Holiday Report
Finally!
Today is my second to last day of vacation and I feel like I owe you a report of my wonderful time in England. I know that I'll probably leave many gaps because it's all starting to blur already, but I think I'll have to try at least.
So, here we go. My vacation in England from August 30th to September 6th. Beware, it's image-heavy.
Well, the flight was almost as bad as last year, although I was not alone this time. I can't help it, I don't like flying to somewhere. I enjoyed the flight back (just like last year) and I don't really understand how that's possible.
Anyway, my sister and I arrived in London Heathrow in the early afternoon and thanks to our pre-purchased Oyster-Cards (good decision to order them online beforehand) it didn't take us long to get to our hotel near Paddington Station. The hotel was a bit of a shock: we had a room in the basement with no window (well, there was a window but it had frosted glass and it couldn't be opened - so neither view nor fresh air for us) and we also had a bed to spare. They'd put a third bed (or rather a cot) in there for no particular reason which took up a lot of space... all in all it wasn't a great room and I slept very poorly.
That's the not-window and the spare cot.
I had a headache through all of our days in London, so forgive me when I say: London wasn't that great and I didn't care for it very much. But of course there were a few things I enjoyed after all.
What I absolutely didn't enjoy in London was the fact that thanks to the Paralympics all of Trafalgar Square was closed off (there was public viewing going on). I couldn't take a picture of the fountain or the lions, I couldn't sit there, I couldn't walk up the steps to the National Gallery... Oh, how I missed that!
Okay, that was our two and a half day in London. My sis and I were both rather happy to leave it behind (we also managed to leave the clouds behind that hung in the sky that day). So on we went to Cornwall by train and bus (via Exeter).
After a rather exciting ride on the small bus from Bude (our driver - we named her Betty - was hilarious! Best bus ride ever!) we stepped off at Boscastle village center, not knowing which way to go from there. We didn't have a map, just a street name. So my sis and I thought it would be best to get off in the center, take a look at the map that hung there, and figure out the way to our B&B. Very clever - NOT!!! Because after a very long and steep climb up the hill on foot with our heavy suitcases we found out that a) we had taken a very long and unnessessary de-tour and b) the bus would have brought us almost directly to the doorstep of our B&B, if only we'd stayed on. Well, you always know better afterwards, right?
Anyway, we got a very warm welcome at our B&B (Thanks to Jackie and Geoff for the coffee, scones and ashtray) and we moved into our lovely room.
This picture is from their webside, we forgot to take one. It was really lovely, all in all the best B&B I've stayed in so far.
that's the B&B (The Old Coach House)
In the evening we went down to the village center again and took a short walk up the harbor cliff. It was very nice, the sun was still shining...
that's me on the cliff (and my sister's shadow)
the village center seen from the harbor cliff
On the first evening I also got a special treat: Before we went to bed my sister was reading and I 'put the telly on' and what did I see? Or rather who? Benedict Cumberbatch! The movie 'Creation' had just started. He has only a very small role there but still, I got to see my favorite British actor. That was nice.
We had a good night's rest and were prepared for our long walk on the next day. What we weren't prepared for was the change of weather.
Because the next day, when we set out for our big walk (5 miles on the south west coast path from Boscastle to Tintagel)... there was slight rain and grey sky and fog coming up around noon... the path was wet and muddy and slippery and you couldn't see much... damn, really bad luck.
The Lady's Window with not much of a view
Fog everywhere
We had fun walking though and I didn't mind our shoes and trousers being completely covered in mud. Neither did my sis, although we both had only that one pair of walking shoes as well as only one pair of long trousers. We got them clean enough again afterwards. And we didn't need long trousers anymore anyway, the weather got better again.
On the next day we had to leave the B&B and Cornwall altogether again. And once again the sun was shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky... seriously, damn!
We traveled all day long; first from Boscastle to Bude, where we were afraid we'd be stranded because we didn't know for sure that there'd be a bus. And while waiting we found the most peculiar traffic sign I'd ever seen.
We didn't take this picture, I found it today on the web. I also found an explanation as to what it means (because my first thought had been: 'Humpelnde Pelikane überqueren die Straße'). But of course that couldn't be it. Someone explained: “A pelican crossing is just a normal pedestrian crossing with traffic lights and a green man. It contrasts with a zebra crossing where pedestrians have right of way and can just walk out and the cars will (theoretically) stop. In this case the crossing is just on top of a (wide) speed hump.”
And someone else {C}cleared up where the weird name came from: “From Pedestrian-Light-Controlled (PeLiCon) crossing.”
Well, thank you for that! You Brits are so weird :-)
Anyway, this is where we thought we were stranded. In Bude.
But there came the X9 and we went to Exeter, from there by train to Salisbury, then to Southampton and further on to Portsmouth. Look at the beautiful weather we had when we went onto the ferry in Portsmouth:
Around 6pm we finally arrived in Lake on the Isle of Wight, our final destination. And both my sis and I fell instantly in love with the island. Seriously, it's the most beautiful place in the whole wide world. It has everything you could ever wish for in one place. It's big enough that you can forget you're on an island and yet everything is easily reacheable by bus.
After travelling all day long we were hungry beyond words and once we'd moved into our room at the Ashleigh House (not as nice as the Old Coach House but sufficient) we walked down to Sandown, to the pier and the beach, and to the very first well-enough-looking pub we encountered. Flannagan's.
And that was the best decision ever. We had a wonderful evening there. First we sat outside for dinner (which was great, although I could have done without the ants) and at 8 o'clock we went inside. Because that's when the pub quizz started. I'd never before participated in a pub quizz, I only knew about them from countless fanfiction stories (mostly Sherlock). And I'd always wanted to see what's it all about.
We didn't participate then because we both didn't know the rules and thought we'd watch first and join in later, only to learn that you couldn't join in later because it was all one big game with several rounds and once it had started you couldn't join in. Still, we had a wonderful time there. We played for ourselves, tried to answer the questions (once we understood the quizzmaster with his accent) as best as we could. Problem was, most questions were very specific. You couldn't know the answer without knowledge of British TV shows, showmasters (Philip Schofield came up more than once and I'd never ever heard of him), soap stars or even British measurement systems (for example: How many barrels of whatever makes an I-don't-know-what?).
Yet some questions we did answer correctly for ourselves. Like questions about songs or bands that are popular in Germany as well (Scissor Sisters was one answer, David Bowie another, and I even came up with Christina Aguillera though I don't like her). I also knew Miss Marple's first name (Jane of course) and the title of Sherlock Holmes' first adventure (A Studie in Scarlet - shame on me if I wouldn't have known that one, right?). My sister and I didn't do too badly under the circumstances. Most rounds we had 3 or 4 out of 10 (and that's not bad, is it?).
So we had a really great night at the pub.
On the next day we hired electric bikes and set out to discover the island. And wow! These e-bikes! Best decision ever! We had so much fun (once we'd gotten the hang of it). Most of the island is very hilly, hills steeper than I'd ever encountered before. Going up was a bitch, seriously. The first power-step of the electric help did nothing, absolutely nothing, to help us up those hills. We had to use the second power-step most of the time and even that didn't help much (at first). Roads named "Zick-Zack-Road" or "Alpine Road"... well, you get what I'm saying, right? But eventually we got the hang of how to best use the "power-boosts".
And going downhill... well. That was fun. Dangerous, but fun (once I'd gotten over the first fear).
Never in my life have I been this scared of speed! The bikes didn't have a throttle (it's what I would call a backwheel-break), only the two breaks in the front, one for the front wheel and one for the back. But on my bike the one for the backwheel didn't work anymore, I pressed and pressed till my hand nearly broke and nothing happened! We went down the hills with more spreed than allowed, more than 30 miles per hour, I'm sure of it! I was so scared!
My sister didn't have as much trouble with her bike as I had (or maybe she's simply more adventurous than I am).
Anyway, we had much fun. Of course we didn't take any pictures on our bike-tour, how could we?
But we stopped by this lovely old church, it's said to be the oldest in Britain (if I got it wrong and it's only the oldest on the Isle of Wight, please don't sue me).
It dates back to 1070 (that's pretty old, isn't it?).
After our neckbreaking bike-tour we spent the rest of the day on the beach. The weather was great and we enjoyed it very much (didn't go swimming in the ocean though. Only walked with our feet in the water).
On the next day we bought a 24-h bus ticket and criss-crossed the island completely. Our first step was of course Newport (the main city, right in the center of the island).
You see the fantastic blue sky there? Well, it was quite windy despite that and so the first thing we did in Newport was to buy jackets. We'd set out without them and there was a sale in an outdoor-clothing shop and I'd always wanted to have a nice softshell jacket, so I bought one for 15 Pounds. My sis bought a nice fluffy fleece jacket. The funny thing is... we didn't need those jackets for the rest of the day. It got quite hot. Still, I've worn that jacket every day since returning to Germany, so... no harm done.
That was also the day we went shopping at Iceland. We wanted to simply buy two small bottles of water. Well, if you've ever been to an Iceland shop you know that it's not as simple as that. They only sell things in big packs, everything for 1 Pound or 2 Pounds... we had to settle for a sixpack of water :-)
We took almost every bus route there is on the island, spent some time in the very west, visited the famous Needles, rode the chairlift down to the shore and back up... we had a lot of fun and saw so many beautiful places and things. Unbelieveable, amazing, really. Sadly enough we didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few to give you an impression.
And the next day we said goodbye to the island (for now). On the bus ride to Cowes we tried with all our might to find another one of those funny traffic signs we'd encountered over the days. One in particular. We didn't succeed but I found them on the web today.
This is hilarious, isn't it? I want to take this with me to work (I work with elderly people every day, I'm a nurse - Altenpflegerin). We would have so much fun with this. And the other one is great as well I think.
Well, anyway...
When we went onto the ferry to get off the island there were masses of people who wanted to get onto it (Bestival started that day, a big festival held every year on the Isle of Wight). Seriously, there were loads of young people. The queue at Southampton... it was enormously long.
You can't see it very well in this picture but, believe me, loads of people wanted to get on the island and we had to get off :-(
So we travelled from the Isle to Southampton harbor, from there by bus to the airport (where I bought the book Parade's End) and then we flew home (with a very sad heart and a teary eye and a promise to return next year).
And that's it for now. Puh, I'd never thought this post would be this long. But I'm glad I managed to write down everything. This will last forever :-)
Today is my second to last day of vacation and I feel like I owe you a report of my wonderful time in England. I know that I'll probably leave many gaps because it's all starting to blur already, but I think I'll have to try at least.
So, here we go. My vacation in England from August 30th to September 6th. Beware, it's image-heavy.
Well, the flight was almost as bad as last year, although I was not alone this time. I can't help it, I don't like flying to somewhere. I enjoyed the flight back (just like last year) and I don't really understand how that's possible.
Anyway, my sister and I arrived in London Heathrow in the early afternoon and thanks to our pre-purchased Oyster-Cards (good decision to order them online beforehand) it didn't take us long to get to our hotel near Paddington Station. The hotel was a bit of a shock: we had a room in the basement with no window (well, there was a window but it had frosted glass and it couldn't be opened - so neither view nor fresh air for us) and we also had a bed to spare. They'd put a third bed (or rather a cot) in there for no particular reason which took up a lot of space... all in all it wasn't a great room and I slept very poorly.
That's the not-window and the spare cot.
I had a headache through all of our days in London, so forgive me when I say: London wasn't that great and I didn't care for it very much. But of course there were a few things I enjoyed after all.
- Like I said in an earlier post already: On our very first evening there we went to 187, North Gower Street and I was happy to see the Speedy's and the flat above (which had just been let to a young asian couple). The picture my sister took turned out a bit dark (it was getting late) and also wobbly (like most of her pictures - mine are fine :-) but I have a picture! I was there! Yay!
-
- Also on our first evening we were in a nice pub and managed to chat with four guys. And that was nice (difficult to understand though). Also, I discovered Cider as an alternative for beer and I stuck to it for the rest of our vacation.
- The sightseeing tour by bus we took on our second day was wonderful (we chose The Original Tour). Absolutely the best way to see all the famous spots and landmarks in a short time. The weather was great, the sun was shining, traffic wasn't so bad (although the Paralympics had just started)... it was great. I took a lot of nice pictures and they all turned out great with blue sky in the background... wonderful.
- In the late afternoon we went on the Warner Bros. Studio Tour to see the Harry Potter film set. And despite me being tired and hungry and nearly fainting at first it was great, too. The Great Hall in all its shining glory, the different rooms (Gryffindor common room, dormitory, Snape's potions lab, Dumbledore's office), the bridge outside, Diagon Alley with all its shops and of course the Hogwarts model... it was great.
What I absolutely didn't enjoy in London was the fact that thanks to the Paralympics all of Trafalgar Square was closed off (there was public viewing going on). I couldn't take a picture of the fountain or the lions, I couldn't sit there, I couldn't walk up the steps to the National Gallery... Oh, how I missed that!
Okay, that was our two and a half day in London. My sis and I were both rather happy to leave it behind (we also managed to leave the clouds behind that hung in the sky that day). So on we went to Cornwall by train and bus (via Exeter).
After a rather exciting ride on the small bus from Bude (our driver - we named her Betty - was hilarious! Best bus ride ever!) we stepped off at Boscastle village center, not knowing which way to go from there. We didn't have a map, just a street name. So my sis and I thought it would be best to get off in the center, take a look at the map that hung there, and figure out the way to our B&B. Very clever - NOT!!! Because after a very long and steep climb up the hill on foot with our heavy suitcases we found out that a) we had taken a very long and unnessessary de-tour and b) the bus would have brought us almost directly to the doorstep of our B&B, if only we'd stayed on. Well, you always know better afterwards, right?
Anyway, we got a very warm welcome at our B&B (Thanks to Jackie and Geoff for the coffee, scones and ashtray) and we moved into our lovely room.
This picture is from their webside, we forgot to take one. It was really lovely, all in all the best B&B I've stayed in so far.
that's the B&B (The Old Coach House)
In the evening we went down to the village center again and took a short walk up the harbor cliff. It was very nice, the sun was still shining...
that's me on the cliff (and my sister's shadow)
the village center seen from the harbor cliff
On the first evening I also got a special treat: Before we went to bed my sister was reading and I 'put the telly on' and what did I see? Or rather who? Benedict Cumberbatch! The movie 'Creation' had just started. He has only a very small role there but still, I got to see my favorite British actor. That was nice.
We had a good night's rest and were prepared for our long walk on the next day. What we weren't prepared for was the change of weather.
Because the next day, when we set out for our big walk (5 miles on the south west coast path from Boscastle to Tintagel)... there was slight rain and grey sky and fog coming up around noon... the path was wet and muddy and slippery and you couldn't see much... damn, really bad luck.
The Lady's Window with not much of a view
Fog everywhere
We had fun walking though and I didn't mind our shoes and trousers being completely covered in mud. Neither did my sis, although we both had only that one pair of walking shoes as well as only one pair of long trousers. We got them clean enough again afterwards. And we didn't need long trousers anymore anyway, the weather got better again.
On the next day we had to leave the B&B and Cornwall altogether again. And once again the sun was shining brightly, not a cloud in the sky... seriously, damn!
We traveled all day long; first from Boscastle to Bude, where we were afraid we'd be stranded because we didn't know for sure that there'd be a bus. And while waiting we found the most peculiar traffic sign I'd ever seen.
We didn't take this picture, I found it today on the web. I also found an explanation as to what it means (because my first thought had been: 'Humpelnde Pelikane überqueren die Straße'). But of course that couldn't be it. Someone explained: “A pelican crossing is just a normal pedestrian crossing with traffic lights and a green man. It contrasts with a zebra crossing where pedestrians have right of way and can just walk out and the cars will (theoretically) stop. In this case the crossing is just on top of a (wide) speed hump.”
And someone else {C}cleared up where the weird name came from: “From Pedestrian-Light-Controlled (PeLiCon) crossing.”
Well, thank you for that! You Brits are so weird :-)
Anyway, this is where we thought we were stranded. In Bude.
But there came the X9 and we went to Exeter, from there by train to Salisbury, then to Southampton and further on to Portsmouth. Look at the beautiful weather we had when we went onto the ferry in Portsmouth:
Around 6pm we finally arrived in Lake on the Isle of Wight, our final destination. And both my sis and I fell instantly in love with the island. Seriously, it's the most beautiful place in the whole wide world. It has everything you could ever wish for in one place. It's big enough that you can forget you're on an island and yet everything is easily reacheable by bus.
After travelling all day long we were hungry beyond words and once we'd moved into our room at the Ashleigh House (not as nice as the Old Coach House but sufficient) we walked down to Sandown, to the pier and the beach, and to the very first well-enough-looking pub we encountered. Flannagan's.
And that was the best decision ever. We had a wonderful evening there. First we sat outside for dinner (which was great, although I could have done without the ants) and at 8 o'clock we went inside. Because that's when the pub quizz started. I'd never before participated in a pub quizz, I only knew about them from countless fanfiction stories (mostly Sherlock). And I'd always wanted to see what's it all about.
We didn't participate then because we both didn't know the rules and thought we'd watch first and join in later, only to learn that you couldn't join in later because it was all one big game with several rounds and once it had started you couldn't join in. Still, we had a wonderful time there. We played for ourselves, tried to answer the questions (once we understood the quizzmaster with his accent) as best as we could. Problem was, most questions were very specific. You couldn't know the answer without knowledge of British TV shows, showmasters (Philip Schofield came up more than once and I'd never ever heard of him), soap stars or even British measurement systems (for example: How many barrels of whatever makes an I-don't-know-what?).
Yet some questions we did answer correctly for ourselves. Like questions about songs or bands that are popular in Germany as well (Scissor Sisters was one answer, David Bowie another, and I even came up with Christina Aguillera though I don't like her). I also knew Miss Marple's first name (Jane of course) and the title of Sherlock Holmes' first adventure (A Studie in Scarlet - shame on me if I wouldn't have known that one, right?). My sister and I didn't do too badly under the circumstances. Most rounds we had 3 or 4 out of 10 (and that's not bad, is it?).
So we had a really great night at the pub.
On the next day we hired electric bikes and set out to discover the island. And wow! These e-bikes! Best decision ever! We had so much fun (once we'd gotten the hang of it). Most of the island is very hilly, hills steeper than I'd ever encountered before. Going up was a bitch, seriously. The first power-step of the electric help did nothing, absolutely nothing, to help us up those hills. We had to use the second power-step most of the time and even that didn't help much (at first). Roads named "Zick-Zack-Road" or "Alpine Road"... well, you get what I'm saying, right? But eventually we got the hang of how to best use the "power-boosts".
And going downhill... well. That was fun. Dangerous, but fun (once I'd gotten over the first fear).
Never in my life have I been this scared of speed! The bikes didn't have a throttle (it's what I would call a backwheel-break), only the two breaks in the front, one for the front wheel and one for the back. But on my bike the one for the backwheel didn't work anymore, I pressed and pressed till my hand nearly broke and nothing happened! We went down the hills with more spreed than allowed, more than 30 miles per hour, I'm sure of it! I was so scared!
My sister didn't have as much trouble with her bike as I had (or maybe she's simply more adventurous than I am).
Anyway, we had much fun. Of course we didn't take any pictures on our bike-tour, how could we?
But we stopped by this lovely old church, it's said to be the oldest in Britain (if I got it wrong and it's only the oldest on the Isle of Wight, please don't sue me).
It dates back to 1070 (that's pretty old, isn't it?).
After our neckbreaking bike-tour we spent the rest of the day on the beach. The weather was great and we enjoyed it very much (didn't go swimming in the ocean though. Only walked with our feet in the water).
On the next day we bought a 24-h bus ticket and criss-crossed the island completely. Our first step was of course Newport (the main city, right in the center of the island).
You see the fantastic blue sky there? Well, it was quite windy despite that and so the first thing we did in Newport was to buy jackets. We'd set out without them and there was a sale in an outdoor-clothing shop and I'd always wanted to have a nice softshell jacket, so I bought one for 15 Pounds. My sis bought a nice fluffy fleece jacket. The funny thing is... we didn't need those jackets for the rest of the day. It got quite hot. Still, I've worn that jacket every day since returning to Germany, so... no harm done.
That was also the day we went shopping at Iceland. We wanted to simply buy two small bottles of water. Well, if you've ever been to an Iceland shop you know that it's not as simple as that. They only sell things in big packs, everything for 1 Pound or 2 Pounds... we had to settle for a sixpack of water :-)
We took almost every bus route there is on the island, spent some time in the very west, visited the famous Needles, rode the chairlift down to the shore and back up... we had a lot of fun and saw so many beautiful places and things. Unbelieveable, amazing, really. Sadly enough we didn't take a lot of pictures, but here are a few to give you an impression.
And the next day we said goodbye to the island (for now). On the bus ride to Cowes we tried with all our might to find another one of those funny traffic signs we'd encountered over the days. One in particular. We didn't succeed but I found them on the web today.
This is hilarious, isn't it? I want to take this with me to work (I work with elderly people every day, I'm a nurse - Altenpflegerin). We would have so much fun with this. And the other one is great as well I think.
Well, anyway...
When we went onto the ferry to get off the island there were masses of people who wanted to get onto it (Bestival started that day, a big festival held every year on the Isle of Wight). Seriously, there were loads of young people. The queue at Southampton... it was enormously long.
You can't see it very well in this picture but, believe me, loads of people wanted to get on the island and we had to get off :-(
So we travelled from the Isle to Southampton harbor, from there by bus to the airport (where I bought the book Parade's End) and then we flew home (with a very sad heart and a teary eye and a promise to return next year).
And that's it for now. Puh, I'd never thought this post would be this long. But I'm glad I managed to write down everything. This will last forever :-)