Resting In Between

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Geo: 51.2365, -0.570305

What do I get up to when I am based in Guildford?, being such a small town you probably would think not much, but I have been up to quite a lot in between my other European travels.
I arrived here in mid January and staying and spending time with Anna. The first major event which I have been looking forward to for the last 15 years was seeing a soccer, oh sorry; Football, match, not necessarily an English Premier League game but to watch my favorite team who I have supported since a young teen, Leeds United.
The fixture and timing was perfect to see Portsmouth Vs Leeds Utd as Portsmouth was only an hour away by bus and a couple of my friends are Portsmouth supporters so the rivalry was perfect too. So I caught the bus to Portsmouth a few hours early to also check a little bit of the harbour out, but when i got there, there was a very long line stretching for hundreds of meters. I tagged on to the end and after 20 minutes I had probably covered 100m, and with a few hours left till the game I decided to bail. So the line was because of a war ship that was on display to the public over the weekend. It looked real big from the distance. Instead I opted to checkout a bigish shopping complex which also houses the Spinniker Tower.
The Spinnaker Tower is an architectually interesting building, it doesn't really portray beauty or history but instead it seems to portray confusion and mixed feelings. But if you feel the need for a landscape view of the harbour then I guess it serves it purpose.
After exploring a little bit of the Gunwharf Quay, I took the bus to the game. A great game that ended up in a 2-2 draw with the lights of the stadium turning off twice during the game. The atmosphere was spectacular and exhilirating, seeing Leeds fans jumping with their shirts off in freezing conditions shows passion but maybe a little too much.

Another time Anna and I met with some family friends of Anna's in Dorking for a walk along the Surrey countryside. Unfortunately the weather was a bit cold and cloudy, but the walk in itself was great, we walked through fields and farms, encountering old bricked war bunkers that apparently form a close line with other bunkers through out the region. We finished up at a really nice and cosy pub. I love the small pubs in England.
I have also taken my skateboard with me on this trip, so when the sun did eventually find it's way out we took advantage and hit up the Guildford skatepark. Anna took the role of sports photographer while I pulled out some killer moves that made me popular with the kids, haha.
After my two week stint in Italy the following week was fairly eventful, first up was Valentines Day in Bath. We caught the train there, it was a sunny day but very cold. Bath is a nice town but lacks colour. The buildings are very nice, the main attraction being the Roman Baths and the Royal Cresent. We didn't go and see the baths properly as it was actually quite expensive, but the Royal Cresent is nice to see. From there we visited Victoria Park and sat to absorb the warm sun and have some lunch. We had kind of seen most of Bath by 3 so we decided to see the King's Speech at the "Little Theatre", a quaint little cinema with two rooms. I liked it though.

The second event a few days later was Anna's birthday, and I had gotten her tickets to the Lion King Musical at the Lyceum Theatre in London. It was my first Musical and what a musical to start off with. The costumes, singing and everything else were spectacular, and even to this day i still listen to some of the songs online, I have somehow become, only slightly, addicted to the song "He lives In you" because of the incredible voice of the Josette Bushell-Mingo who plays Rafiki.
The next night a bunch of us went out for dinner and drinks to celebrate Anna's birthday. We gathered for a pub dinner and then hit the lounge for drinks and dancing. Again it was a great night and It was good that most people were able to come.
One of the next weekends I went to Camden Market in London, I love markets and this was a great one, all kinds off clothing, food and artifacts can be found here. It's pretty big as well where you can spend at least a couple of hours meandering your way thorugh the stalls.

Next stop was France for the weekend, to Wimereux. A mixture of nice food, beach walks, haircuts and bowling. I finally met Anna's friends as we caught up for a belated french birthday dinner followed by some ten pin bowling. We were lucky to be driven back to Guildford through the tunnel, but only after being hassled at the border control.
A week later Anna was off to London for a few nights, so rather being couped up in Guildford I took the advantage of seeing a friend near Luton for those few nights.
I strolled through Hyde Park in London while waiting for Jack to finish work, enjoying some of this rare English winter sun. A hint of Spring starts to present itself around places which is a good thing for everyone involved.
I spent two nights in the small village of Barton: the first night we drove to Milton Keynes which was about 20 miles away and stopped for a beer at the indoor snow dome. It was impressive but I didn't take my camera so no photo, but the memory lives on.
During the next day I didn't do much, but when I did it was to take thee family dog for a walk through the Barton hills, it was a nice walk although cloudy and uninspiring. During the night we ducked into the local pub for a few beers with some of Jack's mates and then before I knew it we were up at 5.30 the following morning heading back in to London.

So after these minor events, I am now embarking on a trip through Germany, Poland, Switzerland and the Czech Republic.

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