England Hook

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  • Day 3

    Reconnecting

    March 29 in England ⋅ ⛅ 12 °C

    I arrived in Great Britain yesterday, power-sleeping my way from Madrid to London, where I was picked up by David and Ollie, good friends Morgan’s and I made on our first Camino. It was so amazing to see them in person again. They fed me proper fish and chips and I had the best sleep last night, after an epic journey from Duluth to Chicago to Montreal to Madrid to Gatwick.
    Today we went on a scenic walk at the Devil’s Punchbowl, and they took me out for a lovely creme tea. I have now had clotted cream and yes, it is all that.
    The tree is a rather ancient Yew tree, by an old well and an old church, very iconic.
    It’s been really nice too, to get to meet their respective partners, Irena and Millie especially after having heard all about them as we walked the Camino.
    Tonight, and this does seem just a little unfair after having already done it at home AND still being jet lagged, the clocks will spring forward an hour. Which means it’s now midnight here, so I’m sending this report and then turning out the lights.
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  • Day 90

    More family & London 🎡

    March 1 in England ⋅ ☀️ 48 °F

    The remainder of our time included more family visits. We saw my grandad, who I hadn’t seen since 2019. We visited my aunt and cousin, who is becoming a young adult quicker than I’d like! We got to watch Henry’s stepbrother play in his school orchestra. Henry’s dad was having a knee replacement surgery, so Henry was able to help transport him. I visited with a friend who I’ve known since I was a baby; it’s always the best time catching up.

    I also made a trip up to London, to be in the city and see a few people. One of our new friends from our Philippines boat trip kindly gave me a free facial at the fancy spa where she works— it was such a treat. I had a wonderful day wandering around, doing some rare shopping, and enjoying the sunshine in one of my favorites cities. I met a former coworker for dinner and heard about her transition back to living in the UK.

    The two weeks ended up being much busier than expected, the downsides being that both Henry and I weren’t feeling 100% most of the time, and that we didn’t get as much planning done for our upcoming South American portion as we hoped. But it was very much needed to see all our people and we’re glad we came.
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  • Day 11

    Several days of very little...

    February 13 in England ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Typically have developed some sort of head cold and haven't been feeling 100%.

    Taking it easy to make sure I'm well enough to spend time with my niece on her half term which starts tomorrow.

    She was very kind and loaned me one of her plushies to keep me company in bed 🥰Read more

  • Day 6

    Hello my deer...

    February 8 in England ⋅ ☁️ 5 °C

    Nice night out at the pub yesterday with friends and fam.

    Weather is grey and wet - trying to dry out my boots after my brother and I left them outside in the rain 🙄

    Greeted by a deer in the back garden this morning 😍Read more

  • Day 21

    Bourne Mill Antiques Centre

    August 12, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 20 °C

    Today was a travelling day, heading for Kent. We had 6 hours to do a 3 hour trip so we planned a couple of deviations. This was a goldmine! Such a quaint Antiques shop in a lovely old building.

    There were several floors, but it's easy to lose track as the stairs seems to only ascend by half a floor. There were 23 rooms, with several dealers filling all the nooks and crannies including attic spaces. Ian kept bumping his head!

    We both found a couple of treasures. I bought a couple of music boxes.
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  • Day 9

    Steventon

    July 27, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 19 °C

    Heute sind wir von unserer letzten sehr netten Unterkunft in Hinhead nach Brighton gefahren. Heute Morgen haben wir aber noch auf unserer letzten Station der Jane Austen Tour angehalten. In Chawton hat Jane Austen einige Bücher geschrieben bzw. überarbeitet. Morgen geht es in die Innenstadt von Brighton.Read more

  • Day 40

    Reading or Reading?

    June 29, 2023 in England ⋅ ⛅ 22 °C

    Today I woke up and got ready to head to Wetherspoons for a full English breakfast. As I entered, I was reminded of the British attitude. People already half way through a pint at 9:30 in the morning, what a life. The food was solid as always and I was happy that I had the spoons brekky experience. I then walked to the train station, but when I got there it had been roped off, there were 4 police cars and 2 fire trucks. Trains had been cancelled and someone had sadly been hit by a train. That ruled out the train so I jumped on the bus instead and headed to Reading.
    After an hour I got to Reading and walked to the Reading museum. It was a free museum and went through the history of the town, some of the animals from the town and there was a whole section on the biscuit factory including about 200 biscuit tins on display. There was a school group going around the same exhibits which was hilarious, the teacher was so worried about them disturbing me but I didn't care at all.
    After that I walked through the town looking for the Abbey ruins and the landmarks from the old parts of town. The sun was actually out which I appreciated. Unfortunately the ruins were closed as there was a play being performed. I was so annoyed that there was no public access. I instead did the next most British thing and grabbed scones and tea from a cute little coffee shop. I then headed back to Bracknell and the trains were running again! Classic me, I got a return ticket, so I left the return on the ticket station at Bracknell. I headed to the shops to buy things to cook dinner and cooked for Kate and Brooklan. We then went for a walk and watched Up.
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  • Day 38

    Bracknell Day out

    June 27, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    Today I woke up and said goodbye to Kate and Brooklan as they went to work. I decided to get moving and went for a run to the local park. Got lost multiple times as google maps gave very poor directions, definitely have some suggestions for that app. Anyway, got back and decided to walk to the shopping centre. I was nice to see all my favourite shops again especially Primark which has ridiculously cheap clothes. I resisted as I have no space in my bags but I really wanted to buy some stuff. I ended up having a Gregg's sausage roll for lunch which is a British staple. I then went and saw the Flash because Toni and Tony have not stopped talking about how good it is. It was a good movie, good plot and had a bit of everything.
    I walked back to Kate's awaiting her arrival and we then went to her favourite pub, where Brooklan also works from time to time. It was massive, with this great outdoor area too. We had a pint and a meal which was delicious. It was so nice to chat with her about life and everything. Ive missed our daily chats about anything and everything. We went to pick up Brooklan from the train station and then just chilled that evening. I set an alarm to try get Taylor Swift tickets but only stayed awake for 20 minutes before falling back to sleep.
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  • Day 37

    First day in the UK

    June 26, 2023 in England ⋅ ☁️ 22 °C

    My flight arrived on time and it was pretty smooth sailing through immigration. I had to help an American couple as they had never used an egate at the airport and were actually getting so angry at the machine... She had her passport the wrong way around... I grabbed my suitcase and went to the train station. Of course the train I wanted was cancelled so I had to change trains during London peak hour. That was slightly annoying with a big bag but finally I got to Kate! It was so good to see her and we chatted for a bit after she dropped me to her and Brooklans house but then she had to go to work. I did some washing, watched some TV then went for a walk to the local park. It was a beautiful lake area. I sat and read for a bit then decided to go to the pub to try and stay awake. I had a beer but ended up coming back for a quick 10 minute nap before realising I had to keep moving. So I walked to the grocery store for a browse. I got back and Kate and Brooklan were home, we went to watch Brooklan play futsal then came home for dinner.
    It is so nice being back with both of them, we chatted all night and finally it was bedtime!
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  • Day 7–8

    Reading again: lunch, Siren and Dara

    May 7 in England ⋅ ☁️ 17 °C

    On getting back into Reading, we had a lovely early meal at Prezzo - the crab and lobster ravioli was delicious - then a bit of a relax for the rest of the afternoon.

    On the way to seeing Dara O'Briain at the Hexagon we stopped off at Siren Craft Brew after not squeezing in to this place the previous month because we made the mistake of trying on a Saturday. I hate to be negative but was really only for beer lovers only. Slightly slow service and the wine wasn't great, but Siren's own Lumina IPA was lovely.

    Dara's show itself was as brilliant as ever. Without giving anything away here, it put his previous show (seen by us in Birmingham) into incredible context.
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