Five counties in one day...and The Forest of Dean!

I'm on a train to London right now. It was meant to be pleasant 2 hour journey but we've just been informed that there is a broken down train ahead of us...and they have no idea how long the delay will be. Wow. Just as I wrote that the train started moving...we'll see how long it lasts. Anyway, as the train has wifi I figured it was the perfect opportunity to catch up on the blogging.

On Tuesday we drove to Lyme Park. Lyme Hall was built in the early 18th century and has since become famous thanks to its use as 'Pemberley' in the BBC's 1995 production of 'Pride and Prejudice'. We're big fans of the mini series so I was keen to go and have a visit. The house isn't actually open in winter but I got to see it from the outside, so I was happy. Sadly, Mr Darcy was nowhere to be found.

I had a friend ask me who Mr Darcy was the other day...outrageous.

After Lyme Park we drove down to Derby, which is where my grandma is from. The drive was lovely, Derbyshire is part of the famous Peak District and even at this time of year the scenery was quite stunning. Derby was quite amusing because there seemed to be a disproportionate number of old people living there...seriously, there were old people everywhere...and no young people. So we kept making jokes about sending Ma back and finding her a nice retirement village...teehee (not really Ma. I love you.)

From Derby we decided to make our way to Cardiff, the capital of Wales. We drove through Derbyshire, Worcestershire, Gloucestershire and Monmouthshire to get there. We also drove past The Forest of Dean! As in Ron, Hermione and Harry camping in The Forest of Dean! I got really excited...because I'm a lame fan girl. Driving around Cardiff trying to find a park and a hotel proved to be a bit of a nightmare, but we managed it in the end.

The first three hours of our morning in Cardiff was spent trying to find a laundrette, as both of us were out of clean clothes. This we didn't manage, so later that day we had to go shopping...damn. It was a really lovely day weatherwise - I didn't even have to wear my coat! ...Just my thermal singlet, tee and jacket! We went to Cardiff Bay which is really pretty and full of things to see.

The Millennium Centre - SO impressive in person.

Big...thing. Cool.

The Welsh National Assembly.



The docks. The sun was in a really rubbish spot and prevented me taking a better photo...:(



This was probably my favourite bit of Cardiff Bay because it was so hilarious. There's a BBC show filmed in Cardiff called 'Torchwood', it's a spin off of Doctor Who and it's pretty great. At the end of the last season my favourite character, Ianto Jones, was killed off. It was devastating, you should have seen me after watching the finale - I was inconsolable! And then raged to Bron about how much I hated Russell T Davies (the head writer), when really I love him 'cos he's fabulous. Anyway - apparently Ianto was lots of peoples favourite character, because since the episode where he was killed aired this impromptu momorial has appeared. It's at the part of the docks where the entrance to Torchwood HQ is...

There were SO many notes from fans!

The notes were all really cute, saying things like "Bring back Jones" "We want the coffee boy back" and my personal favourite "Why do YOU think we watch the show?" accompanied by a picture of Jack (the main character) and Ianto snogging. Love it.

After visiting the Bay we made out way back into town and went to Millennium Stadium and Cardiff Castle. The castle is quite impressive and really well preserved.

There are trees all round it though, so sorry for the crappy picture.



Pretty sky.

On Thursday we left Cardiff and drove to Bath (Coincidentally, Thursday was Jane Austen's 235th birthday) But we're pulling into Kings Cross soon so I'll fill you in later.

xx.

Do you want to go to the seaside?

On Sunday we hired a little red Skoda Fabia and drove to Blackpool. It was a very easy, scenic drive through Yorkshire and through to the west coast. As you have to be 23 to drive a rental car over here I was given the job of navigating. My map skills have improved significantly since coming overseas, so we didn't have any mishaps. The only minor problem with our little car is that the windscreen wipers are on the right and the blinker is on the left (the opposite of Australia) - this led to quite a few hilarious episodes involving the windscreen wipers. Good times.

I was really excited to go to Blackpool. There was a BBC show made there in about 2005 starring David Tennant, David Morrissey and others. It was a great series. So anyway, I was really excited to go and see if Blackpool was the same as it was in the show...it really wasn't. Apparently in the summer the town is full of tourists, people having stag and hen nights, holidaying families, etc. and the signs on the motorway told me it was 'The UK's favourite beach side resort!'. It was like a ghost town when we got there! Most of the shops were closed, the 'Golden Mile' wasn't completely lit up, the waterfront was being renovated so lots of it was closed...basically I think it's a seasonal town, and we didn't visit in the right season! Still, we had a nice enough time.

Probably the nicest view I saw in B-Pool.

Stone waves.

I wouldn't fancy stretching out and sun baking on this 'beach'.

The Golden Mile...lovely....

'Booze booze booze' - apparently what Blackpool's all about in the summer.

Part of the Blackpool tourism campaign. BPL also happen to be the initials of both my father and my brother. Hehe, love you guys x.

After spending the night in Blackpool we cruised down the motorway to the home of the fab four, Liverpool. We were only there for about five hours, but I was feeling some serious love for this city - it just had a really great atmosphere.

Obviously everyone knows Liverpool because it was the birthplace of The Beatles - I'd love to tell you that I was a different kind of tourist and I went and experienced the non-Beatles related things that the city has to offer...but I'd be lying. We went straight to 'The Beatles Story', a permanent exhibition that is the most visited tourist attraction of the Northwest, and it was amazing. The exhibition has two locations, one at Pier Head, the other at Albert Dock. We decided to go to the Pier Head one first because it was closer. We were walking down the street looking for it when Mum started to cross to the other side of the road. Convinced that the building we were looking for was on the right hand side of the road I said "Mum, where are you going? There's nothing over there except that big building..." Unfortunately, 'that big building' happened to be the right one and I ended up looking like such a fool. We had a good laugh.

Both sites were really enjoyable. The Pier Head site had an exhibition on called 'White Feather' which was all about John Lennon and also a new collection of photographs on display. The photos were taken by Paul Berriff who, at the time, was an arts student who gained access to The Beatles by simply asking the managers of various venues if he could please go back stage - try doing that these days! I loved all of the photos and after walking through realised that I'd fallen in love with young Paul McCartney - what a babe.

The Pier Head exhibition.

The view from out the back....

We walked from Pier Head to the Albert Dock site and we came across these cool orange things on the way...I dunno what they are, but I like them.

I'm really easily distracted though and forgot to look at the camera...

...And I thought this sign was funny...'cos I'm immature like that...

The Albert Dock exhibition was coooool. You learn all about the history of the band by walking through a series of themed rooms. So one was done up to look like the village fete where John and Paul first met, one as The Cavern, one as Abbey Road - you get the point. They also had album themed rooms which were cool.

The Cavern room. I had a grand time dancing around to Twist and Shout...all by myself...

It also had heaps of instruments and outfits that had been owned by member of the band. And there was a pair of shoes that were owned by Elvis! I love Elvis. Then at the very end there was a Starbucks that was covered in photos of The Beatles, instead of the usual (boring) Starbucks art. It was very pleasant.

Liverpool also had lots of cool buildings. Like this apartment building.

After a lovely day we drove to Macclesfield, which is in Cheshire, and there we stopped for the night.

Love xx.

Kimberley.

On Monday it was my best friend Kim's 21st birthday. At home there are four of us girls who make up an amazing little family. Sadly, Melissa, Zoya and I were all in the UK for Kim's big day. We have an amazing group of friends in Canberra, so I have no doubt that she had a great day without us. But I wanted her to know how sorry I am that I couldn't be there. And how much I love her. And how happy I was to be able to chat to her on the phone on the day. So yeah, I love you babe.



Whip-ma-whap-ma-Gate

On Friday we caught the east coast train down from Edinburgh to the walled city of York. York is a very picturesque little town. It reminded me a little of Edinburgh because they have lots of modern shops inside old, historic looking buildings. From the train station we got a cab to our hotel which was about a ten minute walk from the city walls. Our cab driver was a really adorable Yorkshireman with that stereotypical Yorkshire accent. He obviously really loved his home town and gave us his recommendations which was nice, I love talking to locals about the best things to do.

We walked into the city in the afternoon and went exploring. The main shopping district is called The Shambles. I think there's actually a street called that, but I always got so lost in there I don't actually know where it was. The streets are really little and there are so many shops and buildings all crammed in together. It's very cool.

The Shambles. All of the buildings lean towards each other 'cos they're so old and rickety.

Also in The Shambles I found a shop called 'Peter Rabbit and Friends' - it was the most adorable shop ever! Full of all things Peter Rabbit and Paddington Bear stuff and Miffy. AND I found out that there's a Peter Rabbit exhibition on at the moment at the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, I'm so there!

We also visited York Minster.  I was starting to develop an opinion that was basically 'seen one church, seen 'em all' - I think there are just so many beautiful churches all around Europe and the UK it becomes difficult to appreciate them. York Minster is gorgeous though. It's so impressive from the outside, we got there at sunset which really added to it.

It is a little bit of a shame that the town is built right up to the cathedral doors, so it's hard to get a really good look at it.

The inside is lovely as well. I was going to climb the tower, apparently the view of the surrounding countryside is really impressive, but it was closed due to adverse weather conditions.



In the evening I met up with my friend Victoria who I met on my Scotland tour. Vic's lived in York for about ten years now so she was a pretty great tour guide. She took me to a bunch of really cute little pubs (all selling local brews - yum!), the worlds shortest street with the longest name (Whip-ma-whap-ma-Gate) and to The Golden Fleece which is apparently the most haunted pub in Britain. It was really lovely to catch up with her, thanks for the tour Vic - see you next time!

We were staying at The Elmbank Hotel which seemed like a pretty nice place. It was very old and full of dark wood furniture and had a real fire place in the lounge The staff were thoroughly unhelpful at all times though...they weren't rude, they were just a bit useless. Anyway, on our second night there I woke up at about 3:30am with a terrible ringing in my ears. I just sat in bed frowning until Mum said 'That's a fire alarm, Courtney.' So out of bed I hopped and pulled on some warm clothes. Bleary eyed, I stumbled out of our room and headed to the reception area. A guy shoved past me when the chief warden appeared and started yelling "Turn off that fucking ringing! I'm trying to sleep!". The warden was a fifty-something year old man who simply responded "But...there might be a fire...". The way he said it was really quite funny, and then the angry guy abused him some more...not funny. At no point did any member of the hotel staff make an announcement to tell people what was going on, so we all just loitered in the lobby. Looking around it was quite amusing to see the different state of peoples dress...or undress. Some people, like us, had taken the time to get dressed properly. Others looked as though they hadn't actually made it to bed yet (there was a wedding reception on that night). Two old ladies appeared in matching fluffy dressing gowns (one blue and one pink), lots of people were in pyjamas with duvets wrapped around them. One poor guy, who we figure must have had previous experience with fire, was standing right by the door wearing just jocks and a tee shirt. He looked so cold, I felt sorry for him...I did openly giggle at him though. After a while it was clear that there definitely wasn't a fire, but as the staff didn't seem to think they should bother telling us that we all continued to just stand there. Eventually the warden said "It looks like there was someone smoking in their room." prompting the guy next to me to call out "Which room? Let's get 'em.". Teehee. Then I went back to sleep. And that's my story.

Some more photos...



The Dean's house outside the Minster.



Cute building.

A courtyard in the middle of town with gravestones...why?

There was a street full of ice sculptures! So cool.

The river.

We hired a car in York the other day and have be doing lots of scenic driving since then, I'll talk about it next time.

Love xx.

Freezing cold, but "fine for some".

Hey all,

What up?

It's been a while...I'm afraid I'm just getting lazier and lazier with the blogging. I've also become really terrible at keeping in touch with people - if anyone who's reading this is waiting for an email from me I'm sorry! It'll be on it's way soon.

Last week I went to see Easy A in Leicester Square. Everyone at home had been raving about it so I couldn't resist. It was amazing. I wish I was Emma Stone...I want my life to be like an 80's movie! Anyway, when I left the cinema they were setting up outside for the world premiere of The Chronicals of Narnia: The Voyage of the Dawn Treader. Lame, right? They're really not very good movies. But then I saw on the big screen that Liam Neeson was going to be there! Anyone who knows me at all will be aware that I am deeply in love with Liam Neeson, so, obviously, I stood outside the cinema until all the 'stars' went through. Really the only other cool people were Ben Barnes and Skandar. And it was only cool to see Skandar because I'd been paying him out for his silly name just a few days earlier. Anyway, the point of this story is that I saw Liam Neeson right up close! I did manage eye contact (he looked my way when I started squealing in a very embarrassing, fan girly way) but failed to seduce him...*sigh*

The next day I got up at 3am to head out to Heathrow to pick Mum up. Two night buses and a half hour train later I arrived, still half asleep. I then got an espresso with three sugars to wake me up...apparently that's bad for you though...

We had a lovely couple of days in London. We went to see The Phantom of the Opera, which was amazing! I love theatre, especially musicals, and this was a top production! All of the performers were amazing. I had 'Past the point of no return' going round in my head for days. This was an improvement though, since Paris I'd had that 'Fuck you' song stuck in my and would break out into song on the streets every now and then... People didn't seem to appreciate it much - partly cos I really cant sing...mostly because I kept accidently making eye contact with randoms as I sang the chorus...

Me at Her Majesty's Theatre

We also went to see Jersey Boys, which was also incredible. I didn't enjoy it quite as much as Phantom because I didn't know all of the music, but it was a lovely way to spend a Sunday afternoon. I wish I could do that in Canberra...actually I kind of do do that in Canberra - whenever any of my friends at home are in a production my grandpa and I have dinner and a night at the theatre, it's fabulous. The next one on the list is Oklahoma starring dear Mat CO - It better be a good one Matty <3

We also went to Portobello Road market one day. It was pretty cool, but it was really cold and crowded. There were lots of stalls selling Christmas trees there and at one I was this old guy buy a tree, hoist in onto his shoulder, take his granddaughters hand and walk off down the street. I just thought it was really lovely.

And I found a TARDIS! Or, rather, I found a Police Box. Very exciting.

After a few days in London we got the train to Edinburgh. The weather had been pretty shocking in London. Freezing cold, compacted ice, snow, etc. We'd heard that the weather was worse in Scotland but all of the weather reports we saw were so useless and vague. All featuring the same blonde chick saying thoroughly unhelpful things like "Lots of freezing fog, but fine for some" while pointing at a map of the country with no temperatures for any city other than London - one of my British friends told me that that's because London spends so much of it's time dealing with the world it forgets that the rest of the country exists...I'm inclined to agree with her. As a result of said 'weather reports' it was a bit of a shock when we got to Edinburgh and it was completely frozen over! I have never been so cold!

A snow covered castle.

People weren't too keen on these seats...

Except this guy.

Leaky pipes.

I love playing in the snow!

Arthur's Seat looking a little different.

My favourite cemetery in Edinburgh...not that I was hanging out in them or anything...

View of the Old Town from Waverly Bridge.

The Old Town from Princes Park.

 

Our last day in Edinburgh - this is as clear as the streets got.

Despite the cold weather I still love Edinburgh. So so so much! I just want to be Scottish! We had a lovely couple of days. We walked all around, went into the castle, went to the Christmas markets and we went to a hilarious shop called Appy Feet where you stick your feet into a tank full of little fish and they massage your feet while removing the dead skin...sounds kind of gross, but it actually was just hilarious.

We were a bit concerned that we were going to get stuck in Edinburgh (that would've been too bad, eh?) but then it 'warmed up' and the snow started to melt away a bit. We're now in York which is lovely, but I'll talk about it in my next post.

Love you xx.

Paris again.

So I just spent another five days in Paris. I finally left Gemma's place in Cambridge on Wednesday night and got the train to London. My flight out of Luton was at 8pm so I figured I'd get to have a pretty cruisey morning. Wrong. It turns out Luton Airport is in the middle of nowhere, so I had to leave my hostel at 5am, get the night bus to Marble Arch, wait for half an hour then get the bus to the airport. When I was waiting for the nightbus it started to snow! Which was kind of cool, because I hadn't seen snow yet on this trip, but kind of not, because it was freezing!

I got to my hostel in Paris without any dramas and was halfway through checking in when Zoya and Melissa appeared. There was a lot of squealing and hugs all round, I think the receptionist was a little taken aback - but amused all the same. I dumped my pack in the four bed room I had booked and went to see Zo and Mel's room. They somehow scored a studio apartment next door to the hostel for less than I was paying for my four bed! And it had a third bed...how convenient. Slowly, over the next four days, I moved all of my stuff into their apartment - it was amazing. We could cook and hang out and have dance parties to the Glee soundtrack (which we have become obsessed with).

We went to the Eiffel Tower and the Christmas Markets on the Champs Elysees on our first night. We had crepes for dinner and chocolate covered fruit for desert...healthy!

On Saturday we had a fabulous day at Disneyland. I went last time I was in Paris with Timo but was keen to go back...because it's great. It was the coldest day I've experienced yet on this trip...like, stupid cold! We actually all ended up walking funny all day because our feet hurt so much. We ate disgusting amounts of candy, drank about 12 hot chocolates between us, went on rides and ran around like idiots all day.

My favourite part was lining up to get a photo with a Disney Princess. We all wanted to get our photo with Raiponce (Rapunzel) but then half way through she left and Tiana from The Princess and the Frog came out. This was fine, any Princess would make us happy. The Prince though...he was a little odd. Every single time a kid went over to get a picture with them he would smooth their scarf down...this may not sound that strange, but it looked wierd. By the time we got to the front of the line Zoya and I were in hysterics...I think Mel was slightly embarrassed. We got our photo though and were all very happy.

About half way through the day we decided to get fairyfloss. It was ridiculously big, bigger than the one Timo and I got last time. We sat down to eat it and kids kept walking past with their parents and then just stopping and staring at us with envy. The best part was when one kid stopped and Zoya just looked at him and started licking her fingers. Mean. But amazing!

Sunday was our last day in Paris and we decided to walk to Galeries Lafayette, the biggest department store in the city, and go shopping. Unfortunately, everything in Paris is closed on Sundays. It's so silly! I swear the only things that are open are small convenience stores, Starbucks and the cinemas. This worked out for us in the end though, we got Starbucks and went to see Harry Potter. Great day. The memory of seeing HP in Paris will stay with me for a long time...We laughed inapropriately all the way through. Why? Well, it turns out the French word for wand is 'baguette'...I'm sure you can see why this was so hilarious. In serious moments the subtitles would say "Where's my baguette, Hermione?" or "Take their baguettes!"...except, obviously, the whole sentence was in French. Good times.

I really had a great time in Paris with the ladies, I love that city! And I cant wait to see them again in just a couple of weeks for Zo's 21st birthday and Christmas!

Love to you all,

xxx.