After our week living on/navigating a narrow boat, it was a bit tough returning to the pace of “regular” life. We anticipated this, so gave ourselves two days to decompress in a town called Stafford. There wasn’t a lot for us here, but it was a good train station stop for when we were ready to go back to tackle London, and gave us an opportunity for some space to get a bit clearer on what next.
Stafford
We wandered the streets, which like other English towns, have impressive old buildings and something “ancient looking” around many corners.
We also visited the Stafford Castle and had one of the only rainy days we experienced while in England!
We also got around to trying some Staffordshire oatcakes from a different shop and discovered that our previous initial oatcake shop DID in fact have THE best oatcakes around (well . . . based on our exhaustive albeit limited sample of two! 😆)
London
In London, we went about doing “city things” like going to museums, seeing a show, going to markets, wandering neighborhoods and intentionally and spontaneously finding some quieter gems.
The British Museum
B-Rod was interested in checking this out, and though I’m sure interesting and architecturally impressive it was a MAD HOUSE of people. We went in and agreed to go our separate ways and individually take as much or as little time as we’d like. B lasted a bit longer than me . . . barely! I stood in a bathroom line, felt overwhelmed by people, decided I would go see one thing, saw a replica of the Rosetta stone (seeing the actual thing required going to another floor which I determined I couldn’t do at that moment) and was out of there!
The Postal Museum
This one was my pick. I think my love of postcards has made me a bit fascinated with mail delivery in different places. We’ve been to a couple of postal museums in other countries, and they’ve been awesome! This one was no different. It was interactive and included a ride on the “Mail Rail” – London Post Office’s railway which transported mail through underground channels from 1927-2003.
This one was so interesting after spending the last week on the canals and made us want to go back to Lucy and working some locks soooo bad!
The Book of Mormon
The show we ended up at was fun and different than what we usually do, but the West End area was not our jam! We went to the show and got out as fast as we could!
Someone asked me recently how I come up with some of the things I/we do while away. Well . . . here’s my “secret.” I usually google “interesting/unique/weird/different things to do in ________” and see what appeals to me. That, along with some plain ol’ walking around and seeing what we come accross, is how we ended up doing the following . . . .
Novelty Automation
This place was AWESOME! It’s a bunch of wacky homemade arcade games? special machines? interactive art installations? Whatever they’re classified as, it was a unique and fun experience.
Comedy in Your Eye
For $5 CAN, we sat in a small room and watched comedians practicing and testing out their (sometimes brand new) material. It was funny, impressive to see how brave people are and small enough that . . . . yes . . . . one of us (not me 😜) did get called on and interacted with!
Mercato Mayfair
If I didn’t know what I was looking for, from the outside I’d have no idea what was inside and would have totally missed this gem.
I’d possibly walk in surprised to find myself in a church. Only to discover that it had been deconsecrated in 1974 and is now an extremely beautiful food court with delicious eats!
Other Wanders Around Town
Brighton
Seven years ago when we had tried to get to London originally, it was because of the TV show Sherlock. Six years ago when we tried to get to the UK, we wanted to go to Brighton because of Nick Cave’s movie 20,000 Days on Earth. Well, we’ve finally made it to both!
It was great to be by the sea, but Brighton turned out to be a city neither of us was very fond of. Getting outside of Brighton though . . . . that was a whole other story (in a good, we loved it, kind of way!)
One day while I was super excited to meet up with and do jumpshots with a friend,
B-Rod decided to see if he could be as hardy as the Brits and go for a swim.
After wandering around Brighton for awhile, we decided we had to get out! Especially as the weekend approached, more people arrived, and it become MORE of a loud, boisterous party scene, we decided to hop the bus and wander outside of the city.
Seven Sisters Country Park
B-Rod had suggested checking out the Cliffs of Dover, but we discovered that there was an area with chalk cliffs even closer. We decided to check it out.
It was ✨MAGICAL✨!! Crowds that could spread out enough to not feel overcrowded, walking along the bottom by the water and only coming across a few other people, communing with the land, sea and rocks . . . . made a pretty perfect day!
We started to make our way back, but randomly stopped at a town called Seaford on the way to have something to eat. Turns out there were more cliffs here, and a walk that looks out to see the Seven Sisters.
We LOVED Seaford, met some nice people there and thought it was a very cool little town. We decided then and there if we’re ever back in the area, we’ll skip Brighton and go straight to stay in Seaford instead.
Turns out, we’re not alone as we discovered later that Seaford has regularly been named one of the most beautiful places in the country!
As this latest journey comes to an end, I’ve been reflecting on how somewhat surprised I am with how much I have LOVED England! I didn’t think I’d dislike it, but I think I subconsciously expected it to be a “one and done” kind of place – interesting, but there are other places to explore.
I leave KNOWING that I will be back. Yes, it’s largely because of the narrowboats and wanting to experience that for a longer period of time and to explore more of the UK. But it’s also because of the amazing and friendly people we met along the way, the peace and beauty of the countryside, the interesting history and being able to be among the new while also walking amongst the old. I have such a strong draw to SE Asia and the land of my ancestors on that side that I sometimes forget that I have a whole other set of elders that walked the lands of Great Britain. How would it feel to explore that part of my story more?
Also, B-Rod and I have been laughing about how we’ve come here to find the truth . . . . . . . the weather in England is AMAZING!!!! It rains a lot?! Our almost 3 weeks of usually cloudless skies, constant sun, tans, burns and feeling happily hot says otherwise 😂🤣
Thank you England! 🙏🏽🇬🇧 See you and the canals again soon!