The Old Blog - My First Trip

The Planning Has Begun...The Draft to End all Drafts  North America » Canada » British Columbia » Coquitlam	25th September 2008
Dec 08: Leave YVR at 1805 for Heathrow. (Exciting!) Dec 09: Arrive in Heathrow at 1145. Immediately leave for Canterbury on the next train. Arrive in Canterbury, Kipps Independant Hostel 40 Nunnery Fields, Canterbury *Will probably arrive from Canterbury East. It's closer. Dec 10: Check out the digs in Canterbury, spend another night at Kipps. Dec 11/12/13: Head to Chichester, travel around. Travel to the Salisbury/Avebury area. See sweet rocks. Dec 14: BRISTOL! Dec 15: Check out Bristol. Dec 16: Bike to Bath. Dec 17: Glastonbury and Wells (in one day?) Dec 18: possibly Wells today instead. Dec 19/20/21: Cardiff, Wales. Dec 22/23/24/25/26: ST. DAVIDS Cottage Inn Pentrefelin Carmarthenshire SA19 6SD Dec 27/28/29: Gower, Hay on Wye, something else? We don't know. We walk with our feet and follow our guts. Dec 30/31 - Jan 01/02: MUST BE IN LONDON (train pass expires) St Christopher’s Shepherds Bush Belushis Bar 13-15 Shepherds Bush Green. London p. +44 (0)207 4071856 f. +44 (0)207 403 7715 e. bookings@st-christophers.co.uk Jan 03: Fly home at 0900, transfer in Toronto at 1410, arrive home at 1627.
The Official Entry  North America » Canada » British Columbia » Coquitlam	5th December 2008
To our collection of adored fans and relatives (because there is so many of you), I will keep this short and sweet: In three more sleeps we will be on an airplane flying across a large body of water towards a relatively small island in the northern hemisphere - Britain (as you should know, because I haven't been able to stop blabbering about it). Alex has been all over the place, across oceans, over mountains (probably even under them), and far, farther south than I. I've never left the continent. Until August of this year, I had never left Canada. Unless you count once when I was 4, until this February, I had never left British Columbia. And frankly, that's boring. In three more sleeps we will be off on an epic (and entirely awesome) journey to one of the coolest countries on earth. King Arthur lived, conquered and died in the soil that our hiking boots will tread on, giantic monuments were erected and their purpose forgotten, and there was once a time when Romans ran rampant, trying to civilize the clan-folks of the northern isles. The greatest poets, writers, and scientists of all time first sprouted in Britain, and two world wars have raged on the coast. But best of all (next to King Arthur), geology was practically invented here. Britain's got some nifty rocks. Did I mention I've a tendency to be a bit melodramatic? We will use this to keep in touch (because I imagine phone calls are really, really expensive - Mom, I will try to call on Christmas, and I apologize in advance if I call you early in the morning or late at night. I usually forget the timezone.) This is a pretty nifty site. Underneath the Title for each entry (I think) will be a listing of what city we are in when we post an article. We can upload loads of photos and videos, too. Another nifty function: I will be adding your email addresses (mom, mama, Syd, Joyce, and whoever else Alex requests) so that when we post a blog, you get an email letting you know. Either way, I will email the link out before we leave. I figure you'll want to know just how wet we are during the trip (vicariously living through us, right mom?) - and I'm sure Syd and Joyce are interested in how their son is doing, other than his usual "I'm okay" or - How's the trip - "Good." Anyhow, I think that's it for now.
Quick - we're safe  Europe » United Kingdom » England » Kent » Canterbury	11th December 2008
We're in Canterbury (and about to leave it) - we don't actually have any internet here that we can use, but we will update (with pictures!) asap. safe and sound, if not a little tired.
Horrible jet-lag, Canterbury, and a little bit besides  Europe » United Kingdom » England » Wiltshire » Salisbury	11th December 2008
Apologies for this being so late - the hostel in Canterbury didn't have a working internet, and so for my last entry I very quickly borrowed someone's laptop. Also, I'm typing on a UK keyboard, and nothing is where it should be - so bear with me if there is @ symbols in the wrong place, or suddenly a # sign is a £. Three days ago, you would have gotten a page and a half rant about 10 hour straight through flights, overnight, and how absolutely atrocious they are. Today, I just don't care. That said, we arrived in Heathrow just 5 minutes behind schedule, both very tired, because neither of us slept much on the plane (but I got very much more sleep than Alex...mostly due to a 1mL shot of melatonin. He refused. We left London right away (but first got to take the tube to our London-Victoria, the train stop. It moves about as fast as the skytrain, but is WAY more space efficient). The train to Canterbury was nice, even though we both fell asleep almost right away. Getting to Canterbury was a breeze, and our hostel (Kipps) was only a 5 minute walk away. We got our rooms, skipped dinner because we were exhausted, and struggled to stay awake until about 7pm, when we both gave up. Due to jet-lag, neither of us could sleep by about 3am (also because neither of us gets to sleep longer than 6-7 hours ever anyways!)...I managed to fall asleep again, but it made for a long day the next day. The next day: We got to see Canterbury! Canterbury is an adorable little town...I could definitely live there, I think. The Canterbury Cathedral was amazing - by far the largest building I have EVER seen, and I took lots of photos. Parts of the cathedral are as old as 500A.D. - and we got to see the spot where Thomas a Becket was murdered (he was an archbishop of Canterbury sometime in the distant past...pre-1500s for sure, but I forget) and when he was murdered, he was practically martyred, leaving him as an icon for pilgrams to travel to. That's where the Canterbury Tales by Chaucer came from - a collection of stories of pilgrams making the pilgramage to Canterbury. I find history really interesting - Alex was a little more interested in the stain-glass windows and the reverence of the place...and I took an awful lots of photos of architecture. I can't believe how they managed to make all those little spired things without breaking them. I just can't. In the crypt, we weren't allowed to take photos, but it contained some of the original art of the building (still there, on the walls, from the 1200's - it was nuts) and some of the original posts from the beginning of construction (it took over 1000 years to contruct what sits there today) We both really loved it - we're having a blast over here. Alex is happy to not be working (and I was supposed to pass that information onwards). The rest of Canterbury is really neat too. After the Cathedral, we went for lunch at the Thomas Becket Pub - and I discovered, much to my dismay, that British pubs serve WARM beer. I won't be ordering any more beer, I think. We both tried british food for the first time (or at least I did...I don't think Alex has before...actually, now I'm not sure) they like to deepfry things. (example: I had deep fried brie tonight. It was delicious. Weird, but delicious) Next, we went to see an 1800's gaol along the westgate (an ancient wall - composed of chert, I am in geology after all - surrounds the city, and there were gates placed at the four quadrants, plus 4 inbetween) - and we got to see all the original handcuffs, and the cells they used to hold prisoners in, etc. They had a story there of one man named Thomas, who could actually break through his iron manacles, and did so on several occasions. It never mentioned how he died, though. This morning, we left Canterbury, and hopped on a train to Chichester. There is a roman palace there that we wanted to see, but when we got to Chichester and asked more about it at a tourist info kiosk, we discovered it was really just a palace with old stuff in it on display, and it cost a fair amount. I'm not much for art galleries, and neither is Alex. So instead, we wandered around the town for a few hours, and hopped back on the train to Salisbury, which is where we are right now. Due to technical difficulties, you aren't getting any photos in this entry either. We'll make a photo entry when the stupid thing starts working. In the meantime, we have a bus to catch. Today, we go to Stonehenge.
Stonehenge, and a chilly day  Europe » United Kingdom » England » Wiltshire » Salisbury	12th December 2008
Stonehenge. Was. So. COOL! Cold, actually. It turns out the Salisbury Plain is rather blustery - freezing, in fact. We took a double-decker bus (yes, very happy about it, the both of us) which featured an audio tour of stonehenge and the surrounding area - Old Salisbury, Old Sarum, and then Stonehenge. The bus dropped us off at stonehenge, and we got to stay as long as we liked, but with the chill, we didn't stay too long. Again, technical difficulties with the photos. I will soon, I promise. I took a million billion photos, and we went to the gift shop (they are everywhere!) - someone tell Christine she has a keychain now. After stonehenge, we hopped back onto the bus, and it took us to the remains of Old Sarum, a disused ruin of a castle which was populated during the 1300s. Sometime in the 1500s, King Henry VIII (he does everything here, I swear) told the community to dismantle it for stone and used it to build other things (Alex disagrees - he says that King Henry VIII gave it to some John guy (King John...maybe?) and then this John fellow dismantled it)...I still think I'm right. It was pretty neat - there were little sign posts all over the place with interesting info, and I bought a BOW AND ARROW except I have no idea how I'm going to get it home in one piece. I might mail it home - if it shows up, it is NOT for Nicholas. It's mine. And it's loads of fun! While we were there, we met a man from Brazil, and a medieval history teacher from Australia, and after the tour was over, we went to the Salisbury Cathedral with them. We never did catch their names, but we should, we're going to Avebury tomorrow with the aussie. :) Alex would like you to know that we went to the tallest cathedral in England today...and it was tall. Very tall. (but not the largest...Canterbury holds that title). And the only reason Salisbury wasn't bombed during the blitzkrieg in WWII was because German bombers used the Salisbury Cathedral as a marker beacon, so they would know where in England they were once they crossed the Channel. We had a free tour at the cathedral, which bored me to tears, but Alex really enjoyed it. I thought we moved too slow. However, in the Chapter House (I'm still not really sure what that is) they have an original copy of the Magna Carta - which we weren't allowed to take photos of - and that was kinda neat. The Magna Carta of 1215 was the very first something that resembled a constitution, and it gave the british peoples basic human rights (ex: one measure of alcohol, grain, etc - a widow may chose to not marry anyone, etc) And then we had terrible fish n chips. I refuse british food from now on. The end. Tomorrow - Avebury, West Kennet Longbarrow (fingers crossed), and then onto...BRISTOL!
A rather eventful Bristol  Europe » United Kingdom » England » Bristol County » Bristol	15th December 2008
Bigger Little note: I was in a rush last night because our internet time was running out, and I entirely forgot to mention we hiked to the West Kennet Longbarrow after our little adventure in Avebury. We walked a very muddy little footpath through someone's farmland - and there were sheeps everywhere! - I love sheep. We went past Silbury Hill, which is the largest manmade earthworks in Britain - it was just a giant hill, but nobody knows why it is there. Then we got to the Longbarrow, which is a burial chamber from the neolithic era (approx. 5000 years ago) - I was afraid there would still be skeletons in it, but I guess the archaeologists removed them. We went inside anyhow, but it wasn't very well lit. We didn't stay long. After this, we went back to Salisbury (listed below). ***End of Edit*** Little note: STILL having trouble finding a computer to upload photos on. The ones we've used so far have all had weird restrictions on them. When we find one, I'll just put them in the proper entries. I'll let you know. So I guess we've a little catching up to do. The day after stonehenge, we went to Avebury, with that aussie we mentioned in the previous entry - we discovered her name, finally - it's Mikaila. She was really awesome, a highschool medieval history teacher from Sydney. We exchanged information when we left Salisbury. But that's getting ahead of ourselves. I thought Avebury was cooler than Stonehenge, but that was because it wasn't really a tourist attraction. Stonehenge had rope gates, and admissions, and a cafe and gift shop...Avebury was a bunch of giagantic neolithic stones in someone's (or a few someone's) backyard. And we could touch them and climb on them, as photos of Alex will show (I merely put my canadian flag around my neck like a cape and pretended to hold them up.) Alex was embarrassed. I think it was better than the other day when I wore it as a cape and jumped out of a phone booth like superman. He was really embarrassed then. That night, we (as a collective being tired of eating british food) went out for thai curry. It was delicious! We ate at the Rai D'or (ray of gold) a tavern which has been standing since 1292 and was a brothel from the 1600s until it was banned in the 1860s or so - now, it's a thai curry restaurant...but it was sooooo good. Even Alex liked it. Just about anything beats deep fried or battered/pastried foods. There. Caught up. Now onto the Bristol madness as I prefer to call it. We got to Bristol at nighttime to find out the hotel we booked (because NO hostel or cheap place was available that night) was a £40 taxi ride out of town. The website said they were IN Bristol, but it was in Clevedon (similar to trying to book a hotel in Vancouver and finding out it's in Delta)...and the taxi driver had less of an idea of how to get there than us. So, I TRIED to cancel our reservations, and the taxi driver dropped us off at some new hotel in the city centre, and didn't charge us for all of the time in the taxi. That was nice. Then, we booked the hotel, I found out I couldn't cancel my previous reservation, so I paid the £55 and sucked it up. When we got to our rooms (which were gorgeous, by the way) the bathroom light didn't work...so we complained (or rather, Alex complained, because I didn't care by this point) and we changed rooms. Then, we watched two episodes of CSI: New York (yay!) and didn't check out until noon. We've been getting up and leaving the hostels by 8-9 at the latest....our feet and backs are sore, and we're getting pretty tired. We do walk all day. We immediately checked into our hostel (which we could book for the rest of the time here in Bristol), after dealing with another dumb taxi driver who didn't know where our hostel was, even though its within the city centre. It's...got character, to put it nicely. The carpets are really stained, and the place isn't very clean or nice, but it was cheap, and the YHA is closed for renovations until next year. So far we've gone to the Christmas markets (which has some amazing french soap I'm going to have to buy before I leave) and the mall - the first city we've been in to have a mall - and we wandered around a bunch, and got into a fight that nearly made me hop on a train and leave Alex behind...but that's not really worth talking about. We're better. Today, we went on a day trip to Bath (and we didn't bike because try as we might, we couldn't find a rental place ANYWHERE), and saw the ancient roman baths (VERY VERY COOL) and wandered around a bunch more. I discovered today that pickle and pickles in the UK mean different things. I ordered a cheese and pickle sandwich, and got a cheese and pickled onion sandwich. I tried it. It wasn't gross, it was just...weird. I couldn't make myself eat it - it was just too weird tasting. I went someplace else and got a veggie burger (which was delicious) When we got back to Bristol, we took a little ferry ride down the River Avon to the city centre. It was fun. Due to boredom at night, Alex bought a travel monopoly and a scrabble board. If we play chess any longer I might kill him. I don't play to win - I play to prolong my death. It drives me nuts. Tomorrow, we're going to go to Glastonbury, which is where King Arthur and Guinevere are alleged to be buried. I'm excited. And then, after one more night here, not including tonight....we are off to Wales.
Caution: Elderly People Crossing  Europe » United Kingdom » Wales » Cardiff	21st December 2008
I'm not actually terrible at this - we've just been without internet, and for the last few days, I've had the flu. I think I got it from someone in Bristol (the backpackers wasn't really all that clean or nice) - but I've been going to sleep early the last few nights, and being a lazy bum the last few mornings. We're still out and about, but for shorter amounts of time each day. We're in Cardiff right now, and one of the women who owns this hostel (an amazing hostel) recommended me to the pharmacy at a store called Boots, here - I got something called parcetamol...similar to tylenol, but it hasn't made me drowsy, and it seems pretty good otherwise, and some disgusting dissolvable vitamin tablet that initially tastes like orange vitamin C tablets, but has an aftertaste of chewed multi-vitamins. It's working, but it's really, really gross. So, with that out of the way (oh, and also - take another look at the last entry - I made an edit) - I've officially given up photo uploading...it's costing way too much moola. I finally found a computer which will allow photo uploading, and my friggin' card is too large - ergo, it takes a billion years to load the photos....I give up. I'll make 42 million facebook albums when we get home. Starting with Glastonbury: We went and saw the Glastonbury Abbey, which was an abbey built in the later half of the first millenium, and allegedly holds the bodies of King Arthur and Guinevere. There was a plaque for where they were buried, and the whole grounds were surrounded by apple orchards and little ponds and things. Even in the fogginess, it was still pretty. After that, we wandered the town for a few hours - I've never seen so many new-age shops in one area in my entire life. We wandered into a few, but other than a rune set made out of aspen (which was WAY too expensive), I didn't actually get anything. We spent our last night in Bristol that night, and the following morning made the trek to Wales. I was really disappointed in crossing the Bristol Channel. I was hoping for a bridge....but we got a tunnel. I don't think Alex cared - his nose has been in a book for days now (I know, I'm impressed too!) - but I was annoyed. When we crossed the border to Wales, we went to a little town called Abergavenny (in welsh it is Y Fenni and it means "From the mouth of the river Gavenny") - there is tons of castles in this region...it's why we picked it. We stayed in another less than impressive hostel called the Black Sheep (the welsh love their sheep, you see) - and decided to rent bikes. We were here two days. The morning after we arrived, we attempted to bike to one of the castles, 14km one way. We didn't make it all the way though - and decided to head back to town. The wind was atrocious, and it was kinda rainy. We had fun anyhow, even when I got a flat jumping a sidewalk. My tires were initially overpumped. And now, we're in Cardiff. We've gone to three castles - Cardiff Castle, Castle Coch, (both of which were redesigned by William Burgess - an amazing architect - some of the rooms were gilded in 22 carat gold foil, and carved parrots and monkeys were everywhere) and Caerphilly Castle (a true castle, designed to defend, not to hold fancy pants noble people) We have been having fun. And tomorrow, we leave Cardiff, and go to St.Davids and enjoy 5 nights in a big bed, and cook our own food in real kitchens, but we won't have internet. Have a Merry Christmas! PS: I love Wales, and Alex does too.
London!  Europe » United Kingdom » England » Greater London	30th December 2008
Merry Merry belated ho-ho - we don't have much time, internet is ridiculously expensive at this hostel. £1 for 20 minutes. Seriously - but it's the first time we've had internet in over a week, too. So rather quickly: St.Davids was beautiful, if not a little chilly - and we hiked alongside the Atlantic Ocean on Xmas Eve. The cottage was gorgeous, and we warmed ourselves by a wood stove when we weren't trekking in the muddy farmland and watched stars at nighttime. Instead of travelling Wales more, we ran off to Edinburgh, in Scotland and spent 3 nights there. Edinburgh is an incredible city, but not all scots sound like Sean Connery. They're not all that hot, either. I was disappointed - I don't think Alex cared much. Hmph. We took a peek at the castle there, and also took a 12 hour bus tour up to Loch Ness - but we didn't see a monster, sorry. Now, we're in London, and going to enjoy our New Years, though I seriously dread having to stay up to midnight...yes, I know - I'm boring. Alex is making me stay up late tomorrow night. I'm not impressed. Hopefully there will still be snow when we get home, but not so much that we can't GET home! Happy New Years and we'll be home soon (which is good - we're running out of room and money!)
Home Sweet Home  North America » Canada » British Columbia » Burnaby	6th January 2009
Just a quick note to those who don't already know: The trip is over and we've made it home safe and sound (and came home to lots of fun fun snow!) I hope I speak for both of us when I say we had an amazing time. Even though the bank accounts are considerably emptier than they were last month, I wouldn't trade it in for the world. Go to Scotland. You really should. They have cool cows.