Hello again!

I've been in quite an adventure over the last few days! Yesterday, the Crown and I went into London central and wandered the city as a couple of tourists. We headed into town by express train and went to lunch with a couple of her friends. After a delightful meal of classic pub grub, we headed over to Fe's old work place and I had a chance to sit down for a few minutes to draw up some preliminary sketches for our group crest. 

After we left, we went to see the Imperial War Museum (which need up being closed for renovations), the London Eye, Westminster Abbey, Parliament and Big Ben, as well as Buckingham Palace and the Canadian Memorial in the park just off of the Palace.

We did see quite a lot and by the time we walked back to Waterloo station, we were both a bit tuckered out! We managed to catch the train back towards Aunty G and J's home where we are staying and this is where the adventure really began! We had decided on the train that it would be much easier to walk home from the station than try and figure out the bus system at around 8 in the evening, well boy, was that mistake #1! We ended up taking the longer of 2 routes back home. Instead of a 2 km walk, we took the long way home at almost 4 km, bringing our total distance throughout the day to 14km (now, for those who don't know me, I have REALLY bad knees and hips, and generally do not walk long distance in order to be able to function the next day).

However, we did make it home after passing some rather grand houses across the golf course in the neighbourhood.

Today we went to Guildford which is a town close by and went to run a couple of errands as well, one of which was collecting Fe's little sports car, which means we can head out on longer trips up north. Yay!

Tomorrow we are going with Aunty G and one of the doggies to a dog show in Redding, which should be super interesting! I'll let you know how that goes!

Cheers,

C- the Bear

Travelling Day 1: London Town

The Bear and I have decided that we would start off with a few day trips around the "local" area.  Today we took the train into London to meet up with some of my friends for lunch, followed by some touristy wandering.

We took an express train into London Waterloo where we started our epic walking journey; when we got home we calculated the walking added up to at least 14km!  From Waterloo we went to a fantastic pub near to my old office and met up with a few friends (whom I used to work with), enjoyed a delicious meal where I was presented with a belated leaving gift – a lovely travelling journal and walker's guide (how appropriate!) and a bakers decorating masterclass – and some wonderful conversation.  After, we had a (not-so) quick visit to the office and then commenced with our sightseeing.

Imperial War Museum

The Imperial War Museum of London was our starting point, only to discover upon arrival that it will not be reopening until July as it is currently undergoing renovations.  We decided – or, rather, I decided, as I took the role of tour guide and Charissa simply allowed me! – to follow the typical tourist track from there and went straight to the London Eye and the Houses of Parliament.

Elizabeth Tower

"Big Ben", which is the clock tower at the Palace of Westminster, recently renamed to Elizabeth Tower in honour of Queen Elizabeth II's Diamond Jubilee, is an iconic symbol of London known the world over.  I thought it was a perfect first stop for Charissa's first visit to London.

This visit – and typical tourist photo op – was followed by a walk to Westminster Abbey, the location where Prince William (heir to the throne) married Catherine Middleton (the Duchess of Cambridge).  We didn't visit the Abbey proper, but have both decided that we would love to go back at some later date and view it in all it's glory.

Westminster Abbey

View of Buckingham Palace across St. James's Park

Following the Abbey we walked through St. James's Park to visit Buckingham Palace where we discovered the Queen is in residence and (I'm assuming, I do not know what was actually going on!!) was hosting her annual Garden Party.  Or something.  There were lots of ladies in frocks and hats.

At the Palace we took the time to check out the different gates, though namely the Canadian Gate as well as the Canadian Memorial, succeeding in getting odd looks for attempting to get a picture with our flag (courtesy of Charissa's bag).

Panoramic shot of Buckingham Palace and Canada Gate

Canadian Memorial in Green Park

From the Palace we walked back to Westminster, collected dinner – a Tesco meal deal for £3, brilliant – and carried on back to Waterloo Station where we caught a train to the beautiful Surrey countryside.  From there I promptly got us misplaced (not lost!) by taking a wrong turn on our walk back to the house.  45 minutes later and we were safely in the kitchen clutching mugs of tea and nomming down some home-made chocolate cake which I had made at the weekend.

Now Charissa is warmly ensconced in her bed while I type this up, fighting back yawns and about ready to go to sleep myself.

Therefore, I'm signing off.
Cheerio!
~Crown

"the Crown"

Hello from the UK! It's Charissa and I can't believe its day 2 of my epic adventure with Felicia and Jacinta! I arrived into London Heathrow at just after 9am yesterday after having Jacinta over at my place the day before (She was visiting me in Calgary before a wedding in Canada).

Generally, I love flying and am eager to have that "hermit time" where interaction with other people is minimal and I can sleep, eat and watch crappy movies to my hearts content. however, this was the exception, as I was stuck next to a woman who kept on elbowing me the entire flight. For a larger woman, she has surprisingly bony elbows! And of course,to go with the extremely full flight, I was seated behind a bunch of babies  and in front of the seat kicker.... boooooo!

Anyhow, after I arrived and spent an eternity waiting to pass customs, Felicia picked me up and we went on to the place we are staying temporarily.

After a quick lunch and a lovely little jaunt in the countryside with the doggies, we headed into the hamlet of West Byfleet where we did a bit of op-shopping (aka: going to the thrift shop) and got some groceries.

Now this morning, since I've caught up on my sleep and since I've adjusted fairly well to the time change, we're off to London Central for lunch with some of Fe's friends and more shopping!!!

Cheers,

C

PS: the bag I brought over to travel with only weighs 9kg! More to come on what brought with me :)

First Posts - A bit of Background

This blog is the brainchild of – initially – Charissa and Felicia upon their spontaneous plan to go travelling through Europe.  These two have been friends since early High School where they bonded during German lessons.  Upon the addition of a third traveller, one of Charissa's friends from her time living in Aus, it has developed into a place where the three Old Maids – aka: unmarried women in their mid to late 20’s – can record their adventures.

Charissa “the Bear” was born and raised in South Africa and moved to Canada at a young age.  She is now a Canadian citizen who lives in Western Canada.  She an artist, and a very talented glass blower.
Felicia “the Crown” who is a Canadian ex-pat living in England.  She is working as a freelance interactive programmer and loves to bake, recently baking her very first loaf of bread – and yes, this seems to be a proud point.
Jacinta “the Kangaroo” hails from Australia and is still living there.  She is a Personal Assistant who loves music and travelling.

The headline of this blog, you may have noticed, comes from the three nicknames we have chosen for each other.  It sounds a bit like a pub name, but unfortunately a pub with this name doesn't exist anywhere!  What a shame, how amusing that would have been.

The three of us are travelling through Europe, starting in the UK (with Bear and Crown), continuing through Europe starting in Portugal, where Kangaroo will be joining us.

Seeing as Bear has just arrived in the UK to join Crown, I (Crown) decided it was about time that we posted something on here – I do so hope the other two don't mind! ;)


Signing off!
~Crown