Cumbrian Hills Excersion

Yesterday I was fortunate enough to accompany Imerich, the hotel deputy manager in his car through the Cumbrian hills and up to Whitehaven by the ocean. The sights were incredible and the roads were narrow, hilly and windy. We stopped to explore an old Roman fort, and then we stopped again to enjoy a pint at a hidden pub in the middle of the mountains. Aside from the occasional hiker tourist, the places we stopped in the mountains were deserted, except for the many goats and lambs grazing in the meadows. In Whitehaven we stopped at a nice little café for dinner and were lucky enough to get a seat by the window which overlooked the ocean and the Whitehaven port. The trip took about 5 hours round trip because we stopped frequently for pictures and took our time driving through the very narrow, and at times dangerous, roads.
I finally got a cell phone and will send out mass emails with the number asap. I went to the closest town, Kendal, on my day off to buy the phone and on the train I met a girl Emma, who is also working as a receptionist at a hotel in Bowness. She was delightful and gave me tips about which network to sign up for on my celly. She is British but had just returned from a trip to BC a few months back. She loved Canada (who wouldn’t?) We exchanged numbers and she is probably going to meet up with us on Tuesday for my birthday celebrations.
On Monday night we had a fabulous staff outing for Anne’s going away party. I ended up staying out way too late and had to get up way too early for work the next day. Fortunately my boss Mathew is super nice and he actually came out with us too and got just as little sleep as I did so he understood. Saying goodbye to Anne was sad because she was the first person I met here and is an amazing girl. The good news is that now I have an awesome contact in Spain and I plan on visiting her during my holidays.
Work is going well so far, but there is much to learn and always exceptions to every rule. I imagine with a few more shifts I will start to get the hang of it. There are lots of American guests at the hotel that say “oh your American too!” to me when I speak to them during check in. It’s quite comical.
I was invited to go to Blackpool with Chris (AKA Stammper, a server at the hotel) and his girlfriend next week if I am off the same day as him. Hopefully I can go, it’s supposed to be a pretty cool amusement park. I work til 3pm on my birthday and then I have the next two days after off so it worked out pretty well. Again, I am lucky that my boss Mathew is a sweetheart.
Well that’s all for now. Enjoy the few pictures I was able to post. My facebook is being funny and wont let me upload all my photos just yet. Hopefully I can figure it out soon. If you check out my profile picture you will see a snap shot of the corridor in the staff quarters which was taken during Anne’s going away party. When there is something to celebrate here we tend to round up quite the crew!
Miss and love you!!!

I Have Arrived

Hello my Loves! I have arrived in England safe and sound! The flight was long but the seats were comfortable and the food horrible. I didnt mind the flight at all. Afterwards, I had a short bus ride through the city of Edinburgh which was really cool. I arrived at Waverly station and purchased my ticket. Everyone there was so helpful because I had a hard time finding my platform. A security officer watched all of my luggage as I had to travel a long way back to get to the nearest washroom (It cost me 30 Pents to pee!). He was really nice and he asked me if I was American and when I told him I was Canadian he told me "you have to get a pin lass". Hahaha
During my layover in Oxenholme I met a very nice elderly couple who have stayed at the Belsfield. Small world.
The taxi ride from the rail station in Windermere was no longer than 5 minutes. I was expecting alot longer. Furthermore, the hotel is located pretty much in the centre of the town Bowness-on-Windermere. So I originally thought I would isolated here but that is not the case. There are lots of "shops" restaurants and businesses within very short walking distance. I am currently writing to you from an internet cafe just up the road. I dont have internet in my room yet. In fact I am not in my real room yet but in one of the actual hotel rooms for 3 weeks. The boss said that he didnt have staff accommodations available that would suit me just yet, so there will be a switch once one of the receptionists leaves. The building where I will be moving is supposed to be pretty nice. All of the staff tell me it is where the management and reception staff are located and it is way nicer than where they keep the cleaning and kitchen staff.
Everyone here is so nice and welcoming. There are a few people from England that work at the hotel but there are many international people like me. I have met some people already and they have been nice to show me around and they took me out to a British pub last night for a pint. It was really packed but we had a good time and then later at the pizza shop I saw a British woman, likely around 40 yrs old, just completely loaded, start a fist fight with a security guard. Also, there was a group of younger Brits leaving the pub and as the crossed the street one of them called something out and then all of them immediately laid down on the middle of the road. It was bizarre. My Spanish friends here make fun of the Brits and during the fight at the pizza shop my friend Anne said “Welcome to England, this is normal here”. It was pretty funny. My first day of work is Monday and I am excited to get into work mode. I am heading out to dinner tonight with some people I have met here. The staff food is edible at best, but what can you expect at 80 pounds per month for room and board. My converter for the power outlets works great for my hair dryer but not my laptop. I need to look into getting a converter so I can plug it in. Right now I am relying completely on battery life! Anyways, that is all for now. I will be posting some pictures as soon as I have power for my laptop.
Sending lots of English love,

Carlie

The Belsfield Hotel

So I have decided to start a travel blog to digitally document my travel adventures! I will try to update it as much as possible with pictures and stories and other fun stuff.

My flight leaves August 20th and I'm getting pretty excited.

I will be living and working as a receptionist at the Belsfield Hotel in Windermere, Cumbria, UK. Its in the Lake Districts in the northern part of England. This area of England is known to be the most beautiful as it has the highest mountains in the country. It is also known to be the wetest part of England :S ahhh well. What can you do!?

Here is a photo of the hotel from their website. I can't wait to get there and see it in person!

Well that is all for now. I will post again once I get there!!

Love you all