After the stress of trying to plan multiple excursions for the long weekend (yay for Spanish holidays!), I was excited to finally have a plan in place—England for my birthday! How cool is that? Right after my 12:30-2:30 class on Thursday afternoon, I came home, ate lunch, and was out the door by 4 p.m. to meet Nikki at the bus stop. We took the bus to the Granada bus station where we then took a bus to Malaga. From the Malaga bus station we then took another bus to the Malaga airport (Granada’s airport is small and so flights are a much better deal from Malaga although the time it takes is significantly longer). We arrived with plenty of time to spare as our flight wasn’t to leave until 10 pm. We flew into Bristol airport and were shocked by the strong winds that tried to knock us over as we exited the plane. Another bus and a taxi later we had finally arrived! With a greeting from Nikki’s sister, Lindsay and her British boyfriend Andy (with whom we were going to be staying for the week), and a spot of tea we were finally able to relax.
The next day, after a delicious breakfast of crumpets was an introduction to Bristol: we explored, shopped, and had traditional meat pies (well actually Nikki and I had vegetarian) at a place called Pie Minister! The pies were served on top of mashed potatoes and gravy--they were delicious, and we were stuffed!
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| So stoked for pies! |
Fairly convinced that we would never be hungry again we went back to relax and get ready to go out again that evening. The Brits love their pubs! We went out to a few that evening with a couple of Lindsay and Andy’s British friends. I just loved talking to them, but more than that listening to them…I love accents! At midnight Nikki bought me a strawberry drink called a frulli (not sure on the spelling there) and right in the pub they all sang 'Happy Birthday' to me! What a way to kick off my 20th year!
The next day we took the train just a short way to Bath…named for the Roman baths that are located there due to the natural hot springs. Andy’s friend Liam is from Bath so he gave us a tour of the charming city. After walking around for a bit we had fish and chips for lunch and enjoyed them in a little park.
Then we explored some more, coming to the longest crescent in the world, where celebrities and other wealthy people own different sections as vacation homes (Apparently Johnny Depp tried to buy the whole thing and they wouldn’t let him!). This area is also the setting for many of the Jane Austen novels turned into movies—beautiful!
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| Abbey Road-esque? This was actually completely on accident |
After a bit more exploring, Nikki and I were DYING to try clotted cream! So we went to The Pump Room for a spot of afternoon tea and a chance to check out the King’s bath! However we were told that the functional tea service was over. Disappointed we started walking away but then Liam saw his friend who was working there and was able to get us in, and with a discount! We ordered tea with scones, clotted cream, and jam and it was delightful! And then we were stuffed again. A few hours later and we were back on the train to Bristol. We were going to go out for birthday celebration dinner but were still too full so we grabbed some pasties to eat later.
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| Enjoying afternoon tea at the Pump Room! |
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| The King's Bath |
The next day was another Bristol day: exploring the town, Thai food for lunch, a little bit of shopping, and for dinner: a Sunday Roast made by the resident Englishman himself. I feel like a lot of this post has been about food…which would be due to the fact that we ate A LOT of it and wanted to try all the traditional foods. We also entertained ourselves with this show called ‘Come Dine With Me’ where five strangers would host a dinner party, one each night with the other four and then whoever had the best dinner party would win a thousand pounds at the end of the week!
Monday was my big solo adventure: the London trip. An early bus ride from Bristol to London found me there at around 11:15. Right as I stepped off the bus, I saw a map vending machine for 1 pound…a great investment for the full day ahead! After orienting myself, I headed off for Buckingham palace. I arrived just in time to see the changing of the guards!
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| My new BFF Ben and the London Eye |
Then I meandered through St. James’ Park…the weather was so sunny and warm, I couldn’t believe my luck! Then Trafalgar Square, the National Museum, Picadilly Circus and then finally I gave in and got a Starbucks (I’d been craving it for about two weeks). Then off to Downing Street to see the Prime Minister’s House and then Big Ben! I was so excited to see him (yes I am talking about Ben)! Then of course the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, and then while I was searching for an Abraham Lincoln statue I found myself walking into the supreme courts. One was actually in session…they were wearing wigs and everything!
Next, I passed through the seven levels of the Candy Cane forest, through the sea of swirly twirly gum drops, and then I walked across the Westminster Bridge (haha just kidding...only the last one) and enjoyed a chocolate covered strawberry shish kebab, bought my tickets for the London Eye and since I decided to ride it at night I had time to walk along the river past Shakespeare’s Globe Theater to see the London Bridge, the Tower Bridge, and the Tower of London. As I continued walking, I started to get concerned that I had missed the London Bridge somehow so I started taking pictures of every bridge I came upon until finally I came to the London Bridge only to realize it was just your average bridge…what a disappointment! The impressive bridge was the Tower Bridge and from across the river I could see the Tower of London. I loved seeing the Tower Bridge and Big Ben because they are such quintessential monuments in London. Then I made the long journey back to the London Eye, but it was so worth it! The views of the city were absolutely spectacular! And with that, I could officially check off London on my list of places to visit! Now for a flurry of pictures (normally I try to condense them but it just would take too long)!
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| The Beautiful St. James' Park |
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| Fountain in Trafalgar Square |
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| National Museum |
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| How DO they get the ship inside the bottle? |
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| Trafalgar Square |
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Why hello there, Prime Minister!
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| The Houses of Parliament |
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| Westminster Abbey Cathedral |
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| Wind-blown in front of the London Eye |
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| Shakespeare's Globe Theatre |
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| The Tower Bridge |
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| The Millenium Bridge at Night |
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| London at night-Incredible! |
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| Buckingham Palace! |
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| Guard at Buckingham Palace |
Now you would think to return from Bristol we would do exactly what we did on the way there only in reverse…however this was not quite the case. Due to the French traffic control strike our flight was delayed an hour and then we waited on the runway for another hour (mind you we also ended up sitting right in front of a baby), getting us into the Malaga airport at 11:35. At that point we were going to take a bus to the train station and stay at the train station until the next bus left for Granada at 7 in the morning. However we missed the last bus and with a few minutes until the last train we ran to catch it. Then much to our dismay we found at the train station closed at 1 and wouldn’t reopen until 5 or 6, effectively leaving us outside in the cold with sketchy homeless and drunk people. So in the end, we elected to take a taxi for the hour and a half drive back to Granada. What’s more, I had left my keys at the house because I didn’t want another thing to worry about and was planning on my host mom letting me inside in the morning so I ended up sleeping from 3-7:30 am at Nikki’s house on her pull out bed before I finally made it back home. All I can say is we learned what NOT to do for next time! Though the travelling was more than a hassle, the trip and the experience were so worth it! Plus I got another stamp on my passport!
Things I learned while in England:
*Instead of saying third wheel, they say gooseberry (I like it…I’m bringing it back to the States!)
*Driving on the wrong side of the road wasn’t as startling as I thought it would be (of course I didn’t drive, but being driven)…you just have to be careful to look the other way when you are a pedestrian crossing the street
*Clotted cream+jam+scone=delicious!
*Even just within England there are some very distinct accents that come from different regions…did I mention I love accents?
*Hobnobs are delightful cookies/crackers that British people dunk in their tea.
*England, United Kingdom, and Great Britain all mean different things…England is just England, Great Britain includes England, Wales, and Scotland and the U.K. includes Great Britain and Northern Ireland
