Road Trip!

Yep. I’m back. Saw loads of things and met lots of people. Let’s go through it day by day so I don’t forget anything (well… I probably will but like this it will be less likely ).

Day One (Saturday)

Day one led to Cambridge first. See the famous University and stroll around the place a bit. I also found out that you can study at Cambridge University as a foreign student without paying as much money as you normally would. So that might be something for the future . The next goal was Stratford-upon-Avon. The birthplace of Shakespeare. I couldn’t let that pass now could I? Upon arriving in Stratford it was a little bit too late to see the place so a Bed and Breakfast (from now on referred to as B&B) was a better idea. It was a lovely B&B in the countryside and it felt really good to be travelling again.

Day Two (Sunday)

The next morning it was Stratford-upon-Avon very quickly and then on to Wales which was the original goal in the first place. Wales has a lovely national park called Snowdonia. It is part of six national parks scattered across the UK. Great sights, fantastic roads, what more could you ask for? Of course. A B&B on the Isle of Anglesy. It is an isle that is located in the north-east of Wales and I discovered that Vodafone has no coverage there. If I ever wished for something in my life it would have been the car not breaking down in that part of the country. MIDDLE OF NOWHERE!!!! The B&B was again very nice and the view was marvellous. Even had my own fridge at the B&B (not that I had anything to put in to it but hey…. it sounds nice )

Day Three (Monday)

This day was Liverpool day. Town of music. The Beatles are of course the most famous group coming from there but also a very famous song “Ferry Cross the Mersey” (the Mersey being the river that runs through Liverpool) was written there. But before arriving in Liverpool I noticed that I was very near to the longest place name in the world. I knew it was in Wales but I just didn’t know where it was. Well…. now I know. It is located on the Isle of Anglesy. The town is called (brace yourselves) : Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch. I was told to go to the trainstation because the whole name was on there. But you know what really struck me… It is a village!!! It is sooooo small. Why would you give such a small town such a big name? Those Welsh people
In Liverpool it was just a stroll but not before passing The Beatles museum. You could see guitars that were once played by John Lennon or Paul McCartney. Really nice (little bit overpriced but hey…. it’s The Beatles ). In looking for a B&B luck struck out. Nowhere to be found. It was terrible so I decided to drive up the westcoast a bit to seek a smaller town that was probably not that crowded as Liverpool. I found one but they were so small that they never heard of a B&B. I was this close to getting a hotel for one night but I got myself together and drove to Blackpool. I was in Blackpool once before two years ago and I distinguishly remember that it was a tourist town (they have one of the highest rollercoasters in Europe there). So Blackpool was my last resort. And thank the lord!!!! (if he exists) there was a whole street full of them. Saved at last. So a good night sleep before going to the Lake District. At last…….

Day Four (Tuesday)

Lake District. Loads of famous writers come from the Lakes I was told. And when I got there I could imagine why. It is beautiful up there. Lake District is also part of the national parks like Snowdonia in Wales so mountains again. Because of it’s lovely surroundings and views Lake District is also very crowded. William Wordsworth (a famous poet I was told) was born in the Lakes and was buried in a little town called Grasmere. So visiting this town and his grave at the local church shouldn’t be a problem now should it. Well…. it was a problem. It was so crowded that I couldn’t find parking spot. Instead of visiting Grasmere I had to stick to the Lake District Visitor Centre. This was very nice by the way and I could understand why people like to come here.
After the Lakes I went to Hadrian’s Wall. Hadrian’s Wall is the old England – Scotland border. Hadrian, a Roman Emperor, built this wall to protect the Roman Empire from the Scots (Picts then). Hadrian’s Wall is a smaller version of The Great Wall of China. It runs all the way from Carlisle to Newcastle-upon-Tyne. Over the years farmers have takes stones from the wall to build there houses so the wall isn’t as high and large as it used to be. Still I was impressed by the wall and what the Romans tried to achieve with it. Every mile or so there was a fort build on the wall so the wall looked even more impressive to the Picts. Although the wall is only two meter high now, when Hadrian walked it the wall would have been a good six meters high. Imagine this wall running all the way from one end of the country to the other end. After Hadrian’s Wall I decided to go to Edinburgh straight away. I could have sought out a B&B but being only 50 miles from the final destination I thought it would be nice to seek a B&B there. And what a good choice it was ending up in a B&B that was run by the nicest couple I ever met. They even phoned a restaurant for me to see if there was a free spot that night. My first three course meal since a long time. Great!

Day Five (Wednesday)

Arriving in Edinburgh a day too early gave me the opportunity to visit Loch Ness once more and visiting Urquhart castle too. I really enjoyed the highlands when I was in Scotland last year and it was a treat to drive through them again. I didn’t know if it was possible to come back to Edinburgh that same day so with pain in my heart I checked out of the B&B. After a good long drive and an even more beautiful day at Loch Ness and Urquhart castle I arrived again in Edinburgh. Pity to see that the B&B I stayed in last night was already full. So after visiting a couple of B&B’s I found an hotel that charged the same as a B&B and had an on-suite bathroom plus DVD player!!!!!! After a long day of driving I was very pleased. Rephrase… I was in heaven.

Day Six (Thursday)

Today was the first day of my meeting with the British Council. It was fun! The information was quite good (not all of it was useful but most of it was) and I met loads of people from loads of different countries who are all located in the UK. So next holiday… visiting time!! There were no Dutch people present at the meeting but there was a bloke from Belgium. The funny thing is… we both spoke Dutch but we had a hard time speaking it. We threw in so many English words that after a while we said to eachother “Drop the Dutch. Speak English”. That night we all went out for a dinner and a pub /club night. That was really fun. But because of the early start on Friday we decided to go to bed early. So I was in my bed at around midnight. Same hotel, same on-suite, same DVD player

Day Seven (Friday)

Again a full programme with the British Council. Meeting people I didn’t meet before, talking to people I didn’t talk to before and of course talking to people I did talk to before and wanted to know better. The BC gave us a great lunch and because there was time left we went to a pub down the street. Shouldn’t have drunk that pint of Stella together with Jose (Spanish bloke) though. I can tell you.. it was a fun afternoon That night we again went for a meal together and for a pubbing / clubbing night. We found this pub where they played live music which was great. Our group occupied at least half the pub and we stayed there until they closed at one. That was a bummer of course. But……… this is Edinburgh. Where you can find clubs that open ’till five in the morning. And we went to another place where they played live music. Stayed there until three and then I went back to the hotel room. I was glad by the way that I found myself a hotel room. Some people stayed in a hostel for 8 pounds a night. They had to sleep in bunk beds though Full Metal Jacket style……… brrrrrrr. Not for me. Long live the on-suite

Day Eight (Saturday)

This morning after only four hours of sleep we had breakfast together at Starbucks. Ok.. they had breakfast I had nothing. Then we went up to Edinburgh Castle which was a treat. It was so big and had so much history that I didn’t have time to see all of it. I paid my parking meter until twelve (which I thought would be sufficient, two hours to see the castle) but I had to leave the castle without having seen one room. That’s not too bad but still. I missed the room Before leaving Edinburgh I went to the Subway to get me a Foot long Veggie Delight. Great stuff. I want a Subway at home. From Edinburgh I drove all the way home in one go. It is only an eight hour drive so no problem there. My original plan was to stop in Hull to have a look at The Deep which is a big tank of water with very big sharks in them but I was too tired and I wanted to sleep in my “own” bed that night. So that’s what I did. Home at nine at night.

That was my week. It was a great week and I had loads of fun. To everyone I met.. nice meeting you and I will see you soon. To everyone I didn’t meet… sorry. There wasn’t enough time to talk to all of you.

Greetz,

 G

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