Lakes District and Liverpool long weekend away

Photos:

http://www.amanda.com.au/uk/lakes/

Friday night - as the English put it - "a nightmare".

Due to depart London 6.30 Friday evening. Left work with backpack on wheels. Carrying bag up tube stairs not fun. Booking agency sent me to wrong side of London for departure point. Nearly missed bus. Other tour bus rang through to let them know I was coming. Tubed it from Great Portland Street to Shepherds Bush on the lookout for bus near Walkabout pub. Arrive Shepherds Bush. No idea where Walkabout pub is. Asked newspaper boy - no idea. Asked Policeman - sends me in wrong direction. Start to freak out. Am now 45 minutes late for the bus. Phone tour company. Phone low on credit. Continue freak out. Get through and point me in right direction and I see purple bus. Relief. Bus full of 50 impatient/annoyed people await me. We finally depart. Sleepily watch Hot Fuzz on DVD on the bus. Due to late departure, we arrive in Lakes District at 1am and don't get to bed (which for me was the top of a bunk with a room of 9 other people) until 2am. Also started reading a book - Ex and the City - must read for any girl - v funny and author had same birthday as me and understands joys and pain of having your birthday on Valentine's day.

Saturday and Sunday - the Lakes District Walked around the hills.

Lots of Lakes - imagine they would be sparkly and blue if sun was out. Cute little towns (cute shops, and no Maccas, KFCs or Starbucks in sight!). Very green. Sheep everywhere (in various colours and breeds) - they keep their tales here. Stone wall fences everywhere. Old timey slate houses and buildings everywhere. Chilly cloudy weather (but no rain). Ate the best home made gingerbread ever. Caught ferries/boats around Lake Windemere. Went horseriding overlooking lakes - very scenic. Finished book.

Monday - Liverpool.

Liverpool: Major port city - trade and industry driven. Big American influence. Home of the Liverpool soccer team and giant stadium. Hometown of the Beatles. Where maiden Titanic voyage set off from. Where slave trade began (and was also first abolished). First Chinatown in Great Britain. Largest (Anglican) Cathedral in Great Britain - designed by same man who designed red phoneboxes (no, the church does not look like a giant red phonebox). Also home to ugliest giant pointy metal Catholic cathedral ever. Giant Beatles Festival going on - Beatles lookalikes and coverbands everywhere. Went to Cavern Club where the Beatles played before they hit the big time and where loads of other famous bands have played. All wheely bins in Liverpool are bright purple. Stopped at Penny Lane and Strawberry Fields. Saw house where John Lennon grew up. Long bus journey home to London. Watch 28 Weeks Later on DVD - this movie could solve London's population crowding problem. Home by 9pm, in bed at 10. Have caught a cold.

Other news.

Also saw Spoon, Trail of Dead and Tool (bands) over the last couple of weeks. Phew. Enjoy photos! Manda

http://www.amanda.com.au/uk/lakes/

PS: big big thanks to my old boss Karen who sent me over 2 tins of Aktavite, promite, tim tams, sweet chili and sour cream chips and dvd..

Weather comparison

I have the weather as part of my custom google homepage and every now and then I compare. So, if I hear anyone from home complaining about the weather or how cold it is - let me just put things in comparison / into perspective (of course I'm allowed to complain as much as I want ;) You're getting better and warmer weather than here and its supposed to be summer for me! I think I'm going to die when British winter hits.

Summer has definately arrived (for like, a day). Visits to Westminster Abbey, Regents Park and London Zoo

Firstly - photos: are here.

Friday 3rd August

Didn’t leave work til 6pm – definitely not enough hours in the day. Dragged my feet home, cooked dinner, had a glass of red and my head hit the pillow at 9pm. Was very tired! Had met up with an old friend from uni the night before which may have contributed to my tiredness as well. I’ve tracked down a couple of people on Facebook, and am meeting up with another friend from high school next week, both of which have been over here in London for a few years now. Highly recommend signing up to facebook!!

Saturday 4th August

Woke up at 7am (grrr). Did all my normal Saturday morning stuff (washing etc). Called my Dad. Decided to head off into London. Ran into a friend in Brixton. Tubes shut. Got the bus into Victoria together. Then went off on my own. Walked up the Birdcage and cut across to Westminster Abbey. Basically this place is full of loads of famous / royal dead people – and really – that’s it. The tombstones and sarcophaguses are detailed and extravagant but well it just goes on and on.

From memory – I found St Paul’s Cathedral much more enjoyable when I saw it in 2004 – I plan to go back there for a visit post renovations. Anyway, a few tombstones of note: Charles Dickens and William Shakespeare. Dad also kept telling me that Sir Winston Churchill’s tombstone was there as well – so was keeping an eye out for it – but seriously there’s thousands of tombstones there. As I was about to leave – there it was – Churchill’s tombstone – the very last one – it seemed to have made it all worth it. Dad – I took that photo for you if you’re reading this (you’re not actually allowed to take photos in this place). Westminster Abbey: DONE.

I then went outside, found a patch of grass and sat in the shade for a bit to figure out what I was doing next. That’s the cool thing about being a solo traveler (has its advantages and disadvantages) – is that you go where you want to go, when you want, for as little or long as you want. It would be nice to have a travel partner but if you want to stop for a rest, go into a weird shop or whatever, you can. I’ve seen a few tourists yelling / arguing with each other a few times now and glad I’m not in their shoes.

So anyway, I walked through St James’s park. There were pelicans in a pond. I wasn’t expecting to see pelicans this far from the ocean. There was also cool plant figurines of people on bikes. I walked over to Trafalgar Square, decided I’d had enough and found a bus to take me home. I actually got to take some really good photos from the top of the double decker bus as you’ll see.

Sunday 5th August

Today I slept in (hoorah!). I had quite a hard time trying to decide what to do today, but it all became crystal clear as soon as I looked at my London wall map – Regents Park and London Zoo. I packed a lunch of fruit salad and bussed and tubed it over to Regents Park. It was another hot gorgeous day – I actually wouldn’t have minded going for a swim. In the park there were people sunbathing in bikinis (even though there was no where to swim).

Anyway, Regent’s Park is massive, green and beautiful. I went to Queen Mary’s Rose Garden which is just gorgeous – I’ve never seen so many roses in my life before. There was a beautiful pond with giant fish in it. I found a shady tree and ate my fruit salad for lunch. I then trekked off to the opposite end of the park to London Zoo (it’s part of the park). I saw gorillas, a sleepy tiger (hey tiger, vake uuuup), two lions who happened to mate (yes I took pictures – but they’re tasteful!), giraffes, bears etc etc etc. I liked the gorillas and lions the best. The giraffes were pretty cool too – very pretty. Tip: do not buy the map when you buy your ticket – it’s a waste of money – there’s signs everywhere on where to go inside the zoo.

After the zoo, I came out at a weird exit which was actually quite close to Camden Town (10 minute walk). My feet were starting to drag and I looked up and recognized this pub that I’d been to before – the Dublin Castle – so stopped in for 2 drinks and kicked my feet up on a stool. My plan was to get the tube from Camden Town so I could get on the Northern Line and jump off at Stockwell and get the bus from Stockwell to Brixton. Camden Town tube was in exit only mode – so I had to walk what seemed like ages to the next tube station instead. Eventually made my way home – there was some sort of festival going on in Brixton and police everywhere watching by – but I just wanted to get home, have some dinner, relax etc.

Anyhoo, I can’t remember if I’ve mentioned this but I’ve got a couple of small trips planned. On Sunday 19th August, I’m going to Cardiff (Wales) for the day. And there’s a long weekend at the end of this month, so I’m off to the Lakes District and Liverpool from 24th – 27th August – hoorah! Hope to plan a few more holidays when I get paid properly next in September (ah contracting..). Hope everyone is well - Manda :)