Well folks, I'm back in the States. I had a wonderful time on my Study Abroad trip. Here are the last few events that occured during the last two weeks of my trip!
Monday- I treated myself to the English version of Harry Potter. I bought the entire set
(except for the 7th book cause it won't be out till 7/7/07). I took the rest of the day to reasearch for my Parliament presentation on the Enlargement of the European Union.
Tuesday- Same thing.
Wed- Went to St. Pauls for the tour! Did more research... and studied for our Parliament Exam.
Thursday- Had our Parliament exam. Exams are never fun. After, Brett and I went to The Muffin Man Tea Room for what else... TEA! Both of us ordered the Devon Cream Tea which came with freshly made scones, cream, and jam. That afternoon we headed to Harrod's. We ended up eating dinner in the food hall. I beleive we split a BBQ rib platter. Yummy stuff. AH! When we came back for the night, and when we were walking through the garden, we found Poppy, the Maria Assumpta Cat, who had a field mouse in her mouth!! I chased her down and she let go of the mouse. I scooped up the mouse in my hands and let it rest. About five minutes went by, and it regained conciousness. Brett tried to feed it. When she did it ran away. I was just happy to see it alive.
Friday- Brett, Ann, Amber, and I went to the Globe to see Corilanos. We stood as groudlings for three and a half hours. "Jeffrey" from Fresh Prince of Bell Air was in it!
Saturday- Our group went to Bath. We visited the Roman Baths (I actually drank from the spring for 50P. It's not the best tasting water, but it's good for you.), the Jane Austin museum, ate lunch at the Rat and Parrot, and went to John Rose and Betty Webb's flat where all of us had strawberries and cream with tea. The flat was very ecclectic, full of object's from thier travels. Very interesting to look at. They also had a lovely patio.
Sunday- Spent the day getting ready to leave for our big excursion to Edinburgh, Scotland.
............. Last Week...............
Monday- Our first stop, YORK! It took a long time to get there. When we did I felf like a zombie. Anyway, Brett and I indulged ourselves in Indian food for dinner that night. Then met the rest of the group at Minster Church for our own Ghost tour guided by Maureen and Rosa. We stayed at the York University dorms. The next day, Tuesday, Brett and I got up early to hit the town. We browsed the stores including the Beatrix Potter store, and a very cool knife and sword place. I bought a few souvenirs. We met up with the rest of the group at Clifford's Tower to depart York for Durham.
Tuesday- On our way to Durham, Sid, our coach driver, took us through the industrial district of England. An example of what would be manufactured is cutlery. We then stopped at Beamish. Beamish is was a small mining town that is now a historical establishment. The town has the original transportation trollies which we got to ride in, a tiny candy factory, a farm, and of course a mine shaft. I had the pleasure of petting a horse, while Brett fed a pony. After Beamish, we headed to Durham, which is a university town. We breifly viewed the inside of Durham Cathedral. We took a hour walk around the town, and down by the river where you could get a magnificent view of the Cathedral. We stayed at the University of Durham, which was an actual castle! That night, Brett, Maureen, Rosa and I went to the University undercroft. Even later that night Rosa, Brett, and I went out and explored the town and ended up at the Hog's Head bar. It happend to be open mic night, so we got our fill of music and a crowed of young folk. To get back into the University, we had to use the "little door".
Wed- We left Durham early, and headed to Alwyck Castle! This was where they filmed part of the first Harry Potter movie. We took a brief tour, I took pictures of the "flying lesson" area, and the live owls they had on diplay. They also had a "Honeydukes" sweet shop, where I purchased gummy bears and gobstoppers. I learned that there is a family living in the castle, and thier surname is Percy! After Alwyck, we went to Seahouses. Seahouses is a seaside town ( which was very rainy, windy, and cold). We ate fish and chips for lunch. Next stop was Lindsfarn. It was a tidal island which was home to a Priory. We visited the Priory museum and the church. Finally, we were on our way to Edinburgh, Scotland!
Thursday- Our first day in Scotland! I loved every minute of it! The first thing we did was go to Edinburgh Castle. I loved seeing men in kilts. I just had to say that. Ok, the Castle was very steep which gave a great view of the city. At the castle, most of us stopped off at the wool mill and searched for our family plaids (tartans). Well, those of us who had some form of Scottish decent. Brett and I walked along the "Royal Mile" and stopped off in a couple of souvenier shops. I bought three wools scarves, and a Scotland flag shirt for myself for only 3 pounds! It was a kids shirt, but it fit! We also stopped off in the Whiskey museum/factory where they had every bottle of whiskey you could ever imagine. Amazing. Brett and I went to the Scottish Museum where we played around in "high tech" exhibit. My favorite part of the exhibit was to see "Dolly" the cloned sheep, stuffed and mounted on a spinning platform. I took a picture. Poor Dolly. There was also an explanation about cloning and genetics which I found very interesting. The last thing we saw was the Ape exhibit. Digging for termites was a big hit with me, also playing with a computer program that takes you pictures and morphes your face with different kinds of Apes. I looked best as a Chimp. That night we experinced "A Taste of Scotland" which was a little cheesy, but fun. They served Haggis, not as our main course, but just a taste. It wasn't bad, but I didn't eat all of it.
Friday- We sadly left Edinburgh. I wish we had more time. But, we were off to the Lake District by Keswick. First stop, Melrose Abby. It was very quick, only 15min. Still pretty to look at. We then went to Hadrian's wall. It was a Roman ruin fort, which, we climbed all over. It was a hike to get to, but wonderful to see. After, we finally made our way to the youth hostel where we were going to stay the night. When all of us got checked in, we went on a two hour hike on the footpaths. We climbed fences, rocks, and steep hills. Beautiful scenery. Lots of sheep. I'm not kidding. They came out of no where. After our long hike, we came back and swam in the cold cold river. Well, only 7 of us(Brett, Maureen, Meredith, Ashely, Candice, Rosa, and I) got in the water. At least we earned our 20p from John Rose. Oh, and a signed postcard. I just framed it. It's now on my wall. We then proceeded to eat dinner at the hostel and work on our "skits" for our last night in England.
Saturday- In the morning, we left the Lake District, and most of the sheep. One of our stops for the day was Dove Cottage, where William Wordsworth lived. We toured his house and museum. Then I went to a small cafe and had tea. Next stop, the Bronte house. It was where, Charlotte, Ann, Emily, Bradshaw, and thier father lived till most of them died of TB. It was sad to learn that thier father outlived all of them. Our last and final destination was Frodsham, outside of Manchester. That night we stayed in a hotel, where most of us enjoyed the pool, the steam room with eucalyptus, a sauna, and of course a hot tub. It was a great way to relax and get ready for the trip home.
I was not ready to leave. I had become so accustom to living life in England, and loving it, that I didn't want to come back. Now, that I am back in the States however, I do realize how much I have missed all of my friends, but not my general routine. I'm always looking for change... and I found it in England. I hope to re-visit and even travel farther into Europe sometime soon. I will be going to Madagascar with my friend Nicky, and maybe I will finally make it to Italy. I mean, 3rd try has to be a charm right?
I'm not saying I didn't appreciate everything that I have been able to do, I do appreciate it greatly. I just have a thirst for more. And I want to take the initiative to do more. So I will. Thank you all for reading my journals, I hope I didn't bore you too much. :) Thanks again!
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