Tuesday, December 23, 2008

London - Ireland - London - Tewkesbury - Edinburgh - London - Home

I landed in London on December 15th, and stayed a few days at Central Hostel in Bayswater, London. Everyone there is absolutely amazing, and I met TK who showed me around London and helped me get a handle on the transit system so I could survive on my own. Compared to public transit here, the TTC is archaic and down right brutal.

After a couple of quick days in London recovering from jet-lag I moved on to Dublin and spent some time there touring, seeing the sights, hanging out and eventually finding one hell of a party in a tiny little pub called Purty's Kitchen. It was a hell of a time and I didn't arrive home until the sun was up.

I then returned to London to meet up with Cake and we spent a few more days trucking around London, seeing some sights, having a couple of pints, eating some truly amazing food and discovering a multitude of cheap eats.

Cake and I then continued on to her sister's place in Tewkesbury and spent Christmas with her sister's family, enjoying an amazing meal and a few days of peace and quiet before moving on back on the road.

After Tewkesbury we adventured out to Cheltenham for a day of shopping maddness on Boxing Day and then I returned to London to kill a few hours before catching the night bus to Edinburgh. More on that later. I arrived in Edinburgh on the 28th, slept the entire day away and then spent the evening hanging out at Budget Backpackers Hostel with a guy from Oz, a girl from San Diego and another guy from Miami.

The next day I got up, and decided I had best take a look around Edinburgh before having to go back to London so I went and saw Edinburgh Castle which was really interesting and then moved on to the Tartan mills where I bought a scarf in my clan tartan. Called my Nana from Edinburgh and she was thrilled that I was there and glad I had taken the time to see Scotland.

The next morning I hopped on a bus back to London and spent one last night in Central Hostel. I stayed up too late talking to people who I had met earlier in my journey and then got up way too early to catch the train to the airport to head home. I really didn't want to get on that plane but decided missing it intentionally may be a bad idea, so I came home.

I have a tonne of posting to do as soon as I get a spare moment but right now I must go do the rounds and visit all the family I haven't seen in almost a month.

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