Follow My Feet Home

So this is it. My last day in the UK. Sitting in Heathrow right now waiting for the board to show which gate I nees to go to so that I can fly eight hours across the Atlantic back home. I didn't end up doing much yesterday. The train ride was long and by the time I checked back into the hotel I was hungry. I did walk out to the brittish museam and look at there but it was beyond crowded so I didn't spend more than an hour inside. From there I got a late lunch then mosied on back to the hotel for a long nap. Dinner was a bit diapointing since fish and chips from a shop on the isle of skye is so much better than the fish and chips at the hotel pub. Cheaper too. This morning I has a lie in until 8 (yeah, that's a lie in for this vacation) then went and wandered Hyde park. Which was really nice. Stopped by Kings Cross to see Platform 9 & 3/4 and the crowd there then got a pasty for lunch and sat in russel square and ate it. Then it was back on the underground to heathrow since I'm down to my last £3. Now comes the long waiting game. See you soon USA, RJ

Trains Planes and Automobiles

Good morning! Just sitting here in the train station waiting to travel back to London. Sitting in lazy yoga pants because I have a 5 hour train ride back. It's comfy. Much better than sitting in jeans I think. Last night was good. We got a lot of photos and had a good time dancing. Dinner was Italian and very very good if not super filling. Have I mentioned I really want Mexican food? Because I do. Got lots of hugs and good-byes and facebook friends. And now a bit of traveling on my own. Which will be nice since I can drink or not drink and ear whatever I want. Yay! To London Town I go! RJ

Last Day on Tour

In Sterling right now at lunch, thinking about the end of vacation. Tired and ready to go home but at the same time sad to be finishing. Recap? So I did jump on Loch Ness. It wasn't nearly as cold as people made it out to be. Mind you, it was really cold but not shockingly so. And once you got out and dried off then hiked back up to the hotel you wanted to jump in the loch again. It was a lazy night that night and an early morning. And the beginning of breakfast with out rolls. Usually I eat a roll and mushrooms and cheese. It's weird but enough food in my stomach to keep me awake for the long ride ahead. And there was a long ride yesterday. For once I didn't walk over 5 miles. Instead it was probably 6 hours on the bus. Stopped at the Isle of Skye for lunch and pictures. Ate fish and chips. Fish and chips are gooooooood. Very good. And also stuck my face in a stream of eternal youth. Into Oban where we went and watched a Scottish band and learned country dances and wore tartan and had a very good time. Breakfast was not helpful though I went around the corner and got a scone. I also like scones. Especially slathered in butter. And that rounds out the recap. That and we're watching Hot Fuzz on the bus. Good entertainment. I'll most likely make a post tomorrow. See all of the friends and family soon, RJ

Catching up

So the last hotel we were at you had to pay for wifi. Which sucks since the dinner last night was terrible! But let me catch up... Carlisle was a hopping night. We actually stayed at the club until about 3:30 that night, came back to the hotel, crashed, then got back up at 7. I was a little fried around the edges. Next stop was Gretna Green where we married a couple people on the tour (not for real but you know) then got back on the coach. I was a little upset at how little there was. It was just a square with shops and a small museam. After Gretna Green we went out to Hadrian's wall. Roman ruins. I have pictures of the walk. The looooooong walk. Back on the coach again, stopped at the "Welcome to Scotland" sign, then on to Edinburgh. To the holiday in that you have to spend £4 for an HOUR. Which is highway robbery. Free day in Edinburgh yesterday. Lots of walking to the point of toe bleeding and the purchase of new shoes. Oh. And it rained. Saw the castle and the royal mile and bought some stuff to show everyone. The morning we went to the Blair Athol distillery and got some tiny bottles of scotch. And now we're at Loch Ness. And for some reason we think it's a good idea to jump in. Yeeeeeah... Wish me luck, RJ

Straight Out of a Story Book

York. It's lovely. A quaint little village that used to be the epicenter of the north as a rival to London in elizabethen age now turned into a place where you can shop and eat to your heart's content. Which means that I shopped. And ate. Had a cornish pasty. Like stew wrapped in flaky crust. And I also had a scone which was huge and dense and I could only eat half of. I missed the wall around the city, just shopped and wandered in circles until we met for dinner and did a ghost walk. Do you know I've walked over 20 miles in four days? I think its more than I've ever walked on vacation before. But the ghost tour. Not the campy gimmicky kind just a few stories about history and ghosts. I liked that bit really afterward we went off to a holiday inn in Leeds and spent the night there. A handful of us we to the pub across the way and then passed out and got up this morning. Lake district. Beautiful lakes that are the backdrop for Peter Rabbit. We went to the town but I missed the museum out there. That was lunch. After (lunch was cream of broccoli) we went up to this adventure place and did a high ropes course for which I am worse than I thought in the wrong shoes and pants so it was a bit crazy. And so I actually had a hard time with everything. Now we're in Carlisle for the night and that means we're heading out for a beer. Pub crawl? Please. Cheers, RJ

Good Morning Liverpool

So jet lag is not a problem for me as much as falling back into old sleeping habits is. You know, go to bed at 2, get up at 11. But I will conquer that problem of mine! Anywho, Liverpool. Not just the Beatles. Nope, they also have Super LambBananas. Apparently the city decided to show that it can be as cultured as the next and wanted to do the mascot thing like how Norfolk and VA Beach have mermaids and dolphins. So Liverpool decided on super lambbananas. What else? There's a monster sized cathedral here. Huuuuuge really, and a bit of a hike to get to but totally worth it. Also there's a maritime museum for people who want to look at models of the Titanic and see how the slave trade was present in Liverpool. Glanced over all of that. Shops here too, but shops are everywhere. We had the option to go out and pub crawl to really crowded areas and I was just not feeling it so I went and caught a movie instead. And then came back and crashed until everyone else came and made drunk noise at 2 am or so. Out to York today. Cooler weather to look forward to along with some good history. Will be fun. Ever on the move, RJ

Late London and the M6

So, where did I leave off yesterday? I think right before I did a walkabout through London. So I went out to Harrods, a massive shopping center that was like Macy's in NYC but posher and much more expensive. But it was fun to walk through and gawk at everything. After than I went to Picadilly Circus and saw the great big jumbotron there and got a few photos. Also went to the oldest bookstore in London and forgot the name of the book I wanted to buy. But I'll be back. The meeting and greet wasn't much but a handful of us went out to a pub after for a beer then went to a different pub for more beer and much better food. We hung out and chatted and learned Cricket rules from an Australian. Much fun. Then back to the room for sleep. Roomie was nice by the way. This morning did a quick run through of a bit of London by the coach, I need to go to St. Pauls and to Westminster when I come back around, and then on the highway toward Liverpool. Which is where we are now, at the hotel for a rest. Which I'm going to take now. Cheers, RJ

London Town

Greetings all from London! Here I am in good old London Town having an experience of my 25th year! But let's catch up first. The plane trip: I've decided that sitting in the middle of the of the plane is best, especially if you know that no one is sharing with you. That way you can spread out and actually sleep more than two hours (maybe) before your fingers and toes fall asleep. Oh well. I'll just sleep good tonight. The cool part was that I saw the big dipper out of my window much bigger and brightest than I'd ever seen it. That and watching the sunrise on the horizon was pretty cool too. I'm talking rainbow awesome. Then I fell asleep for a bit. London so far: Mostly just a tube trip really. The hotel let me check in early so I've got my stuff tucked away at the moment. So the big thing I've noticed is that there's no air conditioning. I'm really spoiled when it comes to temperature control. Also I have the heat. Really it turns my face a terrible beat-red color, not at all flattering. :( But I meet with my group at 6 tonight. Hopefully it goes well. Wish me luck, RJ

"I'm leaving on a jet plane..."

Hahahahaha... did I tell you I was terrible at keeping a blog? 'Cause I am. But imma try to keep up with this on my international trip. Just to see if I can. I'll also be scribbling in notebooks and stuff too. Anywho, my flight leaves tonight at 9:55. I'm at the airport now. At 7:15. More than two hours ahead of schedule. But you know that's the price you pay to be prepared. Now to hunt around for noms to have for dinner becausr I'm starving. Oh, by the way, I'm headed out to England. :) Adventure! Wish me luck, RJ