Goodbye London

Tomorrow I leave for Ireland with my wonderful cousin Kendra. I am so excited for this new adventure of backpacking around Europe, but I am also very sad to be leaving London and all of the amazing people that I've met. This month has been one of the best months of my life. I've done things I never thought I'd do and made some amazing friends. I also feel in love with a beautiful city and can't wait to come back. London has stolen my heart.

As for the next 3 weeks, Kendra and I will be traveling in Ireland, France, Italy, and then back to London for a few days. These next 3 weeks are going to be so much fun!

Also for the next 3 weeks, I will not have Skype, Facebook, email, or be able to update my blog. I am going to try and find some internet cafe's to hop into and update my blog, but I can't make any promises.

London and all of the amazing people I've met, thank you for everything. You've taught me so much about myself. I can't wait to see you again!

London

I have done so much since I have last updated, I don't even know where to begin. I guess I'll start with field trips that I did for class. For class we got to go to Stonehenge and Bath. The history/mystery behind Stonehenge amazes me. I was a little disappointed that we couldn't get close to the stones, but then my pictures would have been full of people I didn't know instead of the rocks. After Stonehenge we went to Bath. I got to see the Roman Baths, which was really cool. The water though, was gross! It looked moldy and green. Not something I would want to take a bath in. But we did get to try some of the natural spring water. We were told that it is good for us because it has so many minerals in it. It had a metallic taste to it. I didn't like it very much, but it wasn't too bad. Then another day we went to Parliament, Greenwich, and got to see a play at Shakespeare's Globe Theater. At the theater we were groundlings and stood for the whole play. We saw Comedy of Errors; it was really good!! That's about it for class.

Other than class, I have been exploring London. London is amazing! I can't believe that I will be leaving on Saturday. This month has been absolutely incredible. I have grown and experienced a new culture. I feel more independent. I can't wait to start the next leg of my journey, but I will miss London and all of the people at Seething Wells.

Scotland!!

In Oxford, outside of the dining hall that was the inspiration for the one in the Harry Potter films

Edinburgh Castle

View from the top of a hill in Edinburgh

Lock Ness

One of the many mountains in the Highlands of Scotland

The famous cow Hamish

One of our hostels

On the train at Kings Cross, ready to go to Scotland

I left for Scotland on Friday and returned on Monday. It is so pretty. I went to Edinburgh and up through the Highlands to Inverness (which means the end of Ness, because it is located at the end of the Ness river or Lock or something).

Friday I had to get up super early to get to the train station so that we could start to make our journey to Scotland. It is only a 4 and 1/2 hour train ride to Edinburgh from Scotland. I still managed to fall asleep on the train. I managed to fall asleep on the bus as well, I guess any mode of transportation I can fall asleep on. There were 39 of us who were on the trip from Kingston. When we got to the train station in Edinburgh, we met our tour guide. His name was Mike and he wore a kilt everyday! He was not a very nice man at times. He was super sarcastic. I like sarcastic comments, but he took it to the extreme. But the trip was still really nice.

When we got into Edinburgh we did a walking tour of the new town and old town. Personally I like the old town better. After that we had some free time to go around. Two of the guys on the trip decided that they needed kilts, so they went out a bought some. Then decided that they should wear them out to the pubs. It was quite hilarious to see the reactions that the locals had.

Then we had to get up on Saturday for breakfast which included yogurt, sliced deli ham with cheese, small baguettes, and cereal. It was quite the combination of breakfast items. But we boarded a bus at 9 am for our big trip up to the Highlands. We stopped at the Braveheart memorial, we saw a famous cow named Hamish, stopped for lunch, and the three sister (which were 3 amazing mountains that were right by each other), then again at Lock Ness. Sadly I did not get to see the monster, but the water in the lock is really dark. I've never seen water that was so dark. It was really creepy. After Lock Ness we got to Inverness around 7 that night. We stayed in another hostel. The hostels were 8 people in one room (girls and guys were separated) with one bathroom. 8 girls and one bathroom went better than I expected. It did help that the bathrooms weren't the best or cleanest. I am glad that I'm a little bit of a germ freak and brought flip flops to wear in the shower. That night we went out and got some dinner and watched a little of one of the world cup games.

Sunday we had to be on the bus 9 again. Our first stop this time was at a battlefield that commemorated a battle that occurred between the Highlanders and the government. We stopped again at rock formations that were 1000 years older than Stonehenge (which I am visiting on Thursday), we then went to a Whisky Distillery. I got a free sample of Whisky and it was gross!!! It burned on the way down and I only took a little sip. But I couldn't leave without buying something. So one of my flatmates and I went in and bought some whisky truffles. The taste was masked by the chocolate, so they were really good! After that we stopped at a Blair castle and made our final journey to Edinburgh. We arrived around 4:30 or 5 that afternoon. Some of the girls and I decided that we wanted to climb a hill that was close to our hostel. We had heard that you can see all of Edinburgh and you get an amazing view from the top. When we made it, what we had heard was right. The view was amazing!!!!! You could see really far. And of course later that night we watched a little of the world cup game.

Then Monday we got up and headed to Edinburgh castle. I really like the castle. It was all made of stone and you had to go outside to get to the other buildings. Some of the exhibits were really cool. I liked one that was about the prisoners of the castle. They had re-done what the prison would have looked like and explained what it was like to be a prisoner in the castle. I also liked the crown jewels and the stone of destiny. After the castle I did some shopping and then we all got back on the train to head back into London. We got back to our dorms around 8 that night. It was a really long and busy weekend, but Scotland is amazing. It is so beautiful. I am much more of a Highlands girl though. There were towns that were right by the mountains on a river and I decided that I could have a house there and just stare at the incredible mountains.

Yesterday my class went to Oxford. Not the university (because the University is actually made of of about 38 different colleges), but the city. The city is very cute. It is small with a lot of pubs and history. Our tour guide was really good and told us a lot about the city and showed us an amazing cookie place. After the tour I had to go get a cookie, and it was one of the best cookies I have ever had. It was still warm and the chocolate was still all melty. It was really good. Then Thursday we are going to Stonehenge and Bath. I'm super excited to see both.

That is what I have been up to since the last time I updated. And today marks 2 weeks in England. I can't believe the it has already been 2 weeks. Only 2 more and then I start my backpacking adventure with my wonderful cousin Kendra.

**Please refer to Facebook for more pictures of my Scotland trip and for pictures of London**

Royalty

So these past few days have been jam packed with awesome things in London and beyond. I've been to Hampton Court Palace, which was incredible. My class got to take a boat to the palace, just like Henry would have. I liked that we got to travel the way that they did. It just added to the effect that the palace had. I thought it was really cool to walk where Henry the 8th did. And to see where he spent his time. I love history, especially good ol' Henry! Oh, an interesting fact is that the trees where cut in a triangle shape to influence the hierarchy of the time. As was fruit on a tray. Just subtle ways to express the hierarchy.
Then today I got to go to St. Paul's Cathedral. It was truly amazing and incredible and beautiful! I was so shocked by the beauty of the ceilings. They were overwhelming. I had heard that the Church was really pretty, but I never expected it to be that pretty. Then I climbed the spiral staircase (which made me incredible dizzy!) to get to the top where you can look out on all of London. The view was amazing and definitely worth the dizziness and all of the steps that it took to get there. I also was able to say a prayer and light a candle for Grandma Singer. I was really happy that I was able to do that.
Anyway, tomorrow I leave for Scotland for 4 days. I really hope that I can catch a glimpse of the Lock Ness Monster!

Day Five

Me and some of my flatmates in Kingston

Me and Big Ben

Big Ben!

The London Eye

These last few days have been incredibly busy! Which is good. I've been to London twice now, and loved it. It is such a busy place, but amazing. So far, I've seen Big Ben and the London Eye, and I've gone shopping! I've also taken a train, the tube, and a double decker bus. I think I'm am getting the hang of the tube. It can be very confusing at times.

Besides London, I went to my first class, British culture and society. I think I'm really going to like the class! We get to go on a lot of field trips. On Tuesday we are going to Hampton Court Palace. My professor said that we are going to take a boat there so we know what it was like when Henry the 8th traveled.

I've also been to some pubs and a club. The pubs here are great! The atmosphere is so cool. You can just chill and watch some football (or in our case soccer) and laugh at all the crazy football fans. Last night my flatmates and I went to a club called Oceana in Kingston. This club had three levels and each was different. First we hung out on the disco level and then made our way up to a more modern level. It was so much fun!

Today, I need to go shopping for some food! And I need to find a blow drier. I did buy a flat iron, which I was super excited about! But so far, I am so excited to be here and I am having a wonderful time. I've met some really cool people. It's nice to step out of my comfort zone and meet all of these people and talk with the locals and learn some of the slang (and accepting an offer for them to buy you a drink :) ). I love it here!