Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Showing posts with label England. Show all posts
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Bognor Pics 2
Bognor Beach - The English Channel
Good old game of Cricket
Portsmouth
English countryside
Arundel Castle
Pat and Ian's house
Bognor Regis - Last Stop
Well this post will finish up the list of places visited during the trek around Europe. The last place that we visited was Bognor Regis. Bognor is famous for a couple of things, the birdman festival, retirement homes, and the rumored last words of George V of "Bugger Bognor". We chose Bognor, as it happens to be the home to lifelong friends Pat and Ian Dixon, and a visit with was something I wanted to make sure to do on the trip. I was also interested in getting to see Bognor as I had spent a couple of months there back in 1993 before I went to Africa.
Pat and Ian were nice enough to put us up at their house. While there we were able to meet two little foster girls Chloe and Bella. Two little sisters who were loads of fun and really sweet. I also got to see Pat and Ian's daughter Becky, who I hadn't seen in 14 years.
Most of the time we had in Bognor was spent relaxing, walking around the town or sitting down at the beach. We also went on a couple of day trips, we went with Ian to Portsmouth one day, and another with Pat, Ian and the girls on another day to Arundel Castle. Portsmouth is famous for it history as a port and ship-building city, and Arundel as it is a Castle that is still occupied and privately owned.
The time we spent in Bognor was a nice wind-down from the long trip, and a great opportunity for me to see Pat and Ian, spend a little time with them, and visit some of the places I remembered from my last trip. Ian drove us to the airport (thanks again Ian), and we had a nice flight home without any noisy Newfies or other irritants. After 11 weeks it was back to the real world.... unfortunately.
Pat and Ian were nice enough to put us up at their house. While there we were able to meet two little foster girls Chloe and Bella. Two little sisters who were loads of fun and really sweet. I also got to see Pat and Ian's daughter Becky, who I hadn't seen in 14 years.
Most of the time we had in Bognor was spent relaxing, walking around the town or sitting down at the beach. We also went on a couple of day trips, we went with Ian to Portsmouth one day, and another with Pat, Ian and the girls on another day to Arundel Castle. Portsmouth is famous for it history as a port and ship-building city, and Arundel as it is a Castle that is still occupied and privately owned.
The time we spent in Bognor was a nice wind-down from the long trip, and a great opportunity for me to see Pat and Ian, spend a little time with them, and visit some of the places I remembered from my last trip. Ian drove us to the airport (thanks again Ian), and we had a nice flight home without any noisy Newfies or other irritants. After 11 weeks it was back to the real world.... unfortunately.
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Manchester United vs Inter Milan pics
Old Trafford
Me and the Guys
Inside the stadium
Warming up
Wayne Rooney
Ryan Giggs and Christiano Ronaldo
Heading toward ManUtd's net
The crowd
A free kick
The crowd leaving the stadium
Glory! Glory! Man United!
After London I got to fulfill my dream of going to a Manchester United football game. We arrived in Manchester with lots of time checked in to our hostel, met up with another guy going to the game and we all headed over to Old Trafford (the stadium). We got to the stadium around 4:30 in the afternoon for the 8:00 kick-off against Inter Milan. We wanted to arrive early as I had to pick up the tickets from the box office, go to the megastore, and look at and soak in as much of the stadium as possible. Even at that early of time there were plenty of people around.
The line for tickets wasn't very long, so we had lots of time. The store was packed, but there was absolutely everything you could think of to buy with Manchester United logo's put on it. There was wallpaper, car floor mats, mouse pads, bobble heads, and even underwear. I chose to buy a match-day scarf as it was something unique to the match I attended. It had both team names on it and their titles as respective league champions (England and Italy).
It was great walking into the stadium and seeing all of the banners, stands, and playing field, that I had seen so many times on TV. The stadium was nearly empty when we first went in, but it slowly filled up and reached by the time the game started there was nearly 74,000 people in attendance. The energy of the crowd during the game was awesome. Whenever Manchester got the ball everybody cheered or would start singing one of the teams anthems. Whenever Inter Milan got the ball there would be jeers from the crowd. It was an experience to remember, and something I will definitely make a point of doing again.
Unfortunately, Manchester lost the game. Manchester scored first (Rooney), than Inter Milan came back and got up 3-1. Manchester forced an own goal, but it was not enough. The game was still a good time though as it was very evenly matched and Manchester was pressing hard in the second-half to tie it, but were unsuccessful.
The crowd leaving the stadium after the game was incredible, there were so many people pouring out on to the streets. We caught a bus back to the city centre, and even on the bus ride home, people were chanting Manchester anthems. The game was definitely a highlight of the trip, and something I don't think could be experienced anywhere else.
"Glory, Glory, Man United! Glory, Glory, Man United! Glory, Glory, Man United! And the reds go marching on, on, on!"
The line for tickets wasn't very long, so we had lots of time. The store was packed, but there was absolutely everything you could think of to buy with Manchester United logo's put on it. There was wallpaper, car floor mats, mouse pads, bobble heads, and even underwear. I chose to buy a match-day scarf as it was something unique to the match I attended. It had both team names on it and their titles as respective league champions (England and Italy).
It was great walking into the stadium and seeing all of the banners, stands, and playing field, that I had seen so many times on TV. The stadium was nearly empty when we first went in, but it slowly filled up and reached by the time the game started there was nearly 74,000 people in attendance. The energy of the crowd during the game was awesome. Whenever Manchester got the ball everybody cheered or would start singing one of the teams anthems. Whenever Inter Milan got the ball there would be jeers from the crowd. It was an experience to remember, and something I will definitely make a point of doing again.
Unfortunately, Manchester lost the game. Manchester scored first (Rooney), than Inter Milan came back and got up 3-1. Manchester forced an own goal, but it was not enough. The game was still a good time though as it was very evenly matched and Manchester was pressing hard in the second-half to tie it, but were unsuccessful.
The crowd leaving the stadium after the game was incredible, there were so many people pouring out on to the streets. We caught a bus back to the city centre, and even on the bus ride home, people were chanting Manchester anthems. The game was definitely a highlight of the trip, and something I don't think could be experienced anywhere else.
"Glory, Glory, Man United! Glory, Glory, Man United! Glory, Glory, Man United! And the reds go marching on, on, on!"
London Pictures
Melanie with some of the Royals at Madame Tussaud's
Melanie with a giant teddy bear dressed like a Beefeater
Read Photo
The London Eye
Lord Nelson's column in Trafalger Square
Buckingham Palace
Traitors Gate - nobody left if they came in through here
The Tower of London
Tower Bridge
London
We flew to London with Ryan Air, but had a much better landing. While in London we stayed out in the country with a friend, Roshni, that we met while Melanie was in Culinary school. It was nice to once again see a friendly face, and someone we knew.
We had three full days in the London area. Our first day was spent in Winchester a small city close to where we were staying. The main attraction is what is left of its castle and King Arthur's round table which is housed inside it. The table was huge and was hanging on a wall. It apparently weighs about a ton and isn't really King Arthur's table, but is supposed to be by legend.
The second day we went to Madame Tussuad's, which was cool but had a long line up. I got my picture taken with a life size Incredible Hulk and Melanie got her picture with a wax Jessica Simpson. It was a cool place to go, but expensive and the line-up took as long as the attraction did. After the wax museum we went to Abbey Road, to have a look at the intersection where the Beatles took the picture for their Abbey Road album. It was something we did to show Melanie's mom, but am glad we did it.
On our third day in London, we went to the Tower of London. The Tower of London was awesome, with your admission you can join in on free tours of the complex and hear all the gory details of executions and other historically significant things that went on there. The crown jewels are housed there, they were incredible the size and clarity of the diamonds make them look fake, just because you can't believe a diamond could be so perfect. The like all things in London was expensive, but was definitely worth it. After the tower, we went and had a look at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the parliament buildings which were all nice to see. Melanie wanted to try and find one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants but didn't know exactly where they were so we couldn't find any of them.
I wish we had more time in London as there is so much to see and we saw a minuscule part of what the city has to offer, but as I know I will be going back someday it isn't to great of a loss. We had to cut our time short in London as I was able to get a hold of tickets to a Manchester United friendly game, which I wasn't going to miss out on.
We had three full days in the London area. Our first day was spent in Winchester a small city close to where we were staying. The main attraction is what is left of its castle and King Arthur's round table which is housed inside it. The table was huge and was hanging on a wall. It apparently weighs about a ton and isn't really King Arthur's table, but is supposed to be by legend.
The second day we went to Madame Tussuad's, which was cool but had a long line up. I got my picture taken with a life size Incredible Hulk and Melanie got her picture with a wax Jessica Simpson. It was a cool place to go, but expensive and the line-up took as long as the attraction did. After the wax museum we went to Abbey Road, to have a look at the intersection where the Beatles took the picture for their Abbey Road album. It was something we did to show Melanie's mom, but am glad we did it.
On our third day in London, we went to the Tower of London. The Tower of London was awesome, with your admission you can join in on free tours of the complex and hear all the gory details of executions and other historically significant things that went on there. The crown jewels are housed there, they were incredible the size and clarity of the diamonds make them look fake, just because you can't believe a diamond could be so perfect. The like all things in London was expensive, but was definitely worth it. After the tower, we went and had a look at Buckingham Palace, Big Ben and the parliament buildings which were all nice to see. Melanie wanted to try and find one of Gordon Ramsey's restaurants but didn't know exactly where they were so we couldn't find any of them.
I wish we had more time in London as there is so much to see and we saw a minuscule part of what the city has to offer, but as I know I will be going back someday it isn't to great of a loss. We had to cut our time short in London as I was able to get a hold of tickets to a Manchester United friendly game, which I wasn't going to miss out on.
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Starting Out
Though I never intended this blog to be a day-by-day planning of the trek (I have to use that word), in considering the initial London to France route it has appeared that I have found that it would probably take up the initial day in Europe. 
When travelling from England to France, the first thing I thought of was the "Chunnel", curious what the price would be to take the Eurostar train under the English Channel, I found that it was about $325 for two people(all references to $ are in Canadian). Once I saw that price I thought it may be cheaper to take the rail to Dover and then a ferry to Calais in France. After some detective work I found that it would cost about half as much at $175 for two.
Anyway, I decided that the rail/ferry trip would be better anyway, and a chance to see the English countryside, along with a short boat ride to France is a lot nicer than a tunnel, and would not take much more time according to schedules. I figured Calais would be a nice place to start the trip anyway, as Calais is close to Arras. Arras is the home of Faubourg D'amiens Cemetary which is the WWI cemetary that my great-grandfather Edward Rawden is buried in, and a place I have wanted to visit for a long time.
When travelling from England to France, the first thing I thought of was the "Chunnel", curious what the price would be to take the Eurostar train under the English Channel, I found that it was about $325 for two people(all references to $ are in Canadian). Once I saw that price I thought it may be cheaper to take the rail to Dover and then a ferry to Calais in France. After some detective work I found that it would cost about half as much at $175 for two.
Anyway, I decided that the rail/ferry trip would be better anyway, and a chance to see the English countryside, along with a short boat ride to France is a lot nicer than a tunnel, and would not take much more time according to schedules. I figured Calais would be a nice place to start the trip anyway, as Calais is close to Arras. Arras is the home of Faubourg D'amiens Cemetary which is the WWI cemetary that my great-grandfather Edward Rawden is buried in, and a place I have wanted to visit for a long time.
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