Quarter Century

Well I hit the quarter century mark on Saturday but I can't say it feels any difference. I did however have an amazing weekend to write about. Megan said she had a surprise planned and said that we needed to be up in Chelmsford, Essex (30min from my grandmother’s house) on the Friday. So late on Thursday night we drove up to stay in Hatfield Heath for the night. I awoke the next morning to fully cooked English breakfast in bed and then got ready to go. This was when I found out that we were not really going to Chelmsford but instead we had to make our way to Stansted airport. Hmmmmm...... I see where this is going.

Well Megan still wouldn't tell me where exactly we were going but she did give me the flight number once we were outside the airport. I quickly scanned the check in TV screens hoping to find out where we were going. I soon as I saw Gothenburg next to our flight number I was instantly excited. Sweden has been high on my list of places to visit for a long time. I must admit it was an outstanding present and I count myself so luckily to have a girlfriend that throws these kind of surprises.

After getting through the giant line-up for security we found our way to the gate and made the 2 hour flight to Gothenburg City airport. The airport was really strange as it was probably just a little bit bigger than Burlington's in Canada (yes Burlington does have a airport used for Cessna’s). The passport control was in a small hanger with plywood dividers. All they did was look at our passports and send us through. No questions at all. As we had no luggage under the plane we followed the exit signs down a maze of plywood dividers. At the end of this maze was a steel door with a sign saying "forbidden entry" and "do not enter". Ok......now what. Well another guy came through with us and tried to open the door but it appeared to be locked. We went back to the baggage area for a second before watching another couple go into the plywood maze. This time they didn't come back. So we went through and opened the door (which wasn't locked). On the other side of this forbidden door was...yes you guessed it......the airport exit, where we jumped onto a bus that took us into the centre of Gothenburg.

Our hotel was right downtown running next to the Canal so we checked in and then went in search of a bite to eat. As Gothenburg has 26 McDonalds we choose one and tried a Smokey bacon burger. We walked around by the river until about 9pm when we found a bar and drank a few Swedish beers. We walked down one of the many parks and a small cafe so Megs could try some chocolate and coconut cake thing and then made our way back to the hotel walking the long way back through some of the side streets.




The following morning we set out to explore the north end of the city. Our first few stops where a few statues. The one that sticks out in my mind was a statue of the cities founder pointing to the spot where he said "we shall build the city here".



There were quite a few churches on route. One of the ones we stopped at was completely deserted and was really peaceful. Megan lit a Candle (and donated 2 Kronors and then 3 more) and placed it on the globe holder. From here we went up to the University and then over to one of the main streets where we just "stumbled" across a Hard Rock Cafe. A coincidence? I think not. We had a great meal for lunch and Megan then bought me the shot glass to add to my collection. Feeling really full from the meal we walked up to the City's Art Museum but didn't go in due to the line up and the price. We kept heading north until we reached the residential area of the city before turning around and heading back. In the middle of the city is a Amusement park called Liseburg Park. It is said to have the biggest rollercoaster in Scandinavia so we went to check it out. Unfortunately it was closed over the weekend so we had to skip past it and move onto the sports arenas. As we came upon the first one there were people outside singing and chanting. My first thought was football hooligans. Upon a closer inspection I found out that I was wrong. It was Hockey Hooligans!!! It was strange to be in a Hockey mad country again after being away from Canada for nearly 11 months now. Of course we rushed to the ticket office and stood in line to get some tickets. When we were about 10 people back in line a guy came out and announced that they had just sold out for the game. This was quite upsetting to both of us but we have decided that we will just have to come back to Sweden to see a game later and pre book tickets ahead of time.

Just down the road is the football stadium with its curved ends. There was no game on so we went back to the hotel for a quick rest before the evening. We stopped off at a Spa where Megan tried to get me a Swedish Massage but that was completely booked up and we didn't see any other spas around the rest of the weekend. Oh well something else to add to the list for next time.
That night we went for a walk again north of the canals to see that part of the city by night. We stopped at the hard rock again to get a giant sundae to share followed by a beer as the rain poured down. The rest of the night was just spent walking around and taking a few night photos.

We were up bright and early on Sunday morning trying to get a much in as we could. We did a bit of souvenir shopping and before heading out to the airport at 11am. We picked up a cheap set of Sweden playing cards to pass the time at the airport until our flight. We arrived back at Stansted where my mum picked us up and we all went out for a meal at the Thatcher’s pub in Hatfield Heath. After the meal we had to say goodbye and make the long trek back down the M11, M25, and M4 in the pouring rain. It was nice to get home though. All in all it was an amazing trip and one that took me by surprise. Thank you so much Megan it was a definitely a birthday I won't forget.

Below are a few more photos we took. I had a tough time picking them out so I put another 100 photos up on my msn space for everyone to look at if they want. Enjoy.

Try and pronounce that!!!

7-Elevens still exist

The Stereotypes are true.....I am refering to the trees either side of the path...

Time for some payback

Well my parents are over in England and they must have decided to it was time for a little payback as they came to stay for the weekend. The first thing my dad did was go into the bathroom and take the towels off the rack and stuff them back to make it look as messy as possible. I guess I can't complain though. He did have to put up with it for more than a weekend. Actually it was more like 23 years but hey whose counting. Its funny how that you really seem to clean things up when you are paying for your own place.

Anyways they arrived on Thursday night where Megan cooked a great Lasagne which went over very well. Then we went for walk along the Severn River to see the bridges that cross into Wales. Friday Megan and I had to work so my parents walked the path again enjoying the view. That night we drove down to Devon to see my grandmother in a small town called Harberton Ford. It was pretty late when we got there so all just went to bed.

The next morning we went to a place called Cockington which is a great little village of not far from Torquay. All the houses and stores are thatched roof cottages and there are countless gardens and ponds to walk around. We had lunch in one of the cafes in the middle of a garden. Not far away was a man playing oldie songs on the piano in the white Gazebo.

We made our way over to Paignton Pier after this but could not find a place to park. It was just packed. So instead we went to the beach not far away called Goodrington. We watched a few people in the water doing the kite surfing and I decided that this was something I have to try now. It looks like so much fun. There is also a small arcade there where we played the penny games. After about £2 we finally one a token from the games. The prize was a small frog keychain worth maybe 25p but that isn't really the point is it?

We left early the next morning to get back to Bristol as Megan had a photo shoot she had to get to. It went really well and the photos turned out amazing but somehow I don't think I will be posting some of them on the blog. That night we went out for dinner in Wales in a little pub next to Tintern Abby. The food and beer was great and it was nice to spend some time with my parents.


On the way back we stopped in at Chepstow Castle but it was really dark so we couldn't see much of the castle from the outside. We did see quite a few bats around. We drove back to England after that and made our way home. The next morning I was back at work and my parents made there way up to London where my dad flew out the following day back to Canada. I will be up that way this weekend so I will get to spend a little more time with my mum before she fly’s back to Canada on Wednesday.

So now things are back to normal and we don't have any more visitors planning to come over at the moment. I only have .5 days left of time off from work so it will just be a few day trips for the next 2 months. I am sure my bank account will like the sound of that. I will however try and keep things interesting though for the sake of you faithful readers. Cheers.

The Remaing Days of the trip

Day 8 Saturday September 30, 2006

The last few days were not as eventful and most of the things we did have been covered already on the blog so I will try and be brief. We took the train from Harlow to Liverpool Street and did the usual quick tour of London. We started at Trafalgar Square and Buckingham Palace and made our way over to Big Ben, Westminster, and the London Eye. Instead of the usual walk along south bank we took the one way river cruise on the Thames down to Tower Bridge. The boat was great and offered a great view of London from a different perspective. We walked over to St. Paul’s Cathedral and had a quick bite to eat in the Crypt Cafe before walking to a tube stop a mile or so away as St. Paul’s tube stop was closed for renovations. We wondered down to Marble arch and along Oxford Street to do some shopping. We jumped on the tube and a few stops later we were at Piccadilly Circus. We walked through Leicester Square, where we had dinner at a place called Garfunkel’s (Mike you might remember that place).

A typical London Bus

Infront of Westminster

It was getting dark by this time and we wanted to take a few night shots of Tower bridge so we made our way back to Tower hill. Half and hour later we made our way back to Liverpool street just in time to catch the fast train back to Harlow. We made the short drive back to Hatfield Heath passing David Beckham’s house and went straight to the pub for a few drinks.

Not really London related but still a cool shot of the moon.

Day 9 Sunday October 1, 2006

After a bit of a sleep in we decided to make our way over to Stonehenge. As we got to the M25 we found that the top of the highway was closed. There were cars everywhere and the exit put us on to the M25 heading in the wrong direction as it was too late to turn around before this. Instead of going to the next exit we decided to just stay on the road and go around in a circle the other way which was a bit longer but at least it was a highway instead of taking the small roads. We sat in traffic off and on as you always do on the M25 and finally made it to Stonehenge after a few hours. Not much to say really as I seem to be at Stonehenge at least once a month. We were just there so Matt could have a look. Well after that we made the drive back to Severn Beach and it was a great feeling to get home. Instead of going to a pub we put on a movie and drank the largest bottles of Stella I have ever seen.

Day 10 Monday October 2, 2006

We spent most of Monday relaxing and Matt spent it packing and getting things together. I did take him over to Wales though so he could Chepstow Castle and Tintern Abbey. Both have previously been covered on the blog recently. We also did a bit of shopping down at cribs causeway (the mall Megan works at) and then went back to our place to make 5 CDs for Matt of all the photos taken on the trip. About a 1000 photos in total. To finish the night off we had a few more drinks and a few games of fifa 2005 on the xbox.



Day 11 Tuesday October 3, 2006

Well not much more to say about the trip really. Megan had to work so I took her to work while Matt packed up and got ready. Then about mid day we set off to Cardiff airport where I said goodbye to Matt. It was a great trip and I hope Matt enjoyed it just as much. Maybe he will even read this and post a comment about it. We saw a lot of England on the trip and hopefully the next trip will be just as fun. We have a few more ideas of local trips but the main ones around here would be a trip around Wales and a trip around Ireland. Better get back to work though so I can afford to take the time off for them. Cheers.

Robin Hood and Nottingham

Day 7 Friday September 29, 2006

After leaving the hotel it was only about an hours drive to the visitor centre at Sherwood Forest. Now I am assuming you all know what makes Sherwood Forest so famous. Even though it is famous for Robin Hood there is no proof whatsoever that this is based on a real person or a true event. Anyways this doesn't stop the whole area cashing in off the old tale. All the pubs, stores, and parks have some sort of reference to the story. I saw at least 2 pubs with the name Little John. When we got to the visitors centre is was pouring with rain. We had a quick bite to eat and then walked around the indoor part of the exhibition checking out the story of the forest and seeing a lot of stories about Robin Hood. We all picked up a little something from the gift shop (I got the original story of Robin Hood for 99p) and made our way in the rain to the Major Oak. This tree is massive and looks like it might lost a few of the bigger branches. It is now held up by a few structural supports though to stop this. The walk was more fun I think than seeing the Major Oak as we were the only ones on the path. We walked back to the car getting soaked and made our way over the town of Nottingham.



We took the tram at the park and ride into the city centre and our first stop was the Tourist information where I found out where the Hardrock Cafe was. After getting the shot glass and Matt picking up a Nottingham Zippo we made our way to the south end of city to find the caves entrance. We walked around in circles trying to find the entrance. We followed the map, we followed the signs, and we walked around small ally ways not finding the entrance. Then we thought we would check inside the mall that was around the area. As we went down the escalator the entrance the caves was on our left. What a strange place to have the entrance to the tourist attraction. Anyway we found it in the end and the caves where really amazing. It is a city beneath the city and they are hundreds of years old. Poor people in Nottingham even found themselves paying rent to live in a section of the caves and finding jobs down there. We had a guided tour which showed us about life and jobs in the caves and then went on to a section we showed how many English people fled to the caves during the WWII bomb attacks on the city.





Upon leaving this we walked over to the Robin Hood Statue and the castle. It was getting rather late in the day by this point so we walked around a bit more of the city checking out the Robin Hood store and a few old pubs before we got the tram back to the car and drove/sat in a lot of traffic on the M1 towards London. We arrived at my grandmothers in time to head on down the infamous White Horse (where we take all the visitors) for a much deserved pint or 3.

Lakes, Leeds, and another shot glass

Day 6 Thursday September 28, 2006

Once we were full on another full English breakfast we said goodbye to the B&B in Millom and went on our way.

Our main destination was a lake called Wast Water which is supposedly the prettiest lake in the district and also the hardest to get to. We made it there going through small towns and very narrow roads. We had stop once to let a farmer and cows cross the road which took about 10min but its to be expected and as we wern't in a rush it didn't bother us at all. It was about 30min of this until we caught our first glimpse of the lake and knew it was definitely worth the drive. We drove all the way along the road next to the water seeing sheep, rock cliffs, and a few stone bridges. At the end of the lake is a hotel and campsite which would have been perfect to stay at but of course the we didn't know it was there the night before. We stopped a few times to check out the scenery and explore a bit of the countryside before turning around and heading back the way we came. Which was the only way to go as it was a dead end road. Here are some photos from Wast Water below.






Since we had driven a full circle around Cumbria (lake district) at this point and we had no real plans for the next few days other than make it down to London we decided to drive across England to the East side through the Yorkshire Dales and see some of the major cities over there. Our next stop that day was Leeds which was only about a 2 hour drive from where we were. Now some of you must be asking why Leeds of all places? All I know was the fact that it had a Hardrock Cafe only played a small part in the decision to go there.

To be honest though Leeds is just another big city in with some really cool old buildings, great shopping district, and a fun indoor market. We explored the downtown area for a few hours and I got to get my shot glass. We had a quick bit to eat at Burger King, did one final walk back to the bus, and made our way to the car. We drove for only about an hour before grabbing a place for the night at a highway service centre motel which was quite cheap and gave us a discount at the service centre, where we grabbed a quick snack and sat at the tables to play some cards. There was nowhere around to grab a beer so we just went back to the motel and called it a night.




Stay tuned for Nottingham and London....

The Lake District

Day 5 Wednesday September 27, 2006

We set off about 9am again from the cabin and we were all pretty sad to leave it. It was one of the best places we stayed at on the trip. We started the day off by walking down to the water and checking out the stores along the way. We went off in search of a camera store at the top of the town as Matt's 1gb xd memory had become corrupt and he lost all his photos from Manchester. He ended up picking up at 256mb card which worked fine for the rest of the trip. We had breakfast in a small cafe in the town of Windermere. When the waitress came to ask me how I wanted my eggs I told her "over easy". She didn't quite understand so I thought I would just try something else. "How about Sunnyside up?". Still, I just recieved the same blank stare from the waitress. After a few moments she replied "oh you mean you want dippy eggs?". Somehow I don't think that is what they are really called but hey when your in northern England I guess you just go with it.


After a bit of a walk around town we set out to take in the scenery of the Lake District. We drove north on some really small narrow passages up towards Ullswater lake stopping at least 5 times to take photos and also a few panoramas that I will never end up stitching together or posting on here. lol. Ok well maybe I will do one or two. Ullswater was amazing and all the stories we had heard about it were true. Just north of the lake we did a 2 mile hike to a waterfall called Aira Falls which just asked us to take tons of photos. At the top of the waterfall was a small stone bridge where we made our way up to after. From here we made our way over to the town of Keswick. On route we stopped to check out Castlerigg Stone Circle which is another stone circle but still was really impressive with the backdrop.




Our main reason to stop in Keswick was to see the famous museum there called "Cars of the Stars". This museum has tons of cars from the movies. The highlight for me was the Seeing the Aston Martin DB5 from Goldfinger and for those who remember back to the 80's the original Chutty Chutty Bang Bang. Other cars that were there were the Harry Potter car, Kit from nightrider, The A team van, Mr Beans mini, etc. So we were all pretty excited to see these. The major disappointment was when we were not allowed to take photos of the cars and when I wasn't able to see the other 5 James Bond cars they had. They said is was because they didn't have enough room so they only show one at a time and cycle the others throughout the year. Oh well what can you do. We walked around the town a bit checking out the camping stores and whatnot and then drove the road that goes around Derwent water. This lake was once again absolutely stunning and so picturesque that we spent a lot of the time taking photos and also just enjoying the view. There were a few sections as we drove up some mountains where we weren’t sure if the car was going to make it. But we made it all the way around and drove to the town of Cockermouth to find a place to stay for the night.



This is where the problems began as everywhere fully booked up. We tried trailer sites, hotels, motels, for a least an hour as we drove down the west coast of England. We finally found a small place that had a twin room for only £48 a night. As we had been doing Megan waited in the car while we went in and asked for a room. We never specified how many people it was and this old lady never asked. Although, she did see us trying to sneak Megan in. When she saw this she just went off. On and on how we didn’t tell her there were 3 of us and how that was not allowed. The result was us telling her to give me the money back and been sent on our way. We also had the key to the room in our pocket as well. We realised this and debated weather to turn around to give it back to her and in the decided it was a good idea as she had all our information. Anyways we kept on driving in the dark along narrow hedge roads in the rain. Good old England. After another hour and a half we finally found a amazing B and B that took us all in giving us 2 rooms for a great price and some awesome food at night and a full English Breakfast in the morning. It was the best place we stayed and the people were so friendly. Next time I am up that way I will definitely stay there again. We were all very tired from the drive so we had a few beers, watched the football game, and went to bed.

More lake district to come.....