Ok so continuing with Thursday, after cadbury world I checked out the bourneville village for a little bit, I went to sedor manor and another old house that Mr cadbury saved from destruction. The sedor house had display boards and info books explaining tudor life and the function of each room and the furniture too. There was also a book on tudor home remedies for ailments. they all were very strange and involved cooking animals and eating them or putting them on your body. I'm sure glad we are much smarter now! So after the houses it was like 5 pm and dark and raining but I Hung outside the park for about 2 hours planning for London because michal talked so much, I didn't think he would give me alone time at his place to sort the things, so I just did it outside in the cold. When I eventually got fed up with being cold and wet, I went back to his place and we ate dinner and went to bed soon after cause he was heading down to London to catch a plane to northern Ireland with his gf, and I wanted to make the most of my last day in Birmingham. Friday Dec 9: I left Michals early, like at 9 am, and (getting slightly lost) made my way thru the morning rush hour to the central backpackers to drop my stuff off. So I did and then went and headed to the sealife center. I got lost within all the stalls for the German markets, it was never ending!! I got frustrated and asked the visitor center where it was and despite my bike helmet in my hands, the lady gave me walking directions so I had to carry lance up and down steps. But i found it from her directions so that was fine. I had a 2 for 1 voucher so I waited till a lady came in with her daughter and we spilt the adult price. I still paid nearly £10!! Can you believe it!? For a damn aquarium (and not the most extraordinary one either). I hope a good portion goes to conservation and not into merlins pocket! I really hate supporting big businesses! But anyway it was nice, there was a huge tank that had turtles, sharks, rays and other stuff. I wish they would have focused more on local fish though, they had a whole amazon section, and lots of fish from the indo- pacific, but not too much from around the British isles or even the red sea. They had Cambodian Otters and they were my fav! Soo squeezable!! At 1 pm there was a short 4D polar express clip, so I went to that. I never seen the movie but it looked quite cute. Then at 1:30 was the otter feeding so I saw that too. There was also a seahorse breeding program so I saw lots of little cuties!! And there was a shark/ray/skate tank. After the aquarium I went to the ikon gallery which is contemporary art which already says how the quality of the art was. There were 3 exhibits, and they were a bit crap. If this is the future of art then I'll be going on art gallery strike. Then I went back to the hostel. The markets were so crowded that I had to walk lance. When i got there I checked in and ate and showered. Not too long after I went back to the brindleyplace where I just was for sealife and ikon gallery and went to the repertory theatre to see sleeping beauty. I got there a half hour early, so I sat in the cafe and waited. During that time a whole bunch of kids, one by one came up to me, dressed as fairy tale characters and started talking to me, so I played along. Then jack (from jack and the beanstalk) gave me his can of magic baked beans! When I got up to go into the theater, I went to hand the beans back to the kids' director, but he told me to keep it! So after the play (which was real good, very unique and funny, but the main concepts were the same) I brought the beans back to the hostel. I had walked cause there wouldn't be any point in fighting the markets crowd with lance. But as I was walking I saw a girl pushing a bike that looked exactly like lance! Same specialized vita, same color and design, blue water bottle holder, I think she even had a black rack! It almost made me nervous (cause lance wasn't locked up at the hostel, just up against a pole in their back garden) but when I saw she had a fully inflated front tire, I knew it wasn't lance :-) when I got back, I went to the lounge and saw that Welsh guy who works on britains got talent, that I had met in Liverpool. We chatted for a bit but then he went to bed, so I went into the kitchen to cook my beans! I got talking to this Irish guy for a bit and then headed onto bed. Saturday Dec 10: I had to be making it back to leicester and I had a lot of last minute things to check and do before I went to London on Sunday so I didn't want to waste too much time hanging around Birmingham. I had breakfast and talked again to that Irish guy and another guy. Irish guy mentioned he was living in Edinburgh with his brother and I said how mike and I are going there for hogmanay and he said we might be able to stay over, if his brother hadn't already offered it to someone else, since he has a couch surfing account. So that was nice, I hope he pulls thru, cause everyone else mike has messaged so far has said no! At 9:43 am I left bham, I planned on stopping off at local parks/ nature reserves along the way, as well as a few reserves at hinckley, but only if I was making good time cause they were a bit out of the way. I pretty much went the same way as I did last time, but Michael led the way after nuneaton so this time i had to do it on my own. But at first everything looked familiar, so there were no issues. I stopped off at kingfisher country park, just on the outskirts of the bham city center. There was a nice river following thru it but the place was absolutely disgusting. Trash everywhere!! And people took their dogs there, I felt so bad for the poor doggies! So I didn't stay too long and then not long after (still in the bham area) I stopped off at another local reserve and that was so much nicer!! Clean, had a lake, had a recreational area, I couldn't believe the difference! I'm sure they are both managed by the council, so why does one get more attention than the other. If I lived in bham they would be hearing from me!! So that was another quick stop over, I just rode thru there since it ran parallel with the road, then I got back on route and continued. I also stopped off at a reservior a few miles up, and watched some of the boats from the sailing club (one was really struggling with his sails!!) But I didn't do any walks around the reservoir, just stood there for a bit then left. So I'm marching along. It was a clear day and no wind so that was fabulous. At some point I see a sign in this rural area saying come see our beautiful church, open today. So I thought ok why not. I can't remember where I was but it really was like in the middle of nowhere, 16 mi from bham center. The church had a strange name too, after an unpopular saint. So I paid 50p for a booklet about the history of the church but then put it back afterwards cause I had no use for it. The church was on top of a hill so the views from the graveyard were pretty. Then I continued on my way, didn't stop anywhere else, except for lunch not long after that church. so far this was the first time I needed to refill my tire since I left bham so I thought that was quite good, but when I set off again, the tire went flat immediately! I don't know what happened!! So I filled it up again and the same thing happened. And I thought oh screw it, ill get nowhere if I keep stopping every mile to pump it up. So I rode the rest of the way there with a dead tire!! It wasn't too bad actually, just sometimes when it was bumpy I could really feel myself shaking. So I'm riding along, passed thru nuneaton and remembered the route a little bit from there. So I didn't get lost until I reached the a5. I was only supposed to be on there for <1 mile and get on the b4668 but I never saw signs for the b4668, only b4666 so either the route name changed recently and I need to update my Google maps app or England just sucks when it comes to labelling roads. I'll go for the latter! But right as I got on the a5 I saw a nice little wooded area at a busy junction so I decided this will be my pee spot. When I was finished I hopped back on lance and I saw right in front of me, a sign for a service station with a bathroom!! I wasn't too bothered, I'm sure my spot was more hygienic anyway! So after going on the a5 for some time I decided to check the gps and see where the hell I was. So like I said I missed my b4668 turn off into hinckley and thus didn't get to see any of the reserves near there. So I just continued on the a5 until I got to the b4114, it wasn't exactly the wrong way, just more of a "(not very) scenic route". Lots of farmland around me, smelling like cow crap in some places. I did see a hawk or some kind of bird of prey though, flying above me. So it was a straight shot almost the whole way from the b4114, and by the time I had to turn off that onto the busy a road to take me to leicester, it was dark, so I rode on the sidewalk. I got a bit confused because I thought I was coming from the opposite direction so I was getting worried when I didn't recognize anything! (Which now that I'm thinking about it, obviously I would be coming from the west cause bham is west of leicester!) But I found it in the end. Arrival time was 4:52 pm, I did 43.39 miles (so only went about 3 mi out of my way by missing the hinckley turn off), max 24, avg 8.1. I called mike to say ill be another 1 1/2 hours, and then when we Hung up I rang the doorbell and walked in :-) it was good to see him again and to finally eat a normal meal!! I woofed down that stir fry and pumpkin pie! Unfortunately I had to be up early to catch a 6:05 am bus to London, so our time together was short lived. My mom called, the fam was over for a little goodbye get together. She said she would be taking a taxi from the airport to the hotel in London, even though I suggested she take the underground and my aunt suggested heathrow express/connect. So soon after I went to bed. Sunday Dec 11: after only getting like 5-6 hours sleep i got a cab and went to the coach station. I arrived at 5:40 am and saw the bus already there so I went to show the driver my ticket and he said that was a 5:40 bus to London. Wow, pretty early!! And the station wasn't actually open yet so I had to wait outside for the bus, as annoying teenagers walked home from their night out. As soon as i got on the bus I went straight to sleep and woke up not too much before we had to arrive in Victoria. I arrived at like 8:40 am and walked to the hotel, but had some trouble finding the place cause the street is numbered strangely. But I found it, although I couldn't check in so I Hung around the lobby waiting for mom and grandma. They came around 11 cause they ended up taking the heathrow express which they loved but then they took a bus from picadilly to Victoria and then asked a taxi driver to take them to the hotel and he said no, its right there, just walk. so we checked in and didn't have too much time cause we had to be at harrods at 11:45 for the lunch part of our tour. So I said let's just take a taxi cause we prob won't make it if we try the underground. So we got there just before 11:30 am and there were crowds of people waiting outside for the doors to open in 1 minute! I couldn't believe the madness, it was something out of jingle all the way or any other Christmas shopping movie. My mom and gma really liked harrods, they thought it was beautiful and wanted to go shopping. Good thing we didnt have time cause those prices were outrageous, £240 for a pair of jeans!? That shouldn't be legal considering some young Chinese child was probably sold into slave labor in a sweat shop and made that for less than 1p an hour. So after getting lost in that maze of departments, we found the Georgian restaurant and had our meal. It was either a choice of turkey or mince pie and mulled wine so I ordered the mince pies for myself so my mom and gma can see what it tasted like (they wanted to try a traditional English meal) so their turkeys came out in a few minutes and they had this whole fancy dish with a nice size slice of turkey with vegetables, potatoes and tiny sausages wrapped with Bacon. We had the bus tour part of the package deal at 1 pm, so we had to leave the restaurant by like 12:50, but it was 12:40 and I still hadn't had my mince pies!! There was a Canadian woman alone so she sat at the table with us, and we got talking to her. She is doing her phd in social psychology in London. She was real nice, she asked the waiter where the mince pies were for me! So they came out in a few minutes but me and the people at the other tables who were also doing the bus tour really had to shove it down our throats so we wouldn't miss the bus! And wow were those mince pies tiny, they were 5 bite size pies, covered in custard, and nothing else, other than the wine, which I gave to my gma. So that hardly was a lunch!! I wasn't crazy about them anyway (as I had figured). So we left quickly but again got lost in the store but found the bus, even though it was after 1 pm. So we had a live commentary as we drove around and the guy explained the sites and neighborhoods. We then stopped at the tower of London where we got on a water taxi and rode down the Thames to embankment and got on the bus again. The tour bus then took us back to harrods but the traffic was so bad that when we were a few blocks away, our guide said we were going to get off and walk. So we got off but my mom and gma had to pee so we just went to the Victoria and Albert museum (which we were right in front of) and went to the bathroom there. Then we checked out a few sculptures and medieval art and went back to the hotel. We rested for a bit and then we took a taxi to the winter wonderland in Hyde park. That was super crowded. They checked out the stalls at the markets and it started to rain so we went inside a restaurant for dinner. The wait time was 30 min so we put our names down and then went to walk around some more but that didn't last long cause it started to rain harder, so we went back to the tent with the restaurant. It was a bit of a wait but we eventually got served, and a band was playing which was cool too. After that we went back to the hotel cause they were feeling tired from their flight. Monday Dec 12: I woke up real early so I could go to the embassy one last time to get my new passport. I had a 7:45 am appt but I got a little lost so I was late but it didn't matter cause I still had to wait on line outside before being let in the building. I got seen quick enough and the guy at the counter told me there was no need to come in person, I should have just mailed the passport to them and i said I wanted it today that's why I came and he said we no longer do that. So I was really pissed off but he said it should be mailed to me within 2-3 weeks so I thought I could live with that. But I had to purchase a currier envelope from them for £15!!! Fucking pricks. Now I know why they were so uptight with security, cause even I felt like bombing the place. So that took way shorter than it did when I got my temporary passport so I had some time to kill before I went to my 11 am showing of the snowman. So I just walked around oxford st, regent st, and the area, checking out the Christmas lights, even though it was daylight out. Had a quick stroll thru the hanover sq park, which is practically nothing, and slowly made my way to the west end. I stopped off at covent gardens to see their Christmas displays, which had a giant reindeer on the outside of the building. Then I went to the play. It was very adorable, of course there were lots of kids but they weren't too annoying. I was supposed to meet my mom and gma at Westminster abbey at 1 pm cause they went to brunch at Shakespeares globe and were doing the hop on hop off bus tour. But they called and said to meet at 2 so I decided to go there straight after the play and just walk around the abbey until they show up. So I got there around 1, I walked along the Thames, which it was a very nice day for, and then went to the abbey. I had to do a bag check and there were 2 lines, one to pay with cash and one for card, so I went to the card line and I said student price and the woman asked for my student card. Most places just say show it to me, but she actually took it from me and was like examining it. The completion date said Sept 2011 (thanks Leeds uni you dickheads) so she said she couldn't accept it so I said then I'm not going in. So for the remainder of the time I crossed over the bridge by the house of parliament, grabbed the worlds most expensive Belgium waffle and went to the Christmas markets at southbank centre. Then I made my way back to the abbey, met up with the fam, then we went onto the cash line and this time I showed my ISIC card cause I wrote on it completion Dec 31 2011 and that got me thru :-) so fuck you to that annoying cunt rag at the card payment desk!! We signed up for a tour at 2:30 pm, but walked around in the meantime. Another annoying thing was you couldn't just go in any order you wanted, you had to follow a route. So I literally ran all around the damn place just to see Darwins grave even though it was so close to the entrance, since it was blocked off. So the tour went on at 2:30 and lasted till 4. Lots of royal people were buried there so there were lots of shrines and beautifully built effigies. Then we went to the scientist area, where we saw Darwins grave anyway lol along with Isaac newton. There was a very pretty memorial to him too. We also went to poets corner and saw Dickens grave and either the grave or memorial to Geoffrey Chaucer. We sat in the choir and learnt about that and also saw the (something) to the bath where royal people get knighted. So after the tour ended, mom and gma went to their high tea. I stayed and looked around for a bit more, then walked to trafalgar sq to go to the national gallery. I got a bit lost so by the time I got there it was like 5:15 pm and the museum closed at 6 so there was no point in going in, even if I didn't see the Leonardo Di Vinci's studio exhibit. There were some carrollers singing just down the gallery steps in front of a big Christmas tree. So after I watched them I walked back to the hotel, along the right street this time. I waited for mom and gma to come back from their high tea and then mom and I went to a pub for dinner right across the st. After food I met up with neer cause he messaged me on thanksgiving, probably after he saw on my fb that I was in Liverpool. So I met up with him on oxford and regent st corner, we walked down regent st and saw the same xmas lights that I saw that morning (only they were much nicer in the dark) and we went to hamlets, or something, a toy store, and then the m&m shop where I wanted to steal some m&ms but there were 3 staff members guarding the containers. Then we walked to leicester sq, where we saw a homeless man playing Christmas tunes thru a traffic cone, so neer gave him a pound. Then we hopped on the train and headed to our respective places of rest!! It was real good to see him again even though it was short lived and unfortunately artie was feeling sick so she couldn't make it out. I've Hung out with neer on 3 continents now so we joked we will meet up again in Asia, possibly in Japan to see dotto! Tuesday Dec 13: we first headed to st pauls cathedral, we did an audio tour then a guided tour. I thought the art inside was much prettier than Westminster abbey. It had shrines and memorials and sculptures as well, but beautiful paintings on the ceiling. Admiral nelson and duke of Wellington buried in the crypt, so Westminster abbey wins there lol but you can go to the top of the dome, which was really cool. My mom and I went up, over 500 steps total! The first stop was the whispering gallery which was still inside the first dome. Then the next two levels were outside. It was very windy!! But it was good weather so we could see for far. After we went back down I did the audio tour of the crypt, then we hopped on the underground to tower hill. We went to the tower of London and did a guided tour right when we started. The guide, pretending to be a beefeater, was very funny. He took us around the grounds and told us about the buildings and their functions when built. After that we went to see the crown jewels cause my mom and gma really wanted to see it. It's pathetic how crowded it was in there. I hate how so many people obsess over people with money that dont even work to earn their money and don't contribute to making the world a better place, yet no one even thinks twice about all the hard working people in this world, or those that desperately need help (children in Africa?!!) But anyway after we saw the crown jewels we had lunch in the cafe then my mom and I went up to the medieval tower and saw king Edwards bed chamber. Then the place was closing so my mom and I went to the tower bridge exhibition where you walk along the walk ways of the bridge. Right as I got to the bridge though, it opened to let a ship thru, it was a fascinating site! And when we went up the walkways inside the bridge, it was night time so we got really good views of the lighted skyline. Saw st Pauls in the distance! Then there was a private tour going on but we stopped and listened to the guide anyway and he told a story of how a bus driver in the 1950s or so was driving the bus over the bridge as it was opening!! So he jumped the gap like they did in speed!! And the bus made it over and no one was killed. He was awarded a medal for bravery and quick thinking! But really, who designs a draw bridge and then doesn't put up barriers to block the traffic from continuing along when the bridge is up!? So after the walk ways we went to the engine room which we saw how the mechanisms worked to open the bridge. After that we picked up gma and went back on the underground to the west end to eat dinner and see priscilla queen of the desert. My gma wanted to try fish and chips but The pubs were very crowded so we just found an Italian restaurant to eat at. The waitress spoke Italian to us when we ordered our food and my gma said to her when she served us, "we are Italian but we can't speak it, isn't that terrible!?" and the waitress goes, "I am Italian but i can't speak English!" That was funny. So after food we went to the palace theatre. The play was awesome!! Some of the drag queens, you couldn't even tell they were men!! And wow was felicia sexxy!! That makes the second play I've seen with my mom and gma that was about drag queens!! After the play we were all tired so we went on the underground for the last time and then went right to bed! Wednesday Dec 14: we had an 11:30 am bus to Leeds so they went shopping around the area and I stayed in the hotel until they came back. We went to victoria coach and picked up the megabus. 4 hours later we arrived in Leeds and went to the travelodge. I had only booked a double room cause I thought there would be a couch with a pull out bed like my travelodge in haydock, but the woman saw we were 3 people and said only 2 could stay so she wrote down the names of mom and gma, so I was Just going to sleep on the floor but mike offered to have me stay in the room with him and his dad, even though there were single beds. They were staying at the same travelodge, as was his mom and aunt so that made it convenient when we all went out to dinner at 7:30 pm. So in the meantime I had to go buy mike a graduation card, and go to the bank and post office all in an hour before everything shut so I just dropped my stuff in the room and ran to clinton cards (or clifton?) and scribble. scribble had an ugly graduation design and clin(f)ton had ran out of their only design! For a city only geared towards students, there sure was a real lack of graduation cards!! So I had to buy a bday card. Then as I was walking to meet him I dropped the damn envelope and that was never to be seen again. So we went to the bank and post office then food shopping then tried to find the city varieties theatre, unsuccessfully so we went back to travelodge and asked for a map and saw it on there, so the hotel was really close to it. Then the females, except me took a cab to the restaurant, sams chop house, for our dinner. I'm going to end it here cause this post is long enough and it takes me like 10 min to stroll down to the bottom of it every time I open the app to continue writing!
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