London, England

I've actually been to London once before.  It was a stop over on my way to Africa in January 2008.  I hated it.  First of all, I was extremely jet-lagged.  Second of all, I was an emotional wreck- leaving your boyfriend and family behind for three months is a big deal when you're 18.  My (maybe) eight hours of time in London in 2008 was spent following around a few of my friends that I had met through the program, in the pouring rain, carrying my pillow (travel rookie mistake).  I remember sitting on the tube, not impressed with how wet I was from the rain, and feeling so tired I felt that I could puke.  Looking back, I was just an immature young girl not realizing how lucky I was to have the opportunity to stop in London, England- one of the most visited cities in the entire world.  

I am pleased to say that this time around (six and a half years later), I experienced this city in an entirely different light.  I didn't really "count" my stop-over as a legitimate trip to London, so I went in to this weekend trip with excitement.  I was excited to see the famous sights for the "first" time and to immerse myself in the hustle and bustle with my partner in crime by my side.  From Cambridge, it only takes 50 minutes to get to Kings Cross, if you catch the direct train.  So we packed some food and a change of clothes, and off we went.

Peak District, England

    

Saturday is usually a sleep-in day.  But not last Saturday.  No sir, last Saturday we were up bright and early.  Adventure was calling us!  Last Saturday we took the long trek out to one of England's greatest hiking destinations: The Peak District.

From Cambridge, it's about a three hour drive.  We are lucky to have made some friends since being here, and that some of those friends just so happen to have a car.   We are also lucky to have made friends with people who also think it's a grand idea to wake up early to drive a decent way across the country for a day of hiking and adventuring!  To give you a visual of just how far we drove for this one day, I've added a map showing where Cambridge is in comparison to the Peak District:

A day in Oxford, England

We've now been living in Cambridge for one month.  And for one month, I have not left (other than a few bike rides out to some small surrounding towns) Cambridge.  It's crazy how in just one month, I've really found a sense of "home" here.  I have grown to love this place already.  So much, that a day trip to Oxford made me feel a sense of pride for my new home.  As many of you may know, Oxford and Cambridge are home to two of the most prestigous Universities.  The rivalry between the two University towns will always be ongoing.  I was excited to discover what Oxford was like and create my own (biast, obviously) opinion.  But far more importantly, the reason I woke up so crazy early in excitement to get here, was because I was meeting an old friend from Canada, Kara. :)

Kara has been living in Bristol for a number of years (5, maybe?), and is now living with her husband Zac in Cardiff, Wales.  Oxford seemed like a great half way point to meet up for the day.  It is such a great feeling to see a familiar face from home!  I've known Kara my entire life, as our families were great friends from church, and we also attended the same high school.  I remember Kara helping me fix my uniform on the first day of Grade Nine-  just like a big sister would do.  Being two years older, she was much more informed of the "cool" way to wear your uniform, haha.  Our day in Oxford flew by, as we shared many laughs and shared our experiences of moving to the UK.  It was nice to hear about her perspective of the small but unavoidable cultural differences between Canada and the UK.  Just like the first day of Grade 9, she gave me some great insight of things I can expect this year being a new-comer from a different country.