Saturday, September 7, 2013

Back on the road! - Stonehenge, Bath, Wales, Oxford, London and Essex!

     The last five weeks in the U.K. were pretty glorious!  

     I learned to love a place that at first seemed very unappealing.  The difference between staying in during the depths of November and exploring, meeting new people and weekend tripping in August are just incomparable. Even though I stayed in the same town I experienced it differently.  We did a lot of camping, hanging out with local friends, enjoying the sun and being mostly on a farm in the countryside that was built in the middle ages. It really just goes to show that life is really just what you make of it.  Sure, it doesn't hurt when you're surrounded by mother nature's beauty.

     I'm happy to reflect on both trips to England and apply my lesson to future travels.  

     In the mean time here's a few pictures from my excursion:


First day in Essex! These are government cows that wander the lake around and trim the grass.

At Dobb's weir.  They say weir. We say dam.
Weir: A low dam built across a river to raise the level of water upstream or regulate its flow.
 In this case they regulate the water for canal boats.

Fancy a bit of rain?!

How about a view of London from the Heron tower this lovely ball of fire?


Rock in the Park with another amazing American CouchSurfer from So Cal and loads of local friends!
It kept raining on and off all day which made the experience that much more intense and exciting.



Sun bathing in the sun while being locked out of the house.

Playing hide and go seek
and chewing on wheat stalks

in the countryside
         We drove a couple hours south-west and few hours north-west 

just for a pile of rocks.

a hot babe

the roman baths

a wishing well

and ancient hot springs.

Camping in Brecon, Wales!

Where you can pick your own strawberries and stare at Welsh and try to imagine what it would sound like.

It was surely beautiful!
I even got to hang out with some lambs.
and see fields for miles and miles!

Then Oxford, England:

Which was also beautiful with all the flowers and architecture every where.


The Castle!

The Castle Tavern


And I place where they give away free cash!

Back in Essex you can find:
Meatballs on sale!

fresh blackberries!

geese
strange looking people

breakfast in bed

confetti

afros, braids and curls ... and not just a couple... that's a SEA of them

a carnival

hot babes from different places around the world

bright colors and head dresses

guys with parrots

and guys with glasses.
     I'm sad I had to visit England twice to understand why it is truly great.  But you know, all the more reason to appreciate my visit that much more the second time!

     It's great to know that even though this is filled with so many amazing experiences I've still failed to mention so much.  So, I guess I'll just leave it at that and let you use your imagination.