Day 5 – Tuesday, 2/3/2010
One of the things I like about B&B’s are that you get a nice full huge English breakfast, IF (that’s a big ‘if’ for a reason), you wake up in time. So…..you can see what’s coming…. neither of my alarms went off. The watch alarm is crap, but I knew that, so I also set my ipod alarm. Good news – it went off around 5 in the afternoon (no idea). I did have a great long sleep though, so am well rested as I anticipated we would be out late tonight. Instead I got everything together, headed up the hill to Betty’s tea shop. It’s this adorable tea shop where you have high tea, exactly as Americans think happens in England. It actually happens at Betty’s, along with an assortment of amazing sweets, scones, and pastries. I turned my misfortune into an opportunity to have Betty’s tea and scones.
Quick history lesson on Harrogate: it was discovered in the 1500’s that there was a sulfur spring there. This was believed to have healing powers. Initially it had hospitals and clinics, which was the original use of the Old Swan, then it was turned into a spa when they realized the lack of medicinal value. The well to do of London would come (and still do) to Harrogate to vacation and enjoy the Turkish baths which has been there since the 1800’s (using the same sufur spring). Betty’s caters to this type of elite clientele. I heard Harrogate is the wealthiest town outside of London….not sure how true this is though. Oh and also Charles Dickens stayed there and had a peculiar quote, something about the funny people that inhabit Harrogate.
Anyway I then wandered around all over the place, including to H&M and got this amazing dress that I don’t really need, nor have room for, but I have a plan. I also bought a ton of candy for my sister. She loved the British sweets way more than me, so I decided to send her a package of them. She asked for a postcard but I would do one better! (I was also planning on putting the dress and a package of Yorkshire tea leaves in there). Also I wanted to send home packets of ‘watsits’ (pronounced ‘what-zits’), but had to go searching all over to 5 different stores to find them. They’re like cheetos but the second you put them on your tongue they dissolve. Really yummy. Anyway, you will see how this plan dissolves later…
I walked to my old school from town, not far, maybe a mile or two and was struck by how young the kids are. Here’s a bit of the British educational system structure (boy this is a day for lessons huh!): I left England when I was 16, having just completed Year 11 (10th grade) and my GCSE’s (tests required to finish high school over the last two years of the courses…quite hard involving a lot of studying). According to England, I was done with high school. For the last two years of what Americans consider high school, the students focus on two subjects in depth, and call it ‘6th form’ or ‘college’. The big difference is they get to wear street clothes, but attend the same school. (To finish the story, students then go onto university, which matches up with America’s view on education). Mostly due to their clothing, the 6th form students were very respected by the students younger than them, stuck in uniforms, and I remember thinking how old there were and that I could never be that old. Well having gone back and seen these kids, I can’t believe it but they’re babies! For some reason, I still thought they would be old, but I guess the passing of 10 years changes that perspective.
I then headed further up the road for a post office and thought this was kismet when I ran into a postal worker as I was trying to find out where the post office was. Long story short: it costs $80 to send my package of 3 kilos (~6.5 lbs). If I can get it down to 2 kilos it will only be $40. Well Lindsey, I love you very much, but the chocolate cost half that. I will not drag it along with me to Kenya and hope there’s something left after the searing sun melts it or Mom finds my stash. The sad part is, Lindsey only asked for a postcard from Harrogate and I totally forgot to do that in my effort to do much more! (Sorry twice Linds!)
Anyway I went to a pub for lunch and had a lemonade (sprite) and a pint of a good Yorkshire ale, then made my way to train. Miraculously, as I wasn’t monitoring the time very well….you’d have thought I would have learned by now, I made it with about 5 minutes to spare. Lucky lucky lucky. My angels must be working overtime! I head down on the train to London in the quiet car, (meaning the people should be quiet…the train was just as loud as it always was), where I finished book number 2: The lucky one by Nicolas Sparks. I said goodbye to beautiful hills and dales of North Yorkshire, beautiful rolling hills, farms marked by stone fences full of sheep, and went back to Lisa’s flat, repacked my bags and set out walking to her work in London. We met up with her friend and went to a fabulous old pub where we had a pint and some breaded eggs and breaded sausage…very random…then took a bus to the Asian area to get Vietnamese food in this super busy joint that was BYOB (we brought an Australian Cabernet). Our last place for the night was at a cute place you’d expect to see in SOHO called ‘Jaguar Shoes’. The walls were decorated by an artist and it apparently changed pretty regularly. After a few drinks there, we got the last subway back. After some really fun girl talk and an old fashioned sleep over (giggling and talking about boys till the wee hours of the morning), we called it a night.
Lisa – you give a fantastic tour! I’m exhausted and very grateful!
Books finished: 2
Total Time on trains: 9
Summary: A beautiful day of snow, a sudden awareness of my age, and a major disappoint with the Royal Mail.
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