"England's Dreaming !" England by coceng

England Travel Guide: 63,161 reviews and 142,611 photos

EURO TRIP 2001
EURO TRIP 2002
EURO TRIP 2003
MIDDLE EAST TRIP 2005

EURO TRIP 2004 :
ENGLAND
ICELAND
FRANCE
Right ! England's Dreaming ! That's a tribute to one of my favourite bands called Cornershop ! They had a song with that title & I guess they didn't like England very much ?
I knew England ! From my geography teacher, my history teacher. That ends there.
Then, I discovered 'England' as in indie music ! 'Indie' means Independant ...Many bands that I love were/are indie bands ! They do IT themself ! The so-called DIY ethic, y'see. To some of you, PUNK is the word !
They always said bad things about England, about their goverment, about their cities, about their lives...Did I care ? Nah ! I just loved their frenetic music & their 'urgency' in their lyrics...
So, what do England mean to me then ?
Indie music, what else !? New Wave bands, New Musical Express ( a music magazine which was my 'indie' bible ! ).
I actually could memorize the name of places where those indie bands came from, not knowing where exactly they were/are situated in England ! It has a very sweet memory thinking about it now...
So originally, about a year ago, I didn't exactly plan to come to England ! I had to because the cheapest way to reach Iceland is from England !
So, what does England mean to me now ?
I was there by the time I'm writing this, y'see... Although many places that I have been to around England are put under 'United Kingdom' instead ! Oh I see, England is IN United Kingdom, yes ?
Now, England means The Cotswold, love seeing those cottage houses being preserved for me ! Indie bands, always will be ! Plus the people that I have very sweet heart to, finally could visit them ! Seeing their habitats, seeing their everyday chores...
That was sweet.
Oh, the usual sights that tourists would love to see around London !
These are what England means to me now...

St. Albarn...

My Itineraries Around England :

8th June 2004 (Tuesday) - Reaching London from Kuala Lumpur. Patrick was waited for me at the Heathrow Airport. Taking my cigarette break...First night out around London on the red double-decker bus !

9th June (Wednesday) - Train to Chippenham (west of London); Approaching Swindon station, there was a 'Bomb-Scare' [please click] announcement on the train so the train had to back track to Reading ! I lost times for some planned places that I wanted to go; From Reading station, I continued to Chippenham, an excursion to Lacock Abbey. The same evening to Bath; Met my 'Harry Potter' friend & he's Polish ! Slept in Backpackers Hostel in Bath...

10th June (Thursday) - Continued to Bristol, an hour or so there. Took the train to Cheltenham where I met up with Roger. My journey around THE COTSWOLDS began...First village was Lower Slaughter. Slept at a friend's place in Cheltenham.

11th June (Friday) - With Patrick driving, explored more of THE COTSWOLDS; First village was Painswick...Ended in Burford; Drove to Oxford & slept there...

12th June (Saturday) - On my own around Oxford; managed to take some photos over Oxford by climbing up St. Mary's Church. At noon, took the train back to London.
Whole day with Reg & Steve; walking along The Thames; In the evening watched my first Indie gig at The Water Rats...Went back with Reg to Hitchin. Slept there.

13th June (Sunday) - Woke up at Reg's place, a moment taking to snap some Hitchin photos then we were off to St. Albans; From there a train to London (again !)...Walking around London & early evening back to Hitchin. Chinese take-aways...

'Harry Potter' in Bath...

14th June (Monday) - early morning train back to London; Had to reach the bus station for Canterbury ! Patrick was waiting for me & I was nearly missed the bus !
Whole day in Canterbury & back to London in the early evening.
Again, another night sights for me to capture...

15th June (Tuesday) - My chill-out day at Pat's place. Wanted to see some friends around London but instead I was hooked on the net, answering emails, uploading photos on VT & downloading naughty movies ! In the evening, Pat took me for a surprise; We went to see a Broadway show called ANYTHING GOES ! Swell performances & a great experience indeed ! Thanks Pat...

16th June (Wednesday) - Woke up early for my flight to ICELAND, from Stansted Airport.

16th June to 26th June, I was in & around Iceland !

27th June (Sunday) - Arrived at 3 AM at Stansted Airport from the delayed flight in Keflavik Airport, in Iceland. Had to take the night cab back to Pat's place near Sheperd Bush. Cost him 88 pounds...Reaching at his place nearly at 5 AM, I didn't have the time to unpack; Rushing to the train station with Patrick, for Paris !
27th June & 28th June, I was in Paris !

29th June (Wednesday) - Hurrying ourself to reach London, from Paris. My flight was to be at 9 PM on the same day but was advised to reach the airport by 6 because there would be a train strike started at 6 PM !
Safely reaching Heathrow Airport; Too many people & no delay for my MAS flight back to KL...

Pros and Cons

Pros:A Great Country To Explore...The History Plus The Sights !
Cons:Please ! DON'T BE STUCKED IN LONDON ALL THE TIMES !
In a nutshell:Don't Miss THE COTSWOLDS !

Last visit to England: Jun 2004
Intro Updated Jun 30, 2005
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Comments (7)

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truus_s Aug 22, 2004 at 7:32 AM

OOO That is nice done so..Great!!
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joanj Aug 11, 2004 at 12:54 AM

Hi, nice photo's and yes your last photo was of London, River Thames and the Millenium Dome, (white structure ). Love your Cotswold pages
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dragontml Aug 3, 2004 at 7:21 AM

very interesting write-up, arnaud ! ;-)
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tommix Aug 2, 2004 at 12:09 PM

Wow, Arnaud! Those pics are fabulous! Both from the air and from Cotswold!
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HORSCHECK Jul 28, 2004 at 1:40 PM

Arnaud, excellent aerial views from your trip ...the Afganistan photos look kind of impressive .... Fabulous page ... :o)
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kenyneo Jul 27, 2004 at 6:36 AM

Hey Arnaud ...Cotswold are so cool ..I was searching high and low for such landscape and scenery but instead people suggested Bath and Cantebury etc.... so exited now :-)
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JimKnopf Jul 23, 2004 at 12:16 AM

Hi Arnaud, I don't read the text, the pictures tells so much. Very nice pictures, especially the pics out of the plane and the cstles and old buildings. I like the castles and old buildings very much. Thank you for sharing.