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Published: June 10th 2009
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It’s be a whirlwind few days….flying into London, UK, followed by a full day tour to World Heritage listed Bath, Stonehenge and Windsor Castle. Then it was on to Derby and Loughborough to meet up with Caz and my cousin Lauren before flying out of Manchester, UK and into NYC, USA.
The flight over to the UK was ok….no rows of spare seats to spread out across, which was a bit of a bummer! I think I have been spoilt on my fair share of flights, and now I’m getting the rough end of the deal and ending up on fully booked flights! The highlight for the journey over was definitely being able to hang out at the Qantas Lounge in HK during the layover! A kind lady let me use her guest pass to the lounge, as I allowed her to use the spare seat between us on the flight.
Upon arriving in London….it was hot and sticky!!! Not good for someone like me dressed in jeans, jacket and thick knee high compression socks! I could not wait to get to the hostel, have a shower and get out for a run in this amazing sunshine! Sadly the
sun didn’t last…..that’s probably because when I’m in the UK it’s never sunny! I managed to make it out to Regent’s Park for a run, which was about 600m or so from my accommodation. The park was packed…I guess being Bank Holiday and all! Even though it was humid….it was still nice to be out moving….wearing the compression socks were a great idea on the flight….no fat ankles or calves…this time there was just some minor swelling around the non- compression part of the socks - that being my toes and knees!
I played the role of part jogger, part tourist whilst running at Regent’s Park….I took my camera with me, so got a few shots in as I ran around the park. It’s a nice park…the gardens were very pretty and so well maintained. They had areas of ‘revegetation’ in the park, and all that meant, was they didn’t mow the grass in those areas! It seemed very out of place in gardens that were so orderly and well set out.
After not sleeping much on the plane and going for a run….I was hoping for a good night’s sleep! Sadly it wasn’t to be! At 6am the
next morning I was wide awake…so I figured time for another run….a glimpse outside the window of my room revealed an ugly wet London morning….oh well! Guess there’s some novelty factor in running in the rain seeing that I rarely have to worry about getting wet back home! My run was to be short this time (less than 5kms) but….I kinda got a little disorientated in the park, and ran nearly 7 km….!!
Despite running for longer and further than planned, I fortunately had plenty of time to spare before leaving for my day trip. The tour departed from Victoria Coach Station in London; a very busy place at 8:30am in the morning! I lined up at the gate for my tour. Well, that was me and about another 150 or so people going on the same tour. After some messing about we were off. Our guide, Trudy was an odd sort. She kept trying to throw in British humour and phases the entire day, and I don’t think the bulk of the other tourists really understood what the heck she was talking about. Perhaps it was only the 2 other Aussies and myself that really understood it! First
Running
Attempted self potrait - using the countdown timer!!! stop was the 900 year old Windsor Castle. The first thing I noticed was the sheer number of tourists….the place was packed. Hard to believe it would be like this most days of the summer. Thankfully we’d left the rain behind in London and were able to walk around the Castle without getting soaking wet. The Castle itself was very spectacular, although it’s hard to comprehend that some people can call it ‘home’. Inside the castle we were able to walk through a selection of its 287 rooms, called the State Apartments! Whilst immaculately decorated in every way, I would never want to live in a place that’s full of guns, armor, and swords!!! My favourite areas inside the Castle were the ‘recently redecorated’ rooms that were renovated after fires in 1992 destroyed 15 or so rooms. I also walked though St George’s Chapel, also inside the castle grounds. Again, amazing….the level of detail was fascinating. It was then time to grab a snack and move on to our next destination, Bath - which was some 2 hrs or so away!
The ride down to Bath was fairly non-eventful….there was an road accident so that slowed us down a
Regents Park
The sensible practice of irrigation whilst its raining....Australian's don't think this is so wise! bit….! Nothing, however could have prepared me for Bath…tourist crazy…the place was packed. Our main purpose of our visit to Bath was to go to the Roman Baths. There was not a lot of time to soak up the information about the Baths, but put it this way - they are very old!!! The Baths sit below today’s current ground level. Apparently the water of these Baths is actually no good to drink either! The town of Bath looked very beautiful. The limestone buildings made it look very different to other parts of the UK I have visited.
After Bath, we passed through some nice countryside, with some fancy homes and on to Stonehenge. Being one of those ‘must see’ tourist destinations, I was expecting some lavish facilities to cater for the tourists! But, there were just a few tin sheds. I felt Stonehenge to be a bizarre place to visit. To someone who doesn’t really care for it - it is just some big rocks sitting out in the middle of a field that is surrounded by sheep and a few windy narrow roads. However, for those that care for history, then its significance is important. Trudy told
London,
the Thames us that Stonehenge will be closing for 10 years or so shortly! Basically, there is a dire need to significantly redevelop the roads and facilities around the site, and in order to do so, the place has to be ‘shut down’. The trip back to London went well, and I found my way back to my accommodation just walking from Hyde Park!
The rest of my time in the UK was spent travelling to catch up with Caz and Lauren. It was great to see both of them! While having lunch in the Westfield Shopping Centre in Derby the emergency alarm sounded, and everyone started to evacuate!!! I’d just got my lunch…..but fortunately it was a false alarm! I had a nice afternoon with Lauren, we spent some time relaxing in the sunshine in her backyard before going to bargain Chinese in town! And it was real nice Chinese food too!
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Dear Wendy, We are French pupils in a lycée and we studied your blog. It was a bit long but interesting. Sometimes you were bored during your trip. It was personal. It was good that you gave your opinion on English people, on the weather. We enjoyed reading it and following your adventures. Thanks a lot!