Traveling is the sort of experience you must have in your lifetime or you haven't really lived! That's traveling, not holidaying. The nervous lump in your stomach disappears as soon as you hit your first destination, even before while still on the plane, and excitement then takes over. Landing at Heathrow for the first time was exciting enough for me (I know, little things...), that's how pumped I was. The sight of a black cab outside the airport or 'the bill' walking around had me squealing with excitement. The best moments was those spent actually standing in front of those amazing places, buildings, parks and structures that you have seen for so long on the telly or in travel books.
Walking along Whitehall in London was one of those moments, passing number 10 Downing street and looking to my left too see the majestic Houses of Parliament and Big Ben. All the 'suits' walking around the place on their lunch breaks were doing so with their heads down! You felt like yelling out 'look at that beautiful sight behind you, how can you just pass it without a glance?!". To them though, that is work and they see it every day, nothing special. The same thing happened at Buckingham Palace during the changing of the guard believe it or not. Londoners walking past this spectacle without flinching.
The quieter (word used fairly lightly) areas of London are just magic. My favorite would have to be Notting Hill. No not because of Hugh Grant! Because roaming the markets at night with traders trying to sell you fruit, veg and fluro pink stockings is awesome, my new favorite bakery on Portobello Road makes THE best cupcakes, a free standing flower shop stall is right on the corner and the flowers still manage to look freshly picked at 5pm, and the whole town in general is just kittens and cuteness wrapped in fairy floss!
Being a huge reader/watcher of anything Jane Austen, Bath was a special place for me and it didn't disappoint. Walking through the small city you feel like you've been transported back in time, all that's missing is a chaise and horse drawns. The Pump Room is so magnificent, you could be in your best kit and still feel almost completely inadequate standing there waiting to be seated, and the Roman Baths are a slice of, well, Roman history plonked in the middle of the English countryside.
Words can't describe the English countryside but I'll try: breathtaking, beautiful, inspiring, lush, quaint, remote, free, and of course GREEN. The Lake District looks like the work of art on the front of a tin of derwent pencils, complete with hilly views, babbling brooks and a sprinkling of sheep.
Walking around medieval towns like Oxford, Stratford-upon-Avon and York is like walking around in a fairy tale. Everywhere you turn you see ruins of abbeys, Tutor houses - often leaning, and cob
blestoned lanes. And, as far as York goes, one of the best cream cake shops in England. And snaps for the accents!What I am trying to say here is you just need to make sure you savor every moment, even the seemingly dull ones, to really experience travel (that's TRAVEL not holiday!).
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