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The UK - England and Scotland
Taryn and I got up at 4 :45 am to catch our train to London. Taking the Eurostar was great - so much easier and relaxing than flying. We got into London around lunch time and were supposed to meet a friend of mine from high school at 1 :30pm in Trafalgar Square. We didn’t end up meeting my friend for two reasons. First of all, we though the distance between the train station we were at and the square were within walking distance. Turns out it took us an hour to walk there. Secondly, those of you who have been to Trafalgar Square will understand, even if we had made it there on time, it is practically impossible to find someone there ! It’s one of the largest busiest squares I’ve ever seen. We were really tired by the time we got to the square so we stopped at a restaurant and got baked potatoes and soup (delicious). Then we we walked around the Westminster area and saw Westminster Abbey, the Horse Guards, and the London eye. Then we headed to the bus station to catch our overnight bus to Glasgow. The
overnight bus was one of my worst traveling experiences. Definitely the worst night sleep I’ve ever had. (Yet I am going to be taking it again in Greece…and to Eastern Europe…what we have to do for cheap ways to travel !)
We woke up the next morning in Glasgow. Tired and sore from our almost sleepless night we locked up our bags and had breakfast in a coffee shop. From there we headed to the Necropolis - a famour victorian cemetary on a hill. It was really interesting and we got a nice view of the city at the top. After that we spent a bit of time in a nearby museum about religion and culture. Next we headed into town and walked along the main area. We had lunch and tea in the Willow Tea Rooms, a really cute tea restaurant. That afternoon we took a train to Irvine, a town about 30 minutes away from Glasgow where my great aunt lives, and where my Grandma grew up. I didn’t have my great aunt’s phone number written down properly, so when we got to Irivine we just found our own way to her house from the train station.
Staying with my great aunt was definitely one of the highlights of my trip. I had only met her a few times before when I was a lot younger. She is 82 years old but in EXTREMELY good shape ! She made us omletes for dinner and gave us plenty of tea and biscuits (and scottish oat cakes). She told us a lot about Scotland’s history and I asked her about my family. When she took us for a walk around the town she even started running a bit because she "wanted to make sure she still could." She was quite the character and I am so happy I got to visit her.
The next morning we headed to Edinburgh (one of my absolute favourite cities). We checked into our hostel, one of the best I’ve stayed at. That afternoon we hiked Arthur’s seat. It was so windy we had to be careful not to fall of the side of the cliffs ! At the top we had a great view of the city. That night we had dinner at the Elephant tea house where J.K. Rowling wrote a lot of Harry Potter.
Other things we saw/did in Edinburgh
:
- Murder and mystery tour of the city (more funny than scary)
- Walking tour of the city
- Pub crawl
- Greyfriars cemetary
- Greyfriar’s bobby
- Edinburgh castle - stone of destiny, crown jewels
Night bus #2 from Edinburgh to London turned out to be even worse than the first time. We arrived in London even more tired and sore than the time before. We headed to the hostel and dropped off our bags and then had breakfast at Starbucks (insert "you typical north american" comment here ). We did the free walking tour of the city, learned a few things about the Queen and London and then headed to Notting Hill to walk around the Portobello Market. The market was great, there were lots of interesting shops in the area. We stopped at a nice little cupcake shop and got some cupcakes for Taryn’s birthday. Since the shop was about to close they gave us extra cupcakes for free ! We also went to the Tate Modern Art Museum and then walked along the Thames (the Queen’s walk) and over the London Bridge. Then we took the train to my grandma’s cousin Carol’s house about
40 minutes outside of London. Taryn and I were overjoyed to stay with my family again. After staying in residence all year, you start to miss a real home!
Carol dropped us off at my Dad’s cousin Sheila’s house the next morning. Sheila, her husband Barry, and their daughter Katy (who is my sister’s age) took us to Winsor castle. It was really great to see it, because if we had been on our own we probablly wouldn't have had the chance to get out there. Then we had lunch at this really nice pub with a huge outdoor patio. That afternoon we went to Royal Holloway College (which looks like something from a fairytale) to meet their son Paul (who is my age). That night we just relaxed and watched Harry Potter (which I found quite fitting). Sunday we went shopping with Sheila and Katy.
Meeting my family was one of my most memorable experiences of the year. They were all so kind and helpful, I know Taryn and I will never forget staying with them. Visiting another country is great, but it's so much more interesting when you can have people who are from there show
you around.
Monday morning we got up at 5am and Barry (ever so kindly!!) drove us to the airport to catch our flight to Ireland!
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Eric
non-member comment
I enjoyed your UK post. It sounds like you are having fun there. My blog is looking for travel photos and hostel reviews. If you have time, email us some at dirtyhippiesblog@gmail.com and check us out at dirty-hippies.blogspot.com Continued fun on your travels, Eric