as written, ‘finally’! i’ve been really interested in going to this city since months ago and yet there have been so many obstacles that put me back from visiting this city. but i finally made it last Saturday, only for a daytrip. why was i that interested in this city? i don’t know either. obviously i’m not a fan of Shakespeare thingy (which this city is famous of), maybe just because it’s famous for it’s traditional atmosphere (and i’m a sucker to that kind of thing). it’s only an hour by train from Birmingham. and the ticket fare is really student friendly (about £5 return with young personal railcard). great deal, isn’t it?

i was going with a friend of mine, Emy. as we’re not that into Shakespeare or any literature stuffy, we decided not to push ourselves to buy the entrance ticket to Shakespeare houses and birthplace. a bit costly, to be frank. and we’re afraid that we would get lost if you know what i mean. so, walking around and exploring the city as a whole were taken as a good decision. indeed good! we found quite some unique things along the way.

Shakepeare’s birthplace

Traditional music performance

Book bargain deal. I shared with my friend for the 7 for 4 deal! that’s crazy! we paid £12 for those 7 books! that was just crazy. i grabbed some from Sophie Kinsella and Enid Blyton. haha.

A beautiful river, surrounded by park. very refreshing.

A town square just nearby the river still inside the park.

A lot of ice cream booths (i just pictured one) by the riverside. the ice cream tasted heavenly!

vintage style shops along the street of city centre. beauty!

a teddy bear house! you’ll find a lot of teddy bears inside, and some dolls as well. i didn’t buy teddy bear doll but a bought a set of russian dolls (5 pieces) or better known as matrioshka! i’m happy.

so, that’s the wrap up of our tour or my finally-accomplished trip. haha. i love Stratford upon avon to bits!

i spent my saturday in York. and it did rain! (as forecasted) the weather was really get my nerves. i didn’t expect spring would be that cold. ok, never trust weather in the UK. as a friend of mine told me, “don’t expect too much from the weather here”. i wonder when i can stop complaining about the weather. maybe it will never happen. well, no matter what, i love York. i’ve really wanted to go there since long long ago but i just managed to travel yesterday. York is fabulous, very historical, classic, astonishingly beautiful! it has a lot of vintage shops, buildings, delicious delicatessen and traditional tea rooms. and i’m fond of all! and the scenery was WOW! well, no wonder that York is on the top of England tourist destinations.

so the journey was as follow: i arrived in York at 12-ish. it’s a lunch time then we decided to get something from Betty’s cafe tea rooms. i love it to bits! and i think it deserves an exclusive post which i’ll do later. then we headed to the museum garden. beautiful garden and ruins of ancient masterpiece building. the museum (Yorkshire museum) was currently under construction until june. well not that bad. because we could still enjoy the garden atmosphere and took loads of pictures with the ruins. love! next destination is the York Minster cathedral. it is beautiful! there was a wedding ceremony when we came. what an experience! as we walked through the street, we reached the shambles streets where vintage shops are lied. this is a famous area. and again, lots of tea rooms along the way. tea is very British mind you. i bought a little fluffy rabbit doll from Peter Rabbit store. so happy like a kid, haha..ok, pardon me. next, it is the Cliffords tower in the castle area. i think (i hope i’m not wrong) it’s sort of fortification tower in the old days (during war period), to watch for the enemies. dig for more information from the reliable source here. i’m never good at history telling. haha. and before we wrap up the whole trip, we took a York boat trip. then go back to Birmingham!

i.love.york!

had a roadtrip with some friends on tuesday and we drove to castle combe (part of cotswolds). people call it the traditional British village. and some movies have taken place here (e.g. pride and prejudice). i love the breathtaking scenery. felt like i was brought back to the old era. for those who needs to escape from city life, such a place can be a perfect getaway. too bad we did not have the opportunities to stay in the cottage or bed and breakfast hotel for more days as we are all horrified by deadlines. it would be lovely to spend one or more nights there. but there’s always next time. not to worry. hehe..

i want the polaroid film to stop being veryyyyy expensive!

i am addicted to polaroid pictures as well as to holiday.

just to summarise about holland. those things in the pictures are what i think holland are famous of. well, there’s one missing: cheese. considering the fact that i despise cheese to death (haha) i didn’t visit any places related to cheese making. just couldn’t stand the smell. so i have no picture of cheese. and a couple of things i’d like to add, hmm, i found out that KFC in holland has the crispy fried chicken!!! (just like in Indonesia) i was so thrilled that i ate a lot of pieces of their fried chicken. haha. ah, so mouth-watering. i rarely ate KFC here in England because i don’t like the original one. i want crispyyyy! and i also found out that Dutch people are very very nice and friendly. they like to greet each other even if they’ve never met or known before. haha.

and my aunt’s family is very warm. they treated me very well and i felt so welcome. aunt cooked home-dishes (hot and spicy Indonesian food) during my stay i was so spoiled. and i love the kids, especially the little one, although we rarely communicated in a proper way. he speaks dutch, a little english and no Indonesian. while i don’t speak Dutch at all, but speak Indonesian and English. now you notice the odds. haha. but we were bestfriends. his name is michael and he likes chicken (kip in Dutch) haha. he wants to have little chicken as his pet. haha. strange obsession. he’s also obsessed with komodo. he asked me once “do you like komodo chicken?” haha. kids.

ok, now i have to go back to work. a very hard one because i have massive deadlines for next month. and exams! and just to motivate me to do my best, i plan a travel destination for next holiday although i’m not sure yet when and where. for the time i have to options, after exams (june) but for only a week because i’m pretty sure my thesis will miss me a huge, or after i finish my thesis (september. amen! please pray for me guys. hehe.) and for the places hmm, ireland? eastern europe? scotland? or other places. i basically can’t choose now where to go because i want to go everywhere. just see where my heart goes to later.

ok, enough rambling. work hard! xxxx