Wednesday, May 7, 2008

Canterbury, Portsmouth and South Sea

Well our flight left on time at 6:30 p.m. Chattavegas time. Unfortunately I wasn't able to get any sleep on the flight which arrived at Gatwick around 8 a.m. their time. Thus, sleep deprived, we begin day one of our tour.

First stop was Canterbury. Large crowds, and even larger prices come to mind in this area. However, we were able to take time to appreciate the more natural beauty around this area (pictures to come soon) the most astounding attraction being the Cathedral. We walked in and I immediately felt very small standing in the largest single room I'd ever been in. To put things in perspective, I was like an ant and the cathedral a shoe box (but a very ornate shoe box at that.) It was so beautiful that I actually cried. It could have also been the extreme lack of sleep, but either way, I was moved. It was incredible. (once again, pictures to follow, my words don't do it justice.)

The night ended with the three American tourists, including yours truly, walking approximately 10-11 miles ALL OVER PORTSMOUTH looking for our hostel, which we were 4 hrs late arriving to. We asked 6 different locals for directions along the way and by the time we got there the hostel was closed. What we didn't expect was for the entire area surrounding Portsmouth and South Sea would be booked solid. That's right, after 5 more miles, not a single room found. So we went into badass mode and slept on the ground in the park near the pyramids at Portsmouth. We weren't able to get that much sleep, but it was certainly an adventure. Welcome to England blokes!

translations (starting with English slang and then it's American equivalent)
bloke = dude
cheers = thanks
wang = sex
Portsmouth = Unwelcoming

Quote of the day
"Ummm! that guy is standing up before the airplane is stopped. The stewardess is going to slap him in the face..................with fish and chips!"
- 10 yr old sitting behind me on the plane. He said this loud enough so the
whole plane could hear. I laughed so hard I almost cried.

2 comments:

scotch said...

im laughing very loudly in the middle of an empty office... thanks for the fish and chips line. i got as far as the punchline and said "thats so brian" when i was astounded to find that some kid said it. classic. AWESOME (debbie voice). fellas, badass mode is the only gear yalls'll be in for the next month. kickass. do it to death.

did you eat frog legs? said...

european bums..
oh yea back to the slang.. i think bums = butts?

:) love ya, glad you are experiencing the lands.

p.s. you are an excellent writer.
(i am lazy susan)