FORT BEND, Texas – Hello! My name is Himali Wickramasinghe, and I was selected to be part of KPRC 2+’s Best Summer Ever series! I recently took a trip to the United Kingdom, and I was interviewed to talk about my trip.
Going to the UK has been my dream since 5th grade, and when I found out we were going to the UK for our summer vacation, I was ecstatic! I couldn’t believe that we were going to the place that I’ve been dying to go for a long time.
Our first stop on the trip was London.
When we were about to arrive in London, the first thing I saw was one of the famous red telephone booths that are commonly depicted in movies that take place in the UK. I had no words to say about how mesmerizing and gorgeous the city was. London, to me, was a perfect amalgamation between New York City and Washington DC. The building architecture was just like DC, and it was also crowded, busy and had a subway system like New York City.
While in London, we saw all the iconic landmarks such as Big Ben, Tower Bridge, Buckingham Palace, and Westminster Abbey, but one of the most extraordinary highlights of my entire trip was seeing King Charles III not once, but twice! I was exhilarated to have seen my first celebrity! We not only saw King Charles, but we also saw the president of Portugal, as he was on a visit to the UK.
We also saw Prince William at the King’s royal birthday party, which coincidentally was on the same day as my mom’s birthday. Another highlight from my trip was seeing the Broadway show Back to the Future: The Musical. The sound effects and the visuals were mind blowing, and the songs in the musical were also stunning. We also got to see the British Museum, one of the world’s best museums, where some of the world’s most ancient artifacts are held, such as the Rosetta Stone, which was used to translate hieroglyphics. I was in so much awe when I saw it.
Our next stop was York, an old and adorable little town. It reminded me of Diagon Alley from Harry Potter, because it had those dark cobble stone paths, and the small shops were very similar to the ones portrayed in the movie franchise. While we were in York, we went to the Yorkminster Abbey where we went to watch a church choir sing. Something interesting that I learned while in York was that the famous Roman emperor, Constantine, used to be the governor of York. We also ate at our first pub, but that wasn’t really the best.
Our next stop was Scotland. Some of the places that we traveled there were Edinburgh (ED-IN-BARA), Keswick, Isle of Skye, Inverness, Lake District and Glasgow. Some of the most salient places that we visited in Scotland included, Edinburgh castle, the Scottish Highlands, and the Glenfinnan Viaduct, which was the bridge that the Hogwarts Express crosses over in the Harry Potter film series. Isle of Skye was one of the most beautiful places in Scotland. While traveling, we experienced a nice and tranquil drive that we went on during sunset. On that drive, we were on a mountain that was packed to the brim with sheep. After a tranquil and scenic couple of days in Scotland, we finally went to a more urbanized part of Scotland called Glasgow, which like London, had its own subway system. While there, we went to the Glasgow Cathedral, an old cathedral that had lots of graves.
We then drove to a town called Bath, a beautiful and lively little town in England. We went to see the Roman Baths and took an audio tour while walking around the grounds. The tour explained how the baths were constructed and the architectural purposes. We also took a bus tour to see Stonehenge and Cotswold, getting a chance to see where some of the scenes from the Harry Potter film franchise were filmed, and where some scenes from the Downton Abbey series were filmed.
Finally, we went back to London, where we would be spending our final day in the UK, shopping and buying souvenirs.
My trip to the UK was most certainly one of the main highlights of my summer because I got to see things and places that I’d never thought I’d see before. My visit to the UK was an unforgettable and memorable experience that I should not forget any time soon and shall go down as one of the best vacations that I’ve ever been on. This truly was the best summer ever!