So I'm not even going to make up some excuse on why it's been so long since I've blogged because at this points, it's downright ridiculous. I have been really busy, but I'm going to try and get you all caught up.The last weekend of November/first weekend of December, I went to visit
my friend Carmen in Cambridge, UK. She’s
from here, but she and her friend Lucia have been working in Cambridge for the
past four months to try and improve their English. Since I had never been to
London or anywhere else in England, I figured this would be a great way to kill
two birds with one stone: visit a friend and check another country off the
list.
Unfortunately, RyanAir (everyone’s favorite budget airline),
doesn’t fly from Sevilla to London on Thursdays, so I had to catch the bus to
Malaga and fly out of there. It’s a
pretty easy bus ride though, so no big deal.
I tried to get some sleep, but there was this girl a couple seats away
from me talking on the phone almost the whole time. Usually I can tune stuff like that out, but
she was talking in some bizarre language I couldn’t identify and she sounded
just like Marge Simpson. Needless to
say, it was a little distracting. Anyways,
I arrived at the bus station and waited for the bus that goes to the
airport. I remembered from previous
trips that it cost two euros, so I had that ready in my pocket, but when I got
on the bus I saw one price said 2 euros and another said 1.20 euros. When I asked to confirm with the bus driver,
he gave me the dirtiest look, pretended he didn’t understand my Spanish and
said “What???” I was like ummm OK asshole. Then he proceeds to point out
towards the bus stop that says in giant letters 2 euros and says “Look, look
out there!” I was floored. I couldn’t
believe he was so rude. Besides, I
wasn’t even waiting at the actual bus stop because there was a line, so I
didn’t see the sign. As if living in
another country isn’t hard enough, you have to encounter jerks like this who
make you feel stupid. Whatever! I sat down and got over it. I thought my flight was at 8, so I found my
way to the gate at ate some Burger King to kill the time (gross, I know
haha). Turns out that my flight was
actually at 8:50, so I used that extra waiting time to teach myself how to read
again because evidently I forgot. When
it was time to board, I found myself amidst the complete chaos that is totally
typical of a RyanAir flight. Huge lines,
no explanations as to why the lines aren’t moving, flight attendants checking
your bags like hawks. For those of you
have no idea what RyanAir is, which is probably most of you, they are a budget
airline that offers ridiculously cheap flights, but as they say, you get what
you pay for. They are extremely strict
with carry-on baggage size and weight.
Also, you can’t have an extra purse or computer/camera bag or something
like that. Everything has to fit in your
one bag. Even more bothersome, during
the whole flight, they have extremely annoying advertisements and announcements
over the loudspeaker. Other than that,
the flight was fine. I started to panic a bit because unlike my typical self, I
was relatively unprepared for this trip.
I didn’t look into getting from the airport to the city center, nor how
to get to my hostel once I got there. I
also hadn’t changed any euros into pounds, and since I wasn’t getting into
London until about 11 at night, I worried it might be a problem. I tried not to worry too much and decided to
rely on the ridiculous luck I tend to have while traveling, hoping it wouldn’t
run out just yet.
When I stepped off the plane, I was greeted by a biting cold
and an almost freezing rain. Lovely.
Inside the Stansted airport the first thing I saw was a place to change
money. That’s one problem solved. I had
a feeling the rates probably weren’t as favorable since it was an airport, but
I needed cash. It just so happened that
at that same desk they sold tickets for the bus to the city center. Another problem solved. I rushed down to the bus stops in case there
was one leaving soon. It was already late and I really didn’t want to wait for
the next bus. I made it just in the nick
of time, lucky as usual. The bus ride
was a little under an hour, and before I knew it, I was in the center of
London! I got off the bus not knowing
exactly where to go. I could have easily
gotten into a taxi, told them the address to my hostel, and called it a night.
However, since I would be going to Cambridge the next day, this was my only
chance to catch a glimpse of London at night.
So, even though I was freezing and exhausted I wanted to walk. I found what appeared to be metro station and
went in to see if there were any maps. I
was in luck. There was a giant city map
on the wall. I was able to locate the
street of my hostel pretty quick and tried to orient myself the best I
could. For those of you who know me and
my sense of direction, this is not very easy.
I took a picture of the map just in case then set off on my little
adventure. It was a pretty straight shot
from what I could tell, but it was a bit of a hike. I soon found myself surrounded by double
decker buses, fancy taxis, and…ENGLISH!
I don’t know why it surprised me so much, seeing as I was in England,
but all of a sudden I was super aware of the fact that everyone was speaking
English. It was actually quite a relief.
On my way, I passed the London Bridge and some other cool
buildings that I wasn’t quite sure what they were. After a little over a half hour walking, I
made it to my hostel. Before I even
walked into the door, I heard “Moves Like Jagger” blasting from inside. I started to question my decision to book a
hostel that was quoted as “good for partying.”
Oh well. I checked in, and on my
way up to my room, I was greeted by two drunk boys offering to show me to my
room and inviting me to play beer pong.
I told them maybe later, with no intention of actually playing of
course. It was already almost 1 am, and what I was interested in was sleeping. When I got into my room there were already
some people sleeping so I tried not to be too loud. One of the kids woke up and introduced
himself, in his underwear…Ian from Canada. Then, he proceeded to tell me that the other two girls
were also American, and they were passed out because they got super drunk in
the course of losing a game of strip beer pong. Oh boy… He insisted that I come join the party
downstairs but I politely declined. The next day I woke up, got ready, stashed
my backpack in a locker, and headed to the hostel bar for breakfast. I didn’t
have much of a plan for the day besides see as much as I could before I went to
Cambridge at around 4pm. I figured I
would make it back to London at some point to really see the city, so I tried
to have the mindset that whatever I was able to see would be plenty. First
order of business… St. Paul’s Cathedral.  |
| Outside St. Paul's Cathedral |
I decided not to go inside because I’ve been inside a million cathedrals
already, and I just didn’t have the time.
Next, I headed to Shakespeare’s Globe Theater to take a tour. That was something I did want to see the
inside of. I should have done a little
research ahead of time, though, because I had no idea that the actual Globe
burned down like a hundred years ago and this was a replica of what it MIGHT
have looked like. There are no pictures
and only vague drawings of the original, so this was their best effort. It was still really cool and they have all
kinds of old costumes and artifacts from that time. Our tour guide was interesting to say the
least. He was one of those typical
snobby Brits who don’t smile and think everything they have to say is super
important. However, he was really funny
and sarcastic, so I enjoyed it.
 |
| Me inside the Globe Theater |
Next, I made the trek to see Big Ben and the
London Eye, took my pictures, and moved on.
After that, I saw the outsides of Westminster’s Abbey and Buckingham
Palace. Both beautiful, but I’m not sure
they rank that far up on my list of beautiful, super old European
buildings. After that, I was pretty beat
and I noticed my right foot was starting to hurt. I headed back to the hostel, picked up my
backpack, and had a quick burger at the restaurant next door. Next, I caught the metro to King’s Cross
station to catch my train to Cambridge.
I was running a little late, as per usual. One of the only things I really wanted to see
in London was Platform 9 ¾ which is in King’s Cross. For those of you Harry
Potter fans, you know what that is, and for those of you who don’t give two
craps about Harry Potter, then you don’t know what that is. Unfortunately, I
barely made it in time to catch my train and I didn’t have time to pass Platform
9 ¾ . Next time, I suppose.
I arrived in Cambridge at around 5pm and Carmen and her
friend Lucia were there waiting to greet me.
This was my first time seeing Carmen since I left Sevilla last June, so
it was a bit of an emotional reunion. We
walked towards the city center because we needed to catch the bus to get to the
bed and breakfast the girls were working at.
My first impression of Cambridge was a cold one, but the city is really
cool. We got to the bus station and had to wait a while, but eventually we made
it to the Rectory Farm bed and breakfast.
Carmen and Lucia had been working there since September and to be frank,
they hated it. I mean, there’s not much
to like about housekeeping at a hotel.
To make matters worse, they lived together in a tiny room that had no
bathroom. If they needed to go to the
bathroom or shower, they had to go in an available room of the hotel. And if there wasn’t an available room…well, you
do the math. My situation would be the
same for the next two days, but I didn’t complain because I was staying there
for free. I happened to be lucky during
my stay because there was always at least one empty room where I could do my
business. Oh I should mention that I didn’t really have a bed, but more a
mattress on the floor. But, I did have a kitchen…that I didn’t use. I cleaned up a bit after my travels and we
headed out for a few drinks. First we went over to their friends’ house for
dinner, then headed out for a bit.
 |
| After dinner photo. Carmen is on the left, and Lucia in the middle. |
We
didn’t stay out too late because the girls had to work the next morning and I
had lots of sightseeing to do. So I went
to bed and woke up around 9. The girls
left all their breakfast stuff out for me so I went to their room and made
myself some toast before I started my day.
I should also mention that my foot was not only still hurting, but
getting worse. Perfect for sightseeing on
foot all day…not. I wasn’t going to
waste my chance to see Cambridge, though, so I just tried to ignore it. I grabbed a couple of maps, bundled up, and
headed out. The weather there was much colder than I am used to, especially now
that I’ve missed the last two Chicago winters.
I’d say it was somewhere in the high 30s to low 40s. Not unbearable, but definitely a shock to my
system.
Anyways, after I caught the bus into the town center from
there bed and breakfast, I started walking.
Not ten minutes in, I already found myself falling in love with
Cambridge. I noticed right away from
what I saw in London and Cambridge and from what I saw in Ireland last year
with my parent, the atmosphere in the UK is much different than that of the
rest of Europe. There’s a very medieval
feel to it. Also since December had just
started, there was a fun Christmas vibe going on. Lights everywhere, bands in
the streets playing Christmas music, and shoppers packed the streets. So I
hobbled along taking my touristy photos and taking in the sites. Every once in while I popped into a café to
have a hot chocolate…well the hot chocolate was secondary to resting my foot
and escaping the cold.  |
| Cool jazzy band playing Christmas music. |
 |
| The historic King's College of Cambridge |
Carmen and Lucia
got off of work at about 3 so I met up with them for lunch, but since none of
us were very hungry yet, we just walked around some more and decided to have an
early dinner. I decided I wanted
something really typical from there, knowing that their style of cooking is similar
to ours at home. We decided to go to a very popular restaurant there. It’s a
really cool, huge place with multiple bars and seating everywhere. We happened to run into one of their
coworkers and her brother who were also there to eat, so we decided to eat
together. I helped Carmen and Lucia read
the menu (it was in English of course) and went to the bar to order for
us. I got what I thought was the
heartiest homiest meal on the menu, and I was not disappointed. It was some sort of roast beef pot pie with
potatoes and vegetables, and it was reeeaaallly good.
 |
| LUNCH! |
After lunch/dinner we went to walk around some
more before heading back to the bed and breakfast. On the way, we went into a sweet shop that
was basically like home away from home.
The store was full of American candy, treats, and drinks. All things
that I don’t get to see a lot in Sevilla.
I was so tempted to drop all the pounds I had and buy out the store, but
then I remembered that I only had one backpack, so best not to go overboard. I did, however, buy some Laffy Taffy, candy
canes, and Kool-Aid. I was really
tempted to buy pop-tarts but decided they wouldn’t fit in the backpack. I was sad to leave that store, but it was time
to go back and get ready. Later we were
going out for a friend’s birthday. So,
we went home, changed, had a few drinks and a light dinner, and left for the
night. We caught the bus back into the
center and met with their friends at the same bar that we ate lunch at. After that we all went together to a club to
party! One thing that stands out about these British girls is their style...if you can call it that. Very alternative, almost 80s punk mixed with Jersey Shore. Also, apparently they don't see the need in wearing a coat over there strapless dresses and mini skirts, even when it's like 30 degrees out.
It turned out to be a night full of fun,
dancing, drinking, and too many embarrassing photos that won’t be making an
appearance in the blog. We went home
after a while, actually not too, and went to bed. My original plan was to head back to London
early and see what was left to see, but by that time my foot was hurting so
bad, (maybe I shouldn’t have danced as much as I did) that I decided to stay in
Cambridge for the morning. There is a
train that goes from Cambridge directly to London Stansted airport. So I figured I would see more of Cambridge
then head to the train station. Turns
out, that wasn’t even an option. So I saved up all my energy just to make it to
the train station, and even then I was in a lot of pain. First though, I had to
walk to catch the bus into the center as always. On the way, I was walking in a part that didn’t
have a sidewalk and the grass was slippery with frost. I think you can guess where I’m going with
this….yep, I wiped out. With the weight
of my backpack, I fell like a ton of bricks.
Thankfully I didn’t hurt myself, but it took me a while to get up because
I was too lazy to take my backpack off. Anyways, I made it to the station, then
to the airport with no further issues.
 |
| Sweet view from the front seat, top level of one of a double decker bus! |
Luckily, this flight was directly from
London to Sevilla so I didn’t have to take the bus from Malaga later. I had
quite a bit of time to kill at the airport, so I sat down and had an extremely
American meal of a cheeseburger and fries with a Dr. Pepper. Side note, the
only place you can buy Dr. Pepper in Sevilla is at a shopping center called
Carrefour which has a pretty decent international food section. I arrived at the Sevilla airport tired and
limping more than ever. I was relieved
that I didn’t have to take the bus home, though, because my boyfriend Manuel came
to pick me up. Oh, I guess this would be
a good time to mention that I have a boyfriend, if you haven’t heard it from
someone else in my family yet. He’s one of my coworkers from school and we’ve
been together for almost five months now…but we’ll comment more on that subject
later. ;)
