To Bruges or not to Bruges

A few months ago I watched the film 'In Bruges.' The film stars Colin Farrell and it is a very weird advertisement for the city Bruges in Belgium. Anyway since watching the film I have wanted to visit Bruges and therefore when BUNAC where offering a trip to visit the Christmas markets in Bruges I decided to join the trip.

I woke up at 5.30pm on a very cold London morning and got to Great Portland Street and on the bus. As we were heading to Dover reports on the radio stated the ferry between Calais in Dover had stopped. Outside as we drove towards Dover the ground was covered in snow but the driver continued in case the ferry started running again. The channel tunnel was also closed and the trains had stopped running. Therefore we could not get to France which then meant we were not going to Bruges.

We instead went to Canterbury. It may be a nice city full of history but at 8.30am on a snowy, cold Saturday morning it wasn't offering a lot. I wandered the streets with a few others from the group. The cathedral in the centre of the city is the focal point of but I felt I had seen enough churches and cathedrals this year to pay to visit another one.

I was really excited to see snow all around as we toured south east England although it causes chaos to public transport as we discovered. We did though continue on to a small town called Rye which had some really old cobbled streets and one of the oldest pubs in England.

Jess returned from Germany a few days before Christmas and we had to decide where we where going to go over the Christmas and New Year. I did not wish to stay in London, especially after visiting Oxford Street on one of the busiest days of the year.

I will have to try and visit Bruges another time.

London and Oxford

Following my week traveling I spent a week in London with my girlfriend Jess. I met Jess in Grasmere and we decided to spend some time together after we each finished in Grasmere. As Jess had not spent a lot of time in London I got to be the tour guide and show her the sights. We visited Brick Lane, Abbey Road as well as Hyde Park among other sights. Hyde Park had been transferred into winter wonderland. A contrast from when I working there in the middle of summer. The pedal boats and deck chairs had been locked away and rides and Christmas stalls had been set up.

Jess then flew to Germany to visit a friend and I decided to get out of London. I spent a few days in Oxford, disappointingly though the students had all left for their Christmas break. I spent the week walking through the colleges I was allowed into and visiting the museums. I walked through the Ashmoleon museum, one of the oldest museums in the UK. Although the most interesting museum piece I thought was in a smaller museum which featured a chalkboard on which Albert Einstein had taught a class while teaching at the University. After spending a few days at the Uni I am pretty sure I couldn't study there. Not that I would ever have the opportunity.

After a few days in Oxford I headed back to London in time for another BUNAC trip this time to Bruges.