First Week (England & Scotland)

Hey Everyone,

I figured that I would write a blog about once a week while I’m here. I’m not going to be able to write out everything that I experience (I’m keeping a journal of every single thing so you can ask me about it when I get back) but I will hit up some of the highlights. Lets see, a week ago from today I was just arriving in London Heathrow. A few things went wrong at the start of my trip with the 3 things that could be the worst to happen when traveling; customs, no place to stay, no access to money. Needless to say, everything worked out fine in the end, just have to have a little bit of patience. I got to explore the north part of London, which included Arsenal’s Emirates Stadium and Camden. While waiting for a few things to be sorted out, I went out for a nice long walk, which ended up being about 3 hours and that’s when I got to explore Camden. Honestly without the older historic buildings, it just seems a lot like NYC, at least that area. The next day I went to Liverpool and happened to hit quite a few things by luck. The coach that I happened to choose was the only one that didn’t have reserved seating, and the train was completely packed with people standing the entire trip because of the Man U v Liverpool game. I sat next to a pretty cool guy, Scott, who happened to probably be the only other Man U supporter on the train. He also told me about some places that I should hit up while I was in England, which I did and was very appreciative of it! Off the train, I was able to drop off my stuff at the hotel, and walked to Anfield to try to get tickets to the game. Once I got there, they were completely sold out, so I ended up grabbing some chips and curry and going to a pub next to the stadium that was filled with Liverpool hooligans. I was very grateful not to be wearing my United jersey at that point or I prolly would be dead. After a disappointing loss for Man U, I walked back to town and headed out to Albert Dock. Definitely a cool place along with the downtown area. The following morning, I went to Blackpool, which is considered, as Scott said, England’s mini-Vegas. It was a really nice town by the sea that has the Blackpool Tower, which looks like a smaller version of the Eiffel Tower. I went to the Blackpool v Chelsea game while there. What an amazing experience! Their games are unlike anything that we have in the US. I loved hearing the team fans yelling their chants back and forth at each other, and its not just like one or two people yelling these chants, but the entire sections of fans. I hope that I get to come back in the future and experience another Premiere League game. The following day, I went to Manchester and got to go to “Mecca” for any Man U fan, which is Old Trafford stadium. That place is truly an amazing sight. I would say the only stadium that could rival it is the new Cowboys stadium, and even then, that’s just because there is a giant tv. I actually could have gotten tickets for their game against Arsenal for this Saturday, but it would have completely destroyed my budget, which I still almost went for it. I guess I’ll see if I really regret not spending the money on going or not (I kind of already do). If I had gone, I would be coming home much earlier, so I guess good for rational thinking, but at the same time…..The next day I went to Glasgow and did a bunch of random little things there. I also found out this day that I have about 5 blisters on my left foot, which is definitely no good. I think its due to the fact that my pack adds so much weight and my feet aren’t used to it quite yet. Also walking about 8-10 miles a day can pay its toll, but I’ve figured out a few ways to fix it all and improvise. Its kinda nice to have a brain sometimes. Last night I was in Inverness, the gateway to Loch Ness, or for those that were there last night, the home of the torrential downpour. I couldn’t make it past 2 miles out of the town because of standing water, so I ended up turning around and went back to town and found things to do there. I want to come back here and see all the different lochs and go out to Skye as well, but I will definitely have a car when that happens. Everywhere I go, I keep meeting people from all over, which is really cool. So far I’ve talked with a few people from London, a couple from Germany, one from South Africa, one from Prague, and another from Yale back in the States. I just hope that I don’t run out of finding people to speak English with, otherwise, I think I could go crazy. ;)