My week in England

So i left Shailen in Joburg and went to meet up with my family. It had been 6 years since we had been together so I was really looking forward to it.

Arriving into Heathrow airport is crazy. There is such a huge number of planes all the time. We landed then had to sit for ages because there was another plane in our spot. Crazy stuff!
Anyway I arrived on what i would later realise as the rarest weather for London - bright blue sunny skies! I arrived on Friday morning and met up with Cara and Michael. Cara had to work for the day so me and Michael did some sight seeing. We took the tube into the city and had a look around at Big Ben and the London Eye. It was such a beautiful day so we decided to go up the London Eye. In the mean time I am having heart attacks every second at the price of things. I had gotten used to SA which is very cheap so it was a shock to the system. For example to go up the London Eye it cost us 15 pounds which is about $NZ40. If you make the pound it is fine. To anyone else it hurts the bank account.

Michael standing outside the London Eye.

Me on the Eye.

Looking over the Parliament Buildings with the Big Ben.

We also had a look around the streets and went to see Buckingham Palace (a complete disappointment!) and Picadilly circus which was cool. London is exactly how you see it in movies. All the streets are really cute and the houses are like being in Coronation street! LOL

Buckingham Palace.

Anyone feel like they are watching Coronation Street?

Picadilly Circus.

The streets in London Central.

Later that day we went to pick up Mum and Dad from the Airport and, after taking the freeway in the wrong direction for a while after picking up the rental car, we then went to meet Cara's new boyfriend who is really lovely and passed the sister test with flying colours (a bribe of raspberries always help). The next day we got into our rental car and drove off into the country!

Mum and Dad rented a little cottage in a place called Kettle Well, in the Yorkshire Dales. It has a huge population of 270 people and has a total of 2 shops, 2 pubs and a village store. It was perfect. The country side is also exactly what you see on TV with paddocks, stone walls everywhere and tiny country roads.

The family outside our little cottage.

The town we were staying in - Kettlewell.

The cottage was beautiful. Although it was old it was modern inside but all the doorways were so low that we were having competitions as to who hit their heads the most. I think Michael being as tall as he is won that one?

We spent the week there taking treks through the countryside, taking a train trip to Carlisle (where mum's credit card got swallowed and the bank wouldn't give it back!), Had a look around Leeds (which is a very cute city and has great Fudge), did some puzzle races (cara won both times!), watched NZ get kicked out of the World Cup, and just generally being lazy.

Mum and Dad on one of our walks in the countryside.

The whole family together on the train to Carlisle.

The beautiful town of York.

It was really nice just to hang out with everyone and relax. Also it was nice to resort back to being kids. Me and Cara even went to the village store and got 50p of lollies from the jars. It was just like being 7 again. "Can i have 1 of those and 3 of those...." LOL

Michael, Cara and I out on a walk visiting waterfalls.

Me and Cara.

We left the following Saturday morning to head back to London (about a 5 hour drive). The week was suddenly over! I felt pretty sad because I had been looking forward to it for so long. But I think me and Shailen will enjoy living there because it is a really neat city. But THANK YOU Mum and Dad for a great week! :)

Mum and Dad flew out the following morning and then we dropped Michael off at the bus station and then it was just me and Cara. We were pretty lazy for the rest of the day but went out in the evening to watch the England/ France match. The next day we just walked around the shops next to her place and lazed about. I was not too fussed on doing tourist things because I knew me and Shailen could do that when we came.

Then it was off to the Airport for me. This is where everything went a little wrong. We went to catch the tube to the airport and get part way there when we are told that there are problems with the Heathrow line and they suggest another line to take. So we have to wait for this one along with everyone else. It finally came and by this time I am running late. I finally arrive at the airport about 40mins after I am supposed to be there! I get out of the train and run for the terminals. We arrive at Virgin to discover that my flight is not coming up when I try and check myself in. We ask for assistance and when they find out what flight I am on they rush me to the front. I made it to check my bags in 5 minutes before they were closing it. But it doesn't end there. First they kick up a fuss because I don't have a print out of my ticket (I had just written the confirmation no. down) so they manage to print me one of those. ( I am running between counters and people) Then I have a ticket and they go to security check me and find that I don't have proof of a flight out of SA within 3 months. I did have these flights but all on the internet which they would not let me show them. So in the end I had to buy a ticket to the cheapest place (80pounds later) just so I could leave London. When we went to SA before they didn't ask us for anything so I didn't know I needed it. So finally all this is done and I can go through. By this time I am extremely late. Then I got to the security line and it went for miles. I was told that my flight gates would close at 7.55 and I was still standing in this line at 8.00. I finally get through and sprint for my gate. It was still open and I wasn't the last person to come! There were people running all over the place. Honestly that airport is crazy!

But all ended good and I arrived safe and sound in SA. I'm sorry there are no pictures but I will have to put those later. I will let Shailen write what he was doing while I was in London and then we will update you as now we are both in Durban.
Hope everyone is well and looking after themselves.
Take Care
Alisa
xoxo