One of my childhood dreams was to study in England. Obviously, I didn't make it. Just in case some of you might get me wrong, I'm not complaining about studying in Prague at all. In fact I'm very grateful that I'm here now. However, it felt good too, to fulfill my dream of going to England. In a way.
It really doesn't matter whether the place was as good as I imagined it. I have realized that most of the time reality is never as good as imagination. It's just the part of 'an old dream coming true' that was really nice.
As soon as I arrived in England, I felt the ease of communication. I almost forgot how easy it was to communicate if you speak the same language as the waiters and cashiers, and everyone around you. I had quite a difficult time understanding their accent, but they spoke a language that I actually understood. Honestly that was so much easier than in Prague.
(The remaining post doesn't include every detail and places visited in the trip. I'm lazy to write everything, and I'm sure most of you are lazy to read anyway, hehe)
Here's the short report of the trip:
London
Adeline, Ian and I spent half of the 12th in London. We walked along the River Thames. Saw some famous tourists' attractions like Tower Bridge, Tower of London, London Eye etc. It was a moody day, good thing for walking around the city. Then we took a train to Newcastle, where Adeline's sister (Serena) is studying. When we arrived at her house, settled everything, it was almost 3 already. It was a tiring day indeed.
Newcastle
I soon found out that Newcastle was a nice place itself. It was green. A big contrast to Prague's current brown and white. Both are attractive, just in a different way. We had a super filling buffet together with Serena and other Malaysians of her university. I also met Piao (now being known as 'Peter'), an ex-classmate from Taylor's there. We had a short tour in the town, led by Alex (Serena's friend). A really friendly guy. That night, we had a dinner with Serena's friends.
Manchester
The next morning, Ian and I left for Manchester from Newcastle. There was a celebration of Chinese New Year in China Town because it was the first day of CNY. We saw the 'dragon' （舞龙）. Although it wasn't good, but it was better than none, haha. A lot of people actually waited along the road for the parade. And I also saw a bit of 京剧 in the Art Gallery. Too bad, we didn't have any activity that night. We asked our hostel receptionist for tourists' spots for the night, but all she could think of was pubs. It was a bit disappointing frankly, but I had a good, long sleep that night really. =p
Liverpool
We left for Liverpool early in the morning. I think Liverpool was more interesting than Manchester. More sight-seeing. We went to the Merseyside Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum, which are situated in the same building, and they were quite interesting, especially the Maritime Museum. The Albert Dock was worth a walk, some photo-shooting. It was at that place, I had my first FRESH, big, PRAWNS for 5 months. T_T (I miss prawns a lot... ). We also went to the Metropolitan Cathedral, which was the first (relatively) modern church I saw during my trips. I saw so many old churches that I forgot that they could be new too, haha.
We left for Liverpool early in the morning. I think Liverpool was more interesting than Manchester. More sight-seeing. We went to the Merseyside Maritime Museum and International Slavery Museum, which are situated in the same building, and they were quite interesting, especially the Maritime Museum. The Albert Dock was worth a walk, some photo-shooting. It was at that place, I had my first FRESH, big, PRAWNS for 5 months. T_T (I miss prawns a lot... ). We also went to the Metropolitan Cathedral, which was the first (relatively) modern church I saw during my trips. I saw so many old churches that I forgot that they could be new too, haha.
London
We went back to London on 15th night to continue exploring London. It was raining the whole day on 16th. We went to the Westminster Abbey in the morning (and in the rain =.=). It looked magnificent. Then, we spent the rest of the day in museums. The British Museum was big, but I found it quite boring, as I didn't really know how to appreciate the statues, pots, plates etc. Most of the things there were artifacts. We almost missed the Museum of Natural History, but luckily we got in anyway. Honestly I found it more interesting than British Museum, but it was packed with lots of people, especially children, making walking and actually appreciating and reading the materials inside quite difficult. My legs really hurt after we finished walking these 2 museums. The day's activities were ended with Trafalgar Square, which was beautiful with the lights on.
The next day, which was our last day in England, we went to the Buckingham Palace, and manage to see the changing of guards. They were not in red uniforms, but grey instead. Then we went to the Guards' Museum. Small, but informative.
We went back to London on 15th night to continue exploring London. It was raining the whole day on 16th. We went to the Westminster Abbey in the morning (and in the rain =.=). It looked magnificent. Then, we spent the rest of the day in museums. The British Museum was big, but I found it quite boring, as I didn't really know how to appreciate the statues, pots, plates etc. Most of the things there were artifacts. We almost missed the Museum of Natural History, but luckily we got in anyway. Honestly I found it more interesting than British Museum, but it was packed with lots of people, especially children, making walking and actually appreciating and reading the materials inside quite difficult. My legs really hurt after we finished walking these 2 museums. The day's activities were ended with Trafalgar Square, which was beautiful with the lights on.
The next day, which was our last day in England, we went to the Buckingham Palace, and manage to see the changing of guards. They were not in red uniforms, but grey instead. Then we went to the Guards' Museum. Small, but informative.
-end of report-
I really enjoyed this trip, even though we missed things like Edinburgh and Stonehenge. Honestly, I wouldn't mind going for the 2nd
I'm really grateful for the chance to visit England. Even though I didn't realize my dream of studying there, but at least I've been there, and saw with my own eyes, how it really was. And I'm grateful to Adeline, who invited me to join her at the first place, and Serena, who provided us with comfortable free accommodation when we were in Newcastle and arranging parts of our transport, and Ian, who made a good travel-mate, haha.
PHOTOS
1 comment:
haha,congrates!
nothing i can say, but is just so GREAT being there!!!!! anyway is great too being in muar having cny... =)
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