Cheerio! Well it’s been awhile since I’ve had the opportunity to travel! In that time I went back to school, got a new position at my current job and discovered so much more about myself and the world around me. I recently celebrated my 35th birthday in England and it was quite an experience! I really enjoyed it but tried not to get hung up in greater London too much which is a definite tourist trap. I was able to get to Bath (hometown of Jane Austen) which has ancient magnificent Roman baths and it had a real old world charm to it. It is the quintessential setting for any literary journey really; green pastures, sheep dotted landscapes and charming, thatched roof homes. I also made it too Stonehenge! Yessss! Now I know people say it’s just a bunch of rocks but I think it’s definitely more than that. When I arrived there it was a cold, gray and damp day (typical British weather!) which added to the backdrop. If not it would’ve been a kin to say visiting a haunted house on a 85 degree sunny day. Sometimes you just need that dark, rainy landscape to add to the drama you’ve already concocted in your mind. Since its such a remote area and its a world heritage site it is very protected and “roped off”. When I was able to finally get close I stared in amazement and imagined thousands of years ago ancient people gathering around (much like us still) feeling a sort of eerie but calming presence. In those moments (I only spent a couple of hours there) the structure was saying to me “I’m here and I’ve always been here…and when other millennia have come and gone I will still remain.” Very powerful stuff! I believe sites like the pyramids across the world or the Amazon rain forest hold many secrets of mankind which well never know but yet I still find it beautiful. Stonehenge is definitely that place that has its secrets and surrounding it are these huge grass-covered mounds where people are buried but because of it being a UNESCO world heritage site have remained undisturbed which I think is great.
Ok so I’ve gotten all the touchy-feely stuff out of the way now we talk about the city London and all her glory! One cannot talk about London without first mentioning how famous city it really is literary wise. First, as an American many of our first stories read as a youth are set in the streets of London. Dracula, Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Frankenstein, and all things Dickens which would fill this entire post. I also believe London was the first city to have a public “zoo”. Oh and London was the first city to have an agency designed for the welfare and protection of all animals later known as the SPCA! In fact London is quite advanced than the USA and has been for a while, shoot just their Underground puts any public transportation system of ours to shame. And its on time! Their national museums make ours look like suped up libraries and their love for pomp and pageantry…well lets just say they pretty much invented it. Folk like Beyonce, Jayz and Brad Pitt look like welfare cases compared to the Queen. The British Empire had a pretty huge swath so this basically translates to a lot of Caribbean, Indian, Paki, and Bangladeshi restaurants and other ethnic groups jam packed into the streets of London which for a visitor is nice. To discover more British culture you must travel out of the bigger cities like London, Manchester, Leicester or Birmingham. Cities like Bath, Sheffield, and Gloucester are a bit more closer to authentic British culture though still heavily permeated by visitors. My accommodations in London were “urban cozy” lol. I also must mention that I used AirBnB for this trip for the first time and it was great–thanks Julie! I stayed in the Kilburn Park area which reminds me of a British Brooklyn, gentrification and all. The Underground was a 10 minute walk and it took me ANYHWHERE I needed to go…the British Library done…Westminster Abbey check…Abbey Road boom. Although I did the tourist thing I enjoyed discovering a cozy bookshop of mine located on Willesden Lane called, “The Bookshop”. They had the best vintage books and the owners Mark and Fatima were absolutely lovely! This little slice of calm was sorely needed some days as the streets of London could be quite loud and when the occasional rain shower came.
All in all jolly ol’ England proved to be great trip and since I arrived a few weeks after “Brexit”very bustling it seemed (coulda been August is a big vacay month there too). I will return at some point in my travels but next time around I think I would stay in the country side, perhaps Yorkshire or some other town off the beaten path. So then, cheers for now dear readers! See you soon! 🙂
obsessedwiththewest 