'Snap Shot' the Lake District

Date: Monday 5^th January 2015 – Thursday 8^th January 2015

Weather: Monday, Tuesday and Thursday's weather was excellent ... considering it was January. We had no rain and very little wind at all. On Wednesday the heavens were open all day with roads flooded and a gale blowing (and because were British, we did venture out).

MP3 track of the day: Country House - Blur

Now before I go on, I suppose I should explain what 'snap shot' means within the title of this blog. It basically means that this blog will be a shortened version of my usual blogs, due to a variety of reasons. It is, in effect, a 'snap shot' of my trip.

Prologue

In the winter of 2014, I came back to the UK for three weeks to eat 'proper' food, meet up with friends and family and to smuggle a years worth of UK chocolate back into the 'land of the rising sun'. Though this was a very busy time, I did manage to spend a few days travelling around the UK trying to even the score in regards to 'home sites I've seen Vs foreign sites I've seen'. Being a very busy time, It is only three weeks later that I have found the time to sit down, with a cup of tea and my last remaining 'Cadbury's Caramel' chocolate bar (knew I should have bought more of them), and write a proper account of the trip. One final thing to note is that, on said trip, my father, mother and my oldest brother accompanied me.

Due to the fact that the UK is the same size as a desk lamp, we didn't need to set off from our house at the crack of dawn. Yesterday, we had decided on a 9:30am departure time however, as usual, my father had left his packing until the last minute and we eventually left at around 10:15am. This holiday would be rather special. Firstly I was heading back to the Lake District; a place which I love however, for one reason or another, I haven't visited for almost ten years. Secondly my older brother – who I have rarely seen or heard from over the last five years – had been given a 'pass' by his wife to leave her, with their three children, for three nights and accompany me in some serious hiking. As I sat in the car I was looking forward to pretty much everything; spending time with my brother, the Lake District and the four hour drive as a lot of it would be spent driving through beautiful English countryside.

Eventually my father got in the car however, we had to mute our complains as he was the one who was driving (my mum's insurance company wouldn't insure me for her car as I'd been out of the country for over a year). After winding our way through our local suburb we soon hit the open road and started to make great time.

Throughout this whole holiday, I have been shocked at just how flat the UK is. We were driving for hours on end and England's rolling green hills seem to go on forever. In Japan, after twenty minutes or so, you'll find yourself either having to drive up a mountain or snaking through a very narrow valley. Both types of terrain are beautiful in their own right and I was enjoying the change. My brother and I chatted about this and that, most of which I can't remember however, at the time, I guess it was very important.

We had decided to split this 'long four hour journey' into two even parts. This meant that, after two hours of driving, we were scheduled to stop in the pretty northern English town of Skipton; a castle town. This pleased me as I wanted to get my fix of English history whilst I was in the country. We first of all stopped at a local café where my bother and I ordered a sandwich, plus drink, and my parents both ordered the 'warebit'. Once the waitress had left our table my brother and I looked at each other wondering what on earth our parents had opted for. Visions of 'cursed rabbits', being stewed, came to mind however, once the food arrived, I was disappointed to find out that it was just glorified cheese on toast.

It took a little while to find the entrance to Skipton Castle however, once found 'the bank of mum and dad' made the Skipton Castle's entrance free dramatically drop to 'free'. I confused the ticket sales lady when I asked for a Japanese version of the leaflet however, it mattered not; I would take it back to Japan and ask some of my friends how well us Brits have translated this leaflet into Japanese (some English translations in Japan are very funny).

We moved through the outer-gate and into the grounds to take a few photos of the castle itself. My 'keen-eyed' dad spotted the local souvenir shop however, with the lure of a castle in front of him, it was easy to prise him away (my dad likes shops).

Once inside the actual castle, we followed the advised route reading all information presented to us. Unlike Japanese castles, this one was made out of stone – Japanese castles are made out of wood because, I think, of earthquakes – and was quite compact. My brother and I created a vanguard with the 'oldies' bringing up the rear. I explored this beautiful building taking particular interest in it's defences and strategic positioning. What was interesting was that, during the English civil war, this castle was the royalists last northern stronghold (it did eventually fall to the parliamentarians). What was also interesting was that all large windows pointed inwards, towards the courtyard; all external windows were tiny slits used in defence. A simple thing yet, something I never really thought about before.

We made our way through the living quarters of both the owners and the staff, the rooms designed for entertainment, the rooms designed for defence and the dungeon trying to imagine what life would have been like for these royalist supporters before their impending defeat. Though little furniture was present, I could see where the entrance fee had been spent as a lot of work had been done on the restoration of the castle.

Finally we made our way out of the castle and into, what was left of, the chapel which was located in the grounds of castle between the inner and outer walls. There was very little to see here and so, after five minutes or so, we departed.

Unfortunately we had to vacate the premises the same way we had come in; that meant that my father spotted the souvenir shop again. With little patience for an argument we decided to split into two groups and meet back at the car. My father and mother would head into the souvenir shop whereas my brother and I would head back to the car stopping in M&S for dessert.

Due to the 'bank of mum and dad' paying for our entrance tickets into the castle, we decided to buy them a cake and a drink each. We also got the same for ourselves plus a couple of bags of 'percy pigs'. Before leaving, my brother recommend M&S's samosas and so, without a thought, two of those were placed into our basket. In all, we had spent two hours in the lovely northern town of Skipton however, as it was approaching 2:30pm, it was time to leave.

The second part of our journey was pretty much the same as the first part; until we crossed the M6 and entered the Lake District. Though it was getting dark, you could still see out of the window and memories came flooding back. Picturesque stone villages surrounded by rolling hills and huge lakes filled our view. We were staying at our families flat in Ambleside; on the edge of Lake Windermere. As we approached the two-storey stone building, with a slate roof, it was as if I had never left. Finally we parked as the sun was setting; my brother and I unpacked the car whereas my dad went in to turn the water and electrics on. My mother fluttered about putting away the items my brother and I brought from the car. In the end it turned out to be a very efficient process and all was well in the flat within thirty minutes.

As I looked around I could see that nothing had changed. Even after nine years everything was the same. Yes the shower is a little dodgy; yes the cooker doesn't work quite how it should do however, I wouldn't have it any other way. This flat (with it's two double-bedrooms, one bathroom, one dining room and a lounge / kitchen combined) was perfect and I could happily live here. There is also a smell associated with this flat which is hard to describe however, it isn't repulsive. It is in fact welcoming and along with the view (which we couldn't see as night had fallen however, there is a beautiful view of the lake from the main window) it makes for a very pleasant and relaxing place. I was going to enjoy my time here.

With little left of the day we sat down at the 'kitchen diner' and ate a lovely casserole. Once consumed my father and mother busied themselves whereas my brother and I watched the second 'Hobbit' film. You see, the third Hobbit film had just been released in the cinema and we had planned to go and see it tomorrow. My mother started to watch the film but lost interest pretty quickly and went to bed. Once finished my brother and I went to sleep also.

Tuesday 6^th January 2015

My brother and I were up early and ready to complete an age old tradition. I will speak of this tradition in a minute but first, I must note that my parents were still asleep and had decided to meet us after this 'said tradition' within the centre of Ambleside. Due to there only being one bathroom, I had gone 'Japanese' and had my shower late last night freeing the bathroom for my brother. We therefore got ready pretty quickly and were completely kitted in our walking gear by 9:15am.

From our flat, there are two ways into the town of Ambleside. The first is an easy twenty minute walk along the footpath located adjacent to the main road. The other is an hour or so's walk (depending on how many photographs you take) over a hill we lovingly refer to as 'Old Bill'. My brother wanted to walk over this hill everyday (our old tradition) and, though not as fit as when I last came to the Lakes, I was up for the challenge. At first you climb slightly as you pass a few local cottages hugging the side of the main road. Once past these you 'zigzag' your way for about thirty minutes to the top. For periods, the sun presented itself through a blanket of cloud and the odd good view of the lake, plus the green fields below, could be seen. It's a magical place where little disturbs you and you are able to really clear your head.

My brother and I reminisced all the way to the top where we were treated to a beautiful panoramic of the village of Ambleside to our left, followed by the lake flowing into the distance with many hills creating a bowl effect. Not for the first time on my trip back to the UK did I get a lump in my throat as I looked at my country.

Once we had stopped for photos we then descented steadily into Ambleside. Even though we hadn't visited the Lake District for nine years, the route down was still ingrained into our brains. We walked across a beautiful stone bridge and into Ambleside's park. Once through that we walked past the local church and an elementary school (which were adjacent to each other); school had started back and with a 8:1 ratio between teachers and students, the local elementary school looked as though it would be a joy to study there. As we approached the main road whom should be walking towards us but our mother and father (who needs modern technology). We met up before doing a 'must' - according to my parents - which meant visiting a particular local café they liked. We walked along the small footpaths in single-file, along a cobbled path and past a river to find the café ... closed. Though disappointed, this didn't stop my parents finding another café and we all sat down for a drink and cake. I like café’s however, I try to avoid them at all costs because, well, of the cost. In reality you end up spending £6 or so on a drink and a small slice of cake, which would cost you less than a £1 if you stayed at home. To me, café’s have the highest profit: cost ratio of any eatery. Still it mattered not; the 'bank of mum and dad' covered the bill as so I ordered the most expensive drink with a cheaper slice of cake.

Alas, the café couldn't fulfil my 'spicy Christmas orange hot chocolate' order and so I had to settle for a regular hot chocolate. We spent a good thirty minutes or so warming up in here before leaving and going shopping.

One of the reasons I wanted to go to the Lake District was to visit a shop called 'Gaters'. It's an outdoor shop – like any other – however, it seems to be filled with people passionate and knowledgeable about everything to do with outdoor activities and the equipment required. The coat I found myself wearing was over nine years old and it had been bought from this shop. It was a Berghaus 'Mana Peak' gortex light-weight coat which had served me brilliantly through my year of travel and my current trip to Japan though alas, I noticed last year that it was starting to leak along the upper-back. It was therefore time to get a new coat and so I headed straight to the Berghaus section within this shop, which was located at the back.

I had tried about three different coats on when a lovely Australian chap came over and asked if he could help. Just looking at him was enough to realise that he liked outdoor activities as he was built like he was able to take on Everest in an afternoon. He explained a bit about different jackets and tried to show me other makes however, it didn't take him long to understand that there was history between me and Berghaus. I was delighted when he showed me the latest 'Mana Peak' jacket in both blue and red. The red looked hideous on the peg however, once on, it didn't look too bad. It was, however, in no way comparable to the light-blue jack with silver reflective trips and red cords on it's zip. There had been changes to the style of the jacket over the last nine years; most noticeably was that it wasn't quite as long as my old and worn jacket however, once zipped up, it covered my neck nice and tightly plus the hood had a little more room. This allowed me to wear a beanie hat underneath the hood. Though I 'ummed and arrrred' for about ten minutes, my mind had pretty much been made up the instant I tried it on. The cut felt so good that the jacket could have been apart of me; I was already to pay the £259.00 asking price when the 'BMD' (Bank of mum and dad) said that they would buy it for me for two birthday and two Christmas presents (currently my parents send me my presents to Japan which results in postage costs and, sometimes, me having to pay tax on the items. This felt like a much better idea).

With the jacket bought we strolled around the town allowing my father to look in any shop his heart desired. My bother and mother wanted to go to the 'rock shop' (no prises guessing what that shop stocked) to look for gifts for friends and family. Afterwards, I went into town looking for an old 'game' shop which I remembered fondly but alas, it had been turned into a Greggs. With town finished my mother and father departed (with the days shopping) for the flat reassuring us that they would get lunch ready. My brother and I started a local walk which only took thirty minutes or so however, it took you up and across a waterfall.

The trip up the waterfall was very beautiful but a little muddy. The fall of water could be heard all around, which was a little disconcerting as I needed the toilet however, the only local facilities required a 20p piece placing into a machine before you could enter (I was happy to pay the fee however, I had no change and there wasn't a change machine). I kept going and took some great photos of the waterfall and my brother.

As I mentioned earlier, it was only a thirty minute hike and so we found ourselves back in Ambleside rather quickly. We walked back to the flat using the pavement in time for a lovely sausage sandwich or two. I had brought some cheese and so I found a little cheddar went well with the sausages.

The day was still young and with such little time here my brother and I decided to venture on a third small walk around the cottage. We walked away from Ambleside and towards a church which was located in the middle of nowhere. We had been told of a walk within the area of said church and so we tried to find the start with little success (in fact, the start of the walk was 5km further towards the lake). We therefore walked through a large wooded area before the light began to fade. We were back at the flat within an hour.

Whilst in Ambleside, my mother and father had found the times for the film Paddington whereas my brother and I had found the times for the Hobbit. Though they weren't shown at the same time, it worked out that Paddington finished at around 7:30pm, and the Hobbit started at 8:20pm. This meant that my father and mother would by heading into town now, to watch Paddington, and then we would meet them for dinner before we went off for our film. With that sorted my mother and father departed whereas my brother and I sat down for a couple of games of 'Machi-Koro' and to start a game of monopoly.

All too soon it was time for us the leave the flat. We left the game of monopoly, with myself in a promising position, got ready and departed the flat remembering to take a torch. It was now pitch black and the road between our flat and the town had no street lights (would have spoilt the area if there were street lights) and so a torch was a must. We arrived at our chosen restaurant for the evening – a fish and chip shop – to see my mother and father sat down having already ordered their meals. After my brother and I had ordered our meals we joined our parents and chatted away. My mother and father enjoyed Paddington and they said that the cinema was full of couples; not a single child could be seen. We ate and chatted freely though I was always conscious of the time. At 7:50pm I said to my brother that we had to go, to which my mother laughed as the cinema was only a two minute walk away. Two minutes or not, I wanted to go as you never know how big the queue is, or even if there are seats left. We said goodbye and headed to the cinema whereas my mother and father went home.

Now, as Ambleside is a beautiful village within the middle of a national park, you can't just build a great big cinema in the middle of it therefore, the local cinema was spilt over three buildings; 'the main building', 'the old church' and 'the building by the park'. The Hobbit (which I had the unfortunate tenancy to call 'The Lord of the Rings' when I was buying our tickets) was showing in the 'building by the park'. Unfortunately, in all honestly there as two buildings close to the park (the old church is close too) and, of course, we ended up in the wrong one. To compound things we were served by a woman who I believe was from somewhere in Europe. Whereas the Australian in the outdoor shop had been a joy, this woman was useless. I asked for two tickets to see 'the Lord of the Rings' (to which my brother quickly corrected me) and was given two tickets without question. As my brother was about to head into the cinema I checked the tickets to see a completely different film name on the ticket. As I was still at the front of the queue I told the lady once more that I wanted to see the 'Lord of the Rings' (quickly corrected by my brother) to which she said 'it wasn't playing here'. I therefore asked for a refund and asked where the Hobbit was indeed playing, to which she ignored me and said she would give me a refund after she had made countless drink orders. Time was ticking on and the film was due to start in ten minutes and this woman was still taking drink orders from newly arrived customers; even the paying guest behind me thought that this was ridiculous and it was she who told me where the 'cinema by the park' was.

Finally, with five minutes to go, the local manager arrived and gave us our refunds. I gave the useless woman one last long glare before my brother and I ran for it. Fortunately the cinema was only a couple of minutes away and there wasn't a queue at the ticket office. After going to the toilet we entered the cinema pleased to see that it had been kitted out to modern standards and that there was hardly anyone there. We sat down on a row of our own and shared out the 'Percy Pigs' we'd bought yesterday at M&S. With only one advert to go the lights dimmed and the film started. I have to say that I enjoyed this film a lot as it was basically one hour of the armies approaching one-another, and then two hours of continual fight scenes.

The film finished at around 11pm. As soon as the credits came onto the screen I burst out of the cinema and into the toilet. Once I'd felt better my brother and I walked out of the cinema, fired up the torch and talked about the bits we liked (and didn't like) all the way back to the flat where I retold our story of the miserable sales woman to my mum. Being 11:30pm I had a quick shower before I hit the sack.

Wednesday 7^th January 2015

Once again my brother and I were up early ready to tackle 'Old Bill'. We left slightly later than yesterday due to the continual downpour. The rain was coming down in sheets and we postponed our departure several times until we realised that the weather wasn't going to improve. I left all electronic devices and my wallet in the flat and proceeded onwards with my brother, who was more eager to climb 'Old Bill' than I. Stupidly I had decided to wear my old coat as I wanted to give it a 'last huzzar', as I believed it only let in a little water.

An hour and thirty minutes later we were back at the flat completely soaked. If anything the rain had got worse and I found out that my coat leaked more than I had bargained for. My brother wasn't that better off either; both of our gloves were soaked but my brothers shoes were also full of water. My brother had also borrowed my dads coat, which caused a few laughs. I'm not sure when my mum last washed my dads coat however, some of the washing powder must have been left on the coat because, as the rain poured down, my brother started to foam.

With the aid of our parents we lit the fire and placed all of our wet things to dry. I got completely changed whereas my brother filled his boots with toilet roll to soak up as much of the water as possible before placing them next to the fire. The rain was still bolting it down and so we were trapped inside watching it; which was pleasant in itself. My brother and I finished our game of Monopoly (and that is all I'll say about that) before sitting down in the living room twiddling our thumbs. It was 2pm already and the rain was endless; I wanted to go out however, my brother shoes were still too wet (I think I annoyed my mum when I said that 'I was fine' as it had been a very long time since I've had to think about others). Eventually, with little to do, we all decided to brave the weather and head for a 'localish' town which I hadn't been to (Keswick).

The road to Keswick was almost flooded making it a frightening drive. I would have turned back however, the weather didn't seem to faze my father. When we arrived in Keswick we thought that the rain had eased and so, with a beautiful walk only 2kms south of Keswick, we drove to the start hoping the weather would be fine.

It wasn't. As soon as we had arrived at the start of the walk we turned back towards the town of Keswick, as the rain was just too strong. We parked up and ran into the nearest covered way. It was at this point that my mother couldn't zip her coat up; in her panic she made the mistake of asking my brother, who has a similar record of 'successful fixes' as Frank Spencer. In true form he got annoyed with the zip and, how I don't know, broke it so badly that he ended up with the zip in his hand. This, of course, caused enormous amounts of laughter.

Not only was it raining heavily but it was now extremely windy. We braved the weather as we had a look around the towns shops. I had opted for my new jacket and so I felt as 'snug as a bug in a rug'. I found little of interest in Keswick apart from a sweet shop, Boots and a fairly large toy shop stocking quite a few boardgames. After about an hour we had all had enough of being blown about and so we headed to another café for a drink and a cake. Once consumed my mother and father went back to the sweet shop whereas I took my brother to the toy shop in search of presents for his children. We all met back at the car soon after and took the perilous journey back.

Weirdly, we hadn't spent long in the flat before my father, brother and I were driving into Ambleside. Tonight we had decided that we would get a Chinese takeaway. Though Japan has a lot of Chinese food, it's not quite the same as in the UK therefore, an English Chinese takeaway was on my 'food to eat list'. We decided to order ¼ duck with pancakes, fried rice, crispy chicken in a spicy sauce, chicken in a lemon sauce and a vegetarian noodle dish. It was a feast and didn't cost much more than the drinks and cakes we had been continually eating in the many cafés we had visited. I especially enjoyed the duck in the pancakes; I love that stuff.

Once consumed we sat down to watch another film which my brother had brought with him; Captain Phillips. This was a gripping film about a captain of a cargo ship which had been boarded by Somali pirates. Apparently the actual captain helped direct the film and Tom Hanks was just brilliant. The film kept me gripped all the way through; so much so that I didn't even notice time slipping away.

With the film over it pretty much signalled the end to our trip. Just like the rest of my holiday it had gone by so quickly however, just like the rest of my holiday, I had enjoyed it immensely.

Thursday 8^th January 2015

For one final time my brother and I climbed 'Old Bill'. The rain had passed and we were left with some stunning views. We both could have spent all day on top of that hill however, we knew that our parents were, even now, packing up and so we hurried along to help them. Once back we helped load the car. We found ourselves ready to leave around 11am. My father made one final check to see if we had left anything and then we were off.

We drove for about twenty minutes and then stopped in the pretty village of Windermere (which the lake is named after). It is also the place where Peter Rabbit was created (which is very popular in Japan) and so we had stopped so I could get a few Peter Rabbit souvenirs and that my brother could go to the Lakeland warehouse. Apart from the actual Peter Rabbit museum being closed, my brother bought some things he wanted from Lakeland and I found a Peter Rabbit shop. As a gamble, I purchased a deck of Peter Rabbit playing cards hoping that a Peter Rabbit character would be drawn on each playing card but alas, it was only the back of the card which had a Peter Rabbit logo on; the cards themselves were just normal playing cards.

Once our wallets were empty we began the long drive home. Though my parents hate the M6, they decided to use it as it is a lot quicker than going back the way we had come (though it is a lot more boring than the way we had come). Luckily traffic was light and the only real problem we had was in Stoke-on-trent where we missed the turning to Derby. Once rectified, we found ourselves in Derby within no time. We unpacked the car and I said goodbye to my brother. I helped my mum and dad unpack the car for a little while however, I had a dinner date in the city of Derby with some x-work colleges I hadn't seen for three years. As I boarded our local 'city bus' I sat down, reliving the moments of my brief trip to the Lake District. Some people refer to the Lake District as 'God's garden', and they aren't wrong. I just hoped it wouldn't be another ten years before I returned again.

Toodle Pip!

'Snap shot' Bath – the curse of the turkey

Date: Monday 29^th and Tuesday 30^th December 2014

Weather: Excellent sunny weather

MP3 track of the day: Spider in the bath

Now before I go on, I suppose I should explain what 'snap shot' means within the title of this blog. It basically means that this blog will be a shortened version of my usual blogs, due to a variety of reasons. It is, in effect, a 'snap shot' of my trip.

Prologue

In the winter of 2014, I came back to the UK for three weeks to eat 'proper' food, meet up with friends and family and to smuggle a years worth of UK chocolate back into the 'land of the rising sun'. Though this was a very busy time, I did manage to spend a few days travelling around the UK trying to even the score in regards to 'home sites I've seen Vs foreign sites I've seen'. Being a very busy period, It is only three weeks later that I have found the time to sit down, with a cup of tea and my last remaining 'Cadbury's Caramel' chocolate bar (knew I should have bought more of them), and write a proper account of my trip. One final thing to note is that, on this trip, my mother and father accompanied me.

With the Christmas festivities over my mother, father and I no longer felt obliged to 'chit chat' with other family members, drink muled wine or eat another damn minced pie. Now with Christmas officially over – however, I must add, that we were all still off work – we found ourselves with time to spend on one of my most favourite past times; travelling.

Before arriving in the UK my mother asked me where I would like to go for a 'short break'? I answered either Oxford, Cambridge or Bath because these three magnificent cities have always been on my 'to do' list and have, rather unfortunately, gathered dust as new foreign places had taken their position at the front of the queue time, and time again. With Cambridge done only two days ago, our next target was Bath; a three hour drive south-west from our current position. The drive – as far as I can remember – went as smooth as one would expect it to be with one retired person driving and another navigating. A lot of 'you need to speak clearer' and 'oh, it may had been the previous left' occurred though, with the UK being the size of a large Walnut Whip, I kept my head down confident that we would, sooner or later, arrive at our destination.

That was until I heard the phase 'Bath is a long way isn't it?' spoken from the navigators seat (to which the driver gave an agreeing sigh). To this I perked my head up and explained, quite politely, that a three hour trip was just a 'trip to the shops' in Japan and that, for my last summer holiday, I had to drive thirteen hours just to start it. What I thought required more complaint was the level of the sun which, due to driving west, hung at 'eye level' the entire journey.

As we had started our trip around midday, it will come as no surprise that we eventually arrived in Bath around 3pm. For a city which was built before today's large quantities of traffic, it was very easy to get into the city centre and in no time at all we had found our hotel. My mother had chosen the hotel and, in my opinion, had done very well indeed. Not only was it within a five minute walk of the city centre, it was also beautiful to look at. The hotel was located in the middle of an old row of terraced stone houses. These terraces reeked of the Regency era due to their large bay windows, stone exterior and their many rooms with high ceilings. It was a very narrow hotel with four levels, including the cellar which had been turned into a dinning room. My room was very spacious with a large bed and a bathroom bigger than the bed room. We had decided to only spend a couple of minutes within our rooms as we were all very hungry. After we had freshened up, we hit the town in search of food.

As this blog will show, we did indeed find food in the form of a lovely sandwich shop however, before reaching said shop, we had to walk around a small round-a-bout and down a lovely street, both of which had beautiful Regency stone buildings lining the sides of the roads. The street, with it's small shops were pretty enough, but it was the round-a-bout which stood out due to the terraced houses creating a circle around said round-a-bout. As the sun was dropping, 'pretty' just didn't do it justice.

As mentioned earlier we found said sandwich shop and ordered a sandwich with a drink. We decided to keep our lunch light as, with the time being 4pm, it wouldn't be long until dinner.

With the sun setting we decided to take a stole through the city not really caring which way we went. We made our way along the River Avon and up towards the abbey which, being the size that it is, was really hard to miss. Even in the twilight the building looked extremely beautiful due to it's Gothic architecture and it's use of 'light stone' during it's construction. The stain glass windows were also very impressive.

Moving on we found the entrance to the old Roman Baths (which were now closed) and, what appeared to be, the main shopping street. My father loves looking in shops (any shop; it really doesn't matter) whereas I try to avoid them until there is nothing left to do. I – quite rightly – believe that the same shop can be found pretty much anywhere therefore, it is best to look at things which can only be found in the place you find yourself in at that moment. Another very annoying thing about my father is that, he'll end up dragging you into these shops, spend ages looking, and come out with nothing whereas I will always find something I either want, or have wanted for a while (this happened on no less than four occasions in Bath where I found a spare battery for my camera, a Bakewell tart, a diary and souvenir presents for friends: father £0 spent – Matthew £35.00 spent).

Our battle against the dying sun was still raging as I prised my father away from another shop window and headed to 'The Royal Crescent'. This was an area which I desperately wanted to see however, due to a liking for 'Regency era' dramas, my mother seemed to want to visit it more than I. To get there we had to walk away from the city centre up a very steep slope and into another beautiful round-a-bout area with a circle of houses. By-passing a gentleman perched against a car being sick, we took the first exit to our left and walked for only a minute until we were on the cobbled streets of The Royal Crescent. Consisting of thirty terraced houses (shaped as a 'crescent'), we stopped and marvelled at the scene in front of us. It wasn't hard to imagine that I had fallen into a Jane Austin novel (which Bath coincidently, is where she wrote her books). I imagined horse-drawn carriages pulling up to said terraced houses with tall men, in tall hats, helping ladies in beautiful dresses out of said carriages. I love places like this where history is truly alive and, I would have kept within my 'Jane Austin' world, if it wasn't for the cold and the eventual fall of night. With the time being 6pm we headed back into town to a restaurant for dinner.

As we sat in the restaurant, awaiting our meals, it was decided – pretty quickly – that none of us were up for 'clubbing' tonight. We therefore decided that, once we had consumed our meal, it would be best if we headed back to our hotel for an early night (I was already visioning a beautiful hot bath followed by a cup of coco, in bed, and pieces of the chocolate which I had just bought from WH Smith – note that my father didn't buy anything from WH Smith – whilst watching TV before falling asleep at 9:30pm. Already thinking like a 60 year old …. proud of it!). Eventually our meals arrived; my mother had ordered a meat pie of some sort whereas my father had gone for a classic Christmas dinner. I, in my attempt to eat as many different types of British food as possible before heading back to a world of rice and noodles, opted for a meat which is very difficult to get in Japan; lamb. When my dinner arrived the lamb was coated in a beautiful red sauce and looked divine; there were plenty of potatoes and vegetables however, these respectfully stood to one side of the plate allowing the customer to see the lamb in all it's glory.

I can't begin to describe how good this lamb tasted. Each mouthful was as though God himself has analysed my 'top ten' tastes and put them all within this lamb. Normally, I would offer a 'forks worth' of food to other family members around the table – and they would do the same - so that we could try each others meal … not this time! It was as if time had stood still and, though no cook would recommend it, the coconut shake I had complimented the lamb perfectly. Once consumed I sat back; currently within my world flowers had bloomed, rabbits were jumping about and there was a beautiful rainbow plastered across a blue sky. That was until a great big wedge of turkey landed in front of me, ruining what was a beautiful clean white plate. As I was skipping around in my own world, unbeknown to me, my dad had been struggling with his Christmas dinner. In between mouthfuls of delicious lamb I had seen my dad's meal which, though it looked very nice, was almost twice the size of mine and lacked gravy therefore, once I had finished my meal, my dad asked me to help him with his (he hates leaving food and … actually, I do too). It was with reluctance that I ate this tough, boring cheap meat which we all know as turkey. Erased from my mouth was that sweet succulent lamb taste, only to be replaced by a dry, barren turkey taste. I even ordered another coconut shake to get rid of the dryness but alas … it didn't work.

As we walked back to our hotel I moved my tongue around my mouth trying to get rid of the turkey taste. Once in the hotel I poured myself a bath (which ended but being too shallow and too cold; the curse of the turkey!) before getting into bed. I must have ate chocolate and watched TV for only an hour before hitting the sack. As I closed my eyes I thought about what I wanted to do tomorrow, what was critical to see and if there was anything I wanted to buy but, above all, I pondered how on earth I was going to get rid of this turkey taste!

Tuesday 30^th December 2014

How can turkey remain this potent after twelve hours!

As my parents are quiet old, it was decided that breakfast would start around 9am. This was fine by me; Bath, though a city, is actually very compact and I presumed that we would spend the day looking at things we had seen last night. Also, my hotels bed was very, very comfortable and I didn't hold a grudge against my parents for allowing me a whole ten hours to sleep in said bed, followed by another two sitting in it whilst watching TV. Due to having a bath last night I had a quick shower before joining my parents within the hotels down stairs dining area.

It would appear that the hotel was run by either German or Austrian people as the staff, plus some of the food, had a very Germanic feel to it. The waitresses serving manner too felt very Germanic and, though she was polite, I felt obliged to say 'yes' to everything in fear of retaliation. I started with a cooked breakfast before working my way along a table filled with cold breakfast food. Once I had reached the cake (can't remember its name; it's shaped like a doughnut with icing sugar on the top and dried fruit inside) I stopped for two slices as it was so delicious. It was there and then that, as a family, we decided that we would start looking at all the sites Bath had to offer at around 10am. We would then have a late lunch and then leave the city around 3pm'ish'. With that decided I pleaded with my father to make a mental note of which shops he would like to visit and then, once all the sites had been seen, lead us back to said shops so that we didn't miss anything. With that all agreed we backed our bags, checked-out of the hotel and walked into town.

Within five minutes my father was in a shop. Loosing patients I kept walking leaving my mum as a kind of bridge between our locations. This didn't work for long as I soon found myself back at Bath's abbey area. Wanting to get photos for school, I persuaded my mum to meet me outside the abbey in twenty minutes or so. I therefore broke away from my parents and walked around Bath's 'abbey area' taking photos of this, that and the other.

Either I was speaking Japanese – or my mother misheard me – but when I returned to the abbey both my father and mother were nowhere to be seen. As I waited I remembered why I loved travelling on my own; you never have to wait for anyone, there are no worries and no wasted time. After what seemed like hours – though I guess it was only fifteen minutes – I eventually found my mother. My mother and father had been waiting in the abbey, not outside. Slightly annoyed I went into said abbey as my mum said it was very beautiful. She went for some fudge.

The abbey was indeed beautiful. Only a couple of weeks before coming to the UK I had watched a history documentary about the 100 years war (trust me; it was very interesting) and through this war, England had moved away from years of Normandy-French architecture - consisting of big round pillars and cross-beams– and had discovered it's own architecture. This architecture was very much present within this abbey, with it's concealed pillars which fanned out when they hit the roof. Looking past these pillars and towards the back of the abbey, a huge stain glass window could be seen. Before, I had seen it from the outside however, inside, I could get very close to it. I spent a few minutes marvelling at the pictures and the attention to detail. I tried to guess what some of the images were trying to say, without success. Once I'd seen most of the abbey I left, conscious that I was disturbing people during their prayers.

Once outside I met up with my mother who had in her possession a big block of vanilla fudge. After consuming the small piece offered to me, it wasn't long before I asked for another bite as it was divine. My mother had been looking at the entrance to the 'Bath House'; a museum dedicated to the Roman baths which put this city on the map. The price to enter was £13.50 therefore I was reluctant to have a look. It was only after both my mother and father pushed me towards the entrance (and, if I'm honest, them giving me the £13.50 pretty much clinched the deal) did I go in and purchase a ticket. My mother and father had both seen the baths in their 'yoof' (which I'm sure would have been a much more fulfilling experience than the one I had as they would have been able to see actual Romans bathing) therefore I went in on my own. My mother and father headed to a coffee shop and waited.

It didn't take me long to realise how glad I was that my parents had persuaded me to go in. Though the baths were small, they were packed with information, videos and models of Roman life in, and outside, of the baths. At first you walked onto the balcony looking down onto the baths (the Roman's 'ground level' was much lower than ours today). A handy talking guide allowed you to wind your way in a logical manor. The guide would only give you a small portion of information at a time; to get the next bit you had to walk to the next location and input the number shown on a small 'guide sign' into a keypad. This was great as it allowed you to proceed at your own pace (I hate those guides which try to guess how long it will take you to get from one location to another). Having been pummelled with information in regards to the 'life of the Romans' since elementary school, I skipped all information on that subject and focused solely on information about the baths. I took a lot of photos of said baths which, as it happened, turned out to be some of my best.

Nearing the end of my visit, I finally entered the baths at 'Roman' ground level. Though there wasn't much smell, they did give off quite a lot of heat, and stream could be seen trying to constantly escape. Tourist numbers were low and this allowed me to get a really good feel for the place. I took one last look before leaving the baths and entering the main shopping street. It didn't take long to find my parents and, thankfully, they had completed quite a few shops.

Once together we proceeded on almost the same route as we did the following night. We went back up to the Royal Crescent to take photos and to go into a museum my mother had read about. Once there we struggled to find said museum, though the quality of photos were excellent due to the beautiful blue sky which we had been given today. Finally we found the entrance to the museum … which was closed. Though she tried to hide it, I could tell that my mother was rather upset about this development as she loves looking around houses from this period. Fortunately, as we proceeded back into town, we came across Jane Austin's house (she wasn't in) which had been turned into a museum. My mum paid for an entrance ticket whereas I, with little else to do, entertained my father by taking him around the shops.

Eventually after I have spent another £10.00 (my father having spent nothing) my mother had finished viewing all there was to see in the Jane Austin museum. We met up and she explained that she had enjoyed the visit (though looking at her facial expressions, I got the impression that the phase she was itching to use was “...it was alright...”). We continued to walk around the streets of Bath not really sure what there was left to see. It's strange but I've had these moments before where, though there is nothing left to do, you don't want to leave a place early as you feel that you haven't had your monies worth. We therefore walked around for another hour or so before it was time for lunch. With a 'long drive ahead of us', I had quite a substantial lunch consisting of a wrap, some chips and a dessert. My parents followed suit and after an hour or so we were ready for the off.

Just like when we entered Bath, it was shocking just how easy it was to drive out of it. We were soon on the main road high above the city of Bath heading home. As I looked back down on the old city a small lump in my throat appeared from nowhere. I have been to huge national parks, ancient lost cities, up mountains, across glaciers and around temples and yet, I would say that this beautiful, beautiful city could rival any of the above. As Bath finally fell from view I sat back in my seat proud to be British!

Toodle Pip!

'Snap Shot' Cambridge

Saturday 27^th December 2014
 

Weather: Intermittent rain though it wasn't cold

MP3 track of the day: Schools out for summer - Alice Cooper

Now before I go on, I suppose I should explain what 'snap shot' means within the title of this blog. It basically means that this blog will be a shortened version of my usual blogs, due to a variety of reasons. It is, in effect, a 'snap shot' of my trip.

Prologue

In the winter of 2014, I came back to the UK for three weeks to eat 'proper' food, meet up with friends and family and to smuggle a years worth of UK chocolate back into the 'land of the rising sun'. Though this was a very busy time, I did manage to spend a few days travelling around the UK trying to even the score in regards to 'home sites I've seen Vs foreign sites I've seen'. Being a very busy time, It is only three weeks later that I have found the time to sit down, with a cup of tea and my last remaining 'Cadbury's Caramel' chocolate bar (knew I should have bought more of them), and write a proper account of the day. One final thing to note is that, on said day, my father accompanied me.

Today, Saturday 27^th December 2014, my father and I would drive forty minutes east to the wonderful university city of Cambridge. Though my father had visited Cambridge before, I had not. The three cities of 'Oxford, Cambridge and Bath' had always been on my UK 'to do' list and, like most people with regards to their home countries tourist attractions, I'd put it off in my 'yoof' not thinking that one day I could be living in Japan, almost 6,000 miles away. Today was therefore an important day; I would settle an old score and finally visit a city that even one of my Japanese English teachers have visited.

*****

I awoke much earlier than my father and so I consumed breakfast at a leisurely pace. Once consumed I had to wait a little longer though, as it turned out, it really didn't matter. I had spent the night at my grandparents house which is located within the county of Northamptonshire, making the drive to Cambridge shorter than my drive, within Japan, to buy foreign cheese. At 11 am we were both dressed and fed, and ready for the off.

Being a good 'old sport' my father drove his large silver'ish' Kia from my grandparents house to the outskirts of Cambridge without incident. The drive highlighted quite a few differences between driving in the UK and driving in Japan. Overall I would say that driving in Japan is less stressful as, where I live at least, there are a lot less cars on the road and a lot less lanes (having cars, on both sides of me, reminded me of just how stressful UK driving can be). Having said that; the plus side of driving within the UK is, as mentioned above, the fact that our trip only took us forty minutes due to a speed limit of 70 miles an hour, round-a-bouts and those said lanes. In Japan, the same trip would have taken over an hour and a half due to a speed limit of 40 miles an hour and an unhealthy obsession to paint all roads with 'double-yellow lines'.

As mentioned above, my father drove to the outskirts of Cambridge where we parked the car in one of Cambridge's large 'park and ride' sites. These ingenious sites (which consist of a huge car park and a regular bus service taking you into a city centre without the hassle of city driving) are now used in most UK cities however, this one at least, seemed a little different. Once we had parked the car we waited on a platform for the bus to arrive. I choose the word 'platform' carefully as it would appear that the road laid out beneath our feet had been 'purpose built' for buses only. In fact, when said bus arrived, it had bumpers attached to it's sides which hit the side of the purpose built bus lane which kept the bus heading in the right direction without aid from the driver. After paying £6.50 for a return bus ticket (not bad) my father and I sat down and tried to peer out of the 'milky' coloured plastic windows. Though the weather had been beautiful in Northamptonshire, across the boarder the sky was filled with grey clouds and every-so-often they would release a light shower whenever they felt like it.

It wasn't long before we found ourselves within the centre of Cambridge. Having had enough of sitting within a vehicle, we alighted at the first stop within Cambridge's CBD area. This is one of my most favourite moments when travelling; when you just arrive within a place not really knowing which way to go or what to see.

Once the bus had gone we looked around and walked in the direction which we felt looked the most 'alive'. A little way up the street we found the 'round church' (its real name is the Church of the Holy Sepulchre) which, true to it's name, was round. Built around 1130 (year, not time) this church now housed an information centre, which we did not visit. Instead we proceeded onwards, down the cobbled footpaths which seem to cling for dear life to Cambridge's narrow roads. As we proceeded, stone buildings of all different shapes and sizes came into view with each building built for a different purpose though, all of which seemed to fit together perfectly. The largest buildings of all were the religious buildings, followed by the colleges themselves. Finally the terraced houses and narrow shops clung together in between these giants. It was strange but to me it appeared that the buildings themselves took on their own lease of life. Within the chaotic narrow streets, the tightly cramped smaller buildings appeared to be in a hurry and always busy. Once away from these, a road or square separated them from the larger religious and academic buildings where time seemed to stand still. All-in-all, the feelings I got when I past from one area of Cambridge to another was worth the visit.

We had alighted the bus at around midday and now the time was 2pm. Both feeling hungry we had scoured the city trying to find a restaurant which took our fancy however, none had beaten the 'fish and chip' shop we had seen when we had first arrived. We headed back in the direction we had come and found the restaurant. Previously – when we had gazed into the window earlier – it appeared that every table was taken. It was only on our second visit that we found out that the restaurant had a 'downstairs' eating area as well. We were shown to our seats before being served by a very pleasant chap would took our order; two 'fish and chips', a tea and an orange juice please.

We did have to wait a little while for our order to arrive however, it mattered not. This gave us time to reflect on what we had already seen plus have a gaze at other customers meals. Though the price didn't reflect it, it would appear that we had chosen a rather 'posh' fish and chip restaurant for lunch. The plates were the brightest white I had ever seen and the condiments were well chosen. When our meal eventually arrived, the fish was lightly battered and the chips were just the right size. For me, this was the first time I'd eaten fish and chips for three years and, though it was like heaven, I had forgotten that cod is pretty much tasteless and requires sauces to make it even vaguely interesting.

Once dinner had been consumed we left and walked back into the centre of Cambridge content that the 'busy shopping streets' had been well and truly searched. We now focused our attention on why Cambridge is so famous; we walked towards it's colleges.

According to 'Wikipedia', Cambridge has 31 colleges which all make up the University of Cambridge. Though all colleges were closed, I enjoyed viewing the outside of the buildings and peering into any window I could find wondering what life would be like inside ('Harry Potterish' I'd hoped). The most famous college is called the 'Kings college' and we managed to get a good look at the buildings from the 'Backs'; a long stretch of fields running in between the colleges themselves and the river Cam. It is along this river which the famous Cambridge 'punting' takes place though, today was far too cold to go punting. Though most of the 'backs' were out-of-bounds' to the general public, it wasn't hard to imagine students of old lying on the grass and studying under a tree during the summer months. Most of Cambridge could have fallen out of a 'Pride and Prejudice' period drama, it was that pretty.

Once the backs had been completed my father and I headed back into the city centre (passing two Japanese tourists) noticing that the sky was getting darker. After another walk around the city we ventured into a café for a quick bite before proceeding to the cities bus station which we had found on an earlier adventure. The time was now around 5pm and we boarded a bus which got us back to our car at around 6pm. Being a Saturday, the traffic was light and we managed to get back to my grandparents house in time for dinner. As I sat and ate I thought about the day and, though my visit to Cambridge had been short, I don't think there was anything I missed. I had enjoyed the day and Cambridge certainly has 'future home' potential.

Another place has been ticked off my list

Toodle Pip!