Blogs from West Yorkshire, England, United Kingdom, Europe - page 41

Helen and I decided to go to the city centre of Leeds today. We drove to Bentley (another suburb of Doncaster that is a bit southwest of Barnby Dun) so that we could have somewhere to park and somewhere free to park for the day. Bentley is a "pit town." They used to do a lot of coal mining until the industry took a bit of a nose dive. We got on the 11:29 train to Leeds and arrived at 12:13. The station in Bentley was not manned so we bought our tickets after we boarded the train. The train station for Leeds is very close (if not actually in) the city centre. We had a very short walk and then went to Harvey Nichols. I've never been anywhere that sold real Prada, etc. so it ... read more

Today I was able to go to school with Helen. She teaches year 6 and her kids were great. They asked me all sorts of questions. We talked about movies, music, and money. They were quite surprised that I hadn't ACTUALLY met the president in person. That was my afternoon mostly. The morning was spent in the Speech and Language Unit with the teacher-Ken, the TA-Angie, and the 8 (!) children that were in the class. One of them was using his computerized communication board to tell me knock knock jokes. Hilarious! I was able to speak to the SLP who provided service to the class and she gave me some good information regarding how speech and language services were done in the British schools. Very informative.... This evening Helen and I have been complete bums. ... read more

So I'm getting on the plane to England in 18 days. Should be an exciting first step to see if I truly do want to live in England for a year. I'm so excited to go see my friend Helen (I haven't seen her in over a year!) and also see the area where she lives. Hopefully I'll be able to do some sightseeing and make some contacts for a job while I'm there. I'm looking forward to learning how to manage the Underground and stay in my very first hostel--the Wake Up London! Hostel to be exact. I can't wait!... read more

A bearable 23 hour flight which thankfully saw the five of us - Pete, Cossie, Azz, Emmo and myself treated to the comfort of emergency-exit seat living came to an end as we touched down at Heathrow airport, a nation where I would spend the best part of the next 12 months. The volume of alcohol that we had consumed had been adequately matched by the amount of water, and by heeding my mothers warnings, not only was I extremely well behaved on the flight, she would have been proud knowing I was able to have a relatively clear head when touching down in this foreign land. Until this time we had encountered no hiccups, apart from a dodgy Singapore Spicy Chicken Burger, which momentarily unsettled Pete’s stomach. That was until, our connecting flight to Manchester ... read more

It was a dreary, drizzly morning as I set off from Nottingham in the British Midlands headed for the Lake District on the Scottish frontier. My route would take me through the Peak District & the Yorkshire Dales, both designated as National Parks. My English friend, Bill had supplied me with maps marking all the day rides he takes through the area. The weather forecast called for clearing skies later in the day so, with hope in my heart, I set out, keeping to the backroads. I spent the day meandering through the Peak District hoping the skies would eventually clear. Alas, it was not to be. I snorkeled my way through the day. The Peak District is where the infamous Cat & Fiddle pub is located. You may have read about it in BIKE magazine. ... read more