After living just over a year in England, I thought it was time to actually SEE England.
York
It wasn't the best start of the trip and it almost became my worst nightmare. The tube ran a little slow on the way to London’s King Cross (I'm going to blame it on the fact that there was a tube strike the day before). Sure enough, I missed my train to York by 2 minutes. I immediately started to have a little freak out because I knew a new train ticket would cost a fortune. I approached the ticket counter still breathing heavily (maybe trying to be dramatic) and asked the gentleman if there was any chance I could catch the next train to York. He asked why and my response was there were delays on the tube. He then took my ticket and my oyster card (tube travel card) and went into a back room. I stood at the counter for what seemed like ages when he came back and told me there were no delays on the tube BUT he saw that I left at reasonable time, couldn't understand why I wasn't able to get there on time, and gave me a new ticket for free. Phew! I luckily was able to leave 15 minutes later.
Once I arrived in York, the beauty of the city was not lost on me. It’s small and quaint, and the tourists have yet to ruin it. After dropping my bag off at the hostel, I first stopped at a park called the Museum Gardens. Contained in the gardens was St. Mary’s Abbey, ruins of a cathedral type building.
Next, I walked on over to York Minster which is probably the most iconic landmark for York.
Everything was in walking distance by the way, that’s how small the town is. From York Minster, I went and saw what’s called the Shambles. This is exactly what I imagined old time England to be in say the 18th century.
After that, I decided to walk along the Wall that encircles York…I believe this was from the Romans. After walking the wall, there was Cliffords Tower, an old fortress that used to be part of York Castle.
After checking into my hostel, I went and checked out the National Railway Museum which was kind of interesting I guess. By this time, I needed food and what better to get in Yorkshire than some Yorkshire Puddings! They were somewhat disappointing, a part of me believes they may have been baked from frozen, and I had a better one in Manchester…but that story will come later.
Newcastle-upon-Tyne
On Saturday, I headed up to Newcastle, also known as “Geordie Shore”…the UK version of Jersey Shore. I caught another lucky day of weather and went and saw the old Castle Keep and the Millenium Bridge before heading over to the coast.
Just a quick half hour away from the centre of Newcastle was Tynemouth and I immediately fell in love as the station exit had a weekend market. This market was really refreshing as well as it I actually defined it a true market in my mind, where everything is actually cheap. All the markets you go to in London, everything is still so expensive.
I had more reason to like Tynemouth when I saw the ocean…and what’s that…a sand beach!? I’ve become accustomed to pebble beaches while living in the UK. Before stepping foot on the beach, I took a look at the Castle Priory and walked along the Dock all the way to the lighthouse. Once I did step onto the beach, it was a weird sensation to feel sand under my feet again. I also had a laugh at the fact that I have never been to a beach where everyone is fully clothed. Only a handful of people were down to their swimsuits as it was maybe not hot enough to shed some clothing. I have feeling, however, if conditions were the same back home, the beach would still be packed and everyone would have their shirts off. You’d think the British would be used to this weather by now! Well, after laying in the sand for a bit, I went a got some Fish & Chips before heading back to the hostel to end the day!
Manchester
My next stop was Manchester, a much bigger city than the previous two. My first point of interest was the Museum of Science and Industry, which I must say was a little disappointing. However, they did have a massive plane hangar which made up for it in the end. This took up some time so by the end, I was ready for lunch. I was thinking of getting a Sunday Roast Lunch but instead, I ran into a food market along the way, in which I decided to postpone my roast to Dinner. Why you ask? Because I got my hands on a pulled pork mac n cheese grilled cheese! It was delicious. After scarving that down, I went and saw the Gay Village, Alan Turing Memorial, Chinatown, City Council building, Manchester Cathedral, National Football Museum, and John Ryland’s Library. By the end of it, I was exhausted and decided to settle down for my Sunday Roast Dinner, which was awesome.
Manchester was probably the least favourite that I visited to be honest. Even though I did a lot, not much of it was all that interesting. However, I recognized that it would probably be a fun place to go with friends, not by yourself…like me.
Liverpool
My spirits were dampened when I first arrived in Liverpool as a.) It was a very early start for me b.) it was pouring rain. I persevered though and by the time I had went and saw the Metropolitan Cathedral, the clouds started to part ways for some blue sky.
With my spirits lifted, I walked down to Albert Dock where there was lots of restaurants, shops, and museums. In particular, I visited the National Maritime Museum which had an interesting Titanic exhibition going on.
After that, I went and saw Liverpool Cathedral which was actually really impressive. I'm not sure if my mind was playing tricks on me but it seemed like it was the biggest cathedral I had ever seen. I actually just looked this up and it is the 5th largest cathedral in the world. It was free entry as well and the inside was just as impressive with some stunning design and architecture.
After the cathedral, I decided to make a long walk over to the famous Penny Lane. I’ll be honest, I'm not so sure why the Beatles thought this street to be so special but it made for a good picture! Along the way back, I sat for some time in Sefton Park, which was lovely. They sure know how to do parks in England. My trip then came to an end it was time to head back to London.
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