London Activities

Time to update on what I've been doing since my tour finished.
I spent two days on the outskirts of London, not doing much. Just caught up on emails, this blog, and sleep!
Then I went into London last Sunday afternoon for three nights, and 2 full days. On Monday I went to the BUNAC centre to scan some things and pick up my UK sim card which came in the mail. Speaking of which, you can send me mail!

Anna Matthews
16 Bowling Green Lane
London, United Kingdom
EC1R 0QH

I might not get it instantaneously, because I'll have to be in London to pick it up, but I will be in London again eventually!

After going to the BUNAC centre, I went to the British Museum. Besides all the amazing things that the British Museum contains, the fact that makes it even better is that it's FREE! Almost all of the Museums in London are free, and that includes all the big ones. Victoria and Albert, Museum of London, Science Museum, Museum of Natural History etc.

British Museum

A Human Headed Winged Lion, which came from a Palace in Mesopotamia

The Rosetta Stone!

An Egyptian Mummy

What the London 2012 Medals are going to look like

Also on Monday I went to see Billy Elliot! I went to the box office in the morning and picked up some Day Tickets, for only £19.50! I was in the very front row, but really I didn't miss anything. The kid who played Billy was brilliant, he definitely has an amazing future in front of him! But really, the whole production was amazing!

On Tuesday the sun came out, and has stayed since then! It's been wonderful. Anyways, Tuesday morning I went on a "Beatles Walking Tour". For a Beatles fan like myself, it was really cool. And there definitely was a good range of people on the walk, from old Hippies, to younger kids, to people from Japan. 

The Registry Office where Paul married Linda, and Ringo married Barbara

34 Monagu Square - An apartment that Ringo owned, but Jimi Hendrix lived here at one point, and John lived here with Yoko later

The site of the Beatles first commercial venture, the Apple Boutique on Baker St.

This is what it looked like back when the Beatles ran it!

57 Wimpole St - The Asher Family home, where Paul lived with Jane Asher, and he wrote Yesterday in the basement

Abbey Road Studios

I added my name to the legions of other Beatles fans who've signed outside of the studios

Abbey Road Crossing!

After the tour I found a park by Thames to eat lunch in the sunshine. And then in the evening I went to Wicked! Again I went to the box office in the morning, and this time I got a student discount. I got a seat worth £62.50 for £27.50, less than half price! One of the best seats in the house. And of course, the show was amazing!

I did have some adventures in my hostel, but they were not the hostels fault. I was in a room with a bunch of Spanish Boys who decided that coming in at 1am and turning on the light and being noisy for an hour was an appropriate thing to do. Not impressed. Ah well.

Now, however, I'm staying with my Mum's Aunt and Uncle on the Wirral Peninsula. They've been wonderfully kind to me, and we're going sailing on their boat tomorrow, which I'm very excited for! I'm heading to a farm nearby on Sunday, and I'll be there for 2 weeks. So my next update will be from there most likely!

Cornwall Crusader

So, I'm back from my tour with Haggis Adventures. I had a fantastic time! The guides were great, and the company even better. Most people were Aussie, some other Canadians, a family from India, a German and an Italian.
I went on the Cornwall Crusader tour, which took me all over the Southwest of England, through Somerset, Devon, and Cornwall.
We left from London, and on our first day we hit up Stonehenge, Salisbury (where I saw an original copy of the Magna Carta!), and Cheddar Gorge, where Cheddar Cheese comes from, and the Cheddar Man was found.

Stonehenge - It's actually crazy how much we don't know about this, and how ingenious it is. 

Salisbury Cathedral - This is where I saw the Magna Carta, but wasn't allowed to take a picture of it

Cheddar Gorge - It's a very picturesque town. Makes delicious cheese. I had some 'cave-aged' Cheddar, and I could eat it all day. I also had some warm mulled cider which was amazing!

We stayed in Bath that night, but it was only a pitstop, though I did take this picture in front of the Royal Crescent.

On the second day we stopped at England's highest waterfall (Canonteign Falls), climbed a Tor (a rocky hill) in Dartmoor while we made our way to Newquay - a beach town.

View from the Top of the Waterfall

I thought it was hilarious that the waterfall was man made. The Lady of the house decided she wanted a waterfall, so paid to have one made!

The Tor

At the top of the Tor

Included in my tour was a surfing lesson on one of the beaches around Newquay. It was early in the morning, and I was expecting it to be really cold, however it wasn't that bad! Of course, I was wearing a wet suit and boots, so that helped a lot! Unfortunately, nobody wanted to get up early and take pictures of us, so I don't have any of me surfing. I had a wonderful time though, and while I didn't get completely on my feet, I did make it to my knees. I was a bit overenthusiastic with taking my hands off the board.

The beach where I went surfing, and an homage to my blog! I also ate my first batch of English fish and chips on this beach.

So, Day Three! We went to the amazing Minnack Theatre right on the ocean. It had literally been hewn from the rock, and a lot of it done by one woman! An amazing story. While there I had a proper cornish cream tea with clotted cream and jam on scones, jam on first of course, the proper cornish way! Next we went to Land's End, the most westerly point in England. We did a walk along the cliffs which was beautiful. After that we stopped at some random rock clusters/sculptures that have been around for 100's of years, before stopping to eat a Cornish Pasty in St. Ive's.

Above 2 photos - Minnack Theatre

Land's End

Land's End is well known for it's dangerous waters - Lot's of Shipwrecks

Men an tol - they think it might have been an entrance to a burial chamber, also there are lots of superstitions surrounding it

Lanyon Quoit - King Arthur's table

The fourth day was King Arthur day. We went to Tintagel Castle, which the King Arthur legend says is his birthplace. We also went to Glastonbury which is said to be the Isle of Avalon and King Arthur's burial place.

Above 3 photos - Tintagel Castle

Glastonbury Tor - Isle of Avalon, a long time ago this Tor would have been an island certain times of the year!

Our last night was once again spent in Bath. I went to see the Diary of Anne Frank at the theatre there, and on the last day I went to the Roman Baths, for which Bath is named. We also stopped at a town called Lacock, that hasn't changed it's architecture since the 1600's - no power lines, or satellite dishes here! And then our last stop was at the largest henge in Britain, the standing stones in Avebury.

Roman Baths

Lacock

Standing Stones in Avebury

And that's basically a summary of what I've been doing the last week! I've got a couple days in London, before heading up to Liverpool for a couple days, then some farm time!

Also, feel free to comment! As much as I love comments from my parents, everyone else can comment too!

Sight Seeing and New Plans

First off, I want to say Happy Mother's Day to my beautiful, wonderful, and amazing Mum! I love her dearly, and miss her lots.

On to England stuff!

I've been here just under a week now, and have done quite a few London things! I have got a handle on the tube (which is actually quite easy), but it does have some things that need to be fixed.. Every single day I've been here, some part of the line is down because of something or other, usually a signal failure. AND it is the most expensive transport system. Granted I was way out of central London, but still.. I shouldn't have to pay 20 dollars for off peak times! (30 during peak hours..)

Anyways, my first full day I went out to the Tower of London. I've been dreaming of going there for years, so it was really cool to be there. It's where Anne Boleyn was beheaded and buried, and Queen Elizabeth I was imprisoned when she was still a Princess, it was a palace at one point, and it's where the crown jewels are kept.

Tower of London

Beafeater 

Traitor's Gate

Norman Toilet

The next day I went to Westminster Abbey, Buckingham Palace, and Piccadilly Circus - just to see it, not to shop. Unfortunately I couldn't take pictures inside the Abbey. It was pretty cool to see the tombs of royalty and other famous people (Queen Elizabeth I, Chaucer, Handel - just to name a few), but what I didn't realize was how many other people are buried there too. I mean, there are dead people everywhere! You can't walk anywhere without stepping on someone..

Westminster Abbey

Buckingham Palace

Piccadilly Circus

On Friday I went to my SWAP orientation and Kensington Palace - sorry there are no pictures of that. But it was pretty interesting to see where Queen Victoria grew up. The Palace had a whole section on her of course, everything from toys, to her wedding gown. She and Albert were pretty cute, I have to say.

I have come across some other iconic London sites as well!

Tower Bridge

Big Ben and me

London Eye

Quick story about this: I was asked by two East Indian Guys to take a picture of them in front of the London Eye. After I did, they wanted to take pictures with me.. They don't know my name, or where I'm from, but they have pictures of me. Very odd..

Hanging out with Churchill

A Palace guard with a crooked hat

Also, I have made a departure from my earlier plans. I'm not longer going to try and find a job and work in London. Rent is astronomical here (like 110 pounds a week), and I would only get paid about 5 pounds an hour. I really don't want to work all the time and that's it. I'd rather see the country. Also, my possible Olympic job fell through..they overestimated the amount of workers they would need. Oh well. My plan now, is to do some work in exchange for room/board through www.helpx.net. So far I've got a response from one host so I've already got one place to go! I think in between hosts, I'll be visiting relatives. I also might try and do a stint at a hostel somewhere, working reception and such like for a room.

However, before that, I'm going to be doing a tour of Cornwall, with a tour group called HaggisAdventures. I leave tomorrow! It looks like it should be a lot of fun, plus I'll get to meet some fellow travellers! So, since I have an early start tomorrow, I'm off to stay in a hostel in central london tonight. I'm excited!