I'm back in the UK on vacation after several work trips here with Stryker. And I'm back to my blog after 4 years? I can't believe it's been that long. My first visit to the UK was in 2002 on a family visit. After that, a long break. Then, more recently about 3 trips to the UK including Northern Ireland, London, and several cities in England. Given my past trips to the UK, this visit focused on cities less commonly visited by new tourists.
On this trip, I have been taking some day trips. On my first day I visited Canterbury and Dover. In Canterbury, I visited a museum dedicated to the Canterbury Tales. I then visited the Canterbury Cathedral. Unfortunately, I reached Dover too late to visit the Dover castle (but it was impressive looking from outside), and I was also too late to visit the White Cliffs. Getting a taxi is difficult in Dover and there are no Ubers. I'll have to return to Dover another time and spend the whole day here.
The next day was spent in London, mostly taking it easy and watching Wimbledon. The original plan was to watch Wimbledon in person, but we underestimated the difficulty in getting tickets.
The following day, Aroon and I went to Manchester to watch the semifinals of the one-day cricket world cup. We had great seats, and watched about 47 overs of batting from New Zealand. The Kiwis started off slow, but eventually finished with 240 runs. On the low end of acceptable for a one day score, and we expected India to easily surpass this total. However, the rain came and we took refuge in a hotel adjoining Old Trafford football stadium. The rain didn't let up and the rest of the day's play was cancelled. So, we took a train back to London.
The next day, we set off for Newcastle and Durham in the far North of England. Newcastle has an interesting castle and a 'black gate' - very medieval. The city was one of the hubs of the industrial revolution. People here speak with an accent that is between Scottish and English, but closer to Scottish. After the castle, we had lunch in a local bar and watched Cricket. India was batting and had lost four early wickets, putting New Zealand in a great position to win the match. On this trip, if nothing else, I've developed into somewhat of a cricket fan? I can see myself gravitating towards this sport over baseball. For me, the advantages of cricket include the ability to play the ball to all parts of the field, and the ability to customize fielding positions. I rooted for New Zealand as they were massive underdogs, and had very little fan support in the stadium.
After New Castle, we took an Uber to Durham. Durham is home to one of the top universities in the UK (Durham University). It's also home to a magnificent castle built by William the Conquerer and an amazing cathedral.
After Aroon continued to France, I took the train to Wales. I visited Cardiff and Pembrokeshire. In Pembrokeshire, which is on the southwestern coast of Wales, I did sea kayaking and "coasteering". Coasteering is based on 'canyoning', and essentially involves scaling down craggy cliffs, jumping into the ocean from rock platforms, and generally exploring the coastline. It's a great workout and thoroughly exhilarating. I need to visit Snowdonia at some point in the future.
Of course, throughout this trip, many locals gave me their opinion on Brexit; some for and some against. It will be interesting to see how tourism in the UK changes once Brexit has happened.
On this trip, I have been taking some day trips. On my first day I visited Canterbury and Dover. In Canterbury, I visited a museum dedicated to the Canterbury Tales. I then visited the Canterbury Cathedral. Unfortunately, I reached Dover too late to visit the Dover castle (but it was impressive looking from outside), and I was also too late to visit the White Cliffs. Getting a taxi is difficult in Dover and there are no Ubers. I'll have to return to Dover another time and spend the whole day here.
The next day was spent in London, mostly taking it easy and watching Wimbledon. The original plan was to watch Wimbledon in person, but we underestimated the difficulty in getting tickets.
The following day, Aroon and I went to Manchester to watch the semifinals of the one-day cricket world cup. We had great seats, and watched about 47 overs of batting from New Zealand. The Kiwis started off slow, but eventually finished with 240 runs. On the low end of acceptable for a one day score, and we expected India to easily surpass this total. However, the rain came and we took refuge in a hotel adjoining Old Trafford football stadium. The rain didn't let up and the rest of the day's play was cancelled. So, we took a train back to London.
The next day, we set off for Newcastle and Durham in the far North of England. Newcastle has an interesting castle and a 'black gate' - very medieval. The city was one of the hubs of the industrial revolution. People here speak with an accent that is between Scottish and English, but closer to Scottish. After the castle, we had lunch in a local bar and watched Cricket. India was batting and had lost four early wickets, putting New Zealand in a great position to win the match. On this trip, if nothing else, I've developed into somewhat of a cricket fan? I can see myself gravitating towards this sport over baseball. For me, the advantages of cricket include the ability to play the ball to all parts of the field, and the ability to customize fielding positions. I rooted for New Zealand as they were massive underdogs, and had very little fan support in the stadium.
After New Castle, we took an Uber to Durham. Durham is home to one of the top universities in the UK (Durham University). It's also home to a magnificent castle built by William the Conquerer and an amazing cathedral.
After Aroon continued to France, I took the train to Wales. I visited Cardiff and Pembrokeshire. In Pembrokeshire, which is on the southwestern coast of Wales, I did sea kayaking and "coasteering". Coasteering is based on 'canyoning', and essentially involves scaling down craggy cliffs, jumping into the ocean from rock platforms, and generally exploring the coastline. It's a great workout and thoroughly exhilarating. I need to visit Snowdonia at some point in the future.
Of course, throughout this trip, many locals gave me their opinion on Brexit; some for and some against. It will be interesting to see how tourism in the UK changes once Brexit has happened.
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