Stillwood Idol - Tony Wonder

This performance will leave you paralyzed in wonderment...

My Last Day In London - Day Thirteen

I stayed up the night before planning what I would do in London to maximize my stay. But of course, I was worried the jet lag would keep me up again. But guess what???!? With one day left in the trip I finally overcame the jet lag and had an incredible sleep!!! Unbelievable...

I had thought about taking a sightseeing tour on one of those double-decker buses, but I changed my mind and decided to just check out a few things. My first priority was the British Museum. I ended up staying there for about 3 hours.














The Rosetta Stone


















The infamous "Blue Hippo"


















Just playing some ultimate frisbee

After the British Museum I had lunch and then wandered around a bit looking for souvenirs and that football jersey for my brother, Mike. I finally found the jersey in one store but they only had two sizes. One was too big and the other was too small. Not to mention it cost 60 pounds (roughly 140 Canadian dollars). Sorry Mike. Instead I found him some shot glasses. I had a hard time deciding whether to buy him the one with Prince Harry and William on it or the one with Princess Diana. I opted for Princess Di and much to my surprise he loved it!!! Haha.

I decided to check out St. Paul's Cathedral. It was designed by the famous architect Christopher Wren. I loved it inside, it was so beautiful. I wasn't allowed to take pictures. Here is what it would look like if I were to secretly take pictures without the people around me knowing:








When I was in high school, my brother Kevin took me to see a play by Agatha Christie called "The Mousetrap". I remember him telling me it was the longest running show in British Theatre. I knew it must be playing still in London, so I searched it out and got tickets. It was quite fun, but I could sorta remember the ending so I wasn't surprised. Actually, the ending seemed a little anti-climactic. I would say Agatha Christie's play "And Then There Were None" is much better.

One interesting bit of trivia for you: One of the characters in the play is named after Christopher Wren. Funny that I should see the Cathedral he designed and the play with his name in it all on the same day. What you might not know is this...when I originally saw the play with my brother I liked the name Wren so much that I decided I would name one of my future kids that. Except I decided to call him Reynold and then spell it Reyn for short. I will often use this name in video games and it is one of my email addresses. It came close to being my camp name also, but secretly I like to think of myself as Reynold Cooper.

All in all I had a wonderful day in London. It was a little lonely without Robyn there for those last few days, but I still had a good experience. I headed back to the Watts' and fell asleep thinking about all the wild and wacky adventures I had been through. What an awesome trip I had...I cannot wait to go back!

I Walked a Lot - Day Twelve

I regret going to Manchester. I didn't really know what to do there so I ended up walking everywhere. I walked a lot. I tried to find a football jersey for my brother and I went into so many sports stores, but I couldn't find one for the team he wanted. The highlight of the day was watching "Night at the Museum" at the IMAX there....yippee! That evening I caught the train back to London to stay with the Watts' again. That's all I did, I can hardly contain my excitement thinking about it. This post doesn't even deserve a picture to go with it.

Edinburgh Castle - Day Eleven

I had hoped to wake up early and catch as much of Edinburgh as I could in such a short time. Unfortunately I woke up at noon to the sound of the maid knocking at my door. I had totally slept in!!! I was supposed to check out at 11am. I quickly threw all my stuff in my bag and left. I didn't even have time for a shower! Awful...

So now I only had a few hours before my train left and the one thing I really wanted to do was see Edinburgh Castle. After I got inside I realized I was going to be sweating a lot from hauling my backpack around so I changed into shorts. I got a lot of funny looks because it was winter there and quite cold.


The main entrance


Inside the Castle


Edinburgh from atop the castle wall


Mons Meg


Dog Cemetary


Scottish National War Memorial


Lots of swords in this room


A fireplace


Another fireplace

Edinburgh Castle was really fascinating. There were a lot of things to see and they have a number of different museums and exhibits inside. I was so out of it though, because of my sleep, that I would start to listen to my audio tour and realize minutes in that I hadn't been paying attention. This happened at most stations.


Me hanging out with royalty


Stairway to the old prison barracks


Recreated prison barracks

After the castle I walked around for a bit. These pictures are from the main road leading to the castle:






While walking around I remembered what Ingrid Watts had told me when I was in London. In Edinburgh you can apparently get a deep-fried Mars bar. I was curious to know what that was all about so I started asking people if they knew where I could get one. I was quickly pointed to a chippy shop. I went in and saw it on the menu! The lady said I could have a Mars bar or Snickers, so I went with Snickers. I have no idea what she did, because she went into the back to make it, but when she came out, there it was...


At first I wasn't sure what to expect, but I have to say, it was one of the most delicious things I have ever tasted! The chocolate bar is completely melted on the inside and it was total gooey goodness.

My time in Scotland had come to an end. Next time I go there I'll stay for much longer. I got on the train and headed for Manchester. In the rain I found the hostel I had scoped out online. It was a great place...really cheap and very nice facilities. Of course, I couldn't sleep much so I ended up watching tv and using the computer in the common room until 4am. Then I went back to my room with 10 other people in bunk beds and fell fast asleep.