Great Britain

June 10, 2007. Today we begin our 2 1/2 month journey through Europe. After an exciting flight aboard Air India (they're cheap!), we landed in London and immediately hopped onto a bus headed for Manchester. 4 hours later, we dragged our jet-lagged bodies and our huge backpacks from the bus station to our hostel. We had arrived! After a short nap, we headed out on the town to explore and stretch our cramped legs. Manchester is a charming city with lots of cafes, interesting architecture, students, and charmingly traditional pubs selling local brews. We spent most of our time there recovering from the journey and catching up on sleep, slipping in time to visit the Imperial War Museum and chow down on some delish chinese meat pastries. It was a quick stop for us in Manchester, but it was plenty of time to whet our travelling appetites!

After a day and a half in Manchester, we caught a bus to Lakes district in Northern England. Small towns connected by tiny twisty roads make up this charming area, and the highlight of any stay are the numerous walking paths throughout the countryside. We made our way (via some bus drivers who would put any NYC taxi cabbie to shame!) to the town of Hawkshead, a sleepy little village that was the perfect base camp for our wanderings. We pitched our tent across the street from the town center and set off to explore.

We spent the following two days walking through the misty pastures dodging cows and sheep, around stunning lakes, passing through the backyards of gigantic countryhouses following footpaths and ancient bridal paths.

With a small map and directions such as "continue until you find a stone jutting out from the stone wall where you'll climb over and continue downhill 20 meters until you pass a hidden footpath on your left", we were lucky not to get lost!

We rewarded ourselves after hours of walking with some hearty pub grub (nothing like steak and ale pie after trudging through the rainy countryside!). Our second morning there, we discovered something that would come to be one of our favorite parts of Great Britain - flap jacks! Sort of like a glorified granola bar (this will not do it justice, believe me!), flapjacks are a solid hunk of oats, honey, butter, and other such goodness packed into a portable bar. We're hooked!

After a few days of hiking, we left the rainy countryside and headed for the city life to dry out a bit. We took the scenic bus route over the mountains to Glasgow, a fun but not-so-charming city Southern Scotland. After some laundry duty and other necessary arrands, we left for the much more charming city of Stirling, east of Glasgow. Stirling's fame lies in its impressive castle looking over the city as well as site of two very important battles - William Wallace's battle on Stirling Bridge, and then ten years later the Battle of Banockburn where the Scottish finally defeated the English (reverence: Braveheart, images of Mel Gibson in blue paint). The castle is built on a knoll above the old town, and having seen it, it is clear why this area was so strategically important. From the castle one can see for miles and miles in every direction. Across the river, you can see the massive Wallace Monument jutting out from the skyline, perched atop a knoll. Our first day in Stirling, we spent hours exploring the old castle, walking its walls, enjoying the views, and visiting the many museums within the castle. Later that night, we chowed down at what many claim to be the best Indian restaurant in Scotland - we fully agreed!

The following morning, before heading out for Edinburgh, we decided to meander over to the Wallace Monument. After getting a bit lost in the countryside, what was supposed to be a 30-minute stroll turned out to take us over 1 1/2 hours. However, the rewarding views from the massive tower were well worth the hike. Additionally, inside the tour lies Wallace's broadsword. Standing to an impressive 5 1/2 feet, we could see how this man could have been just a bit intimidating!

We left Stirling for a quick bust ride over to Edinburgh, the capitol of Scotland. This turned out to be our favorite stop in Great Britain. Edinburgh is a bustling, charming, friendly city full of shops, pubs, men in kilts (yay!), and so much history, and just beyond the Royal Mile (the main thoroughfare) lies a beautiful nature preserve. Perched high on a knoll and dominating the city is the Castle of Edinburgh, another historic jewel we would spend hours discovering.

Our friendly hostel lay smack dab in the middle of town on the royal mile, and we were pleased to find it full of fun, easygoing travelers whom we quickly befriended. Our first night we went out with some of them to a local bar with a live band. We were clearly the only non-locals in the place - always a good sign! The next morning, we ran our crazy selves to the top of Arthur's seat, a huge hill (more like a mountain) just outside of the center and surrounded by a lush green nature preserve. Panting our way to the top, we were rewarded with spectacular views over the city and across to the castle. We spent the rest of the day exploring the castle, visiting the National War Museum (more kilts!), eating meat pies, and enjoying the city, lamenting that we hadn't left ourselves enough time to fully enjoy all it had to offer.

The next day we caught a train to Newcastle, our embarkation point for the ferry to Bergen, Norway. Though we were sad to be leaving the UK, we were thrilled to get to Scandanavia (Walker's convinced all the rumors about the girls are true, and I like fish...).