blackpool pt 1

There are some places where it doesn't matter if your hotel isn't great because the atmosphere is electric and there are so many things to do and see. This is not the case with blackpool. That being said, it was a very interesting experience, and I am grateful to have gone.

Will and I left Utah on May 25th, flew to JFK, and landed in Manchester on the morning of the 26th. I relearned that I do not sleep on planes, and overall it was a very stressful experience. 

We found our way to the train station and bought tickets to blackpool. Figuring a quick bathroom break would be fine, we made our way to the platform and found that the train was cancelled. This crisis was avoided with an extremely British man giving us directions to hop on another train and transfer at Preston. At Preston we barely made the connecting train, but eventually found ourselves in blackpool.

Tired and with heavy bags, it was around 10 am. I called will useless and then cried, but eventually we got to a shitty cafe, had some food, and contacted friends so we could put our bags down. The friends let us take a lovely nap, and by then we could check into our hotel.

That evening we walked to winter gardens where the competition is held, and then had overpriced italian for dinner.

The sleep patterns were royal f*cked, with the next few nights involving sleeping until 2am, staying up until 6am, and then sleeping until noon.  The second day Will and I walked to all three piers and explored a bit of the stinky city. As more friends arrived we practiced the medleys and had actually good italian food.

I found my preferred coffee chain (Cafe Nero) and settled into walking along the pier in the mornings.

Thursday my friends competed, I felt a bit left out, but also was so grateful I didn't have to deal with the stress. They played live music for the rising star amateur rounds (which they haven't done before apparently) and that was electric. Beautiful to see such talented dancers!

With that, our first half of blackpool came to a close. Friday morning we headed to Matt and Lucy's to head up to the lake district, which smelled so much better.

We drove with Carmen and Jerrod, and chatted as we passed through the beautiful country. There were sheep everywhere, and rolling hills with picturesque houses. It was too early to check into our place, so we stopped by Windmere. We strolled around the beautiful town and got lunch, and walked past the lake. The lake district was such a treat after being stuck in blackpool, I could have explored all the towns we passed for hours. Our place was great, plus we had a washer and dryer where we were able to clean our clothes (truly a godsend). That evening we drove up to Keswick and explored before grabbing dinner at a pub, where Will discovered his love of meat pies (a love which became exceedingly expensive once in London).

The next day I went on a lovely and slightly rainy walk alone. I stopped for coffee (everything opened so late in England- 7:30 was the earliest, but most 9 or 9:30) and saw a beautiful church and graveyard.

Once everyone was ready we headed to do a section of the coffin walk. This ended up being an exciting and wet adventure with 2 caves, multiple lakes, beautiful green forests, and everyone being completely soaked. 

On the way back Heather stopped to get us a plethora of pastries to hold us over until dinner.

The next morning Will and I walked and got pastries before we headed through a very twisty turvy country drive in which Carmen had a mental breakdown, and I became very carsick. Still beautiful and fun though. We decided to hold off on returning to blackpool, and stopped in Lancaster to tour the castle and grab dinner. 

The castle tour was very fun and included learning quite a bit about the history of prisons, witch trials, how people were executed, old timey courts, and getting locked in a very dark cell. Overall, one of the most interesting aspects of the whole trip!

Finally we returned to blackpool. For how wonderful the trip was, I will mention that it was hard. Will and I both have anxiety, and when we both panic at the same time it can be very difficult. Communication halts, and we both spiral inside of ourselves. The last night in the Lake district, and the night we got back to blackpool were really hard. I binged and felt awful, and will went to play smash with the boys. I felt very alone. I couldn't go anywhere because Will didn't have service, and I didn't know where to go in an emergency. Life still happens, even on adventures.