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John Vincent Saulan California State University Northridge Professor Florian English 114B 21 February 2014 A Leisure Travel in England Dear Grandma Julie, After experiencing two endless and strenuous semesters of college coursework, it was finally the right time to take a much needed vacation. I feel I deserved a break, and what is best none other than traveling. I decided to explore the treasures of England on a ten day trip starting May 20 and I would like to invite you to come with me. I have had the passion to explore England and the British Isles because I am greatly interested in its rich and beautiful history. Although the common knowledge about England is its royal families and lavish castles, its culture goes beyond that and it is far more diverse than thought of. The country, especially London is home to various ethnicitiesIndians, Pakistanis, Polish, Jamaicans, Irish, Brazilians, French and much more that have assimilated into British culture. I have already planned the ten day trip to England with an eight day stay in London from May 20th through the 23rd and May 26th through the 29th, and May 24th and 25th in Manchester and Liverpool respectively. I chose London, the capital of England, as the main focus of our trip since it is culturally and ethnically the most diverse city in Europe. Manchester and Liverpool are also very iconic English cities for their popularity from their professional soccer, or in the global term football, teams and as well as their historical presence in British history. It would be fabulous if you could accompany me in this travel since we could both learn a different perspective of England.

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First and foremost, a plane ticket to London or any European city for that matter can be costly, but I found a modest price for a plane ticket and a hotel combination for $1591 per person. I believe that price itself could attract anyone to travel without any hesitation. We would depart in Los Angeles International Airport on the 20th of May at 3:10 in the afternoon on Delta Airlines. Our flight has a stop in Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport, and we will transfer to a connecting flight to London-Heathrow International Airport. We would arrive in London at 2:30 in the afternoon local time on the following day for a roughly twelve hour flight. The London-Heathrow Airport is considered one of the busiest if not the most hectic airports in the world, but luckily our hotel is only two miles or a ten minute bus ride from the airport. We will be residing at Crowne Plaza that serves free breakfast and our room with two twin beds. Central London is actually twenty-five miles away or a thirty minute drive from our hotel in Heathrow, but luckily we could take the Heathrow Express that takes us directly to London by train in only fifteen minutes. We would save quite a decent amount of time and money while still enjoying Londons countryside. Once we arrive from America, I plan on directly traveling to Central London as any bright tourist should do since it is the heart of the country. By in mind, the temperature in this city is still quite cool, calm and sometimes windy as well in the middle of May so do not forget to bring light sweaters. Also, our main transportation in London would be the black cab as Londoners call it, as it is the cheapest and quickest way to get around London; and we would also take The London Underground, the citys subway. Most if not all of Londons main and iconic attractions are within a very close proximity of each other. We would first arrive in Paddington Station from our train ride from Heathrow, and we will visit the iconic Buckingham Palace by taxi which takes about six minutes. After we

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greeted the Queen and her minions of straight-faced palace guards, we will take a quick taxi ride to the worlds famous clock tower, the Big Ben. From a short walking distance, we could travel to the London Eye; and after that a city bus ride to the London Bridge and the Tower of London, which are also a close walking distance as well. We will also spend the next couple of days in London, and those trips could consist of a tour to the historical Shakespeares Globe Theatre, a visit to one of the citys finest farmers market in Borough, and to Sweetings, a highly recommended seafood restaurant by the Emmy award winning journalist Anthony Bourdain. All museums in England are also free so we should definitely take advantage of it. We will visit the Natural History Museum that features beautiful dinosaur exhibits and The National Gallery art museum that contain exquisite paintings from the renaissance era. After a few days of sightseeing in London, we will visit the city of Manchester which is about a two hour train ride from Euston Station in London to Piccadilly Station in Manchester. This trip might be lengthy but with your passion for beautiful European sceneries, this one will not be an exception since England has the greenest and most naturally preserved countryside you will ever see. As we arrive in Manchester, we will visit the famous Old Trafford Stadium where the football team, Manchester United plays. We cannot forget to stay at the Piccadilly Gardens, a farmers market with an elegant fountain. We could also tour the Imperial War Museum that contains significant and detailed facts about the great wars that Britain has been involved in. The following day, we will travel again taking the same train station in London but now to Lime Street Station in Liverpool. The trip would be around the same distance and time as the one in Manchester, but as said before, you will definitely enjoy Englands well preserved pastures. Once we arrive in Liverpool, we would tour The Beatles Story Exhibition since it is of

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course the hometown of the band. I am very certain that you still clearly remember the global craze for The Beatles and it would truly be perfect to visit the city from where they began. We will also visit The Walker Art Gallery that features elegant paintings and sculptures that ranges from the middle-ages to modern contemporary artists. We could eat dinner at Blue Bar and Grill that serves fairly affordable grilled pork loins that I am sure you would love. For our last few days in England, we could explore more of Londons culture that we usually never hear of or broadcasted on media. We will visit Shoreditch, an art and fashion district in the east end of London. This particular place quite interested me since it used to be considered as a ghetto and an unproductive town, but it has grown since then from its hardworking citizens that were very determined to transform it into a flourishing community. After that, Camden Market will be our next visit and it is another fashion district in London. It is known for its historic punk scene, grunge style, vintage clothing, and contain fresh produce as well. As said, London has a very multiethnic culture if not the most in all of Western Europe. One of the better examples of this is a trip to Brixton, a market district in Southwest London that contains a great influx of African and Caribbean descent that is portrayed in the towns art murals and its market shops. It also contains diverse religious groups from Jewish synagogues, Christian churches, and mosques for Muslims. Brixton also offers a variety of foods such as the Japanese street food restaurant called Okan that serves delicious savory pancakes straight from Osaka. Although this trip might sound expensive and far out of budget from the places I have listed; I, however have estimated my expenses with only a four thousand dollar budget and I had less than three hundred dollars left to spend with the plane ticket and hotel included. We could

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travel around England by using the city bus and walking more to lessen our expenses, as well as eating cheap by going to farmers markets. This travel could definitely be made fairly low-cost, and we could also combine our budget as one so we have absolute control on our expenses. Hopefully, I have convinced you enough to take this trip with me to this fascinating country of England. I look forward to hearing a positive reply on accompanying me to this vacation. This travel is certainly a top choice for any bucket list and it would without a doubt leave a lasting memorable impression.

Sincerely, John Vincent