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Day 1 Heathrow - Durham (Northeast England)
My flight went according to plan. Smooth sailing all the way.
I took a bus from Heathrow to Downtown London. Slept all the way there so I still have no clue what London looks like. Figured out my route to Durham then had to pay 20p (40 cents) to relieve my bowels. Everybody always complains on how expensive England is well I got a good first taste of it then. The bus stations in England and the bus stations in Canada are not that different (Canadian trash vs English trash -pretty similar). My bus ride was long (longer than my flight by an hour) but I slept like a baby thanks to Air Canada (I stole a pillow and blanket on my way out of the plane).
Durham
I was greeted by Fiona and Adam (Fiona's better half) and a pool of orange vomit. We drove to Fi's house, relaxed, made supper, I settled in and slept for 13 hours.
Day 2 Durham castle and surroundings
Fiona took the afternoon off to show me around her city. Durham is a University town. When school is out the city
becomes a ghost town. We had a free meal in one of the downtown restaurants (go vouchers) and then went to visit around the Durham Castle and Cathedral.
Fun Fact:
In 1986, the Cathedral, together with the nearby Castle, became a World Heritage Site
Durham Cathedral has also been featured in the
Harry Potter films as Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry, where it had a spire digitally added onto the top of the famous towers.
Interior views of the Cathedral were featured in the 1998 film Elizabeth.
Stereotypical observations:
A bunch of high society lads were playing CROCKET on the Castle's front lawn. The castle is also part of the University. Fiona was semi-ashamed of their behaviour.
To top off a day of grand history, we went second hand shopping at no other than the local salvation army store. Great fun!
We returned home for a good old raclette. mmmm melted cheese and salami... Adam invited over his German philosopher friend Seb. We topped the night off with Sloe Gin (home made gin made with Sloe, a blueberry looking berry that apparently tastes like shit.)
Important notification: A midge (pronounced MIDGE-E) small pesty insect
is not to be confused with a midget. Stories including midges invading Scotland with total instinction required can be confusing.
Fun Fact:
Just like Newfoundland, North England also have derogative city names.
Theirs include Pity Me and Open Wide.
Day 3 Newcastle
This is the biggest city close to Durham. It is known for its crazy nightlife (Hen (bacholerette) - Stag parties)
The first thing you notice is that 7 side-by-side bridges connect the city with the other side of the river.
I spent the day walking around Eldon Square where there's a lot of good shopping (HMV, H & M, M & S). I went to a little outdoor market called Grainger Market. I decided to be tempted by this old and sketchy Asian man offering me a 5£ (10$) French manicure. This turned out to be the roughest esthetic treament I ever received but the most long lasting and precise nail manicure ever. It still is intact. He used a paint gun to apply the white tips. I pretty sure he was using wall paint vs nail polish for that price.
Before coming back to Durham from Newcastle, I sat on a bench
in front of a department store called Fenwick because they were blarring decent music (Peaches was what sat me down) and observed people walking by. I noticed that a lot of people were stopping to stare at the display window and realized that they were doing live fashion demonstrations. This Fenwick place said to support local fashion University Students by displaying their 2008 collection. How cool !!!
I came back home after a lot of confusion between the X1 bus and the 21 bus and had supper with Fi and Adam. We then relaxed and watched the UK version of the Apprentice with Sir Alan Sugar, an English business man, who insists that his contestants call him SIR ALAN (Good morning Sir Alan, Thank you Sir Alan). He's as ridiculous as Trump but with better hair.
Day 4 English Lake District
Fiona and I drove up to this area about 2 hours West of Durham called English Lake District and settled in the area of Buttermere where buttermere lake is. We hiked up a small mountain from where we had a breathtaking view of the place. I was so picturesque and calm. We sat at a
high point for a good hour reminiscing about Japan and admiring the scenery.
After our hike down, we treated ourselves to some homemade ice cream - made on the farm (fig and chocolate chip mint - bad mix but individually delicious).
For supper, I had some English traditionnal Fish & Chips (now I know why the fries with battered fish back home are referred to as chips !!! Our chips are called crisps here). Believe it or not, they felt LESS greasy than Deluxe ! Afterwards, we watched a British Talk Show with an English comedian and Jackie Chan as guests. Jackie is gold no matter where you are in the world. He told the story about how he hurt his finger on set and to relieve the pain for weeks afterwards he would rub it in a masturbatory way until one day in an airlplane he was doing it over his groin under a blanket and the flight attendant tried to be extra helpful in the middle of the night !!!
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