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| Can you spot me??? |
Monday, April 25, 2011
Tuesday, April 5, 2011
Are We There Yet?
This past weekend has been great! It was also a major learning lesson. Lets start back on Friday night-
We had gone to the store to buy camping food and finished packing our bags around 9:30 pm with plans to leave for the Yorkshire Dales at 10am. Luke's flatmates were having a send off for one of them who is hitch hiking her way to Morocco ( apparently its safer here than in the US?) We dropped in to say hello and ended up hanging out and talking with them until 4am because we were having so much fun! I've been sick for about a week and have a rather horrific cough so I haven't slept well at all, all week. I woke up Saturday morning coughing at around 9am after about 4ish hours of sleep. We decided to get up and go get euros for our trip to Portugal which we were leaving for on Sunday night. After that we got our packs on and started off for the Dales!
We got on the wrong bus. Well, we knew it was the wrong one- it only went about halfway to where we wanted (Skipton) and we thought "Hey, it won't be that much more to catch the next bus there and get it to Skipton." WRONG. It ended up costing us about twice as much to get to Skipton. No biggie, lesson learned. It was about 12 when we made it to Skipton. Buses make me SO carsick so it was nice to have a little break before getting on the bus to Malham, our final destination. That bus ended up being even more than the other two. We were grumbling and rather exhausted when we boarded and settled in for the last leg of the journey there. Then we entered the Dales. The photographs and videos don't do it justice. It was breathtaking. And there were baby lambs everywhere.
We started off hiking along an ancient roman wall to a cliff that used to be a huge waterfall. See below video. I know I'm saying things in the video but the wind is too strong so you can't hear me. I'm sure it wasn't anything that interesting anyway. I'm rather ramble-y in front of the camera.
From the top we hiked down a few miles to Gordale Scar. It had a really steep waterfall in the very center, but I was too scared to climb it with my pack. That thing is heavy! At the base of the scar there is a camping ground where we had planned to pitch for the night. We went to the house to pay for a place and got in line behind a lady who was waiting for the owner. We were outside this perfect little farmhouse nestled against an ancient cliff surrounded by beautiful fields when the owner came crawling out of a very dingy, rusty, nasty little trailer. Luke said like he looked as if he had just shot up meth, dropped a cigarette on his 100 year old flannel, burned straight through it and then decided to wander out to kill us. I like to think we slipped away unseen but I'm sure it was pretty obvious we were freaked out of our minds. We decided to stay elsewhere.
It was about 5pm then and I was getting pretty tired because of my lack of sleep lately so we headed back into town the scenic way, true Talian style. Luke's dad never likes to go the same way twice if there is a new and untraveled way to go. Luke agrees. I usually agree, but my boots are about 2 sizes too small ...(I'm getting new ones before we go to Scotland- there's an awesome sale going on in Leeds for them!) Anyway, we got to town about an hourish later. The other campsite was at the top of a little hill behind the town and when we got up to it there was a tiny "No Vacancy" sign hanging on the fence. How can a field be "full"?? I saw plenty of green spaces. Stingy.
It was either hike back to the killer's campground or go to the hostel. We went to the hostel. It was fine and fairly affordable. We preceded to eat absolutely everything we had packed except for breakfast. This was our trial run, now we know we need more food.
Then all hell broke loose. We found out from the hostel lady that Malham, for three Sunday's out of the WHOLE YEAR, doesn't run buses. None at all. A taxi would be 20 pounds. We both felt that we'd already had to spend over what we wanted to to get there by bus, and we had to pay for a hostel and really didn't want to pay 20 to just get to Skipton and have to another 10 to get back home. So, being completely out of our minds, we decided to get up at 6am and walk the 12 miles to Skipton to catch the noon bus to Leeds. 12 miles isn't that far, right?? Well, truthfully, 12 miles isn't far at all its simply trying to walk it without much food, ill fitting boots and a severe time limit that made it a little difficult. Oh, and our map didn't have a sizable section which included half of our hike there. We got up at 6 and started out about 7am. The hike itself was gorgeous. We walked through tons of fields with baby lambs everywhere. We crossed a beautiful brook sever times and the final 4ish mile were along the canal which was quite busy that day (for a canal.) Anyway, we made it! We about died the last mile and I wasn't really talking to Luke in the 12th mile, but we survived and made it within 5 hours with about 3 minutes to spare!
*My loopiness in the above video: evidence of my lack of sleep*
We rushed back to our room when the bus let us off outside our housing. No time for a nap. Neither of us had packed for Funchal so we just threw stuff in our backpacks and rushed around trying to clean up before heading downtown to print off our flight tickets and get on the train. We got to the station with about an hour to spare. At 8pm our train departed for London with a bunch of switching done in Kings Cross. We got to Stanstead at about 12:30 am. It was the most trippy place I've ever been. The airport was kind of a huge room and there were people in sleeping bags and such all over the floors. So weird. We stayed there for 7 hours. It was SUCH a horrible idea to go that early even if it did save money. Never again! Even though we were completely exhausted neither of us could sleep either in the airport or on the plane.
We are now if Funchal and it was completely worth all the trauma getting here! Its so gorgeous. We met a couple who have been coming here for 8 years and they showed us around the resort. They were both so sweet and told us to assure our parents that it is completely safe here. I'll post photos as a get them. I've brought my camera so hopefully there will be more than just iPhone shots on the blog for a bit!
Yay for a week of sleeping and sunning!
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| The ancient walls! |
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| Along the canal in Skipton. |
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| From the top of the first hike |
We started off hiking along an ancient roman wall to a cliff that used to be a huge waterfall. See below video. I know I'm saying things in the video but the wind is too strong so you can't hear me. I'm sure it wasn't anything that interesting anyway. I'm rather ramble-y in front of the camera.
From the top we hiked down a few miles to Gordale Scar. It had a really steep waterfall in the very center, but I was too scared to climb it with my pack. That thing is heavy! At the base of the scar there is a camping ground where we had planned to pitch for the night. We went to the house to pay for a place and got in line behind a lady who was waiting for the owner. We were outside this perfect little farmhouse nestled against an ancient cliff surrounded by beautiful fields when the owner came crawling out of a very dingy, rusty, nasty little trailer. Luke said like he looked as if he had just shot up meth, dropped a cigarette on his 100 year old flannel, burned straight through it and then decided to wander out to kill us. I like to think we slipped away unseen but I'm sure it was pretty obvious we were freaked out of our minds. We decided to stay elsewhere.
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| Gordale Scar |
It was about 5pm then and I was getting pretty tired because of my lack of sleep lately so we headed back into town the scenic way, true Talian style. Luke's dad never likes to go the same way twice if there is a new and untraveled way to go. Luke agrees. I usually agree, but my boots are about 2 sizes too small ...(I'm getting new ones before we go to Scotland- there's an awesome sale going on in Leeds for them!) Anyway, we got to town about an hourish later. The other campsite was at the top of a little hill behind the town and when we got up to it there was a tiny "No Vacancy" sign hanging on the fence. How can a field be "full"?? I saw plenty of green spaces. Stingy.
It was either hike back to the killer's campground or go to the hostel. We went to the hostel. It was fine and fairly affordable. We preceded to eat absolutely everything we had packed except for breakfast. This was our trial run, now we know we need more food.
Then all hell broke loose. We found out from the hostel lady that Malham, for three Sunday's out of the WHOLE YEAR, doesn't run buses. None at all. A taxi would be 20 pounds. We both felt that we'd already had to spend over what we wanted to to get there by bus, and we had to pay for a hostel and really didn't want to pay 20 to just get to Skipton and have to another 10 to get back home. So, being completely out of our minds, we decided to get up at 6am and walk the 12 miles to Skipton to catch the noon bus to Leeds. 12 miles isn't that far, right?? Well, truthfully, 12 miles isn't far at all its simply trying to walk it without much food, ill fitting boots and a severe time limit that made it a little difficult. Oh, and our map didn't have a sizable section which included half of our hike there. We got up at 6 and started out about 7am. The hike itself was gorgeous. We walked through tons of fields with baby lambs everywhere. We crossed a beautiful brook sever times and the final 4ish mile were along the canal which was quite busy that day (for a canal.) Anyway, we made it! We about died the last mile and I wasn't really talking to Luke in the 12th mile, but we survived and made it within 5 hours with about 3 minutes to spare!
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| Little Lambs! |
We rushed back to our room when the bus let us off outside our housing. No time for a nap. Neither of us had packed for Funchal so we just threw stuff in our backpacks and rushed around trying to clean up before heading downtown to print off our flight tickets and get on the train. We got to the station with about an hour to spare. At 8pm our train departed for London with a bunch of switching done in Kings Cross. We got to Stanstead at about 12:30 am. It was the most trippy place I've ever been. The airport was kind of a huge room and there were people in sleeping bags and such all over the floors. So weird. We stayed there for 7 hours. It was SUCH a horrible idea to go that early even if it did save money. Never again! Even though we were completely exhausted neither of us could sleep either in the airport or on the plane.
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| The Airport in Funchal |
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| On our walk after dinner tonight |
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| The bus ride to our hotel! |
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| We love it here |
Yay for a week of sleeping and sunning!
Thursday, March 31, 2011
We're like Bear Grylls.
This was another windy day. Nearly got blown over in between camping stores. Now that we are back safe and sound we are completely prepared for anything Scotland may throw at us. Sun, rain or snow, we are set.
Thankfully there is a plethora of camping stores in Leeds which means competition which means good deals for us! Plus student discounts :-) Along with everything that Luke's parents (thank you!!!) sent us, we have what we need to master those highlands. Now we just have to figure out how it all works. Luke is very prepared and knowledgeable but the tent gave us a bit of a challenge....
I suspect the blog posts will decrease again in April because of the hefty traveling schedule that we have. Funchal is on the map next for us! I'm looking forward to a little luxury. We'll be headed there Sunday night and (if we have wireless in the hotel) I will post many pictures of what I hope will be a tropical wonderland. Thanks, mom and dad for this opportunity!
The last days of school went well although the testing system over here is a bit different. What is covered in class is not all that is on the test. I'm sure we did fine. Then again, anything over a 40 is passing so I doubt there's much to worry about. Either way we have 4 glorious weeks of break ahead of us. In no time we'll be back at home with all of our family and friends. Can't wait, but hopefully it won't go too fast!
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| My first proper backpack |
I suspect the blog posts will decrease again in April because of the hefty traveling schedule that we have. Funchal is on the map next for us! I'm looking forward to a little luxury. We'll be headed there Sunday night and (if we have wireless in the hotel) I will post many pictures of what I hope will be a tropical wonderland. Thanks, mom and dad for this opportunity!
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| Funchal :-) |
Monday, March 28, 2011
Castles, Cliffs and Harry Potter
Scotland is wonderful. If I could go anywhere again that we have gone so far, it would be Scotland! Good thing because we are spending 9 or 10 days hiking through it in April!
Early Friday morning Luke and I walked to Uni met about 45 other U of L students also going to Edinburgh. We loaded up two huge coaches and set off around 9 am. We got to the Hostel at about 2pm and checked in. It was actually really nice and the beds were cozy if a little creeky.
Luke and I and some of our friends set off to see the castle and walk down the Royal Mile. It was such a gorgeous day! There was even a bagpiper! I loved its so so so much. There were a ton of shops ( I got my sisters each something very Scottish. Be excited, you two!) After that we went to the top of Calton Hill, which had a national monument on it and beautiful views. On the way we happened upon a rather ghostly graveyard.
After walking for hours we were starving so we went to a very authentic Scottish restaurant...
Delish :-)
Afterwards, because it was getting dark, we decided to find a nice place to sit and have a few drinks. Luke wanted live music so we got a computer pass and looked up the top rated Jazz bar. We found one that was very popular named The Jazz Bar (wow.) and went. I got a lovely Bailey's and hot chocolate and Luke sampled some local ales. Yum again.
By 10pm we were both so tired. We have been getting up earlier lately and so early bed times are a must.
The next morning we met up with our friends and ate breakfast in the cute hostel kitchen. They had a nice little selection of carbs and juice. Then we all set off in search of the Royal Gardens. We got to it after about an hour of walking and wandered around inside for a few hours. It was again such a beautiful day! The garden had wonderful views and it seems like Spring is finally here!
For lunch we went to The Elephant House which is where JK Rowling started writing the first Harry Potter novel. I'm not the biggest fan of Harry Potter by any means but it was interesting seeing the environment where she came up with her ideas. The Edinburgh castle view out of the window was strikingly similar to Hogwarts... I got an elephant shortbread and some lentil soup. Luke decided against the haggis calzone in favor of a the tomato and mozzarella one. So Scottish.
Nice and full we went off window shopping until we had to go take a little nap. We went to Greyfriar's Kirk and the place where his dog was buried. Some of the graves were from the 1700's. This got us all prepped for our ghost tour that night!
After a nice little nap our little group met near the castle and we went on an historic ghost tour! We went down into the vaults underneath the city. There was even an active coven down there... Entirely terrifying although nothing supernatural happened. Afterwards they gave us shortbread and whiskey :-) That would keep me coming back.
We went for a late dinner at an "American style diner" cafe in one of the side alleys. It was so good! THEN bed time.
Our last day was yet another gorgeous day! After breakfast we hiked to the top of the bluffs which hang over the city. There were amazing views, even though they are not anywhere near as tall as the ones in the highlands. Luke and I decided to go down the precarious way. My arms are still sore from the climbing! Good conditioning for our upcoming hiking extravaganza.
After another pizza we decided to spend our last 3 hours walking to the piers. We got there with no time to spare and had to turn around pretty much immediately to make it back in time for the coach. We found two little kittys who wanted to join us in the US I think. We had to pretty much run away to keep them from following us :-)
Well, not much happened after that other than loading up and driving back. We've been spending the day today recovering and solidifying our plans for April. Its going to be a busy last 2 months!
Luke's sweet video posts coming soon
Early Friday morning Luke and I walked to Uni met about 45 other U of L students also going to Edinburgh. We loaded up two huge coaches and set off around 9 am. We got to the Hostel at about 2pm and checked in. It was actually really nice and the beds were cozy if a little creeky.
Delish :-)
Afterwards, because it was getting dark, we decided to find a nice place to sit and have a few drinks. Luke wanted live music so we got a computer pass and looked up the top rated Jazz bar. We found one that was very popular named The Jazz Bar (wow.) and went. I got a lovely Bailey's and hot chocolate and Luke sampled some local ales. Yum again.
By 10pm we were both so tired. We have been getting up earlier lately and so early bed times are a must.
The next morning we met up with our friends and ate breakfast in the cute hostel kitchen. They had a nice little selection of carbs and juice. Then we all set off in search of the Royal Gardens. We got to it after about an hour of walking and wandered around inside for a few hours. It was again such a beautiful day! The garden had wonderful views and it seems like Spring is finally here!
For lunch we went to The Elephant House which is where JK Rowling started writing the first Harry Potter novel. I'm not the biggest fan of Harry Potter by any means but it was interesting seeing the environment where she came up with her ideas. The Edinburgh castle view out of the window was strikingly similar to Hogwarts... I got an elephant shortbread and some lentil soup. Luke decided against the haggis calzone in favor of a the tomato and mozzarella one. So Scottish.
After a nice little nap our little group met near the castle and we went on an historic ghost tour! We went down into the vaults underneath the city. There was even an active coven down there... Entirely terrifying although nothing supernatural happened. Afterwards they gave us shortbread and whiskey :-) That would keep me coming back.
We went for a late dinner at an "American style diner" cafe in one of the side alleys. It was so good! THEN bed time.
Our last day was yet another gorgeous day! After breakfast we hiked to the top of the bluffs which hang over the city. There were amazing views, even though they are not anywhere near as tall as the ones in the highlands. Luke and I decided to go down the precarious way. My arms are still sore from the climbing! Good conditioning for our upcoming hiking extravaganza.
Luke's sweet video posts coming soon
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