I left earlier than I had intended to mainly because I was too excited to sit around and wait. I drove from my mother's house in Grand Island, NE to Omaha where I would catch a flight to Chicago, and from there, London!
26
December, 1996
Lucky for me all my flights were ontime and I arrived at Heathrow right
on schedule. All I had left to do was wait for my boyfriend, Andy to arrive
from Belfast. I cleared customs, no problems and proceeded to walk a zillion
miles to terminal 1 where domestic flights arrive (not realising there
was a nice little bus that could have got me there much faster). I made
my first purchase in the UK, bunches of postcards and a London A to Z,
then I sat down to wait for my honey.
He arrived ontime aswell and it felt great to hold him in my arms again.
It had been 4 months since I'd seen him last... I was really looking forward
to this holiday.
From Heathrow we managed to find the Tube, although lugging all our bags
onto a crowded train was not fun. After a few wrong turns *hehehe* we
managed to find our friend's flat in Islington. I think my suitcase just
about killed Andy, he's such a gentleman ;) ...by now it was late afternoon
and I've had my first taste of England.. I looked the wrong way before
I crossed the street, I stared in wide-eyed wonder at the architecture
and listened in awe to all the strange accents. I was in sheer heaven
:) we decided that we were too tired to attempt any tourist type things
so we popped down to the ???? across from a Sainsbury's for a drink, and
then spent a quiet night in the flat, watching the telly
and sipping some tea :)
27
December, 1996
Today we sort of slept in a bit. I was jetlagged and we had stayed up
rather late. We decided to go see the Tower Bridge. This involved negotiating
the Tube again so off we headed for The Angel Station. There are, I guess
they're ticket vending machines there, but they scared us so we went to
the window. We had no idea how to go about getting a ticket. The agent
though was very patient with us and we were eventually sorted. Now it
was just a matter of following the map to the Tower Bridge.
We hopped on and sat across from each other, holding hands and being very
mushy :) and when our stop came up we jumped off - without my backpack
(which Andy was carrying)! We realised it straight away and also the guard
on the train saw our distress and he must have realised what happened
aswell. So we looked around, utterly confused for a moment, then we went
to the 'way out' and told a guard what happened - Imagine, Andy with his
Northern Irish accent telling a Tube guard that he's left a bag on the
Tube! *hehehehe*
Eventually we were taken to the offices to speak with a supervisor, and
after countless calls to various trains he was able to tell us that my
bag had been found, but that we had to go to the end of the line, which
was Morden, to pick it up. So I got my bag back and we once again headed
for the bridge.
Once we got there we walked from the Tube station to the Bridge, and seeing
itfrom a distance was sooo beautiful!!! To finally see something you've
heard about all your life is truly a breathtaking experience. We strolled
along the Thames and stopped in a little french cafe and had croque-monsieurs
(basically a grilled cheese sandwhich with fancy cheese). At one point
a tiny little bird that had been flying around the cafe hopped up on our
table and spent ages trying to get the lemon out of Andy's glass (speaking
of that, why does every restaurant/pub/cafe insist on sticking a lemon
in your coke?). After that we continued our walk along the Thames, stopping
to pose for piccies near the HMS Belfast, which is moored near the Tower
Bridge. You can go aboard and have a look around, but it was getting late
for us so we decided to go on.
When we reached the bridge, I was completely in awe.. It's a magnificent
site.. we walked across it, stopping in the middle to look at the little
gap where it comes apart to let bigger ships pass. You can also go up
one of the towers on a tour, however it is expensive, near 8 pounds per
person, so we decided to give that a miss. Besides, on the other side
of the bridge was the equally stunning Tower of London. One thing about
England at this time of year is that it gets darker a lot earlier than
I'm used to. we reached the ticket office for the Tower of London about
4:30 and it was already dark. Another thing is that all the touristy things
seem to close early :( like at 4:30. So we weren't able to get in that
night *sob*. After wandering around we found a gift shop, and as I looked
around, about to purchase a little keychain, this sales woman comes up
and sticks a tam o'shanter on my head, proclaiming that it suited me so
well, and was a mere 30 pounds! I tell you it was difficult to get away
from my little 1 pound 50 item in that shop! But we managed :)
After wandering about some more we stumbled on a pub near the Tower with
a very cool name - The Hung, Drawn, and Quartered. Very fitting! After
that we decided we may as well head for the flat and find something to
eat. The next night we were to meet our friends Paul and Kathryn, from
TCZ.
28
December, 1996
Today we were all set to meet Paul and Kathryn, friends of ours from the
chat room Andy and I frequent, at 6pm at the Kings Cross station's W.H.
Smith's. Until then I thought we could go and wander around Piccadilly
Circus. So once again we headed for the Angel, but this time opted to
take a double-decker bus :) I highly recommend these because from the
top deck you get to see so much more! Once we arrived at the infamous
Piccadilly and ohh'd and ahhh'd at the huge electric billboards we decided
to wander through the streets. Our meanderings took us through bits of
SoHo and the West End... Ohhh it would have been lovely to go see Les
Miserables there. As we walked further we suddenly found ourselves stumbling
onto Trafalgar Square with hundreds of pigeons flying about. I was completely
amazed! we took loads of pictures there and had popped into a small shop
to get some more film when I looked down a street we were crossing and
to my further amazement, recognised Big Ben, just down the road! We could
also see bits of Parliament sticking up here and there. I had no idea
those places were so close together. We then found an interesting looking
(and somewhat familiar-looking) road and managed to end up in front of
Buck House itself. Imagine only meaning to go to one place for the day
only to find yourself gazing at nearly every historical structure at once.
I was blown away by that (still am if you hadn't noticed ;) ). Then we
just kept on walking and ended up stumbling onto Buckingham and I saw
my first cool-looking guard. I was so excited!
Looking at the time Andy and I realised that it was nearing the time we
were to meet our friends, and we found ourselves wondering how on earth
we were going to find a Tube station near Buckingham Palace. We had nearly
walked around the entire Palace grounds before deciding we were going
to have to catch a bus back to Piccadilly and get on the Tube from there.
We managed to make it to King's Cross just a few minutes late and we spent
great evening with Kathryn and Paul, first going to TFI Fridays (go figure!)
and then to a Firkin Pub near Leicester Square. It was a great time meeting
these folks we'd only known for ages on the Internet. Soon though, we
headed home and watched the telly - something I really recommend you do
if you go, just to get a taste for the differences between American television
and the BBC.
29
December, 1996
For some strange reason, one of Sebby's flatmates has a mum that likes
to phone from France at 8:30am. Every morning. And she doesn't speak english.
Now, Andy and I were usually not functioning at 8:30am, and I must say
that it's very difficult to remember 5 years of high school french while
still half asleep. I kept saying 'Je suis Americain' and 'Lentement s'il
vous plait' (slowly please!) Eventually I figured out she was leaving
messages for Sylvie and when I told Seb, he said, "You speak french??"
and I said, "a little." So he said, "could you tell her to quit bloody
phoning so early in the morning?!". I thought that was cute, plus I can't
recall what we did this day because like an eejit I procrastinated on
this and have begun to forget what we did everyday, but I will do my best!
If I do remember later on I'll come back and add it ASAP! (A good hint
to travelers, if you want to remember your trip well, write it down!!!!).
30
December, 1996
Today Andy and I were meeting Kat at Kings Cross again and she was going
to take us to Cyberia which is a cyber cafe somewhere in London (I don't
think I could get there again if my life depended on it!). After satisfying
our spod needs, we were off to meet Paul who was just getting off work.
Then we walked through Soho to Leicester Square to some posh looking pub.
We headed for the back room of it and settled in for many pints :) We
must have stayed there well over 5 hours just chatting away and basically
having a great time. After that it was time to catch a tube and head for
home. I should mention that I really enjoyed the short walk from the Angel
station in Islington up to our friend Seb's (well ok his irl name is Lluis,
but I like to call him Seb.) flat. We would often return home late at
night and the streets were so quiet. Very peaceful.
31
December, 1996
Ahhh today is New Year's eve. Andy and I were to meet the kat and the
rat again and spend the evening over at their place and watch Big Ben
strike midnight. New Year's Eve was lovely, Kat made entirely too much
food, and she and I attempted to watch Shadowlands that nite but apparently
it's a chick flick and the guys didn't like it :) I got a tremendous snog
at midnight though. Hehehe.
1
January, 1997
I wanted to see the Crown Jewels today and luckily they were open. So
we tubed it again down to the Tower of London, and I have to say it was
absolutely freezing that day. we paid our admission and stood outside
for about 20 minutes listening to one of the beefeaters regale us with
stories about the tower :) but it was just too bloody cold standing outside.
So we gave up on the idea of a guided tour and headed off on our own.
Inside the courtyard was beautiful. Lots of views of the Tower Bridge,
I ended up with some lovely piccies in there. But anyway we were freezing
so we paid 50p to pop into some "history of the military" cheesy museum
just to warm up. After we thawed out we decided to stand in the queue
to see the jewels, and ohhh was it worth it. the line moves fairly fast
and it's rather like standing in a queue at Disneyland with lots of winding
rows. Plus you get to watch videos of Elizabeth's coronation while you
wait which is really fascinating. Finally we got to them, and *sigh* they
were well worth the cold wait. Although we are still trying to figure
out what the Coronation spoon is used for - Andy reckons it's for the
traditional Coronation Cornflakes before the ceremony. Afterwards we wandered
up to the Bloody Tower, quite a fascinating story there.. Then we also
saw a mini-changing of one guard in the courtyard (what a lot of fuss
to move one guy from one spot to another!). I hope to have pictures of
this available someday.
2
January, 1997
Another little anecdote from the trip (yes I can't remember what happened
today either :( ) Andy and I were having lunch in a french cafe type place,
and he'd gone off to visit the loo, and this tiny little sparrow hopped
up on our table. It was so cute! It hopped onto the rim of Andy's glass
and was trying to reach the lemon that was at the bottom of it. I didn't
move and it stayed there just long enough for Andy to see it, which was
really nice...
Oh! I remember what we did today! Heheh, we decided to take a bus tour
around London and see all the famous stuff in one go. So we took a double
decker down to Piccadilly and bought a 24 hour pass on the London Pride
line. I highly recommend, that if you do this, pick a nice day (if you
can get one) because it was drizzly and wet the day we did it, plus cold,
so the windows were all fogged up. We did see quite a bit though, and
I also recommend sitting in the upper deck because then when you pass
Buck house you can see into her back garden :)
3
January, 1997
Ahhh today is the day of the big TCZ meet. And what a meet it was! Pictures
are available here of some of the antics that
occured. First we finally got to meet Lluis, a very trusting soul who
had been away in Spain and graciously lent us his bed for our stay. He
took us to a lovely little pub just up the road called the Albion where
we chatted and got to know one another. I met a lot of the people I only
knew from the Net for the first time and I have to say it was incredible!
This first night a bunch of us met up at the 179 pub on Upper Street in
Islington (which btw is the cheapest pub in London!). Andy and Sebby began
their 'let's-see-who-drinks-who-under-the-table' contest. I have to say
that the Spaniard was much better at it then my Irish bloke, but Andy
managed to hold his own :) Soon we all decided to call it a night and
nearly all of us headed back to Seb's house for the night (6 of us in
seb's room alone!) Great fun but Joliet Jake snores ;)
(continued)
4
January, 1997
Today as you can probably guess a few TCZ-ers were a bit hungover and
were a bit slow getting up. We went off for a greasy fry-up to get things
rolling. After that it was off to the World's End pub in Camden to meet
everyone else who hadn't shown up the night before. (mental note, Camden's
Tube station has lifts because there are 193 steps to the top). The World's
End is a very cold, very expensive pub, but it's massive. I don't recommend
sitting for long periods of time on their stools either. Sebby took me
to a Boots (chem shop) to get some antiseptic, as I'd burned my finger
on a lit candle glass earlier in the day and it was hurting :(. The stuff
worked great and we were off again to the meet and everyone it seemed
had turned up. Some even brought the author of TCZ a little pressie which
you can see in my pics, hehehe. We called her Flossie. After a night of
much drinking (Vodka and Oranges are wonderful, and if you have enough
of them, even Guinness tastes good!) and mayhem, nearly everyone again
boarded the Tube back to Seb's place, where there was more drinking to
be had (Cutty Sark anyone?). I won't go into all the gory details but
it was quite an interesting night that's for sure!
5
January, 1997
Sadly, today we had to say goodbye to all our new friends, well, basically
we made them get out of Seb's room so we could pack. We said some hard
g'byes :( and everyone went for another fryup while Andy and I packed.
Today we were flying to Belfast to spend the remainder of our holiday
at Andy's own flat. Getting all our stuff together proved difficult but
we only managed to leave behind one of Andy's ballyclava's :) Our flight
was uneventful but landing in Belfast was amazing. Ireland really is greener
than green.. What a sight it was.... *dreamy sigh*
We managed to catch the last bus from the airport going back to Belfast
and soon we found ourselves at the Europa in Belfast's city centre (which
btw is one of the most bombed hotels in Europe). We grabbed a black taxi
to Edinburgh Street and soon I got my first glimpse of my boyfriend's
flat. Have to say it was a lot warmer than Sebby's! After a quick shower
and intros to his flatmates, Engo and Sinead, we decided to walk to his
University and log on so I could email the friends and family back home
and let them know that I didn't want to come back :). Andy goes to Queens
University, and the sight of it took my breath away. The oldest University
in the states is nothing in comparison to that one. After getting used
to the loud beeping noise the stoplights make when it's ok to cross the
street, we walked around a bit, hit a chinese take-away, and went back
home for the night.
6
January, 1997
Today was time to see the sights, and it felt good to have a native guiding
me around, even if he does walk too fast ;). We took a bus, for 70p, to
the city centre, which I suppose could be comparable to downtown in a
small city. Lots of shops and chemists. I saw the Crown Pub which is is
one of the oldest pubs in Belfast, and has been used in filming several
movies. The Courthouse... Ohhh the courthouse was HUGE! and beautiful.
It dominates the city centre. There were those wonderful black taxis lined
up around the block, news agents calling out the latest news in the 'Telly
(the Belfast Telegraph). I loved every second of it. Andy and I wandered
to a large cafe-type place called Bewley's (I hear they make great tea
;) and had what I think is the best cup of hot chocolate I've ever had.
I made Andy take me back there lots :) Eventually we wandered back to
the house and went down the pub with Engo and Sinead. We started off at
one called the Four in Hand, but I guess they were doing a pub quiz so
we left and went to 'the Bot', which is it's nickname because it's near
Queens University's Botanical Gardens. I can't recall it's real name...
Oh, one other thing I should mention is Jackson's Chippy. Ireland has
Chippies which are mainly just like Deli's only with sausage being the
main thing they serve, along with a massive pile of chips (french fries).
Oh Jackson't had the greasiest, saltiest, yummiest chips.. Unless you're
a total health nut, I highly recommend popping down to the nearest chippy,
or chippy van and picking up a load of salt and vinegar chips :) We also
went down to the Virgin Cinema and saw "Michael Collins". now, this film
is basically about the rather humble beginnings of what the IRA is now.
I have to say that I don't think the film would have had the same impact
on me if I hadn't seen it in Belfast. I do recommend it, it's a good film
even if it does romanticise the IRA.
7
January, 1997
Today was rather exciting. I was on a quest for a British Monopoly game
and a Spitting Tape (I'll explain in a bit ;). So off we went again into
the City Centre, to a mall (yes a mall!). I was soon distracted looking
at everything and listening to the passersby and forgot about looking
for that stuff. We left the mall after seeing several RUC constables running
around. We wondered absentmindedly what was going on but soon forgot about
it. As we made our way back up to the Courthouse a loud explosion went
off about 100 feet from us. I turned to look and saw a huge cloud of smoke
going up from a car that had just exploded. I can't describe how that
felt. I've never had any experience like that in my life. My heart pounded,
I was scared, I couldn't catch my breath. I looked at Andy who looked
a bit put off by it aswell, he squeezed my hand and smiled. After a second
(seemed much longer) I got my wits about me enough to make Andy take this
photo. This was about a minute or so after it went off. When the excitement
died down we decided it was best we headed back to Andy's flat. Normally
this would have taken 5 minutes by black taxi, but this day it took us
nearly 2 hours. It turned out the IRA were having a field day and streets
everywhere were closed because of bomb threats. We ended up having to
be let off quite a few blocks from the flat so we legged it back.. As
I was making us a cup of tea I looked out the sitting room window and
saw a tank go by... Andy and I went outside (gawkers that we are) and
saw more military guys poking around in the hedges around the corner.
Well that was enough for me so we went straight back into the house. On
the news that night we found out the bomb that went off near us was a
controlled explosion of a van that was believed to have a bomb in it.
No one was injured or hurt. That day anyway.
8
January, 1997
Previous day aside, Andy and I had made tentative plans to go to Dublin
today. Unfortunately my poor dear became very ill. I felt so bad for him
not being able to do anything more than sleep continuously. He's such
a dear though. He felt bad because we couldn't go to Dublin and because
he thought it wasn't much of a vacation for me, staying in the flat and
taking care of him. Which is just silly though because I didn't mind in
the least. I tell you the biggest drawback of a long distance relationship
is, of course, the distance. I was just happy enough to be near him, and
to be able to poke him now and again to make sure he was really there
that Dublin was the furthest from my mind. Anyway, this day was spent
tending to him. I did manage to head to Jackson's for a hot dog (if you're
American, don't order a hot dog and expect to get what you think of as
a hot dog, you'll end up with a sausage on a hamburger bun, or 'bap')
and some chips. and I spent the day playing the computer or reading the
newspapers.
9
January, 1997
Today was much the same, Andy was still really ill although he did manage
to make it down the stairs to the sitting room for the day so we got a
change of scenery ;). I have to say, that when you're in england, it's
really fun to sit down and watch the telly. One of my favourite memories
is my own bafflement over some Marmite ads. First they would show A lot
of people doing strange things with Marmite (A sort of spread for various
things I guess), like sitting in a tub full of it, singing to a jar of
it etc., And then the music playing is a take-off on Barry White's song
'Low Rider'. They're singing, "My mate, Mar - mite" over and over again.
And that's it. But that isn't the strange bit. after they showed one or
two totally different ads, they would play the Marmite ad again, but this
time a bit differently. This time the people are doing things like tying
chains to a jar of Marmite and throwing it into the sea or knocking down
displays of it in the shops. This time the music is the same Barry White
tune, but the lyrics are, "I hate Mar - mite." over and over. What a brilliant
ad campaign! it's worked because it's still stuck in my head 3 months
after returning to the states. I realised that most people either love
Marmite, or they really really hate it. Anyway I do recommend a bit of
the old tube while you're there :)
10
January, 1997
Andy was feeling much better today, although still not 100% so we took
it easy. We went back to the city centre today on my quest for the monopoly
game and spitting tape. now, I bet you're wondering what on earth the
spitting tape is. Well, it's definitely local to Belfast or rather, Northern
Ireland. What it is is one guy doing the voices of every party leader
in NI, Ireland and the UK (well not *every* one but the majority). Like
Gerry Adams, leader and front man for Sinn Fein and the IRA, Patrick Mayhew
(here's where I get lost) I'll get Andy to email me a list of the leaders
of each party, there's so many), Prince Charles, Ian Paisley etc, and
basically this guy does nothing but take the piss out of all of them.
It's HYSTERICAL! I'd heard Andy's and so I wanted one of my own to take
home. Well anyway, we finally found what I wanted and then headed back
to Bewley's for some more of that FAB hot chocolate. Then it was off home
again to wait for Andy's dad to pick us up and take us to Limavady for
the weekend (Andy's hometown). Yes, it was time to meet the parents and
I was a nervous wreck. But I don't think it could have gone any lovelier.
Andy's dad loves to chat and will do so about anything and everything.
We picked up Claire (hope I spelled that right), Andy's younger sister,
at her Uni in Belfast and drove the hour or so to Limavady just chatting
away. It was grand.
When we pulled into his driveway I became more nervous... Now I was going
to meet the mother *insert ominous music here* (Can you tell I've had
bad experiences with this before?). In all honesty, it could not have
been any lovelier. Andy's mum made me feel very welcome, I drank enough
tea to drown a horse, and was offered a biccie everytime I turned around
:) What could be more perfect? (Biccie = biscuit = cookie). We had chinese
take away that night and Andy and I settled in to watch Trainspotting.
11
January, 1997
After a lovely breakfast of a traditional Ulster Fry Andy and I set off
in his mum's car to explore a little and to go into County Donegal in
Ireland. Our first stop was in Londonderry (just 'Derry if you're Catholic,
or if you just can't be bothered to say the whole thing ;) Derry is one
of last cities in Europe to still have it's original walls around it still
intact. Of course the city has expanded beyond them by now, but you can
still climb the stairs and walk along them. They are a magnificent site
and give you another perspective on the town. There's also the Tower Museum,
which is well worth a visit. You'll get to walk through the city's entire
history through exhibits, videos and guides. Plus they have a wonderful
gift shop with some rather unique to the area gifts. Derry is still in
the Six Counties of Northern Ireland by the way.
Derry also has a very troubled recent history and there are some dangerous
and rough areas of the city, which you may want to avoid. You can tell
which areas those are when you enter them...
After getting a bit lost, Andy and I made our way out of Derry and headed
for County Donegal, the northern most county in Ireland. The scenery is
breathtaking! Lush rolling hills as green as emeralds, dotted with the
occasional sheep. We stopped in a teeny tiny town (the name escapes me
atm, but when I look it up I'll write it in ;) and walked along its steep,
narrow streets packed tight with little shops. As we crossed one street
I happened to glance up the hill and saw a gorgeous old Cathedral at the
top. We went up to it and cautiosly walked around it. It had a very small
cemetary on the side, with old Celtic crosses for the headstones. I managed
to get a beautiful picture of one which I hope to have scanned very soon.
Andy and I went inside and found it was called St. Eunan's. Now, I haven't
been in very many cathedrals in my lifetime so I was blown away by this
one. The stained glass was exquisite and the architecture was simply beautiful.
After we had our fill of the church, we walked back down the hill and
wandered into a pub for some cokes (again with the lemons. I just don't
understand that). Then we continued our drive and stumbled on a GORGEOUS
lake called Gartan Lough at the foot of a small mountain. We stopped the
car and took a walk along a hillside and just enjoyed the view. It was
very romantic ;)
Finally it was time to head back and that night Andy and I decided to
go out and see a film in the small town of Colerain which is about 10
miles from Limavady. Limavady by the way, is known for being the birthplace
of the song 'Danny Boy'. We went to a huge err, funplex I guess. Geez
it had everything! A bowling alley, a cinema, Laser Tag, a kids jungle
maze etc.. Anyway, the film was sold out for that showing but we happened
to run into Andy's older sister Emma and her boyfriend so we bowled a
few games and waited for the late showing of 'Sleepers'.
Click here to read my final entries.