Lucia en Andalucia: England

After spending Christmas in La Palma I decided to meet up with some friends from my program in England. I had told Guadalupe that I was looking at flights and what my upcoming travel plans would be. I expressed some frustration with flight options and the nearest airports not correlating...next thing I know Guadalupe is telling me her and her husband are going to Scotland for the same week that I will be in England. So in the wee hours of the morning on December 27th Guadalupe, her husband and myself drive to the airport and fly to Glasgow together.

We spent the afternoon in Glasgow and then I took off on a train to meet up with my friends in Newcastle, England. Guadalupe had never been to Scotland and she used the opportunity to practice and improve her English. Her husband on the other hand knows very little English (Probably the same amount of Spanish my parents know...). On the flight her husband was asking me how to say some very important phrases to get by in an English speaking country. These are the things he wanted to know: “I’m Sorry,” and “Big beer please.” I found his pronunciation very funny, when he says beer is sounds like bear.

My friends and I spent two days in Newcastle. We toured the city, experienced the nightlife, and went to a Newcastle United soccer game, which was my main reason for wanting to go to Newcastle. The city is very nice and is built along a river. Similar to Portland there were many bridges, some with unique structures. (Infinity bridge in Newcastle)

My friend Joanna and I went to the soccer game. We didn’t get the memo that everyone arrives extremely early for games because when we arrived on time the ticket booths and stairways were completely clear. Everyone was already in the seats cheering. We bought our tickets and basically had the very last seats in the house. We climbed probably 1000 steps to get to our seats...last row.

Not only were we in the very last row but we were also directly between the Newcastle fans (they call themselves the Toon Army because the team is known as The Toon) and the Derby fans. Separated only by a line of police officers. The entire game we listened to the continuous banter back and forth between the two teams. It was never quiet, they literally never quite yelling. It was all very entertaining and the yelling became progressively louder and harsher as the game continued because it was tied 0-0.

We had a good laugh over the different cheers when we could understand them and also had our share of chanting moments. After the game we followed a crowd of people to a local pub and drank some beers. Our other friend met up with us and we continued to pub crawl the rest of the night. We met some fellow Newcastle fans and they “showed” us around the nightlife scene. One individual found me particularly charming and gave me his Newcastle United scarf as a souvenir...

After experiencing what Newcastle had to offer, the next day we took a train to York. York was a very COLD and historic town. It was surrounded by Roman walls and had the beautiful York Minster in its center. The city is located in Northern Yorkshire, England and has a rich heritage that has provided the backdrop to some major political events throughout history.

The first night we took a Ghost tour through the streets of York and learned about some of its most interesting history. The Vikings conquered the city in the Middle Ages and many of the ghost stories consisted of events the towns people encountered during this time.
The next day we went to the Viking museum which I recommend if anyone finds them self in York.

It was freezing there and we found ourselves spending most of the time is tea shops and pubs to escape the cold. After two days we took a train to London. We arrived on New Years Eve, checked into our hostel and hit the streets. (Picture of a little pre-gaming on The Tube)

It was an epic night overall. We spent the evening pub crawling and mingling with people from all over the world. We were entertained the most by some Italians, Peruvians and Persians. At midnight we were in Trafalgar Sq. to watch the fireworks explode over the National History Museum.

It also started snowing just in time for the New Year. It was a very memorable night although my memory is a little hazy...

My friends returned to Spain because they had visited London before but I decided to stay for 2 extra days to explore and sight see. I was very proud of myself for navigating The Tube (London's Subway) all on my own. I was a typical tourist and took a Double Decker bus tour through the city. It was an excellent way to see most of the sights and I had the freedom to hop on and off the bus as I wished to take photos or go in a museum.

(Me being a tourist)