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Published: September 18th 2016
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London
Landing after 13.5 hours I have officially been living abroad for over 2 months now and although, I had every intention of doing a 'Welcome to London'-esque blog, I did not. Therefore, I will start off this one with a short London introduction before continuing.
I touched down at Heathrow on 9th July in the evening. Instantly, even standing in the terribly long customs line, I was grinning from ear to ear that I had made it back. Got through customs fine - the officer was so lovely and wishing me a lovely stay and hoping I enjoy my time here on my visa. Such a completely different experience to my first one here 3 years ago. Luggage grabbed and off to catch the tube I went. Here, I must send out a huge thank you once again to my friend, Elijah, who let me stay on his couch for my first week here - it helped out immensely with getting over my minor jetlag, gaining my bearings and getting myself sorted. By the end of my first week, I had gained myself a job. By the end of my second week, I had sorted out a room in a flat - thank goodness,
Clink 78 Hostel
Home for a week because at that point I was living in a hostel. Although, my hostel was pretty dope - I stayed at the Clink 78, which is in an old court house where the Clash once stood trial and they've definitely kept the theme going with some of the rooms being in the old holding prison cells and the common areas being in the court rooms. And in between getting sorted and working, I am spending my weekends being a tourist - I'm perfectly content with walking around this huge city taking it all in. It's been great to say hello again to Big Ben, the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Queen Liz at Buckingham Palace and all the other places I saw and admired on my first visit here. As well as checking out the sights I hadn't yet seen - there's so much to do here and always some kind of event happening, I don't think I'll tire of London too quickly.
However, in saying that, yesterday I took a trip out of London. And boy, was it nice to get out of the city, even just for the day. One thing I was supposed to do on my last
trip here but didn't get to do, thanks to my confusing 'arrive at the airport a day early' debacle, was a day trip out to Stonehenge and Bath so it's definitely been on my list this time round. And thanks to a half price tour coupon found on Groupon last month, I got to tick it off. It was an early start to my Saturday morning, probably my earliest since I've been here, as I had to be at Victoria Coach Station by 8am to be checked in and on the bus by 8:15 to depart shortly after. By the time everyone was on board it was almost 8:30 but we were on our way. As we drove through the streets of London to the motorway, our guide for the day introduced himself and pointed out any places of interest along the way. The trip to Stonehenge was just over 2 hours away however seemed to fly by with the guide telling us of the history of Stonehenge and telling us to 'be prepared to be underwhelmed' when we got there.
Despite the warning, I really enjoyed seeing this prehistoric monument up close, although it is all roped off
Not a selfie
Feat. Stonehenge so you can't get too close to it. However, the walk around was nice to appreciate it and the scenery surrounding it. I listened to bits and pieces of the audio tour but it was so windy that I was more than happy to walk around, taking photos at different points along the way. We only had an hour and a half at Stonehenge but by the time tickets were handed out, and you lined up for the shuttles to take you from the visitor centre to the monument (as well as the way back) it only gave you 30-45 minutes to admire the monument and be back on time for the bus. Definitely a must see if you get the chance - always good to see things in real life after seeing all the photos and hearing all the history on them.
From Stonehenge, we carried on to the city of Bath, which was just over an hours drive away. Again, along the way, the guide spoke about the history of Bath, the Roman Baths, the assembly halls and Jane Austen. As we were approaching Bath, we got an amazing view of the city and I could see
Bath
Ridiculously pretty why the guide had described it as a beautiful city. All of the buildings in Bath have been made of bath stone and it just looks amazing. We had 3 hours to do what we wished in Bath so I grabbed some lunch and walked around town, walking up to the Royal Crescent and the Circus. When we arrived, the lines into the Roman Baths was ridiculously long so I nearly didn't go in however I decided to check again, and glad I did as the lines had died down and I couldn't not go to Bath without a visit what it's most well known for. Very interesting to walk around, and seeing the roman ruins and what it would have looked like in it's time as well as seeing the Great Bath, and the smaller ones. Very interesting to see and learn the history of. The museum itself was busy, as expected, with everyone walking around with audio guide up to ear. Again, I only listened to bits and pieces of the audio as I got annoyed with people walking into me. After I had finished in the Roman Baths, there was only about half an hour until we
Roman Baths
The Great Bath - below street level had to be at the coach meeting area so I picked myself up an ice cream and wandered the streets of this charming city. Bath was beautiful and I'm very glad I got to see it, and I hope to go back one day, even for a sneaky weekend stay.
Unfortunately, our bus was delayed by traffic but when we finally got on our way home, I was extremely tuckered out, and ended up sleeping the majority of the 2 or so hour drive home, waking up just as we were approaching London, and was able to see Windsor Castle in the distance. Another place that's on my list to see at some point. By the time we got back to Victoria coach station, it was 8pm so a long day was had. Again, it was lovely to get outside of London, even just for the day and I hope to see more of England whilst I'm here. Currently trying to organise a sneaky weekend away for next weekend, still in England, and also have a bigger trip coming up in 18 days - stay tuned.
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