21st of October

This is the day when we'll go to London. We took the train at 10.30 in the morning. The journey was nice and we saw the English landscape from village to city. We arrived in London around lunch time. Jarno had his luggage with him, because he would go home the day after. So, we decided to find the hotel and drop our things. The hotel itself was in a really nice neighbourhood, the colour was marble white and looked really good on the inside as well. Our room was lovely as well. We dropped our things, locked the door and went out. The hotel was only half an hour away from Kensington Palace by metro. We also picked up a small but lovely blueberry muffin. Before we entered Kensington Palace we walked around the Kensington gardens, it’s so beautiful. At the centre there is a pond called “The Square Pond”. The pond was surrounded by ducks, geese and swans. The palace itself was so beautiful, that I felt like a princess. Kensington palace was the Royal home for nearly 300 years. The most notable royals to live there would be Queen Victoria and Prince Albert. The ceilings in most rooms were painted with different stories. There is a special room for Victoria and Albert. Prince Albert made his own music, which I didn't know of. It sounded pretty good. Now, Prince William and Kate Middleton live in Kensington Palace, but not the museum part obviously. After our visit to the palace, we went to the Underground again to head to Black Friar’s stop. From where we walked to the London Eye. The view is still beautiful. Doesn't matter how many times you will go. And being in the Big Ben with your boyfriend sure adds a lot of romance. Near the London Eye you can also find the Big Ben, we walked around there for a bit and we headed back to Westminster Station to head back to our hotel. We had a lovely shower and watched "Back to the Future". And basically spent the evening doing nothing. Tomorrow he will leave, and I will have to wait another month before I can see him again, it does make me sad.

20th October 2015

Ramsgate is the planning for today. Unfortunately, not for a long time. I have kitchen training and I can't refuse it. We were in Ramsgate around 11 o'clock in the morning. It was only 5 minutes by train. I showed Jarno the town centre and the harbour. We decided to eat something before we would go back. I ate toast with strawberry jam. And Jarno had a piece of chicken filet with molten cheese and chorizo. I had a taste, and it was surprisingly good. Jarno jested that he had another thing he would cook should he ever cook for me again. Then we had to go back for my training. Jarno walked around town on his own, and after a while he returned and sat in the hall waiting for me. The training itself was not really interesting, because some of the subjects were not relevant for me. After this, we walked around Broadstairs for a while, see the beach again, just sitting atop of the cliffs on the boardwalk. It was already three o'clock in the afternoon and we wanted see a film. It was better to eat first. There was a Pizza Hut near the cinema. Jarno and I shared a pizza together and you had free drinks and salad as much as you wanted. It was not that expensive. Less than 25 pounds. When we came into the cinema, there was almost no one. The film was called Crimson Peak. It was a horror movie. I won’t spoil the movie for someone who hasn’t seen it though. We had the whole room for ourselves. It looked like a private cinema.

Ramsgate

19th of October 2015

We went to Dover today. Around 11 o'clock in the morning we took the train. It was only 40 minutes and then we had to walk for 30 minutes. When we were almost at Dover Castle, Jarno and I had to take a very long stairs. And Jarno kept complaining (it was kind of funny), it was really steep so I have to agree. He’s also not used to mountain-like areas.

The castle was beautiful to see, but that's not the only building you could see. I'll tell you all about it! The first thing we did was a guiding tour about the tunnels that was used in The Second World War. They showed us how they lived and how they took care of the soldiers that were wounded at the battlefield. There were a few times that the tunnels were dark. It looked like it was bombed by German airplanes. We were not allowed to touch anything, because the things in the tunnels were sprayed with a chemical which was poisonous. You wouldn't have a lovely evening if you get it into your eyes or mouth. You would have to spend a lovely evening in the hospital.

Inside a bunker

After the guiding tour we walked to the castle. Along the way we saw an ancient Roman lighthouse, which was hollow on the inside. Next to the Roman lighthouse was a medieval Saxon Church, called St. Mary in Castro. It was such a beautiful church, and it even had a stone slab from the time of the Saxons along the right wall. We sat there for a while in silence, when we left Jarno told me that churches have this effect on him to make him think there’s more to life than just what he sees and knows. Afterwards, we continued our walk to the castle.

On the castle grounds there was a history part that told the story of the Angevian kings, and this house started with Henry II; the same one who had Thomas Becket murdered. It was an interesting video to see, and I’ve learned a lot more about English history.

We walked to the entrance of the actual castle and walked around for a bit, up and down stairs and round across rooms. Jarno made a picture of me where I sat on a king’s throne. Some people say the castle is haunted by a white lady who wants to protect her castle. You could walk on the roof of the castle and you had a perfect view of the city of Dover. We decided to eat our sandwich from the Subway. Next to the castle were tunnels from the Middle Ages. It was really creepy. To go into the tunnel, you had to take the stairs. The floor went down when we walked further. Just like walking off the hill. There were no windows and no sunlight. The scariest thing was that there was no sound. Only I and Jarno were there. My host mother told me that many men died there and some of them are still in the tunnels. Around dinner time we went back to the town to eat some food. We were back at nine o'clock in the evening, had a shower and went to bed; tired as heck.

Tunnel from the Middle Ages

18th October 2015

Today is Sunday and also the day when I go to church. The service started at 10:30 till 12 o'clock in the afternoon. The service was interesting, because someone had a confession of faith and was baptized in the same sense as Jesus was baptized; headfirst in the water. There were a lot of songs to be sung and even Jarno thought that it was interesting.

After church we walked to the Albion Hotel and ate Sunday roast dinner. It consists of potatoes, vegetables, meat, gravy and Yorkshire pudding. It was not nearly as special as we thought it would be, since it looked like a regular meal you have in Holland. Jarno didn’t think that his Turkey Roast Dinner was that good, he’d never eat turkey again.

Afterwards, we went to Margate by train. The weather was so nice. My host family told me that there is a museum there which we could visit for free. It was an art museum. Something that Jarno and I do not really like. However, this one was fun. You had a chair where you could sit on and it would turn around as you moved your weight along the chair. Of course, Jarno had to film this and send it to his mother, of course, I said he could. There was also a house inside the museum in which they showed (or at least we think) optical illusions, inside this house was a small house. The small house was as big as my thumb.

After the museum we sat on some stone benches along the shoreline of Margate, it was romantic, and it felt really good. After a while we slowly walked back to the train station. Jarno saw an Amusement Hall, something he really likes, and misses back in The Netherlands. There, I saw a Mario Kart arcade machine, and I challenged Jarno. He lost, just like he did last year when he challenged me to a round of Mario Kart on his Super Nintendo.

When we were done, we went to a really small but cosy café where we had a hotdog (yes, the real American styled ones!) and a pint of strawberry cider. It was delicious.

We went home and had a shower, sat with the family for a bit, and went to bed.

Here is a video of me in the chair of the art museum

 

 

 

17th October 2015

 

The plan for this day is to go to Canterbury. We were awake around elven o’clock in the morning. Jarno and I already knew the place, because we’ve been there before with school. The first thing we did was walk to the Subway to eat a sandwich. The shop was in the centre of the town. The Primark was not far away and we decided to go there, because Jarno wanted to buy some sweaters. Then it was time to meet up with a friend. She works at a hostel. Hopefully, I can work there from February until May. It was already two o’clock in the afternoon and the three of us were a bit hungry. Our friend knew a place to eat. It was called Wetherspoon’s. It was really busy. Eventually, we found a place to sit. The most annoying thing in England is that people don’t walk on one side, like we do in The Netherlands. No, they’re walking everywhere. You literately had to zigzag through the people. You also have people that walk really, really slow and then just stop in middle of the path. You can’t walk further and have to ask in a friendly way if you can pass through. Most of the times they just stare at you, as if you speak a foreign language. After the lunch, we walked back to the shopping centre. Our friend left us after an hour and a half, as she had to pick up her parents in a few hours. Jarno wanted to go to Waterstones Bookstore to look for some books in Old English. I only agreed if we could drink a cup of tea and eat a chocolate muffin. It was fine by him. So, we walked to the store. I saw a book named “F in exams”. It is a really funny book to read. It’s about questions from real exams and the students had to give answers on those questions. Some of them were hilarious. You could see that some of them hadn’t studied. I had a laughter attack in the book store. Everyone looked at me and had to laugh as well. There was a Halloween themed event at the Canterbury Tales. You had to walk around with a group and the players told different scary stories about the history of the city.

16th October 2015: Jarnie’s week. 

 

This day is really exciting for me. Finally, after a month, my boyfriend is coming to England. He arrived at 12 o’clock in the afternoon in Broadstairs. There is a little restaurant called ‘Naughty but Nice’ which sells cupcakes and other things, such as jelly-donuts and assorted breads. We had English tea that contains 5 spoons of sugar and a bit of milk. After we had our cup of tea, I showed him the town and also the church where I volunteer. Kate, one of my colleagues said he had a baby face, and he never thought somebody would say that to him directly. He was shocked, but he could also laugh about it. Jarno knows that he looks younger than he is.

I showed him the shops and beach of Broadstairs. He liked it and was happy to see it al. He had been waiting to see me for a couple of weeks now, and I wanted to see him as well. It was really good to see my boyfriend again. We were a bit hungry at some point, around 2-ish I think. There was a fish and chips shop at the end of the town. We couldn't eat much, because we would have dinner with my host family. We ate lasagne. The same evening we went to Westwood Cross, where the VUE cinema is. Jarno and I saw Legend, a film about two gangsters (the Cray twins) who wanted to control London. There is only one problem. One of the gangsters is in love with a girl. This girl tells the story, however, the end is a bit weird. I will not tell you of course. You should see it yourself. The film ended around eight. We were home an hour later.

10th October 2015

We had breakfast at 8 o'clock in the morning. There were so many things you could eat. You could eat yoghurt with fresh fruit, croissants, muffins, ham, cheese, apple juice, milk, tea, coffee and you could make your own pancakes. The London Eye was an hour walking from the hotel. We had a wonderful walk. There were so many people outside and there was a man who did magic tricks. First thing we did was walking to the Walkie Talkie, a buidling where you can see whole London and eat something if you want to. 

 

Walkie Talkie

 My friend and I bought a combined ticket for the London Eye, Sea Life and London Dungeons. The man behind the desk told us to make a reservation at the London Dungeons first. It was already one o'clock in the afternoon. So, we decided to do the London Dungeons the next day. First, we went to Sea Life. We had a priority ticket, which meant that we didn't have to stand in the queue to pay for a ticket. Sea Life was nice to see. There were a lot of fish and other animals. There were penguins at the end. We were a bit hungry and we went to a restaurant. We saw a nice, but busy one. There was still a seat free for us. We got the menu and saw that we were in a Chinese restaurant. I didn't know what everything was. I chose for the chicken ramen. It was soup with chicken and noodles in a black bowl with a wooden spoon. I knew that I had to use the spoon for the soup, but how was I going to eat the noodles? There was a man next to us who eat the same as us. I looked at him and did the same thing as he did. My friend and I used knife and fork for the noodles. 

  After we had eaten, we walked to the London Eye. This time we had to stand in the line. Nevertheless, it took us 30 minutes. The view was so beautiful. You could see whole London. It was dark when we were on the top. Everywhere you looked, there were lights from buildings and parks.We saw the Big Ben when we were in the London Eye. Walking to clock would be the last thing we did that day.

The last picture is the view from the London Eye