I Thought Vacation was Meant for Relaxation! (Easter Break Part 1)

Easter break! It’s a time for chocolate-bunny-eating and Easter-egg-hunting and apparently adventure-taking! Obviously you’re here to read about my adventures. Me, Marie. If not, then you’re at the wrong site, mister. Or miss or whatever you prefer. Point is, this blog, if you haven’t noticed, is all about me and my adventures! Woohoo!

I’ll bet you’re just foaming at the mouth for me to start telling you all about my adventures, huh? OK, well here goes. We, being my friend Dana and I, flew into London around 7am. We took our luggage to the hostel around 9, after we’d landed and all, but of course we were too early to check in. So we stored our luggage (between the two of us, we had a backpack each and one large suitcase) and headed out to find food! FOOD! I think the two of us were so hungry we could barely function at that point. We’d each only had something small and not really filling so we found a café near the hostel.

With food in our bellies and maps in our hands, we headed out into the city. Saw Big Ben and Parliament, a quick look at the London Eye and THEN… Madame Tussaud’s Wax Museum! We waited a full two hours before actually getting into the main part (some of the line itself is already in the building). Two friggin’ hours! It was extremely crowded and extremely expensive, but we got some cool pictures. Honestly, though, I wouldn’t recommend it if you’re pressed for time. If you’ve got a week or more, sure, go right ahead.

Want to know what we did after that? Well, I’ll tell you. We headed over to Piccadilly Circus. There wasn’t a show that night that had cheap enough tickets for us, so instead we opted to see a movie. After eating a quick dinner at a Chinese Buffet, we saw Clash of the Titans. I’m not here to review movies, but I really enjoyed it. For an action movie, it had more of a plot than I expected. Thumbs up from Marie, here.

I know, a movie is lame while in London, but we made up for it. The next day, we got up early enough to catch the eleven o’clock free walking tour by New Europe Tours. Sound familiar? It should if you’ve been reading. I took the same tour in Edinburgh (with my flat mate once and with my family once) and I took it by myself during my first trip to London. However, Dana had never been to London so we went again. Hey, it’s free, so why not? We had a different tour guide who was Irish. He didn’t always seem to be on top of what he was about to say, but he was entertaining enough.

After the tour, we headed back to Piccadilly Circus and were successful at getting tickets for a show. Chicago! Yes, I already saw it, but number one, it fit our schedule, two, it fit our budget, and three, it was phenomenal anyway. This is one I highly recommend.

We tried to find tickets for another day. Sadly, the next day was Easter Sunday and we were told nothing was playing. Les Miserables and Phantom of the Opera were on our list, as well as Mama Mia. The last of the three wasn’t even available. We had signed up for a tour Monday and would not be back in time for the 7:30pm showing of either of the remaining shows. To make things more difficult, we had to change from the hostel to the hotel near the airport since we had an early flight into Italy.

So Dana and I had a quiet night in. We had to get up early for the tour the next morning anyway. Where was this tour, you say? Well, I shall tell you. We signed up for a tour with Anderson Tours that was to take us to Stonehenge and Bath (home of the famous Roman Baths). We met the bus off of Baker Street at 8:10 in the morning. We happened to choose seats next to a nice old couple in their 60’s. The lady’s name was Sandy and she’s the one who I talked to basically the entire trip there. Her husband’s name, I never caught, but he was basically silent. Sandy was sweet and very talkative! It’s nice to meet people when you’re on tours and the like in a country not your own. Sandy was from Illinois so still from the Midwest like me.

Anyway, our first stop was Stonehenge. I sort of knew what to expect, but at the same time, the site was breathtaking! I think I’ve used that word a lot in this blog, but it’s perfect. These standing stones date back to 2,500 and 3,000 BC. That’s just amazing to me. There were originally 82 of what are called the Blue Stones which are the ones you see at Stonehenge today and they are so called because if you cut them open, they are indeed blue. These stones are so heavy that it would have taken 600 men just to move one of them. One! There are 82! Not all of them are there anymore. Some were taking away to use in buildings or for repairs, others fell and some were chipped away at for souvenirs. Now you can’t go near the stones unless you’re on a special tour. They must be preserved for future generations! No one really knows why Stonehenge was built and rebuilt over the centuries, but there are a ton of theories. Make up your own, if you like!

After Stonehenge, we set out for Bath. All I knew was that it housed the Roman Baths. I’ll explain in a moment, but it also houses the Jane Austen museum. I did not have time to see this, but I wish I had. Anyway, the Roman Baths are thought to date back to about 76 AD (or BCE, if you like) and were originally just a set of hot springs in the ground. The only hot spring system in the UK, I believe. The legend goes that a Roman prince, who had leprosy and was exiled, found the springs had healed some pigs he was tending who had caught the disease from him. So he hopped into the spring and, sure enough, he was healed within a few days. He returned home and became king after his father and went on to found the city around the healing spring! The point is that many people still believe in the healing powers of hot springs like this one, but unfortunately you cannot touch the water at the Roman Baths. It’s disgusting because it’s untreated. There’s scum on top and other nasties because the baths are open to the elements and uncovered. But the ruins are more extensive than I would have believed and they are beautiful in their crumbling state.

So, following this excursion, we were taken back to London. Dana and I grabbed our bags from the hostel (where we had stored them after checking out) and headed for the train station to get to the hotel. By the way, make sure you are positive as to the departure point of your train. I had looked online and saw that our train departed from St. Pancras International. I was wrong. It actually departed from Liverpool Station. So we had to take the tube over to the correct station, then the train into Bishop Stortford and then a taxi (a quick taxi) to our hotel. A hotel! Not a hostel, but a hotel with a TV and a real shower and two double beds. Oh, it was wonderful.

That is not the end of London for this trip, but we would not return until our very last day. The next morning, waking up bright and early (or rather dark because it was so early), Dana and I headed for the airport at Stansted. By the way, if you’re flying out of here and have an early flight (as in you have to be there at about 5am) don’t worry about breakfast. They do have stuff open. I know that the airport in Kansas City (KCI/MCI) usually doesn’t have much to offer and what it does have, usually closes early and opens a bit late. Stansted and many of the other airports I’ve been to since traveling to Europe have all had more to choose from and most of them are open for a very long time. I believe the bakeries and things at Stansted probably open around 4am.

Here is where I leave you now. There is too much to say in just one post so...

Kilts checked to date... 105