Yorkshire

Devon was interesting but I was very ready for a bigger town with more things to do, therefore I was excited to be heading for Yorkshire, home to some of Tash's relatives and once upon a time home to some of my own as well.

The first place we went I have unfortunately forgotten the name of, though it could have been Skipton. It had a beautiful castle and church, and a number of canals running through it. Tash and I posed in front of the impressive front gate of the castle.

 The church which was next door to the castle was also rather nice, and this unlike the castle was free so we ventured inside.

The inside was not hugely impressive, but it was still nice and as always, full of its own history.

We enjoyed a stroll beside the canals and it made for a very pretty and peaceful walk. Although it was a beautiful day it was very cold, and I remember clearly how we ate lunch in the car. Tash's aunt Jackie had made us each a lovely little packed lunch in lunch-boxes, complete with sandwiches, a little packet of crisps and some chocolate. I felt like I was a little kid again, it was lovely, and the sandwiches were excellent. We were well looked after!

The view of the boats on the canal and the houses alongside it as I walked over the bridge. It was extremely pretty. Now if only I could remember what the town was called!

Devon Part II

After all our walking, we also enjoyed some quiet time at the house, taking too many photos, drinking wine and watching Tv.

The cork from the bottle of Bordeaux I brought Tash back from France.

 When we weren't off exploring we were playing with fake nails.

 Seaton from the opposite direction of the town, walking past the docks and the sandbank (although in this instance it was really more a rockbank)

On another of our day trips we visited another sea side village called Lyme Regis, it was very scenic and had many fossils.

This town was located on what is known as the 'Jurassic Coast' due to the number of fossils discovered here. I also learned all about Mary Anning who discovered many of the fossils in this area in the early 1800s. She has been named in the top ten list of British women who have most influenced the history of science, but was of course not recognized for her contributions in her day. It was only after her death that her story gained people's interest, leading Charles Dickens to write that she had 'won a name for herself, and has deserved to win it'. Interesting stuff!

The architecture and hanging flowers of this village struck me as very pretty. 

After a long and cold day of walking, we treated ourselves to a delicious christmassy hot chocolate. 

Devon

 We left London and headed by train down to Devon to stay with Tash's Great Aunt. The weather was cold but we were warmly welcomed into her home and soon made our little bedroom heater go full blast. Seaton, the little town we stayed in, was extremely small (and consequently there were a finite number of things to do) however the beautiful old church was certainly a highlight.  

The area itself was very swampy, the beaches were made of stones and I found the general area to be very bleak. Adding this to the fact that the only way to tell your house apart from the rest was by looking at the number on the door, it was not my cup of tea, but it was interesting and certainly not an experience I regret. Travelling, whether I love the new place or not, is always a learning experience, and always interesting. Not to mention there are always some things to love.

We went on a few day trips to nearby places that I cannot for the life of me remember the name of, however one of the highlights for me was this beautiful church.

 We found this cute little tea-shop well tucked away. It was lovely and cosy. The local beach in Seaton was also quite interesting, although you can't tell very well from the photo, something in the rocks made the sea turn red when it was windy like this, so the waves churned an eerie ochre colour all day.

This was my favourite picture that I took, although I don't know why.

The red sea and the red cliffs. Although it was a harsh landscape, it was also beautiful.

We discovered a cliff top walk with a huge garden and an interesting statue.

The houses here had hatched roofs which Tash and I both found amazing. We took many photos of them. From our cliffside walk we were presented with a lovely view of Seaton and the ochre sea.

Platform Nine and Three-Quarters and Jamie Oliver

Over the next few days we also succeeded in going to somewhere I had often dreamed of going. King's Cross station, Platform 9 3/4 the magical place where Harry Potter caught the Hogwarts express.

We also couldn't resist the gift shop.

Our next port of call was Harrods. They must spend thousands every year on their Christmas window displays which were numerous and awesome. The store itself had some amazing looking chocolate, expensive champagne, and many many overpriced objects. The people were extremely snooty too, so we soon took our leave feeling very out of place.

Lastly, we wandered London at night, taking in the beautiful Christmas lights, double-decker buses, and my favourite part -dinner at Jamie Oliver's. The pasta was amazing, the prosecco we splashed out on even better, and dessert was insane. It was also reasonably priced. Definitely worth it.

Dessert, in all its chocolatey glory. 

London

The next morning after a somewhat sleepless night (I blame Tash's snoring!) we rejuvenated ourselves with bad coffee. 

The awesome view out of our hostel room

We wandered London for a while, taking in the sites, the busyness and of course indulging in some window shopping. The highlight was our supermarket lunch where we discovered Aero yogurts!!

Our next venture of note (we wasted much of our London time discovering the oldest and most ambient pubs that London had to offer. So really, it wasn't a waste of time at all!) was to the Natural History museum which lived up to its fame. 

The building itself just from the outside was breathtaking.

 The first view that greets you when you walk inside the doors. Did I mention it was free too?

Finding a little piece of New Zealand even so far from home

Look at this little pygmy dude! He's so cute.

Not something I would have liked to meet!

Megatherium americanum, the most scary sloth I have ever laid eyes on. This beast would have weighed around 2.5 tonnes and died out around 10,000 years ago. Look how tall his reach is!

This dodo looks super sad (I guess he is extinct) clearly he should watch Ice Age. 

We finished off our tour with dinosaurs and woolly mammoths. 

First Day in England

The long train to London to Montpellier took most of the day. It was however comfortable and cheap which were bonuses. Getting through customs at our transfer in Lille however was not so fun, ticket check in, two separate passport checks and then baggage examination and through the metal detector I went - It was worse than an airport!

Finally however I was on my way, seated awkwardly in a compartment of thirty odd ten year old school children. I was of course the non school child there. Funnily enough though I ended up talking to one of the kids most of the way to London, he very solemnly pointed out landmarks as we passed them and was highly entertaining. 

We neared London just as the sun was setting, my overarching impression of England was therefore very different from the green fields and vineyards of France; here I was greeted by what looked like the bright fires of Industry.

Once in London itself I was meant to be meeting Tash at St. Pancras station but of course we hadn't thought about the fact that there were numerous entrances. Consequently we completely missed each other. I eventually made my way to the hostel (only getting lost twice on the way) to wait for her there. Half an hour later Tash turned up. We did exceedingly well considering the Hostel was across the road from the train station. Oh well. 

We decided to treat ourselves after such stress. Considering the Hostel was flanked on both sides by pubs, we were spoilt for choice. We decided on O'Neills, and it was a rather nice place. 

We finished the night up with an overload of chocolate cake and silly photos.