"Do you know where we are? We're at the river!"

The first friend I made while on Contiki was Jackie. She took me by surprise with her choppy Australian accent and I soon realized that we would make a great team. The first stop of the tour was Bath, the British town best known for its Roman Baths. Every time the bus stopped, we were given a strict time limit and told that if we were to neglect the allowed time, we would be left behind. Jackie and I decided this rule, like all others, needed to be tested. With 5 minutes left until the bus would be pulling out of Bath, Jackie and I were running through the busy streets of Bath...in the wrong direction. Lucky for us Michelle has a caring nature about her (psych) and held the bus and the rest of the crew up while we made our way to the back of the bus, thankful and completely doused in sweat.

Next stop was Liverpool; home of the Beatles. It wasn't as exciting as I had imagined, but England rarely was. It was defintely a cool place to stop, but I enjoyed York the most. We were led through the city of York under cover of night by a local ghost walking guide. He took us through the city telling horror stories from years before and of legends that still held true even now. One story in particular that stuck with me was the story of Alice. Our guide led us through one of the many dark alleys of York and as our group pushed in closer, he began his story. Madalice Lane was named after a young girl, Alice, who suffered from a severe mental illness. Unfortunately for Alice, the people of her time understood the mentally ill to be inhabited by evil and were therefore casted out from society. The alley that Alice's family lived along was not only their place of residence, but their place of business as well. This caused problems for the family because when Alice went off on one of her fits, customers would flee from the family's shop and so the business struggled. This continued until one day, Alice was mysteriously pronounced dead and buried in the city's cemetary. The family believed their prayers had been answered until Alice began appearing in the shop window's reflections, haunting those that had failed to understand her. Alice never left the house, and to this day, as decidedby the local people of York, the owner of Alice's house must have every window covered to keep Alice from haunting the people of today's York.

One thing I leared fairly quickly about Contiki was that there was never enough time in some places, and too much in others. One town that this held true for was Weatherby, a small, Whitecourt-like place just outside of York. Here we integrated with the locals at the small pubs and eventually found ourselves some local guides. Paul, our tramp stamped looker, and Jim, our pink sock wearing guide showed us all Weatherby had to offer, which wasn't much. It was one of my favorite nights in England and I regret having not been able to spend more time there.

The next day we visitied the Lake District. Here is where I fell in love with the scenery I had been waiting 2 weeks for. Contiki drove us through the rolling hills of the Lake District and stopped at a small outdoor activities centre. We were given the opportunity to try out the high ropes course, zip lining, and of course, to watch Jackie eat shit while working her way through one of the courses. After the acitivities ended, we took a walk to Castle Rigg, a small collection of rocks completed by a back drop of wooden fences, roaming sheep, and never ending hills. As Ashley, Phil, and I stood there taking in the view, we glanced over at eachother, and without words began singing...The hills are alive with the sound of music.

As the rain continued, the Contiki coach pulled into Gretna Green, the world renouned hot spot for run away marriages. Here we set up our own "marriage"...the lucky couple; Coco and Alex, the previously mentioned Asian couple that was such a hit with the group. After the couple said their vows, and after a long make out session, the entire group tossed their cookies.

England was concluded by a 45 minute stop over at Hadrian's wall. Phil, Jackie, Ashley, and myself trudged through the torrential downpour, pushed past the growing winds, and struggled against our aching thighs so be greeted by a meter high wall..just a wall...that's it. With deep breaths and fists clentched in anger, we managed to keep our cool as we made the 20 minute hike back to the coach. And no, it wasn't photo worthy. But on the plus side, I now have buns of steel :)