Home - Round Three

I went home - for the third time for a few weeks in the summer before my trip to Spain. There is quite the dilemma during the summer - it's the perfect time to travel as you're off for 6 weeks, but during that time you don't get paid and still have to pay for rent so it can be really tight at the end of summer. I was lucky enough to be able to go home (again) as it actually worked out cheaper for me to live there for the summer instead of stay in London, plus it is always nice to be with my family and friends. This time, I wanted to surprise my Nana, so everyone was in on it we had this great plan on how we would surprise her. I hid around the corner at her house and went my parents went on FaceTime with her pretending I was in London. Then I snuck up behind her and it took her a minute to comprehend that I was actually standing in front of her. I think she was pleasantly surprised!

I got my Nana a wooden "shit stirrer" spoon when I went to see Mrs. Browns Boys live

My goal for the summer was to lounge in the pool, relax and catch up with some friends. One of my good friends was living in Calgary for a year and this was the first time I had seen her since before she left, my other friend has been in vet school in the Carribean so it was nice catching up with them. My other friend also asked me to be a bridesmaid and Holly went wedding dress shopping, so it was really nice to be home for all of that! 

No visit home is complete without a Wacky Wings trip for some reason

I flew back to London with Air Transat into Gatwick as it's usually the cheapest option. I even ended up getting an upgrade on my flight which was a nice surprise as I changed seats so someone could sit with their family. I got in around noon on the Monday of the 17th, and was flying to Madrid the next morning at 10:30 from the same airport. Since Gatwick is quite the hike from where I live, it was easier to rent a hotel room at the airport and ship my luggage to my house. I stayed right in the South Terminal in Gatwick and had my own little pod room. The standard cabin was made for one person, and you literally could not fit another person in there with your luggage as the room is 75 square feet. But it was the perfect size for me and helped me rest to try and get rid of my jet lag before my adventure in Spain!

The North West

At the start of summer I made the journey up to North West England to visit Marcel working in Liverpool and then took a day trip to the Lake District, one of the most popular holiday destinations famous for its scenery. Liverpool is where the Beatles started so it was pretty cool to see all the Beatlemania stuff, even though I am not a huge Beatles fan. I spent my first day exploring the downtown area and found Matthew Street which has the famous Cavern Club where the Beatles often played. 

I took a day trip to the Lake District, though I am pretty certain it was for Senior citizens, as I was by far the youngest by at least 40 years. I can't remember the bus company I went with, but it was pretty good for the price! We went on a cruise along Lake Windermere and I didn't dress for the weather but luckily the bus driver let me borrow is sweater or else I would've froze! Next we had a few hours in Ambleside, an adorable little town full of different hiking and outdoor sport shops. It was interesting to travel somewhere on your own, it made me appreciate travelling with friends because its much more enjoyable to share the experience.

boat cruise Lake Windermere

Ambleside

Even the rest stops in the Lake District are beautiful!

Lake Windermere

Ambleside

I had a full day in Liverpool, and explored Albert Dock and wasted some time exploring "The Beatles Story" a museum that tells the story of how John, George, Ringo and Paul formed the city's most famous band.

In the museum they had recreated what The Cavern Club would've looked like back when the Beatles played, so of course later that night Marcel and I had to check out what the real Cavern Club looks like. They had a Beatles tribute band that was pretty good!

The fake/recreated "Cavern Club" back when the Beatles played

The real Cavern Club

Start of Summer, End of School

The last month of school flew by, thankfully! July started off by a trip to Brighton. I'd never been and since the weather was warming up and it was a gorgeous day we decided to spend the afternoon there.

We went on the Brighton wheel which had a great view of the beach

The last week of school I was lucky enough to get to go with 120 Year 6 children to Adventure Island in South-end. Taking the tube, the train and walking through South-end with that many children was quite stressful but it was such a fun day. The last few days of school were inset days (no children were there) it was just spend cleaning up and we all went for drinks after, and did some karaoke.

To celebrate getting through our first year of teaching, me and two of my housemates had a girls spa day and got out makeup and hair done then went out in Hackney.