This week, I finalized the rest of my weekend trips I will be taking to a few other countries and cities. From Dublin to Dusseldorf, my friends and I are going to try to see as much of Europe as possible, however, this week I travelled to The Lake District and Crosby Beach.
The Lake District is part of England's beautiful countryside, which resembles Pennsylvania's in many ways with its rolling hills and endless amount of farms and woodland. A few differences I noticed include the lack of cows and large quantity of sheep and the patchy green grass. The day was well spent with beautiful nature scenes and small villages. I even had afternoon tea and cake! It was a very relaxing and English Saturday to say the least.
On Sunday, a few of my friends and I visited Crosby Beach, which is a short 30 minute train ride from the city of Liverpool. Crosby Beach is a very unique beach because artist Anthony Gormley installed his sculpture exhibit entitled "Another Place" along the beach's edge. The exhibit includes 100 cast-iron sculptures of his body that look out towards the rolling sea. It was very interesting and I definitely enjoyed the beautiful blue sky and warm(ish) weather.
In the past week, I have been taking note to some differences between American and British language, specifically, Scouse British. The word "Scouse" has a few different meanings. To begin with, it is used to describe a lamb or beef stew native to the Liverpool area and which was popular among sailors at Liverpool's ports. It is also used to describe the specific accent found in the Liverpool area, and finally the people of Liverpool may also be referred to as a "scouser."
Some interesting phrases I have noticed include "Love," "Are you alright?," and "Quid."
Love: A great example of when someone uses "love" in England is when checking out at a store or restaurant. A lot of brits behind the counter will say, "Thanks, love."
Are you alright?: This phrase is normally used as a way of asking, "How are you?" or when in a department store, "Do you need anything?"
Quid: As you may know, the United Kingdom uses pounds instead of dollars. Just as we Americans say "bucks" or "cash" the U.K. uses quid as a sort of shorthand for banknotes. Ex. I can't believe I just spent 50 quid on a new pair of shoes!
This
weekend, my friends Ellie, Kelly and I will be traveling to Snowdonia, Wales to explore more of the United Kingdom!
Cheers, love.
~Michaela~
