I'm Going Home... Sunday's Travels

Well, it's a little late but here is the last day's blog of my winter break...

I woke up around 8:30 and got ready to go. Packed up my stuff, most of which was packed the night before so it wasn't that bad. Then I checked out of my hostel and headed back to the underground where I bought a one way ticket and headed towards King's Cross - St. Pancras Station where I was to pick up the Eurostar back home. Naturally as I got to the tube platform I needed, the train I needed was just leaving so I had to wait another 8 minutes for the right train - which started to make me nervous as time was getting close! (I seem to always do that when traveling even when I plan time for things like that!)

So, I finally get my train and head to the station. When I arrive there, and after I get back up to the ground level (the Northern Line is not that far underground) I start walking to the St. Pancras Station to catch my 10 am train - note this is about 9:40 at the time! I first stop and pick up my ticket using the machines - naturally out of 3 machines only one is working! Then I make it over to the check-in point where I must go through security. Me, being in the rush to make my train as well as the absent minded guy I can be at times... I forget to take off my watch while going through the metal detectors so they end up having to pat search me down (I had to have this done back in the Brussels Airport because of the snaps on my sweater). But they gave me the go ahead and I gathered my things up and got in line for the passport check.

As I figured they would being that when I traveled from Dublin to Belfast (technically leaving the Republic of Ireland and entering the United Kingdom in Northern Ireland) no one stamped or checked my passport verifying I left Ireland. When I took the ferry over, they checked my passport at Stena Line in Belfast, but didn't stamp it either nor did it get stamped when I arrived as I walked right to the rail station there at Stranraer (It was across the road from the ferry dock!). So, as they did when I flew out of Brussels, they asked me why it wasn't stamped for the United Kindom. So I explained why, and they just asked when I came into the country and after I told them, they gave me the go ahead. I then went to the next desk and got the stamp. From there, they were making the last calls for my train so I hurried up to the platform deck and hopped on the train.

I was most certainly not in the car where my seat was booked (I hopped on in car 7 and my seat was in the last car - car 18) but I had figured it was much better to be on my train in the wrong car and seat and have to walk the length of the train to my seat than to run along the platform and risk missing the train completely. Thankfully when I asked one of the crew onboard how to get to car 18, they talked to one of the train managers and he said I could just take a seat in the car I was in as not many were getting on at the next stop and I was getting off in Lille, the stop after that. So I sat down and got settled in. Unlike with the other trains I traveled on this trip, the Eurostar has electrical plugs on the walls by the seats so I was able to plug in my laptop and do things on that during the trip.

The train ride was rather boring and just like any other. There wasn't much to see as there were walls alongside the tracks or it was just English country side. We went through a few small tunnels and stopped in the last station for Eurostar in England. Thankfully no one said I was in their seat! From there we headed to France via the Chunnel - which goes underneath the English Channel. However, as we had gone through a couple short tunnels, and I was working on sorting my pictures on my computer - I didn't realize we were in the Chunnel till we were in it! I thought at first that this was a really long tunnel, then realized it must be THE Chunnel! So when we came out of it, I paid attention but there was nothing much to see either and we were moving too fast for any pictures to come out decently. As my mom later asked about, I didn't notice the downward slope or even the upward slope of the tracks afterwards because trains can only climb a small grade climb.

But I was back in France and being there was just country side which gets boring very quickly, I went back to work on my photos on my laptop. When we got close to Lille and started to slow down, I gathered my things together and got ready to disembark the Eurostar. Once at the station, I took a few pictures after I got off since I didn't have the time to do so before I left London. From there, I headed up to the main level of the Lille-Europe Station where I realized I still had a £5 note in my pocket. I had thought since it was a station that connected directly with London the stores in there would take sterling but of course they didn't. I checked at the currency exchange booth and not only did it cost a fee to change the currency but it really wasn't worth it as I'd loose half the money in the fee. So, still aiming to get back over to London, I just kept it and headed down to the metro back to the Cormontagne stop on the Red Line which is just a block from my residence. Finally, I was back home (in France that is!)

I had expected to find the package my parents had sent me, and had hoped I'd get before I left for my trip, sitting in my room like the last package they had sent - but it wasn't and nothing came from it today (Monday) so I'll ask about it tomorrow. The rest of Sunday was spent unpacking and getting settled back in here. I went out and bought some food and drink so I had stuff in my room. Then I just sat down and while watching The Lord of the Rings Trilogy, started to work on getting my pictures sorted and captions put on them so I can upload them when I'm done. I have the first couple days sorted out and when I finish the Wednesday album (which is taking the longest by far because I have to recall everything and look things up online as this is the day I spent traveling around the Scotland Highlands), I will upload those and post a new blog with links to those albums. The rest will come as soon as I can sort them out, as well as the full version of Wednesday's blog.

I must say there are many things I have learned on this trip, and even a few corrections I need to make to my blogs so far. First off, the older guy in the Dublin hostel I spent a good time talking with, whose name was also Michael, is not Irish but Scottish. It wasn't till after I got to Scotland and heard the thick heavy accent that I realized this (though the kilt should've been decisive enough!)

Also, everyone there knows more about the US than I do, and they follow our current events closely too. There were signs for a debate between Clinton and Obama all over Dublin.

Also, I very quickly learned that the dollar is falling fast compared to Europe, especially the United Kingdom. I also learned that the small amounts of things can very quickly add up!

A British accent is incredibly easy to slip into once you are surrounded by it! The Slovian girls (From the country of Slavia - former Yugoslavia and not Slovakia) were thrown off because when I said I was from Pennsylvania they didn't hear an American accent!

There are a total of 530 steps from the floor of St. Paul's Cathedral in London to the Golden Gallery which is the highest you can get. It's 259 steps to the Whispering Gallery, inside the dome, and a total of 378 steps to the stone Gallery right above the dome but outside. Not only is it a huge climb but the doorways are tiny and sometimes even the passages are so small you barely fit through shoulder-width!

Just because a novel is amazing and there are incredible movies based on it, doesn't mean you should turn it into a musical! The spectacle in The Lord of the Rings the Musical is worth seeing but there should be a good storyline as well that doesn't cut out a ton of things.

If you want to see a popular show in the West End, like We Will Rock You, buy the tickets online before you travel!

Being friendly to fellow sightseers can sometimes entail a free taxi ride back or a free meal and drinks! It's always nice to be courteous and friendly and when you get the chance, pass the same generosity on to others.

A hostel can sound amazing online, but end up being only so-so when you get there - check out more before booking!

When you think you have everything packed for a trip - take all your clothes save socks and other undergarments, and cut those in half! You need the extra room and weight allowance for souvenirs anyways and things can be worn at least twice!

When it comes to digital cameras - First off, don't leave yours in your room! second, the extra money you spend buying namebrand batteries is much worth it in the end when cheap batteries last only 5 minutes and you end up loosing half the pictures you take for the day!

When you set your alarm, either actually wake up when it goes off or set it for a later time if you want to sleep in a bit longer!

Make sure there are things to do in the cities you are staying in! (Glasgow isn't a tourist city!)

And there are so many more things I could think of, or have thought of but forgot again... etc. But it's things like this that just make the trip either better, or the next trip you plan better! I certainly hope that I will be going on more trips, as I have a two week break coming up in April and many weekends I could do short trips to visit cities but for a little bit I'm planning to stay here and work on my school work as I have a lot of stuff coming up here in March.

I will do my best to have the complete and final version of Wednesday's trip around the Scottish Highlands done by tomorrow and will keep working on sorting my pictures, editing them and adding captions so I can upload them for you all to see. I'll post new blogs with links to the albums when I upload them so you guys know!

But now that I'm back in Lille, there's not much of a need for a daily blog, so once I get all the pictures uploaded and everything the blogs will probably become weekly again unless something major happens! Sorry that my trip has given you a ton of reading to do and I'm sure a great desire to be visiting and doing the same things I've done this past week and a half but that's what happens I guess! I know that there are many who enjoy knowing what I'm up too so hopefully everyone enjoys them - even if it means printing them off and reading them when they get the chance!

Well, I'm going to finish working on the pictures of the one album, get those uploaded tonight and then probably crash as I have one class tomorrow morning but the rest of the day to work on the rest of the pictures. Laterz! Hope things are going good back home also!