Paris

Here I am, nearly a week after going to Paris and I am just now blogging about this wonderful trip. Partly, it has been difficult for me to write this because I knew if would be impossible to script into words everything I saw and experienced. I feel lots of pressure from this one because it is PARIS! I will just try to do my best to tell the story of the weekend. This week I have also thrown myself into finding a job this summer. This takes lots of time and energy. I will keep you posted on this.Exactly one week ago, Laurel and I boarded a train in Grantham (the town close to the manor) and rode to London King's Cross Station. From that station we boarded the Eurostar. This is a train that runs from London to Paris. It run underneath the English Channel. I was worried about this because I really don't care for anything related to underwater, but I never even knew that we had gone under! After awhile I asked where we were and we were nearly in Paris. It was a much easier than flying. You don't have to check your bag and you just check in on a computerized machine. How easy! I can't emphasis enough how helpful everyone has always been to us. On the train we were seated behind a woman had overheard us planning our trip and offered to answer any questions because she is very familiar with Paris (and she was English, so much easier to understand than the French!). She helped us understand how to use the metro to get to our hotel. We made it to our hotel with only one problem (we went the wrong way one time on the metro, but it was easily fixed). The hotel was fairly easy to find, and the front desk people were helpful and welcoming. Our room was very small, but worked for what we needed: sleep! In actuality, this travel was so much less draining than the train and flight to Prague the weekend before.

As I explain all the places we went and things we saw, I may not explain it all because it would take thousands of words. So, know that there is more I could say, but I will save some to share with all of you when I return. You may also wonder how Laurel and I knew all these things existed in Paris. The big landmarks are well known, but don't be fooled by thinking that the Eiffel Tower is the only wonderful sight in Paris. I carried around Rick Steve's guide to Paris. This proved to be invaluable. He provided you information, walking paths, and eateries that were recommended. I would highly recommend carrying a travel book just for Paris when going to a city with so much to see and do.Friday was a beautiful day. The sun shown its face all day and brought warmth to the brisk winter wind that still hung on as spring tried assert herself. The day began at a lesser known (at least I never had heard of it) part of Paris. The Rue Cler is a pedestrian street that has so many cute market shops. Most of them have lots of fruit and vegetables, bread (there is bread everywhere!), and cheese. One cheese shop we went into had over 400 different varieties. There were several outdoor cafes where the locals were just sipping their coffee and eating a croissant. How fun! The last shop that we went into on this street was called L'Epicerie. They had lots of French made food items. There were so many jars of jellies and sauces in this small place. The woman working was so nice and very helpful. She explained where the foods were made and how you would use them. I enjoyed talking to her. Some of you should watch your mailboxes (hint hint).From here we walked to the Orsay Museum. To get here we walked along the Seine River and saw all the river vendors where you can buy an original painting or an old book in French. At the Orsay we bought the Paris Museum Pass. This pass gets you into over 60 museums and monuments! It is 32 euros, but if you plan on going to more than 2 or 3 museums the pass is worth the price. After purchasing the pass, we ran quickly to get to the starting point of a Free Tour of Paris. This had been recommended by a friend. It really is a free tour and it was very informational and funny (the guides are college age people), but our group was large. I found to be a bit slow, so at the lunch stop we left. From here we ate a bit of lunch by the Opera Garnier and walked toward the Orangerie and the Orsay (these are both art museums). On the way we saw so much. Just walking around in Paris can provide wonderful entertainment and a good feel of the city. We saw the obelisk of Luxor. Which at one end of the Champs-Elysees. It is a big monument to honor Louis XVI that was beheaded at that spot during the Revolution. It was also a very interesting spot because it was fashion week in Paris, and all the important fashion people were walking to a show at that time. They were dressed up! There were also people protesting the use of fur (I think-their signs were in French).
From there we went to the Orangerie where I saw Monet's water lilies. I have always been fascinated by Impressionism. I am not sure if it is the music or the art (or Chet Monet Bakery in Jefferson City that has Monet's Water Lilies on the wall) that pull me into the era. These were some my favorite paintings that I saw all weekend, and I saw a lot of paintings! The Water Lilies had their own rooms which were circular, so the paints were mounted and curved around the room. The room was created for the paintings, as Monet painted them for that type of space. They were huge paintings! The largest one was 6.5 feet by 55 feet. I also find it amazing that Monet painted these as he was going blind.Next on the list was the Orsay museum. In this art museum we went through the progression of 19th century art. You may think that in 100 years art hasn't changed much, but you would be mistaken. This museum picks up where the Louvre leaves off and has some amazing pieces by such artists as Degas, Renoir, Moneet and Van Gogh. I found the Van Gogh paintings to be most captivating. I had seen some of his work in London, but this collection seemed to tell the story of his life more clearly. There were two very different and recognizable self-portraits as well as his famous bedroom painting. Finally, I was much interested in his "The Church at Auvers-sur-Oise." This painting was done while Van Gogh was in a mental hospital and it is very calm and full of spirituality. This is a super fascinating painting.
From here we continued on down the Champ-Elysees and saw all the big names in fashion. You could drop a bunch of money really fast on this street. It is an awesome place because although the elite actual do the shopping around here, everyone hangs out and walks up and down this street. At the end of the street you are meet with the glorious Arc de Triomphe. This is a monument to honor Napoleon and his victory at Austerlitz even though he was vastly outnumbered. There is an eternal flame and a grave of the unknown solider underneath the arch. One the best things we did in Paris was to climb the 284 steps up to the top of the monument. The view was unmatched by any other that I saw. The traffic swirled beneath the arch and the sky was a crisp blue. I most enjoyed taking wonderful photos of the Eiffel Tower from the high vantage point. It was perfect day for a climb to the top. Here is a picture of me and the Eiffel Tower from on top of the Arc de Triomphe.
From the top of the Arc de Triomphe the Eiffel Tower appears so close, but in reality it is quite far away. Regardless of the distance, the Eiffel Tower was next on the list. We find the tower and get into line. The line doesn’t appear that long, but it takes quite awhile to get to the second level. You take an elevator to the second level and from there views of Paris are endless. By this time it was after dark which was wonderful. Paris lights up at night and although night time pictures are difficult to capture, I was pleasantly surprise by the turnout. We waited in another long line to get the elevator to the top. Finally we were there! It was very windy and cold, but so very worth the time, money, and temperature. I took some quick photos and walked around the level. In every direction landmarks were lit for the night. I could even see a rugby game going on beneath us. It was a Paris must do, and it was most definitely worth it. I really can’t image this place during the summer though; the lines must be hours long. The Eiffel Tower took us 2 hours total. This picture is during the light show that goes on for five minutes every hour on the hour.
After two museums and two climbs to the tops of monuments, as well as a tour and LOTS of walking, we were hungry. It was after 9 pm and I had barely eaten anything all day long. We found a restaurant recommended by Rick Steves. Surprisingly, I was much more thirsty than hungry! I had a wonderful meal of sea bass fillet and amazing mashed sweet potatoes with truffle oil. It was a great place with lots of locals. They even had to bring us our own menu in English. The French menu was on a board on the wall, so we got our own board in English. There were French men to our left and a group of Italians to our right. The waitress talked to all of us in perfect French, English, and Italian-so impressive. At the end of the meal we headed back to the hotel via the metro. It was time to plan another day in Paris.
Saturday was go time. Travel can almost be like a game at times. You read the books and look at the website and find that there is so much to do. The challenge is how much can you get done in the amount of time you have. Today was a big challenge. We got up earlier and walked a brisk 40 minute walk from our hotel to the Louvre. We were in line before it opened. This turned out to be a good move because it just keeps getting busier throughout the day. Were we following Rick Steve’s tour of the Louvre. He pointed us in the direction of all the famous stuff. Don’t be fooled by thinking that the Louvre only has the Mona Lisa. There are over 35,000 objects to see! You could never see them all, but we weren’t going miss much! The Louvre used to be a palace where the king lived, so just the building was a piece of art. I was amazed at it all. We spent about two hours in here.
The next major thing on the agenda was Sainte Chapelle. This is a chapel built just for Jesus’ Crown of Thorns. It has the most beautiful stained glass I have ever seen in my life. There are over 1,000 Biblical stories told in the colorful window of the chapel. I was completely blown away at this place. Picture really give it no justice. This place is so amazing that it was built in 1248 and it only took FIVE years! That is unheard of in those times. Compare that time to the 200 years it took to build Notre Dame.

Next was the Pantheon, a Neoclassical building that honors the “Champions of French Liberty.” Inside is Foucault’s pendulum that demonstrates the rotation of the Earth, as well as monuments describing and celebrating struggles of the French people. There is also a large crypt in the basement where a pantheon of greats are buried including Voltaire, Roussau, Marie Curie, and Victor Hugo. Everything about this place reflected the radical change and revolution that has characterized so much of French History.
Up until this point in the trip we have only gotten lost in the sense that we have taken a wrong turn that has easily been corrected, but getting to Versailles would prove to be a bit more challenging. I had a fairly strong desire to see Versailles, especially since it was only a train ride away from the city. Rick Steves said to take any train whose name started with a “V.” This sounds quite simple and easy. We buy our tickets go down to the platform and see that a train to Versailles is coming in the next few minutes. This will be very good! We can get on the train without much wait at all. In a rush of thinking we board a train that seems to have come at the time the train to Versailles should have arrived. After several stops we figure out that the train is not going to the Versaills. We exit and try to fix this mistake, but that is not as easy as going back down a street. After about an hour and a half we make it to Versailles (the train ride is only 30 minutes!).
Versailles is huge, opulent palace of King Louis XIV. He built it outside of Paris to avoid the bustle of the city. It is a huge place that has housed only three Kings (primarily because the last one was beheaded during the revolution!). It is an amazing place to which Rick Steves recommends allotting two hours. We arrived with only 40 minutes until closing! We did Versailles with speed! We saw the famous hall of mirrors as well as the King’s apartments. Let me just say that these people were living large! The gardens are open until dusk, so we spent more time in the gardens. It take an hour to walk from the palace to about the 2/3 point in the garden. Like I said, this place was huge! There were lots of people here; even a wedding couple was having their picture taken! We walked around the surrounding town and grabbed a sandwich for dinner. Getting back was so much simpler than the first trip!

Not wanting to waste a minute, even though we were really tired we still walked around the Notre Dame area of Paris after returning from Versailles. The cathedral is beautiful at night. We entered the cathedral to find that an amazing organ concert was occurring right then! What an wonderful find! The organ filled the vast space, yet the gigantic instrument could be quite and intentional as well. I think there were nearly 1,000 people in the Cathedral listening to the glorious music. After some more walking we heading back to the hotel.
For our last night in Paris we had to make a quick stop at the Moulin Rouge for pictures. This wasn’t far from our hotel. This strip is known as the “red light” district, but don’t worry-it was always safe, just a bit shocking! A great end to another amazing day in Paris.Sunday, our final day, was a “catch it all” type of day. We started early at Sacre Coeur, a beautiful church that looks straight out of Turkey! It has gypsum that gets whiter with age. The inside of the cathedral has a breathtaking mosaic of Jesus exposing his sacred heart, burning with love and compassion for all of humanity. Since the its completion, there has been someone praying for Christ to understand the world’s sins 24/7.

After this stop we got on the metro and went to Pere Lachaise cemetery. There are over 70,000 dead people in this place! They even have their own crematorium (and it is really big!). Some of the most famous graves we saw were Oscar Wilde, Moliere, Jim Morrison, and Frederic Chopin. Call me strange, but I enjoy a Sunday morning cemetery visit (we went to one on Sunday morning in Prague too!).
Back to metro and the city center to see the final monument on our trip. By this time Friday’s sun had turned to Sunday’s rain. I was pretty wet! It wasn’t cold, just wet. We saw a huge marathon of people running through the downtown streets of Paris. They were wet too. I am not sure what this was for, but there were hundreds of participants. Finally we went to the Deportation Memorial. This is in memorial to the 200,000 French victims of the Nazi concentration camps. As you walk underground in the memorial you become a prisoner. The hallway in front is lined with 200,000 lighted crystals and there is an eternal flame of hope. As you leave the message is the same as you will find in all Nazi sites: “Forgive, but never forget.” This was disturbing, sad, and necessary. Throughout Europe there are signs of destruction from a time not too long ago. It is very important to visit these places and learn about the activity that occurred. How can you ignore something like this?

With a little more understanding and having seen lots, we departed Paris for London and then Grantham. This was a jam-packed trip. I enjoyed every minute. It was different than I expected, but in a wonderfully refreshing way. I can’t say enough about the joy I found in talking to the people and trying to live, if only for a two days, like the French. It was so fun.

Another great surprise was a small spontaneous stop we made at the British Library in London. Between the Eurostar arrival in London and another train’s departure to Grantham we had about an hour to kill, so we walked out of the station and we suddenly back into the thrill of London. We saw a sign for the British Library and went to check it out. There is a room called “Treasures of the British Library.” In here are the original manuscripts or first editions of writers such as Lewis Carroll, Jane Austen, and Chaucer. Also, this exhibit houses Shakespeare’s Quarto and Folio, as well as original copies of Handel’s Messiah and Bach’s the Well Tempered Clavicord, and Purcell’s theme for the coronation of James II. They also had a section that housed scrapes of paper and envelops on which the Beatles had written some of their most famous tunes. This was such an interesting room! I could have looked at these things for hours.

After such a cool stop, we got back on the train and went to Grantham and then the manor just in time for Sunday roast. I keep thinking that this trip was perhaps my favorite, but then I have trouble comparing any of trips to one another. None have been bad or even slightly disappointing! I have enjoyed so much of what I have seen and experienced. In about an hour I am off to trip completely unlike any previous ones. I am going to the Lake District in northwestern England. I am climbing up a waterfall on Saturday afternoon! This is a beautiful national park that has scenery more amazing than anything I have ever seen (at least that is what they told us!). Of course, I will let you know what I think!

I really have to go! Sorry this post was soooo long. There was just sooooo much to tell!

Prague

I am back at the manor after a wonderful weekend. It always a bit tough to return to a pile of homework and another week of work (I know I sound spoiled! Those of you at home would probably say that you have work all the time and don't get to run off to great places like Prague on the weekend). Before I get into this week too much, I think I should back up and tell about Prague (that is probably why you are reading).

Last Friday I greeted the morning at an earlier hour than I like (5:30 am shower began the day!). After a taxi, three trains, and plane ride, we were in Prague! This was my first trip to t

he continent of Europe (in England they would just say "the continent"-like it is some far away place). From the airport we took a bus and then the metro to our hostel. We never even got

lost (that is really good for Laurel and I)! Once we arrived at "Miss Sophie's," our hostel, we

were really impressed. First the hostel was easy to find, was on a quite side street, and was very clean and cute. Second, we had made reservations to stay in a dorm, but when we checked-in

the receptionist told us that we had been upgraded to a private room for no extra charge! We found our room and bathroom to be very nice. The beds were great too! After we got settled, it was time to go exploring. I had made a list of all the places I wanted to go, but we like to just get out and walk around the different parts of the city and get a feel for the orientation and stuff. We walked around the National Museum, Wenceslas Square, and the Old Town Square.

Wenceslas Square was a huge place lined with commercial shops and restaurants that we would mostly recognize. The Old Town Square was my favorite place. It literally is a huge square, flanked by the Tyn Church Towers (pictured) and the Old Town Hall (which houses the famous astronomical clock).

The middle is occupied by several food vendors selling sausages and sides as well as these wonderful sweet, dough things. There is also an impressive statue of Jan Hus, the country's most famous martyr. At night it is really amazing to watch all the people eating and drinking amidst the wafting smell of sweet vanilla and open fires. By this time it was evening and we were hungry (especially with all this good food surround us)! We ate at a restaurant on the square and it was very good. I had a chicken with mango sauce. The menu was in at least 8 languages. It was huge! The waiter was very hesitant to give us tap water to drink. Most people order a beer (it is VERY cheap), juice, or wine to drink. I just wanted water! After dinner we walked across the Charles Bridge and it was a wonderful place to see the beautiful city at night. We stopped in a cocktail bar close to our hostel and had a drink. I had a "Jessie" (it was calling my name). It had been a long day of traveling and lots of walking, and I was tired.

The next day was filled from beginning to end with sightseeing. First thing was the "Dancing Building," a place that was designed by an American architect and some people think it is a

complete eye sore while others think it to be a wonderful nod to postmodernism. I like the design and thought it was unique. It didn't really go with the rest of the area's architecture

though. I was completely in love with the cute streets around the Dancing Building. They w

ere washed in different colors and unique. As it was along the river, it was a wonderful place to see the city across the river. After a mini-picture shoot, we explored that part of Prague a little bit more and eventually made our way across the Charles Bridge. During the day, the bridge was filled with sketch artists, jewelry vendors, and a jazz band (there was also a woman singing opera on the side of the street...she was really into her opera sining!). Next to see was St. Nicholas' Cathedral. This place was absolutely amazing.

I can't even explain how ornate and beautiful the interior was. The pictures I took (and I took a lot) don't even begin to give it justice. Here is just one of the many alters. If you go to Prague, this is the church to visit.

Finally we made it to the castle. Prague castle overlooks the city and has wonderful views, but it is a bit of a hike up the hill.

We had wonderful timing and arrived just in time to see a changing of the guard. It was really cool and lots of people were around. There was music and the guards had really fun looking hats. I was really glad to see this ceremony.

It took us a bit to understand the idea that the castle was just an area enclosed by a large wall. The castle is not just one building. Within the wall there are several building and churches. We bought a ticket to some of the attractions, but the Old Royal Palace was closed, so it wasn't was neat as it could have been. After a sufficient photo shoot of the city, we grabbed a hot dog from a street vendor and continued on with the day.

The remainder of the day was filled with a visit to the John Lennon Wall, a graffiti wall that originally protested communism, but has become a symbol of peace and love (pictured below), as well as

another church and the Old Jewish town. The Child of Prague Church has an amazingly ornate wax statue of the Baby Jesus. It is only 48 centimeters tall, yet it resides in the huge case that has gold and decoration everywhere. For some people, a pilgrimage to this church in Prague is a big deal.

The day's sightseeing was finished up with another trip through the Old Town Square. There was a jazz band here too! We walked around the Jewish Quarter of Prague. The history behind this place is what makes it interesting. Jews lived in this area from as early as the 10th century. Between 1893-1913 the area was demolished as part of an initiative to model the city after Paris. All that remained were six synagogues, the old cemetery, and the Old Jewish Town Hall. With only that small amount of Jewish remains left, the Nazi occupation would have been expected to demolish it, but it was preserved to represent "an exotic museum of an extinct race." The Nazis assembled a museum of Jewish artifacts from all over Europe and made the Jewish museum. That museum can still be toured today with many of the same artifacts that Hitler chose to be included in the museum. I didn't tour it because it is a bit expensive, but I did see the Old Cemetery which was really creepy. Gravestones are just pilled one on top of the other.

This cemetery has nothing to do with the holocaust. It was just an old cemetery in the

Jewish quarter.

After a late afternoon nap, we went out for dinner. We had really good personal pizzas for dinner at Prague's most famous pizzeria. Mine had spinach, tomatoes, and ricotta cheese.

Yum! They gave us free ice cream too! It was a great end to a wonderful day. After a substantial walk back to the hotel we went right to bed.

We still had a few hours left in Prague on Sunday. Our flight didn't leave until 3:45 pm, so we spent the morning exploring Vysehrad. It is a castle used for protection. There is a beautiful cathedral within the walls. There is also a cemetery in which over 600 famous Czech are buried. We looked at Antonin Dvork's grave. He is a famous composer. The cemetery had some very beautiful headstones and mini-monument type constructions.

We then went to the Petrin observation tower. It basically is a mini Eiffel tower (I am going to visit the real one this weekend!). We didn't go up into the tower, but we did take a lift to the top of the hill and looked out onto the city. Prague does not fail in the "great views" category.

Considering my love of food and eating while on trips, it was fitting that we ended the trip with a fabulous meal. We went to Bohemian Bagels, a local chain that is very popular and fairly cheap. I had a turkey club on a bagel and it was huge and so good! We made our way back to the hostel to get our bags and then retraced our steps to airport. This picture is a view from the plane ride home.

There weren't any problems in immigration. The longest part was the train ride back to the manor. It was over 3 hours! Need less to say, I was glad to be back.

School work has taken over the past two days more than normal. I am working hard on a paper and presentation for British Studies. We had an all day field trip today to a beautiful castle and a 19th century workhouse (they were serious about getting rid of the poor around here). Today was a long day, but it is still amazing to discuss aspects of a historical period and then go experience it only a few miles down the road.

I should finish my paper tonight just in time to catch a train to Paris tomorrow! I am so excited to go! It almost seems surreal. Don't worry I am sure reality will hit once I actually get there.

Check back in a week or so for a really great post about Paris!

Catch Up and Robin Hood

Sorry I haven't updated this in a bit.  This weekend Laurel and I didn't go anywhere too far away because we had been traveling every weekend thus far and we had lots of homework (sometime I forget to mention that I actually do go to school here!).  Friday was a great day around the manor.  I work on some British Studies (the class that everyone here must take) homework.  I also worked on gathering lots of information about trips and places to go for next weekend and our second long weekend.  This takes a lot longer than one may think!  Travel information is vast and it can be hard to understand it all especially when traveling to other countries. 

Saturday was also a good day.  Laurel and I went to Nottingham, a town about 40 minutes away on the train.  Nottingham is known for Robin Hood and shopping.  There are over 800 shops in and around Nottingham.  We tried to get to them all, but didn't quite make it :) I did enjoy going to Primark, a British store in the style of the American Forever 21.  They are all over England.  In London we saw one that was a block long, but was closed when we were there.  It is cheap and there is a huge selection of clothes, shoes, and accessories.  I really loved it! While we were around town we did notice that there was huge police force out and visible.  On the way back to the train station the police were pushing big groups of men to the side of the rode and it was chaotic!  Turns out that there was a big football game going on that day and people were really passionate about their teams!  

We also visited the Nottingham Castle, but didn't pay to go in.  The grounds were really beautiful and we did take pictures of the Robin Hood statue outside.  

Sherwood Forest is about 22 km outside of Nottingham and there is lots of folk lore surrounding Robin Hood and the forest.  We didn't go there because it was another train ride away.  When we returned to the manor the sky was a beautiful red and orange.  It was unlike any other day I had seen in England thus far.

Sunday was another day of homework and travel details.  I also made it to the gym and took a walk!  Yeah for exercise :) 

We booked plane tickets and hostels for Prague (Feb 27-March 1) and Munich (March 26-29).  I am very excited about these trips.  I now have every weekend booked from now until the last weekend in March.  Traveling helps me to be focused during the week and the time passes so quickly!  

After this week I will be exactly half way done with class!  This is a big mile stone and I am really happy with myself for experiencing such new and not dwelling on being so far away from home.  I can hardly believe that I have been here 7 weeks!  The next 7 are going to be wonderful too.

Next weekend: Prague, Czech Republic

Ireland

What a week! I can hardly believe that on Wednesday I was sitting in the Gold Room scrambling to write down all I could on our first British Studies exam.  I worked very hard on Monday and Tuesday to get ready for the exam and a paper in Shakespeare.  This short week felt like it was a few hours, not three days, but there was "treasure" to be found after all that hard work.  After the exam I grabbed my backpack, ate dinner in the refectory, and boarded the coach.  Time for Ireland!  I was so excited to see it all.  Four days in a great country!  Before we could embrace the riches of Ireland's magic and splendor we had to get there.  Normally, I don't love to give such specific times as this, but to fully understand the trip you must understand the transportation times as well.  Here was the time table...Wednesday 

6:30 pm-Leave manor

Thursday 

2:00 am-Board Ferry

2:45 am-Ferry departs

6:00 am-Ferry lands

7:00 am-Breakfast at a hotel

12 noon-Arrive at Blarney Castle

After many hours on the coach and ferry we were finally in Ireland.  What do you think of first when you hear Ireland?  Kissing the Blarney Stone right?  That is what we did first off!  This is a picture of me leaning over to kiss the stone.  The man that is holding my legs just sits up there all day and holds onto people who want to kiss the stone. 

To get to the stone you must make your way up the stone steps that wind endlessly up the castle.  This could be a difficult place for some people to get up to! The castle was actually very beautiful and I enjoyed the lovely grounds.  We even had a picnic lunch (with sack lunches from the refectory of course!) After a little bit of souvenir shopping, we were back on the coach, driving to Killarney, our destination for the night.  We stayed in Killarney two nights.  It was a fun town that was easy to get around and provided lots of good night life.  We stayed above a pub at a family run hotel.  The rooms were nice and it was fun being close to all the restaurants and pubs, but the room was super humid!  Ireland is very wet.  That so

unds funny, but it is true.  Everywhere we went was pretty humid, but nothing wa

s as bad as our hotel room.  Even the walls were moist!  The breakfast was good and I really liked the location, so perhaps that made up for the incredibly moist surroundings.

I was so excited about Friday!  After the trip briefing all I wanted to do was to go on the Ring of Kerry.  This is a path around the western side of Ireland that has many of the best views Ireland has to offer.  The journey last all day.  I was not disappointed.  We saw the greenest grass ever and lots of beautiful water.  I had a really good Irish Coffee (it was delicious!) in the morning.  It was so nice

to just visit all these sites.  This is Laurel and I ate Dingle Bay. At one point we looked out at some water and Matt, our dean of students who was our trip courier, told us that the next body of land was North America!  I couldn't see it, but I was the closest to America that I have been since I left.  My pictures don't do the views

 any justice.  I have lots pictures of me with mountains, green grass, and water, but there was something more to the day than those things.  The open and clean nature of the countryside was unmatchable.  This was one of my favorite days of travel so far.

Saturday brought another few hours on the coach.  We drove to Dublin and had from about 2:45 pm until the early the next morning in Dublin.  About 1/3 of the population of Ireland lives in Dublin, so you can imagine that it is a busy place.  The first thing I did was visit the Guinness Storehouse.  This may sound like a strange choice because I didn't have that much time, but I cannot emphasize enough what a big deal Guinness beer is in Ireland.  Everywhere you turn there is some sign of Guinness.  We had bought our tickets for the storehouse ahead of

 time and were able to get right in.  The storehouse is a really big (7 stories) place that tells how Guinness is made, how it is advertised, and the history.  It was actually really interesting and I really enjoyed walking around.  The top of the place is a really cool bar that has glass all the way around.  You can take in 360 degree views Dublin while drinking up a cold Guin

ness (each person gets a free pint).  On the way out we asked the lady at the coat check said it had been a very busy day.  She said that 4,500 people had been though the storehouse that day!  WOW! Honestly didn't get to see that much more of the city.  We briefly went by Christ Church Cathedral as that was directly across from our hotel.  I also saw the General Post Office.  That was the major site for the Easter Rising in Ireland (ask Laurel for more information about this historical event.  She is in a History of Ireland class).  I had a really good dinner at this place called Gruel.  The menu was just on a chalk board and it changed everyday.  It was a fun place to have a local meal.  We walked around the Temple Bar area which is where there are lots and lots of restaurant, shops, and pubs.  It was really fun to see it in action.  We had some great gelato. We went back to the hotel fairly early because the coach pulled out at 6:45 am the next morning. 

Sunday was our travel day back to the manor.  We got on the 8 am ferry and this time I was actually awake.  I went out on the observation deck and waived good bye to Ireland.  

I may never see that beautiful place again (maybe I will get back another time though...who knows!)  After the three hour ferry ride we rode in the coach to have lunch in Wales.  We stopped at a village in Wales with the longest name in Europe- Llanfairpwllgwyngyllgogerychwyrndrobwllllantysiliogogogoch!  That is the nam

e of the village.  There isn't much of anything there, but it was one of the those places you go to say you went.  We got back on the coach and watched "Far and Away," a movie that is about Irish immigrants.  It was a good ride back to the manor.  I loved the weekend!  It was so much fun to see the beautiful scenery and the people of Ireland are so friendly and courteous.  I also got to know some more people from Harlaxton even better.  There was lots of coach time on this trip, but I enjoyed it and I read about 200 pages of Shakespeare (I read all of Richard III and half of Macbeth.  I would really recommend Richard III.  It was so intriguing.) 

I don't have a big trip planed this weekend.  I think Laurel and I are going to Nottingham on Saturday.  This will be my first weekend without a trip.  Part of me is looking forward to the down time and another part of me wishes I was running of to another wonderful place.  Someday I do have to work on all that school work, so maybe a quite weekend is a good idea.

Cambridge

This weekend was a wonderful change from my past three weekends.  First of all we had class on Friday (we normally don't) making this only a two day weekend.  This is because we only have class for three days next week, so we were making up for that.  

All the traveling I have done so far was with school.  Although we get some information and the school gets us to our destination we are on our own.  If you have been reading previous posts you know that Laurel and pretty much do the tourist thing.  We try to get out of the box some and try some different food or do a local thing, but generally we just spend time getting lost and seeing cool things that you may have seen on a postcard because they are so famous.   This weekend we didn't have to be aimless tourist because we had tour guide Cody!  Cody is going to school at Cambridge.  He is a year older than Laurel and I.  I had wanted to visit Cambridge and Cody offered to be our host, so it was perfect.  

We rode the train to Cambridge and that was quite the experience in of itself.  We had purchased our tickets online a few weeks ago and then we picked them up at the train station.  First, the machine spit our 9 tickets!  We were confused.  The arrival/departure board only has the final destination of the trains not the stops in between, so it was difficult to know which one was our train since we weren't familiar with the routes.  We figured it out and came to really like the train.  It has nice seats and it is smooth.  Our train ride was only an hour and a half total (we had to take two trains to get to Cambridge), so it was a good ride.  Once we arrived at Cambridge Cody met us at the train station.  It was so nice not to be completely lost right from the beginning.  We went back to the Queen's Wing where Cody lives and dropped off our stuff.  

We spent the day going around to the different colleges and seeing Cambridge.  It is a very cool place.  They had craft shows and markets and lots of very old colleges.  Cambridge has 29 colleges and they are all over the city. I had a cornish pasty (traditional English food) for lunch with Blackcurrent juice.  It was very good!!  We had lots of fun and it was so nice to have the wonderful Cody to show us around.  Mid afternoon we met Ashton Botts who is studying at Oxford.  She had ridden the bus from Oxford.  It was like a Jewell reunion!  The rest of the day consisted of catching up and meeting some of Cody's new English friends.  We went to a pub called the Flying Pig and that was fun too!  We ended the night by watching V for Vendetta-I think I need to watch it again when I am not so tired. 

Sunday was a wonderful day as well.  We went to church at King's College Chapel.  The chapel was amazing.  The largest vaulted ceiling  in the world(according to Cody)! 

I didn't take an pictures because it was a service and you weren't supposed to.  There was a boys choir.  They were amazing.  I really can't put into words how much I was in awe of the choir.  Their were boys age 7 or so up to college age.  They younger boys sang the alto and soprano and the older ones carried the base and tenor.  There was also a string quartet that was amazing and they played with them.  We even took communion.  I was in awe of the whole service.  I was so happy that we just didn't sleep in and miss something like that.  The picture to the right is King's College Chapel-where we went to church. After church we ate at Nando's.  Laurel and I had eaten at one of these in London and really liked it.  This one wasn't as good as the one in London, but still it was a good time.  

After that we just walked around a bit more and then went back to the Queen's Wing and chatted until we all had to go back to our real lives.  

It truly was such the perfect weekend.  I got to see some familiar faces which I really needed after this past week.  I also met more British people and that is always funny! Thanks to Cody for having us.  We really loved it all!

Snow, Paper, and British Family

I promised a post about Harlaxton in the snow, so here it is.  As you may have heard in the news, England was graced with many inches of beautiful snow on Sunday night into Monday morning.  Grantham, where I live, got about 3 inches I think.  I didn't really think that the snow was that bad until I started to read the newspaper and found out that this was the worst snow in nearly two decades!!  I am so accustomed to four wheel drive and snow plows that I don't really think it monumental when we get a few inches of snow. Here no one has four wheel drive and snow plows don't really exist either.  School was cancelled for the middle and high school students. This was the view out my window on Monday morning.

London experience nearly a foot of snow.  It debilitated the city.  The underground was practically shut down and none of the red buses ran.  Papers were calling this a "National Snow Day!"  The whole thing was funny to me because people really don't know what to do with this much snow!  

Harlaxton students, many of which are from Wisconsin, just go out and play!  Tomorrow is an all school snowball fight and many students have already made snow men.  One was 8 feet tall!  The manor looks beautiful blanketed in white.  Really it is like I live in Narnia.  I haven't had much of a chance to go play, but I did get out and take a few photos.  I guess 

these are pretty priceless since this much snow probably won't come around again. 

I also wanted to share with you that I am writing the overseas column for the Hilltop Monitor for the beginning of the semester.  I would love for you to read my column (and the rest of the paper) online at www.thehilltopmonitor.com

Finally, I just wanted to share a bit about dinner with my British family tonight.  Part of the Harlaxton experience is the option to be paired up with a local British family. This family often has dinner with the students and they do activities together.  My British family is Marcus and Maureen Pettman.  They are retired and live in Grantham.  I had meet them at the Meet-a-Family reception last Thursday.  That event was at Harlaxton, but tonight was at their house.  There was some concern about the weather, but still got to the manor without trouble to come get me and my "sister."  We ate talked for a while and then ate dinner.  I was surprised how interested they were in American politics.  We talked about Barack Obama and alternative energy!  This isn't really my type of conversation, but it was interesting to hear their perspective.  

The family is a bit more formal than at home, but not much. This is a picture of me, Ashley (my sister) and Maureen.  Marcus took the photo. 

We had a chicken pot pie type dish for dinner with vegetables and potatoes.   To drink I had a cordial which is a type of drink that is diluted.  I had never heard of this, but I think it is very popular here.  The one I had was a local variety.  I really liked it.  

They also have an electrical piano and I played a few songs.  Marcus can play piano.  He is very interested in the song of each state from home.  He has the music for the state song for most states.  

On Thursday they are going on a holiday to the Caribbean!  Sounds nice right about now.  They will be gone for a few weeks.  They like to travel a lot.  When they return we are going to walk around Grantham and eat dinner together.  

It was interesting to eat with a British family.  You really get a sense of their normal lives.  I was rather satisfied (that is something they would say).

Destination: Edinburgh

Here I am, back at the blog again.  After quite the demanding academic week, I was pleased to be embarking on weekend trip #3.  Destination: Edinburgh!  It is becoming more real every time I say "This weekend I am going to ________".  Before I actual got here I knew where I was going to go, but it was still hard to really understand all I would see and do.  Honestly I didn't even know what I was going to see in Scotland besides a kilt!  Don't worry-I saw a lot more than men in plaid skirts.Friday morning at 8 am we loaded the coaches.  The ritual is familiar and it is somewhat nice to know that I will have time for a nap and a good read before hitting the Scottish Highlands.  The coach ride was about 6 hours and we hit lots of traffic coming into the Edinburgh City Centre.  I think there was an accident close to our hotel which prolonged unloading and checking in.  Once all that was sorted out, Laurel and I decided to go to the National Gallery first.  This was only a block from our hotel and was free.  There was lots of Scottish art and other art as well.  After we were culturally fulfilled, we went up to the Royal Mile.  Edinburgh is very easy to get around and walkable.  

Scotland is known for lots of distinctive things-shortbread, family clans, kilts, bagpipes, wool, cashmere, plaid.  One of the most distinctive things is whiskey.  There are pubs everywhere and the people are very proud of their whiskey. So to get the full Scottish experience, Laurel and I went to the "Scotch Whiskey Experience." Normally this is an exhibit where you learn about how whiskey is made and the history behind the drink.  It even includes a ride in a whiskey barrel!  We were awfully excited about the ride in the whiskey barrel! Sadly, when we arrived at the place, the man at the counter told us that the attraction was under renovation and it was only a presentation and tasting-no ride.  Disappointed we still did the presentation and the tasting.  It did turn out to be interesting and I learned a lot about whiskey production.  We tasted two whiskeys-both were so strong!  The leader showed us how to examine the color, swirl the drink in the glass, smell the flavor, and then drink up! I haven't really gained an

 affinity for the whiskey, but it was an experience and we even got a souvenir whiskey glass-can't go wrong with that take home prize.

By this time our stomachs were wanting a little more than a sip of whiskey.  It was dinner time.  Now eating while traveling is very much an art.  Everywhere we have been so far American chains line the streets.  Burger King, McDonalds, Pizza Hut, and KFC are all around and oh so tempting, but I determined to withstand them.  I refuse (at least so far) to eat at these places (I have only had one Starbucks drink too!).  I want to get a feel for the culture and the best way to do that is to eat where the locals do.  The other trick to this tedious task is to find a place

 within a traveling college student's budget.  This can prove difficult, but it is doable with some careful preparation.  Like I said, Edinburgh is an easy city to navigate and so it makes it even easier to find eateries just a bit off the beaten path.  I had read online about this place called the "Mosque Kitchen."  The review claimed that this place provided large amounts of food for cheap prices-right up my alley!  After a little bit of a directional challenge we found the Mosque (yes this place was literally in a mosque), but we were unsure about where the food was.  Laurel asked a man coming out of the Mosque and told us it was around back.  We eventually found it.  You went in to order and ate outside in a covered, yet exposed area.  

It was so interesting.  This was right on the edge of the University of Edinburgh and there were a few tables of college students as well as other locals and some people just finishing worship at the Mosque I think.  

The food was very good.  I had chicken curry and vegetables. The bowl of food was more than I could eat and I was happy to find a place that was a unique, hidden gem.  We get a gold star in the "Experienced Cultural Diversity" box!

We wanted to get a taste of true Scottish culture too, and what better way to do that than a pub with live music.  By this time is was about 7 pm and we were ready for some music before going back to the hotel.  I had read about a pub that was supposedly the best place to hear Scottish music in Edinburgh.  We quickly found it, ordered our drinks and sat down.  The place was so little!  There was no music and I was highly confused how a band of any kind would fit in here, but here we were experiencing Scotland.  After a time we asked when the music would start.  The bar tender said 9:30 pm!  That was in 2 hours!  This was a great people watching place, but not for 2 hours.  So we went back to the hotel and watched some hilarious British TV and

 waited until 10 or so to go back.  Once we got back the pub was quite full and there were some musicians stuffed in the back corner.  We kind of just stood around (remember we have been here once already and this is a small place-we stick out!).  Soon enough two older men start talking to us.  They wanted to know where we were from, why we were here, and on and on.  They bought us a drink (although we didn't really want one because we had had one before) and we talked for quite awhile.  It was one of the most hilarious hours of my life because the accent is so hard to understand and the people are so funny-this made for an interesting conversation.  These men had an opinion about everything, and truly provided a look into a normal Scottish mindset.  Eventually we left there having made new friends and laughing all the way back to the hotel.  Another gold star for "Chatted it up with crazy, old Scottish men." 

The Royal Mile is situated between the most visible landmarks in Edinburgh, the castle and Arthur's Seat.  Day 2 first item of business: Climb Arthur's Seat.  Arthur's Seat is an old, inactive volcano and provides wonderful views of the city from on top.  I had read that the hike to the top only took 20 minutes.  Looking at the big hill and reading the guide book you wouldn't think that is would be that difficult to reach the top-you would be mistaken.  After taking a path that wasn't really necessary, we finally got going the right direction.  We walked around the base of the hill and eventually started to look at the literature from the park service and realized that it was 20 minute hike from a certain path to the top.  It had taken us about an hour to get to the path.  Still, we wanted to get to the top!  Off we go.  It is pretty steep all the way up and it gets fairly rocky as well.  The  main factor that made this trip such a struggle was the wind.  Oh goodness.  The wind was CRAZY!!  Once we got to the top I had to hold on to the rock so that I didn't fall over.  It was nearly impossible to take pictures.  My hat flew off as we were trying to snap a picture.  

You can see Edinburgh Castle in the distance. It took a bit to get down from the top, but we did and it was worth the amazing view of the city.  That took quite a while and by now we were hungry (somehow it always comes back to the food).  I had read about a cheap place called Tempting Tatties.  We found it easily.  We first tried to open the door and were baffled that it was locked (if we would have read the sign we would have known that the place opened in 10 minutes).  The owner let us in and pondered the menu.  There were so many toppings and they all went on a baked potato.  I finally decided on a potato with Chicken, sweet corn, red onions, and mayonnaise.  Imagine a well cooked potato with lots of butter, cheddar cheese, and three scoops of mayonnaise salad-that was my lunch.  It probably weighed at least 2 pounds.  I could hardly eat 1/3 of it.  It was delicious and I was happy to have found the place.  The whole meal was only 4.50 pounds (that included a bottled drink).  Yep-I should have my own tv show. 

A little shopping and a long trip to the Edinburgh Castle filled up the afternoon.  The castle houses the Scottish Crown Jewels and has lots of other great things to see.  It also provided a good view of the city.  Back to the hotel we went.  Nap time followed by a good dinner at Pizza Express.  This place is a lot nicer than it sounds and Laurel and I both had great food.  

Day 3.  Destination: Harlaxton Manor w/detours.  We boarded the coach early the next morning (only after we overslept a bit...oops!).  The first on route stop was a stone that said Scotland on one side and England on the other.  It was very cold and windy again, so we think as a group that we probably had a record for the most pictures at the stone in the least amount of time.  On to Hadrian's Wall.  This wall was built nearly 2000 years ago around the time of the Roman invasion.  It marked the northern boarder of England.  It is amazing to think that the stones I stood on had been there for thousands of years!  You can see the wall stretch across the countryside.  The wall is shorter than it was in its time, but the magnitude of the structure is amazing.  Of course, this was cold and windy too! Back to the bus.  

This is me at Hadrian's wall.  You can see how the wall keeps going into the distance.

Next stop: Durham.  This was the lunch stop and you could also go see the Cathedral and Castle or just shop and look around.  We had a good lunch at an Italian place and made our way to the Cathedral in time to snap a few photos, grab a take-away (this is how they say to-go) mocha, and hit the road back to Harlaxton.  Throughout the whole day we traveled through the beautiful Scottish countryside.  I had trouble focusing on my reading because it was so nice just to stare out the window and enjoy the tunes on my iPod.  

This is me in front of Durham Cathedral.  

Edinburgh was a place preserved in time through the traditions that make it unique.  I enjoyed the people so much and loved the scenery as well.  Despite the wind it was a wonderful trip!  Coming up next on this blog: Harlaxton in the Snow.