London: Part Seven (Goodbye England!)

Just a short post this time, as I'm getting ready to move to Chile within the next couple of days!!! At the start of this week, I still didn't know if I would get the visa in time to travel at the end of this week, but on Tuesday I found out the visa had been approved, and then yesterday I went up to London to collect it at last. So I've got a lot to pack up and sort out at the moment!

After collecting my visa, I had a few hours to do my last bit of sightseeing in London (and in the UK, for that matter) for the foreseeable future. I had wanted to go to see the prime meridian at Greenwich, but I wasn't sure I quite had enough time to get there and back without missing my train, so I decided to spend the afternoon seeing my favourite part of the city, which is the area around Tower Bridge and the Tower of London.

I took the Uber Boat from Westminster, and it was definitely a more scenic and entertaining way to travel, compared to just going by tube. It allowed me to see some other famous sites along the way, including St Paul's Cathedral and the London Eye.

After arriving at Tower Pier, I enjoyed having a walk around the area, even though it was an extremely windy day, which made walking across the bridge feel a bit scary! It was great to see the iconic old and new buildings on both sides of the river, and it reminded me why I love London as a city. I hope that maybe I'll have the opportunity to live there one day!

I also saw a few sights that were new to me, or that I'd only seen from a distance, including St Katharine Docks...

...All Hallows-by-the-Tower church, which was reminiscent of the churches in Stockholm...

...St Dunstan-in-the-East church, which was mostly destroyed during the Second World War, and is now a public garden with quite an exotic vibe...

...the Walkie-Talkie...

...and the Monument to the Great Fire of London.

I really enjoyed my day in London, and I know I'll be back to see more sights there at some point in the future.

But over the coming months I'll be exploring a completely different part of the world! There's going to be a lot to do when I arrive in Chile, but I hope to do some travelling around the country fairly soon, and some travelling in other South American countries in the near future. I probably won't have time to blog as regularly as I've done over the last couple of years, but I'll give updates when I can!

I'm really excited to finally begin this next chapter of my life, which at times I thought would never happen. Hopefully, everything will go to plan, and it will be a year filled with fun and adventures.

See you on the other side! 👋

Read about London: Part One here!

Read about London: Part Two here!

Read about me and Claudio's trip to London here!

Read about London: Part Four here!

Read about London: Part Five here!

Read about London: Part Six here!

Read about London: Part Eight here!

Country Guide: Uruguay

Name: Uruguay

Continent: South America

Capital (and Largest) City: Montevideo

Language: Spanish

Currency: Uruguayan Peso

Drives on the: Right

Time Zone: Uruguay Standard Time (UTC -3)

Adaptor Types: Type C, Type F and Type L

Description: Uruguay is one of South America's smallest countries and can be found in between Argentina and Brazil. It also has a coastline along the Atlantic Ocean and Río de la Plata. Like its neighbour Argentina, it is famous for football and tango dancing, and it is also often considered to be the most progressive country in Latin America.

Why You Should Visit: Uruguay isn't one of the top Latin American tourist destinations, but I would definitely recommend going there! The UNESCO World Heritage town of Colonia del Sacramento is just a short ferry ride away from Buenos Aires, and is such a picturesque place to spend a day exploring. There are also some great beaches and beautiful green countryside to discover all over the country. And the fact that it's so small compared to most other South American countries makes it easy to get around!

Fun Fact: 95% of the energy used in Uruguay now comes from sustainable sources.

My Blogposts About Uruguay

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- An Eventful Day in Uruguay (Montevideo and Colonia del Sacramento)

- UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Colonia del Sacramento)

- Travel Tips: My Ten Favourite Beaches (Colonia del Sacramento)

- Travel Tips: My Top Ten Historical Destinations (Colonia del Sacramento)

- Charlotte's Travel Adventures is 5 Years Old! (Colonia del Sacramento)

Clockwise starting from top left: Parroquia San Francisco de Asís, Montevideo; all other photos taken in Colonia del Sacramento

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Lower Moor Nature Reserve

I'm still waiting for updates about my visa application, but I'm hopeful that I'll be able to arrive in Chile on the new date I've chosen, which is in just under two weeks. It's a very stressful situation, and so for a bit of distraction and a change of scenery, my dad and I went for a walk this morning at Lower Moor Nature Reserve, just down the road from us in the Cotswold Water Park. Although it wasn't the sort of travelling I'd imagined myself doing at this point of the year, I enjoyed getting out of the house and being somewhere I hadn't ever visited before.

The nature reserve is a popular place for spotting wildlife, and I was hoping we might get to see some otters or even beavers there (they have recently been reintroduced to the area). However, both animals seem to be quite shy creatures, so the most we got to see of them was a poster of an otter!

But fortunately, there was some other wildlife to be seen, including some cute dogs, two gorgeous pigs, two herons in the distance, and two beautiful swans.

And the lakes in general were a scenic place to walk around, although I imagine they would be at their most picturesque during the autumn.

The nature reserve even has a café in a sort of cabin next to one of the lakes. It was completely busy this morning, so we had coffee at home instead, but it would be nice to go back there in the future.

Overall, I enjoyed our little outing to this area filled with nature. Hopefully, my next trip will be to London next week, or even later this week!

Cotswold Airport

This week, both my parents had their birthdays, and so to celebrate, we went on our first local outdoor outing in several months. We decided to visit Cotswold Airport, a private airport located near the village of Kemble, which is known for being a sort of aeroplane graveyard! Many old commercial planes from all over the world are taken there once they've been taken out of service; at the moment you can find planes from TAP Air Portugal, Air Mauritius, Air France and Jet2 there.

Maybe it sounds a bit strange, but the airport is actually something of a tourist destination. It is open to the public for visits, and it even has an aviation-themed restaurant called AV8. This was where we went yesterday morning for tea and cake. It had been several years since I'd last visited, so it was nice to go back again. I ordered a vegan chocolate cake and an earl grey tea, and both were very tasty. 😊

In addition to all its aviation-themed décor, AV8 also has one of the 80 Gromit statues from the 2013 charity campaign Gromit Unleashed! The statues were originally displayed in various places around Bristol before being auctioned off to raise money for Bristol Children's Hospital.

After our tea and cake, we went outside to take a look at the airport's planes. I suppose it's not often that you get to see planes so close-up, so it was quite a special and unique experience.

By far the biggest and most spectacular plane was a British Airways Boeing 747. It has actually been converted into a "party plane" and can be rented out for events at a cost of £1000 an hour! Obviously, that's more than a little over my budget, but I was very happy to see the plane from the outside and take photos!

To sum up, we all really enjoyed this little trip out to a destination which is a bit different and out of the ordinary. Being there was kind of a reminder of international travel, and it gave me a little bit of that feeling of when you're at the airport, ready to fly to somewhere exciting.

Unfortunately, my own plans to fly somewhere exciting have been delayed yet again. I was supposed to finally be moving back to Chile on Monday 7th February, and if the Cancillería de Chile had done their job and approved my visa within a reasonable amount of time, I would have been able to go on that date. As it is, I'm having to postpone my flight by two weeks, and I just have to pray that everything will be sorted by then.

It's incredibly frustrating, as there's nothing I can do about the situation. Every single phase of this visa application has taken far longer than it should have done, and it feels so unfair. It's been two and a half years that I've been living with my parents since graduation, and over one year since I last saw my boyfriend, and I'm just so tired of waiting and not being able to move on with my life.

But at least I know I'm now so close to the finish line of what has really been quite a battle. I just need one last bit of patience to be able to get through this final stage, and hopefully by the end of this month, I'll be writing here about my adventures in Chile...

Country Guide: Sweden

Name: Sweden (in Swedish: Sverige)

Continent: Europe

Capital (and Largest) City: Stockholm

Language: Swedish

Currency: Swedish Krona

Drives on the: Right

Time Zone: Central European Time

Adaptor Types: Type C and Type F

Description: Sweden is the largest country in the Scandinavia region, bordering Norway and Finland. It is famous for its cold, snowy weather, and for its success in the areas of interior design, crime fiction, and music, having produced several Eurovision winners, including ABBA. It is also known for its high standard of living.

Why You Should Visit: In 2020, my boyfriend Claudio and I spontaneously visited Stockholm and had an amazing time. The city is beautiful, especially the historic centre (Gamla stan), and it has plenty of interesting museums to check out, such as Skansen open-air museum, and the Viking Museum. If I go back to Sweden, I would like to see more of the country's natural landscapes, including the glaciers and fjords that Scandinavia is famous for.

Fun Fact: Sweden has more islands than any other country in the world!

My Blogposts About Sweden

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- London: Day Four + Arriving in Sweden (Stockholm)

- Stockholm: Day One

- Stockholm: Day Two

- Stockholm: Day Three

- Travel Tips: My Top Ten Fairytale Destinations (Stockholm)

- Charlotte's Travel Adventures is 5 Years Old! (Stockholm)

Clockwise starting from top left: a traditional house at Skansen open-air museum, House of Nobility, Stortorget, traditional log cabins at Skansen, Gamla stan (all located in Stockholm)

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Country Guide: Spain

Name: Spain (in Spanish: España)

Continent: Europe

Capital (and Largest) City: Madrid

Language: Spanish

Currency: Euro

Drives on the: Right

Time Zone: Central European Time

Adaptor Types: Type C and Type F

Description: Spain is a country in southwestern Europe which is known for its warm weather and Mediterranean beaches. It is also famous for its food (including tapas and paella), wine, flamenco dancing and success in football. Spain borders France, Portugal and Andorra, and its territory includes the Balearic Islands, Canary Islands, and two cities in North Africa.

Why You Should Visit: Many UK tourists visit Spain every year for its beaches and nightlife, with popular destinations being Benidorm and Magaluf. But there is a lot more to it than that! Spain has an array of beautiful cities to explore, in addition to picturesque rural villages, and the Pyrenees mountain range. Personally, I've been to several different parts of the country (including Madrid, Valencia, Málaga and Menorca), but there's a lot I still want to discover on my future travels!

Fun Fact: Spain actually has five official languages: Spanish (or Castilian), Catalan/Valencian, Basque, Galician and Aranese.

My Blogposts About Spain

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- Madrid

- The Night Train From Madrid to Lisbon

- Travel Tips: My Top Ten Nature Destinations (Montanejos)

- My Gap Year 2014-2015 (Valencia)

- UNESCO World Heritage Sites (Paseo del Prado and Buen Retiro, Madrid)

- Charlotte's Travel Adventures is 5 Years Old! (Madrid)

- Travel Tips: The Best Destinations to Live in - Part Two (Barcelona)

Clockwise starting from top left: Santa Catalina Tower, Valencia; City of Arts and Sciences, Valencia; Palacio de Cristal del Retiro, Madrid; Plaza de la Villa, Madrid; Montanejos Hot Springs

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!

Country Guide: Slovenia

Name: Slovenia (in Slovene: Slovenija)

Continent: Europe

Capital (and Largest) City: Ljubljana

Language: Slovene

Currency: Euro

Drives on the: Right

Time Zone: Central European Time

Adaptor Types: Type C and Type F

Description: Slovenia is a small country in the Balkans, bordering the Alps and the Adriatic Sea. It is best known for its lakes and mountain landscapes, and in recent years it has become more and more popular as a tourist destination.

Why You Should Visit: Slovenia really makes you feel as if you've stepped into a fairytale. Lake Bled in particular is a incredibly beautiful place, featuring a medieval castle overlooking the lake from a precipice, and a little island with a old church that can only be reached by rowing or swimming. I went there with my family back in 2014, and would definitely like to return in the future.

Fun Fact: Even though Slovenia is a small country, it has more than 10,000 caves!

My Blogposts About Slovenia

Charlotte's Travel Adventures

- Travel Tips: My Ten Favourite Castles and Palaces (Bled Castle)

- Travel Tips: My Top Ten Nature Destinations (Lake Jasna)

- My Gap Year 2014-2015 (Bled, Kranjska Gora, Lake Jasna and Ljubljana)

- Travel Tips: My Top Ten Fairytale Destinations (Lake Bled)

Clockwise starting from top left: Lake Bled, Lake Jasna, Meadow near Bled, Panoramic view of  Ljubljana, Kranjska Gora

Check out the rest of my Country Guides here!