Monday, August 11, 2008
last day
so today was our last day. our time has flown by. i typed out a post on my computer but the internet on my computer isnt working so im on cathys. im definitely not ready to leave london. i am going to miss this city so much. everyone will have to wait to see me in person to get a full update on my last two days. but first i need to give a shout out to mom and dad. thank you so much for sending me on this trip, i really cant thank you enough. i appreciate everything that you have done for me and for motivating me to come on study abroad. i will cherish my six weeks in london for the rest of my life. i am so grateful to have such loving parents that will do anything for me. i love you so much, thanks.
Saturday, August 9, 2008
Scotland and York
Since I have been going from hostel to hostel each night it has been hard to get good, legit internet and so I haven’t been able to post as much as I would like to. We arrived in Scotland on Thursday night and our hostel wasn’t too shabby. Our hostel in Wales was great and they have slowly been decreasing in greatness with each night, but it wasn’t too bad last night. I got put in a room with 12 other girls from group, but it wasn’t as bad as it sounds. Our hostel provided breakfast, which is always nice so we don’t have to pay for it, but they usually don’t have the best food. In this hostel they had haggis as a part of their breakfast. Since I was in Scotland I figured that I needed to try it while I was there but I told Lillie not to tell me what is in it until after it had set in my stomach for awhile. It was really good! I almost wanted to go back from more, she ended up telling me what is in it last night, and im glad I didn’t know what it was while I was eating it. (its basically every organ of a lamb mushed together and then baked inside the stomach.)
I was being such a clutz today too! I slept on the top bunk and for some reason I had the hardest time getting on and off my bed, it was a serious struggle. At one point I almost fell backwards off the ladder. Then as we were taking our suitcases down the stairs I rolled over some guys foot, then almost knocked my suitcase on top of some lady. Then at a store I almost broke a glass plate. It just wasn’t my day.
Our first stop was the Castle of Scotland, we (Cathy, Lillie, M’kynzi and Hannah) walked up the Royal Mile to the top of the hill where the castle is at the top. Hannah thought it was on top of a hill and I didn’t believe her, but alas, it was. It wasn’t really a castle, but more of a fort that has been used for different reasons throughout the years. It was a little bit of a strange place—in some of the exhibits I felt like I was in Disneyland. We went and saw the Scottish crown jewels that were buried during the 1700s and then rediscovered exactly how they were left in the 1800s. They had the chest on display that they were buried in. We also saw the stone of destiny, which is basically an ordinary stone that is placed under the coronation chair (which we saw in Westminster Abbey) when new Kings or Queens are coroneted. My favorite exhibit that we saw was the Prisoners of War. It is basically a dungeon that was used to keep POWs throughout multiple wars that England and Scotland were involved in. Americans, French, Spanish and Dutch POWs have been kept there. Prison doors were on display because some of the POWs have carved names or inscriptions onto the door. It was so freaking cool! There was one door in particular that enclosed Americans during the Revolution and so there were carvings of the American stars and stripes and my favorite which was a the hanging of Lord North (Prime Minister during the war who was in charge of imposing the tea tax). At the Castle they fire a cannon each day at 1.00, so we were able to see that. I jumped really big and it reminded me of the fourth of july, back in the day. After we walked down the Royal Mile towards the Palace of Edinburgh, but we had a hard time getting there because of the Festival that was going on. Right now there are about nine different festivals going on that that attract a lot of tourist. So one of the festivals was on the Royal Mile street and there were the craziest people out there passing out flyers trying to get us to come to their show. Our favorite one was 5 guys that had their shirts off and were “frozen” and when you took their flyer they started dancing and then would freeze again. We took like 5 flyers just to watch them starting dancing funny. By the time we got down the Royal Mile we had like thirty mins to go to the Palace and then get back to the hostel. Since we got in free we decided to go through anyways. We didn’t even know what the palace was until I actually read the brochure and found out that this palace is where the Queen and her husband (who is the Duke of Edinburgh) live when they come to Scotland. She was there a month ago for about 10 days. So it was cool being there and knowing she was just there, but I doubt she ever goes to the rooms that we actually get to see. Since we didn’t have much time we literally walked through the palace in about 15 mins—really short, but we actually didn’t even need that much more time there. We met back at the hostel by 3 to depart Edinburgh. We were barely even there, but at least we were able to spend more time there than we have in any other city.
We had a 6 hour drive to York. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, its nice being able to hang out with a bunch of friends and talk to other people as we drive, so it makes it go by faster. We also had an hour stop in Durham for dinner and we were able to go online. We pulled into York at about 9ish and our hostel sucks! Definitely the worst one we have stayed in this week, which sucks since we are here for two nights unlike the other nights. For the first time Im not in a room with my regular roomies, which was nice to have things changed up a bit. Im with Hannah, Rachel and Dena which is so much fun, I really like hanging out with them and becoming better friends. Last night we actually did not go online and decided to study for our final that we had to take this morning. We studied pretty good last night, but everything we studied wasn’t on the test! But luckily the test is only 10% of our grade, so im not stressing over it. But I think I did decent. After the test and getting ready we headed out to York Minster Abbey, a place that we were required to go to for class. We got there and it looked like every other cathedral we have visited. It was beautiful, but we are all kinda sick of doing the same tourist things each day. We have all gotten to the point that we are sick of traveling around each day. And it has been raining all day too, which hasn’t made it easier to get around. The one thing I really like about York is that it really reminds me of Boston, I feel like the architecture looks very similar, so of course I really like it. We also all just hate being in a different city each day and don’t really know where to go since we aren’t familiar with the places that we are at. After the cathedral we went and got lunch—I tried Shepard’s pie, and really liked it!—and then decided to just come back to the hostel. We are tired and wanted to watch some of the Olympics. Tonight we have a group dinner at an Italian restaurant. Its kind of a goodbye dinner even though we have a few more days together. But it will be fun to do something as a group since we never have. I really want to get a group picture since I have none, but we will see.
Tomorrow we are still in York and will go to church here. Hopefully it wont be raining since we have to walk there. Then we leave for Stratford upon Avon for the rest of the day.
sorry no pics yet, my camera battery died, so im waiting for it to charge. and kel, sorry if i complained too much, but if i did, i dont want to hear it from you.
I was being such a clutz today too! I slept on the top bunk and for some reason I had the hardest time getting on and off my bed, it was a serious struggle. At one point I almost fell backwards off the ladder. Then as we were taking our suitcases down the stairs I rolled over some guys foot, then almost knocked my suitcase on top of some lady. Then at a store I almost broke a glass plate. It just wasn’t my day.
Our first stop was the Castle of Scotland, we (Cathy, Lillie, M’kynzi and Hannah) walked up the Royal Mile to the top of the hill where the castle is at the top. Hannah thought it was on top of a hill and I didn’t believe her, but alas, it was. It wasn’t really a castle, but more of a fort that has been used for different reasons throughout the years. It was a little bit of a strange place—in some of the exhibits I felt like I was in Disneyland. We went and saw the Scottish crown jewels that were buried during the 1700s and then rediscovered exactly how they were left in the 1800s. They had the chest on display that they were buried in. We also saw the stone of destiny, which is basically an ordinary stone that is placed under the coronation chair (which we saw in Westminster Abbey) when new Kings or Queens are coroneted. My favorite exhibit that we saw was the Prisoners of War. It is basically a dungeon that was used to keep POWs throughout multiple wars that England and Scotland were involved in. Americans, French, Spanish and Dutch POWs have been kept there. Prison doors were on display because some of the POWs have carved names or inscriptions onto the door. It was so freaking cool! There was one door in particular that enclosed Americans during the Revolution and so there were carvings of the American stars and stripes and my favorite which was a the hanging of Lord North (Prime Minister during the war who was in charge of imposing the tea tax). At the Castle they fire a cannon each day at 1.00, so we were able to see that. I jumped really big and it reminded me of the fourth of july, back in the day. After we walked down the Royal Mile towards the Palace of Edinburgh, but we had a hard time getting there because of the Festival that was going on. Right now there are about nine different festivals going on that that attract a lot of tourist. So one of the festivals was on the Royal Mile street and there were the craziest people out there passing out flyers trying to get us to come to their show. Our favorite one was 5 guys that had their shirts off and were “frozen” and when you took their flyer they started dancing and then would freeze again. We took like 5 flyers just to watch them starting dancing funny. By the time we got down the Royal Mile we had like thirty mins to go to the Palace and then get back to the hostel. Since we got in free we decided to go through anyways. We didn’t even know what the palace was until I actually read the brochure and found out that this palace is where the Queen and her husband (who is the Duke of Edinburgh) live when they come to Scotland. She was there a month ago for about 10 days. So it was cool being there and knowing she was just there, but I doubt she ever goes to the rooms that we actually get to see. Since we didn’t have much time we literally walked through the palace in about 15 mins—really short, but we actually didn’t even need that much more time there. We met back at the hostel by 3 to depart Edinburgh. We were barely even there, but at least we were able to spend more time there than we have in any other city.
We had a 6 hour drive to York. It wasn’t as bad as I thought it was going to be, its nice being able to hang out with a bunch of friends and talk to other people as we drive, so it makes it go by faster. We also had an hour stop in Durham for dinner and we were able to go online. We pulled into York at about 9ish and our hostel sucks! Definitely the worst one we have stayed in this week, which sucks since we are here for two nights unlike the other nights. For the first time Im not in a room with my regular roomies, which was nice to have things changed up a bit. Im with Hannah, Rachel and Dena which is so much fun, I really like hanging out with them and becoming better friends. Last night we actually did not go online and decided to study for our final that we had to take this morning. We studied pretty good last night, but everything we studied wasn’t on the test! But luckily the test is only 10% of our grade, so im not stressing over it. But I think I did decent. After the test and getting ready we headed out to York Minster Abbey, a place that we were required to go to for class. We got there and it looked like every other cathedral we have visited. It was beautiful, but we are all kinda sick of doing the same tourist things each day. We have all gotten to the point that we are sick of traveling around each day. And it has been raining all day too, which hasn’t made it easier to get around. The one thing I really like about York is that it really reminds me of Boston, I feel like the architecture looks very similar, so of course I really like it. We also all just hate being in a different city each day and don’t really know where to go since we aren’t familiar with the places that we are at. After the cathedral we went and got lunch—I tried Shepard’s pie, and really liked it!—and then decided to just come back to the hostel. We are tired and wanted to watch some of the Olympics. Tonight we have a group dinner at an Italian restaurant. Its kind of a goodbye dinner even though we have a few more days together. But it will be fun to do something as a group since we never have. I really want to get a group picture since I have none, but we will see.
Tomorrow we are still in York and will go to church here. Hopefully it wont be raining since we have to walk there. Then we leave for Stratford upon Avon for the rest of the day.
sorry no pics yet, my camera battery died, so im waiting for it to charge. and kel, sorry if i complained too much, but if i did, i dont want to hear it from you.
Thursday, August 7, 2008
Lake District and Scotland
So right now Im using the computers in our hostel for only a half hour, so i wont be able to write much, or post pictures. But today was our short visit in the lake district and the beginning of our short trip to scotland. We got up late today cause we didnt know what to do in the city that we are in. But we started to walk towards the lake and in about 5 minutes it started pouring rain on us! of course it started to rain on the first time that i decided to wear flip flops. it was pretty funny since none of us knew what to do, there was no where we could go forcover, so we just stood on the sidewalk under our umbrella in the pouring rain waiting for it to pass. we decided to go on a boat cruise around one of the lakes. it was really pretty but also reminded me of girls camp. we didnt even have enough time to get off on any of the stops. but it was absolutely beautiful! everything was very green. then we got on the bus and started our long journey to scotland. its terrible being on the bus all day cause all we want to do is sleep. so we end up sleeping all day and night, its pretty terrible. we did have a short stop at some ruins from a fort that the romans built in 124 ad. so that was really cool, but it sucked cause it was freezing and really windy. we ended up just sitting up against the wall of the fort cause it blocked the wind. then we got back on the bust to sleep some more. we arrived in scotland at about 7ish and went to a good pub for dinner. i had a sandwich, which made me really excited to eat in n out when i get home. thats definitely being my first meal in the states. well my time is almost up. hopefully i get the internet tomorrow in york
Wednesday, August 6, 2008
Liverpool
so just as i was about to post this last night, the internet stopped working...so here you go...
The best part of our stay in our hostel was that Rachel decided to come into our room and spend the night in our room. She is so fun, and Im glad that we have been able to become better
friends. We wanted to get up early since we didnt have much time in Liverpool, so we tried to get up early and head out to spend as much time as we can. We ate breakfast in the hostel...that was an interesting experience. Cathy tried the English breakfast, but that didnt work out too well. At least the toast was good. Our stop for the day was The Beatles Story museum. We went out to see the museum with my roomies and then rachel, hannah and dena--which i was really excited about. We have hung out with Rachel before but not Hannah and Dena, and this past weekend we have gotten to become really good friends with them, and I have really enjoyed it. I love Hannah, and she is living in Condo Row in the fall, so hopefully we will run into each other sometime. We were all really excited to go to the Beatles museum. It told the whole story of how the Beatles started--from the beginning to the break-up. There was a little club in Liverpool called the Cavern where they first started to play and get popular in the city. A funny thing about their Liverpudlian fans was that they refused to buy their album when it came out because they were afraid that they would get to big and leave Liverpool. Little did they know. I really loved the museum, it was really cool and very informative and all i have wanted to listen to today was the Beatles. The only thing i didnt like was the parts of the museum that focused on t
he crazy years of the Beatles--like Yellow Submarine and Sgt. Pepper. That just makes me sad since they were crazy and high on drugs all the time. I think Dad would have loved it. There were lots of things to read. My favorite part was when they talked about them coming to America. I always remember mom telling me that she remembers watching on TV when the Beatles landed in New York--so i was excited at those parts. They also had a photo exhibit just on photos from their trip to NY for the Ed Sullivan show. I liked that a lot too. By the time we got out of the museum we only had enough time to go get lunch and then head back to the hostel to get on the bus. Thats the worst part of this bus tour. We spend way too much time on the bus driving to places that we barely have enough time to see. I wished that we had at least a few more hours there cause it would have been nice to go on the duck tour (or should i say the yellow duckmarine, as it was called) that they had to easily see the city. The duck tour would have been sweet, especially since they remind me of Boston.
We got back on the bus to make our drive to Ambleside. I was really mad because we were suppose to make a stop in Preston to see the temple, something I was really excited about, but for some reason we decided to skip over that site. Which I dont understand because the place that we are at is not that exciting, so I dont see why we needed to get here so early. We got to Ambleside (which is in the Lake District) and had our choice of getting off the bus and doing outdoorsy stuff or going on to some small town to see the home of Beatrix Potter (the writer of the Peter Rabbit). Since there was no way I was going to go on a hike, I opted for staying on the bus. The village was really cute, we kinda felt like we were in Switzerland, even though I have no idea what Switzerland looks like, but i have a feeling that it looks like this town. The gallery for the ladies house was closed, so we didnt even get to see it. We just wandered the town and went into a cute shop and I bought a really cute necklace (cause i needed lots of those too.). The best part of the trip out there was the drive to and from the town. To get there we had to go on a small road that was difficult for our bus to navigate. We got to one part of the road that we could not get through because of all the cars that were passing on the other side of the road. So the cars going the other way had to stop, the first car had to actually had to reverse up this street so we could get by. We were stuck for like 10 mins, once we got through we noticed the huge line of cars backed up on the other side of the road and behind us. We literally caused a huge traffic jam, it was really hilarious and ridiculous. On the back we had the same problem, but this time on the other side of the road was another bus, so that made things even worse. So it made the car ride a whole lot more enjoyable. We got to our hostel and left for some dinner. We found a pub called Churchills, after Winston Churchill. Rachel is in love with Winny so we decided to go there. We all got amazing soup that was perfect for a dreary day and especially since it was raining while we were there. I started to think back to the day we went to the Orangery for lunch and almost melted cause of the heat and then today we got soup cause it was cold--weird. We didnt think we got internet in the hostel so Cathy, Lillie, Hannah and I decided to stay in the pub and talk for a long time and so that was really fun. I think if we all werent so addicted to getting online then we probably would spend more time out in a pub talking then sitting in our hostel. But thats what happens with all of these technological advances.
The best part of our stay in our hostel was that Rachel decided to come into our room and spend the night in our room. She is so fun, and Im glad that we have been able to become better
friends. We wanted to get up early since we didnt have much time in Liverpool, so we tried to get up early and head out to spend as much time as we can. We ate breakfast in the hostel...that was an interesting experience. Cathy tried the English breakfast, but that didnt work out too well. At least the toast was good. Our stop for the day was The Beatles Story museum. We went out to see the museum with my roomies and then rachel, hannah and dena--which i was really excited about. We have hung out with Rachel before but not Hannah and Dena, and this past weekend we have gotten to become really good friends with them, and I have really enjoyed it. I love Hannah, and she is living in Condo Row in the fall, so hopefully we will run into each other sometime. We were all really excited to go to the Beatles museum. It told the whole story of how the Beatles started--from the beginning to the break-up. There was a little club in Liverpool called the Cavern where they first started to play and get popular in the city. A funny thing about their Liverpudlian fans was that they refused to buy their album when it came out because they were afraid that they would get to big and leave Liverpool. Little did they know. I really loved the museum, it was really cool and very informative and all i have wanted to listen to today was the Beatles. The only thing i didnt like was the parts of the museum that focused on t
he crazy years of the Beatles--like Yellow Submarine and Sgt. Pepper. That just makes me sad since they were crazy and high on drugs all the time. I think Dad would have loved it. There were lots of things to read. My favorite part was when they talked about them coming to America. I always remember mom telling me that she remembers watching on TV when the Beatles landed in New York--so i was excited at those parts. They also had a photo exhibit just on photos from their trip to NY for the Ed Sullivan show. I liked that a lot too. By the time we got out of the museum we only had enough time to go get lunch and then head back to the hostel to get on the bus. Thats the worst part of this bus tour. We spend way too much time on the bus driving to places that we barely have enough time to see. I wished that we had at least a few more hours there cause it would have been nice to go on the duck tour (or should i say the yellow duckmarine, as it was called) that they had to easily see the city. The duck tour would have been sweet, especially since they remind me of Boston.
We got back on the bus to make our drive to Ambleside. I was really mad because we were suppose to make a stop in Preston to see the temple, something I was really excited about, but for some reason we decided to skip over that site. Which I dont understand because the place that we are at is not that exciting, so I dont see why we needed to get here so early. We got to Ambleside (which is in the Lake District) and had our choice of getting off the bus and doing outdoorsy stuff or going on to some small town to see the home of Beatrix Potter (the writer of the Peter Rabbit). Since there was no way I was going to go on a hike, I opted for staying on the bus. The village was really cute, we kinda felt like we were in Switzerland, even though I have no idea what Switzerland looks like, but i have a feeling that it looks like this town. The gallery for the ladies house was closed, so we didnt even get to see it. We just wandered the town and went into a cute shop and I bought a really cute necklace (cause i needed lots of those too.). The best part of the trip out there was the drive to and from the town. To get there we had to go on a small road that was difficult for our bus to navigate. We got to one part of the road that we could not get through because of all the cars that were passing on the other side of the road. So the cars going the other way had to stop, the first car had to actually had to reverse up this street so we could get by. We were stuck for like 10 mins, once we got through we noticed the huge line of cars backed up on the other side of the road and behind us. We literally caused a huge traffic jam, it was really hilarious and ridiculous. On the back we had the same problem, but this time on the other side of the road was another bus, so that made things even worse. So it made the car ride a whole lot more enjoyable. We got to our hostel and left for some dinner. We found a pub called Churchills, after Winston Churchill. Rachel is in love with Winny so we decided to go there. We all got amazing soup that was perfect for a dreary day and especially since it was raining while we were there. I started to think back to the day we went to the Orangery for lunch and almost melted cause of the heat and then today we got soup cause it was cold--weird. We didnt think we got internet in the hostel so Cathy, Lillie, Hannah and I decided to stay in the pub and talk for a long time and so that was really fun. I think if we all werent so addicted to getting online then we probably would spend more time out in a pub talking then sitting in our hostel. But thats what happens with all of these technological advances. Tomorrow we are spending the day in this town, but who knows what we are going to do. Some people are going on a hike tomorrow, but there is no way i would do that, especially since they are leaving at 5AM. And then we are driving to Scotland. So we are suppose to be on the bus for like 6 hours. its going to suck. And we are barely in Scotland anyways, so i dont even think that it is worth it. At least with each day Im getting more excited to come home. I think if we had stayed in London I would have a harder time getting on the plane. But I really cant wait to sleep in my own bed and not have neck aches from sleeping on the bus. And im excited to see my Chasers! I hope you guys show him pictures of me often so he hasnt forgotten me yet!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Let the bus tour begin
Yesterday we had to leave London. It was really sad and I realized that my time here went by too fast. We all started to pack up on Sunday night and I felt like we had just arrived in our flat. How was it already time to leave? Luckily our last night was memorable. We were listening to Britney Spears as we packed and when “Gimme More” came on we had to have a dance party! We turned off the lights and started to dance, but that turned into something really dangerous since we barely had any room on the floor since it was covered with our luggage and so much crap all over the place. So Cathy almost knocked down her closet and I ran my toes into Lillie’s suitcase. It was quite fun—as the British would say. But the best part of packing was that I opened up my suitcase and discovered another shirt that I brought to London but managed to leave in my suitcase. So I was pretty excited to have a new shirt to wear since I have gotten really sick of all my clothes that I have brought. On Monday morning we had to get up early to get ready and clean our flat. Even though im sad to leave London im not sad at all that I will no longer be sharing a flat with 11 other girls. Our flat was constantly a disaster—there were things left all over the family room, food everywhere and 
there were always dishes pilled up in the kitched that no one would clean. It was a constant problem that some of the girls could not clean up after themselves. I never really cooked much so I never had much to clean up, but I always cleaned my dishes right away. But some girls would cook meals and then leave their pots on the stove with pasta sill in it and then wouldn’t clean them up. It was a constant fight. And I actually got into a little argument with one of the girls cause she wouldn’t clean her plates. But oh well, we only have a week left so I don’t really care about being too friendly haha. I was so not looking forward to carrying my bags down five flights of stairs either, but luckily Andy and Todd came over in the morning just to help all the girls as much as they could. So that was amazing! I was very very grateful. But on my way to Metro gate I realized that I left my backpack in the hallway next to the front door. So I dropped my bags by the bus and started to run back to the flat. I ran into 
Rachel and M’kynzi on the way there and they told me that they were the last ones out—which threw me into a panic since we no longer had our keys and my life, aka my laptop, was in that backpack. But then I saw our RA lady from our apartment so I was able to stop here and use her keys. But I was very hot and exhausted after all my running and fretting. Then we had to officially say goodbye to our London home. I literally could have cried as we drove off. Im going to miss the tube, walking down Gloucester, Hyde Park, and just walking around London and knowing that we aren’t just some “tourist” but that we kinda belonged there. Well we headed out to the city of Bath and we got on our coach that we will be on for the rest of the week and it is so not as good as our first coach from Ireland. Our first bus was so much easier to sleep on and more comfortable, but maybe that’s because in Ireland we were all so tired from the jet lag and time change that we all could sleep anywhere. We arrived in Bath at about noon and as we pulled into the city Cathy said something about pigs. I got really excited to learn that they have pig statues throughout the town—it was just like the cows on parade while in New York. So
since we had free time before we actually went into the Baths I told M’kynzi that I wanted a picture with every pig that we found. So I think I took 13 pictures with pigs and then two by themselves. I was very happy about this find! Before we went to the Baths we went to a Fashion Museum that was in the city. It was kinda random, especially since they had an exhibit on Marilyn Monroe and displayed about 10 of her dresses, all originals, except for her most famous white dress.
The Roman Baths were really fascinating. They have a big museum set up were you first walk above the large bath and then through different parts of the site. The front of the temple has been excavated and there were walk ways built on top of it so you could still walk around the original site. The front steps of the temple were also shown, so you could walk right by them. I think my favorite part was seeing all of the artifacts that have been uncovered in the bath. Since it is believed that the bath was used for worshipping a goddess
many people threw coins, dishes, jewelry and even curses into the pool as in offering. Being able to see all of these artifacts reminded me of my research paper I wrote from my History 200 class on material culture. My paper discussed the inferences and conclusions you can make from artifacts and materials from the time period you are studying. So when they displayed the coins and other artifacts it talked about how these things can show what type of people may have come and why they came to the bath. The museum was really big and really interesting. There were spots were you could see the water running into the bath and it showed how the water system worked. And there were 
also spots that had other original pieces from the temple that have been found and they were displayed. Then we headed out to the Baths—which almost kinda reminded me Stonehenge in the fact that you have seen so many photos of it that it makes it less exciting to see. But I’m still glad I was able to see it first hand.
After Bath we left for Cardiff. And it wasn’t until we were in Cardiff did I find out that it is in Wales. So last night I spent the night in Wales. Lillie said she didn’t like Wales, and I responded by saying how do you know? we aren’t even there yet. Then I was informed we had been in Wales for awhile and I didn’t even know it. The hostel we stayed at was so unbelievably nice! We have been spoiled now after staying in such a nice place for our first night on our coach tour. The hostel had been converted from our house and it was brand new and everything from Ikea. When we saw the bathrooms and showers we were ecstatic at their cleanliness!! Then the terrible quad, Rachel, Todd and Andy left to explore the town and get some dinner. We were staying across the street from Cardiff’s Rugby stadium. It was crazy to see this huge stadium for a rugby team—something we aren’t use to in the states. For dinner we went to the most shady Mcdonalds wannabe ever that was pretty sick. The Chicken Cottage. Definitely don’t want to experience that again. The hostel had a nice flat screen tv with billions of movies so a few of us sat and watched John Tucker Must Die and then The Notebook. It was kinda nice to veg and rest and watch sappy movies. We packed up this morning and headed out to an unknown destination.
Today we stayed in Cardiff and went to the most random outdoor museum ever. We got there
and none of us knew where we were and what the point of it at all. It was an outdoor like village with cottages and fields. It was just like Bunratty Castle in Ireland—so we weren’t up to looking at much cause it all just looks the same now. And to make it worse it was on and off raining the entire time, so it made it less enjoyable. But we got to the gardens outside this castle and the rain kinda made it more beautiful. But the castle was random—we don’t know why it was there or whose it was. We just know that it was some rich family’s summer home. It was really cool though and the gardens were beautiful. But our theme questions of the day were: what is this? why are we here? and where are we going? Don had originally scheduled us to be there for 3 hours but we vetoed that idea and headed out to some church history site. I knew we 
were going to some places that were related to the church but I didn’t know exactly what it was but we drove out to Gloucester to see one of them.
We went to the Gadfield Elm Chapel and the hour that we spent there was easily one of the most amazing experiences on our trip. It was just a small stone cottage that was built by some of the early members of the church from Britain. It was dedicated by President Hinckley in 2004. We got into the building and it was a very small and plain. It had one main room, a small upstairs and then the small chapel. Don asked us all to come into the Chapel to sing hymns and then he decided to have a short impromptu testimony meeting if any one wished to bear their testimonies. We started off our
meeting with an amazing prayer from Angela and testimony from Todd and then began to just sing hymns following that. The spirit was so amazing and so strong. I haven’t felt the spirit that strong in a really long time. The amazing thing about it was that while in London we have had the opportunity to visit lots of cathedrals and other churches. We have been to St. Pauls, Westminster Abbey, Canterbury and so many more. All of these cathedrals are big and beautiful, their architecture is amazing, it is decked out in gold and just phenomenal. We even went to evensong at St. Paul’s where they read from the scriptures and the choir sang, and even they did this the ceremony was just empty, there was no spirit. And then we travel out to this small and plain chapel and the spirit was so strong there. It was just an amazing testament to me of the truthfulness of the gospel and it made me appreciate the sacrifice of the early Saints in Britain. Many people were emotional, including myself, and we were all very surprised for this experience—we were not expecting something so great to happen during our short stop.
Then we left for our long journey to Liverpool! Where I currently am and listening to the Beatles in my hostel. This hostel is pretty nice too and is completely decked out in Beatles pictures. The bad thing about this hostel is that you have to pay to use the internet! and since we are all addicted, most of us are sucking it up and paying for it. This city is much different then what we have seen before, it’s a whole lot dirtier then London! But im excited to venture out tomorrow and see it, I think I will like the feel of this city. Our plans are to hit up some Beatles museums before we have to leave by noonish.
there were always dishes pilled up in the kitched that no one would clean. It was a constant problem that some of the girls could not clean up after themselves. I never really cooked much so I never had much to clean up, but I always cleaned my dishes right away. But some girls would cook meals and then leave their pots on the stove with pasta sill in it and then wouldn’t clean them up. It was a constant fight. And I actually got into a little argument with one of the girls cause she wouldn’t clean her plates. But oh well, we only have a week left so I don’t really care about being too friendly haha. I was so not looking forward to carrying my bags down five flights of stairs either, but luckily Andy and Todd came over in the morning just to help all the girls as much as they could. So that was amazing! I was very very grateful. But on my way to Metro gate I realized that I left my backpack in the hallway next to the front door. So I dropped my bags by the bus and started to run back to the flat. I ran into 
Rachel and M’kynzi on the way there and they told me that they were the last ones out—which threw me into a panic since we no longer had our keys and my life, aka my laptop, was in that backpack. But then I saw our RA lady from our apartment so I was able to stop here and use her keys. But I was very hot and exhausted after all my running and fretting. Then we had to officially say goodbye to our London home. I literally could have cried as we drove off. Im going to miss the tube, walking down Gloucester, Hyde Park, and just walking around London and knowing that we aren’t just some “tourist” but that we kinda belonged there. Well we headed out to the city of Bath and we got on our coach that we will be on for the rest of the week and it is so not as good as our first coach from Ireland. Our first bus was so much easier to sleep on and more comfortable, but maybe that’s because in Ireland we were all so tired from the jet lag and time change that we all could sleep anywhere. We arrived in Bath at about noon and as we pulled into the city Cathy said something about pigs. I got really excited to learn that they have pig statues throughout the town—it was just like the cows on parade while in New York. So
since we had free time before we actually went into the Baths I told M’kynzi that I wanted a picture with every pig that we found. So I think I took 13 pictures with pigs and then two by themselves. I was very happy about this find! Before we went to the Baths we went to a Fashion Museum that was in the city. It was kinda random, especially since they had an exhibit on Marilyn Monroe and displayed about 10 of her dresses, all originals, except for her most famous white dress.The Roman Baths were really fascinating. They have a big museum set up were you first walk above the large bath and then through different parts of the site. The front of the temple has been excavated and there were walk ways built on top of it so you could still walk around the original site. The front steps of the temple were also shown, so you could walk right by them. I think my favorite part was seeing all of the artifacts that have been uncovered in the bath. Since it is believed that the bath was used for worshipping a goddess
many people threw coins, dishes, jewelry and even curses into the pool as in offering. Being able to see all of these artifacts reminded me of my research paper I wrote from my History 200 class on material culture. My paper discussed the inferences and conclusions you can make from artifacts and materials from the time period you are studying. So when they displayed the coins and other artifacts it talked about how these things can show what type of people may have come and why they came to the bath. The museum was really big and really interesting. There were spots were you could see the water running into the bath and it showed how the water system worked. And there were 
also spots that had other original pieces from the temple that have been found and they were displayed. Then we headed out to the Baths—which almost kinda reminded me Stonehenge in the fact that you have seen so many photos of it that it makes it less exciting to see. But I’m still glad I was able to see it first hand.After Bath we left for Cardiff. And it wasn’t until we were in Cardiff did I find out that it is in Wales. So last night I spent the night in Wales. Lillie said she didn’t like Wales, and I responded by saying how do you know? we aren’t even there yet. Then I was informed we had been in Wales for awhile and I didn’t even know it. The hostel we stayed at was so unbelievably nice! We have been spoiled now after staying in such a nice place for our first night on our coach tour. The hostel had been converted from our house and it was brand new and everything from Ikea. When we saw the bathrooms and showers we were ecstatic at their cleanliness!! Then the terrible quad, Rachel, Todd and Andy left to explore the town and get some dinner. We were staying across the street from Cardiff’s Rugby stadium. It was crazy to see this huge stadium for a rugby team—something we aren’t use to in the states. For dinner we went to the most shady Mcdonalds wannabe ever that was pretty sick. The Chicken Cottage. Definitely don’t want to experience that again. The hostel had a nice flat screen tv with billions of movies so a few of us sat and watched John Tucker Must Die and then The Notebook. It was kinda nice to veg and rest and watch sappy movies. We packed up this morning and headed out to an unknown destination.
Today we stayed in Cardiff and went to the most random outdoor museum ever. We got there
and none of us knew where we were and what the point of it at all. It was an outdoor like village with cottages and fields. It was just like Bunratty Castle in Ireland—so we weren’t up to looking at much cause it all just looks the same now. And to make it worse it was on and off raining the entire time, so it made it less enjoyable. But we got to the gardens outside this castle and the rain kinda made it more beautiful. But the castle was random—we don’t know why it was there or whose it was. We just know that it was some rich family’s summer home. It was really cool though and the gardens were beautiful. But our theme questions of the day were: what is this? why are we here? and where are we going? Don had originally scheduled us to be there for 3 hours but we vetoed that idea and headed out to some church history site. I knew we 
were going to some places that were related to the church but I didn’t know exactly what it was but we drove out to Gloucester to see one of them.We went to the Gadfield Elm Chapel and the hour that we spent there was easily one of the most amazing experiences on our trip. It was just a small stone cottage that was built by some of the early members of the church from Britain. It was dedicated by President Hinckley in 2004. We got into the building and it was a very small and plain. It had one main room, a small upstairs and then the small chapel. Don asked us all to come into the Chapel to sing hymns and then he decided to have a short impromptu testimony meeting if any one wished to bear their testimonies. We started off our
meeting with an amazing prayer from Angela and testimony from Todd and then began to just sing hymns following that. The spirit was so amazing and so strong. I haven’t felt the spirit that strong in a really long time. The amazing thing about it was that while in London we have had the opportunity to visit lots of cathedrals and other churches. We have been to St. Pauls, Westminster Abbey, Canterbury and so many more. All of these cathedrals are big and beautiful, their architecture is amazing, it is decked out in gold and just phenomenal. We even went to evensong at St. Paul’s where they read from the scriptures and the choir sang, and even they did this the ceremony was just empty, there was no spirit. And then we travel out to this small and plain chapel and the spirit was so strong there. It was just an amazing testament to me of the truthfulness of the gospel and it made me appreciate the sacrifice of the early Saints in Britain. Many people were emotional, including myself, and we were all very surprised for this experience—we were not expecting something so great to happen during our short stop.Then we left for our long journey to Liverpool! Where I currently am and listening to the Beatles in my hostel. This hostel is pretty nice too and is completely decked out in Beatles pictures. The bad thing about this hostel is that you have to pay to use the internet! and since we are all addicted, most of us are sucking it up and paying for it. This city is much different then what we have seen before, it’s a whole lot dirtier then London! But im excited to venture out tomorrow and see it, I think I will like the feel of this city. Our plans are to hit up some Beatles museums before we have to leave by noonish.
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Past few days
WOW, so these past few days we have been busy busy trying to do lots on our last weekend. So i havent had much of a chance to sit down and write. I can feel this post already starting to get ridiculously long--brace yourself. Right now im sitting in our family room watching the rain--a little bizarre that last sunday I was absolutely miserable because of the heat, and now I almost have the desire to go put on my sweat pants. Interesting English weather.
Friday morning was spent doing some homework. We have all procrastinated to the max on all of our school assignments, so the past few days have been catch up time. M'kynzi have been talking about going to Borough Market for the past few days so we decided to go over there during the day. It was great! It was like a farmer's market but a hundred times better. There were tons of stands with food, bread, jams, spreads, fruits, vegetables and chocolate. My favorite part was the free samples! Everyplace that sold some type of spread had pieces of bread out to sample it and I took as many as possible! They were all so good I just couldnt get enough. I wish we would have gone when we first got here so we could have actually brought some food to bring back home, but with our departure in the day ahead, it was just not feasible to buy more food. My favorite was the caramel spread that i think i had four or five samples of and the M'kynzi and I just decided we had to buy. We have yet to open it though--we need to get on that. I did eat a delicious pork sandwich. I really wish I could go back every saturday. After the Market we unfortunately went back to Harrod's. Lillie was thinking of buying some souvenirs from the gift shop. M'kynzi and I just took a seat at the gift shop and we kinda felt like white trash sitting on a step in Harrod's, but whatever. We were just too tired to walk around and that 
place drives me crazy. I really cant take it--over priced and over crowded. Next we came home and then Lillie and I went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant on Gloucester that we have been wanting to try. It was so amazing! I have never really had Thai food before, but it was so good. Lillie and I shared our food, so it was really good. A few weeks ago we had heard that there was going to be a YSA dance at the Hyde Park building that night so we wanted to go over there to check it out. We got there and there was no one there! maybe like 3o people, max, i swear. So we were really disappointed and were very self conscious of feeling really American. We werent sure if other girls from our group were going to show or not and right as we were going to leave Hannah and M'kynzi came. So it was nice to actually know a few more people. The had thing about dances here is that we dont know any of the music that they play at the dances, so it makes it hard to have a really good time. All though the dance wasnt the greatest it was really enjoyable due to the fact that we became friends with three British guys that live a little north of London. The funny thing about this story is that before Lillie and I left for the dance she was a little concerned about looking cute and I told her that it really doesnt matter, its not like we are going to meet anyone and low and behold, we do. So after the dance Hannah was talking to them and was kinda interested in one of them and so she decided to invite them over. At first I thought it was kinda ridiculous to invite over random boys, but im really glad that we did cause they were really fun. I think the combination of the fact that we havent hang out with any boys for over a month (Todd doesnt count anymore, haha) and that they have amazing british accents contributed to it. But they came over and we mainly just talked to them and we interviewed them for one of our class assignments. I really just liked talking to them about different things and getting their opinion, like we talked to them about the economy and their views about the pound vs the dollar. The best part of the night was when they taught us British slang words and they wrote down everything they could think of. We also like trying to mimic the words that they said, but they said that we didnt do a good job. It was also great when they tried to sound american. haha. when they said words where they pronounced the 'r' they sounded like hicks! its 
was really funny. so it was really fun to have them over, and we definitely didnt get to bed till really really really late.
Friday morning was spent doing some homework. We have all procrastinated to the max on all of our school assignments, so the past few days have been catch up time. M'kynzi have been talking about going to Borough Market for the past few days so we decided to go over there during the day. It was great! It was like a farmer's market but a hundred times better. There were tons of stands with food, bread, jams, spreads, fruits, vegetables and chocolate. My favorite part was the free samples! Everyplace that sold some type of spread had pieces of bread out to sample it and I took as many as possible! They were all so good I just couldnt get enough. I wish we would have gone when we first got here so we could have actually brought some food to bring back home, but with our departure in the day ahead, it was just not feasible to buy more food. My favorite was the caramel spread that i think i had four or five samples of and the M'kynzi and I just decided we had to buy. We have yet to open it though--we need to get on that. I did eat a delicious pork sandwich. I really wish I could go back every saturday. After the Market we unfortunately went back to Harrod's. Lillie was thinking of buying some souvenirs from the gift shop. M'kynzi and I just took a seat at the gift shop and we kinda felt like white trash sitting on a step in Harrod's, but whatever. We were just too tired to walk around and that 
place drives me crazy. I really cant take it--over priced and over crowded. Next we came home and then Lillie and I went out to dinner at a Thai restaurant on Gloucester that we have been wanting to try. It was so amazing! I have never really had Thai food before, but it was so good. Lillie and I shared our food, so it was really good. A few weeks ago we had heard that there was going to be a YSA dance at the Hyde Park building that night so we wanted to go over there to check it out. We got there and there was no one there! maybe like 3o people, max, i swear. So we were really disappointed and were very self conscious of feeling really American. We werent sure if other girls from our group were going to show or not and right as we were going to leave Hannah and M'kynzi came. So it was nice to actually know a few more people. The had thing about dances here is that we dont know any of the music that they play at the dances, so it makes it hard to have a really good time. All though the dance wasnt the greatest it was really enjoyable due to the fact that we became friends with three British guys that live a little north of London. The funny thing about this story is that before Lillie and I left for the dance she was a little concerned about looking cute and I told her that it really doesnt matter, its not like we are going to meet anyone and low and behold, we do. So after the dance Hannah was talking to them and was kinda interested in one of them and so she decided to invite them over. At first I thought it was kinda ridiculous to invite over random boys, but im really glad that we did cause they were really fun. I think the combination of the fact that we havent hang out with any boys for over a month (Todd doesnt count anymore, haha) and that they have amazing british accents contributed to it. But they came over and we mainly just talked to them and we interviewed them for one of our class assignments. I really just liked talking to them about different things and getting their opinion, like we talked to them about the economy and their views about the pound vs the dollar. The best part of the night was when they taught us British slang words and they wrote down everything they could think of. We also like trying to mimic the words that they said, but they said that we didnt do a good job. It was also great when they tried to sound american. haha. when they said words where they pronounced the 'r' they sounded like hicks! its 
was really funny. so it was really fun to have them over, and we definitely didnt get to bed till really really really late. On saturday we again started the day by getting some homework done. Then for lunch we crossed Kensington Gardens on the look out for Cafe Diana--just for laura! I wasnt sure of where it was at, so i was afraid i would be leading my friends astray, but we found it. And it was perfect because we had all been craving Fish & Chips one last time and so we got them there and it was so good! Very enjoyable to eat there. I hope you are happy laura! Then we came back to the flat to meet up with Tom and Reuben (two of the boys from last night) to go to Camden Market. I had been there before but wanted to go again and do some last minute shopping. At first we all kinda thought it might be strange to hang out with those boys again since it was totally random, 
but it was a lot of fun. Camden (every time i think of camden i think of My Name is Earl) was just as crazy as last time and while we were doing our shopping it started pouring rain. so that was a bit of a bummer, but of course it didnt last too long. I bought a really cute shirt (cause you know, I dont have enough) and some prints of London scenery. It was funny shopping with boys cause they obviously arent use to shopping with girls who take a long time looking at stuff. Then we decided to head out to Abbey Road for the classic Beatles shot. Luckily lots of tourist were there so we didnt feel so dumb. Its actually a busy street so it had to be timed perfectly, but luckily its a zebra crossing, 
so that made it a bit easier to go into the street for the photo. We made Tom come in the middle of the street so we have one perfect Beatles look a like photo (which i need to get from Cathy). Then we came back to Kensignton and wandered around until we decided to go to Indian food for dinner. delicious once again and it was even better since they played the whole freaking Rihanna CD at the Indian restaurant--so random and funny. Since we have been here a lot of us we have been talking about going out and going dancing. I have been a little hesitant about it since it seemed a little shady, but since the guys were coming with us I felt a little more safe. It took us forever to find a place to go since they dont really play hip hop in England, and we 
wanted to find a relatively cheap one too. We finally decided to venture out to The Roxy--it sounded promising. We got there and there was a good amount of people there but just really different than any kind of good club back in the states. I think we only knew like 4 songs that they played, the best including- The Killers, Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer" and the best of the night--The Macarana. And yes, we all did the hand motions to the song. It was great having Reuben, Tom and Martyn there cause they definitely protected us from crazy drunks. After like an hour and a half we just couldnt handle the music any longer so we headed home. The tube 
was closed so we had to find a bus stop. We started to walk and I made the decision that we should just walk all the way home. Such a bad decision. It was probably about a 3 mile walk that took us over an hour (and i wont mention what time of the day it was) by the time we got home we all thought we were going to die our legs and feet hurt so much. But the exercise was good for me. The guys came up for a bit but didnt stay too long since we were all dead tired. They are planing on making a trip to Utah soon, so hopefully we can see them again sometime in the future. It was so fun to hang out with them and learn tons of new things about the UK and of course hearing their accents was great too. On friday night they told us that when they were coming to the dance that they wanted to meet some girls to hang out with on Saturday but they were mostly just joking around about it. They said its really hard to meet LDS girls here cause they are so few young single adults--and so we were informed that we fulfilled their dreams by hanging out with them. As soon as the left we were very sad and having been talking all day about how much we miss them.
but it was a lot of fun. Camden (every time i think of camden i think of My Name is Earl) was just as crazy as last time and while we were doing our shopping it started pouring rain. so that was a bit of a bummer, but of course it didnt last too long. I bought a really cute shirt (cause you know, I dont have enough) and some prints of London scenery. It was funny shopping with boys cause they obviously arent use to shopping with girls who take a long time looking at stuff. Then we decided to head out to Abbey Road for the classic Beatles shot. Luckily lots of tourist were there so we didnt feel so dumb. Its actually a busy street so it had to be timed perfectly, but luckily its a zebra crossing, 
so that made it a bit easier to go into the street for the photo. We made Tom come in the middle of the street so we have one perfect Beatles look a like photo (which i need to get from Cathy). Then we came back to Kensignton and wandered around until we decided to go to Indian food for dinner. delicious once again and it was even better since they played the whole freaking Rihanna CD at the Indian restaurant--so random and funny. Since we have been here a lot of us we have been talking about going out and going dancing. I have been a little hesitant about it since it seemed a little shady, but since the guys were coming with us I felt a little more safe. It took us forever to find a place to go since they dont really play hip hop in England, and we 
wanted to find a relatively cheap one too. We finally decided to venture out to The Roxy--it sounded promising. We got there and there was a good amount of people there but just really different than any kind of good club back in the states. I think we only knew like 4 songs that they played, the best including- The Killers, Bon Jovi "Living on a Prayer" and the best of the night--The Macarana. And yes, we all did the hand motions to the song. It was great having Reuben, Tom and Martyn there cause they definitely protected us from crazy drunks. After like an hour and a half we just couldnt handle the music any longer so we headed home. The tube 
was closed so we had to find a bus stop. We started to walk and I made the decision that we should just walk all the way home. Such a bad decision. It was probably about a 3 mile walk that took us over an hour (and i wont mention what time of the day it was) by the time we got home we all thought we were going to die our legs and feet hurt so much. But the exercise was good for me. The guys came up for a bit but didnt stay too long since we were all dead tired. They are planing on making a trip to Utah soon, so hopefully we can see them again sometime in the future. It was so fun to hang out with them and learn tons of new things about the UK and of course hearing their accents was great too. On friday night they told us that when they were coming to the dance that they wanted to meet some girls to hang out with on Saturday but they were mostly just joking around about it. They said its really hard to meet LDS girls here cause they are so few young single adults--and so we were informed that we fulfilled their dreams by hanging out with them. As soon as the left we were very sad and having been talking all day about how much we miss them. For church today we were running incredibly late. I guess we were all just moving a lot slower from being up late the past two nights and just being exhausted from all of our walking. The bad part about being really late to church was that their schedule is backwards and I had to teach Young Womens. I was so scared that I would get there so late and that they would think that I wasnt coming. Luckily the girls in their ward also have a tendency of being late so i got there right as they were finishing the young womens theme. The lesson was on service in the church and I really enjoyed reading it and learning more. I was able to share my story of how i was so nervous of being called as Gospel Doctrine teacher my sophomore year. I told them that I was afraid I would have enough time to focus on it and that I wasnt qualified as a teacher. Then I shared a quote that explained how if you feel those things then the Lord will bless you to be able to reach beyond your natural self so that you can develop more talents and that you need to re-prioritize to find more time. The story and quote worked perfectly. I also told the story from the pioneers about how a handcart company was stranded during the winter and so a rescue team went out to help them and three young men had to get in the freezing river and helped carry every member of the company cross the river. It is such an amazing story of service and none of the girls or leaders had heard it before. Although it was really hot in that room and I had been sweating during the lesson I started to get goose bumps as I told that story. For me that showed me that it was a true story and strengthened my testimony of service and sacrifice. M'kynzi went into that class with me and she said I did a really good job and that she enjoyed it, so that made me really happy. After church it was pouring rain and we had to walk home in the rain. it sucked, but it was better than melting like we were last week. We wanted to go through Hyde Park today for one last time before we leave in the morning, but it has been pouring all day so we didnt have much motivation to get outside. I have to go pack now. Such a bummer, i cant believe our time here has gone by so fast, I really feel like we have just barely started our trip. No one wants to leave. Well as we have been saying multiple times during our trip...we cant wait until next time.
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