Trips, trips and more trips
This entry tells all about my trips, though hopefully only highlights that aren't too long, so if you don't want to read all about it, you don't have to. :) Yeah!
So this last few days I have done lots and lots of trips, and finally appreciate my Inter Rail ticket, which allows me to go on any train, any time I want. So, first off. I visited Kettering, which is most known for it's shoe making business long ago. Now, I went to see it because my friend, Martyn, lived there. The trip went well, he showed me around the town, took me for a drive and we saw a true country pub and, of course, had a drink. :) I also met quite a few people who enjoyed chatting, including a rector who told me the whole history of his church, the bells in the church and how you repair said bells, there was also a man on the train who explained to me how the Israelies had been those behind the attack on the World Trade Center.
The day after Kettering I went on a scenic train trip to Carlisle, near the border of Scotland and England. The trip was quite pretty, and except for the heavy winds and freezing rain, what I saw of Carlisle was quite nice.
Friday, the day after that, my sister and I headed up to Edinburgh for the weekend, and it was so absolutely wonderful of her to come, especially when she worked on Friday and today, when we got back last night. Edinburgh was amazing, it's a town that has managed somewhow to keep more of a old town feel to it than most big cities I've been in. The castle there was beautiful, though expensive, and it had some amazing history to it, and it even holds the Honours which were used in old days to crown a Scottish monarch, needless to say, they haven't been worn and used really in awhile, since Elizabeth isn't really Scottish, but I think she has been able to touch them. The tour guide was quite funny, and so was the archery and sword fighting demonstration, which ended amusingly with a girl being exchanged by her friends for the two cows the demonstrators offered to trade for her.
Otherwise, we also saw Greyfriar's Kirk, the high Kirk of St. Giles, and the Royal Museum, which held an unappealing amount of stuffed dead animals. Thank goodness they had the nice fish ponds in the center of the building to take your mind off of it. The second day we went in a lovely garden that was right below the castle, which had a wonderful flower clock in it, and a beautiful fountain and there we met a lovely old man who comes twice a week to feed the birds and squirrels, who knew they ate cheese and hard-boiled eggs. We then returned home on a horribly delayed train and had a long fiasco, but it all worked in the end and I was able to eat Pepperoni Pizza when we got home.
Today, I got up and went to Nottingham, which has some quite lovely places to visit, including the remains of the old castle there, the two churchs I wandered around, but couldn't get in because they were closed. There was a great museum which showed life there in the late 1800's and early 1900's which was extremely good, and just south of the castle. One interesting thing I saw, a cathedral that had been turned into a piano shop, quite shocking at first and then rather amusing.
So, I hopefully took some good pictures through it all, when I remember to take them. Now I just have a couple more days in Manchester and then a day and a half in London, which should be a blast. Then back to France, which should be good times.
So this last few days I have done lots and lots of trips, and finally appreciate my Inter Rail ticket, which allows me to go on any train, any time I want. So, first off. I visited Kettering, which is most known for it's shoe making business long ago. Now, I went to see it because my friend, Martyn, lived there. The trip went well, he showed me around the town, took me for a drive and we saw a true country pub and, of course, had a drink. :) I also met quite a few people who enjoyed chatting, including a rector who told me the whole history of his church, the bells in the church and how you repair said bells, there was also a man on the train who explained to me how the Israelies had been those behind the attack on the World Trade Center.
The day after Kettering I went on a scenic train trip to Carlisle, near the border of Scotland and England. The trip was quite pretty, and except for the heavy winds and freezing rain, what I saw of Carlisle was quite nice.
Friday, the day after that, my sister and I headed up to Edinburgh for the weekend, and it was so absolutely wonderful of her to come, especially when she worked on Friday and today, when we got back last night. Edinburgh was amazing, it's a town that has managed somewhow to keep more of a old town feel to it than most big cities I've been in. The castle there was beautiful, though expensive, and it had some amazing history to it, and it even holds the Honours which were used in old days to crown a Scottish monarch, needless to say, they haven't been worn and used really in awhile, since Elizabeth isn't really Scottish, but I think she has been able to touch them. The tour guide was quite funny, and so was the archery and sword fighting demonstration, which ended amusingly with a girl being exchanged by her friends for the two cows the demonstrators offered to trade for her.
Otherwise, we also saw Greyfriar's Kirk, the high Kirk of St. Giles, and the Royal Museum, which held an unappealing amount of stuffed dead animals. Thank goodness they had the nice fish ponds in the center of the building to take your mind off of it. The second day we went in a lovely garden that was right below the castle, which had a wonderful flower clock in it, and a beautiful fountain and there we met a lovely old man who comes twice a week to feed the birds and squirrels, who knew they ate cheese and hard-boiled eggs. We then returned home on a horribly delayed train and had a long fiasco, but it all worked in the end and I was able to eat Pepperoni Pizza when we got home.
Today, I got up and went to Nottingham, which has some quite lovely places to visit, including the remains of the old castle there, the two churchs I wandered around, but couldn't get in because they were closed. There was a great museum which showed life there in the late 1800's and early 1900's which was extremely good, and just south of the castle. One interesting thing I saw, a cathedral that had been turned into a piano shop, quite shocking at first and then rather amusing.
So, I hopefully took some good pictures through it all, when I remember to take them. Now I just have a couple more days in Manchester and then a day and a half in London, which should be a blast. Then back to France, which should be good times.