I've brought bad weather back with me to Vancouver. It was sunny the day I got back, then overcast skies the next day, and it's now pouring rain. I think I snuck in a little too discreetly and the skies didn't realize I was back... otherwise they would have greeted me with showers the day I returned. Haha... suckers!

The weather is always better above the clouds.

I'm home.

My journey home started with the flight back to London from Montpellier, where I sat beside an Irish woman and Dutch guy who were talking (I was at the far right, next to the Dutch guy). The other two had just met, and kicked up a conversation that lasted the entire ride. The Irish woman did most of the talking, yammering about 85% of the time... talking about herself (early 50's, rejuvenated by her in-process divorce from her husband of 20+ years after he's been cheating on her with one of her good friends for X number of years -- this being her 2nd husband, I believe). Anyway, although I didn't take part in the conversation, my eavesdropping has me feeling like I know her intimately, from her take on sexuality and dating to her beautiful daughters to her travels and her self-run business.

We landed around 10:30pm, fairly on schedule and I caught an 11pm Stansted Express train to London. Somehow, the 45-minute train ride lasted over an hour, making it very possible that I wouldn't be able to catch the last Tube connections I needed to make. But fortunately, I caught the last Picadilly line train of the day, and got to KevinC's place around 12:45am.

After a good night's sleep, it was off to Heathrow Airport. The 9h20m flight went by fairly quickly as I read some complimentary Top Gear, Time, and Business Traveller magazines, slept, and watched some on-board shows. And so my trip ended -- coming into YVR at 3:15pm.

It's rather nippy here in Vancouver, but it's good to be back. Somehow my 1400 photos/video clips only appears as 1250 on the computer. Not sure what happened there. I hope I just miscounted. I'll have some selected pictures posted shortly. Thanks for reading.

Just wrapping up my trip here in France. On Saturday, I went to the Pezenas market in the morning, then met up with Florence in Montpellier. We had lunch with her friend Julie, and then we walked around the main areas of the city, which has a nice mix of older (but well kept) buildings, and new modern architecture. Quite a nice city actually. But their traffic plans are screwed up, because it took me 30 minutes to get out of the city and back onto the highway! Too many one way streets, and poor usage of signs.

Yesterday, I drove down to Agde and Cap d'Agde, down by the Mediterranean Sea. On a sunny day, it would have been cooler. Would have also been better had I left the house earlier too. Then I drove for about 15 - 20 minutes along the sea to Sete, which also would have been nicer on a better-weathered day... and with more time. But at least I can say "been there, done that".

Trish and Trevor have both been suffering from the flu, so it was just me driving around. Would have been nice to have them there with me, but what can you do?

I am ready to head off to the airport in a couple of hours for a 2hr flight back to London. I am hoping to arrive at KevinC's place around 11:30pm for the night. Ok... see ya.

Yesterday, Trish, Trevor, and I took a short trip to a nearby town whose name escapes me. We did a little hike around the area which had once been a sea bed some 160 million years ago and is now a valley of scattered rock formations.

I was planning on going to Marseille today, but decided not to on account of going alone. Trish hasn't been feeling well, and Trevor didn't feel good about leaving her for an entire day at home by herself. So I did a short wakling tour (unguided) of the town, Pezenas. It's 4pm and I have just finished up. I am making plans to meet Florence in Montpellier tomorrow as well -- so hopefully that'll work out.

I've been feeling a little lazy recently and I think I need to kick my own butt and get out a little more. The shortened days don't help much either. But for now, I'm going to go home.

Cheers,
Kevin

So I let Krista's around 8:30am and drove down to Windsor, about 30 miles West of London. I saw the Windsor Castle from the outside but opted not to go in because I didn't want to pay the £9. Legoland was closed as well. So I left Windsor realizing that I had gotten very little out of it, and that it would cost me some 45 miles overall.

As I entered London, I realized I had to have the car cleaned, otherwise they would charge another 10 quid.... as it turned out, getting the car washed would cost me £8. Returned the car to learn that I was 90 miles over my limit and not 40 (oops... miscalculation on my part). The cost per additional mile at that point was approx $1 CDN / mile. Ouch.

Took the underground to Liverpool Street station, and then a train from there to Stansted Airport. Flew to Montpellier over a conversation with a nice French girl, Florence. Got picked up by Trish & Trevor at the airport and went back to their cozy little home there in Pezanas.

This morning, I got up late (ahhhh...) and went with Trevor to Bezier where he needed to look into some travel tickets for his and Trish's return back to Vancouver. Saw a bit of the town there, and now I'm back in Pezanas, in a local Internet Cafe. French keyboards suck, as some of you may know.

Cheers.

So the weekend (in a flash) went like this:

Friday -- Cambridge during the day. What an awesome city. With Cambridge University buildings dating back 600+ years, it would be my second choice for post-secondary studies... after SFU. [ahem] That evening Krista took me and her friends June and John to Northampton to meet up with some other friends, Trigger and Nigel and go for a little outting in town (details excluded). We went to a pub, met more people, played a bit of foosball with Nigel, went to a club, then crashed at Nigel's place.

Saturday -- was a slower day. Krista and I came back to Islip, got showered up, changed, and headed back out to Northampton where Trigger, Michelle, Krista, and I did a bit of shopping for their (the three of them, plus a big group of people) costumes for The Rocky Horror Picture Show, which sounds like a really good time. Came back to Krista's, where Trigger crashed for the night.

Sunday -- I went for a walk around Thrapston/Islip in the public pathways, took some pictures, and returned "home". Then Krista and I went back to Northampton and met with Trigger (again!) and Brent for some biking. It was this evening that I realized how sad I am as a cyclist. This won't do. I'm going to have to do something about that... hmmmm... maybe in a couple years. Then we went back to Trigger's (which is really Nigel's) where he cooked dinner. Krista and I stayed over on a whim and came back this morning.

Monday -- I drove plenty today. First went out to Warwick to see the Warwick Castle (went there first because I missed the exit for Kenilworth Castle, but I figured I could drive back later). Spent a couple of hours there, then went to Stratford-upon-Avon (home of William Shakespeare) and walked around there. Then a little further down to Stow-on-the-Wold, where I spent all of 15 minutes or so walking around. It was getting dark, so I quickly left and headed back to Kenilworth to see their Castle. By the time I got there, it was dark... and closed. So I took some long exposure pictures, and managed to make out the general feel of the ruins. Then, all hell broke loose on the drive home. I kept taking wrong turns and backtracking. I got onto a major motorway ... but in the wrong direction, and the next offramp ended up being some 10 miles down the road... But alas, I'm back home, safe and sound.

I am heading to France tomorrow afternoon, so no update from me for a short while. I'll be going down to Windsor in the morning to see the Windsor Castle, then over to Richmond (which I believe has a castle as well), and finally to return my car and tube over to Stansted Airport. I'll be in France around 9pm (local time).

Cheers.

All is well. No time for an update on my busy weekend. Talk to you soon.

Okay! Another update here...

On Tuesday, I went down to Leicester Square to pick up a third Lion King Musical ticket to go with the two tickets that Andrew and I had bought on Monday evening. While there, I ran into Wes and Erin, who are Kevin C's friends and whom I had met on the first night of my stay in London. Together, the three of us went to Tate Modern Gallery, spending approximately 2 hours there. The Tate Modern has some really neat paintings and structures, and then some other stuff that was a little too interpretive in my opinion... So I didn't get as much out of that as Erin did, who's an artist. We parted ways thereafter, and I went back to Covent Garden for a cornish pasty, an English food with beef and potatos wrapped in a pastry. I headed back to The Generator to change, and then walked over to The British Museum, which is as impressive as a building as the contents inside. I walked through the corridors quickly (3 hrs) taking a lot of pictures, reading very little, and wincing from my hurting feet. I left the museum just as the sun was dropping behind the horizon, around 5:30pm. I met Andrew and his Aussie friend Annabelle again at Leicester Square and we had a quick Chinese dinner before going to the Lycium Theatre for the The Lion King showing. While The Lion King followed the original Disney movie a littl too closely in my opinion, it boasted a great set of costumes and has some fabulous scene transitions. Overall, it was an entertaining show.

Wednesday would be my last day in London. I packed up my bags, had breakfast, talked to Harsh (a fellow from India studying in London and bunking in my dorm) for a bit, then checked out, locking my luggage in the luggage storage at the Generator. My first stop of the day was The Tower of London. And it is in places like that, which started to be built in the 11th century, that show the history of England, and its long tradition of Monarchy. I spent a good 3 hours there, starting with a 1 hour guided tour given by a Beefeater (Royal Guard of the Tower), then venturing off on my own of a little while. For lunch, I had traditional Fish & Chips at the Sherlock Holmes' Pub/Restaurant. The last big item on my list was to go back to the Westminister Abbey and see in the interior. I did just that, and thought it was fantastic. It's an incredible display of burials and memorials, most of them elequantly decorated with impressive sculptures. I found myself with a little bit of time before needing to get my luggage, so I stopped by The National Portait Gallery for some 20 minutes, walking very quickly through a few halls.

FINALLY, London is checked off my list. I picked up my luggage from The Generator and scooted over the tube for the last time. After some walking, I got to EasyCar, which was a shack in the middle of a parking lot, and got my car keys. The guy working was like, "The car's somewhere in the parking lot. Just go out there, press the button, and look for the blinking lights." Duh, Okay.

Driving on the left side of the road isn't very difficult at all. Getting out of London during rush hour is. After a couple wrong turns, I was on my way! I continue to approach the car from the wrong side and reach for my seat belt over my left shoulder. I've only made the mistake of turning onto the wrong side of the road once, and it was very momentary. So nothing too bad so far. I still don't know how to get the gas casket open, so I'll have to get some help the next time I need to fill up. I enjoy driving here however. When you can regularly drive 80 - 90 mi/hr (~140 km/hr), it's fun. At first, I wasn't sure how the roundabouts worked, but things are falling into place as I get more and more familiar with it. Got to Krista's only after 2.5 hrs of getting the car (granted the ride was estimated at 1.5 hrs, but traffic and wrong turns can take its toll). Krista has been a fantabulous and inviting host... and it's much appreciated.

Today, I had a later start on the day. I look my time with a shower, breakfast, and some TV before setting out around 10am. I went to Oundle (pronounced "Andle") which is a small town some 15 mins away, with some 17th - 18th century architecture, as well as some older 13th century buildings as well. After a few hours and lunch there, I drove a short ways North to the city of Stamford. Stamford has an even richer 1000+ year history that began with the Saxons and the Danes during the Norman Conquest. So by the 14th century, Stamford was one of the richest towns in England. Furthermore, Stamford was designated as the first Conservation Area in the country in 1967, so most of its heritage is preserved. I bought a little Town Trail pamphlet from the Tourist Information Centre and walked around the main area with its guidance and descriptions. The city a very ancient look and is truly breathtaking, as some of you will see in my photos (now 680+ of them).

Now I'm back at Krista's waiting for her to come back so that we can go for dinner.

By the way, I can read the comments you leave. Just had problems for that one day. Hmm... and I'm on free Internet (being at Krista's place), so feel free to email or post comments!

Okay! I'm here, and I'm safe. Just finished dinner with Krista, and discussed a few places for me to visit over the next days. I'll let you know how my last few days have been... and the next few as well. Ciao.

I'm ready to leave London. I am leaving my hostel (where I had already checked out this morning, but stored my luggage while I was enjoying my day) to go to the car rental place. Cross your fingers, as I hope to make this 1.5 hr drive within 2 hrs, and keep myself alive. Luckily, it's not raining anymore... but it's dark. And scary. :)

I also noticed that I can't read feedback here on this UK (Internet) Explorer... but please continue to leave feedback if there you have. I'll try to give an update when I arrive at Krista's place later tonight.

Cheers.

Still in London. Today was probably my most comprehensive day of tourism thus far. I took the "Original London Tour Bus" which has several routes with multiple stops at the larger locations where one can hop-off and hop-on. Today, I visit Trafalgar Square (again), saw the Westminister Abbey, White Hall, Parliament Building and Big Ben (again), St. Paul's Cathedral, Tower Bridge (again), Buckingham Palace, St. James Palace, and a few other places, I think. The repeated locations are because I went there at night with Andrew on the first evening of my arrival. I spent a good part of the day walking around with a French lady, who was in London for the day. We had some good conversations and exchanged contact info before she left for France again.

Yesterday, I had a short day. I got together with Andrew and we went to Convent Garden, had some Cornish Pasties, a few drinks, walked around a bit, and called it a night early (around 4pm) because we couldn't find anything else to do for the day -- and my right big toe was hurting from the day before. It's better today, but just slightly. I need a foot massage.

That's my last 2 days in a handful.

"This train is for Cockfosters." Well, I took it only until Russel Square.

I have arrived here in London and all is well so far. Everything is expensive by my standards, and the Internet browsing is £0.5 / 7 mins. Anyway, £1 is enough to get people updated.

I spent most of the day with Andrew and met up with Kevin C. for dinner with his friends. Managed to see quite a few spots, but in little detail. The night pictures are great! None to post, nowhere to post. I see more foreigners here in London than I do Brits... then again, maybe it's just me. Street signs suck, because they can be anywhere (on buildings, for example) other than on the corner of the streets. The Tube has been kind to me, and I'll be sure to take it more often. All in all, I'm enjoying my first day here... still much to see. I haven't really had any "day-light" time -- but I'll get that tomorrow, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday.

Also had to take a picture with The Horniman (one of many bars).

In an effort to offset the time change and avoid the effects of jet lag, I have resorted to staying up extra late -- that and the fact that I have the dryer running outside of my room to provide me with some more clean, dry underwear for my trip. I think I've managed to pack everything I'll need for a 3 month journey... fortunately, if I have forgotten anything, I'm only away for 18 days. I have a headache. Going to bed now.

An engineering professor at Simon Fraser University died yesterday morning of a heart attack while playing soccer. Through my undergrad and graduate studies, I have taken three courses with Jacques Vaisey, and he was always a professor who took the time to help out his students, although he did have some rigorous expectations of them. I will always remember Jacques as the closer talker who would go back and forth between tippy-toe and heel as he talked; curved his fingers like beaks with his arms close to his body like a bunny rabbit as he explained course material; and would pace across the front of the classroom bumping into chairs and projectors on each side, over and over. His antics will be missed, as well as his teaching.

The details...

A week and a half ago, I realized that I would need to take 10 vacation days before the end of the year, as they exceed my maximum carry-overable limit of 15 days. Due to personal reasons, my vacation would be restricted to November, so I fired off a few quick emails and settled on going to England and France. Only one and a half weeks later, I think I've managed a cost efficient 18-day trip that will force me into many new experiences, and I absolutely cannot wait. As my plane ticket states below, I'll arrive in London on November 8th (6 days from now), and my carefully plotted plan will unfold:

• Nov 8 - 12: In London seeing as much as I can possible see. I'll be staying at The Generator hostel in Russel Square. I'll be equipped with a 1-week Travel Card, enabling me full mobility over London's public transit offering... although with the dense web of Underground (Tube) stations, I can't imagine why I'd take the bus, other than for photo ops. I guess I'll find out soon enough. There will be likely meet ups with Andrew and Kevin during my stay.
  
• Nov 13 - 18: On the 12th, I've got a car rental (hire) reservation, and I'll attempt to find my way safely to the town of Islip, next to Thrapston, near Kettering and Peterborough (approx 1 hr North of London) where Krista lives. About 3/5 of the car rental cost is in insurance, which amounts to some 70 GBP (fully insured, excluding personal injury) because I am under 26 years old. For the cost of insurance, I question whether it would be more worth my while to turn my driving experience into a regular smash-em-up derby.... hmm... maybe on my last day. Needless to say, driving on the "wrong" side of the road will be an awesome challenge, and I'm hoping to not find myself in any fender benders or caught in their Round-abouts like Chevy Chase did in National Lampoon's European Vacation. From Krista's place, I plan to make day trips while she works and trips with her on the weekend, with Bath, Oxford, Derbyshire Dales, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Cambridge on my list of possible destinations. On the 18th, I'll drive back to London, possibly visiting Windsor first, and return the car.
  
• Nov 18 - 24: I have a flight from London Stansted to Montpellier, France at a few minutes after 6pm. I'll arrive in Montpellier at 9pm local time where Trish and Trevor will pick up me and take me to their place in Panzanas. Over the next 5 days, we'll have a car rental for day trips to Montpellier and Marseilles.
  
• Nov 24 - 25: Shortly after my flight back to Stansted nearing midnight on the 24th, I will hop onto my last flight out of London Heathrow.
  

With powerbars in my right holster and bottled water in my left, I've got just about everything ready, booked, and awaiting my arrival.

For the savvy traveller out there reading this:

• What other kind of light travel food should I bring in case I get hungry on day?


• What are the recommended must-sees in London or around the London area? Any of them require substantial admission I should be aware of?
  
• Cheap places to eat? Chains of restaurants? Authentic English foods? Others?
  
• Places I should avoid due to cost or any other reason?
  
• While Canadians are beloved all around the globe, do the British like us still even though we didn't participate in the war? Would it be wise or dangerous to tote a Canadian flag (pin)?
  
• Any other recommendations?
  

After two years of spending tireless effort on Halloween costumes and acts, I've taken a break. Maybe I'll pick it up again next year.