Day 15


It's my last day here in Liverpool.

My stars am I ever going to miss this place.
I've been telling everyone that I feel like 2 weeks is the time frame in which a place finally starts to feel like home. You've been there long enough to become familiar with it and you've started various routines that you become used to. So, needless to say, this place feels like home to me already.
The people, the atmosphere, the activities, the routines.
I love it all.
I am ready to get home though.
I do miss it a lot.
Mostly the people.
And to be honest, living out of a suitcase has gotten old at this point. It'd be nice to have more of a variety of clothing to choose from when getting dressed in the morning, as silly as that sounds.
But I digress.

Today we packed a picnic lunch and went to Sefton Park.
It was a really relaxed and chill afternoon. We mostly just laid in the grass, eating, talking, sketching, reading, people watching, listening to music and throwing dandelions at each other (don't ask).
It was yet another gorgeous day.
I really have been lucky with the weather while I've been here. It's been so nice and sunny most of the time.

We headed home for dinner when the sun started going down and our jackets were no longer enough to keep us warm.
After dinner I put off packing for a few hours (I really hate packing) and watched hilarious youtube videos with Adam instead.
Then finally I got on with it since it was either pack or leave everything behind (and I'd spent too much money on yarn to do that).
I actually finished in an hour flat. I was quite proud of myself.
It looked like I wasn't going to make it there for awhile though, with all the extra books, yarn and sweaters I'd bought... (the fact that I had to carry two jackets onto the plane is besides the point).
After everything was all squared away we went to The Richmond Tavern one last time.
It was kind of sad, knowing I wouldn't be back there for a very long time. But it was nice to end the night with a place I'd frequented often on this trip and grown to love.


My last day wasn't anything super adventurous or extra special, but it was perfect nonetheless.
Just spending some good quality time with my old friends, and some new ones, and not being in any hurry to do anything or go anywhere, but just to relax and enjoy one another's company.


I went to bed not quite believing that I was going home in the morning.
I've had such a wonderful time on this trip.
I wish I was able to better express all of my thoughts and feelings about it.
I've experienced so many countless new and wonderful things.
Created memories that I will enjoy looking back on years from now and made some friends which I hope will last equally as long.
I know I've only seen a small portion of what this side of the world has to offer, but I loved every minute of it and I can't wait to come back and explore some more.
It was worth all the time and money spent and every minute of sleep lost.

Liverpool, it's been lovely.
Thank you for being so good to me and making me feel so at home. I love you dearly and all that comes with you and I look forward to visiting you again some day.

Until then, cheers!



Day 14



Second to last day here in England.

I can't quite believe my time here is almost over! It's been amazing to say the least.
Today we all slept in, recovering from our exhausting adventures in London.
It was nice to sleep in a bed that wasn't one foot from the ceiling!
After taking our time with eating breakfast (drinking tea) and getting dressed we headed into town to see the two cathedrals that are here in Liverpool. They were one of the few things left on my list I had yet to see!

The first was the Catholic cathedral.
Like I said in my previous post about the cathedral we visited in London, the peace and reference you feel walking into such a place is such a calming and wonderful feeling.
The stain glass center of the church was so amazingly gorgeous. From every angle in the room you could look up and see a different color scheme and varying rainbow shades of glass.
Also around the cathedral were art pieces with varying depictions of the crucifixion that were very moving. They weren't very pretty or very nice to look at in the sense that they were kinda scary and gory feeling. However that's how it really was when it happened. It wasn't all gentile and beautiful as a lot of sculptures and pictures make it out to be.

The second was the Anglican cathedral.
I found that this cathedral was much more beautiful in the architecture and also just in the older feel of it. Both cathedrals were completed at the same time, though the Anglican was started earlier.
Despite its beauty, there was more of a touristy feel in it because of the gift shop and there were more people wandering around which made it noisier.
However, because of it's size, there were rooms and corridors that were more peaceful and had less traffic which was nice.
Another cool thing about it was that every brick used in building it is a different size, to represent the body of Christ and how we are all different as well, no two of us the same.
I really loved that.
We were also able (for a price of £5) to go up on the top of the cathedral and overlook the city.
Lucky for us, it was a rare and beautiful day.
It was really a great experience and totally worth the money spent to see it.

After that we wandered around L1 a little bit. We stopped by Primark again (I mean, how could I not?) perused their Urban Outfitters (so pretty) and finally ended up at the tiny little Krispy Kreme kiosk where we bought a dozen donuts and proceeded to lie in the sun stuffing our faces with them.
(Good news, they taste the same as they do back home)
Which made this girl a very happy one indeed.

Went home to a dinner of Porcupine Meatballs followed by cake pops for dessert (I've finally tried one! So yummy. Now just to make some myself...).
And then after contemplating packing, and deciding against it, we went back out to a few pubs (The Richmond Tavern included of course) and had a great second-to-last night out on the town.

I am most definitely going to miss this place.

Day 13


Day 2 in London.

Woke up and had a little breakfast, provided by the hostel (I avoided the massive tub of weirdly smelling peanut butter), and then hit the road to see as much of the rest of London as we could before catching our bus that evening.

The weather was so much nicer than it was the previous day, not a cloud in the sky.
We passed by Ben again, and I took a few more photos of him since it was prettier out and the sun was shining.
It seemed that we always passed him right when he was chiming. It was a really neat thing to hear actually.

We continued walking around the parliament building until we came upon Westminster Abbey.
It was so beautiful.
We sat around on the back side of it on some benches for a bit to rest, (I'm telling you, walking so much is tiring) and I walked around and took pictures with my various cameras (I only brought 3! Which was really good considering).
We headed to the front after a bit and when we noticed that the price to get in was £16 we decided to just stay there.
We were poor college students back packing after all!
Not to mention the line was an hour wait so we quickly nixed that idea.
Instead we wandered down the road a little into similarly named: Westminster Cathedral.
That was gorgeous.
I really wish we had some cathedrals or older churches here in Richmond. The peace and reverence you feel walking into one of them is so humbling. It'd be nice to be able to go and sit and just journal or spend some quiet time just sitting and thinking in one.

After that we had to go to the bus station to sort out some mess with our open ended tickets, and that took way longer than it needed to, but finally when it was over we stopped for some lunch at The Shakespeare.
I had a simple mustard and ham sandwich. Lesson learned: When the menu reads "mustard and ham sandwich" that's exactly what it means. Nothing else.
It was pretty good though. I'd been missing mustard (is that a weird thing to miss?)
And the chips were good as always.

After lunch we headed back (passing by Ben again. Adam threatened to promptly leave anyone who dared take another picture of him. I took one anyways) towards the Thames, (which I learned is pronounced "Temz". Again, thanks Jenn!) and started a nice walk along the opposite side.
We passed by The London Eye, which we had seen yesterday, but not this up close. It was bigger than it looked from across the river that's for sure. If it hadn't cost so much it might've been neat to go up in it. But again, our money wasn't endless and neither was our time.
We passed a lot of people in various costumes (never seen such a sketchy looking Mickey and Minnie in my life) and street performers and such. It was all pretty touristy and we didn't linger very long.
We came across a really neat skate park though, that had layers and layers of various spray painted murals and pictures on the pillars and walls, it was really cool.
There were also several tables of books under one bridge that were fun to go through (see above).

Our main goal in walking along the river was to see The London Tower Bridge. However as we kept walking and walking we realized we were running out of time before our bus had to leave and we weren't going to make it.
So we had to settle with walking across London Bridge and seeing it from there.
We were still pretty far away but we at least got to see it.
We stopped for a few minutes to take a few photos and rest and then we had to head back.
The journey back was... let's just say unpleasant.
Walking 4 miles at a fast walk, with feet and backs that already hurt, was not fun to say the least.
I won't go into detail, but we almost missed our bus so it was pretty stressful!
Thankfully we made it though and I had never been so happy to sit down.
Which quickly changed when my seat mate on the bus decided to talk on his phone for the next 5 hours... But oh well.

We made it back around midnight and it was really good to be home.
We calculated the next morning how much we walked over the two days and it was about 15 miles.
London, you were fun to visit.
Thanks for some good memories, some good food and good times with some good friends.
Cheers!



Day 12


The morning was met with preparation to catch our bus to London!
It was about a five and a half hour bus ride from Liverpool which wasn't too bad.
True to it's reputation, London was rainy all day, but we had a lot of fun being tourists and sight seeing nonetheless. 

Our first stop was Buckingham Palace. In all honesty it was a bit anticlimactic in my opinion. 
(Am I allowed to say that? Don't tell the Queen...)
But that probably had to do with the fact that watching Mary Kate and Ashley movies while growing up had led me to believe that the guards would be outside the gates and not several yards behind them, in tiny little boxes, looking like little itty bitty toy soldiers.
Oh well.
On that note, I wonder how one becomes a guard of the Queens? Also, is it a voluntary choice? 
I mean what little boy thinks to himself: "I want to be a Queens guard when I grow up and stand still for hours on end!"
I mean I'm just wondering...

After that we walked through St. James Park which was really beautiful. 
It was a shame it was raining because I would have liked to have stayed and enjoyed it a little bit, but it was too gross out. So we stopped at Pret A Manger for a quick lunch and headed off to The National Gallery. 
I love art museums. 
There's just something about seeing pieces of art, created years and years ago, still enjoyed and looked at today by so many people who come from all over the world to see it. It's the coolest thing. And the variations of art and different interpretations of things is so huge and varied that there's always something for everyone's taste. 
I just love it.
By far the coolest painting to see was Van Gogh's Sunflower painting. 
I have to admit I kind of freaked out a little bit when I saw it!
I had no idea it was there and it took me completely by surprise. 
I've always loved this painting, and Van Gogh's works in general. Especially after seeing a documentary of his life a few years ago at the Imax.
Despite the "no picture taking" rule, I snapped a photo of the painting with my phone.
What?
Everyone else was doing it...

We headed to the British Museum after that. But by that time I think we were kinda done with museums and ready to find our hostel and get some dinner so we breezed through it pretty quickly. 
The Roman statues were pretty neat though.
Sadly I don't really remember much else.
Oh! Except for the Rosetta Stone.
That was really cool to see.
Or, what we could see of it, through the masses of people.
I think that was the other thing too, I was just really done with being pushed past, pushed by and pushing through crowds of people. It's really tiring after awhile.

We left and headed for our hostel and on the way saw none other than Big Ben!
Now that was cool to see.
He was so regal and majestic looking (can I call it a he? Is that ok? His name is Ben after all...)
It was definitely a highlight of the day. 
Other than the Van Gogh paintings, Ben was my favorite thing to see. 
See his picture? Isn't he handsome?

We took our time (not intentionally...) finding the area where the hostel was located, but once we did we started looking for a place to eat and found The Grand Union.
It was the neatest place. A really fun atmosphere with old pictures and paintings hanging on the walls and a random mish mash of tables, chairs and mirrors as well as several chandeliers hanging all over the place.   
The food was delicious too. I had pretty much a whole pizza to myself. It had arugula on it but they called it "rocket" which was interesting (yet another British word for something). 
It was really an awesome place though, I definitely would go again if I had the chance. The people were really nice and chill and we sat and hung out and played cards (of course) and rested after having walked our feet off.
We headed to the hostel, happy and full.

I'd never stayed in a youth hostel before, so I don't have anything to compare it to, but I thought The Steam Engine was pretty decent. 
I have to admit I was a bit nervous about it, sleeping in a room with a bunch of strangers isn't really on the top of my to do list in life, but it ended up being fine (though I will say I was supremely happy to get back to a clean bathroom once we got back to Liverpool).
I thought I would have trouble falling asleep but I was out like a light.
Walking does that to me...

All in all it was a good first day in London.



Day 10


Last day in Scotland.
So very sad to be leaving this place but I will be back one day.
How could I not?

Started off the day with going to a farmers' market overlooked by the castle.
Then again, everything is overlooked by the castle. That's one of the coolest things about this city, pretty much everywhere you go you can see the castle from where you are.
The farmers' market was really neat though. There were stands full of freshly made bread and colorful vegetables. And meat carts, one of which had a whole entire roasted pig on it (I'm guessing it was roasted... I really don't know how it was cooked actually) and even little stands of handmade soaps, jellies and knitted things.
It happens once every week, rain or shine.
Reminded me that I really need to check out The Farmers' Market that happens back at home.
Can you believe I've never been?

On the way back to the flat we stopped in Edinburgh Books, a wonderful little book shop. If only I had all day to spend in there, I'm sure I could have kept myself perfectly happy for hours. They seemed to have everything. In fact, when I asked the girl at the front if they had Lord of the Flies (one of my favorite books) she took me to not one, but three different copies of it.
Needless to say one came home with me.
I also purchased one of their cute bags.

After that we headed home to make a breakfast of crumpets (so delicious) and omelets.
And tea. Of course.
It was interesting actually because, while Will made the omelets, Jackie and I discussed tea.
Or rather, the tradition and comfort of it. How it brings people together on a daily basis, not just once but several times. How something as simple as sharing a cup of tea can be more than just that. The routine and familiarity of it can be something comforting you share with people you love and bring you together to spend some time talking about your day.
I love that about everyone here. The familiar question of "Tea?" accompanied by the following, "Milk and sugar?" and if the answer to the latter is yes: "One or two?"
It's definitely something I'm going to miss.
Then again, not having 4 cups of tea a day will probably be good for me...

Will and Jackie saw me off at the station. As I got on the bus, heading to the very back, I looked out the window at this wonderful city, wondering what it was about it exactly that I loved so much.
I loved being able to see the castle from virtually wherever you were in the city.
I loved the friendliness of the people I met and their love for life and living in a place they love.
I loved the architecture. Buildings and churches that were older than our country and have withstood the test of so much time.
I loved the untouched countryside and the beautiful colors of it.
I loved the food. As weird and unappealing as some of it was to me, it's just a different culture with different traditions.
I loved experiencing a place I'd never been but one that is now home to some of my friends, and having them share a little bit of their life with me.

Dear Will and Jackie,
Thank you for being such wonderful hosts during my visit and being so welcoming and making me feel so at home. Thanks for the delicious meals (even the haggis), the good conversation (especially those stories of Jackie's....), for carrying my heavy luggage (I swear, it was just the computer), for walking all those extra hills (ouch), for a floor to sleep on (haha) and showing me around the place you now call home. I had the best time and you both made it an experience I will always treasure.
Love to you both and can't wait to see you again soon!
Cheers.

Read Jackie's post on our adventures here.
Read about yesterday's adventures here.


Day 9


I'm in love with Edinburgh.
Today was wonderful.
I can see why Will and Jackie love it so much! I could totally live here for a while if I had to.
This visit has been one of the highlights of my trip thus far.

The day started off with sleeping in (so very grateful for that. Havn't been getting much sleep since I've been here!) and then Jackie and I headed out to see some sights. We started off with having a traditional Scottish breakfast at Links which included: Haggis, black pudding, sausage, bacon, a fried egg and biscuit, baked beans, a tattie scone and a grilled tomato.
Quite a meal.
Oh, and please make sure you click on the link for Haggis and Black Pudding and read what they are.
Yea.
I ate that.
Or at least a bite of each.
The tattie scone was delicious though.
Might need to learn how to make those (you know, when I learn how to cook one day...) though it was odd having baked beans for breakfast. Apparently a normal breakfast food item in the UK. My friend Jenn thought it was very odd when I mentioned that we eat them at cookouts with burgers and hot dogs.
Not on our toast at breakfast.

After breakfast we went to the cutest little yarn shop and I got some yarn for my travel blanket (I'm crocheting a blanket with yarn from the locations of my various travels) and some for a cowl (that was a splurge) and one... or two... or three other skeins.
Just because.

We also wandered into a little street market that had various interesting vendors. Met a couple from Texas who had been living here for 3 or 4 years. Their accent was interesting. An odd blend of American and Scottish. Or something like that. Do you suppose you'd acquire an accent after being somewhere only a few short years?

After that we headed to what is quite possibly the best coffee shop I've ever been to.
It's called Henderson's at Saint Johns.
It's home is underneath a beautiful old church and the atmosphere is one of the coolest I've been in. It's also an art gallery of sorts and has interesting paintings all over the dark stone walls.
Not to mention the bright stain glass windows that shine colored light into the room.
We sat and knit and drank tea and caught up on life.
It was lovely.
I really wish I could find a little coffee shop back home that I love just as much.
Any suggestions Richmonders?

Once we were done with our tea we set out for Calton Hill, one of the highest peaks in the city.
The view from the top was just gorgeous.
Let's just say I had to put in another memory card by the time I was finished taking photos!
You could see Arthur's Seat not too far off and all the little people who had climbed to the top. Hopefully I'll get to do that on my next visit!
The view really was magnificent though. You almost felt like you were on the edge of the world, looking out over the sea, even though you were still a fair distance from it.
It was simply breathtaking. I loved it.
Hopefully one day I can view the sunrise or sunset from the top.
I bet that's a sight to see.

We hung out at the flat for a bit after that, chatting and drinking tea (again) and knitting (again) with Will.
(Though Will wasn't knitting. Just giving knitting advice.)
Then we headed out to dinner.
We originally were going to go to a place called Under The Stairs but the wait was too long so instead we headed to The Villager.
It was a really neat place with big couches at the tables, chandeliers hanging from the ceiling and painted robots on the walls.
I had a veggie black bean burger of some sort and it was delicious. As were the chips (fries) that came with it. I ate every single last bite.

Across the street was Elephant House, the place where J.K. Rowling apparently started writing Harry Potter. I'm not a Harry Potter fan but I thought some of you would find that interesting.

After that we called it a night.
It was a long and very good day.
My heart is full (as is my memory card) and happy.
One of the best days of my adventure yet.

Day 8



Woke up bright and early to head to The Lake District today. It was a bit of a drive there but the scenery on the way was simply gorgeous. 
It was my first look at the English countryside. 
It was so breathtaking. 
The landscape in all it's different shades of green, broken up by miniature moss covered stone walls and dotted with sheep.
I hadn't seen much of it from the airport in Manchester to Liverpool, and in Liverpool I'm in the heart of the city. 
I couldn't get enough of it though and I only wish we could have stopped so I could've seen it better.

The Lake District itself was really beautiful too. We were more specifically in Windermere,  a cute little town which (fun fact) was known as a holiday spot in the Summer for Beatrix Potter while she was growing up.
The lake with all it's boats reminded me of the Chesapeake and how much I miss it. 
Can't wait to go sailing again when I get home.
There were also swans everywhere. And they were huge! 
It was really odd.

It was such a beautiful and relaxing day. We walked through a huge field (all through which we sung songs from The Sound of Music) to the edge of the lake and sat on some rocks for a a bit, was just so calming. 
It felt so refreshing just being there. Breathing in the fresh air and soaking in the sunshine. 
It was so peaceful.
(I know I keep saying that, but I just couldn't get over it)
After that we walked around the shops a bit (I found a few things in a cute little antique shop) and then we stopped for tea (or in my case, hot chocolate) at a "posh" hotel and sat out on a veranda that overlooked the lake. 
It really was the most beautiful day.

After that I was dropped off at the train station to start my journey to Edinburgh! 
As nervous as I was the night before, I soon realized that the whole journey was a piece of cake. I think I had kind of envisioned a Grand Central Station like place where it was going to be crazy and busy with 45 trains leaving at once and left completely clueless as to how to go about finding the right one (I know, really silly) but it was so calm and smooth and a very easy experience. And everyone was really nice and helpful. 
There was one sweet old man in particular who laughed when I addressed him as sir and in return called me "love" in his wonderful thick Scottish accent. 

I got to see more of the country side on my journey and I have to say it really was my favorite part of the trip. I could hardly take my eyes away from it. It was so beautiful. And all different, from the cute little houses with their wooden fences and stone walls, to the rolling green, brown, and yellow hills with patches of trees and little ponds and the occasional stream here and there.
As cliche as it is to say, it really looked like it was straight from a book.
I wish I could have captured some better pictures of it.
It made me feel so alive. 
And once again so grateful that I was able to have this experience and these adventures. 
I really am loving every minute of it.

Navigating the Edinburgh train station to find Jackie and Will was a bit of a challenge, since it was much larger then the previous stations, but I finally found them.
It was so great running and giving Jackie a big hug! I'd really missed her.
They gave me a mini tour as we walked to their flat (like Liverpool, you can pretty much walk everywhere you need to go in Edinburgh too. Again, a novelty for me) and I got to see the city at night from the hill of the castle.  
Will, being extremely smart and an endless source of knowledge, also was able to give me some history with the things we passed which was really neat.
I always find stuff like that really interesting, however my ability to remember said information is very limited so I don't have much to share about what he told me…

Jackie and Will have the cutest little flat and I instantly felt right at home. After some good conversation and a delicious dinner (what was that bean seasoning recipe again Jackie?) we called it a night with the promise of the city to explore in the morning.

Day 7


Today I went with the youth group to an amusement park in Blackpool called Pleasure Beach.

Most freezing day of my life.

I rode about a total of 5 rides (which made me even colder) and spent the majority of the time holed up in Burger King (one of the only indoor restaurants... Considering the weather that England tends to have, this made no sense to me) with a friend trying to stay warm.

I brought my camera, but I only took a few photos. It was too cold to even do that (I really just can't function very well/at all when I'm cold).
And the photos I did take, were of a ride I didn't even go on. 
It was Alice and Wonderland themed though, so I think that's understandable.

Needless to say I was happy to head home at the end of the day.

However, it was fun getting to hang out with a few of the girls on the way there and back and get to know them better. 
And learn some new words! I have quite the running list now...

Braid = Plait
Fries = Chips
Nappy = Diaper
Motorway = Highway
Chips = Crisps
Lady bug = Lady bird
Bathroom = Toilet
Line = Cue (Que? Not sure how to spell it...)
Sketchy = Dodgy
Cookie = Biscuit
Trash = Rubbish
High Class = Posh
Calendar = Diary
Kissing = Snogging
Cuddling = Canoodling
Tired = Knackered
Vacation = Holiday
Pleased = Chuffed
And instead of a Bachelorette or Bachelor party it's called a Hen or Stag party

The highlight of the day was buying train tickets to Scotland to visit my friend Jackie!
This has been in the works for a few days, and it was almost looking like it wasn't going to work out. But at the last minute it did and I am over the moon excited!!
I'll be taking a train there and I have to admit I'm a bit nervous. I've never traveled in a foreign country completely alone so hopefully I won't get lost because I have quite a few transfers to juggle.
So prayers for that would be lovely!

Off to bed, it's been a long (cold) day. 

Day 6


One thing I really miss about the states is Mexican food.
For those of you who don't know me, I love mexican food.
I probably have it in some form at least once a week. Usually more.
It's pretty bad.
Anyway, I haven't had it in quite sometime and I've been having withdrawals.
However, while out shopping, some friends and I discovered Barburrito.
It's actually extremely similar to Chipotle and Qdoba back home. Not quite as good, but not bad.
It temporarily appeased my need for Mexican, though I will definitely need to hit up Plaza ASAP when I get home...

Also while out shopping we went to the famous Primark.
Talk about overwhelming.
Two massive floors of clothing and accessories. Not including the guys floor.
My bank account may or may not have suffered just a tad...
It's probably a good thing we don't have one in the states.
Then again, we have Forever 21 which is about as equally dangerous.
Best find: A raincoat for £5!
I mean $8.

That's about it for today really.
Except to explain today's photo: Took this while on the bus into town. It's interesting how popular Converses are here. Even more so then back home I feel like. It's been really neat seeing the different ways people style them too. Makes me want to wear mine more!
But yea, other than that, had dinner at home, snuggled up on the couch with some tea (of course) and now I'm off to bed because we have an early day tomorrow.
Going with some of the youth group to an amusement park in Blackpool. I just pray that the weather is nice. It was a bit rainy here today.
Then again, that's to be expected isn't it?