England – Page 2 – Jason likes to travel

London revisited!

Last time out on the blog I wrapped up my NYC series which I hope you all enjoyed! I could only follow on from that series in one way, writing about my favourite city in the world: London!

I’ve written about London on the blog before (here) but that was quite some time ago and perhaps also a little more generic. That post focused on what you could potentially do in London, this post is going to be focused on what I actually DID do in London on my recent trip at the end of the year.

As some of you will know by now, I’m in a long distance relationship and I had the pleasure of hosting Haleigh here in England for her first ever overseas trip. I’ve made the journey the other way a few times so Haleigh had been keen to make her first visit in this direction. Consequently I went from traveler to host which brought a new type of preparation and a little self-imposed pressure too. I don’t think Haleigh was overly concerned but I was keen to make it a memorable first trip to England (London mostly).

I met Haleigh at Heathrow ahead of her arrival, equipped with a brand new Oyster card and tube map for Haleigh’s benefit. I don’t think I’ve ever used the Heathrow express, admittedly the tube does take a while to get in to London itself but it’s surely the most convenient mode of transport?

So immediately Haleigh was getting her first crack at the tube – her only comparative was San Francisco’s BART system in the summer which is much more simplistic to navigate.

I’d booked us a hotel near Tower Bridge, leaving us just a short walk away from the Thames. Having dropped off Haleigh’s things (I’d checked in earlier) we took a little time to relax in the hotel before having our first proper glimpse of London together.

LondonJan19 — First glimpse of London, not bad eh?

Haleigh was instantly mesmerised, admittedly I’m a little biased but it’s hard not to be when you’re overlooking the Tower of London, Tower Bridge and the bright lights of the city. Also closeby was the Shard which I’ve somehow never seen after dark (keeping in mind it gets dark early in Dec) so looking up at it I presumed it was always lit up in different colours. My parents later told me it was a seasonal light show so it was nice to have witnessed that albeit unintentionally, mind you had I known that I might have got some pictures of it!

In the same general area London was hosting some of its Christmas markets with a long line of markets, including a wooden little tavern-like building which had seating for people to eat, drink and be merry. They even host Christmas movies there at various times of the day which adds to the festive mood of the place. We were feeling a bit peckish so grabbed a Bratwurst from one of the stalls, shamefully making Haleigh’s first meal in England a German delicacy. Oops!

Following some food we passed by the famous HMS Belfast and then cut through the impressive Hay’s Galeria. It’s a bit like a shopping arcade. It’s largely full of brands and, no doubt, expensive restaurants but the building itself is absolutely stunning. We took a slow stroll through it in admiration before coming out of the other side of the building, crossing over to London Bridge station and hopping on the tube to Green Park.

London6 — Green Park – not taken on this particularly trip!

There are some things that are always going to be in London and other points of interest that are more seasonal. I was hopeful Haleigh would want to come back to London so I had it in mind to see some of the places that are particularly worth seeing around Christmas time in London.

With that thought process I figured I’d take Haleigh to see Hyde Park’s famous Winter Wonderland. I expected it would be less busy going this evening, given it was a Thursday night, rather than our remaining time in London but that proved to be wrong. It was a struggle to even get out of Green Park station, let alone switch lines to go to Hyde Park Corner. It was crazy. In the end we abandoned hopes of jumping on the tube and exited at Green Park. With that in mind I figured we might aswell cut through the park and see another nearby famous landmark.

We walked through Green Park which was actually somewhat of a struggle. Much of the park was pitch black. Here we were, stood in one of London’s richest areas and all I could think was “can’t they afford to put up a few lights so you can actually see where you’re going?”

It’s somewhat embarrassing as you step out of the park on the other side and in front of you is Buckingham Palace. Surely the queen has a few lightbulbs going spare? Seriously, sort it out London. You can afford to stick a few lights up in the neighbouring park!

Anyway, where were we? Ah yes! Buckingham Palace!

Buckingham Palace is no doubt impressive but I think less so at night. It was after dark so whilst Haleigh was still impressed seeing it for the first time, I think we both intended to return and see it again before we left.

IMAG7056

We could have walked up to Hyde Park after our little detour but given the queues we’d seen we thought better of it, plus I had work in the morning and Haleigh had only just arrived so an early night seemed a better idea. Ordinarily I would have just got the tube but Haleigh wanted to see a little of London so suggested catching a black cab.

With the benefit of hindsight we might not have bothered as my parents ended up giving us a guided tour through London on our return to Heathrow but it was a fun idea so we flagged down a taxi and made our way back to the Tower of London.

Unfortunately a mixture of traffic and roadworks meant we only briefly saw the London Eye before our driver ended up taking a lot of back roads which didn’t really take us past anything particularly noteworthy. It was still a fun way to travel through London though and gave Haleigh a London black cab experience, plus myself too as I’d generally avoid them as they’re pricey haha.

Sadly the next day I had to work so I left Haleigh to explore. I’d left her a host of recommendations and directions so with tube map in hand she was well equipped to tackle London by herself. My departure was also a good chance to catch up on some sleep / recover from jetlag so it was a fairly relaxed day for her I think. Our close proximity to the Thames also meant she didn’t have to venture too far for lunch or to have a little wander once waking up.

Coming back to London I suggested that we meet at Kings Cross station, partly as that’s where my train would take me but also because it covers a lot of the tube lines and would mean we could move on to our next destination quite conveniently. Haleigh had no problem navigating the tube by herself for the first time so all that practice in San Francisco had paid off!

Whilst Haleigh waited for me she enjoyed Kings Cross’ street performers and interesting characters that public places, such as train stations, often provide. The area outside Kings Cross station is a good meeting point and additionally it’s a great area to do some people-watching. I highlighted that there was also a Harry Potter store (and the famous platform sign) in the station if she wanted to amuse herself whilst she waited for me, she took that advice so I can take some blame for the inevitable Ravenclaw inspired purchases that followed.

Having arrived we quickly turned our attention to some food, opting for a nearby pizza favourite of mine (Pizza Union). It’s cheap for London, the food is good and the atmosphere is nice too so I regularly end up here before catching a train home during the football season.

Stomachs full, we hopped back on the tube and headed for Oxford Street. Much like the previous nights intentions, one thing you’ve got to see in London at Christmas time is London’s Christmas decorations and Oxford Street & Carnaby Street are home to some of London’s best. This years theme largely revolved around the 25th anniversary of Queen’s Bohemian Rhapsody which was pretty cool. It was definitely worth a visit and Haleigh managed to pick up a couple of souvenirs in this cool little independent shop that wae passed along the way.

London3 — You have to visit London around Christmas!

We ended our night with a quick pub visit, offering a little insight in to England’s drunken little culture. She’d already witnessed some human traffic cones earlier in the day which was some indication at the state of our drunkenness but this was topped off with some old woman doing laps of the pub whilst talking to herself (mostly mumbling really). It was somewhat amusing for both of us to watch. From there we hopped back on the tube and made our way back to the hotel for the night.

The next day was our first full day in London, together at least. We had a bit of a lay in before heading out to begin exploring. Before the trip I persistently, perhaps annoyingly, kept asking Haleigh what she wanted to do whilst she was here. I had a rough idea on places we should see on a first time visit but also wanted to allow for some input so we didn’t miss anything Haleigh might be interested in. We talked about possibly going to the Sherlock museum so I squeezed that in as something to try and make some time for.

Consequently that was our first stop of the day. We contemplated breakfast options before and decided it’d be better to go to Baker Street first and find somewhere near the museum. We ended up visiting Bill’s which is a chain restaurant, albeit not one I’d personally been to for breakfast before. I’ve been there for dinner but only heard good things about the breakfast. It lived up to its reputation, I was content with my pancakes and they offer a huge teapot which amused Haleigh as I regularly kept topping up my cup (not a pot of tea intended for one person I expect).

We walked up to the museum, which was barely in sight as we stumbled upon a large queue. Surely this wasn’t the queue to get in to the museum? Sadly it was! We decided to wait it out in the cold, you have to go and buy your tickets in the gift store beforehand but by the time Haleigh came back with the tickets the line hadn’t really moved very far. We had a lengthy wait but eventually we reached the doors!

imag2674 — Sherlock Museum, Baker Street

It was a little anticlimatic. The museum itself isn’t very big and in hindsight it probably wasn’t worth the wait. I think we spent more time in the queue for the museum than the actual museum itself which is a bit laughable. If you’re a fan of Sherlock it’s cool, I did like it, but if you’ve got a long wait then come back and visit outside of peak times.

Following on from the underwhelming museum visit, Haleigh suggested she’d like to take a red bus so rather than make our way back to Baker Street, we hopped on one of the first buses on the street opposite the museum. I was ideally hoping to go to Westminster but the first one to come along going in that general direction was to Victoria which I figured was good enough.

The journey took us past Hyde Park and Winter Wonderland so we did briefly see it, albeit only from the upper deck of a bus. Whilst we were feeling quite content admiring the view through the streets of London, the same couldn’t be said for our driver who’s customer service skills were lacking. He bit passengers heads off (not literally) at a couple of points along the journey and was in a pretty foul mood. We were pleased to depart and see the back of him at Victoria.

Somewhere along the way Haleigh had mentioned she was feeling a little peckish, so after catching the tube from Victoria to Westminster I couldn’t help but notice a Greggs within Westminster tube station. I was keen to introduce Haleigh to the famous Greggs sausage roll but to my horror she wasn’t quite as enthused about it as I was.

I also explained that, at the time, the Christmas number one in the charts was a sausage-roll themed anthem but I still had little fortune in convincing her how amazing they were (more for me!!).

Whilst the verdict on the sausage roll was up for debate, as we came out of Westminster station there was no doubting Parliament Square had left a better impression on Haleigh. Poor Big Ben is a bit of an eyesore at the minute but beyond that it’s a spectacular square with some stunning architecture, notably the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey. There are also a few statues in the area commemorating some historical figures, including London’s female occupant in the square – Millicent Garrett Fawcett.

Having had a bit of a look around we ventured back towards the Thames. We had booked tickets to go up the sky garden at 4pm, which is free but has to be booked in advance. The perk of being free was that we didn’t have to commit to it and instead we decided to have ourselves a bit of a cruise on one of the boats along the Thames.

We booked tickets to take us from Westminster Pier up to St Katharine’s pier by the Tower of London. It took us past a lot of the sights including the likes of St Paul’s. Our boat didn’t officially offer narrated tours but we were fortunate to have an employee on board taking on a guide-like role, offering a typical witty English sense of humour. Haleigh was particularly amused at some of the names for buildings such as “the Cheesegrater” or “the walkie-talkie” that add to London’s famous skyline.

imag2795 — St Paul’s looking as stunning as ever!

Exiting at St Katharine’s Pier we had a few options on where to spend the evening. It wasn’t particularly well thought out but we jumped back on the tube and near enough made our way back to Westminster by visiting nearby Trafalgar Square. We had a quick look around before assessing potential food options, I noticed on Google Maps there was a nearby pub called the Sherlock Holmes, hoping the food might be a little more impressive than the museum.

It was a nice pub which included some cool memorabilia. Haleigh had her first English fish and chips experience whilst I was tempted by a steak and ale pie. It was a nice way to round off the day before we wound down and made our way back to the hotel for the evening.

Our plans for the next day were pretty flexible but we had to check out at some point so rather than drag our luggage around with us exploring London we decided to leave the city around lunchtime. There were plenty of things we didn’t get around to doing but it was a good introduction to London for a first time visit and we ticked off a lot of the main things to see. We temporarily bid farewell to London and headed North for Peterborough.

I didn’t have any big expectation of Peterborough, our time here was mostly revolved around Haleigh meeting family and friends. London was the city I felt more pressure to proudly show off, I’ve never really sung Peterborough’s praises in the same way. Nevertheless if there was any doubt in my mind that sometimes I undersell the city’s attractiveness, Peterborough quickly came to reassure me it’s as “shit” as I make it out to be – literally.

We strolled through cathedral square towards the spectacular Peterborough cathedral, however on the way back to our pick-up-point some pigeons gave Haleigh a rather unwanted welcoming present from the sky.

It was unbelievable! We’d barely been in the city for an hour and spent a chunk of that time eating lunch at the nearby Wetherspoons. We’d only gone for a short walk up to cathedral square, 5-10 minutes at the most and Haleigh was probably regretting having ever come here! Well done Peterborough, great job!

It wasn’t the best first impression of life in Peterborough, I think things did pick up from there and she had a nice time here. However London had wowed Haleigh, dare I say she’d even fallen in love a little bit.

In contrast, much like San Francisco was for me (and which Haleigh finds highly amusing I’ll add), Peterborough will now always be remembered as “that place I got pooped on”. I haven’t set the bar particularly high for Peterborough, kept expectations to a minimum and comically it has still found a way to come up short.

Anyway, on that lovely note I’ll wrap this up. Hopefully you’ve enjoyed it. Playing host was a lot of fun for me, moreso in London which I love but also know that you’ll be “welcome” in Peterborough any time!

All the best!

Jason

P.S – for clarity, most of these photos weren’t taken on this particular trip!

2018: A travel round-up

The start of the year is always a good time to set some goals for the new year but additionally I always find it a good time to reflect on the year that has just passed. So I figured I’d do a quick round up of my 2018 travels.

I felt like 2017 was going to be a tough year to top and so it proved. You can read more about that here (A 2017 summary) but swiftly moving on, here’s what I got up to in 2018.

January: Edinburgh!
Alright, so this was a 2017 trip really. I was heading home on January 1st but wow! What a place to start the New Year! Hogmanay was nothing short of incredible and is something I’ll definitely be looking to do again. It definitely lived up to its reputation! Kicking off the year in a sunny Edinburgh was a good way to start 2018 too.

EdinburghHogmanay

February: Washington State
Originally I planned to make my first Washington visit in August 2018, so rather bizarrely this was already my second visit to the state. It’s funny how quickly things can change but spending some proper time with Haleigh before the summer was important and this was also a chance to meet some of her family.

I had a night to myself in Seattle which was nice and definitely gave me a further appreciation of the city. I definitely feel as far as the US is concerned that it’s a little underrated.
I spent the rest of my time on the Eastern side of the mountains which were breath-taking. Overall it was a pretty relaxed couple of weeks but the company was great and I don’t think I could ever tire of mountain views. Staying at Haleigh’s grandparents in view of the mountains in Walla Walla was definitely a perk I enjoyed!

March: Manchester!
I’ve never really spent much time up in Manchester, however with a big summer trip I knew travel opportunities would be limited this year so took full advantage of a weekend in Manchester in March. Myself and a friend were going to a gig and I figured it’d be best to make a weekend of it.
It’s a cracking city and somewhere I’d like to return to. It reminded me a lot of Hamburg, it’s not the prettiest city on the eye but it makes up for it with its quirks, cafes and bars. I can see why it stakes a claim for the title of England’s “second city”

March: Kettering!
My time in Kettering was family / music orientated. My cousin was playing in a choir, whilst my uncle was playing in a gig immediately after on the same night. Whilst Kettering isn’t high on people’s travel wishlists, I was still craving a bit of adventure and figured I’d make it an over-night occasion.

I don’t see tourists flocking to Kettering any time soon but I had a fun evening and it was nice to treat myself to a little staycation too!

April: London!
Trips to London aren’t too infrequent but it’s rare that I make it an overnight occasion. I was attending a gig on a Friday night with friends in April with Spurs due to play on the Saturday. It didn’t seem worthwhile going home Friday night only to return Saturday so I booked myself a little Premier Inn near Kings Cross.

The gig was a really enjoyable night and then I managed to squeeze in a bit of sightseeing with a couple of other friends before making my way to the football. Overall a thoroughly enjoyable weekend with some good company too.

May: Lincoln!
I was starting to get itchy feet. I hadn’t been out of the country since February and the next trip was July so, despite doing my best to save, I needed a daytrip at the very least. I considered a few options but I’ve never been to Lincoln, it was a cheap train journey and easy to get to too.

I lucked out with the weather, the sun was shining beautifully and Lincoln as a city is really nice. The castle area stood out in particular and had some sort of event going on, I also snapped probably one of my favourite photos I’ve ever taken.

June: Lille!
Lincoln was at the beginning of May, the end of July still seemed so far away so I felt I could squeeze in one last cheap daytrip somewhere. I was looking at various options within the UK but either trains were too expensive or the distance was too far for a feasible daytrip (via public transport) so I had a sneak peek at the Eurostar sale. I managed to find return tickets to Lille at just £53 which didn’t seem overly expensive for a day out in France.

I loved Lille. Fellow blogger, Shoot From The Trip recently wrote about their own visit (read here) and it had me reminiscing of my own time there. It’s an easy trip on the Eurostar, it’s a really pretty city and a little closer to Belgian culture than French.

Additionally it coincided with France playing in the World Cup so there was a bit of a buzz in the city all day, moreso after France’s 4-3 victory over Argentina. It’s a pretty city, the sun shining helped and my only regret was that I’d restricted myself to a daytrip. I’d love to go back. I fully recommend reading the blog post above too for a little more in depth look at Lille (it’ll be a while before I post about it myself).

July: Chicago!
At last! Part one of the MONTH long trip in the USA. I wasn’t in Chicago for particularly long but I was greeted to fireworks on my first evening in the States. I would love to have stayed in Chicago longer. It was cool to see the Bean and it was a fun city to explore. The only downside is it was so ridiculously expensive. I’ll probably go back but I cut my time short on this trip and headed on for my second city.

TheBig30-Bean

July: Minneapolis!
Minneapolis wasn’t somewhere I’d really intended to visit but I had a spare few days where I wasn’t sure where to go. I’d booked my flights to Chicago when Spurs announced their pre-season tour in the neighbouring state so decided I had to visit Minnesota.

It ended up being a really wise decision. It’s not an overly touristy place and I wouldn’t say there’s that much to do in the city but I felt at home here pretty quickly. The people were friendly and it was a genuine highlight of the trip. I feel like I left a little piece of my heart in Minneapolis and, perhaps surprisingly, it’s somewhere I’d like to return to.

August: New Orleans!
New Orleans was much the opposite. It ticked all of the right boxes, there was a lot I liked about it but something was missing. Perhaps my expectations were too high, perhaps I was suffering from the Minneapolis blues but I didn’t click with New Orleans in the same way.

Don’t get me wrong though, I’d highly recommend a visit to NOLA. The French quarter is stunning and the nightlife was FANTASTIC but I didn’t leave feeling like I loved New Orleans, I certainly liked it but it didn’t quite hit the heights I’d hoped.

August: Poulsbo, Washington!
This was why I was in the US. I was here for a wedding just outside of Seattle. This was a big surprise on the trip for me. I had no doubts the wedding would be a highlight of the entire trip, if not the year in general, but Poulsbo wasn’t somewhere I’d particularly thought would leave an impression on me.

It was an adorable little town, close to the water and a town with a bucketload of breweries too. I really enjoyed the weekend we had here.

August: Portland and Oregon City!
Portland was high on my list of places to visit this summer. We didn’t explore huge amounts of Portland but you could see why it has such a good reputation, it’s definitely a little quirky and was a city I enjoyed visiting. We took a little trip to Oregon City too which wasn’t far away, not an awful lot to it really. Portland was certainly the better of the two and holds better memories for me.

August: Walla Walla, Washington!
We reserved this weekend to go ‘home’ and attend Haleigh’s big family annual BBQ. I’d been to Walla Walla in February and loved the mountain views so it was somewhat underwhelming driving in to Walla Walla on this trip.

The wildfires / smoke left no real view of the mountains which was a real shame. The BBQ and family festivities were good fun though and this was another highlight of the trip. It’s a city I’ve grown to love, would have been nicer with the mountain views though.

August: Multnomah Falls and Oregon Coast!
Back to Oregon we went, this time heading for the coast via Multnomah Falls. It was a stunning place to stop. The coast was pretty too and a nice place to spend a couple of days on the way down to San Francisco. I particularly liked Depoe Bay which is apparently home to the world’s smallest harbour.

August: Crescent City and the Redwoods!
Honestly, Crescent City was nothing more than a good halfway stop on the way to San Fran and just happened to be outside of the Redwood National Park. Driving through the Redwoods was surreal and unlike anything I’d ever really experienced. It was stunning to pass through and we made sure to stop to admire the view, whilst snapping a few photos too. A must visit if you’re in Northern California!

TheBig30-Redwood — The Redwoods are a little big!

August: San Francisco!
As soon as I was invited to the wedding, this was my dream city for this trip. I had to go to San Francisco. It was non-negotiable.

Driving in to the city over Golden Gate Bridge was a pinch me moment and I really enjoyed our time in the city. Alcatraz was probably the highlight of our time in San Fran though. It’s definitely a city I’ll be going back to but it was nice to finally tick this one off my bucketlist.

August: San Francisco to Moses Lake!
Haleigh had to be back at school so after San Francisco it was a rushed drive home. We spent a night in Klamath Falls (Oregon) but spent most of our time on the road. The highlight was probably stopping at an Alpaca Farm somewhere in Oregon before winding up back at ‘home’ in Moses Lake.

It was nice to chill out for a few days in a familiar place before the trip sadly came to an end.

October: Birmingham!
That’s right, nothing for September! The summer killed my bank balance so September was the only month this year that I spent the entirety of it in Peterborough. Shocking!

I made up for it early in Birmingham though with another weekend away. I’d used all my annual leave by this point but I made the most of a weekend by spending it in Birmingham. Me and a friend were off to a gig but I spent the rest of my time in England’s “second city”. I’ve been to Birmingham many times without actually spending much time in the city, it’s not somewhere that I’ve ever really seen as particularly appealing but I was wrong!

I loved Birmingham. It’s a really nice city and for me, it does just edge Manchester so is worthy of its status as England’s “second city”. It’s somewhere I’m keen to return to at some point.

November: Warsaw!
I had no annual leave left whatsoever but wanted to squeeze in one more overseas trip before the year ended. Sadly it was only a flying visit but I found decent flights to Warsaw which gave me an opportunity to visit a new city.

I liked Warsaw but in all honesty I wasn’t feeling particularly adventurous by the time this trip came around, I had to force myself out on the Saturday night. The old town was stunning though, it’s really cheap and it gave me my first taste of visiting Poland which I’m keen to return to. Hopefully for a bit longer next time!

December: London!
Last but not least, London! I know this made the list already but this time I was hosting which made for a very different experience. Haleigh was making her first visit to England (first overseas trip too!) so we made the most of it by spending a few nights in London.

It’s such a pretty place to be around Christmas time so equally enjoyable for me to be in London. It was nice to show off “my city” to someone who’d never seen it. Fortunately Haleigh loved it.

We finished off the year together at a wedding a little closer to home in a town called Uppingham. The perfect end to the year!

Anyway, that wraps up my 2018. I’ll post about each place in more detail at a later date but if you want to see more photos you’ll find them over on Instagram.
What were your highlights of 2018?

Next up on the blog: Germany!

Stay tuned!

Jason

My favourite city: London

I remember a friend saying to me that New York City was the best city in the world. Maybe it is, maybe it isn’t but for someone less traveled than myself I pondered whether he could proclaim it as the best?
If he’d said the best he’d been to so far or his favourite city, sure, I’ll allow it but stated as fact? No, I can’t accept that. Particularly as he spent his visit staying in New Jersey. If it’s too expensive to stay in the city it doesn’t really give merit to the idea that it’s the best city in the world, does it?

BigApple917 — NYC, best city in the world?

For what it’s worth, I love New York City and I can understand why it’s so highly rated but it just falls short for me when compared to London. My love for London is unrivalled really. It is the best city that I have been to and will probably always be my favourite.
I had high hopes for New York City though, if anywhere was going to surpass my favourite this was as likely as any.

I said above, for me personally, it just fell short compared to London and I asked myself why? What gave London the edge? New York City has everything, ignoring the cost (London is hardly cheap either) my only criticism of NYC was that it “wasn’t London”. Needless to say I’m not entirely impartial when it comes to being a travel critic – my system was already rigged in London’s favour.

So rather than focus on some overseas based destination, I thought I’d dedicate this post to “my city” and giving a few reasons why it’s my favourite.

It’s home!
First and foremost it’s home. I was born in London, living there until I was 9 years old so it’s a city that has been with me since day one. I feel proud to have grown up in London and have that association with the city. I’ve lived in Peterborough for the 20+ years since and whilst I do possess some local pride it just isn’t the same.

I have so many good memories growing up in London and it’s a city that is always there to welcome me back when I visit. It’s a special city with special people and it’s easy to see why so many people around the world fall in love with it.

London5 — Views like this have people falling in love with London

It’s diverse!
One of the things I love most about London is that it’s open to everyone. I’m privileged to be able to travel pretty much anywhere in the world without fear but not everybody has that same luxury. Homosexuality for instance is still punishable by death in some countries, whereas London has one of the largest Pride festivals in the world.

I’m not suggesting London is perfect but it’s a lot more accepting than many parts of the world and celebrations of all backgrounds are widely enjoyed here. For example a vivid memory of my time in school was learning about Diwali and being fascinated by the “festival of lights” in assembly.

London is home to people of so many backgrounds so throughout the year you’ll find various celebrations to reflect that. With the Chinese New Year approaching it’d be a great time to take a wander through London’s very own Chinatown and see some of the decorations on display.

It’s not all city life!
I think one of the biggest misconceptions about London is that it’s just a big city – all traffic and pollution. You might be surprised to know that it’s estimated that 47% of London is green space, almost half of the city! London always has so much going on and it’s easy to be overwhelmed by that but if you need a little time to sit back and escape the London rush then there are so many places to do so!

London is full of beautiful parks and places to relax. Admittedly the weather can be detrimental to actually enjoying some of these spaces but on sunnier days there are few better places to enjoy London. Park visits were always an enjoyable part of my childhood and I used to love collecting “conkers” as the change of season hit and they started falling from the trees near our home.

It is ever-changing!
I think there’s a reluctance among travellers to visit somewhere more than once but with London you’re never going to see everything. Whether you visit once or you visit 500 times it’s never going to be the same experience.
For starters, England has four different seasons so London has a very different feel to it depending what time of year you visit (rain in the summer, rain in the winter..). London is a great place to see the changing seasons and the festivities that come with that, such as great outdoor festivals in the summer or Christmas decorations in the winter, make it a place you’ll want to return to.

Beyond the seasons there’s so many other things constantly happening in London. New restaurants opening, new shopping brands arriving in the city, new shows to see in the city, new bars to check out. You’ll never experience everything in London and it makes it such an enjoyable city to return to time after time.

IMAG5857 — One of the new shows I went to see in 2017 – it’s good!

It’s home to world-famous sights!
I thought I’d end on this final point but the last thing that makes London special for me is that it’s home to so many iconic landmarks. Everybody is familiar with the likes of Big Ben, Buckingham Palace, St Paul’s cathedral and the London Eye and they look even more impressive in person!
I’ll never tire of wandering through Westminster and taking in some of London’s best known landmarks.

Of course the landmarks stretch beyond the best-known ones. Many popular TV shows and films feature some famous places in London such as Baker Street or the Millennium Bridge, whilst of course you have iconic music, theatre and sporting venues too.

Some of the marketplaces in London are some of the world’s most famous and everyone loves a good red bus / telephone box photo when they visit. London is full of familiar sights and sometimes you’ve got to go and see them for yourself!

Hopefully you’ve enjoyed this post and the little glimpse in to the reasons why I love London. There are many more of course but I’d be writing forever if I listed them all.

Now tell me, what do you love about London and if it isn’t your favourite city then tell me where is! Maybe I’ll have to pay it a visit!

All the best

Jason

A 2017 summary

2017 was the year “Jason likes to travel” launched and it was quite a year! First and foremost I wanted to thank all of you for making this such an enjoyable experience. More than anything I started the blog for myself. I wanted a space I could talk about my travels and reflect on some of the experiences along the way but I didn’t think many would read it or anticipate such positive feedback. Thanks to you all for following along and for all of your kind words and supportive feedback. There will be plenty more content coming in 2018 so stick with me!

Beyond the blog, 2017 ended up being quite a memorable year for me. I started the year in Paris which really set the tone for the rest of the year and I ended 2017 celebrating Hogmanay up in Edinburgh.
Including the New Year trips at each end of the year I ended up spending time in France, Scotland (twice), USA (twice), Germany (twice), Greece and Spain. I’m so happy to have traveled so much this year and I’ve stepped foot out of England in every month but June and July (disaster!).

I promise there will be dedicated posts to all of these trips in the future which is why I haven’t gone in to too much detail on any one destination below, however I wanted to summarise what I’ve been up to this year. So here’s a short look at some of the highlights of the year.

The capitals!
2017 saw me spend time in five different capital cities: Paris, London, Edinburgh, Washington DC and Madrid. So inevitably they ended up playing quite a significant role in my 2017.

Paris: Okay, so I only actually spent one day of 2017 in Paris. January 1st! It’s really a trip I associate with 2016 but at midnight I was up on a rooftop seeing in the New Year and celebrating the beginning of 2017. It was the first time I’d ever been out of the country at the start of the year so a memorable moment and it really set the tone for the rest of the year!

London: Home! So technically I haven’t lived in London since 1997 but this will always be a place I think of as home. I only live an hour or so away which means it is still a city that I visit quite often.
Catching up with friends, going to the football, attending gigs, seeing Harry Potter and the Cursed Child (it’s really good!) or just general sightseeing. London has provided a number of memorable moments in 2017 and 10 days in to the year I’ve already visited our wonderful capital twice in 2018!

Washington DC: Some cities like New York City, Sydney and Berlin have been absolute “must visit” destinations for me, meanwhile others are more like “one day” destinations. I want to be clear and say I want to visit absolutely everywhere in the world but that soon becomes a long list. Being realistic I’m not going to visit everywhere and DC was a place that I knew I may / may not get to.

Circumstances led me to DC but on arrival I still wasn’t sure what to expect. Perhaps that was a good thing. You only really hear about the political side to the city which I can’t say particularly excited me – it meant I was heading to DC with relatively low expectations. Whilst within the US the message was “Make America Great Again” – from the outside all that I saw was a divided nation in political turmoil and I was heading right in to the heart of it.

Fortunately it was “business as usual” in DC. I don’t want to make this too politically focused but as far as “MAGA” is concerned I always feel like the every day people you meet are the best indication of how great a place is opposed to those in power. As ever, I felt completely welcomed in DC and quickly discovered this wonderful city had so much depth to it. Of course there are political elements to DC but at the same time there’s a lot of history here, stunning architecture, beautiful nature (helped by peak Cherry Blossom season) and a buzzing nightlife. DC ended up being so much better than anticipated, despite being sick throughout my time there. I didn’t particularly intend to end up in DC but I’m glad I I found my way there. I’d quite like to go back because there’s still a few things I’d like to do there and I could have a proper night out in the city next time.

Madrid: Another “one day” destination that happened to be in political turmoil (Catalan independence). In all likelihood I knew I’d get to Madrid at some point but if I was going to visit Spain a return to Barcelona was a bigger priority. Then there were countless other European capitals I wanted to visit first – luckily I’ve already ticked off a few of those. Madrid had never had the same appeal for me as the likes of Berlin, Paris, Edinburgh, Amsterdam or Rome (the latter I’ve yet to get to).

So on that basis I owe massive apologies to Madrid – wow! What a city! It was easily my favourite place I visited in 2017.
Unlike DC I was quite prepared for an enjoyable trip by the time it came around – the more I read up on Madrid, the more excited I got. It lived up to every expectation and then some. Admittedly I visited for football and a positive result in the game helped that but taking the football out of the equation it is still a wonderful city.

It’s full of colour, full of character, has so much street art, good food, stunning architecture, beautiful weather and a great nightlife. I could go on and on. After Berlin (and London obviously) it is probably my favourite capital city I’ve visited to date. Ryanair cancelled my flight which means I actually ended up with an extra day in Madrid but I could still have easily stayed longer.
Don’t make the same mistake I did and wait to visit Madrid – go as soon as you can!

Edinburgh: Last but certainly not least. I started the year in France and ended the year in Scotland. Paris had given me a little taste of New Year fun in another country but I wanted bigger and better – step up Hogmanay!
I’ve been to Edinburgh before and it is such a wonderful city – it really is a must visit whatever time of year you visit but I had to see what all the fuss about Hogmanay is. It has been on the bucketlist for a while and this was the opportunity to do it.

It was incredible! It completely lived up to the hype for me. I can’t imagine a better place to see in the New Year – I hope to get to New York City and Sydney sometime for their celebrations but Edinburgh has really set the standard. Best New Year ever!

The newbie!
In the last couple of years I feel like I’ve just switched between visiting Germany and the USA. I went to Germany three times in 2016 and twice in 2017, meanwhile I went to the USA twice in 2016 and then twice in 2017. Don’t get me wrong I love both countries and I’ve been lucky to visit some incredible cities in the last couple of years but I wanted to freshen things up. I was determined to get to at least one new country in 2017.

My heart was set on a birthday treat to myself. I wanted a relaxing getaway in August for a few days and all I had to do was decide on where, in Europe, to visit. It would have been cheaper to go away in June or July but I was adamant I deserved my birthday week off which meant trying to find an affordable escape somewhere at peak holiday time in Europe. After some searching I’d found reasonable flights and a hotel, the day after my birthday I was flying off to Thessaloniki in Greece.

I didn’t know much about the city but I knew the good weather was guaranteed and it ticked off the criteria of visiting a new country too. It was my first adventure in Greece and what better time of year to visit than in the summer? It was perfect!
Unlike Greek hotspots such as Athens, Santorini and many of the other islands – Thessaloniki isn’t a particularly well known place which meant it wasn’t full of tourists. I spent a few days relaxing, drinking beers and enjoying the warm weather. I’m not sure it’s a city I feel a need to return to but experiencing those Greek sunsets was definitely a highlight of the year and particularly the summer!

The German trips!
Visits to Germany in 2013, 2014, 2015 and 2016 (x3) mean this country has been a regular feature of my annual highlights and as I mentioned above there were another two visits in 2017.

Hamburg: This is a city that has been on my list for a little while but I didn’t really anticipate getting there as soon as this year. I started looking for cheap flights for the last weekend of May (the Monday was a public holiday) and Hamburg was surprisingly cheap. A chance to practice my German, a city I’ve wanted to visit for ages and affordable – how could I possibly resist?
It’s a cracking city, I can see why it’s so highly rated and featured as one of Lonely Planet’s top 10 cities to visit in 2018. It ended up being a great weekend away and I was fortunate with the weather too! It was well worth missing a festival back home for and another city I’d like to return to.

IMAG5985 — Me with Hamburg’s Rathaus (Town Hall).

Bremen & Düsseldorf: A while ago I posted about my love affair with Köln and my frustration at the footballing schedule continually sending me back to West Germany. Fast forward a year and I was put in the same scenario. I was NOT going to Köln again so soon. I really didn’t fancy staying in Dortmund so I started looking at what other German football coincided with my trip. Werder Bremen – “that’ll do!”.

Bremen’s charm had me swooning instantly. There was something irresistible about it. Typical Germany but without the crowds of the bigger cities. I loved it and just wanted a little longer in the city. For a lesser known European city-break I’d certainly recommend a couple of days in Bremen.

Düsseldorf was a bit of a plan B. I was going to watch football in Dortmund on the Tuesday night but I soon came to the realisation that there were no trains from Dortmund back to Bremen on Tuesday evening. So I had to half my time in Bremen and booked a couple of nights in a hotel in Düsseldorf. The weather was miserable but I did like the city. It had plenty of places to go out to eat/drink and enjoy the city’s nightlife however I don’t think I really made the most of my days in the city to recommend it fully. If you pushed me to recommend one or the other I’d tell you to go to Bremen but it was still a memorable trip.

The loved ones!
Having covered the capital cities, Greece and Germany all that is really left of 2017 are the US trips! My trips to the USA were heavily focused around visiting some special people across the country. One of the drawbacks to having people you care about in other countries is you don’t get to see them! This year I managed to change that and met up with a few people for the very first time – very satisfying and the real highlight of my year.

Nashville: I took so many good memories home with me from Nashville. It started with meeting a friend (and her family) who’d driven up from Alabama who I’d missed out on seeing a year earlier in Atlanta. It was great to finally meet, check out the Parthenon and grab some food together. With Sam bidding farewell to Nashville and making the drive back to Alabama I was left to explore the city (nightlife) for myself.

Nashville didn’t disappoint, infact I loved it! It was everything I’d hoped it would be and “music city” certainly lived up to its name. I regularly crave a return to Nashville because it’s a city like no other I’ve been to. Pure bliss and I feel like I left a little piece of me behind (probably my liver). I hope it’s a place I’ll return to. Everyone needs to experience a night in Nashville at some point!

Dallas: I got to Texas! Finally! It is somewhere I have been wanting to visit for such a long time so to finally make it there made this such a special highlight of my year.
I did like Dallas as a city but it’s not a place that blew me away. I enjoyed myself but it’s probably a place I’d ordinarily be content in visiting just the once.

However I had wonderful company and with that came wonderful memories to take home with me. It’s a trip that I look back on so fondly of and I don’t think I could have enjoyed it any more. Full of first time experiences, long car rides, awful shots (sorry Amber – it’s true!) and the best people to share it with. Everything made it a trip I’ll cherish for a long time.
I’ll definitely be back Dallas!

Washington State: Apparently one Washington visit in a year wasn’t enough so after visiting DC in April, five months later I was heading to the West Coast. Getting to Washington had been on the agenda for a while and a wedding in 2018 finally gave me an excuse to visit!
Wait, 2018? Yeah, it turns out I couldn’t wait that long so started making plans to get there much sooner.

Like Dallas this trip was all about the company (including the two-legged kind!) which made for such a memorable trip. Mountain views, baseball, awesome bars, good food, cool museums, road trips and boat trips – I loved it all. The company just topped it off

That rounds up a summarised look at my 2017 adventures.
A huge thanks to Sam, Scott & Ariel (Nashville), Amber, Lanie & Macie (Dallas), Maddie, Cassie & Haleigh (Washington State) and Daniel & Natalie (football) for joining me on the adventure.

The aim now is to have 2018 top 2017 which will take some doing, however with a month-long trip to the US in the planning stages for this summer I wouldn’t rule it out as a possibility.

EdinburghHogmanay — Getting 2018 off to the best start!

If you read this far, thanks again! I hope you enjoyed it.

What were your highlights of 2017? What have you got planned for 2018? Let me know in the comments!

All the best!

Jason

York!

I think one thing many of us are guilty of when it comes to travel is not seeing enough of our own country. One thing I certainly want to start doing more often is taking city breaks within the UK.

Last August I did just that. With a three day weekend and a friend hosting a charity gig, I had a good excuse to make a trip up to Yorkshire. I arrived in Northallerton later than planned. My train in London had come to a standstill and there was no sign of how long we’d be stuck, which meant a change of plan and running to the nearest tube stop in a hopeful attempt to reach Kings Cross before my train up North departed.
Frustratingly I’d missed my train by seconds through no fault of my own, that train departing the platform is the one I’m supposed to be on – which wasn’t the best start to my weekend. Fortunately it did get better from there and a fun night with a live band and a few beers made up for arriving later than scheduled.

The next morning I wished farewell to my friend and made the short train ride from Northallerton to York. I’d been to York 2 or 3 times before but only really to visit family, it always seemed to rain whenever I’d visit too so I was hoping for much more opportunity to explore this time and also better weather!
I arrived in a sunny York which was an encouraging start to the two days I’d be spending in York.

York is one of my favourite English cities. It has so much history and character and you feel that almost instantly upon arrival. After exiting York’s main train station I was instantly staring up at the city walls. I was staying in a hotel outside of the city walls but on a relatively lively street with a few pubs, restaurants and shops nearby.

Still too early to drop my bag off at my hotel, I ventured past the city walls and in to the city of York. Merchantgate, one of the openings in the wall, had actually been closed off for the day to vehicles because of an event in the city. I was curious but overheard someone say it would be starting at 1 so figured I’d come back later on.

Ahead of me crowds were building, to my right was a staircase leading up to the city walls. Walking the wall seemed a much more attractive proposition than trying to hurdle the number of people along Merchantgate. It’s not something you can do in too many cities and an enjoyable walk along the wall. It’s also great for photo opportunities from a higher vantage point.

Having walked across the wall I arrived at the River Ouse and thought it a perfect time to do a river cruise. It was a guided tour and quite interesting. Our captain pointed out a few points of interests and shared some of his knowledge about the city as we drifted along the river, a very peaceful way to spend an hour and thoroughly recommended.

After the cruise I headed back in the direction of Merchantgate to see what all the fuss was about. It turns out they had an event for soapbox racing. Watching bananas, Trojan horses, farmers, batman and more race through the streets of York was certainly an experience to remember. Each ‘car’ raced against the clock with the quickest finishers of the course heading in to the next round. It was very entertaining!

I checked in to my hotel and then went in search of food! I stumbled upon one of York’s most famous streets known as the Shambles – a row of shops along a cobbled street with dimly lit lights in the windows to give it a real atmospheric feel. It was beautiful and I found somewhere near by.
Having stuffed myself with pizza, I finished my Sunday evening off in one of York’s many many pubs in the city.

Bank holiday Monday’s are famed for rain so it was a nice surprise to wake up Monday morning to further sunshine. A warm bank holiday, surely not?
After grabbing an on-the-go breakfast I headed for York’s famous Minster cathedral, a UNESCO world heritage site. I’d passed it before but had never been inside. Despite following no religion I always find religious buildings fascinating to visit. The detail is incredible and the Minster no different in that respect. Definitely worth a visit when in York.

After a quick stop for lunch I visited York’s castle, quite unusual as far as castles go and situated on top of a small hill. Typically you expect the purpose of a castle to be used in defence of the city but it’s hard to see aside from the vantage point how this would have worked.
Despite the lack of purpose, you get some great views overlooking York which make it worthwhile visiting.

The rest of my day involved wandering the city, I particularly enjoyed the abbey and gardens close to the river – particularly beautiful with the sun setting.
I saw signs of a free walking tour which commenced in the evening. I’m generally a big fan of these and thought it’d be the perfect end to my trip but it was a bit of a disaster. My first clue as to how bad it was going to be should have been the low turnout. Come the start of the tour there was only around a dozen of us and that number dwindled over the hour that followed.

The tour guide was friendly enough and clearly loved York, however sadly I didn’t find the tour that interesting. Ultimately that comes down to personal taste and you can forgive that but the bigger problem was it was a walking tour with very little walking.
I wanted to see York and having only circled the equivalent of a block in 45 minutes I came to the conclusion it wasn’t going to happen.
By this point there were only 5 of us left and as I saw one couple making their escape I had to do the same. If I’d been the last man standing I would have had to see it out through pity so I passed off the grenade to the final couple and saved myself.

With a wasted hour I went in search of a pub to have a drink before catching my train home. Despite a dreadful tour to end it, it was a great weekend.

I’d highly recommend a visit to York on any trip to the UK, or even if like me you’re already a Brit but just fancy a city break closer to home.

Have you ever been to York? What did you like / dislike about it? Let me know!

All the best

Jason

The tale of Canterbury

I think anyone that has been gripped by the desire to see the world has felt this struggle – the gap in time between your last trip and the next. This is where your wanderlust really kicks in and you start to crave more adventure.
I went to New York City last June, came home and my next trip lined up was a weekend in Germany in September. September! What was I supposed to do for three months?

The answer was obvious – take a trip! Funds and time were limited so I decided rather than go abroad, I’d spend a weekend somewhere here in the UK. So off to Canterbury I went.

It’s only an hour away from London so if you’re visiting the UK then why not take a day-trip to Canterbury? Here’s why you should!

It’s a city of heritage!
I didn’t know much about Canterbury before visiting, the famed Canterbury Tales was one of the few things I knew of so I was expecting an old city with plenty of history. Canterbury didn’t disappoint. For starters it’s home to a UNESCO World Heritage Site!

The cathedral is one of the most visited attractions in the city, which was founded all the way back in the year 597! It was rebuilt a few hundred years later and the cathedral is perhaps most famously known for the murder of the archbishop Thomas Becket. Acknowledgement of Becket’s influence in Canterbury can be found throughout the city, including a pub named after him! I always feel like that is the greatest possible honour bestowed on any Brit. A pub in your name? You’ve made it big!

One of the surprises of the city was the small abandoned castle on the outskirts of the city centre. Whilst much smaller than most castles throughout Europe it was free to look around and there was also a distinct lack of tourists which made it a winner for me! Definitely worth a look if you’re a fan of castles and old architecture.

It’s pretty!

Canterbury isn’t just all cathedrals, castles and city walls – it’s also a really pretty city. Cobbled streets, a river running through it and pretty public gardens all make it a really aesthetically pleasing city too. Booking a river tour is a great way to see more of the city and offer some different photo opportunities.

It has plenty of culture!
The city is home to three universities, the population of the city doubles throughout the academic year which means there is always stuff going on. Museums, exhibitions, theatre, events, restaurants, shopping and more!
I was rather lucky my weekend coincided with a medieval festival in the city. It wasn’t planned but very much enjoyed!

If you plan to stay overnight it also has a great nightlife with some great pubs to visit, these of course are open throughout the day and usually offer traditional British pub meals too but the city comes to life a little more in the evening.
One pub I was particularly fond of was the Foundry who brew their own beers! There’s plenty of others dotted about the city though so you’ll be spoilt for choice if looking for somewhere to spend your evening!

So there you have it – add Canterbury to your list! For those of you who’ve been before what did you love about Canterbury? It’s a city I’ll definitely return to so I’d love to hear your recommendations.

Thanks for reading!

Jason

IMAG3736 — There’s a reason selfies weren’t a thing in medieval times

Home for me, adventure for you!

Recently I’ve really started to immerse myself within the online travel community, mostly on Instagram, and I thought it’d be the ideal time to start blogging. Travelling has become one of my biggest passions and I wanted to use this as a platform to really talk about that, share experiences and hopefully offer some inspiration to others reading this.

I’ve been lucky to visit a number of different places around the world and I’m constantly ticking places off of my bucketlist, although that ever-present wanderlust usually means the list of places to visit is growing rather than shrinking!

There were lots of places I could have started this blog off – London, New York City, Sydney – the list really is endless but I thought what better place to start than right at home? I think one of the things that can quickly be forgotten among travellers is that home to you is an adventure to somebody else.
I was born and grew up in London and believe me I will post about London in the future but for now I live in Peterborough and here’s a post dedicated to it.
Would I recommend it as somewhere to visit? No, but if you’re a little curious here’s five reasons why you might want to visit!

1) The local experience
Travellers are continually looking for a destination off the beaten track and Peterborough ticks the box as a city less travelled. You don’t get swarms of tourists here, perhaps with good reason but it does mean that if you do visit you’re likely to only be dining, drinking and chatting with the locals. This is also a plus if you want to visit Peterborough’s cathedral, museum or churches which beyond peak times are rarely busy.

Peterborough28 — River Nene, Peterborough

2) Location
As cynical as I may be about how dull Peterborough is as a city, one thing you can’t question is its convenient location. Peterborough has great transport links. Situated next to the largest motorway in the country means it’s easily accessible by car, whilst Peterborough also has direct trains and/or bus links to most major UK cities such as London (less than an hour), Cambridge (1 hour), York, Edinburgh and more.
Buses and trains from Stansted Airport both also travel via Peterborough.
What better place to base yourself for a night if you’re planning a road-trip or visiting various cities throughout the UK.

3) The cheaper alternative
Staying in the UK can be expensive! You might want to consider staying in Peterborough just because it’ll save you money over staying in nearby Cambridge or London – both of which are only an hour away. Trains from London to Peterborough run late in to the early hours of the morning so you could easily spend your day in London and head back to your accommodation that same day to sleep in Peterborough.
You’ll obviously need to weigh up whether the time and cost of travelling make any savings worthwhile.

Cathedral

4) History & Culture
Like most European cities, Peterborough has its share of history. The city dates back hundreds of years and this is most evident in the location of Peterborough’s cathedral. The cathedral was built in the 12th century and is definitely worth seeing for yourself, some well known people were buried in the cathedral such as Katherine of Aragon or Mary Queen of Scots (later moved). If you time your trip right you might even catch a heritage/historical/medieval festival or event.

In more modern times, Peterborough has become one of the UK’s fastest growing cities. In some areas it’s still lacking but in the last year a number of restaurants and pubs have opened to make for a much more vibrant city centre. You now have much more choice for wining and dining
There’s a handful of venues which also host live music, sporting events, theatre and other arts which may appeal dependent on your interests.

5) Nature
Peterborough is in a relatively flat part of the country so perhaps isn’t somewhere you’d associate with stunning scenery, whilst this is true there are some areas which show off Peterborough’s beauty. First and foremost the River Nene flows through the city and on a nice day it can be nice to walk along the riverside.
You also have an area known locally as ‘Ferry Meadows’, I don’t think it’s considered a national park due to it’s size but is in the same spirit. It’s a family friendly park with activities for kids, wildlife and a great spot for relaxing – particularly good for picnics overlooking the lake!
As an alternative accommodation option, you can pay to camp here with watersports on offer and a golf course within walking distance for the golfers out there!

If I’ve sold Peterborough to you and you’re curious at to how long to spend here I’d suggest a day/night at most, you could feasibly see most of the city in a few hours.
If you do decide to visit give me a heads up and I’ll happily send some further recommendations your way.

Thanks for reading.

Jason