Backpacking Trip: day #8

mannn...today was probably the best day yet. not because it didnt involve a lot of walking - cuz it did. first i woke up and checked out of the astor victoria youth hostel and boarded the tube at pimlico and took it to kings cross/st. pancras stations. once i got into kings cross i was realllllly looking forward to finding the extremely anticipated and famous platform 9 3/4. but it was not easy to find. you would thing it would be between platforms 9 and 10, but that was under construction. so i walked everywhere and eventually found it with 15 minutes to go before my train departed. after being very satisfied i boarded to train to cambridge. it was a short ride - about 50 minutes. once i got off i checked in my big backpack at the left luggage area and started walking towards the city centre. the first thing on my list to do was the punt tour of the river cam, but they did not open at 10am like they had stated in the email, but at 11 instead. so this called for my first major adjustment me of my itinerary. so if you know me, then you know how big of a deal this was. but easily enough i headed over to the tourist information centre and changed my 2 hour walking tour of the city from 11:30 to 10:30 and went on the walking tour a bit earlier than planned. the tour was really good and so was the guide. we saw many of the colleges that make up cambridge university. the highlight at the end was kings college with is famous for its huge chapel that was built under henry viii's rule. after the walking tour i made my way back to the river cam and the punting check in table, and boarded the small boat. if you dont know what punting is it is when you go in a small, narrow boat and someone stands on the back and, using a long wooden pole, sticks it deep into the mud at the bottom of the river and pushes off in order to propel the boat. so the punt tour was very cool as well. it was nice to get down onto the water on such a hot day. after punting i went to subway for lunch. i told the lady that worked there that i have a friend (Jessica) who works at one in the USA, and she was very interested and was asking questions about whether or not they were the same in america. after lunch i walked back to the station and picked up my backpack and boarded the train for york. on the way over i watched the other boleyn girl which is about (you'll never guess) ... henry viii. he is very popular here i guess. not only is it his 500 aniversary from being king, but i think people just like him - even though he was a big time murderer. also, which was really cool, the train had FREE wi-fi access on it. so i definitely took advantage of that. upon arrival at york, i checked in my big backpack and walked around on the city walls which were put up hundreds of years ago. then i made my way to the city centre and walked around taking mroe and more picture. thennnn, at 7:30pm i met in the shambles for the ghost hunt of york tour which was really interesting and funny. the guy who led it was verrrry intriguing - and you could tell he really enjoyed his job. following the tour i made my way to a pub that i noticed had free wi-fi access which is where i am currently. so now i must leave here and make my way to my hostel which is about a mile and a half walk away. although it is almost 10pm, there sun is still setting so hopefully i can make it back before it gets dark. c ya!!!