Wednesday, September 05, 2007
:: Birds ::
We saw some rare species of birds next. They were tethered to wooden poles, and just perched there staring at the tourists. They had exquisite feathers; I thought they were very cute!
+ Anita updated @ 7:39 pm
Yeah, the animals I saw were at Palmer's Farm, which Shakespeare's mother lived at. And Anne Hathaway is not the actress, she was Shakespeare's wife. :)+ Anita updated @ 7:28 pm
We toured Stratford on foot for the entire day. First, we walked past Shakespeare’s birthplace. We were going to come back later for a full tour so we did not stop there for long. On the way, we passed an all-boys school (it was quite secluded and locked up) and also Hall’s Croft.
The first actual tour was at Anne Hathaway’s cottage. There were a few other tour groups (I think we were the youngest) and we waved to them on the way. Opposite the cottage was a fenced field with sheep in it. They were quite difficult to see because trees blocked our view of the field.
Yeah, that's a painting, that was on the path out, of the cottage. :D
We saw really fat hens, sheep, one cute little lamb, geese and rare species of birds.
+ Anita updated @ 7:22 pm
We drove to Stratford after the short tour of London. We had some free time before lunch, so the five of us wandered around the park. There were so many swans, ducks and fat (really fat) pigeons all freely waddling around the park.
First, we walked round the park, taking pictures of ducks, swans and cygnets (baby swans). We saw some people feeding the birds, so we too bought some swan food; two packets, and each of us paid 20 pence. Although the label said ‘swan’ food, the ducks and pigeons were more than happy to help the swans eat the food. The two packets were used up fast.
While feeding the swans from the bridge, we saw the four boys from our UK group rowing a boat, so we rented a rowboat as well. The 5 of us paid 3 pounds each to ride on it for an hour. Unfortunately, we only had half an hour since we had to be back at a certain time.
Grace and Nicole sat at the back and took pictures, Rachelle and I managed an oar each, sitting in the middle while Lavinia handled two oars at the back. While rowing the boat (without ANY prior experience), we hit the bank twice and one of the pillars of the bridge; we had to push off with our hands. There were also designated ways to go under the bridge (indicated by arrows), but we couldn’t manoeuvre the boat through the correct way. Luckily, no one saw us…Or so we thought. People were watching us from the bridge; laughing to themselves or trying to tell us what to do. I guessed we looked quite comical.
It was difficult steering the boat in the right direction because we had to coordinate the movements of the three of us who were managing the four oars. We rowed back to the dock when the time was nearing, and we saw the boys’ boat in the distance. We docked first, and started to dash back to the meeting place. We had only 5 minutes left. The boys had some trouble rowing back and almost hit a boat at the dock, and one of them had to do it single-handedly (he probably had experience as he did it quite easily). An old man stopped Nicole on the way back, so I waited for her. He seemed to have talked about swans and boats. (?) We got back just in time.
We went to a restaurant called ‘Beefeater’. Since many people could not eat beef, we had chicken and fries for lunch. I ate some chicken, but it was a bit tasteless and tough, so I ate it with lots of salad leaves. I quite enjoyed eating the salad leaves, which I never ate back in Singapore. Nicole and I sat with the two teachers because there wasn’t enough space at the other table with Rachelle, Grace and Lavinia.
It was a pretty long drive, but we reached the Travelodge at about 9+ at night. We unloaded the luggage and walked inside the Travelodge. It was not very big, and the Travelodge itself was quite secluded.
Ms Koh was so kind; instead of Nicole, Rachelle, Lavinia, Grace and me in one 4-person room, we were given two rooms. So Nicole, Rachelle and I shared one room (108, I remember) while Grace and Lavinia shared the other.
The room had a TV (the only place we stayed in that had one), but it was spoilt…So we couldn’t watch it. The view at the window was of the main road, so we could hear cars driving; and pretty purple flowers at the grass right outside the window. It was already after 9pm, but the sky was still as bright as noon. Only at about after 10pm did the sky grow dark. As for the sleeping arrangements, Rachelle slept on the pull-out bed from the sofa, while Nicole and I shared the double bed.
Part 2 of my first day. There were no pics for this part because I was too lazy to take any. ^^"
+ Anita updated @ 7:18 pm
We touched down ahead of schedule, so the bus driver took us to a small rest stop to relax for an hour; and to kill time. It was super cold! It wasn’t so much the temperature, but the chilly winds. We left at 7.30 and at 8+, a tour guide arrived.
We visited the Buckingham Palace and watched the Guard Change. The guards change shifts.
Points to note about Buckingham Palace:
- During the Guard Change, the guards aren’t the ones with bearskin hats, but the ones in blue, who are members of the British Army. These guards come only a few weeks a year, as they have other military things to do.
- The Queen stays on the first floor, while the King stays on the floor above her.
- When the Queen is present in the palace, the standard flag will be flown. If she isn’t in, the Union Flag will be flown instead.
- On her birthday (which was during our trip but we did not attend the parade because we were in other parts of U.K.), she goes to the top of the palace and waves to the people below.
- The staff has its own private quarters.
Points to note about Buckingham Palace:
- During the Guard Change, the guards aren’t the ones with bearskin hats, but the ones in blue, who are members of the British Army. These guards come only a few weeks a year, as they have other military things to do.
- The Queen stays on the first floor, while the King stays on the floor above her.
- When the Queen is present in the palace, the standard flag will be flown. If she isn’t in, the Union Flag will be flown instead.
- On her birthday (which was during our trip but we did not attend the parade because we were in other parts of U.K.), she goes to the top of the palace and waves to the people below.
- The staff has its own private quarters.
We also passed many more places; City Hall, Tower Bridge, the Tower of London, Big Ben and the famous Trafalgar Square.
About the places we passed:
- Big Ben is really big. It also has a miniature counterpart called Little Ben, which is very small compared to the actual thing.
- Trafalgar Square is where big events are held. It has a fountain in the middle of it and numerous statues around; one of them being a lion.
- There is a place called Piccadilly Circus. No, it’s not really a circus, but a place where many roads meet.
- We saw the famous London Bridge. We also saw Waterloo Bridge, which isn’t as big.
- There was a fire called the Fire of London some time ago. The fire lasted for 5 days. The fire sustained so long because firstly, the houses’ roofs were made of thatch, which was a material that caught fire very easily. Secondly, the winds were strong and this caused the fire to spread rapidly. The fire started in a bakery, where a careless worker left the stove fire burning.
- We passed the Royal College of Music, the railway station, the Blackfriars Bridge, County Hall and St. Albert’s Memorial. St Albert was Queen Victoria’s first cousin, but she was scheduled to marry him. Sadly, he passed away. Queen Victoria was so affected by his death that she built a memorial for him and wore black clothing for the rest of her days till she passed away.
- We also visited St Paul’s Cathedral. We did not get to go inside the actual building, but we went in the side of the building, where toilets and a small eatery are located. There was a gate to block us from going inside the actual cathedral. The toilets were very clean…but the food and water were ridiculously priced. But due to the immense thirst we had, a few of us bought water.
- Big Ben is really big. It also has a miniature counterpart called Little Ben, which is very small compared to the actual thing.
- Trafalgar Square is where big events are held. It has a fountain in the middle of it and numerous statues around; one of them being a lion.
- There is a place called Piccadilly Circus. No, it’s not really a circus, but a place where many roads meet.
- We saw the famous London Bridge. We also saw Waterloo Bridge, which isn’t as big.
- There was a fire called the Fire of London some time ago. The fire lasted for 5 days. The fire sustained so long because firstly, the houses’ roofs were made of thatch, which was a material that caught fire very easily. Secondly, the winds were strong and this caused the fire to spread rapidly. The fire started in a bakery, where a careless worker left the stove fire burning.
- We passed the Royal College of Music, the railway station, the Blackfriars Bridge, County Hall and St. Albert’s Memorial. St Albert was Queen Victoria’s first cousin, but she was scheduled to marry him. Sadly, he passed away. Queen Victoria was so affected by his death that she built a memorial for him and wore black clothing for the rest of her days till she passed away.
- We also visited St Paul’s Cathedral. We did not get to go inside the actual building, but we went in the side of the building, where toilets and a small eatery are located. There was a gate to block us from going inside the actual cathedral. The toilets were very clean…but the food and water were ridiculously priced. But due to the immense thirst we had, a few of us bought water.
That's the London part of my first day.
+ Anita updated @ 7:09 pm
Hey...updating for Claire's benefit. o.O
Umm, September holidays aren't really holidays at all. My father made my sister and I do work EVERYDAY. I went swimming on Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. I have to go this weekend to. Man, I have a LOT of catching up to do.^^"
I swam until my body's aching. My dad's a bit temperamental nowadays. He loses his temper so fast. o.O
He brought us to watch Ratatouille today. It was pretty good. =) The food made me hungry though. o.o I feel like watching Hairspray. The songs are pretty good - I heard them because they played the soundtrack before Ratatouille started.^^
I'm so tired...I still have things to do. But for tonight, we're seeing off a family friend because she's going to the UK. ^^
That reminds me, I never posted anything about the UK trip. Not much, anyway. I shall do so in my next few posts.
Au revoir!
+ Anita updated @ 7:03 pm