Week Nine: London is Calling

Abbey Road 

Parliament Square 

Green Park 

With the help of three of my favorite people, I spent this past week venturing to the Carnival-esque Blackpool, good ole Manchester, Liverpool, and last but not least (drum roll please)…. London! Last week I was lucky enough to have not just one, but three visitors fly all the way from the golden coast to come explore a bit more of England with me. Although I love all you bloody Brits to death, I cannot describe how happy I was to have the company and comfort of some fellow Californians. I surprised Danny at the airport Thursday, and Christiana and Lex flew in bright and early Sunday morning, just in time for their first full English breakfasts. J  

The traveling really began on Saturday when Danny and I decided to take a little daytrip to the beach town, Blackpool. Now, when I say beach town, completely wipe any images of warm, sunny CA beaches from your mind. I would describe Blackpool as a permanent carnival/ cheap casino/ touristy town, all coincidentally set in front of a beach. This is not to say that we did not manage to have a good time in Blackpool; however, it was not your typical day at the beach. After just a quick thirty minute train ride, Danny and I found ourselves strolling down the six mile waterfront, lined with tacky touristy shops, carnival rides, arcades, questionable looking fish and chips stands, plenty of intoxicated women out for “hen parties” (aka bachelorette parties), and when it got dark: piers and streets illuminated with dazzling fluorescents. Although the wind was close to intolerable, we made the most of the day and definitely enjoyed the time together.

Sunday was spent introducing the girls to Preston starting with a nice full English breakfast, a bit of shopping, and eventually the somehow always unavoidable Source bar (campus pub). After a groggy, jetlagged start, I finally managed to wake my visitors Monday and we made the trip over to Manchester. The latest and greatest in Manchester right now is the Christmas Market that opens every… you guessed it… Christmas time. The market was very cute, illuminating the town with strings of lights and vendors selling international pastries and holiday knickknacks. We also went to the mall so Christiana and Lex could marvel at the stores we do not have in the US such as the ever so fabulous Top Shop. In my opinion the fun really started that night when I decided to take them out with my roommates and flat 62 to show them what a real night out in Preston is like. I took them, of course, to my favorite pub, Roper, for Quids night where they were in awe of the pints of cider and black for just a pound. After some time there we headed over to Assembly for a bit more fun, and finally ended up at Squires nightclub. Needless to say, we did not get up as early as planned Tuesday morning.

After much effort and a train ride with one too many delays, we found ourselves in the home of the Beatles... Liverpool! For some reason I had this notion that Liverpool was going to be sort of a dingy town, but it was exactly the opposite. It had a great city center just like Manchester’s, all decked out for Christmas, and it also had the “docks”, the Tate Museum, and the Beatles Story (aka museum). We walked all around the city and finally made our way to the docks, which were absolutely beautiful. And of course, I couldn’t go to Liverpool and not visit the Beatles Story, so we spend about two hours there gawking at the Beatlemania memorabilia and learning a bit more about the Fab Four. Christiana and Lex then experienced their first proper fish and chips complete with mushy peas, yumm. Our visit concluded with some necessary souvenir shopping and one last look around the stunning city.

And finally the trip we had all been waiting for… London! We (Dan Astley now part of the trip playing tour guide) managed to get an early start, and after a three and a half hour train ride, we arrived safe and sound in London. Since we were already at the train station, Christiana and I decided a stop at Kings Cross Station was completely necessary. Why? For Platform 9 and ¾ of course! Although the plaque is no longer located between platforms 9 and 10, there is an actual plaque and trolley stuck half way in the wall right outside the station for Harry Potter fanatics such as myself. We had a nice photo shoot and were off to our hostel. Our hostel was very nice, located right on the river and not too far from the tube station. After getting everything settled there, we took the tube over to Parliament Square where we were about to experience probably the most beautiful sight in London.

Immediately after stepping out of the station, the first thing that greeted our eyes was Big Ben. I’m not sure if it was because I was not expecting it to be there so soon or just because of its grandeur, but it was breathtaking. The London Eye (Ferris wheel) and Parliament was all within eyesight and we spent a decent amount of time just taking it all in… and then taking in some McDonalds. We spent the rest of the day walking around, lead by our tour guide Dan, seeing things such as Westminster Abbey and Trafalgar Square where the Olympic countdown is. As the sun set, we made our way to Camden (the artist district) to crawl through some pubs. Camden is a lot seedier than the center of London with tons of cheap souvenir shops, tattoo parlors, and pubs. Much to our dismay the pub crawl we planned on attending was not running that night, but not to fear, we knew of another one running back towards central London that we could still catch. The “1BigNightOut” pub crawl started at Verve and snaked its way through Oxygen, Ruby Blues, I forgot the name, and ended at the Zoo Bar nightclub. It was an insanely fun night out with all my friends, making memories to last a lifetime and losing a few along the way.

Our second day in London started nice and early with our complimentary breakfast, checkout, and a tube ride over to Buckingham Palace to watch the changing of the guards. The classic guards with the red coats and fluffy hats were not out that day so honestly, the guards were not all that great, but the palace itself was really a sight to see as well as the Victoria Monument directly in front of it. We then strolled through Green Park, made our way over to all the absurdly expensive stores located all around Oxford Street, and found ourselves on the street where the Beatles played their final rooftop concert. After walking, walking, and more walking we were finally at the Tower of London with the Tower Bridge in sight. We made our way over the bridge, past the Globe Theater, into a market for the BEST sandwiches on the face of the earth, and finally across the London bridge. With aching feet, we made a quick Starbucks pit stop before heading over to Abbey Road.

The Beatles Story Museum, hometown of the Beatles, location of their last concert, and now Abbey Road? Spot any reoccurring themes of this trip? Not that I am complaining! It took us a few tries to get the photo to turn out decent whist battling the traffic, but we did manage to replicate the Beatles album cover. We also signed the Abbey Road Studios wall that everyone signs. I signed left both my name and left a little AXO love as well. J The day came down to end and we finished our trip with one last stop to the British National Museum, home to the Rosetta Stone, the 2012 Olympic gold metals, a piece of the Pantheon, and mummies for days. Our last stop before getting on the train back to Preston was to King George’s pub for one last pint and delicious fish and chips.

Even though the adventures did not end until the girls left Saturday and Danny left far to early Sunday morning, I think it is about time to wrap up this novel of a blog. I know I left far too much out, but I do not think I could ever get all the unforgettable memories out onto the page and into words. All in all it was an amazing week, all made possible by the amazing people that I am so lucky to have in my life. 

Week Eight: J'Adore Paris

Paris, France

Hotel Modern with Reka

Eiffel Tower 

With every picture I snapped and mental note I took down, I quickly became aware that I would never be able to capture Paris through my camera lenses or through words alone. When browsing through my memory to think of words to describe the gigantic city, I think of ornate, lavish, rich, delicious, grandiose, historical, romantic, and absolutely breathtaking. Although I’ll try my best to recreate my weekend through words, Paris is really one of those places you are just going to have to venture to yourself. And trust me, it will be well worth it.

We (being myself, Bri, Reka, Noah, Josh, and Michelle) headed out of Preston bright and early Friday morning, and after a train, plane, bus, and terrifying taxi, we were finally in Paris! Considering it was relatively late and none of us had the energy to navigate the labyrinth of a metro system, we stayed in the area surrounding our hotel and enjoyed some delicious pizza and a cheesy magic show, compliments of our waiter. After dinner we enjoyed some overpriced beer at a local bar and then headed back to our hotel with a few bottles of cheap champagne to finish off the night and celebrate our arrival.

The next day began bright and early, for most of us that is. Noah, Josh, and Michelle opted to sleep in while Reka, Bri, and I headed off into the Latin Quarter (the intellectual’s quarter) for a four hour walking tour of France’s finest. During the tour our charismatic guide took us all around the city pointing out major landmarks, and keeping us entertained with some of the not so well facts about Paris’s rich history. When the tour finally came to a close and we bid au revior, the three of us girls headed down every girls shopping dream… Champs Elysees.  Champs Elysees is the Rodeo Drive, the Fifth Avenue of Paris. It is lined with the most expensive designer shops, overpriced restaurants, and window-shopping galore. The street seemed to go on forever, not that any of us were complaining, and finally ended at the Arc de Triumph, which was absolutely gorgeous. You would never guess how enormous it really is until you see in person, engraved in the finest detail. Again, this is really just one of the things that words don’t do justice to.

Now the Eiffel Tower looked relatively close, so we thought we would mosey on over…easy as that. What we soon discovered was that however close we thought we were, we were really quite far. Even when it was in eyesight, we could never manage to find our way through the twists and turns of the many streets. After what seemed like hours and a nice panini pit stop, we finally made it… and was it ever worth the trek. Since it was dark by that time the tower was all lit up and it was such an amazing sight to see. We bit the bullet and paid the twelve Euros to go all the way to the tippy top. The line was worse than the Matterhorn, but the view completely made up for it. Overlooking all of Paris from every direction, all lit up at night, was again indescribable and an experience to last a lifetime. The night finally came to an end with the group coming together over a few crepes, drinks, and a view of the Eiffel tower sparkling through the trees.

The next day we got another early start and headed off to the Louvre. Just as everything else described was gigantic, the Louvre tops them all: an enormous horse shoe museum stretching floors high and underground with the most detailed sculptures and designs carved into the entire thing. If you were to take thirty seconds looking at every piece of work in the Louvre, it would take you three weeks to get through it all. We on the other hand, opted for three hours of key works including the Venus de Milo, the Mona Lisa, and the Code of Hammurabi. From there we all ventured over the bridge covered in lover’s locks, down the river lined with the best vendors, and finally to the Notre Dame Cathedral, home to our beloved Quasimoto haha just kidding J. Anyways, just like everything else, words just will not do it justice: the endless panes of stain glass, the statues, the high ceilings… I could go on and on. I lit a candle in memory of Nay and thought he would think that was pretty sik to be recognized all the way in Paris… pretty legit if I don’t say so myself.  By that time it was getting dark so we made our way over to Sacre Coeur, the artist district.

At first we just wandered the streets, strolling past vendors, creperies, and plenty of little shops. We eventually found ourselves climbing endless stairs to this Arabian looking church at the top of the district that overlooks all of Paris. We sat for a while enjoying the musicians, and made our way down to France’s version of the red light district. It was nothing compared to Amsterdam’s, more like an abundance of neon lights offering porn and peep shows; however, it is home the infamous Moulin Rouge. We found the Moulin Rouge and had a nice photo shoot in front, although I must warn you, it is nothing compared to how the movie portrays it. With the church overlooking Paris in mind, we grabbed a baguette and a bottle of wine and made our way to the top, indulging and thoroughly enjoying our last night in Paris.

Sadly the trip came to an end on Monday, but we were sure to snag a few chocolate filled croissants and snacks for the journey. The trip back seemed to take ages, but we finally arrived back safe and sound in Preston after a long day of travel. Rereading this I know there is so much that I left out, and thinking about my trip and all that there is to see, I know that there is so much that I missed and wished I could have seen. This only means that one day, hopefully in the not too distant future, I will be lucky enough to travel back and say Bonjour to Paris once again.