All you need is love

Our English adventure would have been incomplete without a visit to Liverpool, if only for the famous lure of The Beatles. It was on my 'to visit' list, being brought up by a father who was somewhat of a Beatles enthusiast. Liverpool as a whole wasn't unlike any other English city, with similar shops and pubs, despite the variance in accents, thus we spent our time wisely using our only full day there taking the 'magical mystery tour'. The bus tour took us all around Liverpool, from some of the most iconic sights used as song inspiration to places relevant to the band members childhoods and finishing with a visit to the infamous Cavern club. Pure luck on our behalf left us there on the 50th anniversary of their first playing at the club, which gave the place an amazing vibe. You'll find all my obligatory tourist photos below.

The Cavern Club 

The magical mystery bus

Paul McCartney's childhood home

Penny Lane

Strawberry fields forever

-Melissa

The boy who lived

Next stop on the book appreciation list was of course the home of my favourite childhood hero, the infamous Harry Potter. Rowling's tales of Harry Potter and friends are still up there on my all time favourite book series, and the child inside me is still waiting for her Hogwarts acceptance letter. So naturally it was necessary to make a pit stop in Oxford to check out a few of the locations used for filming the movie series. 

Hostel

Another YHA experience, nothing particularly out of the ordinary. This was in the perfect location, right beside the train station, making it much easier to transport our slowly growing selection of belongings (all thanks to our moderate shopping addictions). Not the best for making friends, but since we already had the whole travel buddy thing covered it didn't prove to be an issue. 

Food

The food highlights were unsurprisingly at pubs, because when in Rome right? The first was a little pub called The Eagle and Child, which has literary connections to J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. The food was delightfully homely and the place had an amazingly cosy atmosphere. The second highlight is still up there as the home of the best burger I've tasted to date, which was a hotel on Hythe Bridge street called The Oxford Retreat. 

Harry Potter

The 'cultural' highlight of Oxford would have to of course be visiting a few of the places used for filming the Harry Potter movies. First stop was the location of the Hogwarts great hall, which like the Mona Lisa is surprisingly smaller than previously expected. Next point of interest was the schools hospital wing, complete with intricate ceiling details, but otherwise quite empty which leaves a bit to the imagination. Last but not least, the one venue we weren't permitted photography, which was the Hogwarts library. A beautiful old library, which left us feeling like we had finally gotten the aforementioned 'missing' Hogwarts acceptance letters.

The great hall

The hospital wing 

Shopping

Between eating, drinking and Hogwarts related attractions, shopping was naturally our main priority. After stopping into the Oxford stores of Topshop, River Island, Primark and H&M, we ventured into some local boutiques to great results, and a bit of damage to the bank account. Tourist necessities included an obligatory Oxford University jumper, and a trip to the gorgeous Alice in Wonderland store right by one of the Oxford University buildings, where I personally purchased a hardback copy of 'Through the Looking Glass' and an Alice themed pendant watch. 

I solemnly swear that I am up to no good.

-Melissa

Oh, how could anyone ever be tired of Bath?

It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife.

Bristol was the next stop on our trip, but the highlight of the pitstop by far was our day trip to Bath, home of Jane Austen. We again stayed at the local YHA, making use of my parents going away gift of a global membership card. Bristol would have to be the windiest city I've visited yet - just walking in a straight line proved to be immensely difficult, and because of that we spent the majority of our time getting acquainted with our hostel interior (one of the fanciest hostels I've seen), the conveniently located Shakespeare Tavern for a drink and a bit of comfort food, and the local clubs to face the cold and check out the local nightlife. 

Our day trip to Bath (although much ridiculed by the English boys we had befriended in our hostel) was a definite highlight, both of us being Austen fans at heart. We took the train in, first visiting the Roman Baths to get in a bit of history, taking a tour around the thermal springs. Next stop, the piéce de résistance, the Jane Austen Centre, having a bit of an Austen tour before having devonshire tea and purchasing an entire set of hardback books to add to my home library. Past me didn't much appreciate having to lug around the extra kilos for the rest of the trip, but rest assured present day me is completely grateful for it. 

Checking out the baths in Bath

-Melissa

From Brighton to Stonehenge

First stop on our England adventuring was down south, to Brighton. Being a Sydney girl and living so close to the coast, I had been feeling quite deprived over the previous months of travel with such limited access to the ocean. So naturally we jumped at the chance to check out one of Britain's infamous beaches. Needless to say as an Australian, the beach itself was kind of disappointing, however the town itself was really cute. We stayed at the Brighton chain of St Christophers Inn, which has since become another hostel, however having now visited several of their branches I can vouch for their value for money and excellent facilities. We spent two days trawling through shops, eating pub food and checking out the famous pier. We treated ourselves to hot cinnamon donuts whilst checking out the arcade style games and rides the pier had to offer, including the trampolines pictured below. 

Sign on the Brighton Pier, 'no prancing'

Moving along, we took the bus to Salisbury, which was pretty uneventful as the main purpose for the visit was to see Stonehenge. We stayed at the local YHA, which was a bit cold in the depths of winter, but a lovely little hostel none the less, especially for the great price! We spent two nights in the town, spending our one full day taking a bus trip to Stonehenge, to see the mysterious rock formation that makes the area so famous. Despite the strength of the wind that practically swept us off our feet, it was definitely an amazing sight to see. The rest of our time in Salisbury was spent shopping and taking shelter from the cold in local pubs - both very British and a recurring theme throughout the remainder of our travels.

Me in front of Stonehenge

-Melissa