awesome things for the country), about all the witchburnings that used to go on there, the famous bodysnatchers Burke and (Haige?), saw where Harry Potter was written and the building that inspired Hogwarts, learned a lot about famous writers that lived there, and of course went up and saw the beautiful castle and all the different views from it. We stopped for a break for lunch in the middle, and the pub we went into had free santa hats and those crackers with little presents inside, so that was pretty neat and made me feel all Christmas-y even though I wasn't at home. After that there wasn't really a whole lot else to do, so we went back to the hostel to do some much-needed laundry and watched the Grinch(the one with Jim Carrey) on TV in the lounge room. I had gone out earlier to make some phone calls and saw that the only place around open was the Chinese buffet, so we decided for dinner to celebrate Christmas Jewish-style and go there! Buuuut when we got there, they obviously knew they were the only game in town and were charging £20!!!! for dinner that is usually half that! (that's 40 bucks, which is absolutely ridiculous- not very much in the Christmas spirit if you ask me!) Neither of us wanted to pay that much for dinner, so we instead wandered around trying to find somewhere- even the kitchen at our hostel was closed because of the Christmas party, and we though for a while we would have to buy chips and candy from one of the little stores that were still open! Luckily we came upon an Indian place, and had a pretty good(albeit still quite pricey) meal there. After that, we went back home to watch some TV and hang otu a bit more before calling it an early night- we weren't really even that tired, but since there wasn't anything else to do we figured we might as well go to bed! But, overall, a pretty good Christmas!
So, after our last entry, we in fact did not go out anywhere cool for dinner/drinks. We went back to our room and fell asleep at about 5 pm and didn't wake up till 9(pm again)! We both contemplated just sleeping straight through the night, but Nyssa needed to get some work done and I was hungry so we went to the cafe downstairs, got a small bite to eat and both did some reading for a few hours, then off to bed around midnight. That morning we woke up pretty early, had the awesome breakfast feast again, then headed to the train station for our ride to Edinburgh. It was a long trip with one change in Birmingham- we left at 9:30 am and then didn't get in till 4:30 pm! While in BIrmingham, we had about an hour layover so stopped into one of the station pubs for some tea and a muffin. I jokingly asked Nyssa if she was going to get a 'morning beer' as it was only 11ish, but then noticed we were actually the only ones in there NOT drinking some form of alcohol! Apparently Brits are bigger drinkers than we thought... During the ride later in the afternoon I started to get hungry and got a sandwich- it was Christmas Eve, which is the day my family usually ahs our big dinner, and i actually found a sandwich with turkey, stuffing, and cranberry sauce inside it!! I thought it was pretty funny anyways. We got there and had a bit of trouble finding our hostel, since it was already dark and the directions on our sheet were wrong, but finally did get settled into our room with about 8 other people mostly from Hong Kong. We went down and hung out in the bar for a bit, and during our drinks decided to have a shot for Jesus(which was pretty funny), and then went to bed reasonably early at 10ish. The next morning we woke up, had breakfast at the hostel, and then left for a free walkign tour around the city. It said on the voucher that it was open 365 days a year, regarless of weather or holidays, so we figured that would be one of our only fun options to do on Christmas. They were having a big holiday party at the hostel, but it cost £25, which is about $50, and frankly at this point in the trip neither of us had that much to spend! The walking tour is through the same company that we went on in Amsterdam, and the guide did a really really good job. We learned all about the history of the city and Scotand in general, about William Wallace(and how Braveheart isn't really historically accurate- for example he didn't live in a humble little hut in the forest, he was actually a duke or something with loads of money! But, still did awesome things for the country), about all the witchburnings that used to go on there, the famous bodysnatchers Burke and (Haige?), saw where Harry Potter was written and the building that inspired Hogwarts, learned a lot about famous writers that lived there, and of course went up and saw the beautiful castle and all the different views from it. We stopped for a break for lunch in the middle, and the pub we went into had free santa hats and those crackers with little presents inside, so that was pretty neat and made me feel all Christmas-y even though I wasn't at home. After that there wasn't really a whole lot else to do, so we went back to the hostel to do some much-needed laundry and watched the Grinch(the one with Jim Carrey) on TV in the lounge room. I had gone out earlier to make some phone calls and saw that the only place around open was the Chinese buffet, so we decided for dinner to celebrate Christmas Jewish-style and go there! Buuuut when we got there, they obviously knew they were the only game in town and were charging £20!!!! for dinner that is usually half that! (that's 40 bucks, which is absolutely ridiculous- not very much in the Christmas spirit if you ask me!) Neither of us wanted to pay that much for dinner, so we instead wandered around trying to find somewhere- even the kitchen at our hostel was closed because of the Christmas party, and we though for a while we would have to buy chips and candy from one of the little stores that were still open! Luckily we came upon an Indian place, and had a pretty good(albeit still quite pricey) meal there. After that, we went back home to watch some TV and hang otu a bit more before calling it an early night- we weren't really even that tired, but since there wasn't anything else to do we figured we might as well go to bed! But, overall, a pretty good Christmas!
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Day 8- Bristol
Hello all!
It gets dark here ridiculously early so we decided to get an early start on our day. I woke up at 730 for a hot(yesssss) shower and then we went downstairs for the free breakfast- all the hostels we have stayed at so far had free breakfast, but generally its just toast and tea, or cereal or something. Well, this breakfast was awesome! They had all kinds of meats and eggs and pastries and FRUIT(which was fabulous) as well as hot chocolate and yogurt and granola etc etc. Being that the dollar is worth crap over here, we definitely took advantage of free food! (In fact, I still have a plum in my purse!) We were in a 4 bed room but it was just us and an older British lady, she found us at breakfast and sat down, and we commenceed to have a 20 minute conversation about bats, leading into how americans, and us specifically, were incredibly wasteful. So, interesting morning convo. After that we hopped a bus over to the Bristol Zoo, which was actually really good! The carribbean reef again was underrepresented, but they had lots of everything else, It was sooo cold outsid though, I felt pretty bad for the monkeys/lions/gorillas because you could tell they were cold. The water for the pygmy hippos pond was even partly iced over! But, the penguins were happy. After that we came back to town and had lunch in the chapest place around we could find(which is still $10 min for lunch), then walked around a bit taking pictures of neat fountains etc in Bristol, and now are taking advantage of some free internet in a movie theatre cafe! Later on, we'll probably do dinner and try to find somewhere cool for drinks, but not be out too late because we're waking up crazy early to leave for Scotland! But we'll fill you in more on that later- we will probably have loads of time for internet as everything will be closed for xmas and boxing day! till then!
It gets dark here ridiculously early so we decided to get an early start on our day. I woke up at 730 for a hot(yesssss) shower and then we went downstairs for the free breakfast- all the hostels we have stayed at so far had free breakfast, but generally its just toast and tea, or cereal or something. Well, this breakfast was awesome! They had all kinds of meats and eggs and pastries and FRUIT(which was fabulous) as well as hot chocolate and yogurt and granola etc etc. Being that the dollar is worth crap over here, we definitely took advantage of free food! (In fact, I still have a plum in my purse!) We were in a 4 bed room but it was just us and an older British lady, she found us at breakfast and sat down, and we commenceed to have a 20 minute conversation about bats, leading into how americans, and us specifically, were incredibly wasteful. So, interesting morning convo. After that we hopped a bus over to the Bristol Zoo, which was actually really good! The carribbean reef again was underrepresented, but they had lots of everything else, It was sooo cold outsid though, I felt pretty bad for the monkeys/lions/gorillas because you could tell they were cold. The water for the pygmy hippos pond was even partly iced over! But, the penguins were happy. After that we came back to town and had lunch in the chapest place around we could find(which is still $10 min for lunch), then walked around a bit taking pictures of neat fountains etc in Bristol, and now are taking advantage of some free internet in a movie theatre cafe! Later on, we'll probably do dinner and try to find somewhere cool for drinks, but not be out too late because we're waking up crazy early to leave for Scotland! But we'll fill you in more on that later- we will probably have loads of time for internet as everything will be closed for xmas and boxing day! till then!
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