Travel thoughts...

[fajrdrako]

I'm considering going to The Hub 3. Does anyone have any advice for a clueless Canadian who's never been to Birmingham except to change buses? When I'm in England, where else should I go?

Or I might go to England in August or September, for one of the John Barrowman concerts, which would be better walking weather. I'm hoping to hike a little as well. Still undecided....

Comments

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

If you come to the Hub 3 - just fly into Birmingham International, the hotel is in a complex at the airport, no further travel required! Birmingham is quite central for everything- Stratford for culture, London only 2 hours or less on the train...

Hiking - Lake District maybe?

Hope this gave you ideas. (I live near Birmingham but have to say that I'm not into hiking, so that may need further investigation)

I will be at the Hub3, so it would be nice to meet up if you do decide to come

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Stratford for culture

Ooh, don't tempt me!

Hiking - Lake District maybe?

I've certainly been thinking about that. I did have some wonderful hikes in the past on the south coastal paths - Penzance to Land's End, Deal to Dover.

I'd love to meet you at the Hub, and my other interesting LJ friends.

[hab318princess.livejournal.com]

hey, if it's the week after the Hub, I'd come with you to Stratford (got a week off) so I can pretend I've got culture (and this is entirely optional of course!)

I don't do hiking and have the company of a 6 year old...

yeah, it'll be great to meet up

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd come with you to Stratford (got a week off) so I can pretend I've got culture

Ooh, that would be fun! I'll keep you informed. And I'll look up what's going on in the way of plays.

Hiking isn't all I want to do... Sadly, I would be happy just wandering around English cities going to plays and Barrowman concerts and shopping malls, but I'm hoping to at least get a few good country walks in.

We'll see.

[trialia]

HERE! *clings*

If you're going to The Hub, I'm pretty sure the venue is nearer Birmingham Airport than Birmingham, which is to say Solihull, so you'll need to remember that for travelling.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

HERE! *clings*

Hee - yes.

Thanks for the tip re the convention location.

[beccaelizabeth]

I go to a lot of conventions but I very rarely leave the con hotel, so I couldn't give much advice. The Hub conventions are fun.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

The Hub conventions are fun.

They certainly look as if they are!

I don't usually leave the con hotel for the duration of the con, either. But there's no point going all the way to England for a few days, especially since I love England. I'd want to travel and visit friends.

I don't really know Birmingham, so it might be fun to explore that area.

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

I'm probably going to be attending Hub 3 too. Not really got any advice, as last time I was in Birmingham for a convention it was in the City Centre and not by the airport like this one.

One thing I'll say about the weather though; it's the UK, it could be doing anything! Bright sunshine and glorious hiking weather or howling gales, rain and sleet plus everything in between and possibly all on the same day! If you do come over and you'd like to see something culturally as well as aesthetically interesting then go over to Whitby on the Yorkshire coat the weekend after Hub 3; it's Whitby Goth Weekend when about 5000 goths descend on a small seaside town made famous by Bram Stoker...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm still examining my options re visiting the UK. The Hub looks so... enticing. Especially after seeing people's comments on The Hub 2.

Whitby! I adore that part of the world - Yorkshire, and northern England - and Whitby has huge personal resonances for me, not because of Bram Stoker, but because of the Synod there in 633 which I once did a paper about, and I fell in love with King Oswy of Northumbria. (Doesn't take much, with me.)

[aeron-lanart.livejournal.com]

I have a soft spot for Hild, who shared the same grandfather as Owwy IIRC. Whitby Abbey is a lovely place, even though no trace remains of Hild's abbey of Streoneshalh. I haven't been up there for a year or 2 I think so I might make the effort to have a trip up there this WGW. A few years back they did a dig at the top of the cliff by the abbey as they were concerned they were going to lose a lot of history into the sea - rightly so as during the 9 years I've been going to goth weekend that area of land has got perceptibly smaller.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd have to look at a geneology to see how/whether Hild and Oswy were related, but I recall that there was some connection - wasn't she a niece of King Edwin? (Note to self: referesh my knowledge of these folk I used to know so well. Maybe I'll reread Bede. There's an online Latin group that is reading Bede in Latin - sound like time-consuming fun.)

Did they find anything really interesting in the dig, do you know?

[duncanmac.livejournal.com]

Any way you could pack me into your suitcase? :-)

I'd love to join you, though I'd like to see more of London than just go to Birmingham. [I might add that I usually think of Birmingham as a place to change trains, rather than coaches.]

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'm hoping to see London, too. Not that I haven't seen it already, but I know it's changed since I lived there. A lot.

[jadesfire2808.livejournal.com]

I don't know Birmingham very well, but you'll only be an hour away from Oxford! We have books! ;) I do a very good guided tour...

I'm assuming that you won't be able to fly direct to Birmingham from Canada, but the trains up from London are pretty good. There's a train station just for Birmingham International and the NEC, and if you come with a few days either side, you'll be able to get pretty much anywhere you want to go (by train) within a few hours.

Sounds very cool - hope you can make it!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

you'll only be an hour away from Oxford! We have books! ;) I do a very good guided tour...

Ooh, how wonderful!

I hope I can make it, too.

[gillo]

Birmingham International is at Birmingham Airport, and also a stop on the fast train route from Euston Station, London to Birmingham proper, Manchester and points north. It is also ten miles from where I live and you have no idea of the level of sulk I could achieve if you didn't come to stay. We have Kenilworth Castle, Warwick, Stratford-on-Avon, the RSC and all sorts of stuff to hand, and the week of The Hub I will be on half-term holiday and thus available as native guide...

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Eeeeeee you can't imagine how much I would love to visit you. You don't have to bribe me with Stratford-on-Avon (though that's very effective) and any kind of castle (though that works too, very well) and the hope of talk about Lymond and/or Spike.

If I came in, say, September (for better weather and such) does the invitation still stand?

[gillo]

The invitation stands any time you like (except September 3rd, when my daughter graduates from university), though during the working week I'll be at work, surprisingly. I'd love to have you visit, though I might try to force-feed you more Spike!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I would be happy to be force-fed Spike!

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Any chance of making it to Glasgow?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I'd like to. Everything is still unplanned - looking at possibilities - and questions of cost and time. But Glasgow's on my wish list.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Of course, the big Doctor Who exhibition here is on until January…

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

It would be fun to see it. Extra incentive...!

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I'll be sending you a cutting on it; also another Doctor Who + Plantagenets novel.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Wonderful!

[neadods.livejournal.com]

London is always loverly.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I love that city. It's fascinating.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

Strange: I've spent my life avoiding it as far as possible. Too big and scary.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Loving in London was wonderful. I walked and walked and walked, and everywhere I went I found something exciting, new to me, and historical. That just doesn't happen in Canada. I didn't find it scary, though I might have if I'd been trying to drive a car - or ride a bicycle.

[silverwhistle.livejournal.com]

I don't like the underground. The escalators are too steep and fast. I don't drive or cycle. It's just too big and impersonal. I prefer places I can get the measure of on foot.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I walked... well, most of the area from Chelsea to King's College. Explored as much as I could on foot. I disliked the escalators, too - especially at Leicester Square.

[toraks.livejournal.com]

COME HERE!!! (you said you would?!?!?!?)

We're not that far from Birmingham if that's what you end up doing. Even London's only about a 4 hour train ride.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Yay! I'd love to visit you.

[toraks.livejournal.com]

Cool, definitely keep it in your plans and let us know when it might be. We're not planning any trips just then, but everything's very up in the air at the moment for that time.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Understood!