A Real Castle and the End of the World

Well, I’m back from my whirlwind trip to Wales! On Friday morning I set off to Manchester and Jasmin met me at the station for the beginning of our shopping odyssey. To kick things off, we had Boost at the station!!! Five hours later, I had 2 pairs of pyjamas, a new yellow coat, an aqua beret, a new scarf and a new wallet! We had a lot of fun exploring the shops, and grabbed dinner before meeting Owen.

We hopped on the first train to Crewe, then on another to Llandudno. We passed the time playing Monopoly Deal (it’s a lot of fun!). Owen’s Dad picked us up from the station and took us back to his house in Deganwy, where we dumped our stuff before going out again to see Harry Potter 7. The movie was quite good, although a lot of the scenes were different to how I imagined them in the novel. They sell sweet popcorn at the cinemas, so I tried a bit of that and had Baskin Robbins ice cream too!

Anyway, we took a quick drive to the near side of the river after the movie (around 1AM) to just get a sense of the quiet and beauty of the landscape, before going back and straight to sleep.

In the morning, Jasmin and I left at around 10, and Sel (Owen’s Dad) dropped us off half way to Conwy Castle. On Friday night Jasmin and Yvonne (Owen’s Mum) laughed at me because I was ridiculously excited to see a real castle! It was even better during the day up close!

We spent about an hour wandering around the castle, through the great hall and then up four of the six towers. The views were spectacular! From there, we walked past the smallest house in Great Britain along the riverfront, and then up along the castle walls. It was amazing – people have their gardens in the little alcoves of the wall. I can’t imagine growing up alongside a castle!

From there, Owen picked us up, and we drove for quite a while, picked up sandwiches from Ham Bone, and grabbed cakes from a local bakery (yum!). I wasn’t feeling too well (this cold just won’t go away), but I was fine once we got up the top of the mountain in the fresh air. Owen took us on a local’s tour, tramping through the scrub (or whatever the Welsh equivalent is) and the mud down to the most still, perfect lake I’ve ever seen. It was actually like a mirror, reflecting the cloudy sky.

Despite the mud and prickly bushes, the view and serenity was worth it. I even saw a wild holly bush! We then went for a drive over to the Orme, which is a large body of land sticking out into the ocean. The day was foggy, so looking off the edge was like looking out over the end of the world. It was very cold, but we saw it as the sun was setting, so it was quite beautiful.

To finish off such an amazing day, Yvonne made a delicious lasagne, and we had proper UK chips with it, which were amazing!!! I’m so glad I had the chance to see this little piece of Wales, and now I’ll definitely try to get back there one day to see some more.

I got back to Leeds last night, and spent today at the Royal Armouries with Christina (Will’s housemate from Ireland) and Junko, her Japanese friends. It was awesome to see such a huge collection of weaponry from the UK and around the world, including the world’s only almost-complete suit of elephant armour.We had a lot of fun wandering around all afternoon.

So that’s the news from here! I’m planning to go to the Christmas Market with Jasmin on Tuesday, and tomorrow Luke is taking me to the ruins of an abbey which are apparently quite beautiful. Then off to France on Thursday! Exciting!

Last London Days

Well, I’m now writing from Will’s house in Leeds! Yesterday I caught the train from King’s Cross station (and yes, I did find Platform 9 and 3/4) up to Leeds, and spent the day hanging out with Will. We went to the Leeds Japanese Society’s karaoke night, and I caught up with Nanako, one of the girls from Hosei that I knew through the speech contest, who is here on exchange. I have a bit of a cold, so today is a lazy day, hence the time to update the blog!

Ok, so going back to London, I managed to fit quite a bit into my last days, including a catch up with Kelly and Janelle, who are on their way home after nearly 6 months in Europe.

On Sunday, I met up with Jasmin and Owen at South Kensington, and we went to the Natural History Museum. There’s an ice rink set up in front of the Museum, so Jasmin and I bought tickets for the 9pm skate session before going into the Museum. It was incredible! The main entrance hall was so beautiful!

We looked at a lot of dinosaurs, and took a lot of photos! There was a GIANT blue whale, woolly mammoth tusk moulds, and a big section about the human body.

We spent most of the afternoon wandering through, then caught the tube to Victoria to have Nandos for lunch. Nandos here is more like a mid-range restaurant than a take away place like at home, so we had an awesome feast (although we had way too much food!). We then went to the Tate Modern, mostly because I wanted to see an installation by Ai Wei Wei, a Chinese artist. I’d seen an exhibition of his in Tokyo, and heard that he’d put 100 million porcelain, hand-made sunflower seeds n the turbine hall of the Tate, so we had a look. It was pretty amazing – so many seeds!

We weren’t that impressed by the rest of the Tate (I’m more conservative in my taste), but was hung out for a while, before having hot chocolate just outside St Paul’s Cathedral.

We were all tired and a bit run down, so we ended up giggling a lot in the cafe, and once they closed, we headed back to the NHM for our skate session. I’d not been ice skating before, so was a bit nervous, but Jasmin was a great teacher, and I gained confidence with Bert the penguin ( a little penguin to lean on that kids use to learn to skate) by my side!

In the end I was able to go around the rink 3 times on my own, and I only fell down once! It was actually a lot of fun, and I’d like to try it again at some point before I go home. We hung out at Jasmin and Owen’s hotel a bit before I went back. Oh, and over the course of the day, I was invited to go on a short trip to Wales over the next weekend. So tomorrow I’m heading over to Manchester, before going with Jasmin and Owen to Wales in the evening. We’re also booked in for a late session of Harry Potter 7 tomorrow night! So excited!

Anyway, so I tried to catch up with Kelly and Janelle on Monday, but we had phone issues, so i ended up spending the day on my own. I went to Westminster Abey first, which was unlike anything I’ve ever seen before. Unfortunately you couldn’t take photos inside, but I was amazed by just how many important people in English history are buried or commemorated there. I was especially moved by the Poet’s Corner, which memorialises the great authors, poets and playwrights, including the likes of Charles Dickens, William Shakespeare, Jane Austen, Wilfred Owen, Oscar Wilde, and William Blake. I also found the memorial to the Unknown Soldier to be quite moving – I placed the remembrance poppy that I bought earlier in the week on the black marble in his memory.

I then made my way over to Shakespeare’s Globe, which was probably one of the main highlights of my London visit. The lady who took the tour was amazing, and it was just a real thrill to be there.

 

I had planned to go to the Tower of London before heading to Covent Garden for the Royal Ballet, but there wasn’t enough time, so I relaxed at the hotel for a bit before going out again. I saw Sylvia at the Royal Opera House, and it was magnificent! I was a little bit far away to see the costumes well, but the overall impression was of a beautiful, classical performance. I sat next to an older lady from Paris, and we spent the to intervals chatting about ballet and about travelling, which was really nice. It was a great evening!

I finally saw Kelly and Janelle on Tuesday! We met at South Kensington station for morning tea (we ended up going to a cafe at the NHM), and caught up on months worth of news. We swapped travel advice (they’re going home via HK and haven’t been there before), and shared three yummy cakes/slices. They had to meet a friend in Hyde Park, so we headed over there, and took some pictures before solving the phone problems. We organised to meet for dinner later on.

I then went to King’s Cross to pick up my tickets to Leeds. On the way back, I went to Notting Hill, mostly to wander down Portobello Road and sing the song from Bedknobs and Broomsticks (Portobello Road, Portobello Road, street where the riches of ages are stowed). I took a picture in a doorknob shop, of one that was like the magic bedknob. The market end was quite nice, and I discovered an awesome smoothie shop called “bee me”. I also finally had a cupcake from the Hummingbird Bakery – it was called red velvet, and was amazing! (Photos will come later, my camera is charging now).

I then met the girls for a hurried Mexican dinner – they were going to see Billy Elliot in Victoria, but I had to race to the Lyceum in Covent Garden to see the Lion King. It was actually AMAZING!!! The sets, the puppets, the costumes, everything! Zazu and Rafiki were the stand out performances, although Timon and Pumba were really funny too! I just loved the whole thing, and am so glad I picked that of all the possible shows to see. It would be so amazing to live in London and just go to see a show whenever you felt like it. Anyway, it was a fantastic way to end my last night in London.

Which brings us back to Leeds! Actually, I’ve spent a lot of time online today, so I should probably get dressed and grab some lunch! Will probably post again after the Wales trip. Ciao for now!

Grey Coats and Charles the First (Part Two)

Right, back again. So after checking out the Palace and the statue in front of it, I walked down to see the changing of the horse guards, which was pretty cool. They all had their tassled hats and ceremonial swords, looking very smart and official!

The horse guard changed at 11, and at quarter past I dashed back up to the Palace to see the changing of the Palace guard, at 11:30. Of course, by then, there were thousands of tourists, so I saw very little of the ceremony. What did surprise me, though, was that the guards were wearing grey coats, not the bright red ones I thought that they did. Jasmin thought that it might be because of Rememberance Sunday. Does anyone know about this tradition?

Anyway, once the marching band had left, I picked up a sandwich and had lunch in St James’s Park, which was cold, but nice by the lake. I also saw my very first squirrel! They are surprisingly agile, and really very cute! From there, I headed over to Westminster Abbey, planning to tour the inside, but I was an hour too late (it closes early on Saturdays). Instead, I walked around the front, looking at all of the Rememberance poppies.

I then decided to go on a tour of the Houses of Parliament, and I’m glad that I did, since they only do tours on Saturdays. I got my ticket, then went through security into Westminster Hall, an 11th century building that was saved from both fire and bomb attacks to be the oldest part of the Parliament building. It has the most incredible wooden ceiling, and despite being a bit cold, holds real historical significance as the birthplace of the Westminster parliamentary system.

The tour guide was fantastic, and she told us of how Charles the First tried to arrest five members of Parliament for disagreeing with him, but that the Speaker helped them to escape and wouldn’t tell the King of their whereabouts, marking the beinging of Parliament asserting its rights. We saw the lavish House of Lords and the austere House of Commons, following the path that the Queen does when she performs the annual state opening of Parliament. I really enjoyed the tour and learnt a lot about British history.

Afterwards, I had an amazing scone with jam at the cafe before heading out towards the Thames to see the Lord Mayor of London’s fireworks show.

I met Jasmin and Owen at Monument and we took photos with the Tower Bridge before having dinner in Covent Garden. It was a tiring but really interesting day!

I’ve uploaded more photos from Saturday onto Facebook (see the link in Part One). Enjoy!

Grey Coats and Charles the First (Part One)

Ok, so yesterday was a pretty awesome day too! I got up relatively early and decided to go to Buckingham Palace to see the changing of the guard. Jasmin and Owen were going to a soccer game, so we organised to meet up for dinner. Victoria is really close to the Palace, so I walked there, and took tonnes of pictures!

Ok, I actually have to get going now – I’m meeting Jasmin and Owen at the Natural History Museum… Will write more later! In the meantime, there are more Friday photos on Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/album.php?aid=251886&id=529751783&l=cdbbd09afb

Ciao! xox

A Wet Lion and Secret Twins

Right, well I’ve finally found a computer where I can upload photos, so here comes a long entry! The last two days have been so amazing, and London is everything that I imagined it would be. The highlight so far has probably been seeing my friends again, especially Luke (one of my adopted brothers from Tokyo), who I haven’t seen in well over a year.

On Friday, we met up at Victoria station (near where I’m staying) at 12, and went for a rambling adventure to Covent Garden. It was the best thing ever to see him again, and we ended up having lunch at a quaint little pub called the Lamb and Flag after taking red phone box photos.

I had fish and chips with peas, and Luke had a ploughman’s lunch, and we both had a local ale with it. The food was quite good, and the pub had a nice atmosphere.

We spent ages just talking and catching up, before heading back out to the National Gallery in Trafalgar Square. It started raining as we left. We had a look at Nelson’s Column, then Luke decided that I HAD to sit on one of the gigantic lions at it’s base, because that’s what you do when you go to London. So, in probably one of the least graceful moments of my life, I was boosted up onto a slippery, dripping wet, giant lion’s bum.

Needless to say, my pants were completely soaked by the end of this, so we went into the National Gallery to see the art and to dry off. I really enjoyed the National Gallery – I saw two lily paintings by Monet, a couple of Rembrandts, and one of Van Gough’s sunflowers, although I preferred the painting of the crab that was next to it. Luke knows a lot about art, so we walked around commenting and observing. I think my favourite of what we saw (the gallery is huge so we didn’t see everything) was the British paintings by John Constable. After wandering around for ages, we had afternoon tea in the cafe, before going out into the rainy Trafalgar Square to meet Jasmin and Owen at 5.

Jasmin had got me a ticket to go with her and Owen to see Blood Borothers at the West End, a musical about twins who are separated at birth and end up dying on the same day, moments after they discover they are brothers. Before the show, we grabbed a hot chocolate (again, a matter of being inside to dry off), and caught up on months of news, before finding a place for dinner.

We found a great Thai place off Charring Cross Road, and I had a yummy tom yum soup. The musical was at the Phoenix Theatre, and it was just incredible! The woman who played Mrs Johnstone had the most amazing voice, and the whole production was just spectacular! I jumped out of my seat when the gun shots went off in Act Two, but to be fair, we were sitting right next to the speakers.

After the show, we started to walk back to the Tube station, but it wasn’t raining, so we ended up walking along the Thames, taking photos of the London Eye, Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. The city is so beautiful, especially at night.

We walked and walked, and ended up just walking back to Victoria station from Westminster, as it wasn’t too far. I got back to the hotel around midnight, so was pretty tired, but it was an amazing day!

Sunlight and Sausages

Well I made it to the UK! I got my first view of London on the plane – we came through the clouds and there it was, sprawling under the last glimmers of sunlight, a golden city buzzing with energy and life. I could make out some landmarks, like the Tower Bridge and London Eye along the Thames – such a great view. It wasn’t as cold as I’d expected once I got to Paddington station (they were selling Paddington Bear products at Paddington station – cute!), and a very kind man helped me carry my suitcase up the stairs to the Underground entrance (at which point I had to carry it down again. Sigh). Anyway, caught the tube to Victoria and hopped in a cab to the hotel (yes, it was black!).

Basically I didn’t sleep on the plane so felt pretty shit at that point, but I got changed and went down the road to the local pub for dinner (was about 7pm UK-time). One of the things I really wanted to do on this trip was have an Asterixs/Obelix experience and eat wild boar. So I had wild boar and apple sausages for dinner, on the creamiest mash potato I’ve ever eaten – it was amazing! I washed it down with a Bulmers cider and went to bed.

Right, I’ve got to get off the net, so will write more later. Having lunch with Luke in Covent Garden this arvo – can’t wait to see him again! Ciao for now!

Today I am in…