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Author Topic: About My Trip to England  (Read 2872 times)

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Offline konkrypton

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About My Trip to England
« on: February 25, 2014, 04:44:24 pm »
Hi all, I posted back in August that I had a chance to go to England for the Doctor Who 50th celebration and realized I should have posted back afterward. Here's my thoughts about the country and people.

We arrived at Heathrow in the morning after a looooong flight. I found it impossible to sleep both because we were in the middle row, with people coming in and out all the time, but also it was my first trip abroad and I was too excited to sleep.

As soon as we got through customs (no problems with any of my med stuff), we were approached to buy a ticket for the express train to London. It was round trip, so we bought it. The Heathrow Express train was very cool! It zoomed us to Paddington station, which is amazing. We made sure to stop at the Paddington Bear store and get stuff for my nieces & nephews. For those who don't know, Paddington Bear is a character in a set of children's stories, who was named for the station where he was found because he didn't have a name.

After leaving the station, we caught a cab to our hotel in southeast London, near the convention center and the docks. It was cold, wet, drizzly, just like you have always heard. Yuck. The cab ride through London was a bit scary, but he got us to the hotel, and it cost 50 pounds, about $65! From then on, we used the subway/train system, much cheaper.

We visited Harrod's store and bought some stuff there. The chocolatier was very pricey, but I brought some home for my roommate. We had fish and chips, a huge piece of cod, beer battered and deep fried golden brown with chips (fries) and malt vinegar or tartar sauce. The waitress even brought catsup for us stupid Americans, LOL. The fish was light and flakey and done perfectly, very tasty!

We ate breakfast at the hotel every day, they had a great buffet with everything from home fries and sausages (bangers), to cereal and home made muffins and mini croissants. Apparently it's also standard to serve beans with breakfast, which seemed weird. We were near the Prince Regent train stop, so we took it into downtown London when we were shopping and to catch the bus tour.

The tour took us to Windsor castle, which is very cool and has it's own set of shops and hotels surrounding it. Then off to Stonehenge, which isn't as large as it seems on TV. It was very cold and windy on the hill, making it hard to hear the recorded "tour guide" they give you. Got lots of pictures.

Last part of the tour was Bath, which is a town in England that goes all the way back to Roman times. It started because there was a natural spring there, and it was supposed to have healing properties. The Romans built a town and Roman-style baths based on the spring water, but used lead pipes, which makes the water unsuitable for consumption or bathing these days. But the whole town is made of this beautiful limestone that is native to the area, and it's a gorgeous honey gold color.

We had high tea one afternoon at a hotel in London. It was so great, the tea was delicious and the finger sandwiches were amazing. There was salmon, roast beef, egg salad (which they call "egg mayonnaise") and cucumber, each with a bit of seasoning that brought out the flavor of the main ingredient without overpowering it. Very nicely done. And then the pastries! Every single one was unique, no two being the same, and were such delicate things! Very delicious.

The Doctor Who convention on Saturday was amazing! People dressed as their favorite Doctors, and my friend went as Tom Baker and I as Captain Jack Harkness. We saw Steven Moffett, the current show runner, along with old Doctors Tom Baker, Colin Baker, Peter Davison and Sylvester McCoy. Matt Smith, the 11th Doctor, was there also, and he's so cute and funny in person! He was really nice to the kids there.

Sadly, we couldn't get tickets to the 50th Anniversary episode viewing, so we watched it in our hotel room, which had cable that kept having glitches in the picture/sound. But we made the best of it by ordering room service and had a good time.

Everywhere we went, people were nice, even after they realized we were American. We were never treated like "Ugly Americans." In fact, our tour guide had been to American a few times and really liked Americans. Everything seemed amazingly clean, including the subway system. No trash or litter all over the place like some American cities. And the people were very nice about giving directions and help, too.

In all, it was an amazing trip, and I highly recommend if you get a chance to go, as I did, TAKE IT! I can't thank my friend enough if I live to be 150. I brought home some 1, 2 and 5 pound coins along with some change and enough pictures and memories to last a lifetime. Which is good, because I can't afford to go back on my own, LOL!
KK
--
I distrust morning people. I suspect they setup the rules of life while the rest of us slept.

Offline Theyer

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Re: About My Trip to England
« Reply #1 on: March 03, 2014, 08:04:24 am »
Thank you very much I am delighted that you enjoyed yourself, Tom Baker is such a dear old fruit is he not ? Very very funny raconteur And off course you where not treated like "ugly Americans " because you are not , and I would be alarmed to hear if anybody behaving there self's where treated with any thing but politeness.

You cannot beat a good afternoon Tea , an excellent choice, the Fish and chips really should only have Malt Vinegar and Sea salt. What was scary about the Taxi, was it a black cab?

Michael who loves and resides in London most off the time.
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

Offline konkrypton

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Re: About My Trip to England
« Reply #2 on: April 29, 2014, 12:19:00 am »
Michael,

I really should check the board more often! Yes, I knew the fish & chips should have been eaten with malt vinegar, but I love tartar sauce! And chips (fries in American) are just edible utensils for eating ketchup.  ;)

Yes, it was a black cab, and he drove just like cabbies in New York! I found it scary, but perhaps a native Londoner wouldn't. Tom Baker was a joy! He was my first Doctor, I remember when he regenerated into Peter Davison, it was such a radical change! All of the former Doctors as well as Matt Smith were so much fun. It was a brilliant trip, truly.

Kevin
KK
--
I distrust morning people. I suspect they setup the rules of life while the rest of us slept.

Offline Theyer

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  • Current ambition. Walk the Dog .
Re: About My Trip to England
« Reply #3 on: April 29, 2014, 08:31:16 am »
Who gets the role off THE DOCTOR is not something that is lightly engaged in. You are going to have to hold your own on the most demanding British stages before they allow you to run around stone Quarries and have a giggle.

The big debate is who will be the first Woman Doctor. I am all For Judy Dench , that final Pension top up and she can work from home.

Black cab drives very very rarely crash or vote Labour or say , "In my humble opinion" , they do however recognize when you are ill and will help and if they can put the willies up {scare} a couple off tourists they just might turn it on a bit. {exaggerate the ducking n diving-driving .
"If we can find the money to kill people, we can find the money to help people ."  Tony Benn

 


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