Double A Takes the UK | Part III
On The Road, United Kingdom
The ruined watch tower
We got up early the next morning to have a quick breakfast before we hit the road. Birmingham to Pembrokeshire is around a 4 hour drive and we wanted to get to the house at a decent time. By 10am after morning traffic, we were on the road to Wales. During the first few minutes in the car I was calculating how much gravol one could safely shovel down my throat to stop car sickness for 4 hours (hint it was a lot haha). The winding, twisting roads of England and Wales did not set well with my body the first week I was there.
The drive didn’t start out overly picturesque. The first hour of our journey had us on motor ways until we hit close to Cardiff, Wales. From there we hit the country roads and it got extremely beautiful. While no horses were seen, I did scream “OMG SHEEP” about 500 times because “hello”, I had never seen so many adorable sheep in varying sizes and colours. I was in absolute heaven.
The roads were all very beautiful as we winded in and out of the valleys heading between hills and mountains. No roads can be straight in the UK. Not sure if that’s a law or something but let me tell you, it sure feels like it was. You also never seem to go over anything unless you live at the top of a hill or mountain, I don’t think we hit a drastic incline once while on our journey.
The adorable town with the amazing sandwich shop!
As we got closer to our destination we stopped in an adorable little town called Llandovery. We parked up by a ruin of a watch tower and got out to stretch our legs. At this point of the journey we were hungry so we went hunting for some food. While Ed was able to find food at the small corner shop, I however wasn’t able to find a pescatarian option. We walked along the high street in search of another shop or cafe to find something for me to eat. We found an adorable cafe in which I would have the most delicious, life-changing fish sandwich one could ever have. I still talk about it to everyone and bring it up often. Who knew I could be like Joey from Friends and literally fall in love with a sandwich!
After our lunch, we both wanted to give the ruined watch tower a quick tour before heading off, which would soon turn into a bad idea. After climbing to the top of the hill and enjoying the gorgeous view it had to offer over the town, my shoes decided this would be the perfect moment to stop gripping, causing me to slip and slide to the bottom of the hill on my butt. Not my finest moment while others watched and I did the walk of shame to the car.
After that little mishap and a lot of baby wipes to clean off the mud, we went on our way for the last leg of the journey. We got to the house a little after dark and got settled in. Headed out to grab a few quick groceries so we had something to eat for dinner and breakfast the following day before settling in for the night. Tomorrow the adventures started!
A few images from the road trip
Double A Takes The UK | Part II
Birmingham, England
That evening I first arrived got a bit hectic. After a very long and well deserved nap I woke up to the news that there was a possibility someone in the house had contracted covid. Not really the news you want to wake up too after having travelled for over 12 hours to get there. I sat in the room and waited for the results. That was the longest half hour ever but once it was confirmed, we quickly packed up our things and left. We booked a hotel for two days so I could take my entry antigen test.
Once we arrived at the hotel we made a game plan for the next few days and then passed out after the long day of travel and stress. The next day we waited for my antigen test to arrive. It wasn’t a very long wait considering we had slept till 12 (something I have never done before). Once my test was done and the results sent off, we headed off for a much needed walk in the country.
This was my first experience of country lanes in England which I thought were super small and tight (If only I knew just how small country lanes get, like the ones I would soon experience in Wales). We headed to a place called Clent Hills. It was a beautiful night and we were set to be able to make the trek to the top of the hill to watch the sunset. Something we didn’t account for during this walk was how muddy is was going to be. I did not wear the proper shoes and spent the majority of the walk trying not to fall (but I also spend the majority of my life trying not to trip and fall so nothing new here).
I have to say Clent was a beautiful breathe of fresh air from the city and my first look at the English country side. Endless fields, hills every where and beautiful open forests with Ivy covering most trees. While Ivy is really destructive, it really is so beautiful when it covers the trees.
Once at the top, we were greeted by a gorgeous 180° view as far as the eye could see. In the distance you could make out the faint tops of the Black Mountains in Wales. It also gave a gorgeous view of the Black Country suburbs. I stood there probably until twilight, watching the sun go down and the fog roll in. Our walk back to the car was interesting, it was dark, the ground hat frosted over and become even more slippy. We were greeted by horses coming into their field once we hit the road. Of course I had to stop and admire them as they walked by.
Once back at the car we packed up, headed out to dinner and got ready to make the long drive to Wales the next day.
a few more images from clent hills
Double A Takes The UK | Part I
Canada to United Kingdom
It has been 4 years since my last trip abroad. While I have made small trips to the United States here and there, the last 2 years has been a prison in my house. I can’t tell you how excited I was to finally be in a new country discovering their culture and enjoying everything they have to offer.
While this trip was mostly booked to see my significant other. I was extremely excited to see the UK. Considering we both live in different countries, the first trip over to each other has to involve seeing where the other is from and exploring. Our plan was to spend 2 weeks in England, 1 week in Wales and 1 week in Scotland. Did that go to plan, definitely not, you will find out why soon.
Flying out of Pearson, I had never seen the airport so dead before. Between 3pm to 11pm only 12 flights were flying out of terminal one. I remember when I left for Germany 4 years ago, you could hardly keep up with where you had to go because so many flights were heading out. It was such a stark difference. Being the early bird that I am I was at the airport 4 hours early, flew through baggage check and security and had 3.5 hours to kill on the other side. I know they tell you to get there 3 hours early because of restrictions but that had to be the fastest I have ever made it through security in my life.
After a 3.5 hour wait and a 6 hour plane ride (slept through almost all of it), I arrived….
If there is one thing I can say about Heathrow Airport it is that you walk and walk and walk and when you just think you are finished walking, you have to walk a bit more. The airport is massive just like Munich, except Munich has an underground rail system that takes you between terminals so you don’t have to walk as much (I’m looking at you Heathrow, you should install one). After all the walking and going through an electronic customs, I had made it. I will say I’m a bit disappointed that I received no stamps in my passport showing I arrived in the UK. I am grateful how quickly I was able to get through customs but my traveller self was sad.
Once meeting up with Ed, I soon realized he had completely forgotten where he parked the car. While I am one to always snap a picture of the area I am in and the floor, he just decided to wing it. After riding the elevator for 15 minutes he finally realized that the car was indeed parked on floor 1. The floor we started on.
Once we were on our way to his house, I had a lovely two hour drive to enjoy, taking in the country side of England. What I didn’t expect to see what such drastic changes in weather within 10 minutes. What started as a sunny beautiful day, turned into dense fog that you could barely see the car in front of you. That soon turned back into a clear sunny day with only the other side of the highway covered in dense fog. The weather in England had my head spinning with such huge changes in such little time.
Once we arrived at his, we had a relaxing afternoon that turned into the best nap of my life.