I was in The United Kingdom for a total of 8 weeks and even though most of my time was spent in London, I took weekend and day trips around the country. Most people don't know the difference between England and the UK. The United Kingdom is the actual country. England, Wales, Scotland and N. Ireland are parts of the country, kind of like the different states here. Most of Americans think that Scotland is a different country the England, but it's not. I did not need my passport when I went to Edinborough, in Scotland. They are all under the same government and use the same money. Ireland is a different country, but the only thing they share with the UK is driving on the other side of the road and if you enter Ireland through the UK, you don't get a stamp in your passport, to prove you actually went there, unfortunatly.
At first glance, you might think you are looking at Venice Beach, here in LA. This is a picture taken from the pier in
Brighton Beach in the south of England, about an hour south of London. Lot of families come here for the day to escape the
heat in the summer of London. I took a train here for the day on a Saturday and it was packed with families and pets. Kind of
odd seeing a huge dog on a train. The beach is made completely of rocks, which isn't the most comfortable for walking or
playing in the ocean, which not many people do. Mostly, people just come here to enjoy the sun, by the water, which apparently
is rare in the London area. There is tons of shopping here in malls and small little streets just off the beach front area.
It is a cute little community and a great day trip from London.
My neighbor here in LA, her son lives in the town of York, so I stayed with him for about a week, if even for the free
accommodations (and food, because he owns and runs a sandwich shop here, the shop being on the ground floor of his building,
it was great to have access to a restaurant as a kitchen!) York is a great town, not many people stay more then a day or so, but
it was great to just walk around the place and discover somewhere new, as a home away from home. It is mainly known for the
Minister, which I could see from the top story of the building I stayed in! This, however, picture is of a street
called 'The Shambles'. It is one of the narrowest streets in York and I love the look it has to it when looking and walking down it.
You would think you have just stepped into a Harry Potter book or something, very Diagon Ally-ish.
Stonehenge is one of the great wonders and mysteries of the world. No one really knows how or why it got to this particular
place, but everyone has their theories. Ranging from a solar clock, calendar, gravesite, aliens and place of worship have
been mentioned
among many people, but how these huge boulders got to be here, between 3,000 and 1,100 BC, is a complete mystery to the world.
Stonehenge is in the middle of nowhere and the only way to get to it is by bus or car. I took a day trip with the ISH, which
took us to both Stonehenge and the town of Salisbury, which is about 30 minutes away. Salisbury is on the map for having the
highest spire in a church, north of Italy. I really only went to see Stonehenge, because I have always wanted to see it for
myself and I was in great awe.
Wimbledon is an annual tennis match put on by the All England Lawn Tennis Club, which happens to be placed in a suburb of London
called Wimbledon. It is held during the last 2 weeks of June and we mostly know it here cause it interrupts our late night TV
shows, for a 20 minute wrap up every day that it is held. It is a huge deal in England. They LOVE tennis there even though
a Brit hasn't won the singles in like 30 years. Anyone can gain a grounds ticket to Wimbledon. They are about £7 for the day
and you are allowed to go see any game on about 25 courts, which are usually the palimanairy games leading up to the finals.
I just wondered around from court to court, because I don't know the sport at all, but it was a great day to people watch,
learn the game a bit and just be a part of something that everyone from all over the world knows about.
Those wacky Brits. They sure do love their sun. Granted, it's only sunny in the summer and it's cloudy 9 other months a year,
I guess I would to. At lunch everyone comes out of their offices and gather on various parks
around the city and sit in the
sun and eat their lunch and socialize. It was always easy for me to find a patch of grass during lunch in the shade, because
hardly anyone sat there. They love the sun and take all they can get from it.
