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.

Mrs Browns Boys

If you haven't heard of Mrs. Browns Boys then you are missing out. It is my Nana's favourite show and I have to agree that it is pretty hilarious. In short, it's an Irish sitcom starring Brendan Carrol who (in drag) plays the main character Agnes Brown and the rest of the cast is made up of his real life family and friends.

The show is very popular in the UK, and was touring around playing several live shows in London so Marcel and I got some last minute tickets as he was back working in London. We also took the Emirates Air Line cable car which goes across the River Thames to the O2.

I wasn't allowed to take any pictures during the show, but it was fantastic! It was a story from one of their Christmas specials, so Marcel said he knew the storyline, but they added in some improv to make it a little unique.

Abbey Road and £5 Matilda Tickets

I have probably said this a million times, but I love that there is an endless list of things to do in London. While it is very expensive to live in London, luckily there are some cheap options. Kirsten and I decided to get up super early on a Saturday and line up at 8:00 am to try and get £5.00 Matilda tickets as they hand them out to the first few people. We had to wait in line for a few hours, and maybe it seems a bit crazy, but it was worth it to get cheap tickets!

Something I had been meaning to do since being in London is visit Abbey Road to see the famous Abbey Road Studios and the scene of the Beatles album cover. While we had some time to kill before the matinee for Matilda started, we made a stop at Abbey Road. After having done it, I would not recommend anyone else try and get a picture on Abbey Road - it was just a frustrating experience.

What I was stupidly unaware of is that the road is quite busy, and it took a solid half hour for Kirsten and I to even get a picture of us without being run over by a car or having other tourists in it. I was ready to give up but we came all that way - we had to get a photo. You also weren't able to go into the recording studio as it is still used today, but there was a tiny Beatles memorabilia shop beside the tube station.

After Abbey Road, we got some lunch - something I had been craving since I was back in Canada - steak! I also tried an Aussie/Kiwi dessert - pavlova which was pretty tasty.

The set was incredible and I couldn't believe how young the children in the show were and how unbelievably talented they are. But Miss Trunchbull was the obvious stand out, absolutely hilarious! The only negative thing was that I had some trouble understanding them throughout parts of the show. You would think that after almost a year of living in England I would be able to fully understand someone with a British accent. Overall, a great day of indulging in some of the many great things London has to offer for someone on a tight budget.

Catching Up - Somewhat

Life has been busier than normal lately. My summer was full of travel, and I ended up moving (again!) I really did like my old place, but living with seven people can be a bit much, so I made the decision to move in with someone special :)

I have really been neglecting this blog, so will try my best to keep updating it regularly and try and catch up with what's been going on in my life. This post is just some pictures and descriptions on some minor things I did on weekends after coming back from Canada.


We went to the aquarium in London - I don't remember ever actually going to an aquarium. My favourite part was the jellyfish changing colours.

Katy, Lauren and I attended Gelato festival in Spitalfields Market. There was a deal where you could sample 5 cups of gelato and then you would vote on the winner, there were some unusual flavours. My favourite was actually the mango sherbet. I had to stop after my third bowl, I was stuffed!

I wouldn't say I'm overly patriotic, but living in the UK has made me really appreciate Canada and show my love for my country. For Canada I decided to make brownies for my housemates and decorate it as the Canadian flag. I thought it turned out pretty decent!

Marcel had been working in Liverpool for the past month, so I took the train there for the weekend. Then we drove up to Blackpool for Saturday night, which is a beach town known for their nightlife, it actually reminded me of Niagara Falls with all of the mini golf and arcade type of attractions.