A Day Trip to the United States: Visiting Runnymede

My most recent day trip from Reading was to the United States! That may sound close to impossible - you would expect it to involve at least a seven-hour flight there and another seven-hour flight back. However, I wasn't doing an extreme day trip (though this is a trend that is becoming more popular). In fact, it only took me a 40-minute train journey, a 15-minute bus ride and a short walk to get there.

So how was that possible? The truth is that there is a small corner of U.S. soil here in England, at the National Trust site at Runnymede in Surrey. I had read about this place a few years ago and had been intrigued to visit it someday. And at the end of February, we were lucky to have a sunny day with temperatures reaching 18 degrees, so I had the perfect opportunity to go to visit this outdoor area filled with sculptures and memorials.

First, I took the train from Reading to Egham. My next step was to take a bus, but as I missed the one five minutes after my train's arrival, I had about half an hour to spend in Egham. So I went to get a coffee and had a look around the town centre, which was very clean and modern.

On the bus later, I went past this incredible grand old building that looked like a fairytale castle! I was absolutely amazed by it. Looking it up later, I found out that it was the Founder's Building at Royal Holloway University. I actually came back to Egham with Claudio that weekend in order to visit it properly. (I'll be writing about that soon!)

A bit later on in the bus journey, I was surprised and happy to find I had views across to London, including Wembley Stadium!

I got off the bus at a stop with the interesting name of Bells of Ouzeley. It is actually the name of a Harvester pub next to the bus stop. It's a very charming old building opposite the river, and looked like a great, scenic place to enjoy some food and drink on this sunny afternoon.

I then walked along the river to the National Trust site. The path was a bit muddy, but the route was very picturesque.

Unlike a lot of National Trust sites, Runnymede is free to enter. It doesn't have a manor house like many National Trust properties do - it is an outdoor area with various artworks and memorials - but it does have  a small building with a tearoom and bathrooms.

The site is also really near Heathrow, so there were plenty of planes passing low overhead, which added to the international vibe of my day out.

The first spot I visited was the John F. Kennedy memorial, which is the part I had read about previously. You step through a wooden gate to enter the area where the memorial is and you are officially on U.S. soil!

There is a long pathway and fifty uneven steps that take you up to the memorial itself. It's definitely quite a unique experience to be able to say you've gone to another country (sort of) just by walking through a gate.

Runnymede is most famous for being where the Magna Carta was signed in 1215, and there is also a monument dedicated to that event.

There's also this really interesting artwork called Writ in Water, which is located inside a small building. Inside the building, you go around this sort of labyrinth, which leads you to a small, reflective pool, in which is written an extract of the Magna Carta. It's very clever and unique.

After having a good walk around the site, I walked back to the bus stop and then sat by the river in the sun while waiting for the bus.

This day out was a big reminder to me of how important it can be to get outdoors in the sunshine and enjoy some peaceful, beautiful surroundings from time to time. To be honest, I'm not always that much of a fan of life in the UK - a lot of places can look very run down and grim, especially at this time of year, and the cost of living crisis never seems to get any better - but there are some beautiful places to be found in this country, and spending time in them can make a real difference to your mood.

That's all for today, but I'll be writing again soon about more of my February travels!

Guildford

Recently, we took a day trip to the town of Guildford, a 45-minute train ride from Reading. It had been at least 17 years since I last went there on a trip with my aunt and uncle, and I remembered liking the place a lot. I specifically remembered sitting in the café at Debenhams looking out over the river and the willow trees. Though the Debenhams has since been knocked down, at least I got to see the view again!

However, nostalgia was not the only reason I wanted to return to Guildford; I was also very excited to see its castle! I love visiting castles and palaces, and even though Guildford's one is quite small, we really enjoyed visiting it. It sits on top of a hill in a park, which is beautifully looked after, and even has a dragon!

We then had a great time window shopping around the town centre. It's a really pretty place with a lot of old-fashioned charm.

We then wandered back over to the river to see the Yvonne Arnaud theatre and to explore a nice little park.

After it got dark, we bought hot chocolates and went back to the castle to see the Christmas lights. There was a big line of people queuing to buy tickets to go inside the park, but you could actually get a pretty great view from the outside. With the different coloured lights and decorations, the castle and the park looked really beautiful and magical.

I feel it's still a little early to celebrate Christmas, as it's not yet December, but to be fair, that hasn't stopped us from seeing these lights in Guildford or from going to the Winter Wonderland in Caversham twice! This is the first place we've lived where we've had the opportunity to go to these sorts of seasonal events, and we're looking forward to visiting more over the Christmas period!

Barcelona Day 4: Montjuïc, Tapas and Another Birthday

After the not entirely positive events of my 30th birthday the previous day, I decided that our fourth day in Barcelona would also count as my birthday!

This second birthday didn't get off to the greatest start, as the piña coladas we'd had the night before had been the size of a pint and probably about half vodka. I woke up in the night to use the bathroom, and felt the room rocking like a boat! And when it was time to get up in the morning, we both felt a bit worse for wear.

Fortunately, after a very aesthetically pleasing and tasty breakfast at Mono Cafè, we felt ready for the day!

Our activity for the morning was visiting Montjuïc Hill. To get there, we took the metro to Paral·lel and then were able to continue our journey on the funicular railway without paying extra (we found the public transport in Barcelona such great value compared to London).

Once at the top of the funicular, we queued up for the cable car to go up to the castle at the top of the hill. The ride was a lot of fun, with amazing views of both the city and the sea.

I've always loved castles so I enjoyed the visit to this one. It has a sort of medieval aspect to it that reminded me a lot of places like Mdina and Valletta in Malta.

We chose not to go inside, as it has been converted into a military museum that you have to buy a ticket for, and that didn't really interest us. But we had a nice walk around the outside of the castle, taking in the great views of the shimmering blue sea.

We took the bus back down the hill, which gave us an opportunity to pass by some other interesting sights, including the Olympic stadium and Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya. We got out of the bus at the bottom of the hill, by the Venetian Towers.

By this point of the day, we were super hungry, so popped into Tapa Tapa. Here we tried several different Spanish dishes, including patatas bravas, tortilla española and pa amb tomàquet (a traditional Catalan dish). My favourite was the tortilla española and Claudio's was the mussels, and we both also loved the patatas bravas.

With renewed energy, we entered the nearby Arenas de Barcelona, a former bullring that's been converted into a shopping mall. It has a rooftop terrace that offers great views of Plaça d'Espanya, across to the Venetian Towers and Museu Nacional d'Art de Catalunya, as well as other parts of the city.

We headed back to the hotel and spent the late afternoon at Bogatell Beach (bringing only our towels and room key!). This time we had a long, drama-free swim, which was one of the highlights of the trip. Swimming in the sea is something we both absolutely love, and Bogatell Beach is a beautiful, peaceful location.

In the evening, we both fancied some more tapas, so went to a different Tapa Tapa over at Westfield Glòries, where we ordered a couple of our favourites from earlier (tortilla española and patatas bravas) and tried a few new dishes. We also enjoyed big glasses of sangría!

It was the perfect way to end my (second) 30th birthday!

Sadly, we only had one more day left in Barcelona after this, but we made the most of it, mixing a last bit of sightseeing with some time relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. A post will be on its way soon!