Catching up, Summing up - UK day... whatever

As you get further from London, the prices on almost all goods go down dramatically... with one exception: Internet. The Internet has become so expensive now (over $8/hour!) that I'm just going to sum up the rest of my trip, then catch up when I get home. Here goes:

Castle Cary
After the rave, I returned to Castle Cary train station (by shuttle, which we all waited two hours for, that's 6 to 8 am). The train was scheduled to arrive at 9:20 am, but the UK happened to roll back their daylight savings time that night, extending the wait by an hour. Compounded with that, I missed the train because the platforms were misnumbered... more on UK rail system bitching later I promise!

It was actually a blessing in disguise, because in the next three hours while I waited for the next train, I made some awesome friends and we talked UK Hardcore rave scene, old skool and nu skool for awhile. They asked me all about America (Do you eat at Wendy's? Red Lobster? Mike and Ike?) What a trip.

TODO: post pictures of hundreds of ravers huddled together at a train station in the mdidle of nowhere, freezing in the morning dew... discuss techniques of sleeping on the ground and using dirty clothes in the absence of Thermarest mattresses... discuss advantages of carrying everything with you everywhere (even to a rave) and unexpected benefits when travel plans change and layovers increase

Bath
From there I went to Bath, a beautiful little gothic town in the West. I booked a private room to recover from the night up, but ended up staying for three days as I was enjoying the relaxing environment and history. I booked a day tour to the Cotswolds, beautifull (and socialistically) preserved towns that haven't changed since the 1700s. Cute, took a lot of pictures, but it got old after awhile. I met some nice young ladies on tours there, one from Seattle and one from Lake Oswego. I was finally able to go out and eat with companions, but ironically I was just talking about home.

TODO: Discuss lessons learned about eating out vs supermarket shopping, and planning the towns you want to see before you go on vacation... planning locations as opposed to planning timed itineraries

York
Torn about where to go next, and kind of getting homesick, I was convinced to go up North a ways to York, a mideval town with a wall surrounding it... yeah, that mideval. I just arrived here by train this afternoon and walked around a bit. I saw so much of the quaint pedestrian shopping area this evening, and I'm yearning hard to meet people (this hostel and town is awesome, but deserted) and aching for some more nightlife, that I'm going to head back to London tomorrow night after walking around the fortified wall and soaking up all the history that York has to offer. The nice thing about the trains is that they run so often I can just walk to the station and book it, with a maximum wait of 30 minutes for a train.

TODO: Discuss the different central themes of "things to see" such as history, nightlife, shopping, culture, cathedrals, countryside, etc

From here I'm going down to London tomorrow evening, maybe see some more touristy stuff that I missed like the Tower of London, Buckingham Palace, etc and go out in Leicester Square tomorrow night to random clubs. Friday night I'm going to see Shy FX and Mampi Swift at the "world famous" Fridge nightclub in Brixton, London. Again, I won't need a hostel as the night ends at 6am and my flight is at 11. At least I'll be able to sleep in the airport instead of on the cold hard ground of a train station in the rain!

I may post again from London, if not, I'll post again when I return. I'll probably be going out on Saturday night because I won't be able to sleep, so if you know of anything going on email me!

See you all very soon... I'm definitely ready to go home and I miss Portland dearly.

Cheers!