Guildford, England

Guildford, England? Where am I? Hmm.. about 40 minutes south west of London that's where. I found myself in a small university town visiting my friend Matt who I'd met over the summer in Ottawa during my working experience at the hostel. Away I went on the train to begin my reunion. I've grown quite accustomed to the train and can now forge some decent sleep on it, so now, I often look forward to it.

There wasn't much going on in this little town, especially so as we were tucked away up on a hill hidden in amoungst the University buildings in a quaint Residence. It was weird to find myself on campus again and gave me a bit of a sickly feeling in my stomach because it had reminded me of all of the years of academic incarceration that I'd put myself through. One thing was forsure, after hearing everyone talk about mid-terms, essays, and master thesis's I was glad that I'd gotten that part of my life over with... for the time being at least.

Matt did his best to entertain me but I'd arrived in one of my classic moods... you know... tired, cranky, whiney... what a strong man he must have been to put up with the likes of me. Thanks for that. I just wanted to sleep and that I did. We did the campus tour and checked out some of the local drinking establishments. The University of Surrey Campus was dead considering it was Easter break. We had some pints, brushed off some very arrogant Physics Phd students which we could have done with out, watched some films and eventually ventured out into the bustling downtown centre of Guildford.

On our way we had checked out a castle that was way up on top of the hill. I fancied the chains doubling as a door way at the top and the bars everywhere... felt like I was in some sadists home, but my delusions were put to rest when Matt told me it was probably all just to ensure the Pigeons don't fly into the castle... blah. Anyway I took the usual touristy photos as the castle gave a nice view of the city and for a moment I imagined being held captive up there... I didn't have the long braids to have my knight in shining armour climb up to save me though, shouldn't have cut my hair.




Two main streets, that's it, but it wasn't a bad place. I rather liked it there. It had all of the amenities, most importantly, hug cups of coffee -- wheeeeee. Being a bit of a tea man Matt looked a bit frightened by his massive cup of coffee that was so big it had 2 handles on the cup...


I had been able to get caught up on some old times with Matt and we checked out some book shops and I'd gotten some major writing out of my system over the massive cups of coffee that we'd found. All in all, Guildford was a nice break from the bustling cities that I've been in on this trip and allowed me to step away from the well worn backpackers trail to catch some of the life in England and meet an old friend.