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Taylor Returns to England Dec 23rd-Jan 2nd- PTR

England Dec 23rd – Jan 2nd
Day 1


Day one started out pretty nice, with me and my family opening gifts in the event that I wouldn’t be there on Christmas eve, when we usually open gifts. Needless to say I got a lot and everyone liked the pressies I bought them as well. I was planning on leaving for Detroit airport around 1:30-2:00, even though my flight didn’t leave until 6:40, because I figured the border crossing would be really bad, seeing as people do last minute Christmas shopping over there! But we quickly realized that it was literally a five minute wait to get through, and it was only a thirty minute drive to the airport, so considering I didn’t feel like waiting eight zillion hours for my flight to leave, we picked up some McDonalds instead. I get jittery before flights and stuff so I was only able to eat half of my ranch wrap, but it was still a decent meal because we got to watch all the planes take off and stuff, which I love.

After that, they dropped me off and said goodbye. I got in really quickly, and had nothing better to do than watch the horrible charity karaoke they had going on near my terminal. I wouldn’t have watched it if I’d have known it would last all the four hours I was going to have to wait there!

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A lovely, blurry photo of Metro airport.

My flight didn’t leave until after seven, which concerned me as I had a connecting flight in Atlanta. The flight to Atlanta was short and smooth, but once I got there me and this girl tried finding our terminal together, which proved kind of difficult. Atlanta airport is not easy to navigate at all! Once we got to our terminal, I asked one of the workers why my ticket didn’t have a seat on it, and he said “because you’re not getting on the flight today, sorry.” So after almost crying, he told me it was a joke and soon enough, I was off!

We arrived in England a little bit late, but it turned out perfect because Brad wasn’t gonna be there until one, which was an hour after my flight was due to land. So he ended up waiting only about ten minutes for me. We got on the fab underground (the Piccadilly line, yay I’m learning), and two hours later, we were at his house.

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His walls are fab.

The week was mostly a chill week and far less hectic than last time I was in England, so we just stayed in on Christmas Eve, as we’d be going out for Christmas the next day.

Day 2, 3, 4, 5

We woke up and went downstairs to open presents. I felt terrible because everyone got me so much stuff and even though I got everyone something little, they got me loads more. I got a fab necklace, an amazing hat, loads of park maps, an Alton bag with random stuff in it (thanks for the tie, Brad.. Haha), pyjamas, chocolate, socks, candies, and a broken Snoopy thing.

After opening presents, we had eggs for breakfast and then went to get ready, where Brad wore his brand new Toy Story 3 Sheriff’s badge that came with his alien watch, haha.

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We also ate loads of chocolate before we left, and sadly some of the chocolate made its way out of my mouth and onto the bed, which made an unfortunate looking stain.

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His room is usually really clean, until I get there and make it into a disaster..

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So at one we were off to his aunt’s house, which was a fab, big house, although meeting all the family was intimidating, haha. We had dinner almost as soon as we got there, which was awesome aside from the curried goat or whatever it was. Then we sat and talked with relatives, read a Ripley’s Believe it or Not book, sat in the living room and chatted some more, until eventually going back home around seven.

The next day was more or less pretty similar, except we had dinner at Brad’s house instead with his stepdad’s relatives. The food was amazing! Later that night me, Brad and his two step brothers played Monopoly, where both of us got beat (Brad was disgraceful and a poor sport haha, but it was hilarious). That was the start of playing Monopoly pretty much every day that I was there though.

Either Monday or Tuesday night was the first night we properly went out anywhere, to the O2 arena for me to try Nando’s for the first time! The underground that was meant to take us there was down though, so we ended up having to take a bus. Here we are on our way!

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A blurry one of the O2 arena!

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The special line!

We got into Nando’s, sat down, and read the menu.

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Very quickly, we both decided we were gonna get the chicken filet with “chips,” so we went to order it and much to our delight, they were both upgraded to double chicken filets. I got mine hot and extra hot, and he got his medium. I was happy when I realized that the extra hot actually was quite hot.

When I went to the bathroom, Brad took my camera and took random pictures.

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He got water and I got Fanta!

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MMMMMM.

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The aftermath, although I did need help finishing the last little bit of my chips and burger.

After an amazing dinner, we walked around to see if there were any creds in the area. There weren’t, but I still got to see more of it, so I was happy.

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We left, and when we got back to his house, we took random pictures of me being a gangster.

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Then, we played Monopoly. I’m pretty sure this was the only game I won all week.

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I love how the names are all English names! It’s amazing.


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Me, winning!

Day 6

Day six was one of the best days of when I was in England. The London meetup! We left the house around ten, getting to the meetup spot just in time, where we met up with Maddie, Ollie, Lofty, Alan, Rob, and Ben. Before going anywhere, I opened the present Maddie bought for me and Brad!

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Me and Brad on our way.

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You asshole..

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That’s better!

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Hi guys!

We went to Winter Wonderland first, which would be the starting point and the ending point of our day. Me and Maddie got the kiddie cred before anything else!

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We looked like idiots, although thanks to the photographer being a dweeb, we’re behind a bell, and a pole.

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Thanks, photographer, for the picture of a random old dude. I’ll treasure it forever.

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Me and Ms. Tyrell!

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Ollie, Maddie, Taylor

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Shweet.

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Me and Alan!

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OH MY GOD A MOOSE! I MUST be back in Canadia!

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Chocolate buttons are just amazing.

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Me and Lofty.

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Very cute setup, I approve!

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Me and Rob. Little did he know he was gonna get violated in a haunted attraction in just a mere few hours.

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Aww it’s cute.

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Badass theming!

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Bradley looking spiffy.

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Slowpokes! Hurry up so I can get my next cred!

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Ah there we go! With me, Maddie, Lofty, and Rob in one little train, I was sure we were destined for death. But no, I was wrong. I was just destined for a broken sternum.

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Ollie!

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Me and my Benny <3 Who my aunt said was cute, not realizing he is a flaming gay, haha!

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Creds, friends, Winter Wonderland, mild weather.. They all made me a happy Taylor!

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They’re following me!

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I want a pet penguin.

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We didn’t ride this, but it looked cool.

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Last cred of 2010 that I got to share with Lofty!

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It looked like it would be an uncomfortable ride, but it wasn’t too bad I guess.

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We debated if this was a cred or not, but decided that it wasn’t, so gave it a miss. It was in front of this that I decided to walk backwards and walk into a lady. Whoops.

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We went back to this later at night.

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Someone kept taking my camera and taking random photos of Ollie. I’m guessing it was Brad.

After Winter Wonderland, I dragged all the boys into Primark. I got a new bag, a sweater, sunglasses for my sister, and a necklace. Success!

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Random buildings.

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Double deckers are amazing.

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I wish we had one in Canada.

After Primark we went to McDonalds, and I still think England McDonalds is crap, but whatever I had this time was lightyears better than that nasty oriental snackwrap thing I had last time. It was like, chicken and salsa. Across from the McDonalds was the “concrete thing” as I said to Ben!

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We went on the underground (where we saw a lady get stuck in the doors, it was amazing) to where the London Eye and stuff is, so we could go to Death Trap, the new haunted attraction.

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Ben looking fab.

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I love it!

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Big Ben is amazing and probably one of my favourite buildings in the world.

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When we got to Death Trap, it was going to be a half an hour wait, so we just relaxed in the café for a bit and took random pics, and also played money folding games that made the Queen look silly.

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Then it was time for our group to go in!

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The attraction itself isn’t worth £12 but for the fiver we paid, it was a good deal and it was hilarious. Some of the bits were scary (the fire on the metal cage, ughh), some were funny (Alan and Ollie getting taken away), and some were hilarious (Rob getting violated on the floor).

Then it was time to go pick up AJ from Harrods!

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After getting GayJ, we made our way to a pub. I had never properly been in one, so I was excited.

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We couldn’t all get one table, so me, Brad, Ollie, and Maddie sat at one, and Ben, AJ, Alan, and Rob were at the other.

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We played a game.. And I lost.

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Nom.

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I promise these aren’t all mine!

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We had a laugh at Ben’s passport.

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Then it was back to Winter Wonderland for some drinks and funhouse times!

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After that, we said goodbye to pretty much everyone, so it was just me, Brad, AJ, and Ben left. We were all gonna go out, but Brad ended up being sick (drinking on antibiotics tut tut) so we ended up just going home. Was a great day though and I <3 everyone!

Day 7 and 8

Day 7 was another relaxing day full of Scrabble and Monopoly. I lost Monopoly every time, but won Scrabble most of the time. I think we went to China Chef that night as well, which was amaaazing as usual.

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We played Sims too! Here are our Sim kids, haha.

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Day 8 was New Years Eve, and though I didn’t get any photos, it was a fun night. Predrinks at Brad’s house consisted of beer pong, ****heads, never have I ever, and some other game (schkol?). Needless to say we left feeling pretty good.

After a long long walk down a dark road, me, Craig, Brad, and Dean arrived at the place we were going. Was a typical party.. Drinking, more never have I ever, drama, etc. But it was a good time! And we rang in the New Year doing illegal things of greenness, so twas fab. At about one we went on the long walk back to Brad’s, and after failing to find any open food places, we ended up just making a four tier sandwich when we got back to his!

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We ate it all!


Day 9 and 10


Day nine was my last full day in England, so literally just spent it in my pyjamas all day, relaxing. We watched TV, played our last games of Scrabble and Monopoly, and had more China Chef! Obviously it was a sad night, I had tears as I didn’t want to leave the next day!

We woke up early on day ten, as my plane left at one. I don’t even know why I bothered getting ready that day, as all my makeup just ended up running off when I was being a crybaby on the underground and at the airport. But, after a longish wait to check my bags and stuff, I said goodbye to Brad and was on my way home. I bought some amazing sandwich thing at Costa Coffee, almost lost my carry on bag, and had rage that the airport charged for WiFi. My plane left half an hour late, but it was a direct flight and it ended up getting back to Detroit right on time! My dad was there to pick me up and before I knew it, I was home.

I had an amazing week, with amazing people, in an amazing country. Can’t wait for my return in Feb!
 
That's quite an adventure for an 18 year old. When I was 18, I was quite grounded, I didn't really start to see the world until my early 20's (always a local lad), so I read your report with a hint of jealously. Not much though :p

I'm glad you like England. It's the best country in the world.

And Ben looks like a girl in his passport photo.
 
^ Grounded at 18?! Like grounded as in your parents sent you to your room? Or just grounded as in not traveling?

And yah I'm pretty lucky.. And I do agree about England being the best country! It's amazing.
 
Grounded as in "happy not to travel outside of my local area". As I have a large family and social group (and no internet, we're talking 1998 here, the 'net was young!), I was content staying where I was. Since passing my driving test and signing up to CF <3, the world has become a lot larger...yet smaller at the same time!
 
I was skint when I was 18, only really went on trips with CF and went out with some Essex bint.

Love the touristy photos, clearly took them while walking ;) All guilty of it!
 
^Don't forget that Taylor is chronically ****e at taking photos.
 
^ Yes, I got a lot of nice photos last time so I just kinda did walking ones this time. Plus last time Brad took the photos for me, this time it was all me :p .
 
Glad to see you had a great time Taylor & are enjoying your travels.
As far as traveling, do it as much as you can (as I'm sure Jake can confirm).
I made my first solo Atlantic flight when I was 13 & spent my first solo trip to London (from Germany) on my 16th birthday (present from my father to see T. Rex in concert). By the time I was 16 I had already lived in 4 different countries (Germany, USA, Ireland & Spain) & visited at least two dozen more. Thanks to my job I've now visited over 100 countries & I hate to tell you this, but England is not the best. :p
 
^ 100 countries, sheesh!

Well, next trip is next month and will include Amsterdam, so we'll see how that fairs in comparison to London!
 
Nah, all joking aside, it looks like you had a great time Taylor! :p
 
Wow, I dismissed that Winter Wonderland thinking that odd Invert was the only thing there....bugger. How many creds?

Oh, and great pics Tay :lol:
 
^ Three creds :p .

Winter Wonderland is a fab fair just a bummer that if you wanna do everything they don't have like an all day wristband like most fairs do, so it can get expensive.
 
Might as well post mine here as well. I was halfway through writing it the day after the trip but Maddie went on the computer and closed Firefox. :p
Sorry for the lack of pictures. I took my camera but forgot to take that many. Anyway...

We didn't sleep the night before as I don't trust my phone alarm and didn't want to miss our coach.
I woke Maddie up at 5:30 and we left the house at 6am to walk to town for our 7:15 coach.
We got to London at about 10:15 and had nothing to do so just decided to go and wait in the station. While waiting by the barriers Rob came over, then Mark came up the escalator who seemed chuffed that he managed to navigate the underground on his own. Ben, Brad and Taylor came up soon followed by Alan so we headed out to the fair.

Taylor wanted the kiddie credit so her and Maddie went off to do that while the rest just waited. We then slowly wandered round with those who hadn't done he credits going on and doing them.

After the fair we walked through Hyde Park and into the big Primark. The girls and boys split so we went upstairs where Brad and Ben decided to dress me up in loads of silly hats and scarfs. Ben managed to offend a woman when he wrapped the scarf round my head to cover everything but my eyes.
We soon got bored so decided to go looking for the girls which was easier said than done. Ben found a training bra and some colourful thing he was going to get for Taylor as a joke but decided against it in the end.
We finally found Taylor and Maddie and then stood around while Taylor queued for about 15 minutes to buy a couple of bags.

Once we were finally out we headed to McDonalds as everyone was getting hungry. Once we were done eating there was a small pea shooting war with the straws before we headed to the underground and headed over to do Death Trap by the London Eye.

This was probably everyone’s favourite part of the day. Alan had vouchers for us all to get in for just £5. The first amusing bit was when we got to the empty ticket desk and then the member of staff just seemed to float up out of nowhere and went "helloooo".
We had to wait 30 mins before we went in so some went to the cafe while others went to the toilet in the bar downstairs. We then all met up before having our photo taken with Alan on the electric chair.

Once inside the attraction we were just laughing from start to finish. Rob screamed like a girl all the way round and came out sweating from fear even though he's been working as an actor in attractions for a few years.

The funniest bits were...

-In the first room where we were against a wall and a hand came out and Alan was like "oh he's poking me" before being dragged from the ground through the wall. It was just such perfect timing.
-A few moments later I got dragged out and put in a small section and bumped into Alan although it was so dark and he was just like “Ollie, is that you?”
-Noone wanting to put their hands in the holes
-Rob getting tackled to the floor while he was screaming like a girl. He came out sweating all over and shaking lol.

After going through some of us got the photo as it was quite good with all of us and we got a deal on the photos which made them cheaper.
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After this we went to Harrods and sat down waiting for AJ to finish. We got told off by some prick for sitting down which was annoying as everyone's legs were aching. Once AJ had finished we all walked to the pub. We split between two tables and myself, Maddie, Taylor and Brad got a bucket of BBQ Chicken ribs thing which tasted amazing. While we waited we just talked, arm wrestled and played with penny's.

After we ate we decided to go back to the fair at night. Once we got there Ben and AJ started playing a game where they kept pushing each other really hard.
It was quite amusing and AJ fell over and got muddy and got told off by two mothers who he accidentally fell into. As we were going into the German Beer building AJ got his revenge on Ben which ended up knocking his glasses off over the side so he had to climb down to retrieve them :p.
Once everyone had found a table Mark and I went off to take photos of the fair at night. After that he came and said goodbye to everyone as he had to get back to catch the last train back to Liverpool.

Once people had finished their drinks most went into the fun house which was quite amusing. After this Maddie and I had to make a dash for the tube to go and catch our coach home.

A great day overall and full of many laughs. Thanks to everyone who was there for making it so good. :)
 
East Coast(er) General said:
I hate to tell you this, but England is not the best. :p
Yeah, but I am slightly biased!
 
^Yes, but you're from Canada.

A holiday in Haiti would seem amazing, with a stopover in Guantanamo Bay for a spot of luxury.
 
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