I've been to Great Britain only once before and that was a weekend trip almost 20 years ago, so I really wanted to visit Blighty again before the possible end of visa-free travel in 2019. My wife was travelling for work as per normal and this time she was heading out to London, so I asked if I could tag along. She was planning to spend a weekend in Oxford meeting her old university friends, so she politely accepted my application as well. Dandy! I booked the flight in advance and left all the actual travel planning to the last night as usual. I would love to see the Lake District and tour around the distilleries of Scotland some day, but because I had only five full days, I decided scale down and just roam around Southern England instead.
Getting around London is nice and easy with the Tube .
Great Britain doesn't seem that great on the map, but getting around takes a surprising amount of time. I rented a car (...but got a Vauxhall/Opel instead; blimey!) thinking that it would be easy to zoom between towns. Little did I know: the traffic jams and accidents ended up driving me absolutely nuts! I spent much more time in my (unexpectedly reliable) Vauxhall Asthma than I ever had wished and in the end I felt just knackered. I partially blame the roadway planning for the problems. Britons love traffic circles, so they are everywhere. Traffic circles work great in certain situations, but they are also very efficient in completely blocking the traffic when placed poorly. I spent an hour bypassing a tiny town of less than 30 000 people because the town's internal traffic completely blocked the traffic circles of the bypass road. Absolutely brilliant! And I spent another two hours sitting on a motorway because local tailgaters had made close contact with each other. The police conveniently closed both lanes. Lesson learned is to use the toilet whenever available, and to keep a hot water bottle in the car for emergencies. Another gripe of mine was the parking: I wasted hours of my so called vacation just by hunting for available parking space, and parking cost me as much money as the car rental itself. Bollocks!
My first ever British pub tour in Britain, drinking British beer! This is Hobgoblin beer by Wychwood Brewery. I learned to like this good stuff in Japan, because Wychwood has three Hobgoblin pubs in Tokyo. Sorry Japan, but Hobgoblin tastes better on its home soil!
I wanted to include a little bit of nature, a little bit of history and culture, and a little bit of hustle and bustle of London in my trip. Since I really wanted to see the white chalk cliffs by the English Channel, I locked down South Downs National Park as my starting point. A friend of mine recommended Portsmouth Historic Dockyard, so I added it to my itinerary as the next stop. On the way I also visited a seaside resort named Brighton. After Portsmouth I drove to Oxford where I spent a weekend with my wife and her friends. We made a day trip as a group to an ancient Roman spa-city called Bath (what a clever name) – a lovely place and well worth the visit. Before driving back to London we took a little detour to see some famous rocks at the legendary Stonehenge. If I exclude the traffic, it was a really nice trip, I enjoyed England a lot, and I got to meet old friends. It was fascinating to travel around a country where people actually speak the English that I learned in school, although my inferiority complex was triggered again immediately upon arrival (I speak so-called "Rally English" myself). All the destinations I visited were very interesting, conclusively proving that ad hoc planning is the key to all successful travel.
Based on my very small sample size I would say that the Britons really are a bit more polite and friendly than for example the b̶r̶u̶s̶q̶u̶e̶ direct Germans. Perhaps it is my Japanese influence but I really appreciated it. Talking about influence, I was running into Germans everywhere where I went. It seems I have spent so much time in Germany that I have started to think – or at least to plan – like them. Scheiße! I was surprised that hikers didn't greet each other, though; that is the norm in German speaking Europe. In general I was well prepared to survive in British culture, decades of watching BBC's comedies has taught me a lot (Finns love British TV because of similar appreciation for deadpan humour). I've been thoroughly educated by the likes of Jeeves and Wooster and Keeping Up Appearances. One thing that did stand out was the amount of homeless people: I didn't know that so many Brits are living on the streets. Sad. Usually the beggars you see in EU are Eastern European "tourists". However, most of the people I saw down on their luck appeared to be of local origin. Another thing that stood out was the amount of anti-Brexit protests in each town I visited. I appreciate the perseverance – "we shall never surrender", like Churchill said. Still, if there's ever been a lost cause, that is it.
Anyway, here are a few photos I took along the trip.
Early morning in South Downs National Park. Unfortunately the weather wasn't that great for most of the time.
Hiking along the chalk cliffs by the English Channel. This is Beachy Head.
Seven Sisters in the distance.
The first night I stayed in an old little town (and consequently, a parking hell) called Lewes.
Waiting for sunrise at Seven Sisters. In English this is called "civil twilight".
Sun ahoy! To my (and the sheep's) delight It was a beautiful sunrise.
My next stop was a town called Brighton, a seaside resort on the south coast of England. This is the famous Brighton Palace Pier.
Amusement park? But all the fun stuff is obviously forbidden!
So many anti-Brexit protests in the various places I visited. Talking about bollocks, it turns out that Brighton is the gay capital of Britain.
Bumper cars on Brighton Palace Pier. My wife's favourite question: "why do we westerners love ninjas so much? "
This is the National Museum of the Royal Navy in Portsmouth! An old friend of mine and his son kindly offered to join me for the visit, so it was a lot of fun. He knows a lot about the history of Royal Navy, so it was very interesting. This ship is HMS Warrior.
HMS Victory, Lord Nelson's flagship in the Battle of Trafalgar. She is the oldest naval ship still in commission in the whole world. This beauty is an absolute must see!
Vice Admiral Nelson was wounded in the battle and he succumbed to his injuries on this very spot.
HMS Queen Elizabeth in Portsmouth harbour. She is the largest warship ever built for the Royal Navy and she is designed solely for "short takeoff and vertical landing" aircraft, i.e. the notorious F-35B. Since the planes are still not really available, HMS Queen Elizabeth is a carrier without aircraft. F-35 is likely the next choice of Finnish Air Force as well.
While in a harbour, I decided to try out the national dish of England: Fish n' Chips! I would rank it in the same category with the German superfood, Currywurst.
Britain loves buskers, they are everywhere! This is Stall Street of Bath.
Roman Baths of Bath.
If someone wrongs you, the modern way of settling the score is to complain in social media. Since the ancient Romans didn't bother with the internet, they resolved their grievances by writing angry letters to the gods. In this case someone stole a slave woman called Vilbia, so the wrath of gods was required.
The museum of the Roman Baths of Bath was definitely worth the money.
Pulteney Bridge, the "Ponte Vecchio" of Bath.
Biggest fan, rolling on rocks.
This is how I feel about our lovely neighbors back home in Switzerland.
All Souls College, Oxford University. The colleges of Oxford have a somewhat different architectural style than the delightful concrete cuboids I had the pleasure to study in.
Radcliffe Camera is a university library in Oxford. Turns out that camera means "room" in Latin. Again slightly different architectural style than the "missile silo" of my lovely old uni.
Rover 100. Even the cars of Oxford ooze certain timeless charm.
While in England, I wanted to see Stonenhenge. The weather wasn't pretty but at least it didn't rain.
When we arrived to Stonenhenge, the weather was gloomy and cloudy. I waited and waited (and made the others wait as well) in the cold wind praying for a little opening in the clouds. Stonehenge was lit literally just for 10 seconds, but it was worth the wait: I got my shot!
Late afternoon in Wiltshire.
Next stop London! Hello Halloween.
This reminded me of an old awful song. I hope this earworm will ruin your day too!
Buckingham Palace.
Palace of Westminster, where the best and the brightest of Britain gather.
London loves statues. This is Eros, at Piccadilly Circus.
St James's Park, Buckingham Palace is basking in the sunset.
Statue of a Nobel-winning writer. I'm not the only one with a bad posture!
London Eye – to some, it is the eyesore of the city.
In a doomed effort to educate the uncultured, I decided to visit the famous British Museum.
Aztec serpent mask of Tlaloc. British Museum has items representing history, art and culture literally from every corner of the world. Of all the godforsaken places, even Finland!
Rosetta Stone. It is one of the most popular items on display, so it was impossible to get a proper photo.
Palace of Westminster and Big Ben wrapped up for renovation.
Mother Nature painted River Thames and City of London in candy colours on the last night. Thanks mom, time to go home!