18 cities, 5 countries, 6 world heritage sites, 8 nights of travelodges (others nights @ hostels), 1600 miles of car journey, 1425 pictures, postcards from every city, food poisoning, lots of rain, strong winds and beautiful sunshine every alternate day, much yelling, laughing and screaming. That, pretty much sums up my easter break.
Rick Steve says that travelling is intensified living - maximum thrills per minute and one of the last great sources of legal adventure. Travel is freedom. It's recess, and we need it. So true!
Mum, dad and jie came to London to visit me. Jie and I initially had plans to backpack around Europe a little, but then mum sent us her flight details a few days after jie bought her air ticket, announcing to us that she would be joining us for my easter break. So there goes our immaculate Europe plan. We became UK conquerors instead. I changed plans immediately, drafting various itineraries for everyone to pick from. In the end, we decided on the London-Ireland-Northern Ireland-London-Wales-England-Scotland-England-London route. A little ambitious but we did it!
Like every other growing children, I can only take my family in small dosages. 2 full weeks was a little too much for me to take in, hence all the yelling and screaming whenever I got frustrated. Mind you, I am human too. I do not know whether to cry or laugh at the idiosyncracies of my family. Take for example, my dad. He doesn't cook AT ALL at home, but whenever he visits his kids overseas, all he does is cook, cook, cook. He would cook up a storm in the kitchen and have enough food to feed the entire village. I would have to wash up after him, and I honestly do not know why he cooks so much. He enjoys food shopping as well. He would buy buy buy everything that he thinks is cheap. *faints. My sister, on the other hand, is extremely capable. I have no doubts about that, but she can be really disorganized at times. My room would turn into a warzone whenever she is around me. I am one damn neat freak when it comes to my stuff, and I do not know how else to respond to all those messiness. Blahhhhhhhh. I could go on and on about my family (I'm sure your family has flaws in the same way as well). Oh wells, I guess being born into this family is a test to my patience and temperament.
Anyway, that aside, despite all those frurstrating moments, we had our fair share of happiness as well :)
It all began with Dublin - home of Guinness.We stepped onto Ireland soil as we landed in Dublin on a snowy and rainy morning. My perfect itinerary for a city tour poofed into nothingness instantly. We proceeded to buy the Dublin day bus (it's 6 euros to ride the bus from the airport to city centre, and it's 6 euros to buy a day pass which enables to ride the airport bus as well. Which will u pick?) and rode around the city centre after checking into our accomodation at Abraham House near the Central Station. The wind was disgusting. It rained and sleeted at the same time, so much so that we were relying on buses even if it were a stop away. Mum couldn't take the cold anymore, so we picked as much indoor destinations as possible. We bought 2 umbrellas for 2 Euros each and they broke in no time (Thanks to the "superb" quality).
Towards the end of the day, we rode in a bus that we stopped randomly and went all the way to the outskirts. We got off the last stop and crossed the road to take the returning bus service back to city centre. While we were there, we chit-chatted a little with the locals who just got off work at 3pm in the afternoon (Dubliners have such relaxed lifestyle!) and everyone was laughing at our silliness, including ourselves!
Waiting at the bus stop at the outskirts. Family Portrait #1 (without bro, of course)
In the evening, we met up with Justin (my friend from Malaysia who's in Dublin) and he cooked dinner for all of us! yum yum :)
The next day when we were ready to leave Dublin for Belfast in Northern Ireland, the sun came out! How outrageous. Hmmmmm. So we walked around Dublin city centre a little again before embarking on our 3-hr bus journey to Belfast. We reached Belfast in the evening and wasted no time by exploring the city. I'd want to say, Belfast is an extremely tiny city. Give yourself 2 hours, and you could easily cover all the major sightseeing sites.
The Belfast "eye" outside City Hall. It's too ridiculous. Our guide for the following day actually told us that you would have to reach almost to the top before you can see any city view since everything's blocked by the taller buildings around City Hall.
We did a Giant Causeway Tour that brought us to a lot of beautiful sites and that includes the Carrick-a-Rope bridge (in picture), a few castles (which had practically nothing left except for a few blocks of stones), a wine distillery place and most importantly, the Giant's Causeway! That would be our World Heritage Site #1 for the trip.
They dropped us at the Giant's Causeway site and we had to hike 1 mile along the coast in order to see the actual causeway.
Family Portrait #2 - along the coastline during our hike to Giant's Causeway.
From Wikipedia: the Giant's Causeway is an area of about 40,000 interlocking basalt columns, the result of an ancient volcanic eruption. The Giant's Causeway was named as the fourth greatest natural wonder in the United Kingdom. The tops of the columns form stepping stones that lead from the cliff foot and disappear under the sea. Most of the columns are hexagonal, although there are also some with four, five, seven and eight sides.
That's me looking into the distance. Actually I was looking at the seaweed that were washed ashore by the waves.
Family Portrait #3 - at the Giant's Causeway
This Giant's Causeway trip almost made us miss our flight back to London as the bus arrived back at Belfast city centre later than expected. We rushed to the airport and cleared customs within 10 minutes. That, in my opinion, is a record-breaking timing that deserves a Guinness World of Records award. hehe.
Back in London, we did a little sightseeing and rested well before we embarked on our roadtrip to Wales, through England, towards Scotland, and back down to London via England again. We rented a 5-seater car, which was ideally-sized for 5 of us. My friend, Koiwah, from Ghana, joined us for our roadtrip :)
Our first destination was Stonehenge, our World Heritage Site #2 for the trip.
Stonehenge is as old as the pyramids, and older than the Acropolis and the Colosseum. As one of Europe's most iconic sights, Stonehenge does a valiant job of retaining an air of mystery. Stonehenge literally means hanging stones (even though I still don't see how it's hanging). It's the only stone circles that has horizontal cross-pieces spanning the vertical monoliths.
My sister, a smart alec, assumed that the stones were dropped there by aliens in the past and it is a sign to human beings that one day, they are gonna conquer our world -_- HAHA.hahaha.
Stonehenge - in the middle of nowhere. To be honest, it is way overpriced just for people to go in and see a few blocks of stones.
Family Portrait #4 at Bath (World Heritage site), which was our next destination.
As per usual, it was raning in Bath, but there were a lot of tourists nonetheless. Bathers and non-Bathers alike flooded the cobbled streets. Let me tell you, driving in this town is crazy because the roads are either too steep or the stupid one-way system cofuses drivers a lot.
Family Portrait #5 - now with some random dude posing behind us as we were taking the picture. An otherwise typical smiling picture was made interesting by a stranger =p
After Bath, we moved on to Cardiff, which was in Wales. The weather in Cardiff was perfect for the day. Good weather is rare in UK!
It was the easter weekend, hence the quiet streets except for a few tourists like us. We bumped into the Max Factor UK roadshow and they were giving away free quick makeovers and lip glosses! My family never say no to free stuff, so we happily volunteered ourselves.
I got a free makeover, which in my opinion, was really nothing since I could have easily put on foundation and blush and lips gloss by myself. But that got me my free photo and free sample.
My final picture taken by their own photographer.
Cardiff was interesting. There were weirdos like this around the streets.
There were more people at the Cardiff Bay area though. I guess everyone either came out from their hidings or just walked out of church after easter sunday service. We met Bunny lady along the way. She was giving out free candies, but she failed to give me one since I am no longer considered a kid.
After Cardiff, we went on to Birmingham. We walked past this Japanese restaurant and Jie had a sudden craving for the all-you-can-eat sushi buffet. We all came out 10 pounds poorer each, and agreed that the Phillipino-runned place wasn't that great. There you go, people make bad choices all the time!
Our smiling faces are a false cover-up for the lousy food.
Family Portrait #6 at Manchester
We pushed on after Birmingham and spent the night somewhere near Manchester, in a small little town between Talke and Stoke-On-Trent with travelodge again. We all sqeueezed into their family room and by 10pm, everyone was warm and cozy in their PJs before falling asleep while watching the tv.
Blackpool was up next after Manchester city centre. Blackpool is Britain's fun puddle. It is one of England's most-visited attractions. I dub it the Disneyland of Great Britain. A little tacky perhaps, but it's as English as can be. My sister thinks it's just like those fake little towns you see on TV. yes, that is also true, but I don't mind huge arcades, amusements piers and Englanders wearing hats with built-in-ponytails at all.
Blackpool's tram cars run 13 miles up the waterfront and it pretty much covers all the sights there. It has 140,000 people but it has enough beds to accomodate 120,000 visitors in their 3500 cheap, nondescript hotels and B&Bs. Basically, this town accomodates people who can't make it to Spain.
After Blackpool, we made our way to our travelodge room in Edinburgh, Scotland.
Scotland, oh so beautiful, here we come!
We got lost enroute there since the highway to Edinburgh city runs through the wilderness and we were slightly concerned. We ended up pulling up alongside the highway next to a small cottage to ask for directions. Turns out we were on the right track and the highway indeed does run through the small towns with sheep, green green grasses, and rivers.
That night, dad cooked Maggi Mee for all of us, and my stomach did not take it that well. I have no idea why, but I woke up in the middle of night at least 4 times (I can't even rmb how many times) to puke and attend to my diarrhea. Oh god, that wasn't a pleasant experience at all.
The next day, dad insisted on sending me to the hospital to see a doctor since they don't have clinics in Scotland. I had to register myself at the A&E reception and pretended that I was superbly sick because they apparently only attend to "emergency" cases. The Scottish lady had a horrible accent that I could barely understand. Like seriously, if you think the British accent is difficult to grasp, try the Scottish ones.
In the end, they sent me to another doctor who sat at the rehabilitation center in the hospital. She was a kind lady who kept smilling at me while I feigned an extremely sickly face, and the hospital charged me nothing!! (maybe because they didn't give me any medication??)
Family Portrait #7 at Edinburgh - also our World Heritage Site #4
I look really pale and sickly with my glasses on. I could barely walk at this point, but forced myself out of the car to snap pictures of Edinburgh. I kept telling myself, it's now or never. I can't come all the way to Scotland and just sit in the car, can I?
We were laughing at Jie for her silly poses. She was trying to copy one of Koiwah's poses and ended up in an awkarwrd pose. HAHA.
Drive through Scotland was pretty as we past by vast lands and mountains.
Why am I sisters with her?
Picture outside the Fort.
Family Portrait #8 at Nairn with the fish lady statue.
Cow-ish hat
We drove up towards Inverness where the giant monster was first sighted at Loch Ness. The town of Inverness was cute, just like other typical British towns.
My sister and I again.
Family Portrait #9 at Loch Ness (world heritage site #5)
Loch Ness is a large, deep, freshwater loch in the Scottish Highlands extending for approximately 37 km. Loch Ness is best known for the alledge sightings of the legendary Loch Ness Monster, also known as Nessie.
We decided to stop along the way as we drove along the loch (river) to snap pictures of the gorgeous scenery.
I am the princess of Scottish Highlands! Yeah!
After Inverness, we headed back down south and stayed a night in Glasgow. I must say, Glasgow really is a drape and dreary city. The rain didn't help it either. While we were there, most of the building were dark and brown and I dislike the color of the city!
Glasgow
We stopped by New Lanark after Glasgow. New Lanark is a village on the River Clyde with approximately 100+ population. It was founded in 1786 by David Dale, who built cotton mills and housing for the mill workers there. Robert Owen, Dale's son-in-law, was the Welsh philanthropist and social reformer and made New Lanark a successful utopian for socialism.
Ladies and Gents, New Lanark - UNESCO World Heritage Site #6 on the trip!
Now, have you heard of the Hadrian's Wall before? In about AD 122, during the reign of Emperor Hadrian, the Romans built this great stone wall. It's actually purpose was to keep the Scottish away from England. We read about Hadrian's Wall in the guide book and went with a lot of expectations, since the wall stretches 73 miles coast to coast across the narrowest stretch of northern England and it was supposed to be 15 feet tall, but we were vastly disappointed to find out that the wall is barely my height now. Haiz, that's the GREAT wall of England for you!
We had a good laugh about it afterwards. lol.
We drove on to Leeds and stayed there for the night. Had Chinese buffet (out of all places, we picked Leeds!) and ate so much. Jie fell sick a day after I did, but even so, she ate heartily as if nothing happened before.
Family Portrait #10 and #11 in Leeds at night and in the morning.
See what I found. A car plate number with my initials!
We went shopping at the Leeds market and I found a pair of cute boots which I really liked and I bought them! Die lor, so many shoes, how am I supposed to bring everything back to the US without exceeding my weight limit?
Finally, our last destination of the trip - York, before we headed back to London for good. York is a lovely city with cobbled streets and a rich history. I want to say, the perfect weather made it a pleasant city to walk around and it was a nice destination to wrap up our roadtrip.
Family Portrait #12 in York at the Shambles
Me and Jie on the City Walls :)
