England-resa och Gears of War LAN event!

I had an EPIC trip to the UK this weekend!

When catching a flight at 06.30 in the morning, that means you arrive at noon to your destination (first one was Birmingham), so great! It started pouring down the second I stepped outside the central station, so I took refuge in the big shopping centre just by the station.

I found a new favourite store (one which we do not have in Sweden), hmv, sooo great!

When the rain stopped, I went straight for my hotel, Britannia. It was super close to the station, as you could see, and I found it without any hassle. 

A nice single room on the 3rd floor, perfect for one night and sleeping only.

Then I went out to discover the city!

Very close to my hotel, and the central station, was a big shopping block. A huge market (where I bought some stuff), food stands, statues and sights.

The Church of St. Martin: Beautiful inside and outside, built in 1263 (I love all the old buildings in the UK)!

Had looked up all the tourism sights and things to do and see in each city I visited. Here's Victoria Square and the Council House Building (with great statues you can't really see).

There was great shopping in each city, with a lot of game/nerd shops :P

Took a walk by the river, with lovely weather, so great! <3

St. Philip's Cathedral (built in 1715). 

I have visited every Primark I've seen (four, to be exact). They have a great selection of Harry Potter clothes ^^

The Library of Birmingham. Really cool building, built in 2010. I took an escalator to the top without realizing how tall it was, almost died on the way down (super scared of heights).

When night came, I went back to the hotel and ate a fish n' chips there. Mostly hung out down in the common room since there was free wi-fi there but not in my room ;)

Early night and the only day in Birmingham, but I felt like I saw a lot of  it, and loved it a lot! Would love to go back soon! :)

It was in Nottingham a big European Gears of War LAN event was happening, so of course I went there on Saturday.

Since I couldn't check into my AirBnB until after 3pm, I went straight to the ALT Gaming Lounge (where the event was), with all my bags.

It wasn't a lot going on when I arrived around 11, they were playing their matches, but nothing on the big screen for spectators yet. It was a fair few tv's out with Gears 2 and 3, for people to play versus eachother.

Wish I had a Video Gaming lounge like this in Stockholm, it was great! 

Unfortunately my social anxiety was kicking in, so I didn't make a lot of friends, but I enjoyed the event anyway.

If you look at the map, or the upcoming video, you will see exactly how close "my" flat was to the location, but I somehow (in pouring rain and with a suitcase) manages to take an hour to find it (then another half hour to figure out how to find the key they left in a clever space). Once I made it inside I was happy again.

And it was a LOVELY place to stay in. A two-room apartment, with washing machine, kitchen, fridge, whatever.

Stayed there for two nights, so great!

I spent most of the weekend at the event, ate all my meals there etc. 

Here is a picture from the ALT Gaming Lounge, you can just see me under Ryu (guy on the wall).

It was great fun to watch the matches, everybody was soo good. Really happy I didn't enter the singles tournament on the Sunday, I would have gotten smacked xD

They had great food there, and a really kind staff. Whenever you ordered you would get one of those game cases as your gamer tag, so they would know who ordered what, cute ^^

Most fun was to watch them play, and hear their call-outs :P

Even with the event happening, I managed to get a lot of sightseeing done. Here's Old Market square:

Right next to the Gaming lounge was  the National Videogame Arcade. I didn't pay the hefty entry fee (I can play on my own arcade at home), but I did spend a good 20 minutes on their Turtles one in the lobby ^^

Their Royal Theatre building, opened in 1865.

Here are Nottingham Cathedral (built in 1841) and St. Peter's Church (from about 1180).

So many great stores, I am both happy and unhappy that I didn't bring more money ^^

The Sky mirror was beautiful

Okay, I found a real life cat café! There were loads of cats in there, even kittens!! Unfortunately it was £8 only to enter (then you had to order something) and I didn't have a lot of time, so I settled for drooling outside the windows. So cool though, will visit next time!! :D

I stuck with the tournament until midnight on Sunday, then I was too tired to stay, so I went back to my flat and saw the matches on the stream instead (but missed the final as it ended by around 3am I think, wow!)

The team everyone expected to win, won (called Excel). My favourite teams did really well, placed themselfs top 6 :) If you want to read more about the LAN, click here!

I left Nottingham by 10am on Monday and stayed a few hours in my beloved Sheffield!

I lived there for 5 months last year, and I can't say that it's changed ^^

I went to some familiar places, and looked up some stuff that I missed whilst living there.

I miss it a lot, it was such a great experience.

I never looked closely at Sheffield Cathedral, it was beautiful (started building in 1200)

Of course I had to go to my old Taco Bell, where I've eaten a lot of times (we don't have that in Sweden!) ^^

I also visited my Tatoo shop, where I made my Crimson Omen last year. Thought about doing another, but didn't have the time or the money, next time xD

Sheffield Primark had the best stuff :P

If I ever thought The University of Sheffield had a weird student union building, I didn't see Hallam Univeristy's one, haha: xD

It was great to stay a couple of hours, but not more. This town I have already seen. Instead I went on another train to Liverpool (still can't believe I have succesfully boarded 6 trains this trip, and they all left on time!) 

Last stop on my trip was a city I've dreamt of going to my entire life, being a huge Beatles fan and all.

I arrived to Liverpool Lime Street station and immediately tried to find my hostel. As you can see on the map, it wasn't very far. That doesn't matter to me though, I walked a good 40 minutes before finding it. To be fair, I walk around taking pictures all the time (I just wish I didn't have to carry my heavy bag).

 

It was a very nice hostel, and cheap! Shared a room with two guys, not sure where they were from. One from Germany I think (boy, was he annoying!). It went fine though, we had our own bathroom and it was only one night.

Out to do sightseeing!

It was beautiful (shocking) in Liverpool as well, a bit "rougher" at times perhaps, but I loved it.

That night I went out to find as many Beatles monuments as I could. Walked on Mathew Street, where everything happened. Coooool! The Cavern Club is where they were "born", they played there over 200 times.

Statues above the Hard day's night hotel: 

No Primark had as many Hufflepuff-things as the Liverpool one, woo!

The Radio Tower.

The Tuesday was almost entirely spent by Albert Dock. So much to see and do there! The wheel of Liverpool in the background (of course I didn't ride on it xD) 

The Merseyside Maritime Museum had two great exhibitions. One about Titanic (the ship was built in Liverpool and with a lot of crew from there) and the International Slavery museum.

Absolutely one of the best things on my trip was the Beatles Story exhibition.

So much to see and do in there, spent a good 1,5 hours. 

Ate a crêpes with Nutella and banana in the sun, watched the people riding the attractions etc. Was great weather and had a lovely time!

Took my last train to Manchester airport around 4pm, time to go home! I have walked A LOT, but had a great trip! Have done more shopping there than the past three years together, haha xD Some new things to wear for the new semester (which starts on Monday!).

Slumber party with sis after the trip, then back to the country place and my babies (two cats and the Xbox ;P)

Cutie!!! Låter som en mycket fin resa, jag vill också turista! <2

1. AVUNDSJUK!!!!!!!

2. Ditt absolut Längsta blogginlägg hittills

3. Nämde jag att jag är AVDUNDSJUK.... ;)
Faaan vilken SWEET resa du haft Sweetie =)

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