You Say Walking...I Say Rambling

UK Heather went on an adventure this past weekend and completed a +10 mile journey on foot between the quaint villages of Amberley and Arundel along the South Downs Way in East Sussex. My friend Brian was visiting the UK for work and encouraged me to join him, his sister and brother in law who live in London for a “walk between pubs”. Brian assured me it would be more pubs than walking and that someone not as acclimated to the outdoors like myself could keep up; however I quickly discovered once we stepped off the train and started our journey that it was a proper hike. Luckily I was smart enough to leave my heels at home and even wore a backpack to submerge myself in the outdoors spirit. We had a really great time walking along, chatting and stopping for a few ales and ciders between the towns. We reached our final destination of Arundel on Saturday afternoon and still had smiles on our faces which of course meant we needed to celebrate our rambling success with a few more pints. On Sunday, we explored Arundel castle which has a recent claim to fame for being part of the movie sets for the film The Young Victoria. It is amazing how a dash of pop culture makes history a little bit more exciting. The castle is still occupied by the Duke and Duchess of Norfolk and I can say that wandering around the home of royalty is not a bad way to waste away a Sunday afternoon. My feet are still a little tired from the weekend adventure, but I now have a brand new appreciation for exploring the English countryside and am hoping to have the chance to take a few more walking trips. Now that I know I can do it, it also gives me a reason to invest in some outdoor fashion to fully expand my experiences. Brian’s sister Monica has proved to me that a rucksack and tearaway pants can be on trend and I am looking forward to a shopping spree at the North Face store. I would say I am still not ready for camping, but now that I have entered the world of the great outdoors I could probably rationalize starting to carry around a walking stick or storing a lantern in my giant handbags.

This week I finished a really great book which I would definitely recommend. It is call "One Day" by David Nicholls. It’s a simple story about a man and woman who meet at the end of university and follows their friendship and lives. Despite it’s simplicity, it is a page turner and one of those books where you feel like the author must have gotten inside your head since the characters are clearly just like you. I felt myself wanting to read it under my desk at work to find out what happened and am now suffering a mini depressive state that I am finished with the book. For me, a story is really great if you feel like you miss the characters when you reach the last page. I hope to write a story like that one day. For now, my story writing is on hold and I am on the train to Brussels for a work assignment and then a mini break to Bruges for the weekend. My coworker lent me a guide book titled “around Bruges in 80 beers”. If I come across a pair of tearaway pants on sale, I am totally buying them. You never know when the terrain between outdoor cafes can get rough ….

Do they have 4th of July in the UK? ... Yes it's After the 3rd and Before the 5th

Without the Philly Art Museum fireworks and my rooftop pool at the Hop House to celebrate the 4th of July holiday, I over packed a bag and set out for some English site seeing. I started my weekend in London by attending some events for the Big Dance 2010 festival and trying out a burlesque course. The class was fun and the teacher was an amazing performer, but I don’t think I’ll be investing in my own feather fans and boas any time soon. In keeping with the dance spirit, I was able to score a discounted ticket to Dirty Dancing the musical. It was definitely on the cheesy side of musical theatre, but I had "the time of my life" and would definitely see it again. I love when British actors put on an American accent when pretending to be at a vacation resort in the Catskills in 1963.

I also tried my luck at staying at an Easy Hotel. I’ll stop you right there and confirm that this is not rented hourly or imply anything about the social choices of it's guests. It is a part of the low budget airline chain EasyJet and offers “affordable accommodations” in some of the larger and pricier cities throughout Europe. As a single and someone booking a hotel for a Saturday night in London at the last minute, I was able to book a sleeping pod. It was essentially a closet fit with a double bed and a small en suite shower room. The décor was a giant orange wall with Easy Hotel stamped on it. I supposed this was in case you forgot where you were. The description was accurate and warned that this would not be for the claustrophobic. While ridiculously small it offered a comfy bed, clean sheets and towels and air conditioning! All in all a success and I don’t know why more people don’t position the toilet directly under the shower – built in seating and convenient for storing toiletries.

My Sunday travels brought me to Brighton beach. The weather was amazing and I parked my bum on a chair on the beach for hours and dedicated myself to a stressful combination of people watching and magazine reading. Brighton has the charm of Europe with a sprinkle of Atlantic City on top so it was a nice comfort for the day as I was feeling a bit home sick. I attempted an outdoor lunch but a seagull had different plans for me and stole it. A young man who witnessed the theft asked me how I felt about a swan stealing my lunch – I asked him how he felt about getting that far along in life thinking a seagull was a swan.

I did a swing by Jamie Oliver’s store to see if he wanted to grab a drink or make me lunch since mine was stolen, but no luck.

Since there were no sleeping pods to be found in Brighton, I booked at a bed and breakfast named Motel Schmotel. Of course the name caught my eye during my research, but it got amazing reviews and did not appear to be the type of stuffy B & B that I usually steer clear of after a few weird Vermont experiences. Motel Schmotel is run by some really awesome people and they served me the best breakfast I have had in the 6 months I have been in the UK and delivered it right to my room. The fab location was not only a block from the sea front but also a block from where Rufus Wainwright happened to be performing the final show of his European tour. I of course was obligated to go. No way to be that close to Rufus and not go say hi.
Overall my travels were great and I got to spend some quality time with myself and chill out a bit. Now if I could, I would like to break up with myself for a little bit. Too much alone time is driving me crazy. I’m looking forward to heading home next week so that I can annoy friends and family instead.

I experienced an exciting milestone this week. It has taken 6 months but the man at the coffee shop in the train station has finally remembered my order. We’re still working on my name, so for now as I approach we wave and smile and I answer to “yummy, yummy, delicious latte”. I don’t know – could be a new nickname for me. It has a nice ring to it. I’m not sure if that would fit on the Easy Hotel registration form though.

See you in a week!