Blackpool 2007

Last week I travelled to the north west of England to have a short holiday in Blackpool, one of the most popular seaside resorts in the United Kingdom, well known for its long line of dazzling illuminations and being home to one of the country's tallest towers.

We left home in the morning on Monday, and were on the road for over six hours driving nearly 300 miles, including the time when we had a flat tyre and stopping twice to have a few snacks and going to the toilet etc. By evening, we finally arrived in our caravan park which was about six more miles from the actual town. After we unpacked and set ourselves up for the next few nights, we had a look around in the town, had a meal in a chippy [which I hate because chips and egg are the only 'vegetarian' things to eat, nothing healthy at all], and mucked around in arcades and the Central pier, where I could see the sun setting into the sea... I can't tell you how beautiful that was.

As it got darker, the lights were coming on, so we then drove up to see them again. Since we were constantly on the move, I had to take some video clips with my camera. The whole line of illuminations was a never-ending five miles long, and had various themes such as sirens, small characters and even Doctor Who, not to mention a giant disco ball and some road side displays. It was pretty cool to see those first hand, I must say! By the time we went back to Fleetwood, it was night time, so we stopped at an ASDA store for a few bits and went back to the caravan.

The next day, after a lengthy wait at a garage while some new tyres were being fitted into our car, we went to Blackpool Zoo, were we got to see several animals such as orang-utans, giant tortoises, capybaras [they're like giant guinea pigs], tigers, lizards, monkeys and parrots, the latter of which were being displayed at a special time which we sat through at one point. There was also another part called Amazonia which was like a walk through dome where all these squirrel monkeys were roaming free and jumping everywhere. It was a good thing I brought two SD cards, because I almost thought that I had no room left on the first one I used!

Despite almost being harassed by some kind of black and white goose for my lunch, we had a great day out there.

Wednesday was even more epic - we went most of it in the Pleasure Beach, where me and my mum went on most of the white knuckle rides except for Bling, including the all mighty Big One. Now, I have to admit, I was nervous when I went on this one, but it was such an awesome ride down a 230ft height! Other great rides included InFusion, Space Invaders and Valhalla, which was one of the best water rides I've been on, and I don't even like water ones!

After all that, my dad dragged me into a steak house which I didn't want to eat at, but fortunately they had a vegeburger that wasn't that bad. This was followed by yet another drive up and down the illuminations area much later at night when the sky was pitch black and you could see them a lot better.

The next day started with a good visit to the Blackpool Tower, a rather posh looking place which started with an aquarium, and had a massive ballroom that reminded me of Moulin Rouge. It was just so beautiful in there, what with all the red and gold designs and a guy playing on a wurlitzer organ.

But the bit that really made the day was when me and my mum went up the lift and into the top of the tower - while my mum was shitting herself scared, I was amazed by how I could see the whole of Blackpool from up there! Sadly the weather wasn't that great that day, and my camera's battery kept going flat whenever I wanted to take a good shot, but that's not to say I didn't take any pictures from that high up at all.

We then went around the shopping centre getting some bits for ourselves and for our family. I bought myself a plush of Plankton from SpongeBob SquarePants from a shop called Who, which to my astonishment had a life-sized Rayman statue on the upstairs floor. It wasn't for sale, but I really didn't think I'd ever see one, certainly not in Blackpool anyway. I also got the second season of SpongeBob on DVD, and a DVD of the entire Sonic SatAM cartoon from their HMV. I'm surprised I still have some money left after all the other crap and spent it on!

We left Blackpool the next morning, and drove for yet another six hours, coming back home in the late afternoon. I thought it was a great holiday, we got to do all those things in such a short time, and it was a whole new experience for us all. I can't imagine what this blog would say if we had gone to Great Yarmouth instead this year.

We're in talks of going to Spain next year, where my sister is currently at.