'England, a land with spirit.'-Anon

Arrived in Manchester bleary-eyed and tired, to be woken up by the slap of cold wind as we stepped out into the open and left the warmth of the airport behind. Many of my friends pulled their jumpers on, and I did too, at first. Then, some days later, I became used to the cold, reveled in it, and would often spend entire days in a short sleeved shirt, refusing to put my jumper on, waiting until some well-meaning teacher asked me to.

We visited lots of places in the UK, such as the homes of various poets, castles and old palaces. Although the buildings were magnificent, and they brought back many memories of the times that I had visited them when I used to live there, it was the walks and the scenery that I enjoyed the most.

We walked quite a bit, taking in the beautiful and quaint country and the lush foilage, but there were three walks that I enjoyed the most.

The first that I remember rather clearly would be the time we took an evening walk through the countryside. That night, we were staying at an old fort called Dale Fort. It was on the very tip of Wales, and as such, rather isolated. We were quite alone, and that night was simply beautiful. The entire group walked through a field, and the walk ended with a magnificent sunset. It was the sunset that made the short walk so memorable and magical. I really can't explain it, but as the sun set, I felt an ancient and powerful magic flow through the place. The sun itself was beautiful; it shone like old gold, and as it slowly slid down into the waiting chariot of clouds, its rays dyed the surrounding sky a myriad of colours: deep purple, dreamy blue, red and the faint tinge of yellow and orange. That sunset alone was breathtaking, and the walk was, well, magical, really.

It was also at this beautiful place that we were fortunate enough to meet some of the local poets, the Peninsular Poets, as they called themselves. They came for an afternoon and shared some of their poetry with us, then invited us to read some of our own poetry. We did a few group readings, then had three individual readings, during which a teacher (Mrs. Lim), myself and a friend (Kai Chi) read.

The second walk would be the trek to Wordsworth's family home called Rydal Mount. On the way there, we walked on the Fells. Although that walk was the most tiring of the three, it gave us all a chance to savour the peaceful landscape around us. I remember we passed through some woods, and they were so quiet I hardly dared to breathe, let alone talk. It felt as if fairies still resided there, and were perhaps reclining in a hidden alcove somewhere, listening to our footsteps. That night, I decided that one day, I would trek across all the Fells of England, because the view from them is amazing, and we only walked across a small section of it.

The third walk was also, like the first, in Dale Fort. This walk was a daily one that we took to get up to Dale Fort (I told you it was isolated). One of my friends had some difficulty in completing the walk because she had an injured knee that hindered her walking sometimes. So, to keep her company, some of my friends and I would stay behind with her and sing '99 bottles of pop on the wall' to help her keep pace and distract her from her knee. Eventually, we became known as the 'Fellowship of Pop', probably inspired by the Lord of the Rings' 'Fellowship of the Ring'.

We also went to Castlerigg, a wonderful ancient stone circle full of a regal dignity that inspired me to write a poem. I liked Castlerigg best out of all the places we visited because it seemed untamed, somehow. For all that the stones had lain at the same grassy mound for goodness knows how long, I still felt a sense of untamed wildness in it; this feeling was probably aided by the fact that Castlerigg was surrounded by mountains, and that we had to walk to get there. The walk gave Castlerigg a sense of mystery, as if even modern technology had not been able to reach it yet. The stones themselves were mystical all on their own, and we were able to touch them, unlike Stonehenge, that has had barriers put around it to prevent erosion and further vandalism and damage.

Aside from all these places as yet untouched by humans, we visited poets' homes, museums and castles. One entire day was dedicated to the British Museum, and my friends and I spent quite a few happy hours roaming around the Egyptian section (that took up nearly one half of the first floor). We also paid the Pembroke Castle a visit. It was occupied by the Normans and is so well designed that nothing from Nature to man has been able to take it apart. I loved the openness of it, and especially liked a cavern we visited that the people there believed had once been home to a dragon. Again, this was another place filled with mystery and beauty, and I was absolutely awed by the sheer magnificence of the place. My only gripe is that we were not given any time to explore it on our own, probably due to a rather tight schedule.

And I still love England, and probably always will, what with her wild and wacky people, the freedom, and the beautiful landscape, no matter how perfect Singapore is, or how much safer it is, my heart will always be in England, for all its slow health services and pollution. After all, a perfect government isn't all that's needed to make a country.

All in all, together with the hours of shopping, the brilliant food, and the weather perfect for anything from jogging (which I did on many, many occasions), exercising (with my dear roommates) to relaxing or working, as well as the many wondrous places we visited, the trip to England was almost a perfect holiday. Almost....

last - next