The Final Chapter

There is nothing like returning to a place that remains unchanged to find the ways in which you yourself have altered.

– Nelson Mandela

Friday

Friday morning we all packed up and moved out of our rooms. The hostel had to do some shuffling to fit in some new groups and we were being moved into some new rooms. Our rooms weren’t going to be ready until later in the afternoon, though. That wasn’t all that much of a problem since Friday was our free day to do with as we pleased.

I had already explored a great deal of Edinburgh and everything that was left to do cost money, so I had originally planned to take a break for most of the day. First, though, I went for a walk by the train station to take a closer look at some of the monuments along the road. On the strip there I found a book store that was having a massive sale. You could buy 3 books for 5 pounds and some books were for 99 pence. Since I had been forcible restraining myself the entire trip not to buy a book at any of the book stores we passed, I decided that this store was the best place to lost me strength of will. I went in and, after some searching, found a book to buy. Most of the books there weren’t the first in the series so it took me a while to find one that I could read.

After buying the book, I headed back to the hostel with the intention of reading it. I sat on the couch in the lobby and read until it was time to move into our rooms. There was some comings and goings of various members of the group so I heard a lot about other people’s activities, but it wasn’t long before I was joined by several other people while I waited for the rooms.

After I had moved into my room, I tore myself away from my book to go to the grocery store for dinner and some snacks to help me last for the next couple days. I then headed to the kitchen and, after eating, played some euchre.

Saturday

We got up first thing and walked to the train station. The train was crowded but, after some bustling, we managed to all get on and we started our journey to York. When we passed by Berwick Upon Tweed, it really hit home to me that the trip was ending. I found it so hard to believe and yet I couldn’t help but to yearn for home.

When we reached York, we walked across town to the Hilton Hotel where we were staying. We dropped off our bags and everyone headed in off for their own pursuits. In front of our hotel was a man with a bunch of owls. You could get a picture holding an owl for 4 pounds. The final attraction to the deal for me was that one of them looked like Hedwig. I mean, I had a chance to hold an owl that looked like Hedwig in England. I simply couldn’t resist.

I then walked around the area the hotel was located at, but everything that I saw cost money so I ended up heading back to the hotel and watching tv.

Sunday

I got up, ate breakfast, and went out to walk the walls of the city. York is a walled city and you can walk along them for free. There were places along the wall where there were supposed to be Roman ruins but they were hidden under the soil.

After exploring, we walked back to the train station. We ended up splitting into two groups and I joined the group that was walking along the walls. It was an easier walk back as a result, since the walls followed more of a straight line than the streets and were mostly level.

When we reached the train station we found out that we had a while so we dumped our backpacks in a massive pile and sat together while we waited. Everyone was excitedly talking about their plans for London and how much they missed home.

We then got on our train and headed back to Kings Cross Station. Ahh, the memories of Platform 9 3/4… but I digress. We then took the tube to the area of London that we were staying at (In London, trains are overground and the tube is underground. It’s basically like the subway in New York). After some work and wandering we eventually found our hotels (our group had to split up into a couple different ones due to last minute travel changes).

For dinner, a group of us started wandering around and eventually decided on a fish and chips place. I got a chicken burger because I was really tired of fish, but it was very good.

Monday

Monday was our free day in London to do with as we pleased. I teamed up with some of my classmates and we headed out on a quest to see Abbey Road and Westminster Abbey. We caught the tube into Westminster and, upon coming out of the station, found ourselves right next to Big Ben and the Parliament building.  Right across the street from us was Westminster Abbey.

It has always been a goal of mine to go into Westminster Abbey and see Poet’s Corner… but not for 15 pounds and a 3 hour line wait. It simply was not worth it to me. So instead we took some pictures outside of it and continued on our quest for Abbey Road.

We followed our map along some streets and came upon… Abbey Orchard Street. The person who was in charge of the map hadn’t completely read the street name. He had just seen Abbey and lead us in that direction.

We then got some food at a nearby sandwich stop and used some free wifi to google abbey road. Turns out that it was across London and we were no where near it. We decided to keep exploring Westminster anyway and started walking along until we ran into Buckingham Palace. By some happenstance, we were lucky enough to get there just as the guards were changing. Unluckily, the only way you could see it was to climb onto something really high because there was such a big crowd.

After a while we headed out to walk back towards the underground since there was a war memorial right near it. We walked along a stretch  witIh memorials in the middle of the street and everything, took some pictures, and headed back to take the tube back to the hotel. We had to ascertain the true whereabouts of Abbey Road and we had to move back into our rooms, which had been switched that morning.

Not too long after moving back in we got back on the tube and continued our quest for Abbey Road. Immediately after we exited the station there was a little shop selling Beatles items, so we went in and, after being assured we were close, headed for our goal. After a short walk, we were there. Abbey Road. The destination that every Beatles fan wants to go to. We decided to take off our shoes so that we could soak up the resonance of the Beatles when we walked across. We all walked across it at least 4 times total, sometimes in formation and other times alone.

Tuesday

It was time to leave Europe. We gathered all of our stuff together for the last time and took a train to Heathrow Airport. We ended up being delayed for a couple of hours thanks to the ash cloud that was starting to spread from Iceland. Luckily, our flight still took off and we got back home safely. That’s where I am now. Safely home writing this last blog for you to read. Thanks for sticking with me.