Day 57 to 64

Day 57: Tuesday 16^th August

Off to Edinburgh

So Katherine and I caught the 9:15 train into London and arrived at Kings Cross at about 11 and then met up with Bridget (Katherine’s friend whom we spent the majority of London with) in a pub in Kings Cross. After a delicious lunch, the three of us caught a train at 2pm to Edinburgh.

What was amazing was that once we crossed the border from England to Scotland, we were engulfed into a curtain of fog and rain. Honestly, it was the most stereotypical thing and had us all in hysterics. When we got out at the main station it was absolutely bucketing down with rain. Luckily, I had my umbrella at easy reach but poor Bridget and Katherine had no umbrella! The three of us arrived at the hostel (which was in the centre) completely drenched. Frankly, it looked like Bridget and Katherine had had a shower in all their clothes and with their bags!

After checking in, the three of us dumped our stuff in our room which took 398583 minutes to find. The receptionist forgot to mention that there were two buildings and that only the 2^nd one had half floors – we were on floor 3M so after running around like headless chickens with huge backpacks we eventually found our room.

We spent the afternoon wondering around the old part of the city. The centre of Edinburgh has two parts – the old and the new. We stayed in the old centre which had cobble stone streets and stone buildings. The main street of the old part was completely bustling with people as the Edinburgh Festival was on! The Edinburgh Festival is a festival of up and coming dramatic acts, from comedy, to musicals, to plays and to cabaret shows. The main street has people from a lot of the acts handing out flyers advertising their acts. Some of the performances were free and the others range from really cheap to expensive.

Photo of the Main street

We finished the evening by hanging out in one of the local bars and with a bottle of Champagne!

Day 58: Wednesday 17^th August

We started the morning with our amazing buffet breakfast that was provided by the hostel. We all felt like slight old ladies as we smuggled bread into our bags so we could have vegemite sandwiches for lunch!

After breakfast, we did the free walking tour (once again!) which was fascinating. We learnt about a lot of Scotland’s history. For example, that originally Scotland was a combination of four tribes and that the name the “Scots” came from the Irish tribe!

Unfortunately, a lot of the photos are on Bridget’s camera and so I shall upload them when we have access!

We then had lunch in the main park of Edinburgh underneath Edinburgh Castle which was gorgeous and in true Scottish fashion, it started to rain on our walk home!

Bridget and I

That evening, we went and saw one of the free shows that were apart of the festival. We saw a cabaret show by a group called “The East End Cabaret”. The show was hilarious. They had a mixture of traditional cabaret, their own songs with well known modern songs (i.e. It’s getting hot here… so take off all your clothes!). At the end of the show, we ate dinner at the bar under the hostel and had delicious chicken fajitas before heading to a club known as The Hive.

The club was brilliant. It has two rooms, the first with current dance music and the second with hits from the 90s. We spent hours and hours dancing between the two rooms and meeting loads of people. Weirdest thing that did occur, was that we ran into Michaela Vaughan and Claudia Farrell whilst inside.

Day 59: Thursday 18^th August

This morning, we lined up for at least an hour to buy tickets for three shows we were to see over the next two days.

Once we had bought the tickets, we wondered over to the first venue where we bought traditional Scottish Shortbread to have whilst we watched the shows. The first show we watched was “Hitler the Musical”. To be honest, it was crap. The performances and the songs themselves were very well performed and the actors were very talented, however the story line was useless and not as amusing as it could have been.

We then had lunch at the local pie shop which was delicious before heading to another cabaret show. This show was done as well as the first. This cabaret was one lady acting as four different ladies with four different styles of cabaret. It was very, very well done. As well, it was in the coolest of venues. It was in a innovative modern venue that was built underneath some of the old bridges in the old town.

I’d show you all a photo, but…. As the rest of them… they are on Bridget’s camera!

During the night we were all exhausted from the night before, so we just hung in the bar at the hostel. There was a trivia night which we are proud to say we got the lowest score and one a rubber duck that lights up.

Day 60: Friday 19^th August

Today was our final full day in Edinburgh. We took a day trip out to a town on the coast known as North Berwick. It was stunning.

Bridget on the Coast

We caught the train out and it took about 30 minutes to get there. We wondered around the coast and on the beach for about an hour. It was such a cute town with green hills and for Scotland it was quite warm.

We eventually visited the tourist office, who informed us of a castle which was 35 minutes away by walking. We discovered that this was a lie. A huge lie. We took up this challenge of the uphill walk towards the castle. We passed fields, towns, caravan parks and houses on the walk that ended up being OVER AN HOUR.

The castle itself was so cool. It was set on the side of a cliff and we had to cross two bridges to get to it. Really… I can’t explain it well enough. So, take look at the photos below.

We got back to Edinburgh just before the last theatre production we were to attend. We saw Macbeth being put on by Cambridge students. It was truly amazing. We left the theatre absolutely speechless. The performance was incredibly in your face, meaning that they moved in and out of the audience and they used lighting and sound to increase any emotional reaction one would have. Honestly, it was the best Shakespeare performance I have ever seen.

That evening, we had dinner in the bar underneath the hostel before heading out to the clubs that lay on the cross road to our street. We started off at a reggae club.. which was fun but was a bit quiet, we then moved onto the Hive again. Which I thought was just as fun but Bridget and Katherine did not like the music as much. So we moved onto another club known as ‘Sin’ which was held in a place that was a church. It was the funniest experience I have had in a while. It was a rave club and so Bridget, Katherine and I just danced and danced and danced for the entire time we were in their. Finally, we moved back to the Hive, where we danced until 5am!

Us at the Hive

Day 61: Saturday 20^th August

Off to Dublin

So, after a wonderful sleep in…. okay, well after about 3 hours sleep, Katherine and Bridget got up to speak to their friend Alex at some ridiculous hour and then because we were off to Dublin today we also had to packed our bags and check out.

After completing those tasks, we had a fantastic breakfast and then Bridget headed to the train station to get a train back to London and Katherine and I got onto a shuttle bus to go to the airport.

The flight itself was really uninteresting – we fell asleep before it took off and woke up as it was landing!

When we finally checked into our accommodation in Dublin it was something like 4:30 so, we decided to have a little look around before sitting in the pub near where we were staying and got some early dinner before heading to be around 10ish.

Day 62: Sunday 21^st August

Today, Katherine and I did the free walking tour around Dublin. It was pretty interesting as we leant why the Irish hate the English and all about the revolutions and the wars that have occurred on their small island.

Did you know, that the main palace in Dublin was held by the British for nearly 700 years? And it used to hold the Irish parliament before the British decided that they had to sent representatives to Westminster Abbey (British Parliament) instead of having their own.

Dublin Palace

Like a lot of European cities, Dublin is situated around a river. It is a pretty city. I wouldn’t say it was gorgeous like some of the other cities, but it is still nice. They have tried to modernize the city with the new millennium (which kind of failed in most of the their eyes).

So, we saw a Cathedral, some bridges, a beautiful park and learnt about the important people within their society. We also learnt about the potato famine which killed nearly 2 million people within Ireland.

After the walking tour, Katherine and I went to various museums and saw some lovely exhibitions on Vikings, Egyptians and the medieval Irish.

That night, we did a pub crawl run by the some company who ran the free walking tour (different to the companies in most cities). It was fun… but definitely not as good as the other cities.

Day 63: Monday 22^nd August

We started relatively early today as we wanted to do a lot. We started by having a

Quick shop whereby Katherine bought a new handbag as hers was breaking. We then headed to the Leprechaun Museum!

Sign to the Leprechaun Museum 

It wasn’t really a Leprechaun Museum, it was more like a really cool place to learn about Irish mythology (where there is a lot). It was honestly so cool. We felt like big kids – not to mention we were probably one of the eldest there without kids!

It was designed very cleverly, as the museum told the stories of ancient mythology that was very important to the Irish people whilst at the same time entertaining for those within the museum. It had a “Big” room, whereby all the furniture was huge and we were meant to feel like leprechauns!

All in all, it was a very cool place!

We then walked to Kilmainham Gaol – which was the main gaol during all the revolutions within Ireland and it was one of the first reformist gaols within Europe.

Reformist gaol meant that it was one of the first gaols to separate male and female inmates and ideally have each person within the gaol in isolation; however the isolation did not occur during the main revolutions as the gaol became very over crowded.

The aim of this gaol (as of any gaol) was to reform these people to fit in with the rest of society as well as increase the safety of the inmates during their stay in the gaol, especially the safety of women.

A wing of the Gaol 

We finished the evening by having a meal in the pub before going to bed rather early as we had to be up at 3:30 the next morning!

Day 64: Tuesday 23^rd August

Off to Paris

So, we got up at 3:30 so we could get a bus to the airport at 4am as we had to be at the airport at 4:30am! We were flying with Ryanair and for those of you who don’t know… it’s a really cheap airline and they make you pay for everything separately. So, the taxes, the flight and checked in luggage all add up to make your ticket. With Ryanair you can pay for either 15kg of luggage each or 20kg but the 20kg is about 20 euro more expensive – so, with Katherine and I both being tight with our money… we chose the 15kg. Amazingly, we got our backpacks down to 14.1kg EACH!!! Although I do reckon that our handbags weighed probably about the same weight.

We got to Paris at about 9:30ish and then got a bus into the centre and finally got to our hotel. We checked in and dumped our luggage before walking around our area and then near the centre where we got to see Notre Dame. Before seeing Notre Dame we managed to find a cheap bakery just around the corner from us which we have used every day in Paris since.

Us in front of the Notre Dame

Eventually, we decided that we were too exhausted and at about 5ish we wondered back to our hotel where we got a baguette for dinner and went to bed after watching Pride and Prejudice.

Well… that’s it so far. I shall update with the rest of France soon!

Au Revoir!

Cait and Katherine xx

Day 47 to 56

Day 47 to 56

Day 47: Saturday 6^th August

This morning we actually got a sleep in which was absolutely fabulous.

We met Vaughan’s girlfriend Amie, who is lovely and the four of us set of at about lunch time to a place called Chichester. Chi is a town about 10 minutes from Vaughan’s town, Bognor Regis and it’s town centre is much larger due to the fact that it has more shops. So, we spent the afternoon wondering around the town and window shopping. When it started to get cold and windy we headed home so we could get ready to go out!

After dinner, the four of us (being Vaughan, Amie, Katherine and myself) headed to a pub in a nearby town where we met a whole group of Vaughan’s friends. We spent the evening going on a pub crawl with them which consisted of going to three different pubs in the area. Katherine and I the whole evening were very taken by all the pubs as they were all very cute – basically they were typical old English pubs. At the second pub, Vaughan and Amie headed home and as his mates had convinced Katherine and I to continue out with them, we headed to the third pub. Well… the last pub wasn’t really a pub. It was a pub but then had a dance floor in the middle of it and yes of course Katherine and I danced for a couple of hours. Eventually Vaughan’s friends were lovely enough to walk Katherine and I all the way back to Vaughan’s.

Day 48: Sunday 7^th August

Today, Katherine and I wondered around the centre of Bognor Regis (Vaughan’s town) with Elliot who is the middle brother within Vaughan’s family (Vaughan is the eldest). He was being quite lovely by showing us all around the town, around the town fair and even took us food shopping before eventually leaving us to run his own errands. Katherine and I then just continued our exploration of Bognor and went and had a look at the fair (which to be honest, wasn’t that interesting). We also we down to the beach which was rather windy and as you can see (photo below) it was all rocky. It reminded us of the beach in Angus, Thongs and Perfect Snogging.

That evening we had a really quiet evening. We just made pasta and watched the second Lord of the Rings.

Day 49: Monday 8^th August

Today was a quiet day as Katherine and I slept in until about lunch time and then eventually we did a big shop at Tescos (the local supermarket.. which is the coolest supermarket ever!).

When we got back Katherine and I made short bread from scratch (which was delicious) and started on dinner. We made chicken tortillas with cheese and fresh salad stuff – which was dearly appreciated by our bodies I am sure.

That night we went to the Southdown, which is one of the local pubs with some of Vaughan and Amie’s friends. The evening was really fun. We drank Pimms with lemonade (traditional English drink) and met some really nice people and show who not all would consider to be nice.

Amie’s photos of Katherine and I at the pub

We eventually walked home with Vaughan, Amie and some of their friends when the pub closed.

Day 50: Tuesday 9^th August

On this bright and sunny day, Katherine, Vaughan, Amie and I all went to Brighton. For those of you who don’t know, Brighton is one of the main cities on the south coast of England.

It was about an hours drive from lovely Bognor and we parked in the centre so we could walk to everything. We started on the main road where we went for a shop – I bought a pair of shorts and a dress and then we headed to a Pizza place where Vaughan could get an unlimited Pizza buffet. Finally, once he had finished stuffing himself with pizza, we went to the main pier. It was pretty cool as it went quite a way away over the water and all along it were food places and various shops. Finally, at the end of the pier there was a carnival. 

After discovering that Vaughan had a slight fear of rollercoasters, we decided that we all must go on one. It was not that big but it still had a loop d loop! It was most definitely worth the whole four pounds!

We ended up leaving Brighton early because there was a riot warning put up for the area. Apparently, there was plans (set up over facebook etc) for everyone to meet up at Brighton’s skate park which was just near where we had parked the car. So, as you can imagine… we left ASAP!

That night Katherine and I made honey and soy chicken and potato bake with a salad for dinner. We haven;’t really worked out how much food is actually required for two or four people… we always and I mean always make too much food. Luckily, Amie’s sister and her girlfriend were at Vaughan’s so we also fed them! It was a delicious meal and it terribly reminded me of home.

Day 51: Wednesday 10^th August

Unfortunately, I woke up rather sick this morning and so today was incredibly boring and hence I won’t bore you with all the details. I’ll sum it up for you! We watched movie after movie and Katherine baked blueberry muffins!

Day 52: Thursday 11^th August

Once again I was sick so I went to the doctor which was an interesting experience. I basically told the doctor what was wrong and then she asked me what I wanted to do to fix it… I thought it was rather bizarre.

I spent the afternoon sleeping instead of watching Troy (which was on the television) and then that evening after dinner we just watched movies which was really nice and meant that I could kind of recover.

Day 53: Friday 12^th August

Today I was still feeling pretty crook so we just hung around the area. We went to this windy hill to take the dog for a walk. The view was absolutely beautiful but it ended up raining. So, in the end we went back home and I napped.

That evening we went to the Fox (another cute local pub) to catch up with some of Vaughan’s mates. Eventually, Martin (Vaughan’s dad) picked us up pretty early and we went to bed.

Day 54: Saturday 13^th August

Today was our last full day in Bognor and luckily, I was feeling a little better.

At about lunch time we headed of to Portsmouth which is another major town in the South and as the name suggest it’s a Port Town! It is actually really pretty on the coast. It has these really old walls which lined the majority of the coast lines. The walls probably at one point were guarding the city from attack.

We spent the afternoon wondering up and down their harbour and looking in their main shops. We then went to the warship museum but instead of going inside, as it was ridiculously expensive, we wondered up and down the wharves and looked at the boats from the outside. It was pretty cool, as they had boats from the 1800’s and boats that had survived both World Wars.

Photo of the Boat from the 1800's

So, as we were flying down the motor way on the way home, suddenly, something from the bottom of the car dropped onto the road and was scraping the road whilst we were driving. We pulled over and Vaughan got out to have a look and reported that “the exhaust pipe had departed the vehicle”. Basically, all that could have gone wrong did. Vaughan did have road side assistance cover and so had to join over the phone which took forever. 200 metres behind us there was another accident (I promise you it had nothing to do with us!) with policemen and ambulances. So whilst we sat waiting for roadside assistance, the highway was closed twice and as well, there was an accident ahead of us which also resulted in the road being closed. Finally, the assistance came after we had been waiting for nearly an hour and fixed the exhaust and then we were off on our way!

That night, we went to the pub again with a lot of Vaughan’s mates. It was nice to say goodbye and have our last chat before we got picked up rather early and went to bed.

Day 55: Sunday 14^th August

So, we packed as soon as we got up which was exciting because it means that we were moving onto our next place but at the same time sad because we were leaving Vaughan and his friends and family.

After a yummy lunch of pasta and fresh cherry tomatos, we headed off to the train station to catch a train to Bath! The train took only two and a half hours and my goodness, Bath is absolutely gorgeous. It is just so picturesque.

Photos of Bath

  

Our hostel was right in the centre of the town and so it meant that we could walk to everything. After we checked in, we wondered around to have a quick look at the town and got incredibly lost which was kind of fun.

Eventually we went and got Thai for dinner which was lovely and then finished the evening off by trying (and failing) to organise the next part of our trip.

Day 56: Monday 15^th August

Today, we had our first big English breakfast this morning which was well overdue. It was huge with egg, bacon, sausages, toast and hash browns – delicious!!!  And then we went and had a look at the big department store nearby where Katherine bought a lovely jumper, which she calls a “Grandma Jumper”.

Photo of the Jumper

Then, at 11:30 we went and met Hugh Bortolotti at the station! It was really lovely to see Hugh – as most of you would know he has been working over in England in a boarding school… and yes… he does have a slight accent at times J!

Hugh’s Pretty Face

We spent the morning at the Roman Baths which were pretty cool. There isn’t really much to say about them except that they were built by the Romans (go figure) and that they were used by those who could afford them and kept by those who couldn’t. There are heaps of ruins there that show the structures of their ancient buildings and some of the baths still bubble as a result of volcanic activity.

Photo of the Baths

Photo of the Ruins

After the Roman Baths, we went for a wonder around the town. We got English fudge, which was unbelievably good and then we went to the Jane Austen Museum. As everyone would know, Katherine absolutely adores Jane Austen’s works and most works from that period, so Hugh and I being wonderful friends went to the museum with her.

It basically gave us an outline of her life, and had examples of costumes from the movies or clothes that would have been worn in the era. The reason the museum is in Bath is because Jane actually lived in Bath for five years after her father died, although they are said to be some of the unhappiest years of her life. She based two novel’s in Bath 1. Northanger Abbey and 2.Persuasion. The first was written earlier in her life and shows her  happy in Bath as she used to holiday there but the second shows how unhappy she was with the superficiality of Bath she discovered when she lived there.

Jane Austen Centre photo

That afternoon, we got incredibly lost (once again) wondering the streets of Bath. But we reckon that it was a good thing, because it meant that we got to see the outskirts of the centre where the locals generally hang out. Eventually, when we got back into town, Katherine and I had a tea with tea sandwiches and scones (very English) whilst Hugh had a steak sandwich (very manly!!!). We finished the afternoon by having a pitcher (jug) of pimms and lemonade at the pub before walking Hugh back to the station.

Katherine and I ate dinner out and then went to a quiet bar where we enjoyed the luxuries of cocktails before heading to bed back at the hostel.

Cheerio All!

I shall update with details about Edinburgh, Scotland and Dublin, Ireland!

Lots of Love

Cait and Katherine